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#2. COLLEGIALITY: the bishops and the pope
Footnotes On The Council - Great Decisions
BY ARCHBISHOP PAUL J. HALLINAN
A cleric, who was not keeping up his theolo
gical homework, asked another: “What is this
collegiality all about?” His friend replied
that it was the desire of the bishops to have
some of the Pope’s suthority. The first, with a
touch of indignation, said: "You mean, they
want more than they’ve got now?”
do this? Without disturbing a bishop’s respon
sibility in his own diocese, it will widen his
horizons (and those of his people) to the con
cerns of the universal Church. Our Lord plac
ed the tremendous task of His Kingdom on
the Twelve Apostles—he called them, trained
them, commissioned them. Together they receiv
ed the Holy Spirit on Pentecost; together they
heard the solemn words; "I shall be with
you always.”
line of men, the primacy of Peter has remained
constant. That was Christ’s guarantee.
Both were misinformed. The indignant one
thought that bishops wished more authority over
priests like himself. The friend confused things
by implying that they wanted to subtract power
from the pope. Both concepts are a far cry
from collegiality.
To Peter, Christ gave the primacy. He is
the head of the Apostolic College. Each power
given collectively to the Twelve, is given specially
to him. He is the rock, the holder of the Keys, he
is “to confirm his brothers”. But it is within
the Apostolic body to which he inseparably be
longs that his office is understood.
So with the successors of the Apostles, the
bishops- No Pope could eliminate the Episco
pacy of the Church. But at historical moments,
bishops have been selected by other bishops or
by other means. Now, their selection and as
signment is juridically the responsibility of the
Holy Father. In the Western Church, the Epis
copacy of the early Middle Ages became a tool
of the State, and Rome stepped in to save it
from its own weakness. In the Eastern Church,
the emergence of strong patriarchates had its
share in a like devaluation of the local bishops.
Mindful of Vatican*l’s “unfinished business,”
the warnings of Pius IX and Leo XIII against
degrading the bishop’s role, aware of Our Lord’s
plan for the College of Apostles, the Council
Fathers responded to Paul’s words with a re
sounding vote. Back of it stood the individual
proposals submitted by hundreds of them, the
great debate of 1963 and the surprising test-
votes, and an excellent revised chapter in
the Schema on the Church.
Yet if some clerics do not g rasp what the
Council Fathers were voting on last week, the
laity can be pardoned for wondering about
terms like “Apostalic Senate”, "Episcopal
Conferences” and— “Collegiality”. It is a very
vital question in the Church today. At a press
panel in Rome, Bishop John Wright of Pitts
burgh gave three reasons for its historic
significance:
(a) Chapter three on collegiality comple
tes the work of the First Vatican Coun
cil of 1869-70;
(b) It integrates the organizational stru
cture of the Church into theology pro
perly so-called:
It opens the possibility of "enor
mous intensifcation of the life of the
Church on all levels of activity.”
(c)
After the death of Christ, the Apostles (with
Peter) administered the infant Church. They in
turn commissioned others, some as assistants
(like Stephen and Branabas ); others to be
successors (like Timothy and Titus, Clement
of Rome, Ignatius and Polycarp of Antioch).
At first these men moved about freely, later
they became residential Episcopoi (over-seers or
bishops). Always they acted as successors (in
a group) to the Apostles (as a group). Their
identification-marks were three. They <
had to transmit the testimony of the Apostles
who had witnessed The Risen Lord. They shared
in a universal apostolate, maintaining a unity of
faith and love by correspondence and prayer.
And they moved, as St. Cyprian of Africa said,
with “only one soul and one heart”. Mutual
love bound the local church around its bishop;
it united the bishops to each other.
When the First Vatican Council met, it was in
tended to define the rightful place of Pope and
Bishop—to restore the collegiality of the early
Church. As everyone knows, the Council accom
plished only the definition of the Pope’s position.
European war closed the Sessions as the fathers
hurried for their homes. The role of the bishops
in modern times remained the great “unfinished
business” of Vatican I.
The decisive votes confirm, indeed make ex
plicit, the traditional primacy of the Pope. This
Is summed up In the 12th Amendment “that
the College of Bishops has no authority except
with the Roman pontiff, successor of St. Peter,
as its head; and his power of primacy over all,
both bishops and faithful, remains intact.” Only
nine out of 2,205, disagreed.
rities th t J la F t f herS SpeUed out » * dear-cutmajo-
The familiar charts of Church government (the
pyramid showing Pope, Cardinals, Archbishops,
Bishops, Priests and Laity) bear witness to our
one -sided notion of how the Church is ad
ministered.
(a) the bishops are the successors of the
Apostles by divine right.
(b)
It is the last point that will gradually touch
the lives of all Catholics. Bishops will be able
to act together more effectively. Energies can
be pooled in many areas of the missions—the
vast areas of de Christianized people as well
as those who have never known Christ, mili
tary personnel, university people, sailors,
immigrants, migrant workers, the multitudes
that Christ looked upon with compassion:—the
nameless, the dispossessed, the needy and un
fortunate.
How will the voting of September 22, 1964
History has a habit of altering institutions.
The divine element in the Church has always
been true to the < dimensions, given it by Christ,
— the task of teaching without error what he
had taught, of sanctifying men by the means
He established, and of governing them in this
unity of faith and love. But the human forms,
—and methods, and titles, and approaches chang
ed with the centuries. Popes have been appoin
ted by Christ (as Peter) and elected by the car
dinals (as Paul VI). In between they have been
chosen by the Roman clergy, the people, and even
named by secular rulers. But through the long
So did the remark of an official of a Roman
congregation during the first Session—“But the
Council can’t change something without the ap
proval of this Congregation!” The Cardinal-
Chairman had to remind him, “You forget, your
Excellency, that the Council is above all congre
gations.” No one has felt this need of a new
description of the role of bishop more than Pope
Paul. He urged it before his election; he has
now directly asked the Council Fathers to con
sider:
Just as Christ willed that Peter and the
other Apostles made up one Apostolic
College, in the same way the Roman
pontiff and bishops as successors of Pe
ter and the other Apostles are joined
together.
(c)
Episcopal consecration, together with
the duty of Sanctifying, also confers the
powers of teaching and ruling, which
by their nature can be exercised only
In union with the head of the College
and other Bishops.
AT THE COUNCI1
“The hierarchic structure of the Church
itself, and consequently the origin, nature,
function and power of the Episcopate, which
is a major part of the hierarchy, in which
with us, “the Holy Spirit has made you bish
ops. . . •. to keep watch. . . . over God’s
Church.” (Acts 20, 28).
The ratio of negative votes on these, and
other amendments, never exceeded one out of
seven. Only fifty voted against (a) above.
How Collegiality will be worked out; the “ser
vant-character” of sacred authority; and other
points on the Episcopacy will be discussed next
week.
Secretary Bans
Change In Vote
VATICAN CITY (NC)—Arch
bishop Pericle Felici, general
s <gPPttrr-or“tfie ecwnontca.l
:doncil called a halt to a move
ment among council Fathers to
cut down the number of “yes-
but” votes on document under
debate.
FATHER John King, O.M.E.,
of the U.S. bishops’press panel,
said Father Congar had been
suggesting the modification as a
means of ensuring broad ma
jorities of affirmative votes in
the council.
Such votes are known techni
cally as “placet juxtamodum.”
This means the document is ac
ceptable but with certain chang
es, which the Voter submits
along with his vote.
FATHER Yves Congar, 0.*P.,
French theologian, has suggest
ed to many council Fathers that
like-thinking groups of them
meet outside the council hall
to decide on a single change
for a document. This change
would be submitted by one coun
cil Father only in the vote, the
rest voting simply “placet,”
which is an unqualified af
firmative.
Father Frederick R. Mc
Manus, professor of canon law
at the Catholic university of
America, said some bishops had
espoused this idea to avoid the
appearance of disunity in the
council. But he said this line
of thought was based on a mis
understanding of the principle
of the “juxta modum” vote,
which Is not a part of normal
parliamentary or congressional
procedure.
Archbishop Felici told the
council Fathers (Sept.28) this
arrangement was against the
council’s regulations.
HE SAID part of the very
purpose of the “juxta modum”'
vote is to help insure unanimity
in the final vote, in which no
“juxta modum” votes are per
mitted. “Juxta modum” votes
are needed in the preliminary
voting, he said, precisely be
cause the council is not a
POPE DECLARES
Study Necessary
VATICAN CITY (NC)—Pope
Paul VI has told Scripture
scholars not to depend solely
on th e resources of human
learning to understand the
Scriptures, but also on the au
thority of the Church, “the
custodian and interpreter of
divine revelation."
But, he added, “the doctrin
al orthodoxy which the Church
advises and displays amid dan
gerous and attractive modem
exegetical explotations does not
prevent study of the Bible, does
not dim the glance into the most
arduous and complex Biblical
research, but allows the faith
ful exegete to know all and to
lose nothing.”
with the help of the of the au
thority of the Church, the in
terpreter of divine revelation.”
“Study and piety are at the
same time the motive and end
of this endeavor, and we en
courage them,” the Pope said,
adding that scholarship “In
serts Itself into the spiritual
movement which arouses in the
Catholic Church not reverence
for the Holy Scripture, which
has never been lacking, but an
interest in the exploration of
the acts of religious life, to
draw from it, besides the sourc
es and rules for faith, the
nourishment for the interior
comfort which springs from a
proper listening to the divine
message of the holy book.
simple parliament.
CATHOLIC SCHOOLING
UICHAKD CARDINAL CUSHING of Boston discusses
Council matters with Chaldean Bishop Stephane Bello of
Aleppo. Syria (Sept. 21). Cardinal Cushing spoke in Coun
cil (Sept. 23) in favor of the declaration on religious free
dom, saying it shows, in the words of the American Declara
tion of Independence, “a decent respect for the opinions of
THE POPE addressed scho
lars participating in the 18th
Italian Bible Week (Sept. 26).
mankind.”
Might Have Barred Kennedy
Church authority, said the
Pope, allows the scholar “to
know that which ancient and
modem sciences can rationally
offer in the Scripture field,
while at the same time it guards
him from losing that which the
wisdom of faith knows to be
contained therein.”
“ABOVE all,” he continued,
“continue your application to
the study and use of the Scrip
ture with great speed to follow
the good road, which is that
indicated by the holy Church.
We all know what new and im
mense difficulties bar this road
and how they are that much more
serious and dangerous the more
closely they are tied to the deve
lopment of Biblical studies.
CHICAGO (RNS) — A priest-
editor asserted here that John
F. Kennedy would not have be
come President if he had re
ceived his formal education
in Roman Catholic schools be
cause, he contended, such ins
titutions train leaders for Catho
lic communities and not for an
American pluralistic society.
Church is the “world they know.”
“It is within an ecclesiastical
framework that they received
their education,” Father Joyce
continued; “it is within a clos
ed Catholic community that they
were formed; and it is within
the Catholic world that they
are at home and at ease; it is
here that their interests lie.”
vorced them. The facts seem
abundantly clear to me; they
are not alert, contributing Ch
ristians. And the ghetto i school
seems to me to be the prin
cipal reason.”
their formal education, we are
severely restricting the possi
bility of their effective engage
ment in that world as Chri
stian adults.”
The Rev. John M. Joyce, edi
tor of The Oklahoma Courier,
official weekly of the Oklahoma
City-Tulsa diocese, maintained
that Catholic schools, instead
of preparing men and women to
be leaders in society, seem to
“divorce” them from society.
Catholic schools, according
to the editor, prepare men- and
women for a Catholic life in
a Catholic community “and
there is simply no such thing.”
Although graduates of Catho
lic schools are “better parc-
ticing Catholics,” he said, “by
segregating Catholic youngs
ters from their proper world
throughout the long years of
FATHER Joyce expressed his
views in an article, “Would Cath
olic Education Have Spoiled
JFK?“ appearing in the October-
November issue of The Critic,
published here by the Thomas
More Association.
WARNING against separating
Catholic students from the rea
lity of the communities in which
they live, Father Joyce said,
“I don’t see how we can ex
pect them to grow up into alert,
contributing Christians in a
world from which we have di-
Bar Citizenship
To Atheist Pair
Father Joyce observed that
the late President Kennedy re
ceived his education in neith
er parochial nor public schools,
but in private schools “which
contained students of the spec
trum of religious diversity that
is characteristic of our society.
THE POPE reminded the
Scripture scholars of two papal
encyclicals on the Scriptures
which, he said, are still valid
and worthy of attention. They
are “Providentissimus Deus”
by Pope Leo XIII and “DIvino
Afflante Spiritu” of Pope
Pius XIL
“Attempts in these studies
are made from time to time
to fit into the perimiter of
human and personal theory the
immense and mysterious field
of Biblical truth to the point
of depriving it of its sacred
character and transcendental
values.
cayuga, ont. (NC)—A EXitch
immigrant man and wife have
been refused Canadian citizen
ship because they are atheists.
Greater Respect
He said that “very few” Catho
lics are found actively involved
im, community affairs and* most
of those who are have not been
educated in Catholic schools,
Catholic graduates, he said, “in
volved themselves almost exclu
sively with church groups and in
church activities,” because the
BERLIN (NC)— Poland’s
communist government has de
clared that Catholic Church
leaders must show greater re
spect and loyalty to the state
if they hope to achieve an ac
cord between Church and state
similar to the one reached in
Hungary.
Judge W. W. Leach rejected
the plea of Mr. and Mrs. Ernest
Bergsma of Caledonia, Ont., and
commented: “After all, this is
a country founded under God.”
“THROUGHOUT his school
ing, John Kennedy was engaged
and involved in the reality of
our society to a greater extent
than he would have been had
he attended Catholic schools.
As a result he was more a
product of our society, and,
consequently, more at home in
it. This helped him toward a
deeper sensitivity to the need
of te American people.”
He also called attention to the
ecumenical council's Constitu
tion on the Liturgy, and to the
instruction of the Pontifical
Biblical Commission last May.
The latter document, he said,
“while honoring the 'efforts of
modern exegesis for better un
derstanding and evaluation of
the holy texts, points out both
its dangers and limits, and de
pends especially on the histori
cal truth of the Gospels with
calmness and great .clarity.”
“THE SAD result of this,”
he said, “is that the reality
and power of these holy Scrip
tures is thus rendered insub
stantial, and these (exegetes)
alone and by themselves make
claim to constitute the sub
stance of religion.
“Thus they bear witness un
knowingly to the providential
need of living authority to pro
tect and enlighten the authen
tic sense of the divine book.”
Theresians Now
The couple have twice had
their applications for citizen
ship turned down because they
refused to take a citizenship
oath containing the phrase “so
help me God.”
While stressing that in criti
cizing Catholic schools he was
not giving “unqualified en
dorsement” to public schools
Father Joyce said that America
“desperately needs Christian
leaders,” but “we are not go
ing to get them in sufficient
numbers and of sufficient depth
from our Catholic schools.”
THE POPE told his audience
he was pleased with the motives
uniting them in their search for
a comprehension of the Bible,
with the popular and scienti
fic method which directs their
work, and with the spirit with
which they pursue it. This he
characterized as an “anxiety
to perfect the science of sacred
books and not to demolish their
authority, but to find in them
the truth of God’s words. This
is done not only with the re
sources of human erudition but
TORONTO (NC)—The first
Canadian unit of the Theresians,
Catholic women’s organization
that promotes vocations to the
sisterhood, has been founded
here.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1, 1964 GEORGIA BULLETIN PAGE 3
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