The Catholic times. [volume], January 28, 1955, Image 1

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It’s Time to Renew
Your Subscription to
The Catholic Times
I
Vol. IV, No. 17
Bishop Offers Requiem
For Msgr. Kellerman,
Veteran Parish Priest
Monsignor Henry J. Kellerman
Monsignor Henry J. Kellerman, most beloved priest of
the Diocese of Columbus, died Monday in Mt. St. Mary’s hos
pital, Nelsonville. He had been in poor health for several
months and had been in the hospital most of that time.
.Monsignor Kellerman’s death terminates more than 48
years of kind pastoral care of the people of St. Augustine’s
parish, New Straitsville. He was named to the little mining
town post in 1906, three years after his ordination.
Sadness hung like a pall over
the Perry County area when news
of Monsignor’s death spread
around, for he had been a religious
leader among all peoples of what
ever faith, and was admired by the
oldest and youngest.
For almost half a century Mon
signor Kellerman had been an im
portant figure in every church and
civic program of the New Straits
ville area. He was much sought
after as a speaker.
The Sisters of St. Francis who
conduct St. Aloysius academy and
military school at New Lexington,
have lost a wise and kind counsel
lor in Monsignor Kellerman. Dur
ing all the years of his service in
Perry county the Academy owes
much to his constant and zealous
interest.
Born Feb 4. 1878 in Louisville,
Ky., of Conrad and Mary Keller
man, Monsignor Kellerman attend
ed St. Martin’s parochial school in
that city. He came to the Pontific
al College Josephinum in 1891 to
The s conditions ar.e:
1) The game itself must be one
which is wholesome and free from
factors which would make it wrong
reg?”~d,ess of the element of bet
ting.
2) Tie game must not become an
all-akro-b.’ng passion to the detri
ment cf one’s duties in life.
3) The player must be free to
play or not.
4) The game must be honestly
played.
5) There must be equitable dis
tribution of the risk of loss and
the hope of gain. The elements of
risk should be apparent or ascer
tainable.
6) The one who gambles must be
free to dispose of and be able to
afford the loss of money or goods
which he wagers. Only such money
as is not required for other things
is admissible in lotteries or games,
of chance of any kind.
The article, co-written by a
priest and a layman on the St.
John's faculty, declared that the
begin his studies for the priest
hood. Completing his full course
there, he was ordained June 11,
1903, in the Josephinum Chapel
(then on E. Main Street, Colum
bus), by the late Bishop Henry
Moeller.
His first assignment was as as
sistant pastor at St. Joseph’s Ca
thedral where he remained .for
three years until his transfer to
New Straitsville.
Monsignor Kellerman was ap
pointed a Diocesan Consultor by
Bishop Ready Jan. 2, 1946, and re
appointed in January, 1950. In 1947
he was named Dean of the Eastern
Deanery.
The distinguished priest was fur
ther honored June, 24. 1946, when
His Holiness, Pope Pius XII, named
him a Domestic Prelate with the
title of Right Reverend Monsignor.
Monsignor Kellerman celebrated
the Golden Jubilee of his ordina
tion June 11,*1953, with a Solemn
(Continued on Page 2)
Charity Bingo Issue
Revived in Columbus
The operation of bingo games for worthy causes was ad
vocated this week on the floor of the Ohio House of Repre
sentatives and in the first issue of a new Catholic magazine.
Simultaneously, opposition to charity bingo was expressed at
the Ohio Pastors’ Convention.
The proposal to legalize the game for “charitable, fra
ternal and religious organizations’’ came from Rep. Anthony
Calabre.se (D-Cuyahoga), author of*
a similar resolution two years ago.
Calabrese said that bingo in it
self is not harmful, that it furnish
es revenue for worthy projects,
and that it provides recreation for
older people.
The resolution asks a consti
tutional amendment to legalize
charity bingo. If passed by three
fifths vote of both the House and
Senate, the issue would be sub
mitted to -Ohio voters in Novem
ber.
In an article in The Catholic
Lawyer, a new legal magazine pub
lished at St. John’s University
School of Law, Brooklyn, N.Y., six
conditions were set forth as a pre
requisite for bingo to be a “morally
permissible game.”
wisdom and prudence of operat
ing bingo games for worthy caus
es should be decided by those
who run religious, charitable and
fraternal organizations, and the
criminal law should control such
games, but not prohibit them.
For controls, the article suggest
ed: maximum limits on admission
prices should be set and maximum
prizes determined specified num
bers on occasions upon which such
games could be played and maxi
mum number of games on any giv
en occasion should be outlined.
(Continued on Page 2)
Sunday’s
Announcements
The Mass will be that of the
fourth Sunday after Epiphany. The
Gospel will be the one about Our
Lord miraculously calming the
waves of the sea at the request of
his terrified Apostles. Green vest
ments are worn in today’s Mass.
Wednesday of this coming week,
is the feast of the Purification of
the Blessed Virgin, or Candlemas
Day. It is the day on which candles
are blessed for the year in a rich
ceremony before the High Mass.
Thursday, February 3, is the
Feast of St. Blase, patron of those
afflicted with throat ailments. On
this day, throats are blessed and
the intercession of this great Bish
op and Martyr asked that we might
be spared such afflictions.
Friday is the First Friday of Feb
ruary, and Saturday will be the
First Saturday of the month.
February is Catholic Press
month. Every Catholic family
should subscribe at once to the
CATHOLIC TIMES.
Anti-Christian
Radio Talks
Shock British
LONDON (NO —Catho­
lics joined protests throughout
Britain this week against two
anti-Christian radio talks that
shocked the greater part of
the nation.
The talks, each of 25 min
utes. were given within a week
of each other on the British
Broadcasting Corporation’s Home
Service. They were delivered by
Mrs. Margaret Knight, wife of a
professor of psychology at Aber
deen University and a part-time
lecturer in his department, on her
pet theme which she calls “scienti
fic humanism.”
They described Christianity as
comparable to “belief in witches
riding on broomsticks,” said there
was not really a God “anymore
than there’s really a Santa Claus,”
rejected the Divinity of Our Lord,
the Virgin Birth, the Resurrection
as so many myths and persuasively
counselled parents not to take their
children to church or give them a
religious education.
Phoned and written protests
underlined a general disgust that
the impartial, non-commercial
radio service of a Christian nation
should spread atheistic propa
ganda in defiance of the B.B.C.'s
usually strict censorship of all
religious controversy.
Mrs. Knight’s supporters, includ
ing the left-wing press and such
“liberal” churchmen as Dr. Donald
Soper, a prominent Methodist, re
plied with the usual claims to the
right of freedom of speech and the
argument that the Christian Church
should be able to defend itself.
-----------------o-----------------
U.S. Sees Plan
Annual Fund Drive
For World Needy
NEW y’ORK NC) Swift re
sponse has come to the appeal of
Cincinnati's Archbishop Karl J.
Alter, chairman of the National
Catholic Welfare Conference ad
ministrative board, to the Cardin
als, Archbishops and Bishops of
the nation to participate in the
1955 Laetare Sunday campaign to
benefit homeless and hungry refu
gees overseas. The goal for the
1955 campaign is $5 million.
Msgr. Edward E. Swanstrom, ex
ecutive director of War Relief
Services N.C.W.C., which will
handle publicity for the campaign,
reports 4hat 112 diocesan directors
have, been appointed to help in the
Laetare Sunday drive.
DZVlir
Professor Writes
A 68-year-old Ohio State
University professor this week
put the finishing touches on a
book which has taken almost
half of his life to write a
504-page typewritten manu
script relating the life story of
St. Francis of Assisi.
For Dr. August C. Mahr, the
completed book, written “to benefit
others,” represents hours of pains
taking research and composition
over a 32-year-span. He wrote the
first few chapters of “Francesco” a
few months before he emigrated
from Germany to the United States
in 1923. Ever since, he has been
writing, revising and putting the
story on paper again.
The new book. Dr. Mahr em
phasized, is not to be regarded as
a fully-documented hist o i a I
treatise on the life of the Thir
teenth Century saint. Rather, it
is a novel based on fact, but
containing numerous scenes
which logically could have taken
place, but for which there is no
written proof.
The book also is an attempt to
show St. Francis as the man Dr.
Mahr is convinced he w'as—simple,
humble and deeply in love with
God. If he were to characterize St.
Francis in one sentence, Dr. Mahr
would write:
“He was a man of extreme sim
plicity who loved his fellowmen,
who had an even greater humility,
and who believed in bringing the
kingdom of God to this earth by
not only preaching the Gospel but
living it every step of the way,
from the time that he renounced
all personal possessions to the hour
of his stigmatization and death
shortly after.”
A member of Our Lady of Vic
tory parish, Dr. Mahr became a
Catholic in 1943, because "only
in the Church does life have
meaning and order.” Married,
and the father of four, he was
the sixth and last in the family
to be baptized a Catholic. "I clos
ed the door on them,” he said,
good-naturedly.
His eldest son. Edward, now a
private first class serving with the
Army in Korea, was the first to
join the Church.
“When he was 9, and a student
at Our Lady of Victory, Edward
came home crying, begging us to
allow him to make his First Holy
Communion with the other boys
and girls. So we did.”
“Next came Martha Ann, and on
the day of her First Communion in
1942, I had the two little ones
(Gertrude and Richard) baptized.”
iThe professor and his wife, Eliza-
The CStnolic Times
Columbus 16, Ohio, Fridiy, January 28, 1955
Educator Sees
SEATTLE, Wash. (NC)
The President of Seattle Uni
versity thinks the hostility to
private schools expressed by
a minority in the country in
dicates “growing momentum”
in a campaign that is directed
at the foundations of American
freedoms.
The university president, Father
A. A. Lemieux, S.J., said it was
“startling to hear some of the indi
viduals present” at Governor Ar
thur B. Langlie’s recent education
conference in Olympia “challenge
the very right to existence of pri
vate schools.”
The Jesuit educator stressed that
the majority of those attending the
Governor’s conference cordially en
dorsed support of private schools
by private enterprise as a neces
sary part of the American educa
tional system. He said a few of
those present asserted that private
schools are divisive and that they
set groups apart and perpetuate
their own respective characters and
philosophies.
In the January issue of “Seattle
U. Reports,” Father Lemieux dis
cusses the attitudes “which attack
the very foundation of the U.S.
Constitution, with its guarantees of
free speech, free assembly, and
other avenues of free expression.”
"These attitudes," the Seattle
University president continued,
"reject or omit consideration of
the role assumed by the private
schools in the historical develop
ment of this country. Further
more, they suggest, by implica
tion, tha. the basic principles of
our democracy ba changed.
“The insistence upon conformity,
and uniformity, of thought w*1
lead to totalitarian construcftdrf
and is. therefore, undemocratic be
cause the right to dissent is denied.
We must be alert to such inroads
on our freedom,” the priest said.
“Our great public school system
was organized to supplement, not
supplant, the private schools of the
nation, and together, these types of
institutions comprise the finest ed
ucational system on earth.”
Born in Frankfurt, Germany,
July 15, 1886, the professor studied
at the Universities of Heidelberg
and Caen, earning his doctorate at
Heidelberg in 1911.
His colorful career includes
stints with the German field artil
lery in World War I, overseas serv
ice as a research analyst for the
United States Strategic Bombing
Survey shortly after World War
II, and associate professor of Ger
man at Stanford University for six
i years, and professor of German at
Expressing his views on the ra
dio and television program, “Co
lumbus Town Meeting,” Dr. His
song declared:
“A law is passed to get the few,
not the many. We don't have to
worry about ‘code’ pictures. Some
body should have pre-control on
the non-code pictures, when the
industry itself will not pass on
them.”
The greatest danger, Dr. His
song continued, comes from the
40 per cent of films coming into
Ohio without the motion picture
industry's own code seal.
Disagreeing with his debating
opponent, State Sen. Charles E.
Mcsher of Oberlin, Dr. Hissong
said that attendance at immoral
films is not an individual problem
at all.
The people, he pointed out, look
to the state to set and maintain
standards for milk and water and
highway traffic for physical health.
But opponents of movie cen
sorship, he stressed, would do
away with safeguards to mental
and moral health.
A parallel argument was advanc
ed by Msgr. Clarence E. Elwell,
Cleveland diocesan director of
schools, who questioned the reason
ing of persons who are against
(“ore-publication censorship of con
kfe-ninated movies,” when at the
same time they have not the slight
est difficulty in acquiescing to the
“pre-publication censorship of con
taminated meats.”
“The health of a child’s mind
and morals,” he said, “are at least
as valuable as the health of his
body.”
The Franklin County Court of
Appeals has ruled that under the
St. Francis’ Life Story
S’
ML
Professor August Mahr, professor of German at Ohio State
University, has just completed a book based on the life of St.
Francis of Assisi. A convert, Professor Mahr lives with his wife
and four children in Our Lady of Victory parish, Columbus.
beth, were converted the following
year. Dr. Mahr, significantly, took
the baptismal name of Francis.
He is still filled with admira
tion for Our Lady of Victory
School. "It is our own private in
stitution," he mused.
Ohio State since 1930.
Naturalized in 1929, he has
written many articles on litera
ture and folklore. Currently he
is making a semantic analysis of
the language of the Delaware In
dians who lived in northeast
Ohio in the Eighteenth Century.
Dr. Mahr's book on St. Francis
is not his first literary contribu
tion. He wrote an historical ac
count of a Soviet expedition to San
Francisco which took place in 1816,
“The Origin of the Greek Tragic
Form,” “Relations of Passion Plays
to St. Ephrem, the Syrian,” and
“The Cyprus Passion Cycle.”
But no book does he like better
than “Francesco,” the story of a
man who wanted to re-live the life
of Christ
Diocese to Join Nation in Observance
Of Catholic Press Month in February
State Movie Censorship
Drive Against 1
Basic Liberties
netended by Educators
A boost for Ohio’s movie censorship laws came this week
om the state’s chief film censor and the director of diocesan
Jhools in Cleveland.
Dr. Clyde Hissong, former state director of Education
who has headed the movie censor
ship board for nine years, asserted
that he was proud of the 40-year
record of censorship in Ohio, and
pointed out that it has been done at
the, continued mandate of the
Legislature.
present statute movie censorship
in Ohio is unconstitutional. Since
the decision, two bills, one as re
cent as this week, have been intro
duced in the Ohio Legislature, call
ing for state censorship of films.
Diocesan groups affiliated with
the National Council of Catholic
Women, the Holy Name Society
and the Catholic Parent-Teacher
Union, are urging their members
to support the new measures.
Monsignor Elwell expressed his
views in a letter to the Catholic
Parent Teacher Union. He said
that one of the big reasons why
movie censorship has been oppos
ed is “there is a twilight zone be
tween what is seriously bad and
what is definitely good.”
The Monsignor said that the
line of demarcation between
proper liberty and license in the
offering of tainted meats for sale
can be determined by govern
(Continued on Page 2)
Economy Hurt
By Right to
Work Laws
PUEBLO, Colo. (NC)
The day will come when the
States that have passed “Right
to Work” laws will discover
that they have given a severe
blow to their own economic
life, Msgr. (Brig. Gen.) James
H. O’Neill, retired Deputy
Chief Of Army Chaplains, said
here.
“I am further convinced
that these laws instead of solv
ing a social problem, intensify
the problem,” Monsignor O’Neill
told members of the United Steel
workers of America-CIO clerical
and technical local 3267 here.
The union shop, which is out
lawed in 17 States through “Right
to Work” laws, represents only a
“conditional sort of compulsion,”
Monsignor O’Neil] declared.
Being required to join a union
when the worker takes a job in
a plant is the same sort of com
pulsion that Americans submit to
in many other ways, he said.
“As Americans we enjoy a great
number of rights. But we enjoy
those rights only on condition that
we submit to a number of regula
tions that definitely crimp onr
freedom,” he declared.
He said that even in ordinary
conditions, apart from whether or
not a man should be compelled to
join a union, the worker submits
to a great number of compul
sions. He pointed out that work
ing hours, orders from the fore
man, certain safety and fire rules,
and acceptance of lay-offs are all
compulsions.
Organization of workers into col
lective bargaining units, such as
the union shop, is essential to
safeguard the individual workers
from exploitation, Monsignor
O’Neill stated.
------------o----------------
Priest Shortage
In Italy Cited
As ‘Tragic’
ROME (NC) Italy’s pre
sent ratio of one priest for
every 800 Catholics is evidence
of that country’s “tragic spirit
ual situation,” it was stated
here in an article in L’Osserva
tore della Domenica, Vatican
City weekly.
The shortage of priests also
refutes the claim of anti
Catholic groups that Italy’s re
ligious. because of their large num-
bers, play a decisive role in elec
tions, the article added.
The total number of priests,
nuns and other religious in Italy,
it was pointed out, is 234.000 com
pared to the nation’s 28,000,000
voters.
The article said it was sur
prising that in a country of 47,
000,000 persons, 99.6 per cent
of whom claimed they were Ca
tholics in the latest census,
there are only 61,000 priests.
(The United States, vith a Ca
tholic population of 31.650,000, has
some 45.500 priests or about one
for every 700 of the faithful. There
are about 241,700 persons in relig
ious life, including 154,000 nuns,
8,700 brothers and 33,500 seminar
ians in addition to the priests.)
The 271 priests in the diocese,
in addition to schools and institu
tions, have been mailed sermon ma
terial, data on the Catholic press,
posters, and other aids designed
to promote the reading of Catholic
newspapers and Catholic liter
ature.
The importance of the Catholic
press was pointed out this week
by Bishop Ready in a letter to the
clergy, religious and faithful in
the 23-county diocese, and in a
statement by Bishop Thomas K.
Gorman, episcopal chairman of the
NCWC Press Department, who
pointed out the practical aspects
of the Catholic Press.
Bishop Ready urged corporate
prayer God, through the inter
cession of St. Francis de Sales, to
extend the influence of the Catho
lic Press among our own people
and to carry its message o truth
to those outside of the Faith. Bish,
op Ready declared:
“The need of continued instruc
tion in the teachings of Christ and
His Church cannot be minimized.
It is not sufficient to have been
taught the Catechism in the Catho
lic elementary and high schools, or
to have had a course oi instruc­
To the Reverend Clergy, Religious,
and Faithful of the Diocese of Columbus.
My beloved Brethren:
Learn the Catholic
Viewpoint! Support
Your Catholic Press
Prica Ton Cents $3.00 A Year
Extension of the influence of Catholic philosophy and
ideas via the written word was urged this week by Bishop
Ready, as plans were announced for the diocesan-wide obser
vance of Catholic Press Month.
To usher in the month-long observance, a Pontifical Mass
in honor of St. Francis de Sales will be celebrated at the
Cathedral and High Masses will be
offered in the parishes of the dio
cese Sunday. St. Francis is the
patron saint of the Catlolic press
as well as of the diocese
In line with the celebration,
February also has been set aside
for Catholics to renew their sub
scriptions to The Catholic Times.
The subscription price despite the
continued rise in costs of other Ca
tholic and secular papers, remains
at $3 a year.
tions preparatory to Baptism into
the Church of Christ later in life.
“Knowledge and experience,**
the Bishop emphasized, “must
grow if it is to become mature.
Decision, and judgments must be
made daily on the truth of mat
ters at hand, on the moral right
ness or wrongness of current
events, on the innumerable hap
penings, both trivial and import
ant. affecting the lives o. individ
als and whole classes of society.
“Basic to all these considera
tions,” Bisnop Readdy continued, “is
the knowledge of truth. It is to
supply such knowledge to the Ca
tholic people of the world that the
Catholic Press exists .”
The Pontifical Mass U be cele
brated by Bishop Ready in the Ca
thedral Sunday at 11:00 a. m. will
be offered for the intentions of
the diocese and for the Catholic
Press.
Assisting the Bishop will be
Msgr. Harry Connelly, pastor of
St. Joseph Cathedral Deacons of
honor will be Msgr. Edward Spiers
and Msgr. Paul O’Dea. Father Wil
liam Rardin will be deacon and
Father Clement Durbin, subdeacon.
Msgr. Roland T. Winel, chancellor
of the Diocese, and Fathers George
Schorr and James Geiger will be
masters of ceremony
Father Peter Essman, a faculty
member at Watterson High School,
and assistant at St. Agatha’s
Church, will give the sermon. The
St Charles Seminary choir will
sing, and student* from the semin
ary will serve as minor ministers
at the Mass.
Bishop Gorman, in his statement,
(Continued on Page 2)
Today, throughout the Diocese of Columbus we are ob
serving the solemnity of the Feast of Saint Francis de Sales. This
gentle, saintly Bishop of Geneva is the Patron of our Diocese.
We petition his heavenly intercession for the constant growth of
all our people in personal holiness and in the fulfillment of their
responsibility to build up the Body of Christ in the midst of us.
Saint Francis de Sales is also the Patron of the Catholic
Press. In a special way now we implore his aid to guide the
minds and inspire the wills of those devoted priests and laymen
who have dedicated themselves to editing and promoting a
vigorous Catholic Press in modern society. This celebration of
the Feast of Saint Francis has a special meaning for us in the
United States. On Tuesday, February 1st, we begin the ob
servance of Catholic Press Month in all the dioceses of the
nation. I ask you, therefore, my beloved brethren, to join your
fellow Cathclics throughout this Diocese in corporate prayer to
God. through the infercessicn of Saint Francis de Sales, to ex
tend the influence of the Catholic Press among our own people
and to carry its message of truth to those outside the Faith.
The need of continued instruction in the. teachings of Christ
and His Church cannot be minimized. It is not sufficient to have
been taught the catechism in the Catholic elementary ano high
schools, or to have had a course of instructions preparatory to
Baptism into the Church of Christ later in life. Knowledge and
experience must grow if it is to become mature. Decisions and
judgments must be made daily on the truth of matte-* at hand,
on the moral rightness or wrongness of current events, on the
innumerable happenings, both trivial and important, affecting
the lives of individuals and whole classes of society. No one
expected to know the answers to all questions and problems,
and no one does. It is dishonest for anyone to say that there is
no solution to his problem, no satisfactory answer to his question,
simply because he does not 1now it. Every responsible person
is expected to meet the challenge to good moral living and the
doubts which assail his peace of mind with some effective effort.
Basic to all these considerations is knowledge of the truth.
It is to supply such knowledge to the Catholic people of the
world that the Catholic Press exists. Un*crtunately, this is a
day of capsule knowledge. It must be given briefly anc quickly.
That is the reason for the popularity of newspapers. And the
Catholic Press in this country and elsewhere holds a place of
distinction and influence in the important field of journalism.
Here in the Diocese,of Columbus we have endeavored through
the v ,ars to give our people the best in Catholic news. The pages
of "The Catholic Times" have carried into your homes a great
deal more of the religious news of the world than you could
ever hope to find in the columns of daily secular newspapers.
A careful reading of any one issue has proved to /ou in more
than a single instance that many of the leading news stories of
the day are more complex than we are led to believe tnc often
involve grave moral principles which are not alwiys reported
in the dailies. The interviews and pronouncements given by
the Catholic leaders of the world are presented week after
week for the instruction of our people. "The Catholic Times" is
an informative newspaper. It should be required "eading in
every Catholic home.
I commend the clergy and laity of the Diocese for the truly
admirable suoport they have given "The Catholic Times." It is
this loyalty which has made possible a steady rise in its circu
lation and importance. I thank the business firms in the Diocese
who have found it profitable to use its pages for their adver
tising. These responsible commercial enterprises deserve the
patronage of all readers of the "Times."
During the month of February you, my dear brethren, are
asked to renew your support to "The Catholic Times" by sub
scribing to the diocesan paper for another year. I am confident
every Catholic family in the Diocese will do so.
With my blessing and appreciation.
January 25, 1955
Devotedly in Christ,
MICHAEL READY
Bishop of Columbus