Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 3 — February 19, 1970
EDITOR OF FAMILY JOURNAL
Physican Cites Dangers
Of Oral Contraceptives
BY KATHLEEN BURKE
CHICAGO (NC) - Recent
Food and Drug
Administration warnings on
oral contraceptives came as a
surprise to many-even
doctors-who had minimized
chances of serious side effects
of the Pill.
But one local physician has
been questioning possible
harmful effects of the Pill
since 1962.
Dr. Herbert Ratner, Oak
Park (Dl.) Department of
Health director and editor of
Child and Family, a quarterly
family life journal, has
compiled list after list of
reports of serious illness-and
even death-due to , oral
contraceptives.
Blood clots, blindness,
severe depression, gum
trouble, “chemical” diabetes,
and even sterility are only a
few complications that may
arise from taking the Pill, he
said.
“The Pill produces body
changes which tend to
VATICAN CITY (NC)-
New rites for Religious
profession-the taking of vows
such as obedience, poverty
and continence that
constitute the essence of the
Religious life--have been
issued by the Holy See.
The purpose of the new
regulations is to give the act
of Religious profession that
“greater unity, sobriety and
dignity” demanded of it by
the Second Vatican Council.
Until the publication of
this new ordo-a joint effort
of the Congregation for
Religious and the Consilium
for the Implementation of
the Constitution on the
Liturgy -each Religious order
or community had its own
ceremonial for the profession
of vows.
The formula of each vow is
left to the discretion of the
Religious community
concerned, although the new
ordo suggests some elements.
What has been rendered fairly
uniform is the ceremony
surrounding the profession of
vows.
Under the new regulations,
the reception of the Religious
garb is delayed until the
profession of temporary
HOW AVAILABLE
WASHINGTON (NC)- A
package of materials to be
used in connection with
observances of the World Day
BROTHER Joseph Berg,
C.S.C., has been appointed
assistant secretary of the
National Conference of
Catholic Charities,
Washington, D.C., to act as
the conference's liaison to the
1970 White House
Conference on Children and
Youth. (NC Photo)
simulate changes which take
place during pregnancy,” Dr.
Ratner said.
Greater development of
the vascular system, dilation
of blood vessels, and slowing
of blood flow which is
normal in the pregnant
woman, also takes place when
women are on the Pill, he
explained.
Thrombosis, or blood
clotting, can arise from the
“false pregnancy” the Pill
induces, he said.
“Clot masses can end up in
the lungs and in the veins
with serious consequences,”
Dr. Ratner warned. “From
this cause alone it has been
estimated in England and the
U.S.,that 2% to 3% of women
who die during child-bearing
age are dying from the Pill.”
Cases of temporary
blindness also have been
attributed to the Pill. “And a
significant number of these
have been permanent,” Dr.
Ratner said.
He described the condition
vows, and is one of the acts
suggested as symbolizing that
committment to the
Religious state. Reception at
the novitaite may be
accompanied by a simple,
private ceremony, but in any
event may no longer be
accompanied by an elaborate
public ceremony.
Ceremonies surrounding
the profession of temporary
vows may be held during
Mass, although such
solemnity may be reserved
for perpetual vows. Light is
thrown upon the link
between the Eucharist and
the offering of one’s person
in the Religious state.
The public is encouraged
to attend ceremonies of
perpetual profession as an
indication that the Religious
life involves the life of the
entire people of God. It is
also suggested that various
Religious communities hold
this ceremony together as an
indication of the fundamental
unity of the Religious state.
Among the symoblic acts
suggested for the act of
perpetual profession is the
reading of the vows
previously handwritten by
the Religious himself or
herself, and the public signing
of the vows at the altar.
of Prayer for Vocations, April
12, is available from the
headquarters of the National
CYO Federation here.
The package includes
suggested homilies
appropriate for the day, a
sample program for a “youth
day” or “vocation day,”
suggestions for contacting the
mass media for purposes of
publicizing the events, prayer
cards and a colorful poster.
The program materials
were prepared by the
National Conference of
Diocesan Vocation Directors
and the National CYO
Federation, Division of
Youth Activities, U.S.
' Catholic Conference. The
entire package, or any
individual iterms desired, may
be ordered from the National
CYO Federation, 1312
Massachusetts Ave., N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20005. The
individual items range in price
from two to 15 cents apiece,
with reductions for bulk
orders.
as “partial blindness in which
certain fields of vision are
obliterated.”
A more frequent complaint
caused by the Pill is
depression. Progesterone, one
of the two major components
of the Pill, is known to be a
depressant of brain function,
Dr. Ratner said;
Careful studies indicate
depresssion affects from 8%
to 35% of women on the Pill,
he added.
This depression can be very
severe, “leading to psychosis
needing psychiatric
treatment,” he said, noting
there have been suicides
related to Pill use.
“Currently,” he said,
“depression is the major
reason women go off the
Pill.”
Unfortunately, he said,
most doctors blame the
women themselves and not
the chemical effects of the
Pill.
“It has been the custom of
propagandists for the Pill to
attribute all favorable
responses to pharmachologi-
cal action of the Pill and at
the same time to attribute
unfavorable responses to
factors unrelated to the Pill,”
Dr. Ratner said.
He estimates the most
threatening side effect of the
Pill is sterility.
Dr. Ratner cited figures
presented by Dr. Samuel J.
Behrman of the University of
Michigan: “One to two per
cent of women coming off
the Pill will be permanently
sterile and 10% to 20% will
take one to two years” to
regain fertility.
And in many cases, use of
powerful drugs will be the
only way for them to do so,
Dr. Ratner said.
One couple in seven has
trouble conceiving anyway,
he added.
“If we had known in 1960
what we know now-or even
what we knew in 1965, the
Pill never would have gotten
on the market,” Dr. Ratner
said. “The intent of the law is
that drugs should be proven
safe before, not after, they’re
put on the market.
“But originators of the Pill
promoted it as the natural
physiological method of birth
control and even though this
was a ‘medical fantasy’ this
lulled enthusiastic promoters
of the Pill to think their only
concern was with
effectiveness,” Dr. Ratner
said.
He cited four major
reasons for the Pill’s
popularity:
-“It’s a huge moneymaker
for drug companies and they
are skilled in the promotion
of drugs.”
-“Social engineers have a
primary interest in
population control and
getting people off welfare
rolls by eliminating
them .. . They were highly
enthusiastic about the Pill
because they thought it
would solve the world wide
population problem. But now
it’s generally agreed the Pill
has been a failure in this
regard.”
-“A form of contraception
in which you only have to
swallow a pill is highly
desirable to women who find
methods of contraception at
the time of the sex act
undesirable.”
-Doctors like it because “it
makes them feel godlike.”
“I do hope the recent
exposure of the dangers of
the Pill will be a lesson to the
numerous clergymen who got
into the practice of medicine
by recommending the Pill
right and left,” Dr. Ratner
said.
A recent Newsweek-com-
missioned Gallup Poll
revealed nearly one-fifth of
the estimated 8.5 million
Americans using oral
contraceptives have recently
stopped.
RELIGIOUS VOWS
New Rites For
Profession
Material For
Vocations Day
VATICAN CITY — Pope Paul VI defended celibacy for priests
of the Latin-rite Church for the fourth time in nine days (Feb.
9) in an address to the Lenten preachers and pastors of Rome.
John Cardinal Dearden of Detroit, president of the National
Conference of Bishops, cabled support for the Pope’s position
(Feb. 11) on behalf of the U.S. bishops. (NC Photo)
POPE PAUL
Says Celibacy Makes
Priesthood Attractive
VATICAN CITY (NC) -
Celibacy makes the
priesthood more attractive to
those contemplating a
vocation, Pope Paul VI told a
pre-lenten gathering of priests
in the Sistine Chapel.
Continuing his campaign to
defend the celibate
priesthood of the Latin-rite
Church, the pontiff turned
his annual meeting (Feb. 9)
for the Rome diocese’s priets
and Lenten preachers into
what he called “a
conversation rather than a'
speech.”
Penance for the faithful is
usually stressed at the yearly
get-together, but this time
Pope Paul spoke directly to
his diocesan priests-and, by
implication, to all the priests
of the world-as persons.
The clergy jammed into
the Sistine Chapel broke into
his words twice with
spontaneous applause. The
pope plainly showed pleasure
at the reaction. It was the
fourth time in nine days that
he defended celibacy in
speech or writing.
Celibacy, he said, enables
the priest to devote himself
to “ihe sole love of Jesus”
and the the service of the
people of God.
“It exercises a greater
attraction to embrace the
ecclesiastical state than a
formula which is humanly
more natural and apparently
easier,” said the pope in
contrasting celibacy with
marriage.
He called for a growing
“community spirit” among
his priests toward greater
“trust, collaboration,
friendship” so that priets
would have “the same
sentiments found in Christ.”
He asked all in the
priesthood to be proud of
their vocations “in a humble,
holy way.”
The pope asserted that
“before the ecumenical unity
of the Church, there must be
community unity in the
Church.”
He spoke of other areas of
pastoral concern, including
spiritual formation, but gave
a positive emphasis to
celibacy, terming that way of
life “the cross, for one’s own
salvation and that of others.”
“It makes a more
efficacious impact in the
human heart, in the youthful
heart especially,” he said.
ON CELIBACY
U.S. Bishops
Support Pope
WASHINGTON (NC)~
The nation’s Catholic bishops
have cabled Pope Paul VI
their total support in
upholding priestly celibacy.
John Cardinal Dearden of
Detroit, president of the
National Conference of
Catholic Bishops (NCCB),
informed the pope (Feb. 10)
that the American bishops are
holding to the “unwavering
position” on the issue they
adopted before.
His telegram said the
bishops of the United States
“whole-heartedly join Your
Holiness again in supporting
the ideals and discipline of
consecrated celibacy which
have served the priesthood
and the Church so well.”
Bishop Josoeph L.
Bernard in, general secretary
of the NCCB in
Washington-when asked by
NC News if Cardinal
Dearden s cable to tne pope
stemmed from the clergy
congregation’s annual renewal
idea replied:
“This is not a response to
the congregation’s
recommendations, because
they have not been discussed
by the bishops. The message
sent by Cardinal Dearden is
rather a reaffirmation of what
the bishops stated on the
subject of priestly celibacy at
their meetings of last
November and before that in
1967.”
The NCCB semi-annual
meeting here in November
1969 had issued a statement
of strong support for
celibacy, warning that to
expect a change in the rule
was “Not realistic.” At the
November 1967 meeting of
the NCCB, the bishops had
also voiced their continued
endorsement of the celibacy
rule.
BISHOP PERRY^SEMINARIANS IXTER\TE\IEI)
Black Catholics Seek
Self - Determination
BY ROLAND FREEMAN
BAY ST. LOUIS, Miss.
(NC) — The National Office
for Black Catholicism is not
the beginning of a separatist
movement in the U.S.
Catholic Church, but a
vehicle for black people to
obtain a self-determining role
in the Church, said Auxiliary
Bishop Harold R. Perry of
New Orleans.
Bishop Perry, the lone
Negro Bishop in the U.S.,
discussed the future of black
Catholics-and the new
office-with this reporter and
two black seminarians
studying at St. Augustine’s
Seminary here, John Crooms
and Ronald Bernard.
Here is the transcript of an
interview in which he,
Crooms and Bernard discuss
the office:
FREEMAN: Bishop, what
is your relationship to the
Office for Black Catholics?
BISHOP PERRY: I am
officially a member of the ad
hoc committee of three
bishops whose purpose is to
deal with the Black Clergy
Caucus in reference to the
establishment of the national
office. Now in regard to the
Black Clergy Caucus, I an not
an officer. The president is
Father Donald Clark of
Detroit. Other members are
people like Sister Martin de
Porres, president of the Black
Sisters Caucus.
The structuring of the
national office is not really
my concern as I do not head
the committee which has this
task. There is a tendency for
bishops to claim everything
being done. We want to make
sure the Black Clergy
Conference gets the credit for
the new office. It is not an
instrument of the National
Conference of Catholic
Bishops.
FREEMAN: Now that the
office exists, what are the
things you would like to see
it do or expect it to
accomplish?
BISHOP PERRY: I was
very happy the bishops in
their last meeting approved
the establishment of the new
office for this reason: the
world is rapidly changing and
we have to find new means to
make the Church more
meaningful and relevant to
black Catholics. And if this is
going to be done successfully,
black priests and myself as a
black bishop should be the
first ones to find ways of
bringing this about.
The establishment has
proceeded this far: we have
been told by the Black Clergy
Caucus to select a steering
committee which will set up
p> -cedures to insure proper
geographical representation
and adequate participation by
the religious orders who are
presently working with the
black community.
This board will have as its
purpose not a separatist
movement, but a movement
to integrate more thoroughly
into the mainstream of
Catholic life the black people
in the urban centers as well as
those in rural areas.
FREEMAN: Ronald, as a
young black Catholic what
would you like to see this
office do that hasn’t or isn’t
being done now?
RONALD BERNARD: I’d
like to see some improvement
in the area of apostolic
activities in the South. I have
observed that the Church has,
well, not exactly failed, but
not really succeeded in this.
For example, the Church
could use its power more in
enforcing integration in the
schools.
I have seen situations
where black guys have been
refused teaching positions in
schools-certain Catholic
schools. I think the Church’s
power-and it has
enough-should be used to get
the guys in even if it means
pulling out the white teachers
that are there. To me this is
an instance where the Church
has the power to do
something and it just hasn’t
done it.
BISHOP PERRY: I think
what he’s saying is that the
Church is working in the
black community. We have
our physical structures
there-churches, schools. But
while the Church is
represented there, as black
people we have always
thought that there was
something missing.
I might describe what is
missing as a lack of trust, a
lack of love, a lack of respect
for black people. There has
been a hesitancy to give black
people a self-determining
role, a decisional role in the
education of their children
and in the operation of their
churches.
In general there has been a
paternal attitude. What the
black community is asking
now is that they be given a
chance for self-determination.
They are asking the Church
to trust them.
FREEMAN: John, what
would you like to see happen
through the new office more
than anything else?
JOHN CROOMS: I am
hopeful that the awareness
will be created in the black
community that we are
concerned and doing
everything possible. I think
it’s going to be a great help.
RONALD BERNARD: As
far as this office for black
Catholics and the Church is
concerned-I think it’s late in
coming-very late.
In regard to self-determina
tion, we’ve had many other
examples of this before
among ethnic groups in the
U.S. Like the Polish - they’ve
had their own churches and
things like that. I think what
we’re saying now is that it is
time-past time -that black
people can have a say in how
the Church is to perform in
the black community.
BISHOP PERRY: There
has been much criticism of
the black priests for asking
for this office-criticism that
this will be a separatist
movement.
I think black people have
had a peculiar experience in
the American community. We
have suffered more than any
other minority and therefore,
I think we have a right, at
least for a time, to get
ourselves together and discuss
things among ourselves. The
very questions we are asking
ourselves is why have we not
been more integrated, and
why, when integration comes,
our leaders can’t take their
rightful positions in the
Church. Why has that
integration there has been,
for the most part, been only
token?
So what we are really
doing is stepping aside for
awhile to see how we can
push ourselves, our leaders
and the mass of people into
the mainstream of Catholic
life. We are asking if we can’t
do something about a
situation in which everybody
has really failed. In this sense
we are not really separatists.
JOHN CROOMS: I think
this black movement in the
Church shows the great love
we have for our people in the
Church. It shows the deep
concern we have for the
Church and that we do not
want to see more black
people alienated from the
Church. And I’m sure that
this will happen if something
is not done and fairly
quickly.
FREEMAN: Has the
general decline in vocations
been noticeable among black
students?
BISHOP PERRY: There’s
been a general decline all
around the world in
vocations. It is particularly
noticeable in the U.S., among
both white and black, but
even more so among the
blacks since there are only
800,000 Catholics among the
23 million blacks in the U.S.
The reason for this is
.evident. A typical black
youth almost never has a
chance to meet a black priest
in his life-there are only 170
in the whole country. So the
image is not there for him to
aspire to.
Then, too, he is not so sure
that the Church will really
welcome him, because he
does not see the actual facts
before him.
What we have to do is
spread out the few priests we
do have and put them in very
visible positions, so that black
youths may see that
something is being done. The
doors are open today. Our
duty is to make it known to
the black youth and
encourage them. However, to
do this the Church must
become more meaningful in
the black community.
FREEMAN: Is it true that
St. Augustine’s here in Bay
St. Louis used to be the only
place a black seminarian
would be accepted?
BISHOP PERRY: Yes,
that’s right. The seminary was
opened in 1923 and, at that
time, was the only U.S.
seminary that publicly
welcomed black boys to
study for the priesthood.
Maybe a dozen black priests
were ordained in other
orders. But St. Augustine’s
was established professedly to
educate and ordain black
priests for the U.S. We are
happy to say today that black
seminarians are welcome in
virtually every seminary in
the nation.
FREEMAN: Bishop, how
would you sum up your
expectation of the Office for
Black Catholics.
BISHOP PERRY: My hope
is that through this office, in
addition to what has already
been done-that is in addition
to keeping the Catholic
churches and schools of the
inner city established
there-that through these
schools the black community
will be impressed that the
Catholic Church has respect
for them, that it loves them
and trusts them. Henceforth
through this office they will
have a means of
self-determination.
-Father Joseph Guidry, S.V.D., preaches at Sunday Mass at St.
Gabriel’s Parish in Mound Bayou, Miss. St. Gabriel’s had one
Catholic member when it was founded in 1949 by Fathers John
Bowman, S.V.D. and (now Bishop) Harold Perry, S.V.D. Now
it’s still small- about 50 members-but its impact is large. The
school, for example, has more than 200 students. Some come as
far as 40 miles to class-including a number of white children
whose parents are seeking high-quality education. (NC Photo by
Ronald L. Freeman)