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THE GEORGIA BULLETIN, THURSDAY. JULY 20, 1967 7
Is It Up To The Bishops?
By DESMOND FISHER
Hope For Continued Renewal Rests With Synod
scare stories and show him only one/Side.
Georgia Bulletin - St. Louis Review Service
ROME - Progressives and moderates in. Rome, concerned
at the apparent slowdown in the renewal and reform of the
Church, are now fixing their hopes on the forthcoming Synod
of Bishops which opens next September. They believe that only
the Synod can halt the reactionary movement which, in their
opinion, is now dominant and renew the forward impetus which
the Council gave the Church.
(t “The Council was fine while it lasted,” one of the best-
inforhied observers in Rome told me. “But since it ended,
the Conservative elements in the Curia have succeeded in slow
ing things up and now look like they are bringing them to a halt.
If we aren’t careful, we will soon be in reverse. This is why
we are so concerned that the Synod should be a success.”
The progressives feel that the other possible methods of
speeding up the aggiornamento -- a thorough reform of the
Curia, the revision of Canon Law, the de-clericalization of the
Church, and the enthusiastic implementation of the Council’s
decrees -- have been largely blocked or ignored. Pope Paul
himself, they feel, is not strong enough to keep the reactionary
forces in check and to give the renewal movement fresh in
spiration arid drive. ,
It’s Up To Synod
"It is now entirely up to the Bishops who come here for the
Synod,’’ a Vatican official with progressive leanings told me.
“The Pope needs encouragement and straight talk. Sometimes
he does not know what is really goingon in different parts of the
Church throughout the world. The people around him — those
whom Pope John called 'the prophets of doom' — feed him with
"When the Council was on, he heard all sides of the question.
But once the bishops scattered to their dioceses, that channel
to the Pope was largely lost. If they are determined enough,
the bishops who come to the Synod can re-open it. And, even
more important, they can make sure that some continuing
machinery is set up to keep it open so their views can reach
the Pope directly.”
The Synod will open on September 29. There will be 192 bish
op-delegates from all parts of the world, including four from
the U. S. Because they will have been elected by the national or
regional episcopal conferences* the Synod will be the most
democratic organ of government in the Church, aside from an
Ecumenical Council itself. Its functions, however, will be
merely consultative, unless the Pope grants it deliberative pow
ers.
A Key Role Likely
Despite the limitations of the machinery, the Synod is likely
to play a key role in the government of the Church from now
on. The Pope clearly thinks of it as experimental at this stage,
but if it fulfills his expectations he will certainly increase its
status and authority so as to produce a more collegial form of
government and a counter-force to the Curia.
The Synod, therefore, is the key to the reform of the Church
structures which the shrewdest observers in Rome agree is the
most important aspect of the aggiornamento. They are convin
ced that the present system cannot produce the renewal and re
form that are necessary,
"What is happening is that the existing structures are break
ing down," one leading observer heretoldme. "They are sim
ply not able to cope with the breakdown of the old mass or cul
tural Christianity and the onset of the post-Christian era. They
make for a static Church in an age of dynamism; for over
centralization at a time when the importance of local Churches
is growing; for authoritarianism and paternalism in an age
when the need is for the Church to become more and more
democratic.”
The hope of the progressives is that the Synod will break
down the strangle-hold which the Curia still exerts on the Cen
tral government of the Church and bring to the Pope ideas and
policies which he would not otherwise obtain.
They believe, too, that the Synod will have great ecumenical
importance, showing that the bishops share with the Pope full
and supreme authority over the entire Church. By thus off
setting the emphasis on primacy which has dominated Church
thinking for the past 100 years, theSynod, they feel, will make it
much easier for non-Catholics to accept the Pope as the sign and
center of Church unity.
A Discussion Forum
Besides its importance as a new structure in the central gov
ernment of the Church, the Synod will be the main forum for the
discussion of the major problems facing the Church today. Its
agenda is formidable. It will deal with such questions as the
crisis of faith, the controversies over the Resurrection, the
Eucharist, the Virgin Birth and Original Sin, the magisterium
or teaching authority in the Church, and the reform of canon
law, seminaries and the liturgy.
The discussion about the crisis of faith will arise in connec
tion with the letter sent by Cardinal Ottaviani last year to
hierarchies throughout the world. This asked them for a report
on the state of things in their countries on a specific list of
questions.
The conservative bishops in the Synod are expected to seek to
turn the debate into a sort of international Inquisition on these
questions. The progressives, for their part, wantit to be a deep
er discussion on the whole nature of the act of faith and the dif
ference between the profession and the content of faith.
Conservatives are also expected to press for clear state
ments on the Resurrection, the Virgin Birth, Original Sin and the
Eucharist, presenting them in physical or biological terms and
limiting the theological discussions now taking place. The pro
gressives, on the other hand, want to get away from the literal
interpretation and to understand these mysteries not on the level
of facts which must be believed literally but as part of the way
in which God communicates knowledge of himself to us.
Debate On Mary
“For instance,” one theblogian said, "the debate is between
those who want Mary’s virginity to be defined as a biological
fact and those who see the deeper dimensions, that it symboliz
es Mary's freedom from contamination by sin and materialism.
And at a time when we are discarding the old ideas about heav
en, and hell, the Resurrection and Ascension have to be under
stood in a completely different way. The conservatives want to
identify words and concepts with the truth itself.The progres
sives realize that as our knowledge of the truth increases, the
words and concepts in which we express it must change too.
This development of doctrine is the most important thing in the
Church today and it is the point on which the Synod will succeed
or fail.”
The Synod is expected to last two months. A large number of
journalists is expected to cover it but the final press arrange
ments have not been announced yet.
War In Vietnam
Seminar Tonight
Marxist
The war in Vietnam will be the
topic of a seminar tonight
(Thursday, July 20) at 7:30 p.m.
at Glenn Memorial Methodist
Church on the Emory campus.
The speakers include Rabbi
Abraham L. Feinberg, of To
ronto, the Rev. William Sloan
Coffin, Yale University chap
lain, and Father Philip Ber-
rigan, Society of St. Joseph.
' Sponsors of the seminar are
Atlantans for Peace, Quaker
House, American Friends Ser
vice Committee and Emory
Christian Movement.
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NEW YORK (CPF) — "I am
a Communist, but I am nos
talgic for Catholicism,” re
marks the famed Italian film
director Pier Paolo Pasolini.
"Who of us (Italians) can say
that deep inside he doesn't feel
a little Catholic? Catholicism
is in the air we breathe. I think
it’s quite acceptable, not con
tradictory at all, for a Marx
ist to make a religious film.
After all, both Catholics and
Communists are full of ideal
ism.”
Pasolini has been frequently
reiterating his defense of his
right to make a religious film
ever since the surprising suc
cess of his filmed life of Christ,
"The Gospel According to Matt
hew.” But now going into na
tional distribution is another
Pasolini “religious film”
which may be regarded as more
significant to the movement to
ward Christian-Marxist dia
logue.
Titled "The Hawks and the
Sparrows,” it is a film in
which, Pasolini has flatly ad
mitted, he is attempting to show
the impact that the Catholic
Church has had on Marxist
thought since the reign of Pope
John XXIII, and, in addition,
an attempt to show that man
kind can benefit if both Chris
tians and Marxists learn to lis
ten to one another.
The film features two central
characters, an old man (play
ed by the late Italian comic,
Toto) and his son, who, while
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Pasolini Directs Another Religious Film
journeying on foot down a road
toward various destinaions,
are joined by a talking crow,
who describes himself as a
"leftist intellectual.''
Unable to ascertain from the
two travelers where they are
going or why, the crow tells
them a story set in the time of
St. Francis. The saint tells
two of his monks (played in the
flashback sequence by the same
two actors who play the modern
travelers) that they must teach
the hawks and the sparrows that
they must love as God loves
them.
The old inonk and the
■ young monk spend more than
a year searching for hawks who
will listen and learn _ how to
converse in hawk language. In
a comical scene, the old monk
a nia number -of hawks talk baefc—
and forth about God, and fin- ■
ally the hawks understand that
God wants them to love.
The same problems are met
by the two monks in trying to
preach to the sparrows—a task
made more difficult when sell
ers of religious goods set up
noisy shop just where the old
monk is trying to communicate
his message.
Eventually, the monks get
through to the sparrows, only to
be disheartened when they see
a hawk attack and devour a
sparrow. Reporting back to St.
Francis, the two monks are told
by the saint—in words used by
Pope Paul before the United
Nations—that they must con
tinue to teach the birds to love
not only their own kind but all
kinds as well.
In a second part to the film,
the old man and the boy visit a
destitute family who are ob
vious tenants of theirs and de
mand rent; later they them
selves are threatened with im
prisonments-unless . they/ pay-a-■
certain debt. Later they/ wit
ness the mass funeral of Pal-
miro Togliatti, who was head
of the Italian Communist Party
until his death in 1963. All the
while, the crow is keeping up
his questions and commentary,
TOTO as a monk distracted by sellers of religious items while
trying to teach sparrows God's law of love.
about the need for Marxist so
lutions to current problems.
Then suddenly, the two trave
lers kill the crow and eat it,
and then—in a scene reminis
cent of the ending of many old
Charlie Chaplin films—theman
and the boy continue on their
way down the road.
“This .fable of a crow tell
ing stories to a father and a son
seems to suggest that neither
Communism nor Christianity
in their present form are ade
quate ideological answers to
life,” concluded “The Chris
tian Advocate,” a Protestant
magazine, while the National
Catholic Office for Motion Pic
tures saw it primarily as "a
far-out entertainment(inwhich)
Pasolini communicates best of
all his optimism in the future
of man.”
Pasolini said the death of the
crow, the flashback to the era
of St. Francis and several di
rect quotes from both Pope Paul
and Pope John (spoken by var
ious characters in the film)
are his way of stressing the
influence the Church since Pope
John has had on his thought.
“For Pasolini, the period of
St. Francis, 1200 A.D., was one
of the most advanced periods in
the Church's relations with so
ciety," according to a spokes
man for Brandon Films, which
is distributing the film in the
U.S. “The thoughts of Pope
John XXIII on justice and equal
ity, according to Pasolini, area
modern version of this doc
trine.”
The end of the crow, con
tinues a Brandon Films com
mentary, “represents man's
cruel assimilation of ideas of
the past so that man can go on
to what ever his future may
be.” In Pasolini's case, he
“invested the crow with many
beliefs and characteristics
which he did not necessarily
share any longer...as indeed
the present political left has
abandoned and changed posi
tions of the past.”
Pasolini has on several oc
casions "apologized” forgiv
ing “scandal” to both Chris
tians and Marxists: to the
Marxists for his seemingly un
orthodox films, and to Chris
tians for daring to undertake
religious themes.
“But what I’m really looking
forward to doing,” he reports,
“is the life of St. Paul’in mod
ern dress, with the dialogue tak
en from his letters.”
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Anglicans Will
LONDON (RNS)--The Arch
bishop of Canterbury, has
named three observers to rep
resent the worldwide Anglican
Communion at the Third World
Congress for the Lay Aposto-
late in Rome, Oct. 11-18.
Dr. Kathleen Bliss will rep
resent the Church of England
at the Roman Catholic confer
ence. She was formerly general
Attend Meet
secretary of the Church of the
Province of Central Africa, and
John Littleton - of the Church of
England in Australia.
Dr. Matthews is the Ambass
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States. Mr. Littleton, a layman
educator from Melbourne, is
currently studying in England.
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