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PAG t 4
GEORGIA BULLETIN
THURSDAY, MAY 14, 1964
4
the
Archdiocese of Atlanta
GEORGIA BULLETIN
1 L
SltVING 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 EDITOR Rev. R, Donald Kiernan
2699 Peachtree N.E.
P.O. Box 11667
Northside Station
Atlanta 5, Ga.
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
Pride Or Shame?
They say that Milledgeville-
State Hospital is ten times better
than it used to be in relation to
patient care. Yet the world’s lar
gest mental institution is still not
up to even the minimum standards
of per patient expenditure, ac
cording to Dr. Robert Felix,
Director of the National Insti
tute of Mental Health.
This is not intended as a criti
cism of the hospital Superin
tendent or his staff, who seem to
be working against insurmoun
table odds in their efforts to ease
the lot of the mentally ill under
their care. Someone is respon
sible for the Milledgeville situ
ation and most probably it is the
citizenry of Georgia as a whole.
Throughout history the men
tally ill have been among the
most neglected in all countries
throughout the world. Only re
cently have there been any ser
ious attempts at rehabilitation
and special treatments. It seems,
however, that Milledgeville has
too many patients and not enough
money to supply even the bare
minimums which are thought re
quired by many experts in the
field. So, too, it is disclosed
that some people are at Milledge
ville even though their condition
doesn’t warrant it.
In other words, people other
than the mentally ill are being
dumped there because nobody
else will have them.
Here is a wonderful field of
endeavor for those citizens who
wish to see the State of Geor
gia progress in all areas. We
should demand a better deal
for the doctors and administr
ators who are unable to cope
with the overcrowding and the
shortages; we should demand a
better deal for those patients who
are helpless to defend themsel
ves and who need the concern
and assistance of their more for
tunate brethren within the com
munity; we should demand that
those who are not classified
as mentally ill should be re
moved from Milledgeville and
placed in hospitals and other
institutions more suited to car
ing for them.
Even this bare minimumof ac
tion will cost money. However,
if we are willing to contribute
to sports stadiums, luxury
schools, and “junkets" then we
should not object to our taxes
(even additional) being earmark
ed to making Milledgeville State
Hospital a place of pride rather
than of shame.
Tomorrow’s Birthright
It s been quite a week in the
Georgia capitol, what with the
visitation of President Johnson
last Thursday and Friday and the
one-day visit of his wife, Lady
Bird, on Monday.
A visitation by the President
and the First Lady would always
be of importance; this time, how
ever, it was of great signific
ance. This because both the Pre
sident and Mrs. Johnson echoed
what we feel were the sentiments
of the majority of Southerners,
They called for a new grouping
of all men of good will to face
up to the short-comings and ine
qualities of the past and to reach
“for tomorrow’s birthright."
President Johnson’s plea to the
Georgia legislators for support
for Civil Rights legislation was
not the most popular appeal that
he could have made. Yet, it is
at Southern law makers that this
appeal must constantly be aim
ed.
Worldly
Recent reports of a murder and
a near-murderdn New York City
during which members of the
public watched without interven
ing are worthy of meditation.
The anguished cries for help of
the victims went unheeded be
cause many of our citizens have
embraced the heresy of neut
ralism, It is safer to be uncom
mitted, whether it be in rela
tion to racial justice, social jus
tice, or simple community af
fairs.
The commandment “Love thy
neighbor," implies involvement.
It also implies service to and
We are convinced that our
Southern citizenry is willing to
be led to the establishment of
justice for all, including our
Negro fellow citizens. As Pre
sident Johnson remarked, “We
may well find racial peace in
much of the South, before the end
of racial strife in the cities
of the North."
There is much to be said for
this point of view. Alas, racial
peace and tranquility will not
be accomplished anywhere in the
nation as long as there are law
makers who cling to outmoded
theories of racial pride and
white supremacy.
America in 1964 deserves
better than this --so does Geor
gia. We hope that the current
Senate discussion on Civil Rights
will enlighten and inspire those
who represent us to the coura
geous view that human dignity
cannot be sacrificed merely to
justify personal political sur
vival.
Concern
concern for one’s fellow man.
Many of us preach it but lack
the courage to apply it to the
realities of life. We remain un
committed. We refuse to align
ourselves with one side or the
other for a variety of reasons;
we might lose our job; we might
lose our friends; it might re
quire effort; we might rock boats;
we might stir people,
We have grown so indifferent
to the concerns of others that
the streets as has been said
before, “To remain silent in
the face of evil is to assent to
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Visitor
GEORGIA PINES
Another President’s Visit
BY REV. R. DONALD KIERNAN
Henry O. Ward is chairman of the City Com
missioners in Gainesville, Georgia. As such, he
has the title of Mayor. In business life, Mr. Ward
owns a very successful funeral business. Life
follows pretty much a routine for this Georgia
mountain mayor. He regularly attends his bus
iness and civic responsibilities and carries out
the duties of his office with dignity, conscious-
mess and responsibility.
The other day, however, a call to the mayor
immediately changed this routine. Ninth District
Congressman, Phil Landrum phoned the mayor
and said that the President of the United States
would schedule a stop in the Queen City of the
mountains, Gainesville.
THE OCCASION was the President’s attempt
to demonstrate concretely his interest in the
program, War on Poverty, ini
tiated by his administration.
Immediately the resources-
fulness of Mr. Ward’s abilities
went into action. A meeting of
all the department heads was
called and *'L. B. J. Day” in
Gainesville was planned.
THE OCCASION served to re
call a similar visit of a for
mer president, the late Frank
lin D. Roosevelt, some 25 years ago. The lectern
used by the late President in 1936 was taken out
of “moth balls” and made ready for the new
visit. A city employee, H. H. Petbel, removed
the iron supports necessitated for the crippled
Chief Executive and because of President John
son's height the lecturn was made six inches
taller.
Chief of Police, Hoyt Henry, called upon law
enforcement officers from neighboring com
munities and, augmented by the State Patrol and the
Secret Service, the town was literally "craw
ling with cops.”
EVEN THE FIRE Department lent its resour
ces. Recalling to mind the fire incident when Card
inal Cushing of Boston was delivering the Invoca
tion at the late President Kennedy's innagura-
tion, Chief Sparky Spence placed a fire exting
uisher under the lectern.
Local Doctors were in on the act too. Two
doctors, an internist and a surgeon, were on
duty in the Emergency Ward of the Hall County
Hospital all the time that the President was in
town.
THE PRESS, LED by Gainesville’s nationally
known editor, Sylvan Meyer, and with the co
operation of the three local radio studios, gave
a minute-by-minute account to the people of the
area. Jim Hartly, John Jacobs, Bob Wilkes, Cla
ire Palmour, Pete Turner and Tony Maddox
gave a "big city” run down of the events all
along the route from the airport to the city hall.
I was getting up at 6 a.m. that morning to
•offer: the 7 o’clock Mass. Already school
children were making their way past the rectory
up to Roosevelt Square. They wanted to be
sure to have a front row seat.
THE CROWD PASSED the estimate of 40,000.
In his jovial manner the President stopped the
motorcade several times to shake hands with the
citizens. First aid centers, ambulances, andnurs-
es were strategically placed to give aid in any
possible emergency.
The whole visit was well planned, well pre
pared and well thought-out. The cooperation of the
townspeople made for a day which one radio
announcer termed, "accurately successful”.
IN WAS A DAYof history-in-making for this
north Georgia town. From the little tots who one
day will be citizens, to the oldsters it was a
real treat to have the President of the United
States honor the city with a visit.
A hectic week with last minute changes,
rushing planning and preparations all brought
about when Mayor Ward answered his phone one
day last week and a voice said, ‘The President
is coming to Gainesville on Friday”.
CHRISrS ASCENSION
Climax Of Redemption
BY REV. LEONARD F. X. MAYHEW
A week ago we observed the feast of Christ’s
AscensiorvThe Church allots only the ten days until
Pentecost for the "season” of the Ascension.
This may partly explain why this feast, even though
it is a holiday of obligation, and' the mystery
which it commemorates seem more like ac
cessories to the faith than part of its substance.
This is very far from being the
case, however. The Ascension
is the climax and, indeed, the
necessary climax of the work
of redemption and of the whole
"process” of the Incarnation.
As Father Edward Schille-
beechkx says in his excellent
book, "Christ the Sacrament of
the Encounter with God”; "In
the resurrection, then, as the
eternally enduring act of salvation, there it also
included Christ’s ascension and establishment as
Lord, the sending of the Holy Spirit which is
Christ's actual exercise of lordship, and to a
certain extent the (second coming of Christ) as
well. In their essential core all those together
form the single enduring mystery of salvation:
the person of the humiliated and glorified Christ
who is the saving reality.” Because this is true,
the Ascension contains rich spiritual meaning
for us.
We can conceive the Incarnation of the Son of
God as a "process”, or rather as two "pro
cesses,” The Ascension stands as the crown of
both. First, the human existence of the Son,
from his conception in Mary to the very end, is
the final and complete unfolding of God’s offer
of salvation to man. In the humanity of Jesus-
his words and deeds, especially those of his final
earthly days - God made concrete his estab
lishment of our victory over sin and death and
his offer of unending, loving oneness with Him
self. When Christ returns to His Father and
is established as Lord of all men, He is ready
to send the Holy Spirit to accomplish this sal
vation within each individual man and within
society.
DM CHRIST ALSO, all during his human exis
tence there is.worked out the perfect response
of man to this offer of God. Jesus is the perfect
worshipper of the Father. He delivered himself
CONTINUED ON PAGE 5
INVITATION TO
Hedonistic
Indifference
BY GERARD E. SHERRY
It was bound to happen. Ever since my good
editorial friends downtown at the Baptist Index,
receivedtheir invitations I have been waiting for
mine with bated breath. After all if a staid Baptist
could rank high on the invitation list, there was
no reason for discriminating against me. It
came this morning and the first three para
graphs were quite revealing:
"Your name has been submitted to the Accep
tance Committee by a most reputable source in
the community. I have been assured that you
are an individual of
quality preferences,'
and that you possess
the flair for good
times and good living 1
that marks you as a
man who not only
work hard, but plays
hard, too.
‘That’s why I am
sending you this per
sonal invitation to apply for your key to the world’s
most distinguished key club, The Playboy Club. It
is a Club which I have designed expressly for a
select and discerning few. For this is the Club
that has made the wonderful world of PLAYBOY
magazine a dazzling reality.
"Now all the sophisticated fun pictured in
PLAYBOY’S pages can be enjoyed behind the
doors of this elite Club. . . the taste-tempting
delights of delicious foods and choice bever
ages . . the many plush clubrooms, each with
its own decor and vibrant atmosphere . . .
yes, all this and a wealth of the world’s most
beautiful women - the Playboy Club Bunnies,
many of whom you will recognize as Playmates
straight from the centerspread of PLAYBOY.”
There were twenty-one other paragraphs to
this solicitation letter, signed by the head Play
boy himself, Hugh M. Hefner. The whole thing in
vited to an hedonist existence of fun and easy
living at fabulously low rates and with a sav
ing of "$25 from the regular Key Fee.”
It is to be regretted that there is nothing amus
ing in any consideration of this matter. All the
more so when one considers that right along with
the establishment of the "Playboy Clubs” some
concerned citizens are trying to direct the War
against Poverty. On the same day that I got this
solicitation, President Johnson was in the same
hotel where one can use "the key” telling Geor
gia legislators:
"I am visiting people who expect much from us.
1 have talked with the poor of Appalachia — to I
those whose’ hunger of the body brings despair
of the spirit — who live in homes empty of
means with hearts empty of hope.
"But I do not need to tell the people of the
South what poverty means. It once blanketed,
this land.
“I do not believe those who walked through
the anguish of the Old South — who sit today
secure in their affluence and safe in their
power— will now turn from the sufferings of
their neighbors.
"For our country has the same duty today
to help the few who are poor, as we did then
to help the many who were poor.
"I am going to tell the poor of Georgia— as
I have told the poor of Pittsburgh and of West
Virginia and of Chicago — that in state capitals,
in small towns, in Washington itself — we are
uniting our resources for a war which will end
only when poverty itself has ended.”
In the face of the President's remarks there |
would appear to me to be no social reasons,
for the establishment of Playboy or other
"Key-type” clubs. This is apart from the obv
ious spiritual reasons for the elimination rath
er than the establishment of such places.
To be truly effective the War against Poverty
will require a certain amount of sacrifice on
the part of all citizens — even If that sacri
fice only involves being concerned for the first
time about things other than one’s own pleas
ures. It seems strange that people like Hugh
Hefner can be enormously successful at a time
when the roots of our democracy are being
threatened. First by th e acceptance of racial
inequality and the apathy of the majority of
our citizens over economic inequality. If we
are to meet this problem we are going to have
to choose between the Christian principle of
charity or the blind chance of hedonistic in
difference.
cultivated Mstes and strong
— 1
REAPINGS
AT
RANDOM
#
“Gosh father, where do you meet all those
sinners you talk about?”
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