Newspaper Page Text
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Vol. 46, No. 33
SERVING 88 SOUTH - GEORGIA COUNTIES
NEWSPAPER DIOCESE OF SAVANNAH
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GENORISIT Y PRA IS ED
U.S. Catholic
Aid Asked For
World’s Needy
BISHOP SMILJAN CEKADA of Skoplje, Yugoslavia, is pictured chatting
with Seminarians at St. John Vianney Minor Seminary. The Bishop spoke to
the students in Greek and Latin. (Staff photo by Bob Ward)
VISITING PRELATE SAYS
Yugoslav Diocese Not So
Different From Savannah
NEW YORK (NC)~ Pope
Paul VI has appealed to U.S.
Catholics “to continue and in
crease your liberal donations
towards this most worthy
Cause” — the U. S. Bishops
Relief Fund Appeal which su
stains millions of needy in all
parts of the world.
The Pope's plea was made
in a letter to the American
hierarchy which was released
here (March 3) by Catholic
Relief Service—National ca
tholic Welfare Conference,
overseas relief agency of U.S.
Catholics.
The bishops’ fund appeal
with a minimum goal of $5
million has been scheduled
for March 13 to 20. The cam
paign culminates on Laetare
Sunday, March 20, whenacol
lection will be taken up in all
parishes in the nation.
The text of the Pope’s mes
sage follows:
To our Venerable Brothers,
the Archbishops and Bish
ops of the United States of
America;
With unflagging zeal and
t charity, Venerable Brothers,
you and the faithful entrusted
to your pastoral care intend
once again to hold your annual
collection on Laetare Sunday,
in favor of the poor, suffering
and needy of the entire world.
Our paternal heart, deeply
moved by human misery and
pain, and by the unending ap
peals addressed to us, is con
soled by the constant genero
sity manifested by the Ca
tholics of America, who un-
stintingly, and at the cost of
no little sacrifice, place in
our hands the means of re
lieving some of the suffer
ings of their less fortunate
brethren in other lands.
For all such past benefi
cences, we express our sin
cere gratitude; and we en
courage all to contribute, as
far as in their power, to the
continuation and expansion of
that apostolate of mercy which
constitutes one of the most
prized heritages of the Ca
tholic Church.
Our Lord solemnlydeclared
•“Truly I say to you, as
you did it to one of the least
of these my brethren, you did
it to me” (Matt. XXV, 40);
and, since what is done for
Him takes its worth from the
infinite dignity of His Divine
Person, those who help the
hungry, the thirsty, the stran
ger, the naked, the sick and
the prisoner in His name are
promised the reward of ever
lasting life and happiness.
We therefore most ear
nestly encourage you, Vener
able Brothers, and your
flocks, to continue and in
crease your liberal donations
towards this most worthy
cause; and, in the confidence
that God will richly reward
your charitable endeavors, we
lovingly impart to you, your
clergy and faithful, as a pledge
of the divine recompense, our
paternal apostolic blessing.
By Very
Rev. William V. Coleman
Bishop Smiljan Franjo Ce-
kada of Skoplje, Yugoslavia,
in a recent visit to Savannah
praised the vitality of Ameri
can Catholic life and saw in
it “a model for Catholics
throughout the world.”
Bishop Cekada, whose dio
cese was devastated by earth
quake in 1964, is in this coun
try trying to raise funds to
rebuild his. Cathedral and
other church property de
stroyed in the calamity.
In an exclusive interview
with THE SOUTHERN CROSS,
he called the faith of the
American people, “profound,
practical and well organized.”
Commenting on the simi
larity of his diocese and the
diocese of Savannah, he noted
tht there are 40,000 Catho
lics in the Diocese of Skoplje
among a total population of
3,000,000. About 2,000,000 are
Orthodox Christians and
1,000,000 are Moslems, he
said. Savannah has approxi
mately 32,000 Catholics in a
population of about 2,000,000.
His See includes an area
approximately the same size
as that of the Diocese of Sa
vannah. It is located in the
southern end of Yugoslavia
and is composed of people
with Albanian and Croation
backgrounds.
Presently, there are 20
parishes in his diocese and
23 priests. There are, how
ever, he said, “about 200
religious sisters, most of
whom work in state-controlled
hospitals as nurses.” The sis
ters live in 16 convents. The
only other Catholic institution
in the diocese, he added, is a
F ranciscan monastery with
three priests.
The people of Yugoslavia
are grateful for American aid,
he said, because his country
is a poor one and “American
foodstuffs supplement the diet
for the poor.”
Outlining the long history
of his diocese, Bishop Cekada
noted that one of his earliest
predecessors was present at
the First Ecumenical Council
of Nicea in the fourth century,
making his see one of the
oldest Catholic centers in the
world.
But the history of the
church, there, he said, has
been one of persecution - be
ginning in the 11th century
with the great EasternSchism
and followed in the 14th cen
tury by the Moslem reaction
to the Austrian occupation of
the area.
During this time, the Bish
ops of Skoplje lived in the
mountains, administering to
the scattered catholic popula
tion as best they could. It was
not until 1821 that a permanent
residence at Drizren was
established and not until 1934
that a Bishop was able to re
turn to Skoplje to live, he said.
Asked about the possibility
of reunion between Eastern
Christians and Roman Catho
lics, Bishop Cekada declared
that, though both are “working
and praying for reunion, the
future looks cloudy.”
While in Savannah, he
visited several schools,
speaking to students through
an interpreter.
Addressing seminarians at
St. John Vianney Minor Semi
nary, the Bishop spoke in
formally in Greek and Latin.
Bishop Cekada’s stay inSa-
vannah ended with a Pontifical
Mass in the cathedral of St.
John the Baptist, Wednesday
(Mar. 2) at 12:00 noon.
A HEADLINE (4
(ftjjff HOPSCOTCH \ t
DIOCKSF.
Lectures In Augusta
The Reverend Benjamin Werner gave the first lecture in
the John XXHI Memorial Lecture Series being held, in Augusta,
on the Wednesdays of March. The Very Reverend William V.
Coleman will give the second lecture, scheduled for Saint
Mary’s parish Hall at 7:30 P.M., on March 9th.
Columbus DCCW
The Most Reverend Thomas J. McDonough will be the fea
tured speaker at the Spring meeting of the Columbus Deanery
Council of Catholic Women. The meeting is scheduled March
6th , in Macon, at 1 P.M. at the S & S Cafeteria on Walnut
Street. Miss Pauline Peuffier, Diocesan President and Mrs.
Norman I. Boatright, National Director, will attend the Luncheon.
Reservations are to be made with Mrs. Don Benton, 1252
Jackson Springs Road, Macon. Mrs. Benton’s phone number
is SH 5-378L
Mass Prayer
VATICAN CITY (NC)—Pope Paul VI has ordered the in
sertion of an invocation for peace into the Prayer of the Faith
ful in all Masses during the remainder of Lent. The invoca
tion, published March 1 by decree of the Congregation of Rites,
asks that “just peace and true concord be realized among
peoples violently afflicted by war or civil discord.”
Confirmation Schedule
The Most Reverend Thomas J. McDonough will confirm
at Bainbridge, Moultrie and Thomasville during the
coming week.
On Monday, March 7th, the bishop will confirm at
St. Joseph’s, Bainbridge. On Tuesday, March 8th, His
Excellency will confirm atlmmaculateConception, Moul
trie. On Wednesday, March 9th, Bishop McDonough will
confer the sacrament at St. Augustine’s, Thomasville.
In all three cities the Sacrament of Confirmation
will be administered during Mass which will be cele
brated by the Bishop. Time of the Mass will also be the
same, 7:30 P.M.
THREE GENERATIONS of the Gill family, of Au
gusta, were members of the Nicholas T. Stafford
Fourth Degree Class and were received into the
Fourth Degree of the Knights of Columbus at cere
monies held, last Saturday, in Savannah. From left
to right: John Joseph Gill, John Patrick Gill and
John Thomas Gill. (Jim Daly photo)
BISHOPS, SUPERIORS
Catholic Leaders
Express Views On
Church Authority
J
NOTRE DAME, Ind. (RNS>-
The editor of Ave Maria, na
tional Catholic weekly, as
serts in the Feb. 26 issue
that Roman Catholic religious
authorities in the U.S. do not
“yet” trust their people’s abi
lity to understand the reasons
behind their decision-making.
Father John Reedy, a mem
ber of the Congregation of the
Holy Cross, reported that a
“disappointing” number of
bishops (four out of 38) and
superiors of religious orders
(nine out of 29) responded to
his magazine’s request to pre
sent their views on the sub
ject of exercising religious
authority.
In the Feb. 26 issue, Father
Reedy said the poor response
also indicated that a great
many religious authorities did
not “really take seriously”
the purpose of the Catholic
magazine in probing the ques
tion. To those asking why
the publication had given so
much attention to the obedience
-authority problem, Father
Reedy replied:
“Our answer is that we see
this issue of the changing pat
terns in the exercise of au
thority as being absolutely
central to the successful im
plementation of the teachings
that emerged from Vatican
II.”
Included in the replies pub
lished by Ave Maria this time
was an article by Bishop Ro
bert J. Dwyer of Reno, Nev.
In another critique, a priest
of a large Eastern diocese—
although he was willing to be
identified, his name was omit
ted by the editors to preserve
his anonymity—charged that
many priests, not in public
controversy, are “effectively
silenced by ‘The System.’ ”
In a plea for “realism” on
the question of “Authority,
Obedience and Prudence,”
Bishop Dwyer said that if au
thority were destroyed or
weakened in the Church, “the
Church herself would be the
prime sufferer.” He conti
nued:
“Allow for unbridled ex
pression of opinion, even if
not strictly heretical, in de
fiance of clear papal or epis
copal order, and you have re
ligious chaos.
“Permit each priest to be
the arbiter of his own conduct,
the impressario of his own li
turgy, the definitor of his own
social involvement, and you
have nothing short of revolu
tion on your hands. You have
a situation as far removed
from the metes and bounds of
prudence as it is possible to
conceive.”
The anonymous priest, who
lives in a diocese where pa
rishes of 2,000 to 4,000 fami
lies served by two or three
priests are “typical,” des
cribed himself as 37 years
old, with 11 years of a “very
successful” priesthood be
hind him. Yet, he said, he
was “angry.”
The large parishes, he said,
“are in effect factories, the
spiritual Sunday filling sta
tions for the large suburban
populations that crowd our
territory.” In them, he said,
parishioners frequently iden
tify the clergy as simply “the
bald one” or “the short one.”
He asked: “Can Christ be
found in these ‘supermarkets’
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• • • i
The priest said that many of
the 2,000-to-4,000-family pa
rishes in his diocese are un
derstaffed and a reapportion
ment of men is needed.
“Everyone knows this but no
one can reach the top to make
any changes. ‘The System’
won’t allow it.”
The priest himself is in a
“vacuum of silence” regard
ing his appointments. He re
ceives a form letter “with
the appropriate parish name
typed in.” There is no per
sonal contact or interview.
He may be assigned to “a
living saint or a living death.”
Too often, the wrong combi
nation of pastor and curate
has “devastating results” for
everyone. Personal"father
ly” selection has been sug
gested, he said, ‘ ‘but such sug
gestions are foreign to ‘The
System.’ ”
Problems, he said “never
reach up to the top or down
from the top” and: “Talent
is not encouraged, ability re
warded or concern recog
nized.” The diocese is also
WASHINGTON (NC)—The
perceptive businessman today
is seeking a new statement
of moral and ethical principles
to guide the modern corpora
tion, a seminar on justice and
pricing was told here.
Clarence C. Walton, dean
of the school of general studies
at Columbia University, New
York, said moralists must re
interpret the traditional
guidelines for justice in the
market place.
Walton spoke at the 1966
Viatorian Conference on Busi
ness Morality. The conference
brought together about 50
moral theologians and invited
businessmen for three days
of exchanges. In alternate
years, the conference is con
ducted for seminarians.
Walton held that unless a
persuasive restatement of
ethical principles is forth-
bogged down with “an anti
quated seniority system”
which says, “Just breathe long
enough and you will become
pastor, and doubly so if your
record has been ‘correct.’ ”
“Have we priests,” the
priest asked, “been so emas
culated by ‘The System’ that
we can not talk man to man. .
Must we continue to be treat
ed like overgrown altar boys?
In a series of “Viewpoints”
various aspects of the author
ity-obedience question were
brought out by respondents
who included Joseph cardinal
Ritter of the Archdiocese of
St. Louis. Discussing prob
lems arising when a priest
or religious becomes involv
ed in a social or civic issue,
the cardinal replied in the
question-answer format:
“Q, How do you think a
superior ought to handle a
case in which a priest’s ac
tion cannot be ceased with
out doing violence to what he
feels is ‘conscience.’?
“A. (Cardianl Ritter) He
should provide better com
munication to make sure the
priest’s conscience is an in
formed and sincere one; if
it is sincere, the superior
should desist.”
coming, industrial society
may find itself shaped by
forces which dehumanize the
individual.
His theme was echoed in
an address by Father Thomas
M. Garrett, S.J., of the Cam-,
bridge (Mass.) Center for
Social Studies, who said the
development of giant corpora
tions make new approaches
to business morality essen
tial.
Father Garrett took a swing
at the so-called “fair pricing
laws,” calling them “really
government authorized invita
tions to price fixing.”
“They allow manufac
turers,” he said, “to use the
power of the state to obtain
and maintain high prices. They
are strange laws to find in
a country that pays at least
lip service to free competi
tion.”
INSIDE STORY
Father DuBay 2
Superintendents Meet Pg* 2
Colombia Election .. Pg* 3
Lenten Theme Pg. 3
K. of C. And Masons Pg* 5
SEMINAR TOLD
Businessmen
Need Guides