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PAGE 4—The Southern Cross, March 23, 1963
The Altar Boy Awards
On Sunday afternoon 195 boys from all
over the diocese will receive the Saint
John Vianney Altar Boy Award. Both they
and their parents are to be congratulated.
The Award is not lightly conferred, nor
the boys chosen haphazardly. The Saint
John Vianney Award is given for excellence
in the service of God’s altar.
To rise faithfully at 5:30 in the morning
in order to serve the 6:15 Mass requires
not only self-sacrifice on the part of an
altar boy and his parents, but devotion
to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
Only a spirit of dedication and determi
nation moves a boy to attend altar boy
practice every week, when he could per
haps be playing shortstop for the neighbor
hood baseball team, or to doggedly pursue
the memorization of the latin responses of
the Mass, while the rest of the family
relaxes before the television set.
And the reverence with which he carries
out his duties before the altar is almost
always simply the reflection of his reverence
for the God he knows he is serving.
An altar boy’s neatness of appearance,
and the crispness of his freshly laundered
and pressed cassock and surplice, attest
to the sacrifices so many mothers make
in order that their sons occupy the honored
place of acolyte at Mass. And his prompt
arrival for an early morning Mass is very
often the result of his father’s willingness
to get out of bed on the one day he might
sleep late, in order to drive his boy to
church.
The Saint John Vianney Award is con
ferred to honor these qualities of self-
sacrifice, dedication, fidelity, and reverence
on the part of the altar boys and their
parents.
It is , or should be, a cherished honor
and one that is indicative of the much greater
reward that God has in store for those who
love and serve Him.
Catholic Women Leaders
To Study Work Of Meeting
On Religion And Race
(By J. J. Gilbert)
WASHINGTON—A program
announced here by a Catholic
organization will give a large-
scale boost to the work and
findings of the National Confer
ence on Religion and Race held
in Chicago last January. It will
be among the first important
implementations of hopes ex
pressed at that meeting.
Following the unprecedented
Chicago meeting, which brought
together 800 representatives of
major religious faiths and
workers in the field of better
race relations, Albert Cardinal
Meyer was asked what now could
be done. The Archbishop of Chi
cago outlined things an indivi
dual could do, and said: “We
must begin with our own peo
ple.’’
Archbishop Lawrence J. She-
han of Baltimore said in a
pastoral that, as Christians,
“we have an essential duty in
justice to recognize and to re
spect equally the rights of all
men.”
Archbishop Paul J. Hallinan
of Atlanta told the Chicago con
ference that it is important
“to bring into these programs
of conscience-formation” those
“who make decisions and ini
tiate courses of action.” Ano
ther participant expressed the
hope that smaller regional
meetings would follow the na
tional conference.
Now the National Council of
Catholic Women has announced
a program which embraces all
these points. The NCCW said
that leadership institutes it
will conduct in six widely sep
arated areas of the nation this
spring and summer will carry
forward the work of the Chicago
meeting. Prominent speakers
and participants in the national
conference will take active
parts in the institutes. The in-
Of Proposed Malaysia Federation
Officially Recommend Islam
Should Be State Religion
(By Father Patrick O’Conner)
NCWC NEWS SERVICE
“Islam should be the relig
ion of the Federation of Mal
aysia,” asserts an Inter-Gov
ernmental Committee in a re
port published as a Brittish
government White Paper on
February 27.
This is the first official de
claration of the British-Malay-
an policy on religion for the
proposed federation. Malaysia,
to come into being on August
31, is to comprise the states
of Malaya, Singapore, Sarawa,
Brunei and North Borneo. Only
about 43 per cent of the nearly
10 million people in the propos
ed federation are Muslims (that
is Islamic).
The Inter - Governmental
Committee was apparently con
scious that its proposal on re
ligion is highly questionable.
It added these three recom
mendations, to reassure the
non-Muslim majority:
1. “There should be no state
religion in the Borneo States.”
But that would still leave Is
lam as state religion of the fed
eration as a whole and there
fore in federal matters with
in each state. Federal money
could be spent on promoting
Islamic religious doctrine and
institutions within each state.
Each state would inevitably
share in, and support, the Is
lamic character that the feder
ation of states would have be
fore the world.
2. “There should be consti
tutional guarantees for re-
ligous freedom.”
and others could
Christians
have “re
hearings in 35 centers in
. , ,, _ .1,, the tw o territories. More than
ligious freedom and still be , nnn , , ,
... f 4,000 persons appeared before
NCEA
Briefing
WASHINGTON, (NC)--Lay
people active in support of Ca
tholic education will get a spe
cial briefing on current pro
blems during the convention of
the National Catholic Educa
tional Association.
Invitations are being sent to
men and women across the
country to take part in the ses
sion to be held on April 17,
the second day of the conven
tion in St. Louis, April 16 to
19.
treated inequitably if federal
money and federal favor go to
Islam. What is needed, in the
opinion of Borneo non-Muslims,
is guarantees for religious
equality as well as religious
freedom.
3. “When federal law pro
vides for special financial aid
for Muslim institutions or Mus
lim religious education, pro
portional amounts should be
made available for social wel
fare purposes in the Borneo
States,” the report says. That
proposes a sort of bargain both
improper and unworkable. It
appears to imply something
like: “If they get a mosque from
federal funds, then you’ll get a
dispensary.”
Social services should be
made available to all citizens,
Muslims and non-Muslims
alike, on the basis of need and
on that along. The Muslims
should not have to forego a so
cial service that the state
makes available to non-Mus
lims. The provision of any so
cial service for non-Muslims
should not be conditional on
the building of a mosque from
federal funds.
The Inter - Governmental
Committee’s proposals are to
be submitted to the Legisla
tive Councils of North Borneo
(Sabah) and Sarawak. Their ap
proval, however, can hardly be
taken as representing the
wishes of the diversified popu
lations regarding religion.
The Legislative Council of
Sarawak consists of 43 mem
bers, of whom only 24 are
elected (indirectly), while 14
are officials. The Legislative
Council of North Borneo has
26 members, no one of whom
is elected. The governments of
these two crown colonies, 13
months ago, issued statements
that blandly assumed that Islam
was to be the “official religion”
of the proposed federation.
One body took pains to ascer
tain and report the views of the
many elements in the Sarawak
and North Borneo populations..
Thi s was the five-man Cobbold
Commission, set up by the Brit
ish and Malayan govern
ments last year. It held 50
it, singly and in groups. It re
ceived some 2,200 letters and
memoranda.
In their report the chairman
and the two British members, a
majority, urged that:
1. The Malaysia constitution
should provide that * 'there
should be complete religious
freedom to worship, education
and propagation in the Borneo
territories.”
2. The Islamic provisions
“should not be extended” to
these territories until “fully
elected representative bodies”
can decide the matter for them
selves.
The official proposal now
published regarding religion in
Malaysia is in direct conflict
with the second part of the fore
going recommendation.
stitutes are attended by women
who are officers and committee
chairmen of Catholic organiza
tions—national, diocesan,
deanery and parish.
The general theme of the
institutes is “Challenges:
1963,” and one of the three
days in each place will see the
"Challenge of Justice and
Love” considered.
It is under this topic that the
work of the National Conference
on Religion and Race will come
into play. Talks followed by
seminars will highlight the
Christian woman’s "duties and
responsibilities in the area of
human dignity.”
The institutes will be held at
Hershey, Pa., March 23-25;
French Lick, Ind., March 20-
31; Miami, Fla., April 4-6;
Highland Park, Ill., September
12-14; Lincoln, Neb., Septem
ber 18-20, and Oakland, Calif.,
September 26-28.
NEUTRALITY AWARDS THE ANTI-CHRIST
Who Are The Church?
It Seems to Me
An Oregon City (Ore.) read
er does not see eye to eye
with me on the point that tre
mendous benefit will come from
final ratification of the ecumen
ical council’s vote in favor of
native tongues
and customs
and more di
versity, in the
Church’s wor
ship.
In a letter
sent through
the Portland
Catholic Sen
tinel—a letter
which, I would guess, expresses
the reactions of many persons
—he writes:
“Christ said He would be
with His Church all days even
unto the consummation of the
world. So I think the Church
will still accomplish its pur
pose regardless of Latin or
any language used. People will
accept or reflect her as they
have always done.”
I understand the reader’s
view, but I hope he will allow
me to say that it does not take
into sufficient account the fact
that the Church is not only
Christ.
The Church is also hundreds
of millions of human beings.
And those to whom the Church
is trying to reach out, to help,
are human too.
Whatever is human is capa
ble of improvement. Whatever
is human is drawn, also, to
ward truth and goodness and
beauty. It is essential, there
fore, that the beauty, goodness
and truth of the Church be made
as brightly visible as possible.
JOSEPH BREIG
PRECISELY for that reason,
Pope John called the Second
Vatican Council.
He said that the purpose of
the council is to “remove every
spot and wrinkle” from the hu
man side of the Church so that
its divine attractiveness can be
clearly seen.
That done, he can open his
arms and say to all mankind,
see, this is your home, this is
what you are seeking.
The same thought was voiced
the other day in a public ad
dress by Joseph Cardinal Rit
ter, archbishop of St. Louis.
He put it this way:
“Pope John wants the coun
cil to make the Church, as ex
pressed by Catholicism, so at
tractive that men could not re
fuse to accept it.”
He added that in speaking of
“the church as expressed by
Catholicism,” he meant es
pecially the Church as uni
versal. He was including,
he said, “all our separated
brethren as one in Christ.”
Cardinal Ritter, as far as I
know, was the first Father of
the Council to emphasize some
thing which I have been hoping
to hear stressed.
I mean that the Church needs
the other Christians reunited.
It needs their goodness, their
Christian dedication, their wis
dom, their insights. Cardinal
Ritter said:
“Certainly, there is only one
Church, and that is the Church
of Christ. Certainly, it can take
on a spirit of newness, and this
is what we hope for.
"... There are all kinds of
members in the human body,
and all are essential. So also
in the Body of Christ. All Chris
tians throughout the world,
whether they be this or that or
the other, they are essential to
bring out the teachings of the
Church.
“Christ is the Head and we
are the members. We all con
stitute the Church. »We all are
necessary to constitute His
Church.”
To my mind, one of the things
vitally needed, for the sake of
Catholics, of other Christians,
and of others than Christians,
is a liturgy that is intelligible
to the people; a worship in
which the Word of God is in
words we understand, and our
praise of God in words we un
derstand also.
I have felt this strongly in re
cent years, but never so pierc
ingly as a few weeks ago, when
I was present for the Mass of
the Angels following the death of
the little daughter of dear
friends.
At the absolution ceremony
a feeling of grinding frustra
tion came over me as I stood
there, and the people stood
there, uncomprehending. While
the priest at the casket, and
the organist in the choir loft,
carried on a long and private
chanted dialogue~in Latin.
Why not in English, so that
we could all enter into the
prayers, even if silently? If
we all constitute the Church—
as emphatically we do—why
leave us wearily wondering what
we are saying to God, and God
to us? Isn’t it the whole Church’s
worship?
Fourth Sorrowful Mystery
THE CARRYING OF THE CROSS
Our ^ Father
’If anyone wishes to come after me,/
let him deny himself.'
Luke 9:23
Hail If Mary
’And take up his cross daily,/
and follow me.’
Scriptural Rosary
Part 9
Hail ^f Mary
Luke 9:23
And bearing the cross for himself,/
he went forth to the place called the
Skull.
John 19:17
Hail X Mary
And they laid hold of a certain Simon
of Cyrene,/
and upon him they laid the cross to
bear it after Jesus.
Luke 23:26
Hail $ Mary
’Take my yoke upon you,/
and learn from me.'
Hail Mary
Matt. 11:29
’For I am meek/
and humble of heart.’
Hail X Mary
Matt. 11:29
'And you will find rest for your souls./
For my yoke is easy, and my burden
light.’
Matt. 11:29, 30
Hail X Mary
Now there was following him a great
crowd of people,/
and of women, who were bewailing
and lamenting him.
Luke 23:27
Hail X Mary
Jesus turning to them said, 'Do not
weep for me/
but weep for yourselves and for your
children.’
Luke 23:28
Hail X Mary
'For if in the case of green wood they
do these things/
what is to happen in the case of the
dry?’
^ Luke 23:31
Hail ^ Mary
Glory be to the Father, «=*
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.
CPA Newspaper
Contest
PITTSBURGH, Pa., (NC)--
Duquesne University has an
nounced that its Journalism De
partment again will judge
entries in the Catholic Press
Association’s 1963 newspaper
competition.
Recipients of honors for ma
terial published in 1962 will be
announced at the 53rd annual
convention of the press associa
tion in Miami, May 1 to 3.
Duquesne judged the contest
last year.
C. S. McCarthy, chairman
of the department, will super
vise the judging. He will be
assisted by faculty members
and local and regional editors.
A “critique booklet” will be
published.
Prayers In School
NEW YORK, (NC)—Fifteen
mothers of 21 public school
children in the Queens section
of New York have asked a
Federal court to permit recita
tion of two brief prayers in
public schools.
The mothers seek a court
order to permit the recitation
of the two prayers which they
say have banned in an elemen
tary school.
The prayers are: “Thank You
for the world so sweet. Thank
You for the food we eat. Thank
you for the birds that sing.
Thank You, God, for every
thing.”
And: “God is great. God is
good. And we thank Him for
our food.”
Birth Control
SACRAMENTO, Calif., (NC)
—State Sen. Alvin C. Weingand
of Santa Barbara County said
here he is considering introduc
ing legislation to provide a
state-sponsored program of
birth control. Weingand said the
plan under consideration, which
would include distribution at
state expense of birth control
information and contraceptives,
was prompted by "mounting
poverty’ ’ in California.
Class Size Set
BALTIMORE, (NC)—First
grade classes in Baltimore ar
chdiocesan Catholic schools
will be limited to 50 pupils
starting next September.
In issuing this directive, Ar
chbishop Lawrence J. Shehanof
Baltimore also told school
heads that if applications war
rant, schools should begin dou
ble or staggered shifts or trans
port children into the more than
50 empty classrooms in down
town Baltimore.
The Archbishop’s directive
is the first step in an eight-year,
grade-by-grade program to eli
minate overcrowded classes in
some elementary schools.
Prayer For Hungary
WASHINGTON, (NC)—A
prayer for freedom for the
people of Hungary was offered
in the Senate by an exiled Hun
garian prelate on the 115th an
niversary of Hungary’suprising
against Austrian and Russian
forces.
Msgr. Bela Varga, chairman
of the Hungarian Committee,
prayed (March 15) that God may
alleviate the sufferings of the
Hungarian people “under the
yoke of the cruel oppressor.”
“Lend, O Lord, Thy guiding
hands,” Msgr. Varga said, “to
the spiritual leader of Thy Hun
garian nation that he may fulfill
his national and universal mis
sion.”
He also implored the help of
God for the President and Con
gress “that they never falter
in their brave endeavors to se
cure the final victory of freedom
throughout the world.”
Protests Play
WIESBADEN, Germany (NC)
—The Society for Judaeo-
Christian Collaboration has
protested to Chancellor Konrad
Adenauer and other top gov
ernment officials against fur
ther showings of “Der Stel-
lvertreter” (The Vicar), which
depicts Pope Pius XII as having
abetted the nazi slaughter of six
million Jews by keeping silent
about it. The society called the
drama, now playing in Berlin, a
‘ ‘historically erroneous play of
low quality.”
Priest Ambushed
SIAGGN, Vietnam, (Radio
NC)—Father Peter Tran Due
Sam, Vietnamese priest aged
33, was found safe (March 13)
after being taken prisoner by
Vietnam communists.
He was tied to a tree in a
forest the day after he had been
captured by the Reds, who had
raked his jeep with gunfire in
a highway ambush in central
Vietnam.
Juan Peron
MADRID, (Radio, NC)—The
ban of excommunication has
been lifted from the former
Argentine dictator, ex-Presi-
dent Juan Peron.
The lifting of the ban was an
nounced here by Bishop Leo-
poldo Eijo y Garay of Madrid
after Peron asked to be read
mitted to the sacraments.
Juan Mhnuel Algarve, Per
on’s private secretary said here
that reports that Peron had been
reconciled with the Church were
correct.
“It is true,” he added, “that
he (Peron) wrote to the Vatican
making profession of his Ca
tholic faith and denying that he
had ever laid hands on Catho
lic priests or dignitaries during
his rule in Argentina.”
QUESTION BOX
(By David Q. Liptak)
Q. Can anything at all be
blessed? I was told that ani
mals, airplanes and blast fur
naces can be blessed. Yet I
always thought that a blessing
sets aside a person or object
for religious purposes, and
hence only those things which
are destined for special reli
gious use should be blessed.
What is the answer?
A. To say that a blessing
sets a person or an object apart
exclusively for religious serv
ice is an inaccuracy. Certain
blessings do in fact accom
plish this; the consecration of
a church or a chalice, for ex
ample; or the blessing of Mass
vestments. Such blessings are
technically known as constitu
tive (from the Latin for “estab
lish” or “constitute”) because
they impart, as it were, a
sacred characteristic by which
the individual or article blessed
is dedicated to divine service
or worship.
Invocative blessings, on the
other hand, simply call down
God’s favor—by asking, for in
stance, that the recipient of the
benediction might become a fit
ting instrument of the divine
will. Such would be the bless
ing of an automobile or an
airplane.
AS FOR what can be blessed,
the answer can be deduced from
St. Paul’s first epistle to Tim
othy: “For every creature of
God is good, and nothing is to
be rejected that is received with
thanksgiving, for it is sanctified
by the word of God and prayer”
(IV: 4, 5). What the Apostle
(Continued on Page 6)
The Southern Cross
Vol. 43
P. O. BOX 180, SAVANNAH, GA.
Saturday, March 23, 1963
No. 27
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
