Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 6— January 28,1971
ALLEGED KIDNAP PLOT
OF CA THOLIC SCHOOLS
Priests Released Into
States May
Custody Of Cardinal
BALTIMORE (NC) - Two
priests and a former priest
indicted in the alleged East
Coast Conspiracy kidnap plot
have been bailed out by a
group of local clergymen and
released into the custody of
Cardinal Lawrence Shehan of
Baltimore.
The cardinal has also
offered the two
priests-Fathers Joseph
Wenderoth and Neil
McLaughlin-assignments in
inner city parishes here.
Neither has had a parish
assignment since 1969, when
the cardinal relieved them of
their parish duties after they
admitted to tampering with
draft files as a protest against
the Vietnam war.
Bail for the three-reduced
from $50,000 to $25,000
each-was raised by a group of
Baltimore priests headed by
antiwar activist Father Joseph
Connolly. The three had been
held at the Lebanon, Pa.,
County Jail following their
indictment in Harrisburgh
Jan. 13.
As a condition of their
release, Fathers Wenderoth
and McLaughlin and Anthony
Schoblic must report to
Cardinal Shehan every second
day. If they fail to report, the
cardinal is bound to inform
the federal court.
The 72-year old cardinal
emphasized the importance
of the personal element in his
acceptance of custody of the
men.
“It’s almost like a
father-son relationship,” he
said. “They are my priests
and I am their bishop. I
ordained them and I have a
responsibility to them.”
He stressed that he did not
support “any philosophy that
advocates breaking the law,”
but added that “until they
are tried I have to presume
that they are innocent.”
The cardinal noted that all
of the alleged conspirators
have proclaimed their
innocence, while in previous
anti-war demonstrations-such
as the destruction of draft
files-they publicly claimed
responsibility for their
actions.
A chancery spokesman said
the cardinal has received
numerous calls and telegrams,
some supporting and some
challenging his position.
“Many praised him and
applauded his courage,” the
spokesman said. “Others
called him a communist or
accused him of setting a bad
example.”
Shortly after the priests
were released, the
archdiocesan priests’ senate
of Baltimore issued a
statement praising the
cardinal for his “compassion
ate concern” for the welfare
of his priests.
Interview With
Fr. Wenderoth
They said they felt the
cardinal’s visit to the priests
the evening they were
arrested and his willingness
to have them released into his
custody was “genuinely
Christlike.”
By Maxine Shaw
BALTIMORE (NC) - The
day after his release from
Lebanon, Pa. county jail
Father Joe Wenderoth talked
to NC News about freedom -
his own and that of
presidential aide Henry
Kissinger, the man he is
accused of plotting lo kidnap.
The 35-year-old priest said
that he and two other
defendants were “whisked off
Tuesday night (Jan. 12) and
not told any of the charges
specifically until Friday
morning.”
He also claimed that the
three were denied permission
to make a phone call “at the
FBI office, the Baltimore
lockup, and in Harrisburg.”
“If I can say my civil rights
were denied me by the
authorities when I was not
shown the indictment and
not allowed to make a phone
call, how much more would
this be true for a man who is
kidnapped?” he asked.
“Kidnapping is taking
away a man’s freedom, and
that’s evil,” he said.
He affirmed his
commitment to non-violence
and said that to participate in
kidnapping would be
“completely unthinkable
because kidnapping is a
violent act.”
He declined, however, to
discuss the specifics of the
government’s charges against
him.
“We maintain our
innocence,” he said, “but our
attorneys said not to talk
about the incidents until we
know what the government is
talking about.”
He was referring to the
grand jury’s indictment,
which lists 22 “overt acts”,
among them such “specifics”
as “on or about June 22,
1970, Joseph Wenderoth and
Neil McLaughlin travelled to
Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. 1
(At that time Father Philip
Berrigan, another defendant
in the conspiracy case, was
serving time in the federal
penitnetiary in Lewisburg
because of his destruction of
draft files in Baltimore. He
was later moved to the
federal prison in Danbury,
Conn.)
The indictment, based on
these acts, charges that he,
five other defendants, and six
unindicted “co-conspirators”
were planning to blow up the
heating systems of
government buildings in
Washington and kidnap
Kissinger the following day.
Father Wenderoth, Father
Neil McLaughlin, and former
Josephite Father Anthony
Scoblick were arrested Jan.
12 in Baltimore. The first
person to visit them was
Baltimore’s Cardinal
Lawrence Shehan. Father
Wenderoth commented on
this:
“If you were in jail who
would be the first person you
would expect to see?
Probably a relative or a very
close friend. I don’t think any
worker would expect to see
his employer. When he
walked in it was just
unbelievable! We are eternally
grateful.”
“In fact,’ he said, “when
he walked in about 10
o’clock Tuesday night it was
the first time any of us had
any idea of what was
happening.”
Later, all three were
released into the custody of
the cardinal.
“We’re being reassigned to
parishes,” Father Wenderoth
said, “which is beautiful.”
Neither he nor Father
McLaughlin have had parish
duties since they admitted
participating in a draft board
raid in Philadelphia in early
1969.
Father Wenderoth said that
the destruction of the draft
files - for which he was never
indicted - was his only major
anti-war action. “I’m not an
organizational man,” he said.
“I’m a street guy.”
He explained that his
primary concern was working
with people on an individual
basis, and that it was this
personal involvement that led
him into the peace
movement.
“I got involved,” he said,
“by working in the inner city
of Baltimore for almost four
years and looking at what is
happening to poor whites and
blacks and at the
expenditures of the
government for the war and
for defense.” He said he felt
that this money should go to
help the poor instead of
destroying the poor of
another country.
Asked about his immediate
plans, Father Wenderoth
answered quickly, “to see my
family.”
“They’ve been very
wonderful,” he said, adding
that although there may be
some philosophical
differences, “they love me
very much and I know it.
And that’s a sign of support
for me - both as a man and as
a priest.”
Shortly after visiting the
jnen in jail, the cardinal
issued a statement saying that
“the full explanation” of his
visit was contained in the
Scripture, Matthew 25: “I
was in prison and you visited
me, come-I was in prison and
you visited me not, depart.
As long as you did it to one
of these, my least brethern,
you did it to me.”
The priests’ senate also
expressed their own concern
for the defendants “whose
faith, philosophy, and
formation predispose them to
abhor any threat to human
life.”
Fathers Wenderoth and
McLaughlin, Scoblick and
three other persons have been
charged with conspiring to
kidnap presidential aide
Henry Kissinger and to blow
up the heating systems of
federal buildings in
Washington.
The purpose of the alleged
acts, according to the Justice
Department, was to put
pressure on the government
to end the Vietnam war and
to release “political
prisoners” in the U.S.
Commenting on the alleged
kidnapping and conspiracy
charges, Kissinger told
newsmen, “I only know what
I read in the newspapers.” He
added, however: “This type
of activity is being promoted
by a tiny minority. I am
convinced that the majority
of Americans-although some
may disagree with
government policies-are
opposed to these extremes.”
At their arraignment in
Baltimore, Schoblick and
Fathers McLaughlin and
Wenderoth issued a statement
proclaiming their innocence
and asserting that “to
attribute kidnapping and
bombing to priests who have
neither the philosophy nor
the resources to support such
activity must spring from tire
desperation of men who have
decided to stop at nothing to
crush the anti-war
movement.”
Josephite Father Philip
Berrigan and his brother,
Jesuit Father Daniel
Berrigan-who was listed by
the grand jury as a
co-conspirator but was not
indicted-issued a similar
statement through their
attorney William Kunstler.
The Berrigans, imprisoned
in Danbury, Conn., for the
destruction of draft files, said
that the purpose of the
conspiracy charges is “a
simple but deadly one-to
destroy the peace movement
by creating caricatures of
those who oppose the war it
Southeast Asia.”
MAN PASSING GRAVEYARD — This graveyard scene in Latin America reminds one of the
presence of Death. But, as Father Champlin writes, the coming of death can supply friends of the
bereaved the chance to show love by supplying material and personal aid. (NC PHOTO by Neil
Maurer)
Worship And The World
Decide Future
By Father Joseph
M. Champlin
An Opportunity
to Love
Tiny Lisa Barry’s mother
was not present at the baby’s
baptism. The mother is dead.
She gave up her life moments
after giving birth to this little
girl.
The pre-Thanksgiving
tragedy, fortunately a rarity
in our modern world,
completely shattered the
46-year old husband and left
the woman’s physician in
tears. The doctor never
before in his long,
distinguished career had
“lost” a patient in labor. The
father saw his dearly beloved
slip away unexpectedly in a
matter of minutes, leaving
him with a heavy heart and
the immediate care of several
children (including twins) all
(continued from Page 5)
more than one-half of
humanity today. Another
way is to insist, as Pope John
did, on the distinction
between the non-believers
and the erroneous philosophy
or system he follows.
The whole difficulty
dissolves, however, if* you
realize that literally 6:14 says
“Do not bear the yoke with
unbelievers” and it is an
allusion to an Old Testament
passage: “You must not
plough with an ox and an ass
yoked together”
(Deuteronomy 22:10). Look
at 6:16 “How can God’s
temple come to terms with
pagan idols?” and 6:17:
“Have nothing to do with
what is unclean” and 7:1:
“Let us, therefore purify
ourselves from everything
that makes body or soul
SOUTH HADLEY, Mass.
(NC) — Conrad F. Taeuber,
associate director of the U.S.
Census Bureau and the man
who supervised the 1970
census, rejected the view here
tha population growth is the
major threat to the quality of
American life.
Speaking at Mt. Holyoke
College, Taeuber said that
turning back population
growth is only a small
element in efforts to improve
the environment.
Pollution, high crime
transporation problems
ther social ills are not
under 7 years of age.
Christmas found the
grief-stricken father and the
motherless family still
stunned, still confused, but
not alone. The modest
homestead was littered with
gifts for the children and
food for the table - all from
relatives, friends, neighbors,
co-workers who came to
share his pain and ease his
burden. The widower’s
married niece, with tiny tots
of her own, keeps little Lisa,
for the present (“I enjoy
doing this, so what’s the
problem?”). A volunteer
committee quickly collected
$800 to help meet emergency
needs and now, weeks after
the funeral, every phone call
or door knock seems to bring
a fresh offer of aid. Richard
Barry’s loss supplied many
with an opportunity to love.
Not all these people are
unclean,” and 12:21 with its
reference to “immoral
things . . .sexual sins and
lustful deeds.”
Paul here warns against
demoralizing contacts with
pagans whose cults included
what Jews regarded as
unclean things, especially
ritual sexual immorality.
Neither John XXIII nor Paul
VI has advocated such
practices -- and that’s all the
Pauline passage deals with.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. How does the personal
experience of Paul qualify
him to speak of enduring
troubles, hardships and
difficulties with great
patience?
2. Why is it important that
believers continue to dialogue
with non-believers?
primarily a result of our rate
of population growth,” he
said.
“Changing standards and
habits, in activities,
technology and the style of'
life, have much more to do
with the accumulation and
disposition of waste materials
and pollutants than does the
number of persons involved.”
He added that despite the
national population rise, half
of the nation’s counties lost
population in the 1960s,
indicating that population
growth is unequal and should
be better distributed.
Catholics or Christians or
even church-goers. But they
certainly responded as
Catholics or Christians or
church-goers should. To join
a church means, if nothing
else, to profess with others a
shared faith and, because of
this central belief, to accept a
special responsibility for
fellow members. The revised
baptismal rite states that
truth in a dry, but succinct
way: “Baptism is the
sacrament by which men and
women are incorporated into
the Church... .It is a
sacramental bond of unity
linking all who have been
signed by it.”
Prior to current reforms,
baptisms were important, but
generally quiet, semi-private,
family affairs. Today’s ritual
calls for a bigger celebration,
one which starts with this
familial base and widens it to
embrace the parish
community.
“In the actual celebration,
the people of God
(represented not only by
parents, godparents and
relatives, but also, as far as
possible, by friends,
neighbors, and some members
of the local church) should
take an active part. Thus they
will show their common faith
and express their joy as the
newly baptized are received
into the community of the
Church.”
Some priests have recently
attempted with success
several measures to develop
ceremonies which emphasize
this “welcome into the
Christian community”
notion. For example: holding
regular baptisms monthly
instead of weekly; having all
the parish priests
concelebrate each service,
thus indicating interest,
conserving time, and adding
solemnity; occasionally
baptizing within Sunday
Mass; sponsoring
“pre-Jordan” classes which
instruct parents in the
meaning of baptism and
prepare participants for the
coming liturgy.
“What can you say about a
twenty-five-year-old girl who
died? Erich Segal opened his
best-selling Love Story with
that ominous sentence. We
might ask: What can you say
about a devoted, middle age
wife who dies in childbirth?
What can you say to or do for
the distraught husband? You
listen. You let him sob on
your shoulder. You offer
help. You mumble about
“taking one day at a time.”
You hesitatingly suggest,
grateful it is he not you who
must cope with this
enormous cross, a few
thoughts about faith, trust,
God’s loving concern.
When he tearfully queries
about being reunited, later,
with his wife, you fumble for
an answer and maybe come
up with Jesus’s words or the
faith profession at baptism.
“Yes, Dick, we do believe in
the communion of saints, the
forgiveness of sins, the
resurrection of the body and
life everlasting.”
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. How does the new
baptismal rite emphasize a
“welcome into the Church”
notion?
2. What are some of the
specific differences between
the old and new rites of
Baptism?
By Gerard Hekker
(NC News Service)
Throughout the country
during January, one topic of
discussion sure to be heard in
the legislative corridors and
halls in the various states was
government financial aid to
parochial schools. Actions
taken by these law-making
units in the 50 states could
easily determine the future of
Church-related educational
institutions.
That such financial
assistance can and must be
given to religious schools is a
Conviction held by a large
number of state lawmakers.
They are of the firm opinion
that parochial schools are a
vital part of the educational
system of the U.S. and if they
do not receive government
assistance they will vanish.
Opposition to financial aid
to Church-related schools will
be just as adamant as it ever
was and it will take the usual
approach that it is a violation
of the church and state
principle of the U.S.
Constitution.
It is extremely difficult to
predict whether government
aid will be voted in many or
any of the individual states.
The primary reason for this is
that the state legislatures do
not conform to a
preconceived pattern. Some
examples:
Slightly over half (26) of
the state legislatures meet on
an annual basis. They are
Alaska, Arizona, California,
Colorado, Delaware, Florida,
Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa,
Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland,
Massachusetts, Michigan,
Mississippi, New Jersey, New
Mexico, New York,
Oklahoma, Pennsylvania,
Rhode Island, South
Carolina, South Dakota,
Utah, and West Virginia.
Of this number, five of the
states - West Virginia, Utah,
New Mexico, Louisiana, and
Colorado -- devote the session
during the even numbered
years basically to fiscal and
budgetary matters.
Of the 24 other states,
which meet every two years,
only two - Virginia and
Kentucky - are scheduled to
meet in even numbered years.
Wisconsin, under a new
constitutional amendment,
can now meet more than
once every two years.
However, the new
amendment did not
specifically establish an
annual legislative session.
Consequently, 1971 is
IN ENGLAND
By John A. Greaves
LONDON (NC) -
Religious programs on British
television are in danger of
being cut.
Mounting pressure has
been reported to reduce from
70 minutes to 45 minutes the
Sunday-evening time granted
by the two British television
networks to churches for
religious programs. Some
inside observers believe this is *
the start of a campaign to
abolish the present
15-year-old gentleman’s
agreement between successive
governments and TV
authorities.
At present religious
programs are shown on
Sunday evenings from 6:15
to 7:25 by both the
non-commercial British
Broadcasting Corporation
(BBC) and the commercial
companies in the
Independent Television
Authority. Some of these
programs are interdenomina
tional, but each major church
including the Catholic
Church - gets a proportionate
share of the broadcast time.
The suggestion to cut such
religious programming came
from a joint study group of
the Independent Television
Authority (ITA) and the
expected to be a year of
decision in the state
legislatures on the matter of
parochial school aid because
only the aforementioned
Kentucky and West Virginia
are not scheduled to be in
session.
January is when most of
the groundwork for the
ensuing action on state aid
will begin because all but
three states have sessions
beginning in that month.
Tennessee’s legislature
convenes in February and
Alabama and Louisiana meet
in May.
An important factor to be
considered in the matter of
state aid is the executive veto.
Under the rules adopted by
the various states, some bills
become law automatically if
the governor does not sign
the measure after a specified
amount of time which varies
from a high of 45 days in
New Jersey to a low of 5 days
in Nebraska (the only state
that has a unicameral
legislature - one house) and
West Virginia
In 20 of the states, after a
similar length of time, a bill
dies if it does not have the
chief executive’s signature.
They are Alabama, Delaware,
Hawaii, Iowa, Kansas,
Maryland, Massachusetts,
Michigan, Minnesota,
Montana, Missouri, New
Hampshire, New Jersey, New
Mexico, New York, North
Carolina, Oklahoma,
Vermont, Virginia, and
Wisconsin, In some of these
states, the factor is
combination of both
situations.
In a majority of the state
legislatures, a two-thirds vote
is needed to override a
governor’s veto. This varies
from two-thirds of all
legislators to two-thirds of
the lawmakers present at a
particular session. Five of the
states operate under the
majority vote rule and a
couple have set the standard
at three-fifths of
three-fourths.
Given the variables that
prevail in the individual
states, citizens of all
persuasions will await the
legislature’s action. Whatever
it may be, such legislative
decisions will turn up in a
variety of forms - textbook
aid, purchase of services, or
direct tuition grants to the
parents of parochial
schoolchildren. In this regard,
1971 may provide a pattern
in a number of states which
could ease the future of
parochial schools.
Central Religious Advisory
Committee, the voluntary
group of representative
churchmen that controls
religious broadcasting.
The ITA wants the change,
but neither the BBC nor the
religious advisory committee
has announced its views.
Clergy and others engaged
in religious broadcasting have
some varied opinions on
present arrangements.
Some argue that if religious
broadcasting would give up
its Sunday evening spot and
take its turn with other
programs at varying viewing
times, it would be more
effective and would have to
raise its own standards to
attract viewers.
But the majority opinion
among both Catholics and
Anglicans directly concerned
seems to be against the
change.
Most see the move either as
pressure from those who are
simply hostile to religion in
itself or from commercial TV
companies seeking advertising
revenue during this popular
early evening period, which at
present does not have
commercial breaks.
Know Your Faith
Scripture
BY CENSUS OFFICIAL
Population
Threat Rejected
Religious TV
May Be Cut
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