Newspaper Page Text
FOUR
THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
AUGUST 24, 1946
3!lir iBullptin
The Official Organ of the Catholic Laymen’s
Association of Georgia, incorporated.
HUGH K1NCHLEY, Editor
216-217 Southern Finance Building. Augusta. Ga.
' ASSOCIATION OFFICERS FOR 1945-46
BERNARD S. FAHY, Rome President
M. J. CALLAGHAN. Macon
Honorary Vice-President
ESTES DOREMUS, Atlanta Vice-President
J. B. McCALLUM. Atlanta Secretary
HUGH GRADY, Savannah Treasurer
HUGH KINCHLEY. Augusta Executive Secretary
MISS CECILE FERRY, Augusta Financial Secretary
A M McaULIFFE. Augusta Auditor
Vol. XXVII AUGUST 24, 1946 No. 8
Entered as second cla3S matter June 15, 1521 at the
Post Office at Augusta, Georgia, under the Act of March
a, 1879; accepted for mailing at special rate of postage
K rovided in paragraph 4, section 538, Postal Laws and
ovulations as modified by narnrraph C.
Member of N. C. W. C. News Service, Religious News
Service, the Catholic Press Association of the United
States, the Georgia Press Association, and the National
Editorial Association.
Published monthly by tho .Catholic Laymen's Association
of Georgia. Inc., with the Approbation of the Most Rev
erend Bishops of Raleigh. Charleston and Savannah-At
lanta, and of the Right Reverend Abbot-Ordinary of Bel
mont.
A Dark Page in Georgia History
G EORGIA has had another lynching, a most
horrible affair, in which four Negroes, three of
them not charged with the commission of any
offense against the law, and two of them women,
were shot to death, deliberately and in cold blood,
by a cowardly mob in Walton County.
There is no escaping the challenge that the score
or so of men who, without even the most meagre
pretense of provocation other than that which might
be found in perverted minds and diabolical hearts,
committed this foul quadruple crime should be
punished, as the law prescribes, for first degree
murder.
No word, other than murder, can truly describe
this violation of the commandment of God and of
fense against the law of the State, this outrage
against humanity and civilization. In our youth, we
learned from the catechism taught in the primary
grades that wilful murder was a sin that called up
on heaven for vengeance.
It is believed that there are in Georgia enough
people with a sense of justice who will not rest un
til those who are guilty of these four wilful mur
ders have suffered the penalty the law imposes upon
those who are convicted of the commission of such
crimes.
The press of the nation has given wide publicity
to the story' that originated in Walton County, near
Monroe, a town located on one of the highways be
tween Atlanta and Athens. That story told that a
white farmer of that section was stabbed some weeks
ago by a young Negro who was employed on his
tarm. The injury was not fata), possibly not serious,
since the assailant, who had been arrested, was re-
leas«aib«n a bond of $500.
Another while farmer, who posted bond for the
recused, apparently impelled by the desire to relieve
a labor shortage on his farm, was returning to his
home with the released prisoner, the prisoner’s
wife, and another young Negro couple. Along the
way, in the darkness of night, they were halted by
an armed, unmasked group of about twenty white
men. The two Negro men, one of whom had served
his country overseas for five years, and the tvvo
Negro women, were taken from the automobile in
which they had been riding, were herded into the
nearby woods, lined up against the trees, and at a
count of “one, two, three,” brutally shot to death,
as the State of Georgia was placed in the pillory
before the nation apd the world.
Georgia is aroused by the blot which this terrible
crime has hurled against her escutcheon at a time
when our state was beginning to take pride in the
progress that had been made to wipe out such of
fenses within her borders.
It is hardly fair to place all Georgians in a class
with (he members of the mob. The only gleam of
light in the whole situation is the manner in which
the Georgia press and representative cilizens have
ariien to denounce the outrage. The attitude of the
responsible and representative people of Georgia
is reflected in the expressions of the .editorial writ
ers for the daily and weekly newspapers of the
State, from which quotations must be at a minimum
because of limitations of space in these columns.
Ralph McGill, editor of The Atlanta Constitution,
writing with a feeling of horror and repulsion, de
clared: "We cannot make intolerance and murder
the keystone of our society without destroying it.”
Gus Hall, writing in The Calhoun Times, said in
his column: “The entire slate is shamed by the
wanton killing of four Negroes by an unidentified
mob in Walton County Many Georgians have
lived in constant fear of this sort of thing as an
aftermath of the race prejudiced stirred and agitat
ed during the recent campaign for Governor . . .
It is the fervent hope of right-thinking Georgians
that the perpetrators qf this heinous crime against
defenseless men and worrttn and against the peace
and order of tlie State may be quickly apprehended
and punished.”
In an editorial, The Calhoun Times, said: “The
mob murder of four Negroes in Monroe, Georgia
wrings the heart of every humane person in the
United States, Its brutality is ugly and sickening. Its
injustice heinous:. It represents a plunge far back in
barbarism on the part of a people supposedly civiliz
ed and Christian, a violent abolition of the process
of law and its impartial administration on the part
of people who demand, and indeed even lake for
granted, the protection of the law for themselves.”
The Macon Telegraph, in a front page editorial,
asserted: “We have an obligation to discharge to our
honor. We must prove that the perpetrators of the
foul deed at Monroe cannot escape justice before
the law which they have mocked. We must demon
strate, not primarily for others to see but to pre
serve our own self respect, that we in Georgia do
not condone murder and that deliberate and cold
blooded killers can expect no less than the full
penalty.”
The Sunday Ledger-Enquirer, of Columbus, said
editorially: "At best Georgians cannot blot out the
Ehamc of that ghastly lynching near Morfroc, nor can
Our Diocese Is Highly Honored
I T IS with pleasure and pride that The Bulletin
publishes in this issue the announcement that His
Holiness Pope Pius XII has conferred high honors
upon two priests and seven laymen of the Diocese
of Savannah-Atlanla.
This gracious action of the Holy Father directs
attention anew to the calibre of the priests and
lait£ who are serving the Diocese of Savannah-At-
lanta with distinction, and it is not only an occasion
for congratulations to each of the pyiests and laymen
individually, but it is also a tribute to His Excellency
the Most Reverend Gerald P. O’Hara, Bishop of
Savannah-Atlanla, under whose able and inspiring
leadership the Church has„ made such remarkable
progress in Georgia in the last decade.
Those who are familiar with the unusual gifts of
heart and mind which are possessed by zealous
priests whom the Holy Father has named as mem
bers of the Papal household, know that the new
dignity which has come to Monsignor Joseph G.
Cassidy, and the distinction which has come to Fath
er Edward Dodwell, will increase their influence,
enlarge their opportunity for service, and inspire
them to a measure of priestly fervor even greater
than that which has brought them this well-deserved
recognition from the Holy See.
Both the clergy and the laity of this Diocese have
been generous in their contributions toward the ad
vancement of Catholicity in Georgia and their loyal
support has given encouragement to their beloved
Bishop.
The Bulletin is more than proud to announce that
the Holy Father has accorded to Hughes Spalding
and Clarence Haverty, of Atlanta, the rare distinc
tion of being named Honorary Chamberlains of the
Papal Court; that His Holiness has conferred the
honor of Knighthood in the Order of Saint Gregory
the Great on Martin J. Callaghan and A. J. Long,
of Macon, and Knighthood m the Order of Saint
Sylvester on Bernard Kane, of Atlanta, Bernard
Fahy, of Rome, and Robert McCormack, of Albany.
Each of them has been participating prominently
in the work of the Catholic Laymen’s Association
of Georgia, and every new honor for any member
of the Association reflects a glory on all who had a
share in its work with them.
Georgians, and others in the South, who are not
Catholics, are but vaguely familiar with the mean
ing and dignity of the honors conferred by the Holy
Father, but they do know the character, the integri
ty, the ability, of those whom the Holy Father, at
the suggestion of their Bishop, has chosen for those
distinctions, and that knowledge has deepened the
respect of non-Catholics for the honors which have
been bestowed upon their Catholic friends, while
Catholics will regard the honors as fitting recogni
tion of notable religious and civic efforts.
We felicitate the priests and laymen of Georgia
to whom splendidly merited distinctions have come
from the Holy See. We rejoice with them and the
members of their families, and hope that they will
be spared many years to add lustre to lives that al
ready are brilliant in the light of their service to
their God, His Church, and their fellowmen.
Dixie Musings
Purchase of “Top Meadow,”
Beaconsfield, Buckingham shire,
home of the late Gilbert K. Ches
terton, by the Converts’ Aid So
ciety, as a temporary hostel for
converted non-Catholic clergy-
men, has been practically com
pleted. The clergymen will stay
at “Top Meadow,” once the home
of one of the most illustrious con
verts of our age, during the diffi
cult internal between leaving their
own church and taking the next
step. Ten non-Catholic clergymen
in Great Britain were received
into the Church last year, the
Society reported, and three more
entered the Catholic Church in
the first few weeks of 1946.
we hope, perhaps, to escape the nation’s scorn that
so hideous a crime could have occurred within the
framework of a decent society. “But—there is one
thing which Georgians can do, and which Georgians
must do. It is to apprehend the perpetrators of this
outrage, and make them answer for the crime be
fore the bar of Georgia justice. Perhaps in that way
we can salvage a little self respect, even if we lose
the respect of others . . . The compelling necessity
now is for action—action by Georgians in Georgia—
to do a workmanlike job of crime detection and then
punish the criminals.”
Epsicopal ministers in Atlanta, in a called meet
ing, issued a statement in which they said: "We can
think of no atrocity in this generation of our state
quite so loathsome and ominous,” and concluded
with a plead to “all men of good will” to “lake their
stand for the right in this solemn hour.”
The Atlanta Methodist Ministers Association look
ed with horror and shame upon “the lynching of
four Negroes by a mob of cowardly white men,” and
adopted resolutions setting forth that to their way
of thinking "the hideous murder of four helpless
people has besmirched the good name of Georgia.
It has outraged all decency, it has violated all Christ
ian conscience, and it has lynched the very law it
self. Wc call on all decent citizens of our State to
rise up in denunciation of this foul deed, to make
known to brutal gangsters everywhere that as a
civilized people we will not stand for such shame
ful mob rule in Georgia.”
Members of the First Methodist Church of Mon
roe. condemned the lynching near there on July 25,
as an “outrage against humanity” and called upon
law-enforcement officers to bring the ■ guilty to
justice pledging their cooperation to that end.
Solicitor General Marshall Pollock, said that the
first act of th? local enforcement officers in Walton
County, after the crime was disclosed, was to bring
the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Stale
Bureau of Investigation into the effort to determine
the identity of, aiWl to present evidence against,
those who , composed the mob.
As further evidence of the feeling in Georgia, the
town of Fairburn has enacted its own laws against
racial and other mob violence, when the city council
passed an ordinance forbidding persons to congre
gate within (he city limits for the purpose of violat
ing the civil rights of others.. Failure to obey the
ordinance subjects the violator to a maximum fine
of $100 and/or a thirty day jail sentence. Assistant
Attorney General Dan Duke, who is conducting
Georgia’s effort to outlaw the Ku Klux Klan, is also
mayor of Fairburn.
It is true that some twenty men in Georgia,
banded together, committed an atrocious crime, hut
it is just as true that these men, and some few others
who may be of like mind and morals, are not *ep-
resentative of the more than 3,000,000 people who
are Georgians. . .
Three decades of experience in combating religi
ous prejudice in Georgia has proven to the Catholic
Laymen’s Association of Georgia that, with th
exception of meagre minority, the people of Geor
gia are as fair-minded and as free from religious
and racial intolerance as are the citizens of any
other state in our country.
There must be in Georgia enough people with a
sense of justice to make certain that punishment to
fit the crime will be meted out by our courts if those
who are guilty can be detected and brought to trial.
If there are not, the slain of the sin of willful mur
der will never be removed from the conscience of
the State of Georgia and its people.
Mother Mary Raphael, who is
finishing her term as Superior of
St. Leo’s Italian Orphanage in
Baltimore, had her religious vo
cation predicted ior her when
only eight years old by St. Frances
Xavier Cabrini, first U. S. citizen
saint.
It happened when 'Mother
Cabrini was visiting an orphanage
in Arlington, N. J., where Mother
Mary Raphael was then being
cared for by members of Mother
Cabrini’s community. All the
orphans were overjoyed by the
Saint’s visit, and in her bounding
enthusiasm the future nun in
terrupted Mother Cabrini’s talk
with a declaration that she want
ed to become a nun.
The embarrassed Superior of
the orphanage apologized to
Mother Cabrini and added that
the young girl would never make
a Sister, because “she is too live
ly.”
“Yes, she will become a Sister,”
Mother Cabrini took up for the
little orphan, adding that sister
hoods ‘do not like girls who have
no life in them.” “Lively girls
make the best Sisters,” she said.
Mother Mary Raphael, who is
a member of the Pallottine Sis
ters, went to New York on the
day of Mother Cabrini’s canoni
zation and attended Mass in St.
Patrick’s Cathedral and at the
Mother Cabrini high school, where
the Saint’s remains are interred.
Mother Cabrini also predicted
the priestly vocation of Bishop
Charles Pascal Greco, of Alexan
dria, of whom she said while he
was a young boy in school: “He
will become a priest and will go
far in the priesthood.”
the rudiments of baseball. When
young Ruth was confirmed he took
the name Herman.
Elsewhere, in this issue of The
Bulletin, there is reproduced a
discussion of the canonization of
Saints which was written by Dean
Raimundo de Ovies, of the Epis
copal Cathedral of St. Philip, in
Atlanta, for his column which ap
pears in The Atlanta Journal.
Dean de Ovies is one of At
lanta’s most distinguished citizens,
and, as Ernest Rogers, one of
his fellow-columnists on The
Journal, said recently: “Aside
from his eminence as a clergy
man he has been a successful
author, a lecturer par excellence, -
a radio personality of the first
rank, and probably his proudest
achievement, a friend of children
and a compassionate counselor to
them,” and “a compelling force
for good in the community which
has been enriched by his presence
for almost two decades.”
France’s first shrine in honor
of Our Lady of Fatima, patron
of Portugal, has been erected on
a dune overlooking the sea in the
parish of La Tranche sur Mer in
the Vendee, in fulfillment of a
pledge made by villagers when
their homes were threatened dur
ing the war.
The threat came when German
occupation forces decided to build
pillboxes along the Atlantic wall
and ordered all houses on the sea
front to be evacuated and de
stroyed. The villagers offered
prayers to Our Lady of Fatima
and promised to erect a statue in
thanksgiving if their homes were
spared.
Prayers of the villagers were
answered when the Germans
changed..their minds and rescinded
the orders for the demolition of
their homes.
Robert Quillen, whose syndicat
ed column appears in a number of
Southern newspapers, among them
The Savannah Morning News, re
marked several days ago: “Spain
is Fascist and Franco a dictator.
Trouble is. those who accuse him
are even more tyrannical than he
Late last month, secular news
papers in this country carried as
an item of news a report that His
Holiness Pope Pius XII had asked
the Warsaw government to spare
the life of Arthur Greiser, former
Gauleiter of Posen, who was con
demned to death as a war crimi
nal. and later executed in Poland.
Commenting on a broadcast by
the Moscow radio, which had re
ported Warsaw circles as being
“surprised” at the step taken by
the Holy Father, Osscrvalore Ro
mano made known that His Holi
ness, acceded to a plea for inter
vention submitted to him by the
condemned man.
Osservatore stated that the ap
peal for intercession made by the
former Gauleiter was conveyed to
the Holy See by Stanislaus KoT,
Ambassador-of the Warsaw gov
ernment accredited - to Italy,
through the Apostolic - Nuncio to
Italy.
"The Apostolic Nuncio was in
structed to give the Polish Ambas
sador the following reply," the
statement issued by Osservatore
says. ” ‘Mr. Arthur Greiser, con
demned to death, has implored by
telegram the august intervention
of His Holiness , to obtain mercy.
The aforesaid man. as is known,
has been a bitter enemy of the
Church and had persecuted it
cruelly in the Warthcgau, which
he governed. Yet, His Holiness,
after the example of the Divine
Master who on the Cross prayed
for those who were crucifying
Him, received the request of Ihe
condemned man, and therefore
sends to the competent authorities
his paternal prayer that his life
may be spared.’ "
Protestantism has “gone all loo
far in stressing its divisiveness with
the Roman Catholic Church,” said
Dr. Charles T. Leber, of the Board
of Foreign Missions of the Presby
terian Church, in opening a con
ference on “The Christian Mission
to the Post-war World,’’ at Silver
Bay, N. Y.
Noting the appointment of a
Presbyterian minister as United
States Ambassador to China. Dr.
Leber asked: "What would have
happened if a Catholic priest had
been nominated to the post?”
A seven-century old friendship
between the Franciscan and the
Dominican friars was commemo
rated in New York City when the
Franciscans of St. Francis Assisi
Church attended Solemn Mass at
the Church of St. Vincent Ferrer,
administered by the Dominicans,
and later were dinner guests at Ihe
Dominican monastery. The Mass
marked the feast of St. Dominic,
founder of tlie Dominican Order.
On the feast of St. Francis,
founder of the Franciscans, which
is observed on October 4, the
Dominicans will attend Mass at the
Franciscan Church and will be
their guests at dinner.
This good will gesture, which
dates back hundreds of years, com
memorates the close friendship
which sprang up between the
founders of the fwo orders upon
their meeting in Rome in Ihe early
13th century. St. Dominic de Guz
man was a Spanish friar who died
in 1221 and was canonized in 1227,
and St. Francis of Assisi, an Italian
frir.r, died in 1226 and was canon
ized in 1228.
The man who taught baseball’s
celebrated “Babe” Ruth to play
the national game was honored at
a dinner in Baltimore this month
on the occasion of his 50th anni
versary as a member of the Xaver-
ian Brothers. He is Brother Her
man.
Before entering the Xaverian
community, Brother Herman was
William Bchr, the son of an Army
sergeant and Indian fighter, lie
came to know “Babe” Ruth at St.
Mary's Industrial Home School in
Baltimore and there taught him
Nowhere below the Mason-Dixon
Line is there a finer brand of Sou
thern hospitality than that offered
by Savannah. Ga., where the mem
bers of the Georgia Press Associa
tion were cordially welcomed
when they held their 60th annual
convention last week.
Kirk Sutlive and Hershel V.
Jenkins headed the local commit
tee and the visitors were lavishly
entertained at a number of de
lightful functions by the Central
of Georgia Railway, the Union
Bag and Paper Company, the Sa-
vananh Morning News, the Savan
nah Evening Press, the Citizens
and Southern National Bank, the
U. S. Army Engineers, and by the
Chamber of Commerce of Savan
nah Beach. —H. K.