The bulletin (Augusta, Ga.) 1920-1957, April 13, 1929, Image 4

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

4 THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC. LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA APRIL, 13, 1929 THE BULLETIN Tile Official Or can of the Catholic Lajmcn'i Association of Georgia. RICHARD REID, Edijbr. Member of N. C. W. C. News Service and of the Catholic Fi'ess Association of the United States and Canada. Published semi-monthly by the Publicity Department with the Approbation of the Rt. Rev. Bishops of Raleigh, Charles ton, Savannah, St. Augustine, Mobile and Natchez. 1409 Lamar Building Augusta, Georgia. Subscription Price, $2.00 Per Year. FOREIGN ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE 6. T. Mattingly. Walton, Building Atlanta, Ga. ASSOCIATION OFFICERS FOR 1928-1929 P. II. RICE, K.C.S.C., Augusta President *)OL. P. II. CALLAHAN, K.S.G., Louisville, Ky„ ADMIRAL WM. S. BENSON, K.C.S.G., Washington, D. C.,.. BARTLEY J. DOYLE, Philadelphia • • • • •• Honorary Vice-Presidents ;}. J.' ilAVERTY, Atlanta" First Vice-President B. MeCALLUM. Atlanta Secretary rmOMAS S. GRAY, Augusta Treasurer RICHARD REID. Augusta Publicity Director MISS CECILE C. FERRY, Augusta Asst. Publicity Director Church in the future. It puts every other Catholic in the same position. What are Americans going to do about it? The majority of Americans, all but a comparative hand ful, are honest and, when they are convinced of the facts, fair. They are not going to get excited about the insinuations of the Wesleyan Christian Advocate and its left-handed sanction of the vicious alleged “oath” of the Knights of Columbus with its blood curdling and monstrously inhuman curses. Nor are they going to be misled by cries of “intimidation” and “inquisition” w’hen Catholics take advantage of the orderly processes of the law to secure redress for past and enjoin future libels of a nature intended to make them an outcast people in the land which they dis covered, for whose liberty they have shed their blood on every battlefield in its history, and which is as much part of them and they of it as any other group of citizens within its glorious borders. Tol. X. APRIL, 13, 1929 No. 7 Entered as second class matter June 15, 1921, at the Post Office at Augusta, Ga., under Act of March, 18,9. Accepted for mailing at special rate of postage provided for m Section 1103, Act of October S, 1917, authorized September 1, 19J1, What Will Americans Do? A minister in California was tried recently for circulation of the fake “oath” of the Knights of Col umbus. The Wesleyan Christian Advocate of Atlanta, an official Metbodict paper, comments on it in this fashion: "But here are facts not to be questioned: An Am erican citizen quotes from the Congressional Record about a given organization; he disavows knowledge as to the accuracy of the quotation; he declares the purpose for which the quotation was made—to prove from history that the oath is in accord with previous Catholic procedure and since Catholicism does not change—at least so it claims—to indicate what might be feared for the future; a Catholic presumably act ing for the organization does not meet the question of fact raised by the proof of the contrary, but rushes Into court to silence such criticism in the present and to intimidate it in the future. What are Americans going to do about it? They are not to blame for the unsavory conduct of this Church in the past and for the logical prospect of a repetition of such distardly behaviour in the future. Are they going to be intimi dated into silence? Is Rome to be allowed to set up the Inquisition on their free soil? Just exactly now what are they going to do about it?” The editor of the Wesleyan Christian Advocate ought to know that the fake “oath of the Knights of Columbus was read into the Congresisonal Record in order to brand it a forgery. He ought to know that a Congresisonal committee branded it a forgery. He ought to know that a committee of Masons in Cali fornia after an extended investigation branded it a forgery. He ought to know that the Knights of Col umbus have repeatedly offered a reward of $25,000 to anyone who can prove that the alleged “oath” is not a forgery or that Protestants or Masons are re ferred to directly or indirectly in any of the ritual work of the Knights of Columbus. He ought to know that no such oath was ever taken anywhere by Cath olics, and that by sanctioning such propaganda he is not hurting the Catholic Church in the least, but he is giving aid and comfort to the forces of agnosticism and atheism which rejoice to see those who profess to be Christians aiding the devilish work of sowing the seed of suspicion, hatred and distrust in human hearts. He ought to know that to attempt to draw conclusions from such a patently false premise is unworthy of honest men. What are Americans going to do about it? Three days before the date of issue of the Wesleyan Chris tian Advocate which carried this editorial, Marshal Foch died in France. Marshal Foch Was an honorary member of the Knights of Columbus, one of three in the history of the order. Marshal Foch was a Cath olic, with a faith as humble as his military genius was exalted. Speaking of him from a New York pul pit the Sunday after his death, a Methodist minister said, according to an editorial in the Savannah Press: “Foch gave the world new evidence of faith in a future life by his calm and hopeful departure. Clemenceau, with no faith in God, saw the Germans sweeping down on Paris, and hopelessly threw up his hands. Foch, the fervent Catholic, who had time to spend two hours daily on his knees in prayer, saw an invisible helper by his side and answered Clemen- ceau’s despair with the words: ‘They shall not pass.’ During the whole war Foch went daily to church and spent hours in prayer. That made him a fearless and wise commander on the battleifeld. It taught him how to build a character that finally smiled a welcome at death and he met it with the words: ‘Let’s go.’ ” Marshal Foch was a man of genius. He was an ardent partiot, despite an atheistic government’s per secution of his Church, that of an overwhelming ma jority of the people of France, and of him personally. He was Catholic to the core. The Wesleyan Chris tian Advocate by its insinuations places him in the position of either being ignorant of the history and spirit of the Catholic Church or of sanctioning pros pective “distardly behaviour” on the part of the Rome and the Rotary There has been a great deal of discussion in the press recently on the attitude of the Catholic church toward the Rotary Club. It was based largely on rumored decisions of the Vatican which, like most ru mors, are thoroughly unreliable. The only authentic information from the Vatican indicates that only the question of the membership of priests in Rotary Clubs was under consideration and it was declared to be “not expedient.” If the move ment were regarded as wrong in principle, no distinc tion would be made between membership of laity and clergy. It is not generally known outside the Catholic Church that some religious orders have a rule forbid ding their priests from being members of such or ganizations as the Knights of Columbus, not because they are opposed to the Knights of Columbus but be cause it is believed that membership in the order might be a source of distraction. One Italian paper charges that Rotary is under anti clerical and atheistic domination. It is possible that this may be true in some countries nearer to Rome than our own, hut there appears to be little or no evidence that this is true in the United States, which dominates the movement. If it were, Ford tractors could not drag Catholics into membership, once it be came known. Yet some of our most exemplary Catholics are enthusiastic Rotarians. The Holy Father has honored an other Bulletin subscriber and Lay men’s Association friend, Edward V. Killeen, of Brooklyn, N. Y., by mak ing him a Knight of St. Gregory. And, appropriately enough, the hon or came to Mr. Killeen Holy Thurs day while he was in Augusta. The first intimation he had of it came from a flood of telegrams of con gratulation. The second was the announcement in the Brooklyn Tab let, which The Bulletin relayed to Mr. Killeen who had come to Au gusta with Mrs. Killeen and his daughter for his customary spring sojourn here. Mr. and Mrs. Killeen have both been widely known in charitable and Catholic hospital work in the Dio cese of Brooklyn for many years. A son, Edward V. Killeen, Jr., whose poems while he was still in his ’teens attracted wide attention, died in the service during the war. Mr. Killeen was a schoolmate and has been a lifelong friend of Cardinal Hayes. The Bulletin congratulates Mr. Killeen and his family on the honor which has come to him, prays for long life for him to enjoy it, and trusts that as much as possible of that life will be spent with his fam ily in the soft, velvet breezes of the beautiful Southeast. Confirmation Schedule of Bishop Keyes Announced Savannah, Ga.—The following Con firmation schedule for Rt. Rev. Mi chael J. Keyes, D. D., Bishop of Sa vannah, has been announced through Rev. Joseph F. Croke, chancellor of the Diocese: April 14, St. Francis Xavier Church, Brunswick. April 21, Holy Family Church, Co lumbus. April 28, St. Benedict’s Church, Sa vannah. May 5, Sacred Heart Churclu and the Church of the Immaculate Con ception, Augusta. May 26, Sacred Heart Church and Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Atlan ta. The Dixie Press “We predicted after the nomination of Governor Smith, and the an nouncement that he was to be fought on religious grounds in direct viola tion of the national Constitution that while he would probably be defeated owing to the well known bigotry in the Southern States, yet he would have accomplished a great and splen did work for God and His Church, a work far more important than the election to a dozen presidencies, since Christ died to save souls and not to elect presidents.” So says the Sacramento Catholic Herald edito rially. RELIGIOUS LIBERTY Greensboro, (Ga.) Herald-Journal? Former Secretary of the Navy Jo sephus Daniels, one of the most prominent Methodist laymen in America, made, himself definitely plain on the subject of religious liberty when he said: “I believe pro foundly in civil and religious liberty* My own state of North Carolina re jected the constitution for two years until the other states put the re ligious liberty clause into it. I deny the right of any man or court of law to say to me what I shall be lieve or how I shall worship my Maker. The right to deny “any man or court of law” the prerogative to prescribe our religion for us is a right which is over-ridden frequent ly, even in our fair land of liberty. These Roman Correspondents The Catholic countries of Europe are filled with credulous people, if we are to believe anti-Catholic publications. The most credulous people in Rome ap pear to be correspondents of our metropolitan news papers. Or it may be that they merely believe that credulity has become a typical American characteris tic. A recent contribution of a Roman correspondent to The Chicago Daily News and its allied publications (including The Atlanta Journal) reports that high Vati can officials and even the Pope himself are alarmed by reports of growing demands on the part of Ameri can Catholics for larger American representation in the administration of the affairs of the Church. “Americans are understood to be seeking positions and influence in shaping policies proportionate to their numbers and contributions to Roman funds,” says the story. What Americans? That seems to be anticipated as an unfair question, for the account says later on “When asked for particulars concerning this reported American movement, Italian ecclesiastics (what Italian ecclesiastics?) are unable to point to many tangible evidences (the story mentions not a single one) but they insist that the challenge is real and that Pope Pius lately received evidences which caused him con cern.” Again: “As understood here, the Americans want more cardinals, including posts in the Roman congre gations, where the administrative work of the world wide church is carried on, and they want Americans and non-Italians named for a certain number of the highest Holy See diplomatic posts which traditionally fall to Italians.” Posts in the Roman congregations require residence in Rome for the same reason that cabinet offices de mand residence in Washington. It requires more of a stretch of the imagination than we are capable of to picture any of our cardinals or any American pre late of the rank from which cardinals ordinarily are selected seeking a post that would require residence in Rome for many years and perhaps for life. For unlike cabinet officers, those occupying congregation posts are not subject to change every four years. The truth of the matter seems to be that Roman correspondents and non-Catholics in general are more worried about these things than any Catholics with whom we are acquainted. Again, they view it from a materialistic standpoint quite as much as the Catho lic Church were the Standard Oil Company or General Motors. In publishing the results of their Roman cor respondents’ elastic imaginations, we believe that our newspapers are actuated by no different a motive than when they report on no more substantial stories about the Court of St. James or from other capitals of Europe. But people are more credulous 'about the Vatican. "We predicted . . . that while he would probably be defeated owing to the well known bigotry of the Sou thern states ...” Governor Smith carried eight states. Six of them were in the South, in the very heart of the South. The states he carried in this section were the most thor oughly Southern states in the Union. Governor Smith received a popular majority in the Solid South. Of the two states outside the South car ried by Governor Smith neither was within 4,000 miles of Sacramento. But whatever Editor Connelly thinks of the South, we think that Califor nia is all right. And we think that Mr. Connelly’s editorial, barring his reference to the South, splits the mark. Another California Catholic news paper, The Tidings, reports that a “non-Catholic editor flays bigotry and Schulers and Watsons before convention of Holy Name Society.’ Watson has been dead the better part of a decade. Why bring him up" A former Ku Kiux official suoght out the editor of one of our leading Catholic weeklies recently and told him why he had quit. The “racket” got “too raw.” Just mention the hierarchy a few times in the course of an address and the boys would be ready to part with their hard-earn ed eagles to defend the country from Rome, he said. He found out that there was no sincerity in the leaders, no truth in their assertions. The rank and file are getting wiser, he said. “But the Spanish Inquisition is the thing,” he asserted. "It’s pretty hard to get around that.’ “Tell me about it,’ ’the editor urged. “Where did it happen, and when? Who ran it and how?” He became as voluble as Mr. Coolidge at an auction sale; he knew no more about it than a fish about a desert. THE BULLETIN Is revising its mailing list, to conform to post office regulations. Those whose subscriptions are due are requested to send checks immediately in order to in sure their securing future numbers. The post office department forbids the continuing of subscriptions which are past due. PRESIDENT PELLET Walton (Ga.) Tribune: Thousands of Georgians rejoice in the high compliment paid John J. Pelley in his election to the presidency of*the New York, New Haven & Hartford railroad, but regret to see him and his charming wife leave the state. Mr. Pelley has made one of the most popular presidents that the Central of Georgia ever had. THE TEST OF TOLERANCE Columbia County (Ga.) News: Per fect charity and tolerance allow others to be intolerant toward us without molestation and retaliation from us. THE HOME OF THE BULLETIN Dahlonega (Ga.) Nugget: Augus ta, Ga.: This is where lime was pur chased and hauled with teams to use in the Lumpkin county court house nearly 100 years ago. It is in Augusta where The Bulletin, a paper run in the interest of the Catholics, is published. And its edi tor took occasion last week to in troduce The Nugget and its editor in tha following nice way: "The Dahlonega Nugget, published in the mountains of north Georgia by Edi tor W. B. Townsend, who is also ordinary (probate judge) of the county, is one of the quaintest and homey publications with which we are familiar. It is said that Editor Townsend rarely writes his matter; he sets it directly by hand with any intervening--operation.” Then four teen clippings from The Nugget fol low. A DESERVED PROMOTION Macon News: Mr. Pelley is not only an able and efficient railroad man, but he has those human quali ties which win and retain friends. The personal equation in the opera tion of corporations is being felt more and more. Friendly contact with the public is an important ele ment in winning the confidence and co-operation which are so necessary to the successful operation of even the largest industry. On several oc casions Mr. Pelley has spoken be fore our civic clubs and other or ganizations, and he has always had an inspiring message. The regret at losing him is tempered only by the realization that he richly deserves the promotion that has come to him. THE “CHURCH PENNANT” Albany (Oa.) News: The senate may vote down Senator Heflin’s res olutions, but the senate can not, without so changing its rules as to overthrow precedents which preserve cherished senatorial prerogatives, prevent him from returning to the attack on the Roman Catholic church. . . . The “church pennant” is a navy and not a church emblem. It flies from a naval vessel during religious services .whether a partic ular service by a Catholic, a Prot estant or a Jew. It has long been understood to be a nation’s ac knowledgement that there is One whose glory and authority are con ceded to be above that of this re public, and the average citizen finds no impropriety, no indignity, no of fense to “Old Glory” when the church pennant flies above it dur- ing divine worship.