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PAGE 2 GEORGIA BULLETIN THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1964
NEWSMAN EXPLAINS
How Poor Are The
Latin Americans?
The Bishops of the United States
are sponsoring an organized ef
fort to aid the Church in Latin
America. The Alliance for Pro
gress is being revamped. The
Latin American Bishops are
pushing for an overall renewal
of the Church there. The follow
ing article dealing with the
poverty in the area, was writ
ten by the editor of Noticias
Catolicas, Spanish language ed
ition of the N. C. W. C News
Service.
BY JAIME FONSECA
N. C. W. C. NEWS SERVICE
How poor are Latin Ameri
cans?
Twenty million families—
half the total population— live
on an average of $55 a month.
The more diligent manage to
make up to $ 100.
A middle mass of 18 mill
ion families have an income of
$200 a month. Some have earn
ings of up to $500, but not all
the time.
THESE families average
from five to six members.
Next comes the big jump, to
the contrast so typical in Latin
America, between the rich and
the poor; 3% of the population
or about 1.2 million families
have an income of $800 a month,
and many make as much as
$1,200.
Close to them come the top
rich, 2% of the Latin Americans
receiving about 20% of the total
income. These are the 800,000
families earning $1,600 a month
or more.
These figures vary according
to countries and regions, but
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U. N. Economic Commission
for Latin America.
THE FIGURES mean little
unless you visit with these fam
ilies.
At Sao Paulo in Brazil Don
Manoel Tejeria gives a party
for some visiting American
businessmen. He is the owner
of a large coffee plantation and
has substantial investments in
real estate. His mansion is
adorned with original paintings,
the furniture comes from
Europe, and the house has the
latest electronic gadgets from
the United States. Don Manoel
has a large family, several ser
vants, two cars, but otherwise
he is a frugal man, devoted to
his children, and pays fair
wages to his workers. He con
tributes generously to church
and charity drives. His earn
ings, he tells his guests, are at
a standstill because of the in
flation gripping this country.
Aside from import duties on his
luxury items he pays little
taxes.
Among his neighbors and fr
iends are high government and
banking officials, a few indust
rialists and importers and
other landed families. The Te-
jelras have counterparts in
and Peru, except that their in
comes may come from mining
cattle ranches or manufactur
ing.
AT EL SALVADOR a suc
cessful architect, Eduardo
Strayer, earns about $1,000
a month. Besides his home in
an exclusive neighborhood, he
owns a cottage in the country
side. His grandparents came
from Germany, but he is for all
practical purposes a full—
! blooded Salvadorian. Among his
costumers for modern homes
and commercial buildings are
coffee growers, high govern
ment officials, a few managers
with American or European
firms and other professional
men.
I was invited to the birthday
party for TonyFuentes in Quito,
Ecuador, the five-year-old son
of a llnotypist I had known for
many years. Ramon, a Young
Christian Workers' leader, is
one of my best sources of in
formation but never before had
he gone so far as to have me
at his home. I found out why.
They had lived in a shack. This
time Ramon and his wife—an
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attractive mestizo girl - had
just moved into theirnewhome,
a modest house in a row of doz
ens built with Alliance for Pro
gress funds. The party was a
gay, simple affair, with about 15
children from neighboring
homes. Their Sunday clothes
were carefully mended. The
furniture was equally modest.
Ramon still had to put some
finishing touches on the house,
but it was pleasant. They had
saved for six years and now had
been able to put a small down
payment on it. He makes about
$40 a week. They have three
children
THERE ARE millions of
families of skilled workers,
like the Fuentes, semi-skilled
laborers in construction and
farmers all over the continent.
They provide the bulk of the
government's budgets through
indirect taxes, mostly on im
ports.
At the lower level are the
farm hands, the thousands of
unskilled city "peones", the
maids and their dependents, and
those street vendors thatfillthe
capitals of Latin America. They
live in slums or huts.
There is a mass of Indians
along the Andes and the Sierra
Maestra, and Negroes and
Mulattos in sectors of Brazil
and Haiti that don't even "be
long" to any economic group,
because they do not receive any
cash pay for their labors, and
produce just enough to subsist.
"FIVE families in a hundred
consume 30% of all the goods
and services, while 50 live on
20% of available goods, and the
other 45 consume the rest,"
a young communist remarked.
"In less technical terms, the
wealthy class spends extravag
ant sums to maintain its so
cial prestige,while large multi
tudes live in subhuman condi
tions, undernourished, cloth
ed in rags, ill-sheltered, un
schooled and sick."
Someone figured that the rich
families in Latin America spend
15 times more than the poor.
In the countries of Western
Europe, the rich spend only nine
times as much as the poorest.
"If we could only change the
lavish habits of the rich, we
could increase investment in
local manufacturing andfarm-
lng, and raise the Income of
many poor families," the
economist said.
MOST LATIN Americans are
earnest, hard-working people.
Out of 206 million, about 58.5%
are economically active and
manage to produce some $60
billion worth of goods and ser
vices a year (Americans pro
duce $600 billion). On the aver
age, the people south of the Rio
Grande are 3 times poorer
than those of Western Eruope,
and 10 times poorer than U. S.
citizens.
The "whys* of so much pov
erty and contrast are many. Re
cent studies^ highlight the
following:
—Geography: good farm land
is scarce on the continent; there
are vast expanses of usable soil
but they are difficult to reach.
Rainfall is uneven, high ranges
or deserts isolate communi
ties; except for La Plata River,
most of the big rivers go to the
jungles or sink into deserted
lands. Port facilities are few,
railroads and highways are ex
pensive to build and waterfalls
for power are farfrom populat
ion centers. While rich in most
minerals, Latin America is
poor in coal— a must for heavy
industry.
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WHERE INSURANCE IS A RROr*SSION NOT A SIDCLINI
s Agriculture; 53% of the
Latin Americans live from the
soil, yet they cannot produce
enough to feed themselves,
bring in dollar exchange for
mechanization and fertilizers,
and accumulate the savings
needed to capitalize for indust
rialization. The big "latifun-
dios" — often worked by share
• croppers- waste soil and
manpower as the owners are
content to extract a comfortable
profit for their Immediate
needs only. Much of the burden
of earning real money falls on
the modern big plantations in
the Caribbean, Central Amer
ica and the coastal, tropical pl
ains of South America; they
produce coffee, bananas and
sugar. The La Plata countries
KING REX and Queen Rosemary are shown with their Court at the Knights of Columbus 7th Annual
Charity Mardi Gras Ball held recently at the Atlanta Biltmore. Mrs, James D. Hogan, of St. Joseph
Council, Marietta, was queen and Joseph J. Zwicknagel, of Fr. Thomas J. O'Reilly Council, De
catur, was King Rex.
sell wheat, com, meat and
wool.
THESE ARE the raw mater
ials, along with petroleum and
minerals in Venezuela, Chile
and Bolivia, that make all these
countries dangerously depen
dent on a one-crop, one- pro
duct economy. Any fluctua
tion in world prices spells dis
aster. Economists figure that
14 of these nations lost $700
million in one year recently as
the result of a slight decline in
world prices. For instance,
coffee has dropped more than
50% since 1955. The families
have seen their income declin
ing 1% per year since 1955.
Americans do not realize it,
but the Latins have been in a
real "depression" over the last
eight years. Food and mineral
exports in the area have faced
a decline of more than $ 10 bil
lion a year in the last decade.
—Inflation: The tremendous
difference in the "terms of
trade," the name given to the
deficit resulting from exporting
raw materials at low prices and
importing manufactured pro
ducts at rising prices, has re
sulted in spiraling inflation.
Using 100 as representing the
cost of living 10 years ago,
Bolivia’s costs have gone up
3,350%, Chile’s 1,160%, Bra
zil's 500%, Argentina’s 600%,
Uruguay’s 300%. The currenc
ies have suffered devaluations
that hurt most the savings and
wages of the poorer classes.
In all, bread, meat, bus fares
and clothing cost four times
more now than in 1953.
—People: The fact that the
163 million mouths of 1950 are
now 206 million and will be
come 300 million by 1975 is
not helping things. Each year
some 30 million new workers
knock at the doors of farms,
factories, offices and shops
looking for jobs. Only a frac
tion find work. Unemployment
is high. Argentina, with a labor
force of 7 million, has 500,000
jobless. Venezuela had 350,000
men idle a few months ago. And
this country, along with Mexico,
Columbia, Brazil and the coun
tries of Central America, are
among the areas making real
economic progress and opening
more job opportunities.
—Industrialization; More
manufacturing is underway—to
diversify products, provide for
local needs and savings, invest
ment capital is scarce (with
U. S„ Western Europe and Ja
pan supplying a good deal now).
Native millionaires invest in
manufacturing only as an ex
ception to the rule. There is
lack of skilled labor, and out
side of Brazil, Mexico, Argen
tina and Central America, in
ternal markets are weak and
small. Most governments take
up industrial and trade pro
grams because private sources
cannot do it.
There is another factor in the
poverty of many Latin Ameri
cans: they do not care to be
rich. Juan Sanchez, a mestizo
vendor in Taxco in southern
Mexico, would fold up his tent
and put aside his tourist souv
enirs promptly at five to go
home and watch from his hill
the beautiful sunset rather than
exert himself to become rich.
THEOLOGIAN SAYS
Holy See Has Condemned
Use Of Oral Contraceptives
Father Ford is a well-known
authority on medico - moral
issues and comments on the use
of contraceptive pills. The
author is professor of moral
theology at the Catholic Uni
versity of America and coauthor
of a recently published book
on moral questions in marriage.
BY JOHN C. FORD, S.J.
(N.C.W.C. NEWS SERVICE)
In discussion of the con
traceptive pill one cardinal
factor is often omitted. It is a
surprising omission: The Holy
See has already authoritatively
condemned the use of the pill
as a contraceptive.
On Sept. 12, 1958, Pope Pius
XII clearly and explicitly re
jected as immoral the con
traceptive use of drugs, or pills,
or medicines, which "by pre
venting ovulation make fec
undation impossible."
THERE CAN be no doubt that
he intended this teaching to be
binding in conscience. He ap
peals to previous authoritative
documents on direct sterilizat
ion, whether permanent or tem
porary, He appeals, for in
stance, to the Encyclical Castl
Connubll (1930), to a decree
of the Holy Office published
with papal approval (1940), and
several of his own allocutions,
notably the Address to the Mid
wives (Oct. 29, 1951).
Of this latter address he said
the following year: "Mindful,
however, of the right and duty
of the Apostolic See to intervene
authoritatively, when need
arises, in moral questions, in
the address of 29th October
last we set out to enlighten
men's consciences on the pro
blems of married life."
FURTHERMORE, in his ad
dress of Sept. 12, 1958, in the
section devoted to sterilization
and the sterilizing drugs, he
rebukes moral theologians who
defend the use of sterilizing
drugs for the purpose of pre
venting conception; says they
are in error; and threatens
their opinions with ecclesiasti
cal condemnation,
'The Holy See finds itself
then," he says, 4 In a situat
ion like that of Blessed In
nocent XI, who saw himself
more than once obliged to con
demn moral theses put forward
by theologians animated by in
discreet zeal» and a rashness
showing little discernment."
It is obvious therefore that
the Holy See, through Pius XII,
was acting authoritatively when
it condemned the contraceptive
use of the new pills.
IT IS true that theologians
do not consider that such moral
pronouncements are proposed
to the faithful like an article
of faith, taught with infallible
authority. But it is part of Ca
tholic teaching that even when
the Pope does not use his su
preme infallible power, his
authoritative pronouncements
call for acceptance, and, where
moral matters are concerned,
are binding in practice on the
consciences of Catholics.
The contraceptive pill as we
know it today does not differ
in any significant way from the
pill condemned by the Holy See.
No new medical factors
have been made known which
make its contraceptive use to
day morally different from the
contraceptive use which Pius
XII declared immoral five and
one half years ago.
CONSEQUENTLY, unless and
Or Even ‘Ember*
Tingsing, Burma—A person
can get just too liturgical, con
cluded Father Lawrence Mc
Mahon, S. S. C., of Chicago,
Ill, as he was baptizing a gro
up of infants here recently. A
parishioner handed theColum-
ban missionary a slip of pap
er on which was written the
baby’s name - Feria, taken
from the Church calendar for
December 14, the baby's birth
day.
Father McMahon explained
that feria means a day upon
which no saint is honored and
suggested Rita as a better
name. "But although I baptized
her Rita," said the missionary.
"I’m sure she’ll always be
Feria to her parents. 1"
until the Holy See gives Its
approval to some other teaching
(a highly unlikely eventuality),
no lesser authority in the
Church, and least of all a pri
vate theologian, is at liberty
to teach a different doctrine, or
to free Catholics in practice
from their obligation to accept
papal teaching.
This does not mean that there
is nothing left for Catholic theo
logians to say about the pill.
Theologians are still dis
cussing certain of its uses to
determine whether they are
really contraceptive. In Chapter
16 of our recent book "Marriage
Questions" (Vol. II of "Con
temporary Moral Theology,"
Newman Press) Father Gerald
Kelly and 1 try to contribute
to this discussion by explaining
some of these possibilities.
FURTHERMORE, there is
well founded hope that medical
science will discover soon a
pill which will regulate
ovulation with enough precision
to make the use of rhythm
secure and effective. This is
just what Plus XII hoped would
take place.
Theological journals will
continue to publish the speculat
ions of moral theologians on
these problems. Some of these
speculations are merely tentat
ive, and among the most recent
ones some are proposed for
consideration of and correct
ion by fellow theologians. Such
publications cannot be con
sidered definitive of practical,
moral obligations on which the
Holy See has already given its
decision.
Catholics should realize, too,
that not only those theologians
who tend to enlarge the legiti
mate scope of the pill, but those
who tend to restrict it, are
equally concerned over * the
trying problems married people
face today.The moral dilemmas
occasioned by generous mar
ried love, generous in its self
donation, generous in its fruit
fulness, are the preoccupation
of all the theologians concerned.
Neither they nor the married
Catholics can hope to solve
these dilemmas by ignoring the
teaching of the Holy See,
HE KNOWS
To Know What’s
Cooking? Ask
Bro• Zaccarelli
BY BILL RING
(N. C. W. C. NEWS SERVICE)
WASHINGTON — In a quiet,
dignified manner, Brother Her
man E. Zaccarelli, C. S. C„
has been hopscotching about
the countryside cooking up a
storm about cooking.
With the personable, soft-
spoken Brother, who is stat
ioned at Stonehill College, North
Easton, Mass., it's not just a
question of what’s cooking, but
who and how much. That’s why
he’s scheduled the 8th annual
Catholic Food Service Work
shop for Brothers and nuns en
gaged in the culinary art from
Aug. 2 to 15 at Stonehill Col
lege.
"LOOK AT it this way,"
said Brother Zaccarelli during
a stop-off here in the nation’s
capital. "Preparing meals for
a family of four or five often
becomes a vexing problem for
many a housewife. But multi
ply that family by 20,50 or even
100 and you begin to get some
idea of the situation faced by a
Religious in charge of prepar
ing and serving the meals in a
motherhouse, college, semin
ary, novitiate, hospital or some
other large institution.”
It could be said that Bro
ther Zaccarelli’s proposition
starts out on that old premise
of "any goof can cook an
oeuf"—even though it doesn't
rhyme in French~and goes on
from there. It’s not as simple
as throwing a steak or a couple
of chops and a few vegetables
on the fire—there’s a lot
to be learned these days about
nutrition, diet, menu planning,
food purchasing, storage, sani
tation and scores of other short
cuts in the art of making it
cheaper when cooking by the
dozens.
AS BROTHER Zaccarelli put
it, the business of knowing how
much and what kind of staples
and canned goods to buy in
creases and changes almost
daily as new innovations in
frozen foods are introduced.
’There were a couple of
Brothers in charge of the kit
chen of a Midwest community
who attended one of our work
shops,” Brother Zaccarelli
said. "They were able to ef
fect a saving of between $4,
000 and $5,000 a year in food
purchases alone as a result of
their studies."
Brother Zaccarelli received
his kitchen baptism when a 13-
year-old high schooler in his
native New Castle, Pa., He got
an after-school job as a bus
boy in a restaurant, was pro
moted to dishwasher and had
advanced to salad chef when he
decided to enter religious life.
HIS FIRST assignment in the
Holy Cross Brotherhood was in
Stonehill College’s food ser
vice department, which he now
directs. He remembered:
"After I was assigned the job, I
found I had lots to learn de
spite my experience. I just was
untrained." So off he went to
Cornell University’s school of
hotel and restaurant admini
stration and later he took ad
vanced courses here at George
Washington University.
’That’s another mistake too
many religious communities
make—they are reluctant to
send their members to secular
institutions for studies," Bro
ther Zaccarelli said.
He started out some 15 years
ago by conducting a small-scale
cooking school at Stonehill Col
lege. It proved worthwhile, so
he elaborated on the courses and
in 1956 conducted the first
workshop with some 30
Brothers and nuns as pupils,
"NOW WE HAVE all we can
handle," he said. "Our work
shops run from 10 days to two
weeks. They are attended by
some 200 Religious from 45
communities in 31 states and
Canada. We have ample facili
ties on the college campus to
accommodate our students. We
now are having lectures in
French as well as English for
the benefit of the increasing
numbers of Canadian Religious
who attend our courses."
Experts in the field of food-
for - thought - about - food
serve on the faculty. They tackle
problems dealing with food pur
chasing, preparation, storage,
menu planning, diets, nutrition-
even what to do with leftovers.
Brother Zaccarelli, who has
conducted such workshops in
various sections of the country,
remarked: ’This summer we’ll
be getting into the ecumenical
spirit of the times. We have
six Episcopalian nuns register
ed for the course."
42,990 Cubans
Are Relocated
MIAMI (NC)—Catholic Relief
Services - National Catholic
Welfare Conference has relo
cated 42,990 Cuban refugees
since 1961,
A total of 73,978 of the exiles
have been resettled to other
areas of the U.S. since the re
settlement program began Feb.
1, 1961. Combined efforts of
Church World Service, United
HIAS, and the International Res
cue Committee have arranged
transportation for 30,988 of the
exiles.
TAX RETURNS
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