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POLITICAL CONVENTIONS
Spectacular Performance
THURSDAY, JULY 9, 1964-
GEORGIA BULLETIN
PAGE 5
BY REV. LEONARD F. X. MAYHEW
The highlight of lea]>-year summers is certain
ly the occurrence of the political conventions of
the major parties. The "smoke-filled room" of
former days has been transformed, at least for
public consumption, into a full-fledged enter
tainment spectacular. Television has changed
American politics more radically than any factor
since women were given the vote. Candidates no
longer need kiss stray babies in parks; figura
tively, they may now kiss the entire nation
through the magic electronic
tube. The candidate and party
with the most appealing tele
vision "image" have a decided
advantage.
One great benefit of enor
mous potential for American
political maturity derives from
the television coverage of the
party conventions. Millions of
citizens, who could formerly have had only the
most indirect experience of the political pro
cesses, now can see and listen more effectively
than most of the delegates themselves. Not only
are the major speeches accessible but also in
in-fighting over platform planks and party poli
tics is waged in full view. In recent years, both
parties have agonized over their civil rights
stands in full view of any and all interested per
sons. The report of the platform committees is al
so with full television and radio coverage.
THIS DEVELOPMENT offers an unequalled op
portunity to compare the stated policies of the par
ties with the actual performance they exhibit in
government. Too frequently it seems that the plat
forms are constructed solely with a view to elec
tion. Once the election is over, the conduct of the
government seemingly is based on other conside
rations. A politically mature American public
could see to it - and owes it to itself to see to it-
botTi that cynical promises are not tolerated and
that performance match more closely the serious
promises it demands from the political parties.
The key lies in the public's attitude toward the
art and fact of politics. Political parties will re
spond with hearty self-interest to well-informed
and realistic public opinion. The old adage that
people receive the government they deserve has a
good deal of truth to it. Apathetic citizens de
serve political leaders who ignore their real
needs. Skittish and childish political emotionalism
will be fed with campaign oratory and sabre-
rattling. Actual policy will be created and imple
mented with cynical disregard for statements
made simply for the sake of winning elections.
POLITICS is not a dirty word. It is an esslv :
tial by-product of civilization - the living togeth
er of people in communities. It is - or can be -
a noble profession whose aim is to achieve the
greatest possible temporal good of the entire com
munity. In a democratic political society, such as
ours, this absolutely demands maximum partici
pation of the citizens. This means, however, some
thing we are seldom really willing to face. First
of all, there is the necessity for accurate know
ledge - Information concerning the facts of the
complex situations which face society and - even
more important - a clear grasp of the social and
moral principles which govern political action.
The alluring vision of American politics trans
formed into an intelligent and tolerant dialogue
among the myriad groups and viewpoints of our
society may be only a modern Camelot. On the
other hand, Is there any intrinsic reason for it to
be impossible? In this nation of affluence, almost
universal literacy and instantaneous communica
tion, why can we not hope for something approach
ing the ideal? Is It unfeasible for liberals and
conservatives to differ and exchange their views in
a rational and dignified manner and with mutual re
spect? The right approach to the conventions may
be a beginning.
QUESTION BOX
Valley Of Tears?
BY MONSIGNOR J. D. CONWAY
Q. From the cradle to the grave we, as Catho
lics are taught this life is only a "vale of tears"
and that our reward is in heaven, and I agree
with this totally. Then why, when the body of
one of our departed brethren is being wheeled
from the church towards its lasting place on this
earth, why is a funeral dirge played as a reces
sional? Why not a happy hymn? One of the hap
piest, to my way of thinking, is "Holy God, We
Praise Thy Name," After all we are publicly
_on our way to meet our Maker. I cannot think
of a happier moment for us, as Catholics, than
when we are sent on our way to meet our Fa
ther in heaven.
Surely there is sorrow at the passing of our
dear one, but we are all on our way to a reunion
to which we have been looking forward all our
lives.
Will Church law permit them to sing "Holy
God, We Praise Thy Name" when I leave this
vale of tears?
A. Your question proposes a provocative sub
ject for our meditation. No event tests our faith
like death. It is easy to believe
in the Resurrection when we and
our loved ones are full of life
and hope. But the belief must be
real to see bright light through
the dark shadow of bereavement
—or of our own impending
doom.
But please discard that "vale
of tears" bit.This is our Lord’s
own beautiful world of sunshine
and laughter; He placed us here to enjoy life with
Him in the love of His brethren and ours. There
is suffering and sorrow in it, we all know; but*
that too can often be made happy by love. One
of the most joyous sufferers I have known died
recently. His long-endured physical condition
was full of pain; but his mind was keen and his
heart full happiness and love. A f ew hourg
before his death he was visited by a neighbor who
had often helped his faithful mother care for him.
She started to cry and he knew well the reason,
hut he said; "Gertrude, I have never seen you
cry; don't do it today." No vale of tears for himl
knows what Christ looked like. Well, Father, I
would like to recommend that you read the book
on the Self-Portrait of Christ by Father Edward
A. Wuenschel, C.SS.R., S.T.D. You will find that
you were wrong.
A. I could afford to spend a buck for this book
which the Holy Shroud Guild of Esopus, New York,
run by the Redemptorists, calls “a must book"
and a real bargain. But I have far more im
portant books waiting to be read; so I'have con
tented myself with a quick review of The Holy
Shroud, a polemic by the same author in pamphlet
form. I still go along with sound Catholic scholars
who say the "Holy Shroud" lacks about 13 cen
turies of being authentic..
Some of your friends have taken me to task
because I did not mention Veronica’s Veil. Of
course everyone knows that no such veil is au
thentic. The story of an authentic image of Christ
came from legend, combined with apocryphal
writings. In response to the stories a number of
"authentic" images came into being in several
places. One at Rome, claimed to be more au
thentic than the others, was called the vera icon,
(the true icon, or picture). And from a combina
tion of those two words came the name of Veronica,
in later centuries.
Q. What became of Mary after the Ascension
of Jesus and before her Assumption.
A. We presume that she lived in the home of
John the Evangelist, to whose care Jesus gave
her while He was dying on the Cross. There is
one tradition that she accompanied St. John to
Ephesus in Asia Minor and died, or "went to
sleep" there. A more credible tradition is that
she remained in Jerusalem, where we have a
church of her "Dormition” — "going to sleep"
— and a tomb where the Apostles are supposed
to have buried her, and then came back to find the
tomb empty.
The fact is, we do not know for sure, since the
inspired Scriptures make no mention of her after
Pentecost, During the days between the Ascension
and Pentecost she remained with the Apostles,
the holy women, and the brethren of Jesus,
steadfast in prayer. (Acts. 1, 14).
No vale of tears for himl
If you die before present church ritual is
changed, the choir—and congregation — should
sing, as they take you from the church: In
Parasidium, but that is not really a sad song:
"May the Angels lead you into paradise,”
Q. In a recent article you said that nobody
IRELAND PROSPERING
Your World And Mine
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4
real as the Celtic twilight or the purple heat haze
shrouding the peaks of the hills of Donegal. No
body is better than them at enjoying the pleasures
and benefits of modern living. They have doubled
the number of automobiles on the roads (and im
measurably improved the roads themselves) in ten
years. They have increased enrolments of students
in high school by 40 per cent in the same period.
Yet they struggle in their emotions against theim-
plications of change. They did not really look for it
or take the initiative in bringing It about. Rather,
it was thrust on them, the stimulus being to a large
part external, dictated by the economics of the
European Common Market and the inflow of capi
tal from Britain, Germany and the United States
MANY, CONSEQUENTLY, try to have the best ot
two worlds. They refuse to recognize that change
is integral; that, for example, you must open your
store early in the morning in a competitive in
dustrial economy, but that you won’t be very bright
at dawn if you sit up half the night engaged in a
sparkling Irish discussion, high in poetry and low
in facts. Another lesson that is only slowly im
pressing itself on the minds of both civil and ec
clesiastical leaders is that the traditional methods
of decision making will not work in a society
open to the communications media of modern
Europe, including television. They have to learn
to present facts and reasons in terms that will
win the intellectual and emotional assent of the
public.
The situation, however, is not entirely static.
Leadership of the three political parties has
passed from old men formed in the conflicts of
the Anglo-Irish and Civil Wars to younger men
more conscious of the new importance of econo
mic Issues. And the air of spring blowing in
through the late Pope John’s open window has
awakened not a few churchmen to an awareness
of the existence of the world and its rights. The
question is not whether the leaders a it moving
but whether they can move against deeply in
grained inertia far enough and fast enough.
Saints in Black and White I NdllQKdL CATHOLIC GROUP
Apostleship Urges Study
Of Maritime Conditions
ST. SIMON
ur
•
r;
J
YCROSS
1. The name of City
where he was
martyred
6. Clubs
10. Uncle; Scot.
13. Sartor
14. Calf’s cry
15. Suffer
16. Achieve
17. Solomon’s Father
was
19. A lintel
21 Recede
23. it’s Capital Is
Katmandu
25 Tort
26. Italian Coins
28. Water plant
30. Forest
33. Sneer
35 Language of the
Netherlands
37. Former
38 Amiss
40. Warrant
42. No: Scot
43. Greek dialect
45. Auctions
47. Aloft
48. Doctor of Divinity
50. Mocks
52 Panels
54. Choke up
56. Frozen rain
58. Hare
61. Elk
63 One who dates
65. Grader
36. Moslem State,
supreme ruler
68. Pines
70 Scruff
71. Tune
73. River In Egypt
(Roman name)
75. Exclamations
76. Three related
novels
79 More disastrous
81. Plural ending
82. Verb form
83 Uproar
85. Kind of nut
87. Suffix denoting
origin
88. Accomplished
89. Craftier
DOWN
1. Chinese pagoda
2. Clear
3. Dash
4. Strange
5. Easel
6. Size of shot
7. High in pitch:
music
8. Pastry
9. Open
10. Oriental
11 My; Sp.
12. Three
13. The name of the
man who led him
his home for
torture
16. 4th letter, Greek
alphabet
18 An Item of data
20. Thames estuary
22. Animal
24. Musical instru
ments
27
29.
31
32.
34.
36
39.
41
44.
46.
49.
51.
53
55.
57
59
60.
62.
64.
67.
69.
72.
74.
76.
to
77.
78.
80.
84.
86.
Enlist
Ort
Son of Isaac
Pace
Legends
Pertaining to seed
scar
Obey
Trend
Elite
Doctor of Dental
Science
Facts
American writer of
animals
Bristle-like parts
Vague discomfort
Warm
Relative
Braid
Lass
His are in St.
Peter's Church
Narrow inlet
Of the calf of the
leg"
Foregin trade dis
count
Fish, West Indies
He was not —
years old when he
was martyred
Deserter (81)
Over there
Unit of fluidity
Note; music
Judah’s son
ANSWER TO LAST WEEK'S PUZZLE ON PAGE 7
SAN PEDRO, Calif. (NC) —The
National Apostleship of the Sea
Conference has recommended a
major study be made of human
maritime welfare.
The recommendation was
made in a resolution at the con
clusion here of the organiza
tion’s 19th annual convention.
"IN THE light of technical
advances in ship building, the
Apostleship of the Sea Con
ference recommends a fresh
and orderly study of the routine
occupational circumstances of
merchant seamen with a view to
their impact on human action,"
the resolution stated.
Father George Magee,
Brooklyn, N.Y., port chaplain,
was elected president of the
conference.
NEW VICE president is Fa
ther John Kelly, O.M.L,'Oak
land, Calif., port chaplain. Fa
ther Thomas A. McDonough,
C.SS.R,, New Orleans port
chaplain, was reelected sec
retary.
A new member of the ad
ministrative board is Thomas
Conroy, director of the New
Orleans Catholic Maritime
Club.
THE CONFERENCE voted
to accept the invitation of its
national director, Bishop
Robert Tracy, to convene in
Easter week 1965 at his See
city, Baton Rouge, La.
In discussing the resolution
calling for a study of human
maritime welfare, Father Mc
Donough observed that "re
search for the benefit of man,
the navigator, is being made in
ARNOLD VIEWING
Honest ‘Black Like Me 9
BY JAMES W. ARNOLD
"Black Like Me" is clearly the first movie
In history (film buffs, please check) to use quotes
from ^St, Augustine and Jacques Maritain and a
prayer to St. Jude in the script. Despite criti
cal apathy, it has several other notable assets.
It is an honest picture from an almost pain
fully honest book, John Howard Griffin’s 1961
report of his trip through the South in Negro
disguise. (The Negroes were
theh experiencing the white
forelash, rather than the back
lash). The film has been made
with a blunt dignity and power,
despite occasional lapses that
convey the impression of an ap
pendix operation being executed
with pinking shears.
Many will write the whole
incident off as a cheap stunt.
But the disguise tactic is a worthy journalistic
device which is often the only way of getting a
story the public needs to have. It is as good
or as bad as the purposes and integrity of the
man who uses it, A recent Pulitzer went to a
reporter who worked as * • a teacher in a
"blackboard jungle" school to gather insights
available only to those who literally "lived"
the situation.
GRIFFIN is a 44-year-old white Texan who
endured blindness for 10 years after World War
II combat. He is a genuine rarity: a serious.
Catholic novelist ("The Devil Rides Outside")
with a serious background in philosophy and theo
logy, not to mention psychiatry and Gregorian
Chant. He could call a meeting of that club and
have a quorum in a telephone booth.
Griffin's feelings about racial injustice are
obsessively moral; his stunt was motivated by a
need to do something heroic, to become one of
Maritain’s "martyrs to love of neighbor," The
race problem may be national, but Griffin aimed
at his fellow white Southerners, He wanted them
to have compassion, the capacity to feel as the
other fellow feels that is the heart of the Golden
Rule. So he took them on a journey inside the
Negro's skin to learn the real evil poisoning the
South’s racial system: the relentless attack on a
man’s pride of self,
Negroes have tried to describe it. Whites have
not paid much attention; they have been con
centrating on their property rights. But for
a Negro the scars are old, the degradation ground
in for centuries. For a white, through Griffin,
each blow is fully new, terrible, senseless.
"No one can live," he writes, "without a sense
of personal value."
IF THE method is sensational, the content
is not. In both book and film, violence is im
plied rather than expressed; there are no night
rides with the Klan. Griffin explores the com
mon garden day-to-day humiliations: the pro
blems of getting a drink of water or going to the
bathroom or living in a decent room, of en
during the petty hatred or patronage in almost
every casual glance or conversation. As an edu
cated man, with only his skin color changed,
Griffin cannot get a responsible job or be
trusted to make change at a gas station or
rest himself on a park bench.
The movie, shot independently and virtually
in secret in Southern locations by first-time
director Carl Lemer, has its disappointments.
One, fictional Incidents have been added. "Wo
man interest" is sought by devising a psychologi
cal conflict between the hero and his wife and
by having him date a pretty, uninhibited Negro
girl. The fiction here destroys the credibility
and the impact of the journalism, otherwise
true in every detail.
SECOND, unlike the book, the film fails to
name actual locales and events (the Parker lynch
ing, the King bus boycott, the white leader
ship in Atlanta). It is important for the world
to know that the South is not of one piece, that
New Orleans is not Mississippi, that Montgomery
is not Birmingham. The book makes these
distinctions; the film does not.
The film hero visits a brave, wise-cracking
liberal editor, but he is not identified as P.D.
East, Yet the fact that East is a real person
who has stayed in the front lines at great per
sonal risk should be revealed to a people who
are starving for real heroes.
Three, the book had an advantage in Griffin’s
interpretive commentary on his experiences. It
is essential if the white audience is really to
understand what it sees. The film shows Negroes
living in poverty, drinking, turning a dance into
an animalistic orgy. Without explanation ("...life
is so oppressive his sensibilities have to be dulled
in noise, wine, gluttony, sex. , .") the middle-
class audience will only see its stereotypes con
firmed and will fail to see its own guilty in
volvement. Lerner could easily have added a
narrator or internal monologue.
EXCEPT FOR crude, often confusing editing,
the material has been well adapted for the screen.
The images have a dark, under-exposed newsreel
effect, and Lerner relies heavily on what film
does best: closeups, flashbacks, exposure of real
people moving in real settings via hidden cameras.
Some transitions are strikingly artful: splashing
water in a hand bowl dissolves to a swimming
pool, a degrading incident in a motel cuts to an
agonized Christ hanging on a Church crucifix.
The accidental spilling of ink on the photo of
the hero's wife and children is a symbol that
would have had Sergei Eisenstein rolling on the
floor in sheer Joy,
The cast, except for. James Whitmore as
Griffin, is made up of little-known professionals
who seem as real as the heat rising from the
pavement on an Alabama highway, Whitmore,
always a solid actor, has the advantage of look
ing like Griffin. He plays with restraint, as if
keeping a tiger on a leash. The dialog is often
blunt and uninhibited, but unlikely to shock any
one older than 12.
Remarkably, Griffin took his journey into hell
without losing his own compassion for the pre-
petrators, as well as the victims, of prejudice.
T* ’ *hate stare" is a pitiful thing to see on
film, But it is balanced by the positive moments:
e.g., the young construction worker, apparently
color-blind, who buries a weary Whitmore with
baby pictures. The beauty of love, free and un
self-conscious, stands out like a star on a moon
less night.
other fields, particularly in the
navy and in the space program.' ’
"HOW MUCH is being spent
on research into the human
effects of sailing ships? Noth
ing. Not one penny," he said.
‘This," Father. McDonough
continued, "is no criticism of
any organization or group, but
a mere statement of facts. The
problem exceeds the potenti
ality of any single shipping com
pany or maritime trade labor
organization. And yet, all share
in its effects."
THE STUDY, said Father
> McDonough, would require co
operation from all elements in
the maratime industry, from
crewmen through the Federal
government.
Among questions he suggest
ed for investigation was: "What
is being done or can be done
to enable seamen to feel identi
fied as human persons with the
industry which they serve? The
basic internal irritation of many
human beings at sea is that they
are regarded only as faceless
functionaries, or ‘hands’, and
therefore feel no personal in
terest in their calling,"
FATHER McDonough said the
Apostleship of the Sea had
something substantial to con
tribute to the real world of men
and ships. The'apostleship is
its own severest critic, he said,
and has always had a construc
tive viewpoint in mind.
Father McDonough said that
Pope Paul VI in a speech June
8 had said that "the religious
coefficient, if made dynamic in
industrial civilization, would
reveal with its light the basic
deficiency of the system that
pretends to regard the human
relationship born of the in
dustrial phenomenon as purely
economic and self regulating."
"POPE PAUL pointed out that
the current idea of human wel
fare, being founded predom
inantly or exclusively on eco
nomic goods and on temporal
welfare, is an idea coming from
a materialistic outlook on life,"
he said.
"We in the Apostleship of the
Sea, therefore^ can never be
content with being relegated to
an ineffective corner simply as
a real pious work," Father Mc
Donough declared.
Cardinals Meet
VATICAN CITY (NC)--Alfredo
Cardinal Ottaviani, director of
the Vatican’s Holy Office, and
Fernando Cardinal Cento con
ferred privately with Pope Paul
VI in separate audiences (July
3).
Seminary Fund
Remember the SEMINARY FUND
of the Archidocese of Atlanta in
your Will. Bequests should be made
to the “Most Reverend Paul J.
Hallinan, Archbishop of the Catho
lic Archdiocese of Atlanta and his
successors in office**. Participate
in the daily prayers of our semi
narians and in the Masses offer
ed annually for the benefactors of
our SEMINARY FUND.
God Love You
BY (MOST REVEREND FULTON J. SHEEN
Out of love for the priesthood will you, if it is possible, help
some of our brother priests in Africa. Asia, Latin America,
Oceania and other parts of the world?
Here are the facts:
Many priests In Latin America can support
themselves with four or five Mass intentions
a month. But some have not had any for as long
as six months to a year. ^
In other mission lands, where no salary is
paid to priests, they can live on twenty in
tentions a month, though many do not even
average a few a month.
Mass stipends generally are on the decline
throughout the United States. Many of the faith
ful will give money for a "remembrance" and
a card instead of having Mass read for their special intention.
They forget that they are remembered in every Mass through
out the world and that their pastor reads, in strict justice, over
sixty Masses a year for their intention. May we therefore ask
that all those organizations, mortuary establishments and
societies who perhaps get as much as $1,000 from people who
contribute a dollar or more for a Mass-card remembrance,
send $500 of that to the poor priests of the world.
The Pontifical society for the Propagation of the Faith sends
Mass intentions only to Bishops throughout the world in order
to equalize distributions to needy priests.
We priests belong to the only profession in the world in which
it is unnecessary to become acquainted with one another. The
moment we need a brother priest, no "breaking in" period is
necessary. We know his heart; he knows ours. The bond is even
closer when one is in need. If you can help your brothers in Christ,
may we ask you to send us some stipends regularly. You may
even be willing to give all the stipends you receive to prove that
as Christ the High Priest emptied Himself, so you empty your
self in this respect that Christ may reign In all.
GOD LOVE YOU to J.M, for $10 "In thanksgiving for many
graces received: my religion, six fine children, a good wife,
a good job and the privilege of American citizenship." . . .to
a Seminarian for $11 "I promised that I would continue to send
The Society a donation, be it as small as this one. One of the
seventh grade girls gave me on dollar to give to you, and I
added the other ten." . . .to Mrs. L.'D.'for $12 "This Mother’s
Day, our mother requested we send her present-money to the
Missions* Despite crippling arthritis, Mom has worked hard for
the Missions for many years and we proud children gladly send
this to you."
You carry the Blessed Mother’s image in your heart, but why
not show it by wearing her GOD LOVE YOU medal? The ten
letters of GOD LOVE YOU form a decade of the rosary as they
encircle this medal originated by Bishop Sheen to honor the
Madonna of the World, With your request and a corresponding
offering you may order a GOD LOVE YOU medal in any one
of the following styles:
$2 small sterling silver
$3 small 10k gold filled •
$5 large sterling silver *
$10 large 10k eold filled
Cut out this column, pin youn sacrifice to it and mail it to Most
Rev. Fulton J. Sheen, National Director of the Society for the Pro
pagation of the Faith, 366 Fifth Avenue, New York lx, N. Y. or
your Archdiocesan Director, Very Rev. Harold Rainey P. O.
Box 12047 Northside Station, Atlanta 5, Ga.