Newspaper Page Text
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The Southern Cross
DIOCESE OF SAVANNAH NEWSPAPER
Vol. 55 No. 45
Thursday, December 19,1974
Single Copy Price — 15 Cents
Christ’s Human Nature Is the Same as Ours
Bishop’s Office
Diocese Of Savannah
P.0. Box 8789
Savannah, Georgia
31402
Christmas 1974
My dear friends in Christ,
Our annual celebration of the feast of Christmas brings us once again face to face with the mystery of the
Son of God taking on our human condition. The event of Christ’s birth took place some 2,000 years ago;
yet the human nature He assumed remains always the same. It is Adam’s humanity, as it is yours and mine.
It is a good humanity, because it is the work of God’s creative hands. It is also a glorious humanity, because
it is destined to unending joy and happiness with its loving and eternal Lord.
At the same time, it is a wounded humanity, faltering along toward its destiny burdened by sin and
infirmity, by pain and suffering. This enfeebled condition is as glaringly evident today as it was after
Adam’s fall. The needless disparities that persist between nations and peoples, the hostilities and hate that
continue to pitch brother against brother, the increasing threats against the sacredness of life itself, the
abiding uncertainties and fears that afflict most of us - all of these symptoms and scars leave obscured the
basic goodness of God’s creation.
One striking example of humanity’s plight today is the stark reality of millions of people around the
globe who are at this moment facing not only the pain of physical hunger but the threat of imminent death
by starvation. This intolerable situation was the object of particular concern for the Bishops of the United
States at their recent annual meeting in Washington. (See the Bishops’ Statement, “World Food Crisis - a
Pastoral Plan” in the Southern Cross of December 5,1974.)
In freely choosing to become one of us, Christ sought to identify with our human condition just as it is,
with all of its wounds and weaknesses. He did so in order that He might make our humanity integral and
whole again. “I came so that they might have life” (John 10:10). He continues that healing mission down
through the ages by sharing with us His saving power, by calling each one of us to be the instruments of His
reconciling action, the ministers of His peace and love and joy.
The Apostle James reminds us, however, that it is not enough merely to wish well to our sisters and
brothers in need (cfr. James 2: 15-16); we must in fact and in deed try to help. Perhaps a reading of the
Bishops’ statement on the food crisis might suggest to us concrete ways in which we can today participate
in and make visible Christ’s liberating and life-giving presence in our midst. It could be our way of
announcing to our world the good news of Emmanuel, “God with us.”
May I take this opportunity to wish each and every one of you a blessed Christmas and a peaceful and
happy New Year of our Lord 1975.
Devotedly yours in Christ,
(A,
Bishop of Savannah
V.
WITHIN CATHOLIC CHURCH
Pope Urges Holy
Reconciliation
VATICAN CITY (NC) - Pope Paul
VI, in an apostolic exhortation “to the
episcopate, clergy and faithful of the
entire world on reconciliation within
the Church, ” urged them to seize the
Holy Year’s spirit of reconciliation and
heal the “spirit of faction” now dividing
the Church.
He decried “the ferments of infidelity
to the Holy Spirit existing here and
there in the Church today and
unfortunately attempting to undermine
her from within.”
Without naming specific groups, he
continued:
“The promoters and the victims of
this process, who are in fact small in
number by comparison with the vast
majority of the faithful, claim to remain
in the Church, with the same rights and
opportunities of expression and action
as the rest of the faithful, in order to
attack ecclesial unity.”
The Pope signed his apostolic
ethortation on the Feast of the
Immaculate Conception, Dec. 8. It was
released Dec. 16.
Pope Paul said that loyalty to the
authority of the Pope and bishops and
to the Church’s magisterium (teaching
authority) is the only way to maintain
“sure union with Christ.”
The Pope said the Church has
overcome rifts and internal dissension
throughout its history by “clearly
reaffirming” basic principles of unity.
t He asserted that today’s “ferments of
infidelity” are “equally dangerous and
such as to warrant this clarification and
call to unity.”
The Pope spoke strongly against
those who oppose the authority of
bishops, and against “deceptively easy”
formulas and “teachings that do not
hold fast to the objectivity of the
faith.”
At the same time he firmly stated
that, properly understood, “pluralism of
research and thought” has a “legitimate
right of citizenship in the Church.”
He added that the “inscrutable
riches” of the mystery of Christ actually
call for “constant fresh research.”
The Pope said that the Church’s role
as reconcilier on earth has been
obscured by “doctrinal dissension which
claims the patronage of theological
pluralism.”
He continued: “This pluralism is at
times regarded as a legitimate
theological stand that permits the taking
up of positions contrary to the
authentic magisterium of the Roman
Pontiff and of the hierarchy of
bishops.”
The magisterium, the Pope said, is “a
guarantee for all against the subjective
judgment of every varied interpretation
of the faith . 4 .. In fact, without the
mediation of the Church’s
magisterium... the sure union with
Christ through the Apostles... is
compromised.”
Pope Paul noted that the variety of
members and functions in the Church
provoke “inevitable tensions.” To deal
with these tensions, according to the
Pope, Christ gave special authority to
bishops.
INSIDE STORY
St. Mary’s Home
Pg. 2
Letter to President
Pg. 3
Cooks Nook
Pg. 6
Christmas Musical
Pg. 8
Pope Paul VI
The Pope said that failure to heed
legitimate Church authority leads to a
“polarization of dissent” that “bears
within it and, as far as it can, introduces
into the ecclesial community the seeds
of disintegration.”
The exhortation, signed by the Pope
on the Feast of the Immaculate
Conception, Dec. 8, appeals to anyone
who “feels that he is in any way
implicated in this state of division” to
seek reconciliation. “In each one we
would like to reawaken the longing for
what he has lost.”
“We try hard to understand the root
of this situation and we compare it to
the analogous situation in which
contemporary civil society is living,” the
Pope said. But he also warned that the
Church “ought not to assimiliate” from
society “what is rather a pathological
state.”
The Pope said he was presenting the
exhortation before the opening on
Christmas Eve of the Holy Year - with
its theme of renewal and reconciliation
-- so that all may “become agents and
promoters of reconciliation with God
and with their brethren, and that this
coming Christmas of the Holy Year may
truly be for the world the ‘Birth of
Peace’ as was the birth of the Savior.”
The exhortation makes an appeal for
reconciliation and forgiveness to priests
who have left the ministry. The Pope
first expresses the Church’s sorrow at
their departure and notes the
“consolation and joy” given the Church
by the perseverance of the great
majority of priests.
The Pope added: “Being supported
and comforted by the merits of this
great number, she wishes to change also
the sorrow which has been visited upon
her into a love that can understand
everything and in Christ pardon
everything.”
A true climate of reconciliation, the
Pope added, includes “fraternal
Reminder
Be generous to our dependent
children in St. Mary’s Home at the
offertory collection during
Christmas Mass, and be sure to
read the short history of the home
on page 2 of this edition.
openness to others” that fosters “the
practice of fraternal correction.”
He pointed out that fraternal
correction is a work of charity that can
be “done by any one of the faithful to
every brother in the faith.” Fraternal
correction, the Pope said, “can be the
normal means of healing many
dissensions or of preventing them from
arising.”
In a Vatican press conference, called
to present the exhortation, Archbishop
Albert Descamps, president of the
Pontifical Biblical Commission,
explained that the Pope in the
exhortation was giving a picture of the
present state of the Church, which
includes elements of dissent.
He said that the Pope “was not
excommunicating” any groups through
this document, but was trying to bring
about a Holy Year spirit of
reconciliation.
cmfiii|
HEADLINE
HOPSCOTCH
ft 1
Girl Scouting Meet
NEW ORLEANS (NC) -- A national convention for Catholic Girl Scouting will be
held in New Orleans April 23-25,1975, with the Catholic Committee on Girl Scouting
of the New Orleans archdiocese serving as host. The convention will focus on sharing
and discussing ideas geared to the special needs of the Catholic girl in Scouting.
Parliament Cedes Veto Power
LONDON (NC) - The British Parliament has relinguished its veto power over
decisions of the Church of England - mother church of the Anglican communion - in
matters of doctrine and worship. By a vote of 14545, the House of Commons brought
to an end a state of affairs which had lasted since the Reformation.
Christmas Amnesty Urged
LA PAZ, Bolivia (NC) -- The Bolivian Bishops’ Conference urged the government of
Gen. Hugo Banzer to grant a Christmas amnesty to political prisoners and exiles. The
bishops also questioned Banzer’s social and economic policies. Cardinal Clemente
Maurer of Sucre and the conference’s board delivered the appeal to the Bolivian chief
of state during a personal visit here.
Governor Dedicates Center
BROOKLYN, N.Y. (NC) - New York Gov.-elect Hugh L. Carey, Brooklyn
Democrat and longtime supporter of social welfare legislation in the U.S. Congress,
joined Bishop Francis J. Mugavero of Brooklyn in the dedication of a new publicly
funded but Catholic-run center here, designed both for the use of senior citizens and
for the training of profoundly retarded adults. “There is no such thing as a person who
is not useful to society,” Carey said. He pledged to keep “people’s needs first” during
his term as governor.
SOUTHERN CROSS Celebrates Holidays
There will be no SOUTHERN CROSS next week. The last week in December
is one of the weeks that the paper is not published. The next issue will be
January 2,1975.