Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

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,