The Catholic bulletin., 1916-01-22
CATHOLIC HISTORICAL REVIEW
SUMMARY CT CONTENTS or THE
CURRENT ISSUE - PUBLISHED
AT THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY,
WASHINGTON, D. CAN INTER
EsTiNG NUMBER FOR JANUARY.

WASHINGTON, D. CAN INTER,
EsTING NUMBER FOR JANUARY
i 1t is a surprising thing that in all
the historical work done by Catholic
scholars of New York, so little that
is accurate on the life and activity OF
it's first bishop should be known. II
has taken a long while for Bishop
Concanen to come into the rightfnl
/ place where his great learning and
his affectionate interest i'm the early
Church in the United States have
merited. During many years Of re-
search work in the European ar
chives from Dublin to Rome, the
Very Rev. Father Victor #. O'Daniel,
of the Dominican House of Studies,
Washington, D. c., has collected a
vast amount of material upon the
| life of Concanen which he is now
using for the first time in a series OF
articles in the Catholic Historical
Review. The first, upon Richard
Luke Concanen, the Priest, compris-
es the years 1747-1807. This arti-
Gle, in the January issue OF the Re-
view, is~bound to attract the atten-
tion of ecclesiastical scholars the
world over. Its Importance arises
from the fact that it settles the
questions, of Bishop Concanen's par
entage, the exact place and date of
his birth, and his early education up
to the time of his entrance into the
Dominican Order. Concanen is one
of that band of Irish students who
were educated, as was the custom
in penal days, in the Holy Cross Col
lege of Louvain, still standing on the
Rue des Dominicains Irlandais in the
old Flemish capital. Father O'Dan-
iePs article is also of great impor-
tance from the fact that it takes ex-
ception with Shea's explanation of
the alleged interference of Arch
bishop Troy of Dublin in the appoint
ment of our first Bishops Archbish-
op Troy has been called the arch
meddler of American ecclesiastical
affairs of that period; and here for
the first time we have an explanation
of his activity which rebounds to the
credit of the illustrious Dublin pre-
late. In a subsequent paper, which
will appear in the next number of the
Review, Father O'Daniel will carry
on the life of Concanen to his APP
pointment as Bishop of New York;
and, as in the present article, many
documents from Propaganda and the
Dominican archives at Rome, Dublin,
and Washington will find place in
pointment as first Bishop of the
greatest American city of that time
or of our own
Preservation of Documents.
Probably the One outstanding lesson
which was taught to the delegates at
the recent annual meeting of the
American Historical Association in
Washington was the great necessity of
caring for archives of all classes
in the United States in order to
prepare the way for solid research
work on the part of American schol-
.ars in the future. The Catholic
Church, as Doctor Fitzpatrick says
in his article on the "Preserya-
tion of Ecclesiastical Manuscripts
can i'll afford to be neglectful
towards the records of her hui
man activities, and all the more
SO in the present state of social un-
rest. There is no more valuable re-
pository of human experience in the |
United States than the archives of |
the Catholic Church; and the fact
itself, which all must admit, that |
many very important documents |
have been lost through neglect and |
through destruction in the past |
ought to arouse those who are in |
charge of these archives with a de-
termination of preserving all that
can be kept for future generations.
Doctor Weber, in his article on |
"Rise of National Catholic Churches
in the United States" tells the his
tory of the German and French |
churches from Philadelphia to New
York and Baltimore. His article is
valuable from. the fact that he gives
us a synthetic view of the influences
which led to the formation of these |
national churches; and it has special |
value at this time when the old ma
tional churches of certain races are
dying out and new national churches |
of other races are being founded.
Chronology of Catholic Hierarchy.
Probably the most important arti-1
Gle of the January number of the Re-
view is that by Bishop Corrigan of |
Baltimore on the Chronology Of the
Catholic Hierarchy of the United
States" Historical workers, who |
already know the works Of Reuss,
Clark and Shea, know that many
mistakes have occurred in the COM
pilation of these volumes. During
the present year the Catholic His
torical Review" will publish in Sc
ries Of articles complete chronology
of the Catholic hierarchy from the
scholarly pen of the Auxiliary Bishop
of Baltimore. 1t is needless to say
that with the completion Of this sub
ject the chronology of the Hierarchy
will be settled for future time.
There is very pathetic page in
the January number, on the Failure
of the Ohio Valley Catholic Histori-
cal Society of Pittsburgh, which was
founded in 1884 but which lasted a |
very short time, owing to the indif- |
ference of the Catholics of that sec
ton.
The Department of Documents