The Catholic times. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1951-current, 1960-11-25

tEdiier,s Neae: Tha fslIow.
ing Is fhe full texf Of fhs
statement entitled Need for
Personal Responsibility" is
sued by the Administrative
Board of the National Cath
Ollie Welfare Conference on
behalf Of the cardinals, arch
bishops OF the United States
following their annual meet
ing in Washington, De-
The history and
achievement of America
stands as a monument to
t h personal response
bility of free men.
Our institutions and our in
dustry, the fruit of the Amer
lean sense of responsibility,
have in the past inspired,
guided, and helped many
other nations of the world.
If our future is to be worthy
of our past, if the fruit of
Americas promise is not to
wither before it has reached
full maturity, our present
pre-eminent need is to re
affirm the sense Of individual
obligation, to place clearly
before ourselves the founda-
ton on which personal re-
sponsibility rests, to deter
mine the causes of its decay
and to seek the means by
which it cap be revived.
THE FOREMOST SIGNS Of
the decline of personal re-
sponsibility are TO be found
in the family. Marriage, a sa-
cred and binding contract,
all too often is considered
merely as an arbitrary ar
rangement to satisfy the IN
stinct of pleasure. The fail
ure of parents to fulfill their
responsibilities, as reveal e d
in the frequency Of divorce,
desertion and broken homes,
is a national disgrace.
Any delinquency of par
entS may we'll be reflected IN
the delinquency of youth,
which is now commonly con-
sidered our greatest nation
al domestic problem.
Equally conspicuous is the
evidence Of decline in the
sense Of responsibility within
our industrial organIza
and in our general economic
life.
At a time, when so much
depends upon the soundness
of our economy and upon our
ability to produce to meet
the needs Of a rapidly de-
veloping world, we have been
faced by a frequent lack OF
truly responsible leadership,
both on the part of manage
ment and labor.
Among the evident IN.
stances Of the breakdown OF
PERSONAL responsibility most
deplorable has been the wide
spread cynical reaction TO the
revelation of di S honesty
waste, and malfeasanee IN
industrial relations.
ALTHOUGH PERSONAL re-
sponsibility and init alive
have been our national char
acteristics explaining in large
measure our country's prog
ress in human welfare, yet
pressures are growing Tor a
constantly greater reli a
on the COLLECTIVELY rather than
on the individual. An inor-
dinate demand for benefits,
most easily secured by the
pressures of organization, has
led an eyersgrowing number
of our people TO rellnqulsh
their rights and to abdlease
their responsibilities. This
concession creates a widening
spiral OF increasing demands
and p~ressures with a further
infringement on PERSONAL
freedom and responsible I y.
The result lis the condition
recently noted by our Holy
Father: Modern Man sees
that the sphere in which he
can think for himself, act on
his own initiative, exercise
his responsibilities and affirm
and enrich his personality is
in many cases restricted TO
an excessive degree" deter
of July II, 1860, to the Sc
maine Soeiale' in Grenoble).
Intensive Specialization can
achieve mass benefits, but
man and morality can be ser
iously hurt in the process.
THIS TENDENCY to dele
gate excessive responsibility
to an organization is discern
ihle also in the realm OF in
.ternatiUal affairs. Some man
ifest no sense OF personal re-
sponsibiIity in the affairs OF
the international community.
On the other hand, many citi-
zens seem to feel that our
mere adherence to the Unit.
ed Nations absolves us from
further responsibility in the
international order and that
decisions made by the United
Nations, regardless of their
objective value, are always to
be regarded as morally right.
Admitting the undorbted
value Of a policy OF support
ing the United Nations and