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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 U.S.A. $5.00 Canada $5.50 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