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DIOCESE OF SAVANNAH EDITION
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Serving
Georgia's 88
Southern Counties
Published By The
Catholic Laymen's
Ass'n of Georgia
OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE DIOCESE OF SAVANNAH
Vol. 41, No. 13
MONROE, GEORGIA, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 1960
10c Per Copy — $3 a Year
Diocesan Y outh Gather
For Annual Convention
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UNIVERSITY BUILDINGS BLESSED BY U. S. CARDINALS — The four Cardinals of the Catholic Church in the
United States individually blessed four new buildings on the Catholic University of America campus during the annual
Bishops’ Meeting in Washington, D. C. At left: His Eminence Richard Cardinal Cushing, Archbishop of Boston, uses towel
and cement on the cornerstone of Conaty Hall; and at right, His Eminence Francis Cardinal Spellman, Archbishop of
New York, blesses addition to Caldwell Hall where the bishops hold their annual meetings.—(NC Photos)
U. S. Bishops Urge Return To
Religion For Restoring Man's
Sense Of Personal Responsibility
(N.C.W.C. NEWS SERVICE)
WASHINGTON — The
United States is. suffering from
a breakdown -in personal re
sponsibility caused chiefly by
a marked decline in religious
convictions, the U. S. Catholic
Bishops declared in their 1960
statement.
The statement, issued at the
conclusion of the Bishops’ an
nual meeting here, said the
decay of personal responsibil
ity is evident in family life,
industry, economic life in gen
eral and in international af
fairs.
Personal responsibility is
being sacrificed, the Bishops
declared, by a tendency to
delegate too much responsibil
ity. to organizations.
They said that the correction
of the “basically moral evils”
in the various spheres of life
“and the restoration of a vig-
orus sense of personal respon
sibility belong primarily to the
field of religion.”
“The foremost signs of the
decline of personal responsi
bility are to be found in the
family,” the Bishops stated
“The failure of parents to ful
fill their responsibilities, as re
vealed in the frequency of
divorce, desertion and broken
homes, is a national disgrace.
Any delinquency of parents
may well be reflected in the
delinquency of youth, which
is now commonly considered .
our greatest national domestic :
problem.”
The Bishops’ statement, en
titled “Need for Personal Re
sponsibility,” said that “equal
ly conspicuous is the evidence
of decline in the sense of re
sponsibility within our indus
trial organization and in our
general economic life.”
“At a time when so much
depends upon the soundness of
our economy and upon our
ability to produce to meet the
needs of a rapidly developing
world, we have been faced
with a frequent lack of truly
responsible leadership, both
on the part of management
and labor,” the Bishops said.
“Among the evident in
stances of the breakdown of
personal responsibility most
deplorable have been the
widespread cynical reaction to
the recent revelation of dis
honesty, waste and malfeas
ance in industrial relations.”
Personal responsibility and
initiative have been charac
teristics of this nation, the
Bishops said, but “pressures
are growing for a constantly
greater reliance on the collec
tivity rather than on the in
dividual.” The tendency to
delegate excessive responsibil
ity to an organization is dis
cernible in international af
fairs, the Bishops said. Many
citizens seem to feel that more
adherence to the United Na
tions absolves the nation from
further responsibility in the
international order, they add
ed.
“However varied the above
mentioned evils, ranging from
the single act of wrongdoing
to the moral laxity of the
mass mind, the root cause is
the same—the rejection of per
sonal responsibility,” the state
ment said.
“This is a moral evil, as are
all the major ills that beset
the present world. As such
their cure is largely within
the power of individual per
sons. A godly society is the
work of godly men. Even the
most universal evil and the
threatened mechanization of
man can be made to yield be
fore the just and determined
(Continued on Page 6)
Reception
For Priests
At Dublin
DUBLIN — A reception
honoring Rev. Gajetan Mc-
Dyre and Rev. Myron Bate
man of the Missionary Ser
vants of the Most Holy Trin
ity will be held Wednesday
evening, November 30th, at
the Catholic Center in Dublin,
under the auspices of the
Parish Council of Catholic
Women.
The two priests have recent
ly taken over the pastoral du
ties of the Immaculate Con
ception Church here. Rev.
Coleman. Nolan from Silver
Springs, Maryland, will also
be present, representing the
Missionary Servant magazine.
He is a former classmate of
Rev. Cyril Draina, who served
as temportry pastor of the
church during the summer
months.
Open house will be held
from eight to ten, with par
ishioners, as well as guests
from Sandersville and Wrights-
ville, on hand to welcome the
priests.
! CALENDAR
OF EVENTS
Friday, Nov. 25, 8-9 PM—Workshop for Adult
Advisors.
Saturday, Nov. 26, 10 AM-1 PM—Registration,
Benedictine Armory. Registration fee $2.00.
1:30 PM—Benediction, Sacred Heart Church.
Welcome Address by Bishop McDonough.
2 PM—Plenary Session B. C. Armory.
(1) Selections by Pius X Glee Club.
(2) Recreation Workshop by Mr. Kiernan
| Stenson of Pittsburgh, Pa.
3-3:30 PM—Intermission Entertainment, Coke
break.
| (1) Folk Dances.
(2) Choral Selections, Aquinas Glee Club.
3:30-4:30 PM—Workshop, Part 11.
4:30 PM—Balloting for Officers of Diocesan
| Council.
8-12 AM—Semi-formal Dances.
Pius X.
Benedictine Armory.
Sunday, Nov. 27, 9:15 AM—Mass and Holy Com
munion, Cathedral’s Chapel of Our Lady.
10:30 xAM—Communion Breakfast
Benedictine Armory.
300 EXPECTED AT
SEE CITY MEETING
SAVANNAH — More than
three hundred delegates and
members of Parish Catholic
Youth Councils will gather in
Savannah on Saturday, No
vember 26th for the second
annual convention of the Sav
annah Diocesan Council of
Catholic Youth, it was an
nounced by the Rev. Herbert
J. Wellmeier, Diocesan Youth
Moderator.
Each Council in the Diocese
Further Cause Of
Kateri Tekakwitha
(Radio, NCWC News Service) i
VATICAN CITY — The pre
paratory work for the beatifi
cation of Kateri Tekakwitha,
17th-century American Indian
woman, might be completed
within the next year.
Authorities of the Sacred
Congregation of Rites revealed
that the beatification proced
ure has been speeded up by
beginning an examination of
a second possible miracle said
to have been granted through
her intercession. If the miracle
is approved, they said, it could
take less than a year to clear
tire way for declaring her
“Blessed.”
Approval of two miracles is
required before the steps lead
ing to beatification can be
completed. One miracle per
formed through the interces
sion ol Kateri Tekakwitn was
examined and approved sev
eral years ago.
Tekakwitha was born into
the Mohawk tribe in 1656 in
what is now Auriesville, N. Y.
Her mother was a Christian
Algonquin. When the child
was aDout four, her parents
died of smallpox, and she was
adopted by a pagan uncle. Her
first real contact with Christi
anity came w n e n she was
about 11, when three French
missionaries on a peace mis
sion for Quebec spent several
days at her uncle’s lodge. She
is said to have accepted Chris
tianity then, and she lived the
life of a Christian virgin de
spite attempts to force her into
marriage.
She could not be baptized,
however, until she was 18,
when Jesuit Father Jacques de
Lamberville arrived to take
charge of a nearby mission.
She was given the local form
of the name Catherine. To her
tribe, she became a foreigner,
and she was threatened with
death unless she returned to
the cult of the tribal gods.
She fled across the St. Law
rence river to Caughnawaga,
settlement of Iroquois Christ
ian refugees in sothem Que
bec. There she .took a vow of
virginity, the first of her race
to do so, In 1680, when she
was 24 and in perfect health,
she told her friends she would
die during Holy Week. Her
prediction came true.
The Councils of Quebec and
Baltimore in the 19th century
petitioned her canonization.
The beatification process was
introduced at the Vatican in
May, 1939, and the decree de
claring her a “venerable serv
ant of God” was issued on
January 3, 1943.
Kateri Tekakwitha is thus
the first native of what is now
the United States entitled to
be called “Venerable.”
Last Dec. 19—nearly 17 years
later—Mother Elizabeth Seton
became the second. His Holi
ness Pope John XXIII made
(Continued on Page 6)
BUEFOH
Book Reviews 2
Editorial Comment 4
Marriage Notices —5
Obituaries 5
Question Box ——4
Doris Answers
Youth 5
Calendar of Feast Days —6
"Port Of Desire"
Condemned By
Decency Legion
NEW YORK, (NC) — The
National Legion of Decency
has placed in its condemned
class the movie “Port of De
sire,” a Union production.
“The negative elements of
this film, the legion said,
“are seriously offensive
to traditional standards of
morality and decency.”
PRAY FOR OUR
I PRIESTLY DEAD
k i
RT. REV. HARRY
F. CLARK
Nov. 27, 1935
REV. WILLIAM MCCARTHY
Nov. 27, 1930
REV. GREGORY DUGGAN
Dec. 3, 1370
rev. john McCarthy
Dec. 3, 1920
O God, Who didst give to
thy servants by their sacredotal
office, a share in the priesthood
of the Apostles, grant, we im
plore, that they may also be one
of their company forever in
heaven. Through Christ Our
Lord. Amen.
Pope Opens
New Phase
Of Council
(Radio, N.C.W.C. News Service)
VATICAN CITY — His Holi
ness Pope John XXIII in an
official preface to the Second
Vatican Council received some
500 members of the council’s
preparatory commissions.
The (Nov. 14) assembly rep
resented the core of the
Church’s authority and learn
ing, gathered in the presence
of the Supreme Pontiff to
hear his instructions before
beginning the immediate prep
aration of the coming ecumen
ical council.
Pope John in his discourse
asked the heads of churches
not in communion with the
Holy See to wait until com
pletion of the council before
making “contacts at a higher
level.” At the same time, he
invited them to “follow the
work of the council in the
light of truth.”
Not for over 90 years had
a similar body with similar
purpose gathered under the
dome of St. Peter’s basilica.
The Pope in his address — de
livered in Italian — set down
certain limitations on the
council’s work and gave gen-
(Continued on Page 6)
sylvania.
An entertainment break will
feature choral selections by
the Glee Clubs of St. Pius X
High School, Savannah, and
Aquinas High School, Augus
ta. Members of Our Lady of
Lourdes Council, Port Went-
Worth, will present a musical
pantomime.
Balloting for Diocesan of
ficers will begin later in the
afternoon. Only delegates may
vote. Other members as well
as moderators and adult advis
ors have no active part in the
elections.
Outgoing officers are Miss
Julie Miller, St. James Parish,
Savannah, president; Miss
Geraldine Bowie, Sacred Heart
Parish, Warner Robins, vice
president; Miss Rosemary
Brennan, Holy Family Parish,
Columbus, secretary; and Matt
McCoy, St. Teresa’s Parish,
Albany, treasurer.
The day’s activities will
close with semi-formal dances
at St. Pius X High School Au-
Rev. William T. Larkin, S.T.D.
will send two of its members
as official delegates, but many
more members, together with
their Priest-moderators and
adult advisors are expected to
attend.
A pre-convention workshop
for adult advisors will be held
on Friday evening from 8 to
9 p. rn.
Activities will get underway
at 10 a. m. Saturday morning
with registration of delegates
at the Benedictine Military
School Armory, v/here con
vention sessions will be held.
Conventioneers will be offi
cially welcomed by His Excel
lency, the Most Rev. Thomas
J. McDonough, Bishop of Sav
annah, following Benediction
of the Most Blessed Sacrament
at 1:30 Saturday afternoon.
At the Plenary Session of
Saturday afternoon, Mr. Kier-
man Stenson of Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, will conduct a
Recreation Workshop. Mr.
Stenson, a graduate of Du-
nquesne University in Pitts
burgh, received his Ph.D. in so
cial work from the University
of Pittsburgh. He is Director of
Kingsley House, a settlement
house for underprivileged
youth at East Liberty, Penn-
Rev. Herbert J. Wellmeier
ditorium and the Benedictine
Armory.
The Convention’s principal
address will be delivered by
the Rev. V/illiam Thomas Lar
kin, S.T.D., pastor of Christ
the King Church, Jacksonville,
Florida. He will speak at a
Communion Breakfast follow
ing the closing Mass on Sun
day morning.
Father Larkin is a native of
Mount Morris, N. Y. and an
alumnus of St. Bernard’s Sem
inary, Rochester, N. Y. He re
ceived his Doctorate in Sac
red Theology following post
graduate studies at the Angel-
icum College in Rome in 1949.
Press Comments See Religion Factor in Election
'LILY
OF MOHAWK'
(N.C.W.C. NEWS SERVICE)
Religion played a part in
the election of Sen. John F.
Kennedy as President, accord
ing to most political analysts.
But there was disagreement
on how big that part was.
Columnists and editorialists
generally felt that Sen. Ken
nedy’s Catholicism both won
and lost votes for him.
Many estimated that by and
large it was more help than
handicap. They said it was
only by carrying the big indus
trial states of the northeast
and east, where there are
heavy concentrations of Cath
olics, that Sen. Kennedy was
able to win the election.
Most observers also agreed
that while the President
elect’s religion cost him some
states, the anti-Catholic pro
test vote of vast proportions
which some had feared failed
to materialize.
Beyond attempting to esti
mate the influence of religion
on the results, the commenta
tors said the election had bro
ken down the tradition that a
Catholic cannot be elected
President. The Catholic press
especially hailed the outcome
as a defeat for bigotry.
Here is a rundown of some
of the press comment on the
“religious issue” in the elec
tions.
Time magazine said Sen.
Kennedy’s religion “was cer
tainly a factor in his favor in
the big cities, where Catholics
are most heavily concentrated,
though the Catholic vote was
not so monolithic as the Ken-
nedys had, hoped . . .
“At the same time, an anti-
Catholic vote may well have
been decisive against Kennedy
in such states as Kentucky,
Tennessee, Oklahoma and Ore-
PROTESTANTS’ FEAR OF
CATMUeS CUTUKES
JERSEY CITY, N. J. (NC) —
A Protestant theologian said
the Protestants’ top fear is that
Catholics will abolish religious
freedom should they ever be
come a majority in the United
States.
Robert McAffee Brown of
Union Theological Seminary
in an “American Tri-Faith Di
alogue” at St. Peter’s College
here, said it is this image of
the Church, held by non-Cath-
olics that Catholics must work
to destroy.
Most Protestants, he said,
rightly or wrong) y feel that
Catholics are in favor of reli
gious freedom only when they
are in the minority.
Also speaking at the meet
ing were Will Herberg of
Drew University, Madison, a
Jewish leader, and Father
Gustave Weigel, S.J., of Wood
stock (Md.) College.
Mr. Herberg said the role
of the Jew in the Catholic
Protestant dialogue is to stim
ulate while maintaining a de
tached position.
Father Weigel outlined ad
vances in inter-faith relation
ships, but stressed that at the
moment a truly ecumenical di
alogue between Catholics and
Protestants is not possible. He
emphasized the need for both
Protestants and Catholics to
know and understand the posi-
gon. But in many Protestant
areas — Both North and South
— Kennedy’s Catholicism
seems not to have worked
against him.”
Newsweek magazine said
the President-elect’s religion
“on balance, evidently re
dounded to his advantage.”
While it hurt him in such
states as Tennessee, Kentucky,
Oklahoma, Indiana and Iowa,
the magazine said, “these loss
es had been much more than
offset by victories in New
York, Pennsylvania, and Mas
sachusetts.”
“In these, and in other
northern states, Kentucky’s
Catholicism had been a de
cided asset, not only because
it won him many Catholic
votes but also because the
anti - Catholic propaganda it
inspired won him the sym
pathy of liberal Protestants
and Jews,” Newsweek said.
Both Newsweek and the As
sociated Press prepared sum
rnaries which showed that
Vice President Nixon won in
such states — with Catholic
populations of more than 20
per cent — as New Hampshire,
Wisconsin, Vermont, Maine,
North Dakota, Arizona and
Ohio.
On the other hand, Sen
ay
ai
r-
iy
it,
of
le
l-
r-
is
ie
g
u
Kennedy won a number of
states, most of them in the
South, with extremely small
Catholic populations.
New York Times writer
John Wickleim stated that “a
strong, silent ‘Protestant vote’
cut into Sen. John F. Ken
nedy’s margin of victory —
(but) was offset by a more
strategically placed ‘Catholic
vote’ which aided the Senator
in large states he needed to
win.”
He added: “Although it
could not be proved statistical
ly, election returns suggested
that there were more Protes
tant votes against Sen. Ken
nedy because has was a Cath
olic than Catholic votes for
him for the same reason . . .
“But Catholic voters have
greater influence on the elec
toral result than Protestants.
This is because they are con
centrated in the populous
states, often in the cities any
Democrat needs to offset
‘downstate, Republican (and
predominantly Prate s .t ant)
votes.”
Syndicated columnist David
Lawrence claimed that a shift
to the Kennedy camp — indi
cated in pre-election polls —•
of five million Catholics who
(Continued on Page 6)
