The San Francisco call., 1908-11-01


NEW YORK, Oct sl.-The Catholic
missionary congress in Chicago in No
~' ember now bids fair to be the largest
+: eccleslast ticaf gathering held in. the
nitec States since the last. council Of
l5SIumore. Already nihe-tenths' of the
bishops have signsfied their intention
10 be present: Sunday. November: IS.
very. Catholic pulpit: in Chicago will
De nlled by a prominent teacher from
VIII discourse upon The Missionary
spirit"
The opening mass viii be celebrated
hy Mgr Falconio, the apostolic dele
gate. Archbishop O'Connell Of Boston
VIII preach the sermon. Archbishop
Qulgiey of Chicago VIII entertain the
visiting prelates at luncheon. In the
evening pontfhcal vespePs viii be sung
IT, the cathedral under the auspices of
the Catholic church extension society
of Canada Archbishop Midway Of
Toronto viii preach.
Monday evening following ? recep-
tlon VIII be given To. the prelates and
: delegates by the board Of governors of
TIE Catholic church extension society
AZ the conclusion Of the congress the
governors Of the extension society and
the visiting bishops viii meet to con-
slider the action of the congress and
10 apply it. After this mass meet
which the chief speakers will be Arch
bishop Blenk Of New Orleans and Hon:
W. BOurl1e Cochran of New York
The congress is intended ito mark
The change Of the church in, North
America from missionary conditions to
IFS fun share in the efforts of the
CHURCH universal, by striking the note
Of unselhshness clearly and fercefully;
t0 crystaIlize the missionary sentiment
now being awakened in the Catholic
clergy and people to the end that all
.naV realize their common duty Of pre-
serving and extending the church of
Jesus Christ: to study missionary con-
ditions especially in America and the
= colonies Of the United States and plan
for their Improvement; TO pledge te the
holy father Americas loyal support and
artive cooperation in his mighty task
of restoring all things in Christ :"
The first day of November is OBJ
% served throughout the entire Catholic
world as The feast Of all saints. AS
early as the fourth century the Greeks
kept the first Sunday after pentecost
as the feast of all the martyrs and
saints, and d sermon preached 0s this
day by St Chrysostom is still .extant.
The feast was introduced in the west
by Pope Boniface ". after. -dedjcating g
10 the Blessed Virgin and all the mar
7
dedicated originally to Jupiter and all
the gods" and which was made over
10 the pope by Phocas- About the year
T31 Gregory III consecrated a chapel in
81. Peters 10 all the saints. and from
that time all saints day has been kept
I'm Rome on the 1st of November. Its
observance became general in the west
from about the middle of the ninth cen
tfry. Although every day in the year
IS dedicated TO some saint, according 10
Pope Urban N all saints was intended
20 supply any deficiency
The second OF November, or all souls
day. is observed ia solemn @commemo-
ration of and prayers for the souls in
--pargatQry.. detained there for a time
10 be purified from minor stains Of
guilt before appearing before the god
-ot. purity and holiness This feast owes
= rs. origin to the Abbot. Ddilo of Cluny.
who Instituted II for all the members
of the order in the year s9s It is now
@obServed throughout the world
The feasts of all saints and all souls
>. are based on the doctrine of the cons
ms.pion Of saints" proclaimed in the
J: apostles creed and illustrated in the
thEee grand divisions Of the church,
:Iiz:l the church triumphant in heaven
. the church suffering in purgatory and
the. church militant on earth.
-
-.~+ The huge task OF codifying the laws
oE the church is drawing to a close.
- IL is now stated that in about six
!. months all the bishops who rule di-
; oceses throu ghoUt the world will re-
. -ceive draft copies of the new code Of
70 Plus Y. Each bishop will be asked
To Institute study of the plan sub
mitted TO him; and, having done this,
to-. forward TO Rome any objections
. he may have TO make; especially those
based on his experience Of local needs
and conditions. In this work the bish-
ops WILL of course, avail themselves
oe the services of the best canonists
0f their dioceses-
it. was April il. 1904 that Plus X
appointed the pontihcaI commission to
. draw UP the new code. This code was
net to be simply cataiogued collection
Of the laws Of the church. Obsolete
laws were to be eliminated: new laws
required by present conditions were
. "a be added; laws that differed in diff
.ferent countries without adequate rea-
son We're to be unified, laws that were
set forth in obscure, ambiguous, an
fiouated or verbose pl1raseology were
TO be dra wn UP in clear terms. And
This seemingly almost impossible task
the pope desired TO have completed in
abeUt five years.
The commission consists of the follow
Eng cardinals. Rampolla, Satolli. Cen
mari, the two Nannutellis. .Agliardi, Cas-
setta, Cavicchioni. Merry del Val, Fer
rata. Matthieu. Wives y THto and Segna.
But the editor OF Rome tells us that the
life and soul Of the commission has
been from The outset that 1ndemitable
worker. Monsignor 4now cardinall Gas
parri, who IS still its secretary.
The. consultors- include such bril-
liant body Of ca.nonists *as. perhaps
were never before at: the. service of a
. DoBe-Tnen like Father Wernz. now gen
eraIs of the ~Jesuits; Sebsstianelli. Lega,
. Esser. .Janssens, Van Rossual, Kaiser.
Lepieier, Bastien5 Bucceroni, .Lomb rii,
.Aelata, Lugarf and more than score
OF others; nearly 9all of them authors of
world wide reputation on canon law,
professors of universities and curjalists
who have spent their lives in the study
or practice Of canon law.
To the aid of this brilliant GALAXY the
pope viii next year invite practically
all the best authorities on canon law in
tie whole church by this planeof sub
-aftting the first draft of the code to
the bishops. for their examination and
counsel