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FEBRUARY 25, 1939
THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
NINE
Pope Pius XI One of Greatest of the Popes,
Bishop O’Hara Asserts in Radio Broadcast
Achievements of Holy Father
Recalled by His Excellency
in Notable Savannah Tribute
The Most Rev. Gerald P. O'Hara
D.D., Bishop of Savannah-Atlanta,
who was studying in Rome when
Pope Pius XI was elected, paid
the following tribute to His Holi
ness February 12 on the Savannah
Catholic Hour, broadcast each
Sunday over \VTOC under the
auspices of the Savannah Council,
Knights of Columbus. The Cath
edral Choir under the direction of
Janies B. Copps sang “Dies Irae”
and "In Paradisium."’ It was the
ninetieth consecutive Sunday
broadcast of the Council, of which
Joseph Sheehan is grand knight
and Hugh H. Grady chairman of
the program committee, and the
program was arranged as a mem
orial to the Holy Father when
news of his death came two days
before. The address of his Excel
lency, Bishop O’Hara, follows:
SIMON SON OF JOHN, LOVEST
THOU ME?—FEED MY LAMBS,
FEED MY SHEEP. (John XXI—16.
17).
The Catholic Hour is mourning the
death of one of the greatest Pipes
that has ever occupied the chair of
Peter and our thoughts go back
seventeen years to the 6th of Febru
ary, 1922, when the venerable Cardin
al Bisleti, of blessed memory, on that
rainy morning in February, 1922, ap
peared at the balcony overlooking St.
Peter’s Square, and announced to the
thousands assembled, the “Gaudium
magnum” of the election of Achille
Ratti, Cardinal Archbishop of Milan,
to the throne of Peter, He used, we
know, a phrase fixed by law and hal
lowed by the centuries—a prescribed
form, established and customary. And
yet, in the clear voice of the aging
Cardinal, there seemed to sound a
ringing note of special joy. And the
burst of applause that greeted the an
nouncement was one of gladness.
There was, perhaps, a partial ex-
^.planation for this in the remarkable
gesture by which the new Pope gave
his first blessing “Urbi et Orbi” not
from within St. Peter’s Basilica, as
had been customary since the days
of Pius IX, but from the balcony that
looked out over Rome and the world.
This fact alone, it is true, was signi
ficant, aye, even portentous. It seemed
to imply a desire to get close to the
world, and to the hearts of men; to go
down to them to share in their prob
lems and sorrows; to help them solve
the one and to give them courage to
bear the other.
But there was a deeper motive un
derlying the vibrant emotion that fill
ed all Catholic hearts on that memor
able day. For those who had followed
the career of the new Pontiff, during
the four immediately preceeding
years, had noticed therein what
seemed like very special designs of
Providence. “Digitus Dei est his"
might have been said at a dozen points
in Mortsignor Ratti’s career between
his 61st and his 65th year. And cer
tainly this meaningful phrase was re
peated again and again and again on
the 6th of February, 1922, when a
man, almost unknown four years be
fore, ascended the most sacred, the
most exalted throne on earth.
There have been instances in his
tory', we know, of such a swift change
in a priest’s life, but they have been
few. Pope Eugene III, and Pope Cele-
stine V were suddenly raised to the
Papacy from the peace and solitude
of monastic life. There is almost a
parallel in the swift rise of the pre
sent Pontiff to his sublime position,
as supreme shepherd of the flock of
God. "Raptim transit”. Mow aptly
this, the motto on his Coat-of-Arms as
Archbishop of Milan, describes the
rapidly moving events in the life of
our Holy Father between the years
1918 and 1922; in 1918 he is still a sim
ple priest, quietly going about his
work amidst the books and scrolls of
the Vatican Library—an obscure fig
ure, almost unknown, except among
that small coterie of learned men who
delight in delving into the past, and in
bringing to light the literary and
scientific treasures of. days that are
gone.
There is no indication that the quiet
stream of his life would ever be dis
turbed. He is 61 years old now, and
has known no other life but that of
study and research, editing and writ
ing. It is the life he loves. By pre
ference, and by appointment, it has
been his now for well nigh forty
years. Apparently, it will be his to the
end. There is no likelihood that the
f library recluse will ever by called
upon to engage in any active strenu
ous work as Ordinary of a Diocese, for
example, or, as a Delegate or Nuncio
in some distant part of the world.
The Church does not look into lib
raries when it needs a man for a posi
tion requiring a special talent for af
fairs, thorough-going executive abil
ity, and a wide’ experience with the
world of men. Librarians are presum
ed to be out of touch with man and
affairs, and hardly fitted for executive
quire a kind of talent different from
that which is necessary in the world
of books. Monsignor Ratti was a man
of books.
Suddenly, however, that quiet life
is violently disturbed, and he whose
days had always been so tranquil is
plunged, without warning, into the
seething vortex of world affairs. A
summons comes to him from the Holy
Father. The Bishops of Poland, per
plexed by serious problems, have ask
ed the Holy See to send a Prelate
from Rome to guide and aid them in
solving their difficulties.
There were skilled diplomats avail
able at the time, Prelates of proven
worth, who had served the Church
well, highly trained and schooled in
experience, but it was the Vatican
Librarian who was called to undertake
the arduous task in Poland. In vain
does Monsignor Ratti prepare to plead
the unfitness of the book-man for the
work of the Diplomat. The mind of
the Pope is made up, and Benedict
XV’s first words to his newly chosen
representative, when he appeared in
audience, were: “Monsignor, when do
you leave?” “The Sovereign Pontiff
evidently anticipated what Monsignor
Ratti would say. "Raptim transit” On
the 19th day of May, 1918, as Apostolic
Visitor to Poland and Lithuania,
Monsignor Ratti leaves for his post.
We can be sure that as he neared the
Brenner Pass, and gazed wistfully
upon the towering Dolomites, and la
ter beheld the majesty of the Aus-
trian Alps, his mind went back to
other days, and, no doubt, there was
a very human pang of regret that he
would never scale their heights again
—never gaze upon that majestic tum
bling sea of snow and stone that had
been his delight in other years. He
arrives in Warsaw, as he had planned
to do, on the Feast of Corpus Christi
in time to carry the Blessed Sacra
ment in the Eucharistic Procession.
It was his first act on Polish soil.
For centuries, Catholic Poland had
suffered, and bled for the Faith. Sit
uated as it is at one of the points
where the East meets the West, it
had been an historic theatre for con
flicting interests for centuries. That
fair land was bound to be a scene of
fresh conflicts and new difficulties,
precipitated upon her by the world-
War. A nation to the East had Yast
greedy eyes in her direction, and in
deed, added to her woes by a bar
baric invasion. This is not the place
to go into the details of the vexing
problems that the Apostolic Visitor
had to face. These problems were
such as required not only a keen Dip
lomatic mind, and unusual ability and
skill in handling men of all classes,
but endless patience, and great moral
courage as well.
Monsignor Ratti possessed these
qualities, and they were everywhere
called into play as he strove to dis
charge his delicate mission, often in
the face of deep-rooted jealousies and
unfortunate misunderstandings af
fecting the people of Poland and her
neighbors. The Apostolic Visitor was
indefatigable; he went everywhere,
flinching from no difficulty, however
complex, bearing up courageously
and silently even under the open
charge of partisanship and bias with
which hasty people charged his mis
sion. Through it all—the endless
meetings and conferences—all the
sifting and settling of grave difficul
ties—the weary journeys to and fro
in the territory that had been as
signed to him, the Papal representa
tive bore himself with Apostolic firm
ness, with a patience that knew no
limit, sympathetic, understanding,
calm dignity, a fine diplomatic sense,
accurate judgement, and above all,
with a priestly realization of the es
sential nature of his Mission—to bring
a Catholic peace to trouble peoples of
high and low degree, in lands that
seethed with deep unrest, and with
nameless dreads for the future.
The courage, that has been so con
spicuous in our Holy Father, mani
fested >1;elf by a noteworthy ex
ample when he was Apostolic Nuncio
to Poland. It was while he was still
living in Warsaw that an attempt was
made to subjugate Poland again. The
enemy army had conquered a vast
portion of Polish territory, and was
moving on the capital itself. The fall
of the city seemed imminent. The
Polish Government, in the face of the
impending danger, strongly advised,
and urged the members of the Diplo
matic Corps to flee the City. This
message was conveyed to the Pope’s
representative. He did not heed the
warning, and when Government Of
ficials expressed amazement at his
rashness, as they called it, he said
to them quietly: “I must not forget
that I am not only a diplomat, but I
am also a priest.”
Lady, the enemy was routed, and Po
land was free once more from her
invaders.
“Raptim transit”. On the 13th of
June, 1921, the seal of Papal approval
was placed upon the labors of the
Nuncio to Poland, when Benedict XV,
created him a Cardinal, and named
him Archbishop of Milan.
"Raptim transit.” After exactly 150
days in the See of St. Ambrose, Achil
les Ratti, the obscure library recluse
of four years before, is raised to the
throne of Peter.
We have
... vvitnessed an amazing
Pontificate. The activity of our Holy
Father was nothing short of prodig -
ious. Through the channels of the var
ious Roman Congregations, the life of
the Church has been quickened all
along the line in its every part
Through the Secretariat of State, new
Concordats, new agreements for the
good of religion and of souls have
been formed with governments;
through the Sacred Congregation of
the Consistory, new ecclesiastical pro
vinces, new dioceses have been estab
lished in notable number.
The Congregation for the Oriental
Church has awakened greater sym
pathy for brethren of the East, whose
forefathers were the first to hear the
preaching of the Apostles, and whose
beautiful liturgies we have learned
more and more to appreciate. Through
the Congregation for Universities and
Seminaries, new interest has been
imparted to the sacred and profane
sciences; and Catholic schools all over
the world, especially Seminaries and
Universities have been raised to an
even higher standard than before.
But, there is hardly any Congrega
tion in Rome that has given our Holy
Father so much deep joy as that of
the Congregation for the Propagation
of the Faith. While in other parts of
the world infidelity and Godlessness
seem to be increasing, in the Mission
ary countries, the dark night of Pa
ganism is pasisng, and a glorious
dawn is at hand. In these, and other
ways, the Church has shown still
greater vitality, and this, under God.
we owe to the deep personal interest
that our Holy Father has taken in
every single department of the
Church’s work.
En Route to Papal Election
iit'
Monsignor Ratti, faithful to sacer
dotal tradition, remained at his post.
There was rejoicing everywhere in
Poland when it became known that
the Nuncio had refused to leave the
capital. His presence inspired the Po-
. . - lish people to greater courage. And,
ami aomojnstratjve positions that re- on the Feast of the Assumption of cur
’’ «;rj “ ..iiiiMi.
Pope Pius XI ascended the throne
of Peter at a most perilous time The
World-War ended in 1918, but there
was no peace to follow it. “We have
looked for peace and there is no good
—and for the time of healing, and be
hold trouble. We looked for light and
behold darkness.”
These words from the Prophets,
quoted by our Holy Father, in his
first Encyclical, “Ubi Arcano”, grap
hically, poignantly describe the
times as Pius XI faced the world
from the balcony of the Vatican
Basilica on the day of his election.
He beheld a world tormented not
only by political and economic dis
tress, but seething with the bitter
ness of international hatred. Added to
this, was a new and growing evil,
already deeply rooted in one Coun
try, and rapidly appearing in others
—the frightful conflagration of class
hatred among the citizens of the
same nation. And, as though this
were not enough, our Holy Father
beheld a world-wide demoralization,
and the growth of a corroding apost
asy from God that knew no parallel
in history. No wonder that he should
choose as his motto: Pax Christi in
Regno Christi.
Many months passed before the
new Pope spoke officially to the
world, and it was almost Christmas
in the year 1922 before his first En
cyclical was issued. We can be sure
that in the meantime, our Holy Fa
ther was studying the conditions that
he faced with all the thoroughness
of the scholar, and with all the zeal
of a priest. His first Encyclical mani
fested his penetrating understanding
of the world's woes. It was an ac
curate diagnosis of a skilled phy
sician of souls; it pointed unerringly
to the causes of the evil, and to the
remedies that ought to be applied.
That first Encyclical Letter was a
projection, in brief, of the program
of his Pontificate, and we can see
there, germinally, every one of those
mangificent documents that have
been so striking a characteristic of
the present Pontiffs labors, every
major activity that he was to in
augurate later on.
The “Ubi Arcano”. is a kind of
literary overture, giving us fleeting
glimpses of what we were later to
admire in their full development as
with the passing of the years, our
Holy Father spoke again and again.
It requires no keen eye to see fore
shadowed there, for instance, those
profound doctrinal letters—the “Mor-
talium Animos” of January 6th, 1928;
the “Divinis Illus Magistri” on the
Christian education of Youth— a let
ter so beautiful, so worthy of the
Vicar of Him who said: “Suffer the
little children to come unto me”; the
“Cash Connubii” of December 31,
1930, on Christian Marriage; and the
celebrated “Quadragesimo Anno” of
May 16th, 1931, dealing with one of
the greatest problems of the age, as
Leo XIII had foretold it would be.
There is not a problem of the time
than has not been thoroughly treated
in some utterance of our Holy Father,
and it can be truly said that there
is scarcely an interest pertaining to
man’s spiritual and corporal welfare
during the past sixteen years, which
has not received the personal atten
tion of our Holy Father in solemn and
public form.
When our Holy Father was Visitor
His Eminence William Cardinal O'Connell, Archbishop of Boston,
senior member of the Sacred College of Cardinals in the order of
Cardinal Priests, shown in his stateroom aboard the Italian liner
Saturnia, shortly before it sailed from New York, February 15. Due
to arrive at Gibraltar, February 26, he will transfer to the Nep-
tunia, bearing the two South American Cardinals, who are also en
route to Vatican City to participate in the election of a successor to
Pope Pius XI. They will arrive at Naples, March 1. The two other
American Cardinals sailed from New York, February 11. (N.C.W.C
staff photo.)
and Nuncio in Poland, and had to
treat with adjacent countries, he was
everywhere wherever courage and
peace were to be imparted. As Pope
he has been everywhere by his Let
ters, by his special representatives
sent into every part of the world,
particularly to points of danger,
teaching, exhorting, protesting, en
couraging and consoling. “Pax Christi
in Regno Christi” is not merely a
beautful phrase—Pius XI has striven
to make it an actuality, and to bring
the peace of Christ to the troubled
hearts of men everywhere. Not only
by his Letters, and through his
chosen representatives, but by his
own living voice he has spoken to the
world, and who is there among us
who has not been thrilled to hear our
Holy Father’s voice over the magic
waves? Again and again “paterna
vox audita est”, and our hearts beat
with joy to hear from afar the be
loved voice of the Shepherd.
“Nihil humanum alienum a me pu-
to” the ancient sage could say. And
of our present Pontiff so gloriously
reigning, it can be said there is noth
ing pertaining to man’s spiritual,
moral, intellectual, social, and econo
mic interests that has been overlook
ed. He has spoken to all Nations to
gether. He has spoken to many of
them individually. He has spoken to
all classes, the clergy and the laity.
His solicitude for the sanctity .of the
Priesthood strikingly appeared in his
Letter on the Sacerdotal Office. He
has striven to stir up piety and to
renew the love of God in the hearts
of men by his devotional instructions,
for instance, in flic “Mens Nostra”
recommending Retreats; in the En
cyclical on Our Lady’s Rosary, and
the “Quas Primsas” of December 11th,
•1925. in which the beautiful Feast of
Christ the King was established. He
has focused the attention or uie
world on sanctity, as practiced in
every walk of life, by raising to the
honors of the Altar an unprecedented
number of Saints and Beati, with
particular interest attaching to the
Canonization of. the Litle Flower, St
John Vianney, St. Bernadette, Saint
John da Brebouf, and Isaac Jogus and
companions. North American Mar
tyrs; St. Don Bosco, St. John Fisher,
St. Thomas Moore and most recently
for that American citizen Mother
Frances Cabrini.
and the heart of a priest. To that sub
lime dignity, he brought, too, the
resourcefulness, the skill, the energy,
the thoroughness of a trained execu
tive, a rare gift of statesmanship, and
a burning zeal that was matched only
by his courage. Having the “Solici
tude of all the Churches’’, he shrank
from no problem howsoever for
midable; no concern of the Church
has proven to small to claim his
interest. He has been known to give
minute personal attention to diffi
culties in individual parishes in re
mote parts of the world. We know
how he faced Russia and its Commun
ism, and how nobly he has spoken
out protesting, exhorting, pleading,
we have witnessed his paternal soli
citude for the workers of the world—
a solicitude that has won for him the
title of the “Pope of the Workers”.
Difficulties that seemed unsurmoun-
table, problems that apparently had
no solution were met by him, and
actually solved.
In the United States of America,
the Church has had a marvelous
growth during the present Holy Fa
ther’s reign. New provinces formed,
new dioceses erected, new seminaries
opened are eloquent of this. Signifi
cant is the fact that the Catholic pop
ulation of the United States, despite
the drastic decrease of immigration
from Catholic countries, has steadily
increased. The interest of the Amer
ican people, Catholic and non-Catho-
lic alike, was caught by the fascin
ating figure of our Holy Father, and
men of all classes began to realize
that in Pius XI, the world was in the
presence of one of its greatest figures,
and one of its greatest benefactors,
one indeed, who towered above all
his contemporaries. “Always be in
the vanguard of progress”, is a phrasq
that our Holy Father learned from St.
Don Bosco, and it is the Pope's spirit
of progressiveness, his tireless energy,
his executive ability, which had cap
tivated the minds of thinking men
and women in America, Catholic and
non-Catholic alike.
One of his most glorious and fruit
ful acts was his enrollment of the
Laity in that vast Apostolate, known
as Catholic Action, by which Cath
olic Laymen and women of every de
gree are called upon to do their part
in a thousand and one ways, under
the guidance of their Bishops, to win
the world for Christ. Our Holy Fa
ther, as one would expect from a
scholarly Pope, added new lustre to
the traditional splendor that has
shone around the Papal throne by
reason of its patronage of Letters,
Arts, and the Sciences. The “Deus
Scientiarum Dominus” stands as a
monument to his zeal for higher stu
dies; and the Pontifical Academy of
Science which he founded, bears wit
ness to his love for profound schol
arship and scientific research.
One could go on and on, almost
endlessly, narrating the outstanding
achievements of our great Pope, who
has been called by many, the greatest
man of the age. To his exalted posi
tion he brought the mind of a scholar
The words of Pius XI and his last
act were deeply significant and in
full keeping with his entire Pontifi
cate. "Peace,” he murmured, “Peace”,
—this was his last word. His last act
was with feeble gesture to raise his
hand to give a last blessing—the)
blessing of a dying father to his-child-
ren.
The world is the poorer for the
death of Pius XI, the world has lost
one of the greatest champions of the.
rights of man.
Today the Catholic world had pre
pared a day of rejoicing because it
would have been the 17th anniversary
of his coronation. The expressed joy
has been turned into mourning. Fre
quently the Holy Father had a will
ingness to give up nis life as a sacri
fice for world peace. May we not
hope that this sacrifice was acceptable
and that we are at the dawn of a
new era—an era of peace and bro
therly love that will banish forever
the hatred that we have seen gen
erated in our days. God grant that
the peace for which Pius XI labor
ed, prayed and suffered, may soon.*
descend upon the world—the peace
of Christ—the peace which the world
cannot give and which the world
cannot take away. Vale, O Great
Pontiff, may thy noble soul rest im
eternal peace. Amen. . ,. in ,