Newspaper Page Text
Official
Newspaper For
The Diocese Of
Savannah
Vol. 38, No. 13.
PUBLISHED BY THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN'S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
MONROE, GEORGIA, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1957
Official
Newspaper For
The Diocese Of
Atlanta
10c Per Copy — $3 a Year
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WASHINGTON MEETING—Among the 179 prelates attend
ing the Annual Meeting of the U. S. Bishops at the Catholic Uni
versity of America, Washington, D. C„ are, from left: Bishop
John F. Dearden, of Pittsburgh; Archbishop Leo Binz, of Dubuque,
Iowa; Bishop Hubert J. Cartwright, Coadjutor, of Wilmington,
Delaware; Bishop Francis E. Hyland, of Atlanta. -—(NC Photo).
U S Bishops Issue Statement
ASSERT CENSORSHIP'
IS SOMETIMES GIVEN
MISLEADING MEANING
Archbishop
To Baptist
Pilgrimage Plans
Announced For
Atlanta Diocese
ATLANTA — The Most Rev.
Francis E. Hyland, Bishop of
Atlanta, has announced that the
Diocese of Atlanta will sponsor a
pilgrimage to Lourdes during the
centenary year of 1958.
The pilgrimage under the di
rection of Monsignor Joseph G.
Cassidy, V.F., pastor of the Ca
thedral of Christ the King, will
include visits to Fatima, another
famous Shrine of Our Lady, the
Eternal City of Rome, Center of
our Holy faith, and other interest
ing cities and places of continent
al Europe.
The pilgrimage will present
two tours — Tour “A” and Tour
“B.” Both tours will leave New
York by steamship on May
twelfth, or by airplane on May
nineteenth. Tour “A” will return
to New York by airplane on June
twelfth and by steamship on June
twenty-first. Tour “B”, which will
enable the pilgrims to visit some
important cities of Italy, Switzer
land, Germany, Belgium and fin
ally Paris, will return to New
York by airplane on July second
and by steamship on July eighth.
Bishop Hyland will accompany
the pilgrims on Tour “A” and
Monsignor Cassidy will continue
with those on Tour “B”.
It is anticipated that an audi
ence will be obtained with the
Holy Father while the group is
in Rome. The tours will travel
together until June 9 at which
time Tour “B” will begin its ex
tended tour of Europe.
Cost of Tour “A”, which is
being conducted in cooperation
with American Express World
Travel Service, ranges from
$1069.00 to $1284.00 by steamer.
Air price is $1181.90. Cost of Tour
“B” by steamer ranges from
Replies
Queries
Archbishop O'Hara's reply to
Reverend Dick Houston Hall and
the Co/nmittte appointed by the
Southern Baptists will be found on
page eight.
SAVANNAH — His Excellency
The Most Rev. Gerald P. O’Hara,
has released the text of his reply
to 14 questions submitted by a
committee appointed by South
ern Baptists seeking explanation
of doctrines held by the Catholic
Church.
In making public his 28 page
letter to the Rev. Dick Houston
Hall, editor of the Christian In
dex, weekly publication of South
ern Baptists, the Bishop of Sav
annah and Apostolic Delegate to
Great Britain expressed h i s
thanks for the opportunity to ex
plain some parts of the Holy
Faith. “Believe me,” he writes,
“it is explanation of my own
Faith I have sought to supply,
not criticism of others.”
This letter is the second writ
ten the committee. The first was
drafted last year when the group
wrote the Bishop following his
letter addressed to the faithful of
the then Diocese of Savannah-
Atlanta. The pastoral was read in
all churches in conjunction with
the ninth regional C.C.D. Con
gress held at Savannah.
Answering the queries, Arch
bishop O’Hara notes that the
chief difference between the writ
ers is the “Church.” He devotes
the greater part of his reply to
an outline of the Church as
Catholics see it. At the end of his
letter he answers briefly the com
mittee’s 14 questions, stating,
“the answers will come better
against a positive background.”
In making his reply the Arch
bishop, in difference to non-
Catholics, makes all scriptural
quotations from the Revised Ver
sion of the Bible.
$1491.00 to $1794.00. Cost of the
tour by air is $1584.00.
Additional information and re
servations may be secured by con
tacting Rt. Rev. Msgr. Joseph G.
Cassidy, V.F., Cathedral of Christ
The King, Atlanta, Ga.
(N.C.W.C. News Service)
WASHINGTON, — Freedom of
the press is a basic right to be
respected and safeguarded.
But freedom of expression has
social implications, and civil au
thority “has the right and duty
to exercise such control over the
various media of communication
as is necessary to safeguard pub
lic morals.”
The Bishops of the United
States emphasized these points in
a statement on “Censorship”, is
sued in their behalf by the Ad
ministrative Board of the Nation
al Catholic Welfare Conference.
The statement was adopted at the
annual general meeting of the
Archbishops and Bishops held at
the Catholic University of Ameri
ca.
The Bishops said they have no
intention of curtailing the work of
the National Legion of Decency
for motion pictures and the Na
tional Office for Decent Litera
ture for printed publications.
“Far from curtailing the work
of these agencies,” they said, “we
must have them continue. Nor
can we fail to be watchful over
the fields of radio and television.”
These agencies, in their work,
“reflect the moral teaching of
the Church,” and “neither agency
exercises censorship in any true
sense of the word,” the Bishops
declared.
The statement said censorship
is today “a provocative and some
times misleading word,” adding
that it “generates controversy”
by “provoking those who would
deny in fact any restrictions, le
gal or moral, upon freedom of
expression.”
It asserted that freedom of the
press “must be understood and
defended not as license, but as
true rational freedom.”
Obviously the State does have
some power of censorship, the
Bishops pointed out, noting its
exercise in times of war or great
national danger.
“Morally,” they added, “the
Church can and does exercise
what is called censorship. This
right is hers from her office as
teacher of morals and guardian
of divine truth. Her decisions
bind her people but her sanctions
upon them are only spiritual and
moral. She does, nevertheless, ex
press her judgments to all men
of good will, soliciting their rea
soned understanding and their
freely given acceptance and sup
port.”
The statement observed that in
discussions of freedom of ex
pression, the freedom most com
monly involved is “freedom of
the press, not only in newspapers
and other publications, but also
such drastic expressions as is
represented in the theatre, mo
tion pictures, radio and televi-1
sion.”
It said that although civil au
thority has the duty to exercise
such control over media of com
munication as is necessary to
safeguard public morals, civil
law, “especially in those areas
which are constitutionally pro
tected, will define as narrowly as
possible the limitations placed on
freedom.”
“Our judidical system has been
dedicated from the beginning to
the principle of minimal re
straint,” it stated. “Those who
may become impatient with the
reluctance of the State through
its laws to curb and curtail hu
man freedom should bear in mind
that this is a principle that serves
to safeguard all our vital free-
Sunday, Dec. 29th
Day Of Prayer
For Persecuted
WASHINGTON — (NC) — The
Bishops of the United States have
called for Sunday, Dec. 29, to be
made a day of prayer for perse
cuted peoples.
Reminding that "in the arsenal
of Christianity, in reach of all
men of good will,” there is “the
invincible weapon of prayer,” the
Bishops in a public declaration
state that “it is unthinkable that
we should in our day neglect to
petition the Infinite Creator and
Ruler of the universe in behalf of
these moden martyrs.”
‘We, the Bishops of the United
States, with profound reliance on
the unfailing power of prayer,
call upon our people and upon
all who ‘love justice and hate in
iquity’ to unite on Sunday, De
cember 29, in a day of prayer,”
the Bishops state.
“Let us all beg God, our Com
mon Father, to stretch forth His
Mighty Arm, to restrain those
who have long crushed His child
ren, to strengthen and console the
heroic souls who have endured
so much and to lead them speed
ily to the enjoyment of the free
dom of the sons of God.”
The statement notes that it was
little more than a year ago that
“the agonized cry of the Hungari
an people broke through the sil
ence that enveloped them and
millions of others who are suf
fering the most frightful persecu
tion in history.”
It adds that, while grieving
over the atrocities “perpetrated
upon them and our other brothers
beneath the heel of communist
slavery, we thrill to the striking
evidence they have given that
faith and hope still shine in lands
of darkness and that not all the
might of wicked men can over
come the strength which is of
God.”
doms — to curb less rather than
more; to hold for liberty rather
than for restraint.”
The Bishops drew attention to
the fact that human action and
expression “may fall short” of
being legally punishable and may
still “defy the moral standards of
a notable number in the com
munity.”
“Between the legally punish
able and the morally good there
exists a wide gap,” they said. “If
we are content to accept as mo
rally inoffensive all that is le
gally unpunishable, we have low
ered greatly our moral standards.
It must be recognized that civil
legislation by itself does not con
stitute an adequate standard of
morality.”
The statement said that “an
understanding of this truth to
gether with the knowledge that
offensive materials on the stage
and screen and in publications
have a harmful effect” led the
Bishops of the United States to
establish the Legion of Decency
and NODL.
“The function of these agencies
is related in character,” the
statement pointed out. “Each
evaluates and offers the evalua
tion to those interested. Each
seeks to enlist in a proper and
lawful manner the cooperation of
those who can curb the evil. Each
invites the help of all people in
the support of its objectives. Each
endeavors through positive action
to form habits of artistic taste
which will move people to seek
out and patronize the good. In
their work they reflect the moral
teaching of the Church. Neither
agency exercises censorship in
any true sense of the word.”
The statement said the right to
speak out in favor of good morals
“can hardly be challenged in a
democracy such as ours.” It noted
that “it is a long-standing tradi
tion of this country that groups
large and small have given ex
pression of their concern over in
justice — political, social and
economic.”
“It would be most gratifying
to find it unnecessary to carry on
this work,” the Bishops asserted
“One could wish that the sense of
responsibility of those who write
and those who produce motion
pictures would make superfluous
action of this nature. Past experi
ence, however, does not permit us
to look forward to a day when
this sort of evaluation will no
longer be called for. Far from
curtailing the work of these agen
cies we must have them continue.
Nor can we fail to be watchful
over the fields of radio and tele
vision. Meanwhile, our existing
agencies must be prepared to
meet a continuing evil with an
(Continued on Page 2)