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PAGE 4—The Southern Cross, April 20,
We Take Them For Granted
It was a stunned and grief-stricken na
tion which last week received the news that
the submarine Thresher had been lost with
all hands aboard.
At almost the same time Chatham County
was shocked by the sudden violent death
of Savannah Beach’s police chief, David
McCutchen.
But, from the standpoint of the loss of
life involved, several airplane crashes in
recent months were tragedies as great
or greater than the sinking of the Thresher.
And the news media carry stories of
shootings, deliberate and accidental, every
day.
Why, then, such widespread shock and
grief over the loss of a naval vessel and
the death of a police chief?
Perhaps the answer is to be found in
the fact that we take the demanding and
dangerous work of our military service
men and law enforcement officers too much
for granted.
Cardinal Leger, Archbishop of Montreal,
spoke last week at funeral services for three
firemen killed in the line of duty at a major
Montreal fire.
His appeal for a greater community aware
ness of the daily sacrifices of policemen
and firemen might also be extended to in
clude a deeper appreciation of the daily
hazards faced by military personnel on our
behalf.
He said, "This tragic event carries
with it a lesson for us which we should
not neglect. We forget that peace and or
der in a city is the fruit of the humble
work and hidden devotion to duty of many
social groups which go unnoticed in the tur
moil of daily lining."
Peace Is The Work Of God
To some, Pope John XXIII’s latest ency-
cyclical, Pacem in Terris, will seem to be
an exercise in futile optimism. And there
can be no doubt that just as the communist
press has already sought to distort its mean
ing, ignoring the Pope’s plea for freedom
for all men, and reading into the encycli
cal their own preconceived ideas, so there
will be others who will ignore the Pope’s
call for prudence, and declare that his
plea for negotiations instead of war is a
victory for the communist world.
Beginning with our next edition, The South
ern Cross will carry the text of the encycli
cal as a weekly series. We urge all to read
it carefully and prayerfully, in the light
of His Holiness’ Easter message, disre
garding the cries of its detractors.
"It is true that nothing is easy, and We do
not hide this fact from Ourself. But with
the help of God and with a sincere tribute
of subjection to Him, true progress in bro
therhood and peace is possible.
"A good start has already been made,
and this should encourage all to continue and
have confidence . . . We must not underes
timate the difficulties to be met in such a
tremendous task, and the frequent obstacles,
due to man’s disinclinations, which are so
often dominated by egoism . . .
"... Our heart beats with a more vivid
sympathy for those who are suffering; for
those lacking secure work and to whom the
needs of their families bring burning anxiety
tempered only by trust in Providence; for
all those struggling heroically in adverse
situations, exposed to pain known only to the
Lord; for all those who are suffering in body
and spirit . . .
• • • O Prince of Peace, Risen Jesus,
Benign Guardian of the entire human race, to
Thee alone man looks for help and healing
for his wounds . . . Keep us in Thy peace, O
Lamb immolated for our salvation . . . Lamb
of God Who takes away the sins of the world,
grant us peace. "That, O Jesus, isOurPray-
It All Begins With Faith
God’s World
If someone were to ask you,
"What is your most precious
possession?” would you ans
wer, without a moment’s hesi
tation, "My Catholic faith?”
That Tfi §hp.i)ld. be your answer.
Nothing that
you have—
a ~frT rT'y”
r i e n d s,
e a 1 t h
r material
o s s e s-
i o n s—
compare
can
in value, even
faintly, with
your re
ligious faith.
Faith is the very foundation
of your spiritual life. It is
faith which gives meaning to
your present existence. It is
faith which is your passport
to heaven.
Without faith, right and wrong
are empty words. Morality is
a matter of convenience. Suf
fering is an unmitigated dis
aster. Self-sacrifice is stupid,
and whole-hearded selfishness
is the most sensible course
for a man to pursue.
We who have been Catholics
from infancy tend to under
appreciate our faith. Never hav
ing known what it is to live
without religious convictions,
we take our faith for granted.
We do not thank God often enough
for this most basic gift. We
do not often enough fortify our
belief by making conscious acts
of faith. We even may grow
careless in protecting our faith
and may expose it to unneces
sary dangers.
In baptism God infused into
our soul the virtue of faith.
This means that we have a
special ability, a supernatural
talent for believing. We shall
not lose our faith easily. We
shall not lose it except it be
by our own fault.
It is almost inevitable that
we should be afflicted with
temptations against faith. Ours
is a limited and imperfect in
telligence , trying to cope with
the limitless depth of God. An
ant, if it had a mind, could
more easily understand the
world of humans than we humans
can understand the infinite
reaches of God. If religious be
lief were a body of self-evi
dent truths, always in plain har
mony with every other facet of
human knowledge and ex
perience, faith would be no pro
blem. In fact, faith would not
even exist.
By its very definition, faith
is belief in divine truths on the
authority of God Who has made
those truths known to us. If the
truths were demonstrable, such
as the truth that a straight line
is the shortest distance between
two points, there would be no
need to invoke the authority of
God. There would be no need
for faith; no merit in it and no
reward for it.
We expect, then, that we are
going to meet with temptations
against our faith. (Although, as
Arnold Lunn has observed, the
intellectual difficulties of a be
liever are as nothing compared
to the intellectual difficulties
which beset the unbeliever.)
However, it is important that
we do not increase our tempta
tions by courting unnecessary
hazards. Unwise reading, for
example, easily could pose a
threat to our faith.
, Authors of books, like uni
versity professors, have about
them an aura of learning which
frequently far exceeds their
actual attainments. We tend to
over-respect their opinions and
pronouncements. Thus, we read
a book by an eminent "thinker”
(or we hear him lecture). He
loftily assumes that no inteli-
gent , person today really
believes “the outmoded dogmas
of medieval minds.” Inwardly
we squirm a bit at being con
victed of lack of intelligence,
because we still do believe that
God created the universe and
that Jesus Christ is God. We
begin to wonder whether we
may not be mistaken.
If we deliberately expose our
selves to very much of this
high-level sniping, the day may
come when it is too late to
run for cover. We may find
that our faith is shattered and
that we cannot put the pieces
back together again. This is
more likely to happen if we
neglect to seek the answers to
our difficulties. If we but have
the humility to ask, any priest
easily can puncture the sophis
tries which trouble us.
Of this we can be certain:
a faith cherished will never be
lost. It is only our own neg
lect, our own needless exposure'
to peril, our own intellectual
pride or our own abuse of grace
which can rob us of this price
less gift.
LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF
Pope’s “World Authority” Not Supernation
It Seems to Me
One of the first things that
needs to be done about Pope
John’s Peace on Earth ency
clical, I think, is to clear away
confusion concerning the world
authority which he says is in-
dispensable
to deal with
certain
world - level
problems of
the univer
sal common
good — the
welfare of all
nations and of
all mankind.
A dispatch published in the
New York Times said that the
pope advocated "a kind
of supernation to which all na
tions should belong.” This is
an unfortunate and mistaken
interpretation of the Holy Fa
ther’s thinking, and can lead
only to gross misunderstanding
of his meaning.
If I may simplify for clarity,,
what Pope John is suggesting
is something more like a Turn
pike Authority created by pub
lic authority to see that a turn
pike gets built; more like a
County Commission set up by
the people of a metropolitan
area to handle matters which
affect all the cities and towns
in the county—storm sewers,
say, or limited-access high
ways, or bridges.
Pope John said emphatically
that the world authority must be
a voluntary, cooperative crea
tion of the nations, and that
far from infringing on their
authority it should create an
environment in which their
authority will operate more ef
fectively and in greater secu
rity.
JOSEPH BREIG
The nations, therefore, would
not "belong” to the world au
thority; the world authority
would belong to the nations.
It would be their servant, not
their master; but it would have
powers given to it by them
for certain purposes which the
nations would agree that they
want to see achieved.
It is up to the nations to
decide what those purposes are,
and what functions should be
handed over to the world au
thority. Offhand, it occurs to
me that the purposes might
include, for example, solution
of problems of migration, of
disarmament, of refugees, of
brushfire wars, of internation
al misunderstandings and the
like.
The matter is complex only
in the sense that the interna
tional community is complex.
In essence, though, it is as
simple as the establishment
of the first tribal or village
government. The heads of the
various householders get toge
ther and agree that there are
things that need doing which
no one household can do. And
so they elect a chief or a mayor
—call him what you will— to
coordinate affairs in the ser
vice of all.
Soon enough, common sense
leads to further conclusions.
The community expands; more
villages come into being; you
need services for a number of
towns. You set up, say, town
ship supervisors; then county
commissioners; then a state
legislature and various state
authorities to deal with pro
blems of health, highways, wel
fare, public works and what
not.
Worsening Situation In
Laos Is Marked By Armed
Conflict, Assassinations
By Father Patrick O’Conner
Society of St. Columban
(N.C.W.C. News Service).
SAIGON, Vietnam,—The sit
uation in Laos has gone from
uneasy to disturbed totenseand
turbulant since the coalition
government was installed last
June 23.
That much is clear from re
ports of travelers arriving here
from Vientiane, the administra
tive capital of Laos.
The "coalition” was bound
to end in collusion, collapse or
collision. Which it will be, and
when, is not clear yet.
The rightists, the neutra
lists and the communist Pathet
Lao are represented in a cabi
net that seems designed for
deadlock. Each party controls
a separate part of the country
and a separate armed force. The
troika formula has proved
tricky.
An "immediate task” of the
coalition government was to
unify the three armies. It is
clear to the whole world they
have not been unified. In fact,
two of them are more sharp
ly divided from each other now
than they were last summer.
A section of Maj. Gen. Kong
Le’s neutralist troops has ap
parently left him and come
closer to the communist Pathet
Lao. He and the main body of
his men have moved further
away from the communists. The
split has led to bloodshed, which
has developed from assassina-
(Continued on Page 6)
Third Glorious Mystery
THE DESCENT OF
THE HOLY SPIRIT
Our Hi Father
When the days of Pentecost were draw
ing to a close,/
they were all together in one place.
. Acts 2:1
Hail Hi Mary
And suddenly there came a sound from
heaven,/
as of a violent wind blowing.
Acts 2:2
Hail Hi Mary
And there appeared to them parted
tongues as of fire,/
which settled upon each of them.
Acts 2:3
Hail Mary
And they were all filled with the Holy
Spirit/
and began to speak of the wonderful
works of God.
Acts 2:4, 11
Hail ||| Mary
Now there were staying at Jerusalem
devout Jews/
from every nation under heaven.
Acts 2:5
Hail Hi Mary
Scriptural
Part
3\osar?
13
And Peter, standing up with the Eleven,/
lifted up his voice and spoke out to
them.
Acts 2:14
Hail fH Mary
'Repent and be baptized;/
and you will receive the gifts of the
Holy Spirit.’
Acts 2:38
Hail Mary
Now they who received his word were
baptized,/
and there were added that day about
three thousand souls.
Acts 2:41
Hail Hi Mary
Send forth thy Spirit, and they shall be
created;/
and thou shalt renew the face of the
earth.
Ps. 103:30
lary
Come, O Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of
thy faithful;/
and kindle in them the fire of thy love.
Pentecost Alleluia
HailH|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.
Eastern Church
RAVENNA, Italy, (NC)—Bis
hops and Vatican Council ob
servers of various separated
Eastern churches are expected
to join Catholic participants
in a week of prayer and studies
here next fall.
Archbishop Salvatore Bai
das sarri of Ravenna will be
hosts to the ninth National Week
of Prayer and Study for the
Oriental Church here Sep
tember 22 to 27. The session
begins two weeks after the op
ening of the second session of
the Second Vatican Council.
The prelate scheduled to pre
side is Ernesto Cardinal
Ruffini, Archbishop of Paler
mo, who is president of the Ital
ian National Weeks of the Chris
tian Orient.
6 Bishops
Confirm 1,000
LINCOLN, Neb., (NC)—More
than 1,000 persons were con
firmed by six bishops in a
ceremony here attended by
9,000 people.
Every seat in Pershing Au
ditorium was occupied and many
persons had to stand during
the ceremony, a highlight ofe
the Lincoln diocese’s 75th an
niversary. The demonstration
of faith was believed to be the
most colorful religious cere
mony ever held in Nebraska.
Bishop James V. Casey of
Lincoln said in remarks for
the occasion that “for our ju
bilee celebration we chose this
particular event in order to em
phasize the role of the lay
man in the mission of Christ
on earth.”
Sunday Sales
Measures
Such developments have been
taking place through history.
The interdependence of states
and nations keeps growing. In
the Roman Empire, the problem
was met by the Roman legions
of force. Pope John rightly says
it cannot and must not be met
by force in our time; the forces
at our disposal have become
too destructive t o be used by
rational human beings.
The Red Chinese are living
in a world that no longer exists.
Neither the East nor the West
can impose a world order by
force. If either should try, the
result would be world chaos
and a return to new-barbarism.
If Mao Tse-tung imagines that
Red China would escape these
fearful consequences, Mao has
another think coming to him.
Neither morally nor ration
ally can we escape the login
of scientific and technological
events which demand voluntary
creation of a world authority
to which the nations can hand
certain world tasks. The na
tions have made a beginning
in the United Nations. The UN
has proved itself indispensable
and the value of its work in
such fields as refugee prob
lems, food and agriculture, and
keeping the West and East from
each other’s throats in crucial
areas, can hardly be overstated.
Pope John voiced the hope
that the UN can be strengthened
to become the world authority
we need, able to cope with
world-level situations. I think
it can be; but if not, then some
other authority must be devised
if we are not to end in global
lunacy.
All-Africa Conference B0ST0N - (NC)-The Massa-
chusetts State Senate has voted
KAMPALA, Uganda, (NC) — down two bills to permit Sunday
Five Catholic observers, inclu- business operations,
ding one from the Secretarial identical votes of 17-4
for Promoting Christian Unity,
will attend the All-african
Church Conference starting in
nearby Makerere April 20.
Catholic observers at the 10-
day conference will be: Father
Jerome Hamer, O.P., Consul-
tor to the unity secretariat
and assistant to the Superior
General of the Dominican Or
der; Father Killian Flynn. O.
F. M. Cap., of Lusaka, Nor
thern Rhodesia, secretary to
the Interterritorial Episcopal
Board of East and Central Af
rica; Father Salvatore Ndetiko
of Moshi, Tanganyika; and two
observors from French-speak
ing Africa.
the Senate rejected a bill whic
would have allowed store
operated by one or two person
to remain open on Sunday an
a bill which would have per
mitted persons who observei
another day of the week as thi
sabbath to do business on Sun
day.
Pilgrims Drowned
AMMAN, Jordan, (NC)— A
Catholic priest and 22 women
pilgrims were killed when a
flash flood roared through a
ravine they were studying at
historic Petra, the French em
bassy here announced.
A Jordanian guide and a Leb
anese busdriver also lost their
lives in the sudden deluge 125
miles south of here (April 8).
Only two persons in the party
of 27 survived. One of the
women victims was Dutch, the
rest French. The embassy said
that King Hussein himself flew
to the site with the Jordanian
rescue squad.
Cardinal In
Protestant Church
WESTWOOD, Mass., (NC)—
Richard Cardinal Cushing,
speaking for the first time in
a Protestant church, cited the
importance of inter-Christian
cooperation in the quest for
world peace.
"What a power we would
have if all Christians united for
a just and lasting peace!” he
told a capacity audience at the
Islington Community church in
this suburb of Boston (April 5).
The Archbishop of Boston, in*
vited to speak at the church
by its minister emeritus, Rev.
Edwin P. Booth, said he in
tends to speak at other Pro
testant churches in the Boston
area.
Language School
SEOUL, Korea, (NC) —The
Franciscans will open a new
language school for mission
aries here similar to one they
now run in Tokyo.
Father Apollinar van Lee-
uwen, O. F. M. , Franciscan
Delegate for Japan and Korea,
said that spokesmen for
the Benedictines, Jesuits, Co
lumban Fathers, Maryknoll Fa
thers and Paris Foreign Mis
sion Society have all said they
will send newly arrived priests
and Brothers to the school.
Several societies of Sisters also
plan to use the school.
Pa rish Program
ST. LOUIS, (NC)—A parish
here has launched its own neigh
borhood ecumenical program.
St. Roch parish held its first
* * Interfaith Conversation”
bringing together Catholics,
Protestants and Jews, April 7
and scheduled another for
May 12.
Some 470 members of the
three faiths attended the firsi
"conversation” and heard a f
priest, a minister and a rabbi
discuss ecumenism. It was es
timated that between 25 and 40
per cent of the audience were
not Catholics.
QUESTION BOX
By David O. Liptak
Q. I’ve been wondering: Is
it possible that one’s sins could
be forgiven through attendance
at Mass?
A. In a restricted sense one’s
sins could be pardoned through
Mass, but not directly and
(where serious sin is concer
ned) not without reference to
the Sacrament of Penance,
which was instituted by Christ
as the ordinary means for the
remission of post-baptismal
mortal sins.
"BY THIS oblation of the
Mass,” declared the Council
of Trent, "God , being appeased
grants grace and the gift of
penance. . .” The key words
here are grace and penance.
The Sacrifice of the Mass re
mits sin only mediately, by be
stowing grace, for example,
to lead the penitent to the kind
of contrition which will restore
him to God’s full friendship.
Where mortal sin is involved,
this contrition must be related
to sacramental confession
(which is explicitly brought out
in one formula for the Act of
Contrition: "I firmly resolve
with the help of thy grace, to
confess my sins, to do
penance ...” etc.).
Father Francis Connell ex-
(Continued on Page 5)
5HJ The Southern Cross
P. O. BOX 180. SAVANNAH. GA.
Vol. 43
Saturday, April 20, 1963
No. 31
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