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PAGE 6—The Southern Cross, February 24, 1966
SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT
Renewal Of Church Needs
Light Of The Holy Spirit
SAVANNAH — The almost
unanimous approval given by
the Catholic Bishops of the
world to the 16 documents pro
mulgated by the Second Vati
can Council “was, for me, an
evidence of the ever-abiding
presence of the Holy Spirit
in our Church,’’ said Bishop
Thomas J. McDonough in a talk
delivered here last week (Feb.
19).
Bishop McDonough spoke at
a convention of school tea
chers from the catholic
schools of the Diocese of Sa
vannah.
The Second Vatican Council
and its decrees has “breathed
a new and sparkling vitality
into the ageless Church of
Christ, and has given to Chris
tians a greater vision of the
workings of the Holy Spirit
among men.”
But, he cautioned, “without
the light of the Holy Spirit,
we could walk down a wrong
road, and even into oblivion.
But with the Holy Spirit as
our guiding force, even though
we may walk down roads that
are not too fhmiliar, at times,
we will inevitably come to the
real highway of Christ and that
is our dedication.”
He praised the work of the
Vatican Council as giving a
“new look” to the Church and
as obligating catholics to
“new responsibilities.”
He warned, however, that
“whenever changes are ef
fected there are many who
oppose them and many who
‘over-expose’ them,” and
counseled Catholics to choose
the “via media - the path of
moderation.”
“The Church is on the
move,” Bishop Me Donough
said, “and the People of God
are responding. But, we must
read the signs of changing
times carefully. The prin
ciples are clear - and they
must be followed so that chaos
will not rule the day.”
Study is imperative, he said,
charging that “all efforts to
present the novel at the ex
pense of truth will ultimately
break down legitimate proce
dure.”
The Bishop made reference
to what he called “a small
army of dissenters, who are,
nevertheless, vocal, skillful
and crafty - a segment who
are critical of the past 2,000
years; of all that has been
written; of the person of the
Holy Father; of all authority
and of all obedience.”
“As leaders and teachers
of the people,” he said, “we
must read their writings. We
must have a balanced mind and
a broad knowledge. But, our
guideline is the Second Vatican
Council.”
Bishop McDonough said that
Catholic schools can be “one
of the most useful and fruitful
of aU means for imparting
a proper understanding of the
decrees of the Council to those
who will be its greatest bene
ficiaries - our children and
young people.”
He also prasied the Catho
lic school system of the United
States, saying “it is a system
envied by countries through
out the world” and sharply
disagreed with critics who
have advocated, in recent
weeks, that the church should
withdraw from direct spon
sorship of educational insti
tutions. “Constructive criti
cism of our schools is not
only good,” he said, “but,
it is even necessary if these
institutions are to progress.
“Make no mistake, however,”
he continued, “they are a bul
wark of our Faith and an in
dispensable guidepost tothose
who would learn to live their
lives totally and completely -
not only as the children of men,
but as the children of God.”
’’You,” he said to the tea
chers, ‘ ‘are the ones who must
train the minds of our children
and fashion them to the image
of God. Holy is your calling,
and grave is your responsi
bility.
The Vatican Council de
claration on Christian Educa
tion would be the “textbook”
of their vocation, he said,
charging them to “Read it,
apply it and the results will
exceed your highest expecta
tions.”
COMMON HERITAGE’
BISHOP TELLS TEACHERS
Teachers Hear
Lutheran Pastor
SAVANNAH — Sincere dia
logue among Catholics and Lu
therans cannot overlook the
differences which separate
them, but must not lose sight of
the elements of a common
heritage of doctrine and his
tory, a Lutheran pastor de
clared here last week.
The Rev. Curtis E. Der
rick,Jr.,pastor of Savannah’s
Lutheran Church of the As
cension, delivered the open
ing address at the annual
meeting of Diocesan school
teachers, Feb. 19.
“The filial relationship
which we have in Christ goes
back to Apostolic church his
tory,” he declared.
Catholics and Lutherans, he
said, have a “common histo
ricity and a common spiri
tual historicity always brings
us into the closest focus in
life. A common spiritual
heritage makes us one in
Christ, much closer than phy
sical brothers and Sisters.”
Lutherans and Catholics
share “all those things which
occured in Apostolic Church
History,” the minister said,
citing common subscription
to the Apostles creed, $he
Nicene Creed, and the Atha-
nasian Creed.
Pastor Derrick noted simi
larities between the Roman
Rite used in the Mass and
the Lutheran Worship Ser
vice.
patrology, the study of the
ancient Greek and Latin “Fa
thers of the Church”, was also
seen by the Lutheran pastor
as part of a “common heri
tage”, since it forms an im
portant part of the studies of
both Lutheran and Catholic
seminarians.
Lutherans, he pointed out,,
share with Catholics a com
mon musical heritage, parti
cularly the traditional Gre
gorian chant, and observe the
same liturgical calendar as
Catholics, beginning with Ad
vent and ending with the last
Sunday after Pentecost. But
Lutherans he said, number
the Sundays of the Pentecos
tal season after Trinity Sun
day, rather than Pentecost
Sunday.
Lutheran churches, parti
cularly in Europe, continue to
use the same vestments in
their worship services that
are used in the Catholic
Church at Mass and other li
turgical services, he said.
According to Pastor Der
rick, th e Christo-centric na
ture of both the Catholic and
Lutheran Church has led to
the development of church ap
pointments and decorations a-
long similar lines.
So similar in appearance is
the interior of his own Church
of the Ascension to the inte
rior of a catholic Church,
that Catholic travelers have
entered, “Blessed them
selves, genuflected and knelt
in the pews without realizing
they were not in a Roman
church until the end of my ser
mon.”
pastor Derrick listed what
he termed “areas in which we
do not share things in com
mon” and urged that they be
made part of any meaningful
and fruitful dialogue between
the two churches.
They are, he said, “the
place of Holy Scripture. . .the
place of Christ, the place of
Faith, the place of Grace.”
After outlining Lutheran be
lief in these areas pastor Der
rick turned to Catholic and
Lutheran beliefs concerning
the Eucharist. “The Eucha
rist constitutes the very es
sence of our Faith,” he said,
adding “our particular termi
nology for the Eucharist is...
‘the Real presence’ - the same
terminology as yours.” In
Scandinavian, countries, he
said, the Lutheran Eucharis
tic service i s still known as
“The Mass”.
pastor Derrick closed his
talk with a quotation from the
prayer of Christ at the Last
Supper, “The Glory which
Thou gavest me, I have given
them. . .that they may be one
even as We are one.”
Group of lay teachers
School Progress Cited
At Teacher Convention
MORNING SESSION — A portion; of Teachers in attendance at Savannah
Teachers’ Institute are pictured during morning session. Session was held at
Blessed Sacrament School. (All photos this page by Bob Ward)
Immaculate Heart of Mary Sisters
Sisters of Mercy
SAVANNAH — Despite ex
panding enrollments and a re
lative dwindling of vocations
to the teaching sisterhoods,
Catholic schools in the Dio
cese of Savannah continue to
improve in the areas of tea
cher-pupil ratio, teacher cer
tification and student achieve
ment , according to the Dio
cesan School system’s su
perintendent.
Speaking at the annual dio
cesan teachers meeting, held
here last Saturday (Feb. 19),
Father John Cuddy noted sub
stantial enrollment increases
in both elementary and high
schools over the last decade.
The figures for the 1965-66
year reveal a ten-year in
crease or more than two thou
sand students in the schools
of the diocese.
Whereas there were 5,776
pupils in Catholic elementary
schools and 1,035 in high
schools of the Diocese in 1956,
present enrollment stands at
7,709 in twenty-two elemen
tary schools and 1,605 in eight
high schools.
“The most crucial problem
in our expanding system,”
said Father Cuddy, “has been
the need for more teachers.”
Citing only a 12% increase
in the number of priests, sis
ters and brothers in Diocesan
schools within the past ten
years, Father Cuddy credited
a “phenomenal growth” in the
number of lay teachers with
the catholic school system’s
ability to improve its teacher-
pupil classroom ratio. The
number of lay teachers has
risen sharply since 1956 -
from 42 to 123, a 200% in
crease.
He said, “Our system
recommends that all its lay
teachers secure public school
teaching certificates,” but ac
knowledged that not all lay
teachers in the system have
secured them, as yet.
On improvements in the tea
cher-pupil classroom ratio,
Father Cuddy, pointed out that,
“despite the great increase
in enrollment, our schools
have managed. . .to reduce
class size noticeably.”
“In 1956,” he continued,
‘ ‘we had only 112 classes with
fewer than 50 pupils and 30
with more than 50. We now
have 175 classes with fewer
than 50 and only 17 with more
than 50.
Sixty-six percent of the
classrooms of the diocese
have fewer than forty students
per teacher, he said.
However, said Father
Cuddy, classroom size re
mains the major reason why
Catholic elementary schools
cannot apply for accreditation
by the Georgia Accrediting
Commission. The Commis
sion. a private organization,
will require that a school
limit its classroom size to
35 students in September of
this year in order to be ac
credited, he said, adding that
elementary schools of the dio
cese would not seek accredita
tion since the State does not
require it and “we cannot, in
conscience, turn away young
sters whose parents plead with
us to accept them.”
Besides, he said, “.. .our
teachers know from their own
experience that they can teach
effectively, more than the 35
allowed by the Commission.
Southern Association,” and
noted that “this new amend
ment will prevent Catholic
elementary schools from in
clusion among the schools ex
empted from the sales and use
tax, although our six high
schools that have received
Southern Association ac
creditation will be exempted.”
“All the State requires of
us,” said Father Cuddy, “is
that we fulfill compulsory ed
ucation laws and. . .it seems
unfair, therefore, of the State
to discriminate against us in
this exemption merely be
cause we have not yet chosen
to associate ourselves with
either of two private accredit
ing agencies.”
He urged that parents con
tact their local legislators to
seek inclusion in the tax
exemption next year.
Turning to the academic
standards of the Diocese’s
schools, Father Cuddy de
clared, “One of the best ways
to determine the quality of ed
ucation in any school system
is to compare that system’s
results on standardized tests
with national norms.” A com
parison made by the Scho
lastic Testing Service and St.
Louis University, shows that
students in the Catholic
schools of the Diocese of Sa
vannah ‘ ‘are on the same ed
ucational achievement level
as children all over the na
tion,” he said.
He also revealed that “this
year, we plan to make an ad
ditional survey of our system
by means of another series
of nationally standardized
test to help us improve our
effectiveness.
Racial integration in
schools of the Diocese has
been proceeding “peacefully
and with most beneficial re
sults in terms of Christian
understanding,” he said,
noting that whereas there were
only 48 Negro children in pre
viously all-white schools in
1963, there are now 96.
The Diocesan school su
perintendent pointed out what
he called discrimination in a
revision of the Georgia State
Sales and Use Tax, passed
recently by the General As
sembly.
“The State Legislature,”
he said, “has now voted to
exempt from the . . . tax
only those independent ele
mentary and secondary
schools that are accredited by
either of two private organi
zations, the Georgia Accredit
ing Commission or the
4
Sisters of St. Joseph
>
Luncheon scene showing Head Table,
Franciscan Sisters