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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.