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TWENTY
FEBRUARY 19, 1944
THE BULLETIN’ OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
Jewish Combat Correspondent Lauds Work
of Catholic Chaplain With Tarawa Marines
Hope Fades for Missioner
Reported Held by Japanese
Rev. Robert J. Cairns, Mary-
knoll Missionary in China,
Reported to Have Been
Beheaded by Japanese
NEW YORK. — Hope for the
safely of a Mary knoll Missioner,
the Rev. Robert J. Cairns, of Wor
cester, Mass., is diminishing day
by day. Dr. J. M. Henry, Pro
vost of Lingnan University, Can
ton. China, who was recently re
patriated aboard the Gripsholm,
reports that he and other Canton
internees could discover nothing
concerning the whereabouts of
the priests.
Father Cairns was pastor of
Sancian Island, the place where SI.
Francis Xavier died. He was ar
rested by the Japanese and taken
from the island aboard a Japanese
boat. Since that time he has never
been heal’d from.
Maryknoll priests on the main
land have received several reports
concerning Father Cairns. Some
Chinese on Sancian reported that
the Japanese killed him and threw
his body into the China Sea. When
fishermen found a panama hat
drifting in the water off Sancian,
the mission cook identified it as
that of Father Cairns. Other Chi
nese say they saw the Japanese
burn the missioner’s clothing and
books on the beach. A puppet
soldier reported that he had seen
Father Cairns beheaded and his
body thrown into the ocean.
Other Maryknollers in China
have received several vague re
ports (hat Father Cairns is being
held a prisoner by the Japanese
on a remote island. Another vague
report reached the American Red
Cross that the Missioner was being
held prisoner. No location of the
prison was given, and no further
news has ever been received.
FATHER CAIRNS
Father Cairns was born in
Glasgow, Scotland, but was reared
in Worcester, Mass., where he at
tended Holy Cross College. He
was an American citizen. Well
known in this country for his work
on Sancian Island, where he re
stored the shrine of St. Francis
Xavier, he was usually referred to
by his many friends as “Father
Sandy”. He also won prominence
lor his work in Canton among
Chinese war refugees.
Bishop Adloph Paehang, of
Martinsburg, Mo.. Superior of the
Kongmoon Maryknoll Mission to
which Father Cairns was attached
while hoping for the veteran mis
sioner to -turn up alive, has order
ed his missioners to say Masses for
the repose of Father Cairns'
soul.
ST. MARY’S SCHOOL, GREENVILLE—One of the outstanding results of the zeal of Monsignor A. K.
Gwynn, who last month completed his forty-fourth year as pastor of St. Mary's Church, Greenville, S.
C., is St. Mary’s Parochial School, conducted by the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy.
(By N. C. W. C. News Service)
WASHINGTON. — “F a t h e r
O’Neill was worth as much to the
boys of his Marine regiment as a
trainload of ammunition."
The evaluation was made by
Technical Sgt. Samuel Shaffer,
U. S. Marine Combat Correspond
ent. who learned I he precious
value of a traiojoad of ammuni-
*tion to a Marine regiment in the
ghastly adventures that were the
Battles of Tarawa and Guadal
canal. The Sergeant, who is of the
Jewish faith, also learned the
value of a chaplain to a Marine
regiment at the same places.
Sergeant Shaffer sings the par
ticular praises of Lt. William R.
O'Neil, a priest of the Archdio
cese of New York, now a Navy
chaplain serving with the Marines.
Father O’Neil and Sergeant Shaf
fer soldiered together in the same
regiment for 16 months, all but
two of which were spent overseas
in the South Pacific war zone.
“11 may sound strange to the
people over here where so much
is being done to maintain morale,
but I have found that the morale
of the troops stationed over there
is really high,” said Sergeant
Shaffer.
“There is no greater single con
tributing factor to the very high
morale of the troops over there
than the spiritual guidance the
boys are getting from the chap
lains. Why I can truthfully say
there isn’t a man in my regiment,
Catholic, Jew or Protestant, who
would not gladly lay down Ills life
for Father O'Neill. He talks the
language of the boys, lives their
kind of life and stands ready at
any time to help out any one of
the boys in his troubles, whether
they be spiritual or worldly.”
The “miracle of Father O’Neill’s
•Fourth Battalion' ” still is talked
about among the men of his reg
iment, Sergeant Shaffer said. It
happened at Guadalcanal. The
‘Fourth Battalion' was the name
nd* *ich was given by Father O'Neill
to a group of men whom he had
organized within the regiment.
“This ‘battalion’ was called ‘Our
Lady’s Battalion.’ and was com
posed of men who made promises
to say their Beads and wear me
dallions of Our Lady,” explained
the Combat Correspondent. “The
men were very devout and faith
ful to their pledge. The battalion
was organized just before we
moved into Guadalcanal and when
the battle was over, not a single
/nember of ‘Our Lady’s Battalion’
had been injured.”
After the Battle of Tarawa, Ser
geant Shaffer was injured and
was moved back to sick bay. The
fighting subsided, he said, and
Father O’Neill came to the sick
bay every night and visited every
patient. He spent “just as much if
not more time with a Protestant or
a Jewish boy as he did with a Cath
olic, and I often wondered when
he ever got to sleep,” the Ser
geant declared.
Sergeant Shaffer explained that
one of the jobs of a chaplain is to
write letters to the parents of
next-of-kin of those who have
been killed in action. He remark
ed: “Imagine the job Father
O’Neill had after the Battle of Ta
rawa. I can tell you that he never
wrote two letters alike. There was
no form letter stuff for him. Each
one he wrote was an individual
letter and straight from the heart.”
Well over 6-1'eet tall. Father
O’Neill makes an impressive sight
celebrating Mass at a altar set up
on shell cases, or on the hood of a
jeep, said Sergeant Shaffer. He
recalled only one time when Fa
ther O’Neill seemed “down in the
dumps.” It was in the mud of
Guadalcanal and, as Sergeant
Shaffer puts it, “there is no way to
describe that sticky stuff, you just
have to get in it to know what it’s
like.” After the chaplain had fin
ished his Mass on the particular
day. said the Combat Correspond
ent, he remarked: “Oh to say Mass
in a nice clean Church again. Oh
for the smell of Easter lilies: once
more."
Overseas when the Jewish Holy
Days approached, the Sergeant
continued. Father O’Neill made
arrangements to have the Jewish
boys of the outfit given liberty so
they could attend the services ala
place nearby, where he had ar
ranged witii a Rabbi to care for
them.
Father O’Neill always was in Ihe
front lines during battle, said Ser
geant Shaffer, hearing Confes
sions and giving spiritual consola
tion. The Combat Correspondent
remarked “many’s the time I saw
him lying in a foxhole or a shell
crater hearing a Confession.”
“The most moving sight I ever
saw in my life was on Christmas
Eve of 1942”, Sergeant Shaffer
recalled. “Our regiment was leav
ing a South Pacific port for Guad
alcanal. We were tied up at lock
and because we were going to
pull out at any time, there was no
liberty permitted. I don’t know
where he got them, but Father
O’Neill showed up with an organ, a
Victrola and some records of
Christmas hymns and carols. He
said Midnight Mass in a dingy
old shed at the wharf and it was
about the most beautiful thing I
ever saw.”
Sergeant Shaffer is no stranger
at a midnight Mass. He is a native
NEW POST CHAPLAIN
AT FORT MOULTRIE
(Special to The Bulletin)
CHARLESTON, S. C.—The Rev.
Bartholomew J. Leahy, a priest of
the Diocese of Omaha, formerly
stationed at SI. Mary's Church,
Laurel, Neb., has been appointed
post chaplain at Fort Moultrie.
Father Leahy attended Creigh
ton University in Omaha, and com
pleted his study for the priesthood
at Kenrick Seminary, St. Louis.
He also attended the University of
Chicago. Upon entering the Army
in August. 1941, as a first lieuten
ant, he attended the chaplains'
school at Fort Benjamin Harrison,
Ind., and following graduation was
assigned to Fort McClellan, Ala.
Later he was transferred to the
95th Infantry Division, 379th Regi
ment, serving with that unit at
Fort Sam Houston. Texas, Camp
Polk, La., and during the maneuv
ers in Louisiana.
In March, 1942, Chaplain Leahy
was promoted to the rank of cap
tain.
CATHOLIC WOMEN’S CLUB,
CHARLESTON, GIVES TEA
CHARLESTON, S. C.—Miss
Rose Mary Kelly and Mrs. Roy
Meevers, headed a committee from
the Catholic Women’s Club that
volunteered to serve as hostesses
at the tea given on the afternoon
of January 23 at the USO Club
operated by the Women’s Division
of the MCCS.
Mrs. Alice Moran, vice-presi
dent of the Women’s Club, pre
sided at the January meeting in
the absence of Mrs. Walter Mur
phy, the president.
of this city and before he joined
the Marines in June 1942, he was
a reporter on The Washington
Times-Herald. For a number of
years, he said he made it a prac
tice to attend Christmas Midnight
Mass at the National Shrine of the
Immaculate Conception, here.
Sergeant Shaffer, with an officer
and two other Combat Correspond
ents, was brought back to duty at
Marine Headquarters here after
the Battle of Tarawa.
Religious Leaders
Endorse Pledge to
Combat Prejudices
(By N. C. W. C. News Service)
NEW YORK. — The American
Jewish Committee’s four - point
program to combat racial dis
unity in America, which was ap
proved by the Most Rev. Francis
J. Spellman. Archbishop of New
York, following its proposal by
former Judge Joseph M. Pros-
kauer in a radio address, was in
dorsed by Bishop Henry St.
George Tucker, President of the
Federal Council of the Churches
of Christ in America.
“I am delighted to see that,
through the leadership of Arch
bishop Spellman and Bishop
Tucker, the oath which I suggest
ed as one means of combating the
‘divide and conquer’ tactics of our
Axis enemies has now become a
truly American inter-faith pledge,”
said Mr. Proskauer today, ex
pressing satisfaction at the in
dorsement by leading Catholic and
Protestant churchmen.
The text of the pledge follows:
“1. I will spread no rumor and
no slander against any sect. “2. I
will never try to indict a whole
people by reason of the delin
quency of any member. “3. I will
daily deal with every man in bus
iness, in social and in political re
lations, only on the basis of his
true individual worth. “4. In my
daily conduct I will consecrate
myself, hour by hour, to the
achievement of the highest ideal
of the dignity of mankind, human
equality, human, fellowship and
human brotherhood.”
Archbishop Spellman’s original
indorsement of this pledge was as
follows:
“Dear Judge Proskauer:
“I heard your statement on the
radio tonight, and I congratulate
you on it. I trust your noble ef
forts to be helpful in overcoming
religious and racial animosities
will bear fruit, and will promote
mutual respect, understanding and
tolerance among all groups of
Americans.”
Mass Now Offered Each
Sunday at Max ton, N. C.
(Special to The Bulletin)
MAXTON, N. C. — The first
scheduled Mass for Catholic resi
dents of the Maxton area was
celebrated on February 6 by the
Rev. Charles J. O’Connor, assis
tant pastor of St. James’ Church,
Hamlet, in the social room of the
USO Club in Maxton, operated by
the Y. M. C. A., with Michael
Frohlick as director.
Maxton is with the mission ter
ritory of the parish in Hamlet, but
has hitherto been unattended due
to the lack of a chapel and the
small number of Catholics, who
have been attending Mass at St.
Mary’s Church, Laurinburg.
Military maneuvers were held
near Maxton frequently in the
past year or so, and the Rev.
Howard V. Lane, pastor of St.
James' Church. Hamlet, who was
made an auxiliary chaplain, of
fered Mass several times near
Maxton for the army personnel.
Since the opening of the Laurln-
burg-Maxton Air Base, a large
number of army wives and their,
families have moved into the
neighborhood, and a survey was
made by Father O’Connor in Janu
ary to ascertain the number of
Catholics among the new residents.
The staff of the USO, with offi
cials of the Presbyterian Junior
College, in Maxton, cooperated
with Father O’Connor in making
the survey, which showed a. suffi
cient number of Catholics to make
the regular celebration of Mass
necessary.
Until the first Sunday in Febru
ary, two Masses were offered at
the Laurinburg Chapel, and pre
sently, and probably for the dura
tion, Mass will be celebrated on
Sundays at Laurinburg at 11 a. m.
and at Maxton at 12:15 p. m.
Masses are now being said in
Ghio and Rockingham as well as
in Hamlet, Laurinburg and Max-
ton
Watson and King, funeral direc-
tores, have generously offered tlie
use of their chapel for Sunday
Masses in Rockingham.
St. ibaivus HOSPITAL, GREENVILLE—The Sisters of the Poor of St. Francis, conduct St.
Francis Hospital, Greenville, S. C. Erected in 193 2, it has been necessary in recent years to build a
four-story addition in order to meet the ever increasing demands for the services of one of the most modern-
ly equipped and best operated hospitals in the South.