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8 GEORGIA BULLETIN, THURSDAY, MARCH 30,1967
Two weeks ago ROLE CALL appeared for
the first time. It was really not properly
introduced, at least not formally. Instead it
was simply an open letter to the parents of
northern Georgia asking you to take a good
look at your idea of the Catholic priesthood.
But since this column will be appearing every
other week, some explanation is necessary.
The purpose of ROLE CALL is very sim
ple: to present to the public eye the idea of
the priesthood and religious life as seen,
experienced, and appreciated by those who
live it. One of my earliest convictions as a
priest has been that there exists a terrible
lack of understanding of just what the priest
is and does. Admittedly this is largely our
fault; we haven't shown you enough of our
lives, our hopes, our purpose, our goals.
(But have you asked?) ROLE CALL will at
tempt to put these factors before you. They
are important factors; they are what make
us tick.
ROLE CALL represents part of the effort
of the Archdiocesan Vocations Commission
which is composed of lay men and women,
sisters and priests. In addition to hearing
from these different vantage points, therewill
also be random jottings from some of our
men in the seminaries, giving their appraisal
of life from that angle.
The reason standing tall behind this whole
effort is, Of course, our need for priests.
And the reason we need priests is simply
you: to serve you more effectively, to work
with you more closely in the establishment
of the fully human and truly Christian city,
to be amongyou as livingwitnesses of Christ’s
love for you. You are the main reason.
That’s because you are the Church, His own
special people, our happiness and fulfillment.
The peace of the Risen Christ fill your homes,
Father Jerry Hardy
Communion, Penance May
Undergo Sweeping Change
WILMINGTON, Del. (RNS)~
Possible sweeping changes in
practices involving the Eu
charist and Penance were listed
here by a Roman Catholic
priest.
Highlights of two talks by
Father William Toohey, C.S.C.,
catechetics professor at Holy
Cross Seminary, Washington,
D.C., were reported here by the
Delmarva Dialog, newsweekly
of the Wilmington diocese.
"The taking of the host by the
people is already being done,"
Father Toohey said. He told of
one practice where the congre
gation comes to the altar, re
ceiving the host and returning
to their seats holding the host.
They then receive Communion
with the priest.
"This is based on the
command of Jesus who fed his
Mass. "The Church would be
flattering its people if it re-
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take and eat,’* he said.
Father Toohey also pointed
out that the Vatican has estab
lished a precedent by permitting
one non-Catholio to receive
Communion at her wedding in
a Catholic church.
"This is still in the realm
of speculation,” he said. "But
it shows that if the practice
pleases the Holy Father, it
can be done."
Calling reception of Commu
nion an essential part of the
Mass, Father Toohey said
"people should be allowed to
receive whenever they attend"
--even if it is more than once
a day. He pointed to the prec
edent of receiving Communion
more than once on Holy Satur
day.
Father Toohey discussed the
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moved the obligation of Sunday
Mass attendance," he com
mented. He said such an action
would express confidence that
Catholics are mature enough
to attend because they under
stand the importance of the
Mass.
Controlled experiments also
are taking place, he said, which
allow a child to receive First
Communion before First Con
fession. He said the decision
on this should be made by the
pastor and the parents, with
the pastor having final say.
Father Toohey said con
fession to a priest is important
because we are "reconciled to
God through a tangible, concrete
way. God uses the voice of a
preacher to forgive our sins."
He added that many people
regard going to confession as
a "dfudge" and as a visit to
"that horrible black box." This
attitude stems from the lack
of knowledge that the sacrament
is a meeting with Christ, he
said.
Kites Write
Easter News
CHUSHAN, Taiwan (NC)--The
good news of Christ's Resur
rection was written in the sky
over Taiwan on Easter Sunday,
The day’s joyful news was
emblazoned in sweeping Chi
nese ideographs on thousands of
kites flown by Catholic children
in Taiwan parishes.
The Easter adaptation of the
old Chinese traditionof kite fly
ing in the spring was the idea of
a young U.S. Maryknoll priest
here, Father Richard E. Zei-
met of St. Paul, Minn.
Father Zeimet had thousands
of the kites made and sold them
at less than 10 cents each to
the children of the various par
ishes. Made of colored plastic
in 100 different styles with
large silk-screened ‘ printing,
they bore 20 various Easter
messages.
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The priest said the mass fly
ing of kites would “contribute
immensely to helping others
understand that Christ’s Church
is a human Church of love and
joy and tnat His Resurrection
is the cause of it all."
POPE DISTRIBUTES GIFTS—Pope Paul VI (left) holds
a bicycle by the handlebar as he presents gifts to the chil
dren of Santa Maria Janua Coeli Parish in Rome after cele
brating an early Easter Mass and blessing an estimated
500,000 persons in St. Peter's Square. (NC Photos)
Cousins Rebuts
Rights Criticism
MILWAUKEE (NC) — Arch
bishop William E. Cousins has
rebutted criticism of archdio
cesan civil rights policy level
ed by two curates from the
pulpit of an inner city church.
The priests -- Father James
E. Groppi and Father Michael
P. Neuberger — criticized the
archbishop in sermons at St.
Boniface church. Their attack
was aimed at the archbishop’s
public reply to a newspaper ad
by a group of Catholic laymen
who had called for a boycott
of an archdiocesan charities ap
peal, charging that funds were
used to .support civil rights
demonstrations.
Archbishop Cousins had held
both a press conference and
a meeting of all archdiocesan
priests to attack the ad as an
example of bigotry and to deny
that charitable funds were used
for civil rights activities.
"Probably because they (Fa
thers’ Groppi and Neuberger)
were not present for either
the press or priests’ meet
ing and were not fully in
formed,” Archbishop Cousins
said, "these young priests mis
sed the entire point of our re
marks."
Father Neuberger led off the
attack on the archbishop’s re
marks at a 10 a.m. Mass.
"tell you now and always the
way things are — the black man
is being cheated. If that’s bad
public relations, it’s too bad.
I'm going to say it again and
again."
Archbishop Cousins had told
the earlier press conference
that although Father Groppi may
be "looked upon as the offi
cial spokesman" for the ar
chdiocese in civil rights mat
ters, the priest "doesn't speak
for the Church or the parish.
"He’s been indiscreet, lack
ed good judgment. . .has a chip
on his shoulder and none of
these things has endeared him
to the community.”
The archbishop had upheld
Father Groppi’s principles,
however, and said the contro
versial priest would not be
transferred. "To make change
for the sake of change or be
cause some people disagree
with him would not be good ad
ministration.
"To allow him to become the
spokesman of the diocese has
been our fault and your fault
by playing him up to the ex
clusion of others, " he told the
press.
Celibacy Survey Okayed
For Priesthood In Ohio
NEW YORK (RNS)—The
national Association for
Pastoral Renewal has an
nounced two major develop
ments in its campaign to make
marriage possible for Roman
Catholic priests:
—Official authorization of its
survey of priests in the Diocese
of Steubenville, Ohio, by Bishop
John King Mussio.
—The appointment of a na
tional advisory board compos
ed of well-known priests and
laymen who have agreed to work
with the association's coordi
nating committee.
The advisory board includes
six priests and three laymen:
The priests are Father John
A. O'Brien and Father John
L. McKenzie, S.J., both of Notre
Dame University; Father
Joseph Fichter, S.J., of Har
vard; Father Roderick Hindery,
O. S.B., of Immaculate Con
ception Seminary, 1 Conception,
Mo.; Father Eugene Burke, C.S.
P. and Father Alfred McBride,
O. Praem., both of the Catholic
University of America. .
Laymen on the advisory board
are: Thomas Neill, Ph. D„ of
St. Louis University; William
Birmingham, editor of Cross
Currents magazine, and Petro
Belaniuk, who holds a doctorate
in theology from St. Michael's
College, University of Toronto.
All of the priests except
Father O’Brien are members of
religious orders. All advisory
board members except Father
Fichter and Mr. Birmingham
are on the staff of a Catholic
seminary, college or univer
sity.
Bishop Mussio, in a circular
letter announcing his official
authorization of the associ
ation's Survey in,his diocese,
told diocesan priests that “your
participation in this survey is
optional.”
"My part in this survey is
merely to assure you that, if
you wish to express yourself
on this subject, you are now
given the opportunity,'’ he said.
He instructed the priests who
answer the survey to send their
replies to the national associ
ation, not to the diocesan chan
cery office.
Explaining his authorization
of the questionnaire, he said it
was done in "the cause of true
priestly solidarity.”
"Rather than have this done
independently of the bishop,”
he said, "I thought it best, in
the cause of true priestly soli
darity, to recognize this survey
officially that I mtghfsupervise
its functioning in_pur diocese.”
remains so as long as the
Church requires the disci
pline.”
In an earlier, unofficial state
ment printed in the Delmarva
Dialog, newsweekly of the
Diocese of Wilmington (Oct. 21,
1966), Bishop Mussio had given
his personal opinion "that the
priesthood of the Latin Rite is
better off with celibacy than
without it.”
"This, however, in my
judgment, is a general rule
that is not without exceptions,"
he said. "Celibacy as a disci
plinary regulation of the
Church should never be allowed
to stand as a major stumbling
block to the furtherance of the
Divine mission of the Church.”
Christian finality. Nor do I
believe it will be.”
The association's survey will
attempt to gather the names of
priests who are seriously think
ing of asking for lay status in
order to marry, priests who
have left the priesthood to
marry and would like to be
reinstated and priests who
approve of marriage for others
although they are not interested
in it personally.
According to the coordinators
of the association, nearly all the
priests who have replied to
previous, unauthorized surveys
in other dioceses favor giving
other priests freedom to marry.
Only a relatively small minority
indicated that they, personally,
would use such freedom.
He said that he thought use
of the married clergy might
"be adopted immediately” in
mission fields but that he did
not believe that the American
public was yet fully ready for
such an innovation.
It might be possible, he said,
to introduce married clergy
"gradually" in some fields such
as education and diocesan
administrative offices "where,
in the judgment of the local
bishop, the need is desperate
and the practice not one to
create serious disturbance.”
"The men of the married
clergy are priests,” Bishop
Mussio said in the October
article. "Those who. prove
themselves worthy of consid
eration should, where the
Church will not suffer but rather
gain, be given the opportunity
to make their priesthood mean
ingful in the measure of their
competence.
"This entire matter.deserves
the best of our study and the
fullness of our priestly charity.
The door should not be closed
with a bang and the entire
matter walled up with an un-
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DOGS,
HORSES,
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AND
PEOPLE
THE HOLY FATHER'S MISSION AID TO THE ORIENTAL CHURCH
Last November an Allentown, Pa., store sold
split-level indoor dog houses made of solid
cherry and lined with Persian lamb. The price:
$119. . . . New York City’s mounted patrolmen
INSIDE complain their horses deserve better than the
U.S.A. ‘firetrap’ stables now housing them. The rent
for one stable is $11,400 a year. . . . Mean
while, three out of four children overseas go to
bed hungry. We wonder what God thinks.
At the noon Mass, Father
Groppi, a widely publicized civil
rights activist who had come
in for some Criticism at the
archbishop’s press conference,
backed up Father Neuberger’s
remarks calling them "extre
mely courageous."
Father Groppi, whose activi
ties had been attacked in the
ad which stirred up the con
troversy, also told the congre
gation that the archbishop said
he had poor public relations.
"I suppose,” he said, "I
have hurt and touched white
sensitivities. If people are go
ing to be disturbed by -what
I say, that’s why I say it.
I’m tired of this negative
peace."
He said he would continue to
Disagreeing with the arch
bishop’s remarks in his Sun
day sermon, Father Neuberger
asked, "If Father Groppi is
not the voice of the Church .in
civil rights, then who is?"
Aside from Father Groppi,
‘Father Neuberger claimed, the
Church in the inner city has
been silent.
Archbishop C ousins replied
that it was "illogical” to cri
ticize the workof the Church in
the inner city "because charity
funds are not used to support
any specific civil rights group
-as such."
“Use of monies donated for
charitable causes cannot con
scientiously be directed to other
^purposes, nor will they be now
■or in the future,” the arch-,
bishop said.
In the letter, he said, he takes
no official stand on- the issue
"save that celibacy is the rule
of the Latin priesthood and
Fir^t Visit
To The U.S,
ROME (RNS)—Father Augus-
tino Trape, Prior General of
the Augustinian Order, left
Rome for his firs t visit to the
U.S. and Canada since he was
elected head of the Roman Cath
olic religious order in 1965.
Major cities he was expected
to visit included New York,
Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles,
Miami, Philadelphia, Washing
ton and Toronto.
VISITING ISMAEL—Welcomed to Israel by the Most Rev. George Hakim, Melkite Arch
bishop of Galilee (center), are John W. McDevitt, Supreme Kniglyt of the Knights of
Columbus, and Bishop Charles P..Greco of Alexandria, La., Supreme Chaplain of the K.
of C's. (NC Photos)
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