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Open Letter Of Grief
Representatives of the Archdiocese joined last week with other Atlanta
clergymen to express concern and offer assistance and deep sympathy to black
families who have lost children to the series of slayings and disappearances in
the city and in the explosion at the Bowen Homes’ Gate City Day Nursery.
On Friday, Archbishop Thomas Donnellan and Rabbi Alvin M. Sugarman of
The Temple, Dr. Paul T. Eckel, pastor of First Presbyterian Church and Bishop
Bennett J. Sims of the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta issued an open letter of
sympathy. In it, they also called upon their religious communities to join in
prayer and to support the request of Mayor Maynard Jackson for additional
reward funds for information on the slayings and disappearances of 14 Atlanta
children.
The letter said:
“We wish to share our deepest sympathy with our brothers and sisters in the
black community of Atlanta, who have suffered such tragic losses in the series
of murders and disappearances of children over the past months and the
day-care center deaths of this week.
“We urge our respective communities to join in prayer on behalf of the
bereaved families and to ask God’s help in bringing to an end the killing of
innocent children.
“We call upon the religious community to join with all our citizens in
responding to the mayor’s call to raise additional reward funds toward the
capture of the perpetrator of these horrible crimes.
“At a time like this we realize that human anguish and suffering know no
boundaries, racial, religious, or otherwise. In our grief, we are united with our
black brothers and sisters, and together pledge with them to do all within our
power to put an end to these despicable murders and help reduce the present
tensions that threaten our community.”
Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta
Vol. 18 No. 37
Thursday, October 23,1980
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Damien
The lepers watched as he
hammered the wood into place. St.
Philomena’s was getting a new face.
Rough and ready, working
throughout the windswept tropical
day, Father Damien ignored their
curious stares. It was time to put the
little beach-side church into shape
and begin a worshipping community
of the wounded
Molokai.
Wading ashore
on this island of
on that fateful day
in May 1873,
the peasant
priest knew
what lay ahead.
Molokai was the
leper island and
leprosy was the
definite sent
ence of segregat
ed doom meted
out for life, on
its victims. It
was considered
a contagious
scourge.
The sights welcoming his willing
healthy hands and broad able back
were hideous. Six hundred diseased
souls, many of them facing
immediate death, lay in odorous
shacks. The disease had disguised
human beings till they often
resembled swarms of worms. Damien
would quickly begin the use of
tobacco to create some tolerance for
his ministrations. Learning to dress
their untended wounds was a
hazardous skill. Applying that
medication at leper bedsides was a
mountainous martyrdom.
But before the living, he must first
tend the dead. Since only those
touched by this affliction were
hounded to Molakai, there were few
healthy or willing hands to bury the
dead. Dozens of victims lay almost
totally exposed in the field beside St.
Philomena’s Church. Alone and
unresentful, the consecrated hands of
this young, dazed Belgian missionary
set about the awful task of creating
his first graves. Hundreds more
would be added, and one space, close
to the Church, he would reserve for
himself. It was inevitable. He knew
it.
St. Philomena’s was too small.
The healthy lepers could and would
come. For too long spiritual solace
was available most irregularly.
Adventurous missionary fathers
would occasionally dash to their
sides only to disappear before the
awful terror of the unsightly disease.
Damien was their immediate
heroic savior. Days faded into weeks
and he stayed. Lumber was delivered
and St. Philomena’s was extended as
those silent peasant hands carved out
the wooden addition. Obviously he
was going to stay. Yes, they were
certain.
In their Hawaiian rainbow of
colors, hobbling on uncertain limbs,
they answered the bell for his first
Mass. The hymns of the islands were
gratefully remembered and chanted.
The breeze rolling from the peaks of
the mighty surf passed through the
church soothing away, temporarily,
the stench of the terminal infection.
Father Damien finished the Latin
text of the Gospel and turned to
address his newly gathered
c /ngregation. Looking down at the
rounded prisoners of this South Seas
paradise he surrendered to the
destiny that commanded his presence
among them.
His first words did not go
unnoticed and were recorded for
history.
“We lepers.”
SETTLEMENT - Workers enter the J. P. Stevens plant in
Roanoke Rapids, N. C. to begin another day. After a 17-year battle
between the nation’s second largest textile firm and the
Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union over organizing
the company, an agreement has been reached. (NC Photo)
Stevens Settlement, Boycott Ends
(NC News Service)
Religious leaders in the J.P.
Stevens boycott welcomed the news
of a Stevens-union settlement but
their enthusiasm was tempered by
memories of the company’s 17-year
history of labor struggles.
“It sounds like a victory for the
boycott, but Stevens has a history of
really not being very forthright, so
I’m restraining my enthusiasm,”
Franciscan Sister Rita Nieland of
Network said.
Sister Nieland and other religious
leaders said that although the
boycott of Steven’s products has
been dropped, they plan to continue
monitoring the workers’ progress.
Union members in Roanoke
Rapids, N.C. voted Oct. 19 to accept
a contract with J.P. Stevens and Co.
Inc. The union-Stevens agreement
includes 10 plants. The nation’s
second largest textile company has
fought to keep organized labor out
of its 81 plants since 1963.
The company signed
two-and-a-half year contracts with
members of the Amalgamated
Clothing and Textile Workers at
seven plants in Roanoke Rapids, N.C.
and with three other plants in North
Carolina, South Carolina and
Alabama. In return the union agreed
to end the four-year boycott.
The vote came more than six
years after the union won the right
to represent Stevens workers. Stevens
has been cited repeatedly by the
National Labor Relations Board for
failure to bargain in good faith and
the union had been unable to obtain
a contract.
(Continued on page 6)
BISHOPS:
Accord Brings “Satisfaction”
In the wake of the J. P. Stevens
settlement, the Office of Archbishop
Thomas A. Donnellan released the
following statement on behalf of the
Southern Bishops who supported the
boycott of the textile company:
“The news of a settlement
between the owners of the J. P.
Stevens Company and the
Amalgamated Clothing and Textile
Workers brings a sense of real
satisfaction to all concerned. The
long struggle for Union recognition,
with the division and bitterness it
engendered has now been brought to
a close and an agreement has been
signed. The boycott, as a result, has
ended and the workers have accepted
the terms of the agreement.
“To be sure, the J. P. Stevens
Company continues to oppose
unionization but has pledged itself
not to interfere improperly in the
unionization efforts of the workers.
There will be a long road ahead
before the textile workers are fully
unionized, if ever, but many real
obstacles have been removed from
the path.
“The Bishops of the Province of
Atlanta and the Diocese of
Richmond have been involved in the
struggle between J. P. Stevens and its
workers over several years. Earlier
this year, with some reluctance, we
supported the boycott. It is
appropriate for us now to express
our satisfaction in the recent turn of
events and to salute those who, on
both sides of the table, assisted in
resolving the problem. For our part,
we continue to offer our services to
both parties if any efforts of ours
might be of use.
“With the pledge of the Stevens
Company to permit legitimate
unionization efforts at their plants, a
giant-step forward has been taken by
the textile workers. This
unionization places a real
responsibility on the Unions
involved, one that includes sincere
efforts at collective bargaining and a
just treatment of minorities,
especially women and Blacks, in the
operation of the Unions. We are
hopeful that with each side accepting
its appropriate responsibilities we can
look forward to the time ahead as
one of peace and prosperity for all
concerned.”
Most Rev. Thomas A. Donnellan,
Archbishop of Atlanta, Ga.
Most Rev. Michael J. Begley,
Bishop of Charlotte, N. C.
Most Rev. F. Joseph Gossman,
Bishop of Raleigh, N. C.
Most Rev. Raymond W. Lessard,
Bishop of Savannah, Ga.
Most Rev. Walter F. Sullivan,
Bishop of Richmond, Va.
Most Rev. Ernest L. Unterkoefler,
Bishop of Charleston, S. C.
Synod Doors Close For Debate
VATICAN CITY (NC) - A shroud
of secrecy descended on the world
Synod of Bishops as the participants
entered the critical final week which
involves voting on conclusions and a
synod message.
On Oct. 20 Archbishop Joseph
Bemardin of Cincinnati presented a
draft synod message to the world and
West German Cardinal Joseph
Ratzinger of Munich and Freising
presented a draft list of 50
propositions that the 200-plus synod
fathers could approve, disapprove or
amend. The synod is scheduled to
end Oct. 26.
But the drafts were issued “sub
secreto” (under secrecy), and at the
end of the morning session the
bishops were told in three languages
that they were not to be released.
Information obtained by NC News
Service indicated that the draft
propositions presented by Cardinal
Ratzinger, the synod’s relator,
consisted of 50 items.
NC News also learned that the
draft of the synod message,
composed by an elected five-member
committee, consisted of six parts.
- An introduction saying that the
message is directed to all families.
- A description of the situation
that the family finds itself in today.
- A doctrinal part, placing family
life in the context of God’s plan for
salvation and emphasizing the
witness to God’s plan of love and
life, to the permanence of marriage
and the transmission of life to which
Christian families are called.
- A section of the response of
people to God’s plan.
- A section on the church and the
family.
-- A conclusion encouraging
families to meet the challenges of
Christian family life today.
Theme of the synod is: “The Role
of the Christian Family in the World
of Today.”
Details of the 50 propositions
were not immediately learned.
Judging from the proceedings of the
synod before the final week, the
topics in the draft list probably
include:
-- A reaffirmation of “Humanae
Vitae,” the 1968 papal encyclical
that said the use of artificial means
of contraception is intrinsically
wrong, and a call for fuller
understanding of that teaching and
better explanation of it in terms of a
positive theology of human
sexuality.
-- A reaffirmation of the
indissolubility of marriage, but a call
(Continued on page 6)
SYNOD STROLL - Archbishop Joseph Bemardin of Cincinnati
formerly Auxiliary Bishop of Atlanta and Archbishop John R.
Quinn of San Francisco walk in Vatican City. (NC Photo)
Pilgrimage To Addiction
BY MSGR. NOEL BURTENSHAW
The painful pilgrimage began
with pot.
She would stumble all the way
down the torturous stairway to
addiction, meeting and testing
every drug along the way. At
every step she would battle and
lose to the hideous monsters
called depression, loneliness and
fear. She would forfeit the respect
of others, gain self-hatred and
walk to the ultimate edge of
despair.
Her 10-year journey, from
experimenting adolescent to
raving poly-addicted drug user and
finally to recovery, is a blistering
tale of pain and survival.
Nancy Ann Nurse, we will call
her. She comes from good New
Orleans Catholic stock. Her
mother was a nurse and her father
a trucking executive.
“In the late sixties we moved
to Atlanta and I went to St. Pius.
It was a good school and I can
honestly say, I never got any
drugs there.”
Nancy, as a high school
student, did get drugs from her
college boyfriend. “He was on
marijuana and gave the stuff to
me. Why did I take it? It was the
thing to do.”
T hat was the first step in
Nancy’s pilgrimage.
In her senior year another
dimension was added. Beer. Now
she had her joint and her beer. “I
had them only on weekends,”
remembers Nancy. “It was just
casual use.”
After graduation Nancy went
to a small college in South
Georgia with the idea of studying
nursing. “Everyone seemed to
smoke,” she recalls, “and to study
for exams a lot of my friends used
speed.” It was the next step. With
casual ease Nancy began to take
valium - just to help her study
habits.
College was fun and even
adventurous when curfew rules
were ignored. “The weekend
parties were constant,” recalls
Nancy “and drugs were a big part
of the scene.” But not just pot.
Mysterious mood changers were a
part of the circuit. L.S.D.,
mescaline and other
hallucinogenics were available.
Nancy was soon into them all,
moving faster now along her
addictive road.
“I still did not see a problem,”
she says. “You don’t think of
yourself as an addict - you don’t
even think you are an abuser. You
are not going to jump through a
window. You are just having a
good time.”
The college authorities didn’t
see it that way. Nancy was
suspended for rule breaking so she
came to Atlanta and got a job.
“For three years I worked,”
she remembers, “and in that time
I was moderate in my use' of
drugs. Mostly social use and on
weekends.” But another element
was added. At this time Nancy
first began using hard liquor. “I
moved up from beer to scotch. It
was another step on the road to
disaster that I failed to see.”
Nancy Ann was dissatisfied
with her work (“I was always on
the move, running”) and went
back to South Georgia to get her
(Continued on page 6)
The Unhandicapped-3 (Third In A Series)
“You don’t think of yourself as an addict - you don’t even
think you are an abuser. You are not going to jump through a
window. You are just having a good time.”