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PAGE 2—The Southern Cross, September 6,1984
Pope Continues Talks On "Humanae Vitae"
BY JOHN THAVIS
VATICAN CITY (NC) - Pope John Paul II said Aug. 22
that the conjugal act is incomplete and “ceases to be an
act of love” when artificial means of birth control are
used.
In removing the possibility for procreation, such
methods of birth control violate the “inner order of
conjugal communion,” the pope told several thousand
people gathered in St. Peter’s Square. “This is the essential
evil of the contraceptive act,” he said.
“The conjugal act means not only love, but also the
potential for procreation, and therefore cannot be
deprived of its full and adequate significance through
artificial intervention,” the none said.
The pope said it was not permissible to artificially
separate the procreative aspect from the “unitive” aspect
in the conjugal act. “Both belong to the intimate truth of
the conjugal act,” he said.
“Therefore, in such a case the conjugal act, deprived of
its inner truth because it is deprived of its procreative
capacity, ceases even to be an act of love,” he said.
CARDINAL SHEHAN DIES - Cardinal
Lawrence J. Shehan (1979 photo) died of cancer
Aug. 26 in Baltimore at age 86. He is pictured
When artificial means of contraception are used, the
pope said, a “bodily union” is possible, but not a real
communion of the couple.
In his sixth in a series of talks on the 1968 encyclical
“Humanae Vitae” (Of Human Life), which restated
church teachings against artificial methods of birth
control, Pope John Paul stressed individual self-control by
husband and wife.
“It is only when one achieves self-control that one can
give oneself to another,” the pope said.
Man has found new methods to dominate the forces of
nature, the pope said, but contemporary people tend to
apply these “artificial methods” to what ought to be the
realm of self-control.
In doing so. he said, individuals make themselves
“objects of manipulation.” He added that self-control in
itself “is, in fact, a natural method.”
The pope referred to the body as the means of
expression of the w'hole person, and not merely as “the
center of sexual reactions.”
The human being, he said, speaks a sacramental
(right) in 1965 as Pope Paul VI invests him as a
cardinal. (NC photos)
“language of the body” through gestures, reactions,
tension and enjoyment, all of which spring from “the
body in its masculinity or femininity, in its action or
interaction.”
The dialogue couples express in this “language of the
body,” he said, began on the day of creation.
Pope John Paul has described his series of audience
talks as a “re-reading” of “Humanae Vitae,” written in
1968 by Pope Paul VI. The talks are expected to last into
the fall.
Later in the audience, the pope blessed a group of
newlyweds and told them, “In our society today, it is
undoubtedly very difficult to live fully and completely
the marriage desired by God, according to the revelation
of Christ and the teaching authority of the church.”
At the end of the audience, the pope was joined in his
blessing by Cardinal Joseph Bernardin of Chicago and
other visiting bishops.
The pope in his English-language remarks gave a special
greeting to the group of Chicago Catholics led by Cardinal
Bernardin, who were in Rome on their way back from a
10-day trip to Poland.
Vatican Document—
(Continued from page 1)
by violent and revolutionary means, precisely in the name
of the liberation of the people,” it said.
“Those who, perhaps inadvertently, make themselves
accomplices of similar enslavements betray the very poor
they mean to help,” the document said.
It also warned bishops and priests against forming
pastoral groups which base themselves on a “simplified
form” of liberation theology. These groups are formed “in
what are called ‘base groups’ which lack the necessary
catechetical and theological preparation as well as the
capacity for discernment,” added the document.
It said some liberation theologies misuse the term
“church of the people,” defining it as a “church of the
class” instead of a church for everyone in which the poor
are given preference.
The document asked bishops and priests to improve
their training of lay people so that they can more actively
participate in church social efforts.
“The church needs competent people from a scientific
and technological viewpoint, as well as in the human and
political sciences. Pastors should be attentive to the
formation of persons of such capability who live the
Gospel deeply. Lay persons, whose proper mission is to
build society, are involved here to the highest degree,” it
said.
CHALICE PRESENTATION - A beautiful
chalice and paten were presented to Father
Gabriel Cummings (of St. Mary’s on the Hill,
Augusta), by Mrs. Evelyn Batastini in memory of
her husband, the late Philip J. Batastini, Past
Navigator, Knights of Columbus, Co. 1019
Columbus Georgia. Father Gabriel thanked Mrs.
Batastini and the members of council 1019 for
the gift.
THE CARMEL CLUB
-Its Purpose and Scope
Shortly after the arrival of the Carmelite Nuns in the Savannah Diocese in June of 1958, the Carmel
Club was organized to make known to a larger number of people the life, spirit and mission of Carmel;
to stimulate financial support in order to supplement the income earned by the work of the Nuns and to
create a deeper bond of faith and love among those united in helping one another.
Those joining the Carmel Club freely contribute a monthly donation, payable either on a monthly basis,
semi-annually or annually. As a reminder, a Carmel Club envelope is sent by the Sisters for the conve
nience of the members.
All benefactors of the Carmelite Nuns are remembered in the daily offering of the Eucharist. They also
share in the Liturgy of the Hours (Offical Prayer of the Church) each day as well as sharing in the grace
of the Nuns’ lives of prgyer and self-denial. Saint Teresa encouraged her daughters in her own spirit of
deep gratitude when she wrote in The Way of Perfection, “the Sisters are to pray continually for their
benefactors.”
(Please Print)
Name (Last)_
Address
(First)
.Zip.
I wish to become a member of the Carmel Club of the Savannah Diocese and contribute $
support the Carmelite Nuns in their life of prayer in this diocese.
I understand I may send my monthly donation in one of the following ways (Kindly check one below):
each month to help
□ Monthly
□ Semi-annually
□ Annually
Please detach and return with your first donation to:
The Carmel Club, Carmelite Monastery
11 West Back Street, Savannah, Georgia 31419
Signed:.