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PAGL 4 GEORGIA BULLETIN THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 1964 the 'Archdiocese of Atlanta GEORGIA SMVINO OCOtOlAS 71 NOITHPtM COUNTIIS Official Organ of the Archidocese of Atlanta Published Every Week at the Decatur DeKalb News PUBLISHER- Archbishop Paul J. Hallinan MANAGING EDITOR Gerard E. Sherry CONSULTING EDITOR Rev. R. Donald Kieroan 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 The World Was Not The Same John and John agony was the short moment of were men of God, were men of men. The world was not the same with them, nor will it ever be again. The aged pontiff, John XXIII, and the youthful President Ken nedy offer many contrasts as we move away from 1963, the year of their deaths, into the age that they have opened. ^ Nothing that occurs in the Catholic Church for centuries will be untouched by the vision that was Pope John’s, But there is already the danger that his measure is being distorted by his own virtues, - his poverty and humility, his boldness and warmth. There is peril that his universal vision will be blurred. We are gratefully accustomed to dealing with spiritual leaders who are humble and brave. We are not quite so sure just what to do with saints who think deep ly and intuitively, and see bey- orjd the ordinary horizons. And John F. Kennedy? For not quite three years this man touch ed the presidency of our nation with a new vibrancy. Our people have been graced in history by leaders who led. Kennedy was capable of such power but the time was too short. Elected by a tight vote, cut down in three short years, he holds a place in Ameri can history described by himself - at the frontier. In civil rights, in the nuclear test-ban, in defin ing our role to Europe, Asia and Africa, he explored, blazed a trail pointed a direction. Kennedy never enjoyed the po pular unanimity that Washington had. He lacked Jackson’s brash ‘man of the people” posture, and he did not preside long enough to give his name to an age as* Theodore Roosevelt did. Lincoln, Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt endured war agonies that sil houetted them as true figures of tragedy. President Kennedy’s AN ALTAR BOY NAMED "SPECK" “If Speck asks for wild buffalo meat again—just ignore him.” concussion. Yet this young man, assassina ted a year ago shares with these giants of history America’s strange tribute to many of her great ones. It is a tribute of which none of us can be proud. It is spawned in an unmanly fear of reality, and nurtured by suspicion and hate. It has soiled our history and dirtiedour ideals. It depressed Lincoln, embittered Wilson and helped to destroy Franklin Roosevelt. Certainly in the life and statesmanship of each of these men, there is room for criticism, reason for opposi tion. But is there room in any one’s appraisal of another for bate and dirt and rumor? The world beyond our shores knew John F. Kennedy far better than many Americans. The nun who wrote the lines above, Sis ter M. Stanislaus, IHM, also spoke of his reception in Berlin: Why must a prophet always stand more glorious in another land? John F. Kennedy was our first President who was a Catholic. We are deeply proud of him not because he was “a representative Catholic, but because he was “an authentic one.” There is a difference. Henry VIII, in 1532, was ”a representative Catholic.” Thomas More was “an authentic one.” None of us desired,- or even considered, - that a President who was Catholic would treat Catholicism as a privileged po sition. What we hoped for, and magnificently found, in John F. Kennedy was the core of virtues that make for greatness. What could be more Christian, more Catholic, than this? “Art is not a form of propaganda; it is a form of truth.” Or this? “If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.” Or, in his inauguration address, ask ing God’s blessing and help: “but knowing that here on earth God's work must truly be our P 9 own. Our American pride in John F. Kennedy is a pride in brief achievement. Our Catholic pride we are happy to share with men of all faiths, races and nations. There will not be an “Age of Kennedy,” but the decades to come will be marked by his vis ion. What he said of the poet, Robert E. Frost, may be said of himself; “He gave his age strength with which to overcome despairs. ” Eternal rest, Lord, grant to this man who was restless for justice. Let your light shine always on him; he knew the nec essity of light and sought it in cessantly. May his soul, through Your mercy, rest in the peace which was his humble goal. THANKSGIVING CLOTHING COLLECTION GEORGIA PINES Man-Made Hardship BY REV. R. DONALD KIERNAN Last week's column was about “Ye Good Olde Days’* and the hardships which people took for granted in everyday life, especially during times of national depression. It was my conclusion that confusion exists in many a person's mind as to just how good the old days were. Nevertheless, by comparison, with the suffer ing people endure today behind the Iron Cur tain I’m sure that many a person would live over our hard years rather than exchange their lot with those living under the heels of a dictator. THE OTHER day I was driv ing into Atlanta and I stopped by one of our parishes where construction is underway. The pastor introduced me to the architect. A conversation followed and the arch itect told me the story of his life. It was a story of privation; torture and desper ation. I hesitate to mention his name lest he be embarrassed. But the story stood out so vividly in my mind because of its sharp contrast to our “soft'* way of life. It certainly made me aware of just how fortunate we are to have been born and live now in America. A NATIVE of Poland, the architect was a stu dent at a iniversity in Warsaw when World War 11 broke out. The Soviets occupied his home town and with his parents he took up residence in Warsaw. It was not long before the Nazis captured Warsaw, and though still a student he joined an underground movement. Obviously reported by a traitor, he was dragged out of his home one night in 1942 by the Gestapo. THOUGH only 23 years old at the time, he was jailed for 8 months. The interrogations and tortures extended over a period of 5 months of this time. One such Incident he describes is an occasion when he was tied, crucifix style, and was beaten unmercifully. As he now puts it, for givingly,” . . . they acted like animals ... I felt and still feel sorry for them. . . there was nothing human about them”. After 8 months he was sent to a slave labor camp near the Baltic Sea. This was followed by internment in slave labor camps near Berlin and finally Norway, from which he escaped to Sweden. ONE SUNDAY morning in 1944, he escaped to Sweden by swimming through icecold water and crossing a 7,000 foot mountainl He was obliged to work in a lumber camp in Sweden for one year after which time he was set free. He immediately obtained work with an architectural firm in one of Sweden's larger cities. HOWEVER, when he learned that the Swedish government had turned over Estonian refugees to the Soviet government he immediately made plans to leave that country. With a group of Polish refugees he purchased a boat, only to have the craft condemned by the government as not being seaworthy. This necessitated another escape. Sailing with out lights during the dead of night they un knowingly went through a mine field, hit rocks and had the motor seriously damaged. An auxi liary motor furnished power to continue the journey but this motor was not big enough to power the craft when it ran into a hurricane. Describing the event now, the architect told me that he feared all would be lost, but fortunately they drifted into Ireland and were given shelter. He remained in Ireland over two years. His wife, whom he had married while in Sweden, could not endure the climate there, so in 1955 he came to the United States. Quite an experience for a man now only 44 years old. AFRICAN LESSON Your World And Mine BY GARY MacEOIN The basic facts about Africa today are not hard to find. They stare the observer in the face. The first is that the boundaries of the new na tions of ex-colonial Africa are artificial. Created for the convenience of the colon ial powers less than a century ago, they lack historical, geo graphical, racial or linguistic Justification. Many of these new countries Include within their territory traditional enemies. The colon ial power maintained an equili brium, protesting the weaker from the stronger. Now die protection has been suddenly withdrawn, leaving the weak to the gob bled up by the strong, as is happening in southern Sudan. Elsewhere, boundaries split a tribe or a religiously-united group, as on the Kenya-Somali border, provoking clashes and raising claims for border adjustment. YET THERE is no practical alternative to the present frontiers. The only natural political unit is the tribe, and it is usually too small to merit consideration as a sovereign division. Some Afri can countries contain hundreds of tribes speaking their mutually Incomprehensible languages and dialects. One may seek federations of groups of neighboring countries as a long-term aim, but the fostering of internal unity is all that is currently practicable in most cases. And this means a long future of instability and bloodshed. Yet even here, one must retain perspective. The student of medie val Europe knows the centuries of war that accom panied the development of its now great nations. The next fact is that there is no political demo cracy in the Western sense in the new countries of Africa. The primary reason is that the institutions do not exist and cannot be artificially created. Il literacy prevents the vast majority from even un derstanding the issues. The few who can must us ually follow the dictates of the local boss or tribal head. IN CONSEQUENCE, the forms of democracy in herited from colonialism are fast being replaced by one-party systems that to us seem extremely close to the monolithic structure of the Communist regimes. The change has been introduced not only by left-leaning Nkrumah of Ghana but by moderate Nyerere of Tanganyika who insists that it is dic tated by concrete needs and is compatible with democratic freedoms. The compatibility with democracy remains to be established. The con crete need is evident, because there is no sense of public duty or morality to balance the lust for personal power, avarice and vanity. Fact number three is that Africans are united on one issue, if on nothing else. What survives of the colonial era on the continent must be liquidated. We in the West tend to think that the process is CONTINUED ON PAGE 5 DANGER The Heresy Of Neutralism BY GERARD E. SHERRY We were talking recently anout the United Nations and how essential it is in the fight for peace and that the United States must continue to support the world organization. Of course, lots of our people get soured by many of the members of the UN who, although not commun ist countries, constantly appear to back the Red line. We tend to call these nations neutralists and indeed the title in many cases is apt. Most of these so-called neutrals are countries which have only recently cast off the yoke of coloni alism and are now struggling to learn what it means to exer cise the right to be free. Politically, many of their lea ders are amateurs in the ways of the world. In other words, they are finding that it's much easier to fight against allegedly colonial oppressors than deal with some of our modern govern ments. But I would venture to suggest that there is a much more important angle. This so-call ed neutralism is a dangerous international her esy. IN THE global body politic nothing is more certain than the fact that a large faction of the peoples of this world are neutralists at heart. They lack the courage to stand up and be coun ted in the battle for the right to be free. This is most true in areas where, only a short while back, freedom was merely a word chalked on walls in the dead of night. It seems as if those recently freed from the bondage of 19th century colonalism now have lost the will to re main free. There is no other conclusion one can come to as a count is taken of the large number of such countries now actively espous ing a neutralist course in their realations with others. REAPINGS AT RANDOM Alas, there is no escape from the fact that the neutralist doctrine can only beget oppression and godlessness. This is so, especially in the modern world, because there is no middle road between evil and good; between hate and love. On the one side, we have the godless atheism of the Communist world— on the other, a world, which although not perfect by any means, does attempt to espouse the cause of justice and freedom. In such a situation there is no choice for those who believe in human dignity and the elementary rights of man. THE HARD fact is, however, that neutralism is gaining converts fast. Little wonder that the foxes venture forth from their Kremlin lair and encroach on Free World preserves. Of course, the root cause of this heresy of neutralism is fear. The younger nations want time to put their Houses in order politically and economically. They wanted to be left alone to accomplish these tasks. And they see nothing but trouble in seeking the support of the big powers. Both in the United States and Soviet Russia the old rule applies — “He who is not with us, is against us.” OF COURSE, one can sympathize with these neutral countries when it comes to domestic policies, both political and economical. They should be allowed to run their own houses the way they wish to. But, in international deal ing I think a totally different attitude has to be adopted. Throughout the course of history weak nations have attached themselves to power blocks in order to survive as national entities. And his tory also shows that the smaller groups are naturally affected by changes in the balance of power among nations. Many of the present day neutralist countries are going through a similar agonizing appraisal. IN ASIA the specter of the power of com munist China hangs over the neutralists and the smaller countries allied in the west. In Europe and Africa the specter is the might of the Soviet Union. It is also true that in the Europ ean area there is the might of the Free World. However, because we don't push our weight around, we tend to appear soft and unconvincing in our de termination to fight for the survival of our way of life. We can win neutralists only by being genuine in our assistance and sincere in our express ed hopes for their continued independence— es pecially by abstaining from political and eco nomic pressures brought about through a stance of self-righteousness. In fact, in many ways, we need the neutralists more than they need us. And that goes even to the extent of their re maining neutral in the United Nations.