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PAGE 3—November 14,1974
Church Reunion: Where the Action Is
(One Of A Series)
Interfaith dialogue, prayer and work
at the grassroots level are at the heart of
the ecumenical movement.
One leading Catholic ecumenist
summarized the prospects of unity
without the experience of dialogue and
sharing on the local level: “You just get
higher echelon mergers that never really
change the local parish.”
But in the decade since the Catholic
Church entered the ecumenical age --
with the Second Vatican Council’s
Decree on Ecumenism on Nov. 21,1964
- local ecumenism has flourished in a
surprising variety of activities and
structures.
Even the briefest listing would have
to include interfaith social action
projects, adult education, living-room
dialogues, interdenominational prayer
and worship, pulpit exchanges, sharing
of facilities, countless thousands of
sermons, speeches, seminars and
workshops, local ministerial associations
and lay ecumenical committees.
When the Second Vatican Council
reminded Catholics that one of their
tasks is to seek the reunion of all
Christians, the first moves were
enthusiastic but highly tentative.
Catholics had been raised in an era in
which Protestant community projects
were viewed with suspicion and Catholic
participation was often forbidden
because it was considered an
advancement of another religion.
In that context it was a major step
for Catholics to begin joining with other
Christians and Jews in social projects,
interdenominational efforts to meet
community needs. It was a “safe” field
because it was clear that joint response
to a common human need did not
involve compromise in faith or doctrine.
“Dialogue” became the most
overworked word in the Catholic
vocabulary, with the possible exception
of “renewal.” But this was only because
so much was actually happening.
“Living-room dialogues” were
encouraged, and in many parishes
dozens of such programs were started.
In ijiost cases such programs died within
a few months as enthusiasm waned -
and new programs were started, and
these again died. . . But the contacts
were made, friendships were formed,
little by little new understandings and
sensitivities replaced old biases.
Bishops were invited to speak about
the Second Vatican Council to
Protestant ministerial groups and
congregations. Catholic parishes began
to invite Protestant and Jewish
theologians and clergy to speak or join
panel discussions at parish workshops,
seminars and lecture nights.
In many areas interdenominational
worship has developed as a real part of
local religious life. Intefaith services are
regularly scheduled during the yearly
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in
January and on days of national
celebration such as Thanksgiving and
the Fourth of July.
Catholic priests have joined, and in
many cases initiated, local ministerial
associations. These associations serve as
forums for discussion on faith,
theology, pastoral practice and
community problems. They also mark
the beginning of cooperation on
projects, mutual support and
encouragement among priests, ministers
and rabbis, and a new sensitivity to
other faiths in one’s own preaching and
ministry.
In some areas, particularly in newer
planned communities such as Columbia,
Md., interfaith centers with worship
facilities for several denominations have
replaced the traditional
one-denomination churches. Complete
facility-sharing is still rare, but the
sharing of office space and classroom
space is becoming more common. And
there are interfaith community centers
in many places for youth or the elderly,
for recreation, health services, and
counseling.
About 100 Catholic and Episcopal
parishes in this country have entered
into twi-parish “covenant”
relationships. More recently Catholic
and Lutheran parishes have done the
same thing. The two parishes under such
an agreement usually establish a
one-year or two-year program of joint
prayer, study and dialogue. They also
begin planning for structures of
cooperation such as sharing parish
facilities, working together for social
justice, and sponsoring joint social
events.
State Catholic conferences have
joined state councils of churches in
many parts of the country to help
develop a stronger, more unified
religious voice on public issues. The
Ohio and Texas councils of churches are
among the most notable examples.
In several areas of the country the
Catholic priests of a diocese have joined
in a series of dialogues with Lutheran
pastors of the area, following the format
and outline of the National
Lutheran-Catholic Dialogue. Catholic
and Episcopal priests and laity in
Montana have entered a state-wide
dialogue following the discussions of the
Anglican-Roman Catholic International
Commission.
Protestant and Jewish theologians
today often serve as visiting professors
for a semester or year at Catholic
universities and seminaries, and Catholic
theologians often do the same at
Protestant divinity schools.
Interfaith theological coalitions and
consortiums have sprang up in many
cities, so that rabbinical, ministerial and
priesthood students may take courses in
neighboring schools of a different faith
commitment. The consortium in St.
Louis recently began a continuing
education institute for minority-group
clergy - an action that might have been
impossible for any one of the schools
acting alone.
The result of such sharing is that
priests, ministers and rabbis entering
their ministries today often have a
deeper sensitivity to other traditions - a
sensitivity that carries into their
preaching and many other aspects of
leadership in the local faith community.
Taken together, the ecumenical
advances in the Catholic Church in 10
short years are remarkable. Some
progress has occurred at every level and
in virtually every field.
But the popular enthusiasm for the
initial encounters has died down or
virtually disappeared among many
Catholics. The realization of the many
difficulties involved in approaching
reunion, and the awareness that
enthusiasm and desire cannot replace
the years of hard work that are still
required, have led many to leave
ecumenism up to the theologians and
Church officials. Compared with the
vast effort still needed, the existing
structures of local ecumenism are still
spotty and inadequate.
The most significant source of alarm
for many ecumenists today is public
apathy, the attitude of many that the
ecumenical elite can do the job without
the active involvement of grassroots
Christians. (NC)
ON APPALACHIA
Bishops’ Pastoral Urged
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (NC) - The
Catholic Committee of Appalachia
(CCA) at its annual meeting here voiced
strong support of a proposed pastoral
letter by the bishops of the region on
the subject of powerlessness in
Appalachia.
More than 90 participants, including
field workers, Religious, bishops and
priests heard Bishop Michael J. Begley
of Charlotte, N.C., chairman of the
CCA, assure the group of positive
responses by many bishops to the
proposed pastoral.
“As soon as we hold a hearing for the
industrial and management people and
the bishops have an opportunity to
complete their individual critiques,”
Bishop Begley said, “we will ask for
signatures and approval of the final
draft.”
The final draft is proposed to be
presented to all 45 bishops of the
Appalachian region during the annual
bishops’ meeting later this month in
Washington.
Appalachia has been defined by
Congress as including all of West
Virginia and parts of Alabama, Georgia,
Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, New
York, North Carolina, Ohio,
Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee
and Virginia.
Several community workers
expressed concern that the bishops
would give preferential treatment to
management.
Marie Cirillo of the Rural Life Office
for the diocese of Nashville, Tenn.,
suggested permitting representatives of
poor people’s groups to present their
views at the hearing.
Chuck Smith of the Catholic Worker
Farm in Lincoln County, W. Va.,
reminded the group: “Yahweh is on the
side of the poor. The bishops won’t
make a mistake to be on their side.”
Representatives from nine states
ranging from New York to Mississippi
attended the two-day meeting.
The CCA is part of the Commission
on Religion in Appalachia which is
composed of representatives from 17
religious demoninations.
Serrans Told To Be Concerned with Men
CHARISMATICS IN ST. PAUL - Participants in the
Upper Midwest Regional Conference on Catholic
Charismatic Renewal raise their hands in praise during
the meeting in St. Paul, Minn. Nov. 1-3. It was one of
several such gatherings around the nation. In Atlantic
Pope Paul Says Church Needs Love
City, N.J., the charismatics’ Eastern General
Conference was told by one speaker to “let go of the
junk” in their lives so that God could fill the gap with
love. (NC Photo)
ATLANTA (NC) - Members of Serra
International should be less concerned
with the Church and more concerned
with “mankind and its share in God’s
love,” a priest-member of the group told
its Southeastern convention here.
Father John F. O’Donnell of Pine
Bluff, Ark., called on his fellow Serrans
to “address ourselves to our
LOS ANGELES (NC) - Archbishop
Robert J. Dwyer, retired archbishop of
Portland, Ore., has assumed
the editorship of the National Catholic
Register, it was announced here Nov. 5.
His appointment followed the firing
of Dale Francis as editor-publisher of
the paper in mid-October, when the
Register’s editorial offices were moved
from Huntington, Ind., to the Los
Angeles offices of Twin Circle. Both
papers were owned by Patrick Frawley,
a Catholic layman, through a subsidiary
of Frawley Enterprises, Inc.
Father Robert Fox, priest-columnist
for the Register who had quit in protest
responsibility to allow God’s love to
enfold all men, then we would be quick
to find that conversions, vocations, and
a healthy Church would be necessary
by-products of our world over-view of
love.”
Serra is an international organization
to promote vocations to the priesthood
and Religious life.
over the firing of Francis and
questioned the paper’s future
orthodoxy, announced he was returning
to the paper as a result of Archbishop
Dwyer’s appointment.
Archbishop Dwyer has been chairman
of the board of the Register for the past
four years and is a regular columnist in
the paper.
“The urgent need for the expression
of a balanced view of the role of the
Church in the contemporary world,
listing neither to irresponsible
permissiveness nor to fanatical
fundamentalism, prompts me to accept
the responsibility,” said the Archbishop.
Auxiliary Bishop Rene Gracida of
Miami said that “no new gimmicks or
theology” is needed in the Church.
What is needed, he added, is the
application of evangelization and the
need for models for young people to
follow.
Young people, Bishop Gracida said,
look for someone who reflects the
virtues which they see in Christ: joy,
love, kindness, patience, tolerance, and
open mind, a willingness to listen, a
spirit of compassion and concern, a
sincere and honest simplicity, and
directness.
These qualities, he said, are like the
fruits of the Spirit of Love as listed by
St. Paul and which includes the roles of
apostle, prophet, pastor, evangelist, and
teacher.
John Donahue, international assistant
executive director of Serra, told the
Serrans that as long as the Church has
ministries of service, the Holy Spirit will
see to the functions of the sacraments
by fruitful vocations.
Service and the Gospel, he added,
should be foremost in the thoughts and
actions of the Serrans.
Close to 200 Serrans from Georgia,
Florida, Alabama, North and South
Carolina, Arkansas, the Bahamas and
Panama attended the regional meeting.
VATICAN CITY (NC) - Pope Paul
VI told his weekly general audience
Nov. 6 that the Church needs love.
He rebuked not only secularists for
antagonism toward the Church but also
Catholics who seem to forget their
Church’s need of love.
Pope Paul began his address with a
question: “What does the Church need
today?” He answered: “The Church has
need to be loved.”
Observing that the subject cut across
various levels, Pope Paul said:
“First, there are those who are,” ‘a
priori’ (prejudicially) hostile to the
Church deliberately, by instinctive
repulsion, and they are legion. From
them flow waves of aversion, negation,
atheism, anticlericalism or, as one says
today, secularism.
“Certainly there flows no love, but
antipathy, even hatred, as though the
Church were a disease, a peril for
humanity . ..
“This ehmity toward the followers of
Christ, that is toward the Church, has a
perennial history, paralleling secular
history. It is the history of persecutions.
It is the destiny set aside for the Son of
God . ..”
Pope Paul, asking whether one should
despair over this, answered:
“No, we must not despair, thinking
of the case of St. Paul, the first of so
many, whose conversion teaches us how
powerful and happy the act of grace
may be which induced him to write of
himself: ‘I am the least of the apostles
and am not worthy to be called an
apostle because I have persecuted the
Church of God.’”
The Pope then spoke of “Christians,
Catholics even, and those brothers who
seem to have forgotten” that the pilgrim
Church has need of love.
Pope Paul continued: “These are the
brothers who have left vacant the
positions assigned them in the house of
the Lord. They are brothers and sons
who have transformed the positive
witness, which the people of God
awaited of them, into the arrogant
functions of judges and critics of the
very holy Church of God.
“Sometimes, usurping to themselves a
faculty of free scrutiny of her doctrine
and her life, they have calmly aligned
themselves with the adversaries whence,
with bitterness and no longer with love,
they have silently moved away, perhaps
protesting a desire to remain within
ecclesial communion.”
Pope Paul concluded: “There is need
for all of us to increase our love of the
Church so that she may be worthy of
being loved by those who do not know
her or who only know her human
defects and who are ignorant of the
strength of fidelity to the Gospel.”
OF NATIONAL REGISTER
Archbishop Dwyer Editor
NATIONAL ELECTION ROUNDUP
Two Priests Elected to House of Representatives
BY JIM CASTELLI
WASHINGTON (NC) - One priest
was reelected to the U. S. House of
Representatives and another elected for
the first time in an election featuring
several races of particular interest to
Catholics.
Jesuit Father Robert Drinan, 53, a
Democrat, was elected to a third term
from the Fourth Congressional District
in Massachusetts.
Norbertine Father Robert Cornell,
54, also a Democrat, was elected in the
Eighth Wisconsin district on his third
try for the office. He is a history
professor at St. Norbert’s College in
DePere, Wise.
Father Drinan won an absolute
majority for the first time in his third
three-way race, his strongest showing to
date. Earlier in the fall questions had
been raised about whether he had the
proper Church permissions to run for
political office, but his superior, Jesuit
Father Richard T. Cleary, issued a
statement affirming such permission.
“I am sorry you have suffered from
the silly question of whether or not a
priest can be a person and a politician,”
Father Drinan told his supporters at his
victory celebration. “You can now ask
our foes why Drinan is ahead of
everybody else.”
Father Drinan has been controversial
because of his role in Watergate
investigations. A member of the House
Judiciary Committee, he introduced the
first impeachment resolution in
Congress in the summer of 1973. He
voted for all three impeachment
resolutions against former President
Richard Nixon approved by the
committee, and introduced a fourth
resolution calling the President’s
bombing of Cambodia an impeachable
offense.
He opposed the confirmation of
Gerald Ford as vice-president last
December and said he is undecided
about whether to support President
Ford’s vice-presidential nominee, former
New York Gov. Nelson Rockefeller.
In his campaign, Father Drinan spent
$120,000, more than any other
Massachusetts congressional candidate.
Father Cornell defeated Harold
Froehlich, a Republican member of the
House Judiciary Committee who voted
for impeachment. Father Cornell was
narrowly defeated by Froehlich in
1972, after losing to an incumbent
Republican by a 16,000 vote margin in
1970. This year he defeated Froehlich
by 13,000 votes in a heavily Catholic
area.
In other races:
-- In New York, Democratic Rep.
Hugh Carey defeated Governor Malcolm
Wilson by 800,000 votes in an election
political observers see as significant for
bringing working class, ethnic voters,
mostly Catholic, back into the
Democratic party. Observers credit
Carey with reuniting the “Roosevelt
coalition” of liberals, blacks and the
working class.
-- In the New York Senate race,
Barbara Keating, running as a
Conservative with strong backing by
New York right-to-life groups, got 16
percent of the vote, leaving liberal
Republican Jacob Javits with a victory
with only 45 percent of the vote against
38 percent for Democrat Ramsey Clark,
former U. S. Attorney General. Clark
ran the most “popular” race in the
country, taking liberal stands on issues
and limiting contributions to $100 per
person. Clark said his campaign showed
that an effective campaign can be run
with small contributions.
- Sen. Birch Bayh (D-Ind.) was
reelected by a relatively narrow margin
over Indianapolis Mayor Richard Lugar.
Bayh is chairman of the Senate
Subcommittee on Constitutional
Amendments which is conducting
hearings on proposed amendments
prohibiting elective abortions.
- Democratic Congressman William
Roy, earlier a favorite to defeat
Republican Sen. Robert Dole of Kansas,
blamed his defeat on a “vicious”
campaign against him by anti-abortion
groups. Roy, a physician, was largely
responsible for Kansas having a liberal
abortion law before the January 1973
Supreme Court decision striking down
state laws restricting abortion within the
first six months of pregnancy.
- Gerald Brown, son of former
California Gov. Pat Brown and a former
seminarian, was elected governor of
California as a Democrat.
- Illinois Lt. Gov. Paul Simon,
co-author of “The Politics of World
Hunger” with his brother, the Rev.
Arthur Simon, executive director of an
ecumenical hunger lobby, Bread for the
World, was elected as a Democratic
representative from Illinois.
A
Voters in Maryland rejected by a
margin of about 55 to 45 percent a law
that would have provided about $9.7
million worth of transportation,
educational equipment and textbooks
to nonpublic school students.
James E. Shaneman, executive
director of the Maryland Catholic
Conference, said the margin of defeat
was larger than that by which Maryland
voteres in 1972 rejected a law providing
$12.1 million for scholarships to
nonpublic school students from lower
income families.
Shaneman denied, however, that the
larger vote against nonpublic school aid
indicated a growth of opposition to
such aid. He pointed out that the voters
had decisively rejected a proposal to
raise from $25,000 to $45,000 the
salary of Gov. Marvin Mandel, who won
re-election in a landslide. “There’s no
question that electorate was not in a
mood for increased spending of any
kind,” Shaneman said.
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