Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 5.djvu/871

 FARO

789

FAST

than a cowardly soldier or an ignorant priest". He patronized the arcliitect Vignolo, to whom he en- trusted the construction both of the church of the Gesii in Rome, of which he laid the corner-stone in 1568, and of the superb Farnese palace of Caprarola near Lago Bracciano. He restored the monastery of Tre Fontanc, where he had the chapel of Santa Maria Scala Cceli erected: and he had the ceiling of San Lorenzo in Damaso magnificently decorated. He was buried in front of the high altar in the church of the Gesu.

CiACONius, VitcE PontitUum, III, 558 sqq. ; Ehses, ronci^ium Tridentinum, Diaria, etc. (Freiburg, 1901), I; (1904), IV.

v. Benigni.

Faro, Diocese of (Ph.^rensis), suffragan of Evora, Portugal, and extending over the province of .\lgarve. The see was founded at Ossonoba in 306, which place falling into the hands of the Moors, in 688, the see was suppressed. It was re-established in 1188 at Siloes, and in 1218 was made suffragan to Braga, then to Seville, in 1.393 to Lisbon and finally, in 1540, to Evora. The title was transferred to Faro, 30 March, 1577. Faro is the chief seaport town of the province, and is located on the Rio Fermoso, near its mouth. The cathedral, an imposing structure, with nave- vaulting springing from lofty cylindrical columns, is apparently a Roman basilica altered by the Moors. Several convents, a hospital, and charitable institu- tions are well appointed. There are 66 parishes, 214 churches, 112 priests and 228,384 CathoUcs in the dio- ce.se.

Werner, Orbis Terrarum (Freiburg im Br., 1890); Buch- BERGER, Kirchliches Handlex. (Munich, 1907).

Thomas F. Meehan.

Faroe Islands. — Geogr.vphy and Statistics. — A group of Danish islands rising from the sea some four hundred miles west of Norway and almost as far south of Iceland. It embraces fourteen inhabited and several uninhabited islands with an area of .500 square miles. Of this one-third belongs to Stromo. This archipelago is divided by a number of small sounds and consists of dark grey rocks which form plateaux usually about 300 yards high. These plateaux slope towards the sea, are fissured by streams and are here and there surmounted by lofty peaks (Slattaretinden, over 2400 ft.). The .sky is usually clouded, showers and storms are frequent. The surging waters make navigation dangerous especially in winter. The climate is oceanic, but as the summer heat rarely rises above 10° and the soil is poor, agriculture is possible only in sheltered spots. Trees are few in number, but shrubs flourish in more abundance. The chief wealth and attraction of the islands are found in their flowery pastures, while the herds of sheep which graze upon them have given their name to the archipelago. Up- wards of 100,000 of these animals live always in the open air and are famous for the superior quality of their wool. A tew small, raw-boned horses are em- ployed solely as beasts of burden, for roads are un- known, nor is any shelter provided for them. More attention is paid to the horned cattle, which number about 5000. Besides the above-mentioned quadrupeds, rats and mice are the only land animals or mammals to be found. Many species of birds and in great num- bers haunt the islands. The surrounding waters abound in delicious fish and whales and doljmins rich in blubber. The yearly catch of the round-headed dol- phin alone (the Grind) amounts to a thousand. Rep- tiles and frogs are unknown, and there are but few insects.

The 16,000 inhabitants of the Faroe Islands are all Lutherans. They speak a dialect akin to the Old Norse, but Danish is used in public life, the schools, and the churches. The fisheries, cattle-breeding, and the more perilous bird-catching are the chief sources of income. The few local industries scarcely suffice

for the needs of the natives. Turf is used for fires, there being no coal. There is considerable commerce. The exports are fish, blubber, meat, wool, feathers, and down; the imports are wood, coal, and large quan- tities of cereals and fruit. Thorshavn on Stromo is the capital and seat of government, and has a Renl- achule, or technical school. Throughout the rest of this island there are only wooden huts covered with turf.

Political and Religious History. — From the work of DicuU, an Irish monk, " De Mensura orbis terrse" (ed. Parthey, Berlin, 1872), written in the ninth century, we learn that the islands were discov- ered by Irish monks. Not long after this they were colonized by Normans. Harold Schonhaar (872-930) united them with the Kingdom of Norway and this was their political condition until 1814. Olaf Trygg- vason converted the people to Christianity; as early as 1076 they had a bishop of their own. The bishops of the Faroe Islands were usually chosen from the canons of Bergen, and were originally suffragans of Hamburg-Bremen, later of Lund (1104), finally (since 11.52) of the Primate of Norway in Trondhjem. There were in all twenty-three Catholic bishops, from Gudmunil to Amund Olafson. The latter was forced to yield to the Lutheran superintendent Jens Riber, who also took over the episcopal title. Later on only "provosts" were elected. The Catholic clergy re- mained steadfast in their faith, but were unable to re- sist the advance of Protestantism. By the end of the sixteenth century the Catholic Faith had disappeared ; all later attempts to revive it jjroved vain. The mis- sion founded some years ago in Thorshavn was aban- doned and the few (mostly transient) Catholics on the islands were attended once a year from Copenhagen. In the Catholic epoch, at least, no little attention was paid to the construction and adornment of churches, as may be seen from the ruins of the unfinished cathe- dral of Kirkebo. The thick basaltic walls broken by high, massive windows are evidence that the original builders meant to erect a noble Gothic church. It re- mained unfini-shed because under the "new Gospel" the generosity of the faithful was soon extinguished. A small stone church of the twelfth century serves yet for Protestant worship. It contains sculpture belong- ing to pre-Reformation times.

LoFFLER, DfJnenwTk's NatuT und Volk (Copenhagen, 1905); Schweitzer, Gesch. der Skand. Literalur (Leipzig, 1885); Styffe, Skandinavien under Unionstiden (Stoclmolra, 1880); Storm, Hist. top. skrifter im Norge og norske Landsdele (Chris- tiania, 1895); Baumgartner, Nordische Fahrten (Freiburg, 1889), I; Katholischc Missionen (Freiburg, July-Dec, 1873); Perger in Kirchenlex. s. v. Fdrder; Jeaffreson, Ttie Faroe Islands (IjOndon, 1897).

Pius WiTTMAN.

. Fast, in general abstinence from food or drink, a terra common to the various Teutonic tongues. Some derive the word from a root whose primary significa- tion means to hold, to keep, to observe or to restrain one's self. The Latin terra jejunium denotes an ani- mal intestine which is always empty. Such absti- nence varies according to the measure of restriction circumscribing the use of food and drink. Hence it may denote abstinence from all kinds of food and drink for a given period. Such is the nature of the fast prescribed by the Church before Holy Communion (natural fast). It may also mean such abstinence from food and drink as is dictated by the bodily or mental dispositions peculiar to each uidividual, and is then known as moral or philosophical fast. In like manner the term comprehends penitential practices common to various religious communities in the Church. Finally, in the strict acceptation of the terra, fasting denotes abstinence from food, and as such is an act of temperance finding its raison d'etre in the dictates of natural law and its full perfection in the requirements of positive ecclesiastical legisla- tion.

In Christian antiquity the Eustathians (Sozomen,