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 Oiiiurioilistorical Society 
 
 1 900 
 
 PASTORAL LETTER 
 
 -^ 
 
 OK 
 
 \m m 
 
 ut the Jrdibishojj of |^oronfo 
 
 TO THE 
 
 Ckrgii, lleligtous Communities ;mb f iiitn 
 
 OK THE — 
 
 .A- 1^ 13: i: I O O E S E 
 
 III. 
 
 TORONTO 
 
 CATHOLIC REGISTER PRINT 
 1896. 
 
PASTORAL LETTER 
 
 oi- 
 
 His Grace the Arclibisho|) of Tordnto. 
 
 JOHN Wi.\L8H, BY THE (tragi-: ok (Iod and the Appoint- 
 ment OF THE Holy See, Aiichbishoi' of Toronto. 
 
 To the CJcn/i/, li I'lfi'ioiiH Connunnitica ti)i<l Laittf <]f tlir 
 ArcJi(Jioc('s<', Ch'fKw und Brned'tct'ioti in flir Lord. 
 
 Dearly Beloved Brethren : 
 
 By these presents we bepj to remind you of the sacred 
 duty that devolves u])oii us as cLildren of the CathoHe C'liurcli 
 to contribute of our means and in accordance with our 
 capacity towards the support and maintenance of our Holy 
 Father tlje Pope, and to uphold him in the discharge of the 
 sublime ])ut arduous duties of his august office by our prayers, 
 our sympathy and loyal devotion. The Vicar of Christ has 
 been robbed of his independence and liberty as head of the 
 Cliurch ; he has been deprived of his civil princedom secured 
 to him for centuries by the action of Divine Providence ; and 
 he has been made dependent on the contributions of the 
 faithful for the means that are necessary to enable him to 
 exercise his divine and world-wide ministry. Under these 
 circumstances it becomes an imperative duty for Catholics to 
 rally around our Holy Father, to stand by and uphold him 
 by loving loyalty and devotion, and to contribute of their means 
 towards his congruous support and maintenance. 
 
 It is now eight years since the Archdiocese contributed 
 anything towards this sacred cause. We have thus far 
 delayed calling on our faithful people for this purpose, 
 because of the many demands made upon them for the 
 
diocesan works of religion and charity. But conscience, 
 duty and honor require that we shall delay no longer. It is 
 enough for us to know that our Holy Father urgently needs 
 our aid, and that it is our bounden duty to give it generously 
 and heartily. The Pope is the central figure and chief 
 Pontiflf in the Hierarchy of the Spiritual Kingdom which 
 Jesus Christ has established on earth. He is the Vicegerent 
 of the Son of God, the supreme visible head of the Church 
 of Christ, and the infallible teacher of God's revelation to 
 mankind. Hence it is that the children of the Holy Catholic 
 Church regard him with deep reverence and filial love ; that 
 they look to him for light and guidance in tliis world of 
 doubt and darkness ; and that they are prepared to make the 
 greatest sacrifices in order to uphold him in the discharge of 
 his sublime duties, and in his warfare against the enemies of 
 Christ and His Church, and of the best interests of humanity. 
 
 THE SUPREMACY OF THE POPE. 
 
 The supremacy of the Roman Pontift' over the Catholic 
 Church, in all that relates to faith and morals and jurisdic- 
 tion, is an article of faith and a fundamental doctrine of our 
 holy religion. What the sun is to the solar system, that the 
 Sovereign Pontiff is to the Catholic system of belief. The 
 Papacy is the rock on which the superstructure of Christ's 
 Church rises in all the grandeur of its imposing majesty, and 
 in all the grace and beauty and harmony of its heavenly 
 architecture. It is the unshaken foundation on which the 
 Church securely reposes, proof against the tempest's shock 
 and the upheavings of the earthquake. The Church of 
 Christ is the kingdom of God on earth; it must therefore 
 have a ruler. Every well regulated society must possess a 
 Chief Magistrate to preserve it in law and order. Take him 
 away and you reduce society to anarchy and chaos. We see 
 this fact too well illusirated in the religious denominations 
 that have adopted the radical principle of private judgment. 
 
They are nplit up into discordant fragmentn and jarring stcts 
 by the very force and action of the disintegrating and de- 
 structive principle which forms the shifting and sandy 
 foundation on which they have souglit to bnihl. 
 
 The Church of Christ is a visible body ; it must have a 
 visible head. It is a sheepfold : it must have a supreme 
 shepherd to guard the sheep and the lambs of Christ's Hoc k. 
 In other words, the visible Church of Clirist must have a 
 visible ruler to act as Christ's Viceregent, and to govern the 
 Church in His name and by His authority until His second 
 
 commg. 
 
 Even in the Jewish Church there was the oltice of tiie 
 High Priest, who acted as God's Viceregent, and was supreme 
 ruler in spirituals. Now, the Jewish Church was but the 
 shadow of the Christian Church ; the latter, the reality and 
 the completion of the former, just as the many-turreted 
 cathedral, with all its beauties and glories, is but the realiza- 
 tion and completion of the grand inspired design sketclied 
 by the artist on his parchment. It follows, tlierefore, that 
 in the Christian Church there must be an office answering to 
 that of the High Priest in the old dispensation, and at the 
 same time excelling it, as the new is the better and more per- 
 fect dispensation. Now, that office is evidently none other 
 than that of the Sovereign Pontiff, the supreme visible head 
 of the Catholic Church. In fact, even apart from the divine 
 promises and appointment, we find in iioly writ various 
 indications of the primacy and supremacy of St. Peter. 
 In many pages of the New Testament Peter is always 
 named before the other Apostles — " The Jirsf, Simon, who 
 is called Peter," says St. Matthew x. 2. He is the 
 first that confessed his faith in the divinity of Christ, the 
 first in the manifestation of love, the first of the Apostles 
 who saw the risen Saviour, the first to whom the announce- 
 ment of the resurrection was made by Mary Magdalen, 
 as he was the first to bear witness to this stupendous 
 
 t'.. 
 
 :, '(d 
 
6 
 
 (mi before all the peni)le. He was the first who f^ave diree- 
 tioiiH when it was necessarv to lill up the number of the 
 Apostles, the tirst who confirmed the faith by a miracle, the 
 lirst to convert tlie Jews, the (irst also to admit the (ientiles 
 into tlif Christian Church, and it was he who presided over 
 the Apostolic Council in Jerusalem. Of course, Jesus Christ 
 is by personal and inherent ri<,dit the Hi}j;h Priest and Head 
 of tlie Catliolic Church, hut the Pope is His Viceregent and 
 supreme visible head of the Church. Jesus ('hrist havin<j; 
 triuisl'erred His ;j;li)rilied humanity from earth and placed it 
 hifTli above tlie wiiole hierarchies of heaven, even at the ri^ht 
 hand of (iod, must rule His Church on earth by a substitute* 
 and this substitute is Peter or the Pope actin<^ as His vice- 
 legent in His name and by His sovereif;n authority, just as a 
 King rules the distant provinces of his empire by viceroys. 
 Our Queen never visited her Indian empire, yet she rules 
 there. She rules by a vicerov. Christ also, whom it has 
 pleased to withdraw His visible i)resence from amongst us, 
 I'ules His universal empire-church by a viceroy, and that is 
 Peter and his lawful successors. There is no fact mcu-e tho- 
 roughly attested in the Xew Testament than this. Our 
 Blessed Lord on a very striking occasion promised to St. 
 Peter that He would build His Church on him, and that He 
 would give him the keys of the kingdom of heaven as the 
 symbol and evidence of his supreme power and jurisdiction 
 in the Christian Church. He fallilled these promises, as we 
 shall see, before His ascension into heaven, by committing 
 the whole tiock, both the sheep and the lambs of the fold, to 
 the pastoral care of Peter. In the lOth chapter of St. 
 Matthew we find our Lord questioning His disciples and ask- 
 ing them " Who do men my that I am?" When informed 
 by them of the various opinions existing on this subject, 
 Jesus said, " Who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter 
 answered and said, " Thou art Christ, the Son of the living 
 God." And Jesus answering, said to him, " Blessed are 
 
thou, Simon Barjona, because ticsli and hlood liatli not 
 revealed it unto tlioe, l»ut my Fatlier who iH in heaven. And 
 1 Hay to tiiee that thou art Peter (that is a rock), and on this 
 rock I will huild my cliurch, and the ^atoH of hell shall not 
 prevail against it. And I will give; to thee the keys of the 
 kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever tiiou shalt hiiel <»n 
 earth it shall be bound also in heaven : and whatsoever thou 
 bhiilt loose on earth it shull be loosed also in heaven." This 
 is one of the most niagnilicent promises ever made to man, 
 and the most far-reaching and beneiicent in its inriuence. 
 Peter is made the rock on whicii the Chureli of Ciirist is 
 built. Peter is to the Ciiristian Church what the foundation 
 is to a house. Now, it is the foundation that gives strength, 
 unity and durability to the house. if the foundation be 
 sand-built, or if it be removed, the whole superstructure 
 comes tumbling down iu fragments ; but if it be iirm and 
 scrong and u\ishaken as a rock, then the rains may fall and 
 the winds blow and beat against the house, but it will defy 
 the tempest and the floods. Peter being the foundation and 
 rock-basis of the ('hurch, imparts to it its enduring solidity, 
 its order and unity, and its undying per])etuity. Ilis 
 antliority must be the }»rincij)le of its unity and strength. All 
 the force of its laws must be derived from him, and all its 
 authority must finally rest cm him as its basis and ground- 
 work. Who does not see that all this necessarily implies his 
 primacy of order and jurisdiction and teaching over the 
 universal church. 
 
 Again, Christ gives to Peter the keys of the kingdom of 
 heaven, adding that " whatsoever he will bind on earth shall 
 be bound also in heaven, and that whatsoever lie will loose on 
 earth shall be loosed also in heaven." With all nations the 
 keys are a symbol of power and siovereign jurisdiction. When 
 the Queen visits the cities of her kingdom, the keys are pre- 
 sented her in acknowledgment of her royalty and sover'^ignty. 
 When a fortress surrenders to a victorious general, its keys 
 
are prcflented to him to denote submission to hirt nutliority. 
 So \v!ien Jesus promises Peter the i^eys of the kinijjdoui of 
 heaven, He wishes thereby to convey the truth that He 
 intends to impart to him supreme authority and jurisdiction 
 over the Christian Ciuirch. This is the plain and evident 
 meaning of the promise, or language has no meaning at all. 
 It is the meaning attached to it by all anti(|uity, and by the 
 living Churcii herself in all the ages of her existence. Nor is 
 it a valid objection to say that Christ gave to all the Apostles 
 on another occasion tlie power of l)inding and loosing, for, as 
 Bossuet well savs : 
 
 " When power is given to several, the exercise of the 
 power by each one is restricted by the fact tliat otliers share 
 it with him. But power given to a single individual over all, 
 and without exception, necessarily implies the plenitude of 
 power. * * * All the Apostles receive the same power, 
 but not in the same degree, or with the same ixtent. Jesus 
 Christ commences by the first, and in this first one He 
 develops the whole, in order that we learn that the ecclesias- 
 tical authority which was originally constituted in the person 
 of one man is not imparted to others, except on the condition 
 of remaining always subordinate to the principle from which 
 its unity is derived, and that all those who shall be charged 
 with its exercise are found to remain inseparably united to 
 same chair." 
 
 Oui Blessed Lord was now about to ascend into heaven 
 to the glory of His Father ; but He will first redeem the 
 promise of the primacy which He had made to Peter when 
 He said He would appoint him the rock-support of His 
 Church, and would give him the keys of the kingdom of 
 heaven. 
 
 It was a most solemn and awful moment when Christ 
 committed the care of His whole flock to Peter. He had shed 
 His precious blood for the redemption of the world ; He had 
 risen glorious and immortal from the grave, triumphant over 
 
9 
 
 death and liell ; He was now about to with h-aw His vi8il)le 
 presence from amongst men. But Ho Wiil not leave us 
 orplians : He will leave us a father, a vicej^ercmt, who will 
 n^e the whole family of God in His absence, a supreme sliep- 
 herd, who will feed and care and protect the sheep and the 
 iambs of His fold. But before communicating tiiis awful 
 charge, before imparting this tremendous power. He exacts 
 from Peter a confession of the most tender and ardent love. 
 We find this solemn scene thus described in the 21st cliapter 
 of St. John's (iospel : 
 
 " When therefore they had dined, Jesus said to Simon 
 Peter : Simon, son of John, lovost thou me more than these '? 
 He saitli to him: Vea, Lord, thou knowcst that I love tliee- 
 ife saitli to him: Feed my lambs." 
 
 ** He saith to him again : Simon, son of John, lovest 
 thou me".^ He saith to him : Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I 
 love thee ? He said to him : Feed my lambs.'* 
 
 *' He said to him the third time : Simon, son of John, 
 lovest thou me '? Peter was grieved, because he had said to 
 him the third time, Lovest thou me '? A» d he said to him : 
 Lord, thou knowest all things; chou knowest that I love thee. 
 He said to him : Feed my slieep." — St. John, xxi. 15-17. 
 
 In these words our Bedeemer evidently, and beyond all 
 power of cavil, appointed Peter supreme and (ecumenical 
 pastor over His whole tlock, with power to rule, govern and 
 lead it, and with the right and the duty of shielding, protect- 
 ing and feeding it. In other words, Christ appoints Peter 
 supreme pastor over the Universal Church ; for the words , 
 "my lambs, my sheep," comprise not only the faithful, but 
 even the apostles, the bishops and priests, as belonging to the 
 flock of Christ. Such is the doctrine taught by the Fath'^r 3 
 both of the east and west. " To Peter," writes St. Epipii,i- 
 nius, " was committed the flock. He leads the way admirably 
 in the power of his own Master." St. John Chrysostom, 
 commenting on these words of St. John, speaks yet more 
 
 iri 
 
 K: 
 
 ■y 
 

 10 
 
 strongly: "Why," he says, " passmg by the rest, does He 
 discourse with Peter concerning these things? He was the 
 chosen one of the apostles, and the mouth of the disciples, 
 and the head of the company. For this cause also did St. 
 Paul take his journey to visit him in preference to the rest ; 
 and, withal, showing him he must have confidence, for his 
 denial has been done away with, Christ places in his hands 
 the empire over the brethren. He appointed Peter teacher, 
 not of the Church, but of the habitable globe." 
 
 The supremacy of Peter is the conviction and faith of all 
 Christian antiquity. These prerogatives of supremacy and 
 infallibility conferred on Peter must in the very nature of 
 things descend to his succesHors. Peter is, by appointment 
 of our Lord, the rock on which the Church is built, and its 
 firmness and stability depend on Iiim. For the permanent 
 good of the Church, and iu order to preserve it safe from 
 Satan's assaults, Peter is made its head and guardian. It 
 follows, therefore, from these considerations, that for the 
 security and well-being of the Cliurch Peter's sublime prero- 
 gatives should continue as long as the Church herself will 
 exist : that is, till the consummation of the world. I'eter's 
 authoritv must therefore continue in his successors. Hence, 
 the illustrious Bousset truly says : " The ))rerogative confer- 
 red on Peter cannot be sap})osed to have ceased with him, 
 because the foundations of a building designed to last forever 
 cannot be subject to the ravages of time ; therefore Peter will 
 alwajs live in his suc-f^essor, and will always speak from his 
 chair. Such is the Doctrine of the Holy Fathers, such is the 
 declaration of the (530 Bishops assembled in the Council of 
 Chalcedon." (Sermon on Unity.) 
 
 In order to the perfect fulfillment of the sublime duties 
 of the primacy Christ conferred on Peter and his successors 
 the gift of infallibility in teaching matters of faith and morals 
 to the universal Church. This is evident from the scriptural 
 passages which we have already cited to prove the primacy. 
 
11 
 
 The gates of hell cannot prevail against the Church, because 
 it is founded on the rock Peter ; but they could prevail if the 
 rock could be shaken or broken by error. The commission 
 given to Peter to feed the sheep and lambs of Christ's flock 
 clearly implies the gift of infallibility. We cannot suppose 
 tlint Christ would have committed His flock to a shepherd 
 who would lead them astray or desert them when danger 
 threatened. Besides, we lind that our Lord positively assured 
 Peter that his faith would not I'ail : ** Simon, Simon," eaid 
 our Lord, " behold Satan hath desired to have you that he 
 may sift you as wheat ; but I have prayed for thee that thy 
 faith fail not ; and thou being once converted, confirm thy 
 brethren."' St. Luke, xxii,, 82-3;i. 
 
 Our Lord foresaw that the Ciiurch would be assailed by 
 the most bitter persecutions ; that it would liave to encounter 
 the most tremendous trials; and in order to enable iu to 
 withstand both the one and the other, He prayed that the 
 faith of Peter might not fail ; in other words, He prayed for 
 the infallibility of Peter in order that he, endowed with this 
 august prerogative, would confirm his bretln-en, that is, the 
 universal Church. 
 
 Peter, therefore, ever living in the Church in the person 
 of his successors, is its supreme and (ecumenical pastor, and 
 is endowed with the sublime gift of infallibility in his official 
 teaching. 
 
 Such, dearly beloved brethren, are the great prerogatives 
 conferred upon the vicar of Christ ; such is the exalted posi- 
 tion assigned to him ; and this is why we take so profound 
 an interest in all that concerns him, and why in all our 
 doubts and perplexities we turn to him with the docility and 
 confidence of children for his guidance in the road to eter- 
 nal life. 
 
 And how faithfully and gloriously the Popes have dis- 
 charged the duties of their high office ! Of the thirty Popes 
 who occupied the Chair of Peter during the lioman persecu- 
 
 m 
 
 \ '>i 
 

 12 
 
 tions, twenty-tive mounted the scaffold, and there died the 
 martyr's death, in witness to the Christian Faith. Whenever 
 lieresy arose to assail Christian truth the Pope smote it with 
 his anathemas. The great genervil Councils, which shine out 
 like beacon lights through the centuries, were convoked and 
 ratified by papal authority. 
 
 But the Popes not only protected the Christian Faith 
 against the inroads of heresy, and safe-guarded the moral 
 code of Gospel teaching, but they also promoted in the most 
 efficient manner the cause of Christian civilization and well 
 regulated liberty. It was they that sent their missionaries to 
 preach the Gospel to the fierce barbarians who swarmed over 
 southern Europe at the break up of the Roman Empire. It 
 was they who caused them to be taught the arts of peace and 
 all that was calculated to create and advance their civiliza- 
 tion ; nnd when a worse evil threatened the Christian Faith, 
 and the liberty of European nations, when Mahometanism 
 hung like a cloud over the greater part of Europe, threaten- 
 ing to break down upon it in a destructive deluge, the voice 
 of the Popes called on the chivalry of Christendom to combine 
 for the defence of their homes and their altars. The Popes 
 organized the Crusades, and thus saved European civilization 
 from destruction by the fanatical hordes of Mahomet. 
 
 The voice of the Popes was ever raised in defence of the 
 weak against the strong, in defence of well-regulated liberty 
 against despotic tyranny. The arts, the sciences, universi- 
 ties, as well as popular education, always found the Popes 
 their most encouraging and generous patrons. It would be 
 truly impossible to give a just estimate of the beneficent 
 influence of the Popes on the happiness, the well-being and 
 progress of our race. They have made a track of light 
 across the ages they have traversed. 
 
 Our present Holy Father Leo XIII,, assuredly ranks 
 amongst the great Popes, who, by the splendour of their genius- 
 
la 
 
 and virtues, and by their great services to mankind, have shed 
 an unfading lustre on the Holy See, and on the Catholic 
 Church at large. Leo XIII. lias been raised up by Divine 
 Providence to meet the wants of the times, and to apply 
 healing balm to the wounds that afflict modern society. 
 From the heights of the Vatican his luminous teachings 
 shine out over a world of doubt and darkness like beacon 
 lights over a dark and stormy sea. In his immortal Encylical 
 letters he points out with a clear, unerring voice tlie moral 
 evils that scourge modern society and menace its destruction, 
 and he also shows forth the divine remedies that alone can 
 save it from overwhelming ruin. His teachings on the con- 
 dition of the laboring classes and on the rules that should 
 regulate the relations between the employers and the em- 
 ployed, would, if carried into execution by the parties con- 
 cerned, solve one of the most difficult and dangerous problems 
 that disturb the mind of men and threaten the very founda- 
 tions of social order and public peace. The fatal dissensions 
 and divisions that distract the Christian world and weaken 
 the cause of Christ and of His religion, his apostolic zeal 
 seeks to terminate, holding out the olive branch of neace to our 
 separated brethren and striving to realize our Blessed Lord's 
 desire to gather in His strayed sheep into the one fold 
 of the one true Church. But it would be impossible within 
 the limits of this pastoral letter to dwell on the vast and 
 signal services this great and Holy Pontiff has rendered, not 
 alone to the Catholic Church, but to mankind at large. Now 
 this venerable and illustrious Pontiff" has been not only robbed 
 of the temporal possessions conferred on the Apostolic See by 
 the piety of Christian ages, but he is practically a captive 
 in the hands of his enemies. Here is what he himself has 
 pathetically said on the subject on a recent occasion : 
 
 ** I, too, am a prisoner," he said, "and that for eighteen 
 long years. In fact, the nineteenth has now begun since 1 
 am here in imprisonment, a noble imprisonment, if you like, 
 but still a real imprisonment. For eighteen years I have not 
 
 if! 
 
 1 ,. 1 
 
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 14 
 
 been able to get a glimpse of the streetB of Rome or of its 
 holy basilicas. I have had a nevv apse constructed in St. 
 John Lateran's, and yet it has been impossible for me to see 
 it. Nor, indeed, is this all. If I wish to name bishjps 1 
 have the difficulties and delays that the formality of the 
 Placet and the exequator imposes. Bishops in their own 
 dioceses cannot appoint their parish priests without submit- 
 ting to the visto and to the exigencies of the tiscal authorities. 
 Add to this the perversity of an evil press, which distorts a.nd 
 maligns one's every act and intention. What more ? On the 
 slope of the very Vatican hill, quite close to my abode, they 
 have raised a statue to Garibaldi, to him who called the 
 Papacy 'the cancer of Italy.' And, indeed, if I am free at 
 this moment to speak and to write it is simply because it 
 would not do for them to come into my room avid prevent me." 
 
 In view of this sad condition of things it becomes our most 
 sacred duty as Catholics to contribute generously of our 
 means towards the congruous support of our Holy Father, 
 and to enable him to maintain the dignity and independence 
 of his office. He is charged with the " solicitude" of all the 
 Churches of Catholic Christendom. The funds required for 
 the administration of the ecclesiastical affairs of the Catholic 
 world must be very large indeed. The sevrral congregations 
 charged with the conduct of ecclesiastical aifairs, the 
 apostolic delegations appointed to various nations, the 
 Nuncios at European courts, must be properly supported and 
 maintained, the postal service to all countries of the world 
 must be paid for. For meeting this enormous expenditure 
 the Holy Father must depend on the contributions of th^ 
 faithful, on their generous and loyal support. It is, dearest 
 Brethren, for us to take our share in this vast and necessary 
 work ; it is time we should help our spiritual Father to carry 
 the heavy burthen of his world-wide duties. This is for us a 
 sacred duty and a strict obligation ; we are c mfident that on 
 this occasion we shall perform this duty and fulfill this 
 obligation in a manner at once In^lpful and consoling to the 
 Vicar of Christ, and creditable to tlie clergy and faithful 
 
15 
 
 people of this Archdiocese. It is true the times are hard and 
 the calls made upon us are many, but tlie cause we are asked 
 to help on this occasion is a most sacred one ; it enlists the 
 .tiympathies and makes appeal to the faith and heart of the 
 whole Catholic world, for it is the cause of rif^ht against 
 might, of religious liberty against the tyranny that would 
 shackle it, of the Vicar of Christ in captivity against the 
 (xovernment that has robbed and imprisoned him ; it is, in a 
 word, the cause of Jesus Christ against the world that has 
 been His enemy from the beginning. Let then our offerings 
 be worthy of this sacred cause and worthy of our faith and 
 love. And if in the past we have been somewhat tardy in 
 our duty in this respect, let our contributions now make full 
 amends by their hearty and generous character for any ap- 
 parent negligence. 
 
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 Wherefore, having invoked the Holy name of God, We 
 ordain as follows : — 
 
 1. A collection shall be taken up in every Church and 
 Chapel of this Archdiocese, as an offering of our faith and 
 love to our Holy Father, on some Sunday in October next, 
 the object of the collection having been previously and fully 
 explained to the people by their pastor. 
 
 2. The proceeds shall be sent with as little delay as 
 possible to the Chancellor of the Archdiocese. 
 
 8. The names of the donors shall be taken down and 
 sent to us to be kept in the archives as an honorable record 
 of the loyalty and generosity of our faithful people. 
 
 4. This pastoral shall be read in all the churches and 
 chapels of the Archdiocese on the first Sunday after its 
 reception. 
 
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 16 
 
 May the peace and blessing of the omnipotent God, 
 the Father, Son and Holy Ghost descend upon you, and abide 
 with you for ever, dearly beloved Brethren. 
 
 Given at St. Michael's Palace, Toronto, on the 2lBt day 
 of September — Feast of St. Matthew the Apostle — in the 
 year of our Lord, 1896. 
 
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 By order of His Grace the Archbishop. 
 Jamais Walsh, Secretary. 
 
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