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Thursday, December 23, 1999
The Southern Cross, Page 3
Monsignor Joseph E. Moylan, Vicar General
Monsignor Joseph Moylan, Bishop Gerald P. O'Hara and Father
Joseph Kavanaugh in Rome on the day Bishop O'Hara was
received by Pope Pius XI in October, 1938.
The era of
By Rita H. DeLorme
H e was a slight, dark-
haired man who
could be intimidating.
He tended to careless
ness in dress, abruptness
in speech and complete
honesty in manner. He was also a
devoted priest, pastor and vicar gen
eral and his like will not soon be seen
again. The man who exemplified all
these traits and qualities was the late
Monsignor Joseph Emmet Moylan
who came to the priesthood at his
ordination in 1917 and carried out his
priestly duties faithfully until his
death in 1967.
Bom in Savannah and educated in
Savannah schools, first at Cathedral
School and, later, at Savannah High
School, Joseph Moylan attended
Saint Mary’s College, Belmont, N.C.,
and completed his philosophical and
theological studies at Saint Bernard’s
Seminary, in Rochester, N.Y.
His ordination to the priesthood
took place at the Cathedral of Saint
John the Baptist, Savannah, on
October 18, 1917, with Bishop
Benjamin J. Keiley officiating Father
Moylan’s first appointment was as
assistant at that same Cathedral.
The following year, Father Moylan
took on temporary duties at Sacred
Heart Church in Milledgeville. His
appointment to Immaculate
Conception Church, Atlanta, as assis
tant pastor took place a short time
later. Service at Holy Family Church
in Columbus as administrator fol
lowed. In 1928, Father Moylan was
named pastor of Immaculate
Conception Church and, in February
of 1936, became Vicar Forane (dean)
of the Atlanta Deanery.
When Atlanta’s new parish, Christ
the King, was established in 1936,
Father Moylan became its first pastor.
Under his supervision, Christ the
King Church and its school were
established and Father Moylan later
found himself rector of a co-cathedral
when the Diocese of Savannah was
redesignated Savannah-Atlanta in
1937. Recognition had come his way
with his appointment as a Domestic
Prelate, with the title “Monsignor,”in
1936.
His stay in Atlanta ended in April,
1945, when he was called to
Savannah to become Vicar General
and Chancellor of the Diocese of
Savannah-Atlanta. He was also
appointed pastor of Saint Michael’s
Church at Tybee. A further honor was
in the offing for Monsignor Moylan:
he was named a Prothonotary
Apostolic, the highest rank of mon
signor, by Pope Pius XII in 1950.
Soon Monsignor Moylan took on
priestly duties in Atlanta once again.
He became pastor of another new
parish, Our Lady of the Assumption,
in 1951, remaining there when the
diocese was divided in 1956. In 1965,
was appointed pastor of Sacred Heart
Church, also in Atlanta. In 1966,
Monsignor Moylan resigned this
position and became rector emeritus,
having served the dioceses of
Savannah and Atlanta as a priest for
close to fifty years.
After a long illness, Monsignor
Joseph Moylan died on April 11,
1967.
His death did not, however, remove
Monsignor Moylan from the memory
of people of the diocese. Ralph
McGill, late publisher of The Atlanta
Constitution, recalled him in a news
paper article shortly after his death.
The piece, “In Memory of an old
Priest,” which appeared in the
Constitution on June 1, 1967, noted:
“There was general agreement among
his friends that Monsignor Joseph
Emmet Moylan was shabby looking.”
McGill went on to say that, in view
of the frayed and tattered condition of
the monsignor’s wardrobe, several
parishioners who loved the man
determined to do something about the
situation. These well-intentioned peo
ple removed an old suit of the mon
signor’s from his closet while he was
away on retreat and had serveral new
and expensive suits and a nice new
overcoat prepared for him. They
hung the clothing in Monsignor
Moylan’s closet. Then the fireworks
began. Because he couldn’t find out
who had been responsible for the new
No Southern Cross
December 30
n keeping with our traditional pub
lishing schedule, there will be no
issue of The Southern Cross the
week after Christmas (December 30).
The next issue will appear on
January 6, 2000. The editor and staff
wish all our readers a very Merry
Christmas and a Happy New Year.
clothes, he took the garments back to
the store designated on their labels
and demanded a refund for them.
The store manager, greatly intimi
dated by Monsignor Moylan, who
was grinding his false teeth furiously
in agitation, ended up calling the
priest’s benefactors and asking them
what he should do. “Give him the
money,” was the reply. “So they did,”
McGill adds. “Father Moylan took it
back to the Cathedral of Christ the
King and put the very considerable
sum in the poor box. He went right
on looking frayed.”
Other memories of Monsignor
Moylan which the publisher-editor
chronicled included an early occur-
ance at the beautiful Atlanta
Cathedral of Christ the King. It
appears that two wealthy families had
been “especially generous” in contri
butions to the new church building.
Said Father Moylan from the pulpit:
“I want it understood that this is not,
as I hear from gossipy persons, the
Cathedral of Mr. X or of Mr. Y. It is
the Cathedral of Christ the King.”
Correspondence between Moylan
and parish priests during his tenure as
Vicar General reveals this same
straightforward approach. The good
monsignor was not above referring to
a fledgling priest’s “whining” and, on
one notable occasion, told a young
priest who kept wearing out cars on
rocky country roads: “This time, I
suggest you get a jeep.”
As Vicar General, Joseph Moylan
was the person who relayed the bish
op’s wishes to diocesan priests and
saw to it that these wishes were car
ried out. Moylan’s duties suited him
well and he carried them out with
zest.
In fact, Monsignor Moylan con
ducted his whole priestly life with
unfeigned enthusiasm. When Joseph
Moylan left his assignment at
Milledgeville and the Central Georgia
Missions, the Union Recorder stated
in an editorial that no clergyman of
any denomination had ever been
more beloved. Said his admirer,
Ralph McGill: “There was, I believe,
less pretense in him than any person
I’ve known.”
Perhaps McGill’s closing words
make a suitable eulogy for this feisty
man of God: “Father Moylan is, I am
sure, one of the Lord’s favorites. By
now I expect there is better order in
Heaven.”
The Monsignor Joseph E. Moylan
Memorial Fund was established in
1967, shortly after the monsignor’s
death. Father John D. Stapleton of
Atlanta was appointed chairman of
this fund, which was earmarked for
the education of priests.
Rita H. De Lorme is a volunteer in
the Diocesan Archives.
Bishop’s Christmas Midnight Mass
at Savannah Civic Center
B ishop J. Kevin Boland will celebrate the Midnight Mass of Christmas in
the Johnny Mercer Theatre of the Savannah Civic Center. The Cathedral
Choir will begin singing at 11:30 p.m. on Christmas Eve; the Mass will begin
promptly at midnight. Free parking in the Civic Center lot has been arranged
for worshipers.
All are invited to join in the bishop’s Midnight Mass of Christmas.