The Irish standard., 1915-04-03
CATHOLIC AFRICAN MISSION
FOUNDED BY COUNTESS, WILL
HAVE U. 8. CENTER IN
ST. LOUIS.

Marie ledochowski, Sister Of slacI,
Pope, Gave Start to sodaItty Of
St. Peter cIaver.
American headquarters of the Sodal.
ity of st. Peter Claver, a missionary
society of the Catholic Church, devoted
to the evangelization of Africa, have
been established in st. Louis.
The headquarters, which are in the
Fullerton building, are in charge of
Miss M. Louise Garesche and Miss Ida
Lager. Rev. Joseph P. Donovan, G. NJ,
is director general of the organization
in this country.
The Sodality of St. Peter Claver is a
missionary society, founded by the
Countess Marie Ledochowski, lady in
waiting at the Court of Austria and
sister Of the recently elected "Black
Pope" or head of the Jesuits.
Its object is to christianize the in.
habitants of Africa, particularly the
women, and to remove them from
bondage and slavery.
1t is the most recently established
order in the Catholic Church and has
never had headquarters in this coun.
try. That the headquarters are com.
ing to ST. Louis is due in great part
to Baroness Won Schonau-Wehr and
Miss Valeria Bleak, who during q
tour of the United States last spring
in the interest of the order, visited st.
Louis.
They were so cordially received by
Archbishop Glennon, the clergy and
citizens generally that, on their return
to Rome, it was decided that st. Louis,
as the most centrally located and most
available city of the Union should be
the American Headquarters.
The principal work Of the American
headquarters will consist in African
missions, among the religiously in
clined women Of the States, for the so
ciety consists of internal members
who dress in unassuming garb and
work directly among the natives, as
we'll as in external, or associate mem
bers who cooperate, so far as thei,
station in life will permit.
The propaganda will group itself un
der three heads-parish, children anG
press.
Parish work will mean supplying
lecturers and illustrated studies or
the African missions and the work &C
complished.
The children of parish schools will
be encouraged to contribute from
their own pocket money for the sup
port of the missions. 1t also is pro
posed that the children collect can
cefled postage stamps and tinfoil. II
is calculated that $40 worth of this
apparently worthless stuff will pur
chase one black catechist out Of
slavery.
The press work will consist of oh
tanning proper publicity in the Cath
Ollie papers Of this country, English
German and Polish, and in pushing
the subscription lists of The Echo
from Africa and The Negro Child
two publications of the society. These
publications are not discontinued
owing to the war;
Countess Marie Theresa Ledichows
XII, when % years old, became inter
ested In the African situation and in
1889 she assisted in the anti-slavery
movement in that country, and began
the publication of the leaflet, Echoes
from Africa.
A few years later the Countess, be
coming convinced that the only way tc
benefit the women of Africa was tc
uplift them through the channels Of
Christianity and evangelization, began
a campaign with that object in view
A few years. experience organizing
lay women into societies showed hel
the necessity of permanent, per
petual missionary society for African
| WORK exclusively.
The most effectual way of accom-
plfshing this seemed to lie in the es
tablishment of religious community,
with an active, working auxiliary in
Africa itself, so, in 1894, with the ap'
probation Of Pope Leo XIII, she, with
one assistant. initiated the sodality OF
st. Peter Claver.
After a period of more or less pre-
carious existence the order was intro
duced into Austria by the Patriarch Of
Vienna, afterward Pope Plus x, in
1900.
In another ten years it became SO
firmly established that the Holy See
gave definite and formal appreciation.
1t is expected that Countess Ledo-
chowski will be able to visit the Amer
lean headquarters in st. Louis within
! the coming year.