Newspaper Page Text
J
I
PAGE 4—THE BULLETIN, February 4, mi
RICHARD RElD
In the death of Richard “Dick”
Reid last week, the Church in Georgia
lost a beloved son and a devoted
champion. Indeed, the loss is not that
of the Church alone. For Georgians of
all Faiths ov/e a debt of gratitude to
a wise, gentle, and forceful man whose
invaluable contribution to the cause of
truth and mutual understanding
among men is memorialized in the
many editorial tributes which have ap
peared in newspapers throughout the
State.
The old proverb has it that “The
pen is mightier than the sword.” To
“Dick” Reid the pen WAS a sword —
one he weilded not to hurt and wound,
but to strip away the veil of ignorance
and misunderstanding.
Named executive Secretary of the
Catholic Laymen’s Association of
Georgia and editor of The Bulletin, he
quietly set about telling the story of
the Catholic Church to all who would
listen, being firmly convinced that the
people of Georgia wanted the truth
and were willing to hear: it.
To many of those who knew him,
Richard Reid was a sort of “catholic
Will Rogers,” a man who used a natu
ral charm, ready wit and cheerful op
timism to spread the knowledge of
Christ’s Church and to further the
cause of “Peace . . . among men of
Good Will.”
No one can say how many Cath
olic churches and schools in Georgia
today owe their existence to Richard
Reid, who used the printed word with
dedication — to supplant misunder
standing with Trust, prejudice with
Charity, ignorance with Truth. God
alone knows and can give fitting
recompense.
May the prayers be many which
beg God’s consoling graces for his fam
ily, relatives and many friends. And
may there be many who seek to repay
their debt of gratitude by beseeching
the Christ he served so well. “Eternal
rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let
perpetual light shine upon him in Thy
Kingdom of love and glory.”
CATHOLICS IN THE CABINET
BACKDROP
THE
The appointment by Presi
dent Kennedy of his brother
Robert to the Attorney Gen
eralship keeps in force a prac
tice established in the Frank
lin D. Roosevelt administra
tion of hav
ing at least
one Catholic
in the cabi
net.
The new
Pr e s i d e nt
had other
reasons for
wanting his
b r other to
serve as his chief legal officer,
but if his appointee had not
been a Catholic the departure
from the practice of recogniz
ing minority groups in cabinet
appointments would have
caused comment.
NINETEENTH CENTURY
Since the beginning of the
Republic, sixteen Catholics
have held positions of Cabinet
rank, of whom only four serv
ed before the beginning of this
century.
During long stretches of our
history no Catholic was a
member of the President’s of
ficial family. After the First
Inauguration of George Wash
ington, 40 years passed before
a Catholic was given a cabinet
post. After that appointment,
24 years went by before a sec
ond Catholic received a Cabi
net designation. And after the
administration of James Buc
hanan, there was another peri
od of 36 years when no Catho
lic sat in the President’s coun
cil.
Even in this century, be
tween the administration of
Theodore Roosevelt and that
of Franklin D. Roosevelt, there
were 24 years during which no
Catholic held Cabinet ranks.
The first President to ap-
By JOHN C. O’BRIEN
point a Catholic to the cabinet
was Andrew Jackson. His sec
ond Attorney General was
Roger Taney, who served from
1831 to 1833. In the latter years
he was named Secretary of the
Treasury and held tha-t post
until 1836 when he was ap
pointed Chief Justice of the
United States.
Franklin Pierce appointed
James Campbell his Postmas
ter General and Campbell
served from 1853 to 1857.
Pierce’s successor, James Buc
hanan, appointed a Catholic,
James B. Floyd, his Secretary
of War. Floyd served from
1857 to 1860.
A Catholic was not again
named a member of the Presi
dent’s official family until
William McKinley appointed
James McKenna his Attorney
General in 1897. McKenna’s
tenure in that post was cut
short by his appointment to
the Supreme Court in 1898.
Theodore Roosevelt, who
succeeded after McKinley’s as
sassination and served nearly
two terms, was the first Pres
ident to appoint two Catholics
to Cabinet positions. In 1905,
he named Charles J. Bona
parte his Secretary of the
Navy. The next year Bona
parte was appointed Attorney
General and served in that
post for three years. Roose
velt’s second Catholic ap
pointee was Robert J. Wynne,
who was Postmaster General
from 1904 to 1905.
MINORITIES RECOGNIZED
During his 12 years in the
White House, Franklin D.
Roosevelt had three Catholics
in his Cabinet. Upon his first
election, he appointed James
A. Farley his Postmaster Gen
eral. Farley resigned in 1940
and was succeeded by Frank
C. Walker, who served until
Roosevelt’s death in April,
1945. In his second term
Roosevelt appointed Frank
Murphy to the Attorney Gen
eralship. After serving one
year, Murphy was appointed
a Justice of the Supreme
Court.
It was not until the admini
stration of Franklin Roosevelt
that the idea that minority
groups should be given recog
nition in Cabinet appointments
came to be generally accept
ed by politicians. Until Roose
velt named Henry Morgen-
thau, Jr. his Secretary of the
Treasury, only one Jew, Oscar
Straus, had ever sat in a Pres
ident’s Cabinet. Roosevelt also
was the first to recognize the
growing political influence of
women by naming a woman to
a Cabinet post.
Under President Harry Tru
man, for the first time, two
Catholics sat at the Cabinet
table at the same time. In 1948
Truman named Maurice J. To
bin his Secretary of Labor and
the next year he appointed
J. Howard McGrath Attorney
General. McGrath served until
the summer of 1952 and Tobin
until the end of Truman’s sec
ond term.
Other Catholics who sat in
Truman’s Cabinet were Rob
ert E. Hannegan who served
as Postmaster General from
1945 to 1947, and James P.
McGranery who succeeded
McGrath and served until the
Truman administration went
out of office.
President Eisenhower nam
ed two Secretaries of Labor,
both Catholics. His first ap
pointee w r as Martin P. Dur
kin, who resigned in Septem
ber, 1953. His successor was
James P. Mitchell, who serv
ed until the transfer of power
to the new Democratic Admin
istration.
SUM AND SUBSTANCE
By Rev. John B. Sheerin, C.S.P.
What is Catholic foreign
policy on Castro? This may
seem like a silly question.
There is no Catholic navy, no
Catholic War Department, no
Catholic Monroe Doctrine or
tariff on im
ports. Vati
can City
may have a
semblance of
foreign poli
cy but Amer-
c a n Catho
lics are not
subjects of
Vatican City.
How then can
a Catholic foreign policy?
In the strict sense, we have
no real foreign policy. But in
the broad sense we do. It is
the policy of universal com
passion, of sympathy and so
licitude for all human beings
who suffer.
NEGLECTED DOCTRINE
This may sound like a pious
platitude. If you call an ele
mentary and much neglected
Christian doctrine a platitude,
so be it. The fact is that Cath
olic foreign policy on Castro
is a policy of anguished con
cern for the poor peasants who
are taking it on the chin un
der his regime.
I suppose most Catholics are
genuinely concerned about the
peasants who have been fed
promises and have received
nothing but guns and propa
ganda about an invasion of
American Marines. But we do
find certain fellow Catholics
who seem to think that the
only trouble with Cuba is Cas
tro. Their only opinion about
the Cuban situation is that
Castro must be toppled from
power — and the sooner the
better.
The Cuban dictator natural
ly attracts our attention be
cause he holds the center of
the stage. He is,, as Cardinal
Spellman implied in a recent
statement, a man who needs
treatment at a mental hospital.
He acts like a paranoiac. Some
commentators try to see a
method in Castro’s madness.
They claim his economic sys
tem is foundering badly and
so he whips up hysteria about
the United States, his pet
scrapegoat. Personally I can
see little rationality in any
thing Castro says or does. His
fairy tale at the U. N. about
an impending American in
vasion of Cuba was, as some
one remarked, an Alice-in-
Wonderland fable.
There is a great personal
tragedy in the case of Castro,
whose mind has disintegrated.
But for Catholics, there is a
vaster tragedy than the men
tal collapse of a promising
young revolutionary. It is the
tragedy of the millions in
Cuba who see the police state
slowly encircling them with
its iron bars. Behind the ill
ness of one man is the grow
ing mortal illness of a whole
nation.
As Americans we are anxi
ous to see Castro unseated.
But as Catholics, I believe, our
main concern is to see justice
done to the suffering Cubans.
Unless we are concerned about
the hungry, the fearful, the
persecuted, we will find Cas
tro replaced by just another
dictator. Yet we do meet Cath
olics who say we should save
our own souls and let the
foreigners work out their own
problems. And I suppose even
the best of us are tempted to
concentrate on personal salva-:
iion when we see the mess the'
world is in. '1 s
j r 1
But Francois Mauriac made!
a good point in a talk on “An
guish” that he gave in Geneva
some years ago. He said that
worry about our own personal
salvation tends to become an
obsession and breeds “scru
ples” unless we become inter
ested in the salvation of the
whole world. Our personal an
guish must be transmuted into
a universal charity that en
compasses all men. He stated
the essential mysticism of Ca
tholicism in the simple words,
“For us, others are Christ.”
In the Garden, Christ took
upon Himself the burden of
the sins and sufferings of the
whole world, and He told us
that we would be judged on
the last day according to the
manner in which we have act
ed towards Him in all who
suffer: “When I was hungry,
you gave me to eat . . . when
I was sick and in prison you
came to visit me.” And Mau
riac noted that the paradox
is that obsession about one’s
own salvation brings mental
torment whereas anguish
about the sufferings of others
brings peace and joy.
To all external appearances,
Castro is a paranoiac. He cap
tures our attention with his
pathetic clowning. But it
would be a sin against love
for us to clo^e our eyes to the
larger tragedy of the suffering
millions whose plight cries out
for relief. It is disconcerting
to read the latest news item
about Cuba and then to read
the words of St. John of the
Cross: “On the last day, you
will be judged on love.” J
JOSEPH BREIG
CITY LIFE NO GOOD?
I have waited for years for
somebody to challenge the
whiskery notion that the best
place to rear children is neces
sarily the country, and the
worst place the city.
Because he has done precise
ly that, Dr. Robert D. Cross of
Co lumbia
U n i v e rsity
hereby is
made the
first charter
member of
my personal
Academy of
Pre fi e r r e d
T h i j n kers
(APT) which
I have just this moment made
up out of my head.
I salute Dr. Cross also be
cause he speaks plain English,
a practice much too rare
among our intellectuals.
Dr. Cross, a leading Protes
tant historian and an authority
on the Catholic Church in the
U. S., was a specially invited
speaker at the 1961 conven
tion of the American Catholic
Historical Association.
THE IDEA that country life
is automatically healthier for
the soul, he said, came down
to us from such earlier Cath
olic figures as Bishop John
Lancaster Spaulding, founder
of Catholic University of
America.
Bishop Spaulding, Dr. Cross
said, was one of those who
“believed that closeness to na
ture made the farmer so cog
nizant of the boundless, im
mense forces of life; that re
ligion came to him naturally!”
Observe the clarity and sim
plicity of Dr. Cross’ phrasing.
One word might be altered for
easier reading. “Cognizant”
could become “aware.” But
Dr. Cross has nobly resisted
the temptation to say it this
way:
"Bishop Spaulding and
some edudiie contemporaries
were impelled by contem
plation of their milieu to
embrace the unstatistical
and non-demonstrable as
sumption that those adher
ents of their doctrinal views
who were of the agricultural
persuasion were, as a conse
quence of proximity to the
ineluctable vital processes of
the planet, virtually auto
matically iheisiic."
The trouble with Bishop
Spaulding’s theory, Dr. Cross
said, was that it ignored the
fact that there are many kinds
of cities with many kinds of
neighborhoods.
Let us admit, in justice to
Bishop Spaulding, that city life
in his time differed from city
life today, and that Catholics,
being poor, did not live in the
“most desirable” sections.
ALL THE SAME, good Cath
olics — and good Protestants
and Jews too — transformed
many materially poor districts
into areas spiritually rich, out
of which came many of our
most admirable Americans.
Now for my own testimony.
My wife and I have lived in
a semi-rural village, in a
small town, and in residential
sections of two large metropol
itan complexes.
Based on our own experi
ence, we’ll take the big cities.
This is not to say that there
are no excellent rural and
small town neighborhoods.
There are.
OUR HOME at present is in
a self-governing city of 80,000
in a metropolis of a million
and a half. We have been
there 15 years. Never have we
heard of anybody on bad
terms with anybody else.
Nobody uses language that
children should not hear. No
body sets a bad example in
any way. Adults and children
go in and out of neighboring
houses, sure of their welcome,
and sure of the right kind of
atmosphere.
Youngsters leave outside all
night their bikes and trikes,
wagons and scooters; and no
thing is stolen. If there is sick
ness or death or accident in
any house, everybody hastens
to help.
THE AREA is sprinkled
with Catholic and Protestant
churches — their chimes mel
odiously conversing about
God — and with synagogues.
Many Catholics are at Mass
every morning. Protestants
jam streets with parked cars
for their services.
I suppose my wife and I
have had something to do with
rearing our family, but what
with the atmosphere, the fine
folks, and the schools, it has
been astonishingly easy.
Maybe that’s why, when an
older couples moves away, the
house is quickly bought by a
younger; qouple with a flock of
little ones.,
GOOD EXAMPLE Kl
INTEREST
SHARING OUR
<£0m % ...
Reverend J. A. O'Brien!; University of Notre Dame
In striving to share your
holy Faith with others, your
own example is of paramount
importance. What you are,
speaks louder than what you
say. “A good example,” re
marked Ben
jamin Frank
lin, “is the
best ser
mon.” Our
Blessed Lord
acknowledg
es the force
of example
and asks His
followers to
walk in His footsteps, saying,
“For I have given you an 'ex
ample, that as I have done to
you, so you also should do.”
(John 13:15). The influence of
the good example of Catholic
friends is illustrated in the
conversion of Paul W. Walton
of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
“The fact that I am a Cath
olic,” related Paul, “is due, un
der God’s grace, largely to the
splendid example of ! three
Catholics with whom I was
thrown in contact. It was their
example that kindled my in
terest in the Faith and caused
me to investigate it. Once I
had gone that far*, there was
no retreating — so convincing
are the credentials of the
Catholic Church. ,
“I was reared in the Evan
gelical Church ancj, algng with
my two sisters, was baptized
and confirmed in St. John’s
Evangelical Church in Beth
lehem. My interest in the
Catholic religion began when
I went to the Central Radio
and Television School in Kan
sas City, Missouri. There I
roomed with Yvon Boire, of
French-Canadian parentage,
from Berlin, New Hampshire.
I noticed that he was getting
up and treking off to church
every Sunday while I was ly
ing in bed.
“He was careful not to dis
turb me, but it was his ex
ample that disturbed me and
set me thinking. What is it in
the Catholic Church, I won
dered, that prompts its mem
bers, even when away from
home, to attend Mass every
Sunday, rain or shine? Yvon
made no effort to ‘sell’ me on
his religion by quoting Scrip
ture or by theological argu
ments. But his example was
doing this more effectively.
“Several years later I was
working at WJIM TV station
in Lansing and again my
roommate, Basil O’Hagan,
turned out to be a devout
Catholic. When I saw him get
ting ready for Sunday Mass,
I finally mustered up enough
courage to tell him I’d like to
go with him. He was delighted
to have me come and loaned
me his prayerbook so I could
follow the ceremonies of the
priest at the altar.
“The quiet reverence of the
worshipers and the whole de
votional atmosphere made me
feel I was truly in the house
of God. My interest in the
Faith was further deepened
when I met Kathryn Nolan, a
devout Catholic. Yvon, Basil
and Kathryn showed the in
fluence of their Faith upon
their lives and I perceived that
it was as good as it was power
ful.
“When I went to work at
TV station WANE in Fort
Wayne, I began instructions
with Father Matthew Lange in
Auburn, and completed them
with Father Thomas Lahey,
C.S.C., at Notre Dame, when
I came to the university’s TV
station WNDU. The Church, I
discovered, has a definite and
convincing answer for every
question I asked.
“This is because she speaks
with the divine authority be
stowed upon her by her Foun
der, Jesus Christ, when He
said: ‘Preach the , Gospel to
every creature.’ (Mark 16:15).
‘He who hears you, hears me;
and he who rejects you, re
jects me.’ (Lk. 10:16). Thus
does Jesus identify Himself
with Plis Church, His Mystical
Body. When I go to Mass with
Kathryn, now my wife, I go
with her to the Communion
rail to receive our Eucharistic
Lord, through whose grace I
am a member of that Mystical
Body.”
estss^sasa
A CRACK ON THE HEAD
a®
ISecteoy
By The R»v. So&ert £-1 t&hcrtoa «-
“Now, boys and girls,” said
the teacher, “I want you to be
very still — so still that you
can hear a pin drop.”
For a minute all was still,
and then a little
out: “Okay,
okay, let it
drop!”
In today’s
p r o gressive
schools, this
might get a
chuckle from
the teacher
and loud
guffaws (if
children know how to guffaw)
from the whole class. When I
was a kid in school, w-a-y
b-a-c-k in the BTV era (be
fore television), all it would
have provoked was a crack
on the head for the wiseguy.
I hate to join the ranks of
the gloomy prophets of doom
who say that kids have no
respect for their elders these
days. But no one really has
any choice about joining the
ranks. You get drafted now.
One disgruntled school
teacher handed in her resigna
tion with the following com
ment:
“In our public schools today,
the teachers are afraid of the
principals, the principals are
afraid of the superintendents,
the superintendents are afraid
of the board, the board mem
bers are afraid of the parents,
the parents are afraid of the
children, and the children are
afraid of nobody.”
Rather harsh words, per
haps, but there’s a measure
of truth in them. We don’t
mean to throw all the bricks
at public schools, however. We
Catholics are too often caught
up in today’s amazing toler
ance of disobedience.
Obedience, is stated simply,
as the virtue which make us
take orders from others for
God’s sake. It’s not a lost vir
tue. Every soldier practices it
to * some degree, or they’d
shoot him at dawn. Perhaps
before dawn. In our capitalis
tic society, almost everyone
has a boss, and unless he takes
orders he has to learn how to
live without eating.
Catholics who attend Mass
on Sunday and fast and ab
stain are being obedient to
Church laws. Every citizen of
the country is being some
what obedient to law or he’d
be behind bars.
But, and here’s the crux of
the problem, obedience means
not only doing what is com
manded — but being willing
to do it. Accepting orders
cheerfully, in other words.
This is where the kids come
in. They may avoid open war
fare with their parents, but
they often can get away with
everything short of open de
fiance.
How can parents’ orders be
thwarted without an open
break? It’s simple. All Junior
has to do is grumble and mur
mur as he carries out orders.
He may do the job half-heart
edly. He may argue and ques
tion and point out that “no
one else has to do this.”
There is a spirit of disobedi
ence in America today. Why?
Progressive education set the
pattern. “Reason with him,”
we were told. All this when
our motto should, have been,
“Speak softly and carry, a; big
stick,” — omitting th^j‘“speak
softly” on occasion. ■ s
Another reason: we spoil
the kids. A recent comprehen
sive survey of more than 60,-
000 Washington area high
school students showed that
one out of five boys 16 or old
er has his own auto. Another
two out of the five have free
use of the family car.
The basic reason for the dis
obedience of youth, I think is
our glorification of youth and
the consequent downgrading
of age and experience.
I heard a missionary from
Korea say last week that a
person of that country is flat
tered if you think he’s older
than he is. In this country,
you are courting a clobbering
if you add any years to a per
son’s age. Or if you reveal a
person’s right age, for that
matter. In other words, we do
not feel proud of age — nor
of the wisdom and experience
that come with the advancing
years.
Obedience is an essential
virtue. No nation, no business,
no family can function smooth
ly without it. That’s why it is
so important that we impart
to our young people a respect
for elders. And more than this
— a “yes sir” and “yes mam”
obedience to orders which
come from those who love
their children and know what
they’re talking about.
This virtue is meaningful,
too, in our relationship with
God. Our Creator requires
obedience first of all. Sacri
fices and prayers and penances
are of no value unless we give
priority to the first thing —
obedience.
If we don’t teach, require
and demand obedience — all
families will be like the one I
visited once. I watched in
amazement as the small boy
amused himself by driving
nails into the furniture. Re
covering myself a bit, I said
to my host:
“Joe, isn’t that an expensive
pastime your son has? How
can you afford it?”
“Oh, it’s not so bad, Father,”
he replied. “We get the nails
wholesale.”
Question
Box
By David Q. Lipiak
Q. Just what are Catholics
supposed to believe with re
gard to the doctrine of papal
infallibility? In some of the
explanations I have seen, pa
pal infallibility is not really
infallibility at all — at least
by the time all the distinctions
have been made. Isn't this also
a relatively new doctrine?
A. It is an integral part of
the framework of Catholicism
that the pope cannot err when
as the supreme, pastor and
teacher of all Christians he
defines certain truths under
certain circumstances.
THESE “certain truths” are
doctrines which concern faith
and morals or which are in
timately connected therewith.
Chief among these “certain
circumstances” are (1) that the
papal pronouncement be ex
cathedra (from the papal chair
and therefore publicly offi
cial); (2) that the pope have
the intention of binding all
the faithful by his statement;
and (3) that this intention be
somehow manifest — by the
tenor of the words used, for
example, or by the events
leading to the pronouncement.
As to its nature, papal in
fallibility should not be com
pared to an inspiration or a
revelation from God. Rather,
it is a charism or free gift of
the grace of divine assistance,
by which the Supreme Pontiff
is preserved from the possibil
ity of erring in defining faith
and morals. U. 4 .
AS ; TECHNICALLY sum-
marizetl by the Vatican! Coun
cil in 1870, papal infallibility
is that dogma “which teaches
as divinely revealed truth that
the Roman pontiff when
speaking ex cathedra — name
ly: when, as pastor and teach
er of all Christians, by virtue
of his supreme, apostolic au
thority, he defines that a
teaching regarding faith and
morals must be held true by
the universal Church — en
joys, through the divine assist
ance promised to him in the
(Continued on Page 5)
416
lullrtin
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, Ga. Send
notice of change of address to P. O. Box 320, Monroe, Ga.
REV. FRANCIS J. DONOHUE REV. R. DONALD KIERNAN
Editor Savannah Edition Editor Atlanta Edition
JOHN MARKWALTER
Managing Editor
Vol. 41 Saturday, February 4, 1961 No. 17
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