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THE BISHOPS AND THE CHURCH
Footnotes On The Council-Great Decisions
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8, 1964 GEORGIA BULLETIN PAGE 3
BY ARCHBISHOP PAUL J. HALLINAN
Sometimes it’s interesting to look for the
“Why?*' behind a negative vote. When the Council
Fathers voted on Collegiality, amendment #20put
the question of a bishop's duty to be "missionary
minded" in supplying men and money for needy
churches. Sounds obvious, doesn’t it? But 23 voted
"No". Amendment #22 stressed the idea of
"service" in the teaching and preaching of a bis
hop. Again, it seems like being for the flag. But
35 were against it.
Were that many like the Council Father last fall
whose vote always came out null because he re
fused to use a magnetic pencil? He voted a straight
ticket—none of his ballots counted. But perhaps
the 23 and the 35 just could not read Latin, or
had bad eyesight.
Collegiality is a two-edged sword. Only in the
recent news-stories is this being spelled out. By
sharing the right of the pope to govern the Church
(without reducing his supreme authority), the bis
hops share his responsibility for the universal
Church. This concept, the Missionary Bishop, can
revolutionize the Church—if it enkindles enough
missionary pastors and missionary laymen.
The Council experience of each bishop has nec
essarily broadened his view. He has had three uni
que opportunities since October, 1962, when the
council began:
(a) He has sat with more than 2,000
fellow bishops in a General Coun
cil,-listening, thinking, praying,
speaking up, debating, voting, and
in fact, legislating for the whole
Church;
(b) In one country (and in most oth
ers), he has met with all the
American bishops to legislate for
the entire Catholic population,
not just his own diocese. At the
April episcopal conference, the
U. S, bishops, in the liturgical
changes, legislated for the first
time since 18841
(c) He has spoken freely with dozens
of scholars, the periti or specia
lists, the best in the Catholic
world. To update his own know
ledge, these contacts (with lec
tures and books) have been in
dispensable;
(d) He has become more familiar
with the finest in Protestant and
Orthodox thought by meeting the
observers at the Council.
In addition, the Motu Propris (direct act) of the
pope stopped the practice of applying to the Holy
See for many minor (and a few major) permis
sions. As of January, 1964, bishops may grant
these faculties themselves.
NOT FUNCTIONARIES
These experiences increase a bishop’s respon
sibilities as well as his rights. After papal prim
acy was defined in 1870, the German bishops
warned against an over-centralization: * the
bishops are not merely instruments of the pope,
they are not pontifical functionaries without per
sonal responsibility." Popes Pius IX and Leo XIII
gave full approval to their statement.
Yet there has been a serious curtailment of the
bishops’ role over the past century. Decisions af
fecting Catholicism in a particular nation have
been handed down without reference to the na
tion’s bishops. The hierarchy has sometimes
learned of significant changes through the daily
papers. These instances of neglect are rooted in
the failure to grasp the full Pope-Bishop bond of
collegiality. It is partly to change this that Paul VI
called for "a more effective and responsible
collaboration with our beloved brothers in the
episcopate."
It is a delicate problem, shaded by history and
sometimes charged with deep feeling. It is there
fore all the more surprising when a midwestem
COUNCIL PREDICTION
pastor last February missed the whole point in a
lecture he gave on the Council. Holding that col
legiality would not be decided for many years, he
said "What the bishops want amounts to an in
fallible definition of doctrine, needing extensive
research....They want to move in on the Pope,
and with him tell the Curia what they are to do.”
This Matt Dillon approach may work in Dodge
City, but theological development is of sterner
soil.
Bishops have issued no ultimatum; rather they
have gathered with the Holy Father (as the other
apostles gathered with Peter) in the earnest search
for the full meaning of Christ’s teaching. Secular
observers saw the overwhelming votes, and called
it a victory for the liberals." More mature and
religious Christians read the results, not only in
the computer-ballots, but in the mysterious pas
sage of the Holy Spirit in the Church.
SOME VISIBLE EFFECTS
Episcopal conferences, and probably plenary
(nationwide) councils will be more frequent. The
bishops will use this new tool to share their ideas,
needs, crises, problems and resources. Insuring
the unity of the Church by their communion with
the See of Peter, these conferences and councils
will act within a properly centralized framework.
But more attention will be paid to local trends,
difficulties and potentialities.
At Rome, it appears that an * Apostolic Senate"
will be established to help the Pope in his world
wide tasks. Cardinal Lercaro has called such a
senate, composed of pastoral and missionary bis
hops from all over the world, "a practical un
dertaking." The Jesuit writer, Father Grasso,
has called it, "a pastoral necessity of our times."
But every fresh right conveys a comparable
new duty. Our Lord taught a "ministry of ser
vice." The hierarchy’s authority is not based on
law, or power, or money, or titles, t is blue-print
ed in Christ's words after he had washed the
Apostles’ feet:
"I have set you an example that you
may do what I have done." (John
13, 15)
He firmly rebuked them when they sought
"greatness" and "higher places in His King
dom. They learned the lesson. For Peter, Paul,
James, Jude and John, in their writings, the Key to
their ordination was the pair of Greek words,
"doulos," or slave, and "diakonos' or servant.
OTHER SIGNIFICANT RESULTS
We will undoubtedly see, in the years to come,
smaller dioceses; the delegation of proper roles
to priests and laymen; the elimination of titles
and gestures that were once linked to a royal court,
and have little meaning today. These changes will
bring about smaller parishes, an increase in lay
responsibility, and more real Christian fraternity
among priests and people. Respect for authority,
and those who exercise it, are as essential in the
Church as in the home or nation. But true respect
is not nurtured by pomp. Pomp is not a property
of Christ’s Church; it is a prop for the devil.
Bishops, priests, and laymen earn an authentic
respect by the. usual formula: love, hard work,
prayer and service.
All of this should lead to widened horizons. The
parishioner in Atlanta must share the missionary
instinct that formed a parish in Rome, Georgia.
And the parishioner in Rome, Georgia, shares the
apostolic duties of the head of the Church in Rome,
Italy.
Collegiality, like a fresh spring, bursts through
the hard earth of legal barriers, seeks its level
of love, overflows its banks in dynamic zeal. A
new flood of charity pours from the Apostolic
College. Priests and laity, already at work in their
own field of mercy, will intensify this "fraternal
community of service," as the French theologian,
Father Congar, put it.
As the new changes in the Liturgy broaden man's
way to God in worship, so does the newly-dis
covered concept of collegiality smooth God's path
to each of us, and to all baptized in Christ.
Third Down, 4th To Go: Majority
BY PLACID JORDAN, O. S. B.
(N, C. W. C. News Service)
VATICAN CITY—The closing
date of the ecumenical coun
cil’s third session is now being
considered certain for Nov.
20 and arrangements are being
made by the council office of the
■atiphal Catholifc Welfare Con-^
nes to accomodate the American
council Fathers for their trip
home on Nov. 21. One of these
planes will fly non-stop to New
York, the other to Chicago.
Not all the American bishops
will be able to avail themselv
es of this opportunity because
some have commitments in
europe immediately after the
session closing. Some expect to
participate in the 38th Inter
national Echuaristic Congress
to be held in Bombay, India,
from Nov. 28 to Dec. 6.
THIS also means that there is
no longer any doubt about the
necessity of holding a fourth
session, which will be the last
of this ecumenical council,
probably after Easter of next
year. There were those who
jwped a fourth session would not i
be required, but it is now ob
vious that the council’s agenda
cannot possibly be exhausted
within the remaining seven
weeks.
While discussion on the lay
apostolate schema will being
next week and the one on the
SPECULATION
Church’s presence in the mod
ern world is to follow in the
latter part of October, the nu
merous amendments to be pro
posed for these as well as for
other schemata already ex
amined— notably the ones on
the Church, divine revelation
and ecumenism— must first be
gone over by competent com
mittees and referred back to
the floor for final votes.
THE SIX "propositions” and
the "resolution” remain also
to be debated, although not a
great length. However the com
mittees will have time during
the recess to examine all the
amendments proposed so that
Open Question -
Pope To Bombay?
Ed Curtin
Presents
©A^tCJLAItH*
ScmrSouce
Mlf-iTMl
VATICAN CITY (NC>-
Speculations were reopened on
a possible visit of Pope Paul
VI to Bombay to attend the
38th International Eucharistic
Congress to be held there from
Nov. 28 to Dec. 6.
Although unofficially the
Vatican press offices have con
sistently denied knowledge of
any such plans, a statement by
Valerian Cardinal Gracias
of Bombay in an interview
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granted (Oct. 2) to the Vat
ican City daily, L’Osservatore
Romano, aroused new interest.
L’Osservatore’s interview
reported Cardinal Gracias as
saying that Pope Paul had re
ceived a formal invitation from
the Indian government and "if
the Pope should decide on
the eight-hour journey he would
announce it at least few weeks
beforehand.”
THE Vatican City daily said
that Cardinal Gracias "did not
dwell on the possibility of the
journey.”
Cardinal Gracias spoke on
the Pope’s interest and pray
ers for the congress.The news
paper said that "not only does
Pope Paul VI live’ the great
vigil of Bombay. . . but alrea
dy he plans to be symbolically
present, not only through the
appointment of a legate but also
through generous presents and
his instructions that a large
sum of money be used for the
purchase of food and clothing to
be distributed in his name to
the poor at Bombay."
THE Roman daily, U Gior-
nale d’ltalia, gave more than
passing attention to the inter
view of Cardinal Gracias.
It said (Oct. 2) that the
Cardinal's declarations show
“first, that they are evident
ly the result of a conversa
tion between Pope Paul and the
cardinal on this subject and,
second, that Pope Paul himself
probahly wanted the question
of his journey to India to-be
brought up again and proposed
to public attention.
the fourth session will probably
be short.
Already the council has ac
complished a great deal more
than expected during the sec
ond session, in contrast to the
previous one. The atmosphere
continues peaceable now that all
doubts have jjeen removed about
the sentiment of an overwhelm
ing majority. The uncertain
ties being eliminated, the
council has now proceeded with
remarkable speed, confident
that its major objectives will
be achieved.
THE council Fathers can
point to the adoption of the col
legial principle which might
find its tangible expression in a
supreme council of the world’s
hierarchy that might supersede
the Roman Curia in the govern
ment of the Church. The Fath
ers, in their discussions, —
have also manifested truly ec
umenical sentiments and af
firmed tolerance and freedom
in relation to other faiths and
governments.
The restoration of the sacra
mental diaconate, even for ol
der married men, confirms the
trend toward the "openness”
which will make the Church
more conversational than ever
before toward all the children of
God in a spirit of true charity
and good will.
D’Youville’s
New Building
Is Dedicated
BUFFALO, N.Y. (NC) — A
new, 10-story, $1,750,000 resi
dence hall was dedicated at
D’Youville College here (Oct.
3) and five other new buildings
are planned to be completed
by 1973.
Sister Francis Xavier, presi
dent of the 57-year-old college,
said a seven-story science
building is next on the pro
gram, with the groundbreaking
scheduled in February. This
will be followed by a student
center an athletic building; a
chapel; a fine arts center, and
a faculty residence for the
Grey Nuns of the Sacred Heart
who conduct the college for
women.
Sister Francis Xavier said
the building program shows that
the college will remain in
Buffalo, although a number of
"experts" had advised a move
outside the city to expand. The
college now has more than 900
students and expects an enroll
ment of 1,500 in 1973, target
date for the building program.
GROUP picture shows boys from St. Joseph's Homl^-Washing
ton, during their Atlanta weekend, which was sponsored by the
Knights of Council #660.
BISHOP WRIGHT:
‘Council Decision
On Laity Vital’
VATICAN erTY (NC)—For
Bishop John J. Wright of Pitts
burgh, all the trouble and tra
vail of the Second Vatican Coun
cil will have been justified by the
council’s teaching on the laity
in the Church.
’The doctrine already noted
by the council on the laity opens
up thrilling possibilities,”
Bishop Wright told other bish
ops and journalists at the Pan-
African secretariat.
"ONE wishes that Europe,
when its nations were aborning,
had the same guidance for the
laity that the laity of Africa’s
insurgent young nations will
have from the council,” he
said.
To the remark common in
Rome that the council’s work
on collegiality alone would have
justified all the trouble of the
council, Bishop Wright added
Italians Honor
Saint Francis
ASSISI, Italy (NC>i-The 25th
anniversary of the proclama
tion of St, Francis of Assisi as
patron of Italy was commemo
rated here with solemn reli
gious and civil ceremonies.
The highlight was theconcel-*
ebration (Oct. 4) on the saint’s
feast by the Franciscan Arch
bishop Rodriguez Ballon of Are-
quipa, Peru, and 20 Franciscan
priests, in the basilica contain
ing the saint’s tomb.
Not For Selfish
ST. PAUL, Minn. (NC)—De
mocracy is "unfit for selfish
men,” Msgr. Richard T. Do
herty, theology professor at the
St. Paul Seminary here, told a
Red Mass congregation of
judges and lawyers.
/ NOV 814,1964
xtOMM. CATHOCtC WILTMt CO**Wf*«*C* } OW»AWT*«HT O* aOUCftHO* i U/A*Ht*aTO* D. C
POSTER for Catholic Education Week, Nov. 8 to 14, when
many schools will hold open house to acquaint the public
with the schools. Over 12',/ of all elementary, secondary and
higher education institutions in the United States are under
Catholic auspices.
ABSOLUTION FROM POPE
Jesuit Head Dies
In Rome Hospital
a rider of his own: "I think
that is true also of the coun
cil’s teaching on the laity in
the schema De Ecclesia (on
the Church) and in the schema
on the laity itself."
WHAT most pleases him
about the teaching on the laity
contained in the draft consti
tution on the Church, he said,
is its emphasis on the laity’s
role in the Church’s prophetic
or witness-giving office, "with
its constant emphasis on the
laity’s intellectual life.”
"It was a great thrill for
me to use Maritain’s name and
teaching during the debate on
religious liberty," he said.
(Jacques Maritain is a French
is a French Catholic lay phi-
lospher.)
BISHOP Wright denied the
common assertion that the
Church’s attitude toward the
laity is negative. To the argu
ment that canon law mentions
the laity only once and in ne
gative terms, the American
bishop declared that canon law
contained at least 38 clear and
specific references to the
laity.
However, he did agree that
the Church, when its hier
archical structure was under
assault during the Reformation,
had set about buttressing the
hierarchy while paying less at
tention to the laity. He said
the Church in acting that way
was like a town that devoted
most of its energies to streng
thening its dike threatened by
an encroaching sea, while pay
ing less attention to the life
of the town itself,
'THE votes on collegiality
and the laity are evidence that
the dike has held, and we now
can go ahead with the life be
hind the dikes.” he said.
VATICAN CTY (NC)—Fath
er Jean Baptiste Janssens, S.J.,
27th. General of the Society
of Jesus, died here (Oct. 5)
minutes after receiving a final
absolution at the hands of Pope
Paul VI. He was 71.
Father Janssens had been
general of the Church’s largest
religious community since
1946. Until a new general is
elected, the society has been en
trusted to its vicar general,
Father John L. Swain, S.J., of
Port Townsend, Wash., a mem
ber of the Seattle province of the
Jesuits,
FATHER Janssens has been
in ill health for several years.
He died of heart failure and lung
edema less than a week after
being stricken with a severe
cerebral thrombosis (Sept. 30).
The funeral service was
scheduled in the Jesuits’ Church
of Gesu in Rome.
Pope Paul arrived 20 minutes
before Father Janssens died and
imparted final absolution.
FATHER Janssens was born
Dec. 22, 1889, in Malines, Bel
gium. He entered the Society of
Jesus Sept. 23, 1907, and took
his first vows in Tronchiennes,
Belgium, on Sept. 24, 1909. He
spent two years at the Institute
of Philosophy at Louvain and
four years in theological studies
at Brussels and Louvain. He
was ordained a priest on Sept.
7. 1919.
Father Janssens studied both
civil law and canon law. He ser
ved for a time as a Jesuit
novice master, and from 1929
until 1935 was rector of the
University of Louvain. In 1938
he was appointed provincial of
the North Belgium Province of
the Jesuits and served there un
til elected general of the order
in 1946, succeeding Father
Vlodimir Ledochowski, S.J., of
Poland.
THERE are more than 35,000
members of the society through
out the world. In the United
States there are 5.365 Jesuit
■priests, 2,740 seminarians,
and 680 Brothers.
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