Newspaper Page Text
Archdiocese of Atlanta
YOUR
PRIZE-WINNING
NEWSPAPER
HLETIN
SERVING GEORGIA'S 71 NORTHERN COUNTIES
VOL. 4. NO. 27
ATLANTA, GEORGIA
THURSDAY, JULY 7, 1966
$5.00 PER YEAR
Birth Control
Is Debated
At Hearing
HARRISBURG. Pa. (RNS)—
The pros and cons of govern
ment-sponsored birth control
for persons on relief, and the
religious Implications involved,
were debated for nearly 10
hours here at a public hearing
of the Pennsylvania House Ap
propriations Committee. Twen
ty-two witnesses testified.
Rep. Martin P. Mullen (D.
Philadelphia), chairman of the
committee, is seeking to halt
the family planning program of
the State Public Welfare De
partment by stipulating in the
appropriation for medical as
sistance that no funds be used
for birth control. The program,
under which the State pays for
services, has been in effect
since December.
The matter erupted into a
religious issue recently when
the Roman Catholic bishops of
Pennsylvania attacked the pro
gram in a full-page, statewide
advertisement. The program
was immediately defended by
the Pennsylvania Council of
Churches, representing Pro
testant groups.
A series of full-page ads,
published throughout the state,
were later placed in support
of birth control by a group of
40 religious, civic and social
agencies and individuals under
the coordination at Planned Pa
renthood-World Population Fe
deration.
Opposition to the welfare bir
th control program was led at
the hearing by William B. Ball,
general counsel for the Pennsy-
vanla Catholic Conference,
while Mrs. Arthur B. Sinkler,
vice-chairman of the Pennsyl
vania Area Planned Parenthood
Council, and the Rev. Jerry
E. Carpenter, executive direc
tor, Community Services I>
partment, Greater Philadel
phia Council of Churches, were
among the witnesses defending
the plan.
Ball branded the program
a “one-shot solution to the
evils of mankind,*’ and warn
ed that “we ought to be wary
of those who call for such gi
gantic social experiments."
Although there are safe
guards in the program for those
with religious convictions on
the subject, Mr. Ball contended
that they do not work because
the caseworker represents
“someone who can steer and
guide" the welfare recipient
regardless of the recipient’s
individual conscience.
The Catholic spokesman
warned that the program could
lead to sterilization and abor
tion. He declared that “in the
minds of many government birth
control proponents, the aim is
not individual health but the
control of population levels."
This, he added, “can only be
described as a social experi
ment of absolutely unpredic
table results," that “will in
escapably" encourage adultery
and fornication.
Mrs. Sinkler, speaking for the
Planned Parenthood Council,
told the committee that a cut
back in the program would be
“a backward step in accepted
health and welfare practices,
highly discriminatory against
the disadvantaged and not in the
best interests of the Common
wealth.”
She said the proposal to bar
use of state funds for birth
control “would discriminate
between those women in the
lower economic bracket and
their more affluent sisters who
can afford to go to private phy
sicians.”
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 3)
Don’t Teach Or Preach
At Whistleville
Brothers Of Catholic Order
Live Their Witness In Slum
DETROIT (RNS)—Two Roman
Catholic Brothers , the only
members of their young order in
the U.S., hope to advance the
cause of Christ through living
in a “flat” in a substandard
inner city neighborhood here.
They are Brothers Roger
Frety, 50, and John DeCoulan- gggg
ces, 22, members of the Little
Brothers of Jesus.
They do not preach or teach.
By their own admission they
have little contact with, an
therefore little impact on, their
Negro neighbors.
“We work during the day,”
said Brother Roger, in a soft
French accent, “I was an or
derly at Ford Hospital, Brother
John in the foundry at the Ford
Motor Co.
“We follow the rule of our or
der: We read our Breviary be
fore leaving for work in the
morning, attend the 5:30 a.m.
Mass daily at a nearby church
and in the evening we read and
meditate on the Gospel or spend
time before the Blessed Sac
rament which is exposed in our
chapel.”
Bishop Will Dedicate
Mission Chapel Sunday
Bishop Joseph L. Bernardin will dedicate the new mission
chapel of St. Matthew’s, Whistleville, Sunday, July 10, at 4 p.m.
Situated near Winder, the chapel will serve the Caholics of
Barrow County. It will be the only church between Athens and
Atlanta and a mission of St. Joseph's Parish in Athens.
The chapel is quitely impres
sive. Formerly a small front
bedroom, it has been trans
formed by Brother Roger into
a tranquil sanctuary with the
walls covered with dark brown
cork and a series at three tiny
spotlights ingeniously designed
to play upon the altar.
The rest of the flat (called
a fraternity) is starkly simple,
befitting a religious order. It
BROTHERS Roger Frey and John DeCoulances kneel before the
altar in their substandard flat in Detroit. Both brothers live
among the poor. One is a hospital orderly and the other works
for Ford Motor Co.
rents for $65 a month, utilities
and heat extra.
“We have a few little visi
tors,” commented Brother
Roger, “but we don’t mind
them. They don’t hurt anyone.”
The “little visitors” tolerat
ed by the brothers are the com
mon vermin often found in neg
lected older houses.
“We follow the spiritual rule
of Father Charles de Foucauld,”
continued Brother Roger. He
was otphaned at six, an agnos
tic in his 'teens, a convert to
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 3)
The choir of Holy Cross Pa
rish, Chamblee, will sing at
the dedication Mass. Also as
sisting in the dedication are
Jacob Bollmer, Thomas Ro-
gan, John Thomas and Dennis
LaBonte, seminarians who have
been conducting a summer Bible
school at St. Matthew's and tak
ing a census in the area of the
chapel.
The church building is lo
cated on a site of 4.6 acres -
fronting on Highway 29. It is
a former country school which
was closed because of con
solidation. The former school
was named after Dr. Matthews,
well known in the Winder area.
The new chapel’s name is such
to keep alive the memory of
this man for the people of
the area.
The building contains an au
ditorium and four classrooms.
The auditorium has been con
verted into the chapel. Two
classrooms are used for reli
gious instruction, a third for
a nursery and the fourth as
a kitchen for serving coffee
after Mass.
The pews in the new chapel
were formerly in Sacred Heart
Church, Athens, a mission
WASHINGTON (NC)~ The
dignity of marriage, the value
of celibacy, and the equal sta
tus of women (including the pos
sibility of their being ordained
as priests) were among the
themes highlighted at a theolo
gical symposium here on Chris
tian marriage.
The meeting was sponsored
by the Family Life Bureau of
the National Catholic Welfare
Conference and attended by
theologians and family life spe
cialists.
Father Warren Reich,
M.S.SS.T., a professor of mo
ral theology at Holy Trinity
Mission Seminary in Winches
ter, Va., said the chastity pro
per to the married state “has
too long been placed in a secon
dary, inferior rank.”
“The Church," he said, “has
employed the terminology of
‘perfect’ chastity, consecrated
by vow, which abstains from
all venereal acts, even the le
gitimate intimacies of marri
age; and ‘imperfect’ chastity—
that of married persons who
abstain from illicit acts.”
“Such a distinction, based
solely on the manner of sexual
abstention, offends today’s no
tion of Christian married life
and belittles marital chastity,
which often surpasses the hero
ism of celibacy,” Father Reich
said.
The new view of marital chas
tity, he declared, presents it
as “a positive ideal," in the
service of both conjugal love
and the procreation and educa
tion of children.
Thus, he said, the ideal of
marital chastity requires that
couples “organize their sexual
life in terms of this twofold
destiny: the spouse and the
child.”
He said this means that the
marriage act “ought to be res
pected as the souce of human
life and ought to exclude any
conduct which is opposed to the
meaning of mutual donation and
procreation." At the same time,
he said, as expressions of love,
marital acts would be
of mutual love.”
‘acts
“Negatively, (couples) would
be obliged to avoid whatever
would destroy the full sense
of mutual selfgiving in their
marital intimacies,” he said.
TUrning to the chastity of the
priest or Religious, he said it
“makes demands similar to
those of marital chastity: each
calls for a harmonious grow
th in love and self-control.”
CENTENARIAN—Father John J. Clancy offered a mass
of Thanksgiving on his 100th birthday (June 24) in St.
Francis Xavier church. Jerseyville, Ill., where he has been
pastor for 52 years. Born in Ireland June 24. 1866. Father
Clancy will mark his 75th year in the priesthood on August
15. feast of the Assumption. Assisting him are Fathers
Roger Simpson ilefti, assistant at St. Francis, and R. Terry
Shea, pastor of St. Barbara church. Witt. Ill.
"Virginity or celibacy means
nothing if it is not the practice
of the resolution to observe
permanent sexual abstinence
*for the sake of the kingdom,"
Father Reich said.
“Sexual abstinence in itself
is not a moral value. The ulti
mate meaning and validity of
virginity must be found in de*
dicated love...It visibly signi
fies the interior life of love
in the Church, it stimulates
pastoral charity, and it serves
as a suitable aid for the con
tinual exercise of the perfect
charity which is the goal of
Christian perfection,” he de
clared.
Father Dennis Burke of Los
Angeles, speaking on the spi
rituality of marriage, said a
“stop the world I want to get
off kind of spirituality (has)
pretty much dominated out
thinking until fairly recently.”
“Thus, priests, Brothers and
Sisters made the team and were
fully engaged on the field of
spiritual combat, while the
married laity cheered them on
from the stands,” said Father
Burke, who. is completing doc
toral studies in the school of
religious education at the Ca
tholic University of America
here.
A current reaction to this
“extreme world-rejection,” he
said, is “the romantic em
brace of this world with few
qualifications and hardly any
reservations. The world-af
firmation approach reduces
spirituality to ‘where the ac
tion is.’ God is dead but the
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 3)
church since closed. The altar
pulpit and confessional were do
nated by St. Jude’s Parish,
Sandy Springs, from their for
mer church.
When asked about the chal
lenge of beginning and sup
porting a new chapel, Jim Tay
lor, a parishioner, expressed
gratitude for the Georgia Mis
sion Collection.
“None of us are really poor,
but we sure are scarce. Just
knowing that all the people of
the Archdiocese were working
with us gave us the courage
and the hope we needed. If it
were not for the Georgia Mis
sion collections it would be
years before we would have
a church in our county. It is
not just our efforts but the ef
forts and spirit of the entire
Archdiocese that has brought
a Catholic church to Whistle
ville,” Taylor said.
II;
11
j[K i
l£
rj
li
Sisters Mary Mark and Mary Donna arrive at the newly esta
blished St. Matthew’s Mission Chapel in Whistleville, Georgia
to teach in the School of Religion.
Invited By Archbishop
Cardinal Suenens To Speak
In Archdiocese In January
Marriage And Celibacy Discussed
At Washington Theological Meeting
Leo Cardinal Suenens of Bel
gium will take part in the 1966-
67 program of the Archdiocese
of Atlanta on Jan. 19, 1967,
Archbishop Paul J. Hallinan
announced today.
The cardinal, world-renown
ed for his progressive leaderw
ship at \htican II, has been in
vited by the School of Theology
at Emory University to give
three feature lectures at the
annual Ministers’ Week Convo
cation Jan. 17, 18 and 19.
"Through the gracious co
operation of Dean Willian
Cannon of the Candler School of
Theology, it is possible to share
the cardinal with the entire
Atlanta community,” Arch
bishop Hallinan said. Cardinal
Suenens will deliver a lecture
on the church at the Cathedral of
Christ the King center.
"In his letter to me,” the
archbishop said, “he expressed
his willingness to give an open
lecture, under the sponsorship
of the archdiocese on Thursday
evening following the Emory
sessions. His zest for Christian
dialog, in the midst of tremen
dous pastoral duties in his large
diocese of Malines, is evident
in his comment, ‘I shall be de
lighted to continue our so short
and friendly conversations in
Rome.’ ”
Archbishop Hallinan said
Athens Convent
Dedication
Archbishop Paul J. Hallinan
will dedicate the convent for St.
Mary’s Hospital, Rome, Georgia,
in a private ceremony in the
convent chapel today. Father
John J. Mulroy will speak at
the ceremony.
The convent will be the home
for the staff of nuns for the
hospital. The new structure is
designed to house twenty nuns.
Cardinal Suenens
Cardinal Suenens, after his
forceful speeches and incisive
interventions in 1962, was nam
ed by Pope Paul as one of
four moderators who directed
the remaining three sessions.
"Young and vigorous, he was
everybody’s friend, and conver
sation with him was both stimu
lating and encouraging," the ar
chbishop said.
The cardinal has also spoken
to the United Nations on “Pacem
In Terris,” and was chosen to
pay tribute to Pope John XXIII
at his anniversary mass in
St. Peter's Basilica in 1963.
“The lecture at the cathedral,
as well as the Emory lectures,
will be open to the whole com
munity,” Father Eusebius Bel
tran, coordinator, said. “It will
give priests, sisters and laity
of the archdiocese an opportu
nity to hear one of the finest
minds in Catholicism today.
The clergy and laity of other
faiths are cordially invited to
hear one of the Church’s lead
ing spokesmen.”
Franco Praised By Bishop
TORTOSA, Spain (NC)—"It
is a lie to say that the Church
in Spain and its hierarchy sub
mit to or are subordinate to
the authority of State,” Bishop
Manuel Moll y Salord of Tor-
tosa said in a sermon in the
cathedral welcoming Generali-
simo Francisco Franco to this
Catalonian city.
Franco was here to dedicate
a monument to those who had
fallen in the Ebro battle in
1938, a decisive victory for
the Nationalists in Spain’s Ci-'
vil War.
The bishop went on to say
that he had never received from
Franco or his government “any
pressure, not even a sugges
tion, that could affect the free
exercise of my pastoral minis-
try.
Bishop Moil y Salord thank
ed Franco for laws that he said
are in accord with the Gospel
and the Church’s doctrine for
laws that "support our pas
toral mission, increase reli
gious teaching, defend public
morality, and promote the
rights of the family and ol
our beloved Catholic Church.’ 1
Church’s Name
Is Selected
St. Thomas the Apostle is the
name selected for the new
church in the Smyrna - south
Cobb County area by members
of the parish.
Eighty-seven persons voted
in the election to select the
name of the church and 28
of them favored the name St.
Thomas the Apostle, Father
Richard B. Morrow, pastor,
said.
He said a temporary rectory
fr the parish has been estate
lished on Oliver Springs Road
in Smyrna.