Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 4—THE BULLETIN, May 27, 1961 1 ’ ~~~
Survey Explodes Traffic Accident Myths
* jfa.
'Your Prayers, Please 9
An exhaustive study by a
nationally known insurance
company of street and high
way accidents, which took the
lives of some 47,200 and in
jured 3,425,000 persons in 1960,
refutes some
popular as-
sumpfi ons
abou t why
and when
such acci
dents occur
and confirms
others.
It is n o t
true, for ex
ample, that more young than
mature drivers are involved in
automobile accidents. In I960,
the number of drivers under
18 years of age killed in such
accidents was 2,270; the num
ber of drivers between 18 and
24, 10,760; the number of driv
ers between 25 and 64, 31,100;
and the number of drivers 65
and over, 3,070.
MIDDLE-AGED MENACE
In other words, 65.9 per cent
of the drivers killed in auto
mobile accidents were in the
mature ages when caution and
good judgment are supposed
to be ripest. These same ma
ture drivers also were involv
ed in 73.9 per cent of the acci
dents in which no fatalities
occurred. Not the reckless hot-
rodder but the sober middle-
aged driver is the greatest
menace on the streets and the
highways.
A second popular assump
tion is that the inexperienced
driver causes more accidents
than the experienced. But this,
too, is not borne out by the
statistics. Last year it, was the
JOHN C. O'BRIEN
drivers with one year or more
of driving experience who ac
counted for 97.4 per cent of
the fatal and 96 per cent of
the non-fatal accidents.
Fog, rain and snow contrib
ute to accidents, but most traf
fic accidents do not, as many
suppose, occur when weather
conditions are unfavorable. In
1960, most of the accidents
that resulted in deaths or in
juries happened when the sun
was shining and the streets
and roads were dry. More than
87 per cent of the persons
killed in automobile accidents
met their death in clear
weather and 79.2 per cent
when the streets were dry.
Although drivers involved in
accidents, when brought be
fore trial magistrates, often of
fer such excuses as, “my
brakes went bad,” “my steer
ing went out of control,” “my
windshield wiper conked out,”
actually most of the cars in
volved in accidents last year
were found to be in good con
dition hiechanically. Only
about 5 per cent were defec
tive.
Most people, if asked, prob
ably would say that most au
tomobile accidents occur at in
tersections. But they would be
wrong. Nearly 77 per cent of
the fatal accidents and 62 per
cent of the non-fatal accidents
in 1960 occurred when tffe cars
were proceeding straight on a
street or open highway.
Other assumptions about au
tomobile accidents were fully
borne out by the insurance
company’s study. It is true,
for example, that exceeding
the speed limit is the number
one cause of accidents, both
fatal and non-fatal.
Speeding caused 38.5 per
cent of last year’s road acci
dents. Proceeding when the
driver did not have the right-
of-way was found to be the
cause of 22.5 per cent; reckless
driving the cause of 13.5 per
cent. Driving off the road
caused the death of 5,050 driv
ers and the injuring of 215,-
800 persons.
It is true, as traffic safety
authorities repeated warn be
fore holidays, that traffic
deaths and injuries are heavi
est on week ends — Fridays*
Saturdays and Sundays. It is
then that traffic is densest and
intoxicated celebrators are
most likely to be at the wheel.
More than 20 per cent of the
persons in automobiles in 1960
lost their lives on Saturdays,
17.7 per cent on Sundays, 16
per cent on Fridays.
Traffic accidents also are
heaviest in the so-called rush
hours, from four to seven p.m.,
although the so-called “wee
hours,” one to six a.m., also
take a heavy toll. Of the per
sons killed in automobile acci
dents last year, 6,990 lost their
lives in the “rush hours,” 6,500
in the hours between one a.m.
and sunup.
Males may continue to sneer
at women drivers, but the in
surance company survey defi
nitely showed that they are
involved as drivers in only a
small percentage of the fatal
and non-fatal accidents. In
1960, 87.6 per cent of the cars
involved in fatal accidents and
81.3 per cent of those involved
in non-fatal accidents were
driven by males.
your horoscope
tiro
Rectory
9y tit* R«v. H. WSiartoa <*
Next to me in the railway ronomy announced our stand
car was a newspaper-reading in clear words: “Neither let
old man with a lighted candle there be found among you
protruding from each ear. I anyone that consults sooth-
didn’t say any thing, but after sayers, or observes dreams or
15 minutes I couldn’t stand it omens. Neither let there be
any longer.
“I hate to
be so curi
ous,” I said,
“but could
you tell me
why you
have those
lighted can
dles in your
ears?”
any wizard or charmer, nor
anyone that drinks pythonic
spirits, or fortune tellers, or
that seeks the truth from the
dead. For the Lord abhors all
these things.”
It’s all right, of course, to
consult a soothsayer of fortune
teller at the charity bazaar
just for laughs. No one will
blame you for believing some-
THE CATHOLIC ECUMENICAL MOVEMENT IN THE U. S.
WORD TO THE WHITE HOUSE
It Seems to Me
The Catholic ecumenical
movement in the United States
has now turned off the side
road into the main highway.
The Graymoor Conference on
Christian Unity from May 3rd
to 5th got
the m o v e-
ment off to a
good start
and from
now on it
will gather
m o mentum.
The Gray-
moor meet
ing was a
great success and the Society
of the Atonement deserves
commendation for this trium
phant step forward on the way
to Christian Unity.
COMPLEMENTARY WORKS
One of the most notable
talks at the Conference was
the address delivered by Mon
signor J. G. M. Willebrands,
secretary of the Secretariat for
Promoting Christian Unity,
Rome, Italy. He spoke on ecu
menism as an experience and
theological attitude and in the
course of the talk he came to
grips with a proglem that has
haunted many followers of the
ecumenical movement in
America: must we abandon
convert work in the United
States as a work that will con
flict with ecumenical work?
Msgr. Willebrands showed
that there is absolutely no rea
son to give up convert work,
that in fact, each work is con
genial and complimentary to
the other. For instance, a con
vert worker may instruct a
person who will eventually
prove to be a leader in the
ecumenical movement. Like
wise, the ecumenical worker
will find that almost inevitably
his efforts will bring about an
individual conversion. Thus in
REV. JOHN B. SHEERIN, C.S.P.
many ways the two lines of
apostolic activity are mutually
helpful.
Many of the talks made it
very obvious that ecumenical
work is radically altering the
whole tenor of the Catholic
approach to Protestants in
America. Formerly our‘apolo
getic approach relied heavily
on polemics. It was thought
that we could bring about the
conversion of non-Catholics
simply by argument, by the
sheer force of logic and his
torical facts.
Today that polemical ap
proach is fast disappearing. Fa
ther Weigel, for instance,
showed how the old rational
proofs for a “juridical” Church
are being replaced by positive
studies of the Church as it ac
tually appears in the Bible and
in tradition.
The liturgical movement,
bound up so closely with the
aims of the ecumenical move
ment, is also changing the im
age of the Church that we of
fer to Protestants. Father
Shawn Sheehan of St. John’s
Seminary, Boston spoke on
Liturgy and Reunion and
pointed out that today we em
phasize not the historical in
stitution of the sacraments and
their efficacy “ex opere opera-
to” but that the sacrament is
an act of Christ living here
and now in His Church.
“The liturgical apostolate
originated and developed,” said
Father Sheehan “without ex
plicit reference to the needs of
the ecumenical effort. As it
grew it became evident that in
many of its phases it had a
real value in the formation of
Catholic ecumenists, in actual
participation in the dialogue,
and in the creation of a more
favorable atmosphere among
the clergy and laity generally
for the advance of Christian
reunion.”
RADICAL MEMBERSHIP
In a recent Civilia Caltolica
article, Cardinal Bea said that
Myslici Corporis denies to he
retics and schismatics mem
bership in the Church only in
the full sense in which it is
attributed to Catholics, Father
Weigel discussed the question
as to what kind of membership
baptized Protestants do have
in the Church. He termed it
a radical membership (from
radix, root) and showed that
Baptism makes one a member
ber of the Mystical Body.
This membership is quite
different from that of a virtual
or potential member such as a
pagan who desires to do God’s
will and yet an adult Protes
tant does not share in a formal
membership such as a Cath
olic enjoys. Several other
speakers also treated this
question. At the very least we
can say that a baptized Protes
tant is not a formal heretic in
the New Testament sense.
Father Leeming of Heythrop
College, Oxford, England, pre
sented a superb paper on the
present direction of the non-
Catholic ecumenical move
ment. Taking issue with Fa
ther Weigel, he asserted that
Protestant religion is veering
away from the concept of “pri
vate exeprience” to that of the
need of a Church as a commu
nity of salvation.
Monsignor Lally spoke very
perceptively on the effect of
the Presidential election on the
religious climate of America
today, and Father Charles
Boyer, S.J. delineated the
trends in Catholic ecumenism.
All in all, it was a great meet
ing full of new ecumenical in
sights and bright hopes for the
future.
GOOD EXAMPLE WINS RADIO ANNOUNCER
Sharing Our Treasure
REV. JOHN A. O'BRIEN
Do you know how you can pie, and explaining the marks
best thank God for the gift which Christ stamped upon
of the true Faith? It’s by shar- His Church to show that it is
ing that gift with others' “The the true Church. This is illus-
most precious gift we have re- trated in the conversion of
ceived,” said Pope Pius XI, “is Charles F. LeSieur, radio an
nouncer at station KCLA, Pine
Bluff, Arkansas. “I attended
various churche s,” related
Charles, “including the Metho
dist and Church of Christ and
sang in the choir at St. An
drew’s Episcopal Church at
Jackson, Mississippi, for sev-
| eral years.
“They all differed from one
I another as to what doctrines
the only proportionate means Jesus taught and wanted us to
of gratitude in our power is to believe and practice. Founded
pass the faith we have receiv- on the principle of the private
ed to others. Then our thanks interpretation of the Bible,
offering is adequate: faith fox'there was no possibility of
faith, divine gift for divine'these denominations agreeing,
gift.” or nor even of the members
You can share the Faith within the same denomination,
through prayers, good exam-It was clear to me, however,
the gift of
faith. But
every gift in
proportion to
its value de
mands grati
tude towards
the donor.
Now the gift
of faith is so
priceless that
that Christ could not sanction
the teaching of conflicting doc_
trines, much less teach them
Himself, so I quit going to
church.
“In 1949 I married a lovely
Catholic girl, Billie Ann Dun
can. She never asked me to
change religions, but I could
see how much her religion
meant to her and what a pow
erful influence for good it was
in her life. She went off to
Sunday Mass, rain or shine.
She said her daily prayers,
kept close to God and set an
example that was more power
ful than any words. Like the
sun breaking through the
clouds, her love of God shone
through her actions.
“I started attending Sunday
Mass and was impressed by
the deep earnestness and rev
erence of the worshippers: no
(Continued on Page 6)
The Kennedy administration
is trying my temper in the
matter of federal school aid.
To see my children ignored, as
if the government cared noth
ing about them, and only
about public
school chil
dren, is an-
n o y i n g
enough. But
I am tempt
ed to see red
when Con
gress pro
poses, as did
the last Con
gress, to count my youngsters
in determining how much
money to hand out to my state,
and then to count them out
when the money is disbursed.
Let no one misunderstand
me. I cannot think of the pub
lic schools with anything but
gratitude; they educated me
for the most part, and if they
hadn’t been there where I
grew up, I would have had
very little education at all. I
was proud, a few years ago, to
be the speaker at one of the
reunions of my public high
school class.
SOME PEOPLE SEEM to
leap to the conclusion that if
you defend the right of inde
pendent schools, you must be
antagonistic to the public
schools. That is nonsense. All
American schools are impor
tant parts of the educational
picture. If somebody proposed
starving out the public schools,
I would raise up in wrath;
and I think I can be excused
for speaking out against the
starving of indepdent schools.
Nothing less than that, in
my opinion, is involved in fed
eral aid. If federal aid becomes
national policy, it will mount
into countless billions, eating
up colossal chunks of the peo
ple’s money in withheld in
come taxes; and if independent
schools are frozen out, they
will find the financial com
petition crushing.
I HAVE EDUCATED, and
am educating, five children at
my own expense, not because
I have anything against public
schools (after all, I want all
children educated) but because
I have a conviction that the
best-educated person is one
who, along with his' math and
science and literature and
whatnot, has been given reli
gious knowledge and insight.
Spiritual and moral literacy,
I hold, is of paraimount im
portance, and is best gained in
a school which includes it in
the curriculum. With the help
of such schools, I am giving to
America five fine young peo
ple; the kind of citizens most
needed by the nation and the
world. I don’t think J ought to
be unduly penalized, finan
cially, for doing so..
MY YOUNGSTERS have
taken, or are taking (depend
ing on age), all the courses re
quired by state authorities.
The schools they attend more
than meet every standard. The
state helps other parents to do
this for their children; it does
not help me. I am annoyed
over that; but only, annoyed.
I have accepted with good
nature what I consider in-
JOSEPH BREIG
equitable treatment in the use
of my school tax dollars. But
federal aid is another ques
tion; as I said, once started, it
will mount astronomically, and
people will find that they have
little or no control over it.
Therefore I am opposed to
federal aid; but if it is going
to be adopted, then I insist
that my children, and other
independent - school children,
not be left out. Otherwise the
independent schools will die,
and a federal monopoly of ed
ucation will be the eventual
result, administered by a gi
gantic bureaucracy in Wash
ington.
PRESIDENT KENNEDY ar
gues for federal aid on the
ground that it. is necessary in
order to insure the fullest ed
ucation for American young
people. If that is so, why does
he, and why do his advisors,
behave as if the 6,800,000
youngsters in independent
schools did not exist, or at
least are not worth bothering
about?
What is worse, why does the
presidentjl ai 1 ow his congress-
continued on Page 6)
Daughter of the womb of her, Loved till the doom of her,
Thought of the brain of her, Heart of her side, She joyed and
grieved in me Hoped, believed in me God grew fain of her,
and she died.
—(Francis Thompson with certain qualifications)
* * *
• LAST MAY I addressed a letter in these columns to
the Blessed Mother, and my own dear mother on earth. This
May they are together in heaven. Only a few days ago, as I
write this, the wonderful lady whom God in His great mercy
gave me to be my mother has gone to join the company of
the angels and the saints. All her days have been a prelude
to this moment and I know she is at Home as she never
was in this vale of tears. The lovely lady who gave me a
body possessed of a soul and taught me to know and love
and serve God had her share of sorrows. Today, she knows
joy that will have no end. While I mourn her passing, I can
still rejoice at the peace that is hers and the beauty that will
have no ending. I eagerly await the day when I can be with
her forever and there will be no more separations, no more
pain and suffering.
* * *
• ALL CHILDREN, I suppose, look upon their mother
as a kind of Queen. Yet in these days when womanhood is
more often despoiled and mothers are not always what their
beautiful title denotes, I was blessed in the mother whom
God chose from all eternity to be mine. There are hundreds
who can bear testimony to this fact, although I could be for
given for being prejudiced. A holy Jesuit who had known
my mother since childhood told me that she resembled
the Blessed Mother more than any woman he had ever
known in her pilgrimage through life. At her funeral, she
was extolled for the beautiful virtues of purity, humility
and charity. What more Marylike virtues? She was born
on the feast of the Guardian Angels and she died on the feast
of Our Lady of Good Counsel. - - ■
, * *, * ’ - ■
• THE DEATH of one’s mother is the greatest sorrow
this side of the grave. I have always counted having such a
mother as mine next to the gift of Faith itself. She was a
woman among women and many have called her blessed al
ready. Francis Thompson wrote of another and I borrow
now: “. . . her spirit was lineal to that which sang the
Magnificat.” This is an age of ecumenicalism. As a non-
Catholic, her daughter embraced a faith alien to hers but
which she always held in utmost reverence. She had close
childhood and professional friends who were Catholics. As
one Catholic friend told me at her wake: “Ah, if I as a
Catholic could only begin to practice the goodness and cha
rity which was innate to your mother. As in life, so in
death, her funeral brought those of all faiths: Christian
Scientists, Baptists, Congregationalists, Episcopalians, Jews
together in a common mourning with Catholic laymen,
priests and nuns. It was a tribute to the holy life she lived.
* * *
• AND NOW AGAIN it is May and in my humanness I
shed tears for the loss of one who loved me with such ten
derness and generosity, who was ever the valiant woman of
the Gospel. Yet I knew that my mother and the Blessed
Mother whom she imitated so beautifully and graciously
all her life are together at long last talking about their chil
dren and the little daily things of Nazareth and even Paw
tucket. My mother loved me with an abiding love. What can
separate me from her love that is bound eternally in the
love of the Sacred Heart? Nothing can separate me from the
love of God nor can anything separate me from the love of
this mother of mothers! May her soul and the souls of all
such valiant mothers rest in peace.
The old fellow ignored me, thing so obviously true as the
so I kept quiet. But curiosity card which tells you that “you
won again after another 15 are witty, charming, handsome
minutes. So I tapped the man a nd strong.” And as far as
on the knee and said, “I’m “pythonic spirits” are con-
terribly sorry to be so curious, earned, a little shot before din-
but why do you wear those ner never harmed anyone,
lighted candles in your ears?” But when we take these
The old fellow smiled help- things seriously, it’s time to
lessly and said, “It’s no use have a spiritual checkup,
talking to me — with these There are millions who fail to
lighted candles in my ears I see that astrology is a super-
can’t hear a thing.” stition. Many great persons,
Ridiculous. I always heard including Hitler, depended
that it’s better to leave the upon astrologers to guide
candles unlighted. them.
It’s still a mystery to me We can forgive the people of
why the old man had the can_ the middle ages who counted
ales in his ears anyway. The on the stars too much. They
only thing I can figure out is didn’t have television and ice
that he was born under the cream cones to keep them-
sign of Taurus the Bull (April selves amused. But it’s down-
20 to May 14) and thought he right tragic to see enlightened
looked like a bull that way. It moderns letting the stars tell
would be better if he didn’t them what to do.
light the candles. But if you honestly feel that
It’s not so ridiculous to fig- the stars ha y e decreed that
ure that the gentleman was y /earm S candj.es m your ears
taking his horoscope too seri- £ £ ood f ° r your rheumatism,
ously. Many persons are afraid So adea d and wear them,
to make a move without call- du f ^ d ° n ^ , Sldy enough to
ing Taurus, or Aries, or Can- Bght them, please,
cer, or Aquarius — or one of
their representatives on this
planet. These representatives
make a good bit of money by
being on friendly terms with
the stars.
This kind of star-gazing is
known as. astrology, the so-
called science which pretends
to interpret the influence of
heavenly bodies on human af
fairs. For a small fee, its ex
ponents will explain your
horoscope.
Your horoscope, or nativity,
(as every newspaper reader
should know) is a diagram of
the heavens at the time of
your birth. A skillful reader of
horoscopes can tell you what
temperament you have, what
diseases you’re likely to con
tact, and what fortunes or ca
lamities will probably come
your way.
Reading stars and interpret
ing horoscopes is nothing new.
The Egyptians and Babylon
ians, the Greek and Romans —
one and all, they took these
things seriously. One reason
for the ancient interest in pre
dicting events from the stars
was that the astrologers were
real scientists, too. Only after
Copernicus came along did as
trology tread a separate path
from that of the real science.
Astrology, a form of gen
uine superstition, should not
be confused with astronomy.
The later is a scientific study
of the heavenly bodies. And in
this day, when Conrad Hilton
is making plans to build a
hotel on the moon, astronomy
is a very important science in
deed.
Astrology, however, is un
scientific and contrary to our
faith. Saints and sinners are
often born in the same time
and in the same place. Maybe
your horoscope says, you
should be sweet-tempered, but
you’ll have something to say
about that, I’ll wager.
When we think that the
stars influence human affairs
and determine the course of
events, what happens to Di
vine Providence? What hap
pens to our free wills? It is
God who directs the affairs of
men, and we have a hand in
making things happen. It’s a
sad state of affairs if we have
to consult some star before
making a decision.
The ancient Book of Deute-
By David Q. Liptak
Q. How do we answer ihe
objeciion that the Blessed
Virgin Mary cannot be the
Mother of God since God
existed from all eternity,
whereas Mary is only a crea
ture?
A. The objection that Mary
is not the Mother of God be
cause she is a creature can
easily proceed from an erron
eous conception of how and
in what respect the notion of
person is distinct from the no
tion of nature.
OBVIOUSLY Our Blessed
Lady could| not have given
birth to Christ’s divinity, for
in his divine nature he existed
from all ages. But it should
also be clear after a moment’s
reflection that Mary could not
have given birth to Christ’s
humanity either, for a mother
cannot bring a humanity into
the world. Human natures
have no mothers; only persons
are born. And in this case, the
person to whom Mary gave
birth was not a human per
son, but a divine person, the
Son of God, who assumed a
human nature in addition to
his divine nature.
THE SOLUTION to the ob
jection lies in the fact that
Christ possesses not one, but
two natures, divine and hu
man. Yet he is still one per
son, a divine person. As God
he was generated by the Fa
ther before time began; as
man, he was born of Mary at
a specific time in history.
WHEN CHRIST said “I,”
then, he meant “I, God.” But
when Christ was asked what
he was, divine or human, he
could answer that he was
both. Because Christ Our Lord,
uniquely, had two natures,”
writes Frank Sheed in an at
tempt to put forward an ele
mentary solution for begin
ners in theology, “he could
give two answers to the ques-
(Continued on Page 6)
®hr HullrtUt
416 8TH ST., AUGUSTA, GA.
Published fortnightly by the Catholic Laymen’s Association of
Georgia, Inc., with the Approbation of tne 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 MARK WALTER
Managing Editor
Vol- 41 Saturday, May 27, 1961 No. 26
ASSOCIATION OFFICERS
GEORGE GINGELL, Columbus President
MRS. DAN HARRIS, Macon Vice-President
1OA4 GRIS I) IN, Atlanta _ Vice-President
NICK CAMERIO, Macon . (Secretary
JOHN T. BUCKLEY, Augusta Treasure!
ALVIN M. McAULlFFE, Augusta Auditor
JOHN MARKW ALTER, Augusta Executive Secretary
CECILE FERRY, Augusta Financial Secretary