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About The Georgia bulletin (Atlanta) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 12, 1964)
T ¥ SPOTLIGHT ON SOCIAL REFORM Absolute Property Rights? • Father Mayhew's column will be resumed after his return to the Archdiocese from vaca tion. WILLIAM J. SMFTH , S.J. The editors of the CATHOLIC MIND, a Je suit publication, in the October issue make an observation which goes to the very root of much of the opposition to social legislation. * *Many a good fact is ruined by being made in to a theory/’ write the editors. "Private pro perty, for example, is a natural, necessary in stitution. So is a free enterprise economy. But ", when free enterprise is turned into an ideology that refuses to recognize social needs, the absolutized ‘rights' of private property become a menace to society.’’ Whether that right anddutyof the State ought to be exercised by city, state or federal govern ment will be determined by the economic and so cial realities which exist in any particular nation at any particular time. In a republic, where the actions of public officials are supposed to re flect the welfare and the Common Good of all the citizens, the practical application of correct principles can well be determined by the demo cratic process of popular' vote. That is a strong statement. Members of the John Birch Society, I presume, would ve hemently excoriate it. The right to private property, as inter preted by very many men of means or conser vative politicians here in America, is looked upon as so absolute that any contrary concept is simply Socialism regardless of what name or form it takes. This is a basic social heresy in America; a hangover from the days of “rugged individ ualism. The editors of the CATHOLIC MIND call it “a menace to society.” THIS DOES not mean that every governmental action is the right one or that the people and their public officials have no duty to be on the alert to prevent excesses of various kinds. It does mean, however, that the type of social legislation which was introduced in this country in 1932 is con sistent on principle with Catholic thought. If this be so, the burden of proof that legislation such as as Social Security, unemployment compensation, medical care for the aged, etc., is contrary to sound social philosphy and the social doctrine of the Church rests upon those who consider the right of property to be an absolute. WITHOUT doubt this type of legislation which we call social is a curtailment of the exercise of the individual in his right to private property. The most obvious example, of course, is the very concept of taxation itself. WITHOUT doubt Catholic social teaching ad vocates and supports strongly the fundamental principle of the right to private property. Des troy that right and dictatorship or anarchy can be the result. But the validity of Catholic social teaching does not depend upon the private inter pretation of men who own property. The Church has some very definite things to say about the proper use of property. One of the things she says about it is that the State, as represented by pro perly constituted government, is the ultimate guardian and protector of the Common Good. These two philosophies — that of the social nature of man (including his right to property) and that of unconditonal Individualism are in di rect conflict. One or the other is wrong. Neither can operate in a vacuum. They must be applied practically with all the complexities of modem life taken into consideration. The whole welfare of our nation, present and future, depends upon which philosophy and its application is to prevail. It is the duty of the State to protect the poor and the needy against the encroachments on their rights by property owners who would in sist upon building a human society on the false principle of Individualism. That there may be no doubt as to what the CATHOLIC MIND statement says, I re-quote the convictions of the editors; “When free en terprise is turned into an idelogy that refuses to recognize social needs, the absolutized ‘rights' of private property become a menace to society.” That is a very strong statement. Let those who refuse to accept it do something to prove it false. Let them face it and endeavor to justify their 18th Century concept of private property and of free enterprise, as they interpret these two terms. QUESTION BOX Late Arrival A Sin? Q. Why are people allowed to come late to .jw-Msgs a b&j l6 P ve early?,;. A. Coming changes in the liturgy may help these laggards and slackers. We may expect an nouncements and instructions to be given before the Mass, and those coming late will tangle with the procession. By next March, at least, the Mass will end with the blessing; and anyone leaving early must know that he is missing something. At least the joyful sound of his fellow Christians praising God in song will follow him out the door and down the street. most a third time, after making the response “Amen,” I have not been able to open wide my mouth and place my tongue forward in time to prevent the harrying priest from missing, with the host falling on the plate. Since this happened to three different priests, and I have seen no one else having this trouble, might this be a sign from God that I am not worthy? Should I receive only one or two times a year to prevent this irreverence, omit the “Amen,” or do my best and try as before. had any trouble Q. I have been greatly dis tressed and mortified by a prob lem which has come up. I never before, but now twice, and al- A. There is certainly no question of your worth iness. It may be a sign that you are off on your timing, but nothing more. I suspect that you are too tense and worried about it: that you are try ing too hard. There is no need to open your mouth very wide or place your tongue far forward. Relax! It may be the priest’s fault anyway. HOLES IN IRON CURTAIN? Your World And Mine CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4 list parties has abandoned its false philosophi cal underpinnings, the former Right as represent ed by Catholic parties has shifted even further from feudalism and liberal capitalism to what it calls Christian Democracy. It is often more re moved from the free enterprise system as pro fessed (if not fully practised) in the United States than are the Socialists. ITS NOTION OF socio-economic organization is in fact not too different from the system develop ed in the East European staellites since their enslavement. And the similarities, I suggest, are nqt wholly coincidential. Europe has had the humility to recognize i n suffering the extent to which it had brought its tribulations on itself. Just as Cahtolics and Protestants today agree to share the blame for the division of Christianity, so all Europeans admit their common failure to change in time the conditions that encouraged the growth of Communism. It is important for the United States to evalu ate these factors in its dealings with Europe. West Germany, for example, is forced to relax somewhat its close ties with France, as a pre liminary to some form of re-unification, a deve- lopement which all Germans consider certain when East-German dictator Ullbricht disappears from the scene. The religious split cannot be healed over night, and neither can the division of Europe. But just as Europeans no longer regard the Catholic-Protestant separation as irreversible, neither do they see the Iron Curtain as impene trable. Here lies probably the biggest source of mis understanding today between the United States and her allies. TTie mounting friction does not come from any doubt on the European side regarding either the essential identity of interest or a common dedication to the same human and spiritual vaues. The issue is rather emo tional, The United .States resists change which must involve compromise. Europe is prepared to pay a high price for even a modest move ment. America is like the Catholic Church of the sixteenth century. She will settle for nothing less than the demolitio n of the Wall. Europe is like the Catholic Church of the second Vati can Council. She will welcome a few small holes through which she can crawl. That, nevertheless, does not mean that they will no longer need us. Ther objectives are not incompatible with the Western Alliance. They presuppose it. Nor do they require a reversal of the movement of West Europe towards econo mic and political unity. But they introduce new strains and temptations. They offer a major chal lenge to our understanding and statesmanship. Editor's note. Gary MacEoln has just completed thirteen months of travel around the world. He covered more than 50,000 miles and visited seven countries of Europe, fifteen of Africa, thir teen of Asia and two of Latin America. He re turns with material for two gooks, one on Af rica, one on the place of the Christian in today's world. Saints in Black and White ST. STANISLAS KOSTKA / X 3 ■771 /5 n Ul if THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 1964 GEORGIA BULLETIN PAGE 5 CLOSE IN DOCTRINE Greek Church Sacramentals Remote From Roman Usage (The following article on the Or thodox Church of Greece—the largest of the Greek Orthodox Churches represented at this November’s Pan-Orthodox con ference on the island of Rhodes —was written by a native of Athens who is a Jesuit and a prominent historian.) BY FATHER PAUL BUHAGIAR, S. J. (N.C.W.C. News Service) :ross 64 Continent (abbr) strike breaker 66 appropriate His brother’s name 68 cheer Irish ancient capital 69 rumors Russian most 71 hidden northern town 73 Assam silkworm bulrush 75 membership around 76 scoff clover 78 a tip-toe casks 80 suffix; substitute anxious for sopranos 81 pay one 82 not one Norse lore 83 stag digraph designating high DOWN an organization 1 flat fish (abbr) 2 coconut meat Japanese money 3 opposed to aweather road 4 His patroness was stews St. leaf-cutting ant “Thin Man” dog 5 point (abbr) 6 diving bird He was of a noble 7 Brazil rubber tree family 8 envoy mission Russian Community 9 Chinese pagoda detective 10 Presidential nick- naturally name forum 11 shout India hemp shrub 12 He died in the flip month of going 16 belief eyes 19 mollusk pigeon 21 California rockfish clear the throat 23 A degree (abbr) displaced person 24 and (Latin) spire ornament 29 small report Doctor of Laws 33 boiled sugar and list water 54 55 ANSWER TO LAST WEEK’S PUZZLE, exclamation of sur prise! Danish county baronet's title prefix: three intent small (Scot) evening attire beetle larva Etruscan God Bachelor of Laws (abbr) affirmative honey carrier While ill he lived In a house Doctor of Science (abbr) His father his becoming a priest prefix: half initiates He went to College In Immerse —deum enounce star-shaped spicule flower 13-19 teem network macerate Jap admiral concerning Hebrew letter (17th) PAGE 7 ATHENS — While close to Catholic teaching in the field of doctrine, the Orthodox Church of Greece in its sacramental life and many other customs is light-years away from Catholic practice—Latin Rite practice at least. Among its customs are these; —All the secular clergy must be married before ordination to the diaconate, and must have at least one child before they can be ordained priests. —No man is ordained to the priesthood unless there is al ready a vacancy in a parish church or chapel to which he can be assigned. —While lay theologians are authorized to preach, there are many pastors who because their education is inadequate are nev er permitted either to preach or hear confessions. —Bishops are chosen from the ranks of the monks, as bis hops must be unmarried. ARNOLD VIEWING Fail Safe Is Mirror Image BY JAMES W. ARNOLD Sidney Lumet’s film of “Fail Safe” is a mir ror image of the long-time best-seller. It is, in fact, the most faithful rendering of a novel on to the screen, scene for scene, line for line, twitch for twitch# within memory. bloom of their sins, just to prove one’s good faith, is a monstrous act. That it should be present ed as a terrible but prudent choice, concur red in and executed by humans, is the most frig htening part of the whole story. Ordinarily that would be a negative comment, since a movie must make its point in images and sound, while a novel works through language. But the structure of “FailSafe” is made to order for movies. A half-dozen things are happen ing simultaneously in widely scattered places (a film edi tor’s delight); the closeup al lows frank total observation of men-in-crisis impossible in the novel; and the sights and sounds of a thermonuclear War Room seem invented to fit the drama- specifications of film. IN ANY REAL -situation there would be other choices. But given only two, my feeling is that a Christian- a human - would have to leave the initative, to retaliate or not, to the Russians.- tic FRANKLY, LUMET (last film; “Long Day’s Journey”) has made a more perfect movie than Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler did a novel. The book failed to exploit all its literary pos sibilities. Lumet misses nothing but (inexpli cably) background shots of ICSM slides, and crews that might have stretched further the already taut suspense. These are precisely the nightmare issues res ponsible leaders must face in a world soon to be confronted by Chinese nuclear power. The film forces us to look at them, and to the office of president, with a new sense of urgency. Still another implicit question: haven't we come to mistrust each other as much as the enemy? Hasn’t our political rhetoric been so fouled by the delusions of extremists that real unity, and respect for leadership in times of crisis, may be difficult if not impossible? As disarmament propaganda, “Fail Safe” may work where the sophisticated, far-out “Strangelove” baffled many people. But it is not without its artistic flaws. THE MOOD IS similar on the other side of the Iron Curtain. People no longer dream of a Hungarian-type liberation. TTiey have to settle for more modest realltleS.They live with what they must endure, always edging cautiously towards the goal of a 'Socialist system with its relative individual freedorji as contrasted with the inhuman regimentation of doctriniare Comm unism. The social and political organization on both sides thus grown more alike, reducing the justification for isolation from each other. “Fail Safe,” as everyone must know by now, is the straight version of what was played for black laughter in“Dr. Strangelove.” This time six U. S. bombers are dispatched to Moscow by mechanical accident, not by a mad right-wing general. The Americans first try to recall them, then to shoot them down, then to help the Soviets shoot them down. When it is clear that one ship will get through to atomize Mos cow, the final horror is to convince the Rus sians it is an accident: an American city must be sacrificed. There is the character of Groteschele (magni ficently played by Walter Matthau), who isaMac- chiavellian political scientist, an advocate of let’s-strike-first, a phony anti-Communist ex pert, an admirer of Nazi violence. His thinking is chillingly familiar, but he is forced to be too many villains at once. To make it juicier, he participates in the book-movie’s only sex scene, a nutty interlude with a fur-stroking society girl (Nancy Berg) who would prefer to get her kicks from nuclear button-pushing. To misread this adjustment of forces as a re turn to the old-time fragmentation of Europe and react by throwing our weight on one side would be to play into the hands of the Communist bloc, which is going to exact the highest price it can for loosening its grip on East Germany. Germany must seek re-unification, justas Europe must seek accommodation between its sundered parts. The point, as in “Strangelove,” is compell ing; both sides are prisoners,of their own mis conceptions and mistrust, but especially of their own efficiency. We have put our faith in mach ines, which by the laws of statistical probability are bound to betray us. And we have made our men so much like machines, predetermined so many of their moves, that once they are set in motion no power on earth can turn them off. (The film improves on the book with a power ful plea to the bomber pilot by his wife - a last effort at human contact that fails). THERE IS ALSO the sub-plot involving Colonel Cascio (Fritz Weaver, intense as a ticking bomb). He is the SAC officer who blows his top at the orders to help the Soviets. Isolated, his act is believable enough, but in context, with an in feriority complex and hysterical dialog added in the movie, he pushes the yarn off the melo dramatic brink. “STRANGELOVE” had the virtue of being amusing. It was a spoof, the nightmare was not really happening, one could be detached and guf faw at the bright-college-leftist humor. But Lumet has given “Fail Safe” utter visual realism. There is excitement and even an awful beauty, but one is too close, too deeply involved, to feel much beyond sickening despair. Part of this is due to the brutal climax, when the cool but tortured president (Henry Fonda) destroys unsuspecting New York in hopes of saving the rest of mankind. Even in terms of icy logic, the move seems too quickly made, too uncertain in outcome. The real stars, though, are the War Room mach ines, the blinking lights, the blips on the projection maps, the tense Russain accents on the telephone, the piercing shriek of the phone in H-bombed Moscow, the shadowed faces in the artificial light, the dozen perceptive little cris es of the human soul. And finally, the people of New York, at work, on the streets, in play grounds, frozen in the silent stills that signal The End. CURRENT RECOMMENDED FILMS: Superior: Behold a Pale Horse, Fail Safe. My own objection goes deeper. I doubt that an indicscriminate nuclear attack on civilians can be justified under any circumstance (in cluding Hiroshima). To burn five million of them alive at once, without warning, in the full For Special tastes; Night of the Iguana, A Hard Day’s Night, Four Days in November. Better than most: Topkapi, Mafioso, One Potato, Two Potato, Fate is the Hunter. —Monks are not bound to live in monasteries, and many reside at home with their parents or other relatives. —The Eucharistic fast is so rigorous that lay people are re quired to abstain from eating meat, fish, eggs and milk, and from sexual relations, for a whole week before receiving Holy Communion. IN GENERAL, customs sur rounding the celebration of the sacraments vary a great deal from those in use in the Latin Rite Catholic Church. tion is not given at the end of the confession, but only after the performance of the penance. Penances vary—the most com mon being the abstention from Holy Communion for a period of time, but including almsgiv ing, the recitation of special prayers, and the reception of the sacrament of the Anointing —and can be imposed for per iods lasting months or even years. When the penance is ful filled, the penitent returns to the priest for absolution. The sacrament of Baptism is given by immersion: The body of the baby is thrust into the water three times. And as in Eastern Catholic rites, the form of administration is passive: ‘‘(Name) is baptized in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” For the reception of Holy Communion, the fast required of the laity becomes more strin gent as the time approaches: In addition to the weeklong fast from meat, fish, eggs and milk, the people must also abstain from olive oil—the staple of the Greek diet—for the three days immediately preceding Communion. Immediately after Baptism, within the same ceremony, the sacrament of Confirmation is given the baby by the same priest. The two sacraments are never disassociated. FOR THE sacrament of Pen ance, the Greek Church preser ves some of the austerity it had in the first centuries of Christianity. There are no con fessionals. Moreover, absolu- AS TO the question of the ob servance of these customs, it can be said that the country people—about 50% of the more than 8.1 million members of the Church of Greece (which takes in well over 90% of the total population)—abide by the fasting regulations strictly. In the towns and cities the relig ious observance is more lax. But as a whole, it must be said that the Greek Orthodox people still cling firmly to their re ligion. Fonda, incidentally, plays the president with such natural competence that one feels eager to run him in the primaries right now. Also im pressive are rich-voiced Dan O’Herlihy in a role that is impossible to play and young Larry Hag- man as the nervous “hot line” translator. Frank Overton, as the SAC general in the eye of the hurricane, is clearly an Oscar contender. God Love You BY MOST REVEREND FULTON J. SHEEN When you hear of "drives*’ in dioceses in the United States for six million dollars, ten million dollars, fifteen million dollars it might be interesting to compare them with financial reports from missionary bishops at the Council, and to ask ourselves if some of our superabundance should not be shared with them. One bishop whose diocese is larger than most dioceses in the United States, told me that his Sunday collection from a family of six averages three cents, or one-half a cent for each person. His total income is twenty-two thousand dollars a year, most of which is given to him by the Holy Father through The Society for the Propagation of the Faith. From this he must support all priests and brothers and pay the salaries of teachers in twenty-five schools and all the expenses of poor students and seminarians. The salary of a priest is about ten dollars a month, the head of a rural school receives four dollars a month, and each teacher of catechism (they number one hun dred and thirty) receives sixty-one cents a month. Recently, a church was built in the United States which cost sixty-six thousand dollars a seatl Not a pew, but a seat. Plans for another parish church in a different diocese of the United States call for an expenditure of three and one-half million dollars. Now compare these. Here is a Bishop with twenty- two thousand dollars a year who must pay all the expenses mentioned before which includes seven residences of reli gious, four schools for boys, four schools for girls, with a total enrollment of five thousand children. Somewhere along the line there is a terrific imbalance! It is very much as if all of the food that we took into our mouths was transformed into energies that went into the right hand and none to the rest of the body. As the right hand be came bloated, swollen and useless, the rest of the boyd would become weak and^ eventually die. And when the body dies, beware, for so does the hand. This week, instead of asking you to make a sacrifice for the poor churches throughout the world, may we ask that you say a prayer to the Holy Spirit that the dioceses and the parishes of the United States may give a share, however small, even one-tenth or one one-hundredth of their ex penditures to our poor suffering brethren in Christ through out the world? I should, however, warn you that if you say this prayer to the Holy Spirit, He may inspire you also to make a sacrifice. Thanks. GOD LOVE YOU to Mrs. L.K. an excellent mother-in-law, for $15 “After many years of praying I finally received a long-distance call telling me that my son's wife had become a Catholic. I offered the enclosed gift to the priest whose patience and understanding were so instrumental in her con version. He asked me to send it to the poor. So here it is with the hope that it will provide food, clothing or shelter for some poor person." ...to E.R. for $100 "for the educa tion of a native seminarian.” .. to a member of the U.S, Air Force for $1 “I have been meaning to send you some money for a long time. Now I have stopped 'meaning' and started ‘doing,’ I am sorry it is so little but it is all I can afford right now.” The words GOD LOVE YOU take on special significance during the Christmas season, as we witness God’s love in the birth of His Son. These same ten letters spell out a decade of the Rosary as they encircle the medal dsigned by the well-known jeweler, Harry Winston and blessed by Bishop Sheen, With your request and a corresponding offering, you may order GOD LOVE YOU medals as Christmas gifts in any one of the following styles: $2 small sterling silver $3 small 10k gold filled $5 large sterling silver $10 large 10k gold filled Cut out this column, pin your sacrifice to it and mail it to Most Rev. Fulton J. Sheen, National Director of The So ciety for the Propagation of the Faith, 366 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10001, or to your Diocesan Director, Rev. Harold J. Rainey P. O. Box 12047 Northside Station Atlanta 5, Georgia.
