Bulletin of Catholic University of Peking

FOREWORD

Ts number of the Bu//etin records the two crowning events of 1927: the Inauguration and Registration of the University School of Arts. The Inaugural Ceremony took place on September 26, 1927, and on November 23 of the same year, the Ministry of Education promulgated the Mandate of Registration which gave State Recognition to the Catholic University of Peking.

In conjunction with the account of the Inaugural Ceremony, we are publishing herein an English version of the Latin Address delivered on that memorable occasion by the Apostolic Delegate to China. This Address is an expression of that fine Catholic idealism and sincere love for the Chinese people, which have been the outstanding characteristics of His Excellency’s administration in China. That the Catholic Missions are passing safely through the stormy crisis of the Revolution is due pre-eminently to his courage and vision, which are bound to leave a lasting and wholesome impress upon the whole future of Catholicity in this country. The Address is in no lesser degree an expression of his unfailing solicitude for the advancement of the best interests of the Catholic University of Peking. It is another of those many touching evidences of his affection, for which we beg His Excellency to accept the homage of our grateful appreciation.

In the third article, the Benedictine artist, Dom Adelbert Gresnigt, O.S.B., discusses Chinese Architecture, in so far as the latter presents a problem of adaptation to be met and solved by the Catholic Missions. Dom Adelbert began his career as an artist at the early age of nine. In 1895, he joined the Beuronese School of Art at Prague, where the recentlydeceased founder of this School, Dom Desiderius Lenz, O.S.B., was then engaged in decorating the Church of St. Gabriel. In 1898, he entered the Benedictine Novitiate at the Abbey of Maredsous, Belgium. He made his theological studies at Sant’ Anselmo (Rome, Italy), and was ordained a Priest in 1903. Immediately after his ordination, he rejoined his venerable master, Dom Desiderius, who was then at Monte Cassino. There Dom Adelbert labored for ten years at the task of decorating the celebrated Crypt which enshrines the bodies of the Twin Saints, Benedict and Scholastica. In 1910, he was called to Norcia (Nursia), the birthplace of St. Benedict, to decorate the crypt of the church which marks the traditional site of the childhood home of Saints Benedict and Scholastica. The latter project was suspended at the outbreak of the World War, and Dom Adelbert found himself free to accept an engagement in South America. Leav-