Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

y PAGE 2—The-Southern Cross, July 4, 1963 Statesboro Y. C. S. Holds Study Week STATESBORO—St. Mat thew’ s YCS organization, start ed only a few months ago, re cently held a Study Week for all the parish teenagers and their friends. About 50 differ ent people attended in the course of the week, with an average of 25 or 30 a meeting. The Study Week consisted of 5 different workshops held from 8 till 9 Monday through Friday. All five were given every night to groups of five or six of ap proximately the same age, and every night the groups rotated so that at the end of the five nights everyone had beento each workshop. The groups were kept small so that each person’s opinions could be freely stated and ques tions could be easily asked. Every workshop was divided into three sections: a thirty minute instruction by the group leader, a fifteen minute talk on the essential parts of the YCS Social Inquiry—“Observe,” "Judge,” and "Act”—and finally a fifteen minute airing of the major questions that arose during the preceeding in struction periods. After the brainwork was over there was a social hour, with soft drinks served all around. The primary purpose of the Study Week was to help the participants realize what it means to be a Christian, ano ther Christ, in their own sur roundings, and thereby to aid them in finding the solutions to the problems caused by those surroundings. (The secondary purpose of the week was to pre pare the parish YCSers for the regional Study Week to be held August 12-16 in Cullman, Ala bama.) FOR THE SHRINE CARILLON—The Blessed Virgin Mary bell, (above) is one of nine large bells of the 56-bell carillon to be installed soon in the bell tower of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, in Wash ington, gifts of the Knights of Columbus. The Mary bell, the largest, weighs 7,200 pounds and has the following inscription: "Mary is my name. Mary is my sound. Be loved mother. Queen of Heaven and earth. Queen of this dear land. For Knights to God and country bound. And all who hear my voice. I sing the praises of God.” — (NC Photos) Carillon Enroute To National Shrine In Nation’s Capital WASHINGTON, (NC)—A 56- bell carillon weighing more than 37,000 pounds in en route here for installation in the bell tower of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. The carillon, whose bells were cast by foundries in France and Holland, left Mar seille by ship June 15, and is scheduled for arrival in Balti more July 6. The carillon was purchased with a $150,000 gift from the Knights of Columbus, who also paid for the national shrine’s bell tower. Following ancient tradition, each of the nine largest bells has its own name and inscrip tion. The largest, weighing 7,200 pounds, is the Blessed Virgin Mary bell. The next in size at 5,100 pounds is the St. Christopher bell. The inscription on the Bless ed Virgin Mary bell reads: "Mary is my name. Mary is my sound. Beloved mother. Queen of Heaven and earth. Queen of this dear land. For Knights to God and country bound. And all who hear my voice. I sing the praises of God.” The Christopher bell inscrip tion, which recalls Christopher Columbus, reads:“Christopher is my name. Christ I bear. For Christopher I ring, who placed his hope in Santa Maria and crossed the sea to find this new land.” An opening is now being made in the shrine tower’s wall, 50 feet above the west terrace. The bells will be lifted by crane Received 20,000 Messages VATICAN CITY, (NC)—The Papal Secretariat of State has received more than 20,000 let ters, cables and other messages of congratulation of the election of His Holiness Pope Paul VI. Vatican Radio said they came from all parts of the world and from people in every walk of life. to a platform outside this open ing, then raised within the tower on pulleys. A special ceremony of blessing will be held before they are installed. FIRST TIME—Sister Mary Ephrem, OSF and Sr. Helen Jordan, OSF, both of St. Francis Convent in Savannah found that this little boy in their summer vacation classes at St. Martin de Pomes Chapel in Americus had never seen sisters before in his life. Brazilian Catholics Take Lead In Campaign To End Blight Of Rural Poverty Latin America is a vast re gion of tremendous potential growth, but also a region of great tension and revolutionary unrest. Will it fall prey to com munism or advance along the road toward Christian demo cracy? The editor of Noticias Catholics, Spanish-language edition of the N.C.W.C. News Service, who recently finished a tour of Latin America, reports in the following article on ef forts to alleviate rural poverty in its largest country, Brazil. M By Jaime Fonseca (N.C.W.C. NEWS SERVICE) Brazilian Catholics are spearheading a nationwide drive to solve the pressing problems of the rural poor in Latin America’s largest country. These problems are literally matters of life and death. Land less farm workers need their own land to avoid starvation. They need a living wage. They, as well as the small landown ers, need better health and edu cational facilities and protec tion from Red propaganda and violence. To better their plight, Bra zil’s Catholics are fostering a number of rural organizations which are already bringing a new sense of solidarity and personal dignity to the poor farmers—the camponeses—in the most critical areas, parti cularly in the poverty-stricken northeastern region of the na tion. Before the leftist leader Francisco Juliao started his Peasant Leagues there, the Catholic-sponsored Confedera tion of Workers’ Centers was helping the few farmers among its half a million members. But the threat of Red violence on Brazil’s large estates—the fazendas—and in the villages led to the broader efforts now being made by the new Agrarian Front, which is made up of Catholic farm workers' unions. The communist offensive has been stalled by the combined attempts of the front and the confederation, working in co operation with the long-estab lished Young Christian Farm ers’ organization and the grow ing number of teams of priests and laymen engaged in pastoral work in rural areas. This grass-roots movement is finding new strength in such cooperation. One of its leaders stated: "Banded together, we can improve our lot with the resources now at hand.” Despite the stalling of the Red drive, sporadic violence still marks the efforts of the landless to acquire land. On June 22, Brazilian troops had to be called in to aid police when about 800 armed camponeses and city slum dweller s took over an estate in Duque de Caxias after raiding a gun store and seizing hostages. The squatters were led by Anibal Mendes, a priest of the schismatic Bra zilian Catholic Church which was set up in 1951 and now claims 50,000 members. The Catholic farm workers’ unions which make up the Agra rian Front were begun in 1960 in the northeastern state of Rio Grande do Norte by Bishop Eugenio de Araujo Sales, Apos tolic Administrator of the Natal On Rural Front Service Corps Volunteers Would Be Tremendous Aid WASHINGTON, (NC)—The National Catholic Rural Life Conference has stated that vol unteers for the proposed Na tional Service Corps would be a tremendous help on Ameri ca’ s rural front. The NCRLC executive com mittee urged support at its meeting here for legislation for the corps, currently being call ed the Domestic Peace Corps. At the same time, the com mittee recommended the smo thering of any efforts to revive the program (Public Law 78) under which Mexican nationals are imported to work on U. S. farms. Coadjutor Bishop John J. Morkovsky of Galveston-Hous- ton, NCRLC president and epis copal adviser, presided at the executive committee meeting, attended by some 30 members. It its 13-page state ment, the committee also: —Said "there is an urgent need for assistance to young people who wish to enter agri culture.” —Recommended that ’ 'all farmers and their various or ganizations. . .band together in commodity-wide marketing as sociations to achieve the goal of a fair and stabilized price for their produce. —Endorsed the conclusions of the recently held World Food Congress here calling for an all-out war on hunger and mal nutrition. —Commended the efforts of Catholic Relief Services-Na- tional Catholic Welfare Confer ence and other voluntary agen cies in assisting developing na tions. —Urged remedial legislation to render the U. S. Food for Peace program more effective. In recommending support for the National Service Corps, the NCRLC committee said the tasks to which corps volun teers "could be assigned in helping migrants are almost endless, and all of them ur gent.” ‘ 'The corpsmen, for example, could help expand educational services and opportunities for the children of migrant fami lies,” the policy statement con tinued. "Corpsmen would help by tutoring, by seeking out the children and getting them to the proper classes, and by keeping records on the children as they move.” The statement said the corps- men could help improve housing conditions in the camps, build recreational facilities for children and organize adult re creation programs. The committee made one spe cific recommendation “on the use of certain National Service Corps volunteers for work in the chronically distressed rural areas.” It said such volunteers could learn about the programs and funds available to meet the needs of the people in these areas, the techniques for de veloping projects receiving support from these programs, and the methods of developing local leadership in such pro jects. The committee said that after briefing in these three areas, the volunteers Would "be sent into the communities and among the peoples, where they can in form, interpret and serve as catalysts and coordinators for both individual and community improvement under legislative programs already in exis tence.” The committee lauded as a * ‘victory for the forces of re form” the recent voting down by the House of Representatives of a proposed extension of the Mexican farm labor program (Public Law 78). * ‘After years of waging what most people considered a hope less battle against the continua tion of the bracero program, the conference and its allies can rightly take pride in this victory,” the policy statement said. It warned, however, that * ‘ef forts are even now under way in both the House and Senate to revive the program.” "We most emphatically urge Congress to reject these ef forts,” the statement continued, “and urged that all citizens communicate with their sena tors and representatives their insistence that Public Law 78 not be reinstated.” The committee members ex pressed concern over the pov erty "of many of our Mexican neighbors,” but insisted "that assistance to them should not be at the cost of the poorest of our own citizens.” "We urge rather that through our foreign aid program, and particularly through the Alli ance for Progress, a more di rect and effective attack be made on the cause of poverty in Mexico,” they said. archdiocese. By early 1963 there were about 350 unions in a dozen states with more than 500,000 members. * ‘Catholics are way ahead in farm workers’ unions,” the journalist Ruy Azambuja told me in reviewing the organiza tion's progress in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul. In his state alone, he said, 100 unions were founded in 1962 with a total membership of 150,000. At a recent meeting in the state capital of Porto Alegre there were 180 union presidents and 650 delegates, he added. In the Northeast, Father An tonio Melo Costa and his aides have organized more than 25,000 farm workers, most of them at the expense of Juliao’s Peasant Leagues. "Juliao once dominated four unions. Now he has none,” one of the helpers told me. Father Costa expressed the wish: "If Bishop Sales’ move ment could only spread to the rest of Brazil, we could soon achieve a land reform that is really Christian and human.” Anti-Communist Expert Father Cronin Warns Of Red “Hand Of Friendship” WASHINGTON, (NC)--A pro minent analyst of communist tactics has warned that the U.S. Reds are offering the hand of friendship to the Catholic Church. He said they should get "a negative response.” Father John F. Cronin, S.S., assistant director of the Social Action Department of the Na tional Catholic Welfare Confer ence, made his comment in an interview. The Sulpician priest’s obser vations were sought after recent disclosure that communists have bid for invitations to debate on U. S. Catholic college cam puses. Father Cronin has written and spoken widely on commun ism, exposing its goals and tac tics in textbooks, pamphlets and major speeches before Catholic and other groups. He shares the knowledge of the nation’s top anti-communist watchdogs and is widely credit ed with having convinced then- Congressman Richard Nixon of communist infiltration in the government, knowledge which Nixon used in the sensational Red exposes of the late 1940's. Father Cronin said the Com munist Party, U.S.A., made a “major reversal of policy” af ter issuance of the late Pope John XXIII’s encyclical Pacem in Terris (Peace on Earth) ear lier this year. There were earlier indica tions of a change in the party’s attitude toward the Church, he said, but communists think Pa cem in Terris opens the door to “united-front relations.” “The earlier indications,” he said, “were the forward- looking attitude of the Church, as shown in the ecumenical coulcil; the willingness of the Holy See to have contacts with communist spokesmen; and the increasing social influence of the Catholic Church here, as shown in the National Con ference on Religion and Race.’ Under the direction of Gus Hall, chairman of the party, he said, the communists resolved to send a letter to Catholic leaders in various cities. "This letter would refer to the encyclical, suggesting speakers and debates around the document, around the com munist position and around the suggestions where the Pope calls for positive contribu tions,” he said. Discussion in Catholic colleges was especial ly encouraged. He disclosed the Reds al ready have offered united-front suggestions to top Catholic leaders, offering to work with them in areas such as race re lations, peace aqd civil rights. "These offers have been re fused,” Father Cronin said. He called for "utmost cau tion” in any contacts with party members. Three factors make this necessary, he said. They are: “1) The U. S. Communist party is not independent, but is totally controlled by the Com munist party, Soviet Union. To the extent that high Church au thorities find it prudent to dis cuss certain issues with com munist powers, these discus sions should be held with the real centers of authority in the communist world. 4 *2) The Communist party is actively engaged in seeking to infiltrate power centers here in the United States. Although it is weak at the moment, it could do great damage, for example, if it could influence the trend of the movement for racial justice in our nation. If violence were to be substituted for non-vio lent protest, we could have con ditions approximating civil war. "3) There are two areas of potential social tension here at the moment. The race pro blem is already in a high state of tension. The unemployment situation could be a serious so cial problem if it worsens be yond present levels. Commun ism thrives in tension situa tions, and these conditions offer a possibility of reviving the weak Communist party here. "Communists will seek to misinterpret passages in Pa cem in Terris, holding that the Church has removed its objec tions to united-front action. In fact, the encyclical holds that any contacts with communists should be held only by competent persons, with the utmost pru dence, and subject to ecclesias tical authority. A11 these rea sons dictate a negative response to communist offers here in the United States.” Pope Paul VI and Francis Cardinal Spellman, Archbishop of New York, are shown after the pontiff had received the Cardinal and 16 of his seminarians in a 35-minute audience. Speaking in English he reminisced about his two visits to the United States and asked them to pray for him. (NC Photos) Camp Villa Marie SAVANNAH, CEORCIA The Ideal Catholic Camp BOYS AND GIRLS — SIX TO SEVENTEEN BOATING — SWIMMING — RED CROSS SWIMMING INSTRUCTIONS — ALL SPORTS — AIR RIFLERY — ARTS AND CRAFTS — DRAMATICS MOVIES — CAMP FIRES SISTERS — SEMINARIANS — MATURE STAFF — RESIDENT PRIEST DIRECTORS —ALL NEW FACILITIES— DISCOUNTS TO FAMILY GROUPS All Inclusive Fee $30 per Week One, two or three week registrations accepted. THREE EXCITING WEEKS July 21-27 (Visit of the King of Siam) July 28-Aug. 3 (Water Pageant Week) Aug. 4-10 (Kangaroo Court) FOR INFORMATION WRITE: FATHER COLEMAN, P. O. BOX 2227, SAVANNAH, GA. SPACE IS LIMITED - REGISTER NOW!