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PAGE 4—The Southern Cross, June 29, 1963
FACT
Unrealistic And Unwise
Where noise prevails, reason is of no
avail. There is evidence that this week’s
decision of the Supreme Court on Bible
reading and recitation of the Lord’s Prayer
in public schools will be hooted and howled
at rather than discussed rationally. Already
the justices have been called “nine silly old
men,’’ already the decision has been de
scribed as an attack on the Bible and even
on God Himself. Such views, we feel, are
reactionary and wrong.
Catholics in particular ought to disasso
ciate themselves from any purple oratory
against the Supreme Court. We must keep
in mind that historically the reading of the
King James Bible was a significant cause
in the decision to build our parochial school
system. Rather than keep fighting what we
ourselves once considered religious discrim
ination we proceeded to erect a private
school system that today is the marvel of
the world.
The Supreme Court decision is regrettable,
however; but not because it is an attack on
religion. How could it be? Justice Clark went
to great lengths to point out that “it can
be truly said that today, as in the begin
ning, our national life reflects a religious
people.” Those are not the words of a man
desiring to contend with God. Furthermore,
many Protestant and Jewish groups indicated
before the decision that they hoped the Su
preme Court would nullify this traditional lip-
service to religion; for that is all it amounts
to. Are we to say now that our brethren
who possess differing beliefs, to wit, some
Protestants and Jews, have been ensnared by
the forces of atheism? The very notion is
absurd. They are not upset at all over this
decision; and they too worship and love God.
Those varying religious leaders have voiced
their conviction that the work of religious
education belongs in the home, the church
and the synagogue.
With tnis latter idea Catholics disagree. If
they did not there would be no point in con
tinuing our parochial school system. We are
convinced further that many ministers and
rabbis will be drawn to our position even
tually and begin to build parochial schools of
their own as secularism makes deeper and
deeper inroads on their flocks. We are
confident that they will discover that relig
ious teaching cannot be effectively separ
ated from general education without being
watered down and lost on countless children.
For those who insist on taking a dimmer
view of the matter, who feel that a minority
has imposed its will on the overriding major
ity, who chafe at this break with American
tradition and apparent expansion of the First
Amendment to forbid things our forefathers
never dreamed possible, there is a way out.
The loophole was provided by Justice Clark’s
observation that “It certainly may be said
that the Bible is worthy of study for its
literary and historic qualities. Nothing we
have said here indicates that such study of
the Bible or of religion, when presented ob
jectively as part of a secular program of
education, may not be effected con si stent with
the First Amendment.” Wherefore any com
munity that feels outraged by this decision
could simply incorporate a program of Bible
study into its curriculum. As a result the
children would wind up getting far more than
the usual token ten verses each day. Where
there’s a will, there’s a way.
It is our opinion, finally, that the Supreme
Court made a mistake, not in the decision
itself, but in the anterior decision to con
sider the case at all. After the storm that
its New York Regents’ Prayer ruling arous
ed last year, one would have hoped that
it would not become enmeshed in similar
cases that could only increase its unpopu
larity and serve no substantial need of the
nation. Justice Clark was aware of this
point when he noted, “it is no defense to
urge that religious practices here may be
relatively minor encroachments on the First
Amerndment. The breach of neutrality that is
today a trickling stream may all too soon
become a raging torrent.”
Theoretically that is splendid rhetoric;
practially it is unrealistic. For the history
of public ecucation reveals that religious
practices have been eliminated more and
more over the years. The evidence has been
clear that the “trickling stream” was dry
ing up rather than building up into a poten
tial torrent. Justices should judge with an
eye on the times as well as on the lawbooks.
Their failure to do so has led them to a
decision that will, we fear, only help create
more division in our nation. Thus, the state
superintendent of education in South Carolina
is reported as saying that religious exer
cises would continue to be held in his state
despite the court’s ruling. There are certain
conflicts that cannot be avoided such as the
right of educational integration. This was a
noble and monumental decision of the Su
preme Court, and did much to bring about
the present improvement in Negroes’ rights.
But this latest venture of the court was
both unnecessary and undesirable.
In a word, the decision was not evil, mere
ly unwise.
STAR - HERALD - CAMDEN
Parental Pride And Parental Prudence
God’s World
By Leo J. Trese
It is quite natural for par
ents to be ambitious for their
children. If we love someone,
we necessarily desire that he be
happy. Equating happiness with
success, parents are eager to
see their
children
successful; in
school now,
and in their
life’s vocation
later. More
over, parents
tend to meas
ure their own
success, ma
terial and spiritual, which their
children achieve. If their child
graduates with honors or gets
a high-level job or makes a good
marriage or enters the convent
or becomes a preist, mother
and father feel that this is an
accolade to themselves. It is
proof that they have reared
their child well.
Such parental pride is un
derstandable. It is one of the
rewards which accompany par
enthood. However, parental am
bition and pride contain a built-
in danger. This is the danger
that, in their zeal for a child’s
future, parents may try to push
a child beyond the limits of
his capacity. There is no sur
er way to implant an inferior
ity complex in a child than by
demanding of him more than he
is able to give.
Overzealousness exhibits it
self especially in parental at
titudes toward school perform
ance. By the very nature of av
erages, fifty percent of all chil
dren will be average or below
average in their mental ability.
However, many parents find it
hard to accept the fact that
they have an average child. They
assume that any child of theirs
is bound to be brainy.
As a consequence, little John
ny, who has an IQ of 100 and
who has to work hard to get
C’s on his report card, is
prodded and pushed to better
his grades. His lot is doubly
unhappy if he has a brighter
brother or sister in school.
Then Johnny’s average perfor
mance is compared often with
that of his more clever sibling.
"Why can’t you get A's and
B’s as your brother (sister)
does?”
Try as he will, Johnny cannot
measure up to his parents’ ex
pectations. Frustrated in his
efforts, he becomes more and
more conditioned to failure.
With sympathetic understanding
and with recognition of the ef
fort he does make, Johnny could
grow to a reasonably self-con
fident adulthood. As it is, he will
be permanently marked in his
own mind as a second class
individual. He will suffer, for
life, from feelings of inferior
ity.
Feelings of inferiority can be
generated, too, by parents who
are habitual faultfinders. Such
parents cannot bear the thought
that their child is anything less
than a paragon of virtue. They
are lavish with criticism, with
such phrases as, “You are a
bad boy (girl),” You are a stu
pid boy,” “You are a clumsy
boy,” “You can’t do anything
right,” and “I never can de
pend on you.”
Eventually this child comes
to accept , in his own mind,
that he really is a bad or stu
pid or clumsy or undependable
person. It is a conviction which
he will carry into adulthood. The
harm is intensified if his par
ents rarely speak a word of
praise; perhaps fearing (mis
takenly) that praise will spoil
the child.
On the contrary, parental
praise is essential to build up
a child’s confidence in him
self and to give him a feeling
of self-worth. Prudent parents
do not flatter, but they do watch
for occasions when they can
honestly commend the child.
The oftener such occasions oc
cur, the better. There will be
times when a child’s behavior
must be criticized, even pun
ished. However, when rebukes
must be administered, it is im
portant to distinguish between
the child’s behavior and the
child himself. It is much bet
ter to say, “That was a naughty
thing you did,” than to say,
"You are a bad boy;” much
better to say “You told me a
lie,” than to say, "You are
a decietful little girl.” And,
on balance, approbation always
should be more frequent than
reproof.
Parents who accept their
child as he is and ask of him
no more than he is able to
deliver; who counterpoint cor
rection with frequent approv
al; these are parents who are
living their child a healthy im
age of himself.
(Father Trese welcomes let
ters from his readers. The in
creasing volume of letters pro
problems and ideas contained
in such correspondence can be
be the basis of future columns.
Address all letters to Father
Leo J. Trese, care of this news
paper.)
By Father Patrick O'Connor
Society of Saint Columban
(Radio, N. C. W. C. NEWS
SERVICE)
SAIGON—A New York Times
editorial (June 17) concerning
Vietnam contains some mis
leading statements about Ca
tholics, according to Catholic
sources here.
The article states: “Most
high government officials,
cheifs of provinces and mili
tary officers (in Vietnam) are
Catholics.”
It is obviously impossible to
ascertain the religious affilia
tions of all military officers
without lengthy research. But it
is certain that only three out
of the 19 generals in the Viet
namese armed forces are Ca
tholics. Only one of the four
corps commanders is Catholic.
Out of 17 cabinet ministers, only
five are Catholics. The vice
president and the chief of staff
are non-Catholics.
Out of 44 chiefs of provinces
and city mayors, less than half
‘Smokescreen’
Tactics Hit
PORTLAND, Ore., (NC)~
The Catholic priest member of
a newly formed group to better
racial relations here deplored
"smokescreen procedures”
DOMESTIC
LONG LIVE POPE PAUL 3ZE
Heirs Of John The Good
It Seems to Me
the
o f
t o
Pope John the Good left to his
successor and to us a spiritual
heritage so great that we are
only beginning to see its magni
tude. Because of him, the world
is closer to unity and stable
peace than at
any time in
many cen
turies—p e r-
haps even at
any time
since
coming
Christ
earth.
John XXIII
disarmed psychologically a
world which, for the first time
in history, was armed with such
power as to be able to extermi
nate itself. He turned the na
tions away from a fatalistic,
zombie-like march of death by
reminding men that they are not
automations, but beings of free
will.
The chief instruments which
made possible John XXIII’ s>
marvellous achievements were
his own lovable goodness and
his ecumenical council. He will
stand forever as an electrifying
example of what a single soul
filled with faith, hope and chari
ty can accomplish; of the fact
that simple holiness is a force
of irresistible power.
AS THE FIRST requisite for
the unity of humanity, John cre
ated Christian unity-in-love. He
did so by believing in the integ
rity of the individual con
science, and by acting upon that
belief. Out of his goodness, he
spoke to the goodness in others;
JOSEPH BREIG
the results were miraculous.
At the heart of all goodness is
humility; John the Humble saw
that the first step in a success
ful appeal to others is self
correction. He called his world
council of bishops to reform and
renew the Church, removing
from the human side of it, as
far as humanly possible, every
spot and wrinkle.
Because he humbled himself,
he was loved by other Chris
tians; and swiftly there spread
through Christendom the reali
zation that much Christian dis
agreement was due to talking at
cross-purposes in theological
terms that meant different
things to different people.
THUS WAS BEGUN the pro
cess of Christian reunion. But
John the Good’s heart was set
upon the brotherhood of all men
under God. Having embraced
the other Christians, he em
braced the Jews, and received
a wonderful response. Then, in
his crowning official act, he
reached out to all human beings
of good will in his very great
encyclical, Pacem in Terris
(Peace on Earth).
The greatness of Pacem in
Terris lies mainly in its noble
simplicity. In words that anyone
can understand, John the Good,
as head and teacher of the
Church, speaking in the name of
God-in-Christ, saluted, more
generously and winningly than it
ever before has been saluted,
the glorious dignity of each and
every member of the family and
race of mankind.
Mother” Of Priests
Jottings
Saigon Catholic Sources Say
Vietnam Editorial Misleading
are Catholics, according to the
Ministry of the Interior.
The “Mew University” ofDa-
lat was founded by Catholic
founders and Catholic money,
some of it donated by Francis
Cardinal Spellman, Archbishop
of New York, some by Gregor
io Cardinal Agagianian, Prefect
of the Sacred Congregation for
the Propagation of the Faith.
The state university in Hue has
indeed a Catholic priest-
scholar as rector, but it is con-
continued on Page 5)
“The priests of the Lord of
fer incense and loaves to God;
therefore they shall be sacred
to their God and shall not pro
fane His name.”
Offertory, Corpus Christi
* * *
THE FIRST ORDINATION
ceremony took place at a fare
well banquet in a city of the
near East nearly 2000 years
ago. A young carpenter who was
to die the next day like a com
mon criminal pronounced the
mystic words which would make
twelve men the first ordained
priests of the new land. In every
age, not a day has dawned in
which the Mass, first enacted
that night in the Upper Room,
has not been offered. What the
young carpenter who was Al
mighty God did that night has
been repeated through all ages.
At every moment somewhere in
the world, the Body and Blood
of Christ is being offered again
by one of His priests. The or
dination of young men of every
race and color and manner of
men across the face of the world
each year is truly a perennial
miracle as is the coming
By BARBARA C. JENCKS
of Spring and the seasons change
and the world’s turning and
the birth of a baby. Without
this annual miracle of ordina
tion, we could not share the
secret of life everlasting—the
Mass. During this month of the
Sacred Heart and ordinations,
we think especially of the young
men who come among us once
more, the freshly anointed
young men in black “who dream
dreams” and whose priest
hood of absolving, blessing,
baptising, annointing, daily
Masses, black Masses, and
white Masses has just begun.
♦ ♦ ♦
TO MOST CATHOLIC mo
thers, there can come no great
er joy than to see a son or
dained in the priesthood. One
priest wrote in his diary about
turning from the altar at his
first Mass and seeing his mo
ther kneeling at the Commun
ion rail. He thought: “ * Corpus
Comini Nostri—Mother, it is
the Body of Christ that I give
you in exchange for my body.
What a paradox! To the wom
an who made me I give the Body
Of the One who made her.” We
JFK And Pope
LONDON, (NC)—The arrival
of President John F. Kennedy
in Rome on Sunday, June 30,
will be timed to avoid interfer
ence with the coronation cere
mony for His Holiness Pope
Paul VI, the protocol chief of
the U. S. State Department has
explained here.
Angier Biddle Duke told
With the kiss of peace, this
prince among men and popes
awakened the sleeping princess
of humanity so that she awoke
and realized her own splendor.
Suddenly we knew that it really
is possible to make a world in
which we can live happily, if
only we will be up and doing.
THE EARTH can be the Home
and Hearth of Mankind, if we
will build with God. The blue- ,
print is ours in Pacem in Ter
ris.
The truth, said Christ, will
set us free; and in Pacem in
Terris the truth about the great
ness and the rights of men and
women is set forth in fullness
and clarity, with all the autho
rity and all the strength of the
Church for its defense and war
rant. This is John the Good’s
legacy to all his fellowmen
whom he loved so greatly.
Finally, this man who was
simple and humble, and yet a
great thinker and a poet of love
of God and man, completely
won the heart of the world by
dying the death of a saint, of
fering his life and his fearful
sufferings for mankind, for
peace, for the Church and for
Christian unity.
For the first time since Goa
said “Let us make man to our
image and likeness,” the hu
man family knelt at the bedside
of a dying member, a father
and brother. Modem communi
cations made it possible. And in
those terrible and wonderful
hours, the seed of a spiritual
unity of all peoples was sown.
employed against members of
minorities seeking jobs, decent
housing and other living essen
tials.
Father Paul E. Waldschmidt,
C.S.C., University of Portland
president, said a non-violent
atmosphere prevalent in Port
land racial relations tends "to
conceal covert evasion of re
sponsibility for providing fair
and equal opportunities.”
“Again and again, members
of minority groups seeking jobs,
housing and other essentials of
living, experience evasion, ex
cuses, subterfuges and other
smokescreen procedures on the
part of fellow Americans who
are in positions of power,” the
Holy Cross priest asserted.
K Of C Buys Lanes
NEW ORLEANS, La., (NC)—
Eight of the 14 Knights of Co
lumbus councils of the New Or
leans metropolitan area have
purchased a local bowling cen
ter for $150,000.
Profits will be dedicated to a
youth recreation center which
will include gymnasium, swim
ming pool and dancing facilities
with name bands on Friday and
Saturday nights.
Each of the participating
councils put up $5000. They will
receive 5 per cent interest on
their funds, plus additional re
turns for their own council youth
activities. Other councils made
partial investments in the ven
ture.
African Martyrs
CLEVELAND, (NC)—They
call this the age of the layman
—but 22 lay converts in Uganda
showed what it really means to
live the Faith 75 years ago.
) * Between 1885 and 1887, the
22 were martyred in such ways
as burning alive, and beheading.
The ages of the martyrs ranged
from 14 to 50.
Their sacrifice for the Faith
was recounted here by Father
Anthony J. Wouters, W. F.,
Dutch-born priest who lives
in Rome and since 1953 has
been working for their canoni
zation.
newsmen that the President will
arrive a few hours after the
papal rite.
Filipino ‘Cleanup’
M A N I L A, (NC)—A drive
sponsored by Catholic Action in
the Manila archdiocese to clean
this city’s motels and hotels of
“immoralities” scored a vic
tory when a court ruled that the
assistant mayor may be empow
ered to inspect hotels and mo
tels provided he and his in
spection team “do not enter
hotel rooms and invade the
privacy of occupants.”
Bishops Concecrated
SAIGON, (NC)—Two new bi
shops appointed by the late Pope
John XXIII for dioceses in com
munist-ruled North Vietnam
have been consecrated there,
according to reports received
here.
Bishop Paul Nguyen dinh
Nhien, 63, was consecrated May
15 in the cathedral of Vinh by
Bishop Jean Tran Huu Due of
Vinh.
Bishop Joseph Trinh Van Can,
43, was consecrated June 2 in
Hanoi by Archbishop Joseph
Trinh nhu Khu of Hanoi.
German Peace Corps
The new corps, called the
German Development Service,
follows the example of the U. S.
Peace Corps, but it will cooper
ate with all private organiza
tions active in this work. These
organizations are members of
the new-service.
BONN, (NC)—Germany’s Ca
tholic “peace corps” is the
model and cornerstone for a
new national corps founded
(June 24) in the presence of
President John F. Kennedy in
West German President Hein
rich Luebke’s residence here.
have recently come upon the
story of a woman who has been
a “mother” to priests in a dif
ferent sense. Yet she is respon
sible for “mothering” in her
mind an idea which would bring
to fruition that dream that is
every woman's—having some
part in the making of a priest.
There is no higher dream than
wishing to aid a young man ‘ ‘to
go to the altar of God who giv-
est joy to our youth.” This wo
man is a convert and over
whelmed by the gift that be
came hers in faith—she won
dered how she could answer
the question: “What return shall
I make to the Lord for all that
He has given me?” The convert
was a single woman yet in the
tradition of spiritual mother
hood, she could encourage a
young man to enter the priest
hood, she could pray for good
priests, she could escite others
to the thoughts of “mothering”
vocations to the priesthood by
prayers and alms. This she
did.
* * *
THE WOMAN founded the
(Continued on Page 5)
By David Q. Liptak
Q. Who succeeded St. Peter
as pope? I don’t recall ever hav
ing seen the answer. Could you
amplify?
A. From lists handed down by
ecclesiastical writers such as
St. Irenaeus (an Asiatic bishop
who was a disciple of Polycarp,
who himself was a disciple of
St. John the Apostle) and from
isolated references made by
other early Church commenta
tors, one can conclude that St.
Peter’s immediate successors
probably were St. Linus (d. 79),
St. Anacletus or Cletus (d. 90),
and St. Clement (d. 99). All
three are mentioned in the Can
on of the Mass.
ST. LINUS was apparently of
lowly birth, and may even have
once been a slave. Irenaeus
states that he is the same Linus
mentioned by St. Paul in First
Timothy IV:21. According to one
tradition he reigned for about
twelve years, though historical
details are lacking.
WHETHER ANACLETUS was
the third or fourth “pope” (an
anachronism to this context,
since the term Papa didn’t come
into use until centuries after
his reign) is not clear. More
over, while it was once debated
whether Anacletus and Cletus
were two different pontiffs, it
is now generally agreed that the
two names designate one^nd the
same person. He may have died
a martyr under Domitian,
but there is no incontrovertible
proof. The length of his ponti
ficate is given as twelve years
by one ancient chronicler, but
modern historians think this
figure high.
ST. CLEMENT, was, in all
likelihood, the fourth bishop
of Rome. A considerable liter
ature has evolved about him,
and much of it is historical. It
is certain that he authored the
Epistle to the Corinthians which
has always been attributed to
him. This letter has incalcu-
able worth in that it testi
fies to Rome’s authority in ec
clesiastical matters at a time
(97 or 98 A.D.) when one of the
Apostles, St. John, was still
living. (That the Corinthian
Christian community did not
hesitate to appeal to Clement
for adjudication of theological
dispute which threatened
schism, instead of consulting
with St. John, is extremely sig
nificant insofar as historical
records are concerned.)
IT IS thought that .Clement
both saw and talked with SS.
Peter and Paul; at least St.
Irenaeus affirmed that he had.
St. Clement is listed as the
first of the Apostolic Fathers—
the generic name given to those
ecclesiastical writers who were
approximately, directly or in
directly, influenced by the
Apostles themselves.
The Southern Cross
Vol. 43
P. O. BOX 180. SAVANNAH, GA.
Saturday, June 29, 1963
No. 41
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
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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