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The Southern Cross
DIOCESE OF SAVANNAH NEWSPAPER
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Vol. 48, No. 44
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SAVANNAH, GEORGIA, THURSDAY, MAY 16, 1968
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COMMITTEES MEET
Sav. Pastoral
Council Holds
Macon Session
Members of the Savannah Diocesan Pastoral Council met in a
day-long session, last Saturday in Macon, with St. Joseph’s
parish hosting the meeting.
The days activities began at 7:00 a.m., with Mass, and
continued until 4:00 p.m.
Bishop Gerard L. Frey,
Council President, explained
the goals and functions of the
Pastoral Council, after which
the group divided into their
respective committees for the
balance of the morning.
The first afternoon session
was devoted to a discussion
on vocations. Very Reverend
William V. Coleman, Rector
of St. John Vianney
Seminary, presented his
thoughts on vocations, after
which possible steps for an
increase in the number of
vocations were presented.
The Rev. John Cuddy,
Diocesan Superintendent of
Schools, then led a discussion
on the condition of Catholic
elementary schools of the
Diocese. This touched on
problem areas and thoughts
for the future.
The final session of the
day was taken up with a
report on the financial
condition of the Diocese and
the outlook for the remainder
of the year.
The Pastoral Council,
composed of the Bishop, 16
lay members, eight priests,
five Sisters and one Religious
Brother held its
organizational meeting late in
January of this year. It is
divided into the following
seven committees:
Liturgical, Education,
Family Life, Intra-Diocesan
Relations, Social Apostolate,
Ecumenism and Finance.
Members of the various
committees are as follows:
LITURGICAL
COMMITTEE - John Stiles,
Brunswick, Chairman; Rev.
Roy L. Cox, Augusta; Rev.
Thomas Payne, Valdosta,
George Gingell, Columbus.
EDUCATION
COMMITTEE - Rev. Ralph
Seikel, Columbus, Chairman;
Mrs. D. B. Benton, Macon;
Sister M. Gerald, Augusta; J.
Tom Coleman Jr., Savannah;
Phillip Seyfried, Valdosta; Sr.
M. Columbanus, Savannah;
Dr. Prince Jackson, Jr.,
Savannah.
FAMILY LIFE
COMMITTEE — Mrs. Joseph
Dembowski, Warner Robins,
Chairman; Mrs. R. Z. Craig,
Augusta; Rev. Lawrence A.
Lucree, Savannah; M. B.
Krulic, Rocky Ford; Mrs.
William Brown, Augusta; Mrs.
Robert McCormack, Sr.,
Albany.
INTRA-DIOCESAN
RELATIONS COMMITTEE
— Rev. Mario Di Leila,
Thomasville, Chairman;
Mother David Marie,
Savannah; Brother Luke
Driscoll, Augusta; Edward
Fahey, Savannah Beach; J. P.
Meyer, Columbus; John
Stiles, Brunswick.
SOCIAL APOSTOLATE
COMMITTEE - Edward
Fahey, Savannah Beach,
Chairman; Mrs. Ella Williams,
Douglas; Rev. John Sheehan,
(Continued on Page 2)
4 HEADLINE
^ HOPSCOTCH \J
DIOCESE
40th Anniversary
Msgr. Herman J. Diemel pastor of Augusta’s St. Patrick’s
Church, was honored by members of his parish on May 14th,
the 40th Anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood.
NATION
Ex-Convicts
NEWARK, N. J. (NC)-The Mt. Carmel Guild, social welfare
agency of the Newark archdiocese, helped find gainful
employment for 57 former convicts last year. The guild has
been working with former prisoners for nine years, helping them
to make new places for themselves in society.
S. AMERICA
Rector Threatened
PERNAMBUCO, Brazil (NC)-Students at the Catholic
University here have threatened the life of the rector, Father
Geraldo Freitas, S. J., because of his decision to raise tuition
rates. The conflict has been going on since the beginning of this
year. Since March the students have refused to pay tuition and
have threatened to throw a bomb into a university building if
the rector does not lower the tuition. During the recent visit of
Jesuit superior general Father Pedro Arrupe to the Jesuit-run
university, he was criticized by openly hostile students.
VATICAN
Fatima
VATICAN CITY (NC)—Pope Paul VI joined ceremonies
closing the 50th jubilee of the apparitions of Our Lady at
Fatima (May 13) by speaking in Portuguese over radio to
thousands gathered at the Marian shrine. To his special envoy to
the ceremonies, Pericle Cardinal Felici, 25 bishops and
thousands of pilgrims, the Pope said: “United with you, we ask
of the mother of Christ, as we already have done last year in the
church dedicated to her at Fatima, that by virtue of the Holy
Spirit there may be granted internal peace for the Catholic
Church and external peace for the world, still tormented by
sorrowful conflicts and by conflicting struggles within the
human brotherhood.”
U.S. RIGHTS COMMISSION
POPE TO VISIT BOGOTA — Pope Paul VI is shown as he announced his forthcoming trip to
Bogota, Colombia, where he will attend the Eucharistic Congress in August. His announcement
was made during the course of a general audience at St. Peter’s Basilica. (RNS Photo)
TO BE LONGEST VOYAGE
Pope To Attend Bogota
Eucharistic Congress
VATICAN CITY (NC) -
Pope Paul VI has announced
that he will fly to Bogota,
Colombia, next August to
take part in ceremonies of the
39th International
Eucharistic Congress and the
opening of the general
conference of the bishops of
Latin America.
The papal voyage, which
will be the longest in the
Pope’s five-year reign, was
announced by the Pope
during his Wednesday general
audience (May 8). He
described his trip as being
“very rapid by air and very
brief, two or three days.” at
most.
The Pope’s announcement
put an end to years of
speculation about a trip that
will take him more than
11,000 miles by air round
trip. It will also be the first
time any Pope has visited
Latin America. Immediately
after the closing of the
International Eucharistic
Congress in India in 1964,
speculation stirred over the
possibility that he would
make a similar visit to Bogota
in 1968.
While it was generally
understood for some time
that the Pope wanted to
make such a trip, no
authoritative confirmation
could be issued, because of
the long time lag between
congresses, held every four
years. With his illness and
operation of last November,
the Pope’s ability to make
such a long and strenuous trip
became more questionable.
Previous air trips of the
Pope included visits to the
Holy Land, India, Portugal,
Turkey, and the United
Nations.
In speaking of his new
journey, the Pope spoko of
both the Eucharistic Congress
and the general meeting of all
Latin American bishops. Of
them, he said, “They are two
religious and ecclesial events
of exceptional importance at
which it does not seem that
our humble but personal
presence should be missing
today when the prodigious
means of modern
transportation make it
possible.”
The Pope also made it
clear that his visit is to be
confined to Colombia,
despite a number of pressing
invitations from other Latin
American countries, which
had hoped he would be their
guest while on the
American continent.
Latin
The Pope then turned to
speak of the significance of
his forthcoming voyage. What
does it mean when one says
the Pope is traveling? he
asked. “It signifies above all a
re-acquired freedom of
movement for him which can
be counted as an asset of his
present historical and
political situation. It also
means that the mobility
which is typical of modern
life enters also into the rather
static habits of pontifical life,
which is thereby not entirely
beyond the rhythm of
present human changes.
GOP, Democrats
Warned To Move
On Racial Bias
WASHINGTON (NC) - The U. S. Civil Rights Commission has warned political parties that
they had better move quickly to force their state organizations to give Negroes and members of
other minority groups full participation in every aspect of party affiars.
The report, entitled “Political Participation,” noted that “the integrity of our processes of
government is being questioned as well as its capacity to respond to conditions of economic and
social injustice.
“We may lament the fact
that increasingly protest is
taking place outside our
established political and legal
framework in forms which
frequently are destructive and
self-defeating.”
“But,” said the report,
“our laments are likely to
sound hollow and to be
unavailing if we do not take
steps which will make
possible a response to just
grievances within our
established political and legal
processes.”
The report also warned the
federal government that
unless it strengthens its effort
to provide equal political
participation in the South
immediately, Negroes will not
have achieved a necessary
measure of political power to
maintain their place when
some provisions of the Voting
Rights Act are phased out in
the early 1970s.
The report indicated that
efforts to correct old
wrongs--such as election
district gerrymandering,
harassment of Negro voters
and would-be registrants-are
not enough.
The national political
parties must assume
responsibility also “for taking
affirmative action to secure
participation of Negro
citizens in party processes.”
In other words, voting is
only part of political activity,
the commission said, and
unless all phases are opened
to Negroes--and done
soon-our political prpcess is
in for some trouble.
The commission does not
draw the line at political
action, however.
“The federal government
must assume its share of the
ST. ANTHONY'S. ST. BENEDICT’S
Diocesan Priests To
Administer Parishes
Effective June 15th, the
Diocese of Savannah will
assume the administration of
two Savannah parishes - St.
Benedict’s and St. Anthony’s.
At the same time, the Diocese
will also take over the
administration of St. Pius X
High School.
Bishop Gerard L. Frey, in
an interview with The
Southern Cross, said that the
action was being taken after
careful consideration, “as a
step toward removing a
division which exists between
the White and Neg -
communities.”
He explained, that “years
ago, as was the custom of the
times, separate Negro
churches were established in
the diocese, the majority of
these entrusted to the care of
priests of the Society of
Africian Missions. Although
there is no segregation in the
Church, parishioners of these
parishes are still
predominently Negro. It is
my hope that the staffing of
these churches by Diocesan
priests, on the usual rotating
basis, will help make our
Negro Catholics believe us
when we tell them that no
distinctions are made in their
regard, as far as the Church is
concerned.”
The bishop said he was
greatly impressed with the
work of the priests of the
Society of African Missions -
for their many years of
dedicated service as pastors
and for their excellent work
in the field of Catholic
education.
“For many years, they
have filled the breach,
sending priests to our
diocese,” the bishop
continued, “but thanks to the
blessing of Almighty God, the
diocese now has the
manpower to administer
these parishes and release
these priests for other labors.
I thank the Society, and in
particular Fathers Raymond
Bane, Denis Begley and
Timothy Dwyer, for the
service they have rendered
the Church in this diocese,
over the years, and sincerely
trust we will continue to
benefit from the Society’s
help and experience in the
future.”
responsibility to eliminate
illiteracy and provide
information and assistance
which will enable citizens to
exercise fully the rights and
duties of citizenship,” the
report said.
“And action must be
taken by the government to
overcome problems of
economic dependence, in
recognition of the fact that
citizens will never be truly
free to exercise their political
rights if they must fear the
economic consequences of
their acts.”
The commission round
the Voting Rights Act of
1965 had been very effective.
Since the Act’s passage, more
than 1.28 million Negroes in
11 Southern states have
registered to vote, and an
estimated total of 2.8
million-or 57.2% of the
voting-age population--is now
registered.
In addition, in 1966 and
1967 more than 1,000
Negores sought office in these
Southern states and almost
250 won election.
But the commission
warned that despite these
gains, Negro voters are still
intimidated, candidates are
harassed and two
s t a t es--Alabama and
Mississippi-still attempt to
thwart registration and
political candidacy through a
variety of new laws and
practices.
The commission also
noted that • while the U. S.
Justice Department had
generally contributed to
much of the progress, it still
did not help to the extent it
should under he Jaw, mainly
because of a lack of funds
and staff.
The commission
recommended that a number
of steps be taken to increase
voter registration and to place
Negro poll-watchers and
(Continued on Page 2)
MAY 25th
Ordination For
Rev. Mr. Nijem
The Rev. Mr. Frederick J.
Nijem will be ordained to the
priesthood on Saturday, May
25th, at St. John-the-Evange-
list Church, Valdosta. Bishop
Gerard L. Frey will be the
ordaining prelate.
Son of Mr. and Mrs.
Frederick Nijem, of Valdosta,
the Rev. Mr. Nijem attended
St. John’s School and
Valdosta High School. He
persued his studies for the
priesthood at St. John’s
Seminary, Little Rock, Ark.,
St. Mary’s Seminary, Paca
Street, Baltimore and St.
Mary’s, Roland Park.
The newly ordained priest
will offer his First Solemn
Mass at St. John the
Evangelist Church, Valdosta,
at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, May
26th. Other concelebrants at
the Mass will be: Rev. David
Patterson, Atlanta; Rev.
Patrick Mahon, Rev. Robert
Mattingly, of the Savannah
Diocese; Very Rev. William
V. Coleman, Savannah; Rev.
Mario Di Leila, O.F.M.,
Thomasville, Rev. Thomas
Payne, Valdosta, and the Rev.
Eugene Walsh, St. Mary’s,
Baltimore.
The Rev. Thomas Payne,
pastor of St. John-the-Evan-
gelist, will be Archpriest at
the Ordination rites.
REV. MR. NIJEM
INSIDE STORY
Vatican Financial Body
Pg. 2
Status Of Priests
Pg. 2
Baptists - Catholics Meet ...
Pg. 3
Married Deacons
Pg. 5
State K.C. Convention
Pg. 6