Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 2 — The Southern Cross, October 3, 1985
Laity Called To Be Stewards Of Gospel
MIAMI (NC) — Archbishop Edward A.
McCarthy of Miami has called on Catholic
laity to become more involved in filling
social and community needs, making
themselves Christians first and career
persons second.
The archbishop’s comments came in his
10th pastoral letter, titled “It Was I Who
Chose You.’’ In the 11,000-word document,
the archbishop called on the laity to be
stewards of the Gospel and evangelizers,
as well as strong, challenging voices in the
areas of social and economic justice and
peace.
The pastoral letter was released two
weeks before the Archbishop was to con
voke the first Catholic Church synod in
Florida in 28 years. For the first time laity
and Religious would participate.
While the ministry of the Word and of the
sacraments is a special responsibility of
the clergy, the archbishop said, participa
tion of the laity is indispensable.
“The very witness of Christian life, and
good works done in the spirit of Christ are
effective in drawing men and women to
faith and to God,” he wrote.
, “The laity are called to take a more ac
tive part in the church, each according to
the mind of the church, explaining and
defending Christian principles and apply
ing them to the problems of our time,” he
said.
“Individuals have lost a sense of respon
sibility for others,” he declared. “Religion
has become a private affair. Families
leave the formation of their children total
ly to the church and to the schools.
“Relatives are less concerned for older
persons who are in poor health or in need
of housing. People do not want to get in
volved,” he said.
The archbishop emphasized the need for
the laity to be moved to a greater sense of
responsibility for transforming society in
the name of the church.
“They should not,” he said, “have to de
pend on the urging of clerical celibates to
be committed to family life. They should
not have to wait for the bishops to in
augurate questions about ethics in the
economy.”
Addressing the vocation in the
“marketplace,” the archbishop pointed
out that the apostolate in one’s social en
vironment endeavors to infuse the Chris
tian spirit into the mentality and behavior,
laws and structures of the community in
which one lives.
The archbishop said in his pastoral that
each vocation is unique and added that the
vocation of today’s women is calling them
to gain full recognition of their role among
disciples “and assume leadership in
resisting the cheapening of the place of
women in our secular society.”
Celibacy: Bishop Malone
Says "I Support It"
WASHINGTON (NC) — Bishop James
Malone, president of the National Con
ference of Catholic Bishops, said Sept. 25
that he did “not advocate a change” in
priestly celibacy, although a report in Time
magazine suggested he had called for
reopening the question.
Mandatory celibacy for priests “in
theory could be changed, but I expect no
change in our lifetime and perhaps no
change ever,” he said.
“The Sept. 30 issue of Time magazine
leaves open the question of whether I per
sonally believe that the church’s discipline
of celibacy for priests should be changed in
order to solve the shortage of new priestly
vocations,” Bishop Malone said. “That is
not my view. I believe the present
discipline is right. I support it.”
Bishop Malone, of Youngstown, Ohio, is
to attend an extraordinary Synod of
Bishops in Rome Nov. 25-Dec. 8 as head of
the U.S. bishops’ conference. The Time ar
ticle reported on elements of his advance
report to the synod secretariat, which had
been released Sept. 16.
In the report, Bishop Malone said that
“the shortage of new priestly vocations re
quires specifically addressing such issues
as celibacy and the general weakening of
the sense of commitment apparent in our
culture today.”
Time ended the quote at the word
“celibacy” and added, “Those were bold
words since John Paul (Pope John Paul II)
has repeatedly indicated that priestly
celibacy is a closed question.”
Reacting to the Time story, Bishop
Malone commented that “while in some
people’s minds the celibacy question
should be addressed in order to change the
discipline, in my mind it should be address
ed in order to make more clear the reasons
for and the benefits deriving to the church
from priestly celibacy.”
He added that if there should be a change
in the celibacy discipline, “I believe it
would almost certainly be in countries
where the Eucharist would otherwise not
be available to the people because of a shor
tage of priests. That is not the case in the
United States, where no shortage of priests
foreseeable could have this result.”
Religious Condemn Apartheid
WASHINGTON (NC) - The Leadership
Conference of Women Religious and the
Conference of Major Superiors of Men have
issued a joint statement condemning apar
theid — strict racial separation — in South
Africa.
The statement said the effects of the
policy of apartheid upon individuals and
families are “disastrous” in the “political,
legal, economic and social spheres.”
The LCWR and the CMSM pledged to
undertake a “massive education program
to galvanize the U.S. Catholic population in
its opposition to apartheid.”
“The education we’re talking about will
help people know about basic facts of life in
South Africa, including the nature of apar
theid and particularly the denial of human
rights that takes place because of it,” said
Franciscan Father Joseph Nangle, coor
dinator of peace and justice issues for
CMSM.
The statement was signed by Divine Pro
vidence Sister Lora Ann Quinonez, LCWR
executive director, and Father Roland
Faley, CMSM executive director and
former head of the world’s Third Order
Regular Franciscans.
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ROSARY WALK — When James and Pat Shillow of Camp Hill, Pa.,
pray the rosary, they take a pleasant 140-foot walk in their backyard.
Shillow created the rosary with concrete slabs shaped like heads. He
added a shrine with a statue of Mary shown in the foreground. (NC
Photo by C.A. Blahusch)
Third Year
Extension Sponsors 'Faith Today'
CHICAGO — The Catholic Church Ex
tension Society will again subsidize “Faith
Today” as part of its commitment to
religious education in the American
Church. The Extension Society, founded in
1905 as a home mission funding organiza
tion, distributed almost $4 million in
grants for religious education this past
year.
“Faith Today,” weaves together discus
sions of the human person, vocations and
the moral, spiritual and liturgical life of
Christians. The articles are written by na
tionally known catechists and are geared
for use in family, classroom and other
religious education settings. The package
includes diseussion questions and sug
gested activities as well as explanations of
Church teachings.
Last year, the four-page religious educa
tion supplement was carried in 70 diocesan
newspapers (including The Southern
Cross) each week and, this year, will add
seven new diocesan newspaper
subscribers, bringing its total readership
to more than two million.
Extension also provided religious educa
tion grants to the dioceses that use the sup
plement. The grants are offered to reduce
diocesan newspapers’ added costs of
newsprint and press time.
“Faith Today” is designed and assembl
ed by National Catholic News Service’s
professional educator-journalists. The
film is distributed so printing plates can be
made for easy integration into offset prin
ting press runs.
Reader response to “Faith Today” has
been enthusiastic. A letter from a Los
Angeles woman was typical: “The
writings certainly have given me insight
into my faith and have been a source of
‘food for thought’ in my spiritual quest.”