Southern cross. (Savannah, Ga.) 1963-2021, January 09, 1964, Image 4

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Southern cross., January 09, 1964, Image 4

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Newspaper Page Textf PAGE 4—The Southern Cross, January 9, 1964 Challenge to Mankind • Learn the mysteries of the Catholic Church! How could a poor Irish boy from Boston become a prince of the church? How in his rise to power in the world of the Catholic church could he court and think he was in love with one of the world's most beautiful women? See what the Catholic church believes in childbirth! See who the Catholic church will sacrifice in child birth . . . mother or unborn child—and why! See how the Catholic church believes and treats mixed marriages—and the consequences! See what happens to one of the kindest, but not too intelligent, priests compared to a more ambitious and intelligent man! See what the cardinal of Austria did to help Hitler and the outcome! See and judge for yourself one of 1964's finest and most controversial films! The Cardinal 55 One might; expect to find the above invi tation, with its ridiculous enumeration of some of the "mysteries” of the Catholic Church, on the cover of an anti-Catholic pamphlet. But that’s not where it comes from. It is part of an advertisement appearing in Sunday’s Savannah Morning News herald ing the opening there of the motion pic ture, "The Cardinal.” Similar promises of startling revelations are also being broad cast via radio and television. When the novel, upon which the film is based, was published it received wide-spread critical acclaim and there are countless readers, including this writer, who remember it as a richly rewarding literary experience. If, as the motion picture producer main tains, the film is an accurate reflection of the Cao Dai Backs Saigon Regime By Father Patrick O’Connor Society of St. Columban SAIGON (NC)—The Cao Dai sect, which had its own armed forces up to 1955, is reor ganizing in its headquarters at Tay Ninh, about 60 miles northwest of here. Some of its former military leaders who had fled to Cambodia have re turned. So far they have shown no signs of reviving their army. The acting head of the sect, Venerable Thuong Vinh Thanh, has declared thatCaodaists will support the Military Revo lutionary Council and the Pro visional Government. He made the declaration at a celebra tion held at Tay Ninh Dec. 27, in the presence of Maj. Gen. Duong van Minh, chair man of the Military Council, and Prime Minister Nguyen van Tho. U. S. Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge, British Ambas sador R. G. A Etherington- Smith and Maj. Gen Paul D. Harkins, chief of the U. S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, flew to Tay Ninh for the occasion. During the festivities the Caodaists handed to the for eign diplomats a list of their objectives, which included the dismissal of Prime Minister Nguyen ngoc Tho, one of their honor guests. The Venerable Thanh, who as Tran quang Vinh was comman der-in-chief of the Caodaist troops 15 years ago, denounc ed the regime of the late Pre sident Diem, with whom he had seemed to be on friendly terms. He now complained of "reli gious discrimination” under the Diem government. The late President obliged the Caodaists to integrate their troops in the national army and forced those who refused to dis band or flee across the border into Cambodia. He broke the politico-military structure of the sect but never persecuted the Cao Dai religion. Cao Dai temples in Tay Ninh and else where in southern Vietnam were undisturbed and their adherents left free to worship as they chose. The Cao Dai religion dates from around 1925 and originated in some spiritist seances held in the Cholon section of Sai gon. A young minor official had been indulging in spirit ism founded the religion, into which he mixed elements of Buddhism, Confucianism, Ani mism and some Catholic ter minology. One of the early lead ers was a fallen-away Catholic. A Frenchman and his wife joined the sect. He was given the religious name of "Bro ther Gago.” Caodaism has the merit of worshiping God, whom Budd hism in its original form ig nores. A large eye is the Cao Dai symbol for God. Caodaists venerate a list of "saints” that includes Sun Yat-sen, Con fucius and Victor Hugo. They reportedly invited Sir Winston Churchill to accept a place on the roll of saints, but he de clined. The spiritual head of the Cao Dai religion is called Ho Phap, "Guardian of the Law.” His place is vacant now, the last Ho Phap having died in exile in Cambodia. French writers irritated Catholics by trans lating his title inaccurately as "Pope.” The sect now- uses Catholic words in English and French Above And Beyond Dogma God’s World As we well know, we are due for some tremendous surprises when, after death, we open our eyes upon God. The truths of faith which we have learned from books and sermons will seem ridicu lously inade quate expres sions of the reality which will smite us then. By study and by atten tive listening we feel that we have learned much about the nature of God, of grace and of (By Leo J. Trese) redemption. We have made our act of faith in the dogmas de fined for us by the Church. We know that these dogmas are true. However, we have scarce ly a glimmer of understanding of how true they are. The human mind and human vocabulary simply are incapable of expos ing the actualities which our dogmas seek to express. When we see God as He really is, the definition of God as "The self-existing, infinitely perfect spirit” will strike us as an ut ter absurdity. The catechims will seem like an infantile effort to describe the indescribable. Our first impulse will be to beg ’ •' TVV if God, "Please, Lord, let me go back and tell people what You really are like. All the years we’ve been talking about You, we’ve been saying nothing, God absolutely nothing.” And God would be constrained ■ to ans wer, "It would be quite use less, my child. What you now know cannot be put into words; and, if it could, no one would understand you.” This is not to say that our dogmas of faith are incorrect or capable of revision. That would be to fall into the heresy of Modernism, which holds that religious truth is relative, sub- continued On Page 6) cJusAce AOA^ST book, it should do very well at the box of fice—and without the aid of obnoxious ad vertisements. However, the producer apparently doubts either the artistic merit of his own work or the ability of a well-made picture concern ing a fictional church Prelate to attract the average movie-goer. For, he seems to feel it necessary to exploit ancient anti-Catholic canards and misinformation in order to draw at least those to whom the church has al ways been suspect, and who may, by this advertisement, be led to believe that they will find their deepest suspicions authori tatively confirmed. t We intend to view the film as soon as it opens. It may well be that it rates orchids. But, regardless of the film’s merits or lack of same, the producer’s publicity depart ment rates a great, big basket of onions. Canadian Leader Praises Pope John OTTAWA (NC)—Gov. Gen. George Vanier of Canada, in his New Year’s message of the Canadian people, said the late Pope John XXIII ‘‘worked a mi racle in the hearts of men.” Referring to the impetus to ward "spiritual unity” given A by Pope John, he said the Pope “dispelled the habit into which we had fallen of consid ering in our dealings with one another first our differences and then our points of agree ment.” Nuns Return To Historic Convent OLD GOA, India (NC) —The historic but long-deserted St. Monica’s convent here has been designated as an advanced training center for younger pro fessed Sisters by the women’s section of the Conference of Religious of India. Built for Augustinian nuns early in the 17th century, the convent was repaired to serve as the site of the fourth ple nary assembly of the Confer ence of Religious, presided over by Archbishop James R. Knox, Papal Internuncio to India. t New CPA Offices "JT NEW YORK (NC)—The Ca- thoiic Press Association’s na- tional headquarters have mov- ed to new offices here. The or- T| ganization is now located at 432 Park Ave. South. The tele- • • J phone number remains the same vj (Murray Hill 4-2550), James A. Doyle, executive secretary, re- (L-;. ports. Hungarian Prelate SZOMBATHELY, Hungary (NC)—Bishop Sandor Kovaks of Szombathely told his people in a New Year’s pastoral letter that while he was worried on leaving for the second session of the ecumenical council, he returned from it with great happiness. The 70-year-old prelate, who Man Must Rule Robots It Seems to Me versions of its ranks and dig nities. It calls the bizarre tem ple and grounds in Tay Ninh its "Holy See.” „Jt . ..has "monsignori” and "eminen ces.” Some of the guests at tending the Dec, 27 celebra tions were entertained to tea in the house of a lady "car dinal.” In practice, there has been a streak of anti-Catholicism in the Caodaists. This correspon dent recalls that a large group of Catholic refugees from North Vietnam, arriving in the south around Sept., 1954, were of fered shelter by the Caodaists in Tay Ninh. They went there by truck. , Disquieting reports reached Saigon, indicating that the hos pitality was like that of a de tention camp. Msgr. Joseph J. Harnett of Catholic Relief Ser vices and Father Irenaeus Mar quis, C.SS.R., went to Tay Ninh and found that the Caodaist guards would not allow the Ca tholics out to Mass. Prompt remedial action was taken, and no more Catholic refugees accepted invitations from the Caodaists, who were possibly trying to snare man power for their armed forces. With or without their own troops, they will try now to regain some of their old poli tical power. So will the smaller sect, the Hoa Hao, which also had its troops in the past— and kept some guerrillas through the years. No one can say exactly how many members these sects have. Whatever estimates their officials give are almost sure to be exaggerated. They are mi nority groups, less numerous (Continued on Page 5) A man who manufactures au tomation equipment warned the nation that automation can bring economic disaster unless there is concerted action by indus try, labor and government to solve the problems it creates. Automation said John I. Snyder, pre sident of U.S. Industries Inc., is es sential — but it presents staggering challenges which de mand "unprecedented coopera tion among all elements of the economy.” For 10 years, said Snyder, the trend has been for the num ber of working people to grow much faster than the number of jobs, and this trend is accelerating. HE HELD THAT "total so lutions” will depend upon "to tal planning directed to two ma jor ends: creation of new industries in this country; cre ation of new markets for our products.” Snyder appeared with Secre tary of Labor W. Willard Wirtz —who agreed that the situation is potentially grave — on an AFL-CIO radio program. Not long afterward, George Meany, AFL-CIO president, asked President Lyndon B. Johnson to initiate a federal JOSEPH BREIG government study of the effect of automation and technology on the economy, especially upon employment. AS LONG AGO as 1957 Pope Pius XII issued a warning that automation must not be al lowed to play havoc with human rights and freedoms, but must be made to serve those values. Pope Pius spoke to delegates of the Christian Association of Italian Workers. He called for scientific, sociological and re ligious' studies into the impact of automation on national eco nomies and on human lives. He cautioned that automation must not be permitted to move so rapidly as to cause periods of serious unemployment. FOUR YEARS LATER,Pope John XXIII, in a letter writ ten at his direction by his se cretary of state, Amleto Car dinal Cicognani, also issued a caution about the need of con trolling automation for man kind’ s good. The burden of automating in dustries, said the letter to a Canadian Social Week assem bly, should not be borne by one or another group of workers, but should be shared by all in volved, because in the long run all benefit. Pope John called for reor ganization of management- labor relations to solve the new problems which technology can create. THE LETTER SAID that in dexes of productivity must not be allowed to govern alone, but must be made subject to the moral order, safeguarding human dignity and the rights of persons and families. The immediate negative re sults of automation, Cardinal Cicognani went on, should not be borne exclusively by work ers, but should “weigh equally, or even more heavily, on in vestors of capital and, when opportune, even upon all mem bers of the political communi ty-” A PRIME point which must never be forgotten in discus sion of such problems is this: depressions do not result from inability to produce and dis tribute goods. Depressions re sult from gross dislocations caused by maldistribution of wealth. The world could be prosper ous beyond the wildest dreams of any of us, if the principles set forth in such documents as Pope John’s encyclical, Mater et Magistra, were universally followed. Some day we will have that prosperity—but not until we have learned that the human race is one family in which each member is entitled to love and care, and each member is duty bound to contribute what he is able. Greats Known Only To God Jottings “That man is a success who has lived well, laughed of ten, loved much. . .who has filled his niche and accomplished his task. . .who leaves the world better than he has found it, whe ther by an improved poppy, a perfect poem or a rescued soul . . .who looked for the best in others and gave the best he had; his memory is a benediction.” Robert Louis Stevenson * * * THE SPECTACULAR capture the headlines of a year. The famous and the bold, those who influence the world for good and evil in sensational manner mo nopolize the jumbo type and the long columns of news print and the photographs and the shouts and the jeers. But there are greats, known only to God, whose lives while heroic will never make the black headlines or the nightly news broadcasts. As Catholics and Amsricans, this has been perhaps the most important year in American Catholic history. A lesson in theology, liturgy, basic catech ism has been boomed to the By Barbara C. Jencks world datelined from our na tional capitol. Non-Catholics might well know more about the faith than some born Catholics through the readings and ex planations of the front-page re ligious news which started with the Council last Fall, reached a pitch with the death of Pope John and the election of Pope Paul and then found its thunder ing finale in the Kennedy re quiem. When before has the Catholic Church been given such universal voice as in television, radio, and magazine and news paper accounts? The meaning of our liturgy and the reason for our form and symbolism was carefully detailed for viewers and readers. Not only in pedan tic explanations of Council dis cussions in popular magazines, but in the human-hearted grief of a baby’s death and the mean ing of the Mass of the Angels, the age-old message of hope, power and glory was sounded around the world. Herein we begin to find reason for the “whys” sobbed by the m alti tudes! THE CATHOLIC this year was looked upon with new in terest by his non-Catholic friends who mourned, too, the deaths of Catholic President and Pope and who were anxious to know the meanings of the wealth that is ours in the Mass and its ceremonials. The unknown, un-named Catholic who with no extraordinary gifts of office or manner or talents is cloaked in new dignity. Today, I would like to record the words of several Catholics who will not be named as men or women of the year by the communications media but who are God’s men and women of every hour. Their words or deeds made no headlines during 1963 but they contribute to the mosaic which is the glory of the American Catholic Church. Listen to the words of a young married couple who have dedi cated a portion of their young lives to be lay missionaries in Texas as members of what they call: "Christ’s Peace Corps.” Mr. and Mrs. Roland Mer- gener were asked why they (Continued on Page 5) Recipe For Fighting Smut CHICAGO (NC)—A state of ficial here gave community ac tion and strictly legal proced ures as the recipe for success ful action in fighting obscene literature. This approach was outlined by Michael J. Howlett, state Audi tor of Public Accounts, in a talk (Jan. 8) to the Bellarmine Club, a local retreat group. Citing recent successful pro secutions against obscenity peddlers, Howlett said “We are starting to make progress against smut because we are fighting it in a legal and prop er manner.” "We couldn’t do it with vig ilantes or with the Carrie Na tion appraoch,” he said. Howlett said progress is coming about “because ordin ary citizens are protesting to enforcement authorities, de manding action, making com plaints, and supporting the au thorities when action is taken. attended both the first and se cond council sessions, said: "I shall not be misleading, but must confess that I left for the second session of the council with a certain an xiety. But I have returned to you with a joy such as I have not experienced for a long time. Village Gave Flowers MONTEMARCIANO, Italy, (NC)—The flowers decorating the altars of the basilicas at Gethsemane and Mount Tabor during Pope Paul VTs pilgri mage to the Holy Land were the gift of the people of this village, situated on the Adria tic coast. The people collected funds for the flowers and forward ed them to Father Lino Cap- piello, O.F.M., custodian of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land. By their gesture they in tended to honor the memory of a fellow citizen, Father Fer- dinando Diotallevi, O.F.M., custodian from 1918 to 1924. QUESTION BOX Q. When a person dies sud denly—as in the President’s tragic assassination — how is it that he can re ceive the last sacraments? Doesn’t one have to be conscious to be absolved from sin and anointed ? A. No sacrament can be re ceived by a person who is cer tainly dead. But when does death occur? When the heart stops beating and respiration ceases ? That the answer is far from simple should be evident to anyone who has read of the dramatic progress now being made in resusitation tech niques. IN THIS AREA one distinc tion is essential; namely that between apparent death (i.e., when the clinical signs appear) and real death (when the soul departs from the body). The for mer is also referred to as med ical death; the latter, as actual death (in the theological sense). "MEDICAL DEATH is des cribed,” according to Father Thomas J. O’Donnell in his Morals in Medicine (Newman, 1959), “as that moment when the human organism has reach ed a point of disorganization which is manifested in the ces sation of vital function and from which there is no return.” ACTUAL DEATH, on the other hand, occurs when the body begins to deteriorate. THAT THERE IS an interval between medical death and ac tual death is quite certain. How this interval is defined, however, is matter for conjec ture. Most probably, the inter val is longer, say, for those By David Q. Liptak who die suddenly, than for those who die following lengthy, de bilitating illnesses. SINCE THE SACRAMENTS were intended for man’s spir itual welfare during his so- jurn in this life, they can be administered so long as there is solid reason for believing that this can be received val idly and fruitfully. Thus, the Church allows her priests to absolve and anoint persons who are apparently dead — through these sacraments can only be given conditionally (i.e., under the condition that the subject is capable of receiving them, real death not having yet inter vened.) By the conditional ad ministration the Sacraments are safeguarded from the pos sibility of irreverence (i.e., invalidity). IN PRACTICE, the last rites (absolution and Extreme Unc tion) can be given conditional ly up to several hours after death in cases of sudden ex piration; and up to at least an hour after medical death fol lowing lingering illnesses. Q. I’m checking on a refer ence to the "Book of Nehe- mias,” which is supposed to be part of the Bible. But it isn’t listed in my Bible. Why? A. "Nehemias” is also known as II Esdras.” The title "es- dras” derives from the name of the Hebrew priest who led a band of exiles back to Jeru salem after the Exile in Baby lon. "Nehemias” is named for a governor of Juda after the Babylonian Captivity. Either is acceptable. 5HJ The Southern Cross Vol. 44 P. O. BOX 180. SAVANNAH. GA. Thursday, January 9, 1964 No. 26 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