Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 2—The Georgia Bulletin, February 28,1980
FATHER HOFFMAN
Atlanta Priest Travels
A Bumpy Road In Peru
BY LYNNE ANDERSON
A 35-hour bus trip
from Atlanta might find
you in Dallas, Texas or
maybe Ontario, Canada.
Maybe even Reno, Nevada.
At any rate, barring
mechanical difficulties on
behalf of the bus, 35 hours
travel time would cover at
least 1,500 miles.
But in mountain-stud
ded Peru, 35 hours travel
time might find you only a
few hundred miles from
your point of origin. At
least that’s the case if
you’re traveling from the
nation’s capitol, Lima, to
the small town of
Andahuaylas, says Father
Bill Hoffman, an Atlanta
archdiocesan priest who
works in Andahuaylas.
That journey might be
long, but it’s seldom
boring, Father says. He
should know; he’s traveled
the road a few times in the
past seven years in which
he’s been working in Peru.
“I once had an egg laid
at my feet on one of those
bus rides,” Father says
with a laugh. “A lady had
gotten on the bus with
two chickens. She took a
seat in the back of the bus,
but the chickens stayed by
me, right at my feet. A
few hours down the road,
I looked down and saw an
egg. So I picked it up and
kept it in my hand until I
reached Andahuaylas.”
Chickens are not the
only animals transported
by public transportation,
on the road to
Andahuaylas, Father says.
A German Shepherd which
was being transported
from Lima to Andahuaylas
RELAXING MOMENT -- Father Bill Hoffman
doesn’t find much time to sit still these days,
hut’s he pictured above in a quiet moment while
visiting a few years ago.
almost ruined
Thanksgiving dinner for
the priests at St. Peter’s,
the parish where he lives.
“Our superior, who
lives in Lima, was coming
by bus to Andahuaylas to
celebrate Thanksgiving
with us. He had a frozen
turkey for us which he put
on top of the bus” Father
says. “Somewhere down
the road, someone got on
with a German Shepherd,
but the dog was tied on
top of the bus. Well, our
turkey was only half a
turkey by the time the bus
arrived in Andahuaylas.
The dog had eaten most of
it. At least it didn’t eat the
cranberry sauce.”
Father Hoffman
doesn’t make the journey
too often, though, because
his ministry keeps him
busy. Although there are
only 6,000 people in the
town, 90% of them are
Catholic. He shares
pastoral responsibilities
with two other priests.
One of two
Archdiocesan priests who
are currently working in
South America, Father
Hoffman has been in Peru
since June, 1972. He
FL OR IDA G () VERNOR
Graham Brushes Plea Aside
ORLANDO, Fla. (NC)
- Gov. Bob Graham of
Florida has turned aside a
plea by 16 churchmen to
forego the death penalty.
Acting for the
governor, Deputy Counsel
Betty Steffans sent a
telegram to the group
saying that Florida’s death
penalty law “has been
upheld as constitutional
by the highest courts of
both state and federal
systems.”
The spokeswoman
noted that the governor,
both as state senator and
as a gubernatorial
candidate, has consistently
supported capital
punishment. But he also
sits on the state executive
clemency board, she
added, and he “has
pledged to carefully
examine each capital case
to determine if the case
warrants clemency.”
The 16 clergymen,
including Florida’s seven
Catholic bishops and
high-ranking clergymen
from several Protestant
churches, had said:
“We wish to state once
more our conviction that
the death penalty is no
longer appropriate as
punishment. We believe
that a mature society can
find more effective ways
to prevent crime and to
achieve reparation for the
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offended.”
“Taking the life of the
criminal does not heal or
restore; rather, it
compounds violence and
indifference to life and the
quality of life,” they said.
“We believe the best
interests of the people of
Florida and the public
image of Florida will be
served more perfectly by
efforts at rehabilitation
and the use of punishment
short of the death
penalty.”
The governor’s aide said
that the mat ter of
rehabilitation already “had
been debated in the
legislature at the time the
(capital punishment) law
was passed” in 1976. She
also said that state
legislators “continue to
examine capital
punishment as part: of our
criminal justice laws.”
At present there are
134 prisoners on Florida
death rows, the highest
number of any state in the
country. Only an
estimated 10 percent of
the approximately 20,000
Florida prisoners is
enrolled in rehabilitation
programs of some kind.
LOOK OF LOVE ~ Ginger and
Linda Edmonds seem to be able to
speak with their eyes. Father
Hoffman was instrumental in
bringing the mother and daughter
together.
responded to a request
from Pope Paul VI who
had asked bishops to spare
diocesan priests for work
in Latin America. Father
Liam Tuffy, who also
responded to the request,
works in Bolivia.
Father Hoffman is
particularly involved with
the youth in his parish. A
former high school teacher
at Atlanta’s Drexel High,
Father meets with young
people who are interested
in becoming nuns or
priests. Each Friday, the
group gets together to
discuss vocations.
“We take a different
vocation out of the Bible
each week,” Father
explains, “and talk about
it, focusing on many
different aspects. Then we
pray for those present and
for those already in
seminaries.”
There are other parish
activities, too, most of
which center around
cathechesis, Father says.
The Ciletian Sisters are
most responsible for
catechesis, though, says
Father Hoffman.
“The sisters teach
religion in high school,”
Father says, “but Sunday
afternoon is the time
things really get going. The
sisters take sports
equipment to the play
ground of the school, and
the sisters and kids play
together for a couple of
hours. Then they break up
into groups for
catechism.”
Although Father says
he believes human nature
A Look At
The
Legislature
BY LYNNE ANDERSON
Senate Bill 86, dubbed
by some as the “right to
die” bill, was defeated last
week in the Senate by a
vote of 17-35. Senator
Beverly Langford of the
51st district introduced
the bill, but it met strong
opposition in the form of
Thomas Allgood of the
22nd.
After reading the bill
which called for “the
discontuance of
extra-ordinary
life-sustaining procedures
for certain persons,”
Langford told the Senate
he called the bill the
“Right to Die with
Dignity” bill.
“Some of you have had
members of your family in
a vegetative brain state.
Some of you know that
families have had their
entire savings wiped out
by continuation of life
after the brain has ceased
to function,” he told the
Senate.
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The legislation would
be permissive and not
compulsory, he said, and
he went on to read a poem
called “The Patients,” a
paraphrase of the 23rd
Psalm ending with the line,
“I will dwell in the
intensive care unit
forever.”
Ten states have enacted
the law, he said, which
gives “citizens the right to
exercise their own rights,”
he said.
“This legislation sets
out succinctly the form
that the patient must
execute to discontinue
life. The patient may
change his mind if he
choses. There is no threat
of suicide claims in
insurance policies,” he
said.
Senator Allgood of the
22nd district saw the bill
differently, though.
“If ever there was a bill
to come before the Geneal
Assembly that demands
the most careful attention,
I most respectfully submit
to you it is Senate Bill 86.
We must know what this
hill will do in every
instance,” he told the
Senate.
“The proponents of
this bill are not the ones
who want to die,” he said.
“They’re the ones who
want to take life.”
Many moral and
philosopnical questions
were raised by the bill, he
said, but he wanted to
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is basically the same, he
notes different cultural
customs between
Peruvians and Americans.
Marriages are often
arranged by parents in
Peru, he says. Yet once
married, “they’re not
thinking of trial marriages.
Their commitment is until
death,” Father says.
Father Hoffman will
stay in Peru until 1982 at
enjoyed his recent trip
home to visit his parents,
Mr. and Mrs. George
Hoffman, he is eager to
return and prepare for
Easter, he says.
“I’m tired of vacation,”
he says with a smile. “I
want to get back to
Andahuaylas.”
He’s probably just
looking forward to that
bus ride.
present only the legal and
technical problems of the
bill.
“There is no room for
mistake with this bill,” he
said, and he enumerated
11 flaws he saw in the
legislation.
One such flaw, Allgood
said, lay in definition (a)
of Section 2 of the bill.
“Attending physician” was
defined in the bill as “the
physician selected by or
assigned to the patient.”
“I’ll tell you what
THAT means,” Allgood
said. “That means the
poor and the black will be
pushed aside because
they’re the ones who get
ASSIGNED physicians.”
Another problem,
Aligood said, lay in
explication of how the
directive could be revoked
if a person changed his or
her mind.
“HOW do you take it
hack if you change your
mind?” he asked the
Senate, adding that he
believed the Senate had a
responsibility to “make
sure this legislation is
perfect.”
“If it is not perfect, we
ought not to pass it,” he
argued.
Senator Allgood
summed up his opinion by
telling the Senate, “in
considering this, we go too
far.”
The final vote, called
after further opposition by
Senator Robert Bell of the
5th district, showed the
Senate supported
Allgood’s judgment. The
Inside TV News
BY JOHN P. ZARRELLA
A woman recently
wrote me a letter after
reading one of my
columns. She was
curious about our
coverage of news
events. From the way
she questioned the
journalistic profession
she is obviously an
aware viewer. Rita
Kitts, let me try and
respond.
You asked me why
we seem to place more
emphasis on bad events.
I will steer away from
the traditional axiom
that people prefer
hearing bad news. I
believe that reporting
stories of tragedy or
misfortune many times
results in a positive end.
For example, what if
no news media ever
reported the disaster at
Toccoa Falls Bible
College in 1977? Word
of the dam’s breaking
would have been slow
in traveling. The many
thousands of people
who answered the call
for help might never
have heard that initial
call. That school was
rebuilt thanks to
contributions of money
and labor. It might have
taken longer without
the media’s coverage.
What about your
own Warm Springs
Hospital? (Ed Note:
Ms. Kitts works at
Warm Springs). If not
for media attention, it
might have folded into
oblivion without
anyone knowing or
caring. The media DID
pay attention to the
plight of Warm Springs.
We presented
arguments on both
sides, but we are not in
the business of deciding
which side is right and
which side is wrong.
There are times
when we do over-em-
phasize the bad news,
but those occasions are
few. Let’s take a recent
six p.m. news-cast for
example. Our lead story
dealt with the Atlanta
Police Department’s
case of the blue flu. We
devoted about five
minutes to the story.
We told you the
officers’ side of the
story as well as the
city’s side. We also
reported on events at
the State Legislature,
an art robbery, new car
sales, women and the
draft, and Guy Sharpe
had “Friday’s Child.”
There was much more.
Overall, there wasn’t
a great deal of bad news
in that broadcast. If
anything, it was a
classic newscast:
informative. That is
how it is pretty much
on a daily basis.
Viewers do, however,
tend to remember the
disasters and tragedies a
lot longer than the
stories about “Friday’s
Child!”
You are also right
when you say that it
takes less effort to
cover the “sensational”
news. Sure, it is easier
to cover murders and
fires. If you think
about it and look
closely, you will also
notice that we never
spend much time on
those stories unless
they deal with a major
fire or a crazed mass
murderer.
You also asked me
about the news media’s
coverage of events that
perhaps aggravate a
touchy situation. That’s
a tough question to
answer. It is also
something we often
question ourselves
about. The Iranian
crisis is a perfect
example. There is no
doubt that the students
holding the American
hostages have used the
media. They used the
major networks to
promulgate their wants
and desires. Many
people probably don’t
know that those
screaming mobs were
only screaming for the
cameras. When the
cameras were off, the
streets around the
Embassy were fairly
quiet.
What the students
didn’t figure out until
much later was that the
media were using them,
too. Their yelling,
screaming and arrogant
p ress conferences did
nothing more than
anger Americans back
home. In a way,
television coverage
brought Americans
closer together. When
the students realized
the monster they had
created, they kicked
American journalists
out.
What I am trying to
say is that the media
walks a tightrope.
Sometimes we are right,
and sometimes we are
wrong. There is good
journalism and there is
bad journalism. My
business is no different
than any other
profession.
Thanks for your
interest.
All Saints All Set
For Renewal Week
“Come Back To Me
With All Your Heart” is
the theme of renewal week
at All Saints Catholic
Church in North DeKalb.
Beginning Monday,
March 10 to Friday, March
14 Father Richard Kieran,
Secretary of Education for
the Atlanta Archdiocese,
will give 9:00 A.M. and
7:30 P.M. talks about ‘our
baptismal roots’, ‘gifts of
the Holy Spirit’, ‘caring
about others’ and
‘enjoying God in the
Eucharist.’
Dick Roach,
Evangelization Lay
Coordinator for All Saints,
said “the renewal week is
part of an expanded
program of spirituality and
Christian conversion for
people in All Saints Parish
. . . this program includes
church community days,
renewal week, evangelical
outreach visits in homes,
angelical prayer groups
and religious study
courses.”
Roach pointed out
“our purpose is to reach
every Catholic, both active
and inactive, and the
unchurched within the
parish boundary to help
them draw closer to
Christ.”
Father Stanley Idziak,
Associate Pastor for Adult
Religious Education,
explained “if you don’t
use your faith you lose
it. ., we want this week
to draw our people into
‘Christian community’ so
they will follow through
with participation in
parish religious activities.”
All Saints Church is
located at 2443 Mt.
Vernon Road in
Dunwoody.
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