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ARCHDIOCESE OF ATLANTA
The Georqiu Bulletin
• ” SERVING GEORGIA’S 71 NORTHERN COUNTIES
Voi. 9 No. 26
Thursday, July 22, 1971
$5 per year
Dear
Reader
CANADIAN BISHOPS
Not Fire-Eaters,
But F orthright
GRAYMOOR, N.Y.-The Canadian bishops are not
fire-eaters, according to Douglas J. Roche, editor of
the WESTERN CANADA REPORTER. But they
have since Vatican II developed a spirit of
forthrightness that has prevented polarization and
foster dialogue.
BY HARRY MURPHY
Communism and socialism
are still dirty words to many
Americans, but a growing
number are beginning to
realize that democracy and
capitalism may not answer
the needs in every society in
the world.
They have worked with
some degree of success in this
country, but ours is still far
from the perfect society.
It is doubtful, however,
that any form of government
could produce a perfect
society.
Perhaps ours is as near
perfect as is possible for
humans to achieve, but this is
something for far wiser men
than I to determine.
One glaring fault of our
education system, however, is
that students are taught far
too little objective material
about the relative merits of
alternate systems of
government.
They usually graduate
from high school and some
times college with the idea
that democracy-capitalism is
lily white and everything else
is dastardly black.
‘Tain’t necessarily so.
A Catholic bishop recently
visited Cuba and said later in
an interview carried in the
BOSTON PILOT that life
wasn’t really so bad under
Castro.
Cuban exiles in Boston
picketed the PILOT office for
having the audacity to print
such views.
Seventy-nine Catholic and
Protestant missionaries in
Chile have advised the Nixon
Administration to judge
Chile’s new socialist
government under President
Salvador Allende “more in
terms of human needs and
aspirations than in terms of
political ideologies.”
Reform programs in
banking, land tenure, mines
and industry, including the
nationalization of some, are
“an effort to build a new
society, based on a new man
with new values, a society
with a more equal and just
distribution of wealth and
opportunity, in which there
are no privileged classes, a
society based on justice and
solidarity,” their letter said.
The group said that the
Catholic Church in Chile is, in
many ways, taking “a positive
and cooperative stance in
working toward the goals
outlined by the present
government within a socialist
framework, while maintaining
an independent critical
attitude.”
The new view toward the
oldtime bugaboos has even
spread to the White House,
where President Nixon has
agreed to visit Communist
China before May 1972.
It wasn’t too long ago that
it would have been political
suicide for a president to
confer with communists,
much less meet them on their
own stomping grounds.
Our disappointing attempt
to inflict our form of
government on Vietnam
undoubtedly has added to
this more tolerant mood of
Americans.
Latin America has always
been the land of poor masses
and the wealthy few, but the
United States has a history of
supporting dictators which
perpetuated the system.
Is it no wonder, then, that
Chile has opted through free
elections to try socialism.
It may fail, but it should
be given an objective chance
to succeed.
Writing in the July issue of
THE LAMP/A CHRISTIAN
UNITY MAGAZINE, editor
Roche says that the Canadian
episcopal response to
HUMANAE VITAE “was the
moment the Canadian church
came of age and sealed its
commitment to
conciliarism.”
When the encyclical
reiterating papal
condemnation of
contraception was published,
Roche says, the Canadian
hierarchy remained silent,
despite Vatican pressure for
support of the pope’s
decision. As a result dissent
by priests and laity was
heard. By the time the
bishops held their
seme-annual meeting two
months later,. the road was
paved for a statement
supporting the pope’s
Official
Archbishop Donnellan has
announced the following
appointments to . the
Metropolitan Tribunal:
Reverend Thomas Kenny
as Defender of the Bond;
Reverend Michael Woods
as Defender of the Bond;
Reverend James J„
Fennessy as Defender of the
Bond;
Reverend Joseph A.
Sanches as Advocate;
Reverend Vincent M.
Mulvin as Advocate.
These priests will work for
the Metropolitan Tribunal on
a part-time basis. The
appointments were effective
as of July 12,1971.
A Holy Spirit parishoner
appointed by Atlanta Mayor
Sam Massell has become the
first Catholic on the city’s
aldermanic board.
Charles Driebe will fill the
Ninth V. ard position formerly
held by William T. Knight
who resigned recently due to
illness.
Under the City Charter the
Board of Aldermen
nominates three candidiates
for a vacant position, from
which the Mayor selects one.
Driebe had received the
overwhelming support of the
Board during the
nominations. Formal
swearing-in ceremonies were
held July 15 at 11 a.m., at
City Hall.
The Mayor said, “I believe
Summer
Schedule
There will be no paper
next week, as we are on
Summer Schedule. The
Georgia Bulletin does not
print the second and last
weeks in June, July and
August.
position as an ideal but
upholding the right of
dissent, “which thus
permitted Catholics who
honestly followed their
developed consciences in the
use of contraceptives to
receive Holy Communion
without going to confession.”
More recently, Bishop
Alexander Carter has called
for a restudy of the question
of celibacy, while Bishop
Remi De Roo has warned
that if church reform does
not move rapidly, the entire
younger generation will lose
interest in organized religion.
Bishop Emmet Carter,
meanwhile, went to Rome a
year ago to request that
Canadian bishops be
permitted to dispense priests
from the ministry on their
own authority. “We can’t give
freedom,” the bishop has
argued publicly, “unless we
are free ourselves.”
Forthrightness is not
confined to liberal members
of the hierarchy, The Lamp
author says. The Quebec
Bishops’ Conference, for
example, did not hesitate to
argue that Archbishop Joseph
Plourde of Ottawa had gone
too far when he supported
the Dutch bishops for their
collegial relations > with the
Dutch Pastoral Council, after
it had voted to end
mandatory celibacy.
“The immediate future
seems to hold fewer numbers
in church and a drastic
reduction of priests and
sisters,” the author
concludes. “Yet with all this
the church in Canada is
plainly being purified and
rebuilt. A creative movement
of historic importance is
under way. Tensions are
stimulating reflection and
ingenuity. The revitalization
offers hope for the rebirth of
Christian life.”
Chuck Driebe to be a bright
young man who will make a
notable contribution to our
government. We sought him
out because of his solid
foundation of service and
dedication.
Before entering private law
practice, Driebe, 37, was law
assistant to Judge Homer C.
Eberhardt of the Georgia
Court of Appeals. He had also
served as general counsel to
the State Senate Committee
of Efficiency, Economy and
Reorganization in Georgia.
A member of the Board of
Governors of the State Bar
Association, Driebe was
formerly President of the
Young Lawyers Section of
the State Bar. He received his
LL.B. degree from the
University of Georgia,
graduating Magna Cum Laude
and Phi Beta Kappa.
Driebe is also former
President of the Young
Democarats of Georgia and
the YD of Fulton County,
and was a member of the
State Democratic Executive
Committee for six years.
He lives on Northcliff
Drive with his wife, the
former Norma Jac Mobley,
and four children.
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Mayor Names First
Catholic To Board
NEW VATICAN AUDIENCE HALL: Pope Paul VI greets the crowd attending the opening of the new Vatican audience hall. The ultra-modem structure replaces St.
Peter’s Bascilica for general audiences. (NC PHOTO)
Missionaries Ask Nixon To Judge
NEWS BRIEFS
Ask Clarification
WASHINGTON (NC) — The U.S. Supreme Court has been
asked to reopen a recent landmark case in which the high court
struck down a Pennsylvania law giving state aid to private
schools for secular instruction. Attorneys representing seven
nonpublic schools in Pennsylvania said that the Court’s 8-0
decision holding that such assistance would lead to a
church-state “excessive entanglement” was a “standardless
standard lacking any rational basis.”
Brazil Priests Arrested
RECIFE, Brazil (NC) — Police entered Recife archdiocesan
offices here and arrested Father Carmil Vieira at about the same
time another Recife priest, Father Geraldo de Oliveira Lima,
was arrested at the Natal airport 150 miles north of here. Both
were charged with participating in “subversive activities.”
Father Vieira was later released for lack of evidence. But Father
de Oliveira was being held “as a dangerous person,” according to
an announcement made by military authorities. Both priests
work under Archbishop Helder Camara of Olinda and Recife,
leader in a nationwide movement for social justice. The
newspaper Jornal do Brasil said in Rio de Janeiro that federal
agents did not have a warrant to enter the Recife chancery
office. The newspaper’s correspondent in Recife added that
Father de Oliveira had confessed during a summary trial there
and said the priest fainted twice “under nervous tension.”
Defend Refugee Program
WASHINGTON (NC) — The United States government has
ethical and economic reasons for accepting another 100,000
immigrants from Cuba, Archbishop Coleman F. Carroll of
Miami told a Senate subcommittee here. The archbishop spoke
from a prepared text before the Senate Subcommittee on
Appropriations, defending government-sponsored “Freedom
Flights” of Cubans to Florida. The program is being criticized
by some members of Congress. At least one has attempted to
end the “Freedom Flights” this year. Archbishop Carroll first
described “the economic stimulation the Cubans have brought
to the lagging economy of south Florida during the sixties.” He
said Cuban refugees have rehabilitated 20,000 dwelling units,
thus saving government urban renewal money; contributed
2,200 medical doctors to this country; established nearly 3,000
businesses in Dade County, Florida, alone; and paid
“appropriate local, state and federal taxes amounting to millions
of dollars annually.”
College Aid Plan Proposed
TRENTON, N.J. (NC) - When the New Jersey Board of
Higher Education meets here Aug. 6, it is expected to endorse a
proposal to assist New Jersey’s private colleges and universities
through State payments of a specific amount of money for each
degree given. The board reportedly discussed the plan at a
meeting in June and decided to recommend it to the State
legislature for approval. A formal vote of the board is on the
Aug. 6 agenda. The tentative payment scale would be $300 for
an associate of arts degree from a two-year college; $800 for a
bachelor’s degree; $400 for a master’s, and $2,800 for a
doctorate. The proposed payments are based on 15 percent of
the average cost for educating a student in the New Jersey
public college. At current degree-granting rates, the payments
would cost the state about $9 million annually.
SANTIAGO, Chile (NC) — U.S. missionaries in Chile have advised the Nixon
Administration and the American public to judge Chile “more in terms of human
needs and aspirations than in terms of political ideologies.”
In a letter to President
Richard M. Nixon, 79
Catholic and Protestant
missionaries in Chile said they
are disappointed “by the
generally negative reaction of
the United States in regard to
the new direction Chile has
freely chosen.”
Since October an elected
socialist government with
strong Marxist participation
has launched reform
programs in banking, land
tenure, mines and industry.
Copper production, in which
U.S. firms had heavy
investments, has been nation-
nationalized.
“This is an effort to build a
new society, based on a new
man with new values, a
society with a more equal and
just distribution of wealth
and opportunity, in which
there are no privileged classes,
a society based on justice and
solidarity,” the letter said.
Maryknoll priests and
nuns, and members of the
United Methodist Missions
drew the largest number of
signatures. Signing also were
Salesians, Passionists,
Benedictines, Frandiscans and
members of the Sacred Heart
Congregation, as well as a few
diocesan priests.
They said their position “is
based on our active
participation at many levels
in the Chilean reality, and on
a consequent understanding
of the reasons for the option
of socialism.”
Their foremost concern,
they added, is the impact of
changes taking place under
President Salvador Allende
and his Popular Union
coalition on Americans.
“The reaction of the
present administration (in
Washington) has been at best
one of mere tolerance
intended to slight Chile: the
failure to congratulate or
even to recognize Chile’s
elected President Allende at
the time of his election and
the sudden cancellation of
the good-will visit by the U.S.
aircraft carrier (Enterprise).
“President Nixon’s state of
the world message,” the US
missionaries said, “implied
that Chile should follow the
example of Mexico and not
of Cuba, as if the goodness of
i
a government were
determined by the degree to
which it favors the United
States.”
“Voices are heard in the
U.S. press and Congress
advocating economic
sanctions against Chile for the
nationalization of its copper
mines and other industries.”
(In the President’s report
to Congress February 25 on
U.S. Foreign Policy for the
1970’s, President Nixon
praised the economic growth
of Mexico and Brazil and said
Cuba kept itself outside the
Inter-American system by the
military ties with the Soviet
Union and by encouraging
revolution. Regarding Chile,
President Nixon said: “We
ha e strong interest to
cooperate with our neighbors
regardless of their domestic
viewpoints ... Chile is a clear
case in point.”)
The missionaries’ letter
charged, however, that after
the full nationalization in
July of the copper
mines-including some $750
million of U.S. investments-
- “there are clear indications
that U.S. and international
business interests have
attempted to fix copper
prices so that Chile will
receive less for its copper.”
The missionaries cautioned
the Nixon government against
“our country’s long history
of intervention to protect the
foreign investments of private
business.”
They described the many
sectors of society attempting
to steer Chile’s future-econo
mic power groups, the poor,
the organized workers, the
students, the political parties
and the Church.
“Some groups are in basic
disagreement over vision and
goals, others over the means
to achieve the goals,” they
said.
“In many ways the
Catholic Church in Chile is
taking a positive and
cooperative stance in working
toward the goals outlined by
the present government
within a socialist framework,
while maintaining an
independent critical attitude.
“Some groups are striving
for a Marxist-Leninist
socialism, others for a
I
pluralistic socialism. Some
advocate violence, but the
great majority advocate
change within the law and the
democratic process.”
The letter asked President
Nixon to foster a positive
approach and arrest “fears
that the United States might
impose its own solutions on
Chile.” Some foreign policy,
the missionaries said, should:
--“Scrupulously respect
Chile’s right to work out its
own destiny.”
-“Recognize that Chilean
resources are its own” and
keep good U.S. relations with
Chile by avoiding support of
U.S. Private business there.
-“Show cooperation, not
mere toleration,” of Chile’s
efforts, and abstain from
economic sanctions.
The missionary group said
the blockade of Cuba since
1962, has jeopardized its
economy, and the same
would happen if sanctions
were applied to Chile. .
But, the letter said, if
Americans “judge the Chilean
experiment more in terms of
human needs and aspirations
than merely in terms of
political ideologies,” then
“Chile would gain, because it
could develop within an
atmosphere of freedom and
mutual interchange.”
“The United States would
gain, by not marginating
(alienating) itself from the
dynamic forces shaping a new
world order because it failed
to recognize a popular
movement; by l.'ot forcing
Chile to go to other world
powers in search of
understanding and assistance;
by learning from the positive
values of the Chilean
experiment.”
While the missionaries
recognized that some press
reporting of Chilean events
“has been objective, much
has been greatly stereotyped
superficial and alarmist,”
they said.
There are some 300 U.S.
Catholic personnel working in
Chile in 40 religious groups,
mostly in parishes, schools
and medical aid. The United
Methodists have 24
missionaries.
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