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PAGE 7—January 13, 1977
IN BALTIMORE
Arms Race Deplored By Cardinal
BALTIMORE (NC)
major U.S. observ
Detroit deplored the nuclear arms
race and called for a “hightened
moral sense” among Catholics.
He also urged Catholics to express
their “moral convictions through
political action.”
Cardinal Dearden was the principal
speaker at a Mass of Peace here Jan.
2. Fourteen prelates from other
dioceses joined five from Baltimore
at the observance.
Before the Mass two members of
Jonah House, a self-described
“nonviolent resistance community”
here founded by Philip Berrigan and
others, walked down the center aisle
into the sanctuary and unfurled two
banners which read “Uncle Sam Has
Chosen the Legions of Death,” and
“Choose Then: Disarm or Dig
Graves.” They stood holding the
banners on either side of the main
altar in front of Archbishop Jean
Jadot, apostolic delegate in the
United States.
Elizabeth McAlister, wife of Philip
Berrigan, later commented, “We
rejoice that the bishops are coming
together on disarmament, and yet
very few are coming very late.” The
purpose of the demonstration, she
In the
first
said,
was to “do more than
talk
e of
the
about
disarmament; we must
resist
l Day
of
with '
our lives.”
Dearden
of
Drawing on Pope Paul Vi’s
Christmas peace message, Cardinal
Dearden told some 1,300 people that
now, with the world relatively
peaceful, is the time to defuse the
threat of nuclear war.
Echoing the Pontiff, Cardinal
Dearden also spoke out against
legalized abortion, saying that peace
is the result of a respect for life in
all stages of development.
“To respect life,” he said, “is to
preserve it from those conditions
that threaten it. The widespread
phenomenon of violence is
destructive of life. It reflects a
diminished sense of the worth of
human life. To maim, to injure, to
destroy — all are products of this
mania.”
The cardinal criticized the
entertainment industry, saying its
promotion of violence is “itself a
disservice to human life.
“And,” he continued, “to extol it,
to offer it for entertainment as does
television and the motion picture is
to cast a sad reflection on the
society which has nurtured this
profound disrespect for human life
and its intrinsic worth.”
The cardinal also expressed
concern over what he called “a sort
of fatalism,” an attitude promoting
noninvolvement in shaping “the
course of events in a way that leads
to peace.”
The cardinal said that Pope Paul’s
reminder that “peace is a duty,
peace is possible” is “penetrated
with realism and at the same time
with Christian hope and trust.
“It does not dismiss or discount
the hard, inescapable realities of the
road to be traversed,” he said. “But
traverse the road we must — else
mankind faces an unimaginable
alternative.”
Cardinal Dearden reminded citizens
of their responsibility to ensure that
the power of the United States is
used in a morally responsible way.
“The only check on power is
moral responsibility,” he said. “And
this applies whether the power is
wielded on the international,
national, or even local community
level.”
In calling for a sense of moral
responsibility, the cardinal asked:
“Where can it be shown more
clearly than in our entire attitude
toward nuclear weaponry? We know
it; we have experienced its
devastating potential.”
He said the “overriding concern”
should be to curb the “fanatical
irrational arms race” and the “secret
rivalry between people for military
superiority.” The churchman later
called on President-elect Jimmy
Carter to push the Strategic Arms
Limitation Talks with the Soviet
Union.
The cardinal suggested that the
money spent on arms could be
channelled to “schools, culture,
agriculture and civic welfare.”
Bishop Carroll Dozier of Memphis,
a member of the board of Pax
Christi USA, Catholic peace
movement, said the Jan. 2
observance here was an attempt to
“give impetus” to the World Day of
Peace.
“We’re not just demonstrating:
we’re interested in work, study and
leadership,” said the bishop, adding
that Pax Christi USA is trying to
build up an attitude of peace by
organizing scholarly studies on
college campuses throughout the
country.
Bishop Thomas Gumbleton,
auxiliary of Detroit, also on the
board of Pax Christi USA, said that
the movement in this country is an
attempt to “use the resources of the
1960s peace movement.”
Capital Punishment Opposed: Aid For Victims Asked
WASHINGTON (NC) - Cardinal
William Baum of Washington has
issued a statement opposing the
death penalty and asking aid for
victims of crime.
In his statement Cardinal Baum
quoted from a study paper of the
Pontifical Commission for Justice and
Peace which said “for the ethical
values and because of the lack of
probative arguments to the contrary,
the abolition of capital punishment
is to be supported.”
“I ask you to reflect prayerfully
on this conclusion, which I
personally share,” the cardinal said.
Cardinal Baum discussed opposition
to the death penalty as a
development of Church teaching.
“The word of God is not
evaluated by the prevailing social and
cultural conditions,” he said. “On
the contrary, it is the word of God
which evaluates these conditions.”
FED. GOVERNMENT
But, he said, there are “other
kinds of moral judgments” which are
“the result of a growing awareness
on the part of believers (and others)
concerning the implications of God’s
plans for human development.
“These implications become clearer
as social and cultural conditions
change. The abolition of capital
punishment is a development of this
kind.
“Contemporary attempts to restore
capital punishment represent a
setback to the growing moral
awareness of humanity concerning
the God-given gift of life.”
Linking capital punishment to
abortion and violence, Cardinal Baum
said the same value - human life --
is involved.
“In my opinion, it is this overall
concern about the dignity of human
life which defines the ‘pastoral’ need
to speak out against the restoration
of capital punishment,” he said.
Noting that the U.S. bishops’
recent pastoral on moral values calls
on Catholics who “experience
difficulty” with the Church’s
teachings to undertake “a prayerful
and studied reconsideration of their
position,” Cardinal Baum said, “I ask
those who support the restoration of
capital punishment to do likewise.”
Turning to the problem of the
victims of crime, Cardinal Baum
said: “If we are going to ask them
to understand our rejection of
capital punishment, then we must do
everything in our power not only to
care for them and alleviate their
sufferings, but to work for legislation
and policies which express a concern
for their plight and in this way give
witness to our society’s sense of
justice.”
Hiring Of Catholics Urged
MILWAUKEE (NC) - Arguing that
“American Catholics have historically
been very greatly underrepresented in
federal appointments,” the Catholic
League for Religious and Civil Rights
has urged President-Elect Jimmy
Carter to step up hiring of Catholics
in federal jobs.
The request came in a letter from
the League’s executive director,
Stuart Hubbell.
“No one, of course, would expect
appointment of such individuals
solely on the basis of their religion,
but it is surely clear that qualified
persons of the Catholic faith have
been systemetically or otherwise
excluded from consideration in the
past,” Hubbell said.
Three of Carter’s 15 Cabinet-level
nominees so far are Catholic —
Joseph Califano, Secretary of Health,
Education and Welfare; George
Schultze, chairman of the President’s
Council of Economic Advisers and
Zbigniew Brzezinski, director of the
National -Security Council.
The League has not yet received a
reply to its letter, but a Carter
transition spokesman said this was
probably because the transition staff
has not been able to handle all its
mail.
Another transition staffer, Matthew
Coffey, director of the Talent
Inventory Program, said his office is
including “ethnics” in its outreach
programs which also include women
and minorities.
Citing evidence that Catholics have
been underrepresented in federal
positions in the past, Hubbell noted,
“In the history of the United States
Supreme Court, only five Catholics
have ever been appointed to that
body. As another example, the
Securities and Exchange Commission
has in the last 10 years had only
one identifiable Catholic among its
members.”
“The Federal Register, December
29, 19 7 1,” Hubbell said,
“summarized the situation generally
in terms which may apply to the
federal government with even harsher
truth when it stated: ‘Experience has
indicated that members of various
religious groups, primarily the Jews
and Catholics . . . continue to be
excluded from executive,
middle-management and other job
levels because of discrimination based
on their religion.”
IN VIETNAM
SUIT DROPPED - Dominican Sister Philomena, 86, prays in
chapel at Marymount Convent in Tacoma, Wash. The Washington
State Department of Social and Health Services has withdrawn a
suit charging the convent, which houses eight elderly nuns, with
being a “nursing home” which did not meet state regulations. (NC
Photo)
14 V
WON’T SELL PIETA -- Bishop Giovanni Fallani, chief custodian
of the Vatican art collection, has given a flat “no” to suggestions
that Michelangelo’s Pieta and other art treasures be sold to benefit
the world’s poor. He said the artworks are not the property of the
Pope but belong “to all who have faith in Christ and love of art.”
(NC Photo)
Should Pieta Be Sold
To Benefit Poor?
VATICAN CITY (NC) - Should Pope Paul VI sell Michelangelo’s Pieta and
the Vatican museums to benefit the world’s poorest people?
Bishop Giovanni Fallani, the Vatican prelate who is chief custodian of its
art, gave his reasons for answering “no” in the weekly magazine, L’Osservatore
della Domenica Dec. 30.
He cited the reflections of former Italian President Luigi Einaudi who said
that Vatican artworks are not the property of the Pope or other officials but
rather “belong to all who have faith in Christ and love of art.”
Among difficulties with the suggestion to see the Pieta and the museums,
the bishop noted that:
- their monetary value could never be determined.
- the clergy, the citizens of Rome and even governments of nations would
be up in arms protesting “the triumph of material goods over spiritual ones.”
- to avoid conflicts and jealousies, the profit of the sales would have to be
distributed on a “catholic” or universal level which would mean that each poor
person might receive one dollar.
- If the Vatican was morally obliged to take such action, then the
Florentines would likewise be obliged to sell the Uffizi Galleries, the Parisians
the Louvre and Spaniards the Prado.
“We would then have the chaos in the artworld and the poor would still
remain poor,” the bishop concluded. “Mankind would no longer have in life’s
difficult moments in the mirror of art where he can find himself.”
The sudden dumping of many great art works on the market would also
automatically devalue the monetary worth of the individual pieces, according to
the bishop.
“The Church has assumed the guardianship of works of art in the name of
all, and she is not a wholesale dealer,” the bishop asserted.
Debate Over Human Rights Is Heating Up
WASHINGON (NC) - The debate
among opponents of the Vietnam
War over the human rights situation
in postwar Vietnam continues to
heat up.
There were three major
developments over New Year’s
weekend:
Some 90 antiwar activists
reissued a letter to the Vietnamese
government accusing it of human
rights violations, saying it held more
than 200,000 political prisoners in
“reeducation” camps. The letter
asked Vietnam to allow inspection of
the camps by the United Nations or
Amnesty International, a human
rights organization.
Dinh Ba Thi, Vietnam’s
permanent observer at the United
Nations told the New York Times
the charges were “groundless
accusations.” He said 95 percent of
all those ever in camps had been
released and had full civil rights
restored. Those remaining in prison
were being held for crimes against
the people or sabotage, he said, and
were being treated with “great
leniency and generosity.”
Five other leading antiwar
activists sent another letter to the
Vietnamese government saying the
first group of activists had acted in
an “irresponsible manner.” This letter
said “new material” received from
Vietnam “gives us confidence that
the new government is deeply
concerned about human rights.” Two
of the five signers — Jesuit Father
Daniel Berrigan and his brother
Philip, leading antiwar activists —
had signed the first letter and then
asked that their names be removed
from it.
The first letter expressing concern
about human rights in Vietnam was
sent to the Vietnamese government
on Nov. 17. The signing was
organized primarily by James Forest
of the Fellowship of Reconciliation,
an interreligious peace group based
in Nyack, N. Y.
Other signers included folk singer
Joan Baez, Roger Baldwin, founder
of the American Civil Liberties
Union, and three Catholic bishops -
Bishops Carroll Dozier of Memphis,
Tenn., Thomas Gumbleton, auxiliary
of Detroit, and John Dougherty,
auxiliary of Newark, N. J.
That letter was returned without
comment by the Vietnamese
government on Dec. 20, Forest said.
The letter was resubmitted on Dec.
29 under the sponsorship of the
International 'League for Human
Rights and a press conference was
held in New York.
The names of nine people
allegedly being held prisoner in the
Vietnamese reeducation camps were
released at the press conference by
Ted Jacqueney, a signer of the letter
and a former State Department
employe who resigned over Vietnam
policy in 1971.
Jacqueney later told NC News
Service that two of the nine were
prominent Catholics Sen. La
Thanh Nghe, a former leader of the
anti-Thieu, anti-Communist Third
Force in Vietnam, and Dr. Nguyen
Van Al, a microbiologist and
president of Catholic Action of
Vietnam.
In the reeducation camps,
Jacqueney said, “people die not of
torture and beatings, as under
(former Vietnamese president Nguyen
Van) Thieu, but of overwork and
disease.”
He said deaths have been reported
from malnutrition, malaria, beriberi
and human minefield sweeping.
Jacqueney said news about the
situation in Vietnam has come from
escapees, visitors and clandestine
correspondents and have been
checked thoroughly for accuracy.
The letter taking issue with the
first letter was organized by Don
Luce, director of Clergy and Laity
Concerned, one of the major peace
groups of the Vietnam era.
Luce told NC News in a
telephone interview that he was not
unconcerned about human rights in
Vietnam. But, he said, he felt the
Forest letter asked the Vietnamese
government to do something it had
already done — allow neutral
observers.
Luce noted that a group of
observers, including Methodist Bishop
James Armstrong of the Dakotas, has
visited Vietnam in April and
returned confident that human rights
were being respected.
He said this visit and reports from
Quaker and Mennonite teams
working in Vietnam indicate that
“the response of the Vietnamese
government has been positive” to
human rights concerns.
Luce also questioned the figure of
200,000 people in reeducation
camps, saying he had never seen it
documented. Many of the people
being “reeducated,” he said, simply
went to meetings and were not
separated from their families.
In addition. Luce said. the
“bloodbath” of up to a million
people predicted by the U.S.
government if North Vietnam won
the war has not happened.
Even some signers of the Forest
letter have qualified their criticisms.
Bishop Gumbleton said the letter
was more an “inquiry'” than a
criticism.
The Rev. Richard Neuhaus, a
Lutheran pastor and cofunder of
Clergy and Laity Concerned, said:
“I’m not accusing the Vietnamese
government of everything that has
been charged . . .
“We believe all governments tell
lies — certainly the United States
government does, and there is no
reason to exempt the Vietnamese
government.”