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Show if Catholic Charities Preparing to Americanize Expected Hosts of Immigrants I t X r U!R Minn a score of voices, for- 1 pIen ,n accent, a bit strange lPJ?t but enunciating clearly, toined - in singing all four stanzas ' of 'America.' 'uwM I ;.. They sang as though they knew the mcan-' mcan-' ing of the words nnd apprcc'ated their iunif- D8 ' icance. They sang as though Inspired Pcr- 9H 1 haps they were. since the singers were Polish hH) . men who have long known the word liberty. IjuS!. but never knew lis meaning until they came mlm f - to America and were taught by the paster mrSljj . of their church what America might and HfM 1 ..... could mean to them." Sll. The foregoing statement Is a quotation fH m i ' " from the official report of a special survey Hi! 'commission for the Archdiocese of New ilj Xork. submitted to Archbishop Mayes, it is Bjjff cited as nn example of what the Cathollt: Hi' charities of the Archdiocese of New York Hfl hope to extend Into every foreign parish in ll the Archdiocese. H ( The singing or "America." Ihe salute to Ml the flag by a group of Polish men. Is a ' j weekly occurrence In the schoolroom of L B Joseph's parish Ml In this parish of the Archdiocese of New fJ ' York the population is almost exclusively KB I Polish, yet more than fifty per cent, of the adults aro naturalized Americans, more than M half of the remainder have tholr first citizen- fihlp papers, and the few who do not know ,; English arc attending night classes where ' ; ' . they learn the language, the elements of I American citizenship and the Bigmncncc m. the "Star Spangled Banner" and "America. The importance of tho role being played by the Catholic Church In the work ot . Americanization can be seen In these figures. During the last period of actlvo Immigration, Immigra-tion, preceding the war. tho bulk of immigrants immi-grants came from Latin Europe, especially taly and Poland. Of these, ninety per cenU :o ninety-five per cent, are Catholics, and is soon aa thoy settle In a community they tnd their families attend a Catholic Church. s'or them tho pastor bcconyiB the leader u,d guide, not merely In things spiritual ut also in the solution of (their practical problems. . , , A vast campaign fAmicanlzatlon has cen mapped out byexperts under Arch-Mshop Arch-Mshop Patrick J. Hayes, which will be carded car-ded out as a part of the Catholic charities of ho Archdiocese of New Tork now being or-'anlzed. or-'anlzed. Men In official positions, especially in tho immigration service, havo recognized the im-ortance im-ortance of Unking Americanization with .'hurch work, The chief examiner of the Jnited States Bureau of Naturalization In lew York city, Morton A. Sturges, said: "I'm not a Catholic, but without reserve T am willing to go on record a3 saying that more actual results have been achieved by the Catholics In this educational -work of making citizens of foreigners thnn by any other body of which I am conversant, "In tho foreign districts the priests are Educational Work Along- Lines That Have Proved So Successful Among Poles and Italians Will Be Expanded to Embrace Entire Archdiocese Women Taught in Home Circles often of toreicn descent: they know hoth the lanirunse ot the immigrant and English: they sain the confidence of the foreigner and tell him by degrees the benefits to be derived by truly adopting this new country as their own. in many cases the priests coach them In their lessons, tell them how to make out their papers, and help them in every step, it Is a splendid Instance of constructive, patriotic, pa-triotic, social work. I hope they keep It up and extend It. and I am entirely in, accord with the Archbishop's plans in this matter." Father Sgublnsltl accomplishes his ends in an Interesting way. lie has a card filed for every tamlly. with a record or the citizenship of the father, when naturalized, when first papers were taken out and when It Is time to apply for the second papers, in his parish there aro about four hundred votes polled at every election. The number of adults not citizens and without their first papers is less than four per cont. These people take their duties as citizens seriously. Ttiey are taught i that the right to vote Is both a duty and a privilege which should noi be neglected. For the men of tho parish who do not know English Father Sgubinski has organized or-ganized an evening course of lessons. From 7:30 to 9 o'clock on four nights a week about thirty men gather in the parochial school, sit at the desks their children occupy In the daytime arid struggle to learn the language or ihe country they want lo adopt, it isn't easy. Many of tho men aro past fifty: few nro younger . than twenty-five; twenty-five; thoy have lolled hard all day at heavy manual labor; they aro weary physically and their minds are not ulcrt. Still llicy come and learn The members of a class which began In November. 1919. can now. in April. 19L0. read and wrlto elementary sentences in English. Tills Is progress Indeed when one considers that some ot them cuuM iui vc.n read and write their own language. Thoy know the wordB and music of "Amcica," and some of them know tho four stanzas by heart. They have read In class "Civlos for Americans in the Making." and parts ot "English for Coming Citizens," The superintendent super-intendent of school supplies the teacher, ihe church provides the classroom and pays for tho heat, light and incidental oxponscs. The teacher. Miss .Mary Farrell. knows no Polish, therefore the class Is conducted entirely en-tirely In English. The succcas of this venturo in English is attributed In part by Father Sgublnskl to tho fact that It Is a church undertaking. "The Board ot Educalon has started night schools for teaching foreigners," said Father Sgubinski, "but it Is almost impossible to induce these men to attend. They ore shy, bashful, afraid to appear ridiculous beforo strangers. They come to our school because they know they will be among friends. The class Is held in the parochial school, which they foci Is their own, for it was built from their own contributions." gffi Home circles for the women have been organized In the same parish, but no classes have been held as yet because of the lack of teachers. The homo circles are so planned that five women living In the same' neighborhood neigh-borhood would meet several afternoons a week at the house of one member, and there a visiting teachor would instruct them in English. All pastors agree on this point that It is much easier to bring the teacher to the home than the mothor to the teacher. Without the cooperation of the boards of education this cannot be done extensively. In the Italian Catholic centres this lack of teachers Is felt more keenly than elsewhere. Many of the Italians aro Illiterate. They must be taught not merely English, but the elements of reading and writing. Several American pastors of Italian descent are teaching English to small groups, but thes are necessarily limited. In an Italian dis- trict near the East River ana Thirty-third jH street Father Congcdo. pastor of the Church IH of the Sacred Heart, has a, small group of IH adults which he himself instructs in th evening. "The Italians are willing to learn, but we havo not yet enough facilities." Father Con- jH gedo said. In many of the foreign districts there ar IH a number of children who come to this coun-try coun-try when they aro about 10 or 12, and it Is difficult for them to go to tho public schools In those districts, for none of thorn havo classes for these embryo citizens whero they are taught English. During the war tho need for English classes for children was not felt because immigratio was at a standstill. With the arrival of the new tide immigrant ' from southern Europe this problem will iiaVe to be met. The parents, most of them Catholic, will want to send their children to school, but theso children cannot bo put in classes with other children. They must first be taught tho language of their country. |