Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 1.djvu/410

ALTOONA is held in Southern Illinois. The burning, in the early part of 1884, of the convent built by him while in Belleville, in which twenty-seven lives were lost, proved a severe shock to his constitution. Sickness prevented him from attending the Third Plenary Council. He lingered for several months, going to his reward, 15 February, 1886. He was buried side by side with his predecessor. After a vacancy of more than two years, the Rev. James Ryan, then rector of St. Columba's church, Ottawa, in the diocese of Peoria, was appointed, 27 February, 1888. At the same time the diocese was divided, the southern half being made into the new diocese of Belleville. Bishop Ryan was born near Thurles, Ireland, 17 June, 1848. When seven years old, he emigrated with his parents to Louisville, Ky., studied at St. Thomas's and St. Joseph's Colleges, Bardstown, in that State, finished his studies at Preston Park Seminary, Louisville, and was ordained, 24 December, 1871. After a few years of mission labours and teaching, he followed Bishop Spalding to Peoria, laboured on several missions and built a number of churches. He was consecrated, 1 May, 1888, at the Alton Cathedral, by Bishop Spalding. He held the first synod of the Alton Diocese, 27 February, 1889.

.—At present (1906) the diocese numbers 119 diocesan priests, 35 religious, 428 sisters, 143 parishes, 65 parochial schools, with 9,000 pupils, 2 asylums, with 110 children, 9 hospitals, 2 preparatory seminaries, with 330 students, 23 theological students, 2 colleges, 3 academies, with 380 students. Of late years many immigrants, Italians, Poles, Slavonians, and Lithuanians have come to the diocese, working in the coal mines that are everywhere opening, and taxing the energy of several of the clergy to their utmost capacity. The population of the diocese is 751,107, of which number 75,000 are Catholics.

Author:Francis Hubert Zabel.

Altoona,, a suffragan see of the province of Philadelphia. The city of Altoona is situated on the eastern slope of the Allegheny mountains, almost midway between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh, and at an elevation of 1,175 feet above sea-level. The name is undoubtedly of Indian origin, being formed from the Cherokee word Allatoona, which signifies high land of great worth. It is a little over fifty years old, and is mainly the creation of the Pennsylvania railroad, whose vast workshops, employing about fourteen thousand men, are located there. The population of the city of Altoona is (1906) sixty thousand, about one-fourth of which is Catholic. There are in the city four large Catholic churches with flourishing parish schools. St. John's Church is used as the pro-cathedral.

The Diocese of Altoona was established May, 1901. It comprises the counties of Cambria, Blair, Bedford, Huntingdon, and Somerset, taken from the Diocese of Pittsburgh, and the counties of Centre, Clinton, and Fulton taken from the Diocese of Harrisburg. The area of the diocese is 6,710 square miles. Its Catholic population (1906), of which a considerable portion is made up of various foreign nationalities employed in the mining districts and the manufacturing town of Johnstown, is about 60,000. Within its narrow limits is the very cradle of the Catholic Church in middle and western Pennsylvania. At the beginning of the last century the whole territory was part of the extensive parish of the famous Russian convert, the prince-priest, Demetrius Gallitzin. This devoted missionary founded the mission of Loretto in Cambria County, Pa., and made his home there. He expended his vast fortune in the interests of religion. He reached Loretto as early as July, 1799, and died there 6 May, 1840. A beautiful memorial church erected by Charles M. Schwab marks the lasting esteem in which this distinguished man and noted missionary is held. It was Father Gallitzin's wish and prayer that Loretto should become a bishop's see. As early as 1820 he wrote to Archbishop Marechal: "Several years ago I formed a plan for the good of religion, for the success of which I desire to employ all the means at my disposal when the remainder of my debts are paid. It is to form a diocese for the western part of Pennsylvania. What a consolation for me if I might, before I die, see this plan carried out, and Loretto made an episcopal see, where the bishop, by means of the lands attached to the bishopric, which are very fertile, would be independent, and where, with very little expense, could be erected college, seminary, and all that is required for an episcopal establishment." He adds that "no bishop has ever penetrated to the distant missions of Western Pennsylvania. There are many missions which have never seen a bishop and never will, at least until a bishop is established on the mountains, and one willing to fulfil the duties of this charge, even at his own expense, without waiting for other recompense than that which comes from above." The prince-priest's hopes were never realized, though an effort was made when the present diocese was talked of, to have the see at Loretto rather than at Altoona.

Among the many pioneer priests who have laboured within the limits of the present diocese may be mentioned Father James Bradley, of Newry, who lived to celebrate his golden jubilee in the priesthood; Father Thomas Hayden, of Bedford; Father Lemke, who was a Prussian soldier and a convert from Lutheranism; Father John Walshe, of Hollidaysburg. Father Lemke founded the mission and village of Carroltown, where at present there is a Benedictine priory. Among the Catholic laymen of early days is a family of the Luthers who are said to be direct descendants of Martin Luther and who have given more than one member to the priesthood. The Collins family has also been prominent in advancing the interests of religion.

Next to Loretto in historical importance is Carroltown, founded in 1839, and named after Archbishop Carroll, the first American bishop. It is said that a colony of French Trappist monks sought to establish a house of their order there about the beginning of the last century. Driven from France during the revolution of 1791, a number of the monks found a temporary home in Switzerland, where they remained until the influence of the French government began to be felt in that country in 1798, when they were again forced to flee. They passed into Russia, and soon after into Prussia, and finally turned their faces towards the New World under the guidance of Father Urban Guillet. The little party landed in Baltimore, 4 September, 1803, and went to the vicinity of the future Carroltown, but failing to make a foundation there, they next proceeded to Adams County, Pa., and, leaving that place also, they went further west, finally settling down at Florissant, Mo. The first settler near Carroltown was John Weakland, one of the most powerful and daring of men, and the most famous Catholic pioneer of Western Pennsylvania. About the year 1830 he donated four acres of ground for the site of a church, and under the direction of Father Gallitzin a log church was built, and dedicated to St. Joseph. Bishop Francis Patrick Kenrick visited this church and administered confirmation there 16 October, 1832. The first bishop of Altoona, the Rt. Rev. Eugene A. Garvey, was consecrated in St. Peter's Cathedral, Scranton, Pa., 8 September, 1901, and was installed