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
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Sudan Mission Describes
Imprisonment-Expulsion
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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.
