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ELEVEN YEAR-OLD VIET CONG - Archbishop Angelo Palmas, Apostolic Delegate to Vietnam
and Cambodia, meets the youngest of 2,328 prisoners of war in the POW camp in Bien Hoa, South
Vietnam. Camp officials said the 11-year-old boy is a member of the Vietcong. The prelate, who
gave the inmates at the prison a blessing from Pope Paul VI, toured the camp and distributed gifts
on his Christmas visit. (RNS Photo)
NO ALTERATION
*Keep Truths In Renewal 9
Pope Advises Theologians
VATICAN CITY (NC) -
The Holy See has declared
itself on the side of
theological renewal but at the
same time has put theologians
on their guard against turning
that renewal into
‘‘obfuscation and
alteration.”
What the Holy See fears
may be obscured and altered
are “those truths which
always, everywhere and by
everyone were professed,
with greater or less
awareness.”
These encouragements and
fears were expressed in a
letter sent on Pope Paul Vi’s
behalf by Papal Secretary of
State Amleto Cardinal
Cicognani to Bishop Carlo
Colombo, president of the
Italian Theological
Association. The occasion
was the third national
congress meeting (Jan. 2-4) at
Sestri Levante on the subject
of ‘“rheological Language
Today.”
The letter noted that
theology, in seeking its right
relations with modern
currents of philosophy,
should not “lose the sight of
those models of theological
wisdom” which are the
Apostles, and authors of Holy
Writ, and the Fathers and
Doctors of the Eastern and
Western Church.
“It should be noted that
the Second Vatican
Ecumenical Council itself
showed fidelity to like
models,” the pontifical letter
observed.
“It was unshakable fidelity
to the teaching of the
Apostolic See and of the
ecumenical councils that
rendered the Fathers and
Doctors of the Church
faithful witnesses and highly
authoritative interpreters of
the deposit of the Faith.
“Therefore the Church,
while it encourages progress
of both positive and
speculative theology and
hopes for its grand renewal in
conformity to the principles
and wishes expressed by the
Second Vatican Council (of.
Decree Optatam Totius, Nov.
14,16), at the same time
demands that such
development be
homogeneous. That means
that such development should
be true and authentic, so that
the ideological and
imaginative increase in
adapting to the minds of men
the theoretical and practical
truths contained in the living
and inexhaustible patrimony
of Divine Revelation may not
dissolve into loss or into
obfuscation and alteration
of those truths which always,
everywhere and by everyone
were professed, with greater
or less awareness.”
Theologians cannot hope
to make the truths of the
Faith readily accessible to the
modern mind, the letter
asserted, yet they must be
convinced that even
analogical expressions of the
mysteries of God’s life and of
eternal salvation have “the
value of objectivity.”
Summing that up, the
letter said: “Humility and
magnanimity, faith in the
transcendence of the Divine
Word and trust in human
language, are thus the
endowments that must
sustain whoever girds himself
to investigate, in order then
to propose to others by word
of mouth and by writing, the
truths of the Christian
religion.”
Here Cardinal Cicognani
quoted St. Augustine’s
comments on the Gospel of
St. John: “I dare to say, my
brothers, that probably not
even John told things the way
they are, but the way he
could, because he spoke of
God as a man spoke; and even
though inspired by God, yet
he spoke as a man
nonetheless. Because inspired,
he said something; if he had
not been inspired, he would
have said nothing. But
because he was an inspired
man, he spoke not everything
that is but spoke what he
could as a man.” (in Joann.
Evang. C. I. Tract. 1)
Although the theologian
does not benefit from
inspiration, the letter
proceeded, he has “the
necessary means to carry out
worthily the mission
entrusted to him by the
sacred hierarchy.”
First is the trust in the
capacity of human reason to
reach absolute truth even
beyond the natural order, the
letter said, adding that such
trust is necessary “to avoid
the shoals of nominalism and
of presumption.”
The second means is
“charisms granted to those
who expose divine words,
with regard to the various
needs of the hearers.” Such
charisms must be prayed for,
the letter declared.
The third means is “faith
in the charism of truth.”
The letter closed with a
citation from the message of
Pope Paul to the
International Congress of the
Theology of Vatican II, Oct.
1, 1966: “Let them,
therefore, avoid yielding to
the desire for facile
acceptance and popularity, at
the expense of the sureness of
doctrine taught by the
magisterium, which in the
Church represents the person
of Jesus Christ the Teacher.”
INSIDE STORY
New Catechetics Pg. 2
Pope On Peace Pg. 3
Brazil Missioners Pg. 3
2,000,000 Dead Pg. 5
Vietnam Morality Gap Pg. 6
*fss
SERVING 88 SOUTH GEORGIA COUNTIES
The Southern Cross
NEWSPAPER DIOCESE OF SAVANNAH
Vol. 50 No. 2
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SAVANNAH, GEORGIA, THURSDAY, JANUARY 9. 1969
$5 Per Year
CALL TO PRA YER, WORK
Appeal To U.S. Catholics
Cites Middle East Crisis
WASHINGTON (NC) — U.S. Catholics have been urged to pray for world peace
in 1969, and to focus their concern particularly on the problems of the Middle East.
A statement from the United States Catholic Conference Division for World
Justice and Peace, issued in connection with the Jan. 5, observance by U.S. Catholics
of the World Day of Peace, said:
MIDDLE EAST TRAGEDY. Contributing to festering
Arab-Israeli tensions in war-jittery Middle East is problem of
Arab refugees who either fled from their homes in Israel or were
driven out by recurring fighting over the past two decades.
Arabs refuse to negotiate with Israelis concerning their future.
Israelis say nothing can be done about their plight without
negotiations. Refugees like this youngster and his grandfather
are dependent largely on the UN Relief and Works Agency and
religious and other private foreign aid organizations for food,
shelter, clothing and medical attention. (RNS Photo)
GERMAN BISHOPS SAY
Democracy Won’t
“As the year opens,
the world is confronted with
wars in Vietnam and
Nigeria-Biafra; tensions are
growing in South Africa and
Eastern Europe; peace is
threatened in a score of
nations.
“Yet nowhere else is peace
more tenuous, nowhere else
has war struck more 1 often in
recent times, than in the
Middle East. Within the past
two weeks the pattern of
reprisal and counter-reprisal,
of violence and
misunderstanding, has
accelerated to the extent that
we must, once more, call
upon Catholics to focus their
attention especially here on
this World Day of Peace of
1969.”
The statement said that
“while praying not only for
peace but for justice in the
conflict, we feel it necessary
to insist that the Middle
East’s sufferings be viewed in
their proper perspective.”
It continued: “Those who
wish to bring peace and
justice to this troubled area
must begin with the
understanding of two facts:
-That Israel does exist as a
state, and is a member nation
of the United Nations
organization;
-That a large number of
refugees on both sides, many
of them entering their third
decade of uncertainity and
deprivation, must receive
effective help to permanently
relieve their sufferings.
“We plead with the Arab
governments to enter
sincerely into negotiations in
order to find a ground for a
just and peaceful coexistence.
We plead with the Israeli
government to maintain a
conciliatory spirit in seeking
negotiations and settlements
with the Arab governments.
We urge all members of the
United Nations to strongly
support that organization’s
efforts to seek and utilize
every feasible route to peace
in the Middle East.”
The statement asked all
the people of the Middle East
“to be particularly mindful of
the need for responsibility,
and of the repercussions of
each of their actions, not
only on their own welfare but
on that of the family of
nations.”
The statement condemned
the violence in the Middle
East but commended the
people and govern-
ments--both Arab and
Israeli-which have “exercised
restraint in a supremely
trying hour.”
Catholics must have an
increasingly concerned
attitude toward international
affairs and must pray
constantly for peace, the
statement said.
Meantime, in Rome, a
resolution (Jan. 5) of the
World Jewish Congress
expressed dismay at the
United Nations Security
Council’s condemnation of
Israel’s retaliatory raid on
Bierut International Airport
(Dec. 28) for not taking into
account “the intransigence of
the Arab states and the
organized terrorist activities
which they support and
encourage.”
The resolution also stated:
“The escalation of the
terrorist violence directed
against Israel and its civilian
population is due to the
persistent refusal of Arab
governments to respond to
the many calls (of Israel) to
seek a permanent and
peaceful settlement through
direct negotiations and to the
persistent declarations of
Middle East Arab states of
their design to annihilate the
state of Israel by armed
force.”
Earlier (Dec. 31), Pope
Paul Vi’s expression of
sorrow to Lebanon’s
President Charles Helou over
the Beirut Airport raid was
criticized by Israel Minister of
Religion Zerah Warhaftig.
His criticism came at the
same time that U.S. Jewish
leaders expressed concern
over the Pope’s statement. A
statement issued by Rabbi
Jacob P. Rudin, president of
the Synagogue Council of
America, expressed
resentment of the “double
standard by world political
and religious leaders in their
dealings with Israel and with
the Arab countries.”
In his personal message to
President Helou, Pope Paul
had said:
“We wish to express to
Your Excellency the
expression of our sorrow for
the grave happenings at
Beirut. We strongly deplore
acts of violence, from
whatever source they come,
which cannot but aggravate a
situation which is already
tense.”
Minister Warha ft ig
deplored the Pope’s message,
which, he said, was sent
“while the Vatican turned a
blind eye to the terrorist
attack on our airliner at
Athens.”
Helicopter-borne Israeli
commandos destroyed 13
civil aircraft at the Beirut
airport (Dec. 28) in
retaliation for an attack two
days earlier by two Arab
terrorists against an Israeli El
A1 airliner in Athens in which
one passenger was killed. The
two Arab terrorists had
arrived in Athens on a flight
from Beirut.
Warhaftig also compared
Pope Paul’s silence with that
of a predecessor, Pope Pius
XII, who, the minister said,
failed to protest the
extermination of millions of
Jews by the nazis in World
War II.
(Continued on Page 2)
Work In
FULDA, Germany (NC) —
The German bishops have
said that it is impossible for
the Catholic Church to have a
completely democratic
structure.
In a “Word on Questions
of Faith and Churchly Life,”
released here after a special
two-day session of the
German bishops’ conference,
the bishops admit there can
be certain forms of
democratic formation of will
and opinion for the
cooperation of bishops,
priests and laymen in the
ministry of the Church.
But, they said, “questions
of faith, of moral norms and
sacramental life cannot be
solved by majority decisions.
In these cases the principle of
democracy, that all power
comes from the people, has
no validity. Here the churchly
office is obligated only to the
Lord in faithful obedience,”
they said.
A full democratization of
the Church, they add, is
contrary to its mission given
by Jesus Christ.
The document stresses
that every curtailment or
falsification of the reality of
the God incarnate, Jesus
Christ, of His birth of the
Virgin Mary or of His death
and His resurrection means
departing from the faith of
the Church.
The bishops, however,
recognize the freedom of
personal religious decision
Church
and the necessity of a
responsible formation of
consciences.
Commenting on the
discussion of Pope Paul’s
birth control encyclical,
Humanae Vitae, the bishops
regret declarations against the
Church’s teaching authority
in general which, they say,
have touched the foundations
of faith and of the
ecclesiastical community.
On liturgical experiments,
the bishops warned against
“experiments whereby faith
in the sacramental presence
of Jesus Christ and
in ... . the significance of the
Eucharistic meal for unity in
the faith and for the
ecclesiastical community is
endangered. Therefore,
intercommunion cannot be a
means to reach Church
unity.”
The document also deals
with the discussion on
priestly celibacy. The bishops
confirm their support for the
decision of the Second
Vatican Council to maintain
priestly celibacy but said that
they are ready to support the
laicization of priests to enter
other professions.
Nevertheless, they said, “we
cannot charge such former
priests wiih tasks which are
reserved for priests or
deacons.”
The bishops indicated they
may issue a lengthly
document concerning the
priesthood.
HEADLINE Af
HOPSCOTCH
DIOCESE
Christmas Collection
SAVANNAH — Catholics in the Diocese of Savannah have
contributed almost twenty-four thousand dollars toward the
maintenance of dependent children of the Diocese according to
incomplete returns from the annual collection taken up in all
churches on Christmas day. According to figures released by
Very Rev. Kevin Boland, diocesan chancellor, parishes have thus
far remitted to the diocese $23,982.79. “This indicates,” said
Father Boland, “that when complete returns are in, this year’s
collection will prove to be the highest in years. We are most
grateful and I know the dependent boys and girls of our diocese
are, also.”
Obscenity Amendment
WASHINGTON (NC) — Rep. Fletcher Thompson of Georgia
said he would introduce a constitutional amendment to give
Congress the right to define obscenity and regulate publication
of obscene material. Thompson said court rulings had made it
“impossible” for people to “protect their children and loved
ones from “being exposed to obscenity.
Nun Fined
ST LOUIS (NC) — A 31-year-old Maryknoll Nun, who
chained herself to a department store’s doors during a Christmas
protest, was fined $500 and ordered jailed because she did not
post a $100 appeal bond. Sister Cecilia Goldman, who lives at
St. Anne’s parish in St. Louis but works as a vocational
counselor outside the religious community, chained herself to
the revolving doors of the Famous-Barr department store during
a “Black Christmas” demonstration. She was found guilty of
disturbing the peace, and received the maximum fine.
VATICAN
12 New Bishops
VATICAN CITY (NC) — Pope Paul VI has conferred
piscopal ordination (Jan. 6) on 12 prelates, including four
imericans. The Americans are Archbishop Raymond Etteldorf
rom Ossian, Iowa, newly appointed apostolic delegate for New
ealand and the Pacific Islands; Bishop Paul Marcinkus, from
le Chicago archdiocese, who had been made secretary of the
[oly See’s Institute for the works of Religion, which adminsters
jnds of the Vatican and other religious organizations and also
; a bank; Bishop Andrew Schierhof from St. Louis, who was
amed auxiliary of La Paz, Bolivia; and Bishop Bernard J.
TrT.auphlin. named auxiliary of Buffalo.