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PAGE 4 GEORGIA BULLETIN THURSDAY, JUNE 30,-1966
the
of Atlanta
SERVING GEORGIA'S 71 NORTHERN COUNTIES
Official Organ of the Archdiocese of Atlanta
Archbishop Paul J. Hallman
Chris Eckl
The Rev. R. Donald Kiernan
The Rev. Leonard F.X 0 Mayhew
Publisher
Managing Editor
Consulting Editor
Associate Editor
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 231-1281
Second Class Permit at Atlanta, Ga.
U. S. A. $5.00
Canada $5.00
Foreign $6.50
Published Every Week at the Decatur-DeKalb News
The opinions contained in these editorial columns are
the free expressions of free editors in a free Catholic press.
Church And State
Church-state relations and the
treatment of non-Catholics in
Spain have been a source of em
barrassment to Catholics in
America. We have heard this
question many times: If the Ca
tholic Church believes in reli
gious liberty why does the sit
uation exist in Spain?
The answers were usually very
lame—different cultures, tem
peraments, lack of a democratic
tradition etc.
However, the situation in Spain
may improve. In fact, it must.
In its June 25 issue, America
magazine points out that the
treatment of non-Catholics in
Spain apparently will change so
that all religions are granted
equality under the law.
Delay in the passage of reli-
The New
Jack Valenti, new president of
the Motion Picture Association
of America, is beginning to make
more sense. He had no place to
go but up.
When he first left the White
House to take the post, he said
that he had never seen a bad
movie which prompted the re
mark that he must have never
seen one.
Now he has called for an ho
nest effort at self-restraint by
the motion picture industry and
said it is preparing a new set
of guides to direct self dis
cipline.
The movie industry and the
National Catholic Office for Mo-
gious liberty law has been laid
to a commission of Spanish bis
hops. Now they must act soon
in the light of the Council’s
Declaration on Religious Liber
ty. The Catholic Church does not
need a special position as is now
granted in Spain.
Spain will provide a great test
for the Church’s stand on reli
gious liberty. It is not too dif
ficult to have a tolerant, ecu
menical spirit in America, Eng
land and other countries where
Catholics are in the minority,
but what about those countries
*’officially” known as Catholic?
If they are the daughters of the
church that many of them claim
to be, surely it will not be diffi
cult for them to embrace the
Declaration on Religious Liberty.
tion Pictures apparently are try
ing to reach some type of agree
ment. Warner Bros, is requiring
exhibitors to bar admission to
the film ’’Who’s Afraid of Vir
ginia Woolf?” to anyone under
age 18 unless accompanied by
an adult. As a result the realis
tic film has been given an A-4
rating (adults with reservations)
instead of the expected C (con
demned) rating.
What Warner Bros, and the
NCOMP have done may not be
the ideal solution to the problem
of censorship and movies, but
it may well be a start, It cer
tainly is better than the C rat
ing given to “The Pawnbroker,”
a great motion picture, because
of nudity.
The Individual Negro
Gubernatorial candidate James
Gray has said he believes in ”so
cial justice,” but not ‘‘these ini-
quitious civil rights laws.”
He said he believed that the
Negro should be treated as an
individual, not en masse. Mr.
Gray is a little late getting the
message, and he got a twisted
version. That’s the purpose of
civil rights legislation: to eli
minate the blanket prejudice that
covers most Negroes so the in
dividual Negro will have a chance
to prove himself.
We wonder how many “indivi
dual” Negroes Mr. Gray would
appoint to state positions if he
became governor.
It’s A Wonderful World
One priest in the archdiocese
asked his parishioners last Sun
day to hold up their hands if
they wanted to hear a sermon.
No one did so he skipped it,
adding that all parishioners will
receive a letter. If this is part
of the new freedom that exists
in the Church, it’s wonderful!
Just think: to read or nottoread,
that is the question.
***
Television Capsule: Stake dri
ven into heart of Dracula fails to
kill him. (He must be a new,
improved Dracula like all of the
new, improved detergents),
***
Another Television Capsule:
An accident starts an emotional
chain reaction; from Elliott to
Allison—an important admoni
tion and for Lee—a triumph.
***
Bud Crane, who prints the
Bulletin, has urged Father Don
Kiernan, consulting editor, to
run for governor. He said the
only problem would be that to
call him: “Father Governor or
Governor Father.” The publisher
may have something to say about
it.
A Nations Prayer
GEORGIA PINES
The Monsignor
By R. Donald Kiernan.
The appointment of Monslgnor O’Connor of De
catur as Episcopal Vicar for Vocations has brought
to mind many pleasant experiences connected with
his long and distinguished services to the church
in the field of vocations.
The Monsignor went up to Washington, D.C.
in 1936 to teach at tl\e Catholic University of
America. Although he was 600 miles from home
he was very conscious about
the dire need for priests back
here in Georgia. Two young
men who were students.at Ca-
tholic University caught) his at-.
>; tention. .Whenneai; theif gradu
ation. da te, these {wo.ypung *n en,
told Monsignor O’Connop about
their desire to become a priest.
Monsignor told themabout
Georgia and so in 1937 die late
Monsignor Maloney and father
Walt Donovan "signed-up” and became students
for the Diocese of Savannah-Atlanta.
Fr. Kiernan
The establishment of the Mission Apostolate
came in 1945. Almost every moment that Monsig
nor O’Connor was not busy at the University he
was either visiting a seminary or "picking-up’'
a collection in some church across the country
for Georgia.
My first meeting with Monsignor O’Connor was
in May of 1947. He visited Mount St. Mary's
Seminary in Emmitsbefg, Maryland. I had the
pleasure of introducing him to the seminary
students. After he finished his talk on vocations
he said that he would be available for consultation
in Room 10. Well about a half hour later I thought
that I should go and see If our visitor was com
fortably seated and when I knocked on the door
he thought that I was the first candidate. What
a talk I It was better than anything the Chamber
of Commerce could ever give. I pictured myself
picking fresh oranges off of trees and a batch of
watermelons in the back 1 yard of every rectory!
The years rolled on and Monsignor rolled up an
impressive list of young men whom he interested
in coming to Georgia. As the recent newspaper
account said “...he is responsible..Jor 60 per
cent of the priests since the diocese was esta
blished 10 years ago' ’. Nifte priests in the Savannah
diocese are there today because of Monsignor
O'Connor and I might add that most of them occupy
key posts in the diocesan administration; like,
Father John Cuddy the superintendent of schools;
Father Frank Donohue, editor of the paper;
and probably the most familiar to Atlanta is
Father Tim Ryan who built the chapel in Pine
Mountain near Callaway Gardens.
In 1954 Monsignor O’Connor visited Ireland
for the first time. During the past twelve years
a very friendly relationship has existed between
the hierarchy of Ireland and members of the
various faculties of seminaries in Ireland with
Monsignor O'Connor. This is no wonder because
when" he first began this apostolate In addition
to placing It under the patronage of the Blessed
Mother he chose an Irish saint. Saint Brigid.
Here in the Archdiocese of Atlanta we have nine
priests working who owe their interest in Georgia
to Monsignor O'Connor's enthusiasm. Two more
are scheduled to come in August. We have 19
seminarians in Ireland and^God willing, in the next
decade there will be 40 to 50 more priests here
in this archdiocese.
Once the Monsignor “signs-you-up” he never
forgets you. He is constantly keeping in touch
and visiting. In my own seminary days it used
to be a real big deal to have him visit the semi
nary. He’d take you out for dinner and you could
always count on a box of cigars just about the
time he would be saying goodbye.
One humorous incident that I will always
remember occured after I met the, Monsignor
but before I had been accepted as a candidate
for this diocese. He was teaching up in Boston
that summer and I was vacationing at my fa
mily’s home out on Martha's Vineyard Island.
He called me and said that he was coming to the
island for the weekend. Well, he battled all that
5 o’clock traffic in Boston, fought traffic conges
tion all the way from Boston to Cape Cod, the
boat over to the island waslate and the weather
was bad. When the boat arrived in Vineyard Haven
I was standing on the dock waiting to meet him
with a long-time goodfriendbythenameof Norma
Armstrong. When the Monsignor spotted me, he
turned to the other priest with him and said, "After
all that trouble getting here, I bet Donald is going
to tell me he has changed his mind!” Then he
added, as I found out later, "if he does I think
I’ll just throw him in this ocean!”
Letters To The Editor
EDITOR:
May I take this oppqrtunity to thank you for
publishing the report of the Lay Congress. We
are indeed indebted to pur archbishop for call
ing the Congress, and to our dedicated laymen
for their many selfless hours on behalf of all
of us. The future of the Church in North Georgia,
under Archbishop Hallinan, seems to be one of
hope and justifiable optimism.
However, one are under Schools of Religion
(The Bulletin, June 16)> caused me some con
cern. Perhaps I misinterpreted its meaning,
and if so, I would welcome a furthur explana
tion. I am referring to Sections E and F which
read: "(e) The School of Religion Board would
investigate and correlate the educational funds
and facilities available to those Catholics attend
ing public schools, and (f) The School of Reli
gion Board would investigate the Inequities in
the public school system from area to area
so that recommendations may be offered to the
parents of children in public schools as to how
tax dollars can be used more equitably.”
Why is a board necessary for this, or why
is any investigation necessary? What other
funds and facilities would be available to Ca
tholic children: that aren’t available to their
children? What makes the Catholic child dif
ferent? Isn’t he or she one of a group of public
school children?
In section F, I think |t is very imprudent to
have any "Catholic” group investigating inequi
ties in the public school system. Individual
Catholic parents, yes, but an official board-no I
This information is available for whomever de
sires to seek it out. The parents are taxpayers
as individuals, not as a board from a church.
There will be funds 'and programs available
to parochial school children, under Titles 2 and
3 of the Federal Aid to Education Bill. What
has been given freely and with cooperation.
Our parish school library has received almost
$800 of books, and I assume all parochial schools
received in proportion to the number of stu
dents enrolled.
What has caused me most concern is the at
titude detected from both these sections, one
that seems to be of distrust, and even coersion.
Most of us have, in the past, looked with dis
dain on the public schools for "our” children,
but now some are compelled (either by finances
or by prayerful and soul-searching decisions
based on the teachings of Vatican II) to use the
facilities. Our old martyr complex is slowly
coming outcautioning us to be ever vigilant for
our "rights”.
I have had recent contact with public school
officials (my first), and have been most impress
ed with the real Christian Spirit that lives there.
I have not found this to be always true in our
own parochial schools and Parents* groups.
. (CONTINUED ON PAGE 5)
Everyone’s Speaking Up!
Archbishop’s
Notebook
ON TOE IRISH
"If there was a certain paternalism in the re
lations between priests and people in Ireland
in the past, it was a natural growth in a paterna
listic world and suited to the temper and con
ditions of the time.
"It is not suited to either the temper or con
dition of increasing numbers of their people
today. If then Ireland was a quiet backwater,
the faith and devotion of her people could be
nurtured by silent prayer and meditation at
Mass, that is much less true today, particular
ly for young people who live in a different kind
of world.
Cardinal Conway (at Maynooth College)
ON BEING A MINORITY
"We’ve got to realize that we (Christians)
are a minority group, not only in numbers but
in impact...in Europe fewer than 10 per cent
now attend church. People on the edges no longer
will find comfort in the Church, while those who
remain will know why they’re there.”
Dr. Robert McAfee Brown
(at Stanford University)
ON VIETNAM
“Perhaps a very modest beginning might be
homilies in all of our churches based upon "Pacem
In Terris.” (Pope John’s last encyclical, "Peace
On Earth," 1963). This might help our people
to begin to think about their brothers’ rights to
equality and their own personal responsibility
for involving themselves in those issues which
have brought on this war.”
A Lay Correspondent (Atlanta)
GOD IS — WHAT?
Theologians per se
Study God in every way;
If God is dead, their one salvation
Is unemployment compensation!
And again— <
God Is dead? I'll be not
As to asL what else 'is* old? , **
fcUOIjKWOwiOJ It? VU *■*'" ■ ."Ti: UHL iiO'JG C-.i
One more—
Give God an unknown soldier’s tomb
Adding the usual, "Known but to ”
Whom?
&/cjuL*
G
OX) XiC/XT** US
•Ok-
s
Another Layman (Atlanta)
ON A VARIETY OF LAYMEN
"It’s is only too true that the religious body
(Catholic), of which some would call me the
dandruff, counts many diverse views among
its members, but I sure do not feel like em
bracing some of them, views of members.
"Your comments and Bulletin editorials on ra
cial issues are always clear be it on Hayne-
ville, intimidation, murder etc. What I fail to
understand is this — if the events are worthy
of public denunciation, why haven’t I been able -
to herald the slightest sign of follow up at our
high schools? Isn’t the present farce (the refusal
to seat an elected legislator) enacted by the
Georgia legislators a made-to-order opportunity
to teach our kids the difference between real
democracy and phony patriotism? Do we or do
we not have classes under the heading of social
studies.”
Regular Lay Correspondent (Atlanta)
THE INDEX (MAKE-IT-YOURSELF KIT)
"The Church trusts in the mature conscience
of the faithful, especially in the conscience of
Catholic authors and editors and those who conduct
schools for the young. (The Index of Forbidden
Books no longer has the force of ecclesiastical
law).
"The Index retains a moral force insofar as it
teaches the conscience of the Christian faithful
to avoid, as the natural law itself demands, these
writings which can put faith and good morals in
danger.”
Cardinal Ottaviani (Rome)
ARCHBISHOP OF ATLANTA