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THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LA YMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
SEPTEMBER 28, 194«
, iBullrtin
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 McAULlFFE. Augusta Auditor
Vol. XXVII SEPTEMBER 28 No. 9
Entered as second class matter June 15. 1921 at the
Post Office at Augusta. Georgia, under the Act of March
3. 1879; accepted for mailing at special rate of postage
provided in paragrnph 4. section 038, Postal Laws and
Regulations as modifier! by paragraph (>.
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 the Catholic l-aymen’s Association
of Georgia. Inc., with the A pprolmtlon of the Most Rev
erend Bishops of Raleigh, Charleston and Savannali-Al-
lanta, and of the Right Reverend Abbot-Ordinary of Bel
mont.
On to Savannah
O N Sunday. October twenty-seventh, the Feast
of Christ the King, the thirty-first annual con
vention of the Catholic Laymen’s Association
of Georgia will be held in Savannah.
All details of the convention program have not
yet been announced, but the Savannah Branch, Protestants
Unity Among Protestants
T HERE will be joy in every Catholic heart with
the coming of that blessed day upon which the
prayer of Our Blessed Lord for His disciples,
and for them also who through their word should
believe in Hint, "that they all may be one,” will
have been answered.
Many who are not Catholics also yearn for the
day when all mankind shall be united in a oneness
of faith.
Currently in tne United States efforts among
Protestants toward closer cooperation and unity
among themselves are attracting attention, and
Catholics, who welcome any approach to a oneness
of faith, are noting with interest tre Protestant
endeavor for union, which is evidenced by fact
that the Federal Council of Churches has been ask
ed by several groups “to consider the possibility of
immediate closer unity of American denominations
which already accord one another mutual recogni
tion of ministries and ^sacraments.”
Recent developments include the proposal of the
Disciples of Christ for organic union with the
Northern Baptist Convention. The Congregational-
ists are negotiating for union with the Evangelical
and Reformed Churches. The union of the Evange
lical Church and the Church of the United Brethren
in Christ will become , effective in November.
Lutheran groups in the United States are seeking
to unite in a Lutheran World Federation. For some
time, separate Presbyterian groups, in the North and
the South, have been seeking to unite. While many
delegates to the general convention of the Protestant
Episcopal Church, just held in Philadelphia, de
clared in favor of # the proposed merger with the
Presbyterian Church it was agreed to study the
proposal for another three years before taking ac
tion on it.
The Catholic Standard and Times, of Philadelphia,
stated editorially recently that “Catholics have very
little knowledge of the differences that oxis^among
They bunch them altogether as one
which will be host to the convention, is making
particular effort this year to provide a number of
entertaining features that will make the convention
more attractive to the younger generation.
It is desired, in fact it is essential, that the Cath
olic youth of Georgia become actively engaged in
the work of the Laymen’s Association, to carry on
that work and to expand it, under new conditions
and along new ways. The Association needs the
enthusiasm and vigor of youthful members, with
the wisdow and experience of the veterans.
The Catholic young men and women of Georgia
are invited and urged to attend the convention in
Savannah next month.
Savannah is the oldest Catholic settlement in
Georgia which remains to the present day, for al
though the charter of the English colony of Georgia
prohibited Catholics as citizens, there is evidence
that Catholics were in Savannah, almost from its
earliest days. The records of the parish of St.
John the Baptist in Savannah go back to 1796. but
there were Catholics in the colonv before that date,
and it is well known that since that date, its Cath
olic citizens have played an important part in the
progress and development of the city.
It has been said with truth that Savannah is a
city full of charm and beauty, where industry
flourishes along with an easy enjoyment of the good
things of life, and that it is a community where
the visitor will always find a cordial welcome.
Savannah set a new high mark in hospitality when
the whole city joined to welcome His Excellency
the Apostolic Delegate to the United Slates and the
other distinguished visitors who attended the Silver
Jubilee Convention of the Laymen’s Association held
in Savannah in 1940.
Savannah does not promise bands playing at the
station or parades to greet delegates to our con
vention this year, but does assure ^ welcome that
will make the Laymen’s Association convention of
1946 an occasion long to be recalled in pleasant
recollection by all who attend.
With travel restrictions removed, there is good
reason to expect that the Catholic laity of Georgia,
in good number will gather in Savannah on the
last Sundav in October.
At the National Conference of Young Churchmen
held at Lakeside Ohio, early tiiis month, Protes
tant-Catholic relations were discussed at some
length. Cautioning against the development of an
anti-Catholic feeling, one delegate maintained there
were more irreconcilable differences between cer-
tain Protestant grouos titan between Protestantism
as a whole and Catholicism
Most of tlie participants admitted little under
standing of Catholicism and acknowledged that what
ever preudices they harbored rose mainly from lack
of understanding. It was agreed tHat lltey needed
more factual information regarding the Catholic
Church and its activities. _ .
Here is confirmation from a Protestant source
of what the Catholic Laymen's Association of Geor
gia has maintained from the beginning of its work
three decades ago] that the remedy for anti-Catho
lic prejudice is to make the Catholic Church better
known and better understood by our non-Catholic
fellow citizens.
That is the task to which the Catholic Laymen’s
Association hiust dedicate itself with renewed
energy in the days ahead, and the coming con
vention in Savannah must generate the impulse
which will bring an expansion of Ihe Association’s
efforts "to promote a better feeling among Geor
gians, irrespective of creed.”
Our Cathoilc Schools
I N this issue of The Bulletin there is reprinted
an editorial titled "Sacrificing for Schools,”
which appeared in a recent issue of The Char
leston News and Courier.
The editorial Irotn the Charleston newspaper,
which The Bulletin is reproducing in these pages,
discusses the sacrifices that Catholic make in order
1o maintain their own schools, while paying taxes to
support Hie nation's public school system, and
brings out some figures in regard to the benefit
in tux saving that results generally through the
operation of Catholic schools.
Let's bring this subject closer to home:
Monsignor T. James McNamara, Superintendent
of Schools f )r the Diocese of Savannah-Atlanta,
reports that on the opening day of the current year,
6,268 pupils were enrolled in the Catholic schools of
the Diocese of Savannah-Atlanta, which embraces
the State of Georgia.
That figure has been increased since the schools
opened, but taking 6,268 pupils in the Catholic
Dixie Musings
body with no regard for any distinctions. From a
practical point of view this is easily explained.
When it comes to a question of opposition to the
Catholic Faith Protestants speak with a remarkable
unanimity. ... It is therefore to be expected that
Catholics would be unable to detect any denomina
tional characteristics.”
The Standard and Times continue}! to say that
most Protestants w’ould admit that there was no
essential difference between themselves and any
other Protestants, and that it was only when a
merger between two denominations was suggested
that unexpected difficulties arise.
An instance of this might be found in the opinion
expressed to his diocesan convention by Dr William
T. Manning, just previous to his retirement as bishop
of the Episcopal Church in New York.
“More than ever today.” said Bishop Manning, “we
must think of Christian Unity in its true worldwide
meaning. We must realize that Christian Unity does
not mean a union only of Protestants on the one
hand or of Catholics on the other. . . . Christian
Reunion means the reunion of all of us.” For this
reason. Bishop Manning said that he disapproved
of the Episcopal Church’s joining with any other'
Protestant group as the move might “make new
divisions instead of healing old ones.”
He added: “If the Episcopal Church were to
abandon or compromise its Catholic belief ... to
unite with one among the Protestant churches, this
V'ould not be a step toward Christian reunion but
a step directly away front it. They who urge such
action are not thinking of reunion in worldwide
terms. They are thinking only of Protestant union.”
Rather. Dr. Manning feels, the Episcopal Church
should serve as a "bridge church” to draw together
Protestants and Catholics.
Catholics are in sympathy with every effort of
their separated brethren to gel together, and hope
lhat the underlying desire of these others for real
unity will some day lead them to a realization of
that unity, which is unity in that oneness of the
Church which Christ established to extent His
teachings among men.
To all (hose who seek religious unilv may he
addressed the words of I (is Holiness Pope Leo
Kill: “Suffer that we should invite you lo the
unity which has ever existed in the Catholic Church
and can never fail: suffer that we should lovingly
hold out ou>- hand to you. The Church as the
common mother of all. has long been calling you
back to h»r. Th° Catholics of the world await you
with brotherly love, that vou may render holy
worship to God together with us, united in perfect
charity bv the profession of one Gospel, one faith,
and one hope.”
Religious instructions arc be
ing completely eliminated from
the curricula of all schools in the
Russian zone of occupation in
Germany under a decree issued
by by the Soviet authorities in
Berlin, Max Jordan, correspondent
of NCMC News Service, revealed
in a recent dispatch.
The traditional German school
system is being replaced by the
Soviet-type public school which
excludes all Christian influence
and stresses materialistic prin
ciples throughout the educational
setup.
German boys and girls who are
enrolling for the first time this
month will feel the full impact
of Soviet influence beginning with
the fifth year of their life. All
Western and humanistic traditions
are to be disregarded. After one
year of kindergarten come eight
years of combined grade and high
school. From the fourth year on,
the teaching of the Russian lan
guage becomes obligatory.
No child will be admitted to
higher or college education unless
he or she has gone through the
basic training which is to be dom
inated by Soviet thinking. Par
ents will have little to save in mat
ters of education. Their children
will be schooled on the basis of
governmental instructions, fash
ioned in strict accordance with
Moscow philosophies, to the ex
clusion of Western and Christian
ideals.
The result will be a total cul
tural separation of the Eastern
sector of Germany, comprising all
of Saxony, Thuringia, the State
or Anhalt, Brandenburg and
Mecklenburg, an area with a
population of some eleven million,
about one million of them Catho
lics, from Germany proper, and
the complete sovietization of the
amputated area. Eventually even
the German language would be
superseded by Russian, and the
new generation of German youth
would grow up in a spirit totally
at variance with Christian ideals.
The real reason for Russia’s
veto of Eire’s application for mem
bership in the United Nations is
that Ireland is a Catholic country,
"whose inoral strength ever would
be on the side of Catholic prin
ciples and justice for all peo
ples,” according to the political
correspondent of the Irish Inde
pendent, leading Dublin news
paper.
suffered martyrdom at the hands
of the Indians in 1566, may also
have merited the title of the first
Jesuit martyr of the New World
even though he has not been
canonized as a Saint.
In an interview granted a re
porter for The New Orleans Item,
while in attendance at the recent
convention of the Catholic Com
mittee of the South in that in
teresting city, Monsignor T. James
McNamara, of Savannah, stated
that the South is “still fundament
ally a region of believers” and
that there is little evidence of
organized agnosticism or
atheism.”
Word that the “Bible Belt” still
extends across the Southern part
of the United States must have
reached Moscow, for the means
and methods being used to gain
sympathy for Soviet Russia and to
spread its Communistic ideas in
the South differ from those em
ployed in other parts of the
country where atheism is organ
ized and active.
Attention was directed to a
news item which appeared in a re
cent issue of The Columbia State
through a headline which read
“Catholic Association Elects Its
Officers.” The item, under a
Chester, S. C., dateline, read:
“Catholic Memorial associa
tion convened in its annual
meeting at Catholic Presbyte
rian Church, 13 miles east of
Chester today with Dr. James
A. Haync of Columbia, presid
ing.
“Dr. Hugh R. Murchison,
chaplain of the University of
South Carolina, was the guest
speaker. He gave a brief his
tory of the Catholic Presbyte
rian church, which was founded
in 1759.”
Sister Maxine, 39-year-old Ben
edictine Nun, recently made her
first solo flight in an airplane.
Her instructor, Harold Young-
lians, chief pilot for American
Aviation Company, said she did
an excellent job. Sister Maxine
is a member of the teaching staff
at Cathedral High School in St.
Cloud, Minnesota. She said she
learned to fly so that she couid
teach classes in aviation this fall.
schools of Georgia as a basis and using $48.54, a
conservative estimate, as the annual per capita ex
penditures for public education in Georgia, we find
that the Catholic schools of this state mean a sav
ing of $304 248.72 to taxpayers in Georgia this year.
It must be remembered, too, that these figures
do not take into consideration the millions that
would have to he expended to build schools to ac
comodate the Catholic children of Georgia, if they
attended the already overcrowded public schools.
Multiplying the figures for Georgia to apply to
Hie forty-eight states and the District of Columbia,
still not considering Ihe cost of school buildings
and equinment. and by borrowing statistics com
piled by The Tablet, of Brooklyn, which show 2,-
399,908 pupils enrolled in the thousands of Catholic
schools in the United States, we arrive at a saving
of $318.146 291.83 to the taxpayers of the nation.
' In spite of the hundreds of millions of dollars in
operating expenses and Ihe tremendously greater
amount represented by school buildings, the finan
cial saving to the taxpayers is not. the most valuable
contribution which Catholic schools make to our
country and its people.
Our Catholic schools maintain high scholastic
standards, but wiiat is more essential to the nation’s
welfare, they inculcate character, and impress upon
their pupils a patriotism based on (he principles of
tiue Americanism—a patriotism that was recently
reflected in the number of Catholics in the nations
armed forces, far above their proportion of popu
ltaion.
Before leaving the subject of our Calliolic schools,
it might be wjell to repeat J. Edgar Hoover's recent
tribute lo them, which was quoted in the last pre
vious issue of The Bulletin: “No gift of Rockefeller
or Carnegie foundations or any other Christian de
nomination can equal the gift presented to the
American people by the Catholic Church. It has
nearly 31,000 schools, with nearly three million
pupils, who arc taught by 95,000 patriotic teachers.
Not a single atheistic teacher is among them; not a
single non-Christian or non-American principle is
taught.”
Currently there is in progress
the commemoration of the 300th
anniversary of the martyrdom of
Saint Issac Jogues and his com
panions, at the Shrine of the
Jesuit Martyrs of North America,
at Auriesville, New York.
While remembering lhat Saint
Isaac Joques and Saint John
Lalanle, who were slain by the
Iroquois in 1646, and Saint Rene
Goupil, who was put to death by
the Indians four years earlier,
have the distinction of being the
first canonized Saints to have
shed their blood and given their
lives for the Faith in the land that
is now the United Stales, we ,aro
reminded that Father Hedro Mar
tinez, also of the Society of
Jesus, who justly merits the title
of Georgia’s first Apostle and who
A twenty-page publication entitled
“The Production of Religious
Radio Programs’’ has been pre
pared by William G. Smith, Radio
Director of the National Council
of Catholic Men, to give practi
cal suggestions to Catholic groups
who produce or hope to produce
religious programs over their
local stations.
The paper designed for free
distribution to all who are in
terested, discusses in detail how
to get radio time for religious
broadcasts on local stations, how
to handle publicity for such pro
grams, how to plan religious pro
grams, and how to produce reli
gious programs on the air.
The story of Billy Conn, heavy
weight prize fighter, leading a
group of Hollywood stars in the
recitation of the Rosary aboard
an Army cargo plane whose con
trols were jammed, was brought
to light when he donated $5,000
to the new Sacred Heart School
and Convent in Pittsburgh for the
purchase of a statue of the Bless
ed Virgin.
Mr. Conn and a group of screen
stars including Bob Hope and
Marlene Djetrich, were touring
Europe witli the U. S. Army anj
entertaining various soldier units.
While en route to England from
France in bad weather they learn
ed (hat the controls of their plane
had jammed. There seemed lit
tle chance of the plane landing
anywhere hut in the rough waters'
of the English Channel. The
heavyweight challenger vowed
that if he and his traveling com
panions were saved he would give
a statue of the Madonna to the
Sacred Heart School in Pitts
burgh, his alma mater. The plane
landed safely as the passengers
finished saying the Rosary, Mr.
Conn, related.—H. K.
Attention is directed to the pro
visions made in (lie Constitution
and By-Laws of the Catholic Lay
men's Association of Georgia, as
Amended in 1941, regarding the
appointment of delegates to an
nual conventions of the Associa
tion:
“Membership shall consist of
all Catholics in the State who
arc in sympathy with its pur
poses, or who shall contribute
to its support.
"Meetings shall l?c held by
delegates in convention. The
delegates shall be two repre
sentatives, one man and one
woman, from each parish and
mission in the State, to be
named by the parish priest, and
one delegate from each Catholic
society in each parish, to be
designated by the society's
executive officer/ or elected by
vote of the membership.”
All pastors of churches in Ihe
Diocese of Savannah-Atlanta are
requested to appoint delegates to
Ihe convention of the Catholic
Laymen's Association of Georgia
from each parish or mission in
(heir charge.
The president, or other execu
tive, of each Catholic organiza
tion or society in Georgia, whether
it be Diocesan, parochial or other
wise, is requested to have a del
egate appointed or elected to rep
resent such groups at the annual
convention of the Catholic Lay
men’s "Association of Georgia.
It is also urgently requested that
pastors and heads of organizations
report the names of all delegates
to the headquarters of the Catholic
Laymen’s Association of Georgia,
216 Southern Finance Corporation
Building, Augusta, not later than
October 15.