ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



Russia. The year was marked by a general 

 amelioration of the relations existing between Rus- 

 sia and the Holy See. The most important of these 

 was the accrediting of M. Tcharykow as minister to 

 the Holy See for the purpose o"f presenting to his 

 Holiness the programme for the disarmament con- 

 gress. As in the preceding year, the Holy See had 

 no direct episcopal communication with the bishops 

 of the Catholic Church in Russia, all relations being 

 curried on by means of the Ministry of Worship. 

 The sending of a Russian ambassador to Rome, 

 however, was looked upon in ecclesiastical circles 

 as an indication that the Czar desired to re-estab- 

 lish free communication between the Vatican and 

 St. Petersburg, and that the next step would l>o 

 the appointment of an apostolic delegate to the 

 Russian court. 



Belgium. Mgr. Keesens, Senator for Leinburg, 

 late in the year introduced a measure into the Upper 

 Chamber of Belgium for increasing the salaries paid 

 by the state to Catholic priests, which up to that 

 time had been 950 francs a year, as against 1,870 

 paid to Jewish pastors, and 2,640 to ministers 

 of all Protestant denominations. The support of 

 Catholic clergy by the state was regarded by the 

 Legislature as an act of restitution for the confis- 

 cation of all ecclesiastical property by the law of 

 Nov. 2, 1789. The Very Rev. A. Canon Hebbelynck 

 was appointed Rector Magnificus of Louvain Uni- 

 versity on July 31, to succeed the Right Rev. Mgr. 

 Abbeloos, resigned. By a decree of the Sacred Col- 

 lege of Propaganda, confirming the choice of the 

 Board of American Bishops, Canon Jules de Becker 

 was appointed president of the American College, 

 Louvain, in place of Mgr. Willemsen, resigned. 



Spain. By her loss of temporal sovereignty in 

 Cuba and the Philippine Islands, Spain lost also 

 the ecclesiastical control she had previously exer- 

 cised. The Spanish priests in her former colonial 

 possessions were not recalled, but were placed either 

 under the control of the American delegate apos- 

 tolic or under the direct supervision of the Propa- 

 ganda. Instructions were issued to them to assist 

 the new civil authorities in pacifying the people 

 and civilizing the country. 



The apparent danger of a Carlist rebellion after 

 the close of the Hispano-American war caused the 

 Pope to issue instructions to the Spanish hierarchy 

 to do all in their power to avert a rising. In case 

 of its occurrence, the priests and bishops were 

 directed to assist and support the reigning family. 



Italy. No essential modification of the strained 

 relations existing between the Quirinal and the 

 Vatican took place in the course of the year. The 

 continued aggressive action of the Italian Govern- 

 ment in suppressing Catholic societies, both reli- 

 gious and social, called forth an encyclical of pro- 

 test from his Holiness, in which the clergy and 

 people were exhorted to remain firm, to keep from 

 disorder, and to refrain as far as possible from par- 

 ticipation in Government. The Catholics of Italy 

 late in the year asked the Pope for permission to 

 vote in municipal elections, but the request was not 

 granted. If, as was the consensus of opinion at the 

 Vatican, the Italian Government was in danger of 

 collapse, it was not considered desirable that its fall 

 be hastened or participated in by the Catholic 

 element in the country. 



The Holy Father in April received a body of pil- 

 grims from Perugia, saying Mass for them in the 

 Sistine Chapel. After "giving them his apostolic 

 blessing, the Pope announced his gift of 500,000 

 francs to the Institution of Perugia. 



At Turin in September took place the public ex- 

 hibition of the sacred winding sheet in the Church 

 of St. Sindone, and afterward its transfer from 

 that church to the cathedral. The Church of St. 



Sindone being the chapel royal of the house of 

 Piedmont, King Humbert himself was present. 



Cuba. Asa result of tin- Spaniel-American war, 

 Spanish ecclesiastical jurisdiction in the island of 

 Cuba and Pijerto Rico ceased with the defeat of 

 Spain. The Most Rev. Placid Louis Chappelle, 

 I). I)., Archbishop of New Orleans, on Oct. 12, was 

 appointed apostolic delegate extraordinary for 

 Cuba and Puerto Rico and charge d'affaires for the 

 Philippine Islands. After a consultation with 

 Cardinal Gibbons in December he thus defined his 

 mission in Cuba, and also the change in ecclesias- 

 tical jurisdiction brought about by the war: 



" While striving to watch over the religious inter- 

 est of the Catholic Church, helping the bishops in 

 the work of reorganization, I snail use my utmost 

 influence to help the Government of the United 

 States to succeed in the work of political and social 

 reconstruction. 



"All the relations between the Church in Spain 

 and in the two islands have ceased so far as the 

 former exercised any authority. Heretofore the 

 priests were often appointed from Madrid, and 

 Spain exercised great influence and authority, both 

 directly and indirectly. All this is now ended, and 

 for the present the priests and the laity come 

 directly under the supervision of the Church at 

 Rome. The islands have not been placed under 

 the jurisdiction of an American diocese." 



In November the Archbishop of Havana issued a 

 pastoral letter which was read in all the churches 

 in Cuba, exhorting the people to respect the new 

 form of Government, with which, he said, the Cath- 

 olic Church in Cuba would work entirely in har- 

 mony. He thanked the Government of the United 

 States for the courtesy and respect shown to priests 

 during hostilities, and asserted his belief that under 

 the new Government the Church would be left free 

 and unrestrained, although not supported by the 

 state, as was the case under Spanish rule. 



The Philippines. More than 6,000,000 of- the 

 inhabitants of the Philippine Archipelago were nom- 

 inally Catholics in 1898. Of these less than one 

 sixth were cared for by secular or native clergy, the 

 remainder being attended to by priests belonging 

 to religious communities, who were nearly all 

 Spaniards. The Church received its principal sup- 

 port from the civil authorities. Of the tribute 

 levied throughout the islands, amounting to about 

 15 francs per capita, the church received a franc 

 and a half, or one tenth, with which churches were 

 built and schools endowed. This alliance between 

 church and state made rebellion against one rebel- 

 lion against both, and in the insurrection of the 

 Filipinos many monks were put to death, and much 

 ecclesiastical property was either confiscated or 

 destroyed. 



The on-ly change in the ecclesiastical administra- 

 tion of the islands made in 1898, was the appoint- 

 ment of the apostolic delegate to Cuba as chargt 

 d'affaires for the Philippines. His mission was to 

 examine and report what changes were in his 

 opinion necessary as a result of American accession. 

 It was not thought advisable to bring the islands 

 under the supervision of the American Church 

 until the country should, in part at least, recover 

 from its disturbed condition. 



Denmark. The number of mission stations in 

 Denmark in 18!)S was 40, of which 24 contained res- 

 ident pastors. For the first time in modern venrs 

 a missionary priest took up his residence in Iceland, 

 establishing a parish at Faskrudsfjord. 



South America. His Holiness Leo XIII under 

 date of Christmas Day, issued a brief, cum diutur- 

 num, to the archbisho'ps and bishops of the variou- 

 countries in Latin America which put forward the 

 design of their holding a general council at Rome 



