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PAGE 2 GEORGIA BULLETIN THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 24, 1964
SEEK TO DEFINE HER ROLE
0 f
Debate On Mary Highlights
Week’s Council Discussions
VATICAN crry (NC)—Cath
olic doctrine about Mary was at
the center of attention in the
first week’s debates of the ecu
menical council’s third session.
The council Fathers search
ed for definitions of Mary's role
generous enough for Catholics,
limited enough for Protestants
and other non-Catholics, and
.careful enough for the histo
rians.
ANOTHER subject as more
than 2,000 council Fathers re
convened was the sensitive area
of the amount of control bishops
have over members of religious
orders in their dioceses.
The first day’s discussions
(Sept. 15) treated the council’s
projected statement on what are
called the "last things” —
death, resurrection, immortal
ity and judgment. The memory
of Pope John XXIII thus came
quickly into the council hall
at the gathering he had origi
nally convoked, for it was point
ed out that inclusion of this
topic was by express wish of
Pope John.
A MENTION of the Jews that
called them “the chosen peo
ple most dear to God” was in
cluded in a statement passed by
an overwhelming majority.This
was given some significance
because the world press has
been widely speculating in re
gard to the council's handling
of the whole subject of Chris-
tian-Jewish relations. Debate
on this matter will come later.
Procedures on council se
curity were outlined to the par
ticipants at the third session’s
first meeting. The council ex
perts—advisers to the council
Fathers—were warned to ob
serve secrecy in regard to doc
uments, to engage in no lobbying
or organizing of factions or
pressure campaigns. Distribu
tion of lobbying-type flyers near
the council hall was again for
bidden.
REPORTERS were given
summaries of each day’s dis
cussions soon after the meet
ings ended, shortly after noon.
The texts of the propositions
under discussion are not avail
able to the press.
The opening discussion was
on the seventh chapter of the
council schema on the nature of
the Church, entitled 'The Es
chatological Nature ofOurCall-
mg.” Pope John XXIIIinspired
the chapter through his feeling
that a treatment of the Church
would be incomplete without
mentioning the way in which
persons in heaven are united
with those on earth to form one
Church,
THE chapter came inforcrit-
’'Win Terence
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icism from three sides. One
group of speakers said that
though it covered the "last
things,” it had no mention of
hell. A third criticism, which
came from both Eastern and
Latin-rite speakers, was that
the role of the Holy Spirit was
neglected.
Ernesto Cardinal Ruffini of
Palermo, Italy, said of it: 'The
chapter's use of Scripture is ad
mirably generous but lament
ably imprecise. The chapter
lacks good structure and order
and therefore needs recasting.”
THOUGH debate on this chapi
ter was considered closed as
the first day ended, it was re
opened the next day (Sept. 16)
with an appeal by Leo Cardinal
Suenens of Malines—Brussels,
Belgium, to streamline the
Church’s canonization proce
dures so that there can be a
wider representation of nations,
classes and callings in the of
ficial roll of saints. He was
critical of the fact that 85% of
the canonized saints are from
religious communities and 90%
from three European countries.
Cardinal Suenens suggested
that beatification processes be
handled by local groups of bis
hops with the persons to be
beatified thus honored in their
own lands.
EC BATE proceeded to the
eighth chapter of the schema
on the Church—on the Virgin
Mary, Of 14 speakers, four said
that it would be advisable for
various reasons to drop the title
“mediatrix” from the council's
treatment of Mary, Augustin
Cardinal Bea, S.J., president of
the Vatican's Secretariat for
Promoting Christian Unity, was
among them.
Other speakers expressed
disappointment over the nar
rowing of the place of Mary in
the Church. They said they had
been assured at the previous
session that the incorporation
of Marian doctrine within the
schema on the Church would not
have the effect of diminishing
Mary's role. They felt now that
this pledge had not been fulfill
ed in the language of the chap
ter. But instead of seeking a
revamping of the treatment of
Mary, they indicated they were
resigned to the incorporation.
CARDINAL Ruffini, discus
sing Mary’s title of “media
trix,” said it should be ex
plained to make it clear to non-
Catholics that it takes nothing
away from Christ, the only
mediator before God. He also
said the chapter’s text does not
give sufficient importance to
Mary’s association in the Re
demption, and does not explain
why Mary is mankind’s mother.
Stefan Cardinal Wyszynski,
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the Polish Primate, speaking
for all 70 Polish bishops, said
the people of his country attri
bute their tenacity in keeping
the Faith to their devotion to
Mary. He said Poland’s Cath
olics have asked Pope Paul VI
to make official acknowledg
ment of the spiritual mother
hood of Mary, and want the
council to call Mary the “Moth
er of the Church.”
ANOTHER prelate from an
Iron Curtain land, Bishop
Eduard Necsey of Nitra, Czech
oslovakia, asked a strengthen
ed devotion to Mary as an an
tidote to such evil modern
trends as abortion.
Cardinal Bea criticized the
chapter for failing to stay away
from theological controversies.
He said that practical directives
about Marian abuses should be
given. It was his opinion that the
title of “mediatrix” applied
to Mary could cause serious dif
ficulties for separated Chris
tians.
THE next day (Sept. 17), as
the discussion about Mary con
tinued, Cardinal Suenens said
that the schema was too timid.
Making Christ the center of all
things is good, he said, but this
should not be carried to the
point of denying Mary’s role.
Bishop Francisco Rendeiro of
Faro, Portugal, similarly held
the schema to be afraid of
acknowledging Mary’s full po
sition. An Italian speaker said
Catholics would be scandalized
if the term “Mother of the
Church” was bypassed by the
council.
Considerable interest was
aroused when Archbishop Josef
Gawlina, a Pole now in the Rom
an curia, quoted Martin Luther
in arguing that devotion to Mary
is not an obstacle to Christian
unity. He cited a sentence from
the Reformer’s exposition on St.
Luke’s Gospel in which Luther
said: “Mary does not wish to
lead us to herself, but through
herself to God,”
BISHOP Sergio Mendez Asceo
of Cuernavaca, Mexico, com
mented that if the Church is the
mother of men, then Mary as the
mother of the Church would be
our grandmother. The next day
Bishop Laureano Castan La-
coma of Siguenza, Spain, speak
ing for 80 other council Fathers,
deplored this “levity.”
As the first week’s debate
concluded (Sept. 18), the coun-
COUNCIL S FUTURE
cil was hearing pro-and-con ar
guments on the exemption of
certain religious communities
from the full authority of local
bishops.
T BECAME clear from their
remarks that the schema on the
pastoral duties of bishops would
reduce the area of these exemp
tions, though it would leave the
communities full autonomy in
their internal life.
First defender of the ini
rests of the Religious was Mich
ael Cardinal Browne, O.P., of
the Roman curia. He is amem-
er of the Dominican order,
historically the first active or
der to be exempted from full
authority of local bishops. He
was supported in the debate by
three Jesuit bishops. His posi
tion was that the international
activity carried out by members
of religious communities should
not be confined by the authority
of bishops.
PAUL Cardinal Richaud of
Bordeaux, France, asked the
council to provide more gui
dance about the competence
of national bishops’ confer
ences and the use of archbis
hops as appeal judges for dis
agreements in an individual dio
cese.
The schema on bishops’ dut
ies contains an article that
amounts to a declaration of in
dependence from civil authori
ties in the appointment of bis
hops. In an apparent reference
to Spain, the schema urges
those who now have power in
the naming of bishops to give
it up.
ON SEPT. 16 the council
Fathers approved the first
chapter of the schema on the
Church by an overwhelming
majority. There were only 11
“no” votes out of 2,189. On
Sept. 17 four votes were taken
with regard to the second chap
ter of the schema on the Church,
and all were similarly affirma
tive. The statement that term
ed the Jews “the chosen people
most dear to God” was includ
ed in this section.
Another vote was taken on
chapter two of the schema on
the Church on Sept. 18, this
time to consider the chapter as
a whole. The tally was: 1,615
“yes,” 553 “yes with res
ervations,” 19 “no,” and 3
votes null.
Good Beginning
Brightens Hopes
VATICAN CITY—With the
first week of its third session
behind and nine more to come,
prospects of rapid progress to
be achieved in ecumenical coun
cil deliberations have brighten
ed considerably.
The new procedural rules
help in curtailing debates and
there is evidence of a desire
on the part of council Fathers
to reach tangible conclusions
soon on the principal issues
before them.
Adoption of the schema on the
nature of the Church now can be
seen as nearly imminent, so that 1
it may be proclaimed by Pope
Paul VI as a “constitution,”
probably under the title “Lu
men Christi.” Numerous perti
nent amendments will be voted
on from Sept. 21 to 30. The one
anticipated with greatest inte
rest — the vote on episcopal
collegiality — will come on
Sept. 24,
THE schema on the pastoral
duties of bishops will be on the
agenda at the same time.These
two basic draft proposals re
flecting an understanding of the
Church more profound and more
explicitly Christological than
has so far obtained will, once
adopted, implement the defini
tion of collegiality in the gov
ernment of the Church,
Pope Paul himself, in his
Sept, 14 address, has termed it
a “logical continuation” of the
first Vatican Council.
THE second article of the
schema on bishops’ pastoral
duties deals expressly with the
desirability that an interna
tional council of bishops be
established to assist the Pon
tiff in the government of the
Church, which, as the Pope him
self indicated, could become a
reality on the strength of the
council initiative.
With these foundations laid
for future decentralization of
the government of the universal
Church, which is one of the pri
mary objectives of this council,
and the issues of a restoration
of the ordained diaconate dis
posed of, debate on the ecu
menism schema with its two
crucial declarations on reli
gious liberty and the Jews could
be completed before the end of
September. So hope would be
justified that by October the
momentous Schema 13, dealing
with the position of the Church
in the modern world, could be
tackled.
rr IS generally realized that
this as well as other schemata
that remain to be discussed are
of so ample a scope that many of
the problems they raise will
have to be referred to competent
committees for intense study.
This explains the proposal ad
vanced by Archbishop John C.
Heenan of Westminster, Eng
land, to allow two or three years
as an interval between the pres
ent and a closing fourth council
session.
Archbishop Dies
ROME <?NC) — Archbishop
Leone Giovanni Battista Nigris,
secretary general for the Ponti
fical Commission for the Prop
agation of the Faith, died in
Rome’s St. Joseph hospital after
a long illness (Sept. 21). He
was 80 years old.
POPE PAUL VI receives a rosary from Stefan Cardinal Wyszynski, primate of Poland,
who has spoken in the Ecumenical Council in favor of calling the Blessed Virgin Mary
“Mother of the Church.”
TOO SLOW. TOO CENTRALIZED
Cardinal Urges Revision
Of Canonization Process
VATICAN CITY (RNS) —The
second general congregation of
the current session of Vatican
II heard one of the Council’s
four moderators call for re
vising and speeding up the pro
cess of naming saints to make
possible the canonization of
more members of the laity
and more non-Europeans.
Noting that since the eighth
century, 85 per cent of men and
womencanonizedhad been mem
bers of religious orders and
congregations and that 90 per
’ cent of them had come from 13
European countries, Leo Jozef
Cardinal Suenens, Arcibhsop
Cardinal Suenens, Archbishop
of Malines-Brussels, Belgium,
said there was a need for a
greater recognition of other
classes of society and for more
officially acknowledged exam
ples of sanctity from many oth
er countries, especially in view
of the Church's increasingly
wide family of followers.
THE cardinal spoke during a
discussion on part of the schema
on the nature of the Church
which deals with man’s aspira
tion to Heaven.
He urged specifically that the
right of initiating beatification
— the first major step toward
canonization — be delegated to
national conferences of bishops
for candidates who lived and
died in their areas of jurisdic
tion. He said those beatified by
such national councils would be
venerated only in their own na
tions of origin, it being left to
the Sacred Congregation of
Rites and the Pope to decide
whether they would be ultimate
ly accepted as saints by the
universal Church.
CARDINAL Suenens then cit
ed three reasons why the pro
cesses of canonization should
be revised.
“Firstly,” he said, “they
are too slow. Because they are
completed long after the death
of the person involved, they are
deprived of much of their effec
tiveness.
“SECONDLY, they entail un
duly heavy burdens, both finan
cial and otherwise. A process
which must extend anywhere
from 50 to 60 to 80 years is
bound to a burden and to entail
expenses. This is one reason
why so few of the laity have
been canonized. There was no
one to organize (the process)
or provide the necessary funds
There should be a procedure
insuring that lack of money would
never be an obstacle to canoni
zation.
“Lastly, canonization proce
dures are too centralized. The
fact that all procedures are
conducted exclusively in Rome
causes immense delays,”
CARDINAL Suenens went on
from here to propose beatifica
tions by national episcopal bod
ies. He said that “any move to
put beatification and canoniza
tion within the reach of more
members of the Church would
put into clearer relief the union
of the Church on earth with the
Church in Heaven.’*
In the first ages of the Church,
canonization was affected in
each country by the joint act of
one or more bishops and their
people. As a testimony they
dedicated a church to the new
saint and instituted an annual
feast in his honor.
HOWEVER, from about the
eleventh Century, the procedure
began to be systemized and cen
tralized, with the result that
canonizing is now reserved ex
clusively to the Holy See. This
principle was firmly establish
ed by decrees of Pope Alexander
III in the 12th century and of
Pope Urban VIII in the 17th cen
tury. In the meantime, Pope Six
tus V established the Congrega
tion of Rites with authority
to handle all causes for beatifi
cation and canonization. The
first official canonization by a
Pope for the universal Church
was that of St. Ulrich of Augs
burg by John XV in 993.
i COUNCIL DEEINES’
Says
Text
Collegiality
Not Dogma
VATICAN CITY (NC)—Will
the constitution on the Church
present an infallibly-defined
doctrine on the place of bishops
in the structure of the Church?
Not as presently stated, ac
cording to Bishop John J. Wright
of Pittsburgh, a member of the
theological commission, which
framed the document.
THE WORDS used in the text
of the schema are “the council
solemnly teaches” but not "the
council defines,” Bishop Wright
said. "So far, the council has
not asked for a solemn defini
tion with all its niceties and
careful distinctions. What
seems to be called for is an
'authentic teaching’ of the
Church on collegiality,” he
said.
Speaking at a press panel
after the first voting on the cru
cial chapter three of the Church
schema which deals with colle
giality (Sept. 21), Bishop Wright
further pointed out that “it is
not the business of the theologi
cal commission to impose doc
trine on the council, but to ful
fill the council’s wishes in
framing the text.”
SO FAR, it is still at the op
tion of the council Fathers whe
ther the constitution will include
a solemn definition, said Msgr.
George W, Shea, a member of
the press panel and rector of
Immaculate Conception semi
nary. Darlington, N. J.
Father George Tavard, chair
man of the theology department
at Mount Mercy College, Pitts
burgh, added that he “would
be surprised if this council did
bring up a solemn definition.
"It does not seem to be in the
pastoral spirit of the council,”
he said.
TAKING the words used by
Archbishop Pietro Parente, an
official of the Congregation of
the Holy Office, in presenting
the schema, Bishop Wright de
scribed the chapter as "histo
ric” for three reasons.
"First, it completes the work
of the First Vatican Council,”
he said. "Second, it integrates
the juridical and organizational
structure of the Church into
theology properly so-called.
Third, it opens at an organic
level of the Church the possi
bility of enormous itensifica-
tion of the life of the Church
on all levels of activity, includ
ing more corporate action on the
part of all bishops, the pooling
of energies in missionary en
deavors and the passionate in
terest on the part of all bishops
in the whole Church rather
than merely in their own dio
ceses.”
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Woman
Auditor
Enters
VATICAN CITY— The first
woman to be admitted to the
council was completely taken
by surprise when Pope Paul
VI announced her name on Sept.
20 after his Mass in St. Peter’s
basilica.
This was revealed the fol
lowing day b y Marie Louise
Monnet, president of the Inter- j
national Movement for the Apo-
stolate of the Independent clas
ses, now holding, an interna
tional congress here. Miss
Monnet tol d a group of fri
ends that she had no idea she
would be chosen for this sin
gular honor when she attended
the Mass celebrated by the
Pope.
IT WAS after the Mass that
Pope Paul VI addressed the
pilgrim groups present, first
on the list being the organiza
tion led by Miss Monnet. Dur
ing his remarks thePopefirst
gave the name of Miss Monnet
as one of those to be invited
as council women auditors.
Miss Monnet had occasion to
thank the Pope after he con
eluded his remarks.
Radiant with happiness Miss
Monnet told her friends that
since early youth her prin- ^
cipal interest in life was “the
Church.” She was born In the
town of Cognac, France, on Sept.
25, 1902, as one of four chil
dren. Her elder brother is Jean
Monnet who has been a guid
ing force of the European com
mon market.
“MY FATHER,” she said,
“is a brandy merchant and his
brand is Monnet cognac.” In
this capacity he engaged fre
quent travels, encouraging his
daughter Marie Louise to do the
same.
“In my early youth I was in
terested in public life,” she
said. “As a matter of fact, I
aspired to become city counse
lor in my home town, but a
turning point in my life was a
day in Lourdes when I heard
Canon Cardijn, a famed Belgian
youth leader, talking about the
lay apostolate. This inspired g
me so much I have been In it
since I first started to organ
ize Catholic working girls.
“EVENTUALLY I became
general secretary of the Inde
pendent Catholic Women’s
Federation of France. Today
I am president of Action Catho-
lique des Milieux Independants,
which spread out into an in
ternational organization now
made up of 26 nations.”
“This is our first convention.
We are trying to promote inter
est among what might be call
ed the white-collar laity in the
Church, specifically those not
organized as workers or far
mers.” Miss Monnet declar
ed.
SHE SAID she didn't know a
word of Latin, but added that
it should prove no obstacle to
council attendance, since the P
main contribution of lay audi
tors is inconciliarcommittees.
She said she hoped that the
participation of women in the
council “will help people gen
erally to love the Church
more.”-
Miss Monnet has followed
the council debates closely?
Therefore, she said, she will
not find it difficult to follow
debates with the aid of inter
preters.
“BUT I have no word yet as
to when I and the other women
chosen will be notified of their
nomination and when we will
attend our first council ses
sion.”
4
“Of course,“she said with a
happy smile, “like all women
in church I will wear a mant
illa.”
“PET.^yoii betl”
PET
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