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% t DIOCESE OF SAVANNAH NEWSPAPER ^ Vol. 57 No. 31 Thursday, September 9, 1976 Single Copy Price — 15 Cents 4s> Vx.- '.i. -c „ ** 2M, v' > PHOTO BY REV. WAYLAND BROWN LOTS OF IDEAS from lots of different places around South Georgia were shared and a lot of fun was had by all, despite a lot of hard work, as the 93 youth delegates and advisors from 24 different parishes PAPAL REQUEST gathered for the Youth Leadership Workshop at Camp Villa Marie, Savannah, August 20-22. (See Story on Page 8) A Prayers For Archbishop Lefebvre Director Of Spiritual Renewal Named For Savannah Diocese VATICAN CITY (NC) - Pope Paul VI, declihing lengthy comment on a public Tridentine Mass offered Aug. 29 by suspended traditionalist Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, asked Catholics and people of “good sense” to pray for a change of heart in the dissident prelate. At the beginning of his Sept. 1 general audience here, Pope Paul declared that the actions of the suspended French archbishop were “very damaging to the Church” and “for us personally very painful.” “It is clear that we must forcefully deplore this incident,” the Pope told 7,000 people in the modern Vatican audience hall. “But for now we ask you and all faithful churchmen and good Catholics, not to mention all persons of good sense who are following this sad situation with anxious interest, to pray the Lord to inspire in this confrere and his followers better counsels and active fidelity to the Holy Catholic Church.” Pope Paul VI suspended Archbishop Lefebvre July 24 from all priestly functions after the prelate ordained 13 priests illegally June 29 at the traditionalist seminary in his Econe villa in Switzerland. Archbishop Lefebvre, who took an active part in the Second Vatican Council and signed most of its decrees, has rejected the council as “heresy.” Among the reforms he rejects are the liturgical reforms, and his insistence on saying only the Tridentine Mass - the rite instituted after the 6th-century Council of Trent but banned as the reformed rites mandated by the Second Vatican Council took effect -- had Up to 25,000 persons, including bishops, deputies, delegates to the women’s meeting, visitors and special guests are expected to attend the General Convention of the Episcopal Church next week. Site of the triennial meeting, to be held September 11-23, will be Minneapolis, Minnesota. According to a news account in THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN GEORGIA, publication of the Diocese of Georgia: “The Rt. Rev. John M. Allin, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, will preside over the sessions of the House of Bishops, and the Rev. John B. Coburn, Boston, Mass., Bishop-elect of the Diocese of Massachusetts, will preside over the meetings of the House of Deputies. “Issues expected to come before the Convention for action include the ordination of women to the priesthood and the episcopate; the revision of the Book of Common Prayer; world and domestic hunger; theological education; ecumenical relations; the structure of the Church; work with ethnic minorities; evangelism; Christian education; lay ministry; social concerns; already become a symbol of his opposition to the council. It took on added significance as his suspension meant he was forbidden to say Mass at all. The Pope’s 200-word statement made no mention of further Church sanctions or excommunication for the rebel archbishop, but he left open the possibility of further disciplinary action. In a talk on Aug. 29 Pope Paul condemned a Tridentine Mass the archbishop offered at Lille, France, as a “challenge” to papal authority. Archbishop Lefebvre was reportedly planning to celebrate another public Tridentine Mass at Besancon, France, Sept. 5. In his audience statement, the Pope said that the archbishop has made “very serious public accusations against this apostolic See, against the ecumenical council and against our own person.” He added that the situation has become “objectively more serious for the Church and, for us personally, more painful.” Reports in the Italian press in recent days that a descendant of Pope Pius IX’s family has been conducting negotiations for the Vatican with Lefebvre followers, were denied by the Vatican daily newspaper Sept. 1. The Vatican press office also said that the alleged negotiator, Gabriele Molteni Mastai Ferretti, was never asked to be intermediary by the Holy See. Rumors reaching Rome from France development/stewardship; and others. The Convention will elect members to serve on the Executive Council and the House of Deputies will elect a President and Vice President. Bishop Lessard To Attend Bishop Raymond W. Lessard, of Savannah, will be present at the opening ceremonies of the Triennal General Convention of the Episcopal Church, USA. The bishop who is co-chairman of ARC -- Anglican-Roman Catholic Consultation U.S.A. - will remain for the first two days of the session as official observer of the Roman Catholic Church. He will be followed by other Catholic bishops, giving the church an official observer throughout the 10-day meeting. said that Archbishop Lefebvre might be planning to ordain a bishop for his traditionalist movement. The archbishop has already said that he plans to establish traditionalist parishes. Many traditionalists are hoping that another Catholic bishop, either in Europe or another part of the world, will openly declare himself to be on Archbishop Lefebvre’s side. In Rome, however, even many conservative clerics say they oppose the course taken by the archbishop, though they admit being sympathetic to some of his stands. In his audience talk here, Pope Paul insisted that in building up the Church, “It is not enough to offer to the Divine Architect one’s personal cooperation. “We must offer to Him our very lives. “No one can be an apostle without carrying the cross,” the Pontiff declared. “To build up the Church we must work ourselves very hard, we rhust suffer.” The Pope, who helicoptered to the Vatican from his summer home in Castelgandolfo for the audience, appeared somewhat tired during the audience and stumbled over some passages of his text. At Castelgandolfo, the Pope has been closely following the Lefebvre affair. On Aug. 31 he received in extraordinary audience the papal nuncio to France, Archbishop Egano Righi-Lambertini, to discuss the Lefebvre case. He also met with Archbishop Vincenzo Fagiolo, a canon law expert. Next Week “According to the agenda that will be proposed to the two houses, the first major item of business will be a consideration of the Draft Proposed Book of Common Prayer, which will probably be considered by the Convention, September 13-14. If this Draft Proposed Book receives an affirmative vote of the two houses, it will become the Proposed Book of Common Prayer, and will require a second affirmative vote at the Convention in Denver in 1979 to become the Standard Book of Common Prayer. “The proposal to enact legislation to permit the ordination of women to the priesthood and episcopate will be offered as the second major issue for debate and action in the two houses. “The opening service of the 65th General Convention will be on Saturday, September 11, at 4 p.m., at the St. Paul Civic Center. At this Service of Praise and Witness, which will include a procession of the Convention principals - bishops, deputies, delegates, ecumenical guests, Executive Council members - Bishop Allin will give his address to the Convention.” Bishop Raymond Lessard has announced the appointment of Fr. Michael Smith as diocesan Director of Spiritual Renewal. This new post was created as the result of more than a year of discussion and planning by the Senate of Priests in consultation with other groups and individuals throughout the diocese. “Spiritual renewal,” Bishop Lessard said, “means revitalizing our core faith in the gospel which is the basis of our whole life as a church. What a retreat is intended to do for the life of an individual, or a mission seeks to do for the life of a parish community, this is what Fr. Smith’s new position is intended to foster and promote in the life of our diocese. A key dimension of his work will be to provide increased opportunities for prayer and help us integrate prayer more fully into all that we do as a church.” Concern for the spiritual renewal of our priests - initially voiced in a meeting of the Board of Vicars - was the origin of the deliberations finally resulting in the establishment of this new position. The Senate of Priests later ratified this concern and voted it a top priority for the diocese. Their Committee on i riestly Life and Ministry was asked to draw up a proposed job description. Last April 14, the Senate approved the proposed job description and sent it to Bishop Lessard with a resolution • queuing funding for the coming year. The job description finally BY JIM CASTELLI WASHINGTON (NC) - Six bishops representing the leadership of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) discussed abortion and a number of other issues in an hour-long meeting with Democratic presidential nominee Jimmy Carter. A similar meeting is planned with President Gerald Ford, the Republican nominee, for Sept. 9. The NCCB president, Archbishop Joseph Bernardin of Cincinnati, told reporters, “the meeting was courteous; there was a good exchange of information.” Carter, through his press secretary, Jody Powell, called the meeting “interesting and very worthwhile.” Powell said each side understood the other’s positions better than before the meeting. He said Carter and the bishops would continue to exchange information on a number of issues, probably through the mail. Archbishop Bernardin repeated his position that the Church did not endorse candidates. He said there was “very substantial disagreement” between the bishops’ support for a constitutional amendment to restrict abortion and the Democratic platform opposing such an amendment. But he said there was “no substantial disagreement” with the rest of the platform on issues such as hunger, poverty and health care. Archbishop Bernardin said the abortion issue was discussed “extensively” and that the bishops “continue to be disappointed with the governor’s position” on a constitutional amendment. “The governor repeated his personal opposition to abortion and his opposition to government funding for abortion,” Archbishop Bernardin said. “He also indicated that he would not oppose an effort to obtain a constitutional amendment. “However, on the crucial point of whether he would support an amendment, he did not change his position,” Archbishop Bernardin said. “At this time he will not commit recommended was much broader than the original concern about the spiritual renewal of priests. The committee reasoned that since priests do not grow spiritually in isolation from their people, any efforts at renewal must be broadly based. Of the five goals finally approved for the Director, two will be given priority during the coming year: 1) To assist parish organizations, particularly parish councils, in prayerfully reflecting on their vision and service of parish life; Fr. Michael Smith himself to supporting an amendment. We, therefore, continue to be disappointed with the governor’s position. And we repeat our call for a constitutional amendment.” Archbishop Bernardin read to reporters a statement which he read to Carter at the opening of the meeting. The statement focused mainly on support for an amendment. It made reference to an Aug. 16 statement issued by Archbishop Bernardin outlining the role of the Church in politics. That statement said the Church would not take partisan stands or endorse candidates, but according to Archbishop Bernardin, would “call attention to the moral and religious dimensions of secular issues and . . . keep alive the values of the Gospel as a norm for social and political life.” Most of the issues the Church is concerned about, Archbishop Bernardin told Carter, “have to do, in one way or another, with the sanctity of life which is the most important issue of all. “Human life is threatened in many and 2) To serve the spiritual renewal of our priests by helping plan various opportunities for prayer and sharing. “We have two specific projects already in the planning stage,” Fr. Smith said. “The first is a series of evening or afternoons of prayer for members of parish councils, tentatively scheduled for October and November in each deanery. The second is developing a list of possible resources - speakers and ideas - for use in planning the regular monthly days of prayer for priests held in each deanery.” The three other goals attached to the position are: to serve, coordinate and guide recognized and approved renewal movements within the diocese; to aid in the planning, execution and follow-up on parish missions and retreats; and to be responsible for advising priests on opportunities for their continuing education and personal renewal. Because of limitations of time, these three will be left in a planning stage during the coming year. Fr. Liam Collins and Fr. Robert Teoli will continue to be the diocesan representatives to the Charismatic Renewal Movement and Marriage Encounter groups respectively. Fr. Smith will be working at this new post half-time, continuing to serve as Coordinator of the Department of Christian Formation and Vicar for Education. ways in our society: by hunger, inadequate health care, the lack of decent housing and quality education, by the proliferation of nuclear weapons and by a host of other evils, many of which the Democratic platform has addressed well. “Abortion, however,” he said, “is a direct assault on the lives of those who are least able to defend themselves: the unborn. “It is for this reason that the Church is particularly concerned about abortion at this time: if we become insensitive to the violation of the basic human right to life, our sensitivity to the entire spectrum of human rights will ultimately be eroded.” “If there is agreement that abortion is a moral evil because it violates a person’s most basic human right,” he said, “then the only logical conclusion is that something must be done to correct the evil; and the only remedy is a constitutional amendment.” Archbishop Bernardin noted that he had expressed a willingness to meet with (Continued on Page 8) Official Appointments Bishop Raymond W. Lessard announces that: FATHER MICHAEL A. DELEA has been appointed pastor of St. Mary’s on-the-Hill Church, Augusta, effective September 25,1976. Father Delea has previously served at Saint James, Savannah and most recently as pastor of Saint Peter Claver Church, Macon. FATHER RICHARD C. KEIL has been appointed pastor of Saint Peter Claver Church, Macon, effective September 25, 1976. Father Keil has previously served at Saint Joseph’s, Waycross and at Saint Joseph’s, Augusta. FATHER WILLIAM P. DOWLING has been appointed temporary associate pastor of Saint Joseph’s Church, Augusta, effective September 25, 1976. Father Dowling has just completed a year on sabbatical leave, during which time he persued graduate studies at Valdosta State College. The bishop has filled two other diocesan positions by re-confirming FATHER J. KEVIN BOLAND as Vicar General for another three year term as well as naming him Personnel Director of the Diocese of Savannah. In addition, the bishop has named FATHER MICHAEL SMITH as Director of the new Diocesan Office For Spiritual Renewal. (See news story in this edition.) WOMENS ORDINATION ON AGENDA Episcopalian’s Convention Bishops, Carter Discuss Issues