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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.