Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

PAGE 4 GEORGIA BULLETIN THURSDAY, MAY 30, 1963 the Archdiocese of Atlanta GEORGDlBULLETt SeiVING 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 Norths ide Station Atlanta 5, Ga. Member of the Catholic Press Association ind 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 Unity Of Both religious and secular news services are full of reports on ra cial disquiet throughout the coun try, The problem cannot be ignored as the crisis is at hand. What we do now, as well as what we say, will have a profound effect for years to come. We join all who express a fear that extremists of both sides will take advantage of the situation. But we should be careful not to bandy the term “Extremist” about in order to justify our own inaction. Religious leaders, especially, should be care ful that they do not lead their con gregation into a state of ennui, sim ply because to take a strong stand would rock a boat or a congregation. Indeed, to our mind, in this area of race relations we should here and now cooperate with our Protestant Purpose more applicable in our common civ ic affairs than revelation. The re ason, of course, is that the state is, as we say, a “natural society.” The Church is definitely a super natural society. Marriage, for the baptized, has been raised to the dig nity of a Sacrament. We cannot get acceptance of these truths from those who do not accept Christian revelation on these matters as we do. Fortunately, we can appeal to everybody’s understanding of nat ural-law morality, because every body with a normal human mind should be able to understand and accept it. Many, many, millions of Protestants and Jews do accept it. This is especially so in relation to discrimination against the Negro. They see the injustice of this as clearly as do Catholics. We have ‘MAY I SUGGEST TWO PAIRS ? THOROUGH READJUSTMENT Church Is Moved Forward and Jewish brethren in working towards a just and peaceful solu tion. We have to remember that the only basis of moral unity we have with all God-fearing people is na tural-Law morality as applied to society. They do not always believe in revelation the way we do. Without the gift of faith, they cannot believe in it. Hence, the only appeal Cath olics can make to our friends, the only common ground we can meet them on, is that of natural-law mor ality. It so happens that this “common ground” is by all odds more com prehensive, more acceptable, and additional and deeper reasons for respecting human rights than they, but basically otir rea sons and theirs are the same. The most fundamental reason is writ ten into the Declaration of Indep endence, all men are created equal. Our Constitution protects every person from being depri ved of “life, liberty and property” without due process of law. Our Constitutional system, as a matter of fact, embodies this ( and many other) natural-law principles, so in calling for its application we are trying to apply what is at once a Catholic and an American moral principle. Memorial Day Reflections A century ago, May 30 was ap pointed as a special day for com memorating; the soldiers and sai lors who sacrificed their lives in the Civil War. The first official observance occurred on May 30, 1868 by order of the G.A.R. Com mander, General John A. Logan, Now, this commemoration includes those glorious dead who have offer ed themselves in the cause of freed om in the Spanish-American and two world wars. A date had been est ablished; a place had to be chosen. It was obvious that a place should be selected in each community. While the school and the commun ity hall and park were worthy pl aces, the cemetery with its reli gious character was readily and quickly recognized by all as the pri mary place for such memorial. If not the actual resting place, it was the symbolic resting place of all who sacrificed their lives for their country. istian living and dying. Our cemeteries come forth from our desire not to forget . They are memorials in themselves, enjoying special privilege and immunity be cause of their significant purpose. Catholic sections of our local ce meteries have special memorial services on All Souls Day in Nove mber, We believe, however, that we should seize upon the religious sign ificance of Memorial Day and go to our cemeteries that we may medi tate on life and death, and pray for those who deserve this hallowed sh rine -- because they lived as good and sacrificing citizens of this world with an eye on the immortal reward that is to come. BY REV. LEONARD F. X. MAYHEW Pope John is a man of many parts, as the re cord of his reign demonstrates. He is as well, in the sense that he has accomplished if not the impossible, at least the unexpected, a man of many miracles. Almost single-handedly he has moved the Church forward in several significant areas where a certain rigidity seemed to have become ingrained. The aura of his personal in fluence, the deliberations of the Vatican Council and the optimism of his social teaching stand as clear witnesses of a willing ness, not formerly considered characteristic of Catholicism, to change decisively wherever a far from static world demands a new approach. His joyful list ing of the inalienable moral rights of man includes a vig orous endorsement of freedom as foremost among them. One facet of the encyclical Pacem In Terris which calls for a thorough re adjustment, on both a theoretical and practical plane, is the Pope’s treatment of error. Every individual, he teaches, posses "the right to free dom in searching for truth and in expressing and communicating his opinions." This freedom cl early precedes and transcends any judgement of the objective truth or falsity of a person’s con victions, since it is concerned precisely with "searching for truth" and with "opinions." This freedom of conscience extends into the area of religious conviction: "Every human being has the right to honor God according to the dictates of an upright conscience, and therefore the right to worship God privately and publicly." The primary and inviolable dignity of the individual conscience has never before been so clearly vin dicated, although it has been a traditional, if sometimes insufficiently honored, principle of Catholic morality. THE Holy Father has laid to rest once and for all the too familiar dictum that "error has no rights." On the contrary, he warns that "one must never confuse error and the person who errs, not even when there is a question of error or inadequate knowledge of truth in the moral and religious field." It must always be remem bered that the erring individual or group retains LITURGICAL WEEK the lofty dignity of the human person whose moral rights must be respected in every in stance. With characteristic optimism Pope John points out that " a drawing nearer together or a meeting" with those whose views we hold to be erroneous or inadequately true may now or in the future serve the cause of peace and truth. The door must be left open for the influence of grace and reason to operate on the common as pirations which we share as men. The impli cation of the encyclical appears to be that such a "drawing nearer together" should not merely be negatively tolerated but may under the right circumstances be prudently worked toward. I believe we can discover an application of this principle not only in the cordial relationships between Pope John and many non-Catholic re ligious leaders but in the startling interview granted by the Pontiff to Alexei Adzhubei, the son-in-law of Premier Khrushchev. THIS brings up what is undoubtedly the most startling element of the encyclical, a hint of a new policy toward the actually existing and his torical reality called Communism. It is not a question, emphatically, of a changed judgement of the several errors and evils of the philoso phy of Communism. Neither is it a failure to assess clearly the enormous evil that is done in the name ctf that philosophy. The Holy Father is merely applying to the greatest problem the world now faces some hopeful and common sense principles of action. He points out that histori cal movements of a social and economic na ture tend to evolve, even when they have arisen originally from false and immoral theories. As they continue to be influenced by the profound demands erf human nature, they may tend to in corporate "elements that are positive and de serving of approval." The proverbial dictum concerning the kernel of truth in every error may then be applied even to Communism. Pius XI noted in 1931 the frequent and striking simi larity of program of anti-Christian socialism and the just demands of Christian social reform. THE mentality of Pope John's encyclical in dicates that a dialogue prudently and sincerely engaged in with those from whom we differ far surpasses in hopefulness a rigid repetition of anathemas. Not only the man who errs but the error too is ultimately capable of redemption. Pentecost Fills, Elevates Human Nature Certainly Catholics and all God-loving persons who understand the sacrifices made by their con freres i n fighting the battle of life in the cause of eternal freedom, will be the first to grasp at this date and place of sacred memory. All the religious elements nece ssary for inspiration are present. A symbol of sacrifice, dedicated and religious, recalls the willing ness to lose all for God and cou ntry. By giving up our lives, we hope to find them more abundantly and to set up a way of Christian self-denial that will lead others to greater peace and joy onearthwhile they pursue the eternal goal. We remember what others have done for us and what we ought to do for them by way of continued prayerful sacr ifice, The cemetery is indeed a wor thy and pronounced symbol of Chr- BY FR. ROBERT W. HOVDA Priest of the Pittsburg Oratory) JUNE 2, PENTECOST SUNDAY. Whitsunday. "We will both come to him (the faithful man)," Jesus says of the Father and of Himself (Gospel). Today's great feast celebrates the fact that the divine life within us is Trinitarian. "He who is to befriend" (Gospel) us has come. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit indwell in us. God is love and the love of the divine Three fills, transforms, elevates our human nature. Already the Kingdom is within us. This is the dignity man was created for. This is the dignity we recognize and express in the Church's pub lic worship with our bows to one another, our •aiutations (Domlnus voblscum") our cenalngs, our kiss of peace. Rational animals, yes, but vivified by that Trinitarian life which is the source of all life. JUNE 3, PENTECOST MON DAY. In the Collect of today's Mass we pray for peace as die fruit of the Spirit's presence. The mystery of Pentecost con firmed the Church which was bom out of the death and ris ing again of the Christ. It con firmed the unity of the human race, both in its ultimate goal. "Speaking in many languages, the apostles told of God’s wonders" (Alleluia). The very sign of division and difference among men was made at Pentecost a vehicle of understanding and common enlightenment. JUNE 4, PENTECOST TUESDAY. The Holy Spirit's coming has an ecclesiastical as well as an individual dimension. There is a community of the Spirit. It is the Church, the sheepfold of the Gospel. The sacraments of the Spirit's coming are also the sacraments of initiation in to the community, the holy people of God-Bap tism and Confirmation. The same Spirit guides us inwardly and outwardly, in conscience and in the total life of the Church. JUNE 5, EMBER WEDNESDAY AFTER PEN TECOST. The Entrance Hymn sings to the Holy- Spirit as God-with-us in prophetic words of the Old Testament. And the First Reading quotes the prophet Joel to explain the joyful enthus iasm of the apostles at Pentecost. The Spirit is wine that kindles fire (Alleluia). If he is with us, who can be against us? What evil, what misfortune, what handicap or impedi ment can loom large in this pentecostal light? Everything was created by this same breath (Alleluia after First Reading), this Holy Spirit now in us. JUNE 6, PENTECOST THURSDAY. The Ecu- Continued on Page 5 FOUGHT MILS Editor-Martyr -An Example BY GERARD E. SHERRY Last week in this column we w ere talking about the necessity of courage in the Catholic press. And there are many examples that can be quoted of editorial courage. Sometimes this courage has led our editors into difficulties — and not be cause they were wrong or imprudent, but merely because their references had hit home. Then, too, the courage of some editors leads them to suffer abuse from the extremist groups. These extre mists nearly always try to undermine the priest or lay editor through letters to bishop-publishers. It is an old trick often used to discredit with half-truths and innu endos. They write letters to'bishops, sowing the seed of doubt, in the hope that they will get rid of the opposition. Their documentation is often clever, and some bishops are taken in by it. Many editors have suffered through this type of pres sure - unjustly maligned. The trouble with these extremists is they will go to any length to destroy their opponents. IT IS therefore good to be able to report that we editors can find solice in the life and times of one of our fellows, Father Titus Brandsma, a Dutch Carmelite priest-editor. He died a martyr's death in the Nazi "hell of Dachau". His martyr's death came about solely on account of his editorial op position to the Nazi oppression of occupied Holland during World War IL Steps are now being taken which will probably lead to the beatification of Father Brandsma. A petition initiated by the Polish Dutch and German hierarchy has been presented to the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council. None of us can expect the privilege of martyrdom, but when things are rough we can at least take some comfort in such an inspiring example. REAPINGS AT RANDOM A BIOGRAPHY of Father Brandsma entitled "Un gioradista matire" written by Msgr. Fausta Vallaine, is an Italian best seller. Pope John is reported to have been so moved by the biography that he sacrificed a part of a night’s sleep to finish the book. They day after, in an audience with international i journalists, the Pope said of him, "He has aroused in my heart so much res pect, because this book deals with a personality, who his immeasurable ordeal has always carried with him the exercise of love of one's neighbor, of utmost heroism." Father Brandsma was delegated by the Dutch hierarchy to represent them in their fight against Nazi attempts to eliminate the Catholic press. He travelled all over the country explaining to fellow editors and newsmen the need for resis tance against any attempts to hinder the freedom of the press. Every large diocese in Holland had its own newspaper, and the Nazis decreed it un lawful to reject articles and advertisements fav orable to their cause. Father Brandsma called on all Journalists to choose sides, and uphold Catholic principles, whatever the cost. Within a month, he had written pledges from all the editors that they would remain loyal to the Church. The Gestapo then stepped in an arrested him. At his trial Father Brandsma insisted that the Church did not fear the consequences in protecting the Catholic press: "When the Church upholds her principles, she considers primarily the ideal and only indirectly the material loss to her faithful in defending those principles". Then, almost prophetically, Father Brandsma added: "At all times there have been men who when necessary have given their lives as martyrs for the Church." FATHER Brandsma was sentenced to imprison ment until the end of the war. He remained in the prison at Schieveninger from January 19 until March 12, 1942, when he began his journey through several prisons terminating in the dreaded Dachau on June 19, 1942. Here as elsewhere he displayed heroic virtue in his sufferings, patience, encouragement and charity to others. There are numerous accounts of fellow prisoners - Catho lics, Protestants, and Jews — to Father Brand- sma's spiritual valor in the face of serious phy sical illness and inhuman cruelty. Father Brandsma, hero of the Catholic press, completed his mission six weeks after his arrival at Dachau. Months of privation and suffering had laid waste his emaciated frame. He died as the result of severe beatings on July 26, 1942. The Nazis have sunk into the pages of history, but their blood-brothers, the Communists, the Racists, the anti-Semites, and the Religious Bi gots continue the attempt to undermine the Church and our American democracy. They have not yet reached the stage where they can offer us the dignity of martyrdom. But they might reach this stage if the Catholic press and its editors fail to see "the writing on the wall." We can ull make life easier for ourselves by succumbing to the pressure around us. Alas, there is always the Day of Judgement to face. And who would want to be there empty-handed, with nothing but ex cuses.