Southern cross. (Savannah, Ga.) 1963-2021, July 18, 1963, Image 1

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Southern cross., July 18, 1963, Image 1

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Newspaper Page TextI » f WmMMm wmmmmmmmrnmmmmm wmmmmmMmm RACIAL PEACE IS EVERYBODY’S JOB (AN EDITORIAL) The city of Savannah is now in the focal point of racial ten sions in Georgia. But condi tions which have led to mass picketing and demonstration marches here are probably characteristic of most of our State. Last week civil rights de monstrations in this port city degenerated into mob violence, resulting in extensive property damage to downtown business establishments and personal in jury to policemen trying to quell the disorders, and to innocent motorists and pedestrians. Responsible community lead ers, both white and Negro have condemned the use of violence and mob action as injurious not only to the future of the Negro’s fight to be judged on his merits and not on the color of his skin, but also to whatever progress may have already been made in developing more harmonious relations between the races. Although scattered acts of vandalism, of unproven origin, are still taking place under the cover of darkness, the large- scale violence which shook the city last week came to an end after bi-racial meetings in volving Negro leaders, city of ficials, members of the busi ness community, and members of the city’s clergy. Among those close to the situ ation, there is no doubt that the present tenuous “truce” can be directly attributed to the responsible and forthright act ions of the city’s clergy. At about the same time that Mon signor John D. Toomey, acting in behalf of Bishop Mc Donough, announced that Negro leaders had agreed to “keep things peaceful, although this does not necessarily mean there will be no demonstra tions”, a group of thirty-one white clergymen, including Bishop McDonough; the Rt. Rev. Albert R. Stuart, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia; and Bishop John Owen, of the South Georgia Methodist Con ference issued a statement call ing for resumption of peace ful negotiations between white and Negro leaders and an end to violent mass demonstrations. There was absolutely nothing ing their statement which could not be wholehearted endorsed by every man and woman of good will, concerned with the wel fare of the entire community and not just the white or Negro population. Said the white clergymen: “Racial conditions in Savannah have become criti cal and will lead to further violence and economic loss unless people quickly seek rea sonable and just solutions to these problems; therefore we religious leaders of the community make the following appeal; ‘ 'That all persons restrain themselves from violence and seek to restore peace and or der; * ‘That negotiations be resum ed immediately among respon sible leaders of the community; “That recognition and guar antees be given to the rights of all citizens. “In order to help achieve this, we offer our help in ne gotiating these solutions.” A similar statement was is sued by the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance, a Negro clergy group. They, too, call ed for an end to racial violence, resumption of peaceful ne gotiations, and recognition of the rights of all citizens. Both statements were issued last week. Both have had the effect of easing, at least for the present, the air of racial ten sion—but only to the extent that they have caused an end to mass violence. But neither the clergy nor the Negro leadership can solve the probelms underlying racial ten sions, alone. They will be solv ed only by peaceful, reason able, and truly sincere nego tiations between leaders of the Negro community and the civil officials and business men against whom they have lodged grievances. But there can be neither peaceful, reasonable nor sin cere negotiations in a public atmosphere characterized by an attitude of intransigience on the part of both the Negro and white population. Both sides must recognize the cold, hard fact that the future of the community, itself, depends upon whites being willing to put on the shoes of the Negro, and Negroes being willing to put on the shoes of the white. If future negotiations are to have even a modicum of success white leaders must cease makingpro- perty rights a stumbling block to human rights and Negro lead ers must realize that, while human rights take priority over property rights, they cannot be allowed to destroy them. Local newspapers have taken a stand behind the efforts of Savannah’s clergy to bring re sponsible leaders of both races together in reasoned discussion which sincerely and honestly seeks to find answers to un deniable inequities which rele gate an entire segment of our people to the status of “unde sirables.” We hope they will continue to use their great influ ence to counter the voices of extremism on either side, and to help foster the air of good will without which any negotia tions are doomed to failure at the start, and may, in fact, merely become the “calm be fore the storm.” Vol. 44, No. 3 10c Per Copy — $3 A Year SAVANNAH, GEORGIA, THURSDAY, JULY 18, 1963 Archbishop Gerald P. O’Hara k Former Savannah Ordinary Succumbs To Heart Attack SAVANNA H—A r c h bishop Gerald P. O’Hara, Apostolic Delegate in Great Britain and former Bishop of Savannah, died in London, England, July 16th, following a heart attack. A native of “Up-state” Pen nsylvania, (Green Ridge, near Scranton), Archbishop O’Hara began his studies for the priest hood at St. Charles Borrom- meo in Philadelphia, being or dained in Rome on April 3rd, 1920. After ordination he remained in Rome pursuing higher stud ies, earning the degrees of Doctor of Divinity and Doctor of Universal Law. The latter degree indicates that Archbi shop O’Hara was a Doctor of both Canon Law and Civil Law. After the resignation of the late Bishop Michael J. Keyes from the Savannah Diocese, Bi shop O’Hara was named to suc ceed him in December of 1935, and was solemnly installed on January 15, 1936. In 1947 the Apostolic Nuncio to Rumania was ousted by the communist regime and His Holiness, the late Pope Pius XII appointed Bishop O’Hara to the post of Regent of the Apostolic Nunciature in Bucha- ’ rest. In 1950, together with seven Rumanians, he was indicted by the Communist authorities on charges of “High treason, es pionage, smuggling and helping ARCHBISHOP O’HARA others to flee the country.” This followed the communist pattern used in Hungary and Poland, when Bishops and Cler gy resisted efforts of Red gov ernments to impose hand-pick ed “spiritual authorities” on the people. Bishop O’Hara came back to Savannah to a hero’s welcome, after receiving the personal title of Archbishop from Pope Pius XII in recognition of his distinguished service in the face of tremendous opposition and personal danger. Though Archbishop O’Hara would have welcomed the oppor tunity to remain in his diocese, his talents as a diplomat for the Holy See were still sorely needed and in November of 1951 he was named Papal Nun cio to Ireland. He served in that capacity until June of 1954 when he was named to succeed Archbishop William Godfrey as Apostolic Delegate in Great Britain. Although Archbishop O’Ha ra’s devotion to the Church prompted him to accept readily any task imposed upon him by the Holy See, he remained al ways devoted to his Diocese, and whenever the press of his diplo matic duties would permit, he returned for a visit. On November 11, 1959, the Office of the Apostolic Delegate in Washington D. C. announced the resignation of Archbishop O’Hara as Bishop of Savannah. The statement of the Aposto lic Delegate, Archbishop Vag- nozzi said that the Holy Father had “graciously acceded” to Archbishop O’Hara’s request to be relieved of some of his many duties. OUTSTANDING JUNIOR CATHOLIC DAUGHTER—Idamae McDonald of Denver, Color ado, has been selected as the Outstanding Junior Catholic Daughter of America of 1963. She is a member of Court St. Rita and is a Junior in the Cathedral High School in Den ver. She was chosen among 20,000 Junior Catholic Daughters for her leadership quali ties, scholastic rating and community service. The special gold Sunburst medal of the Sacred Heart designed for the Outstanding Junior Catholic Daughter was presented to her by Bishop Connare at the 60th Anniversary Banquet of the Catholic Daughters of America, held in White Sulphur Springs, W. Va. Left to right are: Bishop William G. Con nare of Greensburg, Pa., Episcopal Moderator of the Juniors; Idamae McDonald; Msgr. Frederick J. Stevenson, of Washington, director of the Junior Catholic Daughters, and Anne Dillingham, execuitve secretary of the Juniors.—(NC Photos) At WCC Conference Growth In Catholic - Protestant Dialogue Called “Miraculous" (N.C.W.C. NEWS SERVICE) MONTREAL — Two Protes tant theologians told a major World Council of Churches meeting here that the ecu menical movement has been the most important development of the century on the internal re ligious scene. The Rt. Rev. Oliver Tomkins, Anglican Bishop of Bristol, England, said the growth in Christian Unity in the past 50 years has been “miraculous.” He described the increasing dialouge between Catholics and non-Catholic Christians as “the greatest development in re cent years.” Dr. Albert C. Outler, pro fessor at the Perkins School of Theology of Southern Metho dist University, Dallas, Tex., said the last half-century has "witnessed a metamorphosis in ^the texture and quality of re lations between divided Chris tians.” “We are eye-witnesses to the emergence of the ecumenical movement as the ‘great new fact of our time,' ” he said. He referred to this develop ment as a “major shift in the theological weather systems of the Christian world, a real mu tation in the moods and patterns of doctrinal discussion.” The two men spoke (July 13) at sessions of the two-week meeting (July 12 to 26) of the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches. Some 500 theologians and church leaders from all over the world attended to take part in discussions on furthering religious unity. The World Council of Church es, founded in 1948 at Am sterdam, is composed of,201 Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox and Old Catholic denominations. Among its newest members are the Russian Orthodox Church, which joined in 1961, and two Pentecostal bodies. Gathered on the campus of Me Gill University here for the meeting of the Faith and Or der Commission are represen tatives of such geographically and theologically diverse Christian groups as the his toric Greek Orthodox Churches of the ancient East, the Salva tion Army, and newly autono mous churches in Asia, Africa and Latin America. The Roman Catholic Church is not a member of the World Council, although it was invited to join at the time of the coun- cil’s formation in 1948. In 1961, however, the Vatican named five official observers to the council’s third assembly, held in New Delhi, India. Attending the current meet ing here are five official Rom an Catholic observers and 15 Catholic guests. The Catholic observers were named by the Vatican’s Secretariat for Pro moting Christian Unity. Bishop Tomkins, a former associate general secretary of the World Council of Churches and former secretary of the Faith and Order Commission, referred to improving rela tions between Roman Catholics and non-Catholic Christians and said that “in the voice of Pope John XXIII we heard the voice of the Roman Catholic Church speaking with a new accent.” “We realize very well that inherent in the present Roman Catholic position are certain dogmatic affirmations on which there will be no compromise,” he said. “But it is now true that the Roman Catholic Church en gages in a living dialogue with the rest of us in a way that is quite unprecedented.” He said the World Council must explore “how this rela tionship can be most fruitfully used for a deepened understand ing of our awareness.” Without the participation of the Roman Catholic Church, he said, there was “a certain un reality in the discussion of Christian unity.” He said the Faith and Order meeting should seek creatively to find new ways of cooperation with Ro man Catholic theologians.” Bishop Tomkins said it is the primary responsibility of the Faith and Order Movement to remind the World Council that “cooperation is not enough.” “The full unity of all God's people according to His will must be our final goal,” he said. He added that this belief is now “firmly and widely held in all divisions and departments (Continued on Page 6) Cincinnati Bishop Considers Closing 4 Primary Grades CINCINNATI, (NC)--Schools of the archdiocese face a finan cial crisis that may make it necessary to drop the first four grades, Bishop Paul F. Leibold has declared. Bishop Leibold, chairman of the Archdiocesan School Board, said (July 9) the crisis also may mean no construction of new schools or additions “until the teachers are actually named and adequately compensated.” He estimated that if the arch diocese called a halt to school construction it would require the state-operated school sys tem to undertake a $25 million building program in the area of the archdiocese and would add $16 million in operating expense to the area’s taxpay ers. “If anyone has a better ans wer in view of the actual facts as they exist today, we would like to hear it,” he.said. Bishop Leibold went on to point out that “state aid would help and would save the tax payers a great deal of money.” He added that “it is our con viction that a legal solution can be found for any constitutional problems that may exist.” Forty years ago, he said, the principle was, “Every Catholic child in a Catholic school.” “The principle at the mo- (Continued on Page 2) PRAY FOR OUR PRIESTLY DEAD REV. HARRY J. HONECK July 5, 1952 REV. MICHAEL T. REILLY July 25, 1902 REV. THOMAS L. FINN July 28, 1948 RT. REV. THOMAS A. BECKER Sixth Bishop of Savannah July 29, 1899 REV. JAMES MURPHY July 29, 1877 Oh Cod, Who didst give to thy servants hy 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 jChrist Our Lord, Amen. Portrait Of A Shepherd His Holiness, Pope Paul VI Pontifical Requiem For Secretary Of Bishop SAVANNAH—Funeral serv ices were held at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist last Saturday for Mrs. Loretto Whe lan Flanagan, prominent Sav annah Catholic laywoman and private secretary to Bishop Thomas J. McDonough. Bishop McDonough was cele brant at the Pontifical Requiem Mass, assisted by the Rev. Lawrence Lucree of Cathedral and the Rev. Herbert J. Well- meier. The Rt. Rev. Msgr. Andrew J. McDonald acted as Master of Ceremonies. Mrs. Flanagan died on July 11th at St. Joseph’s hospital, here, after an illness of more than three months. She was a life-long member of the Cathedral parish and was a daily communicant. The daughter of the late Richard and Margaret Whelan, she mar ried John Flanagan of Savannah in 1919. Mr. Flanagan died in 1921. For many years Mrs. Flana gan was volunteer secretarial worker at the Cathedral and in 1943 entered the employ of the MRS. FLANAGAN Savannah diocese as private secretary to Archbishop Gerald P. O’Hara, formerly ordinary of this diocese. She subsequent ly served both Bishop Francis E. Hyland, and Bishop McDon ough in the same capacity. Both Archbishop O’Hara and Bishop Hyland had cited her work for the Church in terms of highest commendation. In 1961 she was nominated by Bishop McDonough to receive the “Pro Ecclesia et Ponti- fice” medal from the late Pope John XXIII. This high pontifical award conferred on “men and women who merit public ex pression of gratitude from the Pope for their services to the Church and Religion” was con ferred by Bishop McDonough at special ceremonies in April of the same year. Surviving are a son, John Patrick Flanagan Jr., of Clear water, Florida; a daughter, Mrs. Jack W. Dressel, of Sav annah; a brother, Michael J. Whelan, of Red Bank, New Jer sey; four grandchildren and several nephews and nieces.