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SERVING 88 SOUTH - GEORGIA COUNTIES
The Southern Cross
DIOCESE OF SAVANNAH NEWSPAPER
Vol. 53 No. 21
Thursday, May 25,1972
Single Copy Price — 12 Cents
THREE YOUNG PARTICIPANTS IN UNIQUE MASS. Theresa Cantwell, Staci Ann Smallwood, and John Cantwell, in front of a
huge “hand made” cloth banner, look over the dialogue in a children’s mass, celebrated in St. Joseph Catholic Church in Macon.
(Photo by Oscar Huff)
600 GRADE-SCHOOLERS
Macon Youngsters Celebrate
‘Children’s Mass Of Grace’
BY GRACE CRAWFORD
It was a morning to remember.
Into the church they streamed, 600 of
them -- school children from the very tiny
to the very tall.
“Here we are all together,” they sang,
to the accompaniment of a young
guitarist.
Against the rose and blue and gold
Gothic beauty of St. Joseph Catholic
Church, the brightly colored banners, gay
pom-poms and yellow balloons made a
strange contrast.
But then, it was no ordinary occasion.
It was the children’s mass of grace and
joy, planned to celebrate a renewal of the
sacraments of Baptism, Penance and
Confirmation. It followed the conclusion
of a study in CCD classes of five of the
sacraments.
“It gave the children an opportunity to
worship God in their way,” said Father
William Coleman, St. Joseph pastor.
The unique mass was celebrated one
beautiful Sunday morning recently to a
standing-room only congregation.
It was received with mixed emotions.
From some of the more conservative
parishioners, there was a shaking of
heads, and some disapproving looks --
especially when the young participants
clapped their hands, waved their
pom-poms, and shouted “Hooray for
God,” several times during the mass.
But to others who welcome more
active participation from the young, the
mass was a delight.
It was written mostly by Jerry
Cantwell, a member of St. Joseph Parish
Council and a CCD teacher.
“Although,” Father Coleman said,
“the other CCD teachers and those at the
schools consulted with the children and
helped him with the ideas. Ultimately,
everyone had a part in it.”
Participants were students in the city’s
three Catholic parishes -- St. Joseph, St.
Peter Claver, and Holy Spirit.
Each of the sacramental ceremonies
contained a set of responses reserved for
the group of children participating in
each rite. The high school Confirmation
group and the folk group sat in the
Sanctuary.
A typical dialogue in the mass was this
production from the Penitential Rite:
FATHER COLEMAN: How can we be
sure that the Father loves us?
CHILDREN: He tells us this through
His Sacraments, even when we don’t act
like Jesus’ friends.
FATHER COLEMAN: How is that?
CHILDREN: Well, we know that God
the Father believes in us. He trusts us and
He loves us. And at Baptism, we promised
to be like His son, Jesus. But it doesn’t
always work out like that. Sometimes we
forget.
FATHER COLEMAN: What do you
mean? Tell me about it.
CHILDREN: You know, Jesus always
helped those in need, and He never
harmed anyone. But sometimes, we fail
to help those in need, or fail to praise
their good deeds, or we even hurt them.
And when we think about it now, it
makes us sad.
FATHER COLEMAN: If it makes you
sad, then it must mean you are sorry,
too?
CHILDREN: Yes, and we want to say
that we are sorry.
FATHER COLEMAN: Well, when God
sees your sorrow, He says, “I still love
you. I still believe in you.” He tells you
this through the Sacrament of Penance. It
(Continued on page 2)
HEADLINE
HOPSCOTCH
ff
Council Of Former Priests
PHOENIX (NC) - Bishop Edward A. McCarthy of Phoenix plans to set up a council
of former priests to explore ways that men who have left the active ministry can
continue to serve the Church. Plans for the council were announced at a recent
meeting and dinner here co-sponsored by the bishop and the diocesan priests’ senate.
About 40 former priests attended -- some of whom brought their wives. Bishop
McCarthy said the meeting “was in no way a reflection as some people thought, on my
high regard for the active priest,” adding that he was “personally pained” when any
priest “feels he must ask to renounce his commitment.”
Hope For ( Pieta’
VATICAN CITY (NC) -- Without minimizing the difficulties involved, officials here
predicted two days after the hammer mutiliation of Michelangelo’s Pieta that the
inimitable sculpture would eventually look the same as before. Work started at once. It
could take three years to complete, they said. Scaffolding was erected May 23 barring
access and blocking the view, after two days in which thousands of visitors came to see
the scarred statue. The greatest skill will be needed for the madonna’s left eye, which
was struck a glancing blow that shattered the eyelid and scraped the eye itself.
Francesco Messina, a well known Iralian sculptor, was quoted in L’Osservatore
Romano as suggesting tha a small piece of marble be taken from the statue’s base and
inserted into the damaged eye after rounding and shaping it.
NEW NORMS CALLED ‘INTOLERABLE’
Rules For Selection
Of Bishops Blasted
(NC News Service)
Some of America’s most eminent canon law scholars, along with the National Federation of Priests’ Councils,
urge clear rejection of new Vatican rules on selecting bishops. They regard the latest norms as retrogressive and
based on an outdated concept of the Church.
In Washington, a canon law colloquium at the Catholic University of American said the document “must be
rejected by the Church for the good of the churches (nationally) and the progress of the ecumenical movement.”
In Chicago, the NFPC described the new norms as “intolerable in a day when the cry for self-determination is
loud and clear everywhere.” Rome’s decision has perpetuated “a form of nonarchical absolutism,” the NFPC
said.
DADDY IS A DEACON: Bishop Edward A. McCarthy of Phoenix talks with ten
month old Daniel Phelan as Mrs. Phelan holds the child. Daniel’s father, Tom Phelan,
at right will be one of ten men ordained permanent deacons May 29 in Sts. Simon and
Jude Cathedral, Phoenix. Mr. Phelan is shown in his sub-deacon vestments holding the
baby’s bottle. NC Photo
IN SA V. DIOCESE
Communications
Day Observance
The new set of norms for the selection
of bishops was made public May 12 by
the Vatican. The norms broaden
somewhat the basis of who may be asked
to contribute suggestions and evaluations.
They do not incorporate proposals for a
more democratic selection of bishops,
such as those advocated by the Canon
Law Society of America (CLSA) last fall.
Both the NFPC and the canonists’
gathering urged the American bishops to
press for implementation of the CLSA
olan instead.
The new rules, which include f. me
hierarchical procedures alrea »y n '
few countries including the United States
and Canada, allow for priests and laymen
of a diocese to be consulted about
qualified “bishop material” for future
episcopal nomination.
Consultation cannot be done
collectively, and the thoughts of
non-bishops are to be considered only
suggestions and ideas rather than lists of
nominations. The rules reaffirm the
Pope’s absolute power to decide all
nominations.
The new norms - contained in 15
articles totaling about 2,000 words -
went into effect May 21. They had been
drafted over a period of six years with the
help of the national conferences of
bishops around the world.
Criticsim of the new norms by the
canon law colloquium was included in
five paragraphs of a 25-page report
entitled “Canonical Reflections on
Priestly Life and Ministry.” Among the
17 major participants who drafted the
critical report were several staff members
of NCCB committees: Father Colin A.
MacDonald, temporary committee on
Priestly Life and Ministry; Father William
Philbin, bishops’ committee on the
permanent diaconate; and Father
Frederick McManus, bishops’ committee
on the liturgy.
The canonical report was described in
its introduction as “a summary of the
reflections of the group.” In all, it treated
10 specific topics related to priestly life
and ministry.
“The participants agreed that much of
the legislation valid at present springs
from a somewhat dated conception of the
Church,” the introduction said. “The
future law of the Church must reflect the
riches of the theological vision given to us
by Vatican II and subsequent
developments.”
The NFPC statement referred to the
latest Vatican rules as a “retrogression
from Vatican II,” charging that Rome
made no room for corporate consultation
from priests and the laity.
The CLSA plan which both groups
favor would set up a nominating
committee in each diocese involving laity,
nuns, priests and brothers of religious
orders, and diocesan clergy. They would
make actual nominations, passing lists
from parish and diocesan councils and
senates to the local bishop, the episcopal
province and on up to the national
bishops’ conference.
Additions, deletions and other changes
could be made at each step along the
way. The final list of nominees would be
sent to Rome, as a way of assisting the
Pope in choosing a bishop but leaving the
final decision up to him. The CLSA plan
does not mention the apostolic delegate
or nuncio in any way as having a hand in
the process.
Sunday, May 28, has been designated
by Bishop Gerard L. Frey for the
Savannah Diocese’s observance of World
Communications Day.
In a communication sent to all priests
of the diocese, the bishop suggested
various Old and New Testament
Liturgical readings and responsorial
psalms in keeping with the theme of
this year’s observance, “The Media of
Social Communications at the Service of
Truth.”
A set of four “Prayers of the Faithful”
has also been recommended for use at
all Masses next Sunday.
According to Bishop John L. May of
Mobile, Chairman of the Communications
Committee of the United States Catholic
Conference (USCC), the Pontifical
Commission for Social Communications
stressed three main points from the
Pastoral Instruction “Communio et
Progressio” in setting the theme for this
year:
-The public’s right to objective
information from the news media;
-The obligation of the media to
provide balance and fairness in news
commentary;
-The right and duty of the Church to
relate to the media of social
communications in a positive way “not
simply as useful tools” but rather to see
communications as “central to the life of
modern man and central to the mission of
the church.”
Said the Pontifical Commission:
“The church has the prophetic mission
of announcing the Good News. It has the
duty to give the message of salvation and
truth in a spirit of service. Hence, its
commitment to use the means of social
communication to reach masses of
men . . .
“ . . .Together with factual
information, the Catholic press must, as
His Holiness, Pope Paul VI pointed out,
also look at events from the Christian
standpoint.”
INSIDE STORY
K. Of C. Meet
Pg. 2
Comment
Pg. 4
'Know Your Faith*
Pg. 5
D.C.C.W. Notes
Pg. 8