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PAGE 4
GEORGIA BULLETIN THURSDAY, JUNE 23, 1966
the
Archdiocese of Atlanta
SERVING GEORGIA S 71 NORTHERN COUNTIES
Official Organ of the Archdiocese of Atlanta
Archbishop Paul J„ Hallinan
Chris Eckl
The Rev. R. Donald Kiernan
The Rev. Leonard F.X 0 Mayhew
Publisher
Managing Editor
Consulting Editor
Associate Editor
, *7ssV’
2699 Peachtree N. E.
P. O. Box 11667
Northside Station
Atlanta, Georgia 30305
Member of the Catholic Press Association
and Subscriber to N. C. W. C. News Service
Telephone 231-128.1
Second Class Permit at Atlanta, Ga.
U, $. A. $5.00
Canada $5.00
Foreign $6.50
Published Every Week at the Decatur-DeKalb News
The opinions contained in these editorial tolumns are
the free expressions of free editors in a free Catholic press.
Is The Index Dead?
A story on page one of today’s
Bulletin says the Index of For
bidden Books no longer has any
juridical significance for Catho
lics, but it is still a sin for them
to read any literature that is con
trary to faith and morals.
The notification said that with
the Index and its attendant cen
sures no longer having any legal
force, “the church hands over to
the mature conscience of the
faithful readers, writers, pub
lishers and teachers responsibi
lity in the matter.”
However, the article said the
Church reserves the right pub
licly to condemn a book that
offends faith and morals, “but
will not do so without having first
courteously asked the author to
amend his writings.”
The reservation appears to be
a contradiction of the remarks
about the mature conscience of
the faithful. The Church has the
right and duty to oppose writings
it feels are destructive, but is
it going to argue freely for the
minds of men or simply legis
late?
If Church officials feel a book
is “dangerous” let them speak,
but we strongly question the wis
dom of condemning it. Con
demnation has been used in the
past to silence theories contrary
to the thinking, of a small group
of men. These men have been all
too fallible.
Direct Speaking
Dr. Robert McAfee Brown, well
known to Catholics because of his
penetrating articles, has said
there' are some liard - core
doctrinal differences between
Protestants and Catholics which
all the “ecumenical goodwill in
the world” is not sufficient to
resolve.
He said the discussion in the
past few years has made it clear
that some supposed differences
between the two Christian groups
were based on inadequate under
standing of each other’s posi
tions, but that real differences
still exist.
‘The main roadblock, Dr.
Brown, said, is the doctrine of the
infallibility of the papal office.
“To state it bluntly, for the Ca
tholic, the doctrine of papal in
fallibility guarantees that the,
"Holy Spirit will not forsake the
Church, while for the Protestant,
the doctrine seems to suggest that
the Church has forsaken the Holy
Spirit rather than living in sub
jection to him,” he commented.
The theologian said Catholics
should not take offense at his
words. He said it is important
to speak directly “so that issues
can be clearly focused.”
This is the whole point of the
ecumenical movement to s peak-
directly to each other and we
hope that Dr. Brown will con
tinue to speak directly to Catho
lics.
Help Wanted
A Methodist minister in Min
neapolis has said “the Lord has
withdrawn His blessing” from
the Minnesota Twins baseball
team which is not doing too well
this year. >
The Rev. C. Philip Hinerman
blamed Cal Griffith, the club’s
president, because he traded sec
ond baseman Jerry Kindall, a
member of last year’s pennant
winning team. The minister
said Griffith got “rid of the one
fellow on the squad that made all
of this possible -- that great
Christian athlete, Minneapolis’
own Jerry Kindall.” (Kindall’s
lifetime batting average is .190).
The minister said Jerry led a
daily Bible study group and pray
er meeting every day the team
was on the road. “The whole
team was influenced by this
Christian spirit and atmosphere
--and Somebody kept helping the
Twins win,” the Rev. Mr.
Hinerman said.
Now will somebody give us an
explanation on what’s wrong with
the Atlanta Braves.?
A Crisp Comment
Dr. Reinhold Neibuhr has ex
amined the writings of the “death
of God” theologians and said he
found their efforts both confusing
and “futile.”
And he suggested that the late
Paul Tillich, with whom he shar
ed for many years leadership in
American theological thought,
“would have been horrified by
the proposition, ‘God Is Dead.’”
Dr. Neibuhr alluded to the fact
that the “chief exponent” of
the radical theology, Dr. Thomas
J. J. Altizer, has dedicated a book
to the memory of Tillich. Thus,
he said, “one assumes that
their outlook is influenced by
Tillich’s mysticism. If so, it
may be well that Tillich is dead.”
• •• ••• • • _• • •
• •••••••••• • • •••••'
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GEORGIA PINES
Saddle Shoes And Serra
By R. Donald Kiernan.
As I left for St. Louis and the annual conven
tion of Serra International. the thought passed
my mind of the various cities and convention
I have attended during my last 13 years as
chaplain of the Serra Club of Metropolitan At
lanta. It seems that pleasant incidents have been
connected with all of them.
Hie very first Serra conven
tion I ever attended was in Los
Angeles. Chief Jenkins of At
lanta wrote Chief Bill barker;
of Los Angeles a letter felling
him that I was coming. I guess
the Chief must have thought
I would be lost all the way out
there by myself. Anyhow l was
"taken-in” by a Msgr. Leo
McDonald of.Madison, Wisconsin, andwe have re
mained good friends through all these years.
taking especially from the dome of the vista-
dome trains. We arrived at 9 p.m. and the tem
perature was 99 degrees. Monsignor Mullalley of
Florida was asked by a porter why he was carry
ing an overcoat and nonchalantly replied that he
expected cold weather.
Getting Out Of Town
Archbishop 9 s
Notebook
After recent trips to Gainesville (for a Rotary
Club talk) arid 1, Toccoa (to visit Father Joseph
Drohan and talk to the Episcopalian clergy at
their camp), I was ready to turn southward last
weekend and visit the land where the Redemp-
torists roam, and there seldom is heard a dis
couraging word. They are all too busy.
I bought gas in Griffin and felt the subtle
influence of a preacher. The boy at the station
was singing a good roustabout version of the
country song, °Suspicious Woman’ ’ when I drove
up. We discussed the Braves’ troubles with the
Pirates, and as I drove away, I was subtly aware
that his song had changed. He was humming
"Rock of Ages." I wondered. Was this ecumenical
Georgia?
HIGH NOON IN NEWNAN
On the way to Newnan Sunday morning, my.
guide was Mr. Emory Smith of Griffin. We talked
of many things, but mainly of his boy, Warren. He
was supposed to attend summer school in order
to read better, but he wanted to play ball in
stead, a normal American boy’s preference.
At the moment he was still going to school,
a young Negro boy who had not yet grasped what
his father knew. He had to be better because
right now he was still in a nuiriber two spot.-
The matter had been settled by Mr. Smith, Sr.,
--no classes, no trips to Atlanta to see the
Braves. This was progressive Georgia.
The city of Newnan is magnatized toward At
lanta. In ten years, it will likely be another
Sandy Springs or Decatur. It is growing fast.
Small manufacturers’ plants were popping up like
daffodils. It is a city of homes—and a city of
hospital beds. With two large hospitals itmusthave
a bed-for-resident ratio that Atlanta would envy.
Around Newnan, there is still a. touch of rural
Georgia. Even that comes in a modem key. "More
yield for your field” say the signboards adver
tising the need of nitrogen for good crops. But
the city is basically in the mood for urban, or
at least suburban, growth. It is an outpost now
of metropolitan Georgia —■ like so many other
things—centered in Atlanta.
Fr. Kiernan
The next convention was in Pittsburgh. Father
Joe Beltran rode with me up to this one and be
ing my second convention I was tagged as an “old
timer”. Little did I,think that as the years were
to roll on that I would progress from an old-
timer to the rank of a Sage!
Chicago had an interesting, and a real big con
vention. The Hiltori was so big that it was able
to hold the whole convention. This is probably
the one and orily convention that everything was
under one roof. When it ended I felt like a “mine
mule” when he first sees the light of day. When
it was over it was actually the first time I had
been out of doors for four-days.
I couldn’t get Father Joe Beltran to go with
me anymore. He said that he would rather fly
in the air than on the ground. Father Walt Donovan
was my next rider. Wei drove out to Dallas,
Texas. The good Father didn't have too much to
say about the driving, but when we got back, after
being cooped-up in the caifor a week, he remark
ed that now he knew how fnarrlage must be when
you are continuously withfhe same person for so
long! This was his last tj-ip too!
Minneapolis was a delightful city. Hughes
Spalding Jr. and myself took the train up there.
The ride along the Mississippi River was breath
I took the train to Philadelphia with Captain
Mullen. He boarded the train in Atlanta, and I got
on in Gainesville. I had been playing golf and
knowing .that I would go directly to my compart
ment, I £§rrjed, my^ack j^o^ggjpd ggt ,QB
> -jtrain wea^inj^ be£r^u/3a Jl s^2 i rtg li goI|.£§p ^c,, ']Jie i:j ,, i>iU
next morning wh^n,ri Vfas^getxiiigpdressed:! jrea-: if .
lized that I had brought everything except black
shoe's. Have you ever seen a priest, dressed as
a priest except wearing black and white saddle
oxfords? Needless to say this innovation would
be hard to take, even since Vatican II. Our first
visit was to a shoe store but I don’t think that I
have ever felt so self conscious in my life.
Last year we were in Miami. An ideal city but
not too much on providing atmosphere for a con
vention as serious as Serra is. It was real dif
ficult to sit in the convention hall or to attend
a panel discussion when you knew that just
20 yards away was a beach, water and sun.
Atlanta Serrans probably attended this conven
tion better than any other one, probably be
cause it was the first one in the South in ten
years.
San Francisco’s convention was as bad as
Miami’s in this respect. There is just too much
to see and too much to do in so short a time.
I shall never forget the hospitality of Chief
Tom Cahill to me when I visited San Francisco.
He assigned a young officer, Jack Young, as my
official “guide” and whenever I was not tied up
in the convention, Jack made every minute count.
Going to the convention year after year has
brought friendships. Besides those names already
mentioned I hear from the Tom Lewis’ of Chicago,
the McGavocks of Janesville, Wisconsin and nu
merous others. A Serra convention is like a re
treat in a way. I know that every priest is edified
to see the laymen of the church so dedicated and
so self-sacrificing to ideals that are so important
to the church.
Letters To The Editor
EDITOR:
Congratulations on your inclusion of the fine
analysisof Chardin’s thought concerning evolution.
It is easy to see why Chardin has been officially
denounced as “partly heretical”. Although the
improvement of species j is readily observable
in modern scientific laboratories and even in agri
cultural experiments, there is little reason to sup
pose that God created pnly one simple thing,
which then* gave rise ofiits own accord to the
earth, the waters, the sun and moon and outer
celestial bodies, vegetation, and marine and land
animals, and finally man.'
This is what comes of rejecting Scriptures,
which clearly show the believable process of
creation. A Creator would have to come first,
then solids, then a division of waters and land,
then light, then creeping'things, vegetation, then
land, animals, and finally man. There is nothing
here to contradict the findings of anthropology or
other sciences. It is absurd to think of an all-
powerful God, unable to create the differentiated
species of matter as readily as to create one
simple organism possessed of all these marve
lous potentials.
It stretches the imagination to conceive rocks
capable of becoming vegetation or animal life.
Moses may not have understood the process fully,
but he had the Godgiven insight to lay down a
satisfactory generalization that has satisfied man
for all theological purposes these many genera
tions. God also gave man a mind to discover the
hidden secrets of the universe. If Catholics believe
in the Holy Spirit, they have also a built-in radar
system to tell them a great deal more than' their
bright minds can tell them unaided.
Theologians should set their minds to the in
terpretation of symbols, rather than destroying
the evidence by re-writing Scripture. This is much
harder than imposing the arrogance of their own
scientific findings upon Holy Writ. Even scientists
can be made to look like utter fools in a few years.
Not many years ago scientists sneered at the ex
ploration of space as nonsensefitfor comic strips.
If a man were to ascend beyond fixed limits as
measured by careful scientific instruments, he
would roast to death by day and freeze number of
would roast to death by day and freeze to death by
night. We were also solemnly taught the final
number of elements of which the universe was
composed, and if any madman proposed to de
nounce the finality of science, he was ostracized.
The formulas are all wrong now, butthe Ten Com
mandments have never been repealed. All the
sorrows of the world can be readily traced to
vilations of the fixed moral law.
Instead of redefining the moral law to permit
sin, theologians need to focus upon the advantages
of purity. Chastity has its own tranquility. No
. (CONTINUED ON PAGE 5)
ST. GEORGE—BUT NO DRAGGIN*
q£JgxRaMm apd CWstta&.JKQewal
is especially evident in the Catholic Church of
St. George. Almost everyone attends the 8 a.m.
Mass, but when the energetic pastor, Father
Clement Tackney, learned that I was coming at
10 a.m. he went on the air several times Saturday
to radio the news. RESULT: Sunday morning, both
the 8 and 10 o'clock Masses were fully attended.
Full of interest in the new stance of Catholicism,
generous to a high degree during the Expansion
Program of 1965, this band of some 250-300
Catholics has a vision.
It is a vision of what their religion can do to
make their homes, neighborhood and city a re
flection of God’s love. They have bought a splendid
piece of land, and want to build their new St.
George on a hill where itwill be seen. On the pro
perty there is a good home which will serve as
a convent when a school of religion begins to be
heard.
In both public hospitals, the parishioners have
donated a room so that their mercy and com
passion will go out to those of other creeds.
After Mass, they introduced me to a young con
vert, a student at the Negro college of Albany
State who has just been elected president of the
Newman Club.
After Mass, most of the parishioners went out
together to Mrs. Winn’s Restaurant where both
Southerners and converted Yankees ate fried
chicken and grits. While,there, we said a prayer
for the Catholic man whose tragic death in a pri
vate plane had just been announced. Father
Clement, Taft Mansour and I visited their home and
talked to the two fine boys who survive their dad.
Here is growing, worshipping, thinking, suf
fering, compassionate Catholic Georgia. It seem
ed to be summed up in the quiet dignity arid deep
faith of eighty-year-old Mrs. Mansour. She prays
for me and I pray for her.
As I drove home, past the stadium, the Pirates
were slipping them past the Braves again. I
wondered if my young friend at the gas station
was still humming "Rock Of Ages" or had he
gone back to the more earthy rhythms of "Sus
picious Woman ?”
A-
ARCHBISHOP OF ATLANTA
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