Southern cross. (Savannah, Ga.) 1963-2021, October 10, 1963, Image 5
5 V Dear Editor: There have been some fine TV programs on Sunday morn ings usually presenting an emi nent non-Catholic authority on the Bible in a series covering some aspects of the Old or New Testaments. . I have watched these pro grams, critically, for about a year and can honestly say that they have given me a better understanding and appreciation of the Bible than 16 years of Catholic schooling. This is not surprising perhaps, consider ing the traditional apologetic approach to Scripture used in Catholic schools. However, I think some changes in our Re ligion courses should be con templated, pedagogical and otherwise. We no doubt can learn something from the suc cessful Sunday and Bible Schools operated by our Pro testant friends. A move in this direction should help us appreciate the Bible more and it might help us understand our “separated bre thren” a little better, too. In the meantime I’m going to keep watching TV. Very Truly Yours, Thomas A. Nelligan Savannah QUESTION BOX (Continued from Page 4) mathematical procedure for fixing the date with precision remained somewhat in doubt for a while longer. (Easter is, after all, a lunar calendar date, and the lunar calendar offers several computation difficul ties.) THE IRISH, for instance, were divided on the date as late as the year 661, when the monks of Ripon, including St. Cuthbert, were banished from their home by royal decree because they insisted on retaining the "old Irish” method of computation instead of adopting the “new Roman” manner. i THE MATTER came to a head when it appeared certain that if a solution was not arrived at by the year 665, King Oswy (of Northumbria) would be festively celebrating Easter on the very day his wife, Queen Eanfled, would be marking Palm Sun day—each was taught contra dictory rules for marking the feast. THE IRISH confusion was sol ved during the Lent of 664 at the historic Synod of Whitby, which—if anyone is tempted to doubt its importance—has been described by a modern scholar as “one of the great turning- '' points in the history of the race.” AUTO REPAIRS Savannah Radiator Co. 315 West Bay Street Savannah, Georgia MASON 0 INC. AD 2-4192 18-20 W. BRYAN ST. ♦Printing •Office Supplies •Office Furniture •Ditto Duplicating Machines and Supplies Bishop Neumann Beatification Set For Oct. 13 By Carl A. Balcerak (N.C.W.C. NEWS SERVICE) Venerable John Nepomucene Neumann, who will be beatified on October 13, was a zealous missionary, educator, builder of churches and spiritual ser vant of immigrants. Yet though he accomplished much in many fields, the Bo hemian-bom prelate, was truly "a hero apart from grand un dertakings,” in the words of Pope Benedict XV, who declar ed him Venerable in 1921. The man who was to become the fourth Bishop of Philadel phia disliked any fanfare, and his humility, often misunder stood, was like a cloak cover ing his achievements. As a pioneer missionary, Fa ther Neumann spread the Faith throughout various regions of Pennsylvania, Delaware, New York, Maryland and Virginia from 1840 to i860. In the educational field, he established the first unified system of Catholic schools under a diocesan board, intro duced nuns and Brothers into the Philadelphia diocese as teachers, and wrote a cate chism and Bible history for the faithful. As an administrator, Bishop Neumann helped construct 80 churches in the Philadelphia diocese, conducted visitation tours in pioneer settlements and held three diocesan synods. The Bishop also organized the first diocesan schedule of the Forty Hours’ Devotion in America. Able to converse in 10 lan guages, he eschewed the soli tude desired by scholars for the apostolate of action. His fa cility in languages became an effective tool in embedding the Faith firmly into many Euro pean immigrants to the U. S. Father Neumann worked among Germans in the region of Niagara Falls, set up the first national parish for Ita lians (St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi) in the U.S. in 1853 in South- Philadelphia, and even learned Gaelic so that he could hear confessions of the Irish who settled in a mountanious region of Pennsylvania. In Trevorton, Pa., one day in 1856, an elderly lady went into the confessional where Bis hop Neumann was sitting and be gan with the Gaelic words: "Beannaigh me. . .” When she left the church, then was a broad smile on her face and she exclaimed to neigh bors: “Moladh go deo la Dia. Easpog Eireannach ata’gainni are deire” (Praise be the good God, it’s an Irish bishop we have at last!) John Neumann, the third of six children, was born in Pra- chatitz, Bohemia, on March 28, 1811. After studying for the priesthood at Budweis and Pra gue, he came to the U. S. and was ordained on June 26, 1846, by Bishop John Dubois in New York. A week after his ordina tion, he was named pastor of an area in Western New York as large as his native land. He: worked four years as a pioneer missionary along the Niagara frontier and the Buffalo area, where he ministered to hun dreds of immigrants. In 1840, Father Neumann be gan his novitiate as a Redemp- torist. On January 16, 1842, he made his profession of vows in Baltimore. He became even more of a traveler then, going out among the settlements of THE REXCO LIFETIME SYSTEM Royal Exterminating Company • FREE INSPECTION • GUARANTEED PROTECTION "We are Beit against your Pests Give us a Trial, You be the Judge" MEMBER OF B & F EXTERPRISES Phone 236 0687 412 Drayton St. Savannah Virginia, Mayland and Pennsyl vania. Two years later theRedemp- torists made him superior of their parish in Pittsburgh. In 1847 Father Neumann was nam ed superior of all Redempto- rists working in the U. S. Al though the superior, he always chose for himself the most self- effacing tasks while on mission assignments, leading in recita tion of the Rosary rather than giving the principal sermon, and spending many hours daily in the confessional. On February 1, 1852, Pope Pius IX named him Bishop of Philadelphia. The See entrust- d to the 41-year-old prelate covered 30,000 square miles. It was made up of the present Diocese of Trenton, N. J., a portion of Altoona-Johnstown, Pa., and Camden, N. J., dio ceses, all of Harrisburg, Pa., Scranton, Pa., and Wilmington, Del., dioceses, plus the present Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Bishop Neumann, who was consecrated on March 28, 1852, could never quite get used to his new office. Disliking pomp and ceremony, he was reluctant to attend social teas and banquets and to wear the fashionable clerical clothes he was given. In his first sermon as head of the diocese, Bishop Neumann strongly urged that all Catholic children attend Catholic schools. About six weeks after his consecration, he assembled a group of clergy and laymen to discuss plans for setting up parish schools throughout the Philadelphia diocese. A week later the group adopted a plan for establishment of a central board of education in the diocese. This singal contribution of Bishop Neumann’s was made a subject of canon law by the Third Plenary Council of Bal timore 30 years after the Bishop’s death. Public schools soon found their enrollment decreasing, as one Catholic school after ano ther went up in the Philadelphia diocese. To provide teachers for the growing number of stu dents, Bishop Neumann brought into the diocese Christian Bro thers, Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, Sisters of the Immacu late Heart of Mary, and Sisters of the Holy Cross. In April, 1855 he founded an American Con gregation of the Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis, whose motherhouse now is lo cated in Glen Riddle, Pa. In 1853 Bishop Neumann launched the first diocesan cy cle of Forty Hours’ Devotion in American. The Bishop asked the Holy See to divide the Philadelphia diocese, hoping that he would be given a small area in the coal regions among the hard work ing immigrants. The Holy See, instead of dismembering the diocese, gave him a coadju tor, Bishop James F. Wood. On January 5, 1860, Bishop Neumann, while walking at 13th and Vine Streets in Philadel phia, fell to his knees sud denly and died shortly after wards. He was 49. When Pope Benedict XV de clared him Venerable in 1921, he said that if some persons could not "picture him to them selves as a hero apart from grand undertakings, We hasten to say that wonderful results can spring from simple deeds, provided these are performed as perfectly as possible and with unremitting constancy.” He also said: "Venerable Neumann’s activity was indeed admirable, not so much for the good he effected in the fleeting hour of the present, as for that 1 which assured the benefit for future ages.” In February, 1963, the Vati can’s Sacred Congregation of Rites certified as authentic two miracles attributed to the in tercession of Bishop Neumann as a necessary step toward his beatification. There were the cure of J. Kent Lenahan of suburban Phil adelphia, who suffered a frac tured skull and multiple inter nal injuries in an automobile accident in 1949, and the cure of Eva Benassi Pantani of Sas- suolo, Italy, of acute peritoni tis in 1922. Bishop Neumann is the third U. S. Citizen, and the first male one, to be beatified. Brunswick TV SERVICE \ Glynn Electronics 2423 NORWICH AM 5-7669 BISHOP NEUMANN INTERCEDED—In this painting the artist has portrayed the scene at the hospital bedside of teenager J. Kent Lenahan who was crushed in an auto mobile accident on July 8, 1949. Suffering from a frac tured skull and multiple internal injuries, the physicians regarded his case as hopeless. Members of his family and friends made a novena to Bishop John N. Neumann, to intercede for his recovery, and a relic of the bishop was touched to his body. In a matter of hours his condition improved and within a month he was discharged from the hospital in normal health. He is now married, the father of a family and lives in Villanova, Pa. His case was one of two miraculous cures formally accepted in the cause of Bishop Neumann’s beatification, which is scheduled for October 13. —(NC Photos) LITTLE EVA’S MIRACULOUS CURE—The Ven. John Nepomucene Neumann, C.SS.R., Bishop of Philadelphia from 1852 to 1860 will be beatified by Pope Paul VI on Sunday, October 13. The first of the two miraculous cures formally accepted (February 1963) in his beatifi cation cause took place 40 years ago. In this painting the artist depicts the scene, May, 1923, at a boarding school for girls conducted by the Third Order of St. Francis in the Italian town of Sassuolo. The local doctor, Dr. Bar- banti, held out no hope for the recovery of little Eva Benassi; suffering from tubercular peritonitas. Sister Eliza beth and her community of nuns, and the classmates of the 11-year-old girl prayed for a cure through Bishop Neu mann’s intercession. All pain and nausea suddenly vanished. Little Eva is now Mrs. Pietro Pentani, the mother of two children.—(NC Photos) passport certificate, dated Oc tober 13, 1854, was recently discovered in the National Ar chives in Washington, D. C. The U. S. citizens already beatified are St. Francis Xa vier Cabrini, a naturalized ci tizen beatified in 1938 and ca nonized as a saint in 1946, and native-born Mother Eliza beth Seton, foundress of the Sisters of Charity of the U.S., who was beatified on March 17, 1963. Pacelli Teacher Wins Freedom Award COLUMBUS —The chairman of Pacelli High School’s math department has received na tional recognition from the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge, Pa. for furthering the cause of responsible citizen ship, patriotism and a greater understanding of the American way of life. Maj. (Ret.) Robert Lagen recieved the 1962 Valley Forge Classroom Teachers Medal. In all, the Freedoms Founda tion honored 332 American classroom teachers. Their sel ection was made by a distin guished independent awards jury composed of state supreme court justices and national heads of patriotic, veterans and service club organizations. Nominations are submitted by the general public. Dr. Kenneth D. Wells, presi dent of Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge, announced the recipients and in so doing, Dr. Wells said: “We feel extreme pride in these select classroom teach ers chosen for their personal dedication and individual con tribution to the preservation of freedom through teaching our youth the facts and faith of the ideals of the American Cre do. "No single group outside the home has a more awesome re sponsibility for instilling in our boys and girls the resolute, re sponsible and reverent patri otism which will equip them to meet the challenges the future is sure to hold. Tyranny and the government - overmen scheme cannot long face courageous people, well educated and pa triotically motivated, no mat ter what banner it carries.” A native of Dubuque, Iowa, Lagen served in the Army from 1940 until 1957, and was station ed at Fort Benning in 1942 and again in 1955. He was supply officer for The Infantry School when he retired because of phy sical disability in November 1957. During World War II, Lagen served in the British Isles and Germany. He was stationed on Okinawa during the Korean War. Upon retirement, he attended Auburn University. He enroll ed in January 1958, and receiv ed a BS degree with a double major in math and science in two and a half years. He has taught since 1960 at Pacelli, where his wife, Dorothy, teaches English and Latin. Lagen is a member of the ex ecutive board of the March of Dimes and is a member of the North Columbus Optimist Club, the Knights of Columbus and the Retired Officers Association, The Lagens have two chil dren, Patricia Ann, a junior at Auburn, and Robert Lagen Jr., a senior at Pacelli. Receive Tito Coldly MEXICO CITY (NC)—Yugo slav communist dictator Tito, on a state visit here, was re ceived coldly by a number of newspapers and leaders who reflect wide popular opinion in Mexico. The tone of Catholic comment was set by Carlos Garcinava, Catholic Action president, who said that the necessary hospi tality could not come ' ‘from the heart” of Mexicans because they will not forget the perse cution of their fellow Catholics in Yugoslavia. A spokesman for the Young Christian Workers pointed to the deprivation of liberty in Yu goslavia not only for Catholic workers but for all members of the free labor movement. The Catholic weekly Mundo Me- jor headlined its story on the event: “Visit of Yugoslav Ty rant Tito Offends Mexico.” The Southern Cross, October 10, 1963—PAGE 5 Counsel To Republicans On House Education Committee Defends U.S. School Loans CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (NC)— The constitutionality of Federal loans which offer limited assis tance to parochial and other pri vate schools has been support ed by the minority counsel of the House Education Commit tee. Charles W. Radcliffe, legal adviser to Republicans on the committee and former legisla tive officer in the U. S. Office of Educaton, presents his ar gument in the current (summer) issue of the Harvard Educa tional Review. Radcliffe discusses one sec tion of the 1958 National Defense Education Act. This provides for 10-year, interest-bearing Federal loans to help purchase instructional equipment, other than textbooks, in science, ma thematics and modern foreign languages. Public schools get outright grants for the same purpose. The attorney defends these loans as a proper function of government in the interest of national defense. He says ben efit which may derive to relig ion is only incidental. Referring to decisions of the U. S. Supreme Court, Radcliffe says the test drawn from these rulings and applied to the loan program should be this: "Was it the primary pur- ose and effect of the legisla tion to aid a parochial school, per se, or was it to accom plish a broad and legitimate public purpose in which the aid to the schools is a neces sary incident?” Arguing that the inten tion clearly was to accomplish a public purpose, Radcliffe compares this favorably to tax- paid bus rides and tax-paid textbooks in secular subjects for parochial pupils, both prac tices upheld by the Supreme Court. "The equipment purchased with the loan funds does not add more teachers or more classrooms or more pupils to the parochial schools,” Rad cliffe said. “It does not effect any ele ment of religious instruction in any course. It simply im proves the quality of instruc tion in mathematics, science and languages. The pupils who already attend parochial school s are better prepared in these subjects of such critical importance to the nation. This was the intent of Congress,” Msgr. Cardinale Is Successor To Archbishop VATICAN CITY, (NC) — Msgr. Igino Cardinale, who spent most of his youth in the U.S., has been named Apostolic Delegate in Great Britain. At the time of his nomina tion Msgr. Cardinale was chief of protocol of the Papal Secre tariat of State. In his new post he succeeds Archbishop Gerald O’Hara, former bishop of Sa vannah who died July 15. i Msgr. Cardinale was born October 14, 1916, in Fondi, Italy. His father had come back to Italy from Boston with his family when Italy entered World War I and was serving as a cal vary officer at the time of the future papal diplomat’s birth With the end of the war, the Cardinale family returned to Boston, and Igino Cardinale completed his high school stud ies at St. Agnes Academy there. When the family returned again to Italy, Igino entered the seminary of Gaeta and by the time of his ordination in 1941 he had studied in the seminary of Salerno and the major sem inary in Rome as well as with the theology faculty of St. Lui gi of Posillipo. He entered the Pontifical Ec clesiastical Academy, where diplomats of the Holy See are trained. He received a degree in law and the academy’s di ploma “maxima cum laude” in 1945. After a year’s service with the papal secretariat, he was assigned to the apostolic delegation for Egypt, Palestine, Transjordan, Arabia and Cyp rus. During his service there, diplomatic relations were es tablished between the Holy See and Egypt. The delegation was immersed also in work among the refuges in the Middle East. For several months Msgr. Cardinale was charge d’ affairs of the inter nunciature in Cairo. He return ed to Rome in 1952 because of illness and became private sec retary to the Papal Substitute Secretary of State. he wrote. In a brief comment on Rad cliffe’s article in the Review, Dunbar Holmes, a member of the Massachusetts bar, main tains that the test Radcliffe put forward to measure constitu tionality is a "new and novel concept.” Holmes says he cannot find the test contained in Supreme Court decisions and expresses his belief it violates the First Amendment. Radcliffe’s article was in re sponse to one in the summer, 1962, issue of the Review by George R. LaNoue who terms the loan program unconstitu tional. LaNoue’s study has re ceived wide distribution through I ✓ Mann elevision Service Company TV-RADIOS-TR ANSISTORS TAPE RECORDS-STEREOS 148 West Broad AD 6-6358 Savannah, Ga. the Department of Religious Li berty of the National Council of Churches of Christ, New York. Parents who drive their children to and from school should let them off and pick them up on the side of the street where the school is lo cated, advises the Allstate Mo tor Club. This eliminates the necessity of having children cross the street. Chatham Typewriter Co. I Registers - Adding Machines Typewriters New and Used Reconditioned 317 EAST BltOUGHTON SAVANNAH,GEORGIA AI) 0-3351 OtfiantaiL MOTOR HOTEL • TV it AIR CONDITIONING • FAMOUS MIAMI BUFFET • ICE Sc BEVERAGE STATIONS • COFFEE MAKER, EACH ROOM LUCKIE AT CONE ST. A Good Address in Atlanta AUMakes & Mode |^ Bill’s Washer Repair 15 Years Service Experience All Work Guaranteed FREE SERVICE CALLS Use Our Machine While We Repair Yours Prompt Service 919 River Dr. 236-5409 Savannah (Thunderbolt) INDIA: A GIFT FIT FOR A 1/ V* Sister Loyola, Superior of the Sacred Heart Convent in KAN- AYAANKAVAYAL in southern India writes: This village is a mountainous place. We walk five miles from the main road through a forest, across rope bridges, high hills and steep valleys to reach the 300 families who earn their living' by cultivating the land . . . Our Arch- O"* SoBr ^ bishop sent us here to teach the chil dren catechism and to run the prim ary school. We live in a small house without a chapel. The people are so poor they are unable to build us one or improve our building . . . The Holy Father’s Mission Aid sister’s plea is warmly seconded by lor the Oriental Church the Archbishop of CIIANGANA- CHLPvRY who laments the fact he is unable to aid them more because of the extent and poverty of his mission field ... In this pie asant month of October when many consecrate themselves to the S'acred Heart on the Feast of Christ the King, it would certainly be a gift fit for a King if donations, large or small came in to make up the §4,000 these courageous and hard-work ing Sisters need. Your sacrifice will make their work more hopeful and' you can be assured you will be long remembered in their prayers and those of the children and people they have in their care. STRINGLESS GIFTS ENABLE US TO HELP THE HOLY FATHER WHERE HE THINKS THE NEED IS GREATEST VFJVF.WAWE JOHN NEUMANN This holy last-eentury leader of the Philadelphia archdiocese will be beatified on Oct. 13 by Pope Paul VI. His great love and work was among children. He often taught them catechism personally and he founded the diocesan system of Catholic schools in this country ... A membership in our association wil’ enable future Bishop Neumanns in the 18 NEAR and MIDDLE EAST countries (Iran, Iraq, Palestine, India, Egypt, etc.) to bring Christ’s spirit and words to the children (and grownups* of these countries .• . . Membership is so inexpensive, only $1 a year for a single person; $5 for a family. Perpetual membership is $20 for a single person: $100 for a family. You share in the prayers and Massbs of the Holy Father and the 15,000 priests in these missionary countries. MAUREEN K. WRITES: Enclosed are ten dollars I received for my First Communion. I would like to send it to a needy child in the missions. OUR REPLY: Maureen, your kind sacri fice will go to help a PALESTINE REFUGEE child living in a camp in the Near East. We help them with schooling (§25 a term); food (a package costs §10) and warm blankets (§2). We also run a school for the BLIND CHILDREN OF GAZA. NEXT MONTH WE REMEMBER THE HOLY SOULS. OUR PRIESTS ARE THANKFUL FOR MASS STIPENDS. INSTANT ANGELUS The Cure d’Ars had the answer for dark dreams. He said the Angelus on awakening, turning dark thoughts into white ones of apostolic action. Tomorrow morning, you can resolve to edu cate a seminarian or Sister like ANTONY PLAKKAL or SR. ROSALIND. $2 a week or $100 a year for six years educates a seminarian while $3 a week or $150 a year for 2 years prepares a Sister for her lifetime of apostolic work. What a wonderful prospect for a small sacrifice of 27 or 40 cents a day! We have the names of so many who need help. WHEN MAKING A WILL KINDLY REMEMBER: THE CATH OLIC NEAR EAST WELFARE ASSOCIATION. Dear Monsignor Ryan: Enclosed please find for NAME .'.... FRANCIS CARDINAL SPELLMAN, President Msgr. Joseph T. Ryan, Nat’l Sec’y Send ail communications to: CATHOLIC NEAR EAST WELFARE ASSOCIATION 480 Lexington Ave. at 46th St. New York 17, N. Y.