Newspaper Page Text
J
i
j
The Southern Cross
DIOCESE OF SAVANNAH NEWSPAPER
Vol. 56 No. 39
Thursday, November 6,1975
Single Copy Price — 15 Cents
“SUMMIT AND SOURCE” « Anglican and Catholic
theologians in a national dialogue group have agreed on
a statement on the purpose of the Church. In it the
Eucharist is described as the “summit and source” of
ANGLICAN-ROMAN CA THOLIC
the Church’s mission. The writers placed “proclaiming
the Gospel” at the heart of that mission, but said that
it must involve working for justice as well. (NC Photo
by Paul Tucker)
Agreement On Purpose Of Church
BY JERRY FILTEAU
WASHINGTON (NC) - In their first
major statement in several years,
members of the Anglican-Roman
Catholic Commission in the United
States (ARC) have expressed
“substantial agreement about the
purpose or mission of the Church.”
“We have uncovered no essential
points on which we differ,” the group
said.
The statement, released here in New
York Oct. 31, is entitled, “Agreed
Statement on the Purpose of the
Church.”
It takes an approach to its topic that
is unusual for such ecumenical
ARCHBISHOP JOSEPH T.
RYAN, 62, of Anchorage, Alaska,
has been named coadjutor to
Cardinal Terence Cooke, military
vicar of the U.S. armed forces. He
will leave his Anchorage diocese,
but no successor to that See has
been named yet. (NC Photo)
statements: It places its chief focus on
the liturgical prayer of the two churches
as an expression of the churches’ central
beliefs.
“Since the prayer of the Church is
the most intense expression of our faith
in God and commitment to his purpose
for the world,” the ARC group said,
“and since the Eucharist is seen in both
our churches as bringing us into a new
relationship of union with Christ and
with one another in His sacramental
Body and Blood, we have decided
together to write our common belief
about the Church’s purpose or
mission ... in a context interwoven
with prayers from our contemporary
Eucharistic liturgies. We invite the
reader to reflect upon this relationship
between prayer and belief . . .”
The ARC group, consisting of about
20 Catholic and Anglican theologians,
has been meeting since 1965. It is
headed by Bishop Arthur A. Vogel of
the Episcopal diocese of West Missouri
and Bishop Charles H. Helmsing of the
Catholic diocese of Kansas City-St.
Joseph, Mo.
In their statement the theologians
agreed that there is a “remarkable
convergence” of their churches’ beliefs
on the question of the Church’s
purpose, as expressed in each Church’s
authoritative statements and liturgical
texts.
They agreed that:
“The Church comes from
God . . .(and) is that community of
persons called by the Holy Spirit to
continue Christ’s saving work of
reconciliation.”
- Despite a “long history of human
selfishness and sin,” the Church is “a
community created and called by God.
Its task is evangelization and salvation:
to be an instrument of God’s work in
the world focused in the saving and
liberating mission of Jesus Christ.”
- The Church’s mission of witness to
Christ “is to be carried out by the
proclamation of the Good News, the
praise of God’s Name, and service to all
people . . .and it is the responsibility of
all - not just some - of the Church’s
members.”
- Its witness “must first find
expression in the lives of its individual
members and in the Church’s regulation
of its own structures and agencies,” and
only then can it be expressed in the
structures of society.
- Its first task here and now is
“proclaiming the Gospel,” but the
Scripture and the churches’ liturgies also
“lead us to affirm that ‘action on behalf
of justice and participation in the
transformation of the world’ are fully a
‘constitutive dimension of the preaching
of the Gospel’ .. . The imperative of
evangelism, therefore, has many
dimensions.”
- The Church “expresses its own life
most fully when it gathers as a
community for worship, especially the
celebration of the Eucharist, which is
the summit and source of its mission.”
- To many, “the witness of worship
is only fully complete when it results in
a commitment to service.” However,
“while this call to serve others and to
place our resources at the service of
others is recognized and widely
discussed in each of our churches, we
must confess that it does not appear
that either of us has yet found the
means to carry out this aspect of
mission as successfully as we might.”
- “Human liberation, we agree, is
that aspect of the Church’s mission of
service which is most challenging for our
time . . .‘But the totality of salvation is
not to be confused with one or another
aspect of liberation . ..’ ”
Following major common
affirmations, the Anglican and Catholic
theologians included parallel liturgical
(Continued on page 7)
More Than 4,000 Respond
To Self-Study In Savannah
Satisfaction with the existing
situation as well as a willingness and
need to change some facets of deanery
life have surfaced simultaneously as the
general impressions of Chatham
(Savannah) Deanery Catholics.
In response to the massive opinion
poll, recently conducted by the deanery
self-study and Self-Study Steering
Committee, some 4100 laypersons and
77 priests and religious contributed to
the 75 question questionnaire. In
addition, 636 of those contributing also
submitted a “comment sheet,” which
called for written discussion of the
“strengths” and “areas for
improvement” in the individual
parishes, deanery, and diocese.
The initial findings of the
questionnaire were dialogued during
October at the first in a series of three
parish “town meetings.” At this time,
the Steering Committee also met to
discuss certain patterns which were
emerging from among the responses
tabulated.
Though returns are still being
analyzed and correlated, the Self-Study
Steering Committee has announced
what seem to be distinct trends among
the findings. Since the responses of
clergy and religious were tabulated
separately, and, since these responses
differed, at times, from those of the
j^ity; separate consideration is given to
the responses of clergy and religious in
reporting some of the findings.
To date, general findings of the
survey reveal that:
I. Respondents appear to be MUCH
SATISFIED with the present situation
COMMENT SHEET
RESULTS ON PAGE 7
in the Deanery in:
a. the schedule and variety of
weekend liturgies.
b. teamwork between priests, sisters,
and parish staff.
c. sermons (though priests and sisters
are less satisfied)
d. performance of lectors and
commentators (priests and sisters are
considerably less satisfied)
e. service and availability of parish
priests.
f. regular confession times.
g. the survival and strengthening of
Catholic schools.
II. Respondents appear to be MUCH
CONCERNED FOR IMPROVEMENT
in:
a. the practice of special devotions
such as rosary, benediction, novenas
(priests and sisters somewhat less
supportive of these)
b. outreach to non-practicing
Catholics.
c. outreach to the material poor.
d. outreach to separated and/or
divorced Catholics.
e. an annual parish mission and
business meeting (priests and sisters
extremely supportive of this measure)
f. outreach to neighbors of other
faiths (priests and sisters very supportive
of this measure)
g. outreach to neighbors of other
ethnic backgrounds (priests and sisters
very supportive)
h. more “welcome activities” for
newcomers.
III. Respondents show a widespread
LACK OF OPINION, CONCERN, OR
KNOWLEDGE concerning:
a. whether adequate monies,
proportionate to Catholic school
expenditures are being committed in the
Deanery to CCD programs (priests and
sisters inclined to say not enough
money is expended on CCD)
b. whether young people are actually
being reached through present CCD
programs (priests and sisters feel they
are not)
(Continued on page 7)
tM If*' '-Vi
2.500 ATTEND
Charismatics Meet In Augusta
BY JOHN E. MARKWALTER
Charismatics of the Southeast were
told in Augusta that the movement had
completed its first phase.
Kevin Ranaghan, member of the
Catholic Charismatic Renewal Service
Committee, told those assembled for
the annual Regional Conference on the
Charismatic Renewal (Oct. 31-Nov. 2)
that “the Lord has been teaching certain
basic principles of walking the way of
the Spirit for the past eight years and
that, now, that teaching has matured.”
“That teaching has matured,”
Ranaghan said in his theme message, “it
has become visible and accepted. In
many ways, now, we can expect it to
radiate throughout the whole of the
Church, the whole world.”
The need for Charismatics to share
their gifts was echoed at the Sunday
General Session which featured
messages proclaiming a word to the
Church in the Southeast.
Those at this session heard Father
George T. Montague, S.M., General
Editor of The Catholic Biblical
Quarterly and rector of Marianist
Seminary, Toronto, Canada, say, “God
has given us great gifts, but he wants us
to share and not think that we are going
to lose them by giving them away. The
gifts of God are not lost by giving them
away. They are only lost by holding on
to them.”
“God is saying something to the
Church in this hour,” said John Poole, a
Pentecostal Minister from Philadelphia.
“We dare not apologize for it. We’ve got
a message. God is saying something to
the Church in this age, and we dare not
compromise it.”
Warnings of hard and difficult times
ahead were also given at the three-day
meeting. In his opening address, Kevin
Ranaghan said, “the Lord has filled us
with the Holy Spirit, not just for our
own personal lesson, but so that we,
filled with this Spirit, are transferred
into powerful members of His Body, the
Church -- in a powerful and effective
way - in times that are going to be
difficult.”
Ranaghan said that it was important
to take a hard look at the world in
which we live, commenting:
“The situation of the world is
increasingly desperate. We are finding all
kinds of crises - hunger, starvation,
shortages of natural resources, the
increasing spread of nuclear weapons, a
collapse of faith in political systems and
in government. We are seeing a
continued oppression of the poor.”
“The situation you and I face, as
Christians, is very serious. We do not
seem to face an easy time of it. We must
face the situation and recognize the
facts.”
At the Friday evening session, John
Poole told his listeners that what they
were witnessing was unique. “That
under the influence of the Holy Spirit
there’s something going on that’s not
happening in any other part of
Christendom.”
“There’s a coming together of
people,” he continued, “who don’t
agree on doctrine, but who recognize in
one another the common bonds of faith
and righteous living, and who are willing
to say we will maintain the unity of the
Spirit, and leave to the Lord the unity
of the Faith.”
On Saturday morning, the General
(Continued on page 7)
GEORGE CHAMPION
CONFERENCE MASS - Fr. Michael Smith, principal celebrant (center
at altar), and four priest homilists at the Saturday evening Mass of The
Southeastern Charismatic Renewal Conference. Over 40 priests
concelebrated. Banner proclaiming conference theme is in background.