Newspaper Page Text
PADRES
Group Expects Positive
Reaction From Bishops
TOURING ACTORS from the Catholic University’s Speech and Drama Department, who have
entertained troops overseas every year since 1952, were received at the White House (Feb. 17) by
President Nixon, seen talking with C.U. President Dr. Clarence Walton and Father Gilbert Hartke,
O.P., head of the Speech and Drama Department. (NC Photo)
S I
Proposed Church Merger
Deepens Interfaith Ties
BY E. B. DUARTE
SAN ANTONIO (NC) -
Officers of PADRES,
fledgling organization of
Mexican-American priests, are
optimistic that the National
Conference of Catholic
Bishops will respond
favorably to a list of,
recommendations aimed at
improving the plight of the
Spanish-speaking.
Moreover, Father Ralph
Ruiz, national chairman of
PADRES (Priests Associated
for Religious, Educational
and Social Rights), said he
believes the U.S. bishops will
recognize what he calls the
need of the Mexican-Ameri
can priests to recognize what
he calls the need of the
Mexican-American priests to
assert their self-identity.
That recognition is vital,
Father Ruiz said, because it
will enable Mexican-American
priests to help the
Spanish-speaking advance in
the Church and society,
following the principle of
self-determination.
Father Ruiz’ statements
were echoed by two other
officials of the priests’
organization-*Father
Edrrundo Rodriguez, S.J.,
first national vice chairman,
and Henry Casso, media
information officer. All are
from San Antonio.
The PADRES’ officials,
citing government statistics,
assert that not enough has
been done to assist the
Mexican-American, who they
said is generally a Catholic,
poor, uneducated and
powerless. They maintain the
Church should be in the
forefront, pushing for
reforms to assist the
Spanish-speaking whom they
claim make up the largest
ethnic minority (25%) in the
U.S. Church.
At its first national
convention, held earlier in
February in Tucson, Ariz.,
PADRES adopted some 40
resolutions covering a wide
range of topics. They called
for the appointment of
bishops from the ranks of the
Mexican-American clergy, a
relaxation of regulations to
permit the selection of
permanent deacons from the
Mexican-American poor and
the funding of specialized
teams of priests to work in
the Spanish-speaking
communities.
On social issues, PADRES
went on record strongly
supporting the farm workers’
right to bargain collectively,
provided they are exempted
from certain provisions of the
Taft-Hartley Act. The priests
also backed the pleas of
Mexican-American youths
asking that the educational
system be reformed to
provide them with equal
opportunities, and the
demands of the poor in the
“barrios” (ghettos)
petitioning for better
housing, health care and
government services.
Father Ruiz said the
recommendations have been
forwarded to a special liaison
committee of bishops
representing the NCCB.
Members of the
committee, named by the
U.S. bishops at the request of
the priests’ organization,
include Archbishop Francis J.
Furey of San Antonio,
Archbishop Timothy
Manning of Los Angeles,
Bishop Humberto Medeiros
of Brownsville, Tex., and
Bishop Francis J. Green of
Tucson.
The proposals, Father Ruiz
added, are expected to be
considered at the NCCB’s
next meeting, scheduled in
April in San Francisco.
Father Ruiz added:
“I think the bishops will
act positively, not only on
the solid information about
the problems, but to the
proposed solutions for those
problems. I think the bishops
are very much concerned
about the poor, especially the
Mexican-American poor, in
our country.”
PADRES, the priest
stressed, is anxidus to
cooperate with the bishops in
implementing programs that
would alleviate those
problems.
“One of the primary aims
of the Church,” he said, “is
to care for our own neighbor
and accept him as a
brother-not only in words
but in action.”
Of major importance to
PADRES, Father Ruiz said, is
the establishment of
specialized teams of priests
working in the barrios.
The resolution calls for
teams of priests with
specialized skills, and from
different orders and dioceses,
to work along with lay and
Religious professionals,
placing themselves at the
service of the parishes at the
bottom of the income ladder
to help them set up programs
relevant to the needs of
Mexican-American Catholics.
PADRES is asking the
bishops to fund such a
project, but so far, no specific
amount has been mentioned.
“IF PADRES is to go
anywhere as a real service
organization,” Father Ruiz
said, “this project must be
implemented.”
The priest noted that a
positive response from the
bishops would produce an
equally favorable reaction in
the Mexican-American
communities.
“The Mexican-American
and his religion, for the most
part, have been one,” the
priest said. “When he is able
to see the whole body of
bishops concentrating their
efforts to help him, there is
no doubt that it will give the
Church credibility among the
so many Mexican-American
flocks who have been
scattered due to lack of
attention.”
But if implementation of
the resolutions is of primary
concern to PADRES, so is the
desire to attain self-identity.
Fathers Ruiz, Rodriguez
and Casso said it was that
sentiment that led 36
Mexican-American priests
present at the Tucson
convention to walkout and
elect officers from their own
ranks.
The walkout, Father
Rodriguez said, “was a
dramatic one, but clearly
necessary to insure survival of
PADRES as a voice of the
Mexican-American priests in
the country.”
Father Casso said the
action was taken after the
other 150 convention
participants-including Anglo
priests who work among the
Spanish-speaking, Sisters and
laymen-clashed with the
Mexican-American priests
over whether to extend full
membership with voting
rights to all persons attending
the session.
That proposal, he said, was
advanced by participants who
hoped to expand the purpose
of the organization, making it
part of the emerging, militant
Mexican-American movement
known as “La Raza” (the
Race). That movement, he
said, is not tied to the
churches.
But the proposal, Father
Rodriguez added, was
rejected by the Mexican-
American priests because he
said it went against the
prupose of the organization
established when the group
was formed last October in
San Antonio.
Explaining, he said:
The clear intention of
PADRES was to pretend to
represent the entire Chicano
Catholic community before
the bishops, but simply to
add a distinctly identifiable
voice in support of the
demands of the Chicano laity.
PADRES did not wish to
speak for the laity, but to
speak with them.”
Father Rodriguez said it
was the feeling of the
Mexican-American priests
that “an autonomous voice
should be heard, a voice that
could be identified as
different, articulating a
particular viewpoint--that of
the Mexican-American who
lives inside the clerical
structure of the American
Church.”
“When the Chicano priests
walked out as a group,” he
added, “they did so
convinced that Chicanos
should be able to determine
precisely what they should do
and say without their
decision being lost in the
crowd. Self-identity and
self-determination were the
real issues.”
Asked how this will effect
PADRES’ relationship with
the laity, Father Casso said
the priests’ traditional role as
a leader in the barrios is
changing.
“The people no longer
want us to speak for them,
but to be with them,” he
said. “The priests’ role, as I
see it, will be one of witness,
encouragement, spiritual
guidance and support.”
BY E. B. DUARTE
WASHINGTON (NC) -
Establishment of the Church
of Christ Uniting, which
would join a third of
America’s Protestants into a
single church, is looked upon
favorably by Catholic
ecumenical leaders.
They view the move as a
means of simplifying dialogue
and deepening relationships
among all churches.
These sentiments came
from Msgr. Bernard Law,
director, and Father John
Hotchkin, associate director
of the National Conference of
Catholic Bishops’ Committee
on Interreligious and
Ecumenical Affairs. Both
have been observers at
previous sessions of the
Consultation on Church
Union (COCU) which
released details of the merger
plan in a 170-page document
(Feb. 15).
Nine major Protestant
denominations, representing
25 million members, will vote
on the unity plan at the
consultation’s annual meeting
March 9 to 13 in St. Louis. If
approved, the new union is
not expected to become a
reality until 1980.
Commenting on the impact
the merged church would
have on ecumenical ties with
the Catholic Church, Msgr.
Law said:
“For one thing, dialogue
would be simplified because
some of the issues under
consideration by Catholics
and the nine Protestant
churches could be resolved
collectively by the COCU
churches.”
Instead of talking with
separate denominations over
certain issues, if the merger is
ratified, Msgr. Law said
Catholics could look forward
to discussing points of
common concern with one
church body.
Msgr. Law said the
presence of Catholic
observers, including Jan
Cardinal Willebrands, head of
the Vatican Secretariat for
Promoting Christian Unity, at
previous COCU meetings
demonstrates the Church’s
interest in the consultation’s
deliberations.
“Catholics,” he said, “need
to watch COCU with great
interest and give the effort
their prayers.”
If the draft plan is
approved, Father Hotchkin
anticipates there will be “a
considerable effort ,on the
part of the Church of Christ
Uniting to be fully engaged in
spiritual ecumenism with the
Catholic Church.”
The proposed church, he
added, “does not see itself as
the final goal in the
ecumenical movement--and
this is the kind of thinking
that leads to a deepening of
relationships with other
churches.”
The Rev. Paul A. Crow Jr.,
COCU general secretary, in
Princeton, N.J., told NC
News Service he sees the
proposed new church
“carrying forth, even
accentuating the ecumenical
spirit. We see it involving a
warm relationship with the
Catholic Church as well as
other Christian churches.”
COCU, he said, does not
consider the draft plan “as
the end of the road to
ecumenism-but sort of the
first step.”
Developed during the past
20 months by a commission
of pastors, laymen,
theologians and officials of
the nine participating bodies,
the COCU document leaves
the door open for the
inclusion of other Christian
churches.
If approved at the St.
Louis meeting, the plan will
be sent to individual
denominations for their
consideration. It is
anticipated that the original
text will be amended
following a period of study,
and consequently, no specific
timetable has been set for the
final ratification. However,
COCU leaders expect the
process toward a conclusive
decision will begin in the
mid-70s and be completed by
1980.
Denominations involved in
the COCU plan are the
African Episcopal and
African Methodist Episcopal
Zion Churches, Christian
Church (Disciples of Christ),
Christian Methodist Episcopal
Church, Episcopal Church,
Presbyterian Church in the
United States (Southern),
United Church of Christ,
United Methodist Church and
United Presbyterian Church
in the USA.
Essentially, the new church
would embrace elements
from the traditions and
governmental structures of
each of the participating
denominations. At the
national level there would be
a presiding bishop, an
assembly with a moderator
and a general council.
The draft points out that
the merger “is intended to
provide greater flexibility of
program, more effective
concentration of resources
and more specialized use of
existing facilities than now
exists in any of the nine.”
Underlying the draft is a
strong theme of Christian
unity, although the proposed
church odes not claim to be
“the whole church.”
Its aim, as stated in the
document, “is not the
mechanical merger of
denominations but the
formation through union of a
dynamic united and uniting
Church” and “the ultimate
goal of unity of the whole
church.”
The draft laments the
presence of barriers, some
identified as “hostile” to
Christian unity, and
emphasizes: “Oneness in the
church is required for the
credibility and effectiveness
of Christ’s mission in the
world.”
PAGE 3 — February 26, 1970
THE BLOOD IS UP’
Trial In Belfast
Sparks Memories
The following is the first of a
two-part series on Northern
Ireland, where conflict has again
flared up.
Last August Northern Ireland
was hit by riots that left several
dead and hundreds of homes,
shops and factories burned out.
The near civil war followed 10
months of intermittent strife
resulting from the Catholic
minority’s contention that the
predominantly Protestant
government of Northern Ireland
has systematically discriminated
against Catholics, particularly in
housing, employment and voting.
The writer is a member of NC
News Service's Rome bureau who
was sent to Northern Ireland to
cover the current strife.
BY FATHER LEO
E. McFADDEN
LONDONDERRY,
Northern Ireland (NC) —
“Derry is the flashpoint,” a
politician said, “the symbol
of all that is ugly for our
fathers and grandfathers.”
A priest in Belfast put it
more bluntly: “The blood is
up.”
Meanwhile, in a land that is
a tinderbox, the feud of 16
months smolders on.
innocent. “The next morning,
however, I had the same story
from too many older and
middle-aged people in their
shattered homes not to
believe it. It is somethin?
they will never forget.”
“They have to forget it,”
sternly insisted Sir Arthur
Young, England’s No. 1
policeman who took over the
direction of the RUC four
months ago.” What kind of
future can any country have
if they sulk on the past? What
I ask (for) is a land where I
receive less religious behavior
and more Christian
behavior.”
Sir Arthur denied bringing
any reforms for the RUC
from London, but changes
have taken place. A Catholic
now heads the force in the
Derry district. The B-Specials
are being phased out and a
new auxiliary, similar to The
U.S. National Guard, is being
recruited “from all religious
factions.” Discreetly kept in
the background while the
British army got control of
the streets, a disarmed RUC is
again making its appearance
for patrol duty, either singly
or by riding with a soldier in
an army jeep.
Currently, Catholics and
Protestants share a common
edginess. A Belfast tribunal is
holding hearings on the
August uprisings and the
daily press revivifies painful
memories for both sides,
especially the complaints
against the police.
One group of boys
admitted that their
hooliganism was “just to have
a go at the cops,” to irritate
the police, the Royal Ulster
Constabulary (RUC), and
their para-military auxiliary,
the so-called B-Specials, the
Ulster Special Constabulary.
Jobs and housing remain
the galling issues for the vast
majority of people, regardless
of religion. Still, that tiny
element of extremists of
either stripe could turn a
remembered police atrocity
into the petrol bomb that
would set the country ablaze.
Catholic residents of
Bogside in Derry (the name
many Catholics use for
Londonderry) and Falls Road
in Belfast speak of the ills of
August.
“I was a pacifist,” confided
a married teacher in a Bogside
pub. “But when I saw them
coming into homes to beat up
old ladies, I went to the
barricades and I will go
again.”
From the courtroom in
Belfast come stories of a
gang-clubbing by the police
on a resident of Falls Road,
while others charge police
with indifference as
“protestant stones” showered
“Catholic homes.”
Father Anthony Mulvey of
Bogside, who tabbed the
August riots “the ugliest
three days of my life,”
admitted he did not see the
police “go berserk” and enter
private homes to club the
John Hume, Catholic
member of Northern Ireland’s
parliament from
Londonderry, indicated one
of the enigmas of the
uprisings: “TTie British army
doubtless saved the people of
Derry from a massacre by
their arrival. For the first
time in memory, the Irish
Catholics welcomed the
British troops. The police
withdrew and the people of
Bogside, sensing a victory
over the police, dropped their
stones and went home.”
Another enigma is that an
Englishman, Sir Arthur, must
now ease the army out of the
country and get his renovated
force back in control of the
streets, the place where the
Irish fight best. “I answer to
no man for my decisions,” he
emphasized in his Belfast
headquarters, “but I am
prepared to answer to the
people why I make them.”
At the end of January, he
dropped disciplinary charges
against 16 RUC members and
made public the cogent
reasons why he did so. He
argued that many policemen
had remained on shift for 40
hours, “suffering under stress,
provocation and danger
grossly in excess” of duty. He
further reasoned that only
one witness in 157 could
positively identify a
policeman and since an
amnesty had been granted to
all uprisers, it would be unfair
to prosecute policemen.
It is almost folly to believe
that extremists of either
camp will let the Irish forget
past differences. But the
policeman from London is
counting heavily on the
moderates to speak out. “I
call on the overwhelming
numbers of citizens of silence
in this land to help my men
establish peace,” he said.
“Before we have anything
else, we must have that.”
Black, 17, In Trouble — A West Side Story
(The author is a Chicago priest.
For obvious reasons, he writes
under a pseudonym-but his story
is as real as apple pie.)
BY FATHER
STEPHEN VINCENT
CHICAGO (NC) - He was
thoughtful, eager for
conversation-this 17-year-old
lad who sat with me in the
rectory munching hamburgers
and french fries.
He had just finished a
90-day stretch in the House
of Correction for auto theft.
He talked slowly, freely of
his life in Chicago’s west side
ghetto. A familiar
tale-alcoholic father who has
abandoned the family;
mother with six kids now on
welfare, early life in a
rat-infested basement
apartment: lots of hot cereal
but not much more to eat;
tavern-hopping with his
father when he was 8; family
quarrels, beatings, threats-it
all came out.
“So where do we go from
here?” I asked. There was
more to the question-two
years of probation ahead and
could the lad survive in this
same environment without
being picked up by the
police? One more time and a
judge would throw the book
at him. Not much a priest, or
a lawyer could do for him, if
it happened.
Which way out of the
ghetto? A job? Continue to
stay at home and help
support the family? Go back
and finish high school? Into
the service to get out of the
neighborhood for a few
years? Leave the city to get
away from the ghetto?
We talked it all
out-studied every possibility.
“You’re going to take me
to get my driver’s license next
month on my 18th birthday,
aren’t you?” he pleaded. It is
a subject we have discussed
over and over.
“I guess so,” I replied,
reluctant with fear a car
might get him back into more
trouble, perhaps not of his
own doing.
“You know all your
so-called friends will come
crawling out of the walls once
you get a car, don’t you?” I
queried. Then, who knows
what can happen.
“It’s go here and go there,
do this and do that. You
know what a carload of
teenagers can lead to? The
police stop you. Perhaps a
can of beer or a bottle of
wine is found, or some dope.
Perhaps not. But can you
afford the risk while you are
on probation?”
Maybe I was over-sensitive,
but earlier in the evening, I
was visited by another
17-year-old. He came by to
borrow money to pay his
rent. He was beat, cold,
depressed.
“How can I get out of this
rat-hole of a ghetto?” he
asked “Where can I go?”
And his story began to
unfold. Five times in recent
days he was picked up by the
police on suspicion, hauled
down to the police station,
treated roughly, accursed of
all kinds of things.
The endless hours getting
his mother to bring the title
to his car down to prove
ownership; checking with his
employers on the credibility
of his stories, producing
receipts for everything in his
car to show he bought, not
stole.
Police harassment-they’re
the words he used. Finally,
being cleared and turned out
in the streets again. Treated
like a dog, he said.
“Maybe I ought to go back
down South where I came
from. At least the police treat
you with respect. They are
courteous. They apologize.
They give you an escort. Not
here in Chicago,” he said.
Well, all these things were
running through my mind.
This was a good lad. He
attended our grammar school,
comes from a good religious
family, isn’t a trouble-maker.
He never stole anything. He
never took dope. Just a little
mixed up now and trying to
get all the pieces together.
So now the lad eating
hamburgers wants to buy a
car. Can I help it if I’m a little
leery? I tell him all this. It
makes no difference. He
knows what ghetto life is like.
“I guess you wonder why
getting a car means so much
to me,” he said. “Well, it’s
like this. I never owned
anything in my life. Oh, I had
a bike once when I was little,
but somebody stole it. But I
have never had anything I
could call my own.
“I want this car. It will be
mine. I can drive it to work.
If I move out of the ghetto, I
can always get back to see my
mamma and the kids.
“Look, I’m the oldest boy.
I’m the head of the family. I
want to do something for
mamma and the kids. I got to
take care of them, give them
a better life, see they don’t
get in trouble. I want to buy
them a house, so they have
room to live an get out of this
ghetto.
“But I want this car bad.”
All this keeps running
through my mind-the lad
fresh from 90 days for auto
theft, with cars on the brain.
And it was a stupid thing
to steal a car. It happened last
spring. I got the boy a job
and his first night home from
work he steals a car from a
parking lot. Two nights later
he is picked up with the car.
We fought the case hard
through the summer in courts
with continuation after
continuation. Everybody
seemed out for blood. The
woman owner of the car, the
police, the state’s attorney,
even the judge. We fought
hard, but 90 days was the
sentence, plus two year’s
probation.
When I tired to explain the
lad’s life in the ghetto, the
judge said he didn’t want a
lecture on sociology. Another
judge asked why priests,
rabbis, and ministers are
always on the side of the
accused, never on the side of
the victim.
“Wasn’t that where Christ
always stood?” I asked.
The woman owner cried
because the lad got only 90
days. She told me she was a
good Catholic, used to belong
to my parish, before the
blacks moved in; couldn’t
understand why a priest was
defending a black youth.
I asked her if she was a
Christian, then walked away
with a sick feeling in my
stomach.
It was just one of those
kind of evenings in a Catholic
rectory in the ghetto.