i Jlorti) Carolina I
Sunday Visitor y ^ y
Edition /fj ¥* 'M I ♦ ^ P.O. Box 9503
Subscription M- V \J Vi V l V' RALEIGH, N.C.
55 00 Volume LVH May 19, 1968 No. 3 Copy 10*
OFFICIAL
Bishop’s Residence
600 Bilyeu Street
Raleigh, North Carolina
I ■ ■
May 10, 1968
My Dear Brethren:
On Wednesday of this week we heard the good news that our
Holy Father has honored the Diocese and our Auxiliary, Bishop
Charles B. McLaughlin, by electing him the First Bishop of the
Diocese of St. Petersburg, Florida.
We have already expressed our gratitude to our Holy Father for
this great honor in which we all participate. Even if we feel, as we
do, the loss of Bishop McLaughlin who has been so closely attached
to the Diocese of Raleigh as a Pastor for these many years, and as an
Auxiliary Bishop, we know that the Church is One, and the work of
the Church must be done by the Bishops, Priests, Sisters, Brothers,
and Laity.
The only way a new Diocese gets started is by the Holy Father
giving an opportunity to an Auxiliary Bishop, or appointing a Priest
to be elevated and consecrated to the office. In these spiritual ties
between Bishops, Priests, and Laity to the whole Church, there can
be no question but one of generosity. We are One for the expansion
of God’s Kingdom on earth. We are all pilgrims on the way to the
promised land. We have work to do for God and souls, whether we
are young or old. As I quoted in a recent letter, “freely we have re
ceived, freely we must give.”
Bishop McLaughlin came to us from the great Archdiocese of
New York, but he has been identified so long in this Diocese that we
|orget that his Archbishop, his Pastor, and his Parish were generous
m giving us a wonderful Pastor and a wonderful Auxiliary Bishop.
You can be sure that I will miss him more than any other person, and
his tremendous contributions to the work and expansion of this di
ocese. “The Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the
name of the Lord.”
me generosity oi me Arcnaiocese oi iNew YorK and the Province
of New York, made it possible for us as a missionary diocese to give
back to the great State of New York a Bishop to Ogdensburg, Bishop
James J. Navagh, of happy memory. He was a zealous missionary in
North Carolina. Through his work here, we were able to assist also
the Diocese of Paterson to which he was later assigned.
In a native bom son, Bishop J. Lennox Federal, we have been
able to help the Diocese of Salt Lake City. The Holy Father chose
this wonderful Priest for the Auxiliary and finally the Ordinary of
that fine Diocese.
Now, we assist the great State of Florida and its new Diocese of
St. Petersburg.
The missionary Diocese of Raleigh is continuing to be missionary,
and a Bishop is pledged to be a missionary in an extraordinary degree.
>We are happy for Bishop McLaughlin to be the First Bishop of St.
Petersburg. We need, however, to stand behind him by our prayers
and sacrifices because he will have the arduous work of organizing a
new Diocese, as was the tremendous organizational work of Bishop
William J. Hafey here in North Carolina in 1924. I need not tell you
that from now until the time Bishop McLaughlin has to depart, we
should storm Heaven with prayers and sacrifices that his work in
Florida will be most successful for God and souls.
In addition to our spiritual help, I would ask the parishes and
missions of this Diocese to contribute towards a purse by a second
coUection at all Masses on the Sunday of June 2nd. We will present
this purse to Bishop McLaughlin before he departs. Knowing your
devotion to Bishop McLaughlin and his tremendous work for God
and souls in North Carolina, I am sure you will be most generous in
this token of love and respect.
Our apparent loss will be Florida’s gain, but there is actually
no loss when we remember that the Church is One, and the Lord is
the Giver of all, including the wonderful gift to us and to Florida of
Bishop McLaughlin.
Wishing each and every one of you God’s choicest blessings,
I remain
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Bishop of Raleigh
ROOM AT NAZARETH — Staff members at the Catholic Orphanage at Nazareth and volunteer
workers wave good-bye to a busload of poverty people, part of the Poor Peoples March on Washington,
who were served dinner and breakfast May 10 and 11 during a stop in Raleigh. (Story and other photos
on Page 8.)
New Diocese Covers
Major Florida Cities
By Rev. F. A. Koch
Raleigh — The appointment of
Bishop Charles B. McLaughlin as
first Bishop of the new Diocese
of St. Petersburg in Florida
prompted a study of the state
map of Florida.
The 11 counties which were
designated to comprise the new
Diocese in last week’s news
story were not familiar and so a
study was made of the cities
which are located in them and
are more familiar to the general
public.
The famed east or Gold Coast
along the Atlantic shore of the
state peninsula is now divided
into the three dioceses of St.
Augustine, Orlando and the
Archdiocese of Miami.
HOWEVER, on the West or
the Gulf side of the shore, we
find Bishop McLaughlin’s new
Diocese extending from the
town of Dunnellon on the north
to nearby Ft. Myers Beach on
the extreme south. In this area
are the cities of Tampa, Sara
sota, Plant City, Pinnellas Park
and Clearwater.
The area is noted for the cit
rus fruit, tobacco and truck gar
Sunday, May 26
U.S. Catholics to Observe
World Communications Day
wasmngton — (NC) — In re
sponse to an appeal by Pope Paul
»I to the universal Church, the
Church in the United States will
>bserve the second World Com
munications Day on Sunday, May
26.
THE NATIONAL Conference
« Catholic Bishops approved last
November the observance of
world Communications Day in
his country on diocesan and par
ish levels, and members of the
J.S. Bishops’ Committee for So
cial Communications have sent
to individual ordinaries through
out the country a copy of the
HOLY DAY
Next Thursday, Ascension
Day is a holy day of obli
gation. All are seriously
obligated in conscience to
assist at Mass on May 23rd.
Consult your parish bulletin
for the schedule of Masses.
prayer of the faithful for that
Sunday and a copy of the Holy
Father’s message, issued earlier
this month.
It is recommended that the ob
servance in this country have
both religious and non-religious
aspects. The former would high
light a Mass with appropriate ser
mon in the cathedral or some
convenient church, to which ex
ecutives and employes of com
munications media would be
See U.S. Catholics, page 4A
den industries. The city of St.
Petersburg, itself, is most noted
for its population of people
who are in the Golden Age of
retirement.
Sarasota has been noted as
the Singling Brothers circus
capital. Industry and the favor
able climate have brought many
Catholic people from other parts
of the country to this tropical
area.
ST. PETERSBURG and Tampa
are separated by Tampa Bay but
are connected by two long
bridges. The seat of the Diocese
is situated on a kind of penin
sula jutting out into the Gulf of
Mexico.
As the new 1968 Catholic Di
rectory has not yet been de
livered, the figures of last year
show 11 parishes in St. Peters
burg and 14 in Tampa. Hiis fig
ure is increased as new churches
have been dedicated within the
past year in these two cities.
Bishop McLaughlin is consult
ing with Church authorities in
Washington and in Florida as
well as with Bishop Waters rela
tive to plans for his arrival in
St. Petersburg.
No date has as yet been de
cided upon and his departure
from Greensboro is still unde
termined.
Bishop to Give
Abbey Talk
Belmont — The Most Reverend
Charles B. McLaughlin, D.D., the
Bishop-designate of the new di
ocese of St. Petersburg, Fla., and
former Auxiliary of Raleigh, will
deliver the baccalaureate sermon
at the concelebrated Academic
Mass highlighting the 90th Com
mencement exercises at Belmont
Abbey College, here, on Tuesday,
May 21.
A graduating class of 130 young
men and women are candidates
See Bishop, page 6A
Editor's
Desk
Establishing personal credit
on $1,500 a year salary, the
present allotment for pastors of
the Diocese, often presents a hu
morous chain reaction of cor
respondence to companies who
invite the use of their credit
cards.
Last week a major oil com
pany sent us the carte blanche
to use their products. The invi
tation was unsolicited as we al
ready have been using one of a
competitor whose gasoline is
sold by a parishioner.
After having had the card
stamped on a chance for many
prizes in the promotional effort
we cut the celluloid cards so
that no charges could be made
against our name.
A FEW TEARS ago we asked
a bank with which we had been
doing parish business for a loan
of a few hundred dollars to pur
chase a car. We were a poor
financial risk, they said, as we
were below the poverty level in
come.
At the same time, the bank
had an ad gimmick showing a
whole lot of cherries mixed up
with an occasional lemon. The
lemon showed the disproportion
of turned-down risks.
At that time, we were pastor
of a parish which carried a debt
of over $400,000. The wife of a
parishioner was teller at the
bank and when we told her that
we were regarded as a lemon
she turned as red as a beet.
A PASTOR here in Raleigh at
a parish which takes in the most
affluent section recently was
turned down by a chain depart
ment store which opened up a
local branch within his parish.
An exchange of correspond
ence informing the firm who he
was and the circumstances
brought back an immediate em
barassed assurance that he was
in good standing.
During our years as director
Of the apostolate of the newly
ordained clergy, we have al
See Editor’s Desk, page M