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About The Georgia bulletin (Atlanta) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 18, 1983)
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 (USPS) 574880 Most Rev. Thomas A. Donnellan Publisher Rev. Monsignor Noel C. Burtenshaw Editor Gretchen R. Reiser Associate Editor Thea K. Jarvis Contributing Editor Member of the Catholic Preis Association Business Office . 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