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I r < { School Enrollment In Savannah Diocese Near Record 10,000 10c Per Copy — $3 A Year SAVANNAH, GEORGIA, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 1963 Has Done More Harm Than War With Reds Buddhist-Government Dispute Could Have Been Avoided The author of the following analysis of the current Budd hist conflict with the Vietna mese government of President Ngo dinh Diem has spent almost two decades covering the news in the Far East, or the past two years he has maintained headquarters in Saigon, Viet nam's capital, and kept a close eye on the complex political currents active in that commun ist-embattled country. By Father Patrick O’Connor Society of St. Columban (Radio, N.C.W.C. NEWS SERVICE) SAIGON, Vietnam—Fifteen Vietnamese soldiers and five civilians were killed and 38 were wounded by communists in south Vietnam on August 21. Early the same day government forces broke into a dozen or more Buddhist pagodas and ar rested hundreds of bonzes, bon- zesses and lay persons. Among them were bonzes and students enjoying exemption from mili tary service. Government raids on the Buddhist pagodas received worldwide attention—far more than the communist attacks on villages, outposts and patrols that cost some 50 casualties, killed and wounded, every day. These casualties were suffer ed on August 21 and every day in defense of the free world’s interests, including the com plaining Buddhists who have been engaged in a 14-week dis pute with the Vietnamese gov ernment. What started as an avoidable dispute about flying Buddhist flags in Hue on May 8 is now doing more harm to the Viet namese government and people than several years of com munist warfare. Some of the harm arises from confusion, also avoidable. How many Buddhists are there in south Vietnam? Nobody can say, even within one million, what the number is. People who know the country well put practicing Buddhists somehwere between 20 and 30 per cent of the total population, which is 14 or 15 millions. Because Catholics are organi zed into parishes and dioceses, one can better estimate their number: about 1.5 million, that is roughly 10 per cent. Is Buddhism a native religion of Vietnam? No. Buddhism came to Viet nam, by way of China princi pally, about 1,800 years ago. The original religion of the Vietnamese was a form of an cestor worship. Is there a Buddhist Church now in Vietnam? No. Buddha founded a moral system but no church. Further more, Buddhism is split into numerous sects. Buddhist associations are modern developments. A person can be a Buddhist without be longing to any of them. There are various Buddhist associa tions in Vietnam, not all in agreement. The General Budd hist Association, whose legal existence dates from 1953, has been the most militant in the recent controversy. In July, 1962, it claimed only one million registered mem bers and about three million nonregistered adherents—a fi gure impossible to check and probably exaggerated. Has Buddhism been active in Vietnamese life? Buddhism everywhere tends to be passive, though many Buddhists are distinguished for charity. Vietnamese Buddhists have lagged in the field of edu cation. They have established no hospitals or leprosaria. They have a few outpatient clinics and some orphanages. Has there been a religious persecution of Buddhists in Vietnam? No. The last religion perse cution in Vietnam was of Chris tians. It ended one century ago. Measures taken by the Viet namese government against anything that might turn into political opposition have af fected Christians as well as Buddhists. When Buddhists be gan holding organized demon strations in the streets in re cent months, the police inter vened with unwarrantable harshness. Thus Buddhist groups who started out in May with no solid grievances de serving worldwide sympathy were given grievances. Devout Buddhist bonzes, bonzesses and laity are now emotionally aroused and feel that their most sacred beliefs and practices are at stake. Vietnamese Buddhists pro bably have made more progress in the nine years since Presi dent Ngo dinh Diem came into office than in any century of modern times. The government has given them money, mater ials and land for constructing and renovating pagodas. An- Quang pagoda in the Cholon section of Saigon, one of the centers of the recent agitation, stands government since pre-Diem times. Asked how much rent they have to pay the govern ment, a bonze there told me: "Formerly we paid 10 piasters per square meter yearly. Now we pay only two piasters.’’That (Continued on Page 8) Scholars Say Common Bible Is Possible SAN FRANCISCO, (NC)— Scholars attending the Catholic Biblical Association of Ameri ca meeting here agreed that a common Bible acceptable to all faiths is a possibility. They credited the Second Vatican Council for increased interest in Biblical studies and noted that scholars are coming to closer agreement on the ori ginal text of the Bible. "A common Bible is not a project that will be realized overnight, however,” Father Eugene B. Maly, president of the association, said. Father Maly is an official theologian for the council and professor of Sacred Scripture at Mount St. Mary’s of the West Semi nary, Norwood, Ohio. A group of scholars, both Catholic and non-Catholic, Fa ther Maly said, is preparing a series of translations and com mentaries which will eventually be published. With Father Maly at a press conference at the University of San Francisco were Msgr. Pat rick W. Skehan of the Catholic University of America, Wash ington, D. C., a former direc tor of the American School of Oriental Research in Jeru salem; Father Raymond E. Brown, St. Mary’s Seminary, Baltimore, Md., a specialist on the New Testament; and Fa ther Louis F. Hartman, C.SS.R., Holy Redeemer College, Wash ington, a specialist in Semitic studies. STUDENTS AT CATHEDRAL DAY SCHOOL in Savannah step toward their classrooms after beginning first school day of the 1963-64 academic year with The National Anthem on grounds outside School Building. Scene was duplicated at schools throughout the Savannah Diocese on September 3rd. Mt. de Sales Macon Ground Breaking Ceremony Set For Sunday On Sunday, September 8 at 12 o’clock noon, His Excellency Thomas J. McDonough, D. D., J. C. D., Bishop of Savannah, will preside at the ground breaking ceremony for the new gymnasium-cafeteria at Mount de Sales. During the ceremony the bishop will be assisted by on land rented from-the 1 Monsignor Thomas Sheehan, Reverend Robert Brennan, and Reverend Stephen T. Mayer. Friends and those interested in Mount de Sales are invited to attend the ceremony. The new buidling will contain a gymnasium, a cafeteria, kit chen, dressing rooms for both boys and girls, and storage facilities for athletic equip ment. The gymnasium and cafe teria will be separated by a stage that can be used for dual purposes. McAuley Hall, as the new building will be called in honor of Mother Catherine Mc Auley, the foundress of the Sis ters of Mercy, will face Apple- ton Avenue. Newly acquired property will provide parking area and an exit on College Street. Mr. Albert Ordway is the architect for the build ing and the Chris R. Sheridan Co. was the lowest bidder for construction. The Sisters of Mercy opened Mount de Sales Academy in 1876 to girls. Throughout the years both boarding and day stu dents attended the academy. In 1953 an increased enrollment necessitated the first step in the Mount de Sales Expansion Pro gram—the construction of Mercy Hall. At the request of Bishop McDonough, in 1959, the Sisters of Mercy opened Mount BISHOP McDONOUGH is shown above with priests of Savannah Diocese and chaplains from several Georgia military installations at their annual Spiritual Retreat held August 26-30. After offering morning Masses, priests days were filled with spiritual conferences, meditation, spiritual reading and personal devotions. de Sales High School to the Ca tholic boys of Macon. As a se cond step in the Expansion Program St. Joseph Hall was built in 1960. In May of 1963 the first coeducational class graduated from Mount de Sales High School. With an enrollment of 230 students this year, the present cafeteria, auditorium and athletic facilities are in adequate. Last February, Sister Mary Aurelia, R. S. M., superior of Mount de Sales, announced a drive for funds to build the proposed gymnatorium - cafe teria, the third project of the Expansion Program. The Sis ters of Mercy, Province of Bal timore, are grateful to the peo ple of Macon, Warner Robins, and Robbins Field for $125,000 in pledges realized during the drive. The chairmen of the drive, Mr. William Crawford, Mrs. Charles T. Lueckenhoff, and Major Edward C. Quigley, have consented to continue to aid the Sisters as a planning com mittee. SAVANNAH — Although final figures will not be available until September 15th, a record enrollment of almost 10,000 is expected in the schools of the Diocese of Savannah, according to the Rev. John Cuddy, Dio- c e s a n Superintendent of Schools. ‘ ‘The increased enrollment is not startling, when compared with the number of children who attended our schools last year,” he said, * ‘but it will require increased classroom space. For example, at St. Mary’s on-the- hill, in Augusta, and St. Tere sa’s in Albany, additional class room space is in the planning stage and construction should begin during the current school year.” For the first time in the history of Catholic education in the Savannah Diocese, Negro and white children began at tending classes together on September 3rd at previously all-white schools in several cities if the Diocese. Neither the exact number of Negro chil dren registered nor the schools involved is known yet. ' ‘Those figures should be available by mid-September,” said Father Cuddy. He also no ted that, contrary to fears ex pressed in some quarters, there has apparently been no signi ficant drop in enrollment at any Savannah Catholic school which could be attributed to the de segregation policy of the Dio cese. Father Cuddy also an nounced the adoption in all dio cesan elementary schools, in grades one through eight, of “Modern Mathematics”. “This will be a year of trans ition in our method of teaching mathmatics, phasing out the traditional method which we learned as children, and which required so much rote-memory work. “By September of 1964 all our elementary schools will be us ing only the new method, which will require more thinking on the part of students, but which will enable them to learn more in a shorter period of time,” he said. Asked whether the diocese anticipated any increase in the number of teaching sisters, Father Cuddy said, "It is doubt ful that there will be any size able increase in the size of the religious staff at any of our schools in the forseeable future. We will have to find the answer to our growing teacher need in qualified lay teachers.” There has been one change in school principals. Sister Mary Consolata, R.S.M. re places Sister M. Martina Jo seph R.S.M. as principal of Cathedral Day School. Legal Test Looms Board Approves Bus Service For Parochial Students WEST MILFORD, N. J., (NC) —Presented with a petition signed by 3,027 citizens, the West Milford Board of Edu cation reversed an earlier de cision and agreed to provide direct bus transportation to two parocial schools for 480 child- Cardinal Koenig Reports Cardinal Mindszenty To Be Freed Are False ASSISI, Italy, (NC)—Franzis- kus Cardinal Koenig has brand ed as false recent reports that Jozsef Cardinal Mindszenty, Primate of communist-ruled Hungary, will soon be free or able to come to Rome. The Archbishop of Vienna spoke at a press conference. He publicly admitted for the first time that he was on a spe cial mission for the late Pope John XXIII when he went to Hungary to see Cardinal Mind szenty, who has been living in asylum at the U. S. legation in Budapest since 1956. The Hun garian Cardinal sought refuge at the legation when Soviet troops put down the anticom munist uprising which had freed him for a few days from the jail where he was serving a life sentence. Cardinal Koenig was in Assisi to deliver a speech at the 21st annual Course of Christian Stu dies at the Citadella Cristiana, a center for the rejuvenation of Catholic life in Italy through lay action. The Austrian Cardinal said in his address that Catholic in tellectuals must prepare them selves for leadership in the coming greater role which lay men will play in the Church. He told newsmen at the press conference that the Church’s attitude toward priests behind NFCCS Meeting Speaker Professional Role Of Laity Stressed MINNEAPOLIS, (NC)—Lay people have a profession com parable to that or art, law or medicine, and Catholic students need to be prepared for their professional role in the Church as well as for their other ca- PRAY FOR OUR PRIESTLY DEAD REV. THOMAS O’REILLY Sept. 6, 1872 RT. REV. EDWARD BARRON, D. D. Sept. 15, 1854 Oh God, Who didst give to thy servants by their sacredotal office, a share in the priest hood of the Apostles, grant, we implore, that they may- also be one of their company forever in heaven. Through Christ Our Lord, Amen. reers. The observation was made by Joyce A. Hugenberg, member of the Catholic Students Mission Crusade national staff in Cin cinnati, at the National Federa tion of Catholic College students national congress here. , A 1962 graduate of Our Lady of Cincinnati College and for mer NFCCS official, Miss Hu genberg spoke (Aug. 28) at a religious affairs seminar at which Father Godfrey Diek- mann, O. S. B., editor of Wor ship magazine, presided. Pointing out that her com parison did not mean that phy sicians, scientists and artists were excluded from the pro fession of the laity, Miss Hu genberg declared: "Every Catholic is a repre sentative of the Church in what ever walk of life he is placed. His profession as a lay person (Continued on Page 7) the Iron Curtain who have pled ged themselves to the so-called state churches is one of "sus pended judgement.” Speaking of his mission to Hungary, he said: ”1 have been an ambassador of peace for Pope John XXIII in Hungary, but I do not know whe ther I shall be one again. That will depend on the situation and on the will of the Vatican.” "Perhaps journalists are not very content with me because I have said nothing about my missions into various commun ist countries.” Then he pointed out that he is still not free to divulge anything about his missions. He did say, however, that it is untrue, as some newspapers have been claiming recently, that Cardinal Mindszenty will soon be free to leave the U. S. legation. Cardinal Koenig said reports that the Hungarian Primate will attend the second session of the ecumenical council opening September 29 are also false. Bishop To Speak At Augusta AUGUSTA — Bishop Thomas J. McDonough will address a Communion Breakfast for Men and 6oys at St. Mary’s On-the Hill Church on Sunday, Septem ber 15th. His Excellence will celebrate the 8 a.m. Mass which will be the Holy Name Mass. The breakfast will follow immedia tely in the School Cafeteria. Harry Best, Sr., is president of the Holy Name Society at St. Mary’s. All Catholic Men and boys of the Augusta area are invited to attend the Mass and Com munion Breakfast. ren. The decision averted enroll ment of the children in public schools, some grades of which already are on double sessions. The petitioners included non-Catholics who asked the board to spend an estimated $5,000 to provide transportation rather than face construction and teaching costs for another 480 pupils. The board voted the rides (Aug. 29) when a “Committee for Improved Education” (CIE) pledged to repay all expendi tures if the procedure is found illegal by the courts. The board earlier had said it was in sym pathy with the request but could not legally provide the bus rides under state law. A start toward litigation has been made. The case is now be fore State Education Commis sioner Frederick M. Raubin- ger, who conducted hearings July 6 and 31. If his opinion is unfavorable, an appeal is expected to be taken to the State Education Board, from where it can go to the courts. Thomas Byrnes, CIE presi dent, said the group is ready to take the case “all the way to the highest court” if neces sary. The case could result in the first court interpretation of the state bus law since the famed 1947 Everson decision of the U. S. Supreme Court held pub lic funds could be provided for transportation of parochial school pupils. At issue now is how far a district may go in providing transportation. The first section of the law makes it possible for boards to provide rides to pupils of private non-profit schools. However, the second section has been consistently interpre ted by state officials to mean transportation must be limited to existing routes. Parents here challenge that interpretation. They say the section simply sets the mini mum of service to be pro vided and does not prevent a board from providing maxi mum service. The section in question states that where transportation is provided public school students, * ‘transportation from any point in such established school route to any other point in such es tablished school route” must also be provided students at tending any non-profit school. Such transportation was pro vided here up to last year be cause the school district had to send some students to near by Butler. Vol. 44. No. 9