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T T T f 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 0 Brien KNOWS LIFE JSL. INSURANCE Suite 715 270 Pchtr Bldg. N.W.,Atl., Ga. Home BU 4 1191 Office 688-26001 Southland life INSURANCE CSL] COMPANY Mom* Offcco • Souihianij Center • Dallas 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, NELSON RIVES REALTY 3669 CLA1RMONT ROAD . CHAMBLEE, GEORGIA REAL ESTATE, INSURANCE SALES, RENTALS RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL PROPERTY PHONE: 451-2323 Ed Curtin ST. JOSEPH’S INFIRMARY SODA FOUNTAIN COFFEE SHOP AND RESTAURANT LOCATED MEET TO OITT SHOP OM KADI FLOOR Uf MEW BOTLDOia ATLANTA. GA. 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.” ARTISTIC llttiMtt “PIETfl PICTURE" ^ PRINTED ON SAi|m i dimension effeci richly colored mounted on cordboord finott pictvro on morkot today $ ] .00 postpaid Color Co.. Inc Dtpt. 2 1 295 Northorn llvd.. Monhottol. N.l 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 MFUC CO*t#**V OAJtY DIVISION For Convenient Home Delivery In Atlanta Call 636-8677