Newspaper Page Text
MARCH 31, 1945
THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
ELEVEN
WITH OTHER EDITORS
“IN KEEPING WITH
It. OF C. TRADITION”
The Knights of Columbus have
announced a one million dollar
educational - fund “to provide a
Catholic college education for the
sons and daughters of our Broth
ers killed or totally disabled” in
the present war. Such an am
bitious and beneficient project is
in keeping with Knights of Co
lumbus tradition. The Knights
have ever been ready to tackle a
job which needs doing, no matter
how formidable its proportions.
They have been extraordinarily
generous in the expenditure of
their funds. They have been alert
to the needs of the hour and quick
and expert in devising means to
meet them. And they have con
sistently shown solicitude one for
another, which extends to the fam
ilies aryl dependents of everyone
in the order. In all these particu
lars, then, the educational fund is
no departure from precedent'.
The striking thing about it is its
evidence -that the Knights are
looking well ahead, discerning a
problem which is sure to present
itself, and offering a method of
meeting it. Many a boy and girl
will^ be denied the opportunity of
a Catholic college education be
cause his or her father has been
killed or completely incapacitated
in military service. That will be
a grievous loss not only to the in
dividual, but also to the Church
and to the country. The Church
needs well educated members the
country needs well educated citi
zens. Well educated, that is, not
merely in the sense of factual or
professional knowledge, but in a
sound, wholesome, inspiring phi
losophy of life as well. Catholic
education provides this. The
Knights of Columbus mean to see
to it that as many young people
as possible have access to it. This
is a splendid service and its spon
sors are to be warmly congratu
lated. (Catholic Transcript.)
THE WAR AGAINST RELIGION
Comes to us, and by “us” is
meant an editor, an invitation to
subscribe to a “declaration”
against “any attempt to involve
the free democratic states in
any deal with the Vatican State”
as well as against participation in
state affairs by any other church.
We ignore the invitation. Not
the slightest possibility appears or
exists that the Vatican State will
over-run the world, and The News
and Courier does not suspect that
it harbors any such aim.
If the western peoples have not
yet arrived at freedom from dan
ger of domination of states by a
church, the sooner they pass un
der ecclesiastical rule the better
will it be for them and the failure
of the Protestant Revolution would
as well be admitted,
This new ringing of alarm that
‘the Pope will get us” translates
to a declaration that the human
race after all is composed of dumb
cattle and has made no progress
in the understanding of freedom
the last four centuries.
The conflict this day is between
the spiritual and the materialistic.
/Ihe organized religious bodies rep
resent the spiritual* side. The News
and Courier is not prepared to
concede that any church govern
ment has been wholly “purged of
base desire:” (he churches are
composed, their clergy and their
laity, of human creatures most of
them are much Tower than the
angels.
The sinner, the “chief of sin
ners, looks on and is tempted
again to capitulate to cynical temp
tation at the spectacle of declara
tion of hostility by one body of
Christians toward another at a mo
ment when the materialistic pow
ers fight against and threaten the
existance of Christendom.
The News and Courier has no
part in this declaration and its
columns are not open to
controversial discussion between
churches. It stands for all the
churches, Protestant and Roman
Catholic, and other religious
bodies, as long as they are united
against the nations that place
their faith in force. (The News and
Courier, Charleston, S. C)
Communist Paper Gives
Unusual Publicity to
Address by Pope Pius
(Copright 1945 by Keliigous
News Service)
ROME (by wireless)—The Com
munist newspaper L'Unita has
given unusual publicity to the
Pope’s address before delegates
of the Christian Workers Associa
tion in Italy. Since Vatican activi
ties are rarely recorded in the
Communist press, this unprec
edented attention to a Papal state
ment has again stimulated spec
ulation regarding conciliation be
tween the Vatican and Moscow.
Praising the Pope for his speech,
which it said “excited great in
terest among workers," L’Unita’s
comments were in sharp contrast
with recent accusations against
Vatican policy in the Moscow
press.
FACT VERSUS FANCY
Catholics constitute more than
one-sixth of the population of
the United States. In some of
our larger cities, more than half
the residents are Catholics. It is
probable that they are more than
one-third of all the persons re
siding within a radius of twenty-
five miles of City Hall. Yet such
are the distortions of Catholic be
lief and practice and the mis-
statement of fact in reference to
Catholics here and abroad heard
over the radio and appearing
periodically in publications of
gieat circulation that one would
think we constituted some small
and estrange sect.
This is all the more indefensible
when one considers that the Catho
lic Church has been the central
faet in the history of* western
civilization since the days of the
Roman Empire, that Catholics
now constitute, as they have for
generations, ■ the largest single
religious group in the nation, and
that the first pages of North
American history were written by
discoverers and explorers and set
tlers who were of the Catholic
faith.
SUNDAY, APRIL 1
will be our
Sixty-Seventh
Easter in Atlanta!
The Style Center of the South
Beautiful New
SHOES
for Easter
6.95
Navy kid or black patent inediuin Keel pullon
pumps—
Exclusive in Atlanta
Mail Orders Filled
• 201 Peachtree St., N. E.
Most of the misstatements and
distortions are rooted in honest
misapprehensions, which in many
cases may have flowered and fruit
ed into suspicion and hatred. It
is idle tcr-say that this should not
be so; the fact is that it is.
At the present time we do not
have organized in the United
States a national group of Catho
lics charged with the full-time
duty of noting these distortions
and misstatements, and present -
ing the facts to refute them. Sueli
a plan was projected a few years
ago, but its immediate develop
ment appears to have been rend
ered impossible because of the
necessity of channeling the effort
behind it into activities required
for the war effort. The realiza
tion of this program is, we trust,
only delayed.
But there is no reason for de
lay in applying the remedy of in
formation to the malady of mis
representation and distortion, as
groups like the Catholic Press
Relations Committee is doing
Many readers of the Catholic News
have directed our attention to
such offenses against truth and
logic, information we appreciate
and upon which we act. If every
informed Catholic-minded, Catho
lic-hearted person were to react
to these offenses by writing firm
yet courteous letters of correction
to those responsible for them, the
improvement would soon be ap
parent.—(The Catholic News)
6. HOWLAND SHAW
LAETARE MEDALIST
University of Notre Dame
Selects Distinguished Dip-
lomat as Recipient of Honor
for 1945
G. HOWLAND SHAW, of Bos
ton diplomat and social welfare
worker, wha has been named the
1945 recipient of the Laetare
Medal, Notre Dame University's
award to the outstanding Catho
lic of the year. Mr. Shaw, who
recently resigned from the post
of Assistant Secretary of State, is
a former president of the Nation
al Conference of Catholic Chari
ties — (Harris & Ewing photo-
NCWC).
A CURIOUS PARALLEL
There is a striking feature about
all the recent attacks on the Vat
ican, and on our Bishops and the
Catholics of this country. In order
to cover up their malice and give
the appearance to tolerance and
friendly warning, all disclaim any
intention to meddle or interfere
with the Church in religious mat
ters.
They have to, if they wish to be
“tolerant” and just.
Once grant the false principle
and we as Catholics have an equal
right to criticize many of their
doings as political in a far more
pertinent sense than what they
have alleged about our Catholic
Bishops and people.
No—the “religious” leaders who
back this view are letting them
selves in for trouble. Instead of
one man, as in Germany, deciding
what political activity is, we would
have a thousand. . . .and try to find
a basis for agreement, unless they
are bound together by dislike of
one particular religious group, pre
sumably the Catholic Church.
Such an agreement in itself would
be proof of intolerance, no matter
with what words it would’be sugar-
coated.
Before going any, further in this
campaign, they would do well to
read and ponder Dr. Gurian’s re
vealing book, HITLER AND THE
CHRISTIAN CHURCHES. (The
Michigan Catholic.)
(“Hitler and the Christians,” by
Dr. Wldemar Gurian may be ob
tained from the Catholic Laymen’s
ssociation Library, in Augusta.)
No, what the Russians and the
1,600 “religious” leaders in this
country do not like is the “politi
cal" activity of the Catholic
Church. This, so they say, they
have a right to fear and criticize.
They must have been reading
back numbers of DAS SCHWAR>5E
KORPS, Nazidom’s official month-
piece. For that was precisely Hit
ler’s excuse for imprisoning
priests, closing schools and con
fiscating Church property.
Hitler never attacked religion,
as lie explained it. He simply at
tacked the “political” activities of
Catholics and Protestants alike.
Such activities were the legitimate
field of the secular government,
according to his view.
But, of course, he reserved the
right to decide just what political
activities were. Once given that
power to a government and there
is no telling where the' matter will
end. In Germany it ended with
the complete repression of the
Catholic and Protestant Churches
and the persecution of the Jews.
Here in the United States it is
not a matter of government to de
cide just what constitutes “politi
cal” activity. It has become the
right of “religious" leadefs. Would
they grant us Catholics an equal
right as “religious” leaders to de
cide which activities of theirs are
religious and which political?
“THE POPE IS SWELL*
"The Pope is swell.” Such an
accolade has probably never be
fore been applied to the Holy
Father. On first sight or hearing,
it seems incongruous. Yet it is so
enthusiastically voiced as to say
more than pages of stately, sonor
ous praise. It is, as may be guess
ed, the uttrance of one of the tens
of thousands of American service
men who, since the liberation of
the Holy City, have been pouring
into the Vatican to see the Vicar
of Christ.
Some have gone out of a deep
Catholic sense of devotion to the
Vicar of Christ, some have been
impelled by mere curiosity, some
have just followed the crowd. All
have been profoundly impressed
and moved. Catholics have been
thrilled to sec, to be blessed by,
and; in many instances, to have a
few words with the successor of
St. Peter. Non-Catholics have
at once felt the dignity of this
man, his goodness, his Integrity, his
moral power, his Charity .that
knows no limit. They have all
Paid him a genuine, if not precise
ly courtly reverence, and have
come away full of respect and
even affection.
Their letters home, with their
many vacations of “The Pope is
swell , form as spontaneous and
glowing a tribute as any man has
ever received. If these letters
could be collected, sifted and pub
lished in a book detailing, in their
own words, American servicemen’s
sentiments on meeting tiic Pope,
it would make a unique and mem
orable volume.—(Catholic Tran
script.)
(By N. C. W. C. News Service)
NOTRE DAME, Ind.—An
nouncement of the 1945 Laetare
Medalist came when the Very Rev
J. Hugh O’Donnell, C. S. C., pres
ident of the University of Notre
Dame named Gardiner Howland
Bhaw recipient of the honor. Rec
ognized in the fields of diplomacy
and social welfare. Mr. Shaw re
signed the post of Assistant Secre
tary of State.
A recognition of merit and an
!u CC r tlve to greater achievement,
the Laetare Medal has been award
ed annually since 1883 by Notro
Dame to an outstanding Ameri
can Catholic. Forty-nine men and
14 women are now included on the
Laetare Medal roster, one of the
highest honors bestowed on a
member of Catholic laity.
Mr Shaw, 63rd recipient of the
medal, is a native of Boston and a
giaduatc of Harvard University.
An authority on Near-East affairs
because ot his experience there as
a member of the United States dip
lomatic corps, Mr. Shaw is also
widely known for his work in the
iigIcI ot social welfare,
, 0 !L is diplomatic career began in
1917 when he was made assistant
cr . Counselor for the United
• ^ S ,P e f artment of state - Then,
10 I? 19 : he wcnt abroad to serve
as third Secretary to the Ameri-
?o!>o u ac £ Comm ission in Paris; in
1930 he became Executive Assist-
fn nt iio, the Se f ret ary of State; and
“ 1921 ® e r vcd as second secretary
at the Embassy in Turkey. After
attending the Lausanne Confer
ence in 1923, he was appointed
American delegate to Angora, Tur
key, in 1924. The same year he
was appointed first Secretary of
the Embassy in Constantinople.
1-rom 192p to 1930 he held the
post of Chief of the Division of
Near-East Atfairs in the Dcpart-
ment of State, and then became
Stambou'l 0 U ' C Ameik ' an Fmbas:,y, i
While in foreign service in Tur- i
key, Mr. Shaw was active in the
movement to improve deplorable
conditions in the penal institutions
in that country. His interest in
penology continued until today he
p ■ ^ rc a*dcnt of the American
Prison Association, the Osborne
Association, and the Bureau of Re
habilitation, Washington, D. C
A past president of the National
Conference of Catholic charities
an office which he held for two
terms, Mr. Shaw’s extensive inter
ests also include juvenile delin
quency—a field in which he is na
tionally recognized as an authority.
He is a member of the Board of
Visitors and of the Parole Com-
S!!i tteC i °/ th £ National Training
School for Boys, Washington D
rV ’, '’tee-president and a member
of the Board of Directors of Chil-
diens Village, Dobb’s Ferry N Y
a member of the Board of Direc
tors of the Prison Association of
New York, the Boys’ Club of New
York, and the National Probation
of SS /m! a M°!' : a( ! d J s vice-president
of the National Conference of Ju
venile Agencies.
1 he Laetare Medal award origi
nated m the ancient papal custom
oi bestowing a Golden Rose on a
member of European Catholic no
bility on Laetare Sunday Its
modern counterpart was inaugu-
rated at Notre Dame in 1883 when !
the Very Rev. Edward Sorin, C. S.
C., university founder, bestowed 1
the first medal on the late John
Gilmary Shea, eminent Catholio
historian. Since that time the namf
ot the recipient is revealed by tha
university president on Laetnrd
-unclay, (he fourth Sunday of
MOST REV. THOMAS A. GORi
MAN, Bishop of Reno is believed
to be the first prelate in the world
to own a crosier made of mair-
ncsium. A beautifully wrought
stalf made of the metal, which has
become a highly important raw
material for the war industry, was’
presented to Bishop Gorman at tho
site of the great basic magnesium
plant in. Southern Nevada, bv
members of the clergy and civil
and industrial leaders.
ONE OF THE BEST COMMENTS
on the amazing rouhd-robin
against the Vatican signed by
1.613 ministers and “religious lead
ers” is that made by M insignor
Sheen. Here are almost two thou
sand men, “by name and profes
sion supposed to be consecrated to
God and His cause,” but asking
that .religious, be . .excluded from
(lie council of peace. “Would 1,60(1
lawyers plead that justice be ex
cluded from the courts?”. Or
would 1,600 doctors plead medi
cine be excluded from the treat
ment of one mortally ill? it is a
curious, uay, a stupefying, spec
tacle. No wonder that religion is
not universally in high repute.
(The Catholic Transcript).