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History Of The Archdiocese
RT. REV. ABBOT Father Augustine Moo,be O.C.S.O, is pictured
as he concelebrates Mass with monks of Our Lady of the Holy
Ghost monastery, Conyers. The monastery is located some 25
miles south of Atlanta.
(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 28)
St. Joseph's Maronite Church
in Atlanta. Until that time the
Maronite Catholics had been
cared for by Rev. Val Becker,
S.M., superior of the Marist
community in Atlanta.
Converts Increase
On June 10, 1957 the first
administration of the Sacrament
of Confirmation specially for
adults, particularly converts to
the faith, was held in the Ca
thedral of Christ the King. Bis
hop Hyland that day confirmed
208 adults, while 187 adults had
been confirmed earlier that
year in ceremonies held at
different parish churches. In
1958, 146 adults were confirm
ed at the Cathedral, and in
1959 there were 278 adults con
firmed. The next two years, due
to the large number of those
receiving the Sacrament and
their guests, the ceremony of
Confirmation of adults was held
on two successive days.
The ratio of converts to the
number of priests in the dio
cese is one of the highest in
the country. To further this a-
postolate, Bishop Highland es
tablished the Catholic Informa
tion Service under the direction
of Rev. John Mulroy to bring
a knowledge of the faith to those
who are not Catholics thru ad
vertisements, correspondence
courses, literature, and inquiry
and instruction classes. In the
fall of 1961 it was announced
that seven Atlanta parishes
would conduct weekly instruc
tion classes, coordinated and
arranged so that every night of
the week is covered.
1963 Census
An Archdiocesan census tak
en by 6,000 lay volunteers on
the first Sunday in Lent, March
3, 1963, revealed 43,342 Catho
lics in the 71 counties of north
Georgia. This represented an
increase of 83% since the dio
cese was established in 1956.
Of these, 83.4% (36,168) resid
ed in the metropolitan Atlanta
area. One-fourth of those count
ed had lived in the Archdiocese
only one year, corroborating
one theory that over half of
the newcomers to this area from
out of State are Catholics.
A Mere Half-Century Ago
Fifty years ago Georgia was
so admittedly anti-Catholicthat
many of its newspapers attacked
the Church or slurred Catholics
in almost every issue. One man
in particular, active in politics,
rallied a following by constant
ly decrying the "Roman Catho
lic hierarchy", which term im
mediately filled his followers
with the fear of the unknown
because scarcely one of them
had any idea what the Roman
Catholic hierarchy was. Ca
tholics at that time numbered
about 15,000 in a state with a
population of 2,000,000. Since
the vast majority of Georgians
had little knowledge of what the
Catholic church taught, knew
little of the true nature of its
practices, the anti-Catholic
scare did its insidious work.
Suddenly a campaign of intoler
ance began, especially in the re
motely populated areas where
Catholics were few in number.
The adoption by the state le
gislature of the Veasey Bill or
"Convent Inspection Act" cli
maxed this era of bigotry.
Laymen's Association
These frightening develop
ments dismayed Catholics,
some of whose forebears had
been in Georgia since colonial
days. There was scarcely a
city of consequence in which
Catholics had not occupied the
highest positions, up to and in
cluding mayor. Patrick Walsh of
Augusta had represented Geor
gia in the United States Senate.
One Catholic prominent in the
business and civic life of Augus
ta, Capt. P.H. Rice, joined with
Msgr. Mitchell and, with the a id
of the Religious Prejudice Com
mission of the Knights of Co
lumbus arranged the circulation
of pamphlets over the state.
Capt. Rice also arranged meet
ings in Augusta, Savannah and
Macon which finally culminated
in the formation in Macon in
1916 of the Catholic Laymen's
Association. A publicity bureau
headed by James J. Farrell be
gan inserting advertising in the
newspapers of the State. These
ads carried positive statements
that Catholics did not believe
or do certain things ascribed
to them, and offered to answer
questions regarding what they
do believe and practice. In
quiries began flowing in to the
association headquarters, at
first many of a bitter nature
but gradually these became the
exception. Every inquiry to the
association office was answered
by a personal letter, courteous
and to the point. No matter
how absurd or abusive the
query, the answer was never
disdainful, sarcastic or touched
with ridicule. The association
never lost sight of its objec
tive "to bring about a friend
lier feeling among Georgians
irrespective of creed".
HOLY SPIRIT
PARISH
Wei
corned
BISHOP
The Bulletin
In April, 1920, the Laymen's
Association began the publica
tion of "The Bulletin". In Jan
uary, 1963, this publication was
renamed The Georgia Bulletin
and went on a weekly basis,
edited by a nationally-known
journalist - editor, Gerard E.
Sherry. The consulting editor,
Rev. R. Donald Kieman, and as
sociate editor Rev. Leonard F.
X. Mayhew, have continued to
edit the paper since Mr.
Sherry’s resignation as of the
end of March, 1966.
A strong state organization
like the Laymen’s Association
was necessary when the Sacred
Heart church on Ivy Street in
Atlanta was the only parish be
tween Atlanta and the Tennessee
border, and the only church be
tween Savannah and Atlanta was
at Macon, 300 miles away. With
the establishment of more pa
rishes came parish or-
ganizatons, and the Laymen's
Associaton became a coordi
nating office to synchronize the
efforts of the parish groups.
With discontinuance of the for
mer Bulletin publication in
1963, the efforts of the laymen’s
organization were incorporated
into the newly established Na
tional Council of Catholic men.
Women Organize
The Catholic women of At
lanta, which had been a Dea
nery of the Savannah-Atlanta
Diocesan Council of Catholic
Women, reorganized as the At
lanta DCCW in 1957. At its
annual meeting on September
21 held at Sacred Heart Church
in Atlanta, the first Dialogue
Mass in the diocese was cele
brated by Bishop Hyland. Pa
rish Councils of Catholic Wo-
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 30) ^
BERNARDIN
NOW MEETING AT PACE ACADEMY
\jr.t
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