Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 6—The Georgia Bulletin, July 19,1979
CA TECHE TIC A L DIREC TOR Y
Praise And Criticism Greet Discussion Guide
SERVICE TO POOR
RECOGNIZED - Mother Teresa of
Calcutta, a Missionary of Charity, is
presented with credentials by Father
Arthur E. Rodgers, the academic
dean of St. Charles Borromeo
Seminary, Philadelphia. Cardinal
John Krol was the presiding officer.
Mother Teresa received the honorary
degree in recognition of her service
to the poorest of the world’s poor.
WASHINGTON (NC) -
The discussion guide to
the National Catechetical
Directory, designed as a
teaching tool for religious
educators, is being praised
in some quarters and
criticized in others.
About 4,000 copies of
the guide, published by
the National Conference
of Diocesan Directors of
Religious Education -
CCD (NCDD), have been
distributed through NCDD
members.
The directory, the guide
is based on, was published
in March after five years of
consultation. It governs
the content and methods
of Catholic teaching at all
levels in the United States
and is an official statement
of the National
Conference of Catholic
Bishops.
The guide, which does
not have the same official
standing, was written by
Father Thomas F.
S u11ivan, assistant
professor of religion and
religious studies at The
Catholic University of
America, who summarized
each chapter of the
directory, provided
discussion questions and
suggested additional
readings.
“It’s intended to be a
very simple instrument,”
said Father Robert
Stamschror, former
executive secretary of the
NCDD and representative
for religious education at
the U.S. Catholic
Conference. “It’s a handy
tool for discussion
leaders.”
“In the summaries I
tried to be extremely
objective. I tried to say
just what the directory
said, but obviously you
can’t put everything in,”
Father Sullivan said of his
efforts to capsulize the
almost 200-page
document.
He said in his approach
to the d i s cussion
questions, “I tried to think
of the people on the parish
level. I tried to envision
them and ask ‘What does
this say to them? What
sort of questions should
they be kicking around?’
‘‘The discussion
questions are not
‘retrieval’ questions,”
Father Sullivan said.
“They’re not just to get
people to look at the text.
They’re to stimulate
agreement or disagree
ment; they are not just to
make you go back and
find the answers.”
Discussion questions
range from “How do
people grow in faith?” to
more controversial ones
such as ‘ ‘ ‘The
authoritative moral
teachings of the
church . . . are to be
regarded as certain and
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binding norms.’ Does this
mean that a Catholic must
blindly follow the official
teaching of the Church?”
‘‘I consider it
subversive,” Patrick Riley,
associate editor of the
National Catholic Register
said of the guide. The
Register published two
columns and an editorial
critical of the guide.
Riley said the
discussion guide was trying
to “overturn the principles
in the National
Catechetical Directory,
which was published after
the broadest canvassing of
Catholics in American
history.”
He called questioning
one of the most effective
ways of destroying a
position and said any
position can be weakened
by what he termed
tendentious questioning.
Father Michael J.
Wrenn, director of the
Archdiocesan Catechetical
Institute masters program
in religious education at
St. Joseph Seminary,
Dunwoodie, Yonkers,
N.Y., also objected. He
said, “Unfortunately, a
number of questions
contained in the discussion
guide are, to put it
frankly, loaded and seek
to reinstate positions
which the directory had
rejected.
“The use of the
discussion guide could
easily allow a discussion
leader to go far beyond,
and in certain cases even
contradict, the teaching of
the directory and resurface
a number of issues which
were considered officially
clarified or settled by the
bishops of this country
who issued this
document,” he said.
Jesuit Father Robert
Bradley, assistant director
of the Institute for
Advanced Studies in
Catholic Doctrine at St.
John’s University, N.Y.
also questioned the
discussion questions.
As examples which
undermine the NCD, he
cited: “Do the truths of
the faith change? Why do
doctrinal formilations
sometimes change? Can
you think of any church
teachings (i.e. not just
disciplinary laws) which
have changed in recent
years?” and “What is
meant by Infallibility? Are
papal definitions a
frequent occurence? Why
should a Catholic be
disposed to accept the
church’s teachings even
when it is not given
infallibly? Can the official
noninfallible teaching of
the church ever be
erroneous?”
He added that it was
the tone, more than
individual questions, that
he objected to.
“The question and
discussion format is an
educational method to
better understand the
meaning and directions
that are in the directory,”
according to Father
Stamschror. He said critics
of the directory do not
understand the use of
questioning as an
educational tool.
‘‘They’re not
comfortable with the
questioning technique.
They see it as a
confrontation of authority
rather than an educational
technique,” he said.
“The questions are to
be used by a leader or
professional person as
guides for discussion.
They’re for people who
know the directory to use
it, digest it, grasp it
enough to implement it.
There’s a lot of
b ackground in the
directory and it takes a lot
of discussion and dialogue
to grasp the nuances, the
meaning,’’ Father
Stamschror said.
Father Sullivan said,
“Some people don’t want
to admit the text is
ambiguous on some
points. They want to look
at the National
Catechetical Directory as
closing the door on all new
developments. They are
disappointed that the
doors aren’t all closed.”
Sister Mariella Frye,
coordinator for the
implementation of the
NCD, said she sees no
intent to subvert the
directory.
“I didn’t get that at all
from my reading. I think
its intent is to move
people to think things out,
to give them deeper
insight,” said Sister Frye,
who was associate director
of the five-year NCD
project.
La ACU En Atlanta
POR:
MANUEL P. ANTON HI
La Agrupacion Catolica
Universitaria fue fundada
en los principios de los
anos treinta, en La
Habana, Cuba, por el
padre jesuita Felipe Rey
de Castro, quien
habiendose dado cuenta de
la necesidad de fonnacion
religiosa de los jovenes
universitarios, emprendio
la inmensa labor de
subsanar esa deficiencia. El
padre Rey y seis jovenes
universitarios comenzaron
una comunidad cristiana,
que crecio en numero y
proposito con gran fuerza.
A1 morir el padre Rey en
el ano 1952, el padre
Amando Llorente S.J., fue
llamado a continuar la
obra, como su nuevo
director. Despues, el exilio
determino que la ACU
estableciera su nueva base
en Miami, Fla. y que la
diaspora de agrupados por
todas partes del mundo,
creara varias otras bases de
operacion dependientes de
la casa central.
La Agrupacion no solo
forma jovenes
universitarios en la
doctrina de nuestra Iglesia
Catolica, sino que tambien
se ocupa de extender su
labor apostolica. Los
agrupados se tratan como
verdaderos hermanos que
son, en Cristo, mientras se
proponen alcanzar como
meta el ser lideres
profesionales, que den
ejemplo de vida cristiana
en sus trabajos y en la
comunidad donde viven.
En Septiembre de
1978, tres jovenes latinos
de Atlanta, que habian
oido hablar de la ACU a
sus padres o amigos, se
animaron a participar de
un re tiro ignaciano para
jovenes agrupados en
Miami, Fla. El impacto
que recibieron fue tan
profundo, que la idea de
fundar un grupo de la
ACU en Atlanta, fue la
clara conclusion. La
fratemidad y espirituali-
dad experimentada entre
los agrupados de Miami los
inspiraban, a pesar de las
limitaciones de la
distancia. El padre
Llorente, siempre
entusiasta y creyente en la
fuerza de la vocacion
agrupacional, los alento y
sugirio que le pidieran a
Jesus Leon, agrupado
residente en Atlanta y
lider catolico de la
comunidad, que fuera el
instructor y jefe del nuevo
grupo.
Dios lo querio y Jesus
Leon acepto contento.
Casi un ano despues, ya
somos dieciseis miembros,
incluyendo los seis
agrupados congregantes
que vivian en Atlanta antes
de fundarse el grupo.
Ser agrupado requiere
tiempo y esfuerzo.
Primero se es visitante y
despues de cuatro semanas
seguidas de asistencia a las
reuniones, se adquiere el
estado de postulante. Seis
meses mas de asistencia a
las reuniones, asimilando
el modo de vida
cristiana-apostolica, y un
retiro ignaciano, son
necesarios para llegar a
aspirante. Una pequena
medalla de la Virgen indica
que el joven se ha
dedicado al servicio de la
Iglesia. De aquj en
adelante, otro ano de
continuado esfuerzo y un
retiro mas son necesarios,
antes de que el aspirante
sea considerado capaz de
tomar un examen de
Telogia y de poder decidir
si quiere aceptar su
vocacion de congregante
para el resto de su vida.
La Agrupacion de
Atlanta se reune todos los
sabados. Se comienza la
reunion con una discusion
teologica que varia: un
capitulo de un libro que
estemos estudiando en ese
momento, una dicusion de
la ultima Enciclica del
Papa, una instruceion para
aspirantes dada por Jesus
Leon, etc. A continuacion
se reza el Rosario a la
Virgen y oimos una cinta
grabada en la reunion
semanal de la casa de
Miami, que nos envia el
padre Llorente. Se
discuten entonces asuntos
generales y se termina
cantando el himno de la
Agrupacion. Una vez
terminada la reunion, la
fratemidad de los
miembros determina en
muchos casos, una
actividad social o
deportiva.
Para los agrupados, la
comunidad cristiana
agrupacional se hace el
centra de nuestras vidas, y
como cristianos y
agrupados tratamos de
vivir, siguiendo el mensaje
de nuestro himno:
. ..“ Nuestra espada
invencible, la ciencia;
nuestro firme troquel,
la oracion;
el honor mas preciado,
servir
y el descanso, vivir en
accion”.
Aviso
COMENZANDO EL PRIMER DOMINGO DE
AGOSTO LA MISA EN ESPANOL DE LA IGLESIA
DEL SAGRADO CORAZON SE CELEBRARA A LA
1:30 P.M.
GEORGIA BULLETIN
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