Georgia Historic Newspapers

    The Plight Of Finland
PAGE 4—THE BULLETIN, January 10, 1959
JOSEPH BREIG
Red China Stay Out
Secretary of State John Fos
ter Dulles is perfectly right, in
my opinion, in spurning every
suggestion that the communist
regime in China be recognized
by the U. S., and/or admitted
to the United
Nations.
It is true
that the Red
government is
the de facto
g o v e rnment.
That is, it is
there; and
thus far it has
successfully held the 600 million
inhabitants in bondage at the
cost of millions of murders.
But the communist govern
ment is in China in the same
sense that an escaped convict
might be in your home, holding
you and your wife and children
as hostages at gunpoint, and
subjecting the family to a reign
of sheer brute terror.
THE POLICE, of course, in
such a situation would talk with
the thug by means of mega
phones, and would do every
thing possible to rescue the fam
ily. But the police would not
hobnob with the man, or recog
nize him as in any way the legit
imate head of that house.
Diplomatic recognition, and
admission to the UN, does in
volve a large measure of ac
ceptance of a government, at
least by implication, as in some
way legitimate or at least tol
erable. To deny this is to deny
reality.
It would be utter folly for the
U. S. and other free nations to
extend any such acceptance to
the Red Chinese regime. To do
that would be to confess moral
bankruptcy and international
cynicism at a time when morali
ty is more vitally important
even than usual.
CERTAIN INTELLECTUALS,
the extent of whose influence
is anybody’s guess, are contend
ing that recognition and UN ad
mission are nothing more than
a facing of the fact that a gov
ernment is in control of a coun
try.
Either these people have cu
riously short memories, or they
’ are intellectually crooked. They
took precisely the opposite posi
tion with respect to the Franco
regime in Spain. It is hardly too
much to say that they frothed
at the mouth against Franco.
They based their whole case
on morality. Not for a moment
did they deny that Franco was
in power, and securely so. But
in their eyes — to simplify the
matter — Franco was a bad guy,
and bad guys should not be
recognized, or admitted to the
UN.
INDEED, they carried their
selective moral indignation to
such lengths that they gulled
and pressured the UN into the
most ludicrous action it has ever
taken. I refer to the preposter
ous boycott* against .Spain.
Spain, a nation of 20 million
persons, bled white by the civil
war, and possessing no armed
forces of any consequence in in
ternational relations, was ostra
cized by the United Nations as,
of all ridiculous things, a men
ace of World peace.
Thus did a certain type of in
tellectual prove to everybody’s
satisfaction that whatever else
an intellectual may be capable
of, one thing is certain -— this
kind of intellectual can make a
towering fool of himself and of
anybody who follows him.
RATHER THAN admitting a
bandit government like Red Chi
na’s what the UN ought to be
doing, if the matter be looked
at abstractly, is getting rid of
the gangster members it already
has—above all the. Soviet re
gime.
Unfortunately, the U. S. re
cognized the Soviets in a mo
ment of depression-born weak
ness in the 1930’s. And in the
1940’s, it was too much to hope
that the UN would "be formed
without the Soviet Union.
Thus we find ourselves rather
stuck with the USSR, and with
some of the satellite puppet-
governments. But that does not
mean that we should recognize
or accept any more regiihes of
the same type. Quite the con
trary. ,
RED CHINA made war on the
United Nations—and on Ameri
can troops who were the back
bone of the UN forces in Korea.
Red China has done absolutely
nothing to purge itself of that
international crime.
Elementary moral sense * de
mands that we take the position
taken by Secretary Dulles — we
will not extend diplomatic rela
tions.f 6, Red China,,apd we will
not admit that government to
the .UN. tye.'wiilL, talk. tq : Red
China only through a mega
phone.
International politics, like lo
cal and national politics,, makes
for some strange"bedfellows. But
there is always a limit beyond
which no decent nation or states
man can go. ThaLhrpit is reach
ed * long before we get to Red
China.
And by and bye, it seems to
me that the practice of Ameri
cans allowing themselves to be
used as sounding boards by Sov
iet boss Khrusficliev has Ibng
since passed the point of ele
mentary respect for oneself and
for America. If Khrushchev
wants to talk to Americans, we
have an elected government to
which he can address himself.
Theology
For The
Layman
Second “Atheist University”
Founded; Stronger Methods To
Tear Youth From Faith Urged
By J. J. Gilbert
WASHINGTON—Soviet Rus
sia was stepping up its state-
sponsored fight on religion as
the year 1958 drew to a close.
This was information reach
ing here through official chan
nels. While the intensified cam
paign constitutes an admission
by the communists that relig
ion has not yet been stamped out
in the Soviet Union, not too
much comfort is to be taken
from this because the program
presages harder times for re
ligionists in that country.
Among the more prominent
pieces of evidence pointing to
the intensified struggle against
religion are these:
. . . Establishment in Lenin
grad of a new “university of
atheism,” following by a month
the establishment of an “athe
ist university” in Ashkhabad.
. . , Publicatinon of a new
anti-religious book, Science and
Religion. This is described as
“shedding light on the problems
of the struggle of materialistic
science against religion,” and
contains a foreword on “the con
tents and tasks of atheistic pro
paganda under present condi
tions.”
. . . Radio broadcasts attack
ing the continued existence of
religious “remnants” in the
armed forces and recommending
broader and more vigorous pro
grams in attacking religion be
fore youth groups.
The radio attack on vestiges
of religion among Red troops
stressed the atheistic doctrine
that “the world has neither be
ginning nor end, it was never
created and cannot be destroy
ed.”
“We are paying great atten
tion to the work of the komso-^
mol political education teams
where there is still religious sur
vivals among youth,” a Soviet
official said in a broadcast. He
urged the education teams to
give talks against religion fol
lowed by anti-religious films. He
also advised" that “soirees on
anti-religious themes have a
particularly great influence on
children, youth and old people.”
He called it “a shameful thing”
that some members of commu
nist youth organizations still
prefer to marry in a religious
atmosphere.
The Atheist League which ex
isted before World W.ar II has
been, replaced by the Soviet" So
ciety for the Dissemination of
Political and Scientific Know
ledge. This represents a change
not only in the name of the
front fighting religion in So
viet Russia, but also in'the tech
niques employed. The more di-
"recl aUacEs of eaftTeFyeafS'ha^’d'
given way to a great extent to
a policy of education and rid
icule. The change was made, not
because there was any slacken
ing in communism’s war on re
ligion, but because the newer
approach was , cbrj/ldgred Tporg"
effective.
The communist regime of Bul
garia, which is officially athe
istic, has in recent days warned,
parents against sayihg “God
bless you” to their children. A
government newspaper included
(By F. J. Sheed)
God needs no being other than
Himself. He not only contains
: within Himself the sufficient
reason for His own existence,
but every other sufficiency. To
His limitless perfection, nothing
whatever i s
lacking;, there
is no need of
His nature
that some les
ser being
could supply;
there is no
luxury, even,
that some les
ser being could bring Him. In
His own nature is all being, all
perfection, all bliss.
Why then did He create a uni
verse? There can be vast theolo
gical discussion here but it can
be reduced, not too crudely, to
the single statement that He
knew we should like it. Crea
tion brings Him no gain, but
it brings us tremendous gain: it
means that we are something in
stead of nothing, with all the
possibilities of life and growth
and happiness instead of the
mere blankness of nonentity.
It is a new light upon the love
of God that our gain could be
a motive for His action. He
knew that beings were possible
.who could enjoy existence, and
He gave them existence. By
existing they glorify Him— but
who is the gainer by that? Not
God, who needs nothing from
any creature: only the creature,
whose greatest glory is that he
can glorify God.
We use the word create, for
this conferring of existence. God
made all things of nothing. Of
what else could He make them?
Not of Himself, for He is utterly
simple: in Him there are no
parts which He can breakoff
and, so to speak, set up in busi
ness on their own. Not of Him
self then: and beside Himself,
apart from creation, there is
nothing.
So He used no material in
creating the universe. He made
ft wholly — that is indeed the
definition of create, to make a
tiling wholly, to make the whole
of it, and only God can do it. A
carpenter does not make the
whole of a chair, the wood al
ready exists; a post does not
* make the whole of a poem, the
words already exists. But God
did make the whole of the uni-
. verse, there was no existing
material to make it of, and He
could do it because there is no
limit at all to His power — “He
can send His call to that which
has no being, as if it already
was “(Romans IV.17).
For the Catholic all this may
seem old stuff. He cannot re
member when he first learnt
that God had made him of noth
ing. Neither indeed can I. But
I can remember very well when
I first realized what it meant.
I was speaking on a Catholic
Evidence Guild platform in
Hyde Park. I remarked for the
hundredth time, or perhaps the
thousandth, that God made me
of nothing. But this time I heard
what I was saying, and the ex
perience was utterly shattering.
To realize that one is made of
nothing gives a feeling of hard
ly being there at all, a feeling
that one has no hold on exis
tence and might vanish away.
And all this because I had
paid no attention at all to the
truth that follows upon our
being made of nothing — name
ly that God continues to hold
us in existence ,
God made us of nothing, but
by the mere act of His will He
made us into something. And
the same will that brought us
into existence is required to
keep us in existence. Think hard
about this, for in it is the pri
mary truth about ourselves;
without it we shall not know the
first thing about ourselves —
the first thing.
A carpenter makes a chair.
He leaves it, and the chair con
tinues to exist. Why? Because
the material he made it of
,preserves the .shape he has
given it. In otherwords, when
the maker of a thing leaves it,
it is kept in existence by the
material used- in its making.
If God, having made us, left
us, we should be kept in exis
tence by the material used in
our making namely nothing.
this expression in a warning
that threatened children with
witches and supernatural forces
“may cause serious psychic de
rangement.”
This is the truth about the
S T B A N O t 8 U T T R U p
Little-Known Faett for Catholic! t*
9y M. J. MURRAY atgntiM. vkm. nc.wc >•» i—
THE BACKDROP
ST MdRIA AD M4RTVRBS fjfic Wa/WSOn),
ROME, HAS NO WINDOWS pour AMD
AIR ARE ADMITTED THROUGH A HOLE' IN THE
—• 1 CEILING 28 FT
. J . >y/s/ ° ,AMETEK "
IE LARGELY
COMPOSED OF
SCULPTURED ANCHORS
CABLES, NAUTICAL, '
INSTRUMENTS,
CARAVELS AND ALL
MANNER OF SEA THINGS
IN COMMEMORATION of
THE FACT IT WAS BUILT 70 -
HONOR. PORTUGAL’S PIONEER SEAMEN.
. . GOTHIC CHURCHES
IS inbzuded to oan-u the qage &
"thougtits
IC5
GCova+ppcL fOoAtcescty
' 7 J8A>v6ai\c (/S92-/GG6),
Famous painter, of religious
SUBJECTS, IS INVARIABLY KNOWN
BY HIS NICKNAME, ,
CUERCINO /squint-eye).
SHARING OUR TREASURE
Housewife Shares Faith With Eight
By REV. JOHN A. O'BRIEN, Ph. D.
— (University of Notre Dame)
By Rev. John A. O'Brien, Ph. D.
(University of Notre Dame)
When you reach old age, will
you be able to look back to the
occasions when you helped to
win converts or reclaim fallen-
aways? If so, they will be
among the happiest memories of
your life. Such
are the mem
ories which a
frail, little 84-
year-old lady,
Mrs. Bridget
Cook, 129 Ver-
milyea Ave-
n u e, New
York, finds the
most consoling and pleasant in
the evening of her life. She was
instrumental in winning three
converts and reclaming five fal
len-ways.
“One of the first persons,”
began Mrs. Cook, “that I inter
ested in the Faith was Russell
Murray who was going with our
adopted daughter. I explained
to Russell that a common faith
helped to unify a home and
bound husband and wife more
closely together, while mixed
marriages not infrequently burst
asunder.
“I pointed out that it was
much better to get a good course
of instructions so one could be
baptized in the Faith before
marriage. Then the wedding
could be performed at Mass,
with both bride and groom re
ceiving Holy Communion and
thus obtaining God’s blessing
upon their married lief.
“This made a great appeal
to Russell. So I took him to the
Church of St. Paul the Apostle,
where Father Speetzen, C. S. P.
instructed him and received him
into the Church. Russell could
never thank me enough for the
happiness which this added to
upon their married life.
“I became acquainted with a
young girl, Sophie Felushko,
who had no church affiliation. I
explained to her what a wonder
ful help our holy Religion offers
in living an upright and holy
life. This interested her, and I
brought her to the Church of
the Good Shepherd, where Fa
ther John Farrant, C. S. P., in
structed her and later baptized
her.
“As Sophie was an orphan,
we took her into our own home
where she lived until she got
married. We loved her as our
own daughter, and we are proud
of the fine Catholic family she
is rearing.
“After becoming acquainted
with Miss Hilda Mellor, I dis-
universe as a whole and every
part of it (including ourselves.)
Unless from moment to moment
God held it in being, it would
simply cease.
Whatever are the ultimate
constituents of matter, God
made them of nothing and sus
tains them in existence. The
highest created spirit equally
was made by God of nothing
and without Him could not
endure.
What it is made of does not
account for any being’s coming
into existence or remaining in
existence; everything depends
at every instant upon the God
it is made by. That is one rea
son for giving the whole power
of our mind to knowing God.
covered that as a young lady
she had been converted at
Brompton Oratory, London, but
on coming to America she fell
away from the Church. I pointed
out to her what a mistake she
made, how much she was mis
sing, and that God’s arms are
always open to receive one back
into the fold.
“This proved to be just the
reminder she needed. Tears of
joy came to her eyes when I
offered to go with her to see a
priest. Father John Overend,
C. S. P., at the Good Shepherd
Church was very kind and un
derstanding.
“He gave her both the
needed encouragement and in
struction, and Hilda received our
Eucharistic Lord to whom she
had so long been a stranger.
Now 86, she still goes to daily
Mass 1 and Holy Communion. If
I had given her a million dol
lars, I couldn’t have brought her
such happiness.
“When visiting Mrs. Annie
Cullen in her sickness, I dis
covered that she had been away
from the Church for many
years. I pointed out how des
perately she needed God’s grace,
friendship and love. She agreed,
so I called Father Overend. He
instructed her and her two
grown daughters, Aimee and
Annie, the latter of whom had
not ever been baptized.
“The mother died, fortified by
the last sacraments and the two
daughters are now devout Cath
olics. Frequently it takes but a
kind word, a friendly reminder,
to get our strayed ones back into
the fold.”
“How true,” I said, “and how
great a reward God will give to
all who bring back a single
soul!”
A shaky reputation is one that
is built on the things that a man
intends to do.
Of interest to Catholic phila
telists are these two recent
commemorative postage stamp
issues, tipper photo Jose De San
Martin, Catholic “Hero of the
Andes” is depicted on the fourth
of a series, “Champion of Liber
ty” stamps issued by the United
States. Lower, the dedication of
the rebuilt Manila Cathedral
and Mary Immaculate, Patron
ess, appears in this new stamp
of the Philippine Islands. (NC
Photos)
Finland’s economic depen
dence upon the Soviet Union
should afford an object lesson
to neutral countries which the
communists are seeking to lure
into economic bondage with
trade agree
ments and of
fers of long
term, low in
terest devel
opment loans.
In the last
few weeks, the
Finns have
d i s c o v e red
that once a nation becomes
securely tied to the economy of
the Soviet Union, it is virtually
impossible to escape.
In underdeveloped parts of
the world, particularly in the
Middle East, the Far East and
South America, the Kremlin has
been spreading a warning
against doing business with the
United States.
Any country, so goes the
Russian refrain, which accepts
American aid or grants conces
sions to American capital runs
the risk of becoming a satellite
of American imperialism. On the
other hand, the Kremlin assures,
no strings are attached to trade
agreements with the Soviet
Union.
ECONOMIC BEACHHEADS
By offering long term loans
and technical assistance in re
turn for raw materials, Moscow
has achieved a potable success in
bringing some non-communist
nations with undeveloped econ-
By JOHN C. O’BRIEN
omies into its economic net.
Even in our own hemisphere,
among our neighbors south of
the Rio Grande River, the Rus
sians are gradually establishing
economic beachheads. Several of
the South American countries
have found irresistible Soviet
offers to exchange heavy
machinery at a fraction of the
American manufacturing cost
for raw materials.
Under developed countries in
a hurry to industrialize may
believe that they can accept
Soviet aid without running the
risk of Soviet, interference in
their domestic and foreign
political affairs. But if they do,
they should study what is hap
pening now in Finland.
Finland did not become an
economic satellite of the Soviet
Union by choice. At the end of
her war with Russia, Finland
was saddled with a reparations
agreement which virtually
forced her to send all her ex
ports to Russia and accept what
ever the Russians wished to send
in return.
After the reparations had been
paid, Finland began to lose
interest in the imports she was
getting from Russia and began
looking for trade with the West.
At first the Finns had no choice
but to buy all their automobiles
from the Russians. But in re
cent years, the Finns have shown
a marked preference for Euro
pean cars and the Russian cars
have been piling up in Helsin
ki. In Europe they found a ready
market for newsprint, their
principal export.
Recently, too, the Finns have
found they could buy steel in
Europe at a lower price than
they were paying for Russian
steel under their post-war . trade
agreement. When the Russians
refused to meet the European
price, the Finns cut their pur- .
chases of Russian steel.
SOVIET TRAP
The Finns soon learned, how
ever, that the Soviet Union does
not permit a country with which
it has a trade agreement to pick
and choose its customers. Once
"caught in the Soviet trade clamp,
a small nation does business
with Moscow on Moscow’s terms
or it doesn’t do business at all.
By virtually ending all trade
relations, Moscow threw Fin
land into an economic tail-spin.
Industry in Finland came almost
to a standstill and unemploy
ment soared. Merely by turning
the screw, Moscow forced the
fall of the Finnish government—
a government it did not like be
cause it excluded the Finnish
communists and sought to im
prove its trade relations with
the West.
The new Finnish government
has little choice but to come to
terms with the Kremlin. The
plucky little country does not
have sufficient hard currency to
finance all its purchases in the
West; to exist it must bow to
Moscow’s demands and negotiate
a new trade agreement on Rus
sian terms. ,
THE STORY LADY
Mayrecn Wenk Hanigan
Question
Box
By David Q. Lipiak
Q. Whai is meant by the
"Brown Scapular"?
A. The “Brown Scapular” re
fers to the Scapular of Our Lady
of Mt. Carmel. Really a part
of the Carmelite habit in mini
ature, the scapular (Latin scapu
la: “shoulder”) consists of two
woolen squares or rectangles,
joined by cords, and worn over
the shoulders, so that one square
rests in front, and the other in
back. The cloth may be either
brown or black, or any inter
mediate shade. No pictures are
required.
Q. How is it that the Brown
Scapular is so highly regarded?
Isn't it sometimes even called
"the" scapular?
A. Although there are many
scapulars of spiritual excellence,
none has been endowed with so
many signs of favor from the
Holy See as the Brown Scapular
has been. Nor to any of the oth
ers have such extraordinary pro
mises been assigned.
Q. Briefly, what is the major
promise attached to the scapu
lar?
A. The major promise associ
ated with the Brown Scapular
was made by Our Blessed Mo
ther in 1251, to St. Simon Stock,
the sixth general of the Carmel
ite Order. Appearing with the
scapular in her hands, Our Lady
said:
“This will be a privilege to
you and to all Carmelites: who
soever dies wearing this shall
not suffer eternal fire.”
The vision of Our Lady to St.
Simon Stock is annually, observ
ed on July 16.
Q. Was this vision historical,
or just a legend?
A. Evidence for the historicity
of the vision of Our Lady to St.
Simon Stock is so solid and
weighty, that all contrary argu
ments have so far collapsed.
From a strictly scientific view
point, the vision is established
with moral certainty. In the
words of one scholar:
“The positive evidence in fav
or of the apparition establishes
its authenticity by proof so ir
refragable, that nothing but ig
norance or a determined bias
could fail to be convinced by
them . . .”
Q. If a wonderful promise like
this is linked lo the Brown
Scapular, why hasn't the Church
officially p ronounced Our
Lady's vision to St. Simon to be
true?
A. The Church does not issue
positive guarantees on matters
of private revelations.
Despite this fact, however, a
long line of popes, many of
whom, have worn the Brown
Scapular, have been especially
outspoken in sanctioning the
wearing of the scapular in ac
cordance with Our Lady’s pro-
continued on Page 5)
Would you like to hear a
story? Of course you would!.
Everyone loves to hear stories,
and I have some very special
ones to tell. Some of the tales
will be true, and some will be
makebelieve, and I am going
to be your Storylady.
For our very first day to
gether let us meet and shake
hands like all grown-up folks
do! Now you tell me how many
names you have and where you
live, and I will tell you all the
wonderful things that are going
to unfold in your own special
.newspaper column, and how it
happened that my fingers are
so busy each writing a story for
you.
One day, your editor looked
very hard at the wonderful
Catholic paper your Mother and
Father read.
“Well, well,” he said, “This is
indeed a fine family paper.
There are many articles here
for Dads to read and here are
some lovely things for Mother,
now here is a shiny new column
for boys and girls. I think I
shall find a Storylady and ask
her to write something that they
will especially enjoy.”
NEXT THING
Then the very next thing he
did was ask me it I would tell
you some stories.
“Certainly I will,” I said. “I
love to tell stories to boys and
girls, I will be very happy to do
it.”
“What kind of stories are you
going to tell them?” he asked.
“I shall tell them all kinds
of stories,” I said. “I shall tell
them about great men and wo
men who wrote beautiful poems
and songs for them. I will tell
them about when I was a little
girl at Holy Name School and
about my little girl whom we
call “Honey” and her tiny baby
sister. Sometimes I will tell
them about “Honey’s” Daddy
and how he builds the buildings
that their Daddies work in and
the schools that they study in.
Perhaps I will tell them, too,
about her Grandaddy who is
a Park Commissioner, and they
will learn what that means and
all about the animals in the zoo
at his park — where they come
from and how the zoo keepers
take care of them.
There will be special stories,
too, about her cousin, who is a
priest in far away Rome.
“Good,” he said. “Now let us
go and ask the Sisters in the
school what kind of stories they
would like us to tell about.”
Sister Helen Agnes said, “Oh
please tell everyone about the
pretty little girl in my room
who speaks so softly that we
call her “Miss Mumbles.”
Sister Gertrude Mary said,
“Be sure to tell them about the
little boy in my room, he reads
so fast we can hardly hear the
words when he goes by them.
We call him “Master Jets.”
“I will,” I said. “I will tell
them all about Miss Mumbles
and Master Jets.”
SOMEONE ELSE
Of course there was? someone
else we had to ask, too. Some
one tremendously important.
Can you guess who that was?
Why, you are just right. We had
to ask the boys and girls the
kind of stories they would like
best of all.
“Tell me about Halloween and
Christmas,” said Janie.
“I want a silly one,” said
Jackie, “One that will make me
laugh. And I want to hear a
(Continued on Page 5)
fntlldtn
416 8TH ST., AUGUSTA, GA.
Published fortnightly by the Catholic Laymen’s Association of
Georgia, Inc., with the Approbation of the Most Reverend Arch
bishop-Bishop of Savannah, The Most Reverend Bishop of Atlanta
and the Right Reverend Abbot Ordinary of Belmont. Subscription
price $3.00 per year.
Second class mail privileges authorized at Monroe, Georgia. Send
notice of change of address to P. O. Box 320, Monroe, Georgia.
REV. FRANCIS J. DONOHUE REV. R. DONALD KIERNAN
Editor Savannah F.dition Editor Atlanta Edition
JOHN MARKWALTER
Managing Editor
Yol. 39 Saturday, January 10, 1959 No. 16
ASSOCIATION OFFICERS FOR 1953-1959
GEORGE GINGELL, Columbus — President
MRS. DAN HARRIS, Macon Vice-President
TOM GRIIEIN, Atlanta . Vice-President
NICK CAMERIO, Macon Secretary
JOHN T. BUCKLEY, Augusta Treasurer
ALVIN M. McAULIFFE, Augusta Auditor
JOHN MARKWALTER, Augusta Executive Secretary
MISS CECILE FERRY, Augusta Financial Secretary