Newspaper Page Text
Thursday, November 11, 1999
The Southern Cross, Page 3
The Life and Times of Monsignor Joseph G. Cassidy
By Rita H. DeLorme
H e credited a ten-day “crash course”
spent with the Paulist Missionaries
with giving him invaluable help in his
trailer ministry. “Without this training,
brief as it was,” said Monsignor Joseph
Cassidy, “I would have floundered in
the sea of missionary activity.” Despite this modest
disclaimer, Joseph G. Cassidy came to the field of
trailer ministry he had been appointed to in mid
career with excellent credentials.
Monsignor Cassidy began his career of service in
Georgia shortly after his ordination in New York
City in 1923. After six years’ combined service at
Cathedral and Immaculate Conception parishes in
Atlanta, Cassidy became pastor of Saint Mary
parish in Rome, Georgia. Monsignor Cassidy’s
ministry was not limited to Rome, however, but
encompassed the entire northwestern part of the
state, one-tenth of it, in fact. The young priest from
New York had quite a job ahead of him, and quick
ly realized he must first familiarize himself with his
new territory. He became a priest-on-the-move,
seeking out Catholics in Tate, Dalton, Cedartown,
Calhoun, Adairsville, Cartersville, Buchanan, Waco
and Budapest, Georgia. For Catholics he encoun
tered in this places, he offered weekday Massejrand
provided catechetical instruction.
After seven years in Rome, Monsignor Cassidy
was given a surprise, “an outright gift from the peo
ple of Rome and not a gift from the parish”—funds
to travel overseas. With the sizable (in 1936) sum of
$1,300 provided him, Cassidy was able to visit 13
countries throughout Europe, Asia Minor and Africa.
Following this experience, the fulfillment of a life
long dream, Monsignor Cassidy came back to reality
with a major thud. He was being transferred from his
assignment in Rome to a new one, Blessed Sacra
ment Parish, Savannah. While at Blessed Sacrament,
Monsignor Cassidy took on another duty as Diocesan
Director of Rural Life and Diocesan Director of the
Confraternity of Christian Doctrine. Other responsi
bilities also awaited him: the operation of the dioce
san summer camp of religion and the development of
a correspondence course as a fall and winter follow
up for children who had attended the camp.
Undaunted, Monsignor Cassidy wrote the national
headquarters of the Confraternity of Christian
Doctrine asking for help. What he received in
response must have surprised him—a letter appoint
ing him National Director of Correspondence in
Religion. With this added responsibility, Cassidy
moved on in his work, devising three 30-lesson cor
respondence courses in religion for children and
another for interested adults. In the course of this
ministry, Monsignor Cassidy attended numerous
Rural Life conventions and learned of something
new in rural ministry, the mobile chapel. When the
diocese bought one of these religion-on-the-go
chapels, the bishop immediately placed this energetic
and enthusiastic priest behind the wheel. After serv-
Monsignor Cassidy and his
ing as pastor of Blessed Sacrament for two years,
MonsignorCassidy was given little time to tie up
loose ends before moving on to his new and chal
lenging ministry. It was at this point that he contact
ed the Paulists in Tennessee and accepted their sub
sequent invitation to watch them in action. From the
Paulists, Monsignor Cassidy learned the following:
“1. Try to be a good salesman. 2. Package your
product in attractive colors. 3. Concentrate on rural
not urban areas. 4. At all meetings display instruc
tive literature. 5. Develop follow-up for your work.
6. Be prepared for the worst, but anticipate the
most from your efforts.”
So, ensconced in his trailer chapel which was
long and wide and cleared the road by 12 inches,
and powered by a sturdy Chrysler coupe,
Monsignor Cassidy took to the roads. His “home
away from home,” the dark brown “Queen of the
Apostles Motor Chapel,” contained sleeping
accommodations, a lavatory, and a storage area for
clothes and books. Mass could be offered from its
opened back where there was an altar with a plat
form in front of it. A public address system, movie
projector, screen and other necessary attachments
rounded out Cassidy’s ministerial arsenal.
Monsignor Cassidy’s missionary method followed
a pattern. Trundling along in his 1930s trailer, he
would choose a good spot for his services, distribute
handbills naming the time and place of a “religious
meeting” and would note that religious movies would
be shown. An hour prior to what he termed his “per
formance”, the peripatetic priest would set up movie
projector, screen, public address system and table of
literature. Gospel hymns, straining the loudspeaker,
announced his presence in the community. Religious
films followed the music. Following weeks of this
sort of personal contact, Monsignor Cassidy would,
at last, be able to preach. He later said that “after two
weeks of preaching I invited anyone interested in the
trailer chapel in the 1940s
study of religion to receive my special course of 40
lessons. Those who accepted received a lesson a
week together with a copy of a Catholic weekly.”
Cassidy’s ministry started in Lakeland and spread
throughout southern Georgia and involved preaching
in over 20 communities. Then, he progressed north
ward, evangelizing towns in central Georgia, and
proceeding to places such as Cornelia and Lakemont
situated near North Carolina’s border. Finally, it was
time to head south again, to communities south of
Savannah, before returning to Lakeland. Monsignor
Cassidy’s constant companion on these tiring jour
neys was his feeling of gratitude to the Catholic
Church Extension Society whose members were
faithful supporters of his mission work.
After his vigorous stint in the diocese’s trailer min
istry, Monsignor Cassidy was assigned to work at
Milledgeville. There, in addition to his parish duties,
those under his care included patients at Central
State Hospital for the mentally ill. After his assign
ment at Milledgeville, came service in parishes at
Thomasville and Albany and, ultimately, appoint
ment as rector of Christ the King Church in Atlanta.
After retirement, this priest who evidently didn’t
know how to “retire” asked for and received per
mission to work with patients at the State Hospital.
He also served at the Regional Hospital in Savan
nah for a number of years. In 1981, the Catholic
Extension Society presented him with their Lumen
Christi Award in acknowledgement of his consider
able work as a missionary.
Monsignor Cassidy died on September 9, 1982.
His own words comprise an apt epitaph for him: “I
enjoyed this missionary phase of my priestly life.
My only regret is the fact that other priests were
not able to partake of this ministry. It would have
been one of their fondest memories.”
Rita H. DeLorme is a volunteer
in the Diocesan Archives.
Religion on wheels, Cassidy-style