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Published by the Catholic Lay men’s Association of Georgia Christmas Edition "To Bring About a Friendlier Feeling Among Neighbors Irre spective of Creed" Vol. XXVIII No. 12 FORTY PAGES AUGUSTA, GEORGIA, DECEMBER 20, 1947 ISSUED MONTHLY—*2.00 A YEAR Come Htt Ite Hborc JNrn “And Thou, Bethlehem Bulletins THE PLACE OF THE MANGER By NORMAN SCHLICHTER (Written for N. C. W. C. Christmas Supplement) In this new view of Bethlehem, (above) the artist has marked by a cross the location of the Basilica of the Nativity, between the two belfries, (Catholic one at the left).-It is the bells of the Catholic Church here which are heard around the world on the radio at Christmas. The lower level of the Grotto of the Nativity (below) contains the recess (X) which long held the Manger, the wooden pieces of which are now in the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome 1 The natural rock is covered with marble slabs, lighted by lamps and adorned with paintings of the Adoration of the Shepherds. It is in exclusive Catholic possession. Copyrighted photos by Albina Bros. Jerusalem. (NCWC) % Four Million Catholics Served in U .S. Armed Forces in World War II 1 live in Pennsylvania, not far from a town with the Bible name of Ephrata. This fact keeps the prophetic verse of Micheas steadily in my mind. I never need Christmas to recall it to me: And thou. Bethlehem Ephrata, art a little one among the thou sands of Juda: out of thee shall He come forth unto me that Is W> be the ruler in Israel: and His going forth is from the be ginning, from the days of eternity. And because He did come forth out of Bethlehem, this little one among the thousands of Juda has become the geographical eenler of the world's Christmas thought. "Christ was born in Bethlehem!’’ is sung and chanted from pole to pole. Bethlehem, now connected by a bus line with Jerusalem six miles to the north, and having a modern electric-light system, is still strict ly a rural community. It has no industrial establishments as yet. However, many of its 7,000 people are skilled hand craftsmen noted for their proficiency in carving with the simplest of tools, and for making brooches, pendants, neck laces, inlaid crucifixes and snow- white rosaries mounted with pure silver. Christmas visitors have a wonderful assortment of such articles to choose from. During the war years, and even now, sol diers from many lands are the principal visitors. Bethlehem’s name, ‘‘House of Bread,” is most appropriate. The town lies just a little Off the high way to Hebron, surrounded Tjy fertile valleys covered with wheat and barley fields. There are also groves of olive and almond trees and neatly cultivated vineyards. The people of Bethlehem are a peaceful, quiet, friendly folk. They have always been great travelers and were the first of Palestinians to come to the shores of North and South America. Starting as small peddlers, many of them became prominent merchants in South American cities. The people gen erally are of fair complexion and blue-eyed. This is attributed to intermarriage with the natives by Crusaders when they captured Bethlehem and Jerusalem. Shepherds still keep watch over their flocks roundabout Bethle hem, much as they did in Bible times, a fact that adds an ancient touch to the Christmas celebra tions of today. Widely reverenced down the centuries as marking the birth place of the Saviour, tire Church of the Nativity is the world’s cen ter of interest each Christmas sea son. Also known as the Church of St. Mary, it was built over the cave identified by tradition as the stable with the sacred man ger. A silver star in the floor of the building is believed to mark the exact spot where Christ was bom. Probably the oldest Christian church in the world—mention, of it has been found as early as 334 A. D.—this fact alone would make it a great Christian shrine. The special Christmas mecca for Catholics is the Chapel of St. Catherine which forms the left wing of the Nativity Church. The Franciscan Fathers are in charge of the chapel. Fra. Camillo, an American, has been on hand during the war years and since then to greeet American soldiers HIS EMINENCE Pierre Cardi nal Petit de Julleville, Archbishop of Rouen, French hero in both World Wars and one of the seven French members of the Sacred Co-liege, has died at the age of 71. With his death, the number of Cardinals has been reduced to sixty-one. A LOURDES ROSARY, whose beads are carved from rock near the famed grotto of the French shrine, was sent to Princess Eliz abeth as a wedding gift by chil dren of St. Mary and St. Joseph parish, Bcdalc, Yorkshire, „ Eng land. The Princess thanked the children in a letter. PATTI TRAPP. 17-year-ol stu dent at St. Joseph’s Academy in St. Louis, became the grand award winner in the third ’Teen Board essay contest sponsored by EXTENSION, Catholic magazine published in Chicago. THE CATHOLIC CHURCH op erates 1,049 hospitals in the United States, staffed by 22,000 Sisters and Brothers and by 160,- 000 professional and non-profes sional lay workers. No less than 40,000 physicians work in them. who come there to participate in Christmas worship or as visitors. With the political struggle for control of Palestine raging bitter ly at the present time, Bethlehem will probably be more prominent in the Christian mind of the world this Christmas than ever before. For those who love the Christ- Child, spending a Christmas at Bethlehem, is an experience tran scending every previous Christmas experience, and one to be un matched by any subsequent Christ mas elsewhere. WASHINGTON. — (NC) — Ap proximately 4,000,000 of the some 17,000,000 men and women who formed the armed forces of Ihe United States of America in World War II were Catholics. This ratio, which is considerably higher than the number of Catholics in the total U. S. population, has been substantiated in statistics compiled here by the National Catholic Community Service. The NCCS total is based upon only 65 per cent returns from the country's Archdioceses and Dio ceses, but represents the most complete figures available at this time. It would indicate that Cath olics, who are about one-sixth of the total U. S. population, sup plied better than one-fiftli of our soldiers, sailors, marines and coastguardsmen. Other facts which stand out in the survey, which covers the pe riod from September, 1940, to March, 1947: Forty Dioceses, which repre sent 46.7 per cent of the Catholic population in the United States, reported 27,322 persons killed or missing in action, a mortality rate of 28 per thousand Catholic men and women in the armed forces, A study of the number of Cath olic members of the WAC, WAVES and SPARS, showed Ihe ratio of Catholic women to Cath olic men in the Armed forces is slighly higher in the 44 Dioceses reporting this breakdown than the ratio of women to men in the to tal armed forces. Twenty-five out of every 1,000 Catholic service personnel were women, compared to the general ratio of 20 service women to 1,000 service personnel. FORMATION of the National Catholic Resettlement Council to promote a program lor the recep tion and settlement of displaced persons in this country has been announced in New York following a meeting of representatives of various national Catholic organiza tions. THE POSSIBILITY of having a children’s Mass in the after noon in the schools of tomorrow was discussed by Father Gerald Ellard, S. J., of St. Mary’s Col lege, St. Mary’s, Kansas, at the annual educational conference of the Sisters of Lorctto held in El Paso, Texas.