What was in the news on Sept. 1, 1961? A request to return religion to public schools, and German sister’s cure at Lourdes ruled a miracle

By Brandon A. Evans

This week, we continue to examine what was going on in the Church and the world 50 years ago as seen through the pages of The Criterion, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary.

Here are some of the items found in the September 1, 1961, issue of The Criterion:

• Asks return of religion to U.S. public schools
  • “CINCINNATI—A way must be found to restore religion to public education, Archbishop Karl J. Alter of Cincinnati said here. Addressing the International Federation of Catholic Alumnae at its 47th anniversary convention in Cincinnati, he said that the removal of religion from public schools and colleges has made most Americans ‘religiously illiterate.’ ‘The consequence is a low but inevitable erosion of Christian principles and a concomitant deterioration of morals,’ he added. The archbishop predicted that, in the next 50 years, the American people ‘will demand some new approach to the moral and spiritual training of their children.’ ”
• Enrollment soars: School bell to ring September 6
• ‘Silence indefensible’: Says race prejudice must be condemned
• Labor Day Masses set in three communities
• Stresses teachers’ duty to ecumenical movement
• The lay apostolate and the coming Council
  • “Around the world, hopes are running high that the Fathers of the forthcoming Ecumenical Council will have something positive to say about the role of the layman. And there is good reason to believe that these hopes are well-founded. In response to the calls of modern popes, laymen have begun to shoulder more and more responsibility for action. Indeed, the question is no longer whether laymen can bear the responsibility of carrying the Christian message into everyday life, but how far to go.”
• Conference set in Greece: Unity, lay participation are on Orthodox agenda
• Feels Catholic lay groups are not apostolic enough
• Biblical scholars warned by prelate
• Finland’s third priest since Reformation set for ordination
• Believes atheism spells Red doom
• Deplores ‘cult of vulgar’ in U.S. religious art
• Issue Handbook of Regulations for schools
• British government aids Catholic schools
• German sister’s cure at Lourdes ruled a miracle
• Warns individualism hurts the Church today
• Christians lecture Jewish congress
• Sister Formation project lauded by Vatican official
• Lutherans bypass school aid issue
• Heed Pope’s teachings, Latin America urged
• He made up own mind, Delaney says
• Too much for Reds to believe
• Greater stress on liturgy is seen among Protestants
• Ask Kennedy to free jailed freedom riders

(Read all of these stories from our September 1, 1961, issue by logging on to our special archives.) †