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SERVING 88 SOUTH GEORGIA COUNTIES
The Southern Cross
DIOCESE OF SAVANNAH NEWSPAPER
SCULPTOR FOR POW BRACELET MONUMENT - Harold Balasz, 44,
who has offered to design and execute a peace monument made of
prisoner of war bracelets, stands beside an abstract relief which he created
for the entrance of his home in Mead, Wash. Bracelets have been coming
into Spokane, Wash., for the monument, proposed by Mrs. Ellen Ewing,
associate editor of The Inland Register, diocesan weekly newspaper. (NC
Photo)
HEADLINE
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HOPSCOTCH
Aid to Handicapped
WASHINGTON (NC) — The director of the U.S. Catholic Conference’s health
affairs division has commended Congress for repassing a bill providing monetary
assistance for the handicapped that President Nixon had pocket-vetoed last year. The
Vocational Rehabilitation Act Congress sent back to the chief executive March 15
afforded $2.6 billion over a three-year period for the enlargement of a vocational
training program for the handicapped. The bill provided $800 million less than the one
the president had pocket-vetoed along with 11 other pieces of legislation passed by the
92nd Congress. The president is expected to veto the Rehabilitation Act again.
Philosophy Wins in Poll
WASHINGTON (NC) — The ancient study of philosophy outpointed new programs
in “special ministries” such as inner city work in a survey of seminarians and their
teachers. Most respondents to the survey, conducted by the Center for Applied
Research in the Apostolate (CARA) here, said a good philosophy program provides a
solid foundation for understanding 1 the Christian faith and this is the most important
factor in planning a seminary program. This was considered more important than
factors such as developing capabilities in specific fields of the arts and sciences, and
preparation for special ministries.
Film Awards
NEW YORK (NC) — “The Emigrants” and “Sounder” won the 1972 Interreligious
Film Awards granted by the Catholic Conference, the National Council of Churches
and the Synagogue Council of America. Meanwhile, the USCC Film and Broadcasting
Division criticized the unrestricted PG rating given the violence and sex-filled
“Lolly-Madonna XXX” by the Motion Picture Association. See story on page 6.
Vol. 54 No. 12
Thursday, March 22,1973
Single Copy Price — 12 Cents
BY SISTER M. FIDELIS
Principal
Mt. de Sales High School
Catholic Schools’ Week, the national
observance sponsored by the NCEA and
the USCC, provides an opportunity I
welcome. This opportunity enables one
to say with joy, gratitude and hope: “I
believe in Catholic education. I
appreciate its difficult but glorious
heritage; I thrill at its contemporariness,
its flexibility and ability to meet the
challenge of this marvelous present; and
I look forward to its future when it will
continue to excel in meeting the
educational needs and aspirations of its
people.”
INSIDE STORY
Abortion Decision
Pg. 3
Movies, TV
Pg. 6
Convention Plans
Pg. 7
Cook’s Nook
Pg. 8
The American Bishops’ pastoral on
education, “TO TEACH AS JESUS
DID,” projects a beautiful optimism as
it assesses education in its broadest
sense, and education within Catholic
schools in particular.
In this document the Bishops
reaffirm their conviction that “Catholic
schools which realize the threefold
purpose of Christian education - to
teach doctrine, to build community,
and to serve - are the most effective
means available to the Church for the
education of children and young people
who thus may ‘grow into manhood
according to the mature measure of
Christ.’”
They advise those in education to
maintain the intergration of religious
truth and values; to foster integration of
religion with the rest of learning and
living, to create communities of faith; to
render instruction effective; to design
new programs of professional
excellence; to develop in students social
awareness and concern; to help the
young respond to human need through
service in a spirit of peace, brotherhood,
love, patience, and respect for others.
This is the reality in Catholic schools
all across this nation. Three years ago I
chose into the Catholic school system in
Macon, Ga., and marvel at what I see
happening within it.
I see attitudinal changes toward God,
prayer, and public worship. I see
innovative and creative educational
experiences multiplying. I see a more
personalized approach to the student
and more individualizing of learning. I
see self-pacing and self-motivation
prominent among students. I see
children happy learning. I see social
awareness and involvement growing.
I see an increasing number of
dedicated lay teachers competent in
their fields. I see, at the heart of these
schools, deeply committed religious
adding spiritual and professional
leadership to a system whose
continuance is a tribute to the devoted
Catholic laity of Macon who never feel
they have done enough for the support
of their schools. I see all of these people
facing obstacles as challenges to greater
excellence, not problems threatening
their future.
Wise is the advice of the Bishops in
their pastoral: “ .. . all those involved in
the Catholic school effort should avoid
a defeatist attitude which would regard
present problems as a prelude to
disaster. Difficult as they may be, they
are not insoluble . . .”
We have “every reason for hope in
confronting the challenge of educational
ministry today. We face problems; so
did those who came before us, and so
will those who follow. But as Christians
we are confident of ultimate success,
trusting not in ourselves, but in Jesus
Christ, who is at once the inspiration,
the content, and the goal of Christian
education.”
The Division of Refugee and
Migration Services of the United States
Bill Would
Save Fetuses
If Viable
“I Believe in Catholic Education”
Catholic Relief Services gives help to
the needy of every race, creed and
color; its instantaneous response in
times of natural or man-made disaster
has characterized its work over the past
30 years and has earned for this
organization the title of America’s Good
Samaritan.
CRS also sponsors continuing global
“self-help” programs designed to aid
individuals, families and entire
communities in the poorer nations to
raise their standards of living and attain
economic viability.
SENIOR CITIZENS PARTY. The Savannah Deanery
Council of Catholic Women sponsored a senior citizens
party for area golden agers on Friday, March 16 at
Blessed Sacrament parish hall. In upper photo a group
of ‘singing’ priests perform for the party’s guests. They
are (1. to r.) Fathers James Costigan, J. Kevin Boland,
Gerard Murphy, Brendan Breen and Liam O’Sullivan.
Accompanying on the piano is Mrs. Joseph C. Schreck.
In lower photo, golden-agers dance to strains of the
late Glen Miller’s band. The two priests dancing are (in
foreground) Father Gerard Murphy, Chancellor, and
(center) Father Ralph Seikel, Superintendent of
Diocesan Schools.
The annual appeal of the American
Catholic Overseas Aid Fund in the
Catholic parishes throughout the United
States will begin on Monday, March 26,
and will culminate with a special
collection in the churches of the
Diocese of Savannah on the fourth
Sunday of Lent, April 1, it was
announced today by Father Gerard
Murphy, Diocesan Appeal Director.
This annual solicitation provides the
major funding for the emergency relief
and developmental programs of Catholic
Relief Services-USCC which, last year
alone, reached an estimated 20 million
impoverished men, women and children
in some 68 countries throughout the
world, including the victims of the
Managua, Nicaragua, disaster. Also
benefiting from this appeal will be the
charities of the Holy Father, the
Refugee and Migration Office of the
United States Catholic Conference and
the Catholic Seamen’s Clubs.
Catholic Conference assists within the
United States the migrant, the refugee
being resettled here and foreign born
orphans who are adopted by U. S.
citizens. More than 70% of the Cuban
refugees resettled outside of Miami,
their city of first refuge, were placed by
this division of the U.S.C.C., whose
operating costs are defrayed from
contributions to this appeal.
The National Catholic Apostleship of
the Sea also benefits from the appeal
through part subsidies to seven of its 13
Seamen’s Clubs.
The national goal of the 1973
American Catholic Overseas Aid Fund is
$10 million, the minimum amount
needed to allow the organizations
benefiting from the appeal to continue
their vital work. Americans, of all faiths
are urged to support this most
worthwhile appeal; your tax-deductible
contribution will be gratefully received
at your nearest Catholic church.
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (NC) - A ‘bill of
rights’ for the unborn now before the
Illinois legislature here would require
hospitals to try to save the aborted
fetuses that show signs of life.
A companion bill would guarantee
the right of hospitals and medical
workers to refuse to participate in
abortions.
The “bill of rights” effectively
outlaws most abortions in the last three
months of pregnancy. The bill also
provides that during the last six months:
- Abortions must be performed in a
hospital where resuscitation equipment
for new-born infants is available. If the
aborted fetus shows signs of life such
equipment must be used to save it.
-- The doctor performing the
abortion must certify that the fetus is
not capable of life outside the womb.
- A statement of permission for the
abortion must be filed by the father of
the unborn if he is the husband of the
woman having the abortion, and by her
parents if she is a minor.
The bill also says that in the last
three months, abortions would be
permitted only in accordance with a
court order stating that the operation
was necessary to preserve the health of
the mother.
A companion “conscience bill,”
would absolve hospitals and medical
personnel from damage suits resulting
from their refusal to perform abortions.
The bill would also make it illegal to
discriminate in the hiring or promotion
of medical staff members against
persons who refused to assist in
abortions.
The bills were designed to fit the
requirements of the U.S. Supreme Court
decision which barred all abortion laws
covering the first three months of
pregnancy and sharply limited laws in
the last six months.
Catholic Relief Services
Appeal Set for April 1st