{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_66562/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_66562","id":"gutenberg_66562","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/66562","summary":null,"tags":["African Americans -- Missions","Category: History - American","Category: History - Religious","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Catholic Church -- Missions -- United States","Indians of North America -- Missions"],"text":"MISSION WORK\n AMONG THE NEGROES\n AND\n THE INDIANS.\n\n What is being accomplished by means of the Annual\n Collection taken up for our Missions.\n\n MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION\n CHARGED WITH DISTRIBUTING THE FUND:\n\n HIS EMINENCE JAMES CARDINAL GIBBONS,\n ARCHBISHOP OF BALTIMORE.\n\n MOST REV. DR. RYAN,\n ARCHBISHOP OF PHILADELPHIA.\n\n RIGHT REV. DR. KAIN,\n BISHOP OF WHEELING\n\n BALTIMORE:\n FOLEY BROS., PRINTERS,\n 4 LIGHT STREET.\n 1893.\n\n\n\n\nMission Work among the Negroes and the Indians.\n\n\n\n\nFINANCIAL STATEMENT\n\n_From January 1st, 1892, to January 1st, 1893._\n\n\n RECEIVED FROM COLLECTIONS OF 1892.\n\n Archdiocese of Baltimore $ 2,400 00\n \u201d Boston 5,005 00\n \u201d Chicago 1,918 00\n \u201d Milwaukee [1]2,192 79\n \u201d New Orleans 947 60\n \u201d New York 4,293 27\n \u201d Oregon City 90 00\n \u201d Philadelphia 6,261 01\n \u201d St. Louis 2,382 69\n \u201d St. Paul 1,000 00\n \u201d San Francisco 1,098 60\n \u201d Santa F\u00e9 113 18\n Diocese of Albany 1,082 35\n \u201d Alton 417 70\n \u201d Belleville 300 00\n \u201d Brooklyn 3,077 68\n \u201d Buffalo 990 48\n \u201d Burlington 309 00\n \u201d Charleston 30 00\n \u201d Cleveland [2]1,858 54\n \u201d Concordia 95 80\n \u201d Covington 333 85\n \u201d Davenport 668 03\n \u201d Denver 310 60\n \u201d Detroit 750 00\n \u201d Dubuque 1,332 65\n \u201d Duluth 82 00\n \u201d Erie 416 90\n \u201d Fort Wayne 1,294 37\n \u201d Galveston 135 45\n \u201d Grand Rapids 452 72\n \u201d Green Bay 477 27\n \u201d Hartford 1,659 08\n \u201d Helena 87 15\n \u201d Jamestown, N. D. 100 00\n \u201d Kansas City, Kansas 340 25\n \u201d Kansas City and St. Joseph 372 80\n \u201d La Crosse 563 66\n \u201d Lincoln 206 21\n \u201d Little Rock 200 00\n \u201d Louisville 909 07\n \u201d Manchester 733 40\n \u201d Marquette 322 00\n \u201d Mobile 193 35\n \u201d Monterey and Los Angeles 170 00\n \u201d Nashville 227 74\n \u201d Natchez 96 65\n \u201d Natchitoches 30 00\n \u201d Nesqually 82 60\n \u201d Newark 1,755 89\n \u201d Ogdensburg 216 25\n \u201d Omaha 324 05\n \u201d Peoria 1,830 00\n \u201d Pittsburg and Alleghany 3,390 34\n \u201d Portland 1,030 70\n \u201d Providence 2,035 86\n \u201d Richmond 237 00\n \u201d Rochester 645 84\n \u201d Sacramento 173 82\n \u201d St. Augustine 72 00\n \u201d St. Cloud 250 00\n \u201d San Antonio 150 00\n \u201d Savannah 200 00\n \u201d Scranton 600 00\n \u201d Sioux Falls 136 60\n \u201d Springfield 1,300 34\n \u201d Syracuse 548 61\n \u201d Trenton 225 00\n \u201d Vancouver\u2019s Island 19 75\n \u201d Vincennes 1,376 42\n \u201d Wheeling 232 23\n \u201d Wichita 68 20\n \u201d Wilmington 450 00\n Vicariate of Brownsville (1891 and 1892) 67 00\n \u201d Idaho 16 50\n \u201d Indian Territory 52 90\n Interest on Deposit 244 00\n Proceeds sale of pamphlets 7 30\n -------\n Total amount received from collections of 1892 $66,068 09\n Balance on hand January 1st, 1892 2,327 58\n ----------\n Total $68,395 67\n ==========\n Balance on hand January 1st, 1893 $498 32\n\n DISBURSED.\n\n Archdiocese of Baltimore $2,300 00\n \u201d Chicago 1,000 00\n \u201d New Orleans 2,700 00\n \u201d New York 1,500 00\n \u201d Oregon City 1,200 00\n \u201d Philadelphia 1,500 00\n \u201d St. Louis 1,200 00\n \u201d San Francisco 500 00\n \u201d Santa F\u00e9. 2,500 00\n Diocese of Charleston 1,800 00\n \u201d Cheyenne 300 00\n \u201d Covington 1,500 00\n \u201d Dallas 750 00\n \u201d Duluth 500 00\n \u201d Fort Wayne 360 00\n \u201d Galveston 1,800 00\n \u201d Grand Rapids 1,000 00\n \u201d Green Bay 1,000 00\n \u201d Harrisburg 150 00\n \u201d Helena 1,500 00\n \u201d Jamestown 1,000 00\n \u201d Kansas City, Kansas 1,000 00\n \u201d La Crosse 800 00\n \u201d Little Rock 1,400 00\n \u201d Louisville 1,000 00\n \u201d Marquette 500 00\n \u201d Mobile 600 00\n \u201d Nashville 750 00\n \u201d Natchez 2,250 00\n \u201d Natchitoches 1,800 00\n \u201d Nesqually 1,200 00\n \u201d Pittsburgh 1,000 00\n \u201d Portland 200 00\n \u201d Richmond 1,800 00\n \u201d St. Augustine 1,000 00\n \u201d St. Cloud 1,000 00\n \u201d San Antonio 500 00\n \u201d Savannah 1,000 00\n \u201d Sioux Falls 1,500 00\n \u201d Vancouver\u2019s Island, Alaska Missions 2,500 00\n \u201d Vincennes 1,000 00\n \u201d Wilmington 2,000 00\n Vicariate of Arizona 500 00\n \u201d Brownsville 1,500 00\n \u201d Idaho 1,000 00\n \u201d Indian Territory 2,000 00\n \u201d North Carolina 1,400 00\n St. Joseph\u2019s Seminary, Baltimore, for the formation\n of priests devoted to the missions among the\n colored people 6,000 00\n Expenses at the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions,\n Washington 4,000 00\n EXPENSES:\n Secretary 250 00\n Pamphlet on the Negro and Indian Missions sent\n to all the priests of the U.S. 282 05\n Other printing, stationery, postage, &c. 105 30\n --------\n $67,897 35\n _Balance transferred to a/c for 1893_ 498 32\n ----------\n $68,395 67\n\n [1] In this amount is included a legacy of $1,000 from Mrs. Alice\n Hussey, $500 for the Negro and $500 for the Indian missions.\n\n [2] Including a legacy of $100 from Mr. Adam Haefling, Tiffin, O.,\n to be equally divided between the Negro and the Indian missions.\n\n\n\n\nMission Work among the Negroes and the Indians.\n\n\nThe communications we publish from Bishops who receive aid from the\nannual collections for our Negro and Indian missions, show very simply\nand forcibly the importance and needs of this work. Passages from the\nletters of Archbishop Janssens, of New Orleans, of Bishop O\u2019Sullivan, of\nMobile and of Rev. Father Molony of the diocese of San Antonio, may help\nto answer a question as to the ultimate outcome of what is being done,\nthat doubtless arises in many minds.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe Archbishop says:\n\n\u201cIn another portion of the diocese, at Grossetete Bayou, there is a\nsomewhat similar settlement of negroes, who before the war were sold\nin Maryland, to Louisiana Protestant planters. The history of their\ntrials for religion, their constancy to the faith, would embellish a\npage in the history of the Martyrs of the Church. Much is said of the\ninconsistency of the negro, but my experience convinces me, that when\nthe negro has been brought up in the knowledge and practice of religion,\nhe is as constant as any white Catholic under the circumstances. Bad\ntraining and ignorance degenerate their mind and heart, as it does with\nthe white population. We are trying to raise means to build a church\nfor that settlement. I regret very much that the Commission has been\nobliged to diminish the allocation. Our work is increasing and the funds\ndiminishing. May the Lord provide some other means.\u201d\n\n * * * * *\n\nBishop O\u2019Sullivan writes:\n\n\u201cWe receive very few adult converts from among the colored people.\nHowever, the proportion of colored converts is equal to the number\nof white converts. Hence, there is no reason why we should look upon\nthe conversion of the colored people as hopeless; on the contrary the\noutlook is encouraging. If we plant the good seed, our successors will\nreap a rich harvest. The Catholics in the South are so few, that it\nis impossible for them to supply missionaries and means to carry on\nthe work. Help must come from outside. May God bless all who help this\nmission.\u201d\n\n * * * * *\n\nRev. R. J. Molony writes: \u201cOur work in this diocese is assuming a\nbrighter look. God has blessed it this year beyond our most sanguine\nexpectations. Our experience of the past did not inspire much hope. Since\nthe foundation of the mission in 1888, our colored people have stood\naloof and looked on our labors with cold indifference. They seemed to\nassume an attitude of distrust. Within the present year we have noticed\na change in their behavior towards the mission and the Catholic church.\nNow they approach with more confidence. The better class, the religiously\ndisposed, receive religious instruction. They begin to appreciate the\nintellectual and moral improvement of the children who attend our\nschools.\u201d\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe amount received from the annual collection was in\n\n 1887 $81,898.01\n 1888 76,175.30\n 1889 69,637.68\n 1890 70,461.87\n 1891 63,386.84\n The receipts for 1892 to date stand 66,068.09\n\nIn 1887 thirty-one dioceses received help from this fund and forty-six in\n1892.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe following Pastoral Letter issued last year by the Rt. Rev. Bishop of\nLouisville, sets forth strongly and earnestly the claims of the Negro and\nIndian Mission work on our sympathy and generous aid.\n\n\n\n\nThe Colored and Indian Missions.\n\n\nThe following is taken from a Pastoral Letter issued last year by Rt.\nRev. Bishop McCloskey of Louisville. It sets forth strongly and earnestly\nthe claims of the Negro and Indian mission work to our sympathy and\ngenerous aid.\n\n\u201cIf thousands of these wretched beings of whom we speak, are still as\nignorant and destitute of the light of Christianity, as heathen, so to\nsay, as when the first settler landed on our shores, whose fault is it?\nAnd if they are now fast falling back into the practice of their old\nheathen rites, who are responsible for abominations which disgrace the\nChristians\u2019 name? Christ died for all; for the African as well as the\nEuropean. Have we recognized this fact? Have we come up to the full\nmeasure of the duty we owe to our less favored brother? and when we found\nhim lying in helpless misery, bruised and beaten,\u2014have we taken him up\nand carried him to an inn, and like the good Samaritan, pored oil into\nhis wounds? or have we not rather, like the unfeeling priest and cold\nhearted Levite, passed him by and left him lying by the way-side, as\nif _his_ heavenly Father was not ours also? These, dearly beloved, are\nquestions that we must answer at the judgment seat. \u201cI was hungry and you\ngave me not to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me not to drink: naked and\nyou clothed me not; sick and you did not visit me;\u201d and the answer will\ncome to you as distinct and definite as to the astonished culprit, who\ncould not see Christ in the person of the poor and needy. \u201cAmen, I say to\nyou, as long as you did it not to one of these least ones, neither did\nyou do it to me.\u201d\n\nYes, dearly beloved, He who died to redeem us all, will surely hold us\naccountable, unless we make such tardy reparation as we are able, for the\nwrongs done these neglected creatures, in whose behalf the Church pleads\nso earnestly and yet so tenderly to-day. \u201cNow is the acceptable time; now\nis the day of salvation.\u201d\n\nWhat the Church wishes you to do just now is to strengthen the hands of\nthose noble bands of missionaries\u2014priests of God and devoted Sisters of\nMercy and Charity; heroic Ursulines and brave daughters of St. Benedict,\nnow laboring among our Colored brethren in the South, and, in the far\nWest, among the scanty remnants of a race that still clings (and who can\nblame them?) with the tenacity of despair to their last footholds in a\nland they once proudly called their own.\n\nThe Church, which to the Catholic, is the voice of God, wishes you to put\nin the hands of the self-denying workers in that rougher portion of the\nLord\u2019s vineyard, the funds they need to carry on the work they have in\nhand. These holy missionaries would carry the glad tidings of salvation\nto the benighted children of the forest. They would plant in their midst\nschools in which young Indian boys and girls may be trained in civil\nlearning; and churches into which all may be gathered round the altar of\nGod, and taught to know and worship in spirit and in truth Jesus Christ,\ntheir Redeemer, whose children they are, and, equally with us, heirs of\neternal life. \u201cSuffer little children to come unto me and forbid them\nnot, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.\u201d It is the humility and the\nmeekness of Jesus that is to win for us the great prize of eternal life\nfor which each one, in his own way, is daily striving. \u201cBlessed are the\nmeek, for they shall possess the land.\u201d It is the beauty of our soul not\nthe color of our skin that will be the real test of our right to gaze\nupon the glory of God in paradise. \u201cBlessed are the clean of heart, for\nthey shall see God.\u201d\n\nSuch then, in brief, is the object for which this collection is to be\ntaken up at all the Masses on the First Sunday in Lent\u2014a noble and a\nblessed work, and full of richest merit for all who approach it in the\nspirit of Christian charity, and with kindly feelings toward those of\ntheir brethren, who, as you know too well, are utterly unable to help\nthemselves.\n\nThe heroic self-abnegation of those priests and nuns who have gone forth\ninto a sort of voluntary exile to spend themselves and be spent for\nChrist in the service of the forsaken and despised Indian, whose lot,\nto some extent, they share, is worthy of our highest admiration; for\nthis, Dearly beloved, is not a field of labor which all would willingly\nselect\u2014this life of perpetual self-sacrifice, ending only in death. The\nvery nobility of the sacrifice they have made is in itself one of their\nstrongest claims on your generous support; for (do not forget it), but\nfor this their heroic self-denial, you would not easily find a means\nof discharging a debt you owe a race which for two long centuries has\nbeen so cruelly dealt with;\u2014a race, too, that has proved itself time and\nagain, in council and on battle field, as brave, as skillful, and as\nmagnanimous as your own. And yet, to our shame, be it spoken, nearly all\nthat are left of this singular, and in some respects, mysterious people,\nare now wanderers upon the wild prairie, eking out, as best they can, a\nmiserable existence on the paltry pittance that is doled out to them, and\nare to-day, practically speaking, as destitute of religious instructions\nas were their pagan forefathers. Oh! Dearly Beloved, what a commentary\nis this sad spectacle on the boasted superiority of our Christian\ncivilization! Take heed, lest Christ\u2019s words on witnessing the faith of\nthe centurion, and the want of it on the part of those to whom He was\nspeaking, may one day rise up in judgment against you: \u201cI say to you\nthat many shall come from the East and the West, and shall sit down with\nAbraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; but the children\nof the kingdom shall be cast out into exterior darkness: there shall be\nweeping and gnashing of teeth.\u201d\n\nCome, then, We entreat you in the bowels of Christ\u2019s mercy;\u2014in the name\nof Him who for your sakes, and for the sake of those for whom We are\npleading, hung naked on the cross, despising the shame; come to the aid\nof these devoted missionaries who are doing what they can to save this\npeople worthy of a better fate; remembering the rich graces poured out\ncenturies ago on your own ancestors in the faith; for what after all,\nare these brave missionaries doing, but just what St. Patrick did for\nIreland, St. Boniface for Germany, St. Francis Xavier for the savage\ntribes of India, and St. Francis of Sales, the gentle apostle of the\nSwiss, for the tens of thousand whom he rescued from the enemy of souls.\n\nDearly beloved, a glorious work is going on in your midst and you know it\nnot. If, then, you hear the voice of God to-day, harden not your hearts;\nturn not a deaf ear to the voice pleading within you for your destitute\nColored and Indian Brethren; but take in hand at once the blessed work\nwhich your generous hearts prompt you to do. Rise up like true men, and\nshake off the forgetfulness of the past, and let your charity respond in\nfull measure to this earnest appeal to you for help. It comes to you with\nthe sanction of grave and venerable prelates who in council have weighed\nthe matter well, and now make known to you the obligation you are under.\nThe rich results of your generosity you may not live to see. Leave that\nto God. The just man lives by faith, and knows that if in loving kindness\nto the poor and destitute he casts his bread upon the waters, it will\ncome back to him, not in the shape of human praise, but in the fullness\nof divine mercy, which will not be wanting to him in that supreme hour\nwhen he will stand most in need of it. Strive thus, dearly beloved, to\nmake your vocation and election sure; that, for your kindness to the\nneedy, you may one day hear those words so full of comfort and divine\nlove: \u201cCome ye blessed of My Father, possess the kingdom prepared for\nyou; for I was hungry and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty and you gave\nme to drink; I was naked and you clothed me; sick, and you visited me;\nfor as long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it\nto Me. Enter into the joy of your Lord.\u201d\n\nYou will have the sweet consolation of knowing that you have hearkened\nto the voice of the Bishops whom the Holy Ghost has placed over the\nChurch in this our beloved country\u2014this favored land which is ours by so\nmany pleasing associations;\u2014discovered by a fearless Catholic navigator,\naided, as he was in turn, by the royal munificence of that pearl of\nChristian Queens, \u201cIsabella the Catholic;\u201d\u2014its early missionaries devoted\nsons of St. Dominic, St. Francis and St. Ignatius, who were the first\nto plant the cross and spread the true faith on American soil, which\nthey watered with their blood;\u2014this blessed land of ours now dedicated\nto the Sacred Heart of Jesus and tenderly guarded by our dear Lady, the\nImmaculate Mother of our God, and sweet comforter of the afflicted.\n\nDearly beloved, may the joy of a good conscience, the peace of God, that\npeace that surpasseth all understanding, ever be yours.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nI. THE NEGRO MISSION WORK.\n\n\n -------------+-----------+---------+---------+--------+-----------------+\n | Negro |Catholic | | | Baptisms. |\n DIOCESE. |Population.| Negroes.|Churches.|Priests.|Children.|Adults.|\n -------------+-----------+---------+---------+--------+---------+-------+\n Baltimore | 218,000 | 36,000 | 4 | 14 | 460 | 170 |\n | | | | | | |\n | | | | | | |\n | | | | | | |\n | | | | | | |\n | | | | | | |\n Brownsville | 20,000 | | | | | |\n Charleston | 550,000 | 1,000 | 2 | | 35 | 15 |\n Covington | 75,000 | 115 | 1 | | 3 | 15 |\n | | | | | | |\n Galveston | 250,000 | 500 | 1 | 2 | 21 | 24 |\n | | | | | | |\n Kansas City | 40,000 | 200 | 1 | 1 | 36 | 14 |\n | | | | | | |\n Little Rock | 400,000 | 100 | | | 5 | 2 |\n | | | | | | |\n | | | | | | |\n | | | | | | |\n Louisville | 200,000 | 4,003 | 1 | 1 | 167 | 37 |\n | | | | | | |\n | | | | | | |\n Mobile | 706,243 | 2,500 | 5 | | 82 | 4 |\n Nashville | 431,320 | 40 | | | 3 | 3 |\n Natchez | | 1,838 | 1 | 1 | 75 | 30 |\n | | | | | | |\n | | | | | | |\n | | | | | | |\n Natchitoches | 145,000 | 15,000 | 2 | 1 | 178 | 23 |\n New Orleans | | 80,000 | 2 | | 3,218 | 292 |\n | | | | | | |\n | | | | | | |\n | | | | | | |\n | | | | | | |\n | | | | | | |\n | | | | | | |\n | | | | | | |\n New York | 80,000 | 3,000 | 2 | 4 | 58 | 22 |\n | | | | | | |\n Philadelphia | 60,000 | 1,500 | 1 | 1 | 40 | 10 |\n Pittsburgh | | | 1 | 1 | 11 | 4 |\n Richmond | 700,000 | 700 | 1 | 1 | 19 | 34 |\n | | | | | | |\n Savannah | 720,000 | 1,000 | 1 | 1 | 50 | 12 |\n St. Augustine| 97,800 | 1,200 | | | | |\n | | | | | | |\n San Antonio | 75,000 | 1,200 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 20 |\n | | | | | | |\n Wilmington | 100,000 | 125 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 7 |\n -------------+-----------+---------+---------+--------+---------+-------+\n | [3] | 140,021 | 28 | 30 | 4,479 | 734 |\n -------------+-----------+---------+---------+--------+---------+-------+\n\n [3] Colored population of the South in 1890, 6,996,166.\n\n -------------+--------+-------+-------------------+----------------------\n | | | |\n DIOCESE. |Schools.|Pupils.| Institutions. | Sisterhoods.\n -------------+--------+-------+-------------------+----------------------\n Baltimore | 10 | 1,200 | St. Joseph\u2019s |{ Notre Dame.\n | | | Seminary, Epiph\u2019y |{ Oblates.\n | | | Apostolic College,|{ St. Francis.\n | | | Two Orphanages, |{ Holy Cross.\n | | | Academy, St. |{ Charity.\n | | | Joseph\u2019s Guild. |\n Brownsville | | | |\n Charleston | 1 | 126 | |\n Covington | 1 | 219 | Hospital, |{ Charity.\n | | | Orphanage, Home. |{ Charity of Naz.\n Galveston | 2 | 420 | Orphanage. |{ St. Dominic.\n | | | Indus. School. |{ Incarnate Word.\n Kansas City | 3 | 108 | Orphanage. |{ Oblates of Prov.\n | | | |{ Charity.\n Little Rock | 5 | 450 | Indus. School. |{ St. Benedict.\n | | | |{ Mercy.\n | | | |{ St. Joseph.\n | | | |{ Charity.\n Louisville | 8 | 680 | |{ Loretto.\n | | | |{ Charity.\n | | | |{ Nazareth.\n Mobile | 4 | 286 | | Mercy.\n Nashville | 1 | 167 | |\n Natchez | 5 | 240 | |{ St. Francis.\n | | | |{ Mercy.\n | | | |{ St. Joseph.\n | | | |{ Perp. Adoration.\n Natchitoches | 6 | 252 | |\n New Orleans | 36 | 2,309 | Orphanage. |{ Mercy.\n | | | Aged People\u2019s |{ Perp. Adoration.\n | | | Home. |{ Mt. Carmel.\n | | | |{ St. Joseph.\n | | | |{ Sacred Heart.\n | | | |{ Holy Family.\n | | | |{ St. Francis. (col.)\n | | | |{ Holy Cross.\n New York | 4 | 200 | Orphanage. |{ Charity.\n | | | |{ St. Dominic.\n Philadelphia | 2 | 140 | | Notre Dame.\n Pittsburgh | 1 | 60 | | Mercy.\n Richmond | 6 | 380 | |{ St. Francis.\n | | | |{ Holy Cross.\n Savannah | 5 | 175 | Orphanage. |\n St. Augustine| 5 | 225 | |{ St. Joseph.\n | | | |{ Holy Name.\n San Antonio | 2 | 165 | |{ Servants of the\n | | | |{ Holy Ghost.\n Wilmington | 1 | 82 | Orphanage. | St. Francis.\n -------------+--------+-------+-------------------+----------------------\n | 108 | 7,884 | |\n -------------+--------+-------+-------------------+----------------------\n\n\nBALTIMORE, MD.\n\nThe Catholic Church in the Southern States has long felt the need of\npriests. The Bishops of these States have made successive appeals for\nzealous workers, but all to no purpose. St. Joseph\u2019s Seminary and the\nEpiphany Apostolic College have been founded to supply this want.\nAlthough both institutions are new, sixty-five young men have offered\nthemselves for the arduous mission. If Providence favors this Seminary\nand College a number of missionaries will depart yearly for the South, to\nwork wholly in the spiritual interests of the Negro. \u201cOn sending in our\napplication,\u201d writes the Rev. Rector of St. Joseph\u2019s Seminary, \u201cit may be\nwell to review the work of the scholastic year, 1891-92, at St. Joseph\u2019s\nSeminary and the Epiphany Apostolic College. The most important event,\nthe placing of our work on an independent basis, is already known to you.\nWe are seven priests to initiate the new movement. We have just finished\na retreat in common in which we threw ourselves into shape under the\nname of St. Joseph\u2019s Society of the Sacred Heart. The seven represented\nthe two institutions for the training of missionaries, the missions\nof Richmond, Va., Wilmington, Del., and St. Peter Claver\u2019s mission of\nBaltimore. In regard to this step, very many Bishops and Priests, by word\nand letter, have endorsed it. The second event of importance was the\nordination of our colored priest, in December, 1891. At the close of the\nyear there were ten seminarians at St. Joseph\u2019s Seminary and fifty-two\nstudents at the Epiphany Apostolic College. Of our seminarians, one is\na deacon, one is in minor orders, and three are tonsured. With God\u2019s\nblessing and our Lady\u2019s help, next year will see fifteen seminarians\nin St. Joseph\u2019s Seminary, of whom six will have been graduates of the\nEpiphany Apostolic College. We expect to have at least sixty students in\nthe latter institution. Your Eminence will bear in mind that the five\nthousand dollars the venerable Commission has agreed to allow us, are but\none fifth of our expenses. And it is but just to add that we must raise\nthe other four-fifths. Moreover, we must build a new seminary this year.\nAt present, the neighboring house, one hundred and thirty feet distant,\nmust be used, and we fear to the detriment of discipline. Plans are drawn\nfor a building to hold sixty seminarians. Because of this building may\nwe ask a special donation in addition to the regular allotment? The new\nseminary will cost sixty thousand dollars, which, as I must stand at my\npost, I know not how to raise.\u201d\n\nThe following letter is from the Rev. Paul Griffith, of St. Augustine\u2019s\nChurch, Washington, D. C.\n\n\u201cI most respectfully apply for assistance from the fund for the Indian\nand Negro Missions. We need all the help possible to cope with the Public\nSchools of Washington. In fact our school facilities are poor, and unless\nwe can do something to invite children to our Catholic school, many of\nthem will lose their faith. Five hundred dollars are absolutely necessary\nto pay the teachers, but one thousand would be a veritable Godsend.\u201d\n\nSister Rose Noylam, who has charge of St. Euphemia\u2019s School, Emmitsburg,\nMd., writes as follows, in a letter addressed to His Eminence, Cardinal\nGibbons: \u201cI make a new appeal for our poor colored children. At the\nsame time I wish to thank Your Eminence for last year\u2019s appropriation;\nalthough it was one hundred dollars less than that of the year before,\nstill we are most grateful for it. There are from forty to fifty colored\nchildren enrolled in our school, and it is both consoling and edifying\nto witness the docility of these little ones, and their eagerness to\nmake all manner of sacrifices to avail themselves of the advantages of\nan education. Some of these children have to walk three miles to school\nand three more in returning to their homes. They come to school in\nall varieties of weather, through snow and ice, to say nothing of the\nother discomforts to be met with on the rugged roads of the surrounding\ndistrict.\u201d\n\nThe Rev. C. G. Giesen, pastor of St. Francis Xavier\u2019s Colored Church,\nCity of Baltimore, had many difficulties to contend against in the\nrunning of his large parochial school. \u201cFour hundred colored children\nreceive tuition free. I shall give the amount of expenses and receipts\nfor 1891.\u201d\n\n Teachers\u2019 Salaries $1,220.00\n Ground Rent and Taxes 102.80\n Light and Fuel 35.00\n Repairs 196.33\n Interest on debt 35.84\n Books 203.53\n ---------\n $1,793.50\n Receipts and Donations 574.28\n ---------\n Deficit $1,219.22\n\nThe Rev. A. B. Leeson, of St. Monica\u2019s Colored Church, writes as follows:\n\u201cNext year we shall have to exert all the influence in our power to hold\nour school. Within two doors of our school a large public school building\nis being erected.\u201d This new public school building will draw pupils away\nfrom the Catholic school unless the latter be made equally efficient in\nits work. This means an increase of expenditure.\n\n\nCHARLESTON, S. C.\n\nThe diocese of Charleston has a large negro population out of which\na thousand are counted as Catholics. This is a goodly number, when\nwe consider the fact, that there are but eight thousand Catholics in\nthe whole diocese. The Ordinary of the diocese, Bishop Northrop, has\nthis to say in reference to the Negro Missions: \u201cThis poor diocese has\nbought and given for the use of the colored people, since the war, the\nfollowing property: a church valued at $7,000, a residence at $3,500,\na school-house at $4,500, a chapel at $3,500. This makes a total\nexpenditure of $18,500. The fathers hitherto in charge of the Negro\nMissions, have done their best, I suppose, but the results of their work\nare not satisfactory. We have the names of a thousand colored Catholics\non the rolls, but no more than four hundred actually attend church. The\nsupport derived from them is extremely meagre. Notwithstanding this we\nhave supported two churches, one priest, sometimes two, and kept the\nschool going with three excellent teachers. I have delayed my report\nwhile trying to secure a successor to the late Rev. Cornelius Hurley,\nwho died last April. After various unsuccessful efforts, I have made a\ncontract with the Fathers of the Pious Society of Missions, and expect\ntwo priests in a short while. I hope by next year to be able to report\nprogress. Father Hurley was sick for a year or more and the mission\nsuffered very much. The Josephites were unable to give me any assistance,\nand just after resigning the mission Father Hurley died. I have kept\nthe Church and School open since then, not without great inconvenience\nand considerable personal expense. After the arrival of the priests,\nwhose coming I expect, I can give a better outline of my prospects for\nthe future. I have a building valued at $5,000, situated near the Church\nand the School. This I propose to repair and arrange for Sisters devoted\nto the Colored work. It will serve as an Academy and Orphanage. These\nrepairs will cost about a thousand dollars. If I succeed in procuring the\nservices of Sisters, I expect your generous aid. The Church and School\nnow call for at least $1,000 for support, the income being only $500. A\nnew church at the Cross-roads will, I hope, be an event of the future.\u201d\n\n\nCHICAGO, ILL.\n\nThere are 35,000 Negroes in the city of Chicago; of which number about\n500 are Catholics. The latter are now permanently organized and form\na parish having for its pastor, the colored priest, Rev. A. Tolton. A\nbuilding site has been procured in a good location and Father Tolton\nis exerting himself to raise funds for the erection of a church. A\ncolored school is badly needed and could be made the instrument for the\naccomplishing of much good. Father Tolton is sure of the attendance of at\nleast one hundred Catholic children, while he feels confident that two\nor three hundred colored Protestant children would seek admittance. The\ncolored people in most localities are very partial to parochial schools\nconducted by sisters.\n\n\nCOVINGTON, KY.\n\nThe diocese of Covington has but few colored Catholics, yet the schools\nand charitable institutions founded by Bishop Maes, promise in time\nto bear rich fruitage. St. Peter Claver\u2019s school in Lexington has a\nmembership of 219 pupils; of this number 202 are protestants. The\nsalutary influence of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, as exerted\nover the children intrusted to their keeping, will necessarily tend to\nturn the eyes of the parents towards the Church. Besides this school,\nthere is in the same city, a hospital for colored people under the charge\nof the Sisters of Charity. Last year it admitted 142 patients. Another\nhospital in Covington cared for 42 patients last year, five of whom were\nreceived into the Church. \u201cYour committee will notice that we have kept\nour own,\u201d writes the Bishop of Covington. \u201cSolid results already attained\nare the only claims we bring forward to support our application for the\nsame amount of help as has been given us in the past, and if possible a\ngreater amount. You will kindly notice, that so far, I have been unable\nto contribute a single cent towards the maintenance of the 184 feeble and\nsick colored people in our hospitals; and that the same lack of funds\nprevents me from taxing the charity of our orphan asylums to a greater\nextent than is already done. The prospects for permanent good done to\nsouls at Lexington, are as bright as ever, as is proved by results, and\nwill in my opinion assume a brighter aspect every year. I would like to\nbegin, in Covington itself, to enlarge the sphere of negro work, but\nproperty being expensive and the resources small, I forebear, of least\nfor this year. The following record of receipts and expenditures will\ngive some insight into our work and its needs.\u201d\n\n _Accounts from January 1st, 1890, to December 31st, 1891._\n\n 1891.\n\n Jan. 1. Balance debt of last account $1,305 06\n Sisters\u2019 School, salary 500 00\n Janitor\u2014coal 138 20\n Repairs to school house 56 93\n Salary of Priest 200 00\n Chapel supplies 89 04\n 25 copies of Catholic Tribune 25 00\n ---------\n $2,314 23\n Cr. Oct. 13th. By allowance of Committee 2,000 00\n ---------\n Dec. 31st. Balance debt 314 23\n\n 1892.\n\n May 1st. Debt to date:\n Salary of Teachers, 91 and 92 500 00\n Salary of Priest 75 00\n Salary of Janitor 60 00\n Repairs to School 4 65\n --------\n May 20th. Debt to date $ 953 88\n ========\n Estimate of expenses for 1892-93:\n Balance Debt $ 953 88\n School expenses 760 00\n Church expenses and Priest\u2019s salary 450 00\n Help for Hospitals and Orphanage 500 00\n Paris, Lot and New School 1,510 00\n Salary of Teachers 300 00\n ---------\n $4,463 88\n\n\nGALVESTON, TEXAS.\n\nThe diocese of Galveston presents a great field for missionary labor.\nIts Negro population, aggregating a quarter of a million, knows almost\nnothing of the saving truths of Catholicity. The five hundred colored\nCatholics within the limits of the diocese are scattered here and there\nand are thus unable, as a body, to possess or exert any influence over\ntheir brethren. A church has been erected for the colored people, two\nschools have been opened, an orphanage founded, while two priests have\nvolunteered their services for the good work. This is a good beginning.\n\u201cThe laudable work in behalf of the colored people in this diocese\nstill goes on,\u201d writes Bishop Gallagher, \u201cand with fair success,\nnotwithstanding the many obstacles to be met with, and the constant\nopposition of many ill-disposed toward our Holy Faith, especially the\ncolored ministers, who in various ways strive to keep the colored people\nfrom our churches, and the colored children from our schools. The white\npeople, in general, manifest little interest in our efforts to benefit\nthe colored race; and even Catholics give little aid or encouragement\nto this good work. It seems evident, therefore, that the conversion of\nthe colored people here, under ordinary circumstances, will be a work of\ntime. The colored Catholics, being mixed with Protestants and surrounded\nby them, need a great deal of fortitude to withstand the evil influences\nabout them. But in time, with the blessing of God, under the protection\nof our Blessed Lady of the Rosary, we hope to see the colored people\ncoming into the true fold in large numbers. I feel sure that earnest\nprayer and zealous labor now will bring success later. To carry out the\nvarious projects we propose to realize during the coming year, we shall\nneed $1,691.73 to pay the debt on Holy Rosary Church, Galveston, and\non St. Nicholas School, Houston. We also need $800 to meet the current\nexpenses of this Church and School. An addition to this, the priest\u2019s\nhouse attached to this Church is badly needed. This improvement would\ncost $1,000. We would like to build a school-house for colored children\nat Austin. This building could be built for $1,200. To continue the\nwork going on and to pay our debts, I request the usual allowance for\nGalveston. A short while ago I administered the Sacrament of Confirmation\nto seventeen colored people; this indicates about the results of our\nefforts here in Galveston in the work of evangelizing the Negroes.\u201d\n\n\nKANSAS CITY, KANSAS.\n\nThe Rt. Rev. L. M. Fink of Kansas City, submits the following\ncommunication touching the mission work in his diocese. It will be found\ninteresting.\n\n\u201cThe number of colored Catholics has not been notably increased during\nthe past year. About one-half of the adults baptized since the last\nreport obtained that grace in _articulo mortis_. Prejudice and ignorance\nwill, however, be gradually removed, it is hoped, and then the work will\ngo on more rapidly. Our schools are quite satisfactory, both in point\nof attendance and in the progress made by pupils in their studies. The\nGuardian Angel Asylum is a very promising institution, and well worthy\nof all encouragement. Here colored children, in their tender years,\nimbibe the principles and practices of Christianity. Aloof from all\ncontaminating influences, their dispositions are carefully regulated,\ntheir minds cultivated, in a word, they are wisely prepared to become\nfaithful Christians and useful members of an enlightened community. The\nbuildings now occupied are entirely inadequate for the work. Many of\nChrist\u2019s little ones must grow up in filth and ignorance and sin, because\nthey who are otherwise so able and willing to keep them, lack the means\nof providing ample accommodations for the helpless and forsaken. One\nthousand dollars are needed for the ensuing year to keep up the Sisters\u2019\nschools at Leavenworth and Topeka, make an addition to the Colored Orphan\nAsylum at Leavenworth, and furnish part of support to one priest.\u201d\n\nFrom a letter of Bishop Fink, accompanying his report to the Commission,\nwe quote the following: \u201cLast year I felt very much discouraged; this\nyear I feel more encouraged. We have again a very good school for colored\nchildren at Leavenworth. We have about twenty-five colored boys in our\norphan asylum. The building being too small, we were unable to take in\nany girls. In order to give room to those we have, and to take in a few\nmore, we have to put an addition to our present accommodations. This\nwill entail an expense of some $500. I do not dare to ask for more than\na thousand\u2014 which will leave a small sum at my disposal to support two\nschools, the Colored Sisters and give a fractional salary to the priest,\nwho is almost exclusively engaged in the colored work at Leavenworth.\nWe have not recuperated from the loss we sustained at Topeka, by the\nOklahoma exodus, about two years ago. Besides adding a sanctuary to the\nschool-house, separated by folding doors, so as to give the colored\npeople divine service on some Sunday evenings, nothing more was done,\nexcept to keep up the colored school. If I could have any hope of\ngetting for once only, an appropriation of $3000, or $4000, I would feel\nencouraged to put the Orphan Asylum for colored children on a firmer\nbasis. For this purpose I would have to secure a site in the country,\nwith a sufficient piece of land, to train the children to work and make\nthe institution self-supporting in the course of a few years. My diocese\nis poor; it receives the poor from the eastern cities and towns. For\nthese we try to do the best we can, but they do not become wealthy or\nable to give much help even to their own churches and schools, much less\nto the Negro cause. Even if they would like to be generous, as many of\nthem try to be, still they are unable to contribute much. Thus in other\nwords, I can expect very little, if any, help from my own diocese. We\nhave a large Negro population in Kansas City, perhaps some 6000 souls,\namong whom there are not over one half dozen Catholics. As soon as our\nmissions become self-sustaining, a beginning can be made here. I have not\na sufficient number of priests at present for the whites, let alone the\nmeans.\u201d\n\n\nLITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS.\n\nBishop Fitzgerald, of Little Rock, feels sanguine of the future success\nof Catholic Missionary work in his diocese. \u201cThere is at the present\ntime a somewhat better prospect for conversions than existed last year,\nas the colored people begin to see that we mean them good, not harm. The\nmost flourishing school is at Pine Bluff. Here the usual common-school\nbranches are taught, together with music, vocal and instrumental. The\ngirls are taught sewing, domestic work, etc., and the boys, carpentry.\nThree Sisters of Charity are employed as teachers; and also an instructor\nin carpentry and building. The Hot Springs\u2019 School is also doing well. In\nour five schools we have four hundred and fifty pupils enrolled. On the\nwhole, I feel more encouraged than when I last wrote. We have not as yet\nbeen able to open a school at Little Rock. The colored people here are\nsuperabundantly supplied with schools, public and private. The Colored\nIndustrial School, although but three years, founded, is a pronounced\nsuccess. The attendance is much larger than usual, and promises to reach,\nwhen cotton picking time is over, two hundred and fifty pupils. In a few\nyears it is hoped that a farm will be procured, and a full course of\ntrades and farm work gradually developed.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is desired by the Directors, Teachers and Patrons of the school to\ncommemorate the great centennial year of 1892, by the erection of a home\nfor the Sisters of Charity, a little church for the people and a small\nhouse for the pastor. There are 350,000 colored people in Arkansas,\nthe greater part in the cotton Belt Region, of which Pine Bluff is the\ncentre, and there is not one Catholic church for colored people in the\nwhole State. Before the war many of the colored people were Catholics,\nbut have fallen away from the church through want of that attention,\nwhich the poverty of the diocese could not grant them. A great number\nwould now gladly return if a proper chance was offered. At present, Mass\nis held every Sunday in St. Joseph\u2019s Church for their special benefit.\nWhile they have always been invited to attend the regular services of the\nchurch here and elsewhere in the State, they have, as a rule, refused to\ndo so, owing to the fear of feeling on the part of the whites, and the\ndemands of the regular congregation. With the great success of the school\nand the sympathy of both colored and white citizens, we feel, that we are\noffering a rare opportunity to the charitably disposed. We, therefore,\nmost earnestly request all friends of the colored people to send us a\ndonation, large or small, to aid us in this great work. The usual masses\nand prayers will be offered for all benefactors.\u201d An interesting history\nof this school will be found in last year\u2019s report of \u201cThe Negro and\nIndian Commission.\u201d\n\n\nLOUISVILLE, KY.\n\nThere are 4003 colored Catholics in the diocese of Louisville. Eight\nspecial schools for colored children are in good running order, with\nan enrollment of 680 pupils. These schools are under the direction of\nthe Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, of Loretto and of lay teachers. The\ncolored Catholics of Louisville have a church of their own, attended by a\nregular priest of the Josephite order. Two hundred and four baptisms have\nbeen reported during the last year.\n\n\nMOBILE, ALA.\n\nAccording to the late census there are 706,243 colored people in the\ndiocese of Mobile. About 2,500 of this vast number are Catholics. The\ntotal Catholic population, negroes and whites included, is scarcely\n17,000 souls. These figures will give us some slight idea of the\ndifficulty to be met with on every side in the work of propagating\nthe faith. Priests, money and moral support are absolutely necessary\nto achieve any missionary success. Bishop O\u2019Sullivan has five colored\nschools directed by the Sisters of Mercy and by lay teachers. Two hundred\nand thirty-five pupils attended them. \u201cThese schools do much good. The\nattendance would be larger if they were entirely free. In our present\ncircumstances I think it advisable to exact a small fee for tuition.\nPeople do not always appreciate what they get for nothing. The children\nare well instructed in the catechism and make good progress in their\nstudies. Through the children we hope to lead the parents to the church.\nWe have at last opened the mission for colored people in Pensacola.\nFather Fullerton generously took charge of the work. We have a church\nand school combined. It is a frame building, two stories high, 75 feet\nby 32 feet. The first story is used for school purposes and the second\nas a church. The Sisters of Mercy teach the school. The building was\nblessed December 4th, there being large congregations present at the\nthree services. The church is under the patronage of St. Joseph. I am\nmore than hopeful for the success of this mission. We need a house for\nthe Pastor and as the church is yet to be built we have secured a lot\nin a fine situation. We receive very few adult converts from among the\ncolored people. However, the proportion of colored converts is equal\nto the number of white converts. Hence, there is no good reason why we\nshould look on the conversion of the colored people as hopeless; on the\ncontrary, the outlook is encouraging. If we plant the good seed, our\nsuccessors will reap a rich harvest. We must work and wait and pray until\nthe Lord sends the harvest. The Catholics in the South are so few, that\nit is impossible for them to supply missionaries and means to carry on\nthe work. Help must come from outside. May God bless all who help in this\nmission.\u201d\n\n\nNASHVILLE, TENN.\n\nThere is but forty colored Catholics in this diocese. The colored\npopulation numbers 434,320. The contrast is very striking. The diocese\nhas suffered much on account of the Civil War and the terrible yellow\nfever plagues that ravaged the South in 1867, 1873, \u201978 and \u201979. These\nsuccessive plagues carried off twenty priests and many religious, dealing\na blow, from the effects of which the diocese has not as yet been able\nto recover. There is one special school for the colored people. It is\nlocated in Memphis and has a membership of 167 pupils. Bishop Rademacher\nwrites that in regard to this school, Father Moran, of St. Peter\u2019s\nChurch, informs him that the progress of the pupils is very encouraging.\n\u201cTowards the close of the term, however, the \u2018Oklahoma fever\u2019 attacked\nour colored people and many of those who went out there were the parents\nof our children, and of course we lost those children. The tendency\nof the colored people to roam about is one of the chief obstacles to\nthe success of the school. The race trouble in Memphis last Spring had\nalso an injurious effect. The experience of the last four years has not\nbeen very encouraging. \u2018I believe\u2019 says Father Moran, \u2018we are removing\nprejudice and gradually convincing the colored people that the Church\nis honestly trying to do something for them. The children are taught\nthe catechism and prayers and are making satisfactory progress in them.\nBut for good and sufficient reason, it has not been deemed prudent to\nreceive, as yet, any of them into the church.\u2019\u201d\n\n\nNATCHEZ, MISSISSIPPI.\n\nIn the State of Mississippi the negroes out-number the whites. The\nCatholic population of the whole State numbers but 15,000, out of which\n1838 are colored. There is perhaps one colored Catholic in every seven\nhundred of the population. Five colored schools are kept open with an\naverage attendance of about two hundred children. These schools are in\ncharge of religious. Bishop Heslin has a wide field for work. One of his\npriests, a very zealous man, is engaged exclusively in Negro Mission\nwork. This priest, the Rev. A. N. Peters, has just purchased a plot of\nground in a locality easily accessible to the colored people. \u201cThis\nwill entail additional expense,\u201d writes Bishop Heslin, \u201cas almost every\nbuilding that is required will have to be built new, and the old place\ncannot be disposed of at once. The Rev. Father will have to seek help to\nenable him to erect church, school, convent and parsonage and to provide\nhimself with a means of livelihood.\u201d\n\n\nNATCHITOCHES, LA.\n\nThe colored Catholics of this diocese number 15,000, or about half the\ntotal Catholic population. Bishop Durrier is doing his utmost to extend\nthe work of Catholic education. The six schools within his diocese have\nbeen founded through aid granted him by the Commission.\n\nIn a letter forwarded to the Commission the bishop writes: \u201cI ask for\nthe same allocation as that granted me last year, $2000. This year I\ndid not succeed in doing for Catholic education all that I wished. I\nhope to do better the coming year. I have re-opened the school at Bayou\nWallace which we were forced to close last year. The prospects of the\nwork hardly show a bright spot; yet the work can stand on the principle,\nthat the salvation of a single soul is worth both any amount of money\nand any amount of labor. The work will keep going on. I have no special\nobservation to submit to the Commission. I simply surmise that in the\nfight for the Catholic education of the colored people, the Commission\nought to give the honors of war, even to those who come out from the\nbattle field badly beaten, provided they \u2018never despair of the Republic.\u2019\nThe progress we have made is not so encouraging as I had expected. Still,\nI believe in trying and trying again.\u201d\n\nThis determination to succeed has the true ring to it; Bishop Durrier\u2019s\nmotto will always bear him out. \u201cWhat _ought_ to be done, _must_ and\n_shall_ be done.\u201d\n\n\nNEW ORLEANS, LA.\n\nThe diocese of New Orleans still continues to lead in the work of Negro\neducation. There are 80,000 colored Catholics in the diocese, 36 schools\nopen to colored children, a large orphan asylum and a home for aged\nwomen. The schools are attended by over 2309 pupils. Two or three extra\nschools are opened each year. Archbishop Janssens feels confident of the\nfuture good results to come from his labor, in multiplying these colored\nschools. His pithy letter is extremely interesting.\n\n\u201cThis year I notice a decrease in infant baptisms. One year there are\nmore, another less. An average of a certain number of years would enable\nus to draw a conclusion either one way or the other. During the last\nyear our schools have been increased by four new ones while we note an\nincreased attendance of 404 pupils. This is a consoling item. There is a\nstrong desire on the part of both priests and sisters to perform their\nfull duty towards colored schools. In many of our parishes the priests\nare anxious to open schools, but the poverty of the parishes does not\nallow it. If we had $20,000 to spend on this item alone, it would not\nbe adequate, by any means, to present and pressing wants. However, we\nare making arrangements to open three schools, two of which will draw\na very large number of pupils, they being situated in parishes largely\nmade up of colored people. We have two churches especially for colored\npeople. One of these, at Petite Prairie, has long since existed but I was\nnot aware of it, until I made a visit there last year. One new Orphan\nAsylum is so far finished that we have been able to transfer our orphan\ngirls there. It has cost $16,747, on which is a debt of $4000. God\u2019s\nProvidence has visibly assisted us in this work. When the debt is paid,\nwe will furnish it according to plan, thus entailing a cost of $8000\nmore. It is of brick, simple but beautiful style, strongly constructed,\nwell ventilated, with a capacity for 150 orphans. This Asylum, more\nthan anything else, has lifted up our colored population in the city.\nThey feel grateful to the Church for it. At the laying of the corner\nstone, the different colored societies paraded and there were about 7000\ncolored people in and around the premises, besides many whites. The old\nAsylum has been fitted up at an expense of $1200, (no debt) and our aged\ncolored women have it for a home. It is able to accommodate about fifty\npeople. The year 1891, has been remarkable in the history of the Church\u2019s\nprogress in this diocese, both for white and colored Catholics. _Deo\nGratias._\n\n\u201cLast September I made a pastoral visit to the chapel at Petite Prairie.\nThe road leads through swamps and is abominable in bad weather. We\nwere favored by a clear sky. Thirty colored cavaliers came to meet us,\nto conduct us to the chapel, an old store, in a rather dilapidated\ncondition. The chapel was full to overflowing and the people delighted.\nI confirmed sixty-nine colored people. This is an exclusively colored\nsettlement, most of its inhabitants being free-men before the war. They\nare industrious, intelligent and very much devoted to the church and\nreligion. Here there are about 500 Catholics, but owing to the distance\nfrom the church and the many occupations of the Pastor they have Mass but\nonce a month on a week-day. I was really surprised to find the children,\nwhen examined, so well instructed in their religion. They are anxious\nto have a resident priest, a school and a new church. But where are the\nlaborers? In another portion of the diocese, at Grossetete Bayou, there\nis a somewhat smaller settlement of negroes, who before the war, were\nsold in Maryland to Louisiana Protestant Planters. The history of their\ntrials for religion, their constancy to the faith, would embellish a\npage in the history of the Martyrs of the Church. Much is said of the\ninconstancy of the negro, but my experience convinces me, that where the\nnegro has been brought up in the knowledge and practice of religion,\nhe is as constant as any white Catholic under the circumstances. Bad\ntraining and ignorance degenerate their mind and heart as it does with\nthe white population. We are trying to raise means to build a church\nfor that settlement. I regret very much that the Commission has been\nobliged to diminish the allocation. Our work is increasing and the funds\ndiminishing. May the Lord provide some other means.\u201d\n\n\nNEW YORK, N. Y.\n\nThe diocese of New York has 80,000 colored people within its limits.\nThe vast majority of these dwell on the Bermuda Islands which are under\nArchbishop Corrigan\u2019s jurisdiction. In New York City there are 3000\ncolored Catholics, with one church devoted to their use. Their spiritual\ninterests are cared for by two priests of the diocese. Two Benedictine\nFathers are in charge at Nassau. A flourishing \u201cschool and home\u201d has\nbeen opened at Rye, N. Y., which is directed by ten Dominican Sisters.\nThe three schools at Nassau are well spoken of as will be seen by the\nfollowing letter. The Sisters of Charity have charge of them. The labor\nof these two Sisterhoods in this arduous mission work has been untiring.\nThe Sisters of Charity have devoted their energies to the colored people\nwithout remuneration, and have been supported by the zeal and generosity\nof the Mother House at Mount St. Vincent\u2019s.\n\nThe following interesting letter is from Archbishop Corrigan:\n\n\u201cI have the pleasure of returning to you the blank form with regard to\nthe colored Missions. The Rev. Jno. E. Burke, of St. Benedict\u2019s Home,\nhas given the facts relating to his Mission, and I myself add a few\ndetails regarding the Mission at Nassau, which I visited last month for\nthe purpose of administering the Sacrament of Confirmation. I found our\nFree Schools to be the best on the Island. They are attended by over\n200 children, all of them negroes, and nearly all non-catholics. Their\nparents are anxious that these children should have the benefit of a\ngood education, and especially of that training and gentleness which\nis imparted by devoted religious teachers. The Sisters who conduct the\nschools are popular with all classes of the community. During my stay\nat Nassau, I visited the schools several times, in company with other\nclergymen, and was a witness to the surprising proficiency of the pupils,\nand was present at an exhibition given by the colored children, which was\nattended by the most distinguished residents of Nassau. Among them were\nSir Ambrose and Lady Shea, the Colonial Secretary, Captain Jackson and\nhis wife, the Attorney General and the Chief Justice. They unanimously\nexpressed themselves as surprised and pleased beyond measure with the\nresults obtained in so short a time from such unpromising material. Later\non this exhibition was repeated for the parents of the pupils, much to\ntheir delight and gratification.\n\n\u201cThe hope of the future of this Mission is in the schools, and,\ntherefore, with God\u2019s blessing it is proposed this year to erect another\nbuilding, in order to accommodate the large number of applicants, whom\nwe are now obliged to refuse. During the month of November, 1891, a\nkindergarten was opened in Nassau. It is already overcrowded. We propose\nto receive young children in this kindergarten, and then gradually lead\nthem on to the other branches of an ordinary education. Religious\ninstruction is regularly given, and I assisted one Sunday at the Sunday\nSchool, which was composed almost entirely of non-catholics, who went\nthere of their own accord, and who answered the catechism in such a way\nas might bring a blush to many of our more favored children.\n\n\u201cRecently a second Benedictine Father sailed for Nassau to assist Rev.\nFather Chrysostom, O. S. B., who is in charge of the Mission. On the\nwhole, I felt very well repaid for the discomforts of the journey by sea\nand the distance traveled, (nearly 2400 miles altogether), on witnessing\nthe results already accomplished. I had the pleasure of confirming 20\nchildren and adults, all of whom, except one, were colored, and all of\nwhom except this one, were converts. On Holy Saturday Father Chrysostom\nexpects to baptize 20 more Neophytes. As the colored Catholics of Nassau\nare few and poor, it is impossible for them to contribute to the support\nof the Mission, so that for the present it must be carried on as a\nlabor of christian love and self-sacrifice. There are many hardships\nconnected with the Mission, particularly in the long summer months when\nthe thermometer rises to 160 degrees in the sun. There are privations in\nthe way of obtaining proper food, as the fresh meats and fresh vegetables\nmust be imported from this city and communication is rare from the\nmonth of May to November. However, the Grace of God enables the good\nmissionaries and the devoted sisters to endure these difficulties and to\nbear them cheerfully for the glory of His name.\u201d\n\nThe New York City Mission carries a large debt on the Home for Destitute\nColored Children, located at Rye. It receives children from other\ndioceses. One hundred children are now cared for and educated within its\nwalls. Father Burke who is at its head asks the Commission for $1500.\nBesides this, the building of a new school at Nassau is deemed necessary,\nthus calling for an outlay of about $2000. The prospects for future good\nin this diocese look encouraging.\n\n\nNORTH CAROLINA.\n\nBishop Haid has many unfavorable conditions to encounter in his large\nvicariate. The Catholics both white and colored are few and scattered.\nEvery step he would make in the right direction is hampered by the\npoverty of the diocese. We give his letter to the Negro and Indian\nCommission: \u201cThe Colored Missions in North Carolina, have made some\nprogress, but not such as I could have wished. With the means at our\ndisposal, we should perhaps not expect too much. St. Charles\u2019 Church at\nNewbern, is finished. Rev. M. Haw has Divine Service there every Sunday\nfor the colored People. He seems greatly interested in the work, and\nhas a considerable class ready for Confirmation. The Sisters of Mercy\nteach the colored school and have from 88 to 100 pupils enrolled. At\nWilmington the colored Catholics attend St. Thomas\u2019 Church and are very\nregular. The Sisters of Mercy teach the school which numbers about 100\npupils. This year we may increase our school room. St. Benedict\u2019s colored\nchurch, near the Abbey, is under the charge of good Father Melchior, who\nexerts himself to the utmost. The school connected with this church was\ntaught by a lay teacher last year. This year the Sisters of Mercy from\nthe Sacred Heart Academy will take charge of it. Until I procure more\npriests, or better, until I procure priests ready to devote themselves\naltogether to the colored people, little more can be done than what we\nare now trying to do. If some community of Sisters would establish a\nhouse for the old and infirm in some large town, I believe they could\ndo a world of good; as the older people are more thoughtful, they would\ngladly open their hearts to our Holy Faith on beholding Faith practised\nin Charity. I trust you will continue your generous aid to the colored\npeople of North Carolina.\u201d\n\n\nPHILADELPHIA, PA.\n\nIn last year\u2019s report a full account was given of the purchase and\nopening of a church for colored Catholics in Philadelphia. \u201cFrom the\nresults attained since then\u201d writes the Rev. Jas. Nolan, \u201cthere is\nevery reason to believe that the colored Mission in Philadelphia will\neventually prove a success. Nothing could be more encouraging than\nthe large number of young men and women who have, within the last\nyear returned to the practice of their religion. For years they had\nstrayed away; they had but rarely attended church and were never known\nto approach the sacraments. Now they approach the sacraments and are\nardently attached to their church. I have no doubt that each succeeding\nyear may bring many more to follow their example.\n\n\u201cLack of funds, unfortunately is a great drawback to the mission,\nthere is still a debt of $10,000 on the church, the interest payable\nhalf-yearly. Moreover, we have other heavy expenses for schools, light,\nheat, water, etc. These matters often prevent us from paying as much\nattention to the spiritual side of the work as is really necessary. The\nschools are well attended and through them we hope to reap in due time an\nabundant harvest. I earnestly hope your venerable Commission will give me\nthis year a substantial subsidy to enable me to realize at least some of\nthe great good that can be done among so large a population of colored\npeople.\u201d\n\nSister Agnes Mary, superioress of the Convent of Notre Dame, writes of\nthe colored school for girls, as follows:\n\n\u201cIn sending in our claim for a share in the annual distribution in favor\nof colored schools, we present the Committee with a report of the Girl\u2019s\ncolored school under our care at Ninth and Pine Sts. The school opened in\nSeptember last with an attendance of 68; but owing to sickness and other\ncauses, the number was decreased by 10 or 12, so that at the close of the\nschool, June 23, there were about 56 present. One-half are Catholics. We\nhave had the consolation of seeing many who had been negligent in the\ndischarge of their religious duties, resume their former fervor, and\nbecome monthly communicants. The pupils have given general satisfaction.\nOne convert has been received into the church. As many Catholic children\nare drawn to public schools by the inducement of books free of charge, we\nare obliged to use the same bait, and furnish them with sewing material,\nbooks and other school requisites.\u201d The boy\u2019s school is conducted in the\nbasement of the church, (St. Peter Claver\u2019s) by Brothers of the Society\nof the Holy Ghost. This school has an average attendance of 80 pupils.\n\n\nPITTSBURGH, PA.\n\nThe spiritual interests of the colored Catholics of Pittsburgh are looked\nafter by the Rev. John Griffin, C. S. Sp., who resides at Holy Ghost\nCollege in that city. A church was erected last year, in the basement\nof which a school has been opened, conducted by two Sisters of Mercy.\nIts average attendance is about fifty pupils. \u201cWe greatly need pecuniary\nsupport\u201d writes Father Griffin \u201cin order to pay off the debt still\ndue on our parochial property. There is no pastoral residence near the\nchurch, and this for want of means to purchase one. The priest attending\nthe colored church, has to reside at a considerable distance from it.\nThe good effected, though perhaps not so rapid and consoling as might\nbe found in other kinds of charitable enterprises, is still real and\nsubstantial. We hope that those who have power, influence and means, will\nextend a kindly, helping hand to the poor priest, to whose lot it has\nfallen to take upon his weak shoulders this difficult, uphill work.\u201d\n\n\nRICHMOND, VA.\n\nIn this diocese live 700,000 negroes. Out of this number 700 are classed\nas Catholics. One Catholic in every 1000. This is certainly a good field\nfor zealous missionaries. One priest only is engaged in the colored\nwork. Six schools are in operation with an enrollment of about four\nhundred pupils. The Sisters of St. Francis and the Sisters of the Holy\nCross have charge of them. Rev. P. J. Oud, a Josephite father, writes to\nthe Commission as follows: \u201cDuring the coming year we hope to open new\nmissions. Several localities are clamoring for schools, but we have not\nthe means. In the past, as well as now, we are mainly depending upon the\nmoney, kindly granted us by the Commission for the distribution of the\nNegro and Indian fund.\u201d\n\n\nSAN ANTONIO, TEXAS.\n\nA letter from Rev. R. J. Molony about the work being done among the\nNegroes of this diocese has already been cited.\n\n\nSAVANNAH, GA.\n\nNearly one-half of the population of this diocese are colored. There are\n1000 colored Catholics out of the total number of 20,000 Catholics to be\nfound in the State. The colored people have five Catholic schools open to\nthem, and one church in Savannah which is regularly attended by a priest.\n\u201cIt seems to me\u201d writes Bishop Becker, \u201cthat the colored people need to\nbe taught less in schools, and a great deal more in individual work.\nThey have a notion that the sovereign panacea for all their woes is to\nbe able to read and write a little, and learn something of figures. They\nbelieve that such knowledge would somehow keep them from being obliged to\nwork. The orphan Asylum for colored children is wholly dependent on our\nhelp, except for what the girls may get for working. I would gladly do\nall in my power to aid the colored people suitably. It is my well founded\nbelief, that without an \u2018Industrial School\u2019 under some Brothers, like the\nXavieran for instance, very little permanent good can be effected. With\nutterly inadequate means we are doing what we can.\u201d\n\n\nST. AUGUSTINE, FLA.\n\nThe Rt. Rev. Bishop Moore, of St. Augustine, presents his views on the\ncondition of Negro Mission work in his diocese, in an interesting letter\nwhich we give in full.\u2014 \u201cThis month one year ago the convent and school\nof the Sisters of St. Joseph, in Jacksonville, were burned and have not\nsince been rebuilt. I should like to rebuild a school for the colored\nchildren at a cost of about $500. This would suit very well until the\nSisters are able to rebuild their convent. In Tampa the Jesuits are\ndesirous of establishing a colored school and I should like to give them\n$500 for that object. The $7700 I have heretofore received has paid\nfor the block of ground which I have secured for school, church and\npresbytery for the colored people. Over $400 are left over to go towards\nthe building. As I would have that building to serve for a school, a\nhall for meetings, and perhaps for a church temporarily, I believe I\nshould not erect one that would cost less than three or four thousand\ndollars. Hence, I propose to wait until I shall have a sum approximating\nthat amount before I undertake to build; and I would express the hope of\nreceiving a generous contribution from the collection this year. Although\nI feel much discouraged by the accounts I hear of the partial failure of\nseparate churches for the colored people in other parts of the South, I\nam determined to make the experiment in St. Augustine this year; but I\ndesire to make it after my own idea\u2014 I desire to have for the colored\nCatholics the best and most attractive church in the place, one of which\nthey will be proud. I desire to have it so situated that the grounds will\nallow of public processions on Palm Sunday, Corpus Christi and other\nfestivals of the church. I hope in that way to retain the Catholics we\nhave and to win over others.\u201d\n\n\nWILMINGTON, DEL.\n\nThe Rev. J. A. de Ruyter, a zealous Josephite Father who has accomplished\nmuch good in Wilmington writes: \u201cBy advice of the Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis\nand very Rev. J. R. Slattery, an asylum for negro orphan boys has just\nbeen opened. For this purpose I have given up the priest\u2019s house. Next to\nit we have a plot of ground on which to build. This is the only exclusive\nboys\u2019 orphan asylum for Catholic negroes. Orphan boys from all dioceses\nwill be admitted. We need much help to supply this long-felt great want.\nA plot of ground at Cape Charles City, donated to me by a protestant\ngentleman, needs a little chapel and school combined. We have no means to\ncarry out this desire. Chestertown, Md. and Elkton, Md., need the same.\nWe are ready and anxious to carry out the mission work, but we have no\nmeans to do it. I request an allowance of $3000 this year. This sum is\nbadly needed.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nII. THE INDIAN MISSION WORK.\n\n\n -------------+-----------+---------+---------+--------+-----------------+\n | Indian |Catholic | | | Baptisms. |\n DIOCESE. |Population.| Indians.|Churches.|Priests.|Children.|Adults.|\n -------------+-----------+---------+---------+--------+---------+-------+\n Arizona | | 450 | 1 | 3 | | |\n Brownsville |[4]40,000 | | 30 | 16 | | |\n Cheyenne | 15,000 | | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 |\n | | | | | | |\n Duluth | 12,000 | 4,000 | 3 | 7 | | |\n | | | | | | |\n Fort Wayne | | 84 | | | 6 | |\n Grand Rapids | | 2,500 | 7 | 6 | 73 | 2 |\n | | | | | | |\n Green Bay | 3,500 | 1,300 | 3 | 2 | 55 | 29 |\n Helena | 12,000 | 6,000 | 12 | 16 | 450 | |\n | | | | | | |\n Idaho | 4,000 | 1,100 | 4 | 6 | 55 | 9 |\n Indian Ter. | 96,640 | 3,000 | 6 | 7 | | |\n | | | | | | |\n La Crosse | 3,500 | 1,800 | 9 | 3 | 118 | 8 |\n | | | | | | |\n Marquette | 5,000 | 2,800 | 5 | 2 | 84 | 17 |\n Natchez | | 400 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 19 |\n Nesqually | 18,000 | 6,000 | 17 | 7 | | |\n | | | | | | |\n Oregon City | 2,500 | 1,800 | 2 | 2 | 57 | 22 |\n | | | | | | |\n Sioux Falls | 25,590 | 5,400 | 10 | 13 | 412 | 339 |\n | | | | | | |\n Santa F\u00e9 | 25,000 | 8,000 | 18 | 3 | 403 | 22 |\n San Francisco| 1,500 | 800 | 2 | 2 | | |\n Vancouver I. | 35,000 | 4,000 | 14 | 14 | | |\n -------------+-----------+---------+---------+--------+---------+-------+\n | 285,730 | 49,434 | 146 | 113 | 1,729 | 469 |\n -------------+-----------+---------+---------+--------+---------+-------+\n\n [4] Largely Mexican Half-Breeds.\n\n -------------+--------+-------+-------------------+----------------------\n | | | |\n DIOCESE. |Schools.|Pupils.| Sisterhoods. | Religious.\n -------------+--------+-------+-------------------+----------------------\n Arizona | 1 | 40 | St. Joseph. |\n Brownsville | 5 | 600 | Oblates of Mary. |\n Cheyenne | 1 | 111 | St. Joseph. |{ Jesuit.\n | | | |{ Benedict.\n Duluth | 1 | | |{ Jesuit.\n | | | |{ Franciscan.\n Fort Wayne | 1 | 84 | | C. P. P. S.\n Grand Rapids | 3 | 243 |{ St. Francis. | St. Francis.\n | | |{ Notre Dame. |\n Green Bay | 1 | 176 | St. Joseph. | St. Francis.\n Helena | 13 | 930 |{ Charity. | Jesuits.\n | | |{ Ursulines. |\n Idaho | 3 | 130 | Providence. | Jesuits.\n Indian Ter. | 6 | 265 |{ Mercy. | St. Francis.\n | | |{ St. Francis. |\n La Crosse | 4 | 316 |{ Perp. Adoration. | St. Francis.\n | | |{ St. Francis. |\n Marquette | 1 | 56 | St. Joseph. | Jesuits.\n Natchez | 1 | 48 | Mercy. |\n Nesqually | 6 | 435 |{ Providence. | Jesuits.\n | | |{ St. Francis. |\n Oregon City | 2 | 191 |{ St. Benedict. | Jesuits.\n | | |{ St. Francis. |\n Sioux Falls | 12 | 938 | St. Benedict. |{ Jesuits.\n | | | |{ Benedict.\n Santa F\u00e9 | 11 | 433 | St. Loretto. |\n San Francisco| 4 | 70 | | Franciscans.\n Vancouver I. | 7 | | St. Anne. |\n -------------+--------+-------+-------------------+----------------------\n | 82 | 5,066 | |\n -------------+--------+-------+-------------------+----------------------\n\n\nARIZONA.\n\nThe following communication is from the Rt. Rev. Bishop P. Bourgade,\nof Arizona. \u201cThe Indian work here is so limited and so uncertain that\nthe prospects for the future are not very bright. The protestant and\ngovernment schools are getting control of most of the Indians. The\nwork of propagating the faith would require money, and missionaries to\nconsecrate themselves to the work\u2014 I have very little money, and very\nlittle time to give to the Indian work. I have besides, no missionaries\nto spare. The few attempts that I have made to induce Religious to come\nto Arizona to work for the Indians, have failed.\u201d\n\n\nBROWNSVILLE.\n\nBishop Verdaguer makes this touching appeal. \u201cFor two years we have not\nraised any crops and for the past six months we have experienced the most\nsevere drought ever known here. Two-thirds of our priests cannot support\nthemselves. Oh! please do for us what you can. Remember, that along the\nRio Grande there are 20,000 Mexican Indians actually starving\u2014 living\non dying cattle and boiled prickly pear leaves. Most all the horses and\ncattle have disappeared. There is no grass, and has been no crop for\ntwo years. If you do not help us I know not what we can do. Remember,\nthat out of hundreds of half-breeds that attend schools not one child\npays anything. Remember, that many of our priests have not received $100\nduring the past year. Please help us. We need five chapels. These five\ncould be built for $2000. Twelve priests have to be helped on account of\nthe drought and the misery to be met with on every side. $150 for each\nof these would amount to $1800. The Sisters ought to receive something\nfor the half-breed children taught gratuitously by them. An allowance\nof $4.00 for the yearly tuition and books for each of these children\nwould call for about $1500. The Bishop himself has no resources, still\nhe must visit his vicariate. There is no house for him except a little\nshanty with two poor rooms. Five chapels are badly needed. The people\nfor whom they are designed are exceedingly poor and are totally unable\nto contribute towards their erection. If each one of these chapels were\n50 by 30 feet we could have them erected at a cost of $400 apiece. $2000\nwould suffice to build them.\u201d\n\n\nDULUTH, MINN.\n\nIn this diocese there are 4,000 Catholic Indians, three churches and one\nschool for the Indians, and four priests attending the missions. These\nfour priests represent the Jesuit, Benedictine and Franciscan orders.\n\n\nFORT WAYNE.\n\nThere is a large Indian Normal School, situated in Rensselaer, in\nthe diocese of Fort Wayne. The school is under the direction of the\nCongregation of the Holy Ghost and has an attendance of 81 young men.\nFour of these are being educated for the priesthood. \u201cIf you could pay\nthe tuition of the four students,\u201d writes Rev. A. Geitl, the President\nof the school, \u201cnamely, $40 a year for each, we would esteem it a great\nfavor. We will supply everything else in the way of books, board and\nclothing. I have tried everywhere to get a little help for these four\nyoung men.\u201d\n\n\nGRAND RAPIDS, MICH.\n\nThere are 2500 Catholic Indians in the State of Michigan. Two Regular\npriests, who attend seven churches, look after their spiritual needs.\nThe Catholic Indian Schools, three in number, have 243 pupils enrolled.\n\u201cWe need $2000,\u201d writes Bishop Richter \u201cto pay teachers\u2019 salaries at\nElbridge, Cross Village and Eagletown, to contribute towards the support\nof the missionaries, and also to assist in the building of a church at\nHarbor Springs.\u201d The Indians of this diocese dwell in nine villages the\nmost prominent of which is Harbor Springs. This latter place needs a new\nchurch. The church erected by the late Father Piery in 1842 is in a bad\ncondition and is fast going to ruin. It is, moreover, too small, being\nhardly large enough to hold the children of the parish. The Indians as\nwell as the white Catholics of the vicinity are poor, and help from\noutside sources is urgently demanded. There is a large Indian Boarding\nSchool in this village attended by 130 boarding pupils and 30 day\nscholars. These pupils, come from all the villages save Elbridge. This\nschool, in the opinion of its director, the Rev. S. Altmicks, needs to\nbe enlarged, to accommodate children who at present are unable to attend\nit through want of sufficient room. A tribe of Ottawa Indians are within\nthe limits of the diocese and have passed through various vicissitudes\nof fortune. The Official Government Report on Indian Affairs, for 1891,\nhas this to say of them. \u201cA great mistake was made by the Government,\nwhen the allotment was made, in giving to the (above) Indians titles for\ntheir land without any restriction as to their right to sell. As soon as\nthe allotments were made, land sharks went among the Indians and bought\ntheir lands for trivial sums, or loaned them small sums of money at high\nrates of interest secured by mortgage, on short time, and then foreclosed\nas soon as the law would permit them to do so.\u201d In 1888, through the\nzealous labors of Father Altmicks the condition of affairs was brought\nbefore the Government, and a contract was given for the support of the\nschools at Harbor Springs. \u201cThere is very little hope for the prosperity\nof the Indians of the United States, in this world,\u201d writes Father\nAltmicks, \u201cnotwithstanding the good will of some noble, honest and well\nmeaning statesmen. But one thing I know, in the next world there will be\na number of our poor Indians\u2014 while of our \u201ccivilized\u201d people, hundreds\nof thousands will be cast out.\u201d\n\n\nGREEN BAY, WIS.\n\nOut of 3500 Indians in this diocese 1300 are classed as Catholics. They\nare all located on the Menominee Reservation. Two Franciscan Fathers\nare exclusively engaged in missionary work among them. There is a\nlarge Industrial School on the Reservation under the direction of five\nFranciscan lay Brothers and eight Sisters of St. Joseph. \u201cA total amount\nof $7,500 is needed for carrying on the work of the mission,\u201d writes\nthe Rev. J. A. Selbach. \u201cAs reported last year, our school suffered a\nloss by fire amounting to nearly $20,000. The building has been rebuilt,\nits re-erection and equipment running the missionaries into heavy debt.\nBesides, a new church was sorely needed at Little Oconto and has been\nbuilt at great expense on the part of the Franciscan Fathers, as yet it\nis not completed. A very necessary work is the building of a new church\nat Kinepowa, calculated to be finished during the coming summer, if the\nnecessary means can be gotten for the same. The two old buildings wherein\ndivine service has been held so far, are in ruinous condition, and so\nsmall that not more than half the respective congregations can find room\ntherein during divine service. They have to attend outside, the doors\nbeing left open. It is needless to add how hard and difficult this is\nfor the poor people, to be thus exposed to the inclemency of the weather\nespecially during the long winter season. As for the Oneida Reservation,\nthere is a little frame church which has to be brick-veneered. An\naddition ought to be built to this church and also a school house\nconstructed, at least, in course of time. The Government does not help\nin the least; on the contrary, these (Oneidas) Indians having been\nProtestants before, made all difficulties possible. The Rector of Freedom\nCongregation, heretofore attending to the Oneida Mission, is hardly able\nto do so any longer, as his congregation claims all his time, and he is\ncertainly unable to do full justice to the enterprise of converting many\nmore Oneidas. Wherefore it is absolutely necessary that a priest be given\nto the Oneidas, having care of them alone. Such a priest would, without\nthe least doubt, convert many, for the Oneida Indians are favorably\nimpressed with the Catholic Religion.\u201d\n\n\nHELENA, MONT.\n\nThere are twelve churches for Indians in this diocese, and sixteen Indian\nSchools with 930 pupils enrolled. The Ursulines have a mother-house\nlocated in the diocese as well as a novitiate. They devote themselves\nentirely to the education of the Indians of the different missions.\n\u201cI will be called upon to pay for the debt of the Indian school and\nnovitiate and mother-house of the Ursulines\u201d writes Bishop Brondel.\n\u201cThese nuns were living for seven years in small log cabins and now\nthey have a decent building considerably in debt. Two or three thousand\ndollars would help considerably.\u201d\n\n\nIDAHO.\n\nEleven hundred Catholic Indians are to be found in Idaho, four churches\nand three boarding schools have been erected for them. \u201cOur Indian\nMissions continue to be prosperous\u201d writes Bishop Glorieux. \u201cLast June\nI visited the Coeur d\u2019Al\u00e9nes, at De Smet, the Nez Perc\u00e9s, at Lapnai and\nthe Kootenais, near Bonner\u2019s Ferry, in the northern part. The magnificent\nreception they gave me as well as their piety, showed that their faith\nis still lively. All the Coeur d\u2019Al\u00e9nes and the Kootenais are practical\nCatholics. About one-fifth of the Nez Perc\u00e9s, viz., 300 are Catholics,\nnearly all of whom are practical ones. Many of the Shoshones and Bannocks\nin the south-eastern part of Idaho were baptized about twenty-five years\nago, but owing to the Government policy, the missionaries could not\nvisit them for a long time, and consequently, they have given up their\nreligion. The Lemhis in the eastern part have never been visited, to\nmy knowledge. They number nearly 500. Lack of priests and funds is the\nprincipal cause of this neglect. I hope that in a short time I will be\nable to do something for them.\u201d\n\n\nINDIAN TERRITORY.\n\nThe Indian Territory is a great Indian centre, there being no less than\n96,640 Indians within its borders. Of this great number but 3000 are\nCatholics. These Catholic Indians have six churches which are regularly\nattended by six Benedictine Fathers, of the Sacred Heart, and one\nsecular priest. There are five Catholic Indian boarding schools in the\nTerritory with an enrolment of 262 pupils. \u201cA school should be built in\nthe Gwokow nation\u201d writes Bishop Meerschaert, \u201cfor that nation and other\nsmall tribes around. A church there is an absolute necessity. Another\nschool should be built in the Creek nation. We will try a day school in\nMuscogee where we can build and be able to have sisters. The trouble is\nthat day schools with our Indians are impossibilities. We have to clothe\nthe children, board them and teach them. When our schools are built,\nif we could have all the children we could accommodate it would be all\nright, but the Morgan system is there to destroy all. He has been a\nperfect scourge for our Indians\u2014 refusing contracts, diminishing them,\nbuilding other Government schools at the expense of the Indians, where\nCatholic schools already existed, and this in order to destroy and ruin\nthem. The Priest of Muscogee Creek Nation attempts to visit nineteen\nplaces. He writes that two priests more are needed there and they must be\nsupported, as no help comes from the Indians. I will try to get priests\nto work for that mission and for many others among the whites in the\nOklahoma Territory. These I will have to procure in Europe, as I cannot\nfind them here. Hence, more expense. This country is being populated\nrapidly. Everywhere new settlements are springing up and towns and cities\nare developing. These towns and cities are anxious to have churches and\nschools. As yet there is little money and most is expected from the\npriest. Protestant associations are building handsome churches everywhere\nand keeping our work back where we cannot build. Notwithstanding our\npoverty several new churches have been built this year, thanks to the\ngreat efforts and self-sacrifice of the priests on the Missions. Their\nmass intentions and every cent they can get go to the good work. They\nlive very poorly in order to be able to do the work. They are indeed hard\nworkers and good, pious and zealous priests. The Propagation allowance is\n$2,897.72. About $3000 below the sum given to me in former years. As the\nfunds of last year were exhausted before my arrival, except $450, I had\nto use most of the present years\u2019 allowance for the improvements and work\nof the vicariate. As regards the Indian work; I have opened a new mission\namong the Creeks, the Guokows and other surrounding tribes. I have to\nbuild a church and school for the Guokows, and must help the Creek nation\nto do the same. I hope the Commission will help us in our poverty, for\nthe money will be well spent in this large territory, the home of nearly\n100,000 Indians, and will do a great deal of good. I beg God that I may\nfind self-sacrificing priests and means to do our work. Much good might\nbe done here in a short time if priests and sufficient means could be\nhad. All the priests in charge of the missions work most faithfully and\ncheerfully, notwithstanding all manner of hardships. I enclose a check\nfor $52.90, the full amount of the collection taken up for Negroes and\nIndians. The amount is small, but it is the first collection ever taken\nup for that purpose, I think. And as it is an expression of the good will\nof our poor people, may our dear Lord accept their good will and give\nthem an abundance out of which to contribute in the years to come. We\ncannot expect all the means actually needed here in a new country like\nthis, where everything is wanting and resources few\u2014 yet with a little,\nmuch can be done.\u201d\n\n\nLA CROSSE, WIS.\n\nThere are 1800 Catholic Indians in this diocese out of an Indian\npopulation of 3500. These Catholic Indians have nine churches visited\nregularly by three priests of the Order of St. Francis. Four large\nschools, attended by 316 Indian children are in good running order,\nunder the direction of Franciscan Sisters. These schools were materially\nassisted by last years allocation.\n\n\nMARQUETTE.\n\nAbout 2700 Catholic Indians dwell in this diocese, over half of the\nresident Indian population. They have five churches and one school. The\nchurches are visited by two Jesuit Fathers and the school is conducted\nby the Sisters of St. Joseph. The Missions and the priests attending\nthem were helped by the Negro and Indian Commission at the last yearly\ndistribution.\n\n\nNATCHEZ, MISS.\n\nBishop Heslin, of Natchez, has four hundred Catholic Indians in his\ndiocese. They have one church and one school. \u201cThe number of Catholic\nIndians in Neshoba Co., has now increased to 335, a considerable gain\nover last year. Rev. B. J. Bekkers, with money lately collected from\nfriends in Holland, has made a further purchase of some 600 acres to\nbe portioned out among the Indians according to necessity. He reports\nthe Indians are very much distressed in consequence of the low prices\nobtained for their crops, which were chiefly cotton. He cannot tell how\nthey will be able to tide over the time lapsing before the new crops. The\npoor people have no credit, and they are now left dependent on Divine\nProvidence. I must confess that I am comparatively ignorant of the other\nIndian Colony situated back of the coast; but I expect before long to\nget better acquainted with them, and to be able to give a more accurate\naccount of them. A great deal has been said about the efforts made, and\nthe aid given by the Indian Bureau and by Mother Catherine Drexel,\nin behalf of the Indians, but we have as yet seen nothing of them in\nMississippi.\u201d\n\n\nNESQUALLY.\n\nThis diocese has quite a large Indian population, there being no less\nthan 18,000 within its limits. About 6,000 of these are Catholics.\nSeven Jesuit Fathers are here engaged in Indian missionary work while\nthree diocesan priests visit the missions when opportunity affords.\nThere are seventeen churches exclusively for the Indians, while four\nschools conducted by the Sisters of Providence look to the instruction\nof the Indian children. \u201cWe could have a great many more children at\nschool,\u201d writes Bishop Junger. \u201cAbout three weeks ago eighteen children\nwere brought to Yakima to go to school, but they were not received as\nthere is no room there, and besides the Sisters of Providence have a\ngreat number above their contract. The same may be said in regard to\nthe school at Blanket and Puyallup. Then there are several tribes which\nwould willingly accept the teachings of the Church, but missionaries and\npriests are wanting. In my last report I mentioned that the diocese of\nNesqually does not receive an allocation in proportion to other dioceses,\nconcerning schools, missionaries and churches. I would not reiterate this\nremark, and it is against my feelings that I do it again; but I think my\nconscience obliges me to do so. Neither do I begrudge the other dioceses\nwhat they receive. In the pamphlet, \u2018Mission Work among the Negroes and\nIndians,\u2019 which was sent me a short time ago, I see on page 21, under the\nheading \u2018Indian Mission Work,\u2019 that Nesqually is not fairly represented\nin regard to priests and pupils, and especially in regard to the latter.\nThere are only 150 pupils mentioned, whilst if you count them up in my\nreport you will find nearly 400, and this year there are about 450.\u201d\n\n\nOREGON CITY.\n\nTwo thousand, five hundred Indians dwell in this diocese. Eighteen\nhundred of them are Catholics. Two priests attend the two churches\nerected for the Catholic Indians. The two Indian schools, one of which is\ntaught by the Benedictine Sisters, report an enrollment of 191 pupils.\n\u201cBesides the current expenses,\u201d writes Archbishop Gross, \u201cI should like\nabout two or three hundred dollars to erect a modest chapel on the site\nselected by me recently at the Silety reservation. I should also like\nsome additional donations for the Franciscan Sisters for their school\nat the Umatilla reservation. In giving my report, I must state that the\nKlamath Indians are large in numbers, and many of them are Catholics.\nThe reservation is in the hands of Methodists. I made an ineffectual\nattempt to visit them some time ago. The next dry season I shall go again\nand preach there, whether the government agent likes it or not. I shall\nthe next time not allow myself to be kept off the reservation. There is\na government school for the Indians near Salem, but so far completely\nin the hands of the Protestants. I paid a most interesting visit to the\nSilety. These poor Indians had been handed over to the Methodists by\nGeneral Grant, and the Catholic priests were ordered to remain away from\nthe Silety reservation. I went there uninvited this summer and spent\nquite a time among them. I was astonished to see how many had preserved\nthe faith. Nearly all of them came to confession. I administered\nConfirmation to a large number. I am not quite sure as to the number\nof Indians in this diocese. For fear of exaggerating, I have placed in\nmy report a total, which I believe to be in reality less than the true\nnumber.\u201d\n\n\nST. CLOUD.\n\nWe present an interesting letter from the Mother Superior of the Sacred\nHeart Industrial School, at Morris, Minn. \u201cI would have replied long\nsince in answer to your kind letter, but I met with a very severe\naccident, a dislocation of my right shoulder, and I am not well yet. I\ncan use only my thumb and first finger. God grant that I may get the use\nof the others, for it is a great loss to the poor children that I cannot\nwork. I am anxiously looking forward to September, and I trust what our\ngood Bishop Zardetti asked for us will be granted. Having lost all our\ncrops by hail and having had to build an addition to our building by\norder of the Government, or lose our children; we are greatly in need.\nWe had to mortgage cattle, sheep and horses. Had I not promised to pay\nin September we would have lost all. What we get from the Government,\n$9 per month for the support, clothing, teaching and travelling\nexpenses of each pupil, falls far short of the actual expense. For this\nreason we try to raise all we can. If we secure what we expect all our\ndifficulties will be over in regard to the Industrial School, as it will\nbe self-supporting. We are teaching the girls all kinds of work. They\nmake their own clothes as well as those of the boys. They knit, spin and\nweave. We are now teaching them to do store work; so that if any remain\nwith us off the reservation they will be able to support themselves.\nWe are aiming at the plan of the Industrial School at our convent in\nBrooklyn, which I organized some years ago. If we can induce the parents\nof the children to let the latter remain with us when their schooling is\nfinished, it will be, in our opinion, the best method of civilizing them.\nOh, if we could but have help, how much good we could do for the glory of\nGod and the salvation of these dear souls!... We are praying God to help\nus now in our struggles and if the Commission will grant what is asked\nthis year, we will not apply again. We are insuring our crops this year\nfor fear of hail and storms.\u201d\n\nBishop Zardetti, of St. Cloud, endorses the foregoing letter in these\nwords, \u201cI remit to you the enclosed petition, endorsing it from my heart.\nThe Sisters in Morris who are very poor, do much for the Indians in their\ncare, and are, I think, entitled to a subsidy from the Negro and Indian\nCommission.\u201d\n\n\nSANTA F\u00c9.\n\nArchbishop Salpointe has 8,000 Catholic Indians in his diocese. The total\nIndian population aggregates 25,000. There are 18 churches and 11 schools\nin the diocese exclusively for Indians. These schools have an enrollment\nof 433 pupils. Three priests devote nearly their whole time to Indian\nmissionary work. \u201cWe intend to carry out our school work on a better\nplan,\u201d writes the Most Rev. Archbishop. \u201cThe agents of Commissioner\nMorgan are doing all in their power to ruin our schools and to pervert\nour poor Catholic Indians, by means fair and foul. Their efforts are\nespecially directed against the faith and Catholic allegiance of the\nPueblos. If we could maintain our schools and especially if we had the\nnecessary means to maintain two more missionaries to attend the Pueblos\nof Santa Jamingo, Saguna, Acoma and Zuni, we could arrive at splendid\nresults, because those Indians are better affected now towards the\nChurch, than they have been in years past. Moreover the several thousand\nNavajoes (the tribe numbers over 20,000, most of whom reside in this\narchdiocese,) are in sad need of missionaries, since the Gospel has never\nbeen preached to them. They need schools, as we have absolutely none for\nthem. They are intelligent, and doubtless, many of them would be won over\neasily to Catholicity.\u201d Bishop Chapelle of the same diocese writes \u201cI\ntrust that the amount asked for in the names of the Most Rev. Archbishop\nand my own, will be allowed us. Our Indians are very poor indeed and\nthe resources of the archdiocese, I may say, are _nil_, for the work of\nevangelizing these poor people.\u201d\n\n\nSAN FRANCISCO, CAL.\n\nThis diocese contains 1500 Indians, 800 of whom are Catholics. There are\ntwo Churches and four schools for these Catholic Indians. Both schools\nand churches are in charge of the Franciscans.\n\n\nSIOUX FALLS, S. D.\n\nThere is a large Indian population in the two Dakotas. In the diocese of\nSioux Falls there are over 25,000. Of these, 5,400 are members of the\nchurch. Ten churches are open to them. These are under the charge of\nseven Benedictine and six Jesuit Fathers. The schools, twelve in number,\nwith an enrollment of 938 pupils, are directed by the above mentioned\nfathers. \u201cThe year has been a most prosperous one,\u201d writes Bishop Marty,\n\u201cboth in conversions and in the formation of new Catholic centres\namong the Sioux. Especially at the Standing Rock, Cheyenne and Rosebud\nAgencies. A beautiful new church and parochial residence has been built\nat Cheyenne Agency, and was dedicated, July 3rd, on the occasion of the\nCatholic Congress. On the 19th the church was blown down and the house\npartly destroyed by a cyclone. Only 50 per cent. of the lumber can be\nused again for building. Five petitions were presented for new churches\non the different reservations. Each of these churches would cost one\nthousand dollars, as building material, as well as labor, is dear at a\ndistance of fifty miles from railroad or river. There is no building\nmaterial on the prairie. I also have to maintain the missionaries at\nGrand River and Cheyenne.\u201d\n\n\nVANCOUVER ISLAND, ALASKA MISSIONS.\n\nThere are about 35,000 Indians on Vancouver Island and in Alaska. Only\n4000 of these are Catholics. These Indians have thirteen churches and\nseven schools open to them. Some idea may be had of the extent of the\nterritory within which the Indian Missions are comprised, when we reflect\non the vast area, (593,000 square miles) which is included within its\nlimits. Fourteen zealous priests are here engaged in missionary work.\nAccording to Bishop Lemmens the prospects for the future are bright. \u201cWe\nhave good hopes that all the Indians on the West Coast will ultimately\nbe Catholics; the majority are so now. The Missions on the Yukon River\nand in the south-west of Alaska are very successful. In all this diocese\nthere are only four churches, in which it is possible to take up a\nregular Sunday collection. The Cathedral is the only church which brings\nin any pew rent. All the churches, except four, have to be entirely\nsupported from the general funds of the diocese.\u201d\n\nWith the Alaska missions of the diocese of Vancouver Island we bring our\nreport to a close. The foregoing reports from the Bishops of the South\nand Northwest speak louder than comment on them. The Negroes and Indians\nstand in need of priests, of churches and of schools. Much good could be\ndone among them if the men and the means were available. A rich field\nis here open to zealous missionaries, and to the charitably disposed.\nLet all praise be meted out to the noble few, both priests and sisters,\nwho have consented to consecrate their lives to this laudable work. May\nheaven continue to bless their labors and to furnish them the meagre\npittance of which they stand so sorely in need.","title":"Mission Work among the Negroes and the Indians:: What Is Being Accomplished by Means of the Annual Collection Taken Up for Our Missions","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":16941}