Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 2—The Georgia Bulletin, February 1,1973
to
Housing Cutbacks Scorned
BY MARIE MUVLENNA
An official of the U.S. Catholic Conference, the National Conference of Catholic
Charities as well as an interreligious coalition of Jewish, Protestant and Catholic
groups, have all taken strong stands protesting the Nixon administration’s cutback on
low-cost housing as well as proposed cutbacks in programs specifically designed to
combat serious social problems.
The National Conference
of Catholic Charities (NCCC)
commission on housing took
sharp exception to the
cutback in housing, terming it
“an indication of the lack of
concern of the administration
for the housing needs of the
poor and near poor.” The
group, which is the chief
coordinating agency for
Catholic Charities social
welfare programs throughout
the nation, blasted the recent
governmental action in a
policy statement saying “the
principal victims of this
action are the thousands of
poor and near poor who for
many reasons must rely on
subsidized housing for a
decent place to live.”
In January, George
Romney, outgoing secretary
of the Department of
Housing and Urban
Development (HUD)
announced an indefinite
moratorium on federally
subsidized housing units not
already in process and the
Farmers’ Home
Administration then followed
suit with an 18 month
moratorium on rural housing
programs involving subsidy.
The NCCC rapped the
administration’s action as
“precipitous and unilateral,”
claiming it will also have an
adverse effect on the nation’s
economy and unemployment
picture.
John Cosgrove, director of
the Urban Affairs Division of
the U.S. Catholic Conference
(USCC), said proposed
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cutbacks in programs “all
appear to trace a pattern of
‘benign neglect’ of millions of
Ameri cans. ” Cosgrove
referred as well to cuts in
old-age assistance and aid to
dependent children, terming
them of “the greatest
urgency” and stating that “a
way must be found to
increase rather than decrease
their (older Americans)
income.”
Citing the proposed
reduction of welfare
assistance, elimination of
certain other services, and the
combination of still other
programs, Cosgrove stated
“we would also strongly urge
reconsideration of the
proposed policies that would
combine planning programs
for economic, public facilities
and overall community
development programs.”
Cosgrove said a proposal to
permit states to deny welfare
benefits to children of
strikers “has never been the
intent of Congress nor has it
been upheld by the courts.
The criterion for welfare,
particularly for children,
should be simply one of
whether there is need.”
Proposals for freezes would
effect community and
regional health programs,
welfare aid, aid to dependent
children, elimination of the
Community Relations
Service, combining of the
Economic Development
Administration and HUD
programs which are designed
to help orderly planning of
communities and public
facilities improvements, as
well as the halt on subsidies
for low and moderate
housing. Cosgrove called on
the Nixon administration for
“more action and less
reorganizing. ”
The Interreligious
Coalition for Housing,
composed of representatives
of all denominations, has
called upon President Nixon
to end the housing
moratorium, terming the
moratorium an action that
will hurt poor and middle
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income families and cause
damage to the construction
industry. The coalition has
also asked the Congress to
delay confirmation of key
administration positions if
the president does not show
“a genuine interest in
honoring commitments to
housing for the poor and
aged.” The coalition is
seeking Congressional open
hearings on housing needs,
stating that the
administration’s new
moratorium will merely “ask
the poor to wait 18 months
while it seeks to come up
with new answers.” The
group contends that the
Nixon administration had
four years to develop
workable housing programs as
alternatives to existing ones.
“In the meantime the poor
must continue to wait and
suffer.”
In 1972, about 340,000
units were produced under
the subsidies not affected by
the administration cutback.
H UD secretary George
Romney indicated the
moratorium would not halt
250,000 units which had
been earlier approved, but a
spokesman for the
Interrrreligious Coalition
termed this “far short of the
annual goal of 600,000 units
per year in order to reach the
10-year needs of six million
units of low-moderate income
housing.”
The NCCC commission
stated that 12,000 housing
units had been sponsored
under subsidy programs by
Catholic Church-related
groups between 1969 and
1971. Another 8,140 were
under construction or in
planning stages at the end of
1971. An NCCC spokesman
said the present figures are
probably higher because
“Church involvement in this
area has been increasing
steadily.”
“Teach-In”
F or Life Set
The Sisters of Charity at
St. Mary’s School, Rome,
Georgia were hosts at a
TEACH-IN FOR LIFE on
Wednesday, January 24 to
approximately 75
participants. The event was
planned through the
combined efforts of the
Sisters of Charity and St.
Joseph’s College,
Emmitsburg, Maryland. The
program began at 4 p.m. with
a welcome by Sister Mary
Aolysius, principal, followed
by a presentation on the
REALITY OF ABORTION
by Jay and Cherie Bowman,
chairman and executive
secretary of the Georgia
Right to Life Committee.
At 5 p.m. a preview of
media was presented,
affording participants the
opportunity to familiarize
themselves with the latest
audio-visual methods of
instructing youth on the
legislative, medical and
scientific viewpoints on
abortion.
Workshops conducted by
Sister Adele Francis and
Sister Margaret Hughes, both
from Emmitsburg, stressed
the positive approach for
youth on the national,
regional and local levels in
counteracting the pragmatic
influence of our society.
Two suggested readings at
the TEACH-IN were:
HANDBOOK ON
ABORTION by Dr. and Mrs.
J. C. Willke, available from
Hiltz Publishing Co., 6304
Hamilton Ave., Cincinnati,
Ohio 45224 - $1 and a
Pro-Life Report on
Population Growth and the
American Future by Randy
Engel, available from
Pennsylvanians for Human
Life, 240 North 3rd Street,
Suite 1205, Harrisburg, Pa.,
17101 - $.75 (Both may be
ordered from Georgia Right
to Life Committee, P. O. Box
49211, Atlanta, 30329)
At 7:30 p.m. dinner was
served by the Knights of
Columbus in the cafetorium.
The Bowmans were
accompanied by Shirley
Williams, co-chairman of the
« G.R.L.C.
WHITE HOUSE PRAYER SERVICE
-- Archbishop Joseph L. Bernardin of
Cincinnati (left) joins Rabbi Edgar
Magnin (right) of Los Angeles and Dr.
Billy Graham in posing for
photographers with President and Mrs.
Nixon. The president is directing the
First Lady to the right spot. The group
took part in an ecumenical prayer service
at the White House Sunday. (NC Photo)
Last Americans in Vietnam
Will Be Healing Wounds
PHILADELPHIA (NC) -
The last American in Vietnam
will not be dropping bombs
but healing wounds.
That is the view of Father
John J. McVeigh, the
Philadelphia-born priest who
heads Catholic Relief Services
in Vietnam.
‘‘Reconstruction,
relocation and rehabilitation”
are the three tasks which
Father McVeigh said he and
his associates will be tackling
when the fighting
stops-although another “R”,
for relief, has been the
agency’s continuing task in
Southeast Asia and
throughout the world fqr
more than 25 years.
In Vietnam, Father
McVeigh supervises the
distribution of food, clothing
and medical supplies to
325,000 persons a month,
most of them in institutions,
leprosaria and orphanages.
Catholics and Buddhists are
the recipients of this aid,
Father McVeigh noted, and
no indication of religious
preference in the distribution
of aid is tolerated.
To help the Vietnamese to
help themselves, special
socio-economic development
projects are sponsored, with
the aid being distributed
through CRS auspices after
grants are obtained from
foundations and relief
organizations throughout the
world.
Among the self-help
projects are vocational and
nursing training, irrigation
projects and special
agricultural equipment
programs. Assistance in
funding such programs is
both international and
ecumenical, Father McVeigh
noted, with specific grants
coming from such widely
diverse sources as Danish
Church Aid and the American
Raskob Foundation.
One of the largest CRS
programs in Vietnam,
however, continues to be
refugee relief, Father
McVeigh said. The latest
fighting in Vietnam produced
more than 1.2 million
refugees, many of whom have
been forced from their homes
for the second or third time.
CRS is working in nine of
the 14 dioceses of South
Vietnam to supplement
government refugee relief
efforts. Among the items
provided for the refugees by
CRS are dried fish, soy sauce,
vegetables and soap. In
refugee centers near DaNang,
special plastic kits with food
and clothing are given to each
person who has fled to the
overcrowded refugee camps.
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At their recent meeting,
the South Vietnamese
bishops specifically sought
reassurance that CRS relief
workers would not be leaving
with the American soldiers.
The only problem that
Father McVeigh can see on
the horizon is the apparent
diminishing interest of
American Catholics in such
international relief efforts.
“I can understand that
people are tired and fed up
RELIEF SERVICES
with the whole conflict,” he
said. “But if a sensible
solution is reached, I’m sure
that we’ll continue to have a
favorable reaction to our
relief appeals.”
Such a favorable reaction,
he noted, is needed this year
more than ever-with 1.2
million refugees looking to
American Catholics for help
and with more than 300,000
orphaned, sick and maimed
dependent on CRS assistance.
North Vietnam Aid
Expands Program
NEW YORK (NCJ-
Catholic Relief Services
(CRS) hopes to provide direct
aid to North Vietnam after
the truce, according to bishop
Edward E. Swanstrom,
executive director of the U.S.
Catholics’ overseas aid
agency.
“If the government of
North Vietnam permits, we
will try to do what we can
there,” said Bishop
Swanstrom.
He also said that the CRS
has sent a “task force” over
to South Vietnam to see how
the relief agency could step
up its programs and
restructure them in the wake
of the ceasefire. “We have to
find out what the
governments will be doing,”
he said, “in order to know
how we can best coordinate
our programs with theirs.”
Bishop Swanstrom said the
CRS “has been laying out
plans for some time” in
anticipation of an eventual
truce. But, he added, the
specifics of the plans will
depend on how the post-war
situation develops.
The bishop said that CRS
programs would also be
stepped up in Cambodia and
Laos. “I met with a
representative of the
Cambodian government just
last week to discuss increased
programs there,” he said.
The executive director
admitted that CRS has been
rebuffed in past efforts to
provide aid in North
Vietnam. “We are hoping that
situation will change now,”
he said.
He pointed out that CRS
will be coordinating its
efforts in Southeast Asia with
Catholic charities agencies of
other countries, with Caritas
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Catholic charities
organization, and with Cor
Unum, the papal umbrella
organization for Catholic
relief and aid agencies. If CRS
cannot provide direct aid to
North Vietnam, he said, it
will still help indirectly
through its cooperation with
the other agencies.
Meanwhile, the American
Friends Service Committee
(AFSC) in Philadelphia
announced a new
million-dollar campaign to
more than double its war
relief work in North and
South Vietnam.
YWCA to Present
Discussion Series
As a public service the
Atlanta YWCA will hold a
“Great Decisions” discussion
group at the Midtown YWCA
Center, 45 Eleventh Street,
February 16 at 12:30 p.m.
There is no cost for this
program.
“Great Decisions” is a
series of eight TV programs
made available by the Foreign
Policy Association in an
effort to better inform the
public on the major issues of
American foreign policy.
Discussion groups meet for
more in-depth study, an
exchange of ideas and an
indication of opinions to
government officials. It is
recommended that participants
watch the programs on TV in
advance if possible. The first
program will be shown on
February 6 at 7:30 p.m. on
Channel 8.
A book for further study
of the material presented is
available for $3.00 through
Mrs. Eva Driscoll at the
YWCA, 892-6374. Please call
this number in advance if you
plan to attend. Bring a
sandwich, coffee and cokes
will be available at the
YWCA.
Noted Author Speaks
To Atlanta Parents
BY MARIE MULVENNA
Noted teacher and author, Delores Curran, made it a
double header in Atlanta last week, speaking at Christ
the King Monday evening and again on Tuesday
morning at St. Jude’s parish.
Mrs. Curran, mother of three, addressed large groups
each time telling them to get involved as parents in the
religious formation of their children. She chided
“Baltimore parents,” those who rely on what Father or
Sister teaches their offspring.
“We don’t have to be helpless as parents,” she said,
urging her listeners to seek expert help in preparing
themselves as the primary educators of children.
Mrs. Curran described
many Catholic parents when
she said some parents feel
they have no expertise,
saying, “I’m not ordained or
anything like that.” She
claimed their role as parent
was commitment enough for
them to seek ways to educate
their children with
confidence, calling for open
communication between
husband and wife to achieve
this aim.
She drew chuckles from
her audiences with the
description of a “martyr
complex” common to
modern mothers who spend
vast amounts of time
arranging various liturgical
practices in the home only to
find the kids arguing about
who will blow out the
candles. “For so many
mothers, who play master of
ceremonies trying to set
something up, it turns out to
be a failure.” Mrs. Curran
added, “You just can’t tell a
child to put on your Church
face, we’re going to
celebrate.”
In line with maternal
involvement and the lack of
fatherly involvement in many
instances, Mrs. Curran said,
“Fathers are indeed strange
people.” The image of the
Catholic father in the family,
she related, is not one of
involvement but one of
“letting mother do it.” Mrs.
Curran said children are
aware of this reluctance and
more and more women don’t
want to have the total
responsibility for religious
education any longer. She
stated more and more fathers
are stepping into the role of
co-partner with the mother in
the area of religious training.
Mrs. Curran said many
husband and wives feel
embarrassment at discussing
religion and the values they
wish to impart to their
offspring. She urged parents
to seek expert help from their
parishes and learn how to use
new methods for teaching
their children, including the
use of para-liturgical events in
the home.
Many parents contend they
are not teachers, but Mrs.
Curran counters that theory
by saying a parent knows
better than anyone how
much her child can absorb
and how to best reach him.
She explained a general
statement that “all
eight-year-olds SHOULD . . .”
is impossible to apply, saying
children react differently at a
certain age, even children
within one family. “There is
no one technique;” she
stated, “we have to use
different methods for each
child.”
“We can no longer accept
the old guidelines that if we
put a child here for a certain
number of years he is going
to come out a good Catholic
for life,” she said, explaining
that not merely placing a
child in a parochial school
was the end of the parental
obligation to teach them their
faith. “We must become
expert, even if we don’t feel
we now are, in order to fill
our child’s needs.”
Concerning those who feel
they do not know their
religion well enough to
impart it to their children,
she commented, “that’s an
indictment of our own
religious formation,” adding
that it was a duty to learn
what we did . not know
through adult groups
discussion groups,
communications with spouse,
etc.
Throughout her talk, Mrs.
Curran stressed the need for
family experience, celebrating
together and maintaining
open communication.
Bishop Head of New York
Named Bishop of Buffalo
WASHINGTON (NC) - Auxiliary Bishop Edward D.
Head of New York has been named bishop of Buffalo,
N.Y., a position that has been vacant since the death
last September of Bishop James A. McNulty.
The appointment made by Pope Paul VI, was
announced here by Archbishop Luigi Raimondi,
apostolic delegate in the United States.
Bishop Head, 53, has been
executive director of Catholic
Charities of the New York
archdiocese since 1966. He
was named an auxiliary of
Cardinal Terence Cooke in
1970.
Bishop Head
Bishop Head, a native of
White Plains, N.Y., attended
Catholic schools in New York
City, Cathedral College, and
St. Joseph’s Seminary in
Dunwoodie.
He was ordained by
Cardinal Francis Spellman in
1945 and later studied at
Columbia University where
he earned a master’s degree in
social work.
Bishop Head subsequently
worked in several parishes
and taught at Notre Dame
College, Staten Island.
Bishop Head serves on the
U.S. bishops’ Committee for
the Spanish-speaking, Welfare
Emergency Relief
Committee, and is an advisor
to the Permanent Diaconate
Committee.
Bishop Head is also
chairman of the USCC Health
Affairs Committee and a
member of the USCC
Communications Committee.
The Buffalo diocese has
one of the largest percentages
of Catholics in the total
population of the diocese.
More than half of the
1,758,000 persons residing in
the diocese are Catholics.