Introduction.

The educational system which has developed in the Catholic Church in the United States, has become a work of great magnitude. It extends to every diocese, and is of fundamental importance for the stability of the Christian faith in our country. "The hope of the Catholic Church in America," writes an eminent prelate, "is in Catholic schools and colleges.

The voluntary sacrifices made by Catholic people to give their children an education based on motives of religion and morality, are represented by a large outlay of money. The Catholic citizens of our country hold to the principles that religion, morality and knowledge are necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, and that education which ignores religion and morality, is radically defective.

Their fidelity to these principles has caused them to erect and maintain a system of parish schools in which 967,518 children are educated. These parish schools are in every diocese, they are subject to the authority of the bishop, and are in the main taught by religious. It is estimated, in addition, that 14,127 boys and 20,874 girls receive high school or secondary education in Catholic institutions; and that 4,010 students attend the collegiate department of our Catholic colleges and universities. According to the Catholic Directory, there are seventy-one seminaries in the country, with 4,078 ecclesiastical students. Besides all these, there are many manual training schools for boys, special institutions, novitiates with normal training schools, and a number of well-established and flourishing professional schools conducted under Catholic auspices. There is no important branch of educational work in which the Church. has not built up large and permanent interests.

There has grown up a feeling of the advantages of greater unity in Catholic educational work, and a conviction of the The Catholic Parochial Schools of the United States, by Rev. Morgan M. Sheedy.

necessity of greater union and co-operation among Catholic educators. The advantages of association have not heretofore been so apparent in the conditions of our development. Each school and institution developed to suit particular conditions, and there was no special reason for co-operation or association among the various Catholic educational interests of the country.

We are now passing through new conditions. Catholic educators agree on questions of principle, they have unity of purpose and they have many and important interests in common. They will be mutually benefited and encouraged by association. No general organization of interests so vast and divergent as those of Catholic education in America is feasible, but the time. is ripe for greater unity of action and sympathetic co-operation among all who labor in this field.

The project of bringing about an understanding among Catholic educators, and of unifying the Catholic educational interests of the country in some form of voluntary association whose purpose would be merely to defend the principles and promote the interests which all have in common, was carried into effect at the annual Conferences of Catholic Colleges and Schools held at St. Louis, in July, 1904. The advantages which can reasonably be expected to come from such an association may be briefly pointed out.

It will bring together at stated intervals the leading Catholic educators of the country, and give an opportunity of exchanging views and of discussing educational problems. It will stimulate, support, and extend Catholic educational activity; and afford encouragement to all engaged in the work. It will make us aware of the defects of our system, and through it the experience of one may become the profit of all. It will make us conscious of our power, and help us to direct our energy, and to make the most effective use of our resources. It will help in' the work of organizing parish schools into unified diocesan systems. It should help to promote harmony and co-ordination of all Catholic educational interests.

Such an association can have no power to legislate, nor even to enforce its recommendations; but if it represents Catholic

thought on education, its moral influence must be considerable. The interests which Catholic educators have in common are fundamental and urgent. United effort will overcome difficulties, remedy defects, and make for progress; and it is the opinion of many, that an association of this kind which will tend to bring Catholic educators together, to unify their policies and endeavors, and to help ward off the great danger of apathy, has become almost a necessity. An association of this character offers a powerful means of moulding and of expressing Catholic opinion on educational subjects; and its declarations must also have great weight with non-Catholic educators, and the public. in general.

The first steps in the directions of unification were taken by Rt. Rev. Bishop Conaty and the representatives of the Catholic Colleges of the country. The work of the Conference of Catholic Colleges, which has held five successful annual sessions. has made possible the formation of a general association embracing the various departments of our educational work. We herewith subjoin, a brief history of the College Conference, the School Conference, and the Seminary Conference.

History of the Association of Catholic

Colleges.

The idea of an association of the Catholic Colleges and Universities of the United States had its practical inception at the meeting of the Board of Directors of the Catholic University in October, 1898. Rt. Rev. Bishop Conaty, of Los Angeles, Cal., at that time Rector of the University, proposed the matter to the Bishops and Archbishops gathered there, and was encouraged and directed to take such steps as might be necessary to secure the co-operation of all Catholic institutions devoted to the work of higher education. Accordingly, he at once entered into correspondence with the Presidents of the Catholic Colleges and the Superiors of the teaching orders, and it was found that on all sides the proposal met with the most cordial welcome. It was agreed to leave to Monsignor Conaty the selection of the list of subjects to be discussed at the first meeting, as well as the assignment of papers on these subjects to the representatives of the various institutions. Chicago was chosen as the place of the meeting, and the Wednesday and Thursday of Easter Week, April 12 and 13, 1899, selected as the time. A committee on reception was organized from the local colleges and the clergy of which the Rev. Hugh McGuire, rector of St. James' Church, was chairman. Father McGuire generously offered St. James' Hall, with its spacious auditorium, as a place of assembly, and this continued to be the meeting-place of the association during three successive years.

The Conference was opened by a solemn high Mass in St. James' Church, at which a sermon was delivered by the Rev. Morgan M. Sheedy, of Altoona, Pa. At the end of the Mass, the delegates were addressed by the late Archbishop Feehan, and bidden a cordial welcome to the city.

Fifty-one delegates, representing fifty-three colleges, were present at this first convention, which lasted two days. Seven papers were read and discussed, and there was a running ex

change of ideas all along the line of Catholic college work. Before the meeting adjourned, a plan for permanent organization was adopted, and a committee appointed to draw up a constitution, and report the following year. A lecture by Bishop Spalding in the Central Music Hall, to a large and representative audience, formed a fitting conclusion to the first meeting of the Conference.

The success of the organization was thus assured from the very outset. The Association of Catholic Colleges was hailed on all sides, by hierarchy, clergy, and laity as an influence of highest good in the development of Catholic higher education, and the Association has steadily grown in strength and influence year by year. The number of colleges belonging to it has increased, as well as the attendance at the annual gatherings. The discussions have from the very beginning exhibited a trend towards the practical and the progressive, and have had an undoubted influence in shaping the direction of recent Catholic college growth. To mention but two instances: the raising of entrance requirements and the introduction of the "room system in place of the "dormitory" system, in quite a number of institutions, appear to be directly traceable to the discussions of these Conferences.

The Constitution which was adopted at the second meeting provides for a Board of Directors, consisting of a President and a Standing Committee of five members, to be elected annually. Rt. Rev. Mgr. Conaty continued to preside over the Conference until he severed his connection with the Catholic University, in 1903, to become Bishop of Los Angeles, when he was succeeded by Mgr. Denis J. O'Connell, who succeeded him as Rector of the University.

The Standing Committee chosen the first year consisted of Rev. John A. Conway, S. J.; Rev. John T. Murphy, C. S. Sp.; Very Rev. P. Vincent Huber, O. S. B.; Very Rev. Wm. L. O'Hara; Rev. James French, C. S. C. Father Murphy having assumed the Presidency of Black Rock College, Ireland, he was replaced on the Committee the following year by Rev. L. A. Delurey, O. S. A.