Newspaper Page Text
Published By The
Catholic Laymen's
Ass'n Of Georgia
DIOCESE OF SAVANNAH EDITION
OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE DIOCESE OF SAVANNAH
Serving
Georgia's 88
Southern Counties
Vol. 39, No. 7 MONROE, GEORGIA, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1958 10c Per Copy — $3 a Year
''The Most Memorable Event"
Holy Father Greets
Savannah Pilgrims
GROUNDB,ri.t AKlNG — Rain failed to halt groundbreaking ceremonies for Our Lady of
Lourdes Church, Columbus. Father William Dowling, pastor of the church, removes the first
shovel full of dirt while Father Herman Deimel, pastor of the Church of the Holy Family, looks
on from beneath an umbrella held by Sgt. L. J. Kliber, member of the new church. Father
Deimel blessed the ground at the ceremonies, attended by a small group of church members and
sisters from Holy Trinity School and Mother Mary Mission.—-Enquirer photo by Ben Walburn.
Break Ground For
Columbus Church
Pius X Centenary
Known as the “Pope of the
Eucharist,” St. Pius X, was
born Giuseppe Sarto in 1835 at
Riese, in northern Italy. He was
ordained just 100' years ago,
September 18. The young priest
rose through the ranks from
country curate, to pastor, sem
inary professor, bishop, card
inal and the papacy. He advo
cated early First Holy Commun
ion and frequent reception of
the Sacrament. He is also not
ed for revitalizing the works Of
the Confraternity of Christian
Doctrine and brought about re
forms in,Church music. St. Pius
X died in 1914, was beatified in
1951 and canonized in 1954, His
feast day was September 3. This
statue is in the Pius X chapel of
the crypt of Washington’s Na
tional Shrine of the Immaculate
Conception.—(NC Photos)
Official
The Reverend Francis J,
Donohue, Paslor of Our Lady
of Lourdes Church, Porf
Weniworfh, effective August
281h.
5% Increase
In Catholics
Of Japan
TOKYO (NC) — The number
of Catholics in Japan increased
by five per cent during the year
ending June 20, 1958, and by
more than 100 per cent during
the past decade.
According to official statistics
released by the Apostolic In
ternunciature, Japanese Catho
lics now number 254,114, com
pared with 241,808 in 1957. Ten
years ago the total was 120,000.
While the number of persons
received into the Church last
year was about 1,500 less than
the previous year, the number
of catechumens increased by
some 500. There are now 17,675
catechumens throughout the
country.
The number of Japanese
priests now stands at 359. There
are 242 major seminarians and
234 minor seminarians studying
for the priesthood. Foreign mis-
sioners in the country number
1,208.
Japan has 3,047 professed Sis
ters, while there are 1,942 no
vices, postulants and aspirants.
Sisters from foreign countries
working in Japan total 1,063.
The population of Japan is
more than 90 million.
BISHOP TO BE
CONSECRATED
PHILADELPHIA, (NC) —
Bishop-elect Francis J. McSor-
ley, O.M.I. will be consecrated
here in the Cathedral of Sts.
Peter and Paul on October 8.
Recently named to head of the
Apostolic Vicariate of Jolo in
the Philippines, he will be con
secrated by Archbishop John F.
O’Hai'a, C.S.C., of Philadelphia.
(By Rl. Rev. Msgr.
T. James McNamara, V.F.)
Yes, Barcelona was interest
ing and its Exposition of Native
Products intriguing but our
thoughts were more on the Eter
nal City, soon to be visited, than
on this gracious city of roman
tic Spain. Not too long in flight
but through the darkening sha
dows of night, we soon found
ourselves on the perimeter of
Rome. Alluring was this city of
tlie Caesars and now of the
Popes, as we looked down upon
it from the cabin of our plane.
We searched amid the myriad
lights of its silhouetted facade
for the Basilica of St. Peter.
Soon out of the plane and
through customs, we, as at Lon
don and. later at Lourdes, felt
again the nearness of Savannah
in that Archbishop O’Hara was
on hand to greet us. Again, too,
our position became enviable by
reason of the gracious solicitude
of the Archbishop.
Sunday morning, May 4,
found our party at the entrance
of St. Peter’s and there to give
us assurance and to assist us in
making our visit more memora
ble was our Archbishop. Sur
prisingly, the vastness of St.
Peter’s and with its approaches
was not overwhelming. It was
not until a second and a third
visit that we began to sense its
tremendous size. Bramanti, and
more his successor, the inimi
table Michael Angelo, have cre
ated a grand illusion in this, the
greatest of all Christian church
es. So symmetrical and so har
monious are its astronomical di
mensions that beauty rather
than vastness is one’s first im
pression. And this impression
holds' not only as one stands
looking down the main aisle of
the Basilica, or looking at the
exquisitely designed dome, or
even as one stands on the steps
of the four hundred foot depth
portico, but takes on added
beauty as one moves along the
Via Conviliazione, the broad
avenue leading to St. Peter’s
Shrine. The whole vista from
the Via Conciliazione, with the
great dome of St. Peter’s, gold
en in the May sunlight, was so
arrestingiy beautiful that one
comes almost suddenly on the
Plaza or Square fronting St.
Peter’s. Later Father Daly and I
were to visit San Marco Square
in Venice, a n d, having seen
both, was to see the two most
beautiful squares in the world.
The semi-circular colonnade of
the master craftsman, Bernini,
surrounding St. Peter’s Square
was like a pair, of welcoming
arms, embracing all mankind
alike.
As we stood on that lovely
square that Sunday morning in
May we witnessed in the people
MANILA, Philippines, — This
nation’s Catholic school teachers
have been warmly congratulat
ed by President Carlos P. Gar
cia of the Philippines who told
them, “you hold the destiny of
our country in your hands.”
In an address to the opening
session of the annual conven
tion of the Catholic Educational
Association of the Philippines
(CEAP) the President told hun
dreds of delegates from all parts
of the country;
“Catholic schools are making
a distinct contribution to the
building of our nation by their
emphasis on moral training, on
the formation of character and
on the spiritual realities on
which, after all, the whole struc
ture of our civilization is found
ed.”
Meanwhile, in a speech at the
Philippine Normal College here,
Sen. Francisco Rodrigo proposed
black, brown and yellow — a
practical demonstration of the
symbolism we read into Berni
ni’s colonnade. And as we look
ed to the top of this beautifully
designed colonnade we saw in
the 62 statues of saints and
founders of Religious Orders,
which crown it, a challenge to
our own devotion to holy Mo
ther Church. Colossal, indeed, is
the colonnade and gigantic its
284 pillars, and yet so perfect
ly are they harmonized with the
over all picture of St. Peter’s
that the square, which they de
lineate, is blended into the Ba
silica itself. Only a poet who has
achieved perfection in his chos
en field could possibly approxi
mate a description of it all.
Entering into the Basilica,
with the Archbishop leading our
way, as we approached the holy
water basin, we felt we were
greeted by old friends. Here,
supporting the basin, were the
Bernini angels or nymphs, pic
tures of which we had seen of
ten and the likeness of which
was indelibly stamped on our
memory by FORTUNE’S illu
strated article on THE VATI
CAN. There was something
about these six foot, ten angels,
that dwarfed time and gave one
the feeling of the lightsomeness
of eternity. After a comparative
ly long walk, which lengthened
out, too, by reason of the dis-
tractingly captivating appurt-
ances of St. Peter’s, we found
our way down stairs to the Altar
of the Tomb of the Chief of the
Apostles. Here over a circutious
route, studded by small Chapels
an amendment to the Philippine
Constitution to give religion a
higher status in the curriculum
of the public schools.
At present the constitution
provides for released time in
public schools for religious in
struction, but attendance is op
tional and no grades are given.
The Senator’s amendment
would leave attendance optional
but, once parents consent to
their children’s attendance at
religion classes, religion would
become a required subject.
Permission
Granted For Use
Of Languages
AGRA, India, (NC) — The
Holy See has granted permission
for increased use of the vernacu
lar language, in the public wor
ship of the Church in the ec
clesiastical province of Agra, in
north central India.
reminiscent of the catacombs of
the early centuries of Christi
anity, we soon found ourselves
outside the Chapel of the Tomb.
Beyond this Chapel was another
Chapel, dedicated to Our Lady;
its walk laden with mosaics of
the second century, spelling out
By Jim Kelly
(N.C.W.C. News Service)
SAN FRANCISCO, — Talking
with strangers about a loved
one is not easy. There is an inti
macy of feeling, of emotion,
that does not. always come
through in words. Especially
when they concern a mother.
In the rectory of Holy Rosary
Church, Decoto, Calif., the little
Spanish priest was doing his
best, with the odds against him.
Stranded in midsentence, hunt
ing for the proper English, he
would turn finally to the in
terpreter.
This was more than his lov
ing tribute to his mother. Prax-
edes Fernandez, widow of a
humble workingman, has been
singled out for the possibility of
honors that the Church reserves
for the heroic among the serv
ants of God.
Father Enrique Fernandez,
O.P,. hopes to see his mother
beatified.
the. devotions of the Christians
of that early period to the Mo
ther, of God. We were thrilled
and felt expectancy realized
when we were assigned the
Chapel for our Mass.
After our Mass we lingered
longingly but only briefly, be-
“She often told me when I
was a small boy, ‘Always have
your thoughts on God’,” said the
Dominican priest, who travels
throughout California giving
missions for the Spanish-speak
ing.
“Her own life was the best ex
ample of that advice. She didn’t
live for herself. Only to serve
others, and through them, God.”
At the request of priests fa
miliar with her sanctity, the
canonical process for the beati
fication of Praxedes Fernandez
was opened in the Archdiocese
of Oviedo, Spain, in November,
1957.
Senora Fernandez, who died
less than 22 years ago, spent her
life in the province of Asturias
in northern Spain, a coal mining
region. Six years after her mar
riage to Gabriel Fernandez, a
day laborer, she became a wid
ow when he died under the
■wheels of a train in 1919. She
was left with four sons, the
cause we were to return to the
Bascilica in the afternoon for
what turned out to be the most
memorable event ever experi
enced. But lingering, even
though briefly, our eyes were
fascinated and our memories en-
youngest three days old.
To house her brood she turn
ed to the home of her parents
in the village of Suero. The .bar
gain she kept for the next 14
years: her own domestic serv
ices in return for her family’s
shelter and feeding.
Suero was not known for its
religious fervor. The hamlet had
no church. By the late ’20s com
munist agitators already were
finding a ready audience among
the miners.
For the deeply religious wid
ow Fernandez this was trying.
Daily Mass meant a two-mile
walk early morning to the next
town. Communist hoodlums
sometimes followed her, jeering.
She was threatened with vio
lence more than once.
If the jeers drew tears, they
also, earned something the tor
mentors needed more — pray
ers. Senora Fernandez had vow
ed her widowhood would be
(Continued on Page Eight)
COLUMBUS — Ground was
broken to mark the beginning
of construction of Our Lady of
Lourdes Church, Columbus, Ga.,
on Aug. 24. The new parish is
the second so named in the Dio
cese of Savannah. The name was
chosen for the Columbus Church
because the year 1958 marks the
100th anniversary of the appari
tions of Our Lady of Lourdes in
Southern France.
Officiating as the Bishop’s
Representative was the Very
Rev. Herman Deimel, pastor of
Holy Family Parish, Columbus,
and Vicar Forane of the Colum
bus Deanery. The ground break-
WASHINGTON, (NC) — Ap
peals to exempt private, non
profit schools and colleges from
Federal excise taxes were made
by three Senators in speeches
on the Senate floor.
Since public schools are freed
from the taxes, imposing them
on private schools is discrimi
natory, claimed Sens. Edward J.
Thye and Hubert H. Humphrey,
both of Minnesota and Wayne
Morse of Oregon. There was no
opposition to their remarks.
The three urged inclusion of
an exemption provision in a
House-passed bill regulating ad
ministration of excise tax laws.
The exemption was deleted
from the bill by the Senate Fi
nance Committee before that
unit sent it to the Senate floor.
After Sens. Thye and Humph
rey made brief remarks associ
ating themselves with Sen.
Morse in his appeal for exemp
tion, the Oregon legislator made
a statement dealing with the
right to aid all school children,
not just those in public schools.
Sen. Morse said that he in
vited the attention of his col
leagues to the “delicate prob
lem” involved in legislation of
this nature.
“The Congress and the Ameri
can people,” he said, “are go
ing to have to face up to one
problem. I am one Senator, Mr.
President, who will not hesitate
at any time to do what he thinks
is needed for justice in the field
of education for American boys
and girls.”
Mr. Morse then said he did
not hesitate even in view “of
some prejudical feeling or emo
tional attitude or downright bias
or bigotry which may exist upon
the part of some groups which
are perfectly willing, apparent
ly, to let boys and girls suffer
because of the fact that they
may be born into families who
desire to send them to private
schools.”
The Senator criticized a “pre
judice which has prevailed in
America for too long, not based
upon a sound premise, but upon
the argument that if we do
something for a boy or girl at
tending a private school, we are
in some way violating the great
ing ceremony for the new
Church was performed by
Rev. William Dowling, pastor.
Lowering skies and a steady
rain kept the attendance at the
ceremonies to a minimum. Pres
ent were Rev. Frank Wallace
and Rev. Paul Lynch, chaplains
from Fort Benning, and Father
Alphonsus, S.D.S., of Mother
Mary Mission.
Also braving the inclement
weather were Mr. Harold Buck,
contractor for the new edifice,
the Sisters of Mercy from Holy
Trinity School, the Franciscan
Sisters from St. Francis Hospital
and four Brothers from Holy
Trinity, Ala.
historic doctrine of separation of
church and state.”
“The doctrine has nothing
whatsoever to do with benefit
to a boy or girl attending a pri
vate school,” he said. “That has
been pretty well sustained in
the great leading educational
cases, some of which have gone
(Continued on Page Eight)
Retreat For
Priests Opens
September 8th
SAVANNAH—The Priests of
the Savannah Diocese will begin
their annual Retreat at the
Trappist Monastery of Our La
dy of the Holy Ghost, Conyers,
on Monday evening, Sept. 8.
All Diocesan Priests, except
those ordained this year, will
make the Retreat. It is expect
ed that some Religious, who us
ually make their annual Re
treat at another time, will also
be in attendance. The Retreat
will be under the direction of
His Excellency, Bishop Thomas
J. McDonough, Auxiliary Bish
op of Savannah, and will be
preached by the Rev. Louis
Wheeler, S.J. The exercises will
come to a close on Friday morn
ing, Sept. 12. During this week,
most of the Parishes of the Dio
ceses will be staffed by the Re
ligious Order Priests of the Dio
cese.
The universal Canon Law of
the Church requires all secular
priests to make a spiritual re
treat at least every three years
and the Council of Baltimore,
which enacted many laws for
the Clergy and Faithful of the
United States decreed that secu
lar priests in the United States
must make a Retreat at least
every two years. The custom of
an annual retreat is in accord
ance with the Encyclical on the
Priesthood, of Pope Pius XI,
which urges periods of spiritual
Retreat on all priests as neces
sary means of sanctity, to be
sought even beyond the strict
requirements of law.
HOUSE PASSES BILL WHICH EXEMPTS
CLERGY FROM TESTIMONY ON SECRETS
WASHINGTON, (NC) — The
House has passed a bill specific
ally exempting District of Co
lumbia, clergymen from testify
ing in court about information
obtained in their professional
capacity.
Introduced last year by Rep.
Hyde of Maryland, the measure
prohibits examination in Dis
trict courts “of any minister of
religion in connection with com
munications made by or to him
in his professional capacity,
without the consent of the par
ties to such communications.”
Rep. Myde has said that phy
sicians are at present the only
professional persons exempted
from testimony on confidential
matters in District courts.
The present, bill, which now
goes to the Senate, was promp
ted by a recent case in which a
minister testified in a divorce
case whose principals had
sought his counsel. At first the
minister refused but, when told
lie would be held in contempt
of court, he testified.
(Continued on Page Eight)
HOLY FATHER RECEIVES ARCHBISHOP O'HARA AND SAVANNAH PILGRIMS
PRESIDENT GARCIA OF PHILIPPINES
LAUDS NATION'S CATHOLIC SCHOOL
AT ANNUAL CONVENTION
(N.C.W.C. News Service)
ONE MAN S MOTHER
Three Senators Hake Appeal
For Exemption For Schools
From Federal Excise Taxes