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TWO
THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
JANUARY 5. IS
Holy Father's Christmas Message
(Continued from Page 1)
dared, “are convinced they can
overcome this contradiction by re
maining firm on the foundation
of nature and faith.” On the other
hand, “not a few others,” reluc
tant to surrender “the dream of
the omnipotence of man,” wish
to submit to revision “those
values over which they have no
power and which elude the con
trol of. man’s free choice,” such as
religion and their natural rights.
After reviewing at length the
conflict between the two philoso
phies, the Holy Father outlined
a dramatic series of principles and
programs which he urged on the
world for its own salvation from
laicist “false/realism” and from
“an enemy determined to impose
on all peoples ... a special and
* intolerable way of life.”
Freedom and personal respon
sibility, properly ordered social
relations, progress correctly un
derstood, these, he said, are hu
man values, for man effects them
and profits by them'. But they
are likewise religious and divine
values, if one considers their
source.
“Now even in the West,” His
Holiness said, “there is an effort
to attack and banish from mod
ern society the very basis of these
values, in the name of laicism, of
man’s vain self-sufficiency. Thus
this strange condition has come
about that not a few public fig-
BL ures, possessing no strong religi-
ous convictions, wish and are ob-
■ liged to defend for the sake of
common good those funda-
Willies which drew tie.
. no i a ii\ from religion and from
^Hrod.”
In reference to the “talks" and
“meetings” carried on between
groups whose basic outlooks are
totally different. Pope Pius asked:
“Whv enter a discussion without a
| common language, or how is it
j possible to meet if the paths are
! divergent?” He declared that “out
j of respect for the very name of
| Christian, compliance with such
j tactics should cease.”
Gn recent events in eastern
Europe, His Holiness added at this
i point: .“If there still be any vacil-
| lating spirits, notwithstanding the
black testimony of ten years of
cruelty, the blood just shed in
the immolation of many lives
j sacrificed by a martyred people
| should finally convince, them.
“Still, it., is remarked, the
bridges must not be put,- mutual
relations must rather be preserv-
| ed. But for this, whateyer respon
sible governmental and political
leaders judge they must do, by
way of contracts and mutual re
lations for humanity’s peace and
not for private interests, is
enough. That is sufficient which
competent ecclesiastical authority
decides it should do to gain rec
ognition of the Church’s rights
and freedom.”
“If unpleasant realities, force
Us to set forth the terms of the
struggle in clear language,” the
Pontiff continued, “no one can
properly accuse Us of favoring
the stiffening of opposing blocks,
! and still less of having in some
j fashion abandoned that mission
[ of peace which flows from Our
! apostolic office. Rather, if We
i kept silence We would have to
fear the judgment of God . . .
| But precisely in order to protect
! it' (the cause of peace) from the
! present threats, must We point
| out where the danger lies, the
j tactics of its enemies and what
| marks them as such.”
Pope Pius warned against too
i “onesided” criticism of one na-
l tion bj' another. Sentiment can
: be a guide to sound action much
| less’“the sentiments of yesterday
I and the day before,” he warned.
J In a thoroughly clear refere'nce
to the Soviet massacre of the
Hungarian people, His Holiness
said: “There’s no longer room for
doubt concerning the aims and
methods which rely on tanks,
when these latter noisily crash
over borders, sowing death, in or
der to force civilian peoples into
a pattern of life they explicitly
detest . .
The Holy Father expressed his
cc-nsolation in seeing that “in
some countries arnid today’s de
bates men are talking about con
science and its demands.” They
haven’t forgotten, he said, that
only absolute norms and an ab
solute end “save social life from
chaos.” He added: “They ex
plicitly condemn those who be
lieve they can resolve questions
of human coexistence on the basis
of good external appearances and
with a practical view, aiming to
act according to where, interest
and power may be found in in
dividual cases.”
In this context, the Pope said
the United Nations, despite its
high aims, has recently been the
victim of the ‘‘false realism” of
“not a few of its members” even
when the United Nations’ aims
and values are at stake.
“No one expects or demands
the impossible, not even from the
United Nations," he said, “but
one should have a right to ex
pect that their authority should
| have had its weight, at least
through observers, in the places
in which the essential values of
man are in extreme danger. Al
though the United Nations’ con
demnation- of the grave violations
of the rights of men and of entire
j nations is worthy of recognition,
one can nevertheless v^ish that,
DISPERSED NUNS IN CZECHOSLOVAK
CARRY ON APOSTOLIC WORK IN SECR
WORK IN MINISTRIES AND FACTOR!E
in similar cases, the exercise of
their rights as members of this
organization be denied to states
which refuse even the admission
of observers—thus showing that
their concept of state sovereignty
threatens the very foundations of
the United Nations.
“This organization ought also
to have the right and the power
of forestalling all military inter
vention of one state in another,
whatever be the pretext under
which it is effected, and also the
right and power of assuming, by
means of sufficient police force,
the safeguarding of order in the
state which is. threatened.”
In a strong defense of the Unit
ed Nations as such, however, Pope
Pius said: “If We allude to these
defects, it is because We desire to
see strengthened the authority of
the United Nations especially for
effecting general disarmament
which wa have so much at heart
. . . In fact, only in the ambit of
an institution like the United Na
tions can the promise of individu
al nations to reduce armament,
especially to abondon production
and use of certain arms, be mu-
tally exchanged under the strict
obligation of international law.
“Likewise only the United Na
tions is at present in a position
to exact the observance of this
obligation by assuming effective
control of the armaments of all
nations without excepSticin. Its
exercise of aerial observation will
assure certain’ and effective
knowledge of the production and
military preparedness for war
with relative ease, while avoiding
the disadvantages which the pres
ence of foreign troops in a coun
try can give rise to.”
| VIENNA, (NC) — Unknown
Red government officials,
! woman teaching in a leading nv-
j-ical school in Czechoslovakia an
[ a high official in a governmei
j ministry are both members of a
I religious congregation of women,
dispersed eight years ago.
According to the report of a nun
now in Vienna, there are many
other cases like these two.
When the convent\ of the nuns,
located in the Brno Diocese,
closed in 1947, the nuns w
given a difficult choice. The
ficials told them that they co
continue to wear their religi;
habits and go to a forced la
camp or remain free if they agr
not to wear their habits.
On the advice of higher supe
ors, the Sisters decided that tli
would not wear their habits,
this way, they, reasoned, th
would still be able to carry
some apostolic work.
Some of the nuns found e
ployment in factories and
together in a small indust:
town. Other Sisters live ale
meeting with the other gro
secretly, on days when they
not work.
The Sisters carry on their a
tolic work after working ho
and sometimes while they are
in the factory.
Sometimes they even orga:
days of retreat for girls
women in small groups of two
three. They must keep the gro
small so as to avoid attracting
attention of the police.
The report said the work of
Sisters has been so" successful
since their dispersal the n
ber of the congregation has
creased almost three times.
THE
City Of Augusta
AND
HUGH HAMILTON, MAYOR
■
Extend to tie Members oi the Catholic Laymen’s Association
Best Wishes for a Happy 1957