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4 THE GEORGIA BULLETIN, THURSDAY, JULY 27, 1967
BULLETIN
ARCHDIOCESE OF ATLANTA SERVING GEORGIA’S 71 NORTHERN COUNTIES
Archbishop Paul J. Hallinan
Chris Eckl
The Rev. R. Donald Kiernan
Publisher
Managing Editor
Consulting 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
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Foreign $6.50
Published Every Week at the Decatur-DeKalb News
Tht opinions contained in those editorial columns are
the free expressions of free editors in a free Catholic press.
Rioting Destroys
Everyone Of Us
WASHINGTON (NC)-- The
Johnson Administration’s
: 1967 civil rights bill, due to
begin a long-delayed trip
through Congress on July 24,
; never got started.
The cause -- race riots
• in New York, Detroit and
: elsewhere.
The Senate’s Constitu-
i tional Rights Subcommittee
was due to be gin hearings on
fche legislation with testi
mony by Atty. Gen. Ramsey
Clark.
But Clark had to cancel
his appearance because he
Was too busy with the De
troit crisis.
***
: This news report should
serve as a warning to riot
ers who>kill, burn and loot in
American cities, but it prob
ably will not. They will
continue to make this sum
mer “long and hot’* with
out considering the long-
jrange damage that they are
doing to themselves.
Rioting and killing can in
no way serve the cause of the
American Negro, who de-
Msgr. (
It is difficult to write any
thing that will add to the
words of praise and expres
sions of regret that Msgr.
Patrick J. O’Connor has
heard since he announced his
retirement Sunday.
Everyone who has lived
in the Archdiocese of Atlan
ta or the Diocese of Savannah
iknows of his distinguished
Career as professor, pastor
land vocations director.
Msgr. O’Connor has ser-
jved the Church in good and
1 Toward
•.*: Pope Paul’s decision to
j; visit Ecumenical Patriarch
\i Athenagoras in Istanbul
::feomes as a very welcome
j'fsurprise. The fact Pope
i£:paul is willing to go to the
:rEcumenical Patriarch, and
::;iiot wait until Athenagoras
:-:-should be able to visit him,
both significant and en
couraging. No tiresome
• sense of protocol or shame
ful insistence on pride of
place deters this pope in
peeking to further the unity
pf the Christian family.
: : Christian unity is the great
purpose of this visit, as the
pope himself announced. The
response of the orthodox
world has also been entirely
lb this vein. Archbishop
Isakovos, primate of the
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese
spite the efforts of civil
rights leaders, the govern
ment and concerned citizens,
is still a second-class citi
zen.
Rioting n^akes many for
get about this second-class
citizenship. It makes us turn
away- from the reality that
too many city officials in
the nation have only paid lip
service to equal housing and
equal employment, and per-
mit@ us to cry with moral
indignation at those who dis
rupt the peace.
Rioting brings the segre
gationist out of the woodwork
and gives him a chance to
make political hay.
Rioting discredits the
many programs created to
help the slum dweller. It
makes too many ask if the
expenditure is worth it.
But worse qf all, rioting,
which is violent, dramatic,
destructive, makes most of
us look at the effects and not
the causes. It is easy to
condemn the effects, but it
is difficult to erase the caus
es.
YConnor
bad times with dignity and
loyalty. While he was out of
the state at Catholic Univer
sity, he never forgot the
desperate need for priests
or the missionary status of
the Church in Georgia.
In retirement, Msgr.
O Connor has the best wish
es and prayers of the.People
of God in Georgia. And, he
has the satisfaction of know
ing that he was instrumental
in finding the priests who
carry on in his place.
Reunion
of North and South Arnerica
in clear and jubilant terms
said: “We regard this en
counter between the spiritual
head of the two oldest
Churches of Christendom,
once united, as presaging
the greatest promise ever
offered by the Almighty for
the final union of the One
Church of Christ.”
How far Rome is willing
to go for unity, how much she
feels she could and should
concede in the quest for
Christian unity will not be
known for some time. Pope
Paul gives more and more
indication he personally will
go as far as his understand
ing of the essentials of the
Church will allow. That ap
pears to be quite far,
- The Oklahoma Courier
AN ARAB, merchant in the Old City of Jerusalem welcomes a Jewish
customer. Such scenes were rare during the nearly 20 years that the Old
City was controlled by Jordan. With unification by Israel of the former
Jordanian sector with the New City, barriers between Arabs and Jews have
come down and traffic was-allowed in both directions. Jews began visiting
the Old City and Arabs came into the New City. Soon new shops opened
and business was rdorted good. (RNS PHOTO)
Students Urge Updating
Of Rome’s Seminaries
By Gary MacEoin
ROME - Students of the pontifical uni
versities here, as they disperse for their
long summer vacation, expect the new
academic year to bring a significant change
in the climate in which they study. They
base their hopes on Gabriel Cardinal Gar-
rone, of Toulouse, France, named last
year by Pope Paul to head the congre
gation of Seminaries and Universities.
Qf the many Roman institutions coming
under this Congre
gation, the three
most important are
the Gregorian Uni
versity (Jesuit), the
Angelicum (Domi
nican) and the Lat-
eran University un
der the direct con
trol of the Curia.
A degree from one
of them is almost a must for admission
not only to the Church’s central adminis
tration, but to the ranks of the episcopate
and other high ecclesiastical office any
where in the world.
For several years, the students have
been chafing at the extremely traditional
framework within which they study. Until
Cardinal ‘ Garrone’s appointment, how
ever, they could voice their complaints
only obliquely in heavily-censored stu
dent publications, or in anonymous mani
festoes passed surreptitiously from hand
to hand on campus.
All that is now changed. During the
past term, for example, a representa
tive committee of the students of philo
sophy and a similar committee of the
students of theology at the Anglicum
prepared and submitted to the university
authorities their views on the reforms
they consider most urgent.
Their basic grievance is with the way'
the university conceives its function. The
method of teaching, they say, is a one
way transmission of concepts from pro
fessor to student. Its content is limit
ed to issues and formulations from the
distant past, neglecting the discoveries
of the twentieth century in philosophy,
theology and the related sciences.
The students want dialogue and discus-,
sion. To get them, they insist, Latin
must cease to be the language of com
munication. The inadequacy of Latin to
express today’s issues was frequently
demonstrated at Vatican II, particularly
in the Constitution on the Church in the
Modern World. It was shown again
more recently in the encyclical Populo-
rum Progressio, on world development.
Both these documents were written in
French, and the Latin version lacks many ■
of the nuances.
The students of the Anglicum recognize
the difficulty of finding a common lan
guage for an international university.
They are willing to settle for Italian as
the official language, with arrangements
for informal discussion by small groups
in the language of their choice.
As regards content, the philosophy stu
dents ask for courses which will give the
seminarian **a philosophy of his priest
hood,” an ability “to seehowhis priest
hood fits into the structure of society and
how it relates to cultural institutions.’’
Training at the graduate level, they add,
should produce professional professors
equipped to "see their philosophy in the
context of the total Christian vision,”
men who will be “at least on the road
towards a personally worked-out philoso
phical synthesis.”
The theology students stress the same
theme from their viewpoint. They want
the content expanded to embrace the
whole of postconciliar theology, including
such themes as Church-State relations,
religious freedom, pluralism and positive
atheism. They urge the introduction of
contemporary teaching techniques which
encourage dialogue and stress the personal
dignity of every one of the individuals
engaged in a common search for truth.
The students go to great pains to insist
on the seriousness of their complaints.
“If drastic measures are not taken, the
only students the Angelicum will have
will be those sent under compulsion, or
those lacking the intellectual qualities for
admission to universities elsewhere.”
And, they add, “the same applies to the *
Other Roman universities.’’
My enquiries among professors and ‘
students have confirmed that this is not :
empty rhetoric. On the contrary, a defi- |
nite trend away from Rome for higher ’
education of ecclesiastics is already ob- I
servable. That fact will make it easier :
for Cardinal Garrone to overcome the j
opposition to modernization of Rome’s ;
universities which exists within his own j
Congregation.
MACEOIN
GEORGIA PINES
‘Barefoot’ Goes Far
On Little Substance
The ‘Big’ Church
— By R. Donald Kiernan ..n
We read today much about the in
stitutionalized church. As a matter of
fact, in glowing terms it is treated as if
it is a hang-over from the past, soon to
see its demise. Personally, I'don’t think
so and I would go that extra step in saying
that the institutionalized church is in its
infancy.
In the world about us we see the grow
ing tendency of
business and
govern-
mentto consolida
te so more and
better services
can, be provided
at a cheaper and
more efficient
cost. We here
in Georgia, know
the expense and
waste and inef
ficiency which has gone along with our
county unit system, and the years it was
perpetuated. In the more progressive
areas of our great state there is concerted
effort aimed at consolidation of services.
While we might view the "cracker
barrel” country store with a bit of nos
talgia, no one seriously doubts that the
chain stores, because of its big busi
ness, has brought cheaper and more var
iety of goods to the buyer.
The high stahdard of living which we
enjoy in this country, granted that it has
been effectuated by the unions, neverthe
less it would not have been possible if all
business were operated by smalll, indi
vidual owners.
Let me inject this thought. My obser
vations are by no way a condemnation of
smallbusiness or local government. Quite
the contrary. It is the combination of the
big and the little, and the protection by
law of both, which has brought to us this
free enterprise system of business and the
freedom and liberty we enjoy under our
form of government.
1 think that the same might be said ot
the institutionalized church. Most people
like to “know their priest”, feel at
home in “their church”, and in general
know what’s going on. Andthisisthe ideal
that a priest strives for. Thebigproblem
in the church today is that she yearns to
combine the advantages of big operation
and yet not lose the intimate personal
touch. The job of thepastoristo know his
parishioners so that the bad may be made
good, and the good made better. The
church wants to combine the efficiency
of the chain store with the intimacy of
the cracker-barrel store.
Sometimes, some people just like at
tention. As long as they personally, are
the center of-attraction they could care
less about who is being neglected.
But when you see what could be ac
complished by members being a part of
that “institutionalized church”, I think
that the m'erits far outweigh thedemerits.
Just for example, in our own archdiocese,
I don’t think that we could have ever taken
the lead in providing progressive help for
children of broken homes such as the new
St. Joseph’s Village had it not been for a
well-organized and administered “inr
stitutionalized church”. I don't know of
any invididual parish big enough to either
take-on or administer a project such as
this. Too, every priest knew that at best
our catechetical program was such as di
versified and different as the number of
parishes we had. Now, thanks to an in
stitutionalized church, a director has been
appointed and a definite program is being
set up. The same might be said for our
elementary and high school institutions,
as well as our Department of Social Ser
vices and now, because of cooperation
and consolidation, the St. Vincent de Paul
Society is rendering aid to the poor in an
effective manner.
Some still cry that the institutionalized
church is out of touch with the common
man. It is not making itself relevant to
the needs of today’s people. Granted that
there are some shortcomings to a “big
operation” and no doubt we still need the
small-personal type-parishes. All that I
am saying is that the "institutionalized
church” is not all bad.
In closing I am reminded of a story that
took place in Savannah, some years ago.
The late Monsignor Moylan, known for his
subtle humor, sent me out on a mission
to obtain some marriage testimony. This
was not especially a pleasant task. I ob
jected on the grounds that I never heard of
the Apostles getting any marriage testi
monies. “No”, said the monsignor, "and
1 never heard of the Apostles driving an
Oldsmobile and smoking big cigars”.
Things have changed.
By James Arnold
It may be that no comedy has gone so
far on so little substance as “Barefoot
in the Park,” but then its utter lack of
relevance may be part of its charm. The
film version, like the play, goes right on
convulsing audiences; if that is not the
best test of quality, it is certainly a basic
one.
"Barefoot,” for the record, is one of
the earlier hits of
Neil Simon, the 40-
year-old ex-TV gag
writer with the cur
rently hot playwrit
ing touch (“The Odd
Couple,” “Star-
Spangled Girl”).
Simon has even
tried one original
film script, ‘ After
the Fox,*’ which was imperfect but quite
funny. The play of “Barefoot” just
closed on Broadway after 1500-odd per
formances, the 11th longest run in New
York history.
It is basically young-marrieds - moth
er-in-law situation comedy, and has in
spired several equally frothy TV imita
tions. The prime ingredients areakookie
young wife (Jane Fonda), a conservative
young husband (Robert Redford), an ab
surdly non-functional city apartment, and
a wild collection of bohemian neighbors
to play off against the couple's puzzled
middle-class parents. The main differ
ence is that "Barefoot” leans a bit
more on sex than is customary onTV, and
m ay not seem very funny to people under
14.
Simon’s success hangs on his noted
ability to write hilarious dialog; unlike
lean Kerry’s lines, however, they don’t
quote well The yuk depends not only
on character and context but the way
they are said, which may mean that
Miss Kerr is a. writer while Simon is
a playwright.
The comic heart of "Barefoot” is the
stroke of simple genius whereby each of
the many entrances so mechanically basic
to this kind of comedy is made hysteri
cal; just to get into the set, everybody has
to climb six flights of stairs, and the run
ning gag picks up momentum with each new
victim. Another unique asset is the sport
ing character of the mother-in-law (warm
ly played by Mildred Natwick). Otherwise
all we really have are the wife’s comic
insecurities, jokes about the apartment,
the wife's efforts to pair off her widowed
Momma with an eccentric neighbor (Char
les Boyer), a ridiculous newlywed quar
rel, and the husband’s I-can-be-as-you
scene - all predictably par for the course.
Since everything in the play occurred
in one set, the film logically opens up the
action a bit: the characters now talk on
the stairs and streets, and Redford gets a
chance to walk barefoot in the park. But
aside from brief bits on a ferry and in a
crowded Albanian restaurant, and the fact
that closeups make funny expressions fun
nier, the show hardly qualifies as cine
matic. “Barefoot” is essentially a photo
graphed play.
Director Gene Saks is a gifted comic
actor (he was the pathetic TV comedian
in "A Thousand Clowns’), but in his first
film he has experimented little. There
are no important changes from the play,
even in comic business; luckily, some of
that is visual, e.g., Miss Fonda trying to
start a fire by holding a match to the end
of a log. Much of the cast (Redford,
Miss Natwick, telephone repairman Her
bert Edelman) and even the set are hold
overs from Broadway.
Miss Fonda is amusing, but very much
in a rut as a mini-skirted non-conform
ist. Several sequences take advantage of
her willingness to appear in the near
buff, especially an opening (added for the
film) describing the honeymoon at the
Plaza Hotel, an episode which relies main
ly on tedious newlywed humor. “Bare
foot” is in: color but makes little use of
its possibilities. In addition, whether the
fault is in makeup, camera, or laboratory
processing, Miss Fonda looks all washed
out, about as attractive as a road company
tryout for the bride of Dracula.
***
George Stevens’ two-year-old "The
Greatest Story Eve r'Told,” with Max Von
Sydow as Christ, is still slowly making
the rounds at both downtown and neighbor
hood theaters. But it is not quite the same
film critics, myself included, greeted
lukewarmly.
Variety reports that about 85 minutes
- a truly prodigious amount - has been
clipped from its original 225-minute
length. The film has been criticized as
interminable, so the cuts may be help
ful, especially since such painful bits as
Shelley Winters’ leper and John Wayne's
centurion are among the excisions.
FR. KIERNAN
ARNOLD