AX CATHOLIC CHUIJCII. 



687 



union. The congregation is a fixed one. Its mem- 

 bership includes cardinals and patriarchs of lioth 

 the Eastern and Western Churches. The Pop. 

 thus in a manner made permanent the policy out- 

 lined in his encyclicals to the Urient and to Eng- 

 land. 



On Dec. 29 the Pope gave audience to a body 

 representing the old Pontifical Army. He made an 

 address to the representatives, in which, after 

 speaking of the services rendered by the army, he 

 declared that the papacy would finally triumph. 

 ided that he had received offers from Canada, 

 Ireland, and elsewhere, from people who were ready 

 to hasten to the defense of the papacy. He hoped 

 the time would soon come when he could see him- 

 self surrounded anew by sons as faithful and as 

 well beloved as those who had comprised the Pon- 

 tifical Army. 



Statistics. The Sacred College sustained only 

 four losses by death during the year 1896. These 

 were Cardinal Louis Galimberti. aged fifty-eight. 

 died at Rome. May 7: Cardinal Giuseppe Maria 

 Graniello, aged sixty-two, died at Rome. Jan. 8; 

 Cardinal Gustavus Adolphus Hohenlohe, aged sev- 

 enty-three, died at Rome, Oct. 30 : Cardinal Raphael 

 Monaco La Valletta, aged sixty-nine, died at Cas- 

 tellamaro, Italy. July 14. 



The " Gerachia Cattolica " states that during the 

 pontificate of Leo XIII 109 cardinals have died. Of 

 the cardinals created by Pius IX only 7 survive. 

 During the eighteen years that Leo XIII has been at 

 the head of the Church he has filled the college of 

 cardinals almost one and a half times. The num- 

 ber of patriarchs of both rites that is. Latin and 

 Oriental is 10; the archbishops and bishops of the 

 Latin rite, with residential sees. 815 : those of the 

 Oriental rite, 51. There are 343 titular archbishops 

 and bishops and 13 archbishops and bishops no 

 longer possessing sees. There are 7 prelates of the 

 Oriental rite with episcopal character, and 6 prel- 

 ates have no diocese. This makes, including the 

 cardinals, a total of 1.300 dignitaries, speaking all 

 tongues, to whom is intrusted the government of 

 the Church. 



From the "Catholic Directory" for 1896. pub- 

 lished in London, under the sanction of Cardinal 

 Vaughan and his suffragan bishops, some interesting 

 particulars as to the present condition of the Church 

 in Great Britain are learned. In England and 

 Wales there are 17 bishops, including the Vicar 

 Apostolic of Wales, and in Scotland 7 more; the 

 total of priests in Great Britain is 3.014. and they 

 serve 1.789 churches, chapels, and missions. Of 

 these priests 2.01)0 are of the secular and 924 of the 

 regular clergy. Besides the above there are resident 

 in England 1 archbishop and 2 bishops of titular 

 sees (in pariibus). The Catholic faith is professed 

 by 41 peers of England. Scotland, and Ireland, by 53 

 baronets, by 15 privy councilors, and by 3 English 

 and 67 Irish members of Parliament. The esti- 

 mated Catholic population of the United Kingdom 

 is nearly 5.500.000 namely, England and Wales. 

 1.500.000: Scotland, 365,000: Iivland 'a.-cordinsr to 

 the census of 1*'.H . 3.550.000. Inclusive of British 

 North America. Australia. India, and the colonies 

 and other possessions, the total Catholic population 

 of the British Empire- is estimated at 10.250.000. 



The Rt. Rev. A. E. Medlycott. Bishop of Trico- 

 inia and Vicar Apostolic of Trichur, Malabar. In- 

 dia, has given some interesting facts concerning the 

 condition of the Church in India, which are here 

 summarized : The Church occupies a prominent 

 position in British India. The Catholic missions in 

 India were governed by a vicar apostolic until they 

 passed from a state of mission into a settled condi- 

 tion of Church government. Pope Leo XIII. in 

 1887, established the hierarchy in India. That 



hierarchy consists of 8 metropolitan and 22 suffra- 

 gan ><<>. Th" total Catholic population of India is 

 about 2.000.000. Throughout the country tin -r 

 about 00 European mi^sionarir.-. as.-i.-tcd by about 

 1 .ono native priots. About 100.000 children are in 

 attendance at 2.000 schools. India has 2 vicariati-s 

 apostolic and 4 apostolic prefectures, making in all 

 liters of Church government. 



Cardinal Gibbons, in a widely published commu- 

 nication, recently drew attention to tin.. hi>try of 

 the Catholic Church in the United > a re- 



markable demonstration of her undying vitality." 

 A hundred years ago the outlook for her was any- 

 thing but encouraging. There were a few thousmd 

 Catholics scattered over the country, whose spir- 

 itual wants were attended to by 5o priests, who fre- 

 quently had to travel hundreds of miles in the per- 

 formance of their duties. Speaking of the change 

 that has taken place, the cardinal said : " A cen- 

 tury ago her adherents were but a few thousand. 

 To-day her priests number more than 8,000. and 

 she rejoices in the possession of 10.000.000 children. 

 Her churches, schools, and asylums of 'charity are 

 increasing everywhere in the land. She stands to- 

 day full of youthful vigor, one of the most potent 

 factors in American civilization.'' 



The Catholic population of the world is estimated 

 by the Propaganda press to be more than 300,- 

 000.000. 



Italy and the Papacy. Catholic authorities 

 claim that since the fall of the Pope's temporal 

 power Italy has steadily declined in material pros- 

 perity. Basing its facts on figures furnished by the 

 Commissioner of Immigration for the United States, 

 the "Catholic News" (New York) of May 10 re- 

 marked : 



< fppression and poverty have more to do with 

 emigration than any other cause. Now let us see 

 how many Italians have fled from their own sunny 

 land since the Pope has been despoiled of his own. 

 Since the beginning of this year about 16.000 immi- 

 grants from Italy have been landed in the port of 

 New York. March alone showed 9.320 Italian im- 

 migrants against 2.665 the previous March and 

 the year before. Among them were found 

 many Italians who had quitted this country, but 

 were disgusted with the conditions of Italy under 

 Humbert. Italian immigration has shown an ex- 

 traordinary growth of late. From 1 V 21 to 1895 the 

 total immigration from Italy was 680.568. and. 

 what is significant, three sevenths of it fell within 

 the last five years and six sevenths within the last 

 fifteen years." 



The same journal quotes the following from the 

 New York "Tribune": 



At no time has the Italian monarchy been so un- 

 popular as now. the people at large holding King 

 Humbert responsible for the Abyssinian disasters 

 and for the terrible economic situation of the coun- 

 try. They identify him with the abhorred triple 

 alliance, which has been the bane of Italy, political- 

 ly, financially, industrially, and commercially. And 

 should one of these days" the mined, starving, and 

 overtaxed population rise up in its despair to over- 

 throw a dynasty that has transformed Italy from 

 the fairest and gladdest country in Europe into the 

 saddest, it will be found that the papacy will have 

 weathered this, as so many previous storms, and 

 that with all sail set to the democratic wind it is 

 riding safely on the stormy waves of the revo- 

 lution." 



The above extracts are given as reflecting in a 

 degree the expressions of the Pope himself, who has 

 publicly reiterated the charge that since he was 

 robbed 'of his temporal possessions Italy has retro- 

 graded, and who has given renewed expression of 

 opposition to any sort of alliance of the Church 



