The bulletin (Augusta, Ga.) 1920-1957, June 21, 1952, Image 3

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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.