The Catholic times. [volume], February 19, 1954, Image 1

About The Catholic times. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1951-current

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The Road To
True Peace Leads
Through Mary
Vol. Ill, No. 20
His order was delivered to “ill
fed. ill clothed, and ill paid” sol
diers entrenched outside the city
of Boston where the British had
holed in. These soldiers, who had
fought courageously to take the
city but had been repulsed at Bun
ker Hill, now faced a New Eng
land vinter's wait, holding Boston
in siege
American Allies Catholic
In his order General Washing
ton gave the disgruntled troops a
common sense reminder! Amci ica
was depending on Catholic allies
in its revolt for freedom the most
successful campaign against the
GENERAL ORDER, NOVEMBER 6, 1775
HEAD QUARTERS, CAMBRIDGE
Washington Fought Religious
Bigotry In Continental Army
Burning Effigy Of Pope Called
Ridiculous And Childish Custom
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (NC) The Commander in Chief
of American forces today ordered his troops to stop plans to
burn the Pope in effigy at traditional Guy Fawkes Day ob
servances. He called the custom “ridiculous and childish.”
1'hat’s how this story might have been date-lined and
written 178 years ago. The commander in chief was General
George Wasuing.on. he had come
to Massachusetts from Virginia
only five months before to take
military command of the seven
months-old American Revolution.
And General Washington took
over the rough, undisciplined
troops with a firm hand. When he
learned that his soldiers planned
to whoop it up November 5. 1775.
by burning a “scarecrow” of the
Pope, he quickly issued an order.
In it, he reminded the men they
were fighting “in defence of lib
erty.” He called the Guy Fawkes
Day plan “so monstrous as not to
be suffered or excused” and the
officers and men who planned it
"void of common sense."
which Guy Fawkes, a Catholic, was
accused of attempting to blow up
the House of Parliament, was false
ly interpreted as a Vatican-direct
ed plan against England, and re
sulted in the death of many Catho
lics.) An effigy of the Pope was
burned that night on the hills south
of Boston.
The incident, however, was
one of a series that marked a
turning point in the position of
Catholics in America—long "re
garded as the objects of Puritan
distrust and their religion con
sidered as ‘subversive of so
ciety'," according to historian
Father Paul J. Foik, C.S.C. Fath
er Foik noted that with the Rev
olution "the condition of Amer
ican Catholics began to improve."
Throughout the Revolution. Ca
tholic Americans proved their
patriotism to such an extent that,
years later. President Washington
was to write them:
“I presume that your fellow citi
zens of all denominations will not
forget the patriotic part which you
took in the accomplishment of our
Revolution and the establishment
of our government, or the import
ant assistance which they received
from a nation in which the Roman
Catholic faith is professed.”
A» the Commander in Chief has been apprized of a design form'd
for the observance of that ridiculous and childish custom of burn
ing the Effigy of the pope—He cannot help expressing his sur
prise that there should be Officers and Soldiers in the army
so void of common sense, as not to see the impropriety of such
a step at this Juncture at a Time when we are solticiting, and
have really obtain'd, the friendship and alliance of the people
of Canada, whom we ought on consider as Brethren embarked in the
same Cause, The defence and the general liberty of America At
such a juncture, and in such Circumstances, to be insulting their
religion is so monstrous, as not to be suffered or excused indeed
instead of offering the most remote insult, it is our duty to ad
dress public thanks to these our Brethren, as to them we are so
much indedted for every late happy Success over the common
Enemy in Canada.
—General Orders, 1775-1776 Paper of George Washington
The Library of Congress
British had thus lar been conduct
ed by Catholic Canadian forces.
“It is our duty to address pub
lic thanks to these our brethren”
rather than “to be insulting their
religion.” General Washington said.
Records also reveal that more
than 38 per cent of the soldiers
in Washington's armies were
Catholics of either Irish birth
or Irish descent. They had join
ed in the Revolutioi despite the
discriminatory statutes then in
force against them.
But regardless of these facts and
the General's order, a group of
Revolutiinary soldiers carried out
the Guy Fawkes Day custom which
their ancesors had long practiced
in memory of England’s notorious
“Gun Powder Plot.” (The plot in
American Named
Prefect Apostolic
In N. W. Nigeria
CHICAGO (NC) Father
Thaddeus Lawton, O.P., a native
of Charlestown, Mass., has been
named Prefect Apostolic of the
newly-created Pretecture Apostolic
of Sokoto, in Northwest Nigeria.
This is announced in a cablegram
from Vatican City received here by
Father Edward L. Hughes, O.P.,
Provincial of the Dominican Fa
thers of the Province of St. Albert
the Great.
The Prefecture of Sokoto, it is
reported, is a vast and rathgr un
developed territory.
Christ The King Parish On TV .Sunday
The story of the growth of a typical modern city parish and the many problems encountered by a
parish located in a rapidly growing community will be told on WBNS TV Sunday afternoon when
Father Thomas Duffy of St. Charles Seminary will interview Father Leo Brehm, pastor of Christ
the King parish, Columbus. Pictured above preparing movie sequences for the program are, left to
right, Father Brehm, Spike Drugan, photographer, and Father Duffy. When the above picture was taken,
movies were made of the activity in the school cafeteria. Other movies were made of the church and
classrooms. The television program will be seen at 3:00 p. m. Sunday. It is the first of a series of four pro
grams being produced by Father Duffy to tell the story of certain phases of the activity of the Church In
Columbus
v
A Mr,
British Bill
Would Lejializc
Abortions
LON1 )N—(NC)—A Bill to legal,
ize abortion has been introduced
with the support of some sections
of the medical and secular press.
It has still to be debated in Parlia
ment, but its proposals differ only
slightly from those in a previous
kill-the-baby Bill which was block
ed last year after protests from
Catholics and non-Catholics.
The new Bill, sponsored by Lord
Amulree, a doctor, would amend
a section of the Offenses Against
(he Person Act of 1861 which
makes it a crime to administer
drugs or use instruments to pro
cure abortion.
It is now proposed thet no reg
istered medical practitioner be
found guilty under this act un
less it is proved that he assisted
the abortion for other reasons
than to preserve the life of the
mother. The Bill also proposed
that no doctor vho procur
es an abortion with the con
curring opinion of a second
doctor is to be be convicted
unless it is proved that the act
was not done to prevent injury
to the body or health of the
mother,
A court would be allowed to de
cide whether a deliberate miscar
riage was justified by danger to
the health alone—not only to the
life—of the mother.
His Eminence Bernard Cardinal
Griffin, Archbishop of Westmins
ter, described the first Bill as “an
attempt to legalize the direct kill
ing of the innocent unborn.” By
the same principle the aged, incur
able and even politically undesir
able could be exterminated should
the state consider them inconven
ient or harmful to the nation, the
Cardinal said.
—---------------o------------------•
Socialist Paper
Mourns Death Of
French Prelate
PARIS (NC) ArchbUhop
Maurice Dubourg of Besancon. who
died (Jan. 31) at the age of 76. was
one of two former practicing law
yers in the French episcopate. The
other is His Eminence Pierre Car
dinal Gerlier. Archbishop of Lyons.
The late Archbishop, who was or
dained in 1900. fought in the first
World War as a captain of the in
fantry and was decorated with the
Legion of Honor. Raised to the
episcopate in 1928. he has served
as Archbishop of Besancon since
1936
Evidence of the high esteem
the Archbishop enjoyed among
all classes of the people is seen
in an editorial of the socialist
newspaper Comtois of Besancon
which spoke of him as a "most
noble personality." The newspa
per said the Archbishop "pre
served, to his end, an extraordi
nary serenity and died calmly,
a true shepherd of a flock of
faithful.
The atholic Times
Columbus 16, Ohio, Friday, February 19, 1954
Bishops’ Fund Poster
Need for a special tutoring for
a few children was also pointed
out at the meeting.
The experiment of sending the
boys and girls to parish schools
was inaugurated during the 1952
53 school year. Twenty children are
Released Time
Makes Gains
For Churches
CINCINNATI (NC) A na
tional group of Protestant educa
tors was told here that the “releas
ed time” programs affording relig
ious teaching to public school chil
dren during school hours are lead
ing more and more youngsters to
church affiliation.
Edwin L. Shaver, director of
weekday religious education for
the National Council of Churches,
told a meeting of the council's di
vision of Christian Education that
between two and a half and three
million children are being given an
hour or more off from school each
week to get religious teaching.
Earlier, at a press conference, a
gathering of church leaders said
that studies will be made to find
out “how far we can go in seeing
that religion is not left out of the
public school curriculum.” They
estimated about 26,000.000 school
children have no formal religious
ties.
Mr. Shaver told the meeting that
of the children taking part in the
“released time” programs, about
25 per cent have no formal relig
ious affiliation, and that nearly
one-third of these are led to a
church or synagogue through the
program. He said that of the total,
over one-half are nominally Prot
estant, nearly half are Catholic,
and a feu are Jews.
_—------------- o--------------------
New Auxiliary
Bishop Is Named
In Australia
SYDNEY, Australia (NC)
Msgr. James Carroll, Australia's
leading authority on canon law has
been appointed Titular Bishop of
Atenia and Auxiliary to His Emi
nence Norman Cardinal Gilroy,
Archbishop of Sydney.
Announcement of the appoint
ment by His Holiness Pope Pius
XII followed the recent nomina
tion of Archbishop Eris O'Brien,
former Auxiliary to Cardinal Gil
roy, to the Archbishopric of Can
berra-Goulburn.
The Titular See of Atenia was
formerly that of Bishop Patrick J.
McCormick, rector of the Catholic
University of America in Wash
ington, who died last year.
fit**
The eighth annual nation-wide collection for the Bishops' Fund
For Victims of War will be taken up in 15,000 Catholic parishes
throughout the country on Laetare Sunday, March 28. Shown above
inspecting the new campaign posters are Francis Cardinal Spellman,
Archbishop of New York (right), end Msgr. Edward E. Swanstrom,
Executive Secretary of War Relief Services—N.C.W.C.
St. V incent’s School Program
Is Termed Highiv Successful
A
The policy of sending boys and girls from St. Vincent's
Orphange to parochial schools in Columbus has proven highly
successful.
This was the assertion of Father William E. Kappes, dio
cesan director ui Hospitals ano
Charities, al a meeting of the in
stitution’s Advisory Board last
Xveek. Father Kappes declared
“The benefits of using ihe parish
schools are evidenced in a more
cheerful attitude ot the children
an easing of disciplinary problem*
since the children now leave their
school problems at the school and
their home problems at the institu
tion. and a marked increased mt
est in study.”
"It is our plan," Father Kappes
said, "to increase the number of
children attending the parish
schools until practically all chil
dren leave the institution for
school."
now attending classes in St. Peter,
Sacred Heart, Holy Rosary and St.
John Schools.
At the Advisory Board meeting.
Father Kappes disclosed that the
Sisters of St. Francis of Penance
and Christian Charity of Stella
Niagara cared for 153 children last
year. Of these, 122 were from
parishes in Franklin County.
In all. the orphans required 29,
922 total days of care, at a cost
of $2.22 per child per day.
At the meeting, the Beard dis
cussed the problem of finding fos
ter homes for four negro children.
The group also noted that young
men from .Ohio State University
had painted all living quarters in
the past two years.
o------------------president
Fr. Slovan’s
Talk To Open
Critics Forum
The seventh annual Critics For
um will open at 8.15 p.m. Thurs
day with a lecture by Father Ger
ard S. Sloyan of Washington. C.
Father Sloyan will review Alan
Paton’s “Too Late the Phaiarope”
and James Michener s “Sayonara”
in a talk at the Little Theater of
the Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts.
The book review will be the first
of three to be presented by the
International Federation of Cath
olic Alumnae.
A priest of the Diocese of Tren
ton. Father Sloyan has been associ
ated with the Department of Relig
ious Education at Catholic Univer
sity of America since 1950.
He is frequently represented in
periodicals dealing with theology,
scripture and pedagogy, and writes
regularly for “America” and “Wor-
...
Fr. Gerard S. Sloyan
ship.” He is author of a chapter
on Thomas Wolfe in “Fifty Years
of the American Novel: A Catho
lic Appraisal.” and has served as
Catholic editorial consultant for a
magazine entitled “Religious Edu
cation.”
The program was arranged by
Miss Marie Nerny, chairman of the
Critics Forum, and Miss Mary Lor
etto Zuber. Mrs. A. A. Eilers. Miss
Rose Forquer, Miss Barbara Sugar
and Mrs. Roger Swepston, commit
tee members.
Robert B. Canary will be in
charge of Thursday’s program.
Tickets are available from mem
bers of the Columbus Circle and at
the Cathedral Book Shop. 205 E.
i Broad St.
Faith In Code
Reaffirmed Bv
Top .Movie Men
NEW YORK JNC) Eight
top movie executives have declar
ed that the fundamental principles
of the industry Production Code
“are not subject to change with
the passage of time.”
In a statement issued through
the Motion Picture Association of
America, the movie chieftains as
serted that "no sweeping changes
or revisions are necessary for pro
viding “superlative, artistic and
dramatic entertainment within the
normal standards of decency and
morality.”
But the statement interpreted
here as an answer to an industry
group which has called for broad
changes in the self-regulatory rules
adopted in 1930—did not rule out
changes in the Code altogether.
“Rules and regulations accompany
ing the Code and dealing with cus
toms and conventions have been
changed from time to time in the
light of experience,” it said. “The
Code is a living document for our
guidance.”
Significantly absent from the
list of signers of the statement was
RKO Radio, which was fined $25.
000 for releasing the Legion of
Decency-condemned movie “French
Line” without a Code seal.
In their joint statement, entitled
“Decent Entertainment is the Best
Entertainment.” the eight produc
ing and distributing company ex
ecutives declared that they have
“a continuing responsibility to the
people we serve ... the responsi
bility to see that what appears in
our pictures is decent and moral—
fit for the families of all the
world.”
And they said that while they
“abhor and oppose” governmental
censorship as “alien to our basic
American traditions of freedom.”
they acknowledged a responsibility
to see that “the freedom under law
which we claim shall not by its
abuse descend into license.”
Signers of the statement includ
ed Nicholas M. Schenck, president
of Loews Inc. Barney Balaban.
of Paramount Pictures:
Spyros Skouras. president of 20th
Century-Fox Harry Cohn, presi
dent of Columbia Pictures: Albert
Warner, vice-president of Warner
Brothers Milton Rackmil. pres
ident of Universal Pictures: Her
bert J. Yates, president of Repub
lic Pictures, and S. S. Broidy, pres
ident of Allied Artists Productions.
-------------------o------------------is
Bishop Warns
Against Red
Union Leaders
SILVER CITY. N.M A warn
ing against membership in a union
“whose leadership and ultimate
aims are communistic’ was again
given to mine workers here by
their Bishop—this time by radio
after union leaders had refused to
let the Prelate give his views at a
union assembly.
Bishop Sidney M. Metzger of
El Paso told the miners that "if
they have been deceived and now
actually belong to such a (com
munist-led) union they have a ser
ious obligation owed to God and
country’ to disaffiliate and join an
other sound and decent union of
their own chpice.”
Events here clearly indicated that
the Bishop was referring to the
United Mine. Mill and Smelter
Workers union which has been in
volved in labor strife here and
whose local leaders have accused
the Bishop of being “anti-labor.”
Bishop Metzger emphasized that
it is “not our purpose to interfere
in an industrial dispute between
employer and worker There has
been no expression of preference
on our part of one labor union over
another nor do we suggest which
labor union the workingmen should
join.
“But it is our sole and express
purpose to warn our workingmen
that they must not join a union
whose leadership and ultimate
aims are communistic.”
s
I
The Bishop said it is a matter of
duty to “speak out openly” on the
union situation because “our gov
ernment has made a thorough in
vestigation and proof of actual
communist affiliation or at least
the acceptance of communist teach
ing is officially attested by public
record.”
Copy Deadline
A 11 announcements for
publication in The Catholic
Tinies must be submitted by
Saturday noon preceding
publication date.
Pontiff Calls Suffering
A Blessing From God
His Holiness reminded the
sick and shut-ins thet although
the whole universe for them was
delineated by the gloomy lines
of their small rooms, under the
light of faith the room can recon
quer its unbounded dimensions."
"Faith certainly will not make
you love suffering for its own
sake," he said, "but it will make
you understand for how many
noble ends one can serenely ac
cept and even desire illness."
“Your sacrifice, united with that
of Jesus, will return many sinners
to their Father: many infidels will
find true faith: many weak
Christians will have strength to
live fully the doctrine and law of
Christ.”
Spiritual Founts
Calling the sick “precious jew
els” and “strong founts of spirit
ual energies” the pone told them
that “the Vicar of Christ Counts
on you to obtain in this blessed
year the many and urgent fruits
proposed in our small encyclical
’Fulgens Corona for the salva
tion of humanity and for the
Church herself”
A correspondent who contribut
ed jokes and puzzles to the youth
column published a mere 77 years
ago in the Catholic Columbian, the
forerunner of The Catholic Times,
still exercising his wit in St.
Louis, Mo.
He is Father Laurence Kenny,
S.J., who when he was born on a
farm near Zaleski. Ohio, was bap
tized immediately because he was
so delicate. That was 89 years ago
—when President Abraham Lin
coln was scanning maps to keep
up with the Union troop move
ments in the Civil War.
Now, Father Kenny is stationed
at St. Louis University, having
spent 70 years in the Society of
Jesus and nearly 54 years as a
priest.
A scholar of American Catholic
history. Father wrote to The Ca
tholic Tinies recently on the sub
ject of Ohio's name.
He thought, and rightfully so,
that as Ohioans celebrated the Ses
quicentennial they should know
that their states name (meaning
beautiful river) was first written
by Saint Isaac Jogues. the French
Jesuit who was martyred by the
Iroquois.
“Speak of the word ‘Ohio’ with
reverence. Father Kenny wrote, be
cause “it is a consecrated name.”
While Father Kenny undoubted
ly would prefer that this article
deal at length with his historical
proofs, his ow n history is too color
ful to be overlooked.
For the priest is one of the few
men who can relate that he was
born in the Lincoln era and who
vividly remembers his grandfather
who was a lad of 15 when George
Washington passed away.
Oct. 12, 1864, the day he was
born, Father Kenny writes, “my
father Thomas Kenny was in Mc
Arthur. the county seat, paying
$300 in gold to be exempted from
service in the Union Army” (a
common custom which was consid
ered quite proper in those times).
He also remembers going to
Mass in the new St. Sylvester's in
Zaleski, one of the fust Catholic
churches in what is now the Co
lumbus Diocese, and recalls submit
ting material to the youth column
in the Catholic Columbian when
he was 12 years old.
‘Big Shot*
Father Kenny said he was proud
to see his voluntary contributions
in print, and that his playmates
considered him a "big shot.”
He also remembers his first Ho
ly Communion in 1876 and the day
of his Confirmation in 1877. when
the surplus of the late Father
James J. Slevin, pastor of St. Syl-.
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VATICAN CITY (NC) From his own sickroom an
ailing Pope urged the sick ot the world to offer their suffer
ings “according to all the intentions for which Christ continual
ly immolates Himself on altars.”
His Holiness Pope Pius XII. who has been ill three weeks,
recorded from his bedside the first 500 words of a radio ad
dress and the concluding blessing to the sick on the occasion
ui the Diocese ot Rome s Marian
Year Day for the Sick. His voice,
though revealing noticeably the ex
tent of his weakness, was clearly
recognizable.
He left his sickroom Sunday to
attend Mass in an adjoining pri
vate chapel..
Alter the Pope s personal intro
duction, Father Francfisco Pelle
grini, Italian Vatican radio speak
er. read the rest of the Pope s mes
sage, which was transmitted by
Vatican Radio. Italian Radio and
on several short wave lengths to
the world Sunday evening.
Pope Pius told his radio audience
that he could see mankind's sick
suffering on their beds of pain—
the young, the old, the resigned,
the docile and the rebellious. To
the impatient and the rebellious,
he recalled Christ on the Cross
and the Blessed Virgin beneath
“What evil did He ever do?
What evil did she do? And so. tor
tured soul, oppressed by trouble,
listen: Jesus and His Mother suf
fered certainly not through their
own fault, but voluntarily and in
full conformity with divine de
sign Have you ever wondered
why?”
Loving Father
The Pontiff reminded tho
sick that they had probably tin
ned at times thereby meriting
eternal punishment and yet they
were still living: Even if Christ
were punishing them for their
faults, he said, they should not
rebel for they are not slaves be
ing punished by a cruel master
but children being corrected by
a loving Father.
His Holiness also called the at
tention of the sick and suffering
to the thousands of wonderful
souls who have accepted and even
desired suffering so that they
thereby might join in Christ’s suf
ferings for sinners.
The message, usually given by
the Pope each year at this time,
made no reference to the Pope's
own illness though some hearers
noted in his voice what seemed
to be a deep sympathy w’ith the
world’s sick such as only the sick
can give. Last year the Pope was
ill with bronchitis and unable to
make the broadcast.
One-Time Contributor
Racks Lp Record Of
77 Years Of Writing
vester’s. was set ablaze by a can
dle. Bishop Sylvester Rosecrans,
first bishop of Columbus, burned
his hand when he ripped off Fa
ther Sievin flaming garment.
Father Kenny, moreover, looks
back on his single visit to Colum
bus. That was Aug 8. 1880. when
he boarded a railroad train in Za
leski and made the tedious trip to
the capital for the consecration of
Bishop John A. Watterson of St.
Joseph Cathedral. Thaf day, he al
so found time to visit all of the
six Catholic Churches in the city.
After graduating from Zaleski
School (where he was a member of
the first senior class) Father Ken
ny attended St. Joseph College in
Bardstown. Ky„ and then enrolled
for three years at St. Xavier’s Col
lege Cincinnati
He entered the Jesuit Novitiate
at Florissant. Mo., on July 21. 1883.
58 Years At St. Louis U.
Fifty-eight of his 70 years as a
Jesuit have been spent as a stu
dent or teacher of history and reg-
Fr. Laurence Kenny
istrar at St. Louis University Ha
also has taught at reighton Uni
versity and the I Diversity of De
troit.
Father Kenny has written for va
rious historical reviews, including
an article about the French origin
of Gallipolis for the Catholic His
torical Review, and for many other
publications. From 1910 to 1917
he was the American correspond
ent for the Civilta Cattolica, a Jesu
it journal published in Rome.
Nothing that Father Kenny
wrote, however, created more of a
sensation than an article in which
he said that in his research he had
come upon proof that George
Washington was conceited to Ca*
thohcism on his deathbed.