Probably few people outside the Catholic Church know what that
body is doing for the evangelization of heathen lands. And if
we are to believe the Catholic leaders and writers, their own
people have shared to some degree this lack of information and
interest, for the Catholic missionaries have had to struggle
on with little support from home compared with the generous
gifts the Protestant missionaries receive. A report has just
been issued by Monsignor Freri, general director of the Society
for the Propagation of the Faith, that is full of information
on this subject. It is summarized in the New York _Evening
Sun_ and _Post_ and many Catholic journals. Its figures
afford some interesting comparisons. While an unmarried
Protestant missionary receives about $600, the income of the
Catholic missionary, who receives no stated salary, is less than
$111. While the Northern Methodists of America alone last year
subscribed over $2,000,000 in missionary funds, and all American
Protestants more than $11,000,000, Catholics the world over
contributed in all but $1,342,292.27.
Monsignor Freri’s report shows the actual receipts for 1909
to be $61,755.02 in excess of those of the preceding year.
He directs special attention to the zeal of the Catholics of
France, who, in spite of the extraordinary burdens imposed
upon them by the confiscation of religious property and the
separation of Church and State, contributed $630,688.51, almost
half of the total.
The United States and its insular possessions hold the second
place with the gift of $220,637.78. This is an increase of
$27,583.38 over 1908. Germany gave $140,530.92; Belgium,
$71,529.40; the Argentine Republic, $47,448.97; Italy,
$46,898.74; Spain, $39,080.42; Mexico, $24,149.60; Switzerland,
$18,532.74; Chile, $16,403.93, and the British Isles donated a
trifle above $25,000, of which Ireland gave $15,478.92.
It is estimated that the number of Catholic missionaries in the
foreign field, exclusive of converted natives who have taken up
the work, is 54,000, of whom 10,000 are priests, 4,000 teaching
brothers, and 45,000 nuns. In addition to their share of the
general fund, the missionaries receive alms and contributions
from various sources. Yet, to quote an address delivered by
Monsignor Freri before the Catholic Missionary Congress:
“Including all these sources of income, and after consultation
with many heads of missions, I think I am far within the truth
when I say that the total contribution for missions, from all
sources, is less than $6,000,000 a year. If we reckon 10,000
priests, 4,000 brothers, and 40,000 nuns, this would give an
average of less than $111 per capita. With this they must
support themselves, build churches, maintain schools, hospitals,
asylums, colleges, pay the transportation of missionaries, etc.”
One of the chief missionary bands is that of the “White
Fathers,” or Algerian missionaries, whose missions in Uganda
Mr. Roosevelt visited in his African travels. According to the
report, the total number of baptisms within the jurisdiction of
this one organization during the year beginning July, 1908, was
10,000.
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