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Archdiocese of Atlanta A HOLY JOYOUS CHRISTMAS SERVING GEORGIA’S 71 NORTHERN COUNTIES VOL. 1 NO. ATLANTA, GEORGIA THURSDAY, DECEMBER 19, 1963 $5.00 PER YEAR CHRISTMAS, HANNUKAH Three Faiths Hit Commercializing Of Holy Feasts NEW YORK (RNS)—A return to the deeper spiritual signifi cance of Christmas and Hanuk- kah was urged by a minister, a priest and a rabbi here who condemned the commercializa tion of these religious holi days. The plea was made by the clergymen on "Trialogue,” a weekly radio discussion series produced by station WINS in cooperation with Protestant, Roman Catholic and Jewish agencies, PANELISTS WERE Dr. Dan Potter, executive director, Protestant Council of the City of New York; Father Norman J. O’Connor, director of ra- dio-TV-films for the Paulist Fathers here; and Rabbi Marc Tanenbaum, director of the American Jewish Committee’s Interreligious Affairs Depart ment. Stressing that America's af fluent society has many pres sures for the commercializa tion of religious seasons, Dr, Potter said that as a result families place themselves in "hopeless indebtedness.” "WHAT IS MOST disturb ing,” he said, ‘Is not so much the accumulating of gifts to give, but gifts to receive. There is no question but that there is an increased preoccupation in terms of what *1 am going to get,’ and this is almost a com plete repudiation of what Christmas stands for.” Father O'Connor, asking for a return to "that orbit” where a gift is a symbol of love and unity, declared: "WHAT ANNOYS ME is that the gift-giving starts out in a very wonderful religious back ground because it is natural, in terms of love, to give a gift as a symbol of unity. Why can’t we still come back into that or bit?” Rabbi Tanenbaum observed that under the impact of an af fluent society, Americans have allowed Christmas and Hanuk- kah "to lose the religious sig nificance that they have.” THE OBSERVANCE of Christmas "on 12 easy pay ments,” he said, "has taken on a significance oat of all propor tion to its history owing to the pressures of our society.” OFFICIAL My dear friends in Christ; My Christmas gift to you all this year is a brief message, and a wider blessing. Christ mas messages tend not to be brief, because there are so many things to say about this Feast. All of them can be summed up in the won derful words, “and the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." This is the theme of the Christmas liturgy. It should be the moti vation of our whole life. In this great ecumenical year, we could ask ourselves the meaning of the last three words - “dwelt among us* . Among whom? His people - the Jews. And beyond, the Gentiles who were to hear His word. The Catholics who make up His Church, and those separat ed from it for various reasons, the Ortho dox and the Protestants, Beyond them, other religious peoples, the Moslems, the Buddhists and scores of others. He dwells among us all, God in our human nature. And Christmas reminds us that He came for all men. We cannot be narrow about Christ, nor about those who are our brothers in Christ. Upon you and yours, and indeed upon all men, I ask His Blessing, adding a personal note - that your Christmas be joyous and your New Year blessed. Sincerely yours in Christ, -h V Paul J. Hallinan Archbishop of Atlanta IN CATHEDRAL Archbishop Will Be Celebrant At Midnight Mass Archbishop Paul J. Hallinan will officiate at Solemn Pontifical Mid night mass, Christ mas, in the Cath edral of Christ the King. Msgr. Joseph G. Cassidy, V. G., P. A. will be Arch priest of the Mass with Rev. Conald Foust, Deacon and Rev. Noel Bur- tenshaw, Sub- Dea con. The Very Rev. Harold J. Rainey, Chancellor, will be Master of Cere monies with Rev. Eusebius Beltran, Vice Officialis, as the Assistant Ma ster of Ceremon ies. Music for the Mass will be by the Cathe-- dral Choir un der the direction of Mrs. Lawrence J. McAvoy. Cath edral organist is Mr. Keith Lang worthy. Before the Mass-at ll;30p,m, the choir will lead in the singing of sacred Christ mas carols. Archbishop Hal linan will also cel ebrate a Pontifical Low Mass at two Atlanta Churches on Christmas Day; At St. Anthony’s Church at 10 a.m. and Sacred Heart Church at Noon. He will give a brief sermon at both of these Masses. The faithful are reminded that the Vigil of Christmas is a day of complete Abstinence, when m e a t or soups made from meat may not be taken. Under existing re- gulations, the faithful may choose e i t h e r Decem ber 23 or 24 as the day of the Vigil Ab stinence. While they do not need to abstain both days they must choose one for the obser vance of complete abstinence. The second col lection to be taken up in all the chur ches and chapels on Christmas Day will go to the needy children of the archdiocese. The faithful are urged to be generous to this worthy cause. The Staff of The Georgia Bulletin Wish All Their Readers a Holy and Joyoufe Christ mas, AT AUDITORIUM RECEPTION Archbishop Reports On Council Session The following Is an extract from the talk given by Archbishop Paul J, Hallinan last Sun day at a public reception honoring him on his return from the Vatican Council. The reception, held in the auditorium of the Cathedral of Ch rist the King, was presided over by Msgr. Jo seph G. Cassidy, V. G., P. A., pastor. An American magazine used to carry a little feature called, "Which newspaper do you read?” It delighted in putting side by side totally con tradictory stories on the same event, taken from different newspapers. A like confusion would face an American today if he asked the question, What was accomplished in the Second Session of the Vatican Council? If he read TIME, he learned that the Council has become "a parliament of stalemate, compromise and delay.” Ia the Chris tian Index published by the Georgia Baptist Con vention, he was assured that "little if anything was done." On the other hand, the New York Times called the final meeting "historic” and quoted Dr. Douglas Horton, one of the Protest ant observers, that there has been "a steady advance in better relations between Protestants and Catholics," The Daily American, published in Paris and Rome for Americans abroad head lined their story; "Pope Decrees Vast Reforms as Council Recesses," Our own Atlanta Consti tution in an editorial yesterday gave perhaps the best brief summary: The Vatican II session is merely recessed, not adjourned, Much more concrete action is expected at the next session. But the Ecume nical Session has excited imagination and up lifted spirit throughout the world. Its liturgi cal reforms are secondary. Its appeal for new bonds among all religious men, and its re- congition that the Church must address itself to the social issues of the day are the real accomplishments of the Council, These are things of the spirit, not. of ritual, Home for the Catholic today has a wide mea ning. Never has it been a normal Catholic stance to stick our hands in our pockets, or to pound our chest, or to hug out tight little world. The normal posture of a Catholic is with arms out stretched to the world, reaching for the horiz ons, This familiarity with the world-view comes naturally to us; that is what the word "catholic” means, "worldwide, universal”. Our Lord said: "Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations.” This challenge lies with grave responsibility up on every last one of us. A bishop, therefore, goes to the Vatican Coun cil, not as a delegate of the folks back home, but as a successor of the Apostles, a part of the world body of bishops, in union with die chief bishop, the Pope. So my report to you tonight should be world-wide, not parochial or provincial; br oad not narrow in tone. When you give your contribution on Mission Sunday, you do not care where your gift is spent, as long as it is spent for Christ, His kingdom on earth has the same boundaries as the earth itself. This talk began by balancing certain newspaper and magazine accounts against each other. And it reminded me once more how fortunate our people are to have regular access to the Council thr ough the pages of our own GEORGIA BULLETIN. 1 received it in Rome, week after week; my only problem was keeping other bishops from borrowing itl Most of you have followed the Coun cil in its weekly pages, -- the voting on the litur gy schema, the debate on the structure of the Church, the sharing of papal authority with the bishops, the question of married deacons, the place of the Virgin Mary in Catholic life and theo logy. Then came the great discussion to clear the roadblocks to unity, the Catholic’s approach to Protestants and Orthodox, to the Jews In their special relation to Christianity, climaxed by the fundamental question of religious liberty. You re ad it all, and because of the excellent coverage by the BULLETIN you are up-to-date. Your chil dren are learning of changes being made now that will have become common-places in their ad ult life. Your Protestant neighbors with whom you are sharing your knowledge of the Coun cil, are seeing, perhaps for the first time, the Catholic Church in action. We are privil- edged to live in times marked by great history. Our pride in being Catholics has never had such incentives. But pride must not give way tocom- placency; it must be sobered by responsibility. It is a time of transition. Within this year, the spiritual leadership of our Church has pas sed from one great Pope to another. We felt that in a very short time, we knew and loved Pope John, his stout heart, humble spirit, and his simple way of dramatizing goodness. Pope Paulis more reserved, yet more eloquent; less impul sive, but equally courageous. He is combining the splendid scholarship of Pius XII and the wel come "open" program of John XX11I, but he is setting his own style, just as he chose his own papal name, that of Paul, the great Apostle of the Gentiles. To such personal transitions, the Catholic Ch urch has long grown accustomed. But it is the unique point of our times that this personal ch ange has occured in the midst of a much more profound transition. We are witnesses today of a great historic shift from what might be termed the "post-Reformation” centuries to a new per iod in Church history. It is marked, on the Catholic side, by a series of remarkable popes from Leo XIII to Paul VI: by a resurgence of Biblical and patristic studies, new pastoral me thods, reform of the liturgy, and a much gre ater ecumenical concern and effort. Dramatically it is symbolized by a momentous single event, the Second Vatican Council, This spirit of renewal and renovation is in no sense a turning our back upon the past. For more than 19 centuries, the Catholic Church has witnessed Christ to the world. Indeed in terms of the doctrine of the Mystical Body, these cen turies have actually experienced Christ in His Church, the Head united to the members join ed by baptism. The Catholic Church cannot turn her back upon the past, because the past is her inheritance. Under Leo, Pius, John, Paul, The Catholic Church (in John’s words) "trans mits the doctrine, pure and integral without any attenuation or distortion.” Yet a new Catholic spirit is clear today, en kindled, under God, by our popes and bishops, preached and encouraged by our priests and te achers, put into practice by our people, some times eagerly, sometimes hesitantly but loyally. It is not a spirit of disruption or rejection. Much less is it one of compromise with other beli efs, or of easy accommodation to the pressures of the world. Certainly it is not a program of change for the sake of change, Esseentially it is a change in spirit ana in manner. 'The subs tance of the ancient doctrine is one thing," said Pope John, "the way it is expressed is another.” (Continued on page 8)