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AGED CROSSBEARER leads Corpus Christi Proces
sion (June 17) around church courtyard in Yugoslavia.
Street processions are banned in the Red ruled nation.
JESUP PRIESTS KIN
Father Loftus
Heads Servites
FLORENCE, Italy (NC)—Fa
ther Joseph M. Loftus, O.S.M ,
an American, has been elected
prior general of the Servites
of Mary.
A close relative to Father
John Loftus, pastor of Saint Jo
seph’s Church, Jesup, the newly
elected servite head is no stran
ger to the Georgia Missions. He
was the house guest of the Jesup
pastor when Father Loftus headed
the Statesboro parish of St. Mat
hew’s.
At the time of his election
at the Servite general meeting—
held here under the presidency
of Archbishop Paul Philippe, O
P., secretary of the Congregation
of Religious—Father Loftus was
superior of the Servite’s Ameri
can province of the Seven Sor
rows.
He succeeds Father Alphonse
Monta, OS.M., who had held
the highest post in the 1,750-
member order for two successive
six-year terms.
Father Loftus was born in Chi
cago on Nov. 9, 1921. He entered
the Servites in 1940, studied phil
osophy at Stonebridge priory in
Chicago and theology in Rome.
He taught philosophy at Stone-
bridge until 1953 when he was
transferred to Benburg Priory
in Ireland where he taught the
same subject. He later became
master of young clerics at his
orders international seminary in
Louvain, Belgium.
RED ANTI-SEMITISM
Priest Blasts
Soviet Policy
WASHINGTON (NC)~A Catho
lic priest, speaking at a mass
protest meeting attended by about
1,000 persons, called on the So
viet Union to change its policy
toward the Jews in its country—
a group, he said, which is in
“the throes of spiritual and cul
tural genocide.”
Father Edward H. Flannery,
editor of the Providence (R.I.)
Visitor, told the rally at Howard
University (June 9) that, all de
nials to the contrary, the USSR
is carrying on an anti-Jewish
campaign started in Russia under
the czars.
“According to the Marxist dia
lectics, anti-Semitism was to
disappear on the basis that the
Jews would disappear as a dis
tinct ethnical and religious group
in the development of the dic
tatorship of the proletariat,” he
said.
“It soon became clear that the
Bolshevists’ much-propagan
dized opposition to aftiti-Semitism
was inspired of the principle that
Jews were to be allowed to sur
vive physically in order that they
might swell the ranks of com
munism’s classless and faceless
society, that the Jew’s body was
to be saved so that his soul
might be liquidated.”
Father Flannery said all re
ligions have suffered under the
Soviets, but that Jews have
suffered more than others. He
said they have not been allowed
to form central organizations,
to use their language for litur
gical services, or to publish
books.
St. John’s University, Jamai
ca, N.Y., the nation’s largest
Catholic university, last week
honored Bishop Thomas J. Mc
Donough with the honorary degree
of Doctor of Humane Letters.
Bishop McDonough received
the award Sunday, June 13 at the
university’s 95th annual com
mencement exercises.
On Saturday, June 12, he de
livered the sermon at the Bac
calaureate Mass, citing for a
graduation class of 2,438 both
the dangers of a “frightened
world” and the wisdom and
emotional stability required to
cope with them, and calling for
foresight and courage on the part
of Catholics as they face the
problems of a world “frightened”
and “grasping for an ideal”.
Bishop McDonough was one
of eight distinguished represen
tatives of government, church and
the professions receiving hono
rary degrees from St. John’s.
Peace Corps Director and OEO
head, R. Sargent Shriver and the
Vatican’s Permanent Observer to
the UN, Rt. Rev. Msgr. Alberto
Giovazetti also received Doctor
of Humane Letters degrees.
t
Eugene F. O’Neill, Director of
Bell Telephone’s Overseas Com
munications Laboratory was
awarded an honorary Doctor of
Science degree.
Receiving the honorary de
gree of Doctor of Laws was
Harol A. Stevens, Justice of the
N.Y. State Supreme Court’s Ap
pellate Division.
The University also honored
three others, including authoress
Phyllis McGinley with honorary
Doctor of Literature degrees.
In his baccalaureate sermon,
Bishop McDonough warned grad
uates that they face a “time
not devoid of danger; free of
decision; exempt from the exer
cise of courage.”
But, he said, “through the past
score of years you have readied,
yourself’ for the task.
“The church has resolutely
been at your side,” he said,
“in your Catholic families you
learned the humility...the bed
rock upon which you will build.
In the formative years of your
education, the beginnings of wis
dom and respect for... the Church
were implanted in your minds...
For as long as you can remember,
the Church has cared for you,
prepared you, sanctified you...
for your place among the people
of God.
Bishop McDonough character
ized the modern world as “frigh
tened by the prospect of its own
power, frightened by the evil it
sees within itself” and said it is
“grasping for an ideal about
which to mold its future.”
It is a world awakening from
childhood, sensing “the full im
pact of its adolescence” and
groping toward maturity, he said.
The world’s maturity, he de
clared, depends upon the proper
exercise of freedom and respon
sibility.
He emphasized the Church’s
role “to counsel, teach and en
courage the new, emerging
world, telling the graduates that
the church “demands of you a
maturity seldom required of a
class of University graduates,
so that you may impart the les
son of freedom to a floundering
generation.
The Bishop called for the wis
dom “to discriminate between
the changing and the changeless;
to see the real worth of society
and yet humbly acknowledge its
defects...the foresight to sort
out what must be changed, and
what could be changed, and the
courage to concentrate our en
ergies upon...essential prob
lems, rather than...upon ephe
meral ones.”
He pointed out, for the
graduates, a parallel between
their place and that of St. John
the Evangelist “among the holy
people of God.”
“He was young, as you are,”
he said. “Into his hands was
thrust a challenge to help a
, tired world, suffering from ex
haustion born of its own con
fusion - a challenge not unlike
your own.
“He succeeded, because in
spite of his youth he was filled
with the wisdom which begets
maturity.”
Celebrant for the Bacca
laureate Mass was the Very Rev
erend Edward J. Bourke, C M.,
president of the University. He
was assisted by Rev. Carl Grin-
del, C.M.; Rev. Frederick J.
Easterly, C.M.; Rev. Daniel P
Munday, C.M. and Rev. Vincent
J. Nugent, C.M.
Referring to the success of the
U.S. Peace Corps effort and its
popularity overseas, he proposed
formation of an international edu
cation center “which would take
the experience of the Peace Corps
abroad and apply it to America.”
“Here in the world’s largest
cosmopolitan center we certainly
ought to be able to create a
program through which foreign
students and their American
counterparts, especially return
ed Peace Corps volunteers, could
live and work and learn toget
her.”
St. John’s University is oper
ated by priest of the Congre
gation of the Missions, popu
larly known as Vincentain
Fathers, after their founder, St.
Vincent de Paul.
He cited the ever-increasing
number of applications to Saint
John’s, the tremendous help this
diocese has received from many
Northern bishops and the Diocese
of Cork in Ireland, the presence,
even now, of Father Kevin Bo
land in Ireland to procure more
Irish vocations for Georgia, and
the excellence of those young men
presently studying for the dio
cese as good examples of God’s
providence and paternal kind
ness.”
BISHOP McDONOUGH received an honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Let
ters from St. John’s University at the University’s 95th Annual Commencement
on Sunday, June 13. He also delivered the baccalaureate sermon to open St.
John’s Commencement weekend. Here he is shown with Very Rev. Edward J.
Burke, C.M., President of St. John’s and Most Rev. Bryan J. McEntegart, Bishop
of Brooklyn. (Routel Studio)
VOCATIONS OUTLOOK BRIGHT
The seven graduates are: Ran
dy Abrain, from Columbus; Pat
rick Brady, Norbert Lain, and
James Overstreet from Savan
nah; and James Faughnan,
John B. Rhodes, and John Scher
er from Augusta. Those con
tinuing their studies, will enter
Saint Charles College in Sep
tember. They follow in the foot
steps of Saint John Seminary’s
ten previous graduates, three of
whom (Nicklaus Minden, Ronald
Pachence, and Joseph Rau) will
soon begin their major seminary
training, also in September.
SEMINARY GRADUATION — Bishop McDonough is shown here with St. John
Vianney Seminary graduates (left to right) : James Overstreet, Randy Abrain,
John Scherer, James Faughnan, John B. Rhodes, Norbert Lain, Patrick Brady.
(Staff Photo by Bob Ward)
Bishop Praises Parents
At Seminary Graduation
Calling the priesthood a“won-
. derful gift of God,” Bishop Mc-
donough speaking at graduation
ceremonies for seven St. John
Vianney Seniors, deplored the
attitude of “some Catholic pa-
* rents”.
They seem to be overjoyed at
prospect of increased voca-
s to the priesthood in our dio
cese, but are not particularly
happy when God sends His call
to their own sons.”
“The parents of our grad
uates,” he went on to say,
“should be highly praised, for
they exemplify the Catholic laity
without whom this diocese could
never hope to prosper in the
Faith, and whose constant help
and encouragement makes the
work of their priests so much
less burdensome, so much more
rewarding...”
Saint John Vianney Minor
Seminary’s third graduating
class completed its high school
education Saturday, June 5, with
commencement ceremonies at
Blessed Sacrament Church in
Savannah. Six of the seven grad
uates will continue their semi
nary training at Saint Charles
College inCatonsville,Maryland.
The entire ceremony was
highlighted by the Sacrifice of
the Mass, concelebrated by His
Excellency, Bishop McDonough,
with ten pastors of the Savannah
area.
The Rt. Rev. Monsignor An
drew J. McDonald delivered the
sermon, and Father Lawrence
Lucree and Father Joseph Stranc
were chaplains.
Outlining the progress of the
diocese’s vocational promotion
program, the Bishop emphasized
the fact that “while there were
only twenty diocesan priests in
1957, there are now thirty-five”.
“Prospects for the future are
even brighter,” he continued.
“If all our seminarians presently
in the- last five years of study
continue, the Diocese of Savan
nah will have an additional forty-
three priests by 1970.”
KtiyjJ
HEADLINE /■*
HOPSCOTCH \ t
NATION
Chicago See Filled
His Holiness, Pope Paul VI has named the Most Rev. John p. Cody,
Archbishop of New Orleans as Archbishop of Chicago. Archbishop
Cody succeeds Albert Cardinal Meyer, who died on April 9th.
Announcement of the appointment was made by Archbishop Egidio
Vagnozzi, Apostolic Delegate.
VATICAN
Vatican And Gemni IV
VATICAN CITY—The U.S. Gemini-4 space flight was hailed as a
universal victory of science and solid hope for peace by L’Os-
servatore Romano, Vatican City daily. “Responsible, reflective man,”
» e paper said, “will never be able to look upon this victory,
Ihieved of mechanical forces over resistences of the earth and
over man’s own weight, without arousing within himself a religious
. act; that is to say, without giving thoughts to God who has infused
so much dignity and power into the mind and free will of man.”
S. AMERICA
End Social Justice?
GUATEMALA CITY—The Guatemala Constituent Assembly has
been asked by a committee of planters, bankers and businessmen
to delete the words “social justice” from the country’s proposed
constitution. The committee argues that the' phrase is an “am
biguous concept which can lead to misinterpretation and trouble
at a later date.” The businessmen also asked that the constitution’s
chapter dealing with labor eliminate a fund of money for laid-off
workers and modify the wording of a clause on profit sharing.
SERVING 88 SOUTH GEORGIA COUNTIES
Vol. 46, No
NEWSPAPER DIOCESE OF SAVANNAH
SAVANNAH, GEORGIA, THURSDAY" JUNE 17, 1965
BY ST. JOHN’S UNIVERSITY
Doctor Of Letters
Degree Awarded To
Bishop Of Savannah
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$5 Per Year
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