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FOUR
THE BULLETIN CP THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
AUGUST 20, 1955,
lullftin
Turkey And The Faith
The Official Organ of the Catholic Laymen’s
Association of Georgia, Incorporated
THIS WORLD OF OURS
JOHN MARKWALTER, Editor
416 Eighth Street, Augusta, Ga.
“ ASSOCIATION OFFICERS FOR 1954-1955
J, P. MEYER, Columbus — President
E, M, HEAGARTY, Waycross - Honorary Vice-President
MRS. L, E, MOCK, Albany , - Vice-President
DAMON J. SWANN, Atlanta V. P., Publicity
GEORGE GINGELL, Columbus — V. P., Activities
RAWSON HAVERTY, Atlanta V. P., Membership
JOHN M. BRENNAN, Savannah Secretary
JOHN T. BUCKLEY, Augusta - Treasurer
JOHN MARKWALTER, Augusta Executive Secretary
MISS CECILE FERRY, Augusta Financial Secretary
ALVIN M. McAULIFFE, Augusta Auditor
Vol. XXXVI Saturday, Aug. 20, 1955 No. 6
3 ~
Entered as second class matter at the Post Office, Monroe, Georgia,
and accepted for mailing at special rate of postage provided by para
graph (e) of section 34.40, Postal Laws and Regulations.
Member of N. C. W. C. News Service, the Catholic Press As
sociation of the United States, the Georgia Press Association,
and the National Editorial Association,
Published fortnightly by the Catholic Laymen’s Association of Geor
gia, Inc., with the Approbation of the Most Reverend Archbishop-
Bishop of Savannah-Atlanta, and of the Right Reverend Abbot
Ordinary of Belmont.
A Divine Command
(REV. JOHN D. TOOMEYj *
Every man should practice the virtue of religion. Why?
Is it simply because of the natural reasons alleged in oUr
last issue, namely, that man seeks truth and goodness and
can be satisfied only through religion? Or is there a super
natural reason, some demand placed on man by Alrqighty
God Himself?
We believe the supernatural reason to be the stronger
of the two —• and a far more substantial reason for religious
practice than one which depends on human needs and desires.
The very word “Religion” means to bind a man to God, his
Creator.
The duty of a man to God is two-fold, first, to recognize
and believe; secondly, to love. On these two pillars of re
ligious obligation, the true virtue of religion is built. And so
the necessity is of divine origin and man should be governed
by it.
Religion gives form to this duty of faith and love. Its
creed and its doctrines express man’s faith; its moral regula
tions direct his life in conformtiy with the divine will; its
worship gives voice to faith and love.
When man was given the faculties of intellect and will,
the divine intention was certainly not that he should use
them only for himself. It is only right that he should turn
back to his Creator in seeking to know and to love God. But
millions of people never make this return. No faith—-no:
morality—no prayer is the story of a lost generation of men.
It is the tragic story of many people in our midst today.
This fact alone should make our Crusade For God here in
Georgia a paramount issue in our lives. Religion cannot be
placed on a shelf with the pepper and vinegar—to be used
only when desired. A divine command has been given to ev
ery man to return to God in faith and love. Any man who
fails in this respect will be denying his own origin and destiny.
Congress And Convention
(REV. JOHN D. TOOMEY)
The time is drawing near for the joint convention of the
Catholic Laymen’s Assocation and the Regional Congress of
the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine. This important gath
ering is scheduled for October 21-23 in Savannah.
The opportunities presented by this joint meeting will be
tremendous. Not only will the clergy and laity present come
into contact with the techniques and purposes of the Con
fraternity program, but the members of the Laymen’s Asso
ciation will be presented with a concrete plan of Catholic
.Action which should inspire them to expand and further the
work of the Association. The Congress and Convention are
vitally needed if we are to fulfill the teaching mission of the
Church and bring Christ’s truth and grace to those who are
not of this fold.
Every parish in the Diocese of Savannah-Atlanta has been
directed to have at least two official lay delegates at the
Congress. We trust that there will be many more and that
every organization in the Diocese will be represented. We
urge all parish groups, especially Holy Name, Diocesan Coun
cil of Catholic Women, Knights of Columbus, local branches
of the Catholic Laymen’s Association, arid others to take up
this matter at their September meetings. The names of dele
gates should be sent at once to the chairman, Monsignor
McNamara, in Savannah.
Let us bend every effort to make our Crusade For God a
worthy and practical manifestation of our zeal for the salva
tion of souls. Let us attend the Congress and Convention in
October and let us devise efficient means for bringing the
.knowledge and love of God to all men.
(By Richard Patiee)
Istanbul—Turkey has been de
fined as an eastern nation trying
mightily to be as western as is
humanly possible, succeeding in-
some was ? s while failing lament
ably in others.^ •
In this first article on Turkey,
I am going to try to sum up as
best I can
multitude of im
pressions t h a
have filled
last few days.
Athens is a
ing place of i
and cultural
fluences, Istan
bul takes all hon
ors in this
spect. Here is one
cities of the world, preserving in
fluences that stem from every one
of the great currents that has
washed over it down through the
centuries.
EAST MEETS WEST
From my hotel window I look
out on one of the broad boulevards
that attests to the energy and ca
pacity for creation of Kemal Ata-
turk. A few steps from this same
hostelry is one of those warrens
of tiny streets, narrow,, cobble-
stoned and perpendicular, filled
with a motley crowd of vendors,
onlookers and itinerants, which is
one of the characteristics of this
semi - oriental, semi - occidental
center. One moves from a scene
which is straight out of Sax Roh
mer into the main drag of Istan
bul, the Istiklal Caddesi—a fine
avenue, crowded with American
cars, Mobiloil and Esso signs, and
the strongly European note that
it brings to the great Turkish city.
I spent a day on the island of
Bukukada in the Sea of Marmora
where the Apostolic Delegate,
Msgr. Testa, has a summer resi
dence. It was a splendid sight to
move down through the Bospho
rus on the steamer, with the
domes and minarets of Istanbul’s
mosques standing out against the
sky line. The weight of history is
heavy here, too, and each moment
bears witness to one of the peo
ples or eras that made the city
what it is.
CHURCH STATUS
Since my major interest in each
of these lands is to assess as ac
curately as possible the status of
the Catholic Church and its out
look, I will begin with this theme
and in the next two articles take
up certain other aspects of Turk
ish life.
I have no knowledge of any
country anywhere, of all those I
have visited, in which oui. faith
is so completely marginal and in
consequential. There is literally
no Catholic “presence” here at
all, except in isolated little pock
ets of the faithful, almost all of
whom to a man are non-Turkish.
FEW PARISH CHURCHES
First of all, statistics—the ac
curacy of which may be question
ed a bit. In Istanbul and environs
there are probably about 15,0.00
Catholics. In Smyrna, possibly
two to three thousand. In Ankara,
the capital, some 1500. Possibly
another thousand are scattered
here and there, especially in the
north along the Black Sea. In the
rest of Turkey there are no Cath
olics at all.
In Ankara, the two Catholic
churches or parishes are located
on property of the French and
Italian embassies and serve, in
large measure, the needs of the
diplomatic and foreign colony in
the city. Here in Istanbul there
are five parishes, beginning with
the Cathedral of the Holy Ghost.
In greater Istanbul—i. e., on both
the European and the Asiatic
sides—there are a few more par
ishes.
SCHOOLS AND INSTITUTIONS
The Christian Brothers have
two large colleges, Saint Michel
in the city and St. Joseph at
Kadikoy, one of the suburbs. The
Lazarists have St. Benedict’s. Va
rious congregations of nuns main
tain colleges for the higher edu
cation of young women. There are
two German-language Catholic
schools* and the Salesians have
another where the instruction is
given in Italian.
There are two large Catholic
hospitals, one French and the oth
er Italian and both run by the
Sisters of Charity. On land be
longing to the French embassy,
an interrite seminary is directed
by the Capuchins. The Jesuits
have organized a number of un
dertakings for the youth of the
city. A smallish monthly periodi
cal, Le Flambeau, appears, and
from time to time something in
Turkish is published in it. It may
be said almost literally that noth
ing of a Cathulic nature now ex
ists in Turkish, although a manual
of Christian Doctrine is envisaged,
NO IMPACT ON NATION
Catholics of the Armenian rite
have three parishes with an arch
bishop at their head. Those of the
Greek rite number perhaps 500.
A scattering of other rites such
as the Syriac, Melchile, Maronite
and Chaldean complete the sur
vey.
The most that can be said is
that the Church exists here, al
though certainly nothing is being
done or can be done—for reasons
which I shall examine later—to
expand the faith among the
Turks. All religious propagation
of this sort is rigidly forbidden by
law. Aside from an occasional in
dividual conversion, of which
some have been important, prac
tically no impact is made on the
nation at large.
THE BACKDROP
By CHARLES LUCEY
EASY DOESN'T DO IT
; A||
As insidious a minor fraud
as can be perpetrated is that
piece of counsel to the effect
that easy-does-it.
Advocacy of the cautious ap
proach may be all well enough
in some problem of mechanics-
say opening a beer can with an
hydraulic drill—but it is an ap
proach that is utterly incapable
of helping to provide solutions
to the social perplexities con
fronting us every day.
A Washington newspaper a
few days ago carried a full-page
advertisement by a business con
cern apologizing for remaining
open on Sunday. It was written
in words that seemed sincere.
It cited circumstances which it
believed, rightly or not, justified
its having been open on recent
Sundays. It voiced agreement in
principle with keeping Sunday a
holy day.
SOMETHING NEW
It is doubtful if anyone who
read that advertisement ever
had seen one like it before. Here
was an awareness of the recent
awakening as to the damage he
wing done by a cheapening dis-
irespect for Sunday by business-
jmen insistent in getting the last
dime.
Could it have happened if
churches, Catholic and Protes
tant alike, had not publicly made
an issue of desecration of the
seventh day?
Senator Mike Monroney
of Oklahoma, a man of re
ligious conviction, made a speech
decrying shopkeepers’ wide
spread disrespect for Sunday. His
speech drew national response
in support of doing something
about this abuse. More recently
the growing appeal—not only to
shopkeepers to remain closed but
to people to refuse to patronize
those staying open—has put new
purpose into the campaign.
KEEP UP THE HEAT
But easy doesn’t do it. The
heat must be kept on. There is
indeed cynicism in that old saw
that the only thing that force
achieves is results. Yet here the
force of public opinion applied
at the cash register can get re
sults to be had in no other way.
That goes for dirty movies,
crime and violence comics, por
nography and newsstand trash
of all kinds. Unremitting public
pressure on authorities charged
with enforcing laws against the
purveyors of vicious filth is al
so justified and necessary. Pub
lic indifference lets scoundrels
capitalize on human weakness.
A few weeks ago, after his
Senate subcommittee had inves
tigated problems of delinquency,
Senator Estes Kefauver intro
duced bills designed to make it
tougher for the pornography
boys to peddle their goods.
EXERCISE YOUR RIGHT
But hundreds of measurese are
introduced every year which
never are heard of again. Mr.
Kefauver, arguing his case be
fore the rest of Congress for ac
ceptance of these measures, will
be aided vastly if he is able to
show widespread public support
for what he is trying to do. That
means letters not only to Sen
ator Kefauver but to your Rep
resentative and Senator, urging
their backing for legislation to
curb a nationwide evil.
The right of petition—the right
of the very lowliest citizen to sit;,
down and write his congressman
or state legislator or city council
man—is inherent in democracy.
There is never a time when
powerful lobby and pressure
groups are not active in state
capitals and in Washington, at
tempting to get legislation to
benefit them or to block bills
in the public interest designed
to curb privileges they do not
wish, to give up. But individual
leters—enough of them — can
be the offset to the big lobbies.
It is wrong to believe a single
letter reaching a congressman’s
office has no force. On the con
trary, congressional mail gets
careful reading; few congress
men are so arrogant or careless
(Continued on Page Five)