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PAGE 2—November 13,1975
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Increased Dialogue Between Catholics-Jews Asked
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BY BOB HOLTON
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (NC) -- Increased dialogue and a frank approach to theological,
political, social and other sensitive issues dividing Christians and Jews were prescribed
here Oct. 28-30 as necessary steps to improve relations between the two groups.
The appeals were made to some 125 people who participated in the three-day
national workshop on Jewish-Christian relations.
Among those present were four Catholic bishops, several Protestant and Catholic
clergymen and a number of rabbis and Jewish scholars.
Msgr. George G. Higgins, secretary for research of the U.S. Catholic Conference,
told Catholics to take the initiative “vigorously and without delay” in the active
promotion of better relations between themselves and Jews.
“In the past, the dialogue, more often than not, has been initiated by the Jewish
community,” he said. “The time has come for Catholics to reverse this process and to
take the lead.”
Msgr. Higgins reminded the participants that this year marks the 10th anniversary of
Vatican Council II’s declaration on Relations with Non-Christian Religions, including
Jews.
“While the Vatican guidelines (issued recently) may be incomplete in some respects
and ambiguous in others, I think they represent a significant step in the right direction
and provide the basis for genuine dialogue between the Church and the synagogue,” he
said.
The Rev. David R. Hunter, a member of the Unit Committee on Education and
Renewal of the World Council of Churches, maintained that theological barriers might
be “one of the principal reasons why we have been marking time, or at best repeating
ourselves, during the last quarter of a century” of discussions on improving
Jewish-Christian relations.
He called on both parties to “experiment with the kinds of climate which will make
it possible for Jews and Christians to do their own thing with one another while being
sensitive to the limits of mutual participation.”
“We also need to break new ground in enabling Christians and Jews, within the
limits of their consciences, to face the theological realities of their common life,” said
Mr. Hunter.
“It is important since it is our fundamental theological convictions which are at the
very base of our fears and our aspirations, our loves and our hates, and our behavior
with one another for better or for worse.”
Mr. Hunter urged those Jews and Christians who feel able ,to “move forward in
fellowship without violating their own faith loyalties” to make such moves in the hope
of eventually benefiting all Christians and Jews.
Rabbi Asher Finkel, professor of the graduate program of Jewish-Christian Studies
at Seton Hall University, South Orange, N. J., proposed that more Jewish scholars be
invited to teach in Christian seminaries, and that they be invited more often to speak
to Christian groups on the first century in the Bible.
Msgr. Higgins opened the conference Oct. 28 with the call for Catholics in the
United States to set an example for the Christian world by developing their own
contacts with Jewish people without looking over their shoulders to Rome for
day-to-day instructions.
“We should make this our own contribution to the universal Church,” he said. “It
stands to reason that the local Church in the U.S. should be able to do more, know
more and take more action than any other local Church in the world.”
Bishop Carroll T. Dozier of Memphis recalled in the closing speech of the workshop
the warning of Pope Pius XI that the Christian world had to remain alert to
anti-Semitism.
“We are all spiritual Semites,” the bishop quoted the late Pope as saying.
The bishop said, “Our coming together in openness, our listening to one another,
our sharing of table enriched the assembled people.”
Other Catholic bishops at the workshop were retired Bishop Joseph A. Durick of
Nashville, Tenn.; Bishop James D. Niedergeses of Nashville, and Bishop Joseph B.
Brunini of Natchez-Jackson, Miss.
Father Edward H. Flannery, executive secretary of the National Conference of
Catholic Bishops’ Secretariat for Catholic-Jewish Relations, said he felt “a great deal
was accomplished at the workshops where there were frank and honest discussions of
some of the most sensitive issues that separate Jews and Christians.”
“The discussions were right to the point,” he said. “They were frank but they were
sincere and they laid the groundwork for better understanding in the future.
The workshop discussion focused on topics such as evangelism and the Jew,
anti-Semitism, the people of Israel and the state of Israel and the Vatican guidelines on
Jewish-Catholic relations.
The meeting was the second of its type in as many years. It was jointly sponsored
by the Secretariat for Catholic-Jewish Relations, Office of Christian-Jewish Relations
of the National Council of Churches, the Memphis diocese, the Memphis Jewish
Community Relations Council, and the National Conference of Christians and Jews.
RELIGIOUS ART THEFT -- The golden monstrance
shown here is one of art works stolen from the
Cologne Cathedral. Described as perhaps the most
valuable of the missing objects, it is the work of 17th
century German artist Christian Schweling. Two art
thieves used mountain climbing equipment to get
through this air shaft and into the vault at the Cologne
Cathedral. The men escaped with priceless treasures by
climbing down scaffolding being used by workmen
restoring the cathedral’s exterior. (NC Photos by KNA)
CARDINAL MANNING;
‘Good Journalist Must Be Holy Person’
ISSUED NOV. 10
Respirator Removal Refused
In Karen Quinlan Decision
BY AL ANTCZAK
LOS ANGELES (NC) - The first
requisite of a good journalist is holiness,
Cardinal Timothy Manning of Los
Angeles told Catholic journalists here.
“I don’t think you can be a good
journalist unless you are a holy man,”
the cardinal told representatives of nine
newspapers at the Pacific regional
convention of the Catholic Press
Association (CPA). “And I don’t think
you'can be a holy man unless you are a
humble man.”
One engaged in the apostolate of the
Catholic press, the cardinal said, “is
simply not one who gives out
information.” The Catholic journal, he
said, participates in the “semi-religious”
act of communications, helping to bind
people into an integrated community by
virtue of communications.
This process predisposes people for
the unity of the Mystical Body of
Christ, Cardinal Manning said.
“The journalist must be true to his
technique: the valid techniques of his
profession by asking the right questions
and by getting the right answers,” the
cardinal continued. “He must do this all
the time — and here this is very sensitive
and I don’t know that everyone
involved in the Catholic press subscribes
to it -- all the time within the
framework of the teaching authority of
the Church.
“We cannot depart from that,” the
cardinal said. “The ordinary teaching
authority of the Church must be the
guiding line in which the word must be
proclaimed.
“Therefore, there must be from the
journalist an act of faith in this divine
guidance put in the midst of God’s
people.”
Stressing the need for holiness and
humility in Catholic journalists, the
cardinal said: “Every editor is a little
god. He has a paper throne on which he
sits week after week as he pronounces.
And nobody can gainsay him. Even
though he may regret or correct what he
has said, the correction doesn’t get the
same space.
“I would propose that journalists
would not merely make an act of faith
in the teaching authority of the Church
but an act of humility every time they
sit down to write an editorial.”
MORRISTOWN, N.J. (NC) -
Superior Court Judge Robert Muir Jr.
has refused to allow the removal of a
mechanical respirator that has kept
21-year-old Karen Quinlan alive nearly
seven months.
He ruled Nov. 10 that the decision is
medical -- not judicial - and he denied
the petition of her father, Joseph
Quinlan, to be appointed her guardian
so that he may authorize doctors in St.
Clare Hospital, Denville, to discontinue
the respirator.
The young woman has been in what
neurologists call a “persistent vegetative
state” since April 15. The cause of her
condition was not determined.
“The right to life and the
preservation of it are interests of the
highest order,” the judge said in a
44-page written opinion. While doctors
testified during a five-day hearing that
there is little hope for her recovery,
Judge Muir noted that “none testified
there was no hope.”
Quinlan’s counsel, Paul Armstrong,
contended that use of the respirator
constituted “extraordinary means” and
quoted a 1957 statement by Pope Pius
XII that such action is not required.
“Religious beliefs are absolute under
the Free Exercise clause,” Judge Muir
said in reference to a claim based on the
First Amendment of the U.S.
Constitution, “but practice and pursuit
thereof is not free from governmental
regulation.”
Armstrong contended that
discontinuing extraordinary care is not a
mortal sin and that to interfere with her
natural body functions “prevents her
from reaching a better life in the
hereafter,”
Likewise, he noted, to use
extraordinary means does not conflict
with the Church’s teaching. “There is no
governmental or other interference with
religious beliefs here that is caused by
the court’s refusal to authorize
termination of the respirator,” he said.
Granting the petition, Judge Muir
said, “would result in the taking of the
life of Karen Quinlan when the law of
the state indicates that such an
authorization would be homicide.”
Permitting Miss Quinlan to die, he
said, “is not something in her best
interest, in a temporal sense, and it is in
a temporal sense that I must operate
whether I believe in life after death or
not. The single most important
temporal quality Karen Ann Quinlan
has is life. This court will not authorize
that life to be taken from her.”
He said, moreover, it is a physician’s
duty to continue life-assisting appartus
if, in his opinion, it should be done.
Miss Quinlan’s treating physician, Dr.
Robert Morse, has refused to concur in
her removal from the respirator,
although her parents signed a written
authorization last July.
Judge Muir said testimony by Miss
Quinlan’s mother, sister and a friend
who quoted her as saying that she
would not want her life sustained by
mechanical means was not sufficient “to
persuade this court that Karen Quinlan
would elect her own removal from the
respirator.”
Touching on the question of criteria
for determining death, the judge said
that, too, is a medical decision.
He also found that there is no
constitutional “right to die” that can be
asserted by a parent for an incompetent
adult child.
The judge turned down Armstrong’s
contention that continuing use of the
respirator constituted “cruel and
unusual punishment” in violation of the
Eighth Amendment of the Constitution.
That, the judge said, refers only to
criminal punishment and does not apply
in this case.
Judge Muir appointed Daniel Cobum,
a Morristown lawyer, who had served as
Miss Quinlan’s temporary guardian
during the hearing, as the guardian of
her person, and her father as guardian of
her property.
The continued care and treatment of
Miss Quinlan will call for medical
decisions, which, from time to time, will
require a guardian’s counsel, advice and
concurrence, the judge said.
“Mr. Quinlan impressed me as a very
sincere, moral, ethical and religious
person,” said Judge Muir. “He very
obviously anguished over his decision to
terminate what he considers the
extraordinary care of his daughter. That
anguish would be continued and
magnified by the inner conflict he
would have if he were required to
concur in the day-by-day decisions on
the future care and treatment of his
daughter. These conflicts would have to
offset his decision-making process. I
therefore, find it more appropriate and ,
in Karen’s interest if another is
appointed.”
Armstrong said he would not decide
for several days whether the decision
would be appealed.
The petition by Miss Quinlan’s father,
which attracted worldwide attention,
was opposed by the hospital, the
doctors, the New Jersey attorney
general, the Morris County prosecutor
and Cobum.
End Of Franco Challenges Courage, Writer Says
BY FERNANDO PADILLA
MADRID (NC) - The passing of the Franco era in Spain marks also the end of a
“protected Church,” according to leading bishops and lay observers. Part of the
reforms most Spaniards expect of the new rulers is a sharp diminishing of privileges
long enjoyed by the clergy.
“A sincere examination of conscience tells us that the Church leadership made
mistakes in the past that now must be corrected and atoned for. We cannot blame the
government for that,” said a bishop who wants to remain anonymous.
“The easy times are gone forever. In those days we did not respond wisely.”
He and others stressed the protection granted many members of the clergy under
the Vatican-Spanish concordat blocking prosecution of priests unless the bishop grants
permission.
The provision was often involved by bishops wishing to avert a trail they considered
unjust, stemming from charges of “political crimes” under anti-subversion laws. The
government in turn circumvented the concordat by imposing heavy fines on priests for
sermons it branded “subversive.” When fines were not paid, the priests ended up in
jail.
However, there were also charges against priests steming from common crimes, or
from actually aiding armed rebellion.
A judge in a northern diocese said he knew of several cases of such crimes, including
corruption of minors, that were not brought to trial because the bishop opposed it.
Other cases involved charges of concealed weapons.
Generalissimo Francisco Franco himself, as chief of state for almost four decades,
often showed^ restraint in similar cases. A former cabinet minister illustrated this by
narrating the story of a well known priest, influential in politics, who became the
target of a government investigation. Among the charges was one of morals - he was
living with a woman while exercising his ministry. Generalissimo Franco ordered the
investigation carried out secretly on grounds publicity would harm the Church.
This and many other instances of concern and protection led many bishops and
other churchmen to feel bound by gratitude to the Franco government, and they
reacted accordingly.
The effort at disengagement from centuries-old ties with the state -- Spain is
considered a overwhelmingly Catholic nation - is of necessity - long and complex. But
it does move ahead, patterned after directives of the Second Vatican Council.
The effort has to do with ending the Patronato Real or royal patronage, which gave
the old kings a say in the appointment of bishops in exchange for state aid to the
church’s work, particularly in the New World.
Crucial in the disengagement process are social justice, and civil rights and freedoms.
A growing number of priests are known to favor radical change, and both the bishops
and the present government rulers are painfully aware of this.
Radical Catholics are the target of repression by the government, along with
communists and anarchists. The older bishops, who were caught up in the tragedy of
Spain’s cruel Civil War (1936-1939) the previous persecution of the Church, also
condemn radicals.
On the other hand, the Spanish left is courting radical Catholics and pushing for a
Marxist-Christian dialogue. Clandestine publications often reprint statements by
bishops, priests or lay leaders they consider favoring their cause. Communists and
socialists claim their organizations have attracted followers among priests and the laity.
The claim gains credibility from statements coming from churchmen who follow the
leftward trend.
This trend is one of the outstanding factors in Spain’s political scene. There is
evidence that as the Franco era is reaching its end, polarization has deepened. There
are truly fascist, ultra-conservative groups trying to influence the new government
although with limited success. At the other end of the political spectrum are the
Marxist radicals, who are considered well organized and toughened by sacrifice, and
are receiving abundant financial aid now from communist groups in Belgium, France,
Italy and the Soviet Union.
Between the two extremes are millions of Spaniards who must decide on the
political dilemma: a total break with the past, or the continuation of its actions, bad
and good.
This is a matter freely discussed by the people and the communications media since
Premier Carlos Arias began liberalization moves almost two years ago.
The gist of the comment by political observers is that most Spanish people look
forward to change, but not a violent one. The word is evolution, not revolution. They
recognize the gains of the past 36 years in many social and economic programs, but
want to move onward.
Representative groups of such trends go from the Christian Democrats and socialists
to the advocates of a new, modem kind of capitalism. The Church, acting in the spirit
of the Second Vatican Council, has been pressing for the implementation of Christian
principles of justice and the freedom and dignity of the human person.
The same bishop who said the Church’s leadership should somehow make amends
for its past dependence upon the state, added:
“Let’s get the smoke out of our eyes - the so-called lack of freedoms or government
interference - and concentrate on the urgent and basic problems of evangelization, in a
humble, courageous and intelligent way. For the task of true Church renewal is
measured by the courage we put in it.”