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GEARED
TO THE
NEWS
diocese of Atlanta
GEORGIA'S
SERVING
NORTHERN COUNTIES
VOL 2 NO 19
ATLANTA, GEORGIA
THURSDAY, MAY 14. 1964
$5.00 PERtYEAR
RECITING OFFICE
Liturgy Renewal
Takes Next Step
This Pentecost
PRESIDENT LYNDON JOHNSON addresses the crowd in Roosevelt Square, Gainesville, during
his recent visit to the mountain city. SEE STORY, PAGE 8
ACCEPTABLE TO CHURCH
Family Planning ‘Pill’
Near, Cardinal Declares
Holy See Confirms
Liturgical Reform
For United States
Pentecost Sunday has been
chosen for the next step in the
liturgical renewal of the Arch
diocese of Atlanta. Following
the new rite for the laity’s Com
munion (“Corpus Christi. . .
Amen”), the priests of the
Archidocese who request it may
be permitted to recite their
daily Divine Office in English.
At the same time, Arch
bishop Paul J. Hallinan call
ed upon the laity to learn more
about this public prayer of the
Church.
"From early Christian
timA," he said "the Office
has been so constructed that the
entire course of the day and
night is made holy by the prais
es of God. In a monastery (like
our Trapplst Abbey) and among
religious orders (like those
serving our Archdiocese), the
communal nature of this prayer
is more obvious— it is chant
ed.
"But the office (contained in
the book called the Breviary) is
never a private matter. Dioce
san priests reciting it alone
and . without chant are joined
Just aa closely to Christ and
His Church in the work of
praise and intercession. As
the new Constitution has it,
'it is truly the very prayer
which Christ Himself, together
with His Body, addresses to
the Father,'
The Church in her present
renewal is eager to include the
laity in this public prayer, the
Archbishop said. The old form
of Parish Vespers (now almost
obsolete) should be restored
if possible. The revived "Bible
Anglicans Join
BIRMINGHAM, England (NC)
For the first time in the 45
years since the observance
started, Anglicans joined Cath
olics in the procession of the
relics of St. Chad through the
streets of Birmingham,
To India
VATICAN CITY (NC)—Pope
Paul VI has named Gregorio
Cardinal Agagianian, Prefect
of the Congregation for the
Propagation of the Faith, papal
legate to the International Eu
charistic Congress to be held
in Bombay from Nov. 23 to
Dec. 6.
The appointment of Cardi
nal Agagianian—one of four
papal legates named on May
9—immediately touched off
speculation regarding a possi
ble papal decision not to go to
India, as has been rumored
ever since his January trip to
the Holy Land,
A VATICAN official said
that the naming of a papal le
gate to the congress was ac
cording to normal Holy See
protocol. The Cardinal will
represent the Pope at the con
gress, he said, but his pres
ence does not necessarily
mean that Pope Paul will not
attend himself for part of the
week-long event,
Other legates named were
Manuel Cardinal Goncalves
Cerejeira of Lisbon to the
National Marian Congress in
Braga, Portugal, from June 3
vigil" will, on appropriate days,
offer the laity, in psalms and
lessons, a key to the treasur
es of the Scriptures. The grow
ing practice of reciting the
short Compline of the Office as
a night - prayer by the faith
ful is encouraged.
"The laity, too," the new
Liturgical Constitution con
tinues, "are encouraged to re
cite the Divine Office, either
with the priests, or among
themselves, or even indivi
dually." Abbreviated and con
venient forms of the Office
drawn up after its pattern are
now readily available.
The basic reason for dispen
sing priests from the use of
Latin in the Office is their
own spiritual good. Although
each priest, through his semin
ary training and experience,
is familiar with the usq of
Latin for the practical purposes
of official communications, the-
oligical references, and litur
gical activities, the Archbishop
pointed out that most persons
pray more fruitfully in their
mother-tongue.
Now the priest has his choice,
although he is urged not to ex
clude Latin completely," Arch
bishop Hallinan said in a letter
aent to all diocesan clergy.
"The Latin language, in accor
dance with the centuries - old
tradition of the Latin rite,
is to be retained," according to
the new regulations, but the Or
dinary may authorize the ver
nacular in individual cases.
The dispensations for
priests of the Archdiocese be
comes effective Sunday, May 17.
It was the Feast of Pentecost
when the Jews, gathered in
Jerusalem from all over the
diaspora, marvelled on hearing
the Apostles: "How have we
heard each his own language in
which he was born?"
Congress
to 7; Juan Cardinal Landazurl
Ricketts, O.F.M., of Lima to
the National Eucharistic Con
gress in Leon, Spain, from
July 5 to 12; and Paolo Cardi
nal Marella of the Roman
curia to the eighth centenary
of Notre Dame cathedral in
Paris from May 27 to 31.
BOSTON (NC)—Science is
very close to perfecting a "pill"
which may be used for family
planning with the approval of the
Church, Leo Cardinal Suenens
said here.
Cardinal Suenens, Archbis
hop of Mallnes-Brussels, Bel
gium, told reporters at a press
conference that the Church can
not be expected to change her
doctrine on birth control. "But
this unchanging doctrine must
be applied to a new situation,"
he added.
AT PRESENT, he noted, pop
ulation Increase threatens to
become a major problem, and
at the same time medical re
search is coming very close to
finding a pill which will make
it very easy for married cou
ples to plan their families with
out violating the teachings of the
Church.
Asked about the controversial
article on the "pill" written
and published in his diocese by
Father Louis Janssens, Cardi
nal Suenens said that he has
given the priest "liberty of re
search in order to clarify the
problem,"
(Father Janssens, a profes
sor of moral theology at the
Catholic University of Lou
vain, suggested that the new
progesterone steroids—drugs
which suppress ovulation and
thus make conception impossi
ble-may be moral means of
birth regulation, Thisviewcon-
tradicts the opinions of most
Catholic moral theologians who
have written on the subject.
Father Janssens’ article came
under fire from a number of
prominent U.S. moralists.)
CARDINAL Suenens, com
menting on the issue, said there
are "really two questions in
volved,"
"One is medical, the other
moral," he said. "Medically,
the question is whether the pill
in question is a direct steri
lizing agent or whether it mere
ly regularizes natural func
tions, so that a woman will know,
three or four days in advance,
when she is able to conceive a
child. The moral answer de
pends on the medical answer.
Naturally, we cannot accept di
rect sterilization, but I am told
that a pill will be available very
soon that avoids this."
IN OTHER statements at his
press conference, Cardinal
Suenens declared that:
—The Vatican council will
probably have a fourth ses
sion. "If we are to end after
only three sessions, we will
have to work very fast," he
said, "We have now arranged
things to make it go much more
quickly, but I think there will
be a fourth session."
—Statements on freedom of
conscience and on the relations
of Catholics and Jews will prob
ably be approved by the council
in the form of separate decla
rations, rather than as part of
the schema on ecumenism.
—Experiments have been
made in the use of a simultan
eous translation system simi
lar to that of the United Na
tions for the council. It was
found, however, that to use such
a system texts of the addresses
to be given would have to be
prepared five days in advance.
Since this would deprive speak
ers of the opportunity to com
ment on the latest develop
ments, it has been decided not
to use such a system,
—Reaction to his book ’The
Nun in the World" has been so
widespread and so stimulating
that he is planning another book
dealing with this reaction, to be
entitled "Dialogue on the Nun
in the World."
IN A PUBLIC address, Cardi
nal Suenens said that the central
problem of the Church today is
to "bring our Christian people
to pass from a state of passi
vity to a state of action,"
'The problem is of capital
importance," he said. "One
need do no more than compare
two figures to realize the fact:
the number of Christiana, the
number of non-Christians, A
half-billion compared with two-
and-a-half billion. How will we
succeed in having each Chris
tian bring the message of life
to four others?"
IN SPITE of widespread dis
cussion of the layapostolate,he
said , "it must be admitted
that the number of Catholics who
take part in an organized apos-
tolate is pitifully small,"
"All who love God must try
to make others love Him too,"
he said, "All who love their
neighbor must try to share their
greatest treasure, the Faith.
That is elementary charity."
THE CATHOLIC who goes to
Mass and the sacraments regu
larly and avoids breaking the
commandments may be failing
in his "duty of apostleship,"
Cardinal Suenens warned.
In a talk to 5,000 nuns at
Boston College, the Cardinal
suggested that many of their
rules are no longer suitable to
modern needs. Both their life
and their religious habit should
show that they are women con
secrated to God but also women
of our times, he said. He also
suggested that they should make
their ideas and wishes known to
the council.
"IT IS NOT normal that men
should be solving women's
problems," he said, advising
them to "knock nicely at the
doors of Rome, but persist in
knocking until you are heard,"
He also said that Individual
nuns "should be able to speak
out in their own communities
about what they believe are the
needs of those religious
groups."
VIETNAM SENTENCE
SAIGON, Vietnam (NC)—Ngo
dinh Can, brother of Archbis
hop Ngo dinh Thuc of Hue and
the late President Nfo dinh
Diem, was attended by three
Vietnamese priests before his
execution by firing squad in
side Chi Hoa prison here late
in the afternoon of May 9.
Before the execution he re
ceived all the last sacraments,
including anointing, given be
cause of his illness. On the
morning of May 8 he also re
ceived Holy Communion dur-
900 Years
SIEGBURG, Germany (NC)—
Ceremonies marking the 900th
anniversary of the founding of
the Benedictine abbey here in
cluded a pontifical Maas offer
ed by the Apostolic Nuncio to
Germany.
With the approval of the Holy
See of the liturgical decrees
enacted by the American bis
hops last month the next-to-last
step was taken this week to bring
the English language to the Mass
and Sacraments.
The confirmation of the U.S.
decrees signed by James Cardi
nal Lercaro, president of the
Liturgy commission, was re
ceived through Francis Cardi
nal Spellman of New York, and
sent on to all American bishops
Monday (May 11).
The bishops of the United
States voted, almost unani
mously, on April 2 to take full
advantage of the vernacular,
according to the Constitution on
the Sacred Liturgy issued by
the Second Vatican Council last
December. The preparatory
work on the American decrees
was carried out by the U.S.
Commission on the Liturgical
Apostolate, and a group of
specialists. Chairman of this
commission is Archbishop John
F, Dearden, of Detroit and the
members are Archbishop Paul
J. Hallinan, Bishops Victor
Reed, Vincent Waters, John
Dougherty and William Connare,
Publication of the altar Mis
sal and the Ritual (for the Sac
raments) will now proceed, and
it is hoped that the new books
wil be ready for use by the
first Sunday of Advent this year.
The actual date will be set by
the American bishops when they
meet for their annual meeting
which will be held again this
year in Rome.
The English vernacular will
be incorporated into the Mass
texts as follows: in the Liturgy
of the Word — Introit. kyrle,
Gloria, Epistle, Gradual, Gos
pel, Credo, and Offertory Anti
phon; in the Liturgy of the Eu
charist, only the fcanctus-Bene-
dictus, Pater Noster, Agnus
Dei and the Domine, non sum
Dignus. The Communion anti
phon at the end of Mass; all
those "dialogue" parts in which
the people participate, and the
new "Oration of the People"
will also be in English. The
Collect and Post-communion
remain in Latin. The entire
rite of all Sacraments will be
in English,
ing a Mass celebrated in his
prison cell,
THE THREE priests, one of
whom was a Vietnamese army
chaplain, accompanied him to
the place of execution. He told
the priests he forgave all his
enemies.
The execution was delayed
about half an hour while prison
officials awaited the arrival of
a delegation from Hue, where
former police official, Phan
guang Dong, was.executed at
noon on May 9. He, also a
Catholic, was likewise intend
ed by a priest who accompan
ied him to the place of execu
tion.
These were the first death
sentences carried out in South
Vietnam since 1956,
"Although the increased use
of English will be the most dra
matic step in the liturgical re
newal," said Archbishop Hall
inan, ‘There is a much deeper
aspect to it, and a much more
complex task ahead of us. The
vernacular is only a means to
an end, — full understanding
and participation.
CINCINNATI (NC)—Pope John
XXII's encyclical Mater et
Magistra has "tremendous rel
evance" to the American scene,
an authority on constitutional
law declared here.
Father William J. Kenealy,
S.J., of the Boston College law
school, said the philosophy of
Pope John "is the philosophy
to which our nation, by its most
solemn covenants, is dedicat
ed.”
HE WAS principal speaker at
presentation of the first Mater
et Magistra Award by the Col
lege of Mount St. Joseph. Arch
bishop Karl j. Alter of Cin
cinnati made the presentation
to Jane M, Hoey, New York
Catholic sociologist, author,
and former government offi
cial.
Father Kenealy said the theme
of the encyclical is "the con
cept of forward progress, the
exhortation to grow in wisdom
and in grace, the plea to ad
vance in social justice and char
ity, and to do so by realistic
measures addressed to the
hard-nosed problems of pres-
end-day society, based upon all
available data of contemporary
knowledte and practical exper
ience,"
MATER ET Magistra, he said,
"goes well beyond the enuncia
tion of the fundamental princi
ples of the natural law. It follows
its own exhortation by applying
those principles to many prac-
week’s news is that the Ameri
can bishops have acted quickly
and wholeheartedly to bring the
full liturgy to our people. Lit
urgy is now understood to be the
real life of the Church, not a
hobby or a special interest of
certain individuals. Our task
now is to inspire and lead our
laity to an active and fruitful
collaboration in divine wor
ship."
tical issues in contemporary
society."
Father Kenealy said "the fact
that Pope John went out of his
way to praise the International
Labor Organization and the
Food and Agriculture Organi
zation, two United Nations agen
cies, is extraordinarily signi
ficant, particularly in view of
the fact that so many Ameri
cans, Catholics included, have
been sniping at the U. N. and
all its subordinate agencies for
many years,
ON THE question of giving
help to underdeveloped nations,
he added, "you will find no
sneering words about 'giveaway
programs' in Mater et Magis
tra. You will find words re
flecting the charity of Jesus
Christ."
As for private property, he
noted that Pope John stressed
the fundamental right to ac
quire, own, use, and dispose of
it, "subject to the social ob
ligations of private property
owners."
Snow Award
WASHINGTON (NC)—C. P?
Snow, British author, scientist
and civil servant, received the
diamond jubilee medal of the
Catholic University of Ameri
ca in a ceremony here and lec
tured at the university, which
is marking its 75th anniver
sary (May 11).
AT PSYCHIATRISTS' CONVENTION—At the natlc
meeting of the American Psychiatric Association, held
Los Angeles doctors and chaplains discussed the role of
ligton in the profession. Pictured are Rabbi Meyer G(
man (left), conferring with Dr. Jack Ewalt, of the Harv
Medical School and president of the Association, and Fat
Francis P. Rowley, S.J., of Poughkeepsie, N. Y„ outgo
president of the Association of Mental Hospital Chapla
CAUSES SPECULATION
Pope Names Legate
Priests Accompany
Executed Official
'The significance of this
Benediction
The following benediction was given by
Monsignor Joseph G. Cassidy, P. A., V. G.,
at the Georgia Legislators Breakfast
for President Johnson at the Dinkler-Plaza
Hotel on May 8.
“Our Heavely Father, who Lovestthose
who are interested in the poor and un
fortunate of humanity, bless in a special
manner the noble President of these United
States, Surround his life with Thy Divine
Counsel that in Thy hands he will always
be a fit instrument for improving the
physical conditions of our less fortunate
citizens. Aid him in his humane interests;
guide him in his deliberations; continue
to inspire him in his work that nowand
forever his name will be blessed. We
ask these blessings in the name of Thy
Beloved Son through the power of the Holy
Spirit. Amen,"
MATER ET MAGISTRA
Encyclical Seen
Relevant To U.S.