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Our Catleolic 1/erit,egc i1Z Texas
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and a want of means in this immense territory ... fortunately divided [as time went on] into several diocese." 15 The Hierarchy of the United States was really grateful for the gen- erous alms which the faithful in Europe continued to send to help the Church in the United States, confronted with the ever expanding frontier and the continuous influx of Catholic immigrants. In a letter to the directors of the Society at Lyons the Bishops assembled in Baltimore wrote: "No one can appreciate with more justice the benefits of the Catholic spirit and the miracles of this ardent charity which sustains the torch of faith as far as the extremities of the earth than those in the New World who have seen at close range the progress. It is to your society that we are in large part indebted for these marvels; it is to your charitable solicitude that we recommend our infant churches. 111 ' The Diocese of Galveston was included in the charities of the Austrian and the Bavarian societies for the first time in 1847. Their contributions were modest: the first gave $5,120, while the second sent $6,227. Judging from the letter of gratitude from the American hierarchy in 1849, the contribution of the Austrian Society to other sections of the United States, however, was considerable. "The charitable and pious gifts which have come to us ... through the generosity of the Leopoldinen-Stiftung ... have already brought great help and substantial support to our blossoming Church and have contributed . . . to our consolation and encouragement." 17 The fourth decade (1852-1861) brought from these foreign mission societies the largest amount ever forwarded in any ten-year period, some $1,550,316, of which Texas received its share. This financial assistance proved to be providential, for the Church in America was going through a critical period and needed help more than ever. This was the age of the Know-Nothing Party that stirred rabid anti-Catholic feeling before spending itself in 1858; it was the period of agitation over the slavery issue. But the Church, in spite of these difficulties, continued to grow. The Catholics' increase in the population from 1,600,000 to 3, 100,000 was due in part to some 985,000 immigrants and numerous converts. For the 15 Roemer, oj. cu., 108. To this sum should be added $32,094, donated (1839- 1845) to the Vlncentian mission in Texas and to Bishop Odin, and $27,552 con- tributed to the Texas Oblates (1852-1862) which brings the total to $308,556. These revised figures were furnished by the Most Reverend L. J. FitzS!mon, Bishop of Amarillo. 16 Hlckey, The Society for tl,e Propagation of tl,e Faitli, 77. 17Roemer, oj. cu., 130.
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