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A \ 1 k t The Southern Cross DIOCESE OF SAVANNAH NEWSPAPER Vol. 56 No.40 Thursday, November 13,1975 Single Copy Price—15 Cents PEOPLE TOGETHER- WITH HOPE CAMPAIGN FOR HUMAN DEVELOPMENT “PEOPLE TOGETHER .. WITH HOPE” is the 1975 theme of the Campaign For Human Development. CHD is the education/action program of the American Catholic Church. The annual collection will be taken up in all churches in the country on Sunday, November 23. Turn to page 7 to see what CHD is accomplishing in the Diocese of Savannah. Bishop Lessard Heads Ga. Interchurch Group U.S. Bishops To Meet In Washington; Variety Of Topics To Be Considered At the quarterly meeting of the Executive Board of the Georgia Interchurch Association held recently at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, Macon, Ga., the Most Rev’d. Raymond W. Lessard, Bishop of Savannah, was elected President for a two year term succeeding Bishop Richard A. Hildebrand of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Elected as Vice President was Bishop William R. Cannon of the United Methodist Church; elected Secretary Mrs. Carlton Carruth, Chairman, Ecumenical Concerns, United Methodist Church, South Georgia Conference; elected Treasurer, the Rev’d. Dr. William J. Andes, Conference Minister, United Church of Christ, Southeast Conference. Plans were finalized for a Churchman’s Legislative Seminar to be held in Atlanta on Wednesday, January 7, 1976, at the Central Presbyterian Church beginning at 9:30 a.m. Christians from all Churches are invited. The Governor and Lt. Governor and leaders of the legislature have accepted invitations to participate in the Seminar. A program was presented to the Executive Board by the Georgia Department of Corrections/Offender Rehabilitation. Considerable interest was expressed by the Board in Penal Reform and Criminal Justice and Bishop Lessard, President-elect, announced plans for the Executive Board to hold a meeting early in 1976 at a Georgia Penal institution. Three members of the Joint Educational Development -- Youth Empowerment Team were introduced to the Executive Board and spoke of their task of youth maturation in the Church. The Task Force on Hunger in Georgia reported on its work as did the Bicentennial Committee. In cooperation with the Georgia Bicentennial Commission and the American Bible Society the GIA is printing large quantities of a bicentennial leaflet for wide distribution in 1976. The Georgia Interchurch Association was formed in 1971 as the successor organization to the Georgia Council of Churches. Fourteen Christian communions in the State of Georgia are participants with the head of each judicatory and one assistant comprising the Executive Board. The GIA is the officially recognized ecumenical agency in the State of Georgia. WASHINGTON (NC) - The Catholic bishops of the United States will meet here Nov. 17-20. Items they are to deal with include: - A pastoral plan for pro-life activities; - A pastoral response to the national housing crisis; - Revision of the training program for future priests; - A statement on Catholic-Jewish relations. They will also be faced with a proposed resolution on U.S. economic problems, a pastoral statement on the International Eucharistic Congress in Philadelphia next year, and guidelines for men Religious who wish to become permanent deacons. The meeting, which will take place in Washington’s Statler Hilton Hotel, is the full membership assembly of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops and U.S. Catholic Conference (NCCB-USCC), the highest policy and program-setting organizations of the U.S. hierarchy. More than 250 bishops from around the country are expected to attend. In addition to proposals for action, the bishops will hear progress reports on the status of major national programs such as the development of the National Catechetical Directory, the Catholic observance of the bicentennial, and the USCC work in resettling Vietnamese refugees, as well as numerous other activities of the two national conferences. The bishops will open their four-day session by concelebrating Mass at the meeting site. Special prayer services will accompany the deliberations each morning and afternoon. A new format designed to simplify procedures will be in effect at the meeting this year. A professional parliamentarian will assist the chairman in expediting the business of the meeting, and the format will give the bishops an opportunity for in-depth discussion of major issues at small-group workshops. The revised format is the work of an ad hoc committee established by the bishops in November, 1974. Its recommendations, plus additional suggestions made by the bishops at their 1975 spring regional meetings, were subsequently approved on an experimental basis by the NCCB Administrative Committee. The “Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities” to be presented to the bishops involves a proposal - aimed at every segment of the Church as well as society as a whole -- to establish a constitutional basis for laws that will guarantee full human and civil rights to the unborn. The work of pro-life groups, establishment of an ongoing public information effort, judicial activity, increased ecumenical contact on abortion, and a diocesan action plan including the organization of grassroots efforts in each congressional district are among the matters dealt with in the document. The pastoral plan is the work of the Bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee for Pro-Life Activities, chaired by Cardinal Terence Cooke of New York. A “Statement on Catholic-Jewish Relations,” which coincides with the 10th anniversary this year of the Second Vatican Council’s Declaration on the Relationship of the Church to Non-Christian Religions, was prepared by the Bishops’ Committee for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, whose chairman is Archbishop William W. Baum of Washington. While observing that the past decade has seen a virtual revolution in Catholic-Jewish affairs ending “a centuries-long silence between Church ■"and s>nagogue,” the document also points to areas of disagreement and controversy that still separate these communities. The statement speaks of a tendency on the part of some catechists and preachers to undervalue the rich spirituality of the Church’s Jewish heritage, and warns against a still lingering view of Judaism as a form of religion that lost all validity with the coming of Christ. “The Right to a Decent Home: A Pastoral Response to the Crisis in Housing” is a major statement prepared for the bishops’ consideration by the USCC Committee on Social Development and World Peace. It is the result of a broad consultation process including the housing industry, governmental agencies, housing and labor organizations, as well as many individuals within the Catholic community working on housing problems. The bishops will also be asked to approve a revision of the Program of Priestly Formation, the document containing the national norms that govern diocesan and religious order seminaries in the United States. The Program of Priestly Formation was developed in response to the Second Vatican Council, which also called for periodic revisions of such programs. The workshops scheduled during the meeting will cover such topics as the new rite of Penance, evangelization of the black community, a projected pastoral letter on moral values in society, selected questions in international justice, and the program of priestly formation. On Nov. 19 the bishops will concelebrate a Mass ip honor of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Archbishop Joseph L. Bemardin of Cincinnati, president of NCCB and USCC, and chairman of the meeting, will preach the homily. Election Confirmed BELMONT ABBEY - Pope Paul VI has confirmed the election of Benedictine Abbot Jude Cleary as abbot of Mary, Help of Christians Abbey, in Belmont. Abbott Cleary is a native of Savannah. He entered Belmont Abbey in 1950, following graduation from Georgia Tech in Atlanta, with a degree in mechanical engineering. He was professed as a Benedictine monk in 1951 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1956. BRUNSWICK CELEBRATION - Bishop Raymond W. Lessard was principal celebrant and homilist (left photo) at Mass marking 75th anniversary of the Sisters of St. Joseph coming to Brunswick. The Jubilee Mass was held in St. Francis Xavier Church at 7:30 p.m. on October 30th. Following the Mass, the bishop unveiled a plaque (right photo) which read: St. Joseph’s School, 1900-1958 - St. Francis Xavier School 1958-1975. Pictured with Bishop Lessard is the school’s principal Sister Virginia Baker, who has served the school since 1966 and Father Robert Baker, S.M., pastor of St. Francis Xavier Church. The school originally £ HEADLINE HP m L HOPSCOTCH _ _ _ - - _ . ..... _ - j Study Steering Committee To Meet The Deanery Self-Study Steering Committee, representing the self study currently in progress in the Savannah area, will meet Thursday, November 20th in the Sacred Heart Parish rectory. The meeting will get underway at 7:30 p.m. The public is cordially invited to attend. Foreign Aid Bill WASHINGTON (NC) - The Senate, by a 5141 vote, has passed a foreign aid bill containing major provisions backed by a wide range of church and humanitarian groups, including the U.S. Catholic Conference (USCC). This year, for the first time in history, Congress has dealt with aid for economic assistance and development separately from military aid, an approach backed by the churches. The House passed a similar aid bill in September by a 244-155 margin. Bible Scholars Elect CHICAGO (NC) - Sulpician Father Raymond E. Brown has been chosen president of the Society of Biblical Literature, the largest Bible scholars’ group in the United States. He is a professor of biblical studies at the non-Catholic Union Theological Seminary in New York. Concerned About Abortions NEWARK, N.J. (NC) - Associated Catholic Charities of the Newark Archdiocese has expressed “grave concern” over the increasing number of illegal adoptions in New Jersey. Catholic Charities noted that 380 private adoption placements were made in 1974 even though state law requires such placements to be made through an approved agency. Such agencies handled 500 adoptions. English Cardinal Dies LONDON (NC) - Cardinal John Carmel Heenan, archbishop of Westminster since 1963, died Nov. 7 at Westminster hospital here. He was 70. The cardinal had been admitted to the hospital four days earlier following a mild heart attack. By Nov. 5 his condition had begun to deteriorate and he received the Sacrament of the Sick. Thanksgiving Deadline ;j: Due to the Thanksgiving Holiday, The Southern Cross will go to press on Monday of that week. All copy for the issue dated November 27th, must reach the paper’s $ >: editorial office in Savannah by Friday morning, November 21st. bore the name of the congregation of sisters who founded it at the turn of the century. When a modem brick school was constructed in 1958 the name was changed to that of the parish it served. Among concelebrants at the Mass were Fr. Robert Baker, pastor of St. Francis Xavier; Fr. Joseph Costello and Fr. Robert Brous. Among dignitaries attending were: Fr. Vincent Brennan, of Atlanta, who represented the Provincial of the Marist Order; Sister Rosaline, of Atlanta, Area Supervisor of the Sisters of St. Joseph; 11 Diocesan and Marist priests and several Sisters of St. Joseph from Atlanta, Augusta, and Valdosta. (Studio West Photos by Andy)