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WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
OF THE DIOCESE OF
SAVANNAH
NIHIL SINE DEO
August Hosts Fourth Annual CYO Convention
Young people I D , . _ ,
from parishes throughout rho I A planning and hospitality
AUGUSTA - o
the
eighty - eight counties which
comprise the Savannah Dioce
will meet here for their an ‘ a ^
convention today and tome ow *
It is the first to be held' utside
of the See City. Hos for this
year’s gathering, - ield under
the auspices of " ae Most Rev
erend Thomas • McDonough, is
the Right R^erend Monsignor
Daniel J. pourke, V. F., pastor
of St. Mary’s - on - the - Hill
parish, Augusta, and Augusta
iery youth moderator.
committee, headed by the Rev.
Ralph E. Seikel, pastor of St.
Patrick’s parish, Augusta, and
moderator of Aquinas High
School will provide overnight
facilities for out of town C. Y. O.
delegates and members.
Registration will begin at
10:00 A. M. today in the parish
hall at St. Mary’s-on-the-Hill.
Convention proceedings will be
gin with Benediction of the Most
Blessed Sacrament, with Bishop
McDonough as celebrant.
The plenary session begins
at 2:00 P. M. with the Rev.
Herbert J. Wellmeier, Diocesan
Youth Moderator presiding.
Both Father Wellmeier and Fa
ther Seikel will deliver wel
coming addresses. Featured at
the plenary session will bq a
talent contest, with entries from
many of the parish C. Y. O.
Councils, and a choral pro
gram by the Aquina s High School
Glee Club.
Election of Officers for the
Vol. 43, No. 16
10c Per Copy — $3 A Year
SAVANNAH, GEORGIA, SATURDAY, JANUARY 5, 1963
FELICITATE PAPER
ON ITS FIRST EDITION
The first issue of “The Southern Cross” is highly privileged to print a
cablegratn received from Our Sovereign Pontiff, Pope John XXIII, through
Cardinal Cicognani, imparting His Papal Blessing. We urge you to continue
your prayers for the Vicar of Christ on Earth.
His Excellency, Archbishop Egidio Vagnozzi, Apostolic Delegate to the
United States, has graciously deigned to felicitate our new diocesan paper. We
are deeply grateful to His Excellency.
With such an auspicious beginning, we beg Almighty God to shower His
graces in abundance upon “The Southern Cross. 1 ’
bishop McDonough.
*****
Vatican City
Bishop AIcDonough
225 Abercorn St.
Savannah, Ga.
The Holy Father, whose pastoral heart is well aware of the importance
of the Catholic Press, was deeply gratified to learn of the forthcoming publication
of Savannah’s Diocesan Weekly, The Southern Cross. Fervently invoking copious
spiritual fruits for this praiseworthy undertaking, The Pontiff cordially imparts
to Your Excellency, the Editorial staff, contributors and readers, his special
apostolic benediction.
CARDINAL CICOGNANI.
*****
Washington, D. C.
Most Rev. Thomas J. McDonough,
Bishop of Savannah,
Savannah, Ga.
Please convey my warmest congratulations and prayerful best wishes to
all who were instrumental in the successful publication of the first issue of the
Diocesan Weekly t “The Southern Cross.” May the new weekly serve through
the years to come as a source of truth and inspiration to the faithful of the
Diocese of Savannah.
ARCHBISHOP VAGNOZZI,
Apostolic Delegate.
Using Jar As Chalice
Priests Liberated From
Cuba Offered Mass In Secret
MIAMI, Fla., (NC) - Three
priest - chaplains imprisoned
for 20 months in Red-ruled
Cuba said they had to offer
Mass secretly in prison, using
a broken glass jar as a chalice
and smuggled altar bread.
The priests, who were cap
tured by Castro forces during
the Bay of Pigs invasion in
April, 1961, arrived in south
Florida aboard the airlift that
brought more than 1,000 liber
ated invasion prisoners from
Cuba. The priests, all natives
of Spain formerly stationed in
Cuba, are Fathers Ismael de
Lugo, O.F.M. Cap., who was
wounded in the invasion, Tomas
Macho, S.J., and Father Segun-
do Lahera, S.P.
They said they offered Mass
daily in a swamp until their
capture within a week after the
abortive invasion. Cuban mili
tiamen confiscated their chali
ces, breviaries and Bibles be
fore imprisoning them with
some 200 other brigade
members in Havana’s Principe
prison, they said.
Father Macho said that Cu
ban women visiting the prison
brought altar breads concealed
in scapulars and shirt sleeves,
enabling the priests to dis
tribute Communion several
times to the prisoners. A small
bottle of wine, which was al
lowed for medicinal purposes,
was dispensed by a dropper so
that it could be conserved for
celebration of Mass whenever
possible. Confessions were
heard regularly.
Father Lugo, who gave the
invocation when President Ken
nedy addressed the invasion
brigade in Miami (Dec. 29),
said the prisoners lived under
inhuman conditions.
He urged prayers for the
Cubans who died in the invasion
attempt, assailed ■ Marxist-
Leninist philosophy, and then
asserted:
“We are not alone in this
fight. We have with us the peo
ple of Cuba, the exiles and the
President of the U. S. We pray
to God we can go to Cuba to
finish what we started to do on
April 17(1961).”
INDEX
MARRIAGES 2-A
HERE AND THERE 8-B
EDITORIALS 2-B
YOUTH SCOPE 2-A
OBITUARIES 6-B
CONFIRMATION LIST . 2-A
1962-63 year will take place
at the 4:00 P. M. session. All
C. Y. O. members may be
present at the balloting, but only
the official delegates of each
parish Council represented will
be entitled to vote. Offices to
be filled are President, Vice-
P res i dent, Secretary and
Treasurer.
Chairmen for four standing
committees will also be chosen
at this session. They will head
Physical, Cultural, Spiritual,
and Social activities on a Dio
cesan level.
No sessions are scheduled for
the evening, so that Con
ventioneers may attend basket
ball games which will pit the
teams of Augusta’s Richmond
Academy against Benedictine
Military Academy and St. Vin
cent’s Academy of Savannah;
and Aquinas High School against
Brunswick’s Glynn Academy.
Highlight of the evening for
many will be semi-formal
dances at St. Joseph’s, Fleming
Heights and Immaculate Con
ception, Augusta, beginning at
9:00 P. M.
At 9:00 A.M. on Sunday Bish
op McDonough will celebrate a
Low Pontifical Mass at St.
Mary’s - on - the - Hill, and will
deliver the sermon.
The Mass will be followed by
a Communion breakfast at which
the featured speaker will be the
Rev. William F. McDonough,
brother of Bishop McDonough.
Father McDonough is a priest
of the Archdiocese of Phila
delphia. A graduate of St. Jo
seph’s Preparatory School,
there he attended St. Charles
Borromeo Seminary and was
ordained on December 15,1945.
After filling parochial as-
Pope John Named
Man Of Year By
Editors Of Time
NEW YORK, - Pope John XXIII, 81-year-old head of the Roman
Catholic Church who launched a historic revolution for Christian
unity and embodied the longings of the entire human race for
peace, was named Man of the Year this week by the editors
of Time, The Weekly Newsmagazine. He is the first man of
religion to be so designated since Time established the tradition
in 1927.
In selecting for the 36th year
the man who “left an indelible
mark - for good or ill - on his
tory, “Time says that peasant-
born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli
“created history in a way that
few other men were able to do
in 1962.”
The past year, Time says,
“was a year of American reso
lution, Russian exploration, Eu
ropean unification, and Chinese
aggression. In a tense yet hope-
filled time, these were the
events that held the headlines
and caused a stir. But in the
eye of'history, 1962 may be
better recalled for an event that
took place physically in the
world’s most famed cathedral
but that had been gestating in
the hearts and minds of men for
decades. That was the beginning
of a revolution in Christianity,
in the ancient face whose 900
million adherents make it the
world’s largest religion. That
beginning was the work of the
Man of the Year Pope John
XXIII who, by convening the
Ecumenical Council called Va
tican II, set in motion ideas and
forces that will affect not only
Roman Catholics, not only
Christians, but the whole
world’s ever-expanding popula
tion long after Cuba is once
again free and India is free
of attack.”
By summoning the Ecu
menical Council to “renew”
the Catholic Church, Pope John
singlehandedly launched a revo
lution whose sweep and loftiness
caused it to outrank the secular
concerns of the year. Measured
even against such portentous
events as President Kennedy’s
bold blockade of Soviet arms
shipments to Cuba, Time says,
the turning point that Christ
ianity reached in 1962 is al
ready assured of a firm place
in history, that “mistress of
life” to which Pope John fre
quently refers. By launching a
reform whose goal is to make
the Catholic Church SINE
MACULA ET RUGA (without
spot or wrinkle), He set out
to adapt his church’s whole
life and stance to the revo
lutionary changes - in science,
economics, morals, politics -
that have swept the modern
world; to make it, in short,
more Catholic and less Roman.
He also vaulted the internal
concerns of Christianity with
persistent and eloquent pleas
for peace, which seemed to
articulate the longings of the
whole human race in a way
that the pious Khrushchev can
never seem to bring off.
As a consequence, says Time,
John XXIII is the most popular
of modern times - and perhaps
ever. He has demonstrated such
warmth, simplicity and charm
that he has won the hearts of
Catholics, Protestants and non-
Christians alike. His recent ill
ness reaised a tide of concern
around the world. “If we should
pray for anyone in the world
today,” says Protestant Theo
logian Paul Tillich, “we should
pray for Pope John. He is a good
man.”
Last week, Time says, Pope
John showed the qualities that
have made him prefer, among
all the impressive titles of
the Roman Pontiff, the simple
one of SERVUS SERVORUM
DEI - the servant of the ser
vants of God. After delivering
a Christmas message in which
he pleaded for Christian unity
and peace - “of all the earth's
treasures, the most precious
and most noteworthy” - he ad
dressed the 50 ambassadors
to the Holy See. He rejoiced at
the end of the Cuban crisis,
noting that his pleas for peace
v at that time “were not words
shouted into the wind but rather
touched minds and hearts. This
is a new chapter in the modern
world.” He asked support for
such international bodies as the
United Nations, and urged na
tions to join in a “noble con
test” to explore space and solve
the world’s great economic and
social problems.
He also referred to his ill
ness. To doctors and children at
Bambino Cesu, he said: “You
see, I am in perfect condition.
Oh, I am not yet ready to run
any races or enter in contests,
but in all I am feeling well.”
Nonetheless, Time notes, the
feeling persists in Rome that
he is still far from well, and
He himself has spoken fre
quently. in recent weeks of the
possibility of his imminent
death. Only last week he told the
cardinals: “Our humble life,
like the life of everyone, is in
the hands of God.” A fortnight
ago, at the closing of the Ecu
menical Council’s first session,
he was even more pointed. “One
year is a long time,” he said.
“I may not be here. If i am not,
there certainly will be another
Pope.”
Whoever the next Pope
may be, Time says, he will not
be able to ignore or forget
forces that the Pope has un
leashed. The importance of the
Council called by Him is far
greater than even the sum of its
accomplishments. On the one
hand, by the freedom of dis
cussion and the diversity of
views it revealed, it shattered
forever the Protestant view of
the Catholic Church as a mono
lithic and absolutist system. On
the other hand, it marked tacit
recognition by the Catholic
Church, for the first time, that
(Continued on Page 2-A)
Official
THE REV. WILLIAM DALY,
O.M.I. - Pastor St. Paul’s,
Douglas.
THE REV. TIMOTHY RYAN-
Assistant Pastor, St. A.nne’s,
Columbus.
THE REV. THADDEUS MI-
CHOTA - Assistant Pastor, St.
Joseph’s, Augusta.
JOHN XXIII
Rebuked For Lecture
BOSTON, (NC) - A lecture
on birth control methods was
given to four public employees
during their working hours in a
hall rented from a Catholic
church.
The executive responsible for
this action, which violates Mas
sachusetts law, has been
severely reprimanded, it was
disclosed during an executive
session of the Boston Redevel
opment Authority.
The lecture was given in the
parish hall of St. Richard’s
church in nearby Roxbury, by a
representative of the Planned
Parenthood Federation. Four
employees of the Redevelop
ment Authority attended it—two
men and two women who are
working to relocate families
displaced by a redevelopment
project in the area. The parish
hall is being rented by the au
thority as a temporary, local
office for the Washington Park
Project in Roxbury.
Walter Smart, manager of the
Washington Park Project, au
thorized the lecture. At the
executive session, he was re
primanded for setting policy
without authorization and for
taking action that could injure
or destroy the redevelopment
program. A promotion and sala
ry increase which had been ap
proved for him were rescinded.
signments at Allentown, Pa. and
Quakertown, Pa., he served for
three years as Secretary in the
Apostolic nunciature in Bel
grade, Yugoslavia from 1947 to
1950.
Following his return to the
Unites States, Father Mc
Donough resumed parochial ac
tivities at Glenside, Pa. and
Ardmore, Pa. He is presently
serving at Nativity Parish in
Philadelphia, and is District
Director of C. Y. O. activities
in the Archdiocese of Phila
delphia.
Medals emblematic of out
standing service will be award
ed to both C. Y. O. members
and Adult Advisors. The Youth
medal is the “Eagle and Cross”
award. Adult advisors cited will
receive the “Pro Deo etJuven-
tute” (For God and Youth)
medal. Convention proceedings
will come to a close with the
formal installation of newly
elected Diocesan officers and
an address by Bishop Mc
Donough.
Program Leaders
Rev. Herbert J. Wellmeier Rev. William F. McDonough
Rev. Ralph E. Seikel
Rt. Rev. Msgr. D. J. Bourke
URI Christmas Report
Branded False
A UPI wire service report
charging that “Jordanians stood
aghast as crowds of Christians
fought and cursed each other”
at the Catholic observance of
Christmas at Bethlehem has
been denied categorically by
Church officials.
The UPI report also stated
that Jordanian tourist officials
“said the scene was the re
sult of Roman Catholic autho
rities refusal to allow them to
make the necessary arrange
ments to insure an orderly
entry into the church.” (St.
Catherine’s adjoining the Ba
silica of the Holy Nativity)
Council
Opening Top
Story Of ’62
WASHINGTON, (NC) - Catho
lic newspaper editors have
overwhelmingly voted the bril
liant October 11 opening of the
Second Vatican Council the top
Catholic news story of 1962.
Second place in a poll of the
top ten stories was given to the
June 25 decision of the U. S.
Supreme Court on school pray
er. The court held voluntary
recitation in New York public
schools of a state-authorized,
non-sectarian prayer to be un
constitutional.
The other stories in the top
ten are:
3. The September 4 dese
gregation of Catholic schools in
New Orleans.
4. Announcement on June 25
of the Holy See’s plans to chan
nel $50 million into the Church
in Red-threatened Latin Ameri
ca and to extend other aid,
5. The September 20 defeat
in the House of Representatives
of a bill for Federal aid for
all colleges following the inter
vention of the National Edu
cation Association with the
charge that the bill would vio
late proper Church-State re
lations.
MAILING ADDRESS
Church authorities, however,
said that the necessary ar
rangements were made with the
full collaboration and coopera
tion between Jordanian officials
and Catholic authorities.
They said that perfect order
was observed during the solemn
procession for the Midnight
Mass and that this year’s cele
bration was marked by a spirit
of complete harmony and good
will with the other Christian
communities that share the holy
shrine of Bethlehem with the
Catholic Church.
They added that Catholic and
non-Catholic ambassadors, as
well as Catholics of the Jeru
salem consular corps, praised
Jordanian officials for the good
order both inside and outside
the complex of the Nativity
basilica.
Says Reds
Recruiting
In Schools
PRAY FOR OUR
PRIESTLY DEAD
REV. JOSEPH REISERER
January 5, 1880
Oh God, Who didst give to
thy servants by their sacredotaf
office, a share in the priest
hood of the Apostles, grant,
we implore, that they may
also be one of their company
forever in heaven. Through
Christ Our Lord, Amen.
CINCINNATI - Communism
has reduced its recruiting age
to the high school student level,
according to Douglas Hyde,
English author and one-time
communist.
“All over the world the com
munists are working among high
school students”, he said. Hyde,
once editor of the London Daily
Worker, expressed the belief
that “the average high school
boy or girl today is interest
ed world affairs ... As a
consequence they are interest
ed in communism — either
puzzled by it, attracted to it,
challenged by it, or wanting to
fight it.”
REV. MICHAEL J. BYRNE
January 8, 1922