26 - Letter from Fr. Thomas Dowling to Cardinal William O’Connell

26

Letter from Fr. Thomas Dowling to Cardinal William O’Connell

2 pp; typescript

Letter from Fr. Thomas Dowling OFM Cap. to Cardinal William O’Connell of Boston, requesting permission to establish a permanent foundation for the Irish Province of Capuchins within his Archdiocese. He notes that since being sent from Ireland 16 years prior, he has helped place over 30 Irish priests in the West, covering vast areas in California (Mendocino County), Oregon, and Idaho (Baker City and Lincoln Dioceses). He explains that while there is high demand for their missions in the East, they cannot secure a permanent base because ‘German Capuchin Provinces’ claim jurisdictional rights to almost every diocese on the Eastern Seaboard. Father Thomas petitions the Cardinal to take the Irish Capuchins under his protection and grant them a place in the Boston Archdiocese, arguing that the German friars have no rights in the New England States.

ISAD(G) 2nd edition