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BISHOP'S CHRISTMAS PASTORAL-PG. 4
NEWSPAPER DIOCESE OF SAVANNAH
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Vol. 46, No. 24
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SAVANNAH, GEORGIA, THURSDAY. DECEMBER 1.6,, 1965
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PRAYERS IN A JUNGLE for comrades who died in a bloody battle in Viet
nam. American infantrymen bow heads during memorial services for the
slain in the battle at the Michelin rubber plantation.
IN ‘UNUSUAL’ LETTER
Bishops Of U.S. Stress
Latin—American Ties
WASHINGTON (NC) — The
U.S. bishops have appealed to
Catholics here to strengthen
their ties with their fellow
Christians fn Latin America.
In a special statement, the
hierarchy proposed a national
observance of‘‘Latin Ameri
ca Cooperation Week” Jan.
23 to 30. All dioceses were
urged to have programs
stressing links with Catholics
south of the border.
Authorization for the state
ment was voted at the bishops*
annual meeting in Rome in No
vember, according to Bishop
James A. McNulty of Buffalo,
vice chairman of the Bishops’
Committee for Latin America,
who released the text.
The document’s title is:
“Statement of Solidarity by
the Bishops of the United
States to their Confreres in
Christ, the Bishops of Latin
America.”
NEW ORLEANS (NC) —
Capt. Ronald F. Rod, a sold
ier who launched his own pri
vate war against destitution
and suffering he saw in Viet
nam, is dead.
Reports received here said
he was slain by the Vietcong
forces on Dec. 4. He is sur
vived by his wife and five
children, aged 1 to 8.
But the spirit of Capt. Rod
and the challenge of the work
he began, which sparked wide
spread collections of soap and
clothing in the United States,
lives on.
In a letter written Nov. 30,
just four days before he died,
Capt. Rod said that because
of the response to his appeal
initiated less than a month
earlier, it looked as though
he would be able to build an
orphanage.
The Clarion Herald, New
Orleans Catholic newspaper,
through which Rod originally
appealed for assistance on
The document is rated as
unusual in modern Church his
tory because it is addressed
from one hierarchy to another
group of bishops.
The bishops say that “in
the inspired atmosphere of the
final hours of the ecumenical
council,” they experience “the
strength of the bond which
binds Christians together in
the fraternity of the Church
and in the world brotherhood
of the human race.”
“The bishops. . .find them
selves prompted to turn their
thoughts in a special manner
to the bishops of Latin Ameri
ca with their flocks in an ear
nest declaration of solida
rity.”
The statement notes the
growing involvement of U.S.
Catholics in cooperative pro
grams with Latin Americans,
but it also calls attention to
recent dramatic pastorals by
several hierarchies notingthe
Nov. 4, has opened a drive for
his orphanage plans. It hopes
to build an orphanage in Viet
nam in his memory. The cam
paign is titled “Capt. Rod Me
morial Orphanage,” P. O. Box
53247, New Orleans.
Capt. Rod’s Nov. 4 appeal
was for soap and clothing for
war refugees in the Vietnam
district of Due Pho where
he was civil administrator.
The materials collected on
behalf of Capt. Rod will still
go to Vietnam. The goods
will be incorporated with “A-
merica’s Christmas Trains
and Trucks (ACTT), a nation
wide campaign ior supplies for
Vietnam sponsored by the Jun
ior Chamber of Commerce,
Young Republicans, Young De
mocrats and the A ssociation of
American Railroads.
Capt. Rod, 31, a career
soldier, former student and
instructor in military science
at Loyola University here,
went to Vietnam just two
months ago — leaving New
Orleans on Oct. 3.
vastness of the challenge to
the Church.
It says that “Catholics of
the United States have hereto
fore known little about the
Church and its 200,000,000
members who are their bro
thers in the Latin American
orbit.”
The cooperation week, the
statement says, should be ob
served “for the primary pur
pose of building greater un
derstanding and friendly con
cern for our fellow Christ
ians of Latin America.”
“To this end,” it continues,
“each diocese is urged to en
courage a program embracing
spiritual, cultural, educa
tional and financial activities
touching Latin America.”
Father John J. Considine,
M.M., director of the Latin
America Bureau of the Nation
al Catholic Welfare Confe
rence, explained that supplies
for the observances during the
proposed week are available
from the bureau’s program of
fice established with the co
operation of Bishop Ralph L.
Hayes in the Davenport, Iowa,
chancery building.
The statement takes note
of the concern of Pope Pius
XII, Pope John XXHI and Pope
Paul VI about Christendom
in Latin America.
It also notes that bishops
from the U. S., Canada and
Latin America formally
launched a broad cooperative
program at a 1959 meeting
and that the U.S. Church es
tablished the Latin America
Bureau-NCWC and the Cana
dian bishops opened the Of
fice for Latin American Af
fairs in the Canadian Catho
lic Conference in Ottawa
shortly thereafter.
The bishops said “an un
usually large number” of U.S.
priests, Brothers, Sisters and
lay people are now working
with Latin American bishops.
The total i s more than 4,000
—an increase of 50% over the
number there three years ago.
They noted pastorals from
Ecuador, Brazil, Chile, Ar
gentina, Peru and Guatemala
calling for an end to prob
lems such as poverty, poor
education, low salaries, un
dernourishment and bad dis
tribution of natural resources
and wealth.
FOR ORPHANAGE
Captain’s Death
Spurs Campaign
“NO ONE IS EXCLUDED”
Hallmark Of Vatican II
Was Love For Humanity
LIGHTER MOMENT in solemn closing ceremonies
of the 21st Ecumenical Council (Dec. 8) dame
when, guided by his seeing-eye dog, a blind man re
presenting the infirm people of the world, to whom
the Pope addressed words of understanding and
compassion, was presented to t h e Holy Father.
Perhaps the first canine in history to receive papal
recognition, the dog then had a memento of the
occasion tied to his collar with la ribbon.
(NC Photos)
u.s. cardinal MM
Major Goals
Accomplished
By Father Edward Duff, S. J.
VATICAN CITY (RNS)—The
first Vatican Council was pro-
logued after Pope Pius IX had
read in St. Peter's Basilica
the dogmatic constitution
“Pastor Aeternus” by flick
ering candlelight during a
thunderstorm on July 18,1870,
in the presence of 555 bishops.
Some 200 disappointed bishops
of the minority had already
left Rome which two months
later was to fall to the troops
of King Victor Emmanuel with
the Pope constituting himself
“the prisoner of the Vatican.”
The Second Vatican Council
was formally closed on
December 8, 1965, in a cere
mony in a crowd-jammed St.
Peter’s Square under a noon
sun that simplified the task
of the television cameras and
symbolized the harmony,
serenity, warmth and promise
of the Catholic Church’s ef
fort of rediscovery, redefini
tion of role and of service to
mankind.
It was a festive occasion,
a happy, popular celebration,
this close of the assembly
convoked by Pope John XXin
on December 25, 196L Despite
the color and the crowds and
the presence of represen
tatives of most of the nations
of the world and of delegate-
observers and guests from
sister Churches and de
nominational associations, an
obvious effort was made to
avoid all appearances of “tri
umphalism.”
This 21st Ecumenical Coun
cil closed without condemna
tions, without anathemas. A
brief homily of the Pope dur
ing the Mass was an unaf
fected greeting to all and to
each one in the world: “For
to the Catholic Church no one
is a foreigner, no one is ex
cluded, no one is distant. . .
For love makes a person pre
sent and we love all men.”
Explicitly listed in the
greeting were all the faithful
the sick and suffering, the bis
hops prevented by hostile gov
ernments from attending the
Council and last of all those
“who do not know us, do not
understand us, deem us use
less, unnecessary and ill-dis
posed toward them, men who
thinking to do good, fight the
Church.” For these last there
was “a sincere and modest
' greeting, one full of hope and,
" please believe, of esteem and
affection.”
The Council addressed
messages to seven different
categories of people. Read in
French by cardinals from dif
ferent parts of the world,
their length concealed the de
licacy of sentiments and the
superior prose from a crowd
that had stood patiently for
four hours. Each message was
received by a representative
of the group addressed.
Cardinal Leger of Montreal
reminded governments that
the Churcn seeks only
religious freedom, including
that of announcing the gospel
adding that religion can
only help sustain civic
peace. The message to
intellectuals assured them
that the Church is “a friend
of your vocation of search
ing for the truth, the support
of your fatigue, the admirer
of your conquests and, when
needed, the consoler of your
discouragement and set
backs.” The wraith-like Jac
ques Maritain, the French
philosopher who had shaped
much of the thinking of young
Giovani B. Montini (Pope
Paul), received the document.
The message to artists as
serted in part: “Today as yes
terday, the Church has need
of you. Do not refuse to put
your talents at the service of
divine truth.” Against the de
humanizing dangers of tech
nology, women have the
special role “to reconcile men
with life.” Indeed, they were
bidden in their message “to
hold back man’s hand who in a
moment of madness would be
tempted to destroy human
civilization.” They were re
minded that it is they who
in crises give men the force
to fight on. “Aid them again,”
the message continued, “to
maintain the audacity of great
undertakings with a steadfast
patience and a spirit of humble
beginnings.”
To the workers of the world
the message read by African
Cardinal Zoungrana of Upper
Volta recalled the person and
the teaching of John XXHI as
evidence of the Church’s place
in their midst. A blind cripple
accompanied by his seeing-
eye dog came forward to re
ceive the message to the poor
and the sick; “You are
brothers of Christ suffering
and with Him, if you so choose
you will save the world.” Dur
ing the reading, the Pope was
seen patting the palpably happy
dog.
The young people of the
world were exhorted “to en
large their hearts, to battle
against selfishness, to resist
hate, to construct a better
world than that of your fore
bears.”
Other gestures manifested
the sense of solidarity of the
Church with all mankind. At
the Offertory of the Mass it
was announced that gifts of
undisclosed amounts were
being distributed to charitable
projects in poorer parts of
the World: in Bethlehem, in
the Argentine, in South India,
in Pakistan, in Cambodia. By
their presence at the altar it
was assumed that cardinals
Spellman of New York and
Heenan of Westminster were
the chief source of the gifts.
The Pope distributed Com
munion to five children re
presenting the five continents
and, before the final apostolic
benediction of the Pope, five
bishops from the five corners
of the world chanted the ac
clamations which traditionally
have closed Ecumenical Coun
cils since that of Chalcedon
in the Fourth Century.
BALTIMORE, Md. (NC) —
“All of the major purposes”
of the Second Vatican Coun
cil have been accomplished,
Lawrence cardinal Shehan of
Baltimore said here.
In a press conference (Dec.
10) in Baltimore’s Catholic
Center after his return from
Rome, cardinal Shehan said
credit for the council’s “suc
cessful conclusion is due
above all to Pope Paul—to
his wisdom, courage, patience
and vision.”
The cardinal said that the
council “has accomplished all
of the major purposes placed
before it by Pope John at its
very start.” It wiU provide
“an excellent blueprint” for
the future, he added.
Cardinal Shehan, one of two
Americans on the 12-member
council presidency, said he
expected an announcement “in
the not too distant future”
about church laws forbidding
eating meat on Fridays.
Vatican sources had been
quoted earlier as saying the
announcement would be made
early in 1966.
The Baltimore cardinal said
the announcement would be
in the form of broad guide
lines, with details to be work
ed out by regional conferen
ces of bishops. He said many
recommendations had been
made to the Pope and “they
will probably be difficult to,
harmonize.”
Asked about the Church’s
position on birth control, the
cardinal said he could see
“no radical changes” in the
foreseeable future, but added
that the council had “left
the way open for further de
velopments.”
Near the end of the last
council session, Cardinal She
han headed a papal mission to
Istanbul for a ceremony at
which Patriarch Athenagoras
I read a declaration revoking
the OrthodoxChurch’s excom
munication of Pope Leo IX in
1054. Pope Paul revoked si
milar excommunications of
Orthodox prelates at the same
time at a Mass in St. Peter’s
Basilica in Vatican City.
The revocation of the ex-
communications, the cardinal
said, was “a significant ges
ture which, we hope, may
serve as a first step toward
the ultimate reunion of these
churches.”
INSIDE STORY
Probe Harassment f>g. 2
Pope John’s Council
Pg.3
'First’ In Medicine p 9* *
’Minute For God* Pg*7
Salute Bishop Walsh .. .Pg* 7
k HEADLINE A*
HOPSCOTCH
C.B.S. Cites Pop*
\ ^ . ; , l
NEW YORK (RNS) — Pope Paul VI will be cited as the “Mai
of the Month” and “Man of the Year” in a special edition o
the CBS-TV weekly series, “The Twentieth Century,” oi
Sunday, Dec. 26.
FAR EAST
Vietnam Paper Closed
SAIGON (NC)—The government of South Vietnam has sup
pressed a catholic weekly newspaper which charged that the
regime is undemocratic. The government ordered the closure
of Dai Doan Ket (Greater Union) “for not observing censorship
regulations.” Besides alleging “undemocratic government,” the
paper had declared that there is corruption and nepotism in
the South Vietnamese army.
VATICAN
NATO Officers
VATICAN CITY (NC)—Pope Paul VI, granting an audience to
participants in ftie 28th course of NATO’s Defense CoUege,
voiced the hope that they would be harbingers of a peace based
on justice, motivated by love and moving toward truth in a
climate of liberty. Officers taking part in course come from 15
countries.
Fr. Hans Kueng
ROME (RNS)—Father Hans Kueng, noted German theologian
and one of the experts at the Second Vatican Council, expressed
hope here that in future Popes could be elected by the new
episcopal synod created by Pope Paul VI and no longer by the
College of Cardinals. He told a press conference that such an
innovation would “find the Church as a whole involved in papal
elections,” He said “if that should happen, it would be of great
good to the Church.”