Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1916-10-16

| diocese over whose destinies you to-
day have come to preside consists of
| fifteen counties in what we, of
/ this locality, believe to be the fairest
| portion of the State of PENNSYLVANIA.
At one extremity of your diocese is
/ the famous county of Lancaster.
! which, l believe, is unequalled for the
| fertility of its soil in the whole world;
| and at the other extremity. in North
! cumberland county, are the almost in
exhaustible sources of the precious an
! thracite coal. which have helped TO
! make our Conn onwealth the envy of
| this entire continent.
| Between these two extremes of the
territory which constitutes the dio-
cese of Harrisburg we have numerous
great industrial plants such as the
Pennsylvania steel WORKS: and within
| the limits of our fair Capital City it
self are several important manufac-
| turing concerns, which contribute ma
| terially to the general prosperity. For
| prosperity is the keynote of this por-
| ton of Central Pennsylvania; God has
blessed us with more than the average
/ of the good things that this earth pro-
Ndes. In the last two decades for in
| stance this country has passed through
several rather trying industrial crises.
| yet in Harrisburg and its vicinity we
were scarcely affected by what else
| where proved so calamitous.
Strong Religious Body
of the Capital City itself in which.
right reverend bishop, you will make
! your future home, l have nothing but
good TO say. In the first place, TO
| speak of your own particular charge,
! from nearly eighteen years experience
| of the Catholics of Harrisburg l ven
ture TO say it will be difficult to find
/ religious body of equal numbers that
/ have done so much. When your i'm
/ mediate predecessor came here in
May, 1899, Harrisburg, had a Catho-
! lie population of some three thousand
souls, who were easily accommodated
| in two small churches. In the mean-
! time three new parishes have been
| formed, all of which, spiritually and
/ materially. are in fiourishing condi-
/ ton; the debt on the mother churches
| has been paid off without difficulty,
and to-day the financial obligations on
your cathedral are but little more than
! one-half what Bishop Shanahan found
on the old procathedral, eighteen years
| ago.
1T is. of course, true that the dio-
| cese contributed largely towards the
erection of the cathedral. but the ca
thedral parish cheerfully assumed
! nearly half of its entire cost, which
as have indicated, in just ten years it
! has almost wholly paid. And not only
| that but in addition this clubhouse has
/ been erected for the benefit of the
| Catholics of Harrisburg. though Who'll
| ly at the responsibility of the cathedral
! parish, and l may tell you in conf
/ dence there is not the slightest danger
| that the mortgage will be foreclosed.
| For this satisfactory condition let me
1 here say the credit is entirely due to
a number of generous souls of the city
who have become founders of Cathe-
| dral Hall. and to the Harrisburg Coun-
/ nf la L mir lf fNf 1ta,,,
when the project was first put for
ward guaranteed for ten years sum
suft1cient to cover all the interest
charges
Thus you will see, by dear bishop,
that the flock entrusted to your care
is one in which any spiritual shepherd
may feel satisfaction; for, what / have
said of the Catholics of Harrisburg /
| could say with equal truth of the
| Catholics of every city, town and ham,
| let where there is a Catholic church
in your diocese. Fervet opus. has been
the watchword for the past two dec
ades, and the results of living up to the
motto speak for themselves. Your
| diocese at this moment contains near
! ly hundred thousand Catholics, in
seventy-two parishes, whose spiritual
welfare is admirably cared for by one
| hundred and four priests. l may add
! that of these seventy-two parishes.
| twenty-seVen, or more than a third,
were established by Bishop Shanahan.
1t will, am sure, please you particular
| ly to learn that forty-three parishes
maintain parochial schools. in which
ten thousand children receive a solid
Christian education.
Non-Catholic Friends
And now let me speak a word of
our non-Catholic friends within the
boundaries of this diocese. Long be-
fnr L ba1 g
for myself ! had heard things by no
means pleasant of the attitude OF
those outside the church towards
Catholics in Central Pennsylvania. In
this respect the city of Harrisburg it.
self was supposed to be particularly
distinguished. You can imagine than
eighteen years ago, the little less than
CONSERVATION with which / received
my appointment as rector of the ca
thedral; it was just the last position
in the diocese that / looked for or de-
sired. But, there was no getting out
of the matter, so ] came. In a little
while, to my agreeable surprise, /
found our citizens as whole just the
| reverse of what i supposed. |
found, for instance, businessmen cor
dial. affable. courteous and always
willing to accommodate.
II found the press of Harrisburg
perfectly fair, and not only willing but
anxious TO give Catholic events of mo-
ment their due share of notice, and we
asked no more. In time also | found
what a distinguished parsonage calls
"our citizenry' in general open mind
cd; ready even, though brought up in
an atmosphere none too friendly, to
admit our claim to a square deal.
Therefore for many happy, If some
what strenuous years i have esteemed
it privilege to be citizen of this
charming city. OF which we are all so