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PAGE 2 GEORGIA BULLETIN THURSDAY FEBRUARY 4, 1965 NEW PHASE IN ECUMENISM Historic Contacts Marked By Realistic Approaches BY RELIGIOUS NEWS SERVICE CORRESPONDENT As development follows deve lopment in the ecumenical mo vement, it is difficult at any one moment to define the par ticular “stage" of the effort among religious groups to find new mutual understanding, cooperation and— in some cas es— unity, Still, several re cent events indicate strongly that inter-Protestant relations, relations between Protestants and Roman Catholics and the Christina- Jewish encounter are now at the beginning of a new chapter. The next phase of the ecum enical movement, which ap pears to have gained an irre versible momentum, seems to promise energetic effort to se- arch jointly for understand ing and unity, at the same time approaching those goals out of caution and a realistic aware ness of the very real differen ces that do exist. IMMEDIATE past days have been rich with an ecumen ical atmosphere. tTo an extent probably greater than ever in history, Protestants and Catho lics joined in joint observan ces of the coinciding Week of Christian Unity sponsored by the World Council of Churches and the Catholic-sponsored Chair of Unity Octave. There were signs that the spirit of the special week - would carry over into the future in the form of ever more interrel igious worship events. Sentiments along the line of those expressed in Bombay, In dia, by Valerian Cardinal Gr acias at a "first time" in terdenominational unity meet ing were heard in cities around the globe during the prayer week. "Winds of change" are blowing over the world's reli gious groups, he said, "and gradually we are expected to -get ourselves accustomed to “them. . , Ajlew era.has dawn- *ed for ©tfristianity; but the goal still is far off and can only be reached by much patience and prayer." Perhaps the most outstanding ecumenical development of the new year was the action taken by the policy-making Central Committee of the World Coun cil of Churches in approv ing formation of a “working group" with the Catholic Church to study ecumenical relations and explore possibilities of co operation and collaboration. THOUGH actual establish ment of the group depended on Vatican approval, there apne- ared little doubt that Catho lic agreement was forthcoming. World Council and Vatican Secretariat for Promot ing Christian Unity represent atives jointly planned the group and following the WCC action, Secretariat officials applaud ed. Described as the first such "official" WCC- Catholic unit to be created— and to exist on a continuing basis—- it was expected to take actual shape in the very near future. Initial discussion of the new Protestant-Catholic unit, how ever, was indicative of the cur rent status of the ecumenical movement. While leading churchmen both at the Vatican and in the world organization of Protestant, Orthodox, Anglian and Old Catholic Churches sought not to minimize the im portance of the prospective dis cussion group, its "consul tative" character was emphas ized. The group cannot take final actions or "Negotiate union,” it was stressed; it will serve Charter Flight NEW YORK (NC) — A Catho lic press charter flight to Rome for the opening of the final ses sion of the Second Vatican Coun cil is being organized by the Catholic Press Association here. James A. Doyle, CPA execu- , tive secretary, said prelimi nary plans call for departure from New York by jet on Sept. 8 or 9 and return from Rome Sept. 19 or 20. Details of the flight are being handled for the CPA by Catholic Travel Office, Washington, D. C. mainly as a forum for the in vestigation of problems and programs “which can best be discussed at an international level." Individual contacts bet ween the Catholic Church and other religious groups will continue. PERHAPS the most indicative comment to come from Rome was that of Pope Paul VI. At a midweek general audience the same day the WCC approved formation of the working group, the pontiff warned Catholics ag ainst "the temptation to shel ve controversial points of doc trine" or to "minimize. . . certain truths" in seeking Ch ristian untiy. Still, the Pope was clear in his desire that Catholics take a full part " "sustaining the dialogue of fra ternity" and openly discussing doctrinal difficulties and other problems. Similarly, Dr. Franklin Clark Fry, chairman of both the Cen tral and Executive Committees of the World Council, counsel ed caution in evaluation of Pro- testant-cCatholic relations. The Protestant leader, through joining those who call ed the working group a step forward in the ecumenical mo vement, stopped short of describing its stablishment as "a great milestone." MANY PROTESTANT and Orthodox churchmen, he said, are keeping "hopes in sus pense” and waitng "to see how the course of history flows." Recent decrees approved by the Vatican Council contain "con flicting tendencies" which could lead to either a "backward looking" or ''decidedly for ward-looking” Catholic Church Dr. Fray said. He called at tention to the "uncertain pos ture” of the Council's decla- f ration ‘bri'Fefiglbus liberty,f | which was deferred in die clo s** *ing v n days 'df thexonOlave'rf third session. (Pope Paul, while turning down a move led by American bishops to force a vote on religious liberty at the third session, stated that the issue would be the first order of business at the fourth ses sion next fall.) Considerable disappointment was expressed immediately throughout non-Catholic Chur ches over the postponed Vote on religious liberty. Several comments from Council obser vers, however, have included advice against hasty evalua tions. One of these, Dr. John Newton Thomas, who repres ented the World Presbyterian Alliance, warned against ex treme judgments of the Council and issued a plea to keep open 'lines of communication." "LET US continue with vigor, sincerity and intelligence the conversations, joint study pro jects and other expressions of the ecumenical experience al ready begun,” Dr.-Thomas said at the annual meeting of the North American Area Council of the Alliance. "For meeting of the North American Area Council of the Alliance. "For 44 years Protestants have been asking for these conversa tions." CathOlic-Jewish relations, which were notably improved by Vatican Council passage to be moving quickly into the area the Judeo-Christian tradition, the causes and cures of anti- Semitism and mutual responsi bility in regard to contempor ary issues. Recently in America parti cularly, there have been re-ea- ted scenes of Catholics and Jews sharing the same plat form. Paralleled many plac es have been joint seminars such as one sponsored last weekend at Mercy College, Dobbs Ferry, N, Y„ by the Catholic school and the Anti- Defamation League of B'nai B' rith. Though largely devoted to anti-Semitism, the discussions also covered a wide scope of topics*— legislation on moral ity, parochialism and church- state relations. AT LATROBE, Pa., a collo quy brought together Jewish and Catholic theologians. Spon sored by the American Benedi ctine Academy and the Natio nal -Conference of Chris tians and Jews, the meeting was called an attempt to build understanding that will "dispel stereotypes and lay the ground work for a more rational conf rontation of differences between Jews and Catholics." Rabbi Arthur Gilbert, staff consul tant on the NCCJ, called the colloquy "the first time in his tory that Jewish and Catholic scholars have met each other for the sake of study and dis cussion in an atmosphere of ea- uality and mutual respect with- outh intent to evangelize." Within Protestantism, recent events have included moves to bring conservative denomina- ionS more actively into the ecumenical movement. At the WCC Central Committee meet ing, an energetic effort in this direction was urged. Churches of "conservative evangelical” leaning which now belong to the world body were called on to make more direct contacts with similar denominations who re main outside the WCC. IN ANOTHER significant move, the influential conserva tive Protestant fortnightly, Christianity Today, called for new efforts to achieve break throughs in the search for Ch ristian unity. "Churches whose existence derives only from sociological, racial, or cultural differences ought not t o remain separa ted and divided," the magaz ine said. "They should seek, wherever possible, union with other Churches of like con victions." Also included in the is sue was an article by Dr. Way ne Dehoney, president of the Southern Baptist Convention, who maintained that the ecum enical movement “should aban don its drive for organic union, forsake its policy of erasing denominational differences, and develop more areas of coope ration at the local level." ,• FROM OTHER quarters, there were calls for new ef fort to achieve Church union. Dr. Eugene Carson Blake, chief administrative officer of the United Presbyterian Church in the U. S. A., returned t o the same pulpit where he made his dramatic 1960 plea for a "united Church, tryly catholic, truly reformed, and truly ev angelical" and renewed the call for serious effort to solve theo logical and organizational bar riers in the way of Church un ion. In his sermon, Dr. Blake cit ed “positive, negative and am biguous” developments since his initizl union proposal and cited "pitfalls" that stand in the way of union. AMONG majordevelopments, he said, has been the Vatican Council and the "Reality of Cat holic renewal" and its "beat ing Upon the life and direction of all Christian Churches." In some ways, he continued, the Catholic event has "made more important and urgent the effort to unite major Protestant Chur ches," and in other respects "has forced a reassessment of the kind of union and coopera tion that the new ecumenical climate now demands.” Possibly striking a keynote for the current ecumenical mo ment, Dr. Blake stressed that "the kind of Church union which alone we dare to press for, is one which is recognized clearly as supplementary to all other manifestations of Christian unity, especially those obliga tions laid upon us all by the new ecumenical insights of the 20th Century." PRIESTS FROM Region 1 Of The Archdiocesan Expansion Program Meet To Plan Parish Cam paigns. Seated Left To Right: Very Rev. Harold J. Rainey, Chancellor, (Coordinator); Rev. John D, Stapleton, Pastor St. Jude's; Rev, Noel Burtenshaw, Vice-Chancellor (Assistant Coordinator). Standing Left To Right: Rev. Ellis DePriest, S.N., Pastor St. Joseph’s, Marietta; Rev. John F, Mc Donough, Rector Christ The King Cathedral; Rev. Joseph Ware, Pastor Holy Spirit; Rev. Christian Kochenbrod, C.P., St. Paul OfThe Cross; Rev. Leo TurgeOn, SM, St. Joseph's, Marietta; Rev. Den nis Walsh, CP, Pastor, St. Paul Of The Cross. WORSHIP A DUTY Lay Role In Liturgy Viewed As Forma tive BERLIN (NC) — Vatican II’s Constitution on the Sacred Lit urgy not only makes the laity's active participation in worship a duty, but also gives lay people a formative role in die very structure of church services, a liturgical scholar observed here. In a pricnipal address to the more than 700 participants in the East German liturgical con*- gress, Professor Otfriencf Mueller of Erfurt declared: PONTIFF SAYS 'THIS means that the faithful take part in Christ's and the Church’s priestly office. In a certain way, laymen conductthe worship. This does not in any way mean an erasure of the (separate) duties of prieists and 26) on the second day of this first major Catholic gathering in communist-governed Ger many. West German Bishops came to the Soviet sector of Berlin to join their fellow Cath olics in East Germany. Public Morality Church Interest VATICAN CITY (NC) — ; Through the Church must | remain apart from politics, it cannot be disinterested in "the ideological, moral and spiritual inspiration of public life," Pope Paul VI told an Italian Catho lic Action group. Defining politics as "the management of the temporal or der," the Pope gave guidelines lor lay participation in this field to a n audience composed of members of the civic commit tee of Catholic Action assem bled in Rome for the opening of a three-year-course in civic education. "WE NOTE with satisfaction that there are those who syst ematically and wisely assist our people in their doctrinal maturation as well as their proper behavior in civic acti vities. This is your task, all assistance is greater. They are urged by the customs of mod ern life to know everything to assess everything in the pub lic life. They are besieged and entrapped by a dangerous and stormy pluralism of contrasting opinions, by incessant and over whelming propaganda, often in on way conforming to an up right civil and Christian way of thinking, and they are in the end compelled through their participation in the electoral contests to decide the fate of society, the Pope said. The exercise of the voting right, he said, "must be en lightened, free and orderly. It is a work of no little merit to educate and guide citizens in POPE PAUL such an exercise. In practice it will be your program to carry out informative and educational activity among various social categories regarding the pro blems of civic life." THE POPE noted that schools, press and political parties all aided in this civic education, but that their speci fic instruction was technical, economic, political and juridi cal. "Without neglecting these... you should .take care to stress higher aspects, that is, the moral aspects. You should re gard it as an honor and a duty to link these teachings with the social doctrine of the Church, from which can spring so much light, so much security, so much vigor for those who give it at tention and trust," the Pope ’said. "Do not think that your ac- ai tion will become sterile or ab stract and useless through the prevalent consideration of these ethical and illumines them. It does not enter into the contest of specific political debates, but penetrates into the secrecy of conscienes and guides their judgment, applying to the civic order the same moral norms which are at the base of the private order. It does not pro nounce on technical questions or those concerned with public affairs, but demands that competence, honesty and per sonal conduct correspond t o the gravity, to the rectitude, to the exemplary nature of the func tions of the common good." Charity Mental Retardation Key VATICAN CITY (NC>—Pope Paul VI, addressing specialists in problems of mentally re tarded children, declared that charity plays a key role in their work. "It is this supernatural love that inculcates in us a profound respect for life, for the sacred character of the person and of the absolute and mysterious value of his dignity, even among those poorly favored from a hu man point of view," he said. The specialists had come to Rome from throughout Europe and North America for a con gress on the theme "Social, Professional and Religious In tegration of the Mentally Re tarded." The congress was sponsored by the International Catholic Office of Childhood. "WHAT can we say to you on this theme, which you already know better than we do?" the Pope asked. "We will give you rather a word of encouragement for this highly arduous task which is yours. It is always difficult to be educators. How much the more when it concerns persons whose intelligence, submerged by rebellious nature, must be, as it were, recreated. For that, first and above all, charity is needed.” The meeting both opened and closed with Bible vigil services in St. Hedwig’s cathedral in East Berlin. The first working day (Jan. 26) opened with the con- celebration of the HolyEuchar- , ist in St. Hedwig’s by Archbis hop Alfred Bengsch of Berlin and 12 other priests, including another East German prelate, Auxiliary Bishop Hugo Lufder- beck, of Fulda stationed in Er furt, in the Soviet Zone. ARCHBISHOP Bengsch said in his sermon that the liturgy is not a question of human wisdom, but rather of the mystery of Christ. He continued;. ‘The Church is a pilgrim, and it is part of her nature to penetrate deeper into the truth through the help of the Holy Spirit, or truth is inexhausti ble. "IT WOULD be heresy to be lieve that we have already learned everything and under stood everything. The liturgy is a spiritual action, the work of the Holy Spirit, Only the Spirit of God is capable of making a liturgical action more than just a ceremony. The archbishop voiced regret that for so long a time' the • Church’s public worship and her spiritual life were consid ered at opposite poles. ‘The opposite is the case," he said, "the two belong together.” In his initial homily, at the opening Bible service, Archbi shop Bengsch urged priests to persevere in the liturgical re newal "even if people prefer darkness to light.” Then he said: "We all know the burden that we bear. Our service is in the interest of a harried and dis tracted people and often meets With incomprehension^ But to be a priest means to be suc cessor of Him Who was cruci fied.” ON THE third day of the con- vertion (Jan. 27), Bishop Auf- derbeck noted that of EastGer- manu's 1.7 million Catholics, 250,000 live in about 2,000 iso lated villages which can be vis ited by a priest only every two to four weeks. He said that on Sundays when a priest cannot reach them to celebrate the Holy Eucharist, the faithful should still gather to celebrate a Bible service led by a lay man. The liturgical conference re ceived at least a token show of welcome from communist gov ernment officials. But only a few.days earlier, the secretary general of East Germany's pain ty - line - following Christian Democratic Union attacked the Catholic clergy of East Ger many for not participating in the so-called peace meeting in East Berlin. The East Ger man CDU official, Gerald Goet- tine, said the refusal of the Catholic hierarchy to partici pate could serve to "estrange them from the people and also from the new currents in Cath olicism throughout the world.” CATHOLIC-JEWISH Rabbi Asks New Debate Approach LATROBE, Pa. (NC)—A par ticipant in a Catholic-Jewish colloguy has called for "theo logical examination of the meaning of religious freedom," in order to help develop "cre ative and new approaches to our differences and inspire us to additional coopejative ventures, working in achieving justice among men and peace in the world.” In a statement at the close of the colloquy, Rabbi Arthur Gil bert, a staff consultant to the National Conference of Chris tians and Jews, termed it "a remarkable new developmental ecumenical relations.” He said it "was truly inspired by the new spirit engendered by the ecumenical council." ARCHABBOT Rembert G. Weakland, O.S.B., of St. Vin cent Archabbey, where the col loquy was held (Jan. 25-28), called it 'a total success." "Its purpose," he said, "was to rovide an occasion for sev eral Catholic and Jewish scho lars to become acquainted with one another and for them to pre sent and discuss,..not only com mon points of view, but also dif ferences, that each might gain a deeper insight into and esteem for the other’s position. HE CALLED the confronta tion "forthright, sincere and candid." Rabbi Gilbert said the confer^ ence began with the purpose of discussing "significant issues of religion in a spirit of mutual esteem, with a sincere desire for growth in understanding, and without any polemic intent to demonstrate error in the other's most cheristhed faith commitments." "It was evident as out meet ings transpired," he said, “that we have much to learn about each other, just to know in truth and without distortion who we are. Stereotypic conceptions were tested by the light of ex perience and misinformation gave way to new knowledge." RABBI GILBERT said the conference enabled each par ticipant to be strengthened in his own faith and "enriched by a glimpse of the vision of the Divine as held by the. other.”: He said there is "much merit in such conversation" and ex pressed hope that “similar studies on matters of faith will continue.” The 12 papers delivered at the four-day colloquy, sponsored by the National Conference of Christians and Jews and the American Benedictine Acade my, will be published by Sheed and Ward. IN SAVANNAH Judge Bans Book Under Obscenity Law SAVANNAH, Ga. (NC)—Sa- MEANWHILE in Augusta, Ga„ vannah Superior Court Judge the Miller Theatre canceled Dunbar Harrison has banned a scheduled showing of the film paperback book on the grounds,, . "Kisg ,Mp» Stypicj" nffgr v; stur* of obscenity in the first ac- dents at Aquinas High School tion brought by the state 1^-jAjJ^fe collected more than 1,500 erature Commission under a names on a protest petition. The new anti-obscenity law. Judge Harrison’s order makes it a crime to sell or distri bute the book anywhere in Geor gia. NAMED AS respondents in the civil action that brought about the order were the book's au thor, publisher, an Atlanta dis- bributor and local newsstand operator. Only the newsstand operator appeared in court, and his attorney conceded that the book was obscene. movie has been rated class "C", condemned, by the Na tional Legion of Decency. In canceling the film, the theatre manager asked school officials if students would sup port the movie he had held over instead. In response, teachers agreed not to assign homework on one weekday night, and some 200 of 311 students enrolled at the school showed up at the theatre for a showing of the held-over film. A spokesman for the Litera ture Commission has described the action as a test case for the Literature Commission has de scribed the action as a test case for the new anti-obscenity law. However, lack of opposition in the case prompted Judge Harri son to remark, ,"AU we’ve is remove one book. I don’t know what this means." vs/ ■ •LITHOGRAPHING co/v/PA/rr 550 FORREST ROAD/ N. E„ ATLANTA, GEORGIA • TRinity 5-4727 Serving Atlanta Since 1912 GARDEN HILLS PHARMACY PRESCRIPTIONS PROMPTLY PICKED UP & DELIVERED Your Xmas Sundry Headquarters 2815 Peachtree Road N. E. Atlanta, Ga. CE 3-1146 ONE HOUR "MODERNIZING”CLEANERS 3995PEACHTREEROAD IN BROOKHAVEN MARIST UNIFORMS A SPECIALTY 1 Hour Service Every Doy Til 3:00 P.M. Where insurance is a profession not a sideline !)nduA&Hce in all'iti JjOsuhA! 91 it'd- written, we weite it; . Sutter & McLetlan 1422 RHODES HAVERTY BLDG. 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