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NEWSPAPER OF THE DIOCESE OF ROCHESTER Vol. 80 No. 9 20 Pages 100th ANNIVERSARY ROMAN CATHOUC DIOCESE ~ ROCHESTER Price: 15tf Friday, Nov. 29, 1968 More Prelates Join Criticism Of Media's Pastoral Coverage (NC News Service) Many important members of the American hierarchy have protested, press, radio and TV reports on the U.S. Bishops' meeting in Washing- ton, specifically concerning the bish- ops' statements on contraception in their pastoral letter, \Human Life in Our Day.\ The gist of the prelates' complaints is the news media gave the impres- sion that the U.S. bishops had taken a stand in opposition to Pope Paul VTs encyclical on birth control, Humanae Vitae, reiterating the Church's opposition to use of artifi- cial contraceptives. At a press conference in Pittsburgh, Bishop John J. Wright of Pittsburgh, a principal framer of the pastoral letter, and Bishop William G. Con- nare of Greensburg, Pa., agreed that \early news reports (concerning the pastoral) were so misleading as to require special clarification.\ Earlier John Cardinal Krol of Phila- delphia and Archbishop Karl J. Al- ter of Cincinnati deplored mass media distortions of the bishops' statement Bishop Romeo J. Blanchette and Auxiliary Bishop Raymond J. Vonesh of Joliet, 111., stated: \We were surprised upon return- ing from Washington that some peo- ple thought the American bishops were opposing Pope Paul's encyclical. In voting our approval, we definitely stood with the Holy Father.\ Archbishop William E. Cousins of Milwaukee said news media cover- age of the bishops' pastoral letter tended to concentrate on \only seven lines\ of the 57-page document. He asserted freedom of conscience, dis- cussed in the statement, meant noth- ing if taken out of context Archbishop Alter said: \Through some unexplainable circumstance the news media have gravely misinter- preted the pastoral statement of the United States bishops both in respect Wltr.emtottrwtt 1*1^jnj|^$s:\ \The statement nowhere Bpeaks of condoning the use of contraceptives,, and at no place in the text leaves an opening for an ambiguous interpreta- tion as to its meaning. \There is no warrant in the text nor in the action of the bishops which would permit by implication the right for the penitent to conceal in the sacrament of Penance the sin of contraceptive usage, or permit re- ception of the Holy Eucharist with- out previous absolution.\ Archbishop Cousins said the mass media coverage of the pastoral gave the impression that the statement left room for married couples to break the ban against contraceptives if their conscience required. The archbishop pointed out the bishops' letter mentioned Penance and Holy Communion together. He said: \With pastoral solicitude we urge those who have resorted to artificial contraception never to lose heart, but to continue to take full advantage of the strength which comes from the sacrament of Pen- ance, and the grace, healing and peace in the Eucharist\ Bishops Wrlghi and Connare, at their press conference, noted that the range of the pastoral letter is wide and its general theme \is the defense of life itself, its transmis- sion and its security.\ They said it touches on \numerous questions con- nected with peace and war, the prob- lems of the family and the moral principles bound up with all these.\ (Continued on Page 2) Vatican Not Talking On Stands of Bishops By FR. R. A. GRAHAM, S.J. Special Correspondent Vatican City — (RNS) — The Vatican is keeping a tight-lipped si- lence as the various national hier- archies'take their stand on the birth control encyclical. The only formal hint of its reac- tion is found in a short unsigned note in the Nov. 16 issue of L'Osservatore Romano which denied that any Vati- can source had approved.the French bishops' declaration. No Vatican agency and no respon- sible personality, it said curtly, had commented on this or any other col- lective statement. These reports, said the note, no doubt go beyond the intentions of the episcopal authors who, It declar- ed, \reaffirm their adherence to the teaching of the encyclical.\ It sug- gested that an interpretation of the statements is now< being attempted which would, as it puUW^itken* the binding value of tfte lawr For the moment, Pope Paul wWies to retain his own freedom of action and reserves the right to mak* his own comments at the right time. If the bishops see fit to Interpret his encyclical, he^not illogically will find it just as legitimate to interpret the voice of the national hierarchies in his turn. This will not be so difficult for Put VI to do as newspaper reports make one believe. Nearly everywhere outside of Northern Europe and North America — the developed countries — the episcopal statements give straightforward and unequivocal support to Humanae Vltae Even the statements emanating from Germany, Belgium, Austria, England, Canada, the Scandinavian countries and France, if they are noteworthy for the permissiveness in the light of particular conscience cases, nevertheless approve the basic principles enunciated in the encyc- lical. The Image that the \plU\ is now beginning to take in the underde- veloped countries, may have some- thing to do with the readiness of tn» WsAops of Africa, Asia and Latin - Aw|rW^»cc*pUth» *W$M without the; drcumlocutiowi of other hierarchic* tit the words attributed to Archbtahbp Holder Cam** of RechV BwuiU,. \Without Humanae Vltae, the inMses of Latin America, Asia and Africa will be stuffed with antt-conceptionlst plus.\ Local Press Coverage Don't Forget Poor At Christmas Time Have you remembered the poor in your Christmas plans this year? Bring joy and happiness to 7,000 of your brothers and sisters Ui_ Christ Jby- donating to the Catholic Charities Christmas Fund, 50 Chest- nut St., Rochester, N.Y. 14604. 'Approximately 25,000 Will Die Skimpy on Document Of Hunger on Christmas Day' •£« TEXT OF U.S. BISHOPS' LETTER, \HUMAN LIFE,\ IS PRINTED ON PAGES 11 AND 12. ON THE INSIDE Bishop Sheen 6 Around the World 5 Commentary 19 Diocesan ' Editorial 6 Entertainment 14 Sports 17 Interrracial * IF YOU MOVE ... let us know about it so we can keep your Courier coming to you on time. Phone or mail us notice of your change of ad- dress. Include your old address and new address and the name of your parish. Courier-Journal, 35 Scio St., Rochester, N.Y. l4604. ; Phone 716-454-705O. An awesome escalation is under way in deaths by starvation in the breakaway state of Biafra, reported Father Peter Hughes, a Holy Ghost missionary sent to the United States by the Biafran Bishops Welfare. De- partment on a \Food for Biafra\ mercy mission under the auspices of Catholic Relief Services in New York City. Father Hughes, who served five years in Biafra, left Rochester for Boston Monday after a news con- ,.^^^^^^^^», ference here. l^^^^^^Ba/J * \By late Decem- ber the deaths by starvation in Bi- afra will reach 750,000 people per month,\ said Fa- ther Hughes. \On Chris tmas Day alone, ap- proximately 25,000 will die of Fr. Hughes hunger. In January and February the daily death toll will be even greatr er. This far exceeds the present star- vation death rate of 240,000 to 360,- 000, mostly children, who will die this month from protein starvation. More than a million have died since the famine started.\ Father Hughes reported that the besieged Biafrans are running out of staple carbohydrate foods, mainly yams and cassava, and are being forced by starvation to eat yams put aside for planting, which means there will be no harvest next season. Six to nine million people are crowded into the area encircled by Nigerian forces and soon this area will be almost bare of food, he said. \A cease-fire and end to the war are essential for a final solution,\ said the Dublin-born missionary. \A lot can be accomplished around a con- ference table. But even if the war ended today there would be a mas- sive need for food and medical help for many months. And in addition to the starvation in Biafran territory, there is famine in Nigerian-held territory.\ In contrast to buying food in areas distant from Africa, the \Food for Biafra Fund\ will be used to buy yams and other food in Africa, he said. The food will include yam seed- lings to be planted immediately, to stave off famine in months ahead. The once-a-year planting season is now beginning, said Father Hughes, but starvation is forcing people to eat the seed yams. Holiday Season Warning Father Hughes is one of two Holy Ghost missionaries who came to America to tackle the fund raising task. While In Rochester he confer- red with religious leaders, and rep- resentatives of three Nigeria-Biafra relief groups — Operation Medicorps and Emergency Relief for Nigeria-Bi- afra, both of Rochester, and mem- bers of a newly-formed citizens' com- mittee from Syracuse. \American public opinion is becom- ing more and more vocal on the situ- ation,\ noted the missionary. Political leaders have reported they are re- ceiving a very high volume of letters, postcards, telegrams and phone calls.\ Concerning the death rate, Father Hughes noted that the upswing in the famine has been studied and con- firmed by U.S. and European relief organizations including UNICEF, Caritas, Church World Service, In- terchurch Relief Organization, Nord- churchaid, and others. By FR. RICHARD TORMEY Local newspapers in the communi- ties of the Rochester Diocese deserve a journalistic zero for poor report- ing of the Pastoral Letter of the U.S. Bishops, \Human Life in Our Day.\ The 11,000 word letter, Issued to the nation's press services on Friday evening, Nov. 15, covered a variety of subjects of intense importance and interest to the Catholic families who constitute between more than 30 percent of the population of the 12 counties of this diocese. But the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle used only EIGHT sen- tences the next morning on page 9, to record the Bishops' words on birth control, conscience, family life, war and peace, and conscientious objec- tion. Only ONE sentence mentioned the momentous 180-8 vote affirming that contraception is an objective evil. The Rochester Times-Union on that Saturday evening carried only 10 sen- tences on the contraception issue, on page two, without a direct quote. The Elmlra Star-Gazette never mentioned the Bishops' significant letter in eithor the Saturday or Sun- day editions which thousands of Southern Tier Catholics read care- fully. The Auburn Citlxen-Advextlser did have the story on page one of Its Saturday isiue, but used only FIVE sentence* in a 15 paragraph story to report to Auburn-area Catholic read- ers what the Bishops said about birth control. The Ithaca Journal used twelve paragraphs on page one to carry the Associated Press \guess-story\ on Friday evening before the Bishops' letter was issued. It summarized the whole document in less than 10 sen- tences on page 17 In its Saturday is- sue. Two lessons seem obvious from this survey: 1. These secular papers, which had carried brief daily news reports from the Bishops' Washington meeting speculating on what the pastoral let- ter might say on the burning birth control question, did not like to an- nounce that the Bishops had given strong support to Pope Paul's con- (Continued on Page 2) \V- - Don 'tGet 'Conned' Out of Your Money! ! JUUUULM1I]«IUUUUUU\\\\\\\\^-^ IJJUX>JUJ ' The diocesan Centennial Sup- pUmeni, mailed to all sub- scribers last week, has been praised for content and style. Extra copies are available: send 35 cents to Courier- Journal, 35 Scio Street, Roch- ester, 14604. Get a copy for friends who are non-subscrib- ers, for people who have moved out of the diocese, for students away at school. \ Gramcsmax By CARMEN VIGLUCCI Suppose you're an old lady, the kind who still gets excited over Christmas. Your heart is filled with thoughts of love and charity during the^ holy season. And you've been saving all year, probably at a bank Christmas Club, and soon you will go down to draw out your cash for shopping. You are a mark. Rochester Police Chief William M. Lombard warns that, unfortunate though it may be, this is the season to'TJe wary of friendly-appearing strangers. \Bunko artists, confidence men, just plain professional thieves be- come more prevalent at. this time of the year,\ lie warned. Heavy shopping crowds, including many people with large sums of money, are ideal working conditions for this type of crook, he said. \Although anyone could be a vic- tim of the con man, old ladies by themselves are particularly good tar- gets for such a thief who will wait near a bank to spot his prey,\ The '^handkerchief drop\ is a fav- orite ploy of the con man. He (not always alone) will ap- V proach hto victim carrying what pur- ports to be cash wrapped in paper or in an envelope. He will tell his target that he just found the money and will split it with her and a third party if ahe will put up so much money. When she does, he leaves to pick up me other \partner\ taking the lady's money but leaving behind his package as a sign of good faith. Generally the victim will wait for 1 hours before she even opens the pack- age to find it consists of worthless scraps of paper. By the time she noti- fies police, the thief, usually a tran- sient, will be long gone from the city. Sound too simple? Sad facts prove it works. Remember the con man, and it may be • woman, fa generally an amiable, disarming person who knows the play up to emotion, wheth- er It be goodwill or greed. Also at this tune of the year, a knock at the door may Introduce you to a bunko artist masquerading as a solicitor for a charitable organization. Most solicitors are bona fide, Chief Loinbard points out, and check In with the police bureau even though no license is required in Rochester for charitable solicitation. But if you have any doubt about the validity of any solicitor call your local police department, Chief Lom- bard stresses. Msgr. John F. Dufffr of the dioce- san office of the Society of the Propagation of the Faith, said he has the conviction that \like Ivory soap, 99 and 44-100s per cent of mail soli- citations from Catholic groups are genuine.\ However, he adds that if you have any doubt call his office for verifi- cation. Milton A. Kotzin, chief of admin- istration services for the U.S. Post Office, says that although confidence men try to use the mails in phony- making schemes there Is no evidence of any particular surge of this at Christmastime. Nevertheless it is good practice to use common sense on mail solicita- tion. Beware of something-for-nothing offers and if the name of the organi- zation means nothing to you chock it out before you send any money or commitment
