Mount Saint Marys College - Eagle Yearbook (Orchard Lake, MI)

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114 Leo XIII raised it to the dignity of a pontifical institute in his Bull of October 25, 1884, Ubi primum. When the assembled Bishops at the Third Plenary Council of 1884 expressed the hope that a Catholic uni- versity be founded in America, Pope Leo XIII sanctioned the under- taking and by the Apostolic Letter Magni nobir gaudii of March 7, 1889, approved the university constitution and statutes, and empowered the university to grant degrees. So came into being the Catholic Uni- versity in Washington, D. C. The flow of immigrants into the United States after the Civil War was great. Pope Leo XIII saw the need of special work among various immigrant groups. In 1879 he authorized the erection of a special college and seminary for the training of priests for the Polish Cath- olics. ln 1889 he urged Mother Cabrini to go to America and put her community at the service of the Italian immigrants. Another problem 1 solved by Leo XIII was the question of a papal representative in the United States. Hitherto the Archbishop of Baltimore acted as the Pope's representative. In 1895 the Pope appointed Archbishop Satolli as Papal Legate with residence in Washington, D. C. Pius X showed his regard for the church in the United States on several occasions. On March 11, 1906, he wrote an inspiring letter Qzmm centum ante anno: to Cardinal Gibbons in commemoration of , the centenary celebration of the erection of the mother diocese of the Church in the United States. In his lettet Sapienli Comilio of june 29, 1 1908, Pius X released the American Bishops from the jurisdiction of the Sacred Congregation and put to an end the mission era of the Cath- olic Church in the United States. After the first world war, Pope Pius XI gave the American Catholic Church new evidence of papal benevolence. During the Holy Year of 1925, the Pope decreed the solemn beatification of eight missionaries l of the Society of jesus, who in the middle of the seventeenth century , were put to death by the Indians in Canada and northern New York. T Five years later, on june 29, 1950, Pius Xl canonized these Northy American martyrs, one of whom, St. Isaac Jogues, met his death in the northern part of New York state. In 1936, Pope Pius XI sent his Secre- 1 tary of State, Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli, to visit the United States. Pius XI once again honored the United States when he beatified Mother Cabrini in 1938. In 1939 Cardinal Pacelli ascended the throne of Peter. Five months after his election, Pope Pius XII showed a great interest in the Negro and Indian missions in the United States. In his encyclical letter to America, Sertum Laetitiue, issued on November 1, 1939, Pius XII praised the American Catholics and called on them to continue their splendid Apostolic work. When President Roosevelt appointed Myron C. Taylor as his personal representative to the Pope, Pius XII in his I Christmas Eve speech of 1939 expressed his joy at Roosevelt's step, 1 which, he said, was especially gratifying since it would bring valuable contributions not only to the efforts of peace but also to the victims of 1 war. When ten years later Taylor resigned due to ill health, Pope Pius l expressed his regret at the ending of a mission which has proven so l efficient and fruitful. Perhaps the most outspoken token of recent papal regard for the Catholics in the United States came in july, 1946. In his first canoni- zation after the second world war, Pope Pius XII raised to the altars of the church the foundress of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart, Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini, who has been called the mother of Italian emigrants in the United States, and the first American Saint. The canonization marks a fitting close to this brief outline of papal relations with the United States-a record of which American Cath- olics are justly proud in this Holy Year of 1950. Bernard J. Czechowicz y THE UTTITED STHTES HITD THE PITPES ' The two hundred and fifty-second successor of St. Peter sat on the T papal chair when the United States emerged out of the War of Inde- pendence as a free and self-overning nation. His name was Pius VI I and he ruled from 1775 to 1799. To him was addressed the first peti- tion of American Catholics in 1783.

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rejoicing over their release. The crusaders of centuries ago set out for the Holy Land to free and defend it from the Moslems. Christians in 1950 can become modern crusaders by pilgrimaging to the Holy City to restore the peace of Christ throughout the world. Chester S. Frysiak THE PUPES HHH THE UHITEU STHTES When on the twelfth of October 1492, Christopher Columbus reached San Salvador Island in the Bahamas 400 miles east of Florida, the See of Peter was held by its 216th occupant, Pope Alexander VI. Seven months later, in 1493, Alexander signed three documents which conferred on Spain all the islands and the lands of the new world dis- covered by Columbus. A month later on june 25, 1493, the Pope issued a Bull by which he appointed Father Bernard Boyl first Bishop of the new world, introducing the church officially into the Americas. In the next 290 years, thirty-six Popes followed Alexander VI in the long line of successors of St. Peter. During these 290 years, the new world discovered by Columbus was explored, settled and developed by Europeans. One area particularly grew more quickly than others. It was the United States which developed from thirteen small British colonies founded in the early seventeenth century into an independent republic in 1783. At the close of the War of Independence, the number of Catholics in the new Republic was about 22,000 scattered mainly throughout Maryland and Pennsylvania. The first direct relations between the Holy See and the English Catholic Church in the United States occurred in 1784 with the appointment of Father john Carroll as Prefect-Apostolic by Pope Pius VI, the 252nd successor of St. Peter. The same year, on june 16, Pope Pius VI issued a special letter to the Catholics in the United States extending to them the privileges of the Holy Year of 1775, in which American Catholics had been unable to participate owing to the outbreak of the War of Independence. On November 6, 1789, Pope Pius VI issued a brief, Ex has aportolicae, creating the first Episcopal See in the United States-Baltimore-and appointing the first Bishop in the United States-Father john Carroll. This is the first and most precious papal document in the possession of the church in the United States. It marks the formal establishment of the American hierarchy. When the United States acquired the Louisiana Territory and the two Floridas, Pope Pius VII on january 29, 1791, made the new terri- tories a part of the diocese of Baltimore. As years went by, the work in this vast diocese became too large for one Bishop. So in 1799 Pius VII established four new dioceses-Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Bardstown. The four sees were made suffragan to the Archdiocese of Baltimore. I On November 8, 1823, Pope Leo XII decreed the establishment of the provinces of Michigan and the Northwest as a separate diocese with the Episcopal See in Detroit. But the brief of March 20, 1827, erecting the See of Detroit for some unaccountable reason never left Rome. The See of Detroit was finally created on March 8, 1855. In 1840 Pope Gregory XVI condemned those who unjustly molested Indians and Negroes and despoiled and enslaved them. During the Pontificate of Pope Gregory new sees were formed at Indiana, Natchez, Dubuque, Nashville, California, Texas, Pittsburgh, Hartford, Milwau- kee, Chicago and Little Rock. The work of forming new dioceses was continued by Pope Pius IX, who created sees at Oregon, Buffalo, Albany and Cleveland. Pius IX also confirmed the choice of Mary Immaculate as the Patroness of the United States. In 1850 Pope Pius IX acceded to the American request for holding a national Council and appointed Archbishop Francis P. Kenrick to preside over this First Plenary Council in the United States. In his letter of August 9, 1855, Pius IX urged the American Bishops to found an American College in Rome, which was erected on August 15. 1858. When in 1875 the Question of Catholic education was discussed by the American Bishops, the Holy Father urged the American Bishops to establish parochial schools, when various other plans were proposed. On the occasion of the Silver Jubilee of the American College, Pope 113

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The petition was framed by a committee of five priests appointed by the first general Chapter of the American Catholic clergy held at Whitemarsh, Maryland, on November 6, 1783. The committee was composed of Fathers john Lewis, John Carroll, Bernard Diderich, Ignatius Matthews and james Walton, missionary priests residing, as they said, in the Thirteen United States of North America. This petition stated that they were placed under the recent supreme domin- ion of United America and could no longer have recourse for spiritual jurisdiction to the Bishops and Vicar-Apostolics residing in foreign states Clinglandj, not recognize any of them as their ecclesiastical superior without open offense to the American government. There- fore, they petitioned that the power of granting the necessary faculties to priests coming to America might be given to some priest who was a resident in the United States. Specifically, they asked of the Pope that Father john Lewis be formally constituted Superior of the Church in the new Republic, with certain episcopal privileges-administering the Sacrament of Confirmation, blessing chalices, and delegating priests for the missions. Acting upon this petition, Pius VI named Father john Carroll Prefect-Apostolic June 9, 1784. Thus the jurisdiction of the Vicar-Apostolic at London was brought to an end. In 1789 Father Car- roll was named first Bishop of the United States. The non-Catholic population of the United States in the eighteenth century did not share the Catholic attitude toward the Pope. So wide- spread was the antipapal sentiment that Washington in his general orders to the Army, November 15, 1775, forbade the observance of Pope's Day, a mock ceremonial like Guy Fawkes Day. An effigy of the Pope would be borne in procession and burned with riotous proceed- ings. These celebrations took place in New England, and the soldiers stationed there conceived the idea of enjoying a rough holiday by hold- ing a Pope's Day of their own. General Washington's order said: The Commander-in-Chief cannot help expressing his surprise that there should be officers and soldiers in this army so void of common sense as not to see the impropriety of such a step at this juncture, at a time when we are soliciting, and have really obtained, the friendship and alliance of the people of Canada, whom we ought to consider as breth- ren embarked in the same cause, the defense of the liberty of America. At this juncture and under such circumstances, to be insulting their religion, is so monstrous as not to be suffered or excused, indeed, in- stead of offering the most remote insult, it is our duty to address public thanks to these our brethren, as to them we are indebted for every late happy success over the common enemy in Canada. In the nineteenth century, perhaps the most significant incident in American-Papal relations was the recognition of the papacy by the United States. Even before this recognition American consuls were stationed at Rome, Civita Vecchia, Ancona and other cities of the Papal States. The chief purpose of these consular agents was a commercial one, but so little exchange existed between the United States and-the Papal States that the work involved in the office was almost negligible. In his annual message to Congress on December 7, 1847, President Polk announced that the United States Government was considering the opening of diplomatic relations with the court of Rome, and a bill was introduced to defray the necessary expenses of the office. The bill to establish the legation at Rome passed by a vote of 137 to 15 in the House of Representatives and by an equally large majority in the Senate. On April l, 1848, Jacob L. Martin was appointed by President Polk as the first American Minister to the Papal States, then ruled by Pius IX. The diplomatic relations thus begun lasted for twenty years. Martin lived scarcely a year, dying at Rome in 1848. His successor, Lewis Casa, jr., served until 1858 and was singularly fortunate in his attitude toward the unstable Republic which Mazzini had succeeded in creating at Rome in 1848. Archbishop john Hughes' discourses at this time on the flight of the Pope to Gaeta were a warning to the American gov- ernment that the sacrilegious invaders of the Eternal City did not merit recognition. Cass was succeeded in 1858 by john Porter Stockton. After the fall of Naples in 1860, Stockton asked for his recall, and Rufus King was appointed as his successor. There was much question at the time whether it would not be prudent for Pius IX to take refuge in the United States since a revolution had broken out in Rome. When the question was broached to King, the American Minister replied that the United States was the home of civil and religious liberty as well 115