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Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta
Vol. 16 No. 32
Thursday, September 14,1978
$5 Per Year
'Jaitivi Tiul
The Wonderful World
Don’t go looking for much on
The Tube this season. It isn’t
there. From the infantile line
offered in previews, it is back to
the old reliables on Channel 17 or
a relook at reruns, that will salvage
your long winter television
evenings.
It is to be expected. That
pathetic duo, Laveme and Shirley,
have topped the charts for too
many seasons to remember.
N e t w o r k
think-tank
executives
t Mt'" believe that only
a male pretty
face can stop
their runaway
nonsense.
Hence, the
introduction of
weak-kneed,
f o o t ball-free,
over-the-hill-
-hobo, Joe
Namath. If good old Broadway
Joe makes the fourth quarter
without substitution, it will only
be by minor miracle.
Who do we blame? This most
ingenious of all modern miracles
responds to the taste of the
armchair public. For the most part
the majority has been silent - and
most enduring. The rest have run
for cover to the pages of the
paperback. Too bad.
But television has blazed many
glorious trails. One of them has to
be the dreams of Walt Disney.
This year we celebrate a quarter of
a century of his Wonderful World
coming to us from the box. They
have been masterful years of color
and sublime ingenuity. We can be
fooled into relegating Disney to
the arena of kindergarden
believers, but for the sake of that
unique artistry, we all become
willing members of his Small,
Small World.
We remember him best for the
flesh he provided for his dolls. He
aminated the drama of the girl
among the cinders and presented
the beautiful Cinderella - whose
Prince did persist and find her. He
gave life to those chatty swarm of
dwarfs whose only moments of
silence were dreamily given to the
bossy but beautiful Snow White.
And in the presentation of
Pinocchio he mixed the miracle.
The real and the animated shared
the billing. He saw endless
possibilities and carefully
actualized them to the gaping
amazement of an admiring public.
Disney’s dreams were no
overnight winners. For years the
Hollywood hot shots laughed at
his scatterbrained ideas. Who
would blaze the box office path to
see a big-eared mouse talk?
Millions did. And Mickey Mouse
became the darling of Beverly
Hills. Donald, the perennially
persecuted Duck followed, and
easily became hot box office
material. Spin-off characters
flowed and became top choice
among “shorts” for all ages
savoring that weekly pilgrimage to
the movies.
All cultures, languages and
economic inclines welcomed
Disney with open arms. To their
usually blind credit, even the
networks saw his genius and
established his famed Wonderful
World as a welcome part of our
television ritual.
Walt Disney is no longer with
us, but his dreams linger in the
safe hands of his high priests. As
new seasons stumble, his fantasy
merely enhances the terrible
trauma that is The Tube.
SHARING me LIGHT OF WITH
THE CATHOLIC
.... The Anchorman
BY MICHAEL MOTES
“For years I thought I was the
heir-apparent to Dave Garroway and
would someday serve as host of the
TODAY show on NBC.
Unfortunately, I was obviously the
only person who thought so. There
have been a lot of hosts since early
days of Garroway, but I haven’t been
asked YET!”
Ill discussing his versatile career in
broadcasting, Dave Michaels,
anchorman on WXIA-TV’s
“Eleven-Alive Newsroom” each
Monday through Friday at 6 and 11
p.m., points out that not being the
host of TODAY is one of the few
disappointments he has had in the
business that he thoroughly enjoys.
Growing up on Long Island, N.
Y., Dave’s first dream of being a
broadcaster was as a very young boy
who thought he would like to be
“The Lone Ranger’s” radio
announcer. That’s another job he
didn’t get.
His first real taste of what
broadcasting was all about came
when he landed a job as a page boy
at NBC in New York.
“That was during the ‘Golden Era’
of live television in the early fifties,”
he recalls. “We were really high-class
go-fors, but it was exciting. We
ushered the audiences for ‘Show of
Shows,’ ‘Your Hit Parade’ and the
show hosted by Eddie Fisher. We
also got to take messages backstage
to the stars of ‘Kraft Theater.’”
Dave points out that among
others who served as page boys
before beginning more lucrative
careers are Gregory Peck, Gene
Rayburn and his all-time idol,
TODAY host Garroway.
At the age of about 19, Dave got
his first job as an announcer at a
Mutual Radio Network affiliate in
Binghamton, N. Y. Here he worked
as a disc jockey and presented
evening newscasts.
He was drafted while working at
this station and began a two-year
hitch with Uncle Sam.
“Actually, I probably could have
spent less time in the Army,” Dave
says. “On the radio show I hosted, I
interviewed the local Army recruiting
(Continued on page 6)
Dave Michaels
J
New Pro-Life Groups
A new politicial action effort - one that is a phase of the Atlanta Archdiocesan
Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities but which is intended to be non-partisan and
non-sectarian - has been organized here in six congressional districts.
Commonly call Pro-Life Congressional District Action Committees, or CDAC
programs, such committees have been established in the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh,
ninth and tenth congressional districts of Georgia. It was reported at a recent national
meeting that congressional district committees have been formed or are in the process
of being established in about 68 percent of the 435 congressional districts in the
United States.
The immediate objective of these committees is to educate their constituents to the
need for a Human Life Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Such an amendment
would restore legal protection to the unborn - protection which was virtually removed
in 1973 when the U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion on demand during the entire
nine months of pregnancy.
The Congressional District Action Committee is a “broad-based non-sectarian
citizens’ lobby” committed to “congressional accountability through pro-life citizen
awareness.” The CDAC is a part of the Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities which was
adopted by the U.S. bishops in 1975. The bishops’ plan calls for the formation of
committees in each congressional district and describes the task of these committees as
being “essentially political... to organize people to help persuade the elected
representatives.”
The bishops’ Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities refers to the Congressional District
Action Committee as “an agency of the citizens, operated, controlled, and financed by
these same citizens. It is not an agency of the Church, nor is it operated, controlled, or
financed by the Church.”
Each Congressional District Action Committee has a steering committee which is
responsible for its overall direction. Mr. Bill Nursey and Miss Mary Kay Davis oversee
the fourth district. Miss Karen Gunner chairs the fifth district. The sixth district
steering committee membership includes Mrs. Rose Kinkella, Mrs. Annette
Schimmelman, Bill Foley, Mrs. Anne Lyons and Bob Williams. Mrs. Mary Marvich,
Mrs. Emily Moore and Jim Martin serve on the seventh district steering committee. In
the ninth district, Mrs. Shirley Williams, Mrs. Ruth Lammers, Mike Bruning, Mr. and
Mrs. Bob Joseph, and Mrs. Lynn Rhinehardt are the steering committee members. The
steering committee membership in the tenth district is still being recruited from the
four active pro-life communities in that district.
The CDAC’s are complementary to, and often share the membership of,
inter-denominational efforts, professional groups, Georgia Right to Life, Archdiocesan
groups, and pregnancy counseling and assistance groups. They are bi-partisan,
non-sectarian, and inclined toward political action.
As such, the CDAC’s differ from the Archdiocesan Pro-Life Action Committee,
whose task is educational and motivational, not political, and whose range of action
includes a variety of efforts calculated to reverse the present atmosphere of
permissiveness with respect to abortion. The Pro-Life Action Committee, formed one
year ago, serves to coordinate parish groups and activities within the Archdiocese,
particularly efforts to effect passage of a constitutional amendment to protect the
unborn child.
In its coordinating role, the Committee relies on information and direction from
the Bishops’ Pro-Life Office and the National Committee for a Human Life
Amendment. Its primary objective is to educate, and coordinate others to educate the
community, on: the development of the unborn child; the radical nature of the
Supreme Court decisions on abortion; and the need for a Human Life Amendment to
overturn those decisions.
The Committee also serves as an educational resource for all the CDAC’s. Through
the Committee, speakers are available to address church, civic, educational and
neighborhood groups. Father Edward J. Dillon serves as director of the Archdiocesan
Pro-Life Action Committee, and Miss Kathryn Buckley is the Committee’s
Coordinator.
For further information on the Congressional District Action Committees and the
Pro-Life Action Committee, call 881-0956.
New Parish Has A Name
The Catholic Church in Fairbum has been officially named Saint Matthew’s
Catholic Church by Archbishop Thomas Donellan. The name was decided upon after
consultation with parishioners. The church is on the site of the former Bishop & Pope
Funeral Home at 104 West Campbell ton Street in Fairburn and has been in service for
two months. An official dedication service will be held on October 29.
Saint Matthew’s Catholic Church will serve the over 200 Catholics living in the
South Fulton area including Fairburn, Tyrone, Union City, Palmetto, College Park,
East Point, and other surrounding areas. The church is under the direction of Fathers
James Noonan and Joseph Baxer and Sister Linda Maser.
The schedule of religious services is as follows: Wednesday, 7:30 p.m.; Friday, 9:30
a.m.; Saturday, 5 p.m.; and Sunday, 9 and 11:30 a.m.
Additional services include a nursery, available during both Sunday Masses, and
religious education classes, available for children from three years of ages through
teenagers and for adults. The schedule of the religious education classes will begin on
September 17. Classes follow the early Mass and begin at 10:15 a.m. Further
information about the church and its services is available by calling the i liurch at
964-5804.
Papal-Minded President
WASHINGTON (NC) -- When Pope Paul VI died Aug. 6, President Jimmy Carter
praised him in a statement and sent a telegram of condolence to each American
Catholic bishop. The next day, Carter stopped during a trip to New York City to sign a
loan guarantee bill to pay his respects to Cardinal Terence Cooke.
On Sept. 7, Vice President Walter Mondale met with seven reporters from the
religious press to discuss his half hour audience with Pope Paul’s successor, Pope John
Paul I.
The White House handling of the death of one pope and the election of another
between those two dates was, on one level, the kind of ceremonial response expected
of a president.
But it was also a small political campaign in which Carter sought to shore up his
support among Catholics and maintain ties to a foreign policy ally.
The White House consulted outside experts, including Bishop Thomas Kelly,
general secretary of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, in drawing up the
delegations to the papal funeral and inaugural.
Bishop Kelly says Carter handled the papal transition with exceptional “dignity.”
“He managed it very well,” he said. “It was a good political event and a good
(Continued on page 6)