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Charities They were all there. They came from every corner of the Archdiocese. Each and every parish was represented. It was a great gathering of the North Georgia Church. It was Friday, January 11 at the Hyland Center of the Cathedral, and the 1980 Charities Drive was being initiated. Each parish would have a vital share. Together city and rural parishes would make up the announced goal. This year, $550,000. The head table was aglitter with the ladies and gentlemen of the Finance Board. The Archbishop was there. Monsignor Hardy was emcee, and the inspirational talks were given. It would be a good year for Charity in the Archdiocese. Phil Humann, the 1980 Chairman outlined the needs. Catholic Social Services, the Seminary Fund, the Mission Parishes, the Priests’ Retirement Fund - all would benefit * “JKaq*. "H<ul ^wtitM^fuutA Soap Opera Tampa Bay was losing. That was bad enough. This final, fading hope of the South was being humilated before our eyes by a bunch of Los Angeles Rams looking about as ferocious as the lamb that followed Mary - gone lame. That was worse. The Super Bowl would indeed be another display of iron muscle meated out by the rampaging Steelers. The spectacle to come would hardly earn an afternoon’s drowsy watch ing from the Sunday couch. Commercial interruptions during football are an unaccept able invasion at anytime. NBC managed to make this PA . ~ ^ a i i c i ii u w n - another Norm andy bombard ment. With uncontrollable excessive rapidity, they fired a new January show at us “Skag.” It would star Karl Malden. You could see it that evening at prime time. It was the intimate, outrageous fictional story ■t , of a working-class middle American family. That was all in large print. The small print told it better. Parental discretion was advised. Nuff said. This was the latest evening attempt at Soap Opera. Soap is in. Mork of the obnoxious sounds lasted just one season. Laverne is out searching for a night to be funny. The cop’s gun is illegal. Roaring, crashing, hot-rodding autos are running out of. gas. So the new sensation is good old hard and soft core Soap. “Dallas” with all its grime and gutter level adventures is a gaudy example. They tell you as parents to use your discretion. What they really mean is, “watch it, what you are about to experience in your living room is mild porn.” They are dead right. All the latest infidelities are there. Room swapping and bed hopping is the order of the day. Nice, clean abortions are neatly and clinically provided for poor Miss Innocent fresh from green acres. And even a proper father is found and named for someone’s surprisingly pregnant wife. It’s all there raging across in the best of network artistic nastiness. The Federal Communications Commission, a board of seven appointed by the President, is sworn to protect the airwaves which belong to the American public. Not only does this esteemed board shun the unenviable duty of regulating prime time decency, it is now planning total abdication of its sacred office. This Board plans to abolish all regulations of radio. Television is only a step behind. Not only will public service stare disappearance in the face, ethical and moral values on public airwaves now stand hesitantly at a precarious crossroads. So make a choice. Get ready to accept the Skags and the Dallases of evening entertainment or sharpen your pencil. Tell the FCC, the regulations are rigorously thin right now. Without regulations, ruinous rancor may well prevail. You can tell the FCC at 1919 M Street, N. W., Washington, D. C. 20554. In this election year, when the rhetoric of Presidential candidates becomes potential script for good afternoon Soap, you may want to tell the Man in the White House to clean up the act too. After all, he appoints this Commission. r* Drive Begins! from this year’s one day cash drive. Inspiration came from Milton Bevington. “We are the leadership, we have the product, priest and parish chairpersons in a union in a union of committment that can get the job done and the needs fulfilled.” Archbishop Donnellan gave the message of thanks. “Thanks to you and your efforts,” said the Archbishop, “This annual program works for us all, especially the least of our own brothers and sisters.” The designated Sunday is March 2. The time to prepare is now. Enthusiasium was high as the slogan for this year’s Drive was placed before the huge dinner group, “put your gifts at the service of one another.” This quote from the first letter of St. Peter said it all. There was no doubt, the over half a million dollars needed to make a success for this year’s Charities Drive would arrive on time. These leaders absolutely promised it would happen. 1980 marks the 11th anniversary of the Charities Drive in North Georgia. Each one has been a success. Other Dioceses throughout the country have annual Drives based on the acceptance of pledges. This Drive for funds is a once a year cash campaign. Every parish received a goal which must be met. A goal’s committee led by Monsignor John McDonough, Rector of the Cathedral, had already presented a suggested list of goals for the Archbishop’s acceptance. The list was distributed at the meeting. Armed with goals, materials and a willingness to make 1980 a big success, the priests and parish leaders returned to their local communities to begin organization. The delightful dinner, instigated by Father Jim Miceli, Assistant Chancellor, ended as the material needed in each parish was gathered up. Another Charities Drive began. A PACKED HOUSE listens to Milton Archdiocesan Charities Drive. This year’s goal is Bevington at the Annual Dinner for the the highest ever, $550,000. Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta Vol. 18 No. 3 Thursday, January 17,1980 $6.00 Per Year Abortion Decision Remembered BY LYNNE ANDERSON January 22, 1973 was a cold, blustery winter day, a day that reaked of death. Not only did Americans learn of the death of Lyndon Baines Johnson, but they also learned of a Supreme Court decision which would have a grave impact on American lives for years to come. Abortion, decided the nation’s highest, court, is a private matter in which a state has no particular interest if the abortion is performed within the first trimester of a woman’s pregnancy. The court specifically said it would not attempt to decide when human life begins, yet the nine-man court obviously did decide life does not begin in the first three months of pregnancy. This tragic decision resulted in the availability of abortion on demand. To mark the anniversary of that decision and to show support for life, the Archdiocesan Pro-Life Office is sponsoring a “Family Night For Life” the evening of January 27, Sunday, at 7:00 p.m. at the Hyland Center of the Cathedral of Christ the King. John Waddey, President of the Tennessee Volunteers For Life, is the keynote speaker. Editor of the evangelistic magazine STAR, Waddey is Pastor of the Karns Congregation Church of Christ in Knoxville, Tennessee. In addition to having Pro Life Activities Planned Throughtout Nation. Page 6 written over fourteen books, he is a member of the board of directors of the National Right to Life Committee. He was recently named to the board of directors of the Defenders of Human Life. Following the lecture by Waddey, an interfaith prayer service is planned. A nursery will be provided so that as many people as possible may be in attendance to show their support of life. The Pro-Life office in Atlanta has suggestions for people who would like to write their legislators to voice their support of life. Representatives from the Pro-Life Office in Atlanta will be in attendance, of course, Sunday, January 27, and they may be contacted at the Archdiocesan Office at 881-0956. Sheila Mallon of the Pro-Life office has suggestions for people in support of life. “What we would eventually like to see is a constitutional amendment that would simply outlaw the taking of human life,” Mrs. Mallon says. If forces are united in support of 'V . it is not unreasonable to hope flit such an amendment. The many “amicus curiae” filed on behalf of abortion proponents prior to the 1973 Supreme Court decision had an impact on the justices deciding the case. Elected officials are often more apt to listen to their constituents, so strong voices in favor of life could have an impact. The “Family Night in Support of Life” is an opportunity for Pro-Lifers to show support for life. The Pro-Life office hopes the January 27 event will be a loud message heard far and wide. It is expected that each parish in the Archdiocese will send representatives to the Cathedral. America must stop this legal death. Arches PRO-LIFERS GATHER at the nation’s capitol to show their support of life. This year’s march is January 22. Atlanta activities are highlighted by the “Family Night in Support of Life” Jan. 27. THE YEAR OF THE FAMILY: III ) The Single Family (Editor’s Note: Next week’s article “The Broken Family” will be written by Mary Ellen Du Varney of Catholic Social Services.) BY RITA O’MARA In the beginning it’s just plain scary. How will I provide for my family when both financially and emotionally there is so little to go around. What happens if my child becomes ill . . . or I become ill? Who will help us? How can I help my child to adjust when I’m not able to help myself adjust? What happens if I lose my job ... if the support payments stop? These are the anxieties and worries that cause the tears, the nightmares and, too often, the quick temper. The family tries to tell you everything will be fine. But you know they are frightened and worried, too and fee! powerless to help. Distance and their own obligations limit them, but the love and moral support are abundant. Besides, you can never really go home again and the only true victory will come from your own solutions to the problems. At this time it is natural to withdraw from the questioning of friends and acquaintances. Too often, the people you thought you could count on in time of trouble become unavailable and politely brush you off with a “let’s get together sometime.” No one understands. How could a priest or a happily married person know this kind of pain? There is the pain of losing your dreams and your future. Suddenly you are cut off in midstream from where you thought you were going. Life goals are abandoned and a whole new adolescence faces you. At a time when life is usually tranquil you are faced with the upheaval of not knowing what you want to do with your life. Your job takes on a whole new meaning. (Is this the right career for me? Do I want to spend the next 20 or 30 years doing this kind of work?) Learning how to be alone is painful. How can a child understand when something goes wrong during your day? How can he appreciate the raise you worked so hard to get? How can he know that sometimes you need someone to hold and comfort you? You are a teenager again, unsure of your attractiveness. your ability to establish good relationships. (Was this all my fault? Is there some flaw in me? Other people can make it work why e couldn’t I? ) It hurts too much and is too private to share with anyone. Then you meet someone who shares a little of their story with you. They survived! Hope springs within you . . . (Hey, I’m not a freak after all. At least one other person has been through this). Another person opens up to you with their story. There are lots of people out there who have been through this ordeal. You start WANTING to be around people. It feels good. In search of help for yourself and your family, you take an adult education course. Bonds of friendship and understanding cement you to your church family. The icy loneliness is starting to thaw. A family in the parish invites you and the family to dinner. (Gee, they want our company. Maybe we have something to offer them.) You go to a covered dish dinner in the cafeteria and strike up a conversation with one of the priests. (Look, he enjoys talking to me. I guess I’m still witty when I really try.) Your child comes home with the best report card ever. (Maybe this was a good choice for all of us instead of staying together “for the children.”) Christmas approaches with all its activities. Is it going to be sad again? You brush aside the question and do the everyday things to prepare for the big day. Cooking, shopping, cleaning, extra visits to church and school, visiting friends and delivering gifts fill the days and evenings. Christmas arrives, right on schedule, and the day is filled with noise and excitement. Midnight mass, aromas of delicious foods, staying up late, and new traditions join to form a truly blessed holiday. When finally the day is over and the household settles to quiet, you go to tuck in your most prized possession. The words come softly, with a hug and a smile, “Mommy, this is the best Christmas we ever had.” Southern Dominican Province Created A new Southern Province of Dominican priests and brothers, to be headquartered in New Orleans, was inaugurated last month. The New Province, which became the fourth Dominican province in the nation, will include the states of Georgia, North and South Carolina, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Fr. Bert Ebben, 48, a missionary for 17 years in Nigeria and recently involved in the charismatic renewal, was chosen Provincial. Fr. Jeremy Miller, professor of theology at Emory University, was elected one of the Province’s councilors. Dominicans already staff Holy Cross Church in Atlanta, and involvement in Georgia is likely to increase now. Founded 750 years ago, Dominicans are an order of preachers and teachers. The theologian St. Thomas Aquinas was one of their earliest members. The Province has adopted as patron St. Martin de Porres, a Peruvian Dominican of the 16th Century born of Spanish and Black parents in the slums of Lima. The new Province will emphasize work among blacks, Hispanics and the poor. In addition, the Province will continue its tradition of itinerant preaching and university teaching in the South. Fr. Miller hopes that “ecumenical contacts between Catholics and other Christians will increase and that a stronger Dominican presence in the Southeast will strengthen this.”