Newspaper Page Text
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AS FINE ARTS GROUP CONVENES
Nearly 100 representatives from colleges in the eastern area attended the fourth annual meeting
of the Catholic Fine Arts Society, at Marymount College, Tarrytown, N. Y. With Brother Denne-
hy as a model, sculptor Pietro Montana demonstrates clay modeling techniques, as min teachers
enjoy the lesson. (NC Photos)
Africa’s SO Million Moslems,
but, Politically Strong,
fork Hard To Win Converts
The following article ivas
written by a veteran N. C. W.
C. News Service correspond
ent after a trip to Africa that
took him to the Sudan, Ugan
da, Belgian Congo, Angola,
Ghana and Nigeria.
By Father Patrick O'Connor
Society of St. Columban
(N.C.W.C. News Service)
A white-robed man spread a
straw mat on the river-bank
kicked off his shoes and stepped
on the'mat. He faced the setting
Sun — there lay Mecca — joined
his hands reverently and began
to pray. Then he went down on
his knees and touched the
ground with his forehead.
He was one of Africa’s 60-odd
millions of Moslems, fulfilling
the Moslem duty of prayer five
times a day.
One hot, dazzling noon in
Khartoum a courteous young
man in European clothes, driv
ing a smart new car, gave me a
lift. He had studied in Scotland,
had visited Ireland, spoke Eng
lish well. It was early in Rama
dan, the Moslem' month of strict
fast. He had not taken food or
drink, not even a drop of water,
since sunrise, he told me. He
would keep the fast until sun
down. He was another of Afri
ca’s Moslem millions.
Later, on the other side
Africa, in Accra, Ghana,
watched thousands of Negro
Moslems in festive garb gather
ing to ceiebrate the end of Ra
madan.
Most of Africa’s Moslems are
of Arab or part - Arab stock.
Some are Negro Africans; these
are increasing in number. In
western Nigeria I passed near a
town where most of the popu
lation of 115,000 had become
Moslem in the past 25 years.
(The Bishop simply had no
priest to put there.)
The Moslem religion is not
native to Africa. It came from
Arabia, that is, from Asia, with
the Arabs. The Arabs, who are
Semites, originally came to Af
rica as invaders and “colonial
ists,” but that was 10 and 12
centuries ago.
The Moslems in Africa today
of
I
impress you with their religious
observance, their strength polit
ically and numerically and their
expansion.
1. One must stand respect
fully in the presence of any man
who prays to God as devoutly as
some of the Moslems I have
seen.
Reverence for God’s will is
constantly on Moslem lips. Their
religion is called Islam, which
means submission to God’s will.
(Greatly though they revere Mo
hammed as their prophet, they
do not like to be called just
Mohammedans.) Their creed,
though sadly incomplete and er
roneous, recognizes one God, the
immortality of the soul and
man’s subjection to God.
Their code of conduct is a
mixture of Puritanism and lax
ity. A man who observes the
rigorous fast all day during
Ramadan may spend the night
in licentiousness. Strong drink is
forbidden — a rule I have seen
broken publicly by Moslems—
but a man may have four wives.
2. In five of the 10 self-gov
erning countries in Africa, the
ruling power is in Moslem
hands. In Nigeria, to become in
dependent in October, 1960, the
Northern Region, where a
strongly Moslem party predomi
nates, will have a majority in
the federal legislature. Somali
land, also to become independ
ent in 1960, is mostly Moslem.
Dwelling mainly in the north
but numerous also in east and
west Africa, the Moslems make
up about 30 per cent of Africa’s
population. They do not form a
united religious body, however,
as they are divided into sects.
Among the Moslem millions
are some African tribes who are
only nominally Moslems, keep
ing fetichism and other prac
tices from a pagan near-past.
It hardly ever happens in Af
rica that anyone living in a
Moslem community openly gives
up the Moslem religion. Where
Moslems are in the majority,
their religion is usually inter
locked with local political, so
cial and economic power. And
power, in the Moslem tradition,
tends to be absolute. It’s a brave
s.:
H.
Kress & Co.
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man who tries to fight City Hall
in those circumstances.
On the other hand, in western
Nigeria I met an African priest
whose parents were Moslem. In
that region adult Moslems sel
dom if ever become Christians,
but they will allow one or two
of their children to poin the
Church.
3. Moslems seek converts. The
Ahmadiyya Moslem sect, with
headquarters in India, has main
tained “foreign missions” in
west Africa since 1921.'
Most of the Moslem prosely
tizing is done by Africans. There
is an active Moslem “lay apos-
tolate. Moslems are said to be
strongly represented in radio
and in newspapers in Nigeria.
Moslems help Moslems to es
tablish themselves as farmers or
traders in pagan districts. With
their earnings the newcomers
employ Moslem catechists, and
in 10 years a whole village may
have become Moslem.
Moslem doctrines are easy to
learn. They allow believers to
have four wives. Furthermore,
the African peasant or laborer
may feel that as a Moslem he
will gain some prestige and se
curity. Maybe the richest trad
ers he knows are Moslems. He
hears of foreign countries that
are largely Moslem. It is com
mon knowledge that the British
colonial government favored the
Moslems for political reasons in
Africa; so did the French.
Moslems do not make con
verts everywhere. Members of
the Ibo tribe (five and a half
million), for instance, in Nige
ria, may become Christians or
remain pagans, but they won’t
become Moslems. Apart fipm oc
casional marriage cases, Catho
lics do not become Moslem.
Moslems in Africa work hard
at converting and are hard to
convert. But it is risky to gen
eralize where many different ra
cial, social and political factors
Fatfier Andrew Katkoff, M.
I. C. (above), a Russian priest
ordained at the Russicum Col
lege in Rome in 1944 has been
consecrated titular Bishop of
Nauplia, in the Byzantine-Slav-
onic Rite, on December 21 in
the Church of St. Anthony Ab
bot, Rome. He will serve as Co-
adutor to Archbishop Alexander
Evreinoff. The new Bishop was
born in Harbin, Manchuria, of
parents who were refugees from
Russia. Since his ordination he
has served Russian refugees and
prisoners of war in Italy, Lon
don and Australia. (NC Photos)
SERVICES FOR
W. H. BAKER
AUGUSTA . — Funeral serv
ices for William Henry Baker
were held December 17th at the
Sacred Heart Church, Rev. J. E.
O’Donohue, S.J., officiating.
Survivors are a daughter,
Mrs. T. S. Powell of North Au
gusta; two sons, M/Sgt. Julian
M. Baker of Myrtle Beach, S.
C. and Henry M. Baker of Mari
etta; two sisters, Mrs. Ellen
Keenan of Langley, S. C., and
Mrs. Daniel Smith of Belvedere.
Morinus A. Wyndelts
Services In Atlanta
ATLANTA — Funeral serv-
ives for Marinus Adrian Wyn-
delts, Sr., were held December
18th at the Cathedral of Christ
the King, Rev. Dale Freeman
officiating.
Mr. Wyndelts was a member
of the Holy Name Society and
the Knights of Columbus. He
was born in Holland.
Survivors are his wife; a son,
Marinus A. Wyndelts Jr., and
several grandchildren.
We see in the future what we
dreamed the past might be like.
The man who is appointed to
a good job never forgets his
place.
enter.
One can safely say, however,
that in Africa’s Moslem millions
there is a great fund of sincere
religious sentiment and of good
will towards non-Moslems.
MOSAIC — TERRAZZO — TILE — MARBLE
Best Wishes
COLUMBUS TILE AND
MARBLE WORKS
G. M. TAMBURINI, Owner
Phone 2-7022 1410 - 10th Ave.
COLUMBUS, GA.
Happy New Year
Smoak's Bakery
Buy with Confidence . . Serve with Pride
2108 CENTRAL AVE.
AUGUSTA, GA.
AUGUSTA BUILDING SUPPLY
COMPANY
Better Building Materials
AND —
Ready Mixed Concrete
1559-61 Broad St., Telephone PA. 2-8818
Augusta, Georgia
THE BULLETIN, January 10, 1958—PAGE 3
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OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK
Close Sundays Midnight — Open 6 A. M. Mondays
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1029- 14th St.
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