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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-,, jjr' , M „ - -TV* .1' 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