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PAGE 4—THE BULLETIN, October 27, 1962
OREGON TEXTBOOK CASE
The action of the Supreme
Court of the United States in
refusing to review the decision
of the Oregon Court in the
textbook case is a source of
bitter disappointment to the
parents of parochial school
children. After paying for
their children’s textbooks in
hard-earned tax money, these
parents are now advised that
the books will no longer be
available to their children. It
is pathetic that the zeal the
Court has shown recently for
the rights of one minority
group does not extend to an
other minority - the parents
of non-public school children.
Responsibility for the
scuttling of the textbook bill
must rest primarily with the
Supreme Court of the State
of Oregon. Discarding the
child welfare theory, the Court
followed the faulty reason
ing of the plaintiffs that dis
trict textbooks were being
used to teach the Catholic
religion. It chose to disregard
the sworn testimony of those
who teach and administer par
ochial schools, and followed
instead the heresay testimony
of those whose knowledge of
parochial schools is entirely
theoretical.
While certain taxpayers of
Clackamas County were chos
en as nominal plaintiffs in the
textbook case, it is common
knowledge that the suit ag
ainst the bill was engineered
by the American Civil Liber
ties Union, with some assis
tance from a rabidly anti-
Catholic group known as
FOAU (Protestants and Other
Americans United.)
The American Civil Lib
erties Union is the same group
that is currently attacking re
ligious practices in Ameri
can public schools. Its ulti
mate objective is apparently
the complete divorce of God
and Government, as well as
God and Education. Certain
religious groups which quiet
ly applauded the stand of ACLU
in the textbook case are now
beginning to realize that their
own religious traditions are
the Union’s next target.
It would be unfair to claim
.that the Civil Liberties Union
has made no contribution into
American freedom. At times
in the past it has aided min
ority groups in the vindica
tion of their rights. Of late
the Union is much preoccu
pied with giving the Commun
ist Party an opportunity to
state its case. It is no won
der that a portion of the mem
bership is beginning to ask,
“Where is this going to lead?’’
We wonder if officials of the
Union have had much oppor
tunity to talk with Cuban ref
ugees. First hand testimony
on Communist use of freedom
might cause them to revise
their views.
We draw some comfort from
the fact that so many promin
ent members of the Protes
tant clergy in the Portland
area have shown no sympathy
for the doings of POAU. This
group made its tactics evident
some months ago when it spon
sored the showing of a libel
lous motion picture “Cap
tive Schools’’ in the city.
Catholics will do well to
realize that the textbook case
is only one battle in what
promises to be a long war of
attrition. No right which our
children now enjoy may be
considered safe. We should
realize too that the campaign
against parochial schools in
Oregon is only one part of a
master campaign that is being
waged throughout our country.
Now that the horse has been
stolen, we had better make
sure of the locks that re
main on our barn. We had bet
ter make sure of the record
of those we elect to political
office. There are many non-
Catholics in politics who have
shown themselves true friends
of parochial ecuation. There
are others who will bear care
ful watching. The fact that
a candidate for the Legisla
ture or the Judiciary has been
affiliated with the American
Civil Liberties Union or the
POAU is sufficient reason to
scrutinize his voting record
and determine his attitude
toward the rights of children
in parochial schools. - Father
Martin Thielen. - (Catholic
DORIS REVERE PETERS
rnSwerS
Sentinel)
Leftists Greet The Council
Sum and Substance
Here in Rome daring the days
just before the opening of the
Council the leftist Press had
some interesting comments on
the approaching event. In gen
eral, the criticism was muted
in tone and
expressed in
urbane fash
( ^
ion. There
( ^ \
was little ef
fort, appar
ently, to be-
little the Ca
tholic reli
gion. Usually
the articles made snide
remarks about the affluence
of the bishops and the alleged
gap between the hierarchy and
the lower social classes.
One Vatican official with
whom I discussed the reaction
of the leftist Press was rather
amused by the line the Press
took. He referred to the com
munist paper, Unita, which on
October 7th claimed that
bishops staying at religious
houses had informed the hosts
previously as to the exact length
of bed each bishop desired.
And the same paper on that
day lamented the economic in
equality between the American
bishops and the "seraphic
Franciscan abbots." Next week
the same writers will probably
turn around the attack the "ser
aphic abbots."
‘HIGHBROW’ ESSAY
The Paese Sera, one of the
most radical of the leftist pa
pers (though not a communist
organ), on October 9th featured
a large front page picture of
HEV. JOHN B. SHEERIN. C.S.P.
the First Vatican Council. Un
derneath the picture was a fea
ture story, an essay entitled
"Examination of Conscience of
the Catholic Church." The es
say proved to be for the most
part, commentary on a book
that had just appeared, "The
Why of the Council" by Carlo
Falconi, a writer on religion
for the anticlerical weekly L’-
Expresso.
This feature article was a
very ‘‘highbrow" discussion of
the Council and I judge the book
also must be an intellectual
treatise. The article, following
the argumentation of the book,
states that a Church Council
must be "a solemn Confiteor.”
The Church is a society of
men and therefore has a human
element that makes mistakes
and commits moral faults. To
day, the human element, says
the essayist, is not as bad as
it was in early days especially
in the Middle Ages but yet
there is real need for the Church
to possess an evangelical spirit
by making a triple renunciation.
It should be that spirit that will
plunge the Church into a fullness
of love for the poor, for charity
and for contemplation.
The Church, moreover, still
needs to shake off its world
liness, according to Falconi.
It will find it difficult to do so,
however, in his judgment, be
cause it is ruled by a ‘‘papal
monarchy and a Curial oli
garchy." Falconi says that in
order for the Church to renew
itself in spirit it must de—
Westernize itself and must take
seriously the fact that the age
of Constantine is dead and bur
ied and the Church is existing in
a pluralistic society. However,
he does admit that the pros
pects for change are better
today than in 1870 when, he
asserts, the Church was bur
dened with temporal power.
PERSUASIVE ARGUMENTS
The essay and the book both
assert that the Council will have
to come to grips with the pro
blem of religious toleration. It
should proclaim religious tol
eration as "an ethical impera
tive" and not as a mere op
portunistic device where the
Church is in the minority. Both
internationalized, liturgy re
vived and the episcopacy re
examined.
The essay is an example of
very effective and persuasive
argumentation. There are no
vicious attacks on the Church,
no name calling or vitupera
tion. The author of the book as
echoed by the essayist gives
the impression that it would be
a great benefit to civilization if
the Church were to reform.
But he gives the impression
that there is little hope. He
feels that "a century of abso
lutism" under the hand of in
fallible popes has brought about
a state of inertia in the faith
ful and apathy in the unfaith
ful. True, there has been a
revolution in ecumenical acti
vity under Pope John but one
gets the impression in read
ing the essay that the Church
(Continued on Page 5)
OH, THOSE GOLDEN YEARS
It Seems to Me
I don’t suppose the TVpeople
meant it that way, but they gave
us a network program the other
night which was unwittingly one
of the great sermons of all
time on the silliness of idol-
worship.
I’m glad I
lived to see
it. Long ago,
I realized
what I had al
ways believ
ed — that
there is one
God, and Him
alone shalt
thou adore. But the auxiliary
gods did not seem made entirely
of clay.
Now, thanks to a broadcast
called The Golden Years, they
lie at my feet, atomized into
dust.
By the "golden years," the
program’s authors meant the
era when movies dominated
America, and money poured into
Hollywood in what seemed an
inexhaustible flood.
LIKE MILLIONS of other
young people, I went to the
movie houses, brainwashed in
glamor, to worship at the
shrines of John Barrymore, De-
lores Costello, Greta Garbo,
Wallace Reid, Clara Bow and the
others.
Because the advertising said
so, and because I was roaming
in a world of dreams, I thought
the film stars were the most
handsome, beautiful, stardust-
sprinkled beings alive.
I sat enthralled before the ex
ploits of Douglas Fairbanks, the
nemesis justice of William S.
Hart, the brinkmanship of Pearl
White, the madcap gaiety of Joan
Crawford, the lovemaking of
Rudolf Valentino, the vampire
menace of Theda Bara, and the
apple-pie lusciousness and
little-girl gamboling of Mary
Pickford.
OH, WHAT A wonderful
world; only it wasn’t.
As The Golden Years pro
ceeded from celebrity to cele
brity, my bubbles burst one by
one.
Why, I can walk along any
street today and see young wo
men seven times better-looking
than any of the movie stars
I once adored.
I can switch on almost any
western or detective-story or
hospital drama on my TV set
and see acting vastly superior
to most of what Hollywood could
offer in what are now called
The Golden Years.
1 THOUGHT John Barrymore
was incredibly handsome- al
most an angel come to earth for
our delight. He wasn’t. There
are handsomer men all around
us, in offices, in gasoline sta
tions, on the police force.
I know what the trouble was
--and what 1 suppose it will
always be in the adolescent and
early-twenties years of life.
Young people do not realize
what splendor there is all
around them. They seldom open
their eyes to it unless it is
JOSEPH BREIG
glamorized for them, and touted
in advertising, and set to glar
ing in bright lights.
JOAN CRAWFORD was
merely a girl with a lot of
energy for dancing and with
the spotlights on her. Theda
Bara was ridiculous. Douglas
Fairbanks wasn’t so much ro
mantic as funny with his hero
ics. Clara Bow should have
been spanked and sent to her
room.
Mary Pickford was a success
because we were a simple and
sentimental people who thought
we lived in a dull workaday
world, and never looked around
us at the gamin loveliness of
the little girls on our block.
Rudolf Valentino was pre
posterous; today’s young peo
ple surely must have howled
HOLY FATHER’S PILGRIMAGE TO LORETO
Jottings
By BARBARA C. JENCKS
“Grant, O Mary, that our homes may resemble yours; and
that living in grace without sin, we may someday together with
you, be inhabitants of the House of God, in the eternity of
Paradise.”
From prayer of casa santa
* * *
LORETO, the site of the historic pre-council pilgrimage
made by Pope John was not as familiar a name to readers
as that of Assisi. Yet the story of Loreto is one that should
strike a recordant note in every heart. The Holy House of
Loreto was the first Christian home. Tradition tells us that at
Loreto, we find intact the Holy House of Nazareth, the home of
Jesus, Mary and Joseph. This tradition prevalent since the 15th
century tells us that menaced by Saracens, the holy house was
transported from Galilee to Dalmatio and then across the.
Adriactic to Loreto, Italy. Incidentally, Our Lady of Loreto is
patroness of flyers and astronauts . Research by archeologists
has proven that the materials of the house were of the same
materials used at Nazareth in the time of Christ. It was to Assisi
and Loreto that Pope John journeyed on the eve of the opening
of the greatest event in modern Christian history. When announ
cing his plans to visit Loreto, the Holy Father said: "I decided
to go to the sanctuary of Loreto because it represents all
the sanctuaries of the world. At Loreto, where my ancestors
went in great numbers, the thoughts and feelings of all the
faithful of the whole world are gathered gotether."
* * *
LORETO is the most celebrated shrine of Our Lady in Italy.
Before the apparitions at Lourdes, it was the most famous in
the world. I am surprised to find how few know of the story
of this great shrine. There is no Marian center in the world
with such appeal since home is a word that warms every heart
and floods the soul with the tenderest of memories. It is in homes
that we find mothers. The Pope said as he left for his historic
pilgrimage to Loreto that he was convinced that the journey
to find Our Lady would help others in their spiritual lives.
His Holiness said: "I invite you to pray for everybody especially
those who have some worry." At Loreto, the ancient stones
of Nazareth which once sheltered the Holy Family are now
encased in marble. The Holy Father speaking at Loreto which
is a basilica, recalled how 10 popes before him had come to this
shrine. He said: "Today’s apostolic pilgrimage is intended to
place a seal on the supplications which have risen to God from
all the churches in the world, in the East and in the West,
from sacred recesses of sorrow and penitence, for the happy
development of the great ecumenical gathering." The Pope
recalled the 62 years ago as a seminarian, he knelt before the
image of the Madonna venterated at the shrine and said: "Ma
donna of Loreto, I love you so much and I promise to remain
faithful to you and to remain a good seminarian son. . .”
* * *
THE oldest replica of the House of Loreto in America is
located at Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame. It was built
in 1859' upon the very specifications of the Nazareth dwelling
(Continued on Page 5)
YOUTH
'GIFT OF TONGUES’ NOT
NECESSARY-BE NATURAL
with laughter at his nose-flaring
wooing in the Golden Years. I
know I did.
IT SEEMED TO ME that the
program harked back to only
two authentic artists- Lon Cha
ney in The Hunchback of Notre
Dame, and Charlie Chaplin in
The Gold Rush. And it is a good
thing that the creature in charge
of the switches on the NBC
Network was not within reach,
or he would have lain throttled
at my feet.
He had the hideously bad
judgment to cut off, just after
it began, one of the truly classic
scenes in film history—Chaplin
eating the boiled boot. And for
what? To tell us for the third
time that somebody was ahead
of somebody in the voting in
Massachusetts.
Dear Doris:
I feel 1 have a religious vo-
tion and I know the order I
an to enter next September
ter I complete senior year,
owever, in junior year I had
disagreement with one of the
isters at school. I used to go
o her for guidance but this
isagreement ended everything,
t was not until five months
ater that I apologized. Yet we
ever resumed our former re-
ationship—our conversation
emained strained.
When I received the results
f my June exams I realized
ha great strain the past year
ad put on my marks. 1 reali-
ed also how much I wanted to
Isettle with this Sister. I feel
have accomplished this
hrough my letters this sum-
er. In them I wrote all 1
ouldn’t say.
I need a sponsor for religious
ife and I should like very much
o ask this Sister. However, I
on’t have the gift of tongues
nd I’m afraid when I meet
er I won’t know what to say.
[For most certainly we must
iscuss the past and what
aused our disagreement.
Have you any suggestion how
1 can talk to this Sister? I need
[her help and yet I’m afraid to
go to her again because I’m
ashamed of my past actions.
M. D.
. You don’t need a "gift of
tongues" to be natural. And
you most certainly should not
bring up your past disagree
ments. Since you apologized
last year Sister won’t expect
anything else. And she defi
nitely won’t want to rehash
past differences. Don’t bring
them up. Sister understands
young people and their anxie
ties and she probably forgave
you a long time ago.
You seem to have learned
a lesson but now forget last
year. I’m sure Sister has. Be
gin with a fresh start. Take
your conversation cue from
Sister. Ask her to be your
sponsor. She may be delighted.
Or she may suggest someone
else. Whatever her decision go
along with her.
In talking to her talk as you
always did—naturally. You will
find Sister just as she always
was—friendly.
LOVE OR LIKE?
Dear Doris:
Please help me. This certain
boy, Jack, has liked me for two
years. He has begged me to go
steady but I have always said
no. The last time he asked me
was several months ago. With
the accidental death of my girl
friend’s husband last week I
realized I loved Jack. I am
18, he is 19.
Yesterday I contacted him
and asked if we could talk. I
informed him of my discovery
but he told me it was too late,
that the last time I said no
something inside him snapped
and he hasn’t any emotions left.
He said also that he had changed
and he was afraid he was losing
his faith in God. He is going away
to college in January and won’t
be back for four years. What
can I do? Do you think he still
loves me?
Ricki
Did he ever say he loved
you? Even though he wanted to
go steady he may just have
liked you. Lots of girls and
boys insist this is all going
steady means. Nothing more,
nothing serious. Whether it was
like or love I think he has made
himself clear no matter how
emotional or dramatic his
reasons.
Regarding his faith in God he
may have used this line as
shock or sympathy. Some boys
his age do have doubts which
are dispelled by prayer and
guidance. Others just throw
ideas around because they think
it’s smart. Whatever his rea
sons you can pray for him;
The death of your friend’s
husband disturbed you. In
situations like this we turn to
others seeking love and securi
ty. You turned to Jack. Was
it because you really loved him
or because he was available?
Regardless, declaring your love
was not wise.
The best thing you can do now
is muster up a cheerful smile
and a "hello Jack, how are
you?" the next time you see
him. But don’t pursue him. Do
not seek explanations. Accept
the relationship as ended--,
quietly and as a lady. Don’t
give Jack any reason to say
anything but the best of you.
He may have a roommate irt
college who is a dream.
(Doris Revere Peters ans
wers letters through her col-,
umn, not by mail. Please do
not ask for personal reply.
Young readers are invited to 1
write to her in care of THE
BULLETIN.
QUESTION BOX
(By David Q. Liptak)
Q. My Rosary is always
breaking and by now at least four
beads are missing. I am writing
this question to you because
someone just told me that when a
Rosary breaks it loses its indul
gences. Is this so?
A. The fact that a few beads
are missing from a Rosary cer
tainly doesn’t mean that a Ro
sary can no longer be identified
as a Rosary but is actually
something different, like a
small chaplet, for instance. And
since the Church’s ruling on in-
dulgenced articles in general
stipulates that indulgences
attached to Rosaries and other
objects are lost only if the arti
cles are entirely destroyed (or
sold), it follows that using a
Rosary which is missing a few
beads doesn’t prevent one’s
gaining indulgences attached to
the beads as a whole.
OUR ANSWER to the question,
though, would be to point out as
emphatically as possible a prin
ciple that too many other
wise informed Catholics some
how refuse to accept; namely,
that to gain the ordinary in
dulgences annexed to the Rosary
the use of beads is not
necessary. By these ordinary
indulgences, we mean those de
tailed in the Raccolta (the offi
cial handbook of indulgenced
prayers and practices), includ
ing the plenary indulgence for
saying the Rosary before the
Blessed Sacrament. Hence, one
may count the prayers mentally,
or on one’s fingers, or even on
a counting device.
IN ANY DISCUSSIONS on the
Rosary," a distinction should al
ways be made between the Ro
sary devotion, on the one hand;
and, on the other hand. Rosary
beads. The Rosary devotion can
be defined as a fixed form of
prayer consisting of (1) five or
fifteen decades of Hail Marys,
(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 Reverent
Bishop of Savannah; and the Most Reverend Archbishop oJ
Atlanta. Subscription price $3.00 per year. Subscription in-1
eluded in membership in Catholic Laymen’s Association!
Second class mail privileges authorized at Monroe, Ga. Sene
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, October 27, 1962 No. Ill
ASSOCIATION OFFICERS
GEORGE GINGELL, Columbus , President
MRS. DAN HARRIS, Macon Vice-Presidentl
NICK CAMERIO, Macon Secretary!
JOHN T. BUCKLEY, Augusta Treasurer!
ALVIN M. McAULIFFE, Augusta Auditor
JOHN IVtARKWALTER, Augusta Executive Secretary
MISS CECILE FERRY, Augusta Financial Secretary