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LABOR MOVEMENT
100 Years Old
This year marks the 100th
anniversary of the American Labor
Movement, as well as the anniversaries
of three Catholic Encyclical
statements on social and economic
issues. These anniversaries occur at a
time when sweeping changes are
taking place in American public life.
There is a sense of crisis in the nation
See Editorial, Page 4
along with a willingness to try new
approaches and to seek new solutions,
particularly in the economic arena...
The combined actions of the
Congress on budget cuts and tax cuts
constitute one of the largest
redistributions of wealth and income
in America’s history. This shift in
resources from low and moderate
income families to the wealthy is
almost unprecedented in its scope and
in the severity of its impact...
While Federal spending on human
needs is being severely cut back,
spending on military programs is
scheduled to increase at historic rates.
The United States is already spending
25 percent of its national budget on
military programs. Under current
projections, that would increase to
almost 40 percent by 1986. As a
nation we are scheduled to spend $1.5
trillion on defense in the next five
years, with the annual defense budgets
increasing from $180 billion in fiscal
year 1981 to $367 billion in fiscal year
1986. ..
These congressional actions on
budget cuts and tax cuts are important
in themselves; but in a larger sense,
they are extremely significant because
of what they symbolize - a dramatic
shift in our commitment as a nation to
use government policies as a tool for
building a more equitable and just
society, a substantial retreat from our
common goal of providing a
minimally adequate standard of living
for all our citizens. . .
Do we want a government that is a
protector and promoter of human
dignity and human rights, a
government that guarantees that
people in the richest nation on earth
do not go without adequate income,
employment, food, housing, medical
care and other basic necessities of life,
a government that helps to achieve
greater equality? Or, do we want a
government that is a protector of the
wealthy and a producer of greater
inequality - a government of the rich,
by the rich and for the rich? ...
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Catholic social teaching can
contribute much to this important
debate. For at its core the debate has
to do with basic values and moral
principles. It is rooted in our
fundamental beliefs about the nature
of the human person and about how
we should live together as a society. A
brief look at some of the major themes
that permeate the Catholic social
encyclicals over the past 90 years will
perhaps suggest some guiding
principles that are relevant to the
current American reality ...
Finally, it is appropriate in the
context of this Labor Day statement
to call attention to a theme that is
found throughout the encyclical
documents of the past 90 years -- the
dignity of work and the right of
workers. From the extensive
treatment given this theme in “Rerum
Novarum” (1891) to the most recent
I
LABOR DAY 1981 - Carpenter Rod Eubackis
a study in contrast as he hammers his way to
completion on a project in Henrico County, Va.,
under the hot summer sun. This worker along with
the rest of America will put tools aside Sept. 7 to
enjoy the Labor Day holiday.
statements of Pope John Paul II, the
church has emphasized the
importance and dignity of human
labor. ..
Adequate employment is
considered to be a basic human right.
Thus, “Quadragesimo Anno”
declared, “The opportunity to work
must be provided for those who are
able and willing to work.” More
recently, Pope John Paul II reiterated
the importance of employment: “A
fundamental concern of mine and all -
rulers labor leaders and businessmen --
must be this: To give work to
everyone. Providing employment
must not be taken lightly or
considered a secondary aspect of the
economic order and of development.
It should be a central element in the
aims of economic theory and
practice.”...
The challenge facing all of America
is to transform the present crisis into
an opportunity to build a more just
society. We must move ahead with a
deep sense of hope - a hope that not
only wishes for, but also works for a
better future. This requires a
conscious attempt to resist the
temptations of despair, resignation, or
alienation.
(These excerpts were taken from the
1981 statement for Labor Day written by
the Office of Domestic Social Development
of the U.S. Catholic Conference.)
Georgia
Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta
Vol. 19 No. 30
Thursday, September 3,1981
$8.00 per year
MX Missile Development
Called “Total Madness
IT’S BACK TO SCHOOL, FOLKS. Father Terry
Young, right, principal of St. Pius X High School,
gives the message to this group returning to school
after the summer. The group includes Father
Richard Lopez who begins a full-time teaching
assignment at St. Pius this year. Left to right are
Paula Hoch, Doug Monda, Karleen Parks, Father
Lopez, Liz Sobrero and Father Young.
WASHINGTON (NC) --
Development of the MX missile
system would be “total madness”
because it would increase the
probability of nuclear holocaust,
Bishop Walter Sullivan of Richmond,
Va., told a Washington news
conference Aug. 31.
“The MX is a false security. It is not
a weapon of deterrence. It is a first
strike nuclear weapon which in the
past was unthinkable,” said Bishop
Sullivan, who appeared as part of a
panel urging that production of the
MX system be cancelled.
With a decision on the MX
expected from President Reagan
shortly, the news conference was
called by the National Campaign to
Stop the MX in a last-ditch effort to
stir a public outcry against the
weapon.
Our Man In Resettlement
BY MSGR. NOELC. BURTENSHAW
You call Ernie Stallworth’s office over at Atlanta’s Federal Penitentiary.
The line is busy. You call back. It is busy again. You wait an hour. Still the line
is in use. That’s the way it has been in the resettlement office for months, but
most especially for the past few weeks.
Ernie Stallworth’s office is buzzing with activity as he and his staff reach
out to the Cuban detainees at the prison and find ways to resettle this rag tag
community, which has been a puzzle to public and private agencies since their
arrival in 1980.
The Cubans at the penitentiary are those who arrived in the U.S. without
papers during the “Freedom Flotilla.” There are over 3,000 of them being
detained at centers around the nation. Here in Atlanta 1,800 have been housed
in the penitentiary. They have been waiting to be processed. A federal judge
has ordered that process to take place, and to take place quickly.
“It all began with American foreign policy on human rights,” says Ernie
Stallworth, who is the representative of the United States Catholic Conference
on the resettlement. “When these people came over in boats from Cuba we
took responsibility for them. As quickly as possible we should fulfill that
responsibility to them.”
And therein lies the crux. Are these men in the Atlanta penitentiary
criminals?
“I can’t answer that for all 1,800,” says Ernie. “I know that 300 have been
ordered released and right now, of that number, we are specifically involved
with 155. We are working to resettle them.”
What that means is the U.S. Catholic Conference is helping to resettle these
men and help them find a place in our society. It is a big job. Resettlement of
refugees is always a big job.
“There are two ways we resettle them,” says Ernie. “One is through family
members. We find cousins or aunts or someone who will take them and
introduce them to their new life. The second is much harder. It is the Special
Placement Program.”
The Special Placement Program is being adopted by many Catholic dioceses
in the U.S. The community agrees to spend six months working with the
refugees giving them every possible assistance as they adjust to their new life.
“There are so many needs,” says Ernie Stallworth. “They have language
problems, jobs, housing, support, family. It is a tall order. But the challenge in
many areas is being met. ”
The staff here in Atlanta is working with a total of 300 men. What about the
other 1,500? “We cannot even think about them yet. Some may be real
criminals and they will have to be found. I know that some were in Cuban jails
for merely taking a bag of rice to feed their children. They were in jail, but they
are not criminals. These are the ones who need us. They do not belong in any
jail or any penitentiary. They are going to be good constructive citizens.”
Are there men in the Atlanta penitentiary who were political prisoners?
Ernie Stallworth only shrugs his shoulders. “I can’t answer that. The
government and the courts will have to take that in hand. Our hands are full.”
Ernie Stallworth has taken this position with the U.S. Catholic Conference
only recently. He was formerly a member of the staff of Catholic Social
Services but moved over to the penitentiary just as the courts ordered the
release of the Cuban detainees.
“We have a good staff,” says Ernie. “But right now there’s a lot going on.
The great thing is that these men are finally being released and they are going
home at last. And that’s nice.”
So if the phones are busy - busy when you call, know that nice things are
happening at the office of Ernie Stallworth.
Agencies Back
Judge Shoob
BY GRETCHEN KEISER
Representatives of six agencies working with refugee resettlement have
expressed support for U.S. District Court Judge Marvin Shoob, who has
ordered the release of some Cubans being held at the federal penitentiary in
Atlanta.
In letters to Judge Shoob and Mayor Maynard Jackson, the representatives
also underscored that the Cubans who are being released are being resettled in
an orderly fashion and that the majority are being resettled in other sections of
the country. Mayor Jackson and the Atlanta City Council had expressed
concern about the release plans and about where Cubans being freed would
resettle.
The U.S. Catholic Conference has been working to resettle some of 1,800
Cubans being held in the penitentiary. Some of the Cubans have been held in
the former maximum security prison for a year. Until last spring, some had
been cleared for resettlement after interviews and hearings with the U.S.C.C.
and the federal Immigration and Naturalization Service.
After the transition from the Carter to the Reagan administration,
however, a freeze was placed on further releases while a new policy toward the
“Freedom Flotilla” Cubans was formulated.
Judge Shoob’s action has cleared the way for some 155 Cubans to be
(Continued on page 6)
In addition to Bishop Sullivan,
others panelists included leaders of
environmental, labor and farm groups.
Bishop Sullivan called the use of
nuclear weapons “totally immoral
since it would involve the
indiscriminate killing of countless
millions of innocent people.”
He added, “If the use of such
weapons is immoral, then their very
existence can and must be
condemned.”
Development of the MX is also
morally repulsive because it
“squanders” limited resources that
might otherwise be used to meet
human needs, Bishop Sullivan said.
“Cancellation of the MX might be
99
the first step toward serious
negotiation in making the world safe
for ourselves and our children,” he
said. “Cancellation of the MX could
be the first step in a bilateral nuclear
freeze.”
He concluded that “to stop the MX
will help make our world a place of
life, freedom and laughter, rather than
a huge arsenal of death, bondage and
fear.”
Other speakers at the news
conference opposed the MX on the
grounds that it would not correct the
alleged vulnerability of the present
Minuteman system, would create a
more dangerous “hair trigger” in time
(Continued on page 6)
Spanish Course Draws
Atlanta Clergy, Laity
BY ANA M. RODRIGUEZ
MIAMI (NC) -- A bishop was there because he wanted to be able to talk and
pray with people in their native language. A diocesan chancellor saw the course as
an avenue for evangelization. An Atlanta couple active in prison ministry thought
Spanish lessons would help them deal with Cuban refugees being held in the
penitentiary.
They were among 23 persons who attended the Southeast Pastoral Institute’s
Spanish language and culture classes, offered in Miami by the institute, part of the
U.S. Catholic Conference Secretariat for Hispanic Affairs.
This is the third year that the pastoral institute has offered the intensive,
three-week Spanish courses.
Auxiliary Bishop Stanley Schlarman of Belleville, Ill., said at least two parishes
in his diocese are composed primarily of people from Mexico, some who have
permanently settled there and some who are transient. He took the Spanish
lessons “first of all to be able to talk with them, second of all to be able to pray
with them,” he said. In addition, the Spanish language capabilities could aid in
refugee work, he indicated. The Belleville Diocese helped resettle four Cubans.
“We could have taken many more” but only three priests in the diocese were
fluent in Spanish, he said.
Msgr. Jerry Hardy, chancellor of the Atlanta Archdiocese, said he enrolled in
the class because of the needs of the archdiocesan refugee resettlement program
and a growing Latin American population.
“I could go into any one of a half dozen parishes and find Spanish people
there,” he said. He estimated there are between 100,000 ana 200,000 Hispanics
in the area, not including Cuban refugees jailed in Atlanta.
“From an evangelization point of view we have a responsibility to do a whole
lot more than we’ve been doing,” said Msgr. Hardy. He added that all of the
Atlanta Archdiocese’s seminarians are taking Spanish. Father Peter Dora also
attended the course.
John and Margie Shoemaker also came from Atlanta, where he is a permanent
deacon assigned to the federal penitentiary and the Cuban prisoners.
“If you can begin to communicate with them directly you can begin to help
them with their needs. You can keep them from killing each other,” Shoemaker
said.
He said that the prisoners and their families need “someone to listen
to ... They’re a people now with absolutely no idea of what’s going to happen to
them. They don’t know whether they’re going to be there for two years or the rest
of their lives.”
Mrs. Shoemaker said she hopes her Spanish will help her provide lodging and
transportation of inmates’ families who come to visit the jail.
The Spanish course also provides material on cultural traditions of varitfus
Latin American groups, including the Cubans, Mexicans and Puerto Ricans.
Evenings are spent dining with local Cuban families, watching films, participating
in panel discussions and visiting Little Havana and Key West, Fla.
The institute is accredited for bachelors’ and masters’ degrees in pastoral
ministry by Miami’s Barry College. There are 24 courses planned for 1982 - up
from the three offered in 1979. All are taught in Spanish.
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