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The Southern Cross, December 1, 1966—PAGE 3
Poverty And Racial Relations Statement
Following is the text of the
Pastoral Statement on Race
Relations and Poverty adopt
ed (Nov. 18) by the National
Conference of Catholic Bish
ops during its annual meeting
(Nov. 14 to 18) at Catholic
University here. The state
ment was prepared by a com
mittee of bishops headed by
Lawrence Cardinal Shehan of
Baltimore.
The pastoral concern of the
bishops of the United States
goes to the poor in our midst,
particularly to those who have
felt the heavy burden of dis
crimination. This means, in
our day, racial discrimina
tion. These are turbulent days,
marked by severe social
strains and civic clashes. We
are grateful that much pro
gress in civil rights legisla
tion has been made in recent
years. Laws have been passed
to eliminate discrimination in
our nation and to open voting
to all. We urge the vigorous
use of all legal means to as
sure their prompt implemen
tation. Comprehensive pro
grams to eradicate poverty
have been begun. We ask for
strong and continuing support
for them and constant efforts
to improve them. However, the
great task of changing the
hearts of men on the subject
of equal rights for all re
quires more than laws and
programs. It needs above all
a true sense of neighborliness,
based upon a religiously in
spired conviction that all men
are equal before God and that
all should be welcomed in our
midst.
We note with sorrow that
civil strife is an ever-present
danger. There have been riots
in our cities. Racial antago
nism has been fostered and
continues to be fostered under
many emotionally charged and
irrational slogans. Moreover
we are still confronted with
the depressing problems of
poverty, joblessness, and ur
ban and rural slums.
As American citizens we
deplore the fact that such con
ditions exist in a nation so en
dowed with wealth. As Chris
tian leaders, we must repeat
the constant refrain of recent
popes, and of Vatican Council
II, that material goods are held
in stewardship for the welfare
of all men. Destitution, and de
grading, avoidable poverty
hurt family life, blight the
promise of youth, and lead to
a bitter harvest of sickness,
delinquency and crime.
The problem of poverty is
inflicted particularly upon
minority groups in our society.
The Negro, the Spanish
speaking, and the Indian suf
fer inordinately under this
burden. Nearly half the
members of these groups live
in poverty. Their unemploy
ment rate is double the na
tional average. They are far
more likely than others to be
condemned to urban or rural
slums.
While there are many
causes of poverty, most are
connected with past or present
discrimination. Hence we af
firm once again, as we did in
our statement of 1958 and our
letter of 1963, and on many
occasions in the pronounce
ments of Vatican Council II,
that discrimination based on
race, language, religion or na
tional origins in contrary to
right reason and to Christian
teaching. We are all the chil
dren of God. We share the
same rights before God and
man. All men of good will de-
In Savannah
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JAMES J. DONAHUE, Owner
SIDNEY S. HASKINS, Reg. Phar.
PHONE 427-3589 FREE DELIVERY
264 N. FIRST ST.
JESUP. GA.
MERCURY LAUNDRY
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E. BROAD ST. PHONE 3011
JESUP, GEORGIA
DENT'S BUICK CO., Inc.
GA 7-2031 291 N. Firs* Street
JESUP, GEORGIA
BUICK
'YOUR QUALITY BUICK DEALER SINCE 1948'
Bob Harrison
First Federal Savings & Loan Assn.
of Jesup
Pinecrest Memorial Cemetery Inc.
JESUP
READING CLINIC — Our Lady of Lourdes Parish
(Columbus) is sponsoring a Reading Clinic for Ne
gro children of the area. Tutors are Junior High
and High School students who .participate in the
parish CCD Program and the 7th and 8th grades
at Our Lady of Lourdes School. Classes meet on
Saturday jmornings and are conducted on a one to
one relationship, one tutor for one pupil. Refresh
ments are provided by the Legion of Mary Praesi-
dium. Later the tutors plan to visit the children in
their homes, to become acquainted with the par
ents and also to understand better their cultural
values. Picture at left shows tutors, on right, pupils.
sire that the doors of oppor
tunity be opened equally to all
who are their brothers under
One eternal Father.
These statements of prin
ciples are so clear and so
widely accepted that it is not
necessary to dwell upon them
here. Our present concern is
to reduce principles to action,
ideals to programs. In light
of these considerations we re
spectfully propose the follow
ing pastoral suggestions.
While these are general in na
ture, it is our hope that they
can be translated, in our cities
and throughout our nation, into
specific and workable social
programs.
First, in the current dis
cussion of racial tension slo
gans have at times taken the
place of reasonable dialogue.
We ask that dialogue replace
slogans. It would be tragic
were our nation to suffer a
deepening of the cleavages
along racial or economic
lines, with shouted epithets of
hate replacing reasoned dis
course. Since the aggrieved in
our nation were mostly the
poor and the members of mi
nority groups, it is the clear
duty of those who have jobs
and status to talk openly and
freely to those who have been
less fortunate. We must learn
first-hand, what it means to
be poor, to be a poor Negro,
a neglected Spanish-Ameri-
can or a disfranchised Indian.
Open discussion of these prob
lems is the beginning of their
solution. It is our hope that
all our Catholic people will
join with their Christian and
Jewish brothers, and indeed
with all men of good will, in
common projects which affirm
and realize the dignity of all
men.
Second, we ask that a con
centrated attack upon poverty
be mounted upon many fronts.
This is a complex problem and
its solutions are equally com
plex. There is work that can
be done by individuals, by re
ligious groups, and by com
munity organizations. Other
aspects of this problem re
quire strong governmental in
tervention at appropriate
levels. We wish to suggest
certain objectives that seem
to us paramount at this time
and which require adaptation
to different places in their
application.
Foremost among these is
the quality of education given
to th e poor. The poorly edu
cated child and the school
drop-out face life with almost
insuperable handicaps in our
society. Communities should
be concerned about the quality
of teachers, schools, guidance
programs, and the supplemen
tary aids needed by all our
children. Adult education is
also a great necessity.
Citizens in every city and in
our rural areas, should ex
amine critically the type of
education afforded to the poor
at aU age levels, and act de
cisively to make educational
opportunities equal for all.
Next we should be concerned
with the type and equality of
assistance available to poor
families. Where welfare relief
is necessary, it should be
given in a context that favors
family stability and respects
the human dignity of those who
cannot earn their living. Such
programs should help main
tain the father in the home and
be joined, where need be, with
training facilities to enable
the unemployed to secure
gainful work. These programs
should offer incentive to
part -time or temporary em
ployment, often refused today
I Government And Birth Control I
(Continued from Page 2)
pie lose respect for any life
and a positive and generous
attitude toward new life, they
move fatally to inhuman in
fanticide, abortion, steriliza
tion and euthanasia; we fear
that history is, in fact, re
peating itself on this point
within our own land at the
moment.
Our government has a laud
able history of dedication to
the cause of freedom. In the
service of this cause it is
currently embarked upon a
massive, unprecedented pro
gram of aid to underdevelop
ed nations, through imagina
tive and constructive efforts,
it shows itself willing to do
battle with the enemies of
freedom, notably poverty and
ignorance. We gladly encou-
aged our government to press
this struggle with all the re
sources at its disposal and
pledge our cooperation i n all
the ways in which we or those
responsive to our leadership
can be of assistance. Our na
tion's duty to assist underde
veloped countries flows from
the Divine Law that the goods of
the earth are destined for the
well-being of all the human
race.
In the international field,
as in the domestic field, fi
nancial assistance must not be
linked to policies which pres
sure for birth limitation.
We applaud food supply pro
grams of foreign aid which
condition our cooperation on
evidence that the nations
benefited pledge themselves
to develop their own resoures;
we deplore any linking of aid
by food or money to conditions,
overt or oblique, involving
prevention of new life. Our
country is not at liberty to im
pose its judgment upon another,
either as to the growth of the
latter or as to the size of its
families.
Insofar, as it does so, our
country is being cast in the
role of a foreign power using
its instrumentalities to trans
gress intimate mores and al
ter the moral cultures of other
nations rather than in the His
toric American role of of
fering constructive, unselfish
assistance to peoples in need.
Indeed, we are aware of exist
ing apprehension in the minds
of many of the peoples of the
world that the United States,
in its own great affluence, is
attempting, by seeking to limit
their populations, to avoid its
moral responsibility to help
other peoples help themselves
precisely that they may grow
in healthy life, generous love
and in all the goods which
presuppose and enrich both
life and love.
Programs inhibiting new
life, above all when linked to
offers of desperately needed
aid, are bound to create even
tual resentment in any upon
whom we even seem to impose
them and will ultimately be
STAR COUNCIL AWARDS were presented at cere
monies, last weekend, to Savannah’s two Knights
of Columbus councils. The awards, for the frater
nal year ending June 30th, were presented by Ger
ald B. Gardner, Jr. (C), Past State Deputy, to
Daniel J. Keane (L), Past-Grand Knight of Savan
nah Council 631 and to R. McDonald Laird, Past-
Grand Knight of Holy Family Council 5588.
gravely detrimental to the
image, the moral prestige and
the basic interests of the
United States.
Obviously, therefore, inter
national programs of aid
should not be conditioned upon
acceptance of birth control
programs by beneficiary na
tions. Equally obvious, how
ever, should be the fact that,
in the practical administra
tion of overseas assistance,
neither direct nor indirect
pressure should be exerted by
our personnel to affect the
choice of spouses as to the
number of children in their
family. In the international
field, as in the domestic field,
both our government in its
policy and our American re
presentatives in their work,
should strive above all to
bring about those economic
and social advances which will
make possible for spouses
conscientious family planning
without resort to contracep
tive procedures fostered
among them by controversial
policies backed by American
political power and financial
aid.
Sobering lessons of history
clearly teach that only those
nations remain stable and
vigorous whose citizens have
and are encouraged to keep
high regard for the sanctity
and autonomy of family life
among themselves and among
the peoples who depend in
any way upon them. Let our
political leaders be on guard
that the common good suffer
no evil from public policies
which tamper with the in
stincts of love and the sources
of life.
Splits-Sundaes'Shakes
Dairy
Queen
brazier
Burgers-Dogs-Fries
WE PACK AU PRODUCTS TO TAKE HOME
REGIONAL TEACHERS’ MEETING — Augusta area elementary teachers, in
the Diocesan School System, are pictured at meeting held November 19th, at
St. Mary’s on-the-Hill. This was the first in a series of meetings to be held
by the group.
because of regulations that
penalize such efforts.
A key concern is job oppor
tunity. Jhis problem has two
main facets: realistic training
joined with proper motivation
and the willingness of em
ployers to hire and promote
without discrimination.
Unions likewise should open
their membership rolls to all
without discrimination. We es
pecially commend those em
ployers and unions which have
agreed to take affirmative ac
tions to secure a fully inte
grated working force. Such
open attitudes best express the
Christian response to racial
discrimination.
Finally there is the problem
of adequate housing. Millions
of Americans live in over
crowded, substandard homes.
Under such conditions, it is
difficult to promote sound fam
ily life, to encourage edu
cation or to bring about stable
peaceful neighborhoods. Our
citizens , our civic groups,
and our churches should be
eager to use the opportunities
they now have to promote low-
cost housing for the poor, or
build well planned public
housing units, and to rehabili
tate run-down neighborhoods.
But this is only part of the
task. As our nation becomes
increasingly suburban, indus
try and service occupations
are expanding far more
rapidly in the suburbs than
in our inner cities. We cannot
hope to solve the problem of
joblessness in our cities if
men and women are denied
the opportunitiy of living near
places where work is avail
able. While the issue of fair
housing has been the source
of grave tensions in some
parts of our nation, conditions
have noticeably improved in
certain areas. W§ urge sup
port for sound programs^
assure equal housing oppor
tunities for all, without dis
crimination based on race,
creed or color. Here is a
unique chance for responsible
dialogue, for learning from
successes and from failures,
and thus constructing harmon
ious communities in every
part of our nation.
We ask these steps out of our
pastoral concern for all who
are in need. In this world,
under God's Providence, our
nation has been cast into a posi
tion of world leadership. This
stems in part from our econo
mic and military power, but it
is also a recognition of certain
unique elements in our demo
cracy. More than most peoples
in recorded history, we have
striven to make all men equal
under law.
Today the world watches us
anxiously, as it reads of racial
struggles and tensions and
learns about poverty in an af
fluent society. If men else
where become disillusioned
with our democracy, they are
offered the choice of another
powerful system which also
promises equality, but at the
sacrifice of basic freedoms.
Ours is a fateful choice, one
which can decide the destiny,
not merely of this American
nation, but possibly of the en
tire world. In this instance at
least, what is morally right is
a political imperative. Pray
erfully we commend these
thoughts to our Catholic
people and all our fellow
citizens who share our hopes.
Jesup
Jesup Pharmacy
RALPH B. SMITH, OWNER
106 EAST CHERRY STREET JESUP, GEORGIA 31545
Dealer For: Buxton — Russell Stover Candies —
Prince Matchabelli — Revlon — Cody — Tussy — Max Factor
Vann's Dry Cleaners
& Laundry
SATISFACTION GUARANTEED
242 N. FIRST ST. JESUP, GA.
WE SHIP HICKORY SMOKED
HAMS BACON & SAUSAGE
ANYWHERE • MADE AND PACKED BY
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LOCATED ON U S. NO. 301, Vi MILE NORTH OF
JESUP, GEORGIA
WE ACCEPT MAIL ORDERS
Owned & Operated by Ben & Jay Hodges
Cleaning
Altering
Pick- Up and Delivery
BOWEN
&
CLEANERS
261 NORTH MACON STREET
phone GA 7-2398
JESUP, GEORGIA
LAY-A-WAY FOR CHRISTMAS
“FURNISH YOUR HOME FIRST”
Morris Furniture & Appliance
256 NORTH MACON STREET
JESUP. GEORGIA
~ SIMMONS
JEWELERS
123 WEST CHERRY STREET
JESUP, GEORGIA
DENNIS SIMMONS BUS. PHONE 427-6330
RES. PHONE 427-4539