Newspaper Page Text
Obscenity-Censorship
Controversy Heightened
OFFICERS FOR CURRENT YEAR. Msgr. George Shea (second from right), rector of
Immaculate Conception Seminary, Darlingtcn, N. J., is the new president of the Mariologi-
cal Society of America. Other officers were reelected. They are, left to right: Father
Armand Robichaud, S.J., Framingham Centre, Mass., treasurer; Father William G. Most,
Loras College, Davenport, Iowa, vice president; Msgr. Shea; and Father Juniper Carol,
O.F.M., St. Bonaventure monastery, Paterson, N.J., secretary. Mariology is the science
which treats of the Blessed Virgin Mary from the viewpoints of history, theology and
devotion. (NC Photos)
JOTTINGS -
By Russell Shaw
(N.C.W.C. News Service)
Recent developments in four
widely separated courts have
suddenly sharpened the long
standing controversy over ob
scenity and censorship.
Coming within less than a
month, these developments have
focused attention on two major
issues:
1) What standards of decency
—local or national—are to be
used in deciding the question
of obscenity in a court of law?
2) Is anything besides “hard
core pornography” legally ob
scene?
The four courts whose actions
have once again projected the
obscenity problem into the spot
light are Federal district courts
in Philadelphia and Grand Ra
pids, Mich., the New Jersey
Supreme Court, and the U. S.
Supreme Court.
Here briefly is what they did;
In Philadelphia a Federal dis
trict Judge sentenced New York
publisher Ralph Ginzburg to five
years in jail for mailing obscene
literature. He also fined Ginz
burg and three of his publishing
operations a total of $42,000.
The publishing ventures are a
quarterly magazine called
Eros, a “newsletter” and Doc
umentary Books, Inc., distribu
tor of a book called' ‘The House
wife's Handbook on Selective
Promiscuity.”
In Grand Rapids, Mich., ano
ther Federal district judge gave
Sanford E. Aday, secretary of
the West Coast News Company,
Fresno, Calif., a 25-year jail
term and a $25,000 fine. Wal
lace de Ortega Maxey, com
pany president, was sentenced
to 15 years and fined $19,000.
The two men were found guilty
of distributing an obscene book
by mail and common carrier.
The jail terms and fines for
Ginzburg, Aday and Maxey are
among the heaviest in memory
in obscenity cases (all have in
dicated their intention of ap
pealing). They have been greet
ed with enthusiasm by those who
advocate tougher enforcement
and stiffer penalties in this
area.
But a different emphasis ap
peared in the actions of the New
Jerse y and U. S. Supreme
Courts.
The New Jersey court on Dec.
16 ordered a new trial for the
Hudson County News Company
and a subsidiary. Hudson County
News has been found guilty of
distributing 23 obscene maga
zines.
In ordering a new trial for
the distributing firm, the state
high court held that the jury
had been “wrongly allowed” to
believe that it could apply local
standards of decency in decid
ing whether or not the maga
zines were obscene.
On the contrary, the court
said, the model penal code
“clearly leaves the impression
that a national community stan
dard should be applied rather
than a state or local one.”
On the same day, Dec. 16,
that the New Jersey court was
handing down its ruling, the
U. S. Supreme Court took two
significant actions in this area.
First, it let stand a ruling
by the Court of California that
the controversial novel' ‘Tropic
of Cancer” by Henry Miller is
not legally obscene. The Cali
fornia court had strongly sug
gested that only “hard core
pornography” can be banned by
law, and had held that ' 'Tropic
of Cancer” is not in this cate
gory.
Second, the high court sent
back to the Los Angeles County
Supreior Court’s Appellate De
partment the case of a book
seller who had been sentenced
to 30 days in jail for selling,
“Tropic.” The high court di
rected “further consideration
(of the case) in light of” the
state Supreme Court’s finding
that the book is not obscene.
The high court thus disposed
in one blow of two cases in
volving “Tropic of Cancer.”
But by Jan. 6, when it returned
from its Christmas and New
Year’s holidays, it found itself
confronted by yet another.
This is an appeal by Grove
Press, the New York publish
ing company that broke the long
standing U. S. ban on the book
by issuing it in 1961, from Flo
rida court rulings banning
“Tropic” in Dade County (Mi
ami).
In its appeal Grove Press
specifically raises the “hard
core pornograpgy” and “com
munity standards” issues. Stu
dents of the law in this field
know that there is good reason
for it to do so.
The key lies in a five-and-
a-half-year-old “test” for ob
scenity established by the U.S.
Supreme Court itself in the
landmark Roth-Alberts rulings
of 1957. This is the “test: ”
“Whether to the average per
son, applying contemporary
community standards, the dom
inant theme of the material
taken as a whole appeals to
prurient interest.”
These 23 words have proved
a fascinating text for inter
pretation by lawyers, judges and
others. In pressing the “hard
core pornography” and “com
munity standards” questions in
the court, Grove Press is rais
ing key issues which, many
would agree, stand in need of
clarification.
The idea that only' 'hard core
pronography” can be banned by
law is not a new one. It dates
back at least to another pas
sage in the high court’s 1957
decision, where obscenity was
described as being “utterly
without redeeming social im
portance.”
From this it is argued that
if a work has some “social
importance,” by definition it
cannot be obscene. A corollary
is that only 1 ‘hard core porno
graphy” can be proscribed by
law.
But what is * ‘hard core por
nography?” To many the term
looks more useful as a des
criptive phrase than a legal
term. This was perhaps the
feeling of the author of the New
Jersey Supreme Court’s recent
ruling, which read: “We have
concluded that in the absence
of any substantial concurrence
as to the meaning of this term
('hard core pornography’), its
adoption by us at this time
would not increase clarity or
certainty in the law of obscen
ity.”
Equally a problem is the
meaning of “comtenporary
community standards.” Are
these to be local or national?
In its appeal to the high court,
Grove Press contends that if
each locality is left to apply
its own standards, it will lead
to “the First Amendment’s
blanket of freedom of expres
sion becoming a crazy-quilt
sewn by myriad local censors’
hands.”
But if national standards are
to prevail, who is to decide what
they are? Is there a genuine
national consensus in matters
of decency? Might not the at
tempt to establish uniformity
lead to the rule of the lowest
common denominator?
The Supreme Court has sche
duled for the week of March 31
oral arguments in two cases that
could provide some of the an
swers to these and other ques
tions.
One case, from Kansas, in
volves a court order for the
destruction of 31 allegedly ob
scene books. The other, from
Ohio, involves the conviction of
a theater manager for posses-
sin and exhibiting an allegedly
obscene movie.
The Supreme Court went out
of its way to direct that the two
cases be argued back-to-back.
To court observers this sug
gests that the justices are at
least contemplating a major
effort to make clear their think
ing on obscenity and free
speech.
But whether that is really
what they have in mind—and
whether they will succeed—
only time will tell.
UNITY-
(Continued From Page 1)
agoras do not overcome the
immense difficulties standing in
the way of unity.
“Yet the climate is changed,
and for the good,” another
spokesman said. “Two great
religious leaders have met and
set an example for all the lead
ers of Christendom. For in
stance, on Epiphany, Antonion
Cardinal Caggiano of Buenos
Aires visited the Greek and
Russian Orthodox churches in
the Argentine capital. The walls
of separation have by no means
crumbled. But at least now they
don’t look as high as they did
before.
For Wedding Invitations
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The Acme Press
1201 LINCOLN STREET
PHONE 232 6397
(Continued From Page 4)
val. The Jesuit critic said that
alas the problem will rise time
and again as often as the Ca
tholic Book Club selects a book
that dares portray characters
who win. “Shoes of the Fisher
man” was not as profic
as Devil’s Advocate” and
there are many great moments
in it. The book was perfectly
timed, coming as it did at the
Interregnum. Amid public anti
cipation and interest of the
papal election all was poetically
echoed in West’s pages.His se
quence on the Conclave of Car
dinals constitutes his most
masterful writing. There are
passages we would quote which
show the natural-supernatural
union that personifies much of
West’s writings and which
claim my admiration.
Read this meditation on the
papacy by the fiction charac
ter which is chosen by his
fellow cardinals:
“The Papacy is the most
MUNICH, Germany (NC) —
The Soviet government has
started a new crackdown on re
ligion because of the increasing
spread of religious convictions
in the Soviet Union, according
to an analysis made here by
the Institute for the Study of
the USSR.
Valery M. Albert, a Ukran-
ian-born journalist, made the
analysis for the institute, which
lists itself as “a free corpora
tion of scholars who have left
the Soviet Union.
Albert says that unlike ear
lier drives against religion “the
present campaign has obliged
the Soviet authorities to admit
that religious convictions not
only are extremely widespread
among all sections of the Soviet
population, including the Party
and the Komsomol (YoungCom
munist League), but that they
exhibit a tendency to spread
further and further.”
Drawing heavily on articles
in Soviet publications, Albert
says there has been an increase
in the Soviet Union in religious
festivals and in the number of
families going to church, and
that there have even been
reported cases of christenings
in the families of Communist
party members.
(The Herald Tribune News
Service reported that at a meet
ing (Jan. 7) of the Council of
Ministers of the Russian Feder
ation there was unanimous sup
port for creation of a special
commission aimed at “creating
new civil ceremonies of all
kinds,” presumably including
christenings and weddings.)
Albert says that according to
the Soviet press the antirelig
ious activity has increased
since June. Quoting from the an
tireligious journal Nauka i Re-
ligiya (Science and Religion),
he says: “In villages, schools,
clubs and libraries, atheism
corners have appeared, more
lectures on scientific atheism
are being given,” and “leading
doctors and journalists are be
ing recruited to give lectures.”
' ‘Scientific atheistic propa
ganda and agitation are official
ly acknowledged to be the ba
sic methods of combating re
ligion in the USSR,” Albert
continues, and the former
practice of contending with re
ligion through such measures
as closing churches has been
judged fruitless.
He notes that the Science and
Religion journal says that
“antireligious propaganda
should consist primarily of po
litical and scientific views.”
“This does not mean,” he
explains, “that such propagan
da is a new method which will
ensure a quick victory for the
paradoxical office in the world;
the most absolute and yet the
most limited; the richest in re
venues but the poorest in per
sonal return. It was founded
by a Nazarene carpenter who
owned no place to rest His head,
yet it is surrounded by more
pomp and panoply than is seemly
in this hungry world. It owns
no frontiers, yet is subject al
ways to national intrigue and
partisan pressure. The man who
accepts it claims divine guar
antee against error, yet is less
assured of salvation that the
meanest of his subjects. The
Keys of the Kingdom dangle at
his belt, yet he can find him
self locked out forever from the
Peace of Election and the Com
munion of Saints. If he says he
is not tempted by autocracy and
ambition, he is a liar. If he
does not walk sometimes in
terror, and pray often in dark
ness, then he is a fool.”
“Those who need us most
are those who are bowed the
regime, which both in theory
and in practice has always been
the implacable enemy of relig
ion.
“Inside the country there has
been a constant open war on
religion by a variety of me
thods, but antireligious propa
ganda was never relaxed, even
though it was ineffective or had
results which were the opposite
of those intended. The Soviet
press shows that this situation
has not altered.”
Referring to the clergy, Al
bert says that “Soviet propa
ganda can no longer conceal the
fact that the cultural level and
political awareness of most of
the clergy are very high.”
He states that, according to
the Science and Religion jour
nal, “the efforts of the theolo
gians are now directed toward
showing . . . the compatibility
of science and religion, the
possibility and the expediency of
their peaceful coexistence.”
He points out further that in
some cases the clergy have ac
tually used communist instruc
tion sessions to further the
cause of religion. “Some
preachers are reported to be the
best orators in their respective
neighborhoods,” he states,
“and some of them, to gain
the experience which they need
to expose atheistic propaganda,
have attended propaganda cour
ses for the party and Komso
mol political circles for
years.”
Albert says that while in some
cases local authorities in the
Soviet Union have restored to
“administrative excesses,”
such as razing churches, moth
ers they have been known to as
sist churches.
“At one time, in 1962, for in
stance, Moscow churches were
short of candles,” he says.
“Soon two containers of can
dles arrived from the Lvov City
Indiustrial Combine. This was
a joint effort by responsible of
ficials in charge of goods
belonging to the state and the
transportation authorities.”
He then gives this quotation
from the Science and Religion
journal: “In recent years many
new buildings used for religious
purposes have been erected in
Tadzhikistan without official
permission. Nor was it done
without the assistance of collec
tive farms, which allotted men,
for the construction.”
Albert concludes his analysis
as follows: ‘ ‘Thus, all the ef
forts which have been made by
the Soviet government during
its entire existence to eradicate
religion seem to have been in
vain. Indeed, it appears to be
further from realizing this aim
now than it was at the beginning.
lowest under the burden of exis
tence—whose life is a daily
struggle for simple sustenance,
who lack talent and opportunity,
who live in fear of officials and
tax-gatherers and debt collec
tors, so that they have no time
and hardly any strength to spend
on the care of their souls. Their
whole life becomes a creeping
despair. . . if it were not for
the infinite knowledge and the
infinite mercy of God, I, too,
could easily despair.”
•if. if. If.
“I TRIED to show her that
to reject the joy of living is to
insult Him who provides it, and
who gave us the gift of laughter
along with the gift of tears. . .
“No two people come to God
by the same road. There are
very, very few who reach Him
without stumbling and falling.
There are seeds that grow a long
time in darkness before they
push up shoots into the sun . . .
There are others that come to
the light at one thrust in a
single day. . . You are in dark
ness now, but if you want the
light you will come to it in time
. The human soul, you see,
meets barriers that it must
cross, and they are not always
crossed at one stride. The
direction in which the soul tra
vels is the important thing. If
it travels away from itself, then
it must ultimately come to God.
If it turns back upon itself,
this is a course of suicide, be
cause without God things are
nothing. . . Everything, there
fore, that urges you to an out
ward growth—service, love, the
simplest interest in the world—
can be a step towards Him. ..”
if if if
' ‘Man is one name belonging
to every nation upon earth. In
them all is one soul though
many tongues. Every country
has its own language, yet the
subjects of which the untutored
soul speaks, are the same
everywhere.”
* * *
“ Then you will understand
something else. That the taking
and the demanding is only one
side of the medal of love. The
giving is the side that proves
the true minting. If I took
I should have nothing to give.
If I gave, the giving renewed
the resource, and it was this
that had kept me whole for
seventeen years of imprison
ment. . . ”
And what writer in our time
has sounded such as this?
Anniversary—
(Continued From Page 1)
the U.S.O. National Council.
Monsignor McNamara was a
co-organizer and the first
Chairman of the Catholic Com
mittee of the South and has ser
ved as a member on the Georgia
committee of the President’s
Commission on Civil Rights.
He has been a speaker on
the National Catholic hour,
produced by the National Broad
casting Company, and on the
Church of the Air, a C. B. S.
Network production. An author
of magazine articles on Educa
tion, Labor Relations, and Race
Relations, he has spoken on
these subjects before National,
State, Regional and local bod
ies.
Among the local organiza
tions Monsgnor Me Namarahas
served are Historic Savannah
Foundation, Inc.; Chatham Sa
vannah Tuberculosis and Health
Association; Chatham-Savan-
nah Mental Health Association
and First District Chapter
of the Georgia Division of the
American Cancer Society.
DESBOUILLONS
Savannah’s y\j
Leading /
Bridal Stord
SINCE 1870
AD 2-1145
126 E. Broughton St.
Savannah, Georgia
INDIA: A HOUSE FOR THE PRIEST?
If a pastor in this country could build a rectory for $1,000,
he’d thank his lucky stars. In India, however, where a rectory
can be built for $1,000. FATHER
GEORGE MALIEKAL lives in a
miserable shack because his parish
ioners can provide nothing better
... In ETTUMANUR, where FA
3 THER GEORGE is pastor, $1,000 is
C- w the total yearly income of all 140
Catholic families combined. The
average income per family in India
is only $70 a year—less than $1.35
a week! How can the Catholics in
ETTUMANUR build a rectory with-
Tbe Holy Father’s Mission Aid out someone’s help? . . . Perhaps
for the Oriental Church you’d like to help build a plain,
simple, functional, rectory. It would be a superb mission mem
orial to someone you love. Please write to us.
CONGRATULATIONS!
Did you see the Christmas articles about the Holy Land in
Time and The National Geographic Magazine? To both publi
cations we say Hearty Congratulations! . . . Time's article about
archeological excavations in the Holy Land, and the The Na
tional Geographic’s illustrated description of the sacred icons
in the 1,400-year-old Monastery of St. Catherine (near the place
where God gave Moses the Ten Commandments) made Bible
History come to life . . . The life of the Church in the Holy
Land today depends on young men and women who Want to
become priests and Sisters. Seminarians like GEORGES
KHOURY and novices (Sisters-to-be) like SISTER MARY PA
TRICIA need financial help to finish their education. A semina
rian needs $100 a year ($600 altogether for the six-year course),
and a novice needs $150 a year ($300 altogether for the two-
year course). Would you like to “adopt” one of these? Please
write to us.
WAYS TO HELP OUR WORK
1. Have a Mass or novena of Masses said.
2. Take out a membership. $1 a year for a single per
son. $5 for a family. Perpetual membership is $20
for a single person; $100 for a family.
3. Send a STRINGLESS GIFT which enables us to
meet immediate needs.
4. Give a Sacred Article for a church or chapel.
Mass Kit . . .
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Chalice . .
. .$40
Stations
$25
Altar
75
Ciborium . .
40
Censer ....
20
Vestments
. 50
Statue
30
Sanc’y Lamp
\ . 15
Confessional
. 50
Tabernacle
25
Altar Linens .
.. 15
Monstrance
40
Crucifix . .
25
Sanc’y Bell
. . 5
IF YOU HEARD A CHILD CRY FOR FOOD you’d help im
mediately. Pope Paul in his Christmas message said: ‘‘The first
(problem) is hunger . . . more than half of the human race has not
enough food. Entire generations of children are dying or suf
fering because of indescribable poverty.” . . . You can share
your good fortune by sending a $10 FOOD PACKAGE to a
PALESTINE REFUGEE FAMILY.
Kindly remember the CATHOLIC NEAR EAST WELFARE
ASSOCIATION in your will. Your good work will go marching
on, winning grace for you.
Dear Monsignor Ryan:
Enclosed pleace find ...... for
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Street
City Zone .. State
(MiUcar tiast (Missions \m\
FRANCIS CARDINAL SPELLMAN, President
Msgr. Joseph T. Ryoa, Not’l Sec’y
Send all communications to:
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480 Lexington Ave. of 46th St. New York 17, N. Y.
New Drive Reported
Against Religion
In Soviet Union
The Southern Cross, January 16, 1964—PAGE 5
Observer Says
No Setback
To Ecumenism
CHICAGO (NC)—Failure of
the Vatican council’s second
session to act on statements
about Jewish-Catholic relations
and religious liberty was not a
setback for ecumenism, the
head of the Chicago Theological
Seminary said here.
Dr. Howard Schomer, who at
tended the council as an al
ternate observer for the Inter-
n a t i o n a 1 Congregatinal
Church, gave this opinion in
sepaking to the winter convoca
tion of the seminary (Jan. 6).
Noting that the two state
ments, which are the fourth and
fifth chapters in the schema on
ecumenism, were not discussed
item-by-item or discussed by a
general vote, Schomer said
newspapers have pictured this
as “a major setback” for the
ecumenical movement.
“Actually,” he said, “these
items of special positive con
cern to the Western democra
tic peoples and sources of some
anxiety to the Middle East
erners and some Latin-country
bishops are no more rejected
than lots of other proposals
which got a brief look from the
council and then were tabled
for the next session.
He said that both statements
are in a “privileged position”
for the next session and it is
clear that only lack of time
prevented their consideration.
If the ecumenism document
is adopted, he said, it would
improve the quality of Catholic
realtions with other Christians
and with society “beyond any
thing which has ever been known
officially in any earlier time.”
Yet, he said, despite its pro
mise, the document “falls so
far below what we have already
experienced in personal rela
tions and much of what we heard
from the lips of bishops and in
deed of the Holy Father him
self in the great Basilica of
St. Peter’s.”
He noted that one Protestant
observer suggested to council
officials that the document’s
description of respective
church positions and of the
forms of encounter may be out
dated in another five years.
Schomer also said the coun
cil’s decree on liturgical chan
ges could not be passed off as
something of only internal sig
nificance to Catholics.
He said that, on the contrary,
he believes it offers Protestant
theologians “a tremendous en
couragement to ecumenical ra-
prochement at the vital center
of all Christian life.”
He also said that he expects
MARRIAGES
HEINBACH-SHURLEY
AUGUSTA—Miss Rose Mary
Shurley, daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. Harry Augustine Shurley,
Sr., became the bride of Mr.
Jerome Walter Heinbach Jan
uary 11th at Sacred Heart
Church. The Very Reverend
Felix Donnelly performed the
ceremony. Mr. Heinbach, of Ft.
Gordon, is the son of Mrs. Ve
ronica Heinbach and the late Mr.
Walter Heinbach, of Allentown,
Pennsylvania.
TRAVERS-FIKES
SAVANNAH — Miss Sandra
Dale Fikes, daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. Thomas E. Fikes Sr., be
came the bride of Gerard W.
Travers, son of Mr. and Mrs.
Walter F. Travers of Walpole,
Mass., December 27th at the
Nativity of Our Lord Church in
Thunderbolt. The Reverend
Robert Teoli celebrated the
nuptial mass.
CULBERTSON-CALHOUN
COLUMBUS — Miss Ger
maine Pauline Calhoun, daugh
ter of Mr. and Mrs. Ira Beno
Calhoun Jr., became the bride
of James Blair Culbertson of
Laurens, S. C., and Fayette
ville, N. C., January 4th at
The Church of the Holy Fam
ily. The groom is the son of
Mr. and Mrs. Authur Benjamin
Culbertson of Laurens. The
Reverend Arthur Welzer per
formed the marriage ceremony.
it will have “ an immense
attractive power on vast num
bers of nominal Protestants”
because it makes readily acces
sible through the vernacular
“the full spiritual power, the
beauty and the logic of Catho
lic worship.”
Previously, he said, these
were enveloped “in what appear
to non-Catholics to be unintel
ligible and unimportant Latin
complications.”
The Chicago seminary will
hold a dialogue session on Jan.
29 climaxing its 33rd annual
Ministers’ Week. Albert Car
dinal Meyer, Archbishop of Chi
cago, and Dr. Douglas Horton,
the International Congrega
tional Council’s observer in
Rome, will be featured.
Schomer paid high tribute to
the late Father Gustave Weigel,
S.J., one of the U. S. Church’s
most active representatives
in the ecumenical movement, as
“an exhilarating partner”
in the interfaith dialogue” and a
“true comrade on the ecumeni
cal battlefront.”
St. Louis Holy
Name To Admit
Non-Catholics
ST. LOUIS (NC) — The
St. Louis Archdiocesan Holy
Name Union has voted to admit
non-Catholics to membership.
The action, unprecedented in
the society’s history,
was approved by Joseph Car
dinal Ritter, Archbishop of St.
Louis. The society here will
invite non-Catholics to become
associate members, but they
will not be eligible to hold
office. There are 152 HNS bran
ches in the St. Louis archdio
cese.
The society here will also
redraft its 65-year-old com
mittee structure in favor of a
contemporary program align
ment similar to that of the
National Council of Catholic
Men.
The changes were approved
by a seven-member committee
after a two-year study of pro
posals.
A Georgian, Dr. Crawford
W. Long, first discovered and
demonstrated the use of ether
for anesthetic purposes in sur
gical operations, in 1842, Jef
ferson.
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