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Fr. Drinan WonHBe The First Priest-Congressman
Catholic Press Features
DETROIT — Not until the Rev. Robert F.
Drinan, S.J., began making his successful bid
for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives
did many people ever hear of the Rev. Gabriel
Richard, the first Catholic priest ever elected t8
Congress.
As Father Drinan takes his seat in the new
92nd Congress as a Representative from
Massachusetts, Father Richard’s name will
undoubtedly get lost again in the footnotes of
history.
But Father Richard (pronounced
“ree-SHARD,” for he was French-born) was
himself much more than a mere footnote, and
he deserves much more attention than
American Catholic history has given him.
Father Richard served nearly all his
priesthood in Michigan Territory more than
125 years ago, but he was a pioneer in more
than just that sense.
He brought the printing press to Michigan.
He was a founder of what is now the University
of Michigan. He was one of this country’s first
great ecumenists. And, except for an odd event,
he would have been Michigan’s first Catholic
bishop.
Father Richard, a member of the Society of
St. Sulpice, came to this country as an exile
from the anticlericalism of the French
Revolution. After spending his first six years in
America serving missions in Illinois country, he
was assigned to Detroit by Bishop John Carroll
of Baltimore in 1798.
Although it was the “metropolis” of the
Great Lakes region, Detroit at the time of
Father Richard’s arrival was nothing more than
a stockade-surrounded military outpost and
fur-trading center long under French and
British influence. *
The area was, according to Michigan
historians Frank Woodford and Albert Hyma
(in their biography, Gabriel Richard, Frontier
Ambassador) “indeed ready for someone to
introduce those cultural foundations which
would make it a more civilized
community ... Father Richard was the man
who took the lead, a man with vision, a man
with enough unselfish, steadfast devotion to
accomplish what had to be done.”
Father Richard, despite his studious and
ascetic appearance, quickly became involved in
civic affairs. He became a member of the
volunteer fire department (a bucket brigade)
and also originated or signed petitions to
Congress; which was the Territorial inhabitants’
way of making known their complaints to
officials in Washington.
Ecumenically, Father Richard married
Protestant couples when he was the only
clergyman in the area, he offered his church as
a meeting place for one of Detroit’s first
FIRST PRIEST TO SERVE IN CONGRESS
Michigan Archives Portrait of Fr. Richard
Protestant congregations, and he frequently
conducted interdenominational services in
Detroit’s Council House at the request of the
governor and other officials.
Indeed, one later Michigan governor, Chase
S. Osborn, was to rail Father Richard’s work
“the first great exhibition of religious tolerance
in America.”
His first love being education--the Sulpicians
were a teaching order-he was relentless in his
efforts to bring education to the Michigan
Territory inhabitants.
One of his projects was to have included an
elementary school in which both White and
Indian children were to be instructed side by
side-a plan he hoped would break down racial
barriers in the area. In 1808 he drew up a
detailed Indian-education program which he
urged the government to adopt, but despite the
support of President Thomas Jefferson it was
not to pass for another ten years.
In 1817, Father Richard, with three or four
other civic leaders, gave legal birth to the
“Catholepistemiad (University of Michigania,”
which for almost 20 years afterward was little
more than a law on the Territory books and a
table of organization, but nevertheless the
forerunner of today’s University of Michigan.
At Ann Arbor, Father Richard’s portrait in a
long row of former university presidents
testifies not only to his role in the founding of
the university but also to the example he set for
interfaith cooperation. He is second in the line
of presidents (the sole vice president included
in the gallery) after the Rev. John Monteith, a
Protestant minister with whom he worked
closely in the university’s founding. Father
Richard taught in six departments in the
University of Michigan.
In 1808, while travelling in the East seeking
funds and legislative support for his Indian
school project, he shipped to Detroit a printing
press and coaxed a journeyman printer to be
there when it arrived. The “Richard Press”
turned out pamphlets, documents, books
and--although it lasted just one issue-The
Michigan Essay or Impartial Observer-the first
newspaper published in Michigan.
In 1823, 56-year-old Father Richard’s civic
leadership brought him a proposal that he run
for the Territorial Delegate seat in the House of
Representatives. Receiving ecclesiastical
permission, he ran and won-by 23 votes.
His major congressional accomplishment was
in promoting Federal road construction in
Michigan and the building of a highway
between Detroit and Chicago-the latter of
which was helped along when Father Richard’s
arguments won the backing of House Speaker
Henry Clay.
Father Richard ran for re-election in
1825-and lost by four votes-and lost again by
bigger margins in 1827 and 1829.
His political losses were overshadowed in
these closing years of the priest’s life by a
long-standing libel judgment, which eventually
cost him the appointment as first bishop of
Michigan.
(Continued on Page 8)
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ARCHDIOCESE OF ATLANTA
The 00 f*«r
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TTW ifU
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SEUVING GEORGIA’S 71 NORTHERN COUNTIES
Vol. 9 No. 3
Thursday, January 21,1971
$5 per year
Dear
Reader
BY HARRY MURPHY
The City of Atlanta took a
step in the right direction
when it raised policemen’s
salaries to such an extent that
the department can compete
with other businesses for
college graduates.
This eventually should be
reflected in a decreasing
incidence of police brutality
charges.
There has been evidence in
at least some of these charges
that far more than the
acceptable “force necessary
to subdue” was used.
Suspects in petty offenses
have been shot in the back
fleeing. Others have been
seriously beaten.
Part of the problem, the
part the pay hikes will help
solve, has been that the
department has been forced
to lower its standards in order
to get men and women to
work for the low salaries
offered.
In order for police to
support their families, they
were forced to take a second
and sometimes a third job.
When less than the cream
of the crop is forced to work
16 hours a day dealing with
politicians and superior
officers on the one hand, and
a sometimes irate public on
the other, a few heads are
likely to get broken when
tempers with short fuses
flare.
Just getting smarter folks
to become policemen with
good working conditions isn’t
going to solve all problems.
There are occasions when
only brute force can solve a
problem, but this should be
resorted to last, and not first,
as a solution.
No matter how many
bumper stickers abound
urging “Support Your Local
Police,” this support will not
come until the public respects
the police.
Citizens aren’t going to
approve their taxes being
hiked for raises if their image
of police is one of a burly
man in high leather boots and
sunglasses who insults
citizens.
The average Joe has few
brushes with the law, and
most of them are for traffic
offenses.
(Continued on Page 8)
FR. JOHN O’SHEA EXPLAINS THINGS AT SOUTH DEANERY
Fr. Hardy, Archbishop, Co-Chairman R. Hennessy, Fr. Burtenshaw
ARCHBISHOP SURVEYS N EAST DEANERY SCENE
Held At Immaculate Heart Of Mary Church
No Quick Change
Seen In Penance
WASHINGTON (NC) - “No abrupt or radical
change” can be expected in confession despite press
reports predicting changes in the administration of
the sacrament, according to Bishop Joseph L.
Bernardin, general secretary of the National
Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB).
Aborted Fetuses
Put In Garbage
LOS ANGELES (NC) -
Twelve aborted human
fetuses - stuffed into plastic
bags - were found by a
bulldozer operator in a public
garbage dump near here.
Los Angeles County
sheriff’s deputies said the
fetuses, estimated to be
developed from two to five
months from conception, had
been dumped there following
abortions at an Inglewood
clinical laboratory.
Bulldozer operator James
Huff said he noticed the
infant bodies after they burst
out of the plastic bags. He
said he called the sheriffs
department immediately after
his discovery.
Theo Amy Dies
Theo Amy, porter for
the Catholic Center in
Atlanta died suddenly
Tuesday night.
Funeral arrangements
have not been completed.
Bishop Bernardin’s
statement, released here Jan.
15, followed a Vatican
announcement that the Holy
See is studying the possibility
of applying a 1944 directive
authorizing general
absolution in emergencies to
a wider variety of situations.
Vatican officials have said
the 1944 directive was
primarily intended for
military chaplains dealing
with combat situations that
made conventional
confessions impossible.
“It is impossible to
speculate at this time as to
what extensions of this
permission, if any, might be
forthcoming from the Holy
See at some later date,”
Bishop Bernardin said.
“It should, however, be
noted that the Vatican press
office specifically denied
press reports that permission
for experimental use of
general absolution had been
granted to some unnamed
dioceses in this country,” he
added.
NEWS BRIEFS
Elderly Poor
WASHINGTON (NC) — There is a crisis among the elderly
poor. One out of every four Americans over 65 lives on a
poverty-level income. This situation was called “a disgrace in a
nation pledged to an all-out war on poverty” by the Senate
Special Committee on Aging which reported its findings here
based on a two-year study. The committee, headed by Sen.
Harrison A. Williams Jr. (D-N.J.), warned that “a new group of
aged poor” might be in the making among Americans from 55
to 59. In that age category, it found that one of every six men is
out of work by his 65th birthday. It is a most distressing fact,
the committee stated in its report on “Economics and Aging,”
that there was an increase in both the number and the
proportion of aged poor between 1968 and 1969.
Report Archbishop Arrested
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (NC) — The government of Guinea
arrested Archbishop Raynond-Marie Tchidimbo of Conakry for
failing to express support for the policies of Guinean President
Sekou Toure, according to radio broadcasts heard here in this
neighboring West African nation. One radio report said the
Guinean government had arrested the archbishop for refusing to
issue a pastoral letter supporting Toure’s police during the
unsuccessful invasion of Guinea in late November by an
unidentified force of some 350 men, mostly black with some
whites participating. Travelers arriving here from Conakry said
the president had placed Conakry-born Archbishop Tchidimbo,
50, under house arrest for not issuing a pastoral letter
supporting Toure’s party politics.
Notice Of Meeting
Archdiocesan Pastoral Council
Cathedral Center
2699 Peachtree Road
Saturday January 30th 1971
1P.M.
Fr. Drinan
Says Nixon
Can Be Beat
WASHINGTON (NC) -
Freshman Rep. Father
Robert F. Drinan told
reporters at his first formal
news conference in his new
congressional office that
President Richard M. Nixon
can be beaten in 1972 by a
combination of economic
unrest, a national crisis of
confidence and the
emergence of 18-year-old
voters.
Reporters used the
occasion to try to figure out a
term of address for the Jesuit
priest, the first Catholic priest
in history elected as a voting
member of Congress. If the
newsmen are any indication,
he will continue to be called
“Father” throughout his
political career.
Still walking the tightrope
between religion and politics
that marked much of his
campaign, the priest, a
Democrat, fielded several
questions concerning his role
and appearance as a
clergyman.
He said he plans to live
with the Jesuit community at
Georgetown University here,
his college and law school
alma mater. He also said he
would continue to wear his
clerical clothes, remarking
“they’re the only clothes I
have.”
Area Meeting:
Held; Drive
Leaders Set
The new year is a time for new beginnings and the
Archdiocesan Charities Drive program shifted into
high gear with the conclusion of Archdiocesan-wide
deanery meetings last week.
Attended by priests and
parish chairmen from across
the Archdiocese, these
meetings were set up to
present the procedural details
for conducting the Drive.
These meetings centered
around the Drive program
which was presented by
Fathers Noel Burtenshaw and
Jerry Hardy. Archbishop
Thomas Donnellan addressed
each deanery group, thanking
them for their willingness to
work on this important part
of the Archdiocesan financial
program.
The Drive itself begins its
first phase for Special Gifts
on February 1. In this phase,
a minimum gift of $100 is
sought. The Regular Phase,
seeking a minimum gift of
$25, is held on Drive Sunday,
March 7.
The 1971 Charities Drive is
now a three-year-old project.
In each of the first two years,
the goal was reached or
exceeded.
Much of this success is
attributed to simple but
efficient operation. The
responsibility for this
organizational effort is
carried in large measure by
the respective parish
chairmen. A list of these
chairmen is given below for
each parish:
Church of Saint Anthony,
Edgar E. Schukraft and David
T. Donohue; Saint Paul of the
Cross, Dr. Harding Young;
Saint Jude’s, John F. Revell;
Saint John Vianney, Robert
Sommers; Holy Cross, J.B.
Green Jr.;
Also, Saints Peter and Paul,
Russell Elliott; Saint Thomas
More, Joseph J. Zqignagel;
Saint John the Evangelist,
Stanley J w Matuszewski; Saint
Philip Benizi, Richard
Garvey; Cathedral of Christ
the King, Joseph F. DeHaye;
Also, Holy Spirit, J. Porter
Warren and Mr. Harry L.
Cashin Jr.; Shrine of the
Immaculate Conception,
Edward Gasperini;
Immaculate Heart of Mary,
Robert R. Jones; Most
Blessed Sacrament, Donald
Mairose; Our Lady of
Lourdes, Tyrone E. Maddox;
Also, Our Lady of the
Assumption, Vincent
McMahon; Sacred Heart -
Atlanta, William Bates and
Miss Angeles Franco; Saint
Joseph’s - Marietta, Conrad
Wynne; Saint Thomas the
Apostle, Douglas L.
Clevenger; Saint Patrick’s -
Nor cross, Matthew F.
McDaniel;
Also, Saint Francis,
Cartersville, Harvey L.
Cigainero; Saint Joseph’s,
Athens, John K. Kimbel; Our
Lady of Perpetual Help,
Carrollton, Jerry Bush; Saint
Bernadette’s, Cedartown,
Fred C. Woodall; Saint
Mark’s, Clarkesville, John F.
Thompson;
Also, Saint Luke’s,
Dahlonega, James Cameron;
Saint Joseph’s, Dalton,
Robert Dodd; Saint Gerard’s,
Fort Oglethorpe, Daniel
Merriman; Saint Michael’s,
Gainesville, William F.
Hinderscheid Jr.; Sacred
Heart, Griffin, John Quinn;
Also, Saint Peter’s,
LaGrange, unnamed; Saint
Mary’s, Rome, Richard L.
Moody; Mother of Our Divine
Saviour, Toccoa, William
Knowles; Sacred Heart,
Milledgeville, Dr. Michael
Sneppeck; Saint Joseph’s,
Washington, George
Rodrigues and Joe Flocker;
Sharon, Bernard Darden;
Thomson, Ed Blanko, and
Elberton, Charles McGowan.
Archdiocesan Fund Drive Sunday Is March 7