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PAGE 7—The Georgia Bulletin, December 18,1975
HOLY YEAR
Pope Calls Hope A ‘Breakthrough’
VATICAN CITY (NC) - One of the
“breakthroughs” of the 1975 Holy Year has
been an upsurge in hope, needed to walk the
“rough road” of Christian living, Pope Paul VI
said Dec. 10.
“There is another consequence, another
consignment, another ‘souvenir’ of the Holy
Year for the pilgrimage in the near future of
the People of God . . . hope,” the Pope told
his general audience.
“If we are not supported by this virtue, our
perseverance is not a certainty. We could get
lost on the way, and today, unfortunately,
that is so easy to do.”
The Pope gave reasons why Christian ideals
can be lost without hope. The ideals seem
“difficult and far off.” They are threatened
by contemporary hedonism and opportunism
and by the tendency to believe only in the
tangible world, he said.
The Pope said that God’s providence
“unfolds for the faithful inestimable treasures,
some of them already given and enjoyed, but
the greater part only promised ... to the
person who knows how to wait for, to wish
for and to hope for them.”
The Pope declared: “Without destroying
immediate human hopes, the unfailing and
incomparable hopes of the Christian cosmos
get the better of the brief, unsure and
misleading hopes of those who try to
construct a pagan and materialistic
humanism.”
He said that hedonism, which “seems tc be
the overriding force in the lives of so many
people,” is the “enemy of virtue which aims
for goods which are lofty, still to come and
whose possession is not guaranteed.”
Speaking of today’s “opportunism,” the
Pope said: “replacing people’s enthusiasm for
resistance, courage and sacrifice are the
criteria of utility, the acceptance of fashion,
trust in the majority, and aversion for
maintaining a precise, strong and
discomforting stance.”
To a group of 9,000 Italian youth, the Pope
said: “All of us are watching you with the
greatest encouragement and with immense
hope. The future of the Church and of the
world is in your hands. Prepare yourselves for
such an exalted mission.
“Never lower yourselves through ignoble
compromises with the current mentality of
the world which is often base and shameful.
Be always examples of kindness and
altruism.”
f — — — ^ ■ \
Reflexiones For La Navidad
i •>
POR EL PADRE RICHARD A. KIERAN
Que vamos a celebrar esta Navidad: falsas
denuncias de racismo contra los judios; los
cristianos y los musulmanes luchando en el
Libano; matanzas en el Norte de Irian da; miles
de prisioneros politicos en las carceles de
Cuba, de Chile y de la mayoria de los paises
del mundo; 68 millones de personas muriendo
de hambre en el mundo? La situacion no es
mucho mejor en los Estados Unidos: a uno de
cada seis americanos le falta lo mas necesario
para una vida humana con dignidad; oimos de
un nuevo escandalo politico casi cada dia.
Estos acontecimientos en nuestro mundo
de hoy, perturban mucho al que trata de vivir
el Evangelio, Imagino que estas situaciones tan
contrarias el Evangelio son causa de
frustracion a muchos de ustedes. Sin embargo,
nuestra perturbacion y frustracion no
resuelven nada; ellas no van a cambiar la
situacion del mundo.
El profeta Isaias habla del tiempo de la
venida del Mesias como tiempo de justicia y
paz. Por eso si vamos a celebrar
verdaderamente la Navidad, debemos hacer
algo positivo para mejorar la situacion del
mundo.
La Navidad es la celebracion de la
Encarnacion de la Palabra de Dios:
Y la Palabra se hizo came
y habito entre nosotros
y hemos visto su gloria
gloria propia del hijo unico del Padre
lleno de graciay de verdad. (Juan 1:14)
Si nuestra celebracion de la Navidad va a ser
“en espiritu y verdad” (Juan 4:23), la Palabra,
Jesus, debe nacer y vivir entre los hombres.
Jesus se hace hombre hoy en dia mediante
sus seguidores, como individuos y como la
comunidad de la Iglesia. Su justicia y paz
viviran en el mundo, solamente si damos
testimonio de palabra y de accion.
Esta Navidad quisieramos hacer presente a
Jesus en nuestro mundo. Para eso debemos ser
principalmente mas fieles a El. Como la
Palabra Encarnada, El extendio la mano a
todos los que tenian necesidad; El se dio a si
mismo de cualquier manera la situacion
demando. No predico el Evangelio; El fue el
Evangelio.
Yo creo que es importante, dentro de
nuestras actividades, tener una lista de
resultados por Cristo. En mi oracion (tiempo
para escuchar mejor a Dios) empiezo a
comprender que un testigo del Senor esta
llamado sobre todo a estar presente en las
situaciones de nuestro mundo, como uno que
confia completamente en El. Como Jesus, yo
debo ser el Evangelio.
En mi preparacion por la Navidad, voy a
buscar, mediante la oracion, la gracia para ser
un hombre de justicia y de paz; es decir, un
hombre que influya sus ambientes con la
vivencia de la justicia y la paz del Evangelio -
con el estilo de vida de Jesucristo.
Esta Navidad puede significar una nueva
Encarnacion de la Palabra de Dios en el
mundo - una Encarnacion que puede
convertir nuestros dias en un tiempo de
justicia y de paz. Esta Encarnacion comienza
en nuestras vidas y en las vidas de aquellos que
encontramos cada dia, especialmente los
miembros de nuestras familias.
Demos la justicia y paz de Jesucristp esta
Navidad!.
Catholic Press Aids Liberty
NEWARK, N.J. (NC) -
The Catholic press makes a
“unique contribution” to
religious liberty, the president
of the Catholic Press
Association (CPA) told a
panel of bishops at a
bicentennial hearing on
liberty and justice here Dec.
6.
CPA President Franciscan
Father Jeremy Harrington,
described freedom of religion
as “one of our most basic and
precious liberties, one which
we have a responsibility to
foster and protect so that
people’s religious needs may
be satisfied.”
He told the bishops that, in
their planning for the
five-year Catholic social
program at which the
hearings are aimed, they
should consider that:
- “Modern women and
men have a right and a special
need to be motivated and
supported by their Church in
their efforts to he religious in
a secularized milieu.
- “The Catholic press lias a
unique contribution to make
in feeding the contemporary
person’s hunger for the
religious.”
He reminded the prelates
that one of their own recent
documents said the Catholic
press “remains at present the
least expensive way of
conveying comprehensive
Catholic-oriented news and
views on a regular basis to the
largest number of Catholics.”
But diocesan newspapers
reach less than one third of
the Catholic families in the
country, Father Harrington
said, and as a result they are
unable to reach their full
potential for creating an
informed, educated,
motivated community of
Catholics.
He urged that the Catholic
Church in this country “make
as an important plank in your
program ... a commitment
to improving the Catholic
press and to getting Catholic
publications into every
Catholic home.”
Spanish Christmas Party
On Sunday, December 21, following the 7 p.m. Mass
at the Cathedral of Christ the King, there will be a
Spanish Christmas Party in the Hyland Center. All
Spanish-speaking people are invited to attend.
Fiesta Navidena en Espanol. Todos invitados.
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ECUMENICAL program in Dalton
included representatives of St. Joseph’s
parish. Pictured are: Father Douglas
Edwards, pastor of St. Joseph’s; Mrs.
William R. Roark, president of Church
Women United; Methodist Bishop
William Cannon, and the Reverend
Dean Milford, pastor of Pleasant Grove
Methodist Church, host church for the
program.
CANONISTS
Is A New Marriage
Language Emerging?
IOWA CITY (NC) - A new
language on marriage,
emphasizing that it is not
only a contract between
people, but also a “covenant
relationship,” is emerging
among Church canonists, a
leading canon lawyer said
here.
Father John T. Finnegan,
past president of the Canon
Law Society of American and
academic dean at Pope John
XXIII National Seminary in
Weston, Mass., said the new
language will guide the
Church in areas of pastoral
care, support for marriage,
and the granting of
annulments.
and that inability to accept or
comprehend the faith aspect
of marriage may also be
grounds for annulment.
But Father Finnegan
stressed that the Church has
not softened its position on
annulment, but is only
affirming that “many have
entered marriage who should
not have.”
These developments have
created a large gap between
pastoral practice on the
parish level and the
refinement of the language of
marriage by canon lawyers,
according to Father
Finnegan.
To narrow the gap, the
Church must ask itself how it
Dalton Marks World Community Day
Representatives of St.
Joseph’s Parish in Dalton
took part recently in an
ecumenical celebration
marking World Community
Day. The special program was
held at Pleasant Grove
Methodist Church by Church
Women United of Whitfield
County. Father Douglas
Edwards, pastor of St.
Joseph’s, gave the closing
prayer for the day.
Methodist Bishop William
R. Cannon was guest speaker
for the program. Bishop
Cannon addressed the
representatives of area
churches, telling them of the
importance of denominations
working together for
common good. He related
that isolationism is no longer
possible in today’s world
adding that people’s lives are
entwined with others around
the world and that all must
have one foundation in the
Christian faith.
Bishop Cannon concluded
his presentation by stating
“we will solve all our world
problems in the grace of Jesus
Christ.”
World Abortion Policies Hit
COLLEGEVILLE, Minn.
(NC) - About three fourths
of mankind now lives in
countries where traditional
protection of unborn life has
been abandoned.
That estimate was made by
Benedictine Father Paul
Marx, founder of the Human
Life Center at St. John’s
University here, just returned
from a six week tour of
Australia and New Zealand.
According to Father Marx,
who has visited 46 countries
in the past 10'years to lecture
on the life issues, the anti-life
forces are the same
everywhere - gaining victories
and well-financed. And, he
adds, “in many cases it’s
American money” fueling the
pro-abortion, pro-euthanasia
forces.
The two issues -- abortion
and euthanasia - cannot be
treated separately, he
contends, because “wherever
they have liberalized the law
on abortion you will find
euthanasia cropping up.
There are many ways of being
anti-life, but abortion and
euthanasia are at the heart of
the matter.”
There has been “much
deterioration” in Australia
since his last visit there four
years ago, Father Marx said.
The national law in both
Australia and New Zealand
permits abortion only to save
the life of the mother, but
Australian courts have been
increasingly permissive in
their interpretation of the
law.
The Benedictine
priest-sociologist blamed the
growth of abortion on the use
of contraceptives, pointing
out also that the same forces
underlie both.
The International Planned
Parenthood Federation is
active wherever he travels,
Father Marx noted. He also
criticized the U.S. State
Department’s Agency for
International Development
and the U.N. Fund for
Population Activities for their
role in the birth control and
abortion movements.
He pointed to the anti-life
progression which he said
follows the same pattern
everywhere: contraceptives,
irresponsible sexual activity,
abortion, euthanasia and the
prostitution of the medical
profession.
According to Father Marx,
a country that permits
abortion liquidates the
future, so he is not optimistic
about the Western world,
“nor about my country.”
He is encouraged, however,
by the “many good people
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who live in this horrible
environment and come forth
with the best.”
Any reversal of the anti-life
victories would have to
follow “a religious revival,”
he said, and would stem
“from massive education and
a good deal of political
action.”
Education could help in
the cases of those
who, while in favor of
abortion, “really don’t know
what abortion does,” he
points out.
And he is convinced that’
most Americans who support
liberal abortion policies fall
into that category.
Neither, he says, “do they
know what abortion brings
into society.
“This is very clearly seen as
one moves from country to
country. The effects are
always the same; the
arguments are always the
same; the cliches are always
the same.
“And, I might say, the
money is always the same -
mostly it is American
money.”
Speaking at the Iowa
Priests’ Senate’s workshop on
divorced and remarried
Catholics held here Dec. 1
and 2, Father Finnegan said,
“Canonists are concerned
about articulating a new
language that can be
systematized into an eventual
theology of marriage.”
According to Father
Finnegan, the new language
will emphasize that natural
love, traditionally taken for
granted in any marriage, is an
integral part of the marriage
covenant.
On the question of
annulment, Father Finnegan
said the Church must
examine the “relationship
capacity of the couple”
before making a decision.
Citing the 1973 Serrano
decision by the Roman Rota
(the highest court for
marriage cases in the Church),
Father Finnegan said that the
court found the interpersonal
relationships of the marriage
in question sufficiently
deficient to grant the
annulment.
In deciding annulment
requests “the primary object
is to focus on the
interpersonal, conjugal
relationship,” Father
Finnegan said. “That seems
to be the teaching of
Serrano.”
He noted that the decision
indicated that the Roman
Rota was “comfortable with
the scientific advances in
understanding human
behavior,” which can aid the
court in uncovering latent
psychological or behavioral
problems that undermine a
marriage.
The case also reaffirmed
the necessity of the
sacramental union of a couple
can help sustain the love life
of the couple in order to end
the “frightening disparity”
between the philosophy and
practice of marriage, the
priest said.
Father Finnegan, a
self-described “centrist” on
the issue of marriage
theology, said conservatives
would resist change and
ignore the contributions of
behavioral science in deciding
annulment cases, and liberals
would undermine the
permanency of marriage.
The ideal of marriage as a
permanent relationship can
still be realized while at the
same time admitting that it is
a growing covenant rather
than an iron clad contract,
Father Finnegan said.
Bernard
Atlanta
Alumni
John D. Troy, WRNG Ring
Radio account executive, has
been elected President of the
Atlanta Alumni Club of St.
Bernard College, located near
Cullman, Alabama. A
member of the Class of ’68,
he resides at 4445 Reef Road
in Marietta.
John Egan, Class of ’69,
and Barry F. Shea, Class of
’71, were elected Vice
President and Secretary,
respectively.
Egan, who resides at 1537
Spruce Ridge Court, Stone
Mountain, is a Health
Management Consultant with
Family Health Care, Inc. in
Atlanta.
Shea is an attorney-at-law
and a resident of 1246
Christmas Lane, Atlanta.
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Play Santa for the
mission-poor this Christmas
...send a gift of love.
HELP US...
.. .to fill their needs of body
and spirit. May the Society
for the Propagation of the
Faith be your principal charity
for sharing in the greatest
and holiest work of the
Church —missionary activity.
i as ss a gg a ea!
HELP THEM .. . Ga. Bulletin 12/18/75
...because we are one in the faith, because
I want to share my blessings with my
brothers and sisters in need in mission
lands, I am pleased to send my gift of
Name— —
Address
1
-State-
-Zip-
raHnm
THE SOCIETY FOR THE PROPAGATION OF THE FAITH
Send your gift to:
Most Rt‘\. Edward T. O'Meara
National Director DR:
Dept. ( , 366 Fifth Avenue
New York. Men York 10001
Father Vincent Muivin
Catholic Center
756 West Peachtree St., N.W.
Atlanta, Georgia 30308