New-York tribune., 1921-03-25

enlarging st. Joseph's Female Orphan
Asylum.
His untiring labor, attracted the at
tention Of Archbishop Bayley, of the
Baltimore diocese, who felt himself to
be in hopelessly failing health, and ac-
give him Bishop Gibbons as coad-
jutor, with the right of succession
The request was granted, and in 1877
Bishop Gibbons was thus appointed
few months later, upon the death of
Archbishop Bayley, he succeeded to
| the Archbishopric of the premier see
of the United States. Thus, at the age
Of forty-three, he occupied the most
distinguished Office in the Roman Cath
olic Church in America.
His First Visit to Rome
In this place he continued the con-
structive activities for which he had
| become noted. He founded the St.
James Home for Boys in Baltimore and
other institutions, besides numerous
new churches. In 1883 he was called
to Rome by Pope Leo XIII, as head of
delegation of American prelates, to
report upon and discuss the state and
prospects of the Church in this coun-
try and to make arrangements for the
third plenary council, to be held the
next year. When the body met in
Baltimore in November, 1884, Arch
bishop Gibbons was designated by the
Pope to be it's presiding officer.
Meantime, upon his return from
on "The Confiscaton of the American
College in Rome by the Italian Gov
ernment," which attracted wide atten-
! tion
When the records of the transactions
and DEGREES of the third plenary coun-
lcil were transmitted to Rome the Pope
expressed in high terms his apprecia-
tion of the service and ability of Arch
bishop Gibbons. 1t was an intimation
of what soon was to come.
John McCloskey, Of New York, the
and shortly afterward, at consistory
called especially for the purpose,
Archbishop Gibbons was elevated to
the rank of Cardinal as his successors
\ At that time Pope Leo XIII said:
"The fourishing state Of Catholicism
in the United States, which develons
daily more and more, and the condition
and form according to which the &C.
clesiastical canons of that country are
I1ormulated, advise Us, or rather de-
mand, THAT some of their prelates be
received into the Sacred College," To
the messengers who were to convey
to the new Cardinal his cfflcial insig-
MIA, the Pope added, with an injunction
to present his affectionate paternal
benediction upon Doctor Gibbons:
"We remember him with sentiments
of the most cordial esteem, and be-
iieve we could not confer the hat upon
more worthy prelate."
Impressive Ceremony i'll Baltimore
The new Cardinal selected June 80,
the twenty-ffth anniversary of his or
dination as a priest, for his formal in
vesture with the insignia and dignities
of the Cardinalate. The ceremony
took place in the Baltimore Cathedral,
with all the pomp and circumstance
OF the ritual. The representative of
the Pope was Archbishop Kenrick, of
st. Louis, and there was a vast as
emblage of the hierarchy from all
parts of the country.
In the January following, Cardinal
Gibbons went to Rome to receive the
apostolic benedicton from the Pope
and to take his seat in the Sacred
College. He was then installed as pas
tor of his titular chapel of Santa Maria
di Trastevere in Rome, beyond the
Tiber, an Institution antedating the
discovery of America
On that occasion he delivered patri-
otic address, and while in Rome con-
ferred often with other prelates con-
corning the attitude of the Church
toward the Knights of Labor and other
labor organizations.
He returned to Baltimore in Novem-
Der, 1887, and resumed his active labors
for the Church He laid the corner
stone of the Catholic University at
Washington and later dedicated the
1 completed buildings. Two years later
--he celebrated the centenary of the Ro-
! man Catholic hierarchy in the United
/ States with imposing ceremonies in the
Baltimore cathedral. He also partici-
:. pated in the centennial celebration of
I the diocese of New York, preaching the
sermon on that occasion in St. Pat
rick's Cathedral.
1 His own golden Jubilee, the hftieth
anniversary q, hit ordination, was
tion in 1911. Catholics and Protes-
ants, Jews and Gehtiles, united in a
general committee n Baltimore to ar
range great demonstration there
4 June of that year. Among the speak
4 ers were President Taft, Vice Presi-
( dent Sherman, ex-President Roosevelt,
the British Ambassador, James Bryce;
the Speaker OF the House OF Repre-
4 sentatives, Champ Clark; Senator Elihu
! Root, Governor Crothers of Maryland,
Mayor Preston of Baltimore and the
! ex-Speaker Of the House, Joseph G.
( Cannon.
! An Anniversary Celebration
Again, inz October of that year, the
twenty fifth anniversary of his eleva-
/ ton to the Cardinal&te was celebrated
I with services in the Baltimore cathe-
| dral and with the laying Of the corner
| stone Of the Gibbons Memorial Hall of
the Catholic University of America, in
! Washington.
In December, 1913, the papal con-
sistory in Rome drew attention to the
fact that Cardinal Gibbons had becom :
1 the senior Bishop Of the Catholic
1 world, although not the official dean
Of the Sacred College.
The first national congress of Cath
/ Ollie laymen in the United States was
/ convened by Cardinal Gibbons in 1883,
! and he was the first Roman Catholic
prelate in the United States tor take