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PAGE 4 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 2699 Peachtree N. E. P. O. Box 11667 Norths ide Station Atlanta 5, Ga. 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 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.