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PAGE 4 GEORGIA BULLETIN THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 1964 SEMANTIC TANGLE the Archdiocese of Atlanta GEORGIA BULLETIN! SCI VINO OlOtOIA'S 7) NOtTMM* COUNTIIS WIlCT Official Organ of the Archldocese 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 Kieman ASSOCIATE EDITOR Rev. Leonard F. X. Mayhew Member of the Catholic Press Association 2699 Peachtree N. E. P. 0. Box 11667 Norths ide Station Atlanta 5. Ga. and Subscriber to N. C. W. C. News Service Telephone 231-1281 Second Class Permit at Altanta, Ga. U. S. A. $5.00 Canada $5.00 Foriegn $6.50 Ecumenism Or... The following quotes are from the column of Louie D. New ton which appears in the current is sue of the Christian Index, offi cial Organ of the Baptist Con vention of the State of Georgia. “Freedom: The ablest message I have come upon in the proceedings at Atlantic City is the address of Pre sident G. Earl Guinn of Louis iana College, “Contemporary Threats to Freedom," deli vered at the Pastors’ Con ference. He began: “God could have made man secure. He chose to make him free. This freedom is the glory and bane of human existence. Used wisely, it creates a paradise; abused, it means a loss of Eden. But use freedom, man must. Sartre said: ‘Man is condemned to be free. “Threats: Dr. Quinn then moved into the area of con temporary threats to free dom: communism, Roman Catholicism and secularism. I would like to pursue his the sis, but space does not per mit. Let me close this grate ful commendation with Dr. Guinn's closing paragraph; “God grant that the church- the renewed church-will rise up like a mighty army and un der freedom’s holy light pro claim Christ as the One who makes men free.’’I hope every pastor will carefully read this great address.” We are struck by the highly ecumenical tone of the item. Dr. Newton is pastor of Druid Hills Baptist Churchand national pres ident of Protestants and other Americans United for the Sepa ration of Church and State. iffm It ; ,\ viArvi'JM Brother to Brother GEORGIA PINES Georgia Jesuits Atlanta Pot-Holes Visitors to Atlanta invariably comment with enthusiasm on the beauty of the city and its en virons. They sing the praises of our impressive churches and public buildings and of the lovely homes and residential areas in every section of the metropolitan area. The thousands of blossom ing dogwood trees that decorate an Atlanta spring are a trad- mark of the taste and visual splendor of which Atlantans are so justifiably proud. There is one particular defect of the Atlanta scene, however, which visitors and inhabitants a- like bemoan- the shocking con dition of so many streets and roads in and around Atlanta. The tone of the comments may vary at times from annoyance to fury but the comments themselves are constant and seemingly ineffec tual. There does not seem to be any lack of activity on the part of those in charge of road repair. Crews of workmen are every where; patching, filling, black topping. Detours appear to the motorist to be designed for max imum inconvenience over the longest possible period. And still the ruts, potholes, broken pave ments multiply, or at least seem to remain constant in number. The jolts and bounces jar the nerves and destroy the patience of thousands of commuters and tourists each day. Atlanta does not claim to be perfect. It has the same diffi culties with more than average skill. The persistent worries of urban life must be tolerated so long as serious effort is made toward their solution. It seems incongruous, however, that a city of such obvious prosperity and ambition as Atlanta should suffer patiently the continued in convenience of so many outrage- oulsy ruined streets and roads. Atlanta is a city of automobiles and, therefore, of people constan tly at the mercy of the condi tions of their streets. The accu mulated wear and tear on tires, cars and drivers must by now far outweigh the cost of proper main tenance of good road conditions. Closing Debate The cloture vote in the Senate, cutting off the fillibuster on Civil Rights came none too soon. We wondered how long the country could afford to tolerate endless obstructionism under the guise of democratic protection of state rights. We hope that this important piece of legislation will soon be approved by the Senate, and that the House will compromise on the several amendments deemed necessary for passage of the bill. What is important is that our Negro fellow-citizens obtain by law what they have been de prived of in the way of rights for more than a century. We would have preferred the voluntary granting of these rights. Alas, hatred and bigotry is still so rampant thatthe Negro has had to demand the protection of the Constitution. We are fully aware that the passage of the Civil Rights Bill, will not automatically bring com pliance. We think, however, that it will be in the best interests of all citizens, as well as the country, to accept the measure in a spirit of good-will and co operation. We have tarried too long in this area of human re lations. We have an awful lot to answer for; we have an awful lot to make up. We pray that we all are capable of meeting the test of brotherly love in the spirit of charity. BY REV. R. DONALD KIERNAN On a bank overlooking the Chattahooche River, on a piece of land dug out of the side of a moun tain and nestled among tall Georgia pines, lies Manresa of Atlanta, the Jesuit Retreat house. The Jesuit Father’s foundation dates back only to December 16, 1960, but the Jesuit Fathers are not new to Georgia., Indeed, at one time a seminary for future priests was operated by the Fathers* in Macon, Georgia. A graduate of their training, Fath er Healy, later became Presi dent of Georgetown University in Washington, D. C„ and his brother became the Bishop of Portland, Maine. AT A TIME when Catholics were considered of little or no consequence in this State, the Jesuit influence in Macon was great enough to have a street in Macon named Pio Nono (Pius IX) Street. The Fathers also staffed churches in Macon and in Augusta, Georgia at a time when the Diocese was so short of secular priests that the Jesuits came to the ’’rescue” of the Georgia Bishop. IN JANUARY 1958, Mrs. Suzanne Spald ing Schroder donated a home and a parcel of property to the Jesuit Fathers Mrs. Schroder’s son had been ordained a priest in the Society in 1955. (He is Father John Schroder, S. J. of Grand Coteau, La.). More property was donated by Mr. William Schroder and additional property was purchased later in 1958, bringing the total acreage to 19.72. acres. The Jesuit Provincial (Southern Province) named Father M. V. Jarreau, S. J. as the first Director and his task was that of organizing a retreat movement and the arranging of con struction for a building. IN 1959 ground was broken and blessed by the former Bishop of Atlanta, Francis E. Hy land. Construction began immediately and with the "usual delays” of weather, construction hind rances etc., the building was ready for occu pancy in December, 1960. Ill health forced Father Jarreau to resign and he was followed by Father Harold Cooper, S. J. and the present director, Father John L. Hein, S. J. A TREE lined drive up an incline leads to a building which resembles a motel in construc tion. This is the first unit of a complex which eventually is designed to be the finest retreat facility in the south. The first impression of the carpeted hallways and rooms would be that of "plushness”. How ever, the carpet serves a purpose which is aptly set forth in a frame just outside the tem porary Chapel: "Silence is the very essence of the retreat movement”. PRIVATE rooms, private baths, air condit ioning and excellent food are all conveniences which add up to the aim of the Jesuit retreat movement; that is, no distraction can take away from the few days of concentrated prayer and meditation. The present Director of the Retreat House is Father John L. Hein, S. J. Father Hein recalls that the first retreat held in January, 1961, drew 43 persons. The first year (1961) 546 people made retreats at Ignatius House. This year (1964) 595 persons had made retreats as of June 7. THE JESUIT Fathers were organized into the Society of Jesus in 1534 by an ex-soldier, St. Ignatius Loyola. After the organization of his Society at Manresa in Spain, his followers went out in army-like discipline as soldiers of Christ. Some of the finest universities and colleges in this country today are conducted by the Jesuit Fathers. The Jesuit Retreat facility in Atlanta is the newest addition to a growing metropolitan area which serves persons of all faiths in their search for God through meditation, contemplation and prayer. INDEPENDENT KENYA Your World And Mine BY DR, GARY MacEOIN Kenya offers a somber illustration of the appal ling degree to which the European administrators and settlers misinterpreted the temper and mis judged the ability of the African while they con trolled his destiny. If we ignore this modern ex perience, we can never understand why Africans are today so profoundly mistrustful of everything the West offers them, while naively taking at face value the Communist professions of disinterested support against neo-colonial- fism. Unfortunately, the Chris- Jtian missions generally accep- ! ted the evaluation made by the /colonizers. It was a bad mis- jjtake, and they are paying dearly I for it. The settlers believed they |could create three separate so- cieltles, European, Asian and African (as they called them), distinguished not by place of birth but by race, each allotted the share of social and economic benefits which the Euro peans decided they deserve. To the European went political and economic control. Law and administrative procedures were developed with his needs and desires in mind. Only he could settle what he cynically named the White Highlands, the country’s best land and most healthy climate, twelfth of the total area. The Asian was to be his batman, small trader, labor supervisor and skilled worker. At the bottom of the pile the African lay prostrate, a limitless source of cheap unskolled labor, THREE SEPARATE systems of education were intended to perpetuate the relationship of the races. All European and a high proportion of Asian children had as much education available as they could absorb. Some 80 per cent of the Afri cans remained illiterate. Only a handful got sec ondary schooling, with not more than a token number reaching university entrance level.Those who did persevere were excluded by racial dis crimination from entering the general economic, social or political life of the country. Nearly all education for Africans and a large part of that for Europeans and Asians was in the CONTINUED ON PAGE 5 Opportunities And Dangers BY GERARD E. SHERRY I see by the papers that certain writers are complaining about an alleged monopoly by Liber als in the Catholic Press. It is certainly a joke to be informed that only the Conservative Catho lic newspapers give both sides of any discussable question. I can’t name one, and they all come into my office. However, because they have brought up the sub ject, I thought it would be useful to reiterate views on the differences between the two forces in the Church. After i all, it would be fool hardy to suggest that divisions do not exist. The Divine T ruths which we Catholics espouse are unchanging and they cannot be chal lenged in the dialogue between so called Liberals and Conservatives within the Churchi. THE REAL issue, the real question today is this: can the Gospel be brought to life in the Twentieth Century? Obviously, the answer is yes. The Gospel must be lived as well as preached. In doing this, we must strive to apply the divine truths to concrete situations rather than try to apply them to some non existent abstract. REAPINGS AT RANDOM Some of our fellow Catholics seem hypnotized by abstractions and show genuine fear at current expressions of vitality within the Church, They so often wrongly equate a vital Catholicism with some past heresy. Yet such vitality should be understood as representing an honest effort to avoid the extremes of secular liberalism and re actionary Conservatism. What makes a man a Catholic Liberal or a Catholic Conservtive? How is it possible for two men of equal education and exprience to arrive at contrary conclusions about the Faith.The whole history of the Church gives abundant evidence to the fact that every age has its Conservatives and its Liberals. Each era in the Church bears wit ness to the dynamic tensions between these two tendencies. As far back as the Apostles this life- giving dialogue was a factor. St. Paul had to fight to assure the easy access of the Gentile conver ts, while some others fought to bind them to the Mosaic law, ONE FACTOR which cannot be overlooked, or at least so it seems to me, is the basic emotional approach each man has to reality. Two men can stand before one and the same situation: One will be caught by the dangers involved and the other will be sized by the opportunities which it pre sents. Objectively the dangers and the opportuni ties have a constant value, but these two men place a greater emphasis on one over the other. Fundamentally the Conservative is sensitive to dangers, and the Liberal is sensitive to opportu nities. Because he sees dangers and because the dangers imperil the pearl of great price, the Faith, even if only remotely, the emotional re sponse of the Conservative is one of flight, or at least a cautious inactivity, sometimes excused as prudence. BECAUSE he sees dangers, and thus con structs defenses, the Conservative naturally would choose to push the barricades out as far as pos sible, and accordingly choose to fight for some poorly chosen ground. He tends to make abso lutes out of some perfectly good relatives. He tends to blur the distinction between the essentials and the accidentals. To defend the Divine deposit, he tends to equate its changeable, human shell with the unchangeable kernel. The initial condemnation of St.Thomas Aquinas was occasioned by the failure to distinguish between the Faith and the Platonic philosophy in which it had been clothed for so long. Because St. Thomas wished to enlist Aristotle into the ser vice of the Faith, he was condemned. Because he had in no way endangered the Faith, but had given it a new defense, he was later canonized. BECAUSE he sees opportunities, and because these opportunities are the occasion for the spread of the Faith, the emotional reaction of the Liberal is one of Joy, an eager desire to work, to plan and to advance. Because. Because he sees a chance to bring more and more men to the know ledge and love of the Revealing God, the Lib eral is very sensitive to the distinction bet ween the essential and the accidental, and he is very impatient with any effort to absolutize things which are of their nature only relative. Desiring to share the Faith, he looks kindly upon any pruning operations, and he actually hopes for adaptations. Pope Pius XII knew that many people were not going to Communion. With true pastoral concern he looked upon the centuries old Law of Com munion Fast. He saw that this bulwark had become a barrier, and so with serenity, he changed the law. Reception of Communion is much more imp ortant than the preparation for Communion} if the preparation hindered the reception, then change the preparation. This is the attitude of the Liberal: first things first, CONTINUED ON PAGE 5