The Catholic World, Vol. 26, October, 1877, to March, 1878Various
Religion
The Catholic World, Vol. 26, October, 1877, to March, 1878
Various
Catholic Church -- Periodicals
Within the jurisdiction of these agencies there are 52 Catholic
churches, 18 Catholic day-schools, and 10 Catholic boarding industrial
schools. The Catholic priests and teachers employed among the Indians
during the year 1875 numbered 117; while for the same year the
Protestant sects had only 64 missionaries employed in all the agencies
under their control. Would it not have been supposed that a fair
interpretation of the new policy of President Grant—nay, that the only
fair interpretation of it—would have awarded these 40 agencies to the
Catholic Church? The missions of the church, in 1870, were in almost
uncontested possession of these fields of labor. Her priests had borne
the labor and the heat of the day; asking and expecting no aid from the
state, and receiving very little from any other source, they had given
themselves to the work of Christianizing these Indians; and while the
sects had from time to time made spasmodic and desultory attempts at
Indian missions, our priests and their coadjutors, the sisters of the
teaching orders, had remained steadfast in their self-denying and
arduous labor. But the sects were now inspired with a new and sudden
zeal for the salvation of the Indians. They were not content with the 32
agencies in which, although there were many Catholic Indians, the church
had not been able to establish permanent missions. They set up claims to
the agencies we have enumerated, and it was observed that the fervor
with which these demands were pressed was in exact proportion to the
richness of the reservation and its desirableness as a future home for a
missionary with a large family and with a numerous corps of needy
relations. So fierce was their onslaught, and so rapidly were their
demands conceded by the then commissioner, that, almost before the
authorities of the church had been informed of what was going on, no
less than 32 of the 40 agencies which, by any fair interpretation of the
President’s policy, should have been assigned to Catholic care, were
divided among the sects. Fourteen of the agencies, with 54,253 Indians,
fell to the Methodists, the sect then, and perhaps now, most in favor
with the administration; five, with 21,321 Indians, went to the
Presbyterians; the same number, with 5,311 Indians, were awarded to the
Quakers; the Congregationalists received three, with 2,056 Indians; the
Reformed Dutch Church were given two, with 6,026 Indians; the “American
Missionary Association” (a Congregational society) obtained two, with
2,126 Indians; and the Protestant Episcopal Church was gratified with
one agency, the Chippewas of Missouri, 1,322 in number, who had been
Catholics all their lives. There remained eight of the agencies to which
the Catholic Church possessed a claim, and these were left in her
possession, not, however, without a threat that they also would be taken
from her—a threat already carried into execution in one case, the
Papagoes, a tribe of 6,000, residing in Arizona, having been kindly
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account