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PAGE 2 GEORGIA BULLETIN THURSDAY, JANUARY 27, 1966
DEFENDS HER TRADITIONS
BY FATHER EDWARD DUFF, S.J.
(Religious News Service Correspondent)
VATICAN CfTY — Alfredo
Cardinal Ottaviani is, as every
one knows, a conservative. He
is also, it should be added, con-.
Sistent and candid. He is today
precisely what he was before
the Cpuncil and as he revealed
himself at every session: a
dedicated servant of the Roman
Catholic Church and a staunch
defender of her traditions and
institutions as he learned them
in the seminary and served them
for nearly four decades in the
Roman Curia.
If the trend of recent develop
ments in the life and posture of
the Church have surprised him,
they have not a whit disconcert
ed him. In a most relaxed cau-
serie with this correspondent
Cardinal Ottaviani was neither
nostalgic nor defensive nor un
duly apprehensive. He is clear
ly a^man with a job to do and
he proposes to continue doing it
under conditions which doubt
less have changed somewhat.
Indeed the first institutional
change in the Roman Curia
came with the publication on De
cember 5 of the papal motupro-
prio i “integrae Servandae”
which gave a new title and new
methods of procedure to the
Supreme and Sacred Congrega-
. tion of the Holy Office, the scene
of Alfredo Ottaviani*s labors
since 1935. Frequently accus
ed of out-of-hand condemnation
of Catholic authors and of abus
ing its secret procedures, not
ably by Cardinal Frings of Co
logne in a dramatic Council
speech on November 8, 1963,
the Holy Office had and its suc
cessor the Congregation for the
Doctrine of the Faith will al
ways have, in Cardinal Otta-
viani’s view, an essential func
tion to perform — to protect
the purity of Catholic teaching.
His Eminence obviously does
got consider the recent changes
as reflecting public criticism
from many quarters but as* im
provements calculated to in
crease the efficiency of its ope
ration. But the principal of
safeguarding the faith is un
changed.
THE CARDINAL recently ex-
plained his attitude with typical
jauntiness. He likened himself
to an Old policeman, assigned
to defend certain truths and
laws. If you tell him that the
laws have changed, with God’s
help he will dutifully defend the
new arrangement. One thing,
however, is unchangeable: Car
dinal Ottaviani’s devotion to the
Church as represented in the
person of the Pope.
Nor is he embarrassed that
the function of his organization
is deemed a negative one. Cor
rection is part of the teaching
process, the cardinal points out.
What would society be without
laws? And what would laws be
without proper sanctions? Just
free advice. Of course, the In
dex has to be rethought, the car
dinal volunteered. Yet it had
its uses. Had he been concern
ed with his public “image,’’
Cardinal Ottaviani might have
recalled that the Holy Office
condemned the Nazi racist doc
trine by putting Alfred Rosen
berg’s ‘The Myth of the Twen
tieth Century’’ on the Index
When it was compulsory reading
in all the Schools of the Third
Reich.
But the Council did bring
Changes, I suggested to his
Eminence. He had no doubt as
to its historic importance. The
Council was not merely an ag-
giomamento, it was “a bound,
a leap’’ ~ toward what con
crete future forms he was con
tent to leave to prophets and
historians.
CERTAINLY, he agreed, there
is a recognition that the Church
influences society today through
its adult laity rather than in its
direct dealing with govern
ments. The total thrust of the
Pastoral Constitution of the
Church in the Modem World
makes that clear, he Observed.
Such, too, was the theme of the
Pope’s New Year’s address to
the diplomatic corps accredited
to the Holy See.
‘Then the Age of Concordate
is over?’’ I asked. The author
of the standard textbook on
canon law and the legal tech
nician for several concordats
was not to be identified as es
pousing that Church-state ar
rangement as the ideal. Did I
never hear, the cardinal inquir
ed, of the Latin tag indicating
that the beginning of concor
dats is the beginning of troub
les? Concordats, he reminded
me, are efforts to assure the
freedom of the Church, to set
down clearly her legal rights.
There may well be situations
again where a concordat would
be useful to protect the free
dom of religion.
Mention of freedom of relig
ion recalled the Conciliar Dec
laration. Was this, too, an ex
pression of the Church’s pres
ent posture of influencing socie
ty through die laity? The cardi
nal immediately and instinc
tively asserted the principle of
BY RELIGIOUS GROUPS
Humphrey Lauds
\ .nonsisxgsi xiow
WASHINGTON (.NC) — Vice
President Hubert H. Humphrey
cited the formation of the Inter-
Religious Committee Against
Poverty as'proof that “faith
is not a lifeless thing, but a
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force which can be vitally im
portant in m aking every Ameri
can a full participant in our
national prosperity.”
The Vice President spoke to
the founders of the 45-member
Committee, which was esta
blished by the Synagogue Coun
cil of America, in cooperation
with other Jewish bodies, the
National Council of Churches,
and the National Catholic We-
fare Conferencfe.
“On behalf of the President
of the United States, it is a
privilege for me to welcome
the Inter-Religious Committee
Against Poverty and to learn
of your impressive plan of ac
tion for mobilizing the Jewish,
Catholic and Protestant com
munities in our national war on
poverty,” Mr. Humphrey said.
VICE PRESIDENT Humphrey
said the committee would be an
extension of the inter-faith co
operation that helped bring
about the Civil Rights Act of
1964 and the Voting Rights Act
of 1965.
“There wouldn’t be any ci
vil rights legislation without the
margin of difference contri
buted by the clergy bringing
their moral persuasion to
bear,” the Vice President said.
"And every member Of Con
gress knows that fact.”
"From the very beginning
of the war on poverty, Presi
dent Johnson has realized that
this could not be a war fought
only with weapons supplied by
the federal government,” Mr.
Humphre^ said. The Vice Pre
sident added that it was hear
tening to see that the war on
poverty has received “impres
sive support from the reli
gious and lay leaders of our
three faiths.”
MR. HUMPHREY told the
committee that President John
son was in agreement with its
recommendation for increased
poverty funds and for maximum
participation of the poor in po
verty programs. He assured
committee members that Pre
sident Johnson will seek more
funds to fight poverty.
New Hospital
'""ELK GROVE VILLAGE, ILL.
(NC)— Brother Flavian Renaud,
C.F.A., president oftheAlexian
Brothers of Chicago, Inc., said
the new hospital being com
pleted here will be known as
St, Alexius Hospital.
the primacy of truth and the
claims of God. Since God had
designed to reveal Himself to
man, and Christ had establish
ed the Church, man has no mor
al option in the matter. Of
course, no one can be compell
ed to believe. The Church, the
cardinal repeated, has always
taught that. But that religion
should be something each per
son makes up for himself clear
ly struck him as intellectually
absurd, worse, aS intellectual
anarchy.
THERE IS no mistaking Car
dinal Ottaviani’s cast of mind.
It is resolutely absolutist and
was honed on scholastic cate
gories. It seeks always to dis
cover and to declare the proper
principle before proceeding to
an analysis of a case. Though
of a genuinely jovial disposition,,
Cardinal Ottaviani would find
doubtfully amusing a parody
going the rounds in British
circles in Rome these days:
"Should old Aquinas be forgot
. . ,?*’ Nearly blind, the cardi
nal is dependent on his formid
able memory, his systematic
preparation in canon law and
the aid of his very loyal ad
visors to enable him to in
terpret the current scene.
A century ago it was re
marked that every English baby
was bom a little Whig or a
little Tory. By temperament
and training Cardinal Ottaviani
is an unabashed Tory. He is
against novelty in intellectual
matters and disorder in poli
tics. His unfeigned admira
tion for General Franco and the
present Spanish regime is well-
known. His opposition to com
munism is unabated: the diffi
culties of the Church in East
Europe he does not forget. One
surmises that the status of the
institutional Church is his test
of all political systems, their
approximation to what he terms
a Christian civilization.
Of the sturdiness and gene
rosity of American Catholic- '
ism, of its fidelity to the Holy
See and its impressive school
system, Cardinal Ottaviani has
spoken publicly with admira
tion.
In thelastfew years, however,
he fears that a spiritual rest
lessness has overtaken us, a
disposition to challenge au
thority.
IS CARDINAL Ottaviani one
of the ‘prophets of doom”
Pope John mentioned in his
opening address to the Council?
One would never believe it on
encountering the short, gentle,
out-going old man, known in
Rome for his charity to the poor,
his recreations with the child
ren at the orphanage he sup
ports, his fatherly concern for
all priests in trouble. But the
cardinal is, in his own words, ^
"an old policeman” and this
by official assignment. There
are certain occupational haz
ards that go with such a func
tion. To his desk come the
details of moral desertion, df
doctrinal treason, of chilling
blasphemies, even of profana
tions of the Holy Eucharist. It
is a grim picture of the Catho
lic world, infiltrated by evil,
attacked by enemies. Similar
ly, J. Edgar Hoover seems
more conscious of juvenile de
linquency imperiling America
than of the generosity of Peace
Corps volunteers serving the
world.
A fellow countryman of Car
dinal Ottaviani, Alberto Caval-
lari, writing in the Milan daily,
Corriere della Sera, concluded
after a long conversation with
His Eminence: “He is the
Church of yesterday, its philo
sophical principles, its law
codes, its historic institu
tions,” Some saw a hint of
needed adaptation in the pre
amble of Pope Paul'smotupro-
prio changing the name and
procedures of the Holy Office:
"The progress of civilization
cannot be neglected in matters
of religion. As a result of
such progress, the faithful fol
low the direction of the Church
more fully and with greater
charity if they have a deep
knowledge of its definitions and
laws in questions of faith and
morals.”
But the cardinal who for years
has symbolized constancy and
has never courted popularity in
his difficult post is answerable
only to God and, under Him, to
the Pope as His Vicar.
Cardinal Ottaviani Shown
As Dedicated Church Servant
PRIZE WINNING ARTIST, Sister Mary Eugenius of the
Sisters of Providence, Anchorage, Alaska, shows some of her
recent works in three mediums: a block print in front, silk
screen work in the center trio and a colored lithograph at
top.
BERRIGAN CASE
KINGSTON, ONT. (RNS)— In
sending Father Daniel Berri-
gan S.J., on temporary duty
outside the country, allegedly
because he opposed American
policy in Vietnam, his Jesuit
superiors “did a great disser
vice to the U.S. and the Catho
lic Church,” Father Gregory
Baum, O.S.A., charged here.
Writing in the Canadian Re
gister, official publication of
several dioceses, Father Baum
said that the Jesuit authorities
by their action "misguided the
conscience ,,,9C JQffflv People.”
"They were blind guides,”
he wrote, "not because they dis
agreed with Father Berriganon
the issue of Vietnam; there are
excellent men who disagree with
him.
“BUT THEY were blind
guides because by their action
they steered the Catholic people
and the clergy from wrestling
with this gravest of moral
issues, from making up their
mind and giving resonsible
testimony to this.”
Father Baum, a Jewish-bom
Augustinian priest and a peri-
tus (expert) at the Vatican Coun
cil, said that Father Berrigan
“wrestled" with the Vietnam
issue and “came to the con
viction that his country was in
volved In grave injustice.”
Silver Jubilee
NEWARK (NC)~ Archbishop
Thomas A. Boland of Newark
was honored here (Jan. 15) on
the occasion of his 25th anni
versary of consecration to the
episcopacy.
AMERICANS WARNED
Justice Stressed
By NCCJ Head
Jesuit Superiors
Receive Criticism
Consequently, his article
continued, the Jesuit — a co-
chairman of the New York ad
hoc committee of Clergy Con
cerned About Vietnam -- used
whatever means were available
to him to give witness to his
convictions.
FATHER BAUM said the Je
suit superiors’ action was con
trary to the Vatican Council’s
exhortation that “it is in the di
rection of growing responsibi
lity that holiness in the modern
world is to be found.”
“Using religious obedience
as a tool to steer a man away
from his moral conviction on
the crucial issues of the cen
tury and thus to lull many Ca
tholic Christians into moral in-
differentism is an awful thing,”
Father Baum wrote. “It recalls
some dreadful spectres of the
past. Today, however, many Je
suit priests make up for the
irresponsibilityof their super
iors by leading the people to take
the moral issues of the day
more seriously and to be faith
ful before God.”
Father Berrigan, associate
editor of Jesuit Missions maga
zine in New York, was given
an editorial assignment to Latin
America for a period of three
months. It also was reported
that he was ordered to with
draw as a co-chairman of the
interreligious committee on
Vietnam. The Jesuit has been
a leader in the Catholic Peace
Fellowship, a pacifist group in
New York.
NEW YORK (RNS) — The
president of the National Con
ference of Christians and Jews
warned Americans in a message
for Brotherhopd Week (Ffeb.
20-27) that they would be better
able to live in harmony with
other countries when "we learn
to live in peace within our
boundaries and dispel the dark
ness of bigotry.”
Dr. Sterling W.Brown, con
centrating his message on the
domestic scene, said Ameri
cans can believe in their "own
worth,” when they have “re
spect for the human dignity of
all men.”
“We must achieve,” he said,
"harmonious and creative
working relationships among
people of all religious, racial
and cultural backgrounds. We
must extend real equal oppor
tunity and justice for all. Let
us uphold our American herit
age, the foundation on which we
can achieve a good society need
ed by all mankind.”
BROTHERHOOD Week has
been sponsored annually by the
NCCJ since 1934. President
Johnson -- as have all Presi
dents since Franklin D. Roose
velt -- is honorary chairman
of the Week. V.J. Skutt, board
chairman and chief executive
officer of Mutual of Omaha In
surance Co., is national chair
man. Theme this year is "Bro
therhood Democrary at
Work."
Dr. Brown said that during
the annual observance the NCCJ
“calls upon all Americans to
renew their religious commit
ments and rededicate them
selves to our heritage of de
mocratic^ freedom and equal
rights for all.”
He stressed that the practice
of brotherhood "must not be
limited to a week but. must
be carried out every day
throughout the year.”
POINTING TO the “revolu-
• tfon ■ 'of' human associations
which we are experiencing,”
Dr. Brown said the work of
the NCC “must be extended. We
must all, working together,
stirve to ameliorate man’s in
humanity to man.”
The NCCJ announced appoint
ment of national chairmen for
the Week’s press, television
and radio committees, which
will bring the message of bro
therhood to the country through
the mass media.
Chairmen are Mark Collins,
publisher of The Baltimore
News American, press; John
Schneider, president of CBS
Television, for TV; Robert F.
■Hurleigh, president of Mutual
Broadcasting System, radio.
MR. COLLINS said that mem
bers of the press have a special
obligation because "more ef
fectively than any other cate
gory of Americans, we can
speak to this minds of people.
We can help people to under
stand other people.”
During the Week and through
out the year, said Mr. Schnei
der, televisionmusthelp “focus
attention on those American
ideals and values that contri
bute to our democratic herit
age of freedom and equality
for all.”
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