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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 *1010 AT HADING STORK' “PET....you bet I it PET Mllft COMPANY QMt¥ DIVISION For Conveniont Home Delivery In Atlanta Call 636-8677 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.