Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 5 — The Southern Cross, April 23, 1987
Seattle Chancellor Denies Hunthausen News Story
SEATTLE (NC) — A National Catholic Register story
that the Vatican hopes to solve the ongoing controversy sur
rounding Archbishop Raymond G. Hunthausen of Seattle by
eventually retiring the archbishop is “speculative” and
“incorrect,” said the chancellor of the Seattle Archdiocese.
The chancellor, Father Michael G. Ryan, told priests of
the archdiocese in an April 15 letter to “disregard” the
story. He said the information in the article “was apparent
ly leaked ... by an uninformed and irresponsible party.”
Francis X. Maier, editor of the Register, which published
the article in its April 19 issue, said the story was “correct”
and said the newspaper would not have published it unless
it was “absolutely certain” of the facts.
The story in the Los Angeles-based Register said that
“according to highly placed sources” the Vatican hopes to
“diffuse tensions” in the Seattle Archdiocese by promoting
Auxiliary Bishop Donald Wuerl to his own diocese “and
eventually retiring Hunthausen.”
The Vatican last year instructed Archbishop Hunthausen
to hand over authority in several key areas of archdiocesan
life to Bishop Wuerl. The move provoked widespread con
troversy and led to the appointment by the Vatican in
February of a commission of three leading U.S. arch
bishops “to assess the current situation” in the Seattle
Archdiocese.
The Register article said the “unusual, phased-in resolu
tion to the continuing crisis” in the archdiocese “may bring
a measure of peace” before Pope John Paul II visits the
United States in September.
In his letter to priests Father Ryan said the “gist” of the
article was that the Vatican has “formulated some sort of
‘deal’ in an attempt to force Archbishop Hunthausen into
accepting early retirement.”
He said it is “common knowledge” that Archbishop Hunt
hausen has had “very recent discussions” with the com
mission. “I can assure you that the archbishop has not been
asked to retire or resign, nor are any ‘deals’ being made in
that direction,” Father Ryan said. .
Mercy Sister Joy Clough, spokeswoman for Cardinal
Joseph Bernardin of Chicago, a member of the Vatican
commission, said Cardinal Bernardin had no comment on
the article.
She said that when the commission was appointed,
members “agreed and announced publicly that they would
not be making public comments on their own.”
Other commission members are Cardinal John O’Connor
of New York and Archbishop John Quinn of San Francisco.
Two Bishops Face Possible Arrest In May Protest
BY LIZ SCHEVTCHUK
WASHINGTON (NC) - Two U.S. bishops
face possible arrest May 5 for planned acts
of civil disobedience in a major anti-war
protest scheduled at the Nevada nuclear
test site.
Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Gumbleton of
Detroit, president of Pax Christi USA, plans
to be arrested during the protest, according
to Pax Christi.
Possibly joining him in civil disobedience
will be retired Bishop Charles A. Buswell of
Pueblo, Colo.
A third prelate, retired Bishop Maurice
Dingman of Des Moines, Iowa, had also
hoped to join the demonstration, but a fami
ly member said April 20 that Bishop
Dingman would be unable to attend because
of poor health. The bishop suffered a stroke
a year ago and is confined to a wheelchair.
The demonstration, sponsored by Pax
Christi and Nevada Desert Experience, a
peace organization based in Las Vegas, will
mark the fourth anniversary of approval of
the U.S. bishops’ May 1983 pastoral letter on
war and peace.
The demonstration is endorsed by eight
other bishops, including five heads of
dioceses, and by officials from 48 com
munities of men’s and women’s religious
orders.
Bishop Buswell told National Catholic
News Service April 15 that he definitely in
tends to participate in the demonstration
but that “I’m not sure about” being ar
rested.
Pax Christi’s national coordinator,
Benedictine Sister Mary Lou Kownacki,
said the arrest of Bishop Gumbleton — and
of any other members of the hierarchy who
join him — would be the first such arrest of a
Catholic prelate for protesting nuclear
weapons policy.
The only other U.S. bishop known to be ar
rested for civil disobedience is Auxiliary
Bishop Emerson Moore of New York, who
was arrested in an anti-apartheid protest at
the South African Consulate in New York in
1984.
“There is no longer, for me at least, any
moral alternative,” Bishop Gumbleton said
in a formal position statement. “I must ac
tively resist.
“It is clear that we are determined to pro
ceed with the development” of new nuclear
weapons, he said. “With this choice we not
only move rapidly closer to that ‘hair-
trigger’ situation, but we also consciously
follow a course of sin, a course of spiritual
self-destruction.”
Bishop Buswell described the demonstra
tion as “just a follow-up to i the peace
pastoral.”
“It seems to me that we ought to indicate
we meant what we said” in that document,
said Bishop Buswell. He noted that he will
not be representing any official church
agencies at the demonstration and that “it’s
a personal thing” that makes him go to
Nevada.
“I haven’t made my mind up on” being
arrested, he said. “And I’m not going to
make up my mind until I’m out there.”
BY FATHER THOMAS PEYTON
“He Is Risen!’’
The day was bright but her spirits were
grey as the woman from Magdala made
her way towards the tomb in which they
had placed the body of her Lord. A borrow
ed tomb, it was a poor monument for the
greatest man who ever lived.
Like her Master, this woman had been
wounded by people and abandoned by
friends and neighbors. She too was jeered
by the crowd. But this man had somehow
changed her life; she was a new person,
and now He is dead! She remained loyal to
her friend long after His companions fled
and left Him in the garden to be taken
prisoner. She followed Him all the way to
Golgotha where she stood by His cross.
Arriving at the tomb, she found that the
body was missing. She had no idea at first,
that her Lord had risen as He promised
her. When she finally saw Him she thought
He was the gardener and she asked Him:
“Where did you put my Master’s body?”
But then He looked at her with love and she
recognized Him.
Within moments Jesus gives to Mary the
greatest proof of His confidence in her. He
entrusts to her the “Good News” that He
has risen and asks her to share that
message with His disciples. Yes, Mary
Magdalene was chosen to announce the
resurrection! She was sent to bring HOPE
to a down-trodden group of men who were
lost.
To some, this is shocking ; that a woman
(not to mention the kind of woman she was
— a public sinner), was chosen to an
nounce the joyous Easter message to the
world! But what I find as even more shock
ing, is that Jesus continues to use sinners
as human instruments to proclaim this
joyful Gospel message of Hope to the
modern world! And those chosen
evangelizers are YOU and ME!
Yes, as a Church Family, WE are
“chosen” as was Mary Magdalene, to an
nounce the Easter event! However, our
message is not merely words. Our
message is given to others by our actions,
by the way we live, Mary of Magdala is a
perfect example of Conversion and
“Resurrection Holiness;” and we are call
ed to be like her by the way we speak and
by the way we live. The message that we
share with one another, whether it is our
family, our friends and neighbors or our
business associates is that we have HOPE
in our life. It is a gift that can see us
through any difficult time or problem. And
we want to share this Hope with all those
with whom we come in contact. We should
strive to be like Mary Magdalene by
recognizing that we are “being sent” by
Jesus to bring the Easter message to the
disciples — like them, there are many peo
ple in our world who are discouraged and
down-trodden and have lost Faith. We are
the messengers of “Good News” for them.
My Easter wish for everyone is that we
may ALL hear “Anew” the Good News of
Easter: “He is Risen!” and be worthy
messengers and excited witnesses to this
Gospel Joy by the way we proclaim the
Easter Event each day of our lives.
A Blessed Easter season to all!
(Father is Moderator for The Savannah
Diocesan Council of Catholic Women.)
Dear Editor:
Thank you for your earlier coverage of
my involvement with the protest against
the build-up of the Trident Submarine base
at Kings Bay.
To update you, I was notified by the U.S.
Marshal in Savannah this week that my
prison term of 30 days has been
“designated” to Dismas House of Macon,
where I begin serving my time on April 27.
This comes as a relief to some who would
rather see me in this less stressful accom
modation and with some freedom to still
work in my parish. Searching for access to
contact friends and community about
these developments has brought me to
write this.
As a Catholic priest I was sent by our
Bishop to my parish to proclaim the
Gospel, to give proper moral instruction,
to celebrate the sacraments, and to extend
pastoral care and guidance to my people. I
do only what I can do to extend God’s sav
ing love by proper moral teaching, com
munity involvement, and good example in
many pro-life issues. After five years of
active discernment, I heard a call to step
out in faith on the arms race issue. Contin
uing to study the moral-spiritual implica
tions of our preparations for nuclear war, I
have attended and taught various
seminars and classes. I have talked with
experts from various points of view, come
to personally know survivors of the bomb,
called and written congressmen, actively
supported those lobbying politically for
disarmament, and participated in legal
nonviolent demonstrations for-Life and
against the arms race. The most radical
thing I have done is to pray, actively con
templating Christ crucified. In trying to
understand what Christ is doing on the
cross, I have been called to conversion.
President Dwight Eisenhower said it
best in the late 50’s: “Every gun that is
made, every warship launched, every
rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a
theft from those who hunger and are not
fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.
This world in arms is not spending money
alone. It is spending the sweat of its
laborers. The genius of its scientists, the
hopes of its children....This is not a way of
life at all in any true sense. Under the
cloud of threatening war, it is humanity
hanging from a cross of iron.”
Pope John Paul II at Hiroshima said:
“Our future on this planet, exposed as it is
to nuclear annihilation, depends upon one
single factor: humanity must make a
moral about-face.” To follow Christ
faithfully, I had to “step over the line” at
the Trident sub base. In faith, I have gone
out on a limb, answering the call of Christ
to say “Yes” to life and “No” to the arms
race.
If we learned nothing else from the
Nuremburg Trials, we know now that a
private citizen is morally responsible for
the actions of his government. The moral
intent of our government is to fight and
“prevail” in a nuclear war. I confess my
silent complicity in this conspiracy to kill.
Even more, I repent of the arms race as a
crime against the poor. The Vatican
described the arms race as “an act of ag
gression which amounts to a crime, for
even when they are not used, by their cost
alone, armaments kill the poor by causing
them to starve.” Thus my civil disobe
dience is a holy obedience to a higher law.
I embrace the civil consequences of a
month in confinement as a way of doing
what I can right now for the “moral about-
face” which we as a people must make.
Some of this will be very difficult. What I
ask of others is that they do something for
peace. I pray others may make a connec
tion with Christ crucified, hunger, and the
arms race. Each of us can do something. I
am only doing what I can. Perhaps you can
understand. Please, do what you can, for
peace.
Fr. Robert Cushing
Sacred Heart Church
Warner Robins