Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 2 — The Southern Cross. July 6,1972
WISTFUL YOUNGSTER (Fifth from right in front row) doesn’t seem at all impressed
by the fact that celebrant of this special Mass at recently concluded Bible School at
Blessed Sacrament in Savannah is Bishop Gerard L. Frey.
Bl. Sacrament Bible School
A two-week Bible school came to a
close at Blessed Sacrament parish,
Savannah, last week.
Students ranged from pre-schoolers
through sixth grade. In addition to
attending religion classes, students
received instruction in arts and crafts.
Liturgical readings and petitions for the
daily Mass through the two-week period
were selected and read by Bible school
participants.
Sister Mary Catherine Moore, O.S.F.,
brought visitors from the city’s Model
Cities area every day and Mrs. Betty
Flynn of Speedwell Methodist Church
brought her Bible School students to
spend the day. Mrs. Flynn is a second
grade teacher at Blessed Sacrament
School.
One of the highlights of the Bible
School' calendar was a special Mass
celebrated June 20th at which Bishop
Gerard L. Frey was the celebrant.
In other activities, students viewed the
Walt Disney film, “Nature’s Half Acre,”
the Maryknoll films, “Story of Juan
Mateo” and “The Golden Kimono.”
A rhythm band composed entirely of
pre-school youngsters performed at the
closing exercises at which 5th and 6th
graders produced an original play written
and directed by the students.
The Bible School staff was headed by
Mrs. Sara Lloyd, three Sisters of Mercy,
16 laywomen and 15 aides.
IN IRISH REPUBLIC
Protestants
BY DICK GROGAN
DUBLIN (NC) - The Protestant
minority in the Irish Republic watched
the three-year-guerrilla war in Northern
Ireland with growing alarm, and they
were quick to welcome the cease-fire
ordered June 26 by the militant
Provisional wing of the outlawed Irish
Republican Army (IRA).
The IRA’s so-called Official wing
ordered a cease-fire in May.
In the uneasy truce that should now
prevail, they and their co-religionists
north of the border hold the key to a
more permanent peace in Ireland.
But there is a vast and basic difference
in the positions of the Protestant
communities on each side of the border.
Protestants outnumber Catholics in
Northern Ireland by almost two to one,
but in the Republic they represent less
than 5 percent of a population that is
almost 95 percent Catholic.
In round figures, at the last census
count, the six countries of Northern
Ireland had almost 500,000 Catholics and
close to a million Protestants of various
denominations; the Irish Republic had
2.7 million Catholics and about 130,000
Protestants.
Protestant numbers in the Republic
have declined ever since the tie with
Britain was broken 50 years ago. British
forces and civilian personnel left at that
time, and the changeover from a British
civil administration to an Irish one
contributed to the departure of
Protestants.
Low marriage and fertility rates also
contributed. Protestants have an over-all
average of only one child per married
couple, while Catholics have two. And
the Church’s decree governing mixed
marriages, making it mandatory for the
non-Catholic partner to agree to have the
children brought up in the Catholic
religion, also helped diminish Protestant
numbers.
In their vulnerable minority position,
Protestants here fear and still resent,
probably above all else, that decree, for'
they believe it threatens, in the long term,
the extinction of their community.
Yet Protestants still play a vital part in
the political, social and business life of
the Republic, and there were few
Triduum At Carmel
Fr. Albert Tittiger, O.C.D., will conduct a triduum of Masses at the Savannah
Carmel in preparation for the feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel.
The triduum will be held at the Chapel at 8 p.m., July 13,14,15, and also on
the feast day, July 16.
All are invited and encouraged to attend.
4 Whitoker
Ferraro’s
Luncheonette
Breakfast - Lunch
Phone 232-9169
Savannah, Georgia
FLOWERS FOR ALL OCCASIONS
Richardson Florists Inc.
232-3158
1220 WHEATON SAVANNAH, GA.
• RN Living on Premises
• Semi-Private Rooms
• Special Diets
• Nurses On Duty
24 Hours A Day
Accommodations for 31 Patients
Planned Socials
TV in Every Room
Chorus and Church Service Weekly
Supervisor - Mrs. Tina Von Waldner. R.N.
Administrator - Charles Von Waldner
• Individual Care • Catholic Management
Regular Staff With Chief Of Staff
5609 Skidaway Rd. Phone 354-2752 Savannan
hop Easily at Stores and
ervice Establishments
displaying this Emblem.
The Citizens
And Southern
Banks
In Savannah
Corish & Company, Inc.
One insurance policy for auto & home -
Savings up to 30% - Call for Quote
206 East Bay Street Savannah 234-8868
YOUR SAVANNAH
REPRESENTATIVE
JULIAN HALLIGAN
INSURANCE
HALLIGAN BUILDING
PHONE 233-4792
‘‘AN OPEN DOOR TO
YESTERDAY”
OPEN DAILY EXCEPT SUN.
5 P.M. -1AM
20 JEFFERSON ST.
SAVANNAH
For Wedding
Invitations
The Acme Press
. Phone 232-6397
1201 Lincoln Street
REBUILT MOTORS
AUTOMATIC
TRANSMISSIONS
NO
Central Motors
GARAGE MACHINE
SHOP
410-510 W.31St.
236-5707 savannah
Ed Schroeder's
Music Studios
Instruction On
Soanish Guitar
Hawaiian Steel Guitar
Clarinet Drums Violin
String Bass Banjo Sax
Trumpet Trombone
Instruments For Sale
Trade Or Rent
REPAIRS & SERVICE
232-4747
18 W. LIBERTY
SAVANNAH, GA.
Beytogh
Construction Co.
RESIDENTIAL
REMODELING
LIGHT COMMERCIAL
1537 Montgomery Crossroads
EL 4-3556 - Savannah, Ga.
Philip Botastini
TAILORS — CLEANERS
407 - 12th ST. FA 2-5900
COLUMBUS
Savannah Glass
& Appliance Co.
Auto Glass
Full Line of Home
Appliances <&. Service Dept.
227 West Harris
I234-U618 Savannah, Ga.
> , Johnnie Ganem
> Steak Ranch {
> <
CHARCOAL BROILED STEAKS \
PRIME STEAKS 4
► DINNERS-LUNCHEON
► COCKTAILS
► DINNER MUSIC
f Gaston and Habersham <
\ AD 3 3032
Home of •
Norman Hilton Clothes
• Gant Shirts
Corbin Trousers
STolm $.
3Rourfee, 3nt.
10W. STATE ST.
SAVANNAH
ft
Have Few Complaints
complaints of discrimination down the
years.
One of the most prominent Protestants
here is Erskine Childers, deputy prime
minister of the Republic, and he said in a
recent interview: “As a Protestant I have,
naturally, received allegations of
discrimination from time to time. But the
number (was) so small that I have kept no
record of them. They might number 10
to 20 and I forget how many years ago I
received the last such complaint.”
Childers looks to considerable benefits
for both Protestant and Catholic
communities in Ireland as a whole, if the
country is ever reunited. “In my
opinion,” he said, “the Protestant
community will provide a yeast-like
ferment to Irish life that can only be
beneficial and I am assuming that
religious fanaticism and prejudice will
disappear. He said he believes that this
prejudice was fomented in the past by the
undemocratic relationship between
Protestants and Catholics in Northern
Ireland.
committee said: “Not merely has the
government (of the Republic) failed to
take positive action itself, but it has seen
to it that Dail Eireann (the Irish
Parliament) refused leave to introduce a
private member’s bill” to change the law
on contraceptives.
Even more sharply, the committee
said” “It is essential .. .to deny the claim
of the minister for foreign affairs .. .that
the Protestant minority is ‘satisfied.”
Protestants are not disgruntled* it
added, and they have striven to be good
citizens, but they are not wholly satisfied
with all aspects of life in the Republic.
Protestant obstetric consultants, in a
statement, said that all means of
contraception should be available on
prescription in the Republic and that
sterilization should be available “when it
is considered in the best interests of the
patient and her husband that it should be
done.”
Childers said that in an all-Ireland
Parliament, Northern Protestants might
expect to gain up to 50 seats out of a
total of 220.
Before the Northern crisis arose,
Protestants in the Republic were
generally content with their position and
rarely challenged the Irish constitution’s
stated recognition of the “special
position” of the Catholic Church “as the
Guardian of the Faith professed by the
great majority of the citizens.” The
constitution, after all, also guarantees
freedom of worship and prohibits
religious discrimination. But in recent
years many protestants became more
outspoken about matters they consider
discriminatory against their rights-such as
the absence of divorce legislation and the
law prohibiting the sale of contraceptives
in the Republic.
As the largest group of Protestants
here, the Church of Ireland, with 104,000
members, is the most vocal on these
matters. Its members are Anglicans-part
of the worldwide Anglican
Communion-and it has an episcopal
structure of authority.
The recent general synod of the
Church of Ireland heard some strong
comments on conditions both north and
south of the border.
If the bitter war in Northern Ireland
has done nothing else, it has at least
forced a new and strong breath of
ecumenism to emerge in the Republic in
the south, where change-partucularly in
Church matters-has always come slowly.
On family planning a special
But thery are different viewpoints
among the Protestant minority. More
than 100 Protestants, representing many
different professions and occupations,
signed a statement recently asserting that
Protestants in the Republic “have every
opportunity to play a full part in the
affairs of the community.”
“Protestants hold positions of
importance and trust at least in
proportion to their fraction of the
population,” they said. “Various sensitive
issues which find continued publicity (a
reference to divorce and contractption)
are for the most part far short of crucial,
are in practice far less than repressive, and
are in prospect adjustable by stages.”
With their own schools, and special
dances for Protestant teen-agers only, the
Church of Ireland community tries to
prevent the development it ultimately
fears-that it will be absorbed over the
generations by the Catholic majority and
will lose its identity.
The other Protestant denominations in
the Republic, mainly Presbyterians and
Methodists, share this fear.
But contacts have been made in recent
months with the Catholic bishops
concerning basic points of difference that
cause distrust and fear, and there are
hopes that talks to resolve these
differences may soon result.
In addition, there is at last a positive
move to amend the Irish constitution and
give it a more non-denominational
Christian nature.
McDonald Bishop—
(Continued from Page 1>
of the Holy Father as Hie will of Cod,
Himself. . .1 am grateful to God as He
continues to confound the strong of the
Nun At
Husband’s
F uneral
WASHINGTON (NC) - A carmelite
nun left her cloistered convent in
Baltimore to come here to the funeral of
her husband, a Jesuit Brother.
Brother Alfredo Oswald, a Jesuit for
40 years, died here June 22 following a
long illness. The 87-year-old Brother had
taught music, French and art at
Georgetown Prep here and was lovingly
known as Brother Ozzie.
The unusual story of Brother Ozzie
and Sister Beatrice began in 1931 when,
at the height of his career as a concert
pianist, Alfredo Oswald entered the Jesuit
order. At the same time his wife,
Beatrice, entered the convent in
Baltimore.
Their “call to serve God” was a
difficult thing to explain, Brother Oswald
once said. It was “made known” to them
at the same time in different parts of the
world while Alfredo was on tour, he said.
The couple had been married for 16
years.
“At first I could see my wife one time
a year. Maybe they were afraid we would
elope. We needed courage in the
beginning,” Brother Oswald said.
Eventually friends were allowed to
drive Brother Oswald to Baltimore several
times a month. There he would talk to his
wife, Sister Beatrice, through a small
double-grated window. Only at these
times was Sister Beatrice allowed to lift
the dark blue veil worn by the Carmelite
Sisters.
During more recent years, Sister
Beatrice or “Sister Ozzie” as she was
known to mutual friends, was permitted
to visit her husband in Washington. The
couple, still man and wife in the eyes of
the Church, celebrated their golden
wedding anniversary in 1963.
world by the choice or tne weak. To our
Holy Father, Pope Paul VI, I reaffirm my
loyalty, my love, and my devotion.
“ . . .As I look to the future, I offer
myself, all my talent, my energy, my life
to the honor and glory of God and to the
service of the good citizens of Arkansas.”
(The full text of bishop-elect McDonald’s
statement will be found on page 1.)
Savannah’s bishop, Gerard L. Frey,
who is out of the state, gave this
statement to THE SOUTHERN CROSS
by telephone: “As bishop of the diocese
of Savannah, I am very pleased that Pope
Paul VI has seen fit to honor one of
Savannah’s native sons by naming him
bishop of the diocese of Little Rock.
Having worked with Monsignor
McDonald since my coming to Savannah
in 1967, I know that he is very well
qualified to fill the high office for which
he was chosen.
“Since his ordination in 1948,
Monsignor McDonald has faithfully
served the diocese of Savannah in many
capacities and has given ample evidence
of his pastoral zeal and innate ability.
“I join his many friends among the
clergy and laity of all Faiths and wish him
well in his new field of service to the
People of God.”
In a telegram to Bishop Fletcher at
Tattle Rock, Monsignor McDonald said,
“I have received notice of your
resignation as Bishop of Little Rock and
my appointment as your successor. It is
my prayer that in some small way I can
measure up to the task given me. I hope
that you will stay close at hand to guide
and help me.”
He also sent greetings to the people,
clergy and Religious of Arkansas. “May
this day be the first in a warm, close
working relationship with people of all
faiths, of all walks of life, of all races to
foster among men a genuine spirit of love
for one another and for God, Who is Lord
of us all. In your goodness, pray that God
will bless all that we do together to
brighten the light of God’s grace in the
hearts of all who live in the great State of
Arkansas,” he said.
CATHOLIC FIREMEN MOURNED:
Nine Catholic firemen who were killed
when a wall collapsed during a fire which
destroyed the Hotel Vendome in Boston
were eulogized by Boston’s Archbishop
Humberto Medeiros. He praised the men
as “Those who put themselves at the
service of their neighbor in his time of
most pressing need.” Representatives of
fire departments from throughout the
U:S. and Canada attended the funeral
Mass. NC Photo courtesy of The Pilot.
Educators
Warned On
Mythology
CINCINNATI (NC) - Religious
educators and theologians were warned
about modern mythologies which keep
religious persons from fulfilling their
potential in the world.
One of these mythologies, Rabbi Marc
Tanenbaum said, is “the notion that we
live in a post-Christian society, a
post-Judeo-Christian world, a
post-Western, post-modern world.”
Acceptance of this notion, Rabbi
Tanenbaum told participants in the
Ecumenical Institute on Religious
Education here, reflects a tendency of
Americans to think in slogans, and he
charged that “preoccupation with trying
to describe the reality of the Jewish and'
Christian experience by such slogans is
locking up the capacity of Jews and
Christians to be present and servicing in
the world.”
Some persons dismiss the Jewish and
Christian experience as no longer
significant and at the same time speak of
a new perception of the solidarity of
mankind, said Rabbi Tanenbaum. They
fail to see, he said, that “this vision of the
unity of the human family cannot be
understood without the formative role of
biblical religion.”
“For a long time in our history this
idea of a Creator has been very much a
theoretical abstraction, something we
have affirmed rather than
experienced . . .we have reduced to trivia
the extraordinary breakthrough” which
the Book of Genesis accomplished in the
consciousness of mankind, he said.
Rabbi Tanenbaum, interreligious
affairs director of the American Jewish
Committee, also criticized the “ease with
which people in this time of transition
and turmoil resort to apocalyptic
language,” referring to the widespread
tendency “to speak in terms of being
anti-system, or anti-establishment.”
Calling this tendency another
“mythology,” Rabbi Tanenbaum said it
“represents an intention of
self-destruction which needs to be
challenged.” ^
He acknowledged that institutions
possess “a built-in tendency” to preserve
the status quo and said they need
constructive criticism “to keep them
honest.”
But he went on to point out that his
own experience of cooperative work by
church institutions in the Nigerian crisis
of 1966 alone would have been enough to
save him from “the blandishments of
appeals to destroy the church and the
synagogue.”
The institute, held at the College of
Mount St. Joseph here, was attended by
1,300 persons. Its theme was “Man as
Symbol-Maker and the Future of the
World.”
/
/
*
>
4
J