The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1915-02-13

thank you for having sent us a
priest. When my daughter became
a convert some years back, / shed
bitter tears. Now | tremble at the
thought that she might grow weak
in the Catholic faith, for then she
would be poor lost lamb without a
shepherd Now the danger is avert
ed"
Tolerance in Sweden.
In Sweden religious tolerance was
not granted until 1860. 1t should be
borne in mind that Sweden gave to
the world one of the foremost Cath
Ollie women, known to us as St.
Bridget of Sweden. She was born
in the year 1903 and in her seventy
years Of active life played an impor-
tant part in history at Ayignon and her
relation with st. Catherine of Sienna.
There are today many finely built
old Catholic cathedrals in Sweden.
There are the splendid cathedrals at
Upsala, Lund, Linkoping, Vistera and
Skara, as we'll as the celebrated Mon
astery Church in the North of Sweden,
and the one at Valstena built under
the direction Of st. Bridget, with the
many smaller edifices scattered over
the country, all of which are the work
of Catholic hands and are now in the
possession of Professionals.
What makes the Church Of st. ELL
gene, Stockholm Quilt in 1870, so
dear to the Catholics of Sweden is the
fact that it was the first to be conse-
Grated after the Reformation.
From the time of the Reformation
until the publication of the Edict of
Tolerance by Gustavus III. in 1881, all
public manifestation of Catholic wOr-
ship was forbidden in Sweden. The
Holy Sacrifice of the Mass could only
be celebrated in private chapels be-
longing to foreign embassies. If a
Lutheran embraced the religion for
merly professed by the entire nation,
the religion Of st. Eric and of st.
Bridget, the convert was eXiled and
his goods confiscated.
In 1892 the Catholics at Stockholm
had the happiness of seeing a church
erected in honor Of the martyred king,
ST. Eric.
This church is the only Catholic
one in Sweden which possesses a bell.
The Angelus is rung there, and the
residence of the Vicar-Apostolic is sit
uated close to this edifice. The Vicar
Apostolic is obliged to often travel
long distances in the exercise of his
sacred functions. Sweden is very
large country, and the small number
of Catholics who do not reside in
Stockholm are scattered over the i'm
mense territory. There is also beau
tiful little chapel, dedicated to st. JOS
eph, erected in 1892, in the Catholic
cemetery outside Stockholm, the gen
erous gift of Madame de Koudriaffsky,
the widow of the Russian ambassador.
In the provinces there are Catholic
churches at Malmoe, Gothenburg,
Norrkoping, Gehe and Halmoe. The
latter is the one most frequented by
the Polish workingmen, who go to
Sweden in such large numbers to work
in the beet-root sugar fields. These
men often sacrifice their small wages
in order to purchase a railway ticket,
or walk long distance, in order to
be able to receive the Holy Commun-
ion.
The Polish labOrers had for many
years a faithful friend i'm the person
of an old priest, Count Bernard Stol-
berg, descendant of the famous
writer, Frederick Leopold Stolberg, a
dipIomatist, whose conversion sur
prised the Protestant world. The
Able Stolberg has his fixed residence
at Norrkoping, but he undertakes long
journeys in different districts of Swe-
den among the Polish workingmen.
The Church of Finland.
Finland, for so many years attached
to Sweden, suffered the same vicissi-
tudes as the larger country and nearly
eranism became the established relig-
ion of the country, and a Catholic,
priest or layman, was rare specimen
until the Russian conquest brought a
few Polish soldiers and minor officials
in its wake.
Towards the end of the last century
a slight Catholic revival set in. The
census of 1900 listed IT'S Catholics, as
against 2,662,171 Lutherans, 4G,46G
members of the Russian Orthodox
Church, and 3,170 adherents of various
sects, Baptists, Methodists, etc, ap.
proximately twelve hundred all told
Polish priests ministered to the spir-
itual wants of the faithful until quite
recently.
1t is interesting to note that the
first Finn to become pastor of church