Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 7-January 17,1980
Letter Writing Supports Soviet Christians
KINGSTON, N. Y. (NC) - An
18-month-old program directed from
a home in Kingston aims at suppor
ting hundreds of persecuted Christian
families in the Soviet Union by
recruiting Christian families in the
United States to write monthly to
them and to pray for them.
The director of the program, which
is called Persecuted Church Commis
sion Inc., is Paul Krempl, a former
speech therapist who turned his part-
time program into a full-time
ministry last April. Working in his
home, he is aided by his wife,
Dorothy, and a Russian translator.
The particular targets of the letter
writing program are Soviet citizens
who wish to emigrate but who are be
ing refused permission to do so.
WASHINGTON (NC) - The 1980-81
edition of the American Catholic
Who’s Who, containing the
biographies of more than 6,000 people,
has been published by the National
Catholic News Service.
The volume is the largest edition to
be published since the project was
first begun in 1911 and includes ap
proximately 2,000 new entries. For the
first time biographies of Canadians
are also included.
The inclusion of the Canadian
bikographies is a recognition “of the
growing awareness on both sides of
the border of the fact that we share
not only the same American conti
nent, but also so many common in-
“These people,” Krempl said, “are
being persecuted more than the
others because they have had the
courage to say to the government that
they in good conscience cannot raise
their children as atheists, as the re
cent revisions in the constitution imp
ly they must. Therefore they are re
nouncing their Soviet citizenship and
requesting permission to emigrate.
But that permission is being denied
and they are being persecuted more.
These are the people who think
nobody cares about them, so we are
supporting them.”
The commission’s source of names
of families to whom to write is a
Jewish dissident, Arkady Polishchuk,
who was deported from the Soviet
Union about 18 months ago. “He had
been a journalist, commentator and
terests and concerns,” according to
Richard W. Daw, director and editor-
in-chief of NC News Service.
Daw said it was the intention of the
volume’s editors “to provide in con
cise, accurate form basic biogrphical
information about persons whose ac
tivities make such information impor
tant to journalists, students,
librarians, researchers, business
leaders, government officials and
many others.”
The volume includes biographies of
Catholics in the fields of religion,
education, medicine, politics, jour
nalism and science and in other areas.
Among the special features are a
geographical listing of entries, a
necrology and references within the
author who was covering the trials of
Christians in the Soviet Union,”
Krempl said, “and it got on his cons
cience so much that he turned in his
party membership and three or four
years later they deported him from
the country. When he left, through his
undergound connections, he came out
with the names of 6,000 families.”
Krempl added that the number of
such persecuted families might now
be as high as 30,000 and he said much
information on them is verified
through Keston College in England,
which studies religion in communist
countries.
He said the commission has about
750 people in 40 states involved in
writing to the persecuted Christians.
“Our objective is to gain 50 new
members a month,” he said. “In
Issued
alphabetized biographies to previous
editions in which information about a
person may be found.
Also included are geographicl
listings of members of the National
Conference of Catholic Bishops
(NCCB) and of the Canadian Con
ference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB),
as well as descriptions of the NCCB,
CCCB and the U.S. Catholic Con
ference.
Joy Anderson, general editor for the
1980-81 edition, worked over a period
of two years to expand and update the
reference work.
The National Catholic News Service
is the world’s largest religious wire
service.
Catholic Who’s Who
Give Homes For Mexican Youth
NATIONAL CITY, Calif. (NC) -
One boy came to find his brother and
another was waiting for a “coyote”
(smuggler) to take him to Los
Angeles, but both found themselves
staying with a Catholic couple in Na
tional City.
The youths were undocumented
aliens from Mexico who had been ap
prehended after crossing illegally into
San Diego. They were awaiting depor
tation, but instead of being locked up
in jail, they were staying with Daniel
and Guadalupe Ostel.
Their stay with the couple is part of
a new program being tested by San
Diego diocesan Catholic Community
Services and the U.S.. marshal’s of
fice. Undocumented youths are being
housed with parishioners of St. Jude
Shrine in San Diego. Formerly, all
aliens awaiting deportation had been
detained in the Metropolitan Correc
tional Center.
The Ostels, whose six sons have
married and left home, are the first
couple to open their home to four
17-year-olds who would otherwise be
locked up.
“The boys have been very good
and well-behaved,” Mrs. OsteJ said.
“At first I asked for girls. I never had
girls, but I am very happy with the
boys.”
Of the first three youths who arriv
ed, only Reynaldo Magana of
Michoacan remains. The others have
been deported. The Ostels have
received three more youths who will
stay for periods ranging from a few
days to three weeks.
The pilot program will be funded for
18 months for $255,199 by contract bet
ween Catholic Community Services
and the Law Enforcement Assistance
Agency.
Sixteen families have volunteered
to house youths and will be paid $10 a
day for each child 11 through 14, and
$15 a day for each youth 15 to 18.
“The purpose is to piace children in
homes where they share language and
cultural background. These youths
are not criminals. They’re coming in
hoping to find work, get caught and
end up in jail,” said Cynthia Carla
Leyva, foster care director at
Catholic Community Services.
The foster homes serve as tem
porary placement for the un
documented juveniles while they are
being detained as material witnesses
in federal court or await deportation.
Magana said of the jail, “I was
there two days. I would eat and sleep.
There was nothing to do, no books to
look at. I was surprised when I was
told about this home. I didn’t know
what to expect.”
During his stay with the Ostels he
ran errands and helped with chores.
He had illusions about the United
States, he said. “I wanted to work and
earn lots of money and also visit the
beaches and stores in this country,”
he said.
Gerardo Ramirez of Guadalajara
had been waiting for a smuggler to
take him to Los Angeles, but was ar
rested instead. “I hated being locked
up,” he said. “Here the family treats
me as though I were a son. I wish I
could stay here.”
The Ostels have confidence in their
foster sons. “These boys are of our
blood. They are good boys... They
shouldn’t have to suffer in a jail,”
Mrs. Ostel said. She added that she
likes their companionship and enjoys
cooking for the youths.
“The food is better than the jail’s,”
said Umberto Garrero. “And here we
can fix snacks like it was our home.”
TEMPORARY HOME - Candelario Morales,
right, plays with Pancho the Parrot at the home
of Guadalupe and Daniel Ostel in National City,
Calif. The Ostels have opened their home to
illegal alien youths who would otherwise be
detained in jail while awaiting deportation. (NC
Photo by Sally Arguilez)
November, we gained 57 new
members.”
The commission is looking for peo
ple with a solid commitment, he add
ed, because “everyone doesn’t get a
reply and if you feel you’ll stop after
six or eight months, we prefer you
don’t start.”
The letter writers are instructed to
keep their messages friendly and to
avoid references to politics and
government. This non-political
character, however, does not
guarantee freedom from censorship,
and sometimes letters or parts of let
ters are not received by Soviet
citizens.
A major part of the commission’s
program is promotion to interest
more Americans. So far most of
Krempl’s promotional efforts have
been made in areas near his home,
but he plans a cross-country trip in
February.
He said he is often asked whether
the letter-writing campaign only
makes things worse for the
persecuted Christians. “We don't
know the answer to that one, and that
is the truth,” he said. But he added
that he suspected the letter-writing
campaign may lessen tensions
because it focuses outside attention on
a Soviet internal problem. He pointed
out one of the Soviet dissidents ex
changed for two Soviet spies earlier
this year had said that when outsiders
put pressure on the Soviet govern
ment, he had felt prison pressures
easing, and that when no one seemed
to care the pressure on prisoners was
at its greatest.
The Krempls began their unusual
ministry in the spring of 1978 after
several men visiting the Kingston
area told of their experiences in a
Soviet prison.
“We felt God was calling us for
some kind of ministry, but we did not
know what," said Mrs. Krempl. The
visitors, as well as the local pastor,
asked the Krempls to organize
families in this country to write to
Soviet families prevented from
emigrating The couple, who have
several teen-age children, agreed.
The Persecuted Church Commis
sion is today an ecumenical operation
with representatives of eight chur
ches on its board of directors. The
Krempls are the only Catholics on the
board
CHRISTIAN HOPE - Dorothy and Paul
Krempl in their Kingston, N:Y., home which
doubles as the headquarters for the Persecuted
Church Commission, discuss a “letter of love”
which they will mail to a family in the Soviet
Union. The Krempls administer a correspondence
program from American families to Christian
families in Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Ukrania
and Russia to give hope and encouragement to
people in communist countries who are not
permitted to practice their faith. (NC Photo by
Chris Sheridan)
Hope To End Supply Bottleneck
NEW YORK (NC) - Rabbi Marc H.
Tanenbaum, interreligious affairs
director of the American Jewish Com
mittee, has joined the National Cam
bodia Crisis Committee. He said the
committee is looking for ways to “end
the bottleneck” of aid to Cambodia.
The citizens group is concerned
about conflicting reports about the
amount of supplies reaching the star
ving Cambodians and committee
members will meet with President
Carter at the White House Jan. 14.
Organizers of the meeting are Holy
Cross Father Theodore Hesburgh,
president of the University of Notre
Dame; lane Kirkland,, president of
the AFL-CIO; Philip Caldwell, presi
dent of the Ford Motor Company, and
Jean C. Young, chairwoman of the
U.S. Commission of the International
Year of the Child.
Although some reports from Cam
bodia say food is getting through
without problems, others indicate
much of the food is still in warehouses
and has not been distributed because
of the political battles between the
present government and the ousted
Pol Pot regime.
“We’re concerned if the confusion
continues there will be a confused
response on the part of the American
people,” Rabbi Tanenbaum said,
causing a drop in donations.
The rabbi said he is afraid “the
momentum will be lost — at dreadful
expense of lives of so many people.”
Rabbi Tanenbaum was the first of
ficial Jewish representative to tour
major refugee camps in Southeast
Asia. He recently testified before the
House of Reresentatives subcommit
tee on Asian and Pacific affairs. He
appeared as a member of the Citizens
Committee on Indochinese Refugees
of the International Rescue Commit
tee headed by Leo Cherne.
In his testimony he compared the
plight of the Cambodians to that of the
Jews and others who were murdered
by the Nazis.
“It is inconceivable to me that 40
years after the Nazi holocaust the in
ternational community can respond
so blandly to the destruction of 3
million human beings in Cambodia,
and then consider casually — as if it
were a daily weather report — the
horrendous fact that if food is not got
ten through in the next few months,
some 200,000 people will die,” he said.
The cruel irony, Rabbi Tanenbaum
added, is that there is the capacity to
provide the food “It is on the borders
of the country, and the whole issue of
whether human beings will be kept
alive or will die depends on politics
and ideology,” he said.
Iowa Dioceses Promote Participation In Precinct Caucuses
Campaigns are underway in both the Dubuque Ar
chdiocese and the Des Moines Dioceses to stir interest and
participation in the Iowa precinct caucuses to be held by
both the Democratic and Republican parites Jan. 21.
Both campaigns are using the American bishops’ state
ment, “Political Responsibility: Choices for the 1980s,” as a
basis for informing Catholic voters on issues of concern
within the church.
“The issue is involvement,” said Timothy McCarthy,
executive director of the Iowa Catholic Conference. “It’s
not school aid or abortion or social issues. We just want
Catholics to become involved in the political process,
whatever issue turns them on.”
He added that caucus activity is a form of renewal in the
church because Vatican II taught that Christians should be
concerned about more than simply saving one’s soul.
In the past, the precinct caucuses dealt primarily with
local issues and parochial political chores. But since 1976,
when the Iowa caucuses catapulted Jimmy Carter into the
lead for the Democratic nomination, they have become a
major barometer of a candidate’s early strength.
At the caucuses of both parties, delegates are elected
from the precinct to attend the county convention. Also,
resolutions to be considered as planks in the parties’
district and state platforms are proposed and voted on at
the precinct caucus level.
In the Dubuque Archdiocese, the Archdiocesan Council of
Catholic Women (ACCW) and the archdiocesan Respect
Life Committee have teamed up to encourage participation
in the Iowa caucuses.
And in the Des Moines Diocese, a special Precinct Caucus
Activity Campaign has been developed to inform Catholics
on issues, to educate them on precinct caucus procedures
and to encourage them to attend their party’s precinct
caucus.
Special “demonstration caucuses” have been organized
in both dioceses to show voters unfamiliar with caucus pro
cedures what happens at the precinct meetings.
Both dioceses also have mailed questionnaires to the
presidential candidates seeking their views on the dozen
issues listed in the U.S. bishops’ statement.
In Dubuque, a bulletin prepared by the Archdiocese
Council of Catholic Women linked the importance of elec
ting delegates to the county convention with the passage of
resolutions at the precinct caucuses.
“The passage of resolutions at a caucus is virtually
meaningless if you don’t send them up (to the county con
vention) with a delegation that will support them later on,”
said the ACCW-prepared advice on caucus participation.
“On the other hand,” the ACCW continued, “if you elect
supportive delegates, they can support your resolutions at
the next higher level even if you did not pass one in your
particular precinct.”
Also listed are platform resolutions that could be in
troduced at the precinct caucus. The resolutions, drawn
from the issues listed by the American bishops, declare
support for:
—A constitutional amendment to protect unborn human
life;
—Aims limitation as “a prerequisite to international
peace and justice;”
—A full employment policy “to protect the basic human
right to useful employment”;
—Equitable tax support for the education of pupils in
public and non-public schools;
—Agriculture policies which promote full production just
profits for farmers, and efforts to combat hunger and
malnutrition both at home and abroad, and
—A national housing policy “that meets the needs of low-
and middle-income families, the elderly, rural areas and
minorities.”
With less than 10 percent of the state’s registered voters
showing up for the caucuses four years ago, officials in both
dioceses are encouraging greater participation.
“Most peopel are not really familiar with the political
process,” pointed out Larry Breheny, director of Catholic
Social Service for the Des Moines Diocese and chairman of
the diocesan Legislative Committee.
“It (politics) can be a closed game if it’s controlled by a
few people, but it’s not meant to be that way,” he said (NC)