Bishop Buddy Scrapbook 1936-37 (1)

f ATHER BUDDY IS ELEVATED TO BISHOPRIC Local Priest Will Head San Diego Diocese '.rhe VP!ry Rev. Charles F. Buddy, rector of St. Jo:: -ph's Cathedral, was announced la.st night by the National Catholic Welfare Confer- ence in Washington as bishop of · j the new diocese of San Diego, Cal., by order of Pope Pius, according to an Associated Press dispatch, Fathei· Buddy, shortly after noti- fication by The Gazette of his ele- vation lo the high pontifical office, received confirmation of it from his superior, Bishop C. F, LeB!ond of St. Joseph. "It came as a complete surprise to me," exclaimed the priest, "as the first I knew about it was when Father Cornelius Cleary came into the cathedral and informed me of The Gazette dispatch." To Le,tve About Jan. 1. The new diocese, Father Buddy i explained, will consist of the San I Diego, Imperial, Riverside and Sa.n Bernardino countk of California, with the Church of St. Joseph in San Diego as its Cathedral Church. I The new diocese has been a part of the Los Angeles-San Diego dio- cese comprising eight counties with I ove1· 322,000 Catholic resiclenli.;, and now, with the separation of lhe four southern California counties lhat make up the new diocese, the ' remaining counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Santa Barbara a1id Ven- tura will constitute the archdiocese of Los Angeles. It will likely be after Jan, 1 be- fore Father Buddy will go to his new post, for the papal bulls from Rome authorizing his consecration must come before he relinquishes his present post as rector and diocesan director of the Pontifical Society for the Propagation of the Failh, he said last night. I Known llS Tireless ~ 'orker. , The popular cleric, who is known to all classes of this city as a Lire- I less worker on beh.al.f of the dcsti- 1 tute and sic!,, was born in St. Jos- eph, Oct. 4, 1887, Lhe son of the late Charles A. Buddy, a commission broker in wholesale fruits and pro- duce, who died in 1927. His mother, Annie Farrel Buddy, w.ho died last March, also was born in St. Joseph, the daughter of Irish immigrants. Beginning his schooling at the "Little Convent," on the corner of , Thirteenth and Messanie streets, predecessor of the present cathe- dral school, young Charles Buddy continued his education at the old Christian Brothers' College, Lhen enrolled at Sl. Benedict's College in Atchison, Kan., where he Look two years of high school work in prep- aration for college. His college course wa.s begun at St. Mary's College, St. Mary's Kan., now a Jesuit school of theology, where he evinced an interest in journalism and became editor of The Dial, student newspaper, as well as president of the junior 1 class. l

. But most proud of all, seemingly, 1s Fa_ther Buddy of his role in the ?reat1on of St. Vincent's cafeteria m January, 1930, a venture spon- sored by the St. Vincent de Paul Society to provide food for the hun- dreds of impoverished, homeless local people, and transients, who the~ were becoming increasingly noticeable following the market crash of the preceding fall. All Groups Aided Project. The cafeteria was operating un- , der Father Buddy's direction for I three and one-half years before the' federal government took it over in May, 1933 , as a federal transient bureau. During its years under Fa th er Buddy, the cafeteria and shel_ter _was CO!J.Sidered a model or- ga111zat10n for such ventures in the sta~e. In April, 1933, 96,000 meals we1 e se_rved and 600 people were hou~ed m one night, records made possible, according to Father Buddy, bec:1use of the co-operation of all I racial religious groups, clubs 1 and mm1sters of the city who I united in making the shelter- f restaurant a success. In 1933, a chapel was opened on t Second street, where the cafeteria and shelter were located, and serv- ices for transient worshipers were given under Father Buddy's direc- tion. 1:- recent appointment. of the prieS t was th at of vice-official for the diocese, an hono~ given by Bish- op C. H. LeBlond. Father Buddy has for years given retreats or u_1ree-day periods of spiritual ~xer- c1ses, to groups of boys and girls at various schools in the United i Sta,~es, -:-nd is interested in juvenile I ~~c10log1cal work and welfare activ- j 1bes. Member o,f Board of Health. · During the World War he was active in the Red Cross, and now is a member of the board of health. Other organizations to which he belongs are the Knights of Colum- bus, East Hills Country Club, Order of Foresters, and the alumni asso- ciations of Christian Brothers High School, St. Benedict's College and St. Mary's College, as well as the North American Colleo-e Alumni Association of Rome. 0 Father Buddy has one sister In St. Joseph, Mrs. Louis J. Dandu- · rant, 424 South Ninth street; anoth- er sister, Sister Mary Magdelene, superior of Sacred Heart Academy in Ogden, Utah, and a brother, Dr. Edward P. Buddy of St. Louis. Congratulations Pour In. Telephone bells and doorbells 1 1 shattered the peace of the cathedral rectory last night as Father r Buddy's hundreds of friends hear- ing of his surprise elevation 'to the' rank of bishop, sent in congratula- tory messages. Most excited of all were the ca- thedral priests and those of the rec- tory, who rejoiced in Father I Buddy's appointment and beaming- ly smiled on visltori;. It was, as one of them phrased it 1 "By golly, a surprise to us, but we'r~ certainly happy that Father Buddy/ was chosen!"

To Become Bishop

The Very Rev. Charles F. Buddy, whose appointment ail bishop of a new diocese at San Diego, Cal., ·was announced yes- terday by the National Catholic Welfare (?onference, by act of Pope Pius\ Six Years in Rome. But in 1909, young Buddy signi- fied his desire to enter the priest- hood to Bishop Maurice F. Burke of St. Joseph, and the young man was sent to Rome as a student there of the North American Col- lege, a training school for future priests of this country and other nations of the continent. Father Buddy spent six arduous years of study in Rome, taking two years of philsophy and four years of theology, receiving in 1911 his doctor of philosphy degree from the Propaganda University of Rome. Ordained priest on Sept. 19, 1914, in st. John Lateran Cathedral in Rome, home of Catholicism, the young priest spent another year of study in the historic city, and re- turned to St. Joseph on July 23, 1915. On Aug. 1, the newly returned priest was named assistant pastor , at the local cathedral and chaplain at St. Joseph's Hospital. In 1917, his old counselor, Bishop Burke, ap- pointed him chancellor and personal secretary. When Bishop Francis Gilfillan succeeded Bishop Burke in 1922, Father Buddy soon was made director of the ,,iocesan branch of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, which extends the breadth of the present diocese in this section of Missouri. Organlz.ed Negro Work. The earnest cleric, devoted to his work and ministering among the poor, was chosen in 1925 by Bishop Gilfillan io organize a ~hurch for Negro Catholics of St. Joseph, and a church, started in a small, three- room house, grew into the present brick structure which is St. Augus- tine's Church. 1 The title of rector of the cathedral and administrator of cemeteries was given to Father Buddy in March, 1926, by Bishop Gilfallan, who saw that the priest possessed administrative ability as well as a sincere devotion to the interests of the poor. There followed rapidly appoint- ments as a diocesan consultor, and judge of the matrimonial court, both honors being given by Bishop Gil• fillan, like Bishop Burke, a believer in Father Buddy's ability and lead· ership.

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