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SERVING 88 SOUTH GEORGIA COUNTIES
The Southern Cross
DIOCESE OF SAVANNAH NEWSPAPER
Vol. 54 No. 10
Thursday, March 8,1973
Single Copy Price — 12 Cents
JESUITS STRESS JEWISH LIFE AND THOUGHT -
The Jesuit magazine America has published a special
issue devoted to contemporary Jewish religious
thought and life, focusing particularly on the late
Jewish theologican Abram Joshua Heschel, whose
portrait appears on the periodical’s cover. An editorial
says that though the death of Rabbi Heschel last
December was the occasion of the issue, the purpose of
the editors went beyond paying tribute to an
outstanding religious thinker. Jewish as well as
Christian authors have contributed to the issue. (RNS
Photo) -
POW Bracelets to Build Peace Monument
SPOKANE, Wash. (NC) - Hundreds
of prisoner of war bracelets, which will
be used to build a memorial to peace,
have been pouring into the office of the
Spokane diocesan Youth Ministry.
The bracelets, each bearing the name
of a prisoner or a man who has been
missing in action in Indochina, have
been worn by Americans as a sign of
concern and support for the servicemen.
Now, with the return of the
prisoners, wearers have wondered what
to do with the bracelets. It was
suggested that the bracelets be gathered
INSIDE STORY
Irish Violence
Pg. 2
'Know Your Faith’
Pg. 5
Movie Ratings
Pg. 6
Cook’s Nook
Pg. 8
together and melted down to build a
monument to lasting brotherhood and
peace.
Sculptor Harold Balasz offered to
design and execute the
monument-free-because he believes
peace should be lasting and that a
reminder is needed. John Tenold of
Spokane Steel Foundry offered to
recycle the bracelets for Balasz’ use.
Father Patrick O’Donnell of the
diocesan Youth Ministry offered his
office as a “receiving station” for
bracelets sent through the mails; his
corps of youth as area “collectors.” He
has received hundreds, from almost all
states.
“A peace monument from the
bracelets is just a fantastic idea,” said
Mrs. Harold Shively of Spokane, whose
son James was recently released in
Hanoi. She said other families of POW’s
agreed.
“I can think of nothing that would
honor the men more-all who have paid
the supreme sacrifice with their lives,
and those who have given many years of
their freedom that peace might be the
realization of many dreams,” Mrs.
Shively said.
Cathy Trembley, sister of a missing
serviceman, said: “I can’t think of a
better use for the bracelets of
homecoming POW’s than a peace
monument honoring all the men .. .”
Cathy’s brother, Lt. Jay Forrest
Trembley, USN, has been missing since
August of 1967.
“As a matter of fact, when the POWs
come home, I can’t imagine them
wanting to see ‘their’ bracelets being
worn, being reminded of this period in
their lives,” she said.
“It’s a different story for the
thousands of Americans wearing
bracelets for the missing in action.
Hundreds still wear the one inscribed
with the name of Lt. Commander Roy
Mayer of Clarkston, Wash. Mayer was
listed by the U.S. Navy as a POW-but
his name was not on the list released by
Hanoi.
“But we are not really discouraged by
this,” Mrs. Joe Mayer, his mother, said.
“We feel certain he is alive somewhere.”
People in such distant spots as Puerto
Rico, Hawaii, Nova Scotia will continue
to wear their bracelet for Mayer’s safe
return.
Organizers here have asked that the
bracelets be worn until a man returns
home. Once this happens, the wearers
are asked to send the bracelets to:
Bracelet Peace Monument, Box 2203,
Spokane, Wash., 99210.
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CROSS?
New Bishop Appointed
For Savannah Diocese
Monsignor Raymond W. Lessard has
-'been named by Pope Paul VI as bishop
of the diocese of Savannah, it was
announced last Monday (March 5) by
Monsignor Francesco DeNittis, charge
d’affairs at the office of the Apostolic
Delegate in the United States.
Bishoj)-elect Lessard succeeds
Bishop Gerard L. Frey who was
transferred to Layfayette, Louisiana last
November.
Monsignor Lessard, 42, is a native of
Oakwood, North Dakota and the son of
Mr. and Mrs. Victor A. Lessard. He has a
sister, Mrs. Charles Smith of Longview,
Washington.
After attending elementary and high
schools in North Dakota, he entered St.
Paul’s Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota
and was ordained at the North
American College in Rome, Italy,
December 16,1956.
His first assignment was at St. Mary’s
Cathedral in Fargo, where he served as
assistant rector from 1956 to 1960.
While there he was also a teacher at
Shanley High School from 1957 to
1960.
He was named personal Secretary to
the late Cardinal Aloysius Muench in
1960 and went to Rome to work with
the Cardinal where he was serving on
the Roman Curia.
In 1962 he was assigned as chaplain
to Salvator Mundi Hospital in Rome and
later that same year became the
Assistant Superior at the graduate
school of the North American College.
He was named by Pope Paul VI to the
staff of the Sacred Congregation of
Bishops in 1964 and has served in that
capacity ever since.
At the time of his appointment to the
Savannah diocese he was still living in
Rome, but expects to return to the
United States early in April.
No date has been set for his episcopal
ordination and installation, but
bishop-elect Lessard has informed
Father J. Kevin Boland, diocesan
administrator, that he would like to
have the ordination and installation
ceremonies at Savannah’s Cathedral of
St. John the Baptist soon after Easter.
Statement by
Fargo Bishop
Bishop-elect Raymond W. Lessard
HEADLINE
HOPSCOTCH
Talks at 170 Churches
PEORIA, Ill. (NC) - Thanks to a miracle of modern technology Bishop Edward W.
O’Rourke was able to preach at all the Masses in all 170 parishes of the Peoria diocese
on the Sunday before Lent. The diocese’s 214,000 Catholics were able to hear their
bishop speak via a tape recorded message that replaced his traditional written lenten
pastoral letter.
Birth Rate Down
Bishop Justin A. Driscoll, of Fargo,
issued the following statement after
being informed of the appointment of
Monsignor Raymond W. Lessard, a
priest of the Fargo diocese, as Bishop of
Savannah:
The Holy Father, Pope Paul VI, has
honored the Diocese of Fargo in
choosing one of its outstanding priests,
Monsignor Raymond W. Lessard, as the
new Bishop of the Diocese of Savannah
in Georgia.
I join Bishop Dworschak, his parents,
relatives, and friends of the entire
Diocese and beyond in congratulating
Bishop-elect Lessard on being elected
for this position of service to God and
to the people of God in the Diocese of
Savannah.
This appointment marks the fourth
priest of the Fargo Diocese to be named
by the Holy Father to the office of
Bishop. In 1940 the late Vincent J.
Ryan was named Bishop of Bismarck;
and in 1946 Bishop Leo F. Dworschak,
retired Bishop of Fargo, was selected for
the office of Bishop, and in 1945 the
late William T. Mulloy was appointed
the Bishop of Covington, Kentucky.
I am confident Bishop-elect Lessard’s
outstanding talents and priestly zeal will
eminently qualify him for the
responsibilities he will assume as the
spiritual servant of the people of God of
the Diocese of Savannah. Our Best
wishes and prayerful felicitations
accompany him.
Washington (NC) - The birth and fertility rates in the United States reached a
record low in 1972, according to data released by the National Center for Health
Statistics, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare.
Fertility rates dropped from 2.28 children per family in 1971 to 2.03 in 1972, well
below the 2.1 figure generally accepted as the “replacement level” which would
eventually lead to zero population growth. The total number of births recorded in
1972 was 3,256,000 -- the lowest since 1945, and a drop of 303,000 from the 1971
total. Population experts said the drop of 303,000 was significant because between
1971 and 1972 the number of women of child-bearing age increased by 878,000.
Abortion Dangerous
LONDON (NC) - Evidence shows that an induced abortion increases the risk of
harm to children a woman bears subsequently, either because of prematurity, or as a
result of damage to the woman’s reproductive organs, said a report just published here.
The report, “Some Consequences of Induced Abortion to Children Bom Subsequent,”
was published by the Foundation for Education and Research in Child-Bearing.
Jesuit Priest Sued
HOUSTON (NC) - The Jesuit priest who is president of Loyola University of New
Orleans was named a defendant in an $11.5 million fraud suit here. Father Michael F.
Kennelly and 72 others - including prominent Texas political figures -- were accused
of defrauding the Jesuits of Houston through distribution of unregistered securities
and use of Jesuit funds for personal gain. The alleged manipulations occurred while
Father Kennelly was president of Strake Jesuit College Preparatory School here, and
they involved an endowment fund for the school controlled by Father Kennelly.
Nuns Approve ERA
WASHINGTON, D.C. (NC) - While some women across the nation were fighting
hard against the Equal Rights Amendment for women, a national organization of nuns
backed it almost unanimously. In Washington, the national board of the Leadership
Conference of Women Religious, voted 17 to 1 in favor of the amendment. Sister
Margaret Brennan, president of the conference, said that board members were aware of
problems and fears that have been generated over the amendment. “We need to
address ourselves to those problems and fears as they arise, but not at the expense of
the passage of such a good and important thing as the Equal Rights Amendment,”
Sister Brennan said.