The Georgia bulletin (Atlanta) 1963-current, October 29, 1964, Image 9

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1 I t l FRANK PATRICK COMPANY SALE* • 8ERVICE • SUPPLIES TYPEWRITERS ADDING MACHINES 84 LINDEN AVE., N. E. ATLANTA, GEORGIA PHONE: 873-3791 LACK OF ZEAL Catholics Trailing In Conversions WHY Jim Almand is BEST MAN for DeKalb County Commissioner: NEW YORK (RNS)— On the basis of current data, it takes 361 U. S. Catholics to win one convert in a year— but only five of them work at it. And any claim that ecumenism is largely responsible for a suc cession of annual losses in conversions cannot currently be proved. These statements are made in reports concurrently made pub lic by the theologian of the University of Notre Dame and a Priest long active in reli gious research. CATHOLICS trail Protest ants badly in attempts to bring other Christians into their Church, according to Father John A. O'Brien, a research professor of theology at the Uni versity of Notre Dame. Ameri can Catholics lack missionary zeal, he said in commenting on a nationwide survey that showed Protestants generally are more than twice as active as Catholics in seeking to win converts. X , The “negative" figures show that 72 per cent of Catho lics never attempt to win a convert, as against a figure of 41 per cent for Protestants. JIM ALMAND received 24,487 votes in Primary — his opponent only 2,600! ALMANI) served fruitfully 1957-1960 as member of DeKalb County Board of Education. ALMAND has served well past 4 years as DeKalb Dist. 1 Commissioner. MEANWHILE, in a special article for Our Sunday Visitor, the national Catholic ecu menical movement were ac companied by losses in the number of converts. ALMAND has lived in and loved DeKalb County for 37 years. “. . . the rise in ecumenical activity and the decline in the number of converts, tempt one to postulate a causal connec tion," he writes. “There have been, however, no detailed stu dies to support this. On the con trary’, preliminary investiga tions of the Paulist Institute for Religious Research provide some grounds for maintaining an alternate theory of coin cidence." ALMAND for 33 years was respected CMC employee. ALMANI) stays on job and Jtets thjinirs-done, to keep DeKalb 4 'oh the grow”. Cn November 3 VOTE FOR COUNTY COMMISSIONER JIM ALMAND THIS AD PAID FOR BY ADMIRERS OF JIM ALMAND THE quick estimate that ec umenism was a great cause in the decrease may have been spurred by the fact that over a five-year-period conversions ‘trt the LY S. Wnrt from an all-time high to a decade low. The high, according to Fath er Keating, came in 1959, the first full year of the re gime of Pope John XXIII. In that year there were 142,267 converts to Catholicism in the L. S. Pope John spurred tre mendous ecumenical gains. But in each succeeding year, con versions. dropped: in 1960, 131, 641; 1961 128,430; 1962 125,670 and in 1963, 123,986. DON’T MISS THE SUNSET SELL-OUT SALE FRIDAY NIGHT 6 PM TO 9 PM Come One, Come All. All Merchandise on Sale at reduced prices. FIRESTONE STORE 208 E, Ponce de Leon Decatur FATHER Keating used 1962 statistics as a basis of his de liberations, weighing losses against ecumenism and w arning his readers there was no real proof that ecumenism was at fault. In that year, the loss of 17,000 in total converts was assessi- ble in part to every area of the country' except the East South Central Area, which showed a light increase. SEVENTY per cent of the to tal loss was attributable to the pacific and Middle Atlantic ar eas and the Military Ordinar- iate, he said. "And of these Re-Elect Frank E. Coggin State Senator- 35 th Senatorial District NOV. 3 r 64 f Ability t Experience ^ Progress THANK YOU three areas of the Pacific more than equalled the losses of the other two with a fall - off of 5,970." The drop in Califironia con versions was 5,743 in 1962, he said, of which all out 40 occurred in the Archdiocese of San Francisco and Diocese of San Diego. In such a case, he said, if ecumenism were a ma jor factor, “then the two plac es which contributed so heavily to that decline might be ex pected to have participated in a vigorous way in ecumenical activity.” “The fact is, however," he continued, “that there was no outstanding ecumenical activity in either of these plac s during the period investigated. This surely casts some doubt upon the thory that ecumenism is chiefly responsible for the slump." HE SAID that the Middle At lantic Area (New York, Pen nsylvania and New Jersey) showed a drop of 2,826 in 1962. Of this amount, half was re ported in Pennsylvania, and all but 214 of the state’s total was reported in the Arch diocese of Philadelphia. “Here again ," he said, “there was no record of ecu menical work." BUT, turning to Pittsburgh, he noted that the diocese head ed by Bishop John J. Wright, “widely known as an ecumeni cally-minded bishop,” was only 192 below its peak year (1959) in conversions. Father Keating included a study of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, where Archbishop Lawrence J. Shehan, early in 1962, formed a Commission on Ecumenism. “One might think,” he said, “that this top level interest would reflect itself in the convert figures for that year if ecumenical work really impedes conversions. "There was some loss. In 1959 there were 1,719 converts. In 1962 there were 1,612, This gives a difference of 107. Yet this represents a drop of only 6 per cent as compared to a national drop of 11 per cent." FATHER Keating said that “though it cannot be maintain ed that these statistical ex plorations absolve ecumenism from the charge that it hurts convert work, they shoudlraise a reasonable doubt and led to studies in greater depth." He said Catholics should not be satisfied with "an easy answer largely basedonwhatmightwell be a coincidence of time" and warned against "conclusions of pure speculation." In Father O’Brien’s study, released at Notre Dame, the data was based on survey of "a cross section of people re presenting 75.9 million people . . . who belong to some Church. They were asked; “Have you ever ried to get anyone to join (your church)?" BAPTISTS ranked first in the study; it indicated 67 per cent of all Baptists try to win ad herents. "Various smaller de nominations” followed with 61 per cent, then Presbyter ians with 59, Methodist with 56, Episcopalians with 53, Lutherans with 49, and Con- gregationalists with 32. Low est ranking among all U.S. Christians — 28 per c-nt— were Catholics. Father O’Brien said that orv the basis of a Catholic popu lation of 44,874,37. in 1963. it required 361 Catholics to win one convert. “What it re ally means," the priest con tended, “is that only about five of the 361 make any effort to share their faith. The re maining 356 don’t lift a fin ger to help. Herbert Hoover ROME (NC)—AlbertCardinal Meyer of Chicago issued the following statement here on learning of the death of Herbert C; Hoover; "We mourn the passing of a great stateman and a true hu manitarian, President Hoover served his country well for many years, and his solicitude for the suffering and the needy was an inspiration to the peo ple of many lands." BLESSING main door of Monte Cassino Abbey church, Pope Paul VI participated in solemn ceremonies marking restoration of famous Benedictine abbey destroyed by Allied bombing. UNUSUAL SERVICE Emphasis Is On Ecumenism At Episcopalian Convention ST. LOUIS (NC) —A joint Catholic-Episcopalian service in Christ Church Episcopal ca thedral was one of the ecumeni cal highlights of the national Episcopal Church convention here. part in the colorful ceremony, which included a formal pro cession by nuns and monks of both churches, the singing of hymns and psalms, and a ser mon preached by a Catholic priest, Father Columba Cary- Elwes, O.S.B. THE unusual service was not originally scheduled but was held at the request of both SERVICE TO CHURCH Catholic and Episcopalian Re ligious. Permission was ob tained from the office of Jo seph Cardinal Ritter of St. Louis and from Episcopalian Bishop George Cadigan. Hundreds of lay, clerical and religious participants both Catholic and Episcopalian, took Fr. Kueng Asks For Frankness The St. Louis Review, Catho lic archdiocesan newspaper, said it was informed the ser vice was a "direct result" of the ecumenical council’s re cent approval of having Catho lics join others in prayer for re ligious unity under certain cir cumstances. ROME (NC)—The entire stu dent body of the North American College, the American theologi cal school here, heard Father Hans Kueng, the Swiss theolo gian, declare that service to the Church may involve frank and constructive criticism. search with a realization that some things will always re main mysteries to man, but that the examples of the great doc tors of the Church show how much is to be gained by con stant application and tireless effort. OTHER ecumenical events during the Episcopalian con vention included the attendance of Episcopalian monks and nuns at a Catholic Mass offered in Holy Cross church and a talk given to children of the parish school by an Episcopalian mis sionary, the Rev. Joseph Par- sell, at the request of the pas tor.'Msgr. Martin B. Hellriegei: Bishop Francis F, Reh, rec tor of the college, was present for the talk (Oct, 22), IN HIS lecture, which was en-; thusiastically applauded by the seminarians, Father Kueng stressed the vital contribution theological studies have been making in the ecumenical coun cil. "Because this service must be rendered with sincere inten tions, it may well involve frank criticism, which, however, should always be constructive," In his sermon at the cathe dral service, Father Cary-El- wes addressed the denomina tionally-mixed congregation as “brothers in Christ, members of the Body of Christ, you who are part of the People of God," and reminded them that "noth ing is impossible with God." "Theologians realize they are unable to accomplish their task unless in the framework and under the tutelage of the Church, and that theirs must be a ser vice to the Church," he said, application of theological re- FATHER Kueng went on to say that theological research is never finished. It is a re current task because the Gospel message must be reinterpret ed time and again. "In a sense," he said, "truth is never de finitive, It must come to life constantly anew and be inter preted against a background of changing circumstances," THE English Benedictine, who came here in 1956 to es tablish the St. Louis Priory and who served as an official Catholic observer at the Epis copalian convention, said "we all share the life of Christ through grace." Calling the division of Chris tianity "a horrible thing," he noted that "we are admonished to always make up a quarrel before the sun goes down, and yet we’ve been having more than 400 years of sundown and we are still divided." BLESSING new' offices of the Catholic Near East Welfare Association in New' York, Francis Cardinal Spellman places crucifix, as Msgr. Joseph T. Ryan (left) national director, and Father John G. Nolan, secretary of the association, look on. FATHER Cary-Elwes cited recent actions of the ecumeni cal council-including greater emphasis on the Bible, decen tralization of authority at the same time bishops are being linked more closely with the pope in governing the Church, restraint on "exaggeration" in devotions to the Blessed Virgin, recognition of freedom of con science, and emphasis on the role of the laity—and said all these were “things that the (Protestant) reformers had wanted.” India APRIL 15 DEADLINE New Clergy Social Security BALTIMORE (NC)—Under am endments to the social security law, signed by President John son on Oct. 13, clergymen will have until April 15, 1965 to elect to be covered by so- tection, a clergymen must; OBTAIN a social security ac count number card from the nearest social secuity office- if he does not already have one. ANSWER TO last week’s puzzle cial securty if they have not already done so. P A 3 , „ i« The previous deadline for clergymen to choose social se- ■j l I . f ; % - - - | curity coverage was April 15, . s 1962. After that date, social * i security coverage was open only to those just starting to perform ministerial services. t,' - i • • ' *“ * i To obtain social security pro- ! -1 ■ 2 9 Fill out and file Form 2031 with the District Director of In ternal Revenue for the dis trict in which he lives. r^rr REPORT his earnings from the ministry and pay the social secuirty taxes on them to the District Director of Internal Revenue for the taxable years 1962, 1963, and 1964. Once a clergymanelectscov erage, he may not withdraw from the social security' pro gram. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 1964 GEORGIA BULLETIN PAGE 9 IGNATIUS HOUSE RETREATS BY JESUIT PRIESTS Weekends For Men And Weekends For Women 6700 Riverside Drive N. W. 255-0503 Atlanta, Georgia 30328 PET...you bet!” PET MIIKCOMMNV DAIRY DIVISION For Convenient Home Delivery Atlanta Call 636-8677 CLASSIFIEDS HOUSES FOR SALE USE BULLETIN CLASSIFIEDS LOVELY BRICK HOME FOR SALE BY OWNER 3 bdrms., 2 baths, lvng. rm., large kitchen, large porch, dou ble carport, patio, landscaped yard, trees. $18,500.00. Owner pay closing. 457-3338. PERSONAL’ Class and private piano lessons, L H. M. area, 634-0261. fc . n r ■ POSITION' FOR SALE I WANTED 1963 Chev. Impala 4 dr, H.T„ 327 engine, air, automatic trans,, power steering and brakes, excel, condition. 237- 4748 POSITION WANTED - Nurse companion to elderly. 5 days per week or part time. Will stay nights - 457-6917 BUSINESS SERVICES FOR FAST SERVICE USE CLASSIFIEDS All type conrete work, Patios, steps, walks, etc., Stone Mountain granite, de taining walls. 636-0834 or 443-6137 DRESSES BY ESTER Can copy originals of from magazines. Also wedding dresses, Or fine wearing apparel. 378-9579. SPANISH WEDDING VEILS Exquisite handmade with silk thread in large and queen sizes. Also hand embroidered op^*a shawls, mantillas, blouses etc. Imported (forn Spain in assorted designs and colors. Call or write: LOPEZ IMPORTERS Box 13954 St. K Atlanta, Ga. 237-7998. Painting- Interior- Exterior Thoroughly experienced expert does own work. Hundreds of ref erences furnished with each es timate, All windows and gutters cleaned free with job. Call Mr, Caldwell 622-6076 Society of St. Vincent de Paul Salvage Bureau 326 Ivy St, N, E. Atlanta (Opposite Sacred Heart) Desires to receive all USABLE furniture, clothing, appliances, books, etc., for the poor and needy. Scheduled p/ck-ups will be made by Tele phoning: 688-6390. MOVING? PLEASE NOTIFY US SEND US THIS NOTICE TODAY- THE GEORGIA BULLETIN P.O. BOX 11667-NORTHSIDE STATION ATLANTA 5, GEORGIA NEW ADDRESS: _ ' NAME ADDRESS rrrv Send or Phone. Your Classified Advertising To The Georgia Bulletin P.O. Box 11667-Northside* Station Atlanta 5, Georgia Phone: 231-1281 Ads accepted by phone, mail and at the office up to Monday, 3 line MINIMUM CHARGE Count 5 Average Words to a line. RATES 1 Time 25? per line 4 consecutive times with no copy change 23£ per line DISPLAY CLASSFIED (WITH BORDER $1.00 PER INCH Legal Notices 50£ Deaths 50£ In Memoriam 50£ Acknowledgment 50 £ PUBLISHED WEEKLY Print your classified ad on this form. Slip it into an envelope along with remittance and sent it to: THE GEORGIA BULLETIN Classified Department Your Name i Addit*b jM ... C ity;. • % • • ,............. < •State