In May, 1852, archbishop Kenrick of Baltimore, who had succeeded in 1851 archbishop Eccleston, pre- siiled over the first plenary or national council of the United States. It was composed of six archbishops and twenty-six bishops, and, besides proposing to the pope the creation of several new dioceses, it strongly urged the necessity of establishing Catholic schools, and solemnly condemned secret societies, especially the Freemasons. In 1858 the pope conferred the rank of primacy on the see of Baltimore. Arch- bishop Kenrick died in 18()4, and was succeeded by Dr. Spalding, formerly bishop of Louisville. In 1866 the second plenary council was held in Baltimore. It was presided over by archbishop Spalding, and seven arclibishops, thirty-eight bishops, three mitred abbots, and over one hundred and twenty theologians took part in the deliberations. The council expressed a wish for the establishment of a Catholic university. The Vatican Council, which began in 1869, was attended by forty-nine prelates of the United States. Onlj' a few of them were opposed to the promulgation of papal in- fallibility as a doctrine of the Catholic Church, and all readily acquiesced in the decision of the council. The Old Catholic movement in some countries of Europe found no echo in the United States. Archbishop Spal- ding of Baltimore died in 1872, and was succeeded by James Roosevelt Bay ley, bishop of Newark. In 1875 archbishop McCloskey of New York was raised to the dignity of the cardinalate, and the dioceses of Boston, Philadelphia, ISIilwaukee, and Santa Fe were raised to the rank of metropolitan sees. Thus the number of arch- bishoprics in the United States rose to eleven. After the death of archbishop Bayley, in October, 1877, bishop James Gibbons of Richmond was appointed archbishop of Baltimore. The number of episcopal dioceses in 1879 was 49 ; of vicariates apostolic, 7 ; of praefectures apos- tolic, 1. The total number of dioceses (including arch- dioceses, vicariates apostolic, and prasfectures apostolic) was 68. Many of the dioceses have a large Roman Catholic population. Sadlier's Catholic IHrectory for 1879 claims, according to reports furnished by the bish- ops for each of the following dioceses, a Catiholic popu- lation exceeding 200,000 : Baltimore, 300,000 ; Boston, 310,000; Cincinnati. 200,000; New Orleans, 250,000; New Y'ork, 600,000; Albany, 200,000; Brooklyn, 200,000; Philadelphia, 275,000 ; St. Louis, 250,000 "; Chicago, 230,000. The number of priests in 1876 was 6074; that of churches, 6046 ; that of stations, 1482.
II. The relif/iuus orders of men and women M'hich have been since the beginning of the 19th century the object of hostile legislation in nearly every country of Europe, have never been legally interfered with in the United States. Consequently, their history shows a steady increase of number ; and they have grown all the more rapidly, as the expulsion of many orders from European countries and the urgent applications of the American bishops, who have always been, and still are, in need of more missionaries, have frequently induced large numbers of European nuns and monks to settle in the United States. In 1877 there were, according to IVIurray's Popular History of the Catholic Church in the United States (N. Y'. 1877), twenty-seven different re- ligious orders of men in the United States. Three of these (the Franciscans, Dominicans, and Jesuits) worked as early as the 16th century among the Indians; the Augustinians and Sulpitians founded their first estab- lishments in 1790 and 1791. The Trappists followed in 1805, the Priests of the Mission in 1816, the Redemp- torists in 1832. Eight religious orders established them- selves between 1840 and 1850, and eleven between 1850 and 1877. One of the orders, the Paidists, arose in the United States, opening its first house in New York in 1858. Among tlie orders which have the largest num- ber of members and houses are the Jesuits, with 30 houses and 750 members; the Christian Brothers, with 49 houses and 700 members; the Augustinians, with 13 houses and 00 members; the Priests of the Mission,
ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH 83 ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH
with 13 houses and 142 members; the Benedictines, with 12 houses and 300 members ; the Urotliers of Ma^3^ In all, there are about 2G0 establishments of religious orders of men, with more than 3000 mem- bers. The religious orders of women are much more numerous than those for men. In all, there are forty- four religious orders of women, four of which (the Sis- ters of Charity, the Sisters of St. Joseph, the Sisters of Mercy, and the School Sisters of Notre Dame) have each more than one thousand members.
\\\. Educatioiutl Establishments. — As the Catholic Church is opposed to the principle of undenominational schools which prevails in all the states of the Union, strenuous endeavors have been made to gather the children of Catholic parents into parochial scliools. The first council of Baltimore, held in 1829, expressed the wish that schools should be established where youth might imbibe principles of faith and morality along with human knowledge. The second plenary council of Baltimore warmly appealed to pastors and people to establish Catholic schools where the Catholic faith might be taught as a science. The bishops, according- ly, have endeavored to provide not only for the estab- lishment of colleges, seminaries, and academies, which, as with other religious denominations, have a secta- rian character, but to connect as much as possible with everj' parish church a Catholic parochial school. The number of schools of this character is at the present time very large, and in some of the older and more pop- ulous dioceses nearly every church has its parochial school. The numljer of Catholic schools in 1877 ex- ceeded 1700, and the number of children educated in them was over 500,000. The teachers are to a large extent supplied by the religious orders. Though the expenses for supporting these schools are comparatively small, the aggregate amount which has annually to be raised by voluntary contributions is felt as a heavy bur- den, and incessant efforts are made, therefore, to obtain a part of the common-school fund of the states for the support of schools of a strictly Catholic character. Only in a few exceptional cases have these efforts been suc- cessful; as a general ride, the claims of the Church have been uncompromisingly rejected.