Newspaper Page Text
DIOCESE OF SAVANNAH NEWSPAPER
Vol. 5 No. 43 Thursday, December 6,1973 Single Copy Price — 12 Cents
FIVE BISHOPS IN ATTENDANCE
Over 1,000 Attend Area Charismatic Renewal Conference
OPENING MASS - Pictured at Friday evening Mass Bishop Lessard and Bishop Waters. (Photo by George
(1. to r.) Father Michael Burke, Archbishop Hayes, Champion)
SOME OF MORE THAN 1,000 participants at raise their voices in joyful song. (Photo by George
Regional Conference of Catholic Charismatic Renewal Champion)
CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS
Heat Turned Down, Lights
By NC News Service
Lower thermostats and fewer lights
are the order of the day for Catholic
churches, schools and hospitals across
the country as the United States faces
INSIDE STORY
British Accused
Pg. 2
'Know Your Faith’
Pg. 5
Newsweek Article
Pg. 7
Report from Japan
Pg. 8
its first major peacetime fuel and energy
shortage in history.
According to reports in diocesan
newspapers, many dioceses and parishes
are also encouraging car pooling among
employees, calling for more austere
Christmas displays, insisting on 50-mile
speed limits for all institutionally owned
vehicles, and adopting other cooperative
programs to cut their energy
consumption.
One of the most dramatic cutbacks is
the Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows in
Belleville, Ill., where shrine directors
turned off their annual “Way of Lights”
Christmas display.
The 125,000-light extravaganza has
drawn almost 250,000 visitors a year in
its three-year history, and it was
completely set up by Thanksgiving--but
after President Nixon’s Nov. 25 speech
on the energy crisis, the shrine officials
decided to limit this year’s display to
weekend floodlighting of the Lourdes
Grotto in the shrine.
At the U.S. Catholic Conference
building in Washington, D.C., which,
houses the national staff offices of the
U.S. bishops, general services manager
Steve A. Connally said workers were
removing 50 percent of the fluorescent
lights throughout the building and
reducing the wattage of all hallway and
stairwell bulbs.
“We’ve gotten a cut of 15 percent in
heating oil allocation,” said Connally.
“This means we will lose one month of
heat.” He said the building temperature
has been lowered to 68 to 69 degrees,
and he was planning to recommend
“absolute closing” of the building on
Saturdays.
In a letter to all his priests Bishop
Bernard Flanagan of Worcester, Mass.,
directed all parish properties to reduce
building temperatures to the
recommended 65-68 degrees, eliminate
all nonessential lighting, and avoid
“extravagent use” of decorative lighting
for Christmas displays. He also urged
parishoners to follow suit in their own
homes.
Cardinal Humberto Medeiros of
BY JOHN E. MARKWALTER
Participants in the Catholic
Charismatic Renewal, gathered here
November 30 - December 2, were called
to be disciples, apostles and brothers.
This was urged by Archbishop James
Hayes of Halifax, Nova Scotia, homilist
at the opening Mass. It was also the
message of Father George Kosicki of
Ann Arbor, Michigan, who keynoted
the weekend conference of more than
1,000 members of Prayer Communities
from seven southeastern states.
For the second straight year the
gathering was hosted by Augusta’s
Alleluia Prayer Community.
Attending the conference were five
bishops and two abbots. Participating in
the meeting were Archbishop James
Hayes, Halifax, Novia Scotia; Bishop
Raymond Lessard, Savannah, Georgia;
Bishop Joseph G. Vath, Birmingham,
Alabama; Bishop Vincent Waters,
Raleigh, North Carolina: Bishop Michael
Begley, Charlotte, North Carolina;
Abbot Edmund McCaffery of Belmont
Abbey in North Carolina and Abbot
Dom Augustine Moore of the Trappist
Monastery at Conyers, Georgia.
Over 120 priests attended special
sessions on Friday, November 30th,
preceding the opening of the general
conference that evening. Topic of the
morning session was “The Role of the
Holy Spirit.” The afternoon session
dealt with “The Experience of
Receiving the Baptism of the Holy
Spirit.”
Bishop Raymond Lessard, of
Savannah, told those attending the
Friday evening Mass they were
assembled in the name of Our Lord
Jesus “and it is in His name, that, on
behalf of the people of His church, we
welcome you with open arms and warm
hearts.” The bishop was the principal
celebrant of the Mass. Other bishops
concelebrating were Archbishop Hayes
and Bishop Waters.
Bishop Lessard said he felt it
appropriate that the conference opened
on the feast of Saint Andrew (so loved
by Our Lord.) He said that it was in that
context of love that “we gather together
to begin these days.
“By happy coincidence, it is also the
first day of the Novena preparatory to
Our Lady’s Feast of the Immaculate
Conception. I think it is a most
felicitous omen that she, who was so
much under the influence of the Spirit,
should protect and help us along our
way as we seek to recognize His
presence in our midst.”
In his homily, Archbishop Hayes said
Are Out
Boston issued more detailed directives
to the same effect, pointing out that the
Church must not “stand apart” from
the rest of society in facing the national
need. “Indeed, as a religious body, we
must lead in the spirit of cooperation
and compliance,” the cardinal said.
Many Catholic hospitals around the
country have reduced temperatures in
non-patient areas to 68 degrees and cut
hallway lighting to night-time levels 24
hours a day. St. Michael’s Medical
Center in Newark, N.J. has cut elevator
usage by asking its staff to use the stairs
at least when the trip is only one floor
up or two floors down.
Father Jerome Mire' pastor of St.
Maurice Church in New Orleans, found
the energy crisis has its advantages.
After going through the church to find
out what lights could be turned off, he
discovered he could eliminate 100 bulbs
for Sunday Masses and another 49 on
weekdays, without creating any
(Continued on Page 2)
the world was experiencing a kind of
new Pentecost as a result of the Second
Vatican Council and that, “it was the
late Pope John XXIII who called us to»
this new Pentecost we are
experiencing. ”
He said there can be a new day for
the church . . . “if we but understand
the message of the scriptures.” He
asked, “How can the people of the
world believe in Him unless they hear of
Him from a preacher. We are called to
ARCHBISHOP HAYES
Delivers Homily
FATHER KOSICKI
Keynoter
be the witnesses, the apostles, the
evangelists, the preachers.
“As Jesus gave His Spirit to us, we in
turn, must give Him to others. Only
when we love every man as the Lord -
only when we carry out His new
commandment ‘Love one another as I
have loved you’ - only then will the new
Pentecost be a reality.”
In the keynote address, Father
George Kosicki said, “When we are
filled with the Spirit of Christ Jesus, we
are His disciples.
“When we are filled with His Spirit
we are anointed and sent as his apostles.
When we are filled with His Spirit, we
are His brothers and sisters.
“The Gospel is an invitation to ‘Come
follow Me, be My disciple.’ It is a
sending - ‘Go forth with My power, be
My apostles, proclaim My word, do My
work.’ It is a union, the common unity
of Christ, He is our brother and we are
brothers and sisters to one another.”
Father Kosicki said, “We have a
tendency to be disciple, apostle or
brother, but not all three. The binding
power of the Spirit is like a tripod. It
has to stand on three legs.
“We have to be disciples, apostles,
brothers,” he said. “We can’t be a one
or a two legged tripod - it collaspes.” •
The leader in the Charismatic
Renewal told his audience, “We have
the good news. We must proclaim it
from the rooftops. God has given you a
good word in your hearts, don’t let it
stay in your hearts.. .God has given
you gifts, He wants you to use every
one of them.”
Three workshops were held on
Saturday and Sunday morning. Each
workshop was in session for a total of
eight hours. Subjects covered were
“Introduction to the Charismatic
Renewal”; “Growth in the Life of the
Spirit” and “Leadership in the
Charismatic Renewal.”
The weekend of praying, sharing and
learning came to a conclusion on
Sunday afternoon at a Mass and Prayer
Meeting. Archbishop James Hayes was
the principal celebrant of the Mass and
Kevin Ranaghan of South Bend, Indiana
was the homilist.
HEADLINE
ft
If
HOPSCOTCH
Holy Year
VATICAN CITY (NC) - Led by the melodious bells of St. Peter’s Basilica, church
bells of Italy ushered in the Holy Year for Italian dioceses at noon on the first Sunday
of Advent, Dec. 2. Moments after, Pope Paul VI said from his window to thousands in
the square below: “The bells, did you hear them? “At this hour throughout this land
the simultaneous sound of our bells wishes to announce to the people that the Holy
Year begins on the local level. “Listen to this concert, listen to this concert.” The
bells, the Pope said, were the voice between heaven and earth and a metallic song
“which soars on high to invoke for us below the effusion of God’s blessings.”
Consistory Dec. 21
VATICAN CITY (NC) - A Spanish nun who devoted her life to caring for the aged
poor will be proposed formally for canonization at a special consistory called for Dec.
21. The pre-Christmas consistory is an annual event at the Vatican, and Pope Paul VI
has in the past used the gathering of all the cardinals present in Rome to deliver a sort
of “state-of-the-Church” address. At the same time, Cardinal Amleto Cicognani, dean
of the college of cardinals, will tend the season’s best wishes to the Pope in the name
of all the cardinals and the officials of the Roman Curia, the Church’s central
administrative offices. The Vatican announced Dec. 1 that this year the cardinals and
other invited prelates taking part in the consistory will be asked to vote formally on
the canonization of Blessed Teresa de Jesus Jornet y Ibars. The vote is considered
simply a formality and it is taken for granted that it will be affirmative.
Restate Contraception Opposition
DUBLIN (NC) -- The Irish bishops, although saying that it is up to members of the
Irish Parliament to decide the issue, have made it clear that they think a bill allowing
the importation and sale of contraceptives would do more harm than good. The
statement by the Irish Bishops’ Conference came a week and a half after the first
reading of the Family Planning Bill in the Irish Seanad (Senate) and its subsequent
publication. This is the first of several steps toward passage of the bill by the Seanad.
It then must also be passed by the Dail (House of Representatives).
Priest Guerrilla Leader
BOGOTA, Colombia (NC) - Father Domingo Lain, a Spanish priest expelled from
this country a few years ago and who came back illegally, might be the new
intellectual leader of the Colombian guerrilla movement, according to reports of the
Colombian Army’s Intelligence Service. The priest seems to have risen to leadership
because of the strong blows the armed forces have dealt to the National Liberation
Army (NLA), the guerrilla force which has operated in the Colombian countryside for
many years.