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VATICAN LETTER
PAGE 3—The Southern Cross, September 4,1975
Frequent Confession Urged;
Must Precede 1st Communion
VATICAN CITY (NC) ~ Pope Paul
VI has stressed the need for frequent
Confession and has reasserted the
controversial rule that children’s First
Communion must be preceded by
Confession.
Pope Paul’s thoughts on . the
sacrament of Penance were conveyed in
a letter by his secretary of state,
Cardinal Jean Villot, to participants in
the 26th Italian National Liturgical
Week, which opened in Florence, Aug.
25.
The pontifical letter said also that the
new ritual can enhance the celebration
of the sacrament of Penance, especially
by joining to it a service of the Word.
But it added that priests must still give
prime importance to their “regular
attendance” in the confessional.
“His holiness wants to call the
attention of everyone -- priests,
Religious and the faithful -- to the
CATHOLIC WOMEN
frequency of this sacrament,” the letter
said.
“Unfortunately some have little
regard for frequent Confession, but this
is not the thinking of the Church.”
Turning to the question of first
Confession, the letter said: “The Holy
Father places a special stress on
Confession for children, and especially
on first Confession, which must always
precede First Communion, even if,
appropriately, there is an interval
between the two.”
(In 1973, the Vatican’s Congregation
for the Clergy reaffirmed the traditional
practice in which children make their
Confession before being admitted to
their First Communion. This aroused
controversy and even opposition in the
United States, whose bishops had asked
the Vatican for extension of their
experimental programs allowing
children to receive Communion before
making their first Confession.)
Cardinal Villot’s letter continued:
“From the very earliest age the first
steps toward an evangelization of
Penance should be taken -- an
evangelization which will then become
an ever more valid and conscious
support for a living faith in the
celebration of the sacrament and, above
all, in the sure and cohesive guidelines
for Christian life.
The letter said also that the Pope
wants priests to “love this sacred
ministry (of Confession), to prepare
their faithful in its catechesis, and to be
ready always to hear Confessions.”
The letter observed: “The new rite
offers many possibilities for enhancing
the sacrament, especially within the
context of a celebration of the Word of
God. But nothing will be as important
as the resolve of pastors of souls to keep
a regular attendance at the
confessional.”
Augusta Deanery Board Meets
REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVES - Georgia and
Alabama were 'represented at the recent National
Assembly of Women Religious by these four sisters.
They are: Sister Andrea Coleman, Mobile (left); Sister
Sheila Griffin, Birmingham; Sister Kathleen
Steinkamp, Atlanta; Sister Anne Rafferty, Savannah.
Members of the Board of The
Augusta Deanery Council of Catholic
Women held their fall board meeting
recently at St. Mary’s on the Hill
Rectory. Mrs. Eugene Long, president,
presided.
The budget for 1975-76 was
approved. Money was allocated for
subscriptions to Catholic Magazines for
the Augusta-Richmond County Library
including all its branches and to the
libraries of Augusta and Paine Colleges,
Church Scouting Award
Given John A. Pierson
AD ALTARE DEI AWARD ~
Monsignor Felix Donnelly admires
Ad Altare Dei Award which he has
just presented to John A. Pierson
of St. Teresa’s Parish in West
Augusta.
John A. Pierson, a member of St.
Teresa of Avila Catholic Church in
Augusta and Senior Patrol Leader of
Augusta Troop 2, Boy Scouts of
America, received the Ad Altare Dei
Award from his pastor, Monsignor Felix
G. Donnelly, in ceremonies held at
Sunday Mass.
The award is seldom presented
because of the large amount of
preparation required of the scout.
John, who is fifteen, has been a scout
since he was eleven, and in that short
time he has earned fifty-four merit
badges, attained the rank of Eagle
Scout, and been initiated a brotherhood
member of the Order of the Arrow. He
has been studying and working for the
Ad Altare Dei Award under the
direction of his pastor since early 1974.
John’s father, John E. Pierson, has
been scoutmaster of Troop 2 at St.
Teresa’s since its organization some
three years ago. The troop serves the
Martinez-Washington Road area and has
twenty-four scouts at present.
and the Medical College of Georgia.
Funds for the Community Clothing
Center, Birthright, Inc. and Pro-Life,
continuing deanery projects, were
allocated, and the Deanery agreed to
participate in the B.I.B. (Better Infant
Births) Youth Education Program for
another year. It was voted to send a
100th Anniversary check to St. Mary’s
Home, Savannah.
Fort Gordon Council President, Mrs.
Joseph Spitek, extended an invitation to
the Deanery to the fall meeting and tea,
Sunday, October 26. Mrs. Long
announced that Diocesan president,
Mrs. William Kempton, and Mrs. Alida
Smith, Chairman of Organization
Services, would conduct an afternoon
workshop in Augusta, September 20.
Mrs. David Dukes was appointed a
delegate to the Regional Natural Family
Planning Seminar in Savannah, October
18 and 19.
Plans for the year were outlined by
the five parish council presidents, and
five commission chairmen.
Members of the board of the deanery
are Mrs. Brad Bennett, Jr., Mrs. Charles
Voegler, Miss Grace Delaney, Mrs.
Raymond Hoyt, Mrs. Joseph Spitek,
Mrs. Lee Haley, Mrs. Richard Bowles,
Mrs. Joseph Gill, Mrs. Seaborn
McGarity, Mrs. Clifford Herzberg, Mrs.
William Cooper, Mrs. David Mainz, Mrs.
David Dukes, Mrs. Joseph Jackson,
Sister Cathan Miles, Miss Madeleine
McCabe, Mrs. E.A. Markwalter, Mrs.
George Quinn, Mrs. Thomas J. Murphy,
Mrs. Kenneth Roth, Mrs. John Welsh,
Mrs. Carl Sylvester, Mrs. Charles
Killebrew and Mrs. Patrick Rice.
S. Carolina-Philadelphia Exchange
BY JOHN E. CONICK
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However, that was not all the four
members of the Diocese of Charleston
Catholic Youth Organization (CYO)
learned in Philadelphia, Pa., where
approximately 50 youths attended the
Philadelphia Archdiocesan National
Training Institute for Leadership and
Service this summer.
Known as the “Philly Exchange
Program,” the training institute enables
teen-agers from the Diocese of
Charleston and the Archdiocese of
Philadelphia to learn and work with
each other. Since the program’s
inception three years ago, eight youths
from South Carolina have taken part in
Philadelphia’s training program while 37
teen-agers from the North have come to
work in Southern rural and urban
environments.
“I benefited a great deal,” said Kate
Doneley, 17, of St. Peter’s parish here.
“We learned things to use in the parish
CYO as well as getting new ideas for
different activities within the parish and
the community.”
“It gave us a lot of techniques to get
to decision making faster,” added
Christine Thonnes, 16, of Our Lady of
the Hills parish here. “One of the first
things is to get to know people on an
individual basis before you can work in
a group.”
“It was not only a great learning
experience, but a great people
experience,” said Anne O’Hara, 17, of
St. Joseph’s parish here. “There was role
playing and the group was to determine
how effective our leadership was by
giving us our strong and weak points.”
“I am glad that I went,” said Willie
McKnight, 17, of St. Anne’s parish in
Kingstree, S. C. “If there was an
opportunity to go again, I would.”
While in South Carolina, youths from
the City of Brotherly Love also held
training workshops for members of
parish CYO chapters. This year the
exchange youths worked and stayed in
homes in Beaufort, Columbia and
Greenville, S. C.
For the South Carolinians the
two-week sessions in the big city were a
novel experience.
Doneley said she got “messed up on
the buses” while Thonnes noted the
briskness of the people. O’Hara had
definite ideas on metropolitan city life.
“Big cities aren’t all that they’re built
up to be,” she observed.
Still, they all agreed on the worth of
the learning experience and have begun
plans for the coming year in their
parishes.
“We had to make goals and what we
expected to do when we got back as
part of our training,” said McKnight.
“Our instructors were college students
and recent graduates with lots of
experience to help us.”
As the school year nears for the
Charleston youth, the summer “Philly
Exchange Program” will be the bridge
to overcome the obstacles goal setting
poses for any organization, according to
diocesan CYO moderators.
Assembly Of Women Religious
Focus On Gospel Commitment
“One weekend this summer can make
a decade of difference,” characterizes
the spirit of fifth annual National
Assembly of Women Religious. The
recent meeting was held .at the
University of San Francisco with the
theme of: “Gospel Commitment, Focus
on the 80’s.”
More than 800 women religious were
in attendance and pledged themselves to
take a hard look at the ethical issues
confronting human society today.
Keynote speakers included Saul
Mendlovitz, Rutgers professor of
International Law and President of the
Institute for World Order who stressed
the fact that people today must realize
that home is the planet earth.
Emphasizing the urgent need for a
global policy for peace and justice, he
outlined imperatives demanding such a
vision and suggested an agenda for the
80’s.
Sister Margaret Farley, RSM,
associate professor of ethics at Yale
Divinity School stressed the need for
commitment in our lives as a
requirement of justice since justice trues
commitment. Pointing out the dangers
of over commitment, Sister Margaret
called for a Sabbath element in our
works of mercy -- the need for
contemplation.
During the convention members met
in smaller creative caucus groups to
probe varied possibilities for women in
ministry, alternatives to prisons, aliens
without documents, global spirituality,
resettlement of Vietnamese refugees,
world hunger and others.
A panel on “Women in Solidarity”
conducted by Sister Shawn Copeland,
executive director of the National Black
Sisters Conference; Sister Mario Barron,
representing Las Hermanas; Sister Juana
Claire Jose, a Papago Indian; and Sister
Reina ?az, a native of the Philippines
recommended that Sisters look carefully
at the values of minority cultures both
to enrich their own lives and to change
the unjust structures which oppress all.
At the final commitment liturgy on
Sunday, celebrated by Father Reid
Mayo, president of the National
Federation of Priests’ Councils, Sister
Kathleen Keating, SSJ, was installed for
a two year term as chairperson.
Twenty-two women religious
attended the convention representing
the southeast region. Sister Kathleen
Steinkamp was regional chairperson.
r ■ ' >
Attitudes On Abortion Mailed To All Priests
x J
WASHINGTON (NC) - A booklet
summarizing the data and conclusions
from a recent sampling of American
attitudes toward abortion has been sent
to all priests in the country.
The survey, “Abortion, Attitudes,
and the Law,” is published by the
National Conference of Catholic
Bishops and Our Sunday Visitor, and
concludes -- among other things - that
most Americans would support
measures to restrict the availability of
abortions.
In assembling the material, 4,067
interviews were conducted by a polling
firm. The results are considered highly
significant in that most polls are based
upon only 1,500 interviews. The
sampling was scientifically selected
according to religion, race and other
sociologically important factors such as
community type -- rural, suburban, etc.
But despite the main conclusion that
most Americans would support some
measures restricting abortion, other
conclusions cast doubts upon the
prospects for the passage of legislation
effecting that end.
According to the report, “abortion is
not a high visibility issue for most
Americans.” It ranked only 10t.h among
a number of social problems, behind
such issues as the world food situation,
environmental protection, gun control
and school busing.
The survey also revealed that many
Catholics would prefer exceptions to
any ban on abortion. According to the
figures, 88.2 percent of the Catholics
sampled would permit abortion to save
the mother’s life, while 67.7 percent
find it acceptable where the pregnancy
resulted from rape.
Despite those figures, the booklet’s
publishers are encouraged by “the fact
that a strong majority of Americans are
not happy with the status quo of
abortion on demand.”
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