The Papal Delegation to Quebec 1886

The following text was taken from ” Le Premier Cardinal Canadien:  Souvenir De 1886, Publié Avec Autorisation, Québec, Typographie D’Aug. Cote Et Cie.”. I have translated it from the French, so there may be some mistakes, particularly where some of the speeches were given in English, translated for the book, and now translated back into English again, but it does give an idea of quite how grand a churchman Uncle Henry was.

The Ablegate charged by the Holy See to bring Cardinal Taschereau, the red berretta, the cardinalate insignia, was His Excellency Mgr. Henry O’Bryen, who is of Irish origin.

Mgr. O’Bryen was not on his first journey in America. In 1877, he had travelled through Quebec; and, for the last few days, was the guest of His Excellency Monsignor Gonroy, at the time, the Delegate of the Holy See in Canada.

Mgr the Ablegate is tall, handsome, noble looking, with a good figure; he seems to be about fifty years old.

Notre Dame de Lévis, Quebec

On the 8th of July, he embarked at Liverpool, aboard the Polynesian, on the Allan line, His Excellency arrived at Lévis on Sunday the 18th at six o’clock in the morning.  As the ship passed Pointe-au-Père, she was greeted by a fourteen gun salute. At the landing-place at Lévis, Mgr. O’Bryen was received by the Grand Vicar Legaré and M. G.-A. Marois,the Cardinal’s secretary, and immediately taken to the Church of Notre-Dame de Lévis, where he said Mass at 7a.m. His Excellency then breakfasted at the presbytery, where he was hosted by Father Gauvreau until the departure time for the journey and solemn arrival at Quebec.

A few minutes before one o’clock in the afternoon, Mgr O’Bryen left the presbytery of Lévis, accompanied by M. Le Grand Vicar Legaré, Father Gauvreau, and several other members of the clergy, they made their way towards the port, escorted by a large crowd of citizens, coming from all parts of the town, who demonstrated their respect for the representative of His Holiness by their presence. A boat had been specially placed at the disposal of the Ablegate and his party, of which the band of St. Joseph de Lévis was also part.

At Quebec, the quays were crowded; particularly notable were the Rev. M. Méthot, Rector of the Université Laval, the Redemptoris Fathers, and  numerous clergy, His Honor the Mayor Langelier with the Aldermen and Councillors, Mr Carbray, President of the National Irish Society with a large number of members of the Society, Mr. H.J.-J.B. Chouinard, President of the Company of Saint John the Baptist.

His Excellency got into a carriage drawn by four horses; it was followed by Major Vicar Legaré, His Honor the Mayor and Mr. Carbray. The procession included a very large number of carriages; the clergy followed his Excellency; they were followed by the members of the City Council and the notables of Quebec. Members of the National Irish Society, with their rich banners, preceded by the band of St-Joseph de Lévis, marching in front of the carriage of the Ablegate. Along the way, thousands of citizens were massed on either side of the street, but especially on the slope of the Côté La Montagne and cheered the representative of the Holy Father. On the outskirts of the Cardinal’s Palace, there were between seven and eight thousand persons. All the heads were uncovered as His Excellency passed by.

 

On his arrival at the Cardinal’s Palace, Mgr.O’Bryen went to his Eminence, who was awaiting him, surrounded by numerous clergy and many civil dignitaries, and handed him his credentials.

His Eminence thanked him and added:

“The persons whom you see gathered in this hall have come to pay tribute to your Excellency, and to prove again their attachment to the Sovereign Pontiff. In the decree which calls me Cardinal, His Holiness Leo XIII says that he has raised me to this high dignity, to reward Canada for the devotion which she has never ceased to show towards the Holy See. When you return to Rome, Excellency, you will be able to repeat to His Holiness what you have seen, and you will be able to assure him that zeal for the glory of God and attachment to his Church will not be slowed down among the inhabitants of this country. “

Having thus informed His Eminence of the object of his mission, Mgr. O’Bryen visited His Excellency Monsignor Lynch, Archbishop of Toronto, to inform him that he was the bearer of the official documents under which his authority was delegated by the Holy See to transmit to His Eminence the cardinal’s berretta

Archbishop Lynch of Toronto

Outside Rome, the solemn transmission of the red berretta is usually performed by the Head of State, when the latter is Catholic. As the Governor-General, who may be regarded as the head of the State in the Dominion of Canada, does not belong to the Catholic Church, the Holy See has delegated Venerable Archbishop of Toronto, Province of Ontario, Monsignor John Lynch to represent it in this august ceremony.

Bishop Lynch had arrived in Quebec City on the previous Saturday, July 17, and was the guest of His Eminence. His Grace was not unacquainted with Mgr Taschereau: it was he who, fifteen years ago, had ordained the future Cardinal a bishop. The honour which the Holy See had delegated to the Archbishop of Toronto this year was a magnificent crowning of his first mission; It was a further recognition of the Church in Quebec by the illustrious Metropolitan of the Church in Ontario.  The Irish population of Quebec had reason to be proud of the choice made by His Holiness of two sons of Ireland to represent Him in this great circumstance. So, the day after the arrival of Mgr O’Bryen, the National Irish Association of Quebec City, was able to go to His Excellency to welcome him to the Irish community in Canada. The reception took place, at 4 o’clock in the afternoon, on the 19th of July, in the great salon of the Cardinal’s palace. Mr. Carbray, President of the Irish National Association, accompanied by a large delegation, read to His Excellency the following address, which had been magnificently illuminated.

Address Of The Irish Association To Mgr O’Bryen

To His Excellency the Most Reverend Monsignor Henry O’Bryen, Ablegate of His Holiness.

Monsignor,

We are certain that you are not surprised to find many of your compatriots on the shores of the New World. We are scattered all over the civilized world, and even in places where civilization has not yet penetrated; for where are the Irish not found?

Our fathers, or we ourselves, have been obliged to seek refuge and livelihood abroad, far from the much loved island of our ancestors, but towards which our eyes turn with sadness and love, as the Jewish people do for their beloved land of Israel.

Here, however, thank God! We did not find ourselves strangers. We were received as brothers by the good people of Canada, the children of that great branch of the Celtic race, the old Gaul. It would be too lengthy to relate the beginnings and growth of our people in this country; Suffice it to say that we are here in the hundreds of thousands, forming an important part of the population of this happy and prosperous country of Canada.

It is not in this city, Monsignor, that you will find hundreds of thousands of us, for it could not contain us all; but we count in tens of thousands, Irish descendants of Irishmen, who offer a most cordial welcome “Céad míle fáilte” to the illustrious member of our race who comes in the midst of us as the representative of the great, the immortal Leo XII, Our Holy Father and Vicar of Jesus Christ on earth, to our pious, zealous and holy archbishop, to confer upon His Eminence the symbols which create him a Cardinal-Prince of the Holy Roman Church,

Monsignor. Even though you are far from Rome,your adopted city, we do not ignore the greatness of your character, your love and loyalty to Ireland, nor the noble zeal that you have always deployed for her interests.

Welcome, Monsignor! May your stay in the midst of us be happy and joyful, and when you return to Rome, please tell Our Holy Father that you have found in this country a large population of Irishmen, from whom His Holiness has always had allegiance, and who, thank God, do not derogate from the loyalty and the faith of their fathers.

Félix Carbray,

President of the Irish Association.

His Excellency replied in eloquent terms. He alluded to the dispersion of the Irish race, which the Almighty obviously uses to spread the Catholic faith. Mgr. O’Bryen spoke in warm terms of the great progress of the Church in America and Australia, due in large part to the Irish race and its fidelity to the Church. He thanked his compatriots for the large part they had taken in the great ovation of which he had been the object at his arrival, and that he would remember all his life. He alluded to the zeal and piety of His Eminence Cardinal Taschereau, and to the high esteem which he enjoyed in Rome, and spoke highly of the people of Canada and his clergy. Finally, His Excellency expressed the hope that better days would shine for Ireland, whose autonomy cannot fail to be recognized in the very near future.

It goes without saying that Monsignor O’Bryen, throughout his stay, was the object of brilliant receptions, testimonies of veneration for his character as papal Ablegate, and statements of high esteem for his merit by civilian dignitaries, religious authorities and various communities in the city. These demonstrations, the splendor of which was somewhat lost amidst the splendours of the cardinal’s festivals, were none the less real, and could only confirm in the mind of the illustrious Delegate of the Holy See the truth of the words addressed to him by his Eminence at his first interview.

Rome – June 1886, Uncle Henry is about to go to Canada…

Uncle Henry is about to go to Canada…..

19th May 1886 –  CONSISTORY.

consistory2The Osservatore Romano of Thursday last  announced the Secret Consistory [restricted only to Cardinals] as to take place Monday, June 7th, for the creation of six new members of the Sacred College, whose names have been already given. Several Cardinals will, it is whispered, be reserved “in etto”. On Wednesday, 19th inst., the Holy Father named the Noble Guards who are to be Messengers Extraordinary to convey to the five foreign Archbishops the formal announcement of their promotion to the sacred purple. Count Naselli goes to Rheims, Count Salimei to Rennes, Count Folicaldi to Sens, Count Muccioli to Baltimore, and Count Gazzoli to Quebec. Yesterday the five Guards above named were admitted to private audience by the Pope to return thanks for the honour accorded them.

Cardinal Biretta sikThe choice of the Ablegates to bear the Berretta to the new Cardinals has fallen on Mgr. Straniero for Baltimore, Mgr. Henry O’Bryen for Quebec, and Monsignori Vico, Misciatelli and Grassi for the three French Cardinals. The name of Father Mazzella, S.J., Prefect of Studies in the Gregorian University is now added to the list of future Princes of the Church. The Ablegates and the Noble Guards start on their respective missions immediately on the close of the Secret Consistory. Thursday, June 10th, is the day fixed for the Public Consistory, wherein the cardinalitial hat will be conferred on Mgr. Theodoli, and on the Cardinals Patriarch of Lisbon, and the Archbishops of Vienna and of Valencia, created in 1884. The Archbishop of Seville, likewise of the same promotion, is prevented from private reasons from coming to Rome for this Consistory. Count Carlo Gazzoli, who is to be the bearer of the hat to Mgr. Taschereau, belongs to a very ancient noble family. On the mother’s side he is descended from the Princes’ Simoneth, an old baronial family of the Marche ; and from the Princes Spada of Rome on the father’s side. He is a brother of Mgr. Gazzoli, Canon of St. Peter.

The above text was found on p.29, 22nd May 1886  in “The Tablet: The International Catholic News Weekly.” Reproduced with kind permission of the Publisher. The Tablet can be found at http://www.thetablet.co.uk .

Monday, June 7th.

This morning, as announced, his Holiness held a Secret Consistory in the Vatican Palace, in which, after the Cardinal Secretary of State, as Procurator for Cardinal Agostini, Patriarch of Venice, resigning the title of S. Eusebius, had opted for the vacant title of S. Maria della Pace, the Holy Father pronounced a brief allocution [a formal speech giving advice or a warning.] laudatory of the three countries of France, United States, and Canada in relation to the Catholic faith, and personally eulogistic of the two Italian candidates, he created and proclaimed Cardinal Priests of Holy Roman Church the Archbishops of Sens, Rennes, Rheims, Quebec, and Baltimore, U.S.A. ; and Cardinal Deacons Mgr. Augustus Teodoli, and the Rev. Camillus Mazzella, S.J.

He then preconised [approved the appointment of] titulars to the Metropolitan See of Toledo, in Spain, for Cardinal Paya y Rico, translated from that of Compostella ; to the Archiepiscopal See of Sorrento, to fourteen Cathedral Sees, and to two titular Episcopal Churches for the Auxiliaries respectively of the Cardinal Archbishop of Naples, and of the Cardinal Archbishop of Saragozza. After the Consistory the Pope imposed, with the usual formalities, the rochet [a white vestment worn by a  bishop, similar to a surplice] upon the newly preconised Bishops, present in curia, who then paid the customary visits of formality to the Cardinal Secretary of State and to the Vatican Basilica ; the five Noble Guards started on their foreign mission as Extraordinary Couriers ; and the official notice of promotion to the Cardinalate was duly conveyed to the two new members of the Sacred College present in Rome. The Papal Ablegate, Mgr. Straniero, leaves Rome this evening, en route for Baltimore, to convey the berretto to Cardinal Gibbons. Mgr. Henry O’Bryen and the other three Ablegates will depart in a few days for their destinations, to Quebec and to France.

PUBLIC  CONSISTORY.

pope in sala regia
The Pope in the Sala Regia

On Thursday the Pope held a Public Consistory in the Sala Regia of the Vatican Palace, in which he conferred the Cardinalitial Hat upon Cardinal Neto, Patriarch of Lisbon, created and published in the Consistory of March 24th, 1884; upon Cardinals Ganglbauer and Monescillo y Viso, created and published in the Consistory of November loth, 1884, and upon Cardinals Theodoli and Mazzella, created and published in the Consistory of Monday, 7th inst. During the ceremony one of the Consistorial Advocates argued, for the third time, the cause of beatification of the Venerable Servant of God, Sister Gertrude Maria Salandri, of Rome. The promoter of the faith thereupon made the customary protest, to which his Holiness replied : “Ad nostram Sacram Rituum Congregationem quae videat et referat.”  The Holy Father then closed the Public Consistory, and, proceeding to the Hall of the Consistory, held a Secret Consistory, wherein, after closing the mouths of the new Cardinals, he preconised titulars to four metropolitan and sixteen cathedral sees, including that of Mayence for Canon Haffner, and that of Madrid for Mgr. Sandra Hervaz, translated from Avila ; the remaining fourteen sees being in France, Spain, Africa, and Mexico. His Holiness next notified the provision by brief of the metropolitan see of Posen ; of the cathedral sees of Ermeland ; of Down and Connor, of Limerick and of Kilmore ; of Savannah and of Green Bay, U.S.A. ; and of Panama ; and finally of ten titular episcopal sees for the Vicars Apostolic of Southern Tonquin, of the Congo, and of the Free State of Orange ; for the Coadjutors of Waterford, of the Western district of the Cape of Good Hope, of Ghent, and of  Angra ; and for the Auxiliaries of Lemberg, of the Latin Rite, and of Trigonia . Postulation of the sacred pallium was then made for the metropolitan sees of Toledo, Port au Prince, Compostello, Burgos, Sorrento, Aix, and Posen ; for the two churches of Montreal and of Ottawa recently raised to metropolitan rank, under their present titulars, Mgr. Edward Fabre and Mgr. Thomas Duhamel, and likewise for the cathedral see of  Ermeland, endowed with that privilege by Benedict XIV. The Pope then placed the cardinalitial ring upon the new Princes of the Church, assigning to Cardinal Neto the priestly title of the Holy Twelve Apostles ; to Cardinal Monescillo that of St. Augustine ; to Cardinal Ganglbauer, that of S. Eusebius ; to Cardinal Theodoli, the diaconal title of Sta. Maria della Scala ; and to Cardinal Mazzella the diaconate title of S. Adriano al Foro Romano. Finally, returning to his private apartments, his Holiness received the new Cardinals in collective audience.

SACRED CONGREGATIONS.

The Pope has assigned to Cardinal Neto, Patriarch of Lisbon, the Sacred Congregations of Propaganda, the Rites, Indulgences, and Holy Relics, and the Lauretana ; to Cardinal Monescillo, Archbishop of Valencia, those of the Council, Index, Studies, and Regular Discipline ; to Cardinal Ganglbauer, Archbishop of Vienna, those of Bishops and Regulars, Rites, Studies, and Ceremonial ; to Cardinal Theodoli those of the Council, Rites, Ceremonial, and Fabrica of St. Peter ; and to Cardinal Mazzella those of Propaganda, Index, Studies, and Indulgences, and Holy Relics.

THE NEW CARDINALS.

gregorian-university-atrium
Gregorian University Rome

On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, the five Cardinals in Curia, of those created in the Consistory of the 7th inst., received the visits of felicitation, in di calore, as it is termed. Cardinal Ganglbauer, at the Palace of Venice, the seat of the Austrian Embassy to the Holy See ; the Cardinal Archbishop of Valencia, at the Spanish Embassy to the Vatican ; the Cardinal Patriarch of Lisbon, at the National Portuguese Establishment attached to the Church of S. Antonio dei Portoghesi ; Cardinal Theodoli, in the apartments of the Majordomo of the Papal Palace ; and Cardinal Mazzella, in the Grand Aula of the Gregorian University.

It is stated that the last-named Prince of the Church, in company with Cardinals Melchers, Hergenroether, and Ledochowski, will later be furnished with suitable apartments in the new German Hungarian College, formerly the Hotel Costanzi. On Friday the two Ablegates, Mgr. Misciatelli and Mgr. Grassi-Landi, destined respectively to convey the Cardinalitial berretta to the Archbishops ot Sens and of Rennes, were received by the Holy Father in audience of conga, and with their secretaries left Rome last evening for Paris. The Ablegate for the Archbishop of Rheims is Mgr. Vico, Secretary of the Nunciature of Paris. It is said that the imposition of the berretta upon the three new Cardinals will take place at the Palace of the Elysee early in the coming week.

BALTIMORE AND QUEBEC.Mgr. Strainer and Count Muccioli, the  Ablegate and the Noble Guard appointed to convey the Cardinalitial berretta and zucchetta  to the Archbishop of Baltimore, quitted Rome on Monday evening in company with the Rev.Thomas S. Lee, Rector of Baltimore Cathedral, and were to sail yesterday from England in the Servia. The Holy Father has delegated the Venerable Archbishop of St. Louis, the doyen of the American episcopate, to impose the berretta upon Cardinal Gibbons, which ceremony will take place at Baltimore Cathedral on the 30th inst. His Holiness has delegated the Archbishop of Toronto to impose the red berretta on Cardinal Taschereau, the Ablegate, Mgr. Henry O’Bryen, leaves Rome en route for Quebec this evening. He will probably be likewise bearer of the pallium to the newly promoted Archbishops of Montreal and of Ottawa, which, with the pallium for the other metropolitan and episcopal sees enjoying that honour, duly postulated in the Consistory of June 10th, were imposed with customary formalities, on Friday,by Cardinal Mertel, Vice Chancellor of Holy Roman Church and First Cardinal Deacon, the Very Rev. Don Jules Captier, Procurator General of the Father of St. Sulpice, acting as Procurator for the Archbishops of Montreal and of Ottawa ; the Archbishops of Compostella and of Sorrento being the only prelates of the ten recently promised to receive the pallium, in person, as being present in curia. The Osservatore Romano of Friday published a telegram from Quebec, bearing the signatures of the President of the Council and of the President of the Assembly, addressed to the Cardinal Secretary of State, which informed his Eminence that on reception of the news of the elevation to the Cardinalate of the Archbishop of Quebec, both the Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly of that city adjourned, in token of joy, and forthwith repaired in a body to present an address of felicitation to the new Prince of the Church ; which fact these officials begged might be made known to his Holiness.

umberto-1-in-1878
Umberto I – 1844 – 1900

OPENING OF PARLIAMENT. On Thursday, l0th inst., King Humbert of  Savoy [It’s quite an interesting description from the Tablet, – Umberto 1st had become King of Italy on January 9th 1878 on the death of Victor Emmanuale II, a month before Leo XIII became Pope. Describing him as King of Savoy was still not recognizing him as King of Italy sixteen years after the fall of Rome, and the unification of Italy. It does explain the tone of the report]  inaugurated with customary solemnities the sixteenth legislature of the Italian Parliament. The Royal speech was received, for the major part, in icy silence ; the largest modicum of applause greeting the paragraph referring to “the providential mission confided to the House of Savoy, to give life, liberty, and unity to Italy.”  Viewing the abject misery, the grinding taxation, the conscription, the ‘confusionismo’ to quote Signor Bonghi, which have fallen to the lot of Italy since it was raised to the rank of a kingdom, one is tempted to question the happy results arising from the said “mission,” and to wonder if the spoliation of the Vicar of Christ, the occupation of Rome, the progressive destruction of the Eternal City, the continued series of sacrilegious attack upon the church, upon religion, and upon the papacy, the peril to the faith and morals of the rising generation, thanks to the irreligious system of enforced public education and the unbridled license of an infidel and obscene press, fall likewise within the sphere of this ” providential mission.” Another feature of the royal address was the utter absence of the slightest allusion to the Divinity, which, for a nation claiming to be Catholic, was, to say the least, noticeable. However, as the Voce della Verita remarks, there being among the Commandments of the Decalogue—that the Name of the Lord shall not be taken in vain—the omission is rather deserving of commendation than otherwise.

Castel Sant' Angelo
Castel Sant’ Angelo

During the interval between the exit from, and the return of the Royal party to the Quirinal Palace, the cannon from Castle S. Angelo thundered forth the salute of one hundred guns, whilst in the Vatican Palace the Pope was holding the Public Consistory. A somewhat unpleasant incident marred the harmony of the proceedings : the German Ambassador to Italy being refused right of way by the troops, forced the cordon, and dashed up the Corso at full speed, regardless of consequences.—Commander Seoul, former Director-General of the Treasury and Councillor of the Exchequer, fell dead from apoplexy at his desk in that Bureau, on Tuesday evening, the 8th inst., three hours after the Gazzetta Officiate had published his name among the list of the forty new senators recently promoted to that dignity. The Government had annulled the election in two districts, by a large majority in each, of Amilcare Cipriani, one of the most active of the Communists of Paris in 1871, and who is now serving his term of twenty years in the galleys for a double homicide, perpetrated at Alexandria, Egypt, in 1867. During the term of the elections Fanfulla accused the Deputy Mussi of hearing Mass on days of obligation, and of being a member of a religious confraternity. The candidate to political honours, fearful of losing caste, hastened to deny the charge, by formally declaring that he never dreamed of attending Mass, &c.—The Senate of the kingdom are about to assemble in High Court of Justice, to judge the case of Senator Zini, author of a novel entitled La Famiglia Moscardini, a ” libello famoso ” against the late Deputy Bonchetti. Such are some of the individuals who make laws for the Kingdom of United Italy.

The above text was found on p.17, 12th June 1886  in “The Tablet: The International Catholic News Weekly.” Reproduced with kind permission of the Publisher. The Tablet can be found at http://www.thetablet.co.uk .