Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

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 FULTON DISTRIBUTORS, Inc. 210-214 Mechanics Avenue THUNDERBOLT, GEORGIA