Newspaper Page Text
FOUR
THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
MARCH 27, 1948.
iiuUptin
The Official Organ of the catholic Laymen’s
Association of Georgia. Incorporated
HUGH KINCHLEY. Editor
216-217 Southern Finance Building, Augusta, Ga.
ASSOCIATION OFFICERS FOR 1946-1947
ESTES DOREMUS. Atlanta President
M. J CALLAGHAN, Macon
Honorary Vice-President
FRED WIGGINS, Albany Vice-President
J B McCALLUM, Atlanta Secretary
HUGH GRApV Savannah .. Treasurer
HUGH KINCHLEY Augusta Executive Secretary
MISS CECILE FERRY, Augusta Financial Secretary
A M . McAULlFFE Augusta Auditor
VOL. XXIX MARCH 27, 1948 No, 3
Entered a? second cla3s matter June 15 1921 at the
Post Office at Augusta. Georgia, under the Act ol March
3 1879 accepted foi mailing at special rate of postage
provided in paragraph 4. section 538 Postal Laws and
Rcrulntions as modified nv ivirai-ranh r.
MemDer ol N C W C News Service. Religious News
Service the Catholic Press Association of the United
States the Georgia Press Association, and the National
Ftlitorinl Association
Published monthly' by the Catholic Laymen’s Association
of Georgia Inc., with the Approbation of the Most Rev
erend Bishops of Charleston nnd Savannah-Allanla. and
of I lie Right Reverend Abbot-Ordlnnr.v of Belmont.
Establish Our Days in Thy Peace
A LTHOUGH the Roman Missal provides a spec
ial Canon for the Mass which is celebrated on
Easter Sunday, it retains in the prayer of ob
lation, to be offered just preceding the most sacred
moment of the Holy Sacrifice, the Consecration, the
words: "Do Thou establish our days in Thy peace.”
The Festival of the Resurrection of Our Lord and
Saviour commemorates a triumph over all the forces
of evil the world has known.
May our observance this year of this great and
• consoling feast of hope be filled with such fervor
that the Risen Saviour, hearing the prayer of His
Church and His people, will bestow upon a strife
torn and troubled world, the blessing of peace which
He imparted to His Apostles on the first Easter Day.
The “Plight” of New Mexico’s Schools
A COLUMNIST whose opinions are published in
several newspapers in Georgia, and who for
some time has been much disturbed over the
decision rendered by the Supreme Court of the
United States in the New Jersey school bus case,
and other things which lie fears may breach the
wall erected between church and state by the First
Amendment to the Constitution, recently made a
passing reference to what he termed “the present
plight of the public schools in New Mexico."
Since many readers of The Bulletin are also
readers of the newspapers to which this columnist
is a contributor, it seems that it would be well to
give them some light on what conditions prevail
in New Mexico that would cause this columnist to
consider the plight of the public schools in that
slate a matter of concern.
What he has in mind are the charges made by
Dr. J. M. Dawson, acting executive secretary of
the recently organized Protestants and Other Amer
icans United for Separation of Church and State,
that “almost incredible violations" of separation of
Church and State are occurring in New Mexico
"under the aggression of the Roman Catholic
Church.”
It seems that in Dixon, New Mexico, a town with
a population of 1,200, there are two public schools,
one, built by to? community, being manned by lay
teachers: the other owned by a Catholic Order,
being staffed by Franciscan Sisters. It is also report
ed that there are a few more than a hundred other
Sisters teaching in public schools throughout New
Mexico.
Regarding the controversy which has arisen, Gov
ernor Thomas J. Mabry of New Mexico declared in
lus opinion that persons outside the state appear
much more Interested in the issue regarding the
schools than the people of New Mexico.
Governor Mabry issued the statement in a let
ter to the Rev. Roy D. Coulter, pastor of the Timber
Ridge, Virginia, Christian Church.
In sending his letter to the minister, Governor
Mabry, who explain that lie spoke as a Protestant,
wrote:
“The Protestants and Catholics had no difficulty
gelling along in New Mexico for many years. 1 am
sure that the thinking people of our state re ent
the suggestion that a Catholic sister who has secur
ed sufficient col'cge credits and has pasted the re
quired examinations would be any more ineligible
to teach in the public schools than any other reli
gious denonvnafcion.
"The Catholic Church has for years operated
schools out of Its own funds in out-of-the- way places
where public schools were not available, and it
was the only organisation which provided educa
tion for the scattered pooulation in time areas.
"In a few plec's the sisters are teaching in the
public schools and so are Bapti t-’ and Methodists
and some, doubles', with no religious affiliation
at all. Because the sisters have taught in the
schools mention; d for several years, they have be
come entitled under otjr laws to tenure of office, the
same as other ter -hers, but in all eases they met
ail qualifications ‘-ct by the department of educa
tion.
"We make no distinction in New Mexico as to
the religion of teachers.”
In his letter to Governor Mabry, Mr. Coulter
posed four qua tions to the chief executive who of
fered answers to all.
The minister asked if it were true ill that state
law forbids any student to be required to attend
o.- participate in any rcligiius service; <2) that stu
dents fioni Dixon had found it almost Impossible
to gain admittance to any college: (3) that no in
come tax is taken from the sisters’ salrrie’b and < d )
that state law provides no appropriation be made
to ruy institution not under absolute control of the
St*/ \ < —
To the first question. Governor Mabry answered
"VO-:”; (o the second he replied “all colleges in New
Mexico accept students from Dixon": and to the
third question the Governor said "teachers-pay the
state income tax."
Answering the final query. Governor Mabry • ex
plained that no appropriations are made to any
Catholic school or other denominational school or
a charitable ins'itution except as the state constitu
tion provides. A few Catholic hospitals get small
“Where Are We?”
W E are using this space to present to our
readers a discussion of the recent decision
of the Supreme Court of the United States
in the "Released Time” ease, written for the
N. C. W. C. News Service by Father John Courtney
Murray, S. J., professor of theology at Woodstock
College, in Maryland.
Father Murray is a frequent contributor to
American Catholic periodicals, is widely known for
his interpretations of trends and events in juridical,
political and social fields. His comment on the
cight-to-one decision rendered in the Champaign,
Illinois, school case, is as follows:
This is merely a brief preliminary statement of
the essential significance of the Supreme Court De
cision in the McCollum case. It is too early to esti
mate the full bearings of the decision, or to ap
praise the reactions to it in religious, legal, and
educational circles, or to know in detail what
changes it will effect in bur traditional American
way of organizing relationships between religion
and public schools and between government and
church-affiliated schools.
The Court’s decision, written by Mr. Justice
Black, is based on the sweeping constitutional doc
trine, first formulated in the Everson cz&e, that
neither the Federal nor State government may in
any way aid religion. The Court found, as a fact,
that the Champaign released-time religious instruc
tion program operated “to aid religious groups to
spread their faith," in two ways (1) by the use of
public school buildings, and (2) by the “use of the
State’s compulsory public school machinery” to
assist religious instruction by helping "to provide
pupils” for it. Both those forms of aid to religion
were declared unconstitutional.
It is noteworthy that the principle of law on
which the decision rests is left quite unsupported
by any evidence from the American constitutional
tradition. The Court simply stated that it was “un
able to accept” the weighty historical arguments ad
vanced by the appellee to show that “establishment
of religion” meant legal preference of one religion
over others. The Court also brushed aside the ap
pellee’s arguments against making the “establish
ment” clause, in the broad meaning given it in the
Everson decision, a restraint on the States. In a
word, the Court pronounced judgment with aston
ishing curtness.
The amazement one feels on reading the majority
opinion is heightened when one turns to the con
curring opinions. Mr. Justice Black’s sweeping
language evidently stirred the judicial conscience
of Mr. Justice Jackson. The source of his scruple
seems to be the fear lest the Court’s doctrine of
separation of church and state may seem to im
ply that it has jurisdiction over the “task of separat
ing Hie secular from the religious in education.”
Hence he wonders alciud whether “zeal for our own
ideas of what is good in public instruction” may
perhaps ’induce us to accept the role of a super
board of education for every school district in the
nation.”
Mr. Jackson’s opinion is remarkable in another
respect. Although he states, as a principle of law,
that a Federal Court may interfere with local school
authorities only when they invade either a personal
liberty or a property right protected by the Federal
Constitution,” and admits that no such invasions
occur by reason of the Champaign plan, neverthe
less, he a.sorts that the Court “may and should end”
the plan. Why it may. and why it should—these
questions ore left unanswered . . .
What goes on here, therefore, I suspect, is this:
the First Amendment now has about the same status
in our con titutional law as the original method of
electing a President: it is an historical relic to
which some academic interest attaches. Now there
has been substituted for it the “great American
principle of the eternal separation of Church and
State.” This principle means the “sharp confine
ment of the public schools to secular education,”
their rigid separation from religion, by constitution
al necessity. And it apparently means this because,
in Mr. Jackson's phrase, this is part of the Court’s
“own ideas of what is good in public instruction.”
So there we are—where are we?
Dixie Musings
When the congregation of the
First Reformed Dutch Church of
Nyack, N. Y., on Christmas Eve in
1859 presented a gold-plated chal-
j ice to their young minister, they
could hardly realize that this chal
ice nearly ninety years iater would
rest on the desk of a busy Jesuit
priest in the middle west and that
he would prize this chalice affec
tionately. Those Nyack parishion
ers had inscribed on Jieir Christ
mas gift to their minister the fol
lowing message: “Presented to the
Revd. D. Lord, pastor of the First
Reformed Dutch Church, Nyack,
December 24, 1859.” The chalice is
now in the possession of the min
ister’s grandson, the Reverend
Daniel A- Lord, S. J., director of
the American central office of the
Sodality of Our Lady, founder and
dean of the 18-year-old Summer
School of Catholic Action, prolific
religious writer, lecturer and the
atrical author and producer.
The’first Revd. D. Lord, remov
ed in time and in creed from the
present Revd. D. Lord, served pas
torates in other New York
churches, particularly in Herki
mer, Bridgeport and Jordanville,
as well as in the Hyde Park dis
trict of Chicago. He died suddenly
following Sunday service at his
church in Herkimer County, New
York, some time after the turn of
the century.
Interest in this pre-Civil War
Christmas gift has been revived
since the publication by The
Queen’s Work, St. Louis, Mo., of
Father Lord’s autobiographical
pamphlet, “My Grandfather Was a
Minister,” on the cover of which
is a photograph of the chalice. The
pamphlet is a tribute from a
grandson, who holds his forebear
in deep respect and affection, and
who tells why in this little book
let.
appropriations the Governor added, but “the money
they receive from the stale to care lor indigent
patients will not cover perhaps one-twentieth of
the amount they expend for the purpose."
The State Supervisor of Secondary Education in
New Mexico nr.de public a report indicating that
he found no evidence of religious teachings in the
Dixon public chool, explaining that his survey in
cluded interviews with every non-Catholic in the
school, bus drivers, students and others. He sub
mitted affidavits that: No religious instruction is
being given at any time on schools days. No re
ligious symbols or pictures are in the schools.
Later, in a communication addressed to a
minister in Taos, New Mexico, who had critized
gubernatorial comment on the situation, Gover
nor Ma : ry wrote: “As a Protestant, and a Mason
as well, I deplore any efforts to stir up religious
miFundcrslanding and to promote bigotry of any
mrt. whether by Catholics or Protestants. And
forti’rt'alely, we have been more or less free ot
this in N"w Mexico for the 41 years I have lived
neie . . . Let us not lend aid and comfort to
these exaggerated stories inspired by either bigotry
or lack ol understanding and spread by those of
other slates which give our own New Mexico
poor advertising”.
At th j same time New Mexico’s State Superin
tendent of Schools released the contents of a let
ter he had written to the columnist mentioned
above, explaining the situation in northern New
Mexico counties.
The Superintendent of Schools wrote in part;
“For more than fifty years there have been in
New Mex'co many Catholic nuns and sisters em
ployed in the public schools. This has been in the
northern counties tint are almost wholly populated
by the Spanish-speaking people and in most cases,
practically all are Catholics. The school buildings,
economic conditions and the isolated communities
make it almost impossible' to employ lay teachers.”
It is imagined that the Governor of New Mexico
nr.d the Superintendent of Schools in that state
would be rather astonished if they knew that the
columnist who was so wrought up about the “plight”
of the public schools way off in New Mexico, be
cause Catholic Sisters teach in some of them, has
never displayed any alarm over the fact that the
Superintendent of Schools in his own State of
Georgia is a Baptist minister.
No Catholic would consider that there were any
cause for the columnist to consider that public
schools were in a “plight,” either in New Mexico
or Georgia.
Archbishop Francis P. Keough,
who 45 years ago was encouraged
to study for the priesthood by a
Jewish tailor of his neighborhood
in New Britain, Conn., made the
man a guest of "honor at his re
cent installation as Archbishop of
Baltimore.
The story of this reciprocation
of an act of friendship was re
printed in the Congressional Rec
ord in Washington at the instance
of Representative Ellsworth B.
Foote of Connecticut, who termed
it “a splendid example of toler
ance.”
The tailor, a Itqssian immigrant
named Samuel Greenberg, whose
benefactions to children are le
gendary in New Britain, described
to newsmen his reception in Bal
timore after he received the in
vitation from Archbishop Keough,
his one-time friend “Francis,” who
used to do odd chores around the
tailor shop.
“I borrowed some money from
my married daughter and got on
the train with my wife,” he ex
plained. “A priest met us at the
station and drove us to the Ca
thedral, where we were ushered
into a pew set aside especially for
us.
“When Archbishop Keough pass
ed by our pew, flanked by all
those Church dignitaries, he stop
ped and said: ’Hello Sam.’ I was
so amazed I was scared.”
And that wasn’t all. After the
installation, he was invited to
attend a dinner in a Baltimore
hotel, and found there that the
Archbishop had thoughtfully or
dered a kosher meal for him, right
in the midst of the Catholic festivi
ties. The prelate also paid all the
Greenbergs’ expenses for a week’s
stay in Baltimore.
Turning back in his mind to the
days of Archbishop Keough’s
youth, Mr. Greenberg told his in-
The Family Rosary Crusade will terviewers that “you could see
present a special Easter Rosary : Frankie was different from
program, “The Triumphant ° ther kld « in the neighborhood.”
Hour," featuring seventeen lead- j , , ,, „„ ...
ing artists in the recitation of the Nearly half of the 28,000 popu-
glorious mysteries of the Rosary, la,I0n Blloxl - Mississippi, turn
it has been announced in Los An
geles.
Format of the broadcast will be
similar to that of “The Joyful
Hour” presented last Christmas. It
will consist of prayers of Ros
ed out to welcome the "Pilgrim
Virgin,” a replica of the original
statue of Our Lady of Fatima.
Arriving from Pensacola Naval
Air Station, where a Marian Hour
of Reparation had been conducted,
ary interspersed with drama and tke wa , s met
ir.-ric. Father Patrick Peyton, C. i CIt v limits by a police escort and
S. C., is founder and director of , a cavalcade ca u S 1 , wll ™u ple "
the Rosary crusade presenting ceded it to City Hall. There a
" . nrAnAPOIAn limn f Anmn/J r a t n tr- A I U a
the program.
I procession was formed to take the
tivity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The statue remained in Biloxi
five days for Special Marian Hour
‘„ a lit ai'r\ i image to the Church of the Na-
Ethel Barrymore and Pedro de , ivitv tho n} „ acaA V irom mo..,
Cordoba will be the narrators in
troducing each of the mysteries.
Appropriate Easter selections will
be sung by Bing Crosby, Dennis ! s ? rvices . f . or the conversion of Rus-
Day and Ann Jamison from Holly- i sla and for , world P ea «- Local
wood; Eileen Farrell and Christo- | newspapers described the event
pher Lynch from New York. ?» the greatest public demonstra-
Others to appear on the pro-U‘on of faith and devotion ever
grain are Marguerite Chapman, I seen in the city. Plans for the
Dan Dailey, Irene Dunne. Jimmy ! reception of the statue were un-
Durante Jav Carroll Naisli. Rob-i der th e direction of Monsignor
ert Rvaii, Elizabeth Scott. Loretta j Geoffrey O Connell recently vot-
i -- ’ ■ -<<-■— — —i ed Biloxi s outstanding citizen for
Y'oung and Fibber McGee and
Molly.
“The Triumphant Hour" will be \
broadcast over the network of the
Mutual Broadcasting Company on
Easter Sunday, March 28, from
1 1:30 to 2:30 p. m., Easlern Stand-
i aid Time.
1947.
Jesuit mission headquarters in
New York have received a report
from the Philippines which shows
that a missionary may put in a
full day’s work even before he has
Check with the Mutual Broad- came £r0m Father
Jo'epli Reith, S. J„ who said that
one morning before eight o’clock
ha administered no less than six
different Sacraments.
Father Reith wrote: “Before
saying Mass. I hoard many Con-
cr.sting Company’s outlet in your
j city because it is possible that the
program will do nresented by
transcription at a different hour
1 by some stations
The Joyful Hour" was heard
over Station WBBQ in Augusta at . wmg mass, i nearu many vu..-
1 Christmas time and was so favor- fusions, distributed even more
I ablv received that the station pre- Communions married four cou-
auiy iwciycu “ . , r__ I pies, baptized a sick baby, and
rented a rebroe.deast of the pro
gram.
administered Confirmation. To top
it off I had a sick call and gave
Extreme Unction before I sat
The lengths to which consist- clown to breakfast."
ency can he extended by some
; people is truly astounding.
A correspondent, writing to
I The Atlanta Journal, expressed
j gratification at the recent ruling of
| the U. S. Supreme Court which
I lie declared “has upheld the prln-
| ciple of separation of church and
I state that is set forth in the first
amendment to the Constitution.”
This writer to The Journal then
asserts that the citizens of the
United States must recognize that
the duty of our public schools is
not to teach religion, but that ‘‘It
is the duty of the public schools
to have Christian teachers.”
In view of the provision of the
A valuable statue looted
from the famous Benedictine Ab
bey of Monte Cassino by a Nazi
Storm Troop general and sent as
a gift to Adolf Hitler has been re
turned. It now rests in the tem
porary building erected by the
Benedictine Monks pending recon
struction for their Abbey, which
was destroyed during the Allied
advance on Rome.
The Board of Stewards of the
Glenn Memorial Methodist
Church, in Atlanta, sponsored a
St. Patrick’s Day dinner at which
the pastor, the Rev. Dr. Eward
Constitution that “no religious! G Mackay. spoke on “Ireland.”
test shall ever be required as a
qualification to any office of
public trust under the United
States," it is difficult to under
stand how a person who states
that public schools are duty hound
to have “Christian teachers” can
consistently contend for separa
tion of church and state, accord
ing to Constitutional provisions.
We have heard reports about
atheists who contend even to the
Supreme Court to keep classes in
religion out of public schools, but
so far, we have not heard of athe
ists, or any other advocates of
complete separation of church and
state, refusing to accept coins
which bear the inscription “In God
Wc Trust.” H. K.