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About The Georgia bulletin (Atlanta) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (July 23, 1987)
PAGE 4 — The Georgia Bulletin, July 23, 1987 -STATEMENT American Strength A visit to the Carter Presidential Library in Atlanta right now vividly emphasizes the dif ference in approach between the last administra tion and that of President Reagan. On the walls are the joyful photos of the Camp David accords being signed by the leaders of Israel and Egypt, Menahem Begin and Anwar Sadat. Taped interviews recall that this negotiated drive toward peace in the Middle East took place in a highly charged, personal and often failing debate between these world leaders and their staffs, with President Carter and his aides as middlemen trying to keep the dialogue from irretrievably Dreaking down. The personal and political risks for the Mideast leaders were great; yet some progress toward peace was achieved through statesmanship, brinksmanship and intelligent negotiation. Although this foreign policy achievement is a highlight of the Presidential Library, it’s easy to recall that the hostage drama in Iran led to Carter’s political defeat. He was criticized for weakness in not freeing American hostages one way or another, preferably by a show of force that would respond to the humiliation showered by the Ayatollah upon the hostages and America during this extended period. They were, in fact, We did a TV show recently on the question of sex educa tion. One of my guests was Bishop Francesco Garmendia. an auxiliary bishop of New York, who is vicar of the South Bronx. In the course of the conversation we talked about abortion and the terrible mental anguish it causes. Many women try to suppress their guilt feelings, but often the emotional pain is too devastating to dismiss. Bishop Garmendia told me his formula for easing their suffering. He tries first of all to help the person face the issue squarely; a serious crime was committed and there was a victim. An abortion involves an act of ultimate violence against another human being. Only by facing honestly the horrible reality of the abortion itself can the healing begin. He then asks the woman to give that tiny child a name, let’s say, Bobby We know that Bobby has an immortal soul and that he ex ists somewhere in God’s kingdom. Since we believe in the communion of saints, the mother is encouraged to com municate with Bobby and beg his forgiveness. The bishop asks the mother to imagine the child offering his forgiveness to her. Bobby is sheltered in God’s love and it is his desire to reflect the love of God. If the woman can accept Bobby’s forgiveness with an open heart she will (USPS) 574880 L aiN'In Aivlvluxv'v 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. Reiser Editor Rita Mclnernev 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 released, but the political tide had turned toward Ronald Reagan. His election presumed a more militaristic stance by the United States in the world, and his administration has lived up to that expectation, as shown by the bombing of Libya as well as the funding of Nicaraguan contras through the secret arms sales to Iran. Congressional hearings on Iran have advanced to a point of showing either President Reagan delegated to subordinates or implicitly endorsed their carrying out foreign policy secretly contrary to congressional intent. The “rightness” of the cause and the lives at stake in the Middle East and Nicaragua are the justification offered. Public opinion applauds, even though, at the least, deception and the bypassing of one branch of government was involved Why are we applauding when these “means” go against our grain of honesty and jeopardize the way in which our branches of government are intended to protect and balance power. In our desire for a strong America, we should not turn down the road which allows any means to be justified. In our effort to regain national strength, statesmanship and moral and democratic leadership are essential. begin to journey toward full healing. Many women and men instinctively ask for God’s forgiveness but in the case of abortion they often feel the need for something more. They need to know that the baby is at peace and that reconciliation is possible. Some say, “I don’t deserve to be forgiven...I don’t deserve to be happy,” and they go on punishing themselves year after year. But Jesus teaches us that God’s mercy endures forever. To ac cept forgiveness humbly is an act of faith and an act of love. The experience of forgiveness can also be viewed as a foretaste of heaven. In heaven all our tears will be wiped away, but that process can begin right now, as we an ticipate the joy of heaven. “Always be joyful...,” St. Paul said. “In all circumstances be thankful no matter what, for this is the will of God for you who belong to Christ Jesus.” (I Thes. 5:16-18) May the goodness of the Lord be your strength and your consolation. RESOUND Stand With The Pope To the Editor: I’m complaining about the defensive attitude the Bulletin took on the Pope’s recent meeting with the Chancellor of Austria. It appears that the two articles written on the subject in your paper took the position as dictated by the American Jews, rather than standing up and speaking out as a Roman Catholic and having some faith that our leader, a spiritual descendant of Jesus Christ himself, might have some degree of intelligence, and assume he knows what he is do ing. Why must our leader, who we believe to be divinely in spired, not be enough so, that he not have the courage of his convictions, but as your writers propose, follow the dictates of the American Jewish propaganda. Do you believe that the Pope does not have some knowledge as to how much truth is in the propaganda and pressure the Jews tried to impose on him and other Catholics? Where is your belief and faith...Oh ye of little? Let us Roman Catholics stand up and be counted. Daniel H. Hickey Stone Mountain The Week In Review NAMES AND PLACES — The body of a Detroit friar, Capuchin Father Solanus Casey, whose life is being review ed for possible sainthood, was exhumed for examination and reinterred as part of his cause. The Vatican Congrega tion for Saints’ Causes requires verification of the can didate’s remains. Father Casey was doorkeeper at St. Bona venture Monastery for 21 years from 1923 to 1945 In that job at several Capuchin monasteries he counseled thousands of people and became known as a healer of the sick and handicapped He also had a deep concern for the poor and inspired the Detroit Capuchins to open a soup kit chen during the Depression. It is still in operation. Msgr. Albert Allen, delegate for Archbishop Edmund C. Szoka in the canonization cause, told The Michigan Catholic, the archdiocesan newspaper, that permission had been sought from the Vatican congregation in February Permission was also received from the county court. The remains of the humble priest, were examined by Archbishop Szoka and other participants, including medical professionals. The re mains, originally buried in the cemetery behind the monastery chapel, were reinterred inside the chapel to “make it easier” to visit the burial site, according to Capuchin Brother Leo Wollenweber, vice postulator for the canonization cause which began shortly after the monk’s death July 31,1957 at 86. AROUND THE NATION — A mistrial requested by the prosecution was declared July 15 at the third trial of two Epiphany Plowshares activists accused of hammering on aircraft at the Willow Grove Naval Air Station near Philadelphia. Two former defendants, Philadelphia arch- diocesan priests Father Thomas McGann and Father Dexter Lanctot, agreed in June to plead guilty to trespass charges. They are scheduled for sentencing Sept. 7. The re maining defendants, Lin Romano and Gregory Boertje, were on trial on charges of conspiracy, trespass and destruction of government property for the Jan. 6 action. U.S. District Judge Raymond G. Broderick of Philadelphia announced the mistrial after spectators disrupted the court proceedings by speaking about divine law and the dangers of nuclear war. Some spectators wore gags Two previous trails, at which the four activists appeared together, ended in hung juries. When the third trial began July 13, the judge issued a three-page order prohibiting Ms. Romano and Boertje, who represented themselves, from mentioning U.S. nuclear or foreign policy, the U.S. arms budget, the conduct of President Reagan or government officials or any part of international law. They were also forbidden to speak about “any person’s or group’s understanding of God,” any moral convictions about war or nuclear disarmament or fear of war. ••••• INTERNATIONALLY — The Austrian bishops have ex pressed “serious concern” over the “revival of anti- Semitism” in their country which has followed Jewish allegations concerning the war record of Austrian Presi dent Kurt Waldheim. A statement issued on behalf of the bishops’ conference by its president, Archbishop Karl Berg of Salzburg, called on Christians and Jews to join and fight “latent” anti-Jewish feelings in the country. The document was issued after a wave of anti-Semitic slogans on walls and desecrations of Jewish cemeteries. Anti-Semitism has been on the rise in Austria in the past year in the wake of ac cusations by several international Jewish organizations that Waldheim was involved in Nazi war crimes as a Ger man officer in World War II. Waldheim has denied the allegations. “As chairman of the Austrian bishops’ con ference, in solidarity with our Jewish fellow citizens, I vehemently oppose the injustice done to them by sweeping accusations and polemics as well as personal harassment,” the archbishop said. He said animosity or hatred against Jews was in “complete contradiction” to Christian tradi tion. “I invite our Jewish fellow citizens to fight anti- Semitism together with Austrian Christians, bishops in cluded,” he said. CARDINAL GEORGE BASIL HUME of Westminster, England, said the Catholic Church needs “wholehearted recognition” of “women’s equality,” but it should not be simply “an exercise in power sharing.” It would be a mistake to “apply without qualification” practices sug gested “by secular movements for women’s liberation,” the cardinal said during a Mass for the general assembly of the World Union of Catholic Women’s Organizations held July 16 in London. About 400 delegates represented 62 coun tries at the assembly, held every four years. Secular feminist movements have started “an important debate in the church...and brought to our notice important facts,” the cardinal said. But the “reality of the church and the glory of our calling as children of God and as His people is not to ex ercise power but, in union with Christ, to serve with utter and unconditional love.” Cardinal Hume said women must not be relegated permanently to a position where all the major decisions are made exclusively by men and without adequate consultation, complementarity and an effective sharing of responsibility. --GRK Father John Catoir Forgiveness And Abortion
