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SEPTEMBER 28, 1940
THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
THREE
News Review of the Catholic World
Prominent Catholics
Participate in CBS
“Church of the Air”
NEW YORK, N. Y. — Prominent
Catholic leaders have appeared re
cently and others are scheduled for
addresses in early broadcasts of the
Columbia Broadcasting System’s
“Church of the Air” period.
On Sunday, September 1, the Rev.
Daniel A. Lord, S. J., National Di
rector of the Sodality and Editor of
The Queen’s Work, delivered the af
ternoon sermon. On September 22,
the Most Rev. Francis J. Spellman.
Archbishop of New, York, extended
greetings to the “Church of the Air”
broadcast, while the Rev. Robert
I. Gannon, S. J.. President of Ford-
ham University, gave the regular
discourse.
The Right Rev. Monsignor Fulton
J. Sheen, of the Catholic University
of America, will speak in the broad
cast of October 27.
The Columbia Broadcasting Sys
tem marked the tenth anniversary of
the program last month.
MOST REV. FRANCIS J. SPELL
MAN. Archbishop of New York, was
the luncheon guest of President
Franki in D- Roosevelt recently at the
latter’s family home at Hyde Park,
N. Y. The Archbishop was the only
caller on the President’s schedule for
that day.
The previous week Archbishop
Spellman lunched with Wendell L
Willkie. Republican nominee for the
Presidency.
THE SOCIETY OF JESUS has 26.309
members in 1,531 houses, divided into
56 provinces and vice-provinces
throughout the world.
These figures are given in Civilta
Cattclica, organ of the Jesuits in
Rome, in connection with the Aposto
lic Letter which His Holiness Pope
Pius XII has addressed to the So
ciety of Jesus on the occasion of the
fourth centenary of the canonical
approbation of the Society.
REPORTS THAT GERMAN
BISHOPS, at their Fulda meeting
just held, adopted “a solemn pledge
of loyalty to Adolf Hitler” and gave
expressions of “gratitude” to the Ger
man army, are definitely to be re
garded as spurious, according to in
formed opinion in Geneva-
It is further asserted that these re
ports have been spread for obvious
purposes by interested parties. Fur
ther more it is learned reliably that
Ihe Holy Father addressed a letter
to the meeting the tenor of which
precluded entirely any such resolu
tion as the interested sources now
intimate was passed.
REY. E. J. BYRNE, professor of
Sacred Scripture at St. Bernard’s
Seminary, Rochester, was elected
president of the Catholic Biblical
Association of America at the fourth
general meeting held in Toronto.
A CONTEST on the best program
put out by a club, class or school
under the general head, “We Catholics
and Our Country”, is being conducted
by the Catholic Action Program Ser
vice of the Social Action Department,
Notional Catholic Welfare Confer
ence. Washington-
The contest, which will close March
1, 041. is open to all classes and
clubs in educational institutions sub
scribing to the Catholic Action Pro
gram Service.
MEMBERS OF THE HIERARCHY,
distinguished priests and persons
prominent in civil life are taking part
in the exercises being held at Xavier
University, Cincinnati, Sept. 22-29.
The ceremonies will inaugurate the
observance of the 400th anniversary
of the- establishment of the Society
of Jesus and the 100th anniversary of
Jesuit service in Xavier institutions
in Cincinnati-
RELICS of the North American
Martyrs and St. Francis de Sales will
be sealed in the altar stone when the
Queen of the Holy Rosary Cathedral
is dedicated in Toledo. October 1 and
2. It is believed that the Queen of
the Holy Rosary Cathedral will be
the firs* cathedral church in the na
tion to house relics of the North
American Martyrs.
ALTHOUGH GERMAN bombers
had ranged over London all night
until dawr. Sunday morning, the early
morning Masses at all churches were
attended by capacity congregations
joining in the observance of the Na
tion d Day of Prayer. In one River
side* parish prayers and Mass were
offered up in a bomb-shattered church
with part of the congregation kneel
ing in the open.
DR JOSEPH C- MENENDEZ,
elevated to the post of Commander-
in--Chief of the v eterans o Foreign
Wars of the United States at the
41st national encampment hela in
Los Angeles has achieved distinc
tion in the field of Catholic social
action
During the World War. after see
ing service at Camp Jackson, S. C„
Dr Menendez was sent overseas to
take charge of the American-Italian
Fiel' Hospital at Vicenza, Italy.
THE MOST REV. ALBERT
JEROME DROSSAERTS. first Arch
bishop of San Antonia, died Septem
ber 3th. following a heart attack.
Archbishop Drossaerts died within
PRIEST-HERO HAS HIS DAY
Paying his first visit to Washington, D C., the Rev. Francis X.
Quinn, assistant pastor of the Church of the Guardian Angel. New
York City, went to the White House to receive fronl President
Roosevelt a gold medal bestowed upon him by the Congress of the
United States for valor Ignoring his own safety. Father Quinn
scaled a fire escape to save the lives of an elderly couple held
hostages by an armed desperado cornered in a New York apart
ment. Looking on. as President Roosevelt bestows the medal, are
Representative James H Fay of New York City, Senator James M
Mead of New York and Representative Michael J Kennedy of New
York City, who introduced the Resolution by which Congress be
stowed the medal (NC.WC. t
Southern Conference of the South
Publishes Its First Pamphlet
The Cat.f^jiic Conference of the
South, which was organized at the
Southern Conference on Catholic Ac
tivities, which was held in Atlanta
in April of this year, and whase
purpose is to unify and coordinate
Catholic endeavor in the Southland,
has published the first of a number
of pamphlets which will be distrib
uted throughout the South.
This first pamphlet of the C. C. S.
Service is entitled “The South Cath
olic Discovers Itself,” and its author
is the Reverend Francis J. Byrne, S.
T. D., Diocesan Superintendent of
Schools, Richmond Virginia. and
first appeared in The Catholic Vir
ginia, the official organ of the Dio
cese of Richmond.
Father Byrne begins his pamphlet
with \yords spoken by the Most Rev
erend Gerald P. O’Hara, Bishop of
Savannah-Atlanta, at the Second An
nual National Social Action Con
ference in Cleveland last June: 'You
have heard President Roosevelt say
that the South is the country's No. 1
economic problem. Let me say to
you that the South is the Church’s
No. 1 religious opportunity.
He then goes on to quote from an
article by the Reverend Wilfred Par
son, S. J.. which appeared in the
Augusta issue of Columbia, the
Knights of Columbus magazine, in
which Father Parsons said: "Two
large gatherings struck me as of par
ticular significance. They were de
voted to the Industrial South and the
Agricultural South. . . Out of them
the discussions of the Congress.”
The pamphlet states that the estab
lishment of the movement was due
in great part to the tireless efforts
of the Right Reverend Monsignor T.
James McNamara, of Savannah, who
is the Chairman of the Executive
Board of the Catholic Conference of
the South, and to Paul D. Williams,
of Richmond, its Executive Secre
tary with the active support and en
couragement of Bishop O'Hara; the
Most Rev Peter I. Ireton, Coadjutor
Bishop of Richmond; the Most Rev.
Emmet M. Walsh, Bishop of Charles
ton; and the Most Rev. Robert E.
Lucey, Bishop of Amarillo, Texas.
There is a brief outline of the pro
ceedings of the meeting in Atlanta,
with comment on talks made by the
Rev. Dr. John F. Cronin, S. S.. of St.
Mary’s Seminary, Baltimore; the Rev.
James F. Cunningham, who' is in
charge of the Paulist Fathers’ Chapel
Car in Tennessee; the Rev. Joseph G.
Cassidy, director of the Trailer
Chapel of the Diocese of Savannah-
Atlanta; the Rev. Arthur W. Ter-
minello, director of Saint Theresa
Village, in Alabama, and the Rev.
George Lewis Smith; of Aiken, who
described the settlement work in the
Horse Creek Valley section of South
Carolina.
The pamphlet’s author also com
ments upon discussion of the Negro
problem by the Most Rev. Thomas J.
Toolen, Bishop of Mobile; Sister Peter
Claver, M. S. SS. T.. the late John P.
Grace, of Charleston; Stephens
Mitchell and Miss Sarah Fahy, of At
lanta.
Mention is also made of addresses
made by the Rev. C. C. McIntyre. O.
M. I, of Sumter, S.-C.; the Rev. Vin
cent D. Warren, of the Josephite
Fathers in Mobile; the Rev. Andrew
C. Smith, S. J., of Spring Hill; Sister
Carmelita. C. S. J.. of Atlanta, ,.nd
a number of others including Dr.
Eva Ross, of New York; and Edward
J. Heffron. executive secretary of the
National Council of Catholic Men.
A copy ot this pamphlet, which
should be of interest to every Cath
olic in the South, may be obtained
by writing the Executive Headquart
ers of the Catholic Conference of the
South. 810 East Grace Street, Rich
mond, Virginia. For those who would
be interested in further details of the
meeting held in Atlanta, a copy of
proceedings of the Atlanta confer
ence are available, from the same
source, the cost of the latter being
one dollar.
Atanta Editor Pays Beautiful
Tribule to Dominican Sisters
three days of his seventy-eighth birth
day
MOST REV. JOHN J. CANTWELL,
Archbishop of Los Angeles, speaking
in commemoration of the Centennial
celebration of the establishment of
the Hierarchy in California, and in
connectioi. with the Sixth National
Congress of the Confraernity of
Christian Doctrine, will be heard from
noon until 12:15 p. m , Eastern Stan
dard Time, over NBC-Red Network,
Sunday. October 13. Archbishop Cant
well wil discuss “The Youth of the
Nation”.
ECONOMIC RADICALS are least
common among Catholics of any
gtoup in the United States, accord
ing to a survey conducted by Profes
sor Goodwin Watson, of Columbia
University, New York, and reported
by him to the American Psycological
Association in session at State Col
lege, Pa.
WITHDRAWAL from the American
Youth Congress because its ethics
proved “so flagrantly in opposition to
its highest ideals” was voted by the
National Council of Methodist Youth
in meeting at /inona Lake. Ind.
The National Council of Methodist
Youth said the American Youth Con
gress had undergone changes whose
“nature and direction” were “dan
gerous to the cause whihe the Con
gress purposed to serve".
REV- KELVIN NOYVLAN, S. J.,
ptofessor of mathematics at Spring
Hill College, Mobile, has recently
ce ebrated his fiftieth anniversary as
a member of the Society of Jesus.
Most of his life since ordination has
has been spent in teaching in the
of the Society in Alabama, Louisiana
and Florida.
MOST REV. GEORGE GAUTHIER,
third Archbishop of Montreal, died
August 31. at the age of 69.
Spiritual leader of the largest Ca
tholic diocese in Canada, and one
of the largest on the continent, he
was a native son of the see which
numbers nearly 900-000 Catholics. A
total of 1,400 priests, diocesan and
members of religious communities,
came under his jurisdiction.
REV EDWARD C. PHILLIPS, S. J.,
has been named Dean of the Grad
uate School of Georgetown Univer—
sity, succeeding the Rev- Wilfrid
Parsons S. J., who has joined the
faculty of the Catholic University oi
America.
REPORTS PUBLISHED in certain
secular newspapers stating that
LOsservatore Romano was likely to
abandon publication have been of
ficially denied in Vatican City.
THE UNIVERSALITY of the Catho
lic Church will be strikingly illus
trated during the commemoration of
the centenary of the foundation of
the California Hierarchy in Los An
geles by the concelebration of the
Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in the
Syrian, old Russian and Greek
tongues while Melkiles, Russian
Poles. Irish and Anglo-Saxons assist
as ministers and representatives of
the Latin and Scandinavian races
participate in response led by a choir
under the direction of a native of the
Ukraine-
WITH THE AGE LIMITS fixed at
"21 and 35 years, inclusive, it is expect
ed that a total of 16,500,000 individuals
will register under the Selective
Training and Service Act of 1940 as it
finally passed Congress.
“Regular or duly ordained ministers
of religion, and students who are pre
paring for the ministry in the theolog
ical or divinty schools recognized as
such for more than one year prior to
the date of the enactment” of the Act
will have to register if they are with
in the age limits, but are exempt from
training and service under the Act.
A MANIFESTO being circulated
among Belgian refugees in France has
as its object the vindication of King
Leopold of charges of treating with
the enemy. The King is still held a
prisoner by the Germans.
The manifesto quotes from the let
ter from His Eminence Joseph Cardi
nal Van Roey, Primate of Belgium;
the King's message to President
Roosevelt; a statement by General
Michiels, head of the Belgian Army,
and ;. statement by a former cabinet
member, a senator and the head of
the Brussels Court of Appeal, two of
whom are prominent Catholics.
THEODORE McMANUS, automo
bile advertising executive and prom
inent Catholic lay leader, died Sep
tember 11 at his summer home in
Sudbury, Ohio.
Mr. McManus was intimately iden
tified with the growth of the auto
mobile industry having served at va
rious times as director of publicity
and advertising counsel for Ford,
General Motors, Peerless. Hupmobile,
Chrysler, Dodge Brothers, Packard
and other firms.
He was named a Knight Command
er of St- Gregory the Great by His
Holiness Pope Pius XI in 1928 and a
Knight of Malta in 1931. He was ap-
p-inted a trustee of the Catholic Uni-
v- sity of Peiping, China, and pro
vided an endowment fund for the
National Catholic Alumni Federation.
AMONG MESSAGES from a num
ber of church personalities of va
rious denominations made public by
the National Emergency Committee
of tlii. Military Training Camps Asso
ciation is one from the Most Rev.
James H. Ryan, Bishop of Omaha,
favoring compulsory military training
and service.
“As a citizen”, says Bishop Ryan’s
message, I favor the selective mili
tary draft because I consider it the
only fair, democratic and. above all,
realistic method of preparing to meet
the probability of attack on our lib
erties and institutions.”
ECCLESIASTICAL AND LAY
LEADERS from every part of the
country will join social welfare dele-
gr .as at the annual convention of the
National Conference of Catholic
Charities to be held in Chicago. No
vember 17-20. The convention will be
held in conjunction with the annual
meeting of the Superior Court of the
St. Vincent de Paul Society.
Under the title of “Our Lady of
Perpetual Help,” Ralph McGill, Ex
ecutive Editor of The Atlanta Consti
tution, devoted his “One Word More”
column in a recent issue of that
newspaper to an inspiringly beautiful
tribute the Servants for the Relief of
Incurable Cancer, the order of Domi
nican Nuns who operate Our Lady of
Perpetual Help Cancer Home in At
lanta-
Mr. McGill is a Mason, a member of
'.he Presbyterian Church, and one of
the South's outstanding newspaper
editors. His column for Thursday,
September 19, in its entirety;
“OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL
HELP”
Ours is a large city but not large
enough to have the roar of a great
city. Yet there is roar enough to
deafen us to some things- Ours is a
beautiful city, yet it does not glitter
with minarets or towers of polished
steel and glistening stone. Yet, it glit
ters enough to blind us to some
tilings.
About 40 years ago in New York the
daughter of Nathaniel Hawthorne
came upon an old person near death
from cancer. Call it what you will,
God or impulse, something caused
that woman, beautiful and cultured
to install herself in two small rooms.
In one she placed the person who was
near death from cancer. It was a help
less person, penniless, and in a home
where no treatment or help could be
given. She began to give medicine
and alleviate pain.
When the time came for the soul of
that person to quit the body and go
out on the tide of eternity, there was
another woman helping the daughter
of Nathaniel Hawthorne.
Rose Huber, an art student in New
York, read about what the daughter
of the great writer had done. Call it
what you will, God or impulse, she
went to see her because something
said in her mind, “I wonder if there
is not something in this that I can
do?”
Yesterday in the quiet office of the
hospital in Atlanta called “Our Lady
of Perpetual Help,” I talked for a
brief while with a great woman- For
ty years have touched her lightly.
There is something in her face which
only the faces of those who have wis
dom and faith may have.
Today she is Mother Rose, the
young art student of 40 years ago. now
become head of an order with few
peers and no superior in Christian
service. “The Servants for the Relief
of Incurable Cancer,” branch of the
Dominician Order.
The order is, of course, a Catholic
order- They are servants of the dy
ing and not of any sect. To the clean,
wholesome beds of the hospital wards
come many patients. Most of them are
of the Protestant faith. Some few are
of the Catholic faith. A few are of no
faith at all.
They come to this hospital from
shacks in rural slums ir isolated
farms. There are wards for those of
both our races.
Most of them come afraid, watch
ing with staring eyes the sisters in
the habits of their order. Some, in
their ignorance, have heard the words
of demagogues and used their ignor
ance to make a fearful bugagoo of the
Catholic faith.
All come to attain a serenity which
is touching and astounding. All of
them move inexorably toward the
last day or night, the last minute of
life, with a calm and even cheerful
resignation which is an answer to
many questions.
There has never been a finer or
more noble group of women than
these sisters of the Catholic faith who
give their lives to the care of the
poor and the sick.
And it seemed to me, coming from
the quiet serenity of that hospital of
perpetual help for the perpetual ar
rival of the incurable sufferers from
cancer, that perhaps these who give
their lives to those without hope of
life, perhaps will merit better than
anyone else that best of epitaphs,
“Well done, thou good and faithful
servant.”
They care each year for hundreds,
taking only the most helpless cases
It seemed to me on leaving them and
the great woman who is head of their
order and their hospitals, that a great
many persons, wanting some worthy
charity to assist, might think of this
one which has hot asked for help and
which does not seek it in the market
places,, believing always God will pro
vide.
A doctc once described sarcoma as
a beautiful and yet horrible flower,
spreading its tendrils throughout the
body and then devouring it.
It comes to persons of all degrees
of age and position. When it comes to
those who live in complete poverty
they move inexorably toward the
same conclusion as others. But not as
comfortably.
The doors of the hospital, “Our
Lady of Perpetual Help,” are open to
those who have an incurable cancer
and who are penniless and without
help.
This hospital is a sort of bridge. It
takes a person who is to die. It puts
th person in a clean bed, it gives
treatment, it alleviates that person's
pain, it cheers him while alive, it
cleanses the horror of h ; reeking
sores, it sends him to Death's door
end into the door-
Since the time Nathaniel Haw
thorne’s daughter began to care for
that first patient, devoured by the
dreadful flower of sarcoma, there
have been established five such hos
pitals.
They exist entirely through volun
tary contributions. They are not en
dowed.
The sisters there do all the work.
They bandage and clean the terrible
wounds. They wash the clothes, the
sheets, they do the work of nurses, of
servants. They are there when the
time comes for all that is mortal of
man to breathe its last. They are
nurses, servants, comforters, and
their smiling faces are the last faces
the dying person sees before they slip
away into what waits beyond.
It restores one’s faith in humanity
to see them at work. Here, while the
world destroys itself, is a harbor
where the wrecks of poverty and sar
coma may rest a while before the
final tide- Here are women who give
their lives to these wrecks of poverty
and of sarcoma. Their faces show the
work is good.