Newspaper Page Text
JANUARY 17, 1948
THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
THREE
News Review of the Catholic World
Archdiocese of Washington
Is Unique Among Nation’s Sees
Speaking on national Catholic radio programs are, left to right:
Rev. Roland Maher, C.P. of Detroit, who will discuss "The Charac
teristics of a Christian Home,” on Mutual's Faith in Our Time pro
gram on Thursdays of January and February from 10:15 to 10:30
A- M.. EST; Monsignor Fulton J. Sheen, of Catholic University,
speaking on “The Modern Soul in Search of God,” on the NBC
Catholic Hour program, the Sundays of January, February and
March, 6-6:30 P. M., EST; Monsignor Joseph M. Griffin of Meriden,
Conn., who will speak on "Careers for God” on the ABC network’s
Hour of Faith program, the Sundays of January at 11:80-12:00
Noon EST. (NC Photo?)
Christian Century, Undenominational Journal,
Declares Subject of Church and State Is
Clouded With Much Confused Thinking
(N. C. W. C. News Service)
WASHINGTON. — When Arch
bishop - designate Patrick A.
O’Boyle comes to the nation’s cap
ital this month to inaugurate sep
arate administration of the Arch
diocese of Washington, he will
govern a See unique in the history
of tlie Church in the United
States.
Within the episcopal territory
of the Archdiocese is Upper Marl
boro. Md., the birthplace of Arch
bishop John Carroll, the “Father
of the American Hierarchy.” The
patriot-priest, who became the
country’s first Catholic Bishop,
was a cousin of Charles Carroll of
Carrollton, famous Revolutionary
leader and signer of the Declara
tion of Independence. He accom
panied Benjalnin Franklin on a
hazardous mission to French Can
ada on behalf of the revolting col
onies.
Archbishop - designate O'Boyle,
upon his consecration, will become
the only member of the present U.
S. Hierarchy raised lvom the rank
of Monsignor to govern a residen
tial archdiocese. His Eminence
Edward Cardinal Mooney, Arch
bishop of Detroit, was raised from
Monsignor to a Titular Archbishop
when he was appointed Apostolic
Delegate to India in 1926.
Ordinarily an Archbishop has
supervisory powers over the Bish
ops of neighboring Dioceses which
form his Ecclesiastical Province.
But in the case of the Archdiocese
of Washington, it was set up by the
Holy See without assignment as a
Province and with no Suffragan
Sees attached, the cnly Archdio
cese so constituted in the United
States. In lieu of his own Province,
the Archbishop of Washington has
been instructed by the Holy See
to meet with the Archbishop and
the Bishops of the Province of
Baltimore.
Besides the territory embracing
the District of Columbia, the Holy
See has attached to the Archdio
cese of Washington five adjacent
counties in Maryland — Prince
Georges, Montgomery. St. Mary’s,
Charles and Calvert.
Within this territory is a Catho
lic population of 165,000. It con
tains 82 parishes, 123 diocesan
priests. 580 priests of religious
communities, 569 Brothers and
1,420 Sisters of various religious
communities. The territory also
contains 57 elementary schools, 26
high schools and 14 charitable in-
stitutions-and agencies. In the city
of Washington are located two of
the country’s outstanding institu
tions of higher learning — the
Catholic University of America, of
which the Archbishop of Washing
ton will be the Chancellor, and
Georgetown University, which was
established by Archbishop Car-
roll in 1795 and is operated by the
Jesuits.
The territory within the Arch
diocese is steeped in history, dat
ing back to jdie time of’the Lords
Baltimore and connected with
many incidents in Civil War times,
particularly the asassination of
President Abraham Lincoln.
Archbishop - designate O’Boyle
will be installed here at the Cathe
dral of St. Matthew the Apostle on
January 21. His Excellency Arch
bishop Amleto Giovanni Cicog-
ne.ni, Apostolic Delegate to the
United States, will be the officiat
ing prelate. The new Archbishop
for the time being will make his
residence at the rectory of St. Pat
rick’s Church, the "Mother Church
of Washington.”
The Archbishop-designate was'
consecrated on January 14 in St.
Patrick’s Cathedral, New York. His
Eminence Francis Cardinal Spell
man, Archbishop of New York,
was the consecrator, with Bishops
John M. McNamara, Administrator
of the Archdiocese of Baltimore
and of Washington, and Henry T.
Klonowski, Auxiliary of Scranton,
as the co-consecrators. Bishop
Bryan J. McEntegart of Ogdens-
burg, preached the sermon.
Historic vestments were worn by
the Archbishop-designate at the
consecration ceremony. White with
silver embroidery, they were worn
originally by His Holiness Pope
Pius XII when he was consecrated
by Pope Benedict XV. Later they
By REV WILLIAM E. McMANUS
(N. C. W. C News Service)
Confronted by an accumulation
of conft'idictory statements by
prominent Protestant spokesmen,
the Christian Century, popular
“undenominational journal of re
ligion,” frankly declares that the
subject of church and state “is
clouded with much confused think
ing among Protestants as well as
among Catholics.” “This,” the
Christian Century believes, “is
largely caused by the fact that
writers on both sides do not check
their use of the formula with the
Constitution.”
After taking “a good look” at
the Constitution the Christian
Century finds that the First
Amendment does not mean “sepa
ration of religion from the state”
or “the separation of religion and
politics.” Furthermore, separa
tion does not mean that the state
musl be strictly secular, that it
may not recognize the Diety . . .
or include the study of religion as
an integral part of the curriculum
of state supported education ”
So far, so good. After taking a
still longer look at the Constitu
tion the Christian Century finds
that the First Amendment defi
nitely prohibits any governmental
favoritism for any one particular
religious sect or denomination.
Exactly! Catholics agree with the
Protestants, and both agree with
the founding fathers. As the
Christian Century says: No reli
gion is to be put under a ban by
the state. No religion, on the other
hand, may be given a special rec
ognition bv the state, for this ob
viously would have the negative
effect of hampering all other re
ligion^. Right again! If this is
the meaning of the First Amend
ment, there need be no quarrel
between Protetsants and Catholics.
Together let them go 'aboard the
Freedom Train to “take a look” at
the document which so securely
protects their religious liberty.
But wait—when does our Amer
ican government give “special rec-
o'gnition” to one patricular reli
gion? The Christian Century’s an
swer is ours too—when govern
ment enacts a law "respecting an
establishment of religion.” Thus
does the First Amendment’s first
clause, which forbids laws respect
were worn by Cardinal Spellman,
when he was consecrated by Pope
Pius XII. Other members of the
Hierarchy who wove the vestments
at their consecrations include Bish
op John F. O’Hara C.‘ S. C., o 1
Buffalo; Archbishop J. Francis A.
McIntyre. Coadjutor of New York;
Bishop McEntegart; Bishop Wil
liam T. McCarty, C.SS.R., Coadju
tor of Rapid City; Bishop William
R. Arnold, Military Delegate;
Bishop Joseph P. Donahue, Auxil
iary of New York; Bishop William
A. Scully, Coadjutor of Albany,
and Bishop Thomas J. McDonnell,
Auxiliary of New York and nation
al director of The Society for the
Propagation of the Faith.
MONSIGNOR A.MARTEL, pas
tor of St. Anthony’s Church, Eu
nice, La-., was named the outstand
ing citizen of Eunice for 1947, in
an announcement made at the an
nual ladies’ night presentation
ceremony of the Rotary Club in
that city.
ing an establishment of religion,
safeguard the religious liberty
guaranteed by the Amendment’s
second clause.
From this point on the Christian
Century’s reasoning becomes rath
er fuzzy. “Two distinguishing
features,” it says, “characterize an
establishment of religion. One is
the power of control over the
church by the state, or by the
church over the state. . . . The
other feature ... is that the
churci\ derives its temporal sup
port, in whole or in part, from
taxes levied on all citizens.” What
does the Christian Century mean
by the church—one preferred
church or any church?
Looking away from the legisla
tive history of the First Amend
ment, which the founding fathers
formulated to prevent Congress
from establishing one official na
tional church, the Christian Cen
tury declares that the Amend
ment forbids “the interlocking of
the official functions of the state
with the official or institutional
functions of any church.” Though
historically inaccurate, this “in
terlocking” formula is plausible—
perhaps reasonable.
When, however, the Christian
Century “gets down to cases” in
its December 10 issue, the real
meaning of “interlocking” becomes
clear. Church and state inter
lock, it says, when parochial school
children ride on public school
buses, eat tax-subsidized lunches
and use textbooks furnished by
the state; when children receive
“sectarian instruction" on public
school premises; when the Presi
dent sends a personal representa
tive to the Vatican (this is a tight
interlocking, the Christian Cen
tury asserts); when the govern
ment negotiates with churches for
appointment of chaplains to the
armed forces. There is no inter
locking, however, when health
services are administered to paro
chial school children on parochial
premises “because the children
can be reached there in large
groups” and “it is a matter of con
venience and economy ...” Stu
dents of logic may find in this
reasoning the classic non sequitur
of our day. But there is more to
come! Church and state do not
interlock when the public school
program includes “devotional study
of religion as an integral part of
the public school curriculum un
der the instruction of regular pub
lic school teachers. ...”
There you have it! Church and
state interlock when parochial
school children ride on a public
school bus (a vehicle completely in
charge of public school authori
ties), but do not interlock when all
public school pupils are required
to recite the Protestant version of
the Lord’s Prayer or to read the
Protestant Bible. Church and
state interlock when the govern
ment hires chaplains for its sol
diers but they do not become “en
meshed” when the same govern
ment hires doctors to vaccinate
parochial school pupils.
Frankly we had expected more
of the Christian Century and we
are keenly disappointed. For af
ter three long editorials this mag
azine leaves us, and some Protes
tants, exactly where we were—
looking for a definite, consistent
Protestant interpretation of the
Barry College at Miami
Accredited by Southern
Association of Colleges „
MIAMI.—(NC)—Barry College,
the first Catholic college in Flor
ida, has been recognized within
eight years of its foundation by
the Southern Association of Col
leges and Secondary Schools as
an accredited institution of higher
learning.
Founded by the Sisters of St
Dominic of Adrian, Mich., at the
invitation of the late Bishop Pat
rick Barry of St. Augustine, the
women’s college was required to
have four graduating classes be*
fore becoming eligible for recog
nition. Application was not made
until 1945 because the war pre
vented meetings of the accredit
ing association, and subsequent
reports and an inspection by ex
aminers delayed final recogni
tion.
Barry is one of the first Catho
lic colleges for women on the
Eastern Seaboard south of the
District of Columbia. It is located
on a 40-acre tract in the out
skirts of Miami.
EXCAVATIONS in the vault, o!
St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome which
were slowed down during the war
have been stepped up under the
direction of Professor Enriso Josi,
inspector of Christian and Profane
Museums in Vatican City. One ot
the main reasons for the excava
tions is to discover the existence
of the tomb of St. Peter, Apostle
and first Pope—an archeological
discovery that would be of pro
found importance to the entire
Christian world.
A HISTORY of the College of
Notre Dame of Maryland, by Sis
ter Mary David Cameron, libra
rian at the school, has been pub
lished in Baltimore by the Declan
X. McMullen Company. The Bal
timore college had its beginning
in 1847 when five Sisters came to
Baltimore from Bavaria and' pur
chased the site for the school with
the assistance of Archbishop
Spalding. In 1895, Notre Dame
began instruction on the college
level.
FORMATION of a group known
as Protestants and other Ameri
cans United for Separation cf
Church and State, has been an
nounced in Washington, D. C.,
where the group will have it*
"head quarters. Dr. Edwin McNeill
Poteat, president of Colgate
Rochester Divinity School, is pres-
ident. Vice presidents arc Dr
Charles Clayton Morrison, Chica
go,. former editor bf the Chris
tian Century; Methodist Bishop
G. Bromley Oxnam, of New York,
and Dr. John A. Mackey, president
of Princeton Theological Semin
ary.
HIS EMINENCE Dennis Cardi-
nal Dougherty of PhihleJ
Philadelphia, presided at a Sol
einn Pontifical Mass which closed
a Solemn Triduuni in celebration
of the canonization of St. Cath
erinc Laboure, the French Nun
to whom the Miraculous Medai
was manifested. The Triduum was
held at St. Mary’s Central Shrinf
in Philadelphia, the national ccn.
ter of the Miraculous Medal No-
vena Devotions.
THE NUMBER OF PILGRIMS
and visitors to the international!)
known shrine of Ste. Anne de
Beaupre, in Canada, this year to
talled 875,932, the largest number
in any one year in the history of
the shrine. Motor car license!
were noted from practically every
province in Canada and every
state in the United States. Since
the shrine had its humble begin
ning in 1658 there have been
19,689,317 pilgrims and visitors.
ALL CATHOLIC WOMEN of the
Archdiocese of New Orleans will
be invited to join a “hostess club”
in preparation for the convention
of the National Council of Cat't
olic Women which will be held ir.
New Orleans from September 11
to 15.
COMMON IDEALS of Chris
tianity and Judaism were stressed
in holiday greetings sent at Christ
mas time by the Synagogue Coun
cil of America to the National
Catholic Welfare Conference, the
Federal Council of Churches, the
National Lutheran Council and
the National Council of Christians
and Jews.
principle of separation of church
and state.
DIOCESAN RETREAT HOUSE FOR WOMEN
(CONDUCTED BY FRANCISCAN SISTERS)
PINEHURST, NORTH CAROLINA
Retreats Every Weekend
8 p.m. Friday
until
3 p.m, Sunday
For information and reservations write or wire
Father John A. Brown
Sacred Heart Church
Pinehurst, N. C.
Telephone: Pinehurst 2291
(Out of State retreatants welcomed)