Newspaper Page Text
Published by the
Catholic Lay
men’s Association
of Georgia
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“To Bring About
a Friendlier
Feeling Among
Neighbors Irre
spective of Creed”
Vol. XXIV No. 7 TWENTY-EIGHT PAGES AUGUSTA, GEORGIA, JULY 31, 1943 ISSUED MONTHLY—$2.00 A YEAR ■
. ANCIENT BASILICA DAMAGED IN ROME BOMBING %
+ + +
The Basilica of San Lorenzo, in
Rome, which suffered serious
damage during the bombing of
nearby military objectives. His
Holiness Pope Pius XII left the
Vatican to inspect the damage
and addressed words of faith and
comfort to the crowds. Built
about the year 330, the Basilica
was enlarged in the sixth cen
tury and completed in 1216. It
contains the tomb of Pope Pius
IX (lower photo). (N.C.W.C.)
+ + +
Holy Father Visits Bombed
Strickened Area of Rome
Bulletins
IN THE DEATH of frank- Ber
ing, editor of the Fraternal Order
of Eagles Magazine, the University
of Notre Dame mourned the loss
VATICAN CITY, _(NC)— No
sooner had news reached the Vati
can that his beloved Diocese of
Rome had been visited by a de
structive air raid, then Pope Pius
XII without hesitation hurried out
from Vatican City to comfort and
help the faithful in the stricken
area.
Without thought that it was the
first time he had left Vatican
City State since Italy’s entrance
into the war, His Holiness rushed
by automobile to the affected zone.
His reception by the people was
one of the most touching describ-
able.
His Holiness was particularly af
fected by the report of serious
damage to the Basilica of San
Lorenzo. This ancient and vene
rated structure, dating originally
from the time of Constantine and
one of the seven great Roman
basilicas, was badly damaged, its
interior filled with debris, al
though the apse was still stand
ing. It was noted, however, that
the celebrated underground chapel
where Pope Pius IX is entombed
was apparently not seriously
damaged.
(The bombing of military ob
jectives included the vital San
Lorenzo railway yards and round
houses, it has been reported by
United States military authorities,
and these are near the basilica).
It was 5 o’clock Roman time
when the news reached the Vati
can. The Holy Father made his
decision immediately. Accom
panied by Monsignor Giovanni
Montini, Secretary of State for
Ordinary Affairs, he hurried by
auto to the stricken area. He was
Immediately surrounded by griev
ing people. These latter were at
•nee comforted by the presence
•f the common Father and Bishop
®f Rome among his children.
His Holiness was profundly
moved by the demonstration of
affection they gave him, and also
by the spectacle of devastation.
His Holiness distributed person
ally material aid, at the same time
addressing words of comfort and
Christian hope to the people.
Arriving at the Basilica, the
Pope, still surrounded by a multi
tude, descended from the car and
approached the ancient structure.
There he knelt, reciting the “de
profundis” for the victims of the
raid, the people joining in. Then,
arising, he addressed to the crowd
words of faith and comfort, and
imparted the apostolic benedic
tion.
Before returning to the Vatican,
His Holiness visited the streets of
the nearby district, which had
been heavily damaged.
Returning to the automobile, it
was found that the motor could
not start due to the press of the
crowd. Thereupon the people
pushed the car for a quarter of a
mile, when the Holy Father was
transferred to the automobile of
Count Galeazzi, who had arrived in
the meantime, and departed fol
lowed for a long distance by the
grateful multitude. The car re
entered the Vatican at 7:30.
THE AERIAL BOMBARD
MENT of the City of Rome
brought His Holiness Pope Plus
XII a keener appreciation than
ever of what he called “the inde
scribable suffering” endured by
so many families in this war, ac
cording to Osservatore Romano..
It has become known in Vatican
City that some bombs fell in the
Verano Cemetery, near the Basil
ica of San Lorenzo and that one
of these damaged the vault where
the parents of Pope Pius XII are
entombed.
of one of its most valued members
of the board of law trustees. Mr.
Hering was an alumnus of the uni
versity, a monogram winner, and
the first paid football: coach. Al
though a non-Catholic, he was an
cutstanding champion of the Cath
olic educational system.
A MEMORIAL MASS for the
repose of the soul of the renowned
soldier-poet of World War I, Ser
geant Joyce Kilmer, was offered in
the Cathedral of St. Matthew the
Apostle in Washington, D. C., on
July 30, the twenty-fifth anniver
sary of the day he made the su
preme sacrifice for his country at
Chateau-Thierry in France.
TWO CATHOLIC PRIESTS are
among the four Army chaplains
who have trained specially in para
chuting in order to serve with
Uncle Sam's para-troopers during
an invasion, according to advices
received in Washington from 'an
invasion center in North Africa,
and are now believed serving with
the invasion forces in Sicily. The
priests are Capt. Matthew J. Con
nelly, O. S. B., of Denver, and
Lieut. Edwin J. Kozak, O. M. C., of
Baltimore. Father Kozak, the first
Catholic priest to become a quali
fied parachutist, has nine jumps to
his credit since serving at Fort
Benning, Ga., last fall.
A LIST containing the names of
a third of those Americans who
presently are held prisoners of
war by the Japanese has just been
received at the Vatican. The Holy
See is moving without delay to
communicate this list to the United
States Government and to the
Apostolic Delegation in Washing
ton, D. C.
| Pope Pius Voices Sorrow
Over Bombing of Rome in
Message to His Vicar
(By Radio to N. C. W. C.
News Service)
VATICAN CITY. — His Holi
ness Pope Pius XII has sent the
following message to His Emi
nence Francesco Cardinal Mar-
clietti-Selvaggiani, Vicar Gen
eral of His Holiness for the City
and District of Rome, relative to
the bombing of the Eternal
City:
To you, who so intimately share'
Our government and pastoral care
for this Diocese of Rome, center
and head of the Catholic world and
of Christian thought and faith. We
wish to address Our mind in an
hour of particular bitterness, in
which Our soul is immersed.
You know well how the sad
spectacle of multiplying havoc and
ruin—painful primacy of the pres
ent war—hanging over unarmed
and innocent populations, has
moved Us, from the very begin
ning the war, to attempt every
means to the end that, notwith
standing the conflict of arms, the
sentiments and" dictates of hu
manity should not remain com
pletely overwhelmed and suffocat
ed by passion.
Therefore, in Our messages to
all the Faithful. We recalled to
the belligerents, no matter on what
side they were fighting, that if
they wished to hold high the dig
nity of their nations and the honor
of their arms, they should respect
the' safety of peaceful citizens and
the monuments of faith and civili
zation.
Consider—We sought to tell
them—what a severe judgment
future generations will pass upon
those who destroy what ought to
be jealously protected as the rich
es and pride of all humanity and
of the progress of peoples. Con
sider that hate has never been
the father of peace, and that re
sentment arising from vast and
unnecessary destruction causes to
arise later, less stable and less
serene, the day of peaceful union,
which cannot consist in the humili
ation of the conquered, but rests
. and is consolidated only in broth
erly concord, pacifying the minds
of men and moderating the pas
sions of rancor.
As the Bishop of this beloved
city, We have striven with assidu
ous care—and Your Eminence has
followed all Our efforts—that Our
beloved Rome be spared the hor
rors and harm of bombardments.
Without recalling to mind the im
mense historical importance of the
ancient city, for Us Rome is the
Holy City of Catholicism, risen and
shining with dazzling glory in the
Name of Christ, rich in marvel
ous monuments of religion and
art, guardian of the most precious
documents and relics: Rome, whose
catacombs in the time of fiercest
persecutions were the first refuges
of the Christian people and of the
Martyrs who rendered sacred the
l amphitheaters and circuses, to
whose burial places people descend
to pray today as they did in the
very cradle of Christianity: Rome.
I in whose territory are scattered
the various organs of the Roman
Curia, numerous institutes and
Pontifical undertakings, interna
tional societies and colleges un
der Our dependence: so many sanc
tuaries, without mentioning Our
patriarchal Basilicas, so many
libraries and works of the most
famous artistic geniuses: Rome, to
whom people in such large num
bers come to learn not only the
faith but also the ancient wisdom,
and regard as a lighthouse of civi
lization founded upon Christian
virtue.
But besides, almost in center of
the city—and therefore exposed to
the danger of aerial attack—is Our
Vatican City, independent and
neutral State which guards price
less treasures qf faith and art,
sacred patrimony not only of the
Apostolic See but of the entire
Catholic world. All this We have
clearly and repeatedly made ap
parent in recommending the safe
ty of Rome to those *o whom it was
a duty to safeguard it in the name
of human dignity and Christian
civilization.
It seemed permitted to Us to
hope that the weight of such evi
dent arguments, the authority with
which We are unworthily invested,
the common acknowledgment of
Our superior impartiality and the
widespread, constant and benefi-
cient activity which We have un
dertaken for the good of all, with
out distinction of nationality or
religious affiliation, would have
obtained for Us, among so many
bitter experiences, the comfort of
finding among both contending bel
ligerents a favorable reception to
Our intercession on behalf of
Rome.
Unfortunately, however, this,
Our most reasonable hope, has
proved a disappointment. And now
the very thing We depracated has
happened: the very thing which
We feared and foresaw has become
a sad reality, because one of the
most notable of Roman Basilicas,
San Lorenzo Outside the Walls,
held sacred by all Catholics for its
ancient traditions and for the mag
nificent tomb of Our venerated
predecessor, Pius IX, is now al
most completely destroyed.
In contemplating the luins of
this monumental Basilica there
came to Our mind the words of
the Prophet Jeremias: “How is
the gold become dim. the finest
color changed, the stones of the
sanctuary are scattered in the top
oi every street?’’ (Lamentations
of Jeremias. 1V-1) The sor
rowful experience of these acts
proves once again that, de
spite the precautions which may
be taken, it is almost impossible
to avoid, on this sacred soil of
Rome, the destruction of venerated
edifices. Therefore, We deem it
Our duty once more to raise Our
voice in defense of the priceless
treasures that constitute the orna
ment of human and Christian
grandeur, also because it is Our
sacred intention, according to the
promptings of Our heart, to safe
guard and protect, in view of the
opinion of all right-thinking people
and of the judgment of future gen
erations, the deposit with , which 1
we have been entrusted to protect
and to transmit.
Even though Our words come ,
from a wounded heart they are in-
tended not as a spur to resentment 1
and hatred but. as We earnestly 1
hope, as an insistent and effica
cious recall to a sense of lofty
comprehension of the sacred des
tiny of Rome, no less than to hu
manity and Christian charity._
To Our beloved flock of Rome,
so severely tried and whose piti
ful conditions We were able to
see with Our own eyes in the midst
of recent ruins, We tried to bring
immediate and all possible relief
with the means at Our disposal. To
them We now say. show forth today
more than ever before the ardor
and proof of that faith for which
the Apostle of Gentiles gave praise
to your forebears. May Christian
resignation make your sorrow and
privation meritorious. May this
misfortune incite you to purify
your souls, to expiate your faults
and to return or draw more closely
to Our Lord.
All of Our children who look to
Rome and to the Vicar of Christ,
who, as Bishop, is their special and
affectionate father wherever they
may be. and Jn particular to all
those whose experience of personal
sorrow and that of others has made
them more compassionate towards :
the manifold human miseries, We :
urgently invite them with paternal ,
insistence to pray the Lord that
He may hasten the hour of His
mercy, when the weapons of war
are laid down and tranquillity of 1
the soul reigns once more, that
then the light and joy of true
peace may return once more and
shine x-esplendent on the ti’oubled
world.
With this hope in Our heart, We
impart to Your Eminence and to
Our beloved clergy and people of
Rome, the Apostolic Benediction.
THE REV. JOHN F. CRONIN,
S. S., Director of the Institute of
Catholic Social Studies at the
Catholic University of America,
will give the first of a series of
five addresses under the general
title of “The Path of Duty”, on
Sunday, August 1, over the na
tion-wide “Catholic Hour”, which
is broadcast each Sunday at 6 p.
m.. Eastern War Time, by the Na
tional Broadcasting Company, and
produced by the National Council
of Catholic Men. ■ "