Newspaper Page Text
The Southern Cross
DIOCESE OF SAVANNAH NEWSPAPER
Vol. 62 No. 21
Thursday, May 21,1981
Single Copy Price — 25 Cents
Pope Shows Signs Of Steady Recovery
MASS FOR THE HOLY FATHER. The Bishops
of the Atlanta Province enter the Cathedral of
Christ the King to concelebrate Mass for Pope John
Paul II. Six hundred people participated in the
liturgy which was offered at noon on Thursday,
May 14. From left are Abbott Augustine from the
Monastery in Conyers, Bishop Ernest Unterkoefler,
Bishop Raymond Lessard, Bishop F. Joseph
Gossman, Bishop Michael Begley and Archbishop
Donnellan. Also pictured are Monsignor John
McDonough and Father Louis Naughton of the
Cathedral.
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ommittee For Family Upgraded
VATICAN CITY (NC) - Pope
John Paul II has upgraded the
Vatican’s Committee for the
Family to the level of a
pontifical council.
The move was announced by
the Vatican press office May 14,
as the pope lay in a Rome
hospital recovering from more
than five hours of surgery for
gunshot wounds suffered the
previous evening.
The pope had intended to
announce his decision personally
at the end of his Wednesday
general audience May 13 but was
shot and wounded in St. Peter’s
Square on his way to the papal
audience platform.
The next day the Vatican
Press Office released the pope’s
prepared announcement of the
new pontifical council and the
Latin-language papal document
forming the office and spelling
out its responsibility.
The document dated May 9,
is called a “motu proprio,”
which means that the pope
wrote it, as the Latin term says,
“on his own initiative.”
The motu proprio declared
the creation of the Pontifical
Council for the Family to
replace the current Committee
for the Family.
“The family, instituted by
God to be the first and vital cell
of human society, was so raised
up by Christ the redeemer who
designed to be born in the family
of Nazareth, that matrimony . . .
was elevated to the dignity of a
sacrament,” the motu proptio
began.
It said the importance of the
family requires a more adequate
Vatican office.
It said that the new council
will be headed by its own
cardinal instead of by the
cardinal-president of the
Pontifical Council for the Laity,
who was ex officio head of the
Committee for the Family.
It established a presidential
committee of bishops selected
from around the world to assist
the president. It also created the
offices of secretary and
undersecretary. The secretary of
the council and the vice
president of the Pontifical
Council for the Laity would
automatically be members of the
presidential committee, the
decree said.
(Continued on page 2)
VATICAN CITY (NC) - Pope
John Paul II showed steady signs
of recovery from his gunshot
wounds and personally
pardoned the man who tried to
kill him as he began the week
following the assassination
attempt.
On Sunday, May 17, he
concelebrated Mass for the first
time from his hospital bed and
tape-recorded his first public
message - a brief expression of
thanks, pardon and prayer that
was broadcast over the
loudspeakers at the noontime
Regina Coeli in St. Peter’s
Square.
The next day, as the pope
marked his 61st birthday, he was
transferred from the intensive
care recovery room of Rome’s
Gemelli Polyclinic (general
hospital) to a 11th floor suite
with a view overlooking the
dome of St. Peter’s Basilica.
For 30,000 people gathered
in St. Peter’s Square May 17 for
the noontime Regina Coeli, the
firm, strong recorded voice of
the pope brought tears, relief
and a quiet exhiliration.
“Praised be Jesus Christ!” he
began, and a spontaneous wave
of applause filled the square,
almost drowning out the next
words.
Virtually every eye in the
square was trained on the empty
central balcony of St. Peter’s
Basilica, as if that were where the
voice was coming from.
“Beloved brothers and
sisters,” the pope continued, “I
know that during these days and
especially in this hour of the
Regina Coeli you are united with
me.
“With deep emotion I thank
you for your prayers and I bless
you all.
“I am particularly close to the
two persons wounded together
with me. I pray for that brother
of ours who shot me and whom I
have sincerely pardoned .
“United with Christ, priest
and victim, I offer my sufferings
for the church and for the world.
“To you, Mary, I repeat:
‘Totus tuus ego sum’ (I belong
entirely to you).”
The pope then recited the
Regina Coeli, the church’s
noontime prayer during the
Easter season, and gave his
blessing.
In the background of the
recording the voices of his two
secretaries, who have been his
almost constant bedside
companions, could be heard
giving the responses to the
Regina Coeli and to the prayers
before and after the blessing.
A slight waver in his voice
near the end of his message and
the fact that he spoke the
blessing instead of singing it
provided the few signs of pain or
discomfort in the recording.
He sounded slightly tired, but
the firmness of his tone
conveyed a sense of wellbeing.
“I felt a great relief,”
commented a Ugandan priest
studying in Rome. “As a
(medical) layman I felt uneasy
about the medical bulletins.”
Half a mile away, in Santo
Spirito Hospital, the two women
who were shot with the pope
burst into tears as they heard his
message on the radio.
Mrs. Rose Hall, 21, who is
from Massachusetts but
currently resides in West
Germany, suffered a shattered
elbow in the assassination
attempt and was listed in
satisfactory condition.
Mrs. Ann Odre, 58, of
Buffalo, N.Y., was shot in the
chest, and the bullet travelled to
her abdomen. She underwent
surgery to remove her spleen.
Doctors, who first listed her as
critical, said she was making
satisfactory progress, but they
continued with a “guarded”
prognosis, saying the danger of
post-surgery infection would
remain for some time.
When he concelebrated Mass
with his secretaries Sunday
morning (May 17), doctors said
he took a small corner of the
Communion wafer, the only
exception to his intravenous
feeding.
Holmen State Deputy
Karl A. Holmen was elected
State Deputy of the Georgia
State Council Knights of
Columbus at its annual
meeting at Jekyll Island. He is
the ninth Savannahian to head
the state organization in the 79
year history of the state council.
Other officers elected were
State Secretary Lewis C.
Thibodeau, Kennesaw; State
Treasurer John R. Howard,
Columbus; State Advocate John
D. Findley, Bronwood; State
Warden Crofton A. Brewer,
Dunwoody; and retiring State
Deputy Stanley F. Wojeck of
Rome as Past State Deputy.
The new State Deputy is a
graduate of Benedictine Military
School and the University of
Georgia. During the Second
World War, he served in the
Philippine Islands and with the
Army of Occupation in Japan.
He is a graduate of the Georgia
Banking School and has been
associated with Trust Company
Bank since 1954. Holmen is a
Past Grand Knight of Savannah
Council No. 631 and a Past
Faithful Navigator of the
Immaculate Conception
Assembly fourth. Degree in
Savannah. He served as District
(Continued on page 2)
Karl A. Holmen
Objectives For Diocese Of Savannah
At its meeting May 1st and 2nd in Macon,
the Diocesan Pastoral Council ratified a set of
objectives which will represent important
guidelines for the Diocese, its deaneries and
parishes.
The objectives were derived from the
Mission Statement formulated by the Council
in 1979 and the set of goals drawn up by the
D.P.C. the following year.
In its finalized form, the statement of
objectives reads as follows:
The Catholic Church in the Diocese of
Savannah, conscious of its mission as a
covenanted communion of believers to grow in
faith, hope and love, and responding to the call
to exercise its gifts of prophecy, priesthood
and shepherding, sets for itself the following
objectives:
1. That all parish and mission communities
undertake programs of renewal which will
build up and strengthen eucharistic
communities of people who love and serve one
another and reach out in loving service to the
larger community.
2. That the Diocese assist in identifying,
developing and utilizing all the human
resources within the parishes and promote the
active involvement of the laity in building up
the Body of Christ, the Church.
3. That the Diocese raise awareness of the
sacredness of all vocations, including the
particular call to priestly and religious life.
4. That the Diocese provide leadership
training in all aspects of the life of the Church.
5. That the Diocese establish a Diocesan
Board of Education.
6. That the Diocese prepare guidelines to
support each parish and mission in providing
religious education for children, youth, adults
and persons with special needs.
7. That each parish intensify its efforts of
evangelization by bringing Christ into the life
of people who have never known Him, who
have fallen away from Him and who have been
weak in following Him.
8. That the Church in south Georgia develop
youth programs, under the direction of
qualified leaders, to give young people the
religious and social opportunity to develop
their gifts and share with adults the
responsibility of carrying out the mission of
the Church.
9. That the Church at every level foster and
promote dialogue and collaboration among
interfaith groups.
10. That the Diocese offer educational
programs on the Church’s teaching regarding
contemporary moral and social issues of justice
and peace.
11. That the Diocese, deaneries and parishes
give evidence of Christian hope by increased
awareness of injustice and promotion of justice
in response to human social needs within the
local communities and the whole human
family.
12. That all prejudice and discrimination be
opposed as an enemy of community and a
violation of Christ’s teachings, and that each
parish and mission actively encourage the
participation of every segment of the
community.
13. That the Diocese, deaneries and parishes
affirm the importance, validity and sacredness
of the family, assess the status of family units
within their boundaries and develop programs
to respond to their needs.
14. That the Diocese at all levels proclaim
and defend the dignity and sacredness of
human life in all its dimensions.
— MISSION STATEMENT
DIOCESE OF SAVANNAH
The mission of the Catholic Church in the Diocese of
Savannah sterns from our being a covenanted communion
of believers
called by the father
baptized in His Son, Jesus,
and gifted by the Holy Spirit
to grow in faith, hope and love.
VJe respond to this call by.
hearing and proclaiming the good news of Jesus,
both to our believing community and to those
not of our faith, celebrating and living the
Eucharist which transforms us in joyful hope;
expressing our love of God by a richer sacra
mental and prayer life to bring about the fullness
of Gods kingdom of justice and peace by
compassionate service to our neighbors in their
spiritual and material needs
The mission of this community of believers is to all the
people of South Georgia, to the world-wide Church in
communion with the Bishop of Rome, and to the whole
human family.
DIOCESAN PASTORAL COUNCIL. 1979
DIOCESAN GOALS - AS FORMULATED BY THE DPC,MAY 1980
I
As believers in the Good News of Jesus,
our goal is to exercise the gift of prophecy
by offering to all in our parish and mission communities
the means of growth in understanding
and appreciation of the teachings of the Church
in order to deepen the Catholic faith and identity
of our people:
and by evangelizing the larger community
through concerted efforts
to share our faith with others
by word and example.
II
As lovers of God and neighbor,
Our goal is to exercise the gift of our baptismal priesthood
By accepting God’s love for us more completely
and returning that gift of love
through our celebration of the Eucharist
and our efforts
to strengthen and make holy our families and parishes;
and by demonstrating
through our willingness to sacrifice for others
that God’s love is real and available to all,
especially those in need of our loving service.
ill
As servants in imitation of Christ,
our goal is to exercise the gift of shepherding
by supporting the authentic efforts of our
Catholic people
to renew our sacramental and prayer lives
in order to build,
from Spirit-filled individuals,
one communion that realizes
how great are the redeeming gift of God’s mercy
and the compassion to which we are called;
and by serving
as a visible prophetic sign of hopeful leadership.