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PAGE 4—The Southern Cross, October 17, 1963
His Bias Is Showing
The acid comments of Madame Ngo Dinh
Nhu, South Vietnam’s First Lady and sister-
in-law of President Ngo Dinh Diem, with
respect to the activities of American military
personnel, diplomatic officials, and news
men in her strife-torn nation are certainly
doing nothing to advance the image of South-
Vietnam as a model of democracy in south
east Asia. Nor can they justify the brutal,
police-state methods of her brother-in-law’s
administration against members of Buddhist
organizations who dare to demonstrate their
displeasure with his regime.
There are responsible people, both in
South Vietnam and here in the United States
who maintain that the Government-Buddhist
conflict has been engineered in whole or in
part by the Communists, who realize that
military victory over the Diem regime is
impossible without outside military help, and
hope to promote a civil war in order to achieve
their ends.
Some maintain that what appears to be a
religious controversy stems from the fact
that since all opposition parties are ban
ned, dissident political forces are utilizing
religious organizations to bring pressure on
Diem to force reforms promised in 1961,
and which opponents claim have never been
enacted.
On the other hand, there are responsible
people both in South Vietnam and in the United
States who see the struggle as an attempt
by powerful Buddhist organizations to es
tablish an officially Buddhist government and
nation.
But, although American newspapers, radio
and television, at first described South Viet
nam’s most important internal crisis as a
struggle between the “CatholicGovernment”
of Ngo Dinh Diem and the Buddhist majority,
for the past four months no charge of “Ca
tholic” persecution of Buddhists has come
from any responsible quarter.
It is puzzling, then, to read of charges by
no less a personnage than Mr. William O.
Douglas, Associate Justice of the United
States Supreme Court that the violence in
South Vietnam stems from a “Catholic strug
gle for supremacy over Buddhism.”
What is even more puzzling is the fact
that Mr. Douglas’ charges were delivered
at a meeting of the New Jersey Education
Association which apparently accepted them
without criticism or comment, in spite of
the fact that South Vietnam’s Bishops and
Pope Paul, himself, have issued statements
calling for a cessation of violence and urg
ing respect for conscience and religious
freedom — and in spite of the fact that not
even the Buddhists have accused the Catholic
Church or any of its representatives of re
sponsibility in the Government-Buddhist dis
pute.
Alleged “facts” adduced by Mr. Douglas
to bolster his irresponsible charges have
been challenged by both newsmen and U. S.
Government officials.
Yet, Mr. Douglas declares that Catholic
schools receive government subsidies, while
Buddhist schools do not, when, in point of
fact, Buddhist schools do receive Government
aid, three of them being institutions specializ
ing in Buddhist studies.
He insinuates that Catholics are in the
majority in Diem’s Cabinet, and therefore
constitute a “Catholic” government, by
stating that “In a country 80 per cent Budd
hist only 2 of the 16 members are Catholic.
The fact is that only five of the Cabinet
members are Catholic.
Mr. Douglas sees a South Vietnam decree
prohibiting the display of religious flags out
side the confines of religious institutions
as discrimination against the country’s Budd
hists, apparently ignorant of the fact that the
decree applies to the flags of all religions,
including the Catholic religion.
To some, it might seem the part of Charity
to excuse the distinguished jurist’s careless
ness with the truth in this regard on the
grounds that he is simply mistaken. But his
charges have been publicly disputed so often
during the past several months by competent,
on-the-scene observers that we find it im
possible to place a charitable interpretation
upon his motives in attacking the Church in
South Vietnam. We think his bias is showing.
As for the members of the New Jersey
Education Association, we trust that, in re
lating controverted “facts” to their students,
they will exercise the mature and critical
judgement which Mr. Douglas seems to lack.
Let Us Do As We Say
God’s World
(By Leo J. Trese)
We have a grave duty, as loyal
citizens of our Nation, to com
bat racial prejudice and every
form of racial segregation. Ra
cial prejudice makes hypocrites
of us as we profess our belief
in the demo
cratic prin
ciple of equal
rights for all
men, and then
proceed to
deny some of
the most ba
sic rights to
our Negro
fellow citi
zens. Racial prejudice makes
liars of us every time we salute
our flag and pledge allegiance
to “One Nation indivisible, with
liberty and justice for all,”
while at the same time we limit
the liberty of Negroes and with
hold from them the fullness of
justice. Racial prejudice weak
ens our standing before other
nations and hampers tremen
dously the moral leadership
which we could give to the world.
All this is true. However,
for us who are Christians, the
most urgent consideration is
the fact that racial injustice is
a sin. It is a sin against the
fifth, the seventh and the eighth
Commandments. It is a sin
against the fifth and seventh
which command us to render
full justice to our neighbors
in his person and in his pro
perty. It is a sin against the
eighth which commands us to
render full justice to our neigh
bor in his reputation and in our
personal relations with him.
Above all, discrimination
against any man because of his
color is a sin against the great
Law of Love which, Christ tells
us, “contains the whole law and
the prophets.” Jesus makes no
exception by reason of race
when He says, “Thou shaltlove
the Lord thy God with thy whole
heart. . .and thy neighbor as
thyself.”
When we say that racial dis
crimination is a sin, we mean
a real sin. It is the kind of sin
which, if deliberate, must be
told in confession, the kind of
sin that would make a bad con
fession if we concealed it, the
kind of sin that cannot be for
given if we are not sorry for
it. We may be tempted, of
course, without sinning. We may
have a tendency to prejudice as
some people may have a ten
dency to dishonesty, to unchas
tity or to any other weakness.
So long as we resist the ten
dency we commit no sin. But,
the moment that we consciously
surrender to our prejudice and
do or say or encourage any
thing hurtful to an individual
or a group because of their
race, we have wounded Christ.
We have sinned.
Indeed, it is not enough for
us as Christians merely to ab
stain from positive acts of dis
crimination. We also must la
bor in love to counter preju
dice and to eliminate injustice
whenever opportunity offers. As
members of Christ’s Mystical
Body we Catholics should be
in the forefront of the desegre
gation movement. We must ad
mit, sadly, that it has not been
so.
We have need to remember
our Lord’s description of the
Last Judgment. There He does
not speak of barring souls from
heaven because of what they
did do, but for what they did
not do. “Then they (the rejected
ones) also will answer and say,
‘Lord, when did we see Thee
hungry, or thirsty, or a stran
ger, or naked, or sick, or in
prison, and did not minister to
Thee? ’ Then He (Christ) will
answer them saying, ‘Amen, I
say to you, as long as you did
not do it. for one of these least
ones, you did not do it for
Me.’ ”
Our Negro brother hungers
and thirsts for recognition of
his dignity as a human person.
He walks as a stranger among
us, a stranger in his own land.
He is nakedly exposed to cold
ness and harsh rejection on
every side. He is morally sick
and often physically sick be
cause of the poverty and igno-
ance which we have forced upon
him. Through housing restric
tions and “neighborhood im
provement associations” he is
effectively imprisoned in his
ghetto. As long as we continue,
whether through prejudice or
through simple indifference, to
allow these conditions to exist
—just so long are we coming
under Christ’s terrible curse.
Redemptorist Says
The
Ultimate
Weapon
REMEMBER, ROME WASN'T BUILT IN A DAY
The Council And People
It Seems to Me
JOSEPH BREIG
In an article written for the
Catholic press, the dean of
Georgetown University’s School
of Foreign Service, William E.
Moran, Jr., has voiced hope that
the ecumenical council will be
able to give
some guidance
on the popula
tion problem.
If so, I do
not see what
the F at hers
can do except
perhaps t o
make moreex-
p 1 i c i t and
pointed (now that we are really
listening) what the popes have
said.
Dean Moran says that the
population “explosion” has
been caused by the sudden great
advances in control of diseases
which formerly took the lives
of most people in infancy or
youth.
That is true, but it is not
the whole truth. We ought ra
ther to say that the popula
tion problem is caused by con
trol of diseases PLUS the fact
that these medical break
throughs have not been accom
panied, or preceded, by edu
cational, economic, spiritual
and moral breakthroughs.
TWO FACTS, it seems to me,
are not given sufficient attention
in population discussions. One
is that birth rates go down as
economic status improves. The
other is that some of the hap
piest and most prosperous
areas on earth—Holland for ex
ample—have the highest popu
lation density.
About 80 years ago, Leo XIII,
in the encyclical Rerum Nova-
rum (The New Things) called
upon the nations for worldwide
social-justice reform, and
warned of the disasters lurking
in the future if they did not
take heed.
Now I think we ought to ask
ourselves what would have been
the course of history if they
had heeded; if Europe (including
Russia) and America, England
and Canada had flung themsel
ves into a vastcooperativepro-
gram of correcting what was
wrong in capitalism, and of de
veloping the underdeveloped
countries.
FOR ONE THING, there would
have been no World War I or
World War II; no wars in Ko
rea and Indochina; no cold war.
The titanic energies and the
enormous wealth that went into
destruction and killing would
have been invested in trans
forming the world into the pros
perous home of the family of
mankind that it is meant to be.
I do not think it is too much
to say that if that had been
done, there today would be no
population problem. For one
thing, birth rates would have
been much lower because they
are almost always lower where
the economic and educational
level is higher. For another,
there would be more than enough
for everybody because the de
velopment program would have
A Pilgrimage To Loreto
On Judgment Day the thief
or the harlot or the drunkard
will have more hope for mercy
than he who has been unable to
see Christ in his brother be
cause of the darkness of the
brother’s skin.
Jottings
By Barbara C. Jencks
Bishop Neumann’s Beatification
Is Providential
“I decided to go to Loreto
because it represents all the
sanctuaries of the world. At
Loreto, where my ancestors
went in great numbers, the
thoughts and feelings of all the
faithful of the world are gather
ed together.”
-Pope John XXIII
October, 1962
ROME (NC)—The beatifica
tion of Bishop John Neumann of
Philadelphia comes “at a pro
vidential time, coinciding with
the Second Vatican Council, said
Father William Gaudreau,
C.SS.R., rector major of the
Redemptorists in Rome.
At a press conference prior
to the Redemptorist Bishop’s
beatification (Oct. 13), Father
Gaudreau said Bishop Neumann
typified the type of bishop need
ed by the modern world, “an
American type of hard working
bishop who is greatly needed to
bring God to those who sit in
darkness.”
The vice postulator of Bishop
Neumann’s cause, Father Fran
cis Litz, C.SS.R., of Philadel
phia, said Bishop Neumann
“was to Catholic schools what
Horace Mann was to Ameri
ca’s public scoools. Both set
up unified school systems which
became patterns for the na
tion.”
Bishop Neumann’s appeal is
very broad, Father Litz said.
Besides his obvious place
among American Catholics—he
is the first American man to be
beatified—he had special con
nections with Italians, Negros,
Irish and Sudeten Germans.
He opened the first church for
Italian immigrants in Philadel
phia; he opened a special school
for the city’s Negro children in
pre-Civil War Philadelphia; he
learned Gaelic so he could con
fess Irish immigrant and he was
of Sudeten German extraction,
having been born in Prachatitz
in southwest Bohemia.
Father Litz said pilgrimages
of more than 2000 Americans
were scheduled to attend beat
ification ceremonies in St. Pet-
continued On Page 6)
LORETO IS the most cele
brated shrine of Our Lady in
Italy. Before the apparitions at
Lourdes, it was the most fa
mous in the world. The Holy
House of Loreto, tradition tells
us, is the very Nazareth home
in which Jesus, Mary and Joseph
lived. It was transported to Italy
by the angels. Our Lady of Lor
eto has been designated patron
of astronauts. In these centur
ies of unbelievable space feats,
perhaps the Loret o story will
become better known and more
credible.
Loreto was chosen as a site
on my tour because Pope John
visited here before the Vatican
Council opened in October,
1962. Here is another pilgrim’s
report:
“The town of Loreto itself
is a typical Italian hilltown,
which like all of them seems
to grow miraculously out of the
mountain top and appears to
have but one or two narrow
main streets. In the case of Lo
reto the one with shops and
carts of curios and souvenirs
leads straight up to the great
basilica which is surrounded
on three sides by heavy bas-
tioned walls like an old for
tress. At night from far down
in the valley one can see the
lighted cooper Virgin which tops
the imposing dome of the fa
mous architect Sangallo, and
the tall bell tower with its Sa-
racence cupola.
“The basilica which to fit
tingly houses Our Lady’s home
is grand and sumptuous. Inside
John Neumann
Enters Church
Swiss Jesuit Bars
HICKSVILLE, N. Y. (NC)--
On the day Bishop John N.
Neumann, C.SS.R., of Philadel
phia was beatified in Rome,
another John Neumann entered
the Church at a Baptism here.
The new Catholic is John
Neumann Zirkel, the seventh
child of Don Zirkel, news edi
tor of the Tablet, Brooklyn
diocesan newspaper.
The infant is the 102nd des
cended of the late John Neu
mann of Brooklyn, an immi
grant from Bavaria who claimed
to be related to Bishop Neu
mann of Philadelphia. Officiat
ing at the Baptism (Oct. 13)
in St. Ignatius Loyola church
here was Father August Neu
mann, son of John Neumann of
Brooklyn.
BASEL, Switzerland (NC)—
Switzerland’s Foreign Minis
ter has appealed to the nation’s
Protestant community to sup
port repeal of the constitution
al provisions which bar Jesuits
from Switzerland and forbid the
founding of new religious or- *
ders.
Friedrich T. Wahlen, the
member of the Federal Council
in charge of foreign affiars, ad
dressed the convention of the
Swiss Evangelical Church here
(in the first week in October).
In the course of his talk he
indicated that the federal gov
ernment would soon open de
bate in Parliament on repeal of
Articles 41 and 52 of the fed
eral constitution of 1874.
Interfaith
Collaboration
multiplied humanity’s produc
tiveness many times above what
it is now.
Therefore, in my view, the
answers to the population pro
blem—and to much else—will
be found when we apply the guid
ance already plentifully given
to us by the Church in Rerum
Novarum and in the additional
social teachings of Pius XI
and Pius XII, and of John XXIII
in Mater et Magistra (Chris
tianity and Social Progress).
I KNOW THAT my opponents
in this debate consider me a re
actionary on this point. But
in truth who is reactionary—
those who see universal birth
prevention as the only solution,
or I who say that mankind is
perfectly capable of reor
ganizing the world in such fa
shion that it will support many
billions of human beings in
happy prosperity?
Statisticians, some of them
sit around and calculate that
in thus-and-so many years, at
the present rate, there will not
even be standing room on earth.
But I look at the endless empty
expanses of North and South
America, Africa, Australia and
so on, and see the people leav
ing the country and crowding
into the cities, and I decline
to worry about standing room.
What I worry about is whether
we have come enough to our
senses, after the catastrophes
we brought to ourselves in this
century, to listen now to the
wise guidance which has been
offered for so long.
Bishop Recovered
SAGINAW, Mich. (NC)~BH
shop Stephen S. Woznicki has
resumed full duties as head of
the Saginaw diocese. He was
hospitalized for a month and
spent another month at home
after being stricken with a heart
attack in August.
ROME (NC) — Archbishop
Maurice Baudoux of Saint Boni
face, Man., has called for col
laboration between Catholic and
non - Catholic groups to
speed reconciliation among
Christian churches.
At a press conference at the
council documentation center
Serra Building
LOS ANGELES (NC)—A new
state office building in down
town Los Angeles has been de
dicated as the Junipero Serra
Building.
The dedicatory address was
given by Father Noel F. Moholy,
O.F.M., vice postulator for the
cause of Father Junipero Ser
ra.
A plaque on the building
reads: “Junipero Serra Build
ing dedicated to the memory of
California’s beloved apostle,
the founder of the Franciscan
mission chain-pioneer-admin-
istrator—zealous missionary
—1713-1784. Presented by the
Native Sons and Daughters of
the Golden West.”
the Canadian Archbishop said
his speech on the council floor
had two main points.
The first, he said, stressed-j
the need to regard Christians ||
separated from the Catholic
Church as authentic Christian
groups. The second emphasiz
ed that in face of the drama of
the division of Christendom
there is a need for action to
bring about reconciliation.
Pope Sends Aid
VATICAN CITY (NC)—Pope
Paul VI has sent messages of
sympathy (Oct. 10) to the gov
ernments of Haiti and Cuba for,,
the damage the two countries
have suffered from Hurricane
Flora and has also sent relief,
funds.
QUESTION BOX
and outside of it is of Italian
Baroque style with an original
aspe end of many spacious cha
pels, thirteen I counted! The
three sets of bronze doors on
the front facade show a wealth
of Old Testament history in
strong relief. A hugh bronze
statue of Sixtus V who ordered
the doors stands in front of the
basilica on the top step of the
high podium.
“The statues of Our Lady
and the Child have black faces.
The wood has turned black from
years of exposure to candle
light, though today only a few
electric tapers are near them
and one strong light in the top
of the niche. She is regally
clothed in white satin decorat
ed with large patterns of black
and red velvet completely be
decked with precious stones.
Both Mary and Her Son wear
elaborate gold crowns.
"Mass is offered continuous-
(Continued on Page 6)
(By David
Q. Didn’t you say once in
your column that it’s all right
to say the Rosary without using
Rosary beads?
A. We said this because in our
judgment it’s a principle that
should be stressed.
IT’S NOT ONLY all right to
recite the Rosary without using
beads, but it’s even possible
to gain the “general” Rosary
indulgences (those listed in the
Raccolta, including the plenary
indulgence for saying the Ros
ary before the Blessed Sacra
ment) without actually pray
ing on Rosary beads.
HOWEVER, the use of bles
sed beads entitles one to many
“special additional indulgences
—those commonly known as the
A B C D indulgences, i.e.,
the Apostolic, Brigittine, Cros
ier and Dominican indulgences.
Hence, from the viewpoint of
richness of indulgences, it is
better to use blessed beads than
not to use them.
THE DISTINCTION between,
on the one hand, the Rosary as
a devotion; and, on the other
hand, the Rosary as a chaplet
of beads, is an important one.
THE ROSARY devotion, as
described by Pope Pius V, is
“the Psalter of Mary, in which
the Blessed Mother of God is
greeted one hundred and fifty
(or fifty) times with the Angel
ic Salutation, corresponding to
the psalms of the Psalter of
David, together with the Our
Father for every ten Hail
Mary’s; and also certain medi
tations that represent the entire
life of Jesus Christ.”
NOTE THAT this discription
says nothing at all about beads.
Beads pertain to the Rosary as
a chaplet (i.e., a wreath or
garland). Although there are
several prayer chaplets ap-
Q. Liptak)
proved by the Church, (i.e.,
the Franciscan Chaplet), the
only one officially recognized as
“the Rosary” is the one made
up of five, ten or fifteen dec
ades of Ava beads, each decade
preceded by a Pater bead.
WE THINK the distinction
brought out here is important
because it means that the
Rosary can be said (and the,,
“general” indulgencies gain-*,
ed) at times when the use of
beads in difficult or impossi
ble.
IF ONE CANNOT finger Ros
ary beads while waiting at a
bus terminal, for example, one
can nonetheless say the Ros
ary. The same for when one
is riding a bus or a train. Nor
need one be anxious about not
having one’s beads on hand
when the Rosary is being said
at some religious exercise in
church, for instance, or at a
sodality meeting, or at a wake.
SINCE THIS month of Octo
ber is dedicated to the Rosary,
we repeat the basic principles:
1) Several Rosary indulgen
ces are annexed to the Rosary i
as a devotion, plain and simple.
These indulgencies, explained
in the Church’s official hand
book of indulgenced prayers and
practices and Raccolta (a book
which should be in every Catho
lic home), can be gained simply
by praying (and meeting the pre
scribed conditions, of course)
the required Paters and Aves
of the rosary, and by medi
tating all the while on the mys
teries. No beads are neces
sary, although any counting de
vice can be utilized.
2) Extremely rich “special”
indulgences can be gained if
blessed Rosary beads are used.
Hence the use of beads is pre
ferable.
The Southern Cross
P. O. BOX 180, SAVANNAH. GA.
Vol. 44 Thursday, October 17, 1963
No. 15
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