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EIGHT
THE BULLETIN OP THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
JULY 23, 1955
C^atLo lie* JJn Cc
By RICHARD REID, K. S. G.
eoraict
BISHOP IGNATIUS PERSICO,
O.F.M. CAP.
A Cardinal Who Was Bishop of
Savannah, 1870-1872
In 1867 there came to the
Southeast a missionary who al
ready had had a distinguished
career, but whose future serv
ices were to rank him among the
illustrious churchmen of the
generation. He was the future
Ignatius Cardinal Persico, who
had served as a Bishop in India
and who came to South Carolina
at the invitation of Bishop P. N.
Lynch to labor as a simple mis
sionary priest. He was destined
to be the successor of Bishop
Verot as Bishop of Savannah.
Born in Naples January 30,
1823, he was the son of Xavier
Persico, a native of Sorrento,
prefect of the general commis-
siariat of the Royal Army, and
of Josephine Pennacchio Persico,
whom Brendan Finn in his
“Twenty-four American Cardi
nals” says was related to the Ac
ton family of England. Naples in
those days was one of the great
cities of Europe, capital of the
Kingdom of the Two Sicilies; not
long before Joseph Bonaparte,
brother of Napoleon, was king.
Ordained af 22
Baptized C a m i 11 o William
Mary Peter Persico, he attended
the Jesuit college in Naples. He
was but 16 when he entered the
Capuchin novitiate at Sorrento,
taking the name of Ignatius, an
indication of his affection for the
Sons of Loyola who first taught
him. He was ordained January
24, 1846, before his 23rd birth
day, and immediately volunteer
ed for the foreign missions. He
was sent to the College of St.
Fidelis in Rome, maintained by
the Capuchins for the higher
education of future missionaries.
The customary course there was
two years but Father Ignatius
stayed but six months; he was
assigned with other young priests
to answer the call of the Capu
chin Bishop Anastasius Hart
mann, Vicar Apostolic of Patna,
who was pleading for more mis
sionaries.
It took the young Capuchins
five monhs of travel by land and
sea to reach their destination.
Their first task was to learn
Hindu and English. Father Igna
tius remained a year at Dinapore
and a year and a half at Dar
jeeling; at the former place in
addition to ministering to the na
tives he was, chaplain to the Eng
lish and Irish soldiers. At Dar
jeeling, a famous resort, in addi
tion to his other duties he direct
ed a school for girls and another
for boys. When Bishop Hartmann
was transferred to Bombay as
administrator of the Vicariate,
Father Ignatius was named his
secretary.
The trip to Bombay took three
months; one reason for the delay
was their being detained in
quarantine at Colombo, Ceylon,
by a prejudiced official. When
they did reach Bombay, Bishop
Hartmann found that he had in
herited a schism which had its
roots in rights claimed through
the authority-of the King of Por
tugal. For three years Father Ig
natius was the Bishop’s chief
aide; he was then sent to Rome
as the Bishop’s representative, ar
riving April 18, 1855. The work
of Father Ignatius in Rome made
it possible for Bishop Hartmann
to restore peace to the vicariate.
Envoy to London
Unier the law of the British
West India Company, all religi
ous groups were to have equal
rights, but it did not work out
that way. Bishop Hartmann com
missioned Father Ignatius and
Father William Strickland, S.J.,
to go to London to present the
Catholic case to Parliament and
to the West India Company’s di
rectors. They spent a substantial
part of the summer of 1853 and a
part of the winter pleading the
case. The concessions they secur
ed are the foundation of the
rights of the Church recognized
in India today.
On their return to Bombay
they found Bishop Hartmann in
poor health. Father Ignatius was
appointed Coadjutor Bishop by
Pope Pius IX, and consecrated
June 4, 1854, at the age of 31, by
Bishop Hartmann. There being
no Bishops available to act as
co-consecrators, he was assisted
by the Very Rev. Walter Stein,
S.J., and the Rev. Thomas A.
Passions, O.F.M. Cap. The fol
lowing year Bishop Persico was
named Apostolic Visitator of
the Vicariate of Agra, and in
1855 he was named administrator.
There were 30,000,000 persons in
the Vicariate and 150,000 in Ag
ra, famous for its exquisite Taj
Mahal; atiout two per cent of
the people were Catholics.
Resigned See at 37
In 1857 came the uprising of
the Sepoys against the English,
in which many cities, including
Agra, were ruined. Father Deoda-
tus, who was Bishop Persico’s
Vicar General, and a missionary,
Father Zacharius, were murder
ed. To restore his Vicariate, the
Bishop visited Europe seeking
funds. Brendan Finn says that on
this trip he visited England
among other places, and translat
ed one of Cardinal Manning’s
works. While in London he acted
to safeguard the concessions for
the Church he had won in 1854.
Back in India, he established a
weekly newspaper, the Agra
Register, and devoted himself so
unreservedly to reconstruction
that his health failed. In 1860 he
resigned his See.
Returning to Italy, his recovery
was slow; it was not until 1866
that he felt strong enough to re
sume full activity. He felt that
the South of the United States,
devastated by war, needed mis
sionaries and that the climate
would be favorable to his health.
At the invitation of Bishop Lynch
he went to South Carolina. In
1863 he built the first church
at Aiken, about 18 miles from
Augusta. The following year he
and two other Capuchins, Father
Louis and Father Patrick, labor
ed at Beaufort on the coast. In
1869 he attended the Tenth Pro
vincial Council of Baltimore,
then going to Rome to participate
in the Vatican Council. He was
there when the Vicariate of Flori
da was made the Diocese of St.
Augustine, with Bishop Verot as
its first Ordinary; he was ap
pointed to succeed him as Bishop
of Savannah.
Selected Cathedral Site
Arriving in Savannah, Bishop
Persico’s first concern was plans
for a new Cathedral to replace
the edifice erected in 1839 during
Bishop England’s time, dedicated
by him, and designated as the
Cathedral in 1850, it being the
only church in the city. It had
long been inadequate but the
war had prevented its replace
ment. As a site for the new Ca
thedral Bishop Persico secured
from the Sisters of Mercy half a
city block immediately back of
their convent, at Abercorn and
Harris Streets. In return he deed
ed to them the property he had
purchased from the Medical So
ciety on which St. Joseph’s Hos
pital now stands. The present
Cathedral, the third, is on the site
Bishop Persico secured from the
Sisters of Mercy for the second.
Bishop Persico had succeeded
to the See March 11, 1876. Within
a year the Diocese lost thrde of
its; great pioneers by death. The
venerable Father J. F. O’Neill,
Sr., rector of the Cathedral since
the days of Bishop England when
he was one of three priests in
Georgia, died July 12, 1870. Fath
er Gregory Duggan, co-laborer
and successor of Bishop Barry
as pastor in Augusta, died there
December 3, 1870. Father Peter
Whelan, veteran missionary at
Locust Grove, Confederate Army
chaplain, vicar general and ad
ministrator of the Diocese, died
in Savannah February 5, 1871.
And the following year another
veteran, Father John F. Kirby of
Augusta and Savannah, died in
Baltimore, on May 4, 1872, while
undergoing treatment at St. Ag
nes Hospital. The priests at the
Cathedral during this period in
addition to Father O’Neill, Father
Whelan and Father Kirby were
Father P. P. Knaresboro, a broth
er Capuchin of the Bishop, and
the recently ordained Father E.
J. Cafferty. Father Prendergast
was pastor at St. Patrick’s.
In Augusta, Father William J.
Hamilton, V.G., formerly pastor
at Jacksonville and rector of the
Savannah Cathedral, succeded
Father Duggan. His first assis
tants were Father James O’Hara
and Father William Quinlan.
Father O’Hara, a native of Sligo,
who came to Georgia during the
war,-died in Augusta August 1,
1873. Father Quinlan was soon
appointed pastor at Brunswick.
Father Hamilton’s next assistants
were Father Michael Reilly and
Father James O’Brien. In 1871
the Sisters of Mercy went to
Augusta to take charge of City
Hospital.
Father Bazin in Macon
Father Louis Bazin, who went
to Macon as pastor in 1868 after
the death of Father J. F. O’Neill,
Jr., continued in that capacity
through Bishop Persico’s regime.
For four years he labored alone,
serving not only Macon but such
scattered missions as Albany,
where there was a church, Ameri-
cus, Cuthbert, Milledgeville, Eat-
onton, Hawkinsville, Fort Valley,
Fort Gaines, “and generally fami
lies on the Southwestern Road
and the Central Road.” Washing
ton, Sharon and their missions
including Athens were attended
from Augusta. Father Michael
Cullinan was pastor of Sts. Philip
and James Church, Columbus,
until 1872, when he was placed
in charge of the Church of the
Immaculate Conception, Atlanta.
The Coast Missions with Bruns
wick as a center again received
a pastor in the person of Father
Thomas Scollon, previously as
sistant to Father O’Reilly in At
lanta. When he left the Diocese,
he was succeeded by Father Wil
liam Quinlan, who had been or
dained in Augusta January 8,
1871, by Bishop Persico. A native
of Cork, Ireland, he made his
theological studies at St. Mary’s
Seminary, Baltimore. His career
of 62 years of active service in
the Diocese of Savannah is un- (Naples
paralleled in the history of the
Church in the state; he has been
the only Georgia priest to ob
serve his priestly golden and
diamond jubilees.
After short periods at the Ca
thedral in Savannah and at the
Church of the Immaculate Con
ception in Atlanta following his
service in Brunswick and the
Coast Missions, he was for sev
eral years assistant in Augusta.
He then was assistant at St. Pat
rick’s, Savannah, from 1886 to
1906, at the Church of the Im-
shop Persico was to be designat
ed the first Apostolic Delegate to
the United States, but when he
again resigned his See, in 1887,
Pope Leo XIII sent him to Ire
land to conduct in inquiry into
the moral aspects of the boycott
movement. He had previously
been made Titular Archbishop
of Tamiathis. Historian Brendan
Finn states that the Bishop deep
ly sympathized with the plight
maculate Conception, Atlanta, of the Irish farmers which pro-
from 1906 to 1916, and then pas
tor at Sharon until his death in
1933. Ordained before the death
of Father Peter Whelan, who had
been raised to the priesthood by
Bishop England, he was a link
with the earliest days of the Dio
cese not only of Savannah but of
Charleston.
Bishop Persico labored valiant
ly in his new field, visiting every
part of it shortly after his con
secration. In addition to securing
a site for a new Cathedral and
inaugurating plans for its erec
tion, he built churches at Bruns
wick, Darien and Dalton, and
restored a resident pastor to
Brunswick. He arranged for the
Sisters of Mercy to take charge
of the City Hospital in Augusta
and made a Diocesan order of the
Sisters of St. Joseph. Although
the effects of the war and the
policy of reconstruction still
blighted the South, there was
reason for optimism for the
progress of the Church especially
in the larger cities of the state.
Health Fails Again
But- the Bishop had overes
timated his strength and drawn
on it too heavily. Not only had
he administered the Diocese but
he had acted as Visitator for the
Capuchin Order to its founda
tions in New York and Wisconsin.
He made many appeals for voca
tions and financial assistance in
churches especially in. New York
and New England, literally
“passing the hat” by receiving
donations in his episcopal biretta.
On one such trip he consecrated
three altars, in June, 1872, in the
Church of St. John the Baptist on
West 34th Street; New York, con
ducted by the Capuchin Fathers.
His health began to decline again,
and it failed so rapidly that he
again begged permission to re
sign. His request was granted,
but he remained until the arrival
of his successor April 27, 1873
Had Bishop Persico remained
in retirement, tie would still have
had a distih’g.uished career. But
voked them to take measures
against the landlords, but had to
recognize that at times in their
just indignation they “applied
means which were not always
legal or moral.” He felt, more
over, than any declaration on
the point should come from the
Bishops of Ireland. But before
he made his report the boycott
movement or “Plan of Cam
paign” was condemned from
Rome.
Pope Leo, recognizing his
faithful and selfless efforts
named him vicat of the Vatican
Basilica and secretary of the
Congregation of the Propaganda
for Oriental Affairs. His crown
ing honor came January 16,
1893, when the Holy Father
elevated him to the Sacred Col
lege of Cardinals! His titular
church was that ox St. Peter in
Chains; he was appointed prefect
of the Sacred Congregation of
the Propaganta and of the Con-
gergation on Indulgences and
Relics. His experience as a mis
sionary in India, in South Caro
lina and in Georgia as well as
that in the many other regions
he visited and with which he
had close contact, enabled him to
render not merely effective but
brilliant service to the Congrega
tion of the Propaganda especial
ly. But the end of his illustrious
career was approaching. His
health again declined, he suffer
ed a stroke, and, on the eve of
the Immaculate Conception,
1895, he died, mourned not only
in Rome and Italy, but no less
in India, South Carolina and
Georgia.
Redemptorists of the St. Anne
de Beaupre province in Canada
are making final preparations
for the establishment of a parish
and monastery in the city of
Nagasaki.
the climatef-qf his native Italy
again restored his health, and
despite his desire to do the work
of a simple ftniissionary priest, the
Holy See prevailed on him to uti
lize in the diplomatic field his
great talents so evident in his
negotiations in England and in
his dealings with the government
in India. , '•
Mission to Canada
In 1874 tie was. sent to Canada
on a diplomatic mission to com
pose differences there. In 1877
he was gi|yen a similar assign
ment in India: here he prepared
the way f^r the establishment of
a hierarchy;, to succeed the vicars
apostolic. In 1878 he became a
consultor of the Sacred Congrega
tion of the Propaganda, and on
March 26, 4879, he was appointed
Ordinary |>f the Italian united
Sees of Aquino. Pontecorvo and
same tirpe he served
as Apostolic Visita-
Chinese College in
d '•as a Delegate to
settle dijpculties in connection
with the jOreek Church .there.
It was reported that Archbi-
Sora. At t,
the Vatic
tor to t
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