Newspaper Page Text
Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta
Vol. 19 No. 28
Thursday, August 6,1981
3.00 per year
REQUEST TO SEC. HAIG
Bishop Urges Inquiry
\
Into Priest’s Death
CELEBRATING IN THE CAMP PROMISE
SPIRIT, Archbishop Thomas Donnellan, wearing a
specially made African-style stole and chasuble,
joins the children at St. Paul of the Cross prior to a
special Mass July 30. He is flanked by assistant
HOLY FATHER
pastor Father Thomas Brislin, C.P. (right) and
archdiocesan Vice-Chancellor Fr. James Micelli.
For a wrap-up of the Camp Promise programs, see
page 3.
Operation “Fully Successful
ROME (NC) - Pope John Paul II underwent a second
operation at Rome’s Gemelli Polyclinic Aug. 5 and began a
recovery period that is expected to keep him in the hospital
for another week to 10 days.
Dr. Emilio Tresalti, chief medical officer at the hospital,
described the operation for reversal of a temporary
intestinal bypass as “fully successful” and said that the
61-year-old patient was in good condition.
He predicted that Pope John Paul could resume a normal
schedule within two months and said, “I think we will have
a pope exactly as he was before.”
The Aug. 5 operation, required to reverse a colostomy
performed May 13 after an assassination attempt on the
pope in St. Peter’s Square, took place in strict secrecy to
avoid an influx of journalists and the curious at the hospital.
Pope John Paul regained consciousness about 15 minutes
after the hour-long operation and told physicians that he
felt fine, Tresalti said.
The operation was performed by Dr. Francesco Crucitti,
the 50-year-old surgeon who headed the surgical team
during the original operation.
The pope was released from the Gemelli Polyclinic less
than a month after the attempt on his life, but returned to
the hospital June 20 with a high fever. He was diagnosed as
having a viral infection called cytomegauovirus, but doctor
declared the pope “clinically cured” of the infection Aug. ll
Father Romeo Pangiroli, director of the Vatican Press
Office, said the pope was likely to spend his time at
Castelgandolfo writing an encyclical or pastoral letter.
SANTIAGO ATLITLAN,
Guatemala (NC) - The Tutujil
Indians, for whom a murdered
Oklahoma missionary, Father Stanley
Rother, gave his life, buried his heart
in the parish church of Santiago
Atlitlan during funeral services
attended by most of the town’s
population. His body was shipped
July 31 to Oklahoma City.
At services in Villa de Guadalupe
Parish in Guatemala City Auxiliary
Bishop Eduardo Ernesto Fuentes of
Guatemala City called the priest “a
martyr, for he came back to the
(Santiago Atlitlan) parish in spite of
threats to his life out of love and
service for these people.”
Father Rother, who came to
Santiago Atlitlan in 1968 on
assignment from the Oklahoma City
Archdiocese, was shot to death by
unknown assassins in his rectory early
July 28. He and his associate pastor,
Father Pedro Bocel, a Guatemalan,
had fled to the United States in
January after a policeman in Solola
department told them their names
were on a death list.
The priests returned to Santiago
Atlitlan shortly before Holy Week in
April. Father Rother went home to
Oklahoma in May for the ordination
of a cousin, but returned immediately
to his mission parish.
Bishop Fuentes said in his homily
that the priest chose to serve “in a
hidden place rather than an American
parish and was willing to drink his
chalice to the last sacrifice for those
entrusted to him, unlike rulers who
tyranize the people.” The theme of
the Mass dealt with the Lord’s
dwelling place.
Parishioners in Santiago wanted to
bury his body in the local parish, a
church source said, but “knowing that
his parents wanted it, asked during its
embalming if they could keep his
heart, a small consolation after a real
loss for them; they loved Father
Rother so dearly.”
Father Bocel came out of hiding to
attend the funeral, the source
reported.
In Oklahoma City funeral services
were held at the cathedral Aug. 3.
Besides being called “a martyr,”
Father Rother was eulogized during a
congressional hearing on human rights
violations in Washington by Rep.
Robert K. Doman (R-Calif.), who said
that “in my own (Catholic) faith, this
man was a saint.” Frankie B. Williams,
a medical secretary from Wichita,
Kan., who spent four vacations in
Santiago Atlitlan, said that the
murdered missionary, far from being a
social activist, “was a wonderful,
devoted priest.” Mrs. Williams, a
Methodist, added at the hearing that
by all indications, he was killed “by a
paramilitary death squad.”
The hearing was called in view of
the recent State Department decision
to allow the export of 100 jeeps and
50 cargo trucks to the Guatemalan
armed forces to help their
anti-insurgency drive. Further aid is
under consideration. The decision was
protested by 54 congressmen, who
said that the Guatemalan government
of Gen. Romeo Lucas Garcia had
shown a consistent pattern of gross
violations of internationally
recognized human rights. At the
hearing several congressmen cited
recent cases of violations and a report
by Amnesty International on
documented killings and torture as
well as disappearances.
While in the United States, Father
Rother had said that several hundred
troops had been camped outside
Santiago Atlitlan since their arrival
last October, purportedly to protect
the town from guerrillas in the area.
Since then several people have been
abducted and disappeared.
Last November inhabitants of
Santiago and two other towns said
they were being harassed by soldiers,
that the parish rectory and the radio
station were raided and that a teacher,
Gaspar Cullan Yatav, who was in
charge of the station, was shot in front
of his home by three armed men.
Other sources said more than 20
parishioners had been abducted and
murdered or were missing since troops
occupied the town in October.
Mrs. Williams told NC News later
that after the troops moved in the
captain called a town meeting to tell
the Indians that the military were
their friends. Father Rother put up his
(Continued on page 6)
Colorful Clowning At Camp Promise
BY THEA JARVIS
On a sultry midsummer morning, a
bright-faced flock of eight-year-olds at
Camp Promise sits transfixed as a
smiling lady in partial whiteface prays
aloud.
“Oh God, is that what you want me
to do, God?” she asks. “You want me
to cover myself all up so the special
person inside me can come out?”
“All right, God,” she continues,
finishing up the whiteface that masks
her features. Whisking out her
lipstick-lovestick, she paints a rosy
smile that helps her to speak kindly to
people. With the help of a magic
coloring pencil, her eyes, too, become
special, able to see deep down inside
people.
“I’m afraid I’m going to get lost,
God,” she worries, but in the blink of
an eye, her plaintive cry turns to
delighted surprise. “Oh, God, I’ll do
that,” she exclaims, polishing her nose
to a bright red vintage-Rudolph hue.
“Now I can follow you, God,
wherever you lead me.”
Grabbing a red and yellow
pig-tailed wig, she places it jauntly on
her head and explains its symbolic
colors - red for love, yellow for joy.
Topped off with a “kindness” hat that
sits prettily atop the wig, she is ready
to “walk in kindness” for the Lord.
Who is this jolly lady in the
outlandish outfit and painted face?
None other than Sister Karen
Klimczak, a Sister of Saint Joseph
from Buffalo, New York who visited
Atlanta this summer to work in the
Camp Promise programs that helped
insure safety on the streets for
Atlanta’s children.
Sister Karen has fulfilled
everybody’s childhood dream. She has
become a clown.
Three years ago, Sister attended
Loyola University of Chicago and
became involved with ANAWIM, a
Christian drama group whose name
means “poor of the Lord.” There she
learned the “theology” of clowning.
“The use of whiteface symbolizes
dying to oneself,” she explained, “and
the new colors used means the new
person comes through. This is why
Christ is sometimes portrayed as a
clown.”
Since her debut into the world of
clowning, Sister Karen has become a
“clown of God,” working with adult
and youth groups in the Diocese of
Buffalo when her teaching duties at
Mount Saint Joseph Academy allow.
“The children remember what you
tell them,” she observed of her clown
role. “You can teach them the same
thing outside the clown model and
they might not listen.”
Back at Camp Promise, Sister
Karen, in full clown regalia, tells the
children the new name that goes with
her new face, B-O-U-N-C-E. She Spells
it out for them using a ball to engage
their attention and their interaction
with her and others in the group.
‘THE CHILDREN REMEMBER what you tell
them. You can teach them the same thing outside
the clown model and they might not listen.’
EACH CHILD GETS a custom-made balloon
that Bounce the Clown had stretched and pulled
into colorful giraffes, butterflies and Snoopys.
“B - be yourself, be bruthful,” she
begins, inviting the children to catch
the ball she bounces to them. “0 -
others. This ball is soft and gentle and
won’t hurt anyone,” she continues.
“That’s how we should act toward
others.”
“U - use the gifts God has given
you. N - never hurt anyone. That’s
why I came to Atlanta,” Sister Karen
says. “I didn’t want anyone to hurt
the children here.”
“C - be a caring person. E - every
person is special! ” she concludes. “My
name is Bounce and I must bounce
love, joy and peace to everyone.”
Sister Karen’s rapport with the
children builds as she proceeds
through her monologue. The children
are continually called upon to
respond, in both verbal and
non-verbal ways, to the clown’s
challenges.
Before becoming Sister Karen
again, Bounce the clown shares happy
hearts with her friends. The children
receive red paper hearts inscribed with
love messages that read “be a good
friend,” “smile,” “be kind,” and other
simple maxims. She also gives each
child a custom-made balloon that she
has stretched and pulled into colorful
giraffes, butterflies and Snoopys.
“God says I have to go away now,”
Sister Karen says gently, signalling the
end of Bounce’s visit. “Oh, God, it’s
sad that I’m going away,” she says,
removing her clown makeup so the
children can see. “But I will remember
the special person you want me to
be.”
And remembering the special
person we are called to he is what
Sister Karen’s clowning is all about.
“The other day one of the
six-year-olds came up and told me ‘I
didn’t fight because the clown told me
to be kind to others,” she said,
humbly delighted with such
encouragement.
Sister Karen has likewise had a
positive response to her work from her
religious superiors.
“My community has highly
supported me,” she remarked,
observing that the clown role has
aided her own spiritual journey.
“I grow thiough it,” said Sister
Karen. “It’s a necessary outlet. When I
share with others, others share with
me. By nature, I’m not outgoing. But
the whiteface is a mask that reveals
yourself and enables you to reach out
as a clown.”
Throughout her four weeks in
Atlanta, Sister Karen calculated that
she had been in whiteface “about 47
times,” working with children of all
ages at all three archdiocesan
campsites.
“I’ve learned a whole lot being
here,” she smiled, “the people are very
friendly and the children’s needs are
so great.”
One of these children, a camper at
Saint Paul of the Cross, summed up
Sister Karen’s role in the refreshing
simplicity of the very young. “You’re
God’s clown,” he said easily.
And that is just who Sister Karen
Klimczak likes to be.