Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 8.djvu/881

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LAPPARENT


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LAPPARENT


with a meteorological oljservatory, a museum of anat- omy and natural history, a Franciscan missionary college, built in 18:57 by Father Herrero, O.F'.M., a flourishing college of arts and intlustries of the Sa- lesians of Don Boseo (connected with the Oratory), an Oratory of St. Philip Neri, also a geographical society, whose principal work has been the "Diceionario geo- griiflco del departamento de Chuquisaca" (Sucre, 1903). The many churches of the city are for the most part unattractive, the exteriors covered with un- sightly stucco work, the interiors with wretched paint- ings. The only one worthy of note is the Cathedral of Nuestra Sefiora de Guadalupe, a building with three naves and an imposing tower. This cathedral is re- markable for its wealth of treasures in silver, which, however, have recently diminished in importance, a part having been melted down by President Melgarejo. The miraculous image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, about seven feet in height, and encrusted with dia- monds, rubies, emeralds, and pearls, is still in the church, and is valued at about two million dollars. Of the twenty-four massive silver candelabra, there are two at present weighing each about 110 pounds. Also in the cathedral are a large number of valuable paintings, among others a "Madonna de la Paz" by Murillo, a "Martyrdom of St. Bartholomew" by Ri- bera, a "Crucifixion of St. Andrew" by Montufar. In the adjoining chapel of San Juan de Mata are two ar- tistic statues of St. Clement and St. Aquila, both con- taining relics of the saints. The spacious sola capitu- lar, or chapter hall, contains the portraits of all the archbishops.

The Diocese of La Plata, or Chareas, was erected by Bull of Julius III, 27 June, 1552, as a suffragan of Lima. On 4 July, 1605, Paul V founded two new dio- ceses out of La Plata territory. La Paz and Santa Cruz de la Sierra, and on 20 July, 1609, raised La Plata to metropolitan rank. The province formerly embraced, in addition to the two above-mentioned dioceses, prac- tically all the territory now comprised in Chile, Argen- tina, Panama, Paraguay, etc. To-day the bounda- ries of the ecclesiastical Province of La Plata coincide with those of the Republic of Bolivia, embracing only the suffragan Dioceses of La Paz, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, and Cochabamba, erected in 1847. The list of bishops of La Plata comprises six names; that of the archbishops, thirty-six, including the present incum- bent of the see. Prominent among them are: Alonso de Peralta (1609-16), who died in the odour of sanc- tity; Fernando de Arias y Ugarte (1627-30), pre- viously Bishop of Quito and Archbishop of Santa Fe de Bogota, held the first provincial synod in 1629, was a true father to the Indians, and died, in 1638, Arch- bishop of Lima; Caspar de Villaroel, O.S.A. (1659-67), formerly Bishop of Santiago de Chile and Arequipa, also known as a writer on canon law and exegetics (Hurter, "Nomenclatorliterarius", 2nded., Innsbruck, II, 1893, 138); Cristoval de Castilla y Zamora (1659- 82), natural son of Philip IV of Spain, who built the archiepiscopal seminary and the former archiepiscopal palace (now the president's mansion); Bartolom6 Gonzalez y Poveda (1683-92), who expended a hun- dred thousand pesos on the erection of the side aisles and the tower of the cathedral; Pedro Miguel de Argan- ilofia (1761-76), formerly Bishop of Cordova de Tucu- niiln, who built the chapter hall and held the second provincial synod in 1776, during the course of which his death occurred; the Discalced Carmelite Jos6 An- tonio de San Alberto (1785-1804), a veritable father of the poor, who founded the local Oratory of St. Philip Neri and was also a writer of some merit on ascetical subjects; the Benedictine Benito Maria de Moxo V Francol! (1807-16), a well-trained scholar, the author of homilies and also of some polished poems in Latin and Italian, who died at Salta, in Argentina, having been banished thither by General Rondeau; Pedro Puch y Solona (1862-85), who assisted at the


Vatican Council. The present (thirty-sixth) arch- bishop is a Franciscan, SeljMsliaMO Francisco Pifferi, born 4 November, 1848, at (aslcliiiadama in the Dio- cese of Tivoli, Italy. He entered the Franci-scan Order, 9 November, 1803, made his profession 20 Jan- uary, 1868, and was ordained to the priesthood, 14 May, 1871. He first worked in Bolivia as commissary general of his order, and in 1905 was appointed titular Bishop of Jericho and coadjutor of the aged Arch- bishop Miguel de los Santos Taborga (1898-1906), on whose death (30 April, 1906) he succeeded to the archi- episcopal See of La Plata.

Statistics. — Accoriling to a communication from Archbishop Pifferi, of January, 1910, the Archdiocese of La Plata embraces the departments of ('liu(|uisaca, Potosf, Oruro, and Tarija, with an approximate area of 165,200 SCI. miles, and a population of 805,299. The archdiocese is divided into 13 deaneries (vicari- ates forane), and comprises 135 parishes, over 200 vice-parishes, with 172 secular priests and 99 regular priests, besides 10 regular clerics not priests, and 26 lay brothers, in 6 monasteries of men, and 159 sisters in 21 houses. There are 70 students in the seminary. The 10 mission stations among the pagan Indians, and 7 mixed stations are all attended from the missionary colleges of the Franciscans. The religious congrega- tions represented in the archdiocese are as follows: Franciscans, with monasteries at Sucre, Potosi, Oruro, and Tarija, all in the province of San Antonio de las Chareas. Of these four monasteries, Potosi (founded 1547), Sucre (mentioned above), and Tarija (1607), have flourishing missionary colleges in charge of mis- sions among the pagan Indians. Moreover, the Ora- torians of St. Philip Neri have an oratory at Sucre; Don Bosco's Salesians a college of arts and industries (with oratory) at Sucre; the Lazarists, a house at Sucre; the Discalced Carmelite nuns, monasteries at Sucre and Potosi; the Poor Clares and the Servants of Mary, each a house at Sucre; the Augustinian nuns, a monastery at Potosi; lastly, the Daughters of St. Anne have foundations at Sucre, Potosi, Orura, Ta- rija, and Tupiza. In addition to 14 religious schools, there are 2 educational institutions for boys (with 360 pupils) and one for girls (with an attendance of 1200), and hospitals and hospices. Besides the Spanish language, there are Indian dialects still in use — Qui- chua, Ayman'i, and Guaranf. St. Barbara, virgin and martyr, is patroness of the diocese.

SchOtz-Holzhausen, Der Amazonas, 2nd ed. prepared by Klassert (Freiburg im Br., 1895), 363 sqq., Spillmann, In der neum Welt, 1 (2nd ed.. Freiburg im Br,, 1904), 132 sqq.; Diceionario geogrdfico del departamento de Chuquisaca, ed. Geo- graphical Society op Socre (Sucre, 1903); Taboro.a, Un capituio de la historia de la ipoca colonial (La Plata. 1905) (with list of bishops), pp. 41-51. On the Franciscan missions of the archdiocese, cf. Fernandez, Consvcctus omnium missionum Ordinis Fratrum Minorum (Quaracchi, 1905), 173-88; also Cardi'S, Las misiones Franciscanas cnlre los infidcles de Bolivia (Barcelona, 1886); Corrado, // collegia Francescano (h Tanjae le sue missioni. Italian tr. by Villoresi (Quaracchi, 1885); Martarelli. El Colegio Franciscano de Potosi y siis mixiones (Potos!, 1890); DE Nino, Una pdgina 6 sea continuacvin de la historia de misiones Franciscanas del colegio de Polost (Potosi, 1908)- Armentia, Rclaciun histurica de las misiones Francis- canas de Apolobamha, por otre nombre Fronterra de Caupphcdn (ofncialed.,LaPaz,1903). On the Salesians at Sucre, .Safestan- ische Nachrichten, XV (Trent and Turin, 1909), 286.

Gregor Reinhold.

Lapparent, Albert Auguste de, French geolo- gist, 1). at Bourges, 30 Dec., 1839: d. at Paris, 12 May, 1 90S. He made a brilliant course of studies at the Lcole Polytechniiiue in Paris, gradu.ating there the first of his'promotion. and at the School of Mines. Having been appointed mining engineer in 1S64, he was chosen by Klie de Beaumont as a member of the .staff entrusted with the task of drawing the geologicul map of France. From lSfi6 to 1880 he contnbuteil, with Delesse, articles on geology to the "Annales des Mines". In 1874 he was made secretary of the com- mittee on the submarine tunnel between England and