South Texas Catholic (Corpus Christi, Tex.), Vol. 16, No. 5, Ed. 1 Friday, June 20, 1980 Page: 4 of 12
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Texas Gulf Coast Register/South Texas Catholic and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the UNT Libraries.
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Page i
Tc'xa's'Cathiolit
Frrday;Junc?20,',iS30
Welcome to Cubans
Bv the time this issue of the South
Texas Catholic reaches ycu. some
Cuban refugees may have already been
resettled in the Corpus Christi diocese
through the initiative of Catholic
Charities.
As is always the case when
immigrants arrive in the United States,
some voices are raised in protest. It
happened between the years 1880 and
1020 when hundreds of thousands of
Italians. Germans, Slavs, and Russian
Jews landed in our port cities. It
happened in the late 1970’s when the
Indochinese fled their battered
homelands And it is happening today.
Rut there is no need to fear the
Cuban exile.
Cunt ran to the impression created by
some news reports, the vast majority of
rhr Cubans are law abiding, productive,
ami rag- r m accept the challenges and
res|w|n.sibilnies of American life.
1 he influx of the Cubans should in no
wax i uusc concern for our economic
set u* v We remain basically strong
r<oiionm alls and Cubans willing to
work < an only strengthen us more
far Irom fearing the Cubans, we
opinion
should be honored bv their presence.
What greater compliment can a nation
receive than the sight of thousands of
people risking injury and death to share
in the promise of America? In coming to
our shores, these men, women, and
children have at once demonstrated the
failure of Communism and affirmed the
human desire for freedom.
Finally, we must remember that the
voices of fear and protest raised against
the Cubans were also raised against our
grandfathers. There is no “native
American. except perhaps the
American Indian.
As a Church and as Americans, we
should welcome these new immigrants
in the spirit of loving concern and
friendship To do otherwise would be to
deny our Christina beliefs and our
American heritage. J.M.F.
PRISON CONVERSION — Thomas Stewart, an inmate a: the House of
Correction in Philadelphia became a convert to < at holicism after nine months
of instructions. Father Francis Menei administer d bapi ism, confirmation and
Communion to Stewart during Mass at the institui ion i N( Photo bv Robert S.
Halvev)
Broadening the issues
By Dali Francis
A Catholic columnist who thinks
conservatives are finagling pro-life
people into supporting right-wing
politic s bv appearing to be championing
right to l fc. says Catholics led to accept
the conservative leadership should
examine that movement according to
the soc ial teachings of the Church.
Id go along with that I'd go a step
further I'd say that Catholics,
conservative, mode* no. liberal or
whatever, should be doing the same
thing As we make our political choices
this fall, we should lie examining a wide
rat.,.' oi issues.
Rut you know what'1 Mostk when you
hear the- advice given that it is not
enough to consider only a singh issue or
a narrow range of issues, it is directed
towatefs people committed to the
pro life movement
1 guess I understand that The
pro life people are the most fervently
dedic atecl to their c ause. In a world in
which keeping your cool is deemed a
virtue and decisions are supposed to
appear cerebral rather than emotional,
pro life people stand out They care
about what they believe.
So they are the- ones who get the
advice to examine the whole range of
issues, they are the ones who are told to
examine the political views of those they
support according to the social
teac hings ol the Church
1 sav that’s fine, hut let’s everybody do
t hat
hirst of all. though, we better all
recognize some political realities. It isn’t
likely that anv of the political parties arc-
going to come up with positions that in
every aspect fulfill all the requirements
of Catholic social doctrine. So. whether
you vote conservative, independent or
liberal, you're going to find some
political aspects that aren’t everything
you might want them to be.
So it seems to me that vou make
dec isions according to priorities. Not all
of us are going to make the same
decisions. Catholics aren't all going to
vote for the same candidates. That's not
really because they accept different
principle's but because they differ on
how those principels can be
implemented
Take the issue of peace I'd think all
of us are for peace. But we mav differ
on how peace can best he achieved.
•me think that in a world in which
Soviet military power has expanded and
Soviet aggression is an observable fact
that peace can be best achieved by
making certain we have the power to
detei reckless expansion of aggression
Others think that we already possess
suffice in military sttc-ngth and anv
growth m military power onlv increases
the possibility of eventual armed
encounti i So we have two opposing
opinions hut both ate dedicated to the
princ iple of keeping the- peace
Wed ptohablv all agree- to the
desirability of disarmament. certainly
Pope John Paul II has urged it. But here
again there are honest differences on
how this can he achieved Some sav we
must risk taking a lead although not
many would urge- wc act uni I aic-ria 11 v .
But others sav every step towards
disarmament must lie accompanied bv
guarantee's of equal disarmament bv the
Soviet Union with means for monitoring
compliant e
Catholics are probably all agreed
there must he tone--rn lor and prov ision
for the poor, the handicapped, the
aged. But there will he disagreement on
how tins (,m be best carried out The-
point I am living to make is that even
when t lie i e i-. agteement on Catholic
social ptmciples there can he valid
disagreement on how these principles
are to be implemented
(Sec- 1 SSI’ FS, pg. 5)
Washington letter
The Packwood ‘enigma’ grows
By Jim Lackey
WASHINGTON (NC) Because of
his positions . •> abortion and tuition tax
credits. Sen. Bob Packwood (R-Ore.)
for years has been something of an
enigma to the traditional Catholic
voter
Pat L wood's strong support of a
woman's right to choose an abortion has
placed hint high on the enemies list of
the right-to-life movement. But he also
has been a leader, along with Sen.
Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-N.Y.), of
the effort to secure tuition tax credits,
making him a hero among non-public
school officials and parents.
The senator’s enigma level, at least
among pro-lifers, may have gone up a
couple of notches recently when he
came out in favor of the practice of
political action committees which
announce candidate “hit lists” and then
do everything possible to see the
incumbent defeated.
Packwood. up for re-election this
year, is on several right to life hit lists,
along with senators such as Birch Bayh
(D-lnd.). John Culver (D-Iowa) and
George McGovern (D-S.D.).
At issue is a ruling by the Internal
Revenue Service earlier this year that
taxpayers making contributions to
political organizations conducting
“negative campaigns” should not be
eligible for the tax credits which
currently are available for political
contributions.
The IRS contends that such
contributions do not fit the purpose of
the tax credits, whkh the IRS said were
designed to stimulate citizen participa-
tion in the active candidacies of
individuals for office.
In addition, the Federal Election
Commission has been asked to
promulgate a new rule requiring
“negative campaign" organizations,
such as some pro life politica? action
committees, to inform citizens in all
fund solicitations that their contribu-
tions to the organization are not eligible
for the tax credits.
But Packwood, in a speech on the
Senate floor in May, objected.
“I completely understand the concern
that certain of my colleagues have about
the effectiveness of campaigns designed
to challenge them in their bid for
re-election," said Packwood, remarking
that he too has been “targeted for defeat
bv 'c<■ = i' .it ivr single-interest organ
izatio: n,om nntahlv right to life
gro'uj -
Pat .......I a p'tmc author of the tax
credit le^i-dat ton (onterded that the
IRS t;.iv< an extremely narrow
inierpii t.iiioii to congressional inten
lions when Gongiess treated the credits
in 1 97 s
“The I RS fails to recognize the role of
negative contributions as a legitimate
part of broad citizen participation in
campaigns "said Packwood.
"As a matter of common sense, it
seems that any expenditure against one
candidate does, in fact, further the
candidacy of that candidate's op-
ponent." he noted.
He also charged that the IRS ruling
(See PACKWOOD, pg. !i)
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Freeman, Robert E. South Texas Catholic (Corpus Christi, Tex.), Vol. 16, No. 5, Ed. 1 Friday, June 20, 1980, newspaper, June 20, 1980; Corpus Christi, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth840896/m1/4/?rotate=270: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .