Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 4—THE BULLETIN, August 4, 1962
MRS. KENNEDY AND THE WHITE HOUSE
Backdrop
JOHN C. O'BRIEN
The
Every family that has lived
in the White House has left
its mark one way or another
upon that historic residence.
But no occupant has done more
to enlist the interest of the
public in the
P r e s i -
dents house
than Presi
dent Kenn
edy’s wife,
Jaqueline.
Even be
fore Mrs.
Kennedy’s
tour of the
mansion was
televised nationwide, more
visitors were passing through
the public rooms each week
than ever before. Since the
television show, the num
bers seeking admission have
been larger still. Queues for
the morning inspection tours
often extend from the east gate
around the White House grounds
to the west side, a distance
of a third of a mile or more.
Last year one million visi
tors were clocked through the
door and at the rate the tours
are growing, it is expected
that this year the number of
visitors will reach 1.5 to 1.6
millions.
Other first families have
made more extensive altera
tions than the Kennedys, who
as a matter of fact, have made
none. Because of the fire set
by British troops in 1814, the
'house, disigned, it is believed
to resemble the Duke of Lein
ster’s house in Dublin, had to
be rebuilt in President Madi
son’s administration.
It was then that it became
known as a “white” house,
coats of white paint hav
ing been applied to the gray
sandstone walls to oblit
erate the marks of the fire.
But it was not until Presi
dent Theodore Roosevelt’s
time that the President’s
house came to be known offic
ially as the White House.
Again in President Tru
man’s administration the
house had to be completely re
built because the rotting tim-'
bers supporting the floors
were deemed unsafe. The
entire interior was removed
piece by piece until only the
exterior walls were left stand
ing. A steel framework was
installed within and the origin
al paneling, doors and fixtures
were put back in their origin
al places.
Mrs. Kennedy’s aim has not
been to alter the design in any
way but to restore the decor
to what it was in earlier days.
She began by making an exhaus
tive study of the history of
the historic residence. From
this she acquired an encyclo
pedic knowledge of how the
various rooms looked at times
in the past.
She then enlisted the in
terest of history-minded Am
ericans in searching out furn
iture that had been used by
families of past Presidents
and portraits of former oc
cupants and paintings which,
because of their historic sig
nificance, belonged on the
White House walls.
Her latest restoration was
the “treaty” room, so called
because many important trea
ties were signed in it while
it served as the Cabinet Room
from the administration of
President Johnson to that of
President Theodore Roose
velt. President Lincoln used
it as an office.
From storage rooms the
First Lady rescued pieces of
furniture that had belonged to
former Presidents. She also
persuaded the Senate to return
“on loan” a handsome chan
delier, one of three acquired by
President Grant for the East
Room, and hung it over the
Cabinet table.
The guides who conduct tours
of the White House for the pub
lic give brief summaries of in
formation about the public
rooms, But Mrs. Kennedy felt
that visitors should have an op
portunity to acquire a deeper
knowledge of the past of the most
famous executive residence.
With that in mind she helped
prepare an illustrated guide
book with a carefully,research
ed history of the building and
its occupants. Copies of the book
soon will be available to tourists
for the nominal charge of one
dollar. In her foreword, Mrs.
Kennedy says the book was
planned primarily for the hun
dreds of thousands of school
children who visit the White
House each year.
“It seemed,” she wrote,
“such a shame that they should
have nothing to take away with
them, to help sort out the im
pressions received on an often
crowded visit. It was hoped that
they would go over the book at
home and read more about the
Presidents who interest them
most. Its purpose was to sti
mulate their sense of history
and their pride in their
country.”
Proceeds from the sale of
guidebooks will be used to pur
chase further treasures for the
President’s House.
Hospitality. Please
PRAY, BUT ALSO KNOW
It Seems to Me
JOSEPH BREIG
THE WRONG TIME FOR FRANCO-BAITING
Sum and Substance
REV. JOHN B. SHEERIN. C.S.P.
On July 12th the New York
Times editorial said that “Spain
is moving at last with the history
of our times, meeting it like
a tidal wave.” I wish the Times
itself would change with the
times. Instead we find it in
dulging in the
same perso
nal vitupera
tion of Fran
co that has
disting
uished
i t s policy
for the last
25 years.
The Time s’
policy toward Franco has been
highly emotional. It has lent
color to the gray venerability
of the paper but is has not
added anything to the Times’
reputation for impartial report
ing and rational editorializing.
In line with the caricature of
the Spaniard that has been found
in our school text books ever
since the Spanish Armada, the
Times has depicted Franco as
a medieval monster who has
tyrannized over an ignorant
people.
In spite of the radical changes
that have been in process in
Spain since early July, the
Times proclaimed editorially
on July 12th: “General Franco
remains the Caudillo with the
same powers he always had.
Spain continues to be a country
withoug any civil rights; the
masses live in grinding pover
ty; a privileged few possess
the wealth and land.” It dis
misses Franco’s shakeup of
his cabinet as nothing more
than “what Mussolini used to
call ‘a changing of the guard!’ ”
Note the heavy-handed guilt by
association--Franco with the
infamous Mussolini.
The fact is that Franco is
in a very dangerous and deli
cate situation at the present
time. The editors of the Times
should at least give him credit
for some attempt to move with
history. They should not let
their emotions sweep them into
making wild generalizations
such as the charge that Spain
today is a country “without
any civil rights.” Nor should
they continue to bait Franco.
Do they want to topple him and
throw Spain into chaos--into
a chaos from which only the
communists would profit?
I would like to see the Times
give Franco credit for making
overtures to the Common Mar
ket. I would like to see it give
Franco credit for appointing
General Grandes his successor
as chief of Government even
though he did not name him to
succeed him as head of the
State. Is the Times unhappy
that a pro-American is now
vice Premier of Spain?
As to the cabinet shakeup
we would like to read fewer
diatribes against Franco and
more information about the sig
nificance of the changes. If the
Times hates the right-wing con
servatism of Franco it ought
to tell us more about Franco’s
appointment of Manuel de Fraga
Iribarne as the new Minister of
Information and Tourism.
Senor Fraga has drawn at
tention to the need for greater
freedom of expression on the
part of both press and public
in Spain. Fraga is not a con
servative. He has said: “Li
beralism is in the great Chris
tian tradition of the West, a
great tradition that stems from
Greece, from Rome, from the
Gospel and to which Spain —
from the days of Luis Vives
to Dr. Gregorio Maranon--has
added great contributions.
Then too it was Franco who
appointed the new Spanish am
bassador to the United States,
Don Antonio Garrigues. He it
was who said recently:
“We are now in the process
of establishing a status for
Protestants which will avoid
misunderstandings and give to
the Protestants the position that
they have a right to have in
Spain under Spanish laws.” He
went on to say that he admitted
that the previous policy toward
Protestants was a mistake.
I am no admirer of Franco.
Dictators are not my dish of
tea. But if Franco is coopera
ting with social, political and
economic reforms in Spain, then
I think we ought to applaud him.
The Times thinks he is a devil
but we ought to give even the
devil his due. The danger sig
nals are up in Spain and there
are reports of unrest but the
way for American editors to
help Spain get through its trou
bles is through approval of
Franco’s reforms--however
reluctantly he may push them.
Emotional philipics against
him will only give aid and com
fort to the wrong party in Spain.
They will help the communists
to get the toehold on the Eu
ropean continent that Franco
averted so successfully 25
years ago.
GOOD EXAMPLE KINDLES SCHOLAR’S INTEREST
Sharing Our Treasure
By the kind of life you live,
you are helping either to bring
people into the Church or to keep
them out. No amount of expo
sition, argument or exhortation
can take
the place of
good ex
ample. I f
the latter
be lacking,
the most
p o w e r-
f u 1 argu
ment falls
flat and the most persuasive
salesmanship backfires. But
an upright and virtuous life
kindles interest in your holy
Faith.
REV. JOHN A. O'BRIEN
This is illustrated in the
conversion of Lawrence Edward
Carter of Norfolk, Virginia.
He was reared as a Southern
Baptist and attended Church
and Sunday School quite regu
larly. At 16, he was baptized.
During World War II he serv
ed in the navy, and while there
he attended interdenominational
services conducted by various
Protestant chaplains. This led,
him to investigate other reli
gions.
“I first examined Christian
Science,” Lawrence related,
“but I could discover no evi
dence that God had authorized
Mrs. Eddy to found a new re
ligion. Then I investigated Un-
itarianism only to find that it.
ignored Christ’t clear teach
ing concerning the Blessed Tri
nity. My interest in Catholicism
was kindled when I became
acquainted with Edmund Fran
cis Gallant, a physiotherapist in
Washington, D.C.
“A devout Catholic, Mr.Gal
lant is a frequent communicant
and is active in the Confrater
nity of Christian Doctrine in
Arlington. He devoted much of
his free time to working with
mentally retarded children. He
lives an exemplary life and I
could see how much help and
inspiration he derives from the
faithful practice of his religion.
(Continued on Page 5)
The dispute over prayer in
public schools must not be al
lowed to obscure the vital fact
that what America needs, if
its future is to be as great as
past, is citizens adequately edu
cated in re
ligion and
ethics, as in
other bran
ches of know
ledge.
Perhaps we
needed
the Supreme
Court’s deci
sion against
the regents’ prayer to jolt us
out of a complacency in which
we tended to delude ourselves
that everything was fine as
long as children started the
school day by invoking divine
assistance.
Sincere prayer is always de
sirable, but prayer ought to
arise out of as much compre
hension as possible of God, of
the nobility to which man is
called, and of the distiny to
ward which humanity moves
under the guidance of Provi
dence.
THE GREAT PROBLEM and
challenge for all educators and
all schools - public, private
or parish - is to prepare young
people for a maturity illumined
by awareness of duty and of why
there is such a thing as duty,
and made ready by careful char-
acrer formation to discharge
their duties.
It is a poor sort of educa
tion which leaves children
standing for prayer without any
attempt at a grounding in theo
logy which would give them a
firm grasp on what prayer is,
why it is important and what
relationship it has with their
fullest development, their hap
piness and their service to
themselves and their fellow-
men.
In the very act of praying,
many pupils, because they have
been left almost illiterate, re
ligiously speaking, have hard
ly a three-year-old’s concep
tion of what prayer is all about,
and of what is the meaning of
God and religion for the future
of the world.
IT IS PATHETICALLY far
from sufficient to hand chil
dren a prayer to recite if no
thing can be done, for instance,
to help them understand why
they must be just and kind to
other folks, no matter what their
social or financial position, or
their nationality or color.
Prayer is some help, but not
nearly enough., if we are going
to have citizens who know why
nazism and communism are
hideous: what marriage and
family life are for: how honesty
and truthfulness make for great
achievement, and why there
must be a better world for all
mankind tomorrow.
It is too bad, of course,
that any good prayer should be
illegal; but the little religious
exercises in the public schools
have hidden from consciences
the fact that we were neglect
ing the education of many chil
dren by not providing sufficient
knowledge of basic religious
truth.
THE BOARD of Education of
Lindenhurst, Long Island, came
up the other day with a new
prayer for its public schools
which just missed meeting the
Christian injunction that we are
to be as simple as doves and
as wise as serpents.
The prayer was taken from
the Declaration of Inde
pendence: “We hold these truths
to be self-evident, that all men
are created equal, that they are
endowed by their Creator with
certain inalienable rights, that
among these are life, liberty
and the pursuit of happiness.”
But to this, the board added,
“In this cause, we beg the bles
sings of divine Provedence up
on us and upon our country.”
That second sentence, hav
ing been composed by the school
board, would surely fall under
the Supreme Court’s ban on
“official prayers.” But the
board could have put the court
in a real predicament if it
had added to the “we hold these
truths” passage the closing
sentence of the Declaration:
“And for the support of this
Declaration, with a firm re
liance on the protection of Di
vine Providence, we mutually
pledge to each other our
lives, our fortunes and our
sacred honor.”
But what school children
need, • in addition to prayer, is
theological background to en
able them to understand the
Declaration of Independence
and countless other things vital
to mankind’s happiness and
prosperity.
Maybe the new “shared
time” idea is the answer. Cer
tainly, it is worthy of careful
trying out. And indisputably,
the American people must find
some means of giving students
religious knowledge. No other
issue before us is half as im
portant.
INTELLECTUALS IN BLACK
By BARBARA C. JENCKS
For years now we have heard the critics ask: “Where
are the American Catholic intellectual leaders? Where
are the American Catholic Einsteins and Salks and Faulk
ners?” The answer is painfully obvious. They are found in
seminaries and monasteries and parish schools and univer
sity classrooms. They are offering Mass or hiring con
fessions or editing journals of opinion, or correcting English
themes, or teaching history or planning classroom build
ings. Here is the American Catholic intellectual leadership,
the critics seek!
Does the Church stifle leadership? The Church ever
since its inception has been the custodian of the arts
and sciences. At one time the monasteries were the only
centers of learning. Several members of the clergy have
been ferreted out of their rectories or college laboratories
for citations for their intellectual accomplishments: Father
Nieuland of Notre Dame who discovered synthetic rubber;
Father Hubbard, the Glacier priest, The Jesuit, John
Courtney Murray, to name a few. The cloistered Thomas
Merton is our answer to the gloomy Faulkner.
We do not lack intellectual leadership. These American
Catholic intellectuals are too preoccupied with work and
prayer to stand around to have pictures taken and to send
press releases announcing their day-by-day accomplish
ments. They do not live for the applause of men.
* * *
Several authoritative answers were given at the recent
NCEA Convention in Detroit. The great intellectual power
of the American Church has gone into the clergy, the hidden
life of the Church. Thus it becomes especially painful
when the critics of American Catholic life are priests
themselves. The esteemed Christopher Dawson, Catholic
historian teaching at Harvard, said that “the American
Catholic educational system has no parallel in history.”
The Church in America is comparatively young, It cannot
be compared with France, the eldest daughter of the
Church and her great number of intellectuals. It cannot
be compared either with England, yet it would seem that
we are somewhere near the point the English Catholic
Church was at the time of Cardinal Newman’s conversion.
Our first spring is ahead, not our second spring. We are
aware of our needs and have been challenged.
Many of the Catholic collegians of today are the first
generation -college students. Only in the post-World War II
world was college education as widespread as it is today.
The Catholic College educational system needs no apologist.
(Continued on Page 5)
DORIS REVERE PETERS
n&werS
YOUTH
WANTS TO BE PRIEST-AFRAID
TO TALK TO PASTOR
Dear Doris:
I have a problem and I don’t
know which way to turn. I have
always wanted to become a
priest and serve God in this
manner. In 1959 I attended the
seminary and I quit because of
grades. Everyone thinks I quit
because I was homesick and
that I wasn’t meant to become
a priest.
I still have the urge to go
back to the seminary and start
all over again after three years
in a public high school. I have
talked this over with my mother
and former pastor andbothsaid
to wait until I finish high school.
I have taken their advice
but now we have a pastor that
doesn’t like teenagers and he
doesn’t even get along with the
adults. I’m afraid to go and
talk this matter over with him.
Each letter I receive from
the seminary makes me sick
and mad at myself for leaving.
I love the seminary and God
very much but I just don’t
know how to go about getting
back into the seminary. Please
help me and please pray along
with me that I make the right
choice.
L. F.
While it’s impossible to ad
vise you directly about getting
back into the seminary, I can
make a few observations and
suggestions which may help.
Your letter indicates you have
one essential qualification for
the priesthood - the desire.
But how about your intellectual
qualifications? Did you quit be
cause of grades or were you
asKea to leave.
How well are you doing in
high school? Your high school
record is always important. Are
you studying diligently in order
to get the best possible grades?
If not, in September begin with
new determination.
And how about your spirit
ual qualifications? You say
“everyone thinks I was home
sick.” What did your spiritual
advisor and rector at the sem
inary think? Their opinion is
important.
Since you are obviously in
a district with only one church
and one priest to consult I sug
gest you write |to, Woodstock
Vocational Service, Wood-
stock College, Woodstock,
Maryland. A capable priest will
correspond with you directly.
He will be able to determine
from the information you give
him what plans you should fol
low and advise you accordingly.
Be patient and strive to live
with this attitude, “God, I want
with all my heart to beapriestv
But I want it only if you want
it because your Holy Will is
foremost in my mind. While
I’m trying to find out if you want
me to serve you in this way
help me to be humble, resigned
and willing to serve you in this
life in whatever career you
choose for me.”
CATHOLIC ETIQUETTE
Dear Doris:
Can you recommend a book on
Etiquette just for Catholic func
tions?
A Mother
For you and all the young
readers who have asked about
courtesy, manners and etiquette
particularly for Catholic func
tions I recommend, American
Catholic Etiquette by Kay Toy
Fenner, The Newman Press,
Westminster, Maryland.
SISTER UPSETS HER
Dear Doris:
I have a problem with my
older sister. I’m 14 and she is
17. Whenever I meet a boy I
like and she is with me the
boys attention goes to her. I’ve
asked her to stop but she says
she is only kidding. She really
doesn’t bother with them but it
upsets me. What do you suggest
I do?
Bonnie
Keep your sister away from
the boys you like.
Is it really all her fault?
Perhaps the boys are flattered
by the attention of an older girl.
Or perhaps they are just teas
ing you. Whatever the reason,
be a good sport and don’t let
them see it bothers you. This
is the best way to end it.
FORGET SENIOR
Dear R. R.
No, don’t ask the senior for
her picture or send her a card
or gift. September will roll
around soon and there will be
new things to do and new friends
to meet and old acquaintances to
renew. I’m sure you will find
some fine qualities in a girl.
near-er your own age.
(Doris Revere Peters an
swers letters through her
column, not by mail. Please do
not ask for a personal reply.
Young readers are invited to
write to her in care of The
Bulletin.)
QUESTION BOX
(By David Q. Liptak)
Q. In the “Hail Mary” what
exactly is meant by the phrase
“full of grace?” Only Christ
possesses grace in full
ness, doesn’t he? Yet if Mary
is not “full of grace” as the
Angel said, the logical deduction
would be that she could have
advanced in grace during her
lifetime. Correct?
A. Certainly we do not mean,
when we address the Blessed
Virgin as “full of grace,” that
she possesses grace in the same
sense that Christ does. With
reference to our divine Lord,
fullness of grace means ab
solute, supreme fullness, be
yond the possibility of increase.
MARY’S GRACE, on the other
hand, was proportionate to the
vocation for which she had been
predestined, relative to her
mission as Mother of God. In
Newman’s phrase, She was pre
pared “as far as a creature
could be prepared to receive
(the Son of God) into her
bosom.”
THE DIVINE LIFE in Mary’s
soul could be magnified insofar
as her capacity for grace could
increase and obviously did in
crease during her lifetime. T&
explain this mystery, theo
logians, usually call attention to
the ascetical principle that the
magnification of grace in the
soul follows upon (1) both the
intensity of love with which good
works are performed and (2)
the grace already present within
the soul at the time these works
are being done.
SINCE OUR LADY possessed
grace in a greater degree than
any other human being from the
moment of her conception (it
is even probable that the ini
tial grace of her Immaculate
Conception surpasses the final
grace of all the angels and the,
saints) and since every action'
she performed was character-
continued on Page 5)
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 Archbishop of
Atlanta. Subscription price $2.00 per year. Subscription in
cluded 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. 43 Saturday, August 4, 1962 No. 5
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 Auditor
JOHN MARKWALTER, Augusta Executive Secretary
MISS CECILE FERRY, Augusta Financial Secretary,