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THE BULLETIN, April 14, 1962—PAGE 3A
Text Of Archbishop Hallman's Installation Sermon
We give thanks to God for you
always...being mindful of your work
of faith, and labor and charity, and
your enduring hope in Our Lord,
Jesus Christ...so that you became
a pattern to all believers in Mace
donia and in Achaia."
1 Thess. 1,2-7
One hundred and fourteen years
ago, the sacrifice of the Mass was
first offered in Atlanta. There was
no church; in fact, there was hard
ly a 'city. The priest was Father
Thomas Shannahan; the place a clean
table in a simple Irish home. But the
faith was here. As the historian of
the church in Georgia and theCaro-
linas described it:
“If there had been ample notice
every Catholic from Rabun Gap to
Dalonega....would be gathered round
waiting their turn for confessing and
fasting.”
The faith was here indeed, a-
mong St. Paul’s Thessalonians. And
it grew, and became a pattern to
all believers, a pattern of growth
against tremendous odds, of strugg
le against thorns an thistles, against
poverty, and distance, and the epi
demics that cut down priest and
sisters, and reduced the tiny, scat
tered flock. No great waves of
Catholic immigration came, as in
the north to build the churches
and to fill them. War destroyed
the homes and harvests, and left
behind it incredible misgovernment
and bitter frustration. Every decade
brought its own peculiar tragedy
to the south, - and to the Church.
When war and reconstruction had
done their worst, there were pro
bably less than 40,000 Catholics in
the four states which today comprise
the new metropolitan province just
established by the Holy See.
The Church in Georgia
But what Catholics these people
were! The old man in Marietta who
knew the Scriptures by heart, and
won the respect of many fine Pro
testants when he outquoted an anti-
Catholic. Bible salesman in public
debate. The veteran priest of forty
years on the Georgia missions,
Father Peter Whealan, who lived
most of his life on quinine, ema
ciated and worn out, at the end al
most hanging on to the altar in Sa
vannah as he offered Mass. The
pioneer Catholic families of
Milledgeville who offered their
homes for Mass before the church
was even built. Bishop John Bar
ry, who was a priest in Augusta
during the cholera, turned his rec
tory into a hospital, while he nurs
ed, consoled and then buried the
victims, anointing the Catholics a-
mong them. Martyrs, confessors
and apostles they were, and a lit
any of the saints could well be sung
of the men and women who lived
and died for their faith on the Geor
gia missions.
Staunch Faith
The origin of the Church of Sa
vannah and Atlanta, is essential
ly the same as the growth of the
Church in the dioceses of Raleigh
and Charleston to the north, and
St. Augustine and Miami to the
south. It is a h e r o i c account of
staunch faith and daily struggle.
It was a long winter and the world
grows old, but the Church is ever
young. The rhythm of the seasons
moves along. We are privileged to
live in the. springtime of the Chris
tian year, not as Cardinal Newman
predicted for England a century ago,
a “second spring,” but for the south
land of America, a “first spring.”
We can still expect, in Newman’s
words, “keen blasts, and cold show
ers, and sudden storms,” but the
bright promise and building hopes
cannot be denied. The first soil of
Catholic planting for the south was
in the mother province of Balti
more. W'ithin her boundaries, the
seeds of faith were planted in North
Carolina by Gibbons and the Ben
edictines; in South Carolina by Eng
land and Lynch; in Georgia by
Gartland and Becker; in Florida
by Verot and Kenny. Under the steady
care of good priests, the seeds have
sprouted; the strong young shoots
have flourished. The breath of the
Holy Spirit has warmed the land;
Catholic souls have trebled in the
past decade; and the Holy See has
taken formal notice. Because the
faith is deep, and the charity of
our people is open-hearted, the
bishops of this youngest American
province face the future with strong
confident, Christian hope. We are
few in priests and sisters, small
in physical plant, short of mission
funds, but out of the sacrificial
record of a century there remain
faith, hope and charity, these three-
and the power and the promise of
God Who said: “My grace is suf
ficient for thee.”
Special Challenge
The Catholic Church, in the south,
faces her own special challenge.
Large cities have grown out of in
dustry and commerce. Urban and
suburban parishes have their own
problems: — crowded schools, ca
pacity congregations, changing
neighborhoods. But the basic chal
lenge in our states lies between
and beyond these cities, — the
rural area, the small town, the
crossroads. This delimma is con
fronted in every discese in the
province, how to care for Catho
lic thousands in the cities, how to
reach the villages and counties
where the Church is not known.
Then, cutting across almost every
problem, are the difficulties of a
nation in transit; thousands of mi
litary personnel, shifting popula
tions, and (in one notable instance)
refugees from the island of com
munism. Finally, as St. Paul had
his daily pressing anxiety in the care
of the churches, so does the Church
today face the daily task of putting
into practical effort her clear-cut
teaching on racial justice. Neither
in the north nor in the south can
she bear the ugly blemish of pre
judice and fear. Small in numbers
but great in loyalty, Catholic peo
ple are trying to reflect the unity
of Christ’s Mystical Body as they
move toward the reality of full ra
cial justice, — with prudence, with
courage, with determination.
The Church—Society’s Sentinel
These are the elements of the
challenge within the Church itself.
But the Church does not live only
to itself. It lives in society and
for society. In any nation that calls
itself religious, the Church must
provide the vision of what society
whould be. It is society’s yeast,
society’s sentinel, society’s ideal.
Our Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish
people are the citizens of the com
munity. That community will be
what all of them, working together,
decide that it will be. Our Catho
lic people, speaking their deepest
Catholic convictions, will work side
by side with citizens of other faiths
toward a community approved by
God. Our first task is to save
souls, but we can not save them in
heaven, nor in the sanctuary. We
can save them only in Atlanta, in
Georgia, in America, in the world
in which we live.
New Province
Our Holy Father, Pope John XXIII,
has marked this springtime of the
south with an event of profound
significance, the creation of a new
ecclesiastical province. I know you
join me in this expression of our
gratitude to him. We warmly wel
come to Atlanta his personal repre
sentative, the revered Apostolic
Delegate, Archbishop Vagnozzi. We
greet the distinguished bishops of the
new province, men of zeal and
vision: —Archbishop Hurley of St.
Augustine, Bishop Waters of Ra
leigh, Bishop McDonough of Savan
nah, Bishop Carroll of Miami, and
a hearty welcome to my as yet
unknown, but fortunate, successor,
the next Bishop of Charleston. We
are proud to greet the honored
metropolitan of our mother prov
ince of Baltimore, Archbishop She-
han. To this joyful event have come
archbishops, bishops and abbots,
priests and religious, family and
friends from every part of the
United States, and the nearby is
lands, to witness this latest sign
of Rome’s paternal care. They re
joice in this blessing for the south,
as the south rejoices in their com
ing.
Firm Foundation
At the heart of this event are
the devoted priests, religious and
laity of the new archdiocese of
Atlanta. Their faith, their leader
ship, their cooperation have merit
ed this new honor, and its corres
ponding new responsibility. Side by
side with our own splendid dio
cesan priests, the members of nine
religious orders have blessed our
soil in the extension of Christ’s
Kingdom, all priests have work
ed together. They wear different
cassocks; they bear different names;
but there is really only one kind
of priest, God's priest. Priests,
sisters, and laity recall with me to
day the blessed labors of their
beloved Archbishop O’Hara when all
Georgia formed one diocese. They
are profoundly grateful, as ami,for
the firm foundation laid in five short
years by that gentle zealous man
of God, the first bishop of Atlanta,
my predecessor, Bishop Francis
Hyland. To all who love Atlanta,
and Georgia, and the south,—to all
who love the Church, this is a day
of thankful prayer and joyous hope.
We are especially honored by the
presence of distinguished officials
and representatives of the civic
community, and by friends and
guests who profess a different faith,
but join with us in mutual respect
and charity. In the meaningful words
of Pope John, we greet them all
as “brothers,” and this fraternal
greeting could cease only if the
Lord’s prayer, the “Our Father,”
would cease to be said.
The Church-Vibrant
Because we are Catholics, we
cannot be blind to the worldwide
Church beyond our boundaries. For,
in a world of distress and fear,
the Catholic Church is experienc
ing her own splendid springtime
of hope and promise. When he con
voked the Ecumenical Council, Our
Holy Father called the Christian
community today “vibrant with vi
tality.” It has been, he added,
“transformed in great part, and
renewed . . . strengthened socially
in unity . . . intellectually rein
vigorated . . . internally purified,
and is thus ready for trial.” This
fragrant hope, this holy anxiety is
in the air we breathe today. We
are not living in ordinary times.
A great Pope and a historic Coun
cil stamp the year of 1962 with
momentous distinction. No prelate,
no priest, no Catholic can ever look
upon it again as “just another year.”
The Bishop
In this spirit of mutual hope and
charity, I pledge to you, my beloved
priests and religious, Catholic men
and women of the new archdiocese
of Atlanta, my best efforts, hum
ble as they are, in the sacred vo
cation of your spiritual father. When
a bishop is consecrated, the Church
speaks but three words—“Receive
the Holy Spirit.-” When a bishop
is installed, nothing is said at all.
He is simply seated, and handed the
crozier of his authority. The Cath
olic conscience needs no further
mandate; the Catholic heart instinc
tively recalls the promise of Our
Lord: “As the Father has sent Me,
I also send you.” St. Paul in his
letter to young bishop Timothy, gave
him a series of vigorous directives:
—“Fight the good fight...guard the
trust...stir up in you the grace of
God...preach the word, be urgent
in season, out of season." These
are not maxims for serenity and
repose. They are rules of action
that bind the men who are called
to be faithful stewards in the house
of God.
Cooperation
And yet, no bishop governs in
solitude, just as no human act can
occur in a vacuum. The bishop
works through his priests, his re
ligious, his faithful people. Thus
St. Ignatius of Antioch urged the
Christians of Smyrna and their bis
hop, Polycarp, to—
“ toil together, run together,
wrestle together, suffer together,
rest together, rise together.”
As you promise to me today your
obedience and your loyalty, I pro
mise to you, as best I can with
God’s help, the practice of those
particular virtues which St. Paul
required of a bishop: “justice,
charity, mildness, patience.”
Our Cathedral is dedicated to
Christ the King. Our Patron is
His Blessed Mother. United with
our King, joined in prayer with
our Lady, we take today a new turn
on the old road that leads to God.
In that unity of purpose that was
the subject of Our Lord’s last for
mal prayer in the garden, we will
reach together our eternal destiny
with Him. It was already said to
day, in the ceremony of Installation,
in the prayer for the new Arch
bishop. May God—
“enable him to further, by his
teaching and example, the salva
tion of those over whom he is
placed, so that he may — with
the flock entrusted to his care,—
attain everlasting life. Through
Christ Our Lord. Amen.