Southern cross. (Savannah, Ga.) 1963-2021, January 02, 1964, Image 4

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Southern cross., January 02, 1964, Image 4

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Newspaper Page Text1 f PAGE 4—The Southern Cross, January 2, 1964 The Pilgrim Pope Pope Paul Vi’s visit to the Holy Land will be a momentous occasion in the history of the Church. He will be going as the first Pontiff to set foot in this sacred area since the time of Peter, the first of the Chief Shepherds of Christendom. Pope Paul has made it clear that he goes to the Holy Land in no royal fashion, but simply as a humble pilgrim in prayer and reflection. His motives are completely re ligious in character, and have no political significance whatever. Some people see in the Papal visit a desire to act as mediator be tween the Arabs and the Jews in their per ennial territorial and political disputes. This again is but a flight of fancy, for this is not the role of a pilgrim. Furthermore, the Pope could just as well plead such peaceful media tion from within the walls of the Vatican as from anywhere else. This is not to say that Pope Paul is not interested in the establishment of univer sal peace among all men of good will. This was the gist of His Chrisjtmas message, and is one of the tasks that he has chosen as did his predecessors—the establishment of peace and order throughout the world. The very nature of the Papal Office cries out for justice and tranquility, which is also the constant prayer of the Church. It is with this in mind that we will prayer fully trace the footsteps of Pope Paul VI as he walks through the land where Christ took on human nature, began His ministry, and suffered the Cross to save mankind. Pope Paul’s pilgrimage will also be ours, for he will represent us all. We should use the opportunity to make the days of his pil grimage, January 4-6, as special days of prayer and penance for his success and saf ety. Indeed, we might suggest that they be mornings when we make a special effort to go to Mass and Communion in spiritual union with Him. After all, what better way to start a pilgrimage?—(Reprinted from The Georgia Bulletin) Attacks On Vietnam Catholics Decrease By Father Patrick O’Connor Society of St. Columban QUI NHON, Vietnam (NC)~ Catholics in parts of central Vietnam are still being intimi dated, but attacks on them by Buddhists and others have de creased. That is the gist of reports brought by Catholics arriving here from outlying areas of this province (Binh Dinh) and the adjoining coastal provinces of Phu Yen and Quang Ngai. The attacks depend largely on the attitude of the chief of dis trict, who is usually a military officer, according to reports. If he is just and firm, they do not happen. If a good district chief is changed, the anti- Christian elements are ready to take advantage of the new man. If the province chief is anti-Catholic, it is all the worse. Catholics have been attacked in two of the 10 administrative districts of Binh Dinh province and one of the two now seems to be calm. In Phu Yen province one district, a large one, has been the scene of attacks on Catholics. They have been vic timized in about half of the dis tricts of Quang Ngai province, according to reports. In Son Tinh district, Quang Ngai, Catholic houses have been burned. In one parish an old sacristan was beaten four times, according to reports. Catholics complain they are not allowed to leave their village to go to Mass without a special permit from those in control. In another village catechu mens (persons preparing for Baptism) were seized and blind folded and their hands were tied behind their backs. They were brought to the edge of a river and made to kneel down. Their captors asked them: “Who were the assassins of the bonzes? Where are the nails and sacks for killing bonzes?” When they could not answer, they were kicked into the river, still with their hands bound, according to reports. Half drowned, they were pulled out and questioned again to make them accuse themselves or others. In general the “old” Catho lics stand their ground. From half to three-fourths of the new converts in these provinces also hold fast, it is estimated. The others are scared into hiding their religious objects and stay ing away from Mass and night prayers in the church. “Actual apostasies are very few,” ac cording to a Vietnamese priest who has been in touch with most parts of the Qui Nhon diocese. Here in Qui Nhon town there were the beginnings of an anti- Catholic drive in November, with wild rumors o f bonzes buried in the cathedral or bi shop’s house. Priests handled the situation calmly, and the people quickly realized the ru mors were false. Now there is no trouble in town. On Christ mas, Catholics flocked to mid night Mass, celebrated in the open in the cathedral yard with the brightly illuminated and decorated cathedral as the background. Meanwhile in Saigon, Prime Minister Nguyen Ngoc Tho de clared on Christmas Eve: “The Military Revolutionary Council and I have given our personal assurances to all archbishops and bishops of complete equa lity of religion.” He admitted, however, that some cases of religious persecution (of Catho lics) had occurred and that the government was very concern ed about it. According to the official Viet nam Press news agency, the Prime Minister said he had discussed the situation with Archbishop Nguyen van Binh of Saigon and assured him that the government was investigating reports that “some Catholic churches had been damaged and some priests had left their par ishes because of the intimida tion by communist-led Budd hists in the central section.” The Prime Minister reported that tension remained high in the central highlands but he hoped no further violence would erupt. Taking issue with statements made by Father Robert Wil- lichs, the Prime Minister said: “It is not true that any local officials of this government have encouraged or permitted terrorism against Catholics.” Maj. Gen. Tran van Don, Minister of Defense and chief of the joint general staff, is sued an order of the day saying in part; “All of the world’s five continents will greet Christmas with overflowing joy. Although Christmas is widely consider ed worthy of meditation. . .1 wish all of you and your fami lies a joyful Christmas.” Adult-Centered Parishes Urged ST. PAUL, Minn. (NC)—Par ish education efforts should be reoriented to develop adult- centered instead of child-cen tered communities. This is the view of Father Dennis Geaney, O.S.A., of Fort Wayne, Ind., who has written that the major portion of parish finances, time and energy is too often spent on the parish school, resulting in too great an empha sis “on the group which has the least influence on the com munity.” Interviewed on his theory that the parish become “adult-cen tered, altar-centered” instead, he said the mission of the par ish is to serve the entire com munity, and lesser goals should be subordinated to their proper role within that framework. The chaplain of several Ca tholic Action groups and author of the book “You Shall Be Wit nesses,” Father Geaney was here to conduct retreats, meet ings and seminars for Catholic youth groups. The parish school, he said, “can be a psychological handi cap to pastors and assistants trying to serve the whole par ish. The parish “is a missionary unit of the total Church in a certain geographical area,” he said, and its purpose is “to wit ness the total Christian mes sage in this area.” Worship, he said, is the greatest witness a Christian can give, but today’s Christian also should be involved in fields like urban renewal and inter faith relations. The value of the school should be judged “in terms of the total witness,” he said, and it should not be allowed to interfere with that broader goal. In the adult-centered, altar- centered parish, he said, “lit urgy has to be the great teach er.” The home must be primarily responsible for the education of children, he said, and Catholic education must be geared to forming all for Christian living rather than limited to teaching children religion moralisti- cally, “as a science.” The newly-reemphasized lit urgy “is a tool for teaching and involvement we didn’t have be fore,” he said, and it is "one of the great areas through which the parish should mobilize.” However, a complete sense of belonging in the parish can not be developed solely through the liturgy, he said, so “every thing the parish undertakes should be concerned with fra ternity, with Christian brother hood.” Existing parish organizations for instance, “should be re viewed in terms of Christian love.” When the liturgy is developed in the parish, he said, there will still be a need “to have a pre sentation of the truths of Chris tianity in a systematic way.” He said the teaching of reli gion should be related to Chris tian living. “In trying to put the Catholic school in perspective with the work of the parish, we may find we need a junior high school for every parish”—or some other formal arrangement”—to teach Christianity in a whole way,” Father Geaney said. Adult-centered Catholic edu cation, he said, would mean that Confraternity of Christian Doc trine school? of religion “would have to have greater imagi nation as they play a greater role.” More money would have to be spent for fulltime parish educa tion of adults and children, he said, and more teaching com munities would have to specia lize in the teaching of parents as well as children. “We’re not writing off the nun,” he said. Pope Paul re cently called her “one of the most important facets of the American church,” he noted, and she should be brought into adult work more. To achieve the Christian for mation of the whole parish, schools of religion and Catholic schools need an “aggiornamen- to,” an “updating,” he said, to make religion more than a “childhood experience” that is “routine and boring” because it “hasn’t been related to liv ing.” Noting that individual parish es don’t have the resources to “set up an adequate adult education center,” Father Gea ney suggested “regional or city-wide centers.” He added “to some extent” youth centers now are beginning to serve as youth preparation centers. With adult education centers, he said, more emphasis would be placed on adult concerns. “We haven’t developed ethics of business or of war and peace. We’re still on birth control and family planning.” The scope of such centers could extend to "Bible studies, liturgical studies, psychology, social principles,” he suggest ed, and from this to “the idea of community affairs” and in volvement in interfaith, reli gion-race and similar con cerns. * The 22 Who Died It Seems to Me JOSEPH BREIG Twenty-two is the number of them. Twenty-two martyrs. Twenty-two who gave their lives for God. Twenty-two who will be can onized soon— probably at the next session of the ecumenical J| a Priests? No. Nuns? No. with the strong fresh vigor of manhood upon them. The eld est was 50; the youngest 14. White laymen? No. Black Laymen. Negro laymen; Bantu Negro laymen in Africa. ALMOST ALL of them, in one way or another, were working in the lay apostolate. Two or three had just been brought into the Church by lay apostles. They died terribly and hero ically a little less than80years ago, before people had started talking about the lay apostolate. The 22 didn’t talk about it, but they lived it. In their part of the world at that time, it was a case of either a strong lay apostolate, or no Church at all. THE PRIESTS had been ex pelled, leaving behind them a Christian community of a cou ple of hundred members. The place: Buganda, a king dom which is now part of Ugan da. The time: 1885-87. The ruler, King Mwanga, was an absolute despot. To deny any whim of his, no matter how un just, was unheard-of. Unheard-of, at any rate, until Christianity came. As it always does where things are all wrong, Christian ity brought not peace, but a sword—the sword of good ness to overthrow evil. TO MWANGA’S COURT, Arab traders had brought such cor ruptions as homosexuality. The king was infuriated when pages who had become Christians spurned his approaches. He had a superstitious fear, too, that tribal spirits, angered by the new religion, might take re venge on him. He ordered Christianity de stroyed. In two years, 2000 Christians —12 ofthem Protestants—were tortured to death. But Chris tianity did not die—it spread like wildfire, kindled by the flames in which 13 of the mar tyrs died. In the cases of 22 of the mar tyrs who were Catholics, Church authorities later were able to assemble enough evidence to meet the rigorous requirements for official proc lamations of sainthood. AND SO WE HAVE the 22; Twenty-two whom the Church declared “Blessed” 43 years ago. Twenty - two Negroes upon whom, in this time of the Negro awakening, the Church is going to confer her highest honor. Of the 13 who were burned alive at a place called Namu- gongo, a couple of miles from King Mwanga’s court, one was roasted over a slow fire, like the early Christian St. Law rence; and he is called the St. Lawrence of the Church in Af rica BLESSED Charles Lwanga, he was—an attache at the king’s court, aged 25, and so zealous in spreading the Faith that the popes have given him the title, Patron of Catholic Action in Africa. Lwanga took to God along with him the youngest of the 22—Kizito, a 14-year-old, lov ed for his athletic?ability and his purity; a lad who had been studying Christianity, and now was baptized by Blessed Char les a short time before he was baptized in his own blood. Especially touching in these ecumenical times is the story of Blessed Luke Banabakinto, 35. He was one of Uganda’s first Catholics: he first heard the good tidings of Christianity from Protestants who taught him the Lord's Prayer. Thus the 22. They have grown today to more than 22 million in Africa. A Look At 1963 Jottings By Barbara C. Jencks “I give thanks to my God for all my memories of you. Happy at all times in all the prayers I offer for all of you and this is my prayer for you: may your, love grow richer and richer yet, in all the fullness of its know ledge and in the depth of its perception so that you may learn to prize what is of value may nothing cloud your conscience or hinder your progress til the day when Christ comes.” St. Paul * * * THEY STILL COME TO ME, written on Christmas cards from Rome, Lourdes, London and Ireland. Messages of sym pathy over the death of our president are laced with the season’s greetings of peace on earth and joy of the birth of Christ. Each friend abroad who wrote me an annual greeting filled it with concern over the tragic event which overshadows all moments in 1963 and send to the four winds the happy memories hoarded. Certainly Pope John and President John are the men of the year and of the times but if I were con tributing to “Time” magazines selection, it would be Jacque line Kennedy whom I would say emerged as the person of the year. From a blood-stained mo ment she emerged in exquisite dignity and repose. As the En glish press commented, Mrs. Kennedy possessed a quality seldom associated with Ameri cans; “she had majesty.” She would be my choice for the'Per son of the Year.’ All over the world this New Year’s eve, families and groups were hud dled together to go over the: events that shaped our days and times. Despite the tragedy which is certainly the century’s biggest moment, little things personal to each were recall ed as another year began. In the quiet of a church or alone within ourselves we attempt to reassemble the moments of the passing year. This is one year when public events overshadow our own little lives of getting and spending. We come out of this prison of self lost in the plight of another. THIS year has been an inter mingling of the sorrowful and joyful mysteries for me. Any one associated with the Press is inseparably involved with news events and all dates of the year somehow are placed between the hot June Monday and black Friday in November, when two unforgettable Johns died. Yet in between these two world events which are personal to us too, I privately marked two all important experiences of my lifetime. One was the explora tory heart surgery in an initial meeting with scientific re search. It is one thing to read of the latest medical discov eries in “Time” and another thinj to be the central figure in such probings. Pain, fear, resignation, all these were mine and still are as I pass into the new year wondering yet trust ing in God. A Franciscan semin arian wrote this to me at Christ mas: “Christ has led you up a steep path to the top of a high hill ... it is the same hill He walked so long ago for love of all men. From this spot He (Continued On Page 5) Lauds U. S. Erhard To Bishops PHILADELPHIA, (NC) — A Canadian historian saluted the U. S. Catholic Hierarchy “as socially progressive as the most advanced Americans.” Bennett Hill discussed at the American Society of Church History meeting here his ob servations of the American prelates during recent ses sions of the Second Vatican Council. Hill said he concluded that the U.S. prelates from the East and West Coasts were inclined to be conservative in Church matters, while those from the Middle West were forward look ing and progressive. “On the political and social issues—the question of rela tions of Church and State, and race relations—the American Bishops demonstrated them selves to be as socially prog ressive as the most advanced Americans,” Hill said. Press Freedom MILWAUKEE (NC)-- A con ference on duties and freedoms of Catholic lay journalists will be held here Feb. 21-22. The meeting will be con ducted by the Catholic Press Association’s freedom of the press committee under Father John J. Grant of the Pilot, Boston archdiocesan news paper, and the Marquette Uni versity Institute of the Catho lic Press, directed by David Host. It will be open to publishers, editors and staff members of Catholic newspa pers and magazines. Youth Of Year WASHINGTON (NC) — A Ne gro youth who is president of the Baltimore archdiocesan Ca tholic Youth Organization has been named the nation’s Outstanding Catholic Youth of the Year. He is Maurice J. Blackwell of Baltimore, a senior at Towson Catholic High School. The Outstanding Catholic Young Adult of the Year is Francis J. Darigan, Jr., a se nior at Providence (R. I.) Col lege, and past national presi dent of the Catholic Youth Or ganization. By David Q. Liptak Q. When—how early in his tory—were the basic parts of the Mass as we know them to day first fixed? Isn’t it true that the first Masses were said in Greek instead of Latin? A. The question is too broad in scope. If “the basic parts of the Mass” refer totheCanon of the Mass—that part which immediately precedes and fol lows the Consecration, i. e., from the end of the Preface to the Pater Noster—then it could be said that the Mass was “first fixed” as early as the end of the fourth century. At that time St. Ambrose of Mi lan (the saintly archbishop who was largely responsible for St. Augustine’s conversion) quotes a formulary which, although shorter than the modern Canon of the Mass, is nonetheless re markably similar to it. THE DETAILED FORM of the Canon as we know it pro bably dates from the work of Pope Gelasius (492-6). OUTSIDE OF the Canon, there were many formularies used in the church—we’re restrict ing our discussion here to the Roman rites—in the early days. These formularies are re corded in liturgical books called sacramentaries. Insofar as the Roman Mass is concerned, the three most famous primitive sacramentaries were theLedn- See Pope VATICAN CITY (NC)—West German Chancellor Ludwig Er hard will be received in pri vate audience by Pope Paul VI on Wednesday, Jan. 29. The meeting between the Pope and the new head of the Bonn government will take place just a month after the conclusion of Chancellor Erhard’s two-day conference with President Lyn don B. Johnson in Texas. Salutes Paper VATICAN CITY (NC)—Pope Paul VI receiving 300 pilgrims who came to Rome under the auspices of a French Catho lic newspaper, urged them to “love your Catholic press, spread it abroad, dedicate/to it your time, your thoughts, your resources, and your devotion.” The pilgrimage was organ- \ ized by LaCroix du Nord, pro vincial edition of the Paris daily, LaCroix. Spanish Metropolitans MADRID (NC) — Proposals for greater freedom for Pro testants in Spain are expected to come up for discussion when the metropolitan archbishops of Spain meet in mid-January. The leaders of the country’s 11 ecclesiastical provinces come together Jan. 13 in their J capacity as the directive council 1 of Spanish Catholic Action. The 1 Conference of the Metropolitans of Spain itself meets the follow ing day. Rabbi To See Pope JERUSALEM, Isreal (NC)— Chief Rabbi Isaac Nissim of Israel, who had earlier declin ed the government’s invitation to take part in the official wel come for Pope Paul VI in Meg- iddo, announced Dec. 30 he would meet the Pope on Mount Zion. Chief Rabbi Nissim said he A will receive the Pope at the tomb f of King David when the Pope ^ goes to Mount Zion late in the afternoon of Sunday, Jan. 5,^ The tomb of King David is be- . neath a complex of buildings that includes the Cenacle—the Up per Room where the Last Supper took place—which is on the Pope’s itinerary. ine, the original Gelasian and the Gregorian. POPE ST. GREGORY the Great was the one who gave the’ Mass its definitive form. It was he, for example, who de termined that the Pater Noster should come after the Canon. But the solemn Mass of his time would probably mystify Catho lics today. FOR OUR present Missal is proximately based on the Missal of St. Pius V, the rubrics of which were made mandatory on July 14, 1570. (This Missal was put together by a special commission established for the purpose by the Council of Trent.) Later, innovations were made by Popes Clement VII, Urban VIII, and St. Pius xlj AS TO THE question of the primitive language of the Mass, . A it is true that Latin supplanted Greek, probably in the fourtht century. “SOMEWHERE between the 3rd and 6th centuries,” writes F ather John Murphy in his The Mass and Liturgical Reform (Bruce, 1956) “the Latin li turgy was introduced by a very gradual process. Our knowledge of that process is very sketchy to say the least. We have the Greek liturgy of Hippolytus in use at Rome in the 3rd century; and we have the Latin Mass of the time of St. Gregory the Great at the end of the 6th century.” QUESTION BOX i The Southern Cross P. O. BOX 180. SAVANNAH, GA. Vol. 44, Thursday, January 2, 1964 No. 25 Published weekly except the last week in July and the last week in December by The Southern Cross, Inc. Subscription price $3.00 per year. Second class mail privileges authorized at Monroe, Ga. Send notice of change of address to P. O. Box 180, Savannah, Ga. Most Rev. Thomas J. McDonough, D.D.J.C.D., President Rev. Francis J. Donohue, Editor John Markwalter, Managing Editor Rev. Lawrence Lucree, Rev. John Fitzpatrick, Associate Editors