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In May 19091 had occasion to write to Your Lordship with
reference to the Orphan
Asylum for Colored children in charge of the Franciscan
Sisters. It seemed desirable
that the orphanage should be used for a school for colored
children and at that time I remarked that if you approved of
the plan we would be willing to donate $5,000for an orphan
age in some other locality, if they agreed to give up the present
orphanage to the Very Rev. Father Lissner for a school
—From a letter of Mother (Saint) Katharine Drexel
to Bishop Benjamin Keiley
The Southern Cross, Page 6
(Continued from page 5)
Sacred Heart come to Augusta.
1886: Bishop Thomas A. Becker,
Savannah’s sixth Bishop, invites the
Marist fathers to work in Bmnswick
and appoints the Franciscan Sisters to
Savannah. During Bishop Becker’s
time, the Little Sisters of the Poor
open their home for the elderly in
Savannah, and Saint Joseph Church is
opened in Macon.
1900: Bishop Benjamin Keiley
takes over the leadership of the dio
cese with the turn of the century.
Bishop Keiley continues the effort to
reach out to the African Americans
in his community, bringing Father
Ignatius Lissner, SMA, to establish
parishes and schools for them in
Savannah, Macon and Augusta.
1916: The Catholic Laymen’s
Association is established, to coun
teract a wave of anti-Catholic preju
dice in the area. Through its newspa
per, The Bulletin, the CLA speaks
out against bigotry and defends the
faith.
1922: Bishop Michael J. Keyes
becomes Georgia’s eighth bishop,
leading his people through the years
following World War I and the diffi
cult days of the Depression. Despite
financial difficulties, new churches
are built in Valdosta and Saint
Simons Island, as well as Macon and
Savannah.
1936: Bishop Gerald P. O’Hara
brings new leadership, after Bishop
Keyes’ retirement. Bishop O’Hara
works to spread the faith into the
rural areas, expanding the range of
the missionary endeavors in the
Albany and Valdosta areas. New reli
gious orders, the Franciscan Fathers
and Oblates of Mary Immaculate,
come to south Georgia. In the sum
mer, children from rural parishes
gather at Camp Villa Marie to take
part in a strong program of religious
instruction.
1939: With the growth of the
Catholic population in the northern
part of the state, the diocese gains a
new name as “Savannah-Atlanta.”
1941: World War II brings new
Catholic families to Georgia with the
opening of military bases in the area.
New parishes are established in
Savannah, Statesboro and Warner
Robins. At the end of the war,
Bishop O’Hara becomes a member
of the papal diplomatic service. He is
posted to Romania as Regent of the
Apostolic Nunciature. Expelled by
the Communists, he returns briefly to
Savannah. Later, named an Arch
bishop, he becomes Papal Nuncio to
Ireland and Apostolic Delegate to
Great Britain, remaining Bishop of
Savannah until 1959.
1956: Georgia is divided into two
dioceses. Bishop Francis X. Hyland
becomes the first Bishop of Atlanta.
Auxiliary Bishop Thomas J. McDo
nough arrives in 1957. Bishop Mc
Donough brings the Glenmary
Fathers to Georgia and helps to build
up the church in rural areas. Parishes
were opened in Sylvania, Claxton,
and Jesup. Mission churches are con
structed in many areas, as the basis
for future Catholic communities
throughout the southern part of the
State.
1960: After Archbishop O’Hara
resigns, Thomas J. McDonough is
appointed the tenth Bishop of Savan
nah. Bishop McDonough atttends the
Thursday, November 23, 2000
Second Vatican Council (1962-65).
and returns to initiate the new provi
sions shaping the Church in the dio
cese .
1967: On Bishop McDonough’s
promotion to Archbishop of
Louisville, Gerard L. Frey becomes
Savannah’s eleventh bishop, presiding
over the diocese as it adjusts to the
post-Vatican II changes and struggles
with the Civil Rights issues which fol
lowed the passage of the Civil Rights
Act of 1964.
1973: Bishop Raymond W. Lessard
is appointed the twelfth bishop of
Savannah, taking charge at a time of
unprecedented growth and change.
He is responsible for the establish
ment of the permanent diaconate. His
tenure sees the Catholic population
almost double. He presides over the
diocese during a period of expansion
in rural areas as well as in the cities
of south Georgia.
1995: Bishop J. Kevin Boland, a
native of Cork, Ireland, who has
served in parishes in Savannah and
Columbus and is also an experienced
vicar general, becomes the bishop.
Under his leadership, Catholic com
munities are experiencing continued
growth and vitality. The major
restoration of the Cathedral, timed to
coincide with the Jubilee Year, and
the 150th anniversary of the diocese,
will stand as a crowning accomplish
ment.
^
In gratitude to God
for the Diocese of Savannah’s
150 years
and for the Cathedral’s restoration
—Father Herbert J. Wellmeier
Assistant pastor of the Cathedral
1956-63
Rector of the Cathedral
1981-1988
THANKS BE TO GOD
FOR THE DIOCESE OF SAVANNAH
FOR BISHOP BOLAND
FOR THE CATHEDRAL OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST
ST. JOAN OF ARC PARISH
LOUISVILLE GEORGIA
STAFFED BY GLENMARY
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Si
^9
FOUNDED 110 YEARS AFTER
THE DIOCESE OF SAVANNAH
LOCATED 100 MILES TO THE NORTH
SAME LORD, SAME FAITH, SAME BAPTISM
SAME HOPE FOR THE FUTURE
STAFFED BY GLENMARY