August 5, 2016

What was in the news on August 5, 1966?

Church opposition to prayer in public school, and clergy helping quell race violence

Criterion logo from the 1960sBy 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.

Here are some of the items found in the August 5, 1966, issue of The Criterion:
 

  • Stand up and speak out, U.S. religious are told
  • School prayer amendment draws strong opposition
    • “WASHINGTON—Amending the Constitution to permit voluntary prayer in public schools ‘would be a profound mistake,’ the dean of the Boston College Law School told a Senate subcommittee here. Father Robert F. Drinan, S.J., led off testimony before the Senate subcommittee on constitutional amendments, which is holding hearings on Sen. Everett Dirksen’s proposal to allow public school officials ‘to provide for and permit’ voluntary participation in prayer. Four of the first five witnesses opposed the proposed amendment. In a statement read before the subcommittee on Wednesday, Indiana Methodist Bishop Richard C. Raines warned that ‘any tampering with the First Amendment might open a Pandora’s Box of religious sects competing with each other to use the public classroom as a battleground for the minds of the young.’ The churchman, who was unable to appear in person because of plane scheduling difficulties, said that ‘he failed to see how the Dirksen amendment would increase the power of religion in national life. Father Drinan called the amendment an emotional response to the Supreme Court decisions banning compulsory prayer and Bible-reading in public schools. A public school, he said, ‘is a school whose only religious orientation is that it has no religious orientation.’ ”
  • Baltimore clergy help to quell race violence
    • “BALTIMORE—Clergymen were given much of the credit for calming a racially tense area of Baltimore that was rocked by violence after segregationist rallies. Some 55 priests and ministers fanned out over the danger area, visiting residents in their homes and urging them not to attend the fourth in a series of rallies scheduled by the National States’ Rights Party.”
  • French priest’s books won’t get imprimatur
  • Hierarchy denounces apartheid
  • Low-cost housing loan given city
  • Pope enumerates virtues for peace
  • Polish cardinal can’t come to U.S.
  • School calendar being changed in Colombia, Benedictine writes
  • English Benedictines resume ancient apostolate in Sweden
  • Oldenburg schedules investiture and vows
  • Leadership workshop is held at the Woods
  • U.S. Jews told to follow Catholicism example
  • What council said on Catholic Action
  • Tennis tourney set to wind up this Saturday
  • Research program seeks vocation data
  • Vernacular texts need some refining
  • Recruit married deacons
  • Worker-priest experiment
  • Indianapolis parish organizes three YCS sections
  • Raps speculation: Rome paper hits ‘vulgarized’ approach to birth control
  • Knights of Columbus set Supreme Council
  • Woods nun takes part in Asia seminar
  • Survey conducted: Impact of our Catholic schools seen dependent on good homes
  • Suggests reorganization of Italian dioceses
  • Says ‘false impression’ given on school study

(Read all of these stories from our August 5, 1966, issue by logging on to our special archives.) †

Local site Links: