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i PAGE 4—The Southern Cross, October 31, 1963 Monsignor Brennan With the death of Monsignor Brennan last Sunday afternoon, a priestly career which spanned four decades came to a close. His death meant sorrow and heartache for his family, relatives, friends and devoted parishioners. For his fellow priests it meant another gap in their ranks — the loss of a comrade in the cause of Christ and His Church. For some of the older clergy it meant the loss of a friend known from boy hood days, and one with whom they had shared the Sacred Priesthood of Christ for many years. But, surely, there is joy and consolation in the reflection that his was a life spent for the good of souls — that through his priestly ministrations souls were brought to Christ and Christ to the hearts of men — and that Christ will not be outdone in generosity. Those who mourn him will find their solace in giving back to God, with generosity and Faith, a soul which He created for Himself and whose greatest desire was to be another Christ, carrying on in our world His work of redeeming the souls of sinful mankind. His brother priests will find great spiritual profit in meditating on the Apostolic zeal, the dedicated determination, and the spirit of obedience with which Monsignor Brennan carried out every assignment given to him. And all, priests and laity alike, can repay a debt of gratitude for the many graces which this good priest’s life undoubtedly called down upon the Church in our Diocese by remembering him faithfully in their prayers, asking eternal light and peace for a good and faithful Servant of Jesus Christ. The Bedsheet Brigade Forty persons were driven from a Savannah motion picture theater last Sunday night by a tear gas bomb. Perhaps, by the time this editorial appears in print, the criminal who exploded the weapon and who values his own prejudices more highly than the safety of his neighbors will have been caught. At any rate, we hope so. But this act of lawlessness should have come as no surprise to anyone who has viewed the sorry sight of members of the Ku Klux Klan hawking their bigotry before the eyes of Savannah citizens in front of the city’s four downtown theaters. It was simply a manifestation, in a concrete and criminally irresponsible manner, of the naked hate which, in spite of protestations to the contrary, is the ONLY motivating force behind an organization both un-Christian and un-American. The Klan has thronw down the gauntlet. It is up to the responsible citizens of Savan nah to pick it up and to show, by their con tinued support of films which merit the. patronage of intelligent, discriminating and morally responsible people, that the Ku Klux Klan shall not dictate to them the sources of their motion picture entertainment. Concern Vs. Worry F.J.D. God’s World To worry is un Christian. Worry dishonors God. It as sumes that God does not have things under control. Worry implies that God is not inter ested in His world; or, more s p e c i f i - cally, that God is not interes ted in me. A mother may answer, "That’s all very well, but I’d be a poor sort of.mother if I didn’t worry about my children.’’ A father may say, "If I didn’t worry about my family I’d nev er keep my nose to the grind stone as I do." Such statements confuse the word "worry" with the word "concern". Webster defines concern as "Interest in, or care for, any person or thing; regard; solicitude." Worry is defined as "undue solicitude; vexation; anxiety." It is our duty to be concern ed. Parents must have a con cern for their children. All of us, as members of Christ’s Mystical Body, must be con cerned about our fellow man. We must be concerned about our neighbor who is not a Catholic We must be concerned about the slum-dwellers in our city. We (By Leo J. Trese) must be concerned about racial injustice. We must be concern ed about God’s honor and glory, and grieved that so many should dishonor Him by sin. Yes, we have ample cause for concern. However, our concern must be laced generously with the virtue of hope if it is not to degenerate into worry. Our trust in God and in His con stant, loving care must never weaken. To avoid worry we need, al so, to have a sense of per spective. That is,we~must cul tivate the ability to see life as a whole and not in small piec es. We need to see our pres ent cross—sickness, loss of job, birth of a Mongoloid child —as a part of a larger picture into which this darkness will fit as a logical and a constructive part. Our worries will lessen, too, if we have a sense of history, an ability to look back and to look ahead from where we stand. F or example, parents worry about the unpredictable behav ior of their teenage son or daughter. If they could look back to the emotional turnoil of their own adolescent years, and ahead to when son or daugh ter will be a devoted father or a placid matron, concern would not so easily grow into worry. To paint with a larger brush, Praise For Fr, O’Connor Rep. Zablocki On Vietnam By John J. Daly, Jr. (N.C.W.C. News Service) WASHINGTON—The second ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee said here Vietnam’s Buddhist up risings began as a legitimate religious protest, but now are being exploited by com munists. Rep. Clement Zablocki, in an interview the day (Oct. 23) after his return to the capital form a two-week study mission to the Far East, had high praise for the reporting of Father Patrick O’Connor whose dis patches have appeared in the Catholic press. The Wisconsin Democrat said the veteran Far East reporter of the N.C.W.C. News Service has been reporting "much more honestly" on the religious issue than most other sources of news in Vietnam. Zablocki, chairman of the House’s subcommittee on the Far East and the Pacific, led an eight-member group of legislators which visited Viet nam and other sensitive areas of southeast Asia. His conclusions, which he said are largely shared by other mission members, include these on the issue of persecu tion and Catholicism: —There is no evidence of re-' ligious persecution of Budd hists. —It is erroneous to describe Vietnam’s government as "Ca tholic" and to imply that the recent disturbances stem from Catholicism. —The U. S. press corps in Saigon seems young and inex perienced, seeking chiefly sen sational stories, and failing to confirm many of the details. Visiting newsmen sent on spe cial assignment get more accu rate accounts on the alleged religious issue. Zablocki related that on two occasions in Saigon, his mis sion held sessions with news men, seeking the reporters’ facts and opinions on develop ments. Father O’Connor, he said, read to the congressional dele gation a chronology he pre pared of the events related to the Buddhist uprising. "None of the other 40 or so reporters took exception to his account," said Zablocki, al though he noted that the report differed in many ways from; dispatches seen in U. S. news papers at the time of the inci dents he reviewed. (Father O’Connor, although critical of several aspects of the Vietnam government’s con duct in the Buddhist controver sy, has reported that the charge of a "Catholic-dominated” gov ernment which systematically persecutes Buddhists and fav ors Catholics is untrue.) Zablocki said that other in terviews in Saigon resulted in reports that backed up early Father O’Connor dispatches, such as government-financed construction of Buddhist pa godas and government agree ment with initial BuddhisJLde- Operation Understanding m m m m * v ’ -v ^2/ : v N we might examine the anxiety which many good Christians experience at the prevalence of sin and the disregard for God’s rights. It is fitting that we have concern for God’s honor and glory. Indeed, this must be our primary and our ultimate con cern. However, a sense of per spective and of history will keep our concern from swell ing into disturbing anxiety. There are more Catholics on earth tod^y than there were people on earth 300 years ago. In the year 1650 the total popu lation of the world is estimat ed to have been about 500,000,- 000, of whom only a minority were Catholic. Today’s Catho lic population is estimated at 550,000,000. We still are only one-fifth of the world’s total, but Christ’s Church remains the leaven in the mass which Jesus proclaimed it to be. There is much unbelief and sin, yes; but there is much faith and virtue, too. There are about 415,000 priests in the world. Every day, from 415,000 altars, the holy sacrifice of the Mass goes up to God, with un counted millions kneeling around those altars even on a weekday. God’s honor and glory are not on the wane. We do well to be concerned for family, not neighbor and for God—but always with courage, with confidence and hope. Let’s Call Father Father } ; It Seems to Me There is certainly a priest hood of fatherhood. A valuable book could be written on the subject, going back to Abraham, who is so mirrored the father hood of God that his son gave to him the same un- quest ioning love and obe dience that Abraham gave to Je hovah. Indeed, a father who is not in a very real sense a priest toward his children is failing them. He owes it to them that they shall be able to see in him, and even to feel in him, the divine good ness showing through. It is part of a father’s job to be a religious man—a man who is religious in a manly and virile way, so that the youngs ters, and especially the boys, will not come to think that religion is effeminate. THIS MEANS that the father not only is a prayerful per son, and not at all ashamed of being so, but also that he is a man of principle and of morals., I do not think it is too much to say that if all fathers could be persuaded to be what fathers ought to be, within a genera- mands—only to have them re vised by Buddhists. He said the first Buddhist protest in Hue was a legitimate uprising over injustice. The government denied the right to fly a Buddhist flag at a major event in Hue, although the papal flag had flown prominently at a Catholic ceremony only days before. "Since then, the communists have exploited the issue,” Zablocki said. "And the Reds have used this highly emotional issue effectively. "We must remember that Vietnam is a police state, a situation that has come about because it is a state engaged in civil war. My own impression is that if the Vietnam govern ment did not use what we con sider ‘harsh’ measures against alleged Buddhist demonstra tions, the communists could paralyze the country.” On the issue of a "Catholic government,” Zablocki said that "nothing is more errone ous.” He produced a statistic, also earlier reported by Father O'Connor, on the religious com position of government leader ship. It claims that less than 25 per cent of the government’s staff is Catholic. ( Zablocki, whose group spent three days in Vietnam, said he will urge to the full House For eign Affairs Committee that a highly respected private indivi dual or a team of investigators be sent to Vietnam to prepare an exhaustive report on the Buddhist issue. JOSEPH BREIG tion or two we could close al most all the jails and prisons on earth. I suspect that almost all ju venile delinquency—and the more violent forms of adult delinquency also—grow psy chologically out of a sort of subconscious rage against the failure of fathers to be admira ble. A FATHER OWES it to his son to be admirable. This does not mean that he must be a pa ragon; but he must be a man to whom a boy or girl can lookup. A father should be honest with the kind of honesty that declines to indulge even in small intel lectual or social dishonesties; an honesty that looks squarely at what is, and stands unflinch ingly for what ought to be. A father should be courage ous in adversity and illness, not a whiner or a quitter. A father should be a happy companion, much more given to praise than to blame, and above all never a nagger. A FATHER SHOULD be loyal to his wife and children with al most a fierce loyalty. If he is that, he will almost inevitably receive in return the warmest and most confident loyalty. A father owes it to his family to be kind; magnanimous; gen erous not so much with money Lourdes but with love and a kind of reverence for the mysterious ness of human personality. The result of this kind of fa therly example is young people who are happy, who are serene, who feel secure in the fortress of the father’s virtue; who can almost reach out and touch God by touching the father. WHEN YOU ARE reared by that kind of father, it is easy to believe in God and to have confi dence in Him; to know that He is good and merciful and lova ble, no matter how appearances might sometimes argue the con trary. I think I might boil it all down by saying that every boy and girl has the inalienable right to the kind of father the very thought of whom is a benedic tion. ALL THIS is preliminary to saying that I am glad the ecu menical council included among its concerns the thought ofhav- ing lay people, and expecially fathers, administer some of the sacramentals. It is important to make fa thers feel their priestliness; to realize that they stand in the place of God, and that God has given it into their hands to make their wives and children feel keenly His goodness. Jottings "LOURDES is the mystical body of Christ on crutches in wheel chairs carried on a litter Lourdes is the fact of mor tality seen whole in diminished flesh. Outside the gates, business as usual, Inside the gates, in the grotto, no bargains Only hope in people called hopeless, faith—simple, wise— and sometimes miracles.” From ‘Jubilee* * * * IF THERE were but one place in all the world to which I could return, that place would be Lourdes in France. Even more than Rome and the historic Vatican Council and Ireland, my "other country," I love Lourdes. All during the plan ning for this tour, my interest and excitement centered on Lourdes. It is strange when I try to analyze my feeling to ward Lourdes. I just am com fortable there and I found some thing inexpressible there that I had looked a long time to By Barbara C. Jencks find and did not find. It is one of those comfortable places, where one feels at ease and at peace. It is like the one or two homes one visits and looks forward eagerly to return in vitations there. . . all is in order and you sense a belong ing and ease and comfort there. I find these things at a home I visit and I find the same sense of belonging in Ireland, so it is hard to understand ex actly why I love Lourdes bet ter than any other place in the world. I would return there sooner than to any other place. * # * THE LOURDES VISIT is the highlight of my tour for me. My first visit was made on the Feast of the Holy Rosary, 1961, only a few months after my mo ther’s death. It seemed that for the first time since it all hap pened—the wake, the burial, the expressions of sumpathy, the sleepwalking aftermath—I had found comfort. It was like being home again and fnding out that all was going to turn out right. It was worth traveling half way across the world and now after two years to be back! Rome is grandeur and there was the chance to see history in the making. If I were a really good journalist, Rome with its color and excitement and fever ish pitch would be the highpoint of the journey. But this little village nestled in the Pyrenes Mountains was theplace I longed to visit most ... to be alone at the grotto or to be a part of the singing processional of hundreds holding candles against the blackness of the Sou thern France night singing the stirring Lourdes hymn, "Ave, Ave, Ave Maria." * * * IRELAND IS THE land of the heart and Rome, the city of the soul but Lourdes is the city of both. My list of petitions was long. The first time I went to Lourdes, Icould not pray for myself. But I received the comfort from an aching pain or separation by death. This time, I will aslo remember others— the blind woman who writes me such inspiring letters; the shut- ins, a woman with five chil dren in her early thirties who has cancer; all the sickness in the hospitals. I’ll remember those who are carrying crosses that seem to stagger them in (Continued on Page 6) Consecration Scheduled LOS ANGELES (NC)—Auxi liary Bishop-designate John J. Ward of Los Angeles will be consecrated Dec. 12 in St. Vi- biana’s cathedral. This is the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, copatroness of the archdiocese. James Francis Cardinal McIntyre of Los Ange les cabled from Rome that the Sacred Congregation of Rites had given permission for the consecration on that date. Or dinarily, by canon law episco pal consecrations take place on Sundays or on feasts of the Apostles. Father Ciszek SHENANDOAH, Pa. (NC)-- Father Walter M, Ciszek, S.J., freed recently after 23 years’ detention in the Soviet Union, described the celebration of Mass in his home town parish here as one of the happiest moments of his life. The Jesuit priest, who was released Oct. 11 in a U. S.- Soviet prisoner exchange, told 1,000 persons crowded into St. Casimir’s church that their prayers preserved his faith and courage during his captivity. Contraceptives WASHINGTON (NC)—The Post Office Department has ap proved for mailing a birth con trol product which was held up for six weeks by the St. Louis postmaster. The St. Louis postmaster had delayed mailing of 490packages of the product, an aerosol foam contraceptive, pending instruc tions from Washington. The product’s manufacturer has indicated that some 50,000 samples of the product will be mailed out in response to re quests resulting from advertis ing in national magazines. Congo Youth Leader LEOPOLDVILLE, The Con go (NC)—Donatien Dangi, di rector of the Congolese govern ment’s youth services, has been elected national leader of the Xaveri Catholic youth move ment. The Xaveri movement has 35,000 members in the Congo where it was founded in 1952 by Father Georges Defour, W.F. It has spread to Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroun, Uganda, Tanganyi ka, Ny as aland, Northern Rhode sia, Rwanda and Burundi. “Religious Morals” Hit BERLIN (NC)—Th Soviet government newspaper Izvestia has carried an article (Oct. 24) attacking a top Soviet writer for approving some aspects of religious morals. The writer, Konstantin Simo nov, 48, a declared atheist and communist, had said in an in terview that he thought religious precepts uring people to live a moral life have their "useful side." Izvestia printed along article by Grigori Simonov, a Moscow philosophy professor, which praised the writer’s basic athe ism but called his qualified sup-' port of some religious preceptfc "flirting with religious mor-^ als." The professor wrote that to say there is something good in religious morals is "incompat ible with genuine atheism, which seeks its task as the complete overcoming of religion and can not allow any peaceful coexis tence." Honor Fr. Hesburgh EASTON, Pa. (NC)—Father Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., president of Notre Dame Uni versity, was awarded an honor ary doctor of laws degree by Lafayette College, a Presby terian institution here. Neutral On Birth Control THE HAGUE, The Nether lands (NC)—Birth control is s private matter to be decided by couples according to their own consciences and does not concern the government unless it affects public health condi tions. This clarification of the Dutch government position on the issue was given to a Social ist member of Parliament, Dr. Lamberts, by the Ministry of Social Affairs, headed by G.M.J. Veldkamp, a Catholic, By David Q. Liptak Q. In some of the news re ports on Pope Paul’s recent address to the Roman Curia, it is stated or at least implied, that the Eastern or thodox Church severed reac tions with the See of Peter be cause they couldn’t accept the doctrine of papal infallibility. Is this correct? I though that the doctrine which the Ortho dox originally opposed is that of the primacy of the pope. Moreover, one of the articles indicated that Pope Paul’s speech implied a “reatreat" from the dogma of papal infal libility. But a doctrine can’t be changed, can it? A. The doctrine of papal in fallibility and that of the pri macy of the Roman Pontiff are distinct concepts. Both are of faith. PAPAL I NFALLIBI- LITY means that the Holy Fa ther, the successor of St. Pe ter as Vicar of Christ on earth, cannot possibly err when he speaks ex cathedra, i.e., when by virtue of his supreme teach ing and postoral office and au thority, he defines a doctrine relating to faith or morals which must be accepted by all the faithful. INFALLIBILITY entails nei ther a special revelation nor an inspiration, but rather implies, a divine assistance by which the pope is preserved from er ror when speaking ex cathedra. THE DOGMA of the primacy of the Roman Pontiff refers to the fact that Simon Peter, as the Prince of the Apostles and first head of Christ’s Church, received, for himself and his successors, a preeminence, not merely of honor, but of supreme jurisdiction over the universal Church. THIS PREEMINENCE was promised by our divine Lord when he said: ‘‘And I say to thee, thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in hea ven, and whatever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (St. Matthew XVI: 18, 19.) AND THIS GREAT promise was fulfilled when Christ, af ter demanding a threefold pro fession of love from Peter in reparation for his triple de nial on the eve of the Crucifix ion, perhaps?), said: "Feed my lambs . . . Feed my lambs . . . Feed my sheep” (St. John XXI: 15-17). AS REGARDS a "retreat” from these doctrines, the same can be said which must be said of any dogma of faith; namely, no change is possible. As the Vatican council affirmed spe cifically of defined doctrines: ‘‘Therefore, the definitions of the Roman Pontiff are of them selves and not through the con sent of the Church, irreform- able." The Southern Cross P. O. BOX 180. SAVANNAH. GA. Vol. 44 Thursday, October 31, 1963 No. 17 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