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INTER-FAITH CONFERENCE
An Appeal To The Conscience Of The American People
CHICAGO, (NC) — The National Conference
on Religion and Race has urged Americans to work,
pray and act to eliminate all racial barriers in
this country.
Some 650 conference delegates adopted a state
ment calling for open occupancy in housing, equal
protection under the law, and equal opportunity
in employment, education and at the polls.
Text Of The Statement Follows:
We have met as members of the great Jewish
and Christian faiths held by the majority of the
American people, to counsel together concerning
the tragic fact of racial prejudice, discrimina
tion and segregation in our society. Coming as
we do out of various religious backgrounds, each
of us has more to say than can be said here. But
this statement is what we as religious people are
moved to say together.
RACISM is our most serious domestic evil.
We must eradicate it w ith all diligence and speed.
For this purpose we appeal to the consciences
of the American people.
This evil has deep roots; it will not be easily
eradicated. While the Declaration of Independence
did declare "that all men are created equal**
and "are endowed by their Creator with certain
inalienable rights," slavery was permitted for
almost a century. Even after the Emancipation
Proclamation, compulsory racial segregation and
its degrading badge of racial inequality received
judicial sanction until our own time.
We rejoice in such recent evidence of greater
wisdom and courage in our national life as the
Supreme Court decisions against segregation and
the heroic, nonviolent protests of thousands of
Americans. However, we mourn the fact that pat
terns of segregation remain entrenched every
where—north and south, east and west. The spirit
and the letter of our laws are mocked and violated.
OUR primary concern is for the laws of God.
We Americans of all religious faiths have been
slow to recognize that racial discrimination and
segregation are an insult to God, the Giver of
human dignity and human rights. Even worse, we
all have participated in perpetuating racial dis
crimination and segregation in civil, political,
industrial, social, and private life.
And worse still, in our houses of worship, our
religious schools, hospitals, welfare institutions
and fraternal organizations we have often failed
our own religious commitments. With few excep
tions we have evaded the mandates and rejected
the promises of the faiths we represent.
We repent our failures and ask the forgiveness
of God. We ask also the forgiveness of our bro
thers, whose rights we have ignored and whose
dignity we have offended. We call for a renewed
religious conscience on this basically moral evil.
OUR appeal to the American people is this;
Seek a reign of justice in which voting rights
and equal protection of the law will everywhere
be enjoyed; public facilities and private ones,
serving a public purpose will be accessible to all;
equal education and cultural opportunities, hiring
and promotion, medical and hospital care, open
occupancy in housing will be available to all.
SEEK a reign of love in which the wounds of
past injustices will not be used as excuses for
new ones; racial barriers will be eliminated; the
stranger will be sought and welcomed; any man
will be received as brother—his rights, your
rights; his pain, your pain; his prison, your prison.
SEEK a reign of courage in which people of God
will make their faith their binding commitment;
in which men willingly suffer for justice and love;
in which churches and synagogues lead, not follow.
SEEK a reign of prayer in which God is praised
and worshiped as the Lord of the universe, be
fore Whom all racial idols fall, Who makes us one
family and to Whom we are all responsible.
In making this appeal we affirm our common
religious commitment to the essential dignity
and equality of all men under God. We dedicate
ourselves to work together to make this com
mitment a vital factor in our total life.
We call upon all the American people to work,
to pray and to act courageously in the cause of
human equality and dignity while there is still
time, to eliminate racism permanently and de
cisively, to seize the historic opportunity the
Lord has given us for healing an ancient rupture
in the human family, to do this for the glory of God.
UNITY OCTAVE
JANUARY 18-25
SERVING GEORGIA’S 71 NORTHERN COUNTIES
Archdiocese of Atlanta
LLETIBf
VOL. 1, NO. 4
ATLANTA, GEORGIA
THURSDAY, JANUARY 24, 1963
$5.00 PER YEAR
POPE PRESENT
Vincent Pallotti
Raised To Saint
VATICAN CITY (NC) —Pope
John XXIII declared the humble
Roman priest Vincent Pallotti
a saint in heaven and hailed
him as the archetype of “very
pious priests for whom no offi
cial veneration has been
decreed.**
The canonization rites for the
new St. Vincent began (Jan. 20)
with the procession of all
Rome’s diocesan and religious
clergy into St. Peter’s basilica.
The Pope was carried into St.
Peter's on his portable throne,
preceded by 28 cardinals and
brilliantly robed members of
his official court.
EIGHT thousand foreign pil
grims from a dozen nations
Joined thousands of Romans in
jamming the limited space
available because the entire
nave of St. Peter's is blocked
off by the grandstands of the
participants in the Second Vati
can Council.
Editor To Speak
On ABC Network
NEW YORK - Gerard E.
Sherry, Managing Editor of The
Georgia Bulletin, official
newspaper of the Archdiocese
of Atlanta, will give the com
mentary on the "Christian in
Action" program over the ABC
Radio Network on Sunday, Jan
uary 27. The commentary was
produced by the National Coun
cil of Catholic Men in
cooperation with ABC network.
MATHEW H. Ahmann, execu
tive director of the National
Catholic Conference for Inter
racial Justice, served as exe
cutive secretary of the Na
tional Conference on Religion
and Race held last week in
Chicago.
Among the notables present
were the saint's great grand ne
phews Vincenzo—a namesake—
and Marcello, who carried the
official banners depicting the
miracles attributed to his in
tercession. Two persons who
were cured through his inter
cession—Angelo Balzarani of
Roccasecca, Italy, and Mar
garet Sandler of Nadburg, Ger
many-ware also there, Dele
gations from the Italian govern
ment and the City of Rome also
had places of honor.
The Pope, vested in a white
and gold cope and miter, took
his place on a throne set up
before the gleaming Altar of
the Chair in the apse of the
•basilica, where he received the
homage of the cardinals. Then
the ritual pleading for the can
onization of the Roman priest
who died in 1850 at the age of
55 was carried out by a vel
vet-robed consistorial advo
cate.
MSGR. AMLETO Tondlnl,
Papal Secretary of Briefs to
Princes, replied in the Pope's
name that the Pope would in
deed add Blessed Vincent’s
name to the Church’s roll of
the saints. All knelt in prayer
as the Sistlne Chapel choir sang
the Venl Creator to Invoke the
guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Then Pope John proclaimed
Vincent Pallotti a saint.
The Pope left the basilica
about an hour and 15 mbrutes
after he had entered.
LEADERS CONFER
*
ST. LUKE’S DAHLONEGA - NEW CATHOLIC GEORGIA CHURCH
. . .Benefit* From Appeal
ON PARISH LEVEL
Racial Justice Programs
Urged For Congregations
CHICAGO (NC) Peace
Corps Director R. Sargent Shri-
ver suggested here that minis
ters, rabbis and priests plan an
Interracial Justice program for
their congregations.
He told the National Confe
rence on Religion and Race such
a program "would encourage
Census Conference
Scheduled Sunday
Preparatory work in relation
to the Archdiocesan census on
Sunday, March 3, is going ahead
full speed.
A meeting of parish chairmen
and team captains will take
place Sunday, at the auditorium
of the Cathedral of Christ the
King, Atlanta. The purpose of
the meeting is to impress upon
key personnel the importance of
the census and to build up en
thusiasm for the project. Fur
ther meetings are scheduled as
follows:
MONDAY, January 28 - 8:00
P.M. - meeting in Rome for the
same purpose as above. Partic
ipating parishes - Rome, Fort
Oglethorpe, Dalton, Cedartown.
TUESDAY, January 29 - 8:00
P. M. - Meeting in Athens for
the same purpose as above.
Participating parishes - At
hens, Dahlonega, Gainesville,
Toccoa, Washington.
WEDNESDAY, January 30-
8:00 P.M. - Meeting in Griffin
for the same purpose as above*
Participating parishes - Grif
fin, LaGrange, Milledgeville.
each member of the congrega
tion to pledge a tithe of his
time to removing racial bar
riers at work, at play and at
worship."
SHRIVER addressed some
800 persons attending the con
ference banquet. The Peace
Corps Director is vice chair
man of the National Catholic
Interracial Council of Chicago.
Another key speaker at the
conference also urged that re
ligious leaders put their deli
berations on Interracial justice
into action. Rev. Martin Lu
ther King, president of the Sou
thern Christian Leadership
Conference in Atlanta, Ga., as
serted: "In the midst of a
nation rife with racial animosi
ty, the church too often has
been content to mouth pious ir-
relevancies and sanctimonious
trivialities."
Grey Nuns Open
U.S. Novitiate
FALL RIVER, Mass., (NC)—
The Sisters of Charity of Que
bec, popularly known as the
Grey Nuns, will open a postu-
lancy and novitiate here at the
invitation of Bishop James L.
Connolly of Fall River.
REV. KING addressed the
closing luncheon (Jan. 17) of
the conference. Both he and
Shriver suggested positive
steps which church and syna
gogue can take to eliminate
racial prejudice. Shriver said
that when the government looks
for the religious community’s
role against discrimination, it
"encounters, too often, a bland
philosophy of laissez-faire."
"As a layman, for example,"
he stated, "I wonder why I
can go to church 52 times a
year and not hear one sermon
on the practical problems of
race relations—I wonder, fur
thermore, why each minister,
rabbi and priest does not map
a specific program for his con
gregation—a program which
will produce concrete gains
over the next 12 months."
SHRIVER said such a pro
gram could:
"Include a pledge to double
the number of Negro families
in the congregation where Ne
groes now attend.
"Include the establishment
of interracial councils where
none exists.
"Introduce Negroes to every
Continued on Page 8
DAHLONEGA PROGRESS
Missions In
Appeal Set
Sunday is dedicated to the
Georgia Mission. A special col
lection will be taken in all the
churches of the Archdiocese for
this purpose.
In a score of places in Nor
thern Georgia, there is waiting
for us a Catholic opportunity
that is tremendous. These
places exist in the rapidly grow
ing towns near Metropolitan At
lanta - they also exist where
four or five counties are served
by one priest and a chapel.
AS ONE concrete result of
the Georgia Mission Sunday
Collection, the archdiocese
purchased a Protestant church
at Dahlonega. Previously, Mass
was offered in a 20 x 18 room
in a rented house nearby. Now
the whole picture is changing.
The Catholics of the surround
ing area are proudly identified
with their own "parish church",
Saint Luke’s.
The Rev. Leonard Spanjers,
pastor at Saint Luke's, has an
nounced that a new additional
lot has been purchased behind
the church, which will be used
for a rectory and classroom
space for religious instruction.
The lot lies directly behind
the Presbyterian (now Catho
lic) church. Father Spanjers
told The Georgia Bulletin:
"Our Glenmary Brothers’
Building crew will begin remo
delling around Easter time when
the Presbyterians will discon
tinue use of the church which
we have purchased. They are
building a new plant and will
move out when that is finished
or (by contract) on June 1.
In other words, our Catholic
services won’t begin in the new
ly purchased church before
Easter at earliest or June 1 at,
latest."
DAHLONEGA is a prime ex
ample of the progress of the
Catholic Church in the State
of Georgia. Over 100 years
ago, a few Catholics here used
to travel 70 miles to Atlanta
Columbus Day
WASHINGTON, (NC)--T*o
senators have introduced a bill
to make October 12, Columbus
Day, a legal holiday. The mea
sure (S. 108) was sponsored by
Sens. John J. Williams and J.
Caleb Boggs, both of Delaware,
and was referred to the Senate
Judiciary Committee.
for Mass in the home of Pa
trick Lynch. Catholic roots
in this attractive little commu
nity are very deep. Two years
ago, the Glenmary Fathers
came to Dahlonega and the sur
rounding four counties. They
rented a home, and built a tiny
chapel. In two years, the Ca
tholic population rose from 25
to 70. Now a great opportu
nity has opened up.
Dahlonega is only one of many
CIVIL LIBERTIES
WASHINGTON (NC) The
Catholic Council on Civil Li
berties has filed an amicus
curiae (friend of the court)
brief with the U. S. Supreme
Court on behalf of a Negro pi
lot who claims he was denied
an airlines job because of ra
cial discrimination.
The Catholic organization’s
brief supports the complaint of
Marlon D. Green, who alleges
discrimination on the part of
Continental Air Lines, Denver,
Colo., with which he had sought
employment.
THE COLORADO Anti-Dis
crimination Commision has
. . .Soon More Room
mission areas within the Ar
chdiocese which need assis
tance. The faith grows only
where it is established. It
can persevere and prosper only
where there is a church—
the central place for communi
ty worship before the taber
nacle. The generosity of the
Catholic people of the Arch-
dioces will speed the day when
there will be a parish in each
of the 53 present counties which
are served only by missions.
found that Green was denied em
ployment because of his race,
although "better qualified for
the position of copilot than any
applicant interviewed."
The Supreme Court is expect
ed to hear oral arguments in
the case next month.
The amicus curiae brief, the
first filed by the Catholic Coun
cil, was written by Quentin
Oscar Ogren of the Loyola Uni
versity, Los Angeles, law
school. The council, an affi
liate of the National Catholic
Social Action Conference, has
headquarters in Lawndale,
Calif.
Group Files Brief
On Discrimination
