Newspaper Page Text
Official
Newspaper For
The Diocese Of
.Savannah
Vol. £3, No. 9.
PUBLISHED BY THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN'S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
MONROE, GEORGIA, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 1957
Official
Newspaper For
The Diocese Of
Atlanta
10c Per Copy — S3 a Year
Supplementary Fund
Campaign For Atlanta
BIS: OP HYLAND ASKS PRAYERS, SUPPORT FOR
GREATER GLORY OF GOD; SALVATION OF SOULS
ATLANTA—On Sunday, September' 29th, the Diocese of Atlanta
launches a supplementary campaign to the fund raising drive of
fifteen, months ago.
Ie a letter to be read in all churches of the Diocese, His Ex
cellency The Most Rev. Francis E. Hyland, Bishop of Atlanta, requests
from < their prayers and whole
hearted cooperation in this fund
raising drive “for the greater
glory of God, for the salvation of
Souls. : r the exaltation of Holy
Mother Church in this area of
of our beloved Southland.”
His Excellency calls attention
to the fact that the “faithful of
the recently established Diocese
of Atlanta pledged the magnifi
cent ec re of $1,480,074.” He cau
tions however, “As of August
25th. Sx; 4,129 had been collected
on these pledges. In other words,
although 60% of the-time for the
payment of the pledges has elaps
ed, on:" 43% of the pledges have
been redeemed. Hence, the
evident need of this supple
mentary campaign.”
Bis Hyland’s Letter contin
ues :
“In hv letter of last Sunday
I made mention of the important
projects of our first diocesan high,
school, soon to be under construc
tion, and the mission chapels for
Austel. and Thomaston, both of
which ere hope will be completed
for Christmas. I mentioned also
the heavy financial burden of
educating our candidates for the
priesthood and the far heavier
financial burden of supporting our
orphanage for boys located in
Washington. In connection with
these necessary diocesan works, I
do not by any means use lightly
the expression “heavy financial
burden”. Let me give you an ex
ample. Our annual collection for
the support of St. Joseph’s Home,
taken up on the Feast of Christ
mas, amounted last year to
$10,OOP. Yet, over and above the
contributions of the parents of
the beys, it costs our diocese
$30,0GG annually to operate St.
Joseph’s Home. In other words,
each year I must find $20,000
somewhere to keep this institu
tion in existence.”
“Our fund raising drive was
conducted fifteen months ago. I
think I owe the people of the
Diocese of Atlanta an account of
my stewardship over this period
of time. Let me report, first of all,
that before leaving Savannah for
my installation as the first Bishop
of Atlanta I made final payment
in the amount of $120,000 on the
debt which had long burdened
the former Diocese of Savannah-
Atlanta. This means that the
venerable Diocese of Savannah
continued its existence and our
own Diocese of Atlanta came into
being without a penny of Dio
cesan debt. Several months ago
we purchased the 25 acres site
for our first diocesan high school
at a ccst of $93,000. In addition
we have paid arehitectui'al fees
as they have become due.”
“Since the erection of our
diocese on November 8th last a
convent has been completed for
the parish of the Immaculate
Conception, Atlanta, and a The
ory for the parish in Toccoa; and I
have had the happiness of dedi
cating the new Melchite church
in Atlanta and the mission chapel
of St. Anna in Monroe. A week
or so ago the magnificent convent
and school of the Passionist Fa
thers of the parish of St. Paul
of the Cross opened their doors.
The new church of the parish of
the Assumption is nearing com
pletion, as is also the church—•
auditorium building of St. Jos
eph’s parish in Marietta. The mis
sion areas of Cedartown. and Car
rollton have been elevated to the
status of a canonical parish. The
important work of ministering to
the spiritual care of the Catholic
young men and women attending
colleges in the area of our diocese
has been entrusted to the Friars
Minor (Franciscan Fathers) of the
Holy Name Province.”
I mention the above projects
not because they are necessarily
beneficiaries of our fund raising
drive—the majority of them are
not—but as an indication of the
'“considerable progress” of the
Church in the Diocese of Atlanta
which I predicted on the occasion
of my installation.
Confident of the ultimate suc
cess of our drive which will be
achieved by the continued gener
osity and sacrifices of our people,
please God, this time next year
we shall gaze with pride on the
diocesan high school of St. Pius
X. the new mission chapels in
Austell arid Thomaston—and I
hope two other mission chapels in
places yet to be determined; the
new parish of the Immaculate
Heart of Mary in the Briarcliff
Road area of DeKalb County and
a succursal chapel of St. An
thony’s parish in the Ben Hill
section of Atlanta.”
The supplementary fund cam
paign, as the original campaign
of. fifteen months ago, is under
the direction of Thomas R. Finn
and Associates of Kansas City.
Richard Reid
Honored By
Press Institute
NEW YORK (NC) — Richard
Reid, editor of the Catholic News,
newspaper for the Archdiocese of
New York, was honored by the
Catholic Institute of the Press at
a reception at the Hotel Shelton
here.
He was awarded a special ci
tation in recognition of his out-
(Continued on Page Three)
DIOCESE OF
ATLANTA
r AD JESUM PER MARIA.W
CLERGY
ASSIGNMENTS
Rev. Walter J. Donovan
from administrator to pastor of
the parish of St. Joseph, Athens.
Rev. Joseph F. Ware from Ad
ministrator to pastor of the par
ish of the Sacred Heart, Mil-
ledgeville.
Rev. R. Donald Kiernan from
the charge of the Mission of St.
Anna, Monroe, to pastor of the
newly established parish of St.
Bernadette, Cedartown, com
prising the counties of Polk, Ha
ralson and Carroll, with tempo
rary residence at the mission of
Our Lady of Perpetual Help,
Carrollton.
Rev. James L. Harrison from
assistant pastor of the Cathedral
of Christ the King to the charge
of the Mission of St. Anna, Mon
roe. with residence at St. Jo
seph’s parish, Athens.
Rev. Joseph J. Beltran from
assistant pastor of the parish of
St. Thomas More, Decatur, to as
sistant pastor of the parish of St.
John the Evangelist, Hapeville.
Rev. Joseph Drohan from as
sistant pastor of the parish of St.
John the Evangelist, Hapeville, to
assistant pastor of the parish of
St. Thomas More, Decatur.
Rev. Dale Freeman, from as
sistant pastor pro tem of St.
Anthony’s parish, Atlanta, to as
sistant pastor of the Cathedral of
Christ the King.
Rev. Daniel McCormick from
assistant pastor pro tem of the
parish of St. Thomas More, De
catur, to assistant pastor of the
parish of St. Anthony’s, Atlanta.
New Parish
In Cedartown
CEDARTOWN — The Most
Rev. Francis E. Hyland, D.D./J.
C.D., has announced the eleva
tion of the Mission of St. Berna
dette, Cedartown, to the status
of q canonical parish and appoint
ed the Rev. R. Donald Kiernan
to be the first pastor of the par
ish.
The new parish comprises the
counties of Polk, Haralson and
Carroll. In this area there are
approximately 250 Catholic peo
ple; and, besides the former mis
sion chapel of St. Bernadette,
which now becomes a parish
church, ther is the mission chapel
of Our Lady of Perpetual Help
in Carrollton. Adjacent to the
chapel in Carrollton is a parish
hall in which Father Kiernan
will soon take up residence.
For some years past the former
mission chapel of St. Bernadette,
Cedartown, has been in the care
of the Redemptionist Fathers of
Dalton and the Catholics of the
Carrollton area have been in the
charge of the Marist Fathers of
J the parish of St. Joseph, Marietta.
Savannah Launches Ccmpaign
"THIS IS OUR CHURCH
THIS IS OUR FAITH"
bishop McDonough reminds of duty of *
BRINGING CHURCH TO ALL PARTS OF DIOCESE
SAVANNAH—“THIS IS OUR CHURCH —THIS IS OUR
FAITH.” With these words His Excellency, The Most Rev. Thomas
J. McDonough, Auxiliary-Bishop of Savannah, keynotes the Savan
nah Diocese’s Supplementary Fund Campaign.
In a letter to be read at all Mass
es on Sunday, September 29th,
His Excellency states that “Our
Divine Master has eminently bles
sed the work of our Catholic fore
bearers in Georgia. The Truly
apostolic inheritance which they
have literally placed in our hands,
at such a tremendous sacrifice,
cannot be taken for granted. We
have a duty to emulate their sac
rifices; we have a commission to
bring Him, the Savior of All Man
kind, even into the most remote
sections of South Georgia. A de
voted self-sacrificing laity, guided
by the love which placed Christ on
the cross, must be the right arm
of Bishops and priests.
Bishop McDonough’s letter will
formally launch a campaign
which will contact new parishion
ers and ask them to participate
in the fund campaign. Also, an ef
fort will be made to bring delin
quent pledges up to date. This
campaign, as the one fifteen
months ago, will be under the di
rection of Thomas R. Finn and
Associates of Kansas City.
The Bishop’s letter continues;
“In the divine economy of the
Church, her missionary character
has been paramount. The stupen
dous tasks accomplished by a
few, in the most abandoned sec
tions of the world, do not fail to
make Us feel proud of our faith.
The examples of martyrs, often
times make us conscious of our
own inadequacies. The true
Church is God—and we are child
ren of God. When the Church re
joices we rejoice; when the
Church is sad we are sad.
“But our Church has her foun
tain spring in the blood of the
cross—and the sacrifice and love
of God find their truest expres
sion in the sacrifice and love of
the faithful. We cannot be Cath
olics without participating in the
universality of the Church. We
cannot be Catholics unless we
give, to God the greatest measure
of our love and sacrifice.”
“A little over a year ago, the
priests and the faithful, under
the leadership of the Most Rev
erend Bishop, concluded one of
the most successful fund-raising
campaigns, in the already distin
guished history of this Diocese.
The money, collected from this
campaign, was to serve the needs
of the Diocese and the needs of
the Parishes. Evidently the plan
of the campaign was well organ
ized because of the goals realized.
Obviously, then, the joy of this
victorious campaign was not only
proclaimed all over the South
land. Throughout the United
States, Georgia was the cynosure
of all eyes; and people then began
to tell about the wonderful Cath
olic growth in this state. Needless
to say, when I learned of the suc
cess of this campaign, shortly af
ter I arrived in Georgia. I was
most heartened and encouraged
in my desire to carry on the work
of our Church. There are so many
areas who look to us for support;
there are so many communities
who beg us for Churches; there
are so many cities who want
priests. The work to be done for
Christ is well-defined. But un
less we can depend upon the
spiritual and material help of all
we will be greatly delayed, no
matter how willing the workers,
and heroic the cause. We go to
you, our devoted laity; to you
who have the Holy Sacrifice of
the Mass—the comforts of our
Church. We raise our voice of
appeal and beg you, like a beggar
for Christ, to share willingly, sac-
rificially, yes lovingly, in bring
ing your faith to others who cry
out to God in this vale of dark
ness. Can we refuse to hear them?
God did not refuse your cry for
help. Can we turn our back and
not even give them a little of our
material comforts? Christ fed the
multitude in the desert and ther
promised them the bread of eter
nal life. Can we say that charity
begins at home when we know
that the charity of Christ is no
defined by boundaries but em
braces the whole universe.”
“The success of the diocesan
development campaign was a ver
itable boom to all Catholics in
the State of Georgia. We became
more intimately aware of our
Diocese, which prompted us to
live a full Catholic life. We be
came apprised of the Catholic
way of life outside our own par
ticular parish. We were told
about the link of authority be
tween bishop and priest and
faithful. We became sharers in
the work of our priest and we
comprehended more intelligently
the meaning of Catholic action.
In other words, we began to think
with the Church in her every fa
cet of spiritual and material ad
ministration.”
“Every campaign reaches a
point where we must take an ac
count, or render an inventory. To
date, the payment of pledges in
many parishes is exceptional,
while in others not as good as
anticipated. Even in our own per
sonal affairs it becomes neces
sary, from time to time, to be
come more realistic in our re
sponsibilities. To those who hav
been prompt in the payment o
pledges, we reiterate to you ou
deepest gratitude and a continue
promise of prayer. To those wh
have been delinquent for on
reason or the other, we cordial!
request you, to begin today t
(Continued on Page Two)