Newspaper Page Text
O
Thursday, September 21, 2000
M®ws
The Southern Cross, Page 3
Statesboro’s Saint Matthew parish:
the town and the church aren’t that little any more
Rita H.
DeLorme
F ifty years ago, the town of
Statesboro was still small. So
was Saint Matthew’s, its
newly-constructed Catholic
church. A welcome addition
to the area, the church served
both loyal, longtime parish
ioners and tourists who trav
eled the nearby highway.
Statesboro’s sedate little Georgia
Teachers College was years
away from its transformation
into Georgia Southern College
and, later, Georgia Southern University. Its campus
dotted with spring-blooming redbuds and with the
town of Statesboro as yet unsprawled to its door,
the school may have had a Catholic student or two
at the time, but that was all.
Starting in 1943, Mass was offered at 10:00 each
Sunday morning in a house at 553 South Main
Street in Statesboro. Bishop Gerald P. O’Hara dis
patched the Father Daniel J. McCarthy to
Statesboro to see to the spiritual needs of Catholic
members of the cadets corps training at the U.S.
Army Air Force school there.
In 1944, the Glenmary Missioners accepted the
bishop’s invitation to undertake the pastoral care of
Statesboro. When the house chapel on Main Street,
in which services had been held, burned down, the
second floor of the Georgia Power Building
became the parish’s new home for a time. In 1947,
Saint Matthew’s first Glenmary pastor, Father
Francis E. McGrath, bought property on Savannah
Avenue and Route 80, During the subsequent pas
torate of Father Edward W. Smith, a Spanish
Gothic structure was built on this site to accommo
date the growing parish.
This church, which could seat 168 people, was
dedicated in February of 1950, by Auxiliary Bishop
Francis E. Hyland. All inside woodwork in the
church came from the expert hand of Anton Kulas,
a Ukranian cabinetmaker whose settlement in this
country was aided by Father Smith. Milton Little of
Savannah crafted the stations of the cross and
Harry Sica of New York donated the tabernacle.
Architect of the building was Walter Aldred.
Stalwart members of the Catholic parish of
Statesboro from its earliest days were the Denitto
and Strozzo families who had moved to nearby
Brooklet from New York in 1931. By 1934, Father
Harold Barr was making the 75-mile trip from
Savannah once a month to say Mass in the Denitto
family home, a residence affectionately dubbed the
“Cathedral of Brooklet.” Here, in 1935, John
Denitto was baptized on his family’s farm by
Father Barr, the baptism being a notable “first” for
that locale. In 1937, another pioneer Catholic fami
ly, the Sacks, moved to Statesboro from Augusta,
and joined the Denitto and Strozzos and others as
“founding families” of Saint Matthew parish.
Statesboro continued to expand, its economy fur
ther spurred on by the establishment of the
Rockwell Corporation (later Brooks-Emerson)
which funneled more Catholics its way. The status
of Catholics living in the town also underwent a
change and acceptance in various local organiza
tions was no longer uncommon. The Glenmary
Sisters and their Superior, Sister Mary Magdaline,
arrived in Statesboro in 1960 to assist with teaching
religion.
Playing a big role in shoring up the improved sta
tus of the Catholic Church in the town was a pastor
who would remain at Saint Matthew’s longer than
any other: Father Lawrence A. Lucree. During his
twelve years as pastor, Father Lucree spearheaded
the drive to purchase land for new facilities, taught
classes at Bulloch Academy and helped found sev
eral United Way agencies: Joseph Home for Boys
and the Humane Society.
With Father Michael H. Smith as pastor, Saint
Matthew’s present church was dedicated on
November 21, 1996, by Bishop Kevin J. Boland.
The new church’s seating capacity of 500 reflects
the parish’s unabated growth. Various service build
ings, including Saint Matthew’s Parish-Newman
Center and a downtown thrift store run by members
of the parish, had earlier extended the scope of
Saint Matthew’s ministry. At present, the popula
tion of the “little” town of Statesboro is about
22,000, membership in Saint Matthew’s parish
includes 350 families and Saint Matthew’s campus
ministry embraces hundreds of Catholic students
Old Saint Matthew Church,
Statesboro
enrolled at Georgia Southern University.
Perhaps the best proof of the good work done by
the many fine priests and religious who traveled the
road to Statesboro to spread the Catholic faith from
the 1930s onward has been the ordination to the
priesthood of several members of Saint Matthew’s
parish: Father Brett Brannen (1991) and Father
Robert Girardeau (1995). Another parishioner,
Vaughn Crabtree, entered the Holy Spirit
Monastery in 1996. Today, the influence of Saint
Matthew’s parish, under the direction of present
pastor Father David Stachurski, OFM Conv., reach
es far beyond the little church built on a busy high
way back in 1950.
Rita H. DeLorme is a volunteer in the
Diocesan Archives.
Romero” producer Father Kieser dies at 71
“Insight”, “
By Mark Pattison
Washington (CNS)
ather Ellwood “Bud” Kieser, who
produced the “Insight” drama
anthology series from 1960 to 1983
as well as movies on Archbishop
Oscar Romero and Catholic Worker
co-founder Dorothy Day, died of
colon cancer September 16 in Los
Angeles. He was 71.
An evening funeral Mass was
scheduled for September 22 for
Father Kieser at Saint Paul the
Apostle Church in the Westwood
section of Los Angeles, with burial
September 23 at Holy Cross
Cemetery in Culver City, California.
Father Kieser had undergone sur
gery for colon cancer in late August,
and doctors found the cancer had
spread to his abdomen and liver.
After one week in the hospital, he
went home on Labor Day, September
3, with plans to begin chemotherapy
once he recovered.
A week later, he returned to Cedar
Sinai Hospital complaining of severe
abdominal pains. A CAT scan found a
blood clot lodged in Father Kieser’s
aorta going to small intestine, and his
doctor gave little hope then he’d
recover or be able to live through sur
gery to correct the problem.
Father Kieser slipped into a coma
late on the night of September 12. In
the days that followed, 30 people a
day came to see him, according to
Paulist Father Frank Desiderio,
Father Kieser’s assistant and likely
successor at Paulist Productions.
A close friend of Father Kieser’s,
Patt Shea, had prayer cards printed
with a picture of Catholic Worker co
founder Dorothy Day and the words:
“Through the intercession of Dorothy
Day, we pray for the physical recov
ery and spiritual well-being of our
brother, Father Bud Kieser.” There
was a hope that if a miracle were to
occur, it could be part of Dorothy
Day’s cause for canonization.
Father Kieser had planned to retire
from Paulist Productions in
September 2001 but continue his
work on the Humanitas Prize, which
he established in 1974.
“Father Kieser’s contribution is
unique. No other Catholic priest has
made such a lasting contribution both
as a producer and a pastor to the
entertainment community. He was a
true son of Saint Paul,” Father
Desidero said in a September 17
statement. The 6-foot-7 priest was a
“gentle giant,” the statement added.
Father Kieser produced two the
atrical films: “Romero,” starring
Raul Julia as Salvadoran Archbishop
Oscar Romero, and “Entertaining
Angels: The Dorothy Day Story,”
which starred Moira Kelly in the title
role and her “West Wing” co-star,
Martin Sheen, as Catholic Worker
co-founder Peter Maurin.
But the priest got his start on tele
vision by producing and hosting the
“Insight” anthology series. The
series, which won six Emmy awards,
ran in first-run syndication for two
decades, and is still seen on the
Odyssey cable channel. It has also
found a home on videocassette with
a “Best of ‘Insight’” series.