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THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN'S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
JUNE 2®, 195:1
MAN'S DIGNITY
KEY TO SUCCESS
BISHOP STATES
(N. C. W. C. News Service)
NEW HAVEN, Conn. —Success
in employer-employee relation
ships depends upon recognition of
the fundamental dignity of man,
Bishop Henry J. O’Brien of Hart
ford declared in an address here.
The Bishop spoke to some 450
persons at the fifth annual Mc-
Auliffe Medal Awards dinner. The
1953 medals were presented to
Amor P. Smith, vice president of
the Russel Manufacturing Co.,
Middletown, Conn., and Mitchell
Sviridoff, president of the Con
necticut CIO State Council, in
recognition for their efforts to im
prove industrial relations. The
medals are named for the late
Bishop Maurice F. McAuliffe of
Hartford, who founded the annual
award in 1948.
“As Catholics,” Bishop O’Brien
said, “the basis of our attitude to
ward the problems of industrial
relations and toward all phases of
the social problem is the funda
mental dignity of man. And as
Catholics we believe most firmly
that man—man regardless of his
color or his creed, regardless of
his wealth or his poverty, regard
less of his goodness or his badness
—-man is made to the image of
his God and therefore has a
dignity of inestimable value. We
know that because men has been
redeemed by Jesus Christ his
dignity has ben enormously en
hanced. And as Catholics this be
lief in man’s dignity is not a mat
ter of opinion but rather it is a
very fundamental of our Faith on
which as a foundation we build
our structure of a just society.”
Bishop O'Brien said that “the
heart which holds sacred the dig
nity of man must be free from
the deadly disease of race pre
judice.” He said that from the
fact of man’s dignity came “those
principles of economic life with
which Pope Leo XIII jolted the
thinking of the world 60 years
ago in his famous defense of the
abused rights of the working
classes.”
The fact that man is made to the
Image and likeness of God “must
be brought home with the greatest
possible emphasis to both employ
ers and employees as they are
thrown together in our industrial
process, ’ Bishop O’Brien said.
“The reconstruction of the so
cial order rests very much in their
hands,” the Bishop said, “and it
will move to fulfillment only if
and when they realize in a very
meaningful way that regardless of
color, or creed, or race, or status,
the workingman personifies an
other Workingman Who labored
with saw and plane 2,000 years ago
in Palestine.”
SANCTUARY OF ST. MICHAEL'S, GAINESVILLE — Pictured
above is the sanctuary of the Church at Gainesville. The Altar is
of polished pink Georgia marble.
'Where Is Your God Now/ Reds
Taunted Priest Under Torture
LOS ANGELES (NC)-—He was
kicked, cursed, handcuffed for
months and hauled about by the
hair—and Father Maurice Kava-
nagh, C. M., knows what com
munists can do to make you con
fess crimes you’ve never com
mitted.
Described by The Tidings as “a
rugged, six-footer from County
Wexford, Ireland,” Father Kava-
nagh told his story of torture and
“confession” to the Los Angeles
archdiocese newspaper during a
stopover here on his way to Ire
land.
It took 10V& months of the most
brutal torture the Chinese com
munists could devise to make the
Irish Vincentian sign a “confes
sion” of espionage and counter
revolutionary activity, he told The
Tidings.
A missioner for 26 years in Pek
ing. he was seized on July 28. 1951,
and tsosed into solitary. But there
was still the Rosary. And 60 Ro
saries a day kept him from going
mad.
This torture began after Father
Kavanagh refused to confess he
was head of a spy ring. It started
with standing for 14 hours at a
stretch, his hands bound behind
his back. At night he could lie,
still handcuffed, on the floor.
After several days of this, the
handcuffs were tightened until
they cut into the flesh and he was
forced to sit on a hard chair for
five days and nights. When the
shackles were tightened again, the
priest’s circulation stopped. He
didn’t confess.
Next he was forced to squat from
8 to 12 hours at a time. When he
tumbled over he was beaten and
kicked in the ribs. This lasted for
11 days.
“I was lifted off the ground by
my hair . . . There were other in
dignities I cannot mention.”
Then came sieges of standing for
32 hours, sitting on his haunches
for 84. At last, after more kicks
and blows, came unconsciousness..
A doctor treated his infested arms
and dressed his wounds. After
four weeks, the questioning and
standing began again. Twice the
priest fainted.
“Thinking I was going to give
in,” Father Kavanagh said, “they
cursed and mocked me. ‘Where is
your God now?’ they shouted. ‘Why
does He not come to save you?’ . . .”
After two weeks, the commun
ists gave up. The priest had a
rest—sitting erect in a chair all
day, facing a white wall.
In Easter week of 1952, the
standing began again, this time
for a 29-day stretch with only a
half-hour’s rest out of each 24.
At this point the accusations
changed. “It was no longer in
sisted that I was the head of a spy
ring. If I confessed that I myself
was a spy, they would stop the tor
ture. They would allow me to
sleep.
“Then I thought, if I do not in
criminate others living in China, it
will end the torture. I will write
what they want. If I am shot, it
will end the torture.”
The priest “confessed”.
He repudiated that “confession”
when he was expelled from China
last September, 50 pounds lighter
and covered with bruises.
What of China’s future? Father
Kavanagh said: There is no hope
of freeing China without invasion.
The people are not communists
but they are helpless. They can do
nothing.
$692,000 Saved
State in One
Year Pastor Says
BOSTON (NC) — Massachusetts
taxpayers were saved $692,890.69
during 1952 through the operation
of a school plant in just one par
ish, Father John J. Hosey, C.SS.R.,
rector of the Redemptorists’ fam
ous Mission Church in nearby Rox-
bury, disclosed.
Father Hosey recalled that 63
years ago the Redemptorists in
charge of the parish, which for
mally is Our Lady of Perpetual
Help Church, opened the parish
grammar school with the School
Sisters of Notre Dame in charge.
He added that 24 years ago Mis
sion High School with the Xaver-
ian Brothers in charge of the boys
and the Notre Dame nuns in
charge of the girls, was opened.
The parish school plant he
pointed out, in 1952 had a total
of 2,392 students. This number
multiplied by $289.67, the 1952
rate of Boston’s unit cost to edu
cate a student, disclosed that the
taxpayers were saved $692,290.69,
Father Hosey said.
He spoke at the 64th annual
dinner of the alumni of the gram
mar school. Other speakers in
cluded Maurice J., Tobin, former
Secretary of Labor; Father Joseph
F. Scannell, C.SS.R., vice rector
of the parish, and Father John J.
O'Leary, C.SS.C., widely known
Redemptorist missioner.
SIR GILBERT LAITHWAITE
has been made a Knight Grand
Cress of the Order of SL* Michael
by Queen Elizabeth.
The Catholic diplomat, who is
®*li Commissioner in Pakistan,
has held that position since 1951.
Communists Will Never Drive God Out
Of Hungary, Says Monsignor Bela Varga
TRENTON, N. J. (NC)—No mat
ter how long the communists are
in control of Hungary, they will
never drive God from the hearts of
its people, Msgr. Bela Varga, presi
dent of the Hungarian Council in
Exile, declared here.
“The stars will shine again on
Hungary,” declared Monsignor
Varga in an address at a dinner
marking the 50th anniversary of
the founding of St. Stephen’s
Church.
One of those stars, said the pre
late—who was ordered to leave
Hungary by his superior, now im
prisoned Josef Cardinal Minds-
zenty—already is shining. It is the
Voice of America, which beamed
a program of the observance into
Hungary. And the story of the
golden jubilee also was told by
way of Radio Free Europe by
Tibor Florian of the Hungarian
desk of that medium, who was one
of the dinner guests.
Monsignor Varga declared that
as St. Stephen guided not only the
Hungarian people through the
ravages of the Turks 1,000 years
ago, so would his hand guide to
day’s Hungarian people, helping
them never to give up entirely to
the communists.
Father Andrew Jacobs of De
troit, Mich., national president of
the Araerican-Hungarian Catholic !
League, called upon the Hungar- s
ians of Trenton to “not get lost in |
the democracy here; let us hear j
of the troubles of our brothers; j
let us not forget their suffering; j
let us help them.”
St. Stephen’s Church, Trenton’s
only all-Hungarian parish, was j
founded in 1903 by a group of
immigrants. They paid $75 as first !
class passage for their first pastor, 1
| Father Paul Viragh, to come to
j Trenton from Hungary. He minis
tered to them for five years; estab
lished the parish and then return
ed to his native Hungary.
Today’s pastor, Father Julius A.
Kish, offered a Solemn Mass of
Thanksgiving in the presence of
Bishop George W. Ahr, of Tren
ton. The Bishop commended the
parish on its growth over the past
half-century and urged the parish
ioners to continue their coopera
tion with Father Kish.
Tibor Kerekes, professor of
philosophy at Georgtown Univer
sity, paid tribute to the older folks
who founded St. Stephen’s parish
and called on the younger genera
tion to assist the pastor, “remem
bering always your ancestors were
not unknown, uncultured, un-
civilized, but God-fearing Christ-
! ians unafraid in the face of ad
versity, ready to lay down their
: lives for their God and their na
tive Hungary.”
Daniel J. Keane
New Head of C. Y. P. A.
SAVANNAH, Ga. — Daniel J.
Keane has been elected to succeed
Karl Helmen as president of the
Catholic Young People’s Associa
tion.
Elected with Mr. Keane were;
Mr. Holmen, vice president; Miss
Mary Daily, treasurer; Miss Mary
Ann Strippy, secretary; Charlie
Westcott, parlimentarian; Chris
Russell, sergeant-at-arms. V
Elected to the executive com
mittee were Miss Jean Marie Bark
er. Harry Middleton and Bucky
Wolfe. '
Communist Toll in
Poland Includes
Seven Bishops
LONDON, (NC) — Two Polish
Bishops are in prison in com
munist Poland and five are under
house arrest, and another prevent
ed from exercising his office, ac
cording to the most recent infor
mation here.
Latest prelate to fall into Red
hands was Bishop Lucian Bernacki,
Auxiliary to His Eminence Stefan
Cardinal Wyszynski, Primate of
Poland, and Vicar General for the
Cardinal’s archiepiseopal See of
Gniezno. Now reported serving as
Vicar General is a Father Brossa,
one of the so-called “progressive”
priests, who was named by the
communist authorities.
Bishop Bernacki was ordered
“interned” after the Red press had
denounced him for criticizing the
irreligion of communist activists,
internment being presumed to
mean being placed under house
arrest.
There is no information as to
Bishop Bernacki’s exact where
abouts.
The two imprisoned Bishops—
both are in a Warsaw jail—are
Archbishop Eugene Baziak of
Lwow, and Bishop Ceslaus Kacz-
marek of Kielce. No one is allow
ed to visit them, not even relatives.
Bishop Stanislaw Adamski of
Katowice is residing with the
Ursuline nuns at Lipnica, in
Szamotuly county. He is free to
move only within the confines of
the'convent grounds, which is un
der close police surveillance. De
spite his advanced age—he is 78—
the Bishop offer Mass daily and
gives spiritual conferences for the
Sisters.
Bishop Herbert Bednorz and
Julius Bieniek, Coadjutor and
Auxiliary of Katowice, respective
ly, also are under constant sur
veillance and are even more close
ly guarded than Bishop Adamski.
Bishop Bieniek resides in a home
for the aged at Kielce, and Bishop
Bednorz stays with the Marian
Sisters in Winiary, near Poznan.
The secret police keep a watchful
eye on anyone who comes into
contact with either of the prelates.
Aged Bishop Stanislaw Rospond,
former Auxiliary of Cracow, is in
terned in the south of Poland.
Bishop Karl Splett of Gdansk, who
was jailed by the Polish authori
ty for several years, has been
released but is not permitted to
exercise his office.
Communists propagandists have
been discreetly silent about the ar
rested and interned priests. Even
the diocesan weekly, Tygodnik
Powszechny, reported temporarily
suspended, has not been able to
transmit any information concern
ing them.
Marked Increase
In Response to
K. C. Advertising
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (NC)—En
rollments for religious instruction
resulting from advertisements
sponsored by the Knights of Co-
'lumbus, have shown a “marked in
crease”, it has been announced
here.
During the month of March
alone, the 1953 enrollment figure
was given a boost with an all-time
monthly high of 4,515.
Since its beginnings, the adver
tising campaign has brought a total
of 1,230,990 inquiries as of May 1
with over 111,460 persons eventual
ly requesting a complete course of
instruction which the Ky of C. of
fers by mail.
The instructions are now going
to people in Israel, Korea, Japan,
South America, Sweden, Tito’s
Yugoslavia, and other countries
throughout the world. An inquiry
once came from Russia but in the
last year no other letters have
seeped through the Iron Curtain.
Top State for inquiries in the
U. S. was New York with 101,246.
But Californians were first when
it came to following through on in
structions with 9,606 enrollments
out of 94,204 inquiries. New York
had 9,395 enrollments.
Ontario, Canada, with 23,237 in
quiries and 3,319 enrollments, leads
all places outside the U. S. Four
teen new inquiries from Israel
brought totals there to 27, of
whom seven have signed for in
struction. Pagan India and Ceylon
with 5,165 inquiries and 481 enroll
ments topped the Philippines by a
narrow margin.
The K. of C. also noted the in
creased use by priests and mis
sionaries of the pamphlets which
follow up the advertisements. Re
quests have come from chaplains
in Korea, prison chaplains, and
catechists*throughout America.'
Pastor inn Gainesville
FATHER MANNING
The Reverend Michael Manning
pastor of St. Michael’s Church,
Gainesville, Ga., is a native of Ire
land. He was ordained in 1936 af
ter attending All Hallows College
and St. Brenda’s Seminary. He
came to the Diocese of Savannah-
Atlanta shortly after his ordination
and served successively as assis
tant pastor of the Blessed Sacra
ment Church, Savannah; St.
Theresa’s Church, Albany; St.
Mary’s-on-the-Hill Church Augus
ta, and in 1940, he was appointed
pastor of St. Augustine’s Church,
Thomasville, and its missions in
Bainbridge and Moultrie. In the
fall of 1945, Father Manning was
made pastor of St. Michael’s
Church, Gainesville.
POLISH REDS TO
CONVERT PAPER
INTO RED ORGAN
LONDON. (NC) — Communist
authorities in Poland are planning
to convert the nation’s principal
Catholic newspaper into the of
ficial organ of “patriotic” Catho
lics who actively support the Red
regime, it was learned here.
The newspaper is the Tygodnik
Powszechny, Cracow archdiocesan
weekly, which was forced recently
to suspend publication, apparently
for having refused to print an
article by a member of the pro
communist priests’ organization.
It has not been disclosed whom
the communists will appoint to the
editorial and administrative staffs
of" Tygodnik Powszechny to re
place the personnel who were ar
rested when the newspaper was
ordered suspended. It is supposed,
however, that the majority of the
workers will be imported from
Warsaw, where the pro-regime
Catholics have their headquarters.
All the Tygodnik Powszechny
staff were released after question
ing by the police, with the ex
ception of the editor, George
Turowicz, who was expected to be
kept in detention. The last issue
of the newspaper appeared on
March 8.
Tygodnik Powszechny was the
only Catholic paper in Poland
which had a nationwide circula
tion. In the last few months, the
communists compelled the paper
to publish pro-communist declara
tions, but these did little harm to
it. The reason was that the articles
stood out in glaring contrast to
the rest of the pieces published
and even the most casual reading
betrayed their origin.
Research Reveals
Gas May Destroy
Cancerous Tissue
MONTREAL, (NC) — Research,
such as is in progress at Notre
Dame Hospital here, has shown
that certain substances such as
mustard gas are capable of de
stroying cancerous tissue.
However, Dr. L. C. Simard, di
rector of the Cancer Institute : of
Montreal, told the Canadian Can
cer Society here that a great deal
still has to be done. Mustard gas is
toxic and the dosage is one of the
great questions, he noted.
He declared that progress has
been made in treating cancer with
chemical substances, ingested or
injected, as opposed to surgery or
X-ray treatment.
MORE THAN A THOUSAND
ihembers of the Portuguese Young
Catholic Workers Association turn
ed out at the Lisbon Airport to
welcome Msgr. Joseph Cardijn,
founder of the Young Christian
Workers (Jqeists) he is in Portugal
to visit ffie~sltrfne* at “l 1 atiraa.