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DIOCESE OF SAVANNAH NEWSPAPER Vol. 56 No. 33 Thursday, September 25,1975 Single Copy Price — 15 Cents Subcommittee Votes Down Constitutional Amendments MARTYRS COMMEMORATED - Vietnamese children receive First Communion from Archbishop Joseph McGucken of San Francisco on the feast of Vietnamese martyrs, the first Sunday in September, at Camp Pendleton, Calif. In the background is chaplain Father Joseph Devlin, who works among the refugees after having helped displaced Vietnamese in their own country before the Communist takeover. (NC Photo by A1 Antczak) Pope Reaffirms Opposition To Euthanasia BY FATHER THOMAS DONLAN, O P. VATICAN CITY (NC) - Pope Paul VI has reaffirmed the Church’s opposition to euthanasia, and has called upon doctors to support life to the very last. Addressing 1,000 delegates to the Third World Congress of the College of Psychosomatic Medicine Sept. 18, the Pope said: “Concerning the value of each human person, we wish to remind you that it is the physician’s duty to be always at the service of life, and to assist the individual to the very end, without ever accepting euthanasia or renouncing the very human duty to help a person to end his days with dignity.” Speaking in French to delegates from more than 50 countries of five continents, Pope Paul recalled the teaching of Pope Pius XII on the use of pain-killing drugs. m HEADLINE HOPSCOTCH d Refugees Have Abortions SAN DIEGO, Calif (NC) - By Aug. 28, 46 Vietnamese women from the refugee tents at Camp Pendleton Marine Base near San Diego had abortions in hospitals and doctors’ offices in this city. The abortions were paid for by the federal government as part of a “family-planning counseling” program offered the refugees, according to Frank Mason, a southern California area representative of the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW). Bishops Blast Bill SALISBURY, Rhodesia (NC) -- The Rhodesia Catholic Bishops’ Conference has denounced legislation that would empower the government to halt criminal proceedings against a government minister for actions “in connection with the suppression of terriorism.” The bishops called the bill “a denial of justice,” and said it “endangers the future of this country.” Pope Pius XII, the present Pope noted, said in 1958 that such drugs could be used prudently by competent people, “but never so as to diminish personal responsibility or against the rights that are proper to a human person.” Noting the importance of family support for those afflicted with psychosomatic ills, the Pope called upon the delegates to stress the role of the family for the physical and moral well being of individuals. Wants Agriculture Policy Changes VATICAN CITY - Cardinal Maurice Roy of Quebec, president of the Vatican’s Council for the Laity and the Pontifical Commission for Justice and Peace, has called for major changes in the world’s agricultural policy, including better distribution of land ownership and fair tax systems for farmers. Addressing about 200 participants in the International Catholic Rural Association Congress Sept. 15, Cardinal Roy proposed: a fair share of technical, health, religious, communications and educational services for rural dwellers; renewed attention to the life of rural families, including “the emancipation of women from unacceptable forms of slavery” and the inclusion of women in managerial positions in agricultural production; development and encouragement of agricultural associations unions and cooperatives; a better distribution of land ownership; a tax system that takes account of the “real revenue” of rural people, as well as a financial system that considers the “long-term needs and risks of agricultural production.” Irish Bishops Advocate Excommunication BELFAST, Northern Ireland (NC) - Tw r o bishops, one Catholic, the other Protestant, have suggested that those who use armed violence in Northern Ireland be excommunicated from their churches. Speaking at the reopening of a church in Lurgan, County Armagh, which had been bombed in November, 1973, Church of Ireland (Anglican) Bishop Robert Eames of Londonderry said that “those who deliberately go out to commit sectarian murder are outlawing themselves from the Christian church.” Bishop Eames’ views were similar to those expressed earlier by Catholic Bishop Peter Birch of Ossory in the Republic of Ireland, who said that members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), the outlawed organization that has been waging guerrilla warfare to unify Ireland, “had excommunicated themselves” by their actions. Bishop Birch said he would favor official excommunication of IRA members. He cited “especially the most vulnerable - the infant, the aged and the sick, which is to say, of all those who are not productive, who are abandoned by a mentality not based on a true conception of man nor on the Christian spirit.” The Pope continued: “Family life, according to uninterrupted Christian tradition, is one of the principal hopes for the future of mankind.” He noted that anxiety is a factor common to psychosomatic troubles and all other illnesses. Anxiety arises from psychosocial situations and from the strange insecurity and doubt which we each bear within ourselves, he said. The Pope urged delegates not to ignore in their research “the possibility that faith in God may bring a remedy to human anxiety.” He added: “The sure knowledge that a father loves us and that there is hope for our life is already an indication and a response.” BY JIM CASTELLI WASHINGTON (NC) - The Senate subcommittee on constitutional amendments has defeated six separate proposed constitutional amendments which would restrict abortion. Subcommittee chairman, Sen. Birch Bayh (D-Ind.), said that it was highly unlikely that the full Judiciary Committee would take further action on any of the amendments, which he said were probably dead for this session of Congress. Shortly after the subcommittee vote on the amendments, Bayh introduced an “alternatives to abortion” package of legislative proposals. These include a In commenting on the subcommittee’s actions, Cardinal Terence Cooke of New York, chairman of the Bishops’ Committee for Pro-Life Affairs, said: “At least one carefully worded compromise proposal was not clearly rejected, but failed to be reported out because of a tie vote. America’s unborn children deserve better than a tie vote. There is ample reason to believe that this setback is only temporary.” Msgr. James McHugh, executive director of the pro-life activities committee, said there would be a “complete reevaluation” of the vote and the amendments. He said the committee would take “a close look” at the Burdick proposal. Editorial On Page 4 Senator Bayh ‘.. .no right to impose ’ One source within the National Conference of Catholic Bishops -- U.S. Catholic Conference said there was “a good chance, or at least a reasonable chance,” that the bishops would support something close to the Burdick amendment. That amendment was formulated by John Noonan, a Catholic professor at the law school of the University of California at Berkeley. Another source, asked to rate on a scale of one to 10 the chances of the bishops backing a Noonan-type amendment, replied, “better than five.” Sources said the bishops have previously been under pressure to support amendments which came closest to traditional Catholic morality; that is, amendments which defined the fetus as a legal person from the moment of conception or fertilization. Any other position, some people believe, represents a compromise of the Church’s moral position. But USCC-NCCB sources believe the bishops could successfully support a Noonan-type amendment if it were made clear that they were doing so because it was the best they could hope for in a pluralistic society and within the framework of the Constitution. Cardinal Cooke .unborn deserve better’ The bishops have been reluctant to support a simple states’ rights approach as they oppose the states’ rights approach in other areas, particularly in civil rights. The Noonan amendment, according to one source, would avoid this problem by affirming a particular value - protection of life -- and not setting a precedent for dealing with other issues at the state level. Msgr. McHugh .complete reevaluation’ national network of “life support centers,” legislation prohibiting discrimination by health-insurers based on sex or marital status, support for an expanded federal role in child care, support for flexible working hours, support and adequate funding for existing federal programs that meet the needs of teen-age mothers. Bayh said this was “about the best we can do given the difficult Pandora’s Box of overturning” the 1973 Supreme Court decision on abortion. Ravh said that while he personally believed that life was present before viability, he did not believe it was right to impose his and other people’s opinions on those who did not share them. The subcommittee defeated the “human life amendments” offered by Sens. James Buckley (Cons.-R.-N.Y.) and Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) by 5-2. This defined “person,” as used in the Constitution, as beginning with fertilization. They defeated a states’ rights amendment offered by Sen. William Scott (R-Va.) by 5-3. An amendment offered by Sen. Quentin Urdick (D-N.D.) using the wording of Prof. John Noonan of the University of California in a more extensive states’ rights amendment covering euthanasia and other life-related issues was defeated in a tie vote of 4-4. Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.) offered the Buckley amendment adding an exception for rape and incest. This was defeated 6-1. The committee defeated by voice vote a version of Sen. Scott’s amendment which would have barred abortions except as otherwise protected in the Constitution. According to reports, U.S. Catholic bishops may change their strategy on constitutional amendments concerning abortions. The switch would involve abandoning more restrictive amendments in favor of a modified state’s rights amendment, such as the Burdick amendment which came closest to passage by the Senate subcommittee. The subcommittee voted 4-4 on an amendment, offered by Sen. Quentin Burdick (D-N.D.), which would empower the states to “protect life, including the unborn, at all stages of biological development, irregardless of age, health or condition of physical dependency.” The amendment was introduced by Burdick at the request of the National Committee for a Human Life Amendment. William Cox, the committee’s executive director, described the amendment as a “fallback position,” or the “minimum acceptable language” that the committee could accept. The committee is funded by individual contributions from U.S. bishops and others. Cox said the committee will continue to press for an amendment that will define the unborn as legal persons from the point of conception (the Buckley amendment) or fertilization (the Helms amendment) as its first choice. AUTUMN SCENE - Two young girls on an autumn stroll through Samuel Lewis State Park in Pennsylvania find an unexpected treasure -- a lean-to of branches stacked against a tree - which immediately becomes a playhouse. (NC Photo)