The various works connected with the Propaganda, of course, implied
great expenses, and necessitated the possession of large revenues fixed
and well-secured. The care of the Popes and the generosity of the
faithful supplied funds which went far, for there is not to be found an
establishment of its extent in the world managed at all times with such
scrupulous economy and care. Many emulated the generosity of Monsignor
Vives and of Cardinal Barberini. Others left to the general purposes of
the Propagation of the Faith large legacies—sometimes even their whole
inheritance. Besides that which Gregory XV. bestowed upon it, and which
Urban VIII. increased, Innocent XII. gave the Institution 150,000 crowns
in gold, and Clement XII. gave it 70,000. From its first foundation, all
future Cardinals were by a decree of the Pope bound to procure from it
their Cardinal’s ring, and to pay for this ring a large donation, varying
from £400 to double that sum. This forms a most valuable and perpetual
source of revenue. Other sources opened continually. The generosity
awakened by the two Pontiffs who were mainly instrumental in founding it,
descended to their successors, and spread throughout the entire Church,
so that it may be well said that no institution ever existed which has
been more popular with Catholics, nor more unceasingly popular, than the
Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith.
And it deserved to be so, not only because of the sacred objects to which
it has devoted its unwearied labours, but also because of that extreme
economy which has characterised its management from the beginning to
this hour. A very strong proof of the genuine excellence of this economy
lies in the fact that the Cardinals and Prelates who willed it, either
all, or a large portion of their means were members of its management—a
management of great labour, for which the funds of the Propaganda never
paid them anything. All connected with its care, except the absolutely
necessary officials, gave to it the whole of their services gratuitously.
These knew well the nature of the work which the sacred Institution did,
and the urgency of the wants it supplied. When, therefore, such men
have selected it from amongst the many objects which Rome presents for
Catholic zeal as the most worthy and the most carefully conducted of all,
we may judge of the supreme excellency of its claims. Then the whole of
the work which it requires from the other Congregations of Rome must be
done gratuitously. The Bulls for its numerous Bishops must be expedited,
its cases of conscience, coming, as they do, from all parts of the earth,
must be solved, its dispensations of every kind granted, its rubrical,
ceremonial, and technical difficulties must be settled, its honours must
be bestowed by every department of Church government under the Pope,
without one farthing of cost to itself or to its innumerable clients.
Then, it was completely exempt, as we have seen, from every kind of tax,
for matters whether coming by land or sea, and was freed from municipal
burdens, under the Pontifical Government. Its superior management cost
nothing, and for its work, secretaries and under-secretaries, writers
and teachers, gave their labours for less than that paid by any other
Institution in Rome. This they do out of pure devotion to religion and
the hope of spiritual reward. In proof of this I will relate an anecdote
of one of its employes—Monsignor Agliardi, at present Archbishop Delegate
of the Holy See to British India. This able ecclesiastic devoted his
life until well beyond fifty years of age to the severest labours of the
Institution. He was one of the overworked minutanti or under-secretaries,
and in addition acted as Professor of Moral Theology to the students
of the Urban College. I believe no more able, learned, or laborious
ecclesiastic lived in Rome. He worked as all the minutanti must do,
in season and out of season. The Propaganda official is a drudge who
seldom knows or looks for a holiday. When every other office in Rome
is closed for the terrible Roman, fever-giving months, the Cardinal,
the Secretary, and the minutanti are still at their desks. Rome serves
all the world, and at the Propaganda all the world is served. Now the
particular official I speak of, left a high and lucrative position in
his native diocese for the work of the Propaganda; and though his duties
placed him in constant correspondence with the Church spread over Asia,
and I may say over the islands of the Southern and Indian Ocean, he was
paid a great deal less than would satisfy the humblest curate in any
English-speaking country. He could at any moment leave this position and
obtain dignity and comparative ease. But for him, as for the rest of his
brethren in harness, the work of the Sacred Congregation had a strong
fascination. They seem somehow to thrive on hard work, and if not killed
soon by it, to get so used to it, that they cannot do without it. The
good Cardinal who now so worthily presides over the whole work of the
great institution, has gone through all its grades, from the Minutanté’s
desk to that of the Cardinal Prefect. All who visit Rome on business
to the Propaganda are astonished to find him always at their service,
from early morning to near midnight. It is so with the Secretary, who
is also an esteemed official of the Institute. Their work is, no doubt,
a deeply interesting and a most responsible one. But there is, I found,
a far more powerful motive for attachment to this hard labour for long
years and small pay. It is that the officials of the Propaganda, of every
class, participate in every good work performed in the world committed
by the Vicar of Christ to their care. They enjoy very many indulgences
and are enriched with innumerable spiritual privileges. This I found
to be the secret of Archbishop Agliardi’s long years of contented,
severe, and ill-paid labour. When we see other men immure themselves in
Cisterican and Carthusian cloisters, we can realise the reason of so much
devotion, but not till then. The work of the Propaganda is necessary for
the greatest ends of God’s service. Its officers are certain they are
serving the servants of God, the martyrs of China, Corea, and Japan,
the labourers in every part of the Lord’s extended vineyard. I speak
of Monsignor Agliardi, because he has left the Institution, and is now
employed as Papal Delegate in the great Mission of India. But there are
others as devotedly performing such duties as his in the Propaganda.
There is no lack of attention, and I believe that all, both Bishops and
Priests, who have ever had occasion to visit the Institution, will say
that they have been forcibly struck with the genuine goodness, prudence,
learning, and general superiority of the officials employed in every
department of that Sacred Institution.
It happens, by the care of the Popes, that only the very first men in
the Apostolic College are appointed Prefects over the Propaganda. The
men who occupied the position in this century alone will prove this. I
have never seen the late illustrious Cardinal Barnabo, but his fame
still lives in all the Churches. Before him lived the saintly Cardinal
Fransoni, and he was preceded by one who was taken from the position of
Prefect to ascend the throne of Peter in some of the most difficult days
that have tested a Pope’s peculiar worth in this most trying century.
The present illustrious man who governs the Propaganda was its Secretary
in the days of Cardinal Barnabo. He was taken from that position to
discharge most difficult diplomatic duties in Spain, and was afterwards
Secretary of State to Pius IX., in succession to the late celebrated
Cardinal Antonelli. In fact, his present Holiness looks often to the
officials of the Propaganda for his diplomatic agents in places where
rare tact, knowledge, and sanctity of life combined, are necessary;
and this has been manifested within the present year in the missions
confided to Monsignors Agliardi and Chiavoni in India and South America,
respectively. Monsignor Vanutelli, who represented the Pope at the
coronation of the Czar, and is now engaged in the difficult nunciature
of Lisbon, may be also said to be a member of the Propaganda, in the
service of which he discharged the duties of Archiepiscopal Legate at
Constantinople.
Having now glanced at the nature and history of this Institution, we
shall take a rapid survey of the work it has done, and is doing, for the
world.