Newspaper Page Text
V
4
I
RELIGIOUS
VOCATIONS
MONTH
mxm
diocese of Atlanta
SERVING GEORGIA’S 71 NORTHERN COUNTIES
VOL 2 NO 12
ATLANTA, GEORGIA
THURSDAY, MARCH 19, 196-4
$5.00 PER YEAR
CONFUSING TALK
Schools Are Not
White Elephant,
Educator Says
ROCHESTER, N. Y. (NC)~
Catholic parents are being con
fused by talk that the Catholic
school system is a big white
elephant, the superintendent of
Catholic schools said here.
Father William M. Roche said
in an interview that some par
ents think the path of least
resistance in facing the chal
lenges to parochial schools to
day is to enroll children in pub
lic schools and give them their
religious instruction after
school hours.
'THIS MAY be a stopgap,"
he said, "but it is no substitute
for Catholic school education.
Those who say it is do not un
derstand the philosophy of Cath
olic education.
'There is no comparison be
tween the preparation afforded
a Catholic youngster in a Cath
olic school where religion per-
meats all phases of the curri
culum, and the preparation af
forded them in a public school,
under the present interpretation
of the Constitution."
FATHER ROCHE heads a
55,000-student school system in
a diocese which has declared a
moritorlum on new school con
struction and which has attract
ed national attention because of
an experimental "catechetical
center."
The center, located in Fair-
port, was built by Our Lady of
the Assumption parish next
door to a public school. Catho
lic children receive about two
hours a week of religious in
struction in the center. It is
staffed by four Sisters.
FATHER ROCHE said new
school construction is stalled in
Rochester "until we see what
the future has in store," but he
is convinced after-school cate
chetical instruction or shared
time education do not offer the
answer.
He would rather see that the
Catholic people "not rest short
of the goal of obtaining equal tax
aid for every child, wherever
his parents send him to school."
"OUR SCHOOLS perform the
same public function as public
schools," he said. 'That we
add religion is a plus, not a
minus factor in our education."
"Released-time religious
education and shared-time ar
rangements are pitifully short
of equal justice for all child
ren," he said.
YET, HE charged, parents
hear or read today that several
arrangements short of a full
parochial school can be equal to
a full Catholic schooling.
"We are told the other ar
rangements will do the job at a
fraction of the cost. 1 feel that
as a result, many members of
the laity are confused and will
ing to say, 'Let’s take the path
of least resistance. Why worry
about maintaining our big white
elephant school system?' "
"PEOPLE THINK from the
publicity given the Fairport
center" he added, "that our dio
cese is embarking on a new ap
proach. The fact is that this
diocese has not in the past, nor
does it envision in the future,
any substitution of catechetical
centers for our present effort
in Catholic schools."
The Fairport center, he said,
is valuable within its limita
tions, "but no one would ser
iously defend the thesis that the
children attending it are re
ceiving the equivalent of a Cath
olic school education."
On Sunday, March 15th,
Father John D. Stapleton an
nounced the approval of Arch-
Bishop Hallinan for con
struction of the permanent
church of Saint Jude the Apostle.
Mass is now being said in a
temporary chapel which will be
converted into six additional
badly needed classrooms for the
school.
THE PARISH was established
in October of i960 with 141
families hearing Mass in the
cafeteria of the Sandy Springs
High School. Father Stapleton
stated that on Sunday, March
8th, there were 360 families
now registered in the parish.
In the fall of 1962, school
was opened with 162 children
attending - today there are 333
children in the school. All
classrooms presently complet
ed are being used with one ex
ception with classes averaging
29 pupils. The policy of a max
imum of -j0 pupils per class
will be continued.
last December a study
was made of the Sandy Springs
area to plan the growth of the
parish of St. Jude's. At that
rime, there were 2,190 build-,
ing lots under active develop
ment; It Is estimated that 95%
of those lots will be built up
within the next five years. These
homes will bring to St. Jude's
many new families.
Mr. Albert 0. Ordway has
been commissioned to go ahead
with plans for the church build
ing and a new rectory as well.
The church is planned to seat
700 persons and the rectory to
house three priests. However,
included in the original plans
will be transepts for possible
lager construction to hold an
additional 200 people. The
budget for construction is
$400,000, Construction should
start about January 1st of 1965
with completion scheduled for
April of 1966.
‘Dial-A-Saint’
PHILADELPHIA (NC) — A
telephone "Dial-A-Saint" ser
vice has been launched here
by the Philadelphia arch
diocese. Callers hear a 60
second recorded inspirational
message that changes each day.
JOHNSON MESSAGE
War On Poverty
Joins Public,
Private Forces
AN ILLUSTRATED lesson on the meaning of Holy Week ceremon
ies is given by Sister M. Christine, M. H. S. H., to her class of
young students at St. Joseph’s Convent school near the U. S.
Capitol in Washington. She is a member of the Mission Helpers
of the Sacred Heart who assist in conducting the Confraternity
of Christian Doctrine program in the parish.
LENTEN SERMONS
Pontiff Poses Questions
PERMANENT BUILDING
Saint Jude’s New
Church Approved
ROME (NC) — "Can you tell
me who Jesus Christ is?"
Pope Paul VI asked a startled
altar boy during his Sunday
Lenten visit to the Rome parish
of Our Lady of La Salette.
The boy stammered, turned
red, and then mumbled, "I'm
too embarrassed." The Pope
smiled warmly and the people
who had jammed inside thenot-
qulte- finished parish church
(March 15) beamed and clapp
ed on hearing the Blsop of
Rome asking catechism ques
tions like a parish priest.
"IS THERE anyone more
courageous than this child?"
the Pope continued. He aban
doned the normal simple
sermon which he had preached
at churches throughout Rome on
the Sundays of Lent, and ins
tead engaged in a lively ques—
tion-and - answer session with
the two dozen altar boys surr
ounding him.
The papal visit began In less
warm circumstances as rain
was drizzling in the square in
front of the church as Pope Paul
arrived. Thousands of persons
looked on from beneath open
umbrellas as the Pope got out
of his car unprotected except
for his crimson and gold tassel-
ed hat. University students set
up a chorus of whistles, con
sidered by some members
of the Pope’s entourage as un
dignified, but which the Pope
acknowledged with a smile.
Once Inside the church, the
usual ceremonies were ob
served, including the chant
ing of the litany of the sa
ints and the blessing of the con
gregation with a relic of the
true Cross. Then the Pope took
his place in front of the altar
and began talking to people.
HE BEGAN by recalling that
when he first visited the dist
rict, which is not far from St.
Peter’s, all it consisted of was
a few houses and a group of
vineyards. Now, he said, there
are many families, and a ris
ing parish church to s erve
them.
"I have come to show that 1
am fond of you and to bring
you a message of joy," he said.
"I have only blessings to give.
What is the purpose of my
visit?”
Pope Paul then recalled a Ro
man expression which means,
'who put you up to it?” and ad
ded: "Is it really necessary to
bring souls to Christ?"
It was at this point that the
regular course of the papal vis
its we changed, for one of the
altar boys blurted out: "Yes."
THE POPE picked it up im
mediately, and asked, "Are you
quite certain? Let ui see, can
you tell me who Jesui Christ
is?" The boy was taken aback
and mumbled about being em
barrassed. But the Pope
evidently decided he liked the
variation and asked for some
one more courageous to answer
the question.
Another of the altar boys sit
ting on the steps at the Pope's
feet spoke up: "He is the Son of
God, made Man to save us."
To this the Pope replied: "Oh,
to save you. Then we need
Him?" As he spoke he touched
the head of the child who had
first spoken and added: "We
need Jesus Christ, and this is
why the Church exists."
The ques tion-and - answer
period went on to the delight
of all those present. Archbishop
Enrico Dante, the papal master
of ceremonies, partially cove
red his mouth to smother a
smile. Other priests in the
sanctuary beamed as the altar
boys themselves grew more
sure of themselves and showed
pleasure with the novel session.
THE POPE continued; "what
doesthe blessed Church teach?
. . .How many sacraments are
there?, . . What does the bless
ed Church want to reach?" At
this point the Pontiff concluded
by answering his own question:
"The hearts of all, I tell you,
the souls of all. Love parish
because thus you will love the
Church, you will love Jesus, and
you
God
will love God. And loving
you will save your life."
As he left the church area in
his car, the Pope was surround
ed by a crowd of hundreds of
people who broke through police
cordons. It was only with diffi
culty that the car was able to
inch its way forward. The smil
ing Pope moved his arm in con
tinual blessing.
WASHINGTON (NC) — Pre
sident Johnson's marching ord
ers for his war on poverty would
combine the resources of public
and private agencies in the at
tack.
Joint efforts by public and
private groups, assisted by the
Federal government, are cent
ral to his major proposals—
aiding unemployed youths and
school drop-outs between 16
and 20 years of age.
THE PRESIDENT asked Con
gress (March 16) for "immedi
ate action" on his election-
year program with its emphasis
on help for young Americans
who lack skills, who have not
completed their education and
who cannot complete it because
they are too poor.
Poverty, he said in his mes
sage, cannot be conquered by
government alone.
"For decades, American la
bor and American business,
private institutions and private
individuals have been engaged
in strengthening our economy
and offering new opportunity to
those in need.
"We need their help, their
support and thelrfull participa
tion," he said.
THE PRESIDENT’S proposed
$962,5 million program, which
would be coordinated by R. Sar
gent Shriver as diretor of a
new office for Economic Op
portunity, would help youngst
ers in these ways:
—A "Job Corps’* for 100,000
selected boys between 16 and 21
who would live up to two years
in more than 100 camps or cen
ters. Half would be engaged in
conservation of natural resour
ces and half put in cen.
get a blend of basic educa.
vocational training and work
experience.
The corps could contract w ith
public or private organizations
for the use of facilities or ser
vices, although it reportedly
will depend mostly on exist
ing Federal installations.
—Work Training programs
for 200,000 unemployed boys
and girls between 16 and 22,
They would be given "useful
work experience opportuniti
es." including employment
on public service projects
sponsored by private groups.
Playgrounds, settlement hous-
CONTINUED ON PAGE 8
Jewish Group
Urges’ Freedom
NEW YORK (RNS) — Seven
American Jewslh organizations
have urged Israel Prime Minis
ter Levi Eshol to resist pres
sure from "extremistreligious
groups" in the United States to
change laws regarding relig
ious freedom in Is real. These
extremist groups, the state
ment charged, are seeking "by
coercion" to deprive Jews and
non-Jews in Israel of full reli
gious freedom.
AT TENNESSEE CONFERENCE
McGill Says Senate Passage
Of Rights Bill Is ‘Must’
REV. MR HENRY GRACZ (left) and Rev. Mr. James Macie-
jewskl, shown with Bishop James A. McNulty of Buffalo,
March 8, after he had conferred on them the Order of the Sub-
diaconate. Both men will be ordained next year for the Arch
diocese of Atlanta.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (NC) —
Passage by the U. S. Senate of
the civil rights bill, already ap
proved by the House, is imper
ative to the nation's interracial
justice cause, Ralph McGill,
publisher and columnist of the
Atlanta (Ga.) Constitution as
serted here.
As keynote speaker at the
Middle Tennessee Conference
on Religion and Race (March
12) at Vanderbilt, McGill said
all possible influence should be
exerted to bring about passage
of the measure.
"I BELIEVE in property
rights," he said in discussing
the "most important" public
accommodations section of the
measure, "but 1 don’t see how
a licensed public business can
call itself private and have
someone stand in the door to
say who can come in. Is that
what we mean by a private
right? And even if it is, I think
it's necessary for our welfare,
our children and towns to get
past this."
McGill said the Bill’s fair
employment practices section
should not be abandoned, al
though such practices virtu
ally are in effect now.
Msgr. Thomas P. EXiffy, pas
tor of Christ the King parish
h:-re, said both Negroes and
whites have joined in furthering
the Interracial cause in the
Catholic Church. He denied
there has been a breakdown in
communications between the
two races in the cause, but
acknowledged there is insuffic
ient ir.tsrfalth, communications.
MSGR. DUFFY’S Observa
tions differed from conditions
reported in Protestant church
es by two ministers.
Rev. Andrew White, presi
dent of the Nashville Christian
Leadership Council, said "the
wall of separation between
white and Negro Christians is
rigidly constructed." The
Negro clergyman said the Sun
day school "is the most segre
gated educational program in
Tennessee," He added: "I can
point to no determined effort
on the part of churches to try
to desegregate anything."
RABBI Randall Falk of the
Temple here, said general ef
forts in the religion and race
conference were dragging and
advocated the time had come for
clergymen to "join our little
voices" in the field.
Some 100 priests, rabbis and
ministers from the midstate
area attended the sessions at
which Father J. Eugene Eise-
lein, pastor of Most Holy Name
of Jesus parish here and Law
rence Jones of Fisk University
presided.
Galen R. Weaver, New York,
executive director of the Nat
ional Conference on Religion
and Race, emphasized that the
race relations issue is "at
bottom a religious matter." He
warned that unless "a great
deal of advances" are made,
"we’re, in for serious trou
ble".
SODALITY KKCHKTAltY—
Louis K Hogan I above t, has
assumed his duties us execu
tive secretary of the Nation
al Federation of Sodalities of
Our Lady, with his office lo
cated in the headquarters
building of the National
Catholic Welfare Conference,
in Washington.