Newspaper Page Text
Published by the
Catholic Lay
men's Association
of Georgia.
“To Bring About
a Friendlier
Feeling Among
Neighbors Irre
spective at Creed”
VOL,. XVin. No. 12
AUGUSTA, GEORGIA, DECEMBER 21, 1937
ISSUED MONTHLY—J2.00 A YEAR
Bishop-Elect McGuinness to Be Consecrated
in Cathedral at Philadelphia December 21
The Bishop-Elect of Raleigh
The Most Rev. Eugene J. McGuinness, S.T.D., J.U.D.
BISHOP MCGUINNESS
NOTED AS PRELATE,
AUTHOR AND EDITOR
Native of Pennsylvania, He
Was Extension Society
Official for Eighteen Years
The Rt. Rev. Msgr. Eugene J. Mc-
©uinness, First Vice-President and
General Secretary of the Catholic
Church Extension Society, who be
comes the second Ordinary of the
Diocese of Raleigh, succeeds to a
See left vacant by the transfer of
the Most Rev. William Hafey, first
Bishop of Raleigh, to the Diocese of
Scranton as Coadjutor to the Most
Rev Thomas . O'Reilly.
Tire BishopAlect of Raleigh was
bom at Hallertown, Pa., on Septem
ber 6, 1889, the son of Daniel and
Mary (Flood) McGuinness. He at
tended Holy Infancy School in Beth
lehem. Pa., and the Seminary of St.
Charles Borromeo, Philadelphia,
where he was ordained to' the priest
hood on May 22, 1915. He holds the
LL.D degree from Villanova College,
Villanova, Pa., the degrees, J. U. D.
and S. T. D. from the University of
Santo Tomas, Manila, P. I., and the
degree of Ph. D. frbm Little Rock
College.
Following his ordination to the
priesthood, Bishop-elect McGuinness
became successively a curate at St.
Paul's Church, St. Agatha’s Church,
St. John's Church and the Cathedral
of SS. Peter and Paul, in tire City of
Philadelphia. He served as Assis
tant Director of the Pontifical Society
for the Propagation ofthe Faith in the
Archdiocese of Philadelphia from 1917
to 1919.
In 1919, the Bishop-elect was named
Field Secretary of the Catholic
Church Extension Society, an office
he held until 1921, when he was
named Second Vice-President and
Director of The Child Apostles and
the Order of Martha—the children’s
and women's auxiliaries, respective
ly, of Church Extension. With this
elevation. Father McGuinness suc
ceeded Father William D. O'Brien,
now Bishop O'Brien, Auxiliary to His
Eminence George Cardinal Munde
lein. Bishop O'Brien had been pro
moted from Second Vice-President to
First Vice President and General
Secretary, succeeding the Most Rev.
Emmanuel B. Ledvina, who had been
named Bishop of Corpus Christi. In
1925, Bishop O'Brien, then Monsig
nor O'Brien, was named President of
the Catholic Church Extension So
ciety. succeeding the Most Rev. Fran
cis C. Kelley, who was appointed
Bishop of Oklahoma City and Tulsa.
When Bishop O'Brien was named
president, Father McGuinness was
named first vice-president and gen
eral secretary. He had been execu
tive secretary of the American Board
of Catholic Missions since 1923. His
Holiness Pope Pius XI created him a
Domestic Prelate with the title of
Right Reverend Monsignor in 1929.
Bishop-elect McGuinness, though
best known as an administrator and
for his great zeal for the Missions, is
also a writer of note. He has been
associate editor of Extension Maga
zine, official organ of the Home Mis
sions and is the author of “The
“Rosary, Its History and Use” and
“Life of the Little Flower.”
Bishop McGuinness was one of
thirteen children, eight of whom, a
brother and six sisters in addition to
His Excellency, are alive today. Three
of his sisters and a niece are mem
bers of the Sisters of St. Joseph of
Chestnut Hill, Pa- His eldest sister,
Mother Mary Bethany, is the superior
of Ascension School, Philadelphia,
and another sister, Mother Rose Vin
cent, is superior of St. Athanasius
School, also in Philadelphia.
It is interesting to note that the
three priests who have held the post
of general secretary of the Catholic
Church Extension Society, Monsignor
Ledvina, Monsignor O’Brien and
Monsignor McGuinness, have become
Bishops, and the presidents, Monsig
nor Kelley and Monsignor O’Brien,
to mention him in both capacities,
have also become Bishops.
Bishop McGuinness was honored
November 30 with an informal dinner
tendered him by Catholic laity, with
Homer J. Buckley as chairman, at the
Chicago Athletic Club, and another
dinner, December 6, at the Illinois
Athletic Club with J. A. Kennelly
as chairman; similarly honored him.
BISHOP OF RALEIGH
TO BE CONSECRATED
BY THE CARDINAL
Bishop O’Brien of Chicago
and Bishop Lamb of Phil
adelphia Co-consecrators
(Special to The Bulletin)
PHILADELPHIA, Pa—The RL
Rev. Msgr. Eugene J. McGuinness,
D. D.. Ph. D-, 3. U. D„ since 1919 an
official of the Catholic Church Exten
sion Society, and for a number of
years first vice president and gen
eral secretary, will be consecrated the
second Bishop of Raleigh at the Ca
thedral of Sts. Peter and Paul De
cember 21 by His Eminence, Denis
Cardinal Dougherty, Archbishop . of.
Philadelphia, with the Most Rev. Wil
liam D. O'Brien, D. D., Auxiliary
Bishop of Chicago and president of
the Catholic Church Extension So
ciety, and the Most Rev. Hugh L.
Lamb, D- D., Auxiliary Bishop of
Philadelphia, as co-consecrators.
The sermon will be delivered by
the Most Rev. Francis Clement Kel
ley, D. D., Bishop of Oklahoma City
and Tulsa, and formerly president of
Extension- A special train from Chi
cago to Philadelphia will bring
friends of Bishop McGuinness from
the scene of his labors for eighteen
years, and Bishops and priests from
every section of the country will at
tend the ceremony.
The Rt. Rev. Msgr. Arthur R. Free
man, LL. D„ Administrator of the
Diocese of Raleigh, will head the del
egation of priests from th Diocese to
Philadelphia. Other priests of the
Diocese who will attend include the
Rev. James P. Manley, Nazareth, the
Rev. R. F. Vollmer, O. P., Raleigh,
the Rev. Herbert Harkins, Mt. Airy,
the R-v. William J. Dillon, Pinehurst,
the Rev. Leo G. Doetterl, Henderson,
the Rev. Thomas A. Williams, South
ern Pines, the R< /. Philip J. O’Mara,
Hendersonville; the Rev. William F.
O'Brien, Durham, the Rev. Maurice
McDonnell, O. S. B., Charlotte; the
Rev. Richard E. Barrett, Kinston;
the Rev. Timothy J. Holland, S. S.
J-, Wilmington; the Rev. Andrew V.
Graves, S. J.. Revere; the Rev. Mi
chael A. Irwin, New Bern; the Rev.
John Murnane, O. M. C.. St. Helena;
the Rev. Cornelius Diehl, O- S. B.,
Winston-Salem; the Rev. Edward L.
Gross, Edenton, and the Rev. Michael
A. Carey, Elizabeth City.
Bishop McGuinness to Be Installed Jan. 6
at Cathedral of Sacred Heart in Raleigh
Consecrated the second Bishop of Raleigh in Philadel
phia. the Most Rev. Eugene J. McGuinness, S.T.D.,
J.U.D., will be installed at the ’ Cathedral of the Sacred
Heart in Raleigh January 6, at ceremonies which will
be attended by Bishops from various sections of the
country and particularly from the South, among them
Bishop" McGuinness’s predecessor in the See, the Most
Rev. William J. Hafey, DJ>., Coadjutor Bishop of Scran
ton, who twelve years ago was enthroned in this same
Cathedral as the first Bishop of the See. ,
A dinner for the prelates and clergy participating in
the ceremony will follow the ceremony, and it will be
served at the Sir Walter Hotel. In the evening
Bishop McGuinness will be tendered a civic welcome to
the city and state.
Sacred Heart Cathedral was erected as the parish
church of Raleigh, the capital city of North Carolina, a
decade and a half ago by the Rt. Rev. Msgr. Thomas
P. Griffin, then pastor, and later Cathedral rectorfand
chancellor of the Diocese. When the Holy Father erect
ed the Vicariate-Apostolic of North Carolina into a Dio
cese, Raleigh was chosen as the See City, and Sacred
Heart as the Cathedral Church. A second parish now
serves the colored Catholics of the city.
The Most Rev. Michael 'J. Curley, D.D., Archbishop
of Baltimore, was administrator of the new See pending
the appointment, consecration and installation of Bishop
Hafey, who had been secretary to Cardinal Gibbons and
Archbishop Curley's chancellor. At the death of Mon
signor Griffin, some time after the consecration of Bish
op Hafey, His Excellency appointed the Rt. Rev. Msgr.
Arthur Freeman, LL.D., of Goldsboro, rector of the Ca
thedral and chancellor; when the Rt. Rev. Msgr. Chris
topher Dennen. then pastor of St Mary’s Pro-Cathe
dral, Wilmington, resigned as vicar-general. Monsignor
Dennen succeeded him. Monsignor Freeman is now
Administrator of the Diocese of Raleigh.
Bishop McGuinness comes to a Diocese with one of the
smallest Catholic populations in the country both nu
merically and in point of proportionate population, de
spite the fact that during the episcopate of Bishop Ha
fey the number of Catholics has nearly doubled, and
yet one of the largest in area. The Diocese of Raleigh
embraces all of North Carolina except the eight coun
ties of the Abbatia Nullius of Belmont. The Diocese is
48,580 square miles in extent, and stretches from the
Atlantic to the Appalachian Mountains, touching the
states of Virginia, Tennessee, South Carolina and Geor
gia. Its greatest length is 490 miles. Its eastern extrem
ity washed by the Atlantic, only one state, Tennessee,
separates it from the Mississippi, and its western mis
sions are directly south of Kentucky, Ohio and Eastern
Michigan.
In returning to Philadelphia for
consecration, therefore, Bishop Mc
Guinness is returning to his native
Diocese and to the scene of his early
priestly labors. He joins the ranks
of the priests of the Archdiocese of
Philadelphia who have been elevated
to the Ppiscopacy. The first Bishop
of Savannah, die saintly Bishop Gart-
land, was from the Archdiocese, as
is the present beloved Bishop of Sa-
vannah-Atlanta. Bishop Becker of
Savannah, Bishop Haid, the prede
cessor of Bishop McGuinness's pre
decessor as North Carolina’s ordinary.
Bishop Gross of Savannah, later
Archbishop of Oregon City, and Bish
ops' McGill and Brennan of Richmond
were all natives of Pennsylvania and
from the Province of Philadelphia if
not from the Archdiocese itself. An
other distinguished son of the Arch
diocese is the new Archbishop of
Newark, the Most Rev. Thomas J.
Walsh, D. D„ formerly Bishop of
Trenton and Bishop of Newark.
Testimonial Dinner
to Honor the Bishop
His Native District Will
Tender It to Bishop
McGuinness ; :
(Special to The Bulletin)
PHILADELPHIA. Pa. — The Holy
Name Societies of the Lehigh Valley
District of the Archdiocese of Phila
delphia will honor the Most Rev.
Eugene J. McGuinness. D. D.,
Bishop-elect of Raleigh, with a testi
monial dinner at the Americus To-
tel, Allentown, December 28. Bishop
McGuinness was bora and educated
at Bethlehem, Pa., and is the first
native of the Lehigh Valley to be
raised to the episcopacy. It is anti
cipated that seven hundred guests
will be present at the dinner.
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