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SERVING 88 SOUTH - GEORGIA COUNTIES
The Southern Cross
DIOCESE OF SAVANNAH NEWSPAPER
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Vol. 50 No. 37
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THURSDAY. OCTOBER 23, 1969
$5 Per Year
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‘‘Right To Dissent Demands Patience, Respect, Love’ f
The following observations on ‘the right to dissent' were
made in the form of a sermon delivered by the Rt. Rev.
Msgr. Andrew J. McDonald, Vicar General of the Diocese of
Savannah and pastor of Savannah’s Blessed Sacrament
Parish last Sunday (Oct. 19).
The right to dissent in the family, in our country, in our
'£ Church is the burning issue of our times. This right is
important. That it be properly understood is an utmost
necessity.
With ever greater frequency, the voice of youth demands
to be heard in family life. Not long ago, a young boy said to
me: “I’m sixteen years old. I have the right to be heard; I
have the right to read what I want; I have the right to see
whatever movies I choose.” He then confided that he thinks
his parents are over twenty-five and therefore cannot be
trusted,
v
Just as frequently, parents cry out: “What next? I’ve
sacrificed my life, my energy, and my talent to give a better
home to my children, a better opportunity for education
than I ever had myself. In return, I get sass, abuse, and
back-talk.” This sums up the frustration of youth and the
discouragement of parents. What is the answer?
The answer must lie in the truth. The first and
fundamental truth is, “Thou shalt honor thy father and thy
mother.” This commandment comes from God Himself.
Let children forever hold parents and their decisions in
reverence and respect.
Nevertheless, parents must recognize the growth and the
development of their children. They must attempt to know
each child. They must try with all of their energy to fulfill
the needs of each child. Such a relationship, leaves
reasonable room for dissent; for free and open discussion;
for free but respectful expression of opinion. Dissent under
such conditions helps children and parents to grow in
mutual love and respect for one another.
The right to dissent stands as a major issue in our
country today. First, I thank God for the freedom of our
land. No major country in the world guarantees the right to
disagree as ours does. In fact, our Supreme Court almost
bends itself out of joint to protect our precious heritage,
our individual freedom.
Secondly, our government is democratic in form. It
seeks to be a full and a free expression of the people
through elected representation. Actually, our government is
more than this. Its very foundation is conceived in the
inalienable rights of the individual to liberty and justice. If
this be our chosen form of government and no majority of
us citizens have wanted it otherwise, then the right to
political dissent is not absolute.
Those citizens, then who use legalistic maneuvers to
deprive other Americans of their God-given constitutional
rights are wrong. Those who hide their race prejudice, their
greed for money, their lust for power under the guise of
false patriotism are unworthy to be called Americans. On
the other hand, the dissenter who will destroy what is not
his, who will bum what rightfully belongs to another, who
will trample upon the flag, the sacred symbol of our nation,
such a dissenter is unreasonable and he is liable to treason.
The right to dissent, to disagree, is good. It is our noble
heritage. Lets keep it within our democratic heritage. Let us
dissent and disagree, conscious of the full respect due the
rights of others.
The right to dissent stands at the root of unrest and
turbulence in our Church today. The news media tell us
that Father Groppi, the militant priest of Wisconsin, is in
jail again because he violated his parole in leading poor
people into the State Capitol. The same media tell us tht
many priests, and at least one bishop, have left their posts
in disagreement over Church policy and Church discipline.
It tells us that Paul VI and learned bishops of the world are
even today grappling with the issue of “sharing authority”
in the Church.
While such open dissent, disagreement, and
argumentation leave many laymen aghast and shocked, it
can be healthy; it can be a sign of growth. Incidentally, any
casual reader of history will tell you that this era of time
can be our church’s finest hour.
Let it be clearly understood, however, the right to
dissent is not absolute in the Catholic Church. While all
doctrinal and moral teaching may be open to discussion and
development, not everything is open to change. Any
Catholic who denies that Paul VI as the successor to Peter
has gone beyond reasonable dissent. Any Catholic who
denies defined teaching of the Church has stepped out of
bounds. The sacred defined truths of our Faith are not
open to dissent.
However, the discipline, the manner in which we
proceed in business as an institution, much of our liturgy is
forever in need of up-dating and reform. If dissent
represents the free voice of the children of God, let it be
heard; let it be acted upon. I am grateful for my liberty as a
child of God. I thank God for the right to reasonable
dissent in our Church.
The exercise of the right to dissent demands patience,
respect and love. Let me give you full assurance today that
the legitimate, reasonable voice of dissent can only lead to a
better family life, to a better country, and to a better
Church.
HARTFORD STUDY
Plan Would End
Parish Structure
EVEN CARDINALS MUST SIT AND WAIT - As the Extraordinary Synod of Bishops settled
down to business, this informal group enjoyed a moment’s leisure. From left to foreground:
Terence Cardinal Cooke of New York; Norman Cardinal Gilroy of Sydney; John Cardinal Wright,
prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy; Jan Cardinal Willibrands, president of the Secretariat
for Christian Unity ; and Justin Cardinal Darmojuwono of Semarang, Indonesia. (NC Photos)
MEET IN CHARLESTON
Sou. Priests’
Tackles Tough
NOT POLARIZED
Bishops’ Synod Opinion
Reported ‘Crystallized’
HARTFORD, Conn. (NC)
- A board of priests which
made a study of how priests
live and work in the
archdiocese of Hartford has
proposed abolishing the
traditional pastor-curate
relationship.
The 12-man Preliminary
Personnel Board of the
archdiocese included the
proposal among
recommendations in a report
to Archbishop John F.
Whealon.
S u g gesting a new
“authority style” for the
clergy, the report
recommends establishment of
a system of vicars, each
holding office for five years,
who would head geographic
regions of the archdiocese as
well as special areas of
concern on the archdiocesan
level, including education,
finances, parish and clergy
affairs.
Instead of the present
system of parishes headed by
pastors with curates as
assistants, the proposals call
for “team parishes,” in which
priests would share direction
of the parish; “co-pasto
rates,” in which priests would
divide the parish, each being
responsible for a geographical
portion of it; and “one-man
parishes.”
Assignments and transfers
of priests under the proposed
system would be handled by
a vicar, aided by a placement
bureau which would compile
data on each priest and the
needs of each parish. Priests
would be free to request
specific assignments.
The report’s conclusions
are based largely on a
recently released study of
priests in the archdiocese
conducted by two Yale
University scientists, Dr.
Douglas T. Hall and Dr.
Benjamin Schneider.
The board’s recommenda
tions for a new authority
structure rest of three main
points: that curates are
discontented with the present
system, feel under-utilized
and get less satisfaction from
their work than pastors,
priests in special assignments,
and most professional people;
that priests are meant to have
a leadership role in the
Christian community and not
merely assist; and that a
system of authority is needed
which “has reverence for the
needs and satisfaction of the
individual.”
Implementation of the
proposal is suggested in two
plans, the first affecting the
present New Haven and New
Britain deaneries.
Changes would begin with
a revolutionary step: pastors
with curates would be urged
to resign their posts and form
pastoral teams with their
fellow priests.
Pastors who resigned and
curates ordained more than
three years would become
“senior associate pastors,”
responsible for parish affairs.
Curates ordained less than
(Continued on Page 2)
CHARLESTON, S. C.
(NC) — Seventy priests from
four Sees and an abbey took
stands on several
controversial issues including
celibacy and civil
disobedience during the third
annual meeting of the Atlanta
Province of Priests’ Councils
here (Oct. 13-15).
A resolution on optional
celibacy asked that “the
Church leave every priest free
to follow his proper calling
from God with regard to
celibacy and marriage.”
The priests also called for
recognition of civil
disobedience as a legitimate
form of protest in certain
cases.
A third resolution called
for the democratic election of
all bishops and asked for a
specified term of office for
those chosen.
The priest-delegates voted
for a full financial disclosure
of church wealth and said at
least 10% of that wealth
should be allocated for social
needs. They also asked for a
greater role in decision
making within the Church
and called for professional
contracts of service with
dioceses.
The priests also asked the
National Federation of
Catholic Priests to work out a
practical procedure for priests
wishing to resign from the
active ministry and to submit
the plan to the National
Conference of Catholic
Bishops for swift
implementation.
Father Patrick O’Malley of
Chicago, president of the
National Federation of
Catholic Priests, told the
delegates that “the voice of
dissent has to be listened to
Unit
Issues
as much as the voice of
assent.”
Speaking on due process in
the Church, Father O’Malley
said “some individuals are so
concerned about the rights of
authority that they forget the
rights of people.”
He listed spirituality of
priests and celibacy as two
great problems in the
priesthood. The introduction
of optional celibacy, he
pointed out, would not solve
all priestly problems.
Celibacy, he added, “has
not solved them (problems)
in the Protestant clergy for
(Continued on Page 2)
BY PATRICK RILEY
VATICAN CITY (NC)
Opinion in the Catholic
Church’s synod of Bishops
has crystallized, not
polarized.
With the reading of reports
from all nine working groups
into which the synodal
Fathers were gathered, the
long-feared sundering of the
synod into pro-papal
conservatives and
pro-collegial progressives
revealed itself as an empty
phantasm.
The reports of the working
groups showed substantial
agreement of the Pope’s right
to reach decisions that bind
the whole church, and on the
opportuneness and
desirability of active
participation of the world’s
bishops in decision-making.
For such participation, the
working groups looked to
fuller communication
between the Holy See and the
bishops, and to fuller
exploitation of the institution
of the synod itself. The synod
as an institution seemed to be
shaping up as the most likely
central nervous system for
collegial life and action.
However, a suggestion by
Belgium’s Leo Cardinal
Suenens for a more
reprsentative method of
electing future popes was put
aside by the group of which
he was chairman. The
Communiqre from the Holy
See’s press office said:
“Cardinal Suenens presented
a motion regarding the future
elction of popes. Many
bishops, without denying the
interest of the problem,
judged it to be secondary in
comparison with the other
motions expressed by the
group. Also, such a motion
was not included in the
matter under study.
“The group feels that this
question, as well as the way
of associating the synod with
the college of cardinals in the
election of the pope, can be
studied elsewhere.”
The groups had been
working two days, principally
on a report presented to the
synod by Francois Cardinal
Marty of Paris on relations
between the Holy See and
episcopal conferences.
Synodal Fathers were
grouped according to
language: two each for
English, French and Spanish,
and one each for German,
Italian and Latin.
There was full agreement
on the validity of the
principle of subsidiarity,
which (roughly speaking)
insists that a function that a
lower unit of society can
accomplish should not be
taken over by a higher unit.
The clear implications of this
principle within the Church
were accepted, save for
insistence upon two things:
that the church is not wholly
comparable to natural
societies, and that the
primacy of the pope not be
compromised.
Most of the working
groups said the Pope or his
aides might--or should--ex-
plore the mind of the
bishops’ conferences before
issuing important doctrinal or
disciplinary statements, while
the bishops’ conferences
would inform the Holy See of
those of its actions which
concern the entire Church.
Thus consultation would be a
two-way street.
There were many
suggestions that the synod be
convened regularly, either at
one-year or two-year
intervals.
The group under Cardinal
Suenens’ chairmanship
suggested that the Roman
Curia, which is and
historically has been the
Pope’s executive arm, become
an instrument for the
execution of collegially-made
decisions.
(Continued on Page 2)
Catholic
Youth Week
A note from Father Herbert Wellmeier, Diocesan
Moderator of Catholic Youth Organizations reminds
us that National Catholic Youth Week begins October
26.
Father Wellmeier asked us to pass on the reminder
to all CYO members, so here it is. He urges every
CYO group in the diocese to mark Catholic Youth
Week by some kind of program designed to point up
benefits of the Catholic Youth Organization to high
school age youth, their parents and the community in
general.
“It goes without saying,” said Father Wellmeier,
“that the highlight of Catholic Youth Week should be
corporate Holy Communion by all CYO members.
INSIDE STORY
Synod’s First Week l.Pfl* 3
Taxing Churches Pg. 5
'Dom Holder’ Pg. 6
Inhuman Poverty Pg. 7
HEADLINE
HOPSCOTCH \ t
Wins Imprimatur
NEW YORK (NC) — The English-language edition of the
Dutch New Catechism, which was the center of controversy in
1967 when an American bishop first gave, then withdrew, his
imprimatur, has won official approval-and the same bishop’s
imprimatur. The book--the official title is “A New Catechism:
Catholic Faith for Adults” -- in the meantime has sold 250,000
copies in the U.S., according to publishers Herder & Herder. The
new edition contains the same text as the original, but a 64-page
supplement has been added at the recommendation of the
Vatican’s Commission of Cardinals.
’Will Influence’
HONOLULU (NC) — Former Vice President Hubert
Humphrey, on a visit predicted (Oct. 15) the Vietnam
Moratorium Day will influence President Nixon's policy in
Vietnam. “Any man in public life takes recognition of any
expression of public opinion,” Humphrey said. “More sensible
talk took place about the United States in Vietnam on
moratorium day than in any comparable period.” “The U.S. has
fulfilled its first commitment in Vietnam,” Humphrey said,
adding that he looks forward to the next commitment~“the
systematic and accelerated withdrawal of troops, and to
influence the South Vietnamese to undertake their own
defense.”
’Our Times’ Folds
YAKIMA, Wash. (NC) — It’s 30 (newspaper Jargon for the
end) for Our Times, Yakima diocese newspaper. The final issue
will be published Oct. 24, Bishop Cornelius M. Power of Yakima
announced. The paper’s 13,300 circulation had been on a total
coverage plan, mailed to every Catholic home in the diocese,
with parishes assessed for support of the paper until last
February, when the assessment arrangement was dropped.
Under the new system the paper was unable to raise sufficient
revenue to continue operation.