The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1911-10-14
GROWTH OF THE CHURCI IN
AMERICA.

AMERICA.
In the course Of his sermon in
the Cathedral, Baltimore, on the
first Sunday of October, His Emf
hence Cardinal Gibbons, gave pub
lie expression to his grateful ap-
probation Of the civic celebration
held in his honor during the sum-
mer and referred to the religious
festivities which will be held dur
ing the week beginning October
Is. After abiding to the large
concourse, Of his brethren of the
Episcopate and the clergy from
various parts Of the United States,
Canada, Mexico, and Africa who
will be present on the occasion of
his jubilee celebration, he made
comparison Of the conditions of
the Church at the beginning of his
career and at the present time In
the course Of this historical resume
he said:
''All the priests that were Or
dained for this diocese with me,
and before my time, have long
since passed away, and all my
Episcopal brethren with whom I
began to labor after my consecra-
ton, 43 years ago, have gone to
their reward, with one solitary ex-
ception, and that exception is the
venerable Bishop Of Kansas City.
Though [ value the friendship of
my junior colleagues, I feel sense
Of loneliness in the absence Of my
old companions with whom [ sat so
often in the council and with
whom I labored so long in the vine
yard Of the Lord.
cat the close Of the Third Plen-
airy Council, in 1884, the patriar-
chal Archbishop Of st. Louis, adj
dressing me, in the name Of his col
leagues, remarked that when Xer-
xes, the Persian leader, beheld
over million Of soldiers standing
before him in martial array, he
shed tears on rejecting that in 100
years this grand army would have
persisted from the face Of the
earth. And in so years., the
Archbishop added, all the prelates
assembled in this cathedral shall
have paid the debt of nature
| " That is true I replied, but
thank God, we are immortal, for
the present life is but the prelude
OF that which is to come, and we
shall meet again in the temple of
which God Himself is the archi-
tect, for we know that if this our
earthly habitation is dissolved, we
have a house of God, not made
with hands, eternal in the heav.
ems
"Of the u prelates who attend.
ed the council Of 1884 all but nine
have paid the debt of nature.
1t may be interesting as well
as consoling to institute compare
son between the church of 1861
and it's present situation after hall
a century.
In 1861 the archbishops anc
bishops of the United States mum
bered 49, The priests were 1904
The number of churches with
priests attached was 2,O42, and the
Catholic population was estimated
at 1,s6O,OO
"The number Of archbishops
and bishops today in charge O.
sees amounts to SO, twice as many
as existed in 1861. The priest,
amount to 1900, an increase O
more than eight-fold. There ar,
1880 churches, nearly a seven
E fold increase. We have about Is,
t 100000 church members, eigh
e times as many as existed in tn
: United States in 1861.
: "But the progress of religion il
s our country is to be estimated no
s only by the augmentation of tn
J, number of its communicates blu
$ also by more efficient co-ordina
J, ton and discipline The clergy, il
0 1861, were as detached squadron
e compared to the compact and well
'-lmarshalled army of today.