Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-11-18

alarm bell is ringing in the night.
The world. Injured as it is to
tragedy. is apprized Of tragedy
still more profound. In the
events Of this hour at which the
bishops Of the American hier-
archy meet in annual session.
they and all men concerned with
human welfare under God read
the threat of catastrophe so dire
as to destroy the last bulwarks
of civilization.
One voice, urgent and clear,
has made itself heard above the
tumult Of the nations. The COM
mon father of Christendom,
Pope Plus XII, has spoken out
with unhesitating forthrightness
To those peoples who have been
made the victims Of brutality
so gross as to defy historic COM
parison he has addressed words
of compassion which could only
come from a fathers heart. To
those nations bent upon agrees
sion and which have ignored the
sacred rights of humanity and
the instruments of justice upon
which they rest. he has issued
stern warning Of their madness.
To all, whether inspired by self
ish interest or led astray by rash
counsel, who would jeopardize
the delicate balance Of world
peace, he has recalled the pri-
macy Of law and order in the set.
Element of human disagreements,
ReprOof Echoed
In this crisis we can only add
our voice to his. We echo his
burning reproof Of those who
have dared to unleash the
hounds of war in a world which
has already suffered so long and
so bitterly. With him we de-
nounce with all our strength this
fresh outbreak of aggression
which sets at utter defiance the
hard-won concert Of the nations
for the outlawing Of interna-
tional banditry. With him we
plead for q renewal of that basic
sanity among men and nations
which will establish peace upon
its only enduring foundations OF
justice and charity. With him
we urge upon the world not the
counsels of despair which would
describe the situation as beyond
salvation, but the promise Of q
better hope implicit in the
dawning recognition Of human
solidarity under the universal
fatherhood Of God.
We share his anguish for those
whose unmerited sufferings have
again filled the cup of human
misery to overlooking. Our eyes
follow his as he surveys the raw
aged cities. the desolated coun-
trysides. the charred ruins Of q
thousand homes and shrineS. We
count with him the CHASTITY cas-
ualties Of modern warfare, the
broken bodies. the dead in Their
silent windows. Foremost, in
evitably. in our thinking are the
heroic people of Hungary. For
centuries they have been a bas-
ton of ChristendoIn against the
outer perils, and for centuries
their blood has been spilled for
the ideal Of q united Christian
society. Now again they have
received the full brunt Of 4 cal
culated fury and have written a
matchless chaptetg In the annals
Of freedom. To them, In their
darkest hour, we offer the SYM
pathy of our common faith and
we pledge our unremitting ef-
forts to help them achieve that
ultimate liberty for which their
sons and daughters have died.
surely not in vain.
World on Brink Of Disaster
1t = not mere rhetoric to say
that at this juncture the world
is poised on the brink Of dis
aster: It is grim realism. Yet
war in modern terms would be a
nightmare Of unirnaginable hor-
rofs. 1t can only annihilate; Il
has no power to solve our prob
lens. If, in the ultimate resort,
1t Is the duty Of man to resist
naked aggression, still It is
obvious that every possible
mans consistent with divine law
and human dignity must be en-
ployed and exhausted to avoid
the final arbitrament Of nucleay
warfare. 1t has been the hope
Of humankind that q means ade-
quate to the necessity might be
found IN the concert Of the
United Nations. This is neither
the time nor the place to review
its history or to pass judgment
on its achievement. If there have
been mistakes in its decisions
and faltering in its procedures,
there Is no more than q com.
mentary on our human condi-
ton. The fact remains that It
offers the only present promise
we have for sustained peace in
our time; peace with any APP
Proclamation Of justice. The Inn
plication Of our Holy Fathers
recen' imprisoned messages,
clearly revealed in their context,
Is that the nations must employ
their unity with such revived
strength and purpose as to ban
ish the spectre Of war. It IL d.
vision which tempts the agrees
sor: 1t is unity which gives him
pause. Nothing could be con-
ceived more disheartening for
the cause Of peace. nothing more
discreditable TO the honor Of
nations which have pledged
themselves to peace, than the
disunity which threatens to dis
rupt our immediate counsels and
dissipates our strength. With
the sovereign pontih we rec
ognize the urgency Of prompt
and effective Intervention to ST.
lence the guns Of war and to
enforce the pacific arbitration