Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

I# «# • # 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) VH—lilll II 1 B.<i mm »:r§ | m m- S ' » SK- ft j§ 1* S SI lUt SI If i *. •* -«»5!r 1 * - «! 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.” '4 <K