Newspaper Page Text
Published by Ihe
Catholic Lay
men’s Association
of Georgia
“To Bring About
a Friendlier
Feeling Among
Neighbors Irre
spective of Creed”
VOL, xxii. No. 8 THIRTY-TWO PAGES AUGUSTA, GEORGIA, AUGUST 23, 1941
irfrlr issued monthly-$2.00 a year
Catholic Laymen’s Association Completes
Twenty-Five Years of Effort in Georgia
Apostolic Delegate Acclaims
Georgia Laymen s Efforts
MOST REVEREND AMLETO GIOVANNI CICOGNANI
APOSTOLIC DELEGATE TO THE UNITED STATES
Expressing ‘'admiration and praise’’
for the quarter of a century of suc
cessful labors which the Catholic Lay
men’s Association of Georgia is
rounding out this year, His Excel
lency the Most Reverend Amleto Gio
vanni Cicognani. Apostolic Delegate
to the United States calls upon its
members “under the paternal vigi
lance of your Bishop,’’ to continue
zealously to “spread truth by char
ity.”
Archbishop Cicognani, who honored
the twenty-fifth annual convention of
the Laymen’s AssocTation with his
presence in Savannah last fall, de
clared: “You joined in brotherly
union twenty-five years ago. You pro
posed to make your faith better
known, to dispel prejudice and misun
derstanding to focus attention to the
beauty of the Catholic faith and on
the attributes and characteristic
marks given it by its Divine Founder,
to arouse respect and admiration for
it. to give eloquent proof of your
love of neighbor, and to make your-
seives ever more of one heart and
soul with your fellow citizens of
Georgia with whom you are bound
by common life, history and affection,
for the greater good of the entire com
munity.
“This program has been carried out
with such happy results that the fame
of your association rrom its earliest
years, spread beyond the limits of the
state, and now is known throughout
America. It is fitting and proper that
the name of Georgia is attached to
your association, because its flourish
ing and active existence is due not
only to the Catholics who are mem
bers, but to the people of Georgia in
general, who have welcomed its ac
tivity, have given it encouragement,
patronage and support and come to
regard it as one of the things their
state can be proud of.
“Christ, Truth. Profession—it is this
program that the Catholic Laymen’s
Association of Georgia has been en
gaged in for 'twenty-five years and
in which it has distinguished itself
brilliantly in some many instances.
This is the path on which it will con
tinue to accomplish great good.
“Following in the footsteps of Jesus
Christ, the Catholic Laymen’s Asso
ciation of Georgia proposed to pro
mote the understanding of sacred
truth, particularly as it concerned
their own convictions and moral
problems. While speaking of God. of
the teachings of the Church, and of
what human reason enlightened by
Christ is able to prove, they resolved
to be heralds of Truth, namely to
speak of things as they are. and of
truthfulness, that is to speak of them
sincerely according to their convic
tions, without compromise or restric
tion. For this, their work has met
with appreciation and success.
“The firm and dignified attitude
of the Association in the profession
of faith and in the promotion of truth
has won for it general esteem. The
favor and prestige that it enjoys is the
most eloquent praise, not only of the
Association, but of the people of
Georgia.
“The Catholic Laymen’s Associa
tion of Georgia, after twenty-five
years, may well boast of happy
fruits, and with confidence in the fu
ture. consolidate its program of
vChrist, Truth. Profession-’ Illustrious
names have won distinction in its
ranks. Perhaps I should mention
them, but I prefer to see them mingled
with the general notion of the ideal
member of this Association of Geor
gia. and so express admiration and
praise for them all.
“I extend to you my hearty con
gratulations. Under the paternal vigi
lance of your Bishop continue zeal
ously to spread truth with charity,
and ‘by charity of the spirit to serve
one another’.”
REV. PAUL MARTIN HOFFERT,
T. O R.. assistant at Our Lady of
Mount Carmel Church, Ehrenfield,
Pa., has been commissioned a chap
lain to aid in ministering to 14,000
Catholics who are among the 70.000
soldiers at Fort Bragg, N. C. Father
Hoffert has served as chaplain with
the Civilian. Conservation Corps at
Livonia. Pa., and with the Civilian
Military Training Corps at Fort
Me?.:!c end Fort ?.^cnrco«
ORGANIZED IN 1916
TO STEM THE TIDE OF
BIGOTRY IN GEORGIA
Bishop O’Hara Declares
Laymen’s Association Needs
Aid of Younger Generation
Work of Quarter of a Cen
tury Has Demonstrated an
Effective Method of Con
tending Against Anti-
Catholic Prejudice
Twenty-five years ago not even the
most loyal Chamber of Commerce in
the state could deny that Georgia was
the most anti-Catholic of any of the
United States. There were scores of
newspapers in Georgia which did not
publish an issue in which there was
not some mendacious attack against
the Ctholic Church or some slur
against Catholics. Chances of suc
cess in a political campaign seemed to
be in proportion to the candidate’s
outspoken anti-Catholicism. There
was one man, particularly active in
political circles, who discovered that
he could summon a following by
fighting the “Roman Catholic hier
archy.” even though to most of his
followers the term held the horror
of the unknown, because scarcely a
one of them had any idea of what the
Roman Catholic hierarchy was.
Catholics at that time numbered less
than twenty thousand in a state that
had a population of over two million.
Since the vast majority of that popu
lation had little knowledge of what
the Catholic Church taught, knew
little of the true nature of its prac
tices, the anti-Catholic scare worked
splendidly. Many weekly newspapers
admitted to their columns scur
rilous and bigoted propaganda.
Some daily newspapers occasionally
printed it. It was effective, people
who knew little or nothing about
the Catholic Church believed the
misrepresentations, for denials did
not reach them.
Such was the campaign of introl-
ence that Protestants began to re
gard their Catholic neighbors with
suspicion, and to those living in re
mote sections of the State where
Catholics ware few in number, if any
at all. a Catholic became to be dread
ed and feared as a potential enemy.
Friendships of long-standing were
strained and disrupted. Then came
the climax—the enactment by the
Legislature of the State of Georgia of
the Veasey Bill, or “Convent Inspec
tion Act.”
The Catholics of Georgia were
hounded by a campaign, all the more
objectionable because it was some
thing new. Catholics had been in
Georgia practically without interrup
tion since colonial days. There was
hardly a city of consequence in which
they had not occupied the highest
positions, up to and including mayor.
A Catholic, the Honorable Patrick
Walsh, of Augusta, had represented
Georgia in the United States Sen
ate. For years no other state could
boast of more friendly relations be
tween Catholics and non-Ca'.holica
that those prevailing in Georgia.
Catholics in Georgia were dis
mayed. Something had to be done
if they hoped to live in peace and
security in their native state, one
that they loved as they loved their
country, one in whose soil their an
cestors had found final resting place,
and one to which they were linked
by tender memory and strongest hu
man ties, not to mention economic
considerations.
Captain P. H. Rice, prominent in
the business and civic life of Au
gusta. was a Catholic who loved his
Church, and he was deeply concerned
with the growing intolerance in
Georgia. As State Deputy of the
Knights of Columbus he sought, with
the aid of the Religious Prejudice
Commission of that Order, to mitigate
the prejudice by the distribution of
pamphlets, collaborating in this work
with Father, now Monsignor, Joseph
D. Mitchell, of Savannah.
Feeling that the work ought to
be extended in view of the increas
ing bitterness of the campaign of
bigotry, Captain Rice sponsored the
meeting of about a dozen Catholic
men in Augusta, who requested him
to go to Savannah to present the
situation to the Ordinary of the
Diocese, who at that time was the
venerable Bishop Keiley.
Captain Rice went to Savannah and
found Bishop Keiley heartily in favor
of the suggestion to hold a meeting
of representative Catholics of the
State for the purpose of devising
plans to combat the wave of prejudice
that had reached its crest with the
passage of the “convent inspection”
bill. He then appeared before a
(Ccnttruied on P-
i\y
MOST REVEREND GERALD P. O’HARA, D, D., J. U. D.
Bishop of Savannah-Atlanta
His Excellency, the Most Reverend Gerald P. O’Hara, Bishop of Savannah-
Atlanta, cn the occasion of the completion of twenty-five years of effort on the
part of the Catholic Laymen's Association of Georgia, urges the veteran
members of the Laymen's Association in carrying on and furthering its work,
in the following message:
An editorial which is appearing in this issue of The Bulletin more than
hints at a weakness in the Catholic Laymen’s Association of Georgia when it
states: “In order that the work of the Laymen’s Association may continue,
there must be infused into the organization the vigor and enthusiasm Of
youth, which can be furnished by the younger generation of the Catholics Of
the State. The veterans in the Association, who began its work, and who have
carried it on so successfully, now call upon the young Catholic men and
women of Georgia to join with them in their endeavors.”
Come to think of it, how few are the young people seen at the Conven
tion of the Catholic Laymen’s Association! Year after year one notices the
same faces at these important annual meetings—the same loyal group that
weathered the storms of twenty and twenty-five years ago, and who ore de
voted to the Association precisely because they cannot forget the valiant ami
successful fight waged by the Catholic Laymen’s Association in the days Of
stress. In those times, to be a Catholic meant to be the object of suspicion,
distrust, discrimination and even of hatred.
.Perhaps I should not use the word “fight” in connection with the acti-‘
vitles of the Catholic Laymen’s Association. As a matter of fact the word
is not employed here in any sense connotating a belligerent attitude except
in the sense indicated by St. Paul, who urged all Christians to “fight the
good fight,” but who also declared “above all things have charity.” Charity is
an understanding and sympathetic virtue. And it was with the weapon of
an understanding and sympathetic Charity, backed by Truth, that the
Catholic Laymen’s Association of Georgia set out to prove to their non-
Catholic neighbors how false and ridiculous were the charges *hurled so ve
hemently against Catholics and the Catholic Church a quarter of a century
ago. This association never deviated for a moment from this policy.
In any event, we know that what happened once can easily happen again.
This is one of history’s great lessons and warnings. Those who are too young
to have experienced the unhappy situation that confronted their elders tn
Georgia a quarter of a century ago would, we know, rally to the defense Of
the Church, of Catholic truth and of their fellow-Catholics if a new crisis
were to arise. Nevertheless, their support is necessary even now. It will al
ways be needed. Every society, that wishes to maintain its own existence and
to continue its work, must have increment from the ranks of youth. Other
wise it perishes. Each year takes its toll of the “Old Guard” who saw the
Catholic Laymen's Association through its more trying days. Who will fill
their places? Obviously it is the Catholic youth of Georgia who must re
plenish the thinning ranks of the veterans.
I know our Catholic youth well enough to warrant my belief that all
they need is a hint as to what the Church in Georgia expects of them.
At the Rome convention of the Catholic Laymen’s Association, which will
be held on the feast of Christ the King, the last Sunday in October, I hope
that all the junior Catholc Clubs, and all sodalities of 1he State will be rep
resented by at least one or two “observers”, who will carry back to their
respective parish or inter-parish groups a knowledge of what the Catholic
Laymen s Association of Georgia has done for and means to them. “Noblesse
oblige . This association has been admired for years far beyoqd the borders
of the State. I recall how, several years ago,‘a Canadian bishop, whom 1
met in Washington, and who was anxious to duplicate in his Diocese the apos-
tolate of the laity of Georgia, inquired about the organization, policies and
-methods of our Catholic Laymen's Association. Two years ago. in submit
ting my official diocesan report to the Holy See, I devoted considerable space
to a eulogy of this Association.
Pope Benedict XV and Pope XI were both familiar with the Catholic
Laymen’s Association of Georgia, they bestowed their blessing on it and
honored several of its members. The present Holy Father came to know of
the zeal of the Georgia Catholic laity when he was Papal Secretary of State. At
.east once since his accession to the Chair of Peter, he cabled his greetings
and blessing to the Laymen’s Association. This was on the occasion of last
year s convention in Savannah.
The Catholic Laymen’s Association of Georgia, despite no end of diffi
culty, procured many benefits for all the Catholics in Georgia. To per
petuate these advantages an evergrowing membership is essential. I know
that, in this regard as in every other, I do not call upon our Catholic Youth
in vain.