Newspaper Page Text
Thursday, February 3, 2000
The Southern Cross, Page 3
Saint John the Evangelist Church, Valdosta
Rita H.
S aint John the Evangelist
Church, the first Catholic
church in Valdosta, was
founded in 1927.
At that time, Saint John’s
was a mission church of
Saint Teresa Church in
Albany and was served by
priests from that parish. By
1936, however, it had
attained parish status and,
shortly afterward, a rectory for its
pastor was constructed next to it.
Sisters of Saint Joseph of
Carondolet came to Valdosta in 1941
to staff Saint John’s parish school on
Adair Street in a building which had
formerly been a public school. By
1958, the parish needed room to
expand and thirteen acres off Gomto
Road were purchased for this pur
pose. One year later, a school had
been built on the newly-acquired
property. Soon, a convent was also
constructed to house the sisters who
taught at the school. Two years later,
on March 9, 1969, a new church
graced Saint John’s parish.
A notable landmark along the way
in development of Saint John the
Evangelist Church, as reported in The
Bulletin, forerunner of The
Southern Cross,was the organi
zation of the parish’s Council
of Catholic Women in 1941.
Church members present at
the initial meeting of the
group were Mrs. J.W.
Johnson, Mrs. Pearl G.
Fender, Mrs. A. F. Paulk,
Mrs. H.C. Van Horn, Mrs.
DeLorme g j Whipple, Mrs. Robert
L. Bruce, Mrs. E. C. Norstrom, Mrs.
C.C. Rousseau, Mrs. B. J. O’Brien,
Mrs. James Thompson, Miss Marion
Pollar and Miss Elenor Whipple.
Another first for both the parish and
Valdosta was the local broadcast of
the “Sacred Heart Program” on
Valdosta’s “WGOV” radio station.
This program, which lasted fifteen
minutes on weekdays and a half hour
on Sundays, brought to people of the
area Catholic prayers, information
and music. Descended from “The
Question Box,” a Catholic broadcast
which began in 1921, the program
impacted on the reception accorded
Catholics of the region.
In 1986, Saint John the Evangelist
Church observed its fiftieth anniver
sary. Remembered in a program from
Old Saint John the Evangelist, Valdosta.
this occasion were many priests who
had served the parish over the years,
starting with Father James King, the
first pastor, and continuing with other
early pastors such as Fathers Herman
Deimel, John Kennedy, John O’Shea,
Marvin LeFrois and Thomas Payne.
Sisters who had taught at Saint John’s
were also memoralized in this pro
gram, including those who taught the
first classes at Valdosta: Sister Mary
Helen Best, Sister Rose Columbia
Carmen, and Sister Mary Maurice
Flynn.
The present pastor of Saint John the
Evangelist is Father John O’Brien,
V.F. Membership in the parish contin
ues to grow. The parish maintains a
web site at: http://www.johnevang.org.
Rita H. De Lorme is a volunteer in
the Diocesan Archives.
Pope criticizes relativism, underscores unique role of Christ
By John Norton
Vatican City (CNS)
riticizing the spread of a “rela
tivistic mentality” in some theo
logical circles, Pope John Paul II
underscored the unique role of Christ
and the church in human salvation.
“In recent years a mentality has
emerged in theological and ecclesial
circles which tends to relativize
Christ’s revelation and his unique and
universal mediation in the order of sal
vation,” the pope said January 28 dur
ing an audience with participants in
the plenary assembly of the Con
gregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
The same mentality, the pope
added, tends “to reformulate the
necessity of Christ’s church as a uni
versal sacrament of salvation.”
Encuentro Juvenil 2000
^Necesitas la mano de un amigo?
^Quieres la comprension de un
amigo? ^Te sientes completamente
solo? simplemente quieres red-
con un amigo?
Los jovenes de la parroquia de San
Pablo los quieren invitar al primer
encuentro juvenil del milenio. Ven a
convivir con jovenes de tu edad. Sera
una experiencia nueva. Una experien-
cia donde Dios estara contigo. El
encuentro se llevara a cabo el domin-
go 6 de febrero, a las 8:00-17:00
hrs. Coordinado por el padre
“To remedy this relativistic mental
ity, it is necessary to underline the
definitive and complete character of
Christ’s revelation,” he said.
The doctrinal congregation’s ple
nary assembly January 25-28 chose
Christ’s unique role in salvation as
one of its main themes. Archbishop
Tarcisio Bertone, the congregation’s
secretary, told Vatican Radio January
25 that other topics included the revi
sion of norms for disciplinary action
and the increasing cultural tendency
to blur the differences between men
and women.
Before discussion began, the arch
bishop said, participants reviewed a
262-page report on the congregation’s
activity since its last plenary two
years ago.
Salvador Herrera y su grupo
misionero. El padre es conferencista
y parroco de la Catedral de
Tlanepantla, Mexico.
Para mds informaci6n llamar a la
iglesia con la Hrm. Bertha, teldfono:
912-554-8560.
Gran Misi6n Parroquial
El padre Salvador Herrera, gran
conferencista y parroco de la Catedral
de Tlanepantla, Mexico, nos honrara
con su presencia en esta gran mision,
con su equipo misionero. Del 5 al 10
de febrero, a las 19:00 hrs.
In his speech to assembly partici
pants, Pope John Paul said Christ’s
incarnation in a specific historical
period did not limit his universal sig
nificance.
For some theologians, he said, “the
truth about God could not be con
tained and manifested in its globality
and completeness by any historical
religion, therefore not even by
Christianity.”
The pope said that even if Christ’s
words and actions were historically
limited in human terms, “they have as
(their) source the divine person of the
incarnate Word, and thus carry the
definitiveness and completeness of
revelation.”
“The truth about God does not get
abolished or reduced because it is
said in human language,” the pope
said. “Rather, it remains unique, full
and complete because the one who
speaks and acts is the incarnate Son
of God.”
Following from Christ’s unique role
in salvation is the church’s own
uniqueness, the pope said. The
church is the sole means of salvation
because it is Christ’s “body, by means
of which (Christ) himself works sal
vation throughout history,” he said.
Nonetheless, non-Christians can
attain heaven “if they look for God
with a sincere heart,” he said. But
“they find themselves in a deficient
position if compared with those who,
in the church, have the fullness of
salvific means.”
These principles must also take
precedence in the search for Christian
unity, the pope said.
“Our burning desire to arrive one
day at full communion with the other
churches and ecclesial communities
must not, however, obscure the truth
that the church of Christ is not a
utopia, to recompose from the current
existing fragments with our own
human efforts,” he said.
Operation Rice Bowl
O peration Rice Bowl is an excellent way to celebrate the Lenten season in
your parish or school. This year is the 25th anniversary of fostering soli
darity between poor people overseas and Catholics in the U.S. Remember that
this is the great Jubilee year; Operation Rice Bowl offers a unique opportunity
for us to walk with all members of the human family throughout the world who
seek nourishment. The theme of ORB is “Blessed are those who hunger and
thirst for justice for they shall have their fill”. Let us open our hearts to this
experience as we encourage our faith communities for the sake of people strug
gling throughout the world. The Diocese of Savannah increased its contribu
tions for Operation Rice Bowl in 1999 by 8.68% over 1998, thanks to all who
have given so generously.
For more information contact CRS at 209 West Fayette Street,
Baltimore, MD 21201-3443 or call 410-625-2220.
Comunidad Hispana de Douglas—
Abriendo las Puertas a Cristo
Iglesia Catolica de San Pablo, 523 East Ward Street, Douglas, GA