Newspaper Page Text
I’EN
THE BUT t irtTN r ’F
T- CATHOLIC LA YMFN'S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
MARCH 31, 1945
a I
THE BULLETIN
The Official Organ of the Catholic Laymen's
Association ol Georgia. Ineormu'atod
HUGH KINCHLEY Editor
216-217 Southern Einance Building Augusta C.a
ASSOCIATION OFFICERS FOR 1944-1345
BERNARD S. FAIIY. Rome President
MARTIN J. CALLAGHAN, Macon Vuc-Pics.
J. B, McCALLUM, Allania Societaly
HUGH GRADY. Savannah ireasuiei
HUGH KINCHLEY Augusta Executive Sccrcta y
MISS CECILE FERRY. Augusta Financial Secietaiy
A M McAULIFFE. Augusta Auditor
Vol. XXVI.
March 31, 1945
No.
Entered as second class matter June 15 1921 a * ijj*
Office at Augusta. Ga.. under act of March I8i3
rented for mailing at special rate of nostaRe provided tor
m sectlon 1103 Act of October 3. 1917 authorized Sep.
1, 1921 f
mfomhAr .i m o in p Ncw^ Service. Rellfiious Nows
Service. Hie Catholic Press Association of United States,
the Georgia Press Association and the National Editorial
* Association. ___ —— — . —
Published monthly by the Catholic .>-">m*"’" $*so c io«on
of Georgia, Inc., with the Approbation of the Mou nov
rre ,,,i nisbops of Ralcisfli, Charleston and Savannah -At
lanln, and o P f the Itlghl Reverend Abhol-Oudlnary or Bel-
niont. ——
Our Bishop’s Sacerdotal Jubilee
T HE celebration of the twenty-fifth anniversary
of tlie ordination of any priest is an occasion of
rejoicing for the event which it commemorates
is the dedication of a life to the highest of all call-
Bccause nearly a decade of the .quarter-century in
the priesthood of His Excellency the Most Reverend
Gerald P. O'Hara, Bishop of Savannah-Atlanta, has
been devoted to the benefit of the Church in Geor
gia it is no wonder that the hearts of Catholics of
this state are filled with joy on this occasion when
they review what has been accomplished in the lho-
ccse in the nine years during which the See of Sa-
vannah-Atlanta has been privileged to have had the
inspiration of Bishop O'Hara's zealous, capable
'it is wfth great gratification that the Catholics of
Georgia lake the occasion of the Silver Jubilee of
their beloved Bishop to consider some of the
material and spiritual advancement that has come
to the Diocese of Savannah-Atlanta since January,
1936 when His Eminence Cardinal Dougherty, Arc.i-
bishop of Philadelphia, installed his former Auxili
ary as Bishop of Savannah.
The record is one of progress. New parishes were
established, new churches built, a motor chapel was
put into service in rural areas, new Catholic hos
pitals were opened, Catholic hospitals already in op
eration were enlarged, vacation schools were es
tablished, new schools were founded, a Diocesan
Council of Catholic Women was formed, and a new
Cathedral was erected in Atlanta, when the Diocese
of Savannah became the Diocese of Savannah-At
lanta. ...
One of the first things that Bishop O Hara did
upon his coming to Georgia was to make plans for
the erection of a new St. Mary’s Home in Savannah,
where the orphan girls of the Diocese would „ be
cared for by the Sisters of Mercy who had been en
gaged in that and other groat -works of charity and
education since Ihe members of their Order first
came to Georgia, a century ago.
The result of Bishop O’Hara’s effort is the mag-
nil'ieient St. Mary’s Home which now stands on
Victory Drive in Savannah, and it is a source of great
pleasure to llis Excellency, that his Silver Jubilee
has been taken as an occasion to mark the payment
of the debt remaining on St. Mary’s Home.
Extensive improvements were made at St. Joseph s
Home, for boys, in Washington.
One of tlie most imposing religious edifices in
tlie South, the Cathedral of Christ the King, in At
lanta, was completed and dedicated. Other church
es erected and dedicated during the Episcopate of
Bishop O’Hara include St. Paul’s Church, Douglas;
Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Port Wentworth; St.
Mary's Church. Elberton; St. Anne's Church, Ala-
paha; Blessed Sacrament, Savannah, and the Church
of Our Lady Queen of Peace for the Colored parish
in Lakeland.
Among tlie new parishes which were established,
and for which churches will be built as soon as
priority restrictions arc'removed are those in De
catur. Thunderbolt, Daltpn, Griffin, Rossville, Wil
mington Island, and tlie Colored parish in Valdosta.
A new rectory was erected for St. Anthony’s
parish in Atlanta, and n number of churches, al
ready built, were redecorated.
A high school for boys was established in Au
gusta, with the Marist Brothers as teachers; Christ
the King School in Atlanta was erected, to be con
ducted by the Grey Nuns of the Sacred Heart; a
parochial school, conducted by the Sisters of St.
Joseph, was opened in Valdosta, and the Clerics of
St. Viator came to Savannah to open St. Thomas
Vocational School.
The Oblal.es of Mary Immaculate were brought to
the Diocese to establish a mission center at Douglas;
the Rcdemptorist Fathers were placed in charge of
the North Georgia missions surrounding Dalton and
Griffin, the Order of Friars Minor, came to tlie
Diocese to take over the parishes in Americus and
Cordele, and Ihe Order of Cistercians of the Strict
Observance, established tlie Trappist Monastery ox
Ouv Lady of the Holy Ghost last March near Con
yers. a.
Last year, the Home Mtssioners of America (fine
to Georgia, at the invitation of Bishon O'Hara, and
have established headquarters in Statesboro, to
serve that mission territory.
Sisters of St. Dominic, of the Congregation of St.
* Rose of Lima, are conducting Our Lady of Perpetual
Help Free Cancer Home in Atlanta. Missionary
Sisters of. tlie Most Sacred Heart established and
enlarged St. Joseph’s Hospital in Athens. The Sis
ters of Mercy have recently opened Mercy Hospital
in Macon. Medical Mission Sisters have opened
a clinic at Our Lady of Lourdes' Colored Mission
in Atlanta. Sisters Adorers of the Precious Blood
A New Bishop for the Diocese of Raleigh
S URELY tlie priests and people of the Diocese
of Raleigh are to be congratulated: as with then
hearts filled wtih gratitude to the Holy See.
they receive the news that llis Holiness Pope-Pius
XII lias appointed (lie Reverci I Vincent Stanislaus
Waters, Vice-Otfieialis of tlie Diocese ol Richmond,
to succeed the Most Reverend Eugene J. McGuui-
ness. now Coadjutor Bishop ol Oklahoma City and
Tulsa, as Bishop of Raleigh.
While the Diocese of Raleigh Is young among
the Episcopal jurisdictions in tlie United States, and
but two prelates have been occupants of that See,
the remarkable progress, spiritually and niatcitally,
whieli has been made by the Church in that eccles
iastical division of North Carolina in the score ol
years since the Diocese was established, has been
truly remarkable, due in greatest measure to the
inspiring leadership of the Most Reverend William
J. UaCcy. now Bishop of Scranton, who was the first
Bishop of Raleigli. and to that of Bishop McGuin-
ness who has served as his successor for the last
seven years.
It is natural that the clergy and laity of the Dio
cese of Raleigh should rejoice that the Holy Father
has chosen a priest from the neighboring Diocese of
Richmond to be the third Bihop oi Raleigh, toi
Bishop-elect Waters is well familiar with the prob
lems of the Church in a far-flung Diocese of the
South, and this knowledge, his experience as Direc
tor of tlie Richmond Diocesan Missionary Fathers,-
his administrative talent which caused his selection
a S’ Chancellor, and his priestly piety and zeal,
eminently fit him to carry on and expand the Apos
tolic program which his predecessors in the Sec of
Raleigh have so notably advanced.
His appointment to the Sec of Raleigh comes as a
recognition of the achievements which have made
the fourteen years of his life as a priest a career
of outstanding service to God and' His Church, a
career which has well prepared him to accomplish
great things as a Bishop.
The intellect of exceptional quality which Bishop-
elect Waters possessed received added brilliance in
his years of study at Belmont Abbey College, St.
Charles College, St. Mary’s Seminary, and the North
American College in Rome.
His experience as Diocesan Notary, Chancellor
and Vice-Officialis have given him a preparation
that is needed for the capable administration of the
affairs of a Diocese, and his splendid talents and
enthusiasm on behalf of missionary effort, give pro
mise of an Episcopate that will be bring new and
great renown to the Diocese of Raleigli.
May his years in his honored capacity as Bishop
of Raleigh be blessed and fruitful. Assuredly they
will be.
After attending a Mass of Re
quiem offered for her husband.
Captain Richard K. Suchr, who had
been reported killed in action in
Ihe South Pacific on January 1.
Mrs. Ruth Suchr of Pittsburgh, re
turned to her home to find a letter
from him dated January 15.
“At first it didn’t register,” Mrs.
Suehr said. “Then I read it aaai'
and I realized it had been written
after Dick was reported killed.”
A hurried phone call to the Ad
jutant General’s office and then a
tense period of waiting and prayer
followed. The report was finally
received. It assured Mrs. Suchr
that her husband was well and
safe and still piloting a P-38 in the
Pacific area.
Captain Suehr, a graduate ot
Marquette University, has been
awarded the Air Mgdal. with three
Oak Leaf Clusters, the Distin
guished Flying Cross, and the
Silver Star. He is rated as an ace,
since May. 1943, when he was
credited with shooting down his
fifteenth Japanese plane.
A Great and a Consoling Feast
O F all the feasts of the Christian calendar, the
oldest and the greatest is that which we know
as Easter—the festival of the Resurrection of
Our Lord and Saviour.
Easter is also the most consoling of feasts, for
it is the day of glorious hope, the hope which “the
day that the Lord hath made,” brings to those who
have professed faith in the Resurrection of, and love
for, the Risen Saviour.
Easter is also the feast of the greatest of victories,
as "it commemorates a triumph over all the forces
of evil tlie world has known.
To those of the Household of the Faith, Easter is
the certain promise of final victory which lighted
the darkness of the catacombs, which strengthened
the Church through the ages, and which today
brings strength and comfort to her suffering child
ren. ., .
Every life illumined by faith is rich in the midst
of poverty, joyous in spite of the sorrows of the
world.
May the message of hope and victory which is
brought to us by this great feast of the Resurrection,
truly fill our distressed and saddened hearts with
joy and consolation.
Chosen through an audience
poll conducted by Dr. George
Gallup, the motion picture with
a Catholic background, “Going
My Way”, was selected as the
best picture ot 1944, and its pro
ducers was awarded the Photo
play Magazine Gold Medal award,
it has been announced in New
York by the publishers. The poll
selected Bing Crosby, the star of
the picture, as the outstanding
actor of the year. -
The announcement stated tnai
the picture was selected as the
favorite by every economic, social,
age and geographical group
throughout the country, and, ac
cording to Dr. Gallup, it marked
the first time that such unanimi
ty was expressed in any poll he
has conducted.
“Bells ot St. Marys a sequel
to “Going My Way”, is now be ng
filmed, with Bing Crosby in the
leading role.
Many readers of The Bulletin
may remember an item it contain
ed a few issues back concerning
a note that Leonard Cinciolo, or
Gainesville. Georgia, placed in a
bottle which was tossed over
board from a ship in the mid-At
lantic, and which was washed
ashore recntly, near St. Augus
tine, Fla., after floating for years.
Well, Margaret Castleberry, in
her column ‘The Eagle Eye,”
which appears in The Gainesville
Eagle, relates that a reader of
The Bulletin, Mrs. Francis Smith,
of Jacksonville, Fla., formerly
Mrs. Maude Dorsey, of Gaines-
ville, saw the item in The Bulletin
and wrote to Mrs. Mary Cinciolo,
of Gainesville, who was the god
mother' of her son. Lieutenant
Commander John Dorsey, now
serving in the South Pacific.
The Dorsey family moved from
Gainesville a number of year's
ago and the item about the note
in the bottle, which The Bulletin
printed, served to- bring Mrs
Cinciolo in touch again with the
mother of godchild.
Although only one-twentieth of
the Catholic population ot Okla
homa are Indians, their Gold Stars
represent one-fifth of the Catho ic
war dead of the Diocese of Okla
homa City and Tulsa. "One must
conclude,” says The Southwest
Courier, the Diocesan paper, that
either the Indian parishes have a
greater number of boys, propoi-
tionately, in the service or else
those boys exposed themselves to
greater dangers on the firing line.
Oklahoma Indians in the last war
distinguished themselves for brav
ery.”
came to Savannah to tak.i charge, of the x.omcstie af
fairs of the Cathedral rectory.
Never unmindful of the need for priests. Bishop
O'Hara has been responsible for a substantial in
crease in the ranks of the Diocesan clergy as well as
in the number of priests of Religious Orders serv
ing in Georgia. . .. ..
Bishop O’Hara inspired the generosity of both the
clergy and laity of the Diocese, and their loyal sup
port through the Confraternity of the Laity, and
Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Savannah-Atlan
ta, which took its place, has been a source of en
couragement to llis Excellency in his program for
the advancement ot Catholicity in Georgia.
Bishop O'Hara has fostered the Catholic Youth
Organizations in the Diocese, and the well-equipped
building of the Catholic Young People’s Associa
tion in Savannah is a forecast of other youth clubs
that arc to come.
As one of the sponsors, and the first Episcopal
Chairman oi the Catholic Committee of the South.
Bishop O'Hara was instrumental in promoting the
five-point program of that organization in the fields
of religion anti social action. He has taken an
active interest in the work of the National Catholic
Community Service, as a member agency of the
USO, for the men and women ofathc armed forces
and those engaged in war industry.
Named a Vicar Delegate of the Military Ordi-
nariate, Bishop O'Hara has devoted his time gen
erously to (he promotion of the spiritual welfare of
the personnel of the military establishments in this
area.
As a means of enlightening Catholics and non-
Catholics regarding the teachings of the Catholic
Church, His Excellency established the Catholic Evi
dence Guild in the Diocese, provided for a corres
pondence course in religious instruction, and did
much to further the work of the Catholic Laymen s
Association of Georgia.
Bishop O’Hara has seen the resident Catholic
population of the Diocese materially increase, while
making the adjustments «that were necessary in
order to care for the great number of Catholics from
other parts of the country who brought a large war
time Catholic population to Georgia.
The record of what has been accomplished in this
Diocese during the Episcopacy of Bishop O’Hara is
by no means fully covered in this column, for it is
not possible to set down the spiritual development
which lias accompanied and surpassed the material
growth of the Diocese.
What has been mentioned will serve to show why
the Catholics of Georgia rejoice with their Bishop
on Ihe occasion of his Silver Jubilee in the priest
hood, and why they will give praise and thanksgiv
ing to God on that anniversary.
Bing Crosby, recipient of an ac
colade of honors as the leading mo
tion picture actor of 1944, lead
the cast of the All-Star radio pro
gram of the Bishops War Emer
gency and Relief Committee. The
broadcast, one of several carrying
the Bishops appeal for funds to
continue their world-wide charities
for refugees, the homeless and
other unfortunate victims of war,
was heard over the Blue Network
of the American Broadcasting
Company on the night of March 7.
Among the stars of screen and
radio who appeared on the pro
gram were Loretta Young, I at
O’Brien, Ruth Hussey, J. Carrol
Naish, William Gargan and Pedro
de Cordoba. In the musical por
tion of the program, the Robert
Mitchell Boy Choir, featured m
“Going My Way,” and the Blue
Network orchestra were heard.
Other radio programs in connec
tion with the Bishops fund appeal
were a transcribed address, Ihe
Mendicant Christ,” by Monsignor
Fulton J. Sheen of the Catholic
University of America, and an or
iginal playlet, “The Rice Bringcr,’
by Courtney Savage, which was
presented over the NBC network
by a professional cast.
John Vincent Rockne, youngest
son of the late Knute Rockne, of
the University ot Notre Dame, has
enlisted in the Marine Corps.
According to a United Press dis
patch, young Rockne, who was
only four years old when his fa
mous father was killed in an air-
plane crash, interrupted his study
at St. Francis Seraphic Prepara
tory Seminary in Cincinnati, to
enter the seivice in order to sec
combat action.
John S. Burke, president of B.
Altman & Co., has been named to
succeed the late Alfred E. Smith
as chairman of the Archbishop
Committee of the laity in New
Y'ork.
It was the privilege of the editor
of The Bulletin to meet Mr. Burke
some years ago at a summer resort
in Vermont, and from that ac
quaintance there is gathered the
opinion that Archbishop Spellman
could not have found in the Arch
diocese of New York anyone who
was better qualified than Mr
Burke to serve as the leader of the
laity of the Archdiocese.
Here in Georgia, where the
former headquarters of the Ku
Klu !£!an in Atlanta is now the
rectory of the Cathedral of
Christ the king, the following
N. C. W. C. News Service dis
patch from Longmont, Colorado,
under the date of February 20,
will be of special interest;
“Members of the local Council
of the Knights of Columbus met
today for the first lime in their
new quarters; which were former
ly the meeting rooms of the Ku
Klux Klan. The new quarters in
clude a meeting room, a recrea
tion room, a smaller room .for
committee meetings, a ^kitchen,
and an equipment room* ’
Religious News Service reports
that work by ministers who arc
regularly serving congregations
and arc meeting the needs of the
communities in which they serve
will be accepted as qualifications
for supplemental gasoline rations,
according to a new list of activi
ties published by the Office of
Price Administration.
Her greatest consolation during
three years’ interment at the Jap
anese prison camp of Santo Tomas
in Manila was to be able to go to
daily Mass in the quietness of the
university chapel, declared Lieut.
Gweldolyn L. Hcnshaw, liberated
Army nurse, upon her arrival in
California. Lieutenant Hcnshaw,
a convert to the Catholic church,
expects to go back into military
service upon the expiration of a
sixty-day leave. She was nursing
the wounded on Corregidor when
the fortress fell to the Japanese
in April, 1942. She has received
three Presidential citations and
the Bronze Star.
The task of reviewing applica
tions which have been pouring into
the Office of the War Committee
on Conventions, in Washington,
has become so burdensome that
the committee has decided that
conventions, conferences and group
meetings which have out-of-town
attendance of fifty or less in ad-
. dition to local attendance will not
require permits.
A major in the Marine Corps,
who went to Leyte as an artillery
observer, tells of a Mass he attend
ed under strafing fire from a Jap
anese airplane. The celebrant was
the Rev. John J. Regan, of the
Archdiocese of Denver, an Army
chaplain. The altar had been set
up over a lush carpet of grass,
with the green jungle in the back
ground for rcredos. The congre
gation of officers and enlisted men
knelt in the mud on the edge of u
newly captured airport.
As Father Regan elevated the
chalice, a Japanese plane sped
low over the area and sprayed the
far side of the landing strip with
machine-gun bullets. The men
gazed at it for a moment but no
one moved. They simply bowed
their heads reverently while the
Mass proceeded.
It seems there was one Irish
man, who, on St. Patrick's Day in
the morning, was greeting all of
his friends with the words: “Top
o’ the morning to you all!” He
wanted to make sure that they
would know he came from the
South of Erin. —H. K.