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TWO.
THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
OCTOBER 13, 1956,
CORRESPONDENCE-
BISHOP’S HOUSE
222 East Harris Street
Savannah, Georgia
September 26, 1956
Dearly Beloved:
I was deeply touched by the many expressions of sympathy
which came to me from Georgia on the occasion of the death
of my good mother. Indeed there were so many messages of
condolence and acts of thoughtful kindness that it would be
quite impossible for me to acknowledge them individually.
By means of this letter, therefore, I desire to express my
profound gratitude to our priests, our Brothers and Sisters,
our laity and our school children for their messages of sympa
thy, for the many Masses offered for the repose of mother’s
soul and for the promises of continued prayers for her and for
myself. I am especially grateful to the priests who made the
long journey to Philadelphia to attend the funeral. May God
bless and reward each and every one of you.
Devotedly yours in Christ,
FRANCIS E. HYLAND.
Bishop-elect of Atlanta.
(Continued from Page 1)
siime that you will be good
enough to answer these questions.
I am confident that all of the Bap
tist periodicals would be glad to
carry your answers to these ques
tions.
Our purposes must be the same:
The honoring , of God’s name and
the salvation of the world. We re
joice in your call for a “fair-
minded study .” We pray that
there may come from this study
more light, a deeper understand
ing of God’s will, and a more
harmonious fellowship among all
those who believe in Christ.
Sincerely yours,
(Signed) DICK H. HALL, JR.
P.S. This letter was read to
the Atlanta Baptist Association
representing 133 Baptist Churches
with membership of 108,438, at
their annual meeting' which closed
today. The Association voted to
approve this letter as their ex
pression and appointed the fol
lowing committee which approved
the letter: Rev. Ebb G. Kilpatrick,
Moderator Atlanta Baptist As
sociation, Rev. R. L. O’Brien,
Former Moderator Atlanta Baptist
.Association, Rev. J. A. Nolan,
Pastor, Avondale Baptist Church,
Rev. Dr. Monroe F, Swillev, Pas
tor, Second Ponce de Leon Bap
tist Church, Dr. W. A. Duncan,
Former President Southern Bap
tist Home Mission Board.
11th November 1955
Reverend Dick Houston Hall, Jr.,
Pastor First Baptist Church.
Decatur. Georgia.
Reverend and dear Sir,
Your letter of October 19th ad
dressed to Archbishop O’Hara was
forwarded to him here in London.
The Archbishop is in the midst of a
series of public engagements here
and in Scotland that will last un
til the end of November; he hopes
to send you a reply to your let
ter and an answer to your several
questions at that time.
Yours very sincerely,
28th November 1955
Reverend Dick Houston Hall, Jr.
Pastor, First Baptist Church,
Decatur, Georgia.
Reverend and dear Sir.
Following up the letter sent you
on November 11th, I am. enclosing
an answer to the various ques
tions that you proposed in your
letter to me on October 19th. I
am sorry to be late in sending my
reply but I have just returned
from Scotland after a long series
of official visitations in the sev
eral dioceses in that part of Great
Britain and it is only now that I
have a chance to write to you.
Of course the answers to all
questions regarding the Faith and
pi’actice of the Catholic Church
find their answer in the reply to
the question: .did Christ Our
Blessed Lord establish a Church
and if He did, is this Church ac
tually to be found in the world
today. If the Church established
by Our Loi’d exists today (and
Our Lord gave a divine promise
that it would last until the end of
time), which of the many diverse
religious groups in the world to
day claiming to be teachers of
Christian truth is to b.e found the
G h u rch established by Our
Eilessed Lord.
Our Lord spoke of “My Church”
and never of “My churches.” He
gave to His Apostles the com
mand and the authority to teach in
His name until the end of time.
He assured His Apostles that “he
that heareth you. heareth Me.”
He told Saint Peter “thou ..art
Peter (Cephas - the Rock) and
upon this rock I will build Mv
Church and the gates of Hell shall
rot prevail against it.”
It is unthinkable that, the
Church of God has ceased to ex
ist. The Son of God Himself pro
mised that His Church would live
until the end of time, protected
by Him from the teaching of er
ror in matters pertaining to Faith
and morals. Divine promises can
not fail. It behooves all open-
minded people therefore to make
a serious inquiriy into the, claims
advanced by the Catholic Church.
A calm and serious study of these
claims has convinced countless
thousands of converts to the Cath
olic Church in every age that the
Catholic Church is in fact the
Church established by Our Bless
ed Lord.
There are many books on the
Catholic Church available in the
United States. These books state
the claims of the Catholic Church
in clear and simple language.
“The Faith Of Our Fathers” by
Cardinal Gibbons is one of them.
As for answering questions about
Catholic belief or practice, there
is available Father Conway’s
“Question Box.”
But I do not wish to prolong
this letter in view of the lengthy
other document that I am en
closing.
With best wishes, I remain,
Yours very sincerely,
GERALD P. O’HARA
Archbishop-Bishop of
Savannah-Atlanta Apostolic
Delegate in Great Britain
ARCHBISHOP'S ANSWERS
Gentlemen,
It is a pleasure to see vour
ready collective response to my
appeal for a “fair-minded study”
of the Catholic Faith. You will
want the answers to come in their
true context. I beg your indul
gence therefore for the following
extended preamble to my re
plies. (In deference to you I have
quoted the Scriptures throughout
in the Authorised Version.)
I. The Catholic‘ Church holds
that the constituent sources of
Divine Revelation are the Sacred
Scriptures and Tradition. By Tra
dition we mean what has been
handed down from the beginning
in the practice and teaching of the
Church. In fact the two sources
are one, for: (1) The Sacred Scrip
tures themselves are only known
to us as God’s word because they
have been received as such since
the beginning by the Church. (2)
Our Lord commissioned His
Apostles to teach “all things
whatsoever I have commanded
you” (Matthew XXVIII, 20). He
nowhere specifically told them
to make writing the medium of
their teaching. (3) The inspired
writings of the Apostles nowhere
claim to give an exhaustive ac
count of Our Lord’s Revelation;
in fact they quite clearly deny
that this has been done. “Many
other signs truly did Jesus in the
presence of His disciples which
are not written in this book . . .
and there are also many other
things which Jesus did which
if they should be written every
one I suppose that even the world
itself could not contain the books
that should be written” John
XXI. 30. XXII, 25). (4) Elsewhere,
II Peter, III, 16, they state that
even the truths they do transmit
need explanation. Without the
right understanding difficult pass
ages prove perilous to man’s sal
vation. (5) The determining of the
Canon of Sacred Scripture re
quired not only time but also au
thoritative decisions. They were
taken by the men to whom had
been passed down the commission
of Jesus Christ to teach all na
tions. When they were taken the
Church of Christ had existed in
the full exercise of her powers for
several centuries. The guidance
of the faithful during those years
and the right understanding of
Christ’s message was given, as it
is today, by the living voice of
the Church. This was in accord
ance with the directive of St.
Paul: “Brethren, stand fast and
hold the traditions which ye have
been taught whether by word or
our epistle” (II Thessalonians 15)
and to Timothy: “The things that
thou hast heard of me among
many witnesses the same com
mit thou to faithful men who
shall be able to teach others also”
(II Timothy, 11, 2).
II. The Catholic Church there
for holds that the Sacred -Scrip
tures “being written under the
inspiration of the Holy Ghost,
have God for their author and as
such have been delivered to the
Church” (the Vatican Council)
but they cannot be rightly under
stood apart from the teaching and
practice of the Church.
The practice and teaching of
the Church can never contradict
the Scriptures. But they can draw
out the full meaning of them and
give the right interpretation. It is
for this reason, for example, that
both you and we keep Sunday
holy and not the Sabbath. We
rightly accept the word of the
Church that this is in accordance
with God’s Word. It would help
us greatly to understand your
position if you in your turn would
tell us:
1. How do you decide which
wi'itings are part of Sacred Scrip
ture and which not?
2. On what grounds do you hold
that the Sacred Scriptures are
divinely inspired?
3. When conflicting interpreta
tions of the Sacred text are
possible (e.g. on divorce, on the
meaning of the Eucharist etc.,)
how does one decide which is the
true one?
Our guarantee on these matters
is the unbi’oken tradition in the
Church. What is yours?
In the light of these principles
I now turn to your questions. 1.
Is one “saved by grace through
faith . . . and not of works . . .”
Grace is a pure gift from God.
It is given in Baptism and con
tinued throughout life. But we
must co-operate with that grace.
Therefore God “will x'ender to
every man according to his deeds”
(Romans 11, 6) and St. James says
“Ye see then that by works a
man is justified and not by faith
only” (James 11, 24).
Faith means believing what
God has revealed. Part of that
reevlation is that there is but one
true Church. It was to His
Apostles that Christ said “Go ye
therefore and teach all nations.”
(Matthew XXVIII, 19) It was to
Simon that He said “Thou art
Peter (rock) and upon this rock
I will build my Church.” (Mat
thew XVI, 18) The commission
which He gave to His Apostles
“Whatsoever ye shall bind on
earth shall be bound in Heaven
and whatsoever ye shall loose on
earth shall be loosed in Heaven”
(Matthew XVIII, 18) He gave also
personally to Peter. “Whatsoever
thou shalt bind . . .” (Matthew
XVI, 19). It follows therefore that
the true Church is the one to
which the commission has been
given by those to whom Christ
gave it in the first instance. This
we hold to be the Catholic Church,
wjiich has preserved the unbroken
succession of pastors from Peter
and the Apostles.
Faith therefore must include
belief in this Church as having
the commission from Christ to
teach all. To the second part of
your question, then,
“Does one’s salvation depend
upon a satisfactory and continu
ing relationship with the Catholic
Church?” The answer is yes, with
the following qualifications: (a)
it is not enough to be a Catholic;
if a Catholic wishes to lie saved
he must live up to his faith; (b)
non-Catholics also may be saved
if through no fault of their own
they do not know that the Cath
olic Church is the true Church
and if they follow the light which
God gives them. We believe that
Christ died for all men. No one
will be excluded from His mercy
except through his own fault. Sin
cere non-Catholics are in real
relationship with the Catholic
Church inasmuch as they would
be Catholics if they knew it to be
God’s will. We may indeed call
them Catholics by desire even
though that desire be unconsci
ous.
I have a feeling ithat if we un
derstood one another well on this
point we might find that we are
more in agreement than is ap
parent at first sight. It would be
helpful to our understanding of
your position if you would tell
us now: (1) Do you believe good
works are necessary for salvation,
or is it enough for a man to pro
fess ' faith in Christ? (ii) Do you
believe that Christ died for all
men? If so would you care to ex
plain more fully the 21st article
of the 1st Baptist Confession of
1646 “Jesus Christ by His death
did purchase salvation for the
elect that God gave unto Him;
these only have interest in Him
and fellowship with Him.” Do
you believe in fact that a sincere
Catholic can be saved?
2. “By what authority did the
Catholic Church abandon the
practice of immersion as the scrip
tural mode of baptism, and why
baptize others than those who can
receive and believe the gospel for
themselves?” “By Baptism we are
born again of water and of the
Spirit” (John III, 3 and 5) The
washing with water is both Sym
bolic and effective. Immersion is
certainly the more vivid sign
and was the general practice for
centuries. But it was not the only
method. It was always recognized
that the methods of pouring or
sprinkling’ were equally valid.
Moreover since the grace of
Baptism is a free gift of God it
can be given to a child as well as
to an adult. Baptism gives the su
pernatural life. It is as free a gift
as the natural life which Ged
gives to the child without any
work on the child’s part. The
Didache tells us of baptism with
out immersion, and St. Irenaeus of
baptising infants, both in the 2nd
Century. Our Lord in John III.
5 says ‘Unless one (Greek tis) be
born again of water and the spirit
he cannot enter into the kingdom
of God.’ He does not specify
adults. St. Peter’s gaoler was bap
tized with his whole household.
There is no spicification of adults.
(Acts XVI, 33)
3. “Revelation XXII, 19-20 con
demns anyone who adds to or
takes away from Divine Revela
tion.”
, The quotation is: ‘If anyone
shall take away from the words of
the book of this prophecy,” i.e.,
the book called the Apocalypse
by Catholics, Revelation by Pro
testants. The other books of Sacr
ed Scripture add considerably to
Revelation. We should agree how
ever that no one may add to or
subtract from Divine Revelation
as it is contained in the Scriptures
and the tradition of the Church.
But I refer you to my preamble
above, in which I pointed out that
the Church does not contradict
Scripture when it draws out the
implications and the full meaning
of it. Christ promised that the
gates of Hell would not prevail
against His Church (Matthew
XVI, 18), thajt the Holy Ghost
would teach her all things (John
XIV, 16-26) and that He Himself
would ,be with her all days even
unto the end of the world (Mat
thew XXVIII, 20). This divine
assistance is a guarantee that the
Church will never teach error.
To your separate points:
(1) and (2): Purgatory and
Prayers for the Dead. Since in
the words of the Scriptures “w r e
are all the body of Christ and
members” (I. Cor. XII, 27) we
can help one another by our pray
ers. In this life you, I am sure, as
well as we, pray for our loved
ones. We hold that death cannot
end this charity. Those who have
gone before have our interests at
heart and pray for us, and we can
pray for them if they have not yet
reached their final happiness in
Heaven. By -Purgatory we mean
a state where souls suffer after
death for a time on account of
their sins. We know of its exist
ence because it has been the con
stant practice of the Church to
pray for the dead. You may still
read prayers for the dead on the
Christian tombs in the Cata
combs. Those early followers of
Christ, knew that prayer for the
damned is unavailing, prayer for
the blessed unnecessary (both
truths are eminently scriptural).
The custom shows that from the
beginning they knew of a “middle
state” where those who had died
as friends of Christ and yet with
sins/still to be atoned for, would
be prepared for Heaven.
It is this practice of the Church
which helps us to understand
such texts as “God will render to
every man according to his deeds”
and that “there shall nowise en
ter into Heaven anything that
defileth” (Revelation XXI, 27).
We are all sinners but it would be
against the justice of God to deny
Heaven to those whose sins have
not involved a complete rejection
of Him. This practice also helps
us to understand the phrase in
the second book of Macchabees
(recognized as canonical by the
Catholic Church) “It is a holy and
wholesome thought to pray for
(Continued on Page 11)
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