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MARCH 31, 1944
THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
THREE
News Review of the Catholic World
Rickenbacker Scores
FIFTH YEAR OF HIS PONTIFICATE
Godless Education
(By N. C. W. C. News Service)
NEW YORK. — “For the most
part, our education in public
schools and colleges proceeds as if
there were no God, and leaves it
to the youngster to find out wheth
er there is or not,” Capt. Eddie
Rickenbacker, famous aviator and
hero of two wars, declared In an
address delivered here when he
received the American Education
Award of the ■ National Education
Association.
Deploring the lack of religion in
the public schol system of this
country, Mr. Rickenbacker said:
“As you may know, I have been
on virtually every front where
American boys are fighting in this
war. And, from the sands of the
Sahara to the snows of Alaska,
from the jungle islands of the Paci
fic to the bleak hills of China, I
have observed one outstanding
feature and that is that spiritual
strength provides our boys with a
discipline of soul which is their
real armor of fortitude against the
problems and sacrifices that be
set them. 1 can tell you right now
that while admirals may lead our
men at sea and generals direct our
soldiers of land and sky, the real
commander-in-chief of our fighters
everywhere is God. Most of our
boys are as conscious of His pre
sence and His influence as if He
were right by their side. . .
“My many experiences have
helped me to formulate a philoso
phy of education which would
place, as a central theme in all 1
educational efforts, an assumption
of God as a source of the laws of
life by which we are to govern
ourselves . . .
“I believe that if we had proper
spiritual development and the kind
of self-command it would develop,
many of the juvenile delinquency
problems that face us today would
be less difficult to solve.”
In an effort to give to his audi
ence of the National Educational
Association,his idea oFwhy Ameri
ca is in the war, Mr. Rickenbacker
quoted at length from the letter
which Commander John Joseph
Shea, of Cambridge, Mass., wi'ote
to his son not long before he went
to his death when the airplane car
rier Wasp was suhk.
It was in this letter that Com
mander Shea told his son to “be a
good Catholic and you can’t help
being a good American.”
“As we know,” Mr. Rickenback
er said, “Commander Shea did not
come home. He never will come
home. But this letter to his son will
stand forever as a monument that
typifies the spirit of those brave
nicn who have given, or are giving,
all they can for the freedom and
the future of America.”
The American Education Award,
which Mr. Rickenbacker received,
is given each year by the Associat
ed Exhibitors National Education
Association to a man or woman
who has made an outstanding con
tribution to the field of education.
DATING BACK to the very be
ginning of the nation, St. Patrick’s
Church, in the Nation's Capital
commemorated the 15Qth anniver
sary of its founding on the Feast
of St. Patrick, March 17, with
solemn services at which the most
Rev. Michael J. Curley, Arch
bishop of Baltimore and Washing
ton, pontificated at a Solemn Pon
tifical Mass. The Very Rev. Msgr.
Lawrence J. Shehan is the pres
ent pastor of the church, which is
situated in the heart of downtown
Washington—the eighth pastor
since the parish was founded.
The late Most Rev. William T.
Russell, Bishop of Charleston, was
the sixth pastor of the church.
FOUR AMONG SEVEN captains
in the U. S. Marine Corps Wom
en’s Reserve, who recently were
promoted to the rank of major,
are Catholics. One of them is
Major Frances W. Pepper, of
Washington, D. C., senior woman
officer of the Marine Base at Par
ris Island, S. C.
DURING LENT, week day Mass
es are offered at Millsaps College,
Jackson, Miss., a Methodist co
educational institution. In addi
tion to the regular students, 400
men are training there in the V-12
Navy program.
ARRANGEMENTS have been
completed for the forty-first an
nual meeting of the National Cath
olic Educational Association, which
will be held in Atlantic City, April
12-13, under the patronage of the
Most Rev. Bartholomew J. Eus
tace, Bishop of Camden.
His Holiness Pope Pius XII, who reached his 68th birthday on March
2, enters the fifth year of His Pontificate on March 12. He was elected
Pope on March 2, 1939, and was crowned ten days later. The cares
of a war-tom world show in this picture of the Holy Father taken
recently as he addressed a gathering- at the Vatican. (N.C.W.C.)
Unnecessary Destruction of Rome
Would Be Crime, N. YPaper Declares
(By N. C. W. C. News Service)
NEW YORK—Unnecessary de
struction of Rome by the Allies
would be a crime “against one of
the world’s greatest treasuries of
religious and historic art and tra
dition,” the New York Daily News,
secular tabloid, declares in an edi
torial entitled “By-Pass Rome If
Possible.”
Observing that “from this dis
tance, destruction of Rome does
not look like a military necessity,”
the writer takes issue with Secre
tary of State Cordell Hull’s ex
pressed opinion that if Rome is
destroyed in the Italian campaign,
the Germans will be to blame.
“Mr. Hull says German troops
are entrenched in assorted re
ligious shrines and monuments in
Rome, and the Allies may have to
blast them out,” the editorial
states. “Military necessities may
compel it. From this distance, de
struction of Rome does not look
like a military necessity.
“The Allies’ objective in the
European war is the defeat of
Germany. The way to defeat Ger
many is to invade Germany. It is
hard to see how we can defeat
Germany by leveling Rome, which
is way down in Italy, at great cost
to ourselves in men and materials,
and then fighting a long, tough
campaign up the mountainous
Italian peninsula and across the
Alps. That does not seem the
easiest road to the invasion of
Germany.
“We are told day in and day
out that millions of men and
mountains of material are piled
up in England waiting for the
order to smash at Hitler’s Fortress
Europe at some point or points on
the coast of western Europe. That
looks like the best bet for an
early defeat of Germany, tough
though the going will be and high
though our casualties-are likely-to
be.”
Apostolic Delegate Reports
on Efforts of Holy See to
Aid War Prisoners in Japan
(Radio. N. C. W. C. News Service)
VATICAN CITY.—The unflag
ging interest of the representa
tives of His Holiness Pope Pius
XII throughout the world to bring
every possible assistance to prison
ers of war everywhere is reflected
in a report from His Excellency
the Most Rev. Paul Marella, Apos
tolic Delegate to Japan, which
has just been published in Eccle-
sia, organ of the Vatican Office of
Information.
Archbishop Marella slates that
he has been able to obtain some
books for those held prisoners of
war in Japan, despite a notable
lack of English-language publica
tions. The Apostolic Delegate to
Japan reports, too, that he has ar
ranged for an acceptable letter
formula for correspondence be
tween Dutch East Indies l'esi-
dents and their families. The im
port shows that the Delegate has
interested himself also in behalf of
interned missionaries of diverse
nationalities. The Archbishop re-
ports that he is preparing a file
of prisoners of war who have died
and those who are still alive, for
aid in answering information
queries.
POPE MOST POPULAR
MAN IN ITALY, SAYS
BRITISH GENERAL
LONDON — His Holiness Pope
Pius XII is the most popular man
in Italy, General Carton de Wiart,
noted figure of this and the last
war, declared in an address to the
Royal Empire Society.
General de Wiart, who took part
in the negotiations attending the
end of hostilities between Italy and
the United Nations, said of His
Holiness; “I do not know what his
position in pre-war days was, but
his position today among Italians
and British prisoners-of-war in ex-
tra-oi'dinary. What he has done for
prisoners of war is tremendous,”
MYRON TAYLOR HEADS
TEMPORARY BOARD FOR
WAR RELIEF IN ITALY
(By N. C. W. C. News Service)
WASHINGTON, — Appointment
of a temporax-y board of 'trustees
for American relief in Italy was
announced by Joseph E. Davies,
chairman of the President’s War
Relief Control Board. Myron Tay
lor, personal repi'esentalive of
President Roosevelt at Vatican
City, Arturo Toscanini, famous
symphony conductor, Dr. Angelo
Patri, Don Ameehe, actor, and
Major General John H. Hilldring,
in charge of the Civil Affairs Divi
sion of the U. S. Army, will serve
as trustees with Mr. Taylor as
chairman. The trustees, Mr. Davies
explained, will be authorized to
employ a small staff at an office
tempox’ax'ily located at 57 William
Street, New York City, and to make
ai'rangements with the National
War Fund for the sending of
money to Italy for private relief as
soon as conditions permit.
PRIESTS PREPARING FOR
MISSIONS TO RUSSIA
LOS ANGELES,— Almost 100
priests in all parts of the world
now px-epax'ing to carry out the
mission of the Church in Russia
eagerly await the day when they
can carry the Cross into that coun-
try, according to the Rev. John H.
Ryder, S. J., pastor of St. Andrew’s
Russian Catholic Church here, who
is preparing himself for that mis
sion.
Father Ryder believes the mis
sion will be carried out in our
times. The ci-y of Russian souls
for the fountains of living water
will be heard, he says, and that day
will be hastened by the prayers of
earnest Christians the woi-ld over.
Within a few years, comparatively
speaking, he expresses hope, the
number of priests preparing for
the woi-k among the Russians will
increase to several hundred. Others
will follow in their training and,
if Providence permits in their foot
steps, he says.
Anne O'Hare McCormick
Awarded Laetare Medal
for ’44 by Notre Dame
(Special to The Bulletin)
NOTRE DAME, Ind. -- Anne
O’Hare McCormick, distinguished
writer and foreign correspondent,
was announced as the 62nd l'ecipi-
ent of the Laetare Medal, awarded
annually since 1883 by the Uni
versity of Notre Dame to an out
standing member ot the Catholic
laity in the United States.
Rev. J. Hugh O’Donnell, presi
dent of the University, in announc
ing the selection of this year's
medalist, said; “The Laetare Medal
for 1944 is awai'ded to Anne
O’Hare McCormick, distinguished
journalist and foreign correspond
ent of the New York Times. Her
brilliant reporting of national and
international events of history in
the making has been enriched by
a clarity and vision that has given
her preeminence in that field, as
evidenced by the fact that she was
the first woman to be awarded I he
Pulitzer Prize in Journalism. Yet
Mrs. McCormick has accepted all
honors with a gracious modesty so
characteristic of the noble woman
whose faith in God inspires her to
great heights in the pursuit of
truth.”
Mi-s. McCormick, 14th woman to
receive the Laetare Medal, has
been a member of the New York
Times staff since 1921, and in 1936
she became the first woman to
achieve a place on the editorial
board of the Times. She is general
ly recognized as one of the out
standing foreign correspondents of
her generation, and she is an au
thority on European political af
fairs.
Mrs. McConnick was born in
England and spent much of her
childhood traveling on the Contin
ent before coming to the United
States. She l-eceived her B. A. de
gree from St. Mary’s College, Co
lumbus, Ohio, and several years
later she was married to Francis J.
McCormick, Dayton, Ohio manu
facturer.
Mrs. McCormick and her hus
band traveled extensively, and in
1921 she began her articles for
the Times when she wrote the first
account of the l'ise of Fascism in
Italy. During the next few years
her ability io "be on the spot”
when big events wore breaking
established her reputation in the
newspaper field.
In 1937 Mrs. McCormick won
the Pulitzer Px'ize for distinguish
ed foreign correspondence. She
was selected as “Woman of 1939’.’
by px-ominent women's organiza
tions.
The time and place of the pre
sentation of the Laetai'e Medal to
Mrs. McCormick will be announced
at a later date.
The Laetare Medal was estab
lished in 1883 at the Univei'sity of
Noti-e Dame as an annual recogni
tion among the Catholic laity in
the United States. John Gilmary
Shea, famous historian, was the
first to receive the award. The
first woman to be selected as a
recipient was ai't ci'itic Eliza Allen
Starr, who received the medal in
1885.
The 1943 award went to Thomas
F. Woodlock, New Yoi'k author and I
editor of the Wall Street Journal.
In 1936 the Laetare Medal was
awarded to Richard Reid, at that
time executive secretary of the
Catholib- Laymen’s Association of
Georgia, and editor of The Bullet
in.
Women of Marine Corps
at Communion-Breakfast
in Jacksonville, N. C.
(By N. C. W. C. News Service)
WASHINGTON,—The first Com
munion Bi'eakfast of its kind to be
held in Jacksonville, N. C., was
arranged by the Women’s Division
of the National Catholic Communi
ty Service when 54 women Mai'ines
arrived at the Infant Jesus of
Prague Catholic Chapel there and
received Holy Communion in a
body. The Rev. William O’Byrne
the pastor, said the Mass and later
joined the gi'oup at the Pine Lodge
USO Club, where Miss Mary Ellen
Grazian of the NCCS had enlisted
the help of volunteers who pi'e-
pared the breakfast.
A gift box at each plate contain
ed a miraculous medal with chain.
Major General Henry L. Larsen,
Commanding Officer of Camp
Lejeune, px-incipal speaker at the
breakfast, said he was deeply im
pressed by the spiritual fervor evi
denced and emphasized the im
portance of l'eligious programs in
the development of community re
lationships. General Larsen also
Laetare Medalist
Mrs. Anne O'Hara McCormick,
member of the editorial board of
the “New York Times,” who has
ben named the Laetare Medalist
of 1944 by the University of Notre
Dame. (N. C. W. C.)
50,000 March in
St. Patrick's Day
Parade in New York
(By N. C- W. C. Ucws Service)
NEW YORK—The 50.00 Irish
marching up Fifth Avenue in a
heavy lain in the traditional pa
rade in honor of St. Patrick were
reviewed from the steps of St.
Patrick’s Cathedral by the Most
Rev. J. Francis A. Mclnlyx’e. rep
resenting Archbishop Spellman,
the Most Rev. John F. O’Hara
and the Most Rev. William T. Mc
Carty. military delegates, and Rt.
Rev. Msgr. Joseph P. Danahue,
vicar general of the Archdiocese
of New York.
Capt. Stephen J- Meany, chap
lain with the 165th Infantry at
Maikin. led the long line of march.
The parad was halted abreast of
the Cathedral while he ascended
the steps and knelt before the
Bishops. Father Meany, who was
shot down by a Japanese when
he went to the aid of a wounded
soldier, left the hospital at Fort
Dix, N. J., to lead the St. Pat
rick’s marchers.
Earlier in the day Bishop Mc
Intyre pontificated at Solemn
Mass in the Cathedral, with the
Rt. Rev. Msgr. Joseph A. Mc
Caffrey, spiritual director of the
Ax'chdiocesan Holy Name Society,
serving as assistant priest.
In the congregation were the
Irish Minister to the United States;
officers and members of the Sixty-
Ninth Regiment, New York State
Guard; membei's of the Ancient
Order of Hibernians and their
women’s auxiilai'y; members of
the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick of
the Catholic Historical Society, the
United Coynties Association and
of Clan-no-Gael.
The Rt. Rev. Msgr- Joseph F.
Flannelly, administrator. who
welcomed them to the Cathedral,
said that the Mass and pai'ade
“comprise one of the oldest tradi
tions of Christianity in the West.’*
He recalled that the first St.
Patrick's Parade was held in
March, 433 A. D., when St. Patrick
and his missionaries proceeded
from the Cathedral in Sabhall.
“The pi'oeession,” he said, “came
down the Hill of Slane in the
County of Meath. Thence, on
Easter Sunday moniing, led by
-St. Patrick, armed only with his
spiritual breastplate, trusting in
neither chariots or horses, it
moved over to Tara, wliei'e St.
Pati'ick confronted the Monarch
of all Ireland . and won from him
pei'mission to preach the Gospel.
That was the first St. Patrick's
parade.”
A DECREE of the Congi’egation
of Rites, published in Acte Aposto-
lica Scdis, regai'ding the applica
tion of saliva to the ears and nose
of an infant by the priest in per
forming the Sacrament of Baptism,
px'ovides that this practice is to be
omitted as often as reasonable “be
cause of hygiene or the danger of
contraction or spreading disease.”
complimented the Mai'ine women
on the work they are doing.
The Communion breakfast will
continue as a monthly activity,
sponsored by the NCCS.