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FOURTEEN
THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
JULY 31,1943
THE BULLETIN
The Official Organ of the Catholic Laymen’s
Association of Georgia, Incorporated.
HUGH KINCHLEY, Editor
216-217 Southern Finance Building, Augusta, Ga.
ASSOCIATION OFFICERS FOR 1942-1943
BERNARD J KANE, Atlanta President
MARTIN J. CALLAGHAN, Macon, 1st Vice-Pres.
J. B. McCALLUM. Atlanta Secretary
HUGH GRADY. Savannah Treasurer
HUGH KINCHLEY, Augusta Executive Secretary
MISS CECILE FERRY, Augusta, Asst. Exec. Secty.
A. M McAULIFFE. Augusta — Auditor
Vol XXIV
July 31. 1943
No. 7
Entered as second class matter June 15. 1921. at the Post
Office at Augusta. Ga_ under act of March. 1879 Ac
cepted for mailing at special rate of postage provided for
in Section 1103. Act of October 3. 1917 authorized Sept.
1. 1921
Member of N C W C. News Service the Catholic Press
Association of the United States, the Georgia Press Asso.
ciation and the National Editorial Association
Published monthly by the Publicity Department with the
Approbation of the Most Reverend Bishops of Raleigh,
Charleston, and Savannah-Atlanta, and of the Right Rev
erend Abbot Ordinary of Bel mont.
The City and The World
T rIE CITY OF ROME was bombed by Allied air
men and the whole world felt the reverberation.
Though the attack from the air, which was
directed against military objectives, airports and
communication centers, might have been suspected
as a imminent from the recent assurance given His
Holiness Pope Pius XII by President Roosevelt, that
church and religious institutions in Italy would be
spared the devastation war “to the extent that is
within our power,” none the less to the world in
general, as well as the Catholics of the world, the
news that “The Eternal City” had been blasted by
bombs, came with a shock that varied in its degree.
To understand the feeling of the Catholic people
of the Allied nations, whose desire for a swift and
complete victory over the Axis powers is no whit
less than that of their non-Catholic fellow-country
men, it might be well to consider what Rome means
to Catholics of every race and nation.
It would be difficult to find a better presentation
of the reason for the attachment which Catholics
throughout the world have for Rome than that
which may be found in the introduction to the
article on “Rome” which is given in The Catholic
Encyclopedia.
“The significance of Rome lies primarily in the
fact that it is the city of the Pope. The Bishop of
Rome, as the successor of Saint Peter, is the Vicar
of Christ on earth and the visible head of the Cath
olic Church. Rome is consequently the center of
unity in belief, the source of ecclesiastical jurisdic
tion and the seat of supreme authority which can
bind by its enactments the faithful throughout the
world. The Diocese of Rome is known as the ‘See
of Peter,’ the ‘Apostolic See,’ the ‘Holy Roman
Church,’ the ‘Holy See’—titles which indicate its
unique position in Christendom and suggest the
origin of its pre-eminence. Rome, more than any
other city, bears witness both to the splendor of
the pagan world and the triumph of Christianity.
It is here that the history of the Church can be
traced from the earliest days, from the humble
beginnings in the Catacombs to the majestic ritual
of St. Peter’s. At every turn one comes upon places
hallowed by the deaths of martyrs, the lives of
innumerable saints, the memories of wise and holy
pontiffs. From Rome the bearers of the Gospel
message went out to the peoples of Europe and
eventually to the uttermost ends of the earth. To
Rome, again, in every age, countless pilgrims have
thronged from all the nations, and especially from
English-speaking countries. With religion the mis
sionaries carried the best elements of ancient cul
ture and civilization which Rome had preserved
amid all the vicissitudes of barbaric invasion. To
these treasures of antiquity have been added the
productions of a nobler art inspired by higher ideals,
that have filled Rome with masterpieces in archi
tecture, painting and sculpture. These appeal indeed
to every mind endowed with artistic perception;
but their full meaning only the Catholic believer
can appreciate, because he alone, in his deepest
thought and feeling is at one with the spirit that
pulsates here in the heart of the Christian world.”
Mindful of the place that Rome holds in every
Catholic heart, regardless of personal nationality,
no one should be surprised that Catholics regret
that the bombing of Rome was regarded as an es
sential part of the military strategy of the Allied
nations.
It is strikingly evident that the leaders of the
Allied nations realized that the bombing of Romi
was something different from the bombing of Ber
lin, or Tokyo, or even the bombing of London, Paris,
Moscow, Warsaw or Washington.
No other raid was planned so long or so carefully.
Members of the crews of the raiding planes were
those who were believed to be especially fitted for
the task. Every effort was made to insure that only
purely military objectives would be targets. Though
it meant a more dangerous mission, the raid was
carried out in broad daylight, to avoid as far as
was humanly possible, any damage to religious or
cultural shrines.
It was unfortunate that in spite of all precautions
the ancient and venerable Basilica of San Lorenzo,
dating back to the fourth century, should have suf
fered damage to an extent not yet fully revealed.
Members of he American Hierarchy are unan
imous in their professions of grief that the aged
and venerable shrines of Christianity had been en
dangered, some of them strongly denouncing the
Fascist regime in Italy, which through its failure
to declare Rome an “open city” has exposed sacred
edifices and historical monuments to probable, and
it has been proved, possible damage from the air.
Our own beloved Bishop, His Excellency the Most
Reverend Gerald P. O'Hara, Bishop of Savannah-
Atlanta. who spent six years in Rome, who had
many friends there, and who holds in pleasant
recollection his associations with “The Eternal
City,” in an interview given to a representative of
The Atlanta Journal, said that he “never thought
that the City of Rome would be bombed,” and that
he had been saddened to hear-that the bombing had
taken place. -—. '
His Eminence William Cardinal O'Connell,
Archbishop of Boston, said “The painful news of
the bombardment of Rome must fill the hearts of
all Christians with sorrow and sadness. The soil of
Rome is sacred, made holy by the lives and deaths
of Apostle's, confessors and martyrs, not of one but
of many races." For twenty centuries it has been the
center of Christianity from which has radiated the
influence of those glorious Apostles who carried
Christian civilization and Christian culture to the
ends of the world.”
"The City of Rome is a sacred place, filled with
the shrines of Christ’s holy religion. Many of these
wonderful fanes contain the ashes of the most
heroic Saints of history and above their tombs
have been elevated structures of the finest archi
tecture and the most artistic decorations. Here both
religion and art in their highest sense have com
bined to create a glory which is unique in the .world.
“For that reason the prayers of all Christendom
have ascended to the Throne of God begging divine
intervention for its safety and preservation. For to
all Christians the world over, Catholic, Christian,
Papal Rome has been their spiritual home on earth.”
Among the first statements coming from a mem
ber of the Hierarchy was that of the Most Reverend
Edward Mooney, Archbishop of Detroit and Chair
man of the Administrative Board of the National
Catholic Welfare Conference, which is quoted at
length on another page.
The Most Reverend John J. Glennon, Archbishop
of St. Louis, said: “I regret very much the attack
of our air forces on the City of Rome. It is the City
of Peter, the center of the Catholic Christian world,
the home of the successor of the Prince of the
Apostles, the Vicar of Christ, Pope Pius XII.
“Knowing the great' devotion of His Holiness to
the sacred cause of peace and how earnestly he
has struggled to bring it back to a war-tom world,
one can readily understand the anguish his sensi
tive soul must have felt as these noisy messengers
of death hurled their bombs at the Eternal City.”
“I regret the bombing of Rome was considered
necessary, while grateful for the care which was
evidently taken to avoid the destruction of monu
ments and churches,” said the Most Reverend Bar
tholomew J. Eustace, Bishop of Camden. “I de
voutly hope that no further bombing will touch
the city.”
The Most Reverend Louis B. Kucera, Bishop of
Lincoln, said: “There can be no objection to Allied
bombing of military objectives wherever they may
be found. Everyone regrets the bombing of Rome.
Everyone regrets the bombing of any city. But it
becomes necessary in time of war. Rome, after all,
does not belong to the Catholics alone. Its great
treasures belong to the entire world—to all hu
manity.”
The Most Reverend Joseph P. Hurley, Bishop of
St. Augustine, our neighboring Diocese, said he was
“pained beyond expression” by the word of the
bombing of Rome. He accused the Fascist Govern
ment of seeking “with craven cunning” to protect
military activities by carrying them on “within the
shadow of the sacred shrines of Christendom.”
The Most Reverend James J. Hartley, Bishop of
Columbus, said: “Our American troops do not wish
to bomb Rome. The sacred shrines and ancient
monuments belong to civilization—and the Church
has guarded them throughout the ages. The muni
tions plants and military posts outside the city
may meet with disaster—but our troops have been
instructed not to touch the sacred shrines or an
cient mins and monuments. These are historic
treasures that belong to the world and civilization.
Our troops will not destroy them.”
Elmer Murphy, Washington correspondent of the
N. C. C. W. News Service, states that the official
Washington attitude regarding the bombing of
Rome is to let the facts speak for themselves.
It is pointed out that the ancient capital and seat
of Christendom is also an industrial city turning
out munitions and war equipment and is a trans
portation center from which troops are distributed
to the fighting fronts. Acting Secretary of War Pat
terson asserted that former Premier Mussolini
“resisted all efforts to persuade him to remove
military installations and to preserve its immunity
from attack by declaring Rome an open city. The
implication is, therefore, that the Fascist govern
ment is responsible for what happened. Military
necessity is given as the reason for the bombing.
It is also pointed out that every possible precau
tion was taken to confine the bombing to those
military installations which are playing an import
ant part in the Sicilian campaign. At the same time,
the possibility that a stray bomb might hit outside
the chosen target was not overlooked. This program
for the attack was apparently carried out. Unfor
tunately, official Washington feels, the possible
happened, and the historic Church of San Lorenzo
was damaged.
Continuing, Mr. Murphy says that while official
comment has been restricted, there is no doubt that
the regret expressed by the Holy Father is shared
by officials in Washington.
Naturally, the bombing of Rome has occasioned
widespread comment in the Catholic press of the
United States, in fact in the Catholic press through
out the world.
The Indiana Catholic and Record declares that:
“In view of the possible reaction to this bombing,
the absence of any English participants in the raid
is of interest,’ and inquires whether this absence
was because of choice or because of circumstances.
The New World, Chicago’s official Catholic paper,
states: “Rome has been the centrum of a thousand
hates and loves since the day Peter fled that city
to escape the cross of his Master. Barbarians and
even Christians have taken turns in trampling over
the glory of the great city. But we are certain
that the American assault was not measured by
animus against the foundations and traditions of
Rome and the Holy See. . . . Unfortunately there
seems to be no solution to the horrors which war
brings in its wake, except the peace for. which all
long, the just peace to which the Roman Pontiff
pointed as our only hope.”
“Rome has been burnt and sacked many times
since St. Peter was the first Pope,” says The Stand
ard and Times, Philadelphia. “These disasters had
not the slightest effect upon the stability of the
Church.”
May we hope, prayerfully, that this first aerial
bombing of Rome may be the last that is necessary
to hasten the day of victory which will bring the
blessing of peace to the city and the world.
Dixie Musings
Members of St. Anthony’s par
ish in Atlanta are proud of the
fact that the Rev. John J. O’Shea
asistant pastor at St. Anthony’s,
has three brothers in the nation’s
armed forces. James O’Shea, of
the U. S. Army Air Force, is sta
tioned in Washington, D. C.; Ger
ald O’Shea, also of the U. S. A. A.
F., is stationed in Biloxi, Miss.,
and Arthur O’Shea, a recent grad
uate of Marist College, is now re
ceiving his basic training.
Father O'Shea and his brothers
arez'Sons of Mrs. J. J. O’Shea, of
Atlanta. Their father, the late
James J. O'Shea, was at the time
of his death, several years ago,
auditor of the Georgia Railroad
and its associated lines. The
O’Shea family moved to Atlanta
from Augusta when the general
offices of the railroad were moved
to that city.
Father Paul J. Callens, S. J., of
Loyola University of the South,
New Orleans, has prepared a
phonograph record covering “The
Versicles and Responses at Mass”
for the instruction of acolytes.
The record includes interpolation
and directions for the serving of
Mass.
Lieutenant Catherine Grogan,
Army nurse, one of the “fighting
Grogans,” whose brother Lieuten
ant Thomas W. Grogan, is station
ed in Macon, was one of four
nurses presented to King George
VI, of England, when he made a
surprise visit to a convalescent
camp during his visit to North
Africa.
Lieutenant Grogan is a member
of a group of flying nurses w r ho
evacuated wounded American sol
diers from the battlefields in the
Tunisian campaign.
Lieutenant Grogan, from Co
lumbus, Ohio, has four brothers in
the service, Major Frank R. Gro
gan, a flying doctor in Africa;
Corporal Martin Grogan, fighting
in the South Pacific 'area; and
Staff Sergeant Martin Grogan, of
Randolph Field, Texas, in addition
to her brother stationed in Geor
gia. Another . brother, Joseph B.
Grogan, is chief of police in
Athens, Ohio.
According to The Catholic Light,
students of the Faith Presbyterian
Theological Seminary, in Wilming
ton, Delaware, were recently torn
between their love of beauty and
their equal need of food. They
lived in a famous old- building
with a famous flower garden in
their backyard that delighted
their aesthetic sense. But space
was required to satiate the need
of the food that would be yielded
by a victory garden.- After much
deliberation they referred the
matter to their next door neigh
bor, the Most Rev. Edmund J.
FitzMaurice, Bishop of Wilming
ton. Today the students are ad
miring the flowers in their own
back yard and weeding the vege
tables growing in their victory
garden, on what was formerly the
Bishop’s front lawn.
More than 14,000 letters have
been sent out out by the Military
Ordinariate in New York to rela
tives of American servicemen of
all religious beliefs whom the
Most Rev. Francis J. Spellman,
Military Vicar of the United
States Armed Forces, has met and
greeted personally during his tour
abroad.
It has been Archbishop Spell
man’s custom to ask the soldiers
he meets if they wish him to send
a message home. The messages
have been coming in at the rate
of a thousand a week, and the task
of forwarding them all over the
United States is performed by the
staff of the Ordinariate. The con
solation and joy they bring to the
families who receive them is at
tested to by the fact that every
letter sent out has been acknow
ledged with gratitude.
Naturally, when reports reach
this office that a particular issue
of The Bulletin has given pleas
ure to its readers, there is occa
sion to rejoice, and the editor of
The Bulletin is happy in the know
ledge that the June issue, which
featured the bestowal of the Pa
pal Medal “Pro Ecclesia et Ponti-
fice” on Martin J. Callaghan,
vice-president of the Catholic Lay
men’s Association of Georgia, has
evoked such kindly comment.
At the same time, it seems only
just to admit, that the credit for
any excellence which the issue
possessed should be given John J.
McCreary, of Macon, who was
largely responsible for much of
what appeared in these pages last
month.
The new Californa law permit
ting the release of public school
children from regular classes to
attend religious instruction periods
drew high praise from the Most
Rev. Charles F. Buddy, Bishop of
San Diego, who asserted the move
\vill do much toward quelling the
growing tide of juvenile delin
quency in many communities.
A book entitled “Man’s Un
known Ancestors”, writen by the
Rev- Raymond W. Murray, C. S.
C., head of the department of
sociology at the University of
Notre Dame and published in Mil
waukee by the Bruce Publishing
Co., deals with the problems of
evolution, pre-history and enthro-
pology in accordance with the the
ological and moral teachings of the
Church. - —
During the recent consecration
of the Most Rev. Joseph A. Burke
as Auxiliary Bishop of Buffalo, at
St. Joseph’s Cathedral in that
city, a greeting from the non-Cath-
olics of Buffalo rang forth from
the belfry of the North Presbyte
rian Church, across the avenue
from the Cathedral.
KIPA, Swiss Catholic news ag
ency, reports that many French
priests'have volunteered as sim
ple laborers and have gone to
Germany in that capacity, in order
that the French workers condemn
ed to forced labor in the Reich
may not be without spiritual as
sistance.
These priest-workers perform
their required day’s work and in
their off-hours dedicate them
selves to the spiritual care of their
compatriots. His Holiness Pope
Pius XII has granted them wide
faculties. If they are not free in
the morning, they may celebrate
Mass in the afternoon or evening.
They may offer up three Masses
on Sunday.
Speaking of coincidence—■
James B., Mulherin, Augusta at
torney, and chairman of the Re
treat Section of the Catholic Lay
men’s Association of Georgia,
served during the first World War
as a first lieutenant of infantry in
the 7th Division, after having seen
service on the Mexican border as
an officer of the Richmond Huz-
zars, a National Guard unit from
Augusta.
Lieutenant Mulherin was given
his discharge from active duty in
Atlanta, on June 28, 1919.
Exactly 24 years later, to the
day, on June 28, 1943, in Atlanta,
Lieutenant Mulherin’s son, Mat
thew William Mulherin, was in
ducted into the United States
Navy.
St. Peter’s Church, of which the
Very Rev. Martin C. Murphy, V.
F.. is pastor, was featured on the
Church Directory page of The
State, of Columbia, S. C-, in its
issue of July 3. A brief history
of St. Peter’s parish was published
with a picture of the church.
Divorces are outnumbering mar
riages in some instances actually
more than two to one in Los An
geles County, Calif., a study of
vital statistics in daily newspapers
indicates. In one Los Angeles
daily recently there were recor ded
57 legal separations as opposed to
25 marriages. Additional to the
legal separations were records of
25 new divorce suits filed.
THE DECLARATION of His
Holiness Pope Pius XII that those
States which permit legislation
which strikes at the indissolubil
ity of the marriage bond are con
tributing to their own undoing was
emphasized in an article in
L’Osservatore Romano by Prof.
Guido Gonella.
Paying homage to the memory
of Commander Howard W. Gil
more, courageous Catholic sub
marine commander, whose order
“take her down” sacrificed ids
own life in order to save the un
dersea craft he commanded and
all its crew from Japanese attack,
the Navy has rechristened the
submarine tender U. S. S. Neptune
with Commander Gilmore’s name.
An all-day ceremony, attended
by Church, Government and State
dignitaries and more than 700
Catholic Navajo Indians, marked
the dedication of and blessing of
the new chapel community house
for the area in the shadow on Tse-
hill Peak, near Window Rock, Ari
zona.
Following the Solemn Mass and
dedication, there was a barbecue
luncheon prepared by the Navajo
women, while in the afternoon
there was a flag raising ceremony,
a field day and a rodeo. —H. K.