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Vol- 64 No. 32 Thursday, September 20,1984 $10 Per Year
Cathedral Fund / Confraternity Drive
$2 Million Fund-Raising Campaign Officially Underway
A major fund-raising campaign is under way to enable
^ the Diocese of Savannah to rise to the biggest challenge it
* has had to face in recent years: repairs to the Cathedral of
St. John the Baptist.
Since May 25, when engineers reported that the settling
of the foundations had caused a marked movement of the
bell towers, the well-known building in the historic area of
Savannah has been closed to the public.
A massive repair project began, to reinforce the
foundations and to stabilize the roof supports.
The movement of the towers measured only an inch or
two, but it was enough to cause damage to the marble
floors, large cracks in the walls and twisting of window
frames. Stained glass windows had to be removed to
ensure their safety.
Rotten wood was removed from the foundations, to be
replaced by a concrete slab which is wider and deeper
than the original one.
The foundation work has now been completed. The
Bishop, Vicar General
On WSAV-TV-Sept. 23
£ Bishop Raymond W. Lessard and Father William
Simmons will give an update on repairs to the
Cathedral of St. John the Baptist on WSAV-TV
Channel 3 on Sunday, September 23.
They will appear on the program PROBE from
12:30 to 1 p.m. and will be interviewed by
Catherine Cooper.
next stage is to install an extra truss in the roof, to
reinforce existing supports, and to repair corroded steel
work in the steeples. Subsequently, damage to walls and
£ floors must be repaired, and the stained glass windows
replaced.
Throughout the crisis, one aim has been clear. The
cathedral must be restored to its original splendor. Its
doors must re-open to worshipers and visitors alike.
To this end, Bishop Raymond Lessard, in consultation
with the Diocesan Finance Board and the Council of
Priests/Consultors, established a Cathedral Fund and set in
motion a campaign to raise $1.6 million. In addition to
the emergency repairs and remedial work, plans for access
of the handicapped are being made and adequate
^ restrooms will be installed. Damage to the long-silent bell
Herbert Wellmeier, Rector Cathedral of St. John
the Baptist; Father William Simmons, Vicar
General of the Diocese. Seated to the bishop’s
right is Senator Tom Coleman, General Chairman
of the Drive.
be combined for a total target of $2 million.
As the “seat” - or main church - of the Diocese, the
Cathedral belongs not only to Savannah but to Catholics
throughout south Georgia. It is the scene of great
gatherings which mark the high points of the liturgical
year - the celebrations of Christmas and Easter, the St.
Patrick’s Day festivities, the Jubilee Masses, as well as
special events as the ordination of a priest.
All who count the Cathedral as the “mother church”
will be asked to help in the hour of need.
PLAN FUND DRIVE ~ Bishop Raymond W.
Lessard is pictured with Cathedral
Fund/Confraternity Drive leaders at a recent
planning session. The bishop is pictured with (1.
to r.) Michael Mintern of Moran Co.; Father
will be repaired and a new organ will be installed to
replace the old electronic one.
Never before has the Diocese faced a financial challenge
of this magnitude. Nevertheless, diocesan leaders are
confident that Catholics and others who admire the
Cathedral will respond with help. A network of regional
campaign coordinators has been set up, and during the
Fall a direct appeal will be made to all parishioners.
Because the campaign is occurring at the same time as
the annual Confraternity of the Laity Drive, the two will
Mission Co-op 1984 - September 22-23
Missionary work in countries overseas will be the focus
of attention this weekend as parishes in the Diocese of
Savannah take part in the annual Missionary Cooperative
Appeal.
Representatives of five different Missionary Orders will
visit the Diocese to speak to parishioners about the work
being carried out by their members in different parts of
the world.
As part of the Mission Co-op Plan, the proceeds of the
second collection will be shared equally by the five,
representing a direct gift from the Catholics of South
Georgia to their missionary work. Those parishes which
will not be hosting a missionary are asked to place a
special emphasis on the church’s missionary enterprise in
their homilies or prayers of the faithful.
THE BENEDICTINE FATHERS OF LATROBE
(visiting Sacred Heart Church in Warner Robins, St.
Joseph’s, Macon and Holy Spirit, Macon) serve people in a
number of places. Closest to home is Benedictine School
and Priory in Savannah, the only Benedictine Foundation
in Georgia. Three of the Savannah Benedictines will be
making the appeal this year for St. Vincent Archabbey,
Latrobe: Fr. Christian Le Frois, Fr. Albert Bickerstaff and
Fr. Meinrad Lawson. Their appeal will be made in behalf
of Benedictine foreign missions in Brazil and Taiwan.
In Brazil, twelve Benedictine monks work with the
poor and low middle income class where the annual rate
of inflation is 225%. The Benedictine community also
operates a retreat house to help provide for the spiritual
needs of the area. Some members of the community also
provide assistance in nearby parishes.
The three Benedictines on Taiwan teach at Fujen
Catholic University and provide assistance to the local
parishes.
THE CONVENTUAL FRANCISCAN FRIARS, who
will be visiting the three Augusta parishes, have been
involved in evangelization since their origins in the 13th
century. Their founder was St. Francis of Assisi who
urged that the friars should go throughout the world and
especially carry the message of Christ to the “Saracens”
adherents of Islam at that time. Today the Conventual
Friars work in 21 mission countries on all five continents.
Father Conall McHugh, O.F.M. Conv., who will be
speaking on his Order’s far-flung mission posts, is a native
of Bordentown, N.J., and was active in his friars’ Costa
Rica missions for many years. His mission appeal will be
presented to parishioners at Most Holy Trinity Parish,
Augusta.
THE SISTERS OF CHARITY OF SETON HILL, who
will visit three parishes in Savannah (Blessed Sacrament,
St. James and St. Frances Cabrini) will describe the work
of their sisters in South Korea. Four of their Sisters first
went to the Archdiocese of Kwangju, in the Cholla Nam
Do Province, in I960, to open a school for girls at Kang
Jin. This work of education and service to the poor
prospered. St. Joseph Middle and High School for Girls
now has an enrollment of 1804 (only 6 per cent of them
Christian). In addition the community of native Korean
women now numbers twenty.
In 1979 the Sisters built Seton novitiate outside
Kwangju City as a place of religious formation and
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