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THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
they abandoned the Gospel, went into politics, prohibi
tion and money collecting, I told them “good night.’’
This has been now some 30 years. They are out
first for vast sums of money, and second for political
control of the government.
Cuthbert, Ga. You are right on the remarriage, I
think. Don’t think your marriage is any better than
ours.
Atlanta, Ga.—Your argument is like your religion
—sorry, fairly good political organization, but almost
every one onto it and getting wiser all the time.
One has only to look up the history of it it speaks
for itself, the priesthood blights all the countries it
touches, look at Spain, Mexico, Austria and any
place so dominated. Save the postage.
(No signature.)
Athens, Ga.—I am just in receipt of your letter. I
have received some of the leaflets you have sent—
probably not all, as I am in extension work and on
the road much of the time.
I have seen more of Catholics, perhaps, than many
Georgians. There are comparatively few in Georgia,
and most people, I think, are too ready to judge
without having all the evidence. The jury are prej
udiced, and should not be serving. Where we lived
in Illinois there were strong Catholic Churches. Many
of our neighbors were Catholics. In my school the
children used to have religious wars—never while I
was there. I am not prejudiced at all. If any way,
in favor of the careful training that is given the
children. I do not know whether or not some of that
training becomes automatic, and lacks that and rev
erence I wonder sometimes.
As to divorce—the point made in a recent cir
cular is well taken. If a Catholic lives up to his pro
fession, he is indeed a good man and a good citizen.
So also is a Protestant. A question How many are
good men? The fault is not so much in the creed
perhaps as in the follower.
A Newspaper Comment.
Catholics have recently sent out an open letter to
the Protestants of Georgia, and in the letter the
blame for the prevalence of divorces in Georgia is laid
upon the Protestant Church. There is no doubt that
Protestants are to blame in some measure, but in
the letter the Catholic Church overlooks the fact that
tlie relation between church and state is not the same
in Protestant as in Catholic countries. Therefore,
the Protestant Church can not be held directly re
sponsible for the faults of the government. With us
there is not only a separation between Church and
State, but a distinction is also made between the mem
bers of a single family, some of whom are members
of the church and some of whom are not. It may,
therefore, be possible that lax divorce laws are en
acted largely by those who are not members of the
Protestant Church. From Forsyth (Ga.) Advertiser,
May 2 7, 1920.
A BEAUTIFUL CATHEDRAL.
The consecration of the Cathedral of St. John
the Baptist yesterday marked the consumma
tion of the plans of several years of those who
have worshipped in that imposingly beautiful
building. Savannah as a whole had interest in
the event because it meant accomplishment, be
cause it had to do with the formal progress of
the plan of forces of religious activity.
A few weeks ago the government officials of
two departments had photographs made of Sa
vannah—some from the plane of Lieutenant
Maynard, some for the reels of motion pictures
which are to be shown in many places over the
country. In both pictures the stately Cathedral
stands out—a massive gem in a setting of
foliage, like one of the historic piles of some
era of years ago in France. From a distance in
any direction, approaching Savannah, the tow
ers stand out with prominence in the sky-line.
Free from debt, after years of history in
which the building had its disasters of trial by
fire, the Cathedral will long be one of the
places of real interest in Savannah. From The
Savannah Morning News.
The consecration of the Cathedral of St. John the
Baptist in Savannah, June 3d, marks an epoch in
Georgia Catholicity. The donation of $8,000 by
Mrs. Mary E. Hagan enabled the Pastor, Very Rev
erend Joseph D. Mitchell, to wipe out the debt, and
the consecration followed almost as a matter of course.
The ceremonies at which Rt. Rev. W. T. Russell,
Bishop of Charleston, officiated, began at 3:30 in
the morning and concluded with the pontifical bene
diction following a solemn pontifical Mass, of which
Rt. Rev. M. J. Curley, of St. Augustine, was cele
brant.
The sermon was preached by Most Rev. J. J.
Glennon, Archbishop of St. Louis. It was as remark
able for its learning as for the simplicity of its diction
and its lack of apparent effort. It was an argument
for the authenticity of the Catholic Church such as
only a scholar of the Archbishop’s standing could
make. His tributes to the Cathedrals, which he
called the fortress towers of God, standing as sen
tinels of the Faith from the coasts to the prairies,’’
was an especially beautiful bit of word-painting.
As the consecration of the Cathedral is of interest
to every Georgia Catholic The Bulletin reprints the
following account of the event from The Morning
News of June 4th:
All the pomp and ceremony which distinguish the
solemn rituals of the Catholic Church marked the
consecration yesterday of the Cathedral of St. John
the Baptist, which began at a very early hour and
concluded with a pontifical high mass at 10:30 o’clock,
attended by about a thousand people.