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By Burke Walsh
(N.C.W.C. News Service)
The first phase of the Sec
ond Vatican Council began at a
slow pace, but ended on a note
of speedy action and gave prom
ise of even greater acceleration
in the second session to begin
on September 8, 1963.
Following the enormously
colorful and moving opening
ceremony on October 11, the
Feast of the Maternity of the
Blessed Virgin Mary, there was
only one meeting of the coun
cil Fathers in the next five days.
The first general congregation,
or working meeting, was held
on October 13, but it recessed
in less than an hour to permit
the bishops time to study the
qualifications of the candidat
es put forward for 160 places
to be filled on 10 council com
missions.
The first list of candidates
presented to the Fathers includ
ed only members of the var
ious preparatory commissions.
Later other lists of candidates
were drawn up by different
groups of bishops.
On October 16, at the second
meeting, the Fathers voted for
their choices, and the third
meeting, originally scheduled
for October 17, was put off
to October 20, to permit a tabu
lation of the complicated vote.
A majority of those elected
to the commissions were from
the supplementary lists drawn
up after the council’s opening.
In the election, 19 U.S. pre
lates were elected to places
on the 10 commissions. This
was the second largest national
representation, being exceeded
only by the 20 Italian bishops
elected to places on the 10
commissions.
It was at the third session
that the council Fathers issued
their memorable message to the
peoples of the world calling for
peace and justice for all
mankind. The message
proclaimed that “all men are
brothers irrespective of the
race or nation to which they
belong.”
Meanwhile, at the first gen
eral papal audience granted fol
lowing the start of the coun
cil, His Holiness Pope John
XXIII declared (Oct. 17) that the
slow pace of the opening meet
ings meant the council would
do its work well.
October 20, at the third gen
eral congregation, Pope John
dispensed Article 39 of the
council regulations, thus elim
inating the requirement for an
absolute majority of the votes
to win a place on one of the
commissions. This was done
that the work of the council
might proceed without undue
delay.
It was at the fourth general
meeting (Oct. 22) that the Fa
thers opened discussion of the
first project — officially called
a schema — proposed to the
council. It was on the Sacred
Liturgy. Twenty-one Fathers of
the council spoke that day, giv
ing a hint of the free discussion
that was to follow.
The council’s attitude toward
liturgical reform was describ
ed by an American prelate as
being “wide open” as talks con
tinued over several sessions.
One day’s deliberations were
opened with Mass of the Byzan
tine Rite sung in Greek and
Arabic.
At the ninth meeting (Oct. 29)
as the discussion on the lit
urgy continued, the Fathers
were informed that the Pope
had named 90 churchmen
to complete the membership of
the 10 council commissions.
Those appointed by the Pon
tiff were to serve with the 160
elected by the council Fathers.
This same session saw the con
clusion of discussion of the first
chapter of the liturgy project.
At the 11th session (Oct. 31),
it was announced that the work
was now “well under way.”
This meeting was the last be
fore a four-day break in the
sessions, beginning with All
Saints Day. The fourth anni
versary of the coronation of
Pope John was observed on
Sunday, November 4.
Discussion of possible chang
es in the Mass, including re
ception of Holy Communion un
der the species of both bread
and wine, marked the resump
tion of the council with the
12th meeting (Nov. 5). The op
ening Mass that day was cele
brated in ancient Syriac, the
last stage in the evolution of
the Aramaic language spoken
by Christ.
It was at the 13th general con
gregation (Nov. 6), that Pope
John announced that the first
session of the council would
terminate on December 8, the
Feast of the Immaculate Con
ception. This day the council
completed discussion of the
second of eight chapters of the
proposal on the liturgy, and
began discussion of the third
chapter.
This same 13th session ofthe
council was also significant be
cause of an announcement by
Archbishop Pericle Felici,
council general secretary, that
(The writer of the following report, who gives a day-by-day
account of important developments at the first session of the
Vatican Council, was one of several experienced reporters
sent to Rome by the N.C.W.C. News Service to give Ameri
can Catholic readers thorough coverage of the historic gather
ing.)
the Pope had given the council
presidency the right to propose
the termination of discussion on
a specific point if it judged
that the matter had been dealt
with at sufficient length. Im
mediately following this an
nouncement, Ignace Cardinal
Tappouni, Syrian Rite Patri
arch of Antioch, who was pre
siding, proposed to end discus
sion of the second chapter of
the liturgy. The vote was affir
mative, arid a practice was es
tablished.
There was a speed-up during
the 14th, 15th and 16th general
congregations (Nov. 7, 9, and 10)
following permission to close
debate by a vote. Proposals to
change the name of Extreme
Unction to the Annointing of the
Sick and discussion of possible
changes in the breviary high
lighted the work of these days,
when discussion of the third
chapter on the liturgy was com
pleted in less than a day, and
that on the fourth in two days.
The preface and first two chap
ters had taken up two weeks.
It was then announced that
the last four of the eight chap
ters on the liturgy would be dis
cussed as a unit.
On November 12, at the 17th
meeting, it was announced that
the second session of the coun
cil would begin on May 12,1963.
November 13 was a notable
day. Discussion of the lithurgy
was concluded at the 18th gen
eral meeting held that day, and
Pope John intervened again at
the council to have Amleto Car
dinal Cicognani, Papal Sec
retary of State and president
of the council’s Secretariat for
Extraordinary Affairs, an
nounce that St. Joseph would
be honored in Mass according
to the Latin Rite by having his
name included in the body of
the Canon. Discussion of the
liturgy schema had taken up
15 sessions over a period of
23 days.
With the 19th session (Nov.
14), the Fathers began discus
sion of a proposal regarding
the sources of Divine Revela
tion. Earlier at this session,
it was voted to pass the lit
urgy project on to the Liturgy
Commission, to compile a-
mendments and report back for
a vote of the general congre
gation. Two sessions later it
was possible to vote on four
liturgical commission amend
ments, and they were over
whelmingly approved.
Objection to the council’s
proposed constitution on the
sources of Revelation showed
itself at the 19th meeting, and
mounted in the 20th. Debate
at this time centered on the pro
ject as a whole, without examin
ing its details. Some of the Fa
thers called for the constitution
to be rewritten root and branch.
On November 20, at the end
of the 23rd session, it was de
cided to continue discussion of
the draft text treating of the
sources of Revelation. This
came about when a proposal to
•discontinue discussion of the
project failed because it bare
ly missed receiving the neces
sary two-thirds of the votes
cast.
The 24th meeting (Nov. 21)
was one of the most dramatic
of the council’s first phase.
Pope John intervened again to
halt what threatened to be a
long and difficult debate on the
sources of Revelation. It was
the sixth session devoted to this
topic, and the prospect was that
there would be many more. The
council was told that, while
the vote on the preceding day
had not produced the two-thirds
vote necessary to discontinue
debate, nevertheless, according
to the Pope’s wishes, a spe
cial commission would be set
up to put the proposal in a more
acceptable form before contin
uing talks on it.
Then, at the 25th, 26th and 27-
the sessions (Nov. 23,24, and 26)
the council Fathers turned to
a discussion of the importance
of modern communications
media for preaching the Gos
pel to all men. It was noted
that this was the first time that
an ecumenical council had ever
discussed such a topic. The
Council press bulletin said
“all the Fathers without ex
ception expressed a favorable
opinion and sometimes great
praise of the project in gener
al.” The vote to end debate on
this topic was unanimous.
At the 26th meeting (Nov.
24), the Fathers voted unani
mously to send a message of
congratulations to Pope John on
his 81st birthday (Nov. 25). At
the 27th general meeting (Nov.
26), the Fathers heard a mes
sage expressing the Pontiff’s
thanks for their birthday greet
ings, and announcing that from
that time on the council would
meet every day except Sunday
until the close of the first
session on December 8. Until
then, the Fathers had met five
days a week, with Thursdays and
Sundays free days. This same
session, the 27th, saw the coun
cil begin discussion on the pro
posals for achieving a recon
ciliation between the Church
and separated Eastern Chris
tians.
At the 28th meeting (Nov. 27),
the Fathers voiced overwhel
ming approval of the substance
of a formal statement on mass
communications media, and at
the same time learned the Pope
had decided to postpone the
opening of the second session
of the Council to September 8,
1963. It had previously been an
nounced that the second session
would start on May 12.
At the 28th meeting Arch
bishop Felici read a statement
on behalf of the council’s Com
mission on Oriental Churches,
to clear up possible objections
that might be raised in connec
tion with the project taken up the
day before. It has been object
ed that the title- “On Church
Unity: That All May Be One,”
did not make it clear that the
document concerned only the
separated Eastern Christians
and did not include Protestants.
It was stated that the title could
easily be changed, and that the
project did not intent to deal with
those matters that would be tak
en up in the “De Ecclesia”
(of the Church) project.
It was on November 27 that
it was first made public that
Pope John was suffering from a
gastric disturbance that was
causing anemia. Messages
poured in to the Vatican from all
parts of the world wishing the
Pontiff a speedy recovery. A
Vatican announcement on De
cember 1 said the Pope’s
“health is generally improv
ed.”
In the 29th, 30th and 31st
meetings (Nov. 28 and 30 and
Dec. 1), the council ended dis
cussion on the proposal to at
tain unity with separated East
ern Christians; adopted nine
amendments to the liturgy pro
posal, and started discussion on
the proposal dealing with the
nature of the Church. In their
first 31 meetings, the council
Fathers had discussed five pro
posals scheduled to be dealt
with by the council.
Toward the close of the 29th
meeting, Archbishop Felici
read an announcement suggest
ing that during the novena in
honor of the Immaculate Con
ception (Nov. 29 to Dec. 7) the
council pray for the world’s
bishops, both those at the coun
cil and those prevented from at
tending, and for all Christian
people.
At the 31st session, the Fa
thers agreed to adopt the un
ity proposal, but voted to in
clude it in the decree on ecu
menical matters drafted by the
Secretariat for Promoting
Christian Unity and the chapter
on the same subject drafted
by the Theological Commission.
On December 3, at the 33rd
session, a bishop, whose iden
tity was not revealed, propos
ed that lay experts be called
on to contribute to the council
in the fields in which they are
specialists. All ofthe more than
200 ' ‘experts” of the council are
priests. At this same session,
Archbishop Felici announced
that another set of amendments
prepared by the Commission on
the Liturgy was being distribu
ted to the Fathers, and would
be voted on before the close
of the first session.
The closing days of the first
phase of the council saw the
Fathers approving by an over
whelming vote the preface and
first chapter of the project on
the liturgy. During these final
meetings — the 34th, 35th and
(Continued on Page 3-C)
The Southern Cross, January 5, 1963—PAGE 1-C
Best Wishes
From
Trinity Mission
of
Immaculate
Conception
Dublin
Including:
St. Julianna's - Fort Valley
St. William's - Sandersville
Catholic Center - Perry
Sacred Heart - Irwinton
Catholic Center - Cochran
Missile Base-Jeffersonville
Veteran's Adm. Center - Dubl
in
A Hearty Welcome And All Prayerful Best Wishes To
THE SOUTHERN CROSS
FROM THE PASTOR, PARISHIONERS, AND FRIENDS OF
MOST PURE HEART OF MARY PARISH
Savannah, Georgia
The Faculty of Saint Mary's School
Sister Mary Ephrem, Principal
Sister Mary Immaculate
Sister Mary Leonard
Miss Harriet Polite
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Sister Mary Faustina
Sister Mary De Ricci
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Miss Shirley Campbell
—Grade 8
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Saint Therese's Guild
Mrs. Mamie Farley, President
Mrs. Pearla G. Steele, Treasurer
Saint Martin de Porres Guild
Mrs. Louise Turner, President
Mrs. Iona Brooks, Vice President
Mrs. Lucy West, Secretary and Treasurer
Mrs. Mamie Williams, Asst. Secretary
Mrs. Sallie Hicks, Chaplain
Parent Teacher Association
Mr. Eugene H. Gadsden, President
Mrs. Ocia Walker, Vice President
Mrs. Mary Daniels, Secretary
Mrs. Annie Campbell, Asst. Secretary
Mr. John Grant, Financial Secretary
Mrs. Carl Jordan, Parliamentarian
Mrs. Enobia S. Jackson, President
Mrs. Marie Wyche, Vice President
Mrs. Edna S. Washington, Secretary
Miss Almeta Odum, Treasurer
Mrs. Angela Thompson, Chaplain
Legion of Mary
Mrs. Mamie Williams, President
Mrs. Elizabeth Jenkins, V. President
Mrs. I.V. Jones, Secretary
Mrs. Sallie Hicks, Treasurer
Saint Mary's Men's Society
Mr. Willie Reid, President
Dr. Carl Rankin Jordan, Vice President
Mr. Walter Cleveland, Secretary
Mr. William Law, Treasurer
Mr. Lewis Thomas, Recording Secretary
Mr. George Collier Chrm. of Games
Saint Mary's Thrift Shop
1811 West Broad Street
Savannah, Georgia
Mr. Earl Miller, Director
Mrs. Theodosia Doyle, Supervisor
Welcomes in God’s Name your used articles of clothing, furni
ture, literature, games, toys, etc. Whenever available please call
Adams 2-4751.
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a.