davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Catholic times. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1951-current, 1952-03-07
An Easy Cure

The offices of doctors and dentists, funeral par
Tors, the graveyard and hospitals form smallfrys
roster of places to be avoided with sideong gIances
quickened steps and strident whistlng And in this
respect, many people never have grown up.
There are some strong and healthy men who
square their shoulders when about to enter hos
pital and walk up the steps with jaw set and an al
most audible "Weli, here goes. Over the top"
AS we grow older though most undergo an amel-
iorating change of heart towards the good men in
white. II is comforting to know that there doc
tors and dentists around and to count them fine
friends-st treating them all with Difference,
though, with one eye on the future just in we
fall heir to their services.
About the graveyards, etc, well, there are diff
ferent People of Irish extraction-they alone
among all the races who remain through life zen
courant" with ghosts pixies and leprechauns-they
stll whistle. Others can take cemeteries or leave
them-dependng their state of life, or lack of it,
at the time of the visit
And now about hospitals. If some should still be
of the conviction that hospitals depressing and
to be avoided at all costs if there is still squeam
ish feeling when visit to the hospital is imminent
for any reason-then we say they have not seen the
the new wing and the extensive remodeling at Mt
Carmel Hospital in Columbus. One look at the in
terror of Mt Carmel is the easiest cure we know Of
for such people.
The Catholic times. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1951-current, 1952-03-07
The Danger of Lethargy

The recent testimony that the Communists were
guilty of numbering hundreds of prisoners of in
most brutal form, should have been most shocking
to the whole civilized world No it was not the first
time that the incident became known; nor was il
the ony such atrocity to come before the minds of
living in this era Even So the repetition of
men and women Indifferent.
1t is alarming, therefore that the free world in
general has not been more thoroughly aroused over
the magnitude of this modern barbarism. II is no
wonder Pope Plus XII warns of the lethargy amongst
men, of the need for mighty reawakening" Our
Incidence and indifference can be fraught with dis
aster
John Foster Dulles, speaking at Princeton the
other day, placed emphasis moral and spiritual
strength in the battle with communism. He added
that the United States can be destroyed by forces
that, in themselves, weak if these forces are
active and passive" This passive attitude is
just what the Holy Father has been condemning Mr.
Dulles urges us TO recapture the dynamism the
trust in non-maerial factors and the faith in the
moral law which have so long made nation great
in the best of the word"
Never in the history of the world has there been
such coldblooded killing of defenseess human be-
ings as in our day The magnitude of ii would have
staggered the imagination of the barbarians of old
Despite the fact that modern methods Of commun-
cation spread the tragic facts to all the world in
short order, there is no noticeable uprising of
gered human family to put an end to the numbering
of other members of that family. Lethargy pre-
vent us from awakening in time to save ourselves.
The Catholic times. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1951-current, 1952-03-07
Crownup Children

The usual domestic pattern in many homes
throughout the nation suffered delightful twist
last week when the little people" caught the "big
people" eavesdropping Many pairs of grownup
ears listened intenty one Of the most important
personages in the world spoke TO the Catholic school
children of America.
Everyone elders and youngsters alike thrilled at
hearing the voice of this truly child.ike man. Pope
Plus XII. who is child-like in the sense that
Christ commanded all to be if we are to enjoy the
Kingdom of Heaven.
The fact that the Pope is the Father of us all that
we are all part of one large family emphasized
by the sense of nearness that the result of the
unaccustomed pleasure of hearing his voice
The Holy Father told his children a story about
Father in land far away who had many children.
And he told them how sad it made this Father when
he saw how his children were suffering for they
had no food to eat clothes to wear and many of
them had parents or homes.
Then the Pope-who said that He imagined by
now that the US children knew of whom he was
speaking-related how joyful The Holy Father was
when others OF his children, who had all of the
things their brothers and sisters did not shared
with the poorer members OF their great family He
then impaired special benedction on the children
of America for their charity in the past.
multitude of thoughts were brought to mind in
listening TO the Pope telling his little story II recall
ed the school days when all brought pennies
and nickles and dmes-more often than not sticky
Win Jeiy OF WIN HcoIlee carried IN tne same
pocket-and gave them to the good Sister who had
made this great friend and Father and his needs
seem very near to us.
These were nostalgia thoughts until we remem.
bered that does not have TO be enrolled in
grade school to qualify child OF the Holy Father
No matter what our station condition length of
years-we all very much the children of this
Father.
And so, this coming Sundays beautiful tribute
known Peters Pence" will be family affair.
This annual collection which is taken up in all the
Churches of the world will give us the opportunity
10 prove, from abundance our love and devo-
tion TO Holy Father-the Father OF the greatest
family in the world, few of whose members are so
fortunate and blessed in America.
The Catholic times. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1951-current, 1952-03-07
WASHINGTON LETTER
What Is Going On !?

afford to deal with Tito, especial
ly since we know where we stand
with him.
At about the same time, word
was reaching this country from
Yugoslavia that leaders there
we're telling their people that the
country was still a communist
state, and that, lest they forget
it, things were going TO get tough
with the people again. Tito is
justified in dealing with the de-
cadent West, these leaders told
the people, because Western aid
is helping Yugoslavia to social
ize and to turn finally into a
complete communist state.
Word reaching here had ii that
Yugoslav leaders felt Tito's deal
ing with United States was being
taken by the people to mean that
he was turning away from COM
munism; that he was going to
allow the middle classes to ap-
pear again. and that he might
take a milder attitude towards
religion. There will be none of
that, the Red leaders are said to
have told the Yugoslav people.
And just to prove it, they warn
ed that the Red struggle"
against the middle classes and
the Catholic and Moslem reli-
gious leaders would be stepped
The Catholic times. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1951-current, 1952-03-07

back the clock of progress with
the hope of vesting the economic
control of the United States in
the hands of the Vatican. Thus"
Moehlman writes with reference
to a radio broadcast by the Holy
Father, was the medieval Roman
Catholic control of economic life
offered anew to the 10th century
United States of America. And
once more in 1850, Pope Plus
XII reaffirmed the Vatican's
right to direct the economic life
of the world"
Measure of Agreement
The Roman Catholic Church has
no desire to control" the eco
nomic life of the United States
anymore than the National Coun-
Gil of Churches has. Both, how
ever. do have a desire to see the
economic life of the world con-
trolled" Gf that's the word that
Moehlman prefers to use) by
Christian social principles and,
curiously enough, there is a very
large measure of agreement be-
tween them as to the content of
these principles and as to meth
ods of applying them to current
problems. Both are opposed to
communism and economic liber-
alism. Moehlman, for his part, is
opposed to the former but so
much in favor of the latter that
he feels constrained to warn the
apostles of free enterprise that
the Vatican is its real enemy.
When communism is conquer
ed," he says "if the Vatican re-
mains consistent it must then
fight capitalism. But the free en-
terprise system appears likely TO
prove a much more formidable
antagonist for an ecclesiasticism
weakened by its staggering loss
es in its war against commun-
ISM"
Our guess is that the Catholic
Church will have the cooperation
of the majority of interested
Protestants in its fight against
capitalism" - if capitalism is
really as unethieal as it appears
to be in Mr.. Moehlman's def
inition of its underlying philos-
ophy.
The Catholic times. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1951-current, 1952-03-07

WASHINGTON - Historians
may we'll record the current rela-
tions between the United States
and Yugoslayia as among the
most curious of all time. They
certainly seem to be among the
less cordial, the least altruistic
and the most mercenary.
OF late, we have had more or
less official expressions on both
sides, calming the people of the
particular country, and saying in
effect that 1--WE just have to deal
with that fellow"
us. Ambassador to Yugoslavia
George V. Allen, currently in
this country, appeared on tele-
vision program a few days ago to
talk about Yugoslavia in connec-
tion with this country's plans for
defense against communist Rus
sian aggression. Ambassador AL
len viewed Tito's cleavage from
Stain as of great Importance to
the Western World in its defense
plans. At the same time, he
warned the American people
that Tito is still an avowed COM
munist; that Yugoslayia is COM
munist state, and that apparent
ly both will continue to be what
they profess to be-communist.
He indicated that, with the prize
at stake being what it is, we can
The Catholic times. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1951-current, 1952-03-07

nomic Triangle" February 27).
Nowhere in the article are the
words medieval" and medic
valism" clearly defined; appar-
emily they are meant to suggest
that the Catholic social program
is inimical to the democratic way
of life and will bear careful
watching by all those who be-
lieve in the cause of human free
dom.
We use the word apparently"
advisedly, for the author of the
article - Conrad Moehlman,
whose field of speciality, let it
be noted, is education rather
than social ethics-never clearly
indicates precisely what he is
driving at. The Catholic social
program, he says more or less
correctly, is opposed to commun-
ism on the one hand and eco
nomic liberalism on the other.
Moehlman. of course, is also OPP
posed to communism; but, frank
ly, it is almost impossible TO say
with any degree of certainty just
where he stands on the question
of economic liberalism.
Old Confidence Game
The best that can possibly be
said about Moehlman's position
is that he is opposed to economic
liberalism-and he never says
that he is-he is even more op-
posed to the so-called Catholic
alternative which, incidentally,
happens to be very similar to the
alternative proposed by many of
his fellow Protestants. His article
in The Christian Century, to put
ii very bluntly, is a rather So
phisticated variation on the Blan-
shard theme: Communism is bad,
The Catholic times. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1951-current, 1952-03-07

up.
OF course, all of this could
be just so much window dress
ing to prepare the Yugosiav peo-
pie and the world for an intensi-
fled Red onslaught against re-
hgion. It could also be a confes-
sion that Tito's vicious persecu-
ton of the Catholic Church,
which included the farcical
trial" and Imprisonment of
Archbishop Aloysius Stepinac,
has not succeeded as we'll as he
had hoped.
If diplomatic relations with
the "decadent" West are so dis
tasteful to the Red regime of
Yugoslavia that it must intensity
the persecution of religion at
home to make up for it, as it
were, this is indeed something
for the history books. No less
fantastic is what would seem to
be the only alternative explana-
tion. The Reds were going to
continue, and accelerate, their
persecution of religion anyway.
BY their nature they are commit
ted to it. In order to seem to JUS
tify it, they have not hesitated
to say this increased cruelty has
been made necessary by the
"softening" influence of their
association with the West.
The Catholic times. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1951-current, 1952-03-07

Park hotel where the school superntendents of Per-
ry county were guests of the association at dinner"
the Protestant World is being promoted by
methods as far removed from spirit of tolerance
and understanding as these, then it can be stated
Justfiably that it will not be publication with any
thing like the quality of the Christian Century,
which is not proCatholic. Religious tolerance in
American will take another backward step if this
new publication turns out to be just anti-Cathoic
sheet We hope better things for it, we wish it we'll
in the field of good honest journalism.
The Catholic times. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1951-current, 1952-03-07

prompt answer, did you ever
hear of my cold-remedy?" OF
course you do: you're human,
aren't you? And that is the way
we all behave. We tend to take
such helpfulness for granted.
But the fact that we all wish
to act as so many lay-therapists
so many amateur-medicos-is
a thrilling and wonderful wit
Messing to the desire to help one
another that is imbedded in us
all. We human beings are not en-
tirely hateful: Original Sin has
not thoroughly blotted out the
kindliness with which we we're
originally endowed. There is good
in even modern man, as well as
evil. And that longing towards
the Best, which is God, is one of
the most bewildering and baff-
ling things about man.
Take, for instance, the fact
that he sometimes becomes
Communist. Why? How can a
man or woman pledged to the
Best embrace the worst? The an
swer is simple: atheists or agnos-
tics who join the Reds mistake
the Party for their God. In en-
tangling themselves with it, they
imagine that they are asSociating
their lives with the Almighty.
There was a time-once, in the
Age of Faith-when il was easy
to discriminate between the good
and the bad. Heresy, then, was
publicly reprimanded; virtue was
given its social ecomiums. All
the world loved a lover-a lover
of Our Lord. In that age-in the
Age of Faith-there was no con-
fusion as to good or bad.
Too Many Targets
Today, things are otherwise:
goals are no longer clearly set.
Young people are given not one
but thirty different ideals at
which to shoot. Shall they aim to-
wards material success? Or shall
they force their hearts desires
to sensual enjoyments? These
are the things held out to them
on all sides; these are the things
made attractive from each per-
suading agent whom they see.
That is, perhaps, the saddest
of all things today: that the Best
has no spokesman, no salesman,
no agent, while the worst is well
The Catholic times. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1951-current, 1952-03-07
FATHER HIGGINS
The old Confidence Game

but Catholicism is just as bad
and perhaps in the long run even
worse. II is the old confidence
game all over again: heads / win,
tails you lose. On the one hand
Blanshard warns the American
people that the Catholic Church
is opposed to socialism;son the
other hand Moehlman, who is al
so opposed to socialism warns
the American people the Catholic
Church is opposed TO economic
liberalism. The Church can do no
right. Q.E.D.
Disserviee 10 Professionalism
Our readers are probably just
as tired of hearing about Protest
ant-Catholic controversies as we
are of writing about them. Frank
ly, our only purpose in returning
to such an unpleasant subject in
this column is to remind our
Protestant associates in the field
of Catholic social action-for
whom we have the greatest re-
spect and admiration-that the
BlanShards and the MoehlmanS
in their own ranks are doing just
as great a disservice to Protest
antism as they are to Catholic
ism. They are playing right into
the hands of the secularists by
suggesting-openly in the case
of Blanshard, more subtly in the
case of Moehlman - that the
Catholic Church, in advocating a
civilized alternative to commun-
ism on the one hand and econom-
ic liberalism on the other, is
thereby the enemy of human
freedom.
Moehlman's use of the word
Medieval" is an antiquated trick
of the trade. obviously unworthy
of a man with pretensions to
scholarship, and even more OBJ
viously unworthy of such a So
phisticated periodical as The
Christian Century. The word
medieval" in the context of
Moehlman's article is an emo
tional or loaded" adjective OBJ
viously calculated to play up to
the deepest prejudiees of a GER
tain type of Protestant reader.
II is intended to suggest that the
Catholic Church Is trying to turn
The Catholic times. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1951-current, 1952-03-07
Is The Church Against
CapitaIand forLabor?

and to give him greater freedom
in the performance of his duties.
The Eastern Churches follow ira
dition which came before the ear
ly Christian custom had become
a law (by the time of Pope Leo
the Great, 440-461, for the WesD,
but forbid priests marrying after
ordination, merely allowing them
to keep their wives. They choose
bishops from the celibate clergy.
Most misunderstanding of cell.
bacy comes from mistaken mo-
tions, such as that of some that
it is unnatural and impossible,
whereas we know that it is in
conformity with the will of Christ
and early Christian practice, and
that it is required by the Church
speaking for Christ and therefore
brings special graces from God
for its fulfillment. The pure
life of men and women in the
world who are unmarried, Wild
owed, temporarily separated or
dedicated to some career which
prevents marriage is part of the
proof of the possibility of cell
bate living, even without daily
Mass, divine office and the grace
of Holy Orders.
@. What is Liturgy?
A. The liturgy is the official
worship which the Mystical Body
of Christ, the Church, offers in
union with Him, externally rep
resented by His ministers, to God
as praise and alteration of Him
and petition for man. Essentially
therefore the liturgy includes
the perennial union with and re-
newal of the acts of Christ con-
tinued through His Mystical
Body as embodied in the Church
Year, with the Mass at the center
and the Divine Office and the
Sacraments as principal chan
nels between God and US. Ger
tain music, especially Gregorian
Chant, has been declared most
apt for the liturgy blessed Plus
X-Motu Preprio) without ex-
Guiding other fitting music, and
certain vestments and affairs have
been judged more in keeping
with the spirit of simplicity and
with the dignity of the public
prayer of the Church, but there
is some Misrepresentation in
titles such as liturgical affairs,
vestments, etc. The explicit laws
of the Church regarding such
things must be followed, but in
the wide field of freedom allow.
ed, the interpretations of reliable
authors and the will of the local
Bishop should be followed, not the
faddish notions of certain self
styled liturgists, whom Pope
Plus XII warns against in his En-
cyclical on the Liturgy Mediator
Deli.
Send questions to Inquiry Cor
ner, Box 635, Columbus is, Ohio.
The Catholic times. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1951-current, 1952-03-07
INQUIRY CORNER

@. In social teaching Uhy is
the Church on the side of labor
unions and against employers?
A. "The great mistake that is
made in the matter now under
consideration, is to possess one
self of the idea that class is nat
urally hostile to class; that rich
and poor are intended by nature
to live at war with one anoth-
er Each requires the other;
capital cannot do without labor
nor labor without capital
First of all religion, whereof the
Church is the interpreter and
guardian, is exceedingly power
full in drawing rich and poor to-
gether, by reminding each class
of its duties to the other :"
These words from "The Condi-
tion of the Working Man" writ
ten in 1891 by Pope Leo XIII
point out the place of the Church
which does not take sides at all.
1t is strange that some
critisize the Church for be-
ing too friendly with manage
ment or the rich and some with
the opposite.
In 1881 Pope Plus XI reaffirm-
ed the same principles, calling
Leo Kills Encyclical, "the Mag
ma Charta on which all Christian
activities in social matters are ul-
timately based, and indicating
its role in the growth of labor I'M
ions, but pointed out his inter-
est in management: "Associa-
tons of employers and directors
of industry, which Our predeces-
sor so earnestly pleaded for, did
not meet with the same success
:. We hail even now with deep
JOY of soul certain experiments
which have produced much
fruit and gfverich promise for
the future"
@. What is Limbo?
A. The just who were taken up
to Heaven after the redeeming
death of Christ dwelt in Limbo
until that time, and it is the
teaching of the Church that ba-
bieS who die without baptism are
there. st. Thomas reflects the
common opinion and teaching of
the Church in saying that al
though the babies will not enjoy
the vision of God they will not be
unhappy because the beatific Wis
ion is a supernatural good of
which they have no knowledge.
@. Is 1t true that oriental
priests marry? Wig then is it
urong IN the Latin rite?
A. The law of the Latin or
Western Church which demands
chastity of the candidate for the
priesthood is not directly from
the divine or natural law, but is
designed to safeguard the dig
nifty and dedication of the priest
The Catholic times. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1951-current, 1952-03-07
GRETTA PALMER
Good viii Reservoirs

explained on every hand. That
there should be any converts to
the Good, to the Best, under such
circumstances is astonishing, in
deed.
But God Himself must surely
understand that we are not sit
uated so happily as were those
of other days. He has seen to 1t
that even the fears, the frights,
the neuroses, psychoses and
breads of modern man should
lead him, always, to his Lord.
For what happens when the
modern man gets into a really
desperate tangle? 1t depends on
the kind of suffering his con-
fused and wrongful thinking has
invited. Perhaps he has become
an alcoholic: then he may find
his way into Alcoholics Anony-
nous, whose first recommends
tlon to him is to pray. Or per.
haps he, staggering and still Suf-
fering, may begin to hate him.
self, as he is now, and to desire
deeply to become a different
kind of man: then, like Saul be-
came Paul, he will desire to
change, and will do so.
Whatever has become of him, 1t
is surely a tragedy: for lack of
knowledge of Our Lord is always
a tragedy. Therefore, the pagan
is bound to suffer. Whatever he
may say, he is in torture.
Unknowing Soul
We, who have the vast good
fortune to have been baptized,
have something precious, almost
beyond appraisal, to bestow.
Those small drops of sanctified
water, spilled on a baby's brow,
may mean all the difference to
him between Heaven and Hell.
Thus it is that the modern
world accepts a hundred trashy,
thoroughly wrong-minded no.
ticns - but takes all of them in
good faith. 1t has not, for one
single instant, realized that its
final aspirations are a matter of
intellectual decision. But, having
a will oriented towards the good,
it still saves its unknowing soul;
and, denying the very existence
of the spiritual order, it con-
fesses.
There is a vast reservoir of
good will in America; it is the
historic tragedy of our country
that her goodness has never been
touched nor sanctified by the
Catholicizing brush of the Faith.
For the natural goodness of the
men we see about us, If raised to
the supernatural order by one
stroke of Gods own Grace, would
turn this sorry century into one
that would eclipse the glory of
the best yet known-Europe's ex-
uberant thirteenth.