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k—THE CATHOLIC TIMES Friday. November 27. 1953 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. O. Box 636, Columbus 16. Ohio Prke nf The Catholic Time* IS per year. All •ubaeriptM'tta ahotild he.preaented to otir of fir* through the tastor« of the parishes. Rernittaseea ahonld be made payable to The Cath olic Timer, Anonymous rommumcationa will be disregarded. We do not hold ourselves responsible for any views or opinions expressed in the rommanicetione ef our eorrraponden ts. Entered a« Second Claaa Matter at Poet Offle*. Cesium bus. Ohio. St. Franeis de Sales. Patron of the CathaHe Frera. Pray for us! This Paper Printed by Union Labor Phooey, Professor! In a recent issue of the New York Tunes Magazine an article, entirely amazing, was carried written by Henry Steele Commager, professor of History at Columbia University. The Professor is decrying the present "Witch Hunts” referring to the present investigations into the Communistic affiliations of a number of Amer ican citizens. He makes a loud clamor about “guilt by association” and sounds for all the world like some one who either recently vias or is about to be summoned before such a committee himself. His main thesis is that no one should be held suspect or condemned because he belongs to, or lends his name in support of, an organization that is known to be Communistic. We say his main thesis, because he artfully states that no one should be condemned because he once belonged to or gave support by such an organization. Since we all could agree pretty much with that, it looks like the Pro fessor would have us agree in the same breath with his other statement. That is precisely what makes the Professor’s ar guments dangerous. Some of the things he states are truths with which we all would agree. Mixed in with them, salad-fashion, are many that we could not. To cite just one. Guilt by association is wrong, says Mr. Commager and proof of this he trots forth a number of reasons one of which is the following: He says this doctrine is wrong because it is “neither possible or desirable that we engage in a check of the membership, past as well as present, of all organizations to which we belong or which we are asked to join.” That is a pernicious Conclusion. For sake of ar gument, Why shouldn’t it be possible or at least desirable to check the membership of the organiza tion we join or to which we lend our name in sup port? And even granting this assertion, it seems to us that the Professor is confusing something and pur posely. Whether or not we can check the member ship. past and present, of the organization in no way means that we cannot check the aims and mo tives or the organization itself. And this is both possible and desirable. To confuse the membership of the organization with its avowed purpose is to confuse two utterly different things. It is not primarily because some undesirable characters belong to an organization that makes it bad. It is the motives of the organiza tion itself that color the members. One other thing, among lhe many. This boy says that if the membership of "subversives in an or ganization is enough to persuade us to drop our membership,” then, “all that the Communists need to do to destroy any society is to join it.” This is one of the finest examples of a truism that we have ever read. That is exactly what the Communists are doing. They arc infiltrating the gov ernment, our schools and every possible place where they can make inroads with the sole intention of destroying what they have joined. Their expulsion from our midst is the very reason for the investi gations. The lending of one’s good name to an organiza tion about which nothing or little is known is to live a dangerous lie. ft leads the unwary to think that the organization itself is as upright and honest as the person seems who support* it. This is not so and is utterly ridiculous. No guilt by association? Let’a all run out and join the Chinese Bandits or let the American Society for the Advancement of Brothel keeping put our names on its letter heads. Phoocy, Professor! A Strange Doctrine? The front page announcement from the Vatican carried In this edition of Catholic Times concerning the special indulgences that may be gained during the Marian Year, while a great source of joy to Catholics, will most certainly be the occasion for tongue-clacking by those who do not understand the doctrine of indulgences, This matter of indulgences has long been mis understood and decried by well meaning but grossly misinformed persons. The recent movie "Martin Luther” has surely added to, and confirmed in the minds of many, the prevalent misinformation con cerning this doctrine of the Church. To these many people the present announcement will mean either extended "privileges” for ath dies to commit sins or various means Catholics may use to have themselves declared “not guilty” of sin. We should take the many opportunities that will undoubt“dly be forthcoming during this year of explaining to our non-Catholic friends the true meaning of just what an indulgence is. A session with "Junior’s” catechism might be just the thing to help prepare for a quick and clear exposition to the inquirer. An indulgence, this wonderful little book tells us, is the remission in whole (plenaiy) or in part (partial) of the temporal punishment due to sin. It Is in no way a permission to commit sin. It is not the forgiveness of the guilt of the sin. It is the application of tl.e infinite merits of Christ and of the saints to pay the debt of punishment due to a person’s sin. An example might help. Say a person has been arrested for parking his car next to a fire plug, and the judge levies a ten dollar fine against htjn. That fine must be paid Now suppose a friend comes along and says: “Joe, in view of the services you have done for me lately, I'm going to pay your fine.” Is there anything wrong in that? Does the paying of Joe's fine by his friend give Joe the permission to go out and park in front nf a fire plug any time he takes the notion? Or does it imply that Joe was never guilty in the first place? Nothing of the sort. So too with indulgences. The word "indulgence' ’is derived from the Isatin word "mdulgeo” which in classical l*atin meant to be kind or tender. In post-classical I-atin the term meant the remission of a debt. Both meanings are •till retained in our use of the word. Everyone agrees that God can and does forgive tin Why should it he thought odd if He chooses to pay for us the debt connected with the sin? When the Church grants an indulgence, using i the power given to her by Christ of distributing the infinite merits of His passion and death, she is not granting automatic "blanket” forgiveness to all the faithful. Each individual has to gain the indulgence by performing the works prescribed by the Church: He must be in the state of grace and sorry for his sins, he must wash to gain the indulgence and must perform the good work enjoined by the Church usually in the form of prayers, the giving of alms, visits to a church or something of that nature. In the case of plenary indulgences, he must usually also go to Confession and Holy Communion within eight days of performing the required work, visit a church and while there pray for the intention of the Pope. Indulgences may be gained for one’s self or ap plied to one or more of the souls in purgatory. We should all make ourselves entirely familiar with these wonderful opportunities that are being offered during the Marian year. And we should be ready and able to explain the doctrine of indul gences to those who regard it as false and repre hensible. Just Among Ourselves Passing Common* Considered er Inconsiderate Amid the turmoil of public and political doings and sayings, it is a wise thing to imitate Bre’r Fox and "lay low.” It is easy to have strong preferences without having clear reasons for them. In most worldly things that call for speech and action, hu man beings are less likely to be led by indisputable truth than by the taste about which there is no disputing. It is common, in affairs where clear certitude is not available, to be ardent, nay to be partisan. One tends to “give heart and hand to this vote,” without giving much of the head to it. Of course, we speak oi the ordinary folk whose political information is gathered from those edu cational agencies which make our country great, or at least noisily interested in greatness: newspa pers, reviews, radio, and the tired man's mentor, TV. We do not speak of the politicians who have their own plans and purposes as well as their own formularies of speech, and are a kind of race apart. Of politicians’ activities. Bill Nye speaks with more than humor in his fictional “Diary of John Adams.” He has Adams, contemplating entry into political action, set down the following note in his diary. “I have never done anything in the states man’s line, but it does not look difficult to me. It occurs to me that success in public life is the result of a union of several great primary elements, to wit: first, ability to whoop in a felicitous manner second, promptness in improving the proper mo ment in which to whoop third, ready and correct decision in the matter of which side to whoop on fourth, ability to cork up the whoop at the proper moment and keep it in a enol place till needed.” Certainly, the whoopers have been at it of late, whether felicitously or not is difficult to judge. The plain citizen does well to keep his own whoop corked up and preserved in a cool place until he knows all the facts needed to give a complete an swer to that classic question, "What’s all the whoop ing about?” The human mind Is made for truth, and it can never be satisfied without it. But there are wide areas of human interest in which full truth is not available. In these areas, intelligent opinion is the best the mind can have, and it must serve. The thing to remember is that opinion must be intel ligent, that is, it must haie good, solid, and prudent reasons back of it. Partisanship, strong feeling, self interest, personal and local loyalties, can seldom be honestly viewed as good and prudent reasons for holding an opinion. Opinion is not intelligent by reason of these things. In matters political, honest statesmen are doing the best they can. Policy is a general matter which inevitably brings along with it much that is par ticular and detailed. And in these points of detail, there is always the murk and haze of uncertainty. A leader may know his main objective clearly enough, as a traveller on foot may clearly know the city or town he wishes to reach. But paths to the objective, like trails that lead through forest, fen, and plain, are sometimes a maze and a criss-cross, and sometimes they wind blindly through mist and fog. Mistakes are inevitable. When a mistake has been made, it is surely better to strive to correct it than to waste time and energy in whooping adversary against its perpetrator as a man “who did it on purpose.” The journey to the goal is not furthered one inch, hut is merely de layed, by indulging in hot vituperation leveled against the guide that led the travellers astray. This is time and energy lost, and doubly’ lost if there be some question as to whether the travelers have been really led astray, or significantly led astray. Matters public and political are. as we say, in the field of opinion, where the necessary thirst of the mind for truth must be slaked by such waters as are at hand, and these are the muddled waters of prob ability, not the clear waters of certitude. It is calamitious, however, to consider that, be cause probability is the best thing the mind can achieve in many things, that it is the only thing achievable in everything. There is a wide field where opinion is indeed the best the mind can attain. But there are other areas in which certitude is available, and in these mere opinion is not worth a straw. The man who must get along with what seems the solidcst opinion in the field of politics or prac tical policy, is surely not content to get along with opinion in the field of mathematics. He does not want the grocer’s opinion on the amount of the bill to be paid. He cares not a hang what the grocer thinks on that subject. He wants the plain, discern ible, certitude that is available in the case. The patient is willing to let the experienced physician treat him according to the latter’s sup posedly enlightened opinion: that’s the best he can do. But the patient doesn’t want the physcan’s opinion as to whether health is desirable or life worth saving. Opinion has no place where certitude can be had. Now. there are millions of people, bemused by the fact that opinion plays so prominent a part in practical life, who adopt the conviction that opinion is the best that a man can have about the value and purpose of his everlasting soul. People who hold with certainty that temporal life is worth saving, are in some doubt about whether its eternal issues are worth bothering about. They notice that lots of their seemingly estimable neighbors ignore the matter of God. religion, and the hereafter. They apprehend (hat the theory of indifference in this case is the popular opinion. And they adopt that opinion. Now, this is the ultimate insanity. A man may not be able to know for sure what political party has the best scheme for serving the interests of the country. But he has got to be sure what church is the one true church in which God wants him to be. and according to whose doctrines God wants him to live. He can be sure. The thing may take effort, and demand agonizing sacrifice, but a man can find certainty. And therefore opinion in the case is worse than useless. Advent: WASHINGTON LETTER A Step In WASHING ION The rela tionship between Germany and Poland is one of the most im portant—and most difficult—is sues involved in all plans for Europe’s political, cultural and economic reconstruction. This has long been clear to all seri ous students of the problem who look beyond lhe days headlines and are aware of the often tragic tacts of history- that have shap ed lhe relations between these two neighboring countries. The problem is of particular interest to Catholics in view of the fact that Poland today is a practically one hundred per cent Catholic country and that mil lions of German Catholics, exil ed after the war from their homeland, yearn to return to their towns and villages that are today under Polish administra tion. There are deep, and under standable. resentments on both sides. Polish Catholics and it must always be remembered that Polish Catholicism is inseparable from Polish national conscious ness harbor bitter memories of the unspeakable cruelties in flicted upon their country by Hit ler’s armies. In the name of justice, they demand reparation. German Catholics as a whole, and those exiled from the East in particular, are determined MONSIGNOR HIGGINS The Guaranteed Annual Wage is standing by in the wings ready to take the center of the collec tive bargaining stage as soon as contract nego tiations are op ened up again in the auto, steel, and elec trical manufac turing indus tries. The CIO unions in these three bellweth er industries have publicly announced that the GAW is their next major ob jective. There is every reason to believe that they mean business and are not merely using the GAW as a talking point. Their GAW propaganda up to this point has been couched in generalities, but it is well known that their research people are now putting the finishing touch es on detailed proposals which will be publicly unveiled within the near future. The publication of these proposals, which are be ing worked out with the profes sional advice of some of the best economists in the United States, will mark the official opening of what promises to be one of the most important chapters in the history of collective bargaining in the United States. The long-range importance and far reaching implications of this concerted drive for the Guaran teed Annual Wage are clearly recognized by the business com munity and are now being seri ously discussed in business-spon sored publications. A counter offensive against the CIO’s forth coming proposals has already been launched, with the U S. Chamber of Commerce supply ing much of the ammunition a new booklet. IFay 1 r'j It is equally a fact that, on the German side, bitterness aris ing from the post-war expulsions and arbitrary boundary regula tions has sometimes overshadow ed the awareness of the grave wrongs done to Poland and the obligation to make reparation for them. Catholics of other countries have long watched with deep concern this seemingly irrepar able acrimony between their Polish and German fellow-Catho- Guaranteed Annual Wage On The Defensive On second thought, “counter offensive” is probably not the correct word to characterize the strategy of the Chamber of Com merce. The of is very much on the defensive. This is most unfortunate, in our opinion, for the Guaranteed Annual Wage can never be achieved on a broad scale—without excessive govern mental intervention—unless and until American industry becomes enthusiastic about the idea. As far back as 1947 when the CIO first began to talk about the GAW as a possible goal of col lective bargaining, a professor at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Business Administra tion an institution which is highly respected and to a large extent supported by the business community pointedly warned the leaders of American indus try that they would have to change their attitude towards the Guaranteed Annual Wage. Some employers, Professor Joseph Sni der pointed out a book en titled "The Guarantee of Work and Wages,” shy away from the Guaranteed Annual Wage alto gether. This, he says, is "an ostrich-like attitude. Employers cannot hide from something which is already here.” Professor Snider concludes that a mental readjustment is requir ed on lhe part of American in dustrialists. The average employ er, he says, will have to develop a firm conviction that he must do everything possible to in crease the stability of employ ment and the regularity of wag es. Individual Efforts Professor Snider’s advice is be ing followed by the Chamber of Commerce—up to a point. The of in its policy statement on the Guaranteed Annual Wage To Bethlehem 1 he Right Direction never to accept the banishment of millions of people from their homeland where they and their forebears had lived for many hundreds of years. They also con sider themselves victims of an injustice that cries for remedy. It is, perhaps, understandable if- -on both sides—some harsh words have been spoken. It is not the first time in history that the commandments of Christian charity and love of neighbor have come into conflict with emotions stirred up by racial and national consciousness. It is a fact that, on the Polish side, these ancient and new re sentments toward the western neighbor continue to exist— quite apart from the people’s an tipathy toward the communist regime holding Poland in bond age today. lics. They have been searching for ways and means to build a bridge and to create an atmos phere of mutual understanding and forebearance. But they have also been aware of the delicate and sensitive nature of the prob lem and the dangers involved in any unwelcome interference by outsiders. They welcome, therefore, all the more a move made by one of Germany’s two Cardinals which may well serve to show the way out of an impasse and help German as well as Polish Catholics to come together. When His Eminence Josef Car dinal Frings, Archbishop of Co logne, frankly acknowledged that Germany bears a full share of responsibility for centuries of oppression suffered by Poland, when he admitted that "we can not speak about the Polish ques tion without experiencing a sense of deep shame and without si lently asking pardon for all the wrongs done to the Polish peo ple,” he voiced a thought that cannot fail to meet with a grate ful response in Poland. Nothing could have served bet ter to convince Poland’s Catho lics of the genuine sympathy of fered by German Catholics in dark days of persecution than the words of Germany's ranking Cardinal. (“The Economics of the Guaran teed Wage”), goes out of its way to encourage individual Ameri can employers to increase the stability of employment and the regularity of wages. “All such efforts,” the of C’s new booklet states, “are rich in reward to the workers, to the community, and to the employ er.” This is sound advice as far as it goes. Individual initiative on the part of individual employers in their own plants or companies is highly commendable, but it will have to be supplemented by industry-wide agreements arriv ed at jointly by labor and man agement. "If one company or even one industry cannot act alone,” the CIO concluded in a 1947 policy statement on the GAW, "labor management councils on an in dustry-wide or interindustry ba sis should tackle the problem.” To leave the impression—as the of booklet does—that there is something sinister about this proposal is very unfair. There is nothing sinister about it at all. It is just plain ordinary horse sense—and it is thorough ly in accord with Catholic social teaching. The CIO does not have—and does not pretend to have—all the answers on the subject of the Guaranteed Annual Wage. The subject is admittedly very complicated. All the more rea son. then, for management to study it jointly with the unions in labor-management councils at the industry as well as the com pany level. Let us hope that the Chamber of Commerce and other employer organizations will throw their support behind this very logical and very sensible approach to the GAW before it is too late. INQUIRY CORNER How Did Pharisees Gain Such Power? Q. Who were the Pharisees? How did they get such power among the Jews? They are not mentioned among the priests and levites in the earlier books of the Bible, are they? A. The Pharisees and Sad ducees constituted the two lead ing factions of the Jewish people at the time of Christ. Rising af ter the Babylonian Captivity, they both claimed to preserve the pure Jewish religious tradi tion. The Sadducees based every thing on the Torah alone while the Pharisees insisted upon the Torah and Talmudic tradition. The Torah was the written law’ of Moses (Old Testament). In practice the Sadducees were pop ular with the nobility and gov erning classes, while the Phar isees (the separated ones—He brew) drew their support from the people, who admired their zeal for Jewish customs. Neither party was directly connected with politics nor with the Jewish priesthood, but the influence of the Pharisees was predominant at the time of Christ. (See Chap ter V of "The Life of Christ” —Ricciotti) Q. What is a miracle? How can we tell a real one from one claimed by various sects and by fanatical individuals? I have heard of a woman here in Ohio who cures people. A. A miracle is an extraordi nary event which is sensible (i.e. evident to the five senses) and divine. The supernatural change of bread and wine in the Holy Eucharist is not called a miracle because it is the ordinary way that God established and it (i.e. the change) is not apparent to the senses. At Lourdes the mir acles are examined by men using scientific methods. At the med ical bureau there distinguished medical men examine the afflict ed and only if they agree that the person is incurable is the name entered. Of these only a few are cured and they are brought immediately to the same bureau and again there must be agreement that they are Vuly cured. There is also further in vestigation later to prove that they stay cured. The miracles required for canonization of a saint are likewise investigated with great care. Miracles not so carefully studied are to be treat ed with caution. No miracle can be worked by or for any church but the Catholic Church, other wise God would be approving the sect. Miracles can happen to non-Catholics or non-Christians in general (e.g. at Lourdes) but they cannot perform miracles. Q. In an article I read recent ly the author states that the prevailing religions in India are LOL LS F. BUDENZ Preparing Those communist discussions about penetrating the major po litical parties, which we have been following in Political Af fairs, have now come to a head. At a "na tional con e r ence” of the Soviet fifth col umn, the offi cial report of which is now being circulat ed in pamphlet form, steps were taken to strengthen this Red plan. The communists have their eyes on the 1954 Congressional elections, and their set purpose (as franl^y explained in this report) is to defeat every "McCarthyite-Mc Carranite candidate” for the Sen ate and the House of Representa tives. To put it bluntly, the Reds are gunning for the politi cal scalp of anyone who stands for curbing their conspiracy. V a What every American should know is that this maneuver will not be carried out under the communist banner. It will be achieved by the use of the “re serves,” those forces and figures to whom Stalin referred as be ing susceptible to concealed com munist pressure. In other words, the Stalinites are preparing to whip up such sentiment against “McCarthyism-McCarranism” in trade unions, women’s clubs, community organizations, and ev en among certain industrialists as to frighten candidates for pub lic office into what virtually will be a pro-communist position. Aid To Reds Scarcely had the plans to this effect been put out in printed form than aid to the Reds de veloped from what would nor mally be a peculiar quarter. Dr. John A. Mackay of Princeton Theological Seminary and for the moment Moderator of the Pres byterian Church, issued a lengthy statement in early November, which received a big play in the New York Times. Coincidental ly, it was also given a large dis play in the Daily Worker which commended it w armly. Drt, Mackay pleads for two mam ideas: personal negotiations be tween President Eisenhower and the Soviet dictator, G. M. Malenr kov, and a virtual ending of Con gressional inquiries. In both of these pleas, he gives succor to the two chief aims of the current communist line. Anyone at all remotely famil iar with communist strategy at this period of history would know Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam. What do these religions teach? A. Hinduism, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, includes a number of sects (Vishnuism, Shivaism, etc.) attached to Brah manism. Brahma is the pantheis tic deity, whose worship can in clude worship of nature and ev en of demons. It is a national ra ther than a world religion, num bering more than 200,000,000 fol lowers and noted especially for the caste system and intricate social pattern. Buddhism is the religious and monastic system established about 500 B. C. by a Biahmanistic prince named Buddha. It denies much of Brah manism, including the caste sys tem. and has as its goal Nirvana, eternal unconscious repose Islam is another name for Mo ll a mm cd anism, the religion founded by Mohammed in 632 A.D. It is a combination of Arab ian heathenism, Judaism and Christianity, with great stress laid upon Paradise as a place of sensuous delights. Q. A Catholic wonian and a divorced man were married by the justice of the peace and an effort was made to straighten out this marriage, but without success. If this couple, now middle-aged, do not live as man and wife can the Catholic party receive the Sacraments of Pen ance and Holy Communion? A. Any question involving a return to the Sacraments after marriage outside the Church must be submitted to the Bishop. It is for the Bishop of the di ocese to decide whether and un der what circumstances the per son should receive the Sacra ments. Ordinarily all such ques tions are to be presented to the pastor of the place who will see that they are presented to the Bishop and to the Diocesan Matrimonial Tribunal (if it is judged necessary). Q. Should the priest be called if a person dies suddenly and is apparently dead when discovered by the family? A. Yes. w When in doubt it is better tq call the priest and let him decide. He can give absolu tion and Extreme Unction even after the person is apparently dead. No one can tell exactly w'hen the soul leaves the body and the Sacraments of Penance and Extreme Unction can be ad ministered conditionally even some time after apparent death. Some theologians say that two hours or more could be accept able, especially in case of sudden death. Send questions to Father Ed ward F. Healey, The Inquiry Comer, The Catholic Times, Box 636, Columbus (16) Ohio. For 1954 that the proposal for personal negotiations, or any other kind of general negotiations, between the American President and the dictator in the Kremlin, is a trap into which the United States should not walk. For Moscow and all its followers, this is the period of “world revolution,” proclaimed as such by Stalin the Foundations of Leninism. It is at this time that the Soviet dictatorship is to be used as a “base” or “fulcrum” for the over throw of all non-Soviet govern ments. It is precisely at this time that, as Stalin says, "the revolution is spreading beyond the confines of one country the period of world revolution has commenced.” The Kremlin is in tent, under such an interpreta tion of history, on one outcome alone, and that is world con quest. Every general conference, ev ery truce, every gesture at peace will be used by Moscow to ad vance world domination. Anyone Injured? When Dr. Mackay says that Congressional committees have permitted outstanding people to be injured by the "uncorrob orated” testimony of former communists, he is simply stating an inaccuracy. No one has ever contended that the uncorroborat ed testimony of former commun ists should be accepted, any more than the uncorroborated testi mony of the President of the United States or of a Justice of the Supreme Court. But the evi dence given by those few ex-com munists who are willing to co operate with the government has been corroborated to an unusual degree. This is outstandingly the case, considering that we are dealing with a conspiracy. Unfortunately, Dr. Mackay seems to be making a special plea for himself. As the New York World Telegram and Sun of November 3 brought out, he has collaborated with a number of notorious communist fronts, including the Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee and the Committee for a Democratic Far Eastern Policy. He has been chid ed by a noted Protestant clergy man, Dr. Daniel A. Poling, for championing recognition of Red China. What Dr. Poling has dona, ov ary American can do although in a slightly different way: op pose any general “negotiations” with the Soviet dictator as bring ing despair to the peoples under the satellite regimes—and also put in a good plug for a contin uance and extension of Congres sional investigations.