Newspaper Page Text
Published by the
Catholic Lay
men’s Association
of Georgia
“To Bring About
a Friendlier
Feeling Among
Neighbors Irre
spective of Creed”
VOL. XXIV. No. 2 TWENTY PAGES AUGUSTA, GEORGIA, FEBRUARY 27, 1943
ISSUED MONTHLY—$2.00 A YEAR
At Industrial Conference
Constitution Staff Photo—Bill Mason.
The Most Rev. Gerald P. O'Hara, Bishop of Savannah-Atlanta, at
whose invitation the Catholic Conference on Industrial Problems was
held in Atlanta, is pictured with the Rev. Vincent O'Connell, S. M.,
of Professor of Sociology, Dpgma and Latin, at Notre Dame Seminary,
New Orleans, who addressed the opening session of the Conference
and participated in the discussions at other sessions.—(Photo by Bill
Mason—Courtesy of The Atlanta Constitution).
Priests, Ministers, Rabbi Unite
in Paying Tribute to Lincoln in
Observance of His Birthday
Conference on Industrial
Problems Held in Atlanta
Prominent Figures in Labor, Industry, Education, and
Government, With Distinguished Members of the
Clergy, Discuss Wages and Prices, Labor Relations,
Man Power, Agriculture, and Economic Problems of
the South and the Nation in Two-Day Session
Special Observance
of Biblical Sunday
Held in 65 Dioceses
(By N. C. W: C. News Service)
NEW YORK.—Special observ
ance of Biblical Sunday was held
February 21 in 65 Archdioceses
and Dioceses in all parts of the
United States. The third annual
observance of Biblical Sunday co
incides with the fiftieth anniver
sary of the issuing of the Encycli
cal Providentissimus Deus by Pope
Leo XIII, urging study and read
ing of Holy Scriptures.
Pastoral letters on Biblical,Sun
day were read in. all churches of
the Archdioceses of Baltimore,
Chicago. Los Angeles, New Or
leans, St. Paul and Washington,
and the Dioceses of Hartford,
Pueblo, Lafayette, San Diego,
Scranton, Boise, Natchez, Con
cordia, -Xtgdensburg, Grand Island
and Syracuse.
The Archdioceses of Boston, San
Antonio, San Francisco, Newwark
and Philadelphia and the Dioceses
of Wichita, Fargo, Salt Lake, Pe
oria, Kansas City, Erie, Rapid City,
Crookstori, Nashville, Altoona,
Sioux City, Manchester, Paterson,
Mobile, Harrisburg, Great Falls,
Corpus Christi, Duluth, Belleville,
Lincoln, Spokane, Richmond, - and
Winona had special activities to
mark the day.
Copies of the Encyclical were
distributed in the clergy and pas
tors of the Catholic Biblical Asso
ciation of America, which spon
sored the observance of Biblical
Sunday, under the patronage of
the Episcopal Committee of the
Confraternity of Christian Doc
trine were displayed in the vesti
bules of churches in dioceses
throughout the United States.
Several Archbishops and Bishops
wrote letters on the significance
of the day for publication in their
diocesan newspapers.
Other Bishops instructed their
clergy to make Bible reading the
topic of their Lenten sermons and
issued to them sermon outlines
prepared by the Catholic Biblical
Association. Headquarters of the
association are in this city.
Sisters of Charity of
St. Augustine Now in
Charge of York Hospital
(Special to The Bulletin)
YORK, S. C.—It was announced
that the Sisters of Charity of Saint
Augustine, who staff Providence
Hospital in Columbia, would suc
ceed the Sisters of Mercy in con
ducting the Divine Savibr Hospi
tal in York. Sister Felicitas and
her companions, who have been in
charge of the Divine Savior Hos
pital for the last five years, have
been recalled by their Superiors
to Saint Francis Xavier Hospital
in Charleston, which is conducted
by these Sisters. At the behest of
the government they have just
completed a new wing to St.
Francis Hospital, which has more
than doubled their accomodations
for the sick. Due to the influx c*
war workers, the greater need of
hospitalization facilities, and the
scarcity of nurses, they found it im
perative to recall the group of Sis
ters from York. Because of the
great war effort in the city of
Charleston it is necessary that
every facility of St. Francis Hospi
tal be used for the welfare of the
workers engaged in vital indust
ries.
Sister Felicitas and her Sisters
wiH be sorely missed by the peo
ple of York, to whom they have
endeared themselves for their loyal
devotion and care of the sick.
Sister Borgia, the new head, who
has been stationed until now at
Providence Hospital in Columbia
and her companions are already in
residence and assumed their duties
in York. The Community of Sisters
of Charity of St. Augustine con
ducts six Hospitals throughout the
United States.
WASHINGTON. Five clergy
men representing the three major
religious groups in America —
Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish
—took part in a pilgrimage to the
Lincoln Memorial here on the
birthday of President Lincoln.
The pilgrimage,, a symbolic act
to show interfaith and interracial
unity in the United States, was
sponsored by Bishop Francis J
McConnell, senior bishop of the
Greater New York Area of the
Methodist Church; the Rev. John
La Farge, S. J., Executive Editor
of the Catholic weekly America;
and Dr. Sidney Goldstein, mem
ber of the Commission on Justice
and Peace of the Central Confer
ence of American Rabbis.
Speakers were the Rev. John
M. Hayes, of the Social Action De
partment, National Catholic Wel
fare Conference; the Rev. W. H. J.
Jernagin, chairman of the Execu
tive Board of the Fraternal Coun
cil of Negro Churches in America,
for the Protestant clergy, and Dr.
Goldstein, for the Jewish clergy.
A wreath was placed at the foot
of Lincoln’s statue by the Rev.
Francis J. McPeek, director of the
Social Welfare Department of the
Washington Federation of Church
es, and the Rev. E. L. Harrison,
president of the Baptist Conven
tion of the District of Columbia.
The men’s choir of Howard Uni
versity for colored students sang
several selections. It is the inten
tion of the sponsors to hold the
pilgrimage annually in Washing
ton and other cities.
Father Hayes set forth the
. .-. •-**-**.tit#4-irr—
teaching of the Church as evi
denced in Papal utterances con
cerning human personality.
“If people deny the supreme
value of the human person with
its accompanying rights,” he said,
“then they have no real quarrel
with Hitler; the war becomes
merely a bloody game; democracy
has not a leg to stand on; we shall
never have unity in this country
apart from an iron dictatorship;
and we shall never have anything
but conflict among nations. If
people accept' and live that prin
ciple, even where Negroes, Jews,
Mexicans, Chinese, and yes, Japa
nese, are concerned, then there is
a future for justice; and upon jus
tice is built order, and upon order
is built peace.”
PRIEST TEACHES IN NORTH
CAROLINA PUBLIC SCHOOL
JACKSONVILLE, N. C„ — For
the past several weeks, the Rev.
William S. O’Byrne, pastor of In
fant of Prague Church, has been
pressed into service as an emerg
ency teacher in the public schools
here. Because of a shortage of
teachers the local school board re
quested Father O'Byrne to assist
their school program by teaching
regular school subjects.
Father O’Byrne is no stranger
in the classroom,having had many
years of teaching experience be
fore entering the priesthood. The
people of Onslow County have
grown to respect Father O'Byrne
and have honored him in many
ways. He has been requested to
continue teacher for the remaind
er of the current scholastic year.
... _ ... ... • ' ; '
(Special to The Bulletin)
ATLANTA, Ga. — Accenting a•
high note of social and economic
ideals* in accordance with the
principles set forth by' Pope Leo
XIII in his famous Encyclical “On
the Condition of the Working
Classes,” and in its echo, the En
cyclical of Pope Pius XI on the
Social Order, the Catholic Confer
ence on Industrial Problems, held
at the Ansley Hotel, on February
8 and 9, heard able speakers, rep
resenting religion, capital, labor,
business, education, and the gov
ernment, discuss problems con
fronting the nation in its wartime
crisis, along with plans for solving
problems which will be presented
in the post-war period.
An optimistic outlook that looked
forward to a bright era of good
will and cooperation between labor
and management, backed by the
government, appeared to be the
underlying mood of the confer
ence, which while it brought forth
a stirring defense of the right of
the worker to a living wage, still
held strong support for private
property and free enterprise.
Sessions of the conference were
held morning, afternoon and even
ing, all were well attended, and
enlivened by general discussions
in which any one in the audience
was welcome to participate.
At the opening session, at which
the Rt. Rev. Msgr. oseph E. Moy-
lan, local chairman presided, the
first speaker was Ralph McGill,
Editor of The Atlanta Constitu
tion, who spoke on “The Place of
the South in the Future Recon
struction Program,” and who told
the assembly that the economic
poverty of the South stems largely
from tariffs and discriminatory
freight rates and high interest
charges. “If you would like to name
those responsible for some of the
evils of the South, even for those
who pull the ropes at lynchings,
you might name those who wrote
the freight rates, he asserted. In
order to compete with Northern
manufacturers, Southern manu
facturers—saddled with freight
rate differential and high inter
est rates—felt compelled to work
employes long hours for lower
wages, he said.
C. H. Gillman, of Atlanta, reg
ional director of the C. I. O., said
his organization hopes to see in
the post war era, full employment
of all those who want to work, the
Extension of social security to in
clude the farmer and domestic
help, improved rural life, the con
tinuance of collective bargaining,
and “with 5nly as much govern
mental direction as needed.”
Discussing “The Crisis of Civil
ization and the Encyclicals, Sister
Vincent Ferrer, O. P., of Rosary
College, Lake Forest, 111., said: “To
scrap what we have gained in the
past ten years and go back to what
is usually meant by the term ‘free
enterprise’ would bring only con
flict and chaos. . .For conflict and
strife in economic life can end only
in totalitarianism—dictatorship of
the proletariat, or fascist dictator
ship of the owning classes. . .
Economic life must be inspired
with Christian principles.”
At the afternoon session on
February 8, at which Bernard J.
Kane, purchasing agent of the Ful
ton Bag and Cotton Mills, and
president of the Catholic Laymen’s
Association of Georgia presided,
Dr. Howard S. Gordman, of Xavier
University, Cincinnati, pointed to
price control and rationing as the
“twins” which must meet the pos
sibility of inflation, although he
said increased taxes and bond sales
both help to diminish this danger.
“It is cooperation that today and in
the days to come our complex
economy needs,” he said. “Not class
against class, nor section against
section, not bloc against bloc, but
all working for the common weal,
.the greater glory of God, and the
brotherhood of man.”
Miss Mary Anderson, director of
the Women’s Bureau of the United
States Department of Labor, de
clared that American women, call
ed from the kitchen, from high
schools and offices, were making a
satisfactory and amazing contribu
tion to,the war effort. Miss Ander
son stated that she sees no evid
ence that women will be conscript
ed into war jobs—at least not in
the immediate future. However,
she said that two million more
women must be employed in essen
tial war industries during 1943,
making it necessary to dip heavily
into every available woman power
pool. “At one stage or another,”
she said, “women now help make
almost every piece of equipment
used by our armed forces—from
buttons to bombers, from bullets
to battleships.”
In answer to a question propos
ed during the open forum which
followed the scheduled program,
Miss Anderson declared that she
was opposed to the “Equal Rights
Amendment.”
The Rev. Vincent O'Connell, S.
M„ of Notre Dame Seminary, New
Orleans appeared on the program
in the place of the Rev. William
II. Reintjes, C. SS. R., of New Or
leans, who was unable to attend
the conference. Father O'Connell
told his audience that the hope ot
securing a good living wage for
workers lies in “strong, Christian
labor unions,” He added, however,
that labor should realize “undue
high wages sometimes force busi
ness men into financial ruin, and
that what all should work for is
lower prices, not the raising of
wages.
While strongly championing the
right of labor to organize, Father
O'Connell admitted that he knew
of instances when the actions of
misguided adherents of the cause
of labor would furnish Westbrook
Eegler with material for many
columns.
Hughes Spalding, prominent At
lanta attorney, presided at the
evening session on the first day of
the conference, at which Forrest
Kirkpatrick, personnel research
manager of the Radio Corporation
of America, Camden, N. J., out
lined the possibility of better days,
and told the assembly:
“Now we seem to be moving in
to another period. . .It seem to be
an era that will mark the end of
paternalism, that will call for new
means and techniques for colla
boration, -that will lift the worker
into a new sphere of importance,
and one that will free all men from
the fears and deprivations of un
employment or any kind of indus
trial peonage. It is what I call era
of maturity and collaboration.
Mr. Kirkpatrick noted marked
improvement in industrial relation
over the past 25 years. “It is like
ly,” he said, “that no other coun
try has manifested so deep an in
terest in the discovery and aplica-
tion of Christian principles and
methods in labor relations as our
own.”
The Rev. Raymond A. McGowan,
Assistant Director of the Depart
ment of Social Action, of the Na-
(Continued on Eight-A)
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