Newspaper Page Text
i
i
The Southern Cross
DIOCESE OF SAVANNAH NEWSPAPER
Vol. 56 No. 27
Thursday, July 24,1975
Single Copy Price — 15 Cents
Catechetical Directory ‘Valuable Asset’ After Changes
WASHINGTON (NC) - If major
improvements are made in the present
draft of the National Catechetical
Directory, then it will be a valuable
asset in shaping the educational and
theological direction of the Church, a
consensus of participants in the spring
regional meetings of the National
Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB)
reported.
Specifically, they said, an improved
directory will help guide religious
education in the dioceses, provide
sufficient guidance for taking a position
on controversial theological and social
justice issues, and will upgrade religious
education programs and textbooks in
the United States.
These conclusions are contained in a
report on the spring regional meetings
compiled here by the NCCB general
secretariat. The overall report is based
on reports submitted individually by the
regions where bishops, priests,
Religious, and lay persons met last April
and May to discuss the present draft of
the directory.
Commissioned by the NCCB in 1972,
the National Catechetical Directory will
contain general norms and guidelines for
the teaching of the Catholic faith. It is
intended for parents, catechists,
Religious, deacons, priests, and writers
and publishers of catechetical texts.
Participants in the regional meetings
generally approved a directory for the
United States. They also applauded the
consultation process - the largest ever
initiated by the Church in this country
that has accompanied its
development.
A number of questions were posed by
the NCCB to the regional participants to
solicit input for the final directory. The
questions covered such topics as the
major catechetical problems in the
United States, general and specific
recommendations on content, and
whether the NCCB should authorize
catechisms and textbooks based on the
directory.
Among the more frequent concerns
expressed by the regions were the issues
of adult, parent, and family education;
the communications gap, and the
resulting tension between parents and
teachers; the continuing education of
the clergy; religious indifference and
apathy; conscience formation; sex
education; understanding racial and
ethnic groups; training and certification
of religion teachers, including clergy;
and understanding the roles of parents,
religious educators, priests, school
boards, and bishops in religious
education.
One region said religious education is
important as “a counter-cultural
prophetic voice” to challenge the
American experience. Another said the
basic problem of the Church is to move
“the entire Catholic population in the
direction of Vatican II.”
Only the first chapter of the draft
directory received mostly negative
comments, while comments on the
others varied widely. Many regions did
not agree with the first chapter’s
description of the contemporary
American scene, finding it inaccurate
inappropriate for a catechetical
directory.
Chapter Two, “Mystery of
Revelation,” was generally found to be
satisfactory, although more non-bishops
than bishops were in agreement with
this section. Chapter Three, “The
Catholic Church and the Invitation to
Community,” received evaluations
ranging from best in the directory to
petitions calling for a complete restudy
and rewriting.
Very little attention was given to
Chapter Four since it was not included
in the discussion questions. Chapter
Five, “The Christian Message,” was said
by some to be an inadequate treatment
of the sacraments, lacking in recognition
of the dynamic nature of faith, and
dated because of its pre-Vatican II
theology. Other regions said it should be
included in the directory without
alteration.
Participants in the regional meetings
generally agreed that the directory
should be a contemporary document,
reevaluated and updated possibly every
three years.
While the evidence is not clear, the
NCCB report said, a majority of
participants at the regional meetings do
not appear to favor the preparation of
catechisms and textbooks by the NCCB.
But there is strong support for the
establishment of a national-level
committee, under the bishops’ guidance,
to evaluate religious education
textbooks and audio-visual materials,
before their publication.
A careful analysis of all
recommendations from the regional
meetings is now in progress. The results
of this analysis will be reported to a
12-member directory committee and an
eight-member bishops’ committee on
policy and review. The first draft will
then be revised, more Church-wide
consultations will follow, and another
draft written.
After a final revision by the bishops’
committee on policy and review, the
directory will be submitted for approval
to the NCCB and the Vatican’s
Congregation for the Clergy. Publication
is expected some time next year.
Speakers Named For Atlanta Hearings
BY MARIE MULVENNA
Eleven U.S. Catholic bishops will be
major panelists at the Atlanta Hearings,
Augtist 7 to 9 on “The Family.”
Testimony will be presented to the
panel by nationally known witnesses as
well as local participants addressing
varying aspects of the Family theme.
The hearings, which are open to the
general public, will be held Thursday
and Saturday at the Atlanta Civic
Center and on Friday at rural Tidy
Creek Camp Grounds, near Clarkesville.
The Thursday hearings, beginning at
1 p.m. will hear formal presentations by
Dr. Robert Staples, sociologist of the
University of California in San
Francisco; Mr. and Mrs. Herman
Machicado, founders of Movimiento
Familiar Cristiano, of Watertown, Mass.;
and Dr. Murray Bowen of Georgetown
Another Story
On Page 2
University Medical Center in
Washington, D.C. The topic for
Thursday’s addresses and testimony is
“Urban Blacks and Spanish-speaking.”
Local witnesses will represent a wide
variety of feelings on the day’s topic.
The Friday hearings will be held in a
“tent” setting at Tidy Creek camp
grounds, near Clarkesville, on the topic
“Rural and Appalachian Concerns.”
Expert witnesses to address the panel of
Bishops include: Dr. Peter Steinfels of
the Institute of Society Ethics in
Hastings, N.Y.; Mrs. Helen Lewis of the
Department of Social Welfare, Clinch
Valley College, Wise, Va.; and Mrs.
Peggy Steinfels, editor of the
publication of the Institute of Society
Ethics in Hastings, N.Y. Local witnesses
will speak to the panel on: migrant
workers, sugar cane workers, strip
mining, local community control
people, the role of the woman in the
mountain family, health issues such as
the Black Lung Association and the
Brown Lung Association from the
Piedmont area cotton mills, as well as
the topic of migration.
On Saturday the hearings return to
Atlanta’s Civic Center beginning at 9:30
a.m. The topic is: “Middle Class
America and other topics.” Speaking to
the panel will be: Father John
Finnegan, president of the Canon Law
Society of America; Mrs. Rosemary
Haughton, internationally known writer
from Scotland; Dr. and Mrs. Thomas
Hilgers, co-founders of the National
Youth Pro-Life Coalition. Testimony
will be given by many local witnesses
covering the aged, youth, pro-life, single
persons, marriage, divorce, dignity, and
other topics still being received by the
local Bicentennial Hearing Office.
Says No Real Religious Freedom In Cuba
WASHINGTON (NC) - The Castro
regime in Cuba allows Christians the
right to worship within the walls of a
church, but not real religious freedom, a
prominent Catholic leader told a
congressional hearing.
Dr. Jose I. Lasaga, a psychiatrist
living in Annapolis, Md., and one time
president of the National Council of
Catholic Organizations in Cuba, weighed
the pros and cons of reestablishing
U.S.-Cuba relations. A joint meeting of
the House subcommittees on
international trade and on international
relations is holding hearings on the
matter.
Documenting his assertions to the
subcommittees with 25 sources, Marxist
as well as Catholic, Dr. Lasaga said:
“If the Soviet definition of religious
freedom, which allows people the right
to worship within the walls of a church,
is followed, then it may be said that
there is religious freedom in Cuba.
“However, if we take freedom as
implying that members of a religious
body are able to enjoy all the basic
human rights, as embodied in the Bill of
Rights of the United States, we will be
forced to acknowledge that there is no
religious freedom in Cuba.”
The House subcommittees are
gathering information on present
conditions in Cuba as the Ford
Administration considers renewal of
trade and diplomatic relations with
Cuba.
A July meeting of the Organization
of American States (OAS) in Costa Rica
CARDINAL AT CAMP - Cardinal Timothy
Manning of Los Angeles distributes Communion to
Vietnamese at Camp Pendleton, Calif., refugee camp.
In the background is a banner saying “Welcome
Cardinal Tim.” Sponsors are still needed for the
refugees. Application forms to sponsor a refugee
family may be obtained by writing to; Office of
Migration and Refugee Services, Diocese of Savannah,
P.O. Box 8789, Savannah, Georgia 31402. (NC Photo)
is also debating means to end its 1964
blockade imposed on Cuba for fostering
guerrilla activity in several Latin
American countries.
Dr. Lasaga said there are some
positive results of what he called “a
verbal and social detente” between the
Vatican and Cuban Premier Fidel
Castro. This “detente,” he said, has
allowed Catholics to foster some
activities.
He told the hearing: “The churches
are open and in general religious services
are performed without any obvious
interference from Cuban authorities.”
“Religious congregations have been
allowed to continue to work in a few
state institutions for the benefit of the
sick, the old and the poor,” he said.
“Seminaries for the formation of
Catholic priests and Protestant ministers
are still accepted by the regime,” he
added.
Dr. Lasaga listed as negative facts the
surveillance exerted by neighborhood
political committees over active priests,
nuns and lay persons, and other
restrictions.
There is no hope of opening Catholic
schools, closed since 1961, since “all
teaching is a function reserved to the
state,” he said.
Religious bodies, he continued, “have
no means of making their ideas known
to the rest of the people, since all
information media are controlled by the
government.”
Workshops, seminars and other
meetings sponsored by church groups
may be allowed “if they deal with
purely religious matters or with moral
and social principles which do not
(Continued on Page 6)
CANONIZATION PAINTING - This painting of Mother Elizabeth Ann
Seton, commissioned by the Mother Seton Guild of Emmitsburg, Md., will
be displayed from the front portal of St. Peter’s Basilica during the Seton
canonization ceremonies, Sept. 14. The rites have been simplified,
eliminating trumpet flourishes, fans and banners. (NC Photo)
A
wflg
HEADLINE
HOPSCOTCH
Fr. Jude Cleary Elected Abbot
BELMONT ABBEY, N. C. (NC) - Benedictine Father Jude Cleary, 49, was
designated abbot-elect of Belmont Abbey in a special election held in the monastery
chapel July 22. Abbot-elect Cleary, a native of Savannah, Ga., entered Belmont Abbey
in 1950, following graduation from Georgia Institute of Technology with a bachelor’s
degree in mechanical engineering. He was professed as a Benedictine monk in
November, 1951, and was ordained to the priesthood in 1956. He has taught
mathematics at the Belmont Abbey College and has served the college as chaplain,
temporary academic dean, registrar, and development director. He was president of the
college from 1967 to 1970 and has served as assistant to the president since 1970.
Amendment Hearings Set
WASHINGTON (NC) - After two years of resistance, the House Judiciary
Committee’s subcommittee on civil and constitutional rights has agreed to hold
hearings on proposed anti-abortion amendments to the Constitution. The Democratic
caucus of the subcommittee voted July 17 to hold four days of hearings on the
amendments early this fall, probably beginning in late September or early October.
The decision of subcommittee chairman Don Edwards (D-Cal.) to hold hearings was
largely the result of pressure from Judiciary Committee chairman Peter Rodino
(D-N.J.) and Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.), sponsor of a human life amendment, and
pressure on committee members by anti-abortion groups. Rodino in particular has
recently been under pressure to influence Edwards to hold meetings.
Cardinal Alfrink Retires
UTRECHT, The Netherlands (NC) - Cardinal Bernard Alfrink of Utrecht has
announced that he submitted his resignation to Pope Paul VI when he reached the age
of 75 on July 5. The cardinal, who has been archbishop of Utrecht since 1955 and a
cardinal since 1960, is primate of the Netherlands and president of the Dutch
Bishops’s Conference. The Pope is not obliged to accept the resignation of any bishop,
and European papers have speculated that the resignation will not be accepted because
of the conciliatory role that the cardinal plays among the divergent factions in the
Dutch Church.
Vatican Post Filled
VATICAN CITY (NC) - Pope Paul VI named (July 21) Archbishop Corrado Bafile,.
apostolic nuncio to West Germany since 1960, proprefect of the Congregation for the
Causes of Saints. The post of prefect of this congregation has been vacant since
Cardinal Luigi Raimondi died here on June 24. Archbishop Bafile, 72, was ordained a
bishop by Pope John XXIII here on March 19,1960. He is a native of L’Aquila, Italy.
Illinois Bishop Resigns
WASHINGTON (NC) - Pope Paul VI has accepted the retirement request of Bishop
William A. O’Connor of Springfield, HI., for reasons of age, and has named Auxiliary
Bishop Joseph A. McNicholas of St. Louis to succeed him. The pope has also
transferred Bishop Hugo Gerbermann of Huehuetenango, Guatemala, to the titular See *
of Pinhel and has appointed him auxiliary bishop of San Antonio, Tex.