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The Southern Cross
DIOCESE OF SAVANNAH NEWSPAPER
Vol. 54 No. 34
Thursday, October 4,1973
Single Copy Price — 12 Cents
ISSUES PASTORAL LETTER
Bishop Lessard Endorses “Respect Life” Month
RESPECT LIFE THEME -- The soft mutual joy called to decide the value we will accord human life,
shared by a mother and baby illustrates one of the For Christians, natural, human reverence for life is
points made in the Respect Life handbook for the reinforced by deep religious belief: We are made in
week of Oct. 7. Theme of the week is The Unborn. God’s image.” (NC Photo by Frank Methe)
The handbook says: “Society and each one of us are
CHAPLAIN THREATENED
University Bars Mass on Campus
NEWARK, Del. (NC) -- University of
Delaware officials have threatened to
have a Catholic chaplain arrested if he
attempts to continue saying Mass in a
dormitory here.
When Father Michael Szupper arrived
to say Mass at a student complex Sept.
23, he found the doors locked. Two
university officials then gave him a
statement ordering him not to say Mass
on university property and threatening
“possible arrest and legal prosecution.”
The officials based their action on
a clause in the university charter which
states: “The university shall never be
managed or conducted in the interest of
any party, sect or denomination.”
Father Szupper and other chaplains
had tried to have the interpretation of
the clause changed by the board of
trustees.
The board did not change the
INSIDE STORY
School Aid Fight
Pg. 3
Fr. Reedy
: Pg. 4
Book Review
Pg. 6
Augusta Seminars
Pg. 7
interpretation, and in response to
repeated requests from students Father
Szupper said Mass on Sept. 9 and 16 in
a TV room at a student complex.
Father Szupper said that the students
have a legitimate request for Masses at
the dormitories which are located over a
mile from the Newman Center. The
university will not run a shuttle service
between the dormitories and the center
on Sunday mornings, and the Masses at
the Newman Center are already
overcrowded, he said.
According to Father William Keegan,
assistant Catholic chaplain, he and
Father Szupper “did not feel that they
were trespassing, but were answering a
legitimate request by the students.”
About 100 had attended one of the
Masses.
However, the officials kept the
complex closed, and the Catholic
students were forced to hold a brief
prayer service with Father Szupper in
the driveway of the complex.
Father Szupper said that the
IN PRINCIPLE
WASHINGTON (NC) - “An
agreement in principle” has been
reached in the California farm labor
dispute, according to a brief statement
issued here this afternoon (Sept. 28), by
George Meany, president of the
AFL-CIO and Frank Fitzsimmons,
president of the Teamsters Union.
The United Farm Workers of America
(UFW), an AFL-CIO affiliate, and the
Teamsters have been battling over the
right to represent farm workers in
California.
university had changed its policies on
many issues, but refuses to consider
seriously its prohibition of worship. He
cited one example of a recent shift in
interpretation of the clause in question,
that of allowing political speakers to
appear on campus. Prior to a decision
by the board of trustees, political
speakers were prohibited from
appearing at the university.
Until the university changes its
attitude from one of “threat” to one of
“seeking a solution,” Father Szupper
plans to avoid confrontations and
instead concentrate upon effecting
change through different channels.
Two campus groups have spoken out
in support of the Catholic attempts to
bring about change in the university’s
policies towards worship on campus.
The Resident Student Association and
the United Campus Ministry, which
consists of campus ministers of various
denominations, have both pledged to
exercise all possible influence to effect a
re-evaluation of the university policy
with respect to worship services on
campus.
Meany and Fitzsimmons said they
would not give any details until lawyers
for both sides had a chance to examine
the agreement.
It has been reported by the Los
Angeles Times that the agreement
would give the UFW the right to
organize field workers while the
Teamsters would continue to represent
workers involved in food processing.
That, if true, would be generally
viewed as a UFW victory.
UFW-Teamster Accord
Bishop Raymond W. Lessard has
issued a pastoral letter endorsing the
observance of “Respect Life” month
which begins on October 7th. The text
of the letter is reprinted elsewhere in
this paper. “Respect Life” month is a
project of the National Conference of
Catholic Bishops (NCCB).
First observed during October of
1972, the program of “Respect Life”
month, conducted in parishes
throughout the nation, “proved highly
effective,” according to Cardinal John
Krol, President of the NCCB.
In a booklet outlining the “Respect
Life” program for 1973, Cardinal Krol
states: “Terrence Cardinal Cooke,
Chairman of the Respect Life
Committee, reported that the 1972
Respect Life Week was very successful
as conducted in the parishes and schools
throughout the country. On the basis of
responses from the dioceses, Cardinal
Cooke recommended that the National
Conference of Catholic Bishops
continue the program as an annual
observance.” v
The program for 1973 is intended to
focus the attention of Catholics on the
problems of families, troubled mothers
and unborn children, youth, the aging
and the mentally retarded.
It is also designed to foster a better
understanding of justice and human
development on a global scale, and the
issues of Peace and War.
Materials needed to augment this
year’s “Respect Life” month have been
sent to all parishes in the Savannah
diocese. Each parish will design and
conduct its own local program.
)
TEXT OF PASTORAL
‘Choose Life...That
You May Live
RESPECT FOR THE UNBORN ~ Respect Life Sunday, October 7, will
begin a month of activities in behalf of the unborn and others who need
spiritual attention in an often threatening social environment. An unusual,
almost womb-like view of a premature baby being kept alive in an
incubator, gives an idea of how fragile life can be. (NC Photo)
My dear friends in Christ:
In the Book of Deuteronomy, we
read the ringing words of Moses to the
Hebrew people: “I have set before you
life and death . . . Choose life, then, that
you and your descendants may live.”
Perhaps never before in history have
the fundamental issues of life and death
been the object of so much questioning
and debate, of such interest, and even
anxiety as in our day.
There is ample evidence of a
widespread and laudable concern for the
quality of human life in an increasingly
industrialized world. This concern is
accompanied by the growing sensitivity
of society toward the need to provide
the possibilities for a more integral
human development for its especially
underprivileged citizens, and to alleviate
the lot of such neglected classes as the
elderly and the handicapped, the poor
and the imprisoned.
It is reflected, too, in heightened
public interest regarding the crucial
issues of peace and justice, both on the
domestic scene and the world. It is
somewhat paradoxical, then, that in its
efforts to improve the quality of human
life, today’s society at the same time
poses ever-growing threats to life itself -
from its very beginnings in the womb,
on through the formative years of
childhood and adolescence into the
period of advanced age.
The key to this paradox lies, perhaps,
in the way society as a whole views the
nature of the human life it seeks to
enhance.
The U.S. Bishop’s Committee on
Population and Pro-Life Activities offers
some helpful observations on this point.
“Improving the quality of life for all
Americans has become something of a
slogan for the early 1970’s. As with all
slogans, it means different things to
different people. Properly understood,
it is a worthy challenge, one that may
move us beyond past divisions and unify
us as a people.
“However, quality of life is only
properly understood in light of the
sanctity of life. The life of each person
is sacred because God has created us and
called us to eternal happiness with Him
in heaven. The redemptive acts of Christ
touch each of us personally, assuring us
of the abiding love of God the Father.
“Human life is valuable then because
it is the life of a person created and
loved by God. The value of each
person’s life is determined not by what
he or she does or produces, but rather,
by the simple fact that the person has
been called into existence by God - that
is, that he or she is alive. Thus, the life
of each person is sacred - the young and
the old, the healthy and the sick, the
gifted and the disadvantaged.
“The sanctity of life derives from
God’s plan, and the value of each person
should be given equal importance by
society. Improving the quality of life
then becomes a moral imperative - it
leads us to overcome the threats and
obstacles that endanger life. Thus,
improving the quality of life really
entails improving the circumstances of
life in society - it cannot be truly
achieved by violating the life or rights of
any single person.”
It is appropriate, then, that the
Catholic Church in the United States
has set aside this month of October as
“Respect Life Month” - a period of
prayer and study to reinforce our beliefs
as Christian people concerning the
sanctity of human life, and to motivate
us to a more fruitful participation in the
efforts of the total community to
improve the lives of all its citizens.
Let me close by recalling the words
of the American Bishops in their
pastoral letter in 1968, “Human Life in
Our Day.”
“We honor God when we reverence
human life. When human life is served,
man is enriched and God is
acknowledged. When human life is
threatened, man is diminished and God
is less manifest in our midst.”
With a prayer for God’s blessings, I
remain,
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Raymond W. Lessard
Bishop of Savannah
HEADLINE
HOPSCOTCH
d
Irish Schools
DUBLIN, Ireland (NC) - A gradual reduction in the involvement of Religious orders
in this country’s educational system was recommended by a working group set up by
the Irish bishops and the superiors of Religious orders. The Religious should
concentrate themselves in schools in which they will form a sizable segment of the
teaching staff, the report recommended.
World Council Hit
DUBUQUE, la. (NC) -- Archbishop Iakovos, the Greek Orthodox primate of North
and South America, accused the World Council of Churches of slipping into a “secular
ecumenism” which hurts its basic goal of Christian unity. Archbishop Iakovos, who
served as a WCC president, said here he was echoing the concern of Orthodox Patriarch
Demetrios I of Constantinople over WCC involvement “in all social issues at the
expense of the theological and ecclesiological ones.”
Recall Halted
PHOENIX, Ariz. (NC) -- A drive started by the United Farm Workers to recall
Arizona Gov. Jack Williams was legally halted, but recall campaigners were expected to
appeal the decision. State officials declared that recall petitions lacked the valid
103,000 signatures required to force a recall vote.