Jlortf) Carolina Catholic
Volume XII. Nazareth, N. C., Friday, October 11, 1957 Number 2.
a proud ancestry...
Soviet Satellite Success
Shows U.S. Efforts Lagging
Priest-Scientist States
WASHINGTON, D. C. — Soviet Russia’s success in launch
ing the first earth satellite is seen by a leading Catholic scientist
as indicative of the lagging production of scientists in the U. S.
Father Patrick H. Yancey, S.J., executive secretary-treasurer
of the Albertus Magnus Guild, a society of Catholic scientists in
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is “a payoff of the Soviet accelera
tion of science.”
“We are glad when anyone does
something important in the scienti
fic field,” said Father Yancey.
“And we’re glad that it has been
shown possible to launch a satel
lite.”
The priest commented that the
Soviet success can be seen as a
powerful propaganda tool to prove
the advantages of communism's
socialist and materialistic society.
Father Francis J. Heyden, S.J.,
professor of astronomy atpieorge
town University here, also com
mented on the paucity of American
scholars in the sciences.
Father Heyden said that the
Georgetown Observatory is not
equipped to track or photograph
the Soviet satellite and he doubt
ed that there is any equipment in
the country which could be used
for this purpose at the present
time.
The astronomer explained that a
celestial telescope is constructed
with a mechanism whick keeps the
instrument focused qn a particu
lar point in the heavens while the
earth rotates at 15 degrees per
hour.
The earth satellite, however, is
moving at a speed of 18,000 miles
per hour and traverses 225 degrees
per hour. This is about five times
faster than the standard tracking
mechanism on a telescope, he said.
Also, the satellite’s orbit is con
tinually changing.
Father Heyden said he is “hap
py that an earth satellite has been
put up.” He said it would be of
help to all scientists in the world.
Another member of the George
town University faculty and one
of Father Heyden’s former stu
dents is in charge of the Operation
Vanguard which will launch the
first U. S. satellite later this fall.
He is Dr. John P. Hagen, who
received the first doctoral degree
in radio astronomy in the United
States from Georgetown in 1948.
As U. S. satellite chief, Dr. Hagen
is in charge of all operations and
planning for launching a series of
small, spherical man-made satel
lites into outer space.
Dr. Hagen, in a recent talk on
man-made satellites, said they
could be difficult to spot under the
best of conditions.
FATHER RICHARD SWIFT of
the Josephite Fathers, Pastor of
St. Thomas’ Church is shown with
Mrs. Maria Fulton Mumford, 94
years old, believed to be the old
est life-long Negro Catholic in
North Carolina. Her Mother, a
slave, was the first Negro Catho
lic in the State, and besides be
ing “blessed many times” by Car
dinal Gibbons, Mrs. Mumford re
calls playing with Father Price as
children. Later he became a Dioce
san Priest and Co-founder of
Maryknoll. Father Swift was re
cently stationed in Baltimore
where he appeared weekly on an
award-winning TV program “To
Promote Good Will.” He was also
on the steering committee of the
“Fair Employment Practice Com
mission” and the Mayor’s Advis
ory Board.
FATHER WELLE1N leads the
Congregation at St. Thomas Church
in reciting the penitential psalms
during a recent Mission in Wil
mington. Having ended the Cur
rent Season of Outdoor
Preaching, the Diocesan Mission
Fathers - last week began a series
of Parish Missions with Father
Jones at St. Paul’s in New Bern
and Fr. Wellein at St. Thomas’ in
Wilmington. St. Thomas’ was the
pro Cathedral of Cardinal Gib
bons, founded 110 years ago. (Pho
to-Wellein)
“Out of the depths, O Lord.’’
Atheist Agitation Only Revived
Religion in Poland, Red Holds
WARSAW (NC)—An article published in Poland’s foremost
communist literary weekly holds that atheist agitation has brought
nhnut results diametrically opposed to those it intended.
NCCLA Deanery Meet Set
For Elizabeth City Oct. 13
SOUTHERN PINES — It was
announced this week that the first
in the series of Fall Deanery Meet
ings for the North Carolina Catho
lic Laymen’s Association will take
place for the Elizabeth City Dean
ery on Sunday, October 13 starting
at 3 p.m. This important meeting
will be held at St. Catherine’s Par
ish, Elizabeth City with Father Jo
seph L. Hart, S.S.E., as the host
pastor.
The meeting will also mark the
election of new officers who will
assume a responsible position in
the framework of the Laymen’s
Association for the next two years.
Dr. Walter Kulash, State Presi
dent of the NCCLA will speak on
“The Laymen’s Role In the NCC
LA.” Father Francis A. McCarthy
of Southern Pines and Father
James E. McSweeney of Washing
ton will also attend the meeting.
(Continued on Page 8)
“Provoking the feelings of mil
lions of believers revived religion
in Poland to a degree which had
not been observed for a long time,”
it states. “Masses of people hith
erto indifferent were reactivated
and convinced again of the pri
mary importance of matters of
faith.”
The article in the communist
weekly Nowa Kultura is by Tad
uesz Pluzanski. In appealing for
radically new methods to combat
“religious superstition,” the au
thor warns:
“Let us not be deluded by the
‘rigidity’ of Catholic dogmas . . .
Catholicism exploits every possi
ble approach to the essential
trends of modem lay thought . . .
There is no fighter for the realiza
tion of the mottoes of the French
Revolution — Liberty, Equality,
Fraternity — as effective and en
thusiastic as Catholicism. No one
calls more loudly for progress and
tolerance.”
The way to make sure that the
Catholic Church will “wither a
way,” according to Mr. Pluzan
ski, is to work for “the intellec
tual isolation of the Catholic
movement.”
CHURCH WILL CONTINUE FIGHT
ON COMMUNISM WITH LAITY AS
ARMY, POPE TELLS LAY MEETING
VATICAN CITY (NC)—The Church has no intention of re
lenting in her battle against,her avowed enemy, atheistic com
munism; she will use the weapons of Christ, with the laity as'
Murray Asks US to Help
Develop Atomic Power
ST. BONAVENTURE, N. Y.
(NC)—Former Atomic Energy
Commissioner Thomas E. Murray
has called for the United States to
fulfill its international responsibil
ities by financing an immediate
atomic power program to provide!
electric power.
In a speech read at the opening
of St. Bonaventure University’s
centennial year, Mr. Murray criti
cized the Eisenhower administra
tion for opposing the project as a
Federal venture and leaving the
job to private enterprise. The
atomic expert said this position
is wrong because “private enter
prise would be the first to admit
that it is unable and legitimately
unwilling to bear the cost of a reac
tor program” at this time.
Washington's First
Pastor Dies in
New York Hospital
WASHINGTON, N. C. — Father
Joseph Endler, C.P., first pastor of
Mother of Mercy Church here, died
Tuesday, October 1, in a New York
Hospital.
Born June 5, 1892, Father Endler
made his religious profession as a
Passionatist on August 3, 1913,
and was ordained on January 21,
1923. He came to Washington in
November of 1946 and built Moth
er of Mercy Church, retiring in
August of 1954 due to ill health.
A Solemn Mass of Requiem was
offered at Immaculate Conception
Monastery, Jamaica, Long Island,
New York last Friday morning,
October 4. Father Owen Doyle, C.
P., a classmate, delivered the ser
mon.
ner army, to ngnt to tne ena, ms
Holiness Pope Pius XII said here.
The Pontiff addressed 2,000 del
egates to the second World Con
gress of the Lay Apostolate gath
ered here.
“Let it be clearly stated,” he
continued, “that Christ’s Church
has no intention of ceding ground
to its declared enemy, atheistic
communism, without putting up a
fight. This battle will be fought
to the bitter end with the weapons
of Christ.”
To those who will accept the
call to battle, the Pope recom
mended the protection of “the
Queen of Heaven . . . who has giv
en tangible and prodigious assist
ance in recent years and in many
parts of the earth.”
“If there is a power in the world
capable of overthrowing the pet
ty barriers of prejudice and parti
san spirit, and to dispose souls for
a frank reconciliation and frater
nal union among people,” the Pon
tiff continued, “it is indeed the
Catholic Church. You (the laity)
can rejoice in it with pride. It is
for you to contribute to it with all
your strength.”
He also clarified another point,
which had been raised recently,
by declaring that the time is not
yet ripe for the re-introduction
of the rank of deacon conceived
as an ecclesiastical function inde
pendent of the priesthood.
It was clear to his listeners that
he did not close the door to such a
possibility. In fact, he went on to
say that if such a diaconate
should one day be introduced, it
would not be part of the lay apos
tolate but would have to be con
sidered as part of the priesthood.
The immediate and urgent role
of the laity today, the Pontiff con
tinued, is to bring the spirit of
Christianity into all parts of hu
maq life: family, social, economic
and political.
(Continued on Page 8)
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