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PAGE 4—The Southern Cross, February 23, 1963
MOST SEWERS SMELL THE SAME
Books For The Blind
The Public Library can be a source of
information, education, inspiration and enjoy
ment for all, even for those who have been
deprived of the precious gift of sight.
And the Public Library of Savannah, under
the direction of Miss Geraldine LeMay, has
undertaken a campaign to prove it.
Miss LeMay, the library director recently
sent letters to doctors, ministers, priests,
rabbis, and workers with the physically
handicapped in an effort to enlist their serv
ices in publicizing the TALKING BOOKS
FOR THE BLIND SERVICE.
This service consists of the loan of books
on records to those adults and children
whose eyesight is so poor that they can not
read the type in books. The records are
33 1/3 speed, and can be played on almost
any modern record-player. For those who do
not have a record-player or who cannot
afford one, a limited number are available
from the library.
In order to be eligible for the TALKING
BOOKS FOR THE BLIND SERVICE one must
have a certificate from a physician attesting
the need. The certificate may be sent to the
Savannah Public Library with a request
for the service, or, if a prospective reader
prefers, it may be sent directly to the
LIBRARY FOR THE BLIND, 1050 MURPHY
AVENUE, S. W., ATLANTA 10, GEORGIA.
The library sends qualified applicants two
records, together with a catalog of books
available. When a reader has finished one
record, he mails it back and another is sent.
Records are free with postage paid by the
TALKING BOOKS FOR THE BLIND SERV
ICE.
This service deserves the highest praise.
It also deserves the earnest attention of
anyone acquainted with or working with
blind or visually handicapped persons.
Public enthusiasm for this project and a
growing interest in “The Wonderful World
of Books”, by the blind and the near-blind
is the only reward sought by Miss LeMay,
the Savannah Public Library, and the TALK
ING BOOKS FOR THE BLIND SERVICE.
Did Pontius Pilate
Try To Save Christ?
LIVERPOOL, England, (NC)
Liverpool University his
torians are studying a 1,500
year old document which tells a
story of how Pontius Pilate tried
to save the life of Christ—even
calling for 2,000 reinforce
ments who arrived too late.
The document, found in a bun
dle of ancient manuscripts in
Liverpool and sent to the Vat
ican for examination, has been
sent back to this city from the
English College in Rome.
It purports to be a transla
tion of a letter from Pilate to
the Emperor Tiberius and
according to Vatican ex
perts was written in the fourth
or fifth century.
They think it could be his
torically correct.
A Liverpool University
professor of modern history,
D. B. Quinn, said the manu
script was found by a Liver
pool woman who handed it on
to Catholic scholars, who in turn
sent it to the Vatican for ex
amination. When he returned it,
Msgr. Gerald Tickle of the En
glish. College,.Rome, included^
report from the Vatican Ar
chives which said the docu
ment is “apocryphal,” of doubt
ful origin, having been written
some years after the alleged
original.
The report added: ‘‘It is quite
possible it contains historically
correct facts because it was
written so close to the time of
the event.”
The document quotes Pilate
as being desperate to save
Christ but as unable to do so
because of the fury of the Jews.
His reinforcements arrived
the day after the Crucifixion,
the document says. It also says
that Pilate questioned the of
ficer in charge of Christ’s grave
after the Resurrection and was
told it was not true that the
guards had fallen asleep or that
the body had been stolen.
Quinn commented that the
document was probably not a
forgery in the modern sense of
the term but could be a gen
uine attempt to set down what
people believed or wanted to be
lieve.
Father Joseph Crehan, S. J.,
told the Catholic Herald here
that the document is support
ed by what is known about
propaganda measures taken
during the centuries following
Christ’s death. He said that in
the final persecutions of about
300 A.D. the Roman govern
ment put out several propagan
da documents known as the
“Acts of Pilate” in an attempt
to justify its position.
These were nearly all des
troyed by the later Christian
emperors but this did not pre
vent the Christians in the time
of the Emperor Constantine
from compiling answers to
them. In these answers they at
tempted to fill in the details
about Christ’s life and in par
ticular about His trail and death.
The letter of which this doc
ument is said to be a trans
lation may have been written
by such a propagandist, not to
deceive people but on sound
historical knowledge and prob
ably on a report that a letter
had been sent by Pilate to Ti
berius.
Father Crehan said there are
four extant letters allegedly ex
changed between Pilate and Ro
man emperors.
One is in Latin and probably
was written in the 16th cen
tury. It is the least credible,
he said.
One is in Greek from Pilate
to the Emperor Claudius. This
letter, which is incorrectly dat
ed (to Claudius instead of Ti
berius) makes the Roman sold
iers witnesses of the Resurrec
tion. It says: ‘While my sol
diers watched Him He rose
again on the third day.”
Obviously much earlier than
the first, it probably dates from
the fourth or fifth century and
may be the work of a Chris
tian propagandist.
Another is in Greek to Ti
berius. This relates that the
principal charge by the Jews
against Christ was one of hav
ing violated the Sabbath. This
is a common popular mistake
and one easily made by people
with an inadequate knowledge of
the Gospels, Father Crehan
said.
The last is a letter from Ti
berius to Pilate summoning Pi
late back to Rome and mention
ing that 2,000 men have been
sent to accompany him back.
It seems that the present let
ter has drawn from similar
sources and many have a basis
of fact, Father Crehan added.
The Jesuit pointed out that
Pilate, according to some ac
counts, was executed by the
Romans for trying to save
Christ. He is revered in the
Church of Abyssinia as a mar
tyr.
Says Federal Aid
Never ‘Temporary
(By J. J. Gilbert)
WASHINGTON--Could broad
Federal aid to education be
temporary?
This is an important consid
eration in the present effort to
get a new Federal aid program
through Congress.
Experience would seem to
prove that, once inaugurated,
such a program could not be
discontinued.
The Administration realizes
the real popular concern that
revolves around this point. Pre
sident Kennedy demonstrated
this in his message to Congress.
‘‘I do not say the Federal
government should take over
responsibility for education.
That is neither desirable nor
feasible. Instead, its participa
tion should be selective, stimu
lative and, where possible,
transitional.”
Over the years, congressmen
and others here have made two
observations so often that they
Archbishop
O’Hara
Recuperating
LONDON, (NC)--Archbishop
Gerald O’Hara, Apostolic Dele
gate to Great Britain, who be
came ill in Milan, Italy,_ has
returned to London and is mak
ing satisfactory progress.
The Apostolic Delegate, for
mer Bishop of Savannah, be
came ill while on his way to
London to preside at the fun
eral of William Cardinal God
frey, Archbishop of Westminis
ter, who died January 22. He
had stopped off at Milan to vis
it a sick priest friend.
have virtually become axioms
‘‘on the Hill.” One is that almost
any kind of Federal financial
assistance must entail Federal
control: because Congress
wants to know how money it
appropriates is spent. The other
“axiom” is that once an ap
propriation measure is put on
the books, it is next to impossi
ble to repeal it.
Several examples might be
cited to substantiate the second
axiom. Legislation to give aid
to Federally-impacted areas
comes readily to mind.
In 1950, Congress enacted
legislation (P. L. 815 and P. L.
874) to assist public school
financing in areas which had
large military or defense in
dustry establishments. The
theory behind this legislation
was that the sudden influx of
people into these areas, plus
the fact that land was taken off
the local tax rolls, made it im
possible to maintain adequate
public school systems in the
areas thus affected.
This legislation was gen
erated primarily by the Korean
Conflict. The need has since
diminished, but the legislation
has been regularly extended and
appropriations have been sub
stantially increased.
Both the Eisenhower and Ken
nedy administrations have en
deavored to eliminate or phase
out these laws, but without suc
cess. Congressmen who or
dinarily oppose general Federal
aid measures support this leg
islation, since many school bud
gets rely heavily upon the Fed
eral money coming from the
impacted area program.
This is an invariable pat
tern: once Federal money is
integrated in the school budget,
the legislation providing the
funds is regularly extended and
expanded.
While the President has ex
pressed the wish that his new
Federal aid program should be
“where possible, transitional,”
experience would seem to indi
cate that it is impossible to
make such programs tran
sitory.
THE ODD BUTTER CASE
It Seems to Me
With what may well have been
a touch of polite understatement
a newspaper dispatch the other
day said that President John F.
Kennedy “reacted negatively”
when somebody called to his
attention the
fact that
A m e r i-
cans who are
on relief are
eating butter,
whereas
A m e r i-
cans not on
relief are
eating oleo-
m a r g a r-
ine, which I believe costs about
one-third as much.
The story was written objec
tively and with cool detach
ment, but I cannot quite believe
that the reporter who turned
it out was able to refrain com
pletely, while he typed it, from
grinning or chuckling devi-
sively—not to say diabolically.
After all, this is the sort of
thing that we are accustomed
to describe—again politely-
as a Gehenna of a silly situation.
LET ME ERECT my defen
ses before proceeding further.
I have nothing against butter.
I have nothing against oleomar
garine. I am not on relief, but
I have a couple of friends who
are. When they are at my house,
they eat oleo, for which I have
paid. When they are at home,
they eat butter--which I have
helped to buy with my taxes,
and which is given to them free
by the government. Personally,
I seldom eat either; I am suf
ficiently roly-poly as it is.
In this matter, therefore, I
JOSEPH BREIG
am disinterested—which does
not mean, as so many folks
nowadays seem to suppose, un
interested or uninvolved. Dis
interested means impartial. It
means that one is capable of
judging honestly because one
has no selfish stake in the out
come.
1 have no selfish stake. I get
along without butter, and I get
along without oleo, and I don’t
care which you eat, or whether
you eat either or both. I will
confess that I ate some butter
last Christmas season, but that
was only because my wife said
we’d better eat it before it
spoiled.
WHAT HAD HAPPENED was
that one of our teen-age child
ren had asked, among other
things, for a pound of butter
for Christmas. Not, as it turned
out, because she really wanted
butter; she didn’t eat much of it
after getting it. She just wanted
to wallow in the purple luxury
of having butter because butter
is more expensive.
Once she had it, she was
content; and after spreading it
on her bread once, she forgot
to get it out of the refrigerator
thereafter and fell back into
the habit of eating what was on
the table.
I would be disappointed in
President Kennedy if he hadn't
“reacted negatively.” This is
not to say that I begrudge but
ter to people on relief. Quite
the contrary; I am delighted
that they have it. But I cannot
help asking myself whether
there isn’t something slightly
insane about an economy in
which we eat oleo to save mon
ey to pay taxes to buy and store
and then give away butter.
I DO NOT mean that thos<
who have less of the world’:
goods should eat oleo whili
those who are moreprosperou:
eat butter. No: nothing is mors
profoundly Christian than t<
deprive oneself to make other:
happy. St. Francis gave awa]
everything except what he abso
lutely had to have to keep bod}
and soul together, and I wist
that you and I were half as
holy.
But I am talking now abou:
economics; about governmeni
policy. I have no objection tc
subsidizing the dairy industry
for the common good of the
whole people. My question is
this: Can we wisely and rightl}
go on buying and storing but
ter, and giving it away. While
we eat oleo so that we can pa>
the taxes to pay for the butter
and the storing and the distri
bution?
ISN’T IT TIME that some
thing were done to encourage—
or, if you like, to goad--the
dairy industry into finding uses
for butter, or for milk, which
will make it saleable again, so
that we can extricate ourselves
gradually from the ludicrous
situation into which we have got
ourselves?
Are we going to go on forever
levying taxes with which to buy
butter, and eating oleo so that
we can pay them? Are we really
doing the dairy industry a favor,
or are we perhaps depriving it
of the ingenuity and inventive
ness which would make it stand
again on its own feet?
I am merely asking questions.
Fifth Joyful Mystery
THE FINDING OF JESUS
IN THE TEMPLE
Our Father
When Jesus was twelve years old, they
went up to Jerusalem/
according to the custom of the feast.
Luke 2:42
Hail Ul Mary
And when they were returning, the boy
Jesus remained in Jerusalem,/
and his parents did not know it.
™ Luke 2:43
Hail m Mary
They returned to Jerusalem in search
of him./
And after three days, they found him
in the temple.
Luke 2:45, 46
Hail PI Mary
He was sitting in the midst of the
teachers,/
listening to them and asking them
questions.
Luke 2:46
Hail m Mary
And all who were listening to him were
amazed/
at his understanding and his answers.
„ Luke 2:47
Hail yj Mary
Scriptural 3\osan>
Part 5
And they did not understand/
the word that he spoke to them.
Luke 2:50
Hail yj Mary
And he went down with them and came
to Nazareth,/
and was subject to them.
Hail IS Mary
Luke 2:51
'Son, why hast thou done so to us?/
Behold, in sorrow thy father and I
have been seeking thee.’
Luke 2:48
Hail IS Mary
'How is it that you sought me?/
Did you not know that I must be
about my Father’s business?’
Luke 2:49
Hail Ul Mary
And Jesus advanced in wisdom and age
and grace/
before God and men.
Luke 2:52
Hail IS Mary
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit./ As it was
in the beginning, is now,
and ever shall be,
world without
end. Amen.
Editor’s Note: This is one of the 15 decades
of the Scriptural Rosary, a modern version
of the way the Rosary was once prayed in
the Middle Ages. We are presenting the
complete Scriptural Rosary in 15 install
ments as a service to our readers. You are
invited to save these meditations for future
use. Or you may obtain the complete set in
illustrated prayer-book form by sending $1
to the nonprofit Scriptural Rosary Center,
6 N. Michigan Avenue, Chicago 2, Illinois.
Block Church
Construction
PHILADELPHIA—Court ac
tion is underway to block con
struction of a new Catholic
church, school and convent in
Huntingdon Valley, Lower
Moreland Township, Pa.
On Jan. 12, the township’s
zoning board of adjustment
granted permission for the con
struction. Four residents have
filed an appeal asking reversal
of the board's action.
Church-State Expert
PHILADELPHIA—W i 1-
liam B. Ball, legal authority
on Church-State questions, re
ceived the Newman Honor
Award of the Alumni Newman
Club of Greater Philadelphia
at a dinner here.
It is presented annually to
an outstanding Catholic layman.
Ball is executive director and
general counsel of the Penna.
Catholic Welfare Committee.
Nuns To Get Home
MELROSE, Pa.—The Grey
Nuns of the Sacred Heart, who
received nation-wide publicity
when they relinquished an es
tate at the height of an acri
monious zoning dispute over
their occupancy of the property,
have arranged to purchase an
estate in Lower Makefield
Township as a site for their
motherhouse. Purchase is con
ditional on their being granted
a zoning exception to use the
property for religious pur
poses.
Warns Film-Makers
WASHINGTON—Rep. John
Kyi of Iowa has told the House
that the movie industry and
theaters would establish and
enforce a “decency code” or
government agencies will do it
for them.
In a House speech, he also
presented other lawmakers with
a variety of statements and
newspaper and magazine arti
cles that he said showed “the
sentiment for classification of
movies is growing rapidly
throughout the country.”
Ice Procession
MUENSTERLINGEN, Swit-
zerland—Germans and Swiss
took part in a 400-year-old
ceremony, which takes place
regularly every century or so.
It occurs whenever the upper
finger of Lake Constance freez
es over. A procession crosses
the frozen lake at a place where
it is about 12 miles across
and a portrait of St. John the
Evangelist changes hands be
tween a parish in Hagnau on
the German side and a parish
here on the Swiss side. The
event has taken place only four
times since it started in 1573,
because the lake does not often
freeze over.
Spanish Freedom
HUELVA, Spain—A Catholic
bishop indicated here that Span
ish law should be changed to
allow religious freedom as it is
generally known in other West
ern European countries.
Bishop Pedro Cantero Cuad-
rado, referring to current legal
restrictions concerning non-
Catholic religions in Spain, said
that the laws of Spain must be
adjusted to conform more to
“the present thinking of the
Church” and to “the rhythm of
the mental and political struc
tures of the European and West
ern community.” Catholic Spain
"has nothing to fear from such
a legal change,” he said.
Holy See
And U. N.
GENEVA—Spiritual and hu
man values were stressed by
Holy See delegates to the United
Nations meeting here on scien
tific and technical aid for de
veloping nations.
Five of the nine Holy See
representatives, including two
U, S, priests, presented papers
to the 1,500 delegates from
some 80 countries at the Con
ference on the Application of
Science and Technology for the
Benefit of the Less Developed
Areas.
QUESTION BOX
(By David Q. Liptak) Enlarging upon this principle,
Q. From a fashion commen- Pope Pius explained that indi-
tator last week I heard an an- cations for such surgery need 1
nouncement to the effect that the not be physical or functional,
classically elegant nose is but that sound psychological
now out and gradually being factors must also be consider-
replaced by the newer “outdoor e d. “Some disfigurements, or
type nose-one reason being even mere imperfections,” he
that the classically elegant said, “can be causes of psychic
type doesn t go well in ski re- disturbances in a particular
sorts. The implication is that patient, or else can become
some women will undergo an obstacle in social and family
plastic surgery to keep in fash- relations, or an impediment-
ion. The morality of this kind particularly in people devoted
of thing is highly questionable, t0 public life or art—to the
ts it not? development of their careers.”
A. Changing the shape of ] n other words, a defect or an
one ( s nose is not like dyeing imperfection can so prosi-
one s hair. mately contribute to emotional
IF THE TRANSITION from a 0 r mental disorders that re-
classically elegant nose to course to corrective surgical
whatever else is going to entail procedure becomes esthetically
surgery in the accepted sense and medically advisable.
(or some comparable proce- TO SUM UP: There are many \
dure) then it is definitely a an d various factors which a
medical-moral problem. Speci- plastic surgeon must study and
fically this means that the moti- assess in each particular case
vation for the alteration isrea- where cosmetic surgery is in-
sonable and that there is due volved.
proportion between the element Q. j n naming an infant in
of risk involved (even the possi- honor of the Blessed Virgin
bility of infection, for instance, Mary: are there other names
and subsequent necrosis of the besides the usual ones (Mary,
tissues, ect.) and the expected Marie, Maria, etc.)? And is it
good sought after. Surely nasal permissible to use them?
reconstructions comtemplated
for mere vanity or the ever- A. Numerous variants of
changing whims of fashion are “ Mar y” are § iven by Father
morally questionable. William P. Dunne in his pam-
ON THE CONTRARY, cosme- phlet “ Is ir a Saint ’ s Name?”
tic surgery can be readily justi- (I nte g r ity Supply, Chicago:
fied when there is ample cause. 1948 )* Some of the more
In Pope Pius XII’s words: familiar variations are Mar-
“There are many reasons why * on ’. Marien, Mara, Maureen,
an operation might be legitimate M iriam an< 3 Marya. Other pos- *
and even at times advisable.” (Continued on Page 5)
The Southern Cross
P. O. BOX 180, SAVANNAH, GA.
Vol. 43 Saturday, February 23, 1963 No. 23
Published weekly except the last week in July and the
last week in December by The Southern Cross, Inc.
Subscription price $3.00 per year.
Second class mail privileges authorized at Monroe, Ga. Send
notice of change of address to P. O. Box 180, Savannah, Ga.
Most Rev. Thomas J. McDonough, D.D.J.C.D., President
Rev. Francis J. Donohue, Editor
John Markwalter, Managing Editor
Rev. Lawrence Lucree, Rev. John Fitzpatrick,
Associate Editors