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SIX THE BULLETTIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA DECEMBER 16, 1933 THE BULLETIN The Official Organ of the Catholic Laymen's Association of Georgia RICHARD REID, Editor 1409 Lamar Building Augusta, Georgia Subscription Price $2,00 Per Year Published monthly by the Publicity Department with the Approbation of the Most. Rev. Bishops of Raleigh, Charleston. Savannah. St. Augustine, Mobile, Natchez and Nashville and of the Rt. Rev. Abbot. Ordinary of Belmont. FOREIGN ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE George J. Callahan. 240 Broadway. New York ASSOCIATION OFFICERS FOR 1931-1932 ALFRED M. BATTEY, Augusta President J. J. HAVERTY, K. S. G., Atlanta .. First Vice-President J. B. McCALLUM. Atlanta Secretary THOMAS S. GRAY, Augusta Treasurer RICHARD REID. Augusta Publicity Director MISS CECILE. FERRY, Augusta. Asst. Publicity Director Vol, XIV.December 16, 1933.No. 21. Entered as second class matter June 15, 1921. at the Post Office at Augusta, Ga., under act of March, 1879. Ac cepted for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in Section 1103, Act. of October 3, 1917, authorized September 1. 1921. Capt. P. H. Rice, K. C. S. G. I N ITS previous issue The Bulletin devoted its leading editorial to the president emeritus of the Catholic Laymen’s Association of Georgia, Capt. P. H. Rice, K. C. S. G. In those happy days we were spared the knowledge that when The Bulletin appeared again its leading editorial would be again devoted to Captain Rice, not as president emeritus, but as our late and la mented leader. The death of Captain Rice comes to the Catholic Lay-- men’s Association with desolating force. Although he retired as president at the Macon convention, the three weeks intervening before his death were filled with la bors for this Association as happy and as enthusiastic as in any period of his activity for tlie organization. He spent complete days at the Association office, plac ing himself at the complete disposal of his successor, President Battey. The day before death claimed him, he was at the Association headquarters for several hours. The day of his death, an indisposition made it inadvisa ble for him to attempt a contemplated trip to Savannah, but twice that morning he had messages phoned to the of fice in connection with Association work he was do ing. The second of these messages was practically his last word. In a few minutes he was dead. It is difficult to find consolation at such a time, but there is consolation to The Bulletin in the thought that it did not wait until Captain Rice was dead to pay him tribute, and that he read with humble appreciation in the previous issue of The Bulletin the following estimate of his life and services: "It is seldom in the history of the Church in the United States that one has achieved such a record in lay activi ty as Capt. P. H. Rice, K. C. S. G., who retired at the Macon convention after serving the Catholic Laymen’s Association of Georgia as president for fourteen years. “For over fifty years Captain Rice has been active in parish, local, Diocesan and national Catholic move ments. In his younger days he was prominent in Catho lic dramatics. For many years he was captain of the Sacred Heart Cadets in Augusta and in the Diocesan temperance movement of which it was a part; there is no way of estimating the number of young men he influ enced along the path of sobriety and useful citizenship, many of whom would have followed the line of least jesistance if it were not for his interest and the bene ficial effects of the movement of which he was for decades the leading factor in Augusta. "He was a pioneer member of the Knights of Columbus 3n the Southeast, and his efforts were largely instru mental in the introduction of the order in this section pnd in its spread. He was the first grand knight of Pat rick Walsh Council, Augusta, serving in that capacity longer than any other man or even group of two or three grand knights; he was grand knight during the war when thousands of Catholics came to the city with the Penn sylvania troops at Camp Hancock. It was mainly through his efforts that the Knights of Columbus pro vided facilities for their welfare. As state deputy of the Knights of Columbus, as Master of the Fourth Degree for the Carolinas and Georgia, and as a member of the supreme board of directors, he achieved a national reputation in K. of C. circles. "But it is as president of the Catholic Laymen's Asso ciation of Georgia that Captain Rice is best known. The Association itself is a development of work he started as State deputy of the Knights of Columbus. No man was more responsible than he for the association's organiza tion, and no man has done more to win for it the reputa tion its work has earned for it than he. A decade ago his record in parish, diocesan and national Catholic ac tivities won him Knighthood in the Order of St Gregory the Great, with the rank of commander, yet perhaps his best work hits been accomplished in the intervening years. ...” This tribute we leave unchanged. Other and more eloquent pens and voices have lauded Captain Rice; no such tribute to him is exrggerated, none undeserved. As long as the Catholic Laymen's Association of Georgia ex ists—and no one is more responsible for the prospect of its continuous existence than he—so long will it hold Captain Rice in grateful memory. It feels that it has gained a new and powerful advocate before the Throne of God. May God console his loved ones in their sorrow. And may he rest in peace eternal. Christmas, 1933 O NE year ago the world in general and the United States in particular were overcast with clouds of despair. Today the prospect is still misty, but frequent gleams of sunshine dispell the gloom. Dark as was the outlook twelve months ago, there was every reason for hope and confidence. There was no famine. War and pestilence had not laid their dead ly hands upon the land. There was no problem which the Christian principles of justice could not solve. There would have been reason to despair had there been no Babe born at Bethlehem to die on Calvary, and to teach that in the sight of God all men are equal, and all equally subject to His law. When Our Lord came into the world, slavery was the normal lot of an overwhelming majority of the people of the civilized world. They had no rights. The poor were scorned and shunned. The orphaned were left to die or sold into a life worse than death. The ill and the aged dragged cut their weary existence without sus tenance or care. Gradually the principles of Christ, propounded by the Church, permeated society, increasing in influence, with each generation'| They substituted feudalism for slav ery, peasantry for feudalism. Christian principles with their emphasis on the equality of man before God and on the dignity of the human person are alone responsi ble for the difference in status between the slave of nineteen centuries ago and the worker of today. These principles still are active, still are effective, and conditions among the working people which would not stir a murmur in the hearts of men in ancient pagan times—and all the rich were in the working class then —now stir the machinery of the government to action to apply to industry what Is considered at least an ap proach to the program of application of Christian princi ples proposed as a solution for current problems. How this particular application will develop is prob lematical, with the country highly hopeful, but it does indicate that Christian principles arc still active, and still attacking the worst of the evils which yet remain. This Christmas there is, therefore, unusual reason for hope and for gratitude. Because Our Lord was bom in Bethlehem nineteen hundred years ago, not only are we given the heritage of eternal salvation by proving worthy of it, but each succeeding generation finds the really Christian world less a place of trial and tribulation, de spite the lamentations of pessimists who do not know history. The Bulletin expresses the hope that its readers will all share in fullest measure in the accumulated fruits of nineteen hundred years of Christian civilization, and that Our Lord will shower down upon them His Choicest Gifts during a blessed Christmas and happy New Year. The Need for Vigilance A N Atlanta member of the Catholic Laymen’s Asso ciation of Georgia sends us a copy of “a diabolic oath taken by the postmaster-general, all assistant post- masters-general, and the attorney general of the United States.” The "oath”, being distributed by mail, is nothing more or less than the old fake "oath” of the Knights of Co lumbus, for the distribution of which numerous persons have been convicted of criminal libel; a Georgia woman has served a jail sentence for circulating the hateful forgery. No one is paying any particular attention to the "oath” now. But let its circulation continue, and let it go un challenged, and, like the constant drop of water, it will have a corroding effect The Catholic Laymen’s Association is collecting evi dence on the circulation of the hate-breeding "fake” oath, the purpose of which is to create bigotry which can be capitalized politically. We ask that all readers of The Bulletin into whose hands copies of this fake "oath” or other antiCatholic literature fall send it to the office of Hie Bulletin with the envelope In which is was mailed, where it is available, and with other data which may be helpful in determining its point of origin. Dixie Musings The Audience With the Holy Father BY RICHARD REID (Editor of The Bulletin. Catholic Lay men’s Association of Georgia, and President of the Catholic Press Association.) (Written Especially for N. C. W. C. Christmas Supplement) There is no place under the sun where heaven seems to touch the earth at so many points as in the Eternal City, and no spot there where one is more vividly conscious of this awe-inspiring contact than in the ex quisite and majestic spaciousness of St- Peter’s and the Vatican. Majestic and exquisite as St. Peter's and the Vatican are, it is from the Papacy that they derive their monu mental importance; they bask in the reflected glory of the Pope, the Bishop of Rome, the Vicar of Christ on Earth, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Patriarch of the West. Primate of Italy, Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman Pro vince, and Sovereign of Vatican City. Spiritual shepherd of the Church and . its 350,000.000 members, ex- officio head of the world's greatest educational, hospitalization, eleemosy nary and other systems, temporal ruler of Vatican City, and the guiding spirit in the world-wide effort to lead the generation out of its chaos, the present occupant of the See of St Peter. His Holiness Pope Piux XI, viewed even through unsympathetic eyes, is second in intrinsic importance to no other personage in the world. MAGNETIC PERSONALITY -A Charity’s Standard Does Not Change T HERE is no reason for anyone, and Catholics least of all, getting excited about the controversy between the Hon. Alfred E. Smith and the Rev. Charles E. Coughlin. In presenting his views, Governor Smith does not pre tend that he is speaking for the Church, nor does Fath er Coughlin claim to be the Church’s mouthpiece. Neither the gold dollar nor the commodity dollar is an article of Catholic faith. They are matters on which uncanonized saints, now walking the earth, may have honest differences of opinion. It is unfortunate that the discussion has not been lim ited to the economic principles involved, and that per sonalities have been injected and herrings drawn across the trail. Honest discussion of the gold and commodity dollars and other subjects uppermost in the public mind is bene ficial to the country, and may help the president. It is not improbable that the president needs some empha- sit on the right to counterbalance the organized influ- ence of the extreme left which would have government printing presses turn out money by the bale. The country needs clear thinking in all quarters, and in Catholic circles in particular, knowing as we do that we have the eternal principles which will solve the current difficulties. Let each individual avoid getting excited, and let us all take special precautions not to mistake personalities for principles. .mm.i-. But those who have the honor and the privilege of an audience with the Holy Father, however brief it may be, are impressed deeply by the fact that His Holiness is more than a mighty personage; he is a profound and magnetic personality. It was my happiness as president of the Catholic Press Association, to be received by His Holiness in special audience- The audience was not lengthy—but one need not spend a year under the dome of St Peter’s to be awed by the magnificence of Michaelangelo’s genius, nor a day with the Holy Father to be touched to the heart by the penetrating spirit of Christ which he radiates. One’s re action to its is as spontaneous as that of the Bay of Naples to the rising moon or of the glistening lakes of Killamey to the first golden rays of the morning sun. It was a hot September noon that the Very Rev. Msgr. Joseph A. Bres- lin, the distinguished vice-rector of the North American College, and I left the college for the Vatican and the audience. New York is hqme to Monsignor Breslin, but he knows Europe as a New Yorker knows the subway. Priest and educator by vocation, he is by avocation adviser, counsel and friend to Americans visit ing the Eternal City. Through streets wide enough for motorcycles to pass, then over broad boulevards, across the Tiber and into the sacred con fines of Vatican City and the Vatican itself the taxicab rattled under the burning rays of the sultry sun. Monsignor Breslin's long and wide acquaintance at the Vatican ever more than his prelatial robes drew a salute from the Swiss Guards and immediate admission. We were escorted into the Sala Clementina, a great hall, which even then was thronged with thou sands of people waiting to see His Holiness, who was not scheduled to get there for perhaps hours yet. Mon signor Breslin introduced me to sev eral Vatican officials before Palatine Guards escorted us through a series of tapestried rooms in whicn groups of pilgrims were awaiting audiences with the Holy Father. 0 nz o 1 RECEIVES ALL PILGRIMS I O- O It is the duty of the Swiss and Pala tine Guards to protect the Vatican, to prevent unwarranted intrusion. The walls of the Vatican render a simi lar service. The September sun—and the September sun is the bete noir of Roman weather—beat down relent lessly, but these staunch walls as res olutely hurled it back, protecting the delicious coolness within. And the spirit of the Vatican itself stood guard at the gates, denying admit tance to anything which might dis turb its peace and serenity. There were pilgrims from various parts of the world waiting to be re ceived that day, from nearly every country in Europe, and from as far away as Mexico and the Ar gentine Republic. Certain Vatican at taches, solicitous for the health of His Holiness, have suggested to him that because of his years—he is 76— and the strain under which he is la boring, especially during the Holy Year, he should forego receiving pil grimages But the Holy Father good naturedly turned aside the suggestion. The pil grims come to Rome from every part of the world, and wish to see the Holy Father; he would not disappoint them. It involves tedious walking through the long corridors of the Vat ican from room to room, for the Holy Father ordinarily goes to meet the pilgrimages; they do not come to him. Many days it takes two or three hours, during which he is continuously on his feet, meeting the pilgrims, allow ing hundreds and sometimes thou sands to kiss his ring—it is manifest ly impossible for him to allow this privilege to all—and occasionally ad dressing groups. It is a task which might well tax the strength of one a generation younger, but he recalls his mountain climbing days, during which he and three companions were the first to cross the Zumsteinjoch, the second highest pass in the Alps, and he reassures his solicitous advisers by saying "This is my exercise.” The world knows the Holy Father as personage; Rome knows him as a per sonality, and regrets that the world has not the pleasure and happiness of knowing first hand the great qual ities of mind and heart which im pelled the members of the Sacred Col lege to select him, a Cardinal only eight months, as the successor of the illustrious and saintly Pope Benedict XV. o PAST THRONE ROOM 0- I o- From time to time Vatican officials or officers of the Pope's Noble Guards conducted us from reception room to room, each containing fewer persons^ until we reached the throne room, where Pope Benedict XV received President Wilson in 1919. There were two other persons there. One more move to an adjoining room, and Mon signor Breslin and I were alone in the particular audience chamber in which we were to see the Holy Father. It was similar to the throne room, and to the other reception halls, cool, shaded, tapestried, with rich red walls, and green and white curtained win dows. Tte details, however, were wasted off this pilgrim, who was busy trying to appear nonchalant pending the arrival of His Holiness. Monsignor Breslin has presented hundreds and thousands of Americans to the Holy Father, and knows His Holiness as few in Rome do outside of Vatican officials. Never, he says, has he seen the Holy Father anything but serene. It matters not what dif ficulties confront him, what worries weigh on his mind, he is always the same unruffled, kindly soul. We heard the sounds of persons walking down the corridor. ‘‘The Holy Father is coming,” Monsignor Breslin said; we knelt down. An instant later, he appeared at the entrance of the reception room. Garbed entirely in white, his chain and pectoral cross furnishing the only contrast, the Holy Father appeared of medium height. His complexion was ruddy when he came to the Vatican, but his years away from his native hills of Lombardy and the mountain climbing he loved so well have taken the ruddiness from his countenance without apparently affecting his health. SEEMS MUCH YOUNGER | o Seventy-six years old, His Holiness does not impress one as a man of age. One who did not know the date of his bjfth would be inclined to judge him to be 15 pr even 20 years younger. The tendency to attribute pneumonia to the president every time he has a cold is a custom on which Americans have no monopoly, and the reports about the Holy Father’s poor health appear to be in the same class as the premature announcement of Mark Twain’s demise—greatly exaggerated. His Holiness greeted Monsignor Breslin graciously, and the Monsignor then presented his companion, who, he told the Holy Father, was president of the Catholic Press Association of the United States. "Mr. Reid is from Chicago?” the Holy Father asked Monsignor Bres lin, in Italian, the language in which audiences ordinarily are conducted, although he speaks several languages fluently and English quite well. This inquiry reflects the Holy Fa ther’s fund of information on diverse matters, as well as his keen interest in the Catholic Press. The Catholic Press Assocaition has its headquarters in Chicago. Its most recent conven tion was held there in June. At the mention of the Association, His Holi ness immediately connected it with Chicago. Monsignor Breslin informed the Ho ly Father that I was from Georgia, and the editor of The Bulletin of the Catholic Laymen’s Association of Georgia. "Ah, Georgia!” exclaimed His Holi ness.. "The Catholic Laymen’s Asso ciation! We give our special blessing to your particular work." Here is another indication of the Holy Father’s comprehensive knowl edge of Catholic activity throughout the world. Monsignor Breslin later commented on his instant reaction to the mention of the Georgia work and the familiarity with the movement it revealed. • | ASKS ABOUT CATHOLIC PRESS 1 0 o If it were not the custom to call the Pope the Holy Father, the term might well have been coined for Pope Pius XI. He seems to radiate sanc tity, strong, Christ-like sanctity. And 1 have never met a more fatherly man —a gracious, kindly, considerate, lov ing father, without a suggestion of (Continued on Page Seven)