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 CINCINNATI

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CINCINNATI

his residence at the junction of Ludlow and Lawrence Streets in a small house which served as an episcopal palace and a place of worship. His cathedral, the log-church on the outskirts of the city, was several miles distant and at times almost inaccessible. The prohibitive ordinance had in the meantime been withdrawn, and the little edifice was placed on rollers and moved by oxen through the streets of Cincinnati to the site now occupied by the College of St. Francis Xavier. Shortly before, the diocese being without priests, churches, or schools, Bishop Fenwick made a trip to Europe in quest of aid. Having received generous assistance from the nobility of France and the reigning pontiff, he purchased upon his return the ground on Sycamore Street (the present site of St. Francis Xavier's church), and on 19 May, 1825, the corner-stone of the old St. Peter's Cathedral was laid. The completed edifice was dedicated by Bishop Fenwick 17 December, 1826. The Athenffum, dedi- cated to St. Francis Xavier, was opened 1 1 May, 1829, with Rev. H. Montgomery as rector, four theological and six preparatory students. Among the many gifts which the bishop had received in Europe was a printing press, and from this went forth in October, 1831. the first edition of "The Catholic Telegraph", one of the oldest Catholic papers in the United States. At this time the clergy were few; the diocese extended from the Ohio River to the Lakes; the Catholics, limited in number, were scattered over the most distant points, and the bishop was compelled to visit his flock by stage, on horseback, or on foot. Cholera was raging through- out his diocese in 1832, and on 26 September of the same year he was stricken and died at Wooster. His remains were brought to Cincinnati and deposited in the old cathedral, now St. Francis Xavier's, 11 Feb- ruary, 1833. In 1846 they were transferred to the new cathedral, where they now repose. When he assumed charge of the diocese, in 1822, his flock num- bered fifty families, the churches did not exceed five, and his clergy were the few pioneers brought from Europe; when he died, in 1832, the Catholic popula- tion had grown to seven thousand. The churches throughout the diocese and the clergy had increased proportionately; a cathedral and seminary had been erected.

(2) John Baptist Purcell was consecrated sec- ond Bishop of Cincinnati, 13 October, 1833, in the Baltimore cathedral, Archbishop Whitfield being the consecrating prelate. Immediately after his conse- cration Bishop Purcell attended the Second Provin- cial Council of Baltimore, and then with borrowed funds set out for his see. Upon his arrival in Cincin- nati, 14 November, 1833, he found there only one church — St. Peter's Cathedral. Four Sisters of Char- ity had arrived in Cincinnati 27 October, 1829, to take charge of the first cathedral school, and with six orphans under their care started the first asylum for orphans in the diocese. The diocese was growing and clergy were needed. The seminary was removed from the city to Brown County in 1839; but in 1G45 it was brought back to the city, and the seminarists continued their studies in the Jesuit college under Father Nota up to 1S48, when they were transferred to the episcopal residence, under the supervision of the Rev. David Whelan. On 27 January, 1847, Michael and Patrick Considine conveyed to the bishop a tract of five acres on Price Hill for a new seminary, of which the corner-stone was laid on 19 July, 1848. The centre wing was solemnly blessed and opened 2 October, 1851, under the name of Mount St. Mary's of the West. From this institution went forth for a half-century tin 1 clergy of the Middle West. Its history IS inseparably interwoven with the history of the diocese, and its students cherished with feelings of reverence the names of its presidents. Fathers Uallinan, Quinlan, Barry, Rosecrans, Pabisch, Hccht,

Byrne, Murray, and Mackey, all men of great learning and deep piety. In 1904 it was trans- ferred to its present site, Cedar Point, Hamilton County, Ohio. The first German parish church, the Holy Trinity, was erected in 1834, and the Rev. John Martin Henni, afterwards the first Archbishop of Milwaukee, was the first pastor. In 1837 he founded the " Wahrheitsfreund", the first German Catholic paper in the United States. In 1907 it was merged with the "Ohio Waisenfreund ". Bishop Purcell was always an ardent advocate of Catholic education and a pioneer in the defence of parochial schools. The progress of Catholicity was such in the thirties as to cause alarm in certain quarters. Lyman Beecher's "Plea for the West" had gone forth, and the sentiment it moulded found expression in the Purcell-Campbell debate. The Ohio College of Teachers was in session, and the occasion was seized by the Rev. Alexander Campbell to accuse the Catholic Church of being an enemy to enlighten- ment. He issued a challenge for an open debate; it was accepted, though reluctantly, by Bishop Pur- cell. The debate commenced 13 January, 1837, in the Campbellite church, and continued for seven days. Much of the existing prejudice was removed, and the numerous conversions to Catholicity follow- ing the controversy were ample proof that the Church and its doctrines had been ably and elo- quently defended by the young Bishop of Cincinnati. From this time an impetus was given to the spread of Catholicity in Cincinnati and throughout the diocese. The fertility and wealth of the Ohio Valley had become known; many immigrated from the Eastern States, and Ohio received a large proportion of the Europeans whom unsatisfactory conditions at home induced to cross the sea to seek their fortunes in the New World.

Communities of sisterhoods were invited to share the burden of supplying the growing needs of religion. The Sisters of Charity arrived in Cincinnati in 1829; the Sisters of Notre-Dame in 1840: the Ursulines in 1845; the Sisters of the Good Shepherd in 1857; the Sisters of Mercy and St. Francis in 1858; the Little Sisters of the Poor in 1868; and the Religious of the Sacred Heart in 1869. To these were added religious orders of men. The Jesuits established a house in 1840; and there followed in succeeding years the Fathers of the Precious Blood (Sanguinists), the Franciscans, the Passionists, the Fathers of the Holy Cross, and the Brothers of Mary. The corner-stone of the present St. Peter's Cathedral was laid in 1841; it was consecrated in 1845. The personality of the bishop was strong and magnetic, and attracted all classes to him. The first German orphan asylum for boys was opened in 1839, and that for girls in 1843. Eventually they were combined, and the Ger- man Orphan Asylum at Bond Hill is the successful outgrowth of both. Under the auspices of the St. Peter Benevolent Association for Orphans, formed 25 December, 1833, St. Joseph's Orphan Asylum was opened on 24 July, 1855. It is a monument to the generosity of the people and ministers to the needs of the four hundred inmates. Sixteen churches were built in the city and the immediate neighbourhood; the parochial schools were equally numerous. The Catholic population now exceeded 50,000, and it was deemed necessary to erect a second diocese for the northern half of the state, at Cleveland, of which, on lii( Ictober, 1847, the He v. Amadeus Happc was conse- crated the tirst bishop. Not long afterwards Cincin- nati was made an archiepiscopal see (19 July, 1850).

In 1853 a wave of Know-Not hingism was sweeping over the country. Philadelphia and Louisville had been the scenes of riotous outbreaks. The Most Rev. Cajetan Bedini, titular Archbishop of Thebes, who had been appointed nuncio to the court of Brazil, and had been commissioned to investigate certain