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GEORGIA BULLETIN, THURSDAY, APRIL 25,1968
ARCHBISHOP Helder Pessoa Camara of Olinda and Recife in Biazil addresses the opening session of the World
Congress of Catholic Youth in Berlin. Other speakers at the first congress stressed the need for social reform but
urged the rejection of violence in pursuing this goal.
Pope Says Catholic Press
Advances Work Of Church
VATICAN CITY (RNS) -
Pope Paul VI hailed the Catholic
press as “an irreplaceable
instrument” for the advancement
of the Church’s pastoral work in
“this delicate and marvelous
period” of its history.
He did so in a letter to the
Italian Federation of Catholic
Weeklies, now observing its first
anniversary, in which he
extended good wishes and then
went on to stress the “great
importance” of the Catholic
press.
The letter, sent through
Amleto Cardinal Cicognani,
Vatican Secretary of State, made
special reference to Catholic
weeklies, but observers here
noted it had in mind also
Catholic dailies published in
various parts of the world.
Commenting on the functions
of the Catholic press, Pope Paul
said, “It is important to underline
the growing need to evaluate
more and more this form of
journalism which can now be
considered an irreplaceable
instrument, and efficient and
active part of pastoral work.”
The Pope described Catholic
dailies as “mainly informative”
and said they '‘find support in
weeklies which have also a precise
and irreplaceable function to
fulfill.”
“The weekly,” he said, “cart
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be an exponent, especially in
places which the daily does not
reach, of the teachings , of the
Pope and the bishops adapted to
the local situation. At the same
time, it can be a meeting place
and a point of coordination for
all community initiative which
has in the bishop its own leader
and guide.”
Nor, the Pope added, “should
we forget its influence on
national public opinion when it
promotes a particular idea or
action. Its importance can be felt
especially in. this delicate and
marvelous period in which not
only the ecclesiastical hierarchy'
but also all Christian people are
called to instill in the Church and
in society the spirit and vital
strength of the Second Vatican
Council.”
Pope Paul went on to
emphasize that “even if all these
aims are reached, there are still
many things to do before the
Catholic press reaches its final
goal.”
“This means,” he explained,
“giving the Catholic weeklies a
better aspect, improving the
contents, tightening up
• collaboration among them, and
increasing common services in
order to overcome a mentality
which is too often too narrow.”
Candy Stripers
Will Be Capped
Mrs. Charles Barker, chairman
of Junior Volunteers, reports the
second capping for Candy
Stripers at the Holy Family
Hospital will take place Saturday,
April 27, at 2:30 p.m. 100-hour
pins will also be awarded to 15
girls who have donated this much
time to service in the hospital.
Lee Nichols, administrator of
the hospital, will be the principle
speaker.
POSITION PAPER
Negro Priests
Call Church
6 White, Racist 9
DETROIT (NC) - The Catholic Church in the United States is
“primarily a white, racist institution,” and unless it reverses its
present practices and rejects all forms of racism within American
society it “will become unacceptable in the black community.”
This was the message delivered
by nearly half of America’s Negro
priests almost on the eve of the
spring meeting of the National
Conference of Catholic Bishops.
It was delivered to Detroit’s
Archbishop John F. Dearden,
president of the NCCB. Among
those who prepared the
indictment was another prelate,
Auxiliary Bishop Harold R.
Perry, S.V.D., of New Orleans.
The priests were members of
the Black Catholic Clergy Caucus
which met in Detroit in
conjunction with the annual
meeting of the Catholic Clergy
Conference on the Inter-racial
Apostolate.
The caucus was attended by
58 of the 130 Negro priests active
in the U.S. There are 59,803
priests in the U.S.
The black caucus-closed to all
whites-followed on the heels of
similar meetings at recent
Protestant church conventions.
The black priests drew
attention to two trends in the
Church. They noted:
—“The Catholic Church
apparently is not cognizant of
changing attitudes in the black
community, and is not making
the necessary meaningful and
realistic adjustments.
-“The Catholic Church is
rapidly dying in the black'
community.... The black
community no longer looks to
the Catholic Church with hope.”
They said it is imperative that
the Church recognize change in
the black community.
“White persons...must be
educated to these changing
attitudes and must be prepared to
accept and function in
conjunction with the prevailing
attitudes of the black
community,” they said.
One of the most serious
failures to recognize change, they
pointed out, is in the area of
black militancy. Violence has
been condemned and “has even
been specified as ‘Negro violence’
as though there were a substantial
or significant difference between
violence in the black community
and that which has occurred
consistently throughout the
history of the U.S. and of the
world,” they said.
The U.S., they said, has used
violence to achieve its ends.
“Black people are encouraged to
fight abroad for white America’s
freedom and liberty. We are now
asking why it is not moral to
fight for his liberty at home.”
The statement recognized:
-“The reality of militant
protest.
-“That non-violence, in the
sense of black non-violence
hoping for concessions after
white brutality, is dead.
-“That the same principles on
which we justify legitimate self-
defense and just warfare must be
applied to violence when it
represents black response to
white violence.
—“The appropriateness of
responsible, positive militancy
against racism as the only
Christian attitude against any
social evil.”
The Church will be totally
rejected by black society-as it is
being rejected now by black
youth-“unless the Church, by an
immediate effective and total
reversing of its present practices,
rejects and denounces all forms
of racism within its ranks and
institutions, and in the society of
which she is a part,” they
asserted.
In order to make its ministry
effective, they said, the Church
“must begin to consult the black
members of the Church, clerical,
Religious and lay.
“It must also begin to utilize
the personnel resources of black
Catholics in leadership and
advisory positions in the whole
Church, and allow them to direct
for the most part, the mission of
■the Church in the black
community,” they added.
“It is especially important,”
they continued, “that financial
resources channeled into the
work of the Church in the black
community be allocated and
administered by black Catholic
leadership,” they said.
Parish To Hold
Lecture Series
A series of four one-hour
lectures focusing on the dignity
of the human person and
freedom of conscience will begin
April 25 at St. Joseph’s Church,
Marietta.
The lectures will be followed
by discussion. They are
sponsored by the adult education
committee of the board of
education.
Father John Mercer, S.M., will
discuss the individual’s role in the
community of mankind and his
relationship to God in the first
lecture, April 25, 8 p.m. in the
church cafeteria. May 9, Father
James McGoldrick, S.M. will
discuss man’s reasonable use of
freedom in the light of ‘new
morality’. May 16, Father
McGoldrick’s topic will be
Church authority and Christian
freedom. May 23, Father John
Martell, S.M., will speak on
religious freedom. The lectures
are open to the public.