From Our Vaults 104 Years Ago: January 28, 1922

by Admin · January 14, 2026

Cover of the Southern Cross, Jan 28, 1922

Death of Pope Benedict XV

Pope Benedict XV died on January 22 at the age of 67. “The short seven years of his reign hardly enabled us to know him as we had known Pius X,” editor Fr John Colgan writes. “Before the eyes of all of us, he stood forth as an Angel of Peace between the warring nations” in the Great War of 1914-18, “and he certainly lifted the political power of the Holy See to a higher plane than it has ever held since the 18th century.”

USA is a laughing stock

Writing from Detroit, Fr M Thomas RMM notes that the United States has “barrels of laws, some just, others unjust, some silly and ridiculous”. Among the latter is the Prohibition, which bans the manufacture, importation and sale of alcohol throughout the United States. “This law has made Americans the laughing stock of the world. To enforce it, it would take half of the population to police the other half and keep it in jail.”

Back to school with cheer

In his “Children’s Corner”, Uncle Joe (Mgr Frederick Kolbe) tells his young readers: “I hope you will all be perfectly cheerful when you have to go back to school. You know how grown-ups often say they wish they were back in their school-days. You have that privilege after every holiday, and we can’t go to school any more.”

Editorial: State has duty to protect

In his editorial, Fr Colgan notes that in raising children “parental authority comes first, but it by no means follows that the state has no duties towards the child and no right to interfere in things which come under parental authority”.

Published in the January 2026 issue of The Southern Cross magazine