Newspaper Page Text
I
*
250,000 Gather In St. Peter’s Square
To Hear Pope’s First Easter Message
VATICAN CITY (NC) - Pope John
Paul II capped a busy Holy Week by
wishing the world “Happy Easter” in a
record 32 languages at the end of his
Easter message.
Under warm, somewhat hazy skies,
the pope started Easter with a simple
late-morning Mass before a crowd of
more than 150,000 in St. Peter’s
Square. By the time the Mass finished
and the pope appeared at the central
balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica to deliver
the traditional papal Easter message and
blessing “urbi et orbi,” Latin for “to the
city and the world,” the crowd swelled
to over 250,000.
The crowd size was increased
somewhat by about 8,000
demonstrators against world hunger of
children, who were marching under the
banners of Italy’s secularist, anti-clerical
Radical Party.
In his first papal Easter message, Pope
John Paul emphasized the religious
meaning of Christ’s resurrection and the
theme of world peace. He asked prayers
for the peace of Christ “to wherever it is
particularly relevant and particularly
awaited.”
The pope cited specifically:
“Peace to you, people of the Middle
East.
“Peace to you, peoples of Africa.
“Peace to you, peoples and countries
of distant Asia.
“Peace to you, brothers and sisters of
Latin America.
“Peace to you, peoples who live in
the various social, economic and
political systems.”
The pontiff called peace “the fruit of
fundamental order” and “the expression
of respect for every human being’s right
to truth, freedom, justice and love.”
Human dignity is a condition of
peace, he said.
“I am thinking at this moment in
particular of all those who are suffering
for the lack of what is strictly necessary
for existence, and above all of the little
children, who - in their weakness -- are
the ones who are especially loved by
Christ and to whom is dedicated this
year, the International Year of the
Child.”
He called on “Christians and
non-Christians,” to show solidarity and
“generous love toward all our brothers
and sisters in need.”
The risen Christ celebrated in Easter
is “the cornerstone” of Christian
commitment to human dignity, he said.
“This stone, cast aside by the
builders, that God had bathed in the
light of the resurrection, is placed at the
very foundation of our faith, our hope
and our love,” he said.
“It is the primary reason of our
vocation and of the mission that each
one of us receives at baptism,” he
added.
At the end of his message the pope
wished “Happy Easter” to the
quarter-million people in the square and
millions of others following his message
on radio or television. He greeted them
in nine Western European languages
followed by 15 Eastern European
languages.
He continued with “Happy Easter” in
Hindi (a language of northern India),
Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, Ethiopian
and Swahili.
The crowd, which repeatedly
interrupted his greetings with applause,
roared their approval as he asked them
to let him say a few words in his native
Polish, “the only language I really know
fully.”
He concluded the Easter greetings in
the two ancient languages of the
church: Greek and Latin.
After he gave the solemn papal
blessing “urbi et orbi,” which is given
only at Christmas and Easter, the pope
was serenaded by a band of the Italian
armed forces in full dress uniforms.
Speaking off the cuff, he gave special
greetings to the band, to a large group
of youths from Assisi, Italy, who had
made a Holy Week pilgrimage on foot to
Rome to attend the Easter services at
St. Peter’s, and to all the other Rome
visitors who were in the square.
Before ending his 45-minute balcony
appearance, the pope added a last
greeting “to our fellow Christians of
different communions.”
“Dearest fellow brothers in the same
faith and the same hope, Happy
Easter,” he said.
URBI ET ORBI - Pope John Paul II gives the Easter blessing, “urbi et
orbi,” (to the city and to the world) to the throng gathered at St. Peter’s
Square Easter Sunday. (NC Photo)
he Sou
DIOCESE OF SAVANNAH NEWSPAPER
Vol. 60 No. 16
Foim 3579 To: 601 E. 6th St. Waynesboro, Ga. 30830
Thursday, April 19,1979
Single Copy Price
15 Cents
- * ■ **■*
Terrorism, Poverty Targets Of Pope
ROME (NC) -- Pope John Paul II
struck out at terrorism, poverty and
harsh working conditions in an unusual
personal essay published in the Italian
press just before Easter.
He called terrorism, kidnappings and
STATESBORO APR. 26-27
other forms of violence “acts which
degrade the very concept of
civilization.”
“I myself, I the pope, in order to
cross the streets of Rome, to visit one of
the city’s parishes, have to be kept
under surveillance and protected by so
many agents. My God! All this is
inconceivable,” the pope wrote.
He also called for “urgent reforms”
for farmworkers, calling on those in
Spring Clergy Conference
VOWS RENEWED ~ More than 2,500 cardinals, bishops and priests
join Pope John Paul II in renewing their priestly vows in a concelebrated
Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City on Holy Thursday, (NC Photo)
Father Thomas Ivory, Religious
Education Director for the Archdiocese
of Newark, will be the main speaker at
the Spring Clergy Conference, to be
held April 26th-27th in Statesboro. All
priests of the Diocese will be attending
the Conference, which is an annual
event.
In his talks on “The New Rite of
Christian Initiation of Adults,” Father
Ivory will speak about the historical
background of the catechumenate in the
life of the church, and offer some
theological and pastoral reflections on
its restoration. He will make
recommendations on pastoral planning
involved in implementing the Rite and
using the catechumenate model in
parish life.
A number of parishes within the
Diocese have been introducing the new
Rite. Groups involved in the
catechumenate have taken part in
penitential rites or “scrutinies” during
Lent, in preparation for their initiation
at Easter.
A new feature of the Conference will
be an Open Forum, to be held at the
beginning of the program, on Thursday
evening, at Bryant’s Best Western Inn,
on Highway 301/25. The Forum will be
introduced and moderated by Bishop
Raymond V. 7 . Lessard, and will offer an
opportunity for sharing and discussion.
Others on the panel will be Father
Kevin Boland, Director of Personnel;
Msgr. Marvin LeFrois, Director for the
Permanent Diaconate Program; Father
Frank Higgins, Chairman, Clergy
Welfare Board; Father William
Simmons, President, Priests’ Senate; and
Father Benedict Swiderek, of the
Priestly Life and Ministry Committee.
Father Ivory was a participant in last
Rev. Thomas Ivory
summer’s international conference on
the restoration of the catechumenate,
and has written several articles on this
topic. He has been an associate pastor,
was involved in campus ministry and
served as spiritual director for the
American College at Louvain, where he
received his Ph. D. in religious studies.
power to “make up for lost time, to
stop the prolonged sufferings.”
Of industrial labor he said: “I know
personally the fatigue, the sweat with
which (the laborer) pursues harsh and
humble tasks.”
He said his years as a worker “meant
much more to me than the achievement
of my doctorate.”
The papal essay was first published
on Good Friday (April 13) by Corriere
della Sera, Milan daily, which ran it as
its lead article.
The paper described it as the pope’s
personal contribution to a forthcoming
book by Aldo Biscardi and Luca Liguori
titled, “II Papa dal Volto Umano”
(“The Pope with a Human Face”).
The next day the essay appeared
elsewhere in the Italian press.
For a pope to write an essay for
private publications, outside the normal
Vatican structures for papal documents,
is without precedent in recent years.
A solution to crime and terrorism
must be found “to safeguard the
security of every person, and not just of
the pope,” the pope wrote. “The right,
the principle, of every civil coexistence
demands it.”
He said a search for solutions must
(Continued on page 3)
New Leadership For Camp Villa Marie
Father Benedict Swiderek
BY REV. MICHAEL SMITH
Summer ’79 at Camp Villa Marie will
feature a new lay director, David
Taylor, and a jiew pfie§t „chaplain,
Father Benedict Swiderek. 1
Taylor is a native of Columbus, who
is presnetly working as a teacher and
coach at Benedictine Military School,
Savannah. His wife Mary Ellen will be
assisting him as camp registrar. They live
on the camp property with their two
young children, Nathan and Tracy Ann.
Taylor served as Assistant Director
under Fr. Michael Smith last summer.
Father Swiderek is also a native of
Columbus, presently serving as
Associate Pastor at St. Joseph’s, Macon.
He is a veteran of many summers as a
staff member at the camp during his
seminary years. Sister Mary Carmel,
C.S.J., will be returning again as
Assistant Director. The staff will also
include a number of sisters, seminarians
and lay counselors.
The camp is open to boys and girls of
all races and creeds, between the grades
of one and seven. The four-week
recreation session opens July 8th, and
runs through August 4th. Campers may
attend any one week, or for two weeks,
July 8th-21st, or July 22nd through
August 4th. Campers register on
Sunday, between 2:00 and 4:00 P.M.
and check out on Saturday between
10:00 A.M. and 12 noon. Bus service is
available to and from Atlanta/Macon
and Savannah for each of the two-week
sessions. Cost is $55.00 per week,
including all craft supplies, trips, snacks,
insurance and laundry.
The program includes swimming,
fishing, outdoor sports, indoor games,
archery and air riflery, crafts, dramatics,
trips to Savannah Beach, Fort Pulaski,
Historic Savannah, Oatland Island, and
other places of interest.
For Catholic children who live in
rural areas of the Savannah Diocese and
attend public schools, there is a special
two-week religious education session of
Camp, held from June 17th through
June 30th. Contact your pastor for
information and fees.
For general information write to
Camp Villa Marie, Grimball Point Road,
Savannah, Ga. 31406, or call (912)
352-4423.
DAVID TAYLOR, the new Director of Camp Villa Marie, with his wife
Marv Ellen and their children.