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FUUK
THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION
OF GEORGIA JULY 26, 1947
®Ijp ftuUrtitt
The Official Organ ot Uie Catholic Laymen’s
. Association of Georgia, Incorporated.
HUGH K1NCHLEY. Editor
216-217 Southern Einance Building, Augusta, Ga.
ASSOCIATION OFFICERS FOR 1946-1947
ESTES DOREMUS, Atlanta President
M. J. CALLAGHAN, Macon,
.... (Honorary Vice-President
FRED WIGGINS, Albany Vice-President
4 J. B. McCALLUM, Atlanta Secretary
HUGH GRADY, Savannah Treasurer
HUGH K1NCHLEY, Augusta Executive Secretary
MISS CECILE FERRY, Augusta Financial Secretary
A M McAULIFFE. Augusta Auditor
Vol. XXVIII JULY 26, 1947 No, 7
Entered as second class matter June 15 1921 at the
Post Office at Augusta. Georgia, under the Act of March
3. 1879, accepted tor mailing at special rate of postage
provided in paragraph 4, section 538, Postal Laws and
Regulations as modified bv Paragraph f>
jVlemuer 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 pprobation of the Most Rev
erend Bishops of Charleston and Savannah-Atlanta. and
of tile Right Reverend Abbot -Ordinary of Belmont.
“That Wonderful System”
S OME days ago, in his personal column which
is a daily feature of the editorial page of The
Atlanta Constitution, Ralph McGill, the editor
of that newspaper, discussed the invitation which
was being extended by the Y’ugoslav Government
to ten Prostestant ministers in the United States,
inviting them to visit Yugoslavia, where according
to the Yugoslav Embassy in Washington, the Ameri
cans would be offered “full opportunity for consulta
tion with religious leaders of all faiths in Yugo
slavia.’’
Mr. McGill expressed regret that such a party
could not carry out such a mission, and added: “The
Catholic Church being well organized and intelli
gently directed as a unity, has been able to do a
much better job of putting its representatives into
thf Balkans.”
Last month, in recalling to its readers that it
was just one hundred and tweuty-five years ago,
in Charleston, Bishop John England had begun pub
lication of the first Catholic newspaper in the
United States, The United States Catholic Miscel
lany, the editor of The Bulletin renewed his ac
quaintance with “The Works of the Right Rev. John
England, First Bishop of Charleston,’’ collected and
arranged under the advice and direction of his im
mediate successor, the Right Rev. Ignatius Aloysius
Reynolds, and published in five volumes in 1849.
Glancing through Bishop England’s writings,
attention was attracted to a series of letters by the
founder of the U. S. Catholic Miscellany, which ap
peared in that publication in 1826 as answers to
certain widely circulated attacks upon the Catholic
Church by one J. Blanco White.
A group of non-Catholie clergymen, in recom
mending Blanco White’s writings as highly deserving
of public attention, alluded to the Catholic Church
as "that wonderful system."
This designation of the Catholic Church as “that
wonderful system" inspired Bishop England to write
what could well be classed by Monsignor Joseph L.
O’Brien, one of Bishop England’s biographers, as
“one of the most beautiful eulogies of the Church
of God to be found in literature.”
Editor Ralph McGill, who sets forth the Catholic
Church as a well organized and intelligently di
rected unity, evidently also considers that the Catho
lic Church is a wonderful system, so what Bishop
England wrote on that subject is just as opportune
today as it was more than a century ago, and de
serves to be quoted here.
“Bishop Kemp and his associates are pleased to
call our religion ‘a wonderful system,’ ’’ wrote Bis
hop England, “And so it is. It is a system deriving
its origin from the Deity who first planted it in
the hdman heart. He enabled our first parent ir^
the first development of his understanding to dis
cover the only principle Which the whole system
comprises—man is bound to adore his Creator. Yes,
my friends! this is the only principle of our Church;
this is the summary of our religion. This princi
ple was discovered by Adam in the day of his inno
cence;'and it was recollected by Adam in the midst
of the gloom which succeeded his fall; it was trans
mitted by him as the most valuable legacy to his
children. Patriarchal tradition preserved it to the
days of (he deluge. It remained with Noe in the
Ark; and it came forth to cheer him in the midst
of the desolation with which he waS surrounded
upon the hills of Armenia. He beheld its calm and
peaceful beauty in the rainbow. It preserved his
faith at the bloody sacrifice; and enkindled his
hope when the holocaust was consumed upon the
blazing altar. It was misapplied and misdirected at-
Babel; and the roaming outcasts who were spread
over the face o£ the earth preserved in their migra
tion the principle, though they mistook the object of
udoration. The young Chaldean who came out from
his father’s house and from his kindred brought it
with him in its purity to the land of strangers which
was to be given as an inheritance of his descendants.
In (he valley of vision and upon the hill of sacrifice,
he conversed with the God of his fathers, who gave
him ordinances calculated to preserve the princi
ple from corruption of hqman speculation. God
went down with Joseph into Egypt, and after ex
hibiting His might by the hand of Moses, He brought
His people through the yawning valley of the Red
Sea. In the midst of wonders He proclaimed His
law, and gave its sanction at Sinai. He established
then a priesthood and a tribunal for the careful
preservation of that original principle which the
varying speculations of restless men had so dis
guised throughout the world as to make the objects
uf their adoration every real vice and every imagin
ary virtue, every material being, from the glorious
tun of Persia to the putrid leek of Egypt. Again at
the appointed lime the heavens were rent. The
great Teacher descended; an incarnate God wrought
wonders in Judea: the Son of Justice succeed the
orb which had only announced His glories by re
flection and the twinkling prophets were lost in the
brilliancy of His light. The new tribunal is estab
lished; that tribunal whose commission was extended
to every nation, and all days to the end of time.
In wonders the Apostles go forth to victory and
to death. In wonders the world is convinced that
God has directed how the great principle should be
carried into practice. But the human mind is
Restless and speculation again mislead^ man from
“Valuable Services Rentiered”
I T is hardly possible that there is a Catholic in
Georgia who is not aware of the excellence of
the school system of the. Diocese of Savannah-
Atlanta. The splendid progress, in every respect,
that has been made in recent years in the Diocesan
school system is so evident that is could not fail to
attract attention.
Monsignor T. James McNamara, who has served
ably and efficiently as Superintendent of schools
in the Diocese for the past several years, is
primarily responsible for the progress that has
been made in the field of Catholic education in
Georgia.
Now that Monsignor McNamara is relinquishing
that position to Father Cornelius E. Maloney, who
has the ability and training to be his successor in
the school system of the Diocese, it would seem
that there should be in these columns some recogni
tion of the accomplishments of Monsigpor Mc
Namara in his capacity as Diocesan Superintendent
of Schools.
There is, however, no tribute that The Bulletin
might pay to Monsignor McNamara which would be
as fitting on this occasion as that expressed by
His Excellency the Most Reverend Gerald P. O’Hara,
Bishop of Savannah-Atlanta, in a letter written from
Romania when advised that Monsignor McNamara
had submitted his resignation to Monsignor Joseph
E. Moylan, who, as Vicar General, is administering
the affairs of the Diocese in Bishop O’Hara’s ab
sence.
No one is more familiar with Monsignor Mc
Namara’s achievements in the direction of the
schools of the Diocese than Bishop O’Hara, and
none is better qualified to evaluate them in these
words:
“Since Monsignor McNamara assumed office in
1939 he has welded the schools together in a com
pact, integrated system comparable to the best jn
the country. He leaves behind him a scholastic
structure that will be a monument to its architect,
who entering upon his tasks eight years ago with
out any professional training but with an abundance
of good will and ‘non-professional’ talent, soon
mastered the principles of school administration
and development. That, plus consultation with life
long experts in the field and attendance at many
school meetings meant for our Diocese a quicken
ing of interest in school work, a sense of school
interdependence coupled with the realization of the
need and utility of Diocesan direction.
“At the same time, Monsignor McNamara gave
immense encouragement to our hard-working teach
ers who prior to his activity were left, as the in
dividual school themselves were left, to shift for
themselves and drift along alone.
“To Monsignor McNamara's successor is left a
heritage that will make his work easy, even from
the start, and upon the foundation that has been
laid he will have no difficulty in continuing Mon
signor McNamara’s work, aided by the wealth of
technical and professional training that he has
had an by experience that he will gain day by day.
’ “Personally, I had no intention of asking or
even expecting that Monsignor McNamara would
step aside upon the return of Father Maloney to
the Diocese. On the contrary, I was hoping that
for a year at least Monsignor McNamara would
continue in office until Father Maloney got “worked
into” the system. Perhaps Monsignor McNamara
is correct in the reasons given' for stepping aside
now, and it was a gracious act in view of these
reasons for him to leave the way entirely clear to
his successor.
“It goes without saying, however, that Monsignor
McNamara will be available for Tidvice and con
sultation until Father Maloney completely familiars-
izes himself with our own particular system and
the problems and needs of the individual schools.
"Personally, and as Bishop of the Diocese, I
wish to thank Monsignor McNamara for the very
valuable services that he has rendered to the Church
in Georgia by building up and greatly improving
our schools—institutions upon which, to an im
mense degree and in a horizon-less sense, the fu
ture of the -Church in Georgia and of the faith of
our individual Catholics will depend.’’
“Feed the Hungry”
I T IS possible that we who live in a land which
terial things of life may find -it rather difficult
has been so bountifully blessed with the ma-
to realize fully the di jadful depths of destitution
in which other peoples of the world are enduring
an existence, until that fact is brought home to us
by one of our own.
Bishop Gerald P. O’Hara of Savannah-Atlanta,
writes from Romania, where he is now serving the
Holy See as Regent of the Apostolic Nunciature in
Bucharest, of the distress and dire want that pre
vails among the Romanians, many > of whom are
literally starving to death.
Our beloved Bishop appeals to the Christian
charity of the people of his Diocese, and asks that
from their plentiful tables and well-stocked pantry
shelves, they send canned foodstuffs to the suffer
ing people of Romania among whom he is now
serving.
Surely, there is not a Catholic in Georgia who
will fail to respond with the utmost generosity to
the urgent appeal that Bishop O’Hara is making,
for here, indeed, is presented an opportunity to
demonstrate to our beloved Bishop our grateful
appreciation for the great things he has accomp-
lishcd for the Church in Georgia.
evidence of fact. Man begins to inquire how God
can do these things instead of inquiring whether he
has proof of God’s declaration that He has done
them. Separations are ipade, nations fall away^iew
nations are converted, empires are overturned, king
doms are destroyed, death sweeps dynasties from
their thrones and their monuments vanish at the
touch of time. Oblivion blots their names from
the memories of men. Ages have passed away,
everything else is new save that system, which in
the midst of wonders, the Son of God has perma
nently established. All the old separatists dwindled
to mere shadows; but others of a different kind
succeeded. Every civilized nation has embraced
the system, and in every civilized nation has it been
opposed and persecuted. And yet. in every age its
adherents form the vast majority of the civilized
portion of the human race. It began in wonders; it
has been propagated by wonders. Its wonders are
seen now, even now. amongst ourselves, even be
fore the eyes of the originators of the libel against
which 1 write. The very perpetuation of the system
is a wonder and will continue so until time shall
be no more . Well then have our opponents
described our Catholic reljgion as ’a wondei-ful
system.’ I feel happy that in this at least we are
agreed.’’
Dixie Musings
With 24 games won and no
games lost, the Knights of Colum
bus team is leading the Augusta
Men’s Softball League.
Managed by Barney Dunstan,
and paced by their star pitcher,
Leo Boehmer, the Patrick Walsh
Council softball players have not
only won every game they have
played in the regular league
schedule, but they also defeated
the softball team of Savannah
Council, K. of C., and the team
of Bishop England Council, K. of
C., from Columbia, S. C., in a
double-header played in Augusta
some weeks ago. On last Sunday,
Manager Dunstan took his team to
Columbia, where they won a dou
ble-header from the Bishop Eng
land Council team.
Leo Boehmer, whose pitching
has been one of the potent factors
is the team’s consistent winning,
has one no-hit game and several
shut-outs to his credit.
Roderick Paul Naef, a convert
and a veteran of World War II,
who has just entered the Capu
chin Novitiate at Cumberland,
Md., attributes his vocation to the
priesthood to the inspiration of
, Padre Pio, Capuchin stigmatic
priest still living in Italy.
Mr. Naef served in the U. S.
Army from February, 1942, to De
cember, 1945. A great part of this
time he was stationed in Italy
where he had numerous inter
views with Padre Pio. The novice
still carries on correspondence
with, and looks for guidance to the
saintly Capuchin priest. He says
that he decided to investigate the
Catholic religion after he had seen
the motion picture version of
"The Song of Bernadette.”
A former U. S. Army' sergeant
from Washington, D. C., Edbert
Ruhl, tenor, sang “Panis Angeli-
cus” at a ceremony in the Vati
can which was broadcast over the
Vatican radio. A non-Catholic,
Mr. Ruhl received a special bless
ing from the Pope in an audience
the following day.
Father Daniel J. Bourke, pastor
of St. Theresa’s Church, Albany,
Georgia, sends his greetings to
The Bulletin from Ireland, where
he is visiting the land of his birth
for the first time in quite a few
years.
Father Bourke writes that he
and Father John J. Kennedy, pas
tor of St. John the Evangelist
Church, Valdosta, who is another
of the priests from Georgia who is
paying a visit to the “Old Coun
try,” were at All Hallows’ College
in Dublin, soon after their arrival,
and were present when Bishop
Henry Marshall of Plymouth or
dained twenty-two young men to
the priesthood.
In Father Kennedy’s absence,
Falher Andrew Doris, O. S. B., of
Belmont Abbey, has been in charge
of St. John the Evangelist Church
in Valdosta.
Father Andrew; who was ordain
ed in May, is the son of Mr. and
Mrs. Thomas P. Doris, of Augusta.
In a ruling released some weeks
ago. Attorney General Harr# Mc-
Mullan, of North Carolina, held
that there is no constitutional or
statutory prohibition against teach
ing the Bible in North Carolina’s
public schools. The Attorney Gen
eral declared that there is “no
law which would prevent the use
of public money for the purpose
of making elective epurses in Bi
ble study available in the same
manner as other courses of in
struction in the public schools.”
An Associated Press dispatch,
dated Burbank, California, July 3,
read as follows;
“While a Catholic priest and two
nuns knelt in prayer, a wall of fire
advancing on a wayside chapel
suddenly halted and subsided,
leaving the little edifice unharm
ed. police reported today.
“ ‘It was the strangest thing I’ve
ever seen,’ said Lieut. Kenneth K.
Kipers of Burbank police. “The
flames came within 20 feet of the
chapel then died out. There was
no npticeable change In the wind.’
“The flames, which had burned
approximately 1,200 acres, last
night swept toward the chapel on
a hill above the Mother Cabrini
School for Girls.”
Religious News Service reports
that agreement has been reached
for establishment of diplomatic
relations between Canada and the
Holy See, and that it Is expected
that the first Canadian represen
tative at the Vatican will be the
Hon. Jean Desy, K. C., at present
serving as Canadian Ambassador
to Brazil.
When two cloistered nuns make
a transcontinental, air voyage, it’s
more than unusual — and that’s
just what Sister Aloysius and
Sister John, of the Discalced Car
melite Monastery in Baltimore
did.
Upon 'arrival in Los Angeles, by
plane from Washington, en route
to Jargo in the Philippine Repub
lic where they will be stationed,
Sister Aloysius commented that
“it was a wonderful experience
flying through the air at such
speed,” as she alighted from the
plane at Los Angeles Municipal
Airport.
While in Los Angeles, Sister
Aloysius and Sister John stayed at
the Carmel of Alhambra. After a
few days, they boarded another
plane for San Francisco, where
they embarked on a ship for the
Philippines.
The Discalced Carmelites are
the oldest community of women in
the United States. Their first com
munity was established in 1790 at
Port Tobacco, Maryland. The first
Bishop of Baltimore, John Carroll,
a cousin of Charles Carroll, signer
of the Declaration of Independ
ence, invited the Carmelites of
Antwerp, Belgium, to install a
foundation in America in order
that the nuns might pray for the
infant nation.
In response to his request, four
Discalced Carmelite nuns, three of
whom were Americans who had
already crossed the Atlantic to
consecrate themselves to God,
came to this country and founded
the Port Tobacco establishment.
The Ursuline Sisters were estab
lished earlier in Now Orleans, but
at that time the territory was a
part of France.
Readers of The Bulletin who will
remember reading in these pages
last month of the descendant of
Martin Luther, living in Charles
ton, who has become a member of
the Catholic Church, may be in
terested in the following quotation
from Marguerite Horan Gowen’s
column which is one of the edito
rial features of The Catholic Stan
dard and Times, Philadelphia:
“It is an odd fact, that one of
the grandsons of Martin Luther
came over to Pennsylvania as a
mercenary furnishej! by the Duke
of Hesse to the English during the
Americiui Revolution. Bitter be
cause Ire had been sold into slav
ery by his Duke, he escaped from
his British masters and found ref-
•uge in a farm-house of a family
who were Catholics and which es
poused the American cause.
“He became a Catholic, baptized
by the convert and missionary, Fa
ther Gallitzin, married the farm
er’s daughter and brought up a
large family in the midst of (hat
vast territory which comprised Fa
ther Gallitzin’s parish.”
In Savannah, plans have been
completed, bids have been asked
and a contract will be let in the
immediate future for the erection
of the monument at Forsyth Park
to the U. S. Marines from Chat
ham County who lost their lives in
World War II. Cletus Bergen,
whose son served in the Marine
Corps and was aw r ded the Pur
ple heart, designed the monument.
St. Mary’s Home, on Victory
Drive in Savannah, is among ti e
buildings for which Mr. Bergen
was the architect. ,
Under the new Japanese consti
tution, the Emperor of Japan, un
like the Kings of England, Den
mark, Sweden and Norway, has
the legal right to become a mem
ber of the Catholic Church If he
chooses to do so.
A most enjoyable incident of
one of the recreatonal periods at
the recent Retreat for laymen at
St. Joseph’s Home, Washington,
Georgia, was the baseball game
between a team composed of re-
treatants and the team of the boys
at St. Joseph’s Home, in which the
boys won from the retreatants by
the score of 15 to 12.
The Bulletin wishes to label as
false and malicious the report that
the defeat of the retreatants’ nine
was due to the fact that^he editor
of this publication played second-
base for the losing team during
one inning.
Incidentally, it might be added,
that the editor of The Bulletin,
who “singled sharply to right
field” on his lone legal time at
bat, made the startling discovery,
after the next batter had hit for
two bases, that the distance around
the infield from first to third base
had beeh lengthened considerably,
or so it seemed, since he played
baseball in bygone years. — H. K.