Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 12.djvu/691

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QUIRINIUS


615


QUITO


Quirinius, Census of. See Chronology, Bibli- cal.

Quirinus, Saints. — Several martyrs of this name are mentioned in the " Martyrologium Hierony- mianum" and in the historical Martyrologies of the early Middle Ages, and the feasts of these saints are still to be found in the catalogue of saints of the Roman Church.

(1). — According to the legendary Acts of the martyrs St. Maris and St. Martha, a Roman martyr Quirinus (Cyrinus) was buried in the Catacomb of Pontian. However, the Itineraries to the graves of the Roman martyrs do not mention him. His feast is celebrated on 25 March. Perhaps this Quirinus is meant by the expression "Rom;c sancti Cyri" found in the " Martvrologium Hieronymianum " of 24 March (cf. "Acta SS.", Ill, March, .543 sqq.; Du- fourcq, " Les Gesta martyrum romains", 1,240). In the eighth century the relics of the martyr were translated to the Benedictine abbey of Tegernsee in Bavaria.

(2). — Another Roman martyr named Quirinus was buried in the Catacomb of Prfetextatus on the Via Appia. Both the name and the place of burial are mentioned in the "Martyrologium Hieronymianum" (ed. De Rossi-Duchesne, 52), as also in the Itineraries to the graves of the Roman martyrs (De Rossi, "Roma sotterranea", I, 180-1). His name un- doubtedly appeared in the catalogue of Roman martyrs of the fourth century under date of 30 April, which is the day that the Martyrology of Jerome assigns him. He is introduced into the legendary Acts of Sts. Alexander and Balbina, where it is said he was a tribune (Dufourcq, loc. cit., 175). Ado took the name from these Acts and put it in his Martyr- ology under date of 30 March, on which day it is now also found in the Roman Martyrology (Quentin, "Les martyrologes historiques", 490). In 1050 the relics of Quirinus were given by Leo IX to his sister Gepa, Abbess of Neuss. In this way the relics came to the beautiful Romanesque Church of St. Quirinus at Neuss which still exists.

(3). — The relics of a third St. Quirinus, now in Rome, were brought thither from Pannonia. This St. Quirinus was Bishop of Siscia, now Sissek in Croatia, and suffered martyrdom in 309. He was thrown into the water with a millstone about his neck and drowned. The genuine Acts of the martyr- dom of the saint are still in existence (Ruinart, "Acta mart.", Rati.sbon, .522), also a hymn in his honour by Prudentius (loc. cit., 524). Upon the incursion of the barbarians into Pannonia at the be- ginning of the fifth century the inhabitants fled to Italy and took the bones of St. Quirinus with them. The remains were taken to Rome and interred in a vaulted burial chamber near the Church of St. Sebas- tian on the Via Appia (De Waal, "Die Apostelgruft ad Catacumbas an der via Appia", Rome, 1894). His feast is observed on 4 June.

(4). — The name of a martyr Quirinus, who is vener- ated in Tivoli, is found in the present Roman Mar- tyrology under t he same date of 4 June. There is no historical account of him; he is, perhaps, identical with one of the martyrs of this name who are men- tioned in the Martyrology of Jerome among groups of martyrs under the dates of 12 March, 3 and 4 June. Under 4 June a Quirinus is mentionefi with a statement of the place, " Nividuno civitate" (Mart. Hieron., 31, 73, 75).

(5). — At Malmedy, in Rhenish Prussia, is venerated a St. Quirinus. It is related that at the beginning of the ninth century his relics were tran.slated to the abbey church there. According to the legend he was put to death, together with a companion Nica.sius, in the pagus Vulcassinus (Vexin). No trustworthy historical reports of him exist. His feast is observed on 11 October.


See Acta SS., for the various dates mentioned: Bibl. hagiogr, Latina, s. v. Quirinus; PoTTHAST, BibL historica medii (Fui, 2nd ed., II. s. V. Quirinus. For St. Quirinus of Rome see Urbain, Ein Martyrologium d. christl, Gemeinde zu Rom (Leipzig. 1901), J. P. KiRSCH.


Quito, Archdiocese of (Quitensis). — The city of Quito, formerly known as San Francisco de Quito, capital of the Republic of Ecuador, is situated 14' south of the Equator, and 114 miles inland from the Pacific Ocean. It stands at an elevation of about 9300 feet, and has a population of some 70,000, mostly mestizos. It was the capital of the Ineas Huaynacapac and Atahualpa, and was burnt by Ruminahui in 1533. Sebastid,n de Belalcdzar cap- tured Quito the following year. In 1541 it was made a city by Charles V; in 1565 it became the head- quarters of a separate Franciscan province. Quito formed part of Peru till 1718, when it was included in Nueva Granada. The seminary in charge of the Jesuits was the centre of ecclesiastical studies for all middle and northern South America. The Dominicans and Augustinians had high schools in Quito. In 1735 the city was mined by an earth- quake. Independence was declared there on 19 August, 1809; and the following year witnessed a terrible massacre of the nobility, even women and children being put to the sword. President Montes defeated the patriots two years later in the Panecillo; Sucre gained his great victory hard by in 1822. In 1829 Quito became the capital of Ecuador.

The city is built on very uneven ground, and the streets run in parallel lines. The most important square is the Plaza Mayor, on the southern side of which is the cathedral, on the eastern the city hall, and on the western the government house. The square was turned into a beautiful garden by Presi- dent Garcia Moreno, who was assassinated here 6 Aug., 1875. Quito is remarkable for its many beau- tiful churches, especially the old seventeenth-century Jesuit Church of Santa Ana, San Francisco, La Merced, and El Sagrario. The present university, which was founded by Sixtus V and Philip II in 1586, but opened only in 1621 by the Jesuits, still occupies a portion of the old Jesuit college and has an excellent library, formed in part from that of the San Luis seminary. There are 32 professors and 216 students. The observatory was erected under the direction of the celebrated astronomer Father Menten. Garcia Moreno invited the German Jesuits to lecture in the university; they have since been expelled by the Masonic parties. The College of St. Ferdinand contains a tablet with a Latin inscription commemora- tive of the French and Spanish mathematicians who measured the degree of the meridian here in 1736—41. The chief manufactures of the city are woollens, laces, rugs, carpets, and tobacco. There is also a large export trade in religious oil-paintings.

The Diocese of Quito was erected by Paul III on 8 Jan., 1545, at the request of Charles V, and made suffragan of Lima. The first bishop was Mgr. Garcidia, who died in 1563. In 1853 the Holy See proceeded to the beatification of Maria Ana de Jesil de Paredes y Flores, the "Lily of Quito" (b. 31 Oct., 1618; d. 26 May, 1645). By the Bull "Nos semper Romanis Pontificibus" of 13 Jan.. 1848, Pius IX made Quito a metropolitan see, with the Dioceses of Cuenca and Guayaquil as suffragans, to which have since been added the Sees of Ibarra, Riobambo, Loja, and Portoviejo. The first archbishop, Mgr Francisco Xavier de Garaycos, previously Bishop of Guayaquil, was appointed 5 Sept., 1851. The present archbishop, Mgr Gonsiilez y Su.-lrez, was bom at Quito 2 Jan., 1845; consecrated Bishop of Ibarra, 30 July, 1895; transferred to Quito, 14 Dec, 1905, and en- tered into possession on 6 July, 1906, succeeding Mgr Pedro Rafael GonsAlez (b. at Quito, 14 Oct., 1839; Bishop of Ibarra, 29 Sept., 1876; coadjutor titular