Jlortfj
Carolina
Catfjoltc
Edition of Oar Sunday Visitor
Subscription (5.00 Copy lOf
Volume LVH November 17, 1968 No. 29
RALEIGH, N.C. P.O. Box 9503
Cardinal Asks Bishop
To Meet Dissidents
WASHINGTON — (NC) — Patrick Cardinal O’Boyle of Wash
ington has asked Bishop Joseph L. Bemardin, general secretary
of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, to meet with a
group of Washington archdiocesan priests whom the cardinal dis
ciplined for disagreeing with his interpretation of Pope Paul’s birth
control encyclical, Humanae Vitae.
The dissident priests responded with what they termed “guarded
^ mmmoptimism.”
Editor's
Desk
For awhile there “The Ode to
Billy Joe” and his misadventure
at the Tallahachee Bridge poured
out of the cor radio in the voice
of the girl-friend’s lament, each
time we turned the key in the
ignition switch to get going on
our way.
Each time we heard it, the
song recalled pastoral visits
down to Good Shepherd, deep in
Duplin and the area of Outlaws
Bridge and what seemed to be
a peacock bird farm and the
water-oaks heavily festooned with
Spanish moss.
Now, the same lament has
changed to the hard days for the
Harper Valley PTA.
The priest-editor of the South
Carolina Catholic newspaper says
that the folks there are mighty
glum. Someone’s come along and
made fools out of them. -
Let Father William J. Joyce
tell it. his way . . .
THE SOMEONE who’s come
along is a songwriter named
Tom T. Hall. There really is no
Harper Valley on the map, but
there sure is one in the juke box.
At the start Mr. Hall was told
that the lyrics could not go over.
After all, it was unrealistic to
think that a PTA would write a
formal letter to one mother and
tell her “you’re wearing your
dresses way too high.” It was
implausible to expect that mother
to wear a mini-skirt and barge
into an afternoon PTA meeting,
and let everyone’s hidden vices
be known. The girl in the song
describes it as “the day my
mama socked it to the Harper
Valley PTA.”
Those who rejected the ballad
at first must now have their
regrets. True, what is described
is not a normal PTA meeting.
But there is great reality in the
lyrics. We have to forget about
the fictional details of Harper
Valley and a PTA. The song is
not meant to be the musical ren
dition of a meeting’s minutes.
IT IS BRASH enough to warn
all listeners: “Look out — it’s
easy to be a hypocrite in our
society — it’s easy to be smug
about the public sinners — but
you better watch out yourself,
’cause someone can get to you,
too.”
Music which tells of the world
the way it is holds a fascination
for me. That is why I enjoy
country music. It is one of sev
eral styles of song which tell us
about human sufferings, unex
See Editor’s Desk, page 5A
The cardinal said he had
asked Bishop Bernardin to ap
proach the priests on his behalf
“because of my continued con
cern for these fellow priests and
for unity within the archdio
cese.”
It is my hope that this new
course of action will prove to be
fruitful for all concerned,” Car
dinal O’Boyle said. “I am leaving
it to (Bishop Bemardin’s) good
judgment to determine the man
ner in which he will proceed.”
Father John Corrigan, a
spokesman for the dissident
Washington priests, immediately
issued a statement on their be
half accepting Cardinal O’Boyle’s
invitation with “guarded opti
mism.”
The statement said the priests’
group was “distressed” at not
being consulted in planning the
meeting; reiterated its request
that the dispute with the cardi
nal be mediated by a bishops’
committee or group of priests
and bishops; and asserted that
“it would be impossible for any
one man, however talented, to
bring this matter to a satisfac
tory conclusion.”
“This is not to say that any
efforts on Bishop Bemardin’s
See Cardinal, page 3A
Public Dissent
On Teachings
Is Criticized
NEWARK — (NC) — Arch
bishop Thomas A. Boland of
Newark denied here that public
dissent against the teachings of
the Pope is lawful even though
the Pope may not be speaking
infallibly.
Archbishop Boland strongly
criticized such dissent in an ad
dress to members of the Arch
diocesan Council of Catholic Men
at its annual Communion supper.
He condemned public dissent
after introductory remarks in
which he took note of the current
acute vocation shortage, asked
the men to support a vocation
campaign now in progress and
expressed his pleasure at the fact
that this year’s Communion sup
per was dedicated to the magis
terium — the Church’s teaching
authority.
in DiscussiNU dissent, the
archbishop was referring to dis
sident theological opinion which
has rejected Pope Paul Vi’s
teaching on birth control. He did
not, however, mention the papal
encyclical on birth control, Hu
manae Vitae, directly in his talk.
He said he could understand
the dissent of some people — he
appeared to mean lay people who
have objected to the encyclical —
“because of their peculiar posi
tion, because of the fact that they
have been disappointed.’’
But, he said, “we cannot un
derstand how men who should
know better would make a public
issue of this and turn aside from
the Sovereign Pontiff himself,
who has been declared not only
by Vatican I but by Vatican II as
well, to be the supreme teacher
of the Church — the universal
Church.”
HE SAID that the dissidents
claim that they can defend their
dissent because dissent has been
permitted by the Church through
the ages “under certain circum
stances.”
When the dissenters are in
formed of the provisions of canon
law, he said, they contend that
“the council did away with canon
law.”
“But that isn’t true.” Arch
bishop Boland said. “There is
going to be some revision in
canon law but it hasn’t been re
vised yet. It hasn’t been publish
See Public Dissent, page 8A
Senate Guidelines
Raleigh — The Text of the “Guidelines for the Priests’ Senate”
begins publication in this issue of the N.C. Catholic. The guidelines
were approved by the Most Reverend Bishop, authorized for publica
tion and are effective immediately.
“As temporary chairman of the Priests Senate,” said the Rev.
Cranor F. Graves, pastor of St. Joseph’s Church here, “I am pleased
with the approval of these guidelines. Following them, the Priests’
Senate can be a real force for unity in the Diocese.”
Father Graves added that when the Senate meets on December
3rd, a permanent chairman will be elected.
The present system of Senate membership will continue until
1970 when the entire membership will be elected by the clergy
assigned in the diocese.
PRESIDENT-ELECT NIXON
Pope Sends Greetings
To President-Elect
Vatican City — (NC) — Pope Paul VI has telegraphed his
“felicitations” to President-elect Richard M. Nixon along with an
assurance of prayers for “guidance in the accomplishment of your
future arduous duties.”
Pope Paul’s telegram to the President-elect read: “Expressing
felicitations upon your election to the presidency, we assure you of
our prayers that God may grant you abundant graces of strength and
guidance in the accomplishment of your future arduous duties and
may bestow upon you, your family and the beloved American people,
prosperity and happiness in justice and true peace.”
Now Generation' Is Told
Love Alone Not Enough
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — (NC)
— A bishop confronted a seg
ment of the “now generation”
here with advice that more than
love is needed to face the prob
lems of the times.
Coadjutor Bishop Joseph A.
Durick of Nashville, told an au
dience of college students at the
opening of the John XXIII par
ish at the University of Tennessee
that “love alone is not enough —
without self-sacrifice, without
self-censorship, against the unreal
and the fleeting.”
The day before, the bishop had
participated in a concelebrated
Mass in the lodge of the Buffalo
Mountain Methodist Camp at the
Tennessee Newman Congress
which was attended by students
from seven state colleges.
“SO WHERE is your genera
tion’s search for purpose, for
meaning?” the bishop asked at
the parish service. “In the per
sonal, in personal relationships,
personal witness, personal pro
test. It has to be ‘for real,’ it has
to be genuine. Or at least as seen
by your ‘now generation’ as real
and genuine. They may fall for
the erroneous, the false — but
never for the phony.”
Bishop Durick asserted “to the
young and old alike the newest
thing in the whole world is love.
This very center is named after
good Pope John who (in the
words of Pope Paul VI) ‘taught
us and the world that there is
nothing mankind needs more
See Now Generation, page 5A
Legion of Mary
To Meet Here
Raleigh — The N.C. Comitium
of the Legion of Mary will meet
this Sunday afternoon, Nov. 17th
at 3 p.m. in the meeting room of
the new St. Joseph Church here
at Poole Road and Peartree Lane.
The Praesidium of the Humil
ity of Mary with Mrs. James Cos
grove as chairman will be host to
the visitors and the Rev. Cranor
F. Graves, pastor will deliver
the homily.
Biafra-Niqeria War Can Anybody Win?
UMUAHIA, Biafra — (NC) —
All wars are tragic, and the
Biafra-Nigerian war is particu
larly so, not only because of the
millions who have starved or
who may starve, but also because
the longer it continues, the less
likely it becomes that either side
can win.
At best, either side can expect
to gain only an end to the overt
hostilities which are costing them
so much money and so many
men, and some minimal guar
antees of good faith, if not good
will, on the part of their leaders.
And even that might be expect
ing too much, for the Biafrans—
or the Ibos, whose tribe con
stitutes a majority in Biafra—
are determined never again -to
submit to the kind of federal Ni
gerian government from which
they seceded in 1967, when the
war began.
For years the Ibos because of
a peculiar combination of circum
stances—ardent missionary work,
which brought education, the
lack of other resources which
forced them to turn to them
selves as their major resource—
had been famous in West Africa.
Like the Jews in Europe and
the Chinese in Asia, they were
the envied entrepreneurs who
scattered throughout tropical
Africa to make their fortunes.
They were proud of their self
sufficiency, they were determined
to prove that their pride was
well-earned.
And like the Jews of Europe,
the scorn which accompanied
their success culminated in a
pogrom. In Northern and West
ern Nigeria, hundreds of thou
sands of Ibos were slain by other
tribesmen in 1966.
The exodus—or the return to
the homeland—began shortly
thereafter. v
But far from being the solution
to their difficulties, the return
brought only new troubles.
“We could do no right,” said
one Ibo chief. “We were too am
bitious and too prominent before
the pogroms. But when we re
turned to the East, our home
land, we were accused of running
out on the federation—of destroy
ing it for selfish motives.”
Under these circumstances, he
said, secession and independence
were inevitable. “We could no
longer take part in the federal
government because doing so put
us in danger of our lives. And
we had to defend ourselves from
those who wanted to force us to
take part in the federation.”
The war began in May, 1967.
At that time the borders of
Biafra were those of the old Ni
gerian Eastern Region. They en
closed' some 12 million persons
(the latest pre-war census figure)
plus perhaps two million more
refugees from other parts of Ni
geria.