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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 > I i HEADLINE ff 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 X