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PRAYERS FOR WORD CONFERENCE ON FAITH AND ORDER Archbishop’s Pastoral Letter On Christian Unity My dear brothers in Christ: Today is the first day of the new pontificate of Pope Paul VI. We are united in spirit with that vast assembly of some 300,000 who are watching the new pontiff accept the crown and the cross that will be his to bear until the day he dies. As we kneel to share his blessing, are we prepared to share his burden? It is of this bur den that I write you today, a day heavy with his torical meaning as important in our century as the days that marked the beginning and end of the reign of our beloved Pope John, and the mo mentous days of the Second Vatican Council. Our task as Catholics is clear and urgent. It demands of us a re-examination of our role, and it calls for the high courage of men and women who are strong enough to take risks. Pope John said when he convened the Council: •*The Church today is witnessing a society in crisis. While mankind is at the threshold of a new era, grave and Immense tasks await the Church.(l)'In his first address to the Cardinals June 22, Pope Paul enumerated these tasks - "peace among the nations - as a reflection of God's order"; improvement of living standards everywhere; and the fulfillment of that goal for which Pope John offered his life - ut omnes unum slnt, "that all may be one M'(2),That we in the Archdiocese of Atlanta may be fully pre pared to work with our new Pontiff, I address this pastoral letter on Christian Unity to our priests, religious, and especially to our laity. We will examine the source of unity, its respon sibilities, and its goal. ON THE night before He died, Our Lord de voted His last long discourse to this theme. From the depths of His soul came a tender plea for the unity of those who love God. To all Christians, He said: "I am the Vine, you are the branches. He* who abides in Me, and I in Him, bears much fruit, for without Me, you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he shall be cast outside as the branch, and wither." Then He prayed to His Father, first for His own: "Keep in Thy name those whom Thou has given Me, that they may be one, even as we are." Finally, for all those who some day would believe in Him, He prayed: "That all maybe one, even as Thou, Father, in Me and I in Thee; that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me."(3) THESE words are strong yet tender; words that are unyielding in their substance, yet plead- Unity Prayer "O Holy Spirit, giver of life and light, help those who take part in this Conference to serve Thee both in the church and in the world of our time. Grant that they may think honestly and speak wisely, and make them ready also to listen to others. And upon them and all Thy people bes tow Thine own gift of charity, which is the bond of unity and peace: that so men may know us as followers of Christ, because we have love one to another, and that with one heart and one voice we may glorify the Eternal Trinity, God blessed for evermore." ing in their expression. There must always exist in the Church that unity which He placed there, a unity of doctrine, of moral principles, of sac raments, and of government. This unity cannot be compromised because it is the core of the divine' guarantee, the rock upon which die Church is built. In all the talk of change in the Church today, there can be no change in the essentials. It is rather in the expression of them, their applica tion, the separation of them from their acciden tal setting - here is where change is called for. And beyond this unity of essentials, there is still another unity to be achieved - the unity of all persons. This is our concern; it is the concern too of all separated Christians, both Protestant and Orthodox. Never has this longing for Christian unity been more intense. The high and prayerful hopes with which the Second Vatican Council was opened are even higher now as our Pope Paul VI pledges to continue it with all the energies the Lord has given him. And we join with Protestants in the prayer that their own World Conference on Faith and Order, to be held in Montreal this coming month, will be blessed with every grace. We are all growing more conscious that the Holy Spirit of God, brooding over our troubled world and our divided Christendom, is stirring now the souls of men in many places, providing the light and strength without which reunion would remain an empty dream. What is our specific task as Ca tholics in these historic times? SURELY it is no simple task. Humanity- has crossed the threshold of space, yet only last October we stood close to the possibility of total nuclear destruction. By speedy transport and by instant communication, we are close to every inhabitant on earth, but never has there been such gross misunderstanding of each other’s motives. In this summer of 1963, American communities seem on the surface, models of harmony and good will. But the poisons of discord and hate, poverty and frustration are daily more evident, - simply because too many refuse to give their brethren and their fellow citizens the basic human rights to which they are entitled. The image of the Christian society, which should be the radiant re flection of Christ Himself, has not been achieved. "Love for our neighbor" our new Pope has de clared, "is the acid test of our love for God.'(4) CONTINUED ON PAGE 8 PRAY FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY SERVING GEORGIA'S 71 NORTHERN COUNTIES VOL. 1 NO. 26 ATLANTA, GEORGIA THURSDAY, JULY 4, 1963 $5.00 PER YEAR REV. MR. JAMES F. SCHARER REV. MR. EDWARD A. DANNAHER ON ACTIVE DUTY Deacons Summer A recent caller to the Cat hedral of Christ the King Rec tory wanted to know if it were true that there are three priests in the Archdiocese who are not allowed to say Mass, or to hear confessions. It was explained that the gentlemen in question, The Rev. Mr. Morris, the Rev. Mr. Danneher and the Rev. Mr. Scharer, could not, indeed, say Mass, hear confessions orper- form other purely priestly fun ctions because they are not priests, but ordained Deacons, an ancient church office that goes back as far as the Old Testament. assistance to their parishes, but provides them with pract-. leal experience which will be valuable to them later on when they are assigned to their first parishes as priests. A typical day in the offi cial life of a deacon begins with meditation and hearing Mass. After this their tasks vary, but follow a general pat tern, including visiting the sick, instructing religion classes and working on parish records, par ticularly of baptisms and mar riages. Sometime during the day they must recite the Office. REV. MR. MICHAEL A. MORRIS ... distributing Holy Communion. ... wearing deacon's stole. POPE’S PLEDGE Work Of Unity Will Continue VATICAN CITY, (NC)—His Holiness Pope Paul VI pro mised in his coronation speech to strive to hasten Christian unity and to carry on a dia logue with the non- Christian modern world, which is "also affected by the Holy Spirit and grace." In his multilingual address the Pope also pledged to resume the ecumenical council to adapt the Church to the needs of the times, and to dedicate himself to the "encouragement of gre ater mutual understanding, charity and peace among peop les." THE Pontiff likewise de clared that he "will defend the Holy Church against errors of doctrine and <custom , which both inside and outside the Ch urch threaten its integrity and spoil its beauty-." Pope Paul gave special praise to Eastern Rite Catholics and PAULO SI! PABLO NO! MEXICO CITY (NC)- His Holiness Pope Paul VI is call ed "Paulo" in Spanish instead of "Pablo," the usual Spanish equivalent for Paul, according to the Mexico City dally Ex celsior. The usage applies only to popes, the paper said. made particular mention of the persecuted and the ill. He used nine languages in his address, speaking successively in Latin, Italian, French, En glish, German, Polish, Spanish, Portuguese and Russian. CONCLUDING his speech in Russian, he said: "Ourthought is also addressed to the whole Russian people, upon whom We call the blessing of the Most High." In the French portion of the speech, Pope Paul declared: "Permit the new Pope to use a language so widespread and widely understood to declare humbly but strongly to the world at the dawn of his pontifi cate what feelings motivate him and what attitudes he Intends to adopt to the Catholic commun ity, the separated churches and the modern world." THEN he praised Eastern Rite Communities as "bearers of ancient and noble traditi ons" which are "worthy of ho nor, of esteem and confidence." The Pontiff continued by say ing: "To those who, without be longing to the Catholic Church, are united with us by the power ful link of faith" in Christ, "We address Ourself with. . . an Immense desire, the very one which for so long has moved so many among them to hasten the realization of the prayer of Christ on the eve of His death: ’That they may be one,' " Recalling the late Pope John's efforts for Christian unity, Pope Paul went on: SUPPORTED only by the weapons of truth and charity, We intend to puraue the dia logue that has begun and to ad vance, as much as it will be in Our power, the work that has been undertaken." The Pontiff continued: Five Named Observers ROME (NC)— Two North American priests are among the five Catholic observers appointed by the Secretarlst for Promoting Christian Un ity to attend the Faith and Or der World Conference to be held in Montreal July 12 to 26. They are Fathers Godfrey Diekmann, O.S.B., of the United States, and Gregory Baum, O.S.A., of Canada. The other observers at the meeting, sponsored by the Protestant World Council of Churches, will be Fathers Jan Grootof the Netherlands, George Tavard, A.A., and Bernard Lambret of France. "But beyond the frontiers of Christianity there is another dialogue in which the Church is engaged today—the dialogue with the modern world. In a superficial examination, the man of today can appear to be more and more a stranger to all that is religious and spiri tual. Aware of the progress of science and technology, intoxi cated by spectacular successes domains until now unexplor ed, he seems to have divine pow ers of his own and to want to do without God. . . "BUT behind this facade it is easy to find the profound voices of this modern world, also affected by the Holy Spi rit and grace. It aspires to Justice, to a progress not only technical but human, to a peace which is not only the precar ious suspension of hostilities between nations or between so cial classes, but which per mits finally an openness and collaboration of men and peoples in an atmosphere of reciprocal confidence. "In the service of these cau ses it is possible to practice the virtues of strength and cour age, the spirit of enterprise, of devotion, of sacrifice. We say it without hesitation: all that is ours. And We cite for proof of It the Immense ovation which was given the voice of a pope recently calling all men to or ganize society in brotherhood and peace." Since the beginning of the Ch- CONTINUED ON PAGE 8 RECEIVES KENNEDY Pope Lauds U.S. For World Peace, Many other questions have been asked about the Deacons: Can they marry? (No, they have already taken their vows of celi bacy. ) How should they be ad dressed? (Technically, they are called "Reverend Mister," but, since they wjjj. priestly garb Including the Roman collar, it is perfectly correct to address them as "Father.") The practice of having dea cons attached to a parish has dropped out of general use in modern times and, although At lanta is not the first American diocese to adopt the experiment, it is perhaps being carried out more intensively here, in what is referred to as "the active diaconate," with each deacon assigned to the full duties of his office, The diaconate is one of the three steps of progress toward the priesthood, preceded by the sub-diaconate and followed by ordination to the priesthood. Ordinarily, the candidate f or the priesthood would spend the summer before his final year in the seminary on vacation. He would then be given the dia conate in the fall and be or dained to the priesthood in the following spring. In the case of the three de acons assigned here, Arch bishop Paul J. Hallinan made arrangements for them to come here (they will all ultimately be assigned to the Atlanta Arch diocese) and to be ordained to the diaconate on last June 9 in the Cathedral. They were then assigned to parishes-Fat her Danneher to St. Thomas More in Decatur, Father Scharer to the Cathedral and Father Morris to Our Lady of the Assumption. The services of the deacons is not only of VATICAN CITY, (NC)— President Kennedy was receiv ed by His Holiness Pope Paul in a meeting which marked the third time a U. S. president has been received in a papal audience. The first was in 1919 when Pope Benedict XV saw Pre sident Woodrow Wilson. The second time was in 1959 when President Dwight D. Eisen hower visited Pope JohnXXlIL The same protocol was used for all three visits. THE Vatican said afterwards that the President and the Pon tiff had discussed peace, space efforts and racial discrimat- ion. The Pope lauded President Kennedy for his efforts for world peace and for his work to insure equal citizenship for all. The arrival of President Ken nedy’s motorcade in St. Peter’s square at 9:45 a.m. Rome time (July 2) was greeted by a cheer ing crowd kept back by wooden barricades. The official pro cession of cars was preceded by a police escort. PRESIDENT Kennedy, riding in an open car, waved at the crowd in the square. A platoon of Swiss Guards presented arms as the motor cade passed through the Arch of the Bells, and papal gendarmes lined the route which curves behind St. Peter's basilica and up into the San Damaso Court yard. In the courtyard, a guard of honor from the Palatine Guard snapped to attention as the President’s car pulled to a stop. The President and his party al ighted from the cars and stood at attention while the Palatine Guard band played the U. S. national anthem. AFTER quickly reviewing the Palatine Guard, President Ken nedy entered the Apostolic Pal ace and walked to an elevator where he was greeted by Arch bishop Genarro Verollno, Secretary of the Sacred Cere monial Congregation, and by three Americans of the Pa pal Secretariat of State, Msgrs. Paul C. Marcinkus of Chicago, Pius A. Benincasa of Buffalo and Daniel A. Cronin of Bos ton. The President was then pre sented to Msgr. Federico Cal- lorl di Vignale, papal major- domo, who accompanied the President on the elevator to the preaching the sermon. Work Justice third floor of the Apostolic Pal ace. Others in the President's party followed in a second ele vator. At the elevator exit, the party was met by papal ushers and a detachment of SwlssGuards and was escorted to the papal apart ment. The Blessed Virgin Mary bell, (above) is one of nine large bells of the 56-bell cari llon to be installed soon in the bell tower of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, in Washington,