Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 4 — The Georgia Bulletin, June 6, 1985
STATEMENT
A New Wave Of
1 can still hear my mother ordering my brother
and myself to get out from under her feet and get
ourselves “up to Tolka.” The well known Tolka
Park was the center of local soccer games in our
home town.
Thousands of people would gather on
weekends to cheer on their favorite team. There,
amidst all the noise, all the color, all the rivalry,
all the pushing and hassling, the soccer stadium
was the safest place in the world to be on any
Saturday or Sunday afternoon.
I do not recall ever seeing any crowd violence
at small, large or international encounters. Today
there is hardly a weekend goes by in Britain and
other countries without reports of mob attacks,
serious injury and constant intimidation.
The scenes from Belgium recently showed us,
in living color, the kind of pitched battleground
soccer stadiums have become. Unfortunately
this unchecked hooliganism left 38 victims dead
and many more seriously injured. The European
Cup venue looked more like Beirut than the site
of a sport’s final.
What’s going on in the world anyway? Atlanta
columnist Lewis Grizzard wrote recently of the
way young people must be catered to in their
social lives. He complained of expensive outings
for senior dances, limousines and even hotel
rooms provided by parents on these occasions.
Parents openly say that their teen children will
drink and drive if they are not accommodated in
this way — even though these luxurious trap
pings lead to other excesses which parents have
to silently tolerate. (One group of parents recent
ly hired a bus for their seniors and it came with a
well stocked bar for the occasion).
The music video industry claims openly, not
fearing any contradiction, that they are the new
masters of our youth and “the world belongs to
the young.” Is this all true? Have we given up and
now cater to any whim of the new wave of the
young?
The Atlanta Stadium was the very first in this
nation to reserve a part of the enclosure as a non
drinking section. According to a recent report in
a sports magazine many officials of sports
Youthful Violence
around the country are following suit. Danger is
being sensed. The immediate report from
Belgium states that the use of alcohol and drugs
at the European game was obvious and
unhampered. The horrible scene at that event
showed not only the awful destruction of life, but
a crowd completely out of control. For a full hour
following the collapse of a wall, the rampage
continued. It can only be hoped that parents saw,
that all of us saw, with alarm.
The chaos of “youth unfettered” is more than
taking over. The results are frightening. Two
million teenagers run away from home in the U.S.
each year and most never want to see their
parents again. That is a difficult pill to swallow.
Far more difficult is the astounding fact that
many of the parents refuse to allow these young
people to return to the home should they be
located. One parent sadly on national television
said recently “I cannot manage her anymore.”
Parents Anonymous will tell you there are no
easy answers but they make suggestions. These
parents will tell you that unlimited access to
television, video music, phones, shopping malls,
automobiles are troubles that will return to
haunt. Responsible questions about the friends
and whereabouts of teens should be asked
fearlessly. This is all minimum information that
must be in the hands of all guardians, especially
when both parents are employed.
Many will say “but that’s a fulltime job” and
maybe that’s the answer for the family
everywhere throughout the world. Family is a
fulltime job arid it begins at the beginning. There
are no quick answers, no substitutions, no half
measures, no letting one parent do it. Love and
care will sometimes mean saying no by both
parents.
All we can report is what we hear. They tell us
that working hard within the family has its own
sparkling reward and those who experience it,
despite the hard work, would not exchange that
reward for a millionaire’s ease.
They tell us it is so and we believe them. We
want to believe there is an answer.
— NCB
Public School Silence
While the U.S. Supreme Court said a resound
ing “No” to a moment’s silence if it is called
prayer in a decision this week, the justices did
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Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta
(IJSPC) 574880
Most Rev. Thomas A. Donnellan Publisher
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Gretchen R. Reiser Associate Editor
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not close down the moment’s silence in public
schools.
Many are most disappointed that the mo
ment’s silence, which can be used constitu
tionally in every classroom, cannot be called a
moment of silence that a student may use to
pray. However, the meditative moment may still
be used by students for whatever purpose they
wish. If they want to use it for prayer, they may.
While there is some expressed disappoint
ment, there should also be excitement that an
opportunity for worship within the public learn
ing institutions of our states is still there.
Parents may now reach into the schools by
reaching into the spiritual lives of their children.
They may now urge their children to use the mo
ment to bring God into the classroom.
Let us light a candle and not curse the
darkness. ► > • »*
The Week
In Review
NAMES AND PLACES — Bishop Felix Zafra y Sanchez
of Dipolog said that he believes members of the rebel New l
People’s Army killed Filipino Father Alberto Romero May I
17. The 35-year-old priest had spoken against communism, I
the bishop said, after seeing the problems of a communist
society during a visit to East Germany while a seminary
student in Rome. The bishop and others in the area said
there may have been several reasons for the killing. On
May 22, Pope John Paul II expressed sadness during his I
weekly audience over the killing. He said the death was
“another grave bereavement” for Filipino Catholics —
alluding to the April 11 slaying of Italian missionary Father
Tullio Favali in the same area, allegedly by government- I
supported paramilitary militiamen. Last March, the bishop
said, several parish workers warned the priest that the
NPA might kill him if he continued visiting the
neighborhoods to celebrate Mass.
*****
AROUND THE NATION — A pre-trial hearing for 12
members of the sanctuary movement indicted for assisting I
illegal aliens raised but did not resolve issues of religious
freedom and government tactics in obtaining evidence. The
12 under indictment include a Catholic nun and two Catholic
priests. The pre-trial hearing, which began May 21, was I
recessed until June 25. Defense arguments cited at the
hearing included freedom for religious activity guaranteed
by the First Amendment to the Constitution. U.S. District
Judge Earl H. Carroll refused to allow the political situa
tion in Central America, particularly El Salvador and
Guatemala, to become part of the court testimony. The
judge also refused to allow experts in international law to
appear on the stand during the pre-trial hearing. The
defense has attempted to show that the U.S. government
has violated U.S. and international law regarding refugees.
The government contends that many Central American
refugees are merely seeking economic gain. Sanctuary ac
tivists claim that the refugees face harassment, danger and
even death if they are forced to return to their homelands.
Sister Darlene Nicgorski, a school Sister of St. Francis who
is one of the 12 defendants, later said she was encouraged 't I
that some of the evidence involving religious conviction
was heard. But she said she was “disappointed that Judge
Ca'rroll wouldn’t allow the testimony of the international
law experts.” “The court does not want to hear evidence of
El Salvador and Guatemala,” she added. “That is the basis
of our action.”
*****
INTERNATIONALLY — Two Polish priests who joined a
protest against government-ordered removal of crucifixes
from a state-run vocational school are to stand trial June 3
on charges resulting from their act, a church statement
said May 28. Fathers Marek Labuda and Andrezj Wilczyn-
ski were charged with resisting the law and refusing to
leave school premises after they joined students in
December 1984 in a two-week occupation of the school in
Wloszczowa, 105 miles south of Warsaw, the statement said.
A Polish court official confirmed the church statement. The
law requiring removal of crucifixes from public buildings
was passed in 1983. The priests face a maximum penalty of
two years imprisonment, church spokesman Father
Stanislaw Surma said in the statement issued in Warsaw.
Archbishop s Notebook
THURSDAY, June 6 — Concelebrate Mass of
Thanksgiving celebrating 50th anniversary of Or
dination to the Priesthood of Retired Bishop of Pitts
burgh, Most Reverend Vincent M. Leonard at
Cathedral of Saint Paul, Pittsburgh.
FRIDAY, June 7 — Meeting/Clergy Personnel
Board at Chancery Conference Room. — Principal
Celebrant at the Liturgy at Saint Jude’s Church
(Region VII Secretariat Meeting of The Cursillo
Movement).
SUNDAY, June 9 — Principal Celebrant/
Homilist. . . Saint Vincent de Paul Mass, followed by
Breakfast at Holy Family, Marietta. — Confirma
tion/Saint Oliver Plunkett, Snellville.
MONDAY, June 10 — Board Meeting at Our Lady
of Perpetual Help Home. — Meeting/Priests’ Council
at Catholic Center, first floor auditorium.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 12 — Leave forCollegeville,
Minnesota...attend seven day Meeting...NCCB/USCC
Committee/Board, also NCCB/USCC General
Meeting at Saint John’s University. •. <