Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIV.djvu/413

 ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH 397 brance of the authority than to its exercise. Even the patriarchal prerogative of the pope is swallowed up in his primacy, so that he sel- dom appears as patriarch of the West, choos- ing rather to rest on his supreme authority. The six senior cardinals derive their titles from suburbicarian churches. There are, be- sides Rome, nine patriarchal dignities, viz., Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch (where there are four, for the Maronite, Melchite, Sy- rian, and Latin rites respectively), Jerusalem, Babylon (of the Chaldean rite), Cilicia (of the Armenian rite), the East Indies, Lisbon, and Venice. The episcopal sees in both hemi- spheres are technically distinguished as belong- ing either to the Latin rite or to the oriental rites. Of the former, some are immediately subject to the see of Rome in its patriarchal capacity, or because the titulars are bishops in partibtis infidelium. This category com- prises 10 archiepiscopal sees in Europe, Amalfi, Camerino, Catania, Cosenza, Ferrara, Gaeta, Lucca, Rossano, Spoleto, and Udine, and two in Asia, Babylon and Smyrna; and 81 episco- pal sees, together with Ispahan in Persia, Port Louis in Africa, St. John (Newfoundland) and Harbor Grace in America, and Auckland, Dunedin, and Wellington in Oceania. Of sees not immediately subject to Rome, there are in Europe 84 metropolitan sees, the heads of so many ecclesiastical provinces, with 406 suffragan sees. In Asia, the Latin metropoli- tan sees of Goa and Smyrna have respectively four and two suffragans. In Africa, Algeria forms a separate province, with an archbishop at Algiers and suffragans at Constantine and Oran. The African sees of Angola, Angra, Funchal, Cape Verd, and St. Thomas (Guinea) are suffragan to Lisbon ; the bishopric of the Canaries is suffragan to Seville, and that of Reunion to Bordeaux. The 30 ecclesiastical provinces of North and South America com- prise 165 sees, of which 135 are suffragan. British America has 22 bishops with o metro- politans, and the United States have 56 dio- ceses, 10 metropolitan sees, and 6 vicariates apostolic. The episcopal sees of Guadeloupe and Martinique are suffragan to the archbishop- ric of Bordeaux. Oceania has two ecclesiasti- cal provinces, that of Manila with 4 suffragans, and that of Sydney in Australia with 9. The churches belonging to the various oriental rites in communion with the Roman pontiff com- prise 13 Gra3co-Ruthenian sees, of which 2 are in Russia, 1 in Prussia, and 10 in the Austro- Hungarian monarchy ; one Grseco-Roumanian metropolis, with 3 suffragan sees, also in the Austro - Hungarian monarchy; an Armenian metropolitan see at Leopoldstadt in Hungary ; in Asia, the Armenian patriarchate of Cilicia, with the Armenian metropolitan sees of Alep- po, Cfesarea, Marash, Mardin, and Melitene (Ma- latiah), and 11 suffragan dioceses; the Graco- Melchite patriarchate of Antioch, with the arch- bishoprics of Aleppo, Damascus, Emesa (Horns), and Tyre, and 9 suffragan sees ; the patriarchate of the Syrian rite at Antioch, with metropoli- tans at Aleppo, Babylon, Damascus, and Mosul, and 8 suffragans in various cities, including Alexandria; the Syro-Chaldean church, with a patriarch at Babylon, 4 archbishops, and 7 bishops ; and the Syro-Maronites, with a patri- arch at Antioch, 5 archbishops, and 3 bishops, including one in Cyprus. The Egyptian as well as the Abyssinian Copts have no regular hierarchy, but depend respectively on vicars apostolic resident among them. The Bulgari- an Greeks are also under the jurisdiction of a bishop consecrated in 1865, with the title of apostolic administrator. Of the Asiatic Catho- lics, the Melchites are the most energetic and devoted. Besides the above episcopal func- tionaries, there is a large class of bishops called vicars apostolic, who superintend the spiritual welfare of the Catholics wherever it is not found practicable to establish sees and a regu- lar hierarchy. There are 2 vicariates in the German empire, 1 in Gibraltar, 3 in Scotland, 1 in Sweden, 21 in the Chinese empire, 14 in the adjacent kingdoms, 23 in India and Bur- mah, and others in Asia Minor, Abyssinia, the Galla country, Madagascar, and among the va- rious tribes and settlements along the entire seaboard of Africa. In America there are vi- cariates apostolic in the valley of the Macken- zie, British Columbia, Lower California, the Antilles, British and Dutch Guiana, and in the territories and at various other points in the United States. Vicars apostolic also preside over the missionary labors of the chief island groups of Oceania. At other points in Euro- pean and other countries, where the presence of a bishop is either undesirable or unneces- sary, priests with special faculties, denomina- ted prefects apostolic, minister to the wants of scattered Catholics. They are to be found in Iceland, Norway, Schleswig, and Switzerland, on the most dangerous Asiatic and African missions, &c. There is no dependence or con- nection between the members of the hierarchy in the various portions of the world, under different civil rulers, but all are linked togeth- er in unity by means of Rome, the common centre. The general government of the church is carried on at Rome, where the pope is assist- ed by the body of cardinals, several of whom compose standing committees to examine and prepare the matters for final action. Nearly 30 belong to the congregation of propaganda, which is charged with a general superinten- dence of missionary countries. The appoint- ment of bishops is made on the recommenda- tion of the local prelates, with the advice of the cardinals. In several monarchies the nom- ination is given to the sovereign, with a pow- er of rejecting or confirming reserved to the pontiff. The religious orders in the church are like corporations in a civil government, hav- ing special exemptions and privileges. They derive them from the pope, who, in virtue of Ms apostolical authority, exempts the mem- bers from the jurisdiction of the bishops in