Newspaper Page Text
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WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
OP THE DIOCESE OF
SAVANNAH
: >. ■
r SIHIt SINE PEO
Vol. 44, No. 13
10c Per Cooy — $3 A
SAVANNAH, GEORGIA, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 3, 1963
BISHOP’S OFFICE
225 Abercorn Street
Savannah, Georgia
October 6, 1963
Dearly beloved in Christ:
Five years ago the Bishop’s Confraternity of the Laity Drive was re-established
in the Diocese of Savannah. The success of this campaign, to gather funds to
pursue actively the Apostolate of the Catholic Church, has met with unprece
dented success. Practically every parish and mission has improved its fa
cilities; and Mission Churches have been constructed in many counties. All of
this spiritual and material progress of our Missionary Diocese reflects the in
terest, devotion and sacrificial charity of you good people.
The program envisaged for the Diocese of Savannah must continue year
after year. At times it becomes alarmingly disheartening when we reflect
upon the fact that of the 1,800,000. persons residing in the area of the Diocese
of Savannah, only 31,000 are Catholic. But the future is more promising. With more
priests, sisters and lay apostles, it will become possible to carry out the mis
sion of the Church in the 88 counties which comprise this Diocese.
Our seminary program has been greatly augmented. And in the years ahead,
we anticipate the ordination to the Sacred Priesthood of many of the vocations
presently at St. John Vianney Minor Seminary. The future will be assured when
boys from Georgia—from our Diocese—become “other Christs.”
Many of you have related to me with great enthusiasm the progress of the last
decade. It is true, much has been accomplished and I can best express this grati
tude by thanking God for His spiritual beneficience, and you my devoted people
for your prayers, understanding and generosity. The Diocese of Savannah has a rich
priesthood, dedicated religious communities, and an inspiring and prayerful la
ity. May God’s blessings touch all of us intimately and strengthen us in our holy
resolve to love Him daily more and more.
On the fifth anniversary of the Bishop’s Confraternity Drive, I call upon your
loyal support. When you are approached for your contribution, respond with a
generous gift. How many times do we approach God for help? God hears our
appeals. Then we must be generous to His appeals and participate actively in
bringing Him into every area of the Diocese of Savannah. When the solicitor
calls upon you, receive him as my personal representative. And then return to
God the fullest measure of your generosity.
Imparting to you my blessing and assuring you of a daily memento in my
Masses and prayers, I am,
Devotedly yours in Christ,
Bishop of Savannah.
Council Gets Down
To Business In Its
First Working Session
By Msgr. James I. Tucek
(N.C.W.C. NEWS SERVICE)
VATICAN CITY—The Sec
ond Vatican Council got right
down to business at its first
working assembly.
It took up discussion of the
draft document entitled * ‘On
the Church” on September 30,
the day after the second ses
sion was opened solemnly by
His Holiness Pope Paul VI.
A noteworthy change in the
mechanics of the rules of pro
cedure in the general assembly
was the fact that the four newly
appointed moderators presided,
and not the members of the
Presidency of the Council. Gre
gorio Cardinal Agagianian,
Prefect of the Sacred Congre
gation for the Propagation of the
Faith, was the first moderator
to preside.
Comments on the projects of
the Church—“De Ecclesia” —
were led off by Joseph Cardinal
Frings, Archbishop of Cologne,
and by Giuseppe Cardinal Siri,
Archbishop of Genoa. The con
sensus appeared to be that the
schema was generally accepta
ble. Several recommendations
were made looking toward its
improvement, however.
Cardinal Frings made a gen
eral reference to “some ob
scure points likely to give rise
to doubt and uncertainty.” He
also requested that more space
be given in the schema to the
Blessed Virgin Mary, even
though the council will later
take up for consideration a sep
arate schema concerning St.
Mary as Mother of God and Mo
ther of the Church.
A change in the title of the
“De Ecclesia” schema was
suggested by Cardinal Siri. It
should not be simply ‘ ‘The
Church,” he said, but rather
“The Church of Christ.” He
underlined his pleasure at see
ing the schema express “the
long-awaited declaration of the
sacramental nature of theepis-
Approved
For Discussion
VATICAN CITY, (NC)~
The Second Session of Ecu
menical Council overwhel
mingly approved the project
“On the Nature Of The
Church” for detailed dis
cussion.
Only 46 dissenting votes
were cast by 2,301 Fathers
at the Second Session’s Sec
ond General Meeting (Oct. 1).
Technically, the project
could still be scrapped. But
comments on it as a whole
were favorable without ex
ception. This seems to gua
rantee that with amend
ment of some details, it will
be given final approval.
copal consecration.” He said,
however, that this point should
be further clarified and be as
signed a theological note.
Notable in the business of the
day was the announcement that
on the following day, Tuesday,
October 1, discussion on the
general acceptability of the pro
ject on the Church would be
terminated and a vote taken.
Speakers on the first day in
addition to Cardinals Frings and
Siri included Armenian Rite Pa
triarch Ignance Pierre XVI Ba-
tanian of Cilicia; Archbishop
Casimiro Morcillo of Sara
gossa, Spain; Archbishop Pi
erre Ngo dinh Thuc of Hue,
Vietnam; Archbishop Ermene-
gildo Florit of Florence; and
Archbishop Giuseppe Gargitter
of Bressanone, Italy.
The remarks of Archbishop
Florit and Archbishop Gargit
ter represented criticism of the
schema, although the two pre
lates said that they favored it
in general. They asserted that it
insists too much on the equality
of the members of the Church
without sufficiently stressing
the exercise of authority.
Archbishop Gargitter noted
further that it is necessary to
avoid any possible confusion
concerning the ‘ ‘universal
priesthood” of the people of
God. In this context he said that
it is likewise necessary to have
(Continued on Page 3-A)
SAVANNAH—On Sunday, October 20th, campaign workers rep
resenting Parish units of the Bishop’s Confraternity of the Laity
will call at every Catholic home in the Savannah Diocese, seeking
funds for diocesan projects.
Minimum goal this year, as
last year, is $140,000, with
funds collected in the 1963 effort
to be distributed for the edu
cation of seminarians studying
for the Diocese; orphans and de
pendent children; the Cathedral
of St. John the Baptist; the
monastery of the Carmelite Sis
ters at Savannah; Mission
churches throughout the dio
cese; the Southern Cross, Dio
cesan weekly newspaper; and a
contingency fund for the as
sistance of mission churches
which, because of small mem
bership are not completely self-
supporting.
During the past year a
new wing was added to the
complex of buildings at St. John
Vianney Minor Seminary, with
funds from the Bishop’s Con
fraternity of the Laity Drive
helping to defray the cost.
This new addition more
than doubled facilities at the
Seminary, and raised the fi
nancial requirements for edu
cating the 125 students study
ing there and at other insti
tutions in the United States and
Ireland to approximately
$75,000 a year. According to His
Excellency, Bishop Thomas J.
McDonough, "Undoubtedly, this
work of education of young men
for the priesthood in our diocese
represents our largest financial
obligation. And, though the pa
rents of virtually all our semi
narians pay tuition and board,
capital investment in building
and maintenance means our
work of training future priests
still has the first claim upon
the Chairty of our people.”
$50,000 will be allotted to semi
nary work this year.
$15,000 of this years pro
ceeds will be allocated for the
support of orphans and depen
dent children of the diocese at
St. Mary’s Home in Savannah
and St. Joseph’s Home in Wash
ington, Georgia.
Extensive renovations at Sa
vannah’s historic Cathedral of
St. John the Baptist have been
recently completed. The cost of
these renovations were shared
by the members of the Cathe
dral Parish, individual bene
factors, and the Confraternity
of the Laity drive. "Every Ca
tholic in our Diocese ha« had
a part in making possible these
renovations to a venerable Ca
thedral church which is truly a
landmark of Catholicism in the
Southland,” said Bishop Mc
Donough, in a leaflet setting
forth the goals of the 1963
drive.
In 1959 the Diocese pledged
to the Cathedral Renovation
Fund $30,000 per year for five
years. This year, the pledge
will be paid in full.
Sisters at the Carmelite Mon
astery in Savannah offer their
prayers and sacrifices to God
for the spiritual works of the
Savannah Diocese. However,
since they are a cloistered
community, they may not so
licit funds to liquidate the debt
on the monastery. $5,000 is
allocated every year from the
Confraternity Drive toward the
liquidation of this debt.
$30,000 will be set aside for
the construction of Mission
Churches and meeting halls in
rural areas of the Diocese
where Catholics are few in
number and widely scattered.
During the past year three
such Mission Churches were
erected in the Diocese, as well
as several parish halls.
In January of 1963, the
SOUTHERN CROSS, diocesan
newspaper became a weekly
publication. Costs for the first
year of operation will be in
excess of $40,000, with less
than $10,000 being realized
from advertising. The paper
will receive $20,000.
$25,000 will be set aside in
a contingency fund for mis
sionary activities of the
Diocese. Money from this fund
will be used for renovation
programs in mission church
es, purchase of automobiles,
and the payment of salaries
for priests and Catechetical
Sisters in mission parishes.
Announcement of the drive
and its goals will be made at
all the Masses in all churches
of the Diocese on Sunday, Octo
ber 6th. Sermons on Oct. 6th
and 13th will be devoted to the
financial needs of diocesan pro
jects and the necessity of full
participation by every Catholic
in the Diocese.
Each wage earner or person
with personal income is being
asked to contribute a minimum
of $25.00.
CATHEDRAL OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST—Mother Church of the Diocese and worthy
landmark of Catholicism in the Southland, the Cathedral will receive $30,000.00 from the
Bishop’s Confraternity this year. This will bring the total Confraternity funds received by
the Cathedral to $150,000.00 which was pledged in 1959 for renovation which was complet
ed last spring.
Pope Reopens Council With Plan
For Work, Plea To Non-Catholics
By Patrick Riley
(N. C. W. C. NEWS SERVICE)
VATICAN CITY—His Holi
ness Pope Paul VI reopened
the Second Vatican Council with
a plan for the work at hand and
a plea to noh-Catholics for bro
therly peace and pardon.
He said (Sept. 29) that the
"principal concern” of this
second session would be to
• * examine the intimate nature of
the Church.”
From this examination will
come a definition, or a less sol
emn declaration, which "will
reveal the Church’s real fun
damental nature” and its mis
sion.
Some 2,500 council Fathers
in white ceremonial robes heard
the Pope list three further ob
jectives of the council: reform
of the Church, Christian unity
Prayer For The Suceess Of
The Eeumenieal Couneil
May the Divine Spirit deign to answer in a most comfort
ing manner this prayer which rises daily to Him from every
corner of the earth.
Renew your wonders in our time, O Divine Spirit, as
though with another Pentecost and grant that Thy Holy
Church, by uniting in a single-hearted and mounting prayer,
together with Mary the Mother of Jesus, and the Shep
herding St. Peter, may intensify the reign of the Divine Sa
vior, the reign of truth and justice, the reign of love and
peace.
Amen.
Revised Council
Rules Will Help
Prevent Deadlocks
VATICAN CITY, (NC)—Re
vised rules governing the se
cond session of the ecumenical
council promise to prevent any
deadlock such as the one which
Pope John XXIII had to step in
to solve personally last fall.
A new edition of the book of
regulations for the council,
made public (Sept. 26) three
days before the start of the
second session, also provided
several additions designed toi
give greater power to council
Fathers on the minority side of
questions under debate.
The revised regulations were
approved by His Holiness Pope
Paul VI "after having heard
the council Fathers.” L’Osser-
vatore Romano, Vatican City
daily, in an explanatory article
accompanying publication of the
new edition, said that except
for the few innovations and
modifications, the 70 articles of
the old regulations remain the
same.
Continued in effect is the re
quirement of a two-thirds ma
jority vote to approval of the
whole or of a part of a schema,
or council statement. The same
is also required for an amend
ment to a schema. But in order
to postpone or to conclude dis
cussion of a schema, the ma
jority required is reduced to an
absolute one—50 per cent of the
members voting plus one.
This provision would circum
vent the situation which occur
red last November when a crisis
developed over the council’s
schema on Divine Revelation.
The original text was a contro
versial one, and a vote was
taken on whether to continue
discussion of it. Of 2,211 coun
cil Fathers present, 1,368 voted
to shelve the document, and 822
to continue discussion. The op
ponents of the draft failed by 106
votes to achieve the required
two-thirds’ majority. Thus the
prospect was that lengthy
discussion would have to con
tinue on a document that most of
the council Fathers found unsat-
(Continued on Page 3-A)
and the "dialogue of the Church
with the contemporary world.”
In the muted splendor of the
reopening ceremony, Pope Paul
recalled the figure and voice of
the late Pope John XXUT, who
‘conceived the council and
launched it at a brilliant cere
mony last October 11.
Pope Paul addressed Pope
John as a living presence rather
than as a memory. He continued
in this fashion for a good five
minutes, addressing the late
Pope with gratitude and venera
tion.
"You have gathered up the
broken thread of the First Vati
can Council,” he said, "and by
that very fact you have ban
ished the fear which was wrong
ly deduced from that council, as
if the supreme powers con
ferred by Christ on the Roman
Pontiff to govern and vivify the
Church were sufficient without
the assistance of ecumenical
councils.”
To the more than 50 non-Ca-
tholic observers seated in a
place of honor near the main
altar of St. Peter’s basilica,
the Pope spoke as "father and
brother.”
He told of his "deep sad
ness” at the "prolonged sep
aration” of their Churches and
the Catholic Church.
"If we are in any way to blame
for that separation, we humbly
beg God’s forgiveness and ask
pardon too of our brethren who
feel they have been injured by
us,” he said.
"For our part, we willingly
forgive the injuries which the
Catholic Church has suffered,
and forget the grief endured
during the long series of dis
sensions and separations. May
the heavenly Father deign to
hear our prayers and grant us
true brother peace.”
The Pope’s 62-minute ad
dress ended tKe second ses
sion’s opening ceremony of just
over four hours.
The splendor and pomp of last
October’s opening session itself
was missing. Crowds were ap
preciably smaller and there was
no solemn procession of bi
shops, cardinals, Pope and
papal household through a teem
ing St. Peter’s Square.
Most noticeable, if least pal
pable, was the lack of that elec
tric sense of expectation or
rather of realization that charg
ed the atmosphere at the open
ing of the first session.
Council Fathers had their
choice of entering in proces
sion with the Pope and car
dinals, or of going to their
seats singly and informally.
They started to arrive about
9:00. As they mounted the steps
to their seats, some shook the
hands of their neighbors and
waved to those at a distance.
The procession entered the
basilica at 9:45 Rome time,
45 minutes behind schedule,
and left at 1:00 p.m.
As the procession entered
the basilica, first came a ser
geant of the Swiss Guard and a
colorful 1 contingent of mem
bers of the papal household.
Most of the council Fathers
who took part in the proces
sion were dressed in white. But
many Fathers from the Eastern
Churches dressed in black.
Each Cardinal, dressed in the
vestments of his order (bishop,
priest or deacon) in the Sacred
College, was accompanied by
another cleric.
Behind the Cardinals came
Pope Paul:
He was carried down the roy
al stairs of the Apostolic Palace
and along the porch of the bas
ilica on his portable throne. But
he came down from the throne
at the door of St. Peter’s and
walked the rest of the way,
flanked by fanbearers.
Behind the Pope came his
official physician, the Dean of
the Roman Rota, (Philadelphia’s
Msgr. Francis J. Brennan),
chanters singing the hymn to the
Blessed Virgin, AveMarisStel
la, and other members of the
papal household.
When the Pope reached the
main altar, he knelt, without his
mitre, and intoned the Veni
Creator Spiritus, a traditional
hymn asking the help of the Holy
Spirit.
At 10:17, the Pope stood at
the foot of the altar for the open
ing prayers of the Mass with
Eugene Cardinal Tisserant, who
as Dean of the College of Car
dinals, offered the Mass. He
also offered the Mass at last
October’s opening ceremony.
During the Mass, bishops and
people joined in singing the
responses, the Gloria, the Cre
do, and the Sanctus. The Mass
took almost an hour. Then,-with
the ceremony of the obedience
of the council Fathers, the sec
ond session of the council be
gan.
During the symbolic obe
dience ceremony, 100-year-old
Archbishop Alfonso Carinci,
retired secretary of the Sacred
Congregation of Rites, haltingly
approached the Pope’s throne.
He was one of two prelates
chosen to represent archbish
ops. Pope Paul stood to receive
the centenarian prelate and,
(Continued on Page 3-A)
REOPENS ECUMENICAL COUNCIL—Pope Paul VI,
Bishop of Rome, wears a mitre instead of a crown to show
his equality with other bishops at the opening of the second
session of Vatican Council II, September 29, in St. Peter s
Basilica. Nearly 2,500 Council Fathers heard the Pope, in a
historic homily, assert that the long-range aim of the council
was the complete and universal union of all Christians. (NC
Photos)
Confraternity Minimum Goal Is $140,000
