Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 4—THE BULLETIN, September 1, 1962
SENATORS DENOUNCE PEARSON COLUMN
Backdrop
JOHN C. O'BRIEN
The
Opponests of Federal aid in
any form to private schools have
been responsible for a great
deal of distorted and innacurate
propaganda in their effort to
defeat the so-called higher edu
cation aid bill
which the two
branches of
Congress are
in the process
of hammering
out.
A case in
point is a
recent column
by the syndi
cated news columnist, Drew
Pearson, which two members of
the Senate felt impelled to de
nounce on the Senate floor.
In this column, Pearson sug
gested that the chief beneficiar
ies under the pending bill would
be the nation's Catholic
colleges.
“And, since the majority of
institutions wanting grants are
Catholic,” Pearson wrote, “and
since Catholic leaders have
been advocating outright grants,
the debate has boiled down to
one of grants to Catholic col
leges.”
In a recent speech, Senator
Winston L. Prouty, Republican
of Vermont, challenged the col
umnist on two counts.
“It is not my purpose, nor
within my province,” Prouty
told the Sentae, to engage in
speculation as to why Mr.
Pearson has taken this ap
proach, since copies of the
bill under discussion are avail
able to the general public, in
cluding the press, and even
the novice could soon discover
that the grant features in both
bills would apply to all aca
demically qualified institu
tions.”
The first inaccuracy, Prouty
pointed out, was the suggestion
that Catholic colleges would
be the chief beneficiaries under
the proposed Federal aid pro
gram. Two versions of the bill
are under discussion: a Sen
ate bill which would give any
college, church-related or
otherwise, a $350 grant for each
Federal scholarship holder it
had in attendance, and a House
version which would provide
grants and loans to all col
leges for the construction of
academic facilities. Both bills
would limit construction money
to facilities not used for sec
tarian instruction.
Far from being intended to
provide grants to Catholic col
leges, the bills, Prouty noted,
would benefit all academically
qualified colleges and univer
sities, both public and pri
vate. Potential beneficiaries
would include 308 Catholic
church-related colleges, 475
Protestant church-related col
leges and numerous Jewish in
stitutions.
Prouty also challenged Pear
son’s statement that the major
ity of the colleges wanting
grants were Catholic and that
the demand for grants had come
mainly from Catholic leaders.
“Grants to both public and
private colleges,” Prouty told
the Senate, “have been urged
by the American Council of
Education, the American As
sociation of Colleges, and the
American Association of Land
Grant Colleges and State Univ
ersities.
“They know that the future
of higher education and the
future of our country depend
upon both public and private
institutions of higher learn
ing because public colleges and
universities do not have ade
quate facilities and personnel
to educate all qualified college
students. In fact, of the 2,040
universities and colleges in this
country, only 721 are publicly
supported.”
Prouty also made the point
that there were some 40-odd
Federal education programs in
volving grants and loans, and
that in every one of them pri
vate colleges were afforded the
same treatment as public in
stitutions. Many of the land-
grant colleges benefiting under
the land-grant act enacted 100
years ago were dominated by
a particular religious sect and
some of these still have a church
relationship.
The Vermont Senator remin
ded his colleagues that Pear
son’s column made reference
“to a meeting that allegedly took
place between the President and
the distinguished senior Senator
from Oregon (Wayne Morse)
during which President Kennedy
supposedly requested the Sen
ator from Oregon 'to favor
outright grants to Catholic col
leges.' ”
Morse, who has favored a
grant program that would bene
fit all qualified colleges and
universities in the construction
of academic facilities, took the
floor to deny that any such re
quest had been made to him
by the President.
“The senior Senator from
Oregon,” Morse told his col
leagues, “wishes to make it
clear that no such statement
was made to him by the Pres
ident of the United States.”
The need of all colleges and
universities, hard pressed by
the ever-increasing number of
young men and women seeking
a higher education, need finan
cial help to expand their facili
ties. But the extreme advocates
of complete separation of
church and state appear to be
determined to defeat legisla
tion to provide such aid if
Catholic colleges would be
eligible for grants or loans.
THE CHURCH AT WORK IN THE COMMUNITY
Sum and Substance
REV. JOHN B. SHEERIN. C.S.P.
The Gospel is relevant to all
ages but since age differs from
age, the means of communica
ting the Gospel also differ from
age to age. If the forms of
communicating the Good News
fail to change
with the
times, then
the Gospel
takes on the
appear-
ance of an ar-
c ha ic cult
that has no
relevance to
the current moment.
Our church architecture is
now undergoing radical
changes. It does seem inap
propriate, to say the least,
to preach on "Mater et Mag-
istra” (Christianity and Social
Progress) in a Gothic church.
The dim, devotional light of
such churches may have been
suitable for congregations that
did not read the missal but today
the missal-minded congre
gation wants to read what the
priest at the altar is reading.
Moreover, the high vaulted
ceilings of old style architec
ture raised ructions with the
acoustics. Father Gillis once
remarked to me that the Faith
was lost in many countries of
Europe because of the bad acou
stics in the great cathedrals.
Faith comes by hearing.
If all this is true of church
architecture, how much more
true is it of the changing con
cept of the role of the local
church! Sometimes we hear the
expression, "Chapel of ease”
or “Devotional church.” To
keep pace with the needs of
the times, no church can afford
to be a church or chapel of ease.
Those days when a church was
simply a quiet place of refuge
from the hot, turbulent street
are no longer.
To keep abreast of the needs
of the times, the local church
has to be a center of action,
a hive of activity. The local
church must exercise a strong
impact on the community that
surrounds it. If it fails to do
so , it betrays its trust. If
it remains nothing more than
a place of rest and quiet de
votion, it means that the or
dinary man of the world will
think of the church as a place
that has no relevance to his
hectic life in the work-a-day
world.
I realize there are those
who say that the whole idea
of the parish must be revised.
It was originally based on the
concept of a neighborhood that
was largely self-sustaining.
Today, at least in our country,
Catholics seldom work or en
gage in organized action in
their own neighborhood. That
may be true and yet I feel that
the most effective apostolic
work is done and can be done
by the local church.
Take, for instance, the baf
fling problem of race relations.
Catholic Interracial Councils
and the Catholic Press can
make a monumental contribu
tion to social justice on the
national scene but after all,
the ultimate success of any
such movement depends on the
local church. Discrimination in
housing does not occur in the
abstract, it happens in speci
fic neighborhoods.
If the local church takes no
part in fighting such discri
mination, if nothing is said
about it from the pulpit, I don’t
see how much can be accom
plished. The Church has a mes
sage for the world but the world
is made up of parishes and the,
message will have little impact
unless it is localized.
In order to make “Mater et
Magistra” really effective, its
teachings must be applied to the
actual situation in the local
community. The application
must be made by clergy and
laity working together as a
team.
One of the reports at the
New Delhi World Council of
Churches’ General Assembly
in December spoke of the need
for the local church to pene
trate the masses with whom it
had lost contact. The sugges
tion was made that cells or
Christian community groups be
set up among the “unevange
lized.”
Here in America the task
of the local church may lie
with “the unchurched” to some
degree but its main task is
with those who attend church
but who conform to the values
and prejudices of their social
class.
It is the task of the local
church, therefore, to shake the
complacency of such Christians
by bringing Christian judgment
to bear on all the activities of
the community’s busy life.
CHURCH’S UNITY ATTRACTED FORMER HINDU
Sharing Our Treasure
To enable truth-seekers to
distinguish His Church from all
others, Jesus Christ stamped
it with four marks: unity, sanc
tity, catholicity and apostoli-
city. These form His signature
upon the
Church, tes
tifying to its
divine found
ation and au-
tho r i ty to
teach all na
tions in His
name. He
promised to
abide with it
all days and to preserve it
from error. Of these four marks
REV. JOHN A. O'BRIEN
the one which is perhaps at
tracting most attention today
and drawing an ever increas
ing number of truth-seekers
into its fold is its marvelous
world-wide unity.
In the United States Protes
tantism is divided into some
270 denominations, differing in
doctrine, worship, organization
and discipline. Protestants are
unhappy over such disunity, be
cause it is the direct opposite
of the unity which Christ said
was forever to characterize
His Church: “There shall be
one fold and one shepherd.”
Shortly before His death upon
Calvary Jesus prayed that all
who believe in Him “may be
one, as thou, Father, in me
and I in thee.”
That this unity is found only
in the Catholic Church is being
recognized by an increasing
number of truth-seekers not
only in America but also in
other countries is illustrated
in the conversion of John J.
Jhuraney of Jaipur, India. “I
was born a Hindu,” he relates,
“and was taught to reverance
Guru Nanak and Guru Gobind
Singh. The Holy Granth Sahib
was my scripture.
“In the Hindu religion there
are many gods, prophets and
(Continued on Page 5)
NEW BREED OF BOYS?
It Seems to Me
That old “here we go again”
feeling is upon me. I fear that
we face another spate of som
ber articles and sermons about
the sad state of American youth.
The worry-warting this time
will center about
young men who,
according to
Barbara Cumis-
key in Life mag
azine, some
times refer to
themselves as
“negos.”
“Negoism,” I
gather, is a term
coined to express some sort of
negation of the ego. The negos,
Miss Cumminskey tells us with
all solemnity, are “a new breed
of boy on U.S. prep school cam
puses.”
THE NEW BREED, she
writes, is made up of lads who
feel a “deep pessimism,” and
entertain black doubts about
the validity of ideals such as
religion and ethics.
I seem to be afflicted with
a better than average memory
about my own misspent youth.
If the negos are a new breed,
then my generation must not
have been bred. Mabey we were
found under lily pads.
We didn’t call ourselves
negos. We didn’t call ourselves
anything. We didn’t formalize
our state of mind, or make a
movement out of it. But we
certainly did enjoy being pessi
mists and looking sourly at the
world into which we had some
how been inserted, even if we
didn’t have any breeding.
I SUGGEST that before we
begin viewing the negos with
alarm, we remind ourselves
that pessimism, for the young,
is a wallowing luxury. It pleas
ures their egos, even when their
egos are negos. It is an invig
orating change from the normal
youthful condition of high spir
its and happy-go-lucky cheer
fulness.
Furthermore, a pose of pes
simism gives a chap some in-
telectual standing. Your think
ing lad can’t go around grinning
all the time and crying
“gloriosky” with Little Annie
Rooney. The brand of the boy
with a brain is a frown.
Let us recognize also that
criticism of our society is much
in vogue nowadays, what with the
White House telling us that we
can’t do push-ups and don’t care
a fig about culture. I would be
disappointed in the prep school
boys if they didn’t get into the
act - and the public eye.
BUT NEW BREED? Emphat
ically not. “This is a world of
madness,” said a Lawrence-
ville School student. “It is ab
surd, stupid. Nothing’s solid.
There are no values to depend
upon.”
Haven’t you heard that rec
ording played before? Didn’t
you, if fact, once assure your
self a place among the school
philosophers by saying the same
JOSEPH BREIG
thing, almost in the same
words ?
“In 25 years of teaching,”
said a faculty member, “I
have never seen boys more
troubled.” But has he ever
seen boys less troubled?
And doesn’t he know that they’re
not troubled at all - they’re
enjoying tearing the world apart
and puzzling over how to put it
together better?
WHEN I WAS in college, that
was the chief indoor sport when
the weather was insufferable -
in March for instance.
“We’re sick of aphorisms
from the pulpit, sick of bogus
people and fraud ideas. . . .
Everything’s gray. There aren’t
any values.” So spoke one
student - and I can hear the
echoes from the 20’s and 30’s.
Indeed, we can go back
through the generations and the
song is the same. Chesterton,
who became the world’s most
cheerful man and devoted him
self to giving new life to old
aphorisms, went through a
youthful period when he
doubted the existence of every
thing except his own age.
AND OF COURSE we remem
ber Mark Twain, who remarked
that at 14 he couldn’t understand
how his father could be so
stupid; and at 21 he couldn’t
understand how his father had
learned so much in seven years.
“The machine has become the
arbiter of our lives,” one boy
was quoted. “We’re nothing
more than coded persona
lities.” But i-f the machines is
the arbiter of his life, how is
it that he can criticize the com
puter?
The lads are “sick of apho
risms from the pulpit.” Well,
who isn’t? That’s because the
men in the pulpits aren’t gen-
uises giving new vitality to
old truths. All the same, what
we all need is a more vivid
awareness of the old religious
revelations about man the mag
nificence of his destiny.
Pessimism is a lark for a
while,' but for a lifetime of fun
we’ve got to find and apply
the answers to sour old Pilate’s
question, “What is truth?” He
was a sad old sack because he
outgrew his jolly youthful cyni-
LAITY NO SECOND CLASS CITIZENS
Jottings
By BARBARA C. JENCKS
Frankly, I am getting very tired of the lamentings of
lay teachers who more and more are being given a voice
in Catholic periodicals to tell how they are maligned as
employees at Catholic institutions. It seems to be very
“IN, ” to write the “I was a lay teacher, a second-class
citizen” story. These articles seem to have replaced the
popular and more worthwhile convert stories of a few
years back. The Catholic magazine editor perhaps feels
that in the spirit of “daring-do” that surrounds the forth
coming ecumenical council, that it is being magnanimous
to let the layman speak frankly, and in most cases negatively,
about his experiences with the clergy and religious. The
latest bit of "brood-mindedness’ is a front page cover
story entitled “Lay Teacher - Second Class Citizen” in
a recent information magazine. I’d like to meet some of
the malcontents who are given space to write these articles.
I wonder if they would be fully satisfied anywhere. If they
were public school teachers, I am sure they would be thp
ones who would be leading strikes and plaguing school
boards. Few of the articles mirror a crusader type of
teacher but reveal malcontents which will ever be with us.
Ever since I left college, I have worked for the Catholic
Church: on a diocesan newspaper and at two Catholic
women’s colleges. I have always had either a priest of
a religious as my immediate superior or “boss”. I have
chosen freely to do this. I am free to leave the employ of
the Church at any time to go to the more lucrative secular
fields. I have not grown wealthy; if I became ill.tomorrow
I would not have any of the fringe benefits, pensions or
insurances given at secular institutions. There could well
be grievance here . I would never be able to be a president
at a Catholic college, not only because I do not wear a habit
but also because I lack the academic and administrative
qualities. I’ll never be editor-in-chief of a diocesan news
paper because I am not an ordained priest although there
are several laymen as editors on papers across the nation.
I know of no Catholic newspaper where the editor-in-chief
is a lay woman. This does not bother me or cause me to
feel that I am inferior or treated unfairly or a second-class
citizen. I have known many who are plagued with it.
As a lay person writing for a Catholic newspaper and
teaching at a Catholic college, I consider myself no second-
class citizen. I do not measure myself against the Roman
(Continued on Page 5)
DORIS REVERE PETERS
nAwerA
YOUTH
Temptation Often Result
Of Going Steady
Dear Doris:
Is it the girl’s fault or the
boy’s fault if they run into
temptation when they are going
steady?
Michael
Both. Millions of words have
been written on the pros and
cons of going steady. And we
have discussed various aspects
of it in this column many times.
One of the strongest arguments
against it is just what you men
tioned: the temptation involved
and the possibility of sinning.
Adolescents, no matter how
good and how well-intentioned,
are still human beings. The
constant, intimate familiarity
of steady dating taxes their
emotions and puts a stress on
their human nature which they
find difficult to handle. It is
dangerous for BOTH because
it often becomes a serious
temptation and a serious sin
for BOTH.
ROCK AND ROLL
Dear Doris:
Many people say that rock
and roll is a cause of juvenile
delinquency in the home today.
Is this true?
Wondering S. S.
I doubt if this is true. What
you are probably referring to
is the concern voiced by many
over the amount of time spent
by some teenagers at this ac
tivity; and sometimes concern
about the bizarre lyrics of cer
tain songs.
Rock and roll is a fad in
music—at least some call it
music. You listen to it, sing
to it and dance to it. None
of these activities in them
selves cause juvenile delin
quency. Carried to excess and
in certain circumstances they
might contribute to it. If
you spent the majority of your
time on rock and roll and limit
ed your other activities and hob
bies this would definitely con
tribute to idleness. And idle
ness is a factor in causing
juvenile delinquency.
BOY WON’T KISS
Dear Doris:
I am 15 and I like this cer
tain boy very much. I have
known him for two years. But
he never kissed me or even
tried. Whenever we are to
gether he is very shy and
uneasy. He is 16. What can
I do?
Still Waiting.
Not all the boys want to kiss
the girls goodbye! In fact many
do not. It looks as if your friend
belongs to this group. And it’s
quite normal for a 16-year-old.
Did you ever consider that
you might be making him un
easy? He may act shy in your »
presence because he can sense ^
you are wondering and waiting.
Don’t be an eager beaver. Drop |
the “still waiting” attitude or
you might scare him away.
Dear Doris:
I’m not very happy at home.
My mother and father drink f
excessively and they really f
don’t try to stop. I never bring
my friends home because I’m 0
afraid they might be drinking.
It isn’t because I don’t love f*
them because I do and it’s not
because I’m afraid I’ll lose
a few friends. I think it’s be
cause I try to build them up.
Whenever others talk about
their parents I try to make
mine sound like theirs. I don’t
know if it’s wrong or not but
I don’t want them to feel sorry
for me. Am I right or wrong.
M. T. C.
There is nothing wrong in r -
wanting your friends to think i
the best of your parents. I know
what you mean when you say
you don’t want them to feel l
sorry for you. But sincere sym
pathy and understanding on the
part of your real friends is a
need we all have. Don’t be afraid
of it. And accept it when offer
ed.
I don’t think it’s necessary
to give your parents a false
build-up. Your friends wouldn’t
respect you for this. Uncon
sciously you may be afraid of
losing them. I doubt if you
would. Young people are very
understanding of the problems
of other young people; particu- (
larly when it concerns their !
families. Many experience
hardships in their daily lives.
And most, like yourself, do
a magnificent job of accepting
them.
You are only making an as
sumption when you say your
parents are “not trying to
stop.” Many who drink do try
to quit. Some are successful
Others need further help. Per
haps you could help by inviting
your friends home occasionally.
Show your parents you love K
them regardless of their faults.
You might be surprised by the
effect of this small bit of moral
support.
(Doris Revere Peters ans
wers letters through her col
umn, 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 j
Q. Should a Christian main
tain the position that so-called
“defensive driving” is obliga
tory? Freedom from legal re
sponsibility in an accident
doesn’t mean freedom from
moral guilt, does it? Thus, if
one notices another motorist
driving erratically, he has a
strict obligation to avoid situa
tions that can occasion that
other motorist’s causing an ac
cident: Right?
A. So-called “defensive driv
ing” is definitely a moral im
perative. If this is not clear
from the principles of the Nat
ural Moral Law as they apply
to operating an automobile on
roads and highways (i.e., from
the self-evident obligation to
protect oneself and others from
physical harm and death - in
a word, the Fifth Command
ment of the Decalogue - as well
as the obligation to avoid dam
age to another’s property -
the Seventh Commandment) it
can be deducted from any of a
whole series of statements
which have been issued on the
subject by the Holy See, bishops
and other Church authorities
throughout the world. Take, for
example, Pope Pius XII’s ad
monition, given in 1955:
“THE OFTEN dramatic con
sequences of violating the traf
fic code gives its observance an
extrinsic obligatory character
far more serious than people
generally think. Drivers cannot
count on their own ability and
watchfulness to avoid accidents:
they must maintain a proper
margin of safety in order to
cope with the careless driver
and unforeseen difficulties.”
AND, the bishops of Aus
tralia, in their oft-quoted 1958
Social Justice Statement, de-
(Continued on Page 5)
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Editor Savannah Edition Editor Atlanta Edition
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Associate Editors, Savannah Edition
Vol. 43 Saturday, September 1, 1962 No. 7
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