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JUNE 21, 1952-
THREE
THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN'S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
500,000 SEE ORDINATION OF 819 PRIESTS AT EUCHARISTIC CONGRESS—
Some 500,000 of the faithful, including many pilgrims from the Americas, wit
nessed the unforgettable ceremonies of the 35th International Eucharistic Con
gress, at Barcelona, Spain, May 27-June 1. Perhaps the most memorable event
of the Congress was the mass ordination to the priesthood of 819 deacons in the
huge Montj'uich Stadium, pictured above. Twenty-one Bishops from nine nations
were^the Ordaining prelates. It was the first world-wide Eucharistic Congress
since the one at Budapest, in 1938.—(NC Photos).
Hundreds of Thousands Attend
Closing Rites of Eucharistic
Congress Held in Barcelona
By Jaime Fonseca-Mora
BARCELONA, Spain—(NC)—As
the Catholic world celebrated the
Feast of Pentecost, hundreds of
thousands of the faithful joined
here in unforgettable ceremonies
that brought to a close the 35th
International Eucharistic Congress.
Marking the solemn occasion
was a special message from His
Holiness Pope Pius XII, who
praised the loyalty and Tervor of
pilgrims who had come from all
parts of the globe to pay homage
to the Eucharist and to intercede
for peace among men and nations
everywhere.
" Declaring that “everything - con
nected with the Eucharist speaks
of peace,” the Holy Father, speak
ing in Spanish, exhorted the par
ticipants to become standard-bear
ers of peace in the world. Many of
them dropped to their knees as
the Pope’s words were relayed
from over hundreds of loudspeak
ers.
“We trust,” the Pope said, ‘that
you, inflamed with this spirit (of
true peace) wilLgo forth as lighted
torches to set the universe ablaze
with this holy fire. We are confi
dent that so many prayers so many
sacrifices and desires will not be
useless; gathering together all
your voices, all the wishes of your
heart, all the anxieties of your
souls. We wish to concentrate them
into one great cry of peace, which
may be heard the world over.” The
Holy Father described peace as
‘an inevitable imperative of fra
ternity and love, which springs
from the depths of our Christian
being.”
The Pope recalled another
springtime, in 1938, when he at
tended the last International
Eucharist Congress at Budapest,
Hungary, as Papal Legate. He said
he had stressed on that occasion
how happy the world would be if
it followed “the exhortations of
the successor of St. Peter on be
half of peace.”
“But that voice was not listened
to,” the Pope said. ‘ The whirlwind
broke with thunderous destruction
and slaughter, and today, once
again, the anguished cry that
comes from the lips of all is the
same as then; peace.”
Scene of the closing rites was
the great Plaza de Pio XII which
had recently been built by the
Barcelona municipality in token of
gratitude to Pope Pius for his
choice of Barcelona—a city of
many martyrs for the Faith during
the former Red regime—as the site
of the first world-wide Eucharist
celebration since the Congress at
Budapest, Hungary, in 1938.
Approached by wide avenues
and measures about 20,000 square
yards, the plaza formed a magnifi-
cant stage for the ceremonies.
Gathered around a great open-air
altar were 12 Cardinals, nearly 300
Archbishops and Bishops and
about 3,000 priests, who joined an
estimated 500,000 men and wom
en from scores of countries in
homage to the Eucharist Presence
and in prayers for the Pope, for
peace, and for the “Silent Church”
—the millions of Catholics isolated
behind the Iron Curtain of Soviet
domination.
Conspicuously absent from the
gathering were any official dele
gations from the Soviet-dominated
countries. However, Catholic Po
lands was represented by a group
of exiles headed by Bishop Joseph
Gawlina. Ordinary of the Polish
Exiles, who offered a Pontifical
Mass at the Church of Our Lady
of Hope for the welfare of his
country. Those at the Mass includ
ed General Anders; the Polish
Consul at Barcelona and a repre
sentative of the American Polish
War Relief in Europe.
A special Mass also was offered
for Hungarian exiles by Monsignor
Joseph Zagon, among those attend
ing being Archduke Otto of Haps-
burg and Baron Apor. Hungarian
Catholic Action leader. The Hun
garian group laid a laurel wreath
at the empty chair reserved for
Joseph Cardinal Mindszenty, im
prisoned Primate of Hungary, who
together with Archbishop Joseph
Beran of Prague had been desig
nated “absentees of honor” by the
organizing committee of the Con
gress.
A sudden silence descended on
the vast crowds as the Pope’s
message begun to pour out of the
loudspeakers. Loudspeakers had
been installed also over a wide
area beyond the plaza and all traf
fic came to a stop as the Pope be
gan his address with the words.
“Ever blessed and praised be the
Most Holy Sacrament of the altar.”
The Pope’s message was heard
after Federico Cardinal Tedes-
ehini, Papal Legate to the Con
gress, had imparted Benediction to
the assembled thousands. The rites
began with a solemn procession
from the Plaza de la Victoria, dur
ing which the famous gem-studded
Toledo Monstrance, one of the
great treasures of Spain, was
borne to the alter on a special
mobile platform drawn by relays
of newly ordained priests vested as
deacons. The monstrance itself
was mounted on a five-feet square
platform of gold and bronze held
up by statues of four angels and
surrounded by a profusion of
gladiolas and gardenias.
Thanks to the fewness of the
buildings in the vicinity, a sweep
ing view was possible from all
sides of the altar where the first
Sacrifice was offered on the morn
ing of Pentecost by Cardinal
Tedeschini. It was a solemn Ponti
fical Mass for the victims of per
secution in the communist-ruled
countries. At this Mass, some 200,-
000 worshippers were present, and
the music was provided by a choir
of thousands of voices from the
Monastery of Montsarrat. A ser
mon was preached by the Papal
Legate, who explained the mean
ing and purpose of the Congress,
after which Genaralissimo Franco
made a solemn profession of faith
on behalf of the Spanish people.
Highlights of the Congress had
been the formal reception of the
Papal Legate, the flow of pilgrims
to the Church of the Holy Family
for acts of Eucharistic adoration,
the mass ordination of new priests,
the performance of sacred plays,
and the celebration of the Liturgy
in many of the Eastern Rites.
At midnight of the previous day,
an estimated 300,000 men attend
ed a Midnight Mass in the great
Plaza of Pope Pius XII. Tlirougli-
Dies in Germany
CARDINAL FAULHABER
His Eminence Michael Cardinal
Von Faulhaber, Archbishop of
Munich and Freisling, and a lead
er in the fight against nazism, died
in Munich, Germany, on June 12.
His death reduces the membership
of the Sacred College of Cardinals
to forty-six.
Cardinal Faulhaber had been in
bad health for more than ten
years, and since the war he had ap
peared in public only on rare oc
casions.
His pastoral letters and sermons
against the Nazis in the years when
they were rising to power before
World War II had given him such
great prestige throughout the
world that Adolf Hitler never dar
ed to arrest him or send him to a
concentration camp. However, the
Nazis did send groups of youths
to his Cathedral to boo his ser
mons.
The son of a baker, Cardinal
Faulhaber was ordained to the
priesthood in 1892. He was named
Bishlp of Spreyer in 1911 and
served as a German army chaplain
in World War I.. He was made a
Cardinal in 1921 by Pope Benedict
XV. He made a tour of the United
States in 1923 to thank Americans
for postwar aid to Germany, and
visited this country again in 1926
to speak at the International
Eucharistic Congress in Chicago.
out the day, hundreds of priests in
churches all over the city had
heard the confession of those who
intended to receive Holy Com
munion at the Mass Temporary
confessionals were set up also
along the Avenida Generalisimo
France under street lamps decorat
ed with various national flags to
indicate the language in which
confessions could be heard.
The plaza presented an extraor
dinary spectacle as the men began
to assemble for the Mass. Most of
the men arrived on foot, but others
drove to the square in vehicles of
all kinds— r bicycles motorcycles,
automobiles of every description
and make, and even horse-drawn
carts. The hubbub and excitement
died down immediately as the
Mass began and a deep silence de
scended on the square. Three hun
dred priests were on hand to dis
tribute Communion to the men as
they approached the altar in seem
ingly endless procession.
The same day saw another
demonstration of the unity of the
Need for Missions in Rural Areas of
United States Cited at Dedication of
Glenmary Missions" New Seminary
GLENDALE. Ohio — (NC) —l Bishop and the Glenmary Mission-
Warning that a third of U. S.
counties are without a Catholic j
church and without a resident!
priest, Bishop John J. Swint ol I
Wheeling declared that “we cannot, j
we must not, neglect our rural dis- j
tricts here in the United States.”
“There are only about 28 mil
lion Catholics in a population of
approximately 150 million,” the
Bishop said. “And 1,000 of the
counties in the U. S., out of a
total of 3,000 are without a Cath
olic church and without a resident
priest.”
Noting that “city populations do
not maintain themselves,” Bishop j
Swint said “they must be replen- j
ished from rural districts."
“And they are being replenish
ed from rural districts,” he added. !
“Unfortunately for us, our Cath
olic population is almost entirely j
urban. So, unless we can convert |
our rural districts, the urban pop
ulations will become more andj
more non-Catholic.”
Bishop Swint preached at a
Pontifical Mass marking comple
tion of a section of the new $400,-1
000 seminary which the Glenmary i
Missioners are erecting here. Pur-:
pose of the society, originally call-;
ed the Home Missioners of Ameri
ca, is “to bring the Church to
Americans outside the fold: especi
ally to those in the hundreds of
counties without resident priests.”
The missionary group was founded
in 1937.
Archbishop Karl J. Alter of Cin
cinnati celebrated the Mass in the
newly-completed chapel.
The Glenmary Missioners are
“providentially destined to meet
a great need in this country and to
do a great work for the salvation
of souls,” Bishop Swint said in his
sermon. He declared that there
is “mission activity throughout the
world today such as probably has
not been seen since the time of the
Apostles,” and added that “amidst
all this activity we cannot, we
must not, neglect our rural dis
tricts here in the United States.”
Priestless and churchless coun
ties are “at our very door,”
Bishop Swint told his Cincinnati
audience. His own Wheeling Dio
cese, which includes West Virginia
and part of Virginia, has 23 coun
ties without church »r priest, he
reported.
“Farther south,” the Bishop con
tinued, “condit'ons are still worse.
In Mississippi there are 50 coun
ties without church or resident,
and 10 others with only one priest.
“Now unless we bring the Faith
to all these people, we will not
be carrying out the commission
given us by Christ.”
“Father Bishop (the Very Rev.
W. Howard Bishop, who founded
the Glenmary Missioners) and his
group have set to work to do some
thing about it,” Bishop Swint said.
“It is the purpose of Father
Faith when seven Eastern Rite
Bishops offered Masses in the
Barcelona Churches according to
the Byzantine Liturgy. One of the
Masses was offered in the Basilica
of San Jose Oriol, by Maronite
Rite Archbishop Joseph Malouf of
Baalbek, delegate of his Beatitude
Patriarch Maximo IV Saigh of
Antioch.
ers to undertake the great and most
necessary work of evangelizing the
rural districts of the United
States.”
Dedicated in the ceremonies
here were the completed south
wing and the basement of the cen
tral section of the seminary, which
occupies a 180-acre site. The new
structure has been in partial use
since last October, when temporary
seminary facilities were removed
from the power-generating build
ing erected in 1949, which was
widely known as the “Boiler House
Seminiary.”
Twenty theology students are en
rolled in the seminary here at
present, and four of them are
scheduled to be ordained priests
in the near future. The Rev. John
J. Marquardt is rector. Nearly 60
other candidates for the Glenmary
Missioners are studying at other
places. The missioners include 19
priests, and 10 Brothers. There
are 37 Glenmary Sisters, a related
group also founded by Father
Bishop.
(Since 1944, the Glendale Mis
sioners have been serving in the
Diocese of Savannab-Atlanta, being
in charge of St. Matthew’s Church,
Statesboro, and its mission terri
tory which includes Bulloch,
Candler, Effingham, Evans, Jenk
ins, Screven and Tattnall counties
in Georgia. Father Edward W.
Smith, formerly pastor in States-
bore, is now serving on the faculty
of the seminary).
Mother Mary Pius
Funeral in Si. Louis
ST. LOUIS, Mo. (NC)—Requiem
Mass was offered here for Mother
Mary Pius Neenan, superior gen
eral of the Sisters of St. Joseph of
Carondelet from 1942-48. A re
ligious for more than a half cen
tum, she died (June 10) at the age
of 77.
Mother Mary Pius was superior
general while serving as president
of Fontbonne College here. Earlier
she had been president of the Col
lege of St. Teresa in Kansas City,
Mo., from 1921-27, and professor
of philosophy and director of the
philosophy department at Font-
bonne. Born in Keokuk, Iowa, she
entered the novitiate of the Sisters
here in 1897.
Bishop John P. Cody, Auxiliary
of St. Louis, presided at the funeral
services here in the community’s
motherhouse. Mother Mary Pius
died in St, Joseph’s Hospital, Kan
sas City, Mo., after a year’s illness.
ROCHESTER, the See city of
England’s great martyr-bishop St.
John Fisher, has received the
necessary official permission to be
gin building its first Catholic
church since the Reformation.
Work on the site, about three-
quarters of a mile from the pre-
Reformation Cathedral of St. An
drew, now in Protestant hands,
will begin at once. Catholics of
the little Kent town, near London,
have hitherto had to attend Mass
in the adjoining naval center of
Chatham.