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PAGE 4 GEORGIA BULLETIN
Archdiocese of Atlanta
the
GEORGIA BULLETIN
SERVING GEORGIA'S 71 NORTHERN COUNTIES
Official Organ of the Archdiocese of Atlanta
Published Every Week at the Decatur Dekalb News
PUBLISHER - Archbishop Paul J. Hallinan
MANAGING EDITOR Gerard E. Sherry CONSULTING EDITOR Rev. R. Donald Kieraan
ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Sue Spence
2699 Peachtree N.E.
P.O. Box 11667
Northside Station
Atlanta 5, Ga.
Member of the Catholic Press Association
and Subscriber to N.C.W.C. News Service
Telephone 231-1281
Second Class Permit at Decatur, Georgia
U.S.A. $5.00
Canada $5.50
Foreign $6.50
‘Like’ Apostolate
The late Cardinal Suhard of
Paris once spoke of “the apos
tolate of like by like!" He said
this principle is often “super
ficially understood." And so it
is. It is “superfically under
stood" by the doctor or the law
yer or the candlestick maker who
gives speeches -- perfectly good
speeches, of course - about Com
munism in the labor movement
or Laos, China, but does little
or nothing in an organized manner
to Christianize the economic pra
ctices of his own profession.
not carry it out as an isolated
individual, nor can he satisfy his
social obligations by passing re
solutions at the meetings of fr
aternal organizations, necessary
and important as these organiz
ations are in their own right.
Now is the time for lay act
ion. Humanly speaking, we can
almost say that it is now or
never - so serious is the break
down of social morality in the
world at large.
"IT'S FUNNY WE DON'T GET THE SAME RESPONSE"
NEW ENCYCLICAL
New Spirit To Meet Needs
It is “superficially under
stood" by the employer or man
agement representative who
knows more about the mistakes
and abuses of the AF of L and
the CIO than he does about the
mistakes and abuses of the Ch
amber of Commerce and the Na
tional Association of Manu
factures.
It is “superficially under
stood" by the trade unionist who
fancies himself a crusader for
social justice ("thank God I am
not like the rest of men!") but
somehow or other never gets ar
ound to attending the meetings of
his local union; or ignores un
ion corruption.
It is “superficially under
stood ’ by any one who does not
realize that his principal social
responsibility is to be physically
and spiritually present as a wit
ness to Christ in his own ev-
vironment and among his own
confreres, whatever his occupa
tion or profession. He can carry
out this responsibility in our kind
of society only by actively par
ticipating in his own appropriate
economic organization. He can-
We have often had occasion to
draw readers’ attention to the in
decent and almost pornographic
movie advertising appearing in
some of our daily newspapers.
And we have suggested that-the
editors of such papers should
be made aware of the harm
committed against families and
the community by smut ads. Alas,
we think it time for another re
minder.
In the past few weeks, news
papers in various communities
of the archdiocese have been
accepting advertisements for
movies which should cause all
decent people to protest. Most
of these ads are unfit for family
reading. The legends and illus
trations are an incitement to in
decency and are unworthy of
being included among the free
doms of the press.
Our own country, to be sure,
is temporarily at least more fa
vorably situated than some of
the other nations of the world.
All the more reason, then, for
our taking the initiative and set
ting an example to the rest of
mankind. „ May we be the first
to respond to the most recent
challenge of Our Holy Fathe r who
has again reminded us of the ter
rifying urgency of more intensive
lay action. His predecessor the
late lamented Pope Pius XII once
said;
“And since the priest, can
reach neither everybody or
everything, and as his work is
not always able to meet ade
quately all needs, those who ser
ve in the Catholic Action ranks
must offer the aid of their own
experience and activity. No one
must be idle and lazy in the face
of so many evils and dangers
while those in the other camp st
rive to destroy the very basis
of Catholic religion and Christ
ian worship. Let it never come
to pass that the children of this
world are wiser than the child
ren of light’ (Luke 16:8); let it
never be that the latter are less
active than the former."
rejected advertising for several
perfectly good movies, approved
by the Legion of Decency, simply
because the illustration or legend
has been improper. We know, too,
that many readers have queried
us .about the Legion of Decency
ratings of certain films simply
because the advertisements
seem to suggest something dirty
or improper about them even
though they have an A-2 or A-3
rating.
The
BY FR. ROBERT W. HOVDA
(Priest of the Pittsburgh Oratory)
BY FR. LEONARD F.X. MAYHEW
"The mills of God,” Longfellow wrote, "grind
slowly.” This bit of wisdom has been applied,
sometimes admiringly and sometimes not, to the
proverbial caution of the Church in policy and
decision. It has never seemed less true than
during the reign of John XXIIL Each step of his
policies, as he has rung down the curtain on a
past age and ushered into the Church a new
spirit to meet the needs of the times, has been
sure and vital and accompanied by a sense of
urgency. With his revolutionary encyclical on
Christianity And Social Progress (Mater et Magi-
stra) not quite two years old, Pope John has
published a second great and comprehensive
social encyclical.
It appeals that Christianity And Social Progress
was intended to provide a background for the new
encyclical, Peace On Earth.
More than half its space was
devoted to a review of the social
teaching contained in the writ
ings of Leo XIII, Pius XI and
Pius XIL The section on new
aspects of the social question
touched on several specific
areas not previously treated in
Papal documents. Especially
noteworthy was the evolution
of the role necessarily to be played by the State
in the solution of social problems. The Holy
Father also introduced the principles of social
justice and the common good into the sphere
of international affairs. The final portion of
Mater et Magistra was a plea for an amplified
understanding and renewed dedication on the part
of Catholics to their role in meeting social needs.
THE NEW encyclical is a broad and positive
treatise of the contemporary social situation
with an eye on the vexing questions regarding
which mankind urgently wishes to know the
stand of the Catholic Church. With this in mind
and to stress the reliance of its doctrine on a
philosophy of natural law, the encyclical is
addressed not only to the Catholic hierarchy
and faithful but to "all men of good will.” It
presents a detailed treatment of Catholic social
philosophy under four general headings: the
rights and duties of the human person; the
relationship between individual citizens and the
LITURGICAL WEEK
and joy (Entrance, Alleluia, Offertory and Com
munion Hymns), it refuses to concede even to de
authority of the State; how States should deal
with one another; and finally, the relationships
inherent in a world community of all peoples,
"the establishment of such a world community
of peoples being urgently demanded by the re
quirements of universal common good.”
THE HOLY Father opens the encyclical with
a salute to the achievements of modem science
and technology, which bear witness to an "ast
onishing order” in the universe as well as to
the greatness of man. To translate this order
into a reality in human society man's reason
is able to discover the laws which govern human
relations " where the Father of all things wrote
them...in the nature of man.”
Having established the foundation of natural
law and defined his viewpoint, Pope John pro
ceeds with what will rank as one of the out
standing documents of history, nothing less than
a Christian declaration of the rights of man,
comprehensive in its scope and fully in touch
with the quandaries of the mid-twentieth cent
ury world.
Pope John lists eight categories of the rights
of the human person, rights "flowing directly...
from his very nature...universal, inviolable and
inalienable.” He has amplified the scope of each
category to include important considerations
never before treated so authoritatively. Under
the right of life and a decent living he includes
the right to social security in any case in which
a man "is deprived of the means of subsistence
through no fault of his own.” Among the moral
and cultural rights of every human being, the
Pope includes "the right to freedom in sear
ching for truth and in expressing and communi
cating his opinions."
He singles out also the right to education,
including higher studies in accordance with nat
ural gifts and acquired skills. Freedom of con
science and the right to worship "privately and
publicly” belong to every human being. In re
affirming the right to private property he points
out that social duty is "essentially inherent”
in the right of ownership. Finally, "the human
person is entitled to juridical protection ( i.e.
by law enforcement agencies) of his rights...
that should be effective, impartial and inspired
by the true norms of justice." (To be continued).
to each impartially, whatever its milieu.
Smut Advertising
Good Shepherd Theme
What is more tragic, however,
is that some of these movies
are also advertised on the radio,
and in some places even on tele
vision. We heard recently one
radio station include such a movie
commercial within the normal
children's listening hour. The
announcer reeled off the suggest
ive commercial as if he meant
what he said. Admittedly, it was
for a drive-in theater, which
seemed to thrive on the so-called
“mature" films.
There is one more point to be
emphasized: movie distributors
are cutting their own throats by
emphasizing sex and smut in
relation to their ads. We have
APRIL 28 SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EASTER.
The Shepherd theme of today’s Mass falls on
ears tuned to the hum of traffic and the Imper
sonal clatter of machines. Yet the race has
memory enough to sense in this theme the notes
of trust, personal care, responsibility. Christ
our Priest is Saviour, yes, as we have seen.
He is also shepherd, master, leader.
The First Reading teaches our responsibility
toward Him: "You were to follow in his foot
steps.” And the Gospel shows His responsi
bility towards us, even to the laying down of
His life. He is Our Saviour because we have
with Him the personal relationship Implied in
the shepherd theme. It is by being joined to Him
in faith, in Baptism, in the breaking of bread,
that we know His saving work as our salvation.
MONDAY, APRIL 29 ST. PETER OF VERONA,
MARTYR. Nothing in the liturgy shows the trans
cendent anchor of Christian hope more than
the Mass of a martyr. Full of shouts of victory
ath.
lg physical, no atomic
st, no end of Western
>mic civilization, can
he branches from the
ily the Father, the vine-
, can do that, and then
we place our own tem-
'ell-being ahead of the
serve.
TUESDAY, APRIL 30 ST. CATHERINE OF
SIENA, VIRGIN. What a lesson in responsibility
for the laity in the Church is the life of this
14th century laywoman! Her Jealousy was of the
divine kind (First Reading), not the selfish jealousy
with which we are too familiar. So she didn’t
hesitate to correct her brother when justice and
charity demanded it—even her brother the Pope.
"You loved justice and hated wickedness,”
we sing in the Entrance Hymn. She saw them
both inside and outside the Church and she reacted
WEDNESDAY, MAY 1 ST. JOSEPH THE
WORKMAN. Every Mass is in a sense a hymn
to human work as well as a thanksgiving to God,
for the gifts of thanksgiving to which Christ
communicates infinite value are the human pro
ducts, bread and wine. Today’s celebration spells
out this profound respect the Christian must
have for man's cooperation with God’s creative
activity in work.
That "spiritual sacrifice” to which every
Christian is called by his Baptism is the of
fering, direction, orientation of his whole life
and being to God. His work is of unique importance
in this complex of his sacrifices.
THURSDAY, MAY 2 ST. ATHANASIUS, BISHOP,
CONFESSOR, DOCTOR. "Speak it in the light....
preach it on the housetops” (Gospel). For molt
of us our work is a, if not the, principal means
of speaking and preaching the good news that
the life of Jesus is "made manifest in our mortal
flesh” (First Reading). Work well done, with love
for things and love for the people our work
SAD EFFORT
Controversy
In Sanity
BY GERALD E. SHERRY
Recently I stated that controversy in the Church
is obviously a healthy thing as long as there is
an objective and constructive airing of the issues.
I am also of the opinion that the controversy
over the banning of four-priest theologians at
Catholic University served a useful purpose. It
has strengthened the image and the stance of
the Church of America rather than weakened it.
I am equally convinced, however, that there is
no longer an issue here, and that Catholic Uni
versity should be left alone to pick up the pieces;
and that all con
cerned in tha mat
ter should be chari
table enough to
work together to
strengthen the inst
itution. The "ban
ning” was a bad
experience, but not
fatal. Catholic Uni
versity is too im
portant to the Church to be scuttled through irres
ponsible prolonging of a dead debate.
For this reason, I am rather saddened by the
efforts of a group of university professors (not
from Catholic U.), and an editor from one of
our Catholic weekly diocesan newspapers, to
drag the C.U. affair into a side issue which
has absolutely no bearing on academic freedom.
WHAT HAS happened is that an article appear
ed in a diocesan paper several weeks ago,
attempting to place the blame for the whole
affair on Archbishop Egidio Vagnozzi, Apostolic
Delegate to the United States. It was an unneces
sary insinuation, because Monsignor McDonald,
Rector of Catholic University, has accepted sole
responsiblity for the decision to ban the four
theologians.
The insinuation was made in an article written
by a priest of another diocese, who seemingly
has had difficulty in the past in getting some of
his theology accepted by those in authority. There
is no question that this priest author is in good
standing. Indeed, I am told he administers one of
the best parishes in his particular diocese. He
is a good priest, but seems to have the desire to
use the Catholic University affair as a vehicle
for assessing blame for his own theological diffi
culties in the past.
This is a sad business. I think the first article
did a disservice to the thesis of "holy liberty”
so eloquently expounded by Pope John XXIIL
The exercise of liberty within the Church carries
with it greater responsibilities than in any other
area. We must always be careful that we avoid
harming the good name of individuals, and that
charity is to the forefront.
ALAS, this same diocesan newspaper carries
a front page article in its current issue, by one
of its priest-editors. The article continues the
same theme on Catholic U. and defends the dis
gruntled priest theologian who wrote the original
piece. What is further surprising, however, is
that this latest piece alleges that because only a
few Catholic newspapers reprinted the original
article, there was official suppression of it in most
Catholic newspapers.
Nothing, of course, is further from the truth. I,
for one, was contacted about accepting the original
article. Some bright young university professor
suggested that, because of my alleged liberal
leanings, this was a "natural” for my paper. Hav
ing seen the gist of the article, I rejected it on
the grounds that I felt it was imprudent and
served no useful purpose. There was no attempt
at suppression, officially or otherwise. I did a
check with several other Catholic "Liberal”
editors and found them to be of like mind. Their
bishops were not involved in their judgement.
Neither was mine.
THE IDEA that bishop-publishers are invol
ved in every decision to print or not to print is
a false one. There are some matters of policy
in which the bishop has a right to be involved
before something goes into print. But on most
issues they expect the editor whom they have
hired, be he priest or laymen, to have enough
intelligence (and love of the Church) to make a
prudential judgement. To my knowledge, there
are only six diocesan weeklies out of some one
hundred and twenty, in which the bishop keeps
a tight, personal rein on its contents, especially
editorials and controversial issues.
The priest editor who wrote this latest article
is obviously out to make a martyr of himself.
That is his privilege. But in doing so, he is
giving the impression that his colleagues in the
Catholic press are either cowards or unable
to emulate him because of official suppression.
It is stupid impression and an unworthy imputat
ion.
MANY OF us thrive on controversy. We are
not afraid to speak our minds, and in this we
have the healthy support of our bishop-publish
ers. But we are expected to deal in issues,
avoiding personalities unless it is impossible
to do otherwise. Personal grudges have no place
in an issue such as that of the C.U. ban. Certainly
an alleged injustice to a priest theologian, years
ago, has no bearing on the present issue.
All in all, these two articles which have appear
ed in this diocesan weekly have probably endang
ered "holy liberty”, especially in relation to
editors of diocesan weeklies. If W e cannot show
responsibility, how can we possibly be given it?
Times are too serious for any of us to perpet
uate personal grudges. We have had our say on the
Catholic U. affair. We should now all be working
together to help that institution to regain the
confidence of all who support it either financially,
or through prayer.
REAPINGS
AT
RANDOM