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I Archdiocese of Atlanta CATHOLIC PRESS MONTH INTER-FAITH SCHOLARS Rate Secularism Greatest Threat To Democracy NEW YORK -<NC)— Secular ism and materialism pose a grave threat to American demo cracy, a Catholic bishop, a rabbi and a Congregationallst minister have agreed. Bishop John J. Wright of Pittsburgh, Rabbi Louis Flnk- elsteln of the Jewish Theolog ical Seminary, New York, and Robert E. Fitch of the Pacific School of Religion, Berkeley, Calif., express their views In separate interviews published In a pamphlet by the Center for the Study of Democratic Institu tions of the Fund for the Re public here. THE PAMPHLET Is one of a series the center has published in its study of "American char acter." Donald McDonald, dean of the College of Journalism at Marquette University, Milwau kee, conducted the Interviews. Bishop Wright sees grounds for "grave concern" at Im plications of the U.S. Supreme Court’s June, 1962, decision barring official prayers and rdllglous exercises from public schools and at lower court de cisions on laws dealing with pornography, narcotics and prostitution. Warning about moral liber alism, he said that forcing a wide distinction between legal ity and morality leaves the nation open to a "dreadful har vest" If the "glib dismissal of any moral Implications in the areas of legal obligation be comes the permanent pattern of our national law." HE SAID "aggressive secul arism" Is behind the trend toward such a pattern. "They forget," he said, "that unless the Lord build, they labor in vain who strive to build the human city." "We tend at the moment, I think, to be too facile about the overly sharp distinction be tween what is legal and what is moral. Sometimes the Su preme Court seems too eager to say that it cannot define concepts like ‘blasphemy’ or 'obscenity* and so cannot rule on questions involving these concepts." Bishop Wright said he fears that "as excesses of author- iatarianism historically lead to -extremes of libertarian react ion, so the present extremes of libertarianism will lead to a conservative reaction, even a reactionary conservatism." Rabbi Flnkelstein related se cularism’s impact on public education. "Our colleges," he said, "are the seats of great spiritual confusion." Teaching religion in tax-sup ported institutions is not per mitted, he stated, although teaching non-religion is per mitted. "SO A biologist can say that he does not believe in God or that he thinks man is an ‘ac cident.’ But if a religious per son said that biology cannot be understood without reference to a wise Creator, he might be fired for trying to ‘indoctri nate’ his pupils." and responsibility" which he said is basic to Christianity. "A secular ldoltary of demo cracy is as damnable a thing as a secular idolatry of any other kind of government," Fitch de clared. "IT IS fundamental to the religious heritage, whether Jewish, Catholic or Protestant, that our loyalty to God is high er than our loyalty to the gover nment and that the govern ment...standi under the criti cism—not the authority—of the Supreme Commandment of God," he said. Fitch rated 1960 a "turning point" in the moral condition of the nation. "1 THINK the moral break down of the past 40 years has about run its course. I visit college campuses and I talk to students. I have a feeling that they are turning once again to a regard for moral law, for standards and principles. "Very young parents today are not as permissive as their parents were. They believe in certain standards of behavior that have to be enforced." POPE APPROVES Mother Seton Beatification Set March 17 PRESS MARTYR A new commission has been formed at the S! r ^ e c te o h0 u 8 w of In Washington aimed at acquaint ing L. S. Catholics with the life of a prlost who died in a Nazi concentration camp because he urged American Catholic editors to denounce Nazism. Father Titus Brandama, 0. Carm., shown above in his prison garb, was a spiritual director of the Catholic Journalists' Society of the Netherlands. He was sent to Dachau where he died six months later. VOLUNTEERS READY Archdiocesan Census Plans Completed For March 3 Dean bitch also attacked se cularist tendencies in Ameri can life, but he was confident that there is a trend away from them and toward an "af firmation of human freedom The Laity of the Archdiocese have responded in full mea sure to the call for volunteers for the census on March 3. This was reported this week to the Executive Committee by Father John D. Stapleton, Pas tor of St. Jude Parish and cen sus co-chairman. Father Stapleton said: "Every parish and miss ion in the Archdiocese has met the challenge afforded by the Ar chdiocesan Census and 5,000 men and women are ready to make their door to door calls on Sunday, March 3rd, between the hours of 2 and 6. Pastors, Parish Chairmen, and Captains have divided their areas and assignments have been given to the individual Census Takers. From every indication the pre paration in every parish has been thoroughly accomplished. "Laymen attending the area meetings in Atlanta, Rome, Griffin and Athens represent ing every parish and mission of the Archdiocese have dis played a tremendous enthu siasm and interest in this most important project. Many have voiced their gratitude that they have been given this opportu nity to play a most important role in this endeavor which w ill have a great bearing on the fu ture of the Church in the Ar chdiocese. "All Census material will be delivered to Parish chairmen and Deanery areas by Sunday, February 24. Each Census worker will have an identifica tion card signed by the Most Reverend Archbishop stating that he is the representative of the Archbishop. Census work ers will make their calls in pairs. One worker will ask the information and the other will record the information on the Family Card. "By Sunday, March 3, all At lanta will know that the Catholic Church is taking this Census. The Publicity Committee head ed by Mr. Lewis F. Gordon, Jr., and Mr. Jack Spalding, Editor of the Atlanta Journal have arranged news stories for the secular press, spot radio announcements as well as an nouncements on TV. willingness every way. to cooperate in "A letter has been sent Archbishop Hallinan to many of the Protestant Churches of the area requesting an announce ment of the Census from their pulpits. Several members the Protestant Clergy have al ready expressed their gracious by of "When the totals are all in on March 4 and have been trans cribed to IBM cards the Church in the Archdiocese of Atlanta will have the most accurate in formation on the number of Ca tholics in this area that it has ever had. The Archbishop and the consultors of the Archdio cese will have accurate and valuable information to aid them in planning for the future needs of the Archdiocese. "The success of the Census depends on the prayers of the Priests, religious and laity and on the generosity of all. The priests, religious and laity of the Archdiocese of Atlanta are few in number but great in qua lity. # * VATICAN CITY (NC)-The Sacred Congregation of Rites in the presence of His Holiness Pope John XX1I1 has approved the authenticity of miracles ob tained through the intercession of two U. S. citizens. They are Mother Elizabeth Bayley Seton, foundress of the Sisters of Charity in the U.S., and the Ven. John Nepomucene Neumann, C.SS.R., Bishop pf Philadelphia from 1852 to 1860. MOTHER Seton will be beati fied on March 17 and become the first native citizen of the U. S. to be declared officially "blessed." Bishop Neumann, a native of what is now Czechos lovakia, is expected to be bea tified on June 23. An official of the Congregation of Rites said definitely he will not be bea tified on March 19 as reported by U, S. news agencies. Papal decrees proclaiming that true miracles have been worked through Mother Seton and Bishop Neumann are ex pected to be issued shortly. Another decree for each stating it is safe to beatify them will follow as a formality. THE miracles worked through Mother Seton are the healing of Sister Gertrude Kor- zendorfer of New Orleans of a cancer of the pancreas on Feb ruary 1, 1935, and the curing of Ann Teresa O’Neill of Bal timore of acute lymphatic leu kemia in April, 1952. The miracles attributed to the Intercession of Bishop Neu mann are the cure of J. Kent Lenahan of suburban Philadel phia, who suffered a fractured skull and multiple internal in juries in an automobile acci dent in 1949, and the cure of Eva Benassi of Sassuolo, Italy, of acute peritonitis in 1923. Bishop Neumann was born in Prachtitz, Bohemia, on March 28, 1811. He went to the U. S. as a seminarian in 1836, was ordained the same year for the New York diocese and sent to work among German Catholics in Niagara Falls, N. Y., a wide spread parish where he built dozens of churches and schools. The first resident priest in the area, he traveled widely throughout upper New York state and made the first Catho lic contact with many of the In dians still living there. IN 1840 he entered the Re- demptorist Order. From that time until 1852 he ‘traveled throughout a number of states giving missions and retreats, building schools and churches, He also served in Pittsburgh and Baltimore, where he was rector of the Redemptorist pa rish of St. Alphonsus when he was named Bishop of Philadel phia in 1852. In Philadelphia he set up the country’s first diocesan school system and established the 40 Hours Devotion on a permanent basis. He founded scores of new parishes. Fluent in 10 lan guages, he was noted for his work among immigrants. On January 5, 1860, he col- lspsed and died while walking along a street near his cathe dral. TO MANKIND ARCHBISHOP Josyf Sllpyl of Lviv, recently released from Siberia, Joins Pope John XXIII in the Pope’s private chapel for a prayer of thanksgiving. When the Archbishop, who is the only one of 11 Ukrainian bishops to survive the Red pri son camps, entered the Popo’.s study the Pontiff attempted to embrace him, but the 75-year-old prelate insisted upon prostrating himself in oriental fashion. Stevenson Lauds Pontiff For Guidance, Counsel • A h T ° bs f e "* nc ' oi NatlonaI N «* r ° W-k at Wayne State University. Detroit, he U , W /r, f' mambers of the flrst "iUglous congregation of Negro Sisters in h US " received a citation for their part in the advancement of their people. Shown accepting Our Ladt O? Vlr, s S' Prlan <le '' Ce,ltcr) “ nd M °' her Mary P «h both on the st£f of Our Lady of Victory School, Detroit. Richard V. Marks (left), executive secretary of the Mayor’s txssszssst^ss^ - •• -k-sk NOTRE DAME, Ind. (NC)— Adlal E. Stevenson paid tri bute here to His Holiness Pope John XXIII as a foremost world leader. The U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, who was pre sented with the tenth annual Patriotism Award of the Uni versity of Notre Dame’s sen ior class, said "of all the lead ers in the world at this moment seeking to give guidance and counsel to the human race, I know of none who so radiates a sense of paternal regard for all God’s children as Pope John XXIII." “AGAIN and again," Steven son said, "he returns to this concept of ’the human family’ —■’the sons of God, ’ 'the bro therhood of all mankind.’ Whe ther he is inviting all men of good will to pray for spiritual unity or pleading with all weal thy nations to acknow ledge their physical obligation to the less fortunate, one feels that before his eyes the vast restless spe cies of mankind appears indeed as a true family—troublesome, no doubt, confused, bewildered, easily misled, easily cast down, but one which must be loved and sustained and treasured as pa rents love their family and pa triots their land. "He adds, in short, the extra dimension of a universal pa triotism which makes the bro therhood of man not a cliche, but a living, burning truth," the Ambassador said. THE AMBASSADOR empha sized the difficulty in being a patriot these days lies not in loving one’s country "but with loving one’s country in the right way." "The patriots are those who love America enough to wish to see her as a model to mankind", Stevenson said. "They love her, of course, as she is, but they want the beloved to be more lovable. This is not treachery. This, as every parent, every teacher, every friend must know, is the truest and noblest affection." THE AMBASSADOR said this nation will survive "only at the price of perpetual and pa triotic vigilance". He said: "This discriminating and vigi lant patriotism is all the more necessary because the world at large is one in which a sim ple, direct, inward-looking na- BY BISHOP tionalism is not enough." Ibe award was presented to Stevenson at the university’s traditional exercises comme morating Washington’s Birth day. A highlight of the annual ceremony is thepri sentationby the senior class to the univer sity of an American flag which is flown for the first time on the seniors’ graduation day. U.S. Foreign Aid Chang es Urged NEW ORLEANS-(NC)—Poli cy changes in the nation’s fore ign aid programs were suggest ed here by speakers at a region al meeting of directors of the 1963 Bishops’ Relief Fund ap peal. Bishop Edward E. Swans- trom, executive director of Cat holic Relief Services—National Catholic Welfare Conference, said one weakness in the pro gram is "failure to bring help down to the level of people in the towns and villages in the underdeveloped and emerging countries." "AID programs that operate exclusively on a government- to-govemment level cannot easily accomplish this," the Bishop said. "Programs con ducted by American voluntary agencies, such as CRS-NCWC, can and do. Theirs is foreign aid that improves social and economic conditions by getting down and working on the vil lage level. This is the sort of foreign aid that we arc- asking Americans, and especially American Catholics, to support and increase by giving to the 1963 Bishops’ Relief Fund ap peal. The Bishop said that while there is no minimizing the in estimable value of the U. S. government’s far-flung foreign aid programs, "one of the weak nesses which 1 have noted inthe L.S. foreign aid programs, and one which I have urged the administration and members of Congress to amend, is their re peated failure to bring help down to the level of people in the towns and villages in these underdeveloped and emerging countries." Freedom Medal To Bishop VALLEY FORGE, Pa.-(NC)- A Catholic Bishop and a mon signor are among clergymen cited here by the Freedoms Foundations for 1962 sermons in which the nation’s need for spiritual values was stressed. Named for George Washing ton Honor Medal Awards and 3100 each wt_-re Auxiliary Bis hop Philip M. Hannan of Wash ington and Msgr. Joseph B. Coyne of Silver Spring, Md., a Washington suburb.