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THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN'S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
OCTOBER 25, 1952 N
Vice-Presidenf of
Waycross Branch
RICHARD GERMANO
Vice-President of the Waycross
Branch of the Catholic Laymen’s
Association of Georgia.
Treasurer of C. L. A.
Branch in Waycross
MRS. JAMES JOHNSON
Treasurer of the Waycross
Branch of the Catholic Laymen’s
Association of Georgia.
WASHINGTON LETTER
By J. J. GILBERT
"Trials" of Catholics Recall Bulgaria's
Long Record of Religious Persecution
WASHINGTON — The “trial"
and “conviction” of 28 priests and
12 Catholic laymen in Bulgaria a
few days ago, recalls that that
country has had a long and bad
record in the matter of religious
persecution.
Bulgaria seems to be engaged in
a sort of unholy competition with*
its neighbors—Rumania to the
north and Yugaslavia to the west
■—in stamping out religion and
making a mockery of basic human
rights.
A similar phoney “trial" of 15
Protestant church leaders in early
1949 focused world attention upon
what was already a bad situation
in Bulgaria. The judicial farce
drew indigant protests from many
nations and made it clear that the
end of all religious freedom in
BuLgaria was in sight. And, it
became clear, just travesties on
judicial proceedings were being
used to discredit and besmirch
clergymen who incurred commu
nist wrath so the law was to be
the weapon with which religion
was to be beaten to death.
A national law was introduced
which, as a sort of window-dress
ing, established freedom of con
science and of religious belief in
the first article, and then went
on for 30-odd articles to make
practically every phase of religious
life subject to control and approval
by the state. The very existence
of a religious denomination, so far
as juridical status was concerned
Was made to depend upon the will
of a single cabinet, officer — the
foreign minister.
Speaking of the “trial" of the
Protestant clergymen three years
ago, Archbishop John T. McNicho-
las, O. P., of Cincinnati said “the
sympathy of all normal men goes
out to all Christians and religious
persons behind the Iron Curtain
who are persecuted, degraded and
even liquidated unless they be
come slaves and tools of the per
verted clique controlling the com
munistic government of Bulgaria.”
The Archbishop, then Chairman
of the Administrative Board of
:the National Catholic Welfare Con
ference, added that “likewise, the
leaders of the Orthodox Church,
as well as Catholic, Protestant and
j'iJewish leaders who do not admit
to the enslavement of Moscow
must expect infamous defamation,
g ersecution, exile, slavery, hard
ibor, starvation and death.” He
called’ the “trial" Of the Protes
tant “inquitous, shameful. and in
human.”
By summer of 1949, word fil-
: tered out of Bulgaria that the Red
regime had ldosed an anti-religi
ous campaign that ridiculed all
religions, Orthodox, Protestant,
Jewish and Catholic, and that con
centration camps already were
filled with Catholic priests and
laymen accused of acts of sabotage,
black marketing and sedition. Of
Bulgaria's seven million people it
is estimated that less than 60,000
were Catholics in 1949. The great
er number of inhabitants be
longed to the schismatic Orthodox
Church.
Great Britain wrote a note to
the Bulgarian government saying
“roiiftkw*-- fc&ulotn in Eastecp, Eu-
rope is under a deliberate, general
attack.” London told Sofia that
it thought Bulgaria had no inten
tion of living up to her peace
treaty guarantees of political and
religious freedom. Observers in
London thought at the time that
the government might “take
stronger steps” later.
The U. S. State Department call
ed the “trial” of the Protestant
ministers a “blatant, terroristic
effort, in cynical disregard of the
facts, designed to intimidate the
small respected Protestant reli
gious dominations in Bulgaria and
to discredit the names of their
sincere religious leaders.”
A few months later, word get
ting through the Iron Curtain said
the persecution of Catholics in
Bulgaria was driving some of them
almost to despair. Early in 1950,
the United States broke relations
with Bulgaria, but for another rea
son—permitting “the torture and
killing of local Bulgarian em
ployees of the American Lega
tion.”
In its note to Sofia, dismissing
the Bulgarian Charge d’Affaires
from Washington, the U. S. State
Department said in part; “The
present Bulgarian government,
while publicly professing to be the
true defender of democratic liber
ties, in practice relentlessly sup
presses these liberties. It does
not hesitate to persecute anyone
who is courageous enough to ex
press or even to hold views which
do not coincide with its own."
Last year, there was clear evi
dence that the Red regime in Bul
garia was keeping a constant pres
sure on all clergymen — Catholic
and non-Catholic—to bring them
to renounce their religious calling.
This pressure was exerted by
offers of “honors” for compliance
and threats of punishment for re
fusal. The “trials” jumps reported
would indicate that they are still
getting refusals for their efforts.
(N. C. W. C. News Service)
Missionary From China
Speaker at LaGrange
Parish Council Meeting
LA GRANGE, Ga —Father Paul
Loeffler, C M ; of the Vincentian
Fathers” mission in Kanchow,
China, was the guest speaker at
the October meeting of the St.
Peter’s Parish Council of Catholic
Women.
Father Loeffler, Who recently re
turned after serving twelve years
as a missionary in China 1 , gave a
most interesting talk on the ef
fect of communism of the religious
life of the Chinese people.
Mrs. George Gunning, of At
lanta, president of the Savannah-
Atlanta Diocesan Council, who at
tended the meeting, presented a
report on the recent convention
of the National Council of Catholic
Women held In Seattle, and Mrs.
Johit Correll, chairman of the
Diocesan 1 Council's committee on
Legislation, pointed out the role
which individuals have in influ
encing legislation; The closing
prayer was offered by Father Ed
ward Coyney C. SS. R., of St.
Peter’s Church. . • < , :
A social hour folldflfetthftidHAM-
ness session.
Slofin & Company, Inc.
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