Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 4
GEORGIA BULLETIN THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 1964
.. Archdiocese of Atlanta
the
GEORGIA BULLETIN
SERVING GEORGIA S 71 NORTHERN COUNTIES
Official Organ of the Archdiocese of Atlanta
Published Every Week at the Decatur DeKalb News
PUBLISHER - Archbishop Paul J.-Hallinan
MANAGING EDITOR Gerard E. Sherry
CONSULTING EDTOR Rev. R. Donald Kiernan
2699 Peachtree N.E.
P.0. Box 11667
Northside Station
Atlanta 5, Ga.
ASSOCIATE EDITOR Rev. Leonard F.X Mayhew
Member of the Catholic Press Association
and Subscriber to N.C.W.C. News Service
Telephone 231-1281
Second Class Permit at Atlanta, Ga.
U.S.A. $5.00
Canada $5.00
Foreign $6.50
Anti- Semitic Reds
The hostility of Communism to
Religion is not news. Indeed Com
munism is classified as atheis
tic materialism. Furthermore,
ever since the Soviet subjugation
of Christian behind the iron cur
tain, we have been very much
aware of the cruel depths to which
the Kremlin will go in its attempt
to eradicate belief in God.
Today the Soviets are stepping
up their persecution of Jews, a
move which has been in progress
for some time. Despite strict
censorship, enough evidence is
available that attempts are being
made to force the Russian Jew -
ish community to give up their
religion for Communism.
Most of the Red persecution
of recent times has been against
Christians. We not only recall
the millions who died for their
love of God, but also the millions,
behind the iron and the bamboo
curtains, who languish in alien
dungeons for their faith. We
Americans are particularly in
censed at the imprisonment of
Bishop James Walsh by the Chi
nese Reds. This gallant Mary-
knoll missioner's only crime was
his desire to serve his Chinese
Catholic flock in their hour of
need. He suffers persecution as
did Archbishop Beran, Archbis
hop Slypy, Cardinals Mindszenty
and Wyszynski, and the late Car
dinal Stepinac. The list of Chris
tian martyrs, of many faiths, who
have died at the hands of the Reds
is a long one.
Even though there is not much
that we can do other than protest
this latest Soviet persecution of
the Jews, we must join all men
of good will in raising our voices
in order that some relief of the
situation may be obtained.
What is not generally under
stood is that the re are some three
million Jews in the Soviet Union,
and this community is only sec
ond in size to that of the Jewish
population in the United States.
Supreme Court Justice Goldberg
recently described the status and
condition of his co-religionists in
Russia:
“Every other Soviet nationality
is permitted the use of its nation
al language and is granted support
for its cultural institutions. But
the teaching of Hebrew, the Bib
lical language, is banned in the
Soviet Union; Yiddish, the tongue
of 450,000 Soviet citizens, is dis
couraged; Jewish schools vir
tually prohibited and non-exis
tent; the once flourishing Yiddish
theatre scarcely tolerated and
Jewish literature and publica
tions sharply curtailed.....
“Increasingly, synagogues are
closed and private worship re
stricted; both Bible and prayer
books are denied printing; other
necessary religious articles
made unavailable. The last Kos
her butcher shop inMoscow clos
ed down; the ancient Jewish
cemetery in Kiev condemned; the
state baking of Matzoh discon
tinued; private baking discourag
ed by prosecution; the training of
seminarians hampered and re
ligious exchanges discouraged.”
The Communists must be call
ed to task for this and other
crimes against religion. What is
more , it is a violation of the
Charter of the United Nations, a
document so often and glibly
quoted by the Soviet delegates.
The Anti-Defamation League of
B'nai B'rith is distributing a
“Letter of Conscience”, which
appeals to Soviet authorities to
alleviate the repressive condi
tions of Soviet Jewry. We rec
ommend that our readers join
their Jewish brothers in signing
the appeal.
GERARD E. SHERRY
Public School Prayer
Predictions are being made
that a constitutional amendment
allowing public school prayer and
Bible reading is imminent in the
House of Representatives. A
Catholic viewpoint on such an is
sue is not easy to come by. To
be “for” such a program in
volves the danger of indifferent-
ism; to be “against” it threa
tens scientism.
Obviously, we would not be
concerned with maintaining our
own schools and in their absence
providing strong catechetical
programs if prayer in public
schools was the answer. A brief
time of interfaith prayer could
hardly fashion a student’s spiri
tual life.
While parents are primarily
responsible for the total educa
tion of their children, we have
always recognized that the church
and school can offer a major
assistance in religious instruc
tion.
But what about prayer and
Bible reading in the public
school? If we continue to sepa
rate such exercises from the
educative process in the class
room scientism could result. The
developing mind needs orienta
tion toward God. If the child
doesn't see reference to God in
cluded in his formal training, he
may well consider religion to lack
importance in his life.
On the other hand if we do in
clude group prayer it would ne
cessarily be so generalized that it
would tend toward indifferentism.
We see no possibility of Bible
reading producing a salutary ef
fect. Faced with the reading of any
translation isolated from en
lightened comment the child
would acquire only confusion re
sulting in possible distaste for the
word of God.
If a program of prayer and
Bible reading is adopted, the
most meaningful way of conduct
ing it would be to separate the
students according to their speci
fic beliefs. These groups could
be led by an informed parent vol
unteer.
We are convinced of the need
for religious training. The
amount of time allotted would de
termine the content and method
to be utilized.
ST. LOUIS REVIEW
SCHOOL DEBATE
Mrs. Ryan Has
Some Rights
BY GERARD E. SHERRY
Cardinal Newman once said: “I have one remark
certainly, if I’m obliged to bring religion into aft
er-dinner toasts (which indeed does not seem quite
the thing), I shall drink — to the Pope, if you
please— still, to Conscience first, and to the Pope
afterwards.”
The primacy of the individual conscience and
the right to express diversity of opinion (outside
of faith and morals) without fear of suppression,
are two basic principles which conform with the
spirit of renewal and reform so ardently desired
by the Council Fathers. The late Pope JohnXXllI’s
aggiomamento still
pervades the Church
and his successor,
Pope Paul VI has em
braced it with em
phasis.
We are in the midst
of an excited and
emotional debate
over the merits of
Catholic schools as a system. Right at this moment
the debate is a roaring hurricane with Mary Per
kins Ryan’s book, “Are Parochial Schools the
Answer?”, sitting calmly in the eye of the storm.
Voices have been raised at the annual meeting
of the National Catholic Educational Association
in Atlantic City, whose passion is unmistakably
that of convinced defenders of our schools. The
speakers have expressed able, intelligent views on
the present and continuing contribution of paro
chial schools to the Church and to the nation.
REAPINGS
AT
RANDOM
Islam ‘Conversion’
GEORGIA PINES
Along The Golden Isles
BY REV. R. DONALD KIERNAN
Back from the Golden Isles. One of the "treats”
which I have given to myself through the past
years is an annual visit to the Georgia coast
right after Easter. I began this practice some ten
years ago with the late Monsignor Maloney and I
have kept it up even to this year.
For some reason or other the Georgia coast
seems especially refreshing around Easter time.
I guess it is because of Spring, although this year
the day after Easter Sunday could have matched
any day last winter in Gainesville.
I ARRIVED on Saint Simon's Island a little af
ter nine o’clock on Sunday evening. The first
person I met at the airport was Father Andy Walls,
the Marist. Father Walls is well known around the
metropolitan area. For a number of years he was
at Sacred Heart church and Sunday after Sunday
he would drive up to Marietta when Saint Joseph's
was just a mission church. Later he became
the first resident pastor of the
Marietta church.
I visited the Marist Fathers
church in Brunswick. It brought
back memories of twelve years
ago when I was invited by the
pastor, Father Mercer, S.M.
to preach at the Forty Hours
devotions. The Marist Fathers
have always been known for
their hospitality and this year, Father Burkort,
Father Martel and Father Walls were no except
ion to this rule.
MONDAY AND Tuesday afternoons were spent
on the golf course on Jekyll Island. The weather
was cold, but pleasant. I would like to blame the
cold for my extremely miserable score and I
guess this is about as good an excuse as I can
offer. 1 was amazed at the crowd on the island. . . .
all taking advantage of the playground facility
provided on an island which was once known as
BY REV. LEONARD F. X. MAYHEW
There is a new kind of criminal in American
society. And, by way of an odd match, there is a
new kind of hero in American society as well.
The perfect example of the criminal type in
our midst is Mrs. Malcolm Peabody, septuagena
rian mother of the Governor of Massachusetts
and a member of one of the most illustrious famil
ies in American history. Mrs. Peabody recently
spent a night in a Florida jail and is now free on
bond pending her trial next month. Her crime:
trying to order some lunch.
The new kind of American hero is cut from the
same cloth as Mrs. Peabody. Once upon a time
heroes had to do something extraordinary. The new
American heroes and heroines
do only the most ordinary
things - under extraordinarily
hazardous and trying condit
ions. Calvin Trillin’s book An
Education in Georgia (Viking
Press, 1964) singles out Char-
layne Hunter and Hamilton Hol
mes as the prototypes of the
new Student Hero. Campus
heroes formerly had to run
touchdowns, swallow a prodigious number of gold
fish or maintain straight-A averages. Miss Hunter
and Mr. Holmes became Student Heroes merely by
attending class. Others have achieved the same
the Playground of Millionaires.
There are no tolls on the two bridges going
from Brunswick to Jekyl Island. The approach to
the island is positively breath-taking. Great care
has been put into planting and providing for pretty
scenery. Everywhere there is evidence of growth.
An addition to the shopping center and the enlarge
ment of the convention halls are presently under
way.
ONE OF THE things, however, which struck
me as being incongruous is the condition of the
original buildings which once were the homes of
the island’s owners. Almost everyone who visits
the island from out-of-state is anxious to see the
millionaire's mansions. Were it not for the
goodness of the Georgia Historic Society most of
these homes would fade into oblivion. One side of
the island is modern, well kept, and flourishing
with activity; the other is dilapidated, over
grown, and seemingly unkempt.
I would think it a good idea (and it would provide
employment too) if guides were readily available
who could paint a word picture and restore the
"glory-that-was” in the minds of visitors to
the island. Possibly some sort of . a fee would
be in order which would guarantee the continuous
upkeep of the buildings which made the island
famous originally.
I KNOW THAT a big roar would go up in some
quarters at the very idea of a state charging a
fee, but it does seem a shame that these homes
will eventually rot away because of lack of proper
upkeep. Most of the homes are mansions of people
who helped mould American history. They provide,
even today, a history and inspiration into our way
of life.
Th e planning and development which has
gone into Jekyl Island has kept it from acquir
ing a "Coney Island” atmosphere. It is a facil
ity well worth visiting and one of which Georgians
can be justifiably proud.
status by ordering a meal, like Mrs. Peabody,
or by registering to vote. The ordinary and the
extraordinary have somehow switched places.
ANOTHER EXTRAORDINARY reversal has made
the news. Governor George Wallace of Alabama
rece.ved an ecstatic reception and promise of sup
port in a heavily Catholic section of a major in
dustrial city in the north where he is campaign
ing in the Democratic primary. For the crowds
who cheered him and begged his autograph, he has
become some sort of a hero.
Truth has many faces. So does falsehood. True
words can conceal false meanings or they can
cease to contain any meaning at all, which is
probably worse. Concerning America's racial prob
lems, we can hear that no solution is possible
until men change in their hearts. True enough-
but also false. Because what is usually meant is
that nothing must be done here and now to upset
men’s minds and habits so that they may change
their hearts. We hear that education must come first
and that morality cannot be legislated. But, just
laws are always a part of education. Laws
against murder are still necessary after how many
thousands of years of knowing 'Thou shalt not
kill”? What is really meant is that laws must
not be made which will jar men to the point of
receptiveness, which is the heart of education.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 5
One attitude has been evident, however, in the
remarks of the schools advocates which brings
an uneasy tone to the discussion — for in effect
Mrs. Ryan’s right to speak at all has been dis
puted. Names have been tossed at her like so
many stones: "Armchair expert,” Panic monger”,
Liberal Catholic,”, and finally 'member of the
lay intelligentsia.” All appear aimed at some
form of intimidation of any lay criticism of the
system.
Msgr. William Lester of Fort Wayne charged
before his fellow-educators that Mrs. Ryan "would
put us all in a state controlled system.” Father
C. Albert Koob, O. Praem., an NCEA official,
insisted that "only one who has had broad ex
perience over a long period of time can fully
judge. . . this system ...” Father Paul Button,
Grand Island, Neb., warns ominously that the book
has done "an immense amount of harm. . . many
people will take it as an excuse not to support
the schools.
Seemingly unsure of themselves, delegates to the
elementary school section of the Catholic educa
tors’ convention, overwhelmingly voted to con
tribute $40,000 to finance a fully-documented
book on the validity of the concept of U. S. paro
chial education — in plain English, to refute
Mrs. Ryan. This comes at a time when we already
have several national research studies on this sub
ject underway. Parents, like Mrs. Ryan, are going
to have to pay this $40,000, even if 8,000 paro
chial elementary schools are each assessed or
contribute five dollars apiece. The $40,000 would be
better spent as a contribution to the Propaga
tion of the Faith or the war on poverty. Should
our Catholic school system have to be evaluat
ed again merely to prove that it’s not as bad as
some people paint it?
As if all this wasn’t enough, Father Andrew
Greeley, Chicago sociologist, and noted critic
of Catholics who show concern for the state of the
Church, put in his pennyworth in a recent review
of Mrs. Ryan’s book. He said; "Catholic ‘Liberals’
will read her book and feel that warm sensa
tion that comes from being able to say, 'See, I
knew this all along and here it is in print.’ ”
Father Greeley knows that the most profitable
sport in the Church these days is to attack so-
called "Catholic Liberals,’’ Such “Liberals” as
Fathers John Courtney Murray, Godfrey Diekmann,
Gustave Wiegel, Msgr. John Tracy Ellis, and a host
of laymen, have borne the brunt of similar criti
cism for years. Recent decisions of the Council
Fathers, however, have vindicated much of what
they stand for.
These ardent defenders are expending a great
deal of energy and emotion upon a book which
is far less devastating than they would have us
believe Mrs. Ryan’s avowed purpose is a mild
one — to set us all thinking about the purposes
and direction of Catholic education. Having read
the book I would venture to say that it is not the
most reasoned, articulate presentation of the case
that might be made. Many will disagree with her,
but she does have the right to say her piece with
out getting the raspberry for her daring.
Mrs. Ryan’s work was granted an‘‘Imprimatur"
certifying that it was free from doctrinal error.
In addition, her Ordinary, Bishop Ernest J. Pri-
meau of Manchester, N. H., wrote a forward to
the book in which he lauded Mrs. ^ Ryan for "her
frank and intelligent discussion.* She, in g°°d
conscience, wants to give vent to her ideas. As
a Catholic parent, she has as much (if not more)
stake in a successful Catholic school system than
have her so vocal critics. Yet. they chaheng e diat
the subject is even open to discussion, except
on their terms and using ° n Iy their evaluation.
Is the air at Atlantic City so conducive to select-
. ive; amnesia that the delegates to the National
Catholic Educational Association convention could
already have forgotten the Cincinnati story-' Arch
bishop Karl J. Altar closing down the first grade
CONTINUED ON PAGE 5
ORDINARY, EXTRAORDINARY
A New Kind Of Criminal