VOL. 6, NO. 33 ATLANTA, GEORGIA ' THURSDAY, AUGUST 22, 1968
Biafran
Deaths
Genocide
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.
(NC) - The war and present
blockade in Biafra may be
recorded in history as the most
savage program of genocide ever
known, an Irish-bom missionary,
formerly stationed in Anugu, said
here.
Father Joseph Nolan, C.S.Sp.,
who went to Biafra after his
ordination in Dublin in 1956, and
came to the United States after a
severe attack of pneumonia last
year, said that the Biafrans’ claim
that the war is genocide seems to
be substantiated by the evidence.
“It is heartbreaking, just
awful,” he said. “Estimates of the
numbers of Biafrans who have
died of starvation range as high as
two million.”.
Although his health is not yet
good enough for him to return to
Biafra, Father Nolan keeps in
close contact with other members
of the Holy Ghost Fathers by
mail. A letter recently received
from Father Dermot Doran said:
“The poor people are in a terrible
way. They are lucky if they get a
meal every few days. The death
rate is around 3,000 a week at
the moment and the Red Cross
estimates that a million may die
of starvation before the end of
the year. The big problem is
malnutrition.
AT EUCHARISTIC CONGRESS
AN ELDERLY Biafran woman, showing the results of extreme starvation, lies on a cot in the General Hospital in Aba, Biafra.
Hundreds of Biafrans have died because of a critical food shortage in the breakaway section of Nigeria.
(RNS)
Pope To Visit Bogota’s Poor
“It is pitiable,” wrote Father
Doran, “to see all the children
dying of starvation-in places it
looks like the concentration
camps of the last war.” ■
According to Father Nolan,
whose brother is a priest of the
archdiocese of Miami and who
has another brother expecting to
be ordained next year, the Ibos,
Biafra’s dominant tribe, are
mainly Christian. Prior to the
outbreak of the civil war, they
had been the dominant factor in
the economy and educational
systems of Northern Nigeria, but
when war began retreated to the
western province, their
traditional home.
The civil war and the
establishment of Biafra were a
reflection of the general
“unreality” of Nigeria prior to
the May succession, the priest
said, adding that three distinct
regions of Biafra with their
definitely different and
nationalistic tribal backgrounds
presented a genuine antithesis to
the “nation of Biafra.”
As a result the Ibos were
convinced that when war came,
“they would be massacred,”
Father Nolan explained. “And in
a good many instances their fears
were justified. The atrocities
committed by the federalists
were unbelievably brutal. There is
no parallel that 1 know of in
history of man’s inhumanity to
man.”
BOGOTA, Colombia (NC) — Pope Paul VI said he hopes to
meet the poor, “the whole immense populace lacking rank and
bread” while he attends the 39th International Eucharistic
Congress in Bogota.
The Pope - the first pope to visit Latin America -
immediately added the hope that the sacramental symbol of
bread—the Eucharist—might also be realized in the
“multiplication of social and economic provisions for the
hunger of humble people.”
Another desire he expressed was that the Eucharist “be a
sign of unity first of all for believing Catholic people and an
affectionate recall to unity for all dear Christian brothers.”
The Pope was to arrive in Bogota today (Thursday) at
about 10 a.m. Colombian time, visit the Cathedral and attend
the ceremony of ordinations at the Campos Eucaristico at 5
p.m.
Friday he is to visit the president of Colombia and then
rural workers. He will celebrate Mass at the Eucharistic
Congress at 5 p.m. Saturday Pope Paul will celebrate Mass in a
parish church on the outskirts of Bogota and then will
inagurate in Bogota Cathedral the second General Conference
of the Latin American Bishops at 10:30 a.m., Colombian time.
He will bless the new headquarters of the Latin American
Bishops Council (CELAM) at 11:40 a.m. He will fly back to
Rome at 6 p.m. with a fueling stop in Bermuda.
In his discussion of the trip, Pope Paul also said he hoped
for peace in a world “whose face is even today hidden or
bloodied by so many conflicts.
“We wish many things from this pilgrimage,” he said. “First
of all we wish to render homage of faith and charity to the
Eucharist, which is precisely a mystery of faith and of love,
and deserves the deepest understanding, the most solemn
worship. The Eucharistic Congress is a triumph, yes a triumph
of Christ, humble and silent but true and alive in the
sacramental renewal of His redeeming sacrifice.
“ ‘I will draw all things to myself,’ He said. Those who
would diminish this external aspect which springs from sincere
hearts, perhaps forget that one day in the Gospel others too
failed to applaud the popular messianic celebration at Christ’s
entry into Jerusalem in the middle of the crowd that waved
palms in His honor. Honor to Christ, living in His Church
which has spread throughout the world, throughout the
centuries!
“Again we desire that the Eucharistic celebration be a sign
of unity first of all for believing, Catholic people, and that it
be an affectionate recall to unity for all dear Christian brothers
whose reservations toward the one true faith-from which the
Eucharist springs via the priesthood and sacramental action-do
not yet permit them to break bread with us in one heart and
one soul.
“And! we desire peace in the world, whose face, the true
human face, is even today hidden or bloodied by so many
conflicts.
“This is what we desire. Be with us in faith, in hope and in
charity, and be with us now in prayer.”
82 Sign Petition
On Birth Control
Seventy-eight laymen, Father
Conald Foust, administrator of
the Community of Christ Our
Brother, and three nuns have
signed a statement asking priests
and laymen to speak their
opinions on the encyclical,
“Humanae Vitae.”
The statement follows:
“We, the undersigned
Catholics, of the Archdiocese of
Atlanta, in Georgia, make the
following statement in regards to
the encyclical Humanae Vitae,
regarding birth control:
“The encyclical denies the
individual freedom to form his
own conscience. We believe that
the conscience of the individual is
inviolable, particularly in such
intimate and complex human
relationships. We ask, therefore,
that all Catholics, both laymen
and members of the clergy who
share these opinions with us
speak out so that their views may
be "known, and that the true
teaching of the Church may be
formulated not only by the
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