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THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
1
APRIL, 27, 1929
Archbishop Curley, Priest and Prelate
The Voice, St. Mary's Seminary Publication at Baltimore, Tells of Life and Achievements of
One-Time Florida Priest and Former Bishop of St. Augustine
The following 1 extract from a
tribute to Most Rev. Michael J.
Curley, D. D., Archbishop of Bal
timore, is of interest to readers
of The Bulletin not only because
of the observation of the twen
ty-fifth anniversary of the ordi
nation of the metropolitan of our
province, but because of the ad
miration and love the Southeast
has for the Archbishop, ordained
for Florida and lormerly Bishop
of St. Augustine, Fla.
The Curley farm im on the Golden
Island, near Athlone, and there the
future Archbishop was born October
12, 1879. He studied under the Ma-
rist Brothers in the schools of St.
Mary’s Parish, Athlone, till he was
sixteen. He was one of the stars of
the school as regards the studies,
and could hold his own in alley-bail
and football.
“Michael Curley,” says John Mc
Cormack, the signer, who was five
years his junior, but attended the
same school, “was a regulaar boy
and played all our games — we met
usually in the school yard. But
there was a certain reserve about
him, a certain dignity which even
we boys could not help but sense,
and which made us remark in an
undertone to one another with con
siderable awe when We observed him
passing by, “There goes Michael
Curley!’ And when I read of Bishop
Curley’s appointment to the place
of the late Cardinal Gibbons at Bal
timore, I said to my wife, ‘There
goes Michael Curley!’ I’d rather
talk about him than any man I
know. I love him, and we all wor
ship him. He’s everything that a
man and a priest should be. And
what more could one ask?”
At Mungret in Limerick the Jesuit
Fathers have an Apostolic school;
Michael Curley who had made up
his mind to be a priest and a mis
sionary, entered it at the ago of 16.
He studied there for years and in
1900 took his A. B., with first hon
ors, at the Royal University of Dub
lin.
The pictures above show Arch
bishop Curley as a young priest
in Florida twenty-five years ago
and as Archbishop today.
Picture through • courtesy of The
Baltimore Catholic Review.
fectively that he was soon one of
the best-known and best-liked men
in Florida. In the meantime, too, he
had learned much of the art of
keeping busy in a country parish by
careful attendance on the needs of
his widely scattered flock.
In 1914 John McCormack met in
Montreal Brother Hugh of the Ma-
rist Brothers, who had been a teach
er of both himself and Michael
Curley in Athlone. He said to him:
“Brother Hugh, do you ever hear
of Michael Curley nowadays at all?”
“I do, indeed,” said Brother Hugh.
“Haven’t you heard? He’s been
made Bishop of Florida.”
“You could have knocked me down
with a feather,” says John McCor
mick. “Micnael hurley, my school
mate of Athlone, Bishop of Florida!
I could sarcely believe it. But I
was turly happy, for I had never
since the earliest days of my youth
doubted that Michael was bound for
a high place in the Church, or in
anything he might set his hand and
mind to.”
He studied theology at the Prop
aganda at Rome. His classmates
still speak of him as quiet, serious,
innocent, successful in his studies.
He had the satisfaction to bring
heme to his mother a gold, medal
which he had won “for Ireland” on a
Scripture essay. He took his B. D.
in 1901; his S. T. L. in 1903. He was
ordained at St. John Lateran March
19, 1904. He had gone to school
ready for any mission; Providence
and his superiors sent him to Flor
ida. There after a short time he
became pastor of Deland (1S04-1914).
At Deland Father Curley had a
room over a store and ate at a
restaurant. Sometimes he had to
pay as high as $4.50 a week at this
restaurant! It was plain living
aand high thinking. There was a
good deal of leisure; this the young
priest employed to keep up his
studies and to write his sermons.
He accumulated valuable “notes,”
and got used to communicating his
id^as in that clear and forcible way
with which we are now familiar.
Thanks largely to the leisure hours
at Deland, he is now able to tackle
a great variety of subjects on short
notice. Recently one of the sub
jects of the diocesan conference was
assigned to him; he knew nothing
about it till he got into the hall.
But a few minutes thought were
enough to enable him to give a very
Instructive and interesting talk. He
was not, however, absorbed in his
books. Hq was ever ready to help
bis fellow priests and did it so ef-
In Florida, to quote the words of
Bishop Turner, another Mungret
man, who knew him well at this
period of his life, all knew and ap
preciated “his zeal for the cause
ol Christ and His Church, his pa
tience, his courage, his humility, his
affability, his fair-mindedness, his
scholarly attainments, his gift for
felicitous expression.” Both as
priest and bishop he had shown
forth the qualities which designated
him to the choice of the Holy See
as Archbishop of Baltimore.
MAINE MERCY SISTER
SAVES MAN’S LIFE
By N. C. W. C. News Service.)
Eastport, Me.—To Sister Claire
of the Sisters of Mercy, station
ed at the Passmaquoddy Indian
reservation at Pleasant Point,
Edward Rutherford, aged 19, of
this city, owes his life. Ruther
ford, a passenger on a train
bound for Ayer Junction, floll
from one of the coaches and his
right foot was severely mangled
as one of the wheels passed
over it.
There is no surgeon at Pleas
ant Point and the Sisters of Mer
cy were appealed to. Sister
Claire responded, although it
was late at night, and applied
a turniquet which stopped the
flow of blood. When the nun
arrived Rutherford was quite
weak from the great loss of
blood. When he reached the hos
pital here, physicians said the
turniquet had saved his life. It
is even likely that amputation of
the foot will be unnecessary.
Archbishop Nei! McNeil of
Toronto 50 Years Ordained
Noted Educator, Editor and
Prelate Honored on Jubilee
Archbishop ‘ Curley took possess
ion of his See of Baltimore Nov. 30,
1921, after a very cordial reception
by the whole city and diocese. The
loyalty of his diocesans was pledg
ed after the High Mass by Bishop
Corrigan, whom he had reappointed
Vicar-General, and Senator Biggs.
Bishop Corrigan made the charac
teristic speech of an historian —
which he has always been in the
leisure moments of his busy career.
He expressed the pride wuich Bal
timore has continuously felt in the
“illustrious succession of venerable
men who have in the Providence of
God been placed over it, and who
have guided its destinies during the
122 years of its existence.” As a
matter of fact every archbishop of
Baltimore has been a great and fine
priest of God, whom Catholics have
loved and whom all have respected.
It was the thought of Cardinal Gib
bons, though, that filled all minds
as the Bishop recalled the past, and
the new Archbishop paid a splen
did tribute to him as he took his
place on the throne he had left va
cant.
or rather permeated by the teaching
of the God Man. ... I am most
anxious to see all educational po
tentialities reduced to act, until we
have a perfected educational sys
tem second to none in the nation.”
Things soon began to happen in
the field of education. Three years
after his installation, the Archbish
op listened to a speech of a distin
guished Capuchin who had just come
from Pittsburgh, and who told for
the edification of Baltimoreans what
great things had been done by a
drive for school funds. They had
raised $3,000,000! The Archbishop
remarked that they had had no
drive in Baltimore, but that with
in three years they had spent $6,-
000,000 on school buildings. And
that was before Baltimore gave
$1,000,000 to St. Mary’s Seminary.
In our last number we quoted sta
tistics of the great increase of at
tendance at Catholic Schools in the
Archdiocese. Remarkable progress,
over a condition which the Arch
bishop called good in 1921, is due
chiefly to his interest in education,
his spirited leadership, and to his
power of appeal to the great mass
of the people. Few 'considerable
gifts from particular individuals
have helped him in his work, but
he can count on the support of his
priests and the enthusiastic love of
99 per cent <5f the Catholics of the
Archdiocese of Baltimore.
Shortly after his appointment,
Father Dyer was with him at a con
firmation at Father Manley’s
church. He admired the way he
talked to the children, and, indi
rectly, to the grown-ups, but he
protested that he put four times
more energy into the ceremony than
he should. He would wear himself
out! But no one has ever been able
to moderate His Grace’s expenditure
of energy for any of the numerous
worth-while causes tnat are con
stantly appealing to him. Fortu
nately, however, he takes a vaca
tion, in the Golden Island, with his
mother. Long may she be there to
wel come him !
(By N. C. W. C. News Service.)
Toronto.—The Most Rev. Neil Mc
Neil, Archbishop of Toronto, observ
ed the fiftieth anniversary of his or
dination April 11. His Grace cele
brated a solemn pontifical Mass of
thanksgiving at St. Michael’s Ca
thedral, having for his assistants the
Rt. Rev. M. D. Whelan, assistant
priest; the Rt. Rev. Msgr. Hand and
the Rev. P. J. Coyle, deacons of
honor; the Rev. Francis Carroll,
deacon; the Rev. C. W. James, sub
deacon, and the Rev. L. Barnett
and the Rev. C. Lamphier, masters
of ceremonies.
The sermon was delivered by
Msgr. Hand. Following the Mass,
a banquet was held in St ; Michael’s
Hall, where speeches of a congratu
latory nature were delivered.
Archbishop McNeil was born at
Hillsborough, Inverness, Nova Sco
tia, Nov. 23, 1851. He was educated
at St. Francis Xavier’s College, An-
tigonish, N. S., the College of the
Propaganda, Rome, and the Univer
sity of Marseilles. He joined the
teaching staff of St. Francis Xa
vier’s College in 1890, one year after
his ordination in Rome.
In 1884 he became rector of the
college, a position he continued to
hold until 1891. During this time
he also was editor of Aurora, a
weekly newspaper. After serving as
pastor of West Arichat and Des-
course, he was elevated to the Epis-
capate in 1895, being censecrated at
St. Ninian’s Cathedral, Antigonish,
Bishop of NiCopolis and Vicar-Apos
tolic of St. George’s. He became
Bishop of St. George’s in 1904 and
six years later was appointed Arch
bishop of Vancouver, where he re
mained two years, being transferred
to Toronto.
Si. Leo College Prep Wins i
Track Meet in Florida
Immaculate Conception, Jack
sonville, Leads Junior Class
(Special to The Bulletin.)
St. Leo, Fla.—The second annual
state track meet for Catholic boys
was held here Saturday, April 20.
Schools represented were Immacu
late Conception of Jacksonville, St.
Joseph’s Academy of St. Augustine,
and St. Leo College-x'rep School of
St. Leo. St. Leo won the honors
by a large margin over the other
two schools, scoring in all 118%
points, while Immaculate Concep
tion stood second with 19% and St.
Augustine third wiht 14. A great
number of previous records were
broken when Joe Edwards vaulted
over the bar at 10 feet 4 inches, and
hurled the javelin 142 feet. Mass-
man broke the record for the mile,
half-mile and cross country run
with time for each event as enu-
numerated of 4 minutes 54.1 seconds,
2 minutes 10.1 seconds and 14 min
utes 55.2 seconds. The record, for
broad jump was beaten by Roge-
ro, who made 19 feet. Hope tossed
the shot 37 feet, 5 inches. Kauss
Knight tied for firs- place in the
high jump by going over the bar at
5 feet 2 inches.
The Junior division honors went
to Immaculate Conception School,
Jacksonville, with a score of 54%
points, followed by St. Leo with 46%,
St. Benedict’s Preparatory with 16%
and St. Anthony School fourth.
Many of tne old records fell. Heim-
berger, of Jacksonville, was high
point man, while Brick and Garcia,
of St. Leo, were second and third
respectively.
The beautiful silver loving cup do
nated by tne Bank of Pasco Coun
ty, Dade City, Fla., was presented
to St. Leo College-Prep School as
the winning school. The gold medal
for the senior division was warded
to Herbert Rogers, the silver medal
to George Kauss and the bronze to
Joseph Edwards, all of St- Leo-
The gold medal for the junior di
vision was awarded to Heimberger,
of Immaculate Conception, Jackson
ville, the silver medal to John Brick
and the bronze medal to Albert Gar
cia, the two latter of St. Leo. These
medals were donated by Rev. Ber
nard Weigl, O. S. B., of Lake Jovi-
ta, Rev. Louis Hass, St. Vincent
Abbey, Latrobe, Pa., Rev. Patrick
Bresnahan, St. Petersburg, Fla. Rev.
Michael Farley, Lakeland, Fla., and
Miss Nancy Helen McCabe, Lake Jo-
vita, Fla.
WLWL Heard in England.
London. — A letter received here
from New York states that the
Paulist Fathers there have received
letters from people living in Liver
pool, Blackpool and Kent saying they
have picked up broadcast from the
Paulist radio station WLWL. For
the benefit of others who wish to
listen in to the Paulist programs, a
Catholic paper here has published
details of the WLWL wave-length
and times of broadcasting.
In a marathon race of 3% miles
held at Ybor City, Fla., under the
auspices of the Cuban Club Rich
ard Massman, of St. Leo, was
awarded a 26 inch silver loving cup
for getting first place. He ran this
distance in 19 minutes, while his
nearest opponent was 30 seconds be
hind.
AUGUSTA WOMEN PLAN
CLUB IMPROVEMENTS
Augusta, Ga.—The Catholic Wom
en’s Club conducted a bridge tea at
the Bon Air-Vanderbilt April 15 for
the benefit of the fund to improve
the women’s section of the K. of C.
Home. Mrs. John P. Mulherin was
chairman and the party was a splen
did success.
The athletic association of Mt. St.
Joseph’s Academy sponsored a bar
becue at the Carmichael Club April
16 for the benefit of the athletic
fund, and it was well attended.
This first address of the Arch
bishop of Baltimore in his Cathe
dral, delivered in the strong, mu
sical, ringing voice which would of
itself suffice to command attention
even if he f.Id not have such good
things to say, made the people of
Baltimore realize that another great
leader had been given them. They
realized, too, that although he would
neglect none of the spiritual inter
ests of the flock over which God had
placed him, his special interest
would be in education.
“The Catholic Church,” he said,
“takes her stand on the program of
the best secular training united to I Mr. Palmer had a wicked face.
Conan DoyleB ‘Spirit Photo’
Conan Doyle ‘Spirit Photo’
London.—South African papers
which have arriyed here give fur
ther details of a remarkable scene
which took place at Nairobi, Kenya,
during a lecture by Sir Athur Co
nan Doyle.
Sir Arthur was showing stereop-
ticon slides made from photographs
purporting to depict spirits, and
was exhibiting one of a “ghost” in a
supposedly haunted house, drawing
attention to the figure’s “hard,
wicked face,” when a local dentist,
Spencer Palmer, got up and declar
ed .dramatically “that is a photo
graph of myself.”
Mr. Palmer explained that 15 years
ago he and some others interested in
an alleged haunted house near Not
tingham, England, decided to keep
watch. After three fruitless nights
Mr. Palmer suggested faking a pho
tograph.
Attiring l.imself in a long night
shirt, he said, he posed in an old
room, and the result was the picture
which had found its way into Sir I
Athur’s collection.
Sir Arthur accepted this statement )
at once and said he very much re- j
gretted that he should have shown
the picture, although he had done so
in good faith. He would withdraw it
immediately.
He apologized for suggesting that
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