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JULY 26, 1952
THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMENS ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
FIVE
With Other Editors
VATICAN -APPRAISAL*
John P. McKnight, for five years
a newspaper correspondent in
Rome, asserts in his currant book,
“The Papacy; A New Appraisal,”
that Pope Pius XII is “a modern
man set down in a dank maze of
dusty dogma, musty custom, dark
superstition and moss-grown stand-
pattism.” He says that the Catho
lic Church, while representing it
self to be monotheistic in theory
is actually a “highly practically
polytheism.” He writes that “Pius
XI crowned Victor Emmanuel III
emperor of Ethiopia.” He makes
many other glaring errors about
the Catholic Church, of which no
child of normal intelligence in a
Catholic school would be guilty.
Yet Mr. McKnight’s book is being
accepted in some so-called intel
lectual circles as an authoritative
work on the Papacy and the Catho
lic Church.
Mr. McKnight is mistaken not
only about the Catholic Church but
This Book Page is confided
each month to the patronage of
Mary, Mediatrix of All Graces,
with the hope that every read
er and every contributor may
be specially favored by her
and her Divine Son.
DR. BLANCHE MARY KELLY,
author of “The Voice of the
Irish.” published by Sheed and
Ward, which tells the story of
Celtic culture down through the
ages.
THE VOICE OF THE IRISH, by
Dr. Blanche Mary Kelly, (Sheed
and Ward), $4.25r
(Reviewed by Virginia Chambers,
President, Atlanta Catholic
Business and Professional
Women’s Club).
No other race has more patriot
ic devotion than the Irish, for this
feeling emanates from the soul and
goes much deeper than their earth
ly heritage. In this book of 320
pages. Dr. Kelly, Chairman of the
English Department of Mt. St.
Vincent's College, New York, pre
sents a scholarly work about a
scholarly race. Never pedantic,-she
writes interestingly and informa
tively of Irish culture from ancient
pagan days, through the golden
Christian era. the silent behind-
the-hedge penal age, to the pres
ent when a rebirth of the voice of
the Irish has broken upon the
world.
Of particular fascination are the
first two chapters about the myth
ological ancient past and a store
house of legends of the origin of
the Celtic race, preserved by a
learned class unparalleled else
where. At last the Mass bell broke
the spell and the Christian era be
gan. In the year 432 Patrick heed
ed the voice of the Irish and re
turned to the land of his captiv
ity and took it captive for Christ—
a land of saints. He turned druids
into Christian priests, instructed
brehons in the law of God and rais
ed up a new generation of scholars
and poets versed in heavenly lore.
With the coming of Strongbow in
1169 began a merciless pillage to
destroy the Celtic spirit, even the
Gaelic language. The crest of sor
row was reached during the reigns
of Henry VIII and Elizabeth. But
the spirit, fortified by the Catho
lic religion, was not to die. Reduc
ed to stark poverty for 700 years,
Ireland rested in the arms of the
Mother of Sorrows'.
The devetopmtnt of the Irish Lit
erary Revival is chronicled and
about Christianity and indeed the j
nature of religion itself. He ques-;
lions the historical evidence of the!
life of Christ. He scorns dogma,
while dogmatically asserting that
“thoughtful Christians accept the
philosophic dictum that "all ulti- -
mate religious ideas are logically |
inconceivable.” He gives pagan an-!
cestry to central doctrines of
Christianity; the Holy Eucharist,
for instance, “recalls theophagy,”
or the pagan myths of the mani
festations of the gods to men. He
appears to have no concept of a
personal God.
Mr. McKnight commends the ef
forts of Pope Pius XII for peace, i
and he calls Protestant objections {
to an American envoy at Vatican J
City “unrealistic.” But his sources I
are too often anti-Catholics, es
pecially Paul Blanchard, whom the
Protestant leader Dr. Daniel P.
Poling says has been effectively
answered by Prof. James M.
O'Neill. However sincere Mr. Mc-
sketehes are given of the predomi
nant and seemingly inexhaustible
personalities who contributed and
are contributing to the restoration
of an ancient culture. With each
—poet, novelist, dramatist, wan
dering bard; story teller of folk
tales, musician—a synopsis of his
principal works is given.
The book undoubtedly will make
every Irishman’s heart beat a lit
tle faster. It will give to all not of
the race a new respect for a down
trodden people. With the rebirth
of Young Ireland lies the knowledge
that a culture directed to the praise
of earthly beauty as a reflection
of the heavenly cannot die.
A SPOILED PRIEST AND OTHER
STORIES, an anthology of short
stories and sketches from The
Thinkers Digest, edited by Sister
Miriam, with an introduction by
N. Elizabeth Monroe, (Kenedy)
$3.50.
(Reviewed by Sylvia Zsuffa)
A common complaint against our
Catholic magazines is: “The fiction
is terrible.” This is true for many
reasons but perhaps the core of the
difficulty lies in not knowing and
not being able to find good Cath
olic short stories.
Moralizing does not make the
good Catholic short story. A story
should first of all be a story. Nor
d. unsanctioned miracles. These
the Church scorns, bordering as
they do on superstition. Nor do sto
ries of goody-goodies, as much of
our magazine fiction would have us
believe, make the Catholic short
story.
What does make the good short
story? Struggle, of course. In the
case of the Catholic short story,
the strugle should be between good
and evil, showing the human heart
engaged in such struggle and final
ly triumphant over the mystery of
sin. Whether the struggle be small
or great, the struggle against temp
tation to steal ten dollars or temp
tation to kill, is not important. It is
the quality of the struggle and the
final triumph that determines Cath
olic tone. „
In “The Spoiled Priest and Oth
er Stories,” the human heart is re
vealed in such struggles—against
spiritual pride in Enid Dennis’ su
perb “Peacemaker,’* this review
er’s favorite; in the struggle
against selfishness in Louis Stan-
court’s “The Vacant Cross;” against
mob prejudice in Grace Sartwell
Mason’s poignant “The First
Stone;” against spiritual mediocri
ty in J. F, Powers’ “Prince of
Darkness.” The list is as long as
the 46 stories and sketches in the
book. The content, background,
types of characters, as varied as life
itself. Though of unequal merit, all
are excellent examples of the mov
ing, dramatic, memorable short
story.
To those who have despaired of
Catholic fiction, as written in our
Catholic magazines, this reviewer
recommends “The Spoiled Priest”
for sheer enjoyment.
THE HOLY RULE OF SAINT
BENEDICT, (Grail), cloth $2.00:
paper $1.00.
SAINT BENEDICT THE MAN, by
Dom I. Ryelandt, O. S. B., trans
lated by Rev. Patrick Shaugh-
nessy, O. S B., S. T. D., (Grail),
$1.25.
Two important little books for
students of “the father of monks,”
the great master who .140(0 years
Knight may be, be is woefully mis
informed on the Church and on re
ligion. Protestants promoting such
books do not seem to realize that
j they are attacks not only on the
I Catholic Church but on all Christ
ianity and religion as well.—(The
Catholic News).
WATCH FOR THIS MOVIE
Warner Brothers have completed
a new movie, Our Lady of Fatima,
which will not be released until
some time in the fall. William
Mooring, who writes the column,
Hollywood in Focus, saw a pre
view of this film the other day,
and, in his opinion, it is a much
better picture than The Song of
Bernadetta. “I sneaked into the
show,” he said, “ten minutes be
fore it started, and the theatre was
already packed. It was a typical
J ‘me - and - my - gal’ audience, the
j toughest upon whicch to try out
| anything except perhaps a musical
j or light comedy romance. Well, me
I and my gal and everybody else and
j his gal, seemed to enjoy Fatima
immensely. Apart from the sponta
neous bursts of laughter during
the delightful comedy scenes,
everybody sat still and quiet all
through. There was a remarkable
hush every time the three children
were seen waiting for Our Lady
| to appear. When she spoke to them,
j you could have heard a leaf fall
j The apparition scenes are most
J skillfully and tastefully contrived.
Somehow the new Warner color
process suits the subject better
than technicolor. The three chil
dren are delightfully natural, and if
Gilbert Roland doesn’t get an
Academy Oscar for his perform
ance, they might as well stop giv
ing them out. I consider this movie
the best picture of the year and I
cannot think of a better since Leo
McCarey came up with Going My
Way.” If what Mr. Mooring says is
true, and his judgment has been re
markably accurate in the past, we
may look forward to another great
religious picture.—(The Ave Maria)
MAROV1A, GIDE, AND
BAD BOOKS
On May 24, the Church con
demned the books of Andre Gide,
the late French novelist and
dramatist. On May 26, the Church
condemned the books of Alberto
Pincherle (Moravia), contemporary
Italian novelist. The books of these
authors may not be read by Catho
lics under penalty of ex-com
munication. That is the meaning
of the condemnation.
This act of ecclasiastical cen
sorship will be considered illeberal
by the following groups:
The few whose chief soeial oc
cupation seems to be watching for
publicity which can be turned
aaginst the Church.
The many honest but ignorant j
citizens who are reached by this j
adverse propaganda but not by the !
Catholic answer.
The many whom secularism and
lack of religious instruction have
made amoral. This is the alarming-
ago wrote the monastic rule which
has served as a model for all other
religious rules.
The new edition of the Benedic
tine Rule itself is supplemented by
a biographical sketch of St. Bene
dict and a sermon about him given
in 1947 by Pope Pius XII.
The other little volume studies
the personality of St. Benedict as
revealed in the Rule he composed
and in “The Dialoges” written by
Pope St. Gregory the Great about
| 50 years after the death of St. Ben
edict. It also compares his aescet-
ical doctrine with that of St. Fran
cis de Sales to show that, over the
centuries, the holy patriarch's
teachings have remained vital and
practical.
NEW BOOKS RECEIVED
MY HAY AIN’T IN, by Eddie Doh
erty, (Bruce), $2.75.
THE SACRED HEART AND MOD
ERN LIFE, by Francois Char-
mot, S. J., translated by Kathryn
Sullivan, R. S. C. J.. (Kenedy),
$3.50.
THE WORLD’S FIRST LOVE, by
Fulton J. Sheen,. (McGraw-Hill),
$3.50.
THE FATHERS, a book of car
toons, by Joe Lane, (Extension),
$1.00.
ONE SKY TO SHARE, by R. L.
Bruckberger, (Kenedy), $3.00.
SAINT BENEDICT—THE BOY
WHO CHANGED THE WORLD,
by Mario - Ceiesto F a d d e n,
(Grail), $1.50.
THE SHEPHERDS OF FATIMA,
by Father John de Marchi,
(Sheed & Ward), $2.00.
TW1XT THE CUP AND THE LIP.
by Margaret Cussler and Mary
L. deGive, (Twayne), $3,95.
BOOK REVIEWS
EDITED BY EILEEN HALL
GOD LOVE YOU
Most Reverend
Fulton j. Sheen
MOST REVEREND FULTON J. SHEEN
44¥?VERYONE for himself” is the law of Satan; “Bear ye one an-
1 J other’s burdens” is the law of Christ. Those who have a deep
faith are keenly sensitive to the fact that two-thirds of the popula
tion of the world go to bed hungry every night and that their
average income is less than $4 a week . . . There is only one man
in all the world who feels the hunger of the world, and who burns
with zeal for the conversion of every soul—that is the Holy Father.
The rest of us have our sympathy localized. But with 100,000
missionaries knocking at his door, he turns to his faithful to fill his
hands that he may empty them to lift the burdens of others.
How much do you suppose the Catholics of America con
tributed last year per head to the Holy Father for the spread of
the faith through the 614 missionary areas of the world? Would
your guess he that they contributed more in a year than people
bet at a horse race? Well! In the 4 tracks of New York State
last year we 4,000,000 people bet $78 per head. Would our
sacrifices in 365 days equal that or would it be more? We speak
not of what Catholics send directly to the Missions or to particu
lar mission societies, but only of what was given directly to the
Holy Father that he personally might distribute in His name
as the Vicar of Christ, Here is the answer. The contribution
of Catholics last year to the Holy Father’s Worldmission Society
for the Propagation of the Faith was 15c per man, woman and
child. That is not enough to buy a package of cigarettes. Most
American children spend more than that each week on ice
cream . . . Have we no sins in our souls for which we have to
make reparation and penance? Are we not praying for a favor
which might be won by sacrificing a day’s wages for the Holy
Father’s Missions? ... If we tell Our Lord in Holy Communion
that we love Him, then we ought to prove it by helping save
more souls in India, Africa and those other mission lands for
whom we pray daily on the World Mission Rosary which we
will send at your request and a $2 offering. The rosary will
be blessed by me.
The world is full of willing people— some willing to help the
Holy Father to aid the struggling in pagan lands; the others willing
to let them . . . GOD LOVE YOU to P. K. who sends $10 and
writes: “Several weeks ago I had asked for a new job where I
am employed. While reading the ‘God Love You’ column one morn
ing I pledged to send $10 out of my first pay if I got the promotion.
That afternoon I was notified that the job was mine. Many souls
must have been praying for me.” . . . GOD LOVE YOU to Mrs. A,
H. for her sacrifice of $2 to the Holy Father’s Missions. “I have
given up cream and sugar in my coffee for a month. Though the
taste may be bitter for me. I feel that this sacrifice may add a little
sweetness in someone else’s life.” . . . GOD LOVE YOU to E. A. H.
who sold her Easter candy and sent the missions the $5 she re
ceived from it . . . GOD LOVE YOU to V. S. for $8. “My room
mate and myself decided to send this to the Holy Father's Mis
sions rather than exchange graduation gifts.”
If you had a private audience with the Holy Father would
you say; “Your Holiness here is 15c for your 1,190.000 pagans.”
Well! The Society for the Propagation of the Faith is His own
Society with which He starts new dioceses, supplies new mis
sionaries, and builds news churches. In the name of Jesus and
Mary, lighten His burden and you will lighten your own. Cut
this column out now, pin your sacrifice to it and send it to the
Most Reverend Fulton J. Sheen, National Director of The So
ciety for the Propagation of the Faith, 109 E. 38th St., New York
16x, New York or your Diocesan Director.
ly large group which believes that
the only moral standard is the
criminal law of the state. Its ulti
mate ethic is: Don’t do anything
you can be put in jail for.
Everybody would be helped by
knowing just what is behind such
censorship as that exercised in the
case of Moravia and Gide.
Its justification goes like this:
A man has the duty to avoid things
which threaten his integrity. His
integrity is threatened by blasphe
mous and obscene literature. So
he should avoid such literature.
That is the simple argument
which.explains the Church’s ban
ning of these 'authors and her ex
communicating of Catholics who
read them. Anyone with a sense of
responsibility, who knows the real
facts of Church censorship and
penelities, will agree with her.
Obscene literature is used al
most exclusively for erotic pur
poses. It is employed as an imagi
native preparation for solitary
sexual sin, for extra-marital liai
sons, for adulteries, and for the
mental equivalent of these outward
disorders. About the one thing it
is not used for is what is called
“living a clean life.”
The Church realistically ap
praises this situation for what
every honest man knows it is. And
the Church establishes, for her
own members, a spiritual penalty
to dissuade them from harming
themselves in this way.
If there is any meaning what
ever in that somewhat mysterious
phrase of approval, “living a clean
life,” the meaning is that the clean
liver does not indulge in sexual
practice except in proper marital
circumstances.
The Church would have no quar
rel with erotic literature or movies
or theater if they were used only
as a help to lawful connubial en
terprise. Any more than she has
with* honeymoons or housekeeping
or other basically sexual arrange
ments of lawful marriage.
But objectionable literature and
movies and stage plays are not
used principally as au honest con-
I
nubial stimulus. They are used for
unlawful sexual adventure. And
j they are used for that purpose by
j high school kids and under.
Everybody knows this. The pro-
| ducers of objectionable entertain
ment know it. But the trade makes
; money for them. And that is as far
| as they think. Their service to the
community is the equivalent of the
! dope peddler’s. The dope peddler
! makes money out of encouraging
i physical wreckage. The producer
| of erotic entertainment makes
I money out of encouraging moral
! wreckage.
Unfortunately, the only unified
j voice which is raised in protest
against hiiq is that of the Church.
I Except for a few scattered and un
organized allies, she must fight
| alone.
The Church is not queer in her
■ defense of decency and her con
demnation of those who provida
! indecent entertainment. She is
; realistic. She is what a church
i ought to be. Every honest realist
! is with her. It is the other sidz
j that is queer.—(The Sign).
Father W. J. Harty
To Conduct Retreat
At Camp Villa Marie
SAVANNAH, Ga— Father Wil
liam J. Harty, pastor of Holy Name
of Jesus Church, New Orleans,
will conduct the annual Retreat for
men which will be held at Camp
Villa Marie, August 8-10, under
the auspices of the Savannah Re
treat Section of the Catholic Lay
men’s Association of Georgia.
Father Harty, a member of the
Society of Jesus who is distinguish
ed for his eloquence, has spoken
in Savannah, his native city, on
many occasions, and has on pre
vious occasions conducted Retreats
and Novenas here.
Julian Sipple, president of the
Savannah Retreat Section, has an
nounced that prospective retret-
ants may make reservation*
through their respective pastors.