Our Catholic Heritage in T exa.s
undertake to explain to non-Catholics in particular the truths of our Church. In October a meeting was held by State Deputy E. J. Devereau, Brothers George Burgess and D. J. Mahoney of Dallas Council, and the honored Bishop of Dallas, the Most Reverend Joseph P. Lynch to select the missionary who was to undertake the work. Father C. Haas, O.M.I., State Chaplain of the Knights, was appointed to lecture to non-Catholics within the Diocese of Dallas. How fruitful and significant the new en- deavor was may be gathered from Father Haas's report. He said at the Texarkana Convention in May, 1917: The astounding want of knowledge of Catholic belief and practice is almost incredible.. . . Millions of Catholics lost the faith during the great religious upheaval of the 16th century. Millions of their descend- ants are tired and wary of their (disfigured) heritage. Mere negation cannot satisfy the cravings of the human soul. . . . Catholicism is a sealed book to all except a few. For this reason the Knights of Columbus resolved on the lecture work that has been carried on since the last Convention.... He then explained how the work had been limited to twenty counties in Midwest Texas. One hundred and twenty places were visited that first year and some 1250 lectures were delivered in halls, movies, courthouses, schools, barns, blacksmith shops, opera houses, and every other conceivable place, not excluding the open air under the stars of heaven. A week had been spent approximately in each town or village visited and some 50,000 persons in all had heard Catholic doctrines explained outside a Church. Most of them had never seen, much less heard, a Catholic priest before. The question box became the source of constant interest, constituting the most important feature of each meeting. In addition to answering the innumerable questions naively asked, the lecturer distributed over 5,000 different pamphlets, placing in the hands of many earnest inquirers the seeds of faith and the light of understanding. In some of the localities visited, instruction was given to the Negroes who took great interest and were deeply attracted by the doctrine of the Church. As an example, Father Haas recounted how in one small, largely non- Catholic community of about 4,000 population, over 2,000 small hand cards announcing the lectures and giving a list of the subjects were distributed gladly, and a large painted sign placed in front of the little town theatre that read "Rev. C. Haas, O.M.I., will lecture here on the Catholic Church, every day at 10 :oo A.M. and 8 :oo P.M." Five hundred invitations were sent to the more prominent non-Catholics. The response was amazing. Business houses were closed every morning for an hour,
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