 Though not universally applauded, the Baltimore Catechism remained the standard catechism in the United States for the next eighty years.Spalding was awarded an honorary degree from Columbia University in 1902, and from Western Reserve University in 1904.Spalding became paralyzed from a stroke in 1905 and, as a result, retired on September 11, 1908, at the age of 68 and was appointed Titular Bishop of Scythopolis, by Pope Pius X.