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SEPTEMBER 3, 1955. THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA SEVENTEEN Gum-chewing is considered as modernly American as big league baseball, but many anci ent peoples chewed sticky sub stances, the National Geogra phic Society informs us. Archeo logists have found hardened gum among cavemen’s relics in the American Southwest. Herodotus describes the use of betel cen turies before the Christian era. Cola chewing by African natives was first reported in the 12th century, Andean porters have chewed the dried leaves of South America’s coca shrub for cen turies, and early explorers found North American Indians chew ing tobacco leaves. Twenty-four nurses were gra duated Aug. 23 at Mercy Hos pital, Charlotte, N. C. MORSE and McELVEEN DRUGGISTS Highland and Greenwood Avenues Atlanta, Georgia ANDERSON’S DRUG STORE 116 SOUTH MAIN ST. CAlhoun 2101-2102 - SCHOOL SUPPLIES - College Park, Ga, Priest Who Was There Denies 1,580 Churches Open in Russia Father Bissomlette served for two years as Catholic chaplain to the foreign colony in Moscow un til his sudden expulsion by the Kremlin earlier this year. During his stay in Russia he traveled over large areas of the Soviet Union. DeKalb Office Equipment Company EV. 3661 — 232 Atlanta Ave. DECATUR, GA. Typewriters, Adding Ma chines, Office Furniture, Office Supplies, Repairs By Father Georges Bissonnelle, A.A. (Written for N.C.W.C. News Service) The statement of a U.S. Bap tist clergyman that there aire 1,500 Catholic churches open for worship in Soviet Russia is ut terly unrealistic. The assertion was made, ac cording to widely circulated newspaper reports by Dr. Theo dore Adams of Richmond Va., president of the Baptist World Alliance, after completing a 'two- weeks visit to the Soviet Union. The figures cited by Dr. Adams are those repeatedly given to foreigners by Intourist, the Sov iet tourist agency. The Intourist people have a stock answer ready for all questions. However, the answers do not necessarily bear any relation to reality. Outside of the Baltic states, taken over by the Soviets dur ing World War II, I know of on ly four Catholic churches in the Soviet Union open for worship and served by a priest. They are the Church of St. Louis of France in Moscow, served by Father Josef Butorovich Adamovich, and churches in Leningrad, Kishinev (the capital of Molda via) and Tbilisi (Georgia). There are no reliable figures available on the number Of Cath olic churches in the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. I am not too familiar with the Protestant situation in Russia. But I aril inclined to disbelieve the figure of “800 Lutheran churches open to the people” cited by Dr. Adams. It appears as inflated as the figure of 1,500 Catholic churches open for wor ship. Dr. Adams seems to have ac cepted at face value the figures given him by the Russian In tourist agency, without making any ' special efforts to verify them. TELLS OF JAPAN’S ‘SECRET CHRISTIANS-DESCENDANTS OF j XAVIER’S CONVERTS IN 1500’s ! THELMA CLENNEY S PLANTATION CAFETERIA 211 E. PONCE DE LEON — DECATUR MONDAY THRU FRIDAY Lunch 11:30 a. m. 'fill 2:00 p. m. Dinner 5:00 p. m. 'fill 8:00 p. m. SUNDAY Dinner 11:30 a. m. 'fill 2:30 p. m. SCHOOL FOR EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN HANOVER, Mass., (NC) — A new dormitory will be built to increase facilities for exception al children at St. Coleta’s School, Archbishop Richard J. Cushing of Boston announced during special ceremonies at the school. The new building, which will provide living quarters for 200 additional children, will be com pleted within the next two years, the Archbishop said. Its cost is estimated at $500,000. The school, which is pioneer ing in modern methods of help ing exceptional children, is one of the Archbishop’s favorite projects, and he indicated in a speech last year that it is his wish to be buried on the grounds of the school. The announcement was made during ceremonies observing the anniversary of the consecration of the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels at Assisi, in which is enshrined the small chapel of the Portiuncula, where St. Fran cis of Assisi and his followers be gan their mission. The chapel on the grounds of St., Coletta’s school is a replica of this Fran ciscan shrine, and the stones were imported from Assisi. SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 29 — (NC)—A slight, gray-haired pro fessor from Nagoya, Japan, strode down the liner President Wilson’s gangplank with the unprofessorial vigor of a man with a story to tell. One of the strange tales of mod ern Christendom—of Japan’s 20,- 000 “secret Christians” — came from the man who has put half a lifetime into studying these peo ple who have clung to the tattered remnants of a faith hidden for 400 years. Prof. Paul Tagita, thanks to an invitation from Maryknoll’s Bish op Raymond A. Lane, will be tell ing his story in U. S. lecture and university halls for the next year or so. He outlined some of the highlights in an interview here. “I’ve been doing research, gain ing the confidence of these people, off and on since I left college 30 years ago,” he said. “The more I learn, the more remarkable I find it.” “These people” are the descend ants of the Japanese to whom. St. Francis Xavier and his compan ions brought Catholicism in the mid-16th century. Inhabitants of Japan’s back country, mainly illiterate, they have kept only rudiments of the teachings and prayers their an cestors learned. Elements of Christian doctrine have long since been mixed with Buddhism, Shin toism, ancestor worship. The prayers they say are often a strange syllabic conglomeration of Latin, Portuguese from the origi nal missioners, and local dialect. They could not now be caJed ac- REPUBLIC STEEL CO., BERGER DIV. Steel Shelving and Lockers Folding Chairs and Banquet Tables Geo. E. Kinney Bin Co., Inc. 727 PONCE DE LEON PL.. N. E. AT 3891 ATLANTA, GA. NEWSOME’S SHOES 117 Clairmont Avenue EV 1411 Decatur, Ga. Poll-PSSrol 7)sh<Ss( . K TLV tual Catholics. “This much is not surprising,* the professor declared. "But con sider that for 230 of these year:; not one of these primitive Chris tians saw a single priest, or Brother, or nun. And it was worth immedate death during most of this period to be caught in any Christian act.” Once 40,000 strong, the “secret Christians” have seen half their number won back to full member ship in the Faith. The remainder, grown suspicious of missionaries and difficult to divest of their twisted beliefs, occupy two areas ■—the island of Ikitsuki, of tho southwest end of Honshu, and Kurusaki, some 15 miles from Nagasaki. A Japanese priest is working among each group, but the work is slow, Professor Tagita said. “They cannot be pushed, and resent it if a priest uses the ap proach that their beliefs are ad wrong, something to be thrown away,” he explained. “In some ways they are a more- difficult case than pagans. Secrecy is such an ingrained part of their religion the y cannot quickly grasp the idea of bringing their faith into the open, of attending Mass and other ceremonies in public. It’s an apostolate that dc~ 'mands a priest who understand .; psychology,, and above all one who has the confidence of the people.” Mr. Tagita is one of the few “outsiders” who enjoys the doni'- dence of these remarkable 20,000. Slowly, using utmost tact, he ha ; earned a welcome in their farm villages and even in their homes. RECEPTION AT SACRED HEART BELMONT — Rev. Joseph A. Tobin, Prior of Belmont Abbey Nullius here, officiated in the absence of Abbot Vincent Tay lor, O.S.B. at the reception of .six young ladies on Aug. 15 and the profession of Vows on Tues day, Aug 16. Among the distinguished guests present for the occasion were His Excellency, Bishop Vincent S. Waters, Bishop of Raleigh; Rt. Rev. John ,P. Manley of Saint Patrick’s Parish in Charlotte; Rev. Arnold Francis Brown, O.F.M. of Callicoon, N. Y.; and Rev. Thomas Kieran of Raleigh, N.C. Hosts of friends and relatives filled and chapel at Sacred Heart Convent for the ceremonies. In a magnificent sermon for the newly professed Sisters Monsignor Manley brought out the fact that in the religious life one pledges herself by the threefold vows of poverty, chas tity, and obedience to sacrifice all in order to prove her love for God. Besides these'vows the Sis ter of Mercy also promises to serve the poor, sick, and ignor ant. The Belmont Community has schools, a Junior College, an Orphanage, and hospitals in this State; and also has Sisters sta tioned at Greenport, L. I., New York as well as in Guam, an Island in the Pacific. Five young ladies received the white veil of a novice, ten took final vows, and seven made their profession. LUBON F. HODGES & Si! General Merchandise -s 'Your Friendship Is Our Greatest Asset" FORT SCREVEN, GEORGIA JOSEPH S. ESPY INSURANCE THAT INSURES 104 EAST BAY STREET SAVANNAH, GEORGIA GARDEN FURNITURE, FLOWER BOXES, GARDEN TOOLS, TILE, ETC. BUILDING STONE, COLUMNS, STEPS. BUTTRESS. CAPS, WINDOW SILLS, ETC. Cut Art Stone Co 9> MAX E. KLEINSTEUBER, Prop. PLAIN AND ORNAMENTAL CAST STONE Telephone, Office 2-4623 Telephone, Res. S326 P. O. Box 1124 HU West 44th Street SAVANNAH. GEORGIA