CONGRESSES
249
CONGRESSES
Austria (including Bohemia). — Up to 1867 the Aus-
trian General Congress formed part of the German
I I ingress; since this date six independent Austrian
r mgresses have met, the last at Vienna, 16-19 Novem-
1"T, 1907. The organization is similar to the German,
consequently, the annual meetings of various other
Micieties are held at the same time as the important
" Pius Verein" for the development of the Catholic
I < n ss. Besides the General Congress there are various
national congresses: (1) The first congress for North-
mi Bohemia was held in 1887; the fourth, 1890; after
,i long intermission the fifth, 1904; the sixth, 1906.
- ' 1 The first congress for Lower Austria met, 1894;
the second, 1898; the third, 1903; this was followed, ! !!().■), by a meeting of delegates of the Catholic socie- I irs of the crown lands; a national assembly was held i:i 1908. (3) The first Slovenian congress was held in l^'il?; the second, 1900. (4) A Czech congress was lirM in 1907 with an attendance of about 30,000 peT- ■ >ns. In 1903 the "Union of Catholic Benevolent )"ties of the Austrian Empire" was founded; a rity congress met at Vienna, 1901; a second at ,/., 1903; a third at Linz, 1906. The second as- . liilily brought about the formation of the Charity I 11 ion for the whole empire. This imion includes the b'-nevolent a.ssociations of the different crown lands without, however, lessening their independence, and the latter include the individual societies of each part of the empire. Besides the general congress, the im- perial organization, in accordance with its statutes, holds semi-annually a convention to which the pro- vincial unions send delegates. During the last de- cade a number of various other assemblies have been held in Austria, among them a congress for priests, one session; a congress for the veneration of the Blessed Virgin, St. Poelten, 1901; Prague, 1905, etc. Hungary. — Six Catholic congresses have been held in Hungary since 1900, the first at Stuhlweissenburg, the four following at Budapest, the last, 1907, at Filnfkirchen. The language used is Magyar, but the language spoken at the place of meeting receives recognition. The perjjctual president is Count Jo- hanni Zichy, Jr., president of the Central Union of the Catholic Societies of Hungary. Up to 1908 the meet- ings of the congress mainly discussed the press and the needs of Catholic young men. At the last meeting a Catholic Federation, similar to the Volks verein of Germany, was founded. Some of the bishops are greatly interested in the congresses and their results. Belgium. — In Belgium a large number of societies hold conventions, but owing to the many divisions of Catholic associations statistics are not available.
Holland. — Each diocese of Holland holds a con- vention from time to time of all its Catholic organ- izations; the agricultural associations as well as societies for schools, religious or social purposes, are included, but each society holds its own sessions and also joins in a general meeting of all. The "Soci- ological Week" has been held three times in the last few years. The bishop of the diocese controls the organization.
Spain. — Since 1889 six CathoUc congresses have been held, the last in 1903. Lately more attention has been paid to social improvement, especially by means of sociological a.ssociations; consequently, the scheme of the Sociological Week is developing. The International Marian Congress met at Lyons, 1900, at Einseideln, 1906, and at Saragossa, Sept., 1908.
Argentina. — Up to 1908 two Catholic congresses were held at Buenos Aires, one, 15-.30 August, 1884; the other, 20-28 October, 1907. The first aroused great enthusiasm, Ijut the results were meagre. The second had an attendance of about 3.50 delegates, the president being Dr. Emil Lamarca. Its chief aim was to found a Catholic daily newspaper. Besides this a Catholic Eilucation League was organized to reform the school-laws.
May, GeschichU der general Versammlungen der katkolischen
Deutschlands (Cologne, 1904); Bruck, Geschichte der katc-
hschen Kirche im nfumehntcn Jahrhunderl (Munster, 1905);
Calhohc Social Work in Germany in The Dublin Review (Lon-
don. July, 190S). Martin Spahn.
III. In English-speaking Countries. — In Eng- lish-speaking countries the term "congress" is usually applied only to gatherings of an important national character, hence the assemblies in the United States of such bodies as the Federation of Catholic Societies, the Central Verein, the Staats-verbund, the Catholic Young Men's National Union, the Catholic Total Ab- stinence LTnion, and other associations are treated under their separate titles.
In England, meetings are held annually of the Catholic Truth Society, founded in 1872 by Cardinal Vaughan, at which papers are read on various sub- jects connected with Catholic interests. The Catholic Truth Society of Ireland, organized in 1903, has also done excellent work by its conventions and the dif- fusion of sound Catholic literature in popular form (see Troth Societie,s, Catholic). Federations for the defence of Catholic interests have been formed in the dioceses of Salford, Westminster, and Leeds. This federation movement has done much to organize the Catholic forces, and has been characterized by the number of popular gatherings which it has promoted especially in connexion with the defence of Catholic education. The Catholic Union of Great Britain which represents an influential body of English Gath- ohcs; the Catholic Association, to promote Catholic organization and organizes social gatherings; the Catholic Young Men's Society (founded in 1854) ; the Catholic Education Council, established by the bishops of Great Britain in 1905; the Conference of Catholic Colleges, founded by Cardinal Vaughan 1896, and other bodies representing Catholic education hold annual or occasional conventions. Conferences for specific social or religious purposes are held by such bodies as the Catholic Guardians A.ssociation (chari- table), the League of the Cross (temperance), the Guild of Our Lady of Ransom (conversion of England). Diocesan or local conventions are found especially in London and Lancashire. The Catholics of Birmingham have held an annual reunion for over half a century. Catholic women are being effectively organized by the Catholic Women's League, founded by Miss Fletcher, London, 1907, with branches in the provinces.
The most imposing religious convocation England has seen since pre- Reformation times was the inter- national congress of the Eucharistic League held in London, 9-13 September, 1908. Vincenzo Vannu- telli, Cardinal-Bishop of Palestrina, presided as the legate of the pope — the first occasion on which so exalted a representative of the Holy See had appeared in England since the days of Reginald Pole. France and Germany, as well as all the English-speaking countries, were represented by such a gathering of cardinals as is seldom seen outside of Rome. More than one hundred archbishops, bishops, and mitred abbots, from all parts of the world — even the great missionary fields of Central Africa, Cape Colony, India, Burma, with thousands of the laity, were also in attendance. The religious functions took place in Westminster Cathedral, where, on one of the mornings during the congress, by special permission of the pope, a high Mass according to the Greek Rite was sung?
Tlie United Slates. — There have been two congresses of Catholic laymen held in the LTnited States. In conjunction with the celebration of the centenary of the establishment of the hierarchy of the United States by Pius VII in 1789, and the dedication of the Catholic University, at Washington, the first Catho- lic Congress of the L^nited States met in Baltimore, Marj-land, on November 11 and 12, 1889. The dele- gates were selected by the bishops of the various dio- ceses and were in the main representative of a certain
