Newspaper Page Text
Published by the
Catholic Lay
men's Association
of Georgia
Bnlltlin
"To Bring About
a Friendlier
Feeling Among
Neighbors Irre
spective of Creed"
Vol. XXXV No. 6
TWENTY-EIGHT PAGES
AUGUSTA, GEORGIA, JUNE 26, 1954
ISSUED MONTHLY—$3.00 A YEAR
Letter From Archbisftop O'Hara
Vatican City, 1 June, 1954
To His Excellency, Most Rev. Francis E. Hyland; to the Reverend
Clergy and Religious and to the Devoted Laity of the Diocese
of Savannah-Atlanta.
On the occasion of the Silver Jubilee of my consecration as a
bishop, ail of you were extremely good to me. I have been deeply
moved by the multitude of letters and telegrams that I received from
you on that occasion, giving me your felicitations and good wishes in
such generous measures.
To all of you I am profoundly grateful. Good Bishop Hyland, my
beloved priests, religious and laity, the school children, the orphans,
the patients in our various institutions, officers and members of
national, diocesan, parochial and interparochial societies, united in
presenting me with such a manifestation of good will and loyalty as
to overwhelm me completely and to leave me lost for words that
would fully express all the gratitude that is in my heart from so
much kindness and real charity in my regard.
In all this I have seen not so much a demonstration of devotion
to me personally as a tribute to the office which all too unworthily
I hold.
I can only say that during the days I spent in Lourdes prior to
the Jubilee it was my frequent prayer before Our Lady’s Grotto that
She obtain for you a multitude of exceptional and lasting heavenly
graces and blessings. This prayer has been repeated often in Rome,
especially when I offered up the Jubilee Mass at the Tomb of the
Prince of the Apostoles in St. Peter’s, Vatican City.
Above all, I am grateful beyond words for the magnificent
Spiritual Bouquet that I received from you* for my Silver Jubilee.
These Masses, prayers and devotions of many kinds and in great
number have been a great consolation to me and will help me in my
work in the future. May the Giver of all good gifts richly reward
all of you for what you have done for me.
It was my intention to write to each of you individually and
personally to tell you how much I appreciated so much goodness
of heart in my regard. In fact I had begun to write such letters.
To my great regret, however, I find that to complete so pleasant a task
would be practically impossible in view of my present engagements
and those that I foresee for the immediate future. With reluctance
I am compelled to write this general letter, begging each of you,
dearly beloved in Christ, to consider it as a personal letter addressed
to each individually. It is .the best that I can do under the circum
stances.
Let me add that when I had the honor of representing the Diocese
at the Canoniaztion of St. Pius X, I commended all of you to the
protection and intercession of this, the latest Saint in the Church’s
calendar. In this connection it is good to remember that next Satur
day and Sunday, June 12th and lath'; the Marist Proto-Martyr, Blessed
Aloysius Mary Chanel, is to be raised to the supreme honors of the
altar by Our Holy Father, Pope Pius XII. All of us join in con
gratulating the Marist Fathers in Georgia on this glorious occasion.
In the audience that was granted to all the bishops who came
to Rome for the Canoniaztion of St. Pius X, his saintly successor,
PIUS XII, empowered us to give His Apostolic Benediction to the
flocks entrusted to our care that it may he at all, as His Holiness
said, a pledge of everlasting blessings.
Wi h affectionate best wishes, and assuring you over and over
again of my undying gratitude for your immense charity towards
me, I r main, dearly beloved in Christ,
Yours, devotedly in Our Lord,
Archbishop Moves to London
As British-Apostolic Delegate;
CIoserTie With Vatican Possible
VATICAN CITY (Radio, NC)—
Archbishop Gerald P. O’Hara,
Bishop of Savannah-Atlanta, has
been named Apostolic Delegate to
Great Britain, thus receiving his
third major diplomatic assignment
from the Holy See.
Archbishop O’Hara succeeds to
the post left vacant by the transfer
last November of Archbishop Wil
liam Godfrey from the apostolic
delegation in London to the arch
bishopric of Liverpool.
Possibility of closer and stronger
ties between Great Britain and the
Vatican was seen in London by
England’s most influential daily
newspaper following the appoint
ment of an American prelate as
Apostolic Delegate in London.
Said the London Times: “The ap
pointment of other than an Eng
lishman is regarded as a step to
ward the establishment of a diplo
matic post balancing the presence
of a British Minister in Vatican
City.”
The Universe, Catholic weekly
published^ in London, commented
meanwhilexthat “if any moves are
going on behind the scenes to raise
the Apostolic Delegation to diplo
matic status, the appointment of
Archbishop O’Hara, an American,
Archbishop,, Bishop of Savannah-Atlanta.
Archbishop's Mass
Attended by Iron
Curtain Priests
VATICAN CITY, (Radio, NC)—
Priests representing all Iron Cur
tain countries were present at a
Mass celebrated by Archbishop
Gerald P. O’Hara, Papal Nuncio to
Ireland and former regent of the
nunciature to Rumania, in the
Borghese chapel of the St. Mary
Major basilica He offered the
Mass before the famous painting
of Our Lady, Salvation of the Peo
ple of Rome.
After the Mass, Archbishop
O’Hara reminded those present
that all their sacrifices will not be
in vain, for the Sorrowful Mother
would beseech here Divine Soft to
shorten the calvary of those suf
fering.
filled, in the eyes of Whitehall,
many of the duties of an accredited
diplomat. As such he was certain
ly held by the diplomats of Latin
American countries accustomed to
the tradition of having the Holy
See’s representative as the doyen
of their corps. Not only justice, but
practical goodwill remain in the
ante-room- until the British gov
ernment repairs the situation.”
The Catholic Times, another
weekly published in London, de
clared that “whether the appoint
ment of a Nunico in London pre
cludes a change in the status of the
delegation we do not know.” How
ever, it added, “whatever diplo
matic status may come will not af?
feet the issue as regards the Cath
olics of Britain. They will see the
Delegate as the Pope’s envoy and
as such will give him loyalty and
an affectionate welcome.
ARCHBISHOP O’HARA
is a step in the right direction.”
(Unlike a papal nuncio, who is
a fully accredited diplomat from
the Vatican to a civil government,
an apostolic delegate has no regu
lar diplomatic status, his duties be
ing purely ecclesiastical.)
“The difficulty of a British sub
ject holding diplomatic rank in
this country is obvious,” the Uni
verse said. *An American not only
disposes of that, but has the ad
vantage of a nationality that will,
perhaps better than most, com
mend itself to the government. It
is not usual for a nuncio to step
down in rank. There are grounds,
therefore, for interpreting Arch
bishop O’Hara’s appointment as an
arrangement to facilitate a change
of status in the Holy See’s repre
sentation here.”
The Universe stated that “for
some decades, the Holy See has
been faced with the incongruent
situation of having a British envoy
accredited to her while she is
denied the same facilities.”
“This state of affairs,” the Cath
olic weekly added, “has been even
more anomalous from the fact that
though deprived of the rank (of
Nuncio), Archbishop Godfrey ful
Savanrsah Radio
Show Marks Its
18th Anniversary
SAVANNAH, Ga. — Eighteen
years ago on May 30th the Most
Rev. Gerald P. O’Hara introduced
the Savannah Catholic Radio Pro
gram over Radio Station WTOC.
In his address on the 18th anni
versary program, the Very Rev
erend Robert Brennan, O.S.B. said
the reason behind the program
over the years was “In a Christ-
i like spirit and with 'grateful af
fection to teach and to preach the
Word of God. He further stated:
“In the talks which have been
presented, the different speakers
including Bishop, Priests, Laymen
and Laywomen have endeavored to
explain and to clarify the Catholic
church’s attitude on various and
diverse questions in the fields of
human experience and to inculate
a greater love of and deeper re
spect for our holy religion in the
hearts and minds of those who are
of the household of the faith. The
spirit of the broadcasts is charac
terized by the spirit of charity and
fraternal love for all men, based
upon the love of God, Our Father
in heaven. The object of the
broadcasts is to speak the truth as
God gives us light to see the
truth, to explain to those who are
interested, the doctrines and dog
mas of the Catholic faith and in
the works of St. Paul “to give a
reason for the faith that is in
us."
Archbishop Levame
Named New Nuncio
To Succeed O'Hara
VATICAN CITY (Radio, NC)—
Archbishop Albert Levame. a vet
eran Vatican diplomat who has
been serving as Papal Internuncio
to Egypt since 1949, has been ap
pointed Papal Nuncio to Ireland,
it was announced here.
He succeeds Archbishop Gerald
P. O’Hara, Bishop of Savannah-
Atlanta. who was x-ecently named
Apostolic Delegate to Great Britain
after having served as Nuncio in
Dublin since November, 1951.
Archbishop Levame, Tiular of
CJiersonesus; is a native of the
principality of Monaco. He was
born in 1881, ordained in 1905, and
raised to the episcopacy in 1933. He
was made Papal Nuncio to Gaute-
mala in 1934 and became Papal
Nuncio to Uruguay in 1939. In
1949, he was named Papal Inter
nuncio to Egypt to succeed the late
Archbishop Arthur Hughes who
died unexpectedly while on a vaca
tion in his native England.
During his service in Cairo,
Archbishop Levame was credited
with doing much to cement cordial
relations between the Catholic and
other communities in Egypt. In
1950 he made a 1,300-mile tour of
the missions and schools in the
Asswan and Luxor areas of Upper
Egypt during which he distributed
gifts of galabyas, or robes, donated
by His Holiness Pope Pius XII to
needy peasant childx'en and was
given high honors by civil authori
ties.
Announcement of Archbishop
Levame’s new appointment came
some hours .after Archbishop
O’Hara had left Rome by plane to
l-eturn to Dublin prior to going to
London to take up his duties as
Apostolic Delegate there. Arch
bishop O’Hara said that no exact
dale has beer, set for his arrival
in the British capital.
SHRINE OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION—Pictured above is the sanctuary of the newly re
modeled Immaculate Conception Church, Atlanta. More than $130,000 was spent on the historic
Atlanta church. Rt. Rev. Msgr. James J. Gi'ady is pastor of the parish.—(Van Bruen Colley).
Savannah Retreat
Dates Announced
SAVANNAH, Ga.—The Catholic
Lumen’s Association will hold a
week-end retreat at Camp Villa
Marie fi'om July 30th to August
1st. The Catholic men in this
area of the state are coi'dially
invited to attend either the entire
retreat or some part of it.
The cuiTent' officers of the Sa
vannah Retreat League are: Mr.
Frank A. Winders, president; Mr.
Eugene G. Butler, first vice presi
dent; Mr. John M. Brennan, second
vice pi'esident; and Mr. Richard J.
Powers, third vice president; Mr.
John Ciucevich, secretary.
The Retreat will be conducted
by the Rev. Carmen J. Benantl,
S. J., pastor of St. Joseph’s, Macos
Ga.