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AT ‘FIRST CONGRESS
THURSDAY, MAY 26, 1966 GEORGIA BULLETIN PAGE 3
Archbishop Addresses ‘Fellow Architects’
Fellow architects of the archdiocese of Atlanta:
We are remodelling a house, a residence worthy of God and His
people. And we open this First Lay Congress on a religious note
—not one of good management or the Catholic image, of effi
ciency or sales-promotion. As humbly as we can put it, the theme
of this assembly is: “Unless the Lord build the house, they
labor in vain who build it.'*
Have the hours you spent been in vain? Have the surveys and
meetings and studies been carried out In human futility? You
know better. I know better. In other years, we have worked to
gether on a census, a Week of Worship, steps In ecumenism,
an expansion program, new parishes, churches and schools, ra
cial justice and community service. And in none of them (suc
cessful though they have been) has there been such vital con
cern that we not build in vain as in the preparation for this
Congress. The discussions and the finished drafts show how
good our workmanship can be when the Master-design is that
of God, our chief Architect.
The house Itself Is the Catholic Church of the 20th century.
It will have Pope John’s open doors and open windows allowing
lots of fresh light and Invigorating air. So our proceedings must
be open too. That is why this is a Congress of the Laity. The
Ideas, the agenda, the proposals are yours. Every parish is
represented by delegates and alternates elected by the same
50,000 Catholics of the Archdiocese. Every subject of Catholic
interest was eligible, - In the drafts of the preparatory com-
SECRETARY
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mlttees, the suggestions made through the Georgia Bulletin,
the other matters that arose out of the parish meetings.it Is
an open Church today, and this had to be an open Congress. It
is of God’s people, by God’s people, for God’s people.
Three weeks ago, the Sisters of the Archdiocese held a simi
lar Congress, and produced a remarkable set of recommends- '
tlons. With those you approve tomorrow & Sunday, they become
the living matter for the First Archdiocesan Synod in November.
The Archdiocese needs these two assemblies where like can
speak to like, where common Interests and mutual experience :
lie open to free discussion and free action. Two priests were
assigned, not to manage or direct; they were liaison men to
provide easy access to the ecclesiastical leaders, the records &
policies now in use. The bishops and priests are here tonight
not to moderate, but to listen and to learn.
After the Congress, laymen will be invited to meet with priests’
committees for the Synod, elected auditors will attend it, and
all three groups will make up an Appraisal Committee to plan
for the future. The laity will be full partners with the sisters
and priests in this year of reorganization.
It was arranged that way because Vatican II calls for it,
and the tradition of the laity in North Georgia more than jus
tifies it. You have been reading of the new unfolding of church
life outlined in the Constitutions on the Church and the Liturgy,
the decrees on the Laity, Priests and Bishop. Local history
gives us a clue to the layman’s part. Over a century ago, this
region felt the strong, optimistic force of one of our greatest
American bishops, John England of Charleston (NC, SC, all of
GA). From 1822 to 1842, the diocese was administered by bis
hop, priests and laymen. Like our own Lay Congress England’s
annual convention brought together elected delegates under the
presidency of the bishop. Like our own, each parish had it own
board of elected laymen. England referred to the Convention as
“a body of sage, prudent and religious counsellors to aid the.
proper ecclesiastical government of the Church by their duties
and exertions.’*
Then, early this century, Georgia experienced another golden
age of the laity. To combat anti-Cathollc bigotry with intelli
gence, vigor and courtesy, Catholic men with the support of
Bishop Kleley, formed the Georgia Laymen’s Association.
They founded the Georgia Bulletin. For 20 years, they
brought light and dignity to the Catholic cause.
With this background, and my own experience with the men
and women of the Archdiocese, I convoke this Congress with
confidence and high hopes. I do npt believe that prudence means
fearful hesitation, nor that excessive caution and timidity are
DOWNTOWN
the halmarks <>f a living faith. If we are afraid to venture out
and take risks, we deprive our times of martyrs and scho
lars, and even ordinary saints.
The times, despite confusion and cruelty, breathe a new hope.
To realize that hope, we must Inventory ourselves, our parishes,
our archdiocese. The Council has made the Church take down that
time—honored slogan, BUSINESS AS USUAL. And yet it would be
false to replace it with another sign, UNDER NEW MANA
GEMENT. It is not under new management, nor should it be.
Today rather, each one’s role is enlarged. The Holy Father
travels on global missions that Leo XIII never thought of Bishops
look beyond their dioceses; priests beyond their parishes.
The laity has a new role too (whether emerging, emergent,
embalmed or just liturglcallyunemployed).Tosharelnthe rights
of Christian freemen—and their duties too. To take part in both
decision-making and service-giving. To be partners with bishops
and priests in the building of God’s house. None of us stands alone
with his tools in his hands. A laity without a priest, a priest
without a laity, is as odd as a door without a knob, or worse, a
knob without a door.
In this mutual work of building up, we have much to learn. On
our side, clergy conferences and retreats are being used as
starting points. And you too must learn: — A basic understand
ing of the structure within which Church moves and lives;
theology, history, canon and civil law that affects the Church;
a deeper grasp of lay responsibility which comes only with pa
tience, training, continuity and a balanced priority of interests
(home neighborhood, job, community, social life).
The aftermath of the Lay Congress must help laymen to un
derstand the structure of the Church today, the component parts
of that wide responsibility. In this archdiocese we are blessed
in three particulars: a body of priests whose reading and think
ing are matched by their zeal; the workshops at the Ignatius
House, and the plans for lectures by men like Dean Cannon
and Dr. Albert Outler, theologians and Protestant observers
at Vatican II; the scripture scholar Barnabas Aheam; the mora
list Bernard Haring; the lay scholar Daniel Callahan, and in
January, the mighty Cardinal Suenens.
There is much work to do, ideas to be thought out. But with
God all things are possible, even with out tiny efforts. If we
are to build the Archdiocese in earnest, not in vain. God must
draw the plans and His Spirit must permeate the construction.
Officers, delegates, alternates, committees, you are with the
priests & sisters, my fellow-architects. Task that you pledge
with me, not only your time, talents and energies, but most of
all your greatest gift — yourselves.
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ton Streets and Central Avenue
with the exception, of the sites
of the Shrine of the Immaculate
Conception and the Central
Presbyterian Church — two
historic Atlanta landmarks.
The Authority estimates that
the cost of acquiring the 2.4
acre site will be $1,510,080
and anticipates receiving a Fed
eral grant of $755,040, or 50%
of the total cost, under the Open
Space Land Program which
makes Federal funds available
for the purchase of land for
park and recreation, for con
servation, and for scenic and
historic purposes.
Once the land is acquired,
the Authority, in cooperation
with the City of Atlanta and Pul
ton County, will develop the
land primarily as a downtown
park with a sub-surface park
ing garage. While no specific
design is now proposed for the
park, it is anticipated that it
will contain an assembly area
with a small amphitheater, a
quiet park area and a court
area; it will also provide space
for a tourist information center
and pehaps a restaurant and the
subsurface parking garage will
have a capacity for over 500
automobiles. It will be design
ed to serve the needs of the
State, the City and the County,
the two churches and the gen
eral public which increasingly
visits the area to transact busi
ness and for sightseeing.
The idea of a park or plaza
on this site has been proposed
since 1930 when the Atlanta
City Hall was permanently lo
cated to the south immediately
across Mitchell Street and be
came the third major govern
ment office building facing the
block.
Priest Teaches
With Anglicans
TOKYO (RNS)—An American
Franciscan priest Is teaching
at an Anglican college here at
the school’s request, using as
a text the Japanese translation
of a book by a German Redemp-
torist theologian.
Father Campio Lally,
O.F.M., professor of moral
theology at the Franciscan Se
minary of St. Anthony here, has
been assigned to Tokyo’s Cen
tral Anglican College where he
will teach a courseonmorallty.
In agreement with college
officials, he is using as his text
a new Japanese translation of
“The Law of Christ’*, written
by Father Bernard Haerlng,
noted German priest who ser
ved as a peritus (expert) at the
Second Vatican Council.
Newly Installed Officers for the Altar Society of the Arch
diocesan Shrine of the Immaculate Conception are pictured
left to right: Mrs. Nellie Nichols, Corresponding Secretary;
Mrs. Allene Potter, \4ce President; Mrs. Jean Jentzen, Pre
sident; Father Jerome O.F.M., Moderator; Mrs. Mary Perry,
Treasurer; and Mrs. Genevieve Smith, Recording Secretary.
YMCA Challenged To
Ecumenical Spirit
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. —
American YMCA leaders must
begin an “agglronamento’’ or
up-dating that will carry them
into the ecumenical movement,
Dr. Paul M. Limbert, former
secretary-general of the World
YMCA Alliance, Said here.
About 100 YMCA executives
and board members — and
some Roman Catholic priests
and laymen — heard him chal
lenge the YMCAs to abandon
their white, Protestant iden
tification.
He spoke on ‘The Ecumen
ical Break - Through and the
YMCA’’ at the 40th National
Council of YMCAs in America.
'The tempo of ecumenical
concern is quickening, largely
under Catholic initiatives. If
the YMCA is to take any effec
tive part in this grass-roots
ecumenism, there is no time
to lose,” Dr. Limbert said.
He called on the *Y’ to define
clearly “our appropriate role
as a lay Christian movement
in this stepped-up ecumenical
endeavor.
“It is not our function to deal
technically with questions of
faith and order in relation to
church union, nor even ordi
narily to conduct living room
dialogues under YMCA aus
pices. Initiative in this field
lies properly with the churches.
“YMCA members are also
churchmen, and many of us will
take our places as individuals in
dialogues sponsored by the
Catholic and Protestant chur
ches in our communities.
Catholics, he said, must be
recognized by the YMCA “as
full-fledged participants in
planning and policy making. We
dare no longer invite Catholic
leaders to sanction a program
already determined; we must
seek their counsel from the be
ginning and invite their critical
appraisal of existing programs
and structures.”
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