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THE CATHOLIC PRESS-3 THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1964 GEORGIA BULLETIN P/ GE 3 Instilling In Readers, A Strong Sense Of Community This is the third of a series of 12 articles on the Catholic Press written exclusively for the GEORGIA BULLETIN by leading editors through out the country. John G. Deedy, Jr. is editor of the Pittsburgh Catholic, official newspaper of the Diocese of Pittsburgh. He is one of the "new breed" of young, vital Catholic newsmen who work in the Press Apostolate. BY JOHN G. DEEDY, JR. There are numerous problems facing the Catholic Press in America, but few are more immediate than the Catholic Press developing and, in turn, instilling in its readers a strong sense of community. One of the curious phenomena of the history of the Catholic Press in this country is the zeal with which it has served devotional and institu tional Catholicism, and thecasualnesswith which it has reported the communal environs of its readership. For instance, over the years the Cath olic Press has conscientiously familiarized rea ders with the civil services of faraway Vatican City (its jail, railway station, fire department, telephone system, salary programs, etc.) while at the same time it has ignored these same civil departments and programs in the locale of publication — the locale, ironically, into which its Catholic readership is expected to carry the influence of religious conviction and Catholic social thought. CONSEQUENTLY, if there has been a prob lem (and, indeed, there has) about the influence of the Catholic on the community, the Catholic press bears a measure of accountability. In exam ining its conscience on the matter, the Catholic Press can take no consolation in the reasoning that it gave its readership (a) what it wanted, (b) what it was capable of absorbing, and (c) what was good for business and religion. The press has duties and responsibilities which trans cend simplistic codes. Mr. Dooley of happy bar- tending memory used to say that one of the func tions of the press was to "comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable." The Catholic Press has only of late and to limited degree come to subscribe to this Dooley logic. Too long the Catholic Press’ mode of operation has been the antithesis of Mr. Dooley's counsel. It has com forted the comfortable, saved the saved, and af flicted as few as possible — at least as few Catholics. THE CATHOLIC Press complains about a fringe-Catholic readership, but its readership is thus because the Catholic Press itself has been a fringe-Catholic press. It is here that the chall enge of which we write is joined. The Catholic Press must instill in its readers a real sense of community, a sense of belonging and caring, from the international right down to the local level and extending into all temporal areas of activity. This challenge has civic, political, cultural, intellectual and religious implications, and the meeting of it depends on a press of vision, depth and perception. A Catholic Press with strong pro pensities for crusaders on issues which enjoy a JOHN G. DEEDY, JR. legal tolerance and/or moral acceptability among others in the community (for example, birth con trol, Sunday sales, censorship) will never pro duce a readership sensitive to the larger consi derations of life in a pluralistic society, nor a readership capable of making much in the way of positive contribution to its milieu. Likewise, a Catholic Press engrossed in banalities will never be able to fulfill the obligations of thought fulness and constructive involvement that it has to a Catholic population which may be presumed to be interested more and more in the things of the mind and the world of men, and less and less in sentimentalism, emotionalism and the narrow ecclesiastical precincts of yesterday. A CATHOLIC press operationg with its eyes on the world , not merely the Church sanctuary, will be a press that will be misunderstood both within and without the family. There will be those who will accuse such a press of butting its nose where it has no business; they will "thank" the press to stay where it allegedly belongs, in the insipient world of the devout. But if the whole world is God’s, if religion should reach into every corner of this world, and if belief should inspire man's meaningful actions, then the relig ious press has not only a right, but a duty to interest iself in, report and help shape the tem poral sphere. This is the challenge; well met, it means a Catholic Press of new prestige and influence better serving God, Church and state. One might stress, however, that the challenges of the Catholic Press do not belong exclusively to the newsmen who produce the product. A chall enge also exists for those for whom the Catholic newspaper or magazine is produced. Fr. Karl Rahner, S. J., in his little classic "Free Speech in the Church" (Sheed & Ward, 1959), argues the obligation of the informed lay man to make his personal contribution to the development of public opinion within the Church and its dissemination outside her. The layman cannot limit himself, Fr. Rahner writes, solely to Mass and the sacraments, and then be list less about or proceed to criticize everything the Church says and does, especially in the realm of social action. Fr. Rahner stresses the ur gency of keeping in touch with "the vital sources at the heart of the Church’s supernatural acti vity.” The layman should know his parish priest, he points out; he should also know (and Fr. Rah ner concedes that this does not mean he must become a "joiner”) that there are certain types of Church organizations to which he quite rightly is expected to belong. Then, pertinent to our dis cussion, Fr. Rahner continues; “THERE IS SUCH a thing as the Catholic Press, for instance. Now it seems doubtful whether this is always as good as it might be, but it will cer tainly never be any better than it is as long as people, educated Catholics in particular, simply assume that it is beneath their dignity to read it and support it." This is an important point; it makes the pro blem of excellence in the Catholic Press the responsibility not merely of the professional Catholic journalist, but also of the individual Catholic. "If people have any complaints about the Catholic Press," writes Fr. Rahner, "they should make them known to the people who can do some thing about it." After that it is the job of the editor and his superiors to see that the product improves. SUPREME COURT BRIEF Virginia School Plan Assailed By CEF Group WASHINGTON (NC) — TheU.S. Supreme Court has been asked to bar state and county tuition grants and tax credits for segregated education in Prince Edward County, Va. f on the grounds that they involve racial, religious and geographic dis crimination. This argument is urged on the court in an amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief sub mitted by Citizens for Educat ional Freedom, a national or- MRVI CM* 1ST AS A HOLY CROSS BROTHER > 11ACHING .BOYS* HOMES I RANCHING • OENCI WORK . TRADES • FOREIGN MISSIONS P For Information IF rite: brother Donald Hansel, CSC 104 Holy Cross School 4950 Dm u phi nr Str«*t New Orlt-Hun, I.m. 7011? ganization of 25, 000 members "dedicated to freedom of choice in education." THE CEF BRIEF supports the idea of public assistance to citizens so they can attend schools of their choice—pub lic or private, church-affili ated or nonsectarian — but warns that discrimination on religious or other grounds in allocating such aid opens "a whole Pandora's box of pre judices." The Supreme Court agreed Jan. 6 to consider the Prince Edward County school dispute. It has set March 30 as the date for oral arguments in the con troversy. The Prince Edward County case was one of the original school desegregation cases dealt with by the Supreme Court a decade ago. In 1959 the county closed down its pub lic schools rather than de segregate them. A PRIVATE school foundat ion was set up to provide edu cation for white pupils. It was aided by grants and tax credits from the county and state. Later, however, a Federal district court barred further grants and credits on grounds of discrimination. The CEF brief asks the Supreme Court to con tinue this ban. Theoretically, the organizat ion says, the Virginia tuition grant plan represents ' 'an im portant step in fostering educational freedom" through Mfoie/i plot Ofstlft STONE I SHRIMP CLAWS lOftSTlll In Bu<kh»adl 233-4125 a four-year liberal arts college FLORIDA'S CATHOLIC COLLEGE of DISTINCTION Co-Educational Write; Director of Admissions SAINT LEO COLLEGE SAINT LEO, FLORIDA encouraging "diversity" in education. "But,” it adds, "considering the delicacy and importance of the subject matter involved, it is all the more imperative that strict distributive justice be observed in administration of tuition grants... "IF EVERYONE is sub sidized in the choice of a school except he who chooses a school with a religious af- fliation; except he who would cross the county line; except this person or that, we open a whole Pandora’s box of pre judices." The state and county aid in Prince Edward County was limited to nonsectarian private schools; church-affiliated in stitutions were excluded. This constitutes denial of "equal protection of the laws against religious discrimination,"CEF says. In addition, aid went only to. students attending public schools outside the county or private schools within the county. This is denial of "equal protection of the laws against geographic discrimination," the brief declares. FINALLY, CEF says, the ef fect of the Prince Edward plan was to prevent ' 'equal protect ion of the laws against racial discrimination" because bene-, fits went only to students at tending "a 'private nonsectar ian’ substitute for public schools closed to avoid desegregation,' Emphasizing the denial of free choice in education in the Prince Edward situation, Citi zens for Educational Freedom points to the experience of the Prince Edward County Chris tian Council, set up by Negroes to operate "training centers" for Negro children after the public schools were closed. CEF says that because of Its designation as "Christian" this group was disqualified from state and county aid. "YET IT is quite obvious," CEF comments, "that the Prince Edward Christian Coun cil might easily have changed its name so as to make its 'students' eligible for tuition grants and its donors eligible for tax credits ... It could benefit all of these people- students and donors—by mere ly surrendering its convictions. "But it is plain that the Chris tian Council, its supporters, students, and donors will not sell their convictions in ex change for a tuition grant or tax credit. . . , 'The only purpose served by the tuition grants was to tempt the people of Prince Edward County to surrender their moral, religious and legal prin ciples,” OF U.S. HIERACHY FOUR OUT OF seventy-four Marist seniors were finalists in the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying test. Left to right in the front row are finalists C. Vance Arnold, and Robert Bockman and Paul Applegarth (the last two regular contributors to the GEORGIA BULLETIN). Looking on is fourth finalist David Go- vus. Applegarth Tied with two other students to make the high est score in the entire state of Georgia, UNEASY TRUCE Reds Provoking Peruvian Revolt BY ANDRES RUSZKOWSKI (N. C. W. C. NEWS SERVICE) LIMA, Perus — The shadow of Castro communism has rea ched into Peru and turned a land reform program into a near rebellion. The Peruvian government has responded to clashes in the Andean region around Cuzco by proclaiming a month’s martial law. But the truce is uneasy, and there are fears of recur rence of the violence that brought 15 deaths when soldi ers dislodged 8,000 farmers from lands they had taken over. OBSERVERS here say the pattern is similar to that of Venezuela, where Cuban-tra ined communists tried to-nullify a recent national election through terror. Arms and propaganda material found here in Lima are said to confirm the revolutionaries' links with Fidel Castro. Land reform is being under taken in Peru by the government of President Fernando Belaude Terry incoalition with the Christian Democrats. The communists, it is clear, are de termined to sabotage the pro gram. THE government arrested 40 Red leaders in Cuzco. It is said that a plot was in pro gress to set up an independent state in the south of Peru with a pro-Castro government. When the arrest of the com munist became known, an invasion of farmlands began at Canchis in Cuzco state. It was this action that led to the blood shed at Los Molinos. The in vaders were led by a group of women. Behind them came a group hurling stones at the op posing guardsmen and police, The feeling was so high among the people that after the clashes one wonan is reported to have refused to allow her son to be taken to a hospital. She declared; "He is my only son. But may he die so that others may know what is happening herel". IN THE Cuzco region, farm ownership is fairly wide spread, and there are few of the large estates found else where in Peru. Most farmers live in relatively comfortable homes. Nevertheless the area has been the scene of intense communist agitation since 1961 TO FARMERS Pontiff Praises Relief Services NEW YORK (NC) — Pope Paul VI has praised the work of Catholic Relief Services— National Catholic Welfare Con ference as an "outstanding ex ample of fraternal love" and urged all U. S. Catholics to support it. "We cherish the confident hope that the Catholics of the United States will continue their steadfast cooperation with this most worthy cause,” Pope Paul said in a message to the Bis hops of the United States. THE POPE’S message was sent in connection with the 1964 Bishops’ Relief Fund Appeal, which will be conducted nation wide from March 1 to 8. A minimum goal of $5 million has been set for the campaign, which is the chief financial sup port of CRS — NCWC. Catholic Relief Services, the U. S. Catholic overseas relief agency, is the nation’s largest private voluntary overseas re lief group. During 1963 it aided more than 40 million needy persons and conducted relief and techni cal assistance programs in 70 countries. The shipments of re lief goods totaled 900,000 tons and were valued at more than $176 million. POPE PAUL'S message re viewed the agency’s develop ment from the time of World War II, when it sought to alle viate the "devastating effects" of the conflict on "millions of peoples throughout the world,” to the present. He said the charity of the U. S. Bishops, as shown in Cath olic Relief Services, "has im pelled you to make the world • your vineyard." Priest Champions Migrant Workers TUCSON, Ariz. (NC) — A priest-authority on agriculture told a group of farmers here; "If you want skilled Ameri can laborers to work on your farms, give them American type Jobs.” Father James L. Vizzard, S. J., speaking (Feb. 10) at the threeday National Farm Labor Conference, sponsored by the U. S. Labor Department’s bureau of employment security, said farmers should nto be sur prised that so many different groups are concerned about mi grant farm workers. AS REPRESENTATIVE of the National Council of Agri cultural life and Labor, he said Protestant, Jew ish and Catholic groups, the AFL-CIO, and other civic and welfare groups are interested whenever people are poor, sick, hungry, underpaid and oppressed. One of the main reasons, he said, is; "Slums, whether urban or rural, breed irreligion and a lowered moral condition." FATHER Vizzard said he found it easy to hold a dialo gue with large growers about improving the lot of the mi grant workers w ithout endan gering the right of the growers to a decent profit. But, he con tended: "A profit cannot be gai ned at the price of human mis ery. And consumers in America would gag on their lettuce, if they knew the inhuman condi tions of the men who brought it to their table.” "We have noted with paternal interest that, as the years go on, your overseas program of relief, resettlement and assis tance in the fields of health, ed ucation and welfare has shown a steady increase in most areas, demonstrating that the poor and needy are always to be found,” the Pope said. Peachtree Road Pharmacy Pick Up and Delivery Service'' Call CE 7-6466 4062 Peachtree Rd. 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