Chapter VI: Resources of the Propaganda

The various works connected with the Propaganda, of course, implied great expenses, and necessitated the possession of large revenues fixed and well-secured. The care of the Popes and the generosity of the faithful supplied funds which went far, for there is not to be found an establishment of its extent in the world managed at all times with such scrupulous economy and care. Many emulated the generosity of Monsignor Vives and of Cardinal Barberini. Others left to the general purposes of the Propagation of the Faith large legacies—sometimes even their whole inheritance. Besides that which Gregory XV. bestowed upon it, and which Urban VIII. increased, Innocent XII. gave the Institution 150,000 crowns in gold, and Clement XII. gave it 70,000. From its first foundation, all future Cardinals were by a decree of the Pope bound to procure from it their Cardinal’s ring, and to pay for this ring a large donation, varying from £400 to double that sum. This forms a most valuable and perpetual source of revenue. Other sources opened continually. The generosity awakened by the two Pontiffs who were mainly instrumental in founding it, descended to their successors, and spread throughout the entire Church, so that it may be well said that no institution ever existed which has been more popular with Catholics, nor more unceasingly popular, than the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith.

And it deserved to be so, not only because of the sacred objects to which it has devoted its unwearied labours, but also because of that extreme economy which has characterised its management from the beginning to this hour. A very strong proof of the genuine excellence of this economy lies in the fact that the Cardinals and Prelates who willed it, either all, or a large portion of their means were members of its management—a management of great labour, for which the funds of the Propaganda never paid them anything. All connected with its care, except the absolutely necessary officials, gave to it the whole of their services gratuitously. These knew well the nature of the work which the sacred Institution did, and the urgency of the wants it supplied. When, therefore, such men have selected it from amongst the many objects which Rome presents for Catholic zeal as the most worthy and the most carefully conducted of all, we may judge of the supreme excellency of its claims. Then the whole of the work which it requires from the other Congregations of Rome must be done gratuitously. The Bulls for its numerous Bishops must be expedited, its cases of conscience, coming, as they do, from all parts of the earth, must be solved, its dispensations of every kind granted, its rubrical, ceremonial, and technical difficulties must be settled, its honours must be bestowed by every department of Church government under the Pope, without one farthing of cost to itself or to its innumerable clients. Then, it was completely exempt, as we have seen, from every kind of tax, for matters whether coming by land or sea, and was freed from municipal burdens, under the Pontifical Government. Its superior management cost nothing, and for its work, secretaries and under-secretaries, writers and teachers, gave their labours for less than that paid by any other Institution in Rome. This they do out of pure devotion to religion and the hope of spiritual reward. In proof of this I will relate an anecdote of one of its employes—Monsignor Agliardi, at present Archbishop Delegate of the Holy See to British India. This able ecclesiastic devoted his life until well beyond fifty years of age to the severest labours of the Institution. He was one of the overworked minutanti or under-secretaries, and in addition acted as Professor of Moral Theology to the students of the Urban College. I believe no more able, learned, or laborious ecclesiastic lived in Rome. He worked as all the minutanti must do, in season and out of season. The Propaganda official is a drudge who seldom knows or looks for a holiday. When every other office in Rome is closed for the terrible Roman, fever-giving months, the Cardinal, the Secretary, and the minutanti are still at their desks. Rome serves all the world, and at the Propaganda all the world is served. Now the particular official I speak of, left a high and lucrative position in his native diocese for the work of the Propaganda; and though his duties placed him in constant correspondence with the Church spread over Asia, and I may say over the islands of the Southern and Indian Ocean, he was paid a great deal less than would satisfy the humblest curate in any English-speaking country. He could at any moment leave this position and obtain dignity and comparative ease. But for him, as for the rest of his brethren in harness, the work of the Sacred Congregation had a strong fascination. They seem somehow to thrive on hard work, and if not killed soon by it, to get so used to it, that they cannot do without it. The good Cardinal who now so worthily presides over the whole work of the great institution, has gone through all its grades, from the Minutanté’s desk to that of the Cardinal Prefect. All who visit Rome on business to the Propaganda are astonished to find him always at their service, from early morning to near midnight. It is so with the Secretary, who is also an esteemed official of the Institute. Their work is, no doubt, a deeply interesting and a most responsible one. But there is, I found, a far more powerful motive for attachment to this hard labour for long years and small pay. It is that the officials of the Propaganda, of every class, participate in every good work performed in the world committed by the Vicar of Christ to their care. They enjoy very many indulgences and are enriched with innumerable spiritual privileges. This I found to be the secret of Archbishop Agliardi’s long years of contented, severe, and ill-paid labour. When we see other men immure themselves in Cisterican and Carthusian cloisters, we can realise the reason of so much devotion, but not till then. The work of the Propaganda is necessary for the greatest ends of God’s service. Its officers are certain they are serving the servants of God, the martyrs of China, Corea, and Japan, the labourers in every part of the Lord’s extended vineyard. I speak of Monsignor Agliardi, because he has left the Institution, and is now employed as Papal Delegate in the great Mission of India. But there are others as devotedly performing such duties as his in the Propaganda. There is no lack of attention, and I believe that all, both Bishops and Priests, who have ever had occasion to visit the Institution, will say that they have been forcibly struck with the genuine goodness, prudence, learning, and general superiority of the officials employed in every department of that Sacred Institution.

It happens, by the care of the Popes, that only the very first men in the Apostolic College are appointed Prefects over the Propaganda. The men who occupied the position in this century alone will prove this. I have never seen the late illustrious Cardinal Barnabo, but his fame still lives in all the Churches. Before him lived the saintly Cardinal Fransoni, and he was preceded by one who was taken from the position of Prefect to ascend the throne of Peter in some of the most difficult days that have tested a Pope’s peculiar worth in this most trying century. The present illustrious man who governs the Propaganda was its Secretary in the days of Cardinal Barnabo. He was taken from that position to discharge most difficult diplomatic duties in Spain, and was afterwards Secretary of State to Pius IX., in succession to the late celebrated Cardinal Antonelli. In fact, his present Holiness looks often to the officials of the Propaganda for his diplomatic agents in places where rare tact, knowledge, and sanctity of life combined, are necessary; and this has been manifested within the present year in the missions confided to Monsignors Agliardi and Chiavoni in India and South America, respectively. Monsignor Vanutelli, who represented the Pope at the coronation of the Czar, and is now engaged in the difficult nunciature of Lisbon, may be also said to be a member of the Propaganda, in the service of which he discharged the duties of Archiepiscopal Legate at Constantinople.

Having now glanced at the nature and history of this Institution, we shall take a rapid survey of the work it has done, and is doing, for the world.