The Catholic Conference of the South, Report of the proceedings and addresses of the first annual meeting, Atlanta, GA. April 14, 15 and 16, 1940

Richmond, VA: Executive Headquarters, 1941. First Edition. Wraps. 8vo, trade softcover, good minus, covers tanned, darkened, soiled and stained with abrasions and much rubbing to spine, contents very good and clean. 132 pp. At its first meeting in Atlanta in April 1940, what became known as the Catholic Conference of the South was organized out of the Southern Catholic Conference for Social Action by bishops, priests, and lay Catholics from several Southern dioceses to explore how Catholic social teaching, especially the principles laid out in Papal encyclicals, could be applied to the unique economic, racial, educational, and industrial problems of the American South. Leaders such as Bishop Gerald P. O’Hara (Savannah-Atlanta), Bishop Thomas Toolen (Mobile), Bishop Peter Ireton (Richmond), and Bishop Richard Gerow (Natchez) participated, along with prominent laymen like Henry L. Caravati, who was elected president. Their hopes were to coordinate Catholic social action across Southern states, train local leadership, and address issues from industrial justice to rural and Negro outreach. In the short term they focused on leadership training and discussion rather than immediate solutions, and the conference led directly to the establishment of a permanent regional organization promoting social justice initiatives in the South and subsequent Catholic publications and activities based on its program. Good. Item #h44572

Price: $30.00