The Catholic times. [volume], December 14, 1951, Image 1

About The Catholic times. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1951-current

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Complete World
Coverage of
Catholic News
Vol. No. 11
Reds Abuse
U.S. Prelate
As Hostage
Bishop Adolph Paschang
Of Maryknoll Victim
Of Extortion Plot
MARYKNOLL, N. Y. (NC)—
The Maryknoll Society, which has
a number of missionaries in China,
will not let itself become victim of
a Chinese communist extortion
scheme.
This was made unmistakably
clear by Bishop Raymond A. Lane,
Maryknoll Superior General. He
was commentmg on news that
Bishop Adolph J. Paschang, M. M.,
of Kongmoon, China, has three
times contacted the Maryknoll
house in Hong Kong to state that
local Red officials are demanding
money for him under torture. On
the first two days the amount stat
ed was 40.000 Hong Kqng dollars
($6,000 U.S.). On the third day it
was reduced to 22,000 Hong Kong
dollars.
“It would be disastrous to pay ex
tortion money,” Bishop Lane said
here. “Every Catholic missionary
within reach of the Reds would
thus be placed in added jeopardy.”
The Red scheme to use Bishop
Paschang as a hostage to wring
U.S. dollars from his American
conferees is seen here as part of
the vast Red program to extort dol
lars from Americans through pres
sure on friends and relatives in
China. Thousands of letters have
reportedly been received in recent
months by Chinese Americans
from relatives in China, pleading
for money to save them from tor
ture and imprisonment.
Bishop Paschang is a native of
Martinsburg, Mo. He first left for
China in 1921, and was made Bish
op of Kongmoon in 1937.
Advised of the Red demands on
Bishop Paschang, Archbishop An
thony Riberi, ousted Papal Inter
nuncio to China and now living in
Hong Kong, counseled that under
no circumstances should the mon
ey be paid. Both Bishop Lane and
the Rev. Thomas J. Malone, Mary
knoll representative in Hong Kong,
concurred in this decision.
“We must refuse all such de
mands as extortion,” Father Ma
lone said, “despite the fact that
Bishop Paschang explained to me
on the telephone that he had al
ready been subjected to physical
punishment and is threatened with
imprisonment if the money is not
forthcoming.”
Bishop Lane said. “There is no
assurance that upon payment of
(Continued on Page 2)
Most Rev. A. J. Paschang
New TV Code
Takes Effect
Next March 1
WASHINGTON—(NC) A code
of practices for television, which
“establishes tenets for good pro
gramming and advertising,” will
go into effect next March 1, the
National Association of Radio and
Television Broadcasters has an
nounced here.
The code, promulgated by the
NARTB, provides for appointment
of a five-member national review
board.
All of the Nation’s television sta
tions and networks, whether or not
they are members of the NARTB,
are eligible to subscribe to the
code. Currently 72 stations and two
networks belong to NARTB. In all
there are 108 TV stations and four
networks in the U. S.
Subscribers will be provided
with a seal, which can be shown
on television screens. This seal can
be withdrawn from the subscriber
if the station does not abide by
the code.
Special addenda to the code list
words and phrases considered un
suitable for use on television.
Robert D. Swezey of New Or
leans, who directed the committee
which drafted the original code,
said the promulgated measure re
flects the determination of TV
broadcasters to “represent and
manage a ‘family medium*.”
Vincentian
Lawrence Murnane (above) of
Christ the King parish, Colum
bus, was named first president
of the Particular Council of the
Society of St. Vincent de Paul in
the Columbus Diocese Sunday.
Other officers of the council are:
T. J. Frericks of St. Christopher
parish, Columbus, vice presi
dent Paul O'Brien of Immacu
late Conception Parish, Colum
bus, secretary, and Dr. Frank
Binder of Holy Name Parish,
Columbus, treasurer. The Par
ticular Council is a co-ordinating
group composed of the presi
dents and vice presidents of the
St. Vincent de Paul Society's
parish conferences.
------------O.... ....
Times Writer
R. F. Pattee
Given Medal
Richard F. Pattee, historian and
ournalist, and Catholic Times col
umnist, has been named the 1951
recipient of the Catholic Action
Medal, awarded annually by St.
Bonaventure University, Olean, N.
Y.
In making the announcement of
the 1951 award, St. Bonaventure’s
president, Very Rev. Juvenal La
lor, OFM, cited Mr. Pattee for his
contribution to the work of the
Church in the United States and
abroad as “tremendous.”
Currently the Arizona -born
scholar is a resident of Fribourg,
Switzerland, where he represents
the National Catholic Welfare Con
ference and its press service, and
serves as a member of various in
ternational commissions set up on
the continent.
From 1938 through 1943, Mr.
Pattee was division chief of the
Division of the American Repub
lics and later assistant chief of Cul
tural Relations, both of the Depart
ment of State, Washington, D.C.
Mr. Pattee, 45, was educated at
the University of Arizona, the
Catholic University of America and
the University of Louvain, Bel
gium.
Prior to joining the State De
partment, Mr. Pattee was an in
structor and professor of political
science and history at the Univer
sity of Puerto Rico for eleven
years.
Mr. Pattee has authored eight
books including “The Negro in
Brazil,” “Introduccion a La Civili
zacion Hispanoamericana,” a text
book for American colleges: “The
Catholic Revival in Mexico,” and
“Catholic Life in the West Indies.”
He also is a regular contributor
to such publications as “Reviista
Javeriana” of Bogato, Columbia to
“Sic” of Caracas, Venezuela, and to
the “Agencia Mundial de Colabor
aciones” of Madrid, Spain, and fre
quent contributor to “The Month”
of London, England, and to “Amer
ica,” “The Sign,” and “Columbia,”
magazines of this country.
He is a member of the Geo
graphical Society of Lisbon, Acad
emies of History of Panama, Nicar
agua, Venezuela, Colombia, and
Ecuador.
Christmas Features In
Supplement Next Week
Readers of the
Catholic Times
will receive their Christmas
“bonus” next Friday in the form
of a 16-page tabloid Christmas
supplement, in color, and fea
turing pictures, articles and fic
tion of interest to everyone.
This special feature comes to
you through the cooperation of
our regular as well as special
Christmas edition advertisers.
Watch for it.
College Gives Crib
To Its Community
As Christmas Gift
WINOOSKI PARK, VT. (NC)
—St. Michael’s College already has
presented a Christmas gift to its
local community—a Nativity crib.
Students did all the work and
the college contributed the materi
al. Bob 'Leahy of New York City,
St. Michael’s football star and staff
artist for The Michaelman, design
ed the figures.
The crib has been installed in
an empty store on Main Street in
the center of the city of Winooski.
Two Burlington women, non-Cath
olics, opened their store for the
exhibit.
It’s all part of the nation wide
move to put Christ back into
Christmas, according to the Very
Rev. Daniel P. Lyons, S.S.E., pres
ident of St. Michael’s.
Many Red-Held Missionaries
Not on Sen. Knowland’s List
informed Tokyo Sources
Say Number Is Fraction
Of Communist Victims
TOKYO—(NC)—A list released
by Senator William F. Knowland
of California of 32 American citi
zens imprisoned in Red China is
but a small fraction of the foreign
ers held in jail by the Reds, it is
pointed out here.
Catholic Bishops, priests, Broth
ers and Sisters of all nationalities
held in Chinese prisons exceed the
150 mark. Hundreds of others, in
cluding many Americans, are vir
tually in prison in their own res
idences, informed sources here
state. Requests for exit permits go
ignored.
(Senator Knowland’s list con
tained the names of 13 American
Catholic missionaries. He said it
was a confidential list given him
by the State Department. He stat
ed he made it public “on my own
responsibility as a United States
Senator.”)
The list of American prisoners,
it is pointed out here, failed to in
clude two Massachusetts priests re
cently jailed by the Reds. They are
the Rev. Harold Travers, a Passion
ist from Revere, and Thomas Lang
ley, a Maryknoller from Framing
ham.
The roll of imprisoned Catholic
missionaries in China includes 15
foreign members of the Hierarchy
besides three American Bishops
and a Prefect Apostolic.
LIST INCLUDES
THREE BISHOPS
LOS ANGELES—(NC) Three
Catholic Bishops, a nun and nine
other Catholic missionaries are in
cluded in a list of 32 American
citizens reported imprisoned in
communist China. All 13 Catholics
were said to have been arrested
this year.
Senator William F. Knowland of
California released the names
here. He said it was a confidential
list given him by the State De
partment, and that he was remov
ing the confidential restriction
“on my own responsibility as a
United States Senator.”
The State Department had indi
cated there were some 300 other
Americans still on the Chinese
‘Mass Production*’
Of China Martyrs
Cited By Convert
DETROIT (NC) There is a
“mass production of martyrs” go
ing' on in China today which would
rival the martyrdom of early
Christianity in Rome, Dr. John C.
Wu, convert and former Chinese
envoy to the Holy See, told a meet
ing of the First Friday Club here.
Requesting his audience of 700
men to pray for the Chinese peo
ple, Dr. Wu asserted: “Tremendous
events are happening in China al
though they are not reported in
the headlines of the secular press.
Men and women are martyred ev
ery day. In fact, there is a mass
production of martyrs that recalls
the early days of Christianity.”
Doctor Wu said that the Con
fucianism philosophy will make it
easier to convert China to Chris
tianity. He pointed out that the
basic tenet of Confucianism is fili
al piety which gives the Chinese
a strong devotion to the family.
He stressed that Christianity in
sists on a strong family life as es
sential to a solid social order.
Officials of Israeli Nation
Take Over Catholic Shrines
JERUSALEM (NC) Israeli
authorities have turned over a
large portion of the Catholic
Church’s property in the country
to the government’s Custodian of
German Property, it has been re
liably learned here.
Church officials have stated that
they will fight the government’s
move in court.
The property has been adminis
tered by the Benedictine Fathers
headed by the Rev. Leo Rudloff,
O.S.B., formerly of St. Mary’s mon
astery in Morristown, N. J. It in
cludes the abbey and church of
the Dormition on Mount Sion the
abbey’s annex consisting of a house
and a garden the Church of the
Multiplication of the Loaves and
Fishes at Tabgha, near the Sea of
Galilee, and a hospice for pilgrims
and a large farm, also at Tabgha.
The property is registered in
the name of the Archdiocese of
Cologne, Germany. As such it is
subject to the Custodian of Ger
man Property, the Israeli govern
ment states.
Church officials in Israel con
tend that the government’s move
is illegal because the property
cannot be considered as belonging
to a German national agency. The
Cologne archdiocese in this case,
they state, is merely an agent of a
supra-national organization, the
Catholic Church which has head
quarters at the Vatican.
The Israeli government turned
the property over to the Custodian
The Catholic Times
Columbus 16, Ohio, Friday, Dec. 14, 1951
mainland whose safety might be
endangered by release of the list,
Senator Knowland said. The Sen
ator declared he did not consider
this reasoning valid, and added
that “it is high time” the public
knew about the list.
The three Catholic prelates list
ed are Bishops Francis X. Ford,
M.M., of Kaying, Ambrose H. Ping
er, O.F.M., of Chowtsun, and Rem
bert Kowalski, O.F.M., of Wuch
(Continued on Page 2)
OFFICIAL
By virtue of special faculties
granted by the Holy See, Bishop
Ready announces the following
regulation with reference to the
Ember Days:
All Catholics in the Diocese
of Columbus are permitted to
eat meat ONCE, and only at the
principal meal, on Ember Wed
nesday and Ember Saturday,
Dec. 19 and 22.
By order of the
Most Rev. Bishop
FRANCIS J. SCHWEKDEMAN
Chancellor
German Reds
Ban Customs
Of Christmas
By Max Jordan
BERLIN—(NC)—All Christmas
observances, except those within
church precincts, are to be banned
in the Soviet zone of Germany, if
the communist rulers have their
way. School principals throughout
the zone have been ordered to
substitute for Christmas programs
in class rooms with celebrations
of Stalin’s birthday December 21.
Communist-controlled youth
groups are to be guided by similar
directives, while the radio stations
have been ordered to drop all ref
erences to Christmas in their
broadcasts this month and to con
centrate on Stalin’s’ birthday in
stead. At the same time, the cut
ting of fir trees is to be reduced
considerably to prevent the peo
ple from observing Christmas .a
the traditional manner.
Kirchlicher Nachrichtendienst,
Catholic news agency of Cologne,
reports in this connection that
Hungarian communists this year
will celebrate Stalin's birthday on
Christmas day in order to distract
from church observances altogeth
er. At the same time the importa
tion of Christmas trees has been
banned by the Red Regime of Hun
gary and the printing of “react
ionary” Christmas cards prohibited
completely.
Coinciding with pertinent papal
pronouncements, communist prop
aganda agencies in Eastern Ger
many also have stepped up their
campaign to discredit Christian
teachings on the creation of
world. Communist newspapers
ry elaborate reports on
publications and speeches
Soviet pseudo
claim that life on earth has devel
oped automatically from “basic
chemical elements” without the
instrumentality of a divine power.
scientists, who
According to Dr. Gustav Heine
man, German Protestant lay read
er who has just returned from a
trip to the Soviet zone, children
whose parents want them to attend
Bible classes are not even permit
ted to take their Bibles along when
these classes are held in public
school buildings. Instances are
known where the children’s brief
cases were searched by communist
teachers to enforce the ruling.
without informing the Benedictine
Fathers, it was learned here. The
monks became aware of the ac
tion when tenants at the Tabgha
farm informed them that the Cus
todian of German Property had or
dered tenants to pay rents to him
instead of the Benedictines.
Twenty-one Benedictine monks
are now in Israel. Fifteen are in
Jewish Jerusalem and the rest at
Tabgha. The monks belong to sev
en different nationalities.
The shrine of the Dormition was
built at the turn of the century
through gifts from German Cath
olics. It stands on what is regarded
by many as the spot where the
Blessed Virgin died or “fell asleep”
and from which she was taken into
Heaven. Its administration was en
trusted to the Benedictines in 1906.
During the Palestine war in 1948
the Dormition
were occupied
forces. While
cupation both
suffered much
fighting and looting. The Benedic
tines returned to the Dormition ab
bey in 1950. Regular monastic life
was resumed in February of this
year.
church and abbey
by Jewish fighting
under military oc
church and abbey
damage from the
-----------------o---------------
Nurses Council To Meet
The Diocesan Council of Catholic
Nurses will meet Sunday, Dec. 16,
at 3 p. m. in the Cathedral Book
Shop, Columbus. Mrs. Urith L. Ry
an, DCCN president, will preside. I archdiocese, respectively.
Yugoslav Archbishop Aloysius Stepinac (left) leaves Lepoglava pris
on cell with Editor Barbieri of the Zagreb Daily Vjesnik. The Arch
bishop is free after serving five years on charges of having col
laborated with the Nazis during World War II (Radiophoto) (NC
Photos)
Set National Day of Prayer
For Modern Martyrs Dec. 30
WASHINGTON (NO All
Catholics throughout the U.S. have
been summoned to mark Sunday,
Dec. 30, as a national day of pray
er, mourning and reparation for
the millions of faithful in the Iron
Curtain countries who have be
come victims of Communist perse
cution.
Announcement of the solemn, na
tion-wide observance came this
week in a letter from Archbishop
Francis P. Keough of Baltimore,
Chairman of the National Catholic
Welfare Conference Administra
tive Board, to the Bishops of the
U. S.
Church Ceases
Open Function
In Red Russia
LONDON (NC) The Cath
olic Church, still the communist
regime’s implacable enemy, has
now completely ceased to function
openly in Soviet Russia, according
to Sir David Kelly, recently retired
British Ambassador to Moscow. He
is a Catholic.
the
car
the
by
The last church believed to re
main still open, that of St. Louis
of the French in Moscow, which
wa. run by an Assumptionist priest
under the protection of the French
embassy, has now come under the
communist wing. The communists
edged into control an accommo
dating Lithuanian religious, and
the few foreign Catholics in the
capital, boycotting his services,
went to Mass in the apartment of
a departed Frenchman, the Rev.
Jean de Matha Thomas. Father
Thomas left Russia when his resi
dence permit was not renewed.
(The Rev. Arthur O. Brassard,
U.S. Assumptionist who went to
Moscow to serve at the Church of
St. Louis of the French, has never
been permitted by the Soviets to
function at that church. He has,
however, celebrated Mass at the
residence of the U.S. Ambassador
and other private homes. Father
Brassard is in Moscow under the
terms of the Roosevelt-Litvinov
agreement of 1934.)
Sir David told the annual meet
ing of the Sword of the Spirit or
ganization that he had heard of
two other priests serving churches
in Russia. One was said to be an
80-year-old foreigner, believed to
be of the Latin Rite, working at
Tiflis. But when Sir David went
there, with a bodyguard of MVD
secret police, the church was clos
ed and the priest had disappeared.
Lady Kelly went to the place
where the priest was staying and
(Continued on Page 3)
School Heads To Study
White House Conference
BALTIMORE, Md. (NC) A
standing committee to follow activ
ities and recommendations of the
continuation committee on the
White House Conference on Chil
dren and Youth has been set up by
the school superintendents depart
ment of the National Catholic Edu
cational Association.
At their annual meeting at the
Lord Baltimore Hotel here the su
perintendents named Msgr. C. E.
Elwell, Cleveland diocesan super
intendent of schools, as chairman
of the committee. The other mem
bers chosen were Msgrs. Sylvester
J. Hobel ahd John J. Voight, super
intendents of schools for the Buf
falo diocese and the New York
‘Conditional Release’ Does Not Work Justice
To Archbishop Stepinac, World Opinion Says
Referring to the fact that the
proclaimed day of prayer follows
immediately after the feast com
memorating the maryrdom of St.
Thomas a Becket, Archbishop Ke
ough said:
“We feel that on that day Amer
icans will be given not only a re
newed consciousness of the suffer
ing which is being endured by per
secuted peoples abroad, but they
will be given as well an opportun
ity to offer by prayer and mortifi
cation some concrete demonstra
tion of their faith.”
(St. Thomas a Becket, Archbish
op of Canterbury, was slain in his
cathedral Dec. 29, 1170, by sol
diers of King Henry II for refus
ing to sanction practices that
would have made the Church a
servant of the king’s pleasure.)
Proclamation of the day of pray
er w’as in accordance with deci
sions made at the recent meeting
of the American Hierarchy here.
At that time a resolution was
adopted expressing “boundless ad
miration” and mourning for “our
martyred dead in Russia and in
the 14 nations which are now cap
tives to Communism.”
In sending the victims “frater
nal sympathy and the assurance of
our fervent prayers,” the Bishops
expressed “sorrow at the indiffer
ence of the so-called Christian gov
ernments to this frightful persecu
tion.”
The Bishops also declared them
selves “appalled by the apparent
inability of the free secular press
to inform the public of the true
facts of persecution.”
The resolution called the roll of
nations in which persecution of the
Church rages: Russia, the Ukraine,
Yugoslavia, Hungary, Romania,
Bulgaria, Albania, eastern Austria,
Czechoslovakia, Poland, Latvia. Es
tonia, Lithuania, eastern Germany,
Mongolia, and China and northern
Korea.
Vincent W. Hartnett
Americans pay their own grave
diggers when they support Com
munist entertainers, Vincent W.
Hartnett, authority on Red influ
ence in radio and television, de
clared in Columbus last Sunday.
He gave the third Erskine lecture
in the current series at the College
of St. Mary of the Springs on
“Red Fronts in Radio and TV.”
He warned his audience to avoid
Communist-front traps by refusal
to support “those, including fa
mous personalities of radio, TV,
motion pictures, and the stage, who
repeatedly support o u n ist
I fronts.”
The Cardinal commented on a
Belgrade story of Ernie Hill, cor
respondent of the Chicago Daily
News, which quoted Ambassador
Allen as saying that from the
Yugoslav viewpoint Tito had ade
quate reason for trying and con
demning Archbishop Aloysius
Stepinac of Zagreb. The Archbish
op was sentenced to 16 years
prison in 1946, after a “trial” that
was described at the time as a
mockery of justice,
“We have no confirmation from
official sources that the quotation
which he (Mr. Hill) gives is ac
curate or true,” Cardinal Stritch
declared. “However, the impres
sion which is made by the quota
tion quoted by Mr. Hill is a sorry
one ... It is almost unbelievable
that Mr. Allen could have made
such a statement.”
(The State Department could
neither confirm nor deny the Hill
story immediately. Lincoln White,
deputy press relations officer, stat
ed that he had spoken to Mr. Allen
by telephone, but the connection
was too poor to permit an accur
ate statement of all of Mr. Alien’s
remarks.)
“Archbishop Stepinac was not
guilty of the charges lodged
against him in the fake trial staged
by the Tito regime,” Cardinal
Stritch’s’ statement said. “He i^ an
innocent man, and everybody who
loves justice realizes that the Tito
regime has not made a right rep
aration in merely releasing Arch
bishop Stepinac from prison with
conditions or restrictions which
curtail his rightful freedom.
Cardinal Stritch declared it “de
plorable that a foreign correspond
ent of one of our large daily news
papers has presented false state
ments on the Archbishop Stepinac
matter and the state of the Church
in Yugoslavia today under the
Tito regime.” He continued:
“In the name of those rights
which are. in our own Declaration
of Independence, called unalien
able and an endowment of the Cre
(Continued on Page 2)
Reds Exploit Actors, Writers
To Finance World Conspiracy
Mr. Hartnett, who is himself a
writer and producer of radio and
Tv shows, accused “Red fronters”
of exploiting the entertainment
arts to fill Communist coffers with
much needed cash.
He pointed out that a Commun
ist actor making $50,000 a year
would be expected to pay a mini
mum of nearly $5,000 to the Red
conspiracy.
“By supporting Communists in
radio and TV,” he went on, “Amer
ican business and the American
public support the Communist con
spiracy and help prepare the basis
for the final bloody class struggle
envisioned by the Red revolution
aries.”
Mr. Hartnett also charged the
Reds with using “phony peace
fronts and civil rights issues to fat
ten their proletarian purses.”
He cited the Joint Anti-Fascist
Refugee Committee, called Com
munist and subversive by the U.S.
Attorney General, which has raised
an estimated 54 million dollars,
“virtually all of which went right
into the coffers of the Communist
conspiracy.”
Mr. Hartnett was introduced by
Joseph Ryan, Columbus attorney
and, like the speaker, an alumnus
of the University of Notre Dame.
Fourth lecture in the series will
be given Sunday, Jan. 13, at 8:15
p. m. at the College of St. Mary of
the Springs by Robert Aura Smith,
New York Times editorial writer,
on “Your Foreign Policy.”
“We Are Easily
Satisfied With
The Best”
Price Ton Cents $3.00 A Year
Prelate Emphatically Rejects Attempt
To Take Away His Authority
By G. R. Brunit
(Foreign Editor, N.C.W.C. Nows Service)
Archbishop Aloysius Stepinac of Zagreb, though conditionally re
leased from imprisonment, still remains a victim of injustice. The
step taken by the Tito regime for reasons of political expediency, does
not lessen in any way the persecution inflicted upon the Catholic Church
in Yugoslavia.
This is the consensus of Catholic opinion throughout the world
evoked by the news that the Archbishop of Zagreb has been permitted,
after being held in jail for more than five years, to take up residence
in his native village.
Cardinal Asks
If U. S. Envoys
Swallowed Lies
Chicago’s Archbishop Hits
Correspondent’s Story
On Stepinac Release
The Yugoslav regime itself is
responsible for this unfavorable re
action to its measure. The condi
tions surrounding the release of
the Archbishop from physical con
finement make it clear that the re
gime continues to consider the pre
late a “justly convicted criminal
who has been granted parole.” By
referring to him as “the former
Archbishop” the regime has sought
to usurp the rights which the
Church has never granted, and nev
er will grant, to any secular power.
American Catholic opinion was
reflected in a statement by Arch
bishop Francis P. Keough of Balti
more, Chairman of th Administra
tive Board, National Catholic Wel
fare Conference. He declared that
“Archbishop Stepina is entitled
to full freedom” and that his liber
ation from physical confinement
is merely a “small step toward the
fulfillment of elementary human
rights.”
at
to
on
CHICAGO—(NC) Quotes
tributed to U.S. Ambassador
Yugoslavia George V. Allen,
the Archbishop Stepinac case,
raise “the question whether our
own representatives in Yugoslavia
are being victimized by the men
dacious propaganda of the Tito
regime,” His Eminence Samuel
Cardinal Stritch. Archbishop of
Chicago, stated here.
Both Archbishop Stepinac him
self and Osservatore Romano have
stated emphatically that any at
tempt to deprive the prelate of his
episcopal status is utterly unac
ceptable. American press corres
pondents who interviewed the
Archbishop after he had offered
Mass in the village church of Kra
sic. 30 miles from Zagreb, quote
him as saying:
“I am the legitimate Archbishop
and not ‘the former Archbishop?
No government can deprive me of
my rank. I never sought the office
of Bishop. If the Holy Father wants
it, I am ready to give up my office,
but I shall never do so as the result
of government pressure.”
Osservatore declared editorially:
“In calling Monsignor Stepinac the
former Archbishop,’ the civic au
thorities of the Fedr al Republic
of Yugoslavia are arrogating to
themselves a right which is not
theirs, just as it is not that of
any other state.”
Equally plain were the state
ment by Archbishop Stepinac, Os
servatore Romano and Catholic
spokesmen throughout the world
in making it clear that the issue at
stake in Yugoslavia goes far be
yond the “Stepinac case.”
Speaking with the same courage
and frankness that he had demon
strated during and after the war
and when facing his “judges” in
the Zagreb courtroom five years
ago, Archbishop Stepinac told, in
effect, press correspondents on the
morning after his release from
prison:
“The major issues standing in
the way of an acceptable agree
ment between Church and State in
Yugoslavia are not yet settled.
“There must be an agreement
based on honesty and the essential
conditions demanded by the Cath
olic Church.
“These include church marriages,
religious education in the schools
and a free Catholic Press. Church
marriage must'be defended to the
last breath, for it is a Sacrament
established by God and man lias no
right to change it.”
Writing in the same vein, Osser
vatore recalled that another Yugo
slav prelate, Bishop Peter Cule of
Mostar, is still in prison together
with hundreds of priests and Re
ligious. that training of priests is
severely curbed, that religious con
gregations have been dispersed
and the Catholic Press wiped out
Pointing out that “this painful
situation” has not been changed
(Continued on Page 2)
‘Best Christmas
Present for Dad’
Is Daily Rosary
JACKSONVILLE, N. (NC)—
A Marine serving in Korea hag
written his two little children here
that “the best Christmas present
daddy can ask for” is to have
them say the Rosary every day.
Chief Warrant Officer Stanley
A. Nowak, with the 7th Marine
Regiment, urged his children*
Elaine and Stan, to offer the Ros
ary “not just once but every day.”
“When you say the Rosary you
might as well include the rest of
the boys in Korea,” he wrote. “If
all of you say the Rosary, that is
the best Christmas present daddy
can ask for. When Christmas
comes around, hang a nice Rosary
on the tree as a reminder of dad
dy’s presence in Korea.”
The Marine warrant officer re
minded his children that his “beau
tiful guardian angel” watched over
him while he was serving in Korea
against God’s enemies.
The Nowaks are parishsioners of
Infant of Prague Church here.