By Mary Lackie

“If we say there is no solution to the problem of poverty, we are deluding ourselves as Christians,” Bishop Joseph L. Bernardin told an audience at Christ the King center Monday night.

The program on poverty covering worldwide dimensions and local conditions, and the Christian commitment, was sponsored by the Cathedral Women’s Club. Participating in the discussion with the bishop were three members of the Vine City Foundation.

Bishop Bernardin who returned recently from a three-week tour of South America, said, “The problem of universal poverty was brought home to me when I saw at first hand some of the worst slum conditions I have ever seen. In Brazil, one of the most beautiful countries from a natural point of view, I visited Rio de Janiero, a city of three and a half million people. One and a half million live in the slums around the harbor and on the hillsides. I was told that in the eyes of the government, these people simply didn’t exist.”

The bishop found evidence of poverty in other countries. He said, “The vast majority of the land is owned by a small per cent of the people. That is why there are revolutions. I am convinced that the aid which we send must be used for development, self-help and training programs, not for institutions.” Bishop Bernardin is chairman of the allocations committee for the U.S. Bishops.

In January, he was one of 47 delegates representing major world religions who attended a three-day International Interfaith Symposium on Peace in New Delhi, India.

A major question raised during the symposium was, “What can religion do as peacemaker and peacekeeper in the world?” The bishop said, “One obstacle we must correct is economic inequities. Much tension in the world, the resentment and violence, is the result of this economic injustice. Two-thirds of the world’s population lives below the human standards in keeping with man’s dignity.”

The symposium topic report called upon all men to turn their efforts toward international peace and to the problem of economic and social disparity. “We must reach out to narrow the widening gap between the privileged and the underprivileged,” the bishop said.

Any man can realized the call this makes on his conscience, but the bishop concluded, quoting Father Dan Berrigan, “The Christian alone can hear all the resonances of the call-he knows that the cry for bread is also the cry for truth; that the cry for healing is also the cry for spiritual wholeness; that the cry for human dignity is also the cry for redemption.”

A sense of human dignity and worth is lacking in Vine City, one of the oldest slum areas of Atlanta. The community, with a population of 1500 families, approximately the same number as the parishioners in Christ the King parish, was discussed by Rev. Wayne Johnson, a Vine City resident.

“How do I view poverty? Poverty is that which robs a man physically and mentally. It is that which robs a man of his own soul.”

Describing living conditions in Vine City, Rev. Mr. Johnson said, “I see houses with holes in the roof. People who live on a basic diet of pork and beans. No money to buy the basic needs.”

Only 15 per cent of the population have a high school education. Only one-tenth are college graduates. The people have no image, no imagination, no sense of worth. There are no strong family lives to give the children a sense of ‘wanting to be a person.’”

Mrs. Helen Howard, director of the Vine City Foundation, described the group as a self-help, social service organization. Outlining the program of the foundation, Mrs. Howard said, “We have a nursery to provide a hot lunch for the children, a medical clinic, a cooperative and craft shop. People are trapped in a certain environment. It is impossible to get along without a catalystic agent. You can be that agent.”

The Rev. James Henderson summarized the discussion. He said, “In Vine City, the attitudes of the poor are different from yours. If a man can’t find a job, according to our society, he will feel a lack of dignity and worth. Educational attitudes are poor because the schools are poor-poorly staffed and poorly equipped.”

Then he added, “There is an aimlessness. People have no sense of purpose about their lives.”

He asked, “What can you do in areas like this? Become aware. After you become aware, then you have to decide to become identified with the problem.”

“As the bishop says, all of you agree that there should be better opportunities, but you have to become involved. In my interpretation, involvement means to become identified. Until you decide to do that, there is no way to help us.”