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SERVING 88 SOUTH - GEORGIA COUNTIES
The Southern Cross
DIOCESE OF SAVANNAH NEWSPAPER
Vol 49 No. 21
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SAVANNAH, GEORGIA, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12, 1968
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IN CHURCH TODAY
‘Trust In Christ
To Calm StormJ
Pope Paul Says
VATICAN CITY (NC) — Pope Paul VI has said
that although the Church seems to be demolishing
itself, he will not take any sensational action but will
trust to Christ to calm the storm.
He called himself a
“signum contradictionis” --a
sign of contestation or
contradiction.
The Pope made these
declarations in what the
Vatican City daily
L’Osservatore Romano called
a “conversation” with
seminarians from his own
region of Italy, Lombardy.
He received seminarians and
superiors of Rome’s Lombard
College in the so-called
Throne Room (Dec. 7).
The account in
L’Osservatore was, for the
most part, apparently a
paraphrase. It said that, after
describing himself as a “sign
of contestation,” the Pope
proceeded:
“The Church finds itself in
an hour of disquiet, of
self-criticism, one might even
say of self-demolition. It is
like an interior upheaval,
interior, acute and complex,
that no one had expected
after the (Second Vatican)
Council. It was thought there
would be a flowering, a
serene expansion of the
concepts ripened in the great
conciliar assembly.
“There is indeed this
aspect in the Church, there is
a flowering. But because
‘bonum ex Integra causa,
malum ex quocumque
defectu’ (good stems from a
flawless cause, evil from any
flaw), lately we have noted
the painful aspect more. The
Church almost has come to
strike itself.”
Here L’Osservatore
appeared to give an actual
quotation from the Pope:
“We will allow you to read to
the very bottom of our soul
and see therein the two
sentiments that stand in our
heart before this tumult
which touches the Church
and, as is natural, beats
mainly on the Pope.”
L’Osservatore continued:
“A sentiment of joy, to be
made worthy of suffering for
the name of Jesus. The trials
are difficult and sometimes
hard. But (here L’Osservatore
apparently gave a direct
quote) “the reality of our
priesthood leads us to bless
the Lord for these trials.”
“Many expect from the
Pope sensational gestures,
energetic and decisive
interventions. The Pope does
not hold that he must follow
any other line than that of
confidence in Jesus Christ, on
whom more than on any
other, His Church depends. It
will be He who will calm the
storm.”
HEADLINE
HOPSCOTCH
Christmas Mass
WASHINGTON (NC) — The 10:30 a.m. Mass on Christmas at
the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception here will be
telecast on the nationwide network of the American
Broadcasting Company (ABC). Principal concelebrant will be
Bishop Joseph L. Bernardin, general secretary, United States
Catholic Conference, who will also preach the sermon.
Tri-Faith Housing
NEW YORK (NC) — Catholic, Portestant and Jewish leaders
took part in the dedication of a new middle-income cooperative
housing development here sponsored by clergy, parishioners and
congregations of the three faiths. Known as Tri-Faith House and
located in the Yorkville section of Manhattan, the development
provides housing for 148 families, most of them displaced by
public or private demolition of their former homes. It was built
with tax abatement and below-market interest assistance
provided by the city through the Housing and Development
Administration.
S. AMERICA
Priests Defended
RIO DE JANEIRO — In a statement on the arrest (Nov. 29)
of three French Assumptionist priests in Belo Horizonte for
“subversive activity,” the Brazilian Bishops’ Conference said
that “by particpating in the over-all promotion and
development of the human person the Church is not going
beyond her specific religious mission.” The Brazilian army has
charged that the three priests, together with pro-Red China
groups were fostering armed, violent revolution. The priests,
however, have denied that charge and said that they were trying
only to help the people help themselves.
MONSIGNOR McNAMARA HONORED - For his 20-year span of service to servicemen’s
organizations in the Savannah area, Monsignor T. James McNamara, rector emeritus of the
Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, received a special USO Board of Governors Award at ceremonies
held Tuesday. Presenting certificate is David M. Robinson, USO regional executive. Father
Lawrence A. Lucree, rector of the Cathedral, is standing at the left with Don Latore, local USO
executive director, in the center and local Council Chairman R. E. Evans at the right.
(Staff photo by Bob Ward)
BUT BISHOPS WAN 1II
Governor Reagan Rejects
NLRA For Farm Workers
BY GERARD E. SHERRY
SACRAMENTO, Calif.
(NC) — Gov. Ronald Reagan
of California has rejected as
“unwise” the application of
the principles of the National
Labor Relations Act to
farming, but urged legislators
and the public to seek other
ways of improving the lot of
farm workers.
The governor said that,
beyond providing for
government certification of a
union and requiring employer
and union representatives to
bargain to a conclusion, “the
NLRA does nothing.”
“It is self-evident,” Reagan
said, “that crop perishability
and weather factors
reduce-or perhaps entirely
eliminate-any chance of
achieving a balance of union
and farmer bargaining power
so necessary to reach fair
decisions and avoid loss of
food and fibre in the public
interest.
workers under the National
Employment Insurance
program.
The Rev. James Drake, an
official of the United Farm
Workers Organizing
Committee of Delano and an
assistant to farm worker
leader Cesar Chavez, deplored
Reagan’s statement of farm
problems, declaring that it
was too generalized and
“mostly double-talk.”
He charged that state
officials have failed to study
all sides of the problem and
seem wedded to the views of
the farmers and growers.
“The farm workers do not
have a voice to be heard in
the governor’s mansion.” he
said.
Reagan also rejected the
idea that the NLRA could be
applied at least to
“corporate” farming or
“large” farmers. He said it
was “an obvious fallacy” to
propagate this line of
reasoning.
harvested, or they die
whether the farm is
incorporated or
unincorporated, or whether
the farm is large or small.” He
added:
‘‘Having found
unacceptable the view that
the NLRA should be applied
to farming, I will point out
that in California we believe
that it is not enough for
farmers to say that price
increases are hard to come
by, thus improvements in
wages and conditions for
farm workers must lag behind
those of industrial workers.
“If some form of NLRA
for agriculture is not in the
public interest, neither is a
different economic status for
farm workers in the public
interest. Thus, our citizens
generally and our legislators
particularly must be more
diligent, more imaginative
and more aggressive in
seeking ways to improve the
well-being of seasonal farm
labor.”
STUDENTS DOWN-TEACHERS UP
Diocese Reports
8,120 Pupils In
Catholic Schools
A report released by Father Relph E. Seikel, Superintendent of Diocesan Schools
shows that 8,120 pupils are enrolled in Catholic schools of the diocese in grades
from kindergarten through high school. 634 are kindergarten youngsters, 5,816 are
in grades one through eight in 21 paraochial schools, and 1,670 attend the six
Catholic high schools in the diocese. They are being taught by a total of 313 priests,
Religious and lay teachers. The report indicates that of the total of 8,120 students
presently enrolled 1,495 are not Catholics.
Enrollment figures for
1968-69 relfect the
downward trend in many, if
not most, Catholic school
systems today. According to
Father Seikel’s report, this
year’s Catholic school
population is down 301 over
the past ten years and down
1,348 from the peak year of
1963-64 when 9,468 students
attended diocesan schools.
But if the pupil trend has
been downward, the faculty
trend has been upward. There
are presently 313 teachers on
Catholic school staffs as
against 221 ten years ago.
Figures for the school year
1958-59 were 11 priests, 155
Religious and 55 lay teachers.
That number has jumped to
16 priests, 158 Religious and
139 lay teachers this year.
Elementary and high
schools both showed large
increases in faculty over a ten
year period. High school
teachers increased from 53 in
1958 to 94 while elementary
school and kindergarten
faculty members increased
from 168 ten years ago to
219 today.
The report also shows that
boys outnumber girls on both
the elementary and high
school levels. There are 4,106
boys and 3,993 girls.
While overall figures for
the twelve grades show a
declining enrollment, all high
schools in the diocese were
up in population from 1958.
Two -- Pacelli High School in
Columbus and St. Vincent’s
Academy in Savannah
presently have smaller
enrollments than they had in
1963-64. But the other four --
Aquinas High of Augusta, Mt.
de Sales of Macon,
Bendicttine of Savannah and
Pius X of Savannah all
showed an increase in size
over the past five years.
Present school student
enrollment as shown in the
report is as follows: St.
Teresa’s, Albany -- 344;
Immacylate Conception,
Augusta -- 292; Sacred Heart,
Augusta -- 220; St.
Mary’s-on-the-Hill, Augusta --
537; St. Francis Xavier,
Brunswick -- 297; St. Anne’s,
Columbus -- 303; Our Lady
of Lourdes, Columbus -- 220;
St. Joseph’s, Macon -- 291;
St. Peter Claver, Macon --
192.
Blessed Sacrament,
Savannah -- 515; Cathedral,
Savannah -- 204; Nativity,
Savannah -- 248; Sacred
Heart, Savannah -- 175; St.
IN COLUMBUS
According to a report in
he Columbus Ledger,
Catholic women of the area
have collected $800 for food
for Biafra.
The Ledger story quotes
Mrs. Howard J. Stiles of the
International Affairs
Commission of the Columbus
Deanery Council of Catholic
Women as saying the money
came from offerings and
special collections taken on
Sunday, December 1st, at the
four Catholic churches in
Columbus.
The effort was sponsored
by the Parish Councils of the
Columbus Deanery and the
funds will be channeled
through a Catholic relief
agency to buy high protein
food for starving Biafrans,
Anthony’s, Savannah (4
grades) - 80; St. Benedict’s,
Savannah - 361; St. James,
Savannah - 574; St. Mary’s,
Savannah -- 295; St.
Michael’s, Savannah Beach --
114; St. John’s Valdosta --
205; Sacred Heart, Warner
Robins - 253; St. Joseph’s,
Way cross -- 114.
1968-69 High School
enrollment is:
Aquinas, Augusta - 497;
Pacelli, Columbus - 157; Mt.
deSales, Macon -- 245;
Benedictine, Savannah -- 324;
Pius X, Savannah -- 174; St.
Vincent’s, Savannah -- 273.
Mrs. Stiles said.
Special offerings were
taken during Mass at the
Church of the Holy Family
and St. Anne’s while
churchwomen stood at the
doors and asked donations
after each Mass at Our Lady
of Lourdes and at St.
Benedict Church.
Friday preceding Sunday’s
drive, the Council showed a
film of a Biafran refugee
camp with the camera
focusing on the stages
through which Biafrans pass
before death by starvation.
The film was shown by the
Rev. Thomas McCarthy,
former missionary-priest in
eastern Nigeria and now at St.
Teresa’s Church in Albany.
$800 Raised
For Biafrans
BY A. FORCE CHIEF CHAPLAIN
High Spiritual Caliber
Of Servicemen Lauded
“It is clear that the farmer
has very little bargaining
power at harvest time and
when other critical operations
must be performed because
of season and weather
factors.”
The California governor’s
stand on the NLRA is in
opposition to the frequent
urgings of the Catholic
bishops of California and
more recently the Catholic
bishops of the United States,
who, at their fall meeting in
Washington, requested
Congress to enact legislation:
(1) To include farm
workers under the National
Labor Relations Act;
(2) To include farm
workers more effectively
under a national minimum
wage which would ensure
them a decent standard of
living; and
(3) To include farm
“Cattle must be fed,” he
said, “perishable corps must
be tended, watered and
Reagan asserted that
California leads in assuring
(Continued on Page 5)
BY FR. PATRICK
J. BURKE, S.S.C.
SMGON (NC) - High
tribute to the spiritual caliber
of the American armed forces
in Vietnam was paid by Msgr.
(Maj. Gen.) Edwin R. Chess,
chief of U.S. Air Force
chaplains, on a visit to four
air bases in this country.
Msgr. Chess cited
improvements in broadening
the ministry of American
military chaplains and their
“wide variety of approaches
to serve the people.”
At the Phu Cat air base
Msgr. Chess pinned the
Bronze Star on Father (Maj.)
Jospeh W. Ariano of the
Omaha archdiocese,
installations chaplain at the
base. Father Ariano, who is
departing from Vietnam after
a year’s duty, was cited for
displaying “outstanding
ability in the total leadership
of religious activities designed
to benefit the spiritual needs
of combat troops.”
Summarizing his
impressions at the end of his
tour here, Msgr. Chess said he
was greatly gratified at the
increase in Mass attendance
and the reception of
Communion as a result of the
various pastoral activities and
approaches described to him.
“I also note the receptivity
of the faithful,” Msgr. Chess
said. “They accept the new
approach to get people active
in the daily practice of their
religion. I am amazed at the
way the theme of family life
has been implemented and
used by married as well as
single men. The spiritual
enrichment program is
worthwhile to the returnee in
preparing for his return. It is
almost an informal retreat
with letters to wives to
prepare each other for a
meaningful marriage.”
Msgr. Chess also praised
the leadership of
commanding officers, some
of whom, he said, are daily
communicants.
“I cannot help but be
impressed with the priests,
with their own updating,” he
said. “They are well read and
conversant. The younger
priests here lack identity with
the dissidents back home.”
New Mailing
Addresses
Effective January, 1, 1969, all Departments of the
Diocese of Savannah will have new mailing addresses.
Communications to the Bishop’s Office, Chancery,
Vicar General, Diocesan Comptroller, Superintendent
of Schools and Matrimonial Tribunal should be sent
to P. 0. Box 8789, Savannah, Ga. 31402.
New mailing address for The Southern Cross will
be P.O. Box 10027, Savannah, Ga. 31402.
Mail for the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist
should be sent to P.O. Box 8307, Savannah, Georgia
31402.