Introduction

THE SIXTH CATHOLIC CONGRESS of the Episcopal Church was held October 22d through 26th, 1933, in Philadelphia, to celebrate the Centenary of the beginnings of the Oxford Movement. Its purpose was defined in the Congress Handbook: "The purpose of this Centenary Congress is to give thanks to Almighty God for the Catholic Revival in the Episcopal Church and throughout the Anglican communion, to bear witness before the world to the faith and worship of the Church, and to seek together God's grace and guidance, that His Kingdom may come and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

The program was much more extensive and varied than that of previous Congresses. There were many more services and meetings which are not reported in this book. The Congress opened on Sunday, October 22d, with services and special preachers in the churches and a young people's meeting of more than 1,200 in the afternoon. Monday morning there was a Solemn High Mass in honor of the Blessed Sacrament, and Monday afternoon a tea and reception.

The Congress formally opened Monday evening when the Bishop of Pennsylvania, the Rt. Rev. Francis M. Taitt, welcomed the delegates. The Congress Mass in the Municipal Auditorium on Tuesday morning had an attendance of more than 12,000. The Presiding Bishop of the Church, the Most Rev. James DeWolf Perry, preached the sermon. Each other morning there were Solemn High Masses with special preachers. All services and sessions were crowded and the attendance at the Congress was many times that of any former Congress. There were afternoon and evening sessions each day except [1/2] Wednesday evening when the Congress Dinner was held, with more than 1,400 persons present. At the closing session Thursday evening the Bishop of New York, the Rt. Rev. William T. Manning, spoke upon "The Future of the Kingdom," and the chairman, the Bishop of Milwaukee, the Rt. Rev. Benjamin F. P. Ivins, gave a final summary.

In addition to the usual exhibits there were several interesting historical exhibits including one of vestments and Church fittings and one of literature loaned by the Sterling Memorial Library of Yale University.

While the Congress gave adequate space and thought to the past, it was concerned rather with an interpretation of the message of the past for the future than simply an historical remembrance. The revival of dogma and worship, the forming of a large body of practising Catholics has been but a beginning. The next hundred years must see the application of Catholic life to the manifold problems of our present-day existence. That is the logical development of the work of the Oxford Fathers, and the re-birth of a Catholic ethic and sociology should be the next great contribution of the movement to the coming of His Kingdom.

C. CLARK KENNEDY