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GEORGIA BULLETIN THURSDAY, JULY 9, 1964
EDUCATION- MORAL PERSUASION
Civil Rights Law Poses New
Challenge for The Churches
BY RELIGIOUS NEWS SERVICE
When President Johnson* in
an address to a joint session of
Congress last December, called
one of "our most immediate
tasks” was finally accomplish
ed on Independence Day when
he signed the Civil Rights Act
designed to lift the^century-
long burden of racial discrimi
nation from the shoulders of
millions of American Negro
citizens.
Religious leaders — Pro
testant, Roman Catholic,
Eastern Orthodox and Jewish—
are meanwhile being confront
ed by a challenge to help com
bat through education and moral
persuasion — and, if neces-
ary, through courageous in
volvement. at local levels —
the racial intolerance that has
made democracy a dead letter
in many sectors of American
society.
THIS WEEK, the National
Council of Churches set a not
able example by announcing
steps in increased support of
civil rights volunteers in Miss
issippi, where some of the dark
est headlines in the tragic story
of racial bigotry have, been
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Churchmen in overwhelming
numbers have hailed the legi
slation. But their rejoicing has
been tempered by a general
feeling of shame that more than
a year was necessary to enact
laws that should, in the words
of one commentator, “not have
been necessary were all of us
both patriotic and religious,”
In the book, “The Social Work
of the Churches,” published in
1930, Dr. F. Ernest Johnson,
a former consultant for the
National Council of Churches,
noted that before 1929 very
few pronouncements on race
relations were made by the Pro
testant Churches — actually
only six in the period 1908-1929.
Among American Catholics,
much the same situation pre
vailed. This was confirmed by
Richard Cardinal Cushing,
Archbishop of Boston, in pay
ing tribute to the late Father
John LaFarge, S. J„ pioneer
of the Catholic Interracial
movement which actually did
not emerge until 1934. Before
that, the cardinal said, the
.Church had been "dragging its
heels” on,, the race question.
And from Father Philip S.
Hurley, S.J., Father LaFarge’s
! successor as chaplain of the
i Catholic Interracial Council of
j New York, came this recent
'comment: "The fact remains
| that up to now the secular and
| not the religious institutions
'have been in the vanguard of
the struggle to vindicate in the
practical order the rights of
the Negro.*’
THIS MAY justly be chal
lenged, however, as too sweep
ing a verdict by those who point
to the many forthright state-
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ments and resolutions by Pro
testant, Catholic and Jewish
organizations especially in the
past several years denouncing
racial injustice, and the lead
taken by many local religious
bodies in the struggle against
segregation practices waged in
many areas of the South in re
cent years.
On top of all this was the
strong clergy representation in
the historic March on Washing
ton for Jobs and Freedom last
August, and the momentous
National Conference on Re
ligion and Race at Chicago the
previous January. Sixty-eight
Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox
and Jewish groups took part
in this gathering at which
plans for interreligious pro
jects to combat discrimination
in ten "target cities” around
the country were announced.
However tardy or not the
Churches may have been in
facing up to the country’s
greatest domestic evil, it is
generally acknowledged that it
was the united support of all
denominations that helped to
break the logjam on the civil
rights legislation. The
Churches kept the moral as
pects of the question constant
ly before the nation and in the
end these considerations
weighed in bringing the bill to
a Senate vote,
THE CHURCHES were quick
to make their voices heard after
President Johnson last April
received 150 Catholic, Pro
testant and Jewish leaders at
the White House and called
upon them to "awaken the con
science” of the nation in the
matter of civil rights. "In
spire and challenge us to put
our principles into action,” he
urged.
The President took this
occasion also to indicate that
the work of the Churches would
not end with the enactment of
civil rights legislation. Laws
and government, he said, "are
at best coarse instruments for
remolding social insitutions
and illuminating the dark places
of the human heart. It is your
job — as men of God — to
reawaken the conscience of our
beloved land,"
City..
Si old, ,.
THE LATE President
Kennedy, the real father of
the civil rights bill, had
himself emphasized that the
problem "must be solved in
the homes of every American
in every (community across
our country,*’ As action on the
bill reached its final stage this
week, the same admonition was
J echoed by many religious
leaders.
In Washington, Msgr. George
G, Higgins, director of the
Social Action Department of the
National Catholic Welfare Con
ference, said "we realize, . .
that this new law is not the
final answer to the problem
of racial injustice. . .and that,
in practice, it will be of little
avail unless the great mass of
Americtui people are prepared
to go beyond the letter of the
law and to help create an
atmosphere of mutual under
standing and racial brotherhood
in their neighborhoods and
communities.
Said Rabbi Uri Miller,
president of the Synagogue
Council of America: ‘The task
of the religious community is
to translate into a renewed re
ligious conscience the legal
provisions of the civil rights
bill. We must, through edu
cation and religious inspiration,
change men*s hearts to cor
respond with the law.*’
PRESIDING Bishop Arthur
Lichtenberger of the Protestant
Episcopal Church, also stres
sed that ‘legislation alone can
not change attitudes, much less
change customs molded by many
generations,*’ But he added that
' law does influence the way in
which men and women treat one
another*’ and "Just relation
ships do provide a social cli
mate in which attitudes
change,"
Dr. Lewis Webster Jones,
president of the National Con
ference of Christians and Jews,
saw in the new law "a witness
that Americans, morally arous
ed, can form a more perfect
society," He said it was pro-
vidlng "a hope that men will
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Copyright, 1M4. N.C.W.C. N*w« Service
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be persuaded that what has be
come legally right has ever been
morally Just."
An optimistic note was sound
ed, too, by Greek Orthodox
Archbishop Lakovos of New
York, who called July 4, 1964,
"a most significant milestone
in our history and in the history
of mankind.*’
"A rekindled spirit reflect
ing the beauty of the Spirit of
1776 is brightening the horizon
of the world with the refresh
ing hope that Justice andequality
for all men, regardless of race,
coior and creed, shall fill the
hearts of all men,*’ he said.
SENIOR Bishop Rauben H.
Mueller of the Evangelical
United Brethren Church and
president of the National Coun
cil of Churches also hailed the
new law as "one of the great
milestones of our time,*’ But
at the same time he agreed
with Dr. Eugene Carson Blake,
stated clerk of the United Pres
byterian Church’s General As
sembly and chairman of the
NCC’s Commission on Re
ligion and Race, that it also
constituted a new and dramatic
challenge that the Churches
must meet.
‘The nation’s churches and
synagogues,*’ Dr. Blake said,
* cannot afford to rest on any
laurels they might have won up
to now in the battle for justice,
equality and freedom. Their
leaders, but more important,
their members, must continue
to press for the enforcement
of the Civil Rights Bill."
"We have," he added, "the
influence to bring about these
necessary changes in our way of
life in both the North and South."
This was the note sounded, too,
by Arthur Wright, director of
the Catholic Interracial Council
of New York, who said: ‘The
degree of commitment of re
ligious memberships, in
dividual priests, rabbis and
ministers to interracial justice
is still to be demonstrated."
EVEN AS the nation’s attent
ion was being focused on the
White House ceremony which
saw President Johnson sign the
law implementing the Emanci
pation Proclamation of 101
years ago, the NCC's Commiss
ion on Religion and Race was
setting itself more squarely
behind the student civil rights
workers in Mississippi, where
a search was still going on for
the two New York white students
and the Negro student from
Meridian Miss., feared to have
met foul play at the hands of
racist elements.
The commission announced
It had decided to Increase the
recruitment of "minister -
counselors” to accompany civil
rights volunteers | in the state
this summer. It said Pro
testant, Catholic and Jewish
clergymen will be asked to
volunteer for this dangerous
task of staying with each group
of student workers*' sponsored
by the Council of Federated
Organizations, the civil rights
groups supervising activities
in the state. In addition, the
commission said, it would en
list additional lawyers to pro
vide legal assistance to the
students, especially in danger
ous places.
LATER, the commission is
sued a statement saying it con
sidered "the violent opposition
to the establishment of human
Justice and freedom for all citi
zens in Mississippi to be one of
the gravest problems facing
the ntlon."
Earlier, Presidential adviser
Allen W, EXilles had met with
religious leaders of both races
in Jackson, Miss., to discuss
problems of law enforcement.
The clergymen included two
Negro Baptist ministers and a
group of Catholic priests head
ed by Bishop Richard 0. Gerow
of the Natchez-Jackson diocese,
who has (defied' segregationist
agitators by instructing his
clergy that no person be turned
<ftoay from Catholic churches
because of color.
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The Catholic Herald-Citizen,
organ of the Milwaukee arch
diocese, has warned that "one
would be childishly naive to ex
pect that the enactment of the
civil rights law will change
minds and hearts," It said “the
racist will continue his dia
bolically inspired contempt and
hatred for those with darker
skin,*’ and "others will insist
that no law can make them love
harboring their racial pre
judices, giving the lie to the
name of Christian.”
HOWEVER, The Tablet,
-weekly newspaper of the
Brooklyn, N. Y. diocese, said
that, although there will be op
position, "we find heart in the
legal dictum that law breeds
a climate of compliance.’ That
progress may be slow con
stitutes no argument against
progress as such. Where civil
STILL QUALIFYING
rights is the argument, more
is accomplished with law than
without it.”
The National Catholic Con
ference for Interracial Justice
-- founded in 1959 — declared
that in passing the crucial civil
rights legislation, Congress has
"recognized the concern which
all of our American society
must have for the higher law
which is that of God’s." It said
this concern was amply demon
strated by "the action of thou
sands of religious leaders —
lay and clerical — in efforts
to support passage of the bill."
GLENDALE, Ohio (NC) —
Delegates of some 25 organiza
tions sponsoring or employing
lay volunteers in U.S. mission
work took steps here toward
mutual cooperation and help.
About 50 representatives of
the organizations met (June 28-
30) at the Glenmary Home Mis-
sloners* seminary here for a
"mission seminar.**
After discussion of recruit
ing, screening, field super
vision, clergy-lay relations,
publicity and finances, they
formed a seven—member com
mittee to "begin a rudimentary
central cleaming house for in
formation and coordination of
the home mission effort."
Father Joseph O'Donnell of
Glenmary was named chairman
of the committee. Other mem
bers are Msgr. Edward W.
O'Rourke, executive director
of the National Catholic Rural
Life Conference; Father John
J. Sullivan, director of Exten
sion Lay Volunteers; Sister
Mary Anne of the Glenmary Sis
ters; Marilyn Riehle of Glen
mary Lay Volunteers; Kenneth
Farrell of Christian Family
Movement Volunteers; and
Father William McMahon of the
Rockford, Ill. diocese, also as
sociated with the Christian
Family Movement.
OTHER organizations repre
sented were the Grail, the Bet
ter World Movement, Catholic
Student’s Mission Crusade,
Catholic Lay Mission Corps,
Catholic College Stars
Seeking Olympic Berths
Madonna House, Jesuit Mis
sions of Alaska, Legion of Mary,
Serra International;
Pax Christi (Greenwood,
Miss.), Charitas (New Orleans),
Trinitarian Volunteers, Glen
mary "Span" Volunteers, Mei>
cy Sisters Volunteers, Francis
can Lay Volunteers, Missouri
Volunteers, Glenmary Sisters
Lay Volunteers, the Holy Cross
and Josephlte Fathers, and Kap
pa Gamma Pi.
Archbishop Karl J. Alter of
Cincinnati opened the seminar
with an address on the general
principles of the lay apostolate.
Noting that the Second Vati
can Council may adopt a state
ment on the subject, he pre
dicted that nothing basic will
be changed by it.
“THE LAY apostolate is as
old as the Church itself," he de-
calred. "All who are baptized
have an equal responsibility to
work for the extension of Christ’s
kingdom on earth, according to
their state of life.**
He cited the need for "screen
ing** candidates for lay mission
post and providing them with
formation. A lay volunteer, he
said, ought to be "a normal
person with more than aver*-
age intelligence and knowledge
of the Faith, and with zeal for
bringing the Faith to others."
THE GLENMARY Home Mis
sioned sponsored the seminar
as an event in their year-long
observance of the 25th anni
versary of their founding by the
• late Father W. Howard Bishop.
Glenmary is a society of secu
lar priests and Brothers dedi
cated to work in the American
mission field—particularly the
"no-priest land" of the na
tion’s priestless counties.
BY ED GRANT
(N.C.W.C, News Service)
NEW YORK — Veteran stars
Harold Connolly and Jerry
Siebert of California and Ira
Davis of Philadelphia quali
fied for the 1964 American
Olympic team in (July 3 and
4) trials at Randalls Island
Stadium here.
Connolly, the Boston Col
lege alumnus who won the 1956
Olympic hammer throw title
confirmed his return to top
form as he tossed the 16-
pound iron ball 225 feet
4 inches to outclass the field,
Just as he had done last week
in the national A. A. U,
Championship at New Bruns
wick, N.J,
NOW A teacher in Pasadena,
Calif., Connolly most likely will
be Joined in the Olympics by his
wife, Olga, who won the 1956
women’s discus title for
Czechoslovakia, then competed
for the United States at Rome in
1960. Olga will attempt to
qualify next month in the
national AAU women’s cham
pionships.
Siebert, University of Cali
fornia graduate student, made
his second Olympic team as he
won the 800 meters in 1:47.2,
fastest time in the world this
year. The speedster from
back this season after "retiring
in 1963.
FOR DAVIS, LaSalle College
graduate., this will be the third
Olympiad, He first qualified in
1956 as a 19-year old college
sophomore and placed fourth in
the triple jump at Rome, In the
trials here he led the field with
a mark of 52 feet, 10 3/4
inches.
Only the winners here auto
matically qualified for the
Olympic team and even they will
have to prove their condition at
a Los Angeles meet in
September, The next five place-
winners in each event will be at
Los Angeles to battle for the
other two places on the squad.
AMONG those who qualified
for the Los Angeles meet was
Tommy Farrell of St. John's
U„ Jamaica, N, Y., National
Collegiate Athletic Association
800 - meter champion, who
placed fourth to Siebert in the
800 meters at 1:47.5, the fast
est time of his career, A junior
at St. John's in the last school
year, Farrell was graduated
from Archbishop Molloy High
School, Brooklyn, and lives in
Forest Hills. L.L
A neighbor of Farrell and
former high school rival, Bill
Boyle of Notre Dame, also
placed fourth in his event, the
400 meters. Boyle, a graduate
of Chaminade High School and
resident of North Merrick, L.I.,
threatened for the lead until
the last 50 yards.
VILLANOVA saw three of its
former stars qualify. Vic
Zwolak, a graduate, placed
fourth in the 3,000 - meter
steeplechase at 8:47.8, and Paul
Drayton and Don Webster ran
third and fifth in the 200 meter
dash. But Wildcat alumnus Pat
Webster ran third and fifth in
Traynor was shut out in the
steeplechase and sophomore
Earl Horner ran seventh in the
200-meter dash.
Another disappointed athlete
was John Uelses of LaSalle,
first man ever to clear 16 feet
in the pole vault. Uelses failed
to make 15 feet 9 inches in this
meet and didn't come close to
qualifying. John’s college rival,
Rolando Cruz of Vil anova,
didn't have to qualify here as he
will compete for Puerto Rico
in Tokyo.
SEVERAL of Siebert’s team
mates on Father Walter
Schmidt’s Santa Clara Youth
Vil age squad either qualified
directly for the Olympics or
made the Los Angeles meet.
Jeff Fishback took the steeple
chase in 8:40,4 to earn a Tokyo
ticket, while Ed Burke, in the
hammer throw, and Todd
Gaskill, in the hop, step and
jump, made the Los Angeles
meet.
Also in Los Angeles will be
Honor Atlantan
Dr. Harold B. Whiteman, Jr.,
Dean of Freshmen at Yale Uni
versity, recently notified
school officials at St. Pius X
High School that Hugh F. 0*
Donnell, of the Class of 1963,
had been named to the Dean's
Honor list. This honor places
Hugh in the top 25% of the fre
shman class at Yale.
Nelson rives'
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veteran distance star Pete Mc-
Ardle of New Uork, the nation's
top 10,000-meter runner, who
qualified in that event at the
national A.A.U. meet. McArdle
will also try to make the the
marathon squad at Culver City,
Calif, later this month.
TOMMY O’Hara of Loyola
University Chicago, who won
the national AAU 1,500-meter
title a week ago, failed to re
peat his victory over Oregon's
Dyrol Burleson and thus will
have to qualify for the Olympic
team at Los Angeles. In a
slow-paced race, O’Hara held
the lead most of the way, but
was unable to hold off Burle
son in the homestretch. The
time was 3:45.4, more than
seven seconds slower than
O’Hara's American record of
3:38.1, set at the AAU meet.
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Hugh is the son of Mr. and
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He is a member of Sacred
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