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PAGE 3-May 23, 1974
INTERNA TIONAL COOPERA TION
Archbishop Bernardin Calls for Political Integrity
BELMONT, N.C. (NC) - Political
integrity at home and international
cooperation abroad are major challenges
to U.S. leadership, Archbishop Joseph
L. Bernardin of Cincinnati told the
1974 graduating class of Belmont
Abbey College here.
Preaching the baccalaureate sermon
at the Benedictine college, the
archbishop urged graduates to view
meeting the challenges as an application
of Christ’s commandment of love.
“Christ’s new commandment: love one
another, constitutes a new challenge to
every new age of Christian people,’
said.
he
BELMONT
Ecumenical Institute
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (NC) -
Belmont Abbey College and Wake
Forest University will cosponsor an
ecumenical institute beginning this
September. The institute will be an
expansion of the one established by
Wake Forest in 1968, and will be
headed by' the Rev. Dr. Claude U.
Broach, pastor of St. John’s Baptist
Church in Charlotte, N.C.
Father John P. Bradley, president of
Belmont Abbey College, and Dr. James
Ralph Scales, president of Wake Forest,
announced the new venture: Scales
stressed that when the institute was
founded six years ago it was not a
“propaganda agency,” and that it
continues to function as a “cooperative
venture of scholars to find answers to
the questions that trouble the religious
world of our generation.”
Broach commented that “the joint
sponsorship of the institute makes it
ecumenical in its very nature, not just in
its objectives.” Since 1968 the institute
CHICAGO DIRECTOR:
has sponsored, or jointly sponsored,
eight conferences between various faiths
and denominational groups including
Baptists and Roman Catholics, Baptists
and Jews and black and white Baptists.
Father Bradley and Scales said they
feel Dr. Broach is exceptionally well
qualified to direct the expanded
activities of the institute. Dr. Broach
holds Th.M. and Th. D. degrees from
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
as well as a number of honorary degrees,
including one from Belmont Abbey. He
was a “visiting theologian” at the final
sessions of the 1965 Vatican
Ecumenical Council and currently serves
on Belmont Abbey’s board of advisors.
Speaking for Belmont Abbey, Father
Bradley said that the college “welcomes
this opportunity to be associated with
such a fine institution as Wake Forest
University in an institute that seeks to
help the various Christian
denominations and other religions
toward a better understanding of each
other.”
Archbishop Bernardin said that in an
age of increasing shortages, a tendency
is developing in the U.S. toward a policy
of national isolationisn. In an effort to
maintain our high standard of living, the
country’s mood seems to be one of “let
us feed, fuel, educate and, in general,
provide for all our own needs without
being too concrened about the rest of
the world.” he told graduates.
The challenge to the nation’s future
leaders, therefore, is “to refuse to allow
this nation to become closed in upon
itself,” he said, “satisfying its own need
while much of the rest of the world
suffers shortages far, far worse than we
have ever known.” If Christ’s command
of love is to be taken seriously, he said,
“then we must renew our commitment
to seek solutions to our own
problems... in collaboration with the
other nations of the world and not
independently of their needs and
aspirations.”
Archbishop Bernardin declared that
the new graduates are also challenged to
show concern for “the integrity of
political office.” Citing the current loss
of such integrity, the archbishop said
that “Christ’s command holds a new
challenge for every Christian to work
with renewed vigor toward rebuilding
public confidence in our governmental
system.”
The archbishop said a “new earth
must be constructed from the fabric of
man’s love for his fellow man,” and that
self-fulfullment at any cost is “directly
opposed to Christ’s commandment of
love.” Such thinking “threatens the very
principles upon which our country was
founded,” he concluded.
Archbishop Bernardin stressed that
Christians must be prepared today more
than ever to meet the challenge of
defending human rights against those
who would trample on them. Regardless
of a person’s position in society, or his
philospohy of life, all people possess
“human rights and are persons whom
we have been commanded to love.”
The college awarded Archbishop
Bernardin an honorary doctor of
humane letters degree for his
“progressive influence” in Church
renewal, and his “concern for social
justice and the needs of the
disadvantaged.”
Vocation Drop Serious, Not FataV
CHICAGO (NC) - “If we, the priests
and Religious, are what we are supposed
to be, then I really believe we’ll attract
the younger generation without having
to advertise,” said Father J. Edward
Duggan, director of vocations for the
archdiocese of Chicago.
Father Duggan noted in an interview
with the New World, Chicago
archdiocesan paper, that when he first
took the position of vocations director
11 years ago, he spent much time
traveling to different schools and
parishes with literature and films. But
vocations still declined.
“My thinking right now is that the
product has to sell itself,” he said.
“Poster contests, seminars, lectures,
panels and symposiums are not going to
be effective if the product does not sell
PRIESTLY FORMATION
Consultation Begins
WASHINGTON (NC) - The U.S.
Catholic bishops’ Committee on Priestly
Formation has begun a consultation of
the nation's bishops, seminary faculties
and vocation directors as part of the
revision of the three- year-old training
program for future priests.
The current “Program of Priestly
Formation,” approved by the Vatican
Congregation for Catholic Education on
Jan. 18, 1971, has served as the one
basic training program for all future
priests, diocesan and Religious, in this
country since then.
At the time of its approval, it was
determined that the program should be
resubmitted to the Vatican for review
and evaluation at the end of five years.
The nationwide consultation now
underway is one part of the revision
process before the review date of
January, 1976.
The bishops’ committee is seeking
views on such topics as integration of
academic, spiritual, and field programs;
the meaning of “community” in
formation; programs for minorities;
preaching and liturgy; academic
freedom; and the relationship between a
seminary directed by Religious which
has diocesan students and the local
bishop.
Three subcommittees dealing with
the program are studying priestly
formation on the high school, college
and theologate levels.
A steering committee will edit a
revised program for submission to the
U.S. bishops in November, 1975.
The bishops’ committee and the
formation committee of the Conference
of Major Superiors of Men have
determined that the present
consultation and revision of the
program will be limited to aspects that
are “practical, .concrete and
immediately solvable.”
itself, and many vocations directors are
moving in that direction.”
The central aim of renewal, he
pointed out, is to make sure priests and
nuns know who they are and what their
functions in life are.
In order to achieve this, Father
Duggan said, a priest or nun must first
aim for an internal renewal.
“If the young who are watching us,
“he added, “feel that we are not
satisfied, they will turn off toward a
vocation because they won’t want to
feel that same frustration.”
One of the problems in recruiting
vocations, Father Duggan explained, is
the contemporary trend toward
changing careers several times during
life.
However, there are probably many
reasons, he said, which no one knows
about yet. But, still, he is not
pessimistic.
“My confidence right now is in the
renewal programs taking place among
the Religious communities, “Father
Duggan said. “I may be oversimplifying
matters, but, if the young see that there
is really something in community life, if
they see Religious people happy,
satisfied in what they are doing,
supporting one another, building a good
prayer life, they will come to join.”
Many orders are no longer using
public relations and advertising
techniques to convince their members
of the validity of their vocations, he
added. Now, they are turning to retreats
and spiritual meetings to develop
commitment to the Religious life.
LAETARE MEDALIST - James A. Farley, former
Postmaster General and a major influence in the
Democratic party in the 1930’s, receives the Laetare
Medal of the University of Notre Dame from President
Father Theodore Hesburgh at the Waldorf Astoria
Hotel in New York. Farley was called a “beacon of
integrity” during the presentation dinner. (NC Photo)
James Farley 1974 Laetare Medalist
NEW YORK (NC) - The 1974
Laetare Medal was awarded to James A.
Farley, former Postmaster General and
national chairman of the Democratic
party who stood “as a beacon of
integrity” during his more active days in
American politics.
The highest honor given by the
University of Notre Dame, the Laetare
Medal has been given annually since
1883 to outstanding American
Catholics.
“Today, when America’s faith in its
political institutions and personalities is
challenged as never before,” the citation
said of Farley, “you stand as a beacon
of integrity.”
Popularly known as “Gentleman
Jim,” Farley was born the son of an
Irish brick manufacturer in Grassy
Point, N.Y., in 1888.
He became chairman of the New
York Democratic party in 1930, the
year Franklin D.
reelected governor.
Roosevelt was
During the 1932 Democratic national
convention, Farley was Roosevelt’s
floor man and later was named
Postmaster General. An indefatigable
worker, he was an expert at the
traditional approach to party workers.
A split with Roosevelt came when the
President announced for a third term.
Farley resigned in protest and
campaigned only prefunctorily for
F.D.R.’s reelection. Just before the
Democratic convention in 1944, Farley
resigned as national party chairman to
dramatize his opposition to a fourth
term.
The Laetare citation made note of
Farley’s friendly opposition by saying,
“Without losing Franklin Roosevelt’s
friendship or lessening your allegiance
to your political party, you opposed
more than two four-year presidential
terms because you believed such was
not in the national interest.”
Farley, the citation noted, was a man
of principle in a profession in which it is
often easier to take the most expedient
path.
“There is no honor that I have ever
received that has given me greater
satisfaction than the Laetare Medal,”
said Farley who last year resigned as
honorary chairman of the Coca Cola
Export Corp. The banquet was jointly
sponsored by Notre Dame and the Coca
Cola organization.
Among the guests at the dinner were
Father Theodore Hesburgh, president of
Notre Dame. New York Mayor
Abraham Beame, and Farley’s son and
two daughters. Farley is a widower.
The Laetare Medal is the American
counterpart of the Golden Rose, a papal
honor antedating the 11th Century.
It is a solid gold disc suspended from
a gold bar. Inscribed on the face are the
words, “Magna Est Veritas et
Prevalebit,” which is Latin for “Truth is
might and will prevail.”
Marian Scholar Urges More Interfaith Understanding of Mary
SAN FRANCISCO (NC) -- Catholics should be very slow to label as “enemies”
other Christians who do not understand the role of Mary in the Church, a
leading mariologist told an ecumenical workshop here.
Father Eamon Carroll, a Carmelite priest who teaches theology at the Catholic
University of America in Washington, D.C., gave the opening address at the
five-day workshop, entitled “The Virgin Mary in Ecumenical Perspective.” He
said that participants would “examine from various Christian viewpoints some of
the hopes and difficulties for Christian unity in this sensitive area.”
The San Francisco workshop was the second of an annual series projected for
various cities; the first was held on the campus of Catholic University in June
1973.
Archbishop Joseph T. McGucken of San Francisco, said Father Carroll “has
been of great assistance to the American bishops in preparing ‘Behold Your
Mother’ which seemed to find an echo in Rome in ‘Marialis Cultus’.”
“Marialis Cultus” (“Marian Devotion”) is a new papal statement on the
Blessed Virgin that was published recently. Three months earlier, in November
1973, the U.S. bishops published a pastoral letter urging renewed devotion to
Mary.
Archbishop McGucken said he welcomed the ecumenical dimension of the
Marian seminar on a devotion which is “really centered toward the one redeemer
of the human race, our Lord Jesus Christ.”
“For four-and-a-half centuries,” Father Carroll said, “the Mother of Jesus has
been a sign of division between Western Christians, in the Protestant
Reformation and the' Catholic Counter-reformation beliefs and practices about
the Virgin Mary hardened into positions characteristic of the two contending
sides.
“In recent years there has been a thaw: From 1927 onwards, the Faith and
Order Conference, now part of the World Council of Churches, has occasionally
taken up the place of the Mother of the Savior in the communion of saints,
especially at the urging of representatives from Eastern Orthodoxy. In the
Roman Catholic world, the overtures of the Second Vatican Council, begun
under Pope John, continued under Pope Paul, have shown sensitivity to the
special difficulties Protestants find with Catholic doctrine and devotion to the
Mother of the Lord.”
Father Carroll retraced the history of Christian attitudes towards Mary.
The eucharistic prayers as early as the fourth century commemorate Mary,
Father Carroll said. “In time, however, the Blessed Virgin came to be separated
from the Church, and placed over it. The reaction of the reformers to extreme
separation of Mary from the rest of the Church was a factor in forbidding all
calling upon her in prayer.
“Within Catholicism the Second Vatican Council restored the Mother of Jesus
to her rightful place in the communion of saints, as the fellowship which is the
Church. We have moved from a privilege-centered consideration of Our Lady to
a ‘sharing’ concept. She is neither an understudy for Christ nor substitute for the
Holy Spirit. Rather she remains the first great witness to other members of the
Body of Christ, for she is especially joined to Him.”
But Father Carroll pointed out that, especially among some
conservative-evangelical Protestants, there is often a “sense of outrage . . .that
the Blessed Virgin and the communion of saints harm the majesty of Christ.”
Father Carroll observed: “In 1928 the Holy See put out a stern document
renewing the prohibition from taking part in ecumenical dialogue. The previous
year the Faith and Order Conference had met for the first time, in Switzerland,
and Roman Catholic observers were absent.
“There is an enormous difference between the fears expressed in the 1925
Roman ruling and the hopes voiced in the documents of the Second Vatican
Council and since then, including the Holy Father’s most recent letter on Marian
devotion and the American bishops’ joint pastoral of Fall, 1973, Without
glossing over real and keen differences, we now stress the sacraments and faith
that unite us.
“An old prayer runs: ‘Make me worthy to praise you, Oh Virgin Mary,’ and
the response is, ‘Give me strength against your enemies’,” said Father Carroll.
“Catholics should be very slow to label as ‘enemies’ of our Lady any other
Christian. As the Irish Dominican C. O’Neil has put it, ‘When Catholics are
speaking to other Christians, they dare not say that anyone who believes in
Christ has missed the point. . . If a convinced Christian is embarrassed by Roman
insistence on the prerogatives of Mary, then it is time for Catholics to consider
whether we are not seeing her in the wrong perspective’.”
The Marian scholar concluded by recalling a statement he heard last summer
on tour in Australia, a question put by a Congregationalist theologian: “Can we
know more of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ by dwelling devotionally on our
Lady’s role in the Incarnation?”
“It is the hope an'd prayer of the San Francisco workshop to find an
affirmative answer to this ecumenical question,” Father Carroll said.