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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.