The Georgia bulletin (Atlanta) 1963-current, May 02, 1963, Image 5

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The Georgia bulletin, May 02, 1963, Image 5

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Newspaper Page Text1 THURSDAY, MAY 2, 1963 GEORGIA BULLETIN PAGE 5 GEORGIA PINES ••• And Then, They Moved Saints in Black and White TO REVIEW CONVICTIONS ST. BRIDGET of KILDARE 42 BY REV. R. DONALD KIERNAN f lmes like Columbus, Roger Williams, Lord Baltimore, the Pilgrims are readily on the lips of most grade school pupils. Places such as Plymouth, Mass., Jamestown, Virginia and other settlements are equally familiar. There is hardly a boy or girl who graduates from the grammar school who has not heard of Ponce de Leon and nis search for the "Fountain of Youth,* but at the same time most pupils think that fifty miles beyond the Atlantic seabord there was absolute wilderness. It is difficult for young students to grasp the overall picture of early colonization, for some reason or other. Just as foggy in their minds is the fact that as colonization was taking place on the eastern seaboard, Father Serra, a Spanish missionary, had founded successful missions and settlements all along the Pacific coast. While the early pilgrims were fighting the Indians, long before the foundation of Harvard University, the Dominican Fathers had established a University out in the Philli- Jine Islands. I think that our big problem is trying to put the events of history into a chronological or der instead of studying history’ jas isolated events. From early studies we knew lof Leif Erricson, Americus Vespucci and certainly Chris topher Columbus. To these three men go the credit of discovering America. However, in studying our early Catholic history we accept the fact that while Columbus probably had a priest with him when he landed, the cre dit for the first Mass goes to Ponce de Leon. In recent date, now It seems that Mass was offered by Spanish missionaries in a place called St. Mary’s, located in southeast Georgia. There seems to be good evidence supporting this fact but since actual records have never been lo cated I guess it will just remain a "friendly feud" between the Catholics living in Georgia, and those living in Florida. Our state is dotted with much early Catholic history. Bishop England, who was the first Bis hop of Charleston had as his mission what is now the state of Georgia. It was against the law for Catholics to worship in these parts, and while there were Catholics living in Savannah, the first organized Catholic mission in Georgia was in Sharon, a town located below Washington and near Greensboro. The Sharon mission was made up by a group of farmers who emmigrated here from Mary land. They built a church, rectory, school and convent. The school was staffed by the Sisters of St. Joseph and remained in operation until the early 50's when it was relocated at Miiledge- viUe by Father John Toomey. The church still stands and although the catholic population had dwindled Mass is still offered by the Verona Fathers who reside in Washington. Other places in Georgia show evidence of early colonization by catholic settlers. The same group of Maryland fanners who settled in Sharon also founded a mission in Greensboro. A church was built and was used by the faithful until 1902. A tornado did partial destruction to the frame building and in the early *40*s the pro perty was sold. Over in west Georgia, a settlement of Hung arian wine makers founded a mission in the town of Budapest. The Marist Fathers from Atlanta served the spiritual needs of these people for many decades. When the Georgia General Assembly passed a law of prohibition it destroyed their wine making industry and one by one the settlers moved away. It must have been a flour ishing community though, because at one time the people brought additional property in Talla poosa and registered it in the county court house as the Sacred Heart Church. The Budapest property was sold in 1959 after the last parish ioner left and the catholics found it more conv enient to relocate the church in Carrollton. Places like Ball Ground, McIntyre and others have early catholic history and show evidence of the fact that the early settlers while they were looking for material prosperity they also carried with them the seeds of the faith. QUESTION BOX Pacem In Terris? BY MONSIGNOR J. D. CONWAY Q. DOES POPE JOHN IMPLY IN PACEM IN TERRIS THAT WE CAN, IF PRUDENT, NOW WORK WITH COMMUNISTS, WHEN HE SAYS: "IT CAN HAPPEN, THEN, THAT A DRAW ING TOGETHER OR A MEETING FOR THE AT TAINMENT OF SOME PRACTICAL END, WHICH WAS FORMERLY DEEMED INOPPORTUNE OR UNPRODUCTIVE, MIGHT NOW OR IN THE FU TURE BE CONSIDERED OPPORTUNE AND USE FUL." MIGHT POLISH CATHOLICS PARTICIPATE ACTIVELY IN A COMMUNIST GOVERNMENT? MIGHT ITALIAN CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS NOW BE JUSTIFIED IN DISREGRADING EAR LIER EPISCOPAL WARNINGS AGAINST COLLA BORATION WITH MARXISTS? MIGHT LATIN AMERICAN CHRISTIANS NOW MAKE AN ALLIANCE WITH THE MARXIST- FIDELIST GROUPS TO OVERTHROW PEACE FULLY RULING CONSERVATIVE FORCES? A. Before facing your ques tions directly I want to point out to sensitive readers that Pope John has given no hint of endorsement of Communism. On the contrary he has quite thoroughly undermined the ag gressive and dictatorial re gimes of modern Marxists. But he has done it in a manner so pleasingly positive that they had to like it. They cannot dispute his outline of the natural, inalienable rights of man with out admitting that they are violating these rights in practice. They cannot argue with his assertion of the equality and independence of nations with out emphasizing the situation of their own satell ites. They have no choice but to praise the precise Papal statement of their own prattle. If the principles outlined by Pope John in Pacem in Terris were followed literally all dictatorial forms of governments would disappear from the earth. In their place would be govern ments which foster "an order founded on truth, built according to justice, vivified and integrated by charity, and put into practice by freedom.** However, I believe there can be no doubt of the meaning and intent of the Pope’s carefully chosen words about the possibility of "a drawing nearer together or a meeting for the attainment of some practical end." He makes no mention of Com munism, but there is no doubt that he is talking about various movements which originated from Marxism — and possibly from other "false philosophical teachings regarding the nature, origin and destiny of the universe and of man.*’ He reminds us that we "must never confuse error and the person who errs. . . the person who errs is always and above all a human being. . .** We must distinguish "historical movements that have economic, social, cultural or political ends" from the false teachings which gave them origin and continue to give them inspiration. We must note that movements work "on histori cal situations in constant evolution,*' are in fluenced by these situations, and change—often profoundly—as a result. Furthermore, we are cautioned against the black-and white complex. Movements of this kind have in them elements of right reason, re present many lawful aspirations of human per sons, and contain elements which are positive and deserving of approval. If Marxism had nothing good in it, the move ment would have died a century ago. (This is not the Pope’s statement; only my logical conclus ion.) Before applying th Pope’s gentle and generalized statement to any concrete situation we must read carefully what he says about prudence. Has the right moment arrived? How much co operation is possible, honorable anduseful? "The decision rests primarily with those who live and work in the specific sectors of human society in which those problems arise, always, however, in accordance with the principles of the Natural law, with the social doctrine of the Church, and with the directives of ecclesiastical authority. LITURGICAL WEEK Fits Liturgy Like Glove CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4 good news once announced to the Church of the As- ostles. The First Reading teaches that God fills the just man with understanding, directs his counsel. The Gospel tells us that such men are truly lights. The great teacher hands something of himself on with the tradition, contributes some small bit of himself, of what God has given him and marcher, with the great gift whose ste ward ne is. FRIDAY, MAY 10 ST. ANTONINUS, BISHOP, CONFESSOR. The Gospel of the talents again stresses the personal commitment and the per sonal nature of our mission as Christians. The sacrifice God asks of us is the sacrifice of a "humble and*contrite heart," a "spiritual sacrifice," the sacrifice of ourselves and of all that is us. SATURDAY, MAY 11 SS. PHILIP & JAMES, APOSTLES, MARTYRS. Man is in some sense a prisoner of what he sees. If he sees only greed,lust, brutality, his horizons close in. We Christians are freemen because we see in Jesus Christ the Father , His love, His saving will (Gospel). And we see in the lives and deaths of the martyrs (First Reading) a perennial re buke to human shortsightedness, to human sat isfaction with the immediate and the apparent. "Have I been so long a time with you and you have not known me?" (Alleluia, Gospel, Communion Hymn). Landmark Ruling By High Court Expected ACROSS 1. Salt 4. Idle 8. Nothin? 11. Grippe 14. Be in Debt 15. Against 16. ... Gabor 17. Carry 18. Brown 19. Yarn 20. Church Vessel 21. Annex 22. Academic Learning 24. Entangle 26. Depend 27. Flesh Injury 30. Bingo 33. Unsophisticated 36. Contend 40. Branch 43. Redolence 45. Wife of Xerxes 46. Pro-Western Asiatic Country 48. To Mill 50. Oriental Inn 51. Vines 53. Tracts 55. Emerged 56. Scold 58. Literary Composition 60. Egyptian Religious God 61. She Is The Patron Of 63. Enclosures 65. Finisher 67. a Perennial Flower 71. Hog 74. She Died At Age 29. Small Cut Seventy ... 31. Equal 77. Nobleman 32. Character in "Untouch* 78. Quite ables" 79. 22nd Letter; Gr. Alpha. 34. Vein; Latin 81. So Be It 35. Harden; Var. 84. Label 37. Palpitate 85. Pose 38. Legal Conveyance 86. Play On Words 39. Members Of iroquoian 87. Bog N. A. Indians 88. Estimated Time Of 40. Excuse Arrival; abbr. 41. incoherent Speaker 89. Also 42. A Silk Fabric 90. Ripen 44. Lock Of Hair 91. Plead 47. Certifier of Weights And 92. Religion; abbr. Measures 49. Utmost DOWN 52. ... Musial 1. Sum 54. Uttered 2. Conscious 57. Aim 3. Tears 59. Pro 4. Statute 62. Describe Exactly 5. Biblical Name 64. Personal Pronoun 6. Tiny Particle 66. Smallest State 7. Rasp 68. Afte. 8. St. Patrick Was Her 69. incensed 9. Feminfhe Name 10. Remiss 11. Escape 12. Allay 13. She Prayed To Become 23. Do Wrong 25. Bachelor Of Science Degree 26. List 28. Western Hemisphere Organization 70. Pertaining To Plants Found m Water 71. Phloem Tissue 72. Hodgepodge 73. Viola 75. Beguiling Role 76. An Arabian Ruler 79. Certiified Public Accountant 80. Keep Close 82. Eon 83. Michel ..., Marshal Of France, (d. 1815) ANSWER TO LAST WEEKS PUZZLE PAGE 7 WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court has laid the foundations for a potential land mark ruling on obscenity and censorship in its 1963-64 term by agreeing to review a book seller’s conviction for selling the novel "Tropic of Cancer*’ and ordering reargument of another case involving the con troversial movie "The Lovers.** The two cases together open up broad questions relating to state regulation of allegedly obscene matter. The court di rected (April 29) that the "Lovers" case be argued im mediately after the "Tropic of Cancer" case. THE COURT'S final decision, however, could be delayed for as much as a year, since it has announced it will hear no more arguments this term be fore it adjourns in June. There fore, the two obscenity and censorship cases cannot be argued until the court recon venes next October. Only a little more than a month ago, on March 26, the high court devoted an hour to oral arguments in the "Lovers" case. Its central figure is Nico Jacobellis, who was fined $500 for possessing the French film and $2,000 for exhibiting it at the Heights Art Theater, Cleveland, where he was man ager. In directing that the case be reargued, the Supreme Court ARNOLD VIEWING Lawrence Of Arabia BY JAMES W. ARNOLD By this time it is as bright to comment on the splendid qualities of "Lawrence of Arabia" as it is to note that Grace Kelly is a pretty blonde with a certain regal bearing. This was destined to be a memorable picture as soon as producer Sam Spiegel ("On the Waterfront") began to assemble his awesome talent, including director David Lean ("Bridge on the River Kwai"), writer Robert Bolt ("A Man for all Seasons”) and an all male cast headed by Alec Gui nness, Jack Hawkins, Jose Fer rer and Anthony Quinn. These gifted people spent more than $10 million and two years in remote, primitive locale sunder improbable conditions to make "Lawrence" a masterpiece. The magnificent results, attest ed to by every official body short of the UN General Assembly, need little elaboration here. WE CAN add, perhaps, a note of restraint. Technically, "Lawrence" is beautiful, exciting, the last word in desert movies, which have come a long way since Valentino was a boy. Religiously, it is also fascinating, because its hero (while sometimes wrong) is so constantly aware of the morality of his judgements. The movie also implies that Lawrence yearned to share the perfection of God; inevitably lacking it, and hating his own lack, he was foredoomed to despair, no matter how much the world lionized him. But the film is vaguely unsatisfying, for some of the same reasons as two other "best picture" nominees, "The Longest Day** and "Mutiny on the Bounty." Like Zanuck’s D-Day epic, "Lawrence" deals grandly (for 3 1/2 exhausting hours) with war - “he Britlsh-and-Arab World War I assault on ’he Turks. Here the desert film’s dramatic setting is an advantage: a sprawling stage on vhich men stand out like toy soldiers on a vast tabletop, their every motion stark and meaningful. "LAWRENCE" avoids Zanuck’s mistakes: it is never tawdry, never pays more attention to the war than the people in it. The trouble is that the people are so unique the audience finds little to share with them, and the outcome is nearly the same: spectacle, fascination, but minimum emotional involvement. Doubltless partly to blame is the historic character of T. E. Lawrence. While inaccurate in some details (e.g., dashing actor Peter O' Toole is nearly a foot taller than original, whose lack of stature was a psychological scar), the movie is faithful to the man's enigmatic spirit, neuroses and uncompromising rejection of ordi nary values and appetites. The Complicated Man as hero is a special problem for movies, as Marlon Brando dis covered when he put some Freud into Fletcher Christian. It’s not that the medium can’t handle complexity, or that the audience is too dim- witted to appreciate it. But the audience must feel strongly about this man, must in a real sense love 'him, and people cannot love him if he baffles them. THE HISTORIC Lawrence, of course, defies analysis. But the dramatic Lawrence loses his entire point if he is not explained, at least implicity. Unhappily, explaining is something the movies don’t do very well. In a play, it is con ventional for a character to explain himself, or be explained by others, in words. In a novel, we have not only dialog but the characters' thoughts. Movies must rely on pictures; a smile, a grimace, a flash of the eyes. How much complexity can any of these communicate? The audience simply evades the complexity of Brando's Christian: it*s just old Marlon horsing around with the foppery and Yorkshire accent. Underneath, he’s the same hard-nosed rebel. Sure enough, at the end, Brando is basically himself again, the romantic idealist expiring in the native girl’s arms. BUT O’TOOLE as Lawrence is a stranger, full of contradictions. He seems to crave both suffering and glory; he is alternately kind and cruel, strong and weak, humble and vain. To students of Lawrence and his inner drives, this makes some sense. But the uninitiated, trying to salvage some meaning from O'Toole’s des perate facial expressions, will let it go that the guy is unhappy because the Arabs are being double-crossed. This is only a small part of the answer. Are movies stuck, then, with easily cate gorized hero types like Gable or Cooper or Jimmy Stewart? Not necessarily, although the ease with which viewers identified with and loved diem had much to do with the popularity of 1930-1950 movies. But film-makers cannot simply assume sympathy for these new heroes; they must win it for them. It can be done. Look how Bergman, in a brill iant series of dreams and flashbacks, creates understanding and sympathy for the old doctor in "Wild Strawberries.*’ Arthur Penn achieved a similar effect with a powerful five-minute sequence about Annie Sullivan early in "The Miracle Worker". Shakespeare’s "Henry V" may not be entirely historical, but within the limits of that single play, he is one of the superb characters of dramatic literature. BEST of the year? Certainly nothing matches "Lawrence " in its intoxication of the senses, from the opening motorcycle sequence to the incredible beauty of its desert locales and in spired color photography (by F.A. Young); even its interior shots could be hung in a gallery. One scene, in which actor Omar Sharif comes galloping on his camel out erf the flat shimmering horizon, growing from a fly-speck as we wonder who he is and sense an indefinable malice as the muffled hoofbeats caress the sand, is surely one of the finest of all-time. But a film’s ultimate purpose is to hold and move. While less ambitious, "The Miracle Work er" and, to some extent, "To Kill a Mocking bird" succeed where die great spectaculars stumble. In these films we are made to see and know and love, and in the final analysis these first grade verbs are all that matter. CURRENT RECOMMENDED FILMS: For everyone: The Miracle Worker, To Kill a Mockingbird, Lawrence of Ara bia. For connoisseurs: Sundays and Cybele, Long Day’s Journey into Night. offered noting explanation for its action. In that case, Los Angeles book seller Bradley Reed Smith is seeking a reversal of his conviction for selling the novel by Henry Miller. Smith was placed on probation for a year, the first 30 days to be served in the Los Angeles jail. Both cases focus on the fund amental question of what the legal test of obscenity should be and whether the works in volved are actually obscene. "The Lovers*’ tells the story of a married woman who gives up her family and social posi tion to have a love affair with a young archaeologist. The film which has been exhibited in some 30 states, won two inter national prizes. The Ohio Supreme Court, upholding Jacobellis* conviction on Janu ary 17, 1962, described it as "filthfor money sake." IN THE oral argument of the case on March 26, New York attorney Ephraim London re presented Jacobellis. London a key figure in several pre vious movie censorship cases, stressed two main arguments: 1) That the lower courts, in applying "contemporary com munity standards** to "The Lovers," erred by adopting the "standards" merely of one small community —Cuyahoga County, Ohio—instead of the en tire country. 2) That the film was judged obscene on the basis of one isolated sequence rather than its "dominant theme." The first point was question ed by several justices, while the second was denied by Cuya hoga County Prosecutor John T. Corrigan. "Tropic of Cancer" was pub lished in 1931 in Paris by Henry- Miller, American novelist who was at that time living as an expatriate author in France. The book was long unavailable In the United States, but in re cent years has been published and widely distributed here. SMITH’S conviction for sell ing the book was upheld last October 24 by the Appellate De partment of the Superior Court for Los Angeles County. It is that ruling which the Supreme Court has agreed to review. In appealing to the high court, Smith argued that the sale of "Tropic of Cancer" is "Pro tected against criminal punish ment by the guarantees of free expression afforded by the First and Fourteenth Amendments." He said the novel is not legally obscene but rather is "manifestly a serious work of literature, expresses ideas of social importance, and occupies an important position in 20th century literature." THE HIGH court’s decision to have the "Lovers” case re argued means that, by the time it adjourns in June, it will have handed down a decision in only one case raising censorship and obscenity issues. In that opinion, the court held on February 18 that the Rhode Island Commission to Encour age Morality in Youth violated the Constitution by sending book and magazines distributors lists of publications it judged objectionable for youth* Also, however, the court has since last October refused to consider four cases in which persons convicted of violating various anti-Obscenity laws sought review by the court. God Love You MOST REVEREND FULTON J. SHEEN Everyone is living longer in the United States today, and with increased longevity comes the problem of security. It'would be very interesting to go back into the literature of the nineteenth century to see how often the word "security" is found. Very likely, wherever we find "security" today, we would have found the word "immortality" then. In other words, "security" is the economic side of "immortality.** This is precisely the way it appears in the Gospels. Our Lord told the story of the man who added barn to barn in order to give him that final security where he could say to himself: "Come, soul, thou hast goods laid up for many years to come; take thy rest now . . .** It was not eternal rest but temporal rest he sought, not immortality but security, not merit but cash. And it was all thought of in terms of MY bams, MY harvest, MY goods—as if the Lord had given him nothing I Does this mean there is no place for security in our lives? Most certainly not. The Scriptures condemn the man who makes no provision for the morrow. But security must never be pur chased at the cost of eternal salvation; there must be a union of the two. How is this possible? If you were to sit down and think of a plan this is probably what you should decide: "I would like two things: 1) to be assured of an income while I live, and 2) to have it disposed of at death so there would be no lawsuits, no quarreling among relatives and less tax bite. Most important, I would like it to go to the poorest of God’s poor. And 1 would want the Vicar of Christ to make the dis tribution of my captial, because he knows the needs of the poor better than I." By taking out an annuity with The Society for the Propagation of the Faith, you can combine both of these aims. The income is yours during life—you will receive payments and are protected by the sound insurance laws of the State of New York. Then, at your death, the Holy Father’s own Society transfers the capital to him, and he uses it to aid the poor of the mission world. Write to The Society for the Propagation of the Faith, including the date of your birth, and we will send you our pamphlet on annui ties. Remember: "How vain the toils that mortal men do take To hoard up gold, that time doth turn to dross, Forgetting Him Who only for their sake His Precious Blood did shed upon the Cross, And taught us all in heaven to hoard our treasure, Where true increase doth grow above all measure.” GOD LOVE YOU to a Catholic Women's League for $11 "During last week's roll call, everyone made an offering to help the Holy Father’s Missions. Wouldn’t this be a good idea for other organizations?" ... to Mr. J. L. for $17 "I’m sure the Lord let me work overtime so I could send this money to help the Holy Father’s poor." ... to J.S.H. for $3.50 "My mistake has been in waiting because I didn't think I had enough to send you. But with five children and great financial obligations I realize 1 should send what I can when I can." MISSION combines the best features of all other magazines: stories, pictures, statistics, human interest. Take an interest in the suffering humanity of the mission world and send your sacrifices along with a request to put on the mailing list of this bi-monthly publication. Cut out this column, pin your sacrifice to it and mail it to Most Rev. Fulton J. Sheen, National Director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, 366 Fifth Avenue, New York LfX, N.Y. or your Diocesan Director. Rev. Harold J. Rainey, P.a Box 12047, Northside Station, Atlanta 5, Ga.