El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-02-08
SAN JUAN To
Be CHURCH
MECCA
Distinguished Prelates to
Attend Celebration of the
40Oth Church Anniversary
OLDEST DIOCESE
IN THE AMERICAS

IN THE AMERICAS
NAN JUAN. PORTO RICO, Feb. s.
In order to participate in the 4OOth
~ anniversary of the creation of the
first Catholic diocese in the new world
and the same anniversary of the arrival
OF the first Catholic bishop in the
Americas, cardinal Farley. of New
York, and archbishop Blenk. OF New
Orleans. who was formerly bishop Of
Porto Rico, are among the preIates
from the United States who will come
to Porto Rico for the church ceIebra-
ton. which VIII be from February %
to p.
Together with bishop Norris, of Lit
tie Rock, Ark, and bishop Gum, Of
NatcheZ, Miss, cardinal Farley and
archbishop Blenk will sail from New
York Saturday, Feb. IS An invita-
ton has been extended to all Catholic
bishops in the United States to attend
the anniversary ceremonies The last
day Of the anniversary there viii be
public demonstration in connection with
the Third Insular fair.
oldest In America.
The diocese of Porto Rico is the old
est Catholic diocese in the Americas
and was erected by pope Julius IL in
1911. Bishop Alfonso MansO the first
bishop 10 reach the new world discOY-
cred by Columbus. reached Porto Rico
in 1913. He died in 1889 and his body
was buried in the cathedral in san
Juan, where the remains of many Of the
90 bishops of the diocese have been de-
posted. This cathedral marks the site
of the mother church in the Americas,
and while much of the present building
IS modern, parts of it date back to early
in 1900.
Cardinal Farley viii officiate at the
first of the anniversary services. a SOL
emn high mass TO be celebrated Sunday
morning, Feb. %. The following day,
Monday, archbishop Blenk Will Officiate
at q special service, when the remains
Of Ponce de Leon, the first governor
OF Porto Rico, who died in his quest
for the fountain of youth, will be placed
in crypt in an elaborate monument
erected in the cathedral
Many Churehmen Expected.
Many churchmen from other cOun-
tries are to participate in the ami
VerSary ceremonies. including cardinal
AlmareZ, of Seville. Spain. who was
elevated to the cardinalate with car
dInal Farley a little more than a year
ago. bishop Estrada, Of Havana Cuba
archbishop Bermuda. Of Santiago, Cuba;
DlSnOp ftulZI OF Rlnal del Rio. and bish-
Op AureliO, Of CienfuegOs, Cuba
Archbishop AdOlfO NOuel Of Santo
Domingo who recently was chosen
president of that country, has sent
word to bishop Jones, of Porto Rico,
that his duies as president viii pre-
vent him from coming to San Juan
Through one Of his priests president
Nouel, VINO still remains head of the
church in SantO Domingo, he has adj
vlsed bishop Jones that if he left Do
mlnican soil for eight days there would
De another revolutionary outbreak.
Older Than ST. Augustine.
None of the diOceses in the United
States can compare in age with the diO-
cese Of Porto Rico. While St Augustine
Fla, was an established community
and had a church in 1865, yet il did not
become a diocese until 1870. The first
diocese in the United States was that
Of Baltimore, which was created in
1853. New Orleans became the next
dlocese IN 1888, while New York, BOs-
ton and Philadelphia were created as
sees IN 1903. and are the next oldest.
With the coming Of this anniversary
celebration many interesting bits OF
ChGrch history nave been dug up from
old records.
High Cost OF Living.
As Tar back as 1888 the high cost OF
living seems to have been a problem
that the first bishop in the Americas
reckoned with, for old records show
tnat ne ordered prepared a report ION
the sin of usury and Of buying and
selling at inOrdinate prices" At the
same time. records show that bishop |
MansO commanded that a decree be read
in the cathedral in san Juan exhorting
certain period of time, that they might
receive from the bishop or his vicar
prOvisOr salutary medicine for their
spiritual malady- Should any be rebel !
hous, he must be reported"
And only q little later the church
records show that there was a sugar
tariff that bishop Rodrigo Bastidas, /
VINO succeeded bishop MansO thOue-hf j
needed revising so badly that he wrote !
10 the Spanish crown, saying:
The new 1mpOSt upon sugar viii ]
cause depression in business, which I
Is already suffering. Let the impOst be 1
suppressed" This was in 1914
In the same letter to the Spanish 1
sovereign bishop Batidas wrote:
1t would be convenient to estab- /
llsh in this bishopric school of gram /
mar
He reported other afA=irs in Porto 4
Rico to the crown indicating a finan- |
claI depression about that period He |
Work on the cathedral has been sus-
pended owing TO the scarcity of funds /
and We beg you to give an aims.
The employees of the treasury attend /
l believe to their work well. but there ]
Is so little to do that four are too many
and two would suffice, viz: The treas
urer and the auditor
Il have inspected the FOrtaleza and
MORO Castle. They are good forts,
but there is need OF some artillery"
The FOrtaieza is the present resi-
1ence OF the governor of Porto Rico |
while MORO Castle was one Of the for
fired on by admiral Samp-
son in 1898. It stiu stands in an excel
ent state Of preservation
Many Old Cry-pfs Found.
Records recently found give the To- |
cation of many old crypts under the I
,athedral in san Juan One OF these |
proved to be the burial place Of bishop
ie Soils. WNO died in 1871. OF this |
bishop tho records say that he entered J
he priesthood after the death of his
wife and that he had both performed
ma received all the sacraments of the
Eurch.' His death followed a pilgrim
zee through the diocese during which
+ is recorded he baptized 10000 in
Old church documents show that the J
resent bishops palace was purchased
n lt5S by bishop Sebastian Lorenzo Pr
AFRO; who spent 1000 pesos in re-
,airs."
'HORUS GIRL SEEKS SEPARATION
FROM MILLION AIRES son. I
New York, n y. Feb. S-NIrs. Ethel !
PaIn10nf a chorus Girl brff..