Thursday, October 15, 2009
I
Feature
Southern Cross, Page 5
1950 Holy Year Pilgrimage was one to remember
The pope’s plea had significant undertones.
by tours of Vatican chapels and museums and
New to history books, World War II had been
the Coliseum. Leaving Rome, the travelers
followed by the thud of communism’s “Iron
would visit Assisi, Perugia, Siena, Florence and
Curtain” descending “from Stettin in the Baltic
Venice.
to Trieste in the Adriatic” (Winston S. Churchill,
By Sunday, May 7, they would attend Mass
1946). The 1950 Holy Year referenced a tradiat Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. The pilgrims
tion inaugurated by Pope Boniface VII after
—replete with memories and souvenirs—
a time of war and pestilence. Such designated
would say “adieu” to Paris on May 10. Their
jubilees at first occurred every hundred years;
trip winding down, they would go by special
later, every 50 years, and later still, every 25
train to Cherbourg. Boarding the R.M.S. Queen
years, or to honor particular events and anniverElizabeth on May 11, they would arrive in New
saries. York on May 15. American Express-Catholic
The 1950 pilgrimage to Rome was meant to
Travel League was responsible for all arrangebe a pious return of Christians to Rome as well
ments at an even-then bargain price of $1057.
as to special places and shrines. Pope Pius XII
Contrasting with this journey was the
cautioned: “These pilgrimages must not
one taken by diocesan priest Father (later
be made with the attitude of those who
Monsignor) John D. Toomey, then pastravel for pleasure, but with the spirit
tor of Sacred Heart Catholic Church,
of piety which animated the faithful
Milledgeville, who noted in a detailed
of past centuries.” Albeit with spiriBulletin account: “I have chosen to serve
tual motives, many Holy Year travelthe best dish first,” going on to describe
ers from Georgia still managed a few
“the grand climax of the pilgrimage” —his
moments of pleasure.
arrival in Rome on July 11, 1950. Toomey’s
On January 28, 1950, the Bulletin
Rita H. DeLorme group of approximately 700 overflowed
of the Catholic Laymen’s Association
the Pilgrim’s Center outside Rome which
of Georgia offered Catholics of the Savannahhe summed up as “apparently a hurriedly conAtlanta Diocese the chance to make the Holy
structed barracks which was put up for the Holy
Year pilgrimage to Rome led by Rt. Rev.
Year.” Despite the Villa’s hard beds and its lack
Monsignor Joseph G. Cassidy, diocesan director
of hot water, Father Toomey said he was glad
of the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine. This
the group did not have to seek individual hotels.
tour would include an audience with the pope.
Meals were “wholesome,” he added, but warned
Participants in the tour would sail for Europe
friends: “I do not wish any invitations to spaon April 7 aboard the luxury liner Queen Mary.
ghetti suppers for at least two years.”
Arriving at Cherbourg on April 12, they would
In Rome, Toomey viewed the Coliseum and
travel by special train to Paris and, afterwards,
the Forum. He visited Bishop of the Diocese of
to Lourdes where they would remain for two
Savannah, Gerald P. O’Hara, recently returned
days of religious services. Then, it was on to
to Rome after expulsion from Romania where
Avignon, residence of the popes from 1307he was Regent of the Apostolic Nunciature.
1319. Stopping briefly at the French Riviera,
Father Toomey later saw the Vatican Museum,
they would proceed to Monte Carlo, and then to
the Sistine Chapel and the catacombs. Father
Nice.
Andrew J. McDonald (now Bishop Emeritus of
Traveling along the French and Italian Riviera
Little Rock), then studying Canon Law in Rome,
to Genoa, they would later go by train to Rome
accompanied him on the latter tour.
where, on April 22, they would visit four chief
High point of Toomey’s pilgrimage was standbasilicas: Saint Peter’s, Saint Paul’s Outsideing with 40,000 people from all over the world
the-walls, Saint John Lateran and Saint Mary
for services at Saint Peter’s. Pius XII addressed
Major, thereby gaining the Jubilee indulgence.
this mixture of nationals, some of whom had
An audience with Pius XII would be followed
recently fought each other in a war, in individual
Sacred Heart...
Continued from page 1
with the creation of the Volunteer
Medical Clinic in Warner Robins.
Ellie Odom wrote a prayer and
requested all parish ministries to
pray for the Clinic. With Odom’s
prayer and the hard work of Kathy
Keebaugh, the clinic opened in
2005.
Lee Guimond was hired as the
first Director of the Christian
Service Office serving from 19841996, followed by Ermal Sirmans,
who served from 1996-2006 and
then Roberto Martinez Pérez serving from 2006 to the present. There
have had many volunteers throughout the years. Two were honored,
Ellie Odom and Eva Siebenmorgan,
at the recent 25th Anniversary
Banquet for their many years of
service.
Photo courtesy of the Diocesan Archives.
t has been almost 60 years since enthusiastic and devout groups of pilgrims departed the Catholic
Diocese of Savannah-Atlanta for Europe during the 1950 Holy Year. At its official beginning,
on Christmas 1949, a prayer composed by Pope Pius XII and broadcast worldwide enunciated the
year’s goals: spiritual cleansing and renewal, world peace, concern for the downtrodden and the
poor—and forgiveness. The flier for the 1950
pilgrimage.
talks in Italian, French, English and German.
About this general audience, Father Toomey
declared that Rome, the Eternal City, was “as
close a reflection of the city of God as we can
come to on this planet.”
Columnist Rita H. DeLorme
is a volunteer in the Diocesan
Archives. She can be reached
at [email protected].
Judging...
Continued from page 4
come to accept myself and others
as children of God. None of us is
perfect. The people I encounter are
not put on this earth to please me
or meet my expectations. God’s
mercy and grace extend to all of us.
Realizing that I am spiritually bound to every human being,
through the Body of Christ, I
accept myself as no greater or
lesser than the rest of the Body.
Indeed, Jesus allied himself with
the least members of the Body. By
judging them, I pass judgment on
myself.
Mary Hood Hart lives with her
family in Ocean Isle Beach, North
Carolina. She can be reached at
[email protected].