Newspaper Page Text
Thursday, March 25, 1999
The Southern Cross, Page 3
Francis Xavier Gartland: Pioneer Bishop of Savannah
By Rita H. DeLorme
F rancis Xavier Gartland, the first bishop
of the Diocese of Savannah was bom
in Dublin, Ireland in 1805 and immigrated
to the United States as a child. Educated
at Mount Saint Mary’s College, Emmits-
burg, Maryland, he was ordained in that
city by Bishop Conwell in 1832.
The promising young cleric served as
assistant at the famous Saint John’s
Church in Philadelphia and later became
Vicar General of the Diocese of Philadel
phia. In 1849, this rather tranquil story of
the life of Francis X. Gartland takes on an
element of drama. At that time, he was appointed to
the See of Savannah, though he would not be conse
crated bishop until the following year. At the time of
his consecration in September of 1850, Francis Gart
land had served for many years in the Diocese of
Philadelphia. What would he find in his new diocese
in the slave state of Georgia?
What Bishop Gartland found was a place with far
fewer Catholics than the cities of the northern Unit
ed States to which he had been accustomed. He
found great need of all kinds and determined to
obtain the means of making improvements. For this
reason, he traveled to Europe to seek funds for his
diocese. With the money in hand which he had
solicited in Ireland and other countries, the new
bishop began new projects: the building of three
churches and enlarging the old Cathedral of Saint
John the Baptist. Bishop Gartland presided at the
rededication of the Cathedral on June 26, 1853.
Things seemed to be going very well in the dio
cese, with a boys’ orphanage, and day schools in
operation and with the Catholic population increas
ing.
At this high point of Francis Gartland’s tenure as
bishop, Yellow Fever engulfed the city of Savannah.
The bishop and his priests immediately began visit
ing the sick and administering the last rites to the
dying. Serving with them at this time was
another bishop, Bishop Edward Barron of
the Diocese of Philadelphia, who had
heard of the troubles in Savannah and had
come to help out. On record is a touching
letter Bishop Gartland wrote on August
29, 1854, to his good friend, .M. A. Fre-
naye, noting that conditions in Savannah
were dreadful and that two of his priests
had been sick but were now recovering
from their illness and adding, “the place
looks desolated — at three o’clock in the
afternoon it looks as deserted as at mid
night at other seasons. Every night large
fires are kindled in various parts of the city and
quantities of tar burnt. So far I keep very well,
though constantly on the go. Yet I know not if I will
pass through the scourge with safety to myself...I
write in great haste. My buggy is at the door for me
to take my rounds.”
In his account of what happened next, Father J J.
O’Connell, O.S.B., wrote in his history of that peri
od that a hurricane had torn the roof off the bishop’s
house and that “the bishop went bravely to work,
during night and day traversing the now desolate
streets, passing from house to house, administering
the sacraments, blessing the dying and consoling the
living. It now became his turn and the good shep
herd was attacked. He was conveyed to the resi
dence of his good friend, Michael Prendergast,
where he received all the attention, pious care and
medical attention could afford. Harrassed in mind
and spirit and worn in body by labor, his strength
was exhausted.”
Bishop Francis X. Gartland, the “good shepherd”,
died on September 20, 1854. His friend, Bishop
Edward Barron, who had come to help with the care
of the sick, had died of the fever just eight days ear
lier on September 12.
In his death, as in his life, Bishop Gartland provid
ed an example of loyalty to his faith, courage in the
Bishop Gartland's tombstone in the Catholic
Cemetery, Savannah, bears witness to this
"martyr of charity/'
midst of catastrophe and devotion to his people
which inspires laity and religious alike to this day.
Perhaps this example has meant more in the long
run to Catholicism in Georgia than all the other
accomplishments of Francis X. Gartland during the
four dedicated years he served as bishop of Savan
nah.
Rita H. DeLorme is a volunteer in the Diocesan
Archives.
Challenge
(Continued from page 1)
viduals, no matter where they live,”
Bishop Lynch said, calling upon hus
bands to stop abusing their wives; for
wives to speak well of one another;
and for children to respect their par
ents.
“The kernel of peace rests in the
human heart and must begin in fami
lies,” he said.
A second challenge Lynch offered
was a call for tolerance in religion and
in respect for every person. These
should be the hallmark of the life of a
Christian man or woman, he added.
Pope to lead full schedule
of Easter events
Vatican city (CNS)
ope John Paul II leads a full slate
of Easter events in Rome and at
the Vatican, highlighted by a night
time Way of the Cross at the Rome
Colosseum and an Easter Mass and
blessing televised around the world.
Despite his declining mobility, the 78-
year-old pope has refused to cut back
on his appearances during Holy Week,
when he presides over seven major
ceremonies or liturgies.
“I have the deepest respect for min
isters of other faiths, Christian, Jew
ish, Muslim and Eastern. We all have
been missioned by the one God to
bring good news to the poor, liberty to
captives and glad tidings to the
lowly,” Bishop Lynch said.
“Organized religion can uniquely
provide the nation this service, but
until we are organized, acting in con
cert and trust with one another
addressing the issues, then little
progress will be made.”
Finally, Bishop Lynch said, people
need the “spirit of Saint Patrick” —
that is, living a life of prayer filled
with the zeal and boldness of Saint
Patrick in proclaiming the gift of God
to others. Lynch read from the Bible,
Matthew 28:18-20, a call to Christians
to disciple people in every nation.
“This is not an invitation to us to be
‘couch potato Christians,’ choosing
from too many options of human liv
ing and interaction, but rather to infil
trate the worlds in which we live:
family, workplace, school, govern
ment, industry, yes, even the Church
of Christ with a commitment to living
this life as He has commanded.”
This Saint Patrick’s Day Mass was
celebrated in a cathedral whose nearly
century-old stained-glass windows
depicting scenes from the Bible have
been removed and sent to a restorer in
Wisconsin as part of an ongoing reno
vation project there.
Worshipers were surrounded by light
filtering through light blue tarp cut to
fit — covering the clear protective
outer windows — that provided a soft
light that otherwise would have been
provided by the stained-glass windows.
Before most scripture readings and
the taking of Communion, Deacon
Dewain E. Smith waved a censer, an
ornamental container attached to a
length of chain, in which incense is
burned. The smoke of the pungent
burning incense wafted above the
heads of worshipers and bishops.
Waving the censer is an act of purifi
cation; the smoke symbolic of prayer.
During the offering after the homily,
Deal and his wife presented the gifts
of the bread and the wine to Bishop
Boland. Later, Bishop Boland
thanked Bishop Lynch “for integrating
the life of Saint Patrick with the
issues of today.” Bishop Boland gave
worshipers an Irish blessing.
The Mass was attended by Savan
nah Mayor Floyd Adams Jr., County
Commission Chairman Billy Hair,
Dermot Ahern, an Irish minister for
social, community and family affairs,
and others.
Audrey D. McCombs is Faith and
Coping reporter for The SAVANNAH
Morning News, from which this arti
cle is reprinted with permission.
Bishop to bless new
entrance to Catholic
Cemetery
Savannah
ishop J. Kevin Boland will bless
the new entrance to the Catholic
Cemetery in Savannah at 2:00 p.m. on
Saturday, April 10. The public is
invited to participate in the ceremony.
All parishes in the Savannah dean
ery will be asked to send a representa
tive with the parish register of deaths
and two vested altar servers to this
event. The representatives and servers
will be asked to gather at the priests’
lot at 1:30 p.m. on April 10.
Harry H. De Lorme