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DIOCESE OF SAVANNAH EDITION
Serving
Georgia's 88
Southern Counties
Published By The
Catholic Laymen's
Ass'n Of Georgia
OFFICIAL, NEWSPAPER OF THE DIOCESE OF SAVANNAH
Vol. 39, No. 13
MONROE, GEORGIA, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 1958
10c Per Copy — $3 a Year
NEW , CHANCERY BUILDING—Pictured here is the newly completed Chancery Budding
for the Diocese of Savannah. The office building is located at the corners of Abercorn and Mc
Donough Streets.—(Photo Robert McDonald).
Archbishop
Home For A
Short Visit
SAVANNAH — His Excel
lency, the Most Rev. Gerald
P. O'Hara, D.D., J.U.D.,
Archbishop of Savannah, ar
rived home last week for a
visit to his Diocese.
This is the Archbishop's
first trip home since last fall.
While here last year His Ex
cellency dedicated Aquinas
High School in Augusta.
Archbishop O'Hara has
been serving as Apostolic
Delegate to Great Britain
since 1354. Prior to his pres
ent London post the Arch
bishop served as Apostolic
Nuncio to Ireland and as Pa
pal Nuncil at Burcharest Ro
mania from 1947 to 1950. The
Archbishop was the last Vat
ican diplomatic representa
tive to an Iron Curtain coun
try. He was forced by the
Communists to leave in July
of 1950.
&
BLESSES BUILDING—His Excellency the Most Rev. Gerald
P. O’Hara, Archbishop-bishop of the Diocese of Savannah, is pic
tured as he blessed the new Chancery Building on Thursday,
November 20th. Pictured with his Excellency is the Most Rev.
Dedicate
Chancery
Building
SAVANNAH — His Excel
lency, Archbishop Gerald P.
O’Hara, Archbishop-Bishop of
Savannah, dedicated the new
Chancery Building at McDon
ough and Abercorn Streets in
Savannah in brief rites Thurs
day evening, November 20th at
5:00 p. m.
The new Chancery, designed
by Thomas & Hutton, Architects
is constructed of gray brick in
Colonial motiff. Built by Hugh
Jackson, contractor, the new
building houses the offices of
Bishop McDonough, the Super
intendent of the Diocesan
Schools, the Chaiicellor, Dioces
an Newspaper and Marriage
Court.
The new chancery office was
occupied two weeks ago, but
fur.nishings are not yet com
pleted. Open house will be held
at a later date and the public
invited to inspect the new build-
Thomas J. McDonough, Auxiliary-bishop.—(Photo Robert Me- ings which is the administrative
Donald).
heart of the Diocese.
Notre Dame
Directors Meet
SAVANNAH — The quarterly
meeting of the Board of Direc
tors of the Notre Dame Book
Shop was held on Thursday
evening, November 13, at the
Shop.
The president, Mrs. John E.
Porter, appointed Julian Halli-
gan as chairman of the nomina
ting committee to present a
slate of officers at the annual
meeting in February. Serving
with Mr. Haiiigan are Mrs.
Owen B. Porter and Mrs. Wil
liam C. Broderick.
Plans were discussed for a
Christmas Party honoring the
volunteer workers of the Shop.
Mrs. Walter J. Smith was ap
pointed chairman of the party
which will be given early in
December.
Announcement was made of a
night book review to be given
in February by Rev. Brandon
Dooley, O. S. B.
Mrs. James J. Collins, Direc
tor of the Shop, stated that the
Library now contains six vol
umes of the 20th Century Catho
lic Encyclopedia and that two
volumes would be added month
ly until the set is completed.
The Teaching Mission of The Catholic Church
(N.C.W.C. News Service)
WASHING TON—The fol
lowing is the full text of the
statement entitled "The Teach
ing Mission of the Catholic
Church,” issued by the Admini
strative Board of the National
Catholic If c/fare Conference on
behalf of the Cardinals. Arch-
bishops and Bishops of the Unit
ed States, following their annual
general meeting here:
For nearly 2,000 years the
Catholic Church has taught the
children of men. The divine im
petus of the first Pentecost has
carried with undiminished force
throi’igh the centuries to our
own day, so that the name of
Christ ;s known throughout the
whole world as the name above
ali names.
In the midst of society the
Church proclaims her right to
teach. She asserts this not as a
privilege which may or may not'
be conceded to her by any tem
poral authority, but, as a power
vested in her directly by her
Divine Founder Himself. From
His lips came the command,
“Going into the whole world,
preach the Gospel to every crea
ture.’’ (St. Mark, GVI, 15). With
instant obedience and literal fi
delity the Apostles at once set
forth upon their teaching mis
sion. It was not by virtue of
any imperial permission that
they began the evangelization
of the Roman world, nor has
the Church in all the succeeding
centuries ever sought the sanc
tion of any dynasty or govern
ment as conferring upon her the
right to engage in her universal
mission. Her claim is that she
holds her authority from the
Author of Truth Himself; any
lesser source would be meaning
less for her.
The purpose of this statement
is to reaffirm this right in the
confusion of modern pluralism.
It is to clarify for her own chil
dren and for men of good will
the objects which are embraced
by this right and the nature of
the obedience which she de
mands of those who know that
hearing her, they hear Christ
Himself.
There is a genuine urgency
for dwelling upon the subject
at this time. We live in a sun
dered and divided world, a
world harassed by conflicting
voices and warring philosophies.
Materialism and secularism, in
particular have made heavy in
roads on the official and popular
thinking of men and nations.
The basic tenet of those ideolo
gies is that man’s - sole concern
is with the here and now, with
the actual politics and econom
ics of this world, to the ex
clusion, theoretical or practical,
of the things of the spirit and
their relegation to the realm of
pure fantasy. They, moreover,
have seized upon the democratic
principle of popular suffrage
and have distorted its meaning
into a denial of all rights save
those which derive from majori
ty opinion, or the social and po
litical realities of our temporal
condition. But man’s spiritual
nature, his supernatural origin
and immortal destiny, are not
annihilated by being ignored;
nor is the fact of man’s redemp
tion by the Blood of Christ ob
literated by being denied.
The Church holds that she is
the teacher of men and nations
because she is divinely com
missioned by Jesus Christ. She
cannot admit,, therefore, that
any earthly power can deprive
her of her right to teach. That
right inheres in her very nature
as an autonomous society, one
whose constitution is altogether
independent of the state. If the
Church were not allowed to
teach she would be bereft of
one of her basic functions; she
would be condemned, as under
communist totalitarianism to
day, to a twilight existence, and
by every human augury, to
gradual extinction. The right of
the church to exist implies and
demands her full competence to
teach.
Now it is certainly true that
faith alone, a supernatural gift,
enables the individual soul to
acknowledge and accept the
Church as the authentic herald
of God’s revelation to mankind.
This is eminently a judgment
and a decision based upon the
credentials of the divinity of
her Founder and the indefecti-
bility of His word. Faith is that
mysterious union of human free
dom and the grace of God
which results in the highest act
of the mind: Credo, I believe.
But it is also true that in the
natural order the Church’s right
Impressive Ceremonies
Mark Albany Dedication
CORNER STONE BLESSING—Archbishop O’Hara is pictured as he blessed the corner stone
tablet for the new St. Teresa’s Church, Albany. Others identified in the picture are Bishop Thom
as J. McDonough, Auxiliary-Bishop, and Very Rev. Msgr. Andrew J. McDonald, Chancellor.
. mk*
to exist and to teach has its
roots in man’s freedom, an es
sential attribute of his nature,
the sanctity and inviolability of
which has long been recognized
as a fundamental of western
civilization. If man is truly free,
he is free to accept the revela
tion of our Lord and to embrace
the society He established. It is
this freedom, essentially, which
is attacked and denied by mod
ern secularism.
Can it be said that our coun
try is historically committed to
the secularist view of man’s na
ture and human society? To the
contrary, our American found
ers, throwing off the bonds of
tyranny, postulated as a right
for themselves and their pos
terity, life, liberty and the pur
suit of happiness. By the very
terms of our Constitution, par
ticularly as expressed in the
first and ninth Amendments
those rights are guaranteed not
only to citizens as individuals,
but also the the associations and
the religious societies to which
they belong.
But life for the Church is de
pendent upon her freedom to
teach; liberty for her must be
broad enough to encompass her
unfettered competence to pro
claim the truth of her mission;
and happiness, which for her is
the fulfillment of God’s will to
redeem mankind, is no more
than a mockery unless she is
free to work for that end. It is
an enduring tribute to the wis
dom of the men who framed
(Continued on Page 6)
SAINT TERESA'S CHURCH—Pictured here is the new St. Teresa’s Church, Albany. The new
edifice was dedicated in ceremonies held last Sunday.
ARCHBISHOP PAYS TRIBUTE
TO KINDNESS OF POPE JOHN
LONDON, (NC) — Personal
tribute to the kindness of His
Holiness Pope John XXIII was
paid here by Archbishop Gerald
P. O’Hara, Bishop of Savannah,
and Apostolic Delegate to Great
Britain.
Writing in the Universe, Lon
don Catholic weekly, the
Archbishop recalled his first
meeting with the then Father
Angelo Roncalli in 1919 when
the latter was a chaplain in the
Italian Army and he was a sem
inarian studying in Rome.
The young Italian priest had
taken leave to visit the sum
mer villa of his old seminary
outside Rome. He picked out
Urge Use Of Fifth
Sunday For Family
AUGUSTA — The committee
on Family and Parent Educa
tion in the Augusta Deanery
announces that all parishes are
cooperating in sponsoring a fifth
Sunday family communion on
November 30th.
Also, during the month of
November, St. Patrick’s and St.
Joseph’s Churches held a fam
ily Holy Hour. St. Mary’s Parish
held one earlier in the season
on October 3rd.
two Americans — Gerald O’
Hara and Francis J. Brennan,
now a monsignor attached to
the Roman Curia — among all
the students who greeted him
and seemed to realize that they
were somewhat homesick.
“He called us to one side and
spoke to us words of great kind
ness and understanding,” Arch
bishop O’Hara wrote. “We were
instantly and deeply moved by
his condescension and good
ness.”
That evening in the refectory
the students in turn sang “stor-
nelli” — improvised four-line
rhymes — in honor of their
guest, as was the seminary cus
tom. There was a good deal of
leg-pulling mostly based on the
fact that, Don Angelo had come
from Bergamo.
“Don Angelo took it all good-
naturedly,” Archbishop O’Hara
said. “He knew that the ‘stor-
nelli’ were prompted by affec
tion, As each singer concluded
his rhyme he said: ‘bravo, bra
vo, grazie.’ In the course of
years I have met the one whom
we teased that night and the
impression of great kindness
gained from that first meeting
grew and grew.”
Archbishop O’Hara also re
called a different meeting' in
1951 when Archbishop Roncalli
then Apostolic Nuncio in Paris,
gave a luncheon for French
Prime Minister Rene Pleven.
Archbishop Roncalli presided
easily, his conversation spark
ling with his deep knowledge of
France, but “with typical gra
ciousness the Nuncio found a
way of bringing all his guests,
even the most humble, into the
conversation.
“He had the art of making his
guests feel perfectly at ease and
happy in his company,” Arch
bishop O’Hara said. A member
of the staff told him: “Our
Nuncio is like a good kind fa
ther and we all love him.”
Archbishop,
Auxiliary
Participate
ALBANY — Impressive sol
emn ceremonies marked the
dedication of the new St. Te
resa’s Church, Albany on Sun
day, November 23rd. Presiding
at the dedication rites was His
Excellency, the Most Rev. Ger
ald P. O’Hara, Archbishop-Bish
op of Savannah and Apostolic
Delegate to Great Birtain. The
Rev. Marvin J. LeFrois is pas
tor of the historic Albany par
ish.
The ceremonies began after
10 o’clock Mass with the plac
ing of the cornerstone. At 2:00
p. m. His Excellency, the Most
Reverend Thomas J. McDon
ough, auxiliary Bishop of the
Diocese officiated at the Conse
cration of the altars in the strik
ing brick and redwood Church.
The solemn ceremonies were
brought to an end at 5:00 p. m.
with the blessing and dedica
tion of the new Church and a
Solemn Pontifical Mass cele
brated by Bishop McDonough,
with Archbishop O’Hara presid
ing in the Sanctuary.
The hundreds attending the
rites, including many priests
from all parts of the state, heard
the Very Rev. Daniel J. Bourke,
pastor of St. Mary’s-on-the-Hill,
Augusta and Vicar Forane of the
Augusta Deanery deliver the
dedicatory sermon.
The new church, located at
Maryland Drive and Edgewood
Lane was begun early in the
year and finished two weeks
ago. The first Mass celebrated in
the new building was celebrat
ed on Sunday, November 17th.
The church, with its exposed
redwood arches and weathered
brick is marked by simplicity of
design and soft color tones. Ac
comodating eighty persons in a
balcony containing choir stalls
and a “cry room,” the new St.
Teresa’s has a capacity of 580.
A pitched terrazzo floor pro
vides all worshippers with an
unobstructed view of entire
sanctuary.
Following the dedicatory rites
a reception was held in the
school auditorium. Mr. Ray
Mock was master of ceremonies
and introduced Mayor Jim Por
ter Watkins, who represented
the City of Albany. Spokesman
for the members of the Parish
was Mr. Fred Mills. Represent
ing the J. E. Breiner Company,
Architects, was Mr. Harry Mac-
Ewen, while Mr. A. C. Stamford,
general contractor was also
present.
The assembled guests heard
Mr. R. E. McCormack Sr. ex
press predictions concerning the
future of St. Teresa’s.
Father Marvin LeFrois, pastor
of the Albany parish introduced
Archbishop O’Hara and Bishop
McDonough who delivered short
addresses.
VATICAN CITY
ARCHBISHOP GERALD P. O’HARA
ARCHBISHOP-BISHOP OF SAVANNAH
DELAPOST LDN
HIS HOLINESS WARMLY APPRECIATES MESSAGE
DEVOTION LOYALTY ASSURANCE PRAYERS SENT
OCCASION HIS CORONATION EXPRESSES CORDIAL
GRATITUDE LOVINGLY IMPARTS YOUR EXCELLENC
AUXILIARY BISHOP CLERGY FAITHFUL DIOCESE
SAVANNAH FATHERLY APOSTOLIC BENEDICTION.
TARDINI
SECRETARY OF STATE