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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. towns and tap water Ed Curtin Presents “BMP •PlUfr- 5:30 TO 7:10 BILL FARMER TRIO Chitur o Humor • Mu»ia Let Our Lounge la Your Afternoon ond Ivonlng Retreat OANCI AT THI Seuu Sued UO Won P’troo TR. 5-4251 —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 Office Equipment Business Machines Sales-Service-Supplies PHONE 525-64)7 PHONE 525-6417 172 WHITEHALL STREET, S.W. ATLANTA 3. OEORGIA Dniueance in all iti ^wtnri/ iti. written, we write it. . Sutter & McLeHan 1422 RHODES HAVERTY BLDG. JAckson 5-2086 WHIRC INSURANCE IS A PROFESSION NOT A SIDELINE 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. 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FREE 200 Page book, "2001 Household Hints and Dollar Stretchers," to those answering this adv. 1964 PILGRIMAGE SHRINES of EUROPE From July 21 to August 11, Sponsored By The Georgia Bulletin Killarnsy • Dublin Vtrsaillts • Lfsfsux • Aylsiford * Parli * Lourdes a Roms Assisi Lisbon Fatima Rev, John J, Mulroy Pastor St. Joseph's Athens, Georgia (Spiritual Director) AUJndutlve Rate 9897.00 RATE INCLUDBSi Air transportation Jet Economy Service on group fare, comfortable hotels, twin-bedded rooms with bath, all meals, sightseeing is specified in the itinerary, meetings, transfers, tnd entrance fees. FOR RESERVATIONS WRITE TO: CATHOLIC TRAVEL OFFICE DUPONT 'IRCLE BUILDING WASHINGTON 6, D.C Travel By MUTMUM IT,::- airlines mi mu mimrmi mm Annum