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Vol. 52 No. 35 Thursday, October 14, 1971 Single Copy Price - 12 Cents
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Newsweek magazine in its issue
of Oct. 4 produced a cover story
entitled “A Survey of U.S.
Catholics: Has the Church Lost
Its Soul?”
According to the article, “The
‘soul’ of the U.S. Church - an
integral Catholic subculture with
its own distinctive blend of rituals
and rules, mystery and manners -
has vanished. ’’
In response to the Newsweek
article, the editors of the
CLARION HERALD, weekly
newspaper of the Archdiocese of
New Orleans asked four New
Orleans leaders to prepare a
symposium of opinions reacting
to the article. Two of them are
printed below with permission of
The New Orleans Catholic paper.
The authors are Father John H.
Miller, C.S.C., director of the
House of Studies for the Holy
Cross Fathers in New Orleans, and
Elliot C. Willard, principal of St.
Augustine’s high school in New
Orleans.
In Process
Of Growth
By Elliot C. Willard
Contrary to popular belief,
the Roman Catholic Church
is America is not undergoing
a tumultuous revolution but
is engaged in a growth
process, an evolution and,
therefore, finds herself
standing on a shaky, yet
predictably transitional
scaffold. Our Catholic Church
is no longer a building filled
with ancient rituals and
traditions mysteriously aloof
from those who “participate”
in the ceremony, but is
gradually developing into
what one might call “the
Catholic Community,” an
association which can
stimulate sound individualism
by stressing sound ideology
and philosophy. And are
these not the key issues,
ideology and philosophy, the
way in which a man thinks,
the way in which he
interprets the message of the
Church and then applies it to
his life!
Because interpretation of
the Church’s message has
been loosely construed, many
are worried; but there is
nothing to fear. A liberal
interpretation by people who
live within a liberal
atmosphere is only natural.
To be otherwise would be
paradoxical. For many, their
theology of worship has been
intertwined with their
theology of work and of play,
and produced a theology of
life; and this is good. Many
have disregarded the limiting
structural aspects of the
Church, and viewed it in
terms of decentralization
with human touches; and this
is good.
Fortunately, the Roman
Catholic Church in America
has not lost her soul. Her
basic principles of
Christianity, of love of one’s
self, one’s God and one’s
brother, shall remain through
the eons of time. But many
of her followers are merely
advancing one stop forward,
and the selfassured footstep
of millions is mistakenly
discerned to be the
forbidding sound of
impending chaos. No, the
Church has not lost her soul.
Her people are merely in
ouest of their soul. It is their
Incredible
By Reverend
John H. Miller, C.S.C.
“Has the Church Lost Its
Soul?” is an incredible
potpourri of fact, slanted
political analysis, simplistic
theology, generalizing
propaganda, and monstrous
attempt to make religion
more personal, more
meaningful which is causing a
change; and in this particular
instance change is good, and
shall be rewarding.
Potpourri
innuendo. Far from being
factual reporting, it is
editorializing in its worst
form.
The very way the article
begins set the stage — sets the
mind of the reader “against”!
Catholics “belonged not to
public-school districts, but to
parishes named after foreigh
saints.” Oh, Oh, that divisive,
unAmerican group pledged to
an alien potentate! We are
asked to believe that
Catholics prayed in Latin “as
if these ancient syllables were
the language Jesus himself
spoke.” Where did the writer
get that gem? Catholics’
mouths were “pinched dry
from fasting” in preparation
for receiving Communion. I
believe our hearts are suppose
to bleed at that.
While we are asked to
believe, by innuendo, that
(Continued on page 7)
WATCH DOG GROUP
Operation Synod
Does About F ace
ROME (NC) — Operation
Synod has abandoned its
counter-synod tactics and has
switched to encouraging
dialogue with the
bishop-delegates at the
worldwide meeting here,
according to one of the
group’s spokesmen.
mere is now an anxiety
to be reasonable and to act
with restraint, and to insist
that we are not attempting to
create a counter structure,”
said American writer-lecturer
Gary MacEoin as he described
the group’s activities.
MacEoin is a member of
Operation Synod’s loosely set
up board. He is also here
representing the U.S.
National Association of
Laymen (NAL).
Operation Synod is an
alliance of European and
American organizations. It is
one of several pressure groups
lobbying here at the world
Synod of Bishops.
The group’s staff, including
15 to 20 priests and lay men
and women, has been
evaluating synod sessions and
providing synod participants
with position papers.
“These papers hope to
create a sufficient
understanding of issues being
discussed by the bishops to
permit critical reflection by
the faithful,” said MacEoin.
Operation Synod leaders
have said their group’s
purpose is to serve as a
watchdog committee on the
synod deliberations, f ) boot's
that the bishop-delegates will
fully air problems of the
priesthood and world justice,
and accurately reflect the
opinions of their people.
MacEoin said the group is
trying “to establish views of
the faithful so they can offer
their contribution to a
solution” to the problems
facing the synod delegates.
Operation Synod grew out
of earlier efforts by priests
and laymen to respond to
past meetings of the bishops,
MacEoin said.
But it has now “abandoned
the counter-synod tactics of
the past and there is now an
anxiety to be reasonable and
to act with restraint,
recognizing the dignity of the
person to whom one is
speaking as a person, and to
encourage real dialogue and
to insist that we are not
attempting to create a
counter-structure.”
HEADLINE
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Savannah Man Ordained Deacon
A former Savannah man, Mr. John D. Hill, was one of the
nineteen men ordained permanent deacons in Washington, D.C.
by Cardinal Patrick O’Boyle last month. The Rev. Mr. Hill is
married and the father of an eight year-old son. He is the
brother of Mrs. Ruth Mary Perry of St. Benedict’s parish,
Savannah. A member of Our Lady of Mercy parish, Kenilworth,
Maryland, the new deacon will carry out the duties of deacon in
that parish.
Canonists On Bishop Selection
ATLANTA (NC) — Grassroots Catholics - including priests,
nuns and lay people - should have a voice in nominating
bishops, according to a report presented here at the annual
meeting of the Canon Law Society of America (CLSA). The
report was one of several being considered by 300 canon law
specialists gathered Oct. 11-15 to probe the practical reality of
what it means to govern the Church. According to a study
prepared by a special CLSA committee, diocesan priests’ senates
would appoint nominating committees which every three years
would survey people in the diocese. The people would be asked
what qualifications they think their bishop should have, and
whom they think should be nominated for the episcopacy.
Drafting the plan was a group of theologians and management
experts under the direction of Father Raymond Goedert of
Chicago.
Rules For Teen Nuptials
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (NC) — Young couples planning a
Catholic marriage must be extensively interviewed, under new
rules issued to parish priests by Bishop Joseph L. Hogan of
Rochester. The rules apply to couples in which the male is
under 21 and the female is under 18.
THE PRIESTHOOD is a synod topic. It is also a vocation which gives men a chance to administer
bodily and spiritually to the needs of “neighbors” around the world through mission work. Above,
top, Bishop Adolp Noser, S.V.D. of Belleville, Ill., celebrates Mass in Ghana, while in lower
picture, Father Ted van Eijndhoven, S.V.D., administers to a dying African. (NC PHOTO)
6 Thrust 9 Gets Push
THRUST - the five-part
adult education series
developed by the Department
of Christian Formation - is
finding a wider audience in
Wisconsin. Father Richard
Tulko, O.F.M., editor of the
FRANCISCAN MESSAGE,
has asked for permission to
publish the five articles in
forthcoming issues of his
monthly magazine.
In a letter of
congratulations to the D.C.F.
recently, Father Tulko said:
“The Diocese of Savannah is
again blessed with another
project from its Department
of Christian Formation. I
received a sample package of
“Thrust” - an adult program
for the ’70’s, and I think it is
excellent. I would like very
much to reprint each of the
five topics that are in the first
batch.”
Father William Coleman
wrote three of the articles,
the first one on God, the
second on Prayer, and the
fifth, on Education. The third
and fourth, on Authority and
Wealth, were written by Mr.
and Mrs. Hugh Brown.
The FRANCISCAN
MESSAGE is published in
Pulaski, Wisconsin.
IN SECOND WEEK
Priesthood Debate
Dominates Synod
By Patrick Riley
VATICAN CITY (NC) -
Celibacy and the ordination
of married men continued to
dominate speeches on the
practical side of the
priesthood as the Synod of
Bishops went into its second
full week Oct. 11.
The U.S. hierarchy told the
assembly it wanted the
present celibate discipline to
stand, with Cardinal John
Krol of Philadelphia
addressing the 210-member
synod as spokesman.
In the name of the
American bishops, Cardinal
Krol warned against “a hasty
resolution of the question”
and urged “a thorough study
of the feasibility of ordaining
mature (older) married men
to the priesthood.”
Optional celibacy, he
asserted, “seems not to differ
from the state of the
unmarried person who may
enter matrimony when he
chooses.”
“In fact celibacy is a
positive and permanent will
or promise not to marry that
is made for the sake of God’s
Kingdom,” he said.
Nearly all spoke about
celibacy. No one suggested
any change for priests of the
Latin rite. About half the 18
delegates who took the floor
spoke of the ordination of
married men in special
circumstances. Most favored
the idea.
One exception was
Cardinal Peter McKeefry of
Wellington, New Zealand.
The cardinal is firmly against
the ordination of married
men. Further, he asked that
the debate on celibacy be
stopped “once and for all.”
The New Zealand prelate
termed “specious” the
arguments for ordaining
married men, contending that
if the Christian community
did not already value
celibacy, the married priest
would labor with “little
profit” amid such a
mentality.
Typical of the arguments
against an optional celibacy
were the positions of Italian
cardinals Angelo Dell’ Acqua
and Antonio Poma, both of
whom said any change in
celibacy would be a step
backward into an inferior age.
Cardinal Paul Meouchi,
Maronite Patriarch of
Antioch, echoed the
sentiments of many speakers
in in asking for the ordination
of married men: “Let the
episcopal conferences be free
to admit married men to the
priesthood according to their
needs.”
Cardinal Leo Suenens of
Brussels added that bishops
“not only have the power but
the obligation of ordaining a
At a meeting last week
(Oct. 7) the Priests Senate of
the Savannah Diocese elected
Father Herbert J. Wellmeier,
pastor of Most Pure Heart of
Mary parish, Savannah,
Senate President.
Father Wellmeier succeeds
Father John Garvey, a
Glenmary priest formerly
stationed at Sacred Heart
parish, Waynesboro, and
recently transferred to
another Glenmary post in
Kentucky.
Prior to last week’s
number of priests
corresponding to the needs of
the People of God.”
Debate was to continue
until Thursday, when the
synod was to return to small
language groups for further
discussion.
Cardinal Krol cited the
(Continued on page 2)
meeting balloting, conducted
by mail, resulted in the
election of Father Robert J.
Teoli, pastor of St.
Matthew’s, Statesboro, to fill
Father Garvey’s post as
Senate representative from
the Statesboro Deanery.
The balloting also resulted
in the election of Father
Patrick Adams, O.F.M. to
continue the unexpired term
of Albany Deanery
representative, Father Frank
Patterson. Fr. Patterson has
been transferred to St. Joseph
parish, Augusta.
INSIDE STORY
Priest Who Returned .^9* 3
'Know Your Faith’ 5
Synod Day By Day ^9* ^
Readers Reply p 9* 7
Confraternity
Of The Laity
Next Sunday, October 17, is Confraternity of the
Laity Sunday. Members of all parishes in the
Savannah diocese are asked to remain at home on
Sunday afternoon to receive solicitors. Each wage
earner is asked to make a minimum contribution of
$30 toward the Confraternity drive, which is
conducted every year at this time in lieu of periodic
capital fund campaigns. The goal of this year’s drive is
$140,000 for the support of diocesan operations and
programs.
NEW PRESIDENT
Priests’ Senate
Holds Election