The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1913-02-08
CARDINAL FARLEY :
TO PORTO RICO
Will be One of Prelates to
Attend Church Celebra-
tics at San Juan.

San Juan. Porto Eico. heb. Sin
order to participate in tho 40oth an
niversary OF tho creation OF tho first
catholic diocese in the new world and
the same anniversary OF the arrival OF
tho hrs; Catholic bishop in the Amer
feas. Cardinal Farley of New York and
Archbishop Blenk of New Orleans.
Hico. are among the pcelates from the
United States who will come I . Porto
Rico Tor tho church celebration which
Will be from February ~ to 81.
Together with Bishop Norris Of
Little Rock. Ark. and Bishop Gum
of Natchez. Miss. Cardinal Farley
and Archbishop Blenll will sail from
New York Saturday, February Is. An
invitation has been extended to all
Catholic bishops in the United States
70 attend the anniversary ceremonies.
The last day Of the anniversary there
will he a public demonstration In
connection with the third insular fair.
The diocese Of Porto Rico Is the
Oldest Catholic diocese i'll the Amer
icas and was erected by Pope. Julius
II. in 1911. Bishop Alfonso Manso.
world discovered BY columbus. reach
ed Porto Rico In 1911. He died in
1880 and his body was buried in the
cathedral in San Juan. where the re-
mains of many Of the fifty bishops Of
the diocese have been deposited. This
cathedral marks the site Of the moth-
er church in the Americas, and while
much of the present building Is mod
ern. parts Of it date back to early in
1900.
Cardinal Farley will cfficiate at the
first of the anniversary services, a SOL
emn high mass to be celebrated. Sun
day morning. February 2S. The fol-
lowing day. Monday. Archbishop
Blenk will of1ciate at IL special serv-
ice. 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 a crypt in
an elaborate monument erected In
the cathedral.
Many c%hurchnen from other coun-
tries are to participate in h ami
versary ceremonies. including Car
dinal .Alamarez of Seville. Spain. who
was elevated to the c~ardinalate with
year & Bishop Estrada Of Havana.
Cuba; Archbishop Rernada of Santi-
ago. Cuba; Bishop Ruiz of Pinar del
Rio. and Bishop Aurelio of Cienfue-
COS. Cuba.
Archbishop Adolfo Nouel of Santa
Domingo. who recently was chosen
president OF that country. has sent
word to Bishop Jones of Porto Rico.
that his duties as president will pre-
vent him from coming to San Juan.
Through one of his priests President
Nouel. who still remains head Of the
church in Santo Domingo. he has adj
vised Bishop Jones that If he left Do
minican soil for eight days there
would be another revolutionary ut
break.
None of the dioceses in the United
States ron onvc,n no in - SS,ikh thu
diocese of Porto Rico. While st. Au-
gustine, Fla. was an established COM
munity and had a. church in 1865. yet
it did not become IL diocese until
1870. The first diocese in the United
States was that OF Baltimore, which
was created in 1889: New Orleans
became the next diocese in 1898.
delphia were created as sees in 1908.
and are the neXt oldest.
With h coming of this anniver-
sary celebration many interesting bits
of church history nave been dug UP
from old records.
As far back Us 1888 the high cost
Of living seems to have been a prob
icas reckoned with. for old records
show that he ordered prepared a re-
port ION the sin Of usury and of buy
ing and selling at inordinate prices"
At the same tinle.s records. show. that
Bishop Manso commanded that a
decree he read in the cathedral in
San Juan exhorting usurers to go to
confession within a certain period OF
time. that they might receive from
the bishop or his vicarsproviso salu-
tary medicine for their spiritual mall
ady. Should any be rebellious, he
must be reported"
And only a little later the church
records show that there vas Il sugar
tariff that Bishop Rodrigo Bastidas,
who succeeded Bishop Manso,
thought needed revising so badly that
he wrote to the Spanish crown, say
ing:
THE new impost upon sugar will
cause depression in business. which
is already suffering. Let the impost
be suppressed" This was in 1544.
In the same letter to the Spanish
sovereign Bishop Bastidas wrote: :.