Newspaper Page Text
VIETNAM WAR
The Southern Cross, August 24, 1967 PAGE 6
FAMILY CLINIC
By JOHN J. KANE, Ph.D.
Professor of Sociology
University of Notre Dame
Is suicide an act of insani
ty? Is a person planning
suicide sick mentally? These
questions are very important
to me because someone in my
family has threatened to com
mit suicide. Another relative
actually attempted but was
rescued in time. But this
person is still depressed. I
would appreciate anything you
can say on this matter.
By insanity I take it that you
are referring to someone who
is suffering from what is tech
nically termed a psychosis.
This is what is popularly
known as crazy or insane. The
term insanity is not really a
psychiatric but a legal term.
Unfortunately, there is no
simple yes or no answer to
this question.
One reason we cannot
answer such a question is that
we have no idea of the num
ber of suicides occuring each
year. True enough, we es
timate them to be in the neigh
borhood of twenty thousand a
year. But no doubt some au
tomobile accidents, drownings
and other so-called accidental
deaths may really be suici-
cal. But of the known sui
cides, psychiatric opinion
holds that only about twenty
per cent or one out of every
five can be considered truly
psychotic, that is, insane.
I do not mean to give this
figure as an absolute one. It
is an estimate, it is a cal
culation made by psychia
trists on the basis of their
rather wide experience in this
field. Sometimes it is im
possible to be entirely cer
tain and the Catholic church
is usually willing to give the
benefit of the doubt to a sui-
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cide and permit Catholic bur
ial. But even though all sui
cides may not be psychotic,
probably most of them are
seriously emotionally dis
turbed.
I think the term emotion
ally disturbed would cover
what you mean by sick men
tally. There are various kinds
of suicide and in some so
cieties under certain circum
stances suicide is expected of
the individual. This is, or at
least was, particularly true in
certain parts of Asia. It is
not the case in the United
States and anything I say about
suicide will be confined to the
United States or at least the
Western World.
The kind of suicide we en
counter most in the United
States is known as anomic.
This means that the indivi
dual has lost all or almost
all of his bonds with other
persons in society. He is a
rootless individual, he lacks
norms of behavior. None of
this happens suddenly but de
velops over a period of time.
Sometimes, as during the de
pression, the suicide may be
rather sudden when the indi
vidual is overwhelmed by what
is or at least what he believes
to be a severe catastrophe.
Some of the persons who jum
ped from skyscrapers in the
early days of the depression
when they learned they had
been wiped out would come un
der this category.
You mention a relative who
attempted suicide but was res
cued in time. Ironically
enough, twice as many women
as men attempt suicide but
more men actually carry it off
than women. Women tend
to use methods which permit
the passage of time during
which they may be rescued.
They tend to avoid the kind of
weapon that would mar their
face or bodies. But once a per
son has attempted suicide, he
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or she should be watched
closely for at least ninety
days.
You mention that this rela
tive who attempted suicide
is still in a state of depres
sion. If this is the case, he
or she should be under psy
chiatric care. If not, the
probability that another at
tempt will be made, and per
haps successfully, must be
frankly realized.
There are certain other in
teresting aspects about sui
cide. By and large, the num
ber of persons committing
suicide tends to increase with
age. Most suicides occur af -
ter 45 years of age, but re
cently there has been an up
swing in those between 15 and
20. This is a rather alarm
ing thing to note, even though
the number involved is not
great, but it would seem to in
dicate that there is a certain
amount of anomie occuring
between young people and our
society.
A further indication of the
fact that anomie is probably
an important factor in most
suicides is that married per
sons are less suicide prone
than the divorced or the wi
dows or widowers. As a mat
ter of fact the divorced have
a relatively high rate com
pared to other persons. Ano
mie undoubtedly plays its part
in the suicide of the aged
who feel cut off from all other
persons, suffer extreme lon-
liness and apparently use sui
cide as a way out of their pro
blems.
So far as statistics go, Ca
tholics have a lower rate of
suicide than Protestants and
Jews but some authorities
claim that many Catholic sui
cides are covered up because
of the Church’s attitude to
ward self-destruction. The
suicide rate in Ireland, for
example, is very low. On the
other hand in some northwes
tern European countries there
is a relatively high rate of
suicide. Again, a word of
caution is indicated, because
some of the Scandinavian
Countries which do have a high
rate of suicide also have a
much superior method of col
lecting statistics.
To be more specific in an
swer to your question about the
person in your family who
threatened suicide, I urge you
to see that this individual
receives psychiatric care im
mediately. It may be an idle
threat but it is well known
that about three out of four
persons who actually did com
mit suicide had previously
threatened or attempted to do
so. No suicide threat should
ever be lightly treated. That
is why I feel it is so es
sential to obtain psychiatric
help for your relative.
While there is a great deal
that we do not know about sui
cide, we do not seem to util
ize the knowledge that we do
have adequately. A great deal
can and should be done to pre
vent suicide. There are cer
tain organizations at work
which have been fairly suc
cessful and among them I
would mention the work of
Father Kenneth B. Murphy of
the Boston Archdiocese who
founded “Rescue, Inc”. Sui
cide is a tragedy and the per
son who commits it may, of
course, have escaped his dif
ficulties in this world but he
invariably leaves a host of
them for his relatives and
friends.
4 Catholic Bishops Back
Negotiation Now Drive
New York (RNS)—Four Ro
man Catholic bishops have
given their support to Negotia
tion Now!, a national citizens’
campaign for new initiatives to
end the war in Vietnam.
At press conferences in four
cities, the four prelates issued
a joint statement which was al
so released by the Negotia
tion Now! national headquar
ters here.
The four prelates are Arch
bishop Paul J. Hallinan of At
lanta, Bishop Victor J. Reed
of Oklahoma City-Tulsa, Aux
iliary Bishop James p Shan
non of St. Paul, Minn., and
Auxiliary Bishop John J.
Dougherty of Newark, N. J.,
who is also president of Seton
Hall University.
In the joint statement, the
bishops repeated Pope Paul’s
peace plea at the United Na
tions: “Peace , peace --war no
more!”
They claimed that the
escalation of the war in Viet
nam was “another step. . .
down the path which could lead
to confrontation with Com
munist China and World War
III.”
“The growing magnitude of
this tragic conflict,” the state
ment declared was the reason
the four Catholic prelates de
cided to support the Negotia
tion Now! campaign.
The organization’s pro
gram, which the bishops said
“offers a chance to bring an
end to the killing in Vietnam,”
includes the following steps:
“We support the call by U
Thant for new initiatives to
bring about negotiations among
all parties to the conflict, lead
ing to a political settlement of
the Vietnam war.
“We call upon the United
States, the most powerful na
tion in the world, to take the
first step and end the bomb
ing of North Vietnam now and
without conditions. We ask our
government to take further in
itiatives leading to a standstill
truce.
“We ask the North Vietnam
and the National Liberation
Front to respond affirmatively
to any new United States initia
tives and to join with the U. S.
in a standstill cease-fire.
“We ask South Vietnam to
respect and join in these steps.
“This course of action pre
sents to the United States a
moral alternative to our stated
policy of bringing about nego
tiations by force, or to the de
vastation of an all-out war, and
a more realistic alternative
than unilateral withdrawal.
“We believe that such ini
tiatives now can break the im
passe and lead to negotiations
and a political settlement pro
viding for the removal of all
foreign troops and for
genuinely democratic elec
tions in which all South Viet
namese can participate free
ly.”
Negotiation Now! was laun
ched in May and its objective
is a petition containing the a-
bove steps with 1 million signa
tures. The drive is scheduled
to culminate at a national as
sembly in Washington, D.C.,
on Oct. 6 and 7 when the signa
tures will be presented to
Senators, Representatives
and administration officials.
Calling for “bold and dra
matic” governmental action
which would indicate a will
ingness to negotiate, the
C atholic bishops concluded
their joint statement:
“While there have been
bombing pauses in the past,
never before haVe we tried
simultaneously the actions
which we call for today. We
earnestly call upon our fellow
clergymen, Catholics, and all
Americans for their prayers
in this hour of peril and for
their help in showing Presi
dent Johnson that they support
U. S. initiatives to end this
war.”
In announcing their support
of the Negotiation Now! plan,
the four Catholic prelates join
religious leaders of other
faiths who are sponsors of the
petition. Besides the religious
leaders, the sponsors are also
members of the education
business, political, and enter
tainment fields, Some of the
other religious leaders are:
Episcopal Bishop George W.
Barrett of Rochester, N. Y.;
Robert S. Bileimer, director
of the International Affairs
Program of theNationalCoun-
cil of Churches; Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr.,; Dr. Rein
hold Niebuhr, noted Protestant
theologian; and Episcopal
Bishop Leland Stark of Ne
wark, N. J.
Among the members of the
Negotiation Now! guiding com
mittee are Dr. John Bennett,
president of Union Theological
Seminary here; Rabbi Maurice
Eisendrath, president of the
Union of American Hebrew
Congregations; Robert A. Fan-
gmeier, director of Christian
Citizenship of the Disciples of
Christ; Dr. Dana McLean
Greeley, president of the Uni
tarian Universalist Asso
ciation; Rabbi Arthur Lely-
veld, president of the Ameri
can Jewish Congress; and the
Rev. Herman Will, associate
secretary general of the Meth
odist Board ofChristianSocial
Concern.
STREET SHRINE to St. Rose of Lima, at t/ie place
where she spent her life in Lima, Peru. The feast of
St. Rose, the first native-born saint of the New
World, is Aug-. 30. (NC Photos)
BY JEWISH SPEAKERS
Statement Scored
SNCC
NEW YORK (NC)--Jew
ish spokesmen and Negro civil
rights leaders reacted angrily
to the attack on Israel made by
the Student Nonviolent coordi
nating Committee.
These leaders, in protesting
the attack, used the term'fcn-
ti-Semitism.” They also call
ed SNCC an extremist group
that did not speak for the Am
erican Negro.
The protests were directed
at the student group’s bimonth
ly newsletter which accused
Israelis of committing atroci
ties against the Arabs, and also
charged that there was bias in
Israel against dark-skinned
Jews.
Spokesmen for leading
Jewish and Zionist organiza
tions pointed to the sacrifices
made by Jews in working for
civil rights causes. Some
mentioned the slaying in 1964
of Michael Schwerner, a 23-
year-old Brooklyn Social
worker, and Andrew Good
man, a 20-year-old New York
college student. Both were
Jews doing field work in Mis
sissippi on programs sup
ported by the SNCC.
Whitney M. Young, Jr., exe
cutive director of the National
Urban League, said the views
in the newsletter resembled
those of the American Nazi
party on Arab-Israel rela
tions.
“Negro citizens are well
aware of the contributions
made to the drive for equal
rights by Jewish citizens. Ne
groes have been the victims of
racism for too long to in
dulge in group stereotypes and
racial hate themselves,”
Young said.
Young also said that studies
in big city ghettos had shown
the Negro to be less anti-
Semitic than other Americans.
In a joint statement, A. Phi
lip Randolph, president of the
Brother hood of Sleeping Car
Porters, and Bayard Rustin,
director of the A. Philip Ran
dolph Institute, said thay were
“appalled and distressed
by the anti-Semitic article.”
The two rights leaders said
the statement reflected a
“complete divorce from the
opinions and aspirations of the
mass of American Negroes.”
The Rev. Martin Luther King
Jr., who was in Atlanta, de
clined comment onSNCC’s po
sition on the Arab-Israelidis
pute, saying he had not read
the newsletter. He said he was
strongly opposed to anti-Sem
itism and “anything that does
not signify my concern for
humanity for the Jewish peo
ple.”
A number of Jewish organi
zations, including labor and
veterans’ groups, joined in
the attack on the newsletter.
The Jewish Labor Committee
charged that the student group,
led by H. Rap B rown, has * * now
irrevocably joined the anti-
Semitic American Nazi party
and the Ku Klux Klan as an
apostle of racism in the Uni
ted States.”
Will Maslow, executive di
rector of the American Jew
ish Congress, said SNCC had
“disqualified itself from any
claim to be taken seriously
in the struggle for human de
cency.”
AMONG THE NEW STUDENTS to enter St. Pius X
High School next week is David Scott, Jr. seen
here receiving the 1967 Home and School Associa
tion Scholarship Award from St. Mary’s School.
Sister Mary Aqui-n, S.S.F., Principal, announced the
award being received from Fr. John V. Mulvey,
S.M.A., Pastor. David, high point scorer in Basket
ball and Track events, is the son of Mr. and Mrs.
David Scott of South Harden Street, Savannah.
STALL IN RENEWAL
May Endanger
F aith fulness
TORONTO (NC) —Those
who refuse to accept renewal
because they believe themsel
ves to be faithful to the Church
could endanger the Church’s
own faithfulness to the Gospel,
said Paul Emile Cardinal Le-
ger of Montreal.
“Nothing is more foreign
to the true vocation of the
Church than stale custom and
the debility of age,” he said.
Notwithstanding its divine
origin, the Church can never
be satisfied with its attempt
to become more like Christ
and to follow His Gospel more
closely, the cardinal stated.
“To be truly faithful, the
Church must continually re
new itself.”
Cardinal Leger addressed
the opening session of“Theo-
logy,” the theological con
gress on Church renewal plan
ned by the Canadian bishops
as their part in the nation’s
centennial celebration. Some
1,750 delegates heard the car
dinal speak in Convocation
Hall at St. Michael’s College
of the University of Toronto,
while several hundred more
watched on closed-circuit
television. Cardinal Leger
told the delegates that renewal
is not a return to the forms
and customs of antiquity, nor
a change in the revealed word
of God. He said renewal
was “resourcement,” a re
turn to the sources in the sense
that the life which gave birth
to the Church should spring 141
even more vigorously without
altering its essential and
everlasting nature.
“The renewal tries to un
derstand better God’s revela
tion given once and for all
to the Church, in order to put
into terms which are mean
ingful for the past and the
present,” the cardinal stated,
“it is a more faithful listen
ing to the Word in order that
it may be proclaimed more
effectively.”
Cardinal Leger said the
Church’s magisterium(teach
ing authority) and its theolo
gians both seek “inadifferent
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manner” the synthesis be
tween what is permanent in
the Church and that which
changes. To perform their
task properly, the theolo
gians require freedom of re
search, but this freedom must
be loyal to the leadership of
the Church, he cautioned.
It must also respect Scrip
ture and tradition. Other
wise their work could not be
termed renewal, “and far
from revitalizing the Church,
would cut it off from what
is vital to its life.”
Cardinal Leger said the
Church’s self-renewal has
been a constant of its history,
a law of its life, and “a con
dition of its faithfulness to
the Gospel.”
But at the present time the
Church seems torn between
those who are impatient with
the pace of renewal and those
who believe the least change
in detail is a danger for the
Faith, he said. True renewal
will be found in a sincere
seeking for the truth, the car
dinal said.
“We do not have to destroy
the Church to construct it
anew in each century, but it
would be wrong to believe
that each one of the stones
which have been put in place
throughout the ages forms an
integral part of its struc
ture.
“We must have courage to
knock down the now super
fluous wall and useless
tower,” Cardinal Leger said.
“But we must take care to see
we do not disturb the founda
tions or obliterate the out
lines.”
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