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DIOCESE OF SAVANNAH NEWSPAPER
Vol. 54 No. 15
Thursday, April 12,1973
Single Copy Price — 12 Cents
FLOWERS OF THE SEASON -- Although Americans
are used to seeing the hothouse variety, in Bermuda,
children inspect a field full of the outdoor type of
lilies, growing luxuriously on the grounds of a hotel.
(NC Photo)
Pacem in Terris: 10 Years Later
By James C. O’Neill
VATICAN CITY (NC) - The 10th
anniversary of the publication of Pope
John’s XXIII’s encyclical letter, Pacem
in Terris, now being observed in many
parts of the world, calls attention to one
of the most significant papal documents
in recent times.
The encyclical was issued on Holy
Thursday, April 11, 1963, only 80 days
before Pope John died. Its central
theme was that to establish peace in his
time man must base it on truth, justice,
charity and liberty.
Addressed not only to Catholics but
“to all men of good will” the papal
letter maintained that peace is a
problem of morals and not of power. Its
opening sentence summed up its central
theme:
“Peace on earth, which men of every
INSIDE STORY
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Cook’s Nook
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era have most eagerly yearned for, can
be firmly established only if the order
laid down by God be dutifully
observed.”
The document, in a sense, has served
as a forerunner of the Church’s present
day peace program which has become a
hallmark of the reign of Pope John’s
successor, Pope Paul VI.
From the vantage point of 10 years
since the publication of the encyclical,
one of the top Vatican officials who
deals with problems of peace daily said
the encyclical was tantamount to a
launching pad for concerted church
action.
Msgr. Joseph Gremillion, the
American-born secretary of the
Pontifical Commission for Justice and
Peace, told NC News Service:
“Pacem in Terris launched the
pastoral action for promoting peace
which now marks the Church
increasingly at all levels and in all
continents. Ten years ago very few
bishops or priests, religious or laity,
conceived of the promotion of peace as
a constitutive dimension of their
spirituality and apostolate.”
Msgr. Pietro Pavan, who helped Pope
John draft the encyclical and who is
now rector of the Pontifical Lateran
University in Rome, said the basic
theme of the document was that men in
regulating relations between themselves
should concentrate on what they
possess in common and not on what
divides them. What do they have in
common, he asked. “An immense
treasure . . . their dignity as human
beings.”
Cardinal 'John Wright, former bishop
of Pittsbirgh and now prefect of the
Vatican’s Congregation for the Clergy,
said Pope John’s encyclical put in
understandable terms “the abstract
concept of social morality, of political
decency and the conditions of world
peace” so as to be grasped not only by
diplomats but also by the average
person.
Msgr. Gremillion’s own commission
was a by-product of the encyclical,
although Pope Paul did not establish the
commission until January; 1967. As he
put it: “The commission is the offspring
of the Vatican II Council document
‘Gaudium et Spes’ which dealt with the
Church in the modern world and
embodied much of the thinking
developed in Pacem in Terris. So we can
claim John XXIII through Pacem in
Terris as our grandfather.”
Discussing the historic impact of the
encyclical within the Church, Msgr.
Gremillion said that “Pope John
launched a new view of the Christian
presence in the world which makes the
new pastoral concern possible. It called
for openness^ dialogue with men of
good will and (seeing) the signs of the
times in the happenings throughout the
planet, the absurdity of war as a human
enterprise, etc.”
“All of these became principal
currents in “Gaudium et Spes” and in
Pope Paul’s encyclical Popolorum
Progressio and in the 1971 Synod of
Bishops’ document on justice in the
world.”
As a result of the encyclical of Pope
John, at least in part, there has been
developing both inside and outside the
Church a consciousness for and toward
peace.
Federal Agency Considering
Experiments on Live Fetuses
WASHINGTON (NC) - The National
Institutes of Health (NIH) has
acknowledged that for the past 13
months it has been considering whether
to approve experiments on live fetuses
resulting from abortions.
The disclosure, brought out in the
recent issue of Ob.Gyn
(Obstetrician-Gy necologist) News,
published in Washington by Physicians
International Press, was quickly
criticized by Catholic officials.
Two of NIH’s advisory bodies have
suggested such research in recent years,
but their recommendations became
public for the first time with the
disclosure in the Ob.Gyn News.
The Washington Post reported that
the possibility of medically
experimenting on human fetuses is
being strenuously debated by federal
health officials.
A fetus can live for an hour or so
with a beating heart after abortion. But
when artificially supplied with fresh
blood and fresh oxygen it can be kept
alive for three or four hours.
In March, 1972, according to the
Post, the NIH National Advisory Child
Health and Human Development
Council, said:
“Scientific studies of the human fetus
are an integral and necessary part of
research concerned with the health of
women and children. .Because of one
unique problems involved and a growing
competence and interest in this field,
ethically and scientifically acceptable
guidelines for the conduct of such
investigation must be developed.”
Another NIH advisory body
recommended a series of standards in
September, 1971, including regulations
that the fetus be no older than 20
weeks, weigh no more than 1.1 pounds,
and measure no longer than 9.8 inches
from crown to heel.
Two spokesmen for the U.S. Catholic
Conference each called on Congress to
pass legislation that would restrict
federal agencies like the NIH from
setting up their own criteria for human
experimentation.
“It’s time to take decisions
concerning human life away from the
Supreme Court and government
agencies, and return them to the
people,” said Msgr. James T. McHugh,
USCC director of the Family Life
Bureau.
Sister Virginia Schwager, S.P.,
director of USCC Division of Health
Affairs, said that the latest NIH
revelation shows “the fundamental need
of Congress to rigorously study and
regulate biomedical experiments
involving human beings.”
Msgr. McHugh said the U.S. Supreme
Court must take a large share of the
responsibility for encouraging
experiments on fetuses. He referred to
the court’s opinions that the life of the
fetus has no compelling value prior to
viability, and is therefore not entitled to
legal protection.
“News reports of the NIH proposal
pinpoint the paradox,” said Msgr.
McHugh. “Researchers want to increase
experiments on living fetuses obtained
by abortion in order to learn more
about blood, heart and other diseases in
human beings, but the Supreme Court
takes the position that ‘there has always
been strong support for the view that
life does not begin until live birth.’The
court’s position on the development of
human life is scientifically untenable
and requires immediate examination.”
Sister Schwager said that the NIH
disclosures and others made by Senate
hearings clearly show that “the
unchecked use of human subjects in
scientific research reflects an
immeasureable lack of reverence for
human life.”
One of the strongest backers of
experimentation with live aborted
fetuses is Dr. Robert Q. Marsten, former
NIH director, who believes it is immoral
not to carry out such experiments.
“There are several obvious reasons
why such research must be carried on,”
Dr. Marsten wrote in an editorial letter
last February. “First, in many instances
there may not be a suitable animal
model. Second, even if such an animal
model exists, there always comes a time
at which the test must be carried out in
man.”
Dr. Marsten said that medical history
is full of examples of failures in
experiments that did not go beyond the
animal testing stage. When the therapies
and procedures were applied to man the
results were not the same, he said.
Dr. Kurt Hirschorn of New York’s
Mount Sinai Hospital and Medical
School said that experimenting with the
live fetus is valuable in helping doctors
learn more about birth defects.
“I don’t think it’s unethical,” he said.
“It is not possible to make this fetus
into a child, therefore we can consider it
as nothing more than a piece of tissue,”
he said. “It is the same as taking the
beating heart from someone and making
use of it in another person.”
THE BEGINNING OF HOLY WEEK - The palms and special prayers
of Palm Sunday signify the beginning of Holy Week -- the most solemn of
all Christian observances. (RNS Photo)
HEADLINE
HOPSCOTCH
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Senate of Religious to Meet
The spring meeting of the Diocesan Senate of Religious will be held on Saturday,
April 14th, in Dublin, Georgia at the Holiday Inn. The luncheon meeting will begin at
11:00 A.M. All members of the Senate should be in attendance.
'No Room for Angels’
BELGRADE, Yugoslavia (NC) -- “There is no room for angels” is the new slogan of
Communist youth organizations in Yugoslavia who are attemtping to use violence to
halt the building of new churches. The latest incident of this kind occurred in the
suburb of Karamurma near here which has about 60,000 inhabitants, most of them of
the Orthodox faith. The youth groups have threatened terrorism to prevent the
building of a badly needed church in the district for which the authorities have granted
permission.
Star Becomes Nun
PARIS (NC) -- The Paris Opera’s 27-year-old star ballerina, Mireille Negre, has
entered a Carmelite convent in Limoges and is expected to pronounce vows later in
April. The auburn-haired, green-eyed Miss Negre, considered the best dancer in France,
has performed with Rudolf Nureyev in “Giselle” and “Sleeping Beauty” in several
European cities.
To Sing for Pope
VATICAN CITY (NC) - An American children’s choir that has sung at the White
House for President Nixon will be featured singers for Pope Paul’s Easter Mass on the
steps of St. Peter’s Basilica. About 75 members of the 100-voice ecumenical National
Children’s Choir of Washington have accepted a Vatican invitation to sing before,
during and after the main Mass Pope Paul will celebrate on Easter.