PACE 4 GEORGIA BULLETIN THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1963
the
Archdiocese of Atlanta
GEORGIA BULLETIN
SERVING 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 ** ,ss * sS
MANAGING EDITOR Gerard E. Sherry CONSULTING EDITOR Rev. R. Donald Kiernan
ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Sue Spence
Member of the Catholic Press Association
nd Subscriber to N.C.W.C. News Service
Telephone 23lr1281
2699 Peachtree N.E.
P.O. Box 11667
Northside Station
Atlanta 5, Ga.
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Christian U
Sunday, the Second Session of
the Second Vatican Council will
open in St. Peter’s Basilica,
Rome, to further the renewal
within the Church so eloquently
called for by the late lamented
Pope John XXIII, and now con
tinued by his august successor,
Pope Paul yi #
The more than 2,000 bishops of
the Church assembled in Rome,
including our own Archbishop,
will discuss and legislate on the
many aspects of renewal which
further the extension of Christ’s
Kingdom on earth. One of the
main themes running through all
their deliberations will be the
question of Christian Unity. With
out compromising essential doc
trine, steps will be recommen
ded to promote further under
standing and good will towards
our separated brethren.
That the Archdiocese of Atlanta
is moving forward in this vital
area of unity promotion is evi
dent for all to see. The estab
lishment last year of the Arch
diocesan Commission for Chris
tian Unity and Archbishop Halli-
nan's Pastoral on the subject in
June of this year set the norms
for lay, as well as priestly ac
tion.
Our archdiocesan Council of
Catholic Men has now set the
stage for the further implemen
tation of the Council Fathers’
desires in this regard. On Sun
day, November 10, it will set in
motion “Operation Understand
ing”, an explanatory tour of each
parish in the Archdiocese. The
purpose of this effort is that of
promoting better understanding
among all persons of good will.
In particular, we Catholic lay
men will be given an unparalleled
opportunity to promote the ulti
mate goal of Christian Unity by
exhibiting knowledge of, and en
thusiasm for, their own faith to
their non-Catholic friends and
neighbors.
“Operation Understanding” is
more than an “open house”. For
we are being asked, not merely
to show our friends around phy
sical plants and edifices; we are
being asked to show them also
the spirit of Catholicism in all
its spiritual manifestations.
We are confident that our Ca
tholic men will cooDerate whole
heartedly with the ACCM and the
parish men’s organizations to
make this three hour expression
of good will a complete success.
It will mean some sacrifice of
treasured leisure time, but the
fruits of the sacrifice make it
worth it. Renewal in the Church is
for everyone, Pope and bishop,
priest and people. We are all
members of the Mystical Body
of Christ.
Help United Appeal
Tuesday, Atlanta’s United Ap
peal Fund will be launched when
some 30,000 volunteers will seek
assistance to help finance some
69 Community Chest agencies
and the local Red Cross.
This is no ordinary appeal. Up
on its success depends aid to the
aged, the needy, youth, and many
social and recreational activities
which make the Atlanta Commu
nity a progressive one. Solicita
tions will be made, not only to
business firms and professional
groups, but also to ordinary indi
viduals and families throughout
the metropolitan area. The small
donations of ordinary people are
"SPECK"
"It says—‘Ait action picture has just been
snapped of you’!”
just as vital to the success of
this appeal as are the thousands
of dollars which will be given by
business establishments.
The main emphasis is on com
munity giving. Here we have an
opportunity to show our concern
for those less fortunate than our
selves, and our interest in local
efforts to establish that peace
and tranquility for which we
yearn. We all benefit from the
United Fund Appeal, even if we
never have to use any of the
services of its cooperating agen
cies. Their success is our suc
cess; their failure is our failure.
Those who condemn federal in
terference, and federal financing
of welfare projects, cangive wit
ness to their convictions by sup
porting this community project,
through generous giving.
Our own Catholic social ser
vices of Atlanta are beneficiaries
of the United Appeal. But we would
be making a mistake if we gave
simply on this account. More im
portant, we should view it in the
light of the fact that, although we
are Catholics, we are also citi
zens, with all the rights and obli
gations inherent as members of
the Atlanta community. Our mo
tive for giving, therefore, should
be based on the fact that we are a
part of this community and have
duties towards it.
When the volunteer asks your
help in this United Appeal, give
because you have faith in this lo
cal effort; give because you have
faith in Atlanta; give willingly in
order that our contribution, big
or small, furthers that love of
neighbor essential to the well
being and essential unity of the
community.
•FORGIVE ME FATHER FOR I HAVE SINNED'
UNIQUE MIXTURE
The U.N. Has A Birthday
BY REV. LENORD F.X. MAYHEW
UNITED NATIONS, N. Y., Sept. 17, 1963:
Today, eighteen years after its birth in San
Francisco, the United Nations General Assembly
opened its latest session. From its beginning it
has been a unique mixture of contradictions:
the fondest expressions of mankind's hopes for a
truly human society and pace, as well as the most
dramatic exposure of the conflicts and dilemas
which plague the family of nations. Nothing could
be a more convenient shibboleth than this peculiar
and pioneer organization and as such, it has been
invoked on every possible extreme of the politi
cal and ideological spectrum.
Those of one persuasion will
rant of ‘'United Nations wars"
as if these struggles bore no
relationship to the destiny of
this nation. They invoke the
principle of "paying the piper
and calling the tune" as if
they conceived an international
organization as an instrument
of national policy, calling up the
fantasy of a "United Stations." Others, anxious
for an immediate solution to the divisiveness that
plagues modem history bom of the ultra-national-
ism inherited from the Nineteenth Century, seek,
in the United Nations, a utopian and semi-miracu-
lous resolution to involuted and complex problems.
The Christian citizen, whose demanding and
subtle imperative is, as usual, to create a work
able admixture of aspiration and practicality, must
face the United Nations as a fact of contempo
rary life — if not the ideal, the only workable
method of arriving at something approaching
a universal consensus. John XXXIII's Pacem in
Terris, which will stand for some time as the
Magna Charta of Catholic committment in the
twentieth - century world, both measures the
worth of the U. N. and assumes a measured pos
ture in the face of the challenge it poses.
POPE JOHN gave die first authoritative Catholic
recognition to die situation which dictated the cre
ation of an organism of united nations. He pointed
to the changes in the modem world which have
given rise to problems, particularly in areas of
peace and security, which are not only grave and
complex but exceptionally urgent. Secondly, he re
cognized that the nationalistic system does not
possess the mechanism to cope with these prob
lems effectively. This system "and the way its
principle of authority operates on a world basis
no longer corresponds to the objective require
ments of the universal common good." Pope John
paid homage to the principles embodied in die
charter of die United Nations, particularly in re
gard to human rights. While he recognized its
limits, he expressed the "earnest wish that the
United Nations Organizations may become ever
more equal to the magnitude and nobility of its
tasks and thau^very human being will find
therein an effective safeguard for (his) rights."
LITURGICAL WEEK
St Michael The Archangel
BY REV. ROBERT W. HOVDA
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 29 DEDICATION OF ST.
MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL. This feast, which
supplants the Sunday Mass, brings the Christian
into a larger creation than once earthbound
man could possibly have known.
Scripture tells us there are higher creatures
than this earth knows, creatures indeed who are
purely spiritual, dwelling in a timeless eternal
now, yet who are conscious of man's involvement
in the struggle between good and evil. Messengers
of God, the angels have a subordinate place in the
history of God's saving deeds; hence we ask their
prayers and protection.
Because they see God natur
ally and are eternally postured
in the attitude of worship, we
who worship in sign and sacra
ment and under the limitations
of time regard the angels as
worshipers par excellence.
That is why they are mentioned
in high moments of Catholic
worship— for example, the
eucharistic prayer at Mass—
and why their icons are associated chiefly with
the altar.
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 30ST. JEROME, CON
FESSOR, DOCTOR. "Neither do men light a lamp
and put it under a measure," our Lord teaches
in the Gospel. The reference today, no doubt,
is to Jerome's translation and spreading of God’s
holy Word, the Bible.
But one of the ways the Bible comes to us—
in fact, the chief way— is in the public worship
of the Church. And here, too often, it is still
hidden by language, lack of emphasis, poor com
munication. We ask Jerome's prayers that the
Bible readings, Bible songs and Bible prayers of
our liturgy may be put upon the lampstand of
clear and meaningful celebration, especially at
Sunday Mass.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1 MASS OF 17 SUNDAY
AFTER PENTECOST. Jesus is the Lord. And
that Lordship of Christ, acclaimed in both lessons
of this Mass, teaches with all His authority that
the second commandment of the New Testament is
"like" the first. This does not mean merely that
both have to do with love. There is more to it
than that. The whole mystery of the Church as
community and of man's social nature is in
volved here. The second commandment is like
the first because loving our neighbor is "like"
loving God.
WEDNSDAY, OCTOBER 2 THE HOLY GUAR
DIAN ANGELS. Back to that angelic world into
which we were led on Sunday. Not that God wants
us to be angels. If he had He would have made
us such. He does want us not to be so constricted
by our material dimension that we forget the
full glory to which we are called. Nor does He
want us to forget that this Eucharist we cele
brate, in raising us to a pure worship of the
Father, raises us also into the company of those
beings who see and adore Him always.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 3 ST. TERES A OF THE
CHILD JESUS, VIRGIN. There is much about
childhood and about the Christian's duty of be-
coming'Tike a child" in today's Mass. What, does
this mean but that renewal of faith and hope
and vision which every experience of the Euch
arist, of Sunday Mass, should mean to all of us.
At the altar we return to simple verities, to a
clear vision of God and of ourselves and of our
brothers, and of the relations between these three.
The Christian is forever becoming a "newman,"
a child.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4 ST. FRANCIS OF ASSEI,
CONFESSOR. The same simplicity is again the
theme of this Mass. Why is Francis so beloved
if not because he became as a child, he became
new, he became free of the sham sometimes
associated with adulthood and sophistication.
"When a man Is in Christ Jesus, there has been
a new creation" (First Reading).
CONTINUED ON PAGE 5
RACE TURMOIL
It's Not
All Negative
BY GERARD E. SHERRY
Last week’s news from Birmingham was the
most depressing in recent years. Apart from the
success of the August 28 March on Washington
for Jobs and Freedom, newspapers have had little
but the negative to report in the struggle for
racial justice. It is, therefore, pleasing to be
able to mention the positive.
Readers will recall the racial storm which
centered around Gwynn Oak Amusement Park in
Baltimore, Maryland, last July 4, when attempts
to integrate the es
tablishment resulted
in national and local
church leaders being
arrested for violat
ing trespass laws.
Shortly after this,
the park was dese
gregated under pub
lic pressure. The po
sitive angle to all
this is that Arthur B. Price, Jr., one of the co
owners of Gwynn Oak, has admitted that it is now
profiting from desegregation.
MR. PRICE announced last week that the inte
gration of Gwynn Oak Park had thus far proved
to be an economic success. He added this use
ful comment:
"There has been no disorder; there have been
no incidents. The admission of Negroes has not
adversely affected the general attendance. We are
thankful to the community for their help. The future
looks bright."
Economic factors have long been the main
barrier in the desegregation of recreation facili
ties, restaurants, and hotels. The usual answer
of the business proprietor has been that Whites
will not go where Negroes are admitted to enjoy
the same facilities. Where ignorance and fear of
the unknown is present, this excuse has some sub
stance. But as Mr. Price pointed out, Gwynn
Oak was desegregated through community action
after years of picketing and protest with more
than 300 arrests. The impossible was brought
about through negotiations with Civil Rights
groups and civic and business leaders in the
community.
Once the decision had been taken to desegre
gate die park, the businesses and organizations
which had boycotted die place on moral grounds,
responded by renewing patronage. Mr. Price re
ports that the bookings for next year are well in
advance of those for this year. What does all this
prove? Basically, it proves that when negotia
tions are entered into in a spirit of community
responsibility, a solution can be found which does
justice to both sides. After the Independence Day
fiasco at Gwynn Oak, it seemed only a miracle
could force a change in the situation; the impos
sible was accomplished, however, because the
proprietors and their opponents avoided the doc
trine of hate and recrimination.
IT ALSO proves the peaceful demonstrations
do serve a purpose; that die protesting clergy
men, Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish, had made a
vital contribution by going to jail. They gave wit
ness to their religious beliefs and shamed a com
munity into action.
It reminds me of die fact that a week after
the Gwynn Oak incident we published on the
front page of our archdiocesan newspaper a pic
ture of Protestant ministers, Catholic priests,
and Jewish rabbis protesting at the park. The
paper had not been delivered to Catholic homes
over 24 hours before we received ; phones from
several readers protesting the picture. The gene
ral line taken was that it was degrading for Ca
tholic priests to take part in such demonstrations;
die priesthood was too sacred to be mocked by
willingness to go to jail in the fight for Negro
rights.
In the same issue, we published another picture
of nuns joining the Chicago Interracial Council in
protests against the then segregated policies of
the Illinois Club for Catholic Women. "Sisters
should not do that type of thing," one lady said.
"I have a daughter who is a nun, and I would be
ashamed if I found her on a picket line. They are
not supposed to do that type of thing."
WHAT BOTHERED me about the protests was
that they did not come from cranks, but from re
sponsible Catholic people who should have known
better. To me, it signified their own hidden pre
judices against the Negro. I say this, knowing that
if they were publicly challenged they would deny
any prejudice whatsoever. Alas, this is part of the
trouble.
We all have hidden prejudices against the Negro.
They are never discovered or realized until we
make a personal confrontation with the problem.
Many of us glibly quote the Catholic principles
involved, but we fear clear applications. We are
not prepared to go the whole way, and we hope we
will never have to face the reality.
1 think we should be proud of our priests and
nuns who risk the ridicule and scorn, even of their
co-religionists, in this struggle to apply the
Church’s teachings on racial justice. No one can
deny that the Gwynn Oak amusement park was
desegregated through the public witness of the
clergy. The Catholic priests involved had the per
mission of their bishop, and gave an example for
laymen to follow. If the laity had thrown their
hearts into this task, it would not have been neces
sary for the clergy to do it. Instead of protesting
this clergy action, we should be taking inspira
tion from it.
As to the mm pickets in Chicago, here again they
dramatize for the laity a pertinent truth: only by
public witness can we show our sincerity and
firmness of conviction. Here, too, the picketing
nuns were successful. The officials of the Illi
nois Club for Catholic Women changed their policy,
and permitted competent Negroes to apply for
membership. CXir racial turmoil is not all nega
tive. There is a bright, positive side to it all.
REAPINGS
AT
RANDOM