The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1912-04-04
MURDER or PRIESTS LARGER
Great Growth of Church Shown in all
Parts Of the Country and Wisconsin
Is Rated as One of the Growing Cath
Ollie Commonwealth of Nation.

According to the latest Catholic
statistics the church has gained
4,o38,812 souls during the past decade.
The Catholic directory published by
the Wiltzius company in Milwaukee
in 1902 showed a Catholic population
of 10,976,757. What was formerly the
Wiltzitls book of Milwaukee, is now
the "Oficial Catholic Directory pub
lished at New York and they have
just issued their census for the past
decade showing that there are 1905
$50 Catholics in the United States at
the present time.
Not only has there been a gain in
the number of souls, but there has,
also, been an increase In the number
Of Catholic clergymen, in the number
Of churches, schools, academies and
charitable institutions during the past
year. 1t is found that there are
II ,491 Catholic priests in the United
States. OF these 1896 are secular
cTergymen and 4,495 are members Of
religious orders. This figure shows a
gain of 407 priests.
Four hundred and seventy eight adj
ditional churches are recorded in the
publication, and the general summary
shows that at the beginning of this
year there were 1889 Catholic
churches in America. Of these 1899
nearly 10000 have resident pastors or,
to be exact, 9,256 churches have resi-
dent priests, the other 1858 being
mission churches, that is, attended
from neighboring parishes.
There are at present fourteen arch
bishops in the United States, each Of
the fourteen archiepiscopal sees be
ing occupied. Three are cardinal arch
bishops. } In addition to these there
are two titular archbishops in the
United States, both being retired or
dinaries. Its a remarkable fact, and
deserves special attention that accord
ing to the directory there is only one
vacancy in the bishoprics Of this
country. The vicariate of. Brownsville,
Tex, is mourning the loss Of it's
bishop. All told, there are ninety
seven bishops in continental United
States, some of these, of course, being
coadjutor and auxiliary bishops. In
addition there are two arch-abbots
and fifteen abbots.
Comparing the figures Of the 1911
and 1912 issues a gratifying gain is
seen in the number of Catholics, for
the directory Of 1912 shows an in
crease of 396,S0S souls for the year.
The figure 15,015,569 includes all
Catholics and does not deduct fifteen
per cent for children and infants as
was done by the government in its
census of 10000, and which is in
variably done by Protestant stats
ticians when quoting numbers Of Cath
olics. It is Of interest at this time,
also, to look back ten years and dis
cover what gains have been made.
Eighty-three seminaries are discov-
cred in various parts of the country,
aud 6,006 students are preparing for
the holy priesthood in these semi
naries There are 229 colleges for
boys and FOL academies for girls, al
though there are more students in the
229 colleges for boys than there are
in the 701 academies for girls
One Of the most interesting features
Of the directory's table is the sta
tistics for parochial schools. Accord
ing to the directory there are 5,1l9
parishes which have schools attached,
with an attendance of 1,333,7S6. Over
and above the parochial schools there
are 2S9 orphan asylums, in which A.
Ill orphans are taken care of. Count
ing the children in parochial schools,
the number Of girls and young men
in academies and colleges and in
Guiding the orphans and children in
other charitable institutions, it is
found that at present there are under
Catholic care in the United States
$4,000 young people.