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TWENTY
THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
AUGUST 30, 1952
Moscow, Not Rome, to Blame for
Anti-Protestant Moves in Colombia
Says Rector of Overbrook Seminary
District Deputy
<N. C. W. C. News Service)
PHILADELPHIA. _ There has
been much misunderstanding and
misrepresentation reported in the
secular press of the United States
regarding Protestant clergymen in
Colombia, but these incidents have
stemmed from political rather than
religious differences, Monsignor
Francis J. Furey, rector of St.
Charles Borromeo Seminary in
suburban Overbrook, declared here.
If ever the word “divisive” could
be applied to an action, Monsignor
Furey said, it was applicable to the
1948 attempt to split Colombia into
two warring factions. He said the
danger of eventual success by left
ist agitators became so great that
His Holiness Pope Pius XII a few
weeks ago addressed a plea by ra
dio to the people of Colombia.
Those who accuse the Catholic
Church or its representatives of
being the instigators of various in
cidents against Protestant minis
ters and their churches in Colo*m-
bia,” the Monsignor said, “would
do well to read those words of the
Pope. They would do well to learn
whether the Catholic Church and
its priests are not the victims of
similar incidents.
“They would be forced to con
clude,” the Monsignor continued,
“that most of these incidents, if
not all of them, were inspired by
political rather than religious dif
ferences, and they would be forced
to trace their origin not to Rome
but to Moscow.”
Monsignor Furey spoke at a Me
morial Mass in Old St. Mary’s
Church for Don Manuel Torres,
first Colombian diplomat recogniz
ed officially by the United States.
The ceremonies also marked the
130th anniversary of Colombian
independence and Simon Bolivar
Day here. A floral wreath was
placed on the Torres tomb in the
church graveyard and in commem
oration of Bolivar, another wreath
was placed at the base of the Lib
erty Bell in Independence Hall.
In addition to religious leaders,
members of the Colombian consul
ate here and the American Catho
lic Historical Society of Philadel
phia took part in the ceremonies.
Guests included consular represen
tatives of Ecuador, El Salvador,
Guatemala, Honduras, Panama,
Venezuela, Peru, Spain and Portu
gal.
Monsignor Furey recalled that
Torres was a lieutenant in the
Spanish Army when he went to
New Granada, where he learned he
must take sides with those seeking
freedom or with the colonial ad
herents. Lieutenant Torres soon in
curred the wrath of his superiors in
the Army and was forced to flee the
country, the Monsignor said.
Torres came to Philadelphia,
where he worked for the cause of
Simon Bolivar, the liberator of
Venezuela, and also fought for Co
lombian independence. Colombia
became an independent nation in
June, 1822, and Torres was recog
nized officially as his country’s
diplomatic representative to the
United States. A month later he
died in Philadelphia and was hur
ried in Old St. Mary’s churchyard.
“Down through the years, Co
lombians have clung to the faith
of their father’s,” the Monsignor
related. “Although the country is
overwhelmingly Roman Catholic,
other religious groups are permit
ted to worship and preach accord
ing to the dictates of their own
conscience. This fact is proved by
the presence in Colombia, at this
very moment, of many Protestant
ministers and their churches.”
Monsignor Furey read a message
from Colombia’s President Rober
to Urdaneta Arbelaez, who be
sought prayers that “the example
of friendship and inter-American
good will set by Don Manuel
Torres, illustrious Colombia pa
triot and pioneer in the cause of
freedom, lasts forever not only in
the American continent but in the
whole world.”
FORMER MISSIONARY SAYS
ANTI-CATHOLIC SERMONS
CAUSED DISTURBANCES
CHICAGO.—(NC)—Many of the
difficulties of Protestant groups in
Colombia resulted from “anti-
Roman sermons and tracts that
they were distributing to Colom
bians,” the Rev. George F, Pack
ard, rector of Immanuel and Trin
ity Episcopal Churches, Glencoe,
Md., said in a letter published in
Time magazine.
“One cannot consistently and in
discriminately criticize the religion
of a people who have had the
teachings of the Roman Chrch, as
it exists in Colombia, ingrained in
their life and thought for untold
generations and expect a cordial
reception,” the Episcopal minister
wrote.
“All the responsibility is not
with the Colombians,” he added.
“The missionaries and their boards,
might well search the Gospels anew
and re-direct their activity.”
The minister said that he served
as a missionary in Colombia from
1944 to 1947.
Need for Temperance Stressed at
Total Abstinence Union Meeting
WORCESTER, Mass.—Total ab
stainers bear dramatic witness to
the badly needed virtue of temper
ance, Bishop John J. Wright of
Worcester told members of the
Catholic Total Abstainers Union of
America at their 80th annual con
vention here.
“Please God,” he said, “the total
abstainers emphasis on the spirit
ual danger of alcoholic drink will
be heeded by the many young
people who seem to consider the
cocktail and the highball necessary
symbols of maturing and social
significance.”
Bishop Wright spoke at the man-
quet closing the convention. Earlier
the Holy Father cabled greetings
to those gathering for the con
vention and imparted his Apostolic
Blessing.
In his address Bishop Wright
said that “if we are realistic we
must admit that the total abstinence
program will never find universal,
popular acceptance.” He added
that “that does not mean that the
movement is any less important or
deserving of encouragement by
every right-minded person and
certainly by every person con
cerned with the moral quality of
our antion.”
Total abstainers ‘do not ask that
everyone abstain any more than
Trappists intend that everyone
keep silence or other religious
under vows pretend that everyone
should renounce property, dominion
and human love simply because
they take vows of poverty, obe
dience and chastity,” the Bishop
commented.
“By total renunciations of this
kind the Christian is doing some
thing voluntarily for his own per
sonal perfection and in the right
of his own spiritual needs,” Bishop
Wright asid. “But he is doing some
thing more: He is dramatically
telling the rest of us that the things
he renounces—property, human
consolations, speech, drink or the
like—however good in themselves
contain serious danger of abuse
and the seeds of spiritual harm.
“He is warning us that they
must be used with great care or
else they will be abused to their
difilement or our destruction,”
the prelate said. “To the extent
that the total abstainer thus bears
witness by his personal discipline
to the need for temperance, he is
performing a holy mission, urgent
ly needed among our people and
their neighbors in America.”
Father William J. Harty of Wor
cester stressed that alcohol is in
itself “neither morally good nor
morally indifferent.” He said that
moderate use is “not measured by
quantity but by right of reason.”
“The motive of total abstinence
is not necessarily to control one’s
own appetite,” Father Harty said,
“but can be principally because of
love of God. It is a voluntary of
fering to God of one’s right to
drink. Total abstinence does not
mean giving up what is bad in or
der to do what is good. It means
giving up what is good in order
to do what is better.”
MARRIAGES
o-
o-
BANICK-CANTRALL
ATLANTA, Ga.—Miss Mary Re-
fina Cantrall, daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. Otto Lamar Cantrall, and
Mr. George Cyril Banick were
married on July 19 at the Sacred
Heart Church, Father F. M. Perry,
S. M., officiating.
o-
O-
WOOD-DI-VENUTO
-o
-o
MACON, Ga.—-Miss Marcella
Di Venuto and Mr. William Adol
phus Wood. Jr., were married on
August 24 at St. Joseph’s Church,
Father Carmine Benanti, S. J., of
ficiating.
C. J. D’ESPOSITO
As District Deputy, Carlos J.
D’Esposito, of Savannah, has juris
diction over Savannah Council, No.
631, Knights of Columbus and
Henry Thomas Ross Council, No.
1939, Brunswick. Mr. D’Esposito
headed Savannah Council as Grand
Knight from 1946 to 1947.
NEW BOOK IS REPORTER'S STORY OF
OUR LADY IN THE MODERN WORLD
Mrs. Agnes F. Harris
Dies in North Carolina
CHARLOTTE, N. C. — Funeral
services for Mrs. Agnes Flynn Har
ris were held at St. Patrick’s
Church, with Father Crannor F.
Graves offering the Requiem Mass.
Mrs. Harris was born August 27,
1884, at Walden, in Bibb County,
the daughter of James Connor
Flynn and Mrs. Margaret Shier-
stein Flynn. She lived in Atlanta
for a number of years before ihov-
ing to Charlotte. She was a sister
of the late John C. Flynn, of New
York, Edward Flynn, of Valdosta,
George Flynn, of Abbeville, S. C.,
and Mrs. George R. Carlton, of Sa
vannah.
Surviving Mrs. Harris are a son,
George Carlton Harris, of Char
lotte; two grandchildren, Mary Ag
nes Harris and Flynn Harris, and a
number of nieces and nephews, in
cluding Mrs. C. Haywood Dudley,
Jr., of Richland, Ga., and Joseph
G. Carlton, of Atlanta.
(N. C. W. C. NEWS SERVICE)
MILWAUKEE, Wis.—“The most
important story of our time”—how
“Our Lady is pleading with us to
help her save the world from the
terrible results of its own sins”—
is told in a new book published
here.
“The Woman Shall Conquer,”
by Don Sharkey, relates in one
volume the stories of apparitions
and messages of Our Lady from
1830 to the present, a century and
a quarter in which ‘he author says
it seems certain Our Lady has
made more appearances on earth
than in any similar period in
history. Bruce is the publisher.
“All we need do is heed the re
quest of Our Lady, and there will
be peace,” Mr. Sharkey writes,
citing the Fatima message. “The
solution to the problem of war or
peace is in our hands. Our day-to-
day actions are more important
than all the deliberations of the
United Nations.”
“Our Lady is pleading with us
to help her save the world from
the terrible results of its own
sins,” he notes. “The very least we
can do is read her message. After
that, we must act upon it.”
“Nothing is more important,”
the author adds.
Mr. Sharkey, a former editor
of the Young Catholic Messenger,
begins with Our Lady’s first mes
sage to the modern world, the ap
paritions to Blessed Catherine La-
boure in Paris in 1830. They led
to the striking of the Miraculous
Medal at Our Lady’s request.
He closes with His Eminence
Federico Cardinal Tedeschini’s
report that His Holiness Pope Pius
XII had seen the Fatima Miracle
of the Sun repeated four times at
the Vatican in 1950. Cardinal
Tedeschini is the Archpriest of
St. Peter’s Basilica.
In America, “the land of Our
Lady,” Mr. Sharkey recalls, Our
Lady of Guadalupe appeared in
1531 to a Mexican Indian.
And in modern times Father
Piaerre de Smet, Apostole of the
Rockies told how in 1841 an Indian
boy in the future state of Montana
reported seeing what may have
been one of the first revelations
of Mary’s Immaculate Heart.
“Her feet did not touch the
ground, her robe was white as
snow; she had a star above her
head, and under her feet a snake
grawing at a fruit that I don’t
know,” the boy told Father de
Smet. “From her heart there came
forth rays of light which came to
ward me.”
Mr. Sharkey, a native of Middle-
town, Ohio, is the author of several
other books on the Blessed Virgin,
including “The Message of Fa
tima,” “Mary’s Message,” and
“After Bernadette,” the latter about
Lourdes. He currently is a free
lance writer and consulting editor
of the Catholic Boy magazine.
In the foreword he said at least
two noted Marian authorities had
planned to write books on the same
subject as his new work.
“When they learned that I had
already begun the task, both of
them very graciously stepped
aside,” he reported.
“ ‘It makes no difference who
writes the book,’ these men said in
almost identical words. ‘The im
portant thing is that it gets writ
ten.’ ”
Noting that his is not a theolog
ical work, Mr. Sharkey explained
“you might say that this is a re
porter’s story of Our Lady in the
Modern World.”
John M. Gaudry
Dies in New Orleans
SAVANNAH, Ga. — News has
been received here of the death in
New Orleans on August 17 of John
Martin Gaudry, formerly of Sa
vannah.
Mr. Gaudry, a graduate of Bene
dictine Military School, started
out in the cotton business here
with J. C. Young and Company,
later being connected for many
years with Anderson, Clayton and
Company, and in recent years hav
ing his own business in New Or
leans.
His father, the late John J.
Gaudry, was for years superin
tendent of the Savannah Cotton
Exchange.
Mr. Gaudry is survived by his
wife, who was formerly Miss
Gladys Chapman, of Augusta, and
two sons, Thomas Gaudry and
John M. Gaudry, Jr.
300-308 West Broughton Street Savannah, Georgia
Best Wishes
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