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Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta
Vol. 15 No. 4
Thursday, January 27,1977
$5 Per Year.
VA TICAN AFFIRMA TION
SunfeHiAcuv
Clowns
When disaster strikes the circus,
they send in the clowns.
When the lion escapes or the
leopard leaps or the elephant,
terrified and confused, stampedes,
they send in the clowns. The
constant dangers under the Big
Top are seldom sensed by the
roaring excited ever-young crowd;
but when it happens, calm and
assurance must be restored. That’s
the work of the clowns.
Clowns are funny. But they are
more. They are the backbone of
the acts, the soothing ingredient
that surrounds and tells us that
danger will not succeed. They are
beside us as we watch the aerialist
attempt the triple summersault --
that -- will succeed or fail by
inches. For the rest to survive, for
the show to go on, they send in
the clowns.
Viet Nam was our circus in
years of recent vintage. We felt we
had our act together. We practiced
up. It seemed nothing could go
wrong. It would be over before
the “police action” would even be
known to the masses. But it did
not work out. The tiger wouldn’t
learn, the snakes wouldn’t rise and
the tightrope wouldn’t steady.
Nothing went right. A fuse was lit.
A danger sensed. A saving job
needed. We sent in the clowns.
They were from every corner
of the country. They were called
to do this work that was both
objectionable and most
distasteful. But they went. They
put down their books and their
jobs and their professions and
they went. They hailed from every
persuasion. Some wanted it,
others didn’t. Many, especially the
poor, were not given the choice.
With tradition behind them, they
went into this unknown hell and
played their parts.
They were all sacred. Some
more than others. They lost limbs
and sight and even minds. Some
never came back and are mingled
with the earth in an unknown
paddy-field in that almost
unknown nation for some
unknown wish or whim of a
President or a General. They were
our clowns.
When our fears were strongest,
they steadied us. And no glory can
ever be taken from their calm and
amazing actions. It is simplistic
and shattering for anyone to even
suggest that their quenched-out
lives were vain unmemorable acts.
Death for a brother has a glory all
of its own. It was best put by Mrs.
Louise Ransom who lost a son to
that battle. “In all humanity I say
that the dead here have their own
honor and nothing we say or do
here can detract from that.”
President Carter’s healing act of
pardon has nothing whatsoever to
do with the adventures of these
heroes. Their deeds of generosity
and heroic valour will speak for
themselves. If the President’s
fulfilled promise unites and helps
forgive, and returns sons to
families, then let us be alive with
joy. Let us be thankful for
wounds healed and scars gone. Let
us be grateful for a new President
with this new thought.
But in such a proud way, let us
be grateful to the clowns. When
the fear struck cold and we were
ready for panic, they were there,
sent in with their funny faces,
their mock attire and their
reassuring powerful presence.
Women’s Ordination Declaration
A CHARMING VISITOR TO Archbishop Donnellan’s office last week
was Lori Berger, poster child of the Atlanta Association for Retarded
Citizens. Six-and-one-half year old Lori is one of the 42,000 persons in the
metro Atlanta who will benefit from the Read-A-Thon endorsed by the
archbishop for use in all parochial schools. Students will solicit bids and
collect money for each book they read during the month of February.
Sister Valentina Sheridan, Superintendent of Catholic Schools, is
chairman for the Read-A-Thon. Last year, students in parochial schools
raised almost $4,000.
ANNUAL DRIVE
Your Charity Working
Contributions to the eighth annual
Archdiocesan Charities Drive to be held
this year on March 6 help to fund the
Department of Catholic Social Services
and its Office of Community Affairs.
This office has as its principal function
that of liaison with the larger civic and
religious community and lends support
in those efforts which effect change in
accordance with the social teachings of
the Church. The office also attempts to
build relationships within the Catholic
community, uniting those of different
ethnic, racial, and geographic origins in
programs beneficial to all.
The principal direction of this office
is taken from the task force for
Community Affairs of the board of
Catholic Social Services. Its outreach
activities include collaborating with
other churches and synagogues in
educational and action projects for
establishing peace and justice. One
example of such involvement is an
in-depth reflection and action
project on the politics of world hunger
scheduled for the first five months of
1977. The initial session was held
January 25 at the Catholic Center and
led by Sister Lorraine Polacci from the
National Office of Bread for the World.
Another responsibility of this office
is to enable the Catholic Church to
maintain a visible and viable presence in
the legislative arena in order to protect
the dignity of human life. Concern for
the unborn, maternal and infant care,
adequate educational opportunities and
welfare for the poor and the powerless
are some of the endeavors of the
division of Community Affairs.
Monitoring legislation on the national
and state level requires continual
research and vigilance. This necessiates
communication with and information
from such organizations as the Peace
and Justice Commission of the USCC,
the Center for Concern and Network,
the League of Women Voters and from
such person as Cheatham Hodges of the
Georgia State Catholic Conference.
The Division of Community Affairs
sponsors the Atlanta chapter of the
Gray Panthers, an organization of
elderly persons committed to dispelling
the myth of ageism and to speaking out
on social issues. At present the group is
serving as an advocacy group for better
transportation for senior citizens in the
Atlanta area and for better nutritional
programs at various sites in the metro
area.
The most time-consuming work of
this office is the administration of
Project Rehab, a program for the
rehabilitation of the homes of the
elderly poor. This project is now made
possible through grants from the
Atlanta Regional Council and the Older
Americans Act and also from
Community Development monies.
Approximately fifty homes have been
brought up to city code standards
through this program; this year’s
funding will make it possible to
undertake the renovation of 50
additional homes.
Much of the responsibility for
carrying through the five-year plan of
the American bishops resulting from the
recommendations of the delegates to
the Call-to-Action Conference in Detroit
last October will be shared and led by
this office of Community Affairs. Since
the conference many feedback and
discussion sessions have been held in all
parts of Atlanta to acquaint the
archdiocese with the final
recommendations of the Bicentennial
efforts. Copies of the recommendations
are available through the office for
Community Affairs and arrangements
for input from the delegates can be
made by a call to the director.
More ecumenical and civic
involvement on the part of the Church
will be required as together Christians
and Jews approach the major problems
facing the modern world. Within the
Catholic Community this will require
the coordinated efforts of all through a
responsible central office of Community
Affairs.
WASHINGTON - The Vatican’s
Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of
the Faith has reaffirmed that the
Catholic Church “in fidelity to the
example of the Lord, does not consider
herself authorized” to ordain women to
the priesthood.
Basing this conclusion on the
example of Christ and the apostles as
well as the teaching and practice of the
Church, the doctrinal congregation
stated: “This norm . . . has been and is
still observed because it is considered to
conform to God’s plan for His Church.”
The congregation’s Declaration on
the Question of the Admission of
Women to the Ministerial Priesthood
was signed by its Prefect, Franjo
Cardinal Seper, and its Secretary,
Archbishop Jerome Hamer, O.P. The
5,000-word document was approved by
Pope Paul VI in an audience with
Cardinal Seper last October 15 and
made public in Rome today (January
27).
The Declaration deals only with the
question of ordaining women to the
priesthood. A commentary released at
the time of the Declaration’s
publication by the Congregation for the
Doctrine of the Faith says that body has
determined that the question of
whether women can be ordained as
deacons “should be kept for the future
and not touched upon in the present
document.”
In a statement issued here,
Archbishop Joseph L. Bemardin of
Cincinnati, President of the National
Conference of Catholic Bishops, asked
those who would be disappointed by
the Declaration’s conclusion to “read,
study, and pray over this document in
order to discern how much more,
beyond a simple prohibition, it is really
saying to us all.”
He said the Declaration’s “negative
conclusion is not founded ... on
lingering notions of male superiority.”
Instead, “the Church today fully
recognizes the equality of women and
men, repudiates unjust discrimination
based on sex, and encourages efforts to
bring women increasingly into roles of
leadership in the Church,” he said.
As a result, he said, “the need to
identify and open up new ministerial
and decision-making roles for women in
the Church becomes more urgent, not
less, in light of this Declaration.”
BvjU-ftilYS
Pioneer Relief Worker Dies
ROME (NC) - German Msgr. Carlo Bayer, a pioneer in modem Church relief work
and organizer of the 1969 airlift to Biafra, died here Jan. 16. The 61-year-old
churchman served for almost 20 years as secretary general of Caritas Internationalis.
Meeting Cancellation Protested
RIO DE JANEIRO (NC) - The Catholic Missionary Council (CIMI) protested here
the government cancellation of an ongoing meeting of Indian chiefs sponsored by the
Church at remote Roramia territory. CIMI’s chairman Bishop Thomas Balduino of
Goias, said interference by the National Indian Foundation was “without precedent
and unwarranted.”
Committee To Review Progress
BALTIMORE (NC) - Archbishop William D. Borders of Baltimore has appointed a
committee to review the progress of the fund-raising branch of the Pallottine Fathers
here in meeting archdiocesan guidelines on fund-raising issued last spring. The
archbishop announced the appointment of the committee as Maryland Attorney
General Francis B. Burch informed the state’s Board of Public Works that a Baltimore
grand jury will issue hundreds of subpoenas in an investigation of the fund-raising
activities of the Pallottines.
Egan Associate Attorney General
Our congratulations go to Representative Michael J. Egan, Georgia House
Minority Leader, who has been named Associate Attorney General of the
United States. Representative Egan authored our first article of the “Focal
Point” series last week. He and his family are members of Cathedral parish.
Noting the ecumenical problem
created by the “substantial diversity of
belief and practice among Christians”
on the subject of women’s ordination,
Archbishop Bemardin said Catholics
“nevertheless . . . remain committed to
ecumenical dialogue and collaboration.”
The NCCB President urged
“sensitive, prayerful reflection on the
meaning of such realities as priesthood,
ministry, sacrament, and the Church.”
In a brief conclusion, the document
rejects the argument that the equality of
the natural rights of women and men
means women have a right to priestly
ordination. “To consider the ministerial
priesthood as a human right would be to
misjudge its character completely,” it
says.
Although some women feel they
have a vocation to the priesthood, it
adds, “a vocation cannot be reduced to
Archbishop Bernardin’s Statement-Page 2
He said this would help one see “that
the Church’s inability to ordain women
as priests has nothing to do with sexual
discrimination” and would make more
clear the “many distinct but
complementary ministries within the
Church” open to women and men.
The Vatican Declaration is divided
into two major parts. The first is an
examination of “the Church’s constant
tradition,” described as normative and
based on the example of Christ and the
Church of apostolic times, as well as its
own unbroken practice of not ordaining
women.
The second part is a theological
reflection which the Declaration
explicitly states is not a “demonstrative
argument.” Here the document
suggests that the role of a priest as
representative or “sign” of Christ in
celebrating the Eucharist and
administering the sacraments rules out
the admission of women to the
priesthood.
a mere personal attraction . . . Since the
priesthood is a particular ministry of
which the Church has received the
charge and control, authentication by
the Church is indispensable here and is a
constitutive part of the vocation.”
The Declaration states:
“It therefore remains for us to
meditate more deeply on the nature of
the real equality of the baptized which
is one of the great affirmations of
Christianity: equality is in no way
identity, for the Church is a
differentiated body, in which each
individual has his or her role.
“The roles are distinct, and must not
be confused; they do not favor the
superiority of some vis-a-vis the others,
nor do they provide an excuse for
jealousy; the only better gift, which can
and must be desired, is love (cf. 1 Cor.
12-13). The greatest in the Kingdom of
Heaven are not the ministers but the
saints.”
Respect Life Day Successful;
Plans For Local Group Begin
Almost 400 people attended the Respect Life Day held at Immaculate Heart of
Mary parish on Saturday, January 22. The day-long workshop was sponsored by the
Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women (ACCW) and attracted groups from parishes
across the archdiocese. Archbishop Donnellan and a large number of priests
participated.
The keynote speaker was Mrs. Rosemary Anton Meyer, President of the Board of
Directors for the National Committee for a Human Life Amendment. Mrs. Meyer is an
attorney in Phoenix, Arizona.
In her address, Mrs. Meyer told the participants that “action” is the keyword as we
work toward sanity and achieve respect for life in our society. Appropriately, her
address was entitled, “What We Are Called To Be: What We Are Called To Do.”
The day was spent in workshop discussions of the topics. Film presentations were
also made. Many young people showed their interest and expressed their anxiousness
to go to work to accomplish the Human Life Amendment in Congress.
Archbishop Donnellan was principal celebrant at the Liturgy which concluded the
day. Twenty priests from parishes across the archdiocese concelebrated.
As a result of the day, the archbishop spoke to the organizers concerning an
on-going Respect Life program in the archdiocese.
Mrs. McDaniel of Immaculate Heart of Mary parish along with Mrs. Ruth Maguire
of Holy Spirit parish was chairman for the day.
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PARTICIPANTS IN THE RESPECT LIFE DAY sponsored by
ACCW took part in a series of workshops such as one above.