Newspaper Page Text
The Southern Cross
DIOCESE OF SAVANNAH NEWSPAPER
Vol. 56 No. 2 Thursday, January 9,1975 Single Copy Price — 15 Cents
Georgia Catholic Conference Gets New Head
Archbishop Thomas A. Donnellan of
Atlanta and Bishop Raymond W.
Lessard of Savannah have announced
the appointment of Cheatham E.
Hodges, Jr., of Augusta, Georgia, to be
the Executive Secretary of the Georgia
Catholic Conference, succeeding Father
Michael A. Morris of Atlanta.
The purpose of the Georgia Catholic
Conference is to give witness to spiritual
values in public affairs, and to provide
an agency for corporate Catholic service
to the statewide community. The
In the midst of Christmas
celebrations in Savannah the Cathedral
of St. John the Baptist hosted a dinner
from 2 to 4 p.m. on Christmas day. The
idea for this originated with Father
Michael Craig because on Thanksgiving
about fifteen people shared dinner with
the staff of the Cathedral.
Planning sessions were held about the
possibility of taking meals at Christmas
to shut-ins and inviting others to dinner
at the Cathedral. Thru the newspaper
names were obtained. Meanwhile it was
found the Yugoslav ship, “Lovcen,”
would be in port so the crew was
invited. Father Mario Balbi, OSB,
Deanery Port Chaplain transported the
twenty-five seamen with the help of the
bus from Pastor Michael Taylor’s
Lutheran Church of the Ascension.
Fathers Lawrence Lucree and Michael
Craig were on hand to welcome the
guests and eat with them. Bishop
INSIDE STORY
Catholic-Jewish
Pg. 2
'Know Your Faith*
Pg. 5
Entertainment
Pg. 6
Cook’s Nook
Pg. 8
Conference formulates policy positions
on Georgia governmental programs,
legislation and policies which affect the
common good and interest of the
Church. In his position as Executive
Secretary of the Georgia Catholic
Conference, Mr. Hodges will represent
the Church in communicating with all
branches of state government, as well as
statewide voluntary groups and
organizations. An important goal of the
Conference will be to assist in
identifying the needs of all Georgia
citizens in the areas of morality, health,
Lessard stopped in during the dinner.
Many hands were busied preparing the
dinner. Fr. Terence Keman whipped up
a dressing and gave the salad while
Bennie and Robbie Collini fixed the
southern-style combread dressing.
Head cook, Andy Courtenay, who
cooked the turkeys was helped by Jim
Buttimer, Adele Courie, three Philippine
Nurses from Candler Hospital, Sr.
Camille and Eleanor Collini. Gifts were
obtained three of Charles Pierce’s
On Sunday, January 12, there will be
three topics to choose from in a new
series of Adult Education at St. Mary’s,
Augusta. The classes will be held every
Sunday including the final one on
February 9. The time will be 10 a.m. to
11 a.m. in three locations. Coffee will
be served and babysitting available.
In the Parish Hall, Father LeFrois and
Dr. Helen Callahan will conduct a
program on “The Church - Traditions
and Changes.” Dr. Callahan, Ph. D.
University of Georgia (History) plans to
give an insight into the development of
church organizations and customs
through the ages.
Father Ben Wren, S.J., Loyola
University, will conduct a program on
“Eastern Religions and Philosophies”
along with Mrs. Madhu Swann from
Delhi, India, educated in India, England,
and the U.S. Ms. Jeanne Jensen,
Instructor of History at Augusta
College, wHl also teach this subject.
welfare, education, human rights and
civil rights. The Conference works alone
and in co-operation with others to meet
these needs and to strive to eliminate
the causes of moral and social problems.
Another objective is to foster public
understanding of the Church’s social
teaching and concern about the human
condition of all citizens.
Mr. Hodges was born in Savannah
but now lives in Augusta, Georgia. He is a
member of St. Teresa of Avila Parish.
He is married to the former Joan Marie
students at St. Vincent’s and also
Cathedral School. Prior to dinner meals
and gifts were taken to homes of those
unable to attend. In all about 40 meals
were served. Sr. Rita Marie’s beautifully
decorated classroom at Cathedral
School was prepared for the meal by
Sisters Terence Rodewolt, OSF, Teresa
Hurley, OSF, and Camille, CSJ.
Fr. Craig said, ‘The Christmas Spirit
was certainly felt among the people
involved in this occasion. After ail, this
is what Christmas is about.”
Father Wren recommends, among
many other books, THE STILL POINT
and CHRISTIAN ZEN by William
Johnson, S.J., paperbacks published by
Perrenial Library and Harper & Row,
respectively.
Weiller of West Palm Beach, Florida,
and is the father of 8 children. He is
< currently serving as Chairman of the St.
Teresa Parish Council and President of
St. Mary’s-on-the-Hill Parochial School
Board. After many years as an educator,
he moved to Augusta in 1968 and
presently serves as a business manager
and consultant as Vice President of
Intercompany Service Corporation, Vice
President of Cherokee Land Company,
Inc., corporate Secretary and Director
of First Augusta Mortgage Company
and executive liaison for Forward
By DEBBY LUSTER
Reprinted From Savannah
Evening Press
With an anonymous donation of
$50,000 to assist in the project, a
Catholic priest and a group of
Protestant Catholic and Jewish laymen
have iniated plans to open a ‘‘terminal
care” home in Savannah.
Working under a corporate title, the
men hope to provide “nothing more
than clean and decent surroundings to
patients who are seemingly beyond any
medical help,” explained the Rev.
Lawrence Lucree, rector of the
Cathedral of St. John the Baptist and
chairman of the newly formed
non-profit corporation.
An exact location for the home has
not been chosen yet, he said, although
the men are eyeing a particular city site
for possible purchase.
The priest declined to name the
location because he said a number of
other sites are being considered as well.
He noted that the priority location
must be inspected for fire regulations
and it must be determined a fit place for
housing the ill. Negotiations for the
relatively old site’s purchase are in
process, he said.
“We even may find it would be
cheaper in the long run to build
something brand new,” he added.
Fr. Lucree noted that a precedent for
the home is located in Atlanta and is
staffed by an order of Dominican
sisters.
The idea of initiating the project, said
Fr. Lucree “has been in my mind since
about six years ago, when I took a
patient from Savannah to the place in
Atlanta.”
Few, if any, nursing homes in the
Savannah area offer care to terminally
ill patients.
The Atlanta home, or “hospice” as
Fr. Lucree prefers to call it, has a bed
capacity for 50 and has an average of
two deaths every three days.
Initially the Savannah home will have
a capacity for 10 patients, he said, and
an order of nuns has agreed to staff the
home. They will be capable of caring for
the patients, as well as providing some
medical assistance, but “we’ll have to
have other nursing personnel too,”
noted the priest.
A number of area physicians also will
be on call, he said.
He emphasized that since the home
primarily will be for those patients who
presumably cannot be helped further by
medical science, the number of
professional medical personnel will not
be great.
Augusta, Inc. Mr. Hodges is also
Chairman and President of Caritas
Corporation, a low-income family
housing project for the Augusta area.
Commenting on the appointment,
Bishop Raymond W. Lessard expressed
his “pleasure that the Conference has
obtained the services of such a qualified
person. I am confident that with his
many talents and varied experience, Mr.
Hodges will be extremely helpful and
effective in pursing the goals set forth
for the Conference.”
Fr. Lucree would not reveal the order
of sisters which has agreed to staff the
home because, he said, their agreement
has not been finalized.
Patients will not be charged fees, he
said. “It will be totally free. We will be
supported by contributions.”
Asked if he is confident the home
will receive ongoing contributions after
its opening he answered, “Yes, once the
place gets a name.”
Hopefully he said, auxiliaries will be
formed and there will be a continuous
effort through various community
projects to raise money to support the
home.
“Plus I think we’ll get contributions
from families of the deceased,” he
specualted.
In addition to the anonymous
$50,000 donation, Fr. Lucree said three
other donations totalling about $10,000
have been contributed to the project.
Those men who have helped Fr.
Lucree in planning the home are Mires
Rosenthal, Frank Rossiter, Col. Ed
Evans, Jullian Halligan, Lance Smith,
John Fogarty, Earl Gallovitch, Eddie
White, Charles Williams, Frank
Finocchiaro, Karl Holmen, Boston
Williams and Joseph Fogarty Jr. Smith
is acting as attorney for the corporation.
The men make up basically the same
group who assisted Fr. Lucree in
founding Serviam Inc., builders of the
Rose of Sharon Apartments.
Approximate date for the home’s
opening has been set for the fall of
1975.
Cheatham E. Hodges, Jr.
New Bishop
WASHINGTON (NC) - Pope Paul VI
has named Msgr. Roger Mahony, 37,
chancellor of the Fresno, Calif., diocese
auxiliary bishop of that See.
His appointment was announced here
by Archbishop Jean Jadot, apostolic
delegate in the United States.
Bishop-designate Mahony was bom
Feb. 27, 1936, in Hollywood, Calif. He
attended St. Charles’ grammar school in
North Hollywood, Los Angeles College
Preparatory Seminary and St. John’s
Seminary in Camarillo, Calif. He was
ordained May 1,1962.
Following ordination he studied at
the National Catholic School of Social
Service at the Catholic University of
America in Washington, where he
earned a master’s degree in social work.
He was administrator of St.
Genevieve’s parish, Fresno, from 1964
to 1968. From 1964 to 1970 he was
Fresno diocesan director of Catholic
Charities and Social Service. In 1968 he
was named Young Man of the Year for
1967 by the Fresno Junior Chamber of
Commerce.
r >
Clergy Appointments
In clergy changes announced by bishop Raymond W. Lessard last Sunday,
Jan. 5, priests in Columbus, Albany and Augusta have been transferred to new
assignments.
Father Joseph C. Otterbein; pastor of Holy Family, parish, Columbus has
been transferred to St. Francis Hospital in the same city where he will serve as
chaplain.
Father Patrick McCarthy, associate pastor of St. Teresa’s parish, in Albany has
been assigned as associate pastor of St. John the Evangelist parish, Valdosta.
Replacing Father McCarthy at St. Teresa’s will be Father Michael Burke,
presently associate pastor of Holy Trinity parish, Augusta.
S >
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HEADLINE
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HOPSCOTCH
't'
WASHINGTON (NC) -- President Gerald Ford has named a nine-member committee
to study the issue of illegal aliens in the U.S. and to recommend better programs for
dealing with the situation. The committee will be headed by Acting Attorney General
Lawrence Silberman. Others on the committee will be the heads of the Departments of
State, Treasury, Commerce, Agriculture, Labor and Health, Education and welfare, the
head of the Office of Management and Budget and Presidential aide William Baroody,
Jr.
Jail Sentence Stands
JERUSALEM (NC) - The Israeli government will not release Archbishop Hilarion
Capucci from prison even if the Vatican were to request it, according to Justice
Minister Haim Zadok. Release or deportation of the Melkite-rite Catholic Prelate, he
said, “is not on the agenda.” Zakok stated: “This matter belongs to the sphere of
Israel’s fight against terror, not Israel’s relations with the Catholic Church and
Christian communities.” Archbishop Capucci was sentenced in December by an Israeli
court to 12 years in prison. He had been convicted of smuggling arms and explosives.
Haitian Refugees
MIAMI (NC) - Church groups are supporting a suit seeking the right to work of
Haitian refugees here while their appeal for political asylum in the United States is
being considered by the courts. Some 300 Haitians have sought asylum in the United
States, claiming that they face persecution in Haiti under the regime of Jean-Claude
Duvalier. The U.S. State Department claims there is no widespread political
persecution in Haiti and that the refugees are trying to escape the poverty of the
island. In the meantime, church groups, including the Archdiocese of Miami, have been
providing food and shelter for the Haitians.
NFPC Convention
CHICAGO (NC) - The National Federation of Priests’ Councils (NFPC) will focus
on five areas where priests feel reconciliation is needed during the NFPC’s annual
convention this March. They are: Distribution of world resources; alienated youth;
liberal-conservative Catholics; divorced and remarried Catholics; resigned priests.
PREPARING CHRISTMAS DINNER. (From left to preparing dinner for ‘open House’ at the Cathedral on
right) Father Michael Craig, Sister Camille Collini, Miss Christmas day.
Adele Couri and Miss Eleanor Collini are shown
ON CHRISTMAS DAY
Cathedral Hosts ‘Open House 9
Adult Education Series
‘Terminal Care’ Home
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