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C.Y.O. CONVENTION - FEB. 20-21
NFWSPAPER DIOCESE OF SAVANNAH
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Vol. 45, No. 32
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SAVANNAH, GEORGIA, THURSDAY. FEBRUARY 18, 1965
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MIRROR HOflfllM
OF THE WORLD GUROW 3HT 30
Your Catholic Press...
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day’s Catholic publications are ample and faithfull mirrors . . .
telling things as they are and serving truth — the truth of events,
of facts, and of the world surrounding us.
Today’s Catholic press — newspapers, magazines, books, pam
phlets — rounds out your knowledge, stimulates your thinking,
provides 'a continuing school in worldly affairs for the mature
person.
Alert Catholics cannot hope to keep up with this modern world
and our updated Church without the latest news — the latest
opinions — the latest ideas and challenges.
We urge you to keep up with your Church, by regularly reading
your Catholic press, and ordering (or renewing) your subscription
to
The Southern Cross
WRQME
Americans On Hand To
Welcome New Cardinal
ROME (NO — This city’s A-
merican colony turned out in
force to greet Baltimore’s Arch
bishop, arriving in Rome to be
named a cardinal.
Accompanied by two plane
loads of family, friends and
members of his diocese, Arch
bishop Lawrence J. Shehan of
Baltimore arrived at Fiumicino
airport February 15. Represent
atives of the Nprth American
College, the Roman curia, many
religious congregations, and sev-
gtel American bishops joined the
wellwishers in greeting the short,
grey-hared, mild-mannered pre
late as he got off the plane.
In a bright sunshine temeper-
ed by a chilly wind, he greeted
members of his family and the
American bishops first, then was
completely surrounded by jour
nalists and Rome’s ever-present
cameramen.
First to greet him were A-
merican Archbishop Martin J.
O’Connor, president of the Pon
tifical Commission for Commu
nications Media, and Bishop
Francis F. Reh, rector of the
North American College. Then
came Bishop Walter W. Curtis
of Bridgeport, Conn. Archbishop
Shehan was the first bishop of
that See before his transfer to
Baltimore — Bishop Curtis is
Bridgeport’s second Ordinary.
Among the 270 who joined the
archdiocesan - sponsored pilgrim-
a g e accompanying Archbishop
Shehan were a number of rela
tives who had arrived with the
first plane the previous night.
VIETNAM CRISIS
Pontiff Makes
Plea For Peace
VATICAN CITY (NC) — Pope
Paul VI has made a dramatic
appeal for peace with the Viet
nam crisis clearly in mind but
without directly referring to that
patricular outflaring of violence.
The Pope spoke at a general
audience (Feb. 11) held to com
memorate the 36th anniversary
of the signing of the Laterran
Treaties by the Holy See and
Italy which resulted in the found
ing of Vatican City State. It was
also the feast of Our Lady’s ap
parition at Lourdes.
But instead of speaking at
length on these two anniversa
ries, Pope Paul devoted that ma
jor part of his speech to peace.
He spoke as the world’s news
papers headlined new outbreaks
fighting in southeast Asia. He
“Instead of these subjects (the
anniversaries) we must speak of
peace, * because still again- hu
manity must tremble for the
fate of peace. Still again menac
ing clouds overshadow noble na
tions, already so greatly tried,
aggravating the painful situation
in which they find themselves
and multiplying sufferings and
mourning.
“We, the representative on
earth of the Prince of Peace,
called to carry out our mission
in days in which the world, af
ter a promising abatement of
conlliets, seems to desire to turn
again to discords and conflicts,
address ourself to all interested
men ,in whatever part (of the
world) they may be, that they
may save innocent people from
new trials and new tears.
“Our fatherly heart cannot
bear to imagine the consequenc
es of a modern war because of
the terrible power of the means
which are at hand, if men, for
getting that they are brothers
and sons of God, turn not to
ward the force of reason but to
the force of violence.”
Pope Paul renewed his appeal
for peace speaking to a crowd
gathered in St. Peter’s Square
for the customary recitation of
the noon Angelus with him (Feb.
14).
“We do not' want to raise
more alarms than circumstances
warrant,” he said, “indeed we
Very much hope, in view of
words and facts that inspire re
newed trust, that peace may be
preserved and better guaran
teed.
“But minds still have not
changed, nor have interests
changed in the various parts of
this world threatened by disor
ders. and by conflicts of war.
Therefore let us pray, and not
only today.”
A reception was held the eve
ning of his arrival at the Grand
Hotel for the members of the
pilgrimage.
On the special plane which ar
rived the evening before the
archbishop was Herbert R. O’
Conor, son of the late Maryland
governor and U.S. Senator of the
same name. He will represent
the present governor, J. Millard
Tawes, throughout the ceremo
nies. Baltimore’s mayor, Theo
dore R. McKeldin, was schedul
ed to arrive in Rome later with
a number of priests and laymen
of the Baltimore archdiocese.
Archbishop Shehan is staying
at the North American College.
SENATOR Eugene J. Mc
Carthy cf Minnesota received
the annual Signum Fidei
medal cf the alumni associa
tion of La Salle College,
Philadelphia (Feb. 10). Sen
ator McCarthy is the first
elected political recipient of
the medal, awarded for “ad
vancement cf Christian prin
ciples.” (NC Photos)
FOR SOUTHERN CROSS
Bishop Urges Every
Effort To Guarantee
Campaign Success
LANCE which priest uses in Byzantine Rite ritual to pierce
large altar bread he will later consume after consecration.
This symbolizes Christ’s body being pierced by the lance
of the Roman soldier at Crucifixion. Communicants re
ceive the Eucharist as the priest says in English: “The ser
vant of God, N., receives the Body and Blood of Our Lord
Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of his (her) sins and for
lif& everlasting.” (NC Photos)
C.Y.O. Convention
Byzantine Rite
Mass On Sunday
The annual campaign for new
and renewal subscriptions to
THE SOUTHEN CROSS will be
conducted in every parish and
mission of the Diocese on Sun
day, Feb. 28.
His Excellency, The Most Rev
erend Thomas J. McDonough, in
a letter to pastors announcing
the campaign, called attention
to the “new look” of THE
SOUTHERN CROSS in recent
months, noting particularly the
high quality of newsprint used
in the publication, as well as
new format, typography and fea
tures.
He urged pastors of the dio
cese to “exert every effort in
making the campaign for new
and renewal subscriptions an un
precedented success”.
THE SOUTHERN CROSS, suc
cessor to the SAVANNAH BUL
LETIN, began publication Jan.
5, 1963 and is issued forty-five
times yearly.
With a circulation of almost
10,000 the paper is mailed to
every home in the Diocese of
Savannah and to several hun
dred subscribers in other parts
of the nation.
Bishop McDonough, himself a
former editor of the FLORIDA
CATHOLIC, weekly of the Dio
cese of St. Augustine, Fla., is an
ardent believer in “not only the
SAIGON (NC)—“Which do you
choose, the bonze or the Catho
lic Father?” the youth sentenced
to death as a communist Viet
Cong terrorist was asked. He
had less than an hour to live.
“I choose the Father,”' he
said.
Before he left his cell he was
baptized.
Aged 20, he had been arrested
Jan. 23 near the Buddhist “In
stitute” here, during the period
of antigovernment agitation. The
authorities said he was carry
ing two mines, a grenade, a
written order from communist
superiors and leaflets. On Jan.
28 he was tried by court martial,
found guilty under martial law
of subversive activities and sen
tenced to death.
Before dawn next morning the
Catholic and Buddhist military
Chaplains of Chi Hoa prison
were summoned.
“At 4 a.m. I was called by tel
ephone to the prison comman
dant’s office,” Faher (Maj.) Pe
ter Tran van Thong said. In the
office the commandant told him
that to make sure of respecting
religious freedom he had sent
for the Buddhist bonze, too.
The prisoner’s lawyer, the sec
retary of the court martial and
other officials came. At 5 a.m.,
in silence, all went to the con
demned lad’s cell. Blinking in
the electric light, he guessed
what the coming of this official
group meant.
His appeal for clemency had
been refused and he was to be
executed that morning.
So the commandant told him
and then asked, in a voice.that
betrayed emotion, if he had any
thing to say.
“I say goodbye to my moth-
power and utility, but the real
necessity” of diocesan newspa
pers.
In a statement prepared for
publication this week, Bishop
McDonough said, “Our goal is,
as it has been in years past, to
place THE SOUTHERN CROSS
in every Catholic home in our
Diocese.
“There are well over one hun
dred Catholic newspapers in the
United States, almost all of
them much larger than our own.
But none, however excellent, can
accomplish the work of THE
SOUTHERN CROSS, for it, a-
lone has the exclusive role of
making southern Georgia more
Catholic.
“It is dedicated, first of all to
the spiritual good of our Catho
lic people. In its columns, they
will find news of some of the
most momentous changes that
have ever swept through the
Catholic Church.
And they will find that news
presented with a view to help
ing our people to understand
those changes, and what they
can and should mean in the life
of every Catholic.
“They will find information a-
bout activities of the Church
throughout our Diocese, our
country and the world. If they
are regular and faithful readers,
er,” the youth answered.
The bonze moved forward to
recite some Buddhist prayers.
The commandant asked the pris
oner if he wanted this. He gave
no answer.
“We have here present a
bonze and a Catholic Father,”
the commandant said. “Which of
them do you choose?”
“I choose the Father,” the
youth said.
Father Tran van Thong thank
ed God inwardly. Since the pre
vious afternoon, he and the
members of the prison Legion
of Mary praesidium had been
praying for the conversion of
the condemned prisoner. At his
trial the youth had declared that
he had no religion.
Time - was short now. The
priest spoke briefly to the young
man to prepare him for bap
tism. Then he baptized him in
the cell, giving him the name
of Peter.
At 5:20 a.m. the military po
lice brought the prisoner, hand
cuffed, to the closed Valkswagen
prison van that was to take him
to the execution place beside
Saigon central market. Father
Tran van Thong went with him
in the vah, talking to him con
solingly about God and listening
to his wishes regarding his fam
ily.
With bandaged eyes, tied to a
stake in front of stacked sand
bags, the youth faced the firing
squad. The priest was the last to
leave his side and the first to
reach him after he fell.
“He met death calmly, not
like others who shouted abuse
just before they were shot,’ ’the
chaplain said.
The youth was a native of a
they cannot help but become
better informed Catholics.
“But, most importantly, THE
SOUTHERN CROSS is a real
and integral part of the mission
of the Church to teach the sav
ing doctrines of our Holy Faith
to her children.
“Our paper is dedicated, also,
to the spiritual good of every
person living within the bounds
of Savannah. Much wonderful
work can be done, by way of
bringing a knowledge of the
Catholic Church to others, if our
Catholic people pass on, to those
who are willing to read it, their
used copies of THE SOUTHERN
CROSS — or, better still, enter
a subscription to our paper for
their interested non - Catohlic
friends.
“I earnestly urge continued
and increased financial support
for our paper and continued
prayers that the apostolate of
the Catholic Press in the Dio
cese of Savannah may produce
much fruit for the Kingdom of
Our Divine Lord.”
The annual subscription cam
paign comes at the end of “Cath
olic Press Month” which has as
its theme the words of Pope
Paul VI, “Your Catholic Press
. . . mirror of the world . . .
telling things as they are . . .
in truth”.
southern province close to Sai
gon. He was a student in his
second last year in the nonde-
nominational Hung Dao secon
dary school. This school ,which
has some 9,000 enrolled of whom
2,000 are Catholics, has a Bud
dhist principal. Of the 260 teach
ers, about 50 are Catholics and
these included three priests as
part-time instructors. One .of the
priests assists the principal in
the administration. None of the
priests had had any contact with
the lad who was executed.
He was regarded as a serious
student. The teachers apparent
ly never noticed him engaged in
any questionable activities.
He was another of Vietnam’s
countless thousands of youths for
whom Buddhism has no vital
meaning, who seek desperately
for an answer to life’s problems
and for whom communist agents
are always on the alert.
In that last hour before daw»
he found the answer.
He was only a few months old
when his father, a member of
the Cao Daist sect, was killed
by communists in 1945. He had
a tubercular brother and his mo
ther is in bad health. He family
was poor. It was hard to scrape
up enough money to pay for his
lodging while at school in Sai
gon. He had hoped to get an
education so he could keep the
rest of his family as well as
support himself.
He said at the trial a woman
had asked him to carry the case
containing explosives wi t h o u t
telling him what was in it. He
said he was unaware what its
contents were.
He was another of Vietnam!#
countless thousands of youths for
whom Buddhims has no vital
‘‘meaning”, who seek desperate
ly for an answer to life’s prob
lems.
The Very Rev. Vincent Shep-
phard, O.S.B., president of St.
Bernard’s College, Cullman, Ala.,
will be the celebrant of the Sa
cred Liturgy in the Oriental
Rite at the Cathedral of St. John
the Baptist Sunday morning at
8:30 A.M.
The Mass will be the high
light of the annual Catholic
Youth Convention which will at
tract more than 500 delegates,
alternates, members, adult ad
visors and parish moderators
this weekend.
A busy schedule will also in
clude a Bible Service, Work
shops on anti-poverty measures,
election of Diocesan officers for
1965 and awards for outstanding
contributions to the cause of
Catholic youth.
Sessions will be held at the
Gymnasium of Blessed Sacra
ment Church with registration
at 11 A.M. on Feb. 20th. The
first session will begin with a
Bible Service and address of
welcome by the Most Reverend
Thomas J. McDonough at 1:30
P.M.
During the Plenary Session
and Workshop to run from 2
P.M. to 4 P.M., the speaker will
be Mr. Anton Vlcek, Executive
Director of the Bethesda-Savan-
nah Children’s Center. The hold
er of a Masters Degree in So
cial Science, Mr. Vleck will pre
sent suggestions on ways in
which the youth of the Diocese
can implement provisions of the
Federal anti - poverty program,
as well as reports on projects,
undertaken by CYO groups to
help the poor.
Election of Diocesan officers
will take place at 4 P.M., with
each parish CYO entitled to two
voting delegates.
The convention will close with
the presentation of awards for
outstanding service in the cause
of Catholic youth. Awards will
be made to both CYO members
and adult advisors.
CYO members will receive the
medal “Eagle of the Cross”.
Outstanding adult advisors will
be presented the “Pro Deo at
Juventute” medal.
General Chairman of the con
vention is the Rev. Herbert J.
Wellmeier, Diocesan Director of
Catholic Youth.
HEADLINE
fj HOPSCOTCH
jlttlK-*
NATION
Refuse First Graders
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (NC)—Two Indianapolis parish schools
ill refuse first graders next September. The Catholic School Office
; re estimated 200 potential first girders will be turned away from
ith St. Simon and St. Gabriel parish schools. Announcement of
e action was made (Feb. 14) at the parish churches.
EUROPE
Reds Try Priests
BONN, Germany (NC)—Hungary’s communist rulers are ex
ited to bring six imprisoned Jesuit priests to trial during Feb-
iry on charges that they conspired with priests from Western
intries against the Hungarian government. The six are Fathers
izef Balint, Elemir Rozsa, Peter Gerepes, Joszef Dombi, Imre
•rlin and Sander Takes, according to the German Catholic news
sney, KNA.
VATICAN
Vatican Bombing
VATICAN CITY—A potrion of a heavy wooden door at the
Guard barracks at the edge of Vatican City was destroyed by
rrii L l ; \11 r* r»f 1 V) 1
BAPTIZED BEFQBE EXECUTION
“I Choose*The Father,”
Says Doomed Terrorist