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CATHOLIC PRESS-6
THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 1964 GEORGIA BULLETIN PAGE 3
Sanctification Of Reader And Writer Is Constant Goal
BY JOSEPH A. BREIG
The right root purpose of the Catholic press (as
of everything) is the sanctification of human be
ings. It is therefore the business of the Catholic
journalist to make himself holy by helping readers
to be holy.
The trouble is that the word "holy” has come
to be associated exclusively with what is speci
fically religious. But the trutli is that each
moment of life, and each experience, should add
to one’s holiness—and will do so if seen in
the right light, and met in the right spirit.
ABSOLUTELY everything we see or hear or do
can be, and ought to be, an occasion for God's
grace, and for perfecting oneself in the service of
God and fellowmen. Everything conspires oneself
us holler if we live in God’s hand.
Can a man grow holy working on an assembly
line? Of course. Running a bank? Yes. Managing a
steel plant? Certainly, Playing football? Positive
ly, Can a woman increase in God’s grace at the
kitchen stove, or the bridge table? Not only can
she—it is her Job to do so. The purpose of each
minute given to us is to increase our stature in
sanctity.
The Catholic Journalist's Job is to help readers
to see that this is so, and how it is so, and how a
man or woman or child can cooperate with life to
become holler and holler.
Right here, let us pause to see what holiness is.
Is it kneeling in church all the time, or most of
the time? No; it is kneeling in church when kneel
ing in church is what we ought to be doing. It is
going to the office or the factory when that is
where we belong. It is recreation when recreation
is in order—playing billiards, or bowling, or
swimming, or watching TV, or going to a concert,
or taking a ride in the country, or reading, or
whatever.
HOLINESS can be walking a picket line in a dem
onstration against injustice—against racial dis
crimination, for instance, which denies the image
of God in man; or for decent wages (doesn’t the
Bible say that depriving the worker of his Just pay
is a sin crying to Heaven for vengeance?)
Holiness can be making love to one's wife or
husband; it can be changing a baby’s diaper; it
can be showing appreciation for a highball or a
beer; it can be suffering with patience, or enjoy
ing to the fullest a symphony orchestra, or the
grace of a champion skater, or the skill of a
baseball player.
We can grow holier by sitting on the board, or
attending the meetings, of a civic organization; or
by taking a real Interest in the schools; or by vot
ing impartially for the person we Judge, after
proper investigation, to be the right man for the
office. We can grow holier through Jury duty, or
by collection from door to door for the Red Cross
or the Community Chest or for researchers seek
ing a cure for cancer.
The Catholic Journalist’s job is to keep bright
and glowing in the minds of his readers his aware
ness of the spiritual aspects of everything; this
consciousness that we are all on earth for the pur
pose of perfecting the image of God in us.
The Catholic.Journalist,, you might say, is for
ever seizing the elbow of the reader, pointing to
something, and crying out, "Look I Do you see the
supernatural?"
JOSEPH A. BREIG
He does this by constantly emphasizing the
spiritual and moral aspect of events; by remind
ing folks over and over that, as Francis Thomp
son wrote: "The angels keep their ancient places;
Turn but a stone, and start a wingl"
IN PRAYER and meditation and travail, the
Catholic Journalist must first train himself to see
with he eyes of the spirit through the outward
appearance of things into their eternal signifi
cance-all things without exception: birth and
death, love and sex, business and commerce and
industry, sports and song and dance and opera,
traffic and traffic lights, citizenship and govern
ment, the police, the fire department, the schools
—shoes and ships and sealing wax, cabbages and
kings.
Having acquired something of this insight (partly
as a gift and a burden from God, and partly
through his unremitting effortsjthe Catholic jour
nalist then must put his nose to the grindstone,
day in and day out, forcing his brain to find ways
o saying to readers, in a thousand ways and cir
cumstances, "Seel See the supernatural I"
HE MAY ELECT to do this in a special-purpose
publication; to do it in a magazine for intellec
tuals, or for lawyers, or for theologians, or for
businessmen, or for women. But in the diocesan
press—in a publication which has for its mission
the service of all the members of the Church (and
for that matter all the other people) in a given
geographical area-the Catholic Joumaliat’a work
is as broad and varied as the multiplicity of per
sons and Interests which he sees.
That is why you see sports pages in diocesan
newspapers; because sports is the best way of
reaching certain persons and of reminding them
that sports, like everything else, must serve God
and fellowmen. And that is why you may see a
diocesan newspaper a cooking column, and comics
and cartoons, and some notices about trivial do
ings; because the-Catholic Journalist intht^ioce-
san press must take people as he finds them, and
talk to them .through their particular interests.
It is no good his pretending to himself that they
are all scholars or patrons of the arts; they
aren't; and if he edits his publication as if they
were, he'll be serving only a small fraction of his
readers, and ignoring the others. That, he has no
right to do.
Insofar as humanly possible with the help of
God, the diocesan journalist’s mission—and mis
sion it is—is to every one who can read, from the
youngster grabbing the funny page to the univer
sity professor looking for enlightenment about
what is going on .n the United Nations or at an
ecumenical council.
AND IN all this, the Catholic Journalist must re
spect his readers as persons, possessing intel
lects and free wills, and responsible to their own
consciences. He must write with clarity for them,
but he must never "write down". God forbidl —
in our day, in this country, the Journalist often
must stand on tiptoe to see even the Intellectual
vest buttons of some of his readers. He must
strive for the reader's fullest development as a
mature, adult Christian. If he doesn’t, he won’t
bt serving as he should, and he will be stunting
his own spiritual growth.
The journalis must ever remember that, as
Pope John said inPacem in Terris, the people are
entitled, by the natural lswother*truths about pub
lic events. The Catholic Journalist, then, will no
attempt to/'cover up", or to dissemble, or to slant
or distort, or to make things to seem in any way
other than they really are, He will be completely
honest, forthright and sincere with his readers.
He will be ever alert to detect v the providence
of God in events. He will combat injustice no
matter who is unjustjhe will defend thosewho need
defending no matter who stands in the way. And
one thing he will shun as he would the pit of hell—
the insulting business of treating readers as if
they were children to be ordered hither and yon,
and lectured to> Instead of being informed and
reasoned-wlth.
LATIN AMERICA’S FUTURE
Alliance For Progress Results Assessed
(The Bishops of the United
States are sponsoring an or
ganized effort to aid the Church
in Latin America. The Latin
American bishops are pushing
for an overall renewal of the
Church there. The following ar
ticle, dealing with the revamp
ing of the Alliance for Progress,
was written by the editor of
Notlclas Cathollcas, Spanish
language edition of the N.C.W.C.
News Service.)
hr'***,- ' V ••• * V •- * ! ■
BY JAIME FONSECA
(N. C. W. C. NEWS SERVICE)
Three years ago on March 13,
President John F. Kennedy
launched the Alliance for Pro
gress designed to improve the
lot of the common man in Latin
America.
Thirty-six months later—and
after U.S. investment of $2.6
billion—the ALPRO, as Latin
Americans call It, shows sub
stantial accomplishment, but
also a good deal of trouble.
ON THE credit side:
—Approximately 20 million
people are being fed out of the
Foof for Peace stocks provided
by the U.S. suprlus program.
—Some 150,000 families of
low and middle Income have new
homes.
—About 1,000 new hospitals
and clinics are helping local
medics and nurses to prolong
the life of thousands.
—More than 700
villages now have
and good wells.
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—In many countries—main
ly Colombia, Chile and Mexico
—170,000 small farmers have
received loans for land im
provement, seeds, fertilizers
and machinery. Other farm pro
grams have benefited another
17,000.
—Over 10,000 miles of road
have been built.
—What is more promising,
8,200 classrooms have been
added, 4 million school-books
distributed, and close to 20,000
teachers are being trained.
THUS THE alliance has meant
real Improvementfor38million
or more people.
President Kennedy called it
"a vast cooperative effort, un
paralleled in magnitude and no
bility of purpose, to satisfy the
basic needs of the Latin Ameri
can people for homes, work and
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land, health and schools."
WHEN THE American nations
—Cuba excepted—signed the
Charter of Punta del Este in
Uruguay, they pledged:
"It is the purpose of the Al
liance for Progress to enlist the
full energies of the peoples and
governments of the American
republics in a great cooperative
effort to accelerate the econo
mic and social development of
Latin America, so that they may
achieve maximum levels of well
being. . . in democratic so
cieties."
U.S. CITIZENS have a heavy
stake in this vast, exciting en
terprise, never tried before in
history.
"Unless all of us take the lead
in improving the welfare of all
the Americans, then the leader
ship will be taken from us and
the heritage of centuries of
Western civilization will be
consumed In a few months of
violence," Mr. Kennedy warn
ed.
THIS COUNTRY, under the
pressures of the Cold War, has
indeed committed Its national
security to the success of AL
PRO. Not only involved is the
duty of sharing with others its
abundance. The implications,
abundance. The "alliance" has
strategic as well as social, eco
nomic and political implica
tions. The peoples it under
takes to save from desperate
moves are actually in danger of
falling into the Soviet orbit.
By aiding them the U.S. may
secure ready access to poten
tial war materials and bases,
Above all, this effort can help
to win the minds and hearts of
the people for Christian civili
zation.
PRIOR TO the launching of
ALPRO, there ware serious set
backs for democracy in the
Western hemisphere. These set
backs were marked by the ex
pansion of Soviet Influence into
Cuba and threats of violent rev
olution elsewhere in Latin
Ameelca.
The U.S, government is con
tributing toward the alliance $1
billion a year. That means the
taxpayers provide $5 to each of
the 200 million Latins most in
the need of help. The major
portion of the money Involved
is in loans, and a large amount
is reverting back to the Amer
ican economy as the aided coun
tries buy goods and services
from the U. S,
AMERICAN PRIVATE inves
tors are expected to pour some
$400 million into Latin America
in each of the ten years spanned
by ALPRO, from 1962 through
1971. Another $600 million
should come from other sour
ces, especially from Europe,
The remaining $8 billion
needed annually to give the peo
ple south of the border a better
living standard must come from
the Latin Americans themsel
ves.
THE GOAL of the total $10
billion is to raise the present
per capita average Income of
$290 a year to $370 by 1971
through an increase of $80 at
an annual growth rate of 2.5%.
"But we are not going to make
it," says a knowledgeable pro
fessor at a Central American
university, "unless our coun
tries produce more, get better
prices for what they export,
and get away from this busi
ness of a one crop, one product
economy."
HE WAS referring to oil in
Venezuela, copper in Chile, ba
nanas in Ecuador and coffee in
Brazil, Colombia and several
Central American countries.
While talking he scrawled some
figures to give a new look at the
housing situation.
"See what I mean: The $1
billion promised by the U.S
only sure thing — could only
build half a million homes at
$2,000 each, and that is cheap.
But from what I read, Latin
America needs today at least
seven million homes."
OTHER SOURCES indicate
that to revamp education—the
sorest spot in the whole picture
—these countries should have
Invested by 1971 some $24 bil
lion. They now spend $1.65
billion a year,
A professor at a U.S. Midwest
College was more emphatic:
"With commodity agree-
"Wlth commodity agree
ments on raw materials and
minerals—to which the U.S. has
showed a persistent allergy, we
make a mockery of asking the
Latin Americans to help them
selves. Tak away fair dollar
earnings, and they cannot raise
the capital they need for econo
mic and social programs," he
said,
WHEN SUCH programs are
lacking, the will to carry out
basic reforms in tax, land, poli
tics and education, as well as
improving farming and indus
try, withers. Thus, many of
these countries face a worsen
ing of economic security and so
cial upheaval. Such a climate in
turn scares foreign capital. Be
fore Castro, Americans were
Investing some $400 million a
year in Latin America. This fell
to $100 million and only now is
on the Increase,
Another matter troubling AL
PRO is a growing gap between
rich and poor countries. A per
son in Western Europe has a
yearly Income of $1,000 now and
with the present increase of 4%
will have $1,500 at the end of
the decade. But the Latin, even
if he attains $370, will be more
than $1,000 poorer by com
parison.
THERE ARE
and criticisms:
other troubles
—"We are for the ALPRO,
but in exchange for our support
we demand efficient, corrective
measures to eliminate bugs in
the works," a Christian Demo
crat leader in Venezuela says.
"It must seep down to the real
people."
—The ALPRO "must hasten
the structural changes we need
in Latin America," says a Pe
ruvian social worker. "But it
has happened in some places
that the alliance helps to en
trench even deeper the very
power groups responsible for
the present political and social
Inequities."
—It is too much a govem-
ment-to-goverament proposi
tion. Private organizations have
little to expect and find it hard
to get aid,
—Bureaucratic delays water
down the medicine before it
reaches the patient, others say.
"The problems are urgent, the
roots deep and the maladies
vast, but the ALPRO banks,
funds, agencies and programs
are still in the makeshift stage,
experimenting, short of resour
ces,"
—The Latin American gov
ernments often lack reliable
studies or realistic projects.
Only Colombia has a national
development plan, ALPRO lead
ers are torn between the need
for short term works that bring
immediate hope and relief to
many and long term programs
of more lasting effects.
—Many submit to the pres
sures of powerful economic and
political groups which resist
land, tax, trade and other basic
reform called for in the Punta
del Este Charter, Talk of land
reform is giving way to empha
sis on farm production. Only a
handful of governments are try
ing for honest tax reform.
—Too much influence is be
ing exerted from Washington.
MEN OF vision, in and out of
the ALPRO, know these objec
tions well enough to judge their
validity. Soma are groundless,
others are being earnestly met,
to the point that the whole pro
gram is being revamped..
A new eight-man Inter-
American Committee, headed
by Colombian economist Car
los Sanz Santamarla, is ex
pected to give the direction
and integrated approach the AL
PRO needs to raise it from cas
ual, individual treatment to a
large scale, well planned and
coordinated push against pov
erty and Ignorance. Hope of
cohesion has been raised by
the appointment of Thomas
Mann by President Johnson to
oversee U. S. participation in
the program.
THERE IS a new realization
of the Important role of private
organizations, Including Church
-related works. More people
are being reached as projects
become reality. The techni
cian is making some headway
over the politician, and the re
sult is better planning.
All of these raise the hopes
of the people. But the leaders
realize that the ALPRO is a
hard challenge. The goals are
magnificent and without prece
dent. But it will take dollars,
courage and patience to reach
them.
These the states alone can
not provide. The task must
also rest on voluntary agencies.
vv
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