The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1918-12-28
AMERICAN FORCE ABROAD UN-
DERsTANDs NEED or RELIGION
boys ARE EAGER FOR SPIRIT
uAL soLAcE = PRoTEsTANTs
JOIN HOLY NAME SOCIETY.

JOtN F7OEI NAIVE 0OStG
Writing in the Chicago Tribune of
last Sunday, Charles n. Wheeler gives
an interesting view of the religious
side of the American force abroad.
He says
Not only did religion stand the test
in the trenches of France, but there
is developing in the American army
camps in Europe spirit of liberation
and respect for each others religious
conviction that will leave its impress
on religious America, for all time.
This is the opinion OF, the men high
in command who have been directing
the religious activities of the army,
Here are few flashlights" that
illuminate the new era" which has
been impressed on the chaplains daily
as they lived with the crusaders in the
trenches and back in the big camps !:
As the American forces expanded
and the scarcity of chaplains made it.
self felt, it became necessary to read
just divisional lines for the purpose of
making the chaplains go as far as pos
sible. In this work there developed
the need of a sort of religious census
of the units in order to determine what
sort of a chaplain should be sent to
the respective unit, always having in
mind the advisability of sending a
Protestant to Protestant regiment
and Catholic to regiment in which
the Catholic predominant.
The reports came in from several
regiments the other day and the senior
chaplain of the division read one over
very carefully a couple of times. Then
he wondered if a mistake had been
made, for this regiment was listed as
100 per cent Catholic. He thought a
new record had been made and that
if such a regiment was serving it was
worth while to emphasize the point.
He ordered an investigation made to
be sure that no mistake had been com
mitted. When the second report came
in it was disclosed that the regiment
was only about so per cent, or little
less, perhaps, Catholic. Then the real
story was divulged.
The report had been circulated
among the boys that their chaplain,
who was Catholic, might be assigned
to another regiment where there was
a greater percentage of Catholics.
This particular chaplain was a great
favorite in the regiment, with the
Protestant boys as we'll as with the
Catholics. Soon after this report was
started the census was taken-and the
regiment to a man went down on the
record as Catholic 'for the duration
of the war;"
1t is needless to state that this chap
lain is still on active service with this
regiment.
The Holy Name.
Billy Sundays trombone expert and
singer, Fl. A. Rodeheaver, has been
singing his way to the hearts of the
doughboys in the French camps. |
hoped on to his bus the other night
before the fighting stopped-afd
went out to Y. NJ. c. A. hut with
him just 10 see how he was putting it
over in France. This hut was in a
beautiful section of France, but far
away from any large city 1t was,
however, cramped to the window stills,
with several lusty lunged warriors
hanging to the ceiling beams and any
old place where they could get a
handhold.
Just before the song service opened
a young Catholic sergeant was intro
duced to make an announcement. His
announcement was formal invitation
to all the Protestant boys in the camp
to join the Holy Name society of the