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About The Georgia bulletin (Atlanta) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 4, 1988)
The Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta Vol. 26 No. 27 Thursday, August 4, 1988 $15.00 Per Year Jailed Protesters Await Trial On Trespass Charge BY RITA McINERNEY About 100 anti-abortion demonstrators are in Fulton County Jail awaiting trial on criminal trespassing charges follow ing the July 19 protest by Operation Rescue at Atlan ta SurgiCenter, 1133 Spring St. in midtown Atlanta. Attorney Bob Fierer, at torney for the pro-life prisoners, said trial dates could be set for “anywhere from six weeks to six months. And my guess is it will be closer to six months.” There were a total of 134 demonstrators arrested between 7 and 9 a m. on the morning of July 19 at the abortion clinic. All refused to give their names, reply ing “Baby Jane Doe” and “Baby John Doe” when questioned. On the morning of July 29, as the third and final day of hearings for the July 19 demonstrators was to begin in Atlanta Municipal Court, 13 more anti abortion demonstrators were arrested in “Phase 2” at Atlanta SurgiCenter. Ten more demonstrators were arrested Saturday morn ing, July 30, at the Atlanta Women’s Medical Center, 3316 Piedmont Ave. Hearings for the 23 were held Aug. 1 and 2 in municipal court. Demonstrators arrested July 19 were confined at the Atlanta city prison farm in southeast Atlanta until their hearings. Most of the pro-life demonstrators came to Atlanta for the protest dur ing the Democratic Na tional Convention, many from New York and other areas of the country. Sever al women from parishes in the archdiocese were among those arrested July 19. Father Edwin Arentsen, of Addieville, Ill., a priest of the diocese of Belleville, Ill., was arrested at that time. He remains confined with the majority of the protesters in Fulton County Jail. As the hearings began July 27 in a second-floor courtroom at Municipal Court, 165 Decatur St., a number of those arrested and later released from the prison farm after signing their names and addresses to $500 recognizance bonds, sat among other pro-life advocates in the small, dingy courtroom. Three large television cameras were set up near the bench where Judge Howard Johnson was presiding. Directly across was the glass-enclosed box where the prisoners sat. A court attendant announced that there was trouble with the microphones. As court convened, Fierer told the court he had served a witness subpoena on Margie Pitts Hames, lawyer for the abortion clinic, and requested that witnesses be kept out of the courtroom until they were called to testify. Judge Johnson consented, had them sworn in and then told the witnesses, Ms. Hames (Continued on page 16) Clergy Assignments OPERATION RESCUE — Pro-life supporters outside the Atlanta prison farm on Key Road gave encouragement in recent days to over 100 protesters in jail since July 19. Above Dana Lennox and son, Zachary, talk through the fence with one protester. Below, prisoners sing and pray during recreation. mcinerney 'Humanae Vitae' Anniversary 20-Year-Old Document Called “Prophetic" Most Reverend Eugene A. Marino, S.S.J., arch bishop of Atlanta, has a nnounced the following priestly assignments: With joy we warmly welcome Reverend G. Philip Ryan, recently ordained in Ireland, and offer prayer ful good wishes to him in his first assignment as Parochial Vicar at the par ish of Saint John Neumann in Lilburn, effective July 18,1988. Reverend Richard A. Kieran from administrator of the Cathedral of Christ the King to Rector of the Cathedral. Reverend Edward Salazar, S.J. in residence at Ig natius Retreat House, has been appointed Vicar of the ArchdiOcesan Hispanic Apostolate, effective July 1, 1988. We warmly welcome Reverend George F. Wiltz, S.J. as Director at Ignatius Retreat House; and Reverend Clair M. Cazayoux, S.J. to Ignatius Retreat House; Reverend Philip Gage, S.M. to the Staff at Marist School. We extend congratulations to: Reverend Joel M. Konzen, S.M. assigned President of Marist School and Superior of the Marist Community at Marist School; also, to Brother Paul Leonarczyk, S.M. assigned Headmaster at Marist School; to Reverend John Ulrich, S.M. from Parochial Vicar at the parish of Our Lady of the Assumption in Atlanta, to Vocation Director for the Washington Province of the Marists, with residence at Marist School. BY NC NEWS SERVICE On the 20th anniversary of the encyclical “Humanae Vitae” (Of Human Life), Pope John Paul II, U.S. bishops and natural family planning groups praised the document’s “prophetic wisdom” and focused new attention on its im portance in society today. Pope Paul VI issued the encyclical July 25,1968, reaffirm ing traditional church teachings on conjugal love, responsi ble parenthood and the transmission of life, including the prohibition of artificial means of birth control. During a general audience at the Vatican July 23, Pope John Paul told newlyweds the 20-year-old encyclical was an “important document” which teaches “responsible parent hood.” Pope John Paul said couples should read and meditate on “this important document of the church, which with enlightened doctrinal certainty and with profound human sensitivity traces the necessary directives for realizing a responsible parenthood.” The U.S. bishops, in a statement marking the anniver sary, said changing attitudes in society show “the prophetic wisdom” of church teachings in those areas, especially in the encyclical. Since the encyclical was issued, the United States has ex perienced a decline in family size, an increase in divorce, and “an overwhelming assault on the sacredness of human life in judicial decisions and social policies regarding abor tion,” said the statement from the bishops’ Committee for Pro-Life Activities. Cardinal Joseph L. Bernardin of Chicago is chairman of the committee, whose statement was released July 22. The encyclical “exalted marriage as a sacrament whose grace could transform the normal, day-to-day aspects of married life into opportunities to grow in holiness and become witnesses for Christ in the world,” the bishops’ statement said. It reminded Catholics that “decisions about the transmis sion of human life are not merely decisions about the most efficient way to pursue a particular goal,” the statement said. Rather, sexuality and sexual expression in marriage “must be considered in light of an integral understanding of (Continued on page 13)
