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BISHOP SA YS IN SPECIAL LETTER
Gospel Must be Communicated Every Day
The following is the text of a letter written by Bishop Raymond W. Lessard
on the occasion of World Communications Day (May 26).
May 1974
My dear sisters and brothers in Christ,
This Sunday, May 26, 1974, has been designated as World Communications
Day. The theme of this year’s observance is “Social Communications and
Evangelization in the World of Today.”
By definition, the means of social communication are intended to favor and
promote communication within society through the rapid transmission of
messages, whether they be for information, education or entertainment.
For the Christian, the message which takes precedence over all others and
which must be communicated every day because it is NEWS every day, is the
message of the Gospel, the Good News of Salvation given to man by Jesus
Christ, a message handed down through the centuries which announces the event
of events up to our own time, and which must continue to be announced
unceasingly.
It is a message intended for all men, responding to their deepest aspirations
for liberation from the evil which oppresses them and directing those aspirations
towards the new dimension of universality and eternity, toward that marvellous
dream of communion of all peoples with each other and with God their Father.
Christ commanded that this message be preached to everyone, that His Good
News be proclaimed from the housetops. Certainly, this mandate includes the
duty to use the most effective means at hand to bring the Gospel to even the
most isolated or distant human beings. The mass media are just such a means,
offering unprecendented possibilities of offering to our contemporary world the
only news that is every day more timely and compelling, that is: God loves us
today; God saves us today in Christ.
This spring’s regional meetings of bishops, priests and laypeople centered their
considerations on “The Use of Modern Means of Communication as Instruments
for Evangelization.”
The Synod of Bishops to be held this fall in Rome will discuss the topic of
“The Evangelization of the Modern World.”
This World Communications Day is a suitable time for all of us to join by
prayer and reflection in this timely and providential concern of the Church for a
more effective use of the modern marvels of communication in spreading
Christ’s Good News to the ends of the earth.
With a prayer for God’s blessing on all of you, I remain,
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Raymond W. Lessard
, Bishop of Savannah
Suggested Mass Prayers for May 26
CELEBRANT:
My dear friends, conscious of our privilege in having heard the Good News of
salvation announced to us by Jesus Christ, let us pray that He help us in making
better use of every means of communication so that we can share this message of
love and of hope with all men.
LECTOR:
For all ministers of the Word, that their preaching be made more effective by
means of the press, film, radio and television, we pray to the Lord.
For all those in government, that they might guarantee to all peoples that
freedom of expression necessary to know and to make known the teachings of
Christ and of His Church, we pray to the Lord.
For all Catholics professionally involved in the field of communications, that
they might make use of their talents and vhe possibilities offered them to spread
Christ’s message, we pray to the Lord.
For parents and teachers, that they might educate our children to grow, like
Jesus, in wisdom and grace in our world of social communications, we pray to
the Lord.
For all men and especially our young people, that in reading the press,
listening to the radio and watching films and television, they might learn to
discover and recognize those things which are of God, we pray to the Lord.
CELEBRANT:
Lord Jesus, through the mystery of Your incarnation, You became like to
those who are called to hear Your message. Teach us to adapt our methods of
evangelization to the needs of our times, so that all will come to know you as
the Son of God and Saviour of our world. We ask this of You Who live and reign
for ever and ever. Amen.
The Southern Cross
DIOCESE OF SAVANNAH NEWSPAPER
Vol. 55 No. 21 Thursday, May 23,1974 Single Copy Price - 12 Cents
PROVOKES LITTLE EXCITEMENT
World Communications Day in Trouble
ST. PETER’S HOUSE ~ St. Peter’s House in
Caphamaum is marked by a sign and map explaining
the various levels of Franciscan excavations which
unearthed it. A nearby synagogue created a puzzle for
archeaologists when they discovered a church nearby,
but the church turned out to have been built at the site
of St. Peter’s home. See story on page 7. (NC Photo)
REV. BERTRAND DUNEGAN
Honors for Priest
INSIDE STORY
Villa Marie
Pg. 2
Mary Carson
Pg. 4
St. Peter’s Home
Pg. 7
D.C.C.W. Notes
Pg. 8
Fr. Bertrand Dunegan, a biology and
earth science teacher at Benedictine
Military School, has been selected the
Outstanding Biology Teacher in Georgia
for 1973-74 by the National Biology
Teachers Association. He will be
awarded a compound microscope by the
American Optical Co.
He is the author of Beachcomber’s
Guide to the Golden Isles,
Beachcombing in Virginia, and
Beachcombing on Hilton Head, and he
is currently preparing a Guide to the
Fossils of Coastal Georgia.
Fr. Dunegan holds a bachelor of arts
degree in philosophy and a master of
arts degree in theology from St. Vincent
College and a master of science in
biology from Ohio State.
He has done graduate work in
genetics at Johns Hopkins, in geology
and paleontology at Vasser, and in
oceanography and marine biology at the
Univ. of Virginia and at Virginia
Institute of Marine Sciences.
WASHINGTON (NC) - There seemed
to be little excitement in the United
States over the eighth World Day of
Communications proclaimed by the
Vatican for celebration May 26.
A spot check of about 25 Catholic
newspapers a week before the event
revealed no special advance notice of
the day in any of them - no editorials
or bishop’s letters or news stories or
opinion columns.
(Special prayers will be offered at all
Masses in the diocese of Savannah on
May 26 and Bishop Raymond W.
Lessard issued a pastoral letter on
Communications and Evangelization.)
“With a very few exceptions (the
day) has not made its mark in the U.S.,”
said Robert Beusse, secretary of
communication for the U.S. Catholic
Conference (USCC).
Beusse said part of the problem
seemed to be with the name itself. “I’m
not sure it’s well named for our
society,” he said. He suggested that the
idea of a “world” day seems somewhat
abstract and large to an American
society that is “somewhat inward
looking,” and that the word
communications “tends to threaten
people.”
Another Catholic communications
official scored the yearly change in the
date for World Communications Day.
This year the celebration has been
scheduled for May 26; last year it was
June 3; and the year before it was May
14. When the day is moved around like
that, the official said, “It’s hard for
parishes or dioceses to fit it into an
already crowded agenda.”
The same official also said the
Vatican should present the theme for
the celebration earlier. This year’s
theme, “Social Communications and
Evangelization in the World Today,”
was made public in mid-April, less than
six weeks before the day was to be
celebrated. “This gives people in a
diocese little time to build up a
program,” the official said.
Another official pointed out that this
short “lead time” is not enough for
most magazines to plan a special issue or
series of articles on the subject. To do
an effective job on such a topic, he said,
most editors prefer at least three to four
months’ advance warning.
David Anderson, religion writer for
-United Press International (UPI), said
this year’s theme itself contained
language barriers. He pointed out that
the term “social communications”
(which is merely Vaticanese for “mass
media”) evoked images for him of “the
economic-political content of the
Gospel,” hence the social encyclicals of
Pope John XXIII and Paul VI.
In addition, he said, “Evangelization
is such a funny word for me. Coming
from a mainline Protestant background,
it reminds me too much of
proselytizing. The word still has
negative connotations for me.”
Washington Post religion editor
William MacKaye voiced a different
(Continued on Page 7)
HEADLINE
HOPSCOTCH
If.
Markwalter to be Invested
John E. Markwalter, managing editor of THE SOUTHERN CROSS, will be invested
as a Knight of St. Gregory this Sunday, May 26. The ceremony will take place during
the 12:30 p.m. Mass at Augusta’s St. Mary’s on the Hill. Bishop Raymond W. Lessard,
of Savannah, will preside and be principal celebrant at the Mass. The homily will be
delivered by Bishop Ernest L. Unterkoefler of Charleston.
Josephites Back Amnesty
ST. PAUL, Minn. (NC) - The six-member general council of the Sisters of St.
Joseph of Carondelet have unanimously given their support to a policy of immediate,
universal and unconditional amnesty for Vietnam War draft evaders and deserters. The
council pointed to a statement by the nation’s bishops which said that “generosity
represents the best o e American tradition” and should be the basis for confronting the
question.
WWII Prisoners Still Held
MADRID, Spain (NC) - A Spanish priest who was a chaplain of the Blue Division of
Spanish volunteers on the Russian Front during World War II is still a prisoner in a
camp in Siberia, according to press reports here. Father Jose Maria Lopez of Granada
is reported to have been captured by Russian troops during a battle in the outskirts of
Leningrad during that city’s siege by the German army.
More Just Portugal Seen
LISBON (NC) - Hope that a more just society will evolve in Portugal was expressed
in a statement issued following a meeting of the Lisbon priests’ council with Cardinal
Antonio Ribeiro, patriarch of Lisbon, and his two auxiliary bishops. The bishops and
priests’ council said that they hope also that recent events in Portugal -- where the
military junta that took over the government in April has promised a return of civil
rights lost under the previous regime - will “lead to new liberties for the Portugese.”