CATHOLICISM IN AMERICA DURING THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

New Zealand Tablet, Issue 3, 6 August 1908, Page 11

CATHOLICISM IN AMERICA DURING THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

_ M. Thureau-Dangin, a . well-known .French writer, "contributes lo a -Parisian review an article dealing with, the growth of the Catholic Church in the -United States during, the nineteenth^.century. Though the writer is mainly right in ' his. facis (remarks, the New York * Freeman's Journal '), he falls into tbe common enough mistake of neglecting a study of the real position of the Church in -the- early- days of last century. Proportionately to the numbers of Catholics in the country in Washington's day, it cannot > bcsaid ' that the -progress of Catholicity was an entire triumph from' the _ -beginning,"^ M. D&ngin would' have us to

inter. * The small number of . priests, .the almost . wholesale lack of church accommodation, general application in the spirit of the anti-Catholic prejudices of penal days; all had the' effect, of causing many- defections- JiomCatliolicity. The result of this -is shown in the number, of Catholics here in America at the present day, In reality,- instead of -the .estimated eighteen millions of the old faith, there should relatively to the number in the early days of the Republic, be at' least from thirty-five to. forty millions.

There is no doubt- that the Church has grown step by step with the Republic, but has .by no means shot ahead of it, as certain enthusiastic historians would sieem disposed to show. A time arrived when, owing to "the growth of accommodations and the increase in the number of the clergy, defections from the Church ceased, and it may be said that from the^days of the great Archbishop; I .' Hughes, the Church has not had to suffer desertions 'from lack of '-means .to look after the welfare of Catholic souls: . • -

Whereas in the early days there was but one" Archbishop with thirty priests, nearly all foreigners, the United States can boast to-day of thirteen Archbishops, ninety Bishops, 11,486 secalar and 4069 regular priests, 12/513 churches, 84 seminaries, and J »3 lo f3°° children receiving instruction in various Catholic schools.

Nowadays one. person in every seven is a Catholic, and in certain parts of the country" the proportion is much greater. In New York and Chicago the Catholics form one-third of the population ; in Boston, the historic citadel of Puritanism, they form one-half.

Such progress, when looked at from the point of view of figures, is magnificent ; .but it is all the more so when one considers under what difficulties it was accomplished.

v Whatever may have been the personal vyorth of the priests who at first came from abroad, their assistance in the missionary work must necessarily have proved transitory, for a church can only be said to be constituted when it possesses a native clergy. At the present day, save for some regions in the extreme West, the great majority of the priests are American-born.

As matters stand in New York, there is one priest for every 1500 inhabitants, while in Paris there is only one for every 5000, and it is nothing unusual to see a parish of 100,000 with only ten priests.

It is true, however, that in New York we consider the practical Catholics only, whilst in Paris how manf out of 100,000 are in touch with their priests? The small number of priests in a country frequently accounts for the growth of irreligion. This cannot, however, be said of America, where the seminaric: are flourishing, and where the number of vocations provides a guarantee of the future of the faith. In the same way, the progress of. the religious orders is marvellous, particularly of those which have a very active character.

According to calculations made some years ago, New York had 129 churches, or one for every 7700 faithful ;, Chicago 120,or one for 6900; Philadelphia 84, or one for 4500. Compared with Paris, we find that there was one church for 38,000. And yet with all this flourishing growth, there was nothing to be looked for" from the State. The Catholics had to pay all from their own pockets. -In the beginning they had been helped by subsidies which came from Europe, notably from the Society of the Propagation of the Faith, which, till 1892, made a grant amounting to 5,000,000 dollars'. " In 1907 the American Catholic Church received but 20,000 dollars, and their own contribution to the Propagation of the Faith, -which in 1880 was less than 11,000 dollars, amounted to nearly 200,000 dollars.

How rapidly the Church. extends" is shown by what the Abbe Klein tells of a parish he visited when in Ohio. Several years ago* the present parish priest was sent there, where, on his arrival, there was no chapel and no presbytery. The population amounted to 4000, composed of all kinds of people, Poles Magyars, Creates, Italians, Belgians, Syrians. Of the 4000 only 1000 were Catholics. To-day there are owing to the initiative of the same parish priest two churches built,, two more building and three schools. The priest had studied Polish, Italian, MaDre'ach tnT' T^ SlaVOnian ' in order to be able To preach to the people ,„ . their own .tongues. .As to .the, piety of he American Catholics, it .is, pot . my^cal Or .wavering, but is wnle and practical. Apostolic action is the secret of the succe s of American priests . and Jayxnen,,,and. -there is , not, says T Pangm any illusion or gross.,. exaggeration, in the § X-Hc Ca e Luc a " '" diSt3nt WhCn ■» *«*. -ay