Newspaper Page Text
Thursday, February 25, 2021
Commentary
Southern Cross, Page 15
The Southern Cross and I
In the spring of 1972, not
long before I graduated from
the College of William and
Mary in Virginia, I first heard
of the Southern Cross. Then a
seminarian for the Diocese of
Savannah, Chris Schreck, was
living at Saint Bede’s rectory in
Williamsburg, where he intro
duced me to his bishop, Gerard L.
Frey, and his Vocations Director,
Father Robert B. Mattingly, who
were visiting. Chris mentioned to
them that I wanted to study for
the priesthood, but as a recent
convert to Catholicism, I had
no ties with my home diocese
(Cincinnati) and would be willing
to study for Savannah.
I was planning to pursue a
graduate degree in History at
Indiana University, so I was
thinking of entering seminary
a few years later. But Bishop
Frey and Father Mattingly
asked me a simple, life-changing
question: “Why don’t you come
now?” I have loved the Diocese
of Savannah since that moment.
I said yes. A few weeks later,
Chris informed me that he had
met in Richmond with Monsignor
Roger Roensch, the “recruiter” for
the Pontifical North American
College in Rome, at Bishop
Frey’s request, with a view to his
being sent there to study theolo
gy beginning in 1973.1 congrat
ulated him, and then he dropped
a bombshell. Bishop Frey had
asked Monsignor Roensch to
interview me in Williamsburg
the next day!
It was arranged that I would
spend the summer in the Diocese
of Savannah and then go to
Rome in the fall of 1972. While
joining Chris and the new pas
tor of Saint Bede’s for pizza just
before graduation, I was shown
a copy of the most recent edition
of the Southern Cross. I was very
impressed by its quality and
felt proud of my new diocese for
publishing its own newspaper 45
times a year.
During that summer in
Albany and Savannah, I read
the Southern Cross each week
and arranged to subscribe to
it, although it always arrived
in Rome a few weeks late. That
fall (1972), the Vocations Office
asked each diocesan seminarian
to contribute a reflection, so I
submitted mine, which was the
first of countless articles and
commentaries published in its
pages for the next 49 years.
On November 8,1 learned from
another paper, the Vatican’s
Osservatore Romano, which
I read every day to improve
my new Italian, that “II Santo
Padre ha trasferito S.E. Mons.
Gerard L. Frey dalla Diocesi
di Savannah...” Even then I
understood that my diocese and
I no longer had a bishop, as
he had been transferred to the
See of Lafayette in his native
Louisiana!
It was not until March 5, 1973,
that Pope Paul VI appointed
a new Bishop of Savannah—
Monsignor Raymond W. Lessard,
superior of the Villa Stritch, the
residence for American priests
working for the Vatican. I was
introduced to him that very eve
ning. He invited me to lunch,
which led to my interviewing him
for the Southern Cross—my first
scoop!
Bishop Lessard ordained me to
the priesthood in the Cathedral
of Saint John the Baptist,
Savannah, on July 3, 1976. After
a year of graduate studies, he
assigned me to Saint Teresa
Parish, Albany as parochial vicar
in 1977. A year or so later, John
Markwalter, the new editor of
the Southern Cross, asked the
bishop to appoint me as editorial
writer. For the next two years, I
would type out editorials on an
electric typewriter, place them in
manila envelopes and drive them
to the Greyhound Bus station in
Albany and send them off to John
at Chalker Publishing Company
in Waynesboro—49 times a year.
Bishop Lessard sent me back to
Rome for further studies in 1980,
so I was not able to send weekly
editorials to the States, but I did
send a series on the liturgy that
ran for quite a while. When I
returned to Savannah in January
1981 as Director of Adult
Education, I was asked to write
occasional editorials until Bishop
J. Kevin Boland appointed me
editor as of January 1, 1997.1
remained in that post, working
closely with Barbara King, the
Director of Communications,
until June 30, 2010.
At the bishop’s directive, I
began the practice of laying out
the paper electronically and
transmitting it over the Internet
to Waynesboro. This change
meant fewer hands were needed
for retyping copy and enabled
us to publish more color photos
without paying $25 each for color
correction. I admit that my first
efforts using Photoshop left a lot
to be desired, but I finally got the
hang of it.
It became possible to hire
assistants for the office. Over
the years, I was well served by
Rachel Harris, Todd Hagin, Anne
Smith, Ormonde Lewis, and
Mike Johnson, who succeeded me
in 2010. The photos were taken
for us by Jonas N. Jordan, and
Paul H. Camp added a great deal
to the paper’s quality, as did Rita
Delorme, Mary Hood Hart, and
Rachel Balducci’s columns.
The years of my tenure (1997-
2010) were intensely challenging
ones for the Church and the
world—the Sesquicentennial
of the Diocese of Savannah
and dedication of the restored
Cathedral in 2000, the attacks
of September 11, 2001, the ensu
ing wars in the Middle East, the
abuse scandals of 2002 and later,
the death of Pope John Paul II
and the election of Pope Benedict
XVI in 2005 and the economic
collapse of 2008, were just some
of the memorable events that
required coverage and commen
tary from a Catholic point of
view. In my last month as the
editor, I was honored by the
Catholic Press Association with
first, second, and third place
awards for three recent editorials.
At Bishop Boland’s request, I
continued to write weekly editori
al commentaries for the Southern
Cross, more and more often of a
catechetical nature. The paper
has gone from a 12-page weekly
to a 16-page bi-weekly and will
become a monthly magazine next
month.
I have felt very honored to do
my part for our beloved Southern
Cross for nearly half a century. I
hope to continue to do so in its
new incarnation.
Father Douglas K. Clark is the retired
pastor of Saint Matthew Church,
Statesboro.
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