Newspaper Page Text
The Bulletin
.. of the Catholic Laymen’s Association of Georgia ..
Number 3
“To bring about a friendlier feeling among Georgians irrespective of Creed.”
July 1920
PRESIDENT’S CALL FOR CONVENTION
To the Members of the Catholic Laymen’s Association
of Georgia:
The Fourth Annual Convention of the Catholic
Laymen’s Association of Georgia will be held in Sa
vannah, Sunday, September 26, 1920.
We are most anxious to make this Convention the
largest and most representative of Catholics ever held
in Georgia, so I am appealing to every member
throughout the State to make arrangements to be
present, as the report of our year’s work will more
than repay them for the trip. Officers of local
branches are urged to get in touch at once with
the different adult societies in their jurisdiction and
have them appoint One Delegate, as well as request
the Pastors of the different Parishes and Missions to
appoint Two Delegates to represent them in the Con
vention.
Let those who are members make up delegations
to attend, as they will be welcome and entitled to
seats in the Convention, though not with the right
to vote.
Invitations will be extended by our Rt. Rev. Bishop
to the Bishops of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, North
Carolina, South Carolina and Louisiana to be present.
I have appoitned Mr. Wm. J. Ryan, Savannah,
Ga., chairman of the Credentials Committee, and 1
ask that local presidents see that names of delegates
representing the different organizations, as well as
members of the association who expect to attend the
meeting, are sent to him a week before the Conven
tion, so as to save time, so that in this way we will
be able to open the Convention without delay.
The work of our Association for the past year has
exceeded our most sanguine expectations, as the chair
man of the publicity committee will make clear in
his report to be read at the Convention; he will,
besides, make a report of his visits to Pennsylvania,
New Jersey, New York, Michigan, Missouri, Louisiana,
Mississippi, Florida and South Carolina, explaining
our work which is to be used by the above mentioned
States.
Once more, make your arrangements to be in Sa
vannah, Sunday, September 26, 1920.
(Signed) P. H. RICE,
State President.
WORKING UNDER FULL STEAM
This naufical phrase gives graphically the idea be
hind the past quarter’s work ,of the publicity bureau.
Never has so much been done and never, perhaps,
have so many difficulties been encountered, unless
it was during those first few months when we began
to creep and feel our way through the stygian dark
ness of prejudice and antagonism. Then the only
encouragement was from our own number; now on
all sides, both within and without the State, come
words of cheer that serve to spur us on to greater
efforts. This helps. But at no time have there been
more attacks on the Catholics and their Church. In
Atlanta and Cobb County, especially, but not a little
in Bibb, have there been assaults against the Cath
olics through the alleged Fourth Degree Oath of the
Knights of Columbus. Time and again the heinous
ness of this lie has been denounced in press and
forum and even in Congress, yet even this denuncia
tion has been used by an editor of a so-called religious
paper in Atlanta who is also a candidate for office
as a means of spreading and giving speciousness to
the fake.
The Association has met this by sending out some
thing like 50,000 copies of the true obligation of the
Fourth Degree, as taken from The New York Evening
Sun editorial of March 1 8th, and is now sending out
25,000 copies of that fine pamphlet on criminal libel
and religious bigotry published by the Knights’ head
quarters and which we secured through the assist
ance of State and national officers of the Order.
Only the other day the meanest, unfairest of anti-
Catholics in Georgia said in his paper that he reaf
firmed all he had ever said about this fake oath, and
argued that he knew that hundreds of years ago
the Jesuits took a similar oath and since they did
that then, therefore it is true the Knights of Columbus
do now. Yet that is the kind of logic that is sup
posed to be the emanation of a great brain and that