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New Marriage Guidelines Stress Careful Preparation And Commitment
BY GILL BROWN
The new Marriage Guidelines which
have been approved for the Diocese of
Savannah stress careful preparation for
the celebration and a renewed awareness
of the fidelity, love and responsibility
that the Marriage commitment entails.
The following are the major points of
the Guidelines, which go into effect
officially on June 1st.
MARRIAGE PREPARATION
PROCEDURE
1. A couple desiring to be married is
expected to notify the parish priest at
least four months prior to the proposed
date of their wedding.
2. Ordinarily, the parish priest of the
Catholic party (of the bride, if both
parties are Catholic) is the one to assist
the couple in preparing for marriage and
to witness it for the Church.
3. The marriage of two Catholics
ordinarily takes place in the parish
church of the bride.
4. The particular circumstances of an
interfaith (mixed) marriage require
special preparation and pastoral
attention to assure the validity as well as
the success of the marriage.
circumstances, engaged couples may be
referred to a counselor approved by the
diocese for pre-marriage counseling.
6. Pre-marriage questionnaires are
filled out with the couple and a
tentative date may be set for the
ceremony. However, the date will be
finalized only after the couple has
completed the marriage preparation
program. At least two months prior to
the proposed wedding date, the couple
should contact the priest and expect his
decision to confirm or postpone that
date.
MARRIAGE PREPARATION
PROGRAMS
The priests of the diocese are not
obligated to the use of just one marriage
preparation program. The needs and
capabilities of the parish should be the
guide for choosing a marriage
preparation program.
All programs include reflection on
the nature and sacramentality of
marriage, married love and family life,
marital responsibilities, communication
within marriage, and other practical
considerations such as planning the
wedding ceremony.
REASONS FOR DELAY
IN MARRIAGE
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the marriage be delayed. Just cause
would include the following:
1. Non-practice of the Faith by the
Catholic party or parties with no
intention of returning to the practice of
the Faith.
2. Refusal to participate in the
Marriage Preparation Program, or in
pre-marital counseling if this is required.
3. Lack of readiness for marriage as
assessed by the priest, in consultation
with the parents, and through
pre-marriage counseling.
MARRIAGE OF MINORS
1. Generally, marriages between
teenagers are to be discouraged, since
statistical evidence indicates that the
probability of permanence in such
marriages is greatly reduced.
2. If either party is not yet eighteen
years old, consideration for marriage in
the Church will be given only after a
favorable recommendation from a
counselor approved by the diocese.
3. Rarely, if ever, will permission be
given for marriage in the church for
anyone under seventeen.
PREGNANCY BEFORE MARRIAGE
situations with compassion and concern.
However, marriage should not
automatically be presumed the
appropriate solution in these cases. The
priest may offer counsel regarding other
morally acceptable alternatives.
In any case, the fact of pregnancy
does not diminish the need for
preparation required by these
guidelines. Indeed, it is even more vital
to the success of such marriages that
these established procedures be
observed.
2. If the couple was not engaged
prior to the pregnancy, special
counselling and evaluation must be
obtained before consideration will be
given to the request for marriage in the
Church.
VALIDATION OF MARRIAGES
If a couple enters an invalid marriage
contrary to the laws of the Church, a
validation (marriage in the Church) is
permitted after the couple has
completed to the extent appropriate,
the procedures described in these
guidelines. Normally, a delay of at least
one year after the civil ceremony is
required before validation.
PROCEDURES FOR EXCEPTION
TO GUIDELINES
5. The priest will assist the couple in
arranging for their participation in one
of the marriage preparation programs, as
required by the diocese. In special
A priest may not lightly refuse to
witness the marriage of a parishioner
who is free to marry. For a just cause,
however, a priest may recommend that
SAVANNAH MARRIAGE GUIDELINES ~ This sketch from “Good
News for Modern Man” (American Bible Society) is used on the cover of
the Marriage Guidelines Booklet.
1. When pregnancy occurs outside of
marriage it is the time of great stress and
turmoil for the parties involved and for
their families. The church views such
If a priest feels that he has unique
circumstances to warrant an exception
to these guidelines he should refer the
matter to the chancery office.
.ft.
DIOCESE OF SAVANNAH NEWSPAPER
Vol. 60 No. 13 Form 3579 To: 601 E. 6fli St. Waynesboro, Ga. 30830
Thursday, March 29, 1979 Single Copy Price - 15 Cents
Washington Workshop Is 4
CONSUMER CIVILIZATION - Cars stacked in an
Escondido, Calif., junkyard and an incinerator in
Houston buring automobile batteries, plastics and
other municipal trash stand as monuments to a society
built on consumerism. Pressure from environmentalists
concerned with air quality forced the mayor of
Houston to close the incinerator in 1974. “It was the
Creator’s will that man should communicate with
nature as an intelligent and noble ‘master’ and
‘guardian’ and not as a heedless ‘exploiter’ and
‘destroyer,’” the pope said in his first encyclical. “The
drama is made still worse by the presence ... of the
privileged social classes and of the rich countries,
which accumulate goods to an excessive degree and the
misuse of whose riches often become the cause of
various ills.” Encyclical Text continues on pages 6 and
7 of this issue. (NC Photos from E.P.A. Documerica)
Lay Teachers Not NLRB Jurisdiction
WASHINGTON (NC) - The Supreme
Court has ruled that lay teachers
employed by church-operated schools
are not covered by the National Labor
Relations Act.
The 5-4 decision, issued March 21 in
Washington, was based on the assertion
thgt the legislative history of the act
showed “no clear expression of an
affirmative intention of Congress” to
include teachers at church-run schools
in its coverage. The justices chose not to
resolve First Amendment questions
raised by the case.
“The church-teacher relationship in a
church-operated school differs from the
employment relationship in a public or
other non-religious school,” said the
majority opinion by Chief Justice
Warren Burger. “We see no escape from
conflicts flowing from the (National
Labor Relation) Board’s exercise of
jurisdiction over teachers in
church-operated schools and the
consequent serious First Amendment
questions that would follow.”
With its decision, the Supreme Court
upheld a Seventh Circuit Court of
Appeals decision in the case of National
Labor Relations Board vs. Catholic
bishop of Chicago, a corporation sole,
and Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend
Inc. et al. The circuit court had said in
August 1977 that the National Labor
Relations Act does not apply to
Catholic schools.
Reviewing the legislative history of
the National Labor Relations Act, the
court said Congress “simply gave no
consideration to church-operated
schools.” Disagreeing with the NLRB’s
contention that a 1974 amendment
removing the exemption for non-profit
hospitals gave the board jurisdiction
over church-operated schools, the court
added: “Since the board did not assert
jurisdiction over teachers in a
church-operated school until after the
1974 amendment, nothing in the
history of the amendment can be read
as reflecting Congress’ tacit approval of
the board’s action.”
The majority opinion concluded:
“Accordingly, in the absence of a clear
expression of Congress’ intent to bring
teachers in church-operated schools
within the jurisdiction of the board, we
decline to construe the act in a manner
that could in turn call upon the court to
resolve difficult and sensitive questions
arising out of the guarantees of the First
Amendment religion clauses.”
Region VII Cursillo Meeting
The Semi-anrtual meeting of Region VII of the Cursillo movement will be
hosted by the Savannah Cursillo group on March 30th and 31st at Cathedral
Day School in Savannah. Bishop Michael J. Begley, of the Diocese of
Charlotte, will be present as Episcopal Advisor, together with lay directors
and spiritual directors of Cursillo groups in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, North
Carolina and South Carolina.
Representing Savannah will be Fred Tuten, lay director, and Father
Michael Smith, spiritual director. The meeting will present an opportunity for
sharing of information and ideas, discussion of business matters, and future
planning.
Action’ Follow Up
Call To
BY GILL BROWN
Special Report
Nearly three hundred people active in
social ministry, religious education and
communications, attended a “skills
workshop” on social justice issues in
Washington, D. C., March 18th - 20th.
The workshop followed up on the 1976
“Call to Action” conference held in
, Detroit in 1976, and was intended to
reinforce local action in connection
with the resulting plan developed by the
U.S. Catholic Bishops, entitled “To Do
The Work of Justice.”
Among participants were Sister M.
Julian Griffin, V.S.C., and Mrs. Gillian
Brown, of the Social Affairs
Department, Diocese of Savannah.
Some 90 Dioceses were represented,
inclduing a delegation of six from
Hawaii.
“I suggest that there are many good
things going on,” Archbishop Roach
said, “but I also suggest there is a
massive indifference to justice in our
world.”
Programs developed by the Bishops’
Conference were described by a panel of
key staff members under the
chairmanship of Bishop Thomas C.
Kelly, O.P., General Secretary of
NCCB/USCC. Panellists included Father
Bryan Hehir (USCC Department of
Social Development and World Peace),
Mrs. Dolores Leckey (Committee on the
Laity), Sr. Marina Herrera and Mrs.
Cecilia Bennett (Education
Department), Father Daniel Pakenham
(Committee on Priestly Formation) and
Father Philip Murnion (NCCB
Committee on the Parish.)
SATURDAY-MAR. 31
A description of three Diocesan
responses to “Call to Action” was given
by Father William Pitt, of the Diocese
of Richmond, Father James Provost,
Diocese of Helena, and Msgr. William
Barry, of the Archdiocese of Los
Angeles. In each area, a strong social
justice program had been initiated, with
significant grass-roots support. Father
Pitt credited the success of the
Richmond program to the strong
involvement of the Bishop and the
support given by the Pastoral Council,
Priests’ Council and staff, as well as the
fact that he himself as Chancellor had
been able to chair the Call to Action
Task Force. Participation was voluntary,
each parish choosing its own issue and
working at its own speed. In the Diocese
of Helena, the emphasis was placed on
(Continued on page 3)
“Call to Action” in the Bicentennial
year hit the headlines with reports of
the recommendations put forward by a
wide variety of groups with interests
ranging from farmworkers’ rights,
family needs, and problems of the
handicapped, to disarmament and
women’s liberation. In contrast the
Washington workshop brought together
a much smaller group of parish and
diocesan personnel to share their
experiences, discuss their successes and
failures, and to dialogue about the
strategies and resources needed in
implementing the Bishops’ plan.
In his address of welcome,
Archbishop John R. Roach of St.
Paul-Minneapolis, who serves as
Chairman of the NCCB Ad Hoc
Committee on the Call to Action plan,
said that the process initiated in the
Bicentennial year had provided dramatic
evidence of unity within the Church in
terms of interest in the work of justice,
but had also highlighted serious
differences. Slow progress in
implementing the many
recommendations made at Detroit had
caused enthusiasm to wane. Some
dioceses had gone ahead on their own,
with plans for social justice. The
Bishops had responded to many of the
recommendations of “Call to Action”
by creating a new Secretariat for the
Laity, launching new initiatives
pertaining to parish life and the family,
and issuing statements on such issues as
Human Rights in Eastern Europe, the
Panama Canal treaties, U.S. Defense,
and the American Indian. Pastoral
letters were planned on Racism, Health
Care, and Pluralism.
Lyons To Be Ordained Deacon
John Joseph Lyons Jr., son of Mr.
and Mrs. John J. Lyons of Savannah,
will be ordained to the Order of Deacon
on Saturday, March 31st, in Our Lady
of Einsiedeln Archabbey Church, Saint
Meinrad, Indiana.
Most Reverend Francis Shea, D.D.,
Bishop of Evansville, Ind. will be the
presiding prelate for the fifteen
theology students to be ordained.
Lyons graduated from Benedictine
Military School, attended Armstrong
State College and received his B. S.
Degree in Biology from St. Meinrad
College. He is currently working on his
M. Div. from St. Meinrad School of
Theology, St. Meinrad, Indiana.
John Joseph Lyons, Jr.
Official Appointments
The Most Reverend Raymond W. Lessard, D.D., Bishop of Savannah, has
announced the appointment of Reverend James Costigan as Diocesan Vicar for
Temporal Affairs, effective immediately. Included in this appointment is
ex-officio membership on the Diocesan Finance Board, the Investment
Committee, and the Diocesan Building Commission. The appointment is
effective immediately.
The Most Reverend Raymond W. Lessard and the Reverend Robert C. Berson,
President of the Glenmary Home Missioners, announce the appointment of the
Reverend Robert Cameron of the Glenmary Home Missions as Pastor of Holy
Trinity Church, Swainsboro, Georgia, and its missions, effective April 7, 1979.