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The Southern Cross, March 4, 1965—PAGE 5
FAMILY CLINIC
By JOHN J. KANE, Ph.D.
Professor of Sociology
University of Notre Dame
What is wrong with ex-semi
narians? My nephew left the
seminary after seven years, has
wandered from one job to anoth
er, one girl to another. He
strung the last girl along with
a statement that he didn’t know
whether to get married or not
God gives an answer. At
he drinks quite heavily, is
a “compulsive buyer, and will
never get out of debt. What can
be done for him?
* * *
keenly in three types of adjust
ment: occupation, social rela
tions and spiritual life.
Since the seminarian has sin
cerely expected to be a priest,
and now suddenly finds that he
will not be, he just doesn’t know
what to be. Obviously, many are
attracted to the service profes
sions, particularly teaching
which is not too far removed
from one of the roles they might
have played as a priest. Then
the cold realization is forced up
on them that despite their sem
inary training, they may not be
legally qualified to teach, at
least in public school systems.
; For any man who leaves the
seminary after seven years,
there is bound to be a difficult
period of transition. Your neph
ew’s case seems to be somewhat
more critical than most, but
there is no reason to despair. In
time the majority of ex-semi
narians make a successful ad
justment, as a matter of fact,
some make excellent contribu
tions to the Church and society.
But to understand the plight
of the ex-seminarian, I’d like to
turn to the findings of Fr. Robert
Brooks, O. Praem., who did a
doctoral dissertation on this sub-
- ject at the University of Notre
’ Dame. Fr. Brooks studied al
most 400 former seminarians,
both religious and diocesan. He
interviewed 200 of them person
ally, and others through corres
pondence.
Fr. Brooks found that three
out of four ex-seminarians suffer
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Certain other service profes
sions, medicine, social work and
such require preparation that
most seminarians lack, or re
quire two or four years of pro
fessional school which some can
not afford. There is, in the be
ginning, a tendency to drift from
one job t.o another. Each job is
tested out and most are found
wanting.
Their social life is confused
because of the naivete which
many suffer. There is the prob
lem of meeting and mingling
with women, particularly young
women. As seminarians they
probably knew few, and their in
tended celibate life defined their
roles in this respect quite clear
ly. Dances and parties have
been foreign to them and some,
Fr. Brooks found, simply do not
know how to act.
Spiritually, they have been ac
customed to a life of prayer, con
templation and a kind of routine
which does not exist in the out
side world. Many miss this
keenly and since the role of the
layman is not well defined yet
TO NEEDS
theologically, they are somewhat
mixed up.
But perhaps worst of all they
have suffered the loss of their
former position as a seminarian.
Generally, people looked upon
them with respect, mixed even
with awe. When they leave the
seminary, this is dissipated
more quickly than snow in Au
gust.
Because of the ignorance and
misunderstanding of some of the
laity, they are considered “spoil
ed priests’’. This is most apt to
occur among some Irish Catho
lics. They are labeled failures,
a manifestly unfair attitude. Fr.
Brooks found that some semi
narians considered the clergy
hostile toward them. Part of this
is traceable to the heightened
sensitivity of many ex - semi
narians to their new role.
What these men need most is
sympathetic understanding and
counseling. In certain parts of
the country there are clubs of
former seminarians and within
such groups, a type of group
therapy is possible. Those who
have made the necessary adjust
ments to the outside world can
help those trying to adjust.
Certainly credit should be giv
en these men, first, for having
tested their vocations; second,
for having the courage to leave
the seminary when they and
their spiritual directors decide
the priesthood is not their way
of life.
Despite these initial difficul
ties, Fr. Brooks found that ulti
mately three out of five former
seminarians made excellent ad
justments.
No Chance For Poor
Until Nation Aroused
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SAN ANTONIO, Tex. (NO—
The U.S. poor have “no chance
until the entire nation is arous
ed to their needs,” a priest in
volved in social action work told
a church - sponsored conference
on poverty.
“The poor are alienated, treat
ed as if they belonged not to
civilization, so they become des
pondent and fail repeatedly,”
said Father John Wagner.
“Poverty has become a cul
ture, a way of life,” he declar
ed.
Father Wagner, executive sec
retary of the National Council
for the Spanish Speaking and
the U.S. bishops’ Committee for
the Spanish Speaking, spoke at
the first San Antonio Archdioce
san Conference on Poverty. He
was conference director.
The meeting was attended by
church leaders and public offi
cials engaged in efforts to aid
the poor in this area.
Contrasting the life of the af
fluent with the plight of the
poor, Father Wagner said “it’s
the difference between shopping
at a supermarket and standing
in line for surplus food hand
outs.”
In order to be “cured” of
poverty, he contended, “t h e
poverty stricken must be re
moved from their environ
ment.”
The priest was sharply criti
cal of red tape and bureaucracy
in administration of programs
to aid the poor.
“If bureaucrats continue to be
concerned solely with their own
judgments and dispense Federal
funds according, to these judg
ments, then the rest of us pov
erty fighters will be fighting a
war which will take forever,”
he said.
Don Mathis, regional director
of technical assistance for Tex
as and New Mexico under the
Economic Opportunity Act, re
minded the conference that no
organization or agency can ob
tain Federal anti-poverty funds
unless it is part of the “official,
community group.”
“Any church or private group
asking for funds must be clear
ed first with the local communi
ty group, then by the Federal
government,” he said.
The conference was held un
der the auspices of Archbishop
Robert E. Lucey of San Anto
nio, a member of the Presi-
dent’s National Advisory Coun
cil on Poverty, and was spon
sored by the National Council
for the Spanish Speaking.
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POPE RULES
Cardinal Dean
To Be Elected
By Colleagues
VATICAN CITY (NC) - For
the second time within a week,
Pope Paul VI has issued a de
cree changing the structure of
the College of Cardinals.
The latest document establish
es a law by which the dean and
subdean of the college will be
elected rather than succeed to
the post through seniority.
The decree was a motu pro-
prio — a document issued on a
pope’s own initiative — dated
Feb. 24 and made public two
days later. It is entitled “Sacro
Cardinalium Consilio” (In the
Sacred Senate of Cardinals).
Altering the norms of Canon
237 of the Code of Canon Law,
it provides that the dean and
subdean must be elected by and
from among the cardinal bish
ops of the Sacred College who
hold title to suburbicarian Sees.
These are dioceses neighboring
Rome which, as Pope Paul said
in the previous decree on the
college, “have always been con
joined in a special way with the
city of Rome, our episcopal See,
and with it in some way have
become a unit.”
The bishops of these dioceses
always became cardinal bishops
in the structure of the College
of Cardinals. There are seven
such dioceses, but only six sub
urbicarian bishops since the
cardinal dean always holds ti
tle to the Diocese of Ostia be
sides his own.
In addition to the present
VIOLA TIONS
dean, Eugene Cardinal Tisser-
ant, the suburbicarian bishops
are Giuseppe Cardinal Pizzardo,
Amleto Cardinal Cicognani, Ben
edetto Cardinal Masella, Giu
seppe Cardinal Ferretto and
Clemente Cardinal Micara.
By previous law, the senior
cardinal bishop by virtue of his
tenure in the college became
dean, and the next in line be
came subdean. The present de
cree provides that both the dean
and the subdean will be elected
by the other bishops who hold
title to suburbicarian Sees —
“and by them a 1 o n e.” The
names will then be submitted
to the pope who alone can ap
prove the election.
The previous decree made
Eastern-rite patriarchs cardinal
bishops within the Sacred Col
lege. However, the present doc
ument excludes them from be
ing chosen or from taking part
in the elections.
When the post of dean or.sub
dean becomes vacant, the de
cree specifies that the senior
cardinal bishop will preside at
the election of a dean, and the
dean at that of a subdean.
The decree further underlines
the fact that because of the
new structure, the subdean will
be “solely a substitute for the
dean, not his successor” (un
less, of course, he is elected as
such).
The duties of the two offices
remain unchanged, the decree
states.
Clergy Urged To
Speak On Traffic
SAN FRANCISCO (NC)—Min
isters and priests should use
their moral force to make high
speed drivers comply with the
law, it was agreed at a five-
day traffic court conference at
the Hastings College of Law for
judges, prosecutors and their
aides.
The clergymen confessed that,
on the whole, members of their
calling have not worked very
hard to persuade motorists to
apply the Ten Commandments
to conduct on highways and
streets.
During a panel discussion by
four clergymen, a judge said:
“I have yet to hear a sermon
on moral aspects of the traffic
laws.’’
Father Joseph Farraher, S.J.,
president of Alma College, Los
Gatos, said he had preached on
this problem in seven different
churches. But, he reported,
“I’ve never heard another ser
mon on it.” He stated that it is
immoral to kill and it is im
moral to drive in a way that
endangers life or property.
Rabbi Irving I. Hausman of
Congregation Emanu-El and Fa
ther Anthony Kostorus of the
Greek Orthodox Holy Tr i n i t y
Church here reported that nei
ther had knowledge of sermons
directed against traffic offend
ers.
Episcopal Canon Robert E.
Hoggard of Grace Cathedral
said that one reason for lack of
presenting the Ten Command
ments of conduct on traffic laws
was “pressure put on preachers
to keep religion religious.”
“As soon as you speak on a
specific problem,” he said
“there is a hue and a cry that
you are not religious.”
NICHE OF THE PALLIA, under the main altar of St.
Peter's basilica in Rome, the shrine where the vestments
called the pallia are kept after being blessed on the feast
of St. Agnes each year until they are presented to arch
bishops and other prelates by the Pope as a sign of their
authority and loyalty to the Holy See. The shrine is in the
"Confession of St. Peter," directly above the tomb of the
Prince of the Apostles, where bones were discovered which
archeologists assert are actual remains of St. Peter. (NC
Photos i
SISTER MARY CHRISTINE, R.S.M., principal of Nativity School, gets some
pointers on dental health from Doctor John Ware, who visited each classroom
during Dental Health Week. (Staff Photo by Bob Ward)
OHIO BISHOP SA YS
Active Role By Doctors
Aid In Pornography War
TOLEDO, Ohio (NC) — To
ledo’s Bishop George J. Rehring
has called on the medical pro
fession to take an active part
in the battle against printed
smut.
“It is my conviction,” Bishop
Rehring said, “that the medical
profession can strike a powerful
blow against pornography by
denouncing it as a spreader of
hideous diseases.”
Discussing the pornography
problem at a meeting of the St.
Vincent’s Hospital medical staff,
the bishop said there is too
much complacency, indifference
and lethargy on all sides in the
battle against “this horrendous
sexual sickness.”
The prelate reminded that au
thorities like FBI Director J.
Edgar Hoover contend porno
graphy is a major contributor
to the current widespread crim
es of violence.
The bishop said smut largely
is responsible for the inglorious
situation today when women are
warned to keep doors locked
day and night, and there are
almost daily reports of violence,
attacks, assaults, bloodshed and
killings.
Anti Poverty
Projects
Approved
WASHINGTON (NC)-A non
profit corporation of 24 south
ern Florida Catholic welfare
agencies and a Catholic high
school in Colorado are among 15
new Neighborhood Youth Corps
projects in the Federal anti
poverty program:
The two are the first Catholic-
sponsored efforts, open to eligi
ble persons regardless of race
or creed, among the 93 public
and privately sponsored projects
approved so far in 37 states.
W. Willard Wirtz, Secretary of
Labor, said (March 1) the South
Florida Economic Opportunity
Development Council, Inc., was
granted $279,200 in Federal sup
port of a $310,300 program to
offer part-time employment and
education to 500 girls and boys
between 16 and 21 years of age.
The work will enable the youths
to attend high school.
Wirtz also said that St. Mary’s
High School, Walsenburg, Colo.,
has been granted $9,800 in sup
port of a $10,900 program for 28
in-school youths.
The two were among 15 proj
ects announced by Wirtz. Total
U.S. cost of the 15 is $8,658,800.
The program so far has cost
$40,149,000.
Neighborhood Youth Corps are
designed to assist young people
whose obligations to help sup
port their family forces them
to work. The projects offer an
opportunity for employment
which enables them to remain
or return to school or provide
work experience for the older
youths.
The Florida project will aid
200 youths in school and 300
who have left school. They will
be offered education and jobs in
private and public welfare insti
tutions as hospital aides and
orderlies, cooks’ assistants, typ
ists and dieticians’ assistants.
“I don’t entertain the thought
for one moment that any re
spectable person condones por
nography; but why are we com
placent, indifferent and lethar
gic? Why do we let it go on?
Why don’t we at least enter the
lists in fighting against it,” the
bishop asserted.
“I know only what I hear and
read. I read about school fail
ures and school drop-outs prob
ably related to the youth’s mor
bid engrossment with sexual
matters,” he said. “I read a-
bout tensions, emotional disturb
ances and psychosis brought a-
bout by obsessive day-dreaming.
I read about unwanted 1 children,
about murders of unborn chil
dren, about sex fiends, about
maniacs and about erotics.
“I read of a special notice
sent out by a certain state de
partment of health to all physi
cians, expressing extreme con
cern over a 1,200 per cent in
crease in venereal diseases in
a period of seven years! A large
percentage of this increase was
among youths — 13 to 19 years
of age! In another city it was
revealed 1 that pregnancies a-
mong junior high school girls
had increased 1,000% in 10
years!” Bishop Rehring said.
Vigorous action would be stir
red, the bishop said, by better
publicizing the connection be
tween pornography and sexual
diseases.
In some respects, pornography
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is like advertising merchandise,
which attracts, interests, cre
ates desires and! demands, he
said.
It’s common sense, said Bish
op Rehring, that by removing
the stimulations of pornography,
sex desires would be lessened
and kept under a better reason
able control.
The bishop said only a na
tion-wide war can wipe out the
sex industry, but a fight has to
start somewhere.
“I trust you understand what
I am suggesting, not legislation
or coercion, but education and
persuasion,” he told the doctors.
“Once the populace is thorough
ly aroused over the physical
harm and the threat to the com
munity’s safety — .outdoors and
indoors — even apart from the
moral corruption of our youth
and the withering decay of our
national life by this sensuous
material, people will see the
necessity of discontinuing the
purchase and reading of it and
the necessity of remaining aloof
from places that pander to sex
uality.
“That conviction and determi
nation can be brought home to
them by the medical profession
with the cooperation of health
officers and related public and
private agencies,” the bishop
said.
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