Evening star., 1922-11-30
HIGH 0FF|C|ALD0M
GATHERSAT MASS
Diplomats and Statesmen
Here Observe Thanksgiving
at Pan.American Rites.

Diplomatic Representatives Of vir-
tually all the pan American countries.
members Of the United States Senate
and House Of Representatives. fed
eral and District government officials,
officers Of the Army and Navy. mem
bers of the judiciary and other lead
ers in the life OF the National Cap
ital attended the pan-American mass
in st. Patrick's Church today. which
is a feature Of the Thanksgiving day
celebration in Washington.
The official representatives OF
Roman Catholic nations all over the
world Joined in the service. which was
presided over by Archbishop Curley.
with more than 200 priests participat-
ing.
The church was decorated with the
flags Of the United States and the
South American countries. which
hung from the pillars and designated
the pews occupied by members OF the
diplomatic corps and their families.
Two Choirs Omciate.
The musical program was by two
choirs, the mixed choir and the sane
tuary choir. with orchestral accom-
paniment. kalltwola's mass was
sung. The mass was celebrated by Rt.
Rev. Mgr. G.. F. Thomas. prnthonotary
apostolic pastor of st. Patrick's par
ish, and the other officers Of the mass
were: Most Rev. Michael J. Curley.
Archbishop of Baltimore. presiding at
the throne: assistant priest, Very Rev.
NJ A. Waldron. O. F.; deacons OF hon
or. Rev. NJ. J: Riordan and Rev: c; E.
Wheeler; assistant priest. Very Rev.
l. NJ. Kelley. c. S. c.; deacon. Rev NJ.
P. Egan: subdeacon, Rev. ]. ]. Bar
rett; master of ceremonies for the
archbishop. Rev. +. ]. Hurney: master
Of ceremonies for the mass, Rev. DR..
J. X. Cartwright; general master OF
ceremonies. Francis McCann.
A feature of the service was the
prayer for authorities" in which the
entire gathering joined. as follows:
I'VE pray Thee. O God Of might.
wisdom and justice. through whom
authority is rightly administered d.
laws are enacted. and Judgment de-
counsel and fortitude, the Presidents
Of these American republics. that
their administration may be con-
Quoted in righteousness. and be emf
nently useful to their people, over
whom they preside, by encouraging
due respect for virtue and religion.
by a faithful execution of the laws
ing vice and immortality. Let the
light of Thy divine wisdom direct the
deliberations Of their congresses.
and shine forth in all the proceedings
and laws framed for their rule and
government. SO that they may tend
peace. the promotion of international
good WILL the increase of industry.
sobr!ety and useful knowledge. and
may peTpetuate to US all the bless
ings of equal liberty.
Sermon on Americanism.
The sermon was by Rev. Patrick ].
Healy Of the Catholic University. who
spoke on the development of free
government and pointed out how the
Catholic Church has led through the
ages in developing such government
especially in the American countries.
DR. Healey attacked the ku klux
Khan and pointed out the duty of
Catholic Americans. He said, in part:
Paul was proud of his Roman citi
zership. and he had reason to be.
I'm this later day there is an honor
took such pride. greater than to be a
Roman or a king: it is the honor of
being able to say: l am an American
citizen. To be an American citizen.
to be a citizen of one of the great re-
publics of this hemisphere. is to pos
sess liberties and rights and op-
portunities such as were unknown to
kings and undreamt of in the Rome of
old.
ITO be an American citizen is title
Of pre- minence, and it is pre-eminent
precisely because no American citizen
can be seized, or cast into prison, or
threatened with scourging on
charge such as that brought against
Paul No American can ever be
branded as criminal for what ne
SAYS, nor scourged for what he be-
lieves. The crown and glory of his
citizenship are free speech and free
worship. Paul was citizen. but he
was not a person; the American is a
citizen and person.
Paul, however. was more than a
Roman citizen. he was Christian
AS a Roman citizen he was possessed
of great and inalienable rights. but
as Christian he had grave and un-
avoidable duties. neither known nor
recognized in Roman law. The first
and most obvious of these duties was
that he should speak the truth as
God gave him to see 1t. and that he
should worship the God in Whom he
believed.
Paul carried his case to Rome. and
when Rome, in the person of Nero.
its deif1ed ruler, g~Aped the sig
nificance of what Paul and the Chris
tians desired-to control their con-
sciences and beliefs-the fioodgates
of Rome's wrath were opened. Paul
and Peter and their co-religionists
were gathered up and hurled into
prison. The populace Of Rome was
invited to a festival, at which they
would see this new thing, this re-
ligion of a crucified prophet crushed
into infamy under the sword. the
spear, the lash, the torch and the
teeth and claws of wild beasts.
"The Christians died. but the prin-
ciples for which they suffered lived.
mitted defeat and a Roman en-
peror, Constantine, issued an edict
Of toleration. which gave to the
Christians equally with the pagans
the right of free worship. The duty
for which Paul and the Christian