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TREATY
Ursula Koernig
L
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BLESSINGS
FOR THE
NEW YEAR
VOL. 2 NO. 1
ATLANTA, GEORGIA
THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 1964
$5.00 PER YEAR
MILK AND COOKIES’
New York Court Approves
Voluntary School Prayer
BROOKLYN, N. Y. (RNS)~
A federal Judge ruled here that
kindergarten children in a
/ Queens, N. Y., public school
could recite voluntarily a short
prayer and sing a chorus of a
song addressed to God before
they have their milk and cook-
. ies.
r HOLIDAY PLEA
In a decision handed down in
Federal Court, Judge Walter
Bruchhausen said the customs
did not violate a U. S. Supreme
Court decision barring recitat
ion of the Lord’s Prayer or Bib
le reading as part of public sc
hool exercises.
THE CHILDREN, he said, sh
ould be allowed to recite the fol
low! ig prayers on a volun
tary basis:
1. "God is great,God Is good,
And we thank Him for our
food,
Amen."
N.C. Group Asks
Racial Goodwill
2, * Thank You for the world
So sweet,
Thank You for the food we
eat,
Thank You for the birds
that sing,
Thank You, God, for
everything,"
RALEIGH, N.C. (RNS) — A
Christmas plea for racial peace
and goodwill wa* issued here
by the North Carolina Council
on Religion and Race.
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A Christmas letter "from
North Carolinians to North
Carolinians" said that while
' ["peace on earth, goodwill
men 8 was sung by angels
2,000 years ago. . .today
■ here is actually little peace
ind goodwill amang Negroes
'ind whites in manycommunities
jf our state and ntcion."
IT CALLED attention to rac—
'll disturbances a t several
orth Carolina locations.
“We know the leason," said
\9 letter signed by Dr. W.R.
r igg of Raleigh, chairman* of
ie Council's steering com-
. littee.
“Negroes are \ 0 longer able
f <! accept the iniignities im-
jsed upon therr t Now they
•e asking whitej for century-
ig delayed Juitice. They
ve been broight into the
irts and chared with 'dis
hing the peace,'
, ; \ "Indeed, they lave disturb-
the peace an d com-
icency of whitep e0 pi et »»
HE LETTER v a s described
a message rom "fellow
•tli Carolinian!" w h 0 “earn-
t desire to bp n g peace with
ce into all of our com
ities."
'among
learly
"l called on residents of the
j» to be "ret ewe d by the
it of Christ bat we be not
>pe Thinks
I-
ATICAN C1T> (NC)~Pope
l VI has told Fresident Lyn-
B. Johnson of his “great
sfaction and consolation"
he news of tie posthumous
rding of the P'esidental Me-
• if Freedom to Pope John
i
conformed to the customs and
practices of our communities,
but that we be transformed
and thus show forth in our lives
and on the life of our communi
ties what is the acceptable word
of God."
North Carolina citizens
“whether. , .white or Negro"
were challenged to "stand in
the presence of your fellow
Christians and fellow citizens
for peace with Justice."
"WILL YOU speak to your
minister, public officials, the
men with whom you trade, your
school officials, and ask them
how you may help to bring about
better race relations in your
community?" the letter asked.
The race and religion council,
an outgrowth of the National
Conference on Religion and
Race held in Chicago last Janu
ary, was formed last June by
Protestant, Roman Catholic,
Orthodox and Jewish leaders
from over the state. Dr. Grigg
is secretary of the department
of interracial cooperation of
the North Carolina Baptist State
Convention.
Simple Dress Is
Pilgrimage Rule
VATICAN CITY (NC)— Pre
lates and bishops who expect
to travel in the Holy Land dur
ing Pope Paul Vi’s pilgrimage
have been instructed to wear the
simplest dress appropriate to
their station in keeping with the
penitential nature of the pilgri
mage.
Instructions published in Os-
servatore Romano specify that
bishops and archbishops are to
wear abito piano, ordinary daily
dress of prelates, but omitting
the ferraiola or short scarlet
cape normally worn. Other pre
lates are to wear simple black
without piping or other marks
of rank.
The first prayer had been re
cited in Queens Public School
184 in the morning, and the sec
ond in the afternoon.
After the Supreme Court
decision last June, the prayer
customs were continued until
October when a mother protest
ed and the school’s principal,
Elihu Oshinsky, halted the pra
ctices.
THE PRINCIPAL was sup
ported by the New York City
Board of Education and the State
Board of Regents, However, a
group of parents organized a
protest and filed a court suit
which reached Judge Bruch
hausen.
The parents were identified
in court papers as Protestant,
Roman Catholic, Episcopalian,
Armenian Apostolic and
Jewish. They had 21 children
in the school and were organ
ized in a group called Pray
er Rights for American Youth
(PRAY).
Judge Bruchhausen said the
case differed from the U. S.
Supreme Court’s decisions
barring a Board of Regents
composed prayer and prohibit
ing Bible reading and other
devotional exercises. He wrote;
‘THE FACTS in this case to
gether with the applicable law
clearly indicate that the volun
tary prayer offered by these
children is made without com
pulsion and it is not prescribed
by law and does not tend to est
ablish a religion in violation of
the First Amendment."
The school customs, he rul
ed, were "merely a voluntary
desire of the children without
any coercion or pressure be
ing brought to offer a prayer to
the Almighty."
After Judge Bruchhausen
ruled in the case, Charles A.
Brind, Jr„ counsel tc the State
Education Department, said he
would meet with the ci ^*s Bo
ard of Education to discuss the
matter.
ORTHODOX LEADER
Patriarch Plans
To Meet Pope
In Jerusalem
STREET SCENE IN NAZARETH—This little town, where Our Lord grew to manhood,
is one of the places Pope Paul VI will visit on his pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Nazareth
is within the state of Israel. This narrow street, typical of most of the places the Holy
Father will visit, illustrates the difficulties that confront plans to follow the Pontiff’s
progress with mobile television cameras.
POPE SAYS:
Success Up To Cardinals
VATICAN CITY (NC)-Pope
Paul VI has told the Cardinals
of the Roman Curia that the suc
cess of the Second Vatican
Council depends on them.
He also emphasized that his
trip to the Holy Land is a pil
grimage to obtain success for
the council. He said that it if
were a political excursion or a
pleasure trip, he might encount
er a reproving Christ as St. Pe
ter did—according to the “Quo
Vadis" legend when he was flee
ing Rome.
THE POPE WAS speaking at
the traditional Christmastide
meeting between the Pope and
the Cardinals of Rome. He was
replying to traditional greetings
from the Dean of the Sacred Col
lege, who is now Eugene Cardi
nal Tisserant.
Almost at the outset of this
reply, the Pope recalled “the
pious death of our venerated
and regretted predecessor,
John XXIII, whose spiritual
heritage Divine Providence de
creed we should receive and
whose great and difficult work
we should continue."
THAT SHIP WHICH is the
Church, the Holy Father said,
must “save the precious and
intangible cargo of its religious
patrimony, and move ahead in
the stormy sea of the world."
Still preserving thesamefig-
ures of speech, the Pope said
the Church must pray to Christ
for ability “on the one hand to
Authorize Daily
Evening Masses
NEW YORK (RNS) — Daily
evening Masses are now autho
rized throughout the Romah Ca
tholic Archdiocese of New York.
According to the Chancery
Office here, Francis Cardinal
Spellman, Archbishop of New
York, has authorized all parish
es to celebrate a daily evening
Mass, including Sunday, at any
hour between 4 and 8 p.m.
Two evening Masses may be
celebrated on Holy Days of Ob
ligation that are not legal holi
days.
defend the sacred 'depositum*
and on the other to confront
the sea that surrounds us, that
is to say....to approach the
faithless but noble world in
which we live."
OF THE COUNCIL, he said,
"It is necessary, Venerable
Brothers and Beloved Sons, that
the ecumenical council whose
second session has Just come to
a close should be brought to a
happy conclusion. And this last
phase of the universal synod
seems to us the most laborious,
the most important."
The Holy Father continued:
"WHILE WE OWE all of you
sincere thanks for the laborious
work you have sustained on the
occasion of the two sessions of
the council which have already
been held, we must summon you
to more toil for its third phase,
which from many points of view
is grave and decisive. Much
still remains to be done.
“And though the council has
given itself a structure of its
CONTINUED ON PAGE 8
ISTANBUL — Ecumenical
Patriarch Athanagoras confir
med here Monday that he will
meet with Pope Paul VI during
th e Pontiff’• pilgrimage to the
Holy Land.
At press time, however,
NCWC News Service said it
could not confirm the announ
cement, which was considered
"premature" by the Vatican
Unity Secretariate.
A report here said the meet
ing has been approved by four
other Eastern Orthodox patri
archs, among whom Patriarch
Athenagoras ranks as “first
among equals." They are Pat
riarch Christopher of Alexand
ria, Patriarch Theodosios VI
of Antioch and All the Orient,
Patriarch German of the Ser
bian Orthodox Church, and Pat
riarch Justinian of the Ro
manian Orthodox Church.
ACCORDING TO the report,
no replies have been received
from Patriarch Alexei of the
Russian Orthodox or Arch
bishop Chrysostom, Primate of
the Orthodox Church in Greece,
to a letter from Patriarch
Athenaboras informing them of
his plans to meet with the Pope.
However, it was believed a de
legation would arrive here soon
from the Russian Church to dis
cuss the matter.
Meanwhile, it was learned,
the Holy Synod of the Ecumeni
cal Patriarchate was convened
to discuss details of the Pat
riarch’s trip to Jerusalem and
the subjects to be discussed
while he is there.
A BELGRADE Radio report
quoted Patriarch German as
saying that he "welcomes and
completely agrees with the
scheduled meeting between
Patriarch Athenagoras and the
Pope in Jerusalem on Jan. 6."
This was in reply to a cabled
message in which Patriarch
Athenagoras disclosed that
Pope Paul had informed him
he was unable to accept the
patriarch *s original proposal
— a "summit meeting" of heads
of various Christian Churches
— because of the character and
program of the Pope’s pilgri
mage and because of the short
ness of time. Instead, the Pope
suggested a personal meeting
between them.
A VATICAN Radio broadcast
said that with the time of the
Pope’s pilgrimage drawing
closer, preparations were being
made “with ever greater in
tensity" in Jordan and Israel
for “a worthy welcome to the
Roman pontiff."
Squads of Jordan and Israeli
workers, it reported, were
working at top speed to repair
the road from Jordan to Na
zareth, which lies in Israel,
and to remove all traces of the
Arab-Israel conflict along the
route.
THE STATION said that in
Nazareth, as Christmas tour
ists begin to pour in by the
thousands, the Muslim mayor
and the Christian deputy mayor
were "working without respite"
in a special office set up in the
town hall for the coordination
of all arrangements for the
Pope's visit to the place where
Christ grew to manhood.
The Israeli Radio reported
that President Zalman Shazar
will formally welcome Pope
Paul to Israel in a state cere
mony on Jan. 5 at the ruins of
Migiddo or Armageddon, rather
than in the Jerusalem capital or
at such usual places as the
Lydda Airport.
THE MAYOR of the Jordan-
held Old City in Jerusalem
has announced that he will offer
the Pope, as a souvenir of his
visit, a medal in mother of
pearl, the work of well-known
craftsmen.
In a Christmas message to
his co-religionists, Anglican
Bishop Najib Atallah Cuba’ in,
whose jurisdiction embraces
Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, ex
pressed the wish that the
“highly appreciated" visit of
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 8)
IN COUNCIL POST. Ameri
can-born Bishop John E. Tay
lor, O.M.I., of Stockholm,
Sweden, has been named to
a new seat on the Second
Vatican Council’s commission
on the Sacraments. Born in
East St. Louis, Ill., 40 years
ago, Bishop Taylor went to
Denmark in 1958 to begin
work to open a mission to
Greenland. He was conse
crated bishop in Stockholm’s
city hall in 1962.