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“Heartfelt Greetings And Good Wishes 99
My dear friends in Christ,
As the great feast of Christmas approaches, I am pleased to send to all the people
of the Diocese of Savannah heartfelt greetings and good wishes. The occasion is also
a fitting one for me to share with you a few timely thoughts.
The first sentiment I want to express is that of profound gratitude for the
admirable generosity you have continued to show this past year. It is indeed a
source of encouragement and edification that, in spite of the present economic
conditions and uncertainties, your response to our diocesan needs, as especially
demonstrated in the Confraternity of the Laity Drive, and to the various national
appeals, such as the Mission Collection, the Bishops’ Overseas Relief Program, and
the Campaign for Human Development, has been so magnanimous and generous. It
is without doubt an indication of a living Christian faith finding its effective
expression in charitable acts.
I also want to give grateful recognition to those of you who give so liberally as
well of your time and talents. I have occasions to thank our sisters, brothers and
priests who, by profession and consecration, seek to “build up the body of Christ”
(Eph. 4:12) in our diocese. Now, I extend a word of profound gratitude to the
many others who also serve the Church in so many different ways, whether in our
parishes and institutions or as members and consultants of the various diocesan
boards and commissions. Your work often goes unnoticed; be assured that it does
not go unappreciated.”
With the celebration of Christmas next week, the Church will bring to a close the
celebration of the Holy Year. As we reflect once more on its twin themes of
renewal and reconciliation, we are reminded that these two principles of the Jubilee
are not confined to a calendar event we call the Holy Year; they are rather the
twofold challenge which Jesus extends to us when He calls us to be His people. Just
as they constitute the mission and purpose of the Church, so also they are the focal
point of our identity as the members of that Church, His living Body. Only to the
extent that we are renewed and reconciled can we ever hope to form with Christ
that TOTUS CHRISTUS, “the whole Christ” of which St. Augustine speaks (cfr.
Serm. 341, 1,1), that united communion of humanity in Christ, which is the great
plan of God’s love for us. My dear friends, that is the mystery of Christmas, the full
manifestation of the Father’s love for His children in sending His only Son to
become one with us in our humanity.
In closing, I want to share with you the privilege I will have to be present in
Rome next week for the official closing ceremonies of the Holy Year. While I regret
not being here with you in the diocese to celebrate the Christmas Liturgy of
Midnight Mass at the Cathedral, it will be a joy for me to visit Rome at this time
and to participate, in your name as well as in my own, in the concluding ceremonies
of the Holy Year, the closing of the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica on Christmas
Eve. As a pledge of my good wishes for a blessed Christmas, I shall be pleased to
carry with me on this pilgrimage and to make my own your intentions and prayers
and to offer to the Holy Father your sentiments of abiding love and affection,
testimony of that “fellowship in the spirit” (Phil. 2:1) which instils in us, “the
community of believers ... one heart and one mind” (Acts 4:32).
Devotedly yours in Christ,
ids
Bishop of Savannah
The Southern Cross
DIOCESE OF SAVANNAH NEWSPAPER
Vol. 56 No. 45
Thursday, December 18,1975
Single Copy Price — 15 Cents
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NCCB Head Asks Promotion
Of Women’s Role In Church
I ATRIX
MADONNA AND CHILD - This unusual drawing of
the Madonna and child is made up completely from
the names of the Sisters, staff and children of the
Angel Guardian Home in Brooklyn, N.Y. The home,
run by the Sisters of Mercy, has about 2,000 children
under its care. (NC Photo)
CINCINNATI (NC) •• International
Women’s Year has focused on women’s
role in development and peace in 1975
but the role of women in the Church
also needs to be promoted, Archbishop
Joseph L. Bernardin of Cincinnati said
at a Mass on the feast of the Immaculate
Conception observing the close of
International Women’s Year.
Speaking at St. Peter in Chains
Cathedral to approximately 400 women
and men, the archbishop said women
“are called today to a greater leadership
role in the Church and their
contributions to the decision-making
process are needed at every level.”
He called for “dialogue with the
whole Church” about ways to “bring
more women, with their unique talents
and charisms, into the mainstream of
the life of the Church.” He observed
that in recent years the Church has
grown more aware of the variety of
ministries open to women and has
become “more sensitive to the fact that
they are called in very special ways to
participate in the essential work of
evangelization.”
Acknowledging that there is “a
heightened awareness of woman’s
essential equality with man . . . based
ultimately on the dignity of the human
person who is created in the image and
likeness of God,” Archbishop Bernardin
stressed that “equality does not mean
sameness; there is a distinction between
man and woman. Though equal, they
are different,” he said, calling these
differences complementary rather than
conflicting.
Viewing the new sensitivity about
equality between men and women as a
catalyst that has had an impact in every
area of society, Archbishop Bernardin
also noted that it has given rise to
“needed changes in the Church.”
Women in the Cincinnati archdiocese,
he said, “are very much involved in the
life of the Church,” whether in parish
councils, the pastoral council,
archdiocesan commissions, old or new
ministries.
But “more will be done,” he stated,
although “there might be
misunderstandings and even
disagreements as to the course we
should follow.”
“The important thing is that we never
let anything stand in the way of our
communication and dialogue with each
other. In the final analysis only truth -
the truth of Christ as handed on to us
by His Church - can be the criterion by
which we evaluate our efforts of the
past and plan for the present
future,” the archbishop said.
and
It is fitting to mark the closing of
International Women’s Year on the feast
of Mary, he said, noting that her place
in the mystery of Christ and the Church
makes her a model for men as well as
women. “The example of Mary’s life
can be of great help to us . . .” he said,
calling her “a woman who because of
her complete commitment to God’s will
became the perfect disciple, the perfect
Christian.”
No Paper Dec. 25-EarIy Deadline
There will be no SOUTHERN CROSS issued on Thursday, December 25. The long
standing policy of not publishing the last week of the year allows our staff to spend
the holidays with their families.
As the issue of Thursday, January 1st, falls on a holiday, all local items to appear in
that week must be received in the Savannah editorial office no later than Friday,
December 26th.
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HEADLINE
HOPSCOTCH
Ford Asked For Extension
Pope Paul Says Hope A ‘Breakthrough’
VATICAN CITY (NC) - One of the
“breakthroughs” of the 1975 Holy Year
has been an upsurge in hope, needed to
walk the “rough road” of Christian
living, Pope Paul VI said Dec. 10.
“There is another consequence,
another consignment, another ‘souvenir’
of the Holy Year for the pilgrimage in
the near future of the People of God ...
hope,” the Pope told his general
audience.
“If
virtue,
we are
our
not supported
perseverance is
by this
not a
certainty. We could get lost on the way,
and today, unfortunately, that is so easy
to do.”
The Pope gave reasons why Christian
ideals can be lost without hope. The
ideals seem “difficult and far off.” They
are threatened by contemporary
hedonism and opportunism and by the
tendency to believe only in the tangible
world, he said.
The Pope said that God’s providence
“unfolds for the faithful inestimable
treasures, some of them already given
and enjoyed, but the greater part only
promised ... to the person who knows
how to wait for, to wish for and to hope
for them.”
The Pope declared: “Without
destroying immediate human hopes, the
unfailing and incomparable hopes of the
Christian cosmos get the better of the
brief, unsure and misleading hopes of
those who try to construct a pagan and
materialistic humanism.”
He said that hedonism, which “seems
to be the overriding force in the lives of
so many people,” is the “enemy of
virtue which aims for goods which are
lofty, still to come and whose
possession is not guaranteed.”
Speaking of today’s “opportunism,”
the Pope said: “replacing people’s
enthusiasm for resistance, courage and
sacrifice are the criteria of utility, the
acceptance of fashion, trust in the
majority, and aversion for maintaining a
precise, strong and discomforting
stance.”
WASHINGTON (NC) -- A Catholic Press Association (CPA) official has asked
President Gerald Ford to provide for the funding needed to extend the time during
which second class postal rate increases for newspapers and magazines are to take
effect. In a letter to Ford, the official, John F. Fink, chairman of the CPA government
relations committee told the President that many religious publications might fold if
they must pay even higher rates than those now scheduled.
Eucharistic Congress Invitation
WASHINGTON (NC) - Archbishop Joseph L. Bernardin of Cincinnati and Cardinal
John Krol of Philadelphia have invited Catholics through the world to participate in
next year’s 41st International Eucharistic Congress. The invitation was sent (Dec. 8) to
the presidents of all episcopal conferences, who were asked to extend its message to
the bishops, clergy, religious and laity of their respective nations.
Pastoral Planners Meet
OMAHA, Neb. (NC) - If pastoral planners endorse “every new idea that comes
along” the job of caring for the needs of Catholics is “reduced to faddism,”
Archbishop John R. Quinn of Oklahoma City told diocesan pastoral planners here.
Keynoting the third annual National Pastoral Planning Conference Dec. 14,
Archbishop Quinn said there is a danger in dismissing the “institutional Church as a
mere adjunct to the real Church.” “This spiritualized vision of a purified Church may
be enchanting,” he noted, “but it is not true and it is certainly not the Church revealed
by Christ.”
Christmas Collection For St
. Mary’s
Dependent children of the Savannah Diocese are beneficiaries of the annual
Christmas Collection.
We ask our readers to bear this collection in mind and to give their first gift to The
Christ Child for the children of St. Mary’s Home.