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INSIDE STORY
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Cardinal On Synod Pg- 3
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At the closing session of the synod (Oct. 27) Pope Paul delighted the synod
fathers by declaring that he intends to give their opinions and suggestions
“maximum consideration,” and adding that he did so with “great pleasure even
more than as a clear duty.”
Among the synod’s
recommendations he made
his own were:
and episcopate for greater
communion and organic
collaboration.”
almost all plenary sessions
and heard a variety of
criticisms.
Vol. 50 No. 38 THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30,1969 $5 Per Year
APPROVES THREE MAJOR PROPOSALS
VATICAN CITY (NC) — Pope Paul VI closed the second Synod of Bishops
meeting and gave it a personal lift off the ground by approving in principle three of
its major practical applications for expressing the Pope’s and the bishops’
co-responsibility in the governing of the universal Church.
--Development and
extension of the functions
and role of the now passive
permanent secretariat of the
synod.
--Calling of a synod
regularly once in every two
years, beginning from this
year;
--Consideration of the
possibility of the bishops’
proposing subjects to be
discussed at future synods;
These three were part of a
packet of 13 submitted to the
bishops for vote at the
second-to-last plenary session.
(Because there was some
unfinished reporting of votes
and other business, the synod
fathers were asked to meet in
an informal session on Oct.
28. When the English-lang
uage press officer was asked
bluntly if the synod was over
or not, he replied: “It’s
finished, but not ended.”
The Pope’s use of the
word “rivalry” touched on a
central point that became
clear during the two weeks of
discussion by more than 140
synod fathers representing 93
national bishops’ conferences,
heads of the congregations of
the Roman Curia (the central
Church government in Rome)
and representatives of
religious orders. Predictions
of head-on confrontations
between the Pope and the
bishops by and large did not
emerge. The primacy of the
pope, his freedom to act
independently and his
supreme power over the
Church was not challenged
doctrinally. What was less
clear-as the discussions of the
first week revealed-was how
the pope’s freedom of action
and how the collegiality of
the college of bishops
function on a practical level.
This is not to say that
there were not clear and
express differences on many
subjects. Pope Paul attended
Justinus Cardinal
Darmojuwono of Semarang,
Indonesia, early in the debate
voiced strong objection
against the lack of
communication and
consultation by the Pope with
the bishops on major
subjects, such as the Pope’s
encyclical on birth control
and family limitation
(Humanae Vitae).
Francois Cardinal Marty of
Paris, near the end of the
sessions, proposed that
priestly celibacy be placed on
the agenda of the next synod.
The following day (Oct. 25)
the Pope at a mass in St.
Mary Major’s, spoke out, as
he has done often, in defense
of priestly celibacy. In all this
there was evident a frank
give-and-take that few had
expected when the synod
opened.
Even as the Pope listened
to accusations of execessive
(Continued on Page 2)
LIEUTENANT ROBERT FUNK is one policeman known on
sight by virtually every student in the schools of Savannah. He is
the Safety Officer for the Savannah Police Department and a
regular visitor at all the city’s schools. He also likes to do
paintings of historic buildings in that historic city. Here, he is
shown making a presentation of his latest work, The Cathedral
of St. John the Baptist, to St. Pius X High School. Accepting on
behalf of the school is Sister Mary Donat, O.S.F., Principal.
MELKITE PATRIARCH Maximos V Hakim (left) chats with
the Archbishop of Paris (center), Francois Cardinal Marty at
Bishops’ Synod.
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SERVING 88 SOUTH - GEORGIA COUNTIES
The Southern Cross
DIOCESE OF SAVANNAH NEWSPAPER
PRELATE THINKS SO
Is Ours Age Of
Over-Reaction ?
PORTLAND, Ore. (NC) -
This is an age of
over-reaction, both in the
secular society and the
Church, Archbishop Robert
J. Dwyer of Portland asserted
here.
“We are over-reacting to
everything,” he told a district
convention of Serra Clubs
International, “and it
threatens to destroy the
society in which we live.”
The same over-reaction
which is affecting today’s
secular society affects the
contemporary Church, he
said. He agreed there were
some things lacking “in the
Church of yesterday” and
that it was a “good thing to
introduce into the Church
and the lives of its people
new methods.”
This was the work of
Vatican II, a necessary action
to define the Church in the
world, he said.
“But there is a danger here
of over-reaction,” he said.
“That danger is to carry the
Church beyond the ideal of
the Vatican council-to make
the Church something
strange. This is the nightmare
of Pope Paul-going beyond
what is sane and sober so that
the restraints of the Church’s
authority are tossed out the
open window.”
“True, the liturgy should
be a growing thing, but it
should not be allowed to
become a wild weed,” he
added. “Like all productive
enterprises, it needs
direction.”
Turning to the social field,
Archbishop Dwyer said “we
shouldn’t turn ourselves into
a society of sociologists.”
Certainly, he said, “social
problems are very real, but
they are not the whole sum
of life. Sociology is not a
substitute for religion and
those who assume it is are
over-reacting. No modem
advance has taken away the
supernatural.”
“Perhaps authority in the
Church has been abused in
the past and there is a
possibility that it will be in
the future,” he said, “but is
this a reason to re act and
overthrow all authority?
Delegates from Oregon,
Washington, Idaho, Montana
and British Columbia
attended the convention at
which methods of increasing
vocations to the priesthood
and the religious life-the goal
of Serra clubs throughout the
world-were discussed.
In a way this is about as
good a summation of the
synod as can be found at a
glance. This synod is finished,
but its discussions and
decisions open the way for
many further developments.
As Pope Paul put it in his
closing speech, this synod was
extraordinary “because it was
intended for the solution of
preliminary questions with
regard to the future
development of ecclesiastic
government” of the Church.
The Pope took note of the
fact that many of the votes
on practical forms of
implementing coresponsi
bility of the pope and the
bishops in governing were
accompanied by various
qualifications and
reservations and that
therefore it will be up to him
to come to the final
conclusion regarding them.
As he put it:
“We will examine them, at
the conclusion of which it
will be our duty to meditate
before Christ, in the intimacy
of our conscience and with a
sense of our responsibility as
supreme pastor of the holy
Church of God. Only then
can we express our judgment
in their regard, a judgment
that will be promptly
communicated to you.”
It was after this comment
that the Pope mentioned the
three specific proposals that
he felt he could make his own
on a more immediate basis.
The Pope said that his
acceptance of these proposals
“indicates to you what
confidence we have in this
institution (the synod).”
He said moreover that the
synod, as conceived by the
Second Vatican Council, was
“not intended to produce
power rivalry or difficulties
for ordered and effective
government within the
Church, but rather as a
mutual inclination of pope
Senate Of Religious
The Senate of Religious will meet November 8 at
12:30 p.m. in the Holiday Inn, Dublin, Sister M.
Michael Joseph R.S.M., Secretary, announced last
Tuesday.
Pope’s Assent Upgrades
Synod’s Role In Church
SYNOD CLOSES - Pope Paul VI, who had attended almost every session of the Extraordinary
Synod of Bishops, held at the Vatican (Oct. 11-27), is seen praying with the Synod Fathers (Oct.
27) at the concluding formal session in St. Peter’s basilica. The Holy Father assured the Synod
Fathers in his concluding speech that he will call synods _ ry Iwo years, co.isiuti opening the way
for them to name topics for future synod agenda, and strengthen the synod secretariat-all proposals
favored by the members of this synod in their discussions. (NC Photos)
VOTE RESULT ISSUED
Bishops Submit Thirteen
Proposals To Holy See
VATICAN CITY (NC) -
At the final full assembly of
the second Synod of Bishops
(Oct. 27), the result of a vote
taken Oct. 25 on 13
questions regarding the
relations between the Holy
See and bishops’ conferences,
was announced.
There was only a single
vote covering all 13 but it
marked the practical
application of the synod’s
discussions.
(Another session of the
synod was held Oct. 28, but
it was considered as informal,
as the synod had already been
closed on the preceding
day.)
The vote as reported to
the bishops showed 40 “yes”
without qualifications; 13
“yes with qualifications;” 87
answered in writing and there
were no “no” votes.
Because the contents of
the 87 written replies are not
known, it is impossible to say
exactly where the matter
stands now. However, there
was a general feeling,
including those expressed to
N.C. News Service by
members taking part in the
synod, that they were
generally favorable, but with
points to be made more clear.
Here are the 13 questions
in brief:
1) On the basis of the
principle of subsidiarity, it is
desired that it be specified
more clearly, which are the
competencies of the bishops
either singly or as members of
bishops’ conferences.
2) Keeping intact the
freedom of the supreme
pontiff to exercise his own
universal power, the
Eastern-rite synods and the
bishops’ conferences will
manifest their own concern
regarding the more serious
problems of the entire church
by being disposed to offer the
collaborations to the Holy
Father, particularly in the
preparation of documents
concerning unity of faith and
of disciplines; on their part
the Eastern-rite synods and
(Continued on Page 7)
HEADLINE
HOPSCOTCH \ T
Raleigh Auxiliary
WASHINGTON (NC) — Msgr. George E. Lynch, 52, has been
named auxiliary bishop of Raleigh, N.C., by Pope Paul VI. Vicar
general of the Raleigh diocese for the past year, the new bishop
has been given the titular See of Satafi. His appointment was
announced here (Oct. 29) by Archbishop Luigi Raimondi,
Apostolic Delegate in the U.S.
'Nuts/ Says Cardinal
ROME (NC) — “Nuts,” said Leo Cardinal Suenens of
Malines-Brussels, Belgium. The cardinal was not commenting on
the second Synod of Bishops or its outcome, with which he
seems rather pleased. Instead, the Belgian cardinal was replying
to a report in an extreme right-wing Italian magazine, Borghese,
which blandly reported recently that the cardinal had been
married before he became a priest. The magazine has a
consistent policy of bitterness toward any progressive or liberal
movement or personality in the Church. The cardinal, who
entered the seminary at the age of 16, said of the report: “my
only answer is nuts! It’s sheer madness.”
Reds Quit
COCHIN, India (NC)-The resignation of the
Communist-dominated Kerala coalition government was greeted
by the Christian community in the state with “natural
happiness.” The pleasure of the Christians was reflected by the
vicar general of the archdiocese of Verapoly, Msgr. Cornelius
Elanjikkal, in a quick reaction to the resignation (Oct. 25) of
chief Minister Namboodirpad’s United Front government.
New Funeral Rites
VATICAN CITY (NC) - The Holy See’s Congregation for
Divine Worship has published the definitive edition of the new
ordo for “further improved” funeral rites, based on observations
throughout the world. The “ordo exsequiarum” will replace the
present rites on June 1, 1970, or earlier in some areas,
depending on the decisions of each bishops’ conference.