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GEORGIA BULLETIN
THURSDAY, JULY 30, 1964
the
Archdiocese of Atlanta
GEORGIA BULLETIN
<@
SHVINO GEORGIA'S 71 NOUTMMm COUNTIES
Official Organ of the Archidocese of Atlanta
Published Every Week at the Decatur DeKalb News
PUBLISHER- Archbishop Paul J. Halllnan
MANAGING EDITOR Gerard E. Sherry CONSULTING EDITOR Rev. R. Donald Kiernan
ASSOCIATE EDITOR Rev. Leonard F. X. Mayhew
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and Subscriber to N. C. W. C. News Service
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Liturgical Advance
The re-constituted archdioce
san Commission on Sacred Lit
urgy began its work this week.
With this first meeting, the arch
diocese marks another step for
ward in the renewal of mind
and spirit flowing from increas
ed growth in understanding of
the liturgy. The inclusion of lay
members on the commission, as
well as priests, emphasizes the
pastoral concern of the current
renewal. The faithful of our arch
diocese may feel themselves very
much at home* in the mainstream
of the revival now adding luster
to the Church.
When the liturgy revival is.
characterized as pastoral, this
implies something far deeper
than a willing acceptance of the
use of English at Mass or the
successful mastering of the
mechanics of participation.
Liturgy means worship. In par
ticular, it means the gather
ing of God’s people in union
with and in Christ to offer the
Father worship “in spirit and
truth.” This involves a deepened
understanding of the rites of the
Church as the ordinary means
by which man adheres to God and
is, in consequence, sanctified.
The doctrinal instruction, the
practices required for full par
ticipation, the change of outmoded
or ineffective forms - all are
designed with only one aim. That
aim is the increased fervor
and the growth in love of Christ
ian people, individually and as
members of a common body. We
felicitate the archdiocesan
liturgy commission and en
thusiastically second all the ele
ments of its program.
Trail Blazing
GEORGIA PINES
The Face Is Familiar
Stubborn
The passage by a large
majority of the Senate of the so-
called anti-poverty bill is a fact
of more than political significa
nce. Without any intention of
partisanship, we must applaud the
focusing of national attention on
one of our most stubborn do
mestic problems. Large pockets
of economic distress exists in our
country, Some of these are geo
graphical, like Appalachia and
several other areas whose econo
mic resources are either ex
hausted or no longer profitable.
Other aspects of America’s
poverty problem follow racial,
social or educational patterns.
The Negro, the school drop
out, the elderly, the technologi
cally under- or un-employed-
all suffer the distress of poverty
in the midst of the general pro
sperity. Such a situation cer
tainly offends the national com
mon good and demands energetic
attention at all levels.
The conscientious duty to act
toward remedying the evil of
destitution and its related pro
blems is the obverse side of
EXTREMISM looks like a word
that we are going to be talking
about for a long time. Senator
Goldwater’s dictum that “ex
tremism in the pursuit of liberty
is no vice” is the kind of cliche
that lives on; and, if the phrase
did not have a life of its own,
the Senator’s critics have seen
to it that longevity is guaranteed.
Even now, it has ceased to be
merely a political question and
has become a moral one.
Clearly there are some kinds
of extremism that can be lauded;
the saints, for example, are ex
tremists in goodness and this is
their singular claim to greatness.
But even here it has always been
necessary to point out that virtue
by its nature “stands in the mid
dle;” most vices are virtues in
the extreme. Parsimony is too
much frugality, stubborness is
much misplaced fortitude,
anarchy is an excess of liberty,
fanaticism is zeal run wild
and so the list goes on. Virtue
is always a balanced thin', and
most especially when it c'dsts
Problem
the right of property. As Pope
John wrote in Mater etMagistral
“It is not enough, then, to as-
sert that man has from nature
the right of privately possess
ing goods as his own, including
those of productive character,
unless, at the same time, a con
tinuing effort is made to spread
the use of this right through all
ranks of the citizenry,” Catho
lics have, then, an imperative
duty- to exercise themselves to
ward the end of the widest pos
sible spread of economic se
curity.
It is certainly a mistaken
notion that such a task ought to
be left exclusively to the federal
government. Local civil agencies
and private initiative are duty
bound to play their part. Which
is not to say that the federal
government may exclude itself
from this concern. The pro
blem is of such importance and is
so widely spread over the entire
nation, that certainly the national
government is justified- indeed,
obliged - to take steps to alleviate
the suffering it causes.
in high concentration.
But the Senator may be pre
sumed, from the context, to have
been speaking less of persons
than of politics and this raises
some different questions. The
nature of politics is to exist within
an order called society and any
extreme that strikes at the order
requires quite exceptional justi
fication.
We know who the extremist
is in American society, both on
the far right and the far left, and
neither the one nor the other is
an authentic friend of liberty.
Although there are rare political
cases where extremism may be
said to be a virtue, no such
situation exists at the present
moment. The practitioners of
extremism, of whatever variety,
turn out to be the genuine sub
versives of our times for they as
sault orderly government, de
spise the law, and twist society
to their own partisan demands.
BOSTON PILOT
BY REV. R. DONALD KIERNAN
IT WAS once said of former Postmaster-Gene
ral, James A. Farley, that he had a phenomenal
memory, especially when it came to remem
bering names. He is reputed to be able to re
call anyone's name, once he has been intro
duced, even though it might be ten years before
he meets the individual again.
Of couse, this is the forte of the good poli
tician. The ability to recall a person’s name
endears the politican to them. I've often wondered,
though, if a politician has an aide with a stage
whisper helping him out.
DRIVING HOME to Gaines
ville the other Sunday after I
had attended a reception for a
visiting Archbishop brings this
topic readily to mind. Some ten
years ago I was stationed at
the Shrine of the Immaculate
Conception. At that time the
Maronite and Melkite Rite did
not have their own churches
in Atlanta. Consequently, they
went to the “L C.”. I had (and still have, I hope)
many many friends among the Lebanese people.
Going to this reception was a sort of “reunion”
to me. 1 did not realize that age brings with it a
lapse of memory until I realized I could not
honestly remember the names of some of the
people I met. I guess this is the reason why I
have such admiration for those with powerful
retentive abilities.
I don’t think that anyone would ever be expected
to remember odd names. However, at Baptism
time is when one usually hears some of the
strangest. I recall one time taking the.informa-
tion down prior to the ceremony. I asked the
father what the baby's name would be. He replied,
“Boy". Thinking that he did not understand my
question, I repeated, “and what are you going to
name your baby?" The reply was the same.
After I had explained the significance of a Saint's
name, he began to have his doubts. I really
convinced him though when I said, “some day
you might own a dog and if you call out *boy',
the dog or your child won’t know which one you
are calling". Incidentally, the child left the church
named Timothy.
SOME PEOPLE want to have the family tree
perpetuated and they always include a family
name. I really wonder at times, however, if this
BY DR. GARY MACEOIN
It will be many a long day before the visitor
from the West can feel at home in Algeria. Even
the 1 immigration and customs
officials make little effort to
hide their hostility, as I was
quickly made torealize when
1 was held three hours at the
airport for an alleged defect in
my documentation.
This attitude is understand
able when one recalls the
bitterness of the struggle to
assert the right to self-deter
mination, and in particular the insane last -
minute efforts of the French settlers to des
troy what they had built. How, after that, could
one hope to persua de an Algerian that the West
is really devotion to the ancestral lineage
or it is a firm desire to be named in the will
of some old uncle in his dotage.
Years ago it was a mark of distinction to use
a letter before the middle name, like
“R. Donald". Of recent date, however, I learned
that my own particular use is due to the fact
that my family was trying hard to forget the
“patron" after whom the “R" stands for.
NOW IN CHOOSING a name I've often thought
that the parents ought to give some considera
tion to what the name will mean later on. I
really don’t want to offend anyone here, but why
parents give a boy a girl-sounding name I'll
never understand. Can you imagine some six
foot, two hundred pound Bruiser crashing the line
in a football game and the radio and TV announcer
crying out in an excited fashion, “ Beverly
scores". Sounds more like a game of tiddly
winks instead of a football game, doesn't it?
Often the Governor or President has so many
admirers that in a sort of reflected glory parents
name the youngest one after the great person
age. This seems to be alright in this country
because we have a stability to our government,
but in some countries the opposite holds true.
I imagine that the County Clerks will be really
busy someday trying hard to change the names of
those bom under Adolph Hitler or Castro. In this
case, the name would be a distinct liability.
MULTI-SYLABLE or odd sounding names are
often the easiest to remember. Gosh, when a priest
Baptizes a baby and his name is Murgatroyd,
who could forget it? Of course now, the preist
is really endeared to the parent when you meet
them twenty years later and says, “and how is your
boy Murgatroyd?" One parent looks at the other
and says, “you see, Father remembers OUR
boy I"
Some, and very suavely, have the ability to
greet people with a puzzled expression and
ask, “what is your first name". Nine times out
of ten the person will repeat the whole name.
Then, and with real smoothness, they say, “oh
yes, I knew your last name, it was just the first
name 1 forget". Both parties go away satisfied.
One is better informed, and the other is flat
tered.
Sisters are the easiest to remember. If you
don't remember her name, just say, “Hello,
Sister”. You can't be wrong.
had any sense of mission during the colonial
period?
And if any Algerian might be tempted to forget
history, there are plenty of people around who are
all too ready to remind him. Official policy is
strongly leftist and looks to the Soviet block to
help build a Socialist economy. Technicians from
the Communist countries are every here in evi
dence, as are the fraternal delegations from
Russia, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Egypt and Cuba.
In addition, one meets leaders in exile from
Portuguese Angola and Mozambique, a constant
reminder to the rest of Africa that in a large
part of the south of the continent whites still
hold blacks in servitude.
SUCH IS THE black human condition In which
CONTINUED ON PAGE 5
No Vice?
NEW ALGERIA
Your World And Mine
JUSTIFICATION
Extremism
A Virtue
BY GERARD E. SHERRY
The other day one of my readers phoned the
office to find out what I was going to do about
those Negroes in New York City and Brooklyn
who have been on the rampage looting and shoot
ing—generally making a mess of our largest
metropolis.
It’s hard to know what to answer such a person,
because from the very beginning I realized she
did not favor the
colored race. Indeed,
her whole attitude
was one of “Why
don't you say some
thing about these ex
tremists in the same
manner that you con
demn us for being
racists." Why not in
deed?
REAPINGS
AT
RANDOM
But, after all, we have been consistent. From
the very beginning we have urged responsible
Negroes to avoid any semblance of “an eye for
an eye, a tooth for a tooth”. There is this
temptation ever present but it must be avoided
in the interests of civic harmony. Those who
participated in the New York riots can only
injure the cause of racial justice; they can only
incite their opponents to even greater excesses
and violence. The greatest mistake any negro
can make is to follow the lead of the hoodlums
and the politically inspired disturbers of the peace.
THE GOOD ladv who was chiding me
brought up the stand of Senator Goldwater and
said that he at least would know how to deal
with them when he was in office. It is remark
able how those who haven’t got the responsi
bility can always come up with the appropriate
generality to cover the situation. There is never
a solution offered, merely a general over
simplification which is almost always that of
impressive negativism.
One can almost say that the Negro extremists
could fall back on Senator Goldwater’s now
classic phraseology, “Extremism in the defense
of liberty is no vice” and “moderation in the
pursuit of justice is no virtue". The Negro could
claim that the extreme method of rioting was
necessary for his liberty and that moderation
would not have got him justice. It is a factious
argument but no more factious than Senator
Goldwater’s original explanation of the two
phrases which have caused such a storm through
out the country.
I HAVE no doubt that Senator Goldwater genuine
ly desires not to make capital, out of the race
question. In like manner, I am sure that the
Negro leadership would much prefer to see their
people granted their rights without having the
matter injected into the presidential campaign.
Both seem impossible desires. Whether he likes
it or not Senator Goldwater has drawn to his
cause the majority of those who wish to delay
indefinitely the impact of the new civil rights
law. His vote against two major sections of the
civil rights legislation including the question of
public accommodation and private property, has
endeared the Senator to those States Righters
who oppose the law.
The Negroes complain that although Senator
Goldwater has promised, if elected, to enforce the
civil rights law, he had done nothing up to now
to condemn those who still use violence to pre
vent Negroes from public accommodations and
from eating in restaurants. They further com
plain that the Senator could use his influence
among his supporters in Louisiana and Mississippi
to further the voting rights of Negroes in those
states. They have a good case here for, while
the Senator would lose some votes in taking such
a stand he would gain many more.
SENATOR Goldwater is obviously an honest
man. One can get quite mad at his oversimpli
fication of many of our pressing problems; one
can even suggest that much of his economic
philosophy is outmoded in the Jet Age; but he
has one of the major prerequisites for states
manship and that is integrity. Hence he has a
great opportunity to put the country above partisan
politics by repudiating and scorning the votes of
the extremists who have jumped on his political
bandwagon.
A good start has been made. The Senator’s
meeting with President Johnson last Friday in
mutual effort to keep the race problem out of
the campaign will contribute to some relaxation.
ALAS, it won’t be that easy. There will be
people who will have vested interests in keeping
the racial pots boiling. They will not be
interested in peace and tranquility but merely
disorder and chaos. In my opinion, the Com
munists are involved in the efforts to stir up
racial tension, but they are not the only ones.
The Far Right extremists (and they comprise
far more than Rockwell's Nazi party) also the
fruits of the white backlash to perpetuate their
political influence. All in ail it's a sorry business.
It is to be hoped that the Negro community
in this country will heed the real leaders such
as Martin Luther King and Roy Wilkins rather
than the nationalists who are bent on stirring up
the “Young Turks” of the Negro race to blind
hatred of their fellow citizens. We have all come
too far in the quest for racial Justice to have
it denied on the grounds of violent extremism.
This is a time for quiet, and the cool balm of
reason.