Newspaper Page Text
Gejorgia
Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta
Vol. 13 No. 7
Thursday, February 13,1975
$5 PER YEAR
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THE ATLANTA PRIESTS’ SENATE has a new
executive board. Pictured with Archbishop Donnellan
are Fr. Noel Burtenshaw, Msgr. R. Donald Kiernan, Fr.
Sean Fleury and Fr. Patrick Bishop. The officers were
elected at a meeting of the senate last week at Sacred
Heart Church. More than 40 priests attended the
meeting.
Georgia Catholic Conference Head
Speaks Out for Strict Gun Control
Cheatham E. Hodges, Jr., of Augusta,
Executive Secretary of the Georgia
Catholic Conference, was among those
advocating the passage of strict handgun
control before the Special Judiciary
Committee of the House of
Representatives during the Georgia
General Assembly hearings on handgun
legislation held in Atlanta on Feb. 4.
Hodges prefaced his address to the
General Assembly by citing FBI
Director Clarence M. Kelley’s message
to all law enforcement officials as
printed in the current FBI Law
Enforcement Bulletin.
Quoting Kelley, Hodges stated, “I
advocate two proposals to keep
handguns from those who intend to use
them wrongfully. First, it is essential
that there be adequate local, State and
Federal regulations pertaining to
handguns, and it is imperative that these
regulations be strictly and vigorously
enforced.
“Second, I strongly urge at least
mandatory minimum sentences - stiffer
penalties for those persons convicted of
a crime where a handgun is used. Only
persons who can meet the provisions of
local, State and Federal regulations
should be lawfully able to possess
handguns. Violaters should face the
stem penalties enacted by concerned
legislators supported by an enroused
public.”
The text of Hodges’ address follows:
“We are faced with a serious
consequence of attacks on persons from
all walks of life. The safety of a person
is seriously threatened when these
things happen. These attacks occur
when people fail to realize that they
have the obligation of respecting other
people. Society succeeds in promoting
the common welfare of its members
only to the extent that the common life
of its members is ruled by order and
peace.
“We must accept, that peace and
order are gained through the practice of
justice; and justice tells us that everyone
has both rights and obligations. Rights
are those things that any person can
expect simply because he is a person.
An obligation is the duty of all men to
respect the rights of others. We cannot
separate one from the other.
“So long as any one person refuses to
respect these fundamental principals
men have the right to join together and
write laws to protect the health and
welfare of society. A good handgun
control law is the obligation of society.
The safety and well being of everyone
must be the first concern of society
since society has the only means of
establishing laws.
“Vigorous public support is needed
to establish realistic handgun controls.
Arguments against handgun controls are
that sportsmen and wildlife people
should not be restricted because of
criminal abuses, and that the ‘Rights of
people to keep and bear arms’ is an
inviolable guarantee under the
constitution.
“Are sportsmen impaired because the
handgun is registered? Is the right of
any person violated when he is robbed,
wounded or put to death by the use of a
handgun?
“When we speak of ‘Constitutional
Rights’ we must remember that
embodied in those constitutional rights
are the higher more precious rights,
“The shocking facts of the lack of
handgun controls are inconceivable.
Some actual facts can bring this reality
to us. These figures are current Federal
Bureau of Investigation figures through
November, 1974.
“In 1974, 132 local, State, and
Federal law enforcement officers were
killed; 128 were killed by firearms, 82
were handgun killings; 52 were killed in
Southern states alone; four were killed
in Georgia. In 1973, 131 law officers
were killed; 124 were killed by firearms;
90 were handgun killings; eight Georgia
policemen were killed in 1973 from use
of the handgun.
“The FBI further reports that in the
period from 1964 to 1973, 858 law
officers Were killed; 613 were handgun
deaths. In 1973, 19,510 murders were
committed in the United States; 53
percent of these were murders inflicted
by the use of a handgun.
“To speak of the tragedy reported by
these figures does not tell the entire
story. There are many other statistics
which have been presented to you and
to the public which show attacks and
deaths inflicted upon individuals -
individuals who are guaranteed their
human rights. It is these people to
whom we are all responsible and for
whom a strict handgun law must be
enacted.”
Atlanta Senate of Priests
Elects Monsignor Kiernan
“This new executive board is a great
team which can and will work
together.”
This is the outlook of Msgr. R.
Donald Kiernan, the newly-elected
president of the Atlanta Priests’ Senate.
The new officers were elected in a
general meeting of the senate last week.
More than 40 priests from throughout
the archdiocese were present for the
meeting and election.
Fr. Noel Burtenshaw was elected
vice-president; Fr. John Adamski is the
secretary-treasurer and the two
members-at-large are Fr. Sean Fleury,
MSFS and Fr. Patrick Bishop.
Msgr. Kiernan is determined to direct
the senate in a way which will offer
support to the priests and to the people
of the archdiocese. The Atlanta Priests’
Senate is structured so that every priest
in the archdiocese, whether secular or
religious, is a full voting member. The
executive board is responsible for
organizing and facilitating the work of
the senate, but actual decisions are
made by all the priests as a body.
According to the new president the
executive board will make periodic visits
to all the parishes in the archdiocese to
discuss issues, concerns and problems
with all the priests individually. Msgr.
Kiernan also would like the senate to
take an active role in the continuing
education of priests, with special
emphasis on instruction in the new
sacramental rites.
Fr. Burtenshaw echos Msgr. Kieman’s
enthusiasm: “I believe that the senate
can be a forum where the priests can
come together to better understand
their own mission and the mission of
the Church in the Archdiocese of
Atlanta.” “The senate can be an
important source of knowledge for the
archbishop since the priests are directly
in touch with the people who are the
Church.”
The new board intends to get right to
work with an executive meeting this
week.
Archbishop Donnellan was present
for the meeting and in remarks at the
end of the session he commended the
priests for their interest and
participation.
Marist School Is Going Co-Ed
The only secondary school in Atlanta
with an all-male student body - Marist
School - will become coeducational in
August, 1976. Fr. James L. Hartnett,
SM, Marist principal, put an end to a
decade of speculation and debate over
the admission of girls when he
announced the move Feb. 4.
Reasons for the much-discussed
switch are numerous, according to Fr.
Hartnett, but stem basically from
current social, educational and
economic trends.
The year 1976, which marks the
seventy-fifth anniversary of the
founding of Marist, will see young
women in the school’s halls for the first
time. On Oct. 2, 1901, the doors of
Marist College on Ivy Street first opened
to boys. The “new Marist” on
Ash ford-Dun woody Road, built in
1962, will be a new and different place
18 months from now.
In a letter to parents, Fr. Hartnett
said, “Permit me to finally put all
rumors to rest by saying that Marist will
admit young ladies in all grade levels
(7-12) beginning with the school year
1976-77. I know this decision will
please some and displease others. Some
will want to know why; others will want
to know why not. Permit me to take the
easy way out to say that Marist feels
that this is what is called for at the
present time.”
Marist is a private,
college-preparatory day school operated
by the Marist Fathers. Long-standing
traditions, such as compulsory military
training, have given way to change.
Today, Air Force Junior ROTC is
offered to students as an elective course.
Coeducation is the most significant
Cheatham E. Hodges, Jr.
human rights or natural rights. They are
the rights embodied in the entire
Constitution and human rights are not
to be restricted by the indiscriminate
concern for any other selected right.
“The Declaration of Independence
declares stoutly the natural rights of
which I speak and from that
‘Declaration,’ war and all its hardships
were endured so that an undisciplined
oppression could be suppressed. It was
suppressed and the Constitution of the
United States was drawn up around
those natural rights to discipline all
men.
“The General Assembly is now being
asked to enforce that discipline. They
are being asked to carry out the
obligation of society as society’s law
makers by passing a strict handgun
control law.
“As Executive Secretary of the
Georgia Catholic Conference, I ask the
legislature to pass a handgun control
law. I further ask this committee to
specifically recommend House Bill No.
249. This bill puts the responsibility
where it should properly rest and that is
with the‘‘Seller’ and the ‘Buyer.’
Bum+ilVS
Catholic Press A ‘Necessity’
CINCINNATI (NC) -- Most people who receive the Catholic Telegraph read it “every
week” (90.3 percent) and consider the paper “not a luxury but a necessity” (91.4
percent). That’s what subscribers told the Telegraph, Cincinnati archdiocesan
newspaper, in a readership survey conducted last fall, tabulated at the University of
Dayton and reported to the Telegraph’s advisory board recently. The Telegraph has
been the weekly newspaper of the Cincinnati archdiocese since 1831.
Vatican Exhibition
VATICAN CITY (NC) - Pope Paul VI has opened a special Vatican exhibition of
documents connected with the 25 Holy Years thus far declared by the Church of
Rome. They went on exhibition Feb. 7 in an apartment off the Vatican’s secret
archives. These documents range from the original bull issued by Pope Boniface VIII
for the first Holy Year of 1300 to the bull of indiction signed by Pope Paul for the
present 1975 Holy Year.
Bishop Expresses Regrets
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (NC) - Bishop Louis E. Gelineau of Providence has expressed
regret for “the hurt caused” by remarks made by a priest concerning the military rites
of taps and rifle volleys at burial of veterans. Press reports said that the priest, Father
Richard -Desaulniers, 31, assistant pastor at St. Joseph’s Church in Woonsocket, told
family and friends at the graveside service for the late Ernest P. Picard that “whatever
follows after I make the sign of the cross has nothing to do with the Christian rite.”
step in this trend of change. Though the
idea was rejected as recently as five
years ago, attitudes have shifted
dramatically, Fr. Hartnett said. Students
are largely in favor of enrolling girls; and
parents, though divided, generally agree.
“Should a young man be isolated
academically from young women for
four to six years? It puts him at a
disadvantage, in my opinion,” the
principal said. The changing image and
role of women in our society is a big
factor in his view.
Hoped-for social effects of
coeducation are improved behavior,
advanced maturity, and greater
consideration. “The girls should polish
off the rough edges
Fr. Hartnett added.
of the boys,’
Fr. Hartnett, who sees Marist as an
alternative to Arch diocesan Catholic
schools, reported such comments as,
“We are so pleased with what Marist has
done for our sons, we would like our
daughters to have the same
opportunity.”
No one at Marist denies that
coeducation represents a loss of
tradition and the passing of an era.
Undoubtedly, some alumni, parents and
benefactors of Marist will be turned off
by the change. “To them, I would say,
before you abandon us, come and talk
to us and see what we’re doing,” Fr.
Hartnett said.
Variety of Needs
Funded by Drive
Money contributed to the
Archdiocesan Charities Drive meets a
wide variety of needs. A report issued
by the Chancery Office indicated that
last year’s $275,000 collection funded
no fewer than nine separate line items in
the 1973-74 archdiocesan budget.
The largest share of the funding went
toward the archdiocese’s social services
programs.
The annual one-day cash drive has a
goal this year of $300,000. This money
will go toward people-helping service
items already in this year’s fiscal budget.
Without this income the budget would
not balance.
Sunday, March 2, is the day set for
the Drive. On that day, each
wage-earner is asked to contribute $30.
Special Gifts donors are asked for
contributions in excess of $150 and are
being approached by parish drive
representatives now.
Asked about the importance of the
drive, Father Jerry Hardy, Chancellor of
the Archdiocese, said, “There’s no
question that the success of the drive is
essential to our financial picture. But
more importantly, its success is what
enables us to provide the services and
programs that were promised last Spring
when the budget was first being
developed. It’s vital to all of us.”
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Archdiocesan Charities Drive - March 2