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PAGE 3 — The Southern Cross, September 5, 1985
Diocesan Cursillo Secretariat Meets In Dublin
CURSILLO LEADERS from around the
Diocese of Savannah gathered for Secretariat
Meeting in Dublin.
Under the leadership of a new Diocesan Lay Director of
Cursillo, Bob Riedel, the Secretariat (coordinates the Cur
sillo Renewal Movement in the Diocese) met in Dublin,
August 11.
Leaders from Albany, Augusta, Lyons/Vidalia, Macon,
Savannah and Warner Robins gathered to pray and share a
Cursillo “vision” for the Diocese:
The Cursillo Renewal Movement was formally introduc
ed into the Diocese with “Cursillo #1” in 1978. Approximate
ly 650 persons have participated in the weekend experience
since that time.
Plans have been set in motion to foster Cursillo. Mary
Riedel will coordinate a monthly “Newsletter” to nourish
the Cursillo Community. Bob will continue to establish per
sonal contact with Cursillistas in the Diocese and to en
courage “grouping,” community building, and outreach.
Those who would like more information about the Cursillo
Renewal Movement and the upcoming Weekends in
November and December, contact Bob Riedel, 127 Carter
Cr„ Warner Robins, Ga. 31093 - (912) 923-0901.
DUBLIN MEETING — Sr. Deborah Doran -
representative of Region 7 Secretariat
(Southeast); Bob Riedel - new Diocesan Direc
tor; Sr. Mercedes Sullivan - Diocesan Spiritual
Advisor.
Insensitive To Religious Principles
Charleston Bishop Criticizes South African Government
BY NC NEWS SERVICE
Msgr. Daniel F. Hoye, general secretary of the U.S.
Catholic Conference, and Bishop Ernest L. Unterkoefler of
Charleston, S. C., in separate comments Aug. 29 criticized the
South African government for actions against churches and
suppressing the rights of the nation’s black majority.
Msgr. Hoye blamed the government for instigating
violence. He described as “particularly disheartening” the
government’s actions in detaining church leaders, including
the Rev. Allan Boesak, president of the World Alliance of
Reformed Churches, and Paddy Kearney, a layman who
directs a Catholic-supported ecumenical human rights office
in Durban, South Africa.
Furthermore, he noted, “word has been received that the
home of Father Smangaliso Mkhatshwa, secretary general
of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference, has
been entered and searched by police.”
He also cited the arrest by the white-minority South African
government of “thousands of men, women and children who
have peacefully demonstrated against the apartheid system
or participated in boycotts of schools purposefully designed
to impart inferior education.”
Bishop Unterkoefler called Mr. Boesak’s incarceration
“clear evidence of the insensitivity of the government of
South Africa to religious principles” and condemned “this ac
tion against an individual religious leader and (the) attack on
moral principles.”
“A government which attacks its religious leaders is not a
government that commands the respect of its people,” he ad
ded.
Detaining the leader of the 70 million member worldwide
Reformed Church denomination, the bishop said, is “an in
sult” to those “who respect and support Allan Boesak in his
fight against injustice in South Africa.”
The Charleston bishop has had more than 20 years of
association with Reformed churches through the U.S.
ecumenical movement.
Msgr. Hoye, in the statement issued by the U.S. Catholic
Conference in Washington, said that “the violence that has
accompanied some of these demonstrations (by blacks) has
often been stimulated by intemperate actions by the police
and military forces.”
“The churches in South Africa have explicitly and une
quivocally repudiated violence as a means of achieving a just
society,” he added. “It is therefore particularly dishearten
ing that the government has included church leaders in its ef
forts to suppress even peaceful dissent demonstrations.”
He said that Mr. Boesak and Kearney, “denied access to
legal counsel and without resort to the courts,” must like
other detainees “await an arbitrary administrative decision
to obtain release.”
Both Msgr. Hoye and Bishop Unterkoefler also urged the
U.S. government to repudiate the actions of the South African
government.
Bishop Unterkoefler offered ‘ ‘words of prayerful concern’ ’
and expressed a “hope that our government’s policy will be
strong against the recent activities of the government of
South Africa, particularly in its action against Allan
Boesak.” He described the Reformed minister as a man of in
telligence and fortitude as well as a “leader of his people
against apartheid.”
Recognizing that the U.S. government “has protestedsuch
actions by the South African government,” Msgr. Hoye ex
pressed hope that “these efforts by our government will be
continued and strengthened.”
‘ ‘ I also suggest that all Americans join in prayer for the peo
ple of South Africa, asking that God, who identifies himself
with peace and justice, will care for those who are oppress
ed,” Msgr. Hoye said.
Mother Angelica, Father lllig Speakers
At November Evangelization Conference
An estimated 1,000 persons from across the United
States are expected to gather in Atlanta, from November
8-10 for the Eastern edition of the Seventh Annual National
Catholic Lay Celebration of Evangelization. Hosted by the
Archdiocese of Atlanta and the Diocese of Savannah, the
event is being held to train and to motivate lay people,
religious and clergy to do the work of evangelization.
The program for the Atlanta Lay Celebration will in
clude major presentations, workshops, exhibits and
liturgies. Father Daniel O’Connor, evangelization direc
tor for the Archdiocese of Atlanta, is chairing the event.
Program emphasis is being placed on the role of the laity
as Catholic evangelizers. Statistics show that approx
imately 70 percent of the participants in the previous Lay
Celebrations have been lay people, many attending as
members of parish teams.
Members of the planning committee for the Atlanta Lay
Celebration have developed a program which includes
seven major speakers: Father Alvin lllig, C.S.P., director
of the Paulist National Catholic Evangelization Associa
tion, Washington, D.C.; Ms. Gertrude Morris, evangeliza
tion director for the National Office for Black Catholics,
Washington, D.C.; Mother M. Angelica, foundress of the
Eternal Word Television Network, Birmingham, AL; Dr.
John Klem, Ph.D., lay evangelist, Muncie, IN; Father
Thomas Caroluzza, staff, North American Forum on the
Catechumenate, Washington, D.C.; Mrs. Susan Blum, lay
evangelist and consulting editor, TheCatholic Evangelist,
Boca Raton, FL; and Mr. Jack Mooney, lay evangelist, El
Paso, TX.
The workshops will feature practical evangelization
models and will be conducted by persons currently involv
ed in these programs. Focus is on the evangelization of the
15 million inactive Catholics and theSOmillion unchurched
in the United States. Workshops include Catholic Scrip
ture studies, ecumenism, parish renewal, electronic
media and outreach to Hispanic and Black Catholics.
According to Father O’Connor, the theme for the
November conference, “The Gospel Must Be Proclaim
ed,” was chosen to recognize the tenth anniversary of
“Evangelii Nuntiandi,” the apostolic exhortation by Pope
Paul VI on evangelization.
A one-day Preaching Workshop will precede the Lay
Celebration on November 7. The day is planned especially
for priests and deacons, but it is open to all who orally pro
claim the gospel.
Father John Geaney, C.S.P., director of the Intercom
munity Telecommunications Project, Washington, D.C.,
and an award-winning radio and television producer, and
Mr. Jay Cormier, public relations director at Merrimack
College, North Andover, MA, and author of “Giving
Good Homilies,” will conduct the Atlanta Preaching
Workshop.
The downtown Atlanta Hilton will serve as the site of all
the Preaching Workshop and Lay Celebration activities
with the exception of the Eucharistic liturgies, which will
be held at Sacred Heart Church.
The Lay Celebration will open and close with Mass to be
held at nearby Sacred Heart Church. Most Reverend Ed
ward A. McCarthy, Archbishopof Miami, and notedforhis
work in evangelization, will preach the homily at the open
ing Mass on Friday, November 8, at 11:00 a.m.
The closing Mass for the Celebration will be held on Sun
day, November 10, at 12:10 noon. Reverend Richard Kier-
nan, of the Atlanta Archdiocese, for many years the direc
tor of the Cursillo movement here, will be the homilist.
For further information and phone registrations con
tact the Atlanta Lay Celebration, 353 Peachtree St., N.E.,
Atlanta, GA, 30308, (404)522-6800, or the Paulist National
Catholic Evangelization, 3031 Fourth St., N.E.,
Washington, D.C. 20017, (202)832-5022.