Newspaper Page Text
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Bishop’s Office
Diocese of Savannah
P. 0. BOX 8789
Savannah , Georgia
01402
Vocations Sunday-May 9, 1976
My dear friends in Christ,
May 1,1976
The Holy Father, Pope Paul VI, has dedicated Sunday, May 9,
1976, as a World Day of Prayer for Vocations to the priesthood and
religious life. Since the earliest days of Christianity, the Church has
not ceased to pray for worthy ministers to continue the mission of
Jesus. Therefore, as your spiritual leader, I urge you to join me in
praying for vocations to the priesthood and religious life on May 9th.
In this Bicentennial year, we note with gratitude how the Catholic
Church has grown along with our country. Two hundred years ago
there were no diocesan priests, no sisters, only one bishop, and less
than three dozen religious priests. Today there are 36,000 diocesan
priests, 23,000 religious priests, over 300 bishops, and 135,000
sisters serving the needs of the people.
We as a people have much for which to be grateful. We have been
blessed with a great country within which to live and a strong Church
within which to grow. We must continually thank the heavenly
Father for His rich blessings upon us.
However, as I look over the Diocese of Savannah, it pains me to
know that there are an estimated 614,000 people within the 37,000
square miles of this diocese who are unchurched. They belong to no
Christian Church. So many people await the Word of God, yet we
have so few ministers to proclaim the Good News. There are 88
counties in this diocese; I am saddened to say that so many of those
counties still have no resident priest.
We are also all painfully aware of the very few candidates that are
presenting themselves today to the religious life of sisters or brothers.
As a result, their presence in our schools and hospitals and in other
forms of pastoral ministry is continually diminishing.
Jesus was a man of vision. He could see needs, but He also prayed
and labored to meet those needs. It is everyone’s responsibility to
pray for vocations, to labor for vocations, to encourage vocations,
and to nourish vocations. Therefore, I strongly urge you once again
to pray with me, especially on Sunday, May 9, as “the Catholic
Church in America with a heritage of 200 years looks to New
Frontiers and calls forth pioneers to meet them.”
May almighty God bless us with many new vocations to the
priesthood and religious life.
Devotedly yours in Christ,
The Southern Cross
DIOCESE OF SAVANNAH NEWSPAPER
Vol. 57 No. 19
Thursday, May 6, 1976
Single Copy Price — 15 Cents
Women Are Preparing
For Area Lay Ministry
BY REV. ROBERT MATTINGLY
The Diocese of Savannah is presently
sponsoring two women, Miss Susan
Sendelbach and M ; ss Cecilia Cohen, who
are preparing for lay ministry in the
diocese. The need for women who are
adequately trained in pastoral theology
is very real in this area.
Miss Susan Sendelbach is the
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Richard
Sendelbach of St. Anne’s Parish in
Columbus. Susan attended the
University of Georgia and graduated’
with a double major in Religious
Education-Philosophy.
Currently Susan is attending the
Catholic University of America, and she
is enrolled in the Department of
Theology. She is studying in the
Doctorate of Ministry Program. Upon
completion of her studies, Susan will
serve directly under Bishop Lessard in
her ministry to the people in South
Georgia.
Miss Cecilia Cohen is the daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. Cohen of Chattanooga,
Tennessee. Cecilia attended the
University of Tennessee and graduated
CUM LAUDE with a B.A. in Englist
Literature.
Cecilia is currently attending the
University of Notre Dame and she is
enrolled in the Master of Theology
Program. Cecilia likewise is under
contract to serve in the diocese upon
completion of her studies directly under
Bishop Lessard.
The question arises, “Why should a
diocese sponsor women to prepare for
ministry when priesthood is not at
present offered to women?” The needs
of God’s people can be and must be met
in various ways. Some needs are met
best by ordained priests, other needs
can be and have in fact for many years
been met by religious sisters and
brothers.
Recently a report came out from the
Vatican Congregation for the
Evangelization of Peoples which urges
women to engage much more fully in
“direct evangelization and ministry
properly so called.” The document,
“The Role of Women in
Evangelization,” pointed out that in
some places women are already
permanently in charge of parishes with
the authorization of the bishop. These
women are already allowed to preside as
the church’s official witness at marriages
and to administer baptism.
Bishop Edward A. McCarthy of
Phoenix envisions a program for women
that would give the same training as
deacons, equipping them to perform
many functions of deacons. Bishop
McCarthy, chairman of the National
Conference of Catholic Bishops
Committee on Lay Apostolate, said,
“we are entering a new age in the life of
the Church” in which the laity are
interested in being fully involved.
A number of other bishops in the
United States have introduced new
forms of ministry by specially trained
lay leaders in communities throughout
their dioceses. The distinction between
ordained and unordained ministers is, of
course, always maintained and
respected.
The Diocese of Savannah covers over
36,000 square miles in its 88 counties.
Many people are unchurched. Many
who belong to the Catholic Church have
pastoral needs which cannot be met at
the present with the limited number of
priests and traditional forms of ministry
available. The diocese’s sponsoring of
these two young women is an attempt
to think ahead so that new models of
ministry can be developed so as to
better meet the pastoral needs of God’s
people in South Georgia.
CROSS IN SA VANN AH MA Y 3
PERMANENT DIACONATE ~ The Diocese of Savannah has
announced plans for introduction of a Permanent Diaconate program.
Duties of the Permanent Deacon are many and varied. Pictured above is
the Rev. Mr. Manual Guerra, a permanent deacon of the Kansas City-St.
Joseph Diocese, distributing Holy Communion to a patient in a hospital.
Rev. Mr. Guerra serves as a Hospital Chaplain. (NC Photo)
WORK OF RELIGIOUS is vital and varied. Glenmary Sister Mary
Dorothy Hendershot, of Waynesboro, works with the Rural Social
Apostolate of the Diocese of Savannah. Here Sister distributes clothing
from Clothing Shed maintained by Sacred Heart Parish.
Marriage Encounter Vigil For Vocations
Members of the Marriage Encounter
Movement in the Savannah area took
part in a worldwide Vigil for Vocations
on Monday, May, 3.
A Vigil Service was held at Blessed
Sacrament Church to mark the presence
in the city of a special Vigil Cross which
is transported from city to city. Father
Robert J. Teoli conducted the service
and spoke on the Marian devotions,
the history of the Cross and the finding
of the true cross by St. Helena. By
coincidence, May 3 was the 21st
anniversary of Fr. Teoli’s ordination to
the priesthood.
This year marks the second time the
worldwide membership of Marriage
Encounter has taken part in this
Vocation Vigil. Last year, the
organization conducted a Holy Year
Vigil which began on the West Coast.
Encounter couples, in each community
took a one-hour vigil on a specified
date. A Cross was passed from city to
city, and in the participating cities, a
special Mass for vocations was offered.
Before the Cross was passed on the
name of each participating city was
affixed. The Holy Year Cross was taken
in pilgrimage to Rome and Lourdes in
October 1975. Three thousand couples
maintained a vigil at St. Patrick’s in New
York prior to its departure for Rome.
Another 365 day Vigil began on last
Christmas Eve in Los Angeles with the
Cross scheduled to arrive this Christmas
Eve at the Shrine of the Immaculate
Conception in Washington, D. C.
Marriage Encounter couples, priests
and nuns pray around the clock:
1) For those who are already priests
and/or religious, that they may truly
experience the love and concern that
the Church has for them.
2) For those presently studying for
the priesthood and religious life, that
they continue in their determination to
give their life for the Church, and that
they, too, experience how much they
are needed and loved by the Church.
3) For new vocations to the
priesthood and religious life.
4) For children of our families, that
we may foster and support vocations in
them.
Following the Vigil in Savannah, the
Cross was transported to Charleston.
Permanent Diaconate
For Savannah Diocese
BY FR. MICHAEL SMITH
Bishop Raymond Lessard recently
ratified a resolution of the Senate of
Priests that the Permanent Diaconate be
accepted as a ministry within the
Diocese of Savannah.
Mature married men, agr thirty-two
and over, may be ordained to this office
which is a real share in the Sacrament of
Orders and authorizes them to teach,
preach and lead officially in the name of
the church.
At the April 14 meeting of the
Savannah Priests’ Senate, when the
resolution was passed, Msgr. Ernest
Fiedler of the national Bishops’ Office
for the Permanent Diaconate, told the
assembled senators that the primary
orientation of the office is service to the
needs of mankind.
“From the beginning,” he said,
“deacons have been men of action,
dedicated to works of charity and
mercy. When I meet with groups of
deacons around the United States - most
of whom are married men with full-time
jobs - I discern a very special and
concrete gift of grace in them. They are
very generous and committed men. To
me they are living signs of the mission
of the church to be Servant of the
world.”
At present 91 of the 164 dioceses in
the United States have instituted the
Permanent Diaconate. There are 1082
deacons ordained and over 2400
candidates. More are active in the
United States than all the rest of the
world combined.
“The Diaconate was not
reestablished, however, as a response to
the shortage of priests,” Msgr. Fiedler
pointed out to the Priests’ Senators.
“When it was reestablished by Vatican
II no such shortage existed. It was to be
a distinct new ministry embodying the
call of all of us to serve .. . The deacon
does h&ve a prominent and important
role to play in the liturgy, though,”
Msgr. Fiedler continued, “because by
his liturgical role, the ministry of service
becomes tangibly represented in the
Eucharist which is the center of the
Church’s life.”
The decision to institute the ministry
of the permanent diaconate within the
dioCese came aLer more than a full year (
of study by the Senate of Priests. All
the priests of the diocese participated in
the deliberations by reacting to a paper
advocating the need of this ministry in
our diocese written by Fr. Clem
Borchers, former President of
Glenmary, now serving as Pastor of
Sacred Heart Church, Lyons. It is
anticipated that the first area where
deacons will serve in the diocese is in
small towns without a resident priest.
Not only would they carry on a
ministry of service, but they would be
the focal point for gathering together
the Catholic community in the area.
They would also officially represent the
Church to the clergy and citizens of the
entire community.
The Senate resolution called for
action necessary to implement this
office within the diocese. This will
involve first of all an instruction of both
clergy and people to gain an
understanding and acceptance for this
new ministry. A two-year training
program must be devised as well as
appropriate ways to recruit and select
candidates. Msgr. Fiedler cautioned that
special attention must be given to the
wives and families of candidates to
insure a full family backing for this new
ministry of the husband and father.
Permanent deacons around the
country come from a great variety of
educational background, ranging from
high school graduates to Ph.D.’s, and
from all sorts of jobs -- postmen,
teachers, doctors, carpenters, etc. They
serve in nursing homes, prisons, campus
ministry, organize remote Catholic
communities, organize medical and legal
services for the poor and much else.
VIGIL CROSS IN SAVANNAH - Pictured with the Marriage Encounter
Vigil Cross are Bill and Pat Kirley and Suzie and Dennis Walker.
Please Pray For Vocations To The Priesthood And Religious Life