Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 6—THE BULLETIN, June 9, 1962
Interest In Religion Widespread
RUSSIAN HOTELS REFLECT LOW REGARD FOR MAN
Each New Day In Russia Proves
An Adventure For Westerner
(The author of the following
article, now a teacher at St.
John’s Home Missions Semi
nary, Little Rock, Ark., wound
up three years of studies in
Europe with a four-week tour
of the Soviet Union. Because
he traveled with a leftist po
litical group, he had freedoms
not ordinarily granted Western
visitors.)
By Father James F. Drane
(NCWC News Service)
Every day in Russia was an
adventure. Every new day
brought new experiences,
strange acquaintances, and at
least a little suspense and in
trigue.
The very first day in the
country was undoubtedly the
most exciting, because every
thing was new and adventurous.
We arrived at our hotel about
2 p.m. It was an old tene
ment-type red brick building,
with a store front. On one side
there was a rather large bar
ber shop (all women barbers)
and on the other a dilapidated
movie house.
Two worn marble steps led
from the pavement into the
small lobby. On the left there
was a booth, big enough for
two people, which served as
the registration desk. There
were two or three terrible por
traits hanging on the wall. A
patriarchally bearded man was
occupying the only lounge chair.
We filled out questionnaries
in duplicate and triplicate, giv
ing all the usual information.
The problem of assigning rooms
seemed to be a very compli
cated one. We all waited three-
quarters of an hour while the
woman in charge and the In
tourist representative figured
and refigured, and juggled and
rejuggled, names and room
numbers. Finally they came
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up with a solution.
Right beyond the lobby there
was an old elevator with a ca
pacity of two persons. Two of
our group piled in with their
luggage, only to find that it
was out of order. There were
no porters; everyone grabbed
his bag and started sturggling
up the narrow stairway.
My room was on the third
floor. We had been handed little
slips of paper with our names
and room numbers, and these
were presented to a girl await
ing us at the top of the steps.
She seemed very friendly and
each time she smiled she show
ed a mouth full of gold teeth.
(Many of the women have bad
teeth and the most common
coverings are not gold but stain
less steel.) Upon presentation
of the paper I was handed a
big iron key attached by a
cord to a heavy wooden ball
with the room number crudely
printed on the outside. I final
ly worked the lock and in I
went.
The room looked old but very
clean. Two iron beds, a round
wooden table, and a little wood
en closet made up the furnish
ings. It looked fine to me after
having spent about three days
on a Russian train. I was wear
ing light khaki pants, a white
teeshirt, and a white nylon sport
shirt.
The engine had been a coal-
burner all the way ( I saw only
one electric engine) and all
I wanted to do was to get out
of these girmy clothes that had
all acquired the same veneer
of good old black railroad dirt.
I desperately needed a bath to
wash off the soot of three days.
I had just started taking some
clean clothes out of the bag when
I heard quite a commotion out
in the hall. A large group of
young East Germans had ar
rived just ahead of us. Now there
were four or five of them out
side my door trying to get some
information from the floor girl
about toilet facilities.
First there were a few at
tempts made at communication
by language, and finally after
many signs and gestures all
were made to understand that
there was only one bathroom on
the whole top floor (about 20
rooms). These conveniences
were for the use of both men
and women.
This caused an even bigger
commotion. No one was angry,
just surprised, and the specta
cle of ladies and gentlemen
standing in the same line to use
the same facilities occasioned
many comments and a good
deal of laughter. Everytimeone
of their group came out there
was a burst of laughter and
animated conversation.
Finally things settled down.
I looked out into the hall. No
line, so I grabbed my towel and
headed in. The first impression
I received was through the sense
of smell. There were none of
the capitalistic bourgeois odor-
killings sprays here. The door
had nothing at all in common
with fresh pine or apple
blossom.
Man in the communist phil
osophy has no spiritual princi
ple. He is an animal, highly
developed but none - the - less
just an animal. This little room
and other similar ones I had oc
casion to visit may have been
specially designed to keep man
aware of his bond with the ani
mals. At least there was never
any attempt to humanize animal
functions or make them less
offensive.
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The whole idea of a bathroom
in this hotel had very obviously
been an afterthought. The room
was small and what plumbing
there was all in full view. The
facilities were not impressive.
There were two very old-
fashioned toilets with long
chains hanging from an elevated
water box. Both were very dirty.
Neither toilet was equipped with
a seat. On the floor was a small
stack of newspapers that had
been torn up into disposal sizes.
Off the the side of the room
was a bath tub.
It was not the latest model.
The enamel was about all gone;
the underlying composition was
anything but white and shining.If
it was clean it didn't appear
so. But it was too late to become
particular. The water was cold,
but there was no temptation to
forego a bath for that reason.
It had to be done and so Jt was
with all possible expedition.
I was hurried along not only
by the temperature of the water,
but by the fear that any minute
a new assault on that popular
little room would take place,
and I wanted to get out before
that happened.
Back in my room, I dressed
quickly and tried to finish un
packing my bag. We were slated
to meet the Intourist guide
shortly in the lobby to start a
conducted tour through the city.
Suddenly the door opened
without even a previous knock
or tap or, “May I . . .," and
in walked the girl with the
golden teeth. She was obviously
in charge of the corridor, but
I never suspected that her rights
were so absolute.
Without a word she walked up
to me and with her finger pulled
from beneath my tee shirt the
religious medal and chain
around my neck. Evidently it
had slipped over my shirt while
I was dragging the bags up the
steps and she had noticed it
while giving out the keys. Now
that almost everyone had gone,
she had come back to make an
inquiry.
She blessed herself and
pointed inquiringly to me, ask
ing, “Are you a Christian?”
I nodded yes, and blessed my
self for proof. This brought a
big smile and a look that meant
* You don’t sayl ” She made the
sign of the cross again and
pointed proudly to herself in
dicating that she too was still
a Christian and that we had
something in common.
She looked over the little
gold medal again with great
care, then with an outstretched
hand and a pleading look she
made known quite clearly what
whe wanted. With a couple of
words and many signs I tried
to explain that it was gold and
OBITUARIES
Charles C.
Brotherton, Jr.
AUGUSTA - Funeral services
for Charles C. Brotherton, Jr.,
of Denver, Colorado, who died
suddenly while on a visit to his
mother, Mrs. Charles C. Bro
therton, Sr., were held at St.
Mary's on-the-Hill Church May
30th, Rt. Rev. Msgr. Daniel
J. Bourke, officiating.
Surviving are his wife, Mrs.
Frances Ann L. Brotherton; a
daughter, Miss Monica Ann
Brotherton, both of Denver,
Colorado; a sister, Sister Ann
Richard, Augusta; two brothers,
William J. Brotherton, Atlanta,
and Richard C. Brotherton, Au
gusta, and a number of nieces
and nephews.
Mrs. M. S. Najjar
ATLANTA - Funeral ser
vices for Mrs. M. S. (Mary)
Najjar were held May 31st at
St. Joseph's Maronite Church,
Father Joseph Abi-Nader of
ficiating.
Survivors include her hus
band, Mr. M- S. Najjar, Sr.,
M. S. Najjar, Jr., Eddie Na
jjar, Covington, Ga.; Mr. and
Mrs. Ernest Najjar, Mrs. Jo
seph Joseph, LaGrange, Ga.;
Mr. and Mrs. Abraham Man-
sour, Mr. and Mrs. Michael
Mansour, Mrs. Rose Maloof,
Mrs. Sadie Mansour, Mrs. Su
sie John, Mr. and Mrs. George
Aseff and four grandchildren.
Miss Blanche Heffernan
AUGUSTA - Funeral services
for Miss Blanche Elizabeth Hef
fernan were held May 30th at
St. Mary’s on-the-Hill Church,
Rt. Rev. Msgr. Daniel J. Bour
ke officiating.
Surviving are five sisters,
Miss Marie Heffernan, Augusta;
Mrs. Jerome McCarthy, Mrs.
W. C. Lee, Mrs. George Dead-
wyler, and Miss Catherine Hef
fernan, all of Atlanta; step
mother, Mrs. John J. Heffernan;
three brothers, William J. Hef
fernan, Sr., and Timothy R. Hef
fernan, both of Augusta, and
John D. Heffernan, Seattle,
Washington and a number of
nieces and nephews.
Mrs. Daniel D.
Dominey
ATLANTA - Funeral ser
vices for Mrs. Daniel D. Do
miney, Sr., were held May 25th
at the Cathedral of Christ the
King, Father Allen Dillmann
officiating.
Survivors are her husband;
a son, Daniel D. Dominey, Jr.,
Atlanta; a daughter, Mrs.
Frances Oyler, Louisville,
Ky.; her mother, Mrs. James
J. Shannon, Birmingham, Ala.;
four sisters, Mrs. B. E. Sig-
mier, Mrs. Ed Ernst, and Miss
Juliette Shannon, all of Bir
mingham, Ala.; and Mrs. Rob
ert Fay, Fredonia, N.Y.
Mrs. J. A. McDevitt
ATLANTA - Funeral ser
vices for Mrs. J. A. (Ethlene
Marble) McDevitt were held
May 30th at Sacred Heart
Church. Reverend Clarence
IN ATLANTA
WYATT ” LM “
WONZE
GKANTTI
MAMIE
J. Biggers, S.M., officiating.
Survivors include daughters,
Mrs. J. H. Hofmann, Louis
ville, Ky.; Mrs. Agatha Rich
ardson, Mrs. Ethlene Girroir,
Mrs. Edward A. Atkinson and
Mrs. Eva Krautter, all of At
lanta; Sister Mary Dorothea,
R.S.M., Augusta; Miss Martha
Mary McDevitt, Decatur; Sons,
John C. McDevitt, Atlanta; A.E.
McDevitt, Yonkers, N.Y.; P.W.
McDevitt, California; Richard
M. McDevitt, Atlanta; Sisters,
Miss Ruth Ann Marble, Mrs.
Irene Smith, Mrs. Lucy Ruff,
all of Mableton; Mrs. Jessie
Mitchell, Atlanta, and Mrs. Ad-
die Blair, Chattanooga, Tenn.;
25 grandchildren and nine
great-grandchildren.
Mrs. Lillian Bettencourt
SAVANNAH - Funeral ser
vices for Mrs. Lillian Wolters
Bettencourt were held at the
Sacred Heart Church, May 18th.
Survivors are a son, Jerome
Bettencourt, Savannah; a daugh
ter, Mrs. John H. Wolters,
Philadelphia, Pa.; and nine
grandchildren.
The average tourist hotel in Russia, a far cry from the Waldorf-Astoria, reflect in many'
ways the regard the communist regime has for man, man the animal—devoid of spiritual^
principle. Rundown and tawdry, the buildings (above) are ill-kept and the sanitary fa-*
cilities look as though they had been installd as afterthoughts. Although man in the ^
communist philosophy is only a highly-developed animal, the Soviet regime has to stamps
out the idea of religion. The interest in religion, whether out of curiosity or not, still*
exists among the majority of people in Russia. (NC Photos)
was a gift and that I couldn't
give it away. I looked through
my bag for some other religious
article that I could give her,
but found none. She stood by
and fingered admiringly at all
the little articles of clothing
while I made the search.
The whole transaction was a
little tense. She had made it
quite clear that she was doing
something wrong, something
she could be punished for. Twice
she tiptoed to the open door
and peeped down the corri
dor to make sure no one was
coming.
Finally I settled on giving
her a few little articles of
clothing. She was tickled to
death. She thanked me pro
fusely, tucked her gifts care
fully in an apron pocket, look
ed down the corridor once more
in each direction, then left.
I hadn’t been off of the train
a good hour and I had my first
of many surprises. This was one
of the first Russians I had met
outside the tourist officials and
what, of all things, was the in
terest expressed--religion!
This was hardly what I had
expected, but as it turned out
it was not a rarity. I met a
German woman who had visited
Russia, wearing a plain gold
cross around her neck and she
told me that never a day pass
ed without being approached
by someone who wanted her
cross. There are no religious
articles available in Russia.
There have been none for years.
Whether the interest is
prompted by curiosity or by
a real spirit of religion, I
couldn’t say, but the fact of the
interest is undeniable.
To get an idea about the in
dividual Russian’s attitude to
ARTHUR J. COPELAND
PRESIDENT
ARTHUR J. COPELAND, JR.
VICE PRESIDENT
RUTH S. COPELAND
SEC RET ARY-TREASURER
COPELAND
COMPANY
MECHANICAL CONTRACTORS
342 WEST SOLOMON STREET
PHONES 9441-9442 GRIFFIN, GEORGIA
wards religion, I always made
a point of pulling out my rosary
beads everytime I went into my
pocket for change. Almost with
out fail, the person I was pay
ing would go immediately for
the rosary. It always occasioned
a reaction. Many would examine
the rosary reverently. Others
would go through the sign of the
cross routine to tell me that
they too were believers.
Many, many people wanted me
to give them the rosary. I was
sorry I hadn’t brought in a
hundred or so cheap rosaries
to pass out, but how could I
ever have guessed such in
terest existed? Besides, that
might have been too obvious
and resulted in a more pro
tracted stay in the USSR than
I had anticipated.
I certainly do not think this
interest in religion is any cause
for optimism. It was, however,
unexpected, surprising, and
certainly quite widespread. I
feel, however, that the forces
of communism and atheism are
winning in Russia.
They control education. They
have a well-organized, effective
indoctrination program. Evjery
new technological advance,
every new space conquests is
offered as a proof that God
does not exist. Even if He does
exist, as Khrushchev said, 'c'He
must be on our side.”
Religion, however, is prov
ing more difficult to eradicate
than was expected. There are
still many signs of its presence
and importance in the lives of
the people, but despite all this,
the leaders are confident that it
is loosing and will disappear.
So far, nothing has happened
to destroy their confidence.
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