Newspaper Page Text
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PRAY FOR
CHRISTIAN
UNITY
diocese of Atlanta
GEORGIA'S
NORTHERN COUNTIES
VOL. 1 NO. 37
ATLANTA, GEORGIA
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1963
$5.00 PER YEAR
CHILDRENS DEATH
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True 6 Slaughter
Of Innocents’ Is
Vatican Label
THE UNIVERSITY of Notre Dame opened the doors of its
new 13-story, $8 million library, believed to be the largest
college library building in the world. To be used by students
and faculty members, the building has a capacity of two mil
lion books and can seat nearly half of the school's 6,700
students at one time.
POPE ASKS
Prayer, Penance
For The Council
VATICAN CITY (NC)— An
appeal to encourage prayer and
penance for a happy outcome of
the ecumenical council has been
made by Pope Paul VI in an
Apostolic Exhortation to the
world's Catholic Bishops.
After noting the paramount
importance of the council for the
Church, Pope Paul said that he
places his trust first of all in
the help of the Lord and then
in the prayers of the faithful.
He therefore asked that every
bishop take measures to see that
his faithful are spiritually pre
pared for the great event.
HE WROTE: "We are cer
tain, Venerable Brothers, that
it is above all upon this effort
of prayer and Christian penance
that the hope for the abundant
spiritual harvest of the council
will depend, for it is first of all
a work of the Holy Spirit.
All that is humanly possible
must be done to prepare for the
council. However, neither
the ordered assembly of the
council, nor the penetrating
power of the debates, nor the
studies diligently prepared by
the council Fathers which will
have the most important part
in the council—none of these
will produce the fully and stab
ly determined purposes of the
council, but only long and at
tentive prayer, corporal and
spiritual mortification offered
to God, and holiness of customs
and pious works."
POPE PAUL recommended
especially the prayer written by
Pope John Will for the success
of the council, and he recomme
nded that the Collect prayer to
the Holy Spirit be ordered in
serted in all the Masses of the
Latin Rite (oratio imperata).
He urged also that priests, se
minarians and members of re
ligious institutes take the lead
in his call for special prayer
and penance.
On penance he wrote "We
paternally exhort all that in the
Coming Rogation Days each vol
untarily observe the fast, ac
cording to his own strength,
even though it is not commended
b\ ecclesiastical authority.
The Pope then urged the fait
hful to give their assistance to
Christian charities, as aform of
the good works to be offered
for the success of the council,
naming especially those that
help the poor and the sick.
"MAY THE faithful willingly
perform other voluntary mor
tifications, especially abstain
ing from certain entertainments
which too often are immoral and
censurable. . . let them pardon
offenses received. Aspontane-
ous pardon extinguishes the tr
agic flames of discords in such
a way as to silence hatreds
and quarrels which today un
fortunately are so widespread
as to generate new disasters and
often provoke irritated minds
to the spilling of their brothers'
blood,"
VATICAN CITY, (NC)—The
Vatican City daily has called the
killing of four Negro girls by
a bomb thrown into a Birming
ham, Ala., church a "true
slaughter of innocents "by "ra
cist insanity."
L'Osservatore Romano, how
ever, said that the incident will
bring victory "in the Just battle
for integration" in the U.S.
The newspaper's comments
appeared in italics above its
account of the Alabama bomb
ing.
THE DYNAMITING took place
Sept. 15 at the 16th Street Bap
tist Church. In addition to kill
ing the four girls, it injured
14 members of the congrega
tion and wrecked the church
building. The incident, which
touched off riots in Birming
ham in which a Negro youth
was killed by police gunfire,
occurred five days after the
integration of three previous
ly all-white city schools.
L'Osservatore Romano de
clared:
"A sense of dismay over
whelms us at the news—the
incredible news—of a true
slaughter of innocents in an
American church by the racist
insanity of some fanatical ad
herents of segregation.
"THE MANNER, the place
and the victims of the crime—
a crime whose cynical brutality
cannot be diminished by any
ideological pretext—cry out in
condemnation of blind im
passioned hatred. But still high
er rises our abomination for
this closed and lacerating con
ception of human life together,
a conception that absurdly re
fuses equality and brotherhood
with other men as it is dic
tated by divine law and writ
ten in the very law of nature.
‘The noble American nation,
committed by its highest autho
rities to combatting the ru-
Official
As we return to Rome for the Second Session of the Vatican
Council, the bishops of the world are eager to appraise the new
mood in the Church, We learned to love Pope John as a spiritual
Father, and as a courageous leader. We know of the new Pope
through his brilliant career, and his recent words and actions
as Pope, but I think most of the bishops recall him best for the
day in December, 1962, when he addressed us, and expressed
his own hopes for the Council.
Now he is our head, and we return to work with him in the
great renewal. Although the liturgical principles are established,
the great Issues lie ahead - religious liberty, relation of Pope
and bishops, the question of unity, and the role of the laymen.
Through my column in The Georgia Bulletin, I will interpret
the Council's movementin the weeks ahead. Although the seal of
secrecy covers all concilia, schemata, and addresses, it will
be possible to give our people a fairly good indication of the
progress.
ARCHBISHOP OF ATLANTA
ROCHESTER, N. Y. (NC)—
The superior at the 12-year-old
Trappist monastery in Piffard,
N. Y„ will return to the mo
ther abbey in Gethsemane, Ky.
because of ill health. Father
Walter Helmstetter, 41, super
ior at the monastery since 1956,
is being succeeded by Father
Regis Tompkins.
inous> error of segregation,
will draw from today's bloody
misdeed an irresistible drive
to conquer and prevail in the
just battle for integration.
‘TODAY'S MOST recent vie-,
tims—these suspecting girls
who offer their martyred flesh
to God—demand it. So does the
honor of the state and, above
all, so does Christ's command,
widely lived and felt by the
American nation.
"Just yesterday the words of
His Holiness Pope Paul VI in
vited the world, in an expia
tory and imploring manner, to
pray, love and forgive for the
good of the ecumenical coun
cil. May, therefore, an embrace
among men of different color
but the same nature, men made
brothers in Christ the Re
deemer, be a peerless act of
offering for the good of a re
conciled humanity. And may it
be of comfort to a world which,
does not despair of the progress
of civilization, however and
whatever may be the particular
problems of life together."
IN BIRMINGHAM
PRIEST REPORTS
MR. AND MRS. ANDREW Fischer of Aberdeen, S.D., shown
here, are the parents of quintuplets, four girls and a boy. The
couple have five other children in addition to the new arrivals.
Oct. 14 will be "Fischer Quintuplets Day" in Aberdeen.
Local, National Churches,
Leaders, Condemn Bombing
Trappist Change At Piffard
Catholic leaders in Alabama
and throughput the nation voiced
grief and outrage at the bomb
ing of a Birmingham Negro
church that took the lives of
four young girls.
Archbishop Thomas J. Too
len, Bishop of Mobile-BirmIng
ham; said: "Truly we must
all get down on our knees and
in deep humility and contri
tion ask God for forgiveness for
those who did this shameful
act and also plead with God
that we may have greater love
for our fellow man."
"IT IS difficult to understand
how a civilized human being
could have in his heart so much
hatred for a fellow human being
as to desire or want to des-
trou life because a man's color
is different from his own,"
Archbishop Toolen said.
The Archbishop’s comments
were contained in a pastoral
letter to be read in all churches
of the diocese on September
22, one week after the bomb*
ing of the Sixteenth Baptist
church in Birmingham.
ARCHBISHOP Toolen made
a donation to aid the families
of the four young victims. He
also encouraged Catholics to
contribute to this cause.
In his letter he said that
"Love thy neighbor as thyself
seems to be a forgotten law in
the State of Alabama."
"We are much ashamed be
fore the world because of the
lawlessness of our state and
its people," he continued.
"I AM SURE nor one desires
or wants these acts of destruc
tion of life and property, yet
these acts go on," he said.
"Our law enforcement offi
cers are much overworked. But
does this fact justify so many
bombings with no one found ac
countable for these lawless
acts? Are we making all the
efforts that we should to find
the criminals?
"IF OUR efforts are not suf
ficient, then extraordinary
means must be taken that just
ice may be done."
Archbishop Toolen said Bir
mingham is "slowly being des
troyed" by the violence there.
"It behooves every decent ci
tizen to do his part in bring
ing to justice those guilty kill
ing and destroying," hedeclar-
- ed.
HE CALLED on parents "to
bring their teenagers under pa
rental control, to know where
they are and what they are
doing."
"If there are any of our Ca
tholic people with hatred in their
hearts for their Negro nreth-
ren—and I pary God that there
CONTINUED ON PAGE 8
OUR LADY’S ASSOCIATION
Special Education
Expert To Speak
A member of President Ken
nedy's panel on Mental Retar
dation will be the featured spea
ker at a program sponsored by
Our Lady's Association for Ex
ceptional Children at the Dink
ier Plaza Hotel on October 4
at 8:00 P.M.
He is Msgr. Elmer H. Behr-
mann of St. Louis, associate
secretary of the special edu
cation department of the Natio
nal Catholic Educational Asso
ciation.
ALL PARENTS of mentally
Ireland Has
New Primate
ARMAGH, Ireland, (NC)--
President Eamon de Valera and
Prime Minister Sean F. Lamass
sent congratulatory messages
to newly named Archbishop Wil
liam Conway of Armagh, Pri
mate of All Ireland.
Archbishop Conway, 50, who
was Auxiliary Bishop and Vicar
General of Armagh at the time
of his appointment, succeeds
the late John Cardinal D’Alton,
who died in Dublin on Feb
ruary 1.
handicapped children, and those
interested in special education,
are cordially invited and urged
to attend.
Msgr. Behrmann earned his
masters and doctorate degrees
at St. Louis University in the
fields of education and psycho
logy. He founded the Depart
ment of Special Education, Ar
chdiocese of St. Louis, in 1951,
a remedial reading program,
speech clinic and guidance pro
gram in the department in 1951;
and St. Mary’s Special School
in St. Louis in 1952.
IN 1952 he was selected
by the U. S. Government to
study the program of mental
retardation in Denmark and
Sweden. Among the professional
associations of which Msgr. Be
hrmann is a member are: The
American Association on Men
tal Deficiency, The American
Catholic Psychological Associ
ation, The Council for Except
ional Children, The American
Psychological Association, The
Cousultants Committee to
Special Education Program
at St. Louis University, and the
Missouri Cooperative Com
mittee on Special Education —
Teacher Training.
Sunday Calm
Shattered By
Bomb Blasts
(Born and raised in Birming
ham, the author of this report
is director of the Confraternity
of Christian Doctrine and assi
stant school superintendent in
the Mobile-Birm ingham dio
cese. On Sunday morning, Sep
tember 15, he was in the nei
ghborhood when a bomb blast
rocked the Sixteenth Street Bap
tist church, killing four young
Negro girls and injuring many
other persons. This is his ac
count of what he saw at the
scene of the tragedy.)
BY FR. WILLIAM JAMES
BIRMINGHAM, Ala., — It
sounded as if a score of su
personic jet planes had simul
taneously broken the sound bar
rier. People poured into the al
most deserted Sunday morning
streets to scan the skies.
I drove on for about a block
until I saw a man pointing to
what seemed to be a cloud of
smoke rising some four blocks
away. I drove to the area and
parked my car. Then I began
walking.
THE STREET was swarming
with hundreds of people. Up
ahead was a swaying, pushing
crowd. There were a few police-
mem on hand, some of them
auxiliaries wearing steel hel
mets.
People young and old were
crying . Some were dazed and
bewildered. Others were curs
ing and shouting as if at an
enemy with whom they were
face to face.
I REACHED the church and
saw people streaming out of it.
About 10 cars were parked be
side the church. They looked
as if they had been dragged
there from the junk yard.
Rocks and large stones and
pieces of concrete were every
where. Across the street cur
tains waved through the bro
ken windows of houses.
On the east side of the church,
where previously there had been
a doorway and stairs, now there
was an opening large enough to
drive a big truck through. The
church basement looked like
the interior of war-torn build
ings I had seen in pictures.
THE THICK concrete and
brick wall, powerfully built, was
reduced to a mass of rubble.
No floor was visible through the
piles of rock and debris. A
toilet bowl lay atop some rocks
as if it had been casually and
offhandedly thrown there.
Blood was all over the side
walk approaches to the church.
People were being helped into
the many ambulances that had
begun arriving.
A BYSTANDER said to me;
"Father, they are trying to kill
us." I could only agree.
A well-dressed Negro man
was pleading with the crowd
to refrain from violence. It was
his church that had been bomb
ed.
"The police will find those
responsible for this," he said.
A group of young men in the
crowd loudly disagreed.
TEN HELMETED police tri
ed to move into the crowd. A
patrol car eased through the
mass of people. Someone bounc
ed a stone off its top. Another
followed. Other stones began to
fly toward the line of police who
tried to dodge them. The minis
ter was still pleading for order.
Many people whom I passed
were anxious to speak. All were
respectful and quiet, "re
verend," one man said, "isn't
this terrible?"
A WELL-DRESSED man who
looked like he might have been
an usher in the church said:
"Father, we've got to be patient.
Vengeance is mine, says die
Lord. We must not become vio
lent."
A young boy with a Bible in
his hand walked by cursing
loudly.
Accidentally I bumped into a
girl who was ready to throw
a rock at the police. When she
saw me she paused and dropped
the rock.
I SHOOK hands with a minis
ter dressed exactly as I was,
who told me this was the 40th
bombing in recent years and
asked me: "How long can we
keep our people from serious
retaliation?"
I was reminded of thw words
of the oppressed people in the
Old Testament: "How long, O
Lord, how long?"
Now more police were ar
riving. There were fire trucks
with their lights flashing in
broad daylight. Crowds of peo
ple were running here and there,
some escaping from the flying
rocks, others crying for chil
dren or loved ones who had been
in the church.
AS I WAS walking from the
church an elderly gentleman
said: "Reverend, why can’t they
catch the ones who did such a
thing? Why don’t they get those
who are trying to kill us ?*'
A short time later the se
cond question would have been
phrased differently, for by then
they had found the bodies of
the four little girls killed by
the explosion.
A LAST look at the scene,
growing more and more fright
ening by the minute, again bro
ught to mind the minister’s
question — "How long?"
On this Sunday morning,
begun so quietly and ended so
CONTINUED ON PAGE 8
DANIEL F. FOLEY, a Fourth
Degree Knight of Columbus and
a practicing attorney of Wa
basha and Rochester, Minn., is
the newly elected National Com
mander of the American Legion.
He holds degrees from St. Tho
mas College and Fordham Uni
versity. He served as an Army
staff sergeant in World War II.