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SCRIBES
he organized St. Leo's parish, Ashley, Pennsylvania,
where the present beautiful church and rectory are
monuments of his zeal. There he remained until his
consecration as Bishop of Alalis and coadjutor Bishop
of Scranton, 22 Mar., 1S06. During his administra-
tion, since the death of Bishop O'Hara, he has enacted
important legislation with regard to the internal af-
fairs of the diocese, and under his inspiration the
present beautiful and well-equipped St. Joseph's
Infant Asylum, as also the Maloney Home for the
Aged, have been added to the equipment of the
diocese; the latter being the gift of the Marquess
Martin J. Maloney of Philadelphia, in memor\' of
his parents. Since the death of his predecessor, the
diocese h:is grown from 152 priests, 121 churches,
and a Catholic population of 135,000, to 265 priests,
232 churches, and a Cathohc population of 265.000
(1911).
Catholic Educxition. — Cathohc education in the dio- cese began with, and received a great impetus from the great pioneer Father O'Reilly. In the autumn of 1S42 he opened a college at St. Joseph's, Susque- hanna County. From a very modest beginning, and under his immediate supervision, ii grew and flour- ished; and in the twenty-two years of its existence educated two bishops and over a score of priests. It was destroyed by fire, 1 Jan., 1864, and was never rebuilt. AX the present time higher education in the diocese is cared for by St. Thomas's College, in charge of the Brothers of the Christian Schools; the Latin and Greek courses being taught by two of the dio- cesan clergy. Mount St. Marj^'s Seminar)^ Scranton, conducted by the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mar>% and St. Ann's Academy, Wilkes-Barre, con- ducted by the Sisters of Christian Charity, are both flourishing and rapidly growing boarding-schools for girls. St. Mary's parochial high school, Wilkes-Barre, conducted by the Sisters of Mercy, deserves mention as a model of equipment and efficiency. Nearly all of the larger parishes have their own parochial schools conducted by the sisters of the different teaching communities. Facilities for the preservation of the languages of the various nationalities are afforded in their parochial schools, which, for the most part, are conducted by sisters famihar with the mother-tongue. To meet this need two new teaching orders have recently been established; Sisters of Sts. Cyril and Methodius (Slovak) and Sisters of St. Casimir (Lithu- anian). Both the.se orders had their inception in the novitiate at Mount St. Mary's, Scranton, where the first candidates were trained. The diocese now num- bers 49 parochial schools and 14,440 pupils (1911).
Religious. — Passionist Fathers, St. Ann's Mon- astery, Scranton; Theatine Fathers (Spanish); Stig- mata Fathers (Italian); Brothers of the Christian Schools. Sisters Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, mother-house and novitiate, Scranton; Sisters of Mercy, mother-house and novitiate, Wilkes-Barre; Sisters of Christian Charity (German), mother- house and novitiate for the United States, Wilkes- Barre; Sisters of the Good Shepherd; Little Sisters of the Poor; Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth (Polish); Bemardine Sisters (Poli.sh); Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart (Italian); Sisters of Sts. Cyril and Methodius (Slovak).
SUiHhHch. — Catholic population (U. S. religious cfnsus, 1006), 265,000, divided as follows: English- speaking, 133,000; Poles, 45,000; Italians, 21, (KK); Greek Kuthenians, 20,(XX); German, lf;,(KM); Slovaks, 15,fXX); Lithuanians, 13,000; Magyars, IfXK); Syrians, 1000; Prifists, 265; churches, with resident priests, 1S3; mission churches, 49; parochial schools, 49; pupils, 14,440; religious, .578; baptisms (1910), 12,725; orphan asylum, 1 ; infant asylum, 1 ; home for the aiged poor, 1 ; house of the Good Shepherd, 1 ; hos- pital, 1; college, 1; value of Church property (1911), $5,400,000.
Official Catholic Directory; Shea, Life and Times of the Most
Rev. John Carroll (New York, 18SS); Bradsbt, History of Luzerne
Coimty (Chicago, 1893); Kerlin, Catholicity in Philadelphia
(Philadelphia, 1909); L.\ Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, Voyage
dansles Elats-unis d' Amerique (Paris, 1799-1800); Murray, The
Story of Some French Refugees and Their" Azilum" (Athens, 1003).
Andrew J. Brenn.\n.
Screen. Sec Alt.'VR. sub-title Alt.\r-Screen* Rood.
Scribes (2*1Cw, ypo-iitJ-o-Teh, vo/uoSiSdo-xaXoi, teach- ers of the law). — In the New-Testament period the scribes were the professional interpreters of the Law in the Jewish synagogues. The origin of the profession dates from the return of the Captivity, and its subse- quent growth and im])ortance resulted naturally from the formal and legalistic trend of Jewish piety during the post-Exilic period. The Law was revered as the precise expression of God's will, and by its multifari- ous prescriptions the daily life of every pious Jew was regulated in all its minute details. Love of the Law was the essence of piety, and the just or righteous were they who walked "in all the commandments and justifications of the Lord without blame" (Luke, i, 6). But as these commandments and justifications were exceedingly numerous, complicated, and often obscure, the needs of popular guidance called into existence a class of men whose special occupation was to study and expound the Law. The earliest mention of the title occurs in I Esdras, vii, 6, where Esdras is de- scribed as a "ready scribe in the law of Moses". What this meant is set forth in verse 10: " For Esdras had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to do and to teach in Israel the commandments and judgment ". This descri})tion doubtless applies to the subsequent scribes of that period. They were pious men who through lo\-e of the Divine law occupied themselves in collecting, editing, and studying the sacred literature of the Hebrews and in explaining it to the people. The earlier scribes, Uke Esdras him- self, belonged to the class of priests and Levites (I Esdr., vii, 12; II Esdr., viii, 7, 13; II Par., xxxiv, 13) who were originally the official interpreters of the Law, but unlike other priestly duties, the studj^ and exposition of Holy Writ could be engaged in by pious laymen, and thus little by little the scribal profession became differentiated from the priesthood, while the latter remained chiefly occupied with the ever-gi'ow- ing sacrificial and ritualistic functions
When under Antiochus l<^pi])hanes Hellenism threat- ened to overthrow the Jewish religion, the scribes joined the party of the zealous Assideans (I Mach., vii, 12, 13), who were ready to die for their faith (see account of the martyrdom of the scribe Eleazar, II Mach., vi, 18-31), while not a few aristocratic mem- bers of the priesthood favoured the Hellenistic tenden- cies. This resulted in a certain opposition between the two clas.ses; the scribes, through their devotion to the Law, acquired great influence with the people while the priesthood lost much of its prestige. As a natural consequence, the scribes as a class became narrow, haughty and exclusive. Under the Asmo- nean rule they became the leaders of the new party of the Phari.sees, and it is with the latter that we find them asso(;iated in the New-Testament records. They never wielded any j)<)litical power, but they were ad- mitted to the Satilieilriii (in a]);ir with the chief priests and elders and thus enjoyed official recognition. With the increasing formalism, which their influence doubt- less lielped to develoj), the character of the scribes and their activities underwent a marked change. They neglected the deeper and more spiritual aspects of the Law, and from being men of sacred letters they be- came mainly juri.sts who devoted mo.st of their atten- tion tx) mere (piibbles and subtle ca.sui.stry. Together with the Pharisees they are represented in the Gospels as being very ambitious of honour (Matt., xxiii, 2-7, Mark, xii, .38-40; Luke, xi, 43, 45, 46; xx, 46),andaa making void the weightier precepts of the Law by
