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ADVENT SEASON - TIME OF PREPARATION
NEWSPAPER DIOCESE OF SAVANNAH
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Vol. 45, No. 24
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SAVANNAH, GEORGIA, THURSDAY, DECEMRER 17. 1964
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IN CONVERTS TO FAITH
Diocese First In Nation
Bishop
Elated By
Report
-‘V-
In an interview granted to
The Southern Cross, Bishop
• nas J. McDonough express-
ielight and deep satisfaction
with the news that the Diocese
of Savannah is the nation’s
leader in convert work.
“It is remarkable,’’ said Bish
op McDonough, “that in a dio
cese as small as ours, a diocese
so weakened by its lack of
priests, the number of converts
is so high. We thank Almighty
God that he has granted such
abundant grace to our area of
His vineyard.”
Bishop McDonough was high
in his praise of the work being
done by the parish priests of
the diocese in conducting inqui
ry classes. The Bishop pointed
out that in many parishes the
priests are already overburd
ened with the activities of par
ish life, and, yet, even at the
cost of personal sacrifice, al
most every parish in the dio
cese holds regular inquiry class
es.
Bishop McDonough, when ask
ed what effect the Council has
had on the convert movement,
answered that while some few
of our people might have les
sened their desire to actively
promote conversions, the ma
jority of them have been so en
thused with the work of the
Council, that they naturally
want to share the good news
of the aggiornamento with their
neighbors.
Bishop McDonough noted that
attendance at Sunday Mass, in
many parts of the diocese, has
remarkably increased since the
advent of the new liturgy. He
feels that this revision of the
liturgy will help to introduce
n^iy people to the beauty and
^Hness of the Church.
“Speaking historically,” sa i d
the Bishop, “I think we can lay
a great deal of credit for the
present status of the Church in
this Diocese, and in the entire
Southeast, to the famous Cath
olic Laymen’s Association of
Georgia, which not only influ
enced the public in this state but,
through its Bulletin, the entire
Southern United States. Today,
we are reaping the benefits of
the work of generations gone
by. We are building on the fir™
foundation of understanding that
our predecessors laid.
One of the outstanding efforts
in the Diocese in promoting
convert work has been the sim
ple program used by many of
our pastors. It calls upon the
Catholics of a parish to parti
cipate in the work of making
converts, through their prayers
and sacrifices. Parishioners are
asked to offer their reception of
Holy Communion once a month
for converts, to say a decade of
the rosary each day and to
make a small act of personal
sacrifice wh e n e v e r possible.
“Where this program has been
tried, there has been a response
which is in many ways astound
ing,” said the Bishop.
« he emphasis on the whole
ical body working and
praying together to bring about
the conversion of our neighbor
was, and is, being underlined.”
said the Bishop, “by our dedi
cation to fostering vocations.
In closing his interview Bish
op McDonough congratulated
the devoted priests, sisters and
laypeople of the diocese who
have worked so diligently to
make possible the continued
success of the convert aposto-
late. He urged every Catholic
to attempt, during the next
year, to bring one friend to a
fuller knowledge of the Faith.
ROUoni LG
A/Ek/AXK.
Stripe areas designate Dioceses in upper-third in
Catholic - Convert ratio Diocese of Savannah is rank
ed first in nation.
UPPER T///RO /N
CATHOLIC -CONVEX!
RATIO
MIDDLE-TH/PD /A/
CA TNOL/C- CONVERJ
RATIO
LOWER- TH/RD IN
CA TMOLSC-tOMlER-i
RATIO
Southeast Shows
Greatest Growth
Almost the entire southeast
ern section of the United States
is in the upper one-third of the
nation in the listing of converts
in ratio to Catholic population.
This is quite a contrast from
conditions which existed in the
area fifty years ago. Then it
was the most anti-Catholic sec
tion of our country.
Not even a Georgia Chamber
of Commerce could deny that
its state was the most anti-
Catholic in the Union.
The last ripple in the wave
that seemed about to engulf
Catholics was the passage of the
Veasey or Convent Inspection
REV. JOHN A. O’BRIEN,
whose recent survey revealed
a sharp decline in the nation’s
convert rate, last week sent a
letter of congratulations to Bish
op McDonough and the clergy
and faithful of this diocese,
which lead in the twenty-one
dioceses showing an increase,
crease.
Bill, admittedly directed against
Catholics.
Then the Catholics of Georgia
acted. They formed the Catho
lic Laymen’s Association of»
Georgia to do what it could to
remedy the situation in which
they found themselves. Mr.
James Farrell was named its
first Director.
THE BULLETIN, official pub
lication of The Catholic Lay
men’s Association was founded
in 1920. At that time it was the
only Catholic paper between
Baltimore and New Orleans.
During the twenties, THE
BULLETIN was the official pa
per for the Dioceses of Savan
nah, Charleston, Raleigh, St.
Augustine, Mobile and Nashville.
Mr. Farrell was the first editor
of the newspaper, and he was
succeeded by Richard Reid who
was also Executive Secretary of
the Laymen’s Association from
1920 to 1939.
Following Mr. Reid to the ed
itors chair was Hugh Kinchley.
Mr. Kinchley served until his
death in 1953 at which time he
was succeeded by John Mark-
waiter who served until the
Catholic Laymen’s closed its
d’oors in 1962.
The figures on converts, just
released, are additional evi
dence that the Association’s la
bors are bearing fruitful re
sults. Georgia is number one in
the nation in converts. The Dio
cese of Savannah is ranked first
with the Archdiocese of Atlanta
second.
Five other Dioceses in the
Southeast are among the top
fifteen in the nation. Raleigh is
listed as 3rd; Mobile - Birming
ham is 4th; Nashville is 5th;
Charleston is 6th, and St. Au
gustine is 13th.
Parish By Parish
Diocese Grows
Parish or Mission
CONVERTS
1963 1962 1961
Albany
St. Teresa’s
11
10
11
St. Clare’s
11
9
5
Americus
St. Mary’s
2
2
3
St. Martin de Porres
0
1
0
Augusta
i
Immaculate Conception
40
30
42
Sacred Heart
12
20
32
St. Joseph’s
6
7
10
St. Mary’s
8
9
4
St. Patrick’s
0
2
4
Brunswick
St. Francis Xavier
21
12
13
Claxton
St. Christopher & Missions
12
4
5
Columbus
Holy Family
8
6
14
Our Lady of Lourdes
28
9
15
St. Benedict’s
4
—
6
St. Anne’s
—
—
3
Cordele
St. Theresa’s Mission
0
1
—
Douglas
St. Paul’s & Missions
5
2
6
Dublin
Immaculate Conception
10
2
2
Lakeland
Queen of Peace
4
6
6
Macon
St. Joseph’s
11
10
19
St. Peter Claver
15
11
10
Moultrie
Immaculate Conception
2
—
—
Richmond Hill
St. Anne’s
—
1
0
Savannah
Cathedral
22
35
18
Blessed Sacrament
16
—
19
Sacred Heart
8
11
8
St. Mary’s
15
13
21
St. Anthony’s
22
30
7
St. James
6
15
12
St. Benedict’s
40
73
39
Nativity
5
15
8
St. Michael’s
2
6
1
Our Lady of Lourdes
—
—
1
Statesboro
St. Matthews
6
7
7
Sylvania
Our Lady of Assumption
0
2
1
Thomasville
St. Augustine’s i
3
11
8
Valdosta
St. John's
0
6
5
Warner Robins
Sacred Heart
12
6
2
Waycross
St. Joseph’s
0
6
2
Pastor Stresses
Inquiry Classes
“The winning of souls for
Christ is the most important
duty of a pastor.” This is how
Father Raymond Bane, S.M.A.,
described his role in the con
vert record of his parish. St.
Benedict’s leads the Diocese
with 152 converts in the past
three years.
Asked what he thought were
the most essential elements in
a successful convert program,
Father Bane replied, “initial
contact and regularly scheduled
Inquiry Classes.’’
For initial contact he said
that he depends mostly on his
people. “The success we have
had at St. Benedict’s is due pri
marily to the effort put forth by
the people. Prior to each new
class we ask that they bring
someone to the first class. They
are constantly being reminded
that as they have been chosen
from all the people of the earth
to receive the great gift of
Faith, that they have a duty to
share it with others.”
Inquiry Classes, he continued
“Also give those participating
a sense of comradship.
St. Benedict’s conducts two
Inquiry classes each year—in
February and September. They
run for approximately five
months and consist of 40 twice-
weekly classes.
Describing his classes, Father
Bane said that he feels they
must be h e 1 d on a regular
schedule and that absenteeism
should be kept to a minimum.
A prospective convert knows
that, if he intends to be bap
tized with his class, he must at
tend at least 80% of the class
es. Father is also convinced
that the first ten classes are
the most important. “If you can
sustain a person’s interest for
this period, you have an excel
lent chance of converting him
to the Faith.”
Asked how t h e number of
converts this year compares
with the parish’s 152 total for
three years, Father replied
“quite well! To date we have
fifty-six.”
Other parishes with more
than fifty converts during the
past three years are:
Immaculate Conception, Au-
gusta-112; Sacred Heart, Augus
ta-64; Our Lady of Lourdes, Co
lumbus - 52; Cathedral, Savan-
nah-75; St. Anthony’s, Savan
nah-59.
• During the year 1963 St. Ben-
Rev. Raymond Bane
edict’s, Savannah and Immacu
late Conception, Augusta, both
had 40 converts. They were fol
lowed by Our Lady of Lourdes,
Columbus with 28; Cathedral
and St. Anthony’s, both of Sa
vannah, with 22 and St. Francis
Xavier of Brunswick with 21.
National
Average
Decreases
The Diocese of Savannah
leads the nation in conversions
to the Faith. Last year there
was one convert for every 78.4
Catholics in the Diocese.
This informtion was revealed
in a study by famed convert-
expert Father John A. O’Brien
and printed 1 in last week’s REG
ISTER, National Catholic week
ly.
The figure is all the more
impressive in the light of Fa
ther O’Brien’s report that only
21 dioceses showed a better
Catholics to convert ratio in
1963, whereas the ratio had
slipped, and sometimes dramat
ically, in 117 dioceses. Father
O’Brien concludes from the fig
ures that the convert decline is
of national character and re
flects a deterioration of the
convert apostolate.
Writing in THE REGISTER,
Father O’Brien points out that
“the number of converts had
gradually increased from an
annual total of 116,839 in 1951
to its peak of 142,267 in 1959—a
gain of 25,428 in 8 years. But
strange to say, the total has
dropped badly in each of the
following four years, fallihg in
1963 to 123,986. This represents
a drop of 18,281!
“What is the cause of such
an unprecedented decline? To
answer that question we must
first ask: What unusual event
or movement captured the in
terest of the Christian world
during those four years? It was
the Second Vatican Council and
the ensuing ecumenical move
ment, which have commanded
the attention and gripped the
imagination of Christendom as
have no other religious events
in centuries.
“Focussing their attention up
on the corporate reunion’ of
Christian Churches, Catholics
seem to have overlooked the
importance and necessity of
continuing the convert aposto
late to the individual. But now,
in accordance with the ecumen
ical spirit, it should be directed
to the churchless, of whom there
are 80 million in the U.S.A. . . .
“Ecumenism has brought a
new warmth among all the di
vided members of the Christian
family. Members of the broken
body of Christ have already be
gun to recognize their common
brotherhood and to take counsel
together on the healing of the
wounds and the restoration of
the old ties. The whole Chris
tian world has felt the thaw of
age-old frigidities and sensed
harbingers of spring. This rep
resents an enormous gain. The
breathing of the Holy Spirit a-
mong all those baptized in
Christ and ransomed by his
blood.. No sensible Christian
would wish to jeopardize this
remarkable growth in under
standing, good will and love ...
“In general, the largest num
ber of converts is reported by
the archdioceses and dioceses,
wherein parish inquiry classes,
well-publicized and well-recruit
ed, with parishioners helping,
are conducted on a large scale,
throughout the year. Hence, this
study makes it clear that the
convert apostolate will achieve
maximum success only where
every Catholic strives, with
God’s grace, to win one church
less friend for Christ and to
reclaim one inactive member.
This is the best way in which
we can promote both the con
vert apostolate and the ecumen
ical movement, and it is the
best expression of our love of
God' and Souls.”