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I 4 The Southern Cross DIOCESE OF SAVANNAH NEWSPAPER Vol. 56 No. 10 Thursday, March 6,1975 Single Copy Price — 15 Cents TO RESOL VE DISPUTES Diocese Adopts Mediation Procedures SOVIET CHURCHMEN VISIT - Russian Orthodox Metropolitan Filaret (top left) and Lithuanian Catholic Msgr. Cheslav Krivaitis (top right) listen to questions at a news conference in New York’s Interchurch Center. The Soviet churchmen, visiting the U.S. for three weeks, said that their Country does not discriminate against Jews or persecute Christians. Fundamentalist Rev. Carl Mclntire (left in bottom photo) disagreed, and led group of demonstrators outside the building. The Soviet churchmen are currently visiting Atlanta. (NC Photos by Jo-ann Price) Catholic Overseas Aid Appeal BY JOHN REYNOLDS Monsignor Daniel J. Bourke recently attended a meeting of Catholic Relief Services (CRS). Among the speakers were Arthur Simon, the Executive Director of Bread for the World, a writer who includes among his books “Faces of Poverty” and “Stuyvesant Town, USA: Pattern for Two Americas.” Recently with his brother he co-authored a book “The Politics of World Hunger,” which Senator Edward M. Kennedy has recommended as a basic text in any serious review of this critical issue. Mr. Simon spoke on the necessity of the affluent nations coming to the aid of the poor nations “whose poverty it is almost impossible for us even to imagine.” The sincerity and logic of his talk deeply moved his audience which included Terence Cardinal Cooke and Bishop Edward E. Swanstrom, Executive Director of the Catholic Relief Services. Cardinal Cooke and Bishop Swanstrom also addressed the meeting urging the representatives of the various dioceses to spearhead the appeal which will be made in the Catholic Churches throughout the nation on Laetare Sunday, March 9. Msgr. Bourke was proud, he said, INSIDE STORY Mideast Solution Pg. 2 Church in East Europe Pg. 3 Entertainment Pg. 6 Food Crisis Pg. 7 ■\ L. J when he heard that last year’s collection in the Savannah diocese of almost $11,000.00 placed the per capita contribution of the Catholics of the Diocese of Savannah among the very highest in the nation. Yet this means that in the Laetare Sunday collection last year the per capita contribution was only slightly over 30 cents. Msgr. Bourke, at the request of Mr. Edward M. Kinney the Assistant to the Executive Director, told the delegates of the wonderful response to the appeal on behalf of the sufferers of the Sahelian Desert “which was spearheaded by Father Michael O’Keffee of Waycross, Georgia, and which netted approximately $20,000.00, and of the “generous response each year to the clothing drive appeal.” Catholic Relief Services was organized in 1943 as the official agency of the Catholic Bishops to serve the needy and underprivileged of other lands without regard to race, creed or color. It has become the largest organization of its kind in the world. The total value of its program in 1974 exceeded $154 million. The collection will be taken up in all the parishes of the diocese on Sunday, March 9. A “Process of Mediation” to “assure an adequate protection of rights as well as a fair and expeditious resolution of disputes” arising in the church has been adopted by the Diocese of Savannah. Norms for establishing mediation panels when requested by disputants, as well as norms for the process of mediation to be followed by mediation panels, were set forth in a letter sent last week by Bishop Raymond W. Lessard to diocesan and Religious clergy and to convents and other religious institutions in the diocese. The process of mediation, said the bishop “has been the object of lengthy consideration by the Senate of Priests and, with my approval, is now being promulgated as the official procedure to be followed in this diocese in the event that a dispute arise concerning an administrative action or decision.” Full text of the letter, dated February 25th, is as follows: My dear friends in Christ: In their final document, “Justice in the World,” the delegates at the 1971 Synod of Bishops declared: “The Church, indeed, is not alone resDonsible for justice in the world; however, she has a proper and specific responsibility which is identified with her mission of giving witness before the world of the need for love and justice contained in the Gospel message, a witness to be carried out in Church institutions themselves and in the lives of Christians.” Renewal in the forum of justice within the Church cannot consist merely in a clearer enunciation of the rights and freedoms of all persons in the Church. It must also include the setting up of structures that will assure an adequate protection of rights as well as a fair and expeditious resolution of disputes when they arise. Such built-in safeguards are meant to provide that no fundamental right or freedom will be denied without justification and that every individual will be accorded specific protections in the processes of justice. While any assessment of the adequacy of present structures in the Church involves a study of the entire legislative, judicial and administrative organization of the Church, the area of greatest need at the moment is that of administrative decisions. The need becomes particularly urgent with the creation of increasing numbers of boards, departments and agencies to supplement the bishop’s personal administrative activities. The proliferation of administrative pc vers necessarily entails an increase in tl number of persons entitled to e! ercise the discreation proper to administrative authority, and hence an increase in the dangers to human rights and freedom that are inherent in uncontrolled and unchecked discretionary power. Many of the causes of conflict in the Church would be removed if all unnecessary discretionary power were eliminated and effective guidelines and controls upon necessary discretionary authority were developed. Still, conflicts will arise, and it is necessary that procedures be established whereby these conflicts and disputes can be resolved justly and equitably. It is to be hoped that any such procedures will be imbued with the gospel spirit of love and forgiveness. St. Paul specifically applies this teaching of Christ when he rebukes Christians for litigating openly with one another. (I Cor. 6: 1-8) It is in that spirit of Christian reconciliation and to provide a structured means for the community that a Process of Mediation is being set up for the Diocese of Savannah. The Process of Mediation described below has been the object of lengthy consideration by the Senate of Priests and, with my approval, is now being promulgated as the official procedure to be followed in this diocese in the event that a dispute arise concerning an administrative action or decision. PROCESS OF MEDIATION Art. I. ESTABLISHMENT 1. Any person (“initiating participant”) in conflict with any person, group, agency or institution exercising administrative authority within the Diocese of Savannah may have recourse to the Officialis of the Diocese, indicating briefly the nature of the problem and requesting him to initiate a process of mediation. 2. The Officialis shall then inform the person, group, agency or institution with whom there is a conflict (“convoked participant”), indicating the fact and nature of the problem and seeking acceptance of mediation. 3. The Officialis shall then proceed with the formation of a mediation panel, composed as follows: a. If the dispute is among priests only (diocesan or religious), the Chairman of the Senate of Priests shall be requested to appoint a panel of three priests. b. If the dispute is among non-clerical Religious, the Chairperson of the Senate of Religious shall be requested to appoint a mediation panel of three Religious. c. If the dispute is among laypersons, the Chairperson of the Diocesan Pastoral Council shall be requested to appoint a mediation panel of three laypersons. d. If the dispute is between persons belonging to any two or more of these categories, the Officialis shall request (Continued on Page 7) Bishop Lessard Fr. Nelson, Officialis HEADLINE HOPSCOTCH Young Adult Ministry WASHINGTON (NC) -- Augustinian Father Patrick O’Neill, director of campus ministry for the Diocese of Orlando, Fla., has been named representative for campus and young adult ministry in the U.S. Catholic Conference (USCC) Department of Education. Father O’Neill, 35, has served in the Orlando diocese since 1969. Czech-Church Talks VATICAN CITY (NC) - Church-state negotiations between the Vatican and the Czechoslovak government are to be resumed as a result of high-level talks in Prague between Archbishop Agostino Casaroli, secretary of the Council for the Public Affairs of the Church, and Czechoslovak ministers. Archbishop Casaroli returned to the Vatican Feb. 26 after three days of talks in Prague, and told reporters that his meetings with the Czechoslovak ministers “were exceedingly positive.” Court Order Called 'Rash’ JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (NC) - The U.S. Supreme Court acted with “unbelievable rashness” in issuing a temporary restraining order against a Missouri abortion restriction law without first considering the merits of the case, the executive chairman of the Missouri Catholic Conference has charged. The chairman, Bishop Michael McAuliffe of Jefferson City, also charged that “the hastiness of the court’s action displays an eagerness by the court to impose its abortion philosophy on the states and the people of this nation.” Zaire Persecution Feared ROME (NC) -- The Catholic Church in Zaire faces outright persecution and virtual suppression should President Mobutu Sese Seko carry out his threat to close down every Roman Catholic Church in that African country, according to reports arriving here. Mobutu’s announced plan is to elevate the People’s Movement of the Revolution to the status of a church and to promote “Mobutism” as a national ancestor-worship church of African “authenticity,” with himself as messiah. He has already taken over all schools, most of which were operated by the Catholic Church or other Christian churches. Eucharistic Congress PHILADELPHIA (NC) - A panel of 42 church, civic and business leaders was announced by Cardinal John Krol of Philadelphia to help direct the 41st International Eucharistic Congress, to be held Aug. 1-8, 1976. The Philadelphia archdiocese will be host for the congress. Among those named to the board of governors, the policy-making body for the congress, are 11 U.S. bishops, a former Philadelphia mayor, a judge and an insurance executive. Cardinal Krol is chairman of the board of governors; Auxiliary Bishop Martin N. Lohmuller of Philadelphia, executive vice chairman, and Father Walter J. Conway, of Philadelphia, executive secretary.