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Vol. 19 No. 7
A View From
El Salvador
BY GRETCHEN REISER
When the U.S. government
resumed giving military aid to El
Salvador last month, the explanation
publicly was that such aid would
support a moderate government
trying to hold its own against assaults
from the political left and right.
And U.S. officials said that an
investigation was continuing in El
Salvador into the killings of four
American missionary women last
December.
In an interview last week, the
Central American representative for
the American Friends Service
Committee, Phil Berryman, said
neither of those premises is true.
Berryman, who was in Atlanta for a
few days for meetings on conditions
in Central America, based his
statements on reports he gathered
and observations he made while
living in Guatemala and traveling
through El Salvador for the AFSC
last fall.
“I categorically reject the
assumption that we’re supporting a
moderate government fighting
attacks from the right and the left,”
he said.
Berryman, who was in El Salvador
in November, just before the killings
of the American women, said that he
was given a church document listing
acts of violence against the Catholic
Church in El Salvador from January
to October 1980. The list included
180 items; among them were 28
killings, 13 bombs, and 41 machine
gun attacks, he said.
He said that church publications
Phil Berryman
attributed 132 of the acts to official
government troops and 22 more to
paramilitary groups.
He toured the Chancery in San
Salvador, which had visible bomb
damage, and saw damage to the
church’s radio transmitter and
buildings at the Catholic university.
“The killings of the nuns was not
(Continued on page 3)
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FATHER BOB POANDL, Glenmary pastor at
St. Luke the Evangelist Church in Dahlonega,
shares some tea with Frances Boemer and her
daughter during Thursday “lunch bunch” time.
U.S.C.C. MEETINGS
Keeping The Heat
On Tax Credit Bills
NC AND STAFF REPORTS
A blitz of one-day meetings
around the country to spread
information about, and coordinate
support for, tuition tax credit
proposals in Congress is being
sponsored by the U.S. Catholic
Conference.
One of the nine meetings will be
held in Atlanta, Feb. 20, at the
Atlanta Airport Hilton. A team from
the U.S.C.C. Education Department
will lead the seminar from 10 a.m.-3
p.m. There is no registration fee.
The meetings, according to
Edward Anthony, U.S.C.C. director
of educational assistance, are
designed to share a great deal of
information on the tuition tax credit
issue in a short period of time with
local coordinators and other
supporters of the credit.
The Atlanta agenda includes an
information session, giving the status
in Congress of various tax credit
proposals, a “plan for action”
workshop, and distribution of
material.
The meeting is open to anyone
interested in the topic. Those who
plan to attend are asked to contact
Fred Loveday of the Georgia
Association of Independent Schools
(436-5425) so proper accomodations
can be arranged.
According to U.S.C.C. officials,
13 tuition tax credit bills had been
introduced in Congress by early
February. The bill with the most
support is H.R. 380, introduced Jan.
6 by Rep. Thomas A. Luken
(D-Ohio) and 13 co-sponsors.
A similar bill, co-sponsored by
Sens. Deniel Patrick Moynihan
(D-N.Y.) and Robert Packwood
(R-Ore.) was expected to be
introduced in the Senate, but as of
early February had not been
submitted. Tax credit supporters
were also awaiting the Reagan
administration’s tax cut
recommendations, which were
expected to include support for
tuition tax credits.
Other meetings, being held from
Feb. 9-23, were scheduled for
Boston, New York, Chicago, Denver,
Seattle, San Francisco, Dallas and
Washington.
CHARITIES DRIVE
A Day In Dahlonega
BY THEA JARVIS
On a clear, cold February Thursday in the gold-tapped hills of Dahlonega, it
is time for the St. Luke’s “lunch bunch” to meet.
Opening the noontime festivities at the combination rectory/Catholic center
a block down from the church, Glenmary pastor Father Bob Poandl gathers his
friends around him for a toast to new life. Church bulletin editor Frances
Boemer’s new grandchild is due any time, and that warrants a moment of
special celebration.
Parishioner Rosemary Fraker has turned out a feast of spaghetti with
mushrooms, despite her throbbing feet, and bearded Glenmary volunteer Mark m
Bomholdt - all six-plus feet of him - has had his appetite on hold since eleven. >
Frances’ two daughters and their young children join hands for the blessing <
with the others and lunch begins.
Throughout the meal, a Thursday tradition since Father Bob’s arrival three
years ago, people come and go amidst catch-up conversation and parish news.
“The first time we had the Methodist minister over for Thursday lunch,”
recalls Frances with unmasked glee, “we gave Father Bob a slotted spoon for
his soup. He remarked to our visitor that he sometimes has to put up with a lot
from his friends.”
Francois Pellissier, the Glenmary deacon who began life in France and
ended up riding a bicycle through the north Georgia hills, strolls in, grabs a
cupcake, and asks for word on the newly-appointed Archbishop of Paris.
When someone mentions his big-wheeled bicycle, a familiar sight on the
streets of Dahlonega, he claims the vehicle for his homeland. “It’s a Japanese
bike that I bought in Washington, but the wheels are definitely French!”
The doorbell rings and Father Bob takes time out for an elderly gentleman
in need of help. The parish eyeglass and denture fund comes to the aid of many
like him who are financially unable to take care of basic health needs.
When lunch is over, Mark helps Rosemary with the dishes. Ruby appears,
looking for Father Bob. A spare, gray-haired lady who has known many north
THURSDAY AFTERNOONS in Cleveland, the Catholic Center-
Sisters’ Residence of St. Paul the Apostle Church fills with children
for home-style religious education classes. In the living room,
pre-schoolers gather with their teacher and prepare some valentine
hearts for lucky moms and dads.
Georgia winters, she enjoys a hot cup of'coffee and one of Rosemary’s
cupcakes while she shares news of her invalid son, confined to a wheelchair
since an auto accident.
The parade of people continues. Father Bob counsels quietly in the dining
room with a man experiencing stress in his marriage. Donna, a new convert
who has recently moved from Newnan with her husband, has forgotten the
name of a thoughtful parishioner who invited her to dinner. She is looking for
a parish roster.
(Continued on page 2)
Official
Assignments
Archbishop Donnellan extends a
warm welcome to the Archdiocese of
Atlanta and announced the
appointments, effective Feb. 6, of:
Reverend Edward Gray, C.SS.R. as
Pastor of Sacred Heart Church in
Griffin and Reverend Richard Vail,
C.SS.R. as Pastor of Saint George’s
Church in Newnan. Also effective
Feb. 6, Reverend John F. Jerlinski,
C.SS.R., formerly Assistant Pastor of
Saint Gerard’s Church (Fort
Oglethorpe), has been appointed
Assistant Pastor of Saint James
Church in McDonough.
Solid Silver
This is the 25th anniversary of the
founding of the Diocese of Atlanta.
Our new column on page 3, written
by Monsignor Burtenshaw, recalls
historical incidents that have occurred
in our Diocese and Archdiocese over
the period of those years. Follow the
“Solid Silver” memories in this
column each week as we celebrate 25
years of church life in North Georgia.
Scripture — The Need To Know More
BY THEA JARVIS
Father Thomas Leclerc,
M.S., associate pastor of St.
Ann's Catholic Church in
Marietta, presents readers with
a problem he has met within,
the Catholic community - the
need to define the Catholic
tradition in a contemporary
society hungry for the riches
of Scripture. He recently
conducted a seminar at St.
Ann's on The Catholic
Approach to Scripture.
Father Leclerc is a native of
Fitchburg, Mass. He holds a
master’s degree in theology
with a concentration in
Scripture from the Washington
Theological Union and has
studied language at Harvard
University.
The following interview
was conducted by The Georgia
Bulletin in January.
1. Would you outline the events
that have led to your interest in
clarifying the Catholic position on
Scripture?
The situation is basically a
pastoral problem. Among
parents, there is a concern
about the kind of education
their children are getting and
the kind of environment they
are living in -- a very
fundamental, scripturally
-oriented backdrop that the
children have to deal with on a
day-to-day basis.
On an adult level, there is a
hunger among Catholics for
Scripture study, which, if not
provided by the parish, is
sought outside. The problem
involves people going to
ecumenical Bible study groups
and coming back with
positions, opinions and
interpretations which are not
in concert with the Catholic
tradition.
These concerns have led us
to address the problem of the
scriptural milieu in which we
are living.
2. Would you dte a specific
instance of such an event?
One of the more critical
events was a local Baptist
church’s student appreciation
night. Area high school
students were invited and
when they showed up at the
church it was a religious
program from soup to nuts - a
prayer service with hymns,
personal witnessing, etc.
As a parish, we felt it was a
ploy. If you’re going to
sponsor a religious ceremony,
then call it that. If you’re
going to hold a student
appreciation night and use
that to attract students to
your church, it’s not
above-board.
3. Why are young people in
particular so easily drawn to these
programs?
There are two things at
work here. On the peer level,
Catholics aren’t used to being
confronted with strong
religious opinion. But a
Catholic youth going to high
school makes friends with
young people from other
denominations who are used
to witnessing and speaking
from the Scriptures. Catholic
high school students are not
equipped to deal with that,
because it’s not been part of
their background.
On the church level, the
thing that’s very attractive to
youth is the sense of
fellowship and social
interaction that is established
at a lot of these churches,
along with the very fine music
programs, recreational and
social activities which the
oi
churches sponsor. These are
we 1 1 - organized and
well-financed activities which,
on the smaller scale, we are
not able to offer.
It is very inviting to a
teenager to walk into a setting
that is very warm, supportive
and social. In a certain sense
we have not been able to
compete on that level.
4. Are adults being influenced
and drawn in by these programs?
They are. There seems to
be a renaissance in the
Catholic Church with respect
to Scripture, and it would
seem that the interest is ahead
of the ability to respond to
the demand.
A lot of adults, in an
attempt to deepen their own
vjcripture
k-J for
our
people
faith life and become more
immersed in and familiar with
the Scriptures, look to the
local parishes, which have met
with limited success in
offering Scripture study
programs.
Fundamental churches have
been doing this for years and
have adequate resources
available. A Catholic adult
going into these programs is
having one need met -- the
need to know more about the
Scriptures. The unfortunate
thing is that the context, the
background, and the approach
are not really Catholic and so
there tends to be a conflict
between the fundamental
approach to Scripture and the
(Continued on page 6)
“There seems to be a renaissance in the Catholic Church with
respect to Scripture, and it would seem that the interest is ahead
of the ability to respond to the demand.”
“It is falling more and more to the individual to be personally
responsible for deepening his own knowledge and experience.
The churches can provide any number of classes and
programs . . . but it is up to the individual to take advantage of
that.”
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