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AW.V.W.t*.
A Look At The Archdiocese Of Atlanta In 1967
A look at the Archdiocese of Atlanta
in 1967 reflects a changing Church in a
changing society.
The Bulletin’s year-end wrapup really
does not tell the complete story of what
took place in the archdiocese during the
year. At best, it can only highlight what
we think were important events during
the year. — THE EDITORS
January
St. Thomas the A’postle Church in Smyr
na has acquired land to begin construc
tion. The parish, pastored by Father
Richard Morrow, serves Catholics in
South Cobb County.
^rchbishop Paul J. Hallinan said ’in
credible abuses’ in the liturgy noted by
the Congregation on Rites in Rome were
not part of the “custom of this archdio
cese.”
Father Joseph Bistany, a native of Le-
HMRl; banon, was named administrator of St.
J oseph Maronite Church in Atlanta.
Leo Josef Cardinal Suenens,,primate of
Belgium, said in talks at Emory Univer
sity and at the Cathedral Center that the
Church must develop a missionary men
tality.
In other talks to Ministers' Week at the
school, Archbishop Hallinan said a place
is being readied for the new “liturgical
man" in the Church and Bishop Joseph
L. Bernardin said the Second Vatican
Council's Declaration on Religious Free
dom has put the Church in step with the
aspirations of contemporary man.
Parishes voted Jan. 29 to nominate
persons to serve on two councils and
five archdiocesan boards established by
the Synod,
February
Msgr. Michael Manning was invested
as a domestic prelate by Archbishop
Hallinan. He served as president of the
Synod.
Nine nuns in the archdiocese were
elected to outline the role of a Sister’s
Senate. Bishop Francis Zayek, first
Maronite Apostolic Exarch in the United
States, visited Atlanta Feb. 18-19.
More than 500 persons attended the
dedication of the modem Spalding Chapel
and Newman Center at the University
of Georgia. The facilities were called
a symbol of the renewed Church which
goes to the students, and does not wait
for them to come to it.
Fifty-nine laymen, seven priests and
seven nuns were named to serve on the
archdiocesan boards. The chairmen are
James W. Callison, Pastoral Council;
Rawson Haverty, Administrative Council;
Samuel McQuaid, Board of Education; John
A. Ferguson, Board of Social Services;
Andrew E. McColgan, Board of Develop
ment; John J. Cawley, Board of Lay Or
ganizations; Paul Shields, Board of Com
munications.
The Senate of Priests raised the salar
ies -of pastors and assistants and began
work on a constitution. Father Walter
J. Donovan, president, Said the salary
increases were recommended by the Lay
Congress.
March
Archbishop Hallinan told federal offi
cials that St, Joseph’s Infirmary was
“honestly integrated” after reports said
the U.S. Public Health Service would in
vestigate the hospital to determine if
federal funds should be cut off.
The archbishop and , Catholic laymen
also testified against a medical treatment
“consent bill” which could open the door
to sterilization and abortion.
It was announced that Immaculate Con
ception School would be sold and razed
to make way for the Georgia Plaza Plan
development in downtown Atlanta.
Louis Erbs was named chairman of the
Archdiocesan Liturgy Commission and
Father Henry C. Gracz as priest-secre
tary. The ,archbishop also announced that.
funerals according to the new'form were
to be conducted and said a new series of
Biblical readings for weekday Masses had
been approved.
Catholic elementary schools in Athene
and Griffin announced they would drop
the seventh and eighth grades at the end
of the school year.
The Board of Education announced that
Drexel High School which had 156 Negro
pupils would be closed in June. The
board delayed its decision for further
study and then a joint announcement from
the board and archbishop reaffirmed the
decision to close the school.
Ferdinand Buckley was appointed chair
man of the Archdiocesan Religious Unity
Commission and Father Matthew Kemp
as priest-secretary. Nineteen nuns were
elected to the Sisters’ Senate.
April
Bishop Justin A. Najmy, Apostolic Ex
arch for Melkites in the United States,
visited Atlanta in his first official visit
since he became leader of the more than
100,000 Melkites in the U.S.
In a major announcement, an archdio
cesan office was created, two new pastors
were appointed, a new parish was es
tablished and Father Paul Kelley was
named principal at St. Joseph High School.
Father Daniel J. O’Connor became pastor
of St. Philip Benizi at Jonesboro, Father
Alan Dillmann was named pastor of Our
Lady of Lourdes and Father Dennis Dullea
became pastor of St. Joseph’s at Dalton,
Father Michael A. Morris was appointed
director of the new Office of Religious
Education to coordinate efforts, of schools
of religion.
Msgr. Joseph E. Moylan, who had served
the Church in Georgia as priest, pastor,
chancellor and vicar general for nearly
50 years, died at age 78. Msgr. Moylan
was pastor of the Cathedral of Christ
the King when it was built. Father John
D. Stapleton, pastor of St. Jude’s, was
appointed chairman of the Msgr. Moylan
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 6)
MlUTCH THEOLOGIAN:
m Secular Activity
|Form Of Worship
i PHILADELPHIA (RNS)--The "secular activity” of Christians
,s also a legitimate method of worshipping God and must some-
low be brought into focus with the sacred liturgical worship of
ithe Church, a Roman Catholic theologian told an audience at
Temple University here.
uqn
id:
rl vli
Father Edward Schille-
feeckx, O.P., professor of dog
matic theology at the University
TiNigmegeni, the Netherlands,
prrently on a speaking tour of
Fite United States, 1 spoke on
r’Secularity ahd Contemporary
’heology.” His lecture was
Eponsored by the university’s
|eligion department.
’For the first three centuries
If the Christian era,” Father
Ichillebeechx said, “Christians
| ere proud they had no altars
jr churches. In fact, because
If this they were called
latheists’ by the pagans of the
fimes.”
The Dutch theologian told an
f adience' Of 2,400 that Christ
IlimSelf lived a secular life in
fhe , world and gave His life in'
secular act.
“Calvary was not an act of
jturgical worship,” he declar-
il, “Calvary was not a church,
ur redemption was accomp-
shed by the taking of Christ's
! uman life in a secular way.”
Father Schillebeeckx said the
hristian commitment to soc-
JQ ;ety can be experienced as sec
ular worship. “The Christian
nust not fly from the world but
iring the world to the kingdom
j>f God,” he said. The Domini
can theologian added:'
“Without secularworshipand
Young Not Rejecting
■ Christianity: Blake
STAMFORD, Conn. (RNS)—Younger generations in
Europe and America are not rejecting the “authentic
Christian faith” so much as they object to a popular
heresy with which "20th century Christianity in the af
fluent nations has confused our Christian faith,” Dr.
Eugene Carson Blake said here.
In a sermon at the First Presbyterian church, the gen
eral secretary of the World Council of Churches termed
the heresy as one founded on “a pseudo ■scientific evo
lutionism” identifying God with nature and making suc
cessful competition and survival the goals of human ef
fort.
“Not only are youth rejecting the heresy of the “suc
cessful,” he said, but older persons are also finding it
inadequate, “and this is the crisis of faith in America
as we moved from 1967 to 1968.”
Noting that Marxism is a similar heresy since it sub
stitutes a “man-made Utopia for the Kingdom of God,”
Dr. Blake then added what the Christian answer should
be to a Christian heresy.
One alternative, which he said was not satisfactory, is
dependence on “futurology, the technical science of bio
logical and mechanical determinism of the future.”
Describing a recent experience of attending a meeting
in Assisi, Italy, Dr. Blake recalled the life of St. Francis
of Assisi and how he called a generation of people to faith.
"My plea to you today," he said, “is not that all of
you become modern saints...But it is that you become
expectant that God is not dead but powerful not iri some
future apocalypse (sudden in-breaking) alone but inyour
life now.
“Christianity is not a faith simply concerned with the
future whether in heaven or on earth... God is alive and
acting now. His judgment and his mercy are now at hand.”
BULLETIN
ARCHDIOCESE OF ATLANTA SERVING GEORGIA’S 71 NORTHERN COUNTIES
social justice, church worship
simply hangs in the air, value
less and meaningless..,a form
bordering on hypocrisy.
"Social protest itself is a
form of secular worship, a way
of praising God’s name, and
holiness and prayer are identi
cal with man’s concern for his
fellow man in the world.”
He declared that the Euchar
ist, like all the Sacraments, is
a sign of man’s fraternity with
man through Christ, Who was
the Son of God in secular hu
manity.
Declaring that “worship and
life, world and church, are hold
ing out their hands to one an
other again,” he stressed that
such !a binding togetherness is
necessary if Christianity is to
accomplish its anticipated ■ re
newal.
Father Schillebeeckx held
that today's liturgy "has a ten
dency to dwell on the hereafter
and neglect the real involvement
o f the People of God in the world.
"Secular activity is part of
the Eucharistic sacrifice be
cause it is in the world that man
finds the reality of Christ’s
sacrifice through the sacra
ments. Glorifying God’s name is
building the secular city into a
kingdom of saints—a domain of
love, justice and goodness.”
VOL. 6, NO. 1
ATLANTA, GEORGIA,
THURSDAY, JANUARY 4, 1968
REPLY TO OTTAVIANI
AMSTERDAM, The Nether
lands (NC) — The Dutch hier
archy, in answering the letter
o^ Alfredo Cardinal Ottaviani,
pro-prefect of the Congrega
tion lor the Doctrine of the
Faith, gives a very positive
judgment on recent develop
ments in views on doctrine and
moral theology in the Nethein
lands.
The Dutch bishops express
hope and confidence concerning
Catholic life in this country.
They do not share the uneasi
ness and anxiety expressed by
the Roman curia, the Church’s
central administrativeoffices.
Cardinal Ottaviani, on July
24, 1966, sent a letter to all
national bishops’ conferences
in the world. He asked the
bishops to comment on 10 spe
cific problems dealing with
“strange and dangerous
views.” These questions dealt
with revelations, the sacra
ments, original sin, moral doc
trine, the person of Christ,
ecumenism and other issues.
The Dutch national Catholic
daily, De Volkskrant, publish
ed the text of the answers of the
Dutch hierarchy. This report
of the Dutch bishops, which had
been kept secret, was sent to
Cardinal Ottaviani in 1967.
The Dutch hierarchy, in the
introduction to its report, urg
es the Roman curia never to
issue any kind of new Sylla
bus Errorum, or catalogue of
errors, as was published in
1864. The Dutch bishops say
they do not want any repeti
tion of earlier condemnations
nor any new general condem
nations.
The Dutch report asks for the
greatest possible freedom for
theological discussions and
polemics. The bishops urge
integration of newly discover
ed aspects in the doctrine of the
faith and they state that, if the
Church wants to wield its au
thority, it must do so in a
Abstinence Law
Ends In Britain
LONDON (RNS) -— The
Church law requiring Roman
Catholics to abstain from meat
on Fridays is lifted in England,
Wales and Scotland, accord
ing to a statement by the hier
archy which was read at
all Masses on Sunday, Dec. 31.
The bishops’ statement said
that in the future fasting and
abstinence will be required only
on Ash Wednesday and Good
F riday.
positive and not in a nega
tive way.
The bishops warn that, in the
past, the Church made some
serious mistakes in condemn
ing so-called heresies. . They
state that we must have con
fidence in the good ideas that
are developing now. This is
moi*e important than looking for
possible errors, they add.
De Volkskrant, in an edi
torial, writes that the report
of the Dutch bishops to Cardi
nal Ottaviani is to a great
extent based on the text of the
new Dutch catechism. ‘The
Dutch bishops want to be pas
tors and shepherds and not
tamers. They do not agree with
everything that is being said
within the Dutch Church but they
are glad that the Cljurch in Hol
land is a living church,” De
Volkskrant writes.
Last February, the French
bishops’ reply to Cardinal Otta
viani’S letter was made public
with the permission of the
cardinal. The reply had been
drafted by the permanent coun
cil of the French Bishops’Con
ference
1966.
in mid-December,
The French bishops said that
the Church must remedy evils
rather than denounce them.
Expressing regret over the
condemnatory tone of the car
dinal’s letter, the French res
ponse said that the current
tendency of Catholics to ques
tion points of doctrine arises
from modern conditions and
cannot be stopped “by author
ity alone.”
Admitting that the pressures
of modern life and the develop
ment of non-traditional ways of
thinking had led to certain “im
prudences” among French
priests and laymen that may
cause the “warping of doc
trine,” the bishops emphasiz
ed that these occasional errors
were not part of a heretical
system.
They added: “It would not
suffice to denounce the dis
order to make it stop; some
times that would even worsen
ill The duty of the bishops is
positive.”
jjgljfc:
BISHOP Stephen J. Kocisko of the Passaic, N.J., Byzantine Rite
diocese, was named by Pope Paul as new Ordinary of the much
larger Pittsburgh Byzantine aparchy. He succeeds Bishop
Nicholas T. Elko whose resignation from the Pittsburgh dio
cese was accepted by the Pope. Bishop Elko was named a
Titular Archbishop and will remain in Rome. Bishop Kocisko
has headed the Passaic diocese since it was created in 1963
when the Apostolic Exarchate of Pittsburgh,. comprising the
entire U. S., was divided into two jurisdictions. (RNS Photo)
Attorney Says
Abortion Bill
Ignores Child
See
Page
Dutch Bishops Not Uneasy
About Church Development
Atlanta attorney F erdinand
Buckley questions thewisdom of
House Bill 281 which would:
change the Georgia Code deal
ing with criminal abortion,foe
ticide, infanticide and broad
ens the area of permissible
abortions.
Buckley, a member of St.
Jude’s parish and chairman of
the Archdiocesan Religious
Unity Commission, writes on
Page 4 of today’s Georgia Bul
letin that House Bill 281 vio
lates the substantive rights of
the fetus (and insomeinstances
the mother) by depriving the
fetus of life.
“In this day when the concept
of capital punishment is so ser
iously questioned, it is sadly
ironical to encounter a bill
which would permit the de
struction of a child because
three doctors thought that he
’might reasonably’ be expected
to be born with a 'grave and
irremediable mental or physi
cal defect.' ”
Buckley said proponents of
the bill say that doctors require
such legislation in order to be
protected against unjust suits.
"This argument is fallacious
in at least two respects. One,
if the purpose of the legislation,
is to protect doctors against
unjust suits, then the General
Assembly should address it
self to that specific subject.
“Two, the proposed new law
FERDINAND BUCKLEY
will actually greatly enlarge the
doctors' exposure to suits, be
cause they will be sued for the
failure to perform certain abor
tions and for performing other
abortions without any sem
blance of legal protection of the
rights of unborn children and
minor parents,” the attorney
commented.
Buckley said House Bill 281
would repeal Chapter 26-11 of
the present Georgia Code and
prescribe certain "excep
tions” to general prohibitions
on abortion, foeticide and in
fanticide.
He said these exceptions
would permit abortions in three
very broad and ill-defined set
of circumstances:
(1) Where three examining
physiciand rendered opinions
that a continuance of the preg
nancy would “probably” en
danger the life of the pregnant
woman.
(2) Where three examining
physicians rendered opinions
’that a continuance of the preg
nancy would “probably” ser
iously impair the physical or
mental health of the pregnant
woman.
(3) Where three examining
physicians rendered opinions
thatafetus “mightreasonably”
be expected to be born with a
"grave and irremediable men
tal or physical defect.”
“The first exception permits
an abortion for the purpose of
preserving the life of the preg
nant woman,” Buckley said,
“but creates certain adminis
trative and medical safeguards
not contained in the present law.
“To this limited extent, it
would seem that House Bill 281
represents an improvement
over existing law. However,
the second two exceptions rep
resent two marked departures
from existing law."
Buckley said no definition of
gravity of the mental or physi
cal defect which would consti
tute a cause for killing the un
born child is given in the bill.
“Nor does the bill establish any
standards of probability which
must be found to exist with ref
erence to any such mental or
physical defect.”
St. Thomas The Apostle
A Parish On i The Go 9
A public high schooL A thea
ter in a shopping center. An
Episcopal Church. A Metho
dist Church. A Baptist Church.
These have all been used by
St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic
Church in Smyrna to hold Mas
ses and other parish activities
s ince the parish was formed last
summer.
In addition, Father Richard
B. Morrow, pastor, lives on the
west Side of the city, and the
three Sisters of the Holy Humil
ity of Mary—Sister Damian,
Sister Mary Rita, and Sister
Elizabeth—reside east, of the
city near the Atlanta city limits.
However, all of this “ecu
menism” will end in a few
months when the new parish
center will be completed. Con
struction is now under way on
property acquired last fall by
St. Thomas’ Church on King
Springs Road between Reed
Drive and Cooper Lake Road,
on the southwest side of Smyr
na.
Father Morrow says he and
all the parishioners are
anxiously awaiting the day when
they can move into their "own
home,”
The building—the first of a
four-building complex to be
built by Smyrna’s only Catholic
oarish—will be used for all of
the parish activities. This will
include Masses during week
days, Holydays, and Sundays,
the weekday School of Religion
CCD, adult instruction clas
ses, social events, scouting
programs, and athletic activi
ties.
Later plans call for building
a church, a rectory, and a con
vent.
The parish center is a split
level of Dutch Colonial archi
tecture. It will have a weather
ed granite exterior. Architect
for the new facility is Albert.
O. Ordway and contractor is
Carter Construction Co. Grad
ing work was done by Reed Con
tracting Company. Landscaping
and grass plantingwas done by
men of the parish.
The lower level of the new
parish center, which includes
a fullsize basketball court, will
be used as a temporary church
and for holding various social
activities. One end will be sec
tioned off as a chapel with an al
tar and permanent pews that will
seat 80 people. The chapel will
be used primarily for daily
Masses and weddings.
The lower level also will con
tain a kitchen and two dining
rooms, a full stage, athletic
dressing rooms, storage
rooms, and two large athletic
offices, one of which will be
used temporarily as a family
room for church goers.
The upper level of the new
structure will contain several
classrooms, teachers' lounges,
a principal’s office, and two
large storage rooms which
later can be converted into bal
conies overlooking the basket
ball court.
The St. Thomas parish build
ing committee expects the par
ish center to be completed by
early spring.
Until then, Sunday Masses
wil continue to be held at 8,
10, and 11:30 a.m. in the'Bel
mont Hills Theater, and at 6
p.m. in St. Jude’s Episcopal
Church. Daily Masses are held
at the rectory at the comer of
Stalcup Drive and Olive Springs
Road and the convent at 4270 Pa
ces Ferry Road.
Masses on Holy Days are held
at the First Methodist Church
in Smyrna. School of Religion
classes are held in the educa
tion building of the First Me
thodist Church—elementary
children on Friday afternoons
and Saturday mornings and high
school children on Thursday
evenings.
A Cub Scout Pack was formed
recently, and it holds its meet
ings at the LegendHeights Bap-
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 2)