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- : VJ» Thursday, December 14, 2000 The Southern Cross, Page 3 Two bishops with a “K” usher in the twentieth century: Bishops Benjamin J. Keiley and Michael J. Keyes, SM Rita H. DeLorme B y coincidence, the two bishops who guided the Diocese of Savan nah through the first part of the twentieth century were both priests whose names began with “K.”-Bishop Benjamin Joseph Keiley and Bishop Michael Joseph Keyes, SM. Father Benjamin Keiley, who came to Savannah with his predecessor, Bishop Thomas A. Becker, in 1886, assumed responsibility for the dio cese in 1900 on Bishop Becker’s death. The son of John D. Keiley, an immigrant Irish schoolmaster, the future seventh bishop of Savannah was bom in Petersburg, Virginia on October 13, 1847. As a boy of seven teen, he had followed his older bro ther Anthony (later a prominent jurist) into the Confederate Army. Following a stint in newspaper work after the Civil War, Benjamin Keiley entered Saint Charles College in Elli- cott City, Maryland. He continued his theological studies at the North American College in Rome and was ordained a priest on December 31, 1873, in Saint Peter’s Cathedral in Richmond, Virginia. Father Keiley’s posts along the way to becoming seventh bishop of the Savannah Bishop Benjamin J. Keiley Diocese included the pastorate of Saint Peter’s Church, Newcastle, Delaware (1874-1880), the rectorate of Saint Peter’s Pro-Cathedral, Wilmington, Delaware (1880-1886), the pastorate of the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Atlanta (1886-1896) and the rectorate of the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist, Savannah, from 1896-1900. In 1900, Cardinal James Gibbons consecrated Benjamin J. Keiley Bishop of Savannah at Richmond’s Saint Peter’s Cathedral, the site of his ordination to the priesthood almost 27 years earlier. Acting as Master of Ceremonies was assistant pastor at the Cathedral of Saint John Jubilee Memorabilia for sale! Three videos connected with the 150th anniversary celebration of the Diocese of Savannah are available for sale. They are: the three- and-a-half hour video of the November 29 Rededication of the Cathedral Mass, $20; the one-hour edited version of the service which aired on WTOC-TV with narration by Father Jeremiah J. McCarthy, $15; and the half-hour video, “A Symphony of the Faithful,” which features the history of the diocese and narration by Father McCarthy, $12. Other Jubilee memorabilia for sale are: Coffee mug $3.00 Magnet $ 1.00 Static cling decal $0.50 Tote bag $5.00 T-shirt (S to XXL) $6.00 Olive cap $5.00 Ballpoint pen $1.00 Pencil $0.10 Lapel pin $5.00 Calendar $1.00 “One Faith ... One Family” Book $30.00 To order, call Patty Hafferman at the Catholic Pastoral Center, 912-238-2320, or send an e-mail to Diosav(a)msn.com Bishop J. Kevin Boland will read excerpts from and sign copies of One Faith...One Family, a new compilation of essays on the Catholic presence in south Georgia, from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, December 16, at Saints and Shamrocks, 309 Bull Street, in Savannah. the Baptist, Father Robert F. Kennedy. It was from Father Kennedy that The Savannah Morning News of Sunday, June 3, 1900, obtained much of the information carried in its three-column spread on the event. The new bishop was familiar with his diocese, having served as pastor at Immaculate Conception Church, as vicar general of the diocese and, as rector of the Cathedral. He was rector when fire ravaged that church in 1898 and much of the task of beginning its restoration became his responsibility. As bishop in the open ing decades of the twentieth century, Bishop Keiley had to combat a cer tain amount of bad feeling towards Catholicism in the largely Protestant state of Georgia. While he was bish op, the Catholic Laymen’s Associ ation came into being and its quarter ly publication, The Bulletin, began to refute widespread misconceptions about the Church. During the Keiley years, the long- existing arrangement with the public school system which involved use of lay teachers and the optional teach ing of Catholic doctrine at Saint Pat rick’s School in Savannah was de clared illegal. Marist Brothers subse quently came to Savannah to found Marist School for the instruction of Catholic boys. At the end of Benjamin Keiley’s time as bishop, the Savannah news paper assessed his accomplishments, noting: “The diocese boasts of more splendid churches, perhaps, than any diocese of its numerical strength in the country; flourishing schools, two fine orphanages, two large and mod em hospitals and a laity distin guished for its activity” in addition to “a zealous band of priests and reli gious.” In 1922, because of a condi tion which was impairing his vision, Bishop Benjamin Keiley resigned. On the anniversary of his ordination late in 1923, he became one of only three bishops in the U.S. at that time who had been priests for fifty years. In retirement, Bishop Keiley resided at Saint Joseph’s Infirmary in Atlanta and it was at Saint Joseph’s that he died on June 17, 1925. “His life,” said The Savannah Morning News, “read like a romance. Few men, either in religious or secular life, covered a wider field of usefulness than he did.” Taking up the work laid down by Bishop Keiley was Bishop Michael J. Keyes, a native of Dingle, Ireland, who had been ordained a Marist priest in Washington, D.C., on June 21, 1907, and consecrated eighth bishop of Savannah in July 1922. The new bishop incorporated the Bishop Michael J. Keyes Marist order’s insignia into his offi cial seal along with the lineage of the Keyes family. His motto, “Star of the Sea,” reflected his devotion to both the Virgin Mary and to the Society of Mary. An unprepossessing man, Bishop Keyes concentrated on estab lishing the faith in mral Georgia. During his tenure, despite the loom ing Great Depression, the bishop ear marked funds for erection of church buildings. Chapels appeared in Cordele, Valdosta and Saint Simons 1 Island and churches were built in Macon and Savannah. He began a church in Alapaha which closed the year this country’s economic depres sion began. Depression or not, 13 new diocesan schools came into being during this difficult period and four additional rectories and con- i vents were built. Despite the neces sary ongoing expansion of the Church in Georgia, the careful Bishop Keyes managed to keep the diocese in sound financial condition- Bishop Keyes is characterized in • Father William Coleman’s book, The Church in South Georgia, as having a “mild, friendly disposition.” The same source pictures the bishop as living “among his people, visiting them, comforting them through the disaster of the depression, which stmck no area harder than the south.” Bishop Michael J. Keyes retired to the Marist House of Studies in Washington, D.C. in 1935 and taught moral theology at Marist College until his death on July 31, 1959. In a century when methods of war would be refined into a terrible art and when socio-economic and scien tific advances would proliferate bewilderingly, Bishops Benjamin J. Keiley and Michael J. Keyes estab lished a strong base for Catholicism in the Diocese of Savannah. Rita H. DeLorme is a volunteer in the Diocesan Archives.