Catholics in the United States

New Zealand Tablet, 27 August 1908, Page 23

Catholics in the United States

*It is, 1 says the Missionary,,' generally conceded by judicious men who know conditions and who at the same rime ha» .\ an outlook over the country at large, that .there are at least 15,000,000 Catholics within the borders of the -United States." They say that this figure is a conservative statement. The Directory puts the figure at 13,887,426, but we know that this figure is obtained by-compilation from reports that minimize the actual numbers and it includes some estimates that have been repeated for many years. However, this figure shows an increase of 788,073 over the figures of last year. Including the Catholic population of the Philippines, which amounts to 7,106,452,"and adding the 1,000,000 Catholic population of Porto Rico and 35,000 Catholics of the Sandwich Islands, the enti.-e Catholic population under the United States flag amounts to 22,018,898. As the Christian communicants of the United States are estimated to be about 33,000,000 it is seen that we Catholics are more than one-third, of the Church-connected people of the country. The" largest of , the Protestant denominations in this country is the Methodist Episcopal Church, whose members number 3,036,667.' At the last meeting of the- Maynooth Union, the Very Rev. Father Doyle (Rector of the Apostolic Mission House at Washington, and head of the missionary movement for non-Catholics in the United States),said in part: 4 Last year 25,054 converts were received into the Church in the United States and made the profession of faith, and that was,only the beginning of their workY'arid witnin the last month or two/, nearly a score of Episcopalian " ministers were received into jthe.,Church.' . Wft may add that six of the^Protestant Episcopal.clergy..her.e'-re ferred to are to enter the Seminary, of St. Charles. Bor.romeo, Overbrook, in September", to study 'for the priesthood.. ' Three recent Episcopalian clerical"' converts have already^ preceded" them at Overbrook. One Protestant Episcopalian "nun (from Peeksgill, N.V.) has been received into the Church, and two others of; her community "are under instruction at the Cornwells_ Convent.