OCR Interpretation


The Catholic times. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1951-current, May 20, 1955, Image 4

Image and text provided by Ohio History Connection, Columbus, OH

Persistent link: https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83007243/1955-05-20/ed-1/seq-4/

What is OCR?


Thumbnail for

4- THE ATHOl.jr TIMES
THE
CATHOLIC TIMES
Published Every Week by
The Catholic Times, Inc,
Columbus, Ohio
NOTICE: Send All Changes ol Address to
P. O. Box 636 Columbus. Ohio
Executive and Editorial Offices:
246 E. Town Street. Columbus 15. Ohio
Address all communications lor publication
to O Box 636 Columbus 16, Ohio
Telephones CA 4-5195 CA. 4-5196
Bill II as Inly
A Fib
Parental
Guidance
A
Mu
Priidrnl
and W ah’lifid
Nnd now the Church ha led her children, in
spirit io Mount Olivet, to be with the disciples as
thev witness ihc Ascension, the final triumph of
the Savior on earth. His mission was completed, He
had made the sacrifice of His life on the cross for
the salvation of men, He had risen from the grave
in victory over sin and death then, as the faithful
ones watched “He was lifted up before their eyes
and a cloud took Him out of their sight.” Behind the
simple narrative of the Evangelist, telling of this
awesome, mysterious event, we can hear the trum
pets of eternity sounding, as the Son returns to
the Father, to he with Him forever We leave
Mount Olivet and return, with the disciples, to
Jerusalem, to await, as the Savior had commanded,
the coming of the Holy Spirit.
These nine days before Pentecost, forming the
first novena, should find us’^'ith our minds on high
and holy things The whole world, indeed, should
be on retreat, withdrawing from material concerns,
preparing to receive worthily the wondrous gifts
that will be available with the descent of the Holy
Spirit: each soul should strive for some measure
of solitude, so as to be able to hear the voice of
God, speaking as Enlightener, and Comforter, and
Strengthenei. “Come, 0 Holy Spirit, fill the hearts
of Thy Faithful, and kindle in them the fire of Thy
our lips for desperately does each individual and
mankind as a whole need to be warmed by that
fire. Hou else can we hope to clear up the yon
fusion and error and bitterness that torment us all?
“Re prudent and watchful in prayers,” is the
counsel given u by St. Peter in the Epistle of
Sunday's Mass: “hut above all things have a constant
mutual charity among yourselves, for charity covers
a multitude of sins If anyone speaks, let it he as
with words of God. if anyone ministers, let it he
as from the strength that God furnishes, that in all
things God may be honored through Jesus Christ
nur Lord." It is this reliance upon God, this con
fidence that He will supply the graces we need, that
is to sustain us in all adversity, and is to fortify us
even against the certainty of persecution: “Yes, the
hour is coming for evervone who kills you to think
he is offering worship to God.” We are to know
no fear except the fear of offending Him which we
dn whenever we commit sin.
In the seclusion of the lipper Room in Jerusalem
the disciples awaited the coming ol the Holy Spirit
We too, should go up from the distractions of the
world to the upper room of our souls They were
“prudent and watchful in prayers so should we be
Fnr they knew, as wo should know, that the coming
of the Holy Spirit was to mean the fulfillment of
all that Christ had taught men for their salvation.
the
the
the whopper. Psychologists tr
sho ild encourage little Mike
bill collector that Mom is not.
them a twisted slant, a mental
will relieve them of all in
15 straightforward and honest.
n is probably to be found the
who has not been called on
sity of mother lacing a diffi
carce as honest politicians,
eech contrary io what we have
is uttered with the intent
I have to spell out our speech
looks that mean plenty. And
convey more than
are many occasions
who want
are somewhat delicate
trictly personal. It is
ignorance, or to in
pccasions. We have
tat few women ever
s, oven though thev
old radio character
earner for 40 years
age' And the man
hil? doctors lawyers, teachers and a host nf
other specially trained people play such a rnle in
society, these, together with spiritual leaders are
in the nature of things, "supplementary to parents
in the guidance of children. To those who gave life
to offspring, to the same belongs the right and re
sponsibility to direct children. Coupled with the
dignity of procreation is the demand for education.
With the formal education of children in religious
as well as secular subjects necessitating a certain
measure of delegation of natural duties on the
part of all parents it is all too easy for some to
overlook or be careless about child guidance. Per
haps in some instances parents are fearful lest
they do not possess the requisite skills or intelli
gence to put intn words the things children need
to hear about their education and vocation in life.
Just about this time each year many parents
must face up to changes in the educational and
vocational status of their children. While schooling
is ending with a high school diploma for some, other
hoys and girls are marking feverish preparations
for the wonderful day when they will exchange
marriage vows. Still others with a divine proposal
ringing in their ears, are making ready to enter
seminaries and houses of religion. To whom should
each and everyone of these young people be able
to turn to first for words of sound advice and proper
encouragement if not to those with whom they
are bound by the closest ties of love and affection?
What better way can children be guided along the
road than by having their parents help to point the
way at the start (Boston Pilot)
Just Among Ourselves
Patting Comment Considered er Inconsiderate
There has been so much yacking about Yucca
that we are all in a dither. Our press-poet, usually
amenable to stern measures of repression, has got
out of control. He has burst his bonds he has
erupted into verse he demands a hearing. Not in
free willingness, but under stress of fear, we give
the poet his way For we have observed little trickles
of smoke emerging from his ears and gathering
above his head in the ominous shape of a mush
room. To ease onr peril and spread the radiation
thin, we extend to our ooet the courtesy of print.
First, he does a dithyramb in G-sharp major,
called Rip Rinat Read and perpend.
BIG BLAST
Science is certain and science is sure
E equals MC-square.
Still there is need of a Yucca or two,
Science is sure but—aw, what’s it to you?-—
Testing is jesting, it's just to procure
Audio-visual, mushroomic, fissual, jingoish, wishual
fare
For all the physicists there,
For all the busy-sists there,
For all the lads who can spare
Time to look up in the air,
Watching her splat
Over the flat—
E equals MC-square,
Sil w'c in reverence sit we in fear,
equals TV-square.
First there’s a b'ank, nd then more of the same,
Which is explained as a burst of flame,
Then comes the mushroom, all crooked and queer,
Column as solemn as Solomon’s dolmen, tall men
and small men to scare.
Billowing up in the air,
Ridding T-Viewer.s lake care.
Ridding or friends to beware,
Bidding our foes to despair.
Sit we and watch
The blur and the splotch—
equals TV-square,
.*
Now, we come Io think of it, our poet has done
about as informative a joh as the radio and televi
sion announcers. After all, there's not much room
for description when all you have to describe is
is a hang and a hurst of smoke. What a joh some of
our big time commentators could have done in
the old days if they had been with the Israelites
to toll the people hack home about the cloud and
the pillar of fire.
Still somewhat maddened by the bomb-tests, our
poet turns out a simpler rhyme called
ON THE FLATS
Oh. would we had the luck-a
To be well rid of Yucca,
With all its sirens wailing.
With all its breezes gale-ing.
With II bomb and with A-bomh
With night bomb and with day bomb
With pictures and reporters
And newsmen taking snorters,
With hurry out at dawning.
With freezing and with yawning.
With frantic cries of all-out
To dodge the deadly fall-out,
With Brass in bright arrival,
And towns for non-survival,
With aviators zooming,
And mushroom cloudlets booming
With boundless fuss and clatter.
And endless TV chatter
Oh, I would give a buck a
To he well rid of Yucca.
You have heard the story of the camel's nose,
and of the entering wedge. It's a perennial favorite
with the church-and-state boys Well, it really ap
plies tn our poet Once started there's no slopping
him. Hr moves from Yucca Flats (with manifest re
lief: the smoke no longe’’ emerges from his ears)
to hammer at a phrase (to wit, “As a matter of
fact") which appears to be the current pct of em
coes, panelists. and commentators. He calls it
I S Y, I S Y I
As a matter of fact, as a matter of fact,
If ever a phrase was both hackneyed and» hacked
It surely is that one, so blued and so blacked
By countless announcers '"ho ought to be sacked,
By preachers whose auditors loosely are packed,
Ry erudite dons condescendingly quacked.
Ry winners whose exploits are medalled and plaqued,
Ry shysters whose arguments cannot he backed,
Ry youngsters most urgently lit to he whacked.
That saying compact, that phrasing distract.
As a matter of fact!
Under promise that ho will make no further
demands this season (which endures “to taste”)
the press poet is permitted a final contribution:
TO A SKULL
Rehold this case wherein a brain
Once thrilled to joy or winced in pain
Which sizzled when the man was drunk
And palpitated when he thunk.
Yorick, my lad (or maybe Min!),
Was this head soothed by aspirin.
Or ved when germs were out akillin'
Ry pots of potent penicillin?
What plai.s or plots wore coddled here’’
What dreams of destiny—or beer?
Perhaps this dry and bony bonnet
Was once delivered of a sonnet.
Old skull, you hold your secrets fast—
Live talk to silence fades al last—
High to your credit w'e must lay it,
With naught to say, vou calmly say it
And thus you give example to
Those .scientists and sages who.
Loquacious a« the chattering gulls.
Sometimes forget that they are skulls
WASHING TON LETTER
WASHINGTON The Embas
sy of India here aas issued pub
licity creating the impression
that there is no religious op
position in India to birth control
This impression is erroneous.
The Catholic Bishops of India
have spoken out vigorously
against contraception, and the
late Mahatma Gandhi also op
posed it.
One may wonder why an em
bassy in this country would con
cern itself, especially in these
critical times, with such matters
as birth control. The explana
tion in this case probably is that
India is concerned over its “pop
ulation problem,” and is trying
to tell the world how7 it is at
tempting to meet it.
Indiagram, published by the In
dian embassy here, gave consid
erable attention to what it calls
India's “big experiment in plan
ned parenthood.” The article was
in the nature of an interview
with Lady Rama Ran, wife of
Sir Bencgal Rama Rati, former
Indian Ambassador to the Unit
ed States. Lady Ramu Rau has
just received the Albert and
Mary I^asker award from the
Planned Parenthood Federation
of America,
Lady Rama Rau is quoted in
Indiagram as saying “there was
no religious opposition to the
LOUIS F. HI DENI
Everybody, apparently, is now
to he made happy by the “peace”
talk which is flooding every non
Soviet capital. “Big Power nego
tiations” are
seemingly to be
entered into
again just as
the followers
of Moscow have
been insisting
upon for
months. In
some quarters
it is being said
that Soviet
Russia is show
ing “a new attitude” in the Aus
trian peace treaty, although the
pages of the Cominform organ
indicate clearly that that treaty
is merely a maneuver to stop
West German rearmament.
i'll
JU
It is just at this moment—in
the New Times of April 16—that
Moscow chooses to give its fol
lowers a full-length review of
its world conquest aims and, at
the same time, to re-instruct
them as to how7 to drug the non
Soviet world with “peace" propa
ganda.
The occasion for this review
was the 85th anniversary of the
birth of V. I. l^enin on April
22. This has now become l^enin
Day for the Reds of the world,
replacing January 19, the day
of Innin’s death.
Soviet 'Dor Tog'
Proclaiming that “Len inism
lives and triumphs,” the Neu)
Timex directs attention to his
leachings to the effect that this
period of history is the one in
which the world Soviet dicta
torship will be attained. It is the
period “when the overthrow of
capitalism and the establish
ment of the Socialist society has
been directly placed on the or
der of the day."
No words could underscore
more strongly than these how
misleading is the “peace” talk
heard currently in Washington
and nther Western capitals Fnr
lenin has act down in his "Stata
Indians Create False Impression
idea of family planning in In
dia,” but that “there were some
in India, however, who advocat
ed abstinence rather than artifi
cial means of birth control.”
Of course it can be argued
that certain forms of “family
planning” are not necessarily ob
jectionable, but all through the
interview Lady Rama Rau talked
about birth control, and obvi
ously artificial birth control, and
it is wrong to say there is no
religious opposition to that.
Lady Rama Rau said India was
carrying on an extensive pro
gram of education on birth con
trol that “modern birth control
methods were also introduced
and contraceptives distributed
freely in the area" that “In
dia's greatest need was to find a
safe, sure and inexpensive
birth-control method that could
be introduced on a large scale.”
She said there was no manufac
ture of contraceptives in India,
and that the average man in the
village was unable to buy expen
sive and imported foreign prod
ucts. She said experiments were
now being conducted looking to
the manufacture of contracep
tives in India “from indigenous
materials.”
To drop down in the middle of
such an interview the assertion
that “there was no religious re­
Diabolical Double-Talk
and Revolution” that this “over
throw of capitalism" includes
specifically the undermining and
then violent overthrow of the
Government of the United States.
It is the Government of the
United States which he mentions
by name as one that must be
destroyed. There is to be no mis
understanding about the matter.
Leninism will therefore fully
“live and triumph” only when
the United States has been made
into a Soviet satellite.
Under the Lenin Banner
The New Times emphasizes
that idea also. It declares: “The
ideological servitors of bourgeois
reaction sought to refute lenin
ism and prevent the spread of
its creative ideas by asserting
that it was a purely Russian
phenomenon," This is untrue,
the Red organ contends lenin
ism must dominate the whole
world. In proof of this, it points
to the fact that today “twelve
countries, representing 900.000,
000 people, or more than one
third of the population of the
globe, are now ranged under the
banner of Leninism.”
These countries, the Soviet sat
ellite states, have “escaped from
capitalist slavery"—of course, in
to a regime of slave labor camps,
the Red terror, and the labor
passport system. But what they
have done, the New Times tells
the comrades, must be done in
all “capitalist countries.”
Uncl* Sam th* Villain
Having let its followers know
once again that their aim is
world conquest for Leninism, the
New Times naturally presents
the villain of current history as
the United States. Indeed, it de
clares that the United States
seeks “world domination.” This
is the old use of the “Big Lie”
technique accusing Soviet op
ponents of what the Soviet dic
tatorship itself commits or is
committed to.
“The American aspirants to
world hegemony.” the New
Timet says with a straight faee,
MT
Feasl of Joseph, W orker
I
I
A
I
Ul
sistance to the idea of family
planning in India.” was grossly
unfair.
Only this year, the Bishops of
India, after speaking out against
artificial birth control at other
times, announced the publication
of a brochure which said that
contraception “violates moral
law, destroys the moral fibre of
the people and induces them to
become pleasure-seekers.”
The Bishops criticized the at
titude of some of India’s legisla
tors who “seem to think that the
bodies of the citizens are the
property of the state
In 1935) Mahatma Gandhi said
in an interview' that “if contra
ceptives are resorted to (in In
dia) as in the West, frightful re
sults w’ould follow. Men and
women will be living for sex
alone. They will become soft
brained, unhinged, in fact, men
tal and moral wrecks, if not also
physical.”
When the interviewer pressed
to know' how “a poor country
like India” could “afford to have
its present vast population,
which seems to increase at a
tremendously rapid pace?” Gand
hi replied:
“Nature will solve the prob
lem for us, if we allow nature
to have free play. Contraceptives
are unnatural interference with
her laws.”
“have taken the place of the Ger
man claimants who were defeat
ed in the last war.” Soviet poli
cy, therefore, regards the United
States—or pictures the United
States to Soviet adherents—as
a new version of Hitlerism. The
presentation in itself is a pre
diction that the Republic must
be destroyed.
Cynical Contempt
It is then that the New Times
proceeds to instruct the com
rades in that double-talk or “Ae
sopian language” which I-enin
told his followers to adopt. Sovi
et foreign policy, it declares, is
based on these principles:
“Equality of the parties (in
‘peaceful coexistence’) non-inter
ference in one another’s internal
affairs fidelity to obligations
assumed abandonment of the
method of threats, intimidation
and blackmail.”
A mere glance at these words
would seem to give a full under
standing of the cynical contempt
they express for the intelligence
of the non-Soviet nations.
Wh*n Will W* Understand?
The very opposite path has
been followed systematically by
Moscow. The little Baltic coun
tries Latvia, Lithuania, and
Esthonia—have learned in blood
and terror that Moscow has no
respect for “equality of the par
ties” even in a non aggression
pact. The flagrant violation of
the pledge “non-interference in
one another's internal affairs” is
attested to by the existence of
Soviet fifth columns in every
non-Soviet nation, triumphantly
advancing the Communist line
and working for the objectives
of leninism. And so we could
go through the list and note the
Big Lie involved in each.
It is no wonder that Pius XI
eighteen years ago declared this
double-talk to be “diabolical
propaganda." The great question
for us today is: When will the
United States come to under
stand that?
Inquiry Corner
Q. Will Hell ever come to an
end? Is there any possibility
that people there could be par
doned?
A. There are a great many
people w'ho would like to think
so. Many of those who used to
laugh at the idea of Purgatory
are now professing belief in it
and denying the existence of
Hell for an impermanent Hell
would be practically the same
as Purgatory. For Catholics
there can be no doubt for Pope
Vigilius (543 A. D.) condemned
the teaching that the devils and
the wicked might sometime be
freed. In many places we have
the words of Christ Himself
teaching (he eternal nature of
Hell as in His description of
Judgment Day and the eternal
reward for the good: “Then he
will say to those on his lefthand,
‘Depart from me, accursed ones,
into the everlasting fire w'hich
was prepared for the devil and
his angels’.” (Matthew 25:41)
Q. What is the meaning of the
various colors used in vestments
at Mass?
A. From ancient times colors
have been used as symbols in
religion and in literary and
patriotic emblems (e. g. coats
of arms, flags etc ). In the
CJiurch white signifies purity
ai»ri perfection and is used for
feasts of Our Lord and of Our
Lady as well as of saints who
are not martyrs. Red is used
on feasts of the Holy Spirit and
for martyrs and it signifies the
shedding of blood and the fire
of divine love. Green is a sym
bol of life and hope and is used
during the seasons of Pentecost
and Epiphany. Violet worn in
Lent and Advent signifies pen
ance and black, in Masses for
the dead and for Good Friday,
symbolizes death and mourning.
Rose, replacing violet on the
third Sunday of Advent and the
fourth Sunday of Lent, signifies
joy.
Q. It seems to me that the
Church is too strict tn the matter
of romance. How can innocent
kissing be sinful just because the
people aren’t married or enga
ged? That’s what I'm told is
what we're supposed to believe!
A. The Catholic Church must
teach the moral law' as God
would have it taught and not
according to changing customs.
MONSIGNOR HIGGINS
AFL-CIO Merger
An ugly diatribe against the
pending AFL-CIO merger is
making the rounds in Washing
ton and elsewhere in the form
of a “Washing
ton News Let
ter” signed by
a certain John
Morrison. No
body seems to
know7 who Mr.
Morrison is or
where he lives
whom, if any
body he repre
sents, or who,
if anybody, is
helping to de
s. He may be
just another’ nuisance or an
other “crackpot” or the anony
mous spokesman for one of the
extremist organizations current
ly riding the anti-communist
bandwagon—to the embarrass
ment and discomfort of genuine
anticommunists and, presum
ably, to the satisfaction and de
light of the communists them
selves.
Whoever he is or whatever
organizations, if any, he happens
to represent—his hysterical con
demnation of the pending AFIr
CIO merger has already been
repudiated, in effect, by the Pres
ident of the United States, the
Secretary of I,abor, and by the
editors of almost all the better
newspapers and magazines. Mr.
Morrison says that the pending
merger is a “master plan to take
over the government political
ly.” In his opinion, this is the
“greatest internal dangev facing
America today .” The danger,
he adds, in a crescendo of cap
ital letters, is “Real and Immin
ent” and must be exposed “NOW,
BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.”
Persons of Integrify
Iang before Mr. Morrison’s
Washington letter was put into
the mails surreptitiously without
a return address Secretary Mitch
ell, whose ability and personal
integrity are openly acknowledg
ed even by his most severe crit
ics, publicly expressed the con
trary opinion that the AFL
CIO merger would be good for
the labor movement and good
for the country. (A man of less
integrity than Mr. Mitchell could
have found a number of fairly
plausible excuses for keeping
this opinion to himself.-
Shortly after Mr. Morrison’s
letter was circulated, President
Eisenhower officiated at the lay
ing of the cornerstone of the
new’ building—a stone’s throw
from the White House—which
will be the national headquarters
of the unified labor movement.
The President took advantage of
this festive occasion to express
his satisfaction at t|»e progress
that labor has made since his
predecessor, Woodrow Wilson,
dedicated the original AFL head
quarters in 1916, and more speci
ficially to express the hope and
the expectation that labor unity
Father Healey- ........
Human nature does not change
and while there are reasonable
changes in customs there can he
no change in moral law. Actually
there is no absolute rule about
the morality of kissing as such,
but the basic duty of avoiding
the occasion of sin applies.
People may call kissing innocent
when it is not, when it is indul
ged in simply for the pleasure
with no idea of marriage and no
reasonable notion of the danger
in familiarity. The moral author
ities in the Church w'arn that
for the unmarried any familiar
ity (kissing, embracing) which
is too violent, too prolonged or
repeated too often is generally,
sinful. A great deal depends
upon temperment and the inten
tions of the couple, however,
which should center upon ex
pression of affection rather than
sensual satisfaction. “Ardent, pro
longed and repeated kissing is
often a mortal sin.” In particu
lar instances the advice of the
confessor should be sought.
Q. Do Catholics have to hart
as many children as possible?
A. No. It is the tempting thing
for a propagandist, such as the
birth-control advocate, to pre
sent the opposite side as unrea
sonable and ridiculous. He tries
to picture the large family strug
gling with poverty and disease,
the children neglected and un
der-privileged. He pictures the
Catholic Church as a heartless
moralistic tyrant commanding
Catholics to have enormous fam
ilies. Common sense and obser
vation contradicts this picture
as it does most of the other prop
aganda of the birth-controller.
The Catholic Church forbids any
violation of the natural law’, es
pecially insisting upon the pur
ity and sanctity of marriage. In
condemning birth-prevention by
artificial or unnatural means the
church is protecting parents and
children from physical and mor
al evils which follow from any
thing forbidden by God The
Church does not forbid control
of the family where a grave rea
son (grave danger to health) calls
for it. but it does forbid any un
natural IIEANS even w’hen there
is a serious reason.
Send questions to Father Ed
ward F. Healey, Inquiry Corner,
The Catholic Times- Rox 636,
Columbus (16) Ohio.
will make possible even greater
progress in the years ahead.
And finally—both before and
after the appearance of Mr. Mor
rison’s letter—the better news
papers, news services and per
iodicals in the United States
have repudiated the notion that
labor unity is a sinister plot nr
a threat to American institutions.
Political Implications
Most of those who still have
their fingers crossed about labor
unity are concerned principally
about its political implications.
They are afraid that the merger
will put too much political pow
er into the hands of organized
labor and they claim to he
afraid that this power will he
used either selfishly or unwisely
to promote the limited interests
of labor at the expense of the
community as a w'hole. A few
have even predicted that th?
merger will eventually lead to
the establishment of a Labor
Party in the United States.
The latter point was handled
very well in a recent series of
syndicated articles on labor un
ity by Don Whitehead, staff writ
er for the Associated Press. On
the basis of private and public
statements by AFL President
George Meany, CIO President
Walter Reuther, and other prom
inent labor officials, Mr. White
head concludes that “Generally,
the reelin'* of union leaders is
that labor best can achieve its
aims through existing political
parties rather than bv setting un
a third force in politics aimed
at complete control of Govern
ment.”
The present writer, on the bas
is of literally scores of inter
view’s with labor officials over
a period of almost 15 vears,
would completely agree with this
conclusion Furthermore. he
would e inclined to think that
the pending AFL-CIO merger
will ta’ e American lahor farther
away f.om. rather than closer In,
the idea of a national lahor
party.
On the other hand, al least
for the immediate future
the pending merger will probab
ly lead to more, rather than less,
political action on the part of la
bor—in and through existing po
litical parties This could be bad
for labor and bad for the coun
try ax a whole if it were carried
too far and too fast or if it were
to become the nrincinal rather
than the secondary, interest of
the unified labor movement.
In our opinion this is not like
ly to happen. For the majority nf
labor officials in this country are
still committed to the theorv that
labor’s principal function is eco
nomic rather than political. Or,
to nut it another way. that col
lective bargaining is more im
portant and more effective than
political action important ax
the latter mav hr as a secondary
mean* nf establishing social jua
Hce.

xml | txt