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CATHOLIC PRESS MONTH diocese of Atlanta SERVING GEORGIA'S 71 NORTHERN COUNTIES VOL. 1, NO. 5 ATLANTA. GEORGIA THURSDAY. JANUARY 31. 1963 >5.00 PER YEAR CHRISTENING FATAL Red Geritol Seen As Prescription LOUIS Lombardy, Frank Iodice, and John McGreaham of Marist School are shown displaying their homemade chariot to their English teacher, Reverend Andrew McCormack, S.M. The three students contributed this project as part of their study of William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. IN SPOKANE First Communion Parish Ousts Frilly White Dress Editor Triggers U.S. Inquiry Into Congo Atrocities Against BERLIN(NC) — Are you feel ing run down? weak? wretched? Moscow Radio has found the an swer: You were baptized 1 Moscow Radio told its list eners on January 20 that ch ristening "can cause irrepar able damage" to a child’s health. Besides, it has dis covered that people in com munist Russia today live more than twice as long as Russians did before the Red revolution, when nearly everybody was bap tized. WHAT'S MORE, Moscow Ra dio has found that the awful effects of the "barbarous re ligious rite" of Baptism can be dramatic—even years later. If you are nervous or easily upset, stop now. Don't read any further. Because here is what the station’s "Man and Nature" program had to say about the whole lurid business: "An ambulance, sounding its bell, speeds through the streets of a town. A man suffering a heart attack is being brought to a hospital. He is young, about 25 years old, but his heart makes the doctors shake their heads. • "Did you have any illnesses in childhood? • "Yes, when I was small baby, I he replies in a weak voice. I was ill after the christening. I do not know what the illness was. My parents did not like to talk about it. PEORIA, Ill. (NC)—A Panel of Protestants agreed here that a state plan to help solve wel fare problems by giving artifi cial birth control devices to public relief recipients is poor public policy. A Peoria TV news director, Chuck Harrison, said that the plan of the Illinois Public Aid Commission would provide birth control devices to teenage girls and thus encourage forni cation, which is a crime in the state. "I FIND it a little ludicrous SISTER Joseph Therese, a teacher at Queen of the Holy Rosary College, Onitsha, Ni geria, was one of 70 nuns rep resenting 13 congregations that participated in the first Nigeria National Conference for Sisters at Lagos. Baptism "THE DOCTORS examine the patient, and they are sorry for him. In spite of his age, he is already an invalid. His heart is hopelessly damaged. The cause of this was barbarous religious rite, the christening, the purification of manfromsin by water. "The senselessness of this church rite is absolutely clear to every sound-thinking man. Is the christening perhaps use ful in some way? Some belivers hold, for instance, that people who have been christened live longer. However, this assertion can be easily refuted with the help of statistics. "IN PREREVOLUTIONARY Russia, christening was nearly universal, but the average life span was 32 years. Now, when only believers christen their children, the average length of life of the people in our coun try has increased to 69 years. This means that the cause does not lie in the religious rite but in the great achievements of the Soviet regime—the increase in the well-being of the working people and the successes scored in health services. "Christening not only fails to guarantee long life to a child, but , on the contrary, it can cause irreparable damage to his health. We know of a number of cases when the three im mersions in cold water caused serious colds with com plications and even deathi" for a state body to become a party to a crime," Harrison said. "And we would be aiding thousands in crime. It's Just that simple." The Rev. William Johnson, pastor of an African Methodist Episcopal church, pointed out that most of the Illinois public aid recipients are Negroes, and 80 per cent of them are women, either widow ed, used or deserted by their husbands. "What we are saying is let’s make it easy for these women to go out and enjoy themselves. It's like saying ii a person is going to steal, let’s help him steal. What happens to our mo- i ral values?" he asked. THE NEGRO pastor asked that the problem be attacked by treating its cause, which he de scribed as economicdeprivation of Negroes in American society. Former Peoria mayor Eu gene Leiter categorized the program as an attack on fami ly discipline and thus ill-con ceived. The discussion on the contro versial welfare program was 'held at a Peoria Kiwanis Club meeting. Georgetown Aid WASHINGTON, (NC)-—Na tional Institutes of Health grants totaling $64,221 have been awarded to Georgetow n Univer sity here for chemistry re search. SPOKANE, Wash. (NC) — Since last May there have been no fluffy white First Commu nion dresses at St. Francis of Assisi parish here. "Pretty dresses have nothing to do with the sacrament," Father John Fowlie, O.F.M., pastor, said. "There has been so much fuss made about the externals of First Communion that the youngsters didn't know what Communion was." NOR DO the Sisters of the pa rish school instruct the commu nicants in traditional fashion. Parents prepare their own youngsters. Father Fowlie launched the new program last Mayandfrom then through November parents met with him for 10 periods of instruction, all of which was passed on to the children in their own homes. At St. Francis the spiritual life of the individual family re ceives emphasis. The first com municants do not receive in a body. Each youngster receives when the pastor has determined his readiness and not before, CONSEQUENTLY, "we have a First Communion almost every Sunday at St. Francis," Father Fowlie said. The parents who prepared their child for reception of the sacrament share in its recep tion. The child and his family join in a procession to the communion rail at the Offer tory. They place the unconse crated Hosts in the ciborium and receive them later at Commu- Latin Americans Number 10,000 MILWAUKEE (NC)—Nearly 10,000 Latin American youths w ere studying in the United Sta tes in the 1961-62 academic year, it was reported here at a conference on Latin students. Jaime Fonseca, editor of Not- icias Catolica, Spanish-and Portuguese-language edition of the NCWC News Service, said the total number of Latin Am erican students at U.S. schools in 1961-62 was 9,915. nlon when they approach the rail before the rest of the congregation to receive their special Hosts. Other distinctions are under scored under the new program. Potential first communicants go to Confession as many as six times before they receive the sacrament. Thus, the two sacraments are separate and distinct in their minds. MOST PARENTS have ex pressed appreciation for the new method and pride in having taught their children. In the cases of a handful who won't cooperate, their children do not suffer loss of the sacra ments. By the time they reach the end of the second grade, normal classroom religious in struction has prepared them. That's the way it used to be for all the parish school child ren and this, the pastor be lieves, is unfair to those who because of superior under standing or more devoted pa rents are ready much sooner. THE PARISH program is geared to the individual child's readiness. One kindergarten youngster recently made her First Communion. All of this is a part of the Franciscan priest’s attempt to make Church liturgy more meaningful for his parishioners within the existing framework of the rubrics. Cardinal Named VATICAN CITY (NC)—His Holiness Pope John XXIII has named Michael Cardinal Browne, O.P., a member of the Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office. BY GERARD E. SHERRY A letter from this writer has brought forth a promise from U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Adlai E. Stevenson, to press for a full investigation concerning reports of alleged excesses by U. N. troops in Katanga Province of the Congo. Stevenson said the United States "does not for one mo ment condone any form of bru tality or atrocity in connection with the peace-keeping efforts of the UN" during its recent military operations in the se cessionist Congo province. REPORTS have accused UN troops of various excesses in the Katanga capital of Eliza- bethville and surrounding areas. These Include looting of churches, profanation of the Blessed Sacrament and attacks on civilians. Charges that UN troops en gaged in such actions were made in Brussels, Belgium, by Arch bishop Joseph Cornells, O.S.B. of Elisabethville and in Eliza- bethville itself by Father Edouard Kileshie, Vicar Gene ral of the archdiocese. The reports blamed the ex cesses on Ethiopian and Tuni sian troops serving with the UN forces. Text of the correspondence follows: Dear Ambassador Stevenson: This letter is written to you from a staunch supporter of the United Nations and a writer whose editorial policies have constantly supported the U. N. However, 1 am wondering whether you could give me any information as to what the Uni ted States Delegation is doing over confirmed reports of ex cesses committed by some Uni ted Nations troops in the most recent operations in the Congo. I recently published some wire service stories concerning alleged sacrilege committed by Ethiopian troops against Catho lic churches in Ellzabethvllle and surrounding area. I attach copy of a story concerning the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Elizabethville. Allowing for possible exaggeration and the politics involved, it seems clear that Ethiopians (and others under the command of the U. N.) have violated human rights un der the guise of military action. I think you will agree that even though the U. S. is wise in supporting the U. N. Congo military operations, it should not endorse and should protest any confirmed excesses com mitted by U. N. troops. I am WASHINGTON (NC)—A lead- ing spokesman for Catholic edu cation has expressed "dis appointment" at President Ken nedy's program of Federal aid to lower education while ex pressing encouragement at its proposals for higher education. Msgr. Frederick G. Hoch- walt, director of the Education Department, National Catholic Welfare Conference, said the President’s education message to Congress "contains some thing for everybody, everybody except the children whose parents have elected to send them to private schools." CHARGING that the Kennedy education program "ignores one child in seven in elemen- try schools’* by excluding children in private institutions, Msgr. Hochwalt said in a state ment: "The claim that this Federal aid program is comprehensive and balanced echoes a hollow sound in the halls of private elementary and secondary schools, "Any proposal of a pattern of discriminatory legislation that disregards such a rich ed ucational resorce cannot be called balanced nor can it be considered truly in the national Interest." MSGR. HOCHWALT said the position of the NCWC is "eq ual treatment for all children," and added: "on this we stand firm." most willing to agree that in war these things happen, but they should also be avoided whenever possible. The U. S. surely should demand from the Secretary General of the U. N. a complete report on the con duct of Ethiopian troops invol ved in this action. Believe me, Sir, a lot of good will for the United Na- CONTINULD ON PAGE 8 Church-related colleges and universities would share in most of the Federal aid pro posals called for under Mr. Kennedy’s 1963 program of assistance to higher education. However, church-related grade and high schools would be ex cluded from most of the funds provided for aid to elementary and secondary education. Rep. Adam Clayton Powell of New York, chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, said in a statement that President Kennedy’s ed ucation program is doomed un less the major groups that speak for U. S. education can reach agreement. POWELL SAID: "Unless all the forces of education, includ ing the National Education Association and the National Catholic Welfare Conference, can come together and speak as one for more and better education for American youth, then I-ederal aid to education is finished for the immediate future." Convention Set MIAMI BEACH, FU. (NC)— The Supreme Board of the Knight* of Columbus voted to hold the organization’s 1966 convention in this city. At a three-day meeting of the board in Hotel Fontainebleau here it was reported that since 1948, 4,565,000 inquiries have been from advertising. An Editorial President Kennedy’s 1963 education proposals are a grave disappointment. This because while they set the high ideals of equal opportunity in education for all, they still contain their discriminatory clauses which bar equal treatment to parochial and private schools. Under the administration Education Bill, one In seven elemen tary school children would be deprived of Federal aid in educa tion simply because parents exercise their elementary right of free choice of schools. Catholic parents have in the past rejected this discrimination and will continue to do so. Paro chial and private schools have made a great contribution to the cause of American education. It has been made at great sacri fice on the part of Catholic and other parents. It has meant double taxation, and the application of a double standard, in the allot ment of tax funds earmarked for education. The phony issue of Separation of Church and State has entered into the controversy. It is a red herring thrown in by leading secularist educators, and those opposed to the Catholic Church. It has nothing to do with the issue, even though it has been called the main impediment to Federal aid to all school child ren. Catholic parents are not asking for special favors. They are simply saying that if there is a need for Federal aid to educa tion, then all who are being educated should be provided for. As long as the parents of private school children continue to be ignored in the allotment of Federal funds, so the discrimi nation continues. We do not wish to impede the progress of public schools. We support public schools, and will continue to cooperate with them as we always have on a community level. Therefore, the oppo sition of Catholic parents to the discrimination so blatently ex posed in President Kennedy’s education proposal is not directed at any public or other educational system. We simply want equal justice for our children. SOME five hundred members of Atlanta’s parishes attended the "Captains’ ’’ Meeting in the Ca thedral of Christ the King auditorium, Atlanta, last Sunday. They heard Archbishop Hallinan and other clerical and lay leaders on plans for the Archdiocesan Census, Sunday, March 3, from 2:00 to 6:00 p.m. See story and more pictures page 3. PROTESTANTS ASSERT Birth Control Plan Poor Public Policy ELEMENTARY AID Private Schools Ignored in Bill