Newspaper Page Text
4
PAGE 6—The Georgia Bulletin, June 19, 1980
Cross Burned In Cullman
CULLMAN, Ala. (NC)
- In the wake of an offer
by Benedictine monks to
house 150-200 Cuban
refugees, a cross was
burned near the entrance
to the 90-year-old abbey
and there are news reports
of threats made against the
religious order by the Ku
Klux Klan.
However, Benedictine
Prior Columban Geerken,
spokesman for the abbey,
said that to his knowledge
no threats have been
received by the monks.
“A cross was burned
here (around June 1) but
there have been no threats
that I know of,” with the
exception of one
threatening phone call to
an employee at the order’s
Ave Maria Grotto, he said.
The priest said an
anonymous woman told
the employee, “You
people should be tarred
and feathered and run out
of town.”
He said the monks also
have received several offers
of help from area residents
and assurances that
offering aid to the refugees
was “the Christian thing to
do.”
Prior Geerken said
about a month ago the
order wrote a letter to
Alabama Sen. Howell
Heflin offering the use of
some of the 250
dormitory rooms of the
former Southern
Benedictine College for
“interim” housing for the
Cubans. The vacant college
buildings are part of 800
acres and approximately
12 large buildings the
order owns on the
outskirts of Cullman, a
northern Alabama town.
So far the abbey has
received no official word
from the government
accepting the offer, but
local newspapers say
sources confirm the
abbey’s name is listed
among possible sponsors.
According to an article
in the Tennessean, a
Nashville daily newspaper,
Klansmen are planning a
protest march to the
abbey if Cubans arrive in
the community.
Prior Geerken said the
housing offer was
temporary and was not
meant to provide
permanent housing for the
refugees.
He said the monks
made the offer “because
we saw the need and we
have vacant buildings on
campus that are totally
empty.”
Dormant since the civil
rights marches of the early
60s, the Klan has
resurfaced in the Cullman
area in the past few years.
Klansmen were involved in
a violent clash with the
Southern Christian
Leadership Conference
there in 1978 over a black
group’s attempt to march
into the predominantly
white community during
the trial of accused rapist
Tommy Lee Hines.
A Klansman from
Cullman was convicted in
B i r m i ngham earlier this
year of violating the rights
of a Vietnamese worker
who said he w a s
threatened at his job.
Prior Geerken
expressed surprise at the
reports of threats to the
abbey, noting that abbey
grounds are open to the
community for
educational and sporting
events.
“Wallace State Junior
College is using some of
our buildings,” he said.
“The townspeople are
using our facilities free of
charge. The county is
using our ball field for
baseball games, groups in
Cullman are using the gym
for karate and the
townspeople feel free to
fish in our lake.”
OUTLAW SA YS:
Cubans Are Decent
NEW ORLEANS (NC)
- Isolated, frightened and
misjudged. Those are the
words Father Pedro F.
Nunez used to describe the
18,500-plus Cubans he is
working with at Fort
Chaffee, Ark.
Father Nunez, a native
of Cuba and a priest of the
New Orleans Archdiocese,
is the only priest working
with the Cubans staying at
Fort Chaffee.
“Despite what you may
-hear on television and
radio, despite what you
read in the newspapers, I
want to assure everyone
that the majority of the
Cubans here are decent
and hard-working people,”
said Father Nunez in a
telephone interview with
the Clarion Herald, the
newspaper of the New
Orleans Archdiocese.
Archbishop Philip
Hannan of New, Orleans
has called on President
Carter to take “decisive
steps’’ to solve the
problems of the recent
refugees from Cuba and
from Haiti.
‘‘The federal
government is spending
money now on the
support and guarding of
these refugees that could
be spent in resettling them
so that they can make a
contribution to the United
States of America,” the
archbishop said.
He also asked that aid
to refugees not come
“from a deprivation of the
poor who are receiving
deserved aid from the
government.”
“One hundred, if that
many, of the Cubans here
have created all these
disturbances” Father
Nunez said of the Fort
Chaffee incidents of
rioting, “and they are now
in jail. The other 18,400
people are embarrassed
over the situation.”
“Their plight can be
better understood when
you take into considerat
ion all the things these
people have had to
endure,” he said.
Before leaving their
homeland the Cubans had
to stay in Mariel Harbor
for days, sometimes
weeks, waiting to leave, he
said. At Marie! they were
harassed, beaten, given
little food or water and
completely demoralized,
according to Father
Nunez.
In most cases decent
people had to sign papers
which claimed that they
were prostitutes,
homosexuals or criminals
before the Cuban
government would allow
them to leave the country,
he added.
Part of Premier Fidel
Castro’s tactics to make
these people suffer further
was to separate families
before leaving Cuba. As a
result, many people at
Fort Chaffee do not know
where their spouses or
young children are,
whether they drowned,
were killed or if they are
at another camp.
Once in the United
States, the Cubans were
processed in Key West,
Fla., and later sent to Fort
Chaffee to await further
processing and eventual
release into the homes of
relatives or sponsors. The
situation has made most
refugees unsure of their
future, the priest said.
CLASSIFIEDS
CONDO - One floor, available
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BABYSITTER WANTED in my
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4:00 p.m. September - June for
1 yr. old child. Call 3554281.
LOOKING for retired lady or
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home. Immaculate Conception
Parish. For details call 525-6963
or 961-6965.
Alterations and Tailoring,
pick-up and delivery service.
Call 761-9567.
LADIES DIAMOND DINNER
RING -- 14 kt. white gold. Two
brillant cut stones 1.27 ct.
Appraised $5,750.00 will sell
$3,750.00. Call 8766081,
evenings.
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION -
Persons interested in Religious
Education in parish school of
religion and in teaching religion
in parochial school - especially
in Jr. High (7-8 area. Please send
resume to Fr. James F. Kelly,
Director of Religious Education,
756 West Peachtree Street,
Atlanta, Ga. 30308.
FOR SALE: Arlington
Cemetery - one crypt - prime
location. $1,650.00. Call
231-1351.
PEACHTREE-DUNWOODY
ROAD AREA - Woman needs
live-in couple or single person to
aid with stroke patient. Contact
Merle Cain 261-5543.
UPHOLSTERY & CUSTOM
MADE CUSHIONS'-. Excellent
W ork. Reasonable rates. Call
344-2201 or 627-9287.
“Pregnant? To discuss abortion
alternatives call BIRTHRIGHT
233-1171. Service is free and
confidential.”
FOR SALE: Ladies diamond
dinner ring. 7 full cut diamonds,
fine quality. Must sacrifice. Call
477-7612.
WANTED TO BUY ~ Lionel
Trains 6336946.
NEEDED: High school or adult
volunteers to work in the library
of the Georgia Mental Health
Institute. Please call 894-5663.
GREAT FOR NEWLY WEDS
OR RETIRED COUPLE - 2 Br,
12x60 Mobile Home. Laundry
Rm, shaded patio, new TV
Antena, separate utility bldg,
and much more. Like new and
only 5 minutes to St. Phillip
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ROYER REALTY, 3934100 or
792-2385.
LOOKING FOR: child care,
light cleaning, prefer mature
women, will consider bringing
own child to my home.
Chamblee area 458-2057.
LOOKING FOR
BABYSITTING jobs - .overnight
and longer. Call Mrs. Elsie Binns
in Canton, Ga. 479-2932 or
479-2514.
WANTED TO BUY - Japanese
swords, armor, match lock guns.
325-5439.
Want to sell - Diamond Cross
necklace 1.83 carat yellow gold
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762-7544.
PROFESSIONAL PAINTING
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Local references gladly given.
For free estimate call Jerry
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PRISON CONVERSION -- Thomas Stewart,
22, an inmate at the House of Correction in
Philadelphia became a convert to Catholicism
after nine months of instructions. Father Francis
Menei administered baptism, confirmation and
Communion to Stewart during Mass at the
institution. (NC Photo by Robert S. Halvey)
Prisoner Converted
PHILADELPHIA (NC)
-- The House of
Correction, one of
Philadelphia’s prisons,
became the home of a
convert to Catholicism
recently when Thomas
Stewart was baptized,
confirmed and received his
first Communion.
After Mass, the
22-year-old Stewart, who
is serving a sentence for
burglary, told Father
Francis T. Menei, chaplain
at the institution, “This is
one of the happiest
moments of my life. For
the first time, I feel I’m
part of a community.”
The conversion was the
first at the prison in
almost 20 years.
Father Menei
administered all three
sacraments during the
Trinity Sunday Mass June
1 in the House of
Correction chapel. Robert
Kennedy, another inmate,
was the sponsor for
Stewart at his baptism and
confirmation.
Father Menei said
Stewart began receiving
instructions in Catholicism
about nine months ago,
after Catholic inmates
encouraged him to attend
Sunday Masses at the
institution.
Edward Forman, the
warden at the House of
Correction, attended the
Mass at which Stewart was
baptized and permitted a
small reception for the 50
inmates who regularly
attend Mass there.
Stewart and Father
Menei have both been at
the House of Correction
for the last 16 months.
“Tom and I started
almost the same time, but
in different capacities,”
Father Menei said.
SR. MARY DE PORRES, Superior, received a
needlepoint picture of the Our Lady of Perpetual
Help Cancer Home from Mr. Erie Foy at the May
meeting of the OLPH Auxiliary. The picture
commemorated the Home’s 40th anniversary. Mr.
Foy worked the needlepoint himself, selecting
colors that were a true representation of the
Home’s exterior. He was assisted by Mrs. Augusta
Horsey, art coordinator; Mrs. Angus Shingler,
canvas painter; Mrs. Miles Sheffer, architectural
Tenderer; and Mr. Fred Reed, framer.
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Glory Of Benedict
Story And
(Continued from page 1)
A perusal of this
relatively short document
will do much to banish
any romantic notions we
may have about the
monastic and contemplat
ive life Benedict envisioned.
Gregory’s picture of the
mountain-top guru who
frequently solved crisis
situations with a handy
miracle needs the
balancing portrait of the
down-to-earth abbot,
intent on forming
prayerful and obedient
monks, and thereby
keeping the “crisis
situations” to a minimum.
The only miracle
mentioned in the Holy
Rule is that transformat
ion which takes place
when monks, individually
and as a community, do
the two main things
Benedict prescribes: 1). To
seek God truly; 2) To
prefer nothing to the love
of Christ.
The Rule is especially
noted for its discretion
and moderation. While (he
abbot teaches and acts
with authority, he is
mindful that he too is
under the Rule and
accordingly tries to tend
his flock with the love and
mercy of Christ. He wisely
seeks counsel from his
monks, even the youngest,
before making decisions.
Benedict prudently
tempered the harsh
asceticism of earlier times.
His view was that the body
should receive sufficiently
humane treatment so as to
be at all times the good
servant of the soul.
There are many
parallels in the life of St.
Benedict with the life of
Christ: poverty in the
cave, temptations, the
magnetic attraction of
disciples, miracles,
persecution by his own
and by others, the love of
solitary prayer. There was
also, to a lesser degree of
course, that resurgent
vitality flowing from a life
totally dedicated to
seeking God and to
glorifying Him “in all
things.”
Since St. Benedict’s day
monasticism in the West
has undergone times of
I trial, decadence, and near
ruin, but always there has
been a reawakening and a
reflowering of the
B enedictine spirit.
Nowhere has this
phenomenon been so
vividly mirrored as in the
history of Monte Cassino,
the “cradle of western
monasticism.” Destroyed
by the Lombards around
580, it was rebuilt at the
beginning of the 8th
century. It was again
devastated by the Saracens
in 833. Reoccupied
around 950, it was
demolished by an
earthquake in 1349.
Rebuilt and enriched with
many works of art in the
course of the following
centuries, the abbey was
completely destroyed by a
massive aerial bombard
ment on February 15,
1944 during World War II.
No sooner was that
ancient monastery leveled
than another began to rise.
The Monastery of the
Holy Spirit at Conyers was
founded March 21, 1944.
Monte Cassino itself has
since been completely
restored.
A recent commentator
has appraised St.
Benedict’s enduring
influence in these words:
“ . . . this Italian who set
out to save his soul ended
up by saving western
civilization. Benedictine
monasteries, coming as
they did when the sun was
setting on the West, are
credited by historians,
first, with keeping
European learning,
culture, art and Word
alive, and then centuries
later, helping it to
flourish.”
How is the Benedictine
Family faring today? It is
not easy to make an
objective evaluation in
these times of stress and
uncertainty, but should
you visit one of their
monasteries, you will find
monks or nuns finding
their purpose and joy in
praising God, thanking
Him always, and
beseeching Him to send
laborers into His monastic
vineyard.
SAINT BENEDICT
“Seek God And Wisdom”
WASHINGTON (NC) -
Does St. Benedict, who
founded monaticism as a
means to help cope with
the ancient world’s
turmoil, have a message
for the nuclear age? The
world’s only Benedictine
cardinal thinks so.
Cardinal George Basil
Hume of Westminster,
England, on an American
tour to celebrate the
1,500th anniversary of St.
Benedict’s birth, said in a
homily June 15 that the
saint has a contemporary
message: Seek God and
wisdom, and the world’s
problems may be solved.
By making God the
first concern, living the
Gospel and remaining
faithful to Christ “we shall
see our way to feeding the
hungry, helping the poor,
bringing peace to the
world, respecting life and
nature,” Cardinal Hume
said during Mass at the
National Shrine of the
Immaculate Conception in
Washington. “We shall
know wisdom.” (
“St. Benedict was the
master of wisdom,”
realizing that humans were
both flawed and
“immensely precious in
the eyes of God,” the
cardinal told the people
nearly filling the huge
church. That wisdom must
guide contemporary life
too, he suggested. “We are
a fallen race, but the ideals
are there and unless we
strive all the time to
realize them, we run the
risk of being less than fully
human.
“Man without God is
not fully human,” he
added.
In modern life “God
calls us through the voices
of the poor, of the hungry,
of the oppressed; through
the anguish of the
bereaved and the suffering,
through the old and the
sick,” he said. “Harden
not your hearts.”
The cardinal, a member
of the Vatican Secretariat
for Promoting Christian
Unity, also warned his
listeners about the dangers
both of ignoring God and
being disillusioned by
society’s ills.
He termed it “great
folly that there should be
such a disparity of wealth
between the rich and poor
countries,” that many go
hungry, that the
environment is exploited,
that we “use up so
voraciously our reserves of
energy and so wish crisis
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upon crisis” upon earth,
kill the unborn, “and give
ourselves over to conflict,
to violence, to war.”
Despite great skills,
technological break
throughs and power, “we
seem to be curiously inept
when it comes to arranging
things on this planet,” he
said. And the greatest
folly, from which all
others stem, is to ignore
God, he added.
He reminded his
audience to seek the
“discretion” St. Benedict
advised: “It is knowing
not only about things, but
what they are for, having a
clear vision of what has to
be achieved; it is not the
despising of human skill
and success but
understanding how to put
these to good and
beneficial use.”
Such knowledge comes
through Christ, “the
wisdom of God,” he
concluded. “The vision is
there, allow Him to touch
our eyes and we shall see
it.”
The cardinal was main
celebrant of a Mass
concelebrated by about 50
other priests and bishops,
including the apostolic
delegate in the United
States, Archbishop Jean
Jadot; Bishop Thomas J.
Welsh of Arlington, Va.;
Auxiliary Bishop Thomas
Lyons of Washington, and
Benedictine Abbot James
A. Wiseman of St.
Anselm’s Abbey,
Washington. Following
Communion, Dr. Edmund
D. Pellegrino, president of
the Catholic University of
America, awarded Cardinal
Hume an honorary
doctorate of humane
letters.
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