Our Catliolic Heritage in Texas
On the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Society in October, 1930, the purposes were restated in somewhat less detail as: "The diffusion of moral and religious knowledge by the cultivation of a missionary spirit in the people of the Roman Catholic Church of the United States of America through the collection and disbursement of funds in any portion of the United States, such funds to be used to aid in the erection of religious edifices, to support clergy for them, or in any other way for the purpose of carrying out the objects of the Society which may seem right and proper to the Board of Governors." The growth and development of the Society has been phenomenal. Starting with modest headquarters in the rectory at Lapeer, Michigan, it was soon found necessary to rent larger quarters across the street. The second year the office was moved to Chicago. 28 In April, 1907 Father Kelley was released from his Lapeer parish duties at the request of Archbishop Quigley to dedicate all his time to the activities of the Society. Father Graham was unable to continue as General Secretary after the removal to Chicago. Providence, averred Father Kelley, took him to Princeton, Indiana, shortly afterwards to lecture for the Lyceum. When he entered the sacristy of the church where he was going to say his Mass, he was struck by its neat and orderly appearance. Everything was in place, properly labeled. The office of the pastor he found to be in the same impeccable order. The parish priest was the Reverend Emmanuel B. Ledvina. Here was a man, said Father Kelley to himself, who would be invaluable as General Secretary. It took persuasion-even on the part of his Ordinary, Bishop Joseph Chartrand, of Indianapolis,-to make Father Ledvina accept Father Kelley's offer. Father Ledvina brought to the Society his priceless gift of order and a deep sense of fair play. His tireless energy inspired continuous endeavor. "His services to Church Extension were of the kind," said Bishop Kelley years later, "that never can be forgotten. I can really claim only the credit of striking the first blow.... Father Ledvina was like a quarter- master-general, who gets his supplies in bulk, but arranges and dispatches them in such a way that each unit of the army is properly fed, clothed and otherwise supplied at the right moment. . .." 29 Tlie Extension Magazine. Under the inspiring leadership of Father Kelley, ably assisted by a few collaborators, Extension Magaz-ine was started in 1906. The first four issues met with such enthusia.sm that in
21 W. D. O'Brien, op cit., 125, 19 W. D. O'Brien, ibid.; Kelley, op. cit., 83-86.
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