ROME

New Zealand Tablet, 11 January 1912, Page 47

ROME

THE LATE CARDINAL MORAN. A Requiem High Mass for the repose of the soul of the late Cardinal Moran was celebrated on November 15 in the Basilica of St. Agatha dei Gothi attached to the Irish College, and was made the occasion of a touching tribute to the memory of the great Irishman. From .various quarters messages appropriate to the occasion reached the College, the most characteristic. coming from the Bishop of Bobbio, in North Italy, where St.* Columbanus labored and died. This wire ran as follows:—' This morning the children of St. Columbanus, united in spirit with the Irish in Rome, have offered the Holy Sacrifice on the tomb of their Patron Saint for the repose of the soul of the'great Cardinal Moran.' The reply to this was:—' The Irish in Rome return their heartfelt thanks to the children of St. Columbanus for the kindly thought that inspired them to pray for the soul of their great fellow-country-man.' The church was beautifully draped in black and gold throughout, a lofty catafalque surmounted by a Cardinal's biretta occupying the centre of the edifice. The celebrant of the Mass was the Right Rev. Dr. O'Dea, Bishop of Gal way. THE SACRED COLLEGE. Of the more than sixty'Cardinals who constituted the Sacred College when Cardinal Gibbons entered it twenty-five years ago, there are only three left besides himself—Cardinal Oreglia, who* is , still dean of the . Sacred College;' Cardinal Neto,' who, after spending many years as Patriarch of Lisbon, has retired definitely into a convent of his Order (he belongs to the Friars Minor), and Cardinal Capecelatro, Archbishop of.. Capua, who has recently recovered from a very serious illness, at the age of eighty-eight. In the whole Catholic Church there are only four Bishops who have worn the.mitre longer than Cardinal Gibbons—signor Melius, the Chaldean Bishop of Mordin (consecrated October 7, 1864), Monsignor Cezon, titular' Bishop Q f Byblos (April 15, 1865), . Cardinal ■ Oreglia

(May 4, 1866), and Cardinal Di Pietro (June 25, 1866). . , , _ ~. . V.; ' THE NEW CARDINALS. *\ Nearly all the titular churches for the new Cardinals were chosen by the Holy Father during the early, part of November (says a Rome correspondent). . To the Archbishop of Paris has been assigned 'the title of Cardinal-Priest of S. Sabina on the Aventine Hill, from which church Cardinal Mathieu took "his title. In accordance with the tradition of ages, the great Franciscan Church of Ara Cceli, which is served by the Friars Minor, has been chosen by the Most Rev. Archbishop Falconio; while the Dominican Church., of S. Maria in Minerva has been selected for the Archbishop of New York, the third American Cardinal, the Archbishop of Boston, receiving; the ancient S. Calisto as his titular church, S.. Pudentiana, at the foot of the Esquiline Hill, from which Cardinal Wiseman took his title, has been assigned to the Most Rev. Dr. Bourne, Archbishop of Westminster. This is supposed to be the most ancient v of all , the churches of Rome, being built on the site of the mansion of Senator Pudens, who here gave hospitality to St. Paul and became a Christian, with his whole family, in 41 A.D. Treating of this relic of Apostolic days, Lanciahi says:' 'Here the first converts met for prayers; here Pudentiana, Praxedes, and Timotheus, daughters and son of Pudens, obtained from Pius I. the institution of a regular parish-assembly, provided with, a baptismal font; and here, for a long time, were preserved some pieces of household furniture which had been used by St. Peter. The tradition deserves attention, because it was openly accepted at the beginning of the fourth century.' ;:.-..; <: •,;.. ..* ; . - ff- :t- .<r ■■■v. J ,,.-'.y-:■•:.