North Carolina Cathojlic
Volume I,
Nazareth, N. C., Sunday, October 6,1946
Number 1
To the Readers of “The North Carolina Catholic:”
Elsewhere in this edition I have written at greater
length regarding our new diocesan newspaper, but let me
offer my sincere congratulations and best
wishes to the N;C.C.L.A., which has pro
duced it; to Mr. Francis and his st|ff,
♦Who have edited it; to the publishers,
who have printed it; and to ^ou of the
clergy and laity, who will enjoy it.
May God’s blessing be upon this work
for the unification of the diocese, for the
information and instruction of the faithful, * for the honor
of God and the salvation of souls.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
' Most Reverend Vincent S. Waters
. Bishop of Raleigh
/ j
North Carolina Catholic Survey
Shows Catholic Congressmen Liberal
“Catholics are reactionaries,”
the Communist shouts, standing on
his soap-box, screaming his hate.
“Catholics are radicals,” says
the rugged individualist from be
hind his huge cigar and huge bank
account.
Which is right?
-f£, as the Communist thinks, a
reactionary is any one who oppos
es Communism, then Catholics are
reactionary.
If, as the' rugged individualist
thinks, a radical is anyone who
believes in a living wage and fun
damental human fights regardless
of race or creed then Catholics
are radical.
But where do Catholics stand on
national issues? The NORTH
CAROLINA CATHOLIC believes
that some idea of the Catholic po
sition can be shown by a survey
just completed by the paper on
the voting records of Catholics in
Congress.
There are 10 Catholics in the
Senate and. 79 Catholics in the
House of Representatives. In the
Senate, 11 per cent of the total
votes cast on 14 important issues
were cast by Catholics.. /fnthe
House, 19 per cent of~the total
votes cast on 15 important issuer
were cast by Catholics. This per
centage, incidentally, represents
less than the percentage of Cath
olics in the nation.
Now in making this survey we
have used a series of designations
made by the New Republic, sTpub
lication which tends toward the
far left. On each of these issues
we are allowing the New Repub
lic designation of whether a vote
is liberal or not, to stand.
The result is startling for the
’ survey shows that Catholics are
not oply liberal but that they are
perhaps the most liberal grgup in
the. nation.
Catholics in the Senate voted
81 per cent of the time on the
liberal s^de. The Senate as a
whole voted only 43 per cent of
the time on the liberal side. With
out the vote of Catholics in the
Senate, the upper body would
have voted only 32 per cent of
the time on the liberal side.
The Catholic vote in the Senate
represented 11 per cent of the
total vote yet the Catholic liberal
vote was 22 per cent of the total
liberal vote and the Catholic con
servative vote was only S per cent
of the total conservative vote.
The statistics on the House vote
show the same general picture.
The House voted 49 per cent of
the time on the liberal side. Cath
olics in the House voted 76 per
cent of the time on the liberal side
of the same issues.
The Catholic vote was 19 per
cent of the total vote in the House
yet 30 per cent of the' liberal vote
in the House was Catholic. At the
same time only 8 percent of the
conservative vote was Catholic.
Some might complain these
statistics are not valid since the
Catholic senators and representa
tives come largely from a part of
the country where the liberal vote
is predominate. There are two
answers to that.
One is that Catholic representa
tives and senators come for the
most part from sections of the
country where Catholics make up
a large proportion of the popula
tion. They represent these Cath
olics ‘ and. must, to some- extent,
represent their views.
But another way of answering
(Contihued on Page 8)
Nationally Known Catholics
Address Raleigh Conference
Raleigh was the scene this week
of the year’s most- important
Catholic gathering as the annual
conferences for Priests in White
and Colored Work and the Insti
tute for Teachers were held at
Nazareth. . -
The conferences featured na
tionally known speakers, brought
hundreds of priests and Sisters to
the city.
A Pontifical Low Mass in the
Cathedral Tuesday opened the
week. The sermon was given by
the Right Reverend Leo M.
Byrnes, superintendent of schools
in Mobile, Alabama.
The Teachers’ Institute occupied
the first day and was closed with
benediction at Nazareth Chapel.
Conference of Priests in Color
ed Work featured the second day
with Father David Gannon, S. A.,
as moderator. Rev. Daniel M'c
Devitt, C.P., spoke on “Contracts
for Conversions through Priestly
Ministrations” at the Wednesday
morning session. “Apostolistic
Activity in Colored Work” was the
subject of an address by Rev.
William Ryan, O.M.I., Wednesday
afternoon. Father Thomas M. Mc
Evoy, S.P.M., spoke on "Contacts
Through Sociological Methods” at
the evening session.
Monsignor J. L. Federal was the
Moderator for the Conference
Thursday on Priests in White
Work. Monsignor J. L. Ligutti,
Rural Life Conference, spoke on
“The Apostles of Rural Areas” in
the morning and Rev. James A.
Navagh, Buffalo, gave an address
on “The Apostolate of the Priest^,
hood.” /
The afternoon session featured
talks by Rev. Stephen Hartdegen,
O.F.M., and Rev. Francis Wen-'
dell, O.P., editor of The Torch.
Among the speaker at the Conferences ip Raleigh this week were
Monsignor J. L. Ligutti, left, Rural Life Conference, and Father
Francis Wendell, editor of The Torch, a Dominican publication edited
in New York City.
t
Cathedral "11"
Wins Opener
Cathedral Latin High of Raleigh
turned in a 26-6 victbry over
Garner High ^t Garner on. Sept.
27, in a contest played before a
small crowd. Coach Dave Meyers’
team held the upper hand
throughout the game, and Gar
ner’s only score was registered af
ter a long drive against 3 second
string line. ,
Gus Saparilas sparked the wito
ners with some good passing and
running. The Cathedral halfback
(Continued on Page 8)
OCTOBER IS THE MONTH OF THE ROSARY
K- -——
The promotion and spread of the Rosary Devotion has been mainly the work of the Dominican Order.
It was near the place where Saint Dominic advoca ted devotion to the Rosary that the Blessed Virgin
appeared 18 times to the 14-year-old peasant girl, Bernadette Soubirous. During each Of these times
the Blessed Virgin had a Rosary and recited it with Bernadette. (Photo by Louis Hoover).
; ; ■ . ':v '• J- . -
Lay Association
Bishop's Project
Creation of a better under
standing between Catholics and
non-Catholics, this was the ex
pressed purpose for which the
North Carolina Catholic Laymen's ~ *"
Association was formed last Jan
uary.
Today with more than a thou-r
sand members, a campaign that
has already placed many Catho
lic books and magazines into pub- ■ ~
lie libraries in the state, a'pro
gram of cooperation with the Con
ference of Christians and Jews,
the association has already proved
itself.
More than 1,500 books have
been secured by the association
for distribution to the public li
braries of the state. They were
sent to North Carolina from Cath
olics all over the world in response
to an appeal. Farthest distance
boxes of books came from Dublin,
Eire. The books are catalogued
on arrival, divided into basic
units and presented to public li
braries. Basic Catholic groups of
.books have been placed in public
libraries at Charlotte, Raleigh,
Salisbury and Whiteville. Other -
cities will be given books soon.
The laymen’s association has
cooperated witti the Conference
of Christians and Jews. Catholics
participated in the recent state
conference at Wild Acres and the
resolution adopted by the confer
ence was drafted by Father Fran
cis Morrissey. Several broadcasts,
sponsored by the Conference of
Christians and Jews, featured
talks by the executive secretary
of ^ the North Carolina Cathoibs^
Laymen’s Association, Dale Fran- '
cis.
All parishes in the diocese have
not yet been contacted for formal
organization of the association.
Among those that have
tacted, Waynesville is
age leader on contribul
membership. Although
only about 100 persons
tire parish, Waym
such cities as
r
¥
boro, and comes
Charlotte .and
much larger parishes.