Franz Xaver von Baader

 Baal, Baalim

 Baalbek

 Babel

 Ludwig Babenstuber

 Jacques Babinet

 St. Babylas

 Babylon

 Babylonia

 Synod of Baccanceld

 Bacchylus

 Bachiarius

 Paul Bachmann

 Augustin de Backer

 Peter Hubert Evermode Backx

 David William Bacon

 John Bacon

 Nathaniel Bacon

 Baconian System of Philosophy

 Diocese of Badajoz

 Grand Duchy of Baden

 Tommaso Badia

 Stephen Theodore Badin

 Raphael Badius

 John Jacob Baegert

 François Baert

 Suitbert Bæumer

 Vicariate Apostolic of Bagamoyo

 Bagdad

 Bageis

 Cavaliere Giovanni Baglioni

 Diocese of Bagnorea

 Jean Bagot

 Christopher Bagshaw

 Bahama Islands

 Thomas Bailey

 Charles-François Baillargeon

 Adrien Baillet

 Pierre Bailloquet

 Thomas Baily

 Christopher Bainbridge

 Peter Augustine Baines

 Ralph Baines

 Abbate Giuseppe Baini

 St. Baithen

 Michel Baius

 Ven. Charles Baker

 David Augustine Baker

 Francis Asbury Baker

 Diocese of Baker City

 Thomas Bakócz

 Balaam

 Balanaea

 St. Balbina

 Boleslaus Balbinus

 Vasco Nuñez de Balboa

 Bernardo de Balbuena

 Hieronymus Balbus

 Baldachinum of the Altar

 Jacob Balde

 Balderic (Baudry)

 Balderic

 Bernardino Baldi

 Bl. Anthony Baldinucci

 Alesso Baldovinetti

 St. Baldred

 Hans Baldung

 Baldwin

 Francis Baldwin

 Baldwin of Canterbury

 Balearic Isles

 Ven. Christopher Bales

 Mother Frances Mary Teresa Ball

 Diocese of Ballarat

 Girolamo and Pietro Ballerini

 Henry Balme

 Jaime Luciano Balmes

 Balsam

 Theodore Balsamon

 Baltasar

 Archdiocese of Baltimore

 Plenary Councils of Baltimore

 Provincial Councils of Baltimore

 Jean François Baltus

 Jean Balue

 Etienne Baluze

 Ven. Edward Bamber

 Archdiocese of Bamberg

 Banaias

 Louis Bancel

 Matteo Bandello

 Anselmo Banduri

 Domingo Bañez

 Antiphonary of Bangor

 Diocese of Bangor

 Bangor Abbey

 John and Michael Banim

 Diocese of Banjaluka

 Civil Aspect of Bankruptcy

 Moral Aspect of Bankruptcy

 Banns of Marriage

 John Bapst

 Baptism

 Baptismal Font

 Baptismal Vows

 Bl. Baptista Mantuanus

 Baptistery

 Baptistines

 Baptists

 Barac

 Jacob Baradæus

 Frederic Baraga

 Ven. Madeleine-Sophie Barat

 Nicolas Barat

 Alvaro Alonzo Barba

 Barbalissos

 St. Barbara

 Giovanni Francesco Barbarigo

 Diocese of Barbastro

 Felix-Joseph Barbelin

 Barber Family

 Giovanni Barbieri

 Agostino Barbosa

 Ignacio Barbosa-Machado

 John Barbour

 Paulus Barbus

 Barca

 Diocese of Barcelona

 University of Barcelona

 Alonzo de Barcena

 John Barclay

 William Barclay

 Martin del Barco Centenera

 Martin de Barcos

 Henry Bard

 Bardesanes and Bardesanites

 Bar Hebræus

 Archdiocese of Bari

 Barjesus

 Moses Bar-Kepha

 Ven. Mark Barkworth

 Barlaam and Josaphat

 Gabriel Barletta

 Abbey of Barlings

 Ven. Edward Ambrose Barlow

 William Rudesind Barlow

 Epistle of Barnabas

 St. Barnabas

 Barnabas of Terni

 Barnabites

 Federigo Baroccio

 Barocco Style

 Bonaventura Baron

 Vincent Baron

 Ven. Cesare Baronius

 Diocese of Barquisimeto

 Sebastião Barradas

 Louis-Mathias, Count de Barral

 Joachim Barrande

 Jacinto Barrasa

 Antoine-Lefebvre, Sieur de la Barre

 Balthasar Barreira

 Lopez de Barrientos

 João de Barros

 John Barrow

 Ven. William Barrow

 Augustin Barruel

 John Barry (1)

 John Barry (2)

 Patrick Barry

 Paul de Barry

 Johann Caspar Barthel

 Jean-Jacques Barthélemy

 Francesco della Rossa Bartholi

 Bartholomaeus Anglicus

 Bartholomew

 St. Bartholomew

 Ven. Bartholomew of Braga

 Bartholomew of Braganca

 Bartholomew of Brescia

 Bartholomew of Edessa

 Bartholomew of Lucca

 Bartholomew of Pisa

 Bartholomew of San Concordio

 Bartholomites

 Daniello Bartoli

 Giulio Bartolocci

 Fra Bartolommeo

 Francesco Bartolozzi

 Elizabeth Barton

 Baruch

 Liturgy of Saint Basil

 Rule of Saint Basil

 Basilians

 Basilica (stoa basilike)

 Basilides (1)

 Basilides (2)

 Basilinopolis

 Basilissa

 Basil of Amasea

 Basil of Seleucia

 St. Basil the Great

 Ecclesiastical Use of Basin

 Council of Basle

 Diocese of Basle-Lugano

 Bas-relief

 Bassein

 Joshua Bassett

 Matthew of Bassi

 Bassianus

 Claude-Frédéric Bastiat

 Guillaume-André-Réné Baston

 Prefecture Apostolic of Basutoland

 Vicariate Apostolic of Batavia

 Bath Abbey

 Bath and Wells

 William Bathe

 St. Bathilde

 Diocese of Bathurst

 Marco Battaglini

 Charles Batteux

 Giovanni Giuda Giona Battista

 Battle Abbey

 Wilhelm Bauberger

 Nicolas Baudeau

 Michel Baudouin

 Gallus Jacob Baumgartner

 Louis Baunard

 Etienne Bauny

 Louis-François de Bausset

 Louis-Eugène-Marie Bautain

 Fray Juan Bautista

 Kingdom of Bavaria

 William Bawden

 Adèle Bayer

 Francisco Bayeu y Subias

 Diocese of Bayeux

 James Roosevelt Bayley

 Joseph Bayma

 Diocese of Bayonne

 Guido de Baysio

 John Stephen Bazin

 Use of Beads at Prayers

 Beard

 Aubrey Beardsley

 Beatific Vision

 Beatification and Canonization

 Mount of Beatitudes

 Eight Beatitudes

 David Beaton

 James Beaton (1)

 James Beaton (2)

 Beatrix

 Lady Margaret Beaufort

 Beaulieu Abbey

 Beaufort, Henry

 Renaud de Beaune

 Jean-Nicolas Beauregard

 Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard

 Diocese of Beauvais

 Gilles-François-de Beauvais

 Jean-Baptiste-Charles-Marie de Beauvais

 Roch-Amboise-Auguste Bébian

 Abbey of Bec

 Martin Becan

 John Beccus

 Bl. John Beche

 Georg Philipp Ludolf von Beckedorff

 Thomas Andrew Becker

 Pierre-Jean Beckx

 Antoine-César Becquerel

 Pierre Bédard

 Bede

 Ven. Bede

 Gunning S. Bedford

 Henry Bedford

 Frances Bedingfeld

 Sir Henry Bedingfeld

 Cajetan Bedini

 Bedlam

 Ian Theodor Beelen

 Beelphegor

 Beelzebub

 Ven. George Beesley

 Francesco Antonio Begnudelli-Basso

 Beguines and Beghards

 Albert von Behaim

 Martin Behaim

 Beirut

 Diocese of Beja

 John Belasyse

 Ven. Thomas Belchiam

 Archdiocese of Belem do Pará

 Belfry

 Belgium

 Belgrade and Smederevo

 Giacopo Belgrado

 Belial

 Belief

 Albert (Jean) Belin

 Ven. Arthur Bell

 James Bell

 Jerome Bellamy

 John Bellarini

 Ven. Robert Francis Romulus Bellarmine

 Edward Bellasis

 Aloysius Bellecius

 John Bellenden

 Diocese of Belleville

 Diocese of Belley

 Sir Richard Bellings

 Bellini

 Jean-Baptiste de Belloy

 Bells

 Diocese of Belluno-Feltre

 François Vachon de Belmont

 Ven. Thomas Belson

 Henri François Xavier de Belsunce de Castelmoron

 Giambattista Belzoni

 Pietro Bembo

 Prefecture Apostolic of Benadir

 Laurent Bénard

 Fray Alonzo Benavides

 Benda

 Pope Benedict I

 Pope St. Benedict II

 Pope Benedict III

 Pope Benedict IV

 Pope Benedict V

 Pope Benedict VI

 Pope Benedict VII

 Pope Benedict VIII

 Pope Benedict IX

 Pope Benedict X

 Pope Benedict XI

 Pope Benedict XII

 Pope Benedict XIII

 Pope Benedict XIV

 Rule of Saint Benedict

 Abbey of Benedictbeurn

 St. Benedict Biscop

 Jean Benedicti

 St. Benedict Joseph Labre

 Benedictine Order

 Benedictional

 Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament

 Benedict Levita

 St. Benedict of Aniane

 St. Benedict of Nursia

 Benedict of Peterborough

 St. Benedict of San Philadelphio

 Benedictus (Canticle of Zachary)

 Benedictus Polonus

 Benefice

 Benefit of Clergy

 Jeremiah Benettis

 Archdiocese of Benevento (Beneventana)

 Jöns Oxenstjerna Bengtsson

 Anatole de Bengy

 St. Benignus

 St. Benignus of Dijon

 Benjamin

 Franz Georg Benkert

 St. Benno

 Benno II

 Michel Benoît

 Benthamism

 Family of Bentivoglio

 John Francis Bentley

 William Bentney

 Joseph Charles Benziger

 Girolamo Benzoni

 St. Berach

 St. Berard of Carbio

 Carlo Sebastiano Berardi

 Antoine Henri de Bérault-Bercastel

 St. Bercharius

 Pierre Bercheure

 Bl. Berchtold

 Berengarius of Tours

 Pierre Bérenger

 Berenice

 Diocese of Bergamo

 Nicolas-Sylvestre Bergier

 Charles Berington

 Joseph Berington

 Humphrey Berisford

 Berissa

 José Mariano Beristain y Martin de Souza

 Anton Berlage

 Pierre Berland

 Fray Tomás de Berlanga

 Berlin

 Hector Berlioz

 Agostino Bernal

 St. Bernard

 Alexis-Xyste Bernard

 Claude Bernard (1)

 Claude Bernard (2)

 Bernard Guidonis

 Bernard of Besse

 Bernard of Bologna

 Bernard of Botone

 St. Bernard of Clairvaux

 Bernard of Cluny

 Bernard of Compostella

 Bernard of Luxemburg

 St. Bernard of Menthon

 Bernard of Pavia

 St. Bernard Tolomeo

 Bl. Bernardine of Feltre

 Bl. Bernardine of Fossa

 St. Bernardine of Siena

 Bernardines

 Berne

 Francesco Berni

 Etienne-Alexandre Bernier

 Domenico Bernini

 Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini

 Giuseppe Maria Bernini

 François-Joachim-Pierre de Bernis

 Berno (Abbot of Reichenau)

 Berno

 Bernold of Constance

 St. Bernward

 Beroea

 Berosus

 Beroth

 Pietro Berrettini

 Alonso Berruguete

 Isaac-Joseph Berruyer

 Pierre-Antoine Berryer

 Bersabee

 Bertha

 Guillaume-François Berthier

 Berthold

 Berthold of Chiemsee

 Berthold of Henneberg

 Berthold of Ratisbon

 Berthold of Reichenau

 Giovanni Lorenzo Berti

 St. Bertin

 Diocese of Bertinoro

 Ludovico Bertonio

 Pierre Bertrand

 St. Bertulf

 Pierre de Bérulle

 Martin de Bervanger

 Archdiocese of Besançon (Vesontio)

 Jerome Lamy Besange

 Theodore Beschefer

 Costanzo Giuseppe Beschi

 Beseleel

 Jérôme Besoigne

 Christopher Besoldus

 Johannes Bessarion

 Johann Franz Bessel

 Henry Digby Beste

 Bestiaries

 Fray Domingo Betanzos

 Fray Pedro de Betanzos

 Juan de Betanzos

 Bethany

 Bethany Beyond the Jordan

 Betharan

 Bethdagon

 Bethel

 Bethlehem (1)

 Bethlehem (2)

 Bethlehem (as used in architecture)

 Bethlehemites

 Bethsaida

 Bethsan

 Bethulia

 Betrothal

 Prefecture Apostolic of Bettiah

 Betting

 Count Auguste-Arthur Beugnot

 St. Beuno

 Beverley Minster

 Lawrence Beyerlinck

 Giovanni Antonio Bianchi

 Francesco Bianchini

 Giuseppe Bianchini

 Charles Bianconi

 Pierre Biard

 Bibbiena

 St. Bibiana

 The Bible

 Bible Societies

 Picture Bibles

 Biblia Pauperum

 Biblical Antiquities

 Biblical Commission

 Ven. Robert Bickerdike

 Alexander Bicknor

 James Bidermann

 Gabriel Biel

 Diocese of Biella

 Marcin Bielski

 Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville

 Bigamy (in Canon Law)

 Bigamy (in Civil Jurisprudence)

 Marguerin de la Bigne

 Eberhard Billick

 Charles-René Billuart

 Jacques de Billy

 Bilocation

 Bination

 Joseph Biner

 Etienne Binet

 Jacques-Philippe-Marie Binet

 Severin Binius

 Anton Joseph Binterim

 Biogenesis and Abiogenesis

 Biology

 Flavio Biondo

 Jean-Baptiste Biot

 Birds (In Symbolism)

 Biretta

 St. Birinus (Berin)

 Fabian Birkowski

 Diocese of Birmingham

 Heinrich Birnbaum

 Defect of Birth

 Birtha

 Diocese of Bisarchio

 Bishop

 William Bishop

 Bisomus

 Robert Blackburne

 Black Fast

 Blackfoot Indians

 Adam Blackwood

 St. Blaise

 Anthony Blanc

 Jean-Baptiste Blanchard

 François Norbert Blanchet

 St. Blandina

 St. Blane

 Blasphemy

 Matthew Blastares

 St. Blathmac

 Nicephorus Blemmida

 Blenkinsop

 The Blessed

 Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament

 Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament

 Blessing

 Apostolic Blessing

 Diocese of Blois

 Peter Blomevenna

 Blood Indians

 François-Louis Blosius

 Heinrich Blyssen

 Francis Blyth

 Nicolas Bobadilla

 Abbey and Diocese of Bobbio

 Boccaccino

 Giovanni Boccaccio

 Placidus Böcken

 Edward Bocking

 Ven. John Bodey

 Jean Bodin

 Bodone

 Hector Boece

 Petrus Boeri

 Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius

 Bogomili

 Archdiocese of Santa Fé de Bogotá

 Bohemia

 Bohemian Brethren

 Bohemians of the United States

 Diocese of Boiano

 Matteo Maria Boiardo

 Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux

 Diocese of Boise

 Jean de Dieu-Raymond de Cucé de Boisgelin

 St. Boisil

 Diocese of Bois-le-Duc

 Osbern Bokenham

 Conrad von Bolanden

 Giovanni Vincenzo Bolgeni

 Bolivia

 Bollandists

 Johann Bollig

 Archdiocese of Bologna

 Giovanni da Bologna

 University of Bologna

 Jérôme-Hermès Bolsec

 Edmund Bolton

 Bernhard Bolzano

 Archdiocese of Bombay

 Cornelius Richard Anton van Bommel

 Giovanni Bona

 Bonagratia of Bergamo

 François de Bonal

 Raymond Bonal

 Louis-Gabriel-Ambroise, Vicomte de Bonald

 Louis-Jacques-Maurice de Bonald

 Bona Mors Confraternity

 Charles-Lucien-Jules-Laurent Bonaparte

 St. Bonaventure

 Balthasar Boncompagni

 Juan Pablo Bonet

 Nicholas Bonet

 Jacques Bonfrère

 St. Boniface

 Pope St. Boniface I

 Pope Boniface II

 Pope Boniface III

 Pope St. Boniface IV

 Pope Boniface V

 Pope Boniface VI

 Boniface VII (Antipope)

 Pope Boniface VIII

 Pope Boniface IX

 Boniface Association

 Boniface of Savoy

 Boni Homines

 Bonizo of Sutri

 University of Bonn

 Ven. Jean Louis Bonnard

 Henri-Marie-Gaston Boisnormand de Bonnechose

 Abbey of Bonne-Espérance

 Edmund Bonner

 Augustin Bonnetty

 Bonosus

 Institute of Bon Secours (de Paris)

 Alessandro Bonvicino

 Book of Common Prayer

 Foxe's Book of Martyrs

 Archdiocese of Bordeaux (Burdigala)

 University of Bordeaux

 Cavaliere Paris Bordone

 Caspar Henry Borgess

 Stefano Borgia

 Ambrogio Borgognone

 Diocese of Borgo San-Donnino

 Diocese of Borgo San-Sepolcro

 Pierre-Rose-Ursule-Dumoulin Borie

 Prefectures Apostolic of Borneo

 Francisco Nicolás Borras

 Andrea Borromeo

 Federico Borromeo

 Society of St. Charles Borromeo

 Francesco Borromini

 Christopher Borrus

 Diocese of Bosa

 Peter van der Bosch

 Ven. Giovanni Melchior Bosco

 Ruggiero Giuseppe Boscovich

 Antonio Bosio

 Bosnia and Herzegovina

 Boso

 Boso (Breakspear)

 Jacques Le Bossu

 Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet

 Ven. John Boste

 Archdiocese of Boston

 Bostra

 Bothrys

 Sandro Botticelli

 St. Botulph

 Lorenzo Boturini Benaducci

 Pierre Boucher

 Louis-Victor-Emile Bougaud

 Guillaume-Hyacinthe Bougeant

 Dominique Bouhours

 Jacques Bouillart

 Emmanuel Théodore de la Tour d'Auvergne, Cardinal de Bouillon

 Marie Dominique Bouix

 Henri, Count of Boulainvilliers

 André de Boulanger

 César-Egasse du Boulay

 Etienne-Antoine Boulogne

 Martin Bouquet

 Thomas Bouquillon

 Jean-Jacques Bourassé

 Thomas Bourchier

 Louis Bourdaloue

 Hélie de Bourdeilles

 Jean Bourdon

 François Bourgade

 Archdiocese of Bourges (Bituricæ)

 Ignace Bourget

 François Bourgoing

 Gilbert Bourne

 Charles de Bouvens

 Joachim Bouvet

 Jean-Baptiste Bouvier

 Diocese of Bova

 Diocese of Bovino

 Sir George Bowyer

 Boy-Bishop

 John Boyce

 Boyle Abbey

 Thomas Bracken

 Henry de Bracton

 Denis Mary Bradley

 Edward Bradshaigh

 Henry Bradshaw

 William Maziere Brady

 Archdiocese of Braga

 Diocese of Bragança-Miranda

 Brahminism

 Louis Braille

 Nicolas de Bralion

 Donato Bramante

 Brancaccio

 Francesco Brancati

 Francesco Lorenzo Brancati di Lauria

 Branch Sunday

 Brandenburg

 Edouard Branly

 Sebastian Brant

 Pierre de Bourdeille, Seigneur de Brantôme

 Memorial Brasses

 Charles Etienne, Abbé Brasseur de Bourbourg

 Johann Alexander Brassicanus

 St. Braulio

 Placidus Braun

 Francisco Bravo

 Brazil

 Liturgical Use of Bread

 Striking of the Breast

 Jean de Brébeuf

 Diocese of Breda

 Jean Bréhal

 Brehon Laws

 Bremen

 St. Brenach

 Michael John Brenan

 St. Brendan

 Klemens Maria Brentano

 Diocese of Brescia

 Prince-Bishopric of Breslau

 Francesco Giuseppe Bressani

 Brethren of the Lord

 Raymond Breton

 Breviary

 Aberdeen Breviary

 Heinrich Brewer

 Joseph Olivier Briand

 Bribery

 Briçonnet

 Jacques Bridaine

 The Bridge-Building Brotherhood

 St. Bridget of Sweden

 Thomas Edward Bridgett

 John Bridgewater

 Bridgewater Treatises

 St. Brieuc

 St. Brigid of Ireland

 Brigittines

 John Brignon

 Paulus Bril

 Peter Michael Brillmacher

 Ven. Edmund Brindholm

 Diocese of Brindisi

 Stephen Brinkley

 Jacques-Charles de Brisacier

 Jean de Brisacier

 Archdiocese of Brisbane

 Johann Nepomucene Brischar

 Ancient Diocese of Bristol

 Richard Bristow

 British Columbia

 Francis Britius

 Thomas Lewis Brittain

 Ven. John Britton

 Diocese of Brixen

 St. Brogan

 Auguste-Théodore-Paul de Broglie

 Jacques-Victor-Albert, Duc de Broglie

 Maurice-Jean de Broglie

 Jean-Allarmet de Brogny

 John Bromyard

 John Baptist Brondel

 Anthony Brookby

 James Brookes

 Diocese of Brooklyn

 Jean-Baptiste de la Brosse

 Brothers Hospitallers of St. John of God

 Richard Broughton

 Christoph Brouwer

 William Brown

 Charles Farrar Browne

 Volume 4

 Volume 3/Contributors

 Orestes Augustus Brownson

 Vicariate Apostolic of Brownsville

 Heinrich Brück

 Joachim Bruel

 David-Augustin de Brueys

 Louis-Frédéric Brugère

 Bruges

 Pierre Brugière

 John Brugman

 Constantino Brumidi

 Pierre Brumoy

 Filippo Brunellesco

 Ferdinand Brunetière

 Ugolino Brunforte

 Leonardo Bruni

 Diocese of Brünn

 Francis de Sales Brunner

 Sebastian Brunner

 St. Bruno, Archbishop of Cologne

 St. Bruno (1)

 St. Bruno (2)

 Giordano Bruno

 St. Bruno of Querfurt

 Bruno the Saxon

 Brunswick (Braunschweig)

 Anton Brus

 Brusa

 Brussels

 Simon William Gabriel Bruté de Rémur

 Jacques Bruyas

 John Delavau Bryant

 Bubastis

 Gabriel Bucelin

 Martin Bucer

 Victor de Buck

 Buckfast Abbey

 Sir Patrick Alphonsus Buckley

 Buddhism

 Guillaume Budé

 Diocese of Budweis

 Buenos Aires

 Diocese of Buffalo

 Claude Buffier

 Louis Buglio

 Bernardo Buil

 Ecclesiastical Buildings

 Archdiocese of Bukarest

 Bulgaria

 Bulla Aurea

 Ven. Thomas Bullaker

 Bullarium

 Spanish Bull-Fight

 Angélique Bullion

 Bulls and Briefs

 Sir Richard Bulstrode

 Joannes Bunderius

 Michelangelo Buonarroti

 Burchard of Basle

 Burchard of Worms

 St. Burchard of Würzburg

 Hans Burckmair

 Edward Ambrose Burgis

 Francisco Burgoa

 Archdiocese of Burgos

 Burgundy

 Christian Burial

 Jean Buridan

 Jean Lévesque de Burigny

 Franz Burkard

 Edmund Burke

 Thomas Burke

 Thomas Nicholas Burke

 Walter Burleigh

 Diocese of Burlington

 Burma

 Peter Hardeman Burnett

 James Burns

 Burse

 Abbey of Bursfeld

 Abbey of Bury St. Edmund's

 Ven. César de Bus

 Pierre Busée

 Hermann Busembaum

 Busiris

 Buskins

 Franz Joseph, Ritter von Buss

 Carlos María Bustamante

 Thomas Stephen Buston

 John Patrick Crichton-Stuart, Third Marquess of Bute

 Jacques Buteux

 Alban Butler

 Charles Butler

 Mary Joseph Butler

 Buttress

 Ven. Christopher Buxton

 Byblos

 Bye-Altar

 Byllis

 William Byrd

 Andrew Byrne

 Richard Byrne

 William Byrne

 Byzantine Architecture

 Byzantine Art

 Byzantine Empire

 Byzantine Literature

Provincial Councils of Baltimore


These councils have a unique importance for the Church in the United States, inasmuch as the earlier ones legislated for practically the whole territory of the Republic, and furnished moreover a norm for all the later provincial councils of the country. This article touches on only those parts of the legislation which may seem in any way to individualize the discipline of the Church in the United States or depict the peculiar needs and difficulties of its nascent period.

I. The First Provincial Council was held in 1829 and was attended by one archbishop and four bishops. Its decrees refer to the enactments of two previous conventions which may be summarized briefly. Bishop Carroll's Diocesan Synod of 1791 decreed: (No. 3) The ceremonies of baptism need not be supplied for converted heretics who had been previously validly baptized. (No. 4) As a rule children are not to be confirmed before the age of reason. (No. 5) The offerings of the faithful are to be divided into three parts: for the support of the pastor, the relief of the poor, and the sustentation of the church. (No. 11) The faithful are to be warned that the absolution of priests not approved by the bishop is invalid. (No. 15) None are to be married until they know the Christian Doctrine. Slaves, however, need know only the principal truths, if more cannot be acquired. (No. 16) In mixed marriages the non-Catholic must promise before witnesses to bring up the offspring of the union as Catholics. (No. 17) Hymns and prayers in the vernacular are to be encouraged at evening services. (No. 20) Catholics may work on days of obligation owing to the circumstances of place, but they must hear Mass if possible. (No. 23) The rich are to be warned that they sin grievously if, through their parsimony, pastors cannot be sustained and multiplied. (No. 24) When there is question of refusing Christian burial, the bishop must be consulted beforehand when possible.

The second series of enactments referred to are the articles concerning ecclesiastical discipline sanctioned by the common consent of the Archbishop of Baltimore and the other American bishops in 1810. The main articles are: (No. 2) Regulars should not be withdrawn from pastoral work without the consent of the bishops, if their assistance be deemed a necessity to the existence or prosperity of their missions. (No. 3) The Douay version of the Bible is to be used. (No. 5) Baptism must be conferred in the church where possible. (No. 6) If no sponsor can be obtained, private baptism only is to be administered. (No. 9) The faithful are to be warned against improper theatres, dances, and novels. (No. 10) Freemasons cannot be admitted to the sacraments.

Besides ordering the publication of these decrees along with their own synodical enactments, the fathers of the First Provincial Council decreed: (No. 1) Priests should labour in any mission assigned to them by the bishops. (No. 5) Owing to the abuses of lay trustees all future churches should be consigned to the bishop when possible. (No. 6) Trustees cannot institute or dismiss a pastor. No ecclesiastical patronage exists in this country. (No. 10) Infants of non-Catholics may be baptized if their parents promise to give them a Catholic education, but the sponsor must be a Catholic. (No. 20) In administering the sacraments and in the burial service, Latin and not English must be employed. (No. 31) A ceremonial written in English is to be drawn up. (No. 34) Catholic schools should be erected.

At one of the sessions of this council several lawyers (among them R. B. Taney, afterwards Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States) gave advice to the bishops on points of American law concerning property rights and ecclesiastical courts. In addition to their decrees, the bishops asked and obtained form Rome permission to use for adults the formula of infant baptism; to consecrate baptismal water with the form approved for the missionaries of Peru, and to extend the time for fulfilling the paschal precept, i.e. from the first Sunday of Lent to Trinity Sunday.

II. The Second Council, held in 1833, was attended by one archbishop and nine bishops. The main decrees were: (No. 3) A delimitation of the American dioceses. (No. 4) A method of selecting bishops, which a later Council (Prov. VII) modified. (No. 5) Recommending the entrusting to the Jesuits of the Indian missions in the West, as also (No. 6) the missions among former American slaves, repatriated in Liberia, Africa, to the same fathers. (No. 8) Bishops are exhorted to erect ecclesiastical seminaries.

III. The Third Council in 1837 was composed of one archbishop and eight bishops. Its decrees enacted: (No. 4) Ecclesiastical property is to be secured by the best means the civil law affords. (No. 6) Ecclesiastics should not bring ecclesiastical cases before the civil tribunals. (No. 7) Priests are prohibited from soliciting money outside their own parishes. (No. 8) Pastors are warned against permitting unsuitable music at Divine worship. (No. 9) The two days following Easter and Pentecost are to be days of obligation no longer. (No. 10) Wednesdays in Advent are not to be days of fast and abstinence.

IV. The Fourth Council in 1840 issued decrees signed by one archbishop and twelve bishops as follows: (No. 1) In mixed marriages no sacred rites or vestments are to be used. (No. 5) Temperance societies are recommended to the faithful. (No. 6) Pastors are to see that those frequenting public school do not use the Protestant version of the Bible or sing sectarian hymns. They must also employ their influence against the introduction of such practices into the public schools. (No. 8) Bishops are to control ecclesiastical property and not permit priests to hold it in their own name. Among those attending this council was the Bishop of Nancy and Toul, France, to whom the fathers granted a right to a decisive vote. A letter of consolation was sent by the council to the persecuted bishops of Poland, and another of thanks to the moderators of the Leopold Institute of Vienna, Austria.

V. In 1843, the Fifth Council was attended by one archbishop and sixteen bishops. Among its enactments were: (No. 2) Laymen may not deliver orations in churches. (No. 4) It is not expedient that the Tridentine decrees concerning clandestine matrimony be extended to places where they have not been already promulgated. (No. 5) Pastors are to be obliged to observe the law of residence. (No. 6) Priests may not borrow money for church uses without written permission of the bishop.

VI. The Sixth Council (One archbishop and twenty-two bishops attending) in 1846, decreed: (No. 1) that the Blessed Virgin Mary conceived without sin is chosen as the patron of the United States. (No. 2) Priests ordained titulo missionis may not enter a religious order without permission of their ordinaries. (No. 3) The canons concerning the proclaiming of the banns of matrimony are to be observed. At the request of the fathers, the Holy See sanctioned a formula to be used by the bishops in taking the oath at their consecration.

VII. In 1849 two archbishops and twenty-three bishops held the Seventh Council. The main decrees were: (No. 2) The Holy See is to be informed that the fathers think it opportune to define as a dogma the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. (No. 3) A change in the election of bishops in introduced. (No. 5) Bishops are not to give an exeat at the request of a priest unless it be certain that another bishop will receive him. (No. 6) Priests are forbidden to assist at the marriages of those who have already had a ceremony performed by a Protestant minister, or who intend to have such ceremony performed. (No. 7) A national council should be held in Baltimore in 1850, by Apostolic Authority. The fathers moreover petitioned the Holy See to raise New Orleans, Cincinnati, and New York to metropolitan dignity and to make a new limitation of the Provinces of Baltimore and St. Louis. They desired likewise that Baltimore should be declared the primatial see of the Republic. The pope granted the first part of the petition, but deferred acting on the question of primacy.

VIII. The Eighth Council was assembled in 1855. One archbishop and seven bishops or their representatives attended it. This council enacted: (No. 1) The fathers joyfully receive the dogmatic decision of the pope defining the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. (No. 2) Priests are warned that after August, 1857, adults must be baptized according to the regular formula for that service in the Roman Ritual and not according to that for infant baptism. (No. 4) No tax is to be demanded for dispensations from matrimonial impediments. (No. 6) Bishops are exhorted to increase the number of their diocesan consultors to ten or twelve. It will not be necessary, however, to obtain the opinion of all of them, even on important matters. For this, the counsel of three or four will suffice. On the death of the bishop, however, all the consultors shall send to the archbishop their written opinions as to an eligible successor for the vacant see. (No. 7) The various diocesan synods should determine on the best mode of providing for the proper support of the bishop. (No. 8) The fathers desire to see an American College erected in Rome. To the Acts of this council is appended a decree of the Holy See, sanctioning a mode of procedure in judicial causes of clerics.

IX. The Ninth Council in 1858 was attended by one archbishop and seven bishops. The main work of this synod consisted in drawing up petitions to the Holy See concerning a dispensation from abstinence on Saturdays; the conceding of certain honorary privileges to the Archbishop of Baltimore; the granting to the bishops the permission to allow the Blessed Sacrament to be kept in chapels of religious communities not subject to the law of enclosure. All of these petitions were granted by the Holy See. That concerning the Archbishop of Baltimore granted to him, as ruler of the mother-church of the United States, an honorary pre-eminence, to consist in his taking precedence of any other archbishop in the country, without regard to promotion or consecration, and in his having the place of honour in all councils and conventions. The fathers also sent to Rome an inquiry as to the nature of the vows (solemn or simple) of religious women, especially of Visitation Nuns in the United States, an answer to which was deferred to a later time (1864). The question was also discussed as to whether Archbishop Kenrick's version of the Bible should be approved for general use. It was finally decided to wait for Dr. John Henry Newman's expected version, and then to determine along with the bishops of other English-speaking countries on one common version.

X. In 1869, the Tenth Council enacted decrees that were signed by one archbishop, twelve bishops, and one abbot. Among these decrees we note: (No. 5) Bishops are exhorted to establish missions and schools for the negroes of their dioceses. (No. 7) Priests are to be appointed to aid the bishops in administering the temporal concerns of the diocese. They are also to supervise the spiritual and material affairs of religious women. At the request of the fathers, the Holy See extended for five years the privilege of using the short formula in the baptism of adults.

It should be remarked that the first seven provincial councils of Baltimore were practically, though not formally, plenary councils of the United States.

The numbers of decrees indicated in the text will be found conformable to any authorized edition of these councils; Acta et Decreta S. Conc. Receniorum. Collectio Lacensis. Auctoribus Presbyt., S. J. (Freiburg, 1875), contains in vol. III, the full text of the decrees of these ten councils; Concilia Provincialia Baltimori Habita ab Anno, 1829 ad 1849 (Baltimore, 1851), gives the acts of only the first seven provincial councils.

WILLIAM H.W. FANNING