Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 2-May 20,1976
BISHOPS ASK
Liturgical Role For Wife In Ordination
Of Married Deacons
BY JERRY FILTEAU
CHICAGO (NC) - After a lively
debate that contrasted tradition with
pastoral concern, the U.S. bishops asked
that the wives of candidates for the
married diaconate be given a distinct
role in the ordination rite for their
husbands.
The bishops also asked that deacons
be given the power to impart a number
of blessings that are reserved to priests
under current Church discipline.
The two resolutions were voted on
during the spring meeting of the
National Conference of Catholic
Bishops (NCCB) here May 4-6.
Both passed by overwhelming
margins, but not before several bishops
voiced strong objections to the changes
in Church discipline.
The resolutions were introduced to
the body of bishops by Bishop Ernest
Unterkoefler of Charleston, S. C.,
chairman of the NCCB Committee on
the Permanent Diaconate.
On the rites for the ordination of
deacons and for the admission of men
to candidacy for the diaconate, Bishop
Unterkoefler noted that these rites are
undergoing revision and Cardinal James
Knox, prefect of the Vatican’s
Congregation for Worship and the
Sacraments, had expressed hope that
the NCCB president would forward
suggestions for changes in the rite.
In the case of married candidates for
the permanent diaconate, the bishop
said, consent of the wife to her
husband’s ministry is demanded in the
United States, but this is not expressed
formally or publicly in the current
ceremonies of admission to candidacy
or ordination.
The revisions offered by the
committee included suggestions that in
the call to orders the wife of the
candidate be asked about her willingness
to have her husband engage in the
ministry of a deacon; that intercessions
for the new deacon’s wife and family be
added to the litany of prayers for the
new deacon; and that similar additions
be made in the rite of admission to
candidacy.
The rationale, Bishop Unterkoefler
said, was that the wife’s support is an
important aspect of the married
deacon’s ministry, and there should be a
public opportunity to express and
celebrate her supportive commitment.
Archbishop John R. Quinn of
Oklahoma City, Okla., objected that
none of the sacramental traditions of
the Church involve such a distinct
affirmation by someone who is not the
recipient of the sacrament. The wife is
included in the testimony of the whole
Christian community as to the
candidate’s fitness for orders, he said,
and it should not be singled out.
He also noted that in the Christian
tradition the only specific mention of
the wife of a candidate for diaconate or
priesthood comes in the Orthodox
tradition, in which the wives are told to
remain silent.
Archbishop Peter L. Gerety of
Newark, N. J., responded that “the
historical fact of putting wives in the
shade is not really relevant.”
“We’re living in a new age,” he said,
adding in an aside that today’s women
would not keep quiet “even if we told
them to.”
“Society has become more mature
since then,” said Bishop Thomas Grady
of Orlando, Fla. He argued that the
wife’s role in the married deacon’s
ministry deserves special attention
because she and her husband are “two
persons in one flesh.”
Regarding the motion to have the
NCCB president request that deacons be
given power to impart more blessings,
Cardinal John Carberry of St. Louis
argued that extending the faculties or
powers of deacons “lessens the image of
priests” and promotes an “equalization”
of the two orders that would tend to
blur the “unique character” of the
priesthood.
He also noted that in the Eastern rites
deacons have no powers to impart
blessings.
At issue in the resolution was the
broadening of the deacon’s power so
that, in addition to blessings he can
currently impart, he would be able to
bless women before and after childbirth,
the sick, throats, ashes, automobiles,
holy water, homes, and (with a simple
blessing) religious articles.
Bishop Walter Sullivan of Richmond,
Va., said he failed to see ho\y the
blessing of throats or holy water was
essential to the priesthood’s unique
characteristic and could not be
extended to deacons.
Archbishop Quinn objected that in
earlier Church history one of the
reasons for the decline in the diaconate
was the expansion of the deacon’s
functions to the point where they were
too much like the priest’s. He also
argued that “we are very early in our
experience” of the revived diaconate to
be suggesting changes.
Several bishops responded by
stressing pastoral need and the help that
permanent deacons give, particularly in
rural and non-Catholic areas where there
are not enough priests to serve the needs
of the people.
“I speak in favor,” said Bishop
Joseph Gossman of Raleigh, N. C.,
“Because this will mean that we take
men ordained to the service of people
and allow them to be better able to
serve the people.”
Both resolutions were passed by a
large voice vote. Only a few scattered
“nays” could be heard.
and young priests are disappearing;
there is a better relationship between
the two as well as greater support; and
the wisdom of older priests is now
better understood.
Also there has been “great progress in
the liturgy,” Msgr. Egan told the priests,
with the laity responding more.
And, he said, there is “greater
preparation in preaching” by priests.
Priests today, Msgr. Egan said, strive
to be professional because “there is no
room for amateurs.”
People are demanding professionalism
in areas “we priests have committed
ourselves to: prayer and the spiritual
life,” he said.
He also saw great hope in the
“quality of the great men being named
bishops.” The “hierarchy was never in
better shape,” he said.
Bishops Discourage Worship
Of Obscure Argentine Woman
BUENOS AIRES (NC) - In an
attempt to discourage Catholics from
worshipping an obscure 19th-century
woman, the bishops of Argentina
condemned the practice as superstitious
and said that only the Pope can vouch
for the sanctity of a person.
legitimate worship of saints and
devotion to the souls in purgatory,” the
bishops said in a statement. “There is
also a tourist and business approach to
such deviations. This is the case of
Difunta Correa.”
Catholic Population And Infant Baptisms Up
DENVER (NC) - This is “the greatest
time to be a priest,” Msgr. John J. Egan
of Notre Dame University told the 1976
Priests’ Convention of the Denver
archdiocese.
Msgr. Egan, a pioneer in social
ministry, is an associate professional
specialist in the theology department at
Notre Dame.
One hundred and two priests - both
Religious and diocesan - discussed
proposals at the convention ranging
from optional celibacy to spiritual
enrichment of the clergy under the
general theme “Effective Ministry
After the Bicentennial.”
Msgr. Egan told the meeting that the
state of the priesthood in the United
States “is in good shape” and that he
sees “great hope for the future.”
He said the antagonisms between old
YOUTH SYMPHONY - In San Jose, Costa Rica, the
Youth Symphony Orchestra performs at one of its
many concerts. Under the direction of American
conductor Gerald Brown, formerly of Douglas, Ariz.,
the orchestra has played for many famous people
including Secretary of State Henry Kissinger on his
recent Latin American tour. (NC Photo by Carlos
Morales)
6 Greatest Time To Be A Priest 9
NEW YORK (NC) - The Catholic
population in the United States
increased by 180,037 from 1974 to
1975 to a total of 48,881,872 and the
number of infant baptisms increased for
the first time since 1962.
Although the total Catholic
population increased, the increase was
smaller than last year’s and the Catholic
percentage of the U.S. population
continued to decline, to 22.78 percent.
The figures were released by the 1976
Official Catholic Directory, published
by P. J. Kenedy and Sons here.
The figure for total population
includes Catholics in the 50 states, all
families of the defense forces at home
and abroad, and members of diplomatic
and other services abroad. The
directory’s statistics reflect the status of
the U.S. Catholic Church as of Jan. 1,
1976.
The directory reported 894,992
infant baptisms, an increase of 18,686
over last year, reversing the downward
ANTI-ABOR TIOMSTS:
MINNEAPOLIS (NC) - A leading
anti-abortion group based here has told
its members that “no effort be made to
criticize or defeat a Senator” solely on
the basis of his vote to table the
constitutional amendment to restrict
legal abortion introduced by Sen. Jesse
Helms (R. - N.C.)
The group, American Citizens
Concerned for Life (ACCL), urged its
members to communicate their support
to those senators who voted not to table
the motion.
The vote in question occurred April
28 when Helms, through a
parliamentary maneuver, secured a vote
on whether to begin full consideration
of his amendment on the Senate floor.
His effort was defeated 47-40.
Helms’ amendment would have
defined the fetus as a legal person from
the moment of fertilization.
A number of anti-abortion groups
supported Helms’ maneuver. Helms and
trend that began in 1962. The number
of converts was 80,035, an increase of
4,912 over last year. During the year,
406,497 Catholics died in the United
States.
Directory officials have attributed the
discrepancy between the size of the
change in total Catholic population and
the total indicated by the number of
infant baptisms, deaths and converts to
variations reported by dioceses in the
past.
The directory reported a decrease of
62 in the number of clergy for a total of
58,847 ordained priests. While diocesan
priests increased by 170 to 36,175,
religious order priests decreased by 232
to 22,672.
Over the past 10 years, the number of
priests has declined by 346, while the
Catholic population has increased by
more than 2.6 million.
In the past year, the number of
Brothers decreased by 62 to 8,563 and
the number of Sisters decreased by
other senators have said they will try to
obtain votes on differently worded
amendments in the near future.
The U.S. Catholic bishops’
Committee for Pro-Life Activities
remained neutral on Helms’ unusual
maneuver, which by-passed the normal
committee process.
The Senate subcommittee on
constitutional amendments voted down
several proposed anti-abortion
amendments last September.
ACCL, in a bulletin to members, said
that because the April 28 vote came on
a procedural matter, “Senators may
have voted differently than they would
have on a substantive vote on the Helms
amendment.”
“It is crucial to understand,” ACCL
said, “that senators who voted to table
may favor a different approach to an
amendment, may have felt that a Senate
vote on an amendment was premature
and unnecessarily divisive because all
4,209 to 130,995. Although the
one-year declines for Brothers and
Sisters were smaller than the previous
year’s, the current totals for both are
the smallest in 20 years.
The directory reported declines also
in the numbers of seminarians and
seminaries, educational institutions,
elementary and secondary school
students, hospitals, children cared for in
Catholic orphanages, infant asylums and
foster homes and marriages.
It reported increases in the numbers
of bishops, students in Catholic colleges
and universities, lay teachers in Catholic
elementary and secondary schools,
patients treated in Catholic hospitals
and converts.
Among the figures reported in the
directory were the following:
- Chicago still has the largest Catholic
population of any diocese or
archdiocese with 2,466,300. It is
amendments lacked the necessary
two-thirds vote, or they may have
known that the votes were present to
table and, though supportive of our
views, voted the position they perceived
was desired by a substantial share of
their constituency.
“The senators who voted to table
should be encouraged to continue for
the unborn and should receive your
appreciation for any assistance they
may have previously given our cause
aside from this vote,” the ACCL
bulletin said.
“This issue will be before the Senate
again, and we will need all of the
support and good will available to us if
we are to successfully enact legislation
to change the present situation.
“If we make premature judgments
and harden opposition now, we may
forfeit the right to call upon good will
in the future and may jeopardize our
claim to respect as responsible citizens -
which respect will be essential if we are
to succeed,” the bulletin said.
followed by Los Angeles, 2,208,989;
Boston, 2,012,533; New York,
1,880,788; Detroit, 1,509,277; Newark,
N.J., 1,426,034; and Philadelphia,
1,377,469.
- The Sees reporting the largest
increases in Catholic population were
Los Angeles, 109,240; Orlando, Fla.,
72,505; Newark, 55,596 and Cleveland,
53,427.
- The total number of Catholic
educational institutions is 10,716, or
125 fewer than last year.
- Full-time teaching staffs of all
Catholic educational institutions
decreased by 97 to 171,700. This was
the smallest decrease in four years.
While there were fewer teaching priests,
scholastics and Sisters than a year ago,
there were 92 more Brothers and 3,675
more lay teachers. The 108,502 lay
teachers are now 63.2 percent of all
teachers in Catholic schools, up from 61
percent last year.
- The total number of students in
Catholic educational institutions
declined by 37,243 to 3,922,545. This
is a decline of 2,173,301, or 35.7
percent, since 1965, but the total is
higher than the 2,590,660 enrolled in
1945 when sharp increases began.
- There are four fewer diocesan and
religious order seminaries and 555 fewer
seminarians. Both decreases are smaller
than those of the previous year and the
total number of seminarians is 17,247.
- There are 245 Catholic colleges and
universities, six fewer than the year
before, but enrollment is up 10,354 to
432,597.
- The number of full-time pupils in
Catholic elementary and secondary
schools decreased by 48,032, or 1.4
percent, to 3,471,711. Parish and
diocesan high schools and parish
elementary schools reported declines,
while private high schools and
elementary schools reported increases.
- Catholic children in public schools
who attend released time religious
instruction programs decreased by
176,479 to 4,905,655. The total of
8,837,407 pupils of all grades receiving
Catholic instruction is a decline of
214,736 from the previous year.
- Marriages recorded decreased by
15,896 to 369,133, a continuation of a
five-year downward trend.
Devotion to Difunta Correa - which
means Dead Correa - has been spreading
in the last few years from her remote
town of Vallecito in San Juan province
to most of the nation, with chapels,
churches and shrines built in her honor,
and a profusion of religious stamps and
pictures widely distributed.
There has been no process for her
beatification, the first step in declaring
that a Catholic practiced heroic virtues.
There has not been research on the life
of Difunta Correa, an Indian woman
vaguely connected in Argentina’s
history with the independence
movement of the early 1800s.
“There are deviations from the
“Only the Church’s authority, the
Pope, can declare in solemn judgment
that a person is a saint, and offer her or
him as a model to the People of God,”
the bishops added.
While discussions of Difunta Correa
were reported at earlier bishops’
meetings, this is the first time that
Church authorities have declared
devotion to her “superstitious and
illegimate.”
One of the reasons for the delay,
sources said here, is the fact that the
San Juan archdiocese had approved the
construction of a Catholic church near
the site where Dead Correa is said to be
buried.
TIME OUT FROM THE WAR - A third grade boy at St. Elizabeth
elementary school in Wilmington, Del., puts his musket aside to turn to a
different battle -- with his studies. It was Bicentennial Week at the school
so students came dressed as Revolutionary War figures. (NC Photo by
Kathleen Graham)
Don’t Criticize Helms Amendment Vote
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