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1 f 7 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 Sister Mary Christine Sister Mary Faustina Sister Mary De Ricci Sister Mary Carmel Rose Miss Shirley Campbell —Grade 8 —Grade 7 —Grade 6 —Grade 5 —Grade 4 —Grade 3 - -Grade 2 -—Grade 1 —Kindergarten Catholic Women's Club Saint Therese's Guild Mrs. Mamie Farley, President Mrs. Pearla G. 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