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WEEKtY NEWSPAPER
SAVANNAH
NIHIL SINE DEO
SAVANNAH, GEORGIA, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 1963
BISHOP IN ROME—Bishop Thomas J. McDonough is pic
tured with Bishop Coleman F. Carroll of Miami in St.
Peter’s Square, Vatican City.—(Photocourtesy THE VOICE,
Miami)
Discrimination In
Bus Rides Scored
Orthodox
Endorse
Dialogue
ATHENS, Greece (NC)—The
53 metropolitans of the Ortho
dox Church of Greece reversed
an earlier stand and unanimous
ly endorsed (Oct. 15) a proposal
to start a “theological dia
logue” with the Catholic
Church. .
The Orthodox Church had
earlier opposed a proposal by
Ecumenical Patriarch Athenag-
oras of Istanbul for such a dia
logue with Rome “on equal
terms.” A Pan-Orthodox con
vention in Rhodes (Sept. 26-
29) accepted the Patriarch’s
proposal.
But the Greek metropolitans
said that the dialogue should
begin only after the ecumeni
cal council ends.
Archbishop Chrysostomos,
Primate of the Greek Orthodox
Church, said during the debate
on the proposal that when he
opposed his Church’s partici
pating in the Rhodes convention,
he was acting on “written in
structions from the Greek For
eign Ministry.”
Bishops Work
On English Text
For Mass
(By Patrick Riley)
VATICAN CITY (NC)—Ten
Bishops from nine English
-speaking nations are drawing
up plans for a common English
text for the Mass and the sac
raments.
The ecumenical council has
already approved in principal
the use of modern language in
these rites. The council’s de
cisions must be approved by
Pope Paul VI before they go
into effect. The council’s ac
tion would give national or re
gional groups of bishops
the power to authorize the use
of their area’s language in the
Mass and in administering the
sacraments.
Archbishop Paul J. Hallinan
of Atlanta, Ga., who along with
. Auxiliary Bishop James H.
Griffiths of New York repre
sents the American Bishops,
said:
“It is reasonably estimated
that this common text will be
ready by the time the post-
conciliar commission has com
pleted its revision of the litur
gical rites.”
Other bishops working on the
text are Archbishop Francis J.
Grimshaw of Birmingham, En
gland; Archbishop Denis E.
Hurley, O.M.I., of Durban, South
Africa; Archbishop Guilford
Young of Hobart, Australia;
Archbishop Joseph Walsh of
Tuam, Ireland; Bishop Leonard
J. Raymond of Allahabad, In
dia; Archbishop Michael C. O’
Neill of Regina, Canada; Arch
bishop Gordon J. Gray of Saint
Andrews and Edinburgh, Scot
land; and Auxiliary Bishop Owen
Snedden of Wellington, New
Zealand.
Archbishop Hallinan and Bi
shop Griffiths were named to
the group by Archbishop Pat
rick A. O’Boyle of Washington,
chairman of the administrative
board of the National Catholic
Welfare Conference.
The 10 bishops have called on
liturgical experts to help them
in their long range plan. They
will bring in biblical schol
ars, musicians and experts in
English style to help produce
an English text which meets
both the needs of public wor
ship and high standards of mu
sical and literary taste.
Archbishop Hallinan pointed
out that many English texts
are already available, and add
ed:
‘‘As soon as the national
conference of bishop authoriz
es ‘ enabling legislation’ for
its area, a suitable selection
of these translations can be
approved for Mass and the Sa
craments.”
MINNEAPOLIS, (NC) —
“Shall Johnny ride a school bus
to his private school, or shall
the bureaucracy ride Johnny
and his parents?”
This question was posed by
Timothy Fahey of Blaine, Minn.,
president of the Minnesota Fed
eration of the Citizens for Edu
cational Freedom (CEF), at the
group’s first convention here.
“Freedom of education” and
“equitable distribution of the
tax dollars in education” was
stressed by speakers.
David LaDriere of Clayton,
Mo., CEF executive director,
told the convention that “the
conscience of the individual pa
rent has the prior right in choos
ing the type of schooling for
the cultivation of the minds and
soul of his precious children.”
Government may, for the
common good, compel educa
tion, LaDriere said. ' ‘But this
interest of the state is satis
fied when the education is achie
ved in accredited schools. The
education children receive in
accredited, independent schools
serves the same public purpose
as education in public schools.
“The real issue is freedom
versus conformity,” he said.
“Seven million children in
this country today are receiv
ing their education in indepen
dent schools,” he said. “These
children should not be penal
ized. There should be no denial
of tax assistance to these chil
dren.”
Both LaDriere and Fahey
Los Angeles
Auxiliary
■Msgr. John Ward, 43, Vice
Officialis of the archdiocesan
tribunal of Los Angeles, has
been named titular Bishop of
Bria and Auxiliary to J. Fran
cis Cardinal Me Intyre, Arch
bishop of Los Angeles. A na
tive of Los Angeles, the bishop
-elect was ordained in
1946.—(NC Photos)
said CEF was not opposed to
the public school system it
self. “We are opposed to these
gross injustices done to our
children,” Fahey said.
Protestant
Journal Asks
Education Aid
NEW YORK (NC)—A leading
Protestant journal has called
for stronger efforts to find a
way of including children in
parochial schools in Federal
aid to education.
Christianity and Crisis, an
interdenominational Protestant
bi-weekly, scored total opposi
tion to any form of aid for paro
chial school pupils. But it also
said plans to assist them must
avoid strengthening the cause
of race segregation and injur
ing public schools.
In the lead editorial of its
October 28 issue, signed by a
group which includes three of
American Protestantism’s
leading liberals, the journal
said Federal aid for educa
tion is badly needed.
Signers included Reinhold
Niebuhr, John C. Bennett and
Robert McAffee Brown. Nie
buhr is a prominent theologian,
Bennett is president of Union
Theological Seminary here and
Brown, a California professor,
is well known in ecumenical
circles, serving at present as
a delegate-observer for Pres
byterian and Reformed bodies at
the Second Vatican Council.
The journal pointed to a “new
phase” of discussion over aid
for pupils in church-related
schools. It cited favorable
stands by columnist Walter Lip-
pman, educator Robert Hutchins
and the New Republic Magazine.
The change means, said the
publication, “that the movement
to help pupils in private as well
as public schools cannot be dis
missed as a sectarian power
play aimed at raiding the pub
lic treasury.”
Christianity and Crisis was
critical of the totally negative
reaction of what it called the
"professional Protestants.”
“Often,” it said, “they
sound like a broken record
stuck in the 18th century. Even
in the National Council of Chur
ches, a source of fresh thinking
of many subjects, the comments
on this issue frequently seem
to express a conditioned re
flex rather than a thoughtful
response to a major social
problem.”
Differs With House On Church-Related Institutions
College Construction Aid
Bill Approved By Senate
Includes Judicial
Review Amendment
By Father Vincent A. Yzermans
ROME (NC) — A prominent
U. S. Scripture scholar has
expressed concern about the
image certain reporters are
creating of American Bishops
in the ecumenical council.
Father Barnabas Ahem,
C.P., prefect of studies at the
Passionist seminary in Louis
ville, Ky., and a former vice
president of the U. S. Catholic
Biblical Association, said in
an interview here:
“Although the press in gen
eral has been both generous
and sympathetic, I feel that
some writers have often missed
the true spirit of the council and
have failed to measure justly
the character and role of the
American Bishops.”
A council expert, Father
Ahem has frequently addressed
national hierarchies, including
the American Bishops.
“The recurring use of the
convenient cliches ‘left and
right wings,’ ‘liberal and con
servative,’ ‘progressive and
reactionary,’ ” he said, “has
given a simple and understand
ably human explanation of coun
cil deliberations. This simpli
fication, however, obscures the
fact that most bishops belong
to neither group.”
He said the bishops “are
seeking the best good and the
most effective means of Church
reform.”
He went on to say that those
who interpret the council as a
struggle between two opposing
sides do not see the total pic
ture.
Father Ahern, who goes to
all the general meetings of the
council, said that in the council
hall one senses a real groping
for truth * ‘through a pro
cess of testing and sifting.”
All the speeches in the coun
cil, he said, are the means
the Holy Spirit uses to enlight
en the “minds of the council
Fathers to formulate whatever
is best for the life of the
Church.”
The American Bishops, he
observed, are fulfilling the role
of “impartial arbiters.” Those
who minimize their contribution
fail to take into consideration
the distinctive American char
acter of the U. S. hierarchy,
he said.
“To appreciate their contri
bution,” he continued, “one
must always bear in mind the
unique qualities which the press
many times has failed to place
in proper focus.”
Father Ahern said that these
“unique qualities” are:
1. As bishops of a growing,
developing Church, the Ameri
can Bishops had to become buil
ders, administrators and finan
ciers. “To shirk these duties,”
he pointed out, ‘ ‘would mean a
real neglect of interests which
are essential for the proper
functioning of the Church in
our country.” He said that the
fervent spirit of Catholicism
in the U. S. is a tribute to our
Bishops who “have chosen to
serve wholeheartedly accord
ing to the demands of the par
ticular way of life thrust upon
AT NEUMANN BEATIFICATION—His Holiness Pope Paul VI greets Archbishop
John J. Krol of Philadelphia in St. Peter’s Basilica following the beatification ceremon
ies October 13 of Bishop John N. Neumann, C.SS.R., who was fourth bishop of the Phila
delphia diocese. Archbishop Krol is under-secretary of the Second Vatican Council, now
in session in Rome.—(NC Photos)
PRAY FOR OlIR
PRIESTLY DEAD
REV. JOHN J. BESSMER
Oct. 29, 1926
Oh Cod, IVho didst give to
thy servants by their sacredotal
office, a share in the priest
hood of the Apostles, grant,
u'e implore, that they may
also be one of their company
forever in heaven. Through
Christ Our Lord, Amen.
Anti-Christians Will
As Created By Certain Reporters
IRISH PRIME MINISTER IN U. S.—The White House lawn never looked greener than it did
on October 15, when President John F. Kennedy welcomed the Prime Minister of Ireland
to the United States. The two-day official visit was prompted by a personal invitation
from President Kennedy when he visited Ireland earlier this year. Shown with Mr. Ken
nedy. during a 20-minute welcoming ceremony are Mrs. Sean F .Lemass and her husband,
the Prime Minister and Secretary of State Dean Rusk. (NC Photos)
Evaluate Diem Policy
(By Father Patrick O’Connor)
Society of St. Columban
SAIGON, Vietnam (NC)—
Four of the seven governments
sending delegates to investi
gate charges that Buddhists
have been persecuted in south
Vietnam, are themselves fol
lowing restrictive policies in
religion.
The delegation comes to Viet
nam from the General Assembly
of the United Nations on the
invitation of President Ngo dinh
Diem’s government. The mem
bers of the delegation were
chosen by the U. N. General
Assembly’s President Carlos
Sosa Rodriguez of Venezuela.
Official representatives of
the governments of Afghanistan,
Brazil, Ceylon, CostaRica, Da
homey, Morocco and Nepal
comprise the delegation.
The government of Ceylon,
one of the most vocal in accus
ing south Vietnam of religious
persecution, has been guilty of
flagrant, systematic discrimi
nation against its Christian ci
tizens. They form about nine
per cent of the total population
of some 9,600,000.
Since the present government
came to power in Ceylon, in
July, 1960, it has pursued an
openly anti-Christian policy.
Since December, 1960, it has
taken over hundreds of Catholic
schools — their buildings,
grounds, movable property and
management. Some 55 Christian
schools that escaped being tak
en over were sentenced to grad
ual death by being forbidden to
charge tuition fees.
A zoning regulation in Ceylon
compels some Christian par
ents to send their-children to
schools that are predominant
ly Buddhist. Buddhist mission
aries from any foreign country
are given visas and allowed to
work in Ceylon, but no new
Christian missionary will re
ceive a visa, even as a replace
ment for one who has died.
There are indications that the
government will force all for
eign missionaries out of the
country within two years, even
though their services are evi
dently needed by the growing
Christian population.
No non-Christian parent, be
he Buddhist, Muslim or Hindu,
may enroll his child in a Chris
tian private school without gov
ernment permission, which is
now rarely given.
Though there is supposed to
religious equality in Ceylon,
the government, byalawpassed
in 1958, has given public money
to the Vidyodaya and Vidyalan-
kara universities, both strictly
Buddhist.
Some important Buddhist
monks in Ceylon have allied
themselves with one of the Mar
xist parties. The present gov
ernment came to power through
a no-contest election pact with
the regular Communist party
and the Trotskite party.
The Ceylon government has
been widely criticized also for
racial discrimination against
(Continued on Page 6)
Voices
Image
Concern About
Of U. S. Bishops
them in the American scene.”
2. The American Bishops are
men totally dedicated to the
good of the church. This dedi
cation has made them, as a
body, willing to listen and learn
and accept ideas with open-
mindedness. “They have
shown,” he said, “a remark
able diligence in studying the
various propositions, and a de
termination to choose whatever
is best for the good of the
whole Church.”
3. The American Bishops’
reluctance, if it can be called
reluctance, is best explained
by the american character it
self. “An American,” he said,
“prefers action to speech. He
finds it embarrassing to cre
ate tedium by voicing views
which another has already ex
pressed.” This national tem
perament has restrained more
than one American bishop from
addressing the council assem
bly, he said,
4. Father Ahern sees merit
even in the reluctance of the
American Bishops to speak. He
says that when an American
Bishop does speak, the others
listen with special interest.
‘ ‘Aware of the strength of Ca
tholic life in America, and
aware too that American Bi
shops are not given to much
talking,” he said, “the other
bishops know that the speaker
feels he has something worth
saying and they give him whole
hearted attention. The dis
courses given by some Ameri
can bishops have been a real
contribution to the council and
have accomplished a great deal
in directing the course of the
council.”
Father Ahern said he feels
a “great injustice” has been
done by those writers who fail
to take these and other obser
vations into consideration when
writing about the American Bi
shops. He said he feels that
this false representation is due
to the fact that writers “have
not treated adequately the back
ground, characteristics and
spirit of eminently sincere and
holy churchmen who, as Bish
ops of America, have had to be
wholly American.”
WASHINGTON (NC)—Final congressional action on federal
construction aid for colleges may be delayed until mid-Decem
ber as the House and Senate work to resolve their differences
over inclusion of church-related colleges.
This is the opinion of some leading backers of the proposal
in the wake of the Senate’s handling of the controversial issue
of Church-State relations. It had been hoped the bill would clear
congress by mid-November.
The Senate voted (Oct. 21)
60 to 19 its approval of a mea
sure to spend $1.9 billion in five
years in loans and grants to
help accredited colleges and
universities finance construc
tion of academic facilities. Con
stitutional questions seen in
extending federal aid to Church-
related colleges dominated the
senate debate.
Sponsors had worked to avoid
this development. The bill pro
vides that outright federal
grants can be used only for
definitely non-religious facili
ties, such as science class
rooms. In addition, the bill
specifically barred any use of
funds—either grants or loans
—for religious purposes.
Leading opponents to the in
clusion of Church-related col
leges were Sens. Ervin of North
Carolina and Cooper of Ken
tucky.
First they proposed that
church and related colleges be
denied any participation in the
bill. This was rejected.
Then they presented a sec
ond amendment which would
permit a taxpayer to block by
court action any federal assis
tance to Church-related colleg
es.
Adopted by a 45 to 33 vote,
this judicial review amendment
has clouded the bill’s future
because the House Leadership
strongly opposes such a clause.
When the House Rules Com
mittee cleared that chamber’s
bill for floor debate, it did so
(Aug. 8) only after obtaining a
commitment from the bill’s
sponsors that a review provi
sion would be opposed.
How the two chanbers will
resolve their deep disagree
ment on this issue is the major
uncertainty facing compro
mise efforts. Other differen
ces between their versions pro
bably can be reconciled easily.
Ervin and Cooper argued that
inclusion of Church-related
colleges would be “a sinful and
tyrannical course” that would
“abolish religious freedom by
compelling people to pay taxes
for the propagation of doctrines
which they disbelieve.”
Sponsors and supporters of
the measure, led by Sen. Wayne
Morse of Oregon, chairman of
the Education Subcommittee,
said congress has long assisted
Church-related colleges with
the same type of specific legis
lation.
Morse cited, among other
programs, the recently enacted
law to give federal assistance
for construction at medical and
dental schools, many of which
are operated by Religious
groups.
Bishop Received
By Pope Paul
VATICAN CITY — The
Most Rev. Thomas J. Mc
Donough, Bishop of Savan
nah was among, a group of
Prelates and pilgrims re
ceived by Pope Paul VI on
Thursday, October 17th.
The pilgrims were in
Rome for the beatification
ceremonies, October 13, of
Bishop John N. Neumann,
C.SS.R., who was the fourth
bishop of the Philadelphia
Diocese.
As a pioneer missionary,
Bishop Neumann spread the
Faith throughout various re
gions of Pennsylvania, Dele-
ware, New York, Maryland
and Virginia from 1840 to
1860.