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OSEPH BREIG
No One Can Plead
“Henceforth in this commun
ity no one can plead ignorance
that such publications are inde
cent and immodest and cannot
be possessed without violating
the law.”
speaking was
The person
Judge John
W. Keefe of
Cincinnati. He
had just sen-
t e n c e d the
city’s major
magazine dis-
tributor to
three months
in t h e work-
house, plus $400 fine, plus costs.
Judge Keefe suspended the
workhouse sentence on condi
tion that the defendant not vio
late Cincinnati’s decency law
within three years.
It seemed a safe guess that he
wouldn’t. Since his conviction,
he had cooperated completely
with police in eliminating inde
cent publications from circula
tion.
Only 14 magazines had been
used as evidence against him in
his trial; but he struck 25 from
his list and served notice that
he would not distribute them in
future.
THIS UNUSUAL SITUATION
can be understood only in the
light of the activities of Charles
H. Keating, a young Cincinnati
attorney.
You will remember — or per
haps you won’t, that a few years
ago the U. S’. Supreme Court
handed down a definition of ob
scenity for the guidance of
courts and lawmakers through
out the nation.
The problem which the court
attacked can be simply stated;
but it was not a simple problem.
A law, in order to be constitu
tional, must be clear and defi
nite. Judges, juries and defend
ants must be able to determine
what is forbidden.
The Supreme Court had over
thrown a number of obscenity
convictions because of vague
ness in laws and in the general
understanding of what consti
tuted illegal indecency.
The court, therefore, issued a
definition.
“Obscene material is material
which deals with sex in a man
ner appealing to prurient inter
est.” The test of illegal obsceni
ty is:
“Whether to the average per-
son, applying contemporary
community standards, the domi
nant theme of the material, tak
en as a whole, appeals to pru
rient interest.”
Not long after the definition
was handed down, Keating or
ganized Citizens for Decent Lit-
trature.
He emphasized that pornogra
phy is a problem for all citizens,
not merely for those of one
group, or of this or that religious
denomination.
Obscenity, he said, menaces
the whole of society; and all
who care about the survival of
the nation — and indeed of civ
ilization — should be concerned
about it.
Therefore, Citizens for Decent
Literature is an organization
embracing a broad representa
tion of civic, business, religious,
educational, labor and other
leadership.
Keating and his associates in
the founders’ group, the Cincin
nati CDL, came up with a three-
point basic program.
1. Through qualified speakers
and publicity, the people must
be awakened to the menace of
pornography.
2. The public is asked to urge
public officials, in respectful
and kind letters, to stamp out
obscene publications.
3. Judges must be informed,
by letters, reports and resolu
tions, that “contemporary com
munity standards” are outraged
by indecency.
Because of the work of Keat
ing and his CDL — which has
now become a national organiza
tion — the public understood
what Judge Keefe meant when
he said in the case of the Cin
cinnati magazine distributor;
“Henceforth in this communi
ty no one can plead ignorance
that such publications are in
decent and immodest and can
not be possessed without violat
ing the law.”
As Keating explained, “It is
our purpose — and I hope it be
comes yours — to patiently and
thoroughly build up in the
courts of this nation their recog
nition of pornography as a ma
jor crime.”
This is good citizenship. This
is admirable use of freedom and
civic rights. In no sense is it
censorship; it is democracy act
ing through representative gov
ernment; it is the people pro
tecting themselves and their
children against a grave danger.
The national headquarters ad
dress of Citizens for Decent Lit
erature is 3901 Carew Tower,
Cincinnati 2, Ohio.
Jottings ..
(By BARBARA C. JENCKS)
• THE OLD passeth giving
place to the new. A little of us
dies with the passing of each
year. Today I would be a poet
not a journalist. We sift and sort
the events, places and people of
the past yea£ Nietzsche believ
ed^ that no one knew what was
hews until a hundred years lat
er. There may be something to
it. We are sons and daughters of
an era of climax, anxiety and
terror. The lead to the story is
written but not the ending.
Heaven and hell are locked in
literal combat. It is the age of
shining saints and loathsome
sinners. The headlines record
the good and the evil for history.
Yet is the real history of an era
found in elections and robberies
and frauds? Has a saint of our
times been born? Has a compos
er or artist come into his own?
A hundred years ago in Eng
land, Cardinal Newman was
working on his classic “Apolo
gia.” No headlines! Wagner
completed his “Tristan and
Isolde”; Tennyson “Idyls of the
Kings” and Dicken’s “A Tale
of Two Cities.” What did the
papers list of lasting import for
that year?
• AND SO another year
dawns and yawns and stretches
before us. Are you afraid? Do
you tremble before it as the
newspaper screams about the
launching of new rockets and
new teen-age attacks and atro
cities? “Let nothing trouble
thee, let nothing affright thee.”
Each day we make our heaven.
The important thing, the desire
of the heart is not survival here
but gaining an eternity hereaf
ter. We know not the role we
are chosen to play. We know not
the role chosen by those closest
to us in home and factory and
classroom. We have not the gift
of revelation but remember nei
ther have the newspapers. We
begin a year of days doled out
one by one. We do inventory on
our lives not in the way the
newspapers do of events. We
look: into our hearts and honest- f
ly analyze ourselves and our
goals. Are we. riding with the
frenzied rocket - propelled
crowds or are we men and wo
men of peace and faith and
trust . . . men and women who
walk apart from the crowd?
• THERE IS a simple remedy
if you would have a truly hap
py New Year. In it^ simplicity it
holds All. As we walk with
smart step through the un
touched snows of January, we
know not whether we will be
among the living as the last
days of December lengthen. We
know not when we arise in the
morning whether nighttime will
see us again by our family al
bum. There is nothing we can
really be sure of except God.
What does reality consist of?
The things you see or the things
you cannot see? Is it heaven
or the streets of Georgia? A
day begun at Holy Mass makes
each and every day a headline
day. Each morning you pick up
the pieces and threads of your
life which may have been shat
tered in the brashness of the
marketplace the day before. I
would be helpless with fear be
fore 1959 if it were not for
the promise of daily Mass. Each
morning you may look forward
to God. I personally would not
have the courage to venture
forth each day if it were not for
this. It is in deep humility that
I reveal what a friend recently
wrote me. I only write in the
hope that it might help some
one else. My friend wrote; “How
fortunate you are to have such
a keen awareness of God’s love
(Continued On Page 5)
Theology
For The
Layman
F. J. SHEED
God made us and all things of
nothing. We may look, and feel,
pretty substantial, so much flesh
and blood and bone: but the
matter of our body God made
of nothing: and it has nothing
but what God has given it. God
holds us and
all things in
being. If He
withdrew His
will for our
existence, we
should be no
thing: I do not
mean that we
should die, I
mean that we should be nothing
at all.
Not to know these two truths
is to be wrong about everything.
If we omit God, we see nothing
as it is but everything as it is
not — which is the very defini
tion of insanity.
God is the explanation of ev
erything. Leave out God, then,
and you leave out the explana
tion of everything, you have ev
erything unexplainable. Science
studies the constitution of mat
ter — what things are made of.
But no science can study the two
far more vital questions — by
whom were they made, for what
were they made.
I have called these more vit
al, and so they are. Consider one
thing only. You cannot use any
thing intelligently till you know
what it is made for. Science
cannot tell you what the uni
verse was made for: only its
maker can do that—because He
knows what He had in mind
when He made it.
And it is not only the whole
universe that we see wrong if
we leave out God. We do not see
any single thing right. God is
at the centre of the being of
each individual thing, giving it
the existence it has, keeping it
in existence. To see anything—
yourself, for instance—-without
in the same act. seeing God hold
ing it in existence is to be living
in a world of fantasy, not the
real world.
You see a coat hanging on a
wall: with the eyes of your body
you do not see the hook, because
the hook is under the coat; but
with the eyes of your mind you
see the hook all right. Supposing
you did not: it would mean that
you thought the coat was hang
ing on the wall by its own
power: you would be wrong
about the nature of coats, the
nature of walls, the law of grav
ity. You would be living in won
derland: If the failure to see
so small a thing as a hook
means a deranged universe, how
much more the failure to see
God — on whom everything de
pends, including the hook.
God is not just a sublime ex
tra. It is not that we see the
same things as other people,
plus God. Even the things we
and they both see do not look
the same, and in fact are not
the same. Think of physical
landscape at sunrise; it is not
that you see the same hills and
trees and houses as before, and
now you see the sun as well. The
sun is not just one more item,
you see everything sun-bathed.
God is not just one more item,
we must see everything God-
bathed. Only then are we seeing
it as it is.
Of course it is not only a
question of seeing; this truth af
fects our actions too. Sin, for
instance, is an effort to gain
something against the will of
God; but the will of God is all
that holds us in existence; when
we sin, we are hacking away at
our only support! What could
be more idiotic? The realisation
may not prevent us sinning; but
it ensures that we shall feel
fools while doing it. God’s will
is the only law for sane people.
Yet this concentration upon
the nothing God made us of
must not lead us to think that
we are nothing. That would be
an insult to our Maker. For if
He made us of nothing, He made
us into something. We are not
just thoughts in his mind. We
really exist. And that we are
kept in existence only by the
will of God does not mean that
we have no secure hold on ex
istence: we hold it so securely—
or rather God holds us so se
curely in it — that it is the one
thing we cannot be rid of; even
death does no more than change
the condition of our existence:
we cannot cease.
How Do You Rate
on Facts of Faith
' /S'/\ ]
£
By Brian Cronin
1. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul was founded by: (a) Pope
Pius IX? (b) St. Vincent de Paul? (c) Frederick Ozanam?
(d) Cardinal Newman?
2. What were the intials meaning “Jesus of Nazareth, King of
the Jews” which Pontius Pilate inscribed over the Cross?:
(a) A.M.D.G.? (b) I.H.S.? (c) I.N.R.I.? (d) R.I.P.?
3. The Patroness of the United States is: (a) Mary Immaculate?
(b) St. Frances Cabrini? (c) St. Elizabeth? (d) St. Rose of
Lima?
4. Whose ear was cut off by Peter in the Garden of Gethse-
mene?: (a) Barabbas? (b) Judas? (c) Malehus? (d) Melchoir?
5. “Pope” is a Greek word meaning: (a) Father? (b) Holy?
(c) Prince? (d) Envoy?
6. How many years did Christ spend on earth in public life? •
(a) 3? (b) 33? (c) 21?
7. A majority of two thirds plus one is required in the elec
tion of a Pope. Who votes?: (a) The Roman Rota? (b) Vati
can Citizens? (c) The College of Cardinals? (d) The Italian
Hierarchy?
8. The largest cathedral in the world is: (a) St. Peter’s, Vati
can City? (b) Notre Dame, Paris? (c) Westminster Abbey,
London?
Give yourself 10 marks for each correct answer below.
Rating: 80-Excellent; 70-Very Good; 60-Good; 50-Fair.
ANSWERS:
1 (c); 2 (c); . 3 (a); 4 (c); 5 (a);
6 (a); 7 (c); 8 (a).
SHARING OUR TREASURE
Truth Is Church's Drawing Power':
Says Convert
By REV. JOHN A. O'BRIEN, Ph. D.
(University of Notre Dame) -
Do you know what keeps most
people out of the Church found
ed by Jesus Christ for the sal
vation of all mankind? It is ig
norance of her divine origin, her
great historic credentials, her
teachings and practices. When
you replace ignorance with
knowledge, lies, with truth, you
win converts. That this is so is
illustrated by
the e x p e r i-
ence of Mrs.
Otto Schopp,
34 W. Cool-
idge St., Phoe
nix.
“My maiden
name,” said
Mrs. Schopp,
“was Fay Owelne Rietz. Though
my parents were Protestants,
they admired the splendid edu
cation provided by Sisters and
sent me to St. Mary of the
Pines, a boarding school con
ducted by the School Sisters of
Notre Dame at Chatawa, Missis
sippi. I was chuck-full of the
usual Protestant misconceptions
of the Catholic religion.
“I believed that Catholics
were forbidden to read the
Bible, that priests charged mon
ey for forgiving sins, that Cath
olics owed political allegiance
to a foreign potentate and many
other similar charges. Little by
little I discovered that these
things were not true. The Sisters
made no effort to pressure me
but simply gave me the oppor
tunity to learn what the Cath
olic Church really teaches.
“They backed up those teach
ings with holy lives. Living
among them, I could not help
but admire their gentleness,
kindness, charity, unselfishness
and Christlike holiness. I took
instructions from Father L.
Voyer, and was received into the
Church April 4, 1920. The day
of my first Holy Communion
was one of the happiest, in my
life.
“I married Fred Stone, a non-
Catholic widower with a daugh
ter. I explained to him many of
the beautiful teachings of the
Church and tried to set him the
proper example by living my
religion. The more Fred learn
ed, the more interested he be
came.
“We were then living in East
St. Louis, and when our pastor
announced an Inquiry Class was
to be conducted, I told Fred
about it. We attended it togeth
er, and Fred liked it and felt at
ease from the .start. Three
months later he was baptized,
and when he received his first
Holy Communion I was kneeling
at his side.
“God blessed us with five
children, and they as well as
Fred’s daughter are all devout
Catholics. Most of them now
have children of their own. Our
youngest daughter is a Sister
of Charity. Two years after
Fred’s death in 1939, I married
Otto Schopp, a Catholic. We
were very happy, receiving the
sacraments together until his
death in 1954.”
“Mrs. Schopp,” I asked, “did
you help lead any others into
the Church?”
“Yes,” she replied. “About
seven years ago a new neighbor
moved next door to us. Her
name was Mrs. Mable O’Brien.
Thinking she was a Catholic I
invited her to a mission just
starting at St. Francis Xavier,
our parish church. She surpris
ed me by saying she was not
a Catholic but would like to at
tend.
“She was so deeply impressed
by the devotion of the worship
ers, the services and the sermons
that after the mission was over
she took a complete course of
instructions from one of the
Jesuit Fathers at St. Francis.
When she learned the truth
about the Catholic religion, she
too became a Catholic.
“It was a happy mistake I
made in thinking she was a
Catholic, for it prompted me to
invite her. I can see now that
We ought to invite more sincere
people to attend our services.
There they will learn the truth
about the Church, and that is
all that is needed to lead them
into Christ’s true fold.”
Rather than bring forth her child in the slave state of Red
China, this expectant mother fled to Hong Kong where she
and her husband now live in this abandoned automobile.
She is one of more than 300,000 refugee “street squatters”
in Hong Kong. The American Maryknoll Fathers operate
four resettlement villages there but thousands remain to be
/settled and many need urgent medical attention. (NC
... Photos) .
Alumni Support Of Catholic Colleges
THE
The alumni of Holy Cross Col
lege, conducted by the Jesuits in
Worcester, Mass., have set an
example for the alumni of other
Catholic colleges throughout the
country.
The Worcester college was
among 34 uni
versities, col-
leges and
schools re
cently honor
ed by the
A m e r i c a n
Alumni Coun
cil for “distin
guished ach
ievement in the
alumni support.” The Holy
Cross Alumni, in fact, received
an award in the colleges for
men division in a contest which
drew entries from 300 universi
ties, colleges and independent
secondary schools.
CASH AWARDS
The American Alumni Coun
cil’s Alumni Giving Incentive
Awards program was instituted
to encourage alumni support of
their alma maters. This year,
with funds provided by the
United States Steel Foundation,
the Council made cash awards
to educational institutions in
nine categories which received
outstanding support from their
alumni during the past twelve
months.
A grand award of $10,000 was
made to the institution with the
rest record of alumni support
and awards of $1,000 each went
to the winners in the other
eight categories. In addition, 24
institutions within the nine
categories were cited for honor-
development of
BACKDROP
By JOHN C. O’BRIEN
able mention.
The National Catholic Alma
nac lists 32 Catholic universi
ties, 44 Catholic colleges for
men; 15 Catholic co-educational
colleges and 109 Catholic col
leges for women—a total of 200.
Obviously, since only 300 of
all the universities, colleges and
private secondary schools in the
country submitted entries in the
Alumni Council’s contest, not all
the Catholic colleges participat
ed. But of those which did sub
mit entries, Holy Cross was the
only winner of a cash award.
Honorable mentions were giv
en to St. Bonaventure Universi
ty, conducted by the Francis
can Fathers in St. Bonaventure,
N. Y., and to St. Benedict Col
lege, a woman’s college conduct
ed by the Benedictine Sisters in
Minnesota.
Curiously, the grand award
for the best record of alumni
support went to a tax-supported
institution, not to a privately
endowed institution wholly de
pendent upon alumni and
friends fo.r funds for plant ex
pansion and operation.
THE GREAT NEED
The grand prize was awarded
to the Texas Agricultural and
Mechanical College, which sub
mitted an impressive achieve
ment in alumni support. Called
upon to contribute for a campus
chapel, scholarships and faculty
achievement awards, 15,284
alumni of the colleges’ 31,200
graduates and former students
responded. This participation
figure of 48.9 per cent, the
Alumni Council reported, was
the highest ever compiled for
the alumni effort of a tax-
supported institution.
Graduates of Catholic colleg
es may not lag far behind those
of non-Catholic institutions in
loyalty to their alma maters, but
an even greater effort is needed.
For never in their history have
Catholic universities and colleg
es needed support from the
alumni as acutely as they do
now. Most of them have found it
necessary, as more and more ap
plicants knock at their doors,
to undertake costly building
programs and to increase the
salaries of their faculties.
An endowment of $5,000,00 at
the present low rate of yield on
investmests is wholly inade
quate to sustain even a small
college, notwithstanding the re
cent increase in tuition fees. Yet,
only five of the 200 Catholic in
stitutions of higher learning,
have endowments of that
amount or more.
While Yale University, with
an enrollment of slightly more
than 7,000 students, has an en
dowment of $250,000,000, the
University of Notre Dame, with
an enrollment of nearly 6,000,
has an endowment of only a lit
tle more than $16,000,000.
Alumni of Catholic Colleges
seldom amass the weath which
graduates of the older Ivy
League colleges accumulate or
inherit. But a broader participa
tion in fund drives by alumni
of Catholic institutions would
make up in part for the modest
size of their contributions and.
ease the task of college admin
istrators, often hard up to make
both ends meet.
Question
Box
By David Q. Liplak
Q. In our parish church I usu
ally remain after the first sched
uled daily Mass in order to hear
another Mass at one of the side
altars, whenever such Masses
are said. It often happens that
the people for whom the second
scheduled Mass is being offered
enter the church just when the
Consecration is faking place at
the side altar. Despite the fact
that the warning bell is ringing
at the side altar, these people
frequently keep right on going
until they reach their seats be
fore the main altar, all the while
making considerable noise with
iheir heels, and in getting info
their pews. Doesn't such behav
ior constitute a serious breach of
church etiquette?
A. There should be no motion
in a church during the Conse
cration and Elevation at Mass;
everyone should maintain an at
titude of exterior reverence and
prayerful silence. Unless physic
ally unable, everybody present
should also kneel down and look
up at the elevated Host and
chalice.
Upon entering a church dur
ing Mass. hours, it is well im
mediately to ascertain whether
or not the Holy Sacrifice is be
ing offered on one of the altars,
then act accordingly. If the Con
secration is being signalled by
the bell, one should kneel in the
nearest possible place until the
two Elevations are. concluded.
Then it is all right to continue
to one’s pew.
Outside of the Consecration,
whenever an unscheduled Mass
is being offered, as for example
at a side altar, one should move
as quietly as possible, so as not
to disturb those who are already
assisting at the Holy Sacrifice.
When passing directly before a
side altar between the time of
the Consecration and the Com
munion at that altar, one should
also genuflect, if possible.
During a scheduled Mass cel
ebrated at the main altar, all
unnecessary motion is out of
place, save, of course, the usual
goings and comings of momen
tary visitors to church (i.e., per
sons on their way to work, teen
agers on their way to school,
etc.). Certainly it is improper to
make a practice of leaving one’s
place during the principal Mass
in order to approach a votive
light stand, or to pray before a
shrine of private devotion.
Q. I heard of a young mother
recently who did not go to her
infant s baptism because of some
apparent custom against it. She
could have gone, but said that
her own mother told her it was
not proper to go. When I men
tioned this to some of the wo
men I work with, they said that
(Continued On Page 5)
THE STORY LADY
Maureen Wenk Hanigan
THE FUNNY STORY Jets!”
Can you guess what happen
ed in Sister Helen Agnes’s room
today? I’m sure you cannot, for
it was the strangest thing that
I have ever heard! Even Sister
Helen Agnes couldn’t believe
her own ears! I shall tell you all
about it.
It was time to start the read
ing class and Sister had chosen
a very special story. She was
most anxious to have it read
aloud by the best reader in the
room. She looked carefully at
all the lovely faces before her
and she asked:
“Who would like to read this
story? It is a very interesting
story all about the circus, and
whoever offers to 'read it must
be sure that they can do it well.”
MANY HANDS
So many hands went up that
Sister had a difficult time try
ing to make a choice. Finally,
she called on Jimmy.
Jimmy stood up straight and
tall, and he smiled a little be
cause he was so proud that he
had been selected. Then he
started to read. The strangest
sounds came out of Jimmy. He
was going so fast it sounded like
he was saying Oh-hi-lee-do-see-
see-boom! Everyone looked at
Sister, and Sister looked at ev
eryone in the class, and then
they all looked at Jimmy. No
one could understand one word
he had said.
“My goodness, my goodness,”
said Sister, “What ever has hap
pened to Jimmy? I think he has
turned into a Jet plane he is
going so fast! We had better
stop him before he makes a
crash landing. I think this young
man’s name must be Master
Everyone giggled—even Mas
ter Jets. He thought if he read
very fast everyone would know
that he was a good reader, but
instead, no one could under
stand him at all.
All the other children begar |»
waving their hands for Sister
to call on them.
“Let me see,” said .Sister.
“Perhaps a little girl would not
sound like a jet plane.” Then
she asked Betty to read.
Betty stood up and held her
book nicely in front of her. It
looked like she was reading, but
she was talking so softly and
quietly that no one could hear
a single word she said. Everyone
listened very hard.
“Goodness,” said Sister again.
“This is indeed a dreadful thing!
Betty is trying to read, but she
has lost her voice. Everyone,
please, look in your desks and
see if you can find it for her!”
Everyone giggled again. Then
Betty said,
IT'S FOUND
“Sister, I have not lost my
voice. It is right here. I was just
trying so hard I forgot to speak
up.”
“Well, well,” said Sister, “I’m
glad to hear that your voice is
not lost. I think you have just
turned into a Little Miss Mum
bles! Now we have found a Miss
Mumbles and a Master Jets, but
we still have not found anyone
that can read us the story about
the circus. Perhaps I had better
read it to you myself.”
All the children were delight
ed! They loved to hear Sister
read to them. She always read in
a nice clear voice, and she used
(Continued On Page 5)
v
HuUrtttt
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.
RFV. FRANCIS J. DONOHUE REV. R. DONALD KIERNAN
Editor Savannah Edition Editor Atlanta Edition
JOHN MARKWALTER
Managing Editor
Saturday, January 24, 1959 No. 17
ASSOCIATION OFFICERS FOR 1958-1959
GEORGE GINGELL, Columbus President
MRS. DAN HARRIS, Macon Vice-President
TOM GRIFFIN, 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