ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. (UNITED STATES KX 



581 



to Pustet of Ratisbon, giving him exclusive au- 

 thority to publish the Medicean edition of the 

 Gregorian chant, had expired. The significance 

 of this last decision, read in connection with the 

 papal brief to the Benedictines at Solesmes, is 

 that it practically revokes the authorization given 

 to the Ratisbon edition, and paves the way for a 

 recognition of the results of the labors of the 

 Benedictines for the restoration of pure Grego- 

 rian chant as the authorized form of chant to 

 be used in all the Catholic churches in Christen- 

 dom. 



The Pope, in August, took steps toward the 

 reorganization of the Girolamite College in Rome, 

 which was founded by Nicholas V about a hun- 

 dred years ago for the benefit of the Croats. Pope 

 Leo XIII turned the college over to the Croatian 

 bishops, for use as an ecclesiastical seminary. 

 Inasmuch as Nicholas V's bull erecting it refers 

 to it as a hospice for Dalmatian and Slovenian 

 pilgrims, and some present-day Dalmatians are 

 Italians, they appealed to the prefect of Rome to 

 prevent the execution of the papal decree. On 

 Aug. 29 a band of Italian Dalmatians invaded the 

 institute with the avowed intention of resisting 

 the papal bull, and the Italian Government ap- 

 pointed an administrator of the institute. Then 

 Austria, under whose patronage the institute had 

 been since its foundation, sent a strongly worded 

 note to Italy, demanding the withdrawal of the 

 administrator and the Dalmatians. They were 

 withdrawn, and the institution turned over again 

 to the Pope. 



Preparations for the celebration of the silver 

 pontifical jubilee were begun late in the year, for, 

 in spite of 'the alarming newspaper reports, the 

 Pope's health during the year was uniformly 

 good. His present reign of nearly twenty-four 

 years (twenty- three years ten months and eleven 

 days to Dec. 31) makes it the sixth in order of 

 duration. The popes who have reigned longer are 

 St. Peter (33-67), thirty-four years six months; 

 Pius IX (1848-78), thirty-one years seven 

 months twenty-two days; Pius VI (1775-'98), 

 twenty-four years six months fourteen days; 

 Adrian I (771-'95), twenty-three years ten months 

 twenty-seven days; and Sylvester I (314-'37), 

 twenty-three years ten months twenty-four days. 



The statue of St. John Baptist de la Salle, the 

 most recently canonized saint, was lifted to its 

 niche in St. Peter's in October. It is the work of 

 the sculptor Aureli, and is about 18 feet high. 

 Its niche is in the right wall of the principal nave. 

 The statues in St. Peter's are arranged in accord- 

 ance with the symbolism of the immense temple. 

 The altar, in the very heart of the edifice, stands 

 upon the body of Peter; around it are the bodies 

 and relics of the 12 apostles, as if gathered in a 



Eerpetual council about their head; around these 

 j a wider crown formed of the great founders 

 and foundresses who have raised up religious 

 families in the Church; finally, St. Peter of Al- 

 cantara and St. Theresa stand at the door, as it 

 were, to remind Christians of the spirit of prayer 

 and mortification with which they should enter 

 the house of God. 



United States. By a decision of the Depart- 

 ment of the Interior, rendered in May, Indian 

 children belonging to a Government school were 

 permitted to attend a private or denominational 

 school if their parents so chose. This decision 

 was reached only after a long agitation by Cath- 

 olic missionaries. It had been made by Mr. 

 Browning, Commissioner of Indian Affairs under 

 Cleveland, at a time when the Catholic schools 

 were also Government schools. The withdrawal 

 of Government aid put the schools on a private 



from 



to 



y of 



ami 



ft 



footing, and prevented 1h 

 attending them. 



Pope Leo XIII in July a-Mn . ! 

 Cardinal Gibbons, commending the i n 

 Washington for the progressi1 !,,: ; 

 mentioning the means by which 11 

 could be greatly increased. 



The third annual conference of 1.1), 

 colleges of America met April 10 at ( ) 

 was addressed by Cardinals MaVtinelli ami "i;,- 

 bons. The association adopted a set oi n 

 tions calling to the attention of American hi 

 the need of founding and developing Catholic 

 high schools and of working in concert toward 

 securing recognition from the state of the work 

 being done in the parochial schools. 



Mgr. Scalabrina, Bishop of Piacenza, sailed 

 from Italy to the United States in August to 

 examine into the religious condition of his coun- 

 trymen in this country. Following him came 25 

 nuns of Piacenza to take charge of the schools 

 he was to found. 



In August were received papal briefs erecting 

 the new diocese of Altoona, Pa., to be composed 

 of the counties of Westmoreland, Fayette, Indi- 

 ana, Blair, Cambria, Somerset, Huntington, Bed- 

 ford, and Clinton. Mgr. Eugene Jarvey was 

 named as bishop of the new diocese, and was 

 consecrated in September. 



Right Rev. Michael Wigger, Bishop of the dio- 

 cese of Newark, N. J., died Jan. 6. He was 

 succeeded in his episcopate by Right Rev. John J. 

 O'Connor, previously vicar-general of the diocese. 

 At the same time Mgr. William H. O'Connell, rec- 

 tor of the North American College, Rome, was 

 elected to succeed the late Bishop Healy as Bishop 

 of Portland, Me. 



The Catholic population of the United States 

 at the close of 1901 was 10,774,987, a growth of 

 645,312 during the year. There were in the United 

 States 13 archbishops, 80 bishops, 11,987 priests, 

 6,127 churches with resident priests, 3,518 mis- 

 sions with churches, and 1,774 chapels. 



Of Porto Rico the Catholic population was 

 1,012,400; of the Philippines, 6,565,998; of Hawaii, 

 33,000; and of Cuba, 1,600,000. 



England. The address of the Duke of Nor- 

 folk to the Holy Father was considered important 

 enough to stir the British public to some indigna- 

 tion over what it stigmatized as " a wanton at- 

 tack on a friendly power." In spite of the stand- 

 ing of the speaker, something might have been 

 born over the newspaper discussion of it, had not 

 the Queen's death put the matter out of the pub- 

 lic mind. The national regret over the loss of its 

 ruler was voiced in pastoral letters on the subject 

 from the cardinal archbishop and the bishops of 

 every Catholic diocese in England. 



The royal declaration against popery then took 

 the center of interest, and held it until a tem- 

 porary disposal of it was made at the close of 

 the session of Parliament. The declaration which 

 his Majesty was required to make upon his acces- 

 sion was framed in the reign of Charles II, when 

 religious animosities were unusually bitter. It 

 runs as follows: 



" I do solemnly and sincerely, in the presence 

 of God, profess, testify, and declare that I do 

 believe that in the sacrament of the Lord's Sup- 

 per there is not any transubstantiation of. the 

 elements of bread and wine into the body and 

 blood of Christ, at or after the consecration 'there- 

 of by any person whatsoever; and that the invo- 

 cation or adoration of the Virgin Mary or any 

 other saint, and the sacrifice of the mass as they 

 are now used in the Church of Rome, are super- 

 stitious and idolatrous. And I do solemnly, in 



