Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 4—THE BULLETIN, June 11, I960
DR. PEALE'S OBJECTION ANSWERED
THE BACKDROP
Sacred Heart Month
SLtSS “ Sr 1 - -> ’
Every now and then a Pro
testant spokesman gives ex
pression to extreme annoyance
over the use by Catholics of
the term “non-Catholic” to de
scribe Americans who do not
belong to the
Catholic
Church.
The latest
protest comes
from Dr. Nor
man Vincent
Peale, auther
of a syndicat
ed newspaper
column. In a letter to Robert F.
Kennedy, brother of Senator
John F. Kennedy, the minister
objected to the younger Kenne
dy’s use of the term “non-Cath-
olic” in a statement made after
the West Virginia primary elec
tion.
DEPRECATING MAJORITY?
It had been freely predicted
before the polling that West
Virginia, a state in which less
than five per cent of the popu
lation are in communion with
the Catholic Church, would not
vote for Senator Kennedy be
cause of disapproval of his re
ligion.
But Senator Kennedy won a
decisive victory over Senator
Hubert H. Humphrey, a Meth
odist. And this prompted the
brother of the Massachusetts
Senator to state that “non-
Catholics” can be proud of the
lack of religious bias shown at
tne polls in West Virginia.
Dr. Peale too saluted the citi
zens of West Virginia for their
demonstrated lack of religious
bias.
“But I hope,” he wrote to the
By JOHN C. O’BRIEN
younger Kennedy, “you won’t
mind if I respectfully call your
attention to the implication of
superiority in your use of terms.
By the phrase non-Catholic it
seems to me that you are actu
ally deprecating the majority of
people in this country. 1 wonder
how you might react to the
term non-Protestant as desig
nating members of your Roman
Catholic Church.”
Dr. Peale’s suggestion that
when Senator Kennedy’s bro
ther used the term non-Catholic
to describe Americans not of
his faith he intended to “depre
cate” the majority of the Ame
rican people or imply “superio
rity” must have astonished most
Catholics.
The term “non-Catholic” has
come into rather general use by
Catholics as a designation for
persons who do not belong to
the Catholic Church solely be
cause it is the one term which
embraces all groups outside the
Church.
NON-PROTESTANTS
The term Protestant simply
does not describe all Americans
who are not Catholics. While it
is true that a sample survey of
the religion of American civil
ians by the Bureau of the Cen
sus in 1957 showed that about
66 per cent of those over 14
years of age professed adher
ence to one or another of the
Protestant denominations, many
millions considered themselves
neither Catholics nor Protes
tants.
There are, for example, about
4,000,000 Jews who do not con
sider themselves as Protestants.
There are members of the
Jottings..
(By BARBARA C. JENCKS)
I have squandered the splendid
years that the Lord God gave to
my youth In attempting impos
sible things, deeming them alone
with the toil. Was it folly or
gracef Not men shall judge me,
hut God.
Padraic Pearse
• EVERY YEAR at this time,
I mount the soap box of this
column to deliver a commence
ment address to all within read
ing range. I tell the young men
and women who are graduating
from high school and college
not to go after success—man’s
concept of success. I would ap
peal to the young men and
women at the thresholds of
their careers to fling success
back at the world and to an
swer that small still voice of
conscience. Sometimes parents
and teachers are at fault, the
young man wants to be a musi
cian or the young lady wants
to be a nurse and the parents
say: “you must amount to some-
' thing!” and proceed to list all
the advantages of the well
paying professions. We need a
generation who will call this
cult of security and safety
— -“folly.” We need young men
and young women today who
will turn against the race for
material goods and fame and
J fortune and power. We have too
many empty-eyed, bored, shal-
’ low-thinkers in our midst. This
is the time for heroism, a time
for greatness. The graduates of
today are the answer.
• THE BEATNIKS appear to
be the only rebels on the scene
today. Their way of life stands
• out in colorful contrast to the
dreadful anonymity of the long
lines of grey flannel-suited
robots who march into air con
ditioned offices all over the na
tion, dressing alike, thinking
alike, talking alike, reading the
same magazines. The beatniks
are a reaction to this. They re
volt against the insipid color
lessness of today’s culture. I am
■ not suggesting that today’s grad
uates don berets and grow
beards and go to California’s
beatnik capitol. I am asking and
pleading that someone in some
class somewhere have the cour
age to break away from the
pattern and take a chance dur
ing tins one wonderful lifetime.
The Catholic Church in Ameri
ca desperately needs intellectual
leaders. This means sacrifice. It
means going with frayed cuffs
and the same worn suit year
after year. But ah, the compen
sation! To have pioneered in the
intellectual life, to have begun
to know the mystery of the uni
verse. No split level house or
pink bathroom can compare
Greek and Russian Orthodox
Churches who do not identify
themselves as Protestants even
when they join in conferences
on ecclesiastical matters with
Protestant groups. And there
are uncounted millions who
classify themselves as non-be
lievers or agnostics. All these
groups are outside the Church
but tney are not Protestants.
If it were true that all Ameri
cans who are not Catholics were
professed Protestants, it prob
ably never would have occurred
to any Catholic to use the term
non-Catholic to describe those
outside the Church. The term
Protestant in such a case would
be accurately descriptive. But it
is precisely because Protestant
is not a term that embraces all
Americans outside the Catholic
Church that the term “non-
Catholic” has been rather gen
erally adopted as more com
prehensive and accurate.
As to Dr. Peale’s wonder how
Catholics would react to the
term non-Protestant as applied
to them, it is not likely that
many would feel slighted. In
their case it would be a perfect
ly accurate designation; Cath
olics are non-Protestants. But it
can be safely stated that they
would see no implication of
“superiority” on the part of
Protestants using the designa
tion or intent to deprecate
them. b
But Catholics could point out
that in the United States the
term non-Protestant is not sy
nonymous with Catholic. There
are millions of non-Protestants
who are not Catholics.
great teacher, musician, artist,
writer—and saint. “Blessed is
the man who has not placed his
trust in riches.” “Where shall
we find the valiant woman?”
with the inner satisfactions of
being a thinker to be associated
with the great minds of the past
. . . like Aristotle and Aquinas.
“I have loved wisdom above
riches.”
• FATHER ANDREW GREE-
LY has written much about the
lack of a radical element among
our college students and that
this is an age of the vanishing
hero. He says one searches the
national scene in vain for any
trace of a hero. A Saturday Re
view article last summer dis
cussed the lack of heroic char
acters in novels. Father Greely
feels that a hero is a reproach
to the rest of us. We seek eager
ly for his feet of clay so as to
find an excuse, for our own lazi
ness and indifference. The
“Life” article on Tom Dooley
is a prize example of this. Dr.
Dooley is the nearest thing to
a hero that we have. But how
many students graduating from
college this year will want to
go out to Laos to help Dooley?
Perhaps, the lack of heroes on
the American scene accounts for
the lack of greatness in the
young graduates. They will set
tle for the first thing that comes
along. In this, they are goaded
often by their parents who want
them to be a success in the
monastery sense. Their teacher,
too, may bask in the glory of
their fame as they return to en
dow a new classroom building
or swimming pool.
• THEREFORE, I plead with
this year’s graduating class.
Break ranks, do not follow the
crowd. Be apart. The life that
stretches before you can hold
anything you desire. Reach
high, think great and noble
thoughts. As a Commencement
week exercise, buy a paper
back copy of Myles Connolly’s
“Mr. Blue.” This would be the
present I would give every grad
uate this year. Let his philoso
phy infect your mind. All the
thrones are vacant today in
Catholic America. The choice is
yours. Be a poet, if you have the
talent. Fear not the sneers of
those who cannot create. Be a
philosopher if you have the
dream. Be an artist and a writer
for certainly more than ever be
fore we need someone who can
take the American dream and
spread it across a canvas and a
writer who can extol the grand
eur and dignity of the human
soul. These, Catholic graduate,
are the opportunities that await
you in that world out there
where the long undistinguish-
able line of status seekers passes.
If you have the desire and abili
ty stand firm against the pat
tern of our time and become a
Question
Box
By David G. Liptak
Q. Several newspapers and
magazines reviewed the Ameri
can premiere of a French his
torical play called "Port Royal."
It has to do with a convent of
17th century nuns who refused
to renounce a religious theory
referred to as Jansenism. Ac
cording to "Newsweek," Jan
senism was a "reform move
ment within the Roman Cath
olic Church which, though it
was condemned by successive
Popes, had a profound intellec
tual and theological influence
on French Catholicism." Is this
definition true?
A. Jansenism, a 17th century
heresy, was really a dogma of
pessimism based on 1) a crude
theory of predestination (miti
gated by resignation) 2) servi
tude of the will and 3) a puri
tan-like morality principally in
cumbent upon the so-called
“elect.” In a sense, Jansenism
could be described as a semi-
Calvinistic sect willing to di
vorce itself from the Catholic
Church.
THE ABBEY OF Port Royal
became the most celebrated
stronghold of the heresy in
France. To it a fantical. party
gathered under the patronage of
the Arnaulds, one of France’s
most influential families at the
time. The obvious sincerity and
piety of many members of this
party in the beginning contrib
uted to making Jansenism one
of the most insidious move
ments in all Church history.
THE TERM Jansenism de
rives from its first teacher, Cor
nelius Jansen (1585-1638), a
Flemish discontent who had mi
grated to France. As a student
in Louvain, he had been deeply
influenced by a novel method of
apologetics developed by Michel
de Bay, a professor at the Uni-
veristy of Louvain. According
to the latter (whose system
came to be known as Baianism)
human nature was corrupted
intrinsically by original sin,
freedom is a slave to concupis
cence, and man is incapable of
any good unless certain graces
are given him.
JANSEN TOOK UP where
Bay left off. The bulk of his
teachings was contained in the
Augustinus, a crude, especially
heavy work published posthu-
morously and without the nec
essary permission from Church
authority. Herein Jansen theo
rized that man who is radically
evil, constantly finds himself
(Continued on Page 5)
■ -tA-,,
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JOSEPH BREIG
THE WISE OLD SAW
“The hand that rocks the
cradle rules the world.”
An old saw? Yep.
A chestnut? Yup.
A bromide? You said it.
But, as Chesterton remarked,
a saying needs
a lot of truth
in it to last
long enough
to become a
platitude.
Truisms, in
other words,
are truisms
because they’re
truths that have been oft-
repeated. And the repetition
testifies that they’re particularly
important truths; needed truths;
truths that people keep coming
back to, because it would be too
bad if they were forgotten.
So—“the hand that rocks the
cradle rules the world.”
That’s the old saw. That’s the
hoary reminder handed down
from generation to generation.
THE HAND THAT ROCKS
the . cradle, rules the world for
better
or’Hvorse. F’or" tvea!!' or
woe.
But people need restatements
of old truths. Wisdoms must be
presented in new and striking
form so that folks will really
listen. There is always a tend
ency to conclude that something
uttered over and over, in the
same old words, must be too
old-fashioned, too lavender-and-
old-laceish, to be worth bother
ing about.
After all, this is 1960, isn’t it?
And we’re moderns, aren’t we?
Oh, we’re as up-to-date as all
get out.
So let’s turn to a present-day
psychiatrist.
His name: Dr. Leon J. Saul of
the University of Pennsylvania.
If we won’t listen to the old
folks, with their tiresome saws
and saying, with their Poor
Richard’s Almanac quotations,
maybe we’ll listen to him.
AND WHAT is he saying?
He’s saying that the hand that
rocks the cradle rules the world.
Not in those words, of course.
And he takes pains to include
Dad as well as Mother. But
what he says is that hate,
tyranny, crime and war are in
very great measure due to
, faulty rearing of children.
We can form all kinds of or
ganizations; but nothing will
take the place of good and
. gentle and affectionate parents,
e “Since most children are bad
ly, even atrociously reared,
..hostile adults abound all over
the world,” said Dr. Saul in a
talk to an assembly of psy-
, chiatrists in Philadelphia.
, ; He offered this basic formula
for the better world we would
.. like to see coming to pass:
"The only possibility lies in
seeing to it that a sufficient per
centage of children are properly
11 reared so that they mature into
their true human nature—
productive and of good will."
How are men and women of
good will produced? Dr. Saul re
plied that they come from homes
in which . parents treat their
children in such a manner as to
earn their love.
Not, you will note, homes, in
■'-which youngsters fear the heavy
hand of the father,- or the nag-,
) ''gihg'“bV fcbihplkihfh'g* bit'cutting
voice of the mother.
No—homes in which parents
so behave as to be loved by
their sons and daughters.
Homes headed by parents
whose children can rise up and
call them blessed.
That’s a blessed word, isn’t it
—“blessed?” It has about it
what the old spiritual writers
called the odor of sanctity.
IF WE WANT a transformed
world, what we must have is
saintly fathers and mothers.
Dr. Saul went further than
even I would go, partism of the -
home though I am. “All the
many mistakes of parents,” he
said, “produce all the problems
of adults and of the world.”
Not really all. There are other
factors. But by and large, I go
along with Dr. Saul. “The hand
that rocks the cradle . . .” Or as
St. Augustine expressed it, the
home should be a “little Church”
(with a capital C)—a miniature
of the kingdom of God on earth.
If it is that, it will send forth
the kind of youngsters the
world needs. And to be that, it
needs parents who are Christ-
like, and who treat the children
as Christ would.
Challenges Parents To Fulfill
Child-Training Task In Home
PAOLA, Kan., (NC)—A priest-
expert in the Catholic family
life challenged parents to turn
out beter material in the home
for the nation’s Catholic “finish
ing” schools.
Father Edgar Schmiedler,
O.S.B., chaplain of the Ursuline
Convent and Academy here,
gave the sermon at the Mass for
the 53rd annual homecoming of
the Ursuline Alumnae Associa
tion.
“If raised, once and for all,
to an equal footing in practice,
as they are already so exten
sively in theory and principle,
the two highly important aca
demies, the home and the school,
could work much more effec
tively and fruitfully with our
growing generation to the glory
of God and the benefit of His
truly vital. Church here in the
United States,” Father Sch-
miedeler counseled.
The former director of the
Family Life Bureau, National
Catholic Welfare Conference,
said that “traditionally, girls’
academies have been referred
to as finishing schools.” But,
the Benedictine stressed, “the
family is the primary academy
academy or school,” which lays
the foundations.
“It is the seed plot, one might
say, of future vocations to both
Christian marriage and religious
life,” Father Schmiedeler con
tinued. “When it lays its foun
dations well, the secondary aca
demy or finishing school is en
abled to mold the young people
who come to it into veritable
masterpieces of God’s highest
creation.”
Father Schmiedeler deplored
the widespread indifference of
parents toward vocations to the
priesthood and religious life
among their children. He de
clared there actually are some
parents who stand in the way
of the “fulfillment of God-
given vocations on the part of
their children.”
Theology
For The
Layman
F. J. Sheed
Column 58
THE MORAL VIRTUES
Faith, Hope and Charity are
called the Thelogical Virtues
because each of them has God
for its object (the first four let
ters of Theological are from the
Greek word
for God).
' Faith means
believing God,
Hope desiring
to come to
God, Charity
loving God.
By them the
soul is related
rightly and most richly to God.
But with grace there enter
the soul not only these three,
but the four Moral (also called
Cardinal) Virtues as well. They
are concerned with our right
relation to all things less than
God. The intellect has one of
them, Prudence, the will has
the other three, Justice and
Temperance and Fortitude.
Prudence first. It is possible
for the intellect, enlightened by
Faith, to know the great truths
about God Himself and also the
commands He has given us of
things to be done and avoided if
we are to come to Him. Yet
Faith does not show us all the
windings of the road of life, all
its myriad details; naturally
therefore it does not issue de
tailed directives for man’s be
havior in every situation that
can arise — how he should act
not simply to escape damnation
but for his soul’s best growth.
Prudence (from the Latin
verb “to see”) is the virtue by
which the grace-aided soul sees
the world as it actually is and
our relation to it as it should be.
Unhappily prudence has, in or
dinary speech, a meaning which
can actually contradict the very
nature of the virtue. It tends to
mean something very close to
timidity, playing everything
safe, taking no risks — risks
meaning anything that might
reduce our’ material well-being,
(Continued on Page 5)
SHARING OUR TREASURE
'Like Rising from Tomb'
Says Re-converted Catholic
By REV. JOHN A. O'BRIEN. Ph. D,
. . j- , ]r „ r j- .(University of Notre Dame) - - rrj , rjrrr
Faith is a gift of God, but un
fortunately it can be lost. When
it is, the loser gropes his way
through a weary desert, finding
empty cisterns where he expect
ed refreshing wells. The lapsed
Catholic needs help: our pray
ers, sacrifices, good examples
and tactful efforts to bring him
back. This is the story of one
who strayed, but through God’s
grace regained her precious
heritage.
“When I left a convent
school,” related Mrs. Ethel Er
nest Murrell, “I stopped going to
church and drifted away from
the Faith despite family remon-
straces. I read widely in non-
Christian religion and became
interested in Buddhism mixed
with Krishna lore. After some
years as an agnostic, I joined
the Unitarian Church, attracted
by its emphasis upon humani-
tarianism.
“Upon finding that many of
the members of our particular
church were communists, I re
signed. A pamphlet by Emmet
Fox, presenting Christianity so
clearly and logically, made a
great appeal to me, and I began
to read Christian authors. The
New Testament warmed my
heart and brought before me the
enchanting figure of Jesus of
Nazareth.
“An Episcopalian minister
pointed out that I would have
to believe Jesus was a liar or
else accept Him as the Son of
God, as He declared He was.
Halfway measures, I perceived,
would not do. It was Jesus
Christ, true God and true man,
or Christianity had no meaning
for me.
“I met Bishop Sheen and Fa
ther James Keller and read
many of their books. They open
ed my eyes to our rich Catholic
heritage and prompted me to
delve into the works of St.
Augustine and St. Thomas
Aquinas, great giants of the
Christian Faith. I read Monsi
gnor Ronald Knox’s This Is the
Mass, several of Thomas Mer
ton’s books and Taylor Cald
well’s wonderful novel, Dear
I from the
Rectory
CHOLMONDOLEY'S CHUM
My little friend Cholmondo-
ley (pronounced Chumley of
course) can quote Scripture
like you’ve never heard before.
I guarantee you’ve never heard
his version of
Holy -Writ be
fore. ■
The other
day I asked
him to tell me
what our Lord
said to Peter
when He call
ed him the
Rock.
“Peter, you’re a brick, and
I’m going to use you under
neath my new building,” said
Cholmondoley, his wide; grin
baring a row of gleaming white
teeth, except for the two front
ones which are missing.
I’m sure our Savior smiles
on his little one’s Scriptural
scholarship. He is too young to
get texts straight. - And besides,
he looks upon the saints as his
next-door-neighbors and there
fore feels a certain familiarity
with them. Why shouldn’t he?
We big people profess our be
lief in the Communion of the
Saints every time we recite the
Apostles’ Creed. Some of us
might figure vaguely that the
words have something to do
with Holy Communion. Or we
might be’a : tiny bit more erudite
and let the words proclaim our
belief in the saint — period.
But those four words — Com
munion of the Saints — are fill
ed with much richness. They re
fer to the interdependent, the
give-and-take among the saints
in heaven, the souls in purga
tory and earth-men down here.
The Saints are really all those
possessing God’s grace, every
one in His friendship. They’re
not just the ones reigning in
heavenly glory. The souls in
purgatory and the faithful on
earth are Saints in this sense.
Whenever we speak of the
Church, we usually think of the
Catholic Church on earth. But
the Churcft ’ embraces three di
visions — the Church Triumph
ant in heaven, the Church Suf
fering in Purgatory and the
Church Militant on earth.
The Rov. Robert H. Wharton
The first-class citizens of this
holy society are, of course, those
in the Church Triumphant di
vision. They fought the good
fight; they are receiving their
reward for faithfulness near the
throne of God.
Because God has arranged
communications between us,
these blessed souls in heaven
can help us by their closeness
to God. That’s why we pray to
them to honor them. And one
of the joys of heaven will be
meeting face-to-face all the
saints we talked to by long
distance during life.
Peter is often considered the
major-domo of the heavenly re
gions. He may be keeper of the
gates, but he’s not really the
highest personage up there. The
prayer recited at Mass every
day, the Confiteor, puts the
saints in their right order of
precedence.
After confessing to God Him
self, we address ourselves to the
Blessed Mary ever Virgin. The
Holy Mother of God, we all
know, is the highest of all crea
tures. After Mary comes Blessed
and Glorious Physician, about
the Evangelist Luke.
“I now could say the Apostles
Creed and believed in the es
sential Christian doctrines. I
had attended the services of
many Protestant Churches, but
there was always something
lacking. I asked a priest if I
might re-enter the Church in
spite of a few minor doubts I
didn’t seem able to dispel.
‘Faith,’ he replied, ‘is a gift of
God, for which you must pray.’
“That opened a door. I prayed
on my knees. I attended Mass. I
felt an atmosphere of faith and
dedication, which I had missed
elsewhere. I read Truths Men
Live By, which removed by re
maining doubts and misgivings.
A wise and holy priest, who was
instructing and counseling me,
deemed me ready to be re
admitted into the Church and
to receive Our Lord in Holy
Communion.
“What a joy that was! I had
been groping for the shadows;
now I have the reality. I know
enough now to pray. In striving
for humility I have discovered
the meaning of human dignity.
Conversion has opened up a
whole new country. For the first
time I experience a union of
mind and heart. The distance
within are being bridged and
lighted. I no longer feel alone
at any time.
“There is such a vista of
knowledge to be explored, faith
to be gained and grace to be
won that I am only dismayed
by the sense of lack of time.
Though there is still much room
for improvement, my perspec
tive has matured considerably.
With God’s grace I shall hold
on to my precious treasure, and
strive each day to grow in His
love and devoted service until
death. Coming back to the
glorious Faith of Christ is like
rising from the tomb.”
Father O’Brien will be grate
ful to readers who know of any
one who has won two or more
converts if they will send the
names and addresses of such per
sons to him at Notre Dame Uni
versity Notre Dame, Indiana.
Michael the Archangel because,
after all, he’s an angel. Angels
are higher, more perfect than
men.
Then our prayer lists Blessed
John the Baptist next. Christ
Himself said, “Amen I say unto
you, among those born of wo
men there has not risen a great
er than John the Baptist.”
Then, finally, we mention St.
Peter and another great Apos
tle, St. Paul. It seems strange
that we never associate Paul
with any work in heaven; it
might be that we realize he is
reaping a restful reward for his
tireless apostolic labors on
earth.
These are only a few, how
ever. There are countless holy
souls in heaven — Francis and
Benedict and Ignatius and Jos
eph and Scholastic and many,
many others. In our liturgy, we
classify the saints. The men
may be Apostles or Martyrs or
Confessors. A woman may be a
Virgin-Martyr or a Virgin-not-
a-Martyr. Or, if she was a wife
or widow, she may be placed in
the strange class of Neither Vir-
gin-nor-Martyr.
These heavenly souls, then,
help us by their intercession.
The souls in purgatory can also
help from heaven and purga
tory and offer assistance to the
suffering ones in purgatory.
(Continued on Page 5)
Sty* lltllrtttt
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 MARK WALTER
Managing Editor
Vol. 41 Saturday, June 11, 1960 No. 1
ASSOCIATION OFFICERS
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