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PAGE 2—The Southern Cross, April 26,1979
X BERATED -- Msgr. John Doherty, who spearheaded a drive against
pornography in the Bronx, meets with the press in front of the Dale
theater where management decided to again show family pictures. The
theater stopped showing X-rated movies after 29 days of pressure, such as
constant picketing, from members of St. John the Evangelist Parish and
others from the Bronx neighborhood. (NC Photo by Chris Sheridan)
/■ A
THE CHURCH:
TV-MOVIES
AT THE MOVIES
'NEW YORK (NC) - The following
capsule movie reviews and classifications
were prepared through consensus of the
staff of the USCC Department of
Communication’s Office for Film and
Broadcasting.
“AN ALMOST PERFECT
AFFAIR” (PARAMOUNT)
A young filmmaker (Keith Carradine)
comes to the Cannes Film Festival to
sell his first effort and instead has an
affair with a producer’s wife (Monica
Vitti). There are some flashes of humor,
mostly dealing with the workings of the
movie industry, but the film as a whole
is flat and unsatisfying. Its rather benign
treatment of adultery, moreover, is
objectionable. (PG) B — 'Morally
objectionable in part for all.
“DAWN OF THE DEAD”
(UNITED FILM)
Four people try to survive inside a
massive shopping mall beseiged by
zombies with a voracious appetite for
human flesh. The potential victims,
unfortunately, have little more in the
way of personality than those who
threaten them. So the viewer cannot get
very excited about their plight. All in
all, an ugly little film that offends
greatly with its rough language and its
exploitation of blood and gore. (R) C —
Condemned.
“HURRICANE” (PARAMOUNT)
In this greatly altered remake of the
highly popular 1937 film by John Ford,
Jason Robards stars as a naval governor
of Samoa in the 1920s who takes a dim
view of his daughter, Mia Farrow,
having an affair with Dayton Ka’Ne, a
handsome young chief. All is resolved
when everybody but the lovers get
washed away by you-know-what. The
eroticism of the native dances and the
depiction of a distasteful pagan rite are
much more graphic than was necessary
and further mar this spectacular-looking
but mediocre and listless film. (PG) B —
Morally objectionable in part for all.
RECENT CLASSIFICATIONS
“A Little Romance” (Warners) —
(PG) A-II — Morally unobjectionable for
adults and adolescents.
“Love on the Run” (New World) —
A-III — Morally unobjectionable for
adults.
t , 1
TV Reviews-Programs Of Note
^ — — '
BY T. FABRE
NEW YORK (NC) - World War II and
the supreme commander of the Allied
forces in Europe are the intertwined
subjects of “Ike,” airing in three-parts
on Thursday, May 3; Friday, May 4; and
Sunday, May 6, at 9-11 p.m. each night
on ABC.
This is no revisionist history of the
war or of the general who led the Allies
to victory against Hitler. The
production takes full advantage of
today’s nostalgia for the wartime unity
of the American people and the
qualities of leadership that made Dwight
D. Eisenhower a national hero.
The film reflects well the moral
fervor of the time in fighting a holy war
against the evils of fascism — a “Crusade
in Europe” as Eisenhower called his
own account of it. The course of the
war, in battles and strategy, is presented
in broad outline, but a surprising
amount of detail has been successfully
worked in.
Admittedly, in refighting World War
II with Ike in six hours, the film has had
to select events ruthlessly and simplify
circumstances* For instance, in showing
the conflict between American policies
and those of the British and the French,
caricature is used to emphasize Ike’s
genius in dealing with disparate
personalities.
Robert Duvall, with a bit of padding
and deepening of voice, succeeds in
evoking Ike’s personality, but not his
appearance. People liked Ike because of
his lack of pretension — the country
boy who had made good without
denying his origins. Duvall gives
meaning to the script’s references to Ike
as a Huck Finn in a modern King
Arthur’s Court.
Ike insisted that if there was corn in
his Kansas diplomacy, at least it was
“honest corn.” Not a politician but a-
military man with a rare sense of the
politic, Ike answered the question of
whether he was a Republican or
Democrat by answering, “I’m an
American.”
The film presents a convincing
portrait of Eisenhower as a strategist
who took some gambles but was able to
admit and learn from mistakes. His
essential contribution to the Allied
victory, however, was in being able to
deal with people and hold the military
alliance together.
One might have preferred that a
decade after his death, Eisenhower’s
private life might have remained just
that. His relationship with his aide, Kay
Sommersby, is ambiguous just this side
of a lawsuit. Lee Remick plays the role
with restrained passion but an
uncontrollable English accent. Duvall is
unromantic to the core and the viewer is
left deeply puzzled by the whole affair.
Because so much time is given to this
matter, shedding no light on Ike’s
conduct of the war, a major reservation
must be expressed for what is otherwise
an admirable undertaking by
writer-director Melville Shavelson.
TV PROGRAMS
OF NOTE
Sunday, April 29, 10:30-11 a.m.
(CBS) “For Our Times.” The premiere
of a new religious and cultural affairs
series reports on how Cincinnati
preteen-agers are celebrating the
International Year of the Child.
Sunday, April 29, 8-9 p.m. (PBS)
“Global Paper: Waging Peace.” Experts
here and abroad examine the various
options that the United States can
employ in dealing with international
conflict. Concluding segments air on
April 30, 9-10 p.m., and May 1, 10-11
p.m.
Tuesday, May 1, 4-4:30 p.m. (CBS)
“Razzmatazz.” CBS News monthly
magazine for youngsters offers features
on putting up a circus tent, sled dogs, a
sailing family and a demonstration of
inertia.
Saturday, May 5, 8:30-9 p.m. (PBS)
“Forgotten Frontier.” This is a
rebroadcast of the documentary on the
Jesuit and Franciscan missions
established centuries ago — filmed in
Sonora, Mexico; southern Arizona; San
Antonio, Texas; and the Rio Grande
Valley.
TV FILM FARE
Tuesday, May 1, 9:00 p.m. (CBS) —
“Fraternity Row” (1977) — A shallow
and sentimental look at fraternity life in
the mid-50s, “Fraternity Row” deals
with an idealistic young man who
becomes a pledge at a prestigious college
fraternity and runs afoul of a sadistic
bully. A naive and uncritical view of the
frat system on American campuses, this
film also depicts some 50s-style
courtship in the front seat of a car. A-III
— Morally unobjectionable for adults.
Saturday, May 5, 9:00 p.m. (CBS) —
“Take a Hard Ride” (1975) - Jim
Brown and Fred Williamson in a routine
Western with a lot of unimaginative
chases, gunfights and many evil smirks
from villain Lee Van Cleef. Both bland
and harmless. A-II — Morally
unobjectionable for adults and
adolescents.
RELIGIOUS BROADCASTING
HIGHLIGHTS
RADIO: Sunday, April 29 —
“Guideline” (NBC) continues its series
of interviews exploring the tenets,
values, and beliefs of three of the
world’s great religions, Islam, Judaism
and Christianity. The guest is Dr.
Muzammil Siddiqi, chairman for Islamic
Affairs, Moslem World League. In this
second interview Dr. Siddiqi will discuss
the relation between political life and
religion in an Islamic republic. The
interviewer is Father Thaddeus Horgan,
a Graymoor Friar and director of the
Graymoor Ecumenical Institute. (Please
check local listings for exact time in
your area.)
TELEVISION: Sunday, April 29,
10:30 a.m. Religious Special for Our
Times: “The Whole Child” (CBS). The
premiere program in CBS new interfaith
series is a documentary that explores
the themes of the United Nations’
International Year of the Child. Filmed
in Cincinnati, “The Whole Child”
analyzes how one American community
meets the needs of a broad cross section
of young people, black and white, the
gifted the autisitc, the rich and the
poor. (Please check local listings for
exact time in your area.)
CHURCH
DIOCESE
CHRISM MASS IN MACON - The Chrism Mass was concelebrated by
Bishop Lessard and 20 priests from the central and western parts of the
Diocese on Tuesday, April 10 at 7:30 P.M. in St. Joseph’s Church, Macon.
In the top photo, Bishop Lessard prepares to bless the Holy Oils. The
rough-hewn cross shown in the photo was in the sanctuary throughout
Lent and was used in the Passion Play presented at the Palm Sunday
Masses. In the lower photo, Father John Keneally, pastor of Holy Spirit
Church, Macon, and Bishop Lessard enjoy the reception in the Social Hall
following the Chrism Mass.
Question Of Nuclear Safety/ The Church In The Nuclear Age
BY KAREN SMITH
(Final Article in a Series of Four)
“Do not kill! Do not prepare
destruction and extermination for men!
Think of your brothers and sisters who
are suffering hunger and misery!
Respect each one’s dignity and
freedom!” Our Holy Father, Pope John
Paul II includes these strong
admonitions in his first encyclical,
REDEMPTOR HOMINIS. Like Pope
Paul VI and Pope John XXIII before
him, the Vicars of Christ have pleaded
for peace and an end to the nuclear
arms race. There has been nothing
equivocal about their statements. They
are clear and they call us all away from
our passivity and apathy to care about
the people of the world as Christ cares
for them.
Pope John Paul II states: “We all
know that the areas of misery and
hunger on our globe could have been
made fertile in a short time, if the
gigantic investments for armaments at
the service of war and destruction had
been changed into investments for food
at the service of life.” The world arms
budget is around $400 billion per year
and is growing. Our nation alone
continues to produce three nuclear
weapons each day while every president
since Harry Truman has promised
disarmament. In the midst of treaties
and limitation agreements, these past
thirty years have witnessed steady
production of weapons - each more
powerful and horrible than the last. We,
the people of the United States, now
have over 30,000 nuclear weapons
designed to destroy human life and
* +
human society. Pope John XXIII must
have shaken his head when he wrote”
... it is hardly possible to imagine that
in the atomic era war could be used as
an instrument of justice.”
This article does not concern itself
with the considerations of just or unjust
wars nor with the issue of pacifism. This
is the atomic age, so our concern is
about the reality that plagues all of us -
nuclear weapons and overkill. It is about
the point where too many implements
of “security” actually increase the risks
of war. It is about total war. The myths
surrounding the so called
limited-nuclear-war have not weathered
the obvious question: “Who or what
will keep it limited?” Nor have these
myths dealt adequately with the
radiation effects among any “survivors”;
genetic damage, environmental damage,
cancer and lukemia for generations to
come.
The Vatican II document “Total
Warfare” evaluates modern war and
gives the Church some moral direction.
“The development of armaments by
modern science has immeasurably
magnified the horrors and wickedness of
war. Warfare conducted with these
weapons can inflict immense and
indiscriminate havoc which goes far
beyond the bounds of legitimate
defense ... All these factors force us to
undertake a completely fresh reappraisal
of war. Every act of war directed to the
indiscriminate destruction of whole
cities or vast areas with their inhabitants
is a crime against God and man which
merits firm and unequivocal
condemnation.”
In the face of this truth which the
Church sees fit to proclaim, our nation
has about 40 Hbombs targeted at each
Soviet city with a population of
100,000 people or more. The total yield
of all U.S. nuclear weapons combined is
600,000 times the explosive power of
the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. The
Soviets have weapons aimed at us. Other
nations are eager to enter this nuclear
arena. “Indiscriminate destruction?”
We may reasonably ask why it is that
so many of us relatively peace-loving
individuals have created such vast
destructive potential. In REDEMPTOR
HOMINIS, the Pope explains that the
ascendency of technology demands
proportional development of morals and
ethics. The present state of world peace
calls into question whether our moral
and religious development has been at a
standstill during our technological
boom. Our failure to consider the
person above things has resulted in an
inner fear characteristic of our age.
“Man therefore lives increasingly in fear.
He is afraid that what he produces . . .
can radically turn against himself; he is
afraid that it can become the means and
instrument for an unimaginable
self-destruction, compared with which
all the cataclysms and catastrophies of
history known, seem to fade away.”
REDEMPTOR HOMINIS.
The Church refuses to believe the
myth that more weapons produces more
security. She teaches us that weapons in
such magnitude are not worth the risks
involved. Peace is much more than
military might. Peace involves dealing
with the roots of war; economic
injustice where few live in opulence
while millions starve; political injustice
where human rights and human dignity
are denied. Peace involves trust in God
and mutual trust among people. It is
predicated upon respect for human life
rather than lust for power and wealth.
The Church calls us to:
BAN NUCLEAR WEAPONS AND
WEAPONS TESTING
PACEM IN TERRIS: “Even though it
is difficult to believe that anyone would
deliberately take the responsibility for
the appaling destruction and sorrow that
war would bring in its train, it cannot be
denied that the conflagration may be set
off by some uncontrollable and
unexpected chance. And one must bear
in mind that, even though the
monstrous power of modern v/eapons
acts as a deterrent, it is to be feared that
mere continuance of nuclear tests,
undertaken with war in mind, will have
fatal consequences for life on earth.
Justice, right reason and humanity
therefore, urgently demand that the
arms race should cease; that the
stockpiles which exist in various
countries should be reduced equally and
simultaneously by the parties
concerned; that nuclear weapons should
be banned; and that a general agreement
should eventually be reached about
progressive disarmament and an
effective method of control.”
CONTROL THE ARMS RACE
VATICAN II: “Therefore, we declare
once again; the arms race is one of the
greatest curses on the human race and
the harm it inflicts on the poor is more
than can be endured. And there is every
reason to fear that if it continues it will
bring forth those lethal disasters which
are already in preparation,”
ELIMINATE THE PLIGHT
OF HUMAN SUFFERING
VATICAN II: “Let us not be guilty
of the scandal of having some nations,
most of whose citizens bear the name of
Christians, enjoying an abundance of
riches, while others lack the necessities
of life and are tortured by hunger,
disease, and all kinds of misery.”
CREATE A JUST
ECONOMIC ORDER
VATICAN II: “The establishment of
an authentic economic order on a
worldwide scale can come about only
by abolishing profiteering, nationalistic
ambitions, greed for political
domination, schemes of military
strategy, and intrigues for spreading and
imposing ideaologies.”
REAPPRAISE OUR ATTITUDES
TOWARD WAR
VATICAN II: “Peace is more than
the absence of war: it cannot be
reduced to the maintenance of a balance
of power between opposing forces ....”
“But since peace must be born of
mutual trust between peoples instead of
being forced on nations through dread
of arms, all must work to put an end to
the arms race. ..” “Hence there is a
very urgent need of re-education and a
new orientation of public opinion.”
“People should beware of leaving these
problems (of war) to the efforts of a
few men without putting their own
attitudes in order.”
This is no Utopian dream posited by
our Papacy. This is what our direction
must be. This is what we must work
arduously to achieve by the grace of
God, if we are to speak of peace for our
world. Yet we are not world leaders or
diplomat. What does all of this mean for
us? Can we voluntarily choose to
consume less, to live a more equitable
style of life; to refuse to let Madison
Avenue advertizers replace our own
moral thinking and drown out our
Church’s teaching? Can we muster the
moral courage to see the absurdity of
our arms race and the pretense of
security and civil defense?
How should we deal with the fact
that while promoting SALT II on the
one hand, our government is proposing
a rapid increase in the most devastating
weapons systems in history-including
cruise missiles, mobile (MX) missiles,
neutron bombs, and a fleet of Trident
submarines each of which costs over a
billion dollars. The East Coast home
base for this fleet is being built right
here in Georgia at King’s Bay. How are
we, in light of Vatican II to respond to
this? We must realize that complacency
is no longer an acceptable answer. Can
we admit that the personal cost of peace
must be paid by us?
The Christian hope does not lie in
even the most well-intentioned, humane
efforts, but in Jesus Christ himself. Can
we allow God to change us, to reveal
Himself in our lives and in our world?