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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? ... sfcsfcsf: :|e s|c 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. »