The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-07-09
WORCESTER NOW AND 90 YEARS AGO
 AS CATHOLIC CITY
Work of Early Catholic Mis- sionary Interestingly De-
 scribed By Dr. Rooney.

interesting incidents Of the early history of the Catholic church in New England are embodied in an article by James A. Rooney, IL.D., in the New York Freeman's Journal of the current issue. pr. Rooney recalls the work of Father James F1tton, and the dedication of the first Catholic church in worcester The town rec ords of Worcester. for 1895. he points out, indicate that there was not a Cathode in the town. The first to ar rye were Irish enntgrantsl attracted by the prospect of work on the Black stone canal. He Continues:
 What is the condition of things Catholic there today and what signifi- canoe has the contrast? There are probably not less than 5o,000s Cath olics in the city of Worcester, for sev- enteen churches are required to oc- commodate them, and this week they will celebrate the eighty-first ami vefsary of the foundauon of their first church, then called Christ church, now St. Johns, and the man who laid the cornerstone was none other than that famous New England missionary Father James Fftton. who performed the ceremony July T, 1834s as noted in our Catholic Chronology.
 It was not only the first church in Worcester but it was also the first church within the limits of the preS7 ent diocese or SprangIfeAQ, Which though only established in 1870 now boasts of a Catholic population of 3sO, ,eee, n1inistered to by over 300 priests in over 200 churches
 .sF'afher F1t1on. whose name and tame t1lumines the pages of New Eng ter early in 1884, while pastor of Holy Trinity. Hartford, and after say ing mass occasionally for time in private houses, purchased the plot on which now stands St John's church. It y<as with no little difficulty that he secured the property, for he had to buy 1t through the friendly offices of three Protestant gentleman not of the Puritan stripe They were Francis fP. Blake and Harvey Pierce who, per haps for their kindly act were later granted the gift of the faith and Will forwards governor of the state. Three years later the little church was fin ished and occupied and Father Fit tom soon became the resident pastor and remained in charge until 1S43- Today in the six New England states seven cathedral spires pierce the clouds and seven mitred prelates, in cluding a cardinal, hold spiritual sway where this humble priest once wan dered saving mass and preaching to the scattered Catholics wherever he could ind them
 Father FTtton was born in Boston, the son of a. convert mother, April 10, 18o5, and he was baptized the same day by I0rs Francis Matignon. He and yViI1ianl Tyler, afterwards a convert and still later Hartfordss first bishop, SE EEfe class-fe1lows in a school in Cler- mont N- H. taught by another noted New England convert Virgil Horace Barber. He learned his theoIogy from the lips of Bishop F'enWick of Boston and he and Father Wiley Shared the honor of being the first priests ordained by Bishop Fenwick in Boston. Dec g, 1827-
 H Tile then began a missionary ca reer that lasted for a quarter of a. cen, tlry having for his field of labor, as he says in his '-Sketches,'' the district lying between Boston and New York, with occasional visits to New Hamp- shire, Vermont and Rhode Island He travelled through the New England states as often on foot as in the ve- in which were his vesEnents and the sacred vessels and other nacessaTies for the ce1ebradons of mass and the administration of the saraments. To
 him is dne the credit of having cs1e- b1atHd the first mass in many of the towns and villages of New England, including among other Stonington, TVaterbury, Norwich, Bridgeport Norfolk A1dddzetown, NorthfieId, " esteT1y, Pfttsford, Cficopees and
 s.He succeeded Fathers Bernard #OCavanaugh in the pastorate of Hartforcss first church Holy Trinity, Oct 27, 1881, and remained there, at the same time rnn1s4eging to the Catholics of that part Of Connecticut, until April IS, 1886, when he assumed the pastorats of Worcester, Mass. There in his little seminary of Mount St James he laid the foundation of what is now the largest Jesuit college In the world, Holy Cross. This was in 1840 and two years later he deeded the property comprising sixty acres to Bishop Berwick who in 18A3 invited the Jesuits to take charge with Father Thomas F. Mul1ady and his small staff. They arrived Sept 2s, 1s48, and on the following Nov. 2 began the work of education which has since borne such wonderful fruit.
 Bishop Fenwick appointed Father Fttton pastor of the Church of the Most Holy Trinity. East Boston, in 1855, and there under the same pa tronage as that of his first parish he celebrated his sacerdotaI golden jub- ice in 1877 and there he died the death of a, saint Sept. Is. 1s81.'
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