Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

I PAGE 4—The Southern Cross, April 27, 1963 Opposition Isn’t Bigotry A study of the constitutionality and prac ticality of including church-related schools in the allocation of tax funds for educational purposes was issued by the National Catholic Welfare Conference in December of 1961. That study reached the conclusion that there, is no federal constitution bar to aid to educa tion in church-related schools in a degree proportionate to the value of the public func tion it performs and that inclusion of such schools in any aid program would benefit American education rather than impair it. A similar study, commissioned by the National Council of Churches Department of Religious Liberty, was published last week. It, however, concludes that use of tax funds for religious schools would violate both Federal and state constitutions and would severely damage our public school system and our educational standards. Quite understandably, supporters of Catho lic schools resent the inference that their schools are somehow inferior to public schools, but it is important to note that the National Council’s study contains none of the anti-Catholic sentiment so evident in the testimony of POAU and other so-called Church-State Separation groups at legislative hearings last year. In fact, according to the Rt. Rev. Malcolm Endicott Peabody, chairman of the Council’s Department which prepared the study, draft copies of the document were sent out last January to leading constitutional lawyers, including Catholic scholars, and revisions were made in response to their comments. We hope that the Catholic Press, Catholic educators and supporters of Catholic schools will read the study with objectivity and atten tion, and when offering criticism, show the same care for the religious sensibilities of others that the National Council of Churches evidenced in preparing it. Faith Can Be Lost God’s World There is a difference between the virtue of faith and the act of faith. The virtue, which is a state of readiness to believe, was infused into our soul at baptism. Most of us received this virtue as infants. How ever, there could be no exercise of the virtue until we rea ched the age of understan ding. Only then did we learn that there is a God and that He has made certain truths known to us. Only then could we give free assent to the truths of God and say, meaningfully, "I believe.” No one can make this act of faith except with God’s help. That is why we speak of faith as a gift of God. A person can prepare himself for an act of faith by learning about God and about the truths of religion. For the final step, however, when with mind and heart we unreservedly accept GocT'and His revelation—for this final step we must have God’s assi stance. This is the grace of faith, as distinguished from the virtue of faith. If we were bap tized in infancy, we received first the virtue and later the grace of faith. Those who' be came converts in later years received first the grace of faith and then, in baptism, the virtue. Occasionally we meet with a non-Catholic who says, ‘‘If I were to join any church, it certainly would be the Catholic Church. It all seems so rea sonable, but somehow I can’t seem to make up my mind.” This is a person to whom the grace of faith has not yet come. Since faith is a gift of God, it is something to be prayed for. The person in search of faith who, with complete sin cerity, asks God for this gift, certainly will be given it. How ever, there are millions who do not even know of their own need for faith. In our love for Christ, a big intention in our daily prayers will be, ’’for the conversion of unbelievers.” Another daily intention will be for an increase in the depth and strength of our own faith. Faith is not a static attitude of mind. Either faith grows or it weakens—and sometimes dies. We have particular need to pray when, as does happen to most of us, we find our selves beset by temptations against faith. We usually think of tempta tions against faith as arising from intellectual scruples: apparent clashes between re ligion and science, for exam ple, or difficulty in understand ing how God can be present under the appearance of bread. These however are easily conquered with prayer, and, if need be, with investi gation. The temptations against faith which are more often fatal, are those which arise from moral, conflicts rather than from doc trinal obstacles. A man does not first lose his faith through in tellectual difficulties and then marry a divorcee. A woman does not first lose her faith and then begin to use contracep tives. The sequence, most often, is just the opposite. We humans cannot long sustain an interior conflict. If mind and emotions are at war with each other, we must some how establish peace. When a person of faith finds himself strongly drawn towards a sinful course of action, he experiences a painful state of conflict. Faith pulls one way, self another. The sufferer can quickly re establish peace by renouncing the sin, however painful (for the moment) his renunciation may be. If he is unwilling to surrender his present or con templated sin, then it is his faith which has to give. He begins to find points to cri ticize in his religious beliefs, begins to manufacture difficul ties and to see apparent con tradictions. Eventually he finds the peace he seeks, a specious and a fatal peace. He loses his faith. This has been the history of apostates from the Church. It is not likely that we are enmeshed in grave habitual sin. However, when we find our selves afflicted with severe temptations against our faith, it will be well to do some honest probing. It is possible that we may find self-love, in one form or another, to be the instigator of our temptations. Father Trese welcomes let ters from his readers. The in creasing volumn of letters pro hibits personal answers but problems and ideas contained in such correspondence can be the basis of future columns. Address all letters to Father Leo J. Trese, care of this newspaper. British Trade Christian Rights Malaysia Threat To Christians By Father Patrick O’Connor Society of St. Columban (N.C.W.C. NEWS SERVICE) Religious rights of non-Mus lims are being traded by the British government to buy Muslim political support for Malaysia. That is the feeling among Christians of all denominations in Sarawak and Sabah (North Borneo), two of the Borneo territories to be included in the new Federation of Malaysia. In the draft proposals, the British authorities have agreed to make Islam (the Muslim religion) the national religion of Malaysia, although a majority of the total population will by non-Muslim, Christians in Malaya an independent federation in the British Commonwealth, realize now that some of their rights were given away six years ago. Islam was then made the nation al religion, even though the Sul tans, Islamic rulers of nine states, had not asked for it. Christian observers from North Borneo have been looking around the existing Federation of Malaya to see what they may expect if the present Mal ayan constitution is extended to cover their territories. That is the way in which the British and Malayan governments pro pose to form Malaysia next August, with Singapore and Bru nei also included. The results of the survey are disquieting, according to well informed sources. “Though freedom of religion is officially guaranteed in Malaya, it is often restricted in practice—for non-Mus lims” one observer declared. It is illegal for Christian children in Christian schools to receive Christian religious instruction from state-paid teachers, but Muslim teaching must be given in Christian schools to Muslim children by state-paid teachers. A government school-zoning policy restricts the freedom of Christian parents to send their children to schools of their choice. Christians of the non-Muslim tribes (“aborigines”) are not allowed to have any churches or chapels. They may worship only in their own homes or in the jungle. Christian missionaries are forbidden to preach or minister to the aborigines. These tribes- folk are not allowed to become Christians now. State policy is to Islamize them. That’s happening in Malaya today, six years after “merde- ka” (independence). Christians of Borneo natural ly fear that a clause making Is lam the national religion of the new Malaysia may be made the pretext for enforcing similar policies in their territories. There are many indigenous non- Muslim Tribesfolk in Sarawak, Sabah and Brunei. Objections have been brushed aside with vague assurances which, especially in the light of what is known of Malaya, have failed to reassure. If restric tions and discrimination are evident in Malaya today, even under the broad-minded Tunki Abdul Rahman’s administra tion, what might not be feared from a less liberal government, tempted to profit by a pro- Islamic clause in the constitu tion? A petition signed by repre sentatives of the Catholic, An glican, Methodist and Adventist Churches and the Salvation Army in Kuching, Sarawak, on March 5, declared a national religion for Malaysia to be “undesirable, unwarranted, and unnecessary.” IT'S FUNNY WE DON'T GET THE SAME RESPONSE' New Age Of The Church It Seems to Me JOSEPH BREIG If we are to understand ade quately the new flowering of the Church which is taking place, we must be attentive, I think to the words of Augustin Cardi nal Bea as he speaks the mind of Pope John XXIII. C ardinal Bea is help ing us to open our minds to the fuller meanings of the word “C atholic.” That, it seems to me, is the essence of the messages he has been bring ing to us as president of the pope’s Secretariat for Promot ing Christian Unity. On his American tour, he em phasized that the secretariat has a wider ultimate purpose than that of the union of Chris tians—great through the union of Christians will be. Out of Christian unity, Cardinal Bea trusts that a world unity will grow. With the boldness of Chris tian hope which knows that with God nothing is impossible, he envisions “a world of brothers” in which there will be “unity of all men of good will for the good of humanity.” THE FOUNDATION of this world unity, Cardinal Bea says, is freedom of conscience, plus fraternal love among human beings “in union with their common Heavenly Father, the Father of all men, who have been created in His image and likeness.” Cardinal Bea therefore sees, in the Pope’s creation of the Christian Unity Secretariat, one of the crucial events in the Church’s history. He does not hesitate to compare it, in im portance, with the establish ment of the Congregation for the Missions in the 17th century. Cardinal Bea summons Ca tholics anew to the mission which Pius XII gave to the laity—that of “consecrating the world.” The laity’s task, he said during his American tour, is to “render testimony to Christ by one’s own authentically Christian life and activity in full conformity with the Gospel.” And he exclaimed: “What would be the influence of Christianity in the world if such were the case!” Each of us, therefore, is to take thought: how can I, in my own life and activity, give Christian witness to Christ in full conformity with the Gospel? Obviously, the first step is to form my mind and my will in an authentically Christian way. This will demand both study and goodness. Once I have formed myself rightly, I can hardly help bearing Christian witness. Christian witness, therefore, consists before all else in Christianizing myself pro foundly by reading and prayer, by seeking counsel, and by devo tion to the Mass and the sacra ments. As Cardinal Bea said, for the laity it is not a matter of preaching and teaching, but of living the Faith in the cir cumstances of life. For our associations with others, Cardinal Bea gave us Pope John’s ecumenical prin ciple—that of “emphasizing what tends to unite men, and accompanying every man as far along his way as is possible without betraying the demands Fourth Glorious Mystery THE ASSUMPTION Our $$ Father Scriptural 3\osary Part 14 Blessed art tnou, O daughter, by the Lord the most high God,/ above all women upon earth. And the moon was under her feet,/ and upon her head a crown of twelve stars. Apoc. 12:1 Hail 0 Mary Hail<3G>Mary Judith 13:23 For he has so magnified thy name this day,/ that thy praise shall not depart out of the mouth of men. Judith 13:25 Hail!0C>Mary In every nation which shall hear thy name,/ the God of Israel shall be magnified on occasion of thee. Judith 13:31 HailQBMary All glorious is the king’s daughter as she enters;/ her raiment is threaded with spun gold. ^ Ps. 44:14 Hail <38 Mary Sing to the Lord a new song,/ for he has done wondrous deeds. Ps. 97:1 Hail SB Mary Thou art the glory of Jerusalem, thou art the joy of Israel,/ thou art the honor of our people. Judith 15:10 Hail SB Mary Hear, O daughter, and see; turn your ear,/ for the king shall desire your beauty. Ps. 44:11,12 Hail SB Mary And the temple of God in heaven was opened,/ and there came flashes of lightning, and peals of thunder. Apoc. 11:19 Hail SB 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. And a great sign appeared in heaven:/ a woman clothed with the sun. Apoc. 12:1 Hail SB Mary 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 A venue, Chicago 2, Illinois. Image Of God Anne Frank’s Father MIAMI, Fla., (NC)—Amid current concern over public images, what really matters is “that man is created to the image and likeness of God,” an archbishop said here. “Social planners who play down this image of man deform VATICAN CITY, (NC)—The father of Anne Frank, the teen- aged Jewish girl whose diary has lived on as a testimonial to human warmth and dignity long after her extermination by Nazi Germany, was given a special audience by His Holi ness Popw John XXIII. him and do him a most disas trous disservice,” Archbishop James P. Davis of San Juan, P. R., said here. Outlines Order NEW YORK—Father John Courtney Murray, S. J., be lieves the significance of His Holiness Pope John XIII’s new peace encyclical is that it out lines an “order” for the “new era of history. . .that is clearly with us.” The “order” envisaged in Pope John’s encyclical, Father Murray writes in America magazine, (April 27), is one based on freedom. Otto H. Frank called on Pope John (April 19) accompanied by his second wife. Anne’s mother died in January of 1945 —two months before she her*G self came to her death in the camp—her mind frayed after the nazis routed her family out of the hiding hole in Amster dam where they had cooped themselves up for more than two years. Mickey Mouse erf: ODAWARA, Japan, (NC)— The distractions originated by American television are far- reaching. Father Thomas Dowd, S.S.C., of West Roxbury, Mass., was trying to preach a sermon Heads NCEA of justice and truth.” ON FREEDOM of conscience, Cardinal Bea said that he was not giving a personal opinion, but was voicing the authentic teaching of the Church—a teaching which has not always been observed by Catholics. The teaching, he said, is this: every person has a right and duty to obey his conscience. Therefore, individuals and so ciety have a duty nr respect that right and duty—that free dom to follow conscience. ST. LOUIS—Archbishop John P. Cody, Apostolic Administra tor of New Orleans, was re elected to a second one-year term as president general of the National Catholic Educa tional Association. In the final general session of the 60th anniversary conven tion here, where the election took place, delegates also voted to hold next year’s convention in Atlantic City, N. J. in Japanese at the children’s Mass here. But he had to give up when a neighbor’s TV sound ed loud and clear through the 1 window. "Who is the leader of the club that is made for you and me? M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E . .. Mickey Mouse!” Way Of The Cross Birth Control Book This does not mean exempting anybody from all moral and re ligious obligation: freedom of conscience does -not mean trampling on the rights of others, and if anybody does trample on those rights, indivi duals and society have the right to protect themselves. BOSTON—Richard Cardinal Cushing has stated that opin ions on the morality of artificial birth control as expressed in gynecologist John Rock’s new book “lack any official approval as authentic Catholic teaching.” The Archbishop of Boston says that in the book, entitled "The Time Has Came,” “there is much that is good,” but “it also contains several state ments which are theologically incorrect and certainly mis leading.” BERLIN—The historic Palm Sunday procession in the East German city of Heiligenstadt, held annually for more than 400 years, drew participants from Muehlhausen, Erfurt and Eis enach, according to delayed re ports reaching here. Several thousand Catholics sang and prayed their way through the streets in an observance of the Way of the Cross. Red’s Execution School Hearings NEVERTHELESS, nobody can rightly be “forced to fulfill” religious and moral obligations. It is not permissible to use force or violence to correct the erring conscience of ano ther. Whence is to come the world unity which Pope John and Car dinal Bea desire? It is to grow out of truth, justice and chari ty; or, in more general terms, from “the law written in man’s heart, prompting him to do what is good and avoid what is evil.” Cardinal Bea emphasized again the essential oneness of Christians which exists because of baptism. The Church, he said, "affirms resolutely” that “the baptized person is or ganically united with Christ and His Mystical Body . . .All those who are validly baptized are brothers among themselves. WASHINGTON—Senate hear ings on aid to education will begin April 29, Sen. Wayne Morse of Oregon has announced. Morse, chairman of the edu cation subcommittee of the Sen ate Labor and Public Welfare Committee, told the Senate that the subcommittee will hear tes timony from public witnesses on each section of the administra tion’ s bill separately. VATICAN CITY, (Radio NC) —News of the execution of the Spanish Communist leader Ju lian Grimau Garcia has been received by Vatican officials with dismay. Several of them privately ex pressed chagrin that the sen tence of death had not been com muted. They pointed out that he had been executed on the mor row of the Pope's peace ency clical and during Eastertime, a period that the Pope explicit ly said on April 17 calls all men to gladness and to pardon. QUESTION BOX (By David Q. Liptak) Q. I always thought that to receive Holy Communion wor thily it is sufficient to be in the state of grace. But in a pamph let I have been reading it says that a “right intention” is also necessary. Is a “right in tention” an additional require ment, or is it the same thing as the state of grace? A. The right intention requi red for reception of the Bless ed Eucharist is the same gener al disposition necessary for the performance of any good work. What it means is that one should approach the Communion rail for supernatural motives, not out of vanity, for instance, or merely to please others. Cer tainly one who goes to Com munion for love of God and for the welfare of one’s own soul has a right intention. In his fa mous decree of December 20, 1905, St. Pope Pius X defined a right intention in the wise: “He who approaches the holy table should do so, not out of routine, or vainglory, or human respect, but for the purpose of pleasing God, of being more closely united with him by charity, and of seeking this di vine remedy for his weakness es and defects.” THE STATE of grace or free dom from mortal sin is of course the essential specific condition for receiving Com munion worthily. As this prin ciple is explained by the Church, one who has committed mortal sin may not receive Communion until he has confessed his sin and has been absolved—even though one may have regained the state of grace by means of an act of perfect contrition (which by its nature implies of course the obligation of con fessing one’s sins to a priest as soon as possible), VENIAL SINS do not of them selves preclude worthy recep- ' tion of Communion. But they unquestionably hinder the per fection of union which Christ (Continued on Page 5) The Southern Cross P. O. BOX 180. SAVANNAH. GA. Vol. 43 Saturday, April 27, 1963 No. 32 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