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PAGE 4 — The Georgia Bulletin, March 12, 1987 STATEMENT Contra Aid Administration policy in Nicaragua is shred ded by division within the contra ranks and by the taint of the Iran arms deal, but more aid to the contras is up for debate in Congress this week. It is difficult to imagine how an additional $40 million could assist policy foundering so badly, but it may be appropriated anyway. We have link ed ourselves to real people in supporting the contras and now have given them the hope of support. Simply disengaging ourselves from a course of action takes time and the implications of the connection between the funds from the Iran arms deal and the aid given to the contras is only slowly emerging. It will probably take more time for votes in Congress to change. Sadly that time will mean further violence in the nation of Nicaragua and further sowing of seeds that will be bitter for Nicaragua and for this country. There is legitimate concern about where the Sandinista movement is heading and a legitimate concern about freedoms in the coun try. But there is also legitimate concern about how the U.S. tries to influence the political direc tion of another country. Military support is not the route to pursue. RESOUND Loss of Catholic Symbols To The Editor: In reference to the recent article by Father Eugene Hemrick in the Bulletin regarding Catholics and their assimilation into the larger society (Feb. 12). I must say that I cannot understand how you could have missed the underlying reasons for such widespread assimilation. They are in fact, due to the policies of the post-Conciliar Church herself. You ask, rationally, what happened to the ceremonies and the external symbols of the Catholic faith which spiritually nourished so many Catholics in past genera tions. It is quite plain that the Curia and its ''progressive'' administrators have themselves brought about the dismantling of the Church we once knew. And you, a clergyman, like so many others, have gone along with all the innovations and changes unquestioningly! To some people I have spoken to, changing symbols means very little. Yet I think it would be plain to any educated person that by changing (or eliminating) sym bols, one makes a statement. The Mass, for instance is no longer the symbol it once was: it is no longer the embodi ment of Catholic doctrine. Some, go so far as to say it is not even a sacrifice! By removing the symbolic qualities (in cluding Latin, a special liturgical language representing the unity of the Church), the progressives have made a (USPS) 574880 C,\iIvJk ■ Arvhtlioivsc 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. Donnellan Publisher Gretchen R. Keiser Editor Rita Mclnerney Associate 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 Atlanta, Georgia 30308 Second Class Postage Paid at Waynesboro. Ga 30830 Published Weekly except the second and last weeks In June, July and August and the last week in December at 601 East Sixth St., Waynesboro, Ga. 30830 While people argue the numbers, we know that some have died in Nicaragua because of the con tras. Within this small country, we certainly have made bitterness possible because of our support of the contras. We may end up with enemies on both sides as we try to disengage from a group that is not holding its center. The claim has been that our intervention was justified because of the wrongful intentions of the Sandinistas. Our strength and size as a nation was used and justified because of the “rightness” of the cause. Now it seems that arrogance was at work, even within our own country, as those who sup ported the contra cause justified their own ac tions in diverting funds to military support against Congressional wishes. This is the time to redesign a policy toward Nicaragua. Entering a regional approach and linking ourselves with other Central American nations in an attempt toward negotiation and dialogue will remove ourselves from a pedestal and place us on a more humble footing in trying to solve the region’s difficult problems. statement: the Mass is not a supernatural event; it is or dinary, devoid of any mystery or numinous presence... Despite my conservatism, on the other hand, I do not ad vocate a return to all pious practices as a package: these practices are laudable but not necessary. And the clinging to such practices, as the great spiritual writers say, can keep one from the heart of all spirituality, which is love and compassion. Nevertheless, Father, we much have some symbols, and it is dangerous to change these, I think, just as it would be to abolish the Christmas tree and replace it with a bonsai! If pious practices have been a problem, fine, but do not eliminate either the Mass or the Divine Office. As a matter of fact, eliminate most of the so-called devotions and restore the chanting of the Divine Office in the Church, thereby allowing the layman to participate in this im memorial custom... ...Your article left me very angry, because you were not honest in attempting to answer the question you yourself proposed. Kenneth C. Rothacker Norcross Children’s Material Praised To The Editor: Just a note to say how much I enjoy and appreciate The Georgia Bulletin. It might interest you to know that as a Religious Education teacher, I use as part of the cur riculum, the Children’s Story Hour each week for my fifth grade class. I photostat them so each child receives a copy. They absolutely love them and the puzzles as well. These articles are timely in a world when young people desperately need authentic Christian role models. Thea Kielt Freeport, L.I. New York Archbishop's Notebook FRIDAY, MARCH 13 — Meeting of the Clergy Per sonnel Board at the Chancery Conference Room. — Visitation at Saint Mary’s Hospital, Athens. — Confirmation at St. Joseph’s, Athens. SATURDAY, MARCH 14 - Meeting of the Southeast Regional Office for Hispanic Affairs. Regions IV and V at Charlotte, N.C. SUNDAY, MARCH 15 — Confirmation at Saint Augustine, Covington. TUESDAY, MARCH 17 - Principal Celebrant at Saint Patrick’s Day Mass sponsored by the Hibernian Society at the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception; — Archbishop’s Annual Saint Patrick’s Day Clergy Party. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18 — Meeting of the Atlan ta Council of Priests in the Catholic Center First Floor Auditorium. — Confirmation at Immaculate Heart of Mary, Atlanta. The Week In Review NAMES AND PLACES — A Catholic priest was found stabbed to death in a Buffalo rectory March 8, only 12 days after another priest was discovered slain in a similar man ner less than a mile away. Two suspects were taken into custody March 9, said Richard Donovan, chief of the Buf falo police homicide bureau. The body of 74-year-old Msgr. David P. Herlihy was found with multiple stab wounds tied to a chair in the rectory of St. Matthew Catholic Church, where he lived. His body was discovered by Father Leo F. McCarthy, pastor of St. Matthew’s. The body of Father A. Joseph Bissonette, 55, central city vicar of the Diocese of Buffalo, was found Feb. 24 in the rectory of St. Bar tholomew Catholic Church, where he was pastor. Like Msgr. Herlihy, he had been tied to a chair and stabbed to death. The two suspects have been charged with second degree murder and robbery, Donovan said. The young men, 17 and 18 years old, are charged with both murders. Donovan said the 17-year-old had confessed to the murders. Money was found missing from both rectories after the slayings, Donovan said. POPE JOHN PAUL II has chosen Father Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, head of the Society of Jesus, to lead his March 8-14 Lenten retreat. The retreat announcement was made March 5 by Msgr. Guilio Nicolini, Vatican press spokesman. As retreat leader, Father Kolvenbach is responsible for giving talks to the pope and other high- ranking Vatican officials attending the annual spiritual ex ercises. Father Kolvenbach was elected Jesuit superior general in 1983 after the pope had intervened in society government by naming a temporary papal delegate to run its affairs. ***** AROUND THE NATION — The national Tri-Conference Retirement Project, established by three Catholic agencies to help religious orders deal with increasing retirement costs, will distribute donations sent to the project since its inception to the neediest orders, its director said. Sister Mary Oliver Hudon said the project has never actively solicited funds, but individuals have sent donations since it was established last May by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Conference of Major Superiors of Men and the Leadership Conference of Women Religious. She said March 4 that about $700,000 has been received but the money will not be distributed until December. “The first check arrived only three weeks after my office was opened,” said the nun. She added that a special fund has been established at the U.S. Catholic Conference for the un solicited donations, which include some sent weekly by in dividuals. Sister Hudon, a School Sister of Notre Dame, said one anonymous gift was for $500,000. Another $60,000 was raised by The Florida Catholic, newspaper for five Florida dioceses, in an appeal to readers. IN A NEW PASTORAL LETTER on capital punishment, Ohio’s 13 bishops have called on Catholics to include the death penalty “in the agenda of the life issues which are at the heart of Catholic social teachings.” The letter, “Justice and Mercy: Reassessing the Death Penalty,” was released March 3. In the letter, the bishops also urged Catholics to work toward legislation that would abolish use of the death penalty and asked the governor to use his authority to com mute death sentences. Ohio has 71 persons on death row. The last execution in Ohio was in 1963. “We are troubled by the increasing use and acceptance of the death penalty throughout the United States, and in particular, by the prospect of the resumption of its use in Ohio,” the bishops state. “Killing may seem to be a solution to the problems of society, but, rather than solving our problems, killing con tributes to the lack of respect of human life which is at the source of such problems,” the Ohio bishops said. ***** INTERNATIONALLY — Dominican Father Peter Hor- top, detained under South African state of emergency laws since June 17, has been released from prison and placed on restriction. He may not enter school premises or attend meetings of the Young Christian Workers, the United Democratic Front or the Congress of South African Trade Unions. He also is prohibited from returning to the black township of Kwathema, where he was a parish priest before his detention. Father Hortop was released Feb. 27 after Bishop Reginald Orsmond of Johannesburg met with Law and Order Minister Adriaan Vlok. After a court order to produce reasons for Father Hortop’s continued detention, authorities produced a 20-page document based on informa tion by a schoolboy. None of the information in the docu ment was tested in a courtroom. Father Hortop first was held in solitary confinement in Nigel prison, about 35 miles from Johannesburg. He later was transferred to Diepkloof prison outside Johannesburg. A worldwide day of prayer was held for him Nov. 29. People participating in the ven ture wrote postcards of support to the priest. Bishop Wilfred Napier, president of the Southern African Catholic Bishop’s Conference, expressed gratitude at the priest’s release. -GRK
