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APRIL 22, 1944
THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
NINE'
Preservation of Rome Is Urged-
Prominent Persons and Secular
Newspapers Echo Pope’s Plea
(By N. C. W. C. News Service)
Prompted by the precarious po
sition into . which Rome has been
plunged by the progress of World
War II, a wave of appeals for pre
servation of the Eternal City has
welled from a host of American
personages—not only Catholics,
hut also many non-Catholics—
while a considerable number of
the nation’s secular newspapers
have published editorials urging
that the city not be turned ipto a
battleground.
The entire Hierarchy in this
country have joined with Catho
lic prelates the world over in urg
ing belligerents to heed the plea
if the Pope for the preservation
>f Rome, ahd in calling upon the
aithful to offer special prayers for
his intention.
Editorials published in the New
York Dally ■ news arid’the Wash
ington Times-Hcrald, emphasizing
the futility of turning Rome into
a battleground, pointedly observ
ed: “All we got out of destroying
the Monte Cassino Monastery was
destruction of a historic and religi
ous monument. We dealt the town
of Cassino a record bombing, but
the resulting rubble proved to be
better, if anything, for the Ger
man defenders than were the
buildings, because piles of rubble
are thicker than walls.”
APPEALS FOR “OPEN CITY”
Nor have non-Catholic prelates
'been silent.
“Rome belongs to all mankind,”
declared the Protestant Bishop of
Maryland, the Rt. Rev. Noble C.
Powell, “and how any person who
values our cultural heritage could
view with equanimity the destruc
tion of the priceless monuments
in that city is boyond my imagi
nation.’ Observing, however, that
we are faced with the “cruel fact
of war” and cannot put “a monu
ment first before the lives of our
soldiers,” Bishop Powell, echoing
Pope Pius XII’s appeal, Laid that
“Rome can easily be saved if the
German command will declare it
an open city and have it so accept
ed by the Allied command.”
Mayor Theodore R. McKeldin, of
Baltimore, joining in the appeal to
save Rome, declared that “it is
unthinkable that our nation would
willingly see omitted any practi
cable measure for safeguarding
this ancient city.”
James Truslow Adams, histor
ian .educator and author of “The
Living Jefferson” and other vol
umes, reminding that Hitler, “an
international criminal is at large,”
declared: “The destruction of
Rome would be an international
crime.” He called upon the Ger
mans to fulfill their pledge and
withdraw from Rome, declaring:
“There is no one whose heart is
more sunk by the possibility of
the loss of great art treasures than
myself. Browning once said that
everyone has two countries—his
own and Italy. Italy is my second
country. I have enjoyed its hos
pitality for long periods and I have
revelled in its art treasures. I
have a deep affection for Rome
and its great cultural and religi
ous significance.”
George N. Shuster, president of
Hunter College, advocated turn
ing Rome into an “open city,” as
has been suggested by the Holy
Father. Mr. Shuster asserted:
“Italy is the fountain-head of
much of our art and literature and
culture, and any measure that can
be taken to save the Eternal City
will be of incalculable benefit to
humanity . . .
“Every one loves, these great
shrines and every means that can
be employed to spare them should
be explored.”
With the New York Journal-
American as the spearhead, the
chain of Hearst newspapers
throughout the country has been
conducting through editorials and
comments from prominent persons
a campaign to spare Rome. In an
editorial, the Journal-Ainerican
stated:
"Rome is not the ‘Eternal city’
to Italians alone.
“Rome is a city of great religi
ous, cultural and historic monu
ments which are of immeasurable
spiritual significance and price
less worth to the world.
“They are of immense value to
all the nations of the earth and
their destruction would be a
world-wide calamity.
“It might be unavoidable, but
it would still be a disaster, if the
Germans should persist in mili
tary occupation of Rome and could
only be dislodged by destruction
of Rome.
“But if the Germans do not per
sist in this and are willing to lake
the necessary steps to save Rome,
surely no policy of over-caution on
the part of the Allies should de
feat the purpose thus made attain
able and so earnestly and univer
sally desired.” ' ,
LOSS WOULD BE
IRREPARABLE
A statement of the Very Rev,,
Robert I. Gannon, S. J., president
of Fordham .University, published
in the Journal, stated: “Too many
Americans are regarding the
threatened destruction of Rome as
a Roman Catholic Question. They
forget that every educated man in
the world has a vested interest in
the city. Considered merely as
the center of Western civilization,
as a tremendous museum of an
tiquities or as a gallery of price
less art .extending for miles in
every direction, its loss to Proest-
ants and Jews would be irrepar
able.”
Robert C. Clothier, president of
Rutgers University, stressed the
order of Gen. Dwight Eisenhower
that historical monuments and
buildings in Italy be protected
whenever possible. He said: Noth
ing can stand against the argu
ment of military necessity, but
the phrase is sometimes used
where it would be more truthful
to speak of military convenience."
All who have "a sense of rev
erence for history will pray and
work that Rome be spared,” Dr.
Solomon Freehof, President of the
Central Conference of American
• Rabbis, asserted In a signed article
which appeared in the Journal-
American. He said: “The Nazis
undoubtdly will not hesitate to de
stroy Rome if it suits their pur
pose ... It would be a brilliant
psychological move if President
Roosevelt and Mr. Churchill would
make a public declaration that
they are willing to have Rome de
clared an open city and have a
Swiss commission see that the
Nazis have removed all military
installations from it.”
It also was reported that a group
of Boston school children had pre
pared a resolution which was for
warded to President Roosevelt, re
questing Allied military leaders
be asked to devise a way to de
clare Rome an "open city”’
Dispatches received by KAP,
Polish Catholic Press Agency,
stated that in concert with news
papers throughout the world, pa
pers in neutral Portugal and Switz
erland have advocated the removal
of all military objectives from the
vicinity of Rome and the termina
tion of aerial bombardments on
the Eternal City.
Advices from Australia slated
that all Catholic Bishops had ad
dressed to the Governor-General
of Australia as well as to the heads
of the governments of the United
States, Great Britain, Russia, Ger
many and Japan a protest against
the threatened destruction of the
Eternal City.
CHAPLAIN MAHER
ON RADIO PROGRAM
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Lieutenant
Thomas F. Maher, of the Chaplains
Corps of the U. S. Navy, a native
of Augusta, was one of three Navy
chaplains who spoke on a short
wave broadcast from New York, on
Easter Sunday, on a program
which was heard by Navy men all
over the world.
Father Maher, a priest of the
Society of Jesus, is the Catholic
chaplain of all Coast Guard men in
the New York area. Before enlist
ing in the chaplains corps he was
dean of the School of Pharmacy of
Loyola University of the South,
New Orleans.
COMMUNION-BREAKFAST
FOR WACs IN SAVANNAH
SAVANNAH, Ga.—Under the
auspices of the Women’s Division
of the USO-NCCS, more than 40
WACs who attended Mass at the
Cathedral of St. John the Bap
tist on Easter Sunday, were
entertained at a breakfast at the
Hotel De Soto following the ser
vices.
Plans for the breakfast were
made by Miss Gertrude Williams,
USO-NCCS director, and Lieut.
Shirley A. Rosenbloom, command
ing officer of the WAC unit at
Hunter Field.
BISHOP McQUINNESS
ADMINSTERS CONFIRMATION
WHITEVILLE, S. C.—The Most
Rev. Eugene J. McGuinness, D.
D., Bishop of Raleigh, on April
2, administered the Sacrament of
Confirmation to a class of thirty-
four, including twenty-four con
verts, at Sacred Heart Church,
Whiteville, where the Rev. Frank
Howard is the pastor.
Dean of Men at
Abbey College
FATHER GREGORY
The Rev. Gregory Eichenlaub,
O. S. B„ former principal of Bene
dictine Military School in Savan
nah, who was appointed Dean of
Men at Belmont Abbey College,
Belmont, N. C., at the beginning of
(he current scholastic year.
Father Gregory holds a degree
from the University of Notre
Dame, did advanced work in edu
cation at Davidson College and the
Catholic University of America.
James S. Connolly
Dies in Columbus
COLUMBUS, Ga.—Funeral ser
vices for James Schley Connolly,
prominent Columbus man and re
tired locomotive engineer, who
died March 27, were held from the
Church of the Holy Family, the
Rev. Herman Deimel officiating,
with the Rev. John MullinS as
sisting.
Mr- Connolly was born in 1865,
in Savannah, a son of the late
Joseph Martin Connolly and Mrs.
Mary Agnes Connolly. He had
made Columbus his home since
1868. Fifty years ago, he was mar
ried to Miss Mary Elizabeth Sul
livan. Mrs. Connolly and three
of their five children survive, Miss
Mary Connolly, Columbus; Joseph
M. Connolly, Columbus, and Tech.
Sgt. John V. Connolly, of Califor
nia. Mr. Connolly is also survived
by two grandchildren, Pvt. William
S. Connolly, of Mississippi, and
Miss Mary Connolly, Columbus.
MRS. JULIA MULLER
DIES IN FLORIDA
ATLANTA, Ga.—Mrs. Julia Mul
ler, formerly of Atlanta, died in
Miami Beach, Fla-, where she had
resided for some years, on April
10. Funeral services were held
from St. Patrick’s Church. *
Mrs. Muller is Survived by a sis
ter, Mrs. Harry Ahlman, Miami
Beach, and Mrs. William Welch,
Philadelphia; a nephew, W. R.
Muller, Jr., Atlanta.
Interment was at Crest Lawn
Cemetery in Atlanta, with the Rt.
Rev. Msgr. Joseph E. Moylan, rec
tor of the Cathedral of Christ the
King, officiating.
LOUIS SCHWARTZ
DIES IN CHARLESTON
CHARLESTON, S. C.—Funeral
services for Louis H- Schwartz,
who died April 12, were held from
the Sacred Heart Church, the Rev.
Henry F. Wolfe officiating.
A native of Walhalla, Mr. Sch
wartz was employed by the Daw
son Engineering Company as a
marine engineer. He is survived
by a sister, a brother and several
nieces and nephews.
DEATH-CLAIMS MEMBER
OF LAKELAND PARISH
LAKELAND, Ga.—Pompey Phil
lips, a member of the colored par
ish in Lakeland, died on March 18,
funeral services, with a Requiem
High Mass, being held from Our
Lady Queen of Peace Church, the
Rev. Frederick Gilbert, O. M. I.,
officiating.
Pompey lived all his life at Lake
land, and was baptised in his
home because of his illness, and
was confirmed in February of this
year. Several hundred persons at
tended the funeral services as a
last tribute to one of the out
standing Negro citizens of this
community.
VINCENTIAN CONDUCTS
MISSION AT CAMP MACKALL
CAMP MACKALL, N- C.—The
Rev. Joseph L. Lilly, C. M., pro
fessor of Sacred Scripture at the
Catholic University of America,
conducted a mission during Holy
Week for paratroopers stationed at
Camp Mackall. About 500 service
men attended the mission ser
vices.
Mrs. L. A. Dorr
Dies in Augusta
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Funeral ser
vices for Mrs. Jessie Ferris Dorr,
wife of the late Lawrence A- Dorr,
who died .April 10, were held
from St. Mary’s-on-The-Hill
Church, the Very Rev. Thomas A.
Brennan, V. F., offering the Req
uiem Mass, with the Rev. Angel
Pe.ngson assisting.
The daughter of the late John
C. Ferris and Mrs. Elizabeth
Richman Ferris, both of England,
Mrs. Dorr was a native of Augus
ta, and a member pf one of the
cityfs oldest arid 'most prominent
families. She was d devout and
devoted participarit in the Catho
lic life of Augusta, with which the
Dorr family has been' identified
most actively for generations. She
was a \Vomair of exceptional per
sonality and her gentle and kindly
disposition had endeared her to
a wide circle of friends throughout
the city.
Mrs. Dorr is survived by three
daughters, Mrs. Edward Bresqa-
han, Mrs. Hugh Barton, and Mrs-
John Rheney, all of Augusta; two
sons, Lawrence A. Dorr, Meridian,
Miss., and Paul F. Dorr, Augusta;
two sisters, Mrs. Paul Mustin and
Miss Josie Ferris; a brother,
Frank E. Ferris, several grandchil
dren, and a number of nieces and
nephews.
THOMAS GRAY
FUNERAL IN ALAPAHA
ALAPAHA, Ga. — Funeral ser
vices for Thomas Gray, of Alapaha,
who died on March 28, in Ludo-
, wici, where he was visiting his
• daughter, Mrs. Annie Chambliss,
were held from St. Anne’s Church
here.
The funeral Mass was offered
by the Rev. James Campbell, O.
M. I.; the sermon was delivered by
the Rev. James J. O’Sullivan, O.
M. I., and the Rev. Bernard Brady,
O. M. I., officiated at the ceme
tery.
Mr. Gray is survived by his
wife, Mrs. Sarah Gray; two daugh
ters, Mis. Chambliss, of Ludowici,
and Mrs. Rosa Metts, of Alapaha;
a son, John Gray, Winter Park,
Fla.; a brother, Warren Gray, Ala
paha; seven grandchildren and
three great-grandchildren-
MRS. MARY SESSOMS
DIES IN WINDSOR
WINDSOR, N. C.—The Rev.
Francis J. McCourt, pastor of St.
Ann’s Church, Edenton, conduct
ed funeral services here on April
5 for Mrs. Mary Cora Fitzgerald
Sessoms, wife of Regnalson D.
Sessoms,
Mrs. Sessoms is survived by
three daughters, Mrs. Marion Cole,
Windsor; Mrs. Catherine Cox, of
Williamston, and Lt. Virginia
Sessoms, of the Army Nurses
Corps, Cochran Field, Ga.; three
sons, Francis Sessoms, Duncan
Sessoms, and Robert Sessoms, all
of Windsor, and five grandchil
dren.
MRS. IRA O. PARKER
DIES IN MILLEN
M1LLEN, S. C—Funeral ser
vices for Mrs. Elizabeth Magruder
Parker, wife of Ira O. Parker, who
died April 15( were conducted by
the Rev. Eugene J. Kearney, C.
S. V, of Savannah.
Mrs. Parker, a native of New
Orleans, came to Millen as a
bride in 1903. She was a charter
member of the Millen Women’s
Club, a member of the United
Daughters of the Confederacy and
the Readers Club of the Millen
Library.
She is survived by her husband,
and three sisters-in-law, Mrs. W. R.
Turner, Cordele; Mrs. Alex Boyer
and Mrs- C. B. Landrun, Millen.
Priest-Architect
FATHER ^MICHAEL
Prominent among those who
have spread the fame of Belmont
Abbey throughout the nation is the
Rev. Michael Mclnerney, O. S. B.,
‘whose priestly duty -has not pre-
cented his gaining widespread dis
tinction as an architect. Nearly'
all of the newer churches, schools,
hospitals, parish buildings, or
phanages and other Catholic insti
tutions erected in North Carolina
in recent years were designed, and
their construction supervised by
Father Michael. In Georgia,
South Carolina, and other South
ern states, as well as in other sec
tions of the country, his services
have been in demand, and from the
plans whch he executed notable
examples of ecclesiastical archi
tecture have spread his fame and
that of Belmont Abbey.
Procurator at
Belmont
If
FATHER MARTIN
The Rev. Martin Hayes, O. S. B.,
who as Procurator, is the general
manager of all things material at
Belmont Abbey, Belmont, N. C.
A native of Pennsylvania, Father
Martin is a graduate of the Abbey
College, and completed his study
for the priesthood at the Abbey
Seminary. He was ordained to the
priesthood in 1939, and has head
ed the business course department
at the college since 1937.
ARMY COMMISSION FOR
BENEDICTINE GRADUATE
SAVANNAH, Ga. — Herbert A
O’Keefe, son of Mrs. R. J. O’Keefe,
has been commissioned a second
lieutenant in the army of the
United States upon completion of
the Offcer Candidate Course at
the Infantry School at Fort Ben-
ning. Lieutenant O’Keefe, a grad
uate of the Benedictine Military
School entered military service in
December, 1942.
MISSION AT SEYMOUR JOHNSON FIELD—The Rev. John Rene-
han, S.SS.R., Redemptorist Missionary, and pastor of Holy Redeemer
Church, Newton Grove, N. C., is pictured delivering a sermon during a
mission conducted recently at Seymour Johnson Field in North Caro
lina at which the average attendance at the services was a thousand.
—(Official Photograph, U. S. Army Air Forces.)