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DECEMBER 20, 1947
THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
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WITH OTHER EDITORS
THE • PRESIDENT AND
THE VATICAN
It would be ridiculous to at
tempt to run a big concern like
the United States government
without some knowledge of what
is going on in the rest of the
world—especially since we have
become a world power.
If we are to succeed in our new
role we must tap all available
sources of information and keep
in immediate and constant touch
with every conceivable place of
international affairs.
Outstanding as a recipient of
news from al over the earth is—
and has been for many centuries'—
the headquarters of the Catholic
Church—the Vatican. Our late
President, Franklin Roosevelt, a
man of much learning, was well
aware of this, fact and realized the
value of close contact with the
crossroads of global information.
He sent the Hon. Myron C. Tay
lor as his personal representative
to the Vatican and continued to
keep him there in spite of the
thoughtless protests of some who
allowed narrow prejudice to blind
them. President Truman, in fol
lowing every avenue which may
lead to peace on earth, has again
returned Myron Taylor to the
sovereign state called the Vatican;
and once more the narrow voices
are raised in protest. If this at
titude spell Christianity, we fail to
comprehend it.
Even If the head of the Catho
lic Church were a man of
mediocre caliber the vital knowl
edge which pours into the Vati
can would still be available to
the president’s representative.
But the present incumbent pos
sesses a brilliant mind, a prob
ably unequalled knowledge of
current affairs, and a passion for
peace.
In the opinion of those who have
come into contact with Myron
Taylor, no better choice could have
been made by Presidents Roosevelt
and Truman. Endowed with keen
understanding, broad knowledge
and an unusual capacity for
"thinking things through”, this
patriotic American is eminently
fitted for the services which the
president has requested him to
perform.
The search is for peace. Peace
is. what Christ taught. Peace is
what this world must have or it
will sink into oblivion. No Chris
tian should place obstacles in its
path.—(Lytle Hull in The Sparta
Ishinaelite).
RELIGION IN EDUCATION
An excellent editorial on the
place of religion in the educa
tional ‘system appeared recently
in the Sun, daily newspaper of
Springfield, Ohio. Commenting
on the amazing increase of Cath
olic children in parochial schools
during the past quarter century,
the Sun, suggests that this is an
indication that children of Amer
ican parents desire to give their
children an education which in
cludes “guidance in the ways of
God.”
"It is not incorrect to say that
3,000,000 young people in paro
chial schools are proof of Cah-
olic strength,” the editorial stated,
"but it would be more accurate
(and more honest) to say that they
are proof of public school weak
ness.”
Other observations made in the
editorial were these:
"Students in Roman Catholic
schools are indoctrinated in re-
A Merry Christmas
LILY-TULIP CUP
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1550 Wrightsboro Road
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ligiou when they are taught the
faculty of belief, the meaning of
faith, and the joy of worship.
There are, as we see, millions of
American parents— not all of
them Roman Catholics by any
means—who are willing to incur a
double expense in the parochial
school education of their children
because that education includes
some guidance in the ways of
God. •
“In some Christian quarters, sad
to relate, the exclusion of God
from tax-supported educational in
stitutions is viewed with pride, as
evidence of a heroic political
achievement. It is most certain
ly nothing of the sort; it is evi
dence merely of the tragic in
ability of Protestants to agree on
how Christianity should be taught.
“Yet some Protestants flaunt
tills disgraceful ‘confusion of ton
gues’ as if it were a great tri
umph and some Protestant peri
odicals affect to be stricken with
astonishment .when secular news
papers refuse to be sucked ^into
campaigns against Raman Oath
olic education— which is to say,
campaigns against one Church s
efforts to bring God and children
closer together.”
This is one of the finest and
most unbiased comments on relig
ion in education that we have seen
in a secular publication lor many
a day. If some of our other lead
ing editors would hammer away at
the same theme, wc might be able
to rescue our public schools from
the impending danger of total sec
ularism.—(The Steubenville Reg
ister.)
THE ROMAN ROTA DECISIONS
Most prejudice arises out of
ignorance or misinformation, and
the most effective apologist for
the Church is the one who takes
his critics back to the facts and
helps him to see things as they
are, a d not as they were reported
to him.
The Catholic Church today
stands quite alone in its defense
of the indissolubility of marriage,
and in its war on divorce. Any
one who cares to tell the truth
knows that this is the case. But
the sly counter-reply of those
who admit this fact, because it
would be ridiculous to take a
different view, but still wish to
make a sly dig at the Church, in
variably is this: “Yes, officially
your Church opposes divorce and
that sort of thing, but what about
clever way it has of granting
annulments? Is not all this just
an underhand way of permitting
divorce while pretending to op
pose it?
It might be well to begin one’s
answer * by explaining that it
be more exact to speak of the
declaration of nullity rather than
an annulment, for the Church
in most of these cases is merely
stating that after thorough investi
gation. it has found that what
appeared to be a real true mar-
, riage was not a marriage at all,
i because of some circumstance that
made the contract non-existant
from the beginning. The state
ment of the Church does not
break up a real marriage but
makes clear that there never was
a marriage al all.
Apart from the clarification of
terms, probably the most convinc
ing argument against one who
thinks that the Church follows
a double standard on divorce
would be an examination of the
decisions of the marriage courts
of the Catholic Church.
The recently released report of
the Sacred Roman Rota on the
marriage cases it handled between
1941! and 1947, and during the
last 10 years, would be rather
convincing. It reveals the sig
nificant fact that during the past
10 years of the 833 requests for
declarations of nullity, 335 cases
were granted, while 498 were re
jected.
A further significant fact is
that of the 335 requests that were
granted, 185 cases were handled
free of charge because they in
volved poor people. This is
scarcely a supporting argument
Cor those who like to think that
the Roman Rota favors the wealthy
in such proceedings.
It would certainly be enlight
ening if they knew ho\^ the mar
riage courts of the Church oper
ate. The slip-shod methods and
practices that unfortunately some
times exist in the courts of our
land are never found in the ec
clesiastic court procedure, long be
fore a case reaches the Roman
Rota, it has been through an in
vestigation that was many times
more exacting than any required
by civil courts. The Roman Rota,
or any court of the Catholic
Church, is not the place for a
good lawyer with n poor case.—
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