ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



ROUMANIA. 



753 



opened in Belgium by the Catholic press for the 

 Pope. 



Canada. At a consistory held at the Vatican 

 on June 29 Mgr. Diomede Falconio, O. S. F., 

 bishop of the united sees of Aceranza e Matera in 

 the Basilicata, was appointed first regular apos- 

 tolic delegate to Canada. Other Canadian ecclesi- 

 astical appointments were that of Right Rev. 

 Denis O'Connor, Bishop of London, to be Arch- 

 bishop of Toronto, and of Right Rev. Fergus P. 

 McEvoy to be Bishop of London. 



Portugal. The nucleus of a pontifical Por- 

 tuguese college in Rome was formed in 1899 by 

 the ariving in the Eternal City of a few youths 

 from Portugal to begin their studies for the 

 priesthood under the direction of the Propa- 

 ganda. The start was given to the work by the 

 donation offered by a Portuguese gentleman in 

 Rome, whose efforts were seconded by contribu- 

 tions from the bishops of Portugal. The inau- 

 guration of the college marked a new era in the 

 relations of Portugal and the Holy See, since for 

 eight years only one Portuguese bishop had made 

 a visit ad limina, and while duly accredited papal 

 nuncios resided at Oporto, no representation of 

 the Portuguese clergy existed at the Vatican. 



Mgr. Sousa Barroso, Bishop of St. Thomas, was 

 tppointed Bishop of Oporto in January. 



Mexico. Archbishop Averardi, who early in 

 year was appointed visitor apostolic to Mex- 

 was received with scant courtesy by the 

 fexican bishops, so scant that the distinguished 

 lergyman returned at once to the Holy See. The 

 lostility manifested by the clergy was not 

 against the archbishop himself, but against the 

 reforms which the Pope was known to favor and 

 which his delegate was suspected of being sent to 

 introduce. In all Mexico, with a Catholic popula- 

 tion of 13,500,000, there are only 27 episcopal 

 sees, and of these 6 were created by Pius IX v and 

 S by Leo XIII. The erection of additional sees 

 was a reform which Mgr. Averardi was believed 

 to favor, and this was the principal cause of the 

 hostility to him. The objection to new sees 

 came not so much from the bishops themselves 

 as from the cathedral chapters, which in the 

 majority of instances were exceedingly rich and 

 powerful and reluctant to lose either revenue or 

 authority. 



South America. The most important event 

 for a decade to the South American hierarchy 

 was the convocation at Rome by request of the 

 Pope of the bishops of Latin America. The Con- 

 gress met in June, and rose July 10. Its work 

 was mainly the unification of ecclesiastical disci- 

 pline in Latin America, and it was successful in 

 formulating uniform conventions for Mexico, 

 Central and South America. Fifty-three arch- 

 bishops and bishops were present. 



The Pope in September addressed an apostolic 

 letter to the archbishops and bishops of Brazil 

 on the subject of the Catholic revival in that 

 country. In the beginning of the letter his Holi- 

 ness referred to the many causes of consolation 

 which he found in the revival ; and next proceeded 

 to deal with the various measures necessary or 

 <1i-sirable for a greater revival. Such he held to 

 be the establishment of seminaries similar to 

 those existing in Europe; the encouragement of 

 the Catholic press; the participation of Catholics 

 in public life; and the furnishing of the ecclesi- 

 astical organization with the means required for 

 its due working. 



Missionary Countries. President Kruger of 

 the South African Republic on Aug. 22 took 

 the first step in the history of the country look- 

 ing toward the removal of the civil disabilities 

 VOL. xxxix. 48 A 



of Catholics in the Transvaal. Under existing 

 conditions no Catholic, though otherwise quali- 

 fied for the franchise, could vote, hold office, or 

 receive state employment. In his message to the 

 first (or higher) Volksraad the President made a 

 strong appeal for the removal of these disabilities, 

 urging the Raad, as a test of eligibility, in Ar- 

 ticle XXXI of the Concept Grondwet, or state 

 Constitution, to substitute for the word " Prot- 

 estant " the clause " those who believe in the 

 revelation of God through his Word in the 

 Bible." Action on the proposed measure, which 

 would have the effect of extending the franchise to 

 Jews also, was postponed by the Raad for a year. 



South Africa in 1899 contained two vicariates 

 and two prefectures apostolic, the vicariates of 

 Natal and the Orange Free State and the pre- 

 fectures of Basutoland and the Transvaal. There 

 were in 1899 10,000 Catholics in Natal, 5,000 in 

 the Orange Free State, 6,000 in Basutoland, and 

 8,000 in the Transvaal. 



The Nestorians of Asia Minor, who for years 

 were vacillating between the Greek Church and 

 the Catholic, in May turned to the latter in the 

 number of 80,000 at Van, where two French mis- 

 sionaries had taken up their residence. 



The Japanese Government in 1899 passed a law 

 recognizing the Christian religion as one of the 

 state organizations. The immediate effect of the 

 law was to improve the status not only of the 

 missionaries in the country, but also of the 125,- 

 000 Japanese who had embraced Christianity, of 

 whom 53,000 were Catholics, .48,000 of various 

 Protestant denominations, and the remainder at- 

 tached to the Greek Church. 



The principal missions of the Catholic Church 

 are carried on under the direction of the great 

 French Societe des Missions F.trangeres, which 

 has a practical monopoly of this work in China, 

 Japan, Tibet, Cambodia, Siam, Burmah, south- 

 ern India, and the East Indies. The annual re- 

 port of the society showed 32 bishops and 1,600 

 priests engaged in the work, 40 seminaries, and 

 2,985 schools. Their census showed a Catholic 

 population of 1,200,000 in the countries above 

 mentioned, of whom nearly 200,000 had been 

 added in 1899. The feature of the work to which 

 special attention was directed was the prepara- 

 tion and ordination of native priests, of whom 

 there were 584 in 1899. 



The Franciscan Fathers who have charge of the 

 missions in Palestine, Syria, Asia Minor, Egypt, 

 and Cyprus had in 1899 450 priests at work in 

 the province and a Catholic population of 63,000. 

 The friars educated 4,000 scholars in 1899 in the 

 ordinary secular branches. In connection with 

 the missionary work in the Holy Land, the Fran- 

 ciscans in 1897 decided to erect a college on 

 Mount St. Sepulchre, near Washington, where 

 postulants would be trained especially for mis- 

 sion service to carry out the four objects of the 

 Franciscan rule in Palestine, which are the propa- 

 gation of faith, the preservation of the sacred 

 shrines, the civilization and education of the na- 

 tives to a Christian and social life, and the pro- 

 tection and accommodation of pilgrims. The col- 

 lege and monastery were solemnly dedicated Sept. 

 17, 1899, by Mgr. Martinelli, the apostolic dele- 

 gate. The church which was built in connection 

 with the monastery, is of novel form, being 

 shaped like a Greek cross. 



ROUMANIA, a monarchy in eastern Europe. 

 The legislative power is vested in a Senate of 

 120 members, elected for eight years by two 

 classes of property holders, except 2 members 

 for the universities. 8 bishops, and the heir to 

 ihe throne, and a Chamber of Deputies, consist- 



