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JUNE 27, 1942
THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
THREE-B
Canards About Latin America
Held to Be Nazi Propaganda
WASHINGTON—For some time
stories which seek to defame the
Catholic clergy of Latin America
have been circulated in the United
States.
The general tenor of these
charges is that priests and religious
in certain countries are involved
in Nazzi-Fascist conspiracies. The
Catholic Press hdS refuted these
accusations, convinced that what
appears on the surface to be an
anti-Nazi campaign is actually pro-
Nazi and is directed against inter-
American solidarity that their
real purpose is to sow suspicion
and doubt even in the minds of
Catholics.
On February 16, a radio com
mentator in the United States
broadcast a notice that Brazilian
authorities had found and captur
ed a great quantity of arms, in
tended for a Nazi uprising, con-
cealde in the Church of the Ceara
Monastery by German Francis
cans. Investigations started im
mediately by the N. C. W. C. News
Service revealed that the Brazil
ian press had made no reference
to the matter, and that the police
had no record, up to March, of any
such discovery of illegal arms de
posits.
• The Very Rev. Matheus Hoeters;
©. F. M., Franciscan Provincial,
authorized the Brazil correspon
dent of the N. C. W. C. to deny the
story in its entirety in his name.
The Brazilian Embassy at Wash
ington affirmed that up to March
1, it has received no information
on the subject. >,
REPORTS PROVED FALSE
Later, certain papers at Bahia
and Parahyba published reports
about totalitarian arms, munitions
and propaganda said to have been
discovered in Franciscan monas
teries in that locality. The Vicar
General of the Archdiocese of Pa
rahyba invited the police to prove
for themselves the falsity of the
reports. Investigation again re
vealed that the stories were with
out foundation.
The Rt. Rev. Msgr. Joaquin Na-
buco, the N. C. W. C. Brazil cor
respondent, reported that officials
of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
and other Government agencies de
clared that they had no informa
tion relative to any such confis
cation of arms, and that the Most
Rev. Moyses Coelho, Archbishop
of Parahyba, categorically denied
the charges against Catholic in
stitutions.
At a conference of Mexican Gov
ernors at Mazatiari,' in February,
Governor Silvano Barba Gongalex
of Jalisco charged that certain
elements among 'the Catholic
clergy were “exploiting” the reli
gious sentiment of Catholics in
favor of the totalitarian countries.
Immediately Minister of Foreign
Affairs Ezequiel Padilla issued a
statement: “Nothing authorizes
me to affirm that the clergy of our
country is carrying on a work of
Nazi-Fascist propaganda.” Senator
Alfonso Filores Mancilla, chairman
of the Senate Committee for the
Investigation of Fifth Column Ac
tivities, said: “The Committee has
not received, among the numerous
reports and denunciations present
ed to it, any that refers in any
way to the Catholic clergy or to
Catholics as such. No data has
been; supplied, nor is there any
Indication that Catholics or the
clergy are aiding the Rome-Ber-
lin-Tokyo Axis.”
The Most Rev. Luis M. Marti
nez, Archbishop of Mexico, in a
statement’'to the press, reviewed
the attitude of the Mexican Church
—to keep out of all politics, na
tional or international. ’“The one
thing that we have had to em
phasize within this strictly Catho
lic criterion,” the Archbishop add
ed, “is that, in conformity with
our doctrine, Catholics must sup
port the international policy of
the civil Government so long as
it is evident that this policy is
neither unust nor contrary to Cath
olic conscience, because—legally
and morally—the civil Government
is the one to delineate this policy.”
Similar statements were made by
the Most Rev. Jose Garibi Rivera,
Archbishop of Guadalajajra, which
is the capital of the State of Jalis
co. The Mexican press reacted
quickly and forcefully against the
charges made by the Governor of
Jalisco.
On May 23, the Protestant radio
at Quito, HCJB, and the daily El
Comercio simultaneously accused
Carmelite Missionaries in Ecuador
of engaging in Falangist propa
ganda. This accusation, it was
insinuated, originated at a meet
ing of the Quito Municipal Coun
cil. El Comercio later published
a denial signed by the President
of the Municipal Council who took
to task these who sought to in
volve the Council in such an af
fair. The Very Rev. Froilan Her
rera, Superior of the Carmelites,
declared that the charges were
completely false.
REDS ACTIVE IN COSTA RICA
In Costa Rica the Communist
Party was very active during the
political campaign last year.' El
Trabajo, the Communist weekly,:
on May 31, 1941, reported that a
clandestine radio, in the service
of Germany, was functioning in the
San Jose Seminary and that, as
a consequence, one of the profes
sors,; a Vicentian, had been arrest
ed biy the police. This caused on
ly amusement among most Costa
Ricans, and was promptly denied
by the Ministry of Public Safety
and the Archbishop of San Jose.
The Most Rev. Victor Sapabria
said: “H anybody is to be arrest
ed, it ought to be the Archbishop.
The Seminary is an institution be
longing to and under the juris
diction of the Archdiocesan Au
thority. I am responsible for what
goes on there.” The Minister of
Public Safety said: “The rumors
being circulated about the dis
covery of a radio broadcasting: sta
tion in the Seminary are absolute
ly unfounded.” .
This spring two anti-clerical pa
pers of San Salvador, Diario Latino
and Avance, said that priests were
making “totalitarian propaganda
from the pulpit.” Criterio, the
Catholic weekly of San Salvador,
replied on April 21: “The attitude
of the said 'papers does not cause
any. surprise. To the contrary, we
are surprised that they have de
layed so long in carrying out the
dictates of we-do-not-know-what
sectarian source, aimed at embar
rassing Catholicism.” After re
ferring to similar campaigns in
other countries and, particularly,
the one recently formulated in Ar
gentina, Criterio concluded:
“These tactics are old and well
known. . . This is the story of
all persecutions against the Church
. . . It is the same, the very same
pretex feigned by the Nazis in
Germany and the occupied coun
tries. What it really amounts to
is that these sectarians regard
with envious eyes the enormous
prestige of the Catholic Church
throughout the world and try to
undermine her reputation.”
With Catholic Nurses in the War Zone
“Somewhere in Australia” these Catholic nurses with the United States armed forces say their ros
aries during Mass. They are members of one of the units of the Army Nurse Corps which recently
arrived safely “Down Under.” Their names were not given. International Soundphoto. (N.C.W.C.)
REV. DANIEL O'BRIEN
DIES IN COLUMBIA
Bishop Walsh Officiates at
Funeral of Beloved Priest
' of Diocese of Carleston
MARCUS LOEB & CO., Inc.
PANTS FOR MEN AND BOYS
Atlanta, Georgia.
J. N. HIRSCH
144 Marietta Street
ATLANTA
SAM—LEWIS—HAROLD
■ CHARLESTON. §. C. i- Funeral
services for the Rev. Daniel Mar
tin O’Brien, who died on May 25
in Columbia, were held from the
Cathedral of. St; John the Baptist
with the Most Rev. Emmet M.
Walsh, D. D., Bishop of Charles
ton, offering the Pontifical Re
quiem Mass.
■ All of the priests of Charleston,
and many of the clergy who had
served in the Diocese with Father
O’Brien were present in the sanc
tuary. Among those attending from
outside the city were-the Very
Rev. Martin C. Murphy, the Rev.
Charles J. Baum,’ Columbia; the
Rev. Philip Reed," O. M. I., the
Rev John J. Clancy, the Rev. Tim
othy McGrath; Sunilei;; the Rev.
Thomas O’Shaughnessy, Green
ville; the Rev. John Walsh, C. SS.
R., the Very Rev. Edwin Shearer,
C. SS. R„ the Rev. John Volk, C.
SS. R., Orangeburg; the Rev. Wil
liam A. Tobin, Florence; the Rev.
George Lewis Smith, Aiken; the
RCv. Albert Albert Faase, Cong.
Orat., Beaufort; the Rev. Richard
Madden, the Rev. John Steigner,
Georgetown; the Rev. Louis R.
Williamson, Hartsville; the Rev.
William Sheridan,, chaplain of the
overseas discharge and replace
ment depot, Charleston.
Officers of the Mass included
the Rt. Rev. Msgr. James J. May,
V. G., assistant priest; the Rev.
Timothy McGrath and the Rev. Al
bert - Faase, Cong. Orat., deacons of
honor; the Very Rev. Martin C.
Murphy, deacon of the Mass, the
Rev. George Lewis Smith, sub
deacon.
Members of P. N. Lynch Council,
Knights of Columbus, acted as a
guard of honor.
Father O’Brien, who had served
many parishes in the Diocese, had
been critically ill for some weeks
and in declining health for several
years.
He was a native of Killaloe,
County of Clare, Ireland, and was
ordained at All Hallows Collge,
Dublin, in 1914. He had served as
assistant at St. Patrick’s Church
here and at Aiken and Greenville.
He was at St. Mary’s Church,
Georgetown, for fourteen years, at
St. Francis de Sales Church, Co
lumbia, for two years, and since
1941, when his health began to fail,
he resided at the Oratory of St.
Philip Neri in Rock Hill.
gregation would give him money
for clothes and he woud give the
money to others whom he thought
had greater need. On one occosion
his congregation presented him
with a purse, to be used to pur
chase a first class ticket to his
home in Ireland. He made the
voyage as a steel-age passenger,
giving what he had saved to chari
ty. He was especially active in
civic movements and was interest
ed in the -Boy Scouts and other
youth activity. He was an ardent
sportsman and delighted in hunt
ing, fishing and swimming. • '
Father O’Brien is survived by
two brothers,; John O’Brien arid
Henry O’Brieit, of Killaloe, Coun
ty Clare, Ireland, and two sisters,
Mrs. J. Maloney, of Killaloe. : and
Sister M. Flannan, the Castle :
Blaekrock, Dublin, Ireland, Among
other surviving- relativ.es are Mrs.
F.* B. Carr and Mrs.- D; P. Sulli
van, of Augusta, Ga. ' : ;
Following Own Advice
Minister Enters Church
In Georgtown, where he ren
dered his longest service, Father
O’Brien was noted for his charity,
regardless of the religious belief
of those he aided. Often, his con-
Requiem Mass for
Father O’Brien at
Columbia Ckurcti
(Special to The Bulletin)
COLUMBIA, S. C. — A Requiem
High Mass for the repose of the
soul of the Rev, Daniel M. O’Brien,
who died here on May 25,. were of
fered at St. Peter’s Church on May
27 by the Very Rev. Martin C. Mur
phy, the pastor.
Clergy present in the sanctuary
included the Rt. Rev. Monsignor A.
K, Gwynn, V. F., of Greenville;
the Rev. Louis Ford, Columbia; the
Rev. Thomas Weiland, O. P.,- Co
lumbia; the Rev. Francis O. Ferri,
Spartanburg; the Rev. Thomas J.
Mackin, Columbia; the Rev. John
P. Clancy, Sumter; the Very Rev.
Vincent G. Scharff, Cong. Orat.,
Rock Hill; the Rev. Thomas
O’Shaughnessy, Greenville, the
Rev. Thomas Mulvihill, Columbia,
and the Rev. Timothy McGrath,
Sumter.
Army chaplains from Fort Jack-
son who attended were, the Rt.
Rev. Msgr. William F. O’Brien, the
Rev. Joseph N, Pohl, C. SS. R.,
the Rev. Charles J. Reaney, the
Rev. Thomas J. Donelly, the Rev.
Charles D. Rooney, O. P., the Rev.
John J. Powers, the Rev. Alfred
Longley, the Rev. William L. Bowl
er, and the Rev. George J. Flani
gan.
Pallbearers were Mayor Fred D.
Marshall, S. J. Parks, Charles
Bultman, James Hopkins, William
Donelan, Joseph Keeler, Jr., W. P.
Watson, Dan Gibson, W. L. Ren-
nett, Carl Niggel, P. H. Morgan,
A. F. Baylie, Francis J. Dutton,
Francis J. Dutton, Jr., John Bult
man, Thomas N. Frickling, W. B.
Wells, William Carter, John Car
ter, Frank Devereaux, Allen Done
lan, George Dieter, Dr. Riger G.
Doughty, Dr. F. E. Zemp, Dr. Wil
liam Boyd, Dr. D. S. Pope and Dr.
T. A. Pitts.
(By N. C. W. C. News Service)
CLEVELAND — The Rev. Hoy
den J. D. Mott* former . Rector of
Advent Episcopal Church, Lake-
wood, O , his wife and two Children
were received into the Catholic
Church recently by the Most Rev.
James A. McFadden, Auxiliary
Bishop of Cleveland, and received
their First Communion the follow
ing day.
Thus w as marked the end of a
10-year search for the Truth by
the former minister and his wife.
Mr. Mott resigned his pastorate
-when he began taking instruction,
and his letter of farewell was read
to his former. congregation.
“My wife and I are entering the
Catholic Church,”: Mr. Mott wrote.
“This decision comes only after
long study and earnest prayer to
gether arid is the acknowledgment
on our part of the obligations
which come with the Holy Gospel.”
Paradoxically, it was his minis
terial work as an Episcopalian
clergyriien that put him on the
path td the Catholic Church.
Mr. Mott recalls that a young
woman w'ent to him for advice.
She wished to marry a Catholic,
but was traditionally prejudiced
against the’ Churcji and was loath
to make the usual promises re
garding the unbringing of child
ren. Her fiance had given her
Cardinal Gibbons’ “Faith of Our
Fathers” to read, but she had re
fused to do so until Mr. Mott ad
vised her to. In the meantime, he
himself read the book and dis
covered it answered the difficulties
besetting himself. When the
woman returned he not only ad
vised her to go through with the
marriage but also to consider en
tering the Catholic Church. The
minister himself meanwhile had
resolved to take instruction.
Mr. Mott says he broached the
subject to Mrs. Mott arid was amaz
ed to find not only that Mrs. Mott
was willing he should take the
step but wished to follow suit, be
cause, she, too, had encountered
the same inward difficulties.
“We studied the Catholic
Church’s position,” he said, “and
after long consideration and pray
er we realized that it was better
for us to become Catholics at once.
That was a very happy moment in
my life—a knowledge that my wife
was not coming into the Church
with me because of a sense of duty
but because she herself believed
as I did.”
The Mott children are Nancy
Irene, 5, and Stephen, 2. Both Mr.
and Mrs. Mott are the children of
ministers and have strong Protest
ant backgrounds.