The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1921-04-02


Papal Infallibility.
1t was the first Ecumenical COrn-
I'll since the one of Trent, in 1915,
and Plus in calling it said it was to be
an extraordinary remedy for extraor-
binary evils The countries of
were then beginning to re-
open the question of the relation of
the church and state; there had been
much trouble and the air was filed
with forebodings. "a
~Into this great council went Bishop
Gibbons, Sc years old, only eight
years out of the seminary, the young
est bishop of the Catholic Church in
the world Slight of frame and even
more youthful looking than his years.
he was called by the other members
of the council the baby Bishop But
modestly, as befitted his youth, he
did his part in the great work before
him.
"At this council the then Bishop
Gibbons met Cardinal Pecci, who
'afterward became Pope Leo XIII, the
Great Pacificator.' The friendship
formed at the council lasted through
the years and had much to do with
the Pope's remarkable familiarity
with the problems of the Church
in America
The Faith of Our Fathers. =,
Four years later (having in the
meantime lahored greatly in North
Carolina, and incidentally composed a
book, The Faith Of Our Fathers" oi
which million copies have been
sold), Bishop Gibbons was transferred
to the See of Richmond, Va, retain
ing, however, the charge of his vi
cariate. In 1876, when the Cathedral
of Baltimore was consecrated by
Archbishop Bayley, Bishop Gibbons
preached.
church's Present Strength in
America.
Today, forty-four years later as the
great American Cardinal ends his
work, there are nearly 20,000,0O(
Catholics in the United States. There
are nearly as many priests-some
twenty thousand in alias there
were individual Catholics in 1776
There are more than 10000 Church
edifices. The value OF Catholic
property is given by the census o.
1916 at 1914, 206,S95, an increase O
nearly s1OO,OOO,OO0 in a decade. The
value of Catholic Church property
far exceeds that of any other Church
Becomes Archbishop of Baltimore
In March, 1877, Bishop Gibbons be
came coadjutor with the right OF sue
cession to Archbishop Bayley, the
eighth Archbishop of Baltimore; ant
before the end of the year Bayley hat
departed and Gibbons was the Pri
mate of the Catholic Church of the
United States.
Called to Rome few years later
(1S83) by Pope Leo Kill, together
with. other American Bishops, Arch
bishop Gibbons discussed the subjects
which were to be dealt with at the
Third Plenary Council, which was
held at Baltimore the next year, 1884
and at which he presided as Apostolic
Delegate.
The number of prelates at the
Third Pienary Council was almos
double that of those who ATTENDED
the Second Council, at which Arch
bishop Gibbons had served as Assist
ant Chancellor, in 1866. Seventy-on'
Archbishops and Bishops of tn
United States were there, in 1884
with five visiting Bishops from Can
| ada and Japan. There were grea
figures among them, such as ireland
Spalding, Keane, Ryan and Kenric
| of st. Louis, the brother of tina
greater Kenrick, the former Arch
bishop of Baltimore, who. in tn
| words of Gibbons himself, ''illumina
ed all Christendom by his learning
and they dealt with great problems
of education and of ecclesiastical go'
eminent, and with those problem
they dealt greatly-doing, indeed,
monumental work, recognized as sue
by the Sovereign Pontiff, and by tn
whole Christian world.
There. was, for prime example, tn
foundation of the Catholic Universit
of America. The higher education c
the clergy of the United States an
of Catholic youth had long been on
of the great objects, of the America
i Hierarchy. The development OF
distinctively American clergy was
matter that the Archbishop of Bait
more and other leading men Of tn
i Church had pondered earnestly. Say
Allen S. WILL the Cardinal
!, biographer on this point: I'm coll
NAL times the American priesthoo
had a French tinge. Later, when tn
wave of Irish immigration set in, tn
q priests. were largely of Irish birth
and as Germans began to swarm I
4 the shores of America, there was al
other Introduction of foreign inf
+ ence. ,t,
Archbishop Gibbons, a natiy
American, an intense admirer. OF tn
Hand of his birth, an optimist regar
ing the American people, felt tn;
this should be changed. While
priest could execute his Divine mi
sion without being one in language
social environment with the recir
ents of his ministrations, it was Il
better to have an, American clergy fl
Americans.
The Cardinals Great Speech.
Two years after the Council,
} 1oee. Archbishan. .Gibbons was eleya