Newspaper Page Text
“There is need, and a great
“I Do Not Want To Die”
need, not only for the
Church to minister to the
inmates of our prisons,
but also to minister to the
staffs of these places. ”
Bishop Raymond Lessard
Bishop of Savannah
BY MONSIGNOR
NOEL BURTENSHAW
Father Vincent J. Douglas goes to
the Georgia Diagnostic Center in
Jackson, Georgia every Monday. He
stays there for 8 hours, from 1:00
p.m. till 9:00 p.m. Father Douglas
goes because the Center is a State
Prison and he is the chaplain.
The prison is located in Father
Douglas’ parish, St. James Church in
McDonough. “It’s interesting work,”
says the pastor “but you need a lot
of prayer doing it.”
Father Douglas has 6 Catholic
men on Death Row in Jackson and
one more has just been added. Jack
Potts, the condemned murderer was
moved to Jackson just three weeks
ago from Reidsville State Prison.
Potts, who is a convert to the
Catholic Faith has asked that the
sentence of death, passed by the
courts, be carried out.
“But he does not want to die,”
says Father Douglas, who spent over
an hour with the prisoner last week.
“He is going along with the judgment
of the court but he has told me, he
does not want to die.”
Since his arrival on Death Row in
Jackson just three weeks ago, the
atmosphere has changed. “I have
noticed it,” says Father Douglas,
“and so have the guards and staff.
Besides the Catholics who are with
him in the death cell area, he has six
others praying the Rosary with him.
It’s remarkable. In fact he’s
remarkable.”
Reached in Augusta where he was
scheduled for a Confirmation
Ceremony, Bishop Raymond
Lessard, Bishop of Savannah said he
visited Potts in Jackson last week.
“There is enormous pressure on
Jack,” says the Bishop who has
known him and seen him in
Reidsville.” “All kinds of groups
hound him every day to go one way
or another. Besides this, the poor
man has the normal pressure of
Penitentiary life. It’s rough.”
Bishop Lessard has visited Potts as
a spiritual counselor and has his
confidence. “I would just like to say
this,” says the Savannah leader,
“there is need, and a great need, not
only for the church to minister to
the inmates of our prisons, but also
to minister to the staffs of these
places. But there are problems.
Maybe we haven’t been asked and
maybe we have been asked and we
have been slow to respond.”
On Tuesday, May 13, Jack Potts
called a news conference because he
was angry that the State had not set
a date for his execution. However,
even as the reporters gathered, the
date was set June 5. “There is some
change in his attitude about dying,”
says Father Douglas.” He is talking
with his attorneys Millard Farmer
and Andrea Young, daughter of
Andrew Young, former Ambassador
to the U.N. But he has told me “I
DO NOT WANT TO DIE.”
A state law says that a prisoner
must be within sight of the electric
chair 72 hours before execution. So
it would seem that Potts will be
returned to Reidsville if the June
date is not changed. “They are
building an execution chamber in
Jackson” says the pastor “but it
won’t be complete before June 5.”
Jack Potts, 35 years old, father of
twin 8 year old girls was brought to
the faith by Father Raymond
Kulwicki, a Holy Ghost Father who
is chaplain at Reidsville. “He did a
great job says Father Douglas. “Jack
has shown that he has strange
influences for good since his
conversion.”
If the fateful date is kept and it
happens in Jackson, which is in the
Ardhciocese of Atlanta, (Reidsville is
in the Savannah Diocese) then Father
Vincent Douglas a 43 year old native
of Brooklyn will be there with him at
the end.
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Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta
Vol. 18 No. 21
Thursday, May 22,1980
$6.00 Per Year
FATHER COLMAN HAGGERTY, C.P., pastor are pictured in one of the classrooms at the
of Saint Paul of the Cross Church, and Sister northwest parish which is celebrating its 25 year
Paula Drass, principal of the school at Saint Paul’s anniversary this year.
“Such A Fragile Hold On Life”
Holy Days
May Change
Wednesday Afternoon
In Rome
It used to be a calm chaos.
Fifteen thousand used to pack
into the new Audience Hall
hoping for an up-front seat or
at the least one near the aisle.
You were well entertained
during the willing wait. Over on
the right in the splendorous
alloted space the Rome Opera
C ompany willingly serenaded
the international gathering.
High about your head the
symmetrical
lines of the
ac c o u stical
ceiling evid
enced the
artful touches
of a modern
day Michael-
angelo.
And there,
front and
center, the
lonely empty
throne was the focal point for
all eyes. Soon the Papal
presence would fill that
spotlight for delerious visions to
view.
The surging “Vivas” from
the rear tell you he is here.
Carried aloft in seated visible
splendor, the Pope of Rome is
borne to his Wednesday
Afternoon Audience. The
delirium is contagious and
unconsciously you are soon its
captive.
That’s how it all used to be
on Wednesday in Rome. Now
it’s changed. The 15,000 has
become 1 5 0,000. The
ambitious Audience Hall so
recently added, has been
discarded along with the carried
presence of the successor, The
Apostle.
Now they stand or sit in
measured blocks in that famous
of all Squares - St. Peter’s. And
the Polish Pope Wojtyla the
Conqueror is driven through the
maze, standing like a victorious
Roman Centurion in his now
famous white Popemobile.
The delirium is no longer
hidden away in any hall, it’s
there in the Wednesday
afternoon sunshine for all to
see.
Burt Reynolds failed in his
dash to be female first among
American teens just two weeks
ago. Top of the poll went to
John Paul II. It is no surprise.
Wherever his wandering
missionary feet take him the
leaning, laughing millions reach
out royally.
With the sweeping force of a
marching Colonial Army, John
Paul careened across the African
continent last week. Zaire, The
Congo, Kenya and Ghana were
all taken in stride. As the
Apostle Paul took to the road
visiting the newest Christians,
so now John Paul follows
directly in his footsteps. The
African Church is barely two
centuries old, the newest
offspring of this Holy Father’s
family.
There was a time when small
groups were luxuriously
allowed to this man of the
masses. High in the mountains
of his native Poland he once led
little bands of skiing youth. It’s
over and gone.
It’s like the long ago calm
chaos of the Wednesday
Afternoon Audience. It too
belongs to history. This world
wants to see John Paul.
Sometimes you feel, they all
want to see him together.
ST. PETERSBURG, FLA.
(NC) - “The thing that struck
me most is the fragility of life,”
said Father John Hanley, St.
Petersburg port chaplain, after
the May 9 disaster in which a
ship ramming the Skyway
Bridge caused the deaths of at
least 34 persons.
Father Hanley, who is also
pastor of St. Joseph Parish,
spent two days shuttling
between the disaster site and
the morgue. Assisted by Father
Brian Kilbride of Blessed
Trinity Parish, Father Hanley
blessed the recovered bodies
and recited prayers for the
dead.
Recalling his thoughts as the
divers brought the dead to the
surface, Father Hanley said,
‘ We have such a fragile hold on
life, never knowing when God is
going to call us. As the tragedy
unfolded, it kept coming back
that we have to live so that
these moments won’t be
moments of tragedy, but of
victory.”
Noting that a rabbi, an
Episcopal priest and a
Presbyterian minister had been
present at the disaster site,
Father Hanley said, “I believe
that the presence of the
churches in a moment of
tragedy, at the place where it is
unfolding, is very important.
Even if there is little we can do
for the dead, we can minister to
the living and help everyone to
cope.”
Father Hanley is trying to
arrange for spiritual and
emotional assistance to the
Chinese crew of the freighter
which rammed into the bridge.
BY JAMES TARBOX
A proposal before the bishops of
the United States would radically
change the number of Holy Days of
Obligation that American Catholics
are obliged to observe.
The bishops have been asked to
send their opinions to the National
Conference of Catholic Bishop’s
Committee on the Liturgy, which is
considering dropping all Holy Days
of Obligation except the Feasts of
Christmas and the Immaculate
Conception.
Currently American Catholics
observe six holy days: the Solemnity
of Mary, Mother of God on January
1, Ascension Thursday, the
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin on
August 15, All Saints Day on
November 1, Immaculate Conception
on December 8, and Christmas on
December 25.
The desire for a change from the
present practice largely stems from
conflicts that arise when the holy
day falls on a Saturday or a Monday.
Under current Canon Law the
bishops of each country must
provide for the observance of the
feast of Christmas and one Marian
feast as holy days of obligation.
The liturgy committee is
recommending that in addition to
Christmas, the feast of the
Immaculate Conception be retained
as the Marian Holy day for American
Catholics. Mary, under the title of
the Immaculate Conception, is the
national patroness of this country.
The feast of the Immaculate
Conception, currently observed on
December 8, is being considered for
Catholic TV
WOODBURY, N.Y. (NC) - A
Long Island car leasing company
owner, Michael Pascucci, 43, is
spearheading construction of a
Catholic-sponsored non-profit UHF
television station, Channel 55, in
Riverhead, N.Y. He envisions it as
the first outlet in a national Life
Broadcasting Network featuring
“Christian programs as an alternative
to TV sex and violence.”
“We applied for and got from the
FCC a TV license for a station that
would reach three million people,”
said Pascucci, who has put thousands
of dollars into the project. “I decided
that the church needs a delivery’
system for TV programs. We are
never going to get prime time on the
existing big networks.”
The project has the approval of
Bishop John R. McGann of Rockville
Centre, N.Y., which operates its own
cable TV network.
According to Father Thomas J.
Hartman, diocesan director of radio
and television, construction of the
facility is expected to start this
summer and the first programs will
be shown in about a year.
It would be the first exclusively
Catholic station among some 25
Christian TV stations and programs
currently operating in the United
possible transfer to the first
Wednesday of December. If,
however, the feast icmains on
December 8 the obligation to attend
Mass will be dropped with Vatican
approval if the 8th falls on a
Saturday or a Monday.
The Feast of the Acension, it has
been suggested, should be moved to
the seventh Sunday of the Easter
season.
Observance of the feast of Mary
the Mother of God would no longer
be made mandatory because of the
confusion of focus that the feast has
due to its being observed on January
1.
The celebration of All Saints
would no longer be mandatory
because it has little significance in
the liturgical life of the United
States.
The obligation to assist at Mass, on
the feast of the Assumption would
be removed because the feast of the
Immaculate Conception would fulfill
the Marian obligation in the United
States.
These proposals are the result of a
great deal of study from the Liturgy
Committee of the National
Conference of Catholic Bishops. The
bishops looked very closely at the
example of Canada where only two
holy days are observed - Christmas,
and the Marian feast of the
Solemnity on January 1.
The bishops stress that it is not
decreased devotion that they are
looking at but the pastoral problem
that clergy and laity alike have
spoken of -- the problem of
significance of worship.
Station Set
States. “Catholics are almost last in
the media at present,” Father
Hartman said, citing the success of
fundamentalists’ efforts such as the
PTL center network in Norfolk, Va.,
founded by Pat Robertson, an
evangelist. “But eventually we will be
the strongest, because we have the
organization,” he added.
According to a pamphlet
currently being circulated about
Channel 55, the station will feature
entertainment as “an alternative to
sex and violence ... to materialism
and vulgarity.” It will highlight
evangelization, counseling, a prayer
line, scriptural discussions, daily
religious news programs, Christian
documentaries, and programs of
different denominations; 42 percent
of its programs would be exclusively
religious.
The network has already entered
applications for permits to broadcast
on two available channels in the New
York-New Jersey area, and may also
compete for a channel in San
Francisco, Father Hartman said. He
added, “Our idea would be first to
develop local programs and then
hope other regional TV centers in
Los Angeles, Chicago, New York,
Washington and the South would
cooperate.”
Official
Archbishop Thomas A. Donncitan has announced the following assignments,
effective Thursday. June 12. I ISO.
NEWLY-ORDAINED PRIEST
REVEREND CHARLES CHRISTOPHER STARR to Assistant
Pastor, Sacred Heart (Atlanta).
REVEREND DENIS F. DULLEA . . . from Hospital Chaplain in
residence at Saint Thomas More, to Priest-in-Charge, Saint Elizabeth
Seton, Manchester.
ASSISTANT PASTOR ASSIGNMENTS
REVEREND JOHN DRUDING . . . from Saint John’s, Hapeville,
to Saint Philip Benizi, Jonesboro.
REVEREND JOHN T. HENLEY . . . from Saints Peter and Paul,
Decatur, to Saint Joseph’s, Dalton.
REVEREND STEPHEN E. NAAS .. . from Saint Philip Benizi,
Jonesboro, to Saint John the Evangelist, Hapeville.
REVEREND NOEL NEARY . . . from Corpus Christi, Stone
Mountain, to Saint Thomas More, Decatur.
REVEREND JOHN A. OZAROWSKI . . . from Sacred Heart,
Atlanta, to Corpus Christi, Stone Mountain
DEACON ASSIGNMENTS
BRENT A. BOHAN ... to Church of the Good Shepherd,
Cumming.
CARLOS de JESUS MIYARES-DIAZ ... to Saint Jude’s, Atlanta.
BRUCE W. WILKINSON ... to Our Lady of Lourdes.
PERMANENT DEACONS
FORREST R. BRIESCH ... to Church of the Transfiguration,
Marietta.
JOHN W. SHOEMAKER . . . from Saints Peter and Paul, Decatur,
to assist in Chaplaincy Program at the United States Penitentiary.