Attempted Roman Catholic
Luther W. Martin, St. James, Missouri Radio Station KTTR, in Rolla, Missouri, donates radio time for a fifteen minute program which is aired daily, Monday through Friday of each week. This program is called the "Morning Devotional," and the preachers for the various religious groups in the surrounding area are invited to each take their turn at conducting the program for a week. The Radio Station maintains a list of the preachers' names and addresses and schedules them for their series of programs, according to the alphabetical arrangement of the first letters of the preachers' last names. Included in this list are most of the sectarian groups including the Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh-Day Adventists, and the Roman Catholics. Although the local Ministerial Alliance has evidenced a desire to 'control the personnel' of the programs, the Radio Station has retained the oversight... knowing that, if the Alliance gained control of the program, that certain groups would be excluded from their opportunity to appear on the broadcasts.
Whenever the time arrives for the Roman Catholic priest to take his turn on the air, a certain amount of 'heat' is engendered by his attempts (and his flock's) to FORCE the Radio Station Personnel to introduce him as "Father" or "Monsignor" over the air. In January of this year (1956), the Station Manager received four letters from parochial school students, who were complaining to the 'Station, and objecting to the fact that the Station announcer merely referred to the priest as "Mr." Or simply introduced him by name, with no title of any kind attached. Of these four letters, three of them were signed with legitimate names and mailing addresses given, while the fourth letter was unsigned. To the three children who were honest and sincere enough to sign their names and give their addresses, the Station manager replied to each with the following letter:
"Dear Miss This is to acknowledge your letter dated January 3, 1966, in which you ask that the KTTR announcer give the 'title' of your priest, Mr. Gerald Kaiser, as is accorded him by those of the Roman Catholic Faith.
"However, as manager of the station, we do not believe in FORCING any station employee to do ANYTHING that violates his or her conscience. Any more than you, as a Roman Catholic, would appreciate being employed by someone who would INSIST that you eat beef and pork on Fridays. Therefore, since it is against the religious convictions of the announcer on duty at nine a.m., to apply titles such as 'reverend, my Lord, etc.,' to mortal man, we do not FORCE him to do so.
"As it happens, we have a Roman Catholic on the staff of KTTR who volunteered to make a tape-recorded introduction to use the latter part of the week.
"Your letter was of interest to us, and your interest in the station and its programming is appreciated by us."
"Very truly yours,"
Signed ... Luther W. Martin, General Manager
cc: To Mr. Kaiser
The fourth letter which was received by KTTR, is copied below, with all the grammatical errors included:
"Dear Sirs- We lisented to a certain program this morning at 9: a:m:. You know what one. I think you yes you sould change the beginning and address the plain man who happens ti be God as Msgr. Gerold Kaiser."
"Amen"
Inasmuch as the Radio Station had no way to reply to this particular writer, the Station manager sent carbon copies of his replies to the other three letters, to the priest himself, with the following letter:
January 8, 1956 "Mr. Gerald Kaiser
St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church
Rolla, Missouri
"Dear Friend Kaiser:
"Enclosed, please find three carbon copies (identical) of my replies to three letters received the same day.
"Although a total of four letters were received, I was unable to reply to one of them, inasmuch as it was unsigned. A portion of it is copied below:
"'We lisented to a certen program this morning at 9: a:m:. You know what one. I think you yes you sould change the beginning and address the plain man who happens ti be God as Msgr. Gerold Kaiser.'
"The above was copied word for word, spelling included. Whether the writer wishes to 'fake' his or her illiteracy, or whether it is in fact, I realize that you personally are not responsible for such a viewpoint or an attitude as respects the 'clergy' and the 'laity.' However, in general, the Catholic propensity toward clerical titles contributes much toward the attitude on the part of the unknown writer, concerning the 'plain man who happens to be God ....'
"If you don't mind, I would like to have a written statement from you that you do not endorse such an expression as above copied, whether in jest or in reality. Of course, we all have our human weaknesses, but surely even those who affect such titles as 'very reverend, most reverend, right reverend, etc.,' would not go so far as to embrace the above assumption.
"Thank you very much for your time in perusing this ... and, if you will, I should very much appreciate a repudiation of the quotation."
"A servant of Christ," Luther W. Martin
The date of this writing is April 21, 1956, I still haven't had a reply to my question to the priest. He has NOT repudiated the use of the expression . . . . "THE PLAIN MAN WHO HAPPENS TO BE GOD."