The Catholic times. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1951-current, 1960-11-11

On Oct. D, also IN Washing
ton, 166 Catholic laymen is
sued a statement in which
they affirmed the devotion of
us. Catholics to religious
liberty.
THE PRINCIPLE of sepa.
ration (of Church and State)
is part of our American heri-
tage, and as citizens who are
Catholics we value it as an
integral part of our national
life," they said.
The religious issue took one
O. its odder turns Oct. 8 when
Henry Cabot Lodge, Republi-
can vice-presidential candi-
date, stirred up a hornets
nest by saying that no distinc-
ton should be made between
public and private school chill
dren in allotting federal aid
to education. He later empha-
sized that he was speaking on
ly of so-called auxiliary aid"
and did not favor direct as
SiStance to church-run
schools.
Sen. Kennedy and Mr.. Nix
on later gave their views on
the subject in interviews
with a teachers magazine9 In
reply to the question, do
you believe that federal aid
should go to public schools
only" the Senator answered
in one word: Eyes"
Mr.. Nixon noted that tradi-
tionally aid has been given to
both public and private col
leges. AS for elementary and
secondary schools, he said he
favored giving federal money
to the states for distribution
as they see fit.
THE BATTLE LINES SEEM
ed we'll drawn and every con-
ceivable nuance of the issue
appeared exhausted by mid
October. But then a new ex-
plosion was set off from an
unlikely source - Puerto Ri
co.
In a pastoral letter dated
October Is and read in all
Puerto Rican churches on
Oct. %, the islands Catholic
Bishops forbade Catholics to
vote for the Popular Demo
cratic party led by incumbent
Gov. Luis Munoz Marin. The
Bishops condemned what they
called the party's "anti-Chris-
tian'' and "anti.C Catholic" phi
losophy. They repeated their
stand in a second pastoral a
week later.
On the mainland, assurances
that the Puerto Rican Incl
dent could not happen here
were offered by such Spokes-
men as Richard Cardinal
Cushing, Archbishop of Bos-
ton. and Archbishop Egidio
Vagnozzi, Apostolic Delegate
to the United States. Arch
bishop James P. Davis of San
Juan, PR, a signer of the
pastorals, said that "if democ-
racy in Puerto Rico had
achieved the maturity of de-
mocracy in the United States,
the letter would not have been
necessary"
BUT FOR SOME individuals
the incident of the Puerto
Rican ~pastorals provided a
fresh excuse for berating the
Church. ProtestantS and 9th
err Americans United for Sep
aration of Church and State
(POAUD, which had been
heard from frequently during
the campaign, went so far as
to ask the us. government
to make a protest to the Vat
lean.
Last October saw one more
18th hour Juror over the is
sue this time c%entering
around plans of some Protest
ant groups for observance of
Reformation Sunday, October
30. Bruce Felknor of the Fair
Campaign Practices Commit
tee warned on October Is that
plans were underway in some
quarters to turn the day into
a gigantic anti Kennedy
rally"
Promin mt among the
groups planning for Reforma-
ton Sunday was the National
Association of Evangelicals, a
fundamentals and conserva-
tive Protestant fed Il o n
whose $4,000 affiliated
churches claim 10 million
members.
DR.. George l.. Ford, NAE
executive director, denied that
his group had anti-Kennedy in
tentions., But a pamphlet
widely distributed by the NAE
in connection with Reforma-
ton Sunday called on Prot
estants to "stand up and be
counted" adding the re-
minder:
"You HAVE YOUR faith
your voice - your vote-at
your disposal. The future his.
tory of events OF history will
ITEREsTED IN