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PAGE 4 GEORGIA BULLETIN THURSDAY, JANUARY 13, 1966
the
Archdiocese of Atlanta
A. ,* ! i
\'MV
SERVING GEORGIA'S 71 NORTHERN COUNTIES
Official Organ of the Archdiocese of Atlanta
Published Every Week at the Decatur DeKalb News
PUBLISHER- Archbishop Paul J. Hallinan
MANAGING EDITOR Gerard E. Sherry CONSULTING EDITOR R ev. R. Donald Kiernan
ASSOCIATE EDITOR Rev. Leonard F. X. Mayhew
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Legislative Folly
Monday was a bleak day for
democracy. Georgia legislators
refused to seat Representative-
elect Julian Bond of the 136th
House District because of his
support for a Student Non-Vio
lent Coordinating Committee
statement which condemned U.S.
action in Vietnam and expressed
sympathy for draft-card burners.
Mr. Bond made it clear that he
wouldn’t destroy his own card,
even though he said he admired
those who had the courage to do
so.
We deplore the SNCC state
ment and we disagree with its
rash charges concerning U.S.
Government conduct in the Viet
nam conflict. We think Mr. Bond’s
support of the SNCC stand to be
imprudent, to say the least. But
imprudence is not a crime; and
in this possible vice he has much
company, including many other
politicians. Furthermore we have
a similar example of Senator
Wayne Morse of Oregon, who
has many times condemned the
U.S. action in Vietnam. Yet we
do not find any of his collea
gues in Congress prepared to ask
for his ouster. Indeed, there is
widespread disagreement over
Vietnam among many responsible
citizens.
What is the issue here? Cer
tainly not Mr. Bond’s support of
the SNCC statement. Rather it is
his right to be seated in the Geor
gia House, in as much as he is
the legally elected representative
of the people of the 136th House
District. The House refusal to
admit him was based almost so
lely on a emotional reaction to
his statement. This sets a dan
gerous precedent which can lead
to the eventual silencing of any
dissent from the majority view
point.
The right to dissent is a pre
cious one. Georgia state and local
officials have many times exer
cised it in relation to Civil Rights.
They have opposed Federal laws
on the subject. Some have failed
to comply with them, until forc
ed to by court action. Yet no
one dared suggest that they were
not fit to hold office.
We would have hoped that the
question of race would be kept out
of the issue. Alas, some legisla
tors brought the subject up. Mr.
Bond is a Negro and an official
of SNCC. These legislators may
have had their victory, but at
what a price? Mr. Bond has been
“martyred” and the SNCC state
ment has received more publi
city than it deserves. Further
more, racial tensions, which had
been reduced to the minimum in
this state may now be increased,
and the good name of Georgia
tarnished.
" ,'r ’• r/:
To our mind, it is all un
necessary. No one has yet legally
found Mr. Bond’s support of the
SNCC statement to be subversive
or unconstitutional. So far he is
merely in dissent from the ma
jority viewpoint. The legislators
therefore should have seated Mr.
Bond and then taken any appro
priate action after a thorough
investigation of all the circlirS-
stances.
There is one other’ tragic
aspect of this case. The Legis
lature has deprived the people
of the 136th District of their
rightful representation:' in the
House. The majority of these
citizens have had to wait until
recent times to be able to ex
ercise their constitutional right
to elect the person of their
choice. The Georgia House has
struck a blow against the demo
cratic process in nulifying the
free choice of these citizens. We
hope the courts will reverse the
ruling.
A Darkness Lifting
1 GEORGIA PINES
Needed-Some Friends
cni -. f*»‘ • 'ifteitMdifcv.
sal {IL BY FR. DONALD KIERNAN bnr. ieiaemployees have to wait until the regular pay
isvweLL, here we are 12 days into the new year 'r tsn *tts.y. Human , nature doesn’t change. There are
i and already my resolutions have passed as faS? iJK ^still those , who subscribe to the philosophy that
as the cold snap we had last week here in At- a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
1/0 lanta. I decided that during 1966 I would not g&¥ *
CCD Apostolate
The Archdiocesan Department
of Catholic Education has ar
ranged special courses for teach
ers in the parochial Confraterni
ty of Christian Doctrine class
es. Details and the schedule of
dates can be found on page 7---
There is no more important
work than that of religious edu-
Cut the Knot
cation. Recent Pontiffs have
stressed the essential value of
CCD for those who have not the
opportunity to attend Catholic
schools. Catholic education in
cludes the material elements, but
it is primarily the education of
the soul. What is more, parents
have the obligation to continue
it in family life, apart from the
life of their childre entrusted to
the educational care of parochial
or public schools.
Owing to the shortage of
priests and religious in CCD
work, lay volunteers are in con
stant demand. But the volun
teers, themselves need training;
not only in methods of teaching
but, more importantly in the
content of their religion.
The CCD teachers courses
now being offered present a gol
den opportunity for the laity to
share in this vital apostolate. It
will require some sacrifice of
time in study and preparation.
But its recompense will be in
the sure knowledge that our
young people will come closer to
understanding the treasures of
their faith; that mature Chris
tians will be nurtured to carry on
the vital work of ‘‘restoring all
things in Christ.”
ns upset about anything. Then last
week it started: going over
■to-the church for the 7 a.m.
Mass, the front lawn looked as
if a carnival had been held the
night before. Remembering that
new year’s resolution I excused
the incident by concoling my-
. -self with the fact that Sam, the
mythical paper man, probably
had the flu. Then when this ri
tual continued for ten confpcutiv^ days I realized
that I had assumed the Pole of % Sam. Out in the
country where public services are not expected
to be as efficent as they are in the great cities
things like picking up the lawn is takenfor grant-
1 ed. I’ve often thought that a rural pastor is,
bbtii Pope and janitor in- his own domain, but,
‘ Jlv iiere in the busteling city, .especially a city whtcfi
pr|?es itself on civic accomplishments, it does'
; j£l sfem strange that its so difficult to keep a street.
° H .<$!$• fio-x
\ a lev i v
I’ll probably incur the wrath of some social
Workers and then draw down the ire of reha-"
bilationists and finally end up like that city mana
ger in New York who suggested that some wel
fare workers be put to work. The fact of the
matter is this, I believe that some people on wel
fare would rather work and preserve their hu
man dignity that merely, sit around waiting for
a check from the city for doing nothing. Sani
tation work does not demand skilled labor, but
it is a necessary service and I think something
that demands first attention.
POSSIBLY the fault lies with the manner in
which these people are "employed. Some golf
courses always seem to, have an abundance of
caddies and I’m sure that a man doing sanita
tion work would receive just as much in wages,
if not more, than a caddy. But herein lies the
crux of the problem: caddies are paid as soon
as their services are performed while town
trtevog Recently I was talking to a man who had been
gni in personnel work for a number of years. He
told me that around his plant there were a
humber of unskilled jobs available almost every
day. This company initiated the practice of em
ploying laborers on a day by day basis and paid
these laborers in the same manner.
YH
orioa
This same man told me that not only raeS*
the plan work out but that in the course of time
some of their best employees began work for
this company and were with the company for a
number of years first coming through this prac
tice.
I contracted for some work recently and the
paricular phase of this work demanded that
the company have about twelve workers one day
[fgr about two hours. When I saw all these em-
Uow 4 loyees workin g on this particular day, I asked
_ the contractor how he managed to hire so many
hien for such a short period of time on a cer-
1 tain day. He, told me that there was a corner
-Where all of the unskilled laborers congregated
'■every morning and waited to be hired. I’ve
-often wondered why among this crowd no one
happens to know how to push a broom.
GOING back to my new year’s resolution its
really absured to get excited. When Atlanta want
ed a Stadium the aid of Tech computers were
employed. Now that we need an auditorium the
problems connected with it seem to be taken in
stride and yet Interstate 20, on this side of town,
still lags behind ...one of the major arteries
here has been made into a four lane with li
terally inches to spare if four automobiles happen
ed to be abrest at the same time...the reloca
tion of a street out here now has a filling station
being constructed in the path of the proposed
route........,and, the streets are still dirty.
Nothing is wrong
need a few friends I
with West End ,we just
FORCES IN POLAND
Your World And Mine
BY GARY MACEOIN
AUSTRIA. “We are enjoying in Poland a situa
tion of perfect equilibrium of mutually irrecon
cilable forces, an equilibrium that has every in
dication of continuing indefinitely. It could hardly
happen anywhere else, biff for us it is little less
abnormal than most of our historical experience.’’
Such is the summing-up of
a distinguished Polish writer
whom I had the pleasure of
meeting again, after several
years, during a quick trip
through Central Europe. For
obvious reasons, I may not i- ,,
dentify him. The irreconcilable
forces are, of course, the Catho
lic Church, which enjoys the
loyal support of 80 per-cent
of Poles, and the Communist Party, which can
hardly count on one in five ,but which is in Poland
to stay for as long as the world balance of terror
continues.
The Communists have worked hard to laicize
the society and to promote atheism at a high
cultural level. The most noticeable effect of their
efforts, however, is an increase in religious prac
tice, Attendance at Mass and reception of the
sacraments is better than before the war, com
paring favorably With percentages in Catholic
countries of non-Communist Europe. Ninety per
cent of the children enrolled in primary and se
condary schools attend religious instruction in the
parishes. Their school programs include Com
munist propaganda, but most of the teachers are
Catholics and go through the motions of present
ing the courses in such a way as to inegate
their purpose.
Poland is this year about to celebrate the 1,000-
year anniversary of events which marked both
the introduction of Christianity and the birth of
the nation, with the ceremonies focused ion the
famous pilgrimage center of Our Lady Of Czes
tochowa. Nothing could illustrate better the com
plicated political and social pressures with which
the Church and the Communist regime live,
THE POLISH bishops, in Rome for the Council,
issued invitations to the bishops df other countries,
including Germany, to participate in the cere
monies. Soundings were also made regarding a
possible visit of the Pope to Czestochowa.
The initiative offered definite benefits to the
regime. The presence in Poland of delegations
CONTINUED ON PAGE 5
OBSTACLES OUTLINED
On Seeking
Mutual Trust
BY GERARD E. SHERRY
LAST WEEK WE spoke of a meeting held in
Rome towards the latter part of the fourth session
of the Council attended by some 65 English-speak
ing North Americans, including several bishops,
priest experts and Protestant observers. The
three-day conference discussed a question we are
all faced with in the Post-Consiliar era, “how do
we implement the Council at home?’’
We described the community aspects of the
conference including its three part theme: the
Church, probing
interior renewal;
the Churches,
s t u dying rap-
p r o a c hment
among all Chris
tians; and the
Church in the
World, Christian
concern and re
sponsibility about
the world’s problems. I had a long discussion
with one of the leading participants and he said
their main reflections on the problems confronting
the Church were as follows:
FREEDOM is the hallmark of our responses to
God and is demanded by the integrity of man. Fear
and hostility are freedom’s greatest obstacles.
Love and knowledge are freedom’s foundations. So:
♦what lines of communication must be set up at
all levels in the Christian community to foster
full dialogue?
♦can true freedom exist without mutual trust?
♦is not obedience a quality of freedom, a con
sequence of responding to the will of God?
♦is freedom a threat to authority, or is not au
thority a matter of fraternity rather than pa
ternalism?
♦is a defensive attitude compatible with free
dom?
RISK is involved, but a willingness to face risk,
to “go out on a limb with God,’’ was seen as
central to the Christian mystery. So:
♦do we need to develop a theology of risk, a
willingness to be insecure while still on tenta
tive ground?
♦don’t experimentation, spontaneity, variety de
velop our awareness?
♦are charisms not found in all persons? do we
chance screening out the Holy Spirit when w e
screen out certain people or certain ideas
byrefusing to let them be tested in our Chris
tian communities?
♦can we program renewal?
STRUCTURES as we have them in the Church
have not been totally successful. So:
„ , *d£>»wejiged.to create new structures, new lines
of communication, such as little councils in
parishes and dioceses or other ways of giving
the experience of involvement?
♦should not new structures be loose, tenta
tive, so that they avoid the pitfalls of the past by
being adaptable to new days and new problems?
♦would seminarians be better prepared for open
communication if they had lived in smaller
units, had greater contact with pastoral life,
spent some of their training in other parts of
the country or the world?
PARISHES are now centers of the Christian
community, but they also are often large, im
personal. So:
♦should our concept of parish be re-evaluated
— perhaps to be broken into smaller territorial
and pastoral communities, bringing priests
closer to the people and people closer to each
other.
♦wouldn’t this at the same time use to the fullest
the zeal and energies of younger priests?
♦should we also establish new kinds of commun
ities, not geographical, but built around work,
professional, interest groupings?
Christ works in the world through people and
their talents. It is necessary that the Christian
community try to bring everyone along toward a
common goal: all ranks in the Church, all de
grees of association with the Church, all kinds
of human talents, social levels, rich and poor. So:
♦are we wasting assets by not using the full
talents of all, especially those of lesser rank:
curates, young religious, non-organization lay
people, according to the competence of each?
♦how can there be a free flow of communica
tion between bishops and priests, pastors and
assistants, priests, brothers, sisters, laity?
♦to what extent do we realize and show that all
the People of God (laity, priests, bishops,
religious) need one another?
♦how can the expression of mutual interdepen
dence be increased?
♦do we recognize and profit by the idea that
each person’s life — in work, family, culture,
leisure -- is the apostolate?
WORSHIP is the source and summit of Christian
life. We asked:
♦is the Word of God read and preached and heard
as well as it should be at Sunday Mass?
♦would our sense of liturgy become more com
munal, more real, if we experimented with
ideas such as “house Eucharists,” so that
we recognize the holiness of each person, no
matter what his work or his role in the
Church, and thus lower barriers between lay
men and women and the clergy?
UNITY is sought, not for the consolation of
Christians but as an aspect of the mission of Christ
to the world. Drawing closer in accomplishing
their mission, Christians will rediscover their
unity in Christ. Therefore:
♦how can we develop an ecumenical spirituality
based on a growing awareness of the fact and
CONTINUED ON PAGE 5
REAPINGS
AT
RANDOM