REGISTER

OF

CORRESPONDENCE, AND EVENTS.

The Editor of the CATHOLIC MAGAZINE AND REGISTER desires that his Correspondents and Contributors may alone be held responsible for the opinions and sentiments that each may express. But he invites our Venerable Clergy and all Catholics to send him information on all matters of religious interest in their several neighbourhoods.

CORRESPONDENCE.

JESU CHRISTI PASSIO.

HON. AND REV. G. SPENCER.-A NEW MOVE FOR THE CONVERSION OF ENGLAND.

To the Editor of the "Catholic Magazine and Register."

(Continued from page 195.)

I have been a missionary in England during eighteen years, working for the Irish, of whom, during that time, I have had many more to serve than I have had English. Since I have been a Passionist, this has been true to a much greater extent. In our missions generally we have, perhaps, ten Irish to one English confession to hear. Once I have been, as it were, within the jaws of death and out again, when so many of our English priests actually did die, in attending the Irish sick of the fever in 1847. Moreover, as a little thing to add to this, I have been for eight years and more a pledged teetotaller, which I became out of love for the Irish. On these and like grounds I found a little claim to be heard on the subject of the Irish in England, and perhaps my experience of them may make my testimony worth listening to. And what do I say of them? I mean of their present state and future prospects. I say that, at present, there are many excellent Christians among them, but that the greater part (I had, perhaps, better not venture to say in what proportion, for fear of a mistake,) are living in a state of sin, and neglecting their religious duties; and we, the priests of England, are at a loss what to do, or say, or think of, in an ordinary way, to help them. Now let us have this crusade proclaimed and preached, not by one poor weak voice like mine, but by authority, to which they will bow; in short, let me be supported in calling them to the great enterprise of conquering England for God and his Church, by a great spiritual crusade, and I promise (perhaps in a loose way of speaking, but not far from my serious meaning,) that in six months the Irish in England will be a people of saints, and in twelve months we shall see England on the highway to Catholicity, and the Irish exalted among nations to a position, to which no nation ever yet thought of aspiring. Are the Irish capable of such an enterprise? it will, perhaps, be said incredulously. Indeed this has been said contiually, ever since I have been proposing it to them; and I have been saying yes, and again yes, and giving reasons for saying this yes, which I cannot, for want of time, repeat here.

I will only say, that what I saw at Thurles has exceedingly strengthened the decisiveness with which I again say, Yes, they are. I rejoiced, with wonder, to see myself, providentially, the representative of the English Catholics and the English nation, at the conclusion of that great synod being, as far as I know, the only Englishman of any sort in the town at the time; certainly the only one engaged in the proceedings. And what did I witness? The Catholic Church of Ireland, just emerged, as she is, from a state of depression and oppression, of persecution and of poverty, quite unparalleled in ecclesiastical history, achieving, in the face of the overpowering temporal Protestant ascendancy, which still exists in the country, a grand, free, noble, ecclesiastical movement, such as no other Catholic people in the world can attempt, and such as is, even in past history, at least for many ages, without a precedent. I say this with confidence. There was a book in the people's hands, drawn up to give an account of the nature and objects of the synod, and the only authorities to which reference was made, because the only ones to which it could be made, for information as to the proper mode of proceeding on the occasion, were the synods of Benevento, under the direction of Pope Benedict XIII., and those of Milan, under St. Charles Borromeo; but these manifestly were not national, but only provincial synods: and this synod was conducted under the direction of a primate whom I have already above called a glorious one, and who, I now return to say, appears to me to be chosen out of ten thousand, and to go, if I may say so, beyond any ideal which could have been formed of a man calculated to direct and carry forward such a movement in such a people as the Irish, under the eyes of such a people as the English. I heard praises of Dr. Cullen before going to Thurles, but my observations carried my opinion of him far beyond all I had heard. He seems to me a compound of more admirable qualities than I can enumerate; I could see in him unaffected humility, unpretending simplicity, fervent piety and zeal, profound learning, determined energy and firmness, first rate powers of business and despatch, consummate judgment and tact. This was the impression made on me; and what can I say? Beatus populus, to whom God sends such a chief pastor. May they know how to value him, and by their docility and obedience deserve the prolongation of such a life, which appears none of the strongest physically; but this, I trust, may be, as has been seen in so many other cases, only to exhibit more strikingly the power of God in what he may be the instrument of effecting. I would go on further, but I must stop, only saying one word again for my own dear England, which, I hope, will not be thought out of place. If there is, as I have supposed, no Catholic people in our day which can carry out what the Irish Church has attempted and splendidly accomplished on this occasion, I attribute this not only to the want in them of such perfect and healthy Catholic life as Ireland manifests, but to the jealousy and ill dispositions of the governments under which they exist. Have not the Catholics of Ireland and, of course, of England, reason to thank God for, and to wonder at, the contrast to be seen in these countries? Not only no opposition, nor shadow of opposition, from our Government to this synod, but the Government police force, if not some of the military stationed in Thurles, engaged in keeping order during the procession of nearly thirty Catholic bishops, in copes and mitres, and of the representatives of at least eight religious orders in their habits, besides a multitude of clergy in surplices, crossing and re-crossing the public high road between the church and the college. Shall I be told I am wrong in drawing fresh grounds of hope for England from what I saw at Thurles? Well, I am used now to such telling. I think my good friends will soon find it is not worth while to try to discourage me, and perhaps a little later may begin to join me in

my hopes. It is not unkindly meant, if I wish them such a wish as this; for assuredly they would find themselves more happy in the indulgence of such hopes, than I think they can be in crying them down.

I am, your faithful Servant in Jesus Christ,

IGNATIUS OF ST. PAUL, Passionist. P.S. The most important matter comes last, and stands by itself, so as to draw special notice. The Sovereign Pontiff, Pius IX., has granted an indulgence of 300 days for every Hail Mary offered for the conversion of England. We shall soon have all Ireland saying it, and perhaps a hundred or a thousand in the day. Perhaps some English Catholics will now think it worth their while to say one now and then. But let me observe, that if it is said without any hope it will not please me, nor do I think it will much please the Blessed Virgin or Almighty God.

ECCLESIASTICAL INTELLIGENCE.

THE CARDINAL ARCHBISHOP OF WESTMINSTER.-We think that we shall most gratify our readers by laying before them all that our space will permit relating to this most important step towards the rehabilitation of the Catholic Faith in England. We will merely state that the increase of the Catholic Bishops, if not the formal restoring of the Hierarchy, was previously approved by the English Government on the plea that the Catholic clergy were the best conservators of the peace of the country.-Editor of CATHOLIC MAG. AND REG. :

LETTERS APOSTOLICAL OF OUR MOST HOLY FATHER POPE PIUS IX., ESTABLISHING THE EPISCOPAL HIERARCHY IN ENGLAND :-" PIUS P. P. IX.-For a Perpetual remembrance of the thing.-The power of ruling the universal Church, committed by our Lord Jesus Christ to the Roman Pontiff, in the person of St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles, hath preserved through every age, in the Apostolic See, that remarkable solicitude by which it consulteth for the advantage of the Catholic religion in all parts of the world, and studiously provideth for its extension. And this correspondeth with the design of its Divine Founder, who, when he ordained a head to the Church, looked forward, by his excelling wisdom, to the consummation of the world. Amongst other nations, the famous realm of England hath experienced the effects of this solicitude on the part of the Supreme Pontiff. Its histories testify that, in the earliest ages of the Church the Christian religion was brought into Britain, and subsequently flourished greatly there; but about the middle of the fifth age, the Angles and Saxons having been invited into the island, the affairs, not only of the nation, but of religion also, suffered great and grievous injury. But we know that our holy predecessor, Gregory the Great, sent first Augustine the Monk, with his companions, who subsequently, with several others, were elevated to the dignity of bishops, and a great company of priests, monks, having been sent to join them, the Anglo-Saxons were brought to embrace the Christian religion; and by their exertions it was brought to pass, that in Britain, which had now come to be called England, the Catholic religion was every where restored and extended. But to pass on to more recent events, the history of the Anglican schism of the sixteenth age presents no feature more remarkable than the care unremittedly exercised by our predecessors, the Roman Pontiffs, to lend succour, in its hour of extremest peril, to the Catholic religion in that realm, and by every means to afford it support and assistance. Amongst other instances of this care are the enactments and provisions made by the chief pontiffs, or under their direction and approval, for the unfailing supply of men to take charge of

the interests of Catholicity in that country, and also for the education of Catholic young men of good abilities on the continent, and their careful instruction in all branches of theological learning; so that, when promoted to holy orders, they might return to their native land and labour diligently to benefit their countrymen by the ministry of the Word and of the sacraments, and by the defence and propagation of the holy faith.

'Perhaps even more conspicuous have been the exertions made by our predecessors for the purpose of restoring to the English Catholics prelates invested with the episcopal character, when the fierce and cruel storms of persecution had deprived them of the presence and pastoral care of their own bishops. The Letters Apostolical of Pope Gregory XV., dated March 23, 1623, set forth, that the chief Pontiff, as soon as he was able, had consecrated William Bishop, Bishop of Chalcedon, and had appointed him, furnished with an ample supply of faculties, and the authority of Ordinary, to govern the Catholics of England and of Scotland. Subsequently, on the death of the said William Bishop, Pope Urban VIII., by Letters Apostolical, dated Feb. 4, 1625, to the like effect, and directed to Richard Smith, reconstituted him Bishop of Chalcedon, and conferred on him the same faculties and powers as had been granted to William Bishop. When the king, James II., ascended the English throne, there seemed a prospect of happier times for the Catholic religion. Innocent XI. immediately availed himself of this opportunity to ordain, in the year 1685, John Leyburn, Pishop of Adrumetum, Vicar Apostolic of all England. Subsequently, by other Letters Apostolical, issued January 30, 1688, he associated with Leyburn, as Vicars Apostolic, three other bishops, with titles taken from churches in partibus infidelium; and accordingly, with the assistance of Ferdinand, Archbishop of Amaria, Apostolic Nuncio in England, the same Pontiff divided England into four districts, namely, the London, the Eastern, the Midland, and the Northern; each of which a Vicar Apostolic commenced to govern, furnished with all suitable faculties, and with the proper powers of a local Ordinary. Benedict XIV., by his Constitution, dated May 30, 1753, and the other Pontiffs our predecessors, and our Congregation of Propaganda, both by their own authority and by their most wise and prudent directions, afforded them all guidance and help in the discharge of their important functions. This partition of all England into four Apostolic Vicariates lasted till the time of Gregory XVI., who, by Letters Apostolical, dated July 3, 1840, having taken into consideration the increase which the Catholic religion had received in that kingdom, made a new ecclesiastical division of the counties, doubling the number of the Apostolic Vicariates, and committing the government of the whole of England in spirituals to the Vicars Apostolic of the London, the Western, the Eastern, the Central, the Welsh, the Lancaster, the York, and the Northern Districts. These facts, that we have cursorily touched upon to omit all mention of others, are a sufficient proof that our predecessors have studiously endeavoured and laboured, that, as far as their influence could effect it, the Church in England might be re-edified and recovered from the great calamity that had befallen her.

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Having, therefore, before our eyes so illustrious an example of our predecessors, and wishing to emulate it, in accordance with the duty of the supreme Apostolate, and also giving way to our own feelings of affection towards that beloved part of our Lord's vineyard, we have purposed, from the very first commencement of our Pontificate, to prosecute a work so well commenced, and to devote our closer attention to the promotion of the Church's advantage in that kingdom. Wherefore, having taken into earnest consideration the present state of Catholic affairs in England, and reflecting on the very large and every where increasing number of Catholics there; considering also that the impediments which principally stood in the way

of the spread of Catholicity were daily being removed, we judged that the time had arrived when the form of ecclesiastical government in England might be brought back to that model on which it exists freely amongst other nations, where there is no special reason for their being governed by the extraordinary administration of Vicars Apostolic. We were of opinion that times and circumstances had brought it about, that it was unnecessary for the English Catholics to be any longer guided by Vicars Apostolic; nay more, that the revolution that had taken place in things there was such as to demand the form of Ordinary episcopal government. In addition to this, the Vicars Apostolic of England themselves had, with united voice, besought this of us; many also both of the clergy and laity, highly esteemed for their virtue and rank, had made the same petition; and this was also the earnest wish of a very large number of the rest of the Catholics of England. Whilst we pondered on these things, we did not omit to implore the aid of Almighty God, that in deliberating on a matter of such weight, we might be enabled both to discern, and rightly to accomplish, what might be most conducive to the good of the Church. We also invoked the assistance of Mary the Virgin, Mother of God, and of those saints who illustrated England by their virtues, that they would vouchsafe to support us by their patronage with God to the happy accomplishment of this affair. In addition, we committed the whole matter to our venerable brethren the Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church of our Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, to be carefully and gravely considered. Their opinion was entirely agreeable to our own desires, and we freely approved of it and judged that it be carried into execution. The whole matter, therefore, having been carefully and deliberately consulted upon, of our own motion, on certain knowledge, and of the plenitude of our Apostolic power, we constitute and decree, that in the kingdom of England, according to the common rules of the Church, there be restored the Hierarchy of Ordinary Bishops, who shall be named from sees, which we constitute in these our Letters, in the several districts of the Apostolic Vicariates.

"To begin with the London District, there will be in it two Sees; that of Westminster, which we elevate to the degree of the Metropolitan, or Archiepiscopal dignity, and that of Southwark, which, as also the others, (to be named next,) we assign as Suffragan to Westminster. The Diocese of Westminster will take that part of the above named district which extends to the north of the river Thames, and includes the counties of Middlesex, Essex, and Hertford; that of Southwark will contain the remaining part to the south of the river, viz. the counties of Berks, Southampton, Surrey, Sussex, and Kent, with the islands of Wight, Jersey, Guernsey, and the others adjacent.

"In the Northern District there will be only one Episcopal See, which will receive its name from the city of Hexham. This diocese will be bounded by the same limits as the district hath hitherto been.

"The York District will also form one diocese; and the bishop will have his see at the city of Beverley.

In the Lancashire District there will be two bishops; of whom the one will take his title from the See of Liverpool, and will have as his diocese the Isle of Man, the hundreds of Lonsdale, Amounderness, and West Derby. The other will receive the name of his see from the city of Salford, and will have for his diocese the hundreds of Salford, Blackburn, and Leyland. The county of Chester, although hitherto belonging to that district, we shall now annex to another diocese.

"In the District of Wales there will be two bishoprics, viz. that of Shrewsbury and that of Menevia (or St. David's), united with Newport. The Dicoese of Shrewsbury to contain, northwards, the counties of Anglesey,