Newspaper Page Text
Priest Asserts
U
Foreign”
Church Is
To Progress In Asia
Aspect Of
Major Bar
SANTE FE, N. M., — The
Catholic Church must become
embodied in the very culture of
Asia to make its impact felt
on that continent, a Benedic
tine priest from India said at
the Catholic Art Association
convention here.
Father Bede Griffiths,
O.S.B., said the major stum
bling block to this goal is that
the Asian peoples regard the
Church as “foreign,” primar
ily because it is Latin in liturgy,
theology and canon law.
Father Griffiths, stationed
an experimental Benedictine
monastery in Kuricumala, In
dia, spoke (Aug. 14) after re
ceiving the art association’s
gold medal award for his “out
standing contribution to ecu
menism in the East.”
The British-born Benedictine
became a convert to Catholici
sm in 1931, was ordained a
priest in 1940 and served
at Benedictine monasteries in
England before being assigned
to the monastery in India.
Father Griffiths spoke of the
Church in relation to Asia in
general but stressed the chal
lenge it faces in India.
He said that although the
Church is shedding “her colon
ial trappings” and becoming
adapted to social customs to
modern India, “it still remains
unbelievably European.”
“The churches are still Go
thic or baroque, the altar furn
ishings, statues and pictures
either imported or imitated
from European models in the
worst style,” he continued.
“But more serious than this is
the fact that not only in ex
ternal appearance but also he
interior formation of the
Church remains essentially
Western and therefore for
eign.
“This is due to the simple
fact that the Church is Latin;
Latin in its liturgy (which in a
land where the majority is still
illiterate is completerly unin
telligible), Latin in its theory
and Latin in its system of can
on law. This means that the
Church remains completely cut
off from the traditions of Indian
culture.”
Asserting that this is the sit
uation confronting the Church
not only in India but “in all
Asia today,” Father Griffiths
then asked: “Can we wonder that
the Church appears in the eyes
of many people in a foreign
sect, alien to the life and thought
of the people? Can we wonder
that in five centuries, with ev
erything in its favor, it has not
succeeded in winning more than
two per cent of the people to its
Faith?”
He said that in Asia the
Church “has to face a world
which belongs to a totally dif—
/I
DOWNTOWN
SAVANNAHS
Newest And Finest
Manger Hotel
HOME OF THE FAMOUS
PURPLE TREE LOUNGE
AND
COLONY RESTAURANT
By Four Seminarians’
Children Given Glimpse Of
World They Never Knew
The Southern Cross, August 15, 1963—PAGE 3
Obituaries
ferent cultural tradition,” and
this “will be found to consti
tute the greatest challenge to the
Church in the coming cen
turies.”
The Benedictine priest stated
that the ancient cultures of the
East, especially that of India,
“are intimately bound up with
religion,” and this is one rea
son why the church has found it
difficult to come to terms with
these cultures.
“To make contact with In
dian culture is to make contact
with Hindiusm,” he continued,
and the attitude of the Church
until recently has been that Hin
duism is a false religion which
is to be avoided like the plague
by a Christian. It is here clear
ly that the most fundamental
change is required. It is a ques
tion of how the Gospel message
itself is to be presented.
‘As long as we try to present
the Gospel message as
something opposed to the re
ligion and culture of India we are
doomed to failure. We have to
learn to understand the Indian
mind, its art and philosophy and,
above all, its religious aspira
tions, and to present the Gospel
in its vital relation to this liv
ing tradition.”
Father Griffiths said this
calls for an approach similar
to the ecumenical movement in
the West “by which we try to
understand the traditions of our
separated brethren.”
There is need now, he said,
of an ecumenical movement
in religion by which we seek to
discover what is the common
ground in the different religious
traditions of mankind and then
in the light of this understand
ing to comprehend all these dif
ferent religious traditions in
their vital relationship to the
living Christ.
He referred to this as “the
great task of the future,” and
as being in a sense a continu
ation of the work begun by the
Second Vatican Council.
“The Church,” he stressed,
"has to renew herself in depth,
to recover the essential form of
her doctrine and discipline,
purged of all the accidental ac
cretions of the centuries, so that
she may appear in all her uni
versality, her essential catholi
city, not bound to any particular
form of language or culture, but
open to all mankind, and able to
adapt herself to the needs of
human society in the East as in
the West.”
In the work of “incarnationin
the culture of Asia,” Father
Griffiths stated, the Church has
* 1 a very clear guide’ ’ in its early
history.
He said “the Church of the
first five centuries provides for
us a model of the development
of the liturgy, the theology and
the canon law of the Church in
the midst of a pagan environ
ment, which it was able to
assimilate a new culture, while
yet retaining its essential form
and message unchanged.”
Father Griffiths singled out
the Syrian Church (separated
from unity in the fifth century)
By Newell Schindler
(N.C.W.C. NEWS SERVICE)
NEW ORLEANS, La.—Doz
ens of restless children ga
ther at a recreational center
here each morning, eagerly
awaiting the arrival of four
young men in black trousers,
white shirts and black ties.
The children live in multi-
storied apartment buildings, in
a community and society which
seem worlds away from the
nearby residential sections.
The young men dressed in
black and white—four students
from Notre Dame Seminary in
New Orleans—are conducting
a Catholic Living Program in
the Florida Avenue public hous
ing project.
The housing units provide a
place to live for 2,300 persons,
many of whom otherwise would
be living in slum or near-slum
dwellings because of economic
pressures. But like many such
projects, there is little provi
sion for recreational and social
outlets.
It is almost as if this com-'
munity were walled off from the
rest of New Orleans.
* ‘The people have little con
tact with outside areas, and the
outside areas have little contact
with them,” said seminarian
Crosby Kern, 24.
Working with Kern in the pro
gram are seminarians Michael
Aymami, 26; Elmore Chauvin,
23; and Gerard Prinz, 24.
“Many of the kids don't know
what it is to leave the project,
continued Kern. “We take them
downtown (to the business dis
trict) and they want to know if
we’re still in the city,”
Seeing that the children in the
program get out of the project
at least once a week—a trip to
the zoo, to the park, a cultural
tour—is one of the activities
of the seminarians.
Other programs include
handicrafts and athletics, and
sewing for the girls. A touch of
doctrinal training is thrown in.
* 'Many of the kids don’t know
what religion is,” said Kern.
' ‘The doctrinal training is very
basic, as those participating in
the program are of many
faiths.” ?wnc)p *»* t
The summer-long experi
mental program, sponsored by
Associated Catholic Charities,
also includes projects for mo
thers and for senior citizens.
' ‘We try to encourage parents
to use what means they have
available to make life more
meaningful, and to encourage
their children to better them
selves,” said Prinz.
* 'By getting together and ex
changing ideas they discover
ways to improve the appearance
of their apartments, even within
their limited incomes,” said
Kern. “And there is an exchange
of ideas on the many problems
of raising children.”
Many senior citizens of the
area haven’t had a reason to get
out in years. Now they gather
once a week for a bingo game
and chitchat.
Through the Catholic Living
Program, Catholic Charities
hopes to collect information that
may be useful in solving social
problems that are common to
people of the housing project.
Many people are not even
aware of the social agencies
which might help them with their
problems. The seminarians di
rect them along these lines.
Perhaps the food, clothing and
toys collected by the young
seminarians through donations
and distributed in needy cases
are some consolation.
Residents of the “walled-in”
community were a bit dubious of
the intrusion by outsiders at
first, but have come to accept
the seminarians and respect
their objectives.
‘ ‘You can see some change of
attitude on life in the young peo
ple,” said Kern. “They seem to
be taking more interest in being
neat and combing their hair.”
The program hasn't enough to
provide much activity for teen
age boys, but several of them
come by the Family Living Cen
ter each afternoon just to talk.
“They’re interested in bet
tering themselves,” said Kern
of the boys, who still attend
school. “They talk about getting
jobs, or going in the service to
get some kind of occupational
training. They don’t want to
make the mistakes that some
have made. It’s encouraging.
“They’re all good people,”
he added. “Circumstanceshave
thrown them against the wall.
Mrs. Sarah
Baughn McEllinn
SAVANNAH — Funeral ser
vices for Mrs. McEllinn were
held in the Chapel of the Ca
thedral of St. John Baptist Aug
ust 8th , Father Lawrence A.
Lucree officiating.
She was the widow of James
D. McEllinn. Surviving are a
sister, Mrs. Marie Coveney;
two brothers, H. C. Baughn of
Jacksonville, Fla., and Sidney
Baughn of Savannah, and sev
eral nieces and nephews.
Mrs. Lucy
Kiene Rector
SAVANNAH — Funeral ser
vices for Mrs. Lucy Rector
were held August 7th at Bles
sed Sacrament Church.
Survivors are three brothers,
Charles A. Kiene and Thomas
A. Kiene, both of Savannah, and
J. T. Kiene of Columbia, S. C.;
three sisters, Mrs. Arthur W.
Chandler, Mrs. Bernard J. Dea-
son and Miss Elsie Kiene;
several nieces and nephews.
SEMINARIANS RUN RECREATION PROJECT— At a
housing project in New Orleans, seminarians sp§®d their
summer vacation aiding the children to find healthful
recreation. Once a week the youngsters are taken on an
outing away from the crowded project. Some of them rarely
ever leave the community within a city. In this picture
seminarian Michael Aymami supervises a ball game for
young residents of a project. - (NC Photos)
News Copy At 1,000 Words Per Minute
Shades Of Alexander Graham Belll
Mrs. Margaret
DuFour
SAVANNAH — Funeral ser
vices for Mrs. MargaretD. Du-
Four were held August 10th
at Sacred Heart Church.
Survivors include two daugh
ters, Mrs. J. William Lang,
Berkeley Heights, N. J.; Mrs.
W. Robert Little Jr. of New
York; a son, Richard L. Du-
Four of Savannah; two sisters,
Mrs. Joseph R. Mahoney of
Savannah and Mrs. Charles L.
Adams of Macon; two brothers,
Dennis Doyle and Richard L.
Doyle, both of Savannah; four
grandchildren, and four great
grandchildren.
i
University Meeting
WASHINGTON, (NC) — Some
50 heads of Catholic univer
sities from various coun
tries will attend the triennial
meeting here September 1 to
7 of the International Federation
of Catholic Universities.
The meeting will be the fed
eration’s first in the U. S. and
will take place at the Catholic
University of America. The
university’s rector, Msgr. Wil
liam J. McDonald, first Ameri
can president of the federation,
will preside.
Topics to be discussed in
clude “Christian Western Cul
ture and Oriental Civilization
and “The Establishment of Ca
tholic Universities in Develop
ing Countries.”
Mrs. Kate Cleary
Broderick
SAVANNAH — Funeral ser
vices for Mrs. Kate Cleary
Broderick were held August
8th at Blessed Sacrament
Church.
Survivors are a daughter,
Mrs. Julia B. LeFeBvie of De
troit, Mich.; three sons, Jo
seph M. Broderick Jr., and
William C. Broderick, both of
Savannah, and Charles J. Brod
erick North Charleston, S. C.;
two brothers, George J. Cleary
and Henry A. Cleary; sev
en grandchildren, nine-great-
grandchildren and a number of
nieces and nephews.
Mrs. Francesca
Mancinelli
LOUISVILLE —Funeral ser
vices for Mrs. FrancescaMan-
cinelli who died in Louisville,
were held in Lynn, Mass. Sur
vivors include two daughters,
Mrs. Mary A. Ansley, Louis
ville, Mrs. FlorenceR. Fernan
des, Malden, Mass.; one son,
George P. Mancinelli, Lynn,
Mass., and six grandchildren.
Carl H. Heise
SAVANNAH—Funeral ser
vices for Mr. Carl Heise of Sa
vannah Beach, were held Aug
ust 10th from the Cathedral
of St. John the Baptist.
Survivors included his wife,
Mrs. Ann Morton Heise; two
sisters, Mrs. Michael Ganey
and Miss Ruth Heise; a bro
ther, Ernest R. Heise; and two
nephews.
Mrs. Agnes E. Kenny
SAVANNAH — Funeral ser
vices for Mrs. Agnes Kenny
who died in Savannah, were
held in Chicago, Ill.
Survivors include two daugh
ters, Mrs. 1 F. W. Trudell of
Savannah, and Mrs. Mary Gar
land of Wisconsin; two sons,
Henry T. Kenny Jr., and An
thony G. Kenny, both of Chi
cago; and f ou r g randchi ldren.
DENVER (NC)— Telephoning
at the rate of 1,000 words a
minute! Shades of Alexander
Graham Bell!
But that’s what can be done
with the new Data Speed equip
ment developed for high speed
tramsmission which now links,
the Register system of news
papers here with theN. C, W, C,
News Service in Washington,
D. C-, and the Register Office
with stations in Green Bay, Wis
consin, Cincinnati, Lafayette,
Brunswick
7!
TV SERVICE
Glynn
Electronics
2423 NORWICH
AM 5-7669
in South India as “an example of
a Catholic Church withadistin-
tive Oriental liturgy, springing
from a Christian tradition which
is quite different from that of the
Greek and Latin.”
“In the first place, like all
Eastern liturgies, it is open to
the vernacular,” he continues,
“and (this) is in fact now cele
brated in Malayalam . . .inboth
the Syrian Rites, Eastern and
Western, which are used in Ker
ala,” India.
“This use of the vernacular—
which we may confidently expect
will soon be extended to the
Latin Rite—is, of course, the
indispensable preliminary to
the acclimatiation of a lit
urgy,” he added.
“Once the vernacular has
been introduced,” he said, “the
way is open to the development
of native music,” and then one
may hope that a sense of com
munity will be awakened which
will give birth to a distinctive
form of art and architecture and
so make the litury the expres
sion of the life of the people.”
Father Griffiths said that al
though the Syrian liturgy is
weak theologically, it “gives
us an example of rites and cer
emonies which are different
from those of the Latin and
Greek churches.” He pointed
out that in India certain Hindu
customs have been adopted in
the marriage service.
He said, however, that “the
really important thing” is “that
a liturgy should correspond with
the habits of thought and feeling
and expression which belong to
the psycholoby of a particular
people.”
“Thus,” he added, “on the
La., Peoria, Ill,, and Altoona,
Pa.
News copy is transmitted at
the 1,000 word a minute rate
over regular telephone lines
from the N.C.W.C. News Ser
vice in Washington to the Den
ver office, The transmission is
by an eight-channel tape, which
winds on a reel. The punched
tape is fed into an automatic
typewriter which converts the
tape punches back to the ori
ginal “hard copy,”
model of the Syrian liturgy . , .
following the principles along
which it has developed as an
expression of a distinctively
Oriental form of Christianity,
we could hope to see a living
liturgy in the Far East which
could correspond with the cul
tural habits of the people.”
In conclusion, Father Grif
fiths stressed again the need
for Christians to seek to under
stand other religions.
“There is a hidden presence
of Christ in every man calling
him to union with himself,” he
said, “and this presence is
active in every religion, and in
deed wherever reason and mor
ality are to be found.”
He said that just as “there
is one movement of the Church
which is visible in history,”
so “there is also a hidden move
ment of the Church going on in
the hearts of men from the be
ginning, drawing men to Christ
without their knowing it, in
Hinduism, in Buddhism, in Is
lam, even in agnosticism and
unbelief.”
“It is only at the last day,”
he stated, “that the full signi
ficance of this movement will
be revealed, but even now we
can discern something of this
hidden path of grace in the other
religious of the world. Our ecu
menical task is to cooperate
with that mystery of grace,
seeking to discover that pres
ence of Christ in every relig
ion and in every human soul.’
“In this task,” Father Grif
fiths concluded, “we shall often
find that we have more to learn
than to teach, and that Christ
has gone before us in tjie hearts
of our brothers in religion.”
The new system greatly cuts
the time of transmission and
preparation of copy over the
formerly employed regular
teletype hook-up between sta
tions. Each station is equipped
with a sender and receiver
which allow for communications |
between them.
This is the way the trans-]
mission works:
Copy is typed on the automa
tic typewriter producing the
eight-channel tape. The tape is
fed into the Data Speed sender
which translates it into a varie
gated series of musical tones
that speed along regular tele
phone lines. The receiver
translates the tones into a pun
ched tape that is fed into a
computer. The computer reads
the tape, separates the lines
so they are equal on both mar
gins and produces a new tape.
The new tape is fed into auto
matic typesetters which set the
copy in type.
Enthronement
September 12
SAN DIEGO, CAL., (NC)—
James Francis Cardinal Mc
Intyre, Archbishop of Los An
geles, will preside at the en
thronement here September 12
of Auxiliary Bishop Francis J.
Furey as Philadelphia as Coad
jutor Bishop of San Diego. The
ceremony will place in Immacu-
lata church on the campus of
the University of San Diego.
7T£
j ° ' IN AUGUSTA . . .
MEMORIALS
S.R. KELLY & SON, INC.
PA 2-6972
MURPHY’S RADIO &
TV SERVICE
FAST SERVICE - FAIR CHARGES
r Q
/>>
I FAST
MEMBER OF CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
Pick Up And Delivery
1710 BULL AD 3-0985
In Savannah
OGLETHORPE
MARBLE &
GRANITE CO.
East Broad at Waldburg St.
Irvine Henderson
Home
3 cA
Funeral
,o
PH. AD. 2-
7181
Irvine C. Henderson
Irvine C. Henderson, Jr.
James E. Henderson, III
121 W. Hall St.
SAVANNAH
St. James Standard Dress Now In Stock
Mothers Are Invited To See Our Complete
Fall Selections For Boys and Girls
SALE!
10% DISCOUNT ON ALL GIRLS WINTER OVERCOATS
FOR THE MONTH OF AUGUST
Charge and Lay-Away Accounts Invited
a* JiaMie
DeRENNE SHOPPING CENTER
EL 5-6820
Church In Africa
SAN FRANCISCO, (NC)—A
bright future for the Church in
Kenya was predicted here by
visiting Bishop CaesarM. Gati-
mu, who has 30,0Qp persons
now under instruction in his
Nyeri diocese.
Bishop Gatimu, a member of
the Kikuya tribe, said his people
have a high opinion of Ameri
cans and give them credit for
helping the trend away from
colonialism toward indepen
dence. But he said that on hear
ing of discrimination in Ameri
ca he was “scandalized, shock
ed and confused.”
Savannah’s Only Discount House
DIXIE FURNITURE
“ MART
*Where Everybody Trades”
2517 Bull Street
Savannah, Georgia
Phone AD6-8616