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PAGE 2—December 4,1975
Church Leaders: ‘Don’t Let Food Stamp Reform Hurt Poor’
BY JIM CASTELLI
WASHINGTON (NC) -- Two bishops
and representatives of three major
Catholic organizations urged a Senate
Subcommittee to insure that the poor,
the elderly, and working class families
are not victimized in the reform of the
Food Stamp program.”
“Our guiding principle must be our
concern for the poor and the hungry
and justice for our fellow citizens,”
Bishop Joseph Brunini of
Natchez-Jackson, Miss., testified on
behalf of the U.S. Catholic Conference
(USCC).
He was joined by Archbishop Ignatius
Strecker of Kansas City, Kan., president
of the National Catholic Rural Life
Conference; Msgr. Francis Lally, USCC
secretary for social development and
world peace; and Kathleen White,
coordinator for rural issues for Msgr.
Lally’s department.
Asking that the Food Stamp debate
be taken out of the political context
and put in a moral context, two
spokesmen for the National Conference
of Catholic Charities (NCCC) said: “The
moral context quite simply is whether
or not we as a nation are going to share
responsibility to see that all of our
citizens are adequately and nutritionally
fed.”
The NCCC testimony was presented
by Mathew Ahmann, NCCC associate
director for governmental relations, and
Diane Hampton, a community service
worker at Catholic Social Services in
Mobile, Ala.
Both Ahmann and Archbishop
Strecker emphasized that Food Stamp
reform should not be looked at outside
the context of needed broader welfare
reform.
The Church spokesmen testified
before the subcommittee on agricultural
research and general legislation of the
Senate Committee on Agriculture and
Forestry.
Their testimony generally supported
provisions in a reform bill introduced by
Senators Robert Dole (R-Kan.) and
George McGovern (D-S.D.).
One important issue discussed was
the proposed elimination of the
purchase requirement for Food Stamps.
Ahmann called this proposal in the
Dole-McGovern bill “the most beneficial
for all who are eligible but who are not
in the program.” This is because, he
said, there are “overwhelming numbers
of needy people who are unable to
gather enough money together at one
time to meet the purchase
requirement.”
Bishop Brunini said dropping the
purchase requirement “should be given
serious consideration” as a means of
bringing more people into the program.
Concerning eligibility requirements,
both the USCC and the NCCC rejected
proposals that would use the federal
poverty level - $5,040 a year for a
family of four -- as the cut-off for
eligibility, favoring instead a level
several thousand dollars higher to allow
continued participation of low-income,
working-class families.
Both groups also opposed stringent
assets requirements. Bishop Brunini
cited a statement by the USCC
Administrative Board which said, “Any
changes in the family asset limitations
should not require the elderly or
recently unemployed to sell their
automobile, necessary household goods
and personal effects in order to become
eligible for Food Stamps.”
The USCC and NCCC also favored
use of a standard deduction to replace
the current complex system of itemized
deductions used in determining
eligibility. Bishop Brunini supported a
deduction along the lines of that in the
Dole-McMcGovern bill, about $125 per
month for a family of four, with an
added deduction for families including
an elderly person, a provision
introduced by Sen. James Buckley
(R-Cons.-N.Y.).
Ahmann also supported immediate
certification of Food Stamp applicants.
Under this innovation, the government
would still have 30 days to verify an
application, but the applicant would be
able to begin receiving stamps
immediately, instead of waiting for 30
days.
The Church groups also called for
attention to the special needs of rural
areas and migrants in developing a
reformed Food Stamp program.
Archbishop Strecker said studies
show that “in general, fewer eligible
families in rural areas receive Food
Stamps than do those in urban areas.”
“True reform of the Food Stamp
program,” he said, “must include
outreach efforts to insure that the
benefits are available for all those who
deserve to participate.”
Archbishop Strecker opposed an
Administration proposal that would
determine a family’s eligibility based on
an average income over the past three
months prior to application.
“This would be extremely
detrimental for any low income and
many working class families that have
recently become unemployed,” he said.
“In rural areas,” he said, “this
provision would create serious
provisions in some months for many
seasonal and migrant workers whose
total annual income would qualify them
for Food Stamps.”
Archbishop Strecker also opposed
another proposal to cut down on Food
Stamp abuse and fraud by requiring
recipients to sign each Food Stamp
when issued and when used at a store.
Such a provision he said, “may put an
end to issuing Food Stamps through the
mail” and create a hardship for isolated
rural families and the needy elderly in
urban areas.
TESTIFYING ON FOOD STAMPS ~ Msgr. Francis
Lally (left) and Kathleen White (right) of the U.S.
Catholic Conference staff flank Bishop Joseph Brunini
of Natchez-Jackson, Miss., and Archbishop Ignatius
Strecker of Kansas City, Kan., at a Senate hearing on
food stamps. (NC Photo by John Szostak)
Statement On Women’s Ordination
Ford, Congress Urged To Visit Poor
V /
BY JOHN T. MUTHIG
At the last press conference following
the fall meeting of the U.S. bishops,
Archbishop Joseph L. Bernardin of
Cincinnati, president of the National
Conference of Catholic Bishops, read a
prepared statement when reporters
asked him to explain his earlier public
statement on the ordination of women.
Here is the text of that followup
statement, delivered Nov. 20:
The purpose of the statement was
clear: to reaffirm the teaching of the
Church that “women are not to be
ordained.” The reason for the statement
was that the ordination of women has
become a topic of lively discussion
within the Church. The Bishops of the
Administrative Committee, who
authorized me to make the statement,
felt that in the light of the discussion
taking place their position should be
made known.
I have been asked whether the
issuance of the statement means that
the bishops do not consider the matter
an open one, and whether we are ruling
out all discussion of the topic. In
answering these questions the salient
points to be remembered are as follows:
1. In our judgment, the problem is
theological or doctrinal. The precise
question is: Was the exclusion of
women from the priesthood by Christ
determined simply by the cultural
situation which existed in His day? Or
did Christ exclude women for other
reasons, so that changes in culture, etc.
would have no bearing on the question?
Was it His will, in other words, that only
men be called to the ordained ministry
as a matter of principle?
2. Admittedly, this question has
never been addressed by a solemn
definition of the extraordinary
magisterium. The Church, however, has
consistently taught and understood that
it was Christ’s will that only men be
called to the priesthood. This fact, in
our view of the Church and how its
teaching authority operates, does have a
great deal of significance. When the
Bishops’ Committee on Pastoral
Research and Practice in 1972
referred to a longstanding tradition,
they were not referring simply to a
custom but to a teaching that has been
constant, one that has been questioned
only in recent years. It is because the
bishops do not see any development on
the horizon which is of sufficient weight
to overturn this teaching that they felt
obligated to reaffirm it.
3. Does this mean that the question
of the ordination of women can no
longer be subjected to theological
scrutiny? No. Even matters that have
been solemnly defined continue to be
studied so that our knowledge of them
can be deepened or refined. But any
study of this particular question should
take place Within the following
framework:
a. It must be done in accord with the
accepted norms of theological research.
b. It must take into account the fact
that the Church’s constant tradition has
been not to ordain women and that this
fact does have significance in Catholic
theology.
c. There must be a willingness
ultimately to accept the judgment of
the magisterium.
Any study which is not carried on
within this framework will, in my
judgment, be of little value.
ROME (NC) - Mother Teresa of
Calcutta, famed missionary to the poor,
has urged President Ford and members
of Congress to visit American slums
incognito to see how the poor really
live.
Speaking to North American College
seminarians here Nov. 20, the foundress
of the Missionaries of Chaity said she
made the suggestion in a personal letter
to Sen. Hubert Humphrey (D-Minn.), a
supporter of her order’s activities in the
world’s worst slums.
“I told him that I wish the president
or one of you (members of Congress)
would come into the streets incognito
and without a police escort and walk
through them to see their own people
and their great poverty,” Mother Teresa
said.
The order she founded 25 years ago
now has about 1,000 nuns and 206
novices. The missionaries of Charity
have opened a house in the Bronx, N.Y.
Mother Teresa, whose special
apostolate began in Calcutta where she
opened a house for those left to die in
the streets, said that she finds it easier
to help people out of hunger, nakedness
and homelessness than to relieve the
“loneliness and hunger of the heart”
which she says is common in Western
cities like London, Rome, New York
and Caracas, Venezuela.
“Understand that these people need
you as priests, not as social workers,”
the Albanian-born Yugoslavian nun told
the seminarians.
FROM U.S. BISHOPS
WASHINGTON (NC) - During their
fall meeting here the U.S. bishops
approved a set of guidelines for men
Religious who become permanent
deacons.
Since they are essentially only
guidelines clarifying existing legislation,
the rules do not need approval from the
Vatican.
In general, the guidelines say that
permanent deacon candidates in
religious orders must meet the
requirements of age and of spiritual,
intellectual and pastoral formation that
are set down for other permanent
deacons in this country, and in their
“Plenty of people can do social work,
but only you can bring them peace,
understanding and love - only you can
bring them Jesus,” she said.
She explained that the work of
Missionaries of Charity is always in the
streets.
“Everyday every one of the Sisters
has to go out in search of souls,” she
said. “There is no work for the Sisters
inside the convent itself.”
But she stressed that the day includes
several hours of spiritual activity, and
adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
from 6:30-7:30 p.m. daily.
“Our lives must be woven with the
Eucharist,” she said.
“Unless we have the deep faith to see
Jesus in the bread it will be nearly
impossible to see Him in the distressing
disguise of the poor, in the broken
bodies of lepers.”
During a question period, Mother
Teresa said that the state of emergency
declared by Indian Prime Minister Indira
Gandhi was having a good effect on the
poor.
“Prices are down and there are no
more strikes and slowly more food is
becoming available,” she said.
Mother Teresa added, however, that
the Missionaries of Charity accept no
financial help from the government
since that “could take away our
independence.”
She said the nuns have accepted a
large grant of land where they care for
about 46,000 Indian lepers.
ministry outside their own religious
house they are governed by the bishop
in whose diocese they are working.
The new rules strongly encourage a
close relationship between permanent
deacons who are members of religious
orders and other permanent deacons in
the diocese.
The guidelines were worked out as a
cooperative effort of the National
Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB)
and the Conference of Major Superiors
of Men (SMSM) - the national bodies of
the U.S. bishops and male Religious
superiors, respectively.
Msgr. Ernest J. Fiedler, executive
Asked about large numbers of Indian
doctors working the U.S., Mother Teresa
replied: “We are praying very fervently
that the U.S. government will push *
them out,” adding that some are coming
back now voluntarily to meet India’s
medical needs.
How do the poor Indians feel about
large Indian government expenditures
for nuclear bombs, she was asked.
“The people we are dealing with
don’t even know that such a thing
exists,” she answered.
Mother Teresa is about to open
another house in Rome to care for the
abandoned elderly and a house in
Palermo, Italy.
Mother Teresa said her nuns are
active in teaching the poor natural
family planning methods.
“We have a great acceptance among
the poor and it is easy for us to bring
them the message that they should
properly plan their families with the
blessing of God,” she said.
She said that the celibacy, practiced
by the Sisters convinces many poor
people to try natural family planning
methods. She related:
“The poor say we are the best people
to teach them these things, because we
have given up everything for God. If we
can do that, they say, then they are
willing to make a sacrifice, too.”
director of the NCCB Committee on the
Permanent Diaconate, told NC News
that at least nine or 10 religious
communities of men in this country
have received permission from the
Vatican to establish the permenent
diaconate in their communities, and so
far about 10 male Religious have been
ordained permanent deacons.
Since the primary purpose of their
ordination is for ministry and service in
the wider community rather than within
their own religious house, he said, it was
considered important to clarify the
relationship between the local bishop
and the religious superior with respect
to that ministry.
Guidelines For Religious Order Deacons
Spaniards, Bidding Farewell To Franco, Told To Seek Reconciliation
BY FERNANDO PADILLA
MADRID (NC) - After half a century
under the Cross and the sword,
Spaniards should look to the Cross for
reconciliation, Cardinal Marcelo
Gonzalez Martin of Toledo urged at
state funeral services for Gen. Francisco
Franco.
Before some 150,000 persons
gathered at the Plaza de Oriente here to
bid farewell to the man who had led
Spain politically and militarily for
almost 40 years, Cardinal Gonzalez
praised “Franco’s positive legacy to
society and Church.” He also spoke of
Franco’s gifts to “youth and the older
generations alike, and his
accomplishments in social justice and
culture for all.”
His reference to the Cross and the
sword, v ich often have been symbols
of Spain’s historic deeds, was followed
by the remark that it is "beiore the
Cross that Spaniards must make the
resolution to live in truth, justice, love
and peace.”
Hope and determination, the cardinal
added, “are the necessary ingredients
for peace and progress determining in
turn a concerted effort of both
imagination and good will.”
The cardinal also holds the title of
primate of the Indies, a symbolic
reminder of the vast empire Spain once
held in both hemispheres.
Three other cardinals and 20 of the
country’s 79 bishops attended the
services presided over by King Juan
Carlos, who had taken the oath of
office, only the day before (Nov. 22).
Among foreign dignitaries were the
apostolic nuncio, Archbishop Luigi
Dadaglio, and U.S. Vice President
Nelson Rockefeller.
Many of the bishops stayed in their
dioceses to preside over funeral Masses
for Franco, who died Nov. 20 after a
series of heart seizures and intestinal
complications.
Echoing an appeal by Cardinal
Vicente Enrique Tarancon of Madrid to
avoid “any cause of conflict between
brothers,” Cardinal Gonzalez told
Spaniards to work “within a more
fruitful and orderly freedom toward a
pluralism that should enrich and not
divide us, and toward the understanding
needed to accomplish integration of all
Spaniards.”
Both churchmen were obviously
trying to point to a course away from
left-right polarization, which even at the
funeral and burial of Franco was
manifest.
An estimated 70,000 veterans of
Spain’s Civil War (1936-1939),
Falangists and others descended from all
provinces of Spain on the Valley of the
Fallen, Franco’s final resting place,
some 40 miles from Madrid.
In a show of political strength they
sang the Falangist anthem “Cara al Sol”
(Face to the Sun) and raised their arms
in the palm-down Falangist style. Their
leaders had made clear during Franco’s
long illness that they do not want
change in the strict policies of their
“caudillo.”
Franco’s remains were laid to rest
near the main altar of the Shrine of the
Holy Cross, where the Benedictine
monks in charge of the underground
monument conducted burial services
according to the new Roman ritual.
The Valley of the Fallen was built
with the help of thousands of prisoners
between 1941 and 1959 as a memorial
to the Civil War and proclaimed a shrine
of reconciliation. Victims from both
warring sides - socialist republicans and
Franco’s nationalists - were buried
there after completion.
In contrast with the emotional
outbursts at Madrid services, the crowd
was silent and subdued as the general’s
coffin, covered with the Spanish flag
and bearing his sword, command baton
and dress cap, was placed in its niche,
marking the end of an era.
The day before the funeral services
Prince Juan Carlos, who had taken over
government leadership Oct. 30, was
formally crowned as King Juan Carlos I.
Franco himself had restored the
monarchy to Spain, where it had ended
in political turmoil in 1931 and had
selected the young prince as his
successor.
Cardinal Gonzalez invited Spaniards
to pray that God will grant the new king
“the wisdom he needs to rule over all
Spaniards.” He also asked for prayers
and pardon “for whoever needs them, as
the first fruit of an era that begins now,
and as the last will of the era just
ended.”
In a farewell address to Spaniards,
Franco asked them from his deathbed
“to preserve unity and peace” and to
widen the benefits of “social justice
culture” for all.
More than 400,000 Spaniards in all
walks of life filed past Franco’s open
casket as he lay in state at the Royal
Palace until it was taken to the plaza for
the funerals. Even then, the lines were
many blocks long.
The crowds at the plaza repeatedly
waved white handkerchiefs in farewell
and shouted “Franco, Franco.”