678 



ROMAN CATHOLIC CHUECH. 



cardinal deacons are all natives of Italy. 

 Among the cardinal priests, there are 6 French- 

 men, 3 Spaniards, 4 Germans, 1 Croatian, 1 

 Belgian, 1 Portuguese, and 1 Irishman ; alto- 

 gether, 19 foreigners and 19 Italians. In the 

 whole College of Cardinals there are 33 Italians 

 and 19 foreigners. According to the Annuario 

 Pontificio for 1867, published at Borne by the 

 Propaganda College, the number of patriarch- 

 ates, archbishoprics, and bishoprics in the Catho- 

 lic Church, throughout the world, amounts to 

 1,092. This includes all the prelates of the 

 Oriental Churches that are in communion with 

 Rome namely, those of the Armenian Catho- 

 lics, the Maronites, the Greek Catholics, the 

 Syrians, the Bulgarian Greeks, and the Syro- 

 Chaldaic rites. Of the 1,092 sees in the Catholic 

 world, 131 were vacant when this list w r as pub- 

 lished; leaving 961 prelates throughout Chris- 

 tendom, of whom 490 were present last July 

 in Kome, and signed the address to his Holiness. 



In accordance with the circular letter, ad- 

 dressed on December 8, 1866,* by the cardinal 

 prefect of the " Sacred Congregation of the 

 Council of Trent," to all the Catholic bishops of 

 the world, a large number of bishops, priests, 

 and laymen from all parts, assembled in Rome, 

 in June, to be present at the solemn canoniza- 

 tion of several saints. In point of numbers, 

 this was one of the largest assemblies of 

 bishops of which the history of the Catholic 

 Church makes mention. According to the 

 official list, published in Rome, there were pres- 

 ent live cardinal bishops, thirty-two cardinal 

 priests, nine cardinal deacons, six patriarchs, 

 ninety-five archbishops, and four hundred and 

 twenty bishops in all, five hundred and 

 sixty-seven. All -the countries which have 

 Catholic bishops were represented, except Rus- 

 sia. From the United States there were pres- 

 ent five archbishops and eighteen bishops ; 

 from England, eight bishops, with Dr. Manning, 

 Archbishop of Westminster, at their head; from 

 Scotland, three bishops ; from Ireland, fourteen 

 bishops, headed by Cardinal Cullen. Turning 

 to the East, all its various rites were repre- 

 sented ; as Greeks, Ruthenians, Syrians, Chal- 

 deans, Maronites, Armenians, and Copts. There, 

 were bishops, too, from India, China, and the 

 islands of the Indian seas. The bishops laid at 

 the feet of the Pontiff the offerings of the 

 faithful in the countries from which they came. 

 Their donations in money were estimated at 

 about $1,500,000. 



On Tuesday, the 25th of June, the Pope re- 

 ceived the American clergy. The archbishops 

 of Baltimore, St. Louis, New Orleans, Cincin- 

 nati, and a number of bishops and many 

 clergymen were present at this interview, 

 during which the Pope took occasion to espe- 

 cially compliment the American prelates upon 

 the result of their recent Council at Balti- 

 more. On Thursday, June 27th, the Pope 

 delivered an allocution to the assembled pre- 



* See ANNUAL CYCLOPAEDIA for 1860. 



lates, in the course of which he praised their 

 great zeal in coming to Rome from such dis- 

 tances, and thus evincing their attachment and 

 devotional obedience to the Holy See. He said 

 that the example shown to the world by the 

 union 'of the Church at large in its celebration 

 of the canonization of several new saints and 

 the eighteenth centenary anniversary of St. 

 Peter's martyrdom, would show forth to the 

 enemies of the chair of Peter the immense 

 power which the Church wields on earth. The 

 Pope confirmed the condemnation of the errors 

 mentioned in the encyclical of December 8, 

 1864. He also expressed his desire to convoke at 

 an early day an oecumenical council, with a view 

 to deliberate on the best means of removing 

 the evils which oppress the Church. The ob- 

 servance of the celebration proper commenced 

 on the evening of the 28th, with a general 

 illumination of the city of Rome. At seven 

 o'clock the next morning there was a grand 

 procession of prelates, priests, monks, and sol- 

 diers from the Vatican, to St. Peter's. The 

 Pope was carried on his throne. There was 

 an immense crowd assembled in the interior of 

 the church before his arrival. St. Peter's was 

 most magnificently decorated with cloths of 

 gold, silver tapestries, paintings, and two hun- 

 dred thousand yards of crimson silk; The 

 building was lighted with many millions of wax 

 candles. There were one hundred thousand 

 people inside its walls, including the ex-King 

 of Naples, the foreign ministry, five hundred 

 cardinals, archbishops, and bishops, and many 

 thousands of clergymen, priests, and monks. 

 The Pope celebrated the Gregorian Mass in Lat- 

 in and Greek. Liszt had composed extra raufde 

 for the Grand Mass, and a choir placed on the 

 dome of St. Peter's made the angelical re- 

 sponses. The following saints were canonized : 

 Blessed Johosaphat Kuncevich, Archbishop ; 

 Blessed Peter l)e Arbues, and Nicholas Vich, 

 with 18 companions, martyrs ; Blessed Paul of 

 the Cross, passionist ; Blessed Leonard of Port 

 Maurice, Franciscan confessor; Blessed Mary 

 Francis of the "Wounds of our Lord ; and Bless- 

 ed Germana Cousin, a poor shepherdess, virgin. 

 The place of honor at the Pope's right hand, on 

 occasion of the canonization, was occupied by 

 Archbishop Purcell, of Cincinnati. 



Although the special purpose for which the 

 bishops had been convoked was the canoniza- 

 tion of saints, the most important fact in con- 

 nection with the meeting was the official an- 

 nouncement of the Pope's intention to convoke, 

 at an early day, an oecumenical council. The 

 Catholic Church has not held an oecumenical 

 council since the Council of Trent, which met 

 in 1545, and altogether recognizes only nine- 

 teen such councils. The first of these was the 

 Apostles, at Jerusalem, A. D. 50. The others 

 were held as follows : 1st of Nice, in Bythinia, 

 A. D. 325; 1st of Constantinople, 381; 1st of 

 Ephesus, 431 ; Chalcedon, 451 : 2d of Constanti- 

 nople, 553 ; ' 3d of Constantinople, 680 : 2d of 

 Nice, 787; 4th of Constantinople, 869 ; 4 cunn- 



