Newspaper Page Text
Roots Of Poverty
Reaching The
“The Campaign was created
as a source of funds for self -
help projects to combat sources
of poverty ... to help everyone
understand the causes of
poverty and support projects
that are working to correct
injustices. ”
Vol. 18 No. 41
Thursday, November 20,1980
$8 Per Year
Pope Cheered, Criticized
On West German Visit
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OSNABRUCK ARRIVAL - Pope John Paul II pats the cheeks of
two children from an Osnabruck orphanage as he arrives at
Osnabruck on the second day of his fiveAlay tour of West Germany.
At left is Ernst Albrecht, minister president of Lower Saxony.
Meeting Of U.S. Bishops
Reports on the meeting of the United States Bishops appears on page 7. The
Conference of Catholic Bishops held meetings for one week in Washington, D.
C. and concluded deliberations on Friday Nov. 14.
MAINZ, West Germany (NC) -
While West German Catholics gave
Pope John Paul II an enthusiastic
welcome, Protestant representatives
had some criticisms.
Lutheran Bishop Edward Lohse
told the pope at a meeting Nov. 17 in
Mainz that German Protestants
would like to see changes in the
Catholic stands on intercommunion
and mixed marriages.
Speaking in the land of Martin
Luther and the birthplace of the
Protestant Reformation, the pope
said intercommunion must await
“full unity” among Christian
churches. He did not discuss the
marriage issue.
Protestant leaders, including
Bishop Lohse, later publicly praised
the pope’s openness at the meeting.
But privately they expressed
disappointment at his failure to
respond more positively to the
concrete issues raised, according to
Protestant sources.
The Mainz meeting is likely to
have at least one long-range effect on
Christian unity efforts in West
Germany, where about half the
population is Protestant,
predominantly Lutheran, and the
other half Catholic.
Dietrich Sattler, press officer for
the Evangelical Church (Lutheran) of
Germany, announced the formation
of a new study commission with the
Catholic Church. The commission
will be established as soon as possible
and will decide what topics to
address, he said.
Praising Pope John Paul’s “will
and openness and intention,” Sattler
said that “the climate has been
changed” for ecumenical relations in
West Germany.
Previously, at a Mass in
Osnabruck, the pope encouraged
Catholics “to seek out and deepen”
ecumenical activity with Lutherans.
Mainz was the fourth city visited
by the pope on his five-day West
German schedule and marked the
trip’s midpoint.
By the time the pope left Mainz,
(Continued on page 6)
Full Servings With St. Vincent’s
Salvation Santa
BY THEA JARVIS
Hidden in the metro hollows of
Ponce-Highlands, a modern day
Santa surveys his holiday wares.
He boasts no wooly white
beard, no black boots nor long
silver tresses. He has traded the
red and whites of the Santa
tradition for a tailored blue and
red uniform. In place of a frosty
workshop at the North Pole, he
has opted for a spartan basement
on Seminole Avenue.
But Captain John Jordan,
Metropolitan Atlanta City
Coordinator at Salvation Army
headquarters, is a Santa
nonetheless.
“Christmas is the easy time,”
he smiles, passing rows of bright
red Army kettles awaiting their
Christmas offerings. “It’s all the
preparation beforehand that’s
difficult. We have been working
since May, ordering toys for
children we haven’t seen with
money from people we haven’t
yet met.”
Pointing proudly to
ceiling-high stacks of hand-dressed
Horsman dolls, Hollie Hobbie tea
sets, Twister games and Sesame
Street puppets, Captain Jordan
gratefully acknowledges the role
his own children have played in
selecting gifts for thousands of
needy Atlanta youngsters.
“They help me choose things
that are appropriate. If they enjoy
them, others will too.”
Seeing others enjoy the holiday
accounts for the enthusiasm with
Transients and homeless
individuals enjoy sit-down meals
on Thanksgiving and Christmas
when the Army opens its facilities
on Luckie Street in northwest
Atlanta. No stinting here: turkey,
Heralds Of The Season - First In A Series
which Captain Jordan supervises
the seasonal relief program,
providing help to approximately
27,000 metro residents.
“It seems as though last
Christmas, more people expressed
their gratitude than ever before.
One woman walked slowly out of
the toy area sobbing loudly, her
arms wrapped around one of our
volunteers. She told us that she
wouldn’t have had anything if it
hadn’t been for this program.”
Beyond the toys, which are
bought with the “kettle money”
brought in from 60 locations
around town, the Salvation Army
plans to distribute certificates for
2,000 pairs of shoes this holiday
season. The certificates are given
to parents who bring children in
to local shoe stores for proper
fitting.
In addition, help with holiday
dinners is provided with food
checks sent to needy families.
gravy, potatoes and all the fixings
are graciously served with the care
that has come to be the Army’s
trademark.
Atlantans have traditionally
been eager to help in the work of
the Salvation Army, but never
more so than during the holidays.
This year, 45 agencies will
participate in the Salvation Army
“clearing house” program. Local
service groups will refer families
to Army aid in an attempt to see
that “every family in need is
served,” according to Captain
Jordan.
For those who wish to go a
step further than the seasonal
drop in the red Army kettle,
Captain Jordan is encouraging. “If
you have two or three hours to
spare some evening, come out and
ring a bell - man a kettle!”
Distribution of Christmas toys
- at no charge - will begin on
December 19 from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
and will continue through
Rather than giving yourself a full serving this Thanksgiving, why not help
serve someone else?
There’ll be a lot of opportunities to do that Thanksgiving Day, and in the
days ahead, as the St. Vincent de Paul Society and St. Anthony’s parish plan a
Community Thanksgiving for those in need.
Following 10 a.m. Thanksgiving Day Mass at St. Anthony’s, volunteers will
begin serving Thanksgiving Dinner at 11 a.m. and the seatings will go on until 2
p.m. Hopefully, some 300 people will have Thanksgiving dinner during those
hours.
Fixing dinner for 300 means an ambitious shopping list for the Society:
eight 20-25 lb. turkeys, two cases of dressing, two bushels of string beans, two
bushels of squash, two bushels of sweet potatoes, and 1 case of cranberry
sauce.
In addition, the sponsors need sugar, raisins, and papaer products like towels
and napkins. And the lunch program at St. Anthony’s needs 100 place settings,
100 glasses and 100 plates to have enough to serve the crowd.
You can donate food or money to buy food to either the St. Vincent de
Paul Society or St. Anthony’s parish.
And you can donate yourself at St. Anthony’s lunchroom in the basement
of the church to set up, cook and prepare the meals on Tuesday and
Wednesday; and to serve and clean-up on Thursday.
This is the first time the church and the Society have planned to run a
dinner on Thanksgiving, rather than making up food baskets or other projects.
Anyone who wants to share their gratitude this Thanksgiving by donating
food, money and time to help may call the Society at 752-6394 or St.
Anthony’s parish at 758-8861.
December 23 at the Salvation
Army headquarters, 675 Seminole
Avenue N.E. Applications for this
service are taken from December
1 - December 12 from 10 a.m. - 4
p.m. daily except weekends.
Contributions may be sent to:
The Salvation Army Christmas
Cheer Fund, P. O. Box 8237,
Atlanta 30306.
The heralds of the season are
furiously at work. We will soon
see the festive results of their
preparations.
“She’s beautiful and you are too,” says this Salvation Santa as
she heralds the season in this welcome moment of outreach.
J
9P
The Legion
Father Aiden McGrath had
one book in his possession
when he went to a Communist
Chinese jail in 1948. It was the
official handbook of the Legion
of Mary. The Red guards seized
the convict’s book but returned
it, reverently, intact some days
later. A curt note simply said
“It reads like dedicated
communist literature.”
Communism was not what
Frank Duff
had in mind
on that
fateful even
ing when he
went to Myra
House on the
southside of
Dublin. It was
September
1921 and his
city, newly
declared
independent of Britain, was in
shambles. Everywhere the
young government-worker
looked, garrison vulgarity was
clearly to be seen.
The soldiers had left, but the
diseases they created remained.
Prostitution was rife. Public
drunkenness and alcoholism
among the working-class poor
was painfully alarming. And the
added burden of cruel overnight
unemployment on a massive
scale paralyzed a population
recovering from awful years of
war.
Ireland, in the initial stages
of political restoration, needed
at that same instant spiritual
restoration. Frank Duff saw it
and the Legion of Mary was
born.
The young layman gave
those first spiritual soldiers two
very specific rules to be
rigorously kept. First
preparation by prayer. And
second active apostolic service
to needy neighbors for a two
hour weekly minimum.
The Legion leaped into
action. The spiritually starved
and socially deprived denizens
of Dublin responded addictively
to the new ministry. As Duff’s
legionaries marched menacingly
into service the popular evils
faded into defeat. It seemed
that the Legion of Mary was the
perfect medication needed by
this weak, war-torn city.
But, without knowing it,
Frank Duff had created a flame
that would consume, most
lovingly, every corner of the
world. Emigrants carried the
new militarism to the steel
plants, the factories and the
coal mines of Great Britain.
Missionaries packed the familiar
Handbook in ocean crossing
baggage that would finally find
rest in Africa, South America
and those strange lands of the
East. Within a short few years,
the little book of spiritual rules
appeared in every language and
legionaries of every nationality
were on their knees and on
their streets following the order
to sanctify and to serve.
The Legion of Mary was out
of Frank Duff’s hands and info
the great market places of a
hungry world.
The success story continues
as new cells of the Legion are
born each day, always carrying
the message of meaningful
charity, first dreamed into
existence 60 years ago.
Last week, the dreamer,
Frank Duff died in the city that
gave birth to his Legion. He was
91.
BY GRETCHEN REISER
A speaker recently defined the
difference between charity and
justice. Charity, she said, reaches out
to offset the effects of poverty,
suffering and injustice. Justice
reaches out to try to correct the
causes.
This Sunday, the Campaign for
Human Development’s annual
collection seeks funds that will go to
projects in the Archdiocese and
around the country designed to reach
as deeply as roots of poverty.
This will be the eleventh year for the
CHD, created in 1970 out of concern
by the U.S. Bishops and the U.S.
Catholic Conference over the extent
of poverty in this country. The
Campaign was created as a source of
funds for self-help projects to
combat sources of poverty and
injustice, and for education projects
to help everyone understand the
causes of poverty and support
projects that are working to correct
injustices.
Over the past 10 years, the
Campaign has collected almost $80
million for such projects. Of that
money, 75 percent is distributed
through the national office; 25
percent remains in each Diocese
to go directly to local programs.
The state of Georgia, including
both dioceses, has received 16
national grants in 10 years for
projects based here, according to
Bernie Evans, education coordinator
for the campaign in Washington.
Two grants given this year fund a
housing rehabilitation program in the
Savannah diocese, and the Team
Defense Project, a grant received
through the Savannah diocese, which
aids a team of lawyers and volunteers
based in Atlanta who work against
discrimination in the Georgia court
system.
Grants through the Atlanta
Archdiocese have gone in the past
year to such agencies as Traveler’s
Aid and Interfaith, Inc., an
ecumenical, private non-profit
corporation.
Interfaith, formed in 1967,
sponsors housing development and
rehabilitation projects for the poor,
works as an advocate for low and
moderate income housing in the
state, and provides social services,
such as job placement, family
counseling, and recreation programs
for residents at its housing
developments.
Since its formation, Interfaith,
Inc., which includes an Archdiocesan
representative on its board, has
completed three housing projects and
is the sponsor-developer of a fourth
underway in Douglasville. Interfaith
also acquired and rehabilitated five
sub-standard buildings under the
Department of Community and
Human Development Rehabilitation
Program.
Evans said that on a national level
96 cents of every dollar contributed
to the CHD has gone to projects over
the last decade.
SELF - HELP PROJECTS that bring about rehabilitation in
every walk of life including housing are the aim of the Campaign for
Human Development.
Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta