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FIRST AT HOLY CROSS COLLEGE - One of the new members of the Air Force
ROTC at Holy Cross College in Worcester, Mass., is a real Darling. She is Lesley Darling
(second row). The other is Cindi Norris (front row). The first year students are the
first in the ROTC program. Cindi is from Pittsburgh, Pa., where she attended St.
Francis Academy. Lesley is from Cambridge, Mass., and went to The High and Latin
School (NC Photo)
Interview with Pope
Is Branded a Hoax
FA THER JOSEPH HOWZE
N. Carolina Priest
2nd Black Bishop
PAGE 3 - November 23,1972
Bishop-elect Howze
NOBC Is Pleased,
Has Hopes for More
VATICAN CITY (NC) - A New York
journalist’s alleged “exclusive” two-hour
interview with Pope Paul VI was
branded a hoax by an angry Vatican
official.
The official said that, in fact, no
interview of any kind was ever granted
by the Pope to Henry O. Dormann of
the National Enquirer, a weekly
published in Florida with national
distribution.
Dormann had sent to Vatican
officials advance copies of the Enquirer
dated Dec. 3 containing his “exclusive
two-hour interview with Pope Paul VI,
discussing critical questions facing the
Church today.”
The interview is a hoax, according to
Archbishop Edward Heston, president
of the Pontifical Commission for Social
Communications.
Early in October, the archbishop said,
Dormann interviewed the secretary of
that commission, Msgr. Andrea Deskur,
asking his opinion on a number of
questions ranging from abortion to the
possibility of electing a Negro Pope.
Dormann’s “interview” in the National
Enquirer also referred to Vatican
finances.
On Oct. 4 Dormann met Pope Paul in
what is called a special audience in
which the Pope meets an individual or a
family, chats with them for a minute
and allows a picture to be taken.
According to Archbishop Heston,
Dormann made it appear as though he
has asked Pope Paul some of the
questions he had asked Msgr. Deskur.
Then, said Archbishop Heston,
Dormann used monsignor’s replies as
though they were those of the Pope.
Accompanying the article in the
National Enquirer is a picture of
Dormann with the Pope taken at the
Oct. 4 audience.
The journalist reported that the Pope
told him: “always be faithful to the
truth.”
Archbishop Heston said he does not
think Dormann adhered to that advice.
“Shocked by your alleged interview,”
the archbishop said in a telegram to
Dormann Nov. 14.
“I protest firmly and condemn
vigorously such flagrant
misrepresentation of the facts, betraying
the confidence placed in you and
violating fundamental journalistic
ethics,” the archbishop said in the
telegram.
In Washington, Dormann expressed
surprise at Archbishop Heston’s
comments. When asked how much time
he had spent with the Pope in getting
the alleged interview, Dormann declined
to answer.
“I have no reason to defend myself,”
said Dormann, “but I don’t think that I
should make any comment until I have
contacted Archbishop Heston.”
Dormann sent a telegram to
Archbishop Heston asking him to
suspend all judgment on the alleged
interview until he had received all the
facts.
At the Vatican, Archbishop Heston
told NC News: “I already have all the
facts.”
Archbishop Heston said that Dormann
positively did not spend anywhere near
two hours with the Pope. At the most,
he had two or three minutes as everyone
does at a special audience, the
archbishop said.
The archbishop said that answers
attributed to Pope Paul match in every
instance except one the answers that
Msgr. Deskur gave to Dormann.
The only question that Msgr. Deskur
did not answer, said the archbishop, was
one involving Vatican finances. The
archbishop said he does no know where
Dormann got his answer to that
question.
Bishop Paul Marcinkus, president of
the Vatican’s Institute for the Works of
Religion (the Vatican bank), said that
Dormann talked to him for four or five
minutes. “I told him that if he wanted
to know the Pope’s opinion on anything
to go and read the papal documents,”
Bishop Marcinkus told NC News.
Meanwhile, Archbishop Heston
re-emphasized that the alleged interview
with the Pope never took place. “I deny
in the most categorical manner that any
such ‘interview’ ever took place.”
CHAPLAINS IN ACTION ~ The Navy
Chaplain Corps, which observes its 197th
anniversary Nov. 28 , includes 913 active
members. Of these, 260 are Catholic 7
are Jewish, and 5 are Eastern Orthodox
and the rest, Protestants of five major
denominations: Baptist, Methodist,
Presbyterian, Lutheran and
Episcopalian. Their duties include not
only officiating at weddings at the U.S.
Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., and
ministering to sailors or Marines under
enemy fire, but also, as these sketches
show, baptizing infants and visiting the
hospitalized. (NC Photos)
WASHINGTON (NC) - With the
appointment of Father Joseph Howze as
an auxiliary to Bishop Joseph Brunini of
Natchez-Jackson, Miss., the United
States has its second black bishop.
Bishop-elect Howze, 49, and
Auxiliary Bishop Harold R. Perry of
New Orleans are the only black bishops
in this country.
Bishop Perry, who was ordained a
bishop in 1965, was the second black
bishop in the history of the U.S.
Church. The first was Bishop James A.
Healy, who headed the Portland, Me.,
diocese from 1875-1900.
Born in Daphne, Ala., Father Howze
converted to Catholicism in 1948. In
1959 he was ordained to the priesthood
after completing his studies at St.
Bonaventure University, N.Y.
Father Howze, now a pastor in
Asheville, N.C., attributed his
conversion to his attendance at a
Catholic grade school, the strong
religious attitudes of his mother and
grandfather, and a number of Catholic
friends. He told NC News that he feels
the Church has “a rich heritage to offer
to black Catholics.”
He said that when he was first
notified that he was a possible candidate
for bishop he was “shocked and very
surprised.” But, he said, after “much
prayerful consideration” and discussion
with Bishop Michael Begley of
Charlotte, he felt that it would be an
opportunity for service.
“My motto will be ‘serving the people
BY JOHN MAHER
(NC News Service)
“Latin is a language
As dead as dead can be,
It killed all the Romans,
And now it’s killing me.”
The generations of Catholic school
students who expressed their discontent
in that ditty can take some comfort in
the thought that Latin is killing fewer
students these days. They may be
disappointed, however, to learn that
Latin is not buried yet.
A survey of Catholic schools in various
parts of the country shows that, while
some have dropped the language
altogether and most do not require
students to take it, many still offer
courses in Latin, although enrollment in
those courses is down considerably from
previous years.
No overall figures are available for
Latin enrollment in Catholic schools, but
the enrollment decline in public school
Latin courses and conversations with
Catholic school Latin teachers suggests
that there is a similar decline in the
Catholic school system. In 1965, about
626,199 public high school students took
Latin. In 1970 only 271,469 took it.
The teaching of Latin “seems to be at
the lowest ebb ever in Catholic schools,”
said Brother Francis Markert of the
Congregation of Christian Brothers,
chairman of the Latin department at New
York City’s Cardinal Hayes High School.
At Hayes, Latin is now optional, he
said. After dropping the freshman year
course two years ago, the school brought
it back because of complaints. A total of
93 students in freshman and sophomore
years are taking Latin.
The only Latin teacher at Hayes,
Brother Markert said: “I think it’s a
fundamental mental discipline. It trains
students to think.”
of God,’ ” he said, He added that, while
he saw a special mission to serving black
Catholics, he did not expect to be
divisive.
“I want to serve the total unity and
catholicity of the Church,” he said.
On learing that Father Howze had
been appointed his new auxiliary,
Bishop Brunini said:
“This appointment of Bishop-elect
Howze will bring new courage to our
apostolate in Mississippi. He is, of
course, to minister to all of our people,
but we hope naturally to establish closer
identity with the needs and aspirations
of the black community of Mississippi.”
Bishop Begley praised Bishop-elect
Howze for his “very fine work,
especially in the areas of Catholic
education and Confraternity of
Christian Doctrine.”
Bishop Begley pointed out that two
years ago Father Howze was named the
firvt black pastor of St. Lawrence
Church, a previously all-white parish. He
oversaw the merger of St. Lawrence
with St. Anthony’s, an all-black parish.
“It was a real challenge to assume the
responsibility,” Bishop Begley said,
“but Father Howze handled it very well,
and there were no problems.”
He added that Bishop-elect Howze
was chairman of the Charlotte diocese’s
liturgy commission and home mission
program and director of the diocesan
Society for the Propagation of the
Faith.
One of the main objections students
have to taking Latin, he said, is that it’s
not spoken, but he maintained that
“students who take four years of modern
languages can’t hold everyday
conversations” in those languages.
A mistake made in the past, Brother
Markert said “was having everyone take
it.” Latin “got bad publicity” because of
that.
Optimistic about the future, he said “I
definitely think” the language is here to
stay.
Two other schools that dropped Latin
and then brought it back are West
Philadelphia Catholic High School for
Boys and St. John’s Prep of Danvers,
Mass. Only eight students are taking it at
West Catholic, while 20 students are in
the three years of Latin at St. John’s.
Xaverian Brother Francis de Sales, who
teaches Latin at St. John’s, said he thinks
studying Latin aids students in developing
their English vocabulary and
consequently helps them in college
entrance exams.
He said he thinks Latin will continue
to be taught, but he doesn’t think it
should be compulsory.
The value of Latin as an aid in studying
English was also cited by Paul Dutro, who
teaches Latin at La Salle Academy in
Providence, R.I. “I can’t imagine those
who had Latin writing the sentences kids
get away with today,” said Dutro, who
also teaches English.
Enrollment in Latin courses has
“dropped significantly” at La Salle, were
only 16 boys are in three years of the
subject, Dutro said.
Regretfully, he said it was doubtful
that Latin would continue to be taught in
high schools.
WASHINGTON (NC) - “That’s
fantastic!” was the first reaction of
Brother Charles Davis, director of the
National Office for Black Catholics
(NOBC), when he heard that Father
Joseph Howze had been named the
second black bishop in the United
States.
Father Howze, pastor of St.
Lawrence Church, Asheville, N.C., was
appointed by Pope Paul VI to be
auxiliary bishop of the diocese of
Natchez-Jackson, Miss.
“We are very pleased to see another
black priest elevated to the rank of
bishop,” Brother Davis said, “and we’re
glad to hear that he will be serving in
Mississippi. It’s an area where a great
deal of work needs to be done.”
A similar pessimistic assessment came
from Sister Rose Mary Sam, head of the
language department at Bishop Gallagher
High School in Harper Woods, Mich.
Latin will “probably disappear in large
part,” she said. “Only those with a
scholarly interest in it will continue to
study the language.”
Enrollment at Bishop Gallagher, 35
students in three years of Latin, is “down
from previous years,” she said, attributing
the decline more to students’ desire to
learn languages they can use in travel than
to change in the Church’s liturgy, which
“had some effect.”
Another pessimistic opinion was that
of Charles DaParma, head of the classics
department at New York City’s Fordham
Prep, who said the outlook was “bleak,
particularly in Catholic schools.”
Ironically, Fordham Prep is one of the
few schools where all students are
required to take three years of Latin, and
DaParma described the third year course
as “very, very popular.”
At p ius XI High School in Milwaukee,
Latin is not required and there are 85
students in three years of the language.
“We’ve been at this rate for three or four
years,” said Carl Medicus, head of the
Latin department there. He said there was
a “sizeable drop after the changes in the
liturgy.”
“Many people associated Latin with
the Church,” he said, but now students
take it because “they see it as a basic
language” and want to use it for its value
in the study of English, history, medicine,
philosophy.
Medicus said he believes the decline in
Latin enrollment has levelled off, and he
pointed out that in a nearby Lutheran
high school one-fourth of the 800
students take Latin.
Another school requiring Latin is
Portsmouth Abbey school in Rhode
Island, where students have to take two
Brother Davis said that the NOBC
feels more black bishops are still
needed, however, “especially in some of
our major metropolitan areas.”
Auxiliary Bishop Harold R. Perry of
New Orleans, the only other black
bishop in the United States, voiced the
same sentiments when he was contacted
at the U.S. bishops’ annual meeting
here.
“I’m very happy to hear of the
appointment,” Bishop Perry said. “More
black bishops are needed, and I hope
there will be more soon.”
Bishop Perry added that he has been
acquainted with Father Howze for
several years. “I preached at his first
Mass,” he said.
years of the language and where five years
of it are offered. Peter Harris, who heads
the Latin department at the Benedictine
school, said that, although there have
been fewer students in recent years who
continue to take Latin after the required
two years, the school, which has only 39
freshmen, has 14 students in third year
Latin and nine in fourth year.
Harris said he thinks the principal
reason for taking Latin is “for what you
can eventually get out of it from reading
authors, poets, historians, if you are a
person who likes intellectual, academic
pursuits.”
Concerning the future, he said, “I’m
not overly optimistic. I think it will
become a somewhat exclusive pursuit. It’s
very difficult to popularize a dead
language. A lot will depend on the ability
of people who run schools to point out
its value.”
Georgetown Prep, near Washington,
D.C., requires all freshmen to take Latin
and to take two years of it if they want
to receive credit. In the optional third
and fourth year Latin courses, there are
only four students altogether, said Jesuit
Father James Byrne, head of the Latin
department.
“When Latin was in honor in our
schools,” Father Byrne said, “people
were studying it for the wrong reasons,”
because of its use in the Catholic liturgy.
“My view,” he said, “is that you should
study Latin or any foreign language for
the literature you’ll come in contact
with.”
I
While he said the study of Latin will
probably always be pursued by some
serious literary scholars, the language is so
difficult few students will take it if they
are not required to do so. “The Catholic
population is not literarily inclined,”
Father Byrne said. “There is the basic
vice of the situation.”
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Bishop Won’t Go to Jail
RICHMOND, Va. (NC) -- Bishop John J. Russell will not go to jail. The city of
Richmond has decided to exempt all church property from its new “service
charge.”
In September Bishop Russell, angered that the charge would be levied against
Catholic schools and convents, said that he would “go to jail” rather than pay
{» the charge, which he considers a tax.
At a mid-November meeting, the city council decided to remove the charge
from all church, charitable and civic organizations.
The action was taken even though City Manager William J. Leidlinger argued
that the city would lose $576,000 in revenue and might be forced to increase
property tax. The service charge is now expected to yield more than 41 million.
The Richmond diocese led the fight for exemption from the service charge
which was imposed to help pay for police and fire protection and refuse
collection. The diocese said the charge was excessive and unfairly applied.
Auxiliary Bishop Walter F. Sullivan, diocesan chancellor, said the charge
would have cost the diocese $25,000 a year in Richmond and probably would
have forced the closing of two inner-city parish elementary schools.
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Latin Still Hangs on in Catholic Schools