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PAGE 4 GEORGIA BULLETIN THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5,1963 the Archdiocese of Atlanta £■ M?I &IIf I /V mu ¥ I'TVY %wliiIf ¥1U WuIjHi M 1 SttVINO CCOtGtA'S 71 nO«TMMN COUNT)** 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 Kiernan 2699 Peachtree N.E. P.0. Box 11667 Northside Station Atlanta 5, Ga. Member of the Catholic Press Association and Subscriber to N.C.W.C. News Service Telephone 231-1281 Second Class Permit at Atlanta, Ga. U.S.A. $5.00 Canada $5.00 Foreign $6.50 Advent First Ir. recent years we have been amazed at the effrontery of busi nessmen and department stores that do not even wait for Thanks giving to come and go before they put out the decorations for Christmas. They excuse them selves on the grounds that the people like to shop early for Christmas and, after all, what other purpose is there for that happy seasontide? To us, this is a most blatant example of modern day secula rism. Few businesses propagate the real meaning of Christmas. To them Christmas has no re ligious connotation. It is simply a happy time for which they can provide happiness. They encour age a rather pagan attitude to wards one of the greatest Chris tian feasts. They talk about the “spirit of Christmas”: but they have no time to emphasize the spiritual. It is true, of course, that some shopping centers and some stores erect a crib as a sample of reli gious deference. But it is unfor tunately mostly a gimmick, a come-on, for the so-called senti mental shoppers. Ordinarily, we would not get excited about such everyday expressions of the se cularist trend. But we think it is tim~ to demand that the business community stop exploiting Chris tianity and its beliefs. After all, they have taken Christ out of Christmas and have replaced Him with the false God of Commerce. What is being said is that re ligion is no longer a part of Christmas; that the spirit of Christmas is not Christ, but some nebulous diety symbolized in the merchandise and tinsel decorat ing our store windows; that the spirit of Christmas is your dol lar, given from the heart, for the purchase of gifts from a shop which is gay and colorful. Of course, this modern-day spirit of Christmas is also por trayed by the shopkeeper who stands at his cash register glee fully piling in the dollars from- those who have the heart to pur chase goods. This Christmas spi rit also includes our dear old friend Santa Claus (Oh, how St. Nicholas must be turning in his grave) sitting on his gilded throne, smiling benignly as he pats children’s heads and asks them what they’d like for Christ mas, Poor old Santa Claus. It seems such a shame to fool the kids. But more important, its disgust ing how we tolerate the whole nasty affair. What better season than now, during Advent, to make the neces sary preparations for putting Christ back into Christmas. Ad vent is a time of penance while we prepare for the Great Event which leads to our salvation. It is a time of prayer; it is a time for the consolidation of family unity. The tinsel and the bells are but trappings of the world. Advent reminds us that before Redemption there must be the Cross. Let us, therefore, focus now, on the real Christmas, when Christ takes on the mantle of man in order that we might be saved from our own iniquities. GERARD E. SHERRY Courageous Step The Atlanta Aldermanic Board is to be congratulated on its cour ageous step in adopting a resol ution urging immediate consi deration of voluntary desegrega tion of public accommodations in the metropolitan area. Our only regret is that it should have been necessary for such a resolution in Atlanta, which is allegedly the most progressive southern city in racial affairs. The resolution was adopted by a majority of ten to four, after a lot of acrimonious debate not only at Monday’s Aide rmanic Bo ard meeting, but also at last week-end’s public hearing. This latter meeting was dominated by testimony from segregationist groups and individuals whose re marks could only leave a sour ta ste as far as the majority of our citizens is concerned. Now devoid of substantial arg ument, these segregationists have resorted to the unedifying tactic of asse rting that mowes to wards racial justice are inspired by, and have the backing of, Com munists and other subversive gr oups. We have no doubt that Com munists would like to make capi tal out of the present situation, but there is no evidence that they have any influence on the mam leaders in the fight for ra cial justice. Indeed, we are con fident that the integregation movement has always been insp ired by American. rather than Communist ideals. Catholics, certainly, have no need to apologize for their con tributions to the cause of racial justice. Theirs is a moral obli gation, a mandate found in the teachings of the Church. Earlier this year, the American bishops confirmed this mandate, this moral obligation. No one can equate atheistic materialism with the teachings of the Church, and it should not be necessary to even talk about it. Alas, we are dealing with people who will go their best to smear their oppon ents in order to sow the seeds of doubt and mistrust in the com munity. We can only continue to work for the elimination of the poli tical and social disabilities pre sently imposed on our Negro fel low citizens. Obviously, we would prefer voluntary action over legislation. We trust that the Atlanta Ald ermanic Board action will gain the support of not only the bus iness and professional commu nities, but also individual citi zens of our great city. GERARD E. SHERRY OPPOSITION Press Media Schema Notes BY GERARD E. SHERRY One of the advantages of being in Rome for the Council deliberations is that one is able to dis cuss all aspects of a problem with Council Fathers during the debate and after the vote has been taken. It was especially enlightening to me to have been able to have seen the text of the proposed decree on the communications media which was passed by the Council Fa- thers on Novem ber 25. As thede- bate was in pro gress, there were REAPINGS moves to have further amend- AT ments to improve it, and also mov es to kill it, be cause it was not RANDOM satisfactory. THERE WAS ample opportunity forlobbyistsof both sides to press their points outside the Council. Indeed, three American laymen, JohnCogley, Ro bert Kaiser, and Michael Novak, issued a state ment on the communications media proposals which was countersigned as "worthy of considera tion** by Jesuit Fathers John Courtney Murray and Jean Danielou, and Father Jorge Majia. The three laymen said the proposed decree hardly fits in with the tenor of a Council called to make the Church relevant to modern man. It is not an aggiornamento, but a step backward. Where the document is not vague and banal, it reflects a hopelessly abstract view of the rela tionship of the Church and modern culture. It deals with a press that exists only in textbooks and is unrecognizable to modern journalists. UNES OF EXCELLENCE ‘Full Use Of One’s Powers’ THE LAYMEN argued that by its moralistic emphasis and simplistic treatment of the difficult problem of art and prudence it appears to deny the intrinsic value of a work of art and to compromise the integrity of the Christian artist. BY REV. LEONARD F. X. MAYHEW A reporter asked President John F. Kennedy a few weeks ago if he was happy in the office of the presidency. President Kennedy answered affirma tively by a reference to the notion of happiness formulated by the ancient Greek philosophers. He paraphrased their conception of happiness as "the full use of one’s powers along the lines of excel lence.” Another key dictum comes from one of his most important and impressive speeches. He urged us forward with confidence in God’s aid "conscious that here on earth God’s work is our own.” The combination of these two motives creates a significance in this man that transcends the transistory effect of this parti cular policy or that particular decision. We have, on the one hand, the humane ideal of chal lenge and fulfillment and on the other, the moral imperative to purposeful com mitment and optimistic initiative. President Ken nedy’s public philosophy seems to epitomize the whole thru:., of today’s society toward total moral involvement, particularly on the part of the lay man. IN REALITY, of course there is no such thing as "the layman”, an amorphous figure defined only by not being a cleric. What really exists is an infinite variety of individuals each involved with the temporal world in a specific fashion and under particular circumstances. There is a growing awareness in the world and in the chur ches that this is where the real frontier of mora lity is to be found. It is the individual layman (and the social groups to which he belongs) who must deal, not precisely with moral principles but with the actual imple mentation of those principles. It is not his prime task to deal with moral theory or with the complex and disembodied casuistry of too many textbooks and sermons. The layman has to wrestle with a de cision that affects himself and others immediate ly. The spiritual and emotional cost of each deci sion and act must draw upon resources that can not but be limited. Discussion of the expanding moral role of the layman is likely to arouse suspicions of latent anti-clericalism. Sometimes this may be true. It is not necessarily true, however, and, in any case, it is irrelevant. The real point is that n oral ini tiative and responsibility belong to the layman on the basis of the principles we have always held, although not always fully understood. MORALITY exists in the concrete, in a specific decision and its consequent act. It is, then, emi nently practical. No moral act takes place in a vacuum. It is formed against the total background of conscience, experience, personality of the man who places it. This formation of consciences is the concern of the teachers,and preachers of moral principle and of the churches. Without even approaching the arena of political partisanship, it is possible to see in John Kennedy a typification of the man in and of the modern world, who stands at the real frontier of mora lity. The formation of his conscience was made clear in his public statements. He belonged in the Judaeo-Christian, humanist, liberal tradition that is the mainstream of our civilization. He refer red frequently and with apparent naturalness to the Bible to illustrate his convictions. He quoted philosophers and thinkers of the past with an ob vious consciousness of the pattern in human af fairs that we call history. He sought authority and readily accepted the responsibility for its use, whether successful or not. In the midst of ex tremes and simplistic responses to complex ques tions, he was willing to embrace a difficult and moderate position, not automatically, but because it frequently seemed dictated by reason. The basic ingredient of our civilization is thein- tuition that what is most singular about man is reason. The consequence of this is the responsibi lity of each man to know, to judge, to decide and to act for what is true, just andwise. The Church must act to build adequate consciences, properly informed with meaningful principles. The layman, the man of the world, must direct and save that world in the agony - and martyrdom, if need be - of fitting principle to problem. LITURGICAL WEEK Freedom From Fault BY REV. ROBERT W. HOVDA SUNDAY, DEC. 8, IMMACULATE CONCEP- 4TION. The feast of our Lady’s freedom from hu manity’s common fault takes precedence over the Sunday Mass today. And because she takes her place with Isaia and John the Baptist as Advent figures in a special sense, her feast fits well into this season. Nor is the reference only to the past coming, the historic coming of the Word-made- flesh. For Mary is also a figure and type of the Church, whose spotlessness jgprepares the way for the jm \ Christ’s final coming in glory. The first lesson, particular- ly, illuminates this identifica- HkA f tion of Mary and the Church, as does the refrain of the En trance Hymn: "as a bride adorned for her wedding.” Just as the holiness of the Church is not the product of its human membership, but of its Head, its Soul and its divine election, so Mary’s holiness is God’s gift (Gospel). MONDAY, DEC. 9, MASS OF 2ND SUNDAY OF ADVENT. As Lent is a time of revival for the Church’s consciousness of itself and its baptis mal commitment, so Advent is a time of revival for its missionary spirit, The university of Christ’s mission is the clear teaching of the First Reading and the implication of the Gospel. His coming in history lays the mandate of missionary zeal upon His Church. His coming at the end of time calls for all deliberate speed in fulfilling it. TUESDAY, DEC. 10, MASS OF THE SUNDAY. "Joy” and "hope” are the prominent words of today’s liturgy. We generally recognize thatfaith, hope and love are necessary ingredients of any true Christian worship. But the joy department frequently lacks buyers. Rather than hail His com ing, we prefer to hug our problems (which His coming solves) to our bosoms. Our public wor ship, especially Mass, seeks to open us up to Him. To accept His coming is to accept joy. WEDNESDAY, DEC. 11. ST. DAMASUS, POPE, CONFESSOR. "Who do you say that I am?*’ Jesus asks us in the Gospel. Our christened life is our reply. And this constant spiritual "You are the Christ” breaks out into vocalization at every Mass. Not only as we listen obediently to His Word and not only as we do His saving deed "in memory of” Him. But every prayerwe utter here around the altar is to the Father, "through Jesus Christ your Son, our Lord.” THURSDAY, DEC. 12, OUR LADY OF GUADA LUPE. The Gospel tells us that Mary left home CONTINUED ON PAGE 5 "While the document speaks of the ‘primary’ moral obligation of those who communicate in formation, it never speaks of the obligations of those who should be the sources of information which they need (though the right to it is acknow ledged in the text.) It thus fails to come to grips with the problems of all those who are victimized by authoritarian secrecy. "The flat statement in one section that seems to imply that the specifications of natural law and ‘Christian judgment’ are effortlessly provided in the Catholic press. This could be interpreted as endowing the Catholic press with a teaching autho rity and near-infallibility that is neither proper to journalism nor helpful to the formation of pub-, lie opinion in the Church. "THE DOCUMENT appears to be setting up an intermediate ecclesiastical authority between the individual communications worker and his em ployer. This is likely to be taken as a threat to the integrity of the media. It will seriously com promise the layman working in the general or ‘secular’ press. "In two important passages it seems to give the state (auctoritas civilis) an authority over mass media which is dangerous to political li berty everywhere and which in some coun tries like the United States is proscribed by con stitutional law. "This document may seem to many a mere pas toral exhortation. But it is proposed as a solemn decree of an ecumenical council. "No decree which the Second Vatican Council has yet discussed could touch the lives of contem porary men so directly. And yet this decree, as it now stands, may one day be cited as a clas sic example of how the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council failed to come to grips with the world around it.” THIS STATEMENT was received with mixed feelings by Council Fathers. Many American bis hops thought it improper and contained a note of impudence. Others argued that two of the signers, Robert Kaiser and Michael Novak, were accredit ed journalists, and were abusing the privilege in issuing the statement. Furthermore, it is known that one Vaticanhish Council Official pri vately charged that the statement had in fact been inspired by the American Hierarchy, and he was very upset about it. The truth of the matter was that no American bishop had anything to do with it whatsoever. Indeed, many were against it. What was more important, in my view, was the fact that the week before the vote was taken on this important decree, I was assured by those who should know, that the communications schema would squeak through even though many Council Fathers did not like it. The final vote seemed to bear out this judgment — it got just a little over the two-thirds majority required. This because many bishops felt it was better than nothing, and many others were indifferent. This seems a pity, for the subject of this schema is indeed impor tant, especially to those of us in the Catholic press. The one consolation is that the subject is likely to come up again. This is but a plateau in the Church's never-ending search for the best ways of presenting the Truth. Furthermore, the many ambiguities in the decree give leeway In interpretation. ' ' - 11 HU r • " ’