Page:Irish In America.djvu/36

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
14
THE IRISH IN AMERICA.

growing importance of the Catholic body was erected in course of time; until eventually that church, which was regarded as a splendid structure by those who first knelt before its altar, gave place to the existing cathedral, which is one of the finest edifices of the kind in America, but which is to be further extended and beautified by the addition of a magnificent facade of white marble from the celebrated quarries of Westchester, in the State of New York. The wooden cathedral of the first quarter of a century was a fitting type of the Catholic Church of that day: the grand stone structure, some 180 feet in length, and with accommodation for 3,000 worshippers, fittingly represents its position at this day. Where a mere log hut was the only temple of the faith in Halifax, four churches are now insufficient for their congregations; and a new building, of the pointed Gothic order, was roofed in previous to the winter of 1866. Where there were but 20 priests in 1820, there are over 70 in the present year. These have the spiritual care of 115,000 Catholics, for whom, or by whom, more than 100 churches have been built. In 1842 the province was erected into a See, and in 1845 it was divided into two Sees, the Western and Eastern. The Western was elevated to the dignity of an archbishopric in 1852. Bishop Walsh was created the first archbishop; and on the death of that prelate, in 1859, Dr. Connolly, then Bishop of New Brunswick, which is still within the ecclesiastical province, was transferred to Halifax. Since 1830, when first the Catholic element of Nova Scotia may be said to have acquired anything like the appearance of strength, more than 150,000’’l’’. has been expended in buildings for religious and educational purposes. Of this amount, by far the largest proportion has been raised by voluntary contribution, under the auspices and through the influence of the second archbishop; a man who, besides possessing a good intellect, considerable power as a writer and speaker, and