Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Diocese of Omaha (supplement)

2547237Catholic Encyclopedia — Diocese of Omaha (supplement)

Omaha, Diocese of (Omahensis; cf. C. E., XI–249c) in the State of Nebraska, U. S. A., was divided into two parts by a Decree of the Sacred Consistoriai Congregagion of 8 March, 1912, and the western part was erected into the Diocese of Kearney. It now comprises an area of 14,051 sq. miles, where formerly its territory extended over 52,996 sq. miles. Rt. Rev. Richard Scannell, D.D., who had filled this see from 1891, died 8 Jauary, 1916, and was succeeded by the present incumbent, Most Rev. Jeremiah J. Harty, former Archbishop of Manila, P. I., who was transferred to Omaha with the title of Archbishop-Bishop. Archbishop Harty was born in St. Louis, Mo., 1 November, 1853, and was ordained 28 April, 1878. He labored in his home city as an assistand and then a pastor until 1903, when he was appointed Archbishop of Manila, which see he filled until his transfer to Omaha. He took possession of the see on 28 December, 1916, and his administration has been marked by the establishment of new parishes and parochial schools and the introduction of new religious orders into the diocese. An event of special importance was the establishment of the Chinese Mission Society in Omaha on 14 December, 1918. The mother house of the Society is at Dalgan Park, Galway, Ireland, and their present headquarters in Omaha, St. Columbans's Mission House, is devoted to the education of young men for the priesthood in China. “The Far East,” a magazine devoted to the conversion of China, is published here. Another Catholic paper, “The True Voice,” edited by Rev. P. C. Gannon and having a very extensive circulation, is also published in the diocese. The religious orders now (1922) established here include men: Augustinian Recollects, Basilians, Francisans, Jesuits, and Redemptorists; women: Sisters of Mercy, Poor Clares, Religious of the Sacred Heart, Sisters of Notre Dame, of St. Dominic, of St. Francis, of the Good Shepherd, Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity and Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament. Tha latest statistics credit the diocese with 163 diocesan and 56 regular clergy, 142 parishes, 164 churches and 2 more under construction, 59 chapels, 4 stations, 78 men of religious orders, 844 women of religious orders, 1 university with 1945 students, 32 ecclesiastical students, 7 colleges and academies for girls, with 84 teachers and 701 students, 8 high schools with 30 teachers and 336 students, 90 parochial schools with 11,216 pupils, 1 orphan asylum with 166 orphans, 4 homes for young ladies with 181 residents, 1 House of the Good Shepherd, 1 industrial home for boys, 1 home for the aged, 3 hospitals with 590 beds, 188 hospital nurses, and a total of 15,005 young people under Catholic care. In 1921 the total Catholic population was 83,357.