„ Vol. 25 No. 7
Thursday, February 12, 1987
$12.00 Per Year
Computer Is Friendly To Human Needs
BY RITA
MclNERNEY
Advocates for the poor
of all ages are plugging
into a computer charting
the General Assembly's
attention to measures
for human needs. This
new Action Information
Ministry (A.I.M.) is be
ing offered by the Chris
tian Council of Metro
politan Atlanta through
the office of Sister Kath
leen Tomlin, C.S.J., as
sociate for justice
ministries.
“I’m just in the begin
ning stages of getting the
glitches out,” Sister
Tomlin said. She has
about 15 consistent users
including people work
ing for the homeless, the
food bank and the United
Way. Just last week she
sent out a mailing of 250
letters to congregations,
groups and individuals
in an effort to build a net
work of informed people
around the state.
She feeds data on
legislative action, or in
action, into her AT&T
computer daily, after
making rounds at the
state Capitol. Users of
Sister Kathy Tomlin, C.S.J., at the computer.
the computer informa
tion system need a per
sonal computer, modem
and the special tele
phone number which
connects them to A.I.M.
Users can leave
messages in the com
puter and Sister Tomlin
can reply to their
messages. An experi
enced computer user,
Sister Tomlin was not a
programmer but is
learning a lot since the
program was started. It
was made possible
through a $50,000 grant
from the Day Founda
tion. There is no fee for
plugging into the com
puter but out-of-city
users must pay long
distance telephone
rates.
There are not many
churches hooking into
the information service
because in general they
are just beginning to
use computers. Sister
Tomlin said, and do not
have modems. A modem
is a device that lets one
computer communicate
with another computer
through a telephone
hookup.
Sister Tomlin goes to
the Capitol every day the
legislature is in session
to pick up the first
readings of bills, look
them over to see what
(Continued on page 8)
Turin Shroud Exhibit Needs Home
BY CHRIS VALLEY
By Easter Sunday, the Shroud of Turin Exhibit must
vacate its CNN Center (formerly known as Omni Interna
tional) home. The exhibit and study center has been in full
time operation exclusively in Atlanta since November 1982.
“Here is something Atlanta has which no other city in the
world has,” explains Rev. Albert (Kim) Dreisbach Jr., an
Episcopalian priest who directs the center which is incor
porated as the Atlanta International Center for Continuing
Study of the Shroud of Turin. The center is the world’s most
complete public exhibit and repository for research
publications and scientific analyses of the famed Shroud of
Turin, according to Father Dreisbach.
“I would hate to think that Atlanta, which bills itself as an
international city, could not continue to have an exhibit
worthy of international interest,” Father Dreisbach con
tinues.
The Shroud of Turin is claimed by popular tradition to be
the cloth in which Jesus was wrapped when He was buried.
Since 1578, it has been kept in a repository in the Cathedral
of Turin, Italy. Long an object of controversy, the Shroud is
described as a three-foot-six-inch wide by fourteen-foot long
linen cloth of herringbone weave, slightly ivory in color. It
contains the image of a scourged and crucified man.
The first specific reference to the existence of the Shroud
itself was in 1354. At the time it was in the possession of
Geoffrey de Charny, a Frenchman who was a descendant of
one of the Knights Templar, a military order which
flourished during the time of the Crusades. However,
earlier evidence of its existence, through depiction in
religious art, dates back to the fifth and sixth centuries.
In 1453, the Shroud came into the possession of the House
of Savoy. It was moved to Turin, Italy, in 1578, and now is
housed in the cathedral there. Generally it is on public
display only two or three times every century. Italy’s late
King Umberto II (of the House of Savoy) willed the Shroud
to the Vatican. He died in 1983.
At the time of its most recent public display (1978), the
Shroud was subject to the most rigorous scientific examina
tion ever performed on it. A team of 40 U.S. scientists used
space-age technology to analyze the imprint on the cloth.
They were able to see a detailed three-dimensional image
(Continued on page 6)
Bill Seeks To Inform
Parents Of Abortion
BY GRETCHEN REISER
A bill that would require that a parent or guardian be
notified that a daughter under the age of 18 is seeking an
abortion has been introduced into the Georgia Senate.
Supported by pro-life organizations, the bill would re
quire that an unemancipated minor (any person under the
age of 18 who is not married and has never been married)
would have to obtain a notarized statement signed by the
mother, father or guardian declaring that the parent or
guardian has been notified of the minor's decision to seek
an abortion.
If the teenager decides not to notify her parents, she may
petition the juvenile court in her county or in the county in
which the abortion is to be performed. If the court decides
that the child is mature and well-informed enough to make
the decision it may decide in favor of the abortion. The
court hearing will be required to take place within three
days in order to ensure that lengthy delays are not incur
red.
Countering charges that a parental notification bill would
be found unconstitutional, Sheila Mallon of the arch
diocesan Pro-Life Office, said that the bill was modeled
on legislation in other states that has survived court
challenges. She also argued that one benefit of the bill, if
adopted into law, would be to provide a support for
teenagers who want to resist peer pressure to be sexually
active, but are left with virtually no support by society,
Knowing that they would have to face their parents if they
became pregnant gives teens “something to use as far as
peer pressure goes,” Mrs. Mallon said. “A lot of kids don't
want to be involved sexually. This gives them an out.”
(Continued on page 8)
Laurie Slagle Dies;
Lived Pro-Life Views
BY GRETCHEN REISER
Laurie Slagle, whose quiet faith led her through the
pregnancy and birth of her son, Jonathan, despite a
diagnosis of cancer, died Saturday, Feb. 7 at a hospital in
Griffin. She was 38 years old.
The wife of Tom Slagle, a permanent deacon at Sacred
Heart parish in Griffin, and the mother of 11 children, Mrs.
Slagle came to widespread public attention in 1985 when
their youngest child, Jonathan, was born. At that time it
came to light that the Slagles had had to go to court early in
the pregnancy in order to win permission for Laurie to have
chemotherapy treatment. Her affliction with a severe form
of cancer was not discovered until she was pregnant with
Jonathan and then she was strongly encouraged to have an
abortion. When the Slagles repeatedly refused to abort the
baby, Mrs. Slagle was denied chemotherapy because of
possible damage to the child. The permission was later
granted in DeKalb Superior Court, following a hearing in
which an attorney was appointed to represent the unborn
child.
Jonathan was born in September, 1985, a healthy baby,
(Continued on page 10)
I Wfcevter loves ODD 1 John 4 21 1
must also love fis mqiftoor
