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SIX
THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
APRJL 23, 1938
THE BULLETIN
The Official Organ of the Catholic Laymen’s
Association of Georgia
RICHARD REID, Editor
815-816 Lamar Building Augusta, Georgia
Subscription Price $2.00 Pei Year
ASSOCIATION OFFICERS FOR 1937-1938
ALFRED M. BATTEY Augusta President
J. J. HAVERTY. K. S. G.. Atlanta ...First Vice-President
J. B McCALLUM. Atlanta Secretary
THOMAS F. WALSH. K. S. G., Savannah Treasurer
RICHARD REID, K. S. G. Augusta . Executive Secretary
MISS CECILE FERRY. Augusta, Asst. Exec. Secretary
Vcl. XIX April 23. 1938 No. 4
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
Sentember 1. 1921
Published monthly by the Publicity Department
with the Approbation ot the Most Rev Bishops of
Raleigh Charleston Savannah. St Augustirie and Nash
ville err! of the Rt Rev Vbbot Ordinary of Belmont.
Membei of N. C. W C. News Service the Catholic Press
Association of the United States, the Georgia Press
Association and the National Editorial Association.
The Confraternity Campaign
W HEN the history of the Catholic Church in Geor
gia is written, it is doubtful that there will be
any more glorious page than that inscribed in these
memorable April days of 1938 when the laity of Georgia
rallied to the support of their Bishop and answered his
request for one hundred thousand dollars for the
financing of a seven-point Diocesan program with
pledges of nearly twice that amount.
There are less than 25,000 Catholics in Georgia. Over
eighty per cent of these are in five counties, leaving
the other twenty per cent scattered over 154 counties,
a territory over seven times the size of Massachusetts
The parochial problems of Georgia Catholics are greater
than in the great metropolitan centers, as indicated by
the fact that the scattered nature of our population
makes even a priest and a church for every three
hundred Catholics inadequate. Yet these 25,000 Catho
lics subscribed over $190,000, an average of about eighty
dollars for every person contributing.
The result is a demonstration first of all of the af
fection in which the people of the Diocese hold their
spiritual leader, the Most Rev. Gerald P. O'Hara, D. D.,
Bishop of Savannah-Atlanta. The people of the Diocese
knew that their Bishop had a plan for the advancement
of the Church in the Diocese, and after their love of
God and His Church, their devotion to their B : shop
was the chief factor in the magnificent success of the
undertaking.
It is a tribute to Bishop O’Hara’s predecessors in the
Episcopacy in Georgia and to the pastors and priests
©f Georgia, who have built up such a magnificent Catho
lic spirit in their people, the solid basis on which the
achievement was built.
It is a tribute to the Catholic hearts and the Catholic
minds of the sons and daughters of the Diocese, demon
strating that the reputation they have had throughout
the nation for the past decade and a half or more as
exemplars of Catholic Action is found not merely on
past performance but on current attainments as well.
It is a tribute to the officials of the campaign, the
Ri. Rev. Msgr. Joseph F. Croke, general chairman, the
Rev. Joseph G. Cassidy and the Rev. Thomas L. Finn,
district chairmen, the lay chairmen, vice-chairmen,
captains and workers and others who labored self-sacri-
ficingly and effectively to bring abouf the happy result.
There is one man who with his associates deserves
special mention and heartfelt commendation, Mr. John
F. McKeown, the campaign director The love of the
people of Georgia for their Bishop, the devotion of
the clergy, the deep Catholic spirit of the laity and the
zeal of the workers w'ould have meant little in a prac
tical way if not properly organized. Mr. McKeown
directed the organizing of this zeal and good will with
an expertness which amounted to genius. For weeks
in advance of the campaign he was sowing the seed of
detail which brought a harvest. Nothing in the cam
paign just happened; he and his associates could say
with conviction: “We planned it that way.”
This campaign is not an end, but a means. One of its
results will be the opening of a new era in Georgia
Catholic history. Its greatest fruit is not the generous
sums of money contributed by persons who in many
cases made heroic sacrifices to participate, but a quick
ened spirit of self-sacrifice and devotion which cannot
fail to bring the blessing of God on our Bishop who in
spired it. on all participating, on our Diocese and on
cur beloved State.
A Belated Protest
P ROTESTANT Bishops, the Secretary of State and
others have publicly expressed themselves as be
ing shocked as well as grieved by the reported bombing
of Barcelo.: by General Franco's aviators, and the
resulting loss of civilian lives.
Mr. Hull's reputation as a distinguished American
statesman bears out the sincerity of his expressed grief,
the Rt. Rev. Msgr. Michael J. Ready, LL.D., General
Secretary of the National Catholic Welfare Conference,
says; however, “it cannot fail to emphasize in many
minds Mr. Hull s complete silence when, also in Spain,
not hundreds but many thousands of religious were
wantonly murdered.
“These killings had back of them not even the at
tempted justification of military exigencies; they were
perpetrated on the simple basis of the victims being
religious. Nor did Mr. Hull feel called upon to express
horror when, nearer to our own country, in Mexico,
civilians as well as religious were killed in the course
of a vicious religious persecution which still persists.”
Monsignor Ready’s comment on Mr. Hull’s position is
equally applicable to that of the Protestant Bishops.
We cannot hold that General Franco had a right to
blot out innocent lives because his opponents slaughter
ed priests, religious and laity. His position, however,
is that Barcelona is a concentration point for arsenals
and war supplies of all kind, that he has warned the
Loyalist government of the proposed attacks, but they
refuse to remove civilians from such supply areas. A
St. Francis of Assisi under such circumstances would
probably refrain from attack, foiled by the heartlessness
of the enemy. But military leaders who imitate the
gentle saints soon find themselves and their armies
imitating the martyrs.
A Suspicious Editor
A N EDITORIAL in the Charlotte, N. C., News voiced
the opinion that Jesuit priests reported kidnapped
by Chinese soldiers were probably apprehended for
lending aid and comfort to the Japanese against the
Chinese. In its March issue The Bulletin termed the
assertion an unworthy suspicion, and quoted the Vati
can, the Apostolic Delegate to the United States and
the Chinese Bishop of Nanking to indicate how un
founded the assumption was.
The Charlotte News editorially replies that its editors
are not Catholic-baiters, thoroughly dislike Catholic-
baiters, accuse the Pope of approving “by suggestion at
least” the Japanese attack on China, of giving his bene
diction to fascism “of which Nazism is only a variant”,
and of making peace with Mussolini after “promising to
shut up the priests who have been opposing Fascism.”
It is of course pleasant for the friends of The News
to know that its editors are not Catholic-baiters, for it
puts the editors in the category of informed and cul
tured editors throughout the nation.
As for the assertion of The News that the Pope has
approved “by suggestion at least” of the Japanese at
tack on China, we reiterate the denial of the Pope. The
Vatican has officially denied the unfounded assertion of
an unnamed correspondent. The News refuses to accept
the denial. Take your choice.
The Pope has nothing to say about Fascism, Nazism or
any other kind of an “ism” as long as it respects the
rights of conscience. When it violates that right, as
Mussolini did in Italy, he protests, and when it ceases
to violate it he ends his protests, and Catholic Bishops
and priests do likewise. Pope, Bishops and priests are
vigorously protesting the violation of that right in Ger
many and Russia. Bishop and priests are behind Com
munist and Nazi prison bars for their courageous stands,
and in numerous places fidelity to conscience has cost
many their lives.
When Mussolini was allied with the Communists as
an editor in Milan, the Pope was protesting violation of
conscience by the radicals; he was protesting it when
Japan was allied with Russia. He will continue to pro
test it regardless of w r ho sanctions or opposes, it. And
we voice the hope that The Charlotte News will pro
test it wi.h him, regardless of whether the violation
comes from the Communist, the Nazi or the Fascist
camp.
Boring From Within
T HE Communists of the United States, officially
allied with the government building up the larg
est army in the world, have been in the forefront of the
pacifist movement here.
How sincere their pacific protestations have been is
demonstrated by the shambles which they have made
of the Iberian peninsula, for it was Communistic
tactics which brought about the civil war there.
Young American students who two years ago were
preaching the doctrines of Communistic pacificism have
constituted the bulk of the American forces fighting
on the side of the Loyalists in Spain.
“Wisdom”, published in New York, asserts that the
Communists in New York have adopted a new tech
nique. Formerly shunning R. O. T. C. and other mili
tary organizations, they are now joining them “for the
express purpose of learning the parts and operation of
all weapons from revolver to machine gun, and the
quickest method of dismantling them to destroy their
usefulness in the event of war.”
An R. O. T. C. officer in New York asserts, according
to “Wisdom”, that during his regime as drill instruc
tor in the College of the City of New York, where
radicals abound, 600 guns used in drill practice were
filled with emery powder to destroy their usefulness.
Those believing that Communism in the United States
is a far-fetched danger would have their education on
the point vigorously supplemented if they were to go
to New York May 1 to witness the parade of tens of
thousands of radicals in the May Day parade. It would
have been illuminating to them to have been in Carnegie
Hall in New York a few weeks ago at an anti-Fascist
meeting to hear the hissing and booing when Congress
man Hamilton Fish included Joseph Stalin among the
persecutors of religion and mass murderer* of humanity.
Dixie Musings
The change in ownership in The
Commonweal reminds us of the mag
nificent contribution of its retiring
editor, Michael Williams, to Catholic
Action in the United tSates during the
past decade and a half. During that
entire period he has, in our opinion,
been the outstanding lay figure in
that field. Members of the Catholic
Laymen’s Association of Georgia will
never forget his interest and encour
agement, and they will always treasure
the memory of his masterly address
at the Savannah convention in 1935.
Although retiring os editor, he re
mains a member of the board of
editors. May his achievements in the
future be even more brilliant than
those which already give lustre to his
career.
Kirk Sutlive. editor of the Black-
shear Times and immediate past presi
dent of the Georgia Press Association,
and whom we saw at the Savannah
dinner to our Bishop, remarks that
“if people were one-tenth as much in
terested in religion as they are in farm
control and alcohol control, the
churches would have to inaugurate
building expansion programs.”
That appears to be precisely what is
happening in Georgia. For weeks
past, the Bishop’s Confraternity of the
Laity has been the principal topic of
enthusiastic conversation among
Catholics.
A writer in one of our smaller
magazines devoted to a noble cause
says that “North Carolina is in the
United States. So I learned as a boy
studying geogi. y. But it is sur
prising how little one leaves from
books. One must visit North Carolina
to learn in how many ways it is a for
eign country.”
There 'are people who feel that they
are in a foreign country when they
get west of the Hudson; some plains
men feel that way when they get to
the mountains, some orange and cotton
growers when they reach the chestnut
and maple syrup belt, and vice versa.
They are like the Englishman in South
America who indignantly resented a
customs officer asking if he was a
foreigner. "Certainly not,” he said.
“I’m English."
Gypsies near Augusta persuaded a
couple to put $206 in a handkerchief so
that they could “bless” it. After the
"blessing” all but five dollars had dis
appeared. Likewise the gypsies. If
people insist on being that foolish,
there is little that can be done about
it.
Bishop Thomas C. O'Reilly of
Scranton, who died in Miami after a
long illness, came to Greenville, S.
C., at the invitation of Monsignr A.
K. Gwynn for the dedication of St.
Mary’s School there a few years ago;
Monsignor Fulton Sheen was another
distinguished speaker. Bishop
O’Reilly's successor in Scranton is
Eishop William J. Hafey, formerly of
Raleigh; Bishop Andrew J. Brennan
of Richmond was formerly Auxiliary
Bishop of Scranton and Bishop
O’Hara is a native of the Diocese of
Scranton. A1 lot which indicates the
ties binding the Diocese of Scranton
and the Southeast.
The International Telephone and
Telegraph Company in installing the
telephone system in the Vatican pre
sented the Holy Father with a gold
telephone, and now it is being cited
as evidence of the alleged luxury in
which the Holy Father lives.
One of the most interesting pub
lications to come to our desk in many
a moon is the “Saneian Island Post”
of Fat 'er Robert J. Cairns, Mary
knoll missionary in China. It’s
enough t 0 make all young men want
to-be missionaries in China. Father
Cairns was a visitor in the Southeast
a few years ago. meeting hundreds
of our readers. Father Toomey of
the Maryknoll Fathers accompanied
him.
The Hong Kong Telegraph in an
extended story recently told how
Father Cairns and Maryknoll Sisters
toured the island during a cholera
epidemic and thwarted the epidemic
by giving anti-cholera injections to
1,350 natives in 32 villages. The
Japanese were in control of the is
land for a time but life moves on
placidly there again, barring the
sight of an occasional Japanese bomb
ing plane. •
Milestone on the road to “prog
ress’: The Worcester, Mass. Telegram
reported recently: “Rooms in three
elemenary schools were closed yes
terday as about 650 graduates of ele
mentary schools moved into the
city’s four high schools for the win
ter term . Closed were one room
each in Dartmouth Street, East Ken
dall Street and Lake View schools,
because of shrinking enrollment,
Supt. Walter S. Young said.”
The Urban College in Rome, alma
mater of Cardinal Mundelein and 28
Bishops, has 233 students enrolled
from 37 countries; 39 come from
China, 33 from Australia, 28 from
India, 14 from Japan. Indio-China and
Roumania, 10 from the United States,
eight from Greece and Albania, six
from South Africa, five from Eng
land, Jugoslavia and Ceylon, four
from Ireland, etc. “Going, therefore,
teach ye all nations.”
■Pierre Van Paassen, like so many
others, after sleeping through the
massacre of thousands of priests, re
ligious and laity by the Loyalists in
Spain, wakes up to become indig
nant about the bombing of Loyalist
cities by the Nationalists.
If we were Franco we perhaps
would not have been as ruthless,
would have lost the war to the
Loyalists, and then would have seen
thousands of civilians butchered by
the Communist hordes where one dies
through military necessity now. This
thing of the Loyalists putting their
arsenals in the midst of civilians is
on the par with a fleeing murderer
taking a child with him so that iihe
police cannot fire at him.
It does seem that with all the
bombs that Franco’s aviators are re
ported to drop, an occasional one at
least would hit someone other than
women and children. But the re
ports never mention a soldier as a
victim, and only rarely a man.
Former Mayor Thomas Gamble of
Savannah observed the fiftieth anni
versary of his coming to the city re
cently. ‘ Mr. Gamble came down from
the North, and soon became one of
the leading citizens of Chatham
County; the esteem in which he is
held is indicated by the honor Sa
vannah paid him in elevating him to
the post of chief executive. Mr.
Gamble is a newspaperman by voca
tion and a historian by avocation; al
though not a Catholic, he knows more
about the history .of the Catholic
Church in Savannah than nearly any
other person.
Savannah and Georgia lost one of
their most distinguished citizens and
the Catholics of the state a loyal
friend in the death of Judge Samuel
B. Adams, former Justice of the Su
preme Court of Georgia. Judge
Adams was an unrelenting foe of in
tolerance; the bane of intolerance was
the subject of his baccalaureate ad
dress at the University of Georgia
when the Ku Klux spirit was strong*
A warm personal friend of every
Bishop of Savannah for three score
years, he was a devoted Methodist
layman. During the 1928 campaign
he publicly expressed his deep re
gret at the unfortunate attitude of
some ministers on the religious
issue.
On the occasion of Mr. John
Moody’s visit to Savannah over two
years ago to address the Laymen’s
Association, Judge Adams attended
the reception to Bishop O'Hara and
Mr. Moody at the home of Mrs. John
S. Hopkins; this was one of his last
public appearances. Almost on the
eye of his death, the Hibernian So
ciety, of which he was a member by
virtue of being a decendant of a
charter member, adopted an exnves-
sion of esteem commending ‘the
many manifestations of your devo
tion through the years to all that is
highest and best, and especially your
never-to-be-forgotten opposition to
all forms of intolerance.”
A New York Catholic proposes a
plan for a Catholic daily which lie ap
pears to believe is simplicity itself.
Get 250,000 Catholics in Nt v York to
subscribe $2,500,000; with 250,0C0 inter
ested, a circulation of 250,000 would
sun,-an 1 -pit. ho say.". But c'ly
about 100,000 Catholics in the entire
metropolitan area take the op'.edid
weeklies they have, in the Archd':csse
of New York and the Diocese of
Brooklyn, although it is sold at church
doors for a nickle.
A warm friend of The Bulletin died
recently with the passing of the Rev.
Dr. William C. McCaughan, pasior of
St. Ann’s Church, Worcester. Mass.
One thousand miles away from Geor
gia, he nevertheless followed The Bul
letin so closely that he could discuss
activities and leaders of the various
cities in Georgia with the facility of
one living here. He was a beloved par
ish priest, of the old school, venerat
ed by his people, and his self-sacrilic-
ing half-century in the priesthood will
plead eloauently for him before the
Eternal Throne.
Ireland k" *>»o lowest suicide rate
in the civilized world, 3.4 per hun
dred thousand. And—this is not so
good—Austria has the highest, with 40
per hundred thousand. Indicating that
Catholicity in Austria ii not os deep
or as comprehensive as in Ireland.
John Loughran, a retired city fire
man in Seattle, died a few weeks ago,
and left a burse of $10,000 to educate
priests and $30,000 to assist high school
students at the Catholic High Sdhool.
Two years ago a clerk in an Augusta
telegraph office. Patrick McLaughlin,
left his r -tate of nearly $20,099 to Cath
olic causes. Neither Mr. Loughran in
Seattle or Mr. McLaughlin in Augusta
were prominent laymen, but their
wills indicated the depth of their
Catholicity.
The Augusta Chronicle recalls an
unusual experience of Father John J.
Kennedy of St. Mary’s Church. Fath
er Kennedy, chaplain with the \us-
tralian forces for four years during
the war, was listed as killed after a
murderous battle along the front line.
Back in Melbourne the Diocesan au
thorities held a memorial service for
its heroic priest, and Father Kennedy
had the privilege of reading in the
Melbourne papers the eulogistic trib
utes paid to him. Augusta and Geor
gia could add even more eloquent
eulogies, but they hope they will n t
be called upon to do so for years
numbering into generations.
The CIO has made the American
Federation of Labor popular in cir
cles where it was never popular be
fore.