Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 13.djvu/408

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SAINT LOUIS


362


SAINT LOUIS


"The Catholic Cabinet and Chronicle of Religious Intelhgence", in 1850 a weekly publication called "The Shepherd of the Valley", which was discon- tinued in 1S54. To sj'stematize works of charity he established in 1847 the St. Vincent de Paul Society, which organization grew and expanded and still con- tinues its noble work in aiding the destitute and dis- tressed. In 1892 "The Queen's Daughters" were organized, a societ}' of ladies who devote their ener- gies to forming sewing classes among the poorer peo- ple, teaching the scholars useful and beneficial arts, and providing clothing and other necessaries for the poor and deser\-ing. Archbishop Kenrick further- more organized the New Cathedral Board, the Catho- lic Orphan Board, the Calvary Cemeterj' Board, and the Diocesan Seminary Board, each of which he duly incorporated. He secured the property and build- ings of the Visitation Xuns in the City of St. Louis for the new Kenrick Seminar^' and began the fund for the erection of a new cathedral. During his epis- copate sixteen new sees were formed and established out of the original Diocese of St. Louis: Little Rock, 1843; Santa Fe and St. Paul, 1850; Leavenworth, 1851; Alton and Omaha, 1857; Green Bay, La Crosse, St. Joseph, and Denver, 1868; Kansas City, 1880; Davenport, 1881; Wichita, Concordia, Chey- enne, and Lincoln, 1887. At the time of his death in 1896 diocesan statistics show: city parishes, 61; parishes outside the City of St. Louis, 114; missions with churches, 94; stations, 40; chapels with attend- ing chaplains, 27; archbishops, 2; diocesan priests, 229; regulars, 121; total priests, 350; Cathohc popu- lation, 200,000.

Second Archbishop, John Joseph Kain (1895-1903). — He was bom at Martinsburg, Berkeley County, W. Va., 31 March, 1841. After attending the Martinsburg Academy, he entered St. Charles College at EUicott City, Md., where he finished hLs Classical studies. He made his theological studies at St. Marj^'s Seminary, Baltimore, and was there ordained priest on 2 July, 1866. His first appointment was as pastor of Harper's Ferrj', W. ^'a., and with it as a centre he ministered to the spiritual wants of the Catholics of eight counties. After nine years' pastorate, when only thirty-four years of age, he was selected by Rome to succeed Bishop WTielan as Bishop of Wheeling, W. Va. He was con- secrated in the Cathedral of Wheeling 23 May, 1875. In 1893 Rome created him ^Vrchbishop of Oxyrynchia and coadjutor to Archbishop Kenrick, and on 31 Aug., of the same year, he came to St. Louis. He was ap- pointed to the see of the Diocese of St. Louis, 21 May, 1895. During his administration he manifested the same strenuous and efficient efforts that had charac- terized hLs labours in his former diocese. During Sept., 1893, he opened the new Kenrick Seminary and in Sept., 1896, he presided over the Third Diocesan Synod. At this Synod he introduced into the diocese the Third Baltimore Council legislations, and redis- tricted and readjusted parish boundaries and regulated diocesan matters in general. He also began the re- organization of the parochial school system. In Sep- tember, VMYl, he held the Fourth Diocesan Synod in which diocesan Ifgislation was further perfected. Other notable works of this energetic prelate were the pur- chasing of the new cathedral site on Lindell Boule- vard, the establishment of the new cathedral parish. the erecting of the new cathedral chapel and paro- chial Hisidence, and the preliminary financing of the new cathedral project. In all his works he showed himself pf)ss*'s.sfd of a great courage and determina- tion, and accf)mplishfd for the diocese by his energy, labour and endurance that which his venerable prede- cessor h'jA. during hi.s late years planned, but becau.se of his great age necessarily failed to accomplish. Archbishop Kain was a man of great earnestness and singleness of heart, noted for the prudence of his counsels as well as for the intensity of his convictions;


an admirable exemplar of progressive conservatism and conservative progressiveness. He held a high place in the American hierarchy, as is evidenced from the fact of his being chosen from among the bishops of the countrj^ in 1884 as procurator of the Third Council of Baltimore, and that in 1895 he was selected to de- hver the sermon in the cathedral at Baltimore on the occasion of the conferring of the cardinal's biretta on His Eminence Cardinal SatolU, the first Apostolic Delegate to America. In 1902 his health failed, and Rome sent him at his request as coadjutor, with right of succession, the Rt. Rev. John Joseph Glen- non, D.D., titular Bishop of Pinara, and coadjutor Bishop of Kansas City, Mo. Archbishop Kain died at Baltimore, 13 Oct., 1903. At the time of his death the diocesan census showed: city churches, 68; churches outside the city with resident pastore, 124; missions 58; 1 archbishop; 1 bishop; 268 diocesan priests; and 174 regulars; total 442. Cathohc pop- ulation, 220,000.

Third Archbishop, John Joseph Glennon (1903 — ). — He was born 14 July, 1862, at Kinnegad, Parish of Clonard, Co. Meath, Ireland. He completed his studies at All Hallows' College, Ireland, came to America in 1883, and was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Kan- sas City in the cathedral of that city on 20 Dec, 1884. In 1893 he was appointed vicar-general of the diocese, and on 29 June, 1896, was consecrated titular Bishop of Pinara and coadjutor to Bishop Hogan of Kansas City, Mo. He was transferred to St. Louis as coad- jutor with the right of succession on 27 April, 1903, and succeeded to the See of St. Louis on 13 October of the same year. During the time of his adminis- tration the Archdiocese of St. Louis has advanced with rapid strides, both in temporal and spiritual matters. Many churches and institutions have been estab- lished and built, and Church legislation has been am- plified and perfected by the Fifth and the Sixth Diocesan Synods called and presided over by him during the months of September of the years 1905 and 1908; also various charity organizations have been systematically perfected, and new ones founded to answer the needs of the poor, especially in con- gested districts. During his time we note the organi- zation of the "Ephpheta Society" (1909), a society whose object is to care for the Catholic deaf-mute children of the poor and provide means for their edu- cation; the establishment of Father Dunne's News- boys' Home in 1905; Father Dempsejs Hotel for Homeless Men in 1906; the introduction of the Help- ers of the Holy Souls in 1903; the Brothers of Mary (Western Province College and novitiate in 1908); and the establishment of Catholic settlement schools and day nurseries in 1910. To this prelate has been entrusted the task of giving to St. Louis what had been the dream of Kenrick and the ambition of Kain — a cathedral worthy of the name and prestige of the Archdiocese of St. Louis. Soon after taking up Arch- bishop Kain's crosier, he set to work drafting jilans and collecting funds for the erection of tlie cathedral, the corner-stone of which was laid on Sunday, 18 Oct., 1908, by the Most Rev. Apostolic Delegate Diomede Falconio, D.D., titular Archbishop of Larissa. On this occasion seventy-nine city parislies i)articipated in the grand parade, making the largest demonstra- tion ever seen in the city; it was al.so of extraordinary character in the nationalities rejjresented.

The exterior of the cathedral is an original concep- tion, Byzantine in sentiment, developed in a beauti- ful gray granite which lends itself happily to majestic piling, and is simple but romantic in expression. The openings are treated in receding colonnades, architraves, and archivolts, with ])rofuse and elabo- rate carved and sculptured d<'corations, each 77iolif being from a special design, original in character. The great central dome, forming the main central feature and rgaring its croQ8.347 feet above the terrace, the