The Georgia bulletin (Atlanta) 1963-current, November 21, 1985, Image 4
STATEMENT Support For The Billboards By WGST Radio PAGE 4 — The Georgia Bulletin, November 21, 1985 The celebrated representative of Ramses contraceptives came to town last week. He was feted for a morning on WGST radio. Mr. Mark Klein was in Atlanta to speak about his com pany’s new promotion idea for their product, namely billboards announcing the sale of their contraceptives in Atlanta. The show was an interesting exercise, as the radio tape will demonstrate, in the silencing of public objection on a controversial subject. Mr. Klein and his radio host cozily huddled and vocally bombarded the audience with ecstatic praise for this product. Mr. Klein, sounding like a combination of Protestant, Catholic and Jewish Social Services, lauded his company’s motives in reaching out to youngsters in trouble. No men tion was made of profit motive. Mr. Klein did say with almost infantile innocence that he was not interested in making a moral statement, but pro ceeded to make it unceasingly, with the station’s permission, of course. And there was more. The WGST radio host along with Mr. Klein sang the praises of the billboards, thirty of which are around Atlanta, because, they said, they were “non-offensive.” The host in his best juvenile-tone asked the au dience if the text of the ad which he read was of fensive. Then he asked the entire newsroom and with editorial ease declared from the throne of WGST that nothing in the text was offensive. Well, we would like to disagree. And since we called the show and were disallowed the oppor tunity to do so on the air, we are going to do so here. One word on the ad which was read on the air by WGST and the guest is SPERMICIDAL. We believe this word may indeed by offensive to many and most controversial in its definition. The word is akin to words like homicide which means the deliberate killing of a human life, RESOUND The Latin Mass To the Editor: In “The Question Corner” (October 31 issue) you printed a letter from an elderly man (80) who expressed his delight with the new customs of the Church. Your response was af firmative. I, too, am elderly (70) and I, too, am delighted with many of the good things that are happening in our Church. However, I do not see everything as good. Would you give me the courtesy of equal time? There are, I believe, a sizeable number of Catholics who cherish the Latin Mass. Unfortunately, the official stand of the hierarchy seems to be for “old fashion” Catholics to “shape up or ship out.” I am one of those many “old fashion” Catholics. I take no pride in saying this. For several years I struggled to adjust to the English Mass as it passed through its traumatic experimentations before it reached its present more or less stabilized ritual. I still find little comfort in the English Mass. The solemnity (and, yes, I admit, the mystery) of the Latin Mass is missing in the English version. The Holy Sacrament is still the Real Presence, but in some Catholic churches it has become more like the memorial service of a Protestant church. And this impression is heightened by the lamentable lack of homilies and instructions on the Real Presence. It is almost as if the Church is embarrassed to talk about Transubstantiation for fear of being labeled superstitious. In one church I attended, the priest opened the taber nacle, took out the consecrated Host, and closed the door without even so much as a token genuflection. And in a larger church, with three priests officiating, as one priest opened the tabernacle (and he did take the trouble to suicide, the killing of oheself, fratricide, the kill ing of a brother, matricide, the killing of a mother. Spermicide when defined means the KILLING of the seed of LIFE. We believe the word thrown out before the young (Mr. Klein wants it before high school students) may be in need of explanation and ex pansion. We are offended by its callous use in public and its sarcastic display on the airwaves by a community media outlet. WGST morning radio through simple ig norance may not have found this matter offen sive. They may have intended to treat the entire matter in a cavalier way and they succeeded. The point, however, is that others, including ourselves, wished to exercise an opportunity of simple objection and we were denied. In fact, on the airwaves, we Were angrily told that we could not take the opportunity to use that forum to state our objection. There is always room for controversy. We should welcome the dialogue. But we protest WGST’s bullying tactics, we protest their editorial canonization of this product and we pro test their rude and censorial practices as they use a public commodity — the airwaves of this community — to decide who can speak on con troversial subjects. It was obvious that WGST morning radio, hav ing procured the exclusive presence of Ramses representative within the sanctuary of their studio intended to pronounce this spermicidal contraption “Product of the Year.” Through carefully screened calls and the petty power of hanging up on the caller, they achieved their pur pose. Nice going! WGST proudly calls itself News-Talk radio. For some segments of their present format let us suggest a new title. How about “We’ll Talk — You’ll Listen” radio. -NCB genuflect) the second priest (up in years) knelt and the third priest (not long out of the seminary) stood. These various attitudes seemed to be saying to the congregation: “Do your own thing. Genuflect, kneel, or stand before the Host. After all (implied) it is only a memorial supper.” I have a suggestion. Now that the Vatican has given a belated blessing to the Tridentine Mass, why not have at least one Latin Mass a week in every church, or, if that is not feasible (some priests do not know Latin), designate one church to have the Latin Mass weekly? And give ade quate publicity to this move so that all Catholics (active and fallen away) will be aware of it. If — and I know she is — the Church is genuinely in terested in her fallen away children returning to the one fold (many left after the Latin Mass was dropped) then why not budge just a little and see what happens? I suspect hun dreds, maybe thousands, of Catholics will “come home” to the Latin Mass. Catholics who wish to help perpetuate the Latin Mass (and this does not mean replacing the English with the Latin Mass) may wish to contact the Latin Liturgy Associa tion, P.O. Box 80426, Baton Rouge, LA 70898. This group works closely with the hierarchy, and counts 22 American bishops among its members. John F. Holder Atlanta Archbishop's Notebook Saturday, November 23 — Principal celebrant and homilist for Rite of Dedication at Saint Thomas the Apostle, Smyrna. Sunday, November 24 — Principal celebrant and homilist for Feast of Christ the King at Cathedral of Christ the King. The Week In Review NAMES AND PLACES — A special council of cardinals that deals with financial and organizational problems of the Holy See met at the Vatican Nov. 19-20, the Vatican has announced. The meeting of the 14-member council will be followed by a three-day meeting of the College of Car dinals. At the end of the second meeting, a Vatican state ment said Nov. 9, information about the Holy See’s finances will be made public. The statement did not say what the council would discuss, but in previous meetings the group has grappled with an increasing budget shortfall that was expected to total about $30 million this year. The difference has been made up out of the annual Peter’s Pence collection and from the Vatican’s investment funds. POPE JOHN PAUL II will visit 14 cities during a Feb. 1-10 visit to India, the Vatican announced Nov. 18. The schedule includes four stops in the Kerala state, where the majority of India’s Catholics live. It will be the pope’s 29th trip outside Italy and his first to India. The pope plans to stay three days in the Indian capital of New Delhi after his arrival there Feb. 1, the Vatican said. He will stop briefly at the manufacturing city of Ranchi on his way to Calcutta Feb. 3. The pope will make a day trip to Shillong, a resort town in the northeastern corner of India, Feb. 4. The schedule calls for the pope to leave Calcutta Feb. 5 for visits to several cities along the country’s southern coast. He will stop briefly at the exporting center of Madras on his way to Goa, where he will remain for two days. On Feb. 6, he will travel during the day to the manufacturing port of Bangalore. ***** AROUND THE NATION - U.S. Secretary of Education William J. Bennett introduced the Reagan administration’s proposal Nov. 13 to give vouchers to poor parents in both public and private schools. At a Washington news con ference Bennett said vouchers would give parents “a ticket to find the best possible schools for their children and the best possible opportunities.” Legislation was expected to be introduced by Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, R-Utah, and Rep. Pat Swindall, R-Ga., within a week. The Reagan administration has pushed unsuccessfully for tuition tax credits for all private school parents. Bennett said the voucher program for educationally handicapped students would not be vulnerable to the criticism tuition tax credits received — that the proposal is too expensive and takes the brightest students out of the public schools. He said the vouchers, $600 per student, would not cost most than the current $3.6 billion in federal remedial aid provided under Chapter I of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act. Also, he said, the private schools could not be accused of “cream skimming” since the students would be educationally and financially disadvantaged. ***** INTERNATIONALLY — If non-violent opposition groups in the Philippines would unite behind one candidate in a fair election, President Ferdinand Marcos would lose, said two Filipino bishops. “There’s no dearth of leaders, although aging ones, among the opposition,” said Archbishop Jesus Dosado of Osamiz. “All have their programs, but it would be better for the country to try (just) one of them. One of them could win a fair election. “If the opposition could only agree on one candidate to run against the president, then I am certain that Marcos will go down,” said Bishop Federico Escaler, head of the Ipil Prelature. However, he added, if the opposition cannot agree on a candidate, Mar cos will win. (USPS) 574880 Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta Business Office U.S.A. $12.00 680 West Peachtree, N.W. Canada $12.50 Atlanta, Georgia 30308 Foreign $14.00 Phone: 888-7832 Most Rev. Thomas A. Donneilan Publisher Rev. Monsignor Noel C. Burtenshaw Editor Gretchen R. Keiser Associate Editor Rita Mclnerney Contributing Editor DEADLINE: All material for publication must be received by MONDAY NOON for Thursday’s paper. Postmaster: Send POD Form 3579 to THE GEORGIA BULLETIN 601 East Sixth Street, Waynesboro, Georgia 30830 Send all editorial correspondence to THE GEORGIA BULLETIN 680 West Peachtree Street N.W. 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