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The Southern Cross DIOCESE OF SAVANNAH NEWSPAPER Vol. 56 No. 19 Thursday, May 8,1975 Single Copy Price — 15 Cents ANNUAL CONVENTION NCCW Director Addresses Diocesan Women Bishop Raymond W. Lessard, Miss Margaret Mealey, Banquet speaker; Mrs. William A. Kempton, President of Savannah Diocesan CCW; and Rev. Lawrence A. MEETS NEAR BRUNSWICK Lucree, Moderator of Savannah Diocesan Council of Catholic Women at annual DCCW Convention in Savannah, April 27. Episcopal-Catholic Conference By Rev. David Pritchard Ed., “Episcopal Church in Georgia” A two day, ecumenical conference was held April 29th to May 1st at the Georgia Episcopal Conference Center near Brunswick to study two agreed statements, produced by the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC). Sixty clergy, almost evenly divided between the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia and the (Roman) Catholic Diocese of Savannah, were present for the discussions. Both Bishop Raymond Lessard, of the Diocese of Savannah, and Bishop Paul Reeves, of the Diocese of Georgia, were in attendance. Leaders for the sessions were the Rev. A1 Laubenthal, Professor of Systematic Theology at St. Mary Seminary, Cleveland, Ohio, and the Rev. Michael Marshall, Vicar of All Saints’ Church, Margaret St., London and bishop-designate of the Diocese of Woolwich. Fr. Laubenthal is a member of the American Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission (A/RC). The two statements under consideration were the “Windsor Statement on Eucharistic Doctrine” of 1971 and the “Canterbury Statement on the Doctrine of the Ministry” of 1973. Fr. Marshall expressed his pleasure at three features of the Windsor Statement: the emphasis on biblical foundation, the approach to Christ’s presence in the Eucharist as what rather than how, and the strong element on eschatology. Fr. Laubenthal singled out the action orientation as well as the emphasis on Christ’s sacrifice being perpetuated as added features of the document. Between presentations by both leaders on each of the documents, the clergy divided into area groupings to discuss the points raised and to propose additional questions. After the last presentation they The Senate of Religious of the Savannah Diocese adopted a statement which included a call for a boycott of all grapes, wines and farm goods not bearing the label of the United Farm Workers (UFWA) at its April meeting. Main topic of discussion at the meeting was “The Meaning of Poverty for Religious of Today.” According to Sister Mary of the Angels, I.H.M., Senate President, “various levels of the vow of poverty were examined from awareness of the need to give external proof of authentic poverty on a personal level to the wider realm of identification of Religious with the poor and oppressed, as expressions of poverty.” Senate members adopted the following statement on poverty: “Our vow of poverty calls, demands, considered various ways of furthering ecumenical contact with each other and between congregations. Each day the Eucharist was celebrated according to both rites at different times in the morning. This was necessary since even limited intercommunion is not possible at the present time. At the closing Eucharist, the Rt. Rev. Paul Reeves read a draft of a covenant which he and the Most Rev. Raymond Lessard expect to sign shortly. The covenant provides for increased cooperation and contact between the two dioceses. Arrangements for the conference were made by the Ecumenical Officers of the respective dioceses, the Rev. John Cuddy, Pastor of St. Joseph’s Church, Macon, and the Rev. Harry Shipps, Rector of St. Alban’s Church, Augusta. us to be totally and honestly open to every human need; to seek out these needs and to respond to them in specific ways according to current trends, not as secular philanthropists, but as women driven by the love of Christ into the heart of the poor. “We, therefore, wish (1) to be recognized as supporters of the United Farm Workers of America (UFWA) as encouraged by the Catholic bishops of the United States, and urge the boycott of all grapes, wines and farm goods not carrying the UFWA. “(2) We wish to encourage like support by all Christians dedicated to justice. “(3) We will do all in our power to educate those with whom we work, especially our students, to a deep awareness of those in need both close at hand and beyond our local boundaries.” BY TICKI LLOYD The annual Convention of the Diocesan Council of Catholic Women, held in Savannah, April 26-27, drew record attendance of 301 persons to the Convention, including Bishop Raymond Lessard, 22 priests, 30 nuns, 30 registered board members, 83 registered delegates from affiliates, 110 registered non-voting members, 5 guests and 20 others. Theme of this year’s Convention was, “Reconciled by the Christ Who Renews, Unites and Frees.” Following the invocation by Bishop Lessard, the assemlby joined in singing, “God Bless America.” Rev. Lawrence Lucree, Diocesan Moderator, introduced the guest speaker, Miss Margaret Mealey, Executive Director of the National Council of Catholic Women. Bringing greetings from Bernice Zilly, NCCW president, and the staff at National headquarters, Miss Mealey expressed pleasure on her first visit to Savannah. She has served as Executive Director of NCCW since 1949. In her capacity as Executive Director of one of the world’s largest women’s organizations (reaching an estimated 10 million women), including 120 dioceses, she has also served on the Citizens Advisory Council on the Status of Women under four presidents, namely, John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, and continues to serve under President Ford. She was recently named “Church Woman of the Year” by the Religious Heritage Association of America.” She asked the delegates, “Do you realize how important you are? Every organization federation in the Savannah Diocesan Council, every member in your deanery, your local parish or inter-parochial organization are working in unison with your sisters throughout the world. We fail to realize the importance of our daily efforts and yet without them nothing would be possible. There would be no Savannah Council, no National Council, or World Union to take its place with other organizations and to make our Christian voice be heard in the arena of the nation and the world for the values we hold essential.” Stating that this was the year of the Catholic Woman, she reminded her listeners that we as women do not and cannot separate ourselves from our sisters around the world. “Your presence here tonight evidences your interest in pursuing your potential and your responsibilities in the mission of the church,” she added. Miss Mealey further stated that International Women’s Year, proclaimed by the Grand Assembly bf the United Nations has certain goals including the promotion of equality between men and women; insuring the full integration of women in the total effort for economic, social, and cultural development; and recognizing the importance of women’s increasing contribution to the development of friendly relations and cooperation between nations and to the strengthening of peace in the world. She particularly stressed that women are becoming more aware of their dignity as full human beings; aware of their aspirations and their potentials which they now have an opportunity to fully develop; aware of the force they do represent in the world for the common good of humanity, for peace and development. She stated: “Women should abandon their still too passive mentality and adopt a more active, more committed attitude.” “Vatican II gave the laity its gauntlet,” she said. “Our task is to measure up to this challenge and as we strive to make our contributions, it is incumbent upon us to look to the future and to set our goals. Goals and objectives which have sustained us during the period of our organization, today must be evaluated in the light of today.” Mrs. Tisdale, president of An Lac Orphanage Inc. in Saigon, Vietnam, and wife of Dr. Patrick Tisdale of Columbus, Georgia, was an afternoon workshop speaker. During recent years they have added five Vietnamese orphans to their family of five active boys. Mrs. Tisdale says that after she read Dr. Tom Dooley’s book, “Deliver Us From Evil,” she became interested in the work to be done in Vietnam. “At that time,” Betty said, “I was secretary to Senator Jacob Javits, D. N.Y., and when I learned that Dr. Dooley was in New York undergoing treatment for cancer, I told him I would do anything to help. I did his typing and transcribing INSIDE STORY Israeli Premier Pg. 3 Know Your Faith Pg. 5 Life in Music Pg. 6 Catholic Population Pg. 7 (Continued on Page 7) EPISCOPAL ANDS, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIESTS enjoy a few moments relaxation with Bishop Raymond W. Lessard during intermission between discussions at the joint Episcopal-Catholic Conference held April 29-May 1 at the Episcopal Conference Center near Brunswick, Georgia. (Photo by Rev. Forrest Ethridge, “The Episcopal Church in Georgia”) HEADLINE HOPSCOTCH (t Guam Catholics Aid Refugees AGANA, Guam (NC) - A massive, around-the-clock volunteer effort by Catholics on this U.S. island territory in the Pacific is helping to care for the spiritual and physical needs of the Vietnamese refugees. Nearly 40,000 refugees have been flown here, housed and fed since evacuation Operation New Life began the last week of April. Here they have been receiving preliminary health and immigration clearances before moving on to camps in the United States. Bishop Belixberto Flores of Agana, citing the tremendous volunteer work of priests, Sisters and military chaplains, said that “40 percent of the refugees are Catholic, probably due to the French influence in Vietnam.” (The population of Guam is about 80 percent Catholic.) the volunteers come from the civilian community as well as from the military dependents on Guam. Child-Labor Bill Beaten WASHINGTON (NC) - The House Committee on Education and Labor by a 21-11 vote has killed a bill that would have weakened agricultural child labor laws by allowing children under 12 to work in the fields. The bill was strongly supported by strawberry growers in Oregon and potato growers in Maine, among others. Opposition from labor and migrant groups was coordinated by.the United Farm Workers of America (UFWA). The U.S. Catholic Conference and the U.S. Department of Labor also opposed the bill. Nuns Criticize Revision CHICAGO (NC) - The National Coalition of American Nuns (NCAN), an activist nuns’ organization, has criticized the process of revising canon law for Religious for failing to involve Americans or women in the revision. “American Religious will not accep* something so authoritarian, so obtuse and oppressive,” NCAN said in its newsletter published here. “Thinking and caring Religious will not accept this unilateral decision-making.” Seminary Situation 'Critical’ WASHINGTON (NC) -- The situation of Catholic college seminaries in the United States has reached a critical stage. According to a report released here by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA), a fourth of the collete seminaries that existed eight years ago have closed. In the remainder enrollment has declined by about half. In addition, the report suggested that a number of the remaining seminaries may be forced to close because of a lack of students. Christian-Jewish Relations NEW YORK (NC) -- Three top U.S. leaders in Christian-Jewish relations have said that relations between Christians and Jews have improved noticeably in the past year. At a press conference here May 1 the three - a Catholic, a Protestant and a Jew -- warned, however, that a hard core of anti-Semitism remains. Father Edward Flannery, director of the U.S. bishops’ Secretariat for Catholic-Jewish Relate > cited recently published Vatican guidelines for relations between Catholics and Jews as a “landmark in Catholic-Jewish understanding.” Religious Senate Meets x k i s 4