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PAGE 4 GEORGIA BULLETIN THURSDAY, JULY 9, 1964 the Archdiocese of Atlanta GEORGIA BULLETIN SERVING GEORGIA'S 71 NOUTHMm COUNTIES HIM Official Organ of the Archidocese 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 Norths ide Station Atlanta 5. Ga. ASSOCIATE EDITOR Rev. Leonard F. X. Mayhew Member of the Catholic Press Association 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 ‘Patriotic’ Racists Democracy died a little in At lanta last Saturday. The national celebration of Independence Day was scarred by the little men who spewed forth hate and prejudice, at a so-called rally of “patrio tic" Americans. What mockery of all that we hold to be true in this country, when the gover nor of Alabama tells Georgians he’ll not comply with the law of the land. What a slap at the founding Fathers when the ex governor of Mississippi ridicules the highest principles of Ameri canism. Furthermore, howcanthe self- styled patriots who attended the rally justify the beating of de fenseless Negro spectators, who were attacked with metal chairs and baseball bats. This is not democracy. It appears more like a flash-back to Hitler’s Germany. This is exactly what the Nazis did to gain their evil ends. Are we to tolerate the same thing here? Those who think the racists are really harmless, had better take a long, hard look at the sit uation. Here in 1964, we have a restuarant owner who wants to keep his establishment for white only. And to make sure that no Negro customer crosses his threshold, he has a box of axe shafts or handles ready to repel the “invaders." His customers are invited to help him keep out the Negroes whose only wish is to have the freedom of choice on where to eat. Whenever we liken these rac ists and their supporters to the Nazis, we are called Commun ists-- this because every step taken toward social justice is considered “communism" by the extremists within our midst. Every protest against the sadism of some of these “white supre macists" is likened to a vote for the Soviet Union. Be that as it may, we ought to speak out, and often. What shocks this writer is the indifference in some sections of the daily and religious press to the excesses of racial and reli gious extremists. Even some newspapers of religious minori ties which have suffered much persecution, prefer to remain silent on such matters. This despite the fact that they will always seek the editorial support of others when they are attacked. No concerned citizen can afford the luxury of remaining silent. No religious newspaper can claim immunity from moral obligation. If editors of religious orientat ed periodicals cannot speak out against racial or religious vio lence, then they should fold up their tents and seek the re lative calm of the secular news paper field. If we cannot love our neigh bor-- even to the extent of tak ing an unpopular stand-- then the cause of justice is threaten ed. What is needed now is a sense of justice, and the em bracing of justice applied equally to all. Politics In Pulpit? Last Sunday many priests of the diocese not only read Bishop Be gins pastoral letter urging Cath olics to help defeat November’s housing initiative in the interests of justice and charity, but also used the occasion to preach on the race question in general and that initiative in particular. This leads us to wonder at a statement made in the Tidings, the Los Angeles archdiocesan newspaper, in its eloquent de fense of Cardinal McIntyre when he was charged with too conser vative a position on the issue of racial justice. the controversy. Our pulpits ex ist for the preaching of the Gos- pel. . . . In the very next paragraph the editorial writer prevented any false conclusions when he ex plained, “The Church’s pri mary work lies in the realm of spiritual and moral influence," (italics ours), “not in the forum of politics or the formulation of economic policies. This does not mean that she divorces herself from these arenas. For they in volve human beings, and no hu man problem or human sorrow is alien to her." ggggE Helping Hand GEORGIA PINES Sterling Silver Jublee BY REV. R. DONALD KIERNAN 1939 was a very important year in the history of the Church in Georgia. It was only twenty-five years ago that two religious groups of Sisters be gan foundations in this state, and this year the event has been marked with two separate functions. There were less than twenty-five thousand Cath olics in the whole state at the time and the city of Atlanta could boast of only five Catholic Churches. At the invi tation of the late Archbishop O'Hara, the Dominican Sisters came to Atlanta, and the Mis sionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart came to Athens. BOTH RELIGIOUS orders were to found hospitals; both were to have humble beginnings in vacated buildings, but both groups were destined to have a marvelous impact for good on the com munities in which they worked. A Hebrew orphanage on Washington Street was soon to be known as a place of tender care where terminal cases of cancer, with no one to care and regardless of race or religion, found sympathy and comfort from religious women who saw a suffer ing Christ in every patient. IN ATHENS, a hospital operated by two Athens medical men was purchased by the Diocese and un der the supervision of the Sisters became a scene of tender mercy by a group of nuns from Reading, Pa. Washington Street in Atlanta at one time was a showplace of beautiful homes. Lined with giant oaks, the leaders of Georgia's political, business and financial world had their city homes there. The Sisters of Mercy conducted an Academy in the old Marsh residence just blocks from the capitol buildings. The red brick building at 760, which occupied a whole city block was likened to a jewel set in beautiful surroundings. TIME TOOK ITS toil on the neighborhood, how ever, and soon the vacated orphanage was the only impressive structure in the whole area. Slow ly the Nuns renovated the building and with work on the grounds, it became a scene of tranquility and peace for those in physical pain. Doctors, lawyers and preachers all came to the aid of the Nuns who were performing a truly chari table work in the community. If there is one "civic boast" which the city enjoys, It is the presence of the Home. For while the Home is church-operat ed, the Atlanta community all feel a justifiable pride in its operation. NO WORDS COULD ever be spoken about the Perpetual Help Home without the mention of the name Mary Ann. For while the vision and sacrifice of the good Sisters has made for a permanent place in the hearts of all Atlantans, Mary Ann has her own place In the hearts of the nuns. Afflicted with incurable cancer, Mary Ann came to the Home as a babe. It was really the only home she ever knew. Soon she became a sort of "official greeter" to everyone who passed through the doors. All felt Mary Ann belonged to them and, no doubt, Mary Ann felt a part of everybody associat ed with the Home. Prayers in abundance were of fered for her when Almighty God called her "home"........this little one, who by her own ex ample, had taught so many to suffer in patience and has shed so much joy and happiness throughout the wards of the Home by her presence. MEANWHILE in Athens, the Sisters had earned the respect and admiration of the city to such a de gree that it became necessary to construct an ad dition to the hospital. And now, twenty five years later, ground has been broken for an entirely new hospital facility for the Sisters. The list of advi sors to the Sisters in Athens closely resembles a directory of the educational, financial and civic leaders of the community. Yes, twenty five years have passed. A quarter of a century. To some, possibly, a long time; to others, just a Hick of a candle as compared with eternity. But twenty five years in the lives of the Missionary Sisters in Athens and the Domini can Sisters in Atlanta has rendered the church in Georgia an incomparable service one of love, devotion, and self-sacrifice. The Tidings stated in the tenth paragraph of its June 19 editor ial, “The Church is opposed to Father would like to eee the picture of our new char that was os the frost Mae.” It is precisely because Propo sition 14, the housing initiative, deals with human problems and human sorrow (we trust the Tid ings would agree) that the pasto ral letter was read so many priests preached on the subject. The pulpit should be used when a political measure goes against Christian social principles. Proposition 14 does. No Catholic can with a correct conscience support a measure which is “of such a nature as to contradict what is clear and universal Cath olic teaching on the rights and duties of those who own prop erty." The pulpit should be used to preach the Gospel. Social justice and social charity are the Chris tian Gospel for today. THE CATHOLIC VOICE OAKLAND, CAL.’ IRELAND PROSPERING Your World And Mine BY GARY MACEOIN Bright warm weather has greeted the early summer tourist throngingfrom all parts of Europe and the United States into Ireland's impressive network of modern hotels. The country is losing its delapidated appearance. Homes are painted in bright colors. Flowers sparkle in gardens and fields. Hedgerows are trimmed. table industry producing a hundred thousand auto mobile piston rings a day. He has sold his Mexican interests and bought five factories in Ireland. His immediate target is a mass market In Scandina via for a line of knit goods. "Ireland is at the beginning of a major industrial expansion," he told me. "I have greater opportunity than I ever dreamt of in Mexico." Businessmen, too, have smiles on their faces. The economy is experiencing a boom such as it has never previously known. If emigration has not ceased. It has finally declined to a trickle. Skilled workers are returning from England and America to work In the rapidly expanding factor- ires. The statisticians fore tell that by 1970 fewer than 29 cent of the population will remain on the land. For the time, more people will be employed in industry than in agriculture. In Diblln I ran into an American friend. 1 used to know him in Mexico where he built up a profi— IRONICALLY, the greatest impetus to Ireland's economy today is being provided by the English fi nancial interests which wiped out Irish industry in the nineteenth century and fought its revival in the twentieth. Remorse is not responsible for the change of tactics. It is simply that capital finds more opportunity under an Irish government of fering inducements to new industry than under the government of Britain's welfare state. And the in dications are that flight of capital to Ireland will assume flood dimensions in the fairly likely event of a Socialist victory in British general elections later this year. To the Irish themselves it all still seems as un- CONT1NUED ON PAGE 5 OPPORTUNITY Now, Negro Response BY GERARD E. SHERRY Passage of the Civil Rights Law is not merely a time of unbridled joy — there must also be some sombre ref lection on all its implications. While the white community has the most demands made upon it, our Negro fellow citizens also have inherited some awesome responsibilities. First of all, the Civil Rights legislation did not establish any new rights for the Negro -- he already had them. What it does is fur ther emphasize the constitutionality of these rights and gives the Negro citi zen legal support whenever he is de prived of them. The most encour aging sign since last week's enactment of the law has been the ability of many communities toad- just the political and social climate to compliance with the law. To be sure, there is still hard-core resistance; there are still people in various parts of the land who recognize no rights other than their own; who are selfish enough to perpetuate hate and prejudice to sustain the evil of racism. But despite all this there is opportunity for all our citizens to work together in peace and har mony. This is especially so in relation to our Negro brethren. Theirs is an opportunity unequal led to show their fellow-citizens their indepen dence, their initiative, their ingenuity, and last but not least, the love that forgives, even though they have been much wronged by the rest of us. Above all, the Negro community must begin to develop that mark of maturity and stability which many of their critics say they do not possess. Certainly much of the Negro leadership in this country possesses it. Men like Roy Wilkins of the NAACP, Martin Luther King of the Southern Lead ership Conference, Robert Weaver of the Federal Housing Administration, are but a few of quite a REAPINGS AT RANDOM number of Negro leaders who have nothing to apologize for and who are a credit to their race. On a local level, many new Negro leaders are be ing trained. If they heed the voices of the Wilkins’ and the Kings there is great hope for a peaceful settlement of current difficulties. It means, too, that the Negro community will have to grasp willingly and diligently the new opportunities of education and jobs in the self-advancement so urgently required. There should be an end to belligerency. This because while the changes rightfully demanded by the Negro will not happen overnight — even with the Civil Rights Law — there will be a speed ier response if there is a more friendly approach. This is perhaps asking a lot from our Negro brethren for they have suffered much at the hands of many of us, andformany years. However, their sense of maturity will be best expressed in their being able to forgive. This is an area in which Negro Catholics especially can help in their par ishes and their communities. When Catholics join in with the spirit of racism, they also join in attacks upon the very roots of the Faith. The heart of Catholicism is love springing from the very being of God and expressed in human terms in the Mystical Body of Christ. The late la mented Pope Pius XII, described the loss of un derstanding of love as the worst error of our time, for it rejects Jesus Christ and the purpose of His coming. We are commanded indeed by God Himself to love Him with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our strength, and with all our mind. Further, that we love our neighbor as we love our self. There is no room in God, nor can there be in the Catholic, for an area wherein pride of race may flourish. As so fittingly described by St. Paul, referring to the baptized, "Here there is no more Gentile and Jew, no more circumclzed anduncir- cumcized; no one is barbarian, or Scythian, no one is slave or free man; there is nothing but Christ in any of us." The law of Christ governs the Catholic Church and all of its members. The law has been reduced to two simple terms; love God and love your neigh bor. The Catholic, therefore, must strive for the betterment of his neighbors, Negroes included, with the same energy that divine blessings are sought for self. Fortified by a true knowledge of his Faith, the Catholic will find that there is only one answer to questions of this day. So while the Civil Rights Law further empha sizes the unalienable rights of our Negro citizens, interracial cooperation continues to be the urgent task within all communities. Those of us who have been involved in this struggle cannot afford to quit now. The time of testing is at hand and the unity of our citizenry is even more essential.