Cardinal and scholar; born London, 1846; died Rome, Italy, 1929. Ordained a priest of the Order of Saint Benedict, 1874, he was elected Prior of Downside Abbey, 1878, and several years later became abbot president of the English Benedictines. He was a member of the Papal Commission of Anglican Orders, and in 1907 Pius X chose him as head of the Commission of Revision of the Vulgate. The first volume, the Book of Genesis, had been published, and the second volume, comprising the rest of the Pentateuch, was in press when he died. In token of his work, Pius X raised him to the cardinalate, 1914, as titular of Saint George in Velabro, which he resigned, 1916, for the church of Santa Maria in Campitelli. He served as a member of several congregations of the Curia and was librarian of the Vatican and archivist of the Vatican Archives. He is the chief Catholic historian of the English Reformation, of English monastic life, and of the ecclesiastical history of the Middle Ages in England. His works, remarkable for their research, scholarship, impartiality, and interest, include: "Henry VIII and the English Monasteries"; "Eve of the Reformation"; "English Monastic Life"; "Edward VI and the Book of Common Prayer"; "Parish Life in Medieval England"; "The Old English Bible and other Essays."
This dictionary contains not only definitions and explanations of every subject in Religion, Scripture, tradition, doctrine, morals, sacraments, rites, customs, devotions and symbolism, but also accounts of the Church in every continent, country, diocese; missions, notable Catholic centers, cities, and places with religious names; religious orders, church societies, sects and false religions. It has brief articles also on historical events and personages, on the Old Testament and New, and on popes, prelates, priests, men and women of distinction, showing what the Church has done for civilization and correcting many errors which have hitherto passed for history.Wikipedia
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