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FEBRUARY 22, 1947
THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
THREE
News Review of the Catholic
Cardinal von Preysing 9 s
Visit to America Recalls
His Battle Against Nazis
German Prelate Arrives in U. S,
His Eminence Conrad Cardinal von Preysing, Bishop of Berlin,
is greeted as he arrived by plane at LaGuardia Field, New York, by
His Eminence Francis Cardinal Spellman, Archbishop of New York.
The German Cardinal, accompanied by his secretary, will visit in the
United States to convey, personally, the thanks of the German Catho
lics for the aid which American Catholics have sent to his war-stricken
country.—(AP Wirepboto—NC Photos). _
Catholic Committee of the South
Plans for Annual Convention in
Charlotte, September 23, 24, 25
By MAX JORDAN
(N. C. W. C. News Service)
BERLIN.—Like his cousin, the
late Cardinal Clement August
von Galen who became known t lie
world over as “the-Lion of Muen-
stcr.” His Eminence Konrad Car
dinal von Preysing, Bishop of
Berlin, who is now’ in the United
Slates, never faltered in applying
(he precept of St. Paul which he
himself chose as the motto of a
notable pastoral: “Preach the
Word, be urgent in season, out of
season.” (2 Tim. 4, It. Cardinal
von Preysing is the first member
of the German Hierarchy to be
invited to America since the war.
His Eminence Josef Cardinal
Frings, Archbishop of Cologne,
was the gufest of the British Hier-
arcl./ late last year.
When Cardinal von Preysing
was appointed Ordinary of the
Berlin diocese, on July 5, 1933,
the Nazi regime had been in
power for more than two years.
Bishop von Preysings held a key
position in his post at the Ger
man capital It fell upon him -to
maintain whatever relations could
be maintained with a government
as openly antagonistic to Chris
tianity and particularly to the
Catholic Church as Hitler’s. Orig
inally a member of the German
Foreign Service who had become
a priest and subsequently a pre
late, long after reaching mature
age. Bishop von Preysing had the
diplomatic training and experi
ence which predestined him for
so delicate a task. Among the
German Bishops he was charged
specifically with the handling
of press matters and in this ca
pacity had frequent, vexatious
dealings with the redoubtable Jo
sef Goebbels. then Propaganda
Minister of the Third Reich. The
letters Bishop von Preysing
wrote to this chieftain of Nazism
are lapidary documents—so tell
ing and at the same time devas
tating in their logical structure
that virtually all of them remain
ed unanswered!
Bishop von Preysing never
hesitated to speak his mind pub
licly when he thought the time
had come to take a stand. Not
long after his assumption of ofr
fiee in the German capital he
said in a pastoral letter that was
read from all the pulpits of his
diocese: “The faithful must learn
from the mouth of the Bishop
that the powers of darkness are
at work to destroy the Kingdom
of God on German soil.” And
three months later, in another
pastoral he warned his flock that
The hour is coming when every
believing Christian will have to
stand trial for his faith."
Soon the Nazi authorities real
ized that there stood a man
whom they could not dismiss with
blandishing and confusing lan
guage. But the struggle went on.
After Pope Pius Xf had issued his
great Encyclical “Wit brennender
Sorge" Bishop von Preysing fol
lowed it up with a pastoral letter
of his own, dated November 30,
1937, which spoke of the persis
tent Nazi attempts “to misrepre
sent, abuse and heap scorn on
our holy faith.” And he went on:
“In these times when religious
freedom is restrained and con
sciences are oppressed a spirit
hostile to Christianity dominates
public life to a growing degree.
. . Today the believing Catho
lic in*Germany finds provisions
of a state of siege applied against
him and he must suffer scorn and
contempt, vexations and priva
tions of freedom because of his
faith without the means to de
fend himself while the foes of the
Church enjoy freedom of speech,
of attack and mockery.”
The Bishop’s statements rever
berated far and wide, hut they
could not be expected to stall the
fury of his persecutors. Paganism
rampant went its way causing dis
aster. First, all parochial schools
were closed down. Then all reli
gious teaching was banned. Then
the religious press exterminated.
Then the good name of the clergy
smeared in public. But Bishop von
Preysing was always among the
first in denouncing vigorously all
these measures hostile and detri
mental to the Church. “Deep
down it is the same error” he
proclaimed in another pastoral,
“whether matter is deified, or
the individual organization, or
blood and race are made the ul
timate goal and last purpose, for
then a false God takes/ the place
of the One, Only Triune.”
The climax of this struggle
probably was reached on Novem
ber 2. 1941, when Bishop von
Preysing delivered a sermon at
his Cathedral, a few blocks away
from Hitler’s own chancery. The
sermon dealt with the so-called
“mercy killings” Hitler himself
had decreed—a decree that ulti
mately led to the cold-blooded
murder of thousands of innocent
people. This, the Bishop said,
with unconcealed wrath, was
“mortal sin” and he told his con
gregation in outspoken terms
why this was so. No Gestapo
agent tried to interfere. The
Bishop was too powerful a figure
for the Nazis to touch.
This was in the midst of the
war when the Nazi government
was suppressing all remaining
semblanuce of civil liberties
among the German people under
tile pretext that the nation was in
danger. Bishop von Preysing was
not misled by such pretexts. He
kept on lighting, judiciously be
cause he knew that the Nazis had
no intention of listening to him,
and fully aware of the impend
ing catastrophe. Dn March 3.
1942, he issued another pastoral
letter denouncing the wanton con
fiscation of Berlin church prop
erty by the political police. Their
measures, he said, were motivat
ed by the intention “to destory
Christian life in our Fatherland.”
Solemnly he professed: “Unshak
able is our faith that Jesus Christ
will remain victorious, no mat
ter what He will allow „to come
over us in the way of sufferings
and trials.” By the end of that
same year his Pastoral dated De
cember 13 completed the circle
of his courageous campaign. This
is one of, the documents now is
sued by his chancery in a 118-
page volume. The whole text of
this paper must be read to appre
ciate its significance. There, a
German Bishop, two years before
his country’s collapse. nailed
down all the wickedness and spu
riousness of Nazi teachings, con
demning the fundamental princi
ple of Hitlerism that might makes
right, particularly with regard to
its application to the then con
quered nations as well as to the
German people.
Allied air-raids in the Iasi stage
of the war destroyed both the Ca
thedral and the chancery and also
all personal belongings of Bishop
voi. Preysing. So a good deal of
the evidence went up in flames
which now could be produced to
show how brave and persistent a
lighter for Christian principles he
has been all during tlie period
of Nazi darkness.
When the war ended, this cor
respondent found him in a Berlin
suburb where he had repaired to
a small room in a hospital while
I he Red Army was overrunning
the city. Less than a year later
he wore the purple of a Prince of
(he Church, but the man who
wore it has not changed. The
times have changed, but some of
the esesntial problems of the
Church had to deal with under
the swastika have come up once
more. Cardinal von Preysing does
not budge. He remains the good
shepherd to his flock and will go
on preaching the Gospel against
which the powers of darkness can
never prevail.
pre-lenten'socials
SPONSORED BY K. OF C..
COUNCIL IN SAVANNAH
SAVANNAH, Cl a.—A series of
pre-Lenten social affairs was
sponsored by Savannah Council.
No. 631. Knights of Columbus. A
party for children was given on
the afternoon of February 17 at
the Catholic Community Center,
and that evening the tcen-a;Jb
group was entertained at a barn
dance. On the evening of Febru
ary 18. there was a musical re
cital. a bridge party, and a dance
toy the grown-ups.
Assisting James F. Glass, gem
eral chairman of the committee
on arrangements were Edward M.
Overstreet. Eugene Butler, Mrs.
William O’Hayer, Mrs. A. .1.
Schano, Mrs. John F. Ranitz, Mrs.
W. F. Elmbren, Mrs. William, J.
Hernandez-, Mrs. Joseph Frcwer,
Mrs. Joseph Sheehan, Chris Her
nandez. E. P. Daly, C. J. d'Esposi-
to, P. J. Buttimer, M. C. McCar
thy. V. J. Ryan, J. A. Butler, Jr.,
and H. J. Middleton.
CHARLOTTE. N. C. — An
nouncement was made following a
meeting of the program commit
tee of the Catholic Committee of
(1 South, held at the Hotel
Charlotte on January 29. that the
dates for the 1947 convention of
the C. C. S. would be September
23. 24 and 25.
At the convention of the Cath
olic Committee of the South,
held in Now Orleans lust spring,
an invitation, extended by the
Most Reverend Vincent S. Waters,
D. D.. Bishop of Raleigh, to hold
the 1947 convention in Charlotte,
was gratefully accepted.
Edward MacClements. of Char
lotte. was designated as chairman
of the local convention commit
tee. and the various sub-commit-
tec chairmen and committee
members will be appointed later.
The meeting in Charlotte in
September will be the seventh
held by the C C. S.. other con
ventions having been hold in At
lanta. Birmingham. Richmond.
Memphis, Biloxi and New Or
leans.
In attendance at the meeting
here, which was honored by the
presence of Bishop Waters and
that of .the Right Reverend Vin
cent G. Taylor, O. S. B., D. D.,
Abbot-Ordinary of Belmont, were
the Rev. Vincent J. O’Connell, S.
M.. of New Orleans, chairman of
the C. C. S., who presided; Mon
signor Arthur R. Freeman. P. A.,
of Charlotte, Vicar General of
the Diocese of Raleigh: Monsignor
Hubert Lerschen. of Rayne. La.:
Monsignor J. Lennox Federal,
Raleigh: Father Gregory Eiclien-
laub. O. S. B.. Gastonia: Father
Thomas E. O’Connell. Richmond,
Vu.: Father Henry Bollman. O. S.
B., Behnont. N. C : Father George
Lewis Smith. Aiken. S. C.; Father
Frederick Koch. New Bern; Fa
ther Maurice McDonnell O. S. B.,
Father Timothy Sullivan, C.SS.R..
Father George Lynch, Father Pat-
i ick Gallaghqr. Charlotte: John
Eck. K. S. (!., Gastonia, treasurer
of the C. C. kj A.tl. Cummings,
New Orleans., executive secretary
of the C. C-.Paul D. Williams,
Richmond. -Va.. former executive
secretary: Hugh Kinehle'y. Augus
ta, Ga., former vice-chairman;
John G. Crowley. Dennis Dunn;
Frank Powers, Fred Ray. and Mr.
MacClements. vice-chairman of
the C C. S.. all of Charlotte.
At the convention held in Mem
phis in 1,944. plans were made to
hold the 1945 convention in Char
lotte, but due to war-time restric
tions on travel, no convention was
held that year.
Emphasis on Catholic activity
for the welfare of rural dwellers
and greater attention to the Sou
thern apostolale of the Church
were decided for the September
sessions.
Chairmen of six CCS regional
departments were appointed: Rev.
Thomas E. O’Connell, Richmond,
Va., 1946 CCS general chairman,
appointed 1947 chairman of CCS
Labor and Industry department.
Very Rev. Msgr. A. Hubert
Lerschen, Rayne, La., vice-presi
dent. National Catholic Rural Life
conference appointed chairman,
CCS Rural Life department.
Rt. Rev. Msgr. Leo M. Byrnes,
superintendent, Mobile parochial
schools, named chairman of Youth
and Education department.
Rt. Rev. Msgr. T. James Mc
Namara, superintendent. Savan
nah. Ga.. parochial schools, chair
man CCS Race Relations depart
ment.
Rev. Francis Giri, Grove Hilt.
Ala., chairman Southern Aposto-
lale.
Roger Baudier, K. S. G., editor,
Catholic Action of the South. New
Orleans, CCS publicity chairman.
Chosen assistants' of Mr. Baudier
were Charles Blaise, assistant
program director, Radio Station
-WLW, New Orleans, and A. Jack-
son! New Orleans.
A policy of appointing two lay
men to each clergyman serving on
local committees was adopted.
"We mean to get lay people coop
erating with us on the committees
who already are acquainted in
the various fields in wh'eh CCS
functions, said Father O’Connell.
There are many men and women
able to do much to advance the
Catholic cause in labor relations,
in education or in other fields
when CCS begins to channel their
efforts.”
Increasing cooperation with
other Southern organizations op
erating in the social area of the
CCS influence was considered
and it was planned to make a
.thorough investigation of the
'moral and philosophical back
grounds of such organizations.
Continued and closer coopera
tion with the National Catholic
Welfare conference N.CWC was
voted.
Plans were advanced for the
CCS summer school at Loyola
University of the South. New Or
leans.' “The summer school must
give tlie Sisters and other teach
ers working in our rural'sections
a good grasp of Catholic philoso
phy as it applies to the farm fam
ilies with whom they come in con
tact.” Father O’Connell declared.
World
Neri Guild in N. Y.
Sponsors Benefit for*
Rock Hill Oratory
(Special to The Bulletin)
NEW YORK, N. Y. — Attend
ance at the annual card party
sponsored by the Neri Guild un
der .the direction of Father John
A. Haalc, Congr.j Oral., at the
“Pen Top” of the Hotel Pennsyl
vania in New York City for the
benefit of the Oratory of St. Phil
ip Neri. in- Rock Hill, S. C., sur
passed all previous records.
The fact that the affair was a
great financial, as well as a social,
success, is due in largest measure
to the untiring and efficient ef
forts of the Neri Guild -’commit
tee here, headed by Miss Eliza
beth A. Kelly, with Miss Marion
Gribbin and Miss Mary Ellen
McGowan assisting.
, The Guild had its beginning
sevi .1 years ago at a small meet
ing at the home of Miss Kelly,
and it has since, under her guid
ance, gained a large and enthusi
astic membership which provides,
through dues and the annual card
party, funds to enable (lie priests
of the Congregation of the Ora
tory at Rock Hill to continue and
expand this missionary work in
South Carolina.
His Excellency Bishop Emmet
M. Walsh of Charleston, honor
ary president of the Guild, was
unfortunately unable to be pres
ent, but Father Vincent G.
Sehqrlf, Congr. Orat., Provost of
the Oratory at Rock Hill, extend-
, ed Bishop Walsh’s gratitude to all
I those who had. by their attend
ance and support, made possible
the progress of Hie Oratorian mis
sion effort. Father Vincent also
distributed the many beautiful
and valuable prizes which were
generously donated by friends of
the Oratory.
Plans are already being made
which have as their purpose mak
ing the card party next year un
even greater success, and thus
further to a greater extent the
great work which the Oratorian
Fathers are carrying on in the
South. /
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION in
public schools does not violate
the constitutions of the United
States or Illinois “if the classes
are purely voluntary,” a unani
mous ruling of the Illinois Su
preme Court has declared. The
court upheld a Circuit Court de
cision which had rejected the ap
peal of Mrs. Vashti McCollum, an
avowed atheist, who sought to
I halt Bible classes in the public
schools’ at Campaign. 111.
ALTHOUGH refraining from
making any comment on the re
cent, obviously rigged elections,
His Eminence August Cardinal
Illond. Primate of Poland, in an
exclusive statement to the N. C.
W. C. News Service, declared
himself “calmly confident” that
with the protection of the Blessed
Mother, Poland will emerge from
.ts bitter current crisis and build
the future “wholly in the spirit of
Christ."
TWO VETERAN Vatican diplo
matics associated with nations
very much in the news todav,
Archbishop Filippo Cortesi, for
mer Papal Nuncio to Poland, and
Monsignor Carlo Colli, Papal
Charge d’Affaires in Germany,
died recently within a few days of
each other.
THE “FIGHTING IRISH." is
applied to the students of the Uni
versity of Notre Dame seems to
be justified as nearly 10,000 stu
dents and alumni of Notre Dame
served in the armed forces of the
United States during the war.
Their casualitcs were severe—328
known dead, and more than 1,200
wounded.
FATHER DAVID NUGENT S.
J., lias been named Provincial of
the Maryland Province of the So
ciety of Jesus, which includes
Maryland. Pennsylvania. Dela
ware, West Virginia North Caro
lina, the District of Columbia and
the Dioceses of Trenton and
Camden in New Jersey.
A SOCIETY for Syrian-Leban-
ese students, one of only six of its
kind in the United States, has
been organized at the University
of Notre Dame to promote a bet
ter understanding and apprecia
tion of Syrian-Lebanese culture
among college students.