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I DIOCESE OF SAVANNAH Published By The Catholic Laymen's Ass'n Of Georgia EDITION Serving Georgia's 88 Southern Counties OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE DIOCESE OF SAVANNAH Vo. 38, No. 26. MONROE, GEORGIA, SATURDAY, MAY 31, 1958. 10c Per Copy — $3 a Year BISHOP'S HOUSE 222 East Harris Street Savannah, Georgia May 22, 1958 My dear People: With the payment of the May pledges the first phase of the Parochial and Diocesan Development Campaign will termi nate. The second phase will conclude in October of this year. We cordially extend our profound sentiments of gratitude to those who have successfully completed the payment of their pledges. Your unbounded generosity has enabled us to go forward with many plans which would, otherwise, have been held in abeyance. May Our Divine Savior bless you abundantly. To those who have not completed the payment of pledges we issue a plea that you continue to pay on the pledges until the drive is finally closed in October. The Campaign will not be extended beyond October. The results of the Campaign, thus far, have been most disappointing. We have realized less than sixty percent pay ment on the pledges. From now until the final payment date in October a marked improvement will be accomplished if the delinquents begin now to pay actively on their Campaign Pledges. Please help us by your contribution and thereby participate, to the limit of your ability, in the apostolate to souls in the Diocese of Savannah. Imparting to you my blessing and assuring you of a memento in my Masses and prayers, I am, Devotedly yours in Christ, To Offer First Solemn Mass June 15 Joseph L. Stranc To Be Ordained To Priesthood For Diocese Of Savannah VALDOSTA ORDINATION—On Saturday, May 24th, the Rev. George C. James was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Thomas J. McDonough, Auxiliary Bishop of the Diodese. Father James is pictured at the extreme right of the photo.—(Valdosta Times Photo). SAVANNAH — The second of two priests to be ordained for the Diocese of Savannah this year will receive the Sacrament of Holy Orders on June 10th at the Pontifical College Josephi- thomas j. McDonough, Auxiliary Bishop of Savannah. Church In Hungary Under Greater Red Pressure Than Ever; Bishops Virtual Prisoners Of Government State Deputy Knights Of Columbus Elect Charles Chesser SAVANNAH — Charles C. Chesser, of Augusta, was elect ed State Deputy of the Knights Savannah Radio Program Marks Anniversary of Columbus at the state con vention held here May 17th and 18th. Chesser has been a member of the K. of C. since 1911, and has served as recording secre tary, trustee and grand knight of Patrick Walsh Council No. 677. K. of C. delegates voted to hold the. 1959 convention in Augusta. SAVANNAH — The Savan nah Catholic Program celebrat ed its 22nd anniversary on the air Sunday, May 25th. The anniversary speaker was Mr. Flem G. Cliett, Jr., grand knight of Savannah Council 631, Knights of Columbus. This radio program is spon sored jointly by the Cathedral of . St. John the Baptist and Sav annah Council 631, Knights of Columbus over Station WTOC in Savannah. The committee handling the program is Hug h H. Grady, chairman; John A. Caterisan and William F. Oetgen. The Savannah Catholic Program is the oldest Catholic radio pro gram in the United States eon- CHARLES ducted by laymen. Its broadcast was on May 31, first 1936. Bless Fleet At Brunswick BRUNSWICK — More than forty boats of the Fishing Fleet were blessed in special cere monies by His Excellency the Most Rev. Thomas J. McDon ough, Auxiliary bishop of Sav annah. The blessing was held on Mo thers Day and was preceeded by a special May Procession at St. Francis Xavier Church. This procession was in honor of Our Lady of Fatima. Bishop McDonough was cele brant of the Mass offered before the procession. DO YOU HAVE A VOCATION? Young men desirous of studying for the Sacred Priesthood of the Diocese of Savannah are requested to contact their own pastors or the Chancery in Savannah. By C. M. Strachwitz (NCWC News Service) VIENNA, — Despite the ef forts of Hungary’s bishops to re lax the Red government’s anti- religious policies, the Church in that satellite nation is under greater pressure than ever be fore. Church authorities there are virtual prisoners of the so-called “bearded bishops,” the name given to the commissars ap pointed by the communist re gime to the Hungarian Office for Church Affairs. In a recent speech in the Hungarian National Assembly, Minister of State Gyula Kallai spelled out the Red regime’s policy in regard to the Church. He declared: “T h e relationship between Church and state must be placed on a fundamentally sound basis. It must take the shape not merely of ‘friendly coexistence,’ but of positive cooperation. “In our opinion the Hungarian hiearchy, whose loyalty toward the government has been re peatedly underlined, must not allow this loyalty to be extend ed also toward the reactionary priests who are busy sowing the seeds of vicious weeds in their dioceses ... We also can not understand why the leaders of the Roman Catholic church in Hungary are giving so little support to the democratic-mind ed clergy . . .” The meaning of these words is clear: communists demand the active cooperation of the Church. To them, active coope ration means that the Church must become a willing tool in communist hands. It is in the light of these facts that the widely publicized pho tograph of Archbishop Jozsef Groesz of Kalocsa shaking hands with Soviet Premier Nikita S. Khrushchev should be under stood. This picture, coupled with the news that a contingent of Hun garian clergy led by Bishop En- dre Hamvas of Csanad is in Moscow, is intended to create the impression in the free world that the Catholic Church in Hungary has managed to reach a satisfactory understanding with the Red regime. But to obtain a true picture of the situation it is necessary to recall the recent history of the Hungarian “peace priests” movement. This group was founded in the summer of 1950 after the mock trial of His Eminence Joz sef Cardinal Mindszenly, Pri mate of Hungary. The commun ists had decided to use meth ods more subtle than open ter ror to undermine the authority of the Church and drive a wedge between the faithful and their spiritual leaders. This organization, of priests, officially sponsored by the gov ernment and using the motto “Working for Peace,” sought to justify the policies of the com munist regime. Using pervert ed quotations from Scripture, they also attempted to prove the compatibility of communist ideology with the Christian faith. Apart from these activities, which had the long range goal of destroying the unity and spi ritual foundations of Catholi cism in Hungary, the “peace priests” had the clandestine task of informing on loyal members of the Hungarian clergy. Led by Fathers Richard Hor vath, a Cistercian monk who has since been formally excom municated by the Holy See, Miklos Beresztoczy, Janos Mate and Bela Mag, the movement set up an espionage network for providing the Hungarian Office for Church Affairs with detail ed information concerning every event or. development in the nation’s Catholic life. Examination of the archives of the church affairs office dur ing the Hungarian revolution of 1956 revealed that the “peace priests” also gathered informa tion regarding the political learnings and pastoral activities of every single priest in Hun gary. Thus, a parish priest who had successfully increased the re ligious zeal of his flock would be denounced — many such de nunciations were uncovered which bore Dr. Horvath’s signa ture — and removed by the church affairs office. This office then replaced him with another priest whose moral defects would quickly undo all the good accomplished by the orig inal pastor. For such services as these, Dr. Horvath and the other leading (Continued on Page Six) The Reverend Joseph L. Stranc, son of Mr. and Mrs. Jos eph J. Stranc of 2232 E. Clear field Street, Philadelphia, Penna., will be ordained by the Most Reverend Amleto G. Cico- gnani, D.D., Apostolic delegate to the Uinted States. Father Stranc is a graduate of Our Lady Help of Christians Parochial School, Philadelphia. He entered the Pontifical Col lege where he pursued his High School, College and Philosophi cal studies. Father Stranc re ceived his Bachelor of Arts De gree in 1954 and then continued at the Pontifical College for his Theological studies. His first Solemn Mass will be offered at 10:30 a. m. on June 15th in the Church of Our Lady, Help of Christians. The new priest will be assisted by the Reverend John C. Daniel who will be Archpriest; Rev. William Nessel, O.S.F.S., Deacon Rev. Eugene Bertram, Subdeacon: Official The Reverend John J. Cud dy. Pastor of St. Michael's Church, Savannah Beach, Georgia. Effective as of May 13, 1958. Bishop Presides At Graduations REV. JOSEPH L. STRANC Rev. Louis V. Bing, Preacher. Other officers at the First Solemn Mass will be John De- wan and John Leone, Acolytes; Ernest Kish, Thurifer. Both men are students of the Theology Department of the Pontifical College Josephinum. Mr. Daniel Norton of Mother of the Savior Seminary will be the Master of Ceremonies. Father Stranc has a brother, Mr. Thomas C. Stranc and one sister, Mrs. Mary Banford, both of Philadelphia. SAVANNAH — His Excel lency the Most Rev. Thomas J. McDonough, D.D., J.C.D., Aux iliary Bishop presided at Grad uation Exercises at Aquinas High School, Augusta, May 26th; St. Vincent’s Academy, Savannah, May 27th; St. Pius X High School, Savannah, May 28th; Immaculate Conception, Augusta, May 30th. His Excellency will preside at exercises at Mt. De Sales, Ma con, June 1st and at Benedictine Military School, Savannah, June 5th. U. S. Latin American Policy Brought Sharply To Fore By Incidents On Nixon Tour Visitation Of Schools 36,023,977 Catholics In U. S. (N. C. W. C. NEWS SERVICE) NEW YORK — Catholics in the United States, Alaska and the Hawaiian Islands now number 36,023,977 ac cording to the 1958 Official Catholic Directory, just issued by P. J. Kenedy & Sons, publisher. The new total represents an increase of 1,460,126 over last year. There are now 35,846,477 Catholics in the 48 states and 177,500 in Alaska and Hawaii, it was reported. The new total represents a 10-year increase of 9,948,280 or 38.1 per cent over the 26,075,697 reported in 1948. By J. J. Gilbert WASHINGTON — Leaders here have been brought sharply back to a consideration of this country’s position in Latin America. Just at a time when we seem to be wresting the propaganda initiative away from Soviet Rus sia in some parts of the world, developments indicate that our relations with our “good neigh bors” to the south have seriously deteriorated. This has been brought forci bly to attention by some of the things that happened to Vice President Nixon on his tour. There was real satisfaction felt here over the North Atlantic Council statement which neatly pinned on Moscow the blame for blocking any worthwhile “summit” conference. This com munique, issued by foreign min isters of the NATO nations, said a “summit” meeting “must be properly prepared and take place in a favorable atmo sphere,” and that the Soviet at titude did nothing to promote these two requirements. The unanimity shown in is suing this statement was im portant, because it revealed a heartening change of stand by some Western nations which previously had criticized Secre tary of State Dulles for what they called undue skepticism re garding “summit” talks. But, at nearly the same time as we were making this ad vance, Vice President Nixon was reported to have been greeted with a shower of stones when he attempted to visit San Marcos University in Lima, Peru. This was only one of several hostile demonstrations at points SAVANNAH — During the past three weeks every school and every classroom in the Dio cese has been visited by His Excellency, Bishop McDonough, and Father John Cuddy, Dio cesan Superintendent of Schools. It was noted, with complete sat isfaction, that our schools cred itability carry on the highest traditions of Catholic Education. A similar visitation is planned each year. The Diocesan Superintendent of Schools utilizes this occasion to thank our pastors, brothers, sisters and lay teachers for the cooperation given this school project. Confraternity At Brunswick Holds Exhibits (Continued on Page Six) If AS DIOCESAN PILGRIMS VISITED LOURDES, APOSTOLIC DELEGATION Received By Little Sisters Of The Assumption SAVANNAH — Miss Mary E. McMahon, daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. James Patrick Mc Mahon, has been received into the Order of the Little Sisters of the Assumption at Haverford. Mrs. Annie Keller of Savan nah attended the ceremony. The Little Sisters of the As sumption do social work, going into the poorer sections of a city to take care of children, the sick and aged, who hive no one to help them. Pictured on their recent pilgrimage to Lourdes and Europe are members of the Diocesan Pilgrimage led by Msgr. T. James McNamara, V.F., and the Rev. Daniel J. Bourke. The pilgrims were joined by the Most Rev. Gerald P. O’Hara, Bishop of Savannah, and Apostolic Delegate to Great Britain. The pilgrims are pictured with his Excellency (1) at the Grotto at Lourdes and (r.) at the Apostolic Delegation in London. The group also visited Fatima and Rome, Pius in general audience. where they were received by Pope BRUNSWICK — St. Francis Xavier Confraternity of Chris tian Doctrine recently held its second annual exhibition of Confraternity objectives and ac complishments. Varied in num ber, and shown for several days, the exhibits attracted many vis itors including His Excellency, (Photos Page Six) Bishop Thomas J. McDonough, Msgr. Andrew McDonald, the Chancellor, and Father John J. Cuddy, School Superintendent. Exhibits stressed the general aims of the Confraternity and special local activities. Among them were, Summer Schools, Parent-Educator work, Library activities, Pamphlet Rack s, Driver-Helpers for transporta tion of Sisters to catechetical centers, Apostolate of Good Will, Distribution of Literature to Prisons and Orphanages, Sec retarial Helpers, the Marriage Series in the Canna manner and the Blessing of Children. Officers of the Confraternity are — Cmdr. Duncan Wallace, U. S. N., President; Mrs. Joseph O'Brien, Vice President; Miss Mary Parker. Secretary; Mr. Ralph Peck, Treasurer. Special chairmen are — Mrs. Robert Roemer, Driver-Helpers; Mrs. D. Prindele, Library; Mrs. Reggie Abbott, Library-Proces sing; Mrs. Ralph Peck and Mrs. Sigmund Kaulmann, Parent- Educator work; Mrs. Lucy Car- naffan, Literature Distribution, Mrs. Joseph O’Brien, Pamphlet Racks.