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GEORGIA BULLETIN
BOOK SUPPLEMENT
Fiction Is A Subject
NEW YORKER ARTICLES
“Xavier Rynne”
Book Released
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
•ing, summarizing the story.
Interested most intensely by
stories about young people like
themselves, the students flock
ed to get this work of fiction.
When they could not borrow it,
they even went out and bought
the paperback. 9th graders, 10th
graders, 11th graders, and 12th
graders— all were reading this
story which so seriously in
volved them as people. But it
. was for the 11th graders that
the ''miracle" happened—sud
denly they understood Thomas
Aiore's UTOPIA. The problem
of the Ideal society which had
been for thqm. something boring
. dreameU up by Thomas More
five hundred years ago just to
torture the children of the 20th
century, became a living ex
perience. They understood it.
They recognized the illusion
and the delusion of the "ideal
society" with which he dealt.
' * because of Golding's THE
LORD OF THE FLIES, Thomas
More's UTOPIA became for
these children a living ex
perience.
FOR modern fiction is of deep
interest to the young. It is by
teaching modem fiction right
along with the fiction of the
past, that READING is taught
and becomes a joyful instru
ment. Anyone who believes that
reading is vital to learning
knows that reading must be
taught not as a chore but ^
an art, as a subject with life—
as an art of love I
The child responds grateful
ly to all that expands his capa
city for understanding. This is
why young people find the books
of J.D. Salinger absorbing—
not. because of dirty words in
CATCHER IN THE RYE, but
because the story is about them;
about a young person wanting
goodness but finding only phon
iness. And even though he sees
scribbled on every wall the
dirty words that destroy love,
he keeps on looking for purity
and goodness.
MISS O'Connor states a half-
truth which is indeed valid, as a
half-truth. The good fiction of
the past should be taught, but
to teach it without teaching the
good fiction of the present is to
anaesthetize the young person's
taste for reading, to make read
ing for him "flat, stale, and
unprofitable," to turn him into
the typical non-reader.
We have done this with fair
success in many <rf our schools,
thanks to the objections of the
many "conscientious objec
tors." But in many others, teac
hers of English do teach with
dedication to truth, the kind of
dedication expressed by Sister
Petra, O.S.B. For these teach
ers know that to bring a child
to awareness requires not cau
tion but risk, not anxiety for
fear of being made uncomfor
table, but anxiety for fear of
not being made uncomfortable.
Education's quest must be in the
deepest Christian sense, a quest
for holiness not a fear of heresy.
"We are not meant to turn
out children small and finish
ed,” but children seriously
"begun."
NEW YORK (RNS) — "Let
ters from Vatican City,” a vol
ume detailing the background
and debates of the Second Vat-
can Counicl's first session, was
scheduled for publication here
May 28 by Farrar, Straus &.
Co.
The book is an expansion,
with much new and unpublished
material, of two long interpre
tative articles by "Xavier Ryn
ne,” reportedly an American
Roman Catholic priest, in the
New Yorker magazine.
RECENTLY, the Catholic
Press Association awarded a
special citation to the New Yor
ker for its publication of the
Rynne articles.
When the articles appeared
Oct. 20 and Dec. 29 in the maga
zine, there was much specu
lation as to the author’s ident
ity'. Xavier Rynne commented on
this in a preface:
"It should perhaps be made
clear,” he wrote, "that Xavier
Rynne is not a disgruntled Cat
holic clergyman,’ nor "a Roman
student who after failing his fin
al exams criticized the Roman
educational system,' nor 'afel
low named Wilfrid Sheed, who
used to write for Jubilee,' nor
a mild Redemptorist professor
of church history,* nor — as
one or another of us has per
sonally been told— 'an Ameri
can bishop,' 'an English Domin
ican,’ 'a New York Jesuit,'
'a writer inspired by the Vati
can Secretariat of State,’ nor
finally, believe it or not. * lack
Kerouac.’ "
A HINT at the possibility of
multiple authorship appears in
the preface with the statement:
"The authors have no ecclesi
astical, theological or other
ax to grind."
Difficulty experienced by
most writers in characteri
zing the positions of prelates
who debated before the Coun
cil was cited.
Xavier Rynne noted news
men's "recourse to terms com
monly used in political debate,
such as 'conservative,' 'pro
gressive,* 'liberal,' 'middle-
of-the-roader,' 'reactionary,'
'traditionalist,' and so on."
He said that one theologian
suggestet the terms "open door
and "closed door” to remove
political and personal connotat
ions.
"WHILE in agreement
with this most desirable end,
Xavier Rynne wrote, «« we
find that the terms are too awk
ward in actual usage: ‘Cardinal
X, and open-door prelate, rose-
to disagree with Archbishop Y,
of the closed-door school.' We
prefer the more familiar terms
only for their convenience, but
it should be made clear that
the use of these terms is not
intentionally tendentious.”
The book provides summa
ries at the close of each chap-
ter, giving the names of each
speaker to appear before the
Fathers erf the Council. It also
reprints in full, as appendices,
d»e addresses of Pope John
XXIII at the opening of the Cou
ncil session and at the formal
closing.
♦ * *
JONES, ARNOLD H. M. Con
stantine And The Subversion
Of Europe. (Collier Books. 95^)
paper. Revised reprint of the
1948 edition.
LEONARDO DA VINCI.
The Drawings. (Harcourt,
Brace and World. $2.95 paper).
With an introduction and notes
by A. E. Popham.
KEYS, FRANCES P. A Trea
sury Of Favorite Poems. (Haw
thorn. $5). An anthology cover
ing such topics as motherhood,
old age, philosophy of life,
humor, nature, etc.
MOFFATT. JOHN E. God
Bless You, Sister. (St. Paul
Publications, Derby, N. Y. $1
Paper) A series of appreci
ative essays.
Latin America
WANTS YOU
There are now 150 men and women Papal Volunteers serving in twelve Latin
American countries. Requests on hand at the beginning of 1963 call for 183
more as follows:
Business Administrator-
1 man
Catechists-
1 woman, 2 men or women
Catechetical and Social
Welfare Workers-
2 men, 5 women
Credit Union and Cooperative
Organizers— 2 men or women
Community Development
Organizers- 3 men, 6 women
Communications Media Personnel:
RADIO STATION ADMINISTRATORS- 6 men
PUBLIC RELATIONS- 1 man
Engineers and Technicians:
RADIO TRANSMITTER MAINTENANCE- 2 men
RADIO RECEIVER MAINTENANCE- 1 man
CONSTRUCTION ARCHITECT- 1 man
CONSTRUCTION ENGINEER- 1 man
LINOTYPISTS- 2 men or women
NEWSPAPER LAYOUT- 1 man
PRESS OPERATION and MAINTENANCE-! man
Mechanics/Handymen— 2 men
Medical Personnel:
DOCTORS— 1 woman, 3 men or women
DENTIST- 1 man
NURSES— 16 women
MEDICAL TECHNICIANS- 3 men or women
PHARMACIST- 1 man
Sailors (Coastal mission boat)— 2 men
Secretary (English language)— 1 woman
Social Workers (Juvenile program)— 3 men
Teachers:
ENGLISH LANGUAGE-
4 men, 11 women, 6 men or women
VOCATIONAL end AGRICULTURAL SCHOOL-
16 men
GRADE SCHOOL- 2 women
HIGH SCHOOL (College Graduates)—
7 men, 11 women, 34 men or women
UNIVERSITY (Sociology; Engineering;
Civil, Mechanical, Electrical, Electronic,
Social Work; Physics; Chemistry.)—
8 men, 9 men or women
Youth Workers-
4 men (3 with counselling experience)
Requests for persons in many other categories are being received continually.
The above requests have been received from the following countries: Argentina, 5; Boliva, 13; Brazil, 61; British Honduras, 34;
Chile, 14; Colombia, 11; Costa Rica, 2; Ecuador, 10; Guatemala, 2; Honduras, 2; Panama, 4; Peru, 25.
Papal Volunteers sent by the Church of the United States serve for a three year period. Persons joining the
program are trained in the language and culture of the country in which they serve.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Papal Volunteers for Latin America
National Office
1300 South Wabash Avenue
Chicago 5. Illinois
OR
Rev. Leonard F. X. Mayhew
204 Battle Street
La Grange, Georgia