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4 The Southern Cross DIOCESE OF SAVANNAH NEWSPAPER Vol. 57 No. 5 Thursday, January 29,1976 Single Copy Price —15 Cents THIRD ANNIVERSARY Thousands March WASHINGTON (NC) - Thousands of grassroots activists from all parts of the country converged on the nation’s capitol Jan. 22 to mark the third anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court abortion decision and to lobby for a constitutional amendment that would overturn it. The demonstrators, estimated by Capitol police at between 25,000 and 50,000, were greeted by sub-freezing temperatures and 30 mile-an-hour winds as they stepped off buses, trains, planes and cars from at least as far west as Colorado and as far south as Louisiana. The March for Life committee, which organized the demonstration, said pro-life advocates came from all 50 states to protest against the high court ruling striking down most state laws restricting abortion. The demonstration began in mid-morning when a few thousand persons, many of high school age, assembled in Lafayette Park across from the White House. They marched on the brick sidewalks there behind a banner declaring: “Abortion - A Woman’s Right to Kill” until demonstration officials told them to move to the Ellipse near the Washington Monument for a pro-life rally that was to end later in the day on the west plaza of the Capitol building. At the Ellipse, the crowd, which swelled by the hour, heard more than a dozen speakers compare the Supreme Court abortion decision to Nazi atrocities against the Jews in World War II and the 1857 Dred Scott decision which denied citizenship to a black slave. “What if you were a citizen of Munich in World War II and you smelled the smoke of the burning Jews from Dachau? Would you have said that you weren’t entitled to impose your morality against that,” asked Dr. John C. Willke of the Ohio Right to Life Society and the National Right to Life committee. The abortion decision, he continued, “is the rankest, most outrageous civil rights violation” this country has ever known. “We’re going to work and work hard until we have a human life amendment that protects every person in the United States.” After about two hours in the cold, the crowd seemed anxious to march to the Capitol, and assembled behind a “March for Life” banner half as wide as Pennsylvania Ave. A drum corps of four young boys and an adult kept cadence, and behind them two donkeys pulled a small black casket draped in an American flag. The crowd moved briskly down Pennsylvania Ave. toward the west steps of the Capitol building. Police had blocked off half of the street, but traffic continued to flow unimpeded. The first arrivals branched off to the left and right, of the Capitol forming a “circle of life” around the building. When the others arrived, the entire group gathered in front of a speakers’ podium on the west steps where they chanted “Vote Pro-Life” and “no compromise,” the latter slogan in reference to the so-called “states-rights” amendment to limit abortion. During the National Anthem, which BISHOP RA USCH SA YS: World Food Problem BLOWING IN THE WIND -- Marching up Pennsylvania Ave. (top) or standing still on the Ellipse adjacent to the White House, the crowds of pro-life demonstrators braved winds and freezing temperatures during the entire day of protest. The waving flag in the top photo attests to the wind’s strength. (NC Photo) raft# HEADLINE HOPSCOTCH Milan Cathedral Invaded VATICAN CITY (NC) - Pope Paul has condemned in harsh terms the invasion of his former cathedral in Milan by militant feminists protesting against the Vatican’s recent reaffirmation of traditional Catholic sexual ethics. He called the demonstration “an unseemly and sacrilegious invasion of the famous Milan cathedral, our own cathedral, by a group of cackling people.” Seventeen feminists marched into Milan cathedral Jan. 17 shouting pro-abortion slogans. Divorced Catholics Meet SILVER SPRING, Md. (NC) - The 14-member steering committee of the North American Conference for Separated and Divorced Catholics (NACSDC) met here Jan. 17-18, pledging to “create awareness” of the needs of divorced members of the Church. The committee also elected officers and adopted a statement of purpose calling upon Church authorities to support the “unique ministry of separated and divorced Catholics.” Peace 4 Not A Dream’ NEW YORK (NC) - The secretary general of the United Nations has echoed Pope Paul Vi’s assertion that peace is not a dream, but a practical necessity. Kurt Waldheim made the observation at a World Day of Peace celebration sponsored by Msgr. Giovanni Cheli, the Vatican’s permanent observer at the UN. AT ST. JOAN OF ARC-LOUISVILLE Joint Sharing Of Church Begins NELLIE J. GRAY Washington Right to Life March chairman addresses crowd at U.S. Capitol on Jan. 22. (NC Photo) An Episcopal mission with six known families of the Louisville area was organized recently as an outreach of two mission congregations in the diocese. The Church of the Good Shepherd, Swainsboro, where the Rev. Judson Mayfield is pastor; and St. Michael’s Church, Waynesboro, with the Rev. Forrest Ethridge as pastor, are making this joint effort. Services began on Sunday, January 25 which was the last day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. This date BY JOHN MAHER WASHINGTON (NC) - “The world food problem concerns a fundamental ‘right to life’ issue: people’s right to eat,” Bishop James S. Rausch, general secretary of the U.S. Catholic Conference (USSCC), said here at the National Prayer Breakfast for Life ’76. “To say people have a right to eat is to pose the problem in terms of obligation rather than choice,” Bishop Rausch said in offering thoughts for meditation to about 600 persons representing Protestant, Catholic and Jewish groups. Failing to insure that others can exercise their right to eat, Bishop Rausch said, “means we have fallen short of fulfilling a minimal moral duty.” He reminded those present that “the right to eat is still denied to many people in our country and to countless thousands - indeed millions throughout the globe.” To deal with the world food problem, Bishop Rausch said, “individuals can and must decide to change their life styles by voluntarily limiting consumption and reducing the rate of depletion of the earth’s finite resources.” He also urged citizens to work through the legislation process for was significant because as a ministry of St. Joan of Arc Church, the Episcopal services will continue to be held there through the ecumenical courtesy of its people and pastor with, the permission of Bishop Raymond W. Lessard. Both congregations met for a covered dish supper and fellowship on that eventful day. The program included the presentation of an informative filmstrip entitled, “THE CHURCHES IN THE 70’s.” It presented through on-location shots and a highly objective narration changes in U.S. agricultural policies and to seek reform of the international structures and systems “in which and through which, food production, distribution and financing takes place.” Finally, Bishop Rausch urged prayer. “We believe,” he said, “that despite our best intentions and most enlightened visions, there remains an extra measure that is beyond human capability: God’s presence in the world. Prayer can and does solicit God’s presence.” He concluded: “All of us pray. Few, if any, of us have personally experienced the reality of hunger. Perhaps it might be well, from time to time, to ask God to ‘give them their daily bread and forgive us the wrongs we do to them’ by indifference, neglect or selfishness.” Bishop Rausch’s stress on a right to life issue other than that of abortion was echoed by another speaker, Dr. David Allen, a West Indian psychiatrist practicing in Boston. Dr. Allen told those at the prayer breakfast on the third anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court abortion decision: “We can’t say we’re anti-abortion and not be concerned about the elderly, the mentally ill, the hungry,” unwed mothers and others who are discriminated against. The psychiatrist, who is also a the faith, worship and life of some representative denominations (Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Episcopal, Methodist, Baptist), emphasizing the common heritage of all Christians, while noting their distinct differences. The filmstrip concluded by summarizing the present state of affairs in the ecumenical movement and by offering positive suggestions of what can be done at the grass-roots level to further unity of love and belief that is Christ’s will. Against Abortion began the rally, the audience waved red roses, symbol of life. After opening remarks by Miss Nellie Gray, chairwoman of the 15-member March for Life Committee, Sen. James L. Buckley (R-N.Y.) told the crowd that their presence was a “demonstration of faith, hope and love.” “Let us work,” he said, “so the principle of the founders, the principle of life is once again at the heart of this great nation.” Following Buckley, a string of Congressmen warmed the crowd with speeches condemning the high court’s abortion decision. Among them were Senators Richard Stone (D-Fla.), Dewey Bartlett (R-Okla.) and Jesse A. Helms (R-N.C.) and Representatives James J. Florio (D-N.J.), Henry J. Hyde (R-Ill.), John B. Conlon (R-Ariz.), Charles J. Carney (R-Ohio), Ralph Regula (R-Ohio), Tennyson Guyer (R-Ohio), Norman Lent (R-N.Y.), Robert Bauman (R-Md.), Clement Zablocki (D-Wis.), and Romano Mazzoli (D-Ky.). One of the afternoon’s biggest ovations followed a speech by Sen. Helms, which he closed with a telegram from Ronald Reagan, Republican candidate for president. In the telegram, Reagan said, “I wish I could be with you to tell you in person how much I admire the work you are all doing to ensure that the right of life will belong to all human beings, born or unborn. Passage of the hum^n life amendment is the most certain way to ensure this. I support it!” A message of support from the Rev. Jesse Jackson, a long-time civil rights activist and head of People United to Save Humanity (PUSH), was also greeted with cheers from the crowd. After a closing prayer by Bishop James T. Welsh of Arlington, Va., the crowd filtered into the nearby Senate and House office buildings to lobby congressmen for a proposed human life amendment outlawing abortion. A straw poll by NC News indicated that the largest number of demonstrators visited the offices of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Birch Bayh (D-Ind.). Both are among a group of senators supporting alternatives to abortion, such as “life support centers,” rather than a constitutional amendment against it. Earlier in the day some pro-life demonstrators picketed the White House, urging President Ford to adopt a strong pro-life stand. At the same time, a group headed by Miss Gray met with representatives of the Justice Department, the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, and the President’s Domestic Council. The March for Life Committee sent 16,000 roses, symbols of the anti-abortion cause, to the President, Vice-President and members of Congress The roses were purchased with ck nations frorr various pro-life viduals th^ughout the country, who, held anti-abortion rallies in their own communities to coincide with Washington demonstration. Right To Life Issue Protestant lay leader, denounced “utilitarian moral reasoning that justified oppression of the weak and defenseless on the grounds of the greatest good for the greatest number.” The concept of “the greatest good for the greatest number,” he said, “is fine if you’re part of the greatest number.” But the fetus, the old, blacks, the retarded are not considered part of the greatest number “and so they don’t count,” he added. “The greatest good for the greatest number means that only the powerful are safe and they’re safe only as long as they are powerful,” Dr. Allen said. “This,” he said, “is the heart of the abortion issue.” In a telegram to those at the breakfast, Rep. John Rhodes (R-Ariz.), House minority leader, called the 1973 Supreme Court decision striking down most state laws restricting abortion “unfortunate.” He told the right-to-life activists: “You are trying to do what should be done and working to undo what should not be done. It is a high calling and I join with you in spirit in these endeavors.” Mrs. Ruth Bell Graham, wife of evangelist Billy Graham, was a sponsor of the prayer breakfast and she also sent a message asking God’s blessing on the work of those in the right-to-life movement. Among those present at the breakfast were Sen. Thomas F. Eagleton (D-Mo.) and Rep. Albert H. Quie (R-Minn.). Speakers included Rep. Lindy Boggs (D-La.) and Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.). Mrs. Boggs said that members of Congress have “become more aware as your representatives of the need to make certain that hope is given to all.” She urged the right-of-life activists “to have love and understanding for those who do not share our views.” Oberstar said: “Few movements in American history have had the kind of dedication, idealism, and commitment (Continued on page 7) FATHER ED GORNY, pastor of St. Joan of Arc Church in Louisville, presents key to Father Forrest Ethridge of St. Michael’s Episcopal Church in Waynesboro. Shown with the two pastors are members of both Churches; left to right are, Lucy Johns, George Brewton, Mary Newberry, Liz Brewton, and Ed Bradshaw.