PEOPLE WE HEAR ABOUT

New Zealand Tablet, 30 May 1918, Page 39

PEOPLE WE HEAR ABOUT

Catholic Missions records the death of another African Bishop, of the White Fathers, Mgr. Lechaptois, Vicar-Apostolic of Tanganyika. Mgr. Lechaptois was a noted ethnologist, who wrote extensively on the tribes among whom he labored. He was the founder of the flourishing Nyassa Mission. Very Rev. Domingo Zaldivar, C.M.F., rector of the Church of Our Lady of the Angels, Plaza, Los Angeles, Cal., has been appointed provincial of the Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart, with jurisdistion over twenty communities in California, Arizona, Texas, and Mexico. Father Zaldivar is a native of Spain. lie was a missionary in Portugal seven years, and then went, in 1908, to California. lie was made rector of the Church of Our Lady of the Angels in 1915. The Sovereign. Pontiff has transferred Right Rev. Charles- J. O’Reilly, D.D., from the Bishopric of Baker City, Ore., to that of Lincoln, Neb. He succeeds Right Rev. John H. Tihen, D.D., appointed Bishop of Denver after the death of Right Rev. N. C. Mat?,, D.D. Bishop O’Reilly was born on January 1, 1802, in St, Johns, N. 8., and studied in the Grand Seminary, Montreal. lie was ordained in 1890, and for many years was pastor of the Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Portland, and for a lime served as editor of the I'ltitlinul Sentinel. In 1903 Father O’Reilly was consecrated first Bishop of Baker City. The Rector of Dubuque College. lowa, has been made Bishop of Boise City, Idaho, IJ.S.A. The. diocese of Boise City has been emerging from the missionary stage ol its development. Its former Bishop was one of those zealous pioneers who laid splendid foundations for the Church in Idaho. Such of the pioneers as still live will be happy to continue, to the end, their apostolic services under the gentle and just rale of one who will be a noble Bishop. ' More priests will be enlisted and much progress will be made, because Bishop Gorman is as efficient as he is righteous. 11 is success as President of Dubuque College augurs great things for the diocese of Boise City. If the wishes of his friends are realised in his high .office, his episcopal life will be a rich one and crowned with honor and benediction. Right Rev. John W. Shaw, D.D., who has been Bishop of San Antonio for the past seven years, has been named Archbishop of New Orleans, U.S.A. His appointment as the successor of Archbishop Blenk has been applauded on every side. He is sure of a wonderful welcome in New Orleans. 11 is record of (he past seven years in San Antonio justifies the expectation of a career of brilliant achievement in the fertile field to which he has been called. Extraordinary circumstances upon the Mexican border while he was Bishop of San Antonio called for extraordinary comprehension of the Church’s needs, and extraordinary efficiency in meeting them. The needs were met with rare intelligence and zeal. The larger opportunities of a great archdiocese will elicit, in a more notable fashion, every episcopal quality which has been so manifest at San Antonio. The province of New Orleans, comprising the States of Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and the western part of Florida, includes the dioceses of Alexandria, Corpus Christi, Dallas, Galveston, Little Rock, Mobile Natchez, Oklahoma, San Antonio, and the newly created diocese of

Lafayette, La. The field is a great one, but the new master of it. will not fail in any of its requirements. We (states an American exchange) congratulate New Orleans upon its new Archbishop and we congratulate Archbishop Shaw upon his appointment to a task worthy of his mettle. May his years be many and his labors fruitful ! Most Rev. Edmond Francis Prendergast, Archbishop of Phidelphia, U.S.A., who' recently passed away in the 75th year of his age, was born in Clonmel, County Tipperary, Ireland, May 5, 1843. At the age of sixteen he came to the United States and entered the Seminary of St. Charles Borromeo, Overbrook, Pa. lie was ordained to the priesthood November 17, 1865, in the Cathedral by Bishop Wood of Philadelphia. He did parochial work in St. Paul’s parish of that city, at Bristol, Allentown, and at various places in Susquehanna County. In 1874 he was appointed pastor of St. Malachy’s Church, Philadelphia, and in 1896 he became Vicar-General of the diocese. On February 94, 1897, he was consecrated Auxiliary Bishop of Philadelphia and Titular Bishop of Scillio. He remained pastor of St. Malachy’s until the death of Archbishop Ryan, February 11. 1911. Finally he was appointed Archbishop of Philadelphia, May 27 of Hie same year. In the comparatively short time of his administration of the diocese he promoted Catholic works of every kind. lie assisted at the foundation of the Catholic High School for Girls, one of the most successful institutions of its kind in the country. He also renovated the Cathedral and took a prominent part in the establishment of the great Misericordia Hospital. It is said that during his labors in the episcopate ho administered the Sacrafnent of Confirmation to nearly 200,000 candidates, ordaining several hundred young men to the priesthood, and officiated at the religious reception of nearly 1000 nuns.