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THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
AUGUST 30. 1952
EDITOR SUCCEEDS FORMER EDITOR—An editor suceeded a
former editor when the Most Rev. Robert J. Dwyer was consecrated
Bishop of Reno, at the Cathedral of Salt Lake City, suceeding to
the former See of Bishop Thomas K. Gorman, now Coadjutor of
Dallas and a former editor of The Tidings of Los Angeles. Bishop
Dwyer edited The Intermountain Register of Salt Lake City.
Pictured at the consecration ceremony are, left to right: Bishop
Gorman, Archbishop John J. Mitty of San Francisco, Bishop
Dwyer and Bishop J. Lennox Federal, Auxiliary of Salt Lake City.
—(NC Photos'.
Three Converts Instructed by
Monsignor Mitchell Give Church
A Foothold in Tennessee Area
DUNLAP, Tenn. (NC) — “I’m
wanting to live to be 100,” James
O. Mahoney mused, “so that I can
see a Catholic church here in
Dunlap.”
Sixtv-nine and the father of
nine children, Mr. Mahoney was
sharing his’ dream with three
young trailer missionaries. A con
vert of two years standing, Mr.
Mahoney has already seen two
grown sons come into the church.
His boys, the old man hopes, will
be the backbone of a Catholic set
tlement in what was formerly a
Ku Klux Klan stronghold in Ten
nessee.
And they may well be, for as
Monsignor Joseph Mitchell who
was instructed the Mahoney fam
ily insists: “The Holy Spirit has
been around these parts, and He
has settled down on Dunlap. It is
ripe for the harvest.”
Chaplain to the Alexian Broth
ers on Signal Mountain, 30 miles
from Dunlap, the Monsignor now
has Mrs. James Mahoney and her
daughter-in-law under instruction.
Monsignor Mitchell, himself a
convert, believes that more will
be “coming up the hill” for in
structions soon.
It was because of this manifest
religious interest that the Paulist
Fathers decided to give a mission
in this remote outpost of their
6,000-square mile parish. Situated
35 miles north of Chattanooga
in the picturesque Sequatchie
Valley, this little county seat of
925 people is some 80 miles from
Winchester, the parish church and
mission house of the Paulists in
Father Warren Seedorf, C. S. P„
formerly of New York, and two
subdeacons from the Paulist
House of Studies in Washington—
Kevin Lynch, C. S. P., of Lowell,
Mass., and Alvin Illig, C. S. P., of
Los Angeles, Calif., brought one
of the Paulist League's mission
trailers into the farming commun
ity for a week. More than 150
non-Catholics attended the hour
and a half programs. Each pro
gram consisted of a Bible talk,
question box period, a sermon,
and a section of the movie "The
King of Kings.”
"1 have seen men here,” Mr.
Mahoney confided to the mission-
erf,. “who never go near any of
the meetings up this way, and
they like what you boys have to
say.”
As the week progressed the
mother of a large family gave her
name for a course of instructions
by mail. She sent one of her teen-
aged sons to make the arrange
ments.
On the last night of the mission
a well dressed, middle aged busi
ness man sat waiting for the
crowd to leave, then got out of
bis ear to approach one of the
missionei's.
“J was only able to get here
tour of the five nights,” he said,
“but in these four nights you men
have given me an entirely new
view of the Catholic Church. I
would like to receive the free cor
respondence course.”
Mr. Mahoney passed out a
handful of pamphlets to friends.
“This mission sure has caused
a lot of interest here in Dunlap,
and you can be plumb sure they’ll
be asking me all about the Church
during the winter," he said.
Mr. Mahoney’s first favorable
contact with the Church came
three years ago when a Marine
son returned home. The Marine,
Sergeant John C. Mahoney, first
became interested in the Church
while in the South Pacific. The
clean lives of Catholic buddies
had won his admiration. But what
fascinated him most was the uni
versality of the Church’s teach
ing. He had always felt that the
truth must be the same the world
over.
The Sergeant took a course of
instructions from one chaplain,
and then another course .from a
j second chaplain to see if the two
I Catholic chaplains contradicted
j one another. Finding only har-
] mony, the young Marine finally
| told the chaplain, “I'm going
j home to Tennessee, and when I
! get home I’m going to get ahold
of a priest somewhere. If he
j teaches the same truths in Ten-
I nessee as you teach out here on
| the islands, I’ll know that you
people teach the universal Gospel
of Jesus.”
Shortly after he returned home,
a bitter week-long debate shook
| Dunlap. The debate, held in the
I school auditorium, was between
| the local Church of Christ and the
i Baptist Church. The elder Ma-
! honey and another son belonged
to the Church of Christ.
| Hearing of the Catholic Church
from his Marine son, Mr. Ma-
i honey’s first question was: “But
| did Jesus Christ establish that
| Church?” In his search for this
j answer, Mr. Mahoney brought the
| Church of Christ preacher to din
ner one evening, and across the
dinner table asked the preacher
| point blank: “Which is the Church
[ which goes back to the time of
| Jesus Christ?” The preacher an-
| swered, “Why everyone knows
! from history that it is the Cath
olic Church, but ...”
“That’s all I’m wanting to
know” the white-haired mill own
er said.
The historical fact of the
] Church’s foundation by Christ
| brought Mr. Mahoney back to the
j Church from which his grandfath-
j er had slipped when there were
i no priests in the isolated parts of
: Tennessee. One week after Ser-
j geant Mahoney was baptized, he
| stood by as Monsignor Mitchell
| baptized his father and his broth
er.
I Early on a Friday morning, the
j last day of the trailer mission,
Mass was offered from the back
1 of the trailer, perhaps the first
: Mass ever offered in Dunlap,
j Three converts knelt devoutly in
the dust of the big dirt lot. Among
| the intentions in the Holy Sacri
fice was that the old man will
j live to see his dream of a Cath-
; olic Church in Dunlap come true,
| and that the farm folk in Tenr.es-
| see's Sequatchie Valley will re-
| turn M the Faith of their hath
! ers.
Louise Loodhoit Y or borough
Rowland Insurance & Real Estate Agency, Inc.
18 Eost Bryan Street
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