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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 .. *» it. * FOR ffl emu - RIGHTS action 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?” Qn°n°nO n l ln (> n°n < loz Mission week imnr^