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PAGE 2 GEORGIA BULLETIN THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 1963
NARROW MARGIN
SI
RANGE BUT TRU
Council Vote Approves
Communications Decree
By M.
ttle-Known
MURRAY
Facts for Catholics
E
AT THE COUNCIL
Copyright, IMS. K.C.WC. Now* lirvU«
VATICAN CITY (NC)—The
decree or. communications
media has joined that of the
liturgy as work completed by
the ecumenical council.
The- schema on communicat
ions media was passed in the
council assembly of Nov. 25
with a vote of 1, 593 favor
able, 503 opposed and II null.
W ITH 2,112 VOTING, the sc
hema thus passed with a rela
tively narrow margin of 190
votes above the minimum req
uired for a twothirds majority.
Two votes were taken to com
plete the schema: One on the
amendments to the schema and
another on acceptance- of the
schema as a whole. Before the
se votes were taken, Eugene
Cardinal Tisserant, chairman
of the council presidents, took
the floor to inform the assem
bly that, as the bishops were
entering the council hall for this
assembly, printed sheets had
been distributed expressing
dissatisfaction with the schema
on communications media and
urging other members of the
council to vote against it. The
Sheet bore the names of those
bishops who had signed the cir
cular.
CARDINAL TISSERANT de
nounced the circular as "most
vigorously to be deplored inas
much as the schema in question,
in its component parts, had al
ready been approved by much
more than the required two-
thirds majority'." He objected
to the distribution of the sheets
as an attack on the freedom of
vote of the council Fathers and
as an act unworthy of a ecum
enical council.
first in the order of the day's
business was an announcement
made by the council secre
tary General, Archbishop
Pericle Felici, that a solemn
public session of the council
would be held on Wednesday
Dec. 4. At this session, with
Pope Paul VI present, the cou
ncil Fathers will vote solemnly
and definitively on whatever de
crees have been approved by
that time in the daily general
congregations. This establish
ed once and for all the date
for the promulgation of the de
crees; it had been reported ear
lier that the Pope would procl
aim the decrees on Nov. 29.
IT WAS FURTHERMORE an
nounced that on Tuesday, Dec.
3, there will be a solemn ce
remony in St. Peter's to com-
INSPECTION
morate the fourth centenary of
the Council of Trent. The spea
ker on this occasion will be
Giovanni Cardinal Urbani of
Venice.
The tragic death of President
Kennedy was noticed also in the
preliminary announcements of
this assembly as Archbishop
Felici announced a solemn fun
eral service to be held in the
Archbasilica of St. John Late-
ran at 5 p.m. the same day
for the repose of the soul of
the late President of the Uni
ted States. All Fathers were in
vited to be present.
LATER ON IN the course of
the morning's business, Mr.
Kennedy’s death was noted by
Joseph Cardinal Ritter of St.
Louis. At the end of his dis
course on the council’s bus
iness, he thanked all the coun
cil Fathers for their many ex
pressions of condolence and
their promises of prayers.
"Where charity and mutual
consideration are not in posse
ssion of the human heart, there
can only be hatred, of which
this untimely death is one the
fruits. Let there be prayers
that all of us, Catholics and se
parated brethren alike, may le
arn to live in peace and cha
rity in the hope of one day
living in unity."
THE DISCUSSIONS in the
council hall turned on the first
and second chapters of the sc
hema on ecumenism. Giacomo
Cardinal Lercaro of Bolo
gna was the presiding modera
tor over discussion on the first
chapter. When by a standing
vote, discussion moved on to
the second chapter, Julius Car
dinal Doepfner of Munich be
came presiding moderator.
With the discussion of the ch
apters moving so quickly, it
began to be apparent that, be
fore the week was out, the as
sembly could be called upon to
vote on whether or not to ac
cept the fourth and fifth chap
ters of the schema for further
discussion. If this were done,
one of the thorniest issues of
the second session could be set
tled before the session's final
working day, Dec. 2.
PAUL EMILE CARDINAL
Leger of Montreal, the first sp
eaker of the day on the first
chapter of the schema on ecu
menism, complained that one of
its weaknesses is "its manner
of presenting unity as a note of
the church."
He added: "Because of undue
insistence on unity in the past,
the false impression is given
that the Church promotes a
monolithic unity which entails
excessive uniformity in doc
trine, liturgy and so on. In our
insistence on unity, we have too
often lost sight of the advanta
ges of diversity.
"CHARITY AND TRUTH
must not suffer in our discus
sions. But we must pursue tr
uth in humility as well as in
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charity. Since sepration be
came a sad reality, our sepa
rated brethren have been enga
ged in their own doctrinal re
search. Discreapancies bet
ween them and us cannot be re
solved without joint theological
investigation.
"The Church has known many
heresies and schims. The re
medy is not necessarily autho
rity, but in humble progress in
the Faith."
AT THE AMERICAN Bis
hops' press panel session that
afternoon, Father Gustave We
igel, S. J., of Woodstock (Md.)
College noted that Cardinal
Leger was warning against what
is called "immobilism." He
said that this is characterized
by the mentality that feels that
all things and all attitudes sh
ould be held onto simply be
cause they are old.
Actually, said Father Weigel,
in the case of truth itself, there
can be no change. But the way
truth is formulated, and its ex
pression, can change to meet
the requirements of the times.
NEXT TO TAKE the floor was
Cardinal Ritter, who suggested
that it be made clear that un
ity is the fundamental principle
of the ecumenical movement.
He said:
"We have with our separated
brethren common desires and
common activities. We should
present unity not merely as a
goal of inestimable value, but
in such a way as to show dis
union as an evil of equal mag
nitude."
AUGUSTIN CARDINAL Bea,
president of the Secretariat for
Promoting Christian Unity, fol
lowed with a reply to many ob
jections to the schema that had
been heard earlier in the coun
cil hall. It had been objected, he
said , that the ecumenical
movement contains dangers for
the Catholic faithful. He ans
wered that "these dangers ex
ist where the question of unity
is treated by men who may be
inspired by good will but who
are not sufficiently cautious.
All interfaith discussions shou
ld be under the supervision of
local bishops. . .
"Directives will come from
Rome but must be applied on a
local basis. Consequently local
Ordinaries and national episco
pal conferences will be able to
take appropriate steps to fore
stall any possible dangers. It
would be useful for regional se
cretariats to be set up for the
promotion of unity in collabor
ation with the premanent se
cretariat in Rome."
UNITY MOTIVE?
° r
Liturgy Reform, Papal
Action, Mark 8th Week
INGAGCD IN AU UNUSUAL
APOSTOLATE . TUIy WANSlATt
Wave#-books and omen srirituml
WORKS INTO RUSSIAN AND SMUGGLE
THEM INTO THE SOVIET UNION THROUGH
VARIOUS CHANNELS.
SURPRISE MOVE
VATICAN CITYJNC) — The
Fathers of the ecumenical
council in a momentous week
completely approved a charter
of sweeping liturgical reform
and saw Pope Paul VI intervene
to provide for reorganization
of the council commissions.
Meantime they witnessed the
Fathers of the English-speak
ing world present a solid front
in favor of the document seek
ing to tighten the ties than bind
all Christians together.
THE FINALIZATION of the
whole liturgy schema provides
for major reforms designed to
lead the people to full parti
cipation inwardly and outwardly
in the Mass and other services
of the Church. The schema was
passed Nov. 22—only hours be
fore the Council Fathers were
plunged into grief by the slay-
Pope Paul Reorganizes
Council’s Commissions
VATICAN CITY (NC)—With
only days to go before the end
of the second session of the ec
umenical council on Dec. 4,
Pope Paul VI has authorized a
reorganization of all the coun
cil commissions provides:
—THAT MEMBERSHIP in
each commission be increased
from 25 to 30.
—That each commission, af
ter Increasing its membership,
elect a vice pesident and of
a vice secretary.
The surprise .move, announ
ced at the Nov. 21 council meet
ing, was generally interpreted
here as having two aims:
THE FIRST, and more certa
in, is to hasten the task of re
writing the schemas being sent
back to the commissions.
The second, and less certain,
is to forestall a delaying act
ion which, reports say, is hold
ing up the revision of certain
highly controversial schemas.
THERE ARE two exceptions
to the provision for increasing
membership of council commi
ssions. They are in the com
mission for the Oriental Chur
ches, which already has 27me
mbers, and in the Secretariat
for Promoting Christian Unity,
which has only 18 members.
Of the five members to be ad
ded to the other commissions,
one will be designated by the Po
pe and four will be elected by
the council Fathers.
INASMUCH AS the Pope has
recently added two members to
the commission for the Orient
al Churches, the three necess
ary to complete the number of
30 will be all elected.
Of the 12 to be added to the
secretariat, four will be named
by the Pope and eight will be
elected by the council Fathers.
THE PRESIDENTS of nat
ional bishops" conferences
were asked to meet as soon as
possible to prepare lists of no
more than three names for each
commission. A deadline of Nov.
25 was set for presentation of
the names by the presidents of
the national conferences.
On Nov. 27 the council Fat
hers were to be given printed
lists of the names thus turned
in. It was announced that the
Fathers would be free to vote
for any one of their choise inde
pendently of the names on the
list submitted. Voting for the
members of the commission
was to take place on Nov. 28.
AT THE U. S. Bishops’ press
panel after the council meet
ing, Father Bernard Haering,
C.SS.R., council expert, said
that reorganization of the com
missions will have two immed
iate effects: First, the elect
ion by the assembly of four
members to each commission
and secondly, the commission
will be able to work better and
faster with additional compe
tent help.
EXTENSION SOCIETY
Bishops, Sec’y
Meet At Dinner
Priest Derides
Church Decline
BUFFALO, N. Y. (RNS)—God
— not fear of a religious de
cline - has prompted the cur
rent movement toward Christ
ian unity, a Roman Catholic Bi
blical expert contended here.
Father J. Edgar Bruns, an
American who teaches Sacred
Scripture at St. Joseph's Col
lege of the University of Tor
onto, made this point in a talk
before some 1,200 persons at
tending a Buffalo forum
on "Your Neighbor’s Faith."
“IT HAS BEEN SAID," Fat
her Bruns noted, "that the cur
rent trend toward Christianity
Is a positive sign of the dis
integration of religious belief in
the modern world."
By this, he added, some peo
ple mean that the Christian Ch
urches, "faced by a strong cur
rent of disbelief, are banding
together in a kind of last-ditch
fight to salvage the remnants of
revealed truth."
In answer, Father Bruns
said: "It Is not fear which has
moved us to open our arms to
one Another, but the breath of
the spirit."
AND, THE PRIEST added,
"This mournful version of con
temporary events" ignores hi
story — that is, "the many in
stances in which the end of Ch
ristianity has
imminent."
been forecast as
The contemporary world also
has strengthened man’s faith in
God, Father Bruns said. To ac
cept any other interpreta
tion, he argued, "we would
have to pretend that the awe
some universe confronting man
today and the almost fantastic
possibilities that challenge him
have not also deepened his se
nse of the mystery and pres
ence of God."
VATICAN CITY (NC)—The
annual Extension Society din
ner here (Nov, 19) developed
into a reunion between the U. S.
Bishops and clergy with a for
mer apostolic delegate to the
U. S.
Amleto Cardinal Cicognani,
now Papal Secretary of State,
was among the guests at the
speakers’ table with Joseph
Cardinal Ritter of St, Louis,
James Francis Cardinal Mc
Intyre of Los Angeles and Al
bert Cardinal Meyer of Chica
go, who is chancellor of the so
ciety.
IN A WELCOMING address
to guests, Cardinal Meyer re
marked that it was a tradition
never to have speeches at the
annual Extension Society dinner
but, because of the "unusual
privilege of having the presence
of the Cardinal Secretary of
State," he asked Cardinal Ci
cognani to address his "many
old friends."
Cardinal Cicognani recalled
how, almost 30 years ago, he
had been invited by the late
George Cardinal Mundelein of
Chicago to attend an Extension
Society meeting. Cardinal Mun
delein had told him: "Come out
and you will learn something,”
"I LEARNED VERY much
Mark Ozanam Birth
MOURNED — George A.
Pflaum Sr., 60 (above), chair
man of the board of Geo. A.
Pflaum, Publisher, Inc., Day-
ton, Ohio, die^on November
18. He was with the com
pany 40 years, 30 of them as
president.
BOMBAY, India (RNS)—
Conferences of the Society of St.
Vincent de Paul throughout In
dia were represented at celeb
rations here making the 150th
anniversary of Antoine Fre
deric Ozanam, founder of the
international Roman Catholic
charitable organization.
Auxiliary Bishop William Z.
Gomes of Bombay sang a Pont
ifical High Mass at the Jesuit
church of St. Anne and preac
hed a sermon extolling Oza—
nam’s "inspiring life" and the
work carried on by his follow
ers in this country'.
WRITER, TEACHER and
philanthropist, Frederic Oza
nam was born of French par!*-
ents at Milan, Italy, on April
23, 1813 and died at Marseil
les, France, in 1853, Petitions
urging his canonization have
received in Increasing nu
mbers from all over the world.
ing in Dallas
Kennedy.
of President
about the United States at that
meeting," Cardinal Cicognani
said, "I met there for the first
time the late Archbishop
O’Brien and many other bishops
who were to become my good
friends. With great affection
I recall those days. Many of you
were missionary bishops then
who are missionaries no long
er."
The Cardinal noted the signi
ficance "of this first meeting
of the Extension Society here in
Rome near St. Peter’s." He
said It demonstrates "your
love and zeal for the Holy See
and for the Pope.”
IN A PARTING tribute Car
dinal Cicognani said to mem
bers of the American Hierarchy
present: "You will always be
for me the Inspiring bishops of
the Catholic Church. I have
seen how you have worked to
develop your dioceses, to make
your seminaries the very best,
but above all to keep your cler
gy close to your hearts. This
was my experience and my spi
ritual food for 20 years."
A standing ovation, loud and
long, was the reply in kind from
the bishops and priests, and the
Cardinal received it smiling and
with glistening eyes.
The schema was approved
with only 19 nay votes out of
a total of 2,178 cast. One
vote was invalid.
ALL THAT remained be
fore the document becomes the
official guide o f the Church
were the ceremonies surround
ing the solemn proclamation
of the schema by the Pope.
According to Bishop Thomas
K. Gorman of Dallas-Fort
Worth, bishops could then
authorize the use of English
or other vernacular languages
in the Mass and the sacra
ments at once.
THE DAY BEFORE the ap
proval of the worship document,
the Fathers received word that
Pope Paul had arranged for en
largement of the existing
council commissions from the
normal 25 to 30 members. The
council Fathers were to choose
the majority cf the new members
in a special election on Nov. 28.
The Pope was then to appoint
one new member apiece to each
commission. The commissions
themselves were to elect vice
presidents to succeed those ap
pointed by the individual pre
sidents 14 months ago.
The papal intervention was
interpreted as a move to fore
stall any possible footdragging
by the commissions in the work
of revising council documents
in line with the consensus of
the Fathers.
THE WEEK'S COUNCIL de
liberations centered on the pro
posed schema on ecumenism.
The original document had been
expanded to include two new
chapters, one on the bonds be
tween Catholics and Jews, and
another upholding the right of
freedom of conscience and
worship.
Albert Cardinal Meyer of
Chicago, the first of the day’s
speakers on Nov. 20, urged
the council to keep the two
added chapters despite suggest
ions that they should be put in
other schemas. The Fathers
in an earlier vote had approved
in principle the first three
chapters on ecumenism, but
had put off action on the other
two.
"THERE MIGHT BE some
differences of opinion on their
places in this (ecumenism)
schema or another," Cardinal
Meyer said, "but it is the opin
ion of numerous council Fathers
that the subjects of these two
chapters are intimately con
nected with the whole question
of ecumenism. Although the
text can and should be per
fected, it is to be hoped that
the entire schema will be ap
proved as it stands."
Archbishop Maurice Baudoux
of St. Boniface, Man., and
Archbishop John C. Heenan of
Westminster, England, both
spoke out strongly in favor of
the schema. The chief means
o f promoting understanding
among Christians are "mutual
pardon, friendship and mutual
confidence," said Archbishop
Baudoux.
BISHOP SERGIO Mendez of
Cuernavaca, Mexico, called the
schema "the finest gift the
council can make to the
Church." But he asked
greater stress on "the
importance of the liturgical
movement and the Biblical
movement" in promoting
Christian unity'.
Two French-speaking council
Fathers asked that ecumenism
be furthered by a less strict
law against Catholic participat
ion in the religious services
of non-Catholics. And a Span
ish Father, Bishop Jaime
Flores of Barbastro, asked that
"the widest possible latitude
be allowed for participation in
non-Catholic religious services
in order to avoid the struggles
which are all too common among
those who should be living to
gether in peace.”
Paul VI
May Favor
Collegiality
VATICAN CITY (NC)—A re
mark by Pope Paul VI at his
weekly general audience (Nov.
20) has been Interpreted by
some observers here as giving
approval to the idea of the col
legiality of bishops, a major is
sue at the ecumenical council.
Pope Paul told the thousands
at the audience that the Church
is a "living society which has
lived through 20 centuries of
history; which welcomes those
of every race and nation, and of
every walk of life; which is a
union of brotherhood with an or
ganization and a hierarcv led
by the Apostles—that is, die
bishops—and the first place by
Peter—that is, the pope."
SOME OBSERVERS saw spe
cial significance in the asser
tion that the Church is * led by
the Apostles—that is, the bis
hops—and in the first place by
Peter—that is, the pope."They
compared this statement by
Pope Paul with a statement on
the collegiality of bishops in
formally approved by council
Fathers on Oct. 20", that in its
task of evangelizing, sanctifying
and feeding, the body or college
of bishops succeeds the college
of the Apostles, and that, in
union with its head, the Roman
pontiff, and never without this
head...this body enjoys full and
supreme power over the Uni
versal Church."
PARISH RECORD FOR PRESIDENT—A facsimile of the
first page of what is believed to be the oldest written records
in the United States w’as presented to President John. F.
Kennedy during his recent visit to Tampa, Fla. Father
Michael V. Gannon, director of the Mission of Nombre de
Dios, Saint Augustine, Fla., is shown presenting the hand
somely framed gift—the first entry in the parish baptismal
register, dated June 25, 1594. The old records will be placed
on display in a new* library-archives building to be built on
the mission grounds as part of St. Augustine’s 400th anni
versary observances in 1965.