Awake!, February 8, 1963
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What Is Relevant Religion?
Fetishism’s Grip on Africa
The Catholic Church Examines Herself
Ways to Care for Your Wood Furniture
FEBRUARY 8. 1963
THE MISSION OF THIS JOURNAL
News sources that are able to keep you awake to the vital issues of our times must be unfettered by censorship and selfish interests. “Awake!'' has no fetters. It recognizes facts, faces facts, is free to publish facts. It is not bound by political ambitions ar obligations; it is unhampered by advertisers whose toes must not be trodden on; it is unprejudiced by traditional creeds. This journal keeps itself free that it may speak freely to you. But it does not abuse its freedom. It maintains integrity to truth.
“Awake!" uses the regular news channels, but is not dependent on them. Its own correspondents are on all continents, in scores of nations. From the four corners of the earth their uncensored, on-the-scenes reports come to you through these columns. This journal's viewpoint is not narrow, but is international. It is read in many nations, in many languages, by persons af all ages. Through its pages many fields of knowledge pass in review—government, commerce, religion, history, geography, science, social conditions, natural wonders—why, its coverage is as broad as the earth and as high as the heavens.
“Awake!’' pledges itself to righteous principles, to exposing hidden foes and subtle dangers, to championing freedom for all, to comforting mourners and strengthening those disheartened by the failures of a delinquent world, reflecting sure hope for the establishment of a righteous New World.
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God Made Out of One Man AU Nations 3
What Is Relevant Religion?
A Prediction Come True
Fetishism’s Grip on Africa
The Catholic Church Examines Herself
The Mont Blanc Road Tunnel
Why Worry?
Ways to Care for Your Wood Furniture
ENTS
Wiser than Theologians
The “Chocolate Tree”
Why a Crocodile Swallows Stones
“Your Word Is Truth”
What Is Included in the Rainbow Covenant?
Watching the World
Volume XL1V London, England, February 8, 1963 Number 3
AS THE inspired apostle Paul told the Athenian philosophers assembled on Mars Hill: “[God] made out of one man every nation of men, to dwell upon the entire surface of the earth, and he decreed the appointed seasons and the set limits of ... men.” Since the Bible also shows that at the time of the Deluge only Noah and his family survived, it must follow that all mankind today descended not only from Adam but also from Noah.—Acts 17:26; Gen. 7:23.
That all mankind has a common origin is also confirmed by science. “There is only a single human species,” says Dobzhansky in his Genetics and the Origin of Species. “Man is a single biological species,” according to The Encyclopedia Americana, Vol. 23, pp. 108, 109. Thus it is that, while the blood of humankind can be typed according to certain basic groups, these have nothing whatever to do with race. In fact, members of the very same family often have different blood types.
Noteworthy in this regard also is the fact that all babies hegin life with the same kind of cries regardless of race or language. Differences become apparent only as they begin to be taught to speak.
In view of these plain facts, both Scriptural and scientific, how mistaken was the Baptist group that passed a resolution to this effect: “True Bible believers, North, South, East and West, hold to the truth that God divided the races and intended them to remain so.”
Not only mistaken, but also how unchristian is the attitude of those who make an issue out of race differences and use this as an ex
cuse for discrimination! This is an attitude that is more prevalent than most people realize, as was brought home when Jehovah’s witnesses recently held an assembly in the Irvington, New Jersey, High School auditorium. The president of the Board of Education, which had granted the Witnesses permission to use the auditorium, pointed out to critics that it was the policy of the board to grant the use of the facilities of the school to any community organization, regardless of religion, and that failure to do so in the case of the Witnesses would have been morally and ethically unsound. But these facts did not prevent certain ones in Irvington from creating a furor in the community. Such as the one who telephoned the police department: "I’m gonna set off a bomb at the Irvington High School at 4 o’clock this afternoon!” Why? The Irvington, New Jersey, Herald, September 13, 1962, answers: “Specific target: a convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Even more specific target: the Negro members of the convention, comprising the majority of close to 2,000 Witnesses in attendance over the weekend.”
COMING IN THE NEXT ISSUE
Why Peace Plans Fail.
Planning a Budget.
The Historic Khyber Pass.
You Are Wonderfully Made.
“The Police Headquarters,” the Herald. continued, “was peppered with a number of calls as the three-day convention—Friday through Sunday afternoon—continued. . . . Mostly unprintable. Stinging the ears of the cops used to tough talk. The obscenities turned some stomachs.” The members of the Board of Education were bombarded with such phoned questions as: “Hello, is this the colored funeral home?” “Hello, is this the colored doctor’s office?” Even the mayor of Irvington was influenced by this display of racial prejudice and criticized the Board of Education for having permitted the Witnesses to use the high school auditorium. Fittingly, the Herald called for apologies on the part of those having manifested this racial bigotry and intolerance.
Irvington, New Jersey, professes to be a Christian community. But how far removed all this display of racial prejudice is from the example set by Jesus Christ for his followers! In his day the Jews looked down upon the Samaritans in exactly the same way that some whites today look down upon Negroes. But not Jesus. When he was resting at the well of Sychar, a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus asked her for a drink. Such a thing was unheard of.
No wonder the woman asked Jesus: “How is it that you, despite being a Jew, ask me for a drink, when I am a Samaritan woman?” Yes, this was most unusual: “For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans,” John goes on to inform us. Jesus, however, did. He was not affected by popular prejudices and so proceeded to preach to her.—John 4:7-26.
In fact, it might be said that Jesus went out of his way to make this point to his Jewish listeners who did practice discrimination, rubbing it in, as it were. A case in point is his illustration of the Good Samaritan, in which he contrasted the neighborly love of the despised Samaritan with the cold indifference of the highly regarded priest, and Levite. No question about his prejudiced listeners feeling un-
comfortable at the point made by Jesus in that parable. And when Jesus on another occasion had cured ten lepers, and the only one to return and express gratitude
was a Samaritan, Jesus called attention to that fact.—Luke 10:29-37: 17:11-19.
Jesus Christ believed that God had made out of one man all nations and races. He gave his life for all of them. His followers believed as Jesus did, even as can be seen by the words of the apostle Paul. Racial prejudice flies in the face of the Scriptural commands: “You must love your neighbor as yourself.” “Just as you want men to do to you, do the same way to them.”—Mark 12:31; Luke 6:31.
However, while keeping free from racial prejudice themselves, those with faith in God and Jesus Christ are not obligated to try to force others to act the same way. Neither Jesus nor his apostles engaged in social reform. They knew better than to try to put a new patch on an old garment. They concentrated on preaching God’s kingdom and were content to wait upon Jehovah until his due time to end all unrighteousness. That was and is the wise course.—-Rom. 12:19.
i(,rT'HE story of Christianity’s retreat is I more than one of numbers. It is a story of a church that has become largely complacent and irrelevant.”1 This criticism by clergyman James Pike is a basic complaint that has been voiced in recent years by many clergymen who are becoming acutely aware that something is seriously lacking in the churches of Christendom. But what do they mean when they say that the church is irrelevant? Do they mean that Christianity is a misfit in this twentieth century?
When using the word “church,” religious leaders have in mind the collective body of churches throughout the world that profess to be Christian. They regard this collective body as representative of Christianity. Their failure to touch the lives of the common people and to provide dynamic leadership in this confused and frightened world causes them to feel that the churches, as a whole, are irrelevant, that is, they are not related to the problems of our day. This was pointed out by Dr. Lawrence D. Folkemer, a Lutheran clergyman who was a professor of religion at George Washington University. He said:
“In a period of our history when we are witnessing the greatest revival of interest in religion . . . never has Christianity been so ineffective and irrelevant. Our Christian faith is equally distant and out of touch with the really perplexing and knotty problems of modern society. The distance between our professed faith and our daily performance is astronomical.”—Gazette and Daily, York, Pa., March 19, 1960.
The famous German clergyman Martin Niembller pinpointed the reason for the failure of Christendom’s churches to be relevant when he said, as reported by the newspaper Rems-Zeitung of January 14, 1952: “We have attempted to change the gospel into a program of human wisdom, instead of carrying out God’s real program. God’s message indicates only one way to help the world: to do the will of Christ; in other words, to do that which we have not been doing in Europe throughout the centuries.”
Christianity Misjudged
It is a grave mistake to equate Christianity with the churches of Christendom and say their failure is the failure of .Christianity. Christianity is not in retreat. It is not irrelevant. What Christ taught over 1900 years ago is just as pertinent in this twentieth century as it was in the first century. True Christianity is steadily spreading. That which is in retreat and is irrelevant is religious Christendom. She has failed to give Christ a hearing ear and has substituted human wisdom for the divine wisdom that he taught his followers.
Dominated by human philosophy, psychiatry, nationalism and endless socials, Christendom’s churches are a far cry from the zealous Christian organization of the first century. It was fired with missionary zeal and had an unquenchable thirst for knowledge of God’s Word. What a contrast that is with the churches whoso members, as a whole, are so uninterested in God’s Word that they make little or no effort to learn what is in it, much less to apply its principles to their living.
Christians of the first century obeyed Jesus’ command: “Keep on, then, seeking first the kingdom and his righteousness.” (Matt. 6:33) They expended their energies in the service of God. Unlike these true Christians, the members of Christendom’s churches, as a whole, expend their energies on irrelevant activities that have nothing to do with the worship and service of God. Commenting on this point, the Canadian magazine Maclean’s of February 25, 1961, said: “Almost without exception the new churches and their young suburban families have placed great emphasis and value on their auxiliary activities^—Boy Scout, Cub and Girl Guide groups, men’s clubs, women’s clubs, teenage clubs, sports and special classes that have no formal connection with the Scriptures.”
The stirring truths that Jesus taught have been so watered down with worldly wisdom and personal views of religious leaders that there is little resemblance between the Christianity that Jesus instituted and the Christianity that is professed today by the great body of religious organizations of Christendom. Since they have lost sight of the goal Christ set before his followers, it is not surprising that they have become preoccupied with things that are wholely irrelevant to Christianity and to man’s spiritual needs. On this point Canadian clergyman R. H. Nicholson said, according to the Telegraph-Journal of Saint John, New Brunswick, of April 11, 1960: “The objective of the church has deteriorated, the goal has been lost sight of, and today fun or entertainment is being stressed rather than the high ideals of the church.”
What Jesus Christ taught his followers was relevant religion. It touched the lives of the people of the first century, causing thousands to make drastic transformations in their way of living. This was for their own good as well as for the good of the community. But more important than that, it directed their attention to God and channeled their energies into his service.
Notwithstanding the great advance in technology that has taken place since the first century and the knotty problems this has brought, Christianity is still pertinent to man’s needs. It is an uplifting religion that gives man high standards to live by and high ideals to guide him. It builds up his trust in God, his respect for divine laws and his desire to maintain integrity to the heavenly Father. It shows him the way to good relations with his fellowman and to peace and unity. The basic features of Christianity that Jesus gave to his followers in a sermon delivered on a mountain make evident its practicalness for our day.
Sermon on Mountain
In his sermon Jesus revealed that Christianity is a religion that is centered on God, not on man. He set the example in what he told his followers by constantly directing their attention to his heavenly Father. At the very beginning of his sermon he pointed out the necessity of being aware of one’s need for God and for nourishing spiritual instruction. He said; “Happy are those conscious of their spiritual need, since the kingdom of the heavens belongs to them.” (Matt.5;3) Aconscious-ness of that need can be stimulated in people by bringing Christian truths to them.
The model prayer Jesus gave also put God in the place of first importance as would be expected in a religion that is centered around Jehovah. It asked for his name to be sanctified, for his kingdom to come and for his will to take place, “as in heaven, also upon earth.” (Matt. 6:10) With God at the center of Christianity,, all its activities in the first century were related to him and his purposes. This cannot be said for the collective body of religious organizations in Christendom.
It is a common practice for religious organizations of Christendom to overemphasize what a person can get from religion rather than what he owes to God. Human salvation, which is a marvelous expression of God’s love, is magnified to such proportions that God’s name, the vindication of that name, his purposes and the undefiled worship of him are crowded into the background and generally lost sight of. This centering of religion on man rather than on God is one of the things that makes the religion of the churches irrelevant. Note what clergyman Pike confessed about this: “We have tended to make religion man-centered, rather than Godcentered. For years, writings and sermons have said, ‘Religion is good for you.’ ” —Look, December 20, 1960.
Jesus went on to mention in his sermon the godly traits that Christians are expected to cultivate. He said they should be mild-tempered, merciful and peaceable. They should also hunger and thirst for righteousness, be pure in heart and be willing to endure reproach and persecution for the sake of righteousness. These are practical things that touch the lives of the common people and guide them in the way of good relations with God and of peaceful living with one another.
Jesus stated that his followers “are the salt of the earth.” (Matt. 5:13) Salt is a symbol of purity, incorruptibility and permanence. In a world rotten with corruption, true Christians stand out as the only ones who bring joy to God for maintaining integrity to him and for living by the principles he has laid out in his Word. Those incorruptible principles form their moral standard, which protects them from the distasteful practices of the world. The Scriptural truths they preach are pure, upbuilding and spiritually healing, having a wholesome effect upon people.
But what happens when a Christian ceases to do the things that are right in the eyes of God? He ceases to be a seasoning element that is pleasing to God and that is good for mankind. Jesus went on to say: “But if the salt loses its strength, how will its saltness be restored? It is no longer usable for anything but to be thrown outside to be trampled on by men.” The religious community of Christendom finds itself in that position. It is like salt that has lost its flavor and therefore is, as clergymen admit, “complacent and irrelevant.” Instead of standing firm for what is right in the eyes of God against political rulers and popular practices, it obsequiously compromises so as to avoid being displeasing to men. Canadian clergyman Angus James MacQueen remarked: “Popular religion is very likely to be morally flabby, socially irrelevant and politically subservient.”—Maclean’s, February 25,1961.
Christians were instructed by Jesus to be like shining lights in a spiritually dark world. He said: “Let your light shine before men.” (Matt. 5:16) This is the light of truth that they received from him and from the Scriptures. As Jesus' disciples followed his example and preached the life-giving truths of Christianity, so all his followers today should preach them. This active involvement in Christianity makes the Christian religion an integral part of a Christian’s life. It gives him a program of spiritual activity that causes Christianity to live for him.
Christendom’s churches have failed to encourage their members to let the light of truth shine as the early Christians did. They have failed to provide for them the program of spiritual instruction and activity that Christ provided in the first century. They have limited the ministry to a select clergy class instead of training all their members to make “public declaration for salvation." (Rom. 10:10) Since they have failed to involve their members actively in Christianity, is it any wonder that large numbers of them are apathetic and seldom attend church? Is it any wonder that church membership is not keeping up with population increases? In the United States one million persons are added every year to the sixty-six million who have no church affiliation. More than half the population of twenty-four states have no religious ties. In 110 counties 80 percent of the population have none.
Human Relations
Love for God and love for neighbor are requirements that Christians are expected to meet. In his sermon Jesus extended this requirement to one’s enemies. ‘‘Continue to love your enemies and to pray for those persecuting you.” (Matt. 5:44) Instead of exercising this Christian love, church members in Christendom drop bombs on the homes of one another because of international political differences. Such murderous actions reflect the failure of Christendom’s religions, not the failure of Christianity.
The instructions Jesus gave regarding human relations are practical in this twentieth century; If professed Christians would follow them, living conditions in the nations of Christendom would be far superior to what they are. He mentioned the Scriptural law against murder and then expanded it by saying that a person would be held accountable for continuing "wrathful with his brother” and for addressing him "with an unspeakable word of contempt.” (Matt. 5:22) Such action would not be showing love and would not be peaceable.
It is not possible to have good relations when people pick at the imperfections they see in other people, refusing to make allowances for them. Jesus gave practical instruction when he said: “Stop judging that you may not be judged. Why, then, do you look at the straw in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the rafter in your own eye? Hypocrite! First extract the rafter from your own eye, and then you will see clearly how to extract the straw from your brother’s eye."—Matt. 7:1, 3, 5.
Although the religious bodies of Christendom admittedly practice a religion that is irrelevant, we are not to conclude that Christianity is in the same category. True Christianity is not irrelevant and it is not in retreat. It is pertinent to the problems and issues of our day, and it is pointing the way to good human relations and to permanent world peace. There is a vast multitude of people, not associated with the churches of Christendom, who are practicing Christianity as Jesus instructed his followers to practice it. They are exhibiting the same zeal and dynamism that was shown by the first-century Christians. Associated in a New World society, they are living proof that true Christianity is relevant in this twentieth century.
A Prediction COME TRUE
“If God spare my life, ere many years I will cause a boy that drives with a plow to know more of the Scriptures than the great body of clergy now know.”—William Tyndale, A.D. 1523.
By "Awak«r* correspondent in Ghana
GRIP on
the possession of this daughter by an unknown force seemed to be the fulfillment. , It portended her enrollment in one of the secret schools of fetishism, since no one can become a fetish priest or priestess without special training.
N African woman was going about her usual
business of selling dried fish in the public market. Suddenly a violent convulsion overwhelmed her entire body! When slightly recovered, she staggered through the maze of busy city streets as though beckoned by some unseen hand that led her to a fetish house. What caused this woman to be so possessed? What force directed her to the compound of a fetish priestess? For that matter, how can the strange grip that fetishism still holds on much of the African continent be explained?
Some years previously this woman’s wealthy father, who had no less than five wives, had visited a fetish-man because of a grave personal problem. He sincerely believed that the hate of some enemy caused most of his children to be born dead. In response to his request for advice and protection the fetish-man prescribed a personal fetish.
Chopped twigs from various tropical trees were bound together and placed in an earthen cooking pot, where they were generously anointed with the fresh blood of a chicken and a goat. After raw eggs and white clay were added, sharp knives were stuck into it. Finally, to give it power, a spirit was called to be the inhabitant of the fetish. With the prescription went a prophecy: One member of his family would be called to be its religious caretaker. Truly,
Schools of Fetishism
There are several hundred different systems of fetishism and each school has its own rites and methods. Infinite tribal variety is partly responsible for this diversity. A practice common in one tribe is foreign to another. But regardless of the fetish one believes in, each candidate for the priesthood is required to undergo a lengthy instruction period in one of the many obscure little schools. During this training direct communication with family or friends is forbidden. However, a young child is customarily used to exchange messages with the outside. Let us look in on a fetish school in Ghana.
The first day of school is highlighted by a celebration featuring singing, dancing and the sensual rhythm of drums, whose increasing tempo pulls the strings of emotion taut. As the excitement builds to a climax each student is profusely anointed with the warm blood of a freshly sacrificed goat, which streams over their heads and down their bodies in red rivulets. When the juice of certain plants is pressed into their mouth and eyes the frenzy really begins. Soon, clad simply in loincloths, they sink to the ground writhing. Next a carved wooden stool, recently sanctified by eggs, blood and clay, is presented to them, and the orgy is halted by splashing cool water over the students. We of soap is not permitted in this school, so their dusty bodies are wiped clean with a mixture made from herbs and roots. With the formalities of enrollment over, study begins.
Classes are arranged into distinct categories, such as secret language, motivational drumming, convincing acting, miraculous healing, casting spells and spirit communication. Each student learns to be a professional actor. He is taught to hold imaginary one-sided conversation with the spirit world in order to frighten the laity. The student also learns to give the impression of being deaf and blind as if possessed. Most of the time this appears to be a routine performance, but not always. The very nature of fetishism readily lends itself to actual demon possession, and there is much evidence that this is often the case. Of course, it is hard to say just when the possession is real, but the entire system is under demon influence since the fetish-men yield themselves to be agents of the spirits and profess to hold communion with them.
When the student has been thoroughly indoctrinated he is shaved bald and a newly sanctified idol is placed on his head for the walk home. There relatives and friends are waiting to celebrate with singing and dancing. The new idol is placed in its own private room, called the “gbatsu” in the Ga language. Only fetish priests dare to enter this room, because it is considered holy. In fact, Accra road builders have deviated from the planned path of a road when a “gbatsu” stood in their way.
Upon graduation from a fetish school the priest is expected to act as a combination religious adviser, professional consultant and family doctor for the rest of his life, Retirement is said to be unthinkable, but there are many former members who have given it up.
Professional Secrets
While outright demonism plays a significant part in fetishism, there is also considerable room for deception, and appropriately so, because the Devil is “misleading the entire inhabited earth.” (Rev. 12:9) A like situation exists in other lands where genuine spiritism competes with those employing fraud and tricks. In Africa clients are always impressed when the fetish priest displays knowledge of their personal affairs. However, this information does not necessarily come through spirit channels. A former fetish priestess who is now one of Jehovah’s witnesses disclosed that the information is often gathered by dispatching an aide to the priest nearest the home of the client. Upon his return the news is spoken in a secret language and then divulged as though revealed by the spirits.
The priest’s influence is also enhanced because of his thorough knowledge of herbs and their medicinal benefits. By use of this herbalistic knowledge many physical ailments are cured. Of course, the credit is given where it is desired, not where it is due.
Probably the most famous aspect of the African fetish-man is his alleged power to wish an enemy to death. Stark fear of the priests often has harmful effects in itself, but there are times when the priest’s power to harm is not at all mental. A case in point is the Tigare fetish in Ghana. National attention was focused on this group when it was learned that they were poisoning people. The Tigare priests would get a friend or relative of the victim to administer the poison, resulting in insanity or death.
On the whole, fetishism is largely a preventive measure. When Tigare was popular the people that trusted in it believed its power would protect them from the influence of evil spirits. Today it is mostly in the smaller villages that one can still find a Tigare shrine. Like its predecessors, such as Kwaku Firi, Tigare has lost much of its grip. As one fetish falls, another rises to take its place. Often the juju (charm or talisman) is nothing more than a pile of dried mud passed through the hands of a priest supposedly to impart all the supernatural powers that he is said to possess. Jujus may be composed of anything animal, vegetable or mineral. Similarly, some people buy Indian or American talismans for protection, and there are unscrupulous firms that specialize in exporting such charms.
Perhaps you arc wondering if Almighty God is ignored by believers in fetishism. Not quite. The average person recognizes the Creator but prefers to turn to one of the great mass of spirits that he believes are interested in human affairs. He believes that God has created these spirits and that it is proper to consult them and give them worship.
Like Christendom’s millions, the adherents of fetishism consider the human soul immortal. This belief is one of the main reasons for fetishism’s strong grip on Africa. However, they generally do not believe that the soul flits off to heavenly bliss at death. Their idea is that the soul simply returns home. That is why many people in the northern part of Ghana have buried their dead at the side of the house or under the dirt floor of their main room.
Breaking the Grip of Fetishism
In many parts of Africa fetishism is not as prevalent today as in the past. But where Christendom’s imitation Christianity has removed the fear of fetish, the result has been an increase in crime, dishonesty and disrespect for authority. This has caused some to advocate a return to fetishism. They say their forefathers believed in God and their people were loyal to one another, united in fear of the fetish.
However, there is a growing minority of men and women who have been freed from fetishism’s grip by the truth of Jehovah God’s Word, the Bible. In this inspired book they have learned that Almighty God has long been opposed to any kind of magic, witchcraft or spiritism, whatever its label. By conforming their lives to the principles of true Christianity these liberated peoples avoid crime, dishonesty and lawlessness. They have no need to consult fetish-men about personal problems, because Jehovah’s inspired Word is a lamp to their feet and a light to their roadway. (Ps. 119:105) Against the power of wicked spirit forces they have the “complete suit of armor from God,’’ the protection that He supplies. By following God’s Word they are able to stand against the machinations of the Devil and other wicked spirits.—Eph. 6:10-18.
Africans who worship Jehovah know that no spirit force can withstand the power of their God. At the time of the Flood Jehovah demonstrated his superiority over all wicked spirits. His Son, Christ Jesus, demonstrated superior power over the demons when he walked this earth. Since his return to heaven Christ has warred against Satan and his demons and hurled them down to the vicinity of the earth. (Rev. 12:7-12) Knowing that they have just a short remaining time, the wicked spirit forces are extremely active now. But those who trust in Jehovah will shortly witness the Armageddon defeat of all Satan’s organization. That victory will end fetishism’s grip on Africa.—Rev. 16:14,16.
SURROUNDED by the magnificent works of art in St. Peter’s Basilica, more than two thousand dignitaries of the Roman Catholic Church pondered over church problems from October 11 to December 8, 1962. This was the first grand assembly of the church's hierarchy since 1870 and the twenty-first of its kind, the first being the council of Nicaea, A.D. 325.
Officially, this assembly of cardinals, archbishops and bishops is called the Ecumenical Council Vatican II. It is the second of such councils to be held at the Vatican, the first being the one from 1869 to 1870. What was done during the thirty -four general congregations or meetings held until it recessed in December was just the beginning of its work. When it reconvenes on September 8, 1963, it will have many months of work yet to do. Some church councils have lasted for years. The Council of Trent, for example, spanned nineteen years and five papal reigns.
The cardinals, archbishops and bishops sat on two long rows of bleacher-like stands that faced each other. The stands were furnished with desks, kneelers and upholstered, foam-rubber chairs. Those for the cardinals were red and those for the others, green. Stretching for three hundred feet along the length of the central nave of St Peter’s Basilica, the stands reached from the front doors almost to the altar. In front of the altar was a dais upon which the pope’s throne rested, facing the council. Although he was seldom present during the tiring debates, he was able to follow the proceedings in his private quarters, which were connected with the public-address system.
Why Called?
Unlike other councils that were called to condemn what the church considered to be errors, this council was called for a very different reason. At its beginning Pope John XXIII indicated that it would make no condemnations. It appears that the Council is to be an effort by the Catholic church to examine herself. It is felt that changes are needed to bring her up to date and to bring about reform and renewal in her. Many of her officials feel that she would benefit from an ecclesiastical housecleaning. On one occasion when the pope was asked why he had called the Council, he is reported to have opened a nearby window and said: “To let some fresh air into the church.’’
On January 25, 1959, only a few months after his election to the papal throne, Pope John XXIII announced his intention of calling the Council. He is the only one in the church who has the authority to call her hierarchy together in an ecumenical council. If he should die before the Council has completed its work, it will automatically be interrupted and will not be able to reconvene until his successor calls it.
In addition to endeavoring to bring about some needed reforms, the Council will strive to improve the relations of the Catholic church with the Eastern Orthodox churches and with Protestants. The pope expressed the hope that it will prepare the way for a return of, what he calls, the “separated brethren.” By this expression he refers particularly to the Eastern Orthodox churches that have beliefs and practices very closely related to those of the Roman Catholic Church. Although union with Protestants is less likely, greater unity is hoped for.
As an indication that a better climate in her relations with other denominations is desired, leading denominations were invited to send representatives to the Council as observers. The nearly forty who came were personally welcomed by the pope and were given choice seats for observing the proceedings. All sessions were open to them, including those that were secret to the press and public. They were even given copies of the supersecret agenda and invited to offer criticisms and suggestions during the Council’s deliberations. Of course, they were to do that privately, as they were not permitted to participate in the discussions.
This was the first time since the Council of Trent in the sixteenth century that Protestants were permitted to be present at a council of the Catholic church. Attendance by representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church was the first contact between the two churches in over nine centuries.
Preparation
Shortly after Pope John XXIII made his announcement in 1959 of his intentions to call the Council, preparations got under way. Letters were sent to all church prelates of the rank of bishop and above and to hundreds of ecclesiastics that are especially well informed on church administration for suggestions of topics to be put on the agenda. From fifty-one countries nearly 9,000 suggestions came in.
To do the preliminary work, the pope formed new administrative machinery. He appointed a central preparatory commission, two secretariats and ten preliminary commissions. These labored to analyze the suggestions and to condense them into sixty-nine draft decrees and constitutions. The results were put into 119 booklets that totaled over two thousand pages and were sent to the prelates that were invited to come to Rome. They were expected to study the material and to convey their reactions to the Vatican a month before the Council was due to open.
Operation of the Council
Organizations had to be formed to ensure the smooth operation of the Council’s proceedings. Since the pope could not personally supervise all the discussions, a committee of ten cardinals was appointed to act as the Council’s presidium. This was the steering committee. Each cardinal presided over the sessions in turn.
Council operations began with the election of ten commissions to do the basic work for the Council. Of the twenty-four members making up each commission, eight were appointed by the pope. The head of each commission was a papal appointee, a cardinal of the Roman Curia, which is the powerful administrative arm of the church. By rejecting nominees for thecom-missions that were suggested by the Curia, the prelates made it clear from the very beginning that they had not come to Rome to be a rubber stamp for this group of cardinals at the Vatican. The 160 men who were finally elected to the working commissions hailed from forty-two countries, providing a good representation of worldwide Catholic thinking.
Voting was confined to the invited prelates, none of whom were female heads of orders. Only men voted. Their votes were indicated on special cards that were collected and taken to electronic computers that were installed in a soundproof room near the papal throne. In a matter of minutes the Council heard the results of its voting.
From the very beginning disagreement was so marked among the members of the Council that they could be classified into three groups—conservatives, moderates and progressives. Tire core of the conservatives is the Roman Curia under the leadership of Cardinal Ottaviani, who ranks second only to the pope as a church authority on matters of faith and morals. The conservatives oppose any changes in the church. In fact, Ottaviani even opposed the idea of calling the Council. The liberals or progressives, on the other hand, are strongly in favor of pronounced changes. They favor decentralization of power, with more autonomy for the bishops, liturgical reforms and revisions that would help the church meet the modern world, and a more liberal view on freedom of worship.
When the Council debated the draft decree on theology, the progressives wanted a complete redrafting of the document. They regarded the draft, which was prepared under the oversight of Cardinal Ottaviani, as nothing more than a restatement of the centuries-old principles of the church. To adopt this decree, they felt, would only widen the gap between Catholics and Protestants. Cardinal Bea contended that it “would close the door to intellectual Europe and the outstretched hands of friendship In the old and new world.”
The dispute over the decree on theology centered on the sources of revelation. The conservatives insisted that there are two distinct sources of revelation—the Scriptures and tradition. The progressives preferred to regard tradition as an exposition or interpretation of Scripture. For nearly two weeks the debate continued without apparent progress. Finally the pope stopped it and ordered the prelates to turn their attention to something else. The document was given to a special committee of eight cardinals and forty bishops. Their task will be the drawing up of a new draft decree on theology that might be more acceptable to a majority of the Council.
Replacing Latin with the vernacular was another cause for sharp differences of opinion. Progressive prelates believed that a liturgy in native languages would make it more understandable to the common people. The conservatives argued for the continued use of Latin. African bishops were strongly in favor of the vernacular. They argued that Latin is meaningless to practically all Africans.
Pope's Role
For the most part, the pope confined his role in the Council to that of a listener. Seldom did he interfere with the proceedings. However, when it became evident that the Council was making no progress in its debate of the theology draft, he overruled parliamentary procedure and ordered the debate halted. Ue took this action when prelates favoring that the document be shelved could not produce a majority vote of two-thirds to stop the debate from dragging on.
He dispensed with the two-thirds rule on another occasion too when he felt that elections were slowing down. He also felt compelled to interfere during the debate on a preface to a draft decree on sacred liturgy. It was apparent to him that the prelates had talked themselves out, so he called for a vote. The presidium was given his permission to end a debate by calling for a vote when the presidium felt that a subject had been sufficiently examined.
The prelates were surprised at the opening of the eighteenth congregation or meeting by the announcement that the pope had decreed that the name of Joseph be inserted in the Catholic mass immediately after that of Mary. This decree appears to have been precipitated by an incident in one of the Council’s congregations or meetings. A very elderly bishop, who is a personal friend of the pope, slowly argued the merits of Joseph, going past the allotted ten minutes. The presiding cardinal summarily cut him short. During the discussion a theologian remarked: “Half the world doesn’t even believe in God, and we worry about St. Joseph.” The pope took up the old man’s cause and formulated the decree.
The Council has no power in itself to bring about changes in the church. It is merely an advisory body that makes recommendations to the pope. The decrees it votes on become binding on all members of the Roman Catholic Church only after the pope has approved and promulgated them. A news release from the Vatican press service stated: "The absolute necessity for agreement of the majority of the bishops is not demonstrable. On the contrary, the pope may contradict decisions taken by an absolute majority of the bishops.”
What Was Accomplished?
There is uncertainty as to precisely what was accomplished by the first two months of the Council's deliberations because of the wraps of secrecy that were on most of the meetings. The prelates, the two hundred theological experts that were there for consultation and the Protestant observers were all sworn to secrecy. News reporters were exasperated at this and at the paucity of information supplied them by the Council’s press office.
It is known that the Council voted approval of the preface and first chapter of a draft constitution on sacred liturgy or public worship. These are believed to give bishops broader powers to sanction the use of the vernacular in church worship.
One of the results of the session has been a Protestant change of view regarding the power structure of the Roman Catholic Church. Protestants saw evidence that prelates did not hesitate to express disagreement with the Roman Curia, despite the powerful position it holds in the Vatican. They refused to be puppets to the Curia. A German theologian expressed the belief, when he returned from the Council, that there would now be a decline of the Roman Curia.
There can be little doubt that this introspective view that the Roman Catholic Church is taking of herself will have a profound effect upon the whole Catholic organization. How it will affect her relationship with Protestants and the Eastern Orthodox Church remains to be seen.
, V ■■ "■■■
CHINK, chink, chink! As the glass scraped along the rock eager Italian hands came forward to assist the first one from France out of the tunnel. Clink, clink, clink! Anxious French hands stretched out to aid the first one from Italy out of the subterranean passageway linking France and Italy under Mont
ROAD TUNNEL
CHAMONIX fi !■(
fry “Awake!" co rrej pendent in France
Blanc, the highest mountain in the Alps.
This unofficial inaugural trip took place on August 13, 1962. It was made through an eight-inch-wide, ten-foot-long hole in the rock, and the first “travelers” were a bottle of French champagne and a flask of Italian marsala wine!
The following day a 600-pound charge of dynamite blew down the ten-foot-thick wall of rock separating the French and Italian digging crews, and at 11:31 a.m. the plastic-helmeted miners who had been clawing their way toward each other for over three years were at last able to shake hands and give themselves a well-deserved pat on the back.
One month later, on September 15, the tunnel was officially inaugurated by French and Italian Prime Ministers Pompidou and helmets, they rode along the bumpy little railway used in the mining work, cutting ceremonial ribbons at each end of the tunnel. In his inaugural speech, Signor Fanfani expressed the hope that “this road will become a symbol of peace, intercourse and prosperity for all the nations associated within the framework of the Common Market and for all the nations of old Europe and the whole world.” Mon-
sieur Pompidou saw in the tunnel a tangible proof of Franco-Italian collaboration aimed at “building a united Europe.” Monsieur Dusseaulx, French minister of Public Works and Transport, said the tunnel would put an end to an anachronism: almost a thousand miles of frontier practically impassable for several months each year.
1787,
Paris—Rome UNDER the Alps!
This anachronism was foreseen nearly two hundred years ago. In when Swiss naturalist Horace de
Saussure and his French guide Jacques Balmat got back into Chamonix after having climbed Mont Blanc for the first time. De Saussure wrote in his journal: “The day will come when a carriageway will be dug under Mont Blanc and then the valleys of Aosta and Chamonix will he united." Looking down from the 15,781-foot summit of Mont Blanc, De Saussure had realized just how near these two Alpine valleys were and yet how far apart were their inhabitants. Although, as the eagle flies, only nine miles separated these valleys, only the most desperate smugglers or intrepid chamois hunters ever crossed from bne to the other without having to make a trip of over a hundred miles in the summer
Fanfani. Wearing the regulation plastic and even more in the winter.
The situation has improved little since De Saussure’s day, in spite of some very fine roads being built across several high passes, for most of these passes are blocked by snow during the winter months. As recently as January 11, 1961, a Le Monde reporter wrote; “To go from Courmayeur, in the valley of Aosta [Italy!, to Chamonix [France], only nine miles away, we had to travel by way of Turin, Modane and Chambery, a detour of about 125 miles. All the other roads, including both the Great and the Little Saint Bernard passes, with their long series of hairpin bends, have been blocked for the past three months. The road tunnel under Mont Blanc, which will shortly link up these two neighboring valleys, will put an end to this absurd situation.”
However, the Mont Blanc road tube will be more than just a convenience for the inhabitants of these French and Italian Alpine valleys. It will also cut by one-fifth the road travel time between Paris and Rome. At present, car drivers unwilling to ship their automobiles by rail through the Mont Cenis, Simplon or Saint Gotthard train tunnels must either drive over the Alps across high passes, most of which are snowbound from November through April, or go around the Alpine chain, along the French and Italian Rivieras. The new tunnel will enable motorists to drive from Paris to Rome under the Alps, at any time of the year.
There are at least three geographical reasons for choosing to bore through the Alps at this, their highest point. One is that Mont Blanc lies in a direct line drawn from Paris to Rome via Geneva, Turin and Genoa. Another is that no road passes are possible across the Alps for many miles on either side of this mountain giant. Finally, although Mont Blanc is the tallest of the Alpine peaks, it lies at one of the points where this mountain range has the narrowest base width, allowing for a shorter tunnel to be built than would have been required elsewhere. But even so, over seven miles of tunnel had to be dug, and this proved to be no small task.
Three Years’ Digging
The agreement between France and Italy for boring and operating this tunnel was signed away back in 1953, The Italian Parliament ratified the agreement the following year. Various vested interests succeeded in delaying ratification by the French legislative assemblies until 1957, and two more years passed before work got under way. Drilling and mining began on the Italian side on December 5, 1958, and on the French side on May 30, 1959.
Tunnel boring methods have come a long way during the past hundred years. Back in 1857, when the Mont Cenis train tunnel was due to be cut, drilling technique permitted the miners to progress a mere thirty inches a day. Three years after work got started on this tunnel, the pneumatic drill was invented, speeding things up somewhat. But even then, this tunnel, which is only slightly longer than the Mont Blanc tube, took fourteen years to complete. The average* daily advance was small compared with the production figure obtained by the digging crews working on the Mont Blanc tunnel, who progressed some thirty feet on an average day.
The boring process comprised four distinct operations; (1) Drilling holes into the rock; (2) plugging these holes with explosives; (3) blasting, and (4) clearing away the rock debris. This cycle was generally repeated three times a day, with shifts working around the clock.
On the French side of the mountain this work pattern was followed fairly regularly, since the French crew met up mostly with hard, dry rock. For the first operation—the drilling—they used a huge machine nicknamed “Jumbo.” This device, mounted on rails and weighing nearly a hundred tons, was rolled forward to the rock face, where its sixteen compressed-air drills were able to bore over a hundred holes in the rock in less than two hours. Each of these holes, one and three-quarters inches in diameter and some thirteen feet long, was then packed with explosives. “Jumbo” was rolled back 150 yards or so. After the explosion, mechanical shovels moved forward and dumped the splintered rock onto conveyer belts, which fed automatic wagon-fillers called “cherry-pickers.”
Ten electric locomotives plied back and forth evacuating trainloads of rock—some 2,000 tons a day—and hauling up to the “front line” cement, sand and broken stone. These ingredients were fed into a traveling concrete mixer operating continuously about one hundred yards back from the “front line.” As “Jumbo” drilled and blasted its way forward, the cementing crew followed it up, finishing off the walls and the roof of the tunnel.
Due to the terrific pressure on the rock (at one point there is 8,000 feet of rock above the tunnel), it was often necessary to “pin" the splintering surface to the sound rock underneath. The French alone planted no less than 168,000 such long metal spikes into the wails and ceiling of their half of the tunnel.
The French crew consisted of some 350 men. Comparatively few of these worked on the actual digging. Many more were handling transport supplies, ventilation, railway laying, maintenance, and so forth. In the rear, that is, at the tunnel’s entrance, a small-scale industrial complex grew up, including a compressed-air plant, an electric power station, a stone-crushing mill, a cement factory, a magazine of explosives and numerous workshops for sharpening the tungsten-steel drills and taking care of the . thousand and one jobs involved in such an undertaking.
The Italian crew was made up of about 600 workers. This far higher personnel figure is in itself indicative of a very curious fact: The two halves of the tunnel are quite different!
Geologists working on the project explain that this huge mountain, so massive and solid in appearance, is actually split into three distinct sections. The fissures run obliquely through the mountain and slope from France down into Italy. They therefore cut across the section of the mountain through which the Italian crew had to tunnel. Along these clefts in the rock water seeps down from the glaciers thousands of feet above. In fact, at some places in the Italian section of the tunnel, “seeps” is hardly the word for it; “gushes” would be more appropriate. A blasting carried out on December 10, 1961, released a flood of water flowing at the rate of over 300 gallons a second, or some 26 million gallons a day. Water in lesser quantities was encountered several times, requiring special measures to evacuate it.
In addition, the rock on the Italian side of the mountain was, generally speaking, of poorer quality than in the French half. The roof of the tunnel fell in several times. Due to the friability of the rock, the Italian crew were unable to use the powerful pneumatic drills mounted on the French "Jumbo.” They had to use smaller, man-operated drills. All this accounts for the larger-sized Italian crew and explains also why the Italian half of the tunnel was less far advanced toward completion than the other half at the time of the junction of the two crews.
Finally, on August 6, 1962, after three hard years of clawing toward each other, and when the two crews were still fifty yards apart, a special six-centimeter drill bored into this remaining wall and eventually “came through.” The meticulous calculations of the French and Italian engineers had proved correct. Both crews had done a fine job of precision digging and had met up as planned. Yet not without paying a heavy price. Accidents accounted for seventeen dead and many injured.
Europe's Longest Road Tunnel
Although it is named after western Europe’s highest mountain, the itinerary of the tunnel actually passes two and a half miles north of the summit of Mont Blanc. On the French side, it cuts into the mountain at the Alpine hamlet of Les Pelerins, perched up above the famous ski and mountaineering resort of Chamonix. Running in a southeasterly direction, it passes directly under the 12,680-foot summit of the Aiguille du Midi (famous for its cable railway, the highest one in the world), onward beneath the Glacier du Geant and the Geant Pass, where it crosses the frontier, and on into Italy, where it strikes daylight again at the village of Entreves, near Courmayeur in the valley of Aosta. It starts its journey at an altitude of 4,204 feet on the French side, and finishes it in Italy at a height of 4,750 feet.
With its 11,600 meters (a little over seven miles), the Mont Blanc tube cannot claim to have broken any records in length, several train tunnels through the Alps being still longer. But it will be Europe’s longest road tunnel by far. Its roadbed will be twenty-three feet wide and overhead clearance will be sixteen feet. Every 330 yards, there will be parking space for vehicles in trouble. These “garages” will be equipped with telephones and climatized cabins for stranded motorists.
Ventilation, one of the biggest problems in building road tunnels, will be insured by a system of ten huge pipes, eight pumping in fresh air and two sucking out the exhaust fumes. It is claimed that the tunnel will be able to handle 350,000 vehicles and 100,000 tons of freight a year. The trip through the tunnel, which will almost certainly be operated on a toll basis, will take just twenty minutes.
The Mont Blanc road tunnel is planned to be opened to the public early in 1964. Situated as it is near the French, Italian and Swiss borders and on the Paris-Rome axis, it is expected to become one of Europe’s main travel arteries.
The boring of this tube through the great white giant of the Alps has set off a campaign of road tunnel building throughout Europe. A tunnel is well on the way to completion under the Great Saint Bernard Pass between Switzerland and Italy, and other road tunnels are being planned under the Alps and the Pyrenees, not to speak of THE. big tunnel project that is fast gaining momentum: the tunnel under the English Channel. Thus, in addition to its economic and political efforts at unity, Europe is endeavoring to unite by connecting up its road networks. One might even be tempted to add that Europe appears to be having less trouble cutting through literal mountains—be they as massive as Mont Blanc—than in overcoming the mountainous obstacles to its economic and political unity. But, as Kipling would have said, that is quite another story.
4%
Do not stand there and worry; do something. If you cannot do something, then why worry?
to (fare Jor 9/our WOOD
PEOPLE and furniture are very much alike; both need individual attention if they are to look their lustrous best. This is true regarding young and old people, J and it is true regarding modern and antique furniture.
However, there is a great wealth of furniture that has been marred, scratched, faded, worn or outmoded so that its usefulness is impaired simply because of ignorance, indifference or neglect. Lovely pieces of furniture have become eyesores or discarded junk because of lack of know-how to rcfinish and restore them to their true value. Yet with a little imagination and by patient treatment old discarded, battered pieces can be restored to their former beauty. How?
A chair with a broken leg or arm or a missing brace is a sorry sight indeed. But do not throw it away. Mend it. Replace the brace. Tighten up the squeaky joints. If a leg is broken, it is usually best to replace it with a new one. However, you can try to glue back a piece broken off at a rung joint. Then refmish or repaint the chair and it will look like new.
If your tabletop is marred and scarred, instead of constantly apologizing for its condition, remove those eyesores. Go over the whole surface with a fine grade of steel wool. It will amaze you how fast you can get down to the wood and eliminate those ugly scars. If necessary, restain the top to match the sides, and seal the stain in with a coat of shellac. You will be rewarded for your hard work when the table sparkles back with a satisfying gleam.
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