Newspaper Page Text
1
9
According To Saturday Evening Post
GOMULKA PRESSES WAR ON CHURCH,
RENEGES ON PACT WITH CARDINAL
GRAND KNIGHTS attending the meeting of the Georgia State Council, Knights of Colum
bus in Warner Robins, front row, left to right, Joseph A. DeGrange, Valdosta; Ed Jones,
Macon, Robert C. Lagen, Columbus and Mario Moscardelli, Council 4420, Atlanta. Back
row, Richard H. Nadicksbernd, Sacred Heart Council 4371, hosts for the meeting, Karl
A. Holman, Savannah, and F. Bohlinger Sharp, Council 4358, Decatur. -(Photo by Greg
Puster)
""Education Expert In Augusta Talk -
Population, Knowledge
Explosions “Especially
Crucial” For Schools
AUGUSTA—An enthusiastic
audience of 400 persons includ
ing the religious and lay teach
ers of the city, and a number
of public officials heard Msgr.
O’Neil C. D’Armour in a lec
ture titled "Freedom and Edu
cation in America". The Mon
signor D’Amour spoke on Jan
uary 29th, the same day in which
the Federal Aid to Education
was presented to Congress.
Msgr. D'Amour is Associate
Secretary of the Department
of School Superintendents of the
National Catholic Educational
Association. This lecture was
under the auspices of the Au
gusta Deanery Council of Ca
tholic Women as a Family and
Parent Education Committee
project.
The speaker told the group
gathered in St. Mary’s School
Auditorium that "All schools
today face the consequences of
two explosions—the explosion
of the population and the explo
sion of knowledge. While these
affect all schools, they are
expecially crucial for Catholic
schools. In the matter of the
population explosion, the Catho
lic school is confronted not only
with a higher birth rate, but it
is confronted with an unprecent-
ed demand for the Catholic
school on the part of Catholic
people."
Msgr. D’Amour, while ac
knowledging the right of the
State to maintain acceptable
standards of education, showed
that this in no way affected
the rights of the parents and
the Church in a "freedom of
choice" in the education of the
young.
"Because of our vision of
man as a child of God, because
of our recognition of his super
natural destiny, because of our
insistence upon religion as es
sential to education, we must
preserve our freedom to have
our children educated in schools
oriented toward religious truth.
The present trend is a threat
to the very fundamentals of our
beliefs. It is a trend that we
must fight with all the resour
ces at our command. May I say
that in so fighting, we will be
performing a service not only
to the Catholic people but to
the entire nation."
Msgr. D’Amour challenged
the layman to accept the new
role that is being thrust upon
him in taking the leadership
in matters of education. He
asked the layman to recognize
this role and to give whole
heartedly of his abilities and his
monetary assets.
"The non-public school sys
tems find themselves confront
ed with a dilemma. If they
attempt to meet the demands
of expansion, they find them
selves with overcrowded class
rooms, with unqualified teach
ers, with antiquated equip
ment. These things they do not
desire. The other horn of the
dilemma is that they retrench
and that they open their doors
only either to those who have
the money to pay higher tuitions
or to those of above average
intelligence. This likewise is
not desired. Whetheir the child
ren are taken into schools lack
ing adequate facilities or whe
ther they are turned away be
cause of the lack of money or
intelligence, I contend that the
right of freedom of choice in
education is being violated.
The speaker emphasized that
Catholic education should not
belong exclusively to the child
ren of affluent families nor to
the children of above-average
intelligence, that every Catholic
child has a right to become a
part of "a religiously literate
citizenry, and in our society
this can be brought about only
through the religious school.
Msgr. D’Amour concluded his
lectube with a compliment to
spirit of fair play of the Ameri
can people and stated "If our
situation is presented to them
in a clear manner, I believe
they will react with justice and
with charity."
An interesting question and
answer period followed the for
mal lecture and the members
of the Family and Parent Edu
cation Committee were the hos
tesses for the social hour. Miss
Pauline Peuffier is president
of the Augusta Deanery Council
of Catholic Women and Mrs.
Stephen Mulherin is deanery
chairman of the committee
which arranged this project.
MIXED MARRIAGES REMAIN
ILLEGAL FOR ISRAELIS
JERUSALEM, Israel, (NC)~
Israel’s Knesset (Parliament)
has voted down a proposed law
which would have permitted
mixed marriages between Jews
and Gentiles, with Minister of
Religious Affairs Zerah Wah-
rhaftig leading the opposition.
The bill, introduced by Mrs.
Emma Talmi of the leftist Ma-
pam party, provided for civil
marriage and divorce. This
would have allowed mixed mar-
raiges, which are now illegal
in Israel where marriage is
controlled by Jewis religious
law.
The bill was defeated by a
vote of 37 to 13. Voting against
it were the Mapai (Labor) Par
ty, the National Religious party
and other parties of the gov
ernment coalition. Favoring it
were the Mapam party, the
communists and some members
of the Liberal party.
Mrs. Talmi argued that Is
rael’s present marriage laws
are not in keeping with the times
and often prevent people from
living according to their con
sciences, thus causing personal
tragedies. Minister Wahrhaftig
pointed out that the bill would
legalize marriage between Jews
and non-Jews and said that
was sufficient reason to oppose
it.
Psychiatrics Christian
LAGOS, Nigeria--Africans
should understand that psychia
tric care is part of the Chris
tian concern for the sick, a Sis
ter who is a physician told the
first Nigerian national Sisters'
conference here.
Sister Margaret Mary Nolan
of the Medical Missionaries of
Mary asked for the establish
ment of a psychiatric ward in
every Catholic hospital, telling
the Sisters; "It is most un
Christian to turn away any pa
tient because he is violent or
psychotic.
DISTRICT DEPUTY VISITS AUGUSTA--Daniel J. Keane, District Deputy recently visited
Patrick Walsh Council 677. Pictured left to right: Joseph H. Gigandet, Grand Knight
Council 677; Daniel J. Keane, District Deputy, 1st District; Bernard S. Dunstan, State
Advocate; Father Thomas F. Egan (Chaplain U.S. Army) Chaplain of the Augusta Council.’
The Southern Cross, February 9, 1963—PAGE 3
PHILADELPHIA, (NC) —Po
land’s Red regime headed
by Wladyslaw Gomulka has fail
ed to live up to its 1956 agree
ment with the Church and is
stepping up its war against re
ligion, Stefan Cardinal Wyszyn-
ski has charged in a report is
sued here.
The Primate of Poland spoke
in an interview with Christine
Hotchkiss published here by the
Saturday Evening Post. Accord
ing to the author, the interview
was granted in Rome before
Cardinal Wyszynski returned to
Warsaw from the ecumenical
council.
The Cardinal declared:
"The agreement that I
negotiated with Gomulka six
years ago last October has been
ignored . . . Hardly any of the
promises have been kept. In
stead, a powerful adminis
trative apparatus has been mo
bilized to fight us. Its tentacles
spread everywhere."
Speaking of Poland’s 30 mil
lion Catholics, the Cardinal
stated:
"We form the most powerful
body of dissent in the Soviet
empire . . . and the struggle
we are engaged in is affecting
the balance of the cold war . . .
So far we are holding the line,
but the pace of the onslaught is
quickening. Our existence is a
shattering proof of the failure of
the communist doctrine."
Cardinal Wyszynski con
tinued:
‘A recent decree . . . com
pels every employee of the state
to refer every matter concern
ing a clergyman Church
organization or religious order
to a special government agency
called the Office for Religious
Beliefs. It makes no difference
whether this involves an appli
cation for a building permit, a
driving license for the local
priest or an allotment of coal
for a convent . . . The policy
of the Office for Religious Be
liefs is quite simple—"no" to
every request.
"Then there is the financial
pressure through taxes . . .
The government ‘calculated’
that the revenue of the Church
comes to 2,500,000,000 zlotys a
year (about $100,000,000). It
fixed taxes of this revenue at
800,000,000 zlotys (roughly one
third).
"This absurd estimate was
made to provide a so-called
‘legal basis' for the exorbit
ant levies that are now being
extorted from us. There is no
money to pay it, for the Church’s
real income amounts to less
than one sixth of the govern
ment’s estimate (which would
make the tax twice as high as
the income).
"But the government is re
lentless. In one parish the fur
niture of the village priest has
been seized in payment for so-
called 'back taxes’ due from the
collection plates last year. In
another a priest's bicycle
and his wrist watch were con
fiscated when internal revenue
agents were unable to locate
the preposterously high sums
of money they demanded. Ac
cording to a recent regulation
all religious schools, semin
aries and convents are classi
fied as ‘luxury hotels’ and
thus subject to exorbitant tax
ation.
"Our clergy lives in con
stant fear of eviction. For the
state confiscates everything—
buildings, furniture, livestock,
farm produce . . . The students
in a seminary in central Poland
recently found themselves
sleeping in drawers used
to store clerical vestments
Every other peice of furniture
had been seized by the tax col
lector."
Cardinal Wyszynski empha
sized to the interviewer: "Yes,
they are brutal."
"They hope," he said, "to
discourage young people from
joining the ranks of the cler
gy. Some, of course, do suc
cumb through sheer physical
exhaustion. I can’t blame them
, . . But these are all flagrant
violations of Gomulka's agree
ment in 1956."
The Cardinal spoke of the Red
regime’s war against the Catho
lic press. He said:
"Strict censorship . . . i
applied to all circulars, pam
phlets and church publications
essential for the dissemination
of faith and the routine function
ing of Church administrative
bodies. It involves endless de
lays and expense.
"Take the case of books, for
example. The communist cen
sor requires that a copy which
is bound and ready for sale
be submitted to him. He then
proceeds to blank out parts of
it, making it necessary to re
print and rebind the entire book
The allocation of paper is also
in the government’s hands and
we are entirely dependent
Denies
Interview
BERLIN (NC)—The War
saw office of Stefan Cardin
al Wyszynski, Primate of
Poland, stated (Feb. 1) in
the wake of an "exclusive
interview" in the Saturday
Evening Post that he had
"given no interview to any
American magazine."
The statement also den
ied that the Cardinal had
described Church-State re
lations in Poland as a "bal-
anding act" between himself
•and communist party first
secretary Wladyslaw Gom
ulka.
The Saturday Evening Post
(February 2 issue) article
was written by Christine
Hotchkiss, a native of Po
land now residing in the
West, who said she talked to
Cardinal Wyszynski while he
was in Rome for the ecu
menical council.
(In New York, a Saturday
Evening Post Spokesman
stated: "Our story on Car
dinal Wyszynski is authen
tic and we stand by it. Any
one who knows the political
situation in Poland can easily
understand the denial.")
on their whim. Yes, we have
traveled a long way from the
heady days of October, 1956
—unhappily in the wrong dir
ection!"
The Polish Primate also de
nounced the communist govern
ment’s suppression of religious
education. He declared:
"In its effort to create an
atheistic society in Poland . . .
the government has suspended
religious teaching in school.
This has been the most serious
violation of the 1956 agreement.
Poland is 95 per cent Catholic,
and close to 90 per cent of the
parents have gone on record
demanding that religion be a
required subject in schools. But
today the state tries to prevent
even the teaching of catechism
to children. Complicated per
mits are needed to open a
meeting point’ after school
The refusal is never direct,
but the building is declared
‘unsafe -in case of fire,' or
some other technical flaw is
discovered . . .
"Over the last six years
the tension has indeed been
great ... but the climacter
ic was not reached. Neither
I nor Gomulka will allow it.
They know that we will not
compromise in some matters;
I know that the prestige of
the party has to be saved. I
have never, for example, asked
the state to make religious edu
cation compulsory for all—it is
a demand that Gomulka could
not possibly defend before his
fellow communists and con
sequently could not grant. I have
never yet told them ‘all or
nothing.’
"At times I am forced to
make big tactical concessions,
like withdrawing a nomination
for a bishop, or substituting one
name for another. But I can’t
risk having all my bishops ar
rested. The administration of
the Church would collapse, and
worship would be seriously
interfered with. If the worst
comes, it is better to preserve
a flicker than to extinguish the
flame altogether.
"It is all part of the balanc
ing act that Gomulka and I are
engaged in. We understand each
other thoroughly, though our
meetings are rather infrequent.
It has been almost two years
since I last talked to him, but
predictions of a rupture between
us are unfounded. We both firm
ly believe that an explosion has
to be prevented at all costs.
' * Poland is a very young coun
try; almost half of its people
are under 30 years of age and
they are inflammable, like tim
ber ... To most of them Ca
tholicism and patriotism are
one. Imagine what would hap
pen if a popular revolt were to
break out! The Russian armies
which encircle us on all sides
would march in. An ocean of
blood would flow. Our youth
would be lost. No| I will not
allow Poland to suffer the fate
of Hungary. There must be
peace . . .
"The fierce battle I am en
gaged in just now is to prevent
a mass biological suicide of
a nation . . .
"The government has enact
ed a new law which legalizes
abortions. It is enough for a
woman to declare that she wish
es to interrupt pregnancy, and
the hospital or the doctor are
legally compelled to oblige her
. . . This is the exact opposite
of what is happening in Russia,
where abortion is punishable
by imprisonment ... To a
Catholic, of course, abortion
is a mortal sin, but it is diffi
cult for me to condemn Polish
women for desiring to take ad
vantage of the law. In their
desperately overcrowded liv
ing quarters, the arrival of a
new child often means almost
insurmountable new problems
"But if abortions continue at
the present fast-growing rate,
the population of our country
will be drastically reduced
within the next 20 years. There
is no economic necessity for
this. Even with the present food
shortages, mostly due to ineffi
cient communist management,
the present territory of Poland
can easily support a population
of 50,000,000 people or more.
I have publicly denounced this
vicious, inhuman measure and
will spare no efforts to com
bat it. It is a crime aimed at
the existence of Poland, and I
shall fight it! The biological
defense of the nation is as
important to me as religion!"
Cardinal Wyszynski describ
ed his methods of dealing with
his country’s communist rul
ers.
"I frequently take one line
of defense, knowing that I may
have to withdraw to the next...
I don’t mind it . Our survival
depends on our knowledge of
the changing communist tac
tics. One has to forsee their
moves and try to match them.
It is not always wise to de
nounce immediately a new hos
tile law, for example. These
laws change and often cancel
each other after a time. I re
main inflexible only in matters
TIRES
IBandag Recaps-Guaranteed 25,000 Miles
Front End-Brakes-Auto Repairs
Appliances — TV
Bill Kehoe Tire
pairsfj, .
CoP
410 Montgomery
Savannah
AD 31128
of faith . . .
"My life’s purpose is to be
with my people—no matter what
the cost. I prefer to remain in
prison in my own country ra
ther than to be free in exile
or have a high ecclesiastical
office abroad ... I am rather
in a hurry to get back, for
the pressure is on us again in
full force."
Asked if he is afraid of Red
retaliation because of his
stand against communist ef
forts, the Cardinal answered:
"I never think of it ... It
is true that I get thousands of
letters every day begging me
not to travel at night, or to
use armed guards in the palace.
I would not think of it for a
moment. Why, I never even lock
my door at night in my bedroom!
I know I am under the protec
tion of our Lord and of the Holy
Mary, His mother. That is the
best guarantee for my safety.
"You ask me, what does the
future hold? I don’t know. But
I know that the Church in Po
land will survive, and with it a
degree of freedom for our
people."
APPROVES NEW EDITION—Archbishop Patrick
A. O'Boyle of Washington, a member of the Second Vatican
Council's Commission for Seminaries, receives the first
copy of the new edition of At-ONE-ment from Frater
Columkille O’Shea, S. A., managing editor. The publica
tion, designed for seminarians, treats of the problems
and possibilities of Christian unity. It is produced by
the seminarians of Atonement Seminary in the Washington
archdiocese.—(NC Photos)
Georgia State Savings Bank
Savannah's Largest and
Savings Bank
BANK BY MAIL SERVICE
Member Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Bull 8c York Streets
£ttl6INN T S
SEAFOOD RESTAURANT
Takeout Service
Ocean Fresh Seafoo
2800 SKIDAWAY ROAD PHONE eu4’ 54lt
next to victory shopping plaza
; ? Vflnnfl Hpeo
pany
Live modern for less with Natural Gas
NEW STORE HOURS
Mon., Wed., Fri., 9 til 9
Tues., Thurs., Sat., 9 til 6
] w ~ ^ ^ w ®
LOWER PRICES—HIGHER QUALITY
Featuring
Drexel Furniture
Frigidare Appliances
Simmions Sleep Products
The Finest For The Home
DSRINNI A VS.
iiiiiuiMusssnlai
i rm
..........J.J.
2217 BAY STREET EXT. (JR. STORE)
60 EAST DERENNE AVE. (SR. STORE)