The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1912-03-23
AN INTERESTING REPORT.

A most interesting booklet has just
been issued by the Association OF
Belgian and Holland Priests of the
United States, giving the Catholic
public useful information about the
work done by the organization; which,
by the way, is associated with The
Catholic Church Extension Society.
The President of the Association is
the Rev. A. A. Notebaert of Rochester,
N. Y, and it's Secretary the Rev. DR..
Urban DeHasque of Chickasha, Okla.
It's activities have been many and
fruitful. The idea of the priest mem
bers of the Association was that there
must be, in this country, according to
the immigration statistics, great
many groups of Belgians exposed to
a loss of Faith in the large cities.
Father Notebaert took upon himself
the task of investigating in the East
He discovered thirty-two such groups
in the State of Pennsylvania alone,
and nine in West Virginia. The other
priests of the Association have been
active in other places. These groups
of Belgians discovered are principally
French speaking, known as Walloons.
They are settling, usually, in manufac-
turing towns, where there are other
nationalities; and as there are not
large numbers they naturally are soon
lost sight of.
The Association secured the SER
vices of a missionary, while some of
the officers of the Society went out
as missionaries, themselves. In one
mission in Butler, Pa, which lasted
for two weeks, enough Belgians at
tended to overflow the Italian Church
One hundred and fifty-eight went to
Confession, ninety-six returned to
the Faith and sixteen marriages were
validated. This gives an idea of the
value of this special missionary work
The activities of the Association
have not ended here. 1t gave the
first impetus to the formation of the
Catholic Colonization Society, the
President of which is the Director of
Colonization for the Association.
They have already two or three
colonies which are flourishing. The
Association has now got in touch
with the priests and immigration
societies of Belgium and Holland and
are succeeding in giving intelligent
direction to immigrants from those
countries, advising them where they
can find church and school. The St.
Raphael Society in Belgium has now
full information regarding the locali-
ties in the United States inhabited by
Belgians, with the population, nature
of work, ETC., etc., from the Associa-
ton. This is extremely important,
owing to the fact that both Belgium
and Holland are over-populated, and
We must continue to receive a great
number of immigrants from these
countries.
Father Notebaert last year visited
the Diocese of Marquette and heard
five hundred Flemish Confessions,
mostly amongst the scattered people
of his nationality. There are a great
number of Belgian and Holland
priests in the United States, but few
of them are located in the centers
where their people are to be found.
The priests of the Association are
now taking an interest in educating,
at the University of Louvain ecclesias-
tics intended only for Belgian and
Holland parishes. 1t is the intention
of the Association to place a chap
lain in the East who will direct Bel.
gian and Holland immigrants on their
arrival in America. His Eminence,
the Cardinal Archbishop of New
York, has promised his active co.
operation in this.
The Association has already been
blessed by the Holy Father who said
of it: eff every nationality would
follow their example, the difficult
question of immigration would soon
be settled with great benefit to the
Catholic Church in America"
The success of the Association is
largely due to the activity of its
officers, who seem to have caught the
Church Extension enthusiasm. The
President, Father Notebaert, is very
active, although he is no longer q
young man. Every moment that he
can spare from his duties at home
he gladly gives to caring for the
spiritual needs of his countrymen
He has preached missions innumer
able and travelled thousands of miles
to hunt up groups of Belgians. The
priests of Holland extraction lenC
every assistance possible to theil
Belgian neighbors, though the Cath
olics who come from Holland are no
so widely scattered, nor so numerous