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| Member of the Notional | Catholic Welfare Con ference News Service. J&uttrMn Official Organ of the Catholic Laymens Association^&or^ia “TO BEING ABOUT A FRIENDLIER FEELING AMONG GEORGIANS, IRRESPECTIVE OF CREED” The Only Catbsltc Newspaper Between Bal timore and New Orleans TEN CENTS A. COPT. VOL. VIII, No. 9. AUGUSTA, GA., MAY 7, 1927. ISSUED SEMI-MONTHLY $2.00 A YEA it u. s, YEAR B04.574 CATHOLIC Kenedy’s Official Publication Gives Church Membership in 1926 as 19,483,286. (By N. C. W. C. News Service.) New York.—Substantial gains in the number of Catholics in the Unit ed Stales, in the number .of priests, of churches and of schools, and in virtually every department of Cath olic endeavor, are recounted in the 1927 edition of The Official Catholic Directory, which has just been pub lished hv P. J. Kenedy and Sons of New York. r According to the directory there I are now 19,483,296 Catholics in the United States. This is an increase of 604,574 over the 1926 membership recorded by the volume, and al though 103,100 of the number are ac counted for by the inclusion in. the General Summary of the Vicariate- Apostolic of the Hawaiian Islands, the gain still remains large. There are now 24,990 priests serv ing 17,651 churches. This is a gain of 638 priests, and an increase of 271 churches. There are now 6,995 pa rochial schools in the United States, an increase over last year of 176, and the number of pupils attending these schools is now 2,167,241, a gain of .94, 775. There has been a substantial increase in the number of seminar ies. There are now 13,988 as against 12 595 last year. This is a gain ot 1,39.3, an indication that vocations to the priesthood are on the increase rather than on the decrease. The number of orphans in orphan asylums is somewhat less than it was last year. There are now 128 Homes for the Aged as against 117 listed in the 1926 Official Catholic Directory, and 613 hospitals arc list ed in the 1927 edition. There are 17 archbishops and 99 bishops, making a total of 116 in the Hierarchy' of the United States. The 1927 Official Catholic Direc tory has been improved in a dozen respects over the 1926 book, both in its contents and in typographical ap pearance and ease of use. These im provements have undoubtedly made it one of the finest volumes of its kind printed. The pages are con siderably increased in size and the bulk of the book is considerably les sened, making both for beter appear ance and usahlencss. In addition, the text matter has been increased and several new and important features arc included. * Chief among them is a map in col ors showing the Provinces of the United States and the limits of each archdiocese and diocese. There are included, as well, in this edition for the first time, statistics of converts throughout the country. While several of the larger Church divisions did not report the number of their converts for this, the first summary, even with these omissions the total reaches 35,751. It is ex pected that next year complete data in this respect will he available. Another feature of interest is the inclusion of data regarding the dio cesan agencies of Catholic charities in the United States. This informa tion is grouped under the various States. Data concerning mission ac tivities in the country has been re arranged, and the missionary com munities are now listed separately and the misionary societies grouped together, both under the general ( headings Home Missions and Foreign Missions. Much data also are given on the foreign missions conducted by the various Orders and societies in the United States. Still another feature which is new for this year is the inclusion of sta tistics on hospitals. Methodist Bishop Asserts Calles’ Laws Are Bad For All Religions D. F. Kelly, Chicago, First Life Member of C. P. A. D. F. KELLY Chicago—Simon Baldus, president of the Catholic Press Association an nounces that the distinction of be ing the association’s first life mem ber belongs to D. F. Kelly, one of Chicago’s most prominent citizens This announcement is of importance at this time for the reason that at the seventeenth annual convention of the Catholic Press Association, which will be held at Savannah, Ga. May 19, 20, 21, a nation-wide drive for life members will he launched. The life membership fee is one hundred dollars Mr. Baldus announ ces. A carefully worked out plan, which will provide for the enrol ment of 500 life members in the United States, will be presented to the convention. Its adoption will create a permanent fund of $50,000 to be invested in interest bearing securities, the yearly yield from which will be distributed as awards among Catholic authors and writers generally. The fund will be known as the Catholic Literary Awards Foundation of the Catholic Press Association, and will make possible the annual distribution of $2,500 in awards. Great interest has been aroused by the announcement. Mr. Kelly, the association’s first life member, is president of The Fair, one of Chicago’s biggest depart ment stores. He is prominent in civic and social affairs. He was one of the organizers of the Associated Catholic Charities of Chicago in 1918, and has been its president from the beginning. He was created a Knight of the Order of St. Gregory by Pope Benedict XV; and a Knight Com mander of the same order by Pope Pius XI. He is a commissioned Lieu tenant Colonel of the Illinois lie- serve Militia. In 1924. De Paul Uni versity conferred on him the degree of doctor of laws. Bishop McConnell of Pitts burgh Tells Civic Club It Is Wrong to Blame Catholics For Recent Train Attack (By N. C. \V. C. News Service.) Pittsburgh.—The Calles laws hear ing on religion in Mexico were flatly characterized as “bad” by Bishop Mc Connell, head of the Methodist Church for the Pittsburgh district, in an address here April 25. They hamper the operation of all religions he said: Bishop McConnell spoke before the Hungry Club, a group of men or ganized to seek understanding on current questions. A week before, the club had heard William F. Mon- tavon, head of the N. C. W. C. Legal Department and an authority on Lat in American affairs, who condemned not only the religious persecution in Mexico but also Calles’ policy of throwing justice and the laws of the country to the winds in seeking to win his ends. Each of the meetings was attended by more than 400. While he saw the agrarian prob lem as the key to the Mexican sit uation and discussed oil and land seizures, Bishop McConnell devoted much time to the religious phase of the question. Notably, he denied several of the charges glibly made against Catholics in Mexico by uni formed persons. Neither the Catholic church nor the oil companies, he ass-erted, want intervention in Mexico by the Unit ed States. In this connection, he cited the Pastoral Letter on Mexico issued by the United States Bishops which denied any such intent. He praised the Pastoral Letter warmly and, pointing to its moderation, de clared that I here is far too much in cendiary talk today on Mexico. Bishop McConnell also asserted that it si wrong to blame the Cath olic Church for the recent bloody train attack in Mexico. He praised a large group of the Mexican Cath olic clergy. With regard to religious persecu tions of the past, which are con stantly being brought into discus sions of the Mexican situation, he said that in general Proteslants were as much to blame as Catholics—that it was a question of ins and outs. Bishop McConnell’s clref pica was that there he no war in Mexico. He was introduced hv Joseph A. Beck, prominent Catholic attorney of Pittsburgh. Mr. Montavon. in his address a week before, asserted that the Cath olic Church in Mexico is not dis obeying the laws of the country and that it has not appealed to the peo ple of the United States to defend it with force and never will. Plans for the entertainment of the Catholic Press Association in Savan nah are well in hand under the di rection of a committee of Savannah laymen, headed by Col. M. .1. O’l-eary. The Savannah committee has arranged an elaborate program for the distinguished visitors, who will come from every section of the United States and Canada; the pro gram will be announced in the next issue of Tlie Bulletin. It is the Sa vannah committee’s intention to en tertain the convention as it never has been entertained before and to make it worthy of Savannah’s repu tation for hospitality. The conven tion comes to Georgia and Savan nah at The Bullelio’s invitation. HALF OF MEXICO’S BISHOPS EXILED Most of Others in Hiding— Expulsion of Bishops Viola tion of Constitution Calles Pretends to Hold So Sacred Loyola University Dean to Attend Savannah Meeting REV. CLAUDE J. PEUNIN, S. .1. Father Pernin, who will deliv er an address on Fiction in Catholic Magazines at the meet ing of the magazine section of the Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada in Savannah May 19-21, is d' 4 of the department of English Literature at Lovola University, Chicago, and widely kno~n in educational and literary circles. Father Pcrnin, who is also an as sociate editor of Extension Mag azine, was the official broadcast er of the great Encharistic Con gress in Chicago last June. His address at the C. P. A. conven tion will be discussed by Rev. Benedict Brown, O. S. B., Mein- rad. Ind., editor of The Grail, and Miss Ames Roberts Martin, associate editor of Good Counsel Magazine. Philadelphia. EH. THEN BECOMES MOBILE BISHOP MAY A Archbishop Gurley Consecra- tor, Bishop Keyes and Bis hop Gerow Co-Consecrators Groups Join in Good Will Move (By N. C. W. C. News Service.) New York.—The creation of a per manent commission of Catholics. Protestants and Jews which seeks to promote a better understanding and to shape the public mind toward just treatment of all groups, has been announced by the American Hebrew, an organ which for some time has stood for amity among people of dif ferent faiths. The members of the commission ’ are the Rev. Dr. S. Parkes Cadman, Martin Conboy, Judge Victor J. Dow ling, the Rev. Francis P. Duffy, Dr. W. H. Fauncc, Judge Irvings Leh man, former Ambassador Ilenry Morgentlian, Dean Roscoe Pound of Harvard Law School, and Babbi Ste phen S. Wise. A large part of the commission’s work will consist in opinion making, while it will also combat propagan da tending to cause strife between races and creeds, such as that re cently aimed against the Knights of Columbus and the Jews. The oppres sion of minorities by foreign govern ments, as in the case of the Jews in Rouniania. will he acted upon too. The commission will avoid political entanglements and will have no of ficers nor any regular program of action. It will meet when there aris es need to redress a wrong. Sixteen of the thirty-three Bi shops of Mexico in charge of Sees have been driven from the country by Calles, and of the seventeen re maining, the N. C. W. C. says, all but four are reported to he either under arrest or in hiding. Total expulsions for the week ending April 23 were eleven, four archbishops and two bishops, all exiled from the land of their birth, without notice or trial and in direct violation of the Con stitution which the Calles govern ment pretends to hold so sacred. The latest move of the govern ment followed the attack on a pas senger train near Guadalajara by revolutionists and which the Calles officials charged the bishops with inspiring, a charge the bishops vig orously denied. In an effort to in cite the people the government is sued a statement stating that in the attack the daughter of a former president of Mexico was killed; it lias since been shown that this was not true. On April 21 six bishops were sum moned to the office of the. Minister of the Interior and told they must leave the country that night; he ac cused them, because of their silence following the recent pastoral of the Bishop of Durango, of taking part in the rebellion which is now seeth ing through the land and which the Washington Post describes editorial- (Continued on page 8) (Sperial to The Bulletin.) Baltimore, Md.—When The Bul letin reaches its readers this week, the Diocese of Mobile will have a new Bishop and Bt. Rev. Thomas J. Toolcn, I). 1)., will have received episcopal consecration and be ranked is a successor of the Apostles and take his place in the list of saintly and able prelates who have headed the Church in Alabama and Western Florida since its erection a century or so ago. The consecration takes place Wed nesday in the Baltimore Cathedral, with Most Rev. Michael J. Curley, D D., Archbishop of Baltimore, as con secrating prelate, assisted by Rt. Rev, Michael J. Keyes, D. D., Bishop of Savannah, and Rt. Rev. IVchard O. Gerow. I) D., Bishop of Natchez, co- consecrators. The sermon will.be delivered by Bt. Bev. Joseph A. Cun- rane, pastor of St. Andrew’s Church here. Rev. William A. Toolcn, the Bish op-elect’s brother, pastor of St. Ed ward's Church, arch-priest at his first Mass, and Rev Dr. John I. Bar rett, Arclidiocesan Director of Edu- ation, a fellow-student of the new Bishop in his high school, seminary and university days and an associate fContir"”- 1 on page 5.) Governor’s Reply Wins Universal Commendation Nation’s Press and Leaders Acclaim It as Convincing and Conclusive Document. (By N. C. W. C. News Service) New York.—Governor Alfred E. Smith’s answers to questions put to him by Charles C. Marshall, ail at torney of New Yerk, to elicit his views as an American citizen and presidential candidate respecting the relations of Church and State in America are pronounced even by new-papers of hostile political opin ions as proofs at once of Ilia loy alty to his religion and to his coun- trj\ The press hails the gover nor's reply not only as a complete and convincing exposition of' his Americanism hut as an epochal pro nouncement on the subject of the Catholic's fealty to his failh and his fatherland. The answers were published gen erally in the newspapers April 18. anticipating the date originally fixed for their release by the Atlantic Monthly, to which they were given. This earlier publication, it is ex plained, was due to the fact that two newspapers to which they were fur nished in advance printed them pre maturely. Mr. Marshall’s questions, to which Governor Smith now makes answer, were also published in the Atlantic Monthly. Under the heading “Catholic and Patriot: Governor Smith Replies," the Atlantic Monthly precedes Gov ernor Smith’s answers with its own characterization of their signifi cance. “This is an historic incident, his toric for the country and for the church,” says the monthly. Declar ing than that the discussion in its columns has “served its purpose," the Atlantic continues: “Not in this campaign will whis pering and innuendoes, shruggings and hunchings, usurp the place of reason and argument. The thoughts rising almost unbidden in the minds of the least bigoted of us when we watch a Roman Catholic aspire to the presidency of the United States have become matters of high, seri ous and eloquent debate.” ’ Governor Smith explains in his letter that the answers which he has to make to the theological questions raised by Mr. Marshall were pre pared by him in collaboration with the Rev. Francis I’. Duffy, “whose patriotism,” says the governor, ad- dressmg his interrogator, ‘neither you nor any other man will ques tion.” “He (Father Duffy) wears upon liis breast the Distinguished Service Medal, the Ribbon of the Le gion of Honor, and the Croix de Guerre with Palm of the French Re public,” Governor Smith points out. In what lie describes as b- : s “creed as an American Catholic,” Governor Smith meets every challenge of Mr, Marshall. Some points of this state ment of his belief as a Catholic and an American, are: “I believe in the worship of God according to the faith and practice of the Roman Catholic church. “1 recognize no power in the in stitutions of m.v church to interfere with the operation of the constitu tion of the United States or the en forcement of the law of the land. '“I believe in absolute freedom of conscience for all men and in equal ity of all churches before the law as a matter of right and not as a matter of favor. “I believe in the absolute separa tion of church and state and in the (Continued on page 4) What Governor Smith Believes I believe in the worship of God according to the faith and practice of the Roman Catholic church. I recognize no power in the institu tion of my church to interfere with the operations of the Constitution of the United States or the enforce ment of the law of the land. I believe in absolute freedom of conscience for all men and in equa lity of all churches, all sects, and all beliefs before the law as a matter of right and not a matter of favor. I believe in the absolute separa tion of church and state and in the strict enforcement of flic provisions of the constitution that congress shall make no law respecting an es tablishment of religion or prohibit ing the free exercise thereof. I believe that no tribunal of any church has any power to make any decree of any force in the law of the land, other than to establish the status of own communicants within its own church. I believe in the support of the public school as one of the corner stones of American liberty. I be lieve in the right of every parent to choose whether his child shall he educated in the public school or in a religious school supportecl by those of his own faith. I believe in the principle of non interference by this country in the internal affairs of other nations and that we should stand steadfastly against any shell interference by whomsoever it may be urged. And I believe in the common brotherhood of man under the com mon fatherhood of God.—From Gov ernor Smith’s reply iu the Atlantis Monthly.