[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 158 (Thursday, October 12, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1934]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 SOCIETY OF THE DIVINE WORD CENTENNIAL

                                 ______


                           HON. HENRY J. HYDE

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 12, 1995

  Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, on Sunday, October 15, hundreds of religious 
men and women will gather to celebrate the centennial of the Society of 
the Divine Word.
  It was on October 15, 1895, that Brother Wendelin Meyer arrived in 
North America to establish a religious order of Catholic priests and 
brothers. Settling in northern Illinois, Brother Meyer and other 
missionaries opened a technical school for boys. Successful in its 
efforts, the Society continued its growth in 1909 with the 
establishment of the Nation's first seminary dedicated to educating men 
for work in foreign missions. Encouraged by Pope Pius XI, the mission 
in 1920 opened St. Augustine's Seminary in Bay St. Louis, MS, to serve 
the special needs of African-American men who wanted to become priests. 
Its alumni include nine bishops and at least 40 percent of the African-
American clergy ordained in the United States.
  Vital, successful and, above all, faithful, the Society continues its 
mission among America's immigrant Hispanic and Vietnamese populations. 
Its priests and brothers work among the poor on four continents living 
and practicing the teachings of the Gospel. With such a record of 
achievement and a brilliant future to come, the Society may look 
forward to a second century of unbridled progress.

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