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GEORGIA BULLETIN THURSDAY APRIL 18, 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
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Freedom To Speak
Since the days of Pope Pius
XII, and especially since the
glowing example of the ample
exercise of the “holy liberty”
granted and assured to the fat
hers of the Council by Pope
John, no one can seriously object
to a discussion of freedom of
speech within the Church.
Controversy in the Church is
obviously a healthy thing as long
as there is an objective and
constructive airing of the issues,
Alas, there are too many people
who abuse the virtue of pru
dence and use it as an excuse
to preserve the status quo -
sometimes at the expense of
justice..
“Don’t rock the boat" seems
to be their philosophy. “Don’t
rock the boat” is but another
way of expressing the socio-
psychological law that people who
are externally successful and
entrenched find it especially ha rd
to distinguish the accidentals
from the essentials of what they
are trying to preserve. Invari
ably they decide to try and pre
serve everything, and so lose
even the vital essentials they
have and should have preserved
and handed down to their post-
erity \ This ty P e of un -Catholic
timidity has no place in an age
of explosive change.
However, there are many
points about this topic which
must be prayed over, thought
about and debated in a brotherly,
manner. We should like to bring
up one point, and that is the
manner in which one is to exer
cise this freedom within the
Church. This will entail certain
obligations on the speaker, and
certain obligations on the list
ener, if the freedom is to be
really “within” the Church,
It must be assumed that only
those who love the Church will
even bother, in this day of con
formism, to speak up. Where
this love is lacking, inertia, tedi
um and indifference will bar a
man from raising questions,
rocking boats or stirring him
self from his torpor. But when
there is a real concern for God’s
people, when the tension between
the Spotless Spouse and Her all
too soiled realization is tight,
when the demands of the Gospel
are going begging, there is a
real need to speak out. No man
should elect himself to this of
fice, but no man can refuse to
be an instrument of the Spirit.
To remain silent out of an un
due love of peace, or out of a
concern to protect one’s own
position, or to pander to “The
Powers That Be” is a betrayal
of a sacred trust. No wonder
Augustine could compliment Cy
prian because he was not silent
about what he felt.
Agreeing that one must speak,
the manner in which one does
speak is of the utmost im
portance. Here again, love for
the Church will be the normative;
but the Church can be anabstract-
ion, truth can be isolate, and love
must be directed towards
persons; therefore, a real con
scious love of the brothers who
are involved in the dialogue must
be our criterion.
When we sense a malaise in the
Church, when we discover a need
or a lack, when we discover a
solution of a vexing problem, we
are personally and emotionally
involved. Normally, we have
come to this discovery after a
period of time. We have been
occupied with the problem for
some time, and thus we are
familiar with many ramifications
which are now lost to our being,
and which cannot be marshalled
for any brief presentation. When
we burst in on another Christian,
be he a peer or a superior, he
has not shared our journey. His
concerns have been in other
fields, his investigations have
been in other areas. His emot
ions are directed elsewhere.
If we are to speak to him in
such a way that he can hear
us, we must first acquaint him
with the background of our
perceptions. Above all, we must
try to recreate for him an ex
perience of the problem. Let us
illustrate; an administrator who
has never met a Negro, except
as a servant; who has never
become a fritend with a man who
happens to be of African des
cent; has not the faintest idea
of what we are talking about
when we try to communicate
some of the sense of the ab
surdity, the personal affront, that
is involved in Catholic failings
in racial justice. The problems
of the administrator of a hospi
tal are experiences he has had;
but he has not held in his arms
a weeping Negro mother whose
daughter was forced to be sub
jected to sterilization propagan
da in a state hospital because
there was no room for her in
the Catholic Inn. If we love him
enough, if we love that Negro
mother enough, if we love the
Church enough, we will by pray
er and penance, find a way to
translate her problem into his
experimental area, so that he
can sense at least the dimen
sions of the problem.
Having investigated how one
speaks in exercising the free
dom of discussion in the Church,
we must now turn our attention
to the equally important role
of listening. For, if each of us
indulge in a monologue we are
not in conversation, we are not
speaking with each other; we
are merely talking at each ot
her.
Continued On Page 5-
LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR’AS YOURSELF
UGHT OF HISTORY
Canon Law Revisions
BY REV. LEONARD F.X. MAYHEW
Pope John (one is tempted to anticipate the
verdict of history and add "the Great**) has
named commission of thirty Cardinals to revise
the Canon Law of the Latin Church. The last
revision was inaugurated by Pope St. Pius X in
1904 and was completed in 1917. Pope John has
moved toward the present revision with his
characteristic sense of urgency since the announ
cement of the Second Vatican Council on Jan
uary 25, 1959. On the same occasion he related
the two projects closely to the necessity of bring
ing the Church "up to date.*’
The years we are living in will certainly appear
in the light of history as a time of profound change
in the life of the Church. There have been other
years which have seen new directions assumed
by the Church. Undoubtedly,
they also made their some
times difficult, always deeply
stirring, demands for adjust
ment and awareness. There
must also have appeared to
those who lived through these
decisive years a deep cleavage
between new and old where
from the vantage of history
we see only organic and logi
cal development.
Such a decisive year was 313 A.D. when the
Roman Emperor Constantine ended the perse
cution of Christians. After three centuries the
Church could emerge from the catacombs, the
faith could be publicly taught, martydom ceased
to be the common expectation of the zealous. A
frontier was again crossed in the fifth century
when the world in which the Church had been
born was dissolved with the end of the Roman
Empire in the West. From the stable protection
of the imperial authority the Church became the
only stable institution in society. New problems -
and new opportunities - demanded changes. The
adjustments were made, not without difficulty to
be sure, and they led to the conversion of Europe
and the achievements of the Middle Ages.
A DATE which certainly stands out in the
chronicle of Catholic history was October 31,
1517, when Martin Luther, Professor of theology
in die University of Wittenberg, nailed his ninety-
five theses to the door of the cathedral. The con
sequences of that act occasioned the most far-
reaching changes within the Church of all her
history. They have been with us for four hundred
years. Now in the sixth decade of the twentieth
century, Providence has guided a great Pope
to call forth another moment of decision and
change.
At times such as the present in the Church's
life there is no word more frequently heard
than "new". There are new laws and new ideas
and new ways of doing things. We hear much of
the new spirit in the Church, of the new ecumeni
cal peace and liturgical revival, of new emphases
in theology and Scripture studies. All of this is
true beyond any shadow of doubt and all of it is
for the good. Nevertheless, all this discussion of
what is new can lead to a misunderstanding of how
and why the Church changes. There can appear
to be a too drastic division between the new and
the old, between the present and even the immedi
ate past, unless the innovations are seen in their
true light.
CHANGE in the Church does not arise from the
discovery of some new principle or of some new
reality of Christian revelation. It is born of the
realization, at certain times more clearly ur
gent than usual, that a changed approach to the
perennial tasks of Christ’s Church is demanded
by circumstances. The change is accomplished
by the Church not by dramatically tearing loose
from tradition but by an entirely traditional re
newed effort to be true to her inmost self and
to her timeless mission.
It is based on the constant awareness within
the Church that forms are by definition passing
and exist solely for the service of the substance.
Viewed in this light, the changes now about to
appear in the Church under John XXIII - ecum
enical impetus, liturgical renewal with a past
oral intent, more Scribturally-oriented theology,
canonical reform with dimlshed insistence on
uniformity - all these appear, not as revolution
ary departures from the past, but as evidence
of the always pressing imperative for the Church
to turn inward to her essential character and
then to re-adjust her outward ways to conform
as perfectly and effectively as possible.
LITURGICAL WEEK
Post— Easter Christians
BY FR. ROBERT W. HOVDA
(Priest of the Pittsburgh Oratory)
APRIL 21, LOW SUNDAY. "Let your craving
be for that milk which is spiritual and pure*’
(Entrance Hymn). The post-Easter Christian has
a new sense of his rebirth, his new existence in a
Christ-centered stage of evolution. As with every
newborn infant, the new life that he possesses must
be fed and nourished properly.
This is part of the job of Sunday Mass—to feed
the life we share. Here is where we weekly find
the sustenance for life-in-Christ for the new
creation in which we live and move and have our
being. We find it in the Bible readings to which
we listen, in the psalms we sing, in the prayers
sealed, by our "Amen", in the sacrificial action
with its orientation of all things to God and in our
sharing of the one Bread.
MONDAY, APRIL 22, SS. SOTER & CAIUS,
POPES, MARTYRS, "No one can be religious
by proxy." Or by performance, we might add.
"If you love me," sings the Entrance Hymn
today, "feed my sheep." U you love me. The
epigram about proxy religion is sometimes con
sidered a Protestant one, since its author was
an Anglican divine.
But it is central to any life
of faith. Pope or layman is
under the same obligation to
put first things first ("if you
love me") and not take re
fuge in proxies or in loveless
deeds.
TUESDAY, APRIL 23, MASS
AS ON SUNDAY. Faith is the
personal encounter, we learn in
today’s lessons, that makes our
lives triumphant. Faith is the triumph. We need ex
pect no other. But we need no other, for faith in
fuses not only the progress and accomplishments
of the world but also its pain and its misery with
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, ST. FIDELIS, MAR
TYR. Our weekly celebration of this triumph is
around a cross, a sacrificial table, and in the
company of martyrs. So it is clearly not a
triumph in any political or economic or military
sense. Today's Mass spells out the strangeness of
our triumph in Christ: "We fools esteemed their
life madness, and their end without honor** (First
Reading). But the Gospel is undismayed by this:
"Abide in me, and I in you/*
THURSDAY, APRIL 25, ST. MARK, EVANGE
LIST. Each Church chooses between two cele
brations today. It is the feast of Mark, the Gospel
writer. It is also the day of the Greater Litanies
and a "Rogation" Mass for God's blessing of
prosperity and fruitfulness on all human work.
Although its coincidence with times of planting
and of harvest make the latter celebration a
relic of a predominantly agricultural economy,
it has reference to the whole world of work, to
man’s conquest of nature, and to the Innate good
ness of all human activity (save sin). God’s in
terest is evident.
FRIDAY, APRIL 26, SS. CLETUS & MAR-
CELLINUS, POPES, MARTYRS. The Book of
Jeremy supplies the Offertory Hymn for this
Mass of a Pope. As we approach the holy table
to prepare our gifts of bread and wine and to
present our petitions, we sing of the Christian’s
work: ". . . to root up and to pull down, to
build and to plant." These tokens of human
activity focused on the altar for thanksgiving,
blessing, sacrifice, are signs of the continuing
process of Christianization, of drawing all as
pects of human life and work into the mystery of
redemption.
POPE JOHN
What Are
They To Do?
BY GERALD E. SHERRY
A reading of the new papal Encyclical, Pacem
In Terris (Peace On Earth) reveals that it is a
powerful document scheduled, when digested, tc
remove the props from under the stands of mam
of our Catholic Conservative friends.
If the terms, Liberal and Conservative, mea
anything, then this is a very liberal documen
Not liberal in the political sense, but certain
liberal in the classical Christian tradition. Po-’
John takes a rigid position only in defense f
truth. In all of the matters
touched upon he ex
presses the perennial
youth and aged wisdom
of the Church.
REAPING
AT
RANDOU
What are our Conser
vative friends to say to
the Pope’s blunt state
ment that "Justice,
right reason and human
ity, therefore, urgently
demand that the arms race should cease; tK the
stockpiles which exist in various countries rould
be reduced equally and simultaneously / the
parties concerned; that nuclear weapons sbild be
banned; and that a general agreement shouldvent-
ually be reached about progressive darma
ment and an affective method of control.'
What will the extremists in Chicagoind New
York, as well as in Mississippi, andjeorgia,
say about the Pontiff's observation 0‘ racism.
Let's look at what he says:
"Racial discrimination can in no w/ be justi-
fied...First among the rules govern# relations
between states is that of truth. Thitfalls above
all for the elimination of every trac«of racism."
And on the question of minorities "Justice is
seriously violated by whatever is one to limit
the strength and numerical incrase of these
minority people."
What will those Catholics whcconstantly call
the United Nations a vehicle or Communist
propaganda say to Pope John's oservations that
"An act of the highest impo«nce performed
by the United Nations Organiztion was the Uni
versal Declaration of Humar Rights, approved
in the General Assembly of pcember 10, 1948.
In the preamble of that deration, the re
cognition and respect of th*e rights and res-
pretive liberties is proclaired as an ideal to be
pursued by all peoples and al countries.
"Some objections and rServations were rais
ed regarding certain pofcts in the declaration.
There is no doubt, howe^r, that the document
represents an important s tep on the path toward
the juridical-political oiganization of the world
community. For in it, % most solemn form, the
dignity of a person is acknowledged to all human
beings. And as a consequence there is proclaimed,
as a fundamental right, the right of free move
ment in the <earch for truth and in the attain
ment of moral good and justice, and also the
right to a dignified life, while other rights
connected vlth those mentioned are likewise
proclaimed
"It is Or earnest wish drat the United Nationl
Organization — in its structure and in its mear
— may lecome ever more equal to the magnitut
and nobility of its tasks, and that the day m/
come when every human being will find there
an effective safeguard for the rights which d*
rive directly from his dignity as a person, 4
which are therefore universal, inviolable 4
inalienable rights. This is all the more to*
hoped since all human beings, as they taketn
ever more active part in the public life of ttfr
own political communities, are showing an**”
creasing interest in the affairs of all peoj>s»
and are becoming more consciously awarehat
they are living members of a world commuiY*”
And what is the editor of the American 00 "
lesiastical Review going to say when heiads
Pope John on Error? We presume thl was
written before the C.U. controversy: "Onmust
never confuse error and the person whirrs,
not even when there is a question of e°r or
inadequate knowledge of truth in the m®l or
religion field. The person who errs islways
and above all a human being, and he r*tas in
every case his dignity as a human per n « And
he must always be regarded and treated i‘°°ord-
ance with that lofty dignity."
Indeed, we wonder what Bill BuclY of the
National Review will come up with in 18 humor
department to classify this latest r ,a * d 0011 "
ment. The last Encyclical, Mater E^agistra,
brought from the National Review the oguished"
cry of "Mater Si! Magistra No!" W* will the
slogan be this time? One thing is rtain. As a
Catholic, Mr. Buckley ought to b ver Y happy
with the new document. However^ he views
it through the out-of-date binocul^ of the Nat
ional Review he will probably g >nt0 political
mourning.
Finally, at the time of the news
wires are full of stories frorrhe Communist
world which appears very p)*ed with Pope
John's new Encyclical. What ar 3111 *Professional
antl-Communists going to do^Y have a per
fect case against Pope John, f utterances have
the approval of some Red This "guilt
by association" formula dk* have draw
backs.