ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH.

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 12484, 21 April 1906, Page 10

ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH.

INTERVIEW WITH BISHOP GRIMES.

Last evening, though busily occupied in preparations tor h_s visit to _uropo, . ins Lordship _iMiop -.-rimes courteously accorded an interview to a mc inner I oi " i'he Press " statt on the subject oi ; tho Church of bt. Ignatius in ban j Francisco, which is reported to bo amongst the buildings destroyed. •• \wien 1 was in Sau Francisco m ! 1898, said the B-shop, *" on my •wayhome at ior having visaed Rome, v bappeued to be tho I'atronal Feast ot tno Cnurch ot St. Ignatius. Th© Jesuit Fatheis asked mc to sing I'onuhcal Macs in the church, and 1 aid so. The church, wiiich was situated on Hayes street, was a buauUiut one. It wa6 not tne Cathedral oi San Francisco, but it deserved to be from the roajest.c character of the bunding- 1 *>-''•_ P 011 " ! tiueal Mass on the Feast Day as re- , quested, and one of the state ot tno jo-'iiit College composed some excellent Latin verse*, mmy honour. In these : rererence was maue to New Zealand, ami to my labour here. There was a College* connected with the. Church, having a stall or twenty-one protessor.-, twelve -cholastios, and 328 students. "Aver this, 1 visited ban Jose, and one of the profosewi-s took in© over tJie Lick Observatory. He made reference to tho Museum in Ctuistcliurch, which he said lie had heard was a very fine one. The -Viarist Fathers have a large parish in San Francisco, with churches, ecii-iois. etc. As these were situated in the centre of the city, I am atraid they iuivd all been de-uoved. 1 visited them when in San Francisco, and inspected 'the .varie.uU buildings and scnools, which wer© splendidly equipped. I there are a very large nunio©>- of Catholics in San Francisco, and they havo numerous churches and institutions ot various kinds. Judging from . tho reports as to tfie extent oi the damage* caiLsed by earthquake and fire, there i_ reason to fear tnat a largo number i of these are in ruins. i 'A_ showing the extent of the Catholic Church in San Francisco, which is an archdiocese, I may say that there are two archbishops, 270 priests, 1-19, churches with resident pricots, I< sta-j tions, 50 chapels, an ecclesiastical sem-1 mary lor secular clergy with 91 students, 7 seminaries, colleges and academics with 1500 students, 21 academics ' and one normal school tor young laeties, • 37 primary schools with lo,fcC_ pupils,' -1 orphanages with 10,500 orphans, deaf and mute asylums, hospitals, hornets for aged poor. There is also a _ou*o of tho ■jocel Shepherd similar to that at Mt. Magdala, and of the Sacred Heart, on the linos of tho one in Timaru, and several convents of tho Sisters ot .Mercy. Altogether the Catholics in San Francisco number 227,000. 1 can only express tlie most profound sym- j pattliy with tho Catholics of San Fran-1 Cisco and tho pcoplo generally, and I am sure all tho Catholics her© will join with mc in that sentiment."