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PAGE 4 GEORGIA BULLETIN THURSDAY, JANUARY 30, 1964 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 MANAGING EDrTOR Gerard E. Sherry CONSULTING EDrTOR Rev. R. Donald Kiernan 2699 Peachtree N.E. P.O. 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 Our Shepherd In the period of the very early Church another Paul wrote: “I long to see you in the hope that I may have some spiritual gift to share with you, so as to strengthen your resolve; or rat her, so that the faith we find in each other, you and I, may be an encouragement to you and to me as well “(Romans 1 : 11-12) On page 1 we are happy to publish Archbishop Hallinan’s first Notebook since he entered the hospital one month ago. It also gives us great joy to report that he is making steady impro vement, even though complete recovery is not yet in sight. The Archbishop’s yearning to again be among the faithful, offering Mass for them at the Cathedral, brings to mind the special importance of Episcopal leadership. The Cathedral is the Church which houses the official throne of the diocese -- and the throne is the main symbol of the Bishop’s authority. That the Bishop's authority has indeed divine origin is confirmed by St. Ignatius of Antioch. In the Second Century he wrote to the Church of Smyrna: “Do nothing without the Bishop in what concerns the Church. Regard as valid only the Eucharist which is celebrated by the Bishop or his delegate. Where the Bishop is, there let the com munity be, just as where Christ is, there is the Church.’’ The Bishop presides as the Shepherd over the members of his flock. He governs with an authority which has divine origin and is an essential part of Chris tian faith. Enemies of the Church denounce this aumority as of mere earthly origin and aiming at temporal power in the sphere of politics; but we know this author ity, while divine in origin, is also spiritual in its nature. It aims only at the establishment of Christ’s Kingdom on earth. In his own diocese, the Bishop is the one authentic teacher of the Word of God. In the past, the teaching was exercised mainly through the spoken word, principally from the throne of the Cathedral. Now, through modern methods of com munication, the Bishop is able to contact his people through the press, radio, and television. We are happy to be the medium through which Archbishop Hall inan is once more able to com municate with his people, bring ing to them his special concerns, his joys and sorrows; and most important, the knowledge of his constant prayers for them. But if a Bishop must pray for his people, so much more must they pray for him. Our Thanksgiving for the Archbishop’s continued improvement can be best ex pressed in our supplication for his speedy return to his work. GERARD E. SHERRY Public Education Governor Carl Sanders’mass ive proposal for the improvement of public education in the State is certainly the most dramatic public issue of the day. The GEORGIA BULLETIN considers it a matter of duty to our com munity to take cognizance of its importance and implications. In no way do we wish to become involved in partisan politics. At the same time, our conscience as Catholics dictates that we in volve ourselves in the issuesthat face our environment. Our stand is situated in the moral sphere, both in its source and in its content. To begin, we wishto affirm our stake as citizens in the quality and accomplishments of public education. While the Church has always defended her right to con duct her own schools and Ameri can Catholics have expended un told sacrifice toward this end, we recognize that the role of pub lic schools is of the utmost im portance to the common good of all of us. A state and a nation will reflect in myriad ways the good or poor health of its educa tion. Catholic morality has al ways taught the obligation of every citizen to work for and con tribute to the endeavors of the state for the benefit of the com munity. of the times, but the national standards of achievement as well. It needs a powerful shot in the arm. A “crash program” to im prove Georgia education will de mand a tremendous expenditure- of talent, of effort and of money. If the common good requires the improvement, it requires by that very fact that the burden of these expenditures be accepted. Taxes will clearly have to be levied. There has been much discussion of the kind of taxation. Everybody in the discussion, apparently, feels that the group he represents should be spared. It is not with in our competence to take a stand on the technical side of this question. We do, however, hold that the taxes should be levied as equitably as possible. If the citizenry of the State has a duty to the common good to support the needed improve ments in education, there is a coordinate responsibility on the part of those who administer the program. It makes no sense to raise per-pupil expenditures without raising the quality of teaching, curriculum and facilit ies. Waste of talent, waste of student and teacher time and energy--all can sap the benefit of whatever steps are planned. The record leaves no room for doubt that public education in the State of Georgia stands in dire need of improvement. Hardly a voice has been raised to contrad ict the accuracy of the Gover nor's estimate of the urgency of the problem. Comparative stud ies, the records of the military services and academies and the appalling percentage of “drop outs”, all concur. Public educat ion in our State has lagged far behind, not only the exigencies The editors of the GEORGIA BULLETIN endorse Governor Sanders’ frank appraisal of Georgia’s greatest problem. The material and moral progress of our community demand vigorous action. The success we fervent ly wish his program will depend on an enlightened citizenry plus a far-sighted and responsible cooperation on every level of government and educational ad ministration. L.F.X.M. Catholic Press Month UJVRGICAL WEEK Light Of The World BY REV. ROBERT W. HOVDA SUNDAY, FEB. 2, PURIFICATION OF OUR LADY. The blessing and procession of candles with its emphasis on light, precedes today's Mass whose texts relate light with the temple, the holy place of God on earth. The temple is now Christ, glory of Israel and revealing light to all the na tions (Gospel), but Christ's Body the Church, the worshiping community, is made up of men and women and still needs constantly the purification and refinement called for by the First Reading. The reform of our public worship which the Council has made the immediate task of the whole Church of God Is an effort to make the "temple,” the Church, effective as the light of the world, as Christ saving and redeeming in signs which the world can truly see. MONDAY, FEB. 3, MASS OF SEXAGESIMA SUNDAY. Al though it is evident, as our bishops tell us, that our public worship needs reform, and indeed that the Church must always be reforming itself, the Christian must never allow himself to despair of the Church because of this fact. Jesus tells us in the Gospel of the sower and Paul teaches in the First Reading that despite the imperfection of the human instrument God's grace does save, God's grace alone saves. But His grace may be impeded mysteriously in the very gift of freedom entrusted to us. Mass and the other sac raments of our public worship are so important because His normal saving action is through signs, sacraments, effective in proportion as they really speak to men's hearts and minds. TUESDAY, FEB. 4, ST. ANDREW CORSINI, BISHOP, CONFESSOR. The Council’s constitution on the sacred liturgy has emphasized the bishop's role as chief celebrant of Christian public wor ship. Our pastors and curates stand in His stead when they preside at Mass. Today's Mass honors not only St. Andrew but also the office of the bis hop, whose apostolic ministry is another bond of oneness for the People of God. The Mass should always remind us of our unity with the bishop, THOMAS our liturgist and teacher in Christ. WEDNESDAY, FEB. 5, ST. AGATHA, VIRGIN, MARTYR. "God has chosen what the world holds foolish. . .what the world holds weak” (First Reading). Whatever office orministry or vocation we fulfill in the Church, there is no ground for boasting. All are gifts of God’s grace, of His mer cy. The Gospel teaches, for example, that marriage is a holy vocation and that refraining from marriage in order to draw men’s attention to their eternal destiny is a holy vocation, too. THURSDAY, FEB. 6, ST. TITUS, BISHOP, CON FESSOR. The readings today teach again that the bishop is the minister of peace, peace with God, peace among men. He is the minister of unity. That is why the sacrament of unity, the Mass, is at its best as a sign when it is celebrated by the bishop, surrounded by his college of priests, in the presence of his people, as the Council's constitu tion on worship says. Our emphasis on multiple and even "private” celebrations has wounded this holy sign. Hence the constitution s insistence on re—education of clergy and people in order to carry out its teaching. FRIDAY, FEB. 7, ST. ROMUALD, ABBOT. The abbot is in some ways like the bishop, in respect to his monastic family. Symbol of Christ in the community, his ministry is to serve with the loyalty and the gentleness commended in the First Reading. The texts of the Mass make it clear that God gives him both his ministry and the rewards and blessings merited by a ministry faithfully performed. SATURDAY, FEB. 8, ST. JOHN OF MATHA, CONFESSOR. "Blessed are those servants if he finds them alert” is the familiar theme of the Gospel for this Mass of one who professes faith in Christ by his life and deeds as well as by his words. Our response to the Council's constitution on sacred liturgy may well be a measure of our alertness to Christ as we meet Him in His mem bers and in those who do not yet believe. If we think that all has been well in the past and nothing requires the changes which the Council de mands, what Is to be said of our alertness and where do we put our trust? AQUINAS Man For Right Moment BY REV. LEONARD F.X. MAYHEW When Jefferson Davis arrived to be inaugurat ed as the President of the Confederacy, it is re ported that a spectator cried out, "the hour and the man have met.” Whatever may be one's judgement of that particular prophecy, it remains true that some of the most exciting moments of history have resulted from the meeting of precisely the right man with precisely the right moment. It has been a rare phenomenon, often difficult to recognize, except retrospect. An even rarer phenomenon was Thomas of Aquino, who seven centuries ago was the perfect man for the exactly right moment. The fantastic added fact is that this intellectual revolutionary should still be very emphatically a man of and for our own time. in 1225. He rejected the illustrious polit ecclesiastical career j I for him by his family cousin, the Holy Rom |peror. Instead, he joi newly-founded, and so j suspect Order of begg ! ars founded by St. Dorn; was a student in the firs lar university of the i ——* world, the University of He studied under the greatest scholar of the Ages, St. Albert the Great, and succeeded him as the outstanding teacher of theology at the capital of medieval learning, the University of Paris. INVOLVED in every major intellectual contro versy of an age whose outstanding characteris tic was a commitment to learning, he was no "ivory tower" professor, cloistered and away from the common touch. His prodigious output of writing was produced amid faculty intrigue, countless Papal errands, constant correspond dence with the mighty figures of his time. The writings of the Greek philosopher, Aris totle, reached Europe shortly before the birth of Thomas Aquinas. With their concern for wordly reality and their emphasis on natural reason, they unsettled the conservative, semi-mystrical tradition of Christian thinkers. To make matters more complex, the versions of Aristotle extant in Europe were poor translations which conta ined a generous mixture of erroneous notions* added through the centuries. The admiration at Thomas Aquinas for the great Greek thinkers did not lead him to swallow whole all that Aristotle had written. According to Etienne Gilson, it was the "vigorous correction of positions (in Aristotle’s thought) that were false which was to engender Thomism." CONTINUED ON PAGE 5 ALL OVER Things Look In A Mess BY GERARD E. SHERRY A real "cheerful” fellow came in the office Monday morning of this week pointing out all the curious things happening in the world today • — which specifically affect American power and prestige. There is no doubt things do look bleak on many fronts. of Communist China by France. The haughT arrogant shadow of President Charles de CaulTe hovers over our State Department, where worried officials wonder when the Western dykes will be breached again. De Gaulle has come a long way from the days when he was the colonel of a French tank regiment; he seems to have for gotten the days when the only friends he had were the Bri tish Lion and the REAPINGS AT RANDOM American Eagle. The British gave him refuge and he thanked them by trying to kick them out of Europe. The Americans financed and armed much of the Free French activitiy, thereby bring ing a victorious de Gaulle into power after the war. Since that time he constantly has bitten the hand that fed him. As if this was not bad enough, we find the whole of our Asian policy crumbling in the face of Communist subversion and phony neutralism. Defense Secretary McNamara admitted this week that the situation in South Vietnam has deterio rated since the murder of President Diem. He said the situation was quite grave, and that the Vietnam Communists were presently winning the struggle. Our government has only itself to blame for all evidence points to its major complicity in the overthrow of the Diem regime. In Laos things are no better. A so-called neut ralist government is helpless to govern because Right Wingers and Communists continue to battle each other and plan for an eventual take over. The country is supposed to have its neut ralism guaranteed by an agreement by East and West. Alas, both camps continue to maneuver to destroy. In Cambodia, a sycophantic prince has an auto matic switch for hot and cold wars. One minute he disavows American aid, the next minute he wants it. One day the Americans are alleged to be exploiting him, the next they are neglecting him and his people. In the background, there is Communist China for which the prince appears to be a willing suitor. I read a dispatch at the week-end which quoted the prince as saying that although he did not want American aid with strings attached, he objected to their cutting off the aid so quickly after he said he did not want it. He further stated he was not anti-Western, but if we did not do what he wanted there was always the Communists. IH Tanganyika,* Kenya there are army revolt ^ e 'r er colonial ™l*» are called upon to provide the necessary miliary assistance. These newly emerging nations are a poor example of the rest of Africa. And in the background lurks Communist China with ,ts Pr ime M f„is,er on an African good-will tour. The Soviets too are delighted with the events of the past’couple of shamM ^ Pl °h f h ‘ Cke “ > and wonder what 1 shambles the whole world is coming to. It is bad enough having Castro on our hands. Now there Is trouble in Panama. Here again the chickens are coming home to roost. Nationalism Is rearing Its ugly head and ••Yankee, go home" signs are the order of the day. In 1956, when the British and French were willing to go to war to defend their investments i„ Suei . Cana| we kindly pulled the mg from under them and backed the Arab dictatorand his Communists suppor ters. The U. S. Administration at that time obv iously felt that the Egyptians were entitled to their own property and we were the defenders of such "weak nations as Egypt. What a mess we face in Panama. The indis cretion of over-enthusiastic American students has created an international incident of huge pro portions. The Panamanians want their canal for themselves. We kindly told them "No" because the treaty says this piece of Panama belongs to the United States for all eternity. In most of the world Uncle Sam is made to look like Simon Legree. It appears to me that even the Russian rape of Hungary never g 0t as bad a press throughout the world as the American stand on Panama. It is hard to understand, for we haven’t 4 crushed the wil of the Panamanian people, or thrown around our military might. This is always the problem when one tries to be a gentleman about a dispute. The Russians can stoop to murder and are shortly afterwards welcomed with open arms by nations which should have more sense. We started off with what was termed ‘' cheerful ’’ news, but It does not end there. My good friend. Father Alber,t Nevltu. dfM.ryknoU.tdU us on, of our best allies In South America, Chile, la liable to go Communis, at the next electon. It gives one an tvMseme of frustration when you consider how muchwe haVe ^ ^ country and many others. not olU y Amer j^ ca. but throughout the world. We are going to need cool heads- If to aurvivf the coming months ‘a Communis,-Inspired: Som * * ^ 0ur °*n btept handling of given situ. 'J* « we are worrying about the Comntun^t ejloluHon, 0 f, hese Vituatlona. >« ■ *“« ^ * nd P ' 0ur »«" method, and public relations.