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1 ' • ; VOL 1, NO. 11 ATLANTA, GEORGIA THURSDAY, MARCH 14,1963 $5.00 PER YEAR -t : 1 * ; -J - Hans Kueng Sees 11 Council Defining Pastoral Norms This bas-relief statue of Mother Elizabeth Seton, foundress of the American Sisters of Charity, adorns the main door of St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York, proclaiming her special significance to New Yorkers. Mother Seton, who be beatified in St. Peter's Basilica, Rome, Sunday spent more than two- thirds of her life in New York City. SUPPLY PARISHES BOSTON (NC)—The Second Vatican Council proved to be an agreeable surprise to those who feared it would be conducted along absolutist lines, an ex pert on the Christian unity movement said here. Father Hans Kueng, dean of the theological faculty at the University of Tuebingen (Ger many), said that before the opening of the council many Catholics Interested in Chris tian unity feared it would have "a bad effect on the ecumeni cal movement." FATHER KUENG, who is in the U. S. on a lecture tour, said at a press conference that many feared the council might issue dogmatic definitions that would be misunderstood by non-Ca- tholics. Religious Community Aids Priest Shortage BY STAFF WRITER Vocation Month normally stresses the contribution of dio cesan priests, but many other Religious make up the modern diocese. Last week we mentioned that there were some 36 secular priests working in parishes and in special work in Atlanta and the 70 other northern counties of Georgia. Of this number, less than 30 are actually confined to parochial work. WHAT IS not generally un derstood is that there are some 87 Order Priests serving the Archdiocese of Atlanta from LENTEN SERVICES nine religious groups. There are three Jesuits, two Glen- mary Fathers, 19 Marist Fa thers, six Franciscan Fathers, five Passionists, one priest from the African Mission So ciety, five Verona Fathers, eight Redemptorists, and 38 Trappist Monks. The Franciscan Fathers staff Immaculate Conception parish, Atlanta, and are Engaged in the Newman Apostolate at the secu lar universities in the Atlanta area. One of the Franciscans is also chaplain at the Federal Penitentiary'. The Jesuit Fathers staff Ig natius House, a retreat center in Atlanta. Covington Mission Invites Protestants The people of Saint Augus tine Mission will highlight this Lenten Season with two evening services for the non-Catholics of Newton County. On Monday, March 18th and Tuesday, March 26 at 8:00 p.m. the parishion ers will be host to their non- Catholic friends and neighbors. The program for these ser vices will be hymns, sermon and a question-answer period. A Thousand invitations are being distributed by the little flock of Saint Augustine Mis sion, to the citizens 1 oi Newton County. The services are also being announced in the local newspaper and on the radio. IN NEWTON County there are less than one hundred Ca tholic people (fewer than 20 Ca tholic families). In this same area there are over twenty- one thousand souls (over 7,000 families). There is a great need in such an area to make our Faith known to these thou sands of people. Many of them are totally ignorant of the Catholic Church and its teachings; others have had but a passing acquaintance with the Church; but many have an erroneous knowledge of our Faith. Through these services are but a token effort to reach out to these thousands of souls, it is a beginning. To the Catholic people of the Archdiocese we ask your pray ers for the success of this and other ventures in our Mis sion Areas of the Archdiocese. Finnish Missal HELSINKI, Finland (NC) — The first Latin-Finnish missal has been published here. Catho lic publications are rare in Fin land where Catholics number only 2,200 in a total population of 4.5 million. The Marist Fathers staff Sac red Heart Church, Atlanta, and St. Joseph’s, Marietta. They al so provide die teachers for At lanta’s Marist College. The Passionist Fathers staff Sl Paul of the Cross Church and Drexel High in Atlanta. The African Mission Society staffs Our Lady of Lourdes in Atlanta. The Glenmary Fathers serve St. Luke's Church, Dahlonega, and the North Georgia State Newman Club. The Verona Fathers — Sons of the Sacred Heart — serve St. Joseph’s Church in Wash- ingron and Mother of Our Di vine Saviour in Toccoa. The Redemptorists staff Sac red Heart, Griffin, St. Joseph’s, Dalton, and St. Gerard Magella, Fort Oglethorpe. The Trappist Monks are basically in a closed Com munity, but do serve at seve ral missions which have pub lic masses. All these orders serve the Archdiocese of Atlanta in a very real way. In mission areas, such as this, the generosity of the religious orders in provid ing priests, sisters, and bro thers, to assist in the work of the church has enabled growth to be nourished and stability established. Commenting on the contri bution made by Religous or ders of priests to the archdio cese, Archbishop Paul J. Hal- linan said: "It is remarkable that so many of the religious commu nities working in our Archdio cese are in fields so close to the intentions of their found ers. One would expect that of the cloistered Trappists at Conyers. But when you think of the Marists teaching for so many years in Atlanta; the Continued on Page 8 Experts from countries that have large non-Catholic ele ments in their population, he continued, were concerned that bishops from predominantly Catholic countries would not un derstand the viewpoints formed in pluralistic societies. Father Kueng added that European bis hops were apprehensive that Americans would not share their basic attitudes. After all these preliminary anxieties, Father Kueng con tinued, the council turned out to be an agreeable surprise. He said that at the council: •It was observed that bis hops who had practically no Protestants or Orthodox in their countries shared the concern of His Holiness Pope John XXIII for Christian unity. •Dogmatic definitions which would have "closed doors" were avoided. •The European bishops dis covered that their American counterparts shared their "pastoral intentions." •An air of freedom, encour aged by Pope John, permeated the discussions and the voting. A PARTICULARLY impres sive result of the council, ac cording to Father Kueng was the general consensus reached during the discussions. "If we had voted before dis cussion," he stated, "the votes VOCATION PRAYER O God, Who wills not the death of a sinner * but rather that he be converted and live * grant we beseech Thee * through the Intercession of the Blessed Mary, ever Virgin * and all the saints * an Increase of laborers for Thy Church * fellow laborers with Christ *to spend and consume themselves for souls * through the same Jesus Christ Thy Son * Who liveth and reigneth with Thee * in the unity of the Holy Spirit * world without end. Amen. would have shown considerable disagreement. But during the discussion, opinions changed. All of the bishops present learn ed from these discussions. All made progress by being expos ed to the views of fellow bis hops from other countries." When the votes were tallied, he stated, it was found that there was almost total unani mity. "On most questions," he said, "there were only 50 to 60 dissenting votes (out of some 2,000). In one case there were a little over 100." "This consensus was all the more astonishing," Father Kueng added, "because it was in the direction of progress and a serious renewal of the Church." He said that at the council’s first session the "schemata" presented to the bishops were generally too numerous, too long, repetitious and not re lated to one another. THE SWISS-BORN theologian referred to these schemata as "products of a theological school not representative of the Church as a whole." He said the schemata are now being revised and, most important, coordinated by a special commission. As a result, he added, the schemata to be presented to the second session of the coun cil in September will be less theoretical, more pastoral and more adapted to modern times. Father Kueng predicted that "there will be more decentra lization of the liturgy." "Its essence will be the same in every country," he explain ed, "but there will be concrete adaptations to local needs. It will be more easily understood by the faithful and they will be able to participate more fully." HE SAID there would be no immediate adoption of the vei> nacular, but that the principle of its use would be accepted. After the council, he added, there will probably be a test period to determine how and where the vernacular may be most usefully introduced. VOCATIONS are highlighted during this month. The solitude and grandeur of the contemplative life are symbolized here through an archway of the cloister at the Trappist monastery of Our Lady of the Holy Ghost, Conyers. See Story Page 3 FROM COUNCIL Lutheran Observer Sees Christian Unity Hope PORTLAND, Ore. (NC)— Four signs of hope for Chris tian unity—and three questions —were stated by a Lutheran ecumenical leader here. Pastor Max Lackmann, in ternationally known Evangelical Lutheran minister from Ger many, is in the United States for conferences with the sec retary of the League for Evan gelical Catholic Reunion which he helped to found, spoke at the University of Portland. "The movement set in mo tion by the Second Vatican Coun cil cannot now be stopped—even if Pope John is unable to lead the council to its conclusion," he said. "The ancient portals TWO STUDENTS of St. Matthew school, Seattle, exhibit their Junior-size altar and vestments, all completely hand-made by the St. Gerard Guild of the parish. The altar, mounted on wheels for easy storage, will be used by school classes and CCD classes in their study of the Mass. Taking the part of the priest is Joseph Kenney while the altar boy is Phillip Knudsen. Looking on are Sister Irmalita (left), principal of St. Matthew’s, andSister M. Agnes Lucille, both Holy Cross nuns. of the 2000-year-old Church have begun to open. But will they open wide enough for all of us who wish to come?" A DELEGATE-OBSERVER at the first session of the council, Pastor Lackmann said his im pressions included signs that "the Catholic Church is on the verge of presenting in a new way her concept of unity and the ecumenical task, which will cause many—but certainly not all—non-Catholics to revise and reconsider their concept of the Church and contribute their part to the dialogue which the Catholic Church has already begun." The four "signs" he saw were: •The spiritual attitude of Pope John, a pastoral "con cern for souls which has noth ing whatsoever to do with‘theo logical liberalism' ’’; •The'freedom and frankness with which the Council Fathers conduct their business; •A new, courageous spirit of Catholicism which "has be gun to overcome" the narrow and confessionalistic face of the Church to "make room for Catholic life and thought in all its multiplicity"; •An ecumenical orientation which pervaded the council’s deliberations. On the other hand, Pastor Lackmann posed these ques tions as possible stumbling blocks in further moves toward Christian unity: •"Are the 198 non-Catho lic churches associated in the World Council of Churches rea dy to revise their thinking to enter into the new spirit and make approaches?" • "Will the Catholic Church of the council carry through its ecumenical dynamics?" • "How long will it take the Universal Church to carry out the council’s suggestions in all the many dioceses, seminaries, universities, and congrega tions?" ALTHOUGH he said the first session of the council "wasn’t especially productive in exter nal results," Pastor Lackmann stressed "the magnificent spi rit in those memorable weeks," and particularly the spirit of Pope John. He pointed out that the Pope's concept of Christian unity "as a gift from Christ as well as a task for all Christians" was in many ways opposite from the World Council of Church’s idea, as stated in 1961 in New Delhi, of a "visible unity which his torically has never existed." He pointed to widely different Interpretations of "the goal and essence of unity" among non- Catholic churches, including the view of his own group, the Lea gue for Evangelical Catholic Reunion, which aims at a re union based on recognition of the authority of the Pope, but retaining theology, liturgy and priesthood of Evangelical Lu therans. PASTOR Lackmann cited Pope John's distinction "be tween eternal truths and the form of their linguistic habit" as a milestone toward a re examination of the wording of dogmas with an eye toward dialogue with other Christians and non-Christians, together Continued on Page 8 of Atlanta SERVING GEORGIA'S 71 NORTHERN COUNTIES VOCATIONS MONTH