Newspaper Page Text
Page o•
,er 23, 1969
JUSTICE & PEACE DEPT.
USCC Division Backs
Conscientious Objectors
ROCHESTER, N.Y. - Newly elevated Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, 74, named a titular archbishop
by Pope Paul on resignation from the Rochester See, introduced his successor, the 53-year-old
Bishop-elect Joseph L. Hogan, first native of the diocese to be chosen as its spiritual head, at a
press conference, Oct. 15. (NC Photos)
Missionary On Nigeria—
WASHINGTON (NC) -
The Division of World Justice
and Peace, United States
Catholic Conference, issued a
statement declaring “it is
clear that a Catholic ... can
be a conscientious objector
‘because of religious training
and belief.’”
The statement expressed
concern “that some draft
boards do not recognize a
Catholic claim for military
exemption by reason of
conscience. “On the other
hand,” it said, “we are
encouraged by recent court
decisions and the actions of
draft boards which uphold
the primacy of conscience in
this regard.”
The statement said
Christians must “make
human provisions” for the
conscientious objector and
aid him in his “service to the
human community.”
It called on each diocese in
the United States to initiate
or cooperate in providing
draft information and
counseling for Catholic
conscientious objectors, and
suggested that those Catholic
organizations which could
qualify as so-called alternative
service agencies under
provisions of the Selective
Service Act “consider
applying for that status, and
support and provide
meaningful employment for
the conscientious objector.”
Release of the statement,
on Oct. 15, coincided with
the nationwide observance of
Vietnam Moratorium Day on
which many thousands of
Americans demonstrated
their opposition to indefinite
continuation of the war in
Vietnam.
Father Patrick J.
McDermott, S.J., assistant
director for peace in the
Division of World Justice and
Peace, said the statement was
intended as a “useful
document”
Father McDermott
described the statement as an
“expansion” of views put
forth by the U.S. Bishops in
their 1968 pastoral letter,
Human Life in Our Day. In
the pastoral the bishops
recommended modification
of the Selective Service Act
to make it possible for
so-called selective
conscientious objectors
(those who object to a
particular war though not
necessarily to all wars) “to
refuse without fear of
imprisonment or loss of
citizenship to serve in wars
which they consider
unjust...”
The Division of World
Justice and Peace statement
said: “In reaffirming this
recommendation, we are
reminded of the number of
individuals who have suffered
imprisonment or have left the
country because they felt
compelled to follow their
conscience rather than the
law.
“In a continuing pastoral
concern for their welfare, we
urge civil officials... to
consider granting amnesty to
those who have suffered
imprisonment and give those
who have left the country an
opportunity to demonstrate
that they are sincere
objectors.”
The statement described
the Christian attitude toward
war and peace through the
ages and suggested that
conscientious objection has a
venerable tradition in the
Church.
“Since apostolic times, the
Church has cherished and
valued the spirit of
non-violence based on the
teaching of Jesus,” it said.
“This is one of the reasons
Christians of the early Church
did not participate in military
service.”
The statement
acknowledges that theologians
subsequently developed a
“just war” theory, but
pointed out that such wars
had to meet certain
conditions-notably that the
military action must not
produce a greater evil than
that which it sought to
correct.
Noting recent anti-war
statements by popes and by
the Second Vatican Council,
the statement declared: “A
Catholic viewing his tradition,
the message of the
Gospel . . . could validly
question and abstain from
participation in war or the
preparations for war.
“It is clear that a Catholic
(either in-service or
out-of-service) can be a
conscientious objector
‘because of religious training
and belief.’”
“We encourage clergy and
laymen alike, especially
parents, to be sympathetic
and understanding to those
who in good conscience are
compelled to object to
military service, even if one
were not in total agreement
with the objector,” the
statement said.
“We should look upon
conscientious objection not
as a scandal, but rather as a
healthy sign.”
(Continued from Page 3)
the Federal government. The
Federal military government,
however, at this stage, lost
control and within two
months a counter-coup took
place.
On July 29, 1966, Major
Ironsi and 43 other Eastern
officers as well as 171 other
ranks were murdered in cold
blood. This coup brought to
power Lt. Col. Yakubu
Gowon, the present head of
the Nigerian government. His
very first broadcast on
assuming command was:
“Suffice it to say that putting
all considerations to the test,
political, economic, as well as
social, the basis for unity is
not there.” He was later, on
the advice of the British high
commissioner and the
American ambassador, led to
withdraw that statement. He
did absolutely nothing to
stop the new wave of
massacres that took place not
only in the North but also
this time in Lagos, the federal
capital.
Thousands more were
massacred--all from the
Eastern region. Estimates
range from 30,000 to 50,000
dead. This time at least two
million Nigerian citizens of
Eastern origin began the great
exodus to the East in scenes
reminiscent of the ingathering
of the exiles into Israel after
World War II. Most of these
were absorbed in the
“extended family system” of
the East.
After many months of
fruitless negotiations and
broken promises of the
Federal military government
these same million refugees
constituted a powerful
pressure group behind Col.
Ojukwu, urging him to seceed
from the federation. Their
reasoning was simple. They
had helped more than any
other people in building up
the federation. Now they
were homeless, property less,
unwanted in that federation;
so why stay?
The demand for secession
in the East grew with each
passing day during the next
nine months. Ojukwu,
ironically, did everything in
his power to prevent such a
secession, yet today he is the
one accused of trying to
break up the federation of
Nigeria. However, in April,
1967, the Federal military
government imposed an
economic blockade on the
Eastern Region and from
then on the mentality
becamse one of seige.
Pressure mounted on Ojukwu
and finally he capitulated to
the wishes of his 14 million
people and at 2 a.m., May 30,
1967, the Eastern Region of
Nigeria became the Republic
of Biafra.
War was then inevitable.
On July 6, Nigerian troops
crossed the Biafran border in
a three pronged attack which
Gowon called rather
euphemistically “a police
action.” This police action is
now in its 28th month with
more than 2 million deaths to
its credit.
“Dom Helder” — Brazil’s Reforming
BY JAIME FONSECA
(NC News Service)
Landing in Recife, the
busiest port in the
northeastern bulge of Brazil,
is an intriguing experience.
The murder there last May of
youth-moderator Father
Henrique Pereira Neto is still
unsolved. This is also the city
of Dom Helder, the fiery
defender of Brazil’s poor.
‘ ‘Dom Helder” is
Archbishop Helder Camara of
Olinda and Recife.
The name of his See is a
combination of the old and
the new. Olinda was the first
Portuguese settlement of the
area and has been a diocese
since 1676. It is full of
historic landmarks, including
those left by the Dutch
during their brief domination
in the mid-17th century.
Recife is the bustling
seaport nearest Europe and
convenient to world shipping
heading south. It has modern
dock facilities for its busy
trade in coal, wheat, sugar,
cotton and cattle, and
because of its picturesque
waterways Recife is called the
Venice of America. About
700,000 people live in the
city proper, and another
700,000 in its four main
suburbs and the surrounding
rural areas of the sertao, the
desert-like prairies typical of
northeast Brazil.
Most of these people earn
$75 each a year.
It is this human element of
Recife that provides
justification for Dom Helder’s
radical views on present social
conditions. These conditions
provided the stage for the
unsolved bizarre murder of
the young priest who tried to
mend society’s ways.
Father Henrique, 28, was a
close aide of Dom Helder,
who placed him in charge of
youth work in the
archdiocese, including work
among university students.
Because much of the
corruption of minors--parti-
cularly youths from the
shanty towns of Recife-came
from prostitution and drugs,
Father Neto battled their
pushers.
His body, showing signs of
4
4l
having been bound, stabbed
and shot, was found in late
May under a tree on the
Recife State University
campus. This was the climax
of a campaign of threats and
terror against Dom Helder
and his close associates. A
youth leader, Candido Pinto
de Melo, a fourth-year
engineering student, had been
attacked with machine gun
fire weeks earlier and left
with his spinal cord cut at
several points.
A wave of indignation,
shared by many in Brazil and
other countries, has not yet
resulted in a solution to the
assassination of Father Neto.
The main suspect, a
drug-addict and peddler, was
a former agent of the secret
police (DOPS). An
investigating committee
appointed by Gov. Nilo
Coelho of the state of
Pernambuco failed to gather
enough proof for a formal
indictment, and blamed the
police for lack of
cooperation.
There are two principal
versions of the priest’s death
widespread in Recife these
days. One is that he was
“executed” by order of
underworld bosses who
resented his successful battle
against them which cut
deeply into their business.
The other version points to
political intrigue against Dom
Helder and his aides in
revenge against the social
reform movement they
launched and support. This
version is based on these
three factors:
--Five days before the
murder, a local daily ran a
strong denounciation by Col.
Helio Ibiapina of a
“subversive group” operating
at the Marist College, where
Father Henrique was
moderator. “Just wait and see
who is the loser”, the letter
added.
--Present and former
members of the secret police,
some of them linked with the
rightist Anti-Communist
Hunt Commandos, showed
unusual activity before and
after the priest was killed,
according to Resistencia, an
underground paper, which
named them.
-A main suspect left for
Europe immediately after the
crime. He was said to be a
drug peddler and the son of a
important politician.
Drugs, prostitution and
other social evils are, in the
view of Dom Helder’s aides
the end-product of social
inequities such as low wages,
unemployment and selfish
gain by the few. One-third of
the population of Recife is
without work, and probably
another third barely subsists
on part time jobs and low
pay.
About 250 babies in every
1,0 00 born die from
malnutrition. “The people
who make it beyond the
average life expectancy of 30
years consider themselves
supermen,” said Dr. Juvenal
Maderia.
These are the conditions
prevailing in most of the 70
parishes that make up the
archdiocese of 1.35 million
people. Among its 300
priests, many come from the
United States, Canada and
Europe.
“Since 1966 we have been
engaged in Operation Hope,”
says Dom Helder, “by which
we devote 80% of our
energies and resources to
human promotion in
self-help, both spiritual and
material. Still, we must
devote 20% to help those
who cannot help themselves.”
He looked through the
window of his old office to
the large backyard of his
residence, a stucco building.
There a long line of women
and children paraded to the
clinic and dispensary housed
in a newly finished building.
His aim, however, is to
cure the evils of
underdevelopment at its
roots, and he has launched a
non-violent campaign for
social justice that is slowly
taking root in other areas of
Brazil: his Action, Justice and
Peace Movement.
Dom Helder, 60 years old
and going strong with an
intensity of life that belies his
small fragile figure,
punctuates his remarks with
energetic gestures. Amid
constant interruptions from
phone calls, visitors and his
“staff’--a nun doubling as
secretary and porter, and a
lay helper--Dom Helder
poured forth his thoughts:
“The conditions in Brazil
can be summed up by
pointing to the large mass of
people living in subhuman
conditions, while 50 or 60
families have control over the
country’s wealth. There is a
sort of internal colonialism,
in which illiterate masses have
no vote; therefore the
governments, the members of
congress, depend on a strong
liaison with the rich, or, as
some say, the oligarchy. In
order to calm the clamor of
the people, they dictate laws
and create institutions, yet
they never apply these laws
nor do the institutions
become operative.
“Take the reform laws of
1964, which do exist but
mostly on paper. Under those
laws, an ambitious program
for the Northeast was to be
implemented by joint efforts
from the Bank of Brazil, the
Sugar Institute, the Brazilian
Institute for Agrarian Reform
and the National Commission
for Farm Development, in
close cooperation with
SUDENE, the regional
development agency. The
plan was called GERA,
meaning group-executive-
rational-action to foster
industrial and agricultural
development.
“Now, our main problem
is to keep sugar production at
higher employment levels.
Through local efforts at
human promotion, we were
able to improve conditions.
But GERA never got off the
ground. It is true that the
government showed
PERTH Australia (NC) -
Three former Anglican
clergymen, all married, were
ordained to the priesthood in
St. Mary’s cathedral here
(Oct. 19).
The new priests, who were
ordained in June as the first
married deacons in the Latin
rite in Australia, are Father
John E. Lisle, Rodney J.
K
intentions of effecting a
reform from the grassroots;
but in fact it shuns the
participation of the people.
The military is afraid of the
people; they prefer to make
an open profession of
anti-communism as an
excuse, and thus they end up
maintaining the unjust
conditions of the past.
“Some reforms were
outlined, but little has been
accomplished in public
administration, or in
economics-save lower
inflation-or in tax laws.
Legislation can be all right,
but its application is
defective. Big corporative
business, can pay good
lawyers who help it
circumvent taxes, while the
middle class pays in full.
“The military, which has
ruled the country since April
of 1964, decided to tighten
its grip in December of 1968
after four years of
‘revolutionary government.’
They invoked reasons that
most people doubt.
Subversion, for instance. How
can this be true people ask,
when the military had full
control of the country?
Corruption? They also had
ample time to correct that.
“And reform? They have
done little of this, mostly
because of a lack of courage
to break the heavy
commitments the regime has
with the oligarchy and
international economic
power.
“Brazil continues to be a
satellite of the United States;
other nations are satellites of
Williams and Frederick F.
Beyer.
The sacrament of Holy
Orders was conferred on the
three by Archbishop
Launcelot J. Goody of Perth.
Father Lisle and Williams
were English-born while
Father Beyer was born in
western Australia.
the Soviet Union. There was
an attempt made at Punta del
Este in 1967 to correct such
dependence by placing the
emphasis not so much on aid
but on reform of basic
structures.
“But what happens in
practice is that when
someone tries or decides to
fight for such reforms, the
local oligarchies cry
‘subversion!’ and
communism, and the United
States, pushing aside its Punta
del Este commitments,
fearfully agrees, and reform
becomes a political taboo.
“Only in the case of Cuba
was the United States taken
by surprise, after successful
patriots overthrew a corrupt
dictatorship and the guerrillas
were taken over by
communist leadership. This
event proved that modem
armies and conventional
weapons are no match for
guerrilla warfare. It is then
that Washington began
training for anti-guerrilla war.
“Since then, and because
Latin America is included in
U.S. military policies, the
influence of the Pentagon has
been strenghtened in our
countries. Now, I wish to be
fair and consider this as part
of the world situation and its
balance of power. But I am a
bishop and I must be
concerned first with the
situation of the human
person in my diocese.
“Few nations like the
United States have such a
wonderful history of civic
and human progress, thirst
for freedom and religious
liberty. Many generations did
not spare any sacrifice to save
and preserve those freedoms.
God rewarded them with the
promised land and showered
them with abundant natural
resources, which they put
into production by
intelligent, hard work. So
they prospered.
“At a given moment, they
were so strong that the rest of
the world called upon the
United States to save its
freedoms. Having done this
through the First and Second
World Wars, I can see why its
present leaders feel they have
a right to avoid a Third World
W ar. We all know that
technology applied to
modem war means greater
Married Deacons
Become Priests
Taxing Churches—
(Continued from Page 5)
The brief contends that
the taxation of houses of
worship would “produce
practical consequences that
would work undesirable
changes in the social order.”
It lists a threefold impact
on the state should it be
barred from permitting tax
exemption of houses of
worship:
--‘‘There will be a
substantial curtailment of
valuable public benefit
services conducted by the
agencies of religious
organizations, a slack which
the state will have to take up
itself.”
--“The involvement of
state with church will be
greater, not less, than if such
exemptions had been
permitted to continue.”
Tax exemption critics
often contend that if
churches were required to
pay taxes the tax burden of
individual taxpayers would
decrease.
But because church
taxation would “produce a
substantial curtailment in the
social welfare services carried
on by the churches and their
affiliated agencies, services,
the performance of which
would then have to be taken
up by the state,” the USCC
brief says, the tax burden of
the state’s citizens would
increase.
conduct a foreclosure on the
property of a church unable
to meet its new financial
obligations to the state,” the
brief points out.
Taxation would require
the government “to adopt
and maintain a continuing
official curiosity concerning
the affairs of the church,” the
brief declares, adding that
“the arm of the tax gatherer
reaches far.”
USCC views this as an
impairment of religious
liberty in the United States.
It voices concern for the
smaller, rural churches and
those in depressed city
centers, “which would be
most hurt if their dwindling,
and usually impecunious,
congregations were required
to pay taxes on church
property whose assessed
valuation might be
substantial, but whose ability
to pay the taxes assessed on
that valuation might be
extremely circumscribed.”
‘‘For many small
churches,” the brief
continues, “it would mean
that either they would have
to go out of existence or else
merge with a denomination
whose financial resources
were more adequate than
theirs,” thus destroying the
religious pluralism which is
characteristic of America.
USCC points out that
religious organizations make
“vast contributions to the
general welfare of the
communities in which they
are located.”
Taxation, USCC contends,
would impair the goal of
maintaining freedom of the
churches from intimate
governmental scrutiny.
“One does not have to
raise the terrorem arguments
to contemplate the concern
of the troubled government
official required to order or
danger of total destruction
for humankind. This entitles
U.S. leaders to make a
constant effort at control and
balance, in the face of two
other empires possessing the
atom bomb, Russia and
China.
“Parallel to this strategy is
the space race, which because
of its military connotations
also comes under the
Pentagon. The challenge
further increases the bonds of
the military with the
economic and industrial
power of the United States,
and there is a greater liaison
with the scientific and
research world of the
universities.
“Today, a Latin American
country that has not
established a war college is a
rarity. There, the military
become enlightened
technocrats instead of mere
soldiers, because they acquire
a political philosophy of
sorts, which in many points is
clearly bound to the thinking
of the Pentagon. But the
main concepts of their
mission remain simplistic
enough: that the capitalist
world has many values to
offer, among them freedom
and progress, but that such
anti-values as reform and
subversion can creep in.
Communism becomes their
main concern.
“The generals and colonels
have decided that they must
replace the inept, dishonest
politicians; and they do so
not because the military
holds ambitions of power,
they claim, but because they
are patriotic, because theirs is
the mission to save the
country and continent.
“Now that they are
embarked on political roles;
the military have to prove
that they are better prepared
and endowed to govern than
the old politicians. But they
could prove also that they are
wrong, if they repress
people’s aspirations. Our task,
that of the Church and of the
social reformers, is to show
that the military are wrong in
combating social change in
the name of anti-communism,
and that this is precisely what
brings communism closer.
“How can we overcome
such a simplistic view? By
inviting the military
establishment, and the
Stating the fear of
churches having to cut back
their social services if
taxation is permitted, USCC
declares that “to the extent a
church must reduce the scope
and tempo of its good works,
it is pro tanto less a ‘religious’
organization than it was
before.”
It concludes by stating
that “no gain would be
realized by society by
elimination of the
exemptions.”
(Next week: the historical
argument.)
universities, to a deeper,
franker analysis of the world
conflict. My belief is that this
is not so much an East-West
conflict, but a conflict of
human progress between
North and South.
“Latin Americans feel that
they are being exploited, in
spite of the aid programs they
receive, because of the
present prices paid for their
raw materials, because of the
tax systems, because of the
educational system. Although
they are trying to correct
these adverse factors by
forming a united front-as
shown by the Consensus of
Vina del Mar--the United
States resorts to delay and
divisive tactics in offering a
new role, tied to its security,
to each individual country,
and adds the temptation of
millions of dollars in aid, as in
the case of Brazil.
“I am aware that new
approaches are being
recommended in order to
improve economic
conditions, to bring some sort
of democratic process in the
aid programs. But, will some
sectors of U.S. industry and
investment see in the new
approach a betrayal of their
interests? My hope is that the
time will come when the U.S.
and Latin America can deal as
equal to equal, without the
shadows of foreign or internal
colonialism.
“I am not so sure that the
White House can change this
‘new establishment’ favored
by the Pentagon for Latin
America. In normal times, the
civilian power of the
executive branch in
Washington should command
the obedience of the military,
but today Vietnam and the
cold war are supreme
arguments of national
security and world security.
Some go as far as making a
sort of religion of the defense
of capitalism. ”
“But we should remember
that Rome, facing the
invasion of the barbarians,
had its defenders who said
that if the Roman Empire
ever fell, Christianity would
also fall. I say tha the crux of
the East-West, North-South
conflicts is human
selfishness.”