Newspaper Page Text
JUNE 29, 1953
THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMENS ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
THREE
News Review of the Catholic World
Danish Vicariate
Apostolic Raised
To Diocesan Rank
COPENHAGEN, (Radio, NC> —
The Vicariate Apostolic of Den
mark has been raised to the rank of
a diocese, the first in Scandinavia
since the Reformation.
Bishop John Theodore Suhr, O.
S. B., Vicar Apostolic since 1938,
will be the first Bishop of the new
See. —
Announcement of the elevation
highlighted the first day of the
Danish National Catholic Conven
tion now being held here.
Denmark has about 26,000 Cath
olics in a population of 4,250,000.
More than 95 per cent of the peo
ple nominally belong to the State
church, which is Lutheran. Con
versions to Catholicism are slow
here, averaging 100 a year, but the
Church enjoys great prestige and
Catholic literature is widely read.
Other Scandinavian statistics
show that there are 18,500 Catho
lics among Sweden’s 7,000,000 peo
ple, 5,000 among Norway’s 3,250,-
000 and 2,000 among Finland’s 4,-
000.000.
There are 38 Catholic parishes
in Denmark, 98 priests and 761
Sisters in 14 convents. There are
2,735 students attending 26 Catho
lic schools, including a Jesuit Col
lege in Copenhagen. Catholic
schools here are in part state sup
ported. The Church in Denmark
supports four publications and 45
hospitals and other charitable in
stitutions.
Christianity was introduced in
to Denmark in the 9th century by
St Ansgar, a Benedictine monk.
The Church here remained under
the Bishops of Hamburg-Bremen
in Germany until 1104, when a na
tive Scandinavian hierarchy was
established.
Denmark became Lutheran in
1526 when King Frederick I em
braced that faith. Soon afterwards
anti-Catholic laws were passed and
the Church virtually disappeared
from Danish life.
The Danish Constitution of 1849
granted religious freedom and the
Church again began to grow. In
that year there were fewer than
1,000 Catholics in this country.
The first priest since the Re
formation arrived here in 1861,
Father Neuvel, who came from
Holland. In 1868 the Holy See
established the Prefecture Apos
tolic of Denmark, which was raised
to a Vicariate Apostolic in 1892.
Bishop Suhr, the first native
Danish prelate since the time of
Luther, is a convert from Luther
anism. He was raised to 7 the
Hierarchy in 1938, less than 12
years after he had joined the
Church.'He was ordained in Rome
in 1933. Bishop Shur has twice
visited the United States, in 1947
and again in 1951.
NEW ENGLAND TORNADO WRECKS ASSUMPTION COLLEGE—Assumption College at Worcester
is left in ruins in the wake of the tornado that ripped through the Massachusetts area, leaving some
100 persons dead and hundreds of others injured. Two Catholic nuns and a priest were killed and
others were injured at the college.—(NC Photos).
Osservatore Replies to Anti-Church
Speech by Yugoslavia's Vice-President
Papal Envoy
To Coronation
At Queen's Table
VATICAN CITY (Radio, NC)—The
official honors accorded Arch
bishop Fernando Cento. Nuncio to
Belgium, while serving as Papal
Envoy to the coronation of Queen
Elizabeth If. are reported in a
front-page article in Osservatore
Romano.
The Archbishop was seated at
the queen’s table at the state ban
quet in Buckingham Palace. At this
occasion, the queen expressed to
him her appreciation of the mes
sage sent by Pope Pius XII. On the
following day the Archbishop had
an honored place among the heads
ot the various missions who were
received by the queen.
Later, Archbishop Cento and his
suite attended a reception given
by leading members of the British
hierarchy. His Eminence Bernard
Cardinals Griffin, Archbishop of
West minster, Archbishop William
Godfrey. Apostolic Delegate to
Great Britain, the Duke of Norfolk,
who as Earl Marshal was in charge
of the arrangements of the corona
tion ceremonies, many Bishops and
leading members of the British
Catholic laity were present.
Archbishop Cento was welcomed
to London by the Duke of Edin
burgh, husband of Queen Eliza
beth, to whom he presented the
members of his suite: Msgr. Pierre
Veuillot, of the Papal Secre
tariate of State, and Marquis
Francesco Theodoli, the oldest
member of the Pope’s Noble Guard.
VATICAN CITY, (Radio, NC)—
Osservatore Romano, Vatican
newspaper, replied in a front-page
article to a speech in which Vice
President Alexander Rankovic of
Yugoslavia repeated familiar com
munist charges that the Holy See
has sought to interfere in the in
ternal affairs of the Red-controll
ed State.
Mr. Rankovic’s speech was de
livered prior to the passage by the
Yugoslav parliament of a new law
on religious communities which
claims to guarantee complete free
dom of religion, but denies a num
ber of important rights demanded
by Catholic Church authorities.
Osservatore Romano denounced
the Yugoslav leader’s speech as “a
parliamentary synthesis of a cam
paign of violence and legalistic
perfidy begun immediately after
the communist rise to power.’’
Listing wrongs perpetrated upon
the Church in Yugoslavia, the
newspaper said:
“The Yugoslav Republic, like
other communist countries, pro
claims the separation of Church
and State, but oppresses the free
dom of Catholics with brutal throt
tling, physical violence, judicial
terrorism, legalistic hypocrisy,
and, finally, legislates in eccles
iastical matters in deliberate de
fiance of Canon Law. Then, with
uncivil and impertinent interfer
ence, it attacks the Church and
the Bishops because they do not
accept that which they cannot ac
cept because of the impossibility
of reconciling principle and fact.”
Osservatore declared that the
Belgrade regime had sought “by
various pressures in which threat
and imprisonment are mixed with
flattery” to force the clergy to
form associations favorable to the
regime, against the advice of their
Bishops. It said those who opposed
such efforts had been warned of
sanctions against them, and added
that this threat had been repeated-
bv Mr. Rankovic.
Declaring that the Yugoslav Vice
President had reported that 141-
priests are still in prison, Osserva
tore commented: "We mention this
figure with full reservations.”
Continuing, the Vatican news
paper charged that the communist
government is exerting pressure,
in the Marxist style, against the
lawful pastors of the Church . . .
two of whom — His Eminence
Aloysius Cardinal Stepinae, and
Bishop Peter Cute of Mostar—it
said are “unjustly condemned,”
while others are held in confine
ment or impeded in their work.
In ddition, Osservatore declar
ed, the Belgrade government
“wants a community which would
be ‘Catholic’ in name, but actually
schismatic, and which would be
allied to a communist regime
which proclaims itself atheistic
and makes no mystery of its own
strong will to destroy ‘religious
prejudice.’ ”
“Nothwithstanding all this,” Os
servatore said, “the communist
government dares to accuse the
Holy See of political hostility
a,_, inst Yugoslavia, and to in
sinuate that it is involved in poli
tical maneuvering against the in
terests of the Yugoslav people.”
“For seven years, the Yugoslav
press and radio have done nothing
but repeat this charge, which has
been used to justify a persecution
condemned by the law of nations
and by the very pledges that
Yugoslavia assumed as a member
of the United Nations. Even the
rawest student of jurisprudence
knows that the Church has her
own internal law called Canon
Law, formed through centuries
and codified more than 30 years
ago, when Yugoslavia did not ex-
is ’ as a State.”
Mass at Cathedral Is High Point of
Coronation for Engl and s Catholics
By JOHN A. GREAVES
(Radio, N. C. W. C. News Service)
LONDON.—High point of Queen
Elizabeth’s coronation for Eng
land’s Catholics were the special
Masses celebrated in crowded
churches throughout the kingdom
tonight asking God’s blessing for
the new sovereign.
The Masses, climaxing, a week
end triduum of prayers for Her
Majesty’s intentions, were cele
brated at the same time as a Mass
in Rome at the Church of the
Holy Apostles attended by mem
bers of the diplomatic corps, the
Papal court and members of the
British colony.
The principal Mass here was
celebrated in London’s Westmins
ter Cathedral by His Eminence
Bernard Cardinal Griffin, Arch
bishop of Westminster.
Present were Archbishop Wil
liam Godfrey, Apostolic Delegate
to Great Britain, and Archbishop
Fernando Cento, Papal Nuncio to
Belgium and representative of the
Pope to the coronation.
Archbishop Cento was met on
his arrival in London several days
j ago by the Duke of Edinburgh.
He will attend the state banquet at
Buckingham Palace later in the
week.
Also present at the Mass were
many members of the peerage and
distinguished visitors from over
seas.
‘or the first time since the Re
formation Knights of Malta, wear
ing their picturesque black-cowled
robes, appeared in public here.
They acted as a guard of honor
for Cardinal Griffin. Among the
19 Knights were Thibaudeau Rin-
fret, Chief Justice of Canada, and
Thomas Guerin, president of the
Canadian Knights.
Archbishop Cento provided a
dash of unusual color at the actual
coronation scene. He was attired
a magnificent purple cassock
and a magneta cloak, surmounted
by a gold-tipped cape. Another
member of the Papal mission,
Marquis Francis Theodoli, wore
the uniform of the Holy Father’s
Noble Guard: helmet, red tunic,
white breeches and long black
hoots.
On Sunday evening Cardinal
Congratulations
Sent Quints on
Their Birthday
NICOLET, Que, (NC) —- From
friends in the United States and
Europe, as well as across Canada,
messages of congratulation poured
in here to the famous Dionne
quintuplets, who have just ob
served their 19th birthdays.
The five famous sisters, Annette,
Cecile, Smilie, Marie and Yvonne,
have been attending household
science classes conducted here by
the Sisters of the Assumption.
They observed their birthday
here and were visited by their pa
rents, Mr. and Mrs. Oliva Dionne,
two sisters, Pauline Dionne and
Mrs. Maurice Geraud of Waterloo,
Que., and their young brother.
Claude, seven.
The family held a reunion in a
villa belonging to the Assumption
Sisters not far from the com
munity’s convent. There the pa
rents gave their children special
gifts of clothing and cash. As Mr.
Dionne explained the quintuplets
have now reached an age where
they know their own needs and are
able to look after themselves.
Mr. Dionne has told reporters
that he and his wife are leaving
the question of their future life
work entirely in the hand of the
quints. TKey have received a good
education and the parents are con
fident they are in a position to
make their choice.
The father said there had been
some trying periods over the past
19 years, but everything has work
ed out all right and all are now
very happy. He offered a prayer of
thanks to God and said he and his
wife were very proud of quints
and all their children.
Griffin broadcast on behalf of the
nation’s Catholics over a national
network urging everyone to join
in the Catholic “vigil” for the
coronation. He compared Queen
Elizabeth and her people to a
medieval squire spending the night
before the altar in preparation
for knighthood.
“With Her Majesty we pray,” he
said, “that God may make us grow
in virtue. With her we pledge our
selves to that service of God and
our neighbor to which Her Majes
ty has dedicated herself in such
a wonderful way. We can help her
both now and in the future by
resolving to be not just her loyal
ar. J true subjects but God fearing
men and, women, strong in virtue
and generous in service. Her
Majesty has asked us to pray with
her at this time. It is a privileged
task which we gladly accept. By
our prayers for her well-being we
can help her more than in any
other way. We shall be constant in
prayer for her family. We shall
pray that God may bless her reign
and may give here, amidst all her
duties, time for that happy family
life which is so much a part of
the House of Windsor and of which
she gives us such a splendid ex
ample.”
Earlier in the day the Bishops
of Scotland had made a similar re
quest for prayers for the new
queen in an interdenominational
radio broadcast.
Two Nuns, Priest
Killed in New
England Tornado
By Religious News Service
WORCESTER, Mass.—Two nuns
and a priest were among the eighty
known dead here in the worst tor
nado to hit New England in 70
years.
They were Sisters St. John of the
Cross, A. A., and St. Helen, A. A.,
and the Rev. Englebert Deviheq,
A. A., all of Assumption College,
which was severely damaged by the
blast.
Nine other priests and ten nuns
were seriously injured at the col
lege, including the Rev. John O.
Arthur Brassard, A. A., who . re
cently returned from Moscow where
he ministered to members of the
American diplomatic colony.
Among the seriously injured was
Mother Superior Sister Chantede,
A. A., of the Assumption College
convent. The convent was all but
destroyed.
The Episcopal Church of St..
Michael-on-the Heights was demol
ished by the blast, which affected
the whole of Worcester County.
Extensive damage was done at Pet
ersham, Athol, Barre, Holden,
Shrewsbury, Southboro and Fram
ingham.
As soon as the tornado had
passed aid was speeded to the dis
aster areas. Clergymen of all faiths
comforted the stricken, and at the
Worcester City Hospital Roman
Cathode priests administered the
Last Rites to the dying as they were
brought in.
Bishop John J. Wright of Worces
ter, who was administering Con
firmation at St. John’s church here,
left immediately after the blast for
the damaged suburbs of Worcester.
Until the early hours of the morn
ing he visited hospitals and the
city morgue where he gave absolu
tion to the dead.
OBLIGATORY CIVIL marriage
would be abolished under a bill
which five members of the Aus
trian People’s Party plan to intro
duce in parliament. Under the pro
posal, marriage before a priest or
minister would be legally recog
nized, provided the engaged cou
ple has previously obtained from
state authorities a license certify
ing that, so far as the state is con
cerned, no impediments exist to
the planned marriage.
THE CRYPT beneath the Cathe
dral of Our Lady, where Munich’s
Archbishop Cardinal Michael von
Faulhaber, was buried last year,
will be developed into a chapel.
Ever since the Cardinal’s death,
thousands have visited the crypt
to pray at the tomb Of the be
loved prelate.
A PAPAL decoration was worn
conspicuously by the person who
received Queen Elizabeth as she
arrived in the state coach at West
minster Abbey and led her to the
throne. He was the 44-year-old
Catholic Duke of Norfolk, Heredi
tary Earl Marshal of England.
Garbed in crimson velvet robes
and an ermine cape he wore on his
blue tunic the Order of Pius IX.
“THE CATHOLIC World is cer
tainly not aloff from the joy of
the English people," the Vatican
City Daily, Observatore Romano,
said in commenting on the coro
nation of Queen Elizabeth II. The
paper recalled that the crown used
is that of the sainted Catholic
King Edward the Confessor.
C. J. VARKEY, a former Educa
tion Minister in the Madras State
cabinet and one of South India’s
most noted Catholic educators,
died June 1 at the age of 62.
BISHOP LORENZO BIANCHl
of Hong Kong confirmed 450 peo
ple at the Cathedral of the Immac
ulate Conception in Hong Kong.
He was assisted in conferring the
Sacrament by Bishop Joeph Yuen,
exited Bishop of Chumatien, Hon
an Province.
MRS. KOTARO TANAKA, wife
of the Chief Justice of the Japa
nese Supreme Court, is the editor-
in-chief of a new illustrated
monthly magazine for children.
Both Justice and Mrs. Tanaka are
converts to the Catholic Church.
JOAN HAMMOND, Australian
operatic soprano and top-flight
golfer, was received into the Cath
olic Church at Dublin, Ireland.
May 26.