Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 2 GEORGIA BULLETIN THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 1964
AFRICAN BISHOPS SAY
Prelate’s Apartheid View
Not That Of Heirarchy
CAPE TOWN, South Africa
(NC) —The chairman of the
South African Bishops* Con
ference declared here that a
statement by Archbishop
William P. Whelan, O.M.I., of
Bloemfontein upholding this
nation’s policy of apartheid—
strict race segregation—was
a personal one and not the of
ficial stand of the Church.
The chairman, Archbishop
Owen McCann of Cape Town,
countered assertions that Arch
bishop Whelan’s statement was
made on behalf of the South
African Hierarchy. He said that
if Archbishop Whelan had
intended making an official
statement, it would have first
had to be approved by the Bi
shops’ Conference, That body
did not discuss it, and there
fore it was not an official
statement, Archbishop McCann
said.
THE CAPE TOWN Arch
bishop said that Archbishop
Whelan was entitled to his own
views as head of the Bloem
fontein archdiocese, but that
those views were not those of
the Bishops’ Conference. But,
he added, insofar as Archbishop
Whelan quoted the joint state
ments of the South Africa Bi
shops, he was setting forth the
official attitude of the Church.
At the same time, Archbishop
Denis Hurley, O.M.I., of Dur
ban declared that it would be
“completely erroneous” to re
gard Archbishop Whelan’s
views as the official Church
position. Archbishop Hurley
said;
“ANY REPORT that this is
the official attitude of the
Church is completely er
roneous, Just as when I make
my speeches I do not expect
my views to be binding on the
Church, so Archbishop
Whelan’s views are in no way
the Church’s official attitude.”
Archbishop John Garner of
Pretoria—this country’s fourth
archbishop—declined to com
ment on Archbishop Whelan’s
statement until after the plenary
meeting of the Bishops' Con
ference scheduled to begin in
his See city on Feb. 22.
Ed Curtin
Presents
ALLEN COLLAY
SEXTET
— Flue
5:30 TO 7:30
BILL FARMER TRIO
Chatter • Humor • Mun;
Let Our Lounge Bo Your
Afternoon ond Ivoning
Ret root
DANCE AT THE
Sand Sauci
760 Woit rtroo TR. 5-4251
ARCHBISHOPS McCann and
Hurley spoke out after South
African government agencies,
including the republic’s infor
mation service in New York,
had released Archbishop
Whelan's statement with the as
sertion that “the Roman Ca
tholic Church of South Africa
today issued a statement clari
fying the attitude of the Church
toward South Africa’s racial
policy, apartheid,”
Archbishop Whelan himself
emphasized after releasing his
statement that it was not made
on behalf of the Bishops’ Con
ference. But he said that the
statement was not a purely
private expression of his views
as Archbishop of Bloemfontien.
He said it was released taking
into account his responsibility
to the Church as Director of
the Press, Cinema and Radio
Department of the Bishops’
Conference. He said it was
based on the encyclicals
of Pope John XXIII and on
statements made over the
years by the Bishops’ Con
ference. He singled out a 1952
Bishops’ statement which said
that “the great majority of non-
Europeans and particularly
Africans, have not yet reached
a state of development justi
fying integration.”
ARCHBISHOP Whelan’s state
ment was issued (Feb, 19) to
the whole South African press
through the South African Press
Association so that it could ap
pear in all papers at the same
time it was published in the
Cape Town Catholic weekly,
The Southern Cross.
The statement caused a sen
sation throughout South Africa
and a furor among the country’s
Catholics. It was the front page
lead in the Cape Town daily
of the ruling Nationalist party,
Die Burger, and featured by the
South African Broadcasting
Corporation. It was also the
main story in the Cape Argus,
organ of the United party.
THE PRELATE who issued
the statement is 56 and a native
of Wakkerstroom, South Africa.
Archbishop Whelan was ordain
ed in 1931, named Bishop of
Johannesburg in 1951 and ap
pointed to his present post in
1954.
He said in the statement that
South Africa’s current social
and political difficulties can
have a good outcome without
necessarily abandoning apart
heid.
ARCHBISHOP Whelan's stand
was regarded as an answer to
a speech delivered by Arch
bishop Hurley here on Jan.
16. In that address, the Durban
archbishop asserted that
apartheid, as envisioned in
South Africa, “cannot be pur
sued without injustice and is
therefore not in accord with
the Christian ethic,”
The evil of apartheid, said
Office Equipment Business Machines
Sales-Service-Supplies
PHONE 525-6417
ILXiB
Campony
PHONE 525-6417
172 WHITEHALL STREET, S.W.
ATLANTA 3, GEORGIA
TAX RETURNS
TURNER
AUDITING SERVICE
2355 MATHEWS ST. N.E.
CE 3-3584
Archbishop Hurley, is that it
refuses recognition of human
dignity, “and by every cruel
refinement of law, custom and
convention pours scorn on
the humanity of men and women
created with an inborn hunger
for recognition, for acceptance
by their fellow men.”
ARCHBISHOP Whelan said in
statement, issued as an inter
view, that South African
apartheid as a whole has never
been officially. . . condemned
by the Catholic Church. Then
asked whether there are ‘Items
in the present government’s
policy which could be consid
ered immoral,” he replied:
“It is common knowledge that
the application of several pro
visions of our racial legislation
involve hardship and injury to
conditions of Bantu urban em
ployment; unreasonable job re
servation; restriction of the
freedom of the Bantu worker
to improve his economic
and social position; restriction
on the freedom of the Bantu
worker to choose his employer,
to alternate employment, or to
offer his services to the high
est bidder; restriction on the
place of abode which sep
arates members of the same
family.”
BUT ARCHBISHOP Whelan
said that the crucial point at
issue is whether apartheid is
Inherently wrong in itself, not
the actual laws which the
government makes to im
plement it. On this question he
declared:
‘•There is no teaching of
the Church in opposition to the
idea of a state composed of
a number of national or racial
groups, maintained in their
separate and distinct identity
by the state of which they form
a part. This is clear from the
Church's attitude concerning
the rights of national minorit
ies, so hotly debated during the
first 50 years of this century.
‘THIS HAS been reiterated
recently in Pope John's encycli
cal Peace on Earth.The Church
has often declared that public
authorities have an obligation
to assist the cultural and racial
groups in a pluralistic state
in their distinctive develop
ment.”
PRIEST ASKS
ROMAN ROTA
Found Radziwill
Marriage Null
CARDINAL AT AWARDS CEREMONY—Hubert Locke (left), executive director of the
Citizens’ Committee for Equal Opportunity, is shown in Detroit presenting a special cita
tion to Francis Cardinal Spellman, Archbishop of New York, at a ceremony observing
annual National Negro History Week. The cardinal was cited by Detroit’s Negro com
munity for his “forthright and unequivocal stand on inter-racial justice.” Receiving cita
tions also were Dr. Benjamin Mays (right), president of Morehouse College, Atlanta, Ga.,
and Leslie Shaw of Los Angeles, Calif., the only Nejro postmaster in the U.S.
NCWC OFFICIAL
Disputes South African
Bishop On Race Policy
(The author of the following
article, which disputes the the4
sis that Catholic social doctrine
can tolerate enforced segrega
tion, is the assistant director of
the Social Action Department
of the National Catholic Wel
fare Conference. Long active in
the movementfor racial justice,
he was one of three clergymen
who presented a joint statement
to a congressional committee
in September backing the ad
ministration’s civil rights pro
gram.)
By Father John F. Cronin, S.S.
(N. C. W. C. NEWS SERVICE)
The conflict on racial segre
gation among the Catholic arch
bishops of South Africa was
widely reported in the American
press. It is already being used
to discredit the 1958 stand of
the Catholic Bishops of the
United States.
Our Bishops said: “Legal
segregation, or any form of
compulsory segregation, in it-
‘Should Theologian
Huff If We Puff ?’
yi *
UYBEHT/
TCOMPANY
• MINTING 1/
TRinity
550 FORREST ROAD, N, 1,
* LITHOGRAPHING
5-4717
ATLANTA, GEORGIA
Strvint Atlanta Sint* Jilt
NEW YORK (RNS)— A fun-
loving priest and pastor, un
fortunately anonymous, twits
theologians for their statements
on smoking and morality in a
letter that seems to be gain
ing circulation in mimeograph
ed form throughout the East.
“For those who are interest
ed,” the priest wrote, “I don’t
think smoking to any degree is
sinful, venially or mortally,
unless the cigarettes or cigars
are stolen or the smoker keeps
at it until he suffocates.
", . .Theologians must not
huff because people like to
puff.”
RNS RECEIVED the “past
oral” from a distinguished
priest known to Catholics and
Protestants for work in the
Christian unity field; he had re
ceived it from- a “nearby
seminary” which had received
it from another seminary. At
that point research ended and
the author arbitrarily was
identified as Father John J.
Anon,
In discussing recent com
ments of theologians, spurred
by the link of cancer to
cigarettes, Father Anon said
“basically it’s a matter of num
bers:
“OVER TWO packs daily will
land you in Purgatory, while
smoking after a doctor warns
you that the habit is bringing
you to an early grave may
mean hell fire. Smoke now and
burn hereafter. . ,
“I don’t mean to be or sound
impious or like an angry iconoc
last. I just think someone ought
to stop theologians from dis
covering new sins whenever
logic seems to trap such crit
ters.
“I THINK moral pronounce
ments on smoking cigarettes
contribute not to piety and up
right, but merely to scrupulosi
ty. In a word, it’s the old pastime
of straining at gnats. But then,
perhaps even theologians have
to have psychological compen
sations In their work. ’As un
derstanding as 1 like to be, I
also must protest this unneces
sary extension of the devil’s
domain.
“While I enjoy no degree in
theology, as a priest and pastor
I’m entitled to express my opin
ion on these questions until an
authoritative pronouncement is
issued to the contrary, . .
“I THINK people sin against
health when an act is performed
that knowingly injures them
NOW (that is, within a reason
able period of time), certainly
not years or decades later. I
may be wrong, but as I un
derstand it, the stewardship of
our bodies does not impose an
obligation to strive for
longevity. To protect the health
is one thing; to make a career
of it is something else. Heck,
we’re only human and life isn’t
that wonderful that we have to
keep squeezing every last
moment from it.”
Father Anon wrote that he
supposed “the next thing we’ll
be told is that everyone must
get to bed by 9 p.m. because
some study has shown that
people who get to bed late have
triple the mortality rate of those
who sack in early.
“THEREAFTER it will be
considered a venial sin to watch
the Late Show and a mortal sta
to watch the Late, Late Show,
unless it’s done only once a
week.. .or less.”
self and by its very nature im
poses a stigma of inferiority
upon the segregated people....
We cannot reconcile such a
judgment with the Christian
view of man's nature and rights.
YET ARCHBISHOP William
P. Whelan, O.M.I., of Bloemfon
tein wrote that apartheid, which
involves extensive segregation,
is not immoral. While admitting
that the actual application in
South Africa does lead to ser
ious injustices, he holds that
separate development of the
races can be defended. He
quotes as justification Pope
John XXIII's Pacem in Terris,
which upholds in a qualified
fashion die rights of minorities
within a nation to some degree
of cultural independence.
It is only a partial l answer
to Archbishop Whelan to note
that Archbishops Owen McCann
of Cape Town and Denis Hurley,
O.M.I., of Durban took excep
tion to his position. They held
that he was speaking only for
himself and that his views could
not be interpreted as the offi
cial position of the Church in
South Africa. Still the question
is going to be asked: If segre
gation is immoral in the United
States, how can it be moral in
the Archdiocese of Bloemfon
tein?
TO ANSWER this question,
we must distinguish between
clear moral principles and the
application of these principles
to concrete social and political
conditions. For example, it is
immoral to risk one’s health
unnecessarily. Does this mean
that boxing or cigarette smok
ing are immoral? Much depends
on circumstances, and even
here there may be differences of
opinion among theologians.
In regard to the race prob
lem, it is clear that all men
are fundamentally equal in the
sight of God. People do differ
in ability, character, tempera
ment, and cultural background.
But such differences do not af
fect their basic rights and their
moral equality.
IN THE judgment of the
American Bishops, compulsory
segregation here does lead to
discrimination and the violation
of the rights of the Negro. Seg
regation was tolerated for many
decades, in the hope that sepa
rate development would lead
to cultural equality and an even
tual voluntary abolition of en
forced distinctions. It was clear
by 1958 that such a hope was
empty. Hence our Bishops con
cluded that segregation, by its
very nature, was infringing on
basic human rights of the Negro.
The views of Archbishop
Whelan are similar to those held
by Americans who formerly
tried to justify segregation. He
holds that, given the wide cul
tural differences between Negro
and white in South Africa, Negro
rights will best be protected by
separate development. He is
making his moral judgment on
the basis of conditions that are
enormously different from
those in the United States. Even
in this judgment, he evokes dis
agreement from his fellow
archbishops.
IT IS NOT for us to enter in
to this controversy. We must
simply restate the fact that, un
der American conditions, our
bishops have judged compulsory
segregation to be Immoral. This
is an authoritative judgment and
it should help American Catho
lics in forming their conscien
ces on the problem.
We do feel, however, that
Archbishop Whelan has misin
terpreted Pacem in Terris.
Pope John was speaking of the
rights of minorities to claim
separate treatment within a
state. He was not justifying
the imposition of such separa
tion against their will. On the
contrary, the entire encyclical
is a ringing declaration in fav
or of giving basic human rights
to every person.
THE CORRECTNESS of Arch
bishop Whelan’s judgment of
South African conditions is to be
judged by his peers in that
country. His arguments must
stand or fall in that court. They
certainly cannot be sustained by
an appeal to Pacem in Terris.
(N.C.W.C. NEWS SERVICE)
The Sacred Roman Rota in
1962 found null the previous
marriage of Princess Caroline
Lee Radziwill, sister of Mrs.
John F. Kennedy.
Reports of the official de
claration of nullity were con
firmed here by the Princess’
lawyer, Fernando Della Rocca.
He refused to specify the
grounds of nullity.
ROCCA SAID, however, that
the Rota issued two judgments
in the case: one on Oct, 6,
1962, and a second on Nov.
24, 1962.
Regularization of the mar
riage of Prince Stanislas Radzi
will and the Princess took place
in Westminister Cathedral,
London, on July 3, 1963, ac
cording to Rocca. The couple
had gone through a civil cere
mony in 1959.
THE CATHEDRAL admini
strator, then - Msgr. James
Gordon Wheeler, was the wit
nessing minister, he said.
Msgr. Wheeler was named
Coadjutor Bishop of Middles
brough on Feb. 11, 1964.
“It was a hard and difficult
struggle,” Rocca said, “in
which canonical legislation re
garding matrimonial cases was
applied with unimpeachable
justice after an inquiry so strict
that' it made one think of a
mathematical table.
“IT TOOK four years, sev
eral hundred pages written in
Latin and many witnesses be
fore the matter was concluded.”
Princess Radziwill, the
former Caroline Lee Bouvier,
was married in 1953 in a Ca
tholic ceremony in Washington,
D, C., to Michael T. Canfield,
a non-Catholic. The marriage
was terminated by a civil di
vorce.
THE REASON for the Rota’s
declaration of nullity has not
been disclosed. But it is un
derstood it was defect of con
sent—an impediment that in
validates marriage because of
the lack of full and deliberate
consent to it by one of the
parties.
The Sunday News of New
York, in a copyrighted
report, said (Feb. 16) it has
AUXILIARIES DIRECTOR
Says Women Should
Have Church Role
CHICAGO piC)—A Catholic
laywoman said here that wo
men should have a greater in
fluence in Church activities.
Speakln g at Loyola Uni
versity, Virginia Leary, direct
or of the U. S. Center in
Evanston, HI., for the Inter
national Catholic Auxiliaries,
said there has been some new
thinking regarding the place of
women in the Church, but noted
that women did not even have
a listener’s role at the Vatican
council.
“WOMEN COMPRISE one-
half of the population,” he said.
“If they take an active role
in the Church we are doubling
the talents, intelligence and
energy of Christianity.
“The need for a greater role
for women in the Church is not
based on any desire fo r the
emancipation of women, nor on
any envy of the role of man,
nor least of all on the desire
to compete with men. Rather,
it is based on the fact that
the woman is first of all a
Marquette Bans
Bircher’s Talk
MILWAUKEE (NC) — Permls-
slon was declined for Revilo
Oliver, University of Illinois
professor, who is a John Birch
Society national committee
member, to speak April 2 at
Marquette University operated
by the Jesuits here.
Oliver, a classics professor,
was to speak under the spon
sorship of the university's
Young Republican Club.
human being, an individual with
her own specific contribution to
make.”
Miss Leary said less em
phasis should be placed on a
woman’s sex and more on her
personal response to the love
of God.
NELSON RIVES
REALTY INC.
3669 CLA1RMONT ROAD
CHAMBLEE, GEORGIA
REAL ESTATE, INSURANCE
SALES, RENTALS
RESIDENTIAL AND
COMMERCIAL PROPERTY
PHONE: 451-2323
reports the marriage was
found invalid because Canfield
had no intention of having child
ren.
PRINCE RADZIWILL, a
member of the formek Polish
aristocracy and a British sub
ject since 1951, was married
twice before his marriage to
the former Miss Bouvier.
His first marriage, to
a Czech girl, ended in a civil
divorce and was judged null by
a Church court. His second
marriage was civil one and
hence not recognized by the
Church, His second wife re
married in a Catholic cere
mony on July 16, 1961.
MIVI CHRIST40 41
HOLY CROSS
BROTHER
r# tlACHINO • ROYS' HOMt|
• RANCXINA • Off I Cl WORK ,
* TRAMS • FOR MON MISSIONS
For Information Writej
irottosr Donald jHnnMl, CSC
104 Holy CroM School
4950 Dauphine Street
New Orleans, La. 70117
C & S
REALTY
COMPANY
“Specialists in Commercial
and Industrial Real Estate”
Suite 200
Henry Grady Bldg.
Atlanta 3, Ga,
Warehouses, Stores, Mfgi
Plants, Acreage,
Shopping Center Dev.,
Subdivision Dev.,
Industrial Dev.’,
Insurance
524-2052
MIKE & STEVE
SERTICH
MOTOR HOTEL
• FREE PARKING
• TV a AIR CONDITIONING
• FAMOUS MIAMI BUFFET
• ICC S BEVERAGE STATIONS
• COFFEE MAKER, EACH ROOM
Marry Donohum, Manager
Amarlcan Express
Credit Carda Accaptad
LUCKIE AT CONE ST.
A Good Address In Atlanta
a,
FLAMENCO DECOR
A new collection of fine, hand-forged wrought
iron and handcrafted, wood article* with the
romantic touch of Spanish daaigns to please
the American taste.
Made la Meilte E«elutiv»ly for
PanAmerlcan Imports
3099 Peachtree (in Buckhaad) 233-97S5
Httiuncutce in all iU jjMnu!
91 iii written, we write U . .
Sutter & Mdet/an
1422 RHODES HAVERTY BLDG.
JAckson 5-2086
WHIR! INSURANCE IS A PROFESSION NOT A SIDELINE