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PAGE 4 GEORGIA BULLETIN THURSDAY, JANUARY 7, 1965
the
of Atlanta
IBilill
SERVING GEORGIA'S 71 NORTHF»m COUNTIES
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 Kieraa*
ASSOCIATE EDITOR Rev. Leonard F. X. Mayhew
Member of the Catholic Press Association
and Subscriber to N. C. W. C. News Service
Telephone 231-1281
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T.Y. Cancellation
Aggiornamento brings with it
the growing pains of gradua
tion from immaturity to mat
urity in Christ. It also reveals
the necessity for reform in any
attempt at renewal. The “updat
ing” of Catholic life, Catholic
contact, the Catholic image, the
Catholic mind, can tempt us to
unnecessary forays in situa
tions which require the cool balm
of Christian reason.
The last minute postponement
of the Catholic Hour television
series on Birth Control is a ser
ious matter. It is serious not
just because it ranges liberals
against Conservatives in Ameri
can Catholicism. Nor only
because it revives a kind of cen
sorship that is at odds with the
Second Vatican Council. Its gra
vity lies rather in that it is
another instance of the tremen
dous responsibility of those who
comprise the “open Church” to
day -- the layman, the priest,
the bishop.
Just before Christmas, Pope
Paul VI said;
“The Church is not a museum
of remembrances, it is a living
community. . . the Church does
ho t restsict ,;thC hdri.'gbn bf hu
man interest. Rather a case might
be made that the Church widens
such a horizon too greatly and
that she may pose immensely
great universal questions for the
souls of her disciples.
Catholicism in our nation is no
longer ignored or dismissed as
it vyas for decades. The world,
-- every part and level of it--
wants to know what it teach
es, how it lives, how its lead
ers lead and how its members
respond. Birth limitation, as
Pope Paul says, is talked about
by everyone, although it is a
problem “extremely grave,
complex and delicate.” He nam
es two of its aspects;-- that of
the spouses of marriage (their
AN ALTAR BOY
NAMED "SPECK"
“Don’t you ever have any black sales?”
liberty, conscience, love and
duty) and that of the law of God
defended by the Church, in the
light of scientific, social and
psychological truths.
He has named a commission
of scholars to study these mo
dern findings. Meanwhile the mo
ral norms stated by Pope Pius
XII, known to all Catholics, are
still binding. On June 26, 1964
Pope Paul said;
“it seems opportune to recom
mend that no one should, for
the time being, take it upon him
self to pronounce himself in
terms differing from the norms
in force.”
We have not seen the video
tapes of the proposed T. V.
series. Their sponsorship bythe
National Council of Catholic Men,
under the responsibility of its
able director, Martin Work,
would surely indicate that the
series is in keeping with the
true Catholic spirit of the times.
If the series reflects the "as
pects of the spouses”, in the
Pope's words, this would be a
legitimate contribution to the
present discussion. If the par
ticipants do notpronounce them
selves in terms differing from
the norms in force, it is diffi
cult to see how they conflict with
the only authentic papal state
ment made on the subject since
the Council opened.
Neither Catholics nor those of
other faiths need be shocked by
opinions expressed by Catholics
on this or any other subject.
Nor should they be shocked by
proper methods used by those
in responsibility to prevent
the spread of teachings cont
rary to the law of the Church.
We may be angered, grieved or
momentarily disillusioned. But
disagreement of opinion and tac
tics is not new in the Catho
lic Church. The Apostles ex
perienced it, and weathered it.
Our faith is not anchored to a
single incident or series of
them; nor is it based upon the
unchangeability of a particular
teaching. It rests securely in
the serene certainty that Christ
remains with His Church, is in
fact His Church. Catholics know
this. Every penitent and con
fessor knows it.
But these are difficult days for
us all, especially for we jour
nalists and commentators on
the Catholic scene. We try to
be honest and industrious, and
feel we are entitled to our
headlines and leads. But we al
ways grasp this deeper truth
of Christ’s presence in His
Church if we are to understand
truly what a Catholic is.
The cancellation of the T. V.
series on Marriage no doubt will
cause several of our confreres
in the Catholic Press to cry out
against another example of alle
ged pressure of authbrity aga
inst valid lay initiative. Alas
there are times when we do wrong
by exploding into rightous in-.
dignation at situations which
call-s for tolerance, charity pat
ience and prayerful underst
anding.
When Comics
BY REV. R. DONALD KIERNAN
I stopped into a roadside restaurant and while
waiting for the sandwich to be served I noticed the
selection of songs on the juke-box. One heading
over a group of songs was Old Favorites and ano
ther heading was entitled Classics. Now under the
heading "Old Favorites'* I expected to see some
titles like Barney Google or Three Little Words but
I found that Old Favorites are the songs which
were popular two weeks ago and Classics date back
no further than last summer's hits.
I know that I am dating myself when I make
reference to Barney Google and
I’m sure ^that this jet age only
know Old* Barney as a charac
ter who appears about once a
year in the comic strip Snuffy
Smith. Usually Barney Google is
atop his horse. Spark Plug. But
honestly kids, there was at one
time a hit song with the title
Barney Google. I think it went
something: like this: ’'Barney
Google had a wife three times his size, . . .she
sued Barney for divorce, now he’s living with his
horse... .Barney Google with his goo-goo-googly
eyes."
AT ANY rate Barney is still perpetuated in the
comic strip. His record, about a half-inch thick,
which could be played only' on a wind-up Edison
has long since been forgotten.
While I’m reminiscing it comes to mind that
many a comic has disappeared from the paper. I
don’t know where they went. I guess that they just
became like old soldiers.; I do honestly think
though that comics were more humorous in the
yester-year than they are today,
TAKE BOOB McNutt, who used to wear a tin
can for a hat; then the fore-runner of the zoot-
suits, Harold Teen, Harold always wore wide
pants, a sweater and a bow-tie and his girl
friend’s name was Lillums.
BY GARY MacEOIN
"Wouldn’t you agree that United States support
and economic aid played a major part in the
successful efforts of President Betancourt
of Venezuela to crush Communist riots, com
plete his term of offfice, hold free elections, and
hand over the. presidency to his constitution
ally chosen successor?’’
I recently put this question to Dr. Ezequiel
Monsalve, minister under President Betan
court as a member of the Christian Democrat
(COPEI) Party which was then
in coalition with Betancourt’s
Accion Democratica.
“OF COURSE, Iagree,’’ he
replied. "That was a clear de
monstration of what the Alli
ance for Progress can do to
promote political stability in
Latin America. But I must im
mediately add a reservation.
You tend to think that by surviving a skirmish
you have won the war. Now that the heat is mom
entarily off, you assume that the job is finished
and turn your attention elsewhere. And that is a
profound error.”
I have discussed the point with prominent Ven
ezuelan politicians representing the princi-
Were Funny
Tillie the Toiler had a boy friend by the name
of Mac and he was about half as tall as she was.
Now one thing that never changes is Little Orphan
Annie. That old red dress looks as good today as
it did twenty years ago. I grew up wondering why
Daddy Warbucks never bought her a new dress.
IF MY memory is correct I think that Jackie 1
Cooper was the first movie personality to play
Skippy. He was a character who distinguished him
self by a big bow tie which was always showings
This all goes back to the days when one dis
tinguished his friends by the breakfast cereal dne“
ate. Tom Mix for Ralston. Orphan Anriie'fo’rOvai- *
tine; Jack Armstrong for Wheaties. I felt like an ;
outcast because my mother insisted we eat oat
meal and at that time no character was sponsored
by that company.
In Ignatz and Crazy Kat the cat used to throw
bricks at Officer Pup and Mrs. Quack-Quack was •
the fore-runner of the town gossip.Now Andy Gump
wore a little round hat (fashionable today) and had
die first hot-rod car I ever remember seeing.
All of Andy Gump’s strips ended with the words •
“Oh Min".
ONE PERSON said recently to me that Apple
Mary got respectable and became Mary Worth. I
know for sure that the breakdown of parental
authority began with the Katzenjammer Kids.
Gosh, what a hard time those kids gave the old
Captainl
Going back to my memory bag I wonder if In
spector Hawkshaw came before DickTracy? Peo
ple laughed when Dick Tracy came outwith radios
in the patrol cars and the wrist radio was really
way out. (Now do you really suppose that there are
Moon Maids?). Here’s another: did you know that
Blondie started out as a friend of Dumb Dora? '
I close with one stickler and to the first person
to mail me the correct answer I will give a year's
free subscription to the BULLETINI What ever
happened to Perry in Winnie Winkle?
pal parties, and all were in substantial agree
ment. Democracy has proved its viability in Vene
zuela. But it is still in its infancy. Apart from
a brief interval between 1945 and 1948, the coun
try has known only dictatorship since it emerg
ed as a distinct sovereign entity in 1829.
"WE FIND ourselves in a very embarrass
ing dilemma, a spokesman for Accion Democra
tica told me. "The cours e of Latin America
has been the strong man, the <caudillo>. Once he
seized power, he legitimized his regime by rig
ged elections. After that, he had himself re
elected as often as he wished.To break the tra
dition, we do not allow a second term. That is
good, but what is bad is that the Party loses
its main leader and fragments into as many
groups as there are would-be presidents in its
ranks. What started as Accion Democratica is
today five parties. Such fragmentation leads to
futility, and then the army takes over once
again.”
COPEI believes that it has a solution to
this dilemma. "Apart from the Communists,”
a spokesman said, "we are the only party in
Venezuela which offers a coherent program
based on an ideology. We stand for basic social
change in terms of Christian teaching and spe-
CONTINUED ON PAGE 5
DISCOTHEQUE
Incident
In Moscow
BY GERARD E. SHERRY
I was watching an hour long program the other
night on ABC Network which took a look at the
' new discotheque fad. It seems as if in many of
| our cities young and old are spending their time
1 in uninhibited gyrations called dancing, until the
\ early hours of every morn. Seemingly it is not
> confined to the beetlemaniacs or the so-called jet
set. It is revealed that many "respectable”
persons including business and professional
types are participating in the fad. It’s got to a
state where it has spread to England, France and
the Soviet Union.
The ABC cameras
were able to take a
few shots at the Rus
sian version of dis
cotheque and it
brought backmsmo-
5 ries of an incident in
j Moscow at Thanks-
j giving of 1959. It
I was the first night
j of a ten day stay I
had in the Soviet capitol. The place was the
Hotel Nationale, operated by INTOURIST, the
official Soviet Travel Agency. The hotel is used
for foreign tourists and business men.
I went down to the dining room and was
surprised to hear the small band playing one
of the current "top ten” tunes among the dee-
/ jays in the United States. There was more to
follow, including some fine renditions of tradi
tional American Jazz. The surprise was very de
finite - and for a good reason. •
Several hours before, I had had a conversa—
: tion with an‘ American impresario from New
: York who had tried to get an American Jazz
■ combination as part of the exchange in the re-
i cently signed cultural agreement made between
the Soviet Union and this country. The impre
sario said that the Soviet officials would not
hear of bringing Jazz to Moscow or any other
Russian city. It seemed they didn’t want their youth
contaminated by such decadent American music.
Yet here in the Nationale we were treated to
American jive and jazz, rocked and rolled together
and served up by as fine a small group as one
. could hear anywhere. Iwantedtoknow more but it
proved difficult.
Russians were allowed in the Nationale din
ing room and the place was full of young people
; having a monthly splurge. Sitting opposite me at
the table were an East German Army Lieu
tenant and his girl friend. I discovered he
could speak English and tried to engage
him in conversation. He was most reluctant,
even to the extent of cutting me short with the
observation that he did not know anything about
the band and that I should ask the Intourist
Service Department if I wanted such informa
tion. Howeyer, a couple of other young fellows
: at a nearby table had both of them spoken ex
cellent English. They offered to introduce me
to a member of the band at the next break. They
said he spoke some English.
'•'"“The jtoutJaofrorh' thferbaflsl Very .ftytendlyi'/and;
A*wa^notfafsaidfsta-answer questions. Hfeituraedout:
; to be a student at Moscow University who was
” supplementing his income by playing six evenings
a week. I asked him how he was so- up - to-.
date with American ‘top ten’ tunes and where he
got the recordings.
"Oh,” said, "We tape-record them from
Short wave broadcasts. We’ve been doing it for
several years. We play the tapes over and over
again until we have perfected our playing of the
arrangement and then we try another. Sometimes
American visitors here give us records* but most
of our Ota'S, are obtained from listening to over
seas rad.o.”
I asked him how they got around the heavy
jamming of foreign radio broadcasts and he
j said they sometimes had to wait days before they
! could get decent tapes. He added:
"Of course, it’s easier now. There is very little
; : jamming and we hear the Voice of America
and some American Forces Network stations-
quite clearly. One of the difficulties is that some
of the most popular American records are
based more on the performer than the music.
The lyrics often sound silly and even crude.
We are patient, however. We eventually hear -
an arrangement we like and then we practice
a till we can introduce it here.”
I then asked him how he squared all this with
the official Soviet attitude towards Jazz. I got
1 a surprisingly courageous answer:
"The authorities arc afraid that young people
will take to Jazz and the popular tunes just like
they do in other countries. Their fears are well-
founded. Many more young Russians are coming
in this restaurant because we play American
dance music. They like it. We like to play it.
We even get couples doing “rock and roll’ to
some of the tunes. No one has stopped us yet,
although I shouldn’t be surprised if one day they
tell us to step down for good. However, until that
time arrives, we’ll go on playing and the custo
mers will go on enjoying it.”
The youth said no one seemed to care what
the official attitude was. The band didn’t pre
tend that it was all good music but there was a
.big demand for it. He said that he didn’t see
any harm in it, or any dangers to Russian
youth from it. Then came another surprising
remark, given without hesitation:
"There is much more danger from drunk
enness, which threatens many of our young people-
Our leaders have pointed to the danger of ex
cessive drink. They are rightly taking steps to
eliminate it among young people. We must all
beware of such a danger, and we are behind our'
leaders on this point. However, you don’t see
drunks here. All these young people are sat
isfied to come here for a good meal and en
joyable music. Russian music is enjoyable, but
so is the music produced in America. Our play
ing here helps bridge the gap between our coun-
tires. We want Americans to like us andwe hope
your people want Russians to like them.
This way we can work together in the spirit
of co-existence.”
The band then went back to playing the then
best-selling "Mack the Knife.” As the youth-
said— the music was pleasant. I wonder what the
customers would have said had they heard the
lyrics. Maybe they would have changed their
tune.
VENEZUELA STILL TROUBLED
Your World And Mine
REAPINGS
AT
RANDOM