Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 4—The Georgia Bulletin, August 18,1983
STATEMENT
Martin Luther King
It is being widely said in the media that the
President is finding a lot of "gaps” in his plans as
he considers re-election.
The gender gap has been brought to his
attention constantly by women’s groups and
White House overtures to conferences of women
and gatherings of women in the capital are
becoming most obvious.
Last week the President gave his every free
moment to courting the Hispanic gap as he visited
Latin groups throughout the Southwest and
Florida. He even went south of the border for one
day in a well publicized meeting with Mexican
leaders.
The minority gap, it is said, must not be left
unattended either. And the President’s turnabout
in promoting the birthday of Martin Luther King,
Jr. as a national federal holiday will be the healing
band-aid there, it is hoped.
It matters little why the Reagan administration
supports this holiday. Let us be glad that the
turnabout has taken place. The U.S. House of
RESOUND
Extremely Disturbed
To the Editor:
I am extremely disturbed over the August 4 issue of the
Bulletin. In it are three articles clearly supporting the
Sandinista position in Central America (coincides closely
with the Soviet position) as well as an editorial that does
not clearly reflect the Church position on this matter. I
wish to pose some questions to you as a journalist and to
Father Conroy and Agostino Bono of the NC News
Service.
If the goal of the Church is to promote social justice in
Central America and elsewhere in the world, how can
Catholics in good conscience support Marxist-Leninist
governments (Cuba and Nicaragua) who follow Soviet
ideological and political goals? It seems to me that the
clearly stated policies of these governments is to promote
atheism, collectivize peasants (a form of slavery) and
govern through ruthless military control over every aspect
of society. This has been the unhappy experience of the
Cubans, Vietnamese, Cambodians, Poles, Afghans and any
other poor country that has been “liberated” by a soviet
backed communist revolution.
Father Conroy’s estatic appraisal of the Nicaraguan
situation apparently is based on a week long trip through
Nicaragua. Apparently Father Conroy is ignorant of how
well communist governments stage these visits and coach
the people he accidentally encountered. I wonder how
much time Father Conroy has spent in a communist
controlled country?
President Reagan is endorsing the efforts of the
Contadora group to find a political solution to Central
America. There is no mention anywhere in the paper of
support for this major positive effort by our government
to come to a political solution, there are numerous
mentions however of our efforts to apply military
pressure on Nicaragua to stop subverting the government
of El Salvador and destabilizing the whole region. I
wonder if the correct Catholic position here is to deny
support to those countries or groups that are friendly to
the U.S. and back the Cuban-Soviet-Nicaraguan
“solution” which is to topple every non-communist
government in the region using force, diplomacy, and
promoting internal dissension in the United States and its
allies.
In an article on page 7, a Catholic priest in Nicaragua is
quoted saying that “many basic Christian communities
support the revolution while much of the opposition
comes from the hierarchy.” Are we to understand that the
correct position for the Catholic clergy and laity in
Nicaragua is to support the revolution and tell the bishops
and the Pope (who was heckled and humiliated in his last
visit there) to stop criticizing the govei iment? To whose
advantage would this position accrue?
Albert J. Bo let
Lilburn
- Properly Honored
Representatives passed the long awaited
legislation and it now goes to the Senate. Support
from the White House means that the holiday will
now almost certainly become a fact.
Martin Luther King was without question one
of the great Americans of this century. The
yearnings of a minority people were there and
those yearnings were heard - but unheeded. It
would take the courageous leadership of one life
to make a nation listen. His was that life. He gave
it to that sacred cause without hesitation.
Generations from now his work will still stand as
star-studded testimony to the validity of the
Constitution. "One nation . . . with liberty and
justice for all.”
President Reagan is to be congratulated for his
support of this legislation. Perhaps now minorities
throughout the country will look more kindly on
his election, perhaps not. The right note has been
sounded, just recognition has been given, a brave
son has been honored.
-NCB
The Other Side
To the Editor:
After I glanced over the first page, it was very difficult
for me to keep reading the Bulletin of Thursday, August
4, 1983. As a matter of fact, now, several days after, I still
cannot believe your casual and insensitive printing of that
article by Father Conroy. Apparently Father Conroy just
passed through Atlanta to get his article printed in a
hurry.
I only have a few questions for Father Conroy and, of
course, I would like equal space, so your readers can see
something from the other side. The side of democracy,
that Father Conroy criticizes so hard.
Question no. 1: How is it possible that after the few
days you spent in Nicaragua, you can, Father Conroy,
state categorically: These people are thoroughly Christian
people? In my lay opinion, you are so biased that you
cannot make a fair judgment, especially when you are
talking about spiritual matters.
Question no. 2: How can you be so NAIVE as to
believe that in a communist dominated country, people
are going to come so freely to talk to a tall, fair skinned,
English speaking person, if it is not prepared beforehand,
to accomplish what they have already accomplished with
you, that being, a free propaganda, in Catholic circles,
where social justice is being preached constantly and
misunderstood much more. In my poor lay opinion,
Father Conroy, you are walking a very thin and dangerous
line, where you can do a lot of damage to innocent
people.
Question no. 3: How is it possible, Father Conroy, that
for two Sundays in a row, in my church, that is
Immaculate Heart of Mary in Atlanta, we heard a Spanish
priest that lives in Managua, Nicaragua, and this priest
talked condemning communism and Marxism, as one of
the enemies of democracy and, of course, of Christianity,
especially in Nicaragua? It is my opinion as a lay person,
involved in works with the poor, with oppressed, that is
always ready to fight for social justice, that you should
not take so lightly the problems of a foreign country and
get some more information before you can damage so bad
the struggle for real nationalism and democracy.
To end this letter, that was so difficult for me to do in
English, I want to ask you, Father Conroy, to please pray
a little more for that country that you do not know so
well and have a little more faith in Jesus and in
democracy, that as you know is still the best way.
Francisco M. Macias, M.D.
Atlanta
Oppose Communism
To the Editor:
If the Georgia Bulletin continues to promote and
support the communist government of Nicaragua, I want
my name taken off your mailing list. I do not believe in
communism, because it is Satan’s form of government.
What happened to the anti-communist philosophy of the
Roman Catholic Church? If God sent His only son, Jesus,
to die for our sins, we should be willing to sacrifice our
lives to preserve the word of God . ..
If communism is so great in Nicaragua, why do they
censor the news media plus the Catholic Church? Why did
they try to disrupt the pope’s visit? ...
Mrs. Richard Gaines
Stone Mountain
The Week
In Review
NAMES AND PLACES - Twelve religious and diocesan
priests were recently sentenced to jail in Ho Chi Minh
City, Vietnam, with sentences ranging from five years to
life, Vatican Radio reported. The station said the 12,
including seven Jesuits and a Dominican, were convicted
on charges of carrying out “anti-state activities and
anti-revolutionary propaganda.” The longest sentences
were given to Father Nguyen Van Hien, who received a
life term, and Jesuit Father Le Thanh Que, sentenced to
15 years in jail.
TWO FRANCISCAN PRIESTS, who were the subject
of an international publicity campaign on their behalf,
were freed from prison in Czechoslovakia, Vatican Radio
reported Aug. 5. The two had been sentenced on charges
of publishing “unauthorized” religious writings and
“illegal” membership in a religious order. They were
among 20 Franciscans arrested during Holy Week in
various parts of Czechoslovakia, but all the others were
released without trial. Franciscan superiors had appealed
internationally for aid in seeking release for the two
imprisoned priests.
MERCY SISTER Mary Ann Walsh, writer for the
past six years at The Evangelise, weekly newspaper of the
Diocese of Albany, N.Y., joins the Rome bureau of the
National Catholic News Service this month. While at The
Evangelist, Sister Walsh syndicated a column which
appeared in other diocesan newspapers and often wrote
for magazines and national newspapers. She is a native of
Albany and received her master’s degree in English from
the College of St. Rose in Albany.
NATIONALLY - Associated Catholic Charities of the
Archdiocese of Baltimore is entering the oil business on
behalf of the poor, offering lower-than-retail prices for
those in need. Catholic Charities Oil, the company created
by ACC to market the oil, will begin sales at 88 cents a
gallon, well below the $1.10 a gallon average in the city.
The final working plan for a Vatican-commissioned,
two-year study of U.S. SEMINARIES has been approved
and was made public Aug. 17. The plan establishes norms
for evaluating a seminary’s effectiveness and sets up two
main phases for the individual study of each seminary,
including an advance written report and a follow-up visit
from a five-member team of experts.
* * ** *
INTERNATIONALLY - The second anniversary of the
death of Father Stanley Rother, an Oklahoma missionary
shot to death at his mission rectory in Santiago Atitlan,
Guatemala on July 28,1981, was observed in that isolated
village by over 2,000 Tzutuhil Indians and a contingent of
22 Oklahomans. Archbishop Charles Salatka of Oklahoma
City and Bishop Eusebius Beltran of Tulsa led the
pilgrimage. Three men were convicted of the murder but
were later released because of lack of evidence.
C .viLJk \u IvIuhvm' of AiLml.v
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