Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 7—February 17, 1977
Pope Wants New Church Law To Reflect Renewal
VATICAN CITY (NC) - The new
Code of Canon Law, when it is
completed, should not be a mere
revision of the old law but should be a
new instrument to promote the life of
the Church according to the vision of
the Second Vatican Council, Pope Paul
VI said in an address here.
Speaking to members of the Roman
Rota, high Church court, after a Mass
opening the Rota’s judicial year, the
Pope stressed that the law should serve,
not dominate, and that its primary goal
is justice.
He called for flexibility in the law to
account for cultural pluralism and urged
the promotion of personal responsibility
rather than blind obedience.
At the same time, he said, there are
times when the good of the entire
community may demand strict
measures, and conscientious objection
can have no place in Church law.
The current Code of Canon Law, the
collection of legislation governing the
Western Church, dates back to 1917. A
Vatican commission to revise the whole
code has been working on the project
since 1963.
The Pope spoke at length in Latin to
the Rota judges, assistants and the
lawyers admitted to practice before the
high court. Most of the lawyers are
laymen, and many were accompanied
by their wives and families at the
audience.
“The principal concern,” said the
Pope, “must be how to make the
protection of justice more perfect. For
everyone recognizes that the domain of
human rights is greatly enlarged and
that human dignity is seen in a clearer
light.”
Noting that Church laws are meant
to sustain and nourish the life of the
Church community, Pope Paul said,
“These laws are not ends in themselves,
but, rather, are instruments whereby the
goods entrusted by God to the Church
may be shared among the faithful in
a way that is both ordinary and, at the
same time, orderly.”
Laws, he said, are meant to assure
peace between mankind and God as
well as among the people themselves.
“It is for this reason,” he continued,
“that the (Second Vatican) Council
deliberately set forth that Church law
should be an instrument of her spiritual
life, thus reaffirming the union between
spirit and law, between the charismatic
and the institutional Church, as the
expressions goes, so that in the very
mystery of the Church is contained a
truly hierarchial institution that
includes various gradations among the
People of God.”
The teaching and ordering authority
in the Church community is unique, he
said, because it is exercised by human
offices and laws that are primarily
spiritual and supernatural, and thus
different from purely human
institutions.
The Pope stressed that the new code
must offer strong safeguards for justice.
Encuentros Matrimoniales
POR: LUIS Y LOURDES MUNOZ
Hace dos anos, nosotros tuvimos la
oportunidad de hacer un Encuentro
Matrimonial en Troy, New York, donde
residiamos en aquel tiempo. Teniamos
un buen matrimonio y decidimos ir mas
bien por curiosidad, y porque nos
gustaba la idea de pasamos un fin de
semana juntos. Ultimamente nos parecia
que nunca teniamos tiempo para
nosotros dos.
Ese fin de semana ha tenido un
profundo significado para nosotros y
nuestros hijos. Nuestra relacion como
esposos ha cambiado. No es ya un mero
convivir, sino que ha pasado a ser algo
mas especial y profundo. Y estamos
ansiosos de compartir con ustedes
hoy, lo que es, y el porque de los
Encuentros Matrimoniales.
QUE ES UN ENCUENTRO
MATRIMONIAL?
El Encuentro Matrimonial es la
experiencia de un fin de semana cuyo
proposito es introducir una tecnica
nueva para el mejoramiento de la
communicaeion entre los esposos. El
Encuentro no es un retiro, ni una clinica
matrimonial. Es un programa unico
dirigido a revitalizar matrimonios
cristianos, ayundando a las parejas a
hacer de un buen matrimonio, uno
mejor aun.
El fin de semana esta estructurado
especificamente para que cada pareja
pueda dedicarse a compartir
mutuamente de una manera intima y
personal, lejos de los hijos y las
distracciones y tensiones de la vida
diaria. Durante el Encuentro no hay
discusion ni comentario de grupo. Un
equipo compuestro de parejas
entrenadas y un sacerdote presentan una
serie de charlas. Cada charla le permite a
esposo y esposa mirarse a si mismos
como personas individuales, como
pareja en su relacion matrimonial, y
finalmente su relacion con Dios, la
Iglesia y el mundo.
El Encuentro comienza con el amor
que cada uno de nosotros sentimos
hacia nuestro conyuge, y nos ayuda a
desarrollar y profundizar nuestra
relacion. El Encuentro nos ensena como
hacerlo y nos provee de los medios de
llevarlo a cabo. El resto depende de
nosotros. El Encuentro Matrimonial es
para cualquier pareja casada que desee
enriquercer su matrimonio, no importa
cual sea su edad, raza, religion o clase
social. Es para buenos matrimonios,
para que se hagan mejores aun.
Y cuanto cuesta hacer un Encuentro?
El dinero no es impedimento para hacer
un Encuentro. Con la reservacion se
St. Jude’s Adult Education Series
The Winter Series of Adult Education at St. Jude’s Catholic Church is underway
with some relevant programs and discussions scheduled through the Lenten Season.
“Death and Dying,” a series of four sessions, will be given on Sunday mornings at
9:30 a.m. by Sister M. E. McSorley, RSM, in the school library. Dr. Elisabeth
Kubler-Ross’ publications and her book “Death, the Final Stage of Growth” will be
discussed. This series begins February 27.
Evenings for Couples from Serendipity and Marriage Encounter will be presented
four Tuesday nights during Lent beginning March 1. Presentations and discussions will
be given by four Marriage Encounter couples on Listening, Decision-Making, Fighting
and Healing. Registration is required,'call 3944588. Evenings for Parents is also being
planned for later in the year.
Wednesday mornings at 9:30 during Lent a Scripture Study of the Gospels will be
led by Father Robert Dyer, M.S. This study will begin March 2 in the rectory living
room.
Efforts are being made at St. Jude’s to provide spiritual and social opportunities for
the 18-26 year old single members of the parish. For more information call Bea
Ollinger at 394-4588.
Deadlines In Eternity?
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (NC) -- Are there
deadlines in eternity? Probably not. But
there will be one every week at Time
and Eternity, which is what the Western
Catholic, Springfield diocesan
newspaper, will be calling itself from
now on.
There will be other changes at the
newspaper, too. It will no longer be a
member of the Our Sunday Visitor
chain, replacing the Sunday Visitor
supplement with features and the Know
Your Faith religious education series
published by NC News Service.
But it isAhe new title that prompted
Bishop Joseph McNicholas to answer
the question, “What’s in a name” in a
front page column Jan. 30.
“Why Time and Eternity?” the
bishop asked.
“First, we publish in time, reporting
the news currently happening in the
Church, and the secular news which
affects the life of the Church. In the
good sense, we strive to be a ‘now’
publication. Hence, the word time in
our title.
“Secondly,” he continued, “we
publish to help our readers to spend
their ‘now,’ their time, in a way that
will prepare them for the reality of
eternity. A secular publication
occasionally looks at the implication of
today’s events in the light of the next
50 or 100 years. We endeavor to report
the news, to comment on it and to
discuss its implications in the light of
eternity.
“In brief, we publish in time, but
with an awareness of eternity.”
piden $10 para separar la habitacion.
Durante el fin de semana cada pareja
recibe un sobre en bianco, y se les pide
que hagan una donacion anonima, de
acuerdo con sus medios y lo que haya
representado para ellos el Fin de
Semana. A nadie se le niega la
oportunidad de hacer el Encuentro por
falta de dinero.
PORQUE LOS ENCUENTROS
MATRIMONIALES?
Los Padres del Segundo Concilio
Vaticano, en la introduccion a la
“Constitucion Pastoral de la Iglesia en el
Mundo Modemo” senalaron que “Los
apostolados de familia y de personas
casadas son de importancia primaria
para la Iglesia y la socidad civil”.
Tambien dijeron que “A traves de los
momentos de jubilo y de sacrificio de su
vocacion, y por medio de su amor fiel,
las personas casadas se convierten en
testigos del misterio de amor que el
Senor ha revelado al mundo”. San Pablo
en su Carta a los Efesios (ef. 5:28-33)
sin ningun rodeo nos dice que la manera
en que la comunidad de los creyentes -
La Iglesia - es amada por Jesus se revela
en la manera en que los esposos y
esposas en la Iglesia se relacionan.
En el mundo de hoy es obvio el
estado deplorable en que se encuentra el
matrimonio como institucion. Y esa
reduccion en el numero de ejemplos
vivos del verdadero amor conyugal Ueva
consigo una disminucion del nivel de
comprension del mensaje evangelico de
“Amaos los unos a los otros como Yo
los he amado”, y la habilidad de muchos
para incorporarlo en su vida diaria. Y de
aqui proviene el resquebrajamiento de
la familia, el numero creciente de
divorcios y abortos, y la disminucion de
las practicas religiosas y la recepcion de
los sacramentos.
La Familia Mundial de los
Encuentros Matrimoniales tiene pues
una razon de ser; la renovacion del
Sacramento del Matrimonio; de la
unidad basica de los esposos. La
sociedad en que vivimos demanda
mucho de hombres y mujeres. Demanda
tiempo y energia para el trabajo, los
ninos, la casa, entretenimiento,
actividades comunitarias. Pero que hace
esa sociedad para solidificar, para
alimentar y enriquecer lo mas basico en
sus vidas como personas humanas - su
relacion como esposos? Dios ha querido
que los esposos se amen de verdad, y
que transmitan ese amor al mundo que
los rodea. Esto es lo que pretenden los
“Encuentros Matrimoniales”.
He added, “In the Church it is proper
that ‘Everything should be done
honestly and in an orderly fashion’ (1
Cor. 14:40). Therefore, there is no place
for objections based on conscience,
which would destroy ecclesiastical
obedience.”
He said that the new code “must
avoid the deadly separation between the
spirit and the institution, between
theology and law, because both the law
itself and the pastoral office must be
understood as pertaining to the peace of
Christ which is the fruit of a justice that
is not human, but divine.”
The new code, he continued, must
recognize that the community of the
Church is composed of both pastors and
laity, “who must not be regarded
merely as subjects, but rather as
cooperators of the hierarchy, to whom
they should offer helpful service.”
Juridical power in the new code, the
Pope said, must not seem to dominate
the whole life of the Church. It must
serve the life of the community, he said,
mksm
leaving to each person the responsible
liberty needed to build up the Body of
Christ.
Only when the unity and peace of
the entire ecclesial community requires
it, he added, should more stringent
regulations be passed.
He also said the new code should
accommodate more fully cultural
pluralism throughout the world, but at
the same time it should always hold fast
to the unity of belief and of shared life
in the church.
Conscientious responsibility is
preferrable to servile fulfillment of
precepts, the Pope said. The new code,
he explained, should not impose
obligations when instructions,
persuasions and encouragements suffice
to achieve the goals of the Church.
Addressing prohibitions and
penalities, Pope Paul said, “The new
code should not lightly include laws
prohibiting acts or penalizing persons,
except in cases where the object of such
laws is of great moment or when they
are necessary for the common good and
Church discipline.”
There must be room for suitable
discretionary power, he continued, but
this must absolutely exclude
any arbitrariness.
The right of appeal from decisions to
higher tribunals, said the Pope, must be
guaranteed and effective, yet seasoned
with moderation. Without moderation,
he added, justice itself could be harmed.
“By its nature,” he continued, “a
trial is something public, but justice
itself can demand that some be
conducted in secret.”
He also urged that automatic
penalties be stringently limited and that
normally judicial sentences be required
before any penalty is incurred.
Concluding, the Pope said, “Passage
of even the best laws will never achieve
their purposes unless people, who
follow them as norms, themselves
embrace the goal of the legislation.”
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BANANA BATTLE - Two year olds Terry Lyn Van than a toy and this sequence shows how Damiati’Comes
DerGiesen (left) and Damian DeGruccio of Glendale, out top banana. (NC Photos by Paul DeGruccio)
Ariz., both know that a banana is a better possession
Sponsorship Of TV Violence Cut
MILWAUKEE (NC) - Responding to
shareholder complaints from 10
Catholic religious orders, four major
U.S. corporations have agreed to curtail
sponsorship of television programs
which will feature gratuitous or
excessive violence.
Capuchin Father Michael Crosby
reported that the Colgate-Palmolive,
Eastman Kodak, Gillette and Sears
Roebuck have assented. The religious
orders, which are members of the
National Catholic Coalition for
Responsible Investment, have been
working through the Interfaith Center
on Corporate Responsibility, a New
York-based agency.
Terming it the most significant
victory in the three-year history of the
coalition, Father Crosby indicated it
would encourage efforts to bring other
corporations into line.
“Gratuitous and excessive” violence
was described by the priest as that
which could not be considered part of
any legitimate story line. He said recent
studies have found a growing
connection between the portrayal of
violence on television and violent
behavior by some of the people who see
it.
Meanwhile, Dr. Richard E. Palmer,
president of the American Medical
Association, announced in Chicago that
he has asked the leaders of 10 major
corporations to review advertising
policies that support TV shows
containing the most prime time
violence.
“TV violence is a mental health
problem and an environmental issue,”
he said. “If the programming a child is
Need For Pro-Life Amendment Stressed
ST. LOUIS (NC) - If the U.S.
Supreme Court were to reverse its 1973
abortion decision tomorrow, it would
not lessen the drive by pro-life groups
for a human life amendment to the
Constitution, according to Dr. Mildred
Jefferson.
Dr. Jefferson, a Boston surgeon and
president of the National Right to Life
Committee, was here for a meeting of
the St. Louis University board of
trustees, of which she has been a
member since last April. She also gave a
talk at the Bush Memorial Center
sponsored by the St. Louis University
pro-life organization.
In an interview, Dr. Jefferson said,
“Our objective remains to pass a human
life amendment, to protect life from its
beginning to end, protect the elderly,
the incapacitated, the inadequate,
inconvenient or whatever is considered
socially undesirable - protect them
from whatever fate may befall them
from those who simply feel they should
not be here.
“So that if a Supreme Court decision
were handed down tomorrow which
reversed the abortion decisions, we still
would try to secure an amendment
because we know that another court,
sitting at another time, could simply
undo it all again,” the surgeon
continued.
“And we do not feel that the court
has any right to define a biological being
in existence as a nonperson in the eyes
of the law, thus allowing it to be
destroyed,” she said.
Dr. Jefferson described pro-life
organizations as doing well across the
country and said their recent focus has
been to “get new people elected to the
U.S. Congress.” Those efforts have met
with success, she said, and she noted
that a human life amendment
formulated by the legal advisory 7
committee of the National Right to Life
Committee was introduced recently in
the House of Representatives by Rep.
James L. Oberstar (D-Minn.).
“And there are many more legislators
who have signed statements that they
will vote for the amendment who are
not on the initial sponsorship,” Dr.
Jefferson said.
“We have the signed statement from
the new Speaker of the House, Thomas
P. (Tip) O’Neill, Jr., that he would
sponsor and vote for our human life
amendment in the 95th Congress. We
know it is not customary for the
Speaker to sponsor any legislation,
however we know there is that influence
of the Speaker which can get things
moving,” Dr. Jefferson said. Moreover,
with an eye toward history, the Speaker
might be willing to break precedent to
sponsor “the most noteworthy
legislation that he could be associated
with in this or any century,” she added.
At the grass-roots level Dr. Jefferson
said the pro-life organizations are also
doing well. “However, it is well to
remember that good intentions are not
going to carry the day. Good intentions
are fine, but not enough. For the
grass-roots movement to be effective it
has to learn to be politically effective.
“We have to buy the time politically
even to do the education that people
think is so necessary. Education is
necessary, but people have to
understand that in general voting
decisions are not made on people’s
knowledge; they make them on their
emotions and the needs that they sense
or feel at that time. The weight of the
court’s decisions and their effectiveness
in promoting abortion, have taken away
our time; we don’t have time to reach a
public and educate it.
“What we have to do is buy the time
politically even to have the time to
educate people, to try to encounter the
trend that has been promoted,” Dr.
Jefferson said.
One of the pro-life movement’s
problems is a media which does not
accurately or fairly reflect both sides of
the issue, she said. Dr. Jefferson said the
Midwest was “fortunate to have
newspapers which do act fairly in
presenting the issue. But on the two
coasts and in network reporting they
have been very biased.”
She disputed media figures which
placed the number of pro-lifers in
Wasington for the Jan. 22 March for
Life at 40,000, calling the turnout “the
largest ever, more than 100,000, I’m
sure.” The 40,000 estimate was made
by U.S. Capitol Police.
“But no matter what those numbers
were, if those at the Washington march
do not do their homework politically,
then the actual number really doesn’t
matter. What’s important is that their
elected officials notice they were
there,” Dr. Jefferson said.
In a recent court action, the
Massachusetts Supreme Court upheld a
state law requiring unwed minors to
seek parental consent for abortions but
allowing them to appeal to a superior
court when such permission has been
refused.
Dr. Jefferson was reminded that last
summer the U.S. Supreme Court, in a
Missouri case (Planned Parenthood v.
Danforth), said that the state could not
require parental consent for an
unmarried girl under 18 who seeks an
abortion.
Nonetheless, Dr. Jefferson said she is
confident the Massachusetts ruling will
survive the likely appeal to the U.S.
Supreme Court because the statute
“enables the teenager to go to court if
one of the parents, or both, object. So
the judge of the superior court can issue
an order which will allow for an
abortion over the parents’ objection. In
the Missouri case the parents were given
an absolute power,” she said.
exposed to consists largely of violent
content, then his perceptions of the real
world may be significantly distorted and
his psychological development may be
adversely affected.”
Dr. Palmer also called upon television
networks to reexamine their policies
regarding violence. “TV has been quick
to raise questions of social responsibility
with industries which pollute the air. In
my opinion, television through its access
to air waves may be creating a more
serious problem of air pollution.”
According to Dr. Palmer, “the
American people should be concerned
with the types of values and role models
the media is presenting to a vast,
youthful audience whose perceptions of
society and reality and whose value
systems are clearly in early
development.”
Father Crosby said here that moral
persuasion was the key to the religious
coalitions success with the corporations.
Its collective stock holdings in the four
corporations are small, he said.
During 1975. the four corporations
spent a total of $217 million on
television advertising. Figures for 1976
have not been compiled.
Father Crosby agreed that the
corporations did not directly sponsor
programs rated high in violence. What
they do, he said, is buy a set amount of
time and leave it up to the networks or
their advertising agencies to make
effective insertions.
Sears Roebuck was listed as fourth in
the number of advertisements
connected wth violence. Eastman
Kodak came out fifth and
Colgate-Palmolive, 10th. The ratings
originated from a study made by the
National Citizens Committee for
Broadcasting. Father Crosby said the
committee would continue to monitor
television in respect to violence and its
findings would be the key to further
action by the religious communities.
The corporations involved all
considering themselves “family
oriented” according to the priest.
Eastman Kodak was “embarrassed” by
studies linking it with violence while
Sears Roebuck said it shared the rising
concern about “the increasing violence
on television.”
Father Crosby said the next targets
for anti-violence statements are
McDonald’s and the Joseph Schlitz
Brewing Co.
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