Newspaper Page Text
NOT LINKED WITH
Archbishop Paul J. Hallinan quickly ended speculation last
■week that he was linked with the Vietnam Summer project
to organize massive opposition to the war.
The archbishop said he did not authorize the use of his signa
ture on the Vietnam Summer advertisement which appeared in the
New York Times, nor was he linked in any way with an antiwar
meeting at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta last week.
ANTI-WAR DRIVE
A handbill of the advertisement containing the archbishop's
name was shown at a meeting of groups seeking a united anti
war campaign in Atlanta at the Ebenezer church. It was ex
hibited by State Rep, Julian Bond.
Bond said at a news conference Friday that he regretted
that Archbishop Hallinan was linked with literature at the meet
ing which suggest s draft-card burning.
BULLETIN
ARCHDIOCESE OF ATLANTA
SERVING GEORGIA’S 71
NORTHERN COUNTIES
Vol. 5 No. 21
ATLANTA, GEORGIA
THURSDAY, MAY 18, 1967
Archbishop Hallinan said he opposed a move, for massive
refusal to bear arms, but he called for Americans to respect
both the honest conscientious objector and the honest soldier.
“I have heard some strange sentiments put forth lately in
the name of peace,” the archbishop told the Associated Press.
''The craven fear of death and .apathy- to moral evil or an
indifference to faith and culture are unworthy credentials for
those who sign up or speak up. We have had enough of that.”
He said he would hold to the right of conscientious objection
just as the Church and "our country does,” but added he
would not endorse a campaign of mass refusal.
In the interview with AP, the archbishop said he makes a
distinction between the moral imperatives of peace and the
political ways and means of carrying them out.
Moral principles, he said, would include the continued urging
of the U.S. government to seek negotiations, to work through
the United Nations and other international bodies.
He said moral principles were not subject to debate, but every
person should follow his own best judgment about the political
questions—such as when to arm or bomb or negotiate.
He said, "1 can’t see the attempts to degrade the President.
Nor do I think peace leaders should be degraded.”
was the theme of this
Norman J. Baugher, general
SOCIETY’S Economic
of the Church of the Brethren,
No Catholic Organization
Is Aiding N. Vietnamese
NEW YORK (NC)—The ex
ecutive director of the U. S.
Catholic overseas aid agency,
Catholic Relief Services, de
clared here that no Catholic or
ganization or group of organiza
tions in the U. S, or overseas
is contributing aid to North
Vietnam,
Auxiliary Bishop Edward E,
Swanstrom of New York, CRS
executive director, said he is
sued the statement to offset
public confusion resulting from
press reports that Roman Cath
olic charitable organizations
had donated large amounts to the
North Vietnamese government.
SISTER Lucia and Pope Paul VI, after the Mass at Fatima,
Portugal greet crowds attending the ceremonies. Between
them is Msgr, Mario Nasalli Rocca di Corneliano, papal
master of ceremonies; at right is Amleto Cardinal Cicognani,
papal secretary of state and former apostolic delegate in the
United States. (NC PHOTO)
“There have been reports,”
Bishop Swanstrom stated, “that
International Catholic Charities
has made medical and hospital
equipment donations to aid
North Vietnam, However, at
best, International Catholic
Charities is only now looking in
to the matter as part of its over
all plans to give as much aid and
assistance as possible to civi
lian needy in both South and
North Vietnam.
“The fact is that no one, not
even the International Red
Cross, is able to get funds or
goods into North Vietnam with
an assurance that they will go
to or be used for the welfare
of those for whom they are in
tended.
“It has been my experience
over the past two decades as
executive director of the offi
cial overseas aid agency of the
American hierarchy that com
munist-dominated govern
ments, no matter where, will
not allow any private organiza
tion, particularly a Catholic
one, to freely assist the people
in need in their countries. Any
relief assistance that is to be
rendered must be done through
the government and the source
of the giftis scarcely ever made
known.
“This is in direct conflict
with the philosophy of private
voluntary aid agencies. •
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 5)
group during the First National Conference on the Role of Conscience. Father
Edward Duff, S.J., visiting associate professor of sociology at the Catholic
University of America, addresses the group which was headed by the Rev.
smoking priest, fourth from left, is Father Frank Ruff stationed in the Atlanta
Archdiocese. (RNS PHOTO)
Ritter Sees Schools Imp
ST. LOUIS (RNS)—Joseph
Cardinal Ritter, Archbishop of
St. Louis, said the vast U.S.
parochial school system Would
not be started if it were pro
posed today for the first time.
But he added that today’s
schools are improving.
In a special televised inter
view on his 50th anniversary as
a priest, the cardinal, taking
note of the Pluralistic atmos
phere of the world today and the
impossibility of educating every
child in a Catholic school, said
that “if we were confronted with
the question of whether we
should start parochial schools
today, I am sure they wouldn't
be started." .
He was referring to the edu
cational climate at the time of
the Council of Baltimore, when
the U.S. bishops decreed that
every Catholic child should be
educated in a Catholic school
in contrast to today’s changed
educational system and the new
spirit of the Church since Vati
can II.
Asked if theCatholic elemen
tary school system was becom
ing expensive* Cardinal Ritter
said: "Yes, it is becoming a
real problem, because of the
growth of the schools and the
need of more personnel.”
He said Catholic and other
private schools began at a time
when “the public school was
pretty much of a Protestant
school.”
• Noting that "that doesn’t ex
ist today,” he also said that
Catholic schools themselves
were "steadily improving.”
A major problem, he held, is
that while up to 80 per cent of
Catholic children in St. Louis
and 50 per cent in the United
States are attending Catholic
schools, "we have a consider
able number who are in public
schools."
"We must certainly service
them and provide schools of re
ligion for them,” he said.
roving
During the interview Cardinal
Ritter also expressed his views
on priestly vocations, the mis
sion of the Church, the liturgy,
civil rights and ecumenism.
He said the liturgical renewal
will be most effective in facing
current problems. "It would
be a sad situation,” he said,
"if any Christian were to view
the future without hope."
' God has directed both the
Church and individuals through
many critical situations, "he
said, and the liturgy 'in re
newing the interior of Christian
life and creating a stronger faith
and stronger charity...is to face
the problems of today...
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 31
Book Buyer Notes Change
In What Catholics Read
F aithPropagation
Meet May 23-24
Msgr. Edward T. O'Meara national director of the Holy Fat
her’s Society for the Propagation of the Faith, will fly to Atlanta
Monday May 22 to hold his first regional meeting with Direc
tors of The Society for the Propagation of the Faith from Georgia,
Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina,
Virginia, West Virginia, Florida, Tennessee. The meeting is to
be held on May 23 and May 24 at the Riviera Motor Inn.
Archbishop Paul J. Hallinan
has been invited. Father Noel C.
Burtenshaw, director of At-
By MARY LACKIE
Catholic reading tastes are more catholic
since Vatican II, said Miss Alberta Fleck of
the Notre Dame Book Shop.
"There has been a wide veering away from
the old Victorian books,” she said. "Those
books admitted that certain things existed
MISS ALBERTA Fleck enjoys a few mom
ents with oneofher favorite authors, Teilhard
de Chardin at the Notre Dame Book Shop.
but in a hush-hush way, and the religious
used to buy books that were just too saccharine
for words.” A full-time volunteer at the
book shop, Miss Fleck has worked for seven
years as buyer of adult hardcover books. She
has noted many changes. -
Some of her observations:
—"When we had a lending library and de
Chardin's "Phenomenon of Man” first ap
peared on the shelf, a nun noticed it. ‘Let
me have it,'let me have it quick, before they
tell me I can’t read it.’ I don’t think that
would happen now.”
— "Books on birth control, sex education
and the pill are in demand by parents. Things
have been dragged out into the open and people
are recognizing that there are certain situa
tions and conditions that need to be studied.
Even teaching nuns are finding a need for
books on the subjects of sex and dating. It
gives them some idea of what their students
are going through."
— "Only five or six years.ago the list of
theological writers was narrowed down to one
or two. Now every theologian that can hold
a pen is writing. Publishers thatwereform-
erly considered ‘Catholic’ are bringing out
books that were once considered controver
sial, almost taboo.”
— "Censorship was never really effective.
Doing away with the imprimatur and the In
dex has opened up a desire for many books
people just didn't buy before the council —
or if they did, it was an undercover sort, of
thing. When you stop to think of it, the books
on the Index could only be found on musty
library shelves.”
On the bookshop shelves now are books
about Martin Luther and "the period of his
tory which he represented,” said Miss Fleck.
"Luther really brought about many of the
changes in the Church—there is no point in
playing ostrich and hiding your head in the
sand.”
The bookbuyer believes that if there is con
troversy on a subject, it should be brought out.
"It is human frailty that we have prejudice;
unless we are. shaken out of it, we won't
change." She also believes that people would
have a better understanding of what is going
on in the Church "if only they would sit
down and read and not just take someone
else's opinion as their own,” Miss Fleck
said. "If you don’t have both sides of a
question, you can’t make valid judgments or
criticism."
The new "questioning attitude” is re
flected in the customers’ purchases. From
Rahner and Rung, customers have turned to
reading “non-Catholic writers of note”, Miss
Fleck said. Among current bestsellers:
Tillich, Bonnhoefer, Kierkegaard, Yves Con-
gar, Archbishop Ramsey.
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 2)
MSGR. O'MEARA
lanta, will co-host the meeting
with Monsignor O’Meara.
The Society for the Propaga
tion of the Faith is the Holy
Father’s “primary pontifical
society" for aiding the Missions
around the world.
Monsignor O’Meara will dis
cuss with the Directors of these
10 Southern States the declara
tions of Vatican II, the direc
tives of the Holy Father in his
Motu Proprio on the Missions
to Directors of the Society, as
well as discuss the service the
society does for the poor in the
world today and the new empha
sis Pope Paul’s encyclical has
put to each American to be a
part of it.
The society helps to main
tain 300,000 missionaries,
150,000 schools, 26,000 hospi
tals and dispensaries, 400 lep
rosaria, 5,000 orphanages and
500 homes for the aged in the
most underprivileged parts of
the world.
Directors from Georgia who
have been invited are Fathers
Noel C. Burtenshaw of Atlanta
and Marvin J. LeFrois of Savan
nah. Father Thomas Sadler of
Mobile-Birmingham is repre
senting Alabama and Father
James Watts of Natchez, the
State of Mississippi.
Directors from Kentucky at- •
tending are Father Allen Meier
of Covington, Msgr. Charles C,
Boldrick of Louisville, Father
George Boehmicke of Owens
boro. Representing North Caro
lina are Father Charles J. O’-
Cortnor of Raleigh and from
South Carolina, the Father John
B. Adair of Charleston. Attend
ing from Tennessee is Father
James J. Judge of Nashville.
Directors from Florida are
Father John Block, of Miami and
the Msgr. JohnP. Burns, J.C.L.
of St. Augustine. Invited from
Virginia is Father Walter W.
Herbert, director in Richmond,
and from West Virginia, Father
John H, McDonnell of Wheeling.
Pacifist
Talk Set
Miss Jeannette Rankin, form
er U.S. Congresswoman, and
prominent American pacificist
will speak at 1 p.m. Thursday,
at the Unitarian-Universalist
Church, 1911 Cliff Valley Way,
N.E. She will talk to The At
lantans For Peace.
Miss Rankin’s topic will be
The Vietnam War and You. The
Atlantans For Peace grew out
of the Pacem In Terris Con
vocation and aims to educate
the public to seek alternatives
to war.
Council 660
Sets Bazaar
Knights of Columbus Council
660 will hold its annual bazaar
May 26-28 at the council home
on Buford Highway.
ECUMENICAL workshop for Protestant and Catholic young people at the University of San
Francisco, a Jesuit school. At top, Roberta Blue of the United Church of Christ’s Eden Theo
logical Seminary, St. Louis, raises his arms as he demonstrates that there is a new realm of
music adaptable for liturgical use. Twenty-one, he is the composer and author of “A Hymnal
for Young Americans.” (RNS PHOTO)
Church, Courts F ace Similar
Problems, Says Archbishop
Archbishop Paul J, Hallinan
said the Church and the courts
have to avoid the bleak rigidity
of absolutism and the shifting
sands of relativism if they are
to function properly.
His comments were made
last week in an address to the
Judicial Conference of the
United States Courts of the Fifth
Judicial Circuit. The topic of
the archbishop’s talk was "The
Church Looks At the Courts."
The prelate said, “We meet
in a common bond of
responsibility—yours is civic,
ours is pastoral.This responsi
bility is losing out today; legal
relativism sees, no crimes—
only abnormalities. Situational
morality sees no sins—only
conduct beyond the control of
the person.
“I fear that one reason for
this creeping relativism has
been the stagnation of its
opposite—moral absolutism. If
we define law as something
always, and everywhere in the
same rigid abstractions, it
should not surprise us when
anthropolgy, sociology, med
icine and psychology shootholes
in it.”
Archbishop Hallinan said the
Church should become morally
concerned if justice is
diminished by the disparity of
sentences, by the lack of judges
or their necessary training.
“We are likewise aware that
our open system of law
(as opposed to the star-chamber
of earlier England) is seriously
impaired by ‘negotiated pleas’
of guilt that lack judicial
scrutiny in the interest of
speeding up the legal calendar,
“We recognize the need of
extensive rehabilitation, es
pecially of first offenders, and
regard such care as inconsis
tent with a political structure of
justice^ of the peace, the fee
system and the political choice
of judges,” he said.
The archbishop said' when
justice is diminished, public
scrutiny is denied or rehabili
tation is ignored, God’s
voice is not heard by a puzzled,
disillusioned humanity. “I can
cite these offenses in good grace
only if you reciprocate. You
have equal right to criticize the
working of religion especially
when the churches become
irrelevant, uncommitted, af
fluent or absent-minded.”
Archbishop Hallinan said he
would not attempt to assess
how far men of the law are
culpable for the alleged dis
array of the American system
of laws, "but I will humbly admit
‘that, on our side, we have not as
a body measured up to the
servant ministry enshrined in
the Judaic code, and per
sonalized in the suffering ser
vant, Jesus.”
The archbishop said he was
glad that the Church and the
courts no longer, at least in
this nation, are blurred by a
false identity.