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PAGE 4 — The Georgia Bulletin, January 4, 1990 STATEMENT Nuncio's Action Benefited U.S. A healthy interval of time has allowed emo tions to cool over the Vatican nuncio’s decision to give Gen. Manuel Noriega temporary diplomatic asylum in Panama. Public commentators and even the White House press spokesman have begun to temper their remarks which were, initially, one-sided and imprudently biased against the nuncio’s action. Given Noriega’s vicious attack on the Panama nian people, and the men freely elected to lead Panama last year, it is understandable that public sentiment is passionately roused against him. Add to it the patriotic response of Americans to any battle we wage and it is virtually impossible to state an alternative viewpoint without being shouted down. However, some valid points were initially drowned out. U.S. forces were still fighting Panamanians on Dec. 24 when the nuncio took Noriega in and publicly ended doubt as to his whereabouts and any possible armed strength he might still command. At that point the killing stopped, saving Panamanian and American lives and halting further destruction. It was a merciful Christmas peace and it came at a point when the U.S. was beginning to lose face as civilians were being killed in the ongoing struggle between American soldiers and Noriega loyalists. It was to U.S. advantage that Noriega was located and the killing stopped. Also overlooked in the first reaction was the legal status of Vatican City as a sovereign state and a neutral state, like Switzerland. In this capacity, the Vatican enjoys the rights and privileges of any sovereign power and maintains diplomatic relations with many nations, in cluding Panama. For the U.S. to demand that the Vatican turn Noriega over to us is to demand a violation of international law, a violation that we would abhor should it be forced on one of our embassies in China, Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union or elsewhere. Noriega’s regime was verifiably inhumane and unjust. He opposed the just election of new leaders. The Catholic Church, notably papal nun cio Archbishop Jose Sebastian Laboa, opposed Noriega and sheltered Guillermo Endara in the nunciature when he was elected and attacked. Panamastill needsjustice, butit mustcomeaDOut by observing, not by ignoring, international law to determine the fate of Noriega. --GHK Chris Valley The Issue That Won't Go Away The controversial decision of Bishop Leo T. Maher of San Diego to deny communion to California State Assemblywoman Lucy Killea for creating public scandal because of her pro-choice campaign for the California State Senate unleashed a storm of criticism by media commen tators. The Atlanta Constitution (Nov. 20, 1989) called it “heavy-handed intervention in secular politics.” The bishop’s action revived one of the major political con troversies surrounding Catholics in public office: How in dependent of the Church is a Catholic politician in making and enforcing public policy? The results of the California voting — Democrat Killea won an upset election in a heavily Republican senatorial district — will not quell this controversy. There are many other Lucy Killea’s around the country: Catholic politicians who say that they personally oppose abortion but do not want to restrict the choice of others. One of these is Illinois Attorney General Neil F. Hartigan. A mere two weeks before the Illinois abortion-restricting regulations were to be argued before the U.S. Supreme Court, Hartigan, representing the State of Illinois, and the The<lGeor£ia<f \m. <i (USPS) 574880 Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta Most Rev. Eugene A. Marino, S.S.J. Publisher Gretchen R. Reiser Editor Rita Mclnerney Associate Editor Buiinau OHIc* U.S.A. $15.00 680 Wail Paachtraa. N.W. Canada $16.00 Atlanta, Gaorgia 30308 Foraign $17.50 Phona: 888-7832 DEADLINE: All matarial for publication mult ba racaivad by MONDAY NOON for Thuriday’i papor. POSTMASTER: Sand Changa of Addraii to THE GEORGIA BULLETIN 601 East Sixth Straat, Waynatboro, Gaorgia 30830 Sand all aditorial corraipondanca to THE GEORGIA BULLETIN 680 Wait Paachtraa Straat N.W. Atlanta, Gaorgia 30308 Sacond Clan Poitaga Paid at Waynaiboro, Go. 30830 Publlihad Waakly axcapt *h» .ocond and lait waaki In Juno, July and Auguit and tha lait waak In Dacomber at 601 East Sixth St., Waynaiboro, Go. 30830 American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) reached a settle ment which averts a Supreme Court ruling on the regula tions. Both pro-choice and pro-life advocates had viewed the Il linois case as the Supreme Court’s best opportunity to over turn its Roe v. Wade decision. No other case with such potentially far-reaching consequences will appear before the Supreme Court this term. What does this settlement represent? Colleen Connell, director of the ACLU Reproductive Rights Project in Chicago, said, “We achieved by negotiations exactly what we brought the suit to get.” (New York Times, Nov. 23, 1989) The settlement was a complete capitulation by the State of Illinois to the advocates of abortion-on-demand. Why? Hartigan, who is a Catholic and also currently running for the Democratic nomination for Governor, explained, “My position on the issue is clear: I support a woman’s right to choice.” (New York Times, Nov. 23, 1989) Because Hartigan was directly instrumental in thwarting a Supreme Court ruling on the merits of state regulation of abortion, some pro-life advocates have called upon Chicago’s Cardinal Bernardin to deny communion to Har tigan. Whether the cardinal should or should not do this is debatable. Would such action effect a change in Hartigan’s position or merely serve the interests of anti-Catholic bigots? Would acting to restrict Hartigan’s reception of communion be an act of courage or of recklessness? Would failure to censure Hartigan be an act of cowardice or of pru dent judgment? In these times, it might be useful to recall a speech John F. Kennedy gave before a group of Protestant ministers in Houston, Texas, in 1960 during his campaign for president. The central concern of these ministers was whether Ken nedy as president would be under the pope s direction in carrying out his responsibilities. In his speech Kennedy affirmed his belief in the separa- ion of church and state; stated he would not allow the hierarchy to dicatate his response to any issue; that his first responsibility was to his oath to uphold the U.S. Con stitution; and that if he was faced with a conflict between his duty and his conscience, he would resign. Surely, any Catholic political leader of principle would agree with Kennedy. No church sanction could be as effec tive as reminding Catholic politicians of Kennedy’s words. Catholic voters ask neither more nor less of politicians than other Americans do: That they be people of principle and act on those principles rather than on expediency. (Chris Valley is a regular contributor to The Georgia Bulletin.) The Week In Review NAMES AND PLACES — Sister Thea Bowman, a member of the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, has recorded a message on being black and Catholic on audio cassette. The Religious, whose grandfather was a slave, recorded her reflections on racism for the U.S. bishops’ Campaign For Human Development. Archbishop Eugene A. Marino, in introducing her on the tape, said Sister Bowman’s “accomplishments are legend.” Her cassette commemorates the 10th anniversary of “Brothers and Sisters to Us,” the 1979 pastoral letter on racism of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops. CARDINAL BERNARD F. LAW of Boston joined in an nouncing Dec. 21 a U.S. investment in a $100 million shop ping center in Londonberry, Northern Ireland. More than 1,000 jobs are expected to be created with its opening in December 1992, cutting the port city’s unemployment rate by an estimated 10 percent. The cardinal made the an nouncement along with Boston Mayor Raymond Flynn, ex ecutives of the Boston-area O’Connell Development Com pany, and members of Boston Ireland Ventures. Earlier in the day, Cardinal Law had spoken with Bishop Cahal Daly of the Diocese of Down and Connor in Northern Ireland. “He told me,” the cardinal said, the news “was the finest Christmas present Derry has ever had.” Many of Boston’s Irish families had ancestors who departed Londonderry, popularly known to the Irish simply as “Derry.” ***** AROUND THE NATION — Grass-roots support, requested by Archbishop John R. Roach of St. Paul-Minneapolis, helped convince Travelers Insurance Co to change its farmland sale rules to aid family farmers. Ron Kroese, ex ecutive director of the Land Stewardship Project, said he was impressed that 500 persons sent postcards to the com pany expressing concern about the high minimums on loans that Travelers had set for potential buyers of foreclosed land it owns. Kroese called the company’s $1 million minimum on farm loans “blatantly discriminatory” in November when his project received a $350,000 grant from the Campaign for Human Development, the U.S. bishops' domestic anti-poverty program. The project asked the com pany to offer smaller loans that family farmers could af ford. A spokesman for Travelers said the company might have reached such a plan without pressure, but he acknowledged the postcards helped spur company think ing. THE INTERFAITH Disaster Recovery Network of the Central Coast of California has raised almost $130,000 in local contributions to provide long-term recovery aid to vic tims of the earthquake that heavily damaged central California Oct. 17. The coalition of more than a dozen religious groups has given initial grants totaling $51,000 to interfaith groups in Hollister, Watsonville, Santa Cruz and Los Gatos, according to Father Eugene J. Boyle, vicar for interreligious and public affairs for the Diocese of San Jose. The priest said the money will be used to hire people to help earthquake victims “restore jobs or housing and recover their emotional or physical health to sustain them through the year.” Special attention is being given to victims who are handicapped, disabled, single parents or those on fixed incomes, he added. CARDINAL JAMES A. HICKEY, Dec. 28, deplored the vandalism at the Boys Division of the Yeshiva of Greater Washington, a Jewish high school near Silver Spring, Md. in suburban Washington. Thousands of dollars in damage was done late Dec. 26 to the institution. In addition to upset fur niture, smashed windows and wrecked equipment, vandals left behind graffiti indicating religious hatred, such as “Roman Catholics rule” scrawled across a row of lockers and “Satan” on a classroom blackboard. Such “mindless” bigotry and hatred, the cardinal said, “motivate us to strive ever more strongly to build bridges of understanding and respect in support of the human rights of our Jewish friends.” Police said they believed the vandalism was not the work of an organized group. ***** INTERNATIONALLY — Christmas Masses were broad cast live on television in 1989 for the first time in Czechoslovakia. A midnight liturgy, transmitted from the Czechoslovak republic of Slovakia, was celebrated by Bishop Pavel Hnilica, who had resided in exile in Rome since 1951. It was the first Mass the bishop publicly celebrated in his homeland since escaping what had been a harsh communist government. THE NUMBER of church workers killed in 1989 in mis sionary dioceses stayed near the decade long average of one a month, said an official at the Vatican Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. As of Dec. 28,15 church workers had been killed in the 933 dioceses which are under the congregation’s jurisdiction. Those killed include two bishops, 10 priests and two women Religious. Because the Archdiocese of San Salvador is not considered a missionary diocese, the death toll did not include the six Jesuit priests and two employees who were murdered there Nov. 16.
