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1 I / Criticizes Father Kueng Bishop Says Theologian Is ‘‘Talking Nonsense” SPRING LAKE,N. J.—Bishop George W. Ahr has criticized “a particular European theolo gian" for speaking in the Unit ed States on matters "out of his field" and "talking non sense." The Bishop of Trenton did not mention Father Hans Kueng of the University of Tuebingen Germany, by name, but it was clear that the Swiss theologian was his subject. Father Kueng, who advocates broad reform in the Church, has spent five weeks in a cross country lecture tour during which he has discussed the church and freedom. Bishop Ahr spoke (April 18) at the annual spiritual direc tor's dinner of the Monmouth County Holy Name Federation here. "We have been getting a lot of advice from a particular European theologian on how to run the Church, on what is wrong with the Church," he said. "This gentleman made his reputation by writing a book, which many consider a classic, on Karl Barth, Protestant The ologian. This makes him a n authority on Karl Barth, not on how to run the Catholic Church, and therefore, when he tries to tell us how to run the Church and what we should do, he is out of his field," the Bishop said. Bishop Ahr said he questions the knowledge, experience and prudence of the theologian. The prelate said there have been "contradictions" in some of the reports of the theologian’s remarks. He also said that some of his remarks are not under standable and the reason may be that they are nonsense. Referring to Father Kueng’s remarks about "the nature and the unnature of the Church or the freedom and the unfree dom of the individual," Bishop Ahr told his audience: "If you do not understand this, don’t worry. There is a tendency when someone comes from the other side and talks in a lan guage that we find a little dif ficult to understand, to say to ourselves that he is a smart man; this must be very deep. "I don’t understand it. May be one of the reasons you don’t understand it is that he is talk ing nonsense. This is one of the questions you should raise." The Bishop told his aud ience that they "need not ac cept everything that is uttered by theologians, foreign or do mestic, no matter how good the publicity agent is." We are getting a lot of ad vice about freedom," he said. We are told that we shouldbe free from the Index of Forbid den Books. We ought to be free from previous censorship of books. Maybe it is true that the Index needs a little revision. Perhaps it is also true that some people with proper safe guards can read some things that are on the Index without personal harm to their spirit ual lives. "But we were told during the council that the Church should be pastoral in its activity and must assume and exercise ma ternal love for all its children. It seems to me that our young people and a lot of older people need a lot of pastoral care by way of protection which is afforded by the Index of Forbidden Books against the assault s on their virtue and on their Faith. "it will always be necessary for the Church to warn her children, even in particular, about things that are danger ous to Faith or morals. * ‘When we come to the ques tion of censorship, the advice (Continued on Page 3) Vol. 43, No. 33 10c Per Copy — $3 a Year Charge “Public Immorality Involved” WEEKLY NEWSPAPER OP THE DIOCESE OF SAVANNAH SAVANNAH, GEORGIA, SATURDAY, MAY 4, 1963 Columbus, May 11 & 12 Father Damien, Mrs. Ryan DCCW Convention Speakers COLUMBUS—Mrs. Mary Perkins Ryan and the Rev. Da mien Breen M.S. Ss. T. will be featured speakers at the Diocesan Council of Catholic Women’s Annual Convention be ing held here Saturday and Sunday, May 11th and 12th. Mrs. Ryan will speak at the Saturday evening banquet with FATHER DAMIEN Father Damien Breen speaker at the Sunday Luncheon. Mary Perkins Ryan (Mrs. John Julian Ryan), was born and brought up in Boston, Mass., and graduated from Manhattan- ville College of the Sacred Heart in 1932. She was the first American employee of the pub lishing firm of Sheed & Ward when they opened their Ameri can office. Her books include: AT YOUR EASE IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, SPEAKING OF HOW TO PRAY, MIND THE BABY (Sheed & Ward); BEGINNING AT HOME, PERSPECTIVE FOR Bishop’s Council Meetings The Bishop’s Council Of Men will hold meetings on the Deanery level according to the following schedule: COLUMBUS Sunday, May 12, 3:30 p.m. —St. Anne's School Auditor ium. AUGUSTA Sunday, May 19, 2:30 p.m. —Sacred Heart Hall. SAVANNAH Sunday, June 2, 4:00 p.m. —Cathedral Day School Aud itorium. His Excellency, Bishop McDonough plans to be pres ent at each of these meetings. Discussion will be encour aged in relation to the de velopment of the program and effectiveness of the or ganization. RENEWAL and a pamphlet, WHAT IS THIS "ACTIVE PAR TICIPATION” (The Liturgical Press); KEY TO THE PSALMS and (with Dr. Cornelius Bou- man) KEY TO THE MISSAL (Fides Publishers). She has translated THE MEANING OF SACRED SCRIPTURE (Notre Dame University Press) and INTRODUCTION TO SFliUTU- ALITY (Desclee Co.) by Rev. Louis Bouyer, and prepared for publication THE ART OF TEACHING CHRISTIAN DOC TRINE, by Johannes Hofinger,; and WORSHIP, THE LIFE OF THE MISSIONS, edited by Fr. Hofinger (Notre Dame Univer sity Press). She has also written other articles and pamphlets, the mos t recent being a series on the Church’s seasons, RE DEEMING THE TIME, publish ed by the Paulist Press. Mrs. Ryan is a member of the Board of Directors of the North American Liturgical Confer ence and National Chairman of the Spiritual Development Com mittee of the National Council of Catholic Women. In 1942, she married John Julian Ryan, author of THE IDEA OF A CATHOLIC COL LEGE and BEYOND HUMAN ISM (Sheed & Ward). Professor Ryan is now teaching courses in English and in Problems of Christian Living at St. Anselm's College, Manchester, N.H. The Ryans have five boys and live in Goffstown, N.H. Father Damien Breen of Holy Trinity, Alabama, is a Mis sionary Servant of the Most Holy Trinity. He is Master of Novices for the Trinitarian Fa thers. Under a Capuchin, The Rev. Father Bede, Father Damien went through his own novitiate in Holy Trinity after having gone through the studies at the St. Joseph’s Preparatory Sem. which is now in Monroe, Vir ginia. After making his vows in Holy Trinity, Sept. 8, 1932, Fa ther Damien completed his stu dies at Catholic University, Wash., D. C. where he was or dained. Though he taught high school a couple of years, in Rio Pied- ras, Puerto Rico, at St. Augus tine’s Military Academy and spent a year at a parish in Oklahoma City, Fr. Damien’s longest assignment has been, as he says, "raising baby Tri nitarians in the Novitiate of the Order, in Holy Trinity, Ala., since Sept. 1942. During that time he has nev ertheless found time to give missions, retreats, days of re collection, and countless other talks for jubilees, PTA’s and many other occasions in most the states along the eastern shore. He is well known for his talks in the Columbus area "when" (to quote him again) “they couldn’t find anyone else." MRS. RYAN U. S. Catholic Total Passes 43 Million NEW YORK, (NC)— Catholics in the 50 states, including all families of the military, diplo matic and other services abroad, now number 43,851,538, according to the 1963 Official Catholic Directory. The new total represents an increase over last year of 969,273, and a 10-year increase of 13,426,523 or 44.1 per cent over the 30,425,015 in 1953. There are now 28 archdioce ses in the United States, with a Catholic population of 18,669,040, according to the directory published by P. J. Kenedy and Sons of New York. The establishment of the new Diocese of Fairbanks, former ly the Vicariate of Alaska brings the number of dioceses to 120 with a Catholic population of 25,182,498. This figure includes the two million Catholics re ported by the Military Ordi nariate. The 28 archdioceses report ed a growth of 150,875 and the 120 dioceses 818,497, the di rectory discloses. The seven archdioceses with Catholic pop ulations in excess of one mil lion are Chicago, 2,293,900; Boston, 1,733,620; New York, 1,704,350; Newark, N. J., 1,512,311; Los Angeles, 1,477,408; Detroit, 1,429,670, and Philadelphia, 1,263,625. INDEX QUESTION BOX 4 EDITORIALS 4 MARRIAGES 6 YOUTHSCOPE 5 HERE AND THERE.. 6 OBITUARIES 6 Catholic Men Hit Tax Paid Birth Control “Lay Catholic Has Obligation To Aid Bishops” BOSTON, (NC)—The lay Ca tholic has an obligation to help the Bishops in running the Church, Richard Cardinal Cushing asserts in a 12,000- word pastoral letter issued here. "Along with the members of the hierarchy, the laity are to be considered coresponsible for the Church," the Archbishop of Boston says in the (April 28) letter, entitled "The Church j and Public Opinion." The letter discusses pub lic opinion within the Church and outside of it; the role of the hierarchy, clergy and laity in this sphere; and re sources for assisting public opinion. Cardinal Cushing defines public opinion as "an existent and visible force within the Church which consists in the confluence of many individual^ opinions on those matters which touch upon the Christian life." "Since the lay person in the Church brings with him his own abilities and talents," the Cardinal continues, "these in a particular way should find constructive expression. The scientist, the scholar, the teacher, the doctor, the lawyer the public servant, and all the rest have something to say which can make the Church a more effective instrument of grace for the good of souls. When these voices are silent the Church suffers from their loss and the Christian has ab dicated his responsibility to ward the Kingdom." He makes clear, however, that he is not speaking only of professional people, be cause "all in the Church give of their wisdom and it is often ‘out of the mouths of babes' that the Lord speaks to his people." "Within his competence," the Cardinal states, "the lay per son has an obligation to make himself heard and a right to expect that his opinions will be treated with respect and his influence accepted when it is constructive and helpful. "Nothing can be more frus trating to the apostolic Chris tian than to find himself ig nored or, even worse, abused for having ventured to assist the Church in adapting to chang ing times. Because of his more intimate engagement in the world, the layman is likely to bring insights and understand ing which only such an existen tial involvement can provide; (Continued on Page 6) u Richard Reid Award For N.Y. Attorney NEW YORK, (NC)—Thomas A. Brennan, New York Labor at torney and Catholic lay leader, has been named first recipient of the Richard Reid Award by the Catholic Institute of the Press here. Brennan is the counsel of the Catholic Press Association. Reid, the late editor of the Ca tholic News of New York and for 20 years editor of the Bul letin (Georgia), for whom the award is named, was also a counsel of the press as sociation. Presentation of the award will be made at the in stitute’ s annual meeting on May 9 at the Hotel Biltmore AT NCCM CONVENTION— Romeo Maione (left) of the Social Action Department, Canadian Catholic Conference, chats with Martin Work, executive director of the Nation al Council of Catholic Men, during the NCCM biennial convention at Atlantic City, N. J. Mr. Maione was the speaker at the opening dinner meeting of the convention.—(NC Photos) Dutch Cardinal Warns Council “Shortcomings” Could Lead To Deadlock By Hans Bronkhorst (N.C.W.C. NEWS SERVICE) UTRECHT, The Netherlands, April 27—Bernard Cardinal Al- frink warned here that the Sec ond Vatican Council might be come a deadlock if some of the obstacles it met during its first session are not overcome. The Archbishop of Utrecht, who is one of the council’s 10 presiding cardinals, spoke of the work on the council at a press conference (in the last week of April). Pointing in par ticular to three problem areas in the work of the council, he said: "If these shortcomings are not repaired they could lead the ecumenical council to a dead lock. It will be the task of the Coordinating Commission for the interim period to solve these problems.” Cardinal Alfrink said that ac tually the drawbacks of the first session served to put into higher relief "the wonderful success of the council, which gave so much joy to the whole Church and the whole world," He said also that recent news from Rome gives rise to optim ism that the seven cardinals of the Coordinating Commis sion will overcome the obsta cles of the first session. The three big drawbacks at the first session, according to the Cardinal, were the great mass of material prepared for consideration, the lack of coor dination between the various (Continued on Page 3) First Mass May 12th Savannah Rev. Clement Porzio Ordination At Belmont SAVANNAH--The Reverend Clement Louis Porzio, of the Order of St. Benedict, will be raised to the Catholic Priest hood in the inspiring liturgy of Ordination in Belmont Abbey Cathedral, Belmont, N. C., on Saturday, May 4th. The Most Rev. Philip M. Hannan, J.C.D., the Auxiliary Bishop of Washington, D. C., will confer the Sacrament of Holy Orders on Father Cle ment and on the Rev. Dominic J. Pecoraino, O.S.B., of Fay etteville, N.C., and the Rev. Bonaventure J. Denk, O.S.B., of Chicago, Illinois. These three young monks of Belmont Abbey will become priests surrounded by their monastic confreres and in the presence of their Abbot, the Right Rev. Walter A. Coggin, O.S.B., D.D. Father Clement is a native of Savannah where he was born in 1936 the son of Mrs. Louise A. Porzio of 720 East 52nd Street, and the late Mr. Por zio. He attended Blessed Sacra- REV. CLEMENT L. PORZIO, O.S.B. ment School in Savannah and graduated from Benedictine Military School. He studied at Belmont Abbey College where he graduated with the Bachelor of Arts degree in 1959. He en tered the novitiate of Belmont Abbey on July 10, 1956, made his first monastic profession on July 11, 1957, and his solemn profession on July 11, 1960. For the past four years Fa ther Clement has pursued his theological and scriptural stu dies at Belmont Abbey Semi nary. In the meantime he has done graduate work in the summer sessions at the Univer sity of Notre Dame in the field of Educational Guidance. Father Clement will cele brate his First Solemn Mass on Sunday, May 12th, in the Church of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Savannah. Assist ing him in this solemn service will be Monsignor Thomas A. Brennan, pastor of that church, as Assistant Pirest; the Rev. Martin Hayes, O.S.B., Deacon; The Rev. Jude Cleary, O.S.B., Subdeacon, and the Rev. Oscar Burnett, O.S.B., Master of Ceremonies. The Very Rev. Bede Lightner, O.S.B., Priot of Sacred Heart Priory, will deliver the sermon. By William E. Ring (N.C.W.C. NEWS SERVICE) ATLANTIC CITY, N.J., — The "alarming" growth of ar tificial contraception, steril ization and abortion by states to lower rolls of public aid recipients was condemned at the National Council of Cath olic Men convention here. In a set of "guiding princi ples for the layman in an age of Christian renewal, “the del egates also took a stand in sup port of Federal aid to Church- related schools and called on all laymen to bring their "own personal conduct into line with the requirement s of Christian love and the natural rights of man’’ in the racial relations field. In other "guidingprinciples" the delegates stressed: —The spiritual and social plight of the migrant farm work er and his family—a situation that calls for our establish ment of special lay apostolate groups to make spiritual and social aid available to them." —The threat posed to moral as well as social stabiMSjj >f a growing unemployment prob lem resulting from automation and from the increasing number of youths and displaced farmers entering the labor force., —The increasing burden of taxation and the "staggering growth of government costs,” which impose a "moral obli gation" on public officials who should exercise "constant vig ilance in the proper expendi ture of public funds both at home and abroad.” In the stand against contra ception, sterilization and abor tion by states, the convention "guiding principle" condemned "the legal acceptance of such as constituting an approved public policy of the state, especially in respect of public aid re cipients." "We oppose these and all other denials of the sacredness of human life and the human person, and we call on all gov ernments to disassociate them selves from the public immor ality involved in sanctioning such methods,” it said. The "guiding principle" on Federal aid to schools called attention to “the pressure be ing exerted on parents whose consciences require them to send their children to schools which teach religion in addi tion to the secular subjects." "They should not be penaliz ed as taxpayers for excercising their natural and constitution ally guaranteed right to do so, but should be equitably includ ed in the allocation of public monies, if any, made available for education. Equal rights for children are as much a matter of just concern as equal rights for racial, economic and re ligious minorities." The "guiding principle" on the racial issue cited "the per sistence of racial discrimin ation in our society,” saying: “Such a condition insistently requires each of us to bring his own personal conduct into line with the requirements of Christian love and the natural rights of man.” PRAY FOR OUR PRIESTLY DEAD REV. JEREMIAH O’HARA May 6, 1940 VERY REV. DANIEL J. McCarthy May 8, 1957 Oh Cod, Who didst give to thy servants by their sacredotal office, a share in the priest hood of the Apostles, grant, we implore, that they may. also be one of their company forever in heaven. Through Christ Our Lord, Amen.