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* EOMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 239 ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. the next two decades, and in 1S70 they were near- ly 5,000,000. The external historj- of Roman Catholicism in the United States during the nineteenth cen- tury is not marked bj- any notable events, if we except some outbreaks of intolerance. It has been the history of a voluntary religious as- sociation growing at first by accessions from without and then b_y its own birth rate. Its internal activity has been marked by the grow'th of its diocesan system and its clergy, diocesan and religious; by the building of churches and chapels, the erection of parochial schools, col- leges, academies, and a university; by the pro- vision for its own poor and destitute and help- less; by an apologetic literature of newspapers, reviews, and books. The Roman Catholic Church in the United States has had to face problems quite difl'erent from those that await her in Europe or the Orient. Her numbers are made up of many nationalities, chiefly European, that dif- fer in racial temper and proclivities, intellectual culture, hereditai'y tendencies, and political past. Her chief domestic concern is the amalgamation of these various elements and the gradual for- mation of a homogeneous type, a task that is daily progressing to completion. In 1900 quasi- official figures placed the total Catholic popula- tion at 10,129.677. But absolutely reliable fig- ures are not attainable, for a variety of reasons. It is probable that the number is not far from 14.000,000, if we accept the decadal ratio of growth, as established by the Catholic historian John Gilmary Shea. This ]X)pulation is very unevenly distributed, by far the greater part of it being found in the larger cities and industrial centres, though a rapidly increasing percentage is of native origin. From ISoO to 1900, about 4,000,000 people, nearly all Roman Catholics, emigrated from Ireland, the greater part of them to the United States. This great w'ave of immi- gration has long since fallen off; there came from Ireland in 1900' only 3.5,370. On the other hand, the immigration from Italv has steadilv increased from 21,29.5 in 18SG to 100.135 in 1900, while again that from Gerniffny has shrimk to small proportions. In about the same period, however, the immigration from Austria-Hungary, wiiich is mainlv Roman Catholic, rose from 56,199 in 1890 to 114,847 in 1900. The membership of the Roman Catholic Church is, therefore, even yet notably affected by the rise and fall of the tide of Euro- pean immigration. Among the more famous leaders of Roman Catholicism in the United States -we may count Archbishop .John Carroll, of Baltimore, who was sent by Congress to Canada in 1770, with Benjamin Franklin, Sam- uel Chase, and Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, in order to induce the Canadian Catholics to join the Revolutionary forces; Bishop Cheverus. of Boston, afterwards Cardinal Archbishop of Bor- deaux; Bishop England, of Charleston; Arch- bishop Hughes, of Xew York, sent by President Lincoln as an envoy to France and Spain during the Civil War; Archbishop Spalding, of Balti- more, The principal events of general interest within the last two decades are the Plenary Council of Baltimore (1884), the Catholic Con- gress (1889), the foundation of the Catholic Uni- versity at Washington (1889), and the estab- lishment of the Apostolie Delegation at Wash- ington (1893). Administration. The Roman Catholic Church in the United States is part of the organic whole of Catholicism, and as such is subject to the same central legislative and executive authority as all otlier national diurchcs — the liisliop of Rome. He exercises therein a jurisdidion that is recognized as of divine origin, imnu'diale, apos- tolic, and ordinary. This hobls good not only in matters of doctrine, but also in matters of "dis- cipline; the Pope is the final court of appeal In all matters of a spiritual or religious character. In detail, the Papal authority is partly written^ partly of daily application — interpretative, execu- tive, legislative. The basis of government is the Canon Law (q.v.), as considerably nmdilled by the Council of Trent, and since then by the nu- merous decisions and inter])retations of Uonnin congregations, as well as by I'apal rescripts, and tle special legislation for missionary countries and circumstances, Xevertlielcss. there remains nuich in this code of laws, i)i the shape of prin- ciples and spirit, which is unchanged aiul un- changeable, and therefore common to the Roman Catholic Church in the United States with all other parts of Catholicism. The Church in the I'nited States is divided into provinces and dioceses. Each province is presided over by an arclibishop. Each diocesan bishop, however, is quite independent williin liis own territory. The arclibishop presides over )>ro- vincial synods, at meetings of his suffragan bish- ops, and exercises, in some well-defined cases, a certain authority of supervision. Each diocese, moreover, is provided with a chancery and the requisite oHicials to carry on the canonical gov- ernment of the faithful. The dioceses are divided into parislies and missions, whose pastors are apjiointed by the bishop. The bishop is provided with a council of priests, partly of his own selec- tion, partly chosen by the diocesan clergy. This council, however, though it represents the cathe- dral chapter, has only a consultative character; its consent is not requisite to the validity of episcopal acts. It is the right and duty of the bishop to visit canonically all parishes and mis- sions, see to the observance of the canons and other ecclesiastical legislations, and execute his own or superior judicial decisions. Where the bishoj) does not proceed by his own authority, as in many details that concern religious Orders, he acts, since the Council of Trent, as delegate of the Holy See. Within his diocese the creation, division, and reunion of parishes; the site, style, and cost of all churches; the contracting of debts for parochial purposes; the building and con- ducting of schools, convents, academics; the life and works of the clergj-, diocesan and religious, and of the communities of women, are subject to the bishop. Since the third Plenary Council of Baltimore. the nomination of episcopal candidates belongs to certain of the clergy- of the diocese, under the supervision of the archbishop, and eventually of the bishops of the province. The diocesan con- suitors and the 'irremovable' rectors of parishes in the vacant diocese select three names that are ticketed as 'most worthy,' 'very worthy.' and 'worthy' of the office (^igni.iMmiis. difinior, dirinus). These names are sent to the Prefect of the Propaganda after a meeting of the arch- bishop and his sufTragans, in which said name.s are either approved or rejected, in whole or in part. Reason for the latter action must be sub- mitted to the Roman authorities, with whom lies