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THE CATHOLIC TIMES Published Every Week by The Catholic Times, Inc. Columbus, Ohio NOTICE: Send All Changes of Address to P. 0. Box 636 Columbus. Ohio Executive and Editorial Offices: 246 E. Town Street, Columbus 15. Ohio Telephones: ADams 5195 ADams 5196 Address all communications for publication to P. 0 Box 636. Columbus 16. Ohio Price of The Catholic Time* ie 13 per year. All rubacripuotif abould be presented to our office through pastor* of the parishes. Remittance* should be made payable to The Cath olic Times. Anonymous communication* will be disregarded We do not hold ourselves responsible for any esew* or opinions expressed in the communication* of our correspondent*. Entered a* Second Clas* Matter at Poet Office. CoJumbu*. Ohio. St. brand* de Sale*, Patron of the Catholic Prea* and of the Diocese of Columbus, Pray for U»l This Paper Printed by Union Labor More Vatican News Tips Persistence is often the only way one can get the required results. Constant and determined ef J.irt finally brings success. So it would seem with regard tn those public news agencies which con 'initially foretell that the Pope will soon call a consistory to proclaim the elevation of new Car dinals. Usually we are assured that “reliable sour ces at the Vatican" are the authority for such a news story. “Newsweek" magazine last week told us‘to “look for the Pope to call a consistory before Christmas to name new members Io the College of Cardinals. Only 46 men now wear the Red Hat the quota is 70Well, that is good enough reason to expect that the Pope would name new Cardinals. Such a surmise usually comes after the death ot another Cardinal. The Church has lost several members of the Sacred College in recent months, the last being the illustrious Cardinal Faulhauber of Ger many It is therefore, quite safe to surmise that the Pope will name new Cardinals. The public press has been doing this sort of forecasting so often and so long, that its persistence may be rewarded with success this time. It is especially enjoyable to note the published belief that this will occur be fore Christmas. Also “Newsweek” announces that an “extraor dinary Holy Year" may be proclaimed by the Pope in 1954. commemorating the 109th anniversary of the proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception Good idea And most likely talked ol by I he priests in Rome Someone could have thought of this and surmised about it. That would be sufficient to hazard a news story that might happen Which, indeed, it might One could hope so for the success of “Newsweek's" reported. It must be born in mind that the Holy See does not do things in this fashion. And readers of the secular press should keep in mind that such an nouncements are meiely surmise, nothing more. One cannot help hut sinile indulgently at the cock Bareness of these news scoops, forecast in the man ner of a Drew Pearson Persistence pays off event ually, and people quickly forget the many fore casts that did not materialize. -o--------------------- Bisliop Sheen's Service Catholic people throughout the TV areas of the United States constantly report glowing comments made by their non Catholic neighbors and friends on the weekly program of Bishop Sheen Even TV surveys indicate that the illustrious Bishop is at the top in popularity. The thought cannot he avoided that the renown erf orator of radio's Catholic Horn- is again render ing a tremendous service to his country, this time through the medium of television. Bishop Sheen, like all regular scheduled telecasteis, may not di rectly promote the Catholic Church. He must, in a sense limit himself to generalities in this regard Nevertheless his weekly program is doing an incal culahle amount of good His lucid explanations of fundamental principles of morality and their apph cation to present day problems, will go a long way in helping Americans to think correctly and to act accordingly. No one w ill deny that great confusion grips the thinking of the ordinary American citizen of today. Most of them wish to be nut of this fog But they are unahlc to help themselves, and when they turn to public officials they find mere politicians arc not statesmen Universities and colleges turn nut many new scientists with the latest formulas but there are too few modern degreed people equipped to think logically, clearly and honestly It is little wonder, therefore that Bishop Sheen’s telecasts are so popular People are starved for the principles of justice and morality he gives they feel secure in the light of day after hr clears away the fog of indecision nd doubt. If anyone in America deserves a Medal nf Honor for public service, it is the learned hardworking and hard praying Bishop Sheen. o.............-... For Your Protection The Bishops of the world, the direct successors of the Apostles, have many solemn duties imposed nn them hy the nature of their office. They are directly responsible to the Vicar of Christ himself for the spiritual welfare of their flock-, accomplishing ’his end through the exercise of their Ordinary Powers as the spiritual leaders, the teachers and governors of the faithful. One of their principal duties is that of guard Ing the ancient law of the Church to sec that the law is carried out according to the letter and spirit of the sanction placed upon it by the Hnb Mother Church and to see to it that nothing hew that could he construed as being contrary in -pint to the tenor ol these ancient canons, be ad mitted as a practice in their Dioceses At their annual General Meeting held in Wash ington at the end of last year, the Bishops of the United States, by common action, recognized the necessity of recalling to priest and people the an cient law of the Church protecting the essential sane tity of the Holy Sacrifice and governing the ac ceptance of stipends for the intentions expressed by the faithful Ihe individual Ordinaries were to promulgate the condemnation ot the current abuses a* they found them in their own Dioceses. After careful investigation, Bishop Ready last week issued a condemnation of the abuses he found current in the Diocese of Columbus, hitting espec tally at the “so called Mass Leagues, Mass Associa tions Purgatorial Societies which propose to en roll individual* and family groups on the payment of a fixed monetary contribution’ with the promise “of daily and perpetual remembrances in a large number of Masses.” The whole purpose of the Hierarchy’s condemn ation of the strange and unholv Practices regarding “Mass Associations” folio- -innt law nf the Church it to protect the faithful and to keep the Mass in the sacred esteem of all U« s uw—r— ,-,,,,.0-.. ,-. ............ You Can Be Famous I.a week was celebrated the centenary of the death of Ixmis Braillle inventor of the Braille Sys tern b-. which the blind air enabled to read with their fingers Speaking at a ceremony at the Sorbonne Helen Keller blind from birth and also deaf and dumb. *aid We blind are as indebted to Iajuis Braille as mankind is to Gutenberg The raised let rr» under nur fmgerv ar* pre mi:- pod- from which has sprouted our intellectual wealth Without a dot system, what a ehaotic, inadequate affair our edu cation would be!” We all can imagine, more or less, just what it means to be blind. Never to see the face of a loved one never to be able to enjoy the sight of God’s wonderful creation always to live in perpetual night time. Bodily blindness is a fearsome thing and every one. even those blessed with sight, can appreciate the wonderful contribution made by the obscure Catholic blind boy, Louis Braille, to the happiness of those who cannot see. Bodily blindness is a fearsome thing—but it is not the most terrible kind of blindness. The blind ness of the soul is far worse. Those who cannot “see” God as their Creator and Christ, His Son, as their Saviour are blind to the only facts worth knowing. We all admire Louis Braille and his accomplish ment. And yet, we have it in our pow’er to do some thing a hundred times more wonderful. If, by our word or example, one person only was led to sight of God in true perspective—our fame would out shine that of Louis Braille. To live in spiritual blindness is to live in a dark ness more dense than the deepest night. Who among us has not an acquaintance who is groping his way in that terrible obscurity? Reach out your hand to him! Help him to lift up his heart! Help him to guide his stumbling footsteps, to find the Way to the Light that shineth in the darkness. Man. in his search for God and for salvation is often helped by an other man. It takes a man with the “eyes” of faith, though. “If a blind man leads a blind man they both fall into a pit.” None is so blind as he w'ho will not see. Thus, it sometimes takes an act of will to see the light. Why not make yourself a famous person, today? Just Among Ourselves Passing Comment Considered or Inconsiderate The Month of the Sacred Heart gives way to the Month of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus. We pass from the consideration of God’s amazing love for poor sinners to the thought of the infinite price He paid to buy us back the opportunity of win ning our way to heaven. The thought of the Sacred Heart makes us aware of God’s love for us the thought of the Precious Blood shows us that, love in its most ardent manifestation. These are the great realities: God’s abiding love, and our Redemption. We know them to be so. Yet we are so dull and forgetful that we need constant reminders to make our knowledge real, to make it have influence upon our conduct, our thoughts, our purposes. The Church is a wise mother she uses days and seasons to prod our sluggish memories and arouse appreciation. These golden months of sum mer, filled more than others with the distractions of selfishness, are made the occasion of needful re membrance, How can we be forgetful of the tremendous truth that we are God’s beloved children for whose sake He became Man and died upon the Cross, pour ing out the full love of His Sacred Heart and the utmost drop of His Precious Blood? We can forget, and we do forget. Original sin has hurt our under standing and, by that fact, has dulled both memory and appreciation our own actual sms and habit of inattentive living have added to our dullness the completely godless atmosphere of modern lite, which we breathe perforce, lends a constant and blunting influence. And so we forget. Our watch ful mother the Church stirs us to remember. There have been cynical people who said that if we really believe the truths of faith we could not forget, and iall into worldliness and sin. But cynical people never think straight. Cannot a man be completely oblivious of the day light in which he walks and labors? Even at mid-day, is a person always directly conscious of the sun? The most man ifest facts may be neglected, the most unforget table truths may be, for the moment, forgotten. The thing of which we are least ignorant is likely to be the thing we most readily ignore.. The Church is well aware of this fact, and she keeps calling the attention of her children to the most manifest and most important truths. A man may forget the daylight because he is so completely absorbed in his task or his enjoy ment Important things are forgotten because of a welter of crowding unimportant things, or things al lowed mistakenly to assume Ihe character of im portance. And a man may forget God’s love, and his own purpose and opportunity in life, hy reason of the clamor of alien things. I, We live in a world full of such clamor. End less voices arc shouting at us constantly we cannot open hook or paper without finding the same shouts set out print they cry for attention in placards and billboards and in signs set up along the very highways. The news of the hour is a welter of wars and politics and economic troubles, it is full of all sorts of promises and plans. And over all is the endless voice of the advertiser, tirelessly urging us to smell nicer or to drink his brand of beer. People are urged by many interests. They are taught to long for gadgets, for cars, for vacations, for health, for beauty, for economic security, for entertainment. One page of a paper will tell of the hardships endured hv our men in Korea. The next will solicit the attention of citizens to the attraction of sports, resorts, or other instrument of self entertainment and easy indulgence. One column will be ominous with the story of threats to our “way of life the next will be bright with the attractions of some pagan pleasure. What has our cynical person to say to all this? Dare he say. if Americans really believed that their sons or fellow citizens are dying in the orient, they could not be s» light minded and self seeking as they are? No, hr dare not say so in defiance of plain facts. He saves his mane remark for an un meaning slur upon the religious beliefs of people. The Church knows us. She shares the divine knowledge of “what is in man.” And yet, like her Divine Founder, she still loves us. Patiently she tries, never for a moment giving way to discour agement, to make her voice heard through the wild uproar of worldly clamors. She strives constantly to recall us to reality. She bids us remember that we are God's children and hers that the love of the Sacred Heart is poured out for us that the price of the Precious Blood is paid for our souls. The Church sounds her summer message. June and July arc filled with voices demanding attention. They tell of wars and pleasures of strikes and ad vances in salary of closed shops and seaside and mountain.. of evictions and sports cars of political conventions and unbalanced budgets ot fatal col listens and championship tournaments. But the faithful heart may hear, through all the insanely contradictory cries of the season, the steady and devoted voice of the Church, cautioning, reminding, encouraging. This is the one voice of reason in a world of sheer unreason To a worldly mind, rehgion is a sentimental and a secondary thing Rut the worldly mind is not the sane mind. The Church is sane And sanely she teaches, in season and out, the truths that really matter, the facts that are of unchanging and ever lasting value. In a world that likes to call itself practical, the Church alone is truly practical: she alone indicates the practice that can bring ultimate and complete fulfillment to the lives of men. THE CATHOLIC TIMES, FRIDAY, JULY 4,1952 WASHINGTON LETTER By J. Gilbert WASHINGTON—The political capital of the United States is moving temporarily to Chicago Within a space of three weeks the two major political parties will have their national conven tions in the Illinois city. They will nominate the standard-bear ers behind whom they hope to capture control of the Federal Government for the next four years. They will adopt the plat forms on which they will stand forth for election. The great and the near great of the political world have already hegun to de scend upon the midwest metrop olis. It would he well if Washington could employ this quiet, if not vacuum, to meditate on the changes that have taken place, and are taking place, in our na tional life. It would be better if the whole nation pondered nn these things. Much Complaining There is much complaining to day about confusion, uncertainty and a sense nf frustration. There is no mistaking the sense of fu tility and indecision that one sees many persons and in many projects. But it would be a mis take to assume that only a few people are responsible for this LOUIS F. BUDENZ Reds Bare Hopes for wider mischief in the Un 11 e States through misuse of the Negro are to be noted in recent Com munist discus sions. The old aim of “self determinatio n in the Black Belt” is being resurrected. This can only do damage to the Negro people, since it implies armed insurrection in order to obtain “national liberation.” 1 have just seen a letter from a well-known Negro composer which condemns this Red aim as being of the greatest disservice to the Negroes in America. That has been the opinion for a long time of such representative Negro newspapers as the Crists and the Pittsburgh Courier. Nevertheless, Stalin's follow ers here are obliged to keep this goal alive, under pressure from Moscow. The March 1952 issue of Political Affairs. Red theoret ical organ, stales that “the Neg ro people in the United States are nationally oppressed. “The submerged nation is lo cated in the Black Belt.” To make the point more definite the word “nation” is italicized. Since Stalin has said that a na tion must have a land. Political Affairs declares that this nation exists in a territory “forming a crescent moon shaped pattern through at least five southeast ern states.” It adds that the port outlets for this land are Char leston on the Atlantic and Mo bile on the Gulf. Negro Nation Urged The separate Negro nation, which the Communists would thus create if they had their way. runs through the bulk of Mis- His Dream School 3-Fold Crisis Threatens U.S. situation. It did not rise over night. It does not derive from yesterday, nor the day before. It is the natural product of a national drifting, over years and years, from certain fundamental principles which have made this country great. Some_ observations applicable to this situation have been made by Dr. Brendan F. Brown, dean of the Ijiw School of the Catho lic University of America here, in an address to a 1952 graduat ing class. He said fundamental truths are being threatened by crises of a three-fold nature—re ligious, political and economic. Come From God Actually, Dr. Brown said, the political crisis in the United States has been in the making ever since the genesis of Amer ican democracy.” He added that one school of political thought “has viewed those written guar antees of human rights (the Con stitution with its Bill of Rights) as expressive of an antecedent ideal moral order existing ex trinsically to the will of the peo ple and of all groups economic and otherwise.” In other words, his inalienable rights come to man from God. “This order alone”, said Dr. Brown, “justifies the existence of self-evident in The mass of the Negroes and many of their leaders for years have opposed this idea, as I have emphasized. Why then do the Communists raise the issue again? A study of the whole Red at titude toward the Negro will re veal that this aim of “self-deter mination” is brought forward only when Soviet Russia desires specifically to create chaos with in the United States. Through this device Moscow hopes to create tension and conflict with in this country. In his "Founda tions of Leninism.” Stalin has made clear that “national liber ation” of oppressed peoples must be linked and made subserv ient to the dictatorship of the proletariat. And today that means only one thing: colonial and colored peoples are to be the foils for Moscow's ambitions. Seek Super Segregation To create conflict over this matter within America now would not only harm the United States, but would feed Soviet propaganda among the colonial peoples throughout the world, it is Soviet Russia that the Com munists are concerned about, not the Negro. This fact has been so Uell brought out by Father William A. Nolan in his book, "Commun ism versus the Negro,” that 1 recommend it to every alert American. We could learn from its pages what leading anti-Com munist Negroes have said—that “self-determination” will create alienable rights.” The other school of thought, the law dean continued, “made the justice of democratic process wholly determinable by majority vote, considered the will of the people, as expressed through their duly-elected representa tives, morally supreme, and view ed the Constitution as a self sufficient instrument which is to be detached from the moral or der.” Over-simplification Some may argue that this is an oversimplification of the problem. Certainly, though no one can deny that the struggle between the two conceptions ex ists today, and has long existed. Who has not heard, many times over, arguments that fit neatly into the pattern of the second school of thought mentioned by Mr. Brown—arguments that fit into that pattern, and no other9 What other school of thought could be the parent of the secul arism and the doctrine of exped iency that we know today? And. as Dr. Brown also point ed out, “a survey of the law of divorce in the United States dur ing the past 40 years discloses that the legal order of this coun try has already yielded to the pleasure of secularism.” Plans For Negroes sissippi, “and a good section of South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama.” This is what the Comunists call the “heartland base of the Negro nation. It is that area which must be “liber ated” by breaking it off from the United States.” a vast “Negro ghetto.” It is in deed a proposal for super-segre gation, and that is something which might well he .‘mphasized in every community. The hopes of the Negroes are to be a part, of America and this scheme would cut them off front such a hope. Challenge To Catholics But that is not the end of the matter. In order to reach their revolutionary aim of disorder in the Black Belt, the Commun ists also rush forward to cham pion equal rights and to fight against discrimination. We who are familiar with Communist tactics can understand at once that this is for the purpose of building a base from which real Communist objectives can be ad vanced. Nevertheless, it con stitutes a challenge to Ameri can democracy and to Catholics particular. Clearly it is not enough to turn the searchlight on Red in tentions of actually aiding Mos cow through alleged devotion to the race problem here. Wider and more positive moves are re quired, both by the dictates of democracy and Christianity. Mrs. Edith Sampson's statement. ‘1 would rather be a Negro in Amer ica than a citizen of any other land.” deeply disturbed the edit ors of The Daily Worker and they have expressed that disturbance from September 1950 on. Such a declaration by a lead ing Negro representative does require a response among the the white citizens of this nation. This is a plea for more attention by white community leaders to the matter of discrimination, of housing for the Negro people, and of a better understanding of the Negro community. INQUIRY CORNER Are Democracy And Church At Odds? Q. Is it a sin to attend a night club? A. It is a sin tc attend any place of amusement where the entertainment offered is serious ly dangerous to faith or morals. Some night clubs are respect able places for evening dinners, providing reasonably clean en tertainment, and therefore not occasions of sin at all. Many of them, however, cultivate an at mosphere of laxity in the matter of association and drinking in addition to questionable floor shows. It is possible that there could be a proportionate rea son for a Catholic attending such a night club e.g. for business reasons. As with any occasion of sin he would have tc avoid it, no matter what reason he has for going, if it becomes a proxi mate occasion of sin. Finally, there are some night clubs which are frankly immoral. It would be sinful to visit such a place, not only because of the immoral show, etc., but also because of the danger of scandal. Q. Is there a real conflict be tween democracy and the Ca tholic Church? A. There is none. Between demo cratic (or any other kind) govern ments and the Church there can be misunderstandings because men are not perfect. Christ es tablished the principle clearly when He said, “Render to Cae sar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21). The ap plication of this principle has never been easy. An example from the life of St. Thomas More illustrates the difficulty. He was in prison, awaiting the mock trial and bloody execution which is now history. One of Henry’s men, Rich, asked More if he would accept him, Rich, as King if Parliament should so de cree. “Yes, Sir,” replied Sir Thomas. Then Rich asked, ‘‘If Parliament should elect me Pope would you accept me?” More an swered with another question: “Suppose the Parliament would make a law that God should not be God: would you then, Master Rich, say that God were not God?” Q. Does not the Church’s tol eration of war drive many from religion? A. Religion is a virtue which obliges us to offer God due re spect and obedience in the man ner determined by Him. Know ing, loving and serving Him is necessary for man’s happiness apart from attitudes toward the Church Catholics know that the Church speaks for God ar.d in moral matters such as the mor ality of war is the only safe guide. Although the Church has always opposed war and worked toward other solutions for man’s disagreements, it has always fac ed the fact that defensive war is sometimes unavoidable. Pope Pius (Blessed Pius) pleaded with the leaders of all nations GRETTA PALMER For science is only one of sev eral methods of apprehending truth, as the Scholastics pointed out in their sections on the mo tives of credibility. It is the job of science to measure and you can only measure the measurable —the thing that stands still long enough to be weighed or tabulated. “Science knows” a great deal about our bodies which are measurable. But spirit does not stand still: what "sci ence knows” about the soul of man is, therefore, nothing what soever. Science Mara Boy You, if you have had a Ca tholic education, know these things so well that an apology is due you for their repitition here. But “the world’s leading anthro pologists” do not know them judging from a recent report in the New York Times of the Wen ner-Gren Foundation Interna tional Symposium on Anthropol ogy. Listen to the conclusions of these men. gathered in New York from the great secular universi ties of the world: “Five hundred years of ef fort by scholars of the humani before World War I to avoid the conflict, and Pope Pius XI and XII have urged peace. In his Christmas message in 1939 Pope Pius XII wrote: “The unspeak able calamity of war, which Pius XI foresaw with deep misgiving, and which with all the energy of his noble spirit he strove to avert from the comity of nations, is now upon us as a tragic real ity.” In his Christmas letter of 1944 he gave the necessary con ditions for an effective peace organization: unity of the hu man family, democracy in inters national relations, ban upon war of aggression and formation of a joint organization for peace. If leaders of some nations seek war and attack others Christian tra dition has always sanctioned de fense by the nations attacked. The cruelty of war is not a re sult of religion, nor approved by the Church, but the Christian man and nation is permitted to defend himself and his loved ones. Q. What is Ifce Mystical Body? A. In the Encyclical on the Mystical Body fMystici Corporis) by Pope Pius XU he states: “If we would define and describe this true Church of Jesus Christ —which is the One, Holy, Ca tholic, Apostolic Roman Church —we shall find nothing more no ble, more sublime, or more di vine than the expression ‘the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ— an expression which springs from and is, as it were, the fair flow ering of the repeated teaching of the Sacred Scriptures and the holy Fathers.” As St. Paul had described it (Romans, 12:4): “At in one body we have many mem bers, but all the members have not the same office: so we being many are one body in Christ, end every one members one of an other.” Q. Is one committing a sin when impure thoughts run through his mind? A. If impure imagings are wil fully evoked or kept then im pure thoughts are sinful. Even great saints, however, have been subject to such thoughts without any guilt. St. Catherine of Siena describes a siege of such thoughts which tormented her for some time. She kept praying and at the end of the tempta tion Christ appeared and she asked: “Oh good and sweet Jesus, where wert Thou while my soul was being so sorely tormented?” Christ replied: “I was in thy heart, Catherine, for I will rot leave anyone who does not first leave Me.” It is possible that we are sometimes indirectly re sponsible for sueh thoughts by carelessness in oar reading, glances or conversation. Impure thoughts of themselves must be consented to before they become sins. Send questions io Inquiry Cor ner, The Catholic Times, Box 636, Colombas (16), Ohio. 'Science Says......... 9 This is an age of supersti tion a time when ten-mil lion dollar skysc a e s have their floors number e twelve then fourteen to protect the sensibilities of their tenants, when Fifth Avenue jewelers fill their windows with “good luck charms” as if their customers were pursuing voodoo in the jungle. But the greatest and most absurd example of this modern weakness is the super stition that science can solve ev ery problem. “Science says” is the great sil encer in all debates. “Science” is regarded as the oracle in ev ery field. Science, which is in truth a very nimble office-boy among the mental disciples, has been elevated by the modern mind to the position of chair man of the board in every area of life, thus forcing philosophy to join the unemployed. ties have failed to reveal a real set of values for the conduct of life.” But “a second Renais sance is starting” and “science is invading the humane studies to find out what is the 'right* and what is the ‘wrong’ way to live.” Moreover, “Science must invade the humanities to spark a new understanding of man and his needs and desire! The second Renaissance may free man from ignorance about what his neighbors feel and fear, and pave the way for the estab lishment of one world.” Continuous Amity Consider, for an example, two marriages. The first involves a husband and wife whose pur poses are all earth-bound. They have, on their wedding day, de termined that they will “make a go of it.” They worship no God except Hymen, pagan god of marriage. Each is determined to be kind and loving and consider, ate each assumes that, as a re sult of this admirable conduct, perfect understanding of the other will result. “Building a good relationship” is their final goal. But as soon as any human being makes a “good relation ship” with anyone less than God his final purpose, he is doomed to fail. Not An Acceptable Substitute But in the case of a marriage between believing Christians, such an impasse cannot occur: how could it? For each of them is intent on his day by-day task of pleasing God, a far too en grossing occupation for one to be much troubled if the other for a week or so is out of step. The wife who does her best from a Catholic motive is not overly disturbed if her reward for kindness to her husband is not forthcoming within the hour: it is probably being stored up in Eternity. The husband who dis covers that his wife’s moods do not always click with his own need not groan. "The relation ship has failed.” It has not fail ed at all: it has simply failed to be an acceptable substitute for a religion. For unless God rules the household, its members will forever seek the Infinite each other’s eyes and be forever dis appointed.