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JULY 31, 1943 THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA FIFTEEN WITH OTHER EDITORS BOMBS FALL ON ROME Two short weeks ago, President Roosevelt assured the Holy Father that “churches and religious in stitutions will, to the extent that it is within 'our power, be spared the devastations of war in the neutral status of Vatican City do mains throughout Italy will be respected.” It is now obvious that the mes sage of the President was sent to His Holiness in anticipation of the bombing of military objectives one week later. The news of that bombing sent a chill through the souls of hundreds of millions of Catholics and of countless non- Catholics throughout the world. But the indignation of the Fas cists and the Nazis over the danger to Rome’s religious and cultural edifices and monuments leaves us cold. They are primarily respon sible for the bombing of Rome, and for the prior danger of having all Christian civilization topple on our heads. Was it necessary to bomb Rome? Was it advantageous? The Anglican Bishop of Litchfield in Englanck did not think so. Last month he told his clergy at a Diocesan Con ference: “I hold strongly to the view that to bomb Roije would be a crime against civilization and a betrayal of the very things for which we are fighting. Moreover, in my view, any military advantage we might gain thereby would be more than offset by the moral damage to our cause in the eyes of the world.” That was also our thought, our conviction. But the responsible public authorities of this nation and of the nations allied with us have decided otherwise. That is their right; they conceived it to be their duty. We respect their sin cerity. We can only hope and pray that our cause, the cause of free dom and justice, will not suffer moral damage to the extent that the Bishop of Litchfield feared. We say that it was the legal right of the Allied Forces, includ ing our own, to bomb Rome. Mili tary objectives are of course mili tary objectives in Rome as well as elsewhere. But the difficulty, the impossibility of bombing them in the Eternal City and sparing sacred edifices is illustrated by the great damage reported to have been done to the historic Church of San Lorenzo. Such incidents certainly would be multiplied by further air raids, despite the best intentions of our own and other Allied gov ernments. The sparing of the Vatican and Vatican territory from violation is not a courtesy extended to the Holy See; it is a right guaranteed by international law, the right of all neutral territories, the same right as that of Portugal, Sweden and Switzerland. The United States is bound by our traditional American fidelity to recognition of the moral obligation of internation al agreements to set an example in its respect for such rights. The Capital of Christendom Every capital of the European nations engaged in the war had been bombed except Rome. Tech nically, Rome is not the Vatican, but practically it is difficult and even impossible to distinguish be tween them. And Rome itself is not merely the capital of Italy. It is the capital of Christendom and of Christian culture and civilization. As such, it belongs not only to Italy but to every Catholic, every Christian, every religious-minded person anywhere under the blue canopy of heaven. Eight years less than fifteen centuries ago. Attila, king and general of the Huns, swept through Asia and Europe, leaving in his path a record of destruction and death unsurpassed in all history. As he turned toward Rome Pope Leo pleaded with him to spare the city. Attila, the barbarian, relent ed and agreed. Fifteen hundred additional years of Christian culture and civilza- tion make Rome infinitely more hallowed. Those at the gates of Rome today are not Attilas, but Christian leaders, battling for the survival of Christian principles. We have a right to hope, there fore, and to expect that there will be no more bombing of Rome. Fascist Italy is certainly, inevit ably, doomed to defeat, and any military advantage which might be gained by further bombing would, as the Bishop of Litchfield main tained. be more than overcome by other considerations. Or, as our own Archbishop of Detroit says: “A stray bomb released by mistake over Rome may do moral harm to our cause that far out weighs the military value of the most accurate destruction of enemy supplies.” —(The Catholic News) NCCW Diocesan Council Board Meets ni Macon MACON, Ga.—Promotion of the campaign to sell AVAR Stamps for the benefit of the National Catho lic School of Social Service was the principal business taken up at the board meeting of the Savan- nah-Atlanta Diocesan Council of the National Council of Catholic Women held here on July 8. Mrs. Grover Heyser, of Atlanta, is chairman of the campaign com mittee of the Diocesan Council, which has been asked to raise $5,000 of the $250,000 which has been set as the nation-wide goal. It was decided to add to the standing committees a committee on Legislation, - which would be headed by a member of the At lanta Deanery Council. A very comprehensive letter ex plaining the Equal Rights Amend ment, which the N. C. C. W. is opposing, was read by Miss Helen Nugent, secretary. The president's 'message, issued each month, will in future be sent to all affiliated organizations in the Diocesan Council. Messages of regret were received from the Most Rev. Gerald P. O’Hara, Bishop of Savanhah-At- lanta, and the Rt. Rev. Msgr. Jo seph E. Moylan, spiritual director of the Diocesan Council, on their inability to attend the meeting. Interesting reports were heard from the Deanery presidents, each stressing the splendid war work being done. Included was the re port of Mrs. John Lyons, Jr., of Savannah, which showed that with in the preceding six weeks, 3,325 surgical dressings had been de livered to the Red Cross. Mrs. William J. McAlpin, of At lanta, presided for the first time since her election at the conven tion held in Atlanta in May. Fifteen members attended the meeting and a luncheon at the Lanier Hotel. Members of the board in attend ance included Mrs. William J. Mc Alpin, Mrs. John Leamy, Mrs Frank M. White, Mrs. Leo Sulli van, Mrs. Grover Heyser, Atlanta; Mrs. John Lyons, Jr., Miss Helen Nugent, Miss Kate Latham, Mrs J. P. Folliard Savannah: Mrs. Gar rett Fleming, Columbus; Miss Mary Brosnan, Albany; Miss Anita Cassidy, Mrs. W. J. O’Shaughnes- sey, Mrs. Floyd Harris, Macon; Mrs. Joseph L. Herman. Miss Anna Rice, Mrs. M. C. Roberts, Augusta, with Mrs. John McCreary, presi dent of St. Joseph’s parish council in Macon, who was a special guest. Evidence Guild Speakers in Western North Carolina Three students of Rosary College for Girls, River Forest, Illinois, who are members of the Catholic Evidence Guild, with two Sisters from the faculty of the college, have been conducting a series of open-air explanations of Catholic doctrine and practices in the vast mission area of St. John’s parish, Waynesville, North Carolina The young women who are bringing the message of the Catholic Church to Western North Carolina, at the invitation of the Rev. Ambrose Rohrbacker, of Waynes ville, are, right to left, Miss Lucille Burke, of Oak Park, 111., Miss Mary Constance Woods, of St. Louis,' and Miss Betty Ryan, of Chicago. Evidence Guild Speakers Tour North Carolina Mission Area 100,000 fWWtow Tteeded To Save Georgia’s Crops M< LORE than 100,000 men and women, boys and girls, are urgent ly needed to help Georgia farmers harvest their 1943 crops. Unless this help is forthcoming, a part of our vital food production for this year will be lost. Our farms are actually short up wards of 100,000 workers. That many able-bodied young men have gone away to the armed forces and the war pi aifff, and there have been few replacements for them. The shortage of farm workers va ries from 15 to 30 per cent over the slate. ^faunal j4cnea$c ‘Planted In spite of this manpower short age, Georgia farmers have man aged, by dint of back-breaking work, to plant normal acreages. They have kept the fields, culti vated. They managed to harvest most of the early fruits and vege tables. They got along somehow with what help they had available: The biggest job—the harvesting of the main crops — lies ahead. It cannot all be done with the labor still left on the farms. Our Georgia food production now. needs the help of volunteers. We may be able to harvest all of our food if enough of us put in spare time work. *Voluntee~~ tyeun. If you live in town and have any free time at all, your help is need ed. Boys and girls, business men and housewives, are urged to of fer their services. If you were brought up on the farm or have had any farm experience, you will be especially useful. Register at once with your County Agent. He’s the man re sponsible for the manpower pro gram. Tell him YOU are willing to help save our priceless food supply. This advertisement published by the Agricultural Division of the Georgia Power Company, cooperating with the Georgia Agricultural Extension Service WAYNESVILLE, N. C. — The Catholic Evidence Guild of Rosary College, River Forest, 111., is again conducting a street preaching tour this summer in St. John’s Mission, Waynesville, N. C. St. John’s Mis sion is located in an area of 25,000 square miles with a million popu lation, which until recently had no Catholic church, although there were 3,000 non-Catholic churches in the same area. Nine years ago Rosary College organized classes for Catholic Evidence Training. Tours have been conducted for nine summers in Oklahoma and during the last two summers also in St. John’s Mission in North Carolina. The girls are trained for this work by their religion teacher, the Rt. Rev, Msgr. Reynold Hillenbrand, S. T. D., who is also Rector of St. Mary of the Lake Theological Seminary, Mundelein, 111. Accompanied by two Dominican Sisters, faculty members of Rosary College, Sister M. Aurelia, Ph. D., and Sister M. William, B. E., the college girls who are speaking in North Carolina this summer are Lucille Burke, Betty Ryan and Mary Constance Woods. Lucille Burke, of Oak Park, 111., just graduated from Rosary Col lege, majored in English and plans to teach English next year in the Chicago Area. She was president of her class during all four years at college. Betty Ryan, of Chicago, senior at Rosary College, is prefect of the College Evidence Guild for next year. Upon her graduation from college she plans to go into the diplomatic service. Mary Constance Woods, of St. Louis, Mo., junior at Rosary Col lege, is majoring in chemistry and mathematics. She plans to be a chemist, specializing in plastics. Wide awake and cheerful, all three girls like to read, play tennis and swim. They are all-i'ound young women with wide interests and hobbies. Each night during their street preaching tour, lasting one week in each town, the girls address their audience from the rear plat form of a station wagon on the busiest corner of Main Street. They use a public address system. Their nightly audiences average well over a hundred people. The ad dresses are broadcast over the nearby radio station, WMNC, at Asheville, N. C. Talks are given on the Church, the Divinity of Christ, Purgatory, the Bible, Prayer. Heaven, the Priesthood, the Religious Life, the Blessed Virgin, Confession, the Life of Christ. A question box is conducted. Questions are received and the answers, after being check ed by the local priest, are given by the girls the following night. Rosary College, in suburban River Forest, ten miles from the heart of Chicago, is a Catholic college for women, conducted by the Dominican Sisters of Sinsin- awa, Wis. The college has an A rating and is recognized by all standardizing authorities. The girl preachers are the pick of six hundred students enrolled at Rosary College. The girls are sel ected for their eloquence and de votion to the cause of Catholic Action. Dedication Services Are Broadcast From Cedartown Church (Special to The Bulletin) CEDARTOWN, Ga. — On Sun day, July 11, a half-hour program was broadcasted over Station WGAA here. The occasion was the unveiling and dedication of a statue of the Blessed Virgin and a statue of St. Bernadette. The statue of Our Lady was donated to the church by S. J. Sherlock, Patrick Sherlock, Michael Sherlock, John J. Sherlock Patrick Carroll, James Carroll, Thomas Reiley, and the statue of St. Bernadette was donated by J. P. Gilmore, Jr., of Rockmart. The Rev. Leo Zeibarth, S. M., of Marist College. Atlanta, acted as announcer, an,d the sermon on Our Blessed Lady and St. Bernadette was delivered by the Rev. James McCann, C. SS. R., pastor of St. Bernadette’s. Hymns were sung during the dedication and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, which follow ed, by the choir of St. Mary’s Church. Rome, under the direction of Karl Selter, with Miss Alice Corbitt as soloist, and Miss Jane Fahy, organist. £== TIIE ALABAMA STATE SEN ATE has voted ar indefinite post ponement of a bill which would provide for the legalization of ster ilizing the feeble-minded and per sons who suffer from certain here ditary forms of insanity. HIS HOLINESS POPE PIUS XII recently granted anaudience to the British Minister to the Vatican, Sir Francis D’Arcy Godolphin Os borne. "The British envoy had just returned to Vatican City from England where he was knighted by King George VI. Bishop Walsh on Program at Dedication of New US0 Club in Charleston (Special to The Bulletin) CHARLESTON, S. C.—Charles ton’s newest recreation center for service men, operated by the United Service Organization, was open on June 27 for the men sta tioned at the port of embarka tion. The new club is located in the building formerly occupied by'the Berkeley Jungles night club, on the Yeaman’s Hall road near North Charleston. Rear Admiral Jures James, com mandant of the Charleston Navy Yard and the Sixth Naval District, made the principal address at the dedication ceremony, stressing the value of the USO clubs as recrea tional centers for the men and women of the armed forces. J. Albert Von Dohlen was chair man of the program and acted as master of ceremonies. Colonel John E. Earle, special service offi cer for the port of embarkation, represented Brigadier General James T. Duke, commanding offi cer of the port, who was unable to be present. Milton A. Pearlstine spoke for the USO Council of Charleston, and music was rurnished by the port of embarkation band, with Miss Alice Moran as soloist. His Excellency the Most Rev. Emmet M. Walsh, D. D.. Bishop of Charleston, delivered the in vocation. and spoke on the .co operation of the six groups which made up the United Service Or ganizations, and emphasized the importance of religion in the lives of the soldiers. Lieut. Col. Henry N. Blanchard, chaplain of the port of embarkation, pronounced th« benediction. _ .