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PAGE 4—THE BULLETIN, August 18, 1962
LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN
Land Reform—China
On August 7th, Dr. Frances
O. Kelsey of the Food and Drug
Administration received the
plaudits and the thanks of the
Nation, when President Ken
nedy presented her with the
Distinguished Civilian Service
medal - the government’s
highest civilian award - for
her dedicated and determined
work in preventing the
marketing of Thalidomide, the
controversial sleeping drug.
But, in the welter of pub
licity surrounding the tragic
after-effects of the drug’s use
by expectant mothers, two
other acts of true heroism
have gone virtually unnoticed.
For, while one expectant
mother petitioned an Arizona
Superior Court for the death
of her three month old child,
two couples, one in San Fran
cisco and the other in Mesa,
Arizona, sought to save the
life of the unwanted child by
bona fide offers of adoption.
Their offers were rejected by
the mother who says that “It
wouldn’t be fair to the child’’
to let it live and be loved.
These two couples acted
not to seek public admiration,
for they remain anonymous, at
their own request.
They sought, to save a baby’s
life because, in the words of
the San Francisco couple’s
attourney, “They feel that a
baby has an immortal soul
which should be preserved.”
We think it not at all un
likely that they are also aware
of the great love of Our Lord
for children - and that He
rebuked those who would send
the children away, saying,
“Suffer the little children to
come unto Me, for of such is
the Kingdom of God.”
y\nd they probably feel, as
do countless millions of
others, that deformity of the
body is infinitely to be pre
ferred to that deformity of
soul which conditions the con
tinued life of the child not
on the will o : f; a wise and
merciful God, but on the
workings of the pityless law
of the jungle - survival of the
fittest.
But, while there will be no
medals for these twocouples-
whose act of heroic love
toward a person they do not
even know was coldly rebuffed
by the one woman in the world
who does know that person
and whose love should be the
greater - their reward will
be very great in heaven. For
“In whatever measure you
give, it shall be given to you,
pressed down, shaken together
and running over.”
As for the mother who seeks
the death of her child, we have
only this to say, along with
Father Francis L. Filas, S.J.,
chairman of the theology de
partment at Loyola University
of Chicago, “All respect for
human life disappears if we
begin to draw a line between
the biological ages, or the de
grees of helplessness that
permit someone to decide to
take the life of a human being.”
Inculpable ignorance and
unreasoning fehr may be ex
tenuating factors in any human
act. So, with Father Filas, we
are “most reticent to judge
anyone harshly.”
Instead, with apologies to
the author of the words, we
“leave her to heaven.”
DORIS REVERE PETERS
—
^£)oris ~s$n&werA
YOUTH
MORE EDUCATION ADVISED
!
FOR WOULD-BE SECRETARY
THE U. S. BUILDS A CHURCH
Sum and Substance
REV. JOHN B. SHEERIN. C.S.P.
In its July 27th issue the
magazine Time had a very in
teresting article entitled “The
Spires That Soar.’’ It told about
the new Air Force Academy
chapel near Colorado Springs
and several
pages of col
ored pictures
of the chapel
a c c o m-
p a n i e d
the article.
The writer
described the
chapel
as “the first major Govern
ment supported marriage of
religion and modern architec
ture in the U. S.’’
The architect who designed
the chapel may stir up a lively
controversy for his efforts to be
“daringly experimental.’’ How
ever, I venture to say that,
save for Leo Pfeffer, a pro
minent lawyer who specializes
in handling cases involving civil
rights, and the Civil Liberties
Union, there will be no criti
cism of the Government’s con
struction of the chapel. It is in
the American tradition for our
Governemtn to aid religion in
this fashion and the chapel
stands as a silent dissenter to
the Supreme Court’s recent de
cision in the New York prayer
case.
Leo Pfeffer claims that the
First Amendment bans any aid
to religion--whether to a par
ticular denomination or to re
ligion in general. The American
tradition, however, has been
to allow our Government to aid
religion in general as long as
it shows no preference in grant
ing funds.
This chapel shows no sign
of any preference for a parti
cular denomination. On the out
side, there are no symbols of
a sectarian nature. The “spires
that soar’’remind the Air Force
cadets that America belongs to
God and that every American
is responsible to Him. One of
the pictures of the Academy in
the Time article bears the cap
tion, “A community dominated
by the church.’’ The article
itself says that the chapel is
the first thing the visitor sees
as his car approaches the Aca
demy and it remains the
dominating structure for as long
as the visitor stays.
Inside this impressive many-
spired church there are three
chapels, one for each of the
chief American religions. Hap
pily no attempt has been made
to merge the religious facili
ties so as to give the impres
sion that one religion is as good
as the other or the impression
that we all belong to one great
religion. One sometimes gets
that impression in chapels
where there is a revolving altar
which can be used by all de
nominations.
At the Academy there are
individual chapels for each
great faith'. Thus the Air Force
solves the problem of helping
religion without showing special
favors to any one denomination.
It is a practical and sensible
working arrangement in con
trast to the theoretical notion
that religion in any form must
be barred from public affairs.
Incidentally, I was happy to
INQUIRY CLASS SOLVED HER PROBLEM
Sharing Our Treasure
This is the era in which our
laity are being summoned with
ever increasing force and ur
gency to participate intheapos-
tolate of their bishops and
priests. Gone is the day when
a Catholic can deem that he has
fulfilled his whole obligation by
simply attending Sunday Mass
and dropping his offering in the
collection box. He is now called
to participate in all the work
of the Church, and especially
in the reclaiming of lapsed
members and the winning of his
REV. JOHN A. O'BRIEN
churchless friends and neigh
bors.
Through Baptism one be
comes a member of the Mys
tical Body and through Confir
mation he receives the graces
to labor successfully as an
apostle. “You shall be witnes
ses for me,” said Jesus, “in
Jerusalem and in all Judea and
Samaria and even to the very
ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
These words are addressed not
only to the clergy but also to
the laity.
Seems to
JOSEPH BREIG
I would ask
in all Chris-
before writ-
see the colored illustration of
the exciting mosaic mural in the
Catholic chapel, done by Lumen
Martin Winter. In addition to
his murals in the new Labor
Building and the Wildlife Build
ing in Washington, his work at
the Paulist Fathers’ church in
New York and in many other
churches throughout the
country, my good friend Lumen
has found time to do many
illustrations for The Catholic
World.
A recent convent, he has been
transferring his spiritual in
sights to canvas, marble and
stone with great success. Hav
ing seen the working drawings
of his Air Force Academy mu
rals, I know that the final re
sult must be “a vision of glo
ry.”
How will Leo Pfeffer and
the Civil Liberties Union re
concile the construction of this
chapel with their principle that
the First Amendment outlaws
any Governmental aid to re
ligion? They are fond of quoting
the McCollum case decision
with its ruling: “No tax in any
amount, large or small, can be
levied to support any religious
activities or institutions, what
ever they may be called, or
whatever form they may adopt
to teach or practice religion.”
The obvious answer is that
the building of this chapel with
Government money cannot be
reconciled with their theore
tical principle. If they follow
their principle to its logical
conclusion, they should begin
agitating here and now for the
demolition of the chapel.
If I could dial the primate
of the Church of England with
out going into hock to the
phone company,
his permission,
tian fellowship,
ing this com
ment on some
thing he is re
ported to have
said.
As it is,
however, I will
simply trust
his goodnature
and his known
e c u m e n i-
cal spirit.
According to a news dispatch,
Archbishop Arthur Ramsey of
Cantebury took a position
which the correspondent ex- churches
considers the marriage of a
man and woman “who also bear
the seal of Christ” to be a
sacrament, as is the marriage
of Catholics — a sacrament
administered by the husband to
the wife, and the wife to the
husband, by virtue of the super
natural character given to them
in baptism.
That there are “other
priests,” Rome has always
recognized. Any validly or
dained man is a priest for
ever.
Rome, for example, knows
and says that the succession
from the apostles has been
kept in the Eastern Orthodox
Churches. Therefore these
have bishops who are
pressed as follows: that Chris- truly consecrated, and priests
tian unity is impossible unless truly ordained.
ROME KNOWS, too, that in
the Anglican church are some
bishops and priests of whom
this is probably true because
they received consecration or
ordination from truly conse
crated bishops.
We cannot but wonder, then,
about Archbishop Ramsey’s
meaning when he asks the
Church of Rome to recognize
that there are “other priests
“What would the Twelve have
done,” asked Pope Pius XI,
“lost in the world’s immensity,
if they had not called aloud
to others—men, women, the
aged and children—and said,
'Let us carry forth the trea
sure of heaven; help us to
distribute it’?” In similar vein
Cardinal Caggiano declared: “It
is an undeniable fact that from
the first days of the Church the
simple faithful helped the hier
archy in spreading the kingdom
(Continued on Page 5)
the Catholic Church modifies its
claim to be the only Chris
tian church.
ON THE FACE of it, Arch
bishop Ramsey would seem to
be saying that Christian unity
is possible only in the form of
Christian disunity. But he can
not be saying that. We must
seek some better understanding
of his thoughts.
The dispatch said that he told
a group of Orthodox, Lutheran
and Reformed clergymen in
London:
“Let the Church of Rome
recognize that there are other
churches, other priests and
other sacraments.”
It seems to me, however, that
the first thing to be recognized
is that improvement is needed
in communications among
Christians.
We must ask ourselves what
meaning is in the mind of Arch
bishop Ramsey when he says
that the Catholic Church claims
to be the only Christian church,
and that Rome must “recog
nize that there are other
churches, other priests and
other sacraments.”
“Other sacraments” must
surely be a kind of shorthand
for “sacraments administered
in churches other than the
Church of Rome.” I cannot
think that Archbishop Ramsey
holds that there are more than
seven sacraments.
OR IS IT POSSIBLE that he
is saying that God’s grace can
come in ways other than the
usual channels within the body
of the Church of Rome?
If one or the other of those
is Archbishop Ramsay’s mean
ing -- or if both are — then
the Church of Rome does not
disagree with him, but agrees.
Certainly Pope John has tried
to make clear that in the eyes
of the Church of Rome, every
validly baptized person is a
Christian.
In referring to those who are
baptized but not formally mem
bers of the Catholic Church, he
has repeatedly used the touch
ing phraseology, “These others
who also bear in their fore
heads the seal of Christ.”
THE CHURCH, furthermore,
and other sacraments.”
It seems unlikely that these
considerations will be news to
Archbishop Ramsey. I mention
them because I think they will
be news to some persons who
otherwise might get from Arch
biship Ramsey’s statement a
seriously mistaken impression
of the Catholic Church.
I AM NOT presuming to in
struct the archbishop. I am
merely emphasizing that in
these days of almost universal
communications, we must all
be careful about saying what
we mean, lest we harm the
ecumenical movement by un
wittingly creating misappre
hensions about one another.
I do not know in precisely
what sense Archbishop Ram
sey ment his statement that
Rome should recognize that
there are “other churches”
Rome certainly recognizes the
fact, and respects and loves
these “other Christians.”
But the central point of the
ecumenical movement is that
all Christians ought to be per
fectly one in Christ — one
fold and one shepherd: or as
St. Paul puts it, “One body
and one Spirit . . . one Lord,
one faith, one baptism.”
PEOPLE AND SANCTITY
Jottings
By BARBARA C. JENCKS
Souls are bought dearly. They never come cheaply.
There is always enough human weakness and malice at
hand to blind men to the need of repentance.
Maryknoll Missal
Every face is searched hungrily for something that comes
increasingly difficult to discover. I sometimes feel like
the man in the Scriptures who sought desperately for an
honest man. I keep looking for that one person in a hun
dred who is attuned and aware of the purpose of life and
has not let the gnawing faults cloud his vision. Of course,
I should look to myself instead of to others. Yet I am disap
pointed in what I find there, too. I keep hoping that each
new person might somehow be the saint who walks among
us. Who can judge the saint of our times? Would our
mortal eyes begin to comprehend the saint walking among
us? Would he be so different? I find so many people
who talk loudly and at length about sanctity and good
works but they, too, like myself find it hard to rid them
selves of the human faults of envy, anger, impatience,
irritability, unkindness, uncharitableness, dishonesty, and
the long litany. We see the mote in our brother’s eye often
but not in our own. We can set the world straight and
save sinners but our own little life is not in order. We
meet hundreds of people.
Only God can judge them. We do not judge but we be
come disillusioned. We find so little kindness in the world.
We would say over and over again: “Little children, love
one another.” This brings ridicule and the admonish
ment “to be practical.” There is too much anger today
about things which do not matter. There is too little kind
ness and love.
$ $ $ $ $
It seems that I have forever been attracted to those
who have suffered. Their eyes are their badge of recog
nition. They know how few things really matter in this
life. The fires of passion, have been extinguished with
tears. I like the shut-ins, the invalids, older people whose
lives bear the mark of pain, men and women dedicated
to a Crucified Christ. I find that these people are kind,
they are more patient, they see all things in right per
spective. Their pains have showed them how few things
(Continued on Page 5)
Dear Doris:
I’m 17 years old, shall be
a senior in high school this
fall and have taken a straight
commercial course for the past
three years. Lately I have been
looking through the help wanted
section of the paper to get an
idea of the requirements neces
sary to obtain a secretarial
position. I have noticed many
ads state preference for
a college or business college
graduate and for girls at least
20 years old.
I have started to wonder whe
ther it wouldn’t be wiser for
me to continue my studies at
a business college after grad
uation. I have heard, however,
that business college doesn’t
prepare you for a job any more
than a high school education
does. And that it is just a waste
of money. I would like to go
into the secretarial field and
want to 'prepare myself for
the greatest possible advance
ment in this line of work rather
than always remain in a typing
or stenographic pool.
I’ve talked this over with my
parents and they say it is up
to me to decide. They would
be willing to lend me the money
for tuition, etc. Could you give
me the pros and cons on the
usefulness of a business edu
cation and whether to go to
business college or get a job
after graduation.
Marguerite
You are right in assuming the
more education the better your
chances of a job. And in many
cases it’s the extra education
that is the difference between
advancement in a job and stand
ing still. There are only “pros”
on the side of education. It is
never a waste of money unless
you waste your time at it. Ac
cept any and all you can get.
There are many kinds of
schools offering business train
ing. Each school is different and
each offers a different course.
Discuss those in your area with
your teacher and/or guidance
counselor. Write for the bro
chures of the schools you’re
interested in and compare the
curriculum of each. In this way
you can be sure to choose the
school that best suits your needs
and offers the courses you want.
I would suggest that since
you have taken a straight com
mercial course in high school
you investigate also the two
year junior or community col
lege program. Besides business
skills a two year junior college
program has the advantage of
some liberal arts courses.
These are an asset in any job.
In your case the history, Eng
lish, etc. would provide the
necessary background for a
secretary.
Accept your parents offer and
go on for some additional edu
cation before looking for a job.
NO FUN
Dear Doris:
My girl friends always ask
me to go along to places with
them. As I don’t want to be left
out I go but when there they
always run off with boys while
I sit there. If they ask me
again should I go along even
if I don’t have fun or should
I tell them I would like to but
I don’t like being left sitting
there and don’t have any fun.
We are all too young to go out
yet so what should I say?
Left Out
Before you tell them make
sure it isn’t your fault they
run off and leave you. However,
I wouldn’t go if I didn’t have
fun. I’m assuming from your
letter that you are too young
to date. Why don’t you suggest
to your girl friends that you
all do something together—
boys and girls. This might eli
minate the possibility of your
being left out and could be a lot
of fun for everyone.
DRY HAIR
Dear Doris:
Every summer my hair be-'
comes dry and bleached by the
sun. Is the sun really good for
you if it affects your hair this
way? Any advice appreciated.
Linda
Summer is hard on the hair.
My first suggestion is a new
hairdo. Invest in a good styling
and choose one that is short
and easy to care for.
Sun in moderation is not
harmful. But constant exposure
to sun plus large doses of salt
water tend to dry the scalp and
hair. If you’re at the beach for
long periods of time wear one
of those high crowned straw
hats. They are quite attrac
tive; even those that look like
fruit salads!
Be faithful to the hair
brushing routine every night.
And shampoo often using an oil
rinse. This with precautions
against too much sun will keep
your hair in good condition
through the summer months.
(Doris Revere Peters ans
wers 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. All the alarming reports
recently about dangerous drugs
being distributed for use - drugs
which apparently have not been
sufficiently tested beforehand -
make one wonder about the
moral problems involved.
Surely the use of new drugs
is not ruled out altogether, is
it? How else could progress
be made in medicine? Our local
paper ran an AP story which
said: “Sound first judgments
on the real value of any new
drug are not easy to make ob
jectively. The doctor can hope
that a drug will work, and be
delighted when it seems to do
so.” Does this about sum up the
ethics of the problem?
A. The problem of when and
how to use new drugs on human
patients is not susceptible of
easy solution.
“MEDICINE IS an empirical
science,” writes Father
Thomas J. O’Donnell, S.J., in
his “Morals and Medicine,”
“and every difficult case is
likely to have some aspects
of experimentation in its
therapy . . . But it is not
in this every day context of
medical trial and error that the
moral problem arises . . . The
real problem arises in the re
search laboratories, where
procedures and remedies which
have been tested on experimen
tal animals must finally be tried
on human subjects.”
A patent basic requisite,
(Continued on Page 5)
416 8TH ST., AUGUSTA, GA.
Published fortnightly by the Catholic Laymen’s Association
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Second class mail privileges authorized at Monroe, Ga. Send
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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 18, 1962 No. 6
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