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Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta
Vol. 17 No. 29
Thursday, August 23,1979
$6 Per Year
John Paul II Sets Sight On China
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The Rabbi
The word jumps at you. It jumps
clean off the card offered to you by
this pert and pretty young woman. It
says, Beverly J. Lemer - Rabbi.
RABBI!
You look again and realize you
are speaking with Atlanta’s only
female Rabbi. But you better get
used to it. Thirty percent of all
classes ordained from the Hebrew
Union College in Cincinnati are
women.
It all began
in 1972, when
forerunner in
the field of
women-Rabbis,
Sally Priesand,
was ordained at
the Hebrew
Union College.
At that time
Beverly Lemer
was studying
journalism at
the University
of Texas at Austin. But all was not
well with this Jewish girt from
Kansas. Like Eliza of “My Fair
Lady” fame, Beverly wanted more
than mere words.
After some private study, thought
and prayer, the brave Miss Lemer
approached her Rabbi in Austin.
Somewhat apprehensive, like the
hungry Oliver Twist, she said “I want
to apply to the Hebrew Union
College and study for the
Rabbinate.” The answer was
explosively pleasant. “Why not -
sure.” And the adventure began.
Beverly’s Atlanta boss, Rabbi
Alvin Suggarman, chief Rabbi of the
Temple’s 1,500 families, went to the
college in Cincinnati early this year
searching for an assistant. His
open-minded search brought him
happily in touch with the radiantly
bright Rabbi Lemer. After coming to
Atlanta both Beverly and the Temple
congregation were more than
satisfied. Her mission began in July.
She was Assistant Rabbi.
Has she found acceptance in her
lofty pulpit position? “Most people
openly accept me and have
welcomed me,” says Beverly with a
smile, “but there has been a little
apprehension. The Temple
Congregation are wonderful people
and I love my duties. ”
The duties delightfully vary for
this rookie 28-year-old female
minister. Rabbi Lemer preaches in
her turn (there are three Rabbis at
the Temple) she counsels, teaches
adult education and takes the
conversion class. The Temple
averages about 40 converts a year.
She is also heavily involved in the
Temple’s Social Outreach
Appostolate.
Did women’s liberation lead
Beverly to her grand decision? “I
would hesitate to use the word
feminist in describing myself,” says
the Rabbi “but I am outspoken on
women’s issues and I do want equal
rights.”
Equality is something she has
received from her peers since arriving
in Atlanta one month ago. She is
already a member of the Atlanta
Rabbinical Association and attends
their meetings. “The Rabbis have
been most gracious,” says Beverly
“although orthodox Rabbis would be
unwilling to have me speak at their
services.”
Rabbi Lemer has no further plans
for formal study. Her ambition, like
every assistant pastor who ever lived,
is a congregation of her own, some
day. Obviously,' this talented young
minister, open and ready to reach
out to the community, will easily
fulfill her ambition.
One last note. Had she any
reservations about her new home in
Atlanta. “Oh no, I love Atlanta - but
where are the women priests?”
We ended the interview.
ATLANTA’S ONLY WOMAN RABBI, Beverly
Lemer, confers with Bishop William Cannon,
North Georgia Conference, United Methodist
Church (left), and Monsignor Noel C.
Burtenshaw, Director of Communications,
Archdiocese of Atlanta. On August 30, President
Jimmy Carter will participate in groundbreaking
ceremonies for a new chapel at Emory University
in Atlanta which will be named for Bishop
Cannon.
A More Positive Sign ...
BY MICHAEL MOTES
The plan of a College Park Baptist
minister to do something
constructive about Atlanta’s
alarmingly escalating crime rate has
fostered an idea that will soon be
taken to the clergy of all
denominations in the city with an
eventual goal in mind that a similar
plan will span the state.
The Reverend Ronny West, pastor
of the First Baptist Church of
Cliftondale, recently approached
John Conroy, president of the Young
Sign Company, with a new message
for the giant billboard in downtown
Atlanta at the 1-75/I-85/I -20
Interchange. This same site was the
proposed setting for the controversial
“Warning” to tourists entering
Atlanta that the Conroy’s company
refused to erect.
Reverend West’s message was
simple - “Stop & Think! Human Life
Is Precious. Thou Shalt Not Kill.”
Conroy, a parishioner of St. Oliver
Plunkett, was so impressed with the
poignant prose that he agreed to
donate use of the sign, which
normally rents for nearly $3,000 per
month.
When Reverend West approached
his Board of Deacons, their response
was equally enthusiastic and the
$3,400 labor cost to erect the
message was pledged.
Young Sign Company is now
working on the lettering and Conroy
hopes that the message will be in
place the first of next week.
But Conroy has gone further than
donating the sign rent-free. He is now
arranging a series of public service
broadcasts on Channel 36 to be
presented by various clergy, as well
as representatives of the city’s police
and fire departments. All messages
will point to the “Stop and Think”
idea, plus offer suggestions to
citizens about what they can do to
help prevent crimes or to help solve
them.
At a press conference earlier this
week, Reverend West called upon
“the entire religious community of
metropolitan Atlanta to join hands
together in a concerted effort to
stem the rising tide of disregard for
human life as evidenced by the
alarming increase in the homicide
rate in our great city.
“We realize,” Reverend West said,
“that the responsibility for this state
of affairs does not lie primarily with
our elected officials, but must be
serve as a daily reminder to the
citizens of our community that
human life is precious.”
A meeting of representatives of all
denominations in Atlanta with city
officials is set for next Monday,
August 27. According to Conroy,
who is arranging the meeting, plans
will be made at that time to begin
the video taping of the public service
announcements to be aired on
Channel 36.
“What we must remember,” says
STOP & THINK!
Human Life Is Precious
Thou Shalt Not Kill
shared by every segment of our
community. We are also aware of the
complexity of the problem and offer
no simplistic answers. We do,
however, believe that the religious
community can make a positive
contribution to the solution of the
problem by trying to sensitize our
people to the sacredness and sanctity
of human life.”
The minister admitted that he
does not know exactly what course
of action should be taken, but he
urged “all people of good will to join
with us in an enthusastic involvement
in the processes that prevent and
correct such problems as now exist.”
He says that the billboard will be
“a hopeful first step .. . which will
Conroy, “is that this is a metro-wide
project, not just geered to the central
city. I think we have an idea here
that could become a state-wide
program and even serve as the model
for a national project.”
‘Outstanding’ Sister Celine
Sister Celine Gorman, coordinator of Religious Education at the Cathedral
of Christ the King and a 43-year resident of Atlanta, was recently named as one
of the Outstanding Older Atlantans of 1979. In special recogniton for her
services to Atlanta, Sister Celine received The Senior Tribune, Inc., Award.
Beverly Barnett, editor of THE SENIOR TRIBUNE, an adult entertainment
newspaper published in Sandy Springs, presented the award.
The Outstanding Older Atlantans of 1979 were honored by the Mayor of
Atlanta’s Task Force on Aging. Larry Vaughn, director of the Task Force, and
Ms. Angie Levine of Representative Wyche Fowler’s Atlanta staff, coordinated
the selection process for the 1979 awards.
As part of her fulltime duties at the Cathedral of Christ the King, Sister
Celine teaches three adult Bible classes and develops religious education
programs and materials for approximately 200 kindergarten through grade 12
students. She also trains 20 teachers a year for the Cathedral’s religious
education program.
During her years in Atlanta, Sister Celine Gorman has also served as
principal of Sacred Heart Elementary and High Schools, chairman of the
English Department at St. Pius X High School, and coordinator of Religious
Education at St. Joseph’s Church in Marietta.
Sister Celine Gorman has been active in Church Women United and has
served as an officer in the Atlanta Area Teachers of English program. She is a
member of the religious order of Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet.
CASTELGANDOLFO, Italy (NC)
- Pope John Paul II expressed hope
Aug. 19 about “a new respect for
religion” in China.
But his optimistic words were
almost immediately clouded by an
anti-Vatican statement from an
association of Chinese Catholics.
Addressing thousands of people at
his summer residence in
Castelgandolfo, the pope said that
“some news of recent events, which
lead us to hope for a new respect for
religion, permit us to express new
confidence.”
In China, however, the National
Association of Patriotic Catholics
publicly rejected a recent Vatican
statement that the group’s “election”
of Father Michael Fu Tieshan as
bishop of Beijing (Peking) was invalid
in the eyes of the church.
“We deem the Vatican statement
preposterous and totally erroneous,”
said a spokesman for the association
in Beijing. “The Vatican has no right
to interfere in the affairs of churches
of other countries.”
Formation of the National
Association of Patriotic Catholics
was fostered by the communist
government after it came to power in
1949.
During his Sunday Angelus talk,
Pope John Paul did not mention the
specific reasons for his optimism,
saying only that “it is difficult to say
more on this subject.”
Recently, there have been signs of
possible closer contacts between
Catholic officials and the communist
government.
Jesuit Father Michael Chu, a
counselor to the Jesuits on Chinese
affairs, reportedly began a
two-month visit to China in August.
He was admitted to the country
on an unlimited multi-entry visa,
ostensibly to visit his aging parents
and is not officially representing the
Vatican or the Society of Jesus.
In March, the Jesuit superior
general, Father Pedro Arrupe, said
the Jesuits would be happy to return
to China if invited by the
government. Foreign Jesuits were
expelled from China 30 years ago.
EVANGELIZATION
During his Angelus talk, Pope
John Paul recalled that in 1949 the
Catholic Church in China had been
“a living church, which maintained
perfect union with the Holy See.”
There were more than three
million Catholics, about 100 bishops
and some 5,800 priests (2,700 of
them native Chinese) in the country
at that time, he said.
“After 30 years, the news about
.these our brothers is little and
uncertain, but we do not cease to
nurture the hope that we can renew
the links of that direct contact which
was never spiritually interrupted,”
the pope said.
The statement from the National
Association of Patriotic Catholics,
condemned by Pope Pius XU in
1958, however, indicates the road to
closer ties with Chinese Catholics is
not smooth.
From 1957 to 1960, the Chinese
government told the patriotic
associations to elect bishops in a
“democratic way.” In that time, at
least 51 priests were elected bishops,
of whom 36 accepted ordination as
bishop. In subsequent years
additional illicit bishops were named.
“The power to nominate a bishop
comes directly from God,” said the
spokesman in Beijing. “The voice of
the people is the voice of God.”
He was responding to the Vatican
statement of Aug. 10 that church
doctrine and laws would not consider
the “election” of a bishop legitimate
because it lacks papal approval.
During his Angelus talk, Pope
John Paul requested prayers for the
“most urgent” intention of the
church in China. He did not refer to
the controversy over Father Tieshan.
“In recent months we lived
together in deep disquiet when, on
the Sino-Vietnamese border, there
sprang up hostilities that not only
injured mutual relations between
those two noble countries, but also
constituted a threat to world peace,”
he said in prefacing his remarks
about China.
“We thank God that this danger
was overcome,” he added.
North Georgians Participate
At National Lay Celebration
BY FATHER RICHARD A. KIERAN
ON THE SOUTHERN
CRESCENT - One of the largest
delegations from any diocese to
attend the First National Catholic
Lay Celebration of Enangelization
was the group from the Archdiocese
of Atlanta. Forty-eight
evangelization leaders traveled to
Washington on the Southern
Crescent. They were joined by 13
others who arrived by air and
automobile.
Most of these “pilgrims” were
sponsored by their parishes. In all 24
of our parishes were represented.
The majority of the group stayed
in the dorms of Catholic University
and moved around the nation’s
capitol on public transportation.
Early mornings, long walks to and
from subway stations and cafeteria
lines were part of the daily routine.
Besides keeping the cost down, these
inconveniences drew the Atlanta
Related Story - Page 3 -
group together as a community and
gave us an opportunity to be of
service to one another in love.
One of the highlights of the
pilgrimage was the final Eucharistic
(Continued on page 3)
OUTSTANDING OLDER ATLANTAN -
Sister Celine Gorman, co-ordinator of Religious
Education at the Cathedral of Christ the King,
proudly holds the plaque she received from
Beverly Barnett, editor of THE SENIOR
TRIBUNE, as an Outstanding Older Atlantan of
1979.