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PAGE 8 GEORGIA BULLETIN THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 1964 CATHOLIC PRESS- 4 Catholic Press And Public Opinion—Georgia Pioneers CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 ''Bulletin" of the Catholic Layman's Association for many years not only interested, informed and encouraged Catholics, but its Influence among non-Catholics — particularly in the secular week lies of Georgia and among ministers of religion as well as organizations — was mounmuental. Finally, and most important: Madison Ave, is frequently called upon to build an image in ord er to sell second-rate goods, but our Georgia friends were only trying to give away the real goods: the good news of Catholicism, The fundamental program enacted and spread by Messrs, Farrell, Reid and their associates, particularly the zealous members of the laity, offers a pattern to Catholics of the Country, To be sure, the issues have become different over the years and in various localities; and at diff erent times, different methods or policies might be followed. BUT PERSONAL dedication, educational r romotion, joining in public welfare and distri bution of truth through the Catholic Press offer an unanswerable platform for rendering public service, bringing people closer to God, and building a structure that will protect and pre serve our beloved Country and its people, ir respective of religion, race or class. Early last Fall, Pope Paul VI, in an address to the members of the Union of the Italian Catho lic Press, spoke earnestly and prophetically on the work of our papers as a force for public opinion. He said "We believe that the Catholic Press has need of new impulsion, of new pro gress, of new effectiveness. The Catholic Press must flourish again in new and ample develop ments!" The Holy Father, after asking for greater sup port for the Catholic Press, particularly stress ed the necessity of "greater influence over pub lic opinion." Read these words: "WE WISHED that its voice were more con cordant!. , . Not that it is desirable to impose a uniformity of writing, but rather a more sub stantial and spontaneous conformity of judgment which would contribute to give greater credit to the Catholic Press and greater influence over public opinion. 'This would also keep its readers more con vinced of the goodness of the ideas and atti tudes proposed to them and make them more jointly responsible and consistent in their con frontations with public life. "Lastly, -we wish its voice to be always ring ing with a Christian tone. It already is, and this is its glory, its characteristics, its reason for being, and may it always remain thus, limpid and frank! "Nor should for this reason a newspaper limit itself to give news and comments of religious character, nor should it artfully stress its con fessional and apologetic character to the detri ment of its primary informative function. 'THE NEWSPAPER should always let its every world be penetrated by Christian wisdom and al ways aim at the effect that the reader must draw from the reading of his newspaper; an ef fect that strengthens his spiritial and moral sense and his sound and strong sense of feeling and of the will. "Not rarely, newspapermen of other ideas that are not sound are, from this standpoint, more shrewd and combative than we, to the advan tage of their thesis. It is not in vain that the journalist is teacher and guide of his reader: remember this!" Now these observations — in fact directives— have already been a motivating force in many Catholic papers which help to form and inform public opinion, but they should act as a challenge for new and more adequate activity. And what should be its basis? Let Pope Paul VI advise us: "NOW SUCH A function, exercised with Love— and surely for love in many of you — of truth on the one hand and of the reader on the other, performed with vigor and strictness of spirit and not only in the service of that fleeting truth which is the accelerated succession of human ev ents and our transient and mute chronicle al most photographed and projected upon the public, but also in the service of that truth that remains, because it is divine and, like a sun suspended in the sky, enlightens the scene of the world to our Joy and to our salvation, such a function, We were saying, is not only mediation — ins trumental, passive, impersonal — "It is a mission, active, apostolic and indeed personal and deserving.- "And because such is your function, mediat ion and mission, We encourage and bless it from Our Heart." THIS GREAT regard for public opinon was manifested on a broad scale at the recent sess ion of the Ecumenical Council. Non-Catholic observers spoke as one in testifying to the sin cere, cordial and united friendship shown not only to them and their organizations but to the world wide press and other means of communication. The Church was conscious of "public opinion" not only among Catholics but particularly among non-Catholics. Freedom of discussion, frankness of expression, courtesy and hospitality were wide ly noted. And, in turn, the Catholic Press of the world took this as a cue not only to aim at an informed opinon by telling the world of what was transpiring at the Vatican but by promoting good will and understanding at home. The Church and public opinion found pioneers in Jim Farrell and Dick Reid in Georgia, and now all over the world this newer, greater and wider development of this idea is being felt. ‘RESTORES NOTHING 9 OFFICIAL MASS CENTER OF WORSHIP Priest Asks Halt To Death Penalty BOSTON (RNS) — Father Charles E. Sheedy, C. S. C., dean of the Notre Dame Uni versity's College of Arts and Letters, advocated abolition of the death penalty at a hear ing here of the Massachusetts Committee of the Judiciary. The committee is consider ing several bills proposed to alter the Massachusetts capi tal punishment law. FATHER SHEEDY emphasiz ed that he spoke only as "one Catholic priest, but, I hope, reasonably trustworthy in Altarians Meet Very Rev. Vincent P. Bren nan, S.M., will be guest speaker at the Sacred Heart Altar and Rosary Society meeting on Sun day (March 1) following the 8:30 Mass. This meeting, scheduled on Sunday for the especial con venience of working members, will be held in the assembly room. Coffee and doughnuts will be served immediately following the Mass. All women of the parish are Invited. moral theology." The Holy Cross father is the former head of Notre Dame's department of religion. He took issue with the argu ment that murder is a violat ion of the moral order that must be restored by execut ion of the offender. "Does the death 'penalty," the priest asked, "restore the civic order?" Stressing that it is "regrettable” that the al leged slayer of the late president John F. Kennedy "was not kept alive and brought to trial," he said, however, that an execution of the assassin would have "restored nothing" to the civic order. 'THE THOUGHT of that miserable life as a substitute for the sparkling life of the President is grotesque and re pellent," he declared. "And the inevitable public fanfare over the execution," Father Sheedy added, "would only have compounded the dis order by arousing unwholesome enjoyment of thoughts of re venge and sick-minded Ameri cans who love violence." CATHOLIC DIRECTORY ARCHDIOCESE OF ATLANTA t<?64 PRICK $1.00 Liturgical Constitution Is Revolutionary Change Devotions In Honor Of St. Anthony AT ST. ANTHONY'S CHURCH EACH TUESDAY MORNING AT 11:30 Attend Mass or Mail Petitions To Monsignor J.E. King 928 Gordon St. S.W. Atlanta 30310. DEMAND FOR THE OFFICIAL Catholic Directory of the Arch diocese of Atlanta has been such that additional copies are now being printed. The Directory, which gives names, addres ses and information about all parishes and Institutions within the 71 counties of the Archdiocese, also furnishes information on sick calls, weddings, baptisms and Christian burial, as well as regulations on fast and abstinence. Copies are available, at $1.00 at the GEORGIA BULLETIN offices, 2699 Peachtree Rd., NE Atlanta or, by mail, from the GEORGIA BULLETIN, P. 0. Box 11667, Northside Station. Teacher Publication WASHINGTON frJC) — A new publication concerning the teaching of religion will appear this April, it has been announced here by the National Center of 1964 PILGRIMAGE SHRINES of EUROPE From July 21 to August 11, Sponsored By The Georgia Bulletin Killarney • Dublin • Aylesford • Paris Versailles • Lisieux • Lourdes • Rome Assisi Lisbon Fatima Rev, John J. Mulroy Pastor St. Joseph's Athens, Georgia (Spiritual Director) AlGInclusive Rate $897.00 RATE INCLUDES: Air transportation Jet Economy Service on group fare, comfortable hotels, twin-bedded rooms with bath, all meals, sightseeing as specified in the itinerary, meetings, transfers, and entrance fees. FOR RESERVATIONS WRITE TO; CATHOLIC TRAVEL OFFICE DUPONT CIRCLE BUILDING WASHINGTON 6, D.C. Travel By MUTMUM ~AIRLINES © IRISH mmmm minis sis urns the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine. The quarterly review, called 'The Living Light," will be edited by Father Russell Neigh bor, associate director of the CCD. It will be concerned with both theoretical and practical aspects of teaching religion. The first issue will be de voted to the aims of religious Instruction as clarified by the liturgical formulations of the Vatican council. Pope On Lenten Visit In Rome ROME (NC)--Going out to be with the people of his diocese of Rome on the second Sunday of Lent, Pope Paul VI told them that the destiny of Rome is such that Christianity must be lived fully here or else it is betrayed. The Pope went by automobile to the parish church of Our Lady of Lourdes at Tormarancia, on the outskirts of the Eternal City. \ (Eph. 1:12), through the power of the Holy Spirit.” THIS DESCRIPTION of holy Mass is far removed from the routine and hurried celebration that is still common—and in which the mystery of God’s great deeds in His people is not revealed but made mysteri ous. The description also shows how the council preferred the authentic language of the Bible to the technical catechism formulas and the abstract terms of theology. In the concrete, the Pope and the bishops of the council decided that the whole Mass should be simplified: "Ele ments, which, with the passage of time, came to be duplicat ed, or were added with but little advantage, are now to be dis carded; other elements which have suffered injury through ac cidents of history are now to be restored to the vigor which they had in the days of the holy Fathers, as may seem useful or necessary." THIS REFORM of the Mass prayers and rites, now under way with the appointment of a new commission by Pope Paul VI, may involve cutting down the Offertory prayers, restor ing the Eucharistic prayer or Canon to its former effective ness, solemnly proclaimed aloud, and improving the an nouncement of God's word. None of this is change for the sake of novelty, but for the sake of meaningful genuine worship. The directives adopted by the council for this work of reform indicate facets of Catholic wor ship that have been neglected and now need to be reestablish ed, if in fact as well as in theory the liturgy is to be "consider ed as an exercise of the priest ly office of Jesus Christ" by all His members. FIRST, THE communal and hierarchic nature of the Chris tian liturgy is to be stressed. The Church is the sacrament or sign of unity. It is defined as "the holy people united and ordered under their bishops." This must become evident, much more evident, in the ways of worship: the priest presides and leads, but the people have their full part. Next, the very act of worship is a lesson and a teacher. The Constitution on the Liturgy ex presses this by setting down rules for future reform "based upon the didactic and pastoral nature of the liturgy. . .For in the liturgy God speaks to His people and Christ is still proclaiming His Gospel. And the people reply to God both by song and by prayer." THIS IS why the rites of worship should be "short, clear, and unencumbered by useless repetitions. . .within the people's powers of com prehension." This is why the council calls for a radical change in preaching, drawn "mainly from Scriptural and liturgical sources," why the language of the people will be introduced after many centuries of divorce between nave and sanctuary. Finally, the bishops adopted a principle of adaptation, so that there may be flexibility and diversity in the liturgy from place to place. Only God and His teaching are unchang ing. Human institutions and human prayers must change and be adapted to men’s understand ing. A fundamental purpose of the Second Vatican Council is "to adapt more suitably to the needs of our own times those institutions which are sub ject to change." THE CHURCH is always young, always alive. Its re newal and reform affect people in different ways. For some, change seems to be a harsh renunciation of the past, even though the council has explain ed the Christian Faith and its purposes in the very words of holy Scripture. For others, including the col lege of apostles, the council’s first achievement is "a sign of the providential dispositions of God in our time, as a move ment of the Holy Spirit in His Church. . . a distinguishing mark of the Church’s life, in deed of the whole tenor of con temporary religious thought and action." ABOVE ALL, the Constitut ion on the Liturgy fulfills the vision of Pope John XXIII, that renewal of the Church might be the first step toward the unity of all who believe in Christ. As a divine institut ion, the Church is without spot or blemish. As a human in stitution, made up of sinful men, the Church may be un attractive and incompre hensible—in fact the vast, vast majority of men are unaware MARIST SWIMMING TEAM, fourth in the Southeastern Inter scholastic Championship, lines up at poolside. Tankmen are, left to right; Gerald Lambert, Victor .Alexander, John Chapman, Ed Westlake, George Woelper, Ed Bosbyshell, David Murphy, Bubba Holland, Tony Saxon, Steve Di Carlo, Nick Broughton, Bryan Starr and Coach Chester Graham, of, or are indifferent to, the Church. The Church is not afraid of the present or of the future. It welcomes growth and pro gress. The people celebrate the memorial of the Lord's death and triumph, Passion and Resurrection—and in that cele bration they commit themselves to live as Christians and to bear witness to Christ. THE COUNCIL of renewal does not hesitate to express the Christian hope with glad ness: "We eagerly await the Saviour, our Lord Jesus Christ, until He, our life, shall appear and we too will appear with Him in glory." \ NEW K. OF C. HEAD—John W. McDevitt, (above) for may years a public school official in Massachusetts, was elected (February 22) Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus. He has been Deputy Supreme Knight since 1959, (See also page 1) INDIA: A BADLY NEEDED CHAPEL The Visitation Sisters in the diocese of KOTTAYAM in southern India after many sacrifices have succeeded in building a novitiate. The money received wasn't enough however to finish the the building. Even the small dowry fund of the Sisters was used with ♦he special permission of the Bishop. ’ r h?ir other convents were asked for ” help and sent what they could but stflt it wasn't enough. It has been impossible for them to get enough money to finish the chapel. They need a very modest sum: $2,700. „ . - . . Ui „- A J The Bishop of KOTTAYAM has Tb.H*l,F.,h",M,u.on Aa >sked us , 0 h( . lp 0n ^ reMnt vbu /or ti* Ontnial Church to Rome, he personally appealed for this project. Will you do what you can to help him and the Sisters? Please send your help now. Any amount—$1. $5, or more. Thanks. 1854 In this year tho dogma of the Immaculate Conception w’as promulgated by Pope Pius IX. Since then, there has been a tremendous increase in missionary zeal in the Church. "Can you name one encyclical published before that time? One Church historian has noted that by mid-century the Gospel had been preached to every nation, although not, of course, to everyone in the nations . . . When you help our association, you are bringing Christ’s message to those remaining ones who haven’t heard it in the 18 Middle East and Near East countries in our care. We do need your help in so many ways, such as: □ Giving a STRINGLESS GIFT for an urgent mission need. □ Building a chapel or school for the missions. Cost: $2,000- $6,000. 0 Sending us a DOLLAR A MONTH for one of our mission clubs. They look after lepers, orphans, aged, vocations, chapels, etc. □ By taking out a membership in our association. The cost is so small. $1 a year for a single person. $5 for a family. 0 By giving a sacred gift for a chapel In the missions. Mass Kit ... $100 Chalice Altar 75 Ciborium Vestments .. 50 Statue . • Monstrance .. 40 Crucifix $40 Stations 40 Censer 30 Linens 25 Sanc’y Bell . .$23 20 13 5 INDIA Nowhere perhaps in the whole Church is there a place where ▼or«tf*ms a** •« nwmernu*. w h»u you helo educate a semina rian Uke VITTORE DA ASMARA or a Slster-to-be like SR. KORDULA you are making those vocations come to fruition. The cost is so mall for so great a good. $2 a week for six years educates a seminarian and $3 a week for two years trains a Sister-to-be. You can pay l n installments. FEBRUARY’S SPECIAL INTENTION is for an understanding of the Lenten Liturgy. You know of Michael and Gabriel and Raphael, the archangels who watch over the Liturgy. Do you know about Uriel. Sealtlel. Jehudiel and Barachiel, the other four? . . . When you send a MASS STIPEND to one of our priesta, he offers up the Mass for your intention in the presenco of these mighty ones. These MASS STIPENDS arc often his sole daily material support. Dear Monsignor Ryan: Enclosed please And Name Street for r'w Zone State (Mlliear “East Olissionsi^ HANOI CARDINAL SHUMAN, FresUert M«ff. Joseph T. lyes, Neel See*f f| IMMIlllltlggi ^ . CATHOLIC NKAR CAST WELFARE ASSOCIATION 4i0 Lexington Avo. at 46Hi St. Now York 17, N. Y.