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PAGE 3 - December 18, 1969
CARDINAL COOKE DECLARES
Religion Has Significant
Role In Violence Control
BY KIM LARSEN
WASHINGTON (NC)-
Government alone cannot
solve the problems of crime
and violence, and the task
may be left undone if religion
does not play a strong and
positive role in battling those
problems.
Terence Cardinal Cooke of
New York made this
declaration in the final report
of the National Commission
on the Causes and Prevention
of Violence.
The cardinal’s
contribution to the expansive
work of the presidential
commission was praised by
Dr. Milton Eisenhower,
chairman, during the last
press conference (Dec. 12) of
the commisssion when the
final report was released.
Eisenhower noted that
Cardinal Cooke’s seven-page
chapter on “Religion and the
Problem of Violence” was
one of several new items
disclosed by the commission.
Since its creation in June,
1968, the commission has
issued numerous volumes of
reports.
Eisenhower pointed out
that the greatest threat to
America comes from within
rather than from outside
sources. He said Arnold
Toynbee, prominent British
historian, in extensively
studying 21 major
civilizations, discovered that
19 of them crumbled from
internal decay.
This internal moral
breakdown is strongly
emphasized by Cardinal
Cooke in his report.
Calling violence a moral
and social evil, the prelate
pointed out the necessity of
distinguishing between good
and evil.
“There is a need to speak
the truth about good and evil
to today’s radical militanta,”
he wrote. “In their
confrontations, in tbeir
attempt to dehumanize their
opponents by their rhetoric,
they are projecting the fatal
illusions that some people are
wholly good, others wholly
bad and that all people can be
compelled by fear and force.
“They must learn what
our political, social, and
religious organizations have
learned or are swiftly learning
--that neither imposition nor
dictation will turn the tide of
evil. We must search out
together the strains of evil
and combat them wherever
they are found.”
“But hatred of persons,
indeed hatred itself,”
Cardinal Cooke continued,
‘‘must be seen as an
irrationality because it
assumes what is rarely
found-the pure ..wickedness
of an antagonist. The
instincts for good must be
sought out and evoked in
every man.”
Church and synagogue, the
New York churchman
declared, can play a strong
and positive role in the
prevention of violence and
the preservation of social
peace.
“Government alone,” he
wrote, “can never solve all
our problems .. .It can never
touch the hearts, the free
wills, and the minds of men
as religion can. Social
persuasion can go only so far.
It is the role of religion to
stimulate change in attitudes
and to promote peace and
understanding among men.”
Cardinal Cooke cited three
roles for religion in
combating violence:
peacemaker, prophet, and
bridge-builder.
Not only must the church
act as a bond between
different social classes, ethnic
groups, and interst groups,
but it also must give effective
witness to truth, both
functions of which lead to
bridge building, the cardinal
explained.
Recognizing the need for
change, Cardinal Cooke also
said there is an equal need for
continuity and relatedness.
“We all need a bridge from
past to present and from
present to future .. .Religion
does provide continuity
among the various stages of
life,” he wrote.
“Religion,” he explained,
“provides a setting in which a
man can put himself together,
can sense something of
whence he comes and where
he goes, and can be aware of
the continuity of his life and
his relatedness to others.
“Out of this sense of
continuity and relatedness
and responsibility towards
others comes the love so well
described as ‘affection and
respect, encouragement,
order, and support,’ ” he said.
Concluding, Cardinal
Cooke pointed out that
“under God we can achieve a
renewed sense of faith in
America and Americans, a
firm hope for the fullfillment
of our personal destinies and
the dreams enshrined in the
preamble to our Constitution,
and an ever-increasing love
and respect for our fellow
citizens.”
GENERAL d&SEMBLX
Bp. Bernardin
NCC Observer
DAYTON, Ohio - At a meeting of bishops and editors held at the Bergamo Center here (Dec. 3-5),
under joint auspices of the Catholic Press Association and the USCC Department of
Communications, are seen, from left, Archbishop Philip M. Hannan of New Orleans, chairman of
the Department of Communications; Richard M. Guilderson Jr., director of NC News Service, and
Norman E. Isaacs, executive editor, Louisville Courier-Journal and Louisville Times and president
of the American Society of Newspaper Editors. (NC Photo)
IN EftllCA TION SURVEY
‘False Issues’ Cited
WASHINGTON (NC)-
Father Andrew M. Greeley
said the National Council of
Catholic Men (NCCM)
questionnaire on Catholic
ecucation contained several
“false issues” and declared:
“The Catholic educators do
themselves no service, nor do
they help anyone else by
presenting such false
alternatives.”
In his analysis, Father
Greeley noted that 51% of
the respondents were willing
to say that the Church
‘‘should” provide more
educational opportunities for
the disadvantaged, even if this
meant the closing down of
middle class schools, but only
23% thought that white
Catholics “would support
such efforts if it meant fewer
schools for their own
children.
Father Greeley said that
any suggestion that there
must be a choice between
schools in the ghetto and
schools in the suburbs raise a
false problem.
‘‘Such alternatives are
essentially unreal ones and it
does not seem, to my mind,
to be fair to respondents to
force them to make such an
unrealistic choice,” he said.
“If American Catholicism
wants to have the schools for
its white middle class
members and still facilitate
the education of those in
other parts of the city, there
is no reason why it cannot be
so,” he asserted. “The
argument that both cannot be
afforded is an argument based
on the economy of scarcity
but this is, let it be noted, not
the 1930s.
“The Catholic educators
do themselves no
service ... .by presenting
such false alternatives,” he
stated.
Father Greeley said the
consultants disagreed, “as
well they might,” with
another “false alternative”
educating potential leaders if
this meant turning away
students of average or below
average ability.
“The point is that the
Church can easily educate, if
it so desires, those of average,
below average, and superior
ability .. .’’Father Greeley
said.
He said the consultants
were in sympathy with more
effoort among the poor and
disadvantaged “though the
sympathy rapidly ebbs if such
support is to take place at the
expense of those who are
al ready in Catholic
schools.. .The consultants
see the schools as necessary
for recruiting ground for
leaders but do not want the
leaders to be recruited at the
expense of others.”
DETROIT (NC)- Bishop
Joseph L. Bernardin, general
secretary of the National
Conference of Catholic
Bishops watched the
proceedings of the eighth
General Assembly of the
National Council of Churches
here with an unusually
attentive eye.
In some respects the
Protestant-Orthodox
gathering parallels the
anticipated Catholic National
Pastoral Council to be
organized sometime in the
future.
‘‘The National Pastoral
Council will be similar to
this,” the bishop said, “in
that it involves priests,
bishops, Religious, and lay
people.”
Bishop Bernardin declined
to speculate on whether he
anticipated the variety and
intensity of both petitioning
and dissenting voices that
were heard at the meeting
here.
He did cite the “unusual
phenomenon” that emerged
both at the NCC gathering
here and at the Catholic
bishops meeting in
Washington two weeks
earlier.
Both meetings were
distinguished by the numbers
of special interest groups
from both in and out of the
church seeking to get their
concerns heard. “It really is
an unusual phenomenon,”
Bishop Bernardin observed.
“On the one hand we hear
they have written off the
church. But on the other
hand, their presence at these
meetings is evidence that they
still take the institutional
church seriously.”
Bishop Bernardin pointed
out that except for the issue
of celibacy in Catholicism,
most of the same issues were
before both bodies: the
Vietnam war, special
problems of racial minorities,
women’s rights.
The 15 Catholic fraternal
delegates, who had a voice
but no vote in NCC Assembly
sessions, were generally
impressed by the “openness”
of the meeting here, in which
both individuals and groups
were given the opportunity to
address the Assembly with
their concerns.
The Assembly “made
room for many voices to be
heard” said Msgr. William W.
Baum, chancellor of the
Kansas City-St. Joseph, Mo.,
diocese and chairman of the
Catholic delegation. Msgr.
Baum was the first executive
director of the U.S. Bishops’
Committee for Ecumenical
and Interreligious Affairs.
While acknowledging that
the Assembly “hasn’t been
able to discuss certain
substantive issues,” Msgr.
Baum expressed the opinion
that “the choice to stay in
plenary (open) session and to
be open to many voices is
good.”
Both Msgr. Baum and
Bishop Bernardin anticipate
continued and increasing
cooperation with the
National Council of
Churches.
W&SSSSSSS^m
Discuss Role Of The Catholic Press
BY JAMES M. SHEA
DAYTON, Ohio (NC) -
Eight bishops, most of them
publishers of diocesan
newspapers, and 19 Catholic
editors at a three-day meeting
(1> . 3 to 5) here reviewed
the goals of their publications
and strove to resolve
bishop-editor “tensions.”
They found the tensions
were relatively few and there
was general agreement on the
purpose of the Catholic press.
First of its kind in the
country, the bishops-editors
conference was sponsored by
the Communications
Department, U.S. Catholic
Conference; the Catholic
Press Association and
Bergamo Center for Renewal
at the University of Dayton,
where the sessions took place.
The Ohio State chapter,
Knights of Columbus,
provided financial assistance
in setting up the conference.
In a statement of
‘‘preliminary consensus”
issued at the end of the
conference, the participants
said “the basic purpose of the
diocesan press is to enlighten
the Catholic about his world
and his role in it.”
•The statement also
suggested that in order to
achieve its goal, the Catholic
press needs “a definition of
the roles of publisher and
editor, a mutual trust and
understanding and frequent
direct communication
between them.”
However, in a
questionnaire answered by 84
bishops throughout the U.S.,
72 indicated that they had
friendly relations with the
editors of their papers and
only two bishops described
relations as “strained.”
The survey was made by
Archbishop Philip M. Hannan
of New Orleans, chairman of
the USCC Communications
Department, and himself the
former editor of a diocesan
newspaper (The Catholic
Standard, of Washington,
D.C.)
Reporting on results of his
questionnaire, Archbishop
Hannan noted that of the 84
bishops responding:
--55 expressed
“satisfaction” with their own
diocesan paper, and 24
“dissatisfaction.”
--38 said they were
generally satisfied with
diocesan papers in the U.S.,
and 36 said they were
dissatisfied.
-49 said the diocesan
paper was “essential” and 30
said it was “helpful” in the
diocese’s program of religious
education. Only three said it
was unncessary.
-62 bishops said their
diocesan papers have and
exercise freedom to report
misbehavior of churchmen
when it is a matter of public
knowledge.^
-50 expressed satisfaction
with their paper’s coverage of
community problems.
Also turned up by the
questionnaire was the fact
that 45 of the bishops
published financially
independent papers, while 37
acknowledged that subsidies
were necessary. The general
conviction was that in the
overall religion education
program of the diocese, the
school system ranked first,
the Confraternity of Christian
Doctrine program second,
and the diocesan paper third.
Answering a question
about which Catholic
magazines they usually scan,
49 bishops listed America, 48
the Liguorian, 43 The Sign,
42; Commonweal, and 41 the
Catholic Digest. But The
Liguorian ranked highest in
the number of “satisfied”
votes, with 29-and got no
“dissatisfied” votes.
Twenty-five bishops said they
were “satisfied” with the
Catholic Digest and none
expressed an opposite
opinion. In third place in this
category was America, with
19 bishops satisfied and 11
dissatisfied.
Archbishop Hannan noted
that the Liguorian, published
by the Redemptorist Fathers,
“was most often singled out
for praise by the bishops.”
Among the national
newspaper weeklies, Twin
Circle received the most
“satisfied” votes, 35, as well
as the second highest number
of “dissatisfied” votes, 19.
Thirty-two bishops expressed
satisfaction with the National
Register, and 15
dissatisfaction. Our Sunday
Visitor was third in the
number of satisfied bishops
with 30, but recorded only
six dissatisfactions.
First place in
dissatisfactions went to the
National Catholic Reporter,
with 36. Only three bishops
expressed satisfaction with
the paper.
Second place in
dissatisfaction-20-went to
the Wanderer, which also
received “satisfied”
comments from six bishops.
Editors of diocesan papers
supported the opinions of the
bishops concerning
editor-publisher relations,
according to a survey of
editors made by Gerard E.
Sherry, editor of the Central
California Register.
Sherry told participants in
the conference that “few of
our editors seem to have any
complaint,” concerning their
relationship with the
publisher, who is usually the
bishop of the diocese.
Most of the editors polled
said they had direct access to
the bishop, and could discuss
problems and policies with
him as and when the occasion
demanded, he reported. And
in answer to a question as to
“interference” by the bishop,
there was general agreement
that there was little, he said.
One thing that did stand
out in all of the editors
replies, said Sherry, “was the
overwhelming necessity for
mutual trust between the
bishop and his editor. If this
trust is lacking, no amount of
competency will make the
paper a successful venture,
either spiritually or
economically.”
Sherry said the diocesan
paper “must be viewed by
editors and bishops alike as
an instrument of
communications spreading
Christ and his Church.”
“Christ as the head of the
mystical body employs many
means to further the Word,”
he said. “Whatever
instrument is used must be
based on truth and applied in
charity. There then are the
essential ingredients of the
diocesan press and must be
ever present for any.
meaningful collaboration
between editor and
bishop-publisher.”
To begin the conference,
Father Walter J. Burghardt,
S.J., editor of Theological
Studies and a member of the
International Theological
Commission, gave an address
entitled “Toward a Theology
of the Press,” parts of which
were embodied in the
‘‘consensus and
recommendations for further
discussion” adopted by the
conference.
Catholic journalism, said
Father Burghardt, “has to do
primarily with God’s
continuing revelation,
recognizable in the signs of
the times, which the press
presents and appraises in a
continuing process of
education, to the end that the
Catholic community may
have and express an
intelligent public opinion, so
that the people of God may
live more intelligently its life
of faith and love in the
context of a particular age.”
Developing the idea of
“the reporting of God’s
self-disclosure now,” Father
Burghardt said that one
aspect of the news which
“cannot be absent from the
Catholic press, is that of “the
Good News, the Gospel, the
continuing education of the
Catholic people.”
He went on to say that the
“Good News” for today’s
Catholic journalist is “not as
it was then when Jesus lived
and God acted, but as it is
now, when Jesus lives and
God acts.”
Father Burghardt, who
teaches at Woodstock (Md.)
College, also declared that
“the Catholic editor must be
a perceptive man, insightful;
this is why he cannot think
and live and write in
isolation; this is why he needs
interdisciplinary
collaboration-help from the
philosopher and theologian,
from the historian and
moralist, from the sociologist
and psychologist from the
behavioral and natural
sciences.”
Emphasizing the need to
“put the news, specifically
the Good News, the Gospel,
into perspective,” he said the
purpose of education-
through-the-press is not
simply to inform, but to
stimulate informed public
opinion-and the expression
of such opinion, in the parish
and outside, in the press and
elsewhere, privately and
publicly, in classroom and the
office, in CCD and interfaith
dialogue.”
Another speaker, Prof.
Donald N. Barrett, associate
professor of sociology at the
University of Notre Dame,
discussing the needs of the
Church in rapidly changing
times, commented that “the
newspaper as a medium for
communicating the Christian
message, has great potential
in penetrating the educated
Catholic audience.”
“The Catholic newspaper
can serve many functions in
the growth of self-awareness”
on the part of the Church, he
said.
“We who are committed in
love to our Church simply
must learn to work
constructively with
disagreement,” Dr. Barrett
said. “Authoriatrianism, from
laity or clergy, is old
PANEL DISCUSSION at the recent meeting of bishops and editors at Bergamo Center, Dayton,
Ohio, includes, from left: Richard M. Guilderson Jr., director, NC News Service, Bishop Clarence
E. Elwell, Columbus, Ohio; Elmer Von Feldt. editor, Columbia, K. of C. monthly magazine, New
Haven, Conn.; William Goddard, Long Island Catholic, Rockville Center; Father Paschal Boland,
O.S.B., director, St. Meinrad, Ind., Abbey Press; Bishop Gerald F. O’Keefe, Davenport, Iowa;
Bishop Joseph Green, Reno, Nev.; Bishop Joseph B. Brunini. Natchez Jackson, Miss. (NC Photo)
fashioned. Hopefully the
maturing Church can reflect
such dissenting dialogue with
good grace by maximizing the
power of the Catholic
diocesan newspaper; we
desperately need effective
vehicles of Christian
communication; without
them the salvational word is
muted.”
Also speaking at the
conference was Norman E.
Isaacs, executive of the
Louisville Courier-Journal
and Louisville Times and
president of the American
Society of Newspaper
Editors.
Isaacs expressed the
opinion that “if an editor can
be in at least 75 to 80%
agreement with his publisher”
their working relationship can
be effective. He added that
because they share the same
general views and aspirations,
“I have not had a policy
discussion with my publisher
for perhaps 15 years.”
In the conference’s
statement, described as “a
summary of preliminary
consensus and recommenda
tions for further discussion,”
it was indicated that the
diocesan press fulfills its
purpose of enlightening the
Catholic about his world and
his role in it by:
-Interpreting fully, fairly
and accurately and events of
the day as they relate to the
Christian in his community.
-Helping to create that
community.
-Informing and instructing
its readers.
-Reflecting the prophetic
mission of the Church,
through exhortation and
inspiration.
-Helping readers to see
God speaking to men in the
events of the times.
-A process of continuing
education leading to an
enlightened public opnion.
-Providing a forum for
dialogue within the body of
the Church.
-Helping to fulfill the
bishop’s obligation to teach
and instruct the people of
God ... and to hear them in
return.
-Striving to convey the
Christian meaning of human
events to all segments of the
general community.
The statement, which
pointed out the need for
definition of the roles of
publisher and editor and for
mutual trust, understanding
and frequent direct
communication between
them, also recommended:
“That the bishop-publisher
consider sharing his
responsibility through
establishment of a board,
widely representative of the
diocese as a whole, to assist
both publisher and editor in
producing a better
newspaper. The editor must
recognize the bishop’s
pastoral responsibility and
the bishop must recognize the
editor’s necessary freedom.
Both should recognize that
the right to information is a
right of the reader which
should not be abridged.”
In conclusion, the
statement declared:
“Reporting news involves
good news and bad, joys and
sorrows, order and disorder.
In this regard Pope Paul VI
told the Catholic press, ‘Your
professional competence can
impose on you the duty of
reporting untoward
happenings which occur in
certain areas of the ecclesial
community. But it also
obliges you to put then! in
proper persepective and not
to exaggerate them, and
above all not to give the
impression that you approve
them, or that you try to
justify them, especially when
the magisterium (teaching
authority of the Church) and
the entire tradition of the
Church reproves them.’”
Taking part in addition to
Archbishop Hannan were
Bishops Joseph Brunini of
Natchez-Jackson, Miss.;
Clarence Elwell of Columbus,
Ohio; Peter Gerety of
Portland, Me.; Joseph Green
of Reno, Nev.; William
McManus of Chicago; Gerald
O’Keefe of Davenport, Iowa;
and Robert Tracy of Baton
Rouge, La.