The Waterbury Democrat., 1944-10-31

packed movie Atev, Js DOMmelhy houpos even ili southern cities with very few Catholics, and which, ao- cordlng to reports, will gross more than tWontystWo million dollars, and h0 states that ttg success is not duo Go the auperh acting ok Barry Ftt8- gerald nor the "eaay grace" ot Bing Crcsby. The main reason the pic- ture clicked he says is the follow-
 arhe picture humanlxed religion. It hunaaniSed the awesoft1e and ro-
 mote. It hulnanized an institution which seems highly inpersonal to tho average man. Last but not least, it gave Q screen characterization that rang true to life to the great rank and file of Catholics. It showed them their church and their clergy aS they love both. 1t 10 on endear. ing Catholicism that we see here. 'WUMANIzIN0" RELI0I0N
 Religion needs humaniglng. Catholicism was to mo as Q child aF awesome thing. That strange collar about the priests neck, his peculiar garments, and the queer noise ho made when ho sang High Mans (our loeal priest has Q throat ailment which made tho lovely pros face of the Mass sound like Q heather incantation), the rining Of tho bell, the judgment passed in confesston-all these things and more made religion of that Kind something afar of from Q small Protestant boy who had occasional Catholic contacts through friends and relatives.
 '"rhen came the day when by co. cldent that same boy entered Catholic high school ln Chicago and was greeted ir tho friOndliOSt way by Q scholarly Catholic priest, who invited him into his room, smoked . cigarette, handed the boy pile of bools and said, Here you are your textbooks if y0u want to como to school here. And there will b0 no fees since you have no ono Go depend on
 FATHER MURPHY
 "A day or two later I went out bNAANtA tAhu Skh1kSkA Nb AAVpAA UAhd 9NW q ball game irl progress. There were there, my fellow pupils-but not alone. In center field in his shirt sleeves was Father Murphy, who taught mathetmatics. Behind the but With c chest protector over his oassock, with mitt and mask, was the very priest who had greeted mo and taken mo in. The way he whipped that ball back to the pitcher was something Co strike Joy to the heart of any American kid.
 Isn't ho was c pTiestl The hand that begged that bail down Co sec. ond base had actually held the Sacred Host that morning at Mass; that hand would Do raised in abaolu. ton on Saturday in the confessional ov0s the lads who lined LID to make their confessions 60 that they might approach the altar on Sunday In tho state of gracel
 WITH THE PEOPLE
 T had joined tho Methodist church c year or two before, the church had attended oil my boys hood. Our minister was godiy man, c fine preacher. He was no ceiibate, no priest. He did not per- form the mystery of the Mass. ff there was anything aweSome about him 1t was the reputation that all Protestant ministers had ct that time for being against oil the small pleasures Of life. ...
 Tn the picture Going My Way there s no doubt of the virtue of the priests. They are not only cell. bate; they arc also under orders. But they are human beings, who live with no gulf between them and their people. Tn Latin America and in Europe such is seldom the case. The whole trend of the seminary traih- ing and later discipline of priests in France, for example, is to keep the priest not only unspotted but even untouched by the world. Who has seen . group of cassocked men on Q Paris street without thinking of the complete isolation of the clergy? ." AMERICAN CATHOLICISM"
 Then pr. Petrie goes on to speak about the aioofness of the clergy