Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 6 GEORGIA BULLETIN THURSDAY, JUNE 23, 1966
Two Jesuits In A
Mexican
Brickyard
PRIESTS WEAR SECULAR CLOTHES in Mexico. Fr.
Ricardo Steinmetz, S.J„ left, and Father Caesar Gonzalez,
S.J., arrive at a brickyard outside Mexico City to offer
Sunday Mass for the underprivileged inhabitants of the
area. The suitcase on the grounds contains the things they
will need on their Sunday morning visit to the dump area.
By ELSBETH CAMPBELL
MEXICO CITY (NC)-—Hidden
in a hollow on die fringe of
the city—behind the new Echeg.
aray residential district—lies a
large,’ unevenly sunken plot of
ground where human misery
abides.
It is San Agustin, a' mixture
of ancient, redolent garbage
dumps and busy brickyards.
First its stench hits you—the
place was used as a garbage
dump as long ago as 1917. Then,
beyond the heaps of stratefield
and newer, looser junk you see
kilns belching black smoke on
the horizon and neat piles of
mud-colored unbaked bricks in
the hollows below. Perched
here and there—-you have to
look again, to see them—are
small adobe huts and lean-to
shacks where people, live.
They are only for temporary
use, because that’s the way it is
in brickyards: when the men
finish slicing off one piece of
ground, they move on to anoth
er, which means they have to
remove their own homes.
There is something dismal
about homes that are only tem
porary. And a Sunday morning,
despite the smoking kilns in the
distance, the whole place looks
deserted. Not even a dog barked
as the two priests got out of the
little grey Volkswagen and
started to walk downhill.
Father Ricardo Steinmetz was
carrying a large brown ^suit
case, Father Caesar Gonzalez
strode ahead.
They are two of the Jesuit
priests who run Celamex, a
workers training center. Saying
Mass every Sunday at the San
Agustin brickyards is an extra
job they’ve taken on. At first
glance, they don’t look like
priests. Both wear short-
sleeved sport shirts. But in
Mexico priests dress like that.
The two priests reached a
flat, merciless sunbeaten piece
of ground. There wasn’t aninch
of shade. Father Steinmotz sat
the suitcase down on the ground
opened it and started to un
pack it. He took out a large
bell and handed it to Father
Gonzalez who said "this is our
church’ ’ and began to ring the
bell.
"See that house over there?”
he asked. “That’s the local bar,
they’ve got a nice table. They
always lend it to us to say
Mass on.” He rang the bell
again.
"First come my Three Mus
keteers,” he announced. And
three small boys came towards
him on the run. They looked ex
traordinarily clean. The lar
gest one was wearing a white
shirt and grinning happily. His
name is Jorge, FatherGonzalez
said.
Next, from the opposite
direction, came a woman with
a chair. She does it every Sun
day, the priest said. She lends
them the chair which they use
as their confessional.
Father Steinmetz at once sat
down in the sun and started to
hear confessions. Father
Gonzalez said, "Come on,
Jorge, let’s go,’’ and off they
went, ringing the bell.
It was rough ground, up and
down hill over oddly grouped
heaps of junk: a pile of oyster
shells, cardboard waste, strea
mers of discorded metal paper.
'They sort it out,” Father
Gonzalez explained, "most of it
is so old, they can use almost
all of it us as fuel for the
kilns.” But the residents had
salvaged the grayish'and dirty
discarded artificial flowers and
used them to adorn the outer
walls of their houses.
Father Gonzalez stopped at
every house. He didn't miss one.
When people didn't come out, he
went in. He knew everyone's
name and everybody’s state of
health. He asked about the sick:
that little girl’s aunt, that man’s
son, that young mother’s baby
Who had fallen and hurt its
head.
'The doctor chickened out on
us today,” he muttered. 'They
need a doctor more than any
thing.”
He came to the improvised
barbershop where, under the
shade of a lonely tree, one man
was sitting on a chair while
another was giving him a hair
cut.
"Are you coming to Mass?"
the priest asked them.
"Well, no,” replied the bar
ber, "You see, Sunday is the
only day we can do this kind
of work.”
"Well, move your chair up
there, you can go on cutting hair
while you hear Mass.”
The man didn’t do that but,
on the other hand, the young
mother whom Father Gonzalez
told not to go to Mass, did.
"You’ve got a sick baby,” he
told her, "It fell on its head.
You must not stand in the sun
with it. Don’t you go to Mass.”
But she went with the baby com
pletely enveloped in her shawl.
The priest especially looked
for the children. "Any child
ren in there?” he called as he
passed the houses. "Have you
made your first Communion?
Which of you are ready to make
it, today? Go on, up there,
Father is hearing confessions.”
"We’re coming, we’re com
ing,” they called back.
One house had a pig in it; a
few had scared-looking dogs. A
few looked a little more pros
perous, two even had television
antennas, potted plants, birds
in cages. It seemed that it de
pended on how long people had
been here. Some who had been
here for as long as eight years
were doing pretty well making
and selling bricks or pottery.
But if they were relative new
comers who had moved here
straight from the farm or from
other, exhausted brickyads,
they looked abysmally poor.
Mass was scheduled for 10:30
but at 10:35 Father Gonzalez
hadn’t gone to all the houses.
Reluctantly he started back with
Jorge still ringing the bell.
When we returned a trans
formation had taken place. Peo
ple had gathered around what
was now a spotlessly clean-
clothed altar. Father Steinmetz
was ready to say Mass. The
sun was hot. 'The children clus
tered very close to the altar.
REACHING
Father Steinmetz ended Mass
by saying: "We all have troub
les. Let us offer them to Our
Lord, always remembering
there are people with worse
troubles than ours. The people
in India, for instance."
After Mass and Communion,
the people’s usual look of fear
ful distrust was gone, at least
for a little while. They chatted
amiably with each other.
While the young girls and
boys from the Marian Congre
gations—it is they who ask
priests to come and say Mass
here—arrived and went about
business of grouping the child
ren together for catechism and
of giving first aid to those who
needed it. Father Steinmet^
started to repack the brown
suitcase.
Father Gonzalez, still mut
tering irritably about the doc
tor’s failure to show up, start
ed to bring packages of food out
of the small car, giving them to
those he knew needed it the
most. The food came, he said,
from the dispensary in the
Echegaray residential district.
Father Gonzalez then excused
himself, saying he was in a hur
ry to go say Mass somewhere
else.
THE POOR
xxxxxxxxxxxx-xxxxx
Episcopal Clergyman
Is Wall Street Worker
NEW YORK (RNS)~A tall, 34-year-old Episcopal clergyman,
who frequently mingles, wearing collar-and-tie and carrying
a briefcase, among the brokers and bankers on Wall Street, has
become the Episcopal Church's newest priest-worker in
Manhattan.
He is the Rev. Francis C. Huntington of the staff of Trinity
church. After 1 1/2 years of research and thoughtful surveying,
over luncheon tables and in brokerage offices, Father Huntington
and an ecumenical 18-member committee are launching a new
independent Wall Street ministry.
By next January, Father Huntington and a clergyman not yet
appointed from another communion will have formed a WSM
team to seek to “bring the churches and the financial community
into dialogue.”
The ministry Will take some of its ciies from the highly suc
cessful five-man Detroit Industrial Mission, headed by the Rev.
Hugh C. White, Jr., also an Episcopalian, and a dozen other in
dustrial missions across the country.
But it will have its own style, sophistication and response
based on the real, day-to-day problems confronting the men and
women — Protestant, Roman Catholic and Jewish — who pour
into New York’s financial district, and empty out to the suburbs,
at the rate of 400,000 a day.
To be able to speak the language of Wall Street, Father
Huntington took a three months’ training course with Goodbody
& Co. brokerage firm from May to July last year.
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THE NORTHEAST Deanery held its quarterly meeting at Our Lady of Assumption Parish honoring
Bishop Joseph L. Bernardln. Pictured are Monsignor Michael J. Regan, dean of the NE Deanery,
Mrs. George Mallon, president; the bishop; Father Thomas Roshetko, pastor of Assumption; and
Mrs. Foster A. Hotard, vice-president. The luncheon Was attended by 125 women.
infringement Index Of Books
Serious Objections
To Marriage Laws
UTRECHT, Holland (RNS)—
The Roman Catholic Church's
existing Canon Law on mar
riage is open to "serious ob
jections” as infringing the
rights of non-Catholics, the St.
Willibrord Society — a na
tional organization for the
spread of the Catholic faith at
home — was told at its annual
general meeting here.
The criticism came from Fa
ther L.G. Meyers, who holds a
doctorate in Canon Law and is
chairman of the ecclesiastical
tribunal of the Diocese of Bois-
le-Duc. Hjs talk was described
by De Volkskrant, a Catholic
daily published in Amsterdam,
as "a frank verdict” on the
Churches current marriage ca
nons.
"There is always the possi
bility that a marriage acknow
ledged as valid in civil society
will be considered invalid by
Archbishop
To Be On TV
Archbishop Paul J. Hallinan
has entered the "God Is Dead”
controversy.
The archbishop's remarks on
the theory and Emory Prof,
Thomas J. J. Altizer have been
filmed for a show, "Local Is
sues” by WGfTV, the Universi
ty of Georgia’s educational tele
vision.
the Church in its legislation,"
Father Meyers declared, add
ing:
"It is clear these canonical
rules infringe the fundamental
right of man to marry the par
tner of his choice within the
necessary bounds fixed by so
ciety.”
The priest also objected to
the Canon Law ruling that re
quires a non-Catholic wishing
to marry a Catholic to pro
mise to have children of the
union baptized in the Catholic
Church and given Catholic edu
cations.
"Two serious objections,”
he said, "can be made against
the ecclesiastical rules as re
gards mixed marriages. First
is the fact that they restrict*
without sufficient grounds, the
liberty of d, man to marry a
partner of his choice. Second
ly, the right of a non-Catholic
to stand by his own convictions
and follow the dictates of his
own conscience is immediately
infringed.”
Urges Cheap
Divorces
WATERLOO, Ont. (RNS)--A
West German Lutheran pastor
said here that marriage licen
ses should be expensive and
divorces obtainable for only a
few dollars.
No Longer Has
Juridical Power
(CONTINUED FROM PAGE i)
sponsibility in the matter.
"Above all,” it said, "the
Church trusts in the faithful
attention of the individual bis
hops and episcopal conferences
who have the right and duty
to direct the faith and morals
of the faithful under their charge
by anticipating and, if neces
sary, reproving offending pu
blications.”
The notification said the Con
gregation of the Doctrine of
the Faith —• guided by the di
rectives of the Second Vatican
Council and by the principles
set forth in the motu proprio,
Integraese Rande issued by
Pope Paul on Sept. 7, 1965,
announcing reorganization of
the Holy Office — would "keep
in itouchi with the bishops to
help them to maintain vigilance
over the printed work, working
in cooperation with universities
and other Catholic institutes of
higher learning.”
"The Church, in accordance
with the Natural Law and the
Divine command,” it added,
"reserves the right publicly to
condemn a book that offends
faith and morals, but will not
do so without having first cour
teously asked the author to
amend his writings.”
It concluded by announcing
that plans were being made for
a publication that would keep
both clergy and laity informed
of "written matter published
throughout the world.”
The show is scheduled for the
week of Aug. 14 and will be
shown on the National Educa
tional Television network.
A spokesman for the show
said comments from other
churchmen, Protestant laymen,
students and Dr. Sanford At
wood, Emory president, will be
used.
The Rev. Arthur Horst of
Heidelberg, told the Eastern
Canada Synod of the Lutheran
Church in America there is a
growing trend of couples living
together "without benefit of
marriage.” The reason in many
cases is that they are not able
to raise the money for a divorce
from former partners.
The Vatican notification was
broadcast by Vatican Radio in
various languages to all parts
of the world. It was also print
ed in Osservatore Romano, Va
tican City newspaper, together
with an editorial comment in
which it noted that the Holy See
"can still publicly condemn any
book offending faith or morals.”
IN BALTIMORE REVIEW
‘Inconsistencies’ Attacked
In ‘College Aid’
Decision
BALTIMORE (RNS) — The
Maryland Court of Appeals’de
cision declaring construction
grants to church-related col
leges unconstitutional was at
tacked by. The Catholic Review
of Baltimore as containing
"major inconsistencies.”-
It said that some close read
ers of the ruling might feel that
the. court’s opinion represents
"an essential hostility toward
Catholic’ positions.” *
The official weekly of the Bal
timore archdiocese said edi
torially that while it was not
suggesting "conscious or de
liberate bias in the drafting of
this remarkable opinion,” it
should be reviewed by the U.S.
Supreme Court.
"Just as the courts have turn
ed away from outmoded con
cepts of the law once used to dis
criminate against Negroes,”
said the editorial, "we hope the
courts will reject the legal pen
alties now attached in some sit
uations to being a Catholic.”
In a 4 to 3 decision, the
state’s highest court said that
grants to Western Maryland
College in Westminster (Meth
odist) and to St. Joseph’s in
in Emmitsburgh and Notre
Dame of Maryland in Baltimore,
both Catholic, violated consti
tutional church-state separa
tion principles.
At the same time, the court
found that a grant to Hood Col
lege in Frederick, affiliated
with the United Church of Christ,
was constitutional on the
grounds that the school’s rela
tions with the denomination
were tenuous and not definitive.
The Catholic editorial cited
several examples of the "in
consistency” of the split de
cision. it said that while the
court stated it did not intend to
criticize or favor any religion,
or sect or any 'lack of re
ligion,” readers of the opin
ion "will have difficulty re
conciling the court’s intention
with the court's observations
and its final ruling.”
Although the court quoted the
First Amendment on the "es
tablishment of religion," said
the editorial, its ruling “moves
the nation closer to prohibiting
the free exercise of religion,
however, in finding that citizens
may be compelled to support
educational institutions that
violate their requirements of
conscience but that independent
schools must depend on what
ever private handouts may sur
vive increasingly high tax col
lection.”
This aspect of the decision
"is a classic example of the fact
that ‘the power to tax is the pow
er to destroy,’ ” said the news
paper.
Continuing its examples of
"inconsistency,” the editorial
said that in allowing the Hood
College grant, the court "finds
it is an advantage to have Vir
tually all shades of religious
.affiliations represented’ on the
faculty.
"The court thenlists an elab
orate breakdown that, when add
ed up, shows a faculty made up
of 47 Protestants, 5 Catholics
toT T/>an T sm toL vsuOrn 'Ujo a j -
ana 2 Jews.. It also Jump ,SQme
"^adPvantage in the J fact that a 35-
member Board of Trustees in
cludes one Catholic.”
Also in the case of Hood Col
lege, the editorial continued, the
court found that the financial
aid of 0 2.2 P er cent
school’s operating budget given
by the United Church was "a
moderate percentage.” But
later, the court declared that
the financial assistance
amounting to between 2 and 3
per cent of its budget receiv
ed by Western Maryland Col
lege from the Methodist Church
was of "considerable value.”
Observed the Catholic Re
view: **An amount found “mod
erate’ in one instance is found
to be 'considerable’ in anoth
er — all in the same opinion.”
The editorial went on to as
sert that although the court
"reached back hundreds of
“years in citing crimes commit-^
ted" in the name of religion, it
overlooked crimes in the name
of non-religion, as in the Soviet
Union, Red China and else
where. 1
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