I Cardinal To Take Part
In Council Preparation
ROME —(NC)— Stefan Cardin
al Wyszynski, primate of Poland,
was expected to arrive here Feb
ruary 16 to take part in the
.fourth plenary session of the cen
tral preparatory commission for
the second Vatican Council.
Polish sources here said he was
leaving Warsaw by train on Feb
ruary 14 to take part in the com
mission’s meetings scheduled for
February 19 to 27.
CARDINAL WYSZYNSKI’S last
visit to the west was in the fall of
1958, when he came to Rome to
participate in the conclave that re
sulted in the election of His Holi
ness Pope John XXIII. Thus this
will be his first appearance here
at a meeting connected with the
ecumenical council.
The cardinal archbishop of
^ Gniezno and Warsaw is reported
' to plan to remain in Rome tor six
weeks, returning to Poland at the
end of March.
During his stay, it was under
stood, he intends to schedule a
meeting with the Archbishop of
Philadelphia for the Ukrainians,
Archbishop Ambrose Senyshyn, O.
S.B.H. Purpose is to map out a pro
gram of celebrations in the United
States marking the 1,000th anni
versary of the conversion of Po
land to the Catholic faith.
In preparation for this event in
1966, Cardinal Wyszynski insti
tuted in 1957 — following an audi
ence during which Pope Pius XII
Blessed an image of Poland’s na
tional patron, Our Lady of Czesto
chowa — a nine-year program of
spiritual preparation.
The copy of the Marian image
— the original is in the national
shrine at Czestochowa — is being
taken to all parishes in Poland
and is scheduled tc end its pilgrim
age in Rome in 1966 for celebra
tion of the closing pf the millen
nium.
Pontiff Urges Prayers
For Ecumenical Council
VATICAN CITY — (NC) — His
Holiness Pope John XXIII has
asked all priests of the world to
join him in dedicating their daily
recitation of the breviary for the
success of the coming ecumenical
council.
He made the request in an
apostolic letter “To All Clergy”
published here February 9 but
dated January 6.
Pope John said: “The chief
form of cooperation for the suc
cess of the council that we expect
is prayer, and priestly prayer
above all, which immediately gives
tone and fervor to the spiritual
elevation of all Christian people.”
He noted how the liturgical
commemoration of the visit of the
Magi to Christ came early in the
new year. He said it would be fit
f ting at the outset of the year that
the clergy of the world, in a simi
lar spirit of adoration and offer
ing, should make an intense prep
aration for the council.
He included in his invitation
“all those who belong to the
priestly order of all countries, of
every language . . . under the
vaults of every church or chapel
or gather together in choir . . .
from the young subdeacon who
' has just begun to taste the fervor
and tenderness of the recitation of
the Divine Office ... to the ven
erable old man who finds gentle
repose in his prayer.”
The Pope went on to make ob
servations on the breviary itself.
He called it an “admirable re
minder” of the four marks of the
Church — one, holy, catholic and
apostolic — and “the great divine
poem offered by Jesus Christ as
*he song of redeemed mankind.”
The Pontiff gave evidence of
his desire for Christian unity
when he expressed his “intense
longing that the different Chris
tian confessions, which through
the centuries of history have lived
and still live separated (from the
Church), should be reunited with
her and enjoy the same benefits”
as are found in the breviary.
Drop Ideology,
Editor Urges
BURLINGTON, Vt. — (NC) —
Catholic newspapers should be
neither conservative nor liberal in
their task of reporting the news, a
Catholic editor said here.
Frank Morriss, associate editor
of the Catholic Tribune, newspaper
of the Burlington, Vt., diocese,
said that whatever stands Catholic
editors take in their editorials,
they are obliged to be objective in
their news columns.
Morriss said too many Catholic
journalists seek to promote their
own point of view by finding
“news” which supports it.
Cites Threats
To Church Press
FRESNO, Calif. — (NC) — A
Catholic editor warned here
against the twin threats of anti
clericalism and “anti-laism.”
Gerald E. Sherry, managing edi
tor of the Central California Reg
ister, Monterey-Fresno, Calif., di
ocesan newspaper, said the latter
is a “new phenomenon” involving
clerical mistrust of the laity.
In a talk to a Catholic Press
symposium, he urged both clergy
and laity to realize their proper
roles in the Church and to co
operate in promoting the Church’s
best interests.
President
Stands Pat
On U.S. Aid
(Related stories on pages 4-A
and 8-A.)
WASHINGTON — (NC) — Pres
ident Kennedy said here he will
maintain his opposition to Federal
aid for church-related schools on
constitutional grounds until the
Supreme Court rules otherwise.
His news conference comment
came only hours after Frances Car
dinal Spellman, Archbishop of New
York, said enactment of the admin
istration’s bill to aid only public
schools woud mean the “eventual
end” of parochial schools.
A newsman asked the President
about the chances of his Federal
aid proposals, noting the Cardinal’s
opposition and alleged apathy in
the House.
The President called education
aid an “urgent matter” and
pledged “to do everything I can”
to get Congressional action.
Mr. Kennedy said he is hopeful
the House Education and Labor
Committee will produce a bill in
corporating his proposals. The com
mittee’s bill last year was tabled
by an 8 to 7 vote of the House
Rules Committee. An effort to
maneuver the bill around the com
mittee was reiected by a House
vote.
Of aid to church-related schools,
he said:
“I "took the oath to defend the
Constitution. The position which I
have taken on this matter I have
taken after legal advice from the
Attorney General and from the
Counsel of the Department of
H-E-W (Health, Education and
Welfare).
“As I said, it is the maximum I
thought we could carry on under
the United States Constitution, and
as I take my oath to defend it, that
would be my position, Unless the
Supreme Court decision should
change the previous interpretation
which has been made of that con
stitutional provision.
“So I am going to continue to
take the position I now take, unless
based on constitutional grounds,
there is a new judgment by the
supreme Court.”
Card. Mindszenty
Praised in Senate
WASHINGTON — (NC) — The
U.S. Senate heard praise for Jozsef
Cardinal Mindszenty, Primate of
Hungary, in connection with his
70th birthday, which he will cele
brate March 29.
Sen. Benjamin A. Smith of Mas
sachusetts said Cardinal Midszen
ty “represents the spirit of free
dom in Hungary today.”
Since the Hungarian revolution
was crushed in November, 1956,
the Cardinal has lived in refuge in
the U.S. legation in Budapest.
Sen. Smith paid tribute to “the
courage of this man who has defied
all forms of totalitarianism, both
fascist and communist.” He placed
in the Congressional Record an
article on Cardinal Mindszenty
from the Boston Globe.
CARDINAL GREETS CONGO LEADER — New York’s arch
bishop, Francis Cardinal Spellman, receives Congo premier,
Cyrille Adoula, during the latter’s visit to New York where he
addressed the General Assembly of the United Nations. The
two met at the Cardinal’s residence and later the premier at
tended Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. He was guest of honor
at a breakfast arranged by the Africa Committee of the Cath
olic Association for International Peace. (NC Photos)
Nehru Chides Bishops
For Anti-Red Pastoral
ERNAKULAM, India —(NC)—
Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru
has criticized the Bishops of Ker
ala state for urging Catholics to
vote against communists in the na
tion’s coming parliamentary elec
tions.
He said a recent pastoral letter
on the subject was “dangerously
near to religion officially interfer
ing with the process of voting.”
The Prime Minister did not men
tion Kerala’s Catholic Hierarchy
by name but his words left no
doubt he was referring to them.
He spoke here at election rallies
for his Congress party.
“I am sorry the pastoral letter
was written,” Nehru said.
“I have not yet seen it, and can
not say much about it. While I
suppose a bishop or archbishop
has every right to express his opin
ion, a combination of them expres
sing it and asking the people to
vote seems to be dangerously near
to religion officially interfering
with the process of voting.”
The Prime Minister emphasized
his own anticommunist principles
and said the letter probably was
written with good intentions.
Communist leader Bhupest Gup
ta said in Hyderabad he had sent
Nehru a telegram of protest
against the Kerala Bishops’ pas
toral.
He called the pastoral “clear
disregard for the constitution and
defiance of its basic tenets and
the principles of secularism.”
The Kerala Times pointed out
that Nehru had in the past defend
ed the right of the Hierarchy to
prohibit Catholics from voting for
communists.
Lutheran Official
Disputes Cardinal
NEW YORK — (NC) — Francis
Cardinal Spellman’s view that
President Kennedy’s Federal aid
to education program would “mean
the end of our parochial schools”
was challenged here by the head
of the largest Protestant school
system in the country.
The Cardinal’s stand was dis
puted by Arthur L. Miller of St.
Louis, executive secretary of the
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod
Board of Parish Education, which
supervises 1,323 schools with 150,
440 pupils in 46 states.
Miller commented: “It is just
as sensless to predict the end of
denominational schools if Federal
aid should be offered to public
schools only as it would be to pre
dict the end of the public school
system if no Federal aid were en
acted intof law.”
statements by bishops
Press Role: To Alert Catholics
(N.C.W.C. News Service)
Catholic Press Month statements
by bishops and by Catholic news
papers have stressed the role of
the press in keeping Catholics
alert to vital current challenges
facing the Church.
The statements, issued in con
nection with the February observ
ance of Catholic Press Month, cite
such events and issues as the com
ing Ecumenical Council, the reli
gious unity movement, the com
munist menace and the problem
of secularism as matters on which
the faithful must read the Cath
olic press to get a true perspec
tive.
The theme of the 1962 Catholic
Press Month is “Alert Catholics
read their Catholic press.” Here
is a roundup of comment in con
nection with the observance:
Archbishop Henry J. O’Brien of
Hartford, Conn., cited the “com
plete and authoritative” coverage
which the Catholic press will give
of the Second Vatican Ecumenical
Council and said it is “important”
for Catholics to follow the devel
opment of the council, which will
open October 11.
Archbishop Robert E. Lucey of
San Antonio, Tex., said Catholic
laymen need the Catholic press
“to inform them and assist them”
to know their Faith and to “think
with the Church.”
Archbishop John F. Dearden of
Detroit said the Catholic Press
plays an “important role ... in
keeping our people aware of
events in the universal Church
and in directing their attention to
important secular and religious
developments within our country
and our archdiocese.”
Archbishop John J. Swint, Bish
op of Wheeling, W. Va., said the
Catholic press performs an “indis
pensable service” to the Church,
“especially in these bewildering
and trying times.”
Bishop Leo A. Pursley of Fort
Wayne-South Bend, Ind., noting
the possibility of disagreement
with the Catholic press, comment
ed: “It is likely that, if Our Lord
Himself edited a Catholic paper
today with the four Evangelists as
regular staff writers and the other
Apostles as contributing editors,
there would be some readers who
would not like everything in the
paper.”