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Pope Combines Skill Of
Pius, Charity Of John
By Msgr. James I. Tucek
(Radio, N.C.W.C. Newsservice)
MILAN, Italy—His Holiness
Pope Paul VI brings to the
papacy the brilliant oratory and
the diplomatic skill of Pope Pius
XII and the pastoral experience
and expansive charity of Pope
John XXIII.
These are the broad lines of
the future reign of Pope Paul
drawn by three men who worked
closely with him when he was
Archbishop of Milan.
The opinion of the three, how
ever, is that it would be un
fair to compare him with either
of his two predecessors in the
papacy. His background is
different from both Pius and
John, they agree, and he will
put the mark of his own dis
tinct personality on the papacy
in what they foresee as a truly
great and fruitful reign.
Msgr. Ernesto Basadonna,
chancellor of the Archdiocese
of Milan, noted two personal
traits which he believes will
characterize the reign of Pope
Paul.
“First of all,” he said, “he
has vast intelligence and learn
ing which immediately en
compasses a problem and gives
it universal application.
‘ ‘Secondly, he is a man of su
preme courtesy which is based
on true Christian charity.”
Msgr. Basadonna, who knew
Pope Paul for eight years as
Archbishop of Milan, drew upon
his personal experiences to il
lustrate these two personal
characteristics of his former
superior.
He recalled that, whenever he
put a problem before Cardinal
Montini, he would demonstrate
having already a broad know
ledge of the matter and would
invariably begin to discuss the
problem on a much broader
plane than any of his colla
borators had anticipated.
As to the Cardinal’s cour
tesy, he said, he was always
grateful, even for the smallest
thing. He cited as an example
of the new Pope’s courtesy
the fact that he phoned the Mi
lan chancellor personally on the
evening of his election. He added
also his memory of many acts
of charity which Pope Paul
performed in secret as Arch
bishop of Milan.
“In his personal comport
ment,” continued Msgr. Basa
donna, * ‘he is a perfect
Christian gentleman in all
things. He has a gift for dis
posing all things with warm
personal attachment.”
Pope Paul will be—as he was
as Archbishop of Milan—an in
defatigable worker, said Msgr.
Basadonna.
“He has the gift of accom
plishing much while giving the
impression of unhurried calm.
He has always preferred not to
hurry a visitor away; a practice
which compelled him almost
daily to defer his desk work
to the late hours of the night.
As a rule, in Milan, he retired
at 2:00 a. m. and rose at
6:00 a. m.”
As Archbishop of Milan,
Msgr. Bassadonna recalled,
Pope Paul always sought per
sonal and human contact in his
pastoral works. At Christmas
he distributed food to the poor
with his own hands, he said,
and during Lent he would visit
institutions of the poor and the
sick and speak to the people
there from a kneeling position.
Asked, why Cardinal Montini
knelt while preaching, Msgr.
Basadonna replied matter of
factly; ' ‘Because the poor are
Christ, of course.”
When it was remarked that
Pope Paul bore a close resem
blance to Pope Pius XII when he
gave his first blessing on the day
of his election, Msgr. Basadon
na observed:
“It would be unjust to attempt
a comparison between Pius XII
and Paul VI. There may be
some resemblance in the
gestures of the arms and hands
and possibly even in physical
appearance. And no one can
deny that, after so many years
of close collaboration with Pius
XII, the then Msgr. Montini
would not have adopted some
of his ways of thinking. But there
the resemblance ceases. Paul
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VI will be a pope after his own
fashion: neither like Pius XII
nor like John XXIII.”
When Archbishop Montini—
later Cardinal, now Pope—ar
rived in Milan in January, 1955,
Msgr. Basadonna siad, "hewas
confronted with colossal pro
blems with the archdiocese’s
almost four million faithful. He
set about attempting to solve
them with calm and aplomb,
systematically and intelli
gently.
“He was the first to insti
tute a diocese-wide simul
taneous mission in the parishes,
something which was later done
in other parts of Italy. The
mission, one and a half years
in preparation and three weeks
in execution, employed 500
preachers and was held also
in 170 factories and shops. He
also instituted a diocese-wide
program of liturgical education.
He himself preached almost
weekly, with great depth of
content and skill of delivery.
“But with all this, the Car
dinal was filled with a con
stant sense of anguish for the
work that remained to be done.
When he had requests for 170
priests and had only 40 to as
sign, he once confessed to me
that he was saddened almost to
the point of tears.”
In the matter languages,
Msgr. Basadonna said, Pope
Paul speaks, besides his na
tive Italian, perfect French and
a passable English.
Adrio Casati, a lawyer by
profession and for 11 years pre
sident of the Province of Mi
lan, was probably the closest
to Cardinal Montini of the mem
bers of the Italian government.
During the new Pope’s eight
years as Archbishop of Milan,
Casati had weekly and almost
daily contact with him. He
speaks of the Pope as “my
Cardinal” with evident af
fection.
“The Cardinal was unfailing
ly present in every civic af
fair, both in joy and in sad
ness,” he recalled. “When
there was a railroad disaster,
he was one of the first on the
scene. He was the only promi
nent figure in Milan who never
missed being present for the
annual civic awards presen-
tatation ceremony on Christ
mas eve.
“There are 247 mayors in our
province. He addressed them
often and greeted each one in
dividually. He was, and is, a man
of exceptional humanity.”
Casati was asked how the at
tribution ' ‘Archbishop of the
Workers” began.
On January 9, 1955,” he said,
“three days after he entered the
archdiocese, he went to the town
of Sesto San Giovanni, a
notorious communist strong
hold, to dedicate a children’s
home. His opening words on that
occasion were, I remember:‘In
these days everyone is asking:
Who is this new Archbishop of
Milan? How will he act? I will
say to you now: I am the Arch
bishop of the Workers.' That
was an attribute that he was
to apply to himself many times
afterward.
“This is a layman’s obser
vation, but I think it is impor
tant. When he went among the
workers, as he often did, he
not only blessed them, but he
shook their hands and shook
them hard. That made an im
pression on the workers.”
Casati said that Cardinal
Montini’s personal and cordial
contact with Milan’s political
figures made him ever popu
lar with them, even with his po
litical and ideological op
posites.
“When he was made a Car
dinal,” he recalled, “there was
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IN CORONATION PROCESSION—His Holiness Pope Paul
VI acknowledges the cheers of the crowds in St. Peter’s
Square as he is carried aloft in the gestatorial chair to the
special altar where the three-hour ceremony of his coro
nation took place, June 30. (NC Photos)
a civic reception in his honor.
Many of those who might be
called his political opponents
were present, but he received
each one cordially and was anx
ious to know each one individu
ally.
“His kindness made him so
popular with the civic authori
ties that, whenever he would
invite them to the cathedral
for some religious observance,
I cannot recall that a single
one was ever missing, including
those who oppose the Church.”
The placid exterior of Pope
Paul, said Casati, may hide
his highly sensitive pastor’s
soul. In explanation, Casati
said:
“Three years ago, the Car
dinal led an archdiocesan pil
grimage to Lourdes. When we
were at the grotto, he delivered
a discourse on the need for
churches in Milan which I will
never forget. He was so over
whelmed with the need and with
the frustration he had ex
perienced in trying to supply the
need that he wept openly and
bitterly. Do you know what it i,s M
to see a man. pf his ; stature cr^
in public?”.. , aveliios
Giuseppe Lazzatti, editor of
the Milan archdiocesan news
paper L’ltalia mixed the sad
ness of the loss of Cardinal
Montini with the * ‘pride of know
ing that from Milan there has
ascended the Throne of Peter
the successor of Pope John
XXIII.”
He recalled that Pope Pius
XII had lamented his inability
to consecrate personally Arch
bishop Montini, and that Pope
John XXIII boasted with pride
in having him as his first car
dinal.
“The events of his life, his
preparation, his services ren
dered to the Church, his ex
perience in the school of those
two great pontiffs, Pius XI and
Pius XII, his pastorial ex
perience in the largest diocese
in Europe,” Lazzatti said, “all
seem to have forecast a provi
dential disign that, one might
say, was read by the cardinals
gathered in the conclave and al
lowed them to choose the
successor of John XXIII with
great speed.”
Lazzatti saw in Cardinal
Montini’s public discourses and
in his pastoral activities three
particular aims which he an
ticipates will be continued in
the reign of Pope Paul VI.
These were:
“First, to revive a deep re
ligiosity; second, to create unity
among Catholics concerning the
message of the Church; third,
to try to meet and embrace the
separated brothers of the
Church.”
These aims coincide with
those of the pontificate of Pope
John, he said, “and to guide the
Church in traveling those paths
so masterfully traced is now the
task of Pope Tohn’s first Car
dinal.”
The Southern Cross, July 4, 1963—PAGE 3
Do Catholics Enjoy Unfair
Advantages In Vietnam?
By Father Patrick O’Connor
Society of St. Columban
SAIGON, Vietnam, (NC)—Do
Catholics enjoy unfair advan
tages in the Republic of Viet
nam, of which Ngo dinh Diem,
a Catholic, is President?
''Catholics are estimated at
about 1,400,000 in south Viet
nam, that is, about 10 per cent
of the whole population.
There are 17 cabinet minis
ters. Five of them are Catho
lics. The vice president is not
a Catholic.
There are 19 generals in the
Vietnamese armed forces.
Three of them are Catholics.
Only one of the four corps
commanders is Catholic.
Out of the 14 highranking of
ficers—colonels, one navy cap
tain and lieutenant colonels—
in charge of particular branch
es such as the Vietnamese Air
Force, Navy, Artillery, Engi
neers, Signal Corps, Marines,
etc., four are Catholics.
According to a Vietnamese
Army chaplain, the proportion
of Catholics in the rank and
file of the armed forces is con
siderably higher than the Catho
lic proportion in the general
population.
There are 44 chiefs of pro
vinces and mayors. The exact
number of Catholics among
these is not known but it is
said to be certainly less than
one-half.
In the National Assembly the
exact number of Catholics is
likewise not known. It is be
lieved to be considerably more
than 10 per cent but less than
one-half.
Where Catholics form more
than 10 per cent in these groups,
does that indicate an unfair
advantage?
It is recognized by the com
munists as well as other Viet
namese that the Catholics of this
country have always put up the
strongest resistance to com
munism, whether in the field
of ideas or in battle.
When more than 800,000 peo
ple took the risks and made the
sacrifice of leaving the north
in 1954-55, rather than live
under the communist regime,
only about 200,000 of them were
non-Catholics.
That is to say, at least three
Catholics to every one non-
Catholic felt strongly enough
about communism to leave his
home and land and run the risks
—sometimes great risks—of
fleeing south.
In the current warfare, the
communists seem to meet more
obstacles wherever there are
more Catholics.
“If it wasn’t for you Catho
lics, we would have been in X
D. C. C. W.
Semi-Annual
Board Meeting
MACON — The semi-annual
board meeting of the Savannah
Diocesan Council of Catholic
Women was held at a luncheon
here.
Monsignor Thomas I. Shee
han, pastor of Saint Joseph’s
Church, Macon, was a guest at
the luncheon and gave the bless
ing. Also a guest at the meet
ing was Mrs. J. Edwin Mulli
gan, past president of the Dio
cesan Council of Catholic Wo
men. Each of the three deaner
ies had two invited observors
at the meeting.
All Committee Chairman
gave reports of their plans for
the coming year. A short dis
cussion was held after each
committee report. A visit to
the Gracewood Home in Augus
ta has been planned by No
vember by the Committee on
Catholic Charities. The Legis
lation Committee announced
that the Council has been in
vited to the guests of the State
Legislature in Atlanta in Jan
uary, with the exact date to be
announced later.
Mis s Johanna Daly, presi
dent of St. Mary’s Home Guild
announced the breakdown of
guild members by deaneries.
The Savannah Deanery has 435
members; the Augusta Deanery,
72 members, and the Columbus
Deanery, 31 members.
A discussion was held on the
spring convention of the DCCW
scheduled for Savannah in 1964.
This convention will celebrate
the Silver Jubilee of the Sa
vannah Diocesan Council of Ca
tholic Women.
For Parochial School Students
Supreme Court Ruling Seen
Strong Public Aid Argument
This analysis of the U. S.
Supreme Court’s recent ruling
upholding the right of a mem
ber of a religious sect to re
ceive public welfare benefits
without surrendering her right
of religious freedom was pre
pared by George E. Reed, asso
ciate director of the Legal De
partment National Catholic
Welfare Conference, and an au
thority on the question of
Church-State relations in con
stitutional law.
By George E. Reed
(N.C.W.C. NEWS SERVICE)
The U. S. Supreme Court has
given parents of parochial
school students a strong new
argument to use in their efforts
to win equal treatment for their
children in the distribution of
public welfare benefits.
Overshadowed somewhat by
the court’s ruling the same day,
June 17, barring public school
prayer and Bible reading, the
decision in the case ofSherbert
v. Verner may nevertheless
have a substantial bearing on
the whole question of public aid
for children in parochial
schools.
In the Sherbert case, a mem
ber of the Seventh Day Adven
tist Church was discharged by
a South Carolina employer be
cause she would not work on
Saturday, the sabbath day of
her faith. She then filed for un
employment compensation un
der the state law.
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The statute provides that to
be eligible for benefits a clai
mant must be “able to work
and available for work.” It fur
ther states that a claimant is
ineligible for benefits “if he has
failed without good cause to
accept available suitable work
then offered him by the unem
ployment officer or by the em
ployer.”
The South Carolina Employ
ment Security Commission
found that the appellant’s self-
imposed restrictions—speci
fically, her retusai to work on
Saturday—constituted a volun
tary termination of employ
ment which made her unavail
able for work. Consequently, it
held that she was not entitled to
unemployment compensation.
This ruling was supported by
the Supreme Court of South
Carolina, which rejected the
contention that the statute de
nied the appellant her right to
the free exercise of her reli
gion as guaranteed under the
First Amendment. (This
amendment states that * ‘Con
gress shall make no law re
specting an establishment of
religion, or prohibiting the free
exercise thereof.”)
The U. S. Supreme Court, by
a 7-2 margin, held that the
South Carolina court was in
error and reversed the judg
ment. Justice William J. Bren
nan, Jr., who wrote the ma
jority opinion, relied on the
school bus transportation case
of Everson v. Board of Educa
tion. In that case, decided in
1947, the Supreme Court had
upheld a New Jersey law under
which the state paid the cost of
transporting parochial school
students to and from school.
Applying the principles of the
Everson ruling to the Sherbert
case, Justice Brennan stated:
* ‘This holding but reaffirms a
principle that we announced a
decade and a half ago, namely
that no state may ‘exclude indi
vidual Catholics, Lutherans,
Mohammedans, Baptists, Jews,
M ethodist non-believers,
Presbyterians, or the members
of any other faith, because of
their faith, or lack of it, from
receiving the benefits of public
welfare legislation.’ Everson v.
Board of Education.”
This language, which is con
sistently and conveniently ig
nored by those opposing trans
portation of children to church-
related schools or participa
tion in Federal aid programs,
is given renewed vigor and cur
rency by the court’s decision in
the South Carolina case. The
language in the context of the
Sherbert case is fortuitously
made more meaningful at a time
when a number of states are
considering school bus legisla
tion.
Just as the Seventh Day Ad
ventist could be conscientiously
forced to “choose between fol
lowing the precepts of her re
ligion and forfeiting benefits,”
so it logically can be argued
that parents who wish to have
their children transported to
parochial schools may not be
denied this ‘ ‘benefit or privi
lege.”
Withholding of transporta
tion services is substantially
the same as withholding of un
employment benefits. In each
case the withholding is related
to the exercise of a religious
right protected by the First
Amendment. Actually, the
transportation case is stronger
for the child attends school in
compliance with the compulsory
education law, in addition to the
parental choice, where his stud
ies contribute to the public
benefit of the whgle community.
It has frequently been argued
that when a parent in the exer
cise of religious freedom and in
pursuance with religious con
viction sends his child to a pa
rochial school, he thereby
makes a voluntary choice for
which he should pay.
Typical of this line of rea
soning was a resolution adopted
June 20 by the North Iowa Me
thodist Conference opposing
tax-paid bus rides for parochial
school students and stating:
“Parochial students are not
being denied any rights whatso
ever, inasmuch as the public
(Continued on Page 6)
(an important town) long ago,”
a communist guerrilla soldier
declared in a central Vietnam
village.
This is not to minimize the"
brave and loyal service given
by innumerable Buddhist and
other non-Christian soldiers
and civilians in the defense of
south Vietnam. But the fact
remains that Catholic Vietna
mese have been frequently in
the forefront.
The government of the Re
public of Vietnam is not a Ca
tholic government. It is a gov
ernment in which Catholics take
part. If they held aloof or mea
sured out their contribution to
the minimum possible, they
would certainly be criticized
inside Vietnam and abroad.
The Catholics of Vietnam are
not unanimous in approval of
everything the Vietnamese gov
ernment does, just as they are
not unanimous in any other
country on one side or the
other. Some of President Ngo
dinh Diem's sharpest critics
could probably be found among
Catholics, even while they sup
port his fight against commun
ism.
Decree number 10 of 1950
on associations does not include
Catholic or Protestant church
es, but neither does it give them
favors.
Some individual priests and
Religious take advantage of
friendship with officials to ob
tain favors such as the use of
government trucks to haul
building material. Buddhists
have received similar favors
when building or repairing pa
godas. But some Catholic ec
clesiastics seem to have gone
too far and got too much. These
are favors given locally to indi
viduals. They represent no gov
ernment program and no
general benefit to the Church
as a whole but rather an em
barrassment.
Buddhists do not form the
great majority of the population.
And the General Buddhist Asso
ciation does not include the
majority of the Buddhists among
its inscribed members.
The number of practicing
Buddhists is estimated at from
three to four millions. The ex
act number of inscribed mem
bers of the General Buddhist
Association for the whole coun
try has not been disclosed. To
tals of inscribed members in
five provinces of upper central
Vietnam show that they are a
little less than 15 per cent of
the entire population in that
region.
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