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PAGE 4—THE BULLETIN, February 17, 1962
The Christian Way
n*****
UNITY MADE IT POSSIBLE
The report of His Excellency,
Bishop McDonough, concerning the
development of the Diocese of Savan
nah during the past five years must be
heartening to every member of the
Diocese.
Many times they have been called
upon to give generously of their
prayers and their financial support
towards the work, not only of their
respective parishes, but of a Diocese
which spans eighty-eight counties and
counts only 30,000 Catholics in its fold.
Considering that the 30,000 Cath
olics of the Savannah Diocese includes
men, women, and children and not
30,000 Church contributors, the pro
gress throughout the Diocese since
1957 is hardly short of amazing.
The development of the Diocese is
even more notable in light of'the fact
that the growth experienced over the
past five years is not the result of a
pre-conceived plan of organized ex
pansion.
Instead, it would appear to be a re
flection of a mounting enthusiasm for
the cause of Christ and His Church
on the part of our people, led by a
zealous and Apostolic Bishop, and of a
growing awareness that the Catholic
Church in south Georgia is not just a
hodge-podge of parishes scattered
over 36,000 square miles.
The gains, both spiritual and tem
poral, since February of 1957 are the
result of 30,000 people praying, work
ing, sacrificing IN UNION WITH
ONE ANOTHER, not so much as
members of this parish or that, but
as members of a potentially GREAT
Diocese, the Diocese of Savannah.
We prayerfully hope that the past
is a portent of the future. In Febru
ary of 1957 the accomplishments re
ported in this edition of THE BUL
LETIN were only future possibilities.
Today, they are accomplished fact.
Catholics of the Diocese of Savan
nah look forward with anticipation
to the work which lies ahead in ex
tending the Kingdom of God in South
Georgia.
Praying, working, sacrificing TO
GETHER, they can, with the help of
Almighty God, make many more pos
sibilities of the future accompished
fact.
The European Common Market—A Trojan Horse?
Sum
REV. JOHN B. SHEERIN, C.S.P.
“Something is rotten in the
state of Denmark” according
to “Hamlet.” There are Danes
today who claim there is
something offensive and dan
gerous i n
the European
Common
Market. That
something is
Roman
Catholic in
fluence. Now
that Den-
m a r k has
applied for
admission to the six-nation
combine, a debate is going on
in that country regarding the
“Catholic peril” that member
ship in the Common Market
might bring to Denmark.
It is true that there is a Ro
man Catholic predominance in
several of the nations in the
Common Market. But one
Danish paper points out that
the Danish opposition comes
not from Protestant church
men, for the most part, but
from political Leftists.
THE REAL DANGER
The editor says that fear of
the Roman Catholic Church’s
influence would be a healthy
reaction to- the Common Mar
ket if the fear stemmed from
a desire to safeguard the Gos
pel values of the Reformation.
Instead, according to the edi
tor, it derives from a fear that
political Leftists in Denmark
might lose out if Catholic in
fluence were to enter Den
mark through the Common
Market.
His conclusion was that the
“Catholic danger” was highly
exaggerated and that Denmark
should abandon any thought
of “isolationism.” He saw Dan
ish membership in the great
European alliance as a chal
lenge to Danish cultural life
but not a threat. “Do not let
us be hypnotized by Rome . . .
But let .us try, undismayed, to
make ourselves felt within the
European fellowship which is
the text of the day and a must
of our time.”
Earlier in December, the
Danish ambassador in Paris,
Eyvind Bartels, delivered an
address in Copenhagen to a
group of students. He discuss
ed the “Catholic danger” in
the Common Market. Admit
ting that there was much talk
about it in Denmark, he said
the danger was overrated.
The Danish diplomat claim
ed that the . real danger was
not Roman Catholicism but
atheism. He bluntly asserted
that “the religious problem in
Denmark is not one of Protes
tantism versus Roman Catholi
cism but rather that the
Danes are atheists.”
Bartels raised the question
aS to the cause of this preval
ence of atheism and suggested
that perhaps the Reformation
was not such a happy libera
tion after all. It induced a lib
eration from the Church but
asked for a direct contact with
Christ. But Bartels said that
the fact is that few are capa
ble as Luther was — of
grasping the idea of God di
rectly through Christ.
He went on to say that the
Catholic Church bridged this
gap. “The strength of Roman
Catholicism lies in a much
clearer realization than Lu
ther’s of human limitation and
that the essence of Christianity
is humility, and I venture to
assert that for this very reason
Catholicism has created more
free people than Protestantism
has.”
'HEALTHY CURE'
Another voice in the debate
on the “Catholic danger” was
that of Rev. Carl Hermansen,
former Minister of Church Af
fairs in Denmark. In the
Vendsyssel Tidende, he said:
“It is of course possible that
Roman Catholic efforts will be
intensified (after Danish en
trance into the Common Mar
ket) but honestly, would that
be so terrible? Suppose that
the 30,000 Roman Catholics be
came 300,000 under the impact
of our joining the Common
Market, i.e., a minority Church
which we would come up
against time after time and
must reckon and compete
with. Might this not be a heal
thy curse? . . . Might not the
opening of the fronteirs pave
the way for intercourse across
the boundaries, even the cpn-
fessional boundaries — might
it not be possible for us to
learn something from them
and they from us? At any rate,
it is a poor argument that by
opening the frontiers we open
the doors to the big, bad wolf
in Rome to come and eat us.”
From time to time Catholics
in the United States have had
to reassure our Protestant
compatriots that the Vatican is
not grasping for power in
America. There is every indi
cation that the European Com
mon Market will develop into
a United States of Europe.
When that day comes, and 'it
will not be long delayed, Eu
ropean Catholics will have to
offer similar reassurances to
the Protestants of Europe.
DORIS REVERE PETERS
dborid
n&wer&
YOUTH
'MOST EXCITING TIME'
IS BORING TO TEENAGER
.n
STATES SHOULD MEET OWN SCHOOL PROBLEMS
It Seems to Me
'I ENTERED INTO MY HERITAGE/ SAYS CONVERT
Sharing Our Treasure
There are some brilliant
Jewish scholars who have
thought their way into the
Catholic Church in recent
years. Drs. Karl Stern and
Kenneth Simon, both psychia
trists, Dr. Herbert Thomas
S c h w a r tz,
professor of
philoso p h y
at Xavier
Uni versity,
Cincin n a t i,
and Dr. Her
bert Ratner,
former pro
fessor in the
Loyola Uni
versity Medical School in Chi
cago are typical of these intel
lectuals. The breakthrough
comes when they realize that
Christ was. not only a great
prophet and teacher but also
God-incarnate.
This is illustrated in the
conversion of Bernard Cohen
of New York City. “I was
reared in conservative Juda
ism,” related Bernard, “and at
tended religious services every
Sabbath morning. For four
years I attended a Hebrew
high school after regular
school hours, and thus became
quite proficient in Hebrew.
“I was on a long hike with
a friend one day when we dis
covered a Catholic Eastern rite
convent. We decided to visit it
and were welcomed by two
gracious nuns: Sister Thomas,
S.S.M.I., the principal, and Sis
ter Rose, the superior. Their
REV. JOHN A. O'BRIEN
grace and friendliness shatter
ed my image of nuns, and I
returned to graduation exer
cises and even organized pil
grimages of my fellow stu
dents to Cooper Union.
“A Catholic friend, Anthony
Gagliano, deepened my inter
est in Catholicism and we had
many long discussions. Natu
rally the stumbling block for
a Jew is the Catholic doctrine
of the divinity of Christ. But
one Saturday morning the fol
lowing passage in Jeremias
startled me as a revelation:
‘Behold the days shall come,
saith the Lord, and I will
make a new covenant with the
house of Israel, and with the
house of Juda . . v and I will be
their God and they shall be my
people’ (31: 31-33).
“The new covenent, I per
ceived, is the New Testament
in which we see the fulfill
ment of the prophecies con
cerning the long - promised
Messias, Jesus Christ. Hence it
is that the Auostle Paul tells
us: ‘We have such a high
priest, who has taken his seat
at the right hand of the throne
of Majesty in the heavens, a
minister of the Holies, and of
the true tabernacle, which the
Lord erected and not man’
(Heb. 8: 1-2).
“In short, Jesus is the Mes
sias and Catholicism is the ful
fillment of Judaism. It is the
legacy intended for every Jew.
Like the Apostle Paul, I de
termined to enter into my
heritage and, in doing so, I did
not cease to be a Jew any
more than a son ceases to be
a son when he secures the leg
acy bequeathed to him by his
father. It is only the Jew who
becomes a Christian that is
faithful and obedient to the
prophets of the Old Testament.
“I had several conferences
with Father Andrew J. O’Reil
ly, chaplain at New York Uni
versity, and, along with my
Jewish fiancee Ruth, took a
complete course of instruction
from Father James T. Gorman
at St. Bernard’s Church. The
evidence of the divinity of
Christ was overwhelming. He
not only declared Himself to
be the Son of God but proved
it by His miracles, particular
ly by the tremendous miracle
of His Resurrection.
“Karl Stern’s scholarly ‘Pil
lar of Fire’ deepened our con
viction of the truth of the
Catholic religion and will con
vince any open-minded read
er. Along with 12 other bril
liant converts, Karl .tells the
story of his conversion in
‘Where Dwellest Thou?’ (Jul
ian Messner, Inc., New York),
a gripping and fascinating
book. With humble and grate
ful hearts Ruth and I entered
into our heritage in St. Ber
nard’s Church when Father
Gorman poured upon our bow
ed heads the waters of Bap
tism.”
Former President Eisen
hower told the Michigan Con
stitutional Convention that the
states should take back some
government functions now un
der federal control, and should
meet the
needs of
their own
people in-
stead of
“leaving it
to Washing
ton.”
One prob
lem which
the states
should solve themselves, in my
opinion, is aid to education.
Mr. Eisenhower said the
Founding Fathers laid down
the principle that those who
would be free must “stand
eternal watch against undue
centralization of power in gov
ernment.”
There is surely no area in
which undue centralization is
more dangerous to freedom
than the area of education.
If Washington begins to fi
nance schools, Washington will
begin to tell teachers what to-
teach. The individual initiative
which is at the heart of Ameri
ca’s liberties arid of America’s
progress will suffer.
Mr. Eisenhower said that the
Michigan Constitutional Con
vention should define the
state’s responsibilities. The
people then should assert the
authority needed to meet the
needs. And other states should
follow the example.
Mr. Eisenhower’s advice is
in keeping with the social
teachings of the Church, which
stresses “subsidiarity.”
It is too bad that difficulties
of expression often get in the
way of popular understanding
of vital principles,
“Subsidiarity” is the kind of
word that tends to make peo
ple stop reading. It looks for
bidding.
It, simply means, however,
that an individual should do
for himself what he can do for
himself, and that larger groups
should not take over the prop
er functions of smaller groups.
A man needs no committee
to blow his nose. He needs
no association to bathe h i s
children, cook the family
meals, plant his garden, or do
his daily work.
The educating that parents
can do, they should do. The
educating that a school dist
rict, or a parish, can do, it
should do. The educating that
a state can do, it should do.
Mr. Eisenhower proposed
that a study be made to de
cide which fields of taxation
should belong to states, and
which to the federal govern
ment. “Local governments,”
he said, “get tired of living
just on property taxes.”
Mr. Eisenhower was not
talking specifically about the
aid to education problem. But
right there, he went to the
heart of it.
Whatever aid to education is
needed should be/Supplied by
the states, except in a few spe
cial cases. The states can sup
ply it if the federal govern-
JOSEPH BREIG
ment will stop monopolizing
the best-sources of tax income.
Mr. Eisenhower warned that
the states must be alert to
meet their responsibilities if
we are to preserve “the kind
of America we have known.”
He emphasized that “the
preservation of the states as
vigorous, powerful govern
ment entities is essential to
permanent individual freedom
and national growth.”
Why is this so? It is so be
cause American liberty and
American power depend ulti
mately on the industry and in
ventiveness of millions of in
dividuals.
Encouragement of personal
enterprise is the genius of the
American way of life. It is
what has made America what
America is.
I would be opposed to fed
eral aid to education even if
it did not discriminate against
schools in which religion is
taught along with the other
branches of knowledge.
If there are really a few
states too poor to see to the
proper education of every
child, then to that extent the
other states, through the fed
eral government, should help.
For the rest of it, the states
should meet their own school
problems. And the states
should encourage parents to
take their share of educational
responsibility. This could be
done by granting tuition cre
dits to parents who relieve
public schools of the cost of
educating their children. Or it
could be done, at least in large
part, by allowing tax deduc
tions or exemptions for tui
tion costs, within reason.
That way, liberty and pro
gress would be fostered.
Dear Doris:
I’m 17 and a junior in high
school. My mother doesn’t al
low me to date. I have to miss
all the parties, dances and
games. I have been going
around with a boy for about
two months now. My mother
doesn’t know this but every-
time I want to see him I have
to meet him some place. I
don’t like sneaking around any
more than you do, but what
can I do? My boy friend comes
over to my house but my mo
ther is always mad at me
when he leaves.
I though that being a teen
ager would be the most excit
ing time of life — a chance to
go out with many boys so that
later the right man might be
chosen. Well, being 17 has
brought nothing but problems
and boring moments. Tell me,
is it so wrong for me to have
any dates while in high
school? Am I really too
young?
Edra
Are you old enough to un
derstand why your mother
acts as she does? She doesn’t
approve of this boy and isn’t
in favor of your seeing him at
all, even at home. After he
leaves she gets mad at herself
—not you—for giving in and
allowing him to visit. She
probably knows of your sneak
ing out to meet him. This
makes her unsure of your
judgment and uncertain about
how many social privileges to
give you, regardless of how
old you are.
The teen years can be fun.
But nothing is fun when col
ored by deceit. Why not stop
sneaking out? You will have
much more fun when you are
honest with yourself and your
mother — when you really be
gin obeying the Fourth Com
mandment.
Discuss your social activities
with your mother. Admit you
have been wrong and are sor
ry. I have a hunch that when
you begin to cooperate with
her and the rules she will re
lax the rules. But you have to
prove that you are a reliable
17-year-old able to accept 17-
year-old privileges and respon
sibilities.. ,
# * *
BROTHER'S GIRL FRIEND
Dear Doris:
I have a problem concerning
my deaf brother and a girl
who calls herself my friend
when my brother is home. He
goes to school and is home
only on long week ends. He
hasn’t associated with girls
much before because he was
shy. Now he and this girl have
struck up a fairly close friend
ship and write to each other.
The girl and I had a fight
after my brother went away to
school and haven’t made up
yet. Now she wants to make
up. The only trouble is she
wants all or nothing and
would break off with my bro
ther which would hurt him. I
don’t think she should use me
as an instrument to get what
she wants. Maybe I have too
much pride.
My brother and I get along
very well and understand each
other and I don’t want to spoil
his chances for a time friend
ship with this girl because she
is really a nice girl except for
that one characteristic. What
should I do
Frances
It appears as if this girl’s
friendship has helped your
brother overcome his shyness.
It may even have helped him
accept his deafness. This kind
of help can never be repaid.
Isn’t it worth a little swallow
ed pride? We all have to swal
low some pride occasionally—
it’s good for us. Sometimes it
helps us grow in self-under
standing. So make friends with
the girl but don’t try to judge
her motives for friendship. We
are not qualified to judge the
conduct and motives of oth
ers .When we do we often con
fuse our own characteristics
for the characteristics of oth
ers.
Your devotion to your bro
ther is obvious. This is fine.
Be careful it doesn’t develop
into interference. This would
not be so fine. Even though he
is deaf, and shy because of it,
I’ll bet he can, manage his own
friendships without too much
family help. And in this par
ticular friendship it would be
better for him to feel he could
manage it without any help.
WANTS PHOTO
Dear Doris:
There is a boy I see only
•at dances. He told my friend
that he wanted my picture. I
don’t wmnt to give him my
picture because he may tell all
his friends that we are going
together. Am I doing the right
thing? : : : vv ;
A.
Yes. You usually give your
picture only to close friends.
D oris Revere Peters answers
letters through her coluimij not
by mail. Please do not ask for
a personal reply. Young readers
are invited to write to her in
care of The Bulletin.
DOOLEY MEMORIAM 1961-1962
By Barbara C. Jencks
“Lovely are the woods, dark and deep
But 1 have promises to keep
And miles to go before I sleep.”—Robert Frost
• IT WAS one year ago that Dr. Tom Dooley left this
world for a better one. He also left this world a better place
and his memory is still strong. Everywhere I have gone,
there has been an intense interest in this young jungle doc
tor and his story. The good that he has done has lived after
him. He is remembered as few of us will be in but a year’s
passing since his death in the “rusty jungle” of New York
City. Of all the people written about in this column, none
received the response of the Dooley articles. Of all the
people met in a lifetime, few have left the imprint on heart,
mind and soul that Dr. Dooley did. He proved the truth that
we sometimes begin to doubt that the good and holy can
also be attractive, personable—“normal?”
• OF ALL the arguments to sanctity carried on in these
pages, Tom Dooley and his life and times are the answer.
He liked a drink, he loved life to its fullest, but he knew
the reason for his being. He knew that he had an immortal
soul as well as great talents as musician and doctor. He of
ten said he would love a house in Santa Barbara overlooking
the sea, and sit before a fire with a drink — bourbon on the
rocks, but he knew this would never fill the yearning, the
vocation that God had given him. And so he left all this
to go to a people on the other side of night who knew no
thing about split level houses, conventible sedans and
Brooks Brother suits and pastel cocktail lounges. Is not
this the test of a man’s greatness that he can lay down his
life for those “who do not have it so good?” He did the right
thing for the right reason.
® DR. TOM took Our Lord at his word and set an ex
ample that every Christian man and woman today could
follow. All of us do not need to go to Laos or Tanganyika
or Cuba to prove our love of God. Our jungles and mission
hospitals can be no further away than the next room or
the next desk in an office. Tom’s talents were of healing
and cheering and his work won a world-wide press which
would spur others on in less glamorous but none the less
important and holy works. Many complain that Tom Dooley
was too glamorized and publicized. God has a hand in all
these events. His story, well publicized as it was, brought
other men and women to greater courage and inspiration.
Think of the people who have been influenced by reading
the well publicize doctor’s story! I cannot begin to tell of
the hundreds of letters which came to my desk from cancer
patients, students in college, doctors, nurses, shut-ins who
were given new hope by his story. Someone cared. Some
one gave and someone suffered. And so just a year ago, a
young man who loved and lived among us, loving the little
things and hoping for the big things, fulfilled his promises
and finished his miles. The woods are his to enjoy through
all eternity. Let us never forget his example.
By David Q. Liptak
Q. This story was recently
told me as a joke: Someone
asked a priest whether it is
all right to smoke a cigarette
while praying. His answer
was that whereas it is wrong
to smoke while praying, it is
all right to pray while smok
ing. Maybe distinctions like
this are logical — I don't
know anything about the
fine points of religion — but
they make a travesty of re
ligion, in my opinion. And
such jokes only harm the
Church. Am I being too
Pharisaical?
A. The much-retold story re
ferred to above — i.e., that
whereas it is wrong to smoke
while praying but all right to
pray while smoking — ife no
more than an especially vivid
concretization of a theological
principle. The Cistercian Fa
ther M. Eugene Boylan men
tions it in his already classic
This Tremendous Lover (New
man: 1947), precisely in order
to draw the distinction be
tween formal prayers and in
formal prayer. “Whereas the
former demands suitable cir
cumstances,” he writes, “the
latter may be used anywhere.”
FORMAL PRAYER ordi
narily implies the use of (1) a
fixed, approved formula, such
as the Our Father, Christ’s
own prayer, or the Hail Mary
and (2) a traditional prayerful
attitude or posture (kneeling
with folded hands, for in
stance).
SOME FORMAL prayer
should be said every day: this
is a prime rule of practical
Christian living. Involuntary
distractions during such pray
ers are inevitable, human na-
(Continued on Page 5)
© Sulktto
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. Subscription included in
membership in Catholic Laymen’s Association.
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
REV. LAWRENCE LUCREE, REV. JOHN FITZPATRICK,
Associate Editors, Savannah Edition.
Vol. 42
Saturday, February 17, 1962
No. 19
ASSOCIATION OFFICERS
GEORGE GINGELL, Columbus President
MRS. DAN HARRIS, Macon Vice-President
NICK CAMERIO, Macon Secretary
JOHN T. BUCKLEY, Augusta Treasurer
ALVIN M. McAULIFFE, Augusta 1 Auditor
JOHN MARKWALTER, Augusta Executive Secretary
MISS CECILE FERRY, Augusta Financial Secretary