Newspaper Page Text
I
Child’s Suffering
Unites Community
PEQUANNOCK, N. J. (NC)~
One girl’s suffering has helped
unite this community.
The girl is 11-year-old Shir
ley Breeman. She would have
entered the seventh grade at
Holy Spirit School here in Sep
tember if she had been able.
But Shirley was totally paralyz
ed by an injury in a backyard
pool last July.
Since then the people of Holy
Spirit parish and their neigh
bors have raised $10,000 to
help pay her medical bills, ex
pected to reach $17,000.
Shirley will be hospitalized
for at least a year and will re
quire therapy to enable her to
perform a few simple actions
such as feeding herself.
The community effort to help
the girl—the oldest of six chil-
Feast Of
Christmas
(Continued From Page 1)
day that came from the cave of
Bethlehem so many centuries
ago. The same message is there
—love so great that it was divine
and incarnate. And St. John tells
us that “God is love” if indeed
men needed to be reminded of
this holy truth.
Christmas is a holy story
from the past—but oh, so very
new. It is radiant with God’s
beauty and grace, and His infi
nite love. We see a Child shi
vering in straw, His tiny arms
outstretched to embrace the
world. We see His holy Mother
with love beaming from her
eyes.
This is not rhapsody or
poetry, but the earnest truth.
Even today amid all the threats
of military powers and the
anxieties that make whole na
tions tremble, there is the feast
of the Saviour’s birth in this
world. It makes everything else
of no importance; it casts the
very sun into the shadows; it
makes men with their foolish
strivings look puny and help
less.
For the Child and His holy
Mother are for the salvation of
the world. They show all men
the way to peace and happiness.
Their message is timeless,
their example is without paral
lel, their presence sanctifies
all men. “Holy Mary, Mother
mild, bless us with thy holy
Child”—at Christmas and al
ways.
DESBOUILLONS
Savannah’s
Leading
Bridal Store
SINCE 1870
AD 2-1145
126 E. Broughton St.
Savannah, Georgia
dren of Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth
Breeman—is being directed by
F ather John Dericks, pastor at
Holy Spirit, and Judge Herbert
Irwin.
Shirley is taking her ordeal
like a trouper. One day she told
her father, “I’d like to put all
my troubles into a bag and give
them away.” But she quickly
changed her mind, saying:
“No—then they’d only be trou
bles for someone else.”
The plucky lass is offering
her suffering for the souls in
purgatory and asked her family
if they thought “God has a lot
more people He wants to get into
heaven and that’s why He’s let
ting me suffer so much?”
Shirley has seen her class
mates once since the accident.
That was when the ambulance
which transferred her from
Chilton Hospital here to the
Institute of Physical Medicine
and Rehabilitation in New York
stopped off at the schoolyard.
But her classmates send her
tape recordings of their activi
ties on a recorder provided by
the Salvation Army.
A door-to-door canvass has
been organized to raise funds
for her medical bills. The Ro
tary Club donated $500 toward
purchase of a device to project
print on the ceiling so Shirley
can read. A beauty parlor dona-,
ted a day’s receipts. The com
munity has united to help one of
its own.
St. Mary’s
Auxiliary
Meeting
AUGUSTA—The Ladies Aux
iliary of St. Mary’s Church met
at the Parish Hall on Tuesday,
Dec. 11th.
Mrs. Luther Thigpen announ
ced that twenty-eight packing
boxes of clothes had been col
lected for the Bishops Drive
and had been sent to the needy
overseas. She also explained
that the Auxiliary had asked for
contributions to the Feed a
Family Project, which makes
donations to a needy family each
month.
The Auxiliary accepted Mrs.
T. S. Henderson’s proposal that
all of the Study Groups in the
Parish be asked to meet and
make Christmas arrangements
to be given to the shut-ins.
It was decided to send Christ
mas flowers to the Little Sis
ters of the Poor.
Monsignor Daniel J. Bourke
explained the new ruling of the
ecumenical Council concerning
the use of English during the
Mass and in the Daily Office
of the Priest.
First Communion Class St. Mary’s, Augusta
First Communion class at
upper and lower photos with
St. Mary’s on-the-Hill Church, Augusta, is pictured in
their pastor, the Rt. Rev. Msgr. Daniel J. Bourke, V.F.
Government Involved In
Birth Control Controversy
(The issue of birth control
and public policy is a burning
question throughout the nation.
In an effort to determine the
dimensions of the problem,
NCWC News Service sought in
formation from sources in the
50 state capitals and Washing
ton, D. C. Facts thus obtained
are presented here in the
second of three articles.)
By Russell Shaw
(N.C.W.C. News Service)
From the outside looking in,
the Federal government in its
approach to the birth control
issue appears rather likaaman
trying to go in two directions at
May the peace and joy of
Christmas abide with you.
First
State Bank
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Trust Company
3 Convenient Locations
ALBANY, GA.
once while standing still.
The description, though pa
radoxical, is appropriate to a
situation in which voices in and
out of government are raised
urging contradictory and mu
tually exclusive policies.
At one extreme arethosewho
advocate an active government
effort involving largescale ex
penditures for research on birth
control and implementation of
birth control programs through
foreign aid. On the other wing
are those who want the govern
ment to stay out of this field—
period. Somewhere in the mid
dle are those who would sanc
tion a strictly limited govern
ment role through support of
basic research.
Advocates of the activist ap
proach scored a significant suc
cess this year in the foreign
aid bill. For the first time, a
section written into the bill by
the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee provided for spend
ing U. S. funds “to conduct
research into problems of con
trolling population growth and
to provide technical and other
assistance to cooperating coun
tries in carrying out programs
of population control."
Sponsored by Sen. J. William
Fulbright of Arkansas, the for
eign relations chairman, this
provision was inserted in the
bill during a closed committee
session without benefit of public
hearings. In 15 days of Senate
debate on the bill, the birth
control section went unmention
ed.
Opposition was expressed,
however, by Msgr. Paul F.
Tanner, general secretary of
the National Catholic Welfare
Conference.
In a letter to Fulbright, Msgr.
Tanner declared that “for the
Federal government to adopt a
policy approving the promotion
of artificial contraception is to
infringe upon the freedom of
conscience of many of its citi
zens. . .It is not the business of
government to enter into this
question.”
The House version of the for
eign aid bill did not contain this
provision. The section was eli
minated from the bill by Senate-
House conferees, who instead
adopted a provision limited to
research on population prob
lems and making no reference
to birth control.
The Federal government’s
role with regard to birth con
trol became a major public is
sue in 1959. On July 23 that
year a citizens’ committee ap
pointed by President Eisenhow
er to study the foreign aid pro
gram and headed by William
Draper, Jr., issued a report
calling for cooperation by the
U. S. government with under
developed nations “in the for
mulation of. . .plans designed to
deal with the problem of popula
tion growth.”
On Nov. 26 the U. S. Catholic
Bishops in a joint statement de
clared their opposition to the
use of public funds to promote
artificial birth control. They
stated:
“United States Catholics will
. . .not support any public as
sistance either at home or
abroad to promote artificial
birth prevention, abortion or
sterilization whether through
direct aid or by means of inter
national organizations.”
The issue quickly became
part of the debate that preceded
the 1960 presidential election
campaign. Episcopal Bishop
James A. Pike of California
raised the question of whether
the Bishops’ statement would
be binding on a Catholic Presi
dent.
A specific statement of gov
ernment policy on the issue was
given in December, 1962, by
Richard N. Gardner, Deputy
Assistant Secretary of State for
International Organization Af
fairs, at a meeting of the Eco
nomic Committee of the United
Nations General Assembly. He'
repeated the same position last
May at a conference on popula
tion problems sponsored in
Harriman, N. Y., by the Ameri
can Assembly.
Said Gardener: “While the
United States will not advocate
any specific family planning
policy to any other country, we
can help other countries, upon
request, to find potential sour
ces of information and assis
tance on ways and means of
dealing with population pro
blems.
“The provision of materials
for this purpose can best be
done by those governments
whose citizens are not divided
on this question, by private
foundations, and by business
firms.”
Having heard this policy out
lined, the conference of citizens
prominent in various fields in
effect rejected it by adopting a
report that stated:
“The U. S. should provide
direct aid to countries wishing
assistance in family planning
programs. Such aid would in
clude services and materials
(implements) for family limita
tion, as well as information to
that end.”
Apart from the foreign aid
(Continued On Page 8)
The Southern Cross, December 19, 1963—PAGE 3
Prelate Foresees Further
Progress In Next Session
(By Father Placid
Jordan, O.S.B.)
VATICAN CITY (NC)—There
is every reason to look forward
to the next council session with
full confidence that further pro
gress will be achieved and that
issues which now seem contro
versial will be settled in a
spirit of mutual understanding
and charity. Archbishop John
Carmel Heenan of Westminster,
president of the Assembly of
Bishops of England and Wales,
said this to the N.C.W.C. News
Service on the closing day of
the second session.
“We can be certain,” he
said, "that the council Fathers
now returning home are not the
same that attended the first
session, for their outlook has
changed, their vision has been
broadened.
"We should remember that
during the first session, the
bishops met as strangers and
there were divisions of opinion
which often exaggerated their
true significance.
“Now however it is quite
clear that a new spirit prevails
among the Fathers. It was no
ticeable all during the second
session that there was no re
crimination in the speeches de
livered.
"If we want to speak of dis
pute at all, we might say it was
more of psychological than dog
matic nature, for in matters of
doctrine there cannot be any di
vision among us. Pope John left
no doubt that “aggiornamento’
only means a rewording not a
change of doctrine, because it
is realized that sometimes the
old image of the Church is not
sufficiently attractive to our
age, that her teaching is often
couched in scholastic terms
which the modern world finds
difficult to understand.
“All dogmatic: discussions
revolve around the best ways
and means to bring about mo
dernization and rejuvenation in
facing the challenge this pro
blem implies.
“If there is division among
the bishops, it amounts to noth
ing more than different out
looks.”
Asked whether the differen
ces which became rather arti
culate in regard to such issues
as episcopal collegiality or the
sources of Divine Revelation
were not actually more than
merely psychological, Archbi
shop Heenan said:
“Of course there are differ
ent views, but what matters is
that they now are voiced without
hard feelings and that no- one
disputes the right of anyone else
to express himself freely.
“Take episcopal collegia
lity,” he said. “Theresomebi-
shops stress authority as the
guiding principle while others,
fully recognizing authority as it
should be exercised in the
Church, still assert that the
methods of exercising it could
at times be changed.
“Also, we should remember
that certain problems before
the council need not be resolved
theologically at all. The theolo
gians sometimes have holidays
of their own! The council won’t
interfere with them. It does not
object to honest debate.
“When the results of the work
done by the mixed commission
entrusted with the revision of
the draft proposal on the source
of Revelation will be known,
we will see that this is sue which
first appeared so tensely con
troversial no longer is so.
“A formula has been found
which, to my mind, the council
will find entirely acceptable.”
Asked about problems still
to be faced with the ecumenism
schema, he replied:
“I have no doubt that they
constitute no obstacle on our
way to reaching full agreement.
It is perfectly evident that the
overwhelming majority of coun
cil Fathers want good inter
faith relations. But it is equally
clear that we must safeguard
the authority of bishops in the
promotion of ecumenical efforts
so as to avoid confusion in the
minds of the faithful.
“We will not admit any change
of basic doctrine, but we want
to do all we can to cooperate
with other Christians in true
friendship and charity. Our
common belief in Christ now is
the preeminent consideration.
On the strength of it, we may
freely engage in an honest dia
logue which is bound to lead
to better mutual understanding
and elimination of age-old pre
judices on both sides.”
Asked if these efforts should
not reach out to non-Christian
religions as well he said:
“Indeed they should. In a
world where opposition to all
religious faith has become so
articulate, the dialogue should
be broadened in order that wide
spread ignorance on the part of
non-believers may be over
come.”
Turning to statements on
Christian-Jewish relations and
religious liberty which did not
come up fordebatethis session,
Archbishop Heenan said:
“We can be quite certain that
no one would even dream of not
following through on these two
vital issues. I am entirely con
fident they will be settled quite
satisfactorily at the next ses
sion.
“To rush them through now
without proper debate would
have been unfortunate. Even
tually those critical of the post
ponement will see the wisdom
of the procedure adopted.”
J)
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