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PAGE 2 GEORGIA BULLETIN THURSDAY, JANUARY 13, 1966
TWO PERCENT INCREAM
Church, Synagogue Count
123 Million U.S. Members
NEW YORK (RNS)—Church
and synagogue membership in
the U.S. totaled 123,307,449 in
1964, and increase of “slight
ly less than 2 per cent" in a
year when the population rose by
less than 1.5 per cent.
The growth rate, which has
perceptibly slowed down, mar
ked the second consecutive year
that religious affiliation grew
faster than the population.
In 1963 the percentage gains
were 2.6 for church member
ship and 1.5 for population,
which was about the same as
in 1964. In 1962 both gained
1.6 per cent, and in 1961 mem
bership lagged a little behind
the population growth.
IN ACTUAL figures, the 1964
total of 123,307,449 represents
a gain of about 2.3 million over
1963 membership and a record
64.4 per cent of the total popu
lation. This compares with 64
per cent in 1963, 63.4 per cent
in 1961 and 1962, and 63.6 per
cent in 1960.
The statistics, released by
the National Council of Chur
ches, are based on its 1966
Yearbook of American Chur-
' ches published J an. 7. They were
compiled by the NCC’s research
department and are mainly for
the 1964 calendar year or fis
cal year ending in 1964.
Compilers pointed out that
membership statistics “are
merely quantative and cannot
possibly measure either the
quality or the depth of the na
tion’s religious life.” Explain
ing that not all Churches use
the same recording system or
report each year, the editors
warned that “numerical com
parisons across institutional li
nes are not always meaning
ful.”
Also contained in the year
book are directories of inter
denominational and denomina-
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tional agencies, theological se
minaries, religious periodi
cals, councils of churches and
other data.
The 1964 statistics are bas
ed on reports from 250 reli
gious bodies in the 50 states
and the District of Columbia.
Of these 221 groups were Pro
testant, three fewer than re
ported the previous year.
A breakdown of the total
membership shows that Pro
testants number 68,229,478 —
a gain of 2 per cent over 1963
and Roman Catholics, 45,-
640,619 — up 1.7 per cent over
the previous year.
(THE CATHOLIC Church
counts as members all baptized
persons, including infants,
while most Protestant denomi
nations count only those who
have attained full membership,
usually persons over 13.)
Statistics for other major
bodies in 1964 were Eastern
Orthodox, 3,166,715; and Jews,
5,600,000. The number of Old
Catholics, Polish National Ca
tholics and Armenian Orthodox
was given as 490,672. Budd
hists — the count included those
in Hawaii for the first time —
totaled 109,965 as compared
with 60,000 in 1963.
Membership in the NCC’s
30 Protestant and Orthodox con
stituents was reported at 41,
481,790, a gain of 140,342.
A YEARBOOK table shows
that Protestants made up 35.9
per cent of the U.S. population
in 1964, 35.4 per cent in 1960,
33.8 per cent in 1950, and 27
per cent in 1926. Meanwhile,
Catholics increased from 16
per cent in 1926 to 23.3 per
cent in 1960 and to 23.9 per
cent in 1964.
Protestants, who traditio
nally have emphasized Sunday
schools, continued to account
for. 90 gep^cent of„total en
rollment as they did in 1963
and 1962. Enrollment in Pro
testant schools was 41,653.130
up about one million. Theyear-
INCREASED ROLE
book reported that 4,590,227
Catholic children attending pu
blic schools were receiving
religious instructions on a re
leased time basis, compared
with 4,316,921 in 1963.
A separate table prepared by
the American Institute of Pub
lic Opinion, included in the
yearbook, indicates that church
attendance has been slowly, but
steadily, declining since 1958.
These annual figures, based on
a national sample of adults for
one Sunday, remained at 47 per
cent from 1959 to 1961, drop
ped to 46 per cent in 1962
and 1963, and went to 45 per
cent in 1964. The all-time at
tendance high was 49 per cent
in 1958.
ANOTHER TABLE traces
church membership as a per
centage of population since
1850, when it was 16 per cent.
This percentage rose to 23 in
1960, declined to 18 in 1870,
gained to 22 in 1890 and to 36
in 1900.
Largest increase in any de
cade of the 20th Century was
registered during the war-do
minated years of the 1940’s,
when church membership grew
from 49 per cent in 1940 to 57
per cent in 1950. By contrast,
there was no increase in the de
cade of World War I, when mem
bership remained fixed at 43
per cent from 1910-20.
A U.S. Department of Com
merce table shows a $16 mil
lion increase in the value of
new religious building — from
$995,000,000 in 1963 to
$1,011,000,000 in 1964.
The yearbook listed six de
nominations with membership
exceeding three million in 1964.
These were the Southern Bap
tist Convention, 10,598,429; The
Methodist Church, 10,304,184;
National Baptist Convention,
U.S.A., Inc., (Negro), 5,500,000;
Protestant Episcopal Church,
3,340,75^; United Presbyterian
Church, 3,292,204'; and Luthe
ran Church in America,
3,131,062.
Cardinal Stresses
Deacon Importance
BOSTON (RNS) — Richard
Cardinal Cushing, Archbishop
of Boston, predicted here that
the diaconate would play a role
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of vastly increased importance
within the Roman Catholic
Church in the coming years.
The prelate, addressing a
Women’s Guild organization,
expressed the hope that the or
der of the diaconate "would be
revived as the goal of men who
wish to serve God but who do not
wish to be priests.”
Cardinal Cushing said he be
lieves that ordained deacons,
who can be married or single
would increasingly assume
some of the functions now gen
erally performed by priests,
including preaching, instruc
tion, distribution of Holy Com
munion, attending the dying,
and other works.
THE BOSTON churchman
pointed to the shortage of
priests, especially in Latin
America which he said needs
150,000 priests “to give ade
quate instruction.” He said ap
pointed of deacons will be part
of the answer.
BISHOP HAROLD R. PERRY, S.V.D., was consecrated (Jan.
6) by the Apostolic Delegate, Archbishop Egidio Vagnozzi,
in St. Louis basilica, New Orleans. Bishop Perry will serve
as Auxiliary to Archbishop Philip M. Hannan of New Or
leans, who, together with Archbishop John P. Cody of Chi
cago and formerly of New Orleans, were co-consecrators.
Bishop Perry’s crozier is one that formerly was used by the
late Archbishop Joseph P. Rummel of New Orleans.
ALSO TO STUDY POST
Named Bishop Perry
New Orleans Pastor
NEW ORLEANS (RNS)—Aux
iliary Bishop Harold R. Perry,
first Negro Catholic bishop in
the U.S. since 1875, has been
named pastor of St. Theresa of
the Little Flower parish and
coordinator of higher studies
for the Archdiocese of New Or
leans.
i Archbishopi Philip M,i.Hanhan
announced the appointment at a
luncheon following the conse
cration of Bishop Perry in St.
Louis Basilica.
St. Theresa parish or Little
Flower parish as it is called is
in an integrated residential
neighborhood of the "Mid-city”
section. :
THE: SCHOOL on the parish
grounds is St. John Vianney
Preparatory, archdiocesan day
high school for young men inte
rested in the priesthood.
The consecration procession
was picketed by Mrs. Una Gail-
lot, who has picketed other ma
jor Catholic ceremonies here.
Mrs. Galliot was excommuni
cated in 1962 by the late Arch
bishop Joseph F. Rummel for
openly working against Catholic
school integration here.
It was noted that she was ac
companied by only one co-work
er — she has had four or five
aids in the past.
They carried hand - printed
signs bearing these messages:
“Jesus did not choose non-white
Apostles..,Remember them, O
Lord My God, that defile the
priesthood... I the Lord am holy.
I have separated you from other
people...
“BIBLE does not say any
magi was Negro.”
Apparently anticipating that
Mrs. Gaillot would picket his
consecration, Bishop Perry in
an interview several days earl
ier said that the “small dem
onstration” that has accom
panied previous Church cere-
®mbfufe¥’ here~ “does' In'no way
^indicate the* true feeling^!-the
majority of New'Orleans peo
ple.”
'These good people were em-
barrased by such, and an injus
tice was done to them in pre
senting such an attitude in gen
eral to the world,” he added.
A young lady in front of the
Basilica during the procession
distributed a single sheet pub
lication put out b>§tjhe South
Louisiana Citizens Council, Inc.
It said that Bishop Perry was
linked "with mix groups ad
vocating mongreal marriage,”
Cited by the publication as
“mix groups” were the Na
tional Catholic Conference for
Interracial Justice and the Na
tional Catholic Welfare Confer
ence Family Life Bureau.
On the evening of his conse
cration, Bishop Perry was guest
of honor at a public reception,
More than 1,000 people stood
in line to congratulate the new
bishop and to kiss, his ring.
Abortion Study
NEW DELHI, INDIA (NC)~
A commission of state health
ministers of India has been set
up to consider whether “abor
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addition to contraception, to
curb the birth rate,” it was
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MORE THAN ONE MILLION booklets for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Jan.
18-25) have been printed by the Graymoor Friars, Garrison, N.Y., in collaboration with
the World Council of Churches, New York, for use in joint prayer services. Father Titus
Cranny, S.A. (right), is shown with Brother Alexander, S.al (left), and Brother De
Montfort, S.A.
6 COMMON ASPIRATIONS 9
Vatican Editor Praises
Efforts At Peace
Pope’s
VATICAN CITY (NC)—Pope
Paul Vi's involvement in at
tempts to end the war in Viet
nam is an “expression of the
common aspirations of all
mankind,” according to the Va
tican City weekly, L’Osser-
vatore della Domenica.
With a veiled reference to the
lack of justification for the
wor’s continuation by either
side, the weekly (Jan. 6) clear
ly rapped communist efforts,
particularly in Italy, to inter
pret the Pope’s statements as
an implicit condemnation of U.
S. policy.
Strongly worded but diploma
tic references to the combat
ants’ policies in Vietnam are
contained in an editorial by Fe
derico Alassandrini, associate
editor of the Vatican City dai
ly, L’Osservatore Romano.
THE POPE’S efforts during
the recent past, he said, are
the “response of the common
father to the cary of his sons,
whom he knows and loves even
though they may not know him.
Reduced to the extreme limits
of their physical and moral
strength, they demand peace.
“It is the cry of the human
conscience which implores the
end of the sorrows afflicting so
many people without reason.
Yes it is true; politicians ex
plain reasons and we, if we
look at things from a distance,1
can easily understand them: the
balance of power, spheres of in
fluence, the supreme cause of
liberty for all. But there are
millions of people who are no
longer able to understand the
reason for the slaughter, which
in their eyes can no longer be
explained or even less justi
fied.”
The Pope’s efforts are di
rected toward establishing a li
berty which includes responsi-
bility—and not mere license—
Alessandrini said.
■ “THIS- IS ' what * 1 * * * the Pope re-
1 peats' 11 * in ! iirt plowing! 1 * WOrdS^ It
is in this direction that his ef
forts are oriented, and every
one understands this despite
attempts to persist in consi
dering the activities and ex
pressions of Paul VI within the
context of a ‘dialectic’ such as
is obstinately upheld by the sup
porters of a kind of one-way
‘peace.’ They know, neverthe
less, that when all is said and
done the couse of the Vietnam
tragedy lies precisely in this
antithesis, which continues to
become more and more embit
tered without any apparent con
sideration for the repercuss
ions it might bring, not only
in the faraway country of sou
thern Asia, north and south of
the 17th parallel, but for all
of mankind.”
Faced with the slaughter
which millions consider unjus
tified, the editorial stated, “it
becomes clear that the will of
the peoples who invokes re
spect for thelrmostfundament-
al rights is overlaid by other
wills—the wills of a few lea
ders, ‘cadres’ of men who are
inclined to consider ‘fatal’ a
state of affairs they them selves
have concurred in creating and
which by now they do not want
to check, nor do they seem able
to dominate it.
“Thus once more do we have
a demonstration that the liberty
which is being talked about is
something very different from
liberty which is being talked
about is something very differ
ent from liberty in the proper
meaning of the word.”
ALESSANDRINI referred to
the peace pleas of Pope Pius
XII before the Second World
War, “which came in vain for
his contemporaries but find
greatness in the interpretation
of history.
"In an anguished vigil, Pius
XII cried to the world that
nothing was lost by peace but
everything could be lost by war.
We have not yet reached that
dramatic stage, but the situa
tion is such that we might. Should
that happen, how could we help
remembering the terrible con
firmation given by history—a
history which is still so close
to us—to the words of that
pope.
"Everything could be lost...
Beginning with that liberty for
which it is claimed the fighting
continues, superimposing more
or less wise calculations and
plans on the natural aspirations
of mankind.
"INDEED ATthis moment the
vioce and action of Paul VI—
whether understood or not—is
expressing precisely the com
mon aspirations of all mankind.
Above factions and conflicting
positions his vioce soars out
of each of all dialectics and
renews the commandment of
Christ’s charity, which is the
only bridge between one man
and another, between people and
nations.”
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