CULM
566
CULM
nal CuUen to the viceregal castle to petition for per-
sonal favours.
He paid frequent visits to Rome. He took part in the solemn celebrations connected with the definition of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1854, and with the centenary of the martyrdom of Sts. Peter and Paul in 1867. On these and similar occasions he took up his residence at the Irish College. From the opening of the Vatican Council, Cardinal Cullen took an active part in its de- liberations. His first discourse in defence of the pre- rogatives of the Holy See, mainly on historical grounds, in reply to the Bishop of Rottenburg, was regarded as one of the ablest discourses delivered in the council. At its close the hall resounded with applause, and dur- ing the afternoon about eighty bishops called at the Irish College to present their congratulations. Pius IX in token of appreciation of the singular ability of the discourse forwarded to the cardinal a gift of a very fine Carrara marble rilievo representing St. Paul ad- dressing the Areopagus. This work of art now adorns a side chapel in the church attached to the diocesan seminary of Dublin. Towards the close of the sessions of the council at the express wish of the Central Com- mission, conveyed in person through its secretary, Archbishoj) Franchi, Cardinal Cullen proposed the pre- cise and accurate formula for the definition of Papal Infallibility. It was a matter of great delicacy, as promoters of the definition were split up into various sections, some anxious to assign a wider range to the pope's decisions, while others would set forth in a somewhat indefinite way the papal prerogative. All accepted the form of definition proposed by Cardinal Cullen, and thus it became the jirivilege of the Irish Church to have formulated for all time the solemn defi- nition of this great article of Faith.
The condition of the Catholic Church in Ireland, in 1878, in contrast with what it was in 1850, affords abundant proof of the fruitfulness of Cardinal Cullen 's zeal and of the beneficent results achieved during his episcopate. Those twenty-eight years marked a con- tinuous period of triumphant progress in all matters connected with religion, discipline, education and charity. The eloquent Dominican Father Thomas N. Burke (q. v.) wrote in 1878- "The guiding spirit ani- mating, encouraging and directing the wonderful work of the Irish Catholic Church for the last twenty-eight years was Paul, Cardinal Cullen, and history will re- cord the events of his administration as, perhaps, the most wonderful and glorious epoch in the whole eccle- siastical history of Ireland. The result of his labours was the wonderful revival of Catholic devotion and piety which in our day has restored so much of our ancient glory of sanctity to the land once called the ' Island of Saints'." No other Church in Christendom during the same period achieved grander religious re- sults or yielded in richer abundance the choicest fruit of genuine Catholic piety. His remains rest beneath the apse of the Chiu-oh attached to the diocesan sem- inary at Clonliffe.
Patrick Francis Cardinal Moran.
Culm, Diocese of, a bishopric in the north-eastern part of Prussia, founded in 1234, suffragan to Gnesen. The territory on the Vistula and Baltic, which the Teutonic Order had obtained partly by gift and partly by conciiiest, was divided in this year by the papal legate, William Bishop of Modena, into the four dio- ceses of Culm, Krnilaiid, Pdmcsanicn, and Samland; in 1255 the Archl)islii.p of liiga l>cc:ime the metropoli- tan of these dioceses. Tint Bishopric of Culm em- braced the province of Culm, that is, the land between the Vistula, Drewenz, and Ossa rivers, and in addition, the city of Lobau and its sin-roimding district. Pope Innocent IV consccrati'il as first bishop the Domini- can, Heidenreich ( 12 15 ; d. 1 2(i:i)- < >riginally the seat of the diocese was Culmsee, where Heidenreich began
in 1254 the conslruction of a cathedral. The bishop
possessed the highest authority, both spiritual and
secular, in his diocese; he was the ruler of the land,
but was in some measure depenilent on the Teutonic
Order. During the episcopate of the first bishop, the
cathedral chapter, founded in 1251, followed the Rule
of St. Augustine, but the second bishop, Friedrich of
Hansen (12t)4-74), allowed the chapter to enter the '
Teutonic Order, taking its endowment with it. Not
only was Friedrich a member of the Teutonic Order
but most of his successors in the episcopal office until
1406 also belonged to it. Under the powerful protec-
tion of the ICnights rapid progress was made in culti-
vating the soil and in Christianizing the inhabitants.
Many flourishing commimities and numerous schools
and churches were founded, an excellent system of
courts was provided, and the Dominican, Franciscan,
and Cistercian orders were introduced. As early as
the reign of the seventh bishop, Otto (1324-49), who
was a secular priest, there were 113 parishes and 538
priests. The most celebrated schools of the diocese
were the " Johannes ' ' school at Thorn and the cathe-
dral school at Culm ; the latter was changed in 1473
into a studium particulare and had celebrated pro-
fessors, among whom were Johannes Dantiscus,
Eobanus Hessus, etc.
On account of its close connexion with the Teutonic Knights, the diocese was involved in the disputes of the order with Poland. By the second Treaty of Thorn, 1466, the order was obliged to cede the prov- ince of C\ilm, with other territories, to Poland. The bishopric was now reconstructed as a secular diocese, the bishops were named by the kings of Poland, and nobles only were appointed as members of the cath- edral chapter. The heresies of Hus and Wyclif found many adlierents in the Diocese of Culm in the fifteenth century, and thus the ground was prepared for the religious revolution of the sixteenth. In the larger towns especially, such at Danzig, Elbing, and Thorn, the doctrines of Luther won nimierous supporters, against whom the bishop, Johannes IV Konopacki (1508-30), showed himself lacking in moral force. It was only through the exertions of the Dominicans, who had remained loyal, that lung Sigismund I took more severe measures against the innovations. The zeal- ous and spiritual-minded Johaim V von HGf:"% gen- erally called Dantiscus (1530-38), laboured to main- tain the Catholic Faith, as did also Tiedemann Giese (1538-49), the friend of Copernicus, and Stanislaus Hosius (1549-51), who, after an episcopate of two years, was transferred to the See of Ermland. Nev- ertheless Protestantism took firm root in Thorn, Graudenz, Marienburg, and other towns. Peter I Kostka (1574-95) was the reformer of the diocese; through his efforts a provincial council was held at Gnesen at which the Diocese of Culm was placed under the metropolitan control of Gnesen, the Arch- bishopric of Riga having been suppressed in 1566. Kostka also held a diocesan sjmod at Culm in 1583, promulgated the decrees of the Council of Trent, re- formed the monasteries of the diocese, and introduced the Jesuits in 1593. The preservation of Catholicism in the diocese, as well as the reconquest of many souls that had gone astray, was due to the effective labours of the Jesuits and of the orders which were success- fully re-established.
The fall of the Kingdom of Poland brought the dio- cese into new relations. In 1772, in consequence of the first Partition of Poland, it came under the con- trol of Prussia, to which, with a short interruption (1S07-15), it has ever since belonged. Under Prus- sian auspices I'mtestanlism agaiu increased largely in the diocese: in 1772 the iiossessioiis of tlie bishop, the cathedral cliapter. and many monasteries were confis- cated, and rrotfstant colonists were settled through- out tlie province. In this way, and also on account of the confusion of the Napoleonic era, the diocese
