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2 THE GEORGIA BULLETIN, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12, 1968
‘Avante Garde’
(Continued From Page 1)
Father William Nerin, leader ot
the Community of John XXIII in
Oklahoma City; William Griffin,
first president of John XXIII
community in Madison, Wis.; and
Dr. James Perdue, a research
scientist who helped form a new
type of experimental
community—within a parish
structure-also in Madison.
The speakers discussed how
their communities began, their
purposes and problems, attitudes
toward the established church
structure, and answered questions
from the audience.
The liturgical service opened
with a brief musical prologue
played by Yeshwau and the
Utopians, a six-member group.
They provided spontaneous
music throughout the service in
combined African, American
“soul,” and “psychadelic”
rhythms.
identification with the musical
selections, and that it was more a
performance than a service.
During the meeting the
speakers explained how their
communities differ. Father
Nerin’s group employs him as its
only full-time priest; Griffin’s
group employs no full-time
clergymen; and Perdue’s group
works cooperatively with priests
of the parish to which they
belong.
All three said that while they
believe in their communities’
search for new ways to give
meaning to Christian belief, they
don’t believe such communities
are appropriate for all persons.
“We believe that communities
such as ours do have a place in
the Church, but we know they
won’t appeal to everyone,”
Griffin stated.
Scriptmre Scholars
Fifteen centuries after St. Jerome translated the Old Testament into the vernacu
lar of his day—that is, into Latin—fifty U.S. and Canadian Biblical scholars have pro
duced a 1,500 page commentary on the Bible named in his honor—the Jerome Biblical
Commentary, published by Prentice-Hall, Englewood, N.J.
St. Jerome’s translation of the Old Testament, together with his earlier work in
translating the new Testament into Latin, produced the so-called Vulgate Edition
of the Bible, and was the first great Catholic attempt to understand the word of God
from the original sources.
The service then proceeded to
the Offertory because, as Andrew
Leahy, CCL president explained,
the Liturgy of the Word had
already taken place during the
talks and accompanying dialogue.
What followed included
personalized prayers, an
energetic, interpretive dance by a
young black stripped to the waist
and holding a gold chalice, an'
Our Father sung by the audience
in rousing, folk style, scriptural
readings by lay men and women,
and distribution of the Eucharist
from some 25 baskets which had
been filled with small slices of
French bread.
Griffin, Perdue, and Father
Nerin all expressed reservations
about the service later. “It was an
unfortunate choice,” Griffin said.
All three agreed there was too
little group participation, that
there was little cultural
Each man discussed the
opposition he faced as the
communities formed—from
Catholics with more traditional
leanings along with fear and
antagonism from the clergy. But
not from their bishops.
They stressed the importance
of their bishops’ attitudes toward
the communities, and praised
t hem for being “open and
non-judgmental.” Bishop Victor
J. Reed of Oklahoma City and
Tulsa and Bishop Cletus F.
O’Donnell of Madison are the
Ordinaries concerned.
“Bishop O’Donnell neither
approved nor disapproved of us,”
Griffin said. “He simply has
allowed our people to follow
their consciences in their religious
practices.”
The speakers touched
repeatedly on two fundamental
causes they say influence
Grape D
is
pute
Calls For Election
OAKLAND (NC) - Bishop
Floyd L. Begin of Oakland has
called upon California growers
and farm workers to hold
impartially supervised elections as
a means of settling California’s
grape industry dispute, which is
now in its fourth year.
In a statement issued here,
Bishop Begin said such elections
would determine whether
workers wish to exercise their
right to organize, and if so,
whether they wish to be
represented by the United Farm
Workers Organizing Committee
(UFWOC, AFL-CIO), or by some
other workers’ organization.
He maintained that continued
refusal to hold such an election
can only “question the integrity”
of the growers’ claim that
non-striking farm workers have
repudiated the UFWOC.
Bishop Begin noted that the
U.S. Catholic bishops at their
meeting in November endorsed
the farm workers’ right to
organize. He said the bishops
were also aware of the problems
of the growers, particularly
family farmers.
FATHER Raymond Brown,
S.S., of St. Mary’s Seminary,
Baltimore, is one of the edi
tors of the Jerome Biblical
Commentary. (NC Photos)
FATHER Roland Murphy, O.
Carm., of the Catholic Uni
versity of America, Wash
ington, D.C., is one of the
editors of the Jerome Bibli
cal Commentary. (NC
Photos)
FATHER Joseph Fitzmyer,
S.J., of Woodstock College,
Woodstock, Md., is one of
the editors of the Jerome
Biblical Commentary. (NC
Photos)
formation of experimental
communities. They are the
frustration of individual Catholics
in parishes that are usually too
big, coldly impersonal and
non-communal, and a growing
belief that the Catholic religion
needs groups which search
independently for new ways to
bring meaning to their religious
beliefs.
None of the speakers, in reply
to audience questions, said they
believed in divorcing themselves
from the “structural” Church
since such an action would,
according to Father Nerin, “mean
that we’ve turned our backs to
other Christians.” “This is not
what we believe the Christian
message is all about,” he said.
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