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PAGE 8 GEORGIA BULLETIN THURSDAY, APRIL 2, 1964
THE CATHOLIC PRESS - 8
Horizons Which Do Much More Than Girdle The Globe
BY GERARD E. SHERRY
The Catholic Press should be judged by that
which should make it Catholic: Horizons which not
only girdle the globe, hit also reach back through
all history and forward to the unending glory of
heaven; revealed truths which unlock mysteries
and give sure guidance; divine strength, promised
and delivered; strength which should give an astral
calm and an assured deliberation; these are the
things which we bring as Catholics into journa
lism. This is our mountain, and from all evidence
we do labor. But what a mouse emerges!
Something old, something new, something bor
rowed, forever true. This will classify this eighth
in a series of articles on the Catholic press,
written exclusively for the GEORGIA BULLETIN
by editors throughout the country. Mr. Sherry
is managing editor of this newspaper.
Through the columns of Catholic newspapers a
civic sense has to be fostered—that is the aware
ness of rights and duties in civic society. Catho
lics must be encouraged to be good citizens as
well as good football players, good carnival or
ganizers or bingo winners.
The boundaries of any urban parish would seem
large compared to the little field we tend. Some
editors are so nervous that they jump at any boo
coming from any little Poauer, or other bigot.
One senatorial generalization sets us in a tizzy.
But our worse crime is the constant effort to
reduce the majestic truths of God to the tiny
dimensions of our own cramped craniums. We
have yet to resolve (some of us, at least) to grow
up as Catholics and as journalists. This is cer
tainly so in our handling of the civic commun
ity.
duty and honor of the press, particularly the
Catholic Press, was "to enlighten, nourish and
elevate minds and hearts."
The Catholic weekly newspaper has an obliga
tion to assist its readers to conquer life itself—
to change their own lives and the lives of their
neighbors— so that nothing in their lives es
capes the Christian influence. And when we talk
of the conquest of life, we must mean the whole
of life— the physical , intellectual, religious,
moral, sentimental, cultural, social.
We might ask ourselves whether either of
these two approaches I have mentioned, fit the
MU.
This topic covers the diocesan weekly as a
Community Newspaper. And I would suggest that
to be successful, the diocesan weekly must be
Just that. It must be a part of the life of the
community in every locality.
It is also a conquest of environment, of that
whole complex of habits, customs, conventions,
values and social institutions which are the frame
work in which the individuals life is lived and
which is a most potent influence on him. These
are the things which, when presented in a Catholic
newspaper, make it a necessity in the spiritual
and material struggle going on in every community
in the country.
The proper function of i diocesan newspaper in
relation to the civic community has, I suggest,
been studiously ignored by some editors, many
readers and quite a number of Catholic publishers.
Pope Paul VI has reminded us all" It is not nsc-
•sssry for a Catholic newspaper to limit itself
to publishing religious news and comments; nor
must it artifically stress Us confessional and
apologetic character to the detriment of its pri
mary function of iitformation,"
It must strive to have at least as much in
fluence. It must be the representative mouth
piece of all Christian thinking and information; it
must protect the vital Interests of Christians in
a community, both in their work and leisure-
in their education, in their growth, It must fight
for the reform of any conditions which are a
denial of the dignity of man of an obstacle to his
progress,
How do we go about achieving this community
spirit through a diocesan weekly?
the group of Catholic newspapers which preach
bedrock Conservatism, there are some which
stifle completely any liberal expression. A grave
injustice is thereby inflicted on the many rea
ders who do not agree with the editorial.polic
ies expressed. They are, as it were, de-fran-
chised readers and subscribers, deprived of a
voice in public opinion within the Church. It is
in areas where the Catholic press does not ex
press diverity of opinions that one finds virulent
cells of Catholic and political extremism. In those
communities where the Catholic newspaper may
well have aliberal or Conservative policy but
preaches diversity of opinion, Catholic and
political action is less belligerent and more ef
fective.
It is the over-stress on the political at the
expense of "A Catholic view" which tends to des
troy a Catholic paper’s influence in the commun
ity. There are many things within a community
which, while having political overtones, are of
concern to the Churchand are vital to the spiri
tual welfare of citizens.
First of all, I think, by stressing the fact that
we are all witnesses, The whole Mystical Body is
called to be witnesses. Witnesses to what He is —
Witnesses to His will as He has revealed it.
GERARD E. SHERRY
Yet, there are two approaches which tend to sat
isfy the consoieneea of some; one is that of aim
ing for and attracting a national readership (at
the expense of looal) with all kinds of "name"
columnists pontificating weekly on all kinds of
topics, These papers have some room left for
news and editorials, but not much,
But that is not all—the religious newspaper
in striving for the good of the Church within the
community, must also fight and work for the com
mon good— this includes Catholics, Protestants,
Jews; it Includes Negroes, Puerto Ricans, Chi
nese, Japanese and any other race color or creed
within the community, We have a strict obliga
tion to work for the protection and assistance of
everyone so that he may enjoy a right and reason
able life,
Through this first step, the majority of Catholic
Press readers—the laity—become aware of their
part in the witnessing work of the Church. This
is simply a continuation of one of the many ser
vices a diocesan weekly provides for the parochial
clergy, The priests in the parish stress the obli
gation to bear witness and the laity are counseled
to do their witnessing in the world,
TOe second approach is to load up the paper
with items better suited to the gossip and social
columns of the local dailies. The externals of
diocesan and parochial societies and groups are
published, The carnivals, the bingos, the benefits,
the dsneesi etc, are given prominence over pro
blems of poverty, injustices and indifferentism,
To do this requires that the Catholic weekly
newspaper become more than a gossip sheet-
more than a pictorial presentation of the glamor
girls of the sodalities', the leaders of women's
groups, men's societies— it must express
Christian conscience both in its news and edi
torial columns,
But in encouraging and fostering witnesses we
should, I think, beware of following false concepts
in modern Catholic activity, There are two which
have been constantly rejected by the Popes, One
is what can be called "pure spirituality" and the
other "political Catholicism,"
But in both approaches, the presence in the
diocese, and therefore in the community of a vast,
dynamic stream of Christian influence and Chris
tian action is ignored or found uninteresting, The
inroads of secularism have reached into our
editorial rooms to such an extent that the words
"apostolate" and "social" are two separate enti
ties. Yet we have been taught that the apostolate
is the social expression of sanctity, That
sanctity is vital and social — it is the aposto
late, And our press work is one of the most
important and effective means of this apostolate.
It must express a social conscience—not a poli
tical one. A social conscience which is the
apostolate of the Catholic Press- A conscience
which cries out against injustice to any man and
preaches and practices charity towards all,
In 1954, Pope Pius XII told members of the
Italian Catholic publishers’ Association that the
To express this social conscience—we assume
it has a spiritual one— the paper must take a
lively Interest in local and state problems, The
state legislature must be recognized for what
it is and can do for the good or evil of citizens.
The legislators, too, must be known, watched,
praised, chastized as the case may be. The same
goes for those who rule or govern on a local level.
The first is an attitude of escapism—the con
fining of the Church to a purely "spiritual" mis
sion, to the fostering of a religion divorced from
life, in the hope that somehow, with the intensifi
cation of devotion within the Catholic body, social
evils may be made to disappear of themselves,
Political Catholicism, on the other hand, results
from an opposite misconception of the role of the
Church in society, in the community. Christ's
Kingdom is not temporal: the Church is not a
political party, She cannot achieve her alms
through successea of political parties. The king
dom of God cannot be brought about by unreal
dreams of a sort of theocracy.
Some of our papers have no news and are all
instruction, Some prefer to have the minimum of
instruction and are more or less propaganda
Sheets for the social or political causes the editors
and (in some cases) the publishers have in their
hearts, It is amazing to think that some of our
editors would prefer to quote a United States
senator on the morality of Communism rather
than their own bishop or some other member of
the hierarchy. It shocks, too, to realize that many
editors treat such subjects as "Right To Work",
"Medicare", and "Welfare Aid" lea* on a morel
plane than they do on a political one, Even social
encyclicals of the Popes are used only when they
can be quoted to conform to particular political
programs, The fact remains, some Catholic news
papers (admittedly they are in a minority) are
not as Catholic as they are political in editorial
orientation,
The poor, the needy, housing, roads, schools,
hospitals, taxes, bond issues-indeed a host of local
problems which are as much the concern of the
diocesan weekly as they are of the secular dal
lies and weeklies. And why? Simply because we
are concerned with the whole of life, We are con
cerned with the Joys and sorrows of our neigh
bors— the charity and justice we preach is not
the right solely of our Catholic brethren — it is
the right of all men, all families— in our sphere
of action,
A Catholic paper's Influence is not gauged by
the way it presents the current news, for it has
not the news nor the technical facilities which
give the pres* its power. The Catholic paper has
influence through its policies, its inspiration and
brings everything under the penetrating beam
of the faith, We do not always have to speak about
religion— but we will speak religiously about
everything and everyone.
Our object as Catholic editors must be to steer
clear of these two errors—to restore Christian
values to the whole of life. Yet, if we look at
Catholic papers today, we do find in many a lop
sided emphasis one way or the other.
So, too, soms Catholic newspapers do not ex
press through their editorial stance that diver
sity of opinion (outside of faith and ;norals)
which is permitted within the Church/Catholic
newspaper publishers or Catholic editors who de
liberately deprive their readers of "the other
side" in a controversy are guilty of stifling
Holy Lberty in an area where it needs to be
expanded. Of course, many times one finds that
the answer of such publishers or editors is that
"silence is dictated in the interests of the
Church". Alas history proves that where injus
tice is involved the Interests of the Church are
never served by perpetuating it. The public
image of the Church is often harmed by the over
slanted bearing of some Catholic weekly newspap-
ers./The frequent criticism of the Conserva
tive Catholic press is more than justified. Among
The Catholicity of a diocesan newspaper will not
be judged by how loud it shouts about Commun
ism— how loud it shrieks for the emancipation
of the laity. The chains that bind the laity are,
in the main, of their own choosing, And those that
shout loudest against Communism are often those
who also want to Isolate the United States from
the rest of humanity, including some of them
our’ fellow citizens who happen to be Negroes
or Jew,
It is obvious that to be a real community pap
er , the diocesan weekly must recognize that
there is a hierarchy of values— that the news
must be placed in proper focus. It is basically
a problem for editors. A problem which cries
out for serious study of current affairs in the
light of Catholic social principles. Finally, it
requires editors to see in their neighbors, their
readers, all the human longings for peace and
happiness. These are things accomplished only
through God— we are His mere instruments—
blunt or otherwise.
FRED A. YORK
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CURIA OFFICIAL
Cardinal Sees Council End
Phon* 522 - 6500
U» FOttmtl Hi. N t • AM anf* 12. G*
VATICAN CITY (NC) — The
Second Vatican Council can be
ended with a third session, but
this means symplifying present
procedure and eliminating many
of the 17 projects now proposed,
according to Alfredo Cardinal
Ottaviani.
The 73-year-old Roman-born
Prince of the Church declined to
specify how the operation of the
council’s general meetings and
the work of the individual com
missions might be improved,
"This is the Holy Father’s pro
vince, with whom and under whom
councils are held,’’ he said.
increase of members," he said,
"of commissions will permit ac
celeration of work by increasing
subcommissions.’’
The Secretary of the Sacred
Congregation of the Holy Office
told the N.C. VV C. News Service
in an exclusive interview that
"with some simplification of the
procedure, the council should be
able to conclude its work in the
next session."
ST. JOSEPH’S INFIRMARY
SODA FOUNTAIN
COFFEE SHOP AND RESTAURANT
HOWEVER, he stated, "to con
clude the council in the next ses
sion, it will be necessary to eli
minate many of the present sche
mata. Much matter in these sche
mata pertain to the reform of the
Code of Canon Law and to the
directive norms to be Issued af
ter the council."
Asked to evaluate the speed of
the council, Cardinal Ottaviani
stated that he thought "the first
session was slow, but not the
second, which has produced fruit
of capital importance. It must
be remembered that the main
theme of the council is the Church
and its relation to the world."
ASKED if he thought it advis
able to remove the rule of secrecy
which now covers all projects
which have not been brought to
the council floor, the Cardinal
said he did not.
assist the Pope in major prob
lems, the Cardinal replied: ’This
is a matter which depends on the
free choice of the Holy Father. It
would be indelicate not to leave
this choice to him."
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The Cardinal was optimistic
about the result of the expansion
of the membership of the con
ciliar commissions ordered by
Pope Paul VI last year. 'The
"It is not advisable to remove
the condition of secrecy because
it would make it easier for peo
ple not competent in the matters
under discussion to speak about
things which ought to be studied
from a religious point of view,
without interference from those
who follow principles of a so
cial or nationalistic nature."
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Asked what he considers the
most critical problem which the
council still must face, the Car
dinal answered that "the ques
tion of collegiality is very im
portant." The Cardinal, who
supervises the work of the Holy
Office preserving the Faith and
dealing with matters of faith and
morals, explained that it is
necessary to find "thu right an
swer" to the question of col
legiality because the "right
answer must safeguard the con
stitution of the Church and the
primacy of the Pope."
IN REGARD to this, Cardinal
Ottaviani indicated that he thought
the project on the nature of the
Church (De Ecclesia), which in
part deals with the collezlaiitv,
should be among the first mat
ters to be taken up by the coun
cil when It reconvenes in Sep
tember,
Cardinal Ottaviani said he
thought it "likely" that the ques
tion of religious liberty will be
taken up for discussion early in
the third session. But he added,
"I’m not a prophet," He said he
thinks it necessary to complete
the discussions begun during the
second session.
Turning to the subject of the
statement proposed to the coun
cil in the ecumenical schema
concerning the relations of the
Church to the Jews, the Cardi
nal stated:
"IN THIS regard, many have
pointed out that the Church is the
'light of all peoples,’ (lumengen
tium) not only for one race or
belief, but for all people, differ
ing in their ideas of life and of
the supernatural."
'The schema on the Church is
already under discussion," he
said. 'This must be finished.
The pastoral aspect of the Church
has to be studied to effect the
'aggiornamento* (bringing up to
date) of the dioceses and par
ishes."
MISS LEONCE RICH, Plus X
graduate and Christ the King
parishioner, has been named
ROTC Queen at the University
of Miami. A junior, she is also
Commander of Angel Flight,
president of Tri-Delta, treas
urer of the College Board, vice-
president of Orange Key, editor
of the University of Miami Hos
tesses, and a member of Rho
Lambda. Miss Rich is the
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. C. J.
Rich, 588 Valley Green Drive,
NE, Atlanta.
The Cardinal indicated that
he did not think council would
take action regarding race re
lations because "the Church
has already taken a stand on
racism." The Cardinal said
this stand is to be found "in
sacred Scripture, especially in
the Gospels and in the Epistles
of St. Paul: There is neither
Jew nor Greek.’ "
ASKED ABOUT the possibility
of there being set up eventually a
senate of residential bishops to
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