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I ARCHDIOCESE OF ATLANTA Tin- SERVING GEORGIA’S 71 NORTHERN COUNTIES Vol. 8 No. 12 — - THURSDAY, MARCH 19,1970 ■ — $5 per year Dear Reader BY HARRY MURPHY In this edition we have reprinted a story from The Christian Index, published by the Georgia Baptist Convention, about a minister who was fired by his congregation over the race issue. He took his stand in a small town where he knew it would be unpopular, but at the same time he knew it was the Christian thing to do. Catholics cannot fire their pastors, which has its advantages and disadvantages, but it is probably one of main reasons that the Church has been able to move faster on non-bias commitments than some other religions. But we are still called on to take actions to back up these commitments and these stands may be as unpopular as the Manchester minister’s. He made a decision that he would follow Christ’s teachings and when the time came, he did just that. Those who fired him, however, made the mistake of many Christians: They saw no connection, or chose to ignore it if they did, between Christ’s teachings and the minister bringing black people into his congregation. Their customs took precedent over their religious teachings-When people grow up in segregated society and no one questions it from the pulpit or anywhere else, it is generally accepted as being right. If segregation is un-Christian, then why didn’t our previous pastor question it? My friends’s pastor never says anything about it and he’s a Christian, too, they say. No one is required to join a Christian church, but if he does he should be prepared to follow its beliefs. But what are its beliefs in regard to other races, creeds, classes and philosophies? How many people would join a Christian church if they had to agree to: -Welcome ANYONE who applied for membership so long as he believed Christ’s teachings and agreed to follow them. -Not turn away ANYONE who asked for help, so long as they are truly in need. -Put more weight on a person’s deeds than on his dress, salary, car, house or number of organizations to which he belongs. Examples should be cited of the above. For instance, applicants should be told that if a black man applies for membership, he Will be welcomed; if the family of a drunk asks for help, they will get it; hippies *will be welcome. This is not to say that the tenets of such as The Creed would be neglected, but that there would a translation into modem terms of just what it means to be a Christian. So many persons join a church, however, with no idea of what they are getting into; with no conception of the awesome responsibility of what it is to be a true Christian. It is a social experience which they are seeking, fullfilling a dictum' that upstanding members of any community belong to a church. The dictum should go further, however, and say that members must practice what they preach. (Continued on Page 8) T eacher At Emory To Speak “The Churches of the World must unify if they are to speak effectively to the World.” So said Dr. Ted Runyon, Dean of the Candler School of Theology, Emory University. Dr. Runyon, who is talking on Ecumenism at the Catholic Congress on Worship in Atlanta on April 16-18, was interviewed recently by the Reverend Robert Kinast, Assistant Pastor at Blessed Sacrament Church in Atlanta. Dr. Runyon’s talk will be in response to an address on building community through the liturgy by Reverend Eugene Kennedy, priest-psychologist from Loyola University in Chicago. Hie following is the full text of Dr. Runyon’s interview with Rev. Kinast: Q. You have been involved in the ecumenical movement since the Council. HoW would you assess the present situation as compared with five years ago? Well, it seems very clear that we have moved beyond the initial excitement that came from the fresh contacts of Catholics and Protestants. There was a whole new dimension that was introduced into both Catholicism and Protestantism from those first dialogues and prayer services. It was as if we rediscovered each other after several centuries. This kind of romantic spbit has quieted down, as it inevitably had to. Q. Where do we stand now? The initial concerns and interests of the ecumenical movement seem now to have given way to the major political and social problems of the world: War, Racism, Poverty. There has been a consequent diminishing of the internal “church” questions. In rediscovering one another, we also have rediscovered the world, and come to recognize that its problems dwarf our own. Q. Is there still a value in pursuing Church Unity? Definitely. The Churches won’t be able to speak very effectively to the world if they are not united. Church Unity is a necessary prelude to the type of service we want to give the world. I think personally that the thrust toward reconciliation and unity which characterized the churches five years ago could have a more far-reaching effect if we hadn’t gotten involved in the Viet Nam War. The polarization of opinions concerning die war has posed a real obstacle for the churches, both in regard to their own efforts at reconciliation and in the effect that they could have on society at large. Q. How do you analyze the present situation in Roman Catholicism? Certainly one of the most hopeful things that happened at the Council was the manner in which the bishops seized the initiative for providing positive leadership as contrasted with the type of defensive attitude of protecting the institution which was characteristic of Roman Catholicism before the Council. At the present time, there seems to be a return to that defensive posture and an unfortunate loss of initiative. Q. Is the movement which began at Vatican dead therefore? No, not at all One of the most productive areas of development begun at the Council and stUI continuing is the liturgy. And, this movement has had a great influence on Protestant worship. Most of the liturgical renewal in Protestantism has been marked by a return to a medieval form of worship, or a kind of absolutizing of 19th century liturgy. There has not been as creative a movement within Protestantism as you find in Catholicism. Q. 1 Whenever discussion (Continued on Page 7) Priests Elect; ; i , 'V'l’jV; I \ \ i / | I '■ r ; ' A Name Deadline By Gerard E. Sherry SAN DIEGO, Calif. (NC) — The National Federation of Priests’ Councils (NFPC) concluded its annual meeting here by electing new officers and setting a deadline for an answer on its request that Pope Paul VI review the case of 19 disciplined Washington priests. Chaplain For A Day Father John Mulroy, pastor of Sacred Heart Church and co-chairman of Concerned Clergy, is shown with Rep. Gerald Horton and House Speaker George L. Smith. The priest was the House chaplain on the last day of the General Assembly session. Music Is Essential To Congress Theme The theme of the Catholic Congress on Worship to be held in Atlanta on April 16-18 will be “JOIN HANDS IN PRAYER,” and music will play an essential role in expressing this theme. Three principle liturgy celebrations will be held during the Congress, according to Hamilton Smith, Director of Music for the Cathedral of Christ the King Parish in Atlanta, and a wide variety of styles and idioms will be used to enhance them. Thursday evening’s theme of RECONCILIATION AND PENANCE Will be projected in a multi-media setting featuring the use of slides, recorded music, and musical settings by various folk groups from throughout the city. The combined use of these diverse audio and visual stimuli will emphasize the community of Christians in confessing their guilt and becoming reconciled with God and each other. The BROTHERHOOD OF MAN as expressed through community action in worship will be celebrated in the choral style on Friday evening. A choir of some two hundred voices will lead the Congress participants in the Psalm settings of Fr. Lucien Deiss and Hymns emphasizing the common bond of brotherhood which unites all men. The choir will further acclaim this theme in the anthems “Clap Your Hands All You Peoples” by John Diercks and “The Bread Is One” by Alexander Peloquin. The music for Saturday morning’s celebration will be in the Key of Hope, emphasizing the hopefulness of the Christian striving toward God and his fellow man. Much of the music for this celebration has been composed by Paul Bemy, a Seminarian studying for the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Atlanta. Bemy’s song “He Is Our Hope” and Father Jerry Hardy’s composition “Join Hands in Prayer” will vividly acclaim the Hope of the Christian Community joining their hands and voices in prayer. “Let the Whole Church Celebrate” is the topic of the keynote talk by Rev. J. Paul Byron. Father Byron is the President of the Southeastern Congress on Worship, and a member of the Board of Directors of the National Liturgical Conference. More than 4,000 people are expected to attend the Congress, which starts Thursday, April 16 at 2 p.m., with a professional session for architects and priests led by Robert Rambusch, internationally known architect and designer. His topic will be “The Church Building as a Builder of Community,” and he will be assisted by a panel of reactors in the architectural field. On Saturday, April 18, Mr. Rambusch will lead a talk on The Environment in Which We Celebrate - a popular presentation on uses of the parish church. Thursday evening at 8 p.m., the Archbishop of Atlanta, Thomas A. Donnellan, will welcome the delegates. Then, Rev. J. Paul Byron will present the keynote talk, followed by a presentation by Bishop Frey of Savannah on the topic of community. Father Byron, from the diocese of Raleigh, is a pastor in Jacksonville, N.C. He is on the Advisory Committee to the U.S. Bishops on Liturgy Adaptation and is Chairman of the Bishops’ Committee on Music in the Liturgy. Thursday evening will close with a multi-media presentation based on the theme of Reconciliation. “Nothing is more evidently at the core of the Christian life than our public worship - our liturgy.” So said Rev. C. J. McNaspy, S.J., Associate Editor of AMERICA Magazine. The Jesuit scholar, who is renowned as an expert in the field of meaningful liturgy, will be a speaker at the Congress. Rev. McNaspy will discuss the changes in the liturgy of the Catholic Church, and how these changes contribute to the elements of community _1n today’s life. He will be responding to a talk by the Rev. Eugene Kennedy, a priest- psychologist-professor from Loyola University in Chicago on Friday morning, April 17. Further information may be obtained by contacting the Congress at 404/237-5093, or writing to P.O. Box 52532, Atlanta, Georgia 30305. Father Frank Bonnike, pastor of St. Mary’s Church in De Kalb, Bl., was chosen president of the federation. He is past president of the Rockford diocesan priests’ senate. Father Bonnike was elected after he was nominated from the floor. He received the delegates’ nod for a two year term over four candidates, three of them proposed by the NFPC’s nominating committee-Msgr. Alexander Sigur of Lafayette, La., and Fathers William Murphy of Glendale, Ariz., and Edward Stanton of Austin Town* Ohio. The fourth, Father James Purcell of Marin County, Calif., was also nominated from the floor. Father Bonnike succeeds Father Patrick O’Malley of Chicago, founding president of the two-year-old national priests’ group. in their final plenary session (March 12), the NFPC delegates set April 20 as the deadline for a response to their plea that the Vatican review the case of the Washington priests disciplined by Patrick Cardinal O’Boyle in 1968 for disagreeing with the Pope’s birth control encyclical. The federation’s proposal calling for judicial review was Holy Cross Fathers Expelled BOSTON (NC)- Cardinal Richard Cushing has banished the Holy Cross Fathers from the Boston archdiocese effective June 30. The action came as a climax to the controversy involving the sale by the archdiocese of St. Peter’s Central High School in nearby Gloucester to that city. The Holy Cross Fathers staff the school and openly opposed the cardinal’s efforts to negotiate the sale. Cardnal Cushing informed Father Richard Sullivan, C.S.C., Holy Cross Fathers provincial superior, that archdiocesan faculties for that congregation of priests and Brothers would be suspended on June 30 when the Gloucester school is closed. Two Bishops Named WASHINGTON (NC)-Pope Paul VI has named two new members of the U.S. hierarchy, one in Texas and another in Guam, it was announced here by Archbishop Luigi Raimondi, apostolic delegate in the U.S. Father Patrick F. Flores of Houston was appointed auxiliary to Archbishop Francis J. Furey of San Antonio and titular bishop of Santiponce (Italica). Msgr. Felixberto Comacho Flores, apqstolic administrator of the Agana, Guam, diocese, has been named titular bishop of Stonj (Stagnum). Teachers Wages Hiked PITTSBURGH (NC)-Lay teachers in the Pittsburgh diocese’s Catholic high schools have been awarded across-the board salary increases at all levels, to begin with the opening of school next September. The new salary scale was accepted by the diocesan school board and the Secondary Lay Teachers’ Guild. Details of the wage scheduled were worked out by a 10-member committee appointed by Pittsburgh’s Bishop Vincent M. Leonard. Under terms of the new scale, the starting salary for lay teachers with a bachelor’s degree will be $6,400. Master’s degree holders will start at $6,800. Those already teaching in the school system will be awarded raises based on the number of years they have served and on their educational qualifications. Bishops, Priests Trade Observers SAN DIEGO, Calif. (NC)- The National Federation of Priests Councils (NFPC) reached a new plateau of mutual communicating with the country’s bishops, inviting an archbishop to address their own convention here and agreeing almost unanimously to send NFPC observers to -the- hierarchy’s April meeting. In a display of openness, the NFPC’s 250-member House of Delegates asked Archbishop Thomas J. McDonough of Lousiville-an official observer representing the U.S. bishops-to address the gathering. Archbishop McDonough responded by urging that priests, bishops, Religious and laity close ranks. Appealing for more dialogue, the prelate stressed: “Unity is the key word.” Shortly before the archbishop’s unscheduled talk, the federation took another significant action. The priests not only determined to send observers to the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) semiannual meeting scheduled next month in San Francisco, they also threatened to make a public protest if their observers are not permitted to view the deliberations. The bishops allowed Father Patrick O’Mallf * of Chicago, the feden. jn’s president, to address their fall gathering last year in Washington, but the hierarchy in the past has not invited outside guests to its meetings. Resolutions adopted at the convention reflected the NFPC’s concern for shared (Continued on Page 2) delivered to the Vatican Secretariat of State on Feb. 23. The NFPC’s House of Delegates declared that if they receive no response, they will call an emergency meeting to plan their next step. The chairman of the committee which proposed the resolution, Father Harry Arbanas of Great Falls, Mont., said there would be ^drastic action taken” if a positive answer is not forthcoming from the Vatican. One of the 19 priests, Father Joseph Byron, thanked the delegates for their support. He asked them to return to their dioceses and make the priests there aware of the situation. He said they might eventually be called upon to come forward and say whether or not they agree with the position of the suspended priests. The 250-man House of Delegates also urged the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) to support their petitions for a judicial review, preferably in the United States. The April 20 deadline for response is the opening date of the U.S. bishops meeting in San Francisco. The NFPC has been working with concerned canon lawyers on this issue for more than a year. In a separate action, the House of Delegates criticized the U.S. bishops for their recent support of the position of Pope Paul on celibacy, saying the bishops had failed to mention that their public statement on the matter in November 1969 cited the seriousness of the problem of the need for open discussion of celibacy in the U.S. Pope Paul, has declared that celibacy “cannot be abandoned or subjected to argument.” The delegates also resolved that the executives of the NFPC initiate immediate and practical dialogue with bishops who show an openness to discuss the matter. The NFPC is cooperating with the NCCB in a total study of celibacy in the U.S. The delegates rescinded a vote they had taken the night before on an experimental ministry. The proposal supported the priests who are developing alternatives to the conventional ministry because they are needed at this time in the Church. In another resolution, the NFPC offered to cooperate with the bishops and other interested organizations in developing a plan whereby all church members would be involved in the process Of selecting bishops. The NFPC delegates also authorized their executive board to hire a full-time director to implement the organization’s social action program. The priests reminded the U.S. bishops that they have promised to spend $50 million on an educational effort to develop a national will on matters of social justice and to provide financial assistance for self-help and self-determina tion for community organizations. The priest-delegates asked for the implementation of the bishops pledge adopted at their semi-annual meeting last fall in Washington. Denver was selected for the federation’s 1972 NFPC convention. Much attention was focused at the conventiqn on minorities including blacks and Chicanos. Several delegates commented on the scarcity of black priests present. They also responded enthusiastically to a plea from Father Edmundo Rodriguez of San Antonio, vice chairman of Padres, a Mexican-American priests’ association. jOL. $250,300 March 1,1970 iSp Feb. 27,1970 111- 1 Feb. 20,1970 9J ■ C3 £ CO 5 Feb. 13,1970 .a V & Feb.6,1970 1 f Charities Drive Thermometer