THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES

New Zealand Tablet, 6 April 1911, Page 611

THE CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES

According to the Catholic Directory for 191.1 there are 14,618,761 Catholics in the United States, this being a gain of 271,734 over the total presented a year ago. If the number of Catholics in the Philippines, Porto Rico, and the Hawaiian Islands is added the grand total of Catholics under the Stars and Stripes would be nearly 23,000,000, to to be exact, 22,886,027. The figures given in the Directory are in no way exaggerated, and although the* United States Religious Census of 1906 credits the faith with only 12,079,142, the difference can be accounted for, as the Census Bureau deducted 15 per cent., for infants and children, counting only communicants. In addition to this the United States Government report was made up in 1906, four years ago. The compilers of the Directory used only the figures received from the chancery offices of the various dioceses.

A glance through the work shows that there are 17,084 Catholic priests in continental United States, 12,650 being secular clergy •and 4434 being members of the various religious orders. Comparing the number of clergy with last year's report it will be seen that there was a gain of 535. Among the hierarchy there have been very few deaths during the year, the number of archbishons being twelve since the death of the venerable Philadelphia prelate, and the number of bishops having increased from 88 to 97. Quite a number of vacant sees were filled during the year and several auxiliary bishops appointed. According to the publication there are 9017 churches with resident priests, and 4441 mission churches, that is, churches which are supplied from neighboring parishes. The grand total of churches is 13,461. This shows a gain of 257 churches during the past year. Another interesting set of figures shows that Catholic education is not neglected. The Director!/ gives a list of 4972 parochial schools, with an attendance of 1,270,131. A healthy gain is shown in the number of school children, last year's school attendance being 1,237,251. In addition to the 4972 parochial schools there are 225 colleges for boys and 696 academies for girls. There are, furthermore, 82 ecclesiastical seminaries with 6969 aspirants, to the priesthood. Including the children in parochial schools, the young men and women in colleges and academies and the orphans and infants in the 285 asylums, the total number of children being cared for in Catholic institutions amounts to 1,482, 699. The seven States in the Union having the largest number of Catholics are as follow:New York ranks highest

with 2,758,171; Pennsylvania, is second, having 1,527,239; Illinois follows in third place with 1,446,400; Massachusetts is fourth with 1-380,921; Ohio stands fifth, having 694,271 Louisiana boasts of 557,431; the State of Wisconsin has 540,956.