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Orientation > 1?'iri'CTlii .£!.& JO U ijjLii&M IxH 9 3> ism Chickens Have Come Home To Roost On August 29th, court hearings on the ques tion of religious practices in Miami’s public schools will be resumed. Companion suits have been entered in the Dade County Circuit Court by an agnostic, Harlowe Chamberlain, support ed by the American Civil Liberties Union and by Mrs. Elsie Thorner, a Unitarian, and Edward Resnic-k and Mr. and Mrs. Philip Stern, who are Jewish. The latter suit is backed by the American Jewish Congress of New York. The suits together strike at virtually all types of religious practices, from Bible reading and prayer recitation to presentation of pageants at Christmas, Easter and Hannukah. They do not seek merely to prevent sectarian religious in struction and practice in the Public Schools, but to drive any semblance of religion from the Public Schools of Dade County. We shall not attempt to assess the motives of the plaintiffs. We only offer the observation that their demands for an officially atheistic, or at the least agnostic, government and public school system find confirmation in neither the Constitution to which they appeal, nor in the American Tradition. It is truly unfortunate that so many indi viduals and groups who are now rightly dis turbed by the sinister threat which suits such as these pose to American religious liberty were so eonspiculously silent when the “wall of sep aration” between Church and State was erect ed by the U. S. Supreme Court in 1947. Had they spoken out against the danger of such an abso lute “wall” then, instead of seeing in it only an instrument to diminish and possibly destroy Catholic institutions, perhaps now we would not be faced with what are apparently inten sive and concerted attempts throughout the country to diminish and even destroy Religion in American Public life and institutions. It would seem that the “chickens have come home to roost.” However, be that as it may, all thoughtful Americans must join in the fervent prayer and hope that no court in any State will offer aid or comfort to the carping groups of mal contents who seek, by specious manipulation of the Constitution, to deprive the great mass of Americans of the Religious freedom which it guarantees. STAY CLOSE TO COD Although it passed quite unnoticed, the Holy Father’s recent expression of concern for the near future should provide sobering thought for men of good will; and, it should evoke a continuous outpouring of prayer for mankind’s spiritual and temporal welfare. Addressing a large group of high school graduates, Pope John XXIII regretted that the world situation was such that he could not tell them—as one ordinarily likes to tell graduates —that, they were going out into a world of brightness where peace and prosperity would be their inheritance. Rather, the Pontiff told them, they would have to expect and experience some difficult times in their still youthful years. He counselled them to get and stay close to God; for, only thus could they hope to find rest and comfort for their being. The world today is greatly troubled. Unrest is everywhere the order of the day. The over-all international scene is aptly described as a pow der-keg ready to blow up at any moment. The hitherto localized troubles are assuming ever greater and graver proportions. And, always on Few Multi-Lingual Americans the scene to worsen every situation are the agents and dupes of international Communism. While our own nation has thus far been remarkably free of serious disturbances, the tell-tale signs of coming trouble are ever more apparent. The desire for more and greater lux uries has become a fetish for millions of Ameri cans. A thorough disregard of God’s Ten Com mandments — in fact, a complete ignoring of God — has a tight grip on many. Untold millions of Americans are living on the surface of life completely unconcerned with anything except their own day-to-day happiness. Little do they care and less do they realize that the economic bubble in which they find their revel and their mirth and in which they - have placed their all is so beset by weaknesses that a burst is inevit able at a not too distant date. And, when the bubble bursts, troubles will be rampant. Getting close to God and staying close to God is a counsel which, while given by our Holy Father to recent high school graduates, is equally applicable and important to each of us. — The Catholic Missourian THE BACKDROP Methods of teaching foreign languages in American schools are undergoing a critical re appraisal by educators through out the country. In recent years, since the United States became a world power with vital in terests in all parts of the globe, there has been a marked in crease in the number of foreign languages taught in secondary schools in the universities. But there has been no appreciable increase in the number of multi-lingual Americans. WASTE OF TIME? The complaint is not that we 1 are not teaching foreign lan- I guages but that we are not teaching them effectively. A high proportion of American high school and college students study one or more foreign lan guages, French and Spanish be ing the favorites. But when they have finished .their courses, few of the stu dents* are able to converse in a foreign tongue or read a foreign language with ease. Most of them learn merely to translate laboriously with the aid of a dictionary. And in a few years they lose through disuse the rudimentary knowledge they , have acquired. In view of the unsatisfactory ,* results, many educators are ask- . ing whether the time devoted by students to study of foreign , languages is not a waste of - time. What is needed, sorely needed, is a steadily increasing out put of student with an ade quate command of a foreign language. They are needed in the foreign service, in the armed forces, in the foreign aid and technical assistance programs and in foreign trade. But we are not getting linguists in suffi cient numbers to meet our needs. Why is our teaching method so unproductive? Educators who have studied the problem seem to agree that the principal rea son is that the teaching does not start early enough and is not sufficiently sustained. Under our present teaching procedures, foreign languages are not offered to students until they enter high school. In some high schools only one academic year’s study of a language is required; a few require two or irfore from students who plan tq So on to college. In most c4H e 8es and universities, sus tained study of a foreign lan- is required only from By JOHN C. O’BRIEN those students who major in the foreign language field. EARLY START A recent study of the Modern Language Association suggests that this kind of program is wrong. The Association’s report proposes that foreign language study should be started in the third grade of elementary schools and should be continued in an “uninterrupted sequence for ten years.” The report also recommended that the traditional “grammar- translation” method of teaching be replaced at all grade levels by the more effective method of personal communication in which language skills are taught in the following order of im portance — hearing, speaking, reading and writing. The reason why language study should be started early, the report says, is that all youngsters posses the skill to imitate sounds even unfamiliar sounds, but that this skill be gins to decline at about the age of ten. • NOT SINCE the appear ance of “The Last Hurrah” has a book caused so much como tion as “The Devil’s Advocate.” The cause of the literacy ex plosions are for different rea sons. Yet Morris West’s contro versial novel is still the subject of heated debate wherever Cath olic readers meet. With the political conventions over, per haps many will seek another subject of debate. Many may have promised themselves a look at the controversial novel of the year during their summer vacation. If so, we have a few postscripts to add to the fire and fury which surrounded the novel. First, the Catholic Book Club of America selected this novel as one of their books-of- the-month choices. “Times” and “The New York Times” cited this novel as one of the few good books of an exceptionally bad literary year. Catholic re viewers have been divided about its literary merit and more about some of its graphic con tent. Those who have liked it have liked it, and those who have not have been vehement about it. • INSTEAD OF quoting from reviews or from my own already-stated impressions about Children, the language teach ers point out, learn their native tongue not by studying the structure of the language but by imitating sounds made by their parents and associating the sounds with objects. This is the natural way to learn a language and it is just as applicable to the acquisition of a foreign as it is to a native language. If that is the case, the teach ers suggests, the first stage in teaching a foreign language in the schools should be devoted to familiarizing pupils with the sounds. Once the pupils have acquired an ear for a language from hearing it spoken by the teacher, he is ready for the next stage, conversation with the teacher in simple sentences. By the time the pupil has reached the tenth grade, the re port maintains, he would be ready to undertake reading in a foreign language and the study of its grammar. Learning to write a foreign language would be deferred until a fair reading knowledge had been acquired. it, I would quote from three correspondents who state their views on the book refreshingly in their informality. The first correspondent quoted is a successful novelist herself. This is her comment: “I have been trying to read “The Devil’s Advocate” but though I agree the idea is interesting, I fear I hate this super-adjectival style and I find it all rather manu factured. I fear I hear the ma chinery creak all the time and I jump at the way he lays every thing on with a trowel. Forgive me for I wanted to like the book because it impressed you so much.” • SECOND COMMENT comes from one of the best critics of current literature I know. “I’m anxious for you to read “The Devil’s Advocate.” It’s wonder ful to read a book with a Cath olic theme which is more than a step advanced beyond “The Messenger of the Sacred Heart.” Unfortunately, we can’t claim Morris West for he’s an Austral ian. Giacomo wasn’t very real to me, the only rather unreal character I thought. Black, Paola, the mother, the Countess and Blaise were all very be lievable but perhaps because (Continued on Page 5) Jottings... (By BARBARA C. JENCKS) YOU'LL NEED TH/S / JOSEPH BRE!G HOW MEN CAN RULE I don’t think I’m an irascible chap, but I must confess to a mounting annoyance over speeches at Catholic conven tions, and articles in Catholic publications, to the general effect that men are not as manly as they ought to be, because they don’t dominate their wives, punish their children, and rule the roost at home. There has been a rash of that kind of thing in recent years. It seems to be a current fad among some who are introduced as ex perts on marriage. Possibly 30 years of marriage qualifies me to voice an opinion; a contrary opinion, without being contrary about it. I take a mightly dim view of husbands dominating wives. In deed, I take a dim view of any body dominating anybody. And it seems to me that Christianity takes a dim view of it, too. Christianity talks about serving, not about mastering. And com mon sense and experience demonstrate Christianity’s wis dom on the point. St. Paul, It is true, counsels the wife to be subject to her husband. But right there is where everybody seems to stop reading St. Paul’s injunctions on marriage—or at least to stop listening to him. Everybody gets that far, and then closes either the New Testament, or his mind. IT STRIKES ME that we need to be reminded often that in the same passage, St. Paul comes up with some pointed advice for the husband also. He commends the husband, in the name of Christ, to love his wife as Christ loved the Church, sacrificing Himself for it. I haven’t made a survey of wives, but I doubt that there is one anywhere on earth who wouldn’t be delighted to be “subject” to that kind of hus band. I can hardly imagine a woman objecting to being “ruled” through her husband’s self-sacrificial love for her. Looking at myself, and look ing around at other husbands, it strikes me that most of us have a lot of self-perfecting to do before we can claim to be living up to St. Paul’s admoni tion. Until we reach that height of nobility, I suggest that we leave off talking about “domina tion.” THE TROUBLE WITH this domination business is that we husbands do not need any en couragement in being a bit ar rogant and .prideful, even if un consciously so. By and large, I think most of us do all right (or wrong) in that department with out goading. In my own case, I had been married about 20 years before I got smart enough to realize that I was a fool if I didn’t consult SHARING OUR TREASURE 'Bring People To Instructions/ Urges Convert By REV. JOHN A. O'BRIEN, Ph. D. . ,, , r r r .(University of Noire Dame) r r _ There are numerous ways of interesting people in the Catho lic Faith, but they rarely bear fruit until the interested party is brought to a priest for sys tematic instruction. Then he gets a vivid close - up of the cogent credo n t i ad s which each year draw more than 140,000 truth- seekers into the church. “I’m a com lated Mrs. Kenchel, “and be cause the Catholic religion means so much to me I’ve tried to share it with others. Then too it’s the best way to show my gratitude to God for the pre cious gift of faith. “When Mrs. Harry F. Den- nehy lost her husband, I called to express my sympathy. With her only son at Jesuit High School, she felt the loss of her husband keenly. Only God, however, could give her the sol ace she needed. Though her hus band was a practicing Catholic, he had never urged or invited her to join. “I made a novena, praying that I would be able to get at least two people to instructions. Then I invited Mrs. Dennehy to the instructions to be given by Father Herbert Vandenbergh, C.M., chaplain at St. Paul’s Hos pital. She was interested but was unable to come at that time because of guests. “The following Sunday I call ed, renewed the invitation and told her that my husband and I would be glad to accompany her. She agreed. Then I asked if she knew anyone else who might be interested. She said she would inquire. When we drove up the following Tuesday evening, we were happy to see Mrs. Dennehy and a young man on the porch awaiting us. “ ‘Meet William Mize,’ she said, ‘a young neighbor of mine, who is keeping company with a my wife about things, and take her advice mighty seriously. The more I do that, the more idiotic mistakes I manage to avoid making. Another thing that years of marriage have taught me is that a wise husband constantly en courages his wife to have a voice in things, to make de cisions, and to grow to full stature as a responsible person. A HUSBAND SHOULD avoid for her own good, dominating even a wife who likes to have everything decided for her. What if he dies? Does he want to leave the children in the hands of a woman whom he has prevented from learning how to manage and from acquiring confidence in herself? Furthermore, rewarding com panionship in marriage depends largely upon the wife being a real person in her own right, with thoughts and wisdom of her own. Otherwise, she will be a mere colorless appendage of her big-shot dominating spouse. As for punishing children, punishment is seldom needed if parents set the right kind of example and give youngsters the love, attention and guidance they are entitled to. What little punishment is needed will gen erally be more wisely handled by the wife, if she is a mature woman. Domination my foot. What we need is more holiness, not more domination, among husbands and fathers. Catholic girl. He too wants to come.’ We went with them to the instruction class for three months. When Father explained the four marks — unity, holi ness, Catholicity and apostolici- ty — which Christ stamped on His Church to distinguish her from all others, our friends were greatly impressed. “That which really clinched it, however, was the fact that Christ founded the Catholic Church 15 centuries before any Protestant Church came into being. Furthermore he promised to be with His Church, protect ing and guiding it, until the end of time. This is the blinding evidence that the Catholic Church is the one true Church, to which Christ wants all to be long. “Father baptized Mrs. Den nehy and William at Holy Tri nity Church and both are now devout and enthusiastic Catho lics. William married his Cath olic sweetheart and they now have three children. “When my mother, Mrs. Fis- cus, came to visit us, I invited her to attend an instruction class conducted by our pastor, Father William Smyth, at Holy Trinity. My heart sang when she agreed. I went with her, and supplemented the splendid (Continued on Page 5) ENMITY from the Rectory Little Peter had decided to run away from home. He tied a few sandwiches in a handker chief, packed a pathetic little suitcase, and made his way boldly down the road lead ing away from town. By lunch time, he was ready to call it quits. When he reached home, only a couple of hours had elapsed, left the suitcase in the living room, but mother pretended not to notice. Just as he was about to give up, the family pooch wandered in. “Hey, ma!” shouted Peter, brightening, “Is that the same dog you had when I went away?” The Rev. Robert H. Wharton piled on the flames of hell, whep enmity takes over. Enmity — or just plain hatred, to use a more unlovely term. Certainly enmity is the com plete breakdown of fraternal charity, and the sin that Christ condemned so strongly. Such a feeling may net show.itself in open hostility, of course. There are laws against throwing bricks, for one thing. But act ive or passive, hatred of our neighbor is a most serious sin. A lasting and deep hatred can last for years. Even close rela tives can be caught in its trap. A wife, rightfully or wrongful ly, can accuse her husband of cruelty and end up hating the sight of him. Close friends can, through some little misunder standing, suddenly discover in each other glaring faults that seem to call for hatred. It’s a good thing that almost all juvenile runaways change their mind. If they carried their grudge too long, the highways would be crowded with suit case-toting kids looking for jobs in ice cream factories or movie theatres. If filial devotion doesn’t sway the young heart, the thought of Rover at home will usually do the trick. There was one 11- year-old who had been away at camp two long, agonizing weeks, and when he got home his doting parents asked anx iously if he had been very homesick. “Not me,” the youngster re plied airily. “Some of the kids were, though — the ones who had dogs.” We big people, however, are not as swift as the kids in bu rying the hatchet. The little tot who goes outside in a huff to eat worms usually forgets what he’s doing outside when he gets there. A little time takes care of his anger. But for adults, time usually helps the grudge to grow. Every Catholic is aware of the importance of fraternal charity. The great command ment includes not only the love of God, but also the love of neighbor. The two are joined so closely, in fact, that our love of God is necessarily weak if we make life tough for our neighbor. Our Savior even went so far as to say, “Everyone who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment.” those are pretty strong words. And the one who usually trembles on hearing them is the little old lady who gets peeved because daughter burns the toast, or be cause grandson slams the door. These shows of temper and outbursts of impatience can be venial sins or at least imperfec tions, of course. But I really don’t think Our Lord was threatening grandma when he he used those strong words. Even a little more vehement anger is sometimes excusable. When Junior takes the family car without permission and dents the fender, your blood is supposed to boil a bit when you speak to him about it. Oth erwise, he would fall asleep while you were lecturing him. Do you blame dad if he speaks rather brashly on this occasion? “Look me square in the eye, young man, and tell me the truth,” he says to Junior. Junior’s reply, with a smile, “I can’t, Dad. You haven’t got square eyes.” Unjust anger is something to be avoided, yes. A habit of blowing up can make life mis erable for many neighbors. But fraternal charity breaks down completely, and coals are It is easy to hate, as easy as it is to love. A grudge has to be nursed only a little bit, and it can be an important part of your life. You can refuse to speak to the Hated One, even if you find yourself face to face. You can make sure everyone hears about his horrible faults. And when misfortune befalls the Hated One, that is tbe sig nal for rejoicing. When misunderstandings come, it is sometimes best to let sleeping dogs snooze on apd let time calm the ruffled feel ings. Whenever there has been unkindness or injustice, feeling resentment is sometimes un avoidable. Such feelings do not constitute enmity. But when our hearts are full of hatred, when we truly wish harm to someone, when we act in an insulting way to another human being — then we are the ones warned by Christ about the judgment to come. Charity, love of neighbor, is not merely a recommendation. It’s a commandment, and a most serious one. That’s why we have to forgive offenses, pray for our enemies, and try to see our neighbor’s good qualities that we have overlooked. We need to learn a bit from the younger set. Elwood may hit Simon over the head with an electric train at two o’clock. But they’re buddies again by three o’clock. What’s an electric train be tween friends, they figure, when the love of a brother is at stake? Question Box By David Q. Liplak Q. Why are archbishops re ferred to as "metropolitans" in Church phraseology? A. The title of metropolitan, according to one authority, de rives from the early Church practice of calling the bishop of the principal city metropolitan- us, “for the Apostles and their immediate successors began their work of preaching the Gospel in the more important cities; v.g., Antioch, Ephesus, Corinth, Rome, etc. ... Very frequently the territory of these bishops coincided with the civil province and the principal city with the metropolis.” The term metropolitan has been in use since the Council Of Nicea (325). Beginning with tfie fifth century, the term arch bishop was received into gen eral usage; first in the Eastern Church, later in the West. Q. In the Hebrew Temple, (Continued on Page 5) 5If* IMlrtm 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 MARKWALTER Managing Editor Vol. 41 Saturday, August 6, 1960 No. 5 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