Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 4—THE BULLETIN, April 16, 1960
New Bill Would Increase Immigration
JOSEPH BREIG
FOLLY IN SCHOOL AID
Federal aid to education may
or may not be necessary. But
even if it is necessary, Congress
is going about it the wrong
way.
Only one argument in favor
of such aid
seems to me
to carry much
weight. It is
this:, ,
Here is a
child, growing
up in a well-
to-do school
district which
is able to
education.
Here is another child, living
in a poor school district, who
must go to an inferior school.
Both children are assets to
America.
Both are future citizens.
•' Both ought to have every rea
sonable opportunity to develop
to fullest capacity.
Therefore something ought to
be done to give the child in the
poorer district an educational
opportunity more like that of
the child in the richer district.
THIS IS AN eminently worth
while objective. If it cannot be
attained without bringing the
federal government into the
picture, ; then there is something
to be said for federal aid.
, Unfortunately, the congres
sional approach to the problem
has been indirect, wasteful and
inefficient. It is hardly too much
to sa'y that it is self-defeating.
The direct and efficient meth
od would be to give federal aid
only to needy school districts,
and only as long as the need
persisted.
The aid could then be discon
tinued when the need ended.
Instead of doing that, Con
gress proposes to grant funds to
all states—including those
which are entirely capable of
solving their own educational
pfiAjlcyns,
• This-is a self-perpetuating ar
rangement; the grants would
tend to go on and on, and to
grow larger and larger.
WHAT IS WORSE, grants
would be based upon the school
age population of each state.
Thus rich and populous states
would benefit, proportionately,
more than states which need
help.
This runs directly contrary to
the only really defensible pur
pose of federal aid to education.
The evil, further is com
pounded by discrimination
against children whose parents
send them to religious schools
and other independent schools.
These parents already suffer
discrimination because they pay
taxes for public schools, while
educating their children at no
cost to taxpayers.
THEY ALSO PAY federal in
come taxes, like other citizens.
Under the formula being fol
lowed by Congress, the discrimi
nation against them would be
increased, because their children
woilld be excluded from any
share in federal benefits.
The situation, indeed, is even
more unfair and nonsensical
than that.
Congress proposes that chil
dren in religious and other in
dependent schools be counted in
each state’s school-age popula
tion, upon which the amount
of aid would be based.
But the neediest school dis
tricts, by and large, are in states
which have comparatively few
Catholics.
BY CONTRAST, there are
rich states where half or more
of the school population is in
Catholic schools or other inde
pendent schools.
The formula for apportioning
federal aid therefore becomes
preposterous.
Children in Catholic schools
in wealthy states would be
counted in determining the
amount of aid—but all the aid
would go to children in public
schools.
Therefore the children in
wealthy states, who least need
the aid, would get more of it,
proportionately, than children
who most need it.
The inequality of educational
opportunity would be intensi
fied, rather than ameliorated—
which is the precise contrary of
what ought to be done.
Theology
For The
Layman
Column 53
OUR LADY (3)
At the Annunciation, theolo
gians hold that with “Be it done
unto me according to thy word”
Our Lady uttered the consent
of the human race to the first
step in its redemption. The
As sum ption
means that in
heaven she
represents the
human race
redeemed: she
alone is, body
and soul,
where all the
saved will one
day be. We must look a little
more closely at her relation to
the human race which at these
two points she represents.
We call her our Mother, and
for most of us the matter re
quires no discussion, et it repays
discussion. If we take for grant
ed that she is our Mother simply
because she is Christ’s, we omit
something that matters for our
understanding of what she
means to us. As her Son, He
drew His natural life from her;
but, because He was her Re
deemer, she drew her super
natural life from Him: and it is
in the supernatural order, the
order of grace, that she is our
Mother.
How, in this order, does she
become so? By her Son’s ap
pointment. In the Collect to her
feast as Mediatrix of All Graces,
the Church says it—Oh Lord
Jesus Christ, our Mediator with
the Father, who hast designed to
appoint your most blessed Vir
gin Mother to be our Mother.”
The appointment was made
upon Calvary. When Our Lord
gave her the apostle John to be
her son, He was not simply mak
ing provision for her. For that
He had no need to wait for
Calvary. Calvary was the sacri
fice of the race’s redemption,
everything that He did and said
(Continued on Page 5)
Question
Box
(By David Q. Liplak)
Jottings...
(By BARBARA C. JENCKS)
Q. In the current "Reader's
Digest" Protestant Bishop
James A. Pike of California
makes some rather weird state
ments about the Catholic
Church's position concerning
separation of church and state.
The article, which is a condensa
tion from "Life," is entitled
"Should a Catholic be Presi
dent?" It seems sinister to me
because despite the fact that
Bishop Pike demands religious
tests for Catholic Presidential
candidates, he apparently has
no major complaint against the
only Catholic campaigning for
the Presidency this year. Still,
I would, like to know how to
answer some of Bishop Pike's
allegations. First, is it ture, as
he implies, that Pope Pius IX
in his 1864 "Syllabus of Errors’'
flatly condemned the principle
of separation of church and
state?
A. Bishop Pike’s implication
that Pope' Pius IX flatly and
universally condemned the
principle of separation of
church and state in his “Sylla
bus Error” is not true. During
the very year the “Syllabus”
was promulgated, the pope’s
Secretary of State, Cardinal
Antonelli, explained to the
faithful of Catholic Belgium
that their constitutional princi
ple of separation of church and
state was not proscribed. And
here in the United States, many
years after the “Syllabus” was
issued. Catholic bishops are still
defending, as they have always
defended, the concept of separa
tion as set down in the First
Amendment (the adoption of
which was championed by the
first archbishop of the United
States).
* * *
Q. Bishop Pike bolsters his
argument by quoting directly
from the "Syllabus of Errors."
How can one respond to such
argumentation?
A. It is as inane to quote
merely from the “Syllabus of
Errors” to indicate the Church’s
stand in a particular matter as
it is to quote merely from a
newspaper headline or the table
of contents of a book to prove
some point.
The “Syllabus” is no more
than an index of mallacies pre
viously mentioned in papal
(Continued on Page 5)
"When the dog bites and the
bee stings
When I'm feeling sad,
I simply remember my
favorite things
And then I don't feel so bad."
—from "Sound of Music."
* * *
• "SOUND OF MUSIC," the
current Broadway musical hit
based on the story of the Trapp
Family Singers, shines like a
star on a summer night amid the
sordid fare offered at nearby
theatres. Even the drama critics,
especially the esteemed Brooks
Atkinson, have raged at this
year’s theatre offerings. It is en
couraging that the best musicale
in town is non-censorable. The
Leatare theme rings from be
ginning to end and it makes one
rather happy to be a member of
the human race. This is not al
ways the affect taken from New
York theatres. There are several
nun-sequences in the musicale
which will cause the more vigi
lant to disapprove. This is no
nun’s story. The gloom of Sister
Luke is replaced by frivolity
which will bring censure from
some. There are those who will
say that there never was such a
postulant as Maria. (Mary Mar
tin) and no Abbess has such a
voice as Patricia Neway or such
a handsome cloak either and
tliat weddings of former postu
lants do not take place in ab
beys. Yet the musicale is joyous
and wholesome and sheer de
light. “Climb Every Mountain”
and “My Favorite Things,” two
catchy numbers in the score,
give some good advice to thea
tre-goers, too.
• “MY FAVORITE THINGS"
holds some homespun philoso
phy which I have used during
many of my “blue periods.” In
this number sung by the abbess
and the postulant, Mary Martin,
it is suggested that when feeling
blue “you simply remember
your favorite things and then
you don’t feel so (ungramatical-
ly) bad.” Of course, the abbess
should have prescribed the ros
ary, litany of the saints or some
spiritual reading but then the
musicale would have lost one of
its happiest tunes. Thinking
about my favorite things is a
home-siade prescription I have
used often when bed-ridden
with Lenten flue or at times
when the springtime of Easter
seemed too far off. Of course,
the litany of favorite things fol
lowed up with the litany of
thanksgiving. But think upon
the good things of life when the
snows are deep and the temp
erature high and the nose stuf
fed and the head aching. and
maybe you won’t feel so bad
(ly).
« IN COMPILING my list in
non-rhythmic pattern in con
trast to the musicale version, I
did not know whether to list the
things helter-skelter or put some
semblance of order into them.
Should I list things the way I
think of them or in the seasons
they are evident or by the sens
es in which they come to me.
Why not just let them tumble
out as in the title song, “My
Favorite Things”; the smell of
salt air and the poundering of
surf, Rockport on a summer Sat
urday, the smell of bacon and
eggs, vacation, St. Patrick’s Day,
Italian restaurants, Boston at
Dusk, New York City at theatre
time, clean sheets, the smell of
burning leaves and Fall, Ireland,
the month of May, classical rec
ords and literary conversatings,
the smell of incense, the sound
of Church bells and fog horns
and rain on the roof, fireplaces,
chocolate ice cream, charcoal
broiled steaks, home, white kid
gloves, black dresses, proces
sions of nuns, poetry, First Fri
days, roses, Sunday morning
breakfasts, fishing, good com
pany — heated debates and sil
ence, Celtic crosses, opening
nights, white blazers, old book
stories and art galleries, and if
I got into favorite people —
saints, writers and friends, this
would go on ad-infinitum. I feel
better already thinking on these
favorite things, so why not try
it yourself on the next day when
you are bedridden with a cold
or snowbound or the rent comes
due. “Lord, you have made so
many things so good.”
Things will come your way
only after you remove the ob
stacles.
SHARING OUR TREASURE
Good Example Sparks
Student's
By REV. JOHN A,
_ (University of
Have you ever seen a fisher
man, after an hour or so of pa
tient waiting, reel in a good-sized
fish? He is beaming with joy. A
sense of achievement floods his
heart. But greater still is tht joy
of the person who has won a
soul for Christ. You can be such
a fisher by your example,
prayers and willingness to ex
plain your Faith to non-Cat-
holics.
This is illustrated by the ex
perience of Thomas L. Shaffer
of Fruita, Colorado. “I was rear
ed as a Baptist,” related Tom,
“and attended church and Sun
day School quite regularly.
While still in high school I
worked after class as a printer’s
devil at the Fruita Times. The
publisher, Mr. Karl Cagle, was a
devout Catholic and I was great
ly impressed by fine example.
“One of my classmates, James
Martinez, was also a Catholic. I
visited at his home and wasj
struck by the deeply religious
atmosphere, and manifested by-
holy pictures, statues and a cru
cifix in the living room. I ad
mired their high ideals and hol
iness of life, and could see how
much their religion meant to
them. Hence I was shocked
when our minister violently at
tacked the Catholic Church, its
bishops and priests, and urged
us to read anti-Catholic pamph
lets.
“As I couldn’t square those
charges with the clean upright
lives of the Catholics I knew, I
determined to investigate. So I
went with Jim to a Christmas
midnight Mass and was deeply
impressed with the reverence of
the worshipers and the solemn
beauty of the services. While in
a barber shop I saw in “Look”
magazine a K. of C. ad, offering
a pamphlet on the Catholic
Faith.
“I sent for it and then enrolled
in their mail instruction course.
The Vincentian Fathers in
charge corrected my answers
and wrote me long letters sup-
Interest
O'BRIEN, Ph. D.
Notre Dame) „ ... ,
plementing the texts, Father
Smith Instructs Jackson and
Treasures of the Mass. Upon
completing the course, I told
them I wanted to become a
Catholic. They sent me a letter
of introduction to a priest.
“I called at the Immaculate
Conception Cathedral Rectory in
Denver, where I was working,
and Father John Haley had me
receive some additional instruc
tion in his Inquiry Class. He
was the first priest I had ever
met. Joseph Cavaliere, a Cath
olic at the boarding house, was
the sponsor at my Baptism and
received Holy Communion with
me.
“A Legionary of Mary, Joe
was a zealous Catholic. lie gave
me a rosary, medal, prayerbook
and other Catholic literature.
More important even than that,
he set the example every new
convert needs. He attended Mass
; and received Holy Communion
daily, and I w e n t. with. hiip.
Thinking that I had a religious
vocation, I went to Holy Cross
Abbey at Canon City. But after
a year, I realized I was not
called to the religious life.
“I married a devout Catholic,
Nancy Lehr, served in the air
force, and after finishing col
lege got a scholarship to Notre
Dame University where I’m
studying law. I’m trying to show
my gratitude for the gift of
faith by sharing it with others.
I gave a copy of The Road to
Damascus to an interested non-
Catholic and am sharing my
copy of Why I Became a Cath
olic (University of Notre Dame
Press) With others.
“We have four children, and
we hope with God’s help to win
at least one convert or re-acti-
vate an inactive Catholic each
year. The example of Karl Ca-
gel, Jim Martinez and Joe Cava
liere in helping me into the true
fold shows that one doesn’t have
to be a priest or Religious to be
a fisher of souls for Christ, Our
Lord.”
During the three days cf the Ukrainian Easter Sunday, Mon
day and Tuesday—Americans of Ukrainian descent will give
one another the traditional symbolic gifts of pysanky—brilliant
ly colored and intricately designed eggs. Many Ukrainian-
Americans do not make the eggs themselves, but buy the ex
quisite work produced by egg “jewelers.” American use of
mass-produced clothes does not encourage second-generation
Ukrainian girls to make their own colorful finery, such as worn
by the vour.g lady above, but the custom has not quite died out.
THE BACKDROP
The gates of entry to the
United States will be swung
open wider to immigrants from
foreign lands, if Congress adopts
amendments to the immigra
tion act which have the sup
port of the
Department of
Justice and
the Admini
stration.
The propos
ed new for the
determination
of immigrant
quotas would
permit the admission of more
than 100,000 additional immi
grants annually. It would en
able Asiatics to come to this
country in greater numbers. And
it would provide a haven in the
United States for a greater num
ber of refugees from communist
countries and from political per
secution elsewhere.
The present immigration law
sets an annual immigrant quota
of 154,657, computed by taking
one-sixth of one per cent of the
white population of the country
in 1920, less Western hemisphere
immigrants and their descend
ants.
The new bill would substitute
the population of 1950 as the
basis of computation: Under this
formula the annual quota would
be increased to 256,000, a gain
of 101,343. Upon completion of
the 1960 census, the quota would
be re-computed on the basis of
the new population enumera
tion.
The new quota authorization
would favor those countries
which historically have contrib-
By JOHN C, O’BRIEN
uted the greatest number of im
migrants. At the same time it
would increase the quotas of col
onies of foreign powers from the
present ceiling of 100 to 200 and
would provide quotas for newly
emerged states.
The additional quota of more
than 100,000 immigrants would
be distributed among existing
quota areas, so that each would
be assigned that proportion
which its actual immigration to
the United States from July 1,
1924 to July, 1959 bears to the
total immigration from all quo
ta areas. Thus, if an area’s im
migration for the specified peri
od were ten per cent of the
total immigration, it would be
alloted 10 per cent of the addi
tional quota, or roughly 10,000
additional visas.
Under the existing law, quo
tas assigned, to foreign coun
tries which are unused or only
partially used are wiped out at
the end of each year; they are
not carried forward to the next
year. The new law, however,
would throw the unused quotas
into a pool for redistribution the
following year among quota
areas that had exhausted their
quotas the previous year.
Each oversubscribed area
would receive a percentage of
the visas in the quota pool equal
to the percentage that its pre
scribed quota bears to the total
of the quotas assigned to all of
the over-subscribed areas. That
is to say, if the exhausted quota
of a country were 1,000 and the
aggregate of the quotas of all
oversubscribed countries were
50,000, that country’s share of
the quota pool would be two
per cent.
At present immigration quo
tas for countries in the Asia-
Pacific triangle are limited to
2,000 a year. The new bill would
eliminate the ceiling so that ad
ditional quotas could be assign
ed, to the Asia area.
The United States has always
followed the humane policy of
granting asylum to victims of
persecution on account of race,
religion or political opinion. Un
der a special refugee immigra
tion act? since expired, many
thousands of refugees from per
secution in communist countries
were limited to the United
States.
The pressure for admission of
such refugees has laregly sub
sided, but there are many who
still are without a permanent
home. To provide a home for
such refugees, the new bill
would authorize the Attorney
General to admit up to 10,000
refugees annually. These would
include not only victims of com
munist persecution but others
who have had to flee their na
tive lands because of war, politi
cal upheaval or natural calam
ity.
If the proposed amendments
are to become law, Americans
who favor an easier immigration
policy will have to make their
views heard in Congress, for the
committees to which the new
legislation has been referred,
notably in the House, are for the
most hostile to increased immi
gration.
View 1
from the
/
Ilee'tory
By The Rev. Robert H. Wharton
SPOpKS
A woman went to a spirit
ualist and got into contact with
her dead husband.
“James,” she asked, “are you
happy now?”
“I am very happy.”
Are you hap
pier than you
were with me
on earth?”
“Yes, far
h a p p i er, ”
came the se
pulchral voice.
“Tell me,
James, what
is it like in heaven?”
“Heaven!” the voice said.
“Who’s in heaven?”
This is only one reason for
avoiding spiritualism, which is
trying to get in touch with the
departed souls. It can be em
barrassing. It can also encour
age those spooks to organize
and make personal appearances
outside English castles.
No discussion of superstitions
is complete without a word
about letting sleeping spooks
lie. Last week we took away
some business, we hope, from
the astrologers. Spiritualism, or
spiritism, is another thriving
business that’s loaded with dy
namite for the Christian soul.
This form of superstition has
its roots in paganism. High
class spiritualism embraces be
liefs that are opposed to Chris
tianity. It assumes the existance
of some impersonal, or even un
knowable, divinity. There is no
room for the idea of sin as we
understand it.
Sacred Scripture tells us that
death is the end of our proba
tion. But according to spiritism,
death is the beginning of de
velopment in some spiritual
sphere. The future life is not
the vision of God, but merely
a mental state or a material
life like the one we now possess.
Would it be all right, then, for
a Catholic to attend a seance
or become a medium? Heavens,
no! The Holy Office has issued
at least five decrees forbidding
Catholics to take part in such
things. Even the Second Plenary
Council of Baltimore warned
against such business in 1866.
The bishops of this country at
that council were merely fol
lowing the injunction of the
Book of Deuteronomy: “Neither
let there be found among you
anyone that seeks the truth
from the dead.”
Only the most superstition-
ridden person fails to see the
danger in spiritualism. Experi
ence has proved the harm it
can do to body and soul; many
devotees of the art have ended
up with their physical health
destroyed, or their minds un
balanced, or their faith lost.
This is not to say that souls
can’t appear from the other
world. They have appeared be
fore, but only with God’s per
mission and for-God’s purposes.
A soul could get special per
mission, theoretically, to leave
heaven or hell and come back
for a little visit. But such an
appearance would have to be
above the powers of nature. Our
knowledge comes through the
senses, whereas the departed
soul has no senses.
Besides, a deceased person is
quite settled in its final state;
it has no reason to communicate
with the living. It’s certainly a
presumptuous thing for us to
try to bring them back for in
sufficient reasons. Since only
God could permit an apparition,
the reason would have to, be in
accord with God’s wisdom and
holiness.
What about all the reports of
chairs moving, tables being
rapped and such phenomena?
My informers from the other
world tell me that rapping is
out of style among the spirits
these days. Every self-respecting
spirit writes, or uses a “planch-
ette” (ouija board to you old
folks.)
At the best seances, especially
talented ghosts pull such tricks
as raising the medium in the air.
The handsome spirits allow
their pictures to be taken. And
some worldly wraiths even kick
out a tune on a musical instru
ment, something jumpy like “I
Ain’t Got No Body But You.”
How do we explain all this?
In the first place, some practi-
cioners of the art are awful
fakers. I’m reminded of the
seance at which the medium
was bringing people back from
the other world. A nine-year-old
who was present kept scream
ing, “I want to talk to Grand
pa!”
“Quiet!” hushed the medium,
quite annoyed.
“I want to talk to Grandpa,”
repeated the kid.
“Very well, little boy,” said
the medium, making a few
hocuspocus passes. “Here he is.”
“Grandpa,” said the little boy,
what are you doing there? You
ain’t dead yet.”
Another explanation for the
spiritualist’s spooks, to put it
bluntly, is that they might be
real spooks. It could be that
evil spirits get into the act.
There are devils about, you
know, and they’re always ready
to take part in anything that
will harm a soul.
Spiritualism, therefore, is op
posed to the virtue of religion.
The future life, and knowledge
of it, belongs only to God. It’s
foolish for us to invade a do
main that belongs to God.
And it’s bad enough walking
through a dark alley or a ceme
tery without expecting some
bodyless fellow to jump out and
give a blood-curdling scream.
No, thanks, I’ll take my people
living and breathing.
Relief Director
To Turkish Post
KARACHI, Pakistan, (NC)—
The director in Pakistan of the
U. S. Catholic Bishops’ relief
agency has left Karachi to di
rect the agency’s operations in
Turkey.
Gabriel P. Migala, who head
ed the office of Catholic Relief
Services-National Catholic Wel
fare Conference in this coun
try for 18 months, will be sta
tioned in Ankara. He is a native
of Detroit.
He will be succeeded by Joe
Warganz, who has worked for
CRS-NCWC in the Philippines
and East Pakistan.
lullrtin
416 8TH ST., AUGUSTA, GA.
Published fortnightly by the Catholic Laymen’s Association of
Georgia, Inc., with the Approbation of the Most Reverend
Bishop of Savannah; and the Most Reverend Bishop of Atlanta.
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 Edition Editor Atlanta Edition
JOHN MARKW ALTER
Managing Editor
Vol. 40 Saturday, April 16, 1960 No. 23
ASSOCIATION OFFICERS
GEORGE GINGELL, Columbus President
MRS. DAN HARRIS, Macon Vice-President
TOM GRIFFIN, Atlanta Vice-President
NICK CAMERIO, Macon __1 Secretary
JOHN T. BUCKLEY, Augusta Treasurer
ALVIN M. McAULIFFE, Augusta Auditor
JOHN MARKW ALTER, Augusta Executive Secretary
MISS CECILE FERRY, Augusta Financial Secretary