February 3, 2012

What was in the news on Feb. 2, 1962?

The pros and cons of automation and a request for editorial prudence by the pope

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 Feb. 2, 1962, issue of The Criterion:

  • Talented parochial school artists display their creative handiwork
  • Launch Radio Rosary in New Albany area
  • Inside Yugoslavia: a first-hand report
  • Men of the archdiocese to back NCCM drive
  • St. Meinrad to help staff minor seminary in Peru
  • More ‘dialogue’ advocated between laity and bishops
  • Urges emphasis on doctrines vital to non-Catholics
  • Automation
    • “There is little doubt but that ‘automation’ has become a household word within the last decade in America. We have ‘push-button’ kitchens, laundries, garages and appliances in our newer homes … and our older homes are being renovated and modernized to include these improvements. The horizon holds almost unbelievable vistas for the individual with all our labor-saving devices. However, on our way to that ‘horizon’ we will—and we are—encountering quite a hazardous and rocky road. … We know that we must have [automation] in order to maintain the strength of the American economy and retain our world leadership. However, we feel that the fruits of automation should be shared by all, not just a few. We know the housewife welcomes all ‘labor-saving’ devices in the home … and the manager of an industrial plant welcomes ‘labor-saving’ devices in the plant just as readily. The difference, however, is that in the plant, the mill or factory these ‘labor-saving devices’ mean the elimination of jobs.”
  • Christian ingratitude to Jews hit
  • Council is seen as only prelude to unity efforts
  • Reformed churches urged to develop Catholic dialogue
  • Priest-survivor tells details of Congo massacre
  • Episcopal bishop backs school aid under ‘conditions’
  • Farmer shares sweet corn methods
  • Ask tariff reductions to help U.S. farmers
  • Pontiff urges prudence in writing on Council
    • “VATICAN CITY—His Holiness Pope John XXIII has called on commentators on the forthcoming ecumenical council to speak with ‘prudence and objectivity.’ … Pope John stressed that it is the bishops who will be responsible for the decisions reached by the council. He pointed out that publications by clerics and laymen on the council ‘have only a personal value.’ ”
  • Poles voice suggestions on Council
  • Governor signs bus ride measure
  • Protestant impressed with papal authority

(Read all of these stories from our Feb. 2, 1962, issue by logging on to our special archives.) †

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