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GEORGIA BULLETIN THURSDAY, MARCH 21, 1963 PAGE 5 GEORGIA PINES A Trip To Gatlinburg BY FATHER R. DONALD KIERNAN A Bank President, a Furniture Dealer, a form er Director of Public Safety, a Fire Chief and my self gather a few mornings each week for coffee at the local hotel. Some of these men have lived their whole life right in this community. They re call the time when dirt roads led out of Gaines ville to Athens and Atlanta. They too remember the devastating tornado which literally wrecked Gainesville back in 1936 and was the occasion of two visits to this town by the President of the'United States. But like the Phoenix of ancient mythology, these busi ness and civic leaders have seen a growing and prosperous community grown out of the tornado’s ashes. Probably what they are most proud of is the vast area which has been flooded by the build ing of Buford Dam and has put beautiful Lake Lanier right at the doorstep of the largest metropolitan area of the south. This has meant prosperity to Gainesville and from all in dications it has just begun. Although the lake area has been open a relatively short period of time, nearly all available shore-line property has been bought up. Truly then, this community is fast becoming a summer resort and north of here, a winter resort. THE OTHER day a group of us decided to drive up to Gatlinburg, Term. We started out right after Mass in order to reach our destina tion before lunch time. (Then only to realize that it was an Ember Day). I think the one thing which impressed us most though was the fact that the scenery is still beautiful during the winter time. Not too many miles north of here we saw covered mountains and ice filled ponds. This is amazing when you realize that in Gaines ville that morning we did not even wear coats. Our first stop was a visit to the Chapel in Clayton, Ga. This new church which was dedi cated last summer by Archbishop Hallinan has really served a purpose. Only last Sunday the Boy Scouts of this parish attended Mass there. Formerly it would have been necessary for them to travel over 60 miles from their camping site. CROSSING the Great Smoky Mountains and see ing Newfound Gap with it’s elevation of 5,048 feet is a breath taking site. At one point the road winds around the mountain in such a fashion that one drives through a tunnel and then crosses over the top of the tunnel as if to retrace one’s steps. Of recent date the Lodge at Gatlinburg has been featured on a Television commercial. The spa cious dining room looks out over the ski lift and the ski run. It is not too difficult to imagine that you are vacationing in the Swiss Alps. The town of Gatlinburg shows evidence of the pros perity that tourism can and does bring to a com munity. It seemed as if everyone belonged to the Chamber of Commerce. No matter who you asked a question from, they would go out of their way to assist you. The return trip home was just as interesting. All the way there was evidence of recent catho lic missions being built. It would seem that the church has got in on the ’’ground floor” of an area which is just beginning to display its poten tial. No doubt with the federal highways under construction and the motel accomodations now available, this area, in a few years, will be na tionally known. Tallulah Falls, the Cherokee Indian Reserva tion, the Applachian Trail, Fontana Dam, all within a day’s ride of Atlanta. Its a wonder why people drive so far from home when these things are at their own doorsteps. Churches now are more available; hotel and motel accomodations are the best; the scenery is unparalleled and to think that Gainesville is the gateway to all this. This year when you are planning a vacation . . .plan it in your own state. QUESTION BOX What About Death Penalty? BY MONSIGNOR J. D. CONWAY Q. THERE IS PENDING IN OUR STATE LEGIS LATURE AT THE PRESENT TIME A BILL FOR THE ABOLITION OF THE DEATH PENALTY. IT HAS PASSED THE HOUSE BUT IS AT PRESENT BOTTLED UP IN THE SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE, WITH THREAT THAT IT WILL NEVER BE REPORTED OUT FOR A VOTE. THIS SEEMS TO BE A VIOLATION OF THE DEMO CRATIC PROCESSES OF WHICH OUR COUNTRY CLAIMS TO BE PROUD. BUT APART FROM THAT, WHAT SHOULD BE A CATHOLIC’S ATTI TUDE TOWARD ABOLITION OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT? A. My personal interest in this question is deep, because I believe it involves problems of mora lity, social justice, and our public exemplifica tion of the spirit of Christ. MORALITY: Catholic moral teaching is clear: The State has the right to execute proven crimi nals under qertain conditions, when such execu tion is necessary for the pro tection of society - for the common good. Maybe my word "neces sary” is a bit too strong. Let us substitute "highly useful”, and say that capital, punish ment is morally justified when it is highly useful to society. The problem is that all the studies and statistics I can find indicate that it is not useful at all, at least in modern civilized societies in times of peace. About 25 modern nations of the world have abolished the death penalty either by statute or by established practice. None of them has been troubled by any notable increase in capital crimes. On the contrary, such crime rate has generally decreased. At least 9 of our States have abolished the death penalty, from Michigan in 1847 to Dela ware in 1958. The rate of capital crimes in these States is much less than that of the nation as a whole. Wisconsin, for instance, which abolished the penalty a hundred years ago, has by far the lowest homicide rate in the midwest. Michigan has a similar record in relation to its neighbors. The more we face the facts the more we are forced to conclude that capital punishment is not useful to society as a deterrent to crime, but that equal protection is provided us by lesser and more civilized punishments, notably by life im prisonment. This forces me to conclude that capital punish ment is immoral, at least in our own State. If it is not needed to protect the public good, what sound reason can be advanced to justify it? Retaliation? The practice of capital punishment has been declining for years. Two hundred years ago in England 350 different crimes were punishable by death. Now England has, for practical purposes, abolished the penalty. There are a total of 100 different crimes still punishable by the death penalty in various parts of the United States. Why do we have to lag so far behind the general progress of western civilization? LITURGICAL WEEK A Foretaste Of Joy Continued From Page 4 Reading from the Old Testament forgave and spared the Chosen people through no merit of their own, now finally and definitively forgives and spares all mankind through Jesus Christ. MARCH 27, WEDNESDAY, FOURTH WEEK IN- LENT. The Liturgy of the Word, the first part of the Mass, shows us that today was a special day in ancient Lent, a day when some of the rites preliminary to Baptism (now incorporated in the single rite of Baptism) were celebrated. The touching of certain senses with saliva is a prac tice that has its source in today’s Gospel miracle. A poet could say much about saliva, a sign of communion with the living, and the earth with which Jesus mixed it, a sign of communion with all of nature—and of our liturgy, our public worship, as a gaining of vision through both of these commun ions. Deliverance and cleansing, the tremendous forgiving power of God, appears in the first two Readings and in the rest of the Mass. MARCH 28, THURSDAY, FOURTH WEEK IN LENT. Even life itself God gives and restores through instruments. Jesus (Gospel), Eliseus (First Reading), Baptism and the Sacrament of Penance and their human ministers today-all as life-giving as the creative union in marriage. The Christian is no less appreciative of natural life than he is of his communion in the life of the Most Holy Trinity, though he recognizes the hiei>- archy of values. And even with respect to the most precious of these gifts it is a visible Church which is the channel of life-giving. MARCH 29, FRIDAY, FOURTH WEEK IN LENT. The life theme is the subject of the lessons again today. Lent calls us to resist everything that be longs to death, every diminishment of life. And through Lent and its liturgy, God offers increase of life and restoration of life to all who do not wel come death and its world of evil. In the opening prayer of the Mass, the Collect, we ask: "... let your Church profit from the things that are given for her eternal life and not lack your help in this present life.” MARCH 30, SATURDAY, FOURTH WEEK IN LENT. "My Father who sent me is with me” (Gospel). Here is indeed ”a time of pardon” (First Reading), a "day of salvation.” The lat ter gives us a prophetic picture of heaven, the satisfaction of man’s need and deep desire. Both Entrance and Communion Hymns have the same confidence in the reward of faith, a confidence as strong as the Lord’s speech in today’s Gospel. Saints in Black and White ST. ATHANASIUS 15 MOSLEM OPPRESSION p T- 3 If J IV- ■ jy~ : ¥f fr ■ z 1 7* % 77 IJ*" z rs u (JL " Sudan Mission Describes Imprisonment-Expulsion jr ST (J 1. 5. 9. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 24. 25. 27. 28. 29. 31. 32. 33. 36. 40. 43. 45. 46. 47. 48. 51. 53. 54. ACROSS Piqued In Place of Troika Staff Officer* Cupid Injure Van Proper Little Island Swedish Measure Former Portuguese Colony Coarse Confine Bachelor of Sacred Theology Hardwood Senior Newel Leash An Engineering Degree Metrical Foot; Lit. High Tribunal He is Known as the ".... of Orthodoxy Brown Kiwi The Cheese State; Abbrv. Rum; Spanish Eng. Cathedral City He Wrote A Discourse Against the .... Period of Time Containing Poisonous Gas Half an Em 56. Light Comedy 57. Intentions 61. The Pine Tree State, Abbrv. 63. Carriage 65. Cheerl 66 Promise to Pay 67. Respires 70. Exact Point 71. Beholdl 72. Fare 73. Afghan Prince 75. Borneo Natives 76. Salted 77. N. American Toad, Diriv. 78. Woody Perennials 79. Mother of Helen of Troy 80 Ladd 81. Bones DOWN 1. At this Time (300) Gentiles Were Known as .... 2. Scent 3. Vase 4. Thee; Fr. 5. A Mixture of Alkaloids 6. Head of Benjamin's Clan 7. Swiss Lake 8. Plural Suffix 9 Denser 10. Norm 11. Fetters 12. Related to the Weasel 13. Carved Gem 16. Fair Leader; Nautical 17. He Rode with the Post 22. Hobo; Slang 23. Pouch 26. Cistern 30. Tiny .... 31. Grin 34. Gibbon 35. Nursemaid; Fr. 37. Night Bird 38. Anchor 39. Beast of Burden 40. Yelp 41. Cultivate Land 42. Anecdotes 43. Attainer 44. Negrito, P. I. 48. Circular Motion 49. Freeze 52. Races 53. Vehicle 55. Nothing 58. Ancient Name of Nice 59. Jetties 60. Pleads 61. A Sacramental 62. Banish 64. Goddess of Earth 68. Chief 69. First King of Israel 71. Ogles 74. Master of Fine Arts 75. A Group of Doctors 77. The Soul; Eqyp. Myth. 78. Toward ROME (NC)—His mistreat ment in prison while ill and the flimsy charges brought against him before his expulsion from the Sudan were described here by one of the nearly 150 mis sionaries ousted from that Af rican nation. Father Giovanni Trivella, F. S.C.J., was arrested last De cember 13, and was kept in jail until the day of his expulsion from the Moslem-ruled coun try. He arrived here by air last week. The 37-year-old member of the Verona Fathers told of the events leading up to his ex pulsion in an interview. It be gan last October 28, he said, when he was summoned before the civil district commission er in Yambio, near the Congo lese border, and scolded for playing a tape recorder in front of his mission church and for distributing cultural pamphlets received from the American and German embassies in Khar toum. THE REASON, said the com missioner, was that distribut ing pamphlets is a cultural ac tivity and "this is the exclus ive right of the state”. As for playing a tape recorder in a churchyard, that is a "social activity.” A 1962 law forbids the Church from "performing all social activities.” Father Trivella recalled that following his tongue-lashing, he returned home and informed his two catechists that they would have to stop all religious in struction, because it is against the law. The Italian missioner had no major difficulty until December 13, when a police inspector ap peared. •"You have spoken about persecution here in the Sudan,” he charged. • "No.” •‘‘You spoke about the new law.” •”I only said there is a law forbidding soc ‘al activities con ducted by the Church.” •"You told the Christians to flee into Fransa (former French Equatorial Africa now the Congo Republic.)” •"No, sir. If I even men tioned it, all I said was that if I were expelled from the Sudan, With Stamps OMAHA, Neb. (NC)— The Ursuline Sisters of Blessed Sacrament parish here will soon be given a nine-passenger stat ion wagon purchased with saving stamps. Members of the parish have been collecting stamps since September and now have more than 900 books on hand. A total of 1,038 is needed for the vehicle. ANSWER TO LAST WEEKS PUZZLE PAGE 7 ARNOLD VIEWING To Kill A Mockingbird BY JAMES W. ARNOLD It*s easy enough to kid the adult trend in movies, a phrase which often means simply that the tor ture scenes are bloodier, the dialogue more Freu dian, and the love scenes more athletic than they were 20 years ago. Yet the movies have grown up: they are trying worthy themes that would have been impossible to film in the 1940’s, and often doing it with a technical bril liance that makes even past Oscar winners look like Con fession magazine stories. Case in point: "To Kill a Mockingbird,” the adaptation of Harper Lee's 1960 Pulit zer Prize novel about child hood and racial conflict in a small Alabama town during the Depression. The picture is not perfect: there are cliches and over-simplifications of character and situation, and a climax of old-fashioned melo drama. But it confronts some of the great issues of human life, and speaks the truth about them, gently, disarmingly, yet with an artistic impact that is something like getting hit by an express bus on the Pennsylvania turnpike. IN ESSENCE "Mockingbird” is about a good man bringing his children through their first traumatic contact with evil. Atticus Finch, the gentle lawyer, is a man who loves what is worth loving: beauty, justice, honor, his fellow human beings. Such an ideal of truly civilized masculine virtue - how far from the stereotype of the gruff anti-intellectual, muscle-rippling, sexual Napo leon - is rarely seen in films. "Mockingbird” is notable alone for its beautiful detailing of what a father should be, all the more impressive be cause Americans seem to have misplaced their father-image somewhere among the Willy Lomans and Dagwood Bumsteads. The evil is hate - the blind, imprisoning hate of what is strange or different or only half-under stood. The film gets at it in two ways. One is through race-hatred, that conspicuous albatross around the American conscience which seems to dominate our art as it does our souls. Atticus, the lawyer who loves the law, agrees to seek jus tice for a Negro falsely accused of raping a white woman. "WHY DO it,” asks his tomboy daughter, Scout, "if you don’t have to?” Atticus replies: "If I didn't...I couldn’t ask you not to do something again.” He is wise enough to see that the child is judging him with that fiercely accurate child’s vision: morality is of one piece, to destroy its parts is to destroy it all. Hate is also expressed in the typical child ren’s attitude toward Boo Radley, the unbalanced inelghborhbod reculse whom they have never seen but envision as a fanged, drooling bogeyman. Miss Lee’s simple thesis, that personal good ness and honor win the ultimate victory, comes I would go work among the Azande who live in French Equatorial Africa.” • "You are under arrest.” FATHER Trivella recalled that he and one of his catechists were arrested and taken to a temporary prison. Their cell measured 15 by 21 feet—half of it taken up by a latrine. Four teen men were kept there. The priest suffers from progres sive arthritis, but his jailers took away his shoes and socks and left him only his trousers and shirt. "As I am sick, I asked seve ral times for a mattress, a blanket.” he said. "The police officer promised....but never gave me a blanket. It was ter ribly hot during the day because of the zinc roof, but cold at night. I could not sleep the first 12 days... "On December 23, as I felt worse, a doctor was called to visit me. He said he would ‘re commend’ but not ‘prescribe’ better treatment. But precisely because it was not a prescrip tion, the police inspector refus ed any help until the last day.” across repeatedly with vivid power. (The script stolen in where they don’t belong): "Stand up,” he orders gently, "your Father’s passing.” Good ness, courage, selflessness - not arrogance - bring the white man deference and respect. TOE EWELLS (played Tennessee Williams- style by James Anderson and Collin Wilcox) rep resent the stupidity and violence of extreme ra cism (almost too patly). Another psychology is deft ly illustrated in the attempted lynching scene where Atticus sits calmly on the porch of the jail facing a group of angry farmers. The issue is undecided until Scout begins chatting with the fa ther of a playmate. Commonplace reality and simple human contact shatter the hysteria; sham ed before the questioning eyes of innocence, these decent men disperse. Other themes: Do not return evil for evil (Atticus takes Ewell’s ridicule and even his spittle with only an icy stare). Children cannot be iso lated from ugly reality ("I wish I could...but that’s never possible”). The need for compas sion ("To understand a man, consider things from his point of view; climb into his skin and walk around in it”). ALL THIS is content; perhaps it’s enough, in regard to form, to observe that "Mockingbird” has eight Oscar nominations, including best pic ture. Also noteworthy in this age of status-seek ing: director Robert Mulligan may be the first Catholic alumnus (Fordham) to capture that august bronze statue. His achievements here surely in clude subtlety of insight (especially the fleeting gesture, expression or tone of voice), his hand ling of the children (non-professionals Mary Bad- ham and Philip Alford, both of Birmingham) and the sensitive talents of veteran Gregory Peck (as Atticus). TTie cast is heavy with gifted Broadway play ers little known to screen audiences, a factor which aids the movie’s extraordinary real-life qualities. Oddly, Maycomb, Ala., was built in Hollywood because Miss Lee’s hometown has been diseased by TV antennas and neon signs. Camer aman Russell Harlan "Lust for Life” prowls its Union-built streets with a poet's sense of light ing and angle - most of it seems shot about knee- high, where the children are. Elmer Bernstein’s soft, tinkling, slightly atonal score ably assists the fragile, nostalgic mood. ADULTS will be touched by flashes of insight into childhood (their own as well as their child ren's). Sample: the playmate who introduces him self bluntly: "I’m John B. Harris and I can read.” 1 The skills of everyone are revealed in one of the bedtimes scenes, in which Scout constantly badgers her brother with questions about her dead mother: "Was she nice?...Was she pretty?...Does Atticus miss her?...” As the brother answers with bored affirmatives, the camera drifts to ac tor Peck, listening but motionless, sitting quietly in the night on the porch, alone. God Love You MOST REVEREND FULTON J. SHEEN Youth is a problem today because adults are a problem. Their so-called rebellion is against a previous generation for not having transmitted to them the precious heritage of a purpose in life. They are like a powerful automobile without steer ing wheel, clutch or brake. They have automatic energy , but it is unguided (no steering wheel), cannot disengage its power in dangerous spots (no clutch) and has never been taught to deny itself (no brake). Any force which is devoid of purpose is necessarily re volutionary. A boiler without obedience to its pressure- limit explodes; a train in re volt against the "conserva tive” who laid the tracks runs wild; the young without a Mis sion perish. This want of Mis sion affects all young people, even though they have a measure of Faith; it leaves people of all ages bored, full of ennui and disgusted with life. But given a Mission, a goal, a purpose, they quickly become happy. Three years ago a young man was brought to us by his father, who was saddened by his son’s loss of Faith and consequent cantankerous nature. A few months later the boy ran away, return ing the next year still as stubborn and anti-re ligious as ever. We recommended sending the lad to a school outside the United States. After a year the youth returned to ask our support for a plan to teach poor children, build a clinic and construct a small church for the impoverished of a certain missionary land. At college he hadmet some boys who had done such work, who in turn inspired him with a Mission. The burden of the Church in the United States is to give our people a sense of Mission, some thing to do either for their parish, the poor in the city, prisoners or the hungry souls in mis sion lands. Our people are sheep—but not to be sheared only. Their purpose is not just to "sup port the Church”. The Churchmust support them, give them purpose, make them disciples, sum mon them to carry the crosses of other peoples. In order to get this idea across, we have writ ten a special March-April issue of MISSION, which is entitled "A Message to the Catholics of the United States.” If you don’t have it, write and we will send it to you. In gratitude, say a prayer for the Holy Father that next year the people of the United States will give him more than an average per capita contribution of 27 cents to evangelize, educate and heal over 2 billion pegans I GOD LOVE YOU to H.A.M. for $10 "I am of fering this up for the poor of the world, so I won’t be one of them next month if my husband gets laid off his job.” ...to J. a for $1 "In grati tude for my most precious possession, the gift of Faith.” ...to E. B. for $6 "I have tried to make small acts of denial each day throughout Lent to send the Missions the financial equivalent. Please have the Holy Father use my offering as he sees fit.” ...to M. V. for $25 "By having an accoun tant figure out my income tax, I was able to save the above amount. I want the Missions to use my savings to further their saving.” We want not only your sacrifices but also your prayers. Send your request and a $2 sacri fice-offering for the WORLOMISSION ROSARY, and we will send you these multicolored beads blessed by Bishop Sheen. Each time you say the WORLDMISSION ROSARY, you will remember to put aside a daily sacrifice for the Holy Father. Cut out this column, pin your sacruxce to it and mail it to Most Rev. Fulton J. Sheen, National Di rector of the Society for the Propagation of tl)e Faith, 366 Fifth Avenue, New York 1 N. Y. or your Archdiocesan Director, Very Rev. Harold J. Rainey P. O. Box 12047 Northside Station, Atlanta 5, Ga.