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OCTOBER 26, 1940 THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA THIRTEEN \ Greenville Parish Launches Campaign to Remodel Church The members of St. Mary's Parish, Greenville, S. C., have launched a drive for funds for the remodeling and finishing of their church. The church was built by Monsignor A. K. Gwynn 37 years ago. but was never completed in detail, for he had other building work that called for his at tention during the ensuing years. He Hi.ui under his care the upper part of ^South Carolina—a territory embrac ing eleven counties—nearly as’.large in area as the State of Connecticut. He has built in Anderson and Spar tanburg. In Greenwood, in Walhal- la, and in Clemson. In Greenville, since building St. Mary’s, above men tioned. he has erected a school, con vent, and rectory and was instrumen tal in establishing St. Francis’ Hospi tal, all of which has been his and his Catholic people’s contribution to the development and betterment of his community. Now he comes back to his “first love,” so to speak, St. Mary’s and hopes to finish and beautify it as he couldn’t in years past. He remembers»: With gratitude that fel low citizens, not members of St. Mary’s have financially helped him— and he takes this occasion again to thank them. His efforts have received help from the Catholics “up North” and without this help from his friends among the clergy and their flocks, this equipment in the material aids to our religion could hardly have lqpen ac- complished. It is interesting to note that the Sis ters of the Poor of St. Francis have had to make additions twice to their hospital to meet the growing demands for hospitalization in Greenville. Without endowment they have built and kept up their splendid work and have been no expense or burden to the city. St. Mary's congregation is anxious to do; all it can towards the finishing and beautifying of its church building along the lines of Father Gwynn’s ideas, if for no other reason—as a testimony of their appreciation of his 41 years of devoted service in this Piedmont section of the South. As stated above, the congregation has started a drive in Greenville for funds and hopes to raise a generous part of the $23,000 that is required for the work (Contributed by “A Parishioner of St. Mary’s.”) s The Greenville News concluded a “w‘rite up” thus: “The improvements to be made on St. Mary’s Church are those whieh he has visualized since the dedication of the building which replaced the small wooden church in fe]903, Monsignor Gwynn said.” Vichy Government Inaugurates Reforms Changes Effect of Religious and Family Life in France (By N. C. W. C. News Service) VICHY, France — Whatever view may be taken of the political policies of the Petain Government in France, there can be no question of the re markable changes indicated for the future in the religious and family life of the country. Most notable has been the rescind ing of the laws of 1901 and 1904, whereby Religious of both sexes were forbidden to teach, and the restora tion of the Grenoble Grand Char treuse to the Carthusians. Another law has suppressed secret societies, striking at the anti-religious Masonry of the Grand Orient. A new charter of labor has been published, whereby workers’ organi zations will be under State super vision, and wages are to be governed by the size of families. Alcoholism is declared to be among the evils which destroy a nation and rigid regulation has been set up. The number of bistros and bars is to be greatly reduced. The securing of divorces, it is an nounced, will be made more difficult. The primary schools, officially the State schools, heretofore were under the control of committees which were influenced by local politicians, many of tliem under, the domination of the Grand Orient, communism and athe ism. Minister for Education Miraux has suppressed these committees and has declared that all politics will be barred from the school system. The free (Catholic) schools are to be on the same footing with the official schools and will draw the same sub sidies. Textbooks are being rewritten un- “f r the personal supervision of Marshal Petain. Some of those previously in use had been de nounced by the Catholic Hierarchy as containing anti-religious propaganda. In a pastoral letter dealing with recent changes, His Eminence Pierre Cardinal Gerlier. Archbishop of Lyon, wrote: “To fight materialism, the mischief of which has been confirmed by recent events, spiritual forces are needed—the forces of Christianity. The Catholic Church has no wish for privileges . or monopolies, but asks equal justice and liberty for all. She wishes to serve the country by pre paring the best possible citizens for France. The public school must have respect for the soul of the child. The free (Catholic) school should be put at the disposal of Christian families.” JOHN J. CRAIG, prominent Catho lic layman of Tulsa, Okla., was award ed the St- Francis Medal for Catholic Action at St. Bonaventure’s College. Church of St. Paul the Apostle, Spartanburg, South Carolina Shown above is a view of the Church of St. Paul the Apostle, Spartanburg, South Carolina, after it liad been renovated and enlarged two years ago. The Honorable T. W. Woolworth, Mayor of Spartanburg, and Mrs. Wood- worth were prominent among the generous contributors to the fund which made possible the remodeling of the church. Efforts are being made by tlve Rev. Francis O. Ferri, the pastor, and the members of St. Paul’s parish to liquidate a debt of about S12,00« which is outstanding. Bishop Walsh Lauds Profound Faith of Spanish Explorers (By N. C. W. C. News Service) ST. AUGUSTINE. —Glowing tri bute to the profound Catholic faith and zeal for its propagation on the part of Don Pedro Menendez, founder of St. Augustine, was paid by the Most Rev. Emmet M. iValsh, Bishop of Charleston, in an address at the celebration of 375 anniversary of the first Catholic parish within the present confines of continental United States. “This is not the place to recall the tragic story of profound religi ous animosities promoted and ex- poited by leaders in their battles for the control of nations and by sover eigns and their ministers in their struggles for imperial domination,” Bishop Walsh said. “But before this Altar of thanksgiving, it is titting and proper that we should repudiate the false judgments of partisan his tory and to recognize the profound devotion to Jesus Christ and His Church, the fierce and burning zeal to spread their Holy Catholic Faith among the Indians, that animated Don Pedro Menendez of Aviles and his hardy followers. It is the place and the occasion to recall that our first city was founded out of a de sire, not to exterminate Indians and fake their lands for exploitation, but to bring the light of the Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ to them. “Lowery in his book ‘The Spanish Settlements in the United States' speaks of the ‘brave, devoted, and self-sacrificing warriers, whose wea pons were the gospels of peace, and whose greed was for the souls of the conquered that they might be stow upon them the only treasure of which they were possessed the gift of eternal salvation.’ “Lowery cites further the Pope’s command to Ferdinand and Isabella to send ‘virtuous and learned men to all their lands and islands to in struct the inhabitants in the Catho lic Faith and good morals with all possible diligence.' It was in rea lization of the meaning of this com mand that Don Pedro Menendez, in offering himself to His Majesty, the king, to explore the Florida coast for ‘God’s service,’ reminded him that His Majesty was ‘bound in con science to plant the Gospel in that land that had never seen the light of Our Lord Jesus Christ.’ “The original list of conditions he submitted to the king provided for taking twelve friars, twelve cate chists to assist the priests in teach ing the Indians, and four Fathers of the Society of Jesus. Because of delays and misunderstandings in the face of the need of haste to cir cumvent the plans of the French in truders. he seemed to have embark ed with only seven priests. “When Admiral Arciniega arrived at St. Augustine on June 28, 1566, with 17 ships, 1,500 men. besides sailors and plentiful supplies, but only four priests, due to misunder standings and mistakes in Spain, Don Menendez wrote to Father Avellaneda, the Jesuit Provincial in Andalusia: ‘On the one hand, I was supremely 'comforted to see how the King had succored us. and on the other I was grieved and disappointed that no Fathers of the Society and no learned Religious had come; for, keeping before me the many chiefs who are my friends and the good understanding and sound judgment of the natives of these provinces, and the great longing they have to be Christians and to know the law of Our Lord Jesus Christ, six learned Religious will accomplish more in a month than many thousands of men will in many years; for we ourseives are sadly in need of their instruc tions. To think of establishing the Holy Gospel in this country with troops is only to waste time’. INSTRUCTED NATIVES “Yet such was his zeal for the Faith, in spite of the lack of under standing cooperation from home, that he and the officers and soldiers he selected instructed the natives as well as they could and on every oc casion. When Don Aviles embarked for the North to establish a fort at Santa Elena in what is now South Carolina, he stopped at St. Cathe rine’s Island in Georgia and made friends with the Indians and pro ceeded to instruct them in Christian doctrine. He reconciled the chiefs of that section with the Ca'cique of the Carolina tribes who had long been at war with them, telling them of the Kingdom of Christ. After building a fort at Santa Elena, with the aid of his new-made Indian friends, he left chosen soldiers with the Indian chiefs to instruct their people in the faith. “Where in the annals of North American explorations can one find such a story as that of Captain Juan Pardo? The founding Governor sent him with 150 men to explore the in terior and to follow the march to de Soto—to open a line from St, Helena to Zocatecas on the gulf and ‘to spread the gospel among the heathen.’ Up the Savannah River and across to the Congaree and along tire Upper Broad, he preach ed earnestly the Kingdom of Christ to great gatherings of fierce war riors. And before the large crosses he erected, he swore them to Chris tian allegiance. At Yadkin on the Wateree he left his chaplgin and four* soldiers at the earnest request of 30 chieftains for Christian teachers, and built for them the first chapel in what is now North Carolina. After a short interruption to return to Santa Elena, he resumed his ex plorations into Georgia and Tennes see and back through the mountains in North Carolina down to Santa Elena. Everywhere by his exemp lary conduct and earnest teaching, he prepared the natives for the re ception of Christianity, and he left chosen soldiers to instruct them further in the faith. “One wishes that we had time .to tell the full story of these beginnings of the great founder’s persistent ef forts to obtain ‘learned Religious’ from Spam to spread the gospel, as , persistent as his efforts to obtain for his. heroic struggle to extend the power of his royal master; to tell of his apostolic labor in the field, and the employment of his great genius to establish the Kingdom of God among the Indians; to tell of the vicissitudes of triumph and failure until his recall to be made Gover nor of Cuba and then Captain-Gen eral of the Fleets, once more to save Spanisn power on the seas, and to an untimely death on the eve of this great undertaking. In his last letter he wrote these words: ‘After the salvation of my soul, there is noth ing I desire more than to be in Flor ida and there end my days saving souls.’ GLORIOUS MARTYRDOMS “One v/ishes there was time to re count the story of the sons of St. Dominic, and the sons of St. Ig natius, and the sons of St. Francis, their glorious martyrdoms and their fruitful labors; to tell of the found ing and growth of 44 mission set tlements of more than thirty thou sand Christian Indians from Port Royal to Pensecola, and from the Florida Keys to Georgia’s red hills. It is a story comparable to the most glorious in the annuals of Chris tianity. “We must recall the tragic story of the ruthless destruction wrought by Governor Moore of South Caro lina. who descended with savage Indian allies to burn out and slaugh ter the Christian Indians. He con tinued his plunder and burning up to the very guns of Fort San Marco. Again two years later, in 1704, the ruthless Moore completed the ruin of helpless Indian missions. He kill ed every one of the Franciscan Fathers in 22 Appalachee missions and burned every church and school. His men burned at the stake every one of the heroic bend of Indians who fought until their scant supply of ammunition gave out, and he burned the Fathers who stood with them to the end. And he carried off 600 Christian Indians to be sold in Carolina slave markets. “This city stands as an ancient witness not only to the indomitable courage and unique genius of her founder and the great bravery and astounding endurance of her first settlers. But it remains to testify to the profound Catholic faith and heroic zeal for its propagation cn the part of Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles and his devoted companions and their successors in great perils and arduous labors. It is to millions of Americans the guardian of their most inspiring traditions, the cradle of their faith in the land we love, and the first shrine in our country of the altar of God before which they adore. ’ • THREE OF THE SEVEN Victoria Crosses so far awarded during this war were won by Catholics, it is known with the disclosure that Lead ing Seaman Jack Mantle, who was given the cross posthumously, was a Catholic- " s Papal Delegate Urges Faithful to Aid Confraternity Archbishop Cicognani Says Teacher of Christian Doc trine Has Glorious Role (By N. C. W. C. News Service) LOS ANGELES. — An exhortation to Catholics, young or old, men or- women,” to join in or intensify their co-operation with the work of the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine was delivered by His Excellency the Most Rev. Almeto Giovanni Cico gnani, Apostolic Delegate to the United States, here October 14. Addressing the Sixth National Congress of the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, the Apostolic Del egate said everywhere,, alas, there are large numbers alienated from re ligion and for whom Christian truth and principles of conduct have be come obscured.” “The consequences of such a condition are quite disas trous, and indeed fatal,” he added. “Take away Christ from man, or bring up a child or a youth without the knowledge of the law of God and of Christian truths and virtues and you may be sure that something else will fill that void in his soul in the form of error, false principles or even superstition,” Archbishop Cicognani said. ASKS CO-OPERATION Calling upon priests, religious and laywomen—“and all who have al ready experienced or at least appre ciated how rich and abundant is the" harvest of the love of neighbor through co-operating in the ministry of the priesthood”—to examine the tremendous problems habitually pres ent in their sphere. Ar-hbi-t—><> Cicognani urged that Catholics “de votedly. therefore, and to the ''t.m-st of your ability co-operate with the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine. K. of C. Head Urges Day of Prayer for Peace ! * (By N. C. W. C. News Service) NEW HAVEN, Conn—Knights of Columbus throughout the nation are asked to join in observance of Armis tice Day with Christian prayers for peace by Supreme Knight Francis P. Matthews in a communication to chaplains, grand knights and state deputies. A similar program was held last year. Mr. Matthews asks that Councils arrange for a public prayer for Peace in the form of Masses, Holy Hours, Vespers, or Field Services. W. D. WRIGHT MRS. FAY. W. CATES President Vice-President Wright-Scruggs Shoe Company SHOES AND HOSIERY SPARTANBURG, S. C.