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THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
JULY 27, 3940
THE BULLETIN
The Official Organ of the Catholic Laymen’s
Association of Georgia
HUGH KINCHLEY, Editor
Z16-217 Southern Finance Building Augusta. Georgia
Subscription Price $2.00 Per Year
ASSOCIATION OFFICERS FOR 1939-1940
DR J. REID BRODERICK, Savannah President
BERNARD J. KANE, Atlanta 1st Vice-President
J. B. McCALLUM. Atlanta Secretary
THOMAS F. WALSH, K S. G., Savannah .... Treasurer
HUGH KINCHLEY. Augusta Executive Secretary
MISS CECILE FERRY, Augusta, Asst. Exec. Secretary
A. M. McAULIFFE. Augusta Auditor
Vol. XXI
July 27, 1940
No.
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.
Member of N. C. W. C. News Service the Catholic Press
Association of the United States, the Georgia Press
Association and the National Editorial Association.
Published monthly by the Publicity Department with
the Approbation of the Most Reverend Bishops of
Raleigh, Charleston, and Savannah-Atlanta, and of the
Right Reverend Abbot Ordinary of Pelmont.
Honors for the Diocese of Raleigh
W ONDERFUL progress has been made in the
Diocese of Raleigh since its establishment fif
teen years ago, under the inspiring leadership of the
Most Reverend William J. Hafey, D. D., the first Bishop
of the Diocese, and his successor, the Most Reverend
Eugene J. McGuinness, D. D., the present distinguished
Ordinary.
Both clergy and laity of the Diocese have been
generous in their contributions toward the advance
ment of Catholicity in North Carolina, and their loyal
support has given encouragement to the Bishops who
have guided them.
It is with pleasure and pride that The Bulletin pub
lishes in this issue the announcement that His Hol
iness Pope Pius XII has elevated two of the zealous
priests of the Diocese of Raleigh, Father Lynch, of
Raleigh, and Father Irwin, of New Bern, to the rank
of monsignori, and has conferred upon Monsignor Free
man, of Kinston, the dignity of a Prothcnotary
Apostolic.
And. The Bulletin is likewise happy in announcing
that the Holy Father has conferred Knighthood in the
Order of St. Gregory the Great upon five outstanding
Catholic laymen of North Carolina; L. W. Driscoll, of
Charlotte; John T. Johnson and John G. Deshler, of
Asheville; and J. J. Fallon and Raymond Streb, of
Raleigh.
The honor which the Holy See has bestowed upon
these priests and laymen is not only an occasion for
congratulations to each of them individually, but it is
a distinct compliment to the Diocese of Raleigh, and to
the Catholic of North Carolina as a whole.
May North Carolina’s new Prot'tonotary Apostolic,
new Monsignori, and new Knights of St. Gregory be
spared to enjoy for many happy years the well-merited
distinction which has come to them, a distinction which
they honor just as it honors them.
The Confederacy’s Envoy to Rome
The Laymen’s Convention
A LTHOUGH it will be three months before the
twenty-fifth annual convention of the Catholic
Laymen's Association will be held in Savannah, it is
not too soon for the members of the Association to make
up their minds to attend.
The Silver Jubilee Convention of the Layman’s As
sociation will be honored by the presence of His Ex
cellency the Apostolic Delegate to the United States,
and every member of the Association who can possibly
attend should be in Savannah on the last Sunday in
October in order that we may show by the largest at
tendance in the history of the Association that the Cath
olics of Georgia appreciate the honor that His Excellency
is showing to the Most Reverend Bishop of the Diocese
of Savannah-Atlanta, and the Laymen's Association, by
accepting the invitation extended to him.
T HE presence of Myron Taylor at the Vatican in the
capacity of President Roosevelt’s personal repre
sentative, has served to recall that not only did the
United States maintain diplomatic relations with the
Papal States for many years, but that toward the end
of the War Between the States the Right-Reverend P.
N. Lynch, Bishop of Charleston, was sent to Rome as
the accredited representative of the Confederate States
of America by President Jefferson Davis.
Americans were reminded of this recently by the Most
Reverend John F. O’Hara, Auxiliary Bishop of the Army
and Navy Diocese, speaking at the Military Field Mass
in the Amphitheater of the National Cemetery at Arl
ington.
Bishop O’Hara read excerpts from a letter delivered
to Bishop Lynch by Judah P. Benjamin, the Confed
erate Secretary of State, in which it was stated that by
pursuing “a policy as unprecedented as we believe it
to be unjust, the Great Powers of Europe have hither
to declined to recognize the unimpeachable title of this
Government to admission into the family of nations.”
Continuing Bishop O’Hara quoted further: “While
maintaining this position, however, we would be scarce
ly justified in expecting that the cabinet of the Vati
can would assume the responsibility of being the first
to recognize our indejpendence and thus cast a seeming
censure on the Great Powers which control the general
policy of Europe on this question. To make a formal
demand for recognition by His Holiness would therefore
seem .to be ungracious and inconsistent with the friend
ly feelings which prompt this mission. The President
is consequently unwilling to instruct you to pursue
any course which would compel His Holiness, however
well disposed, to decline acquiescence in our claim, in
order to avoid injuriously affecting his relations with
other powers. The honor and interest of our country
is, however, paramount to all other considerations. It
will be your delicate task to keep in view the great ad
vantage which would accrue to our cause by the formal
recognition of this Government by the Sovereign Pon
tiff, and the establishment with him of the usual diplo
matic intercourse. If an occasion be presented which in
your judgment offers a reasonable prospect df the suc
cessful issue of such a step, the President expects that
you will not fail to avail yourself of the opportunity.”
While Pope Pius IX, in the interchange of diplomatic
correspondence, addressed Jefferson Davis by the official
title of President of the Confederate States, it was mere
ly an act of courtesy and not intended by the Pope, nor
interpreted by the Confederate government as recogniz
ing the Confederacy as a nation.
_ •
Bishop Lynch was unsuccessful in attaining the mam
objective of his mission, but it seems to have served to
show that the years from 1861 to 1865 there did not pre
vail in the South the idea that there was any threat to
the principle of Separation of Church and State in the
establishment of diplomatic relations with the Vatican.
Dixie Masings
The following appeared in “By the
Way,” a column which appears on the
editorial page of the Catholic News,
of New York. There is a suspicion that
readers of The Bulletin may identify
the man who was driving the car
which developed fuel pump trouble.
Amid all the talk of war, we wit
nessed recently an incident we can
only describe as refreshing. A man,
his wife, and their four children were
making a trip by automobile, when
suddenly all the horses in the many
horse-powered engine died. A passing
motorist stopped and offered to push
the machine to a filling station. Here
the proprietor and all the members of
what might be called the summer ses
sion of the cracker barrel league de
serted the radio reports of the Repub
lican convention to diagnose the trou
ble. After much examination they
concluded that it was the diaphragm of
the fuel pump. It was long after dark
and all supply places were closed, but
after numerous telephone calls they
located a mechanic who left his radio,
opened up his shop, secured the neces
sary replacement and installed it. A
taxi took the family one mile into
town for a delayed meal, and returned
when the car was ready to take the
family out to it again. The taxi man’s
bill was forty cents, twenty cents
each way. The repair man charged
two dollars for material and labor.
The filling station operator charged
nothing, on the ground that they had
only located the trouble but had not
remedied it. The name of this hospita
ble town is Union, S, C.”
The story is entirely believeable ex
cept that there is a doubt that any
one in South Carolina has listened to
anything a Republican said since the
Reconstruction era.
Archbishop Stritch has been named
honorary chairman for the 1940 meet
ing of the National Conference of
Catholic Charities which will be held
in Chicago in November.
Charles C. Kerwin, of Chicago, has
been appointed general chairman.
Mr. Kerwin was stationed at Camp
Hancock, in Augusta, during the
World War, and his magnificent voice
was heard frequently at St. Patrick’s
Church and he was initiated as a
member of Patrick Walsh Council,
Knights of Columbus. He is a private
banker and one of the leading Catho
lic laymen of Illinois, and a Papal
Knight of the Order of Pius XI.
lie affairs, prominent business men,
and men who are leaders in the so
cial world hereabouts were gathered
around the festive board to render
tribute to a citizen who has endeared
himself to all Augusta.”
On that occasion the speakers in
cluded the Rt. Rev. Monsignor James
A. Kane, who was Mr. Martin’s pas
tor, and his assistant, the Rev. Harold^^
Barr, Hon. William D. Jenning^H
mayor of Augusta; Dr. W. W. Batte^^
Thomas J. Hamilton, editor of The
Augusta Chronicle; Major Lansing B.
Lee, Hon. A. L. Franklin, judge of
the Superior Court of Richmond
County; Hon. William H. Barrett,
judge of the United States District
Court, and Captain P. H. Rice. All
united to commend the beloved Au
gustan, and to felicitate him upon the
honor which the Holy Father had
conferred upon him. Present at the
banquet, and also at the services at
St. Mary’s Church, were a number
of the Protestant ministers of Au
gusta.
It is with deep regret, and with a
personal sense of sadness that we
bring the news of Mr. Martin’s death
to the readers of The Bulletin, as a
prayer is offered that he be granted
eternal rest.
The Society of Georgia Archaeology
has received an autographed copy of
the Biographical Dictionary of Fran
ciscans in Florida, Georgia, etc., by
the Rev. Dr. Maynard Geiger, O’. F.,
M., which has just been issued from
the press of the St. Anthony Guild.
In commenting upon the volumne,
which contains a wealth of informa
tion in regard to the early Catholic
missions in this section, Robert R.
Otis, Atlanta, chairman of the execu
tive committee of the Archaelogical
Society, said that Dr. Geiger's book
clearly established the fact that Geor
gia and Florida missions did exist,
since it fixes the definite location of
over fifty Friars in Georgia and over
two hundred in Florida.
Mr.
Recalling 400 Years Ago
| ^URING the spring and summer of 1540, Hernando
John P. Grace, of Charleston
F OR many years the name of John Patrick Grace
has been linked with that of the South Carolina
city he loved and served so well.
In the death of Mr. Grace, the City of Charleston
and its people mourn the loss of a devoted friend.
The Catholics of Charleston grieve at the passing of
one of their number who through a long and honorable
political career did not fail to practice the Faith whose
teachings guided him in his public and private life.
Well he had earned the tribute paid to him by Mon
signor O'Brien, in the course of the eulogy delivered
at his funeral: “He built for himself a monument more
lasting than bronze. His memory is enshrined in the
hearts and tears of those whose causes he pleaded be
fore the bar of justice—those who could only pay
with a hand grip of thanks and a prayer of thanks
giving offered in his name to the God of Justice.’’
Memory of the life of John P. Grace should be a
comfort and a consolation to those whose hearts
are filled with sadness at his passing.
hta- :
T HE CATHOLIC PRESS has always been and im
portant servant of the Church. Today, it is more
important than ever, for the Catholic must nowadays
be cognizant of what the world is doing to Christ and
what Christ is doing to the world and saying to the
world. The Church is that—Christ alive in the world.
The Catholic Press is the chronicle of His days and
provides a sounding board for His voice.—The Most
Bev. Emmet M. Walsh, D. D., Bishop of Charleston.
de Soto, and his band of six hundred men, which
included “twelve priests, eight ecclesiastics, and four
religious,” made their hazardous way from Florida
through Georgia, and camped for some time at a place
identified as Silver Bluff, just a few miles below
Augusta, on the Savannah River.
From this encampment, at an Indian village, the
Spaniards explored the surrounding country, and this
is the first recorded visit of Catholics to Augusta, or
to that part of Georgia, in which Augusta was founded
many years later.
1940 brings the fourth centennial of this first visit
of Catholics to Augusta and preliminary plans are be
ing made to commemorate the event during the month
of September.
Augusta’s modern Catholic history is traced from
about the time of the coming of the first resident
pastor in 1810, and it is only in recent years that re
search and study have brought out the fact that Geor
gia was settled under Catholic auspices many years
before the coming of General Oglethorpe.
The Spanish settlers withdrew from this section of
the country with the coming of the English, and Geor
gia's Catholic history does, not go back unbroken to
1540, but it is none the less fitting that some observance
commemorate the four hundredth anniversary of the
coming of Catholicity to Georgia.
This commemoration has the approval of the Most
Reverend Bishop of Savannah-Atlanta, who has named
Reverend Harold Barr, pastor of St. Mary's-on-The
Hill Church, Augusta, to head the local committee
for the celebration.
Warm praise of the Columbus Uni
versity Junior College, sponsored by
the Knights of Columbus of the Dis
trict of Columbia expressed by Rep
resentative William T. Schulte, of
Indiana, was inserted in the Congres
sional Record. The Congressman’s
remarks followed the announcement
that the Junior College had been
chosen by the Civil Aeronautics Au
thority as the local institution for
conducting a ground school for avia
tion.
Representative Schulte said “Co
lumbus University Junior College is
rounding out only its second year, yet
its achievements in the field of edu
cation have become so notable that
the Federal Government already rec-
oganizes its high standing in the aca
demic field. The Member of Con
gress also lauded Dean John R. Fitz
patrick, of the University's law school,
which is third to the highest ranking
law school of the country in point of
enrollment.
T HIS issue of The Bulletin is dedicated to St. Mary’s
Home, in Savannah, which is so splendidly caring
for the orphan girls of the Diocese of Savannah-Atlanta,
carrying on a wonderful work begun in Georgia by the
Sisters of Mercy in 1845.
For nearly a hundred years saintly women have been
“doing for the least of these,” and the Catholics of
Georgia can show them no more welcome tribute than
by continuing to aid them in the exercise of Christian
charity.
On its editorial page recently the Augusta Herald
quoted the following from the Rev. Dr. Joseph F. Thorn-
ing, sociology professor at Mount St. Mary’s College,
Maryland: “The whole world knows our attitude toward
Germany. Why should there be any doubt about Our
attitude toward Soviet Russia?"
Possibly some of those who are
much concerned over the possible in
terference of the Vatican in American
politics were consoled when they
saw in a recent issue of The Augusta
Herald a headline which reads:
“Pope Resigns as South Carolina Leg
islator”.
Through the death of Mr. Andrew
E. Martin, the Catholic Laymen’s As
sociation of Georgia lost one of its
most loyal members, and one who had
been keenly interested in its work
since its establishment twenty-five
years ago.
Just a few weeks ago, on the morn
ing of the day upon which he left for
his summer home in Vermont, Mr.
Martin called at the office of the
Laymen’s Association to request that
The Bulletin be addressed to him in
Manchester, where he had spent the
summer months since he first became
connected with the Equinox House
there fifty years ago.
It was the happy privilege of the
Editor of The Bulletin* to have been
associated with Mr. Martin for sev
eral years at the Equinox House and
at the Bon Air-Vanderbilt in Au
gusta.
In him was found every quality of
a Catholic gentleman of the highest
type, and a capacity for winning and
holding the esteem of all who knew
him. Among those who knew him
and to whom he had been host were
President Taft, President Harding,
Andrew Mellon, J. P. Morean. Nich
olas Murray Butler, C. S. Woolworth,
William Lyon Phelps, and many other
outstanding men of America. Father
Duffy, of the “Fighting 69th" was
one of Mr. Martin’s devoted friends,
and had been his guest in Vermont
and in Georgia.
Upon the occasion of his investiture
as a Knight of Malta, two hundred
Augustans, the majority of them non-
Catholics, gathered to do him honor
at an event which The Augusta Her
ald termed editorially “a good will
banquet which will eclipse in hearty
friendship any it has ever been our
privilege to attend. Augusta’s lead
ing clerical figures, men high in pub-
Otis accompanied the author
on an inspection trip through Geor
gia and Florida several years ago,
when Dr. Geiger was gathering ma
terial for his book.
Of particular interest to members
of the Holy Name Society should be
“Honor God's Name,” a pamphlet just
issued by The Paulist Press.
This is the second in a series of
pamphlets on the Ten Command
ments, written by the Rev. Gerald
C. Treacy, S. J.
It is suggested that members of
Holy Name groups see that this
pamphlet, which is priced at iive^BR
cents, be placed in the Ixjok-racks
their parish churches.
In the “As Others See It” column,
which is a feature of the Wesleyan
Christian Advocate, it is read that
Memphis papers announce that on a
recent Sunday a prominent pastor of
that city preached on the subject:
‘If the Depression is Over. What Les
sons Have We Learned?” At the close
of the sermon the choir rendered
“Search Me, O ixjrd”.
Father Richard Felix, O. S. B Di
rector of the Defenders of the Faith,
Conception, Missouri, is making an
effort to inaugurate in September a
"Children’s Hour”, built around a
priest in the classroom teaching cate
chism to a group of grade school chil
dren. The series would embrace a
weekly broadcast for 52 weeks, over
the 78 broadcasting stations which
are now carrying the apologetic se
ries sponsored by the Defenders of
the Faith, and possibly additional sta
tions.
Monsignor Joseph L. O'Brien, pas
tor of St. Patrick's Church, selected
the numbers which were heard in a
“Listeners’ Choice" program present
ed over Station WTMA, in Charles
ton. It was the second in a series of
programs in which a prominent
Charlestonian selects the numbers to
be played and conducts the entire
program.
When the present editor of The
Bulletin was a student at Mount St.
Mary’s College, Emmitsburg, Mary
land, one of the lay members of the
faculty was Mr. Arthur R- Free
man.
It is therefore with particular
pleasure that this issue extends con
gratulations to the Right Reverend
Monsignor Arthur R. Freeman, of the
Diocese of Raleigh, upon whom His
Holiness Pope Pius XII has confer
red the title and honor of. a Prothon-
otary Apostolic.
Monsignor Freeman has recently
completed his twenty-fifth year of
priestly service, and to him is sin
cerely repeated the familiar wish
“Ad Multos Annos.”
During April the first Southern
Catholic Conference on Social Ac
tion was held in Atlanta, and out of
that assembly the Catholic Confer
ence of the South was established.
The proceedings of the Atlanta
sessions are being published by the
Catholic Conference of the South for
the benefit of those who desire a per
manent record of the speeches and
discussions.
When completed copies of the pro
ceedings will be offered for sale at
one dollar each. Any readers of The
Bulletin who may desire a copy can
place their orders through our office
or may order direct from Paul D. Will
iams, Executive Secretary of the
Catholic Conference of the South. 810
East Grace Street, Richmond, Vir
ginia.—H. K.