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PAGE 3—May 15,1975
Hostility Seen Sign of Moral Decline
CINCINNATI (NC) - The hostility
shown by some to the entry of,Vietnam
refugees into the United States is an
indication of a moral decline in this
country, according to Archbishop
Joseph Bemardin of Cincinnati.
The archbishop, who is president of
the National Conference of Catholic
Bishops, told the Cincinnati
Arch diocesan Council of the Laity
meeting:
“Regardless of how one might feel
about our role in the war just ended, the
fact is that our involvement has given us
certain responsibilities toward these
beleagured people. Despite our own
economic problems, how can we now
tum our backs on them as they flee
from persecution and perhaps even
death?
“Are we so shortsighted that we have
forgotten that most of our forebears
came to this country because they were
fleeing from oppression or from poverty
and hunger? More importantly, are we
saying that the commandment of love
and compassion does not extend to
those who are less* fortunate than we,
especially if the color of their skin is
different from ours?”
(In Washington, President Ford was
quoted as saying that opposition to
bringing Vietnamese refugees to the
United States makes him “damned
mad.”
(Ford reportedly said of opposition
to the refugees: “It just bums me up,
these great humanitarians. They just
want to tum their backs. We didn’t do it
with the Hungarians; we didn’t do it
with the Cubans; and damnit, we’re not
going to do it now.”)
Archbishop Bemardin said there is
“considerable evidence” of moral
decline in the United States.
“fn too many instances, “the
archbishop told the laity council, “the
values of our Judaeo-Christian heritage
are simply not the determining factor of
human behavior they should be.
, “As we look about us, for example,
we see many problems: racial prejudice,
drug abuse, a lack of integrity at times
in public life, a lack of reverence for life
as manifested in virtually unrestricted
abortions and now a drive for
euthanasia, an excessive sexual
permissiveness that is directly related to
an increasing number of broken homes,
pornography and the demand that
deviant forms of sexual behavior be
approved, a rising crime rate, and so on.
t ,
“In most instances these problems are
signs of selfishness, signs of an
unwillingness to look beyond our own
whims and hang-ups for our personal
fulfillment.”
But, the archbishop said, there is
cause for hope.
“Most people, for example, still have
a very generous spirit,” the archbishop
said. “They still have the drive and
determination to make the best of a
situation even when things are going
badly. They believe that people should
be dealt with honestly and fairly. #
“There is evidence, especially in the
wake of the Watergate scandal, that
they do demand a certain honesty in
government. And there is a renewed
interest, especially among the young, in
things spiritual, especially prayer.”
f s
Former Refugees Aid Refugees
s >
BY ROSEMARY VAVRIN
DALLAS (NC) - They were refugees
from Czechoslovakia in 1944. Now they
are helping refugees from Vietnam in
1975.
They waited at the Dallas-Fort
Worth regional airport r- a grandmother,
a daughter and her two sons who were
bom in this country -- as the plane
arrived from Los Angeles exactly at 5
p.m. on May 1. American passengers
disembarked wondering at all the
reporters and photographers. Then a
pause - no more passengers.
Slowly around the comer they came
-- 13 refugees from South Vietnam,
seven adults and six children,
representing parts of four families.
The family from Czechoslovakia
(now U.S. Citizens) knew that one of
these four families would be assigned to
them to live with them temporarily
until they could find a job and their
own place to live. Memories of their
own trip to the United States welled up
in their hearts.
Tears flowed down the face of one
Vietnamese woman, “We made it! We
finally made it!” she exclaimed.
Bicentennial
WASHINGTON (NC) - Dominican
Sister Maria Riley has been appointed a
coordinator for the bicentennial
CPA PRESIDENT - Franciscan
Father Jeremy Harrington, editor
of St. Anthony Messenger, has
been elected president of the
Catholic Press Association. (NC
Photo)
Unknown to the Czech family was
another woman in the Dallas area who
had been a refugee from Hungary in
1956. She too had voluntered to assist a
Vietnamese family fleeing from the
communist regime.
The 13 refugees had fled from South
Vietnam on April 26. They did not
know or care where they were going --
they just wanted to get out. They were
flown to the Philippines, to Hawaii and
then to Los Angeles.
The word came on the morning of
May 1. These 13 were headed for Dallas.
They had all been associated with
Catholic institutions in South Vietnam.
Now Catholic Relief Services, the
overseas aid agency of U.S. Catholics,
had helped them escape from the regime
they feared so much.
A phone call was made to Father
John A. Matzner of Catholic Family and
Children Services of the Dallas-Fort
Worth diocese just as the plane was
leaving Los Angeles. He immediately
began to prepare for their arrival.
In 1944, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Veleba,
with their 16-year-old son and two
daughters, ages 14 and 12, had fled
Coordinator
program being sponsored by the
Catholic Church nationwide.
Her appointment was announced here
by Bishop James S. Rausch, general
secretary of the National Conference of
Catholic Bishops (NCCB).
“Sister Maria comes to the
conference with considerable
background both in the field of
education and in the social ministry of
the Church,” Bishop Rausch said. “The
conference and the bicentennial
program are certain to benefit from her
knowledge and experience.” Sister Riley
has a doctorate.
Co-provincial of the southern
province of the Adrian Dominican
Congregation, Sister Riley will assist the
NCCB Bicentennial Committee staff in
the “Liberty and Justice for AH”
consultation program. In addition to
serving as liaison with 125 diocesan
coordinators across the country, she will
be working to involve groups and
networks of Religious men and women
in the bicentennial consultation.
Prior to her position as co-provincial,
Sister Riley has held faculty positions at
Barry College in Miami and Florida
State University.
She has also been active in the
Dominican Leadership Conference, the
Catholic Committed on Urban Ministry,
and NETWORK, a group of nuns and
others lobbying on social justice issues.
Czechoslovakia and gone to Austria.
They came to the United States in
1952.
Today the 12-year-old girl is Mrs.
Richard A. Smith of Irving, Tex., and
she is helping a Vietnamese family
consisting of a father, mother and a
daughter, who asked to be identified
only as Lam Son Anh.
The Smiths have already helped eight
people from other countries, but this is
the first time they have helped people
who are refugees as they once were.
Lam said, “We have been so moved
by the kindness of the Smiths and their
whole family.”
From going through a similar
experience herself, Mrs. Smith now says,
“I think I can understand their
problems, the uncertainty of not
knowing what is going to happen next.
My family has grown spiritually so
much in the last few days. We have been
personally touched by this war.
Vietnam is not just a country over
there.”
“Yes, yes, the uncertainty is the most
difficult,” echoed Lam.
The woman who fled from
communist Hungary in 1956 now lives
in a suburb of Dallas and has been living
with her two Vietnamese sisters, ages 18
and 32. They have asked not to be
identified by name. Their Hungarian
hostess can understand their feelings.
She too has asked that her name not be
used.
Both sisters have commented on the
woman from Hungary. “She’s so
understanding and helpful!”
The 13 Vietnamese who arrived in
Dallas were all nicely dressed, educated,
and all spoke some English. They had
had to leave behind relatives, property,
houses, apartments and all personal
items. Each one had a small overnight
bag with a change of clothes, their only
belongings to begin life in a new world.
The efforts of Catholic Relief
Services, the office of Migration and
Relief Services of the U. S. Catholic
Conference, and Catholic Family and
Children Services of the Dallas-Fort
Worth diocese have all combined to
bring them here.
Steps are currently being taken to
find the adults jobs and their own places
to live.
The years 1944, 1956, and 1975 are
far apart, but the feelings of the
refugees are the same.
The woman from Hungary said,
“When I came over, I felt the same as
these two girls feel, uncertain, not
speaking the language well, and anxious
for the future.”
Lam summed up the feelings of the
Vietnamese refugees when he said, “The
people here are so kind.”
ECUMENICAL HISTORY - American and
Canadian Episcopalian deans of cathedrals celebrate a
Eucharistic service within the walls of Vatican City, at
the Church of St. Stephen of the Abyssinians. The
first-ever ecumenical event was praised by Dean
Francis B. Sayre (center) who said that the deans
prayed for “unity, in one baptism, a single faith, and in
the same Holy Spirit.’’ (NC Photo)
Pope Accepts Jesuit Decisions
VATICAN CITY (NC) - Pope Paul
VI has approved without change all 17
decrees of the Jesuits’ 32nd general
congregation, top lawmaking body of
the Society of Jesus which wound up its
three-month deliberations March 7 after
a much-publicized tug-of-war with the
Pope.
Pope Paul had requested that all
documentation of the general
congregation be submitted to him for
approval. This action was without
precedent in the Society of Jesus.
A Jesuit spokesman reported May 5
that all the decrees submitted had been
returned the previous day.
The 17 decrees were expected to be
promulgated in Latin by the Jesuit
superior general, Father Pedro Arrupe,
within two weeks. Translations into
modem languages are the responsibility
of provinces of the Society of Jesus in
the various nations.
The principal point of contention
between Pope Paul and the 237-member
general congregation was the so-called
fourth vow -- peculiar to the Society of
Jesus - of special obedience to missions
of the Pope. The congregation had
moved toward extending this vow to all
priests of the Society of Jesus. At
present only 9,000 or 10,000 priests
have been admitted to this special vow,
and only they, as “professed” members
of the Society of Jesus, are eligible for
high office. About the same number of
Jesuit priests do not have the fourth
vow.
The Pope indicated in a letter of Dec.
3 from his state secretariat that he
would not approve any change
extending the fourth vow to all Jesuit
priests. The general congregation
decided Jan. 24 to submit more
information on the problem to' the
Pope, in effect asking him to reconsider
his opposition in a personal letter to
Father Arrupe.
In that letter - still unpublished -- the
Pope referred to himself as the
guarantor of the basic tradition of the
Society of Jesus, and said he expected
the general congregation to take his
statements on that tradition very
seriously.
A week after the general congregation
closed, Father Arrupe said he was “sure
that the Pope is right” on the fourth
vow.
When the general congregation
finished, the Pope expressed satisfaction
ajt its acceptance of his refusal to permit
changes in the fourth vow.
Portuguese Voters Seen Heeding Bishops’ Warning
BY SUSAN MARQUES
LISBON, Portugal (NC) -- Religious
convictions played a major role in
electing moderates to the national
assembly that will write a new
constitution for Portugal, according to a
bishop who was sent into exile for his
opposition to the old dictatorial regime
of Antonio Salazar.
“Without this peaceful weapon of our
people, we would fall into tyranny,”
Bishop Antonio Ferreira Gomes of
Oporto said of the April 25 elections.
His priests’ council issued a statement
saying that although the Church
approves the goals of social justice and
well-being for all as proposed by the
new revolutionary leaders, “it must
defend the right to criticize the means
being used if they jeopardize those
goals.”
Bishop Gomes has a large following
among leftists and liberals because of his
outspoken opposition to the old
dictatorial regime deposed by the
military more than a year ago. He spent
10 years in exile because of his
dissension.
Government leaders and communist
propaganda urged voters to abstain or 1
cast a blank vote. But the Portuguese
bishops urged people to show up at the
polls in great numbers and elect
moderate candidates.
About 92 percent of the registered
voters came to the polls, with only 7
percent casting blank votes or votes void
by error. Socialists and democrats, who
are considered in the center, received
two-thirds of the votes. Communists
and their close allies gathered less than
18 percent. The rest went to eight other
minority parties.
The fiesta atmosphere and the large
turnout surprised those leaders who
sought to minimize the importance of
the elections and to continue their rule
unimpeded along what they call “the
road to socialism.”
" The armed forces’ * Revolutionary
Council had earlier extracted a pledge
from all major parties that they will not
oppose its rule for the next three to five
years, and that such pledge will be
included in the new constitution.
The council decreed on May 1 that
the sole spokesman for organized labor
is the communist-dominated
Inter-Sindical labor confederation. This
is one of the monopolistic trends the
bishops have opposed as infringing upon
freedom of association, along with
similar trends in communications and
education.
Bishop Gomes said that the
Portuguese people, even after 40 years
of dictatorship’ are sufficiently mature
to show that they do not want another
dictatorship.
After deploring a “new paternalism,”
the prelate said he favored “letting the
people think for themsleves and take
responsible decisions; even if they make
a few mistakes, they will learn from
them.”
Meanwhile, the Oporto priests’
council stated that the Church stresses
the social obligations of private
property. “Experience shows that
although private property can serve
legitimate personal initiative, in practice
its abuse deprives others of their rights.”
Catholics must share in building the
new order with the overall aim of
serving the common good, the council
said, “with respect for basic freedoms,
including freedom of conscience and of
religion.”
Aside from priests giving sermons in
the 4,300 parishes throughout this
country of nine million people, the
Church was handicapped by lack of
conventional means of communication.
Broadcasting facilities of the Catholic
Radio Renascenza were occupied by a
leftist labor group several months ago. It
now runs anti-Church programs. Efforts
to replace the conservative daily
Novidades, which closed shortly after
the military coup in 1974, have not
succeeded. The Archdiocese of Lisbon
recently announced plans to launch by
the end of May a Catholic weekly, Terra
Nova (New Earth), intended for
national circulation.
In contrast, the Communist party and
its allies in the government are able to
wage a strong campaign to sway public
opinion toward its goals.
Communists say they consider
Catholics their allies in the defense of
the peoples’ rights. “We have in the
ranks of the Communist party countless
working people with religious
convictions. .. and some of our
candidates to the assembly are
Catholic,” the communist paper Avanta
said. But it called high-ranking
clergymen fascists.
The bishops warned that Catholics
should be aware that Marxist views on
man and society differ from those of
the Church. They also noted “the wave
of anticlericalism” revived by Marxists
and reminded people that the Church
has a long record of service to them
through schools, hospitals, social works
and housing.
Observers said voters obviously
heeded the bishops’ urging to vote for
moderates.
Bishop Gomes also issued a warning
on the movement called Christians for
Socialism for its opposition to Church
guidelines on social questions. The
bishop said the group’s efforts might
lead to more oppressive situations than
the ones they condemned.
“Liberty and democracy are very
delicate issues in Portugal, and they
must be dealt with carefully and
responsibly or be easily lost,” Bishop
Gomes said.