The Georgia bulletin (Atlanta) 1963-current, August 08, 1963, Image 5

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The Georgia bulletin, August 08, 1963, Image 5

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Newspaper Page TextTHURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 1963 GEORGIA BULLETIN PAGE 5 GEORGIA PINES Priest In Athens by REV. R. DONALD KIERNAN THE PROCOP IAN is a quarterly magazine pub lished for the students, alumni, and friends of the Benedictine Father's college at Lisle, Illinois named Saint Procopius College. The issue published this month is especially interesting to many catholics living in Georgia because it contains a story about Father Francis Clougherty O.S. B. Father Francis is presentl> the Vice President for Development and Public Relations at St. Procopius. FATHER Francis was, for ten years, the chap- bin of the Newman Club and the Director of tie Catholic Student Center located attheUniver- sty of Georgia in Athens. There is hardly a student who attended the university between the years 46 to 56, or who lived in the city of Athens during that period who did not know Father Francis. A man of letters, gifted with la keen wit, his counsel was con tinually sought by students and his impact upon the community was that of a fried never too preoccupied to lend an encourag ing land. Ineed all over the diocese he was asked to give talks to various lay and religious organizations and hs Lenten sermons were attended and re- membred by many. A NATIVE of Pennsylvania, he attended Mount Saint flary’s Seminary in Emm its burg, Maryland. He volmteered to go to the Chinese missions to teach a the Catholic University of Peking. He later became Chancellor of that same university and at one time held the Deanship of Western Literature at the Chinese National University at Honan. During the Sino-Japanese War (1936-45) he helped ito ► direct relief work for wounded Chinese soldiers and civilians. For his outstanding contri bution in the field of education and war-relief work, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek conferred upon Father Francis the Order of the Auspicious Star, the highest honor awarded a foreigner. Be fore he was to return to this country, Father Fran cis received two additional honors, namely: the Victory Medal and the honorific title of "Chung- jen” (Loyal Person) from the Chinese government. WITHIN an hour after the attack upon Pearl Har bor, Father Francis was taken prisioner by the Japanese and inter ’ f or four years When the pea. *as signed between the United States govenu.’e and the Japanese go vernment, Father Francis was released. He came back to the States for a rest, fully expecting to return to the country in which he had labored for 26 years. It was during this “rest period'' that he agreed to come to Athens, to help organize and direct the Newman Club. What happened is now history. The Japanese left and the communists took over. Father Francis re mained waiting in Athens and finally, after ten years, his Order recalled him to the College to direct a big expansion program which it had just initiated. Before leaving Athens, Father Francis was tended a big testimonial at the Athens Country Club. Hundreds of students, alumni and friends were present to bid farewell to the missionary who had come to Athens to recuperate from a concen tration camp ordeal and had left an indelible mark on the hearts of all Athenians. QUESTION BOX What About Stigmata ? BY MONSIGNOR J. D. CONWAY Q. I AM PUZZLED OVER ONE THING IN THE CATHOLIC FAITH; THAT IS THE STIGMATA. BEING A CATHOLIC ALL MY LIFE, THIS HAS ALWAYS STUMPED ME. A. The Greek word stigma means a mark or a brand; stigmata is the plural of this word, and we use it to indicate marks on the body which have a religious significance. St. Paul wrote to the Galatians that he had the stigmata of Jesus brand ed on his body. He probably re ferred to the scars he had re ceived in being persecuted fox Christ. social upheaval. We might say that society was not ready for it. What would masters have done? All their wealth was in slaves. What would slaves have done? They depended on the masters for the food, clothing and lodging. It is hard to fight the system. The early Fathers of the Church made some splendid statements on the subject, however. St. John Chrysostom said that slavery was not creat ed by nature but by despotism. Avarice produced slavery, joined by envy and covetousness. St. Gregory Nazianzen: “We are all of the one same clay, the race of the same father. It is tyranny which has divided men into two classes, not nature.*' Since the 13th century the word stigmata has usually meant marks on the body simi lar to those of Christ. St. Francis of Assisi re ceived these marks about two years before his death: wounds in his hands and feet, on his head and in his right side, wounds which sometimes bled, but which he was still able to conceal from most of his companions. Since the time of St. Francis there have been more than a hundred cases, reasonably well au thenticated, in which a person has had one or more of the stigmata of the Cross-and many simi- ar cases have been claimed or reported. Some lave been carefully studied by doctors. In some cases, like that of St. Francis, many Catholic authorities believe that the stigmata were miraculous. They may be God's witness to the person's sanctity or a sharing of the wounds of the Saviour with one who loves Him. However, Church authorities insist that the stigmata alone are never proof of sanctity. There may be some cases-rare, we hope - in which the stigmata are faked: either self-inflict ed or imposed by an accomplice. There is reason to believe that most cases are extreme psychosomatic manifestations, simi lar in some ways to hysteria, though not neces sarily morbid, in the ordinary sense of the word. The stigmata are usually manifested by people who are deeply religious, given to intense medi tation on the Passion, and reaching out with mys tical yearning to be joined to the Saviour in His sufferings. Soul and body are so intimately join ed that intense spiritual experiences may pro duce physical marks. It is mysterious, but not necessarily miraculous. »»* Q. I HAVE NEVER DOUBTEDTHE FACT THAT SLAVERY IS AND HAS ALWAYS BEEN A MORAL WRONG. HOWEVER, RECENTLY IN A DISCUS SION WITH A FELLOW CATHOLIC I WAS CHAL LENGED WITH THE STATEMENT THAT NOT ALL SLAVERY IS MORALLY WRONG. LE. BENE VOLENT MASTERS; LOVING, FAITHFUL SLAVES. WOULD YOU PLEASE CLARIFY THE CHURCH'S POSITION ON THIS FOR US? A. For a statement of th« Church's position h the modern world I would refer you to Pacem b* Terris, the final legacy of His Holiness, Pope Jchn XXIII, to the world. Read there a statement of he rights of man which is inimical to slavery in *oy form, anywhere in the world. It Is on re cord as of now, that the Church asserts the equa ity 0 f all men as persons, in their natural righti and dignity. All seem to agree that slavery was the result ■if sin; even though they did not see so clearly that it was sinful in itself. Scholastic moralists used mental gymnastics to find justification for slavery. To St. Thomas it was contrary to the primary intent of nature, but not contrary to its secondary intent: it is punish ment for sin, and it finds basis in utility: it is useful that the wiser rule, and that others be ruled. St. Bonaventure says slavery is not natural to man, but only to fallen man: slavery has its origin in war, or more fundamentally in sin. In the following centuries their disciples ar gued about the titles which might make slavery legitimate. War came first: captives could be made slaves, and some Included infants among these captives. And some wars were simply fo rays. Sale and purchase was the next title; it was based on the principle that a man could sell his freedom ami the purchaser would acquire right to his service. In practice parents and “friends'* often did the selling, and sometimes for prices which were pitiful. Once a master acquired title he could sell his “property** to another. Birth was the most pathetic title proposed: the child of a slave is bora into slavery. Medieval moralists laid down many rules for just treatment of slaves and encouraged their liberation, but their treatises on this subject cannot be numbered among the inspiring pages of Catholic theology. Too many show rationaliza tions to fit existing social and political situa tions. Christianity certainly ameliorated the condi tion of the slave, and through the centuries con tributed to its elimination in Europe, but until almost modern times many Catholic moralists found ways' of justifying this vicious system in the colonies of the great Christian empires. Q. WOULD YOU PLEASE SEND ME INFOR MATION ON THE CATHOLIC CHURCH'S POSI TION ON BIRTH CONTROL? A. The Church holds that the marital act is an expression of mutual love between husband and wife, and that this love is by nature creative. At the same time this act fulfills a great need anc gives strong pleasure; and these things are very good. But when need and pleasure selfishly vio late love the goodness is gone. Birth control vio-,,, lates love by depriving it of its creative purpose. However, in retrospect the position of the Sound morality does not require unlimited pro- Church has not always been so clear. The Church 8 e ny. Big families can be bad when they exceed was born into a world in which slavery was com- the capabilities and resources of the parents, mon; either Christ nor His Apostles made any But Planning of family size must be based on f weepirg social changes. Even when the Church mu *ual love, and self-control in the .'merest of gained influence in the Empire it seems to have love * Men and women have instincts, but they accepted the status quo. We might wish it other- also have minds and wills with which to guide wise, but we make a mistake when we judge an- and contro1 those instincts. Morality in marriage :ient equations by modem standards. In those do P ends on a responsible, considerate, loving use ays abolition of slavery would have been a great of mlnd and will. Saints in Black and White ST. PAUL 30 ARCHBISHOP HALLMAN / X T~ "an /J n UL 17 U w // ■>S ■ a* New Catholic Spirit Seen Linked With Ecumenism ACROSS 1. A Dandy 5. Hart 9 Conflict: 13. Border On 14. Current 15. Raise 17. Touchy 18. Not On 20. Rends 22. He Was Converted by St 25. A Sailor; Colloq. 26. Minced Oath 27. Adverbial Suffix 28. Snow Runner 29. Tune 30. Hail 31. Oiminutive 32. Ovens 34. Aid 35. Mantle 39. Frost Cleaner 41. An 42. Extreme Degree 44. Giggles 48. Manage Skillfully 51. New Acquired by India 52. Carry 53. Loaner 55. Hue 56. Monk 59. One Who Eyes 60. Anno Regni 61. Cravat 62. Machinists Union 63. A Master’s Degree 64. Gilt; abbr. 66. Frightful Giant 68. Emmet 69. Dulcet Tones 71. Kneads 73. Essence Of An Article 75. Arabian Ruler 76. Destructive Wave 78. Cruet 80. A Cotton Gauze 81. Scruff 82. Volcanic Mountain In Sicily 83. Foam DOWN 1. Basic 2. Type Of Wood 3. Distinctive Air 4. Implement 5. Saint 6. Cans 7. Bother 8. He Was The Apostle Of The 9. Personal Pronoun 10. Branch of Learning 11. Bamboo 12. Egyptian Beetle 16 Cross Beam IS Deserving 21. Let It Stand 23. 0. D. E. 24. Exclamation 29. Help 33. Slip 35. American Poet 36. Female Name 37. Part Of The Anatomy 38. Combining Form Meaning Small 40. Economic Co-operative Adminis. 42. Point Of Comp«>s .43. Evading 45. Teacher of Samn.l 46. Operate 47. Rank Above Corporal 49. Island; Fr. 50. Granny 54. Ad 55. His Took Him Everywhere 56. Monad 57. Zealot 58. New Hampshire City 60. Labor Union 63. A Scale Tone 64. Work 65. Amateurs 67. Saga; Norse Myth. 69. Musial 70. Ostrich Like Bird 72. Drain 74. Meet 77. Article; Fr. 79. Southern State; Abbr, LAKE JUNALUSKA (NC)— Aug, 4—A new Catholic spirit linked with ecumenism is in evidence today, Archbishop Paul J. Hallinan of Atlanta told the meeting here of the World Methodist Council. “For an Archbishop of the Catholic Church to come before a distinguished assembly of Me thodists is surely a sign of our times, of this brave new world of the ecumenical impulse,** the Archbishop said. “Yet It is a blessed sign of this age that the bravery no longer lies in your inviting me, nor in my willing ness to accept, but rather in our mutual courage to face the fu ture.*’ ARCHBISHOP Hallinan wai invited to address the meeting by Dr. Lee F. Ttottle, a secre tary of the council. Calling at tention to the theme of the (Aug. 4-7) meeting, “Methodism In an Ecumenical Age,” Dr. Tlittle said: “Since we intend to ex plore the place of die Metho dist Church in the ecumenical movement, it was the feeling of a number of those in the pro gram that we should have as one of the speakers a Catholic prelate familiar with proceed ings of the Vatican counciL" The World Methodist Council has a 19,272,185 members throughout the world, 15 mil- ARNOLD VIEWING The L-Shaped Room BY JAMES W. ARNOLD “The L-Shaped Room” is one of those British New Wave films in which the meaning of Love is discovered amid the naked bulbs, peeling walls and frisky bedbugs of a London tenement. The heroine is a lonely pregnant girl, the hero is an unsuccessful proletarian writer. The other characters include victims of avarice, lusi and perversion, as well as two prostitutes, a vocation which seems to be providing most of the excitement in movies as well as newspapers. The point is that adult drama, in its way, is becoming as stylized as the jolly-wholesome boy-gets-girl fantasies of the Hollywood Era. The adult film presents a shadowy, smogged- in world in which the sexually maladjusted struggle to com municate with and understand each other. The authors allow diem a few moments’happiness and insight, then return them, poignantly, each to his own private hell. After noting, however, that “Room'* touches all these familiar bases and that its view of reality Is limited, you've said about all the nasty things you can say of It. Otheiwise, “Room” is an impressive positive statement about human values, written, acted and directed with the skill found in one movie out of 50. The “New Wave” label implies that the film intends to be serious and to make a social point, In the manner of “Room at the Top” and “A Taste of Honey,” and that it was made with spartan finances and an obscure cast. , Star Leslie Caron, rescued at last from little girl roles in musicals, claims (not too facetiously) that she was probably half the budget. WRITER-DIRECTOR Bryan Forbes (whose “Whistle Down the Wind” established him as one of the world’s leading film talents) tries to show the beauty of natural human love by exposing the misery of its counterfeits. The film shows, as the ads say, that “sex Is not a dirty word.** Unfortunately, the field has been trampled be fore by too many heavy-footed clods. Filmma kers have been trying to prove the point, with limited success, for decades. The heroine (played with power and sensiti vity by Miss Caron) is abandoned by a world in which both the respectable and disreputable seem to agree in only one thjng: love Is either pleasure, sin, or profit. During the movie (based on Lynne Reid Banks* 1961 novel) she comes to see, with compassion, the sickness of this view point, because of her honest love for an unus ual young man and her marvelously Illogical love for her unborn child. The child theme is eminently satisfying for Catholics, who must often feel like the only pro baby people in the world. As Miss Caron says of the child, “Everybody can’t wait to help me get rid of it. Nobody tells me how to love it.” IN ONE remarkable scene she goes to a doctor (Emlyn Williams, magnificently insufferable), who first chides her for not using contraceptives, then urges her to get married at any coat. He plans cheerfully for an abortion: “When've you got a free afternoon? (He beams). . .Weekends are a bit of a rush. . .’* All the while he keeps an eye on the parking meter outside so his car won’t be thicketed, then is puzzled when the girl, shocked, runs off . “She came to the wrong place, that's all. . .*' The baby’s father, whom she has already fled as a genial oaf completely in love with him self, is first horrified, then quietly suggests “Doing something.” Even the apparently nice old lady downstairs gives her a bottle of pills: “I'm sure you were talked into it. I know men.” BUT THE affecting thing is that Miss Caron, in a kind of wild Act of Hope, wills to have her baby. The child is born in the darkness of Christ mas night, with carols drifting up along the hos pital walls. The point seems Inescapable: God’s love, in the gift of new life, making of every birth a new Christmas, a new Incarnation for the loveless and lonely. The thought may raise some eyebrows at the Planned Parenthood center. “Room" also says some surprising things about sex, particularly through the character of the virile-yet-gentle young writer, played by bushy-haired British newcomer Tom Bell. As one smooching match begins to get out of hand, he advises Miss Caron: “I do love you, that’s why I can stop.” When they visit a bistro In which the custo mers appear to be trying out for “La Dolce Vita,” he confesses he is revolted rather than stimulated. Yet for some of the lovers he feels sadness and compassion - they will have the fruits of love without ever knowing what It all means. The man behaves very much like a Christian. Inevitably, to be sure, Bell and Miss Caron are obliged to follow the ground rules of adult drama without benefit of clergy. The scene is quite frank. But more amazing is the reverence Forbes insists that his. characters have for what they are doing - under perfect control, with concen tration less on self than on consideration of the other. It is that rare instant in films when phy sical love, even If unblessed, gives even an Ink ling of its sacramental nature, The characters are unhappy because they can never truly belong to each other; how often have lesser movies glorified the bliss of temporary union and scoffed at the element of permanence? AMONG several touching scenes is one In which a neighboring Negro (Brock Peters) begs for giveness of Miss Caron through the thin rooming house walls for telling Bell of her pregnancy. “Do you still forgive me?" “Oh, yes.” “I didn’t hear you," he pleads, desperate to know that the hurt has been repaired. Her forgiveness becomes a symbol not only of the love that must link human with human, but gives intimations, amid the squalor of a crowd ed slum, of the mercy of God. CURRENT RECOMMENDED FILMS: For everyone: The Miracle Worker, To Kill a Mockingbird, Lawrence of Arabia, The Four Days of Naples. For connoisseurs: Sundays andCybeie, Long Day's Journey into Night, The L-Shaped Room. Better than most: The Longest Day, Mutiny on the Bounty, Days of Wine and Roses, A Child Is Waiting. lion of them in North America. “We are witnesses , of a great historic shift from what might be termed the ‘post-Reforma- tion centuries' to a new period of Church history,” the Arch bishop said. “It is marked, on the Catholic side, by a series of remarkable popes from Leo XIII to Paul VI; by a resurgence of Biblical and patristic studies, new pastoral methods, reform of the liturgy, and increased ecumenical concern and effort; and dramatically by a single momentous single event, the Second Vatican Council.” THE ARCHBISHOP stressed that this renovation and renewal is in no sense a turning back by the Church upon the past, “be cause the past is her inheri tance.” “Yet,” he said, “a new Ca tholic spirit is evident today- enkindled, under God, by our hopes and bishops, preached and encouraged by our priests and teachers, put into practice by our people...It is not a spirit of disruption nor rejection. Much less is it one of com promise with other beliefs, or of easy accommodation to the pressures of the world. “Certainly it is not merely a program of change for the sake of change. It is essential ly a transition in manner. 'The substance of the ancient doc trine is one thing', said Pope John, 'the way it is presented is another.* The change inman ner can flow only from a change in attitude; once this te done it can further issue into a change in approach.” REFERRING to the Second Vatican Council, the Archbis hop said that “statistically the results seem rather meager," but “in the familiar language of 'opening doors and window*,... the eight weeks of the first ses sion were unforgettable for all of us who participated, unfor gettable too for the Church, and it may well be unforgettable for the Christian society and the world at large.” He added that it was probably the wide open debate at the council “that best caught the Imagination of the world,” and that as a result of it “the popu lar picture of the Catholic Church as a vast monolith is badly shattered.” IN REGARD to increased prospects for unity stemming from the council, the Archbis hop said: “There is no simple answer to this. No vote, no bar gain, no Gallup poll can mea sure the progress of reunion. Too much is in the inner hearts of man, too much is in the hid den design of God...Truth is the ultimate Christian commit ment, the truth that can make us free, the truth living in the Word who is the God-Man.” Archbishop Hallinan then not ed that three Protestant church men have “found the most hope ful area for the common effort of Protestants and Catholics in the study of our precious trea sure, the Bible.” The three churchmen are Bishop Fred Corson, president of the World Methodist Coun cil; Rev. Oscar Cullman, a Pro testant observer at the council; and Rev. Douglas Horton of the International Congregational Council. “WE WOULD all rejoice if out of the world meetings of Pro testants and Catholics there would emerge the commitment to work on the production of a common Bible,” Archbishop Hallinan continued. “For too long our Bibles have been ar senals from which both sides took texts to throw at each oth er. God Love You BY MOST REVEREND FULTON J. SHEEN Every day in the Mass we pray *or it; a hundred times a day we utter petitions for it; a thousand times a day we fail In the practice of it. We see it as the most needed virtue of our times, and yet we feel we should not even be writing about it until we begin to practice it more. But in order that we may impress ourselves with the necessity of doing better, we here emphasize its need — the “it” being the virtue of poverty 1 We know what poverty is — it is a destitution of things which are nec essary for the body. But the poverty we are talking about is not so much related to things as it is related to God. It does not mean a poor dwel ling, patched trousers and cheap food. It is a poverty of spirit in which we recognize our wretchedness, our spiri tual nakedness, our soulhunger, our blindness to the vision of God In all tilings. Poverty of spirit does not mean hating creature comforts. A beautiful girl or a clever musician who never thanked God for being beautiful or richly endowed would be wanting in poverty of spirit. For with such gratitude would come recognition that the gifts come from the Father of Gifts. But poverty of spirit does mean a sense of absolute dependence on God. The other day a missionary at our table was asked If he enjoyed his lamb chop. He replied: “I enjoy it and thank God for it, just as when I had to live on dogs (not hot dogs) for eight months. I thank Him when He gives me tasty food, and I thank Him when He gives me food that keeps me from starving." The problem of converts is essentially related to poverty' of spirit. Those whom we seek to convert are attached to the world, so how can we convert them unless we ourselves are detached? In the thirteenth century’, when the Cistercian abbots were sent to Languedoc by the Holy Father to combat the Cat- harist heresy, they failed utterly because of their servants and fine horses. Saint Dominic and Bishop Diego of Azvedo advised them to return to the monastery and come back poor. Then they conquered the heresy I So it is today. When missionaries have nothing materially, it makes them realize that they have nothing spiritually, and this emptiness God fills by sending them converts. Won’t you acknowledge your dependence on God for the gifts He has sent you by aiding The Society for the Propagation of the Faith? The poor of the world depend on us— and we depend on you. GOD LOVE YOU to W. X. C. for $150 "This may be used for wherever it is most needed and whenever it will do the most good.” . . .to B. J. Jr. for $2 “This is part of my birthday money which I want to share with God’s poor." ... to G. O. for $25 “Use as you see best in gratitude for my Faith and Family. DECIDE FOR YOURSELF if you're a member of “The Church of the Poor” or “The Poor Church" after reading-our September- October special issue of MISSION. If you are not on our mailing list for this bi-monthly magazine, containing articles, anec dotes, cartoons and pictures, just ask us via: The Society for the Propagation of the Faith, 366 Fifth Avenue, New York i, N. Y. SHEEN COLUMN: 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 lx, N. Y. or your Diocesan Director.