Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 12.djvu/643

 PURCELL

571

PURCELL

dren of German-speaking parents, and St. Peter's, now St. Joseph's, for children of English-speaking people, and provision was made for their mainte- nance.

He made a complete visitation of his extensive diocese the first year of his administration, providing for the spiritual care of his scattered flock, either placing resident pastors in parishes or having priests to visit regularly the smaller communities that were tmable to support a resident pastor. In 1S40 the canal and railway systems that were to revolutionize the existing conditions of commerce were begun and continued without interruption until 1854. Little Miami Railroad from Xenia to Cincinnati, a distance of 65 miles, was opened for traffic in 1841. It is now a link in the great Pennsylvania system. These public works brought immense numbers of emigrants to the state. \\'hat were villages soon grew into cities; Cleveland, Toledo, Columbus, Dayton, and Hamilton became the cities of the state. New parishes were formed, and churches and schools were built. Cleveland became a bishopric in 1847, and Columbus in 1868. He was obliged to call on Europe for help U> meet the fast-growing wants of his diocese.

Bishop Purcell made several trips to Europe, visiting the various seminaries there, and soliciting students having the missionary spirit to share his laboiu's in Ohio. On his return from one of these trips to Europe he was accompanied by a band of zealous young priests. Fathers Machebeuf, Lamy, Gacon, ChejTnol, and Xavaron. Father Machebeuf afterwards became first Bishop of Denver; Father Lamy, first Archbishop of Santa Fe. The others lived to a ripe old age, doing mLssionarj' work in the diocese till God called them to their reward. ^Miile the state was growing in population, the city of Cincinnati did not lag behind. Cist's "Cincinnati" (1851), in its church statistics, gives the Cathohcs 13 parishes and 11 parish schools, with an enroll- ment of 4494 pupils. Bishop Purcell from the be- ginning was an earnest advocate of the establishment of parish schools. The rapid growth of Ohio and the ^^'est was recognized in Rome, and in 18.50 Cincinnati was made an archbishopric. The pallium was con- ferred on Archbishop Purcell by Pope Pius IX, who at the same time made him assistant at the pontifical throne, in appreciation of his personal worth. The new ecclesiastical province of Cincinnati had for suffragans the Diocese of Cleveland, Detroit, Indian- apolis, and Louisville.

In 1861 the archbishop did not hesitate in making known his views on the Civil War. He decided to fly the flag from the cathedral spire. This action of the archbishop called forth a great deal of adverse criticism, as there was at the time an influential party in the North opposed to the war. Many Catholics were in sympathy with this party. The archbishop boldly took his stand and ignored the ad\-erse criti- cism. The event showed the wisdom of his course. The last vestige of insane Knownothingism and its hatred of the Church disappeared. This wave of bigotry which spread over the whole country in the early fifties had showed itself decidedly hostile to Catholics in Cincinnati in 1854, when Archbishop Bedini was the guest of .\rchbishop Purcell. The firm stand taken by the German and Irish Catholics under the direction of the archbishop overawed the mob that threatened to destroy the cathedral and thus prevented bloodshed.

Archbishop Purcell attended the Council of the Vatican, and in the discussion of Papal Infallibility he took the side of the minority which opposed the opportuneness of the decision, but on his return from Rome, which he left before the question was decided, he gave in his adhesion to the doctrine as soon as he learned of the signing of the decree by Pope Pius

IX. This he did in a sermon he preached in the cathedral saying, "I am here to proclaim my belief in the infallibility of the pope in the words of the Holy Father defining the doctrine".

He celebrated his golden jubilee of priesthood 26 May, 1876. He was joined in this celebration not only by his diocese but by the whole country. Bishops and archbishops came personally or sent representa- tives. He had reason to rejoice when he saw the re- sult of his work, ^^'hea he came to Cincinnati he found a small city with but one church, and a diocese with a few Catholics scattered through the state. After fortj'-three years of toil he found the citj' grown to a population of nearly 300,000, with forty well- organized parishes having schools giving Catholic edu- cation to 20,000 children, a well-equipped seminary, colleges, and charitable institutions to take care of the poor and sick. Througliout the diocese were well- organized parishes, churches, and parish schools. Forty j-ears before he had only a few priests; in 1876 he could count on the help of 150 diocesan and 50 regular priests, and a Catholic population of 150,000. In reply to the addresses of congratulation on the occasion, he modestly referred the success to the cordial assistance of the priests and the generous aid of the laity.

The serious financial disaster that clouded his last years was the result of circumstances for which he could hardly be responsible. Giving all his time to the spiritual management of the diocese, he left the ma- terial part altogethef in the hands of his brother, Father Edward Piu'cell. He received deposits from people who were mistrustful of the banks, which were unstable institutions until the general government adopted the national banking system during the War of Rebelhon. The large amount involved represented the accumulation of compound interest. This finan- cial disaster crushed out the lives of the archbishop and his brother. The crash came in the autumn of 1878, and the archbishop died five years later. His brother had passed away in the spring of the preceding year.

After fourteen years of litigation and the mis- management of the assignees, the affair came to an end, when the court found the amount due on the cathedral and diocesan institutions to be 8140,000. Archbishop Elder accepted the findings of the court and made arrangement by a system of assessments on the parishes to meet the loans made to pay the amount required by the final decision. This decision was made in 1892. Under the wise administration of Arch- bishop Elder, who succeeded Archbishop Purcell, all the loans have been paid oflf.

In 1837 Bishop Purcell, wishing to come in touch with the learned men of Ohio, became a mem- ber of the Ohio College of Teachers. .\t one of the meetings the discussion turned on religion, and some remarks were made reflecting on the Church. Bishop Purcell a.sked leave to reply to them at length. This permission could not be granted under the rules limit- ing speeches to ten minutes. In a spirit of fairness. Dr. Wilson offered the bishop the use of his chiu-ch on Fourth and Main Streets to reply. Thl? offer was gladly accepted, and the bishop delivered a masterly discourse. The position and teaching of the Catholic Church were put before the people of Cincinnati so clearly and forcibly as to cause many who heard the bishop at least to reconsider the ideas they had formed of Catholic teaching and practice. The Cath- olic Church was unfavourably known by non-Cath- olics at the time, owing to the false charges made by preachers and the spread of anti-Catholic literature gi\'ing false views of her teaching and practice. The lecture was a surprise to many who had up to that time looked upon Catholics as a danger to the coun- tr>'. It stirred up a great deal of discussion in the community, so much so that Alexander Campbelle,