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The Whole Youth

By

His Excellency

Most Reverend Jos. F. Rummel, D.D.

Archbishop of New Orleans

NATIONAL COUNCIL CATHOLIC WOMEN

1312 Massachusetts Avenue, N. W.

Washington, D. C.



Address

Youth Luncheon

Twentieth Annual Convention

Detroit, Michigan



"THE WHOLE YOUTH"

By Most Rev. Joseph F. Rummel, Archbishop

of New Orleans

Episcopal Chairman, N.C.W.C. Dept, of Lay

Organizations

HPHE two decades just past have witnessed many
^ movements of absorbing interest and importance,
but among them few can lay claim to greater univer-

sality and intensity than that which revolves about

youth. With scarcely an exception the hands of all

kinds of institutions and organizations, aye the long

arms of the nations of the earth, are stretched out

towards youth from the undeveloped stage of child-

hood to the maturity of manhood and womanhood.

The conquest of youth for new ideas and ideals, for

new philosophies of life and government has occupied

a major position in the programs of the individuals

and groups who are today striving for the mastery of

the earth. Notably in Europe, in Russia and in the

Orient has resounded the clarion call to youth to

rally to the support of the new ideologies, in which

the nations are promised new life, new vigour, new

power, new prosperity, new wealth. Balila, Giovan-

nezza, Hitlerjugend, Russian Atheistic Youth columns,

uniformed Nipponese School organizations are but the

more familiar forms among the many national organi-

zations which have with unprecedented enthusiasm ac-

cepted the discipline, usually hard and exacting, by

which modern leaders are wont to train their followers

and prepare them for action.

Nor have we in America remained untouched by

this modern realization of the potentialities of youth.

We have avoided to a large extent military regimenta-
tion and fanfare, but our youth has received unusual

attention in the matter of school athletics, club forma-

tion and especially in the programs of the Civilian

Conservation Camps and National Youth Adminis-

tration. Nor has our youth escaped indoctrination,

open and clandestine, with the newer ideologies,

cleverly disseminated on the school and college campus,

in workingmen’s circles, in forums, through books and

pamphlets of an endless variety, not forgetting popular

fronts, pink and red.

3

Deacfdifled



REASON OBVIOUS

The reason for this general concentration upon the

conquest of youth is not difficult to ascertain; Youth

has intelligence, imagination and romance, qualities

which are easily captivated by and for new ideas.

Youth has ambition, hope, strength and a spirit of

adventure, is all too readily enticed and enlisted for

new conquests. Youth actually holds within its grasp

the possibilities of realizing in the future all that the

genius of the present reasons, schemes and dreams about.

There seems, indeed, no more certain avenue to

success for any great campaign than to captivate the

mind of youth, harness its enthusiasm and send it forth

gallantly to study, to work, to battle or even to play.

No wonder then that, even from a natural or human

point of view, the Church should be specifically con-

scious of her mission and responsibility for youth to an

even greater degree than secular powers and agencies.

Note here a great difference; the Church regards her

attitude towards youth as a mission, as a responsibility,

as a duty to do something for youth
;
other institutions,

especially the modern totalitarian State, regard youth

as a potentiality to be cultivated, developed, capitalized,

exploited for the benefit of the agency or State. The

Church cultivates youth for the benefit of youth; sec-

ular agencies, especially the totalitarian government,

train youth for the benefit of the State.

The Church has in reality been the pioneer in youth

education and training. To her the vision of Christ

sitting by the wayside with little children crowding

around Him has at all times been an inspiration. His

“Let the little children come unto Me, and forbid

them not”, is a mandate that comprehends all the

youth and every phase of service—spiritual, moral,
intellectual, even physical. Hence, the early establish-

ment by the Church of centers of instruction and

human welfare and their progressive development.

Hence, also the answer of the Church to the modern

challenge for a youth movement and program, more

specific, more comprehensive, more intense, more in-

sistent than were those that seemed to meet the needs

of the previous generations, that were less exposed to

the dangers of modern times.

"THE WHOLE YOUTH"

Somewhat misleading perhaps is the title of our dis-

cussion—“THE WHOLE YOUTH.” It is precisely
what the modern totalitarians claim, “The Whole

Youth,”—Body, mind, heart, energy, work, service, life
4



itself are demanded of youth in this new form of

servitude, whose master is the party, the State, the

Duce, the Fuehrer or the Commissar. It is the most

complete form of self-abnegation and passive absorption

in the State mechanism. The old terms patria, patrie

and fatherland have practically ceased to conjure up

visions of chivalry and heroism. In this new form of

servitude youth is trained to submerge individuality,

surrender personal liberty and face every situation in-

cluding death with icy Spartan stoicism. Even the

older pagan slogan “pro ara et focis”—for the altar and
the home-fireside—seems to have lost its power of
inspiration, for in the new order the State exists for

the protection of neither religion, nor the home, nor

the individual, but all three exist or are tolerated only

to serve the State.

Quite different is the Christian concept of “The

Whole Youth”. It is our understanding that the sub-

ject of the youth movement or program is the whole

of this wonderfully complex but divinely integrated

creature called man. This heaven destined master-

piece of visible creation, this creature composed of a

marvelously constructed body that enshrines yet does

not encompass the soul that animates it. This creature

endowed with a soul that challenges the study and

speculation of the sages, gifted with a mind that can

scan the universe, fathom the depths of the sea, measure

the size and movements of the planets, attain to a

knowledge about the unseen world and lose itself in

contemplation before the nature and attributes of the

very God. This creature with its potent will that has

been known to attempt the conquest of the universe

and almost succeed. This mysterious creature with

its labyrinth of emotions, its network of passions, its

paradoxical capacity for angelic virtue and for satanic

malice.

Such is youth, in all its complexity, beautiful and

grand in its natural setting, yet infinitely more entranc-

ing in its supernatural exaltation effected through the

miracle of divine grace. This creature which must

face the world courageously and battle bravely for life,

health, happiness and progress; this creature which

must engage in relentless warfare against evil, physical

evil, moral evil, social evil, spiritual evil; this creature

that must elude the wiles of wicked men and escape

snares of the very demons of he! 1 ; this creature that is

born to rule the earth and to conquer heaven itself
;

“The Kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the

violent bear it away”. Such is the being which we

visualize when we speak of “The Whole Youth”.

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AN INTEGRATED PROGRAM

In virtue of the inexorable law that the means must

be commensurate with the end, nothing short of an

integrated program can suffice to meet the challenge

presented by modern youth. In other words to be

worthy of the name a youth program must provide for

the entire gamut of youth-needs, must balance and

coordinate as perfectly as possible its services. Experi-

ence teaches that a completely integrated and well

balanced youth program must comprise at least four

points : it must be religious
J

it must be cultural
t

it must

be vocational

,

it must be recreational. To each of these

salient points or features we shall now devote brief

attention.

YOUTH AND RELIGION

The most flagrant defect in the purely secular youth

program is the emphasis which it lays on the natural

and its omission of, if not contempt for, the spiritual,

the religious, the supernatural needs of human nature.

Man’s nature even at its worst grows weary and sick-

ens, when it is overfed on what is merely material and

physical. Sooner or later there will arise out of the

innermost depths of the soul that cry to God of the

great St. Augustine: “Our hearts are restless, until

they rest in Thee!” To know, love and serve God is

the threefold fundamental mission of man, to which

every othe^ end and purpose of life must be subordi-

nated and towards which youth in particular must be

guided and directed. To teach and train youth to

confine its quest for happiness to the material, the

physical, the ephemeral gratifications of this world is

to do violence to its very nature. Not to make youth

conscious of its spiritual capacities, its vocation to a

supernatural life and its right to a heavenly heritage of

everlasting blessedness is to deprive it of that which

alone makes life, effort and sacrifice worthwhile.

Therefore, a youth program must devote paramount

importance to the inculcation of religious truth and to

the integration of life through religious practices. We
want a Catholic youth that knows its faith, is familiar

with Catholic moral principles, is proud of its Church

and glories in its fidelity to religious duties. A Catholic
youth which is intellectually and morally able to ex-

pound and defend Catholicity in the classroom and on

the campus, in the drawingroom and at the club, in the

office and in the workshop, on the lecture platform and

in the pressroom. A Catholic youth that is brave and
courageous in the open profession and practice of its

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holy faith, confessing Christ before men, so as to merit

Christ’s recognition before the Father in heaven.

The youth program should, therefore, promote, with

due consideration for the capacity and station in life

of each respective individual and group, the study of

religious truths, apologetics, Church history and the

sacred liturgy. The formation of discussion clubs, evi-

dence guilds and elocution classes among the young

would be an excellent approach to the development of

genuine leadership. Let us not raise soft pampered

Catholics. Corporate religious exercises on special oc-

casions are very commendable, but the encouragement

of individual fidelity to spiritual duties and practices

of piety would seem to produce far more substantial

and more enduring results. Each boy and girl, each

young man and young woman must learn to stand firmly

on his or her own feet

!

YOUTH AND CULTURE

Not the last nor the least of the many glories of the

Catholic Church are her remarkable success in pre-

serving the fragments, that barbaric vandals left of

ancient pagan culture, and her preeminent achievement

in the development of a new culture which is in con-

formity with Christian principles and ideals. Almost

infinitely superior, far more diversified and incalculably

richer is the culture which the Church has fostered

through education and through the encouragement

which she gave at all times to scholars, scientists and

artists. To introduce Catholic youth to the knowledge,

appreciation and joy of these achievements must be

definitely recognized as part of our responsibility. To
make youth conscious of a relative duty to cultivate

the arts and sciences, to aid it in developing its God-

given talents in this direction, to encourage it to pass

on this cultural heritage to succeeding generations,

more abundantly enriched in quality and quantity, is

one of the highest functions of a youth program.

Hence, the importance of reading circles, library

and museum appreciation, book reviews, historical lec-

tures, musical concerts, dramatics and art exhibits. In

our larger cities an occasional tour, under capable guid-

ance, of churches that have special architectural, artistic

and liturgical merit would prove an interesting and

profitable variation. Nor should periodic excursions

into God’s beautiful nature, to some historic point, to

some interesting city be overlooked as means to develop

the finer side of human nature, not to speak of the

educational value of such tours.

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VOCATIONAL INTERESTS

No institution lays quite as much stress on the ques-
tion of vocation as does the Catholic Church. Entirely

apart from the superior consideration given to the de-

velopment and cultivation of the definitely spiritual

callings to the sanctuary, the monastery and the convent,

there prevails in the Church a fairly persistent convic-

tion that God at least endows everyone with certain

aptitudes and inclinations, which point to the particular

state of life and occupation in which each may hope

to find satisfaction and wellbeing. Young, inexperi-

enced, and of immature judgment youth cannot always

face unaided the problem of a wise discernment and

prudent selection in a matter upon which depend its

happiness and prosperity through life, and even its

security in eternity.

Hence, a well thought out constructive youth plan

should make provision for occasional practical talks

and private consultations pointing to vocational guid-

ance and a proper understanding of the responsibilities,

advantages and prospects of certain vocations. Priests,

physicians, experienced nurses, business executives,

craftsmen, leaders in industry, banking and labor, gov-

ernment officials and experts and many others would be

successfully approached to give talks, that would prove

practical, interesting and useful to youth groups. Not

every unit is equipped to extend its services into the

educational field, although in larger centers vocational

training might be feasible along cooperative lines. But

youth can at least be directed to where specific training

and apprenticeship are available.

Individual enterprise not infrequently finds the way

for giving aid and guidance. For instance down in

Louisiana a certain parish priest in a small community

found that his boys were depressed over the hopeless-

ness of gaining permanent employment. Learning of

the year-round demand for spring chickens, he decided

to experiment with his boys in the raising of broilers

for the hotels and restaurants of the nearby city. With

a comparatively small investment and the help of a few

fellow citizens he has in a little over one year built

up a thriving business that gives employment and the

prospect of future success to a number of lads in his

congregation.

Highly important in this vocational program is the

proper guidance of those who contemplate marriage

with its consequent implications of homemakirig and

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parenthood. Too often is advice along these lines given

by persons, professional or private, who have decidedly

materialistic, immoral and irreligious views on these

issues. A judicious, well-informed, conscientious youth
leader can render many a useful service to inexperi-

enced and sometimes misguided girls and even boys,

whose confidence he or she succeeds in winning.

"A SOUND MIND IN A SOUND BODY"

It seems almost superfluous to talk about the recre-

ational features of a youth program. The tendency in

many places seems to have been to concentrate, even

almost to the extent of monopoly, upon recreational

activities. The spontaneous reaction of young people

to the invitation and opportunity for play has resulted

in almost obscuring every other feature, even where

religion, education and culture receive fair considera-

tion. There is a glamour about athletics, sports and

frolics to which youth reacts as does a piece of steel to

a magnet. We have seen youth movements grow and
spread with remarkable rapidity, chiefly because of the

opportunity they offered for play, boxing tournaments

and athletic contests. The recreational program is

practically the one form of youth activity that offers

spectator attraction and revenue possibilities, which is

another reason for its popularity. In a sense it is also

the one feature that sometimes draws the boy who is

most in need of the spiritual attention discussed above,

the bait after which he snatches eagerly, little knowing

the greater blessings that await his more intimate asso-

ciation with the larger movement.

Discretion in the selection of recreational activities

is highly important. Games suitable for boys are not

always commendable for girls; rules require adaptation

to the sex and ages of participants in the more strenuous

games; the physical strength and endurance of indi-

viduals must be carefully gauged before permitting

them to join in certain exercises; in tournaments and

inter-parochial or inter-district competitions care must

be taken to avoid rivalries that may endanger charity

and friendliness; social gatherings, dances and parties

should be prudently supervised to avoid the very pit-

falls against which they are intended to be safeguards;

to sustain interest the program should be systematically

varied, adjusted to the seasons of the year and well

balanced in respect to outdoor and indoor exercises.

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ADULT INTEREST

Leadership and sponsorship are the avenues through

which adults can find their way into the youth move-

ment. Leadership may be professional or amateur,

salaried or gratuitous, but under all circumstances it

should be unselfish, capable and sincerely interested in

the welfare of the group which it undertakes to serve.

Leaders must understand and love youth, know how

to win and keep their respect and confidence as well

as be able to maintain order and discipline without

seeming dictatorial or arbitrary. Success or failure

depends not infrequently upon the character, the tem-

perament, the discernment, the sense of fair play, the

sense of humor of a leader. The same group will grow

stale and disintegrate under one type of leader, while

under another it will go through fire. Probably in his

own particular field there has been no better example

of the highest type of leadership than the late Knute

Rockne, whose pat upon the back of a player coming

off the field was as effective as a fiery harangue in the

dressing room.

Adult sponsors play an important part in a youth

setup. Their interest, counsel and aid can be of tre-

mendous value. We are speaking now of that compara-
tively small group of interested men and women, who

will meet from time to time to discuss intelligently

and sympathetically the youth program of the parish,

the district, the diocese; who will hold themselves in

readiness to render every possible moral and material

assistance to pastor, youth director and bishop
;
who will

lend their influence and prestige to the promotion of

every youth project' that has proper approval. In this

group it is of vital importance that there exist freedom

and frankness of expression, a spirit of mutual con-

fidence and unity of action. Such a group can give to

a youth program a background that will inspire good

will, give encouragement and insure success. Happily

we are gradually witnessing the development within

our Catholic circles of this type of sponsorship among

our men as well as among our women.

We would like to touch upon another type of spon-
sorship, which we might designate organization or mass

sponsorship. It is the support of large groups like the

Holy Name Society, the Sodality of the Blessed Virgin,

the Diocesan Council of Men or of Women, or even

a parish or district as a unit. Such groups can give

great moral and material support to the youth move-

ment and help to solve in a practical easy manner the

financial responsibility. We might compare such group

10



sponsorship to the rooters and fans, to whose enthusiasm

and generosity baseball, football, boxing bouts and tennis

tournaments practically owe their existence and pros-

perity.

The basis for this mass sponsorship must be the sense

of a common responsibility for the welfare of youth.

The day is past, if in reality it ever truly existed, when

our responsibility for the welfare of youth ended in the

home or in the classroom, with the parent or the

teacher. The problem and task has become too large

and too complex for such simple handling. It has

become a community problem, a neighborhood prob-

lem, a church problem, a diocesan problem, even a

national problem as is evidenced in the establishment

of the N.Y.A. For us as Catholics there seems no

alternative but that we approach the youth problem

in the same spirit of religious, moral and material

responsibility with which for generations we have

solved generously our educational problem. For this

reason we stress the value of mass sponsorship with the

conviction that when large interested groups, and

especially the parish units, align themselves enthusi-

astically and generously behind their local youth pro-

grams, these will thrive and prosper to an unprecedented

degree. The result will be a generation of Catholic

Americans, who will be the glory of the Church, a

bulwark to the nation and to their fellow citizens an

edification and the leaven for a nobler Christian life.

TRIBUTE TO THE N.C.C.W.

This discussion on this particular occasion would be

decidedly incomplete did we fail to pay a well-merited

tribute to the National Council of Catholic Women,

whose officers and members have for a number of years

sponsored a youth program for girls and young women

which has been a blessing in many dioceses and parishes.

The outline which we have ventured to present is

based largely upon what the Council has developed

progressively through its youth committee and field

secretary under the able direction and sacrificing soul

of the National Chairman of Youth. This work owes

its inception and inspiration chiefly to our late Holy

Father of blessed memory, Pope Pius XI and to His

Excellency our highly esteemed Apostolic Delegate,

Archbishop Cicogani. It has manifestly pleased our

Saviour Jesus Christ, the divine friend of children and

of youth, to bless this work in the past; let us hope

and pray that it may flourish even more gloriously in

the years to come.

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