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SAIGON SUMMARY
U.S. Played Inglorious Role In Fall Of Diem Regime
BY MARGUERITE HIGGINS
W hat is the meaning of the five tragic self-immolations
that t(K)k place in Vietnam in the six weeks following
the November coup d’etat against Diem? How did it
come to pass that under the military junta, which
seized power in the name of an end to “persecution,”
there have been more suicides by fire over a short
period than had ever been the case under President
Diem and his brother \go Dinh Nhu? Even though
virtually ignored by the Western press, will this latest
spate of suicides by fire—without clearly stated reason
—destroy at last the false notion that the repeated acts
of self-immolation in Vietnam were indisputable proof
of massive persecution of the Buddhist religion by
President Diem, a Roman Catholic?
Will historians be more equitable with President
Diem than his contemporaries were?
On two trips in Vietnam in 1963, one before and one
after the coup d’etat, this writer was never able to find
an instance of repression on religious grounds. Under
Diem, there was repression of Buddhists, Catholics,
This article is reprinted from
AMERICA, national Catholic weekly
review published by the Jesuit Fathers
at 920 Broadway New York N. Y. &8.00
per year.
Confucianists, etc., when—in defiance of clearlv stated
laws—they took to the streets to demonstrate against
the government. But Diem’s repression was not di
rected against a religion. It was aimed at overt political
opposition. There were deplorable police excesses in
Vietnam, but there is no sign that they were desired or
condoned by Diem any more than police excesses in
Alabama are condoned or desired by Washington.
There was, for a long time, a clear double standard
in Vietnam, in which accusations against Diem gained,
in most cases, giant headlines, but attempted refuta
tions received only perfunctorv notice. For instance,
last summer Thich Due Xghiep. the Xa Loi pagoda
spokesman, told reporters dramatically that 365 per
sons in a Saigon suburb had been arrested “because
they were Buddhists.” That figure was headlined
throughout the world. But when I went to the suburb
in question, I found that a routine check was being
made of a neighborhood through which the Vietcong
often infiltrated. I stayed for two hours to talk with
those rounded up as they emerged from the police
compound after questioning. I talked to 20 persons-
ancestor worshipers, Catholics, Confucianists, Taoists,
Caodaists, etc.—before I finally found a genuine Bud
dhist among those picked up. So the charge of “365
persons arrested because of being Buddhists” was
invention.
There is no doubt that the overwhelming majority
of the American press corps in Saigon thought-out of
the most idealistic and patriotic motives-that thev
were serving a good cause in arousing world opinion
against Diem. Whether his strengths and faults were
greater or less than those of his junta successors
remains to be seen.
It is certain that under the military junta. Vietnam
ese have been jailed for far less than was necessarv
to send a person to prison under Diem. Said a Euro
pean observer: “Under Diem, a Vietnamese had to do
something specific against the regime to get into trou
ble. Under the military junta, a Vietnamese can be
jailed without charge, simply under the suspicion that
he was loyal to the Diem regime when it was the
legally constituted authoritv.”
Sanche de Gramont. of the New York Herald Trib
une, has estimated the number of arbitrarv arrests right
after the coup as around 500. So far. Mr. de Gramont
and this reporter are the only ones who have written
with any detail about the junta’s reversion to some
of the police state tactics the Saigon press corps so
bitterly criticized in Diem.
Nowadays, some of the most ardent anti-Dicm w rit
ers, such as David Halberstam, Saigon correspondent
of the New York Times, acknowledge that the Buddhist
agitation of last summer and fall was politically moti-
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 8)
the
Archdiocese of Atlanta
POPE PAUL
HOLY LAND
SUPPLEMENT
GEO
i
SERVING GEORGIA’S 71 NORTHERN COUNTIES
VOL. 2 NO. 2
ATLANTA, GEORGIA
THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, 1964
$5.00 PER YEAR
VATICAN COUNCIL FIGURE
Gustave Weigel,
Noted Theologian,
Ecumenist, Dead
NEW YORK (RNS)— Father
Gustave Weigel, S. J., famed
U.S, theologian and ecumenical
leader, died here suddenly
while preparing for a meeting
with the Jesuit editors of
America, national Catholic
weekly. He would have been
58 on Jan. 15.
Archbishop Lawrence J.She-
han of Baltimore offered a
Solemn Pontifical requiem (
Mass at Woodstock College, at
Woodstock, Md. where Father
Weigel taught and resided at
the Jesuit Seminary. Present in
the Sanctuary for the Mass were
Archbishop Patrick A. O'Boyle
of Washington
The theologian, whose writ
ings and lectures on approaches
to Christian unity had won the
praise of Protestants here and
abroad, only recently returned
from Vatican City where he had
served a dual role during the*
second session of the Second
Vatican Council.
HE WAS A MEMBER of the
Vatican Secretariat for Pro
moting Christian Unity headed
by Augustin Cardinal Bea. As
part of his work he had at
tended every meeting of the
Council in 1962 and 1963.
Last Fall he had also assist
ed in the press briefings ar
ranged by the U. S. hierarchy
for American journalists
covering the Council. Many se
cular publications had com
mented favorably on the patient
delineations of Church theology
given by Father Weigel and his
frank and thorough replies, fre-
qently with a robust touch of hu
mor, to questions by newsmen.
IN SPITE OF an extraordina
rily taxing schedule, he still
found time to do personal
favors for delegate observers
and journalists.
His contacts and relation
ships with Protestant, Orthodox
and Jewish leaders were fre
quent and friendly. Long before
tile Vatican had begun to assign
official observers to confer
ences of non-Catholic com
munions and agencies, Father
Weigel had attended such ses
sions — usually listed as “an
unofficial observer” or as a
' religious journalist.”
Sherrin, C. S. P., editor of
The Catholic World, attended
the first North American Con
ference on Faith and Order at
Oberlin, Ohio, as unofficial ob
servers. That conference was
sponsored by the Faith and Or
der Commission of the World
Council of Churches, the U. S.
Conference for the World Coun
cil, the National Council of
Churches, and the Canadian
Council of Churches.
Early in 1963, Father Weigel
was one of four noted theolo
gians involved in a Catholic
University officials removed
the four names from a list of
proposed speakers submitted
by officers of the student body.
Later the officials said the
names w ere deleted because the
positions held by the four theo
logians were still being deba
ted before the Council and the
university did not wish to ap
pear to be taking sides on theo
logical questions.
Father Weigel was born in
Buffalo, N. Y., Jan. 15, 1906.
He was educated at Woodstock
College, and the Pontifical Gre
gorian University in Rome and
was ordained in 1931.
CATHOLIC APATHY
MOMENTOUS SUCCESS
Pope’s Pilgrimage
Encouraged World
SEE ALSO HOLY LAND SUPPLEMENT INSERT
SNOW IN GEORGIA, a rare event, is portrayed in this pastoral scene of St. Thomas More Church,
Deca.ur, after last week’s stormy weather.
FOR THIRD SESSION
Says Council Statement
On Jews Is Still Alive
NEWARK, N. J., (NC)—There
is no danger that the proposed
Editor Sees ‘Moral
Myopia’ In Laity
IN
1957, HE and Father John
NEW YORK (RNS)—Ameri
can Catholics share with others
a general apathy toward the
problem of atomic warfare, a
prominent Catholic book editor
said here at the annual meet
ing of the Ame^can PAX Asso
ciation.
Philip Scharper, editor of
Sheed 8; Ward, Catholic book
publishers in New York, said
most Christians view atomic
warfare with "moral myopia
and apathy.”
Will Visit Pope
VATICAN CITY (NC)—West
German Chancellor Ludwig Er
hard will be reveived in private
audience by Pope Paul VI on
Wednesday, Jan. 29.
CATHOLIC APATHY, he as
serted, is traced to two main
sources: nationalism and a
“code morality rather than a
morality of commitment.” Per
sonal commitment, he stressed,
Is needed to combat the prob
lem of nuclear warfare.
"Love is the strongest force
in human affairs,” Mr. Schar
per contended. "Christian 'ove
can never be overcome by vio
lence; it does not suo.umb to
violence nor conform to its de
mands.”
The American PAX Associa
tion, a group of Catholics and
others so king to promote peace
•ind to encourage the application
of Christian principles to the
question of war, is affiliated
with PAX of England.
/atican Council statement on
the Jews can “be pushed dut of
sight and so sink Into oblivion,”
in the opinion of a priest who
worked on the document.
Msgr. John M. Oesterreich-
er, a consultor to the Secre
tariat for Promoting Christian
Unity, said in an interview here
that even if the statement as
proposed does not return to the
floor “it could not be forgot
ten.”
MSGR. OESTERREICHER, a
convert from Judaism, is direc
tor of Seton Hall University’s
Institute of Judaeo-Christian
Studies. He was answering
questions about chapter four in
the schema on ecumenism.
Council Fathers did not have
an opportunity to vote on the
acceptability of that chapter
for discussion before the coun
cil adjourned Dec. 4. The chap
ter deals with Christian-Jew-
ish relationships.
Msgr. Oesterreicher pointed
out that the chapter had been in
troduced in the council and
therefore “the influence of its
teaching will be felt far and
wide.”
HOWEVER, he did say it is
possible that chapterfour “may
have to give way to others
that in the minds of their pro
moters are as urgent, or even
more urgent, than this one.
“To say that this is possible
is not to say that I expect it,”
he said. "On the contrary, I
continue to hope that the decree
will be brought again before the
Fathers of the Council and over
whelmingly adopted.
“But if by some accident it
did not come up at the next
session, there are other ways
to publish it. The Pope could
make it his own or a post-con-
ciliar commission could issue
it as a directive.
“THE MAJOR difficulty I see
is this: If the majority felt that
the decrees on the Jews and
on religious liberty should not
form part of the schema on ecu
menism and wished that they be
included in the forthcom ing pro
posal on the Church and the
modern world, the present
drafts would have to be reduced
in size and thus perhaps suffer
in substance. Still, I am confi
dent that the outcome will bring
honor to the Church and bless
ing to the world.”
JERUSALEM, Jordan (NC)
— Pope Paul VI, in the opin
ion of observers here, went far
toward achieving the three main
purposes of his pilgrimage to
the Holy Land: to promote
Christian unity, to foster world
peace and to manifest the
Church t the world.
His efforts for Christian
unity were highlighted by his
two meetings with Orthodox
Ecumenical Patriarch Athena-
goras of Constantinople, who
said the meetings will “become
the prelude of a mutual com
munion, the dawn of a lumi
nous and blessed day, in which
future generations, commun—
ing in the same chalice of the
most precious Blood and Body
of the Lord, will glorify the
only Lord and Saviour in char
ity, peace and unity.”
PEACE WAS a recurring
theme in virtually all of Pope
Paul’s addresses during his
three-day visit. At the very
beginning of his trip— at the
Rome airport before his depar-
turs (Jan. 4) —he told the crowd
bidding him bon voyage: “In
these days, when the sacred lit
urgy recalls the Prince of
Peace, we will beg Him to give
the world this precious gift.”
His first talk on arriving in
the Holy Land at Amman, Jor
dan, also stressed peace. He
told King Hussein who wel
comed his plane:
“Our visit is a spritual one,
a humble pilgrimage to sacred
places. . . At each one of these
venerable shrines we shall pray
for that peace which Jesus left
to His Disciples.”
DURING his visit, in reply to
a request from President Lyn
don B. Johnson, he promised to
pray for the success of
America's peace efforts.
On his return to Rome (Jan.
6) he recalled his prayers for
peace, saying that “at the grotto
of the Nativity in Bethlehem we
have begged for all men of good
will the gift of true and lasting
peace.”
Pope Paul's attempts to show
the Church to the world anew
were in keeping with the feast
of the Epiphany which he cele
brated here. TTie Pontiff met the
leaders and was cheered by the
People of two predominantly
non-Christian nations, Jordan
and Irael. He sent messages to
heads of state of the nations
over which his plane flew on his
way here. He sent special
messages to 220 heads of sta
tes— including communist rul
ers—and international organ
izations. A message to the non-
Christian world was a major
theme of the principal address
of his tour.
THE PAPAL Pilgrimage
broke many precedents.
Pope Paul was the first pon
tiff to come to the Holy Land
since St. Peter left it more than
1,900 years ago.
He was the first Pope to fly
in a plane during his reign.
He was the first Popeinmore
than five centuries to meet with
a patriarch of Constantinople.
He traveled further from
Rome than any pontiff before
him.
While here he visited and
prayed at Christianity's most
sacred shrines He offered
Mass in the Basilica of the
Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem,
built on the site of Christ’s cru
cifixion and burial: in the
Church of the Nativity in Beth
lehem, erected over the spot
where Christ was born, and at
the Basilica of the Annunciation
in Nazareth, which marks the
place where the Archangel Gab
riel told Our Lady she was
to bear the Redeemer.
HE VISITED the mount of Oli
ves and the Garden of Get-
hsemane, where Christ suffer
ed his agony. He stopped and
prayed on the shore of the River
Jordan, in which Christ was
baptized. He toured Galilee,
where Christ preached His
Gospel, passing through Canaz
where Christ performed His
first miracle, and visiting the
Basilica of the Loaves and Fis
hes, the ruins of a synagogue
in Caphernaum built on the
foundations of an earlier syna
gogue where Christ worshiped.
OFFICIAL
Archbishop Paul J. Hallinan
has been admitted to St,
Joseph’s Infirmary, suffering
from hepatitis, seemingly con
tracted while attending the
Second Session of the Vatican
Council In Rome,
The specialists attending the
Archbishop have prescribed
complete rest, and his engage
ments for January are hereby
cancelled.
The faithful are urged to
frequent prayer for the Arch
bishop's speedy recovery and
return to the works o f the
archdiocese,
***
APPOINTMENT
Archbishop Paul J, Hallinan
has appointed the Rev, Eusebius
J. Beltran, Vice-Officialls, to
the further post of Vice-
Chancellor, effective im
mediately.
Very Rev. Harold J, Rainey
Chancellor
Pope Paul VI
Patriarch Athenagora* I
