Notes and Comments

Vatican Announcements

The prefect of the Apostolic Vatican Library, Monsignor Cesare Pasini, has announced that the library is scheduled to open in October 2010. He is planning a congress to celebrate the event that will provide a general overview of the institution and its functions. Scholars will also present papers testifying to how the library has assisted their research over the past half-century.

The secretary of the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archaeology, Monsignor Fabrizio Bisconti, has been appointed by Pope Benedict XVI as the archaeological superintendent for the catacombs.

Exhibitions and Collections

"Women and Spirit: Catholic Sisters in America," a traveling exhibition sponsored by the Leadership Conference of Women Religious in association with the Cincinnati Museum Center, will demonstrate how a small group of independent American women helped to shape the nation's social and cultural landscape. They corresponded with President Thomas Jefferson, dealt with bandits and roughnecks, brought culture to the wilderness, provided the nation's first health insurance to Midwestern loggers, and were involved in all the major events of the nation, from the Civil War to the Gold Rush, San Francisco earthquake, influenza epidemic, and the civil rights movement. For more information, consult http://www.womenandspirit.org/index.html.

The exhibition "Incompletely Visible: The Legacy of the Bay Area Missions" is currently on display at Pioneer Hall in San Francisco and will run through December. It is sponsored by the Mission Dolores and the Society of California Pioneers.

The Center for Migration Studies has completed the processing of its Collection #078C, the Records of the Province of Saint Charles of the Society of Saint Charles-Scalabrinians. The records document the work of the Scalabrinians, a congregation of male religious who minister to migrants. The collection documents an area reaching from the Canadian province of Quebec to the Caribbean Basin over a time period stretching from the 1890s to the present. It consists of 209 boxes, approximately 150 linear feet, that contain correspondence, photographs, blueprints, publications, and ephemera such as church bulletins and event programs. Most of the material is in Italian or English, but other languages are also represented. The materials document such aspects of Catholicism as migrant and ethnic ministry (especially Italian), the care of the aged (the order has two nursing homes), the work of religious orders in parish settings, and the role of parishes in community life. Some restrictions on the use of recent material and personnel material apply. For an electronic copy of the finding guide, further information, or an appointment, e-mail archives@cmsny.org.

Conferences and Lectures

On March 28, 2009, the Ninth Workshop sponsored by the Texas Catholic Historical Society was held in Austin, Texas, for those interested in teaching Texas Catholic History. Presentations were given by Gilberto M. Hinojosa, Patrick Foley, and Bob Wright.

The Twenty-eighth Annual Conference on the History of the Congregations of Holy Cross met May 28–31, 2009, at St. Edward's University in Austin, Texas, with Brother Richard Daly, C.S.C., presiding. The program was organized by Brother George Klawitter, C.S.C. A number of presentations focused on topics related to the Holy Cross congregation in Texas: "Maryhill College at St. Edward's University" by Kathleen Wilburn; "St. Edward's University Characters" by Brother Gerald Mueller, C.S.C.; "History of the Mexican Missions" by Father John Vanden Bossche, C.S.C.; "Oral History at St. Edward's University" by Terry Newton; "Sisters of the Holy Cross in Texas" by Sister Eileen Dewsnip, C.S.C.; and "Holy Cross in Little Texas Towns" by the Most Rev. John McCarthy.

Other presentations included "Holy Cross in Southern Indiana" by Marilyn Schultz; "The History of Priestly Formation at the University of Notre Dame" by Christopher Ochoa; "The Men of Holy Cross in France, 1869–1903" by Father James Connelly, C.S.C.; "The Gervais Brothers: Bernie and Benny" by Brother Lawrence Stewart, C.S.C.; "He Changed Us All: Rev. Joseph E, Payne, C.S.C." by John Peck; "Travels with John Zahm: A Communal and Personal Story" by Father David Burrell, C.S.C.; and "Servant of God Patrick J. Peyton CSC and Lourdes" by...