Newspaper Page Text
FEBRUARY 19, 1944
THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC^ LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
FIVE
Interior of St. Michael 9 s Church, Gastonia
Pictured above is the interior of St. Michael’s Church, Gastonia, North Carolina, which was the first
of the many churches and other religious structures erected from plans executed by the Rev. Michael Mc-
Inerney, O. S. B., noted priest-architect of Belmont Abbey. St. Michael’s was built in 1902, and has as its
present pastor the Rev. Alphonse Buss, O. S, B. The Rev. Cuthbert Allen, O. S. B., of Belmont Abbey
College, has for the last several months, been aidin g Father Alphonse in serving the parish.
Admiral Bellinger
Honored by U.D.C.
Charleston Chapter
St. Michael’s Parish, Gastonia
Founded by Benedictines in 1902
(Special to The Bulletin)
CHARLESTON. S. C—Rear Ad
miral Patrick N. L. Bellinger, chief
of the Atlantic fleet air forces, was
honored by the Charleston chapter
of the' United Daughters of the
Confederacy at exercises held on
January 19. in observance of the
birthday of General Robert E. Lee,
when he was presented with the
Cross of Military Srvice.
Eustace Bellinger, one of the
signers of the Ordinance of Seces
sion, was the admiral’s paternal
grandfather and his maternal great
uncle was the Right Rev. Patrick
N. Yynch, former Bishop of
Charleston, and envoy of the Con
federate States of America to the
Papal States.
Admiral Bellinger, a native of
Cheraw, has had a distinguished
career in the Navy as a sea and air
officer. He holds the Navy Cross,
awarded with the citation, “For
distinguished service in the line
of his profession as commanding
officer of the seaplane NC-1 which
made a long overseas flight, from
Newfoundland to the vicinity of
the Azores in May, 1919.” In addi
tion he has received the Mexican
service medal, the Victory. Medal,
aviation clasp, decoration, com
mander of the Military Older of
the Tower and Sword from the
government of Portugal, and the
American defense service medal,
fleet clasp.
ABBOT VINCENT TAKES
PART IN FORTY HOURS
DEVOTION IN SAVANNAH
(Special to The Bulletin)
SAVANNAH, C.a. — The Right
Rev. Vincent G. Taylor, O.S.B.,
D.D., Abbot-Ordinary of Belmont,
was celebrant of the Solemn Pon
tifical Mass which opened Forty
Hours Devotion at the Sacred
Heart Church here on January 3(1,
and officiated at the closing ser
vices on February 1.
Members of the Knights of. Co
lumbus, the Holy Name Society,
and the Sodality of the Blessed
Virgin participated in the proces
sion following the Mass, with
members of the Benedictine Cadet
corps acting as a guard of honor.
The sermon at the services held
on the first night of the devotions
was delivered by the Rev. John
Hayes, S.M.A., , of St. Anthony’s
Church, and the Rev. Eugene
Kearney, C. S. V., of St. Thomas
Vocational School, preached at the
services on the second night.
WILLIAM JACK CHOW, Catho
lic Chinese-American, has been
named Assistant District Attorney
of San Francisco. He is a native
of Fresno.
GASTONIA, N. C. — In noting
the progress of religion in the
South in general, and in North
Carolina in particular, attention
must be given to the extraordinary
development ol Belmont Abbey
and the work of its monks. The
founding of Belmont Abbey some
70 years ago recalls in many re
spects the early labors and zeal
of the monks of the Order found
ed by St. Benedict in the sixth
century, men to whom the western
world owes much of its civilization.
Because of the work done by
the Benedictines in North Caro
lina, the Holy See in 1910 raised
the Abbey to the dignity of an Ab
bey Nullius thus creating a dio
cese over which the Abbot of Bel
mont exercises spiritual jurisdic
tion. The largest city in the Abbey
Nullius today is Gastonia with a
population of about 23,000. It is
a splendid small city with fine in
stitutions—churches, schools, li
brary and civic organizations that
have intense city pride. It is an
industrial center, mostly textiles
and is the center around which
have been built over one hundred
cotton mills.
At the turn of the century many
Catholics came to this town and in
lime a Catholic church was neces
sary for their welfare. There was
at that time a young cleric-monk
at the Abbey, Frater Michael In-
lnerney, O. S. B., who had stu
died architecture before entering
the monastery. It was to him, in
1902, that the building of the Gas
tonia church was given and it was
to be his first church. Today he
is well known in the South as a
church architect and there are
hundreds of ecclesiastical build
ings, that are monuments of his
skill, energy and labors all over
the East.
St. Michael’s Church in Gas
tonia was erected by the Lay
Brothers of the Abbey, under Fr.
Michael’s direction in 1902. The
work progressed and in the spring
of 1903 the new church was ready
to be blessed and dedicated. To
quote the Charlotte Observer, the
Church “was a very neat frame
building—pleasing to the eye” and
on April 19, 1903, the late Bishop
Leo Haid, O. S. B., the Abbot of
Belmont Abbey and Vicar Aposto
lic of North Carolina, blessed the
church. He was assisted by the
late Very Rev. Felix Hintemeyer,
O.S.B., and the priests and semi
narians from the Abbey. After
the blessing and dedication the
Rev. Father Melchior Reichert, O.
S. B., the pastor,, celebrated the
first Mass in the church.
As the founder and first pastor,
Father Melchoir had charge of Gas
tonia until 1925, when he cele
brated his golden secerdotal jubi
lee. He was followed by the Rev.
Father Eugene Egan. O.S.B., and
other priests from the Abbey who
were pastors for short periods. In
1925 the Rev. Father Walter
O’Brien, O.S.B., took charge of the
parish and built the splendid rec
tory that now houses the pastor
of the church. Under his charge
the parish developed rapidly and
because of his winning personality
and zealous work, the parish be
came a potent factor in thii'cityof
Gastonia. In 1932 Father Walter
died and was succeeded by Father
Gerard Rellger, O. S. B., who, be
cause of ill health was recalled to
the Abbey in 1934.
He was succeeded by the Rev.
Father Cuthbert E. Allen, O. S, B„
who continued the active work of
his predecessors. He began a
summer vacation school for reli
gious instruction, arranged to have
the Catholic children transported
by bus to the schools and colleges
in Belmont, and organized, for the
Catholic boys, the first Catholic
Boys Scout troop in the State.
Father-Cuthbert was, in 1936, ap
pointed the Rector of Belmont
Abbey College and was succeeded
by the present pastor, Rev. Father
Alphonse Buss, O.S.B.
The Catholic population of the
city began to increase and the
work of the parish multiplied.
Father Alphonse met the task with
great zeal and hard work. He re
novated and decorated the church,
organized parish societies and be
gan plans for a future new church
and especially a Catholic school.
The church itself had aged and
was becoming too small for the in
creased Catholic population. The
large number of Catholic child
ren demanded a Catholic school.
To these two projects Father Al
phonse dedicated his energies and
enthusiasm.
At the present time, forty years
after the founding of the parish, a
larger plant consisting of Church,
School, Convent and rectory is
planned. It needs but the war to
end and materials to be available
to see this foresighted dream of
the pastor became a reality. Al
ready; part of the plans have been
effected. In 1938, a large piece of
property was purchased in a resi
dential section of the city. In
1942, a home was bought and a
School for the Catholic Children,
taught by the Sisters of Mercy of
Belmont, was opened. At the pre
sent time, in its second year, there
are 45 children in St. Michael's
School. The new church will be
built soon after the war.
With the Catholic population
growing steadily, and the Catho
lic church a strong influence in
the city, Father Alphonse dreams
and works for the day when a
plant, splendid enough for the
worship of God, a school large
enough to accommodate all the
children, a convent suitable for
the self sacrificing Sisters will add
Catholic honor to the beautiful
city of Gastonia.
VINCENTIAN CONDUCTS
N0VENA IN GREENVILLE
NOTRE DAME ACADEMY
Southern Pines, N. C.
A resident and Day School for Girls conducted by the Sisters
of Notre Dame de Namur. College Preparatory Course, Music,
Art, and Secretarial Subjects are offered. Extensive grounds in
the pine covered sandhills of North Carolina afford outdoor
recreation in riding, swimming, boating, tennis, archery, and
other sports.
The school is accreditted by the State of North Carolina,
For further information address the Sister Superior.
(Special to The Bulletin)
GREENVILLE, S. C.—The Rev.
Edward A. Sellman, C. M., of the
Vincentian Fathers Mission House,
St. Vincent’s Seminary, Philadel
phia, conducted a Novena in honor
of Our Lady of Lourdes at St.
Mary's Church here from Febru
ary 3 to February 11, the Feast of
Our Lady of Lourdes.
Monsignor Sheen Denounces
Soviet Attack on the Vatican
(Continued from Page One)
the word of the Savior on the
cross, ‘Father forgive them they
know not what they do.’ Their
condemnation is born of ignorance.
“The argument of the Soviets is
rather puerile. They accuse the
Vatican of fascism because it
‘maintained silence when Italy ati
tacked France in June 1940. Does
that makes the Vatican com
munist because the Vatican was
silent when Russia invaded Fin
land and Poland? And inciden-
tially, what was Russia doing for
France in 1940, particularly since
it was bound to France by a
treaty?
“The Soviets next accuse the
Vatican of ‘endorsing the Italian
conquest of Abyssinia.’ This is
just as untrue as to say that the
Vatican has endorsed the Soviet
conquest of the Baltics. The facts
are: (1) When Mussolini ordered
the illumination of - Rome to cele
brate the Abyssinian victory, the
only ddrk spot in Rome was the
Vatican; (2) when Mussolini or
dered all bells in Italy to ring
at 3:15 p. m. the date of the con
quest, the Vatican bells were
silent: (3) Pius XI rebuked the
Fascist press for distorting his ad
dress to the nurses on August 22,
1935, to make it appear that lie
favored the conquest; (4) when
Mussolini used strong efforts to
"have Pius XI crown Victor Em
manuel as Emperor of Abysinnia,
the Holy Father refused.
“The Soviets further charged
the Vatican with complicity with
Fascism in Spain. The facts are:
(2) the Vatican’s attitude toward
Spain was dictated not by politi
cal but by religious considerations.
If the Communist - Republican
group had supported religion or
was indifferent to it instead of des
troying 20,000 religious buildings,
while the nationalists persecuted
it, the Vatican would have favored
the Republicans; (2) Had the Re
publicans maintained neutrality
toward religion as did the popular
front in France the Vatican would
have remained neutral; (3) If to
morrow the Falangists persecuted
religion and burned churches and
a new party defended religion the
Vatican would condemn the Falan
gists and, let it be repeated, solely
on religious grounds and not on
political grounds; (4) The Holy
Father refused to join Italy and
Germany in recognizing the insur
gent leaders as the legitimate gov
ernment of Spain; (5) When the
refugees of Spanish persecution
did come to Rome he blessed them
for defending religion, reminding
them that their politics were bad,
warning that ‘intentions less pure,
selfish interests and mere party
feeling may easily enter into,
cloud and change the morality of
what is being done.’
It does little good however, to
discuss fascism. The term once
had a very definite connotation,
namely the absorption of the in
dividual into the State as com
munism is the absorption of the
individual into the class and
nazism is the absorption of the
individual into the race. There
is therefore no essential difference
in ideology between the three. In
the hands of the communists
however, the term fascism is now
one of abuse to cover all who are
anti-communist.
“As a matter of fact fascism is
really communism in its dotage.
Communism is the Asiatic form of
fascism and fascism is the Euro
pean form of communism. There
is as little difference between
Communism and Fascism as there
is between burglary and larceny.
“The Soviets use words very
cleverly. As they massacred
Jews under the name Trotskyite so
they label all anti-communists as
fascists. In this sense of the
term the Church is fascist but by
the same distorted language it is
communist because it is anti-nazi
and anti-fascist. The Vatican
within the last six months has
been called communist by the
nazis, fascist by the communists,
and anti-fascists by the fascists.
They all mean the same thing,
namely the Vatican is opposed to
anti-religious ideology. When the
Vatican condemned the attempt of
Germany to nazify Europe, the So
viets were silent because religion
played into their hands at that
time. But now when Russia is
about to barbarize Europe it con
demns the Vatican for the Vati
can is the only moral force left
standing between Europe and bar
barism.
“The Soviet condemnation of
the Vatican is merely an item in a
pattern which Russia is skillfully
working out. It is of one piece
with the recent Soviet condemna
tion of the British for their al
leged attempt to make a separate
peace with Germany. It thus
prepared for its own infidelity by
accusing a spouse of infidelity.
Having accused the political order
of connivances with the enemy it
now accuses religion. Thus does
Russia prepare both politically
and religiously for alienating itself
from the Allies and making a
separate peace with German.
“The charge against the Vati
can is no great surprise. Every
one who knows Russia knew it was
coming. What was unexpected,
however, was its timing. The fact
that it should come now rather
than a month later proves how
confident Russia really is in its
ability to control Europe. As
Russia already served notice that
America and Great Britain may
not interfere in the question of Po
land so now it serves notice on re
ligion that it may not interfere in
the question of Europe. Lenin once
boasted ‘the next country we will
make Communist will be Spain.
Then we will burn Europe from
both ends.’ The firebrands of
the house of European Christian
civilization are lighted by the ar
ticle in Izvcstia.
“Within the last two years there
can be found no record of Rus
sia's condemning Nazism. Now
even in the Moscow or Teheran
declarations, Stalin does not hate
Nazism or the German army.
“Ho hates only Hitler. Harry
Hopkins quoted him to that effect
in November, 1941.
“In November, 1942, Stalin
said, ‘The destruction of all Ger
man military force is inadvisable
from the point of view of the
victor.’ In July, 1943, lie permit
ted the free German committee to
broadcast asking Germany to ‘re
call the German troops to the
Reich’s frontiers and embark up
on peace negotiations.’
“Every day Russia is feeding
Germany with broadcasts saying
‘Save your army. It is the foun
dation and security of your sur
vival.’
“It is therefore not at all (tin-
likely that once Hitler is over
thrown from within Stalin will
make separate peace with the
German military staff. Perhaps
that is why the words ‘uncondi
tional surrender’ were left out of
the Teheran declaration.
“The danger facing Europe is
not Bolshevism as Hitler says. It
is Communazism, the union of
Pilate and Herod for condemning
Christ of death.
“On the whole, these false con
demnations by Russia of Great
Britain and the VStican may pro
duce much good. They may arouse
the American people to the realiza
tion that Stalin is not a cross be
tween George Washington and Sir
Galahad. Furthermore, they may
convince us that no nation whicit
denies freedom of speech and re
ligion to its own citizens can be
counted on to give to other nations
those rights which its own people
do not enjoy.
“Stalin is very clever. One of
his cleverest tricks was to tell the
President at Teheran that there
was a ‘plot’ against his life.
Churchill refused to fall for the
idea but the president took up
residence with Stalin. One can
not help but recall the time when
Russia was fooled by the same
‘plot’ trick when Alexander came
to France after the Napoleonic
defeat to impose peace on defeat
ed France. Talleyrand of France
said to him: ‘There is a plot
against your life. Do not stay with
your own people. Come and stay
with me.’ And Talleyrand got
what he wanted in the treaty.
“The time is now five minutes
to twelve. America must be pre
pared for Russia’s defection from
the common cause and for the de-
Christianization of Europe. The
time is not far distant when the
pre& of America will take from
its files the stirring words of the
President of the United States:
‘The Soviet Union is a dictatorship
as cruel and as absolute as any
other dictatorship on the face of
the earth’.”
MONSIGNOR SHEEN ANSWERS
SOVIETS’ LATEST ATTACK
WASHINGTON. — A Reuters
dispatch received in the United
States February 8 states that a
Russian publication has printed a
new attack on the Holy See, as
serting that true peace will be
possible only if the influence of
the Vatican has been removed.
Answering the new attack, the
Right Rev. Msgr. Fulton J. Sheen,
of the Catholic University of
America, said that the “second
blast” of the Soviets became nec
essary because the first had failed
flat.