Newspaper Page Text
Published by the
Catholic Lay
men's Association
of Georgia
“To Bring About
a Friendlier
Feeling Among
Neighbors Irre
spective of Creed"
Vol. XXXIII. No. 6 TWENTY-FOUR PAGES
AUGUSTA, GEORGIA, JUNE 21, 1952
ISSUED MONTHLY—$3.00 A YEAR
Bishop Hyland Named Vicar General,
Father Andrew McDonald, Chancellor,
Of the Diocese of Savannah-Atlanta
NCCM Inaugurates
Information Service
On Religious Films
WASHINGTON, D. "C*—(NC)—
The National Council of Catholic
Men has inaugurated an NCCM
Film Information Service for in
dividuals and groups interested in
religious films and the production
of local television programs, Mar
tin C. Work, executive secretary,
has announced.
Initial function of the service
will be to review and catalog for
its members all 16mm religious
films suitable for use by Catholics
on local television stations, in the
parish hall or school, and for or
ganizational and group showings.
Information on the films will be
printed in “Close-up.” monthly
bulletin of the new service. The
first issue appeared June 1, Each
bulletin will carry reviews of our
films. Information on the cost,
availability, suitability, technical
quality, and a careful analysis of
the content of each film will be
given.
“Close-up” will also feature
articles by leading Catholics in the
film industry and a short biblio
graphy of reliable articles on films
which have appeared in Catholic
and other publications.
The NCCM Film Information
Service also will provide informa
tion on all 16mm religious films,
and suggested film programs for
special occasions. It will aso review
films referred to it by subscribing
Individuals or groups.
The service will be under the di
rection of Robert McMahon, well
known Catholic motion picture at
torney and film distributor. He
will be assisted by Robert Nichols
and a staff of competent film re
viewers.
Bulletins
FATHER BEDE LUIBEL, O. S.
B., has been elected Coadjutor Ab
bot to take over the active admin
istration of St. Bernard’s Abbey
and College, St. Bernard’s, Ala.
Abbot-elect Bede will assume the
duties of Abbot Boniface Seng, O.
S. B„ who resigned last month.
A native of Memphis, the Abbot-
elect is an alumnus of St. Ber
nard’s, and was ordainel at the
Abbey in 1944. Forty-five years
old, he will be the youngest Bene
dictine Abbot in the country.
GEORGE SOKOLSKY, syndi
cated columnist, writing about the
“slaughter-house job” that is being
don on the motion picture “My Son
John/’ by left-wing and so-called
liberal reviewers, says that “It
seems to be a crime to be pro-
American.”
The Bulletin urges its readers
to see this anti-communist film,
directed by Leo McCarey and star
ring Helen Hayes, Van Heflin and
Robert Walker.
HIS EXCELLENCY the Most
Reverend Francis E. Hyland, D. D.,
J. C. D., Auxiliary Bishop of Sa-
vannah-Atlanta, celebrated quietly
on June XI the twenty-fifth anni
versary of his ordination to the
priesthood.
EMMET BLAES, prominent at
torney of Wichita, Kansas, who
was national president of the Na
tional Council of Catholic Men
from 1948 to 1950, has been honor
ed by His Holiness Pope Pius XIT
with Knighthood in the Order of
St. Gregory the Great.
CHINESE COMMUNISTS kept
Monsignor Eugene Fahy, S. J., of
San Francisco, Prefect Apostolic
of Yangchow, shackled to iron bars
of his prison cell for three months
—in a vain attempt to extort a
“confession” about an imaginary
American “spy ring.” Monsignor
Fahy and three other Jesuits, two
of them Americans, have arrived
in Hong Kong where they are in
a hospital to be treated for the
physical effects of their long im
prisonment
Vicar General
BISHOP HYLAND
The Most Reverend Francis E.
Hyland, D.D., J.C.D., Auxiliary
Bishop of Savannah-Atlanta, who
has been appointed Vicar General
of the Diocese.
(N.C.W.C. News Service)
NEW YORK. — Catholics in the
United States, Alaska and the Ha
waiian Islands now number 29,-
407,520 according to The Official
Catholic Directory for 1952, -just is
sued here by P. J. Kenedy & Sons,
publishers.
The new total represents an in
crease of 772,642 over last year.
There now are 29,241,580 Catholics
in the 48 states and 165,940 in
Alaska and Hawaii.
While 14 dioceses report no
changes in their Catholic popula
tions and seven reflect slight de
creases, the advances indicated in
109 dioceses show substantial
gains. The 24 Archdioceses re
ported a growth of 265,236 and the
106 Dioceses 507,406.
Archdioceses with Catholic pop
ulations in excess of one million
are Chicago, 1,743,936; Boston,
1,360,732; New York, 1,302,306;
Philadelphia with 1,114,122 and
Newark, 1,077,935. Philadelphia
replaced Newark as the fourth
largest Archdiocese.
Brooklyn, with 1,340,787, contin
ues as the largest Diocese, while
Hartford, 724,000, is the second
largest. Pittsburgh, from which
the new Diocese of Greensburg
was detached is third, with 686,156.
It was the second largest Diocese
in 1951.
CONYERS, Ga.—The Very Rev
erend Dom M. Gabriel Sortals, O.
C. S. O., Abbot General of the
Cistercians of the Strict Observ
ance, from the Abbey of Notre
Dame de Citeaux, in France, is
visiting the Abbey of Our Lady of
the Holy Ghost here in the course
of his first visitation of Trappist
abbeys and monasteries in the
United States.
Dom Gabriel was elected Abbot
General at the Plenary General
Council of the Trappist Order in
Rome last November.
Before coming to Georgia, the
Abbot General visited St. Joseph’s
Abbey, Spencer, Mass.; the Monas
tery of Our Lady of the Genesee,
Piffard, N. Y.; the Abbey of Our
Lady of Gethsemane, Trappist,
Ky.; the Abbey of Our Lady of
New Melleray, Dubuque, Iowa; the
Monastery of Our Lady of the
Assumption, Sweden, Mo.; the Ab
bey of Our Lady of the Holy Trin
ity, Huntsville, Utah; the Abbey of
Our Lady of Guadalupe, Peco, N.
M.
After his visitation to the Trap
pist foundation here, Dom Gabriel
will visit the Monastery of the
Chancellor
FATHER MCDONALD
The Reverend Andrew J. Mc
Donald, J.C.D., who has been ap
pointed Chancellor of the Diocese
of Savannah-Atlanta and who as
sumed that office, June 2.
The 1952 Directory lists the
largest number of the Hierarchy
in the history of the Catholic
Church in this country: three Car
dinals, 27 Archbishops and 158
Bishops. Archdioceses number 24'
and there are now 106 Dioceses,
including the Vicariate-Apostolic
of Alaska.
For the s ; Vi year in succession,
the number of converts entering
the Catholic Church in one year
exceeded 100,000, with adult bap
tisms numbering 116,839. This
brings the total conversions dur
ing the past decade to 1,040,999.
However, the 1951 figure was be
low the 1950 convert total of 121,-
950.
The first issue of The Catholic
Directory for the United States
was published in 1817 and subse
quent editions have reflected the
steady growth of the Church. The
past year’s growth requires 28
more pages than in 1951.
Yearly changes and additions
now average 150,000, to record the
correct status of the Church as of
January 1. The United States edi
tion requires 1,084 pages and
weighs over six pounds. Another
164 pages in the complete edition
record the Church in Canada and
a summary of Ireland, the British
ABBOT GENERAL GABRIEL
Immaculate Heart of Mary, Moncks
Corner, S. C., and the Monastery
of Our Lady of the Holy Cross,
Berryville, Va.
SAVANNAH, Ga. — The Most
Reverend Gerald P. O’Hara, D.D.,
J.U.D., Archbishop-Bishop of Sa
vannah-Atlanta, who is presently
serving as. Apostolic Nuncio to Ire
land, has appointed the Most Rev
erend Francis E. Hyland, D.D., J.
C.D., Auxiliary Bishop of Savan
nah-Atlanta. to succeed the Right
Reverend Monsignor Joseph E.
Moylan, P. A., as Vicar General of
the Diocese.
Archbishop O’Hara, at the same
time, announced that Father An
drew J. McDonald, J.C.D., had
been appointed Chancellor of the
Diocese, and also succeeds Mon
signor Moylan, who has been both
Vicar General and Chancellor of
the Diocese since April, 1945.
Bishop Hyland, a native of Phil
adelphia, was ordained to the
priesthood on June 11, 1927, after
attending St. Charles Borromeo
Seminary, at Overbrook, Pa. He
enrolled in the School of Canon
Law at the Catholic University of
America, Washington, D. C., and
graduated with a degree of Doc
tor of Canon Law in June, 1928.
After serving as assistant pastor
of several churches in the Arch
diocese of Philadelphia, he be
came secretary of the Apostolic
Delegation in Washington, a post
he held for ten years.
In 1933, the Holy See conferred
on him the dignity of a Domestic
Prelate, with the rank and title of
Right Reverend Monsignor. In
November, 1949, when he was serv
ing as pastor of the Church of
Our Lady of Lourdes, in Phila
delphia, His Holiness Pope Pius
XII appointed Bishop Hyland Titu
lar Bishop of Gomphi and Auxili
ary Bishop of Savannah-Atlanta.
Bishop Hyland came to Georgia
in January, 1950, and since that
time has been administering the
affairs of the Diocese in the ab
sence of Archbishop O'Hara who
was then serving as Regent of
the Apostolic Nunciature in Ru
mania, and who is now Papal Nun
cio to Ireland.
Father McDonald was born in
Savannah, October 24, 1923, the
eleventh child of the twelve chil
dren of the late Mr. and Mrs.
James B. McDonald.
After attending the grammar,
school conducted by the Marist
Brothers In Savannah, he enter
ed St. Charles College, Catons-
ville, Md., for preparatory train
ing for the priesthood. After six
years study at St. Charles, he en
tered St. Mary’s Seminary, Balti
more, where he completed his
study of philosophy and obtained
a B. A. degree in 1945.
He then entered the Theological
Department of St. Mary’s Semi
nary, at Roland Park, Md., and
prior to leaving the seminary for
ordination was awarded an S. T.
L. degree. Father McDonald was
ordained to the priesthood on May
8, 1948, at the Cathedral of St.
John the Baptist in Savannah, by
the Most Reverend Emmet M.
Walsh, D.D., then Bishop of Char
leston and now Coadjutor Bishop
of Youngstown.
During the summer of 1948,
Father McDonald served as assis
tant rector of the Cathedral in
Savannah, and in September of
that year entered the Catholic
University of America in Washing
ton, D. C., for a post-graduate
course in Canon Law. In May, 1949,
he received the degree, J.C.B.
In September, 1949, he went to
Rome, Italy, to complete his course
in Canon Law at St. John Lateran
University. In June, 1951, he was
awarded the degree of Doctor of
Canon Law.
Returning to this country in
September of last year, Father
McDonald spent three months
working in the Tribunal and Chan
cery Office of the Archdiocese of
Chicago. He returned to Savan
nah at Christmas time, and in Jan
uary of this year, the Most Rev
erend Gerald P. O’Hara, D.D., J.
U.D., Archbishop-Bishop of Savan
nah-Atlanta, appointed him Vice-
Officialis of the Diocesan Tribun-
al and as assistant pastor of the
Church of Our Lady of Lourdes at
Port Wentworth.
Four of Father McDonald’s sis
ters are members of Religious Or
ders: Sister Celine of St. Rose,
of the Little Sisters of the Poor,
Denver; Mother M. Aurelia, C.S.J.,
principal of St. Joseph’s School,
Brunswick; Sister M. Incarnata, R.
S.M., instructor in the School of
Nursing at St. Joseph’s Infirmary,
Atlanta, and Sister Mary James, C.
S.J., in residence at the Sacred
Heart Convent, Atlanta, who is Su
pervisor of Schools, under the Rev
erend Cornelius E. Maloney, Ph.D.,
Diocesan Director of Schools.
Monsignor Moylan, a native of
Savannah, attended Belmont Ab
bey College, in North Carolina,
and completed his philosophical
and theological courses at St. Ber
nard’s Seminary, Rochester, N. Y.
He was ordained to the priesthood
on October 18, 1917, by the late
Bishop Benjamin J. Keiley, in Sa
vannah.
His first appointment was as as
sistant rector of the Cathedral in
Savannah, following which he was
temporarily in charge of the Sa
cred Heart Church, Milledgeville,
then assistant pastor of the Im
maculate Conception Church in At
lanta.' For a time he was admin
istrator of Holy Family Church,
Columbus, and in July, 1928, was
named pastor of the Immaculate
Conception Church, Atlanta.
In June, 1936, when the new
i parish of Christ the King was es
tablished, Monsignor Moylan be
came its first pastor, continuing
as rector when that church became
the Co-Cathedral of the Diocese
of Savannah-Atlanta. In 1939, he
was made a Domestic Prelate, and
in 1950 the Holy See conferred
upon him the dignity of a Proth-
onotary Apostolic, the highest dig
nity outside the Episcopacy to
which a priest in America can be
elevated.
When construction began on the
new Church of Our Lady of the As
sumption, in 1951, Monsignor Moy
lan was appointed pastor of the
new parish in the North Side area
of Atlanta. He also served as pas
tor of St. Michael’s Church, Sa
vannah Beach, since coming to Sa
vannah as Vicar General and Chan
cellor.
The building which will serve
the new Atlanta parish as a church
and school has just been complet
ed, and while it has not yet been
formally dedicated, Mass is being
celebrated in the building every
Sunday.
Father John J. Kehoe, who has
been the priest in charge of St.
Michael’s Church for the past
three years, has been appointed
temporary administrator of the
parish at Savannah Beach.
Dispensation
Granted for
Fourth o! July
i
The Most Reverend
Francis E. Hyland, D.
D., J. C. D., Auxiliary
Bishop and Vicar Gen
eral, of the Diocese of
Savannah - Atlanta, by
virtue of special facul
ties from the Holy See,
has granted a dispensa
tion from the law of ab
stinence throughout the
Diocese on July 4th, In
dependence Day. It is
recommended by way of
compensation that the
faithful make a small
offering in behalf of
the poor.
29,407,520 Catholics in the
United States, According to
Official Catholic Directory
(Continued on Page Two)
Abbot General of Trappists
Visiting Abbey at Conyers