Carabelli's Salutatorian Speech, 1966

Paula Carabelli (1948 – 2006) was our class Salutatorian at our Alemany graduation in 1966.

Below is her Salutatorian address, courtesy of Louise Franco. As Louise tells it, immediately after the graduation ceremony, Louise asked Paula if Paula would give Louise a copy of the speech, and Paula simply handed over her typewritten original copy, complete with pencil corrections, to Louise. Louise kept it all these years, and emailed me a scan of it on 7/31/06, which I turned into a Word file using OCR (optical character recognition) software. I copied and pasted that Word document below.

DM

P.S. On 08/02/06, Louise brought Paula's original speech document to Paula's funeral, and gave it to Paula's daughter Emily.

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Paula Carabelli Salutatorian Address — 1966

“Know that this passing and precarious time in history will demand much of you."

Your Excellency, Right Reverend Monsignori, Reverend Fathers, Sisters, Lay Faculty Members, Parents and Friends,

Surely if Dr. Tom Dooley were here today, he would repeat to all of us his words:

“Know that this passing and precarious time in history will demand much of you ~ It will maroon the hesitant, but inspire the brave. Stand up and shout, 'This is my time and my place in this time,' and seek that place.”

And today the Class of nineteen hundred sixty six here at Alemany High School might well wonder what response these words should bring forth.

How often today are we presented with a bleak and discouraging picture of “this passing and precarious time”? Daily we are witnesses to a steady mounting of international tension. Our nation has made commitments to peoples struggling for the freedom to choose their own governments. And the validity of these commitments is being challenged — both abroad and within the United States. With commendations and condemnations being hurled at American foreign policy, it is difficult to determine to what degree our international involvement should extend.

National issues present another source of conflict. Better education, adequate housing, equal employment opportunities are needed to break the vicious circle of poverty and ignorance. Yet, appropriations for such efforts cannot be acquired without a tax program which many Americans will criticize as unreasonable. Basic human rights are denied to many American citizens because of their God—given heritage of race, color, or nationality. Even the law is unable to insure that every citizen exercises his right to vote.

The 20th century Christian is also confronted with dilemmas peculiar to our Pentecost. Traditional rituals are giving way to a new liturgy. Scientific achievements such as man’s newly found ability to cause, control, and crush life, and an apparently changing morality challenge our ethics. In the age of the Second Vatican Council, the layman is playing an increasingly important role. However, these new trends in the manner of Catholic worship, in our concepts of morality, and in the position of the laity may seem to disrupt a pattern fixed by years of custom and belief.

And yet, despite these anxieties and uncertainties, we are inspired to seek our places in a most exciting era. For you, our parents and teachers, have stimulated in us a thirst for a full life — a life possible only to those who are willing to be caught up in the issues I have just mentioned.

As Americans we profess the willingness to promote our democratic principles. Because we, as a nation, have heeded the cries of tyrannized peoples, we have gained a position of world leadership even among those who condemn our actions. Our very aversion to a passive existence implies a national character in which each one of us can share. And so we can truly echo the conviction of Dag Hammarskjold, whose keen international perspective led him to conclude, “In our era the road to holiness necessarily passes through the world of action.”

Domestic problems are also being met with vigorous action. Legislation seeks to undo wrongs intensified by centuries of living and learning. Our opposition to increased government spending does not overpower our desires to provide equal opportunities for all American citizens. Civil rights legislation continues to break the barriers between the majority and minority groups. And we are members of that great society which is conscious of the dignity of every human being.

How good it is to be alive when true living and loving are inseparable.

Our Catholic Church, too, calls on us to revitalize that love of self, of brother, and of God which marks the Christian. We are not living in the Middle Ages, in the nineteenth century, or in the first half of the twentieth century – we are living in nineteen hundred sixty-six. The springtime of the Church envisioned by Cardinal Suhard is evident. Our new liturgy provides the modern Christian with a vital spirituality necessary for his all—important role in society. Our Church's persistent adherence to the natural law helps keep morality from becoming a thing of the past. And our new role of leadership in the Church has made us, the laity, a most effective leaven in Christianizing our world. Fortunate are we who witness and participate in this renewed Christian movement.

The richness of our age is without precedent. We have come to this awareness through an education provided by a farseeing hierarchy, by sacrificing parents, and by perceptive teachers. For this we are sincerely grateful. We have benefited from the many spiritual, intellectual, cultural, and athletic activities provided for us. Our years here have helped us to see life as I see it — embracing, warm, rich, and blessed.

Having reflected upon the “passing and precarious time” in which we live and having considered, too, our position as twentieth century Americans and twentieth century graduates of this Catholic high school, I hope I speak for each member of my class when I say, “Yes, this is my time and my place in this time, and now I seek my place.”

Paula Carabelli
Alemany High School
Class of 1966 Salutatorian