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4 i i / The Southern Cross DIOCESE OF SAVANNAH NEWSPAPER Vol. 56 No. 42 Thursday, November 27,1975 Single Copy Price — 15 Cents Bishops Line Up Behind Lifie, Housing, Economy Issues PREPARING TO GIVE THANKS - Pumpkins fit for a feast of thanks are gathered by costumed children at Plymouth, Mass., where a re-enactment of the first Thanksgiving Day, 1621, is held at Plymouth Plantation, the re-created Pilgrim colony. Thanksgiving is Nov. 27. (NC Photo courtesy Massachusetts Divison of Tourism) New Priestly Formation Program WASHINGTON (NC) - The nation’s Catholic bishops have approved a comprehensive new Program of Priestly Formation to govern the training of seminarians in the United States. The 194-page document, a revision and expansion of a five-year provisional program that has been in effect since January, 1971, must still be approved by the Vatican’s Congregation for Catholic Education. A five-year approval of the new document is expected, and plans are already under way for another revision in 1981. One significant addition to the new program is a section calling for extensive changes to encourage vocations among racial and ethnic minorities and to DECEMBER 6TH prepare them better to serve their own communities. That section also stresses the need to develop sensitivity to minority cultures among all priesthood students, whatever their own racial, ethnic and cultural background. In the revised program there is also greater emphasis on spiritual formation in the section on the theological seminary and an entirely new section on spiritual formation in the section of college seminaries. In the only significant debate on the program before a vote, Archbishop John F. Whealon of Hartford, Conn., and Bishop Alfred M. Watson of Erie, Pa., argued that the section on philosophy in the seminarians’ academic program was weak. Bishop Watson ammended a paragraph calling for at least 18 hours of philosophy studies, to say that this work should be in “an integrated system based on scholastic philosophy and related to all modern philosophy.” The amendment was passed by a voice vote. The section on high school seminaries has been “almost entirely rewritten,” the bishops’ priestly formation committee said, because the situation of these seminaries “has changed greatly in the past years.” Five years ago, the committee said, high school seminaries across the country were under “severe criticism” and many teachers and students were afraid their institutions would be closed, but now there is a (Continued on page 7) Savannah Women’s Conference “Woman - Made in the Image of God” is the title of the December 6 conference to be held at St. Vincent’s Hall from' 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. The conference is being sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy and the Alumnae Association of St. Vincent’s Academy to commemorate the International Woman’s Year 1975. The featured speaker at the conference will be Sister Elizabeth Carroll, R.S.M. who is presently a staff associate at the Center of Concern in Washington, D.C. Sister Elizabeth is a nationally recognized leader among religious sisters. She served as Mother General of the Pittsburgh Sisters of Mercy from 1964 to 1974, as national chairperson of the National Sister Formation Movement from 1967 to 1970, as president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious in 1971 and on the executive council of the Conference of Major Superiors of Women for 1967 to 1973. Sister holds degrees from the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Toronto and a doctorate in history from the Catholic University of America. An address entitled “Women in Biblical Tradition” will be delivered by Sister M. Charlene Walsh, R.S.M., Provincial Councilor of the Baltimore Province Sisters of Mercy. The address is authored by Sister M. Aquin O’Neill, R.S.M., of the Baltimore Province. Sister Aquin wrote and delivered this address at a recent International Woman Year Seminar at Notre Dame College in Baltimore. Sister M. Aquin is a graduate of Aquinas High in Augusta and has a doctorate in theology from Vanderbilt University. The conference is open to all who are interested in the role of women in the Church and in society. Those attending are asked to “brown bag” a sandwich. Beverages will be provided. Registration is $2.00 if postmarked by December 2; $3.00 at the door. Send registrations to I.W.Y. Conference, St. Vincent’s Academy 207 East Liberty Street, Savannah, Georgia 31401. Sister Elizabeth Carroll, R.S.M. Sister Charlene Walsh, R.S.M. BY JERRY FILTEAU WASHINGTON (NC) ~ Their three-pronged offensive against abortion captured most of the headlines, but the U.S. Catholic bishops meeting here Nov. 17-20 took action on a number of other significant social and religious issues as well. In a Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities, the bishops outlined an effort against abortion, euthanasia and related issues that included educational and informational programs, social efforts to provide alternatives to abortion, and public policy-legislative efforts at every level - national, state and local. But the bishops also issued statements on unemployment and the economy, housing, Catholic-Jewish relations, the California farm labor situation, the 1976 international Eucharistic Congress in Philadelphia, and the Human Life Foundation. In addition, they approved a new Program for Priestly Formation and guidelines for men Religious who wish to become permanent deacons. On the major public policy issues of housing and unemployment and the economy, the bishops basically urged “A decent home in a suitable living environment for every American family,” “an effective national Detailed Stories Pages 3 And 7 commitment to full employment,” and “a decent income policy for those who are unable to work because of sickness, age, disability, or other good reason.” They said the moral implications of these issues must be faced, and they promised social action and public pressure to meet human needs in these areas. Commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council’s Declaration on the Relationship of the Church and Non-Christian Religions, the bishops said that that document had started a “new era” in Catholic-Jewish relations. They praised the progress made so far but said much more needs to be done and urged Catholics to become more aware of their “spiritual bonds” to Judaism. In size, the largest item on the bishops’ agenda was a 194-page book revising the bishops’ Program on Priestly Formation. The revision, which must still receive Vatican approval before it goes into effect, was described as a strengthening of the earlier program and a “tightening up” of guidelines that were considered vague or confusing before. It also included a completely new section urging multi-racial and multi-cultural seminary training where appropriate. In other action items, the bishops: Approved a pastoral letter informing Catholics of the themes of the 41st International Eucharistic Congress in Philadelphia next August and urging spiritual renewal in preparation for the congress. - Saluted the new Agricultural Labor Relations Act in California as a “good law . . .that might serve as a model” for legislation in other states, but they warned that “it will not automatically resolve all the problems involved” in the California farm labor dispute. Pledged “continued support, encouragement and collaboration” for the Human Life Foundation, a Church-initiated organization that promotes natural family planning. - Established guidelines for men Religious who wish to become permanent deacons. - Approved the NCCB-USCC 1975 budget and plans and programs, and all proposed changes in NCCB statutes and bylaws except one. That one proposed change, an item two paragraphs long amid the hundreds of pages of documentation for the meeting, turned out to be the most debated item on the agenda and the only committee proposal that the bishops rejected in their whole meeting. It was proposal to end the limited voting rights of retired bishops, in order to bring the NCCB statutes into conformity with the Church’s general norms, which say that only active bishops should have the right to vote in national episcopal conferences. After more than an hour of debate the bishops rejected the revision and kept the vote for retired bishops, although they had been told that the Vatican wanted them to accept the revision. In addition to action items before them, the bishops also heard annual reports from all NCCB and USCC committees and held workshops two afternoons to discuss the new rite of Penance, a proposed pastoral letter on moral values, evangelization among blacks, the priestly formation program, and international justice. They also took under advisement suggestions to establish a permanent office of the NCCB that would deal with concerns of women in the Church and society, to set up an instrumentality that would counteract public dissent from Church teaching, and to study possible ways of restructuring parishes. Unlike other bishops’ meetings in recent years, the November meeting in Washington was not faced with public demonstrations or picketing. A number of interest groups and individuals, however, lobbied for their causes quietly through information fliers or by catching bishops in the hallway. Among the various concerns represented by the lobbyists were opposition to abortion, greater rights for women in the Church, pastoral care and civil rights for homosexuals, increased voice for the laity, and changes in Church law for divorced-remarried Catholics. PENANCE RITE DEMONSTRATED - Father Thomas Krosnicki of the bishops’ liturgy office demonstrates an optional rite of Penance at one of the new workshop sessions during the U.S. bishops meeting in Washington, D.C. Holding the microphone is Father John Rotelle, head of the office. Bishop Walter M. Curtis of Bridgeport, Conn., chairman of the liturgy committee, is the “penitent.” (NC Photo) 6 Human Life Foundation’ Receives Bishops 9 Support WASHINGTON (NC) - The nation’s Catholic bishops have pledged their “continued support, encouragement and collaboration” to insure the survival of the Human Life Foundation, a six-year old Church-initiated organization working to promote scientific research and education in natural family planning. The Foundation, according to Cardinal Terence Cooke of New York, chairman of the Bishops’ Committee for Pro-Life Activities, has “almost exhausted its financial resources.” The bishops’ encouragement was needed to help the foundation in a major new fund-raising effort, he said. The Foundation, first of its kind in the world, “has played a major role in generating international interest and worldwide scientific research,” notes a resolution approved by the bishops. “The work of the Foundation, in which we are proud to have a part,” the resolution says, “will considerably advance the welfare of marriage and the family by lending those who are skilled in the sciences -- notably the medical, biological, social and psychological -- to pool their efforts in perfecting the natural methods of family planning so as to explain more thoroughly the various conditions favoring a proper regulation of births.”