Om· C at/1olic H e1-itage in Texas
in turn, dispatched the contributions quarterly to the Council of the Society, the disbursing agency. The Leopoldine-Stiftung differed from the Propagation of the Faith of Lyons in several respects: it was more closely supervised by the Church; its membership was limited to residents within the Austrian Empire--Austria, Hungary, Bohemia, and the northern Italian states; and the distribution of the alms collected was restricted to the missions of North America. Archduke Rudolph, the Cardinal Archbishop of Olmiitz and brother of the Emperor, was declared Protector of the new Society and _the Prince Archbishop of Vienna, its president. Like the French Society, the Stiftung published an annual report on the work accomplished by the'missionaries in the field. This organization continued in operation, with practically no interruption, until 1914, and contributed almost $710,000 to the American missions among German settlers. Bishop Fenwick, at whose suggestion the Society had been founded, wrote Emperor Francis I on January 15, 1830, to thank him and the people of the Austrian Empire in his own name and in that of "all Bishops and superiors of the missions in America" for the support so generously extended. "For him [and for all the Bishops of Texas] this Society meant more than we can imagine in our days. It meant much needed financial assistance; it meant still more, consolation in the thought that there were others who were interested ... and were pre- pared to help him bear the heat and burden of the day." 9 • The Stiftung continued its charitable benefactions for almost a cen- tury. "Interest began to wane only when the dioceses became more nearly self-sufficient and when European assistance was no longer so sorely needed. Only then did the Leo,poldine-Stiftung enter the portals of the memorable past that almost missed being remembered." 10 The Btr11arian Donors. In Bavaria, a third alms society was founded, the Ludwig Missionsverein, that deserves to be remembered for the help it gave to the Church in America, a portion of whose alms helped the pioneer missionaries in Texas. Like the Leo,poldinen-Stift,mg, it owed its origin, in part, to the zealous efforts to Frederick Rese, the Vicar General of Cincinnati. 11 Rese had gone to Europe in 1828, as already taRoemer, Ten Decades of Alms, 45. 10 Roemer, op. cit., 47-48. 11 Rese became the first Bishop of Detroit and was coni;ecrated October 6, 1833. O'Donnel, Catl,olic Hurarc!,,y, 102.
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