The Catholic times. [volume], August 28, 1953, Image 4

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THE
CATHOLIC TIMES
Published Ex err Week by
The Cstholic Times. Inc.
Columbus. Ohio
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This Paper Printed by I mon Labor
Readiness Program
Nowadays the beginning of a new hool year
Can present problems that almost dntv solution.
The teachei shortage and the constant search for
available space foi swollen enrollments arc but a
few. Rut there is a bright side lor the parochial
schools in the city of Columbus the assurance that
the excellent school health program inaugurated last
year by the-Columbus Department of Health will
continue during the coming year.
The pro-ent program of health services in Ihe
parochial schools is the result ol long and care
ful planning by Doctor ollie Goodloc ami his capable
staff. Their efforts produced a “Manual for Pa
rnchial School Health Service” that has received
Wide acceptance in public health departments in
many cities.
Although the program Is unique in its thorough
ness and logical approach to school health prob
lems. Doctor Goodloe always sees success as the iruit
of close cooperation between teacher dental hygenist
and nut so between school and halth tiepart ment of
finals recent summary ot the activities o, the
Division of Nursing in the school health service
for last year points to the extent of this coopera
tion More than 2.000 hour- were spent in the
schools by the health department nurses.
The nurses have written detailed reports on the
fruits of those two thousands hours with the chil
dren. Interesting as they are. however, they remain
cold statistical reports until the nurse, parents and
Sisters, those intimately concerned with the child,
interpret individual cases in terms ot better physi
cal growth and educational development. Ihe de
termination of health status by the nurse is but'the
first step which should lead to the much more dll
ficult but much more important step ot getting the
defects remedied or adjustments made to irreniedi
able defeats. That in most cases is the direct respon
sibility ot the parent*. 'Ihe follow up in eveiy
school health program is always Ihe mea-ure ol its
value to the chjldren and the community’' at large.
The integration ol the health .services pro
pram which include- the excellent dental he, Ith
program with the curriculum health Indies i.
goal from the first In lai tie measure this has been
accomplished Education of parents ami children to
family health needs is in the opinion ol public
health officials, more important than treatment.
As we prepare loi the new school yc ai atholic
parents cah take great comfort in the knowledge
that the Columbus Health Commissioner and his
staff will continue to watch over the health of their
children. Gratitude can be expressed by cooper
ating in this way: Be sure your child has been vac
cinated against smallpox and immunized against
diphtheria before entering school.
An Oil Neglected Duly
One of Johann Sebastian Bach’s most delightful
choral* bears ihe enei gizing title “Wachet Xuf
Ruft Ins Du Stiinme freely translated. (Sleepers
Awake A Voice I- ailing) thi- might well be the
oft repealed early morning theme song in thousands
of homes throughout the nation as Johnny and Mary
are reminded tor the third and late- time it you
don’t get up this minute you'll be late tor school?”
The Old Man. himself but lately resurrected,
usually toms Mom in the third chorus ami smugly
prove- hmiscli the pinnei winch ellccts the chain
reaction ol propelling the offspring from bed room
to bath room to dining room to school loom.
Bent and bleeding from these accomplished
labors the Household Head- panting with a sigh
nf relief the -team from a last cup ol coffee can
now relied on Ihe present somnolency of youth:
filings weren’t like this when we were kids With
the deposit ot .lohnnv amt Mary in the cla-s loom
1 ii lahoix th regard at least, are finished.
’‘Sister" can now take over.
Ear too often, this sale arrival ol the child in
the class room is looked upon as an ultimate ob
jective the sole parental duty in the field ol ed
ucation. Any problems which may now arise in
the educational caieeis ol Johnny and Mary arc
the exc lu-ivc headache ol Si-ter’ .met the pa-toi.
This is a fallacious ami an entirely dangerous
conclusion for paicntal intcit-f the education
of the child to slop al the front door of the school
is to have stop tai short ol the requirements ot
duty
Parents must show an active, daily interest in
the progres- ol their children constant watch
fulncs- i- indicated to see that the ons and la-1
levied by the teachers arc faithfully and consci
rntiousiy carried out Homework should involve
c’ ild and parent, alike.
Hus home supervision nt the educational pro
ces. of the children of the family is a duty that is
too often neglected.
kiiiM’v Sriial ionalism
It wax the biggest semi oft ever given a hook
Acres- th nation new-papi -pla-hed summaries
of a sox study hv an Indiana niveistty prolc-soi
In a couple of days tew Americans hadn’t heard
ol Sexual Behavioi In he Human Female’’ by Hi
Alfred C. Kinsey.
The reaction was quick and loud tails ol people
had lots nt questions they wanted answered \n
NCW News Service survey showed these were
the (op three
1 Sensationalism who caused it? When lami
newspapers devoted whole, paces to a "scientific'
work one month bcfoie its publication and head
lined the sfoiir* Early Sex I xpciu-ncc Helpful
or "More Women Are Quitting Sexual Code’. who
was to blame''
2 Morality Was Dr. Kvnsey stepping out ol
his role a- an 'objective scientist'’ to tab at it with
references to oui unrealistic moi al codes ami
whv did now spatter- feature sideline commentary
Mich a- thi cemarried novelist Ilka hasc stale
men! that men and women make- better husbands
and wives if they have had some (previous sexi
experience."?
3 facts .should a survey ol less than 1 100
of om per re ul of \mcm.,n women le ad lo sug
gestions that Sinericaii- change then moial code
ausc ol the sen.-a1ionlism was pinned down
quickly \ftci pre report- that Di Kinsey had
personnaliy bos-cd flu pubhc relation- job Im hi
forthcoming hook because he wanted publicity
for hr work Archbi*hnp Paul Schultr nf |r,
diananolts spoke up.
Di Kinsey pjblicitv peilnrmam-e bad dr
graded science he said likening hi* action tn that
of "a cheap charlatan."
Americans began objecting to the "small print”
aspects of the Kinsey report campaign—short warn
ings about Kinsey accuracy were buried in columns
of sensational sex facts.
On the question of morals, the decision was al
most unanimous. The treatment that Dr. Kinsey’s
work had received could only be harmful to youth.
Dr. Kinsey stuck to the position that as a scientist
he leaves moral problems up to churchmen,
Most publications disagreed with him.
.-------9----
Religion in the Schools
No real effort has ever been made in our country
to face up and to try lo solve the problem of teaching
moral and spiritual values in schools conducted for
pupils of dozens of different religious and philosoph
ical views. Other countries have tried and found
ica.sonable solutions in public confessional schools.
Here our educators have just claimed there wasn’t
any easy solution and in effect barred all religious
teaching. That to do so they raised their own phil
osophical views to the position of the official re
ligion of the schools never seemed to bother them.
BISHOP THOMAS K. GORMAN of Dallas,
Commencement Address, May 27
Tragic Failure of
Mode rn Times
The tragic failure of my generation is that it
sought social justice in Communist nr quasi-Cnm
munist systems instead of in the BihlP.
ALAN M. STROOCK,
Just Among Ourselves
Passing Comment Considered or Inconsiderate
The business ol growing old is the only business
in which every member of the human race is con
stantly engaged, and with uniform .success. .No lag
gards clog the advance ol this business. Ng inepti
tude ol employees, no negligence, no tardiness can
check its sure progress. And no shrewdness or
cleverness of manipulation can make it serve the
few at the expense of the many, which is. of course,
the whole point and purpose of other businesses.
In growing old. everyone who stays, on the job
is an expert. No university degrees aie needed, here.
No engineers, no managers are required. No Ph.D.’s
need apply. No psychiatrists or public relations
people rush in. seeking to sell their intangibles to
the less intelligent intelligentsia. Vocational ad
visers or advisors look elsewhere for employment.
For this unceasing and universally successful
business ot aging, no training at all is exacted. A
newborn infant is immediately busy at it, skilled
and proficient, from the moment he appears upon
Ihe human scene. And no one is retired on pension.
For this business, the tottering gatler is-as capable
as the husky stalwart ol youth or middle life. No one
retires no one resigns no one is fired no one goes
on strike. The mon ot Amalgamated Agers is the
only perfect I mon: never a dispute to settle never
a sit down or lockout never a meeting for weighing
proposals or prole n, ver a contested election,—
oi any election, lor that matter.
We ought to hear sometimes of this business
and its success. II would be a heartening thing to re
mind a man that, no matter how dismal a failure
he may be in all other areas of endeavor, he can
hold up his head with the best in the work of grow
ing old. 5 ct how seldom do we hear a man con
gratulated upon his success in this particular. Ah,
to be sure! We weie forgetting. We had loigotten
birthday parties, not to mention the celebration of
jubilees, silver, golden, diamond, and uranium.
S» O
When old Sam Small. hero in many a W. W.
Jacobs story, asked ihe doctor, Am dying?"
the medical man replied, “Were all dying, only
some of us will go sooner than others." 5 es. we are
all good at dying too, or will be when the moment
comes. But, apart from the widest meaning of the
verb to die. we are not constantly working at it, as
we arc at growing old. Aging is the thing, with dy
ing to come as a kind oi grand commencement day
observance.
Despite our skill, however, and our unremitting
application to the task of growing old. we are the
poorest ot pooi judges ot our progress. As we
lourncv on the common road, called radio to
Grave Highway. we somehow find the horizon
fixed and steady we never seem to come a bit
nearer to the distant sky line. The future stretches
as generously before forty as before fifteen the
prospect of a long to morrow is as clear to the
eyes ol eighty as to those fifty. It is easy to see that
a neighbor is coming close to his goal it is next
to impossible to see the same thing tor ourselves.
Now amj again some rude event may shock a
man into realization oi his advanced situation. But
the shock wears oil as quickly as it conies. A man
may become suddenly and calamitously aware that
hi- chatter about Teddy Roosevelt oi'Christy Mathew
son is being received as babble from ancient Baby
lon. Oi he may experience a sobering moment of
frettul displeasiue when he is summoned to the
wedding ot one he knew lint yesterday as a toddler
too young tor kindergarten. But, as we say, these
shocks that flesh is heir to are quickly shrugged
oti. a man sinks hack into his constant and content
ed state oi aggreeable sell deception.
A 11 lend of ours, confident ot his own position
in an unchanging prime of hie, was disturbed re
cently when he spent a week’s vacation in his hoy
hood home town. He was told about a man, call him
Jun Johnson who had been a companion in college
days “(h, surely, you remember Jim Johnson. He
went to college with you. He is anxious to meet
you again. But he s not in town just now. Last week
he went lo Florida to visit his grandchildren.’’
It is not that people do not talk ol their grow
ing old, indeed, they are always at it. One re
members grandpa who. lor ten or litteen successive
hristmasses, sounded a sadjiote on the day ot joy
by solemnly announcing 5i* early demise. “Well."
he would say “this is ihe last Christmas I’ll be with
you" Many a family has grbvvn up to that annual
sad refrain. But grandpa didn’t believe a word of it
he was lust indulging a grandparent’s privilege nf
putting himself into prominence, focussing concern
and .1) on himsell w hen he could no longer chai
lenge admiration oi excite envy.
At all events, whatever grandpa's motive, he
was indulging academic interest in Ihe subject of
death. But he was not surrendering to old age. It is
hard loi a man to realize, in the full sense of that
word, what it means lo be old it is perhaps imposs
ible lot a person to realize what it means to die. Mr,
Dooley admonished Mr. Hennessey on this point he
says that the man who thinks of his own death is
also thinking ol himsell as a spectator one who
stands by the bedside ot himself dying or one who
stand* beside his coffin and hears all the nice re
marks made by the neighbors about the deceased.
Ihe heart ot man may sentimentalize, and his
lips may utter the eken fugaccs ol the Roman poet,
hut in the sincerity ol his soul he looks on to an
indefinite lime yet 1o come. And it is surely better
-o. There is more than a mere joke in the words,
“It I knew I was going to die right a.vay. I'd die’
Life has great value, and it is right and natural tn
wi*h and expect more of it. if only we could under
stand that the value of lite is making ready fnr
death! That, and not the realrzation of advancing
age is the blessing we all should strive to achieve.
THE CATHOLIC TIMES, FRIDAY. AUGUST 28. 1953
if
IF4.SM/AGTO/V LETTER
WASHINGTON There is a
drive on in this country to nulli
fy and discard all censorship of
motion pictures and books.
There has always been a cer
tain amount ot opposition to any
form of censorship. But this is
a new, coordinated and. so far,
a more successful effort on the
part of very influential people.
It could be one of the most
serious developments of our
times.
While people across the coun
try, and especially parents, are
seeking ways of reducing the
smut and suggestiveness already
present on Ihe newsstands and
motion picture screens, publish
ers and distributors of books and
the producers and distributors
of motion pictures are putting
forth perhaps then mightiest el
forts yet to break away from
even the frail restraints in which
they find themselves.
There is before the Supreme
f'ourt ot the United States a case
in which film interests are ask
ing that the motion picture cen
sorship law of Ohio be scrapped.
Ohm is a pioneer State in the
censoring of films
Also in Ohio, a Cleveland
judge has ruled that a police
chief docs not have the power to
act as a censor of obscene books,
hut can suppress them only af
LOI IS I. OEM
From a young man in Ha
waii, Richard Okihara, has come
a letter akin to several others
recently received. It his to do
with the Red
ruled unions,
which still
flourish in the
United States.
Young Mr.
Okihara is
o n e ned
about the re
rent conviction
ol Jack Hall.
Harry Bridges'
lieutenant and
head ot the In
ternational Longshoremen’s and
Warehousemens Union, as a
leading participant in the Com
munist conspiracy. And he goes
on to say: “Most average people
will tend to believe that all the
ILWU members are Commun
ists since their leader is one.
Rut we know that is not so, or
is it?"
4
The answer is: "Emphatically
no.”
The rank and file of the Il.Wt
in Honolulu and vicinity, as wuh
their fellow members in Cali
fornia. are overwhelmingly non
Communist. They have fallen,
however, under the leadership of
those who serve the Kremlin
and this presents a serious
challenge hoth to organized la
bor and to the United Stales.
With the Soviet fifth column
preparing new difficulties tor
American security in the Pacil
tc out of the Korean "truce",
this state of affairs becomes
even more ominous.
Without Deviation
It is unfortunate that these
workers in Hawaii, who need or
ganization sorely, have not
.found a way to break with the
ILWl and enter an affiliate nf
the CIO or American Federation
of Labor. As long as they re
And Then the Deluge
Censorship Going
ter a court of law has judged a
volume to be obscene.
Eric Johnston, president, re
cently reported to the Motion
Picture Association of America.
Inc., that “we hope, through our
own energies and the force 6f
legal judgments, to pry the door
of censorship all the way open
and off its hinges."
The k*.A A. was also told:
“The Association's present ef
forts, Mr. Johnston has announc
ed, will be directed toward en
couraging the introduction of
bills to repeal state and munici
pal statutes wherever they ex
ist. At the legislatures conven
ed in the early months of 1953,
the industry was watching the
progress of such bills already in
troduced in Ohio and Kansas.
"Mr. Johnston has made it evi
dent that the Association will
continue to press the fight un
til the last vestiges of censor
ship are removed from the
land.’’
This is from the 1952 annual
report of the A A., under
Ihe heading “The Fight Against
Censorship.’’
Ihe pattern that is presently
evolving in this whole question
is this:
It is being established as the
legal norm that there can be nn
censorship of a hnnk. a maga
The Fronts: Enemy Big Guns
wain under the Bridges Hall
leadership, they will serve the
purposes of Moscow whether
they are Communists or not.
The committee which recom
mended Ihe expulsion ot the
11.Wil from the CIO in 1950
tells the whole story. After com
paring the unions stand with
the Communist line, the commit
tee stated: "From this examina
tion the committee finds that
policies and activities of the
ILWU have followed and have
continued to follow exactly,
without deviation, the policies
of the Communist parly. At no
tune during the twelve year peri
od 11938 1950) has there been
one single instance oi ll.WU’s
deviating in any appreciable de
gree from the line of the Com
munist Party.”
Me here have another demon
stratum ot the Red tactic laid
down bv Stalin—lo gel control
of organized groups and bring
pressure in their nantc on the
gorerument and on public opm
ion. The resolutions adopted by
the II.M all of them pro-Com
munist—did not reflect the opin
ions of individual members but
thev were used to intimidate
political figures and to represent
the voice of thousands of
workers.
Latin American Beachheads
By this process, which is con
tinuing at high speed in all
fields of American activity, the
Reds have registered their re
cent gains in the United States.
Encouraged by the terms of the
Korean •‘truce," Political Affairs
for August now prepares the
Stalinists ol the Western Hem
isphere for large-scale opera
tions tti Latin America.
From political beachheads
established in Guatemala, Boliv
ia and some other countries,
they now intend tn spread nut
and bring Soviet-controlled
to Go?
zine, a motion picture or the
like in advance of publication.
Then, if it is thought to bq ob
jectionable, the mailer must be
taken into court and the offen
sive item adjudged obscene. On
ly then, would it be legal to take
action against the piece of ob
scenity.
Even without censorship en
tirely done away with this pro
ceduie would have virtually the
same effect. Does anyone imag
ine that the purveyors of por
nography will not flood the mar
ket With their wares under these
conditions? What is to stop
them? And by the time the
courts act to condemn their de
basing offerings, they will have
wrung all the profits from their
nefarious deals. And it the
courts condemn their wares,
what is to prevent them from
simply changing the name of
that which they offer, and start
ing the whole process all over
again?
That is one of the seiious ob
stacles in the way of the Post
Office Department in its efforts
to keep salacious material out
of the mails. By the time thev
catch up with the filth, it has
done its harm. By the time they
catch up with the purveyor, he
changes the title on his materi
al and starts it on another vile
career.
countries to the very front door
of the United Slates. This could
never have been contemplated
seriously without the great aid
received from non-Communist
organizations into which they
have penetrated in this country
and from the many persons of
prominence who have joined
their fronts.
Silence Those Guns
Recently and in a belligerent
mood, the Rev. Jack R. Mc
Michael appeared before the
House Committee on Un-Amei
ican Activities to deny the charg
es of at least two ex-Commun
ists that he was a member of
1he Red conspiracy. Regardless
of that issue, this gentleman is
known to be a member or spon
sor of fully 30 Communist fronts,
including the notorious Waldorf
Ast o i a “peace" conference.
These 30 fronts were of the most
varied character but always in
tune with the Communist line,
including the American Peace
Mobilization which picketed the
White House on behalf of Hitler.
A man like this does not con
fine himself to lending his
name to a letterhead or piece
of pro-Commumst literature: he
lectures, writes and. in the case
of Mr. McMichael, was an offi
cer of Ihe Methodist Social
Sentce Federation. While this
organization recently was dis-*
avowed by the Methodists be
cause of its pro-Communist
tinge, it has necessarily enjoyed
a wide influence.
The Communist fronts, there
fore. continue to be the ene
my’s big guns within the United
States. They can be silenced, but
only by well-informed and pei
sislent opposition. Studies in the
techniques of Communism—such
as are carried on at Fordham.
Seton Hall, and in community
leader classes provide the
means to attain this end.
IXyVIRY CORNER
Rl( 1RI) P4TTEE
Doctrine of Guardian
Angel Based on Gospel
Q. On what does the Catholic
Church base the belief in guard
ian angels?
A. For Catholics ihe rule of
faith is the teaching of the
Catholic Church, which speaks
infallibly for Christ. The Church
bases its teachings on the di
vinely inspired Sacred Scriptures
and Tradition. We know that the
angels are interested in us and
pray for us (Zacharias 1:12-13:
Tobias 12.12 Luke 15:10) and
we base the doctrine of guardian
angels on St. Matthew's Gospel
(18:10) and on Tradition.
Q. We have a Garden Club
in which about half the mem
bers are Catholic. After seven
peaceful years we are resigned
to quitting because the netq
president insists on introducing
the Protestant form of the Our
Father and a Protestant hymn
into ihe meeting. Should we
withdraw?
A. If there is no way you can
stop the intrusion of Protestant
devotions into the meetings you
should resign. Perhaps an elo
quent speech about "separation
of church and state" and a call
for a vote of the members will
override the president. Fair
minded Protestants should see
that their prayers should not be
forced on Catholics in a club
which is so clearly a social af
fair. If such an appeal tails
there is nothing to do but with
draw and form a club of your
own.
Q. When churches disagree
on interpretation of the Bible
who can tell what God's Word
teaches? Is any certainty pos
sible?
A. The Catholic Church has
taught a consistent and definite
pattern of interpretations for
two thousand years. In the Cate
chism we find the same teach
ing as we find in the teaching
of the early Church (as Cardinal*
Newman discovered before he
became a Catholic). Catholics
know that God speaks through
the Church which He founded
(John 18:37 .Matthew 10:40:
Luke 10:16 Matthew' 28:20)
and that the Catholic Church is
that Church. The sects which
have broken away from the
Catholic Church (Greek Ortho
dox in the tenth century, Prot
estant in the sixteenth) cannot
claim infallibility. They do dis
agree with the Catholic Church
and with each other in interpre
tations of the Bible. God cannot
teach contradictions. Only in
the Catholic Church do we have
Ihe certainty which Christ prom
ised. He established ”a living
teacher to interpret His Word
to avoid the uncertainties of hu
man guidance (Acts 8:30 John
20:20 2 Thessalonians 2:14).
Catholics a
very tiny mi
nority. com
pletely lost in
the sea of Lu
theranism.
In Finland,
w o religions
are state sup
ported. Luthw-
anism and the
Orthodox. I do not know of any
similar case in which two re
ligious groups arb both consid
ered official and receive state
aid. The spirit of the country
is totally Lutheran, although the
actual practice of the predomi
nant faith, does not seem to be
very active. 1 have heard here
in Helsinki that only about 3 per
cent of the Lutherans make any
pretense of fulfilling their re
ligious obligations in a serious
way. But Lutheranism is com
pletely associated with the na
tion and, what is more serious,
with the nationality. The Finn
frequently speaks of his condi
tion as a Lutheran as synony
mous with his Finnish national
ity
To be an Orthodox presuppos
es a certain attachment to Rus
sia: to be a Catholic, a whole
process ot de nationalization. Up
to 20 or more years ago the
Catholic Church in Finland was
invariably spoken of as “the
Polish 'chutch" because the res
toration of Catholicism here was
the result of the presence of
Polish garrisons during the days
of Russian rule: therefore, in
the popular mind, to be a Cath
olic was to be a Pole. Only very
recently this notion disappear
ed, and it is still true that very
few pure-blood Finns are Catho
lic.
Foreign Aspect
Most of those who profess our
Faith in Finland are identified
in some manner with abroad—
Finns married to Germans. Ital
ians or other nationalities have
come into the Church. Almost
without exception, there is a
foreign contact of some kind to
explain'-the conversion.
The local parish in Helsinki
the Church .of St. Henry, pa
tron of Finland has some 1.600
members, about equally divided
Q. May two Catholic married
people agree to separate when
they find they cannot get along
together? What if one person
is unbearable—may the other
person leave?
A. St. Paul states Christian
teaching when he notes: “But
to those who are married, not I,
but the Lord commands that a
wile is not to depart from her
husband, and if she departs, that
she is to remain unmarried or
be reconciled to her husband.
And let not a husband put away
his wife.” (Corinthians 7:10-11)
It is possible to obtain permis
sion from the bishop for a sep
aration when there are serious
reasons indicating that the sit
uation is intolerable. The couple
themselves are not permitted to
decide for themselves because
the Sacrament of Matrimony is
sacred and may not be set aside,
even temporarily, except for
grave reasons. In no case, how
ever, is a second marriage per
mitted.
Q. What is actual grace?
A. Sanctifying grace or habit
ual grace is that supernatural
life which comes to us by Bap
tism, “Actual grace is
a
super­
natural help of God which en
lightens our minds and strength
ens our wills to do good and avoid
evil.” Baltimore Catechism) It
is a special divine impulse di
rected to a special act or crisis in
a person’s life. It is the grace
which works when a person is in
the state of mortal sin. moving
him to repentance.
Are the seven Sacraments
mentioned in the Bible? Was
not the number seven fixed at
a late date in the twelfth
century?
A. The New Testament men
tioned all the Sacraments more
or less explicitly, although it
does not give a list of them.
Christ gave to His Apostles and
the Church the custody of all
that He taught and the means of
grace, the Sacraments par
ticular. The Fathers of the
Church write about all of them,
and St. Augustine (fifth century)
discusses six of them in his writ
ings and Pope Innocent I (401*
417) describes the seventh, Ex
treme Unction. Even the sect$
(e.g. Nestorians, Monophysites)
nf the time accepted all of them.
The New Testament was not
written as a catechism w'ith neat
lists of everything. It was the
work of the Church to explain,
clarify and organize the body of
Christian truth as we see in the
New Testament itself (Matthew
28:20).)
Send questions to Father Ed
ward F. Healey, The Inquiry Cor^
ner, The Catholic Times, Box
636. Columbus (16) Ohm.
Problems in Finland
HELSINKI The situation of
the Church in Finland is per
haps as acute as that in any of
the Scandinavian lands. Of the
total popula
tion ot over 4
millions, only
2,000 may be
clas sified as
between the Finnish and the
Swedish speaking. The languag*
problem is a very real one. Most
of the priests are Hollanders. It
has been necessary for ’hem to
avoid the easy tendency of learn
ing Swedish as the chief lan
guage because once Swedish
has been learned, it is extreme
ly difficult, if not impossible, to
overcome the psychological bar
rier and learn Finnish also.
Nothing would be more disas
trous than1 to associate th«
Church here with the Swedish
speaking segment of the popula
tion.
Finland has about 10 per cent
Swedish speaking, concentrated
in Helsinki and the south coast.
Over the years Finnish has made
increasing progress, to the ex
tent that everything indicates
that Swedish will ultimately dis
appear. There is keen rivalry
and considerable ill feeling be
tween the two groups. Identifi
cation of Catholicism with one
would make it almost impossible
to do anything with the other.
At the same time, the Finnish
language is one of the most
frightfully complex and difficult
to conceive. 1 have spent the
past week with many of the
Dutch priests working here and
with the Sisters, both American
and Dutch. They are all of one
mind in considering the lan
guage as the major barrier, mak
ing Finland as difficult a coun
try in which to work effectively
as Japan or China.
Catholic Intellectual Center
The clergy number only 14.
Each new recruit must enter im
mediately on his work without
the necessary time for a more
leisurely acquisition of the lan
guage. This is true of the Sisters
also' In both parishes and
schools this is a major handicap.
One of the most extraordinary
experiments here has been the
bringing in of three French
Dominicans to set up what is
called the Studium Catholicum.
The purpose of this move is to
reach the academic and univer
sity circles.
As I have mentioned before,
the Scandinavian is highly lit
erate. His standards are ex
tremely rigorous in the way of
intellectual matter. The Vicar
Apostolic of Finland. Mons. Guil
laume Cobben, through the
Studium Catholicum is undertak
ing to provide a Catholic center
capable of making some impres
sion nn the university and gen
eral intellectual life of the coun
try.