Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 11.djvu/33

 NEW ORLEANS

11

NEW ORLEANS

vicar-general published the decree and the bishop's lottpi- at t ho convent chapel. The Rev. Thomas Flynn wmti' I'nim St. Louis, 8 Nov., 1806, that the trustees wiiv:il>niii 1(1 install him. He describes the church as a t;ouil (•ur with a tolerably good bell, a high altar, and conmioilious pews. The house for the priest was con- venient but in need of repair. Except Rev. Father Maxwell there was scarcely a priest in Upper Louisiana in 1807.

As tlie original rescript issued by the Holy See to Bishop Carroll had not been so distinct and clear as to obviate objections, he applied to the Holy See asking that more ample and distinct authorization be sent. The Holy See placed the Province of Louisiana under Bishop Carroll who was requested to send to the New Orleans Diocese either Rev. Charles Nerinckx or some secular or regular priest, with the rank of administra- tor Apostolic and the rights of an ordinary to continue only at the good will of the Holy See according to in- structions to be forwarded by the Propaganda. Bishop Carroll did not act immediately, but on 18 August, 1812, appointed the Rev. Louis C!. V. Dubourg Admin- istrator Apostolic of the Diocese of Louisiana and the two Floridas. Dr. Dubourg's authority was at once recognized by Father Antoine and the remainder of the clergy. The war between the United States and Great Britain was in progress and as the year 1814 drew to a close. Dr. Dubourg issued a pastoral letter calling upon the people to pray for the success of the American arms. During the battle of New Orleans (8 January, 1815) Gen. .\ndrew Jackson sent a mes- senger to the Ursuline Convent to ask for prayers for his success. When victory came he sent a courier thanking the sisters for their prayers, and he decreed a public thanksgiving; a solemn high Mass was cele- brated in the St. Louis Cathedral, 2.3 January, 181.5. The condition of religion in the diocese was not en- couraging, seven out of fourteen parishes were vacant. Funds were also needed, and Dr. Dubourg wont to Rome to ask for aid for his diocese. There the Propa- ganda appointed him bishop, 18 September, 1818, and on 24 September he was consecrated by Cardinal Joseph Pamfili (see Dubourg).

Bishop Dubourg proposed the division of the dio- cese and the erection of a see in Upper Louisiana, but the news of troubles among the clergy in New Orleans and the attempt of the trustees to obtain a charter depriving the bishop of his cathedral so alarmed him that he solicited the Propaganda to allow him to take up his residence in St. Louis and establish his seminary and other educational institutions there. He sailed from Bordeaux for New Orleans (28 June, 1817), accompanied by five priests, four subdeacons, eleven seminarians, and three Christian Brothers. He took possession of the church at St. Genevieve, a ruined wooden structure, and was installed by Bishop Flaget. He then established the Lazarist Seminary at Bois Brule ("The Barrens"), and brought from Bardstown, where they were temporarily sojourn- ing, Father Andreis, Father Rosati, and the semi- narians who had accompanied him from Europe. The Brothers of the Christian Doctrine opened a boys' school at St. Genevieve. At his request the Religious of the Sacred Heart, comprising Mes- dames Philippe Duchesne, Berthold, Andre,and two lay sisters reaching New Orleans, 30 May, 1818, proceeded to St. Louis and opened their convent at Florissant. In 1821 they established a convent at Grand Ooteau, Louisiana. The Faith made great prog- ress throughout the diocese. On 1 Januari', 1821, Bishop Dubourg held the first synod since the Pur- chase of Louisiana. Where he had found ten super- annuated priests there were now forty active, zealous men at work. Still appeals came from all parts of the immense diocese for jiriests; among others he received a letter from the banks of the Columbia in Oregon begging liim to send a priest to minister to 1500 Cath-

olics there who had never had any one to attend to them. The Ursuline Nuns, frequently annoyed by being summoned to court, appealed to the Legisla- ture claiming the privileges they had enjoyed under the French and Spanish dominations. Their ancient rights were recognized and a law was passed, 28 Janu- ary, 1818, enacting that where the testimony of a nun was required it should be taken at the convent by commission. It had a far-reaching effect in later days upon legislation in the United States in similar cases.

Spain by treaty ceded Florida to the United States, 22 February, 1818, and Bishop Dubourg was then able to extend his episcopal care to that part of his diocese, the vast extent of which prompted him to form plans for the erection of a metropolitan see west of the AUeghanies. This did not meet with the ap- proval of the bishops of the United States; he then proposed to divide the Dioc&se of Louisiana and the Floridas, establishing a see at Nev/ Orleans embracing Lower Louisiana, Mississippi, .Alabama, and Florida. Finally, 13 August, 1822, the Vicariate Apostolic of Mississippi and Alabama was formed with the Rev. Joseph Rosati, elected Bishop of Tenagra, as vicar Apostolic. But Archbishop Marcchal of Baltimore remonstrated because in establishing this vicariate, the Propaganda had inadvertently invaded the rights of the Archbishop of Baltimore as the whole of those States except a small portion south of the thirty-first degree between Perdido and Pearl River belonged to the Diocese of Baltimore. Bishop Rosati also wrote representing the poverty and paucity of the Catholics in Mississippi and Alabama, and the necessity of his remaining at the head of the seminary. Finally his arguments and the protests of the Archbishop of Bal- timore prevailed, and the Holy See suppressed the vi- cariate, appointing Dr. Rosati coadjutor to Bishop Dubourg to reside at St. Louis. Bishop Rosati was consecrated by Bishop Dubourg. at Donaldsonville, 25 March, 1824, and proceeded at once to St. Louis. In 1823 Bishop Dubourg took up the subject of the Indian Missions and laid before the Government the necessity of a plan for the civilization and conversion of the Indians west of the Mississippi. His plan met with the approval of the Government and an allowance of $200 a year was assigned to four or five missionaries, to be increased if the project proved successful.

On 29 August, 1825, Alabama and the Floridas were erected into a vicariate Apostolic, with the Rev. Michael Portier the first bishop. The Holy See di- vided the Diocese of Louisiana (18 July, 182f)) and established the See of New Orleans with Louisiana as its diocese, and the Vicariate Apo.stolic of Mississippi to be administered by the Bishop of New Orleans. The country north of Louisiana was made the Diocese of St. Louis, Bishop Rosati being transferred to that see. Bishop Dubourg, though a man of vast projects and of great service to the Church, was little versed in business methods; discouraged at the difliculties that rose to thwart him he resigned his see and was transferred to Montauban. Bishop Rosati, appointed to the See of New Orleans, declined the appointment urging that his knowledge of English qualified him to labour better in Missouri, Illinois, and Arkansas, while he was not sufficiently versed in French to address the people of New Orleans with success. On 20 March, 1827, the papal Brief arrived permitting hirn to re- main in St. Louis but charging him for a while with the administration of the See of New Orleans. He appointed th<> Rev. Leo Raymond de Neckere, CM., vicar-general, and strongly recommended his appoint- ment for the vacant see. Father de Neckere, then in Belgium whither he had gone to recuperate his health, was summoned to Rome and appointed bishop. Returning to Now Orleans he was consecrated, 16 May, 1830. Bishop de Neckere was born, June, 1800, at Wevelghem, Belgium, and while a seminarian at Ghent, was acceptedf or the Diocese of New Orleans