Newspaper Page Text
Official
Newspaper For
The Diocese Of
Savannah - Atlanta
Vol. XXXVI, No. 10.
PUBLISHED BY THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN'S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
MONROE, GEORGIA, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 15, 1955.
“To Bring About
a Friendlier
Feeling Among
Neighbors Irre
spective of Creed”
10c Per Copy —- $3 a Year
oavemr
dddit
ion
Fortieth Annual Laymen's Association Convention
In Conjunction With
Ninth Regional Congress CCD
HOSTS TO GATHERING
MOST REV. GERALD P. O'HARA MOST. REV. FRANCIS E. HYLAND
CONVENTION AND CONGRESS OCTOBER 21, 22, 23
Register now for the 40th An
nual Convention of our Laymen’s
Association, which will be held
October 21, 22, 23 at the Gen
eral Oglethorpe Hotel, Savannah
in conjunction with the 9 th
Regional Congress of the Con
fraternity of Christian Doctrine.
A Registration Blank for the
convenience of all will be found
on Page 2 of this issue of THE
BULLETIN. Long since, those,
who preceded us as officers and
members of our world-acclaimed
organization, through personal
sacrifice, have dissipated bigotry
and intolerance within our State
and have made Georgia a friend
lier area, irrespective of credal
differences. Out of this soil of
Good-will, which has been fur
rowed by our Catholic Laymen’s
Association of Georgia, there
has come a more ready accept
ance to evaluate the age-old doc
trines of our Church and to listen
to the message of hope, which
these doctrines offer to our
stricken world.
Are we, as laymen and lay-
women in Georgia, prepared to
carry on the splendid traditions
of those, who have gone before
us? It is no longer a question of
acting together “to bring about
a friendlier feeling among neigh
bors, irrespective of creed.” This
has been done and the older
members of our association can
recount with pardonable pride
their zeal, devotion and sacrifice,
which created this friendlier
feeling.
We are living in a time of
crisis, not only at home in these
United States but more so,
abroad, where there is pernici
ous thinking, threatening to in
filtrate our national life. Down
through the ages, history shows
that our Church has ever been
the great proponent of man’s in
herent dignity and the surest
guarantee of his liberty and
freedom. Never has there been
a greater need for our Church;
never a greater opportunity in our
State to gain a ready audience
to listen to her saving message.
But how, to reach this audience,
is the question. Certainly, our
priests, ever willing to spend
themselves in the cause of Christ,
are not equal to the opportunities
at hand. The answer rests with,
the laity of our Diocese.
The,theme of the Congress and
Convention,—“A Fuller Knowl
edge of Christ in a Region Devot
ed to Christ,”—should prompt
each of us to make whatever
sacrifices are necessary to attend
fully on the Program of October
21, 22, and 23. Reflecting on this
Program, copy of which is car
ried in this issue, indicates at a
glance many diversified tech
niques, whereby the laity might
widen the scope of the priest’s
work. In the words of His Holi
ness, Pope St. Pius X, the Con
gress feature of our Annual Con
vention will point the way to
achieve: “In every parish laymen
virtuous, well-instructed, deter
mined and apostolic . . .” More
and more developments in our
contemporary word reflect the
anxiety of this saintly pontiff,
an anxiety born of the ignorance
of divine things, which was so
widespread in his day. The pres
ent Holy Father, Pope Pius XII,
reiterates this nnxiety in the
statement that the Church has
enemies from without but that
there is also a devitalizing ele
ment within the Church, - ig
norance of religion. Today with
irreligion and corruption on the
march, there is a most pressing
need for the Apostolate of the
Laity. The priest, who is forced
to do all the work himself, be
cause of an unresponsive laity,
will, to the great detriment of
souls, find much work undone.
Alone' the clergy cannot win
the battle against ignorance and
evil; together, clergy and laity
can carry the Church forward,
“restoring all things in Christ,”
and thus weaken, if* not destroy
the secularistic forces, which are
a threat, not only the well-being
of the. individual but of the Na
tion as well.
Fortunate, then, are we of the
Catholic Laymen’s Association of
Georgia that our Bishop arrang
ed that' our Fortieth Annual Con
vention be held jointly with the
Ninth Regional Congress of the
'Confraternity of Christian Doc
trine. The slogan of our Associa
tion, - “To Bring About a Friend-
lie r Feeling Among Neigh
bor, Irrespective of Creed,
takes on a greater significance
in the light of our Congress and
Convention Theme, “A Fuller
Knowledge of Christ in a Region
Devoted to Christ.” The signific
ance will be in evidence at the
General Oglethorpe Hotel, Sav
annah, Friday* Saturday and
Sunday, October 21, 22, and 23.
REGISTER NOW, so that you
will be on hand as new vistas
are opened up to the Catholic
Laymen’s Association of Geor
gia.