Newspaper Page Text
Many Ways To Meet
Needs Of Refugees
BY MICHAEL MOTES
(EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the
second in a series of articles dealing
with the growing number of Boat
People arriving in the Archdiocese of
Atlanta and their needs. This week
we look at the types of sponsors
needed to help with the resettlement
of the homeless refugees.)
In addition to those individuals
who are willing to serve as sponsors
for the ever increasing number of
homeless Asian refugees arriving in
Atlanta in alarming numbers, there
are alternative types of sponsorship
according to Father Jacob Bollmer,
Archdiocesan Director of
Resettlement.
“Not everyone can assume the
responsibility of sponsorship, but
most people can pitch in to one
degree or another to help,” he says.
One suggestion he makes is
through financial donations to the
local resettlement program. All
donations are “ear marked” to
directly help refugees and sponsoring
groups, Father Bollmer explained,
and all donations are tax deductible.
If a financial donation is a
hardship, he suggests donations of
furnishing, clothing, basic household
items or any useful gift that would
help a refugee to begin a new life.
The resettlement Office of the
Archdiocese of Atlanta (881-6571)
will make arrangements to pick up
donated items.
“Another type of assistance that
is very important is to donate your
time,” Father Bollmer says. “We
need help to get the word out to
local community and church groups,
civic associations, business firms and
those who would be potential helpers
to the refugees. This type of help
(Continued on page 6)
Pilgrim John Paul
On The Road Again
VATICAN CITY (NC) - Pope
John Paul II announced Nov. 18 that
he will visit three Turkish cities at
the end of November in a major
effort to promote Christian unity
with the Orthodox Church.
Vatican spokesman, Father
Romeo Panciroli, who a few days
earlier denied the trip was being
planned, said the pope will be in
Turkey Nov. 28-Dec. 1.
“Today I would like you to be the
first to hear some great news - the
pope will go shortly to the Orient,”
Pope John Paul told some 40,000
people in St. Peter’s Square for his
Sunday Ar.gelus talk.
The trip as outlined by the pope
will include stops in Ankara, the
Turkish capital where he will meet
with government officials in the
predominantly Moslem nation;
Istanbul, where he will visit
Orthodox Patriarch Dimitrios I and
participate in celebrations marking
the feast of St. Andrew; and
Ephesus, the site of an ancient
Marian shrine.
St. Andrew, whose feast day is
celebrated Nov. 30, is the brother of
St. Peter and patron of the Orthodox
Church. Ephesus was the site of the
Third Ecumenical Council which
began in 431. The council, in 433,
formally gave Mary the title, Mother
of God.
“This trip is important,” Pope
John Paul told the Angelus crowd.
“It demonstrates concretely the
decision of the pope, already
affirmed many times, to carry on the
effort towards the unity of all
Christians.”
Calling Christian unity “one of
the principal aims of the (Second
Vatican) council” and “an urgent
demand today more than ever,” the
(Continued on page 7)
Gypsies they call them. And
gypsies they are.
Wandering shoes take them
on board Greyhounds to the
center of the city of bright
lights. From small and middle
America, from the sun belt,
from the rich mid-western farm
lands they converge, one bag in
hand, on Times Square in the
island called Manhatten.
They tell you stardom is
their goal.
They are at
best dream
ing. At worse,
lying. They
simply want
to perform.
They want to
see the sha-
d o w y p r e-
sence of an
audience.
They want to
feel the surge of appreciation,
rocking the world of theatre
with applause. But mostly,
most of all, they want to dance
on the Line.
The Chorus Line is always a
show unto itself. An invisible
show. Those gypsies are flung
across the stage as a backdrop
to the spotlighted star. The
tenor tuning those fine notes is
supported harmoniously by the
chorus. The Fred Astaires, the
Ann Millers whirl their way to
center stage with the hoofing
help of the Chorus. And where
would the emotional moments
of the finale be without the
thunderous combination of that
talented Line — singularly
sensational?
We selfishly forget the
glorious contribution of the
Chorus but the recent visit of
the Pulitzer-winning musical
play to the Fox was a jubilant
reminder.
A scraggly assortment of
hopeful performers, from the
ups and downs of life, lays
claim to a place on the Line. As
individuals, they are a
questionable talent, mediocre at
best, destined for a brief stay
under the lights. But as a
coordinated team, as a high
stepping precision movement,
they are a pulsating power,
pounding at the hearts of the
audience. Completely stripped
of the star, alone in their story
for the first time, their absolute
value breaks the barrier and
leaps into recognition.
And wisdom enters. The
Line is this world and we are
the Chorus. Always straining
for recognition we long to leave
our place in among the
unapplauded players.
Sometimes too late the hideous
mistake is seen. Stardom is
lonely and dangerously fickle.
Not so the Chorus. On the Line
there is comfort, loving
companionship, a faithful
comraderie forever helping,
supporting, and best of all,
forever needing.
The world, like the genius of
theatre, could not exist without
the backdrop we call the
Chorus. It may seem that the
curtain calls are restricted to
the star performers but the
glamorous ongoing color and
matchless day to day effort of
the ladies and gentlemen of the
Chorus, give them a full and
certain share.
The Chorus Line, absolutely
a singular sensation.
Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta
Vol. 17 No. 41
Thursday, November 22,1979
$6.00 Per Year
MAKING OTHERS HAPPY - Representatives
from throughout the Archdiocese volunteered
their time to make the recent Chit Chat Party at
Central State Hospital in Milledgeville a success.
The event was sponsored by the Archdiocesan
BROWN, KENNEDY
Council of Catholic Women, who are already
planning another party for February 11.
Volunteers are always needed. Details are
available from Eleanor O’Connor at 636-3665.
Catholic Presidential Hopefuls
WASHINGTON (NC) - One
received his Frist Holy Communion
from Pope Pius XII. The other is a
former Jesuit seminarian.
One comes from a family with
close ties to living and deceased
American Catholic bishops. The
other says he is a practicing Catholic
but doesn’t wear his religion on his
sleeve.
One has translated his religious
philosophy into support for a broad
range of social programs. The other
has quoted from St. Thomas Aquinas
and Teilhard de Chardin to express
his personal spirituality.
Both have drawn the ire of
pro-life groups for their similar
positions on abortion: personal
opposition but little support for
efforts to stop government funding
or to pass an amendment to the
Constitution.
The two major challengers to
President Carter for the Democratic
nomination for president, Sen.
Edward M. Kennedy and Gov.
Edmund G. (Jerry) Brown Jr., both
Catholic, officially announced their
candidacies within a day of each
other in early November.
Both Kennedy and Brown have
made Catholic connections with the
news a number of times over the past
several years.
In 1976, for example, Kennedy
said the U.S. bishops’ “Call to
Action” social justice consultation
earlier that year added an “important
dimension to the place of the laity in
fashioning and shaping the affairs of
the church in our own country.”
There also was the Massachusetts
senator’s close personal friendship
with the late Cardinal Richard
Cushing of Boston, his audiences
with Pope Paul VI, and his speeches
to various groups of Catholics.
American Catholics, he told the
1971 convention of the Catholic
Hospital Association, have the
potential and responsibility to be in
the vanguard of health care reform
for the nation.
In 1976 he addressed the fifth
annual legislative seminar of
Network, a lobbying organization
made up of nuns and others who
support social justice programs, and
praised Cardinal Raul Silva of
Santiago, Chile, for his “courageous”
defense of human rights.
“A believer who does his best to
live his life as a Roman Catholic” is
the way Kennedy’s pastor describes
the candidate, at least according to a
recent article in Time magazine.
Then too there’s the story of o
Kennedy’s unusual first Communion. 2
When his father, Joseph P. Kennedy,
was ambassador to Great Britain, the
family went to Rome in 1939 for the
coronation of Pope Pius XII. There
the youngest Kennedy son received
his first Communion from the pope.
Brown’s Catholic connections
with the news mostly occurred
during his 1976 run for the
presidency.
When Brown was making headway
late in the 1976 primary season, the
New York Times carried a lengthy
piece on Brown’s spirituality, noting
his mix of Catholic tradition, Zen
Buddhism and personal ascetism. The
Times reported that Brown was
proud of his Jesuit seminary training
and mentioned it often ,in
conversation.
Also in 1976, Brown described his
campaign in the Maryland primary as
a “coincidence of opposites, which is
a Thomistic doctrine.”
Then there was the time, also
during the 1976 campaign, when
both NBC and the New York Times
reported that Brown was not a
practicing Catholic. Brown, who a
few weeks earlier indicated in an
interview with NC News that he
attended Mass even though he did
(Continued on page 6)
Holiday Essay Contest
Once again the GEORGIA BULLETIN is sponsoring a Holiday
Essay Contest open to all children in the archdiocese in grade levels 6,
7 and 8.
The theme for this year’s essay is “We Are Entertaining A
Homeless Family For Christmas.”
Essays should be no longer than 250 words in length and neatly
written, printed or typed. All entries must be in the BULLETIN office
no later than noon on Wednesday, December 12.
A first prize of $50 will be awarded for the best essay with the
second place winner receiving a prize of $25. Both winning essays will
appear in the Christmas issue of the newspaper.
Judges for this year’s contest will be Father James A. Miceli,
Assistant Chancellor of the Archdiocese; Sister Kristen Lancaster,
RSM, of the Office of the Aging, and Mary Ellen Hughes of the
Respect Life Office.
Entries should be sent to Essay Contest, THE GEORGIA
BULLETIN, 756 West Peachtree Street, NW, Atlanta, GA 30308.
US Bishops Prepare
Pastoral On Racism
WASHINGTON (NC) - The U.S.
bishops approved a pastoral letter on
racism but failed to get enough votes
to approve a change in liturgical
language in two of the major items
decided at the semi-annual general
meeting of the National Confesance
of Catholic Bishops Nov. 12-15 in
Washington.
The bishops also faced a number
of financial questions: a 1980
budget, an increase in assessments on
dioceses, a separate assessment to
pay the expenses of Pope John Paul
II’s U.S. trip, and the question of
whether the U.S. church would be
asked to help lower the Vatican’s
$20 million deficit.
In addition, the bishops were
urged not to give special help to the
U.S. Census Bureau in its efforts to
count illegal aliens as part of the
1980 census.
And they decided to meet only
once a year, instead of twice,
beginning in 1981.
Two motions to change male-only
references in the liturgy gained
majority approval from the bishops
but failed to reach the two-thirds
votes required for passage.
One motion would have deleted
the word “men” from the eucharistic
prayers which now read “it will be
shed for you and for all men.” The
second motion would have allowed
priests to change presidential prayers
within the sacramentary, liturgy of
the hours and the rites to avoid
referring only to men.
If the bishops would have
approved the changes - which some
priests already have made themselves
- they still would have needed the
approval of the Vatican.
The changes had been urged by
the bishops’ Liturgy Committee,
headed by Archbishop Rembert
Weakland of Milwaukee, because
“whatever can be done to alleviate
any hurt or feeling of alienation of a
large segment of the assembly must
be undertaken.”
But objections were raised by
some bishops who disliked changing
the words of consecration or
allowing experimentation by priests.
The bishops’ newest pastoral
(Continued on page 6)
Archbishop Donnellan at Washington Meeting.
Khomeini Criticizes
John Paul’s Silence
NEW YORK (NC) - In a full page
ad in THE NEW YORK TIMES, the
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini
criticized Pope John Paul II for not
defending Iran’s request that the
United States return the former Shah
of Iran for trial.
The pope should defend the
position of the Iranian students
holding hostages in the U.S. embassy
in Terehan and the Catholic Church
should have criticized the oppression
under the shah’s rule, said the ad. It
also attacked President Carter and
the U.S. government for supporting
the ex-shah.
The ad, placed by the Iranian
government, appeared in the Nov. 18
edition of the TIMES. It was the full
text of the message issued by the
ayatollah in response to a special plea
delivered by a special papal envoy
Nov. 10.
“Let me reassure the pope that
had Jesus Christ been living today he
would have reprimanded Mr. Carter.
Were Jesus living today he would
have rescued us from the claws of
this enemy of the people,” said the
ayatollah.
The shah “committed all forms of
treason for a period of 37 years,”
said the message.
“For example, he massacred
innumerable people on June 5,1963.
Since then he has probably killed
more than 100,000 people,” it
added.
“In the face of all these facts I do
(Continued on page 6)