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Salient: Victoria University Students' Paper. Vol. 29, No. 11. 1966.

Letters to the editor

page 2

Letters to the editor

Catholic press replies ...

Sir,—Your issue of July 15. which has only now come to my notice, contains a leading article, "Catholics on birth control: banned views," which takes the Catholic press in New Zealand to task for alleged suppression of news in not publishing a statement on Catholics and contraception attributed to Cardinal Doepfner. a vice-chairman of the Papal Commission on Birth Control.

The leading article, signed by "M.K.," was apparently contributed by your religious editor. Mike King. (An almost identical article appears in "Critic." the Otago University newspaper, in its issue of July 22. under the name Mike King, with the attribution "NZSPA Religious Reporter.")

I am sure you and your religious editor will be interested to know that the purported statement by Cardinal Doepfner was not, in fact, made by him. If you should wish to verify this you may consult the London Tablet (6/4/66, page 457; 30/4/66, page 514).

It has not, therefore, been a case of the Catholic press in New Zealand refusing (to quote your leading article) "to cooperate and disseminate statements from responsible parties." Quite the contrary. The Catholic press has shown a responsible journalistic attitude by having a healthy suspicion of the original news item, holding up publication until its reliability or unreliability could be established, and having its original judgment vindicated when the news item was discredited as unreliable. In other words, the Catholic press resisted the temptation to publish the sensational and instead, by its prudent inquiry, has better served the cause of truth than your leading article.

It is a pity that your religious editor and yourself have been put in the embarrassing position of publishing an indictment of the Catholic press for being in a sense irresponsible through suppressing news of value! only to have it emerge that the irresponsibility lies with yourselves in not having made elementary inquiries that would have spared your blunder.

Had your religious editor approached me I would gladly have informed him of the reasons for non-publication and furnished him with references to sources that would have established for him that the original news item had been discredited as unreliable. In the event, of course, since the basis of your leading article is a discredited news item, your whole article proves inaccurate and misleading.

In the interests of responsible journalism and truth, which. I am sure, are of vital interest to you, let me assure you that I will be only too ready at any time in the future to supply your religious editor with any information he may desire and make available to him, or any agent of his, source materials that might help him in his task of reporting the truth and craimenting on it in the religious field.

REV F. D. O'DEA,

Editor, New Zealand Tablet.

PM Delusions Beset Salient: An Apology

Sir,—We see on page four of Salient 10 a headline proclaiming "Students Protest at PM." It then goes on to describe how ex-Prime Minister ex-party leader and ex-everything Alec Douglas-Home was ragged by students in Edinburgh. Sir Alec may cherish his delusions but there is no need for Salient to share them.

Dave Smith.

[Your reprimand is well deserved. Please accept our apologies.—Ed.]

...as does Mr King

The Editor of New Zealand Tablet, making similar remarks to those published in Zealandia editorial, contends that the statement in question "was discredited as unreliable" because Cardinal Doepfner himself did not make it. He further claims that "the irresponsibility lies with your-ielves (Salient) for not having made elementary enquiries.

In fact it is common practice for bishops to issue directives that they themselves did not actually write (administration does not always leave them time to be experts in all areas of theology), but which they allow to be printed under their name.

The statement referred to in the editorial was prepared by theologians in Cardinal Doepfner's diocese in Munich in 1964. and issued with his 'imprimatur" of approval to the priests of the diocese. (of London Tablet April 16. 1966).

Contrary to the assumption made by the editon of the New Zealand Tablet widespread preliminary enquiries were made about the state ments: to the editor of Zealandia, to the VUW Catholic chaplain, and to a Wellington priest with a doctorate in theology.

If the statement has been "discredited" because it did not actually come from Cardinal Doepfner's pen, one would expect him to disclaim it. But in fact he has reaffirmed the principles contained in the statement, putting them in their context. In an article referred to by the editor of New Zealand Tablet, supposedly "discrediting" the statement. Cardinal Doepfner wrote:

"With regard to the statement on marriage problems reported by the Tablet (London) it is a question of pastoral guidelines issued by my pastoral office.

"What is concerned is merely the subjective judgments of actions of married people who are honourably trying to live according to God's law. but who also find themselves in difficulties of conscience on account of the concrete circumstances of their life." Tablet, April 30, 1966.

This agrees with Salient's editorial which stated:

"While not stating the universal application of birth control as a general principle, this statement can be regarded as a plea for flexibility in the application of moral teaching."

The points I would make, therefore, are these:

• The statement was made.

• It originated from a responsible party.

• It was issued under Cardinal Doepfner's name.

• He has reaffirmed its principles this year.

I therefore stand by the Salient editorial, believing that the statement should have been printed, as it was in England and Australia, as an expression of opinion by a responsible party.

M. King.

Salient Religious Editor