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PAGE 4 GEORGIA BULLETIN THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1963
the
Archdiocese of Atlanta
GEORGIA BULLETIN
SERVING GEORGIA'S 71 NORTHERN COUNTIES
Official Organ of the Archdiocese of Atlanta
Published Every Week at the Decatur DeKalb News
PUBLISHER - Archbishop Paul J. Hallinan
MANAGING EDITOR Gerard E. Sherry CONSULTING EDITOR Rev. R. Donald Kiernan
ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Sue Spence
Member of the Catholic Press Association 1
and Subscriber to N.C.W.C. News Service
2699 Peachtree N. E.
P.O. Box 11667
Northside Station
Atlanta 5, Ga.
Telephone 231-1281
Second Class Permit at Decatur, Georgia
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Foreign $6.50
Temporal Issues
LITURGY AND LIFE
Free Speech in The Church
BY REV. LEONARD F. X. MAYHEW
Last week we were talking
about how official is the Catho
lic P re ss.This week We would like
to answer another query often
made of Catholic editors.- why
do we enter the arena of tempo
ral issues and make the inter
pretations or comments that we
do? The answer must always be
the same. If religion embraces
the whole of life then the whole
of life is the concern of reli
gion.
POPE PIUS XI gives probably
the best reply to those who want
the Catholic press to stick only
to things spiritual. In his famous
encyclical, Quadrageiimo Anno,
he says the following;
"... that principle which Leo
XIII so clearly established must
be laid down at the outset here,
namely, that there resides in Us
the right and duty to pronounce
with supreme authority upon so
cial and economic matters. Cer
tainly the Church was not given
the commission to guide men to
an only fleeting and perishable
happiness but to that which is
eternal. Indeed ‘the Churchholds
that it is unlawful for her to mix
without cause in these temporal
concerns’; however, she can no
wise renounce the duty that God
entrusted to her to interpose her
authority, not of course in mat
ters of technique for which she
is neither suitably equipped nor
endowed by office, but in all
things that are connected with
the moral law. For as to these,
the deposit of t ruth that God com
mitted to Us and the grave duty
of disseminating and interpreting
the whole moral law, and of urg
ing it in season and out of sea
son, brings under and subject
to Our supreme jurisdiction not
only the social order but econo
mic activities themselves’!
THE MANDATE for the Catho
lic Press to interest itself in
things of the world is quite ex
plicit in Pius XI*s remarks. But
should we still have the Doubt
ing Thomas’ in our midst, let
us also quote his successor,
Pope Pius XII, who said in Jan
uary, 1947:
“To wish to draw an exact
line of separation between re
ligion and life, between the na
tural and the supernatural, be
tween the Church and the world,
as if they had nothing to do with
each other, as if the rights of
God were valueless in all the
manifold realities of daily life,
whether human or social, is en
tirely foreign to Catholic thought
and is positively anti-Christian.
The more, therefore, the powers
of darkness bring their pres
sures to bear, the more they
strive to banish the Church and
religion from the world and from
life, the more there is need on
the part of the Church itself of
steadfast and persevering action
in order to reconquer and to place
all fields of human life under the
most sweet empire of Christ so
that His spirit may breathe more
abundantly, His law reign with a
more sovereign sway, and His
love triumph more victoriously.
Behold what must be understood
by the Kingdom of Christ! This
task of the Church is indeed ar
duous, but they are simply un
witting deserters or dupes who,
in deference to a misguided su
pernaturalism, would confine the
Church to the ‘strictly reli
gious’ field, as they say, where
as by so doing they are but
playing into the hands of their
enemies. ’’
NOTHING could be clearer
from the utterances of these two
popes than that the Catholic Press
can and should accept the respon
sibility of being a witness, giv
ing testimony of the Good News.
It is not sufficient for Catholic
newspapers to warn against evil,
we must also be Heralds of
all that is good.
Catholic newspapers cannot be
insular vehicles, communicating
only to their own people, but must
reach out to the civic society,
being witnesses to the Light. It
is not merely a question of ap
pearing as a prop t o a world
faced with disaster. Christiani
ty is much more than this.
Christ’s transforming message,
through grace, gives new po
tentials to the whole of creation.
THESE THOUGHTS, bolstered
as they are by quotations from
two great popes of this century,
are engendered by a.couple of edi
torials in Catholic newspapers of
last week. It saddens us to see
any Catholic editor excusing his
disinterest in the world with a
suggestion that his newspaper
has only a spiritual function. One
of these editors went so far as
to criticize many of his contem
poraries for being interested in
social action. Good heavens! How
narrow can one get? Social ac
tion is only part of the function
of a Catholic newspaper.
The more we can bring our
readers to the application of
Catholic principles in life, the
more we are being the witnesses
of the light. There is the easier
and safer road of standing aloof
from the rest of men, within the
shelter of a man-made Catholic
ghetto. But who wants to have it
easy in the Catholic press? Only
those who do not understand its
exciting function. Exciting in the
sense that we are all bearers of
the Good News. To be sure, it
is a thankless task at times; but
that’s what makes it all worth
while. The role of the Christian
in the modern world is always
challenging - - this because
Christ finds daily rejection. To
survive we must work hard and
enter every arena where men
live. The Catholic Press must
show the relevance of the gospel
to life.
Picture Cycle
BY FR. ROBERT W. HOVDA
(Priest of the Pittsburgh Oratory)
FEBRUARY 10, SEPTUAGESIMA SUNDAY.
That cycle of worship which we call the Church’s
year or the liturgical year is built first around
the celebration of Easter, the victory of the Sav
iour over sin and death. Within that over-all
picture there is a secondary focus in the cele
bration of Christmas-Epiphany.
Today the liturgy turns us from the direct con
templation of His coming and the manifestation
of His glory toward Easter’s victory. For sin and
death are still with us. God’s love has indeed
appeared in our flesh, but fleshly eyes see more
than goodness in ourselves and in the world around
us. They see hatred and lust and selfishness.
The pageantry and pomp of the Vatican Coun
cil present a dramatic symbol of the awesome
spiritual power of the Church. This can hardly
be a source of surprise to even the most poorly
informed observer. The authority of the Church
is a fundamental element of Catholic doctrine
and practice. Doctrinally, it marks the exact
point of divergence between the Catholic faith and
the major bodies of non-Catholic theology. Div
inely bestowed authority to teach without fear of
error, to sanctify and to govern by divine man
date is part and parcel of the very constitution
of the Church.
An equally important aspect of the Council,
and one .hat may well come as a surprise to
many, is the high degree of freedom of expression
and the diversity of opinion which exist among
the Fathers gathered in Rome. That so-called
liberal and conservative factions should exist
within the hierarchy, that
“trends” should play an im
portant role in the activity of
the Church, that certain op
inions should be strongly held
and vigorously opposed by
equally orthodox churchmen-
all this may seem difficult to
reconcile with the unity Cat
holics hold to be a mark of
the divine foundation of the
Church. It may even appear scandalous to some.
Nothing could be farther from the truth. The free
discussion that has marked the deliberations of
the Council is a demonstration of that Christian
liberty which is our proudest boast.
The relationship between Catholic unity and
freedom is clearly enunciated in an age-old
formula: “In essentials, unity; in accidentals,
liberty; in all things, charity.” Truth can be
only one. The truths revealed by God and con
secrated by the infallible authority of the Church,
either by formal definition or though the constant
exercise of her teaching office, are beyond
discussion for Catholics. Their acceptance is
founded on the supernatural assent of faith direct
ly to the authority of God. Being a particip
ation in the very knowledge that God has of
himself, there can be no question of measuring
the truths of faith according to any other stan
dard. This is what the catechism classifies as
“matters of faith and morals”: the articles of
the Creed, the Sacraments, the moral law. The
area of divinely established truths.
It is a sure indication of the expansive area
LITURGICAL WEEK
They see despair and hopelessness. We would
be overcome were it not for the promise of that
Easter toward which we turn today—the promise
of the Last Supper, the Cross, the empty tomb,
the Lord’s return to His Father.
Lest our Christmas-Epij>*
hany joy should make us for
get our sinfulness and our de
pendence on that promise, to
day's Entrance Hym strakly in
troduces the new note of this
time before Lent: death, sor
row, distress, yet the Lord
hears and responds.
MONDAY, FEB. 11, THE APPARITION AT
LOURDES. Although this feast commemorates a
open to free discussion that it is far easier to
define the bounds of obligation than it is to set
those of freedom. The Church is a fully human
society constituted of finite, imperfect men
who do not live in an abstract world. Of necessity
it has developed a complex of human laws,
customs and procedures to implement its mission
in the world. To develop these and constantly
to adapt them to a changing world the Church
must call on the composite wisdom and prudence
of its members. This is the area of free dis
cussion.
It is the prerogative and responsibility of the
hierarchy to direct the Church in such a way
that its misssion is effective within the actually
existing situation in which its members and all
mankind live. How fully the faithful really un
derstand Christian social doctrine, for example,
is one of the facts the hierarchy must know in
order to measure the effectiveness its teaching
apparatus. Another example may be taken from
the liturgy. Church authority needs to know
exactly to what degree the faithful experience
the impact and meaning of the Holy Week ob
servance in order to judge its effectiveness.
These are not theoretical questions capable of
being decided by abstract reasoning. There may
be no compelling abstract reason on either side
of a particular question. The only solution is to
come to a knowledge of the actual situation.
This will .only be accomplished by free dis
cussion and the free expression of convictious
on the part of faithful. Issues such as these
demand, as Pope Pius XII clearly stated, the
existence of a body of public opinion within the
Church.
There is nothing to stand in the way of dis
agreement among Catholics on questions of pro
cedure ami practice. Equally orthodox Catholics
attempting to apply the same principles to a con
crete situation, will often reach divergent con
clusions. There is nothing scandalous, nothing
shocking and nothing even surprising in this.
Within the context of the Catholic religion,
there can hardly be conceived a more pressing
responsibility than that the faithful exercise
to the fullest their Christian liberty- not to call
into question the doctrines of the Church but
to seek their meaning hnd fullest application;
not to criticize in a spirit of negative resent
ment but to diagnose ills and propose cures in
a spirit of charity and zeal for Christ’s king
dom. Today’s world needs a demonstration of
Christian responsible exercise of this liberty.
private vision, the Mass is more concerned with
Mary’s function in the Mystery of Christ and par
ticularly with her freedom, by God’s grace, from
that strain of sinfulness so evident in the human
race. The First Reading sees her as a great sign
(of the Church, the Bride of Christ). The Gospel
tells us why she is a sign and why she is “full of
grace.” “Thou shalt conceive... and bring forth...
Jesus.”
TUESDAY, FEB. 12, THE HOLY FOUNDERS
OF THE SERVITES. For the Servants of Mary and
all Catholics who rejoice whenever a new reli
gious community arises to make its specific con
tribution to the variety and the beauty of the
Church, today’s Mass commemorates these
Continued On Page 5
CHRISTO-CENTRIC
Meaning of
Education
BY GERARD E. SHERRY
The phenomenal growth of Catholic education in
the United States, since the Third Plenard Council
of Baltimore, 1884, is attributed in no small mea
sure to the foresight of clergy and parents who
visualized the value of educating the whole child.
While there were controversies during the years
follow ing this Council, no more important decision
was made than that the education of the Catholic
child must be in
school where the
core subject is re
ligion. Divine gui
dance is now appa
rent in viewing in
retrospect what was
accomplished in less
than 80 years.
The increase in
pupil populating is
not without problems of quantity and qua
lity in education. During the past decade
Catholic education has felt the impact of an un
predictable enrollment in elementary and secon
dary schools, that has overtaxed the religious
teacher supply required for staffing Catholic
schools. Yet this lack of religious teachers has
not deterred parents from seeking a quality of
education that is inherent in every Catholic school.
ONE MAY logically ask why the expenditure of
millions for buildings and the education of facul
ty members when cities and countries offer abun
dant school facilities. The reasons for Catholic
schools are interwoven with the philosophy of
Catholic education. The more closely one studies
the proposal of Catholic schools, the more one be
comes convinced that there is an intimate rela
tionship between the Catholic philosophy of life
and his theory of education.
Many of the modern educational movements are
intimately associated with the realm of philosophy.
This organic nexus between philosophy and educa
tion is tantamount to saying that one without the
other is incomplete. Consequently, the Catholic
school to be realistic in meaning must show forth
its philosophy that is based on the social teach
ing of Jesus Christ.
THE DIVINE mission, given to the Apostles,
to teach all nations is the basic authority for
the existence of Catholic schools. Centuries have
passed since the days of the Apostles and the Ca
tholic Church has increased its interest in bring
ing the gospel of Christ to all nations through the
instrumentality of teacher^ and the multiplica
tion of schools. Pupils and teachers share the con
viction that there is a triple super-human basis
for Catholic education. T
- ...... i... .■ ••• m-.j ■ . .%• . i. ?
If God is the corner-stone in the system of Ca
tholic education, as all Catholic educators believe,
then the educational aims and values are deter
mined with reference to God. The crucifix in the
classroom of the Catholic school is a reminder
that God is the beginning and end of education.
Frequently it is said that religion is an essential
element in the life of man and that his education
must be religious.
“The soul of all education”, says Friederich
Foester, “is the education of the soul.’* The logi
cal and experienced educator concedes that a sys
tem of education that excludes God lacks a solid
foundation.
WHEN THE teacher in the Catholic school says
that Christ is the Way, the Truth arid the Life, he is
teaching that Christ is the center of education.
One of the life-giving principles of Catholic educa
tion is that Christ became man in order that He
might bring man to God. Hence, Christ is the model
for all educators. When the teacher in the Catho
lic school integrates the teaching of the social
sciences w ith the teachings of Christ, his methods
of teaching and his techniques of the classroom
are Christo-centric. To such a teacher, Christ is
the inspiration and ultimate of all educational en
deavor .
When the teacher in the Catholic school endea
vors to lead the pupils to Christ through the
Church, it is evident that such teaching is ecc-
lesio-centric. The Church of Christ is a link
between God and man and education must keep in
close contact with the Church, the custodian of
the teaching* ot Christ. Hence, when a system of
education becomes separated from the Church, it
ultimately becomes separated from Christ and
from God. ♦*>
Based upon these principles of Theo-Centri-
cism and Ecclestio-Centricism, Catholic educa
tion has avoided some of the errors of modern
education. To eliminate religion in a school is to
separate moral training from religious education.
Religious and moral training constitute the vital
principle of Catholic education. It is obvious to the
teacher in the Catholic school that no system of
education can be complete that does not center
the formation of the pupil about moral and reli
gious training. Religion is the core of Catholic
education.
THE CATHOLIC system of education is not
merely an agency for teaching the aggregate of
Catholic truth. It is also a medium for teaching a
way of life. Every lesson is directed to the prac
tice of faith. The ideal of education is the well-
informed Catholic who lives his life in conformity
w ith the teaching of Christ and the Church. Hence,
the Catholic school system is committed to teach
ing religion so as to permeate and vitalize every
phase of life.
The American Catholic school system is a co
partner with the public schools in teaching the
American democratic way of life. While unfold
ing the religious background of the men and wo
men who funded this American Republic, teachers
in Catholic schools emphasize the efforts of those
who founded the Catholic school system in the
United States.
of Worship-Liturgical Year
REAPINGS
AT
RANDOM
