The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-06-07

of the death of Rev. William F.
 Lynch, who organized St. Charles
 parish. He was a popular priest, beloved, honored and respected by members of all creeds. Priests may come, and priests may go, but the Church goes on forever" His mem ory will be cherished by his numer-
 ous friends as long as they live. The foundation for the new school of St. Michaers church on Kossuth and Sterling streets is being rapidly pushed.
 The Holy Trinity Greek church was organized May 2, 1891. The pastor is Rev. Orestes Pchornock. ] This makes 19 Catholic churches in the city.
 A church of unusual interest is the Catholic Greek church of St. John the Baptist, located on Arctic street near Hallett. It is a large brick church with stone trimmings and surmount- ed with a tall steep1e which is double cross. There are also two double crosses on the wooden ventila- | tors on the roof. The corner stone was laid in 1906. The rectory ad- | jacent to the church is built of sim liar material and presents a cheerful appearance. The pastor Is Rev. Joseph Kova1chik. The masses on Sunday are at s:30 and 10;S0 o'clock | in the forenoon.
 There are 17.54s,324 Catholics in | the forty eight states of the Union, | according to the 1919 edition of The | Official Catholic Directory just pub | lished and copyrighted by P. J. Ken | edy & Sons of New York. This shows q net increase of 133.021 in
 the number of Catholics over the preceding year. Only nine dioceses | show decreases.
 l Although this is the smallest in I crease shown in many a year, it is accounted for by the fact that in va | rious dioceses no new census was | taken during the unsettled conditions | of last year.
 This Catholic population figure is | not over-estimated or exaggerated, | but according to Joseph H. Meier, | who has compiled The Directory for | the past fourteen years, the figure 1 17,549,32 is low and very conserva- | tive. If the floating" Catholic pop | ulation could be recorded and if it ] had been possible for every diocese | in the country to take a new 1918 | census. the Catholic population would
 total over 19,5oO,oOo, according to | MT. Meier.
 During the last twenty-five years
 the Catholic Church has made giant | strides as is evidenced by comparing g | the figures in former Directories. | Tracing back the population figure 1 twenty-five years it is shown that the | increase in the number of Catholics | in the United States during the past | quarter of a century has amounted to | S,471,459.
 1 Adding to the figure 17,549 which is the Catholic popula ton of 1 the United States proper, the num- 1 Der of Catholics in Alaska. the Canal 1 Zone. the Virgin Islands Guam. the i United States possessions in Samoa,
 the Hawaiian Islands, Porto Rico | and in the Philippines it developes 1 that there are 26,332,650 Catholics i under the protection of the United i States flag.
 Other figures taken from the copy { lighted Summary show that there are l in the United States proper:
 Archbishops 14; bishops 97; Cath i olic priests 20,5SS; secular clergynen 1 IS ,052; Fathers belonging to Religious | Orders 5,536: churches with resident ! priests 1O,460; Missions with churches
 l 5.5S7; seminaries no; semfnarians
 1 1885; parishes with schools 5.75S;
 | children, attending parochia1 schools
 1,63S,599; orphan asylums 294; or
 phans 46,069; homes for aged 116;
 colleges for boys 215; academies for
 ! girls 674.
 l According to the 1919 issue of Kenedy's Official Catholic Directory
 twenty eight states have a Catholic ! population of 100000 or over, as fol- ! lows: