We sold The Tidings , which was the L.A. Archdiocese newspaper , and there were prizes . Glad that I could kick up some dust . Names chosen for each baby were REQUIRED to be the names of bonefide saints, beatified by process through Rome. But how ? Oh, yes, I remember raising money to save pagan babies. No one was, in fact, adopted or bought. Saving Pagan Babies occurred during a simpler Prizes were given if we were successful. If you register with MISSIO by noon February 2, 2017, youll be entered for a chance to join the Pontifical Mission Societies on their pilgrimage to Rome in May 2017, and an audience with Pope Francis. Diane, That means that many of our grandbabies are pagan babies! Thats 40 babies right there. You missed the naming and the fold-out box ! Fierce competition existed between some of the nuns as to whose class had the most pagan babies. Other prizes were plastic pencil cases with a ruler that formed the lid ; it slid out . But they do a lot of things for children like provide food and clean water and mosquito nets. We too raised $$ for pagan babies. She went to Catholic school too, and I dont know if they had pagan babies then, but I bet they did. Really thought I was saving a baby!" I still think of those days and have many wonderful memories. "Pagan Babies": Orphan Imagery in the Passionist China Collection and the Emergence of American Sympathy for the Chinese in the Early Twentieth Century Margaret Kuo Published 3 July 2019 History The Chinese Historical Review Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you. Someone spilled the beans , I think , or he bragged to the wrong person just what he had done . Remember getting a whack across the face at your Confirmatin? Yeah! Stories ensued. Scotland, late 60s/early 70s, Catholic primary school (ages 5-12) we had this, only we called it something like the black baby fund, rather than pagan babies. A set or two of golf clubs may have been in there . For a boy we were expected to choose a name like Matthew, Mark, Luke or John. A bulletin board held the certificates, pinned to the wall. Seriously has anyone ever ran into a pagan baby named Herman or Mary or any other name?? I still say none of that money ever got beyond the archdiocese downtown , certificate or no certificate . A Timeline. Come back 60 years ago and well ask the teacher for one ; but now , I dont know . I suspect that Patricia never named them after you , David . - Sharen D. We would use the proceeds to buy pagan babies. Went to Holy Name Grade School and when my friend was writing a book including some Catholic characters ( she is not Catholic), my fellow Holy Name and I gave her the pagan baby story to include, complete with only the rich kids got to name the baby since the rest of us did not have the means to save $5. What readers of her book talked about the most was either Is there really such a thing a pagan babies thats hilarious or Oh yes, I remember saving up during Lent to get to name a pagan baby. Thanks for the memories. A collection of writing that wrestles with contemporary spirituality, within and without the doors of the church, 2023 Commonweal Magazine. I feel the same way as you do. The certificates had a picture of a white little toddler sitting down with little black toddlers. Some Irish nuns were there one day to speak to the students . I will say, Im happy I went to catholic school. JMJwow, totally forgot about that. One guys said one time he was examining his conscience and realized he had tried to act like an adult, so he confessed to his priest that he committed adultery!!! Then I developed dysentery, and the very people I was there to save were taking care of me. Read 283 reviews from the world's largest community for readers. I think there was some small prize involved for any student that sold them. This is a serious problem. . And once, the guy who considered himself the smartest kid in the class proposed the name Jean-Pierre. Steve, Thanks for the kind comment . pagan babies When I attended Corpus Christi Catholic School in the 1950s and 1960s there was a program we all called Pagan Babies . More and more babies are not getting baptized or raised in the faith. Im sure none of that money got further than the downtown Archdiocese offices . Instead, she found Jesus Christ. I found I really did not have many skills to offer. They wore full habits in the old style . He told how we had to examine our consciences. No , only two thousand fifty , countered the salesman . Its a mystery! That $5.00 bought you naming rights. You mean to tell me , he began , that we are supposed to sell a candy bar for a dollar that we could buy in the store for fifty cents Remembering a Different A-to-Z Challenge | No Facilities. Remember JMJ ? Yeah , a few days later . DUDE! PJ. The mission has a Church, Cardinal Dolan reminded his guests in his opening remarks. As a young girl at St. Albert the Great School in Dearborn, Michigan, we wore blue uniform jumpers and beanies. It wasnt a huge effort at our school, Christ the King in Pleasant Hill, CA, and im sure i sold very few as my parents were not very supportive of that kind of fundraising. Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, retired Archbishop of Washington; best-selling author Mary Higgins Clark; and television commentator Larry Kudlow were each named 2012 Pontifical Ambassadors for Mission. In our class it was the boys vs the girls. For those dying without baptism, however, the Catholic Church teaches us to hope in God. Your class picked out a name for the child, and the Catholic church baptized the baby with that name into the Catholic faith. Required fields are marked *. Hearts of Gold, A Gilded Age Historical Romance Series. Catholic Dopers >age 50- does the term "pagan babies" ring a bell? Reblogged this on itkindofgotawayfromyou. Love Your Sister Back in the 1950s and early-1960s, and possibly before that, the Catholic schools sponsored an ongoing drive to raise money for missions in foreign lands. She said she named them after me. Especially loud clunkers could turn heads and ignite giggles. I think you had to be in Catholic school around 1960 or earlier to have been exposed to the term pagan babies. Id forgotten that the rest of it was to ransom them. Bonus question: Did children in Europe collect coins for the pagan babies? So, does anybody remember the plastic prizes (not for pagan baby collections). Same thing, just a more PC name. Sometimes the girls in one class would be pitted against the boys : Who could collect the money to name the pagan baby first ? Needless to say, by the time I graduated from Dominican there wasnt an iota of true Catholicism left in me, other than the bit I faked for a while to protect my Moms feeling. Cary had guts, for sure , for such a bold attempt at fraud . http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1202140.htm, http://asksistermarymartha.blogspot.com/2006/08/announcing-pagan-baby-reunion.html. I went to Christ the King in Pleasant Hill, CA. We did that too. The thing was a brown color . possibly before that, the Catholic schools sponsored an ongoing drive to raise money My friends went to public school and public school had boys! There was excitement in the air . We all knew what a pagan baby was a baby that was not baptized a Catholic, and not one in the US babies from Asia in particular. Possibly the nuns coerced the kids in those classes into giving more? . My first lessons in social justice came through saving pagan babies. His name is Seth (pretty sure he still has that job, but it cant hurt to check). on a regular basis. So it had to be pretty official, like our nun just couldnt pull a certificate out of her drawer and fill in the name.no, I think that it had to be signed by the big Catholic mucky-mucks. What did we kids know ! I served lunch to old people and I received so many compliments from the old people that I thought that I was a goner . And they spoke of pagans . Learn how your comment data is processed. And yesyou know who you are. ETA: and then theres this blog from someone who is completely unapologetic about their participation in the program: http://asksistermarymartha.blogspot.com/2006/08/announcing-pagan-baby-reunion.html. I also attended CCS and talk about the pagan babies all the time and the Lenten booklets where you saved dimes. I got JUG in high school - Jesuits a few times. I thoroughly enjoy your posts. What was written on the boxes? I think mine were 25 cent stamps . When they reached $5, they then ransomed a child overseas, got a certificate and the right to name the child being looked after by missionary sisters, brothers and priests abroad. My imagination was also captured by the missionaries who came to speak to us at least once a year. Arlington Catholic Herald200 N. Glebe Rd.Suite 615Arlington, VA 22203703-841-2590800-377-0511, Website Design and Development by New Target, Funeral and public viewing set for murdered Bishop David OConnell, Catholics, are you going to confession? Im sure thats where the money went. They spoke for an hour and I think that every sentence they uttered had the word pagan in it . Maryknollers, Franciscans, or Missionaries of Charity, these men and women told riveting tales of adventure and hardship. She was managing editor and co-author of Ascension Press bestselling Amazing Grace series. Despite its apparent condescending tone at times, it instilled a radical sense of urgency in children that we are responsible for one another.. Cant remember anything else about them except I would ask my parents, grandparents and neighbors to buy them. My first lessons in social justice came through saving pagan babies. Maybe the program was intended , at least partially , to teach us generosity . They were wondering how to react . If they're actually disabled, they can file the application with the city to get a handicap spot installed. Pagan baby naming makes good memories but was , I guess , conditioning in deception . Holy Hacks: Everyday Ways to Live Your Faith & Get to Heaven, Youth Pilgrims Write a New Chapter for South Sudan, Catholic Bookstore Sues Jacksonville Over Law it Says is a Trans Pronoun Mandate, Heres How Half of U.S. Abortions Could Be Stopped This Week, Argentina: New Book Gives Pope Francis Responses to Issues Hes Most Often Asked About. After all, it makes sense. I think most of them were in Africa and India. Exorcist Responds to Sensationalized Russell Crowe Exorcism Film on Father Amorth, Ash Wednesday Breaks All the Rules of Modern ChurchThink, and More Great Links! Good question , though , about where all the money went . ), and its name was even weirder - it was collect money to feed . Or for the poor, underprivileged kids in the USA? Their Pagan Babies: "Lord have mercy! Ah , yeah . They felt the tuition they were paying was plenty. I found a bunch of them in my moms cedar chest she saved all of them! sacraments. Contrary to popular belief, the United States fails to live up to its promised values of freedom and fairness.

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