Newspaper Page Text
V
PAGE 4—The Southern Cross, March 12, 1964
Goa's Guardian
Sudan Persecution
One year ago Father Anthony Todesco
U. S. Provincial of the Verona Fathers warn
ed that Moslem government of the Sudan had
embarked on a path of anti-Christian perse
cution closely paralleling that of the Arab
conquerors in the early days of Islam.
He declared that unless repressive mea
sures taken by the government in the pre
dominately Moslem North against the pre
dominately Negro Christian and pagan South
were lifted, Christianity could not survive
there. He warned that Sudanese Arabs were
following the historical Path of Islamization
which would inevitably include the compelled
conversion of the vast majority of the popu
lation of 'the Mohammedan religion.
Last week the Moslem authorities an
nounced their intention of expelling all re
maining Christian missionaries, and the
words of Father Todesco now sound as a re
buke to the governments of the free world,
which have thus far turned a deaf ear to
the pleas of Sudan’s Christian population,
presently fleeing the country in large num
bers. According to reliable reports many
have been killed in their attempts to escape
persecution.
Said Father Todesco, "We hope that hidden
political reasons and interests may not
prevent the free world from finding the just
way to defend the human rights of the southern
Sudanese people.
“They deserve our help and our support.”
They have not received it. Not from the
United States or any nation in the free world,
and not from the United Nations, whose mem
ber nations are pledged by the Charter to
Freedom or Religion.
Today, ayear after Father Todesco’s warn
ings and pleas, missionaries are forbidden to
assist the sick, give food to the hungry, help
the poor, bles s the dying and bury the dead.
Christian education is forbidden by law.
Last year the SOUTHERN CROSS and num
erous other Catholic periodicals called for
U. S. and U. N. pressure to halt the anti-
Christian activities of the Sudan govern
ment. THE SOUTHERN CROSS even went so
far as to request Senator Herman Talmadge
to bring those activities forcibly to the at
tention of the United States Senate.
But, while the United States Government*
concerned itself very forcefully in the alle
ged anti-Buddhist persecutions of the Diem
regime in South Vietnam, and while the United
Nations has been loud in its denunciation of
racial persecution in various areas of the
world, to this day the Christians of Sudan
are without a champion. And they will remain
without one unless and until the American
people take the time and effort to demand,
through their elected officials in the Federal
government and through their representative
at the United Nations that the human rights
of the Christian people of Sudan be made the
immediate subject of immediate action by
the world organization.
As for our own government, it might start
applying toward the Moslem persecutors
of Sudan some of the economic pressure it
brought to bear against the government of
South Vietnam - not after years of well docu
mented acts of brutal repression, arbitrary
imprisonment and systematic expropriation
- but merely after denunciations and demon
strations which subsequent events have re
vealed as nothing more than the tools of
political revolt.
U. S. State Department
And Pope Pius XII
(By J. J. Gilbert)
WASHINGTON—The govern
ment of the United states, as a
matter of policy, refrains from
protesting officially to Moscow
over the persecution of Jews in
Russia.
This is an interesting revela
tion at this time, when the
highly controversial stage play
“The Deputy” has been brought
to this country. The play seeks
to put Pope Pius XII in an un
favorable light by indicating
that he did not protest as much
as he might have over the per
secution of Jews in Germany
under Hitler. Authorities on the
subject have replied that if the
late pontiff had done any more
than he did, he would only have
spread and deepened the suf
ferings of the Jews in Germany
at the hands of the nazis.
Sen. Kenneth B. Keating of
New Y ork revealed on the floor
of the U. S. Senate that he had
received from the State Depart
ment a memorandum on the
“Situation of the Jews in the
Soviet Union.” He introduced
the document into the Congres
sional record.
The memorandum says that
Jews, along with others, suffer
under antireligious laws that
have been in force since the
establishment of the Soviet re
gime in Russia in 1918. Citing
some particulars, it adds that,
in the case of the Jews, these
pressures “prevent the normal
maintenance and development of
their religious, social and
cultural life.”
“Regarding possible reme
dial action on behalf of Soviet
Jews by the United States gov
ernment through diplomatic
channels,” the State Depart
ment says, “the department
continues to believe that formal
United States government re
presentations to the Soviet gov
ernment would not be in the best
.interests of Soviet Jews. These
representations could in fact
antagonize the Soviet govern
ment to he detriment of Soviet
Jews.
“In the past, the Soviet gov
ernment has often accused So
viet Jews of susceptibility
to subversive foreign influen
ces and of being agents of for
eign states, most particularly
of the United States and Israel.
It would hardly be to the inter
est of Soviet Jews for the Unit
ed States to take actions which
would seem to lend credence to
this charge. Formal actions by
the U. S. government or its of
ficial representatives could
have this unfortunate result and
also lose in effectiveness be
cause of the tendency in many
areas to dismiss U. S. moves
involving the Soviet Union as
motivated primarily by cold war
considerations.”
“Where feasible,” says the
department, “the United States
government can and does sup
port moves designed to bring
about an improvement in the lot
of Soviet Jewry, reduce the ne
gative pressures on their re
ligious life, and restore their
opportunity to enjoy their rich
cultural heritage. The situation
of the Jews and other minorities
in the Soviet Union is a subject
of continuing concern to the
United States government.
Within the inherent limitations
mentioned above, the depart
ment will continue to work for
an improvement in the life of
the Jewish people of the Soviet
Union.”
What the State Department
says is that seasoned diplomats
know that there are times when
it would be beneficial to act,
times when it would not; that
there are moves which are ben
eficial in some circumstances,
harmful in others. Pope Pius
XII was one of the greatest
diplomats of our times, it can
be seen in the light of these
circumstances. — (N.C.W.C.
News Service)
“Sins Of Envy And Jealousy
God’s World
There are few sins as spiri
tually corrosive as are envy
and jealousy. They are breaches
of charity to which no one is
immune.
Envy is the sin by which I be
grudge to an
other some
thing which
he possesses
and which I
do not pos
sess. I wish
that I had the
article ra
ther than he.
Or, if I cannot hope to have the
article, I still wish that he did
not have it. I may envy my
neighbor his newer car or his
larger home or his better job.
If a woman, 1 may envy another
her more modish clothes, her
expensive grooming, her better
education or her ability to con
duct a meeting. I even may envy
a person his greater virtue.
There is no end to the things
or qualities which may inspire
envy.
Plainly it is not a sin to wish
that I had a car like the other
man’s, or a dress like the other
woman’s, or a brain like the
other person’s. The essential
evil of envy consists in the
resentment that the other per
son should be better off than I,
and in the desire that he be
deprived of what he has even if
I cannot have it. Envy will be a
grave sin if I seriously desire
that another be deprived of
something which to him is of
considerable value.
(By Leo J. Trese)
Envy is concerned with
things. Jealousy is concerned
with love and affection. By the
sin of jealousy I begrudge the
love or friendship which another
person is receiving. A man may
be so jealous of his wife as to
sulk if another man speaks
pleasantly to her. Similarly a
woman may burn inwardly if
another female smiles at her
husband. Parents may be
jealous of each other, too, with
respect to their children’s love,
and may foolishly compete for
the children’s affection. What
is worse, one parent may re
sent the love which the other
spouse gives to children.
Of all the forms of jealousy,
marital jealousy is the most
pernicious. The happiness of
countless marriages has been
ruined by the unfounded jeal
ousy and suspicions of husband
or wife.
Jealousy is not limited to the
marital state, however. A man
may be jealous of a neighbor who
is more popular than himself.
A girl may be jealous of a fel
low-worker who is better liked
by the rest of the office force.
The Altar Society president may
be jealous of the Rosary Society
president because it is the lat
ter whom the pastor most often
consults. Jealousy has many
faces—and all the faces are ug
ly.
Jealousy is more likely to be
a grave sin than is envy because
the effects of jealousy are
Cruelty In “The Deputy”
It Seems to Me
As written by Rolf Hochhuth,
the play “The Deputy” strikes
me as morally repelent because
it is heartless. It is an inhuman
piece of character assassina
tion. It has no feeling for the
other fellow
and his rights
—. the other
fellow being, in
this case, Pope
Pius XII, and
by extension
all Catholics
and all who ad
mired him.
“The Dep
uty” is cruel, even if thought
lessly and unintentionally so. I
am not in favor of picketing the
aters, and certainly not of mak
ing disturbances inside; but it
is understandable that the blood
pressure of some people has
been raised by this unfair car
icaturing of a man whose life
and every word were inspira
tions, and out of whose eyes
holiness shone.
TO SUGGEST that Pius XII
made a tragic mistake in judg
ing that public denunciations of
Hitler would do no good, and
would only goad that madman
into more and more atrocities
against Jews and others—that is
one good thing.
That (although I disagree) is
a tenable hypothesis which, in
skilled hands, could be the stuff
JOSEPH BREIG
of deeply moving drama. But to
attribute low and wicked mo
tives to a person like Pius XII
is to step outside the bounds
of common consideration for a
fellowman.
I get the feeling that Hoch
huth, no doubt subconsciously,
makes Pius XII the scapegoat
for German guilt. I can see how
this could happen and I can re
alize that it might have its or
igins in something admirable in
Hochhuth’s character—that is,
a desire to defend his people.
HE WAS ONLY A boy when
the war ended. He bore no per
sonal guilt. As the years went
along, and he heard and read
the German self-accusations
and the reproaches from out
side, perhaps a vague and form
less resentment arose in him.
Possibly he felt a sense of
Germany’s being morally bul
lied, and in loyalty wanted to
come to the rescue; to cry out
that not all the guilt lay in his
country.
I do not, of course, know
whether this was the case. I am
speculating about Hochhuth’s
deepest motives, which even he
may well be unable to analyze
at all clearly. And I am saying
that probably the motives were
good. But “TheDeputy” is inde
fensible precisely because it
judges—and judges arbitrarily
usually much more harmful. If
my jealousy is such that it de
stroys my peace of mind or
seriously disturbs the happi
ness of others, then very pro
bably my jealousy is a mortal
sin.
In these matters of envy and
jealousy, as in other areas of
moral behavior, temptations
must not be confused with sin.
Even the best of us may at times
feel a little twinge of resent
ment at someone else’s good
fortune or popularity. This
‘‘twinge” becomes a sin only if
we continue willingly to harbor
the resentment and make no ef
fort to dismiss our bitter
thoughts.
Envy and jealousy in their
extreme forms can be signs of
a serious emotional disorder.
An individual whose personal
wants are few and simple is an
emotionally healthy person. On
the contrary, one who must de
pend upon * ’things” to give him
self status is suffering from
some form of emotional inse
curity.
Likewise the person who is
content with himself as he is and
who has what the psychologists
call a “positive” feeling to
wards himself is happy with
what friends he has. He is will
ing, too, to share his friends
with others. It is the person
with deep-seated feelings of in
security who feels a hunger for
popularity, or who cannot bear
to share his loves, even to a
small degree, with others.
Ireland And America
Jottings
I rise today between the forc
es of heaven and earth,
the light of the sun
the splendor of the moon.
I protect myself today from:
The snares of the devil
temptation and sin
everyone who wills me ill
be they far or near
be I alone or in the crowd
May Christ be with me!
May Christ be in me!
Christ behind me, Christ be
fore me
Christ to comfort and restore
me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in dan
ger.
St. Patrick’s Breast Plate
* * *
SINCE LAST ST. PATRICK’S
DAY, I have trod again the old
streets of Dublintown and seen
the green hills of my beloved
Ireland. All is well with the
fair land! In fact, things have
never been better in the ould,
country. Nothing has ever been
wrong with the spiritual account
of this right-little island but now
By Barbara C, Jencks
her bankbook is expanding. She
has a new poise and confidence
these days, too. This in no little
way is traced back, in part, to
the joyous homecoming last
June of President Kennedy. His
visit was one which from the
time of his election the people
of Ireland had hoped would take
place. To the admiration of the
Irish for Kennedy himself was
added the esteem with which our
nation has been held by the
Irish nation during the troubled
times of the 18th and 19th cen
turies. The Irish people saw
in the presence of Kennedy on
Irish soil, his ancestral soil,
the culmination of their history.
President DeValera said: “We
welcome you also, Mr. Presi
dent, as the representative of
that great country in which
our people sought refuge when
the misery of tyrant laws drove
them from the motherland and
found a home in which they and
their descendants prospered,
won distinction and gave devoted
service in return.” Kennedy
responded: “I am glad to be here
because this island still fulfills
CCD Classes
DAYTON, Ohio (NC)—Gen. a.
Pflaum, Publisher, Inc., has
announced it will issue weekly
beginning this fall anew student
periodical, called “Witness,”
for students in Confraternity of
and harshly—the motives of
Pius XII.
“THE DEPUTY” is a morally
bad play because it is, in the
exact meaning of the word, un
charitable. There is no love in
it for the Deputy or Vicar of
Christ as a human being, as a
fellowman. It does not have what
all art should have—a patriot
ism about the family of man
kind, issuing a desire to give
each member of it at very least
the benefit of the doubt. Surely
Pius XII was entitled to that
much.
As I said, I am speaking of
“The Deputy” as written, I have
not seen the play, but I have
read hundreds of thousands of
words about it, including a de
tailed scene-by-scene descrip
tion of the script for the Broad
way production. And I repeat
that as written by Hochhuth, the
play is a piece of unfeeling and
terribly unfair character as
sassination.
As life unfolds for Rolf Hoch-
huthi he will come to realize
that loading the blame on scape
goats is no good. The guilt for
the most incredible wicked
ness loosed in Europe under
Hitler—and mainly against the
Jews—lies on all of us, as
does the burden of what was
done to another Jew, to the
vicar’s Christ, 19 centuries
ago.
Christian Doctrine seventh,
eighth and ninth grade classes.
“ ‘Witness’ focuses on the
Faith as something alive and
intensely practical,” the com
pany said.
“It focuses on the liturgy as a
reliving of Christ’s life; on
Scripture as a communication of
His word to all of us; and on the
contemporary scene as it re
flects — or distorts —Christ's
teaching.”
Calls For
“Good Faith”
OAKLAND, Calif. (NC)—Dis
cussions of Christian unity have
been putting “too much empha
sis on ‘true faith’and not enough
emphasis on ‘good faith,* ”
Catholic Bishop Floyd L. Begin
of Oakland told a group of Pro
testant ministers here.
Bishop Begin spoke on ecu
menism to the ministers in the
First United Presbyterian
Church.
“Our chance as Christians
for evangelizing the world will
depend upon our unity,” he said.
“When a confused and divided
Christian church confronts the
world, it develops a lot of con
fusion and division.”
Fire Kills Brother
THOMPSON, Conn., (NC) —
An early morning fire raged
through the main building of a
Catholic boys* preparatory
school here (March 5) com
pletely destroying the structure
and taking the life of a Brother
who lived on the building’s sec
ond floor.
Pronounced dead of asphy
xiation at the scene of the Ma-
rianapolis Preparatory School
fire was Brother Alexander
Kinsgaila, 78. Another Brother
rescued from his second floor
room was hospitalized suffering
from smoke inhalation.
Preliminary estimates plac
ed the damage to the secondary
school operated by the Marian
Fathers at $2.5 million.
Sunday Law
TOPEKA, Kan. (NC)—The
Kansas Supreme Court has held
that a Sunday closing law en
acted last year by the state
legislature is unconstitutional.
The high court said the law
is arbitrary, unreasonable and
oppressive, and fails to operate
uniformly throughout the state.
Fixed Easter Date
LONDON (NC)—The declara
tion by the Second Vatican Coun
cil that it would not object to
proposals for calendar reform
and a fixed date for Easter has
drawn a response here. British
Home Secretary Henry Brooke
said he intends to institute talks
with the various Christian chur
ches in Britain looking toward a
fixed date for Easter. He was
queried on the issue by a Cath
olic member of Parliament, Da
vid James.
Pope Greived
At King’s Death
VATICAN CITY (NC) —
Pope Paul VI, in a telegram to
King Constantine II of Greece,
voiced his sorrow at the death
of Greece's King Paul I.
The Pope retired to his cha
pel to pray upon hearing the
news of King Paul’s death
(March 6) of blood clots and
uremic poisoning following an
operation for stomach ulcers.
Pope Paul’s telegram to King
Constantine read: “On hearing
of King Paul’s death after a
painful illness, we wholeheart
edly recommend to Divine Pro
vince the soul of your devo
ted father, and assure Your
Majesty and the Queen your
mother that we deeply share in
the morning which afflicts the
royal family and Greece.”
Amleto Cardinal Cicognani,
Papal Secretary of State, sent
a telegram in which he expres
sed “most sincere condolen
ces.”
Canonization Cause
VATICAN CITY (NC)—Can
onization cause of Blessed Inno
cent of Berzo, who was beati
fied by Pope John XXIII less than
three years ago, has been open
ed by the Sacred Congregation of
Rites. (March 3)
The Congregation also exam
ined two other causes. Officials
of the Congregation reviewed
the miracles attributed to Fa
ther Luigi Gaunella, Italian
founder of two religious
communities who died in 1915,
and studied the writings of Ven
ezuelan Doctor Jose Hernandez
Cisneros who died in 1919.
Sign Agreement
VATICAN CITY (NC)—The
Vatican Press Office reports
the signing of an agreement be
tween the Holy See and Venezu
ela. The agreement was conclu
ded (March 6) at Caracas. The
office said it concerns * ‘matters
of common interest, in particu
lar the erection and provision
of ecclesiastical circumscrip
tions.”
Archbishop Luigi Dadaglio,
Papal Nuncio to Venezuela,
signed for the Holy See and Fo
reign Minister Marcos Falcon
Briceno signed for Venezuela.
QUESTION BOX
an historic assignment. There
are Irishmen buried many thou
sands of miles from here who
went on missions of peace either
as soldiers or as churchmen,
who traveled throughout the
world, carrying the Gospel as
so many Irish have done for so
many hundreds of years. No
country in the world has en
dured the hemorrhage which
this island has endured. . .
These sons and daughters are
scattered through the world,...
but have also kept a special
place in their memories, in
many cases their ancestral me
mory, of this green and misty
island, so in a sense, all of
them who visit Ireland come
home.” We do indeed.
* * *
IRELAND and America are
worlds apart even though they
are close in appreciation. At
St. Patrick’s Day banquets and
parties there will be many a
late carouser singing “Molly
Malone” who knows and cares
little about Ireland’s cultural,
scholarly or spiritual trea-
(Continued on Page 5)
By David Q. Liptak
Q. If on a fast day one in
advertently eats meat at break
fast (bacon, say), may he still
have meat as his main
meal or not? Someone just told
me that a Catholic newspaper in
a nearby diocese said in its
Question Column that it would be
all right to eat meat at the prin
cipal meal under the circum
stances. What about this?
A. It is difficult to see how
one could inadvertently forget
about the fast during Lent: the
season is so obvious and so
lengthy. But it could happen, of
course. Besides, the situation
could readily arise on Ember
Days (which many Catholics ap
parently forget about even when
they make a special effort to
remember).
THE PRACTICAL SOLUTION
to the problem is that, under the
defined circumstances (i.e., if,
on a day of fast or partial ab
stinence, one inadvertently has
meat for breakfast) meat may
still be eaten at the principal
meal. At least this is a perfect
ly sound course to follow, until
some official determination is
given to the contrary.
IN OTHER words, the answer
to this problem is still under
discussion by canonists. But
since there are no restrictive
norms regarding the quality of
food permitted for the main
meal on the day of fast or par
tial abstinence, it is safe en
ough to follow the more leni
ent opinion; namely, the opinion
which would allow meat at the
main meal.
(Obviously, these same prin
ciples would be valid with re
spect to the inadvertent eating
of meat at luncheon.)
* * *
Q. Is it a moral sin to break
the Lenten fast by eating be
tween meals?
A. To eat the equivalent of a
fourth meal, whether all at once
or at intervals throughout the
day, would constitute a grave
violation of the Lenten fast for
one who is bound to fast. But
any eating between meals con
stitutes a violation. The law
reads plainly. * ‘Eating between
meals is not permitted.”
The Southern Cross
Vol. 44
P. O. BOX 180. SAVANNAH. GA.
Thursday, March 12, 1964
No. 35
Published weekly except the last week in July and the
last week in December by The Southern Cross, Inc.
Subscription price $5.00 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