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GEORGIA BULLETIN
THURSDAY, APRIL 16, 1964
GOOD SHEPHERD
Archdiocese of Atlanta
GEORGIA BULLETIN!
SHVINa 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 EDrTOR Gerard E. Sherrv CONSULTING EDITOR Rev. R. Donald Kiernaq
ASSOCIATE EDITOR Rev. Leonard F.X. Mayhew
Member of the Catholic Press Association
and Subscriber to N.C.W,C.'News Service U.S.A. $5,00
Telephone 231-1281 Canada $5.00
Foreign $6.50
Second Class Permit at Atlanta. Ga.
2699 Peachtree N.E.
P.O. Box 1166^
Northside Station
Atlanta 5, Ga.
Striking Medicine
The confused situation in re
lation to medicine in Belgium
brings to the fore a very pertinent
question: “Can doctors morally
and ethically strike?*' Inany such
question one must be guided by
logic and reason, not sentiment
or expediency. A physicians is
ethically bound in his relation
ship with patients by justice and
charity.
Justice, because the relation
between physician and patient
implies legally and morally a
contract, with obligations on both
sides. The physician, when he
accepts the patient, must injus
tice treat him regardless of in
convenience, danger to himself
from infection, or in spite of
dislike of the patient's reputa
tion or personality. He must not
abandon him nor desert him with
out ample prior notice or without
allowing the patient to find satis
factory provision for care else
where. The patient is obligated to
answer the doctor's questions
honestly, to follow his directions
ot the best of his ability, and to
pay for the services rendered.
In charity the physician has an
obligation to all other human be
ings besides those he has con
tracted to care for on an indivi
dual basis. This consists of as
sisting any persbn in extreme
need of medical attention regard
less of inconvenience or reim
bursement for his services. By
extreme need is meant danger of
death, dismemberment or per
sonal invalidism. Morally speak
ing, the physician is not obliged
to attend those not in extreme
need with whom he is not under
contract. On the basis of these
two principles a “doctors
strike" is immoral.
The situation in Belgium is
complicated by the fact that the
government assumed responsi
bility for medical care of its citi
zens. Does the doctor's contract
with his patients and his obliga
tions in justice still exist? Or
does the doctor, in spite of his
objections, now have a contract
with the government? Is he entit
led , like other government em
ployes, to strike for better work
ing conditions, higher pay or a
new contract? Obviously, the
government has equal obligations
to treat the physician with com
plete justice.
The moral question regarding
charity is clear. In Belgium, or
anywhere else no physician can
ever refuse medical attention to
someone in danger of death or
serious disability. From reports
it appears that the doctors' ef
forts to set' up skeleton staffs
in Belgium hospitals for emer
gency care have proven inadequ
ate. Certainly the doctor is still
obligated to care for the patient
in extreme danger outside of
these hospital clinics. Emer
gency clinics create dangerous
situations and even in this coun
try occasionally private physici
ans or physicians staffing char
ity cliiiics forget this grave mor
al responsibility.
We hope most physicians will
instinctively be repelled by the
idea of a “doctors' strike".
Dutch physicians have refused to
cooperate with their Belgian col
leagues and are treating all who
cross the boarder for assistance.
Leaders of the New York State
medical society have condemned
the strike as unethical. Let us
hope the AMA will do likewise.
We should all learn from this sad
lesson and should try to find
equitable means of providing
good medical care with justice
and freedom for both physician
and patient alike.
ATLANTA CATHOLIC PHYSICIAN
Liturgical Review
The American bishops have
met in Washington, D.C. to carry
out the prescription of the Vati
can Council regarding use of the
vernacular in the liturgy. They
have approved anEnglishversion
of the prayers and readings to be
used at Low Mass and have sub
mitted it to the Holy See for final
approbation, A national meet
ing of diocesan liturgical com
missions is planned for later
this month in Kansas City, The
conference will discuss the litur
gical changes and procedures for
introaucing the new reforms, A
target date of the first Sunday
of Advent has been set for the use
of the English portions of the
Low Mass.
The Church has come to a de
cision in this matter - in prin
ciple at the Ecumenical Council
and in practical detail at the
Washington bishops' meeting.
The Holy Spirit has certainly
been the prime Mover in both in
stances. Most Catholics will wel
come these decisions and the new
day in Catholic history which they
signal. Undoubtedly, some will
find the changes difficult to ac
cept, strange and contrary to
long-established habits and
taste. All without exception, how
ever, ought to resolve to accept
the bishops' decisions with as
much enthusiasm as possible,
confident that the Church's wis
dom will be vindicated in a
flourishing increase of Catholic
life.
To achieve their maximum be
nefit, the liturgical reforms will
require a warm welcome from
every Catholic. In addition, we*
will need to expend the requis
ite effort by way of attention
and study to guarantee their full
effect in our own lives, our fami
lies and our parishes.
The increased sense of imme
diate contact which the vernacu
lar and the other liturgical re
forms will bring to our exper
ience of the Mass ought soon to
re-vitalize the life of every par
ish. Common participation in the
prayers and responses in our own
tongue and hearing the Word of
God read directly to us as a
community will have a clearer
and more profound meaning. The
primary loyalty we will feel with
in our parish and the center of
our interest will be the altar ar
ound which we learn and wor
ship. The first step is now to
pledge our support and cooper
ation to the Church and to our
biBhops,
LEONARD F. X. MAYHEW
GEORGIA PINES
A Rainy, Rainy World
BY REV. R. DONALD KIERNAN
"And then, the rains came. . ." Five inches
fell on these north Georgia hills in a period
of only three days. Lake Lanier is higher than
it ever had been before, and the streams fill
ing the lake have deposited an unusual amount
of mud in the beautiful blue water. The weather
man had predicted only showers. As one man said
to me, "He said that we would only have after
noon showers. I guess if he ever predicts thun
dershowers we better start building an ark."
Calculations say that Lake Lanier is expected
to rise to its present state only once every fifty
years. At any rate, everytime I have driven
into Atlanta through Flowery Branch I’ve won
dered when that fifty year mark would arrive^
There is an unusually low spot, just south of
Flowery Branch, where the water comes next to
the road. Well, the day arrived last week. The
trip into Atlanta in the morning was fascinating
as I watched fish swimming by
crossing over the roadbed.The
return trip was not so fascinat
ing, however. About the time 1
approached Flowery Branch a
cloud burst deposited tons of
water in the area. The State
Highway department had a truck
on the scene escorting autos
over the innundated road. It
was like driving one of those
amphibious ducks so popular in World War II. I
heard over the radio * later that night that the
road had been completely closed. Withforty inch
es of water now standing, it was announced that
the road would be closed for at least three weeks.
Alternate routs to Gainesville have been
provided. One of these routes, over the Holiday-
McEver Road, is yet unpaved. Sliding over red
clay, dodging big ruts, and driving at 15 miles-
per-hour is sure a far cry from the modern
super highways of today. I suppose that we all take
our roads for granted until something like this
happens. I do know, though, that many a person
will be happy in north Georgia when U. S. 23
is opened again. It goes to show you just what
inconvenience an "afternoon shower" can put
one to.
There is another route into Atlanta from Gains-
ville. A state road, 53, down through Brasel-
ton and over State 124 into Lawrenceville finally
deposits you on 1-85 (northeast expressway). I
know that this highway was never constructed
to handle the present traffic and it probably will
.only be a short time before it will look like its
sister road, the unpaved Holiday-McEver route.
One does have an unusual audience over the route
though. Some of the children living along the
route have never observed as many cars as they
are doing right now. For endless hours they wave
to the passers-by. One man told me that it was
next to impossible to get any work out of his
tenant farmers. "They are too busy waving to the
commuters," he exclaimed.
One spot on this state highway runs within
a hundred yards of the expressway between At
lanta and Greenville, South Carolina (1-85). Near
this particular spot I stopped one day to read one
of those markers placed by the Georgia Historic
Society. It was titled "Smith's Fort". By an act
of the legislature a fort was constructed on
this spot to protect the inhabitants from the
raiding Indians and the English supporters during
the War of 1812.
Now overgrown with weeds, the spot reveals
not a single trace of the once important fort.
Even the historic marker has faded andthe ground
nearby looks as if no one has stopped to read
the sign for years. But what a contrast. One side
of the road is a lonely spot once so important
as a haven of safety to travelers; the other side,
busy with bulldozers and earth moving equipment
to provide safety for a nation on wheels. The
contrasts are only 150 years apart.
I suppose that I too would have never even
known about this historic spot had it not been for
the inconvenience caused last week by an "after
noon shower."
AMERICA'S CHURCHES
A Crisis Of Conscience
BY REV. LEONARD F. X. MAYHEW
Last Flrday in Washington, D. C. represen
tatives of the Jewish, Protestant and Catholic
faiths announced a "campaign of spiritual leader
ship, public pressure and private prayer" for
passage of the civil rights bill now before the
Senate. A rally of clergy from all faiths will
be held in the nation's capital on April 28
to join in prayer for social justice. All Senators
and Representatives of the U. S. Congress
have been invited to the rally at which the na
tion’s religious leaders will express their ser
ious concern about the civil rights legislation now
before the Senate. This,is the most recent step
in a mounting campaign by re
ligious groups to Insure pass
age of the bill.
Ever since the March on
Washington last summer, in
which so many religious lead
ers participated, there has been
evidence of an increasingly ac
ute crisis of conscience on the
part of America’s churches. As
the violent fruit of generations
of Injustice has shown Itself in the past years,
religious Americans have had to face squarely
up to their own failures. The Churches have
taught justice and lived with discrimination; they
have preached love and practiced segrega
tion; they have advocated a witness to Christ
despite the cost and have at the same time, pro
fited from a system which suppressed human
dignity. Elementary honesty and a guilty consc
ience have now dictated the setting aside of all
double talk excuses for inaction. Most of the re
ligious groups have set their own houses in or
der and now they must give a witness to their
nation and to the world.
THE CURRENT revolution for equal rights and
opportunities for American Negroes is an explos
ive phenomenon. All revolutions are explosive.
The civil rights revolution cannot be neatly con
tained within plans for snail’s pace compromise.
The pendulum was allowed to swing too far in
the wrong direction for it to be easily governed
into dead center merely by wishful thinking.
The Negro revolution in quest of dignity cannot
be ignored. It has spread too widely and too far,
to even the smallest towns and the smallest
churches, It has entered the aspirations of too
many young men and women, boys and girls.
The myth of leftist conspiracy is a bankrupt ex
cuse when measured against their future.
Nor can the deadly serious determination of
most of thi s nation be rationalized away by
the myths and propaganda of the racists. They
would have us believe that the Negro.is some
how to blame for his own oppresion, that he is
poor and uneducated in vast numbers because he
does not choose to shed his poverty or to ach
ieve a higher status. The moral issue cannot
be dissolved into a question of local rivalry -
CONTINUED ON PAGE 5
‘Sheep’ Have
Role, Too!
BY GERARD E. SHERRY
The Gospel of last Sunday concerned the Good
Shepherd and it presented a wonderful opportu
nity to emphaisze to the laity its true meaning
in the light of the renewal or updating of the
Church. So often in the past this story in the Gos
pel has been used to demand blind obedience
from the laity.
One is, therefore, reminded of Cardinal Cush
ing’s famous remark to Catholic Editors in con
vention in Boston that the idea of the laity blind
ly following as docile sheep was a complete
misinterpretation. He made the point that obe
dience to the commands of the Shepherd did not
mean mindless subservience.
THE MORE I read
this particular Gos
pel, the more I be
come convinced that
Christ was pointing
the way to what the
true Shepherd should
be. He is concerned
about the sheep in a
very loving way.
Christ is not throw
ing His weight
around; rather He is saying, "While I have My
rights as a Shepherd, I also have My duties."
There is a real personal relationship between the
Shepherd and the flock. Authority is there. It is
hardly imposed however; rather it is project
ed in a loving, close relationship and with mutual
concern.
It is obvious that this concept should seep
down to the level of the parish, where in many
cases it is a new, and in some, an unwelcome
concept. Let us be frank Pope John XXIII's ag-
giornamento has opened more than ecclesiasti
cal windows. It has given the laity new goals to
strive for and new responsibilities. Alas, as I
see it, neither the majority of clergy nor the
majority of laity are yet ready for the winds of
change. A lot of unnecessary friction is there
fore engendered with both sides claiming their
rights are being infringed upon. Note we are al
ways concerned with rights; hardly ever do we
stress the mutual duties Involved.
REAPINGS
AT
RANDOM
LET’S TAKE a for instance: The laity is writ
ing more letters to the clergy than it ever did.
They are asking questions which they would not
have dared ask even ten years ago. What is more,
they are surprised that some of the clergy
resent the questions. Where the laity see their
questions as denoting interest, some of the clergy
see them only as Interference.
This is certainly so in relation to questions
concerning Catholic education. The laity has in
vested so much in prayers and financial sacri
fice to keep our parochial system alive that it
would be foolhardy to suggest that we want to do
away with it. Yet, some national leaders in Cath
olic education go into a tizzy simply because an
irticulatclaywoman publishers her gripes in book
form. She is accused of all kinds of insincer-
=rrr
ity even though she has no desire to bring down
the house of parochial education. On a local level,
too, more questions are being asked at Parent-
Teacher and Home and School Association meet
ings. Some principals and staffs are ready for it
and are glad to see that a formerly apathetic
laity is now willing to assume more respon
sibility. Here again, however, some resent the so^.
called intrusion in matters which were formerly
considered outside the province of parents.
A GREAT deal of patience is going to have to
be exercised, both by the clergy and the laity
if the tensions are to be eased to bearable pro
portions. To state that such tensions do not exist
will only make them worse; to ignore them as
harmless will not make them any better.
The subject was brought into sharp focus a
couple of weeks ago when a group of Catholic
editors were discussing the so-called "emerging
layman". One editor said he was having a very
rought time in his diocese because the local clergy
were accusing him of stirring up the laity.
Another said economic pressures were being put
on him simply because he editorialized on the
Church’s teachings on social and racial justice.
He remarked, as an aside, that some of the pre-
sures came from Catholic businessmen who re
fused to accept the Church’s view point.
A third editor was even more blunt. He said
that the economic pressures were being felt in
some parishes where laymen who resented the
diocesan newspaper's policies even penalized
tithing program. He added that this had resulted
in less enthusiasm from some of the clergy, for
a strong editorial policy which might offend par
ishioners.
IT IS no use suggesting that this situation does
not exist. It does. Those parishioners who are
daring to speak out should be allowed to do so as
long as what they are speaking about is tre ated
objectively. K * layman is speaking out of turn,
whether it be an unjust criticism of P ar °chlal
schools or attacking the Church’s stand on the
racial question, he should be called to task with
out fear or favor, disregarding any Possible
threats of economic pressures.
The Good Shepherd says. , . "The Father
loves Me because I lay down My *nd He
wills that I should take it back *8 a * n * No one
can rob me of it. N’ 0| nay it down of My own will*
1 have power to lay n down, and P ower to take
it back again* Such is the charge I ha ve receiv
ed from My Father." . , , (John 10:1 !•)