Funding for the digitization of this title was provided by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta.
About The Georgia bulletin (Atlanta) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 12, 1987)
PAGE 5 — The Georgia Bulletin, November 12, 1987 Father Gerald Peterson Rural Reflections Remembering A Supportive Archbishop Since his death on Oct. 15, ! have been reflecting on the ministry and life of Archbishop Thomas A. Donnellan and his interest in the rural parishes and missions of north Georgia. I'd like to dedicate this column to his memory, sharing some of my reflections with you. Shortly after his arrival in Atlanta at a gathering of the priests, Archbishop Donnellan in essence said: "I thought I came to a southern rural mission diocese. I expected my priests to be enthusiastic about rural parish ministry, but it seems most of you prefer the large city and parishes of Atlan ta." His words made a deep impression on me at the time. They spoke of his interest in the work of the total arch diocese. I am proud to claim 18 years of service as a Gienmary Missioner in the archdiocese. Nine of my happiest years in ministry were spent at St. Luke Church in Dahlonega between 1966 and 1975. After three years in Shelbyville, Tenn., I was delighted to be transferred back to Clarkesville where I have served as pastor of St. Mark Church and St. Helena Church in Clayton for nine years. During my first years in Dahlonega, the archbishop was most supportive of me personally and of the small struggling mission church. In 1969 when two School Sisters of Notre Dame came to do rural ministry, the parish was too small to pay them anything toward a living allowance. Archbishop Donnellan generously arranged through the chancellor for financial support. Sister Catherine Concannon has been serving at St. Mark Church since 1970. Six years ago she began to develop the mission of Commerce. Without financial support through the archdiocese, her ministry would not have been possible. The visits of Archbishop Donnellan to the smaller rural parishes consistently was a source of encouragement to the people and the priests. To my knowledge, he never refused an invitation no matter what the distance. He would come for the dedication of a new building, a parish anniversary celebration or just to bless a new altar. Father Bob Poandl of Blairsville is a pastor of one of the most distant mission parishes out of Atlanta. He told me that on one occasion the archbishop gladly came for the an nual confirmation, even though it was f or a "class of one." The Incident shows the pastoral concern of Archbishop Don- nellan. Four years ago. Archbishop Donnellan came to Clarkesviile tor the confirmation of eight. There were no candidates in the parish of Clayton, i asked the archbishop if he would be will ing on the same Sunday to pay a pastorai visit to the people of St. Helena Church. He consented, even though it meant an additional drive of 30 miles and the celebration of a second Mass with a special homily. He always seemed happiest mingling with the people after Mass. These are a few of my reflections as a rural pastor, who served under the guidance of the primary pastor of Atlanta for 18 years, Archbishop Thomas A. Donnellan. After his long years of faithful service, may Heaven be his reward. Msgr. George G. Higgins The Repentance Factor The U.S. bishops came out against capital punishment in 1978 and 1980. Their statements were reaffirmed this year in a statement titled “Political Responsibility: Choices for the Future." The bishops do not question society's right to punish of fenders in capital cases, but believe there are better ways to protect people from violent crime than by resorting to execu tions. The September issue of Crisis, a Catholic monthly, features an article by Sheldon Vanauken on this issue. He does not refer explicitly to the bishops because, as he points out in a note in the October issue of Crisis, "They are not the magisterium...and they are not immune to the Spirit of the age." The spirit of the age in Vanauken s lexicon is an all purpose label covering the evils of modern society. Though he doesn’t mention the bishops explicitly, Vanauken strongly disagrees with their statements on capital punishment. Fair enough. Unfortunately, he proceeds to ridicule all who oppose capital punishment, which, of course, includes the bishops. Vanauken finds opponents of capital punishment guilty of “chronological snobbery...the unexamined assumption that whatever is modern and up-to-date, including opinions and values and morals, must be truer, better, wiser than anything in earlier ages." That's a bit like saying that since slavery was defended on moral grounds for centuries, those who oppose it today are guilty of "chronological snobbery." Vanauken also says opponents of capital punishment subscribe to "the humanitarian theory of punishment (which)...asserts that men who commit crimes are not criminals at all but are merely psychologically sick; and they should, therefore...(be) handed over to psychiatrists for heal ing or readjustment." Are we to conclude that all opponents of capital punish ment, including recent popes who on occasion pleaded for clemency in specific capital cases, were victims of this theory? And what are we to say about the Lord himself who befriended Mary Magdalen and defended the woman taken in adultery, a sin thought by her accusers to be a crime punishable by death? Moving in for the theological kill, Vanauken says the real reason so many soft-headed Americans (“especially academics and clergymen”) oppose capital punishment is that their minds have been “darkened by the secular horror of death." They no longer believe death is the “doorway to eter nity" but “the end to everything." This must mean opponents of capital punishment, in cluding the bishops, have lost their Christian faith. I am not suggesting, nor do the bishops suggest, that capital punishment always is immoral. And Vanauken is free to support capital punishment. But he argues that Christians not only may but must support capital punishment. "The The Yardstick death penalty," he says, "is far more likely to lead the murderer to repentance." Vanauken’s concern for the spiritual welfare of people on death row is nothing if not practical. He would like to see "the murderer on death row given at least two weeks of life after the last possible appeal has failed.... Two weeks for sober contemplation of what lies ineluctably ahead." He appears certain that people on death row will not make peace with God unless given two weeks notice, by way of an ultimatum from the secular state. In short, he agrees with Dr. Johnson that it “wonderfully concentrates the mind” to know that one is to be hanged in a fortnight. I would like to think Vanauken here is spoofing his readers for rhetorical purposes. But if he means to be taken seriously, I think he ought to follow his logic to its final conclusion. Why should the secular state limit its pastoral ministrations to people on death row, knowing we are all sinners who could benefit at a designated age from a similar two-week ultimatum? I fantasize here, of course, but so I hope does Vanauken. I find it hard to believe he really wants the secular state to ar rogate to itself the decision as to when the time for repen tance has run out for any human being. That decision belongs to God and God alone. Copyright (c) 1987 by NC News Service Antoinette Bosco A Time For Moral Outrage Something unsettling is happening in the United States now. There is so much taik of money and wealth that many people don’t want to acknowledge the poverty that exists in their own nation. Though people talk about the homeless and raise money for the hungry, their concern is a distant one. Most of us don’t brush shoulders with poor people. If they come too close, we send them off to an agency, a soup kitchen, a shelter or otherwise get rid of them. Someone recently related an incident in Manhattan where a homeless, middle-aged man was redeeming cans and bot tles quietly at a local supermarket. He was courteous and careful to bring bottles that had been cleaned so as not to of fend the store clerks. After waiting his turn patiently, ne held his hand out to receive the nickels to which he was entitled. Just then the young clerk reached behind her back for Lysol disinfectant spray and proceeded to humiliate him. Her colleagues laugh ed uproariously. Hearing this account and others, such as teen-agers who set fires to the homeless as they sleep in streets and parks, I ask: What is there about the poor that causes such disrespect and brutal behavior? I think it has something to do with the fact that as a society we have come to love wealth and its packaging so much that those outside this framework are discardable beings. All around us are signs of wealth. Should anyone question this, just turn on the TV set. The programming, including commercials, shows wealth in most of what is aired, not only on “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.” Or pick up a magazine or newspaper. Again, everything we see or read speaks of the "good life,” from clothes, food and furniture to daily investment tips. Who’s important? Only the wealthy — witness the spread in Fortune magazine earlier this month listing the 400 wealthiest people in the country. And if you missed the magazine, USA Today reprinted the names so we could be sure to know who’s worthy of having their names in the paper. We are innundated with images of wealth; so much so that I think the message is starting to sink in: Money is the best, go for it. People who are poor aren’t worth our time. Thus it becomes permissible to eliminate the poor with discourtesy, disrespect and dismissal. I know something of how it feels to be unwanted because The Bottom Line of poverty. Once when I was about eight, I was the only one not invited to a birthday party for a friend in my class at school. She told me I wasn't invited because her mother said I was too poor to buy a present. After this friend opened my eyes, I took on my poverty as I took on tonsilitis. I was diseased momentarily. Fortunately, the church always has valued the poor, from Christ to the many great saints to people like Mother Teresa and the priests, Religious and lay people today who work in soup kitchens and shelters, and who try to raise funds to help the poor. The Catholic Church witnesses to the value of persons, not wealth. But our ability to hold on to Christian values is threatened when all around us we are bombarded by images that glamorize the wealthy. If this attraction to the glitz of money and power pervades society to the point that a supermarket clerk thinks nothing of symbolically spraying away a poor man, we are a society in great trouble. Perhaps it is time to express moral outrage over the age of greed that is descending upon us as a country. Copyright (c) 1987 by NC News Service
