Newspaper Page Text
Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta
Vol. 19 No. 10
Thursday, March 5,1981
$8.00 per year
90% IN
1981 Drive
A Success
BY MSGR. NOEL BURTENSHAW
The goal was $625,000. Reported
in on the evening of the Charities
Drive was a whopping $556,042 or
90 percent of the total. Another
successful effort in the history of the
Charities Drive.
“We were especially delighted
with the results from our rural
parishes,” said Father James Miceli
Assistant Chancellor. “The level of
participation really reflects the
outstanding job done in all the rural
areas.”
Monsignor Jerry Hardy,
Chancellor, commented with great
delight on the results. “Although the
goal was raised, the people came
through most generously. Led by our
priests, who know the need in a
growing Archdiocese, the work was
carefully and successfully
completed.”
Reports were still coming in to
the financial office in the Catholic
Center as the Georgia Bulletin went
to press. There was little doubt in
anyone’s mind that the total goal
would be surpassed by next
weekend.
The Charities Drive, begun twelve
years ago, is an annual cash drive for
funds to assist the different projects
of charity and expansion in the
Archdiocese of Atlanta. Every
department of outreach, service and
education gets some benefit and
support from this once-a-year
collection taken up in every parish in *
north Georgia.
A committee of priests and laity
plans the Charities Drive each year
and then analyzes the results.
Chairman for this year’s Drive was
Bill Crawford, a member of the
Cathedral of Christ the King.
POPE SINGS - Pope John Paul II sings a Polish song as little girls
dance around him during a meeting with young people at
Budo-Kan, a martial arts center in Tokyo. Later, in Hiroshima, he
appealed for disarmament and world peace. (Story, page 7).
Inspiration And The Bible
BY FATHER
THOMAS L. LECLERC, M S.
The Reverend Curtis
Hutson, a fundamentalist
preacher, recently refused to
appear on the same platform
with Catholic speaker Phyllis
Schlafly because, Hutson
maintains, Catholics don’t
believe that the Bible is the
inerrant, inspired Word of
God.
Is that true? Don’t we, as
Catholics, believe that the
Bible is God’s inspired Word
to us and that, as such, it is
free from error, that is,
inerrant?
Let’s take a look at both
the fundamentalist and the
Catholic understandings of
inspiration and inerrancy.
A fundamentalist approach
holds that each and every
word in the Bible is directly
inspired, even dictated, by
God. Inspiration and inerrancy
go together. God, the source of
all Truth and Knowledge,
speaks His Word directly to
the human writer without
mistakes or contradictions.
Therefore, fundamentalists
maintain, the Bible must be
believed literally, at face value;
the words mean exactly what
they say.
For example, when the first
chapter of Genesis says that
God completed creation in
seven days, it means exactly
that -- seven, twenty-four hour
days. Furthermore, creation
occurred exactly as the text
describes it -- first light, then
the heavens and earth,
vegetation, sun-moon-stars,
water creatures, birds, animals
and, finally, man-and-woman,
all created by the Divine
Word. Because God inspired
the sacred author, we can be
sure that is exactly how it
happened. A fundamentalist
approach is nicely summarized
in the expression “The Bible
says it; I believe it; that ends
The Catholic understanding
of inspiration differs from the
fundamentalist approach. In
the Catholic understanding,
God doesn’t simply take over
the mind of the writer and
dictate His message to him.
Rather, God uses the insights,
creativity and limitations of
the human author as tools
through which He
communicates with His
people. And this is as it should
be: the Incarnation of Jesus -
His coming as a man - tells us
something of how God
communicates with us. By His
life among us, Jesus tells us
that God involves Himself in
the essence of the human
situation; He shares in and
subjects Himself to our history
(Phil 2: 6-8). God takes our
humanity very seriously
(Psalm 8) and expresses
Himself through the gifts He
has given to His people.
Quite simply, “inspiration”
refers to God’s special
influence on the human
writer. God gives the writer an
insight - a message - and
allows the author to convey
the message within the
context of his culture and by
using the means and
understanding available to
him.
Let’s go back to the story
of creation as an example. The
message is that God is the
source of all creation and that
nothing else can be His rival.
The “how” of creation isn’t
what God is telling us. This
becomes clearer when we read
on to chapter two in Genesis
which tells us the story of
creation in a different way.
In Genesis 2, God first
creates the earth and the
heavens. Next, he creates
“Adam” from the dust of the
earth (not by Divine Word),
then plants and finally
animals. Because Adam still
doesn’t have a companion,
God takes from Adam’s side a
VJcripture
k-/ for
our
people
rib from which he forms the
woman, “Eve.” The “how” of
creation is very different, but
the message is still the same:
God is the source of all
created things. And, in both
stories, God expresses His
intense desire to live in
intimate union with His
people. His desire is so intense
that the rest of the Bible goes
on to tell us the story of our
salvation.
Inspiration is God’s special
influence on the human writer
which allows him to provide
us - God’s people - with an
insight into how God is acting
on our behlaf. Clearly, the
sacred author in telling the
story of Noah and the flood
isn’t writing an almanac. He is
telling us that God punishes
sin and saves those who are
just. Divine inspiration allows
the human author to see this
event as it affects our
salvation. Inspiration then
shows us how God is at work
in our history. And God works
in only one way - to bring
about our salvation.
Salvation is the overriding
concern of God. Therefore,
God inspires the human
author to tell his story from
God’s point of view. The
author is looking at what is
happening in society and
culture and saying: “This is
how God is at work in it.”
With this understanding,
(Continued on page 6)
Halt In Salvador Aid Urged
WASHINGTON (NC) - Recalling
the assassination last year of the
archbishop of San Salvador, three
Catholic agencies have urged again
that all U.S. military aid to the El
Salvador government be ended.
The three agencies - the U.S.
Catholic Conference, the Conference
of Major Superiors of Men, and the
Leadership Conference of Women
Religious - said in a joint statement
that they believe a political solution
“is both possible and preferable to
the continued fratricidal conflict” in
that Central American country.
The statement, released March 2,
was issued in connection with the
first anniversary of the assassination
of Archbishop Oscar Romero of San
Salvador by an unknown assailant on
March 24,1980.
(Later on March 2, the State
Department announced that an
additional $25 million in military aid
would be sent to El Salvador along
with twenty more U.S. military
training advisors.)
“We use the anniversary of
Archbishop Romero’s death to call
again, in the name of the bishops and
religious communities of the United
States, for the termination of all
military aid to El Salvador and for
new efforts to facilitate a negotiated
Official
Archbishop Donnellan
extends a warm welcome to
the Archdiocese of Atlanta
and announces the
appointment, effective
immediately, of Reverend
Joseph E. Ellison, C.SS.R., as
Assistant Pastor of Saint
Gerard’s Church at Fort
Oglethorpe.
The Archbishop also
announces the appointment,
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Reverend Kenneth
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political solution to the conflict,”
the statement remarked.
The U.S. Catholic Conference is
the public policy arm of the U.S.
bishops. The Conference of Major
Superiors of Men and the Leadership
Conference of Women Religious are
respectively the national
organizations of heads of religious
orders of men and women.
The statement noted that one
month before his death, Archbishop
Romero wrote then President Carter
asking that the United States not
“intervene with military, economic,
diplomatic or other pressures to
determine the destiny of the
Salvadoran people.”
The statement said, “In light of
this position we found profoundly
disturbing the decisions taken in the
last two months to renew military
aid to the Salvadoran junta, to
increase this aid through the delivery
of weapons and ammunition, and
finally, to propose even more
significant increases for the future.”
While saying they were aware of
the complexity of the Salvadoran
situation, the three organizations said
that providing military assistance to
the junta has three negative
consequences:
- “It identifies the United States,
at least symbolically, with the
repressive role of the security forces
whose actions have been consistently
criticized by the church in El
Salvador;
- “It increases the risk of wider
military intervention, and
- “It jeopardizes a constructive
role the United States might play in
the conflict.”
The statement said the groups
supported the assessment of church
officials in El Salvador that the
“principal responsibility” for the
violence in the country rests with the
government of El Salvador.
The statement also remarked that
the organization’s judgment of the
situation does not constitute “an
endorsement of other political forces
in El Salvador.”
The statement was issued only a
few days after a U.S. Catholic
Conference representative told a
House subcommittee that the recent
“redefinition” of the El Salvador
conflict into an East-West power
struggle downplayed the quest for
justice of the Salvadoran people.
A Dollar For The Children
BY MONSIGNOR NOEL BURTENSHAW
Congressman Wyche Fowler of Atlanta has an idea that he is proposing to
the city and to the nation. It is this: give one dollar to assist the Task Force
investigating the murdered and missing children in Atlanta.
The Congressman from the 5th District is asking that the funds be sent to a
P. O. Box so that the city can be helped in the continuing investigation of
Atlanta’s tragedy.
Chris Riggall of the Congressman’s Office said, “The money will be handled
by the Metropolitan Atlanta Community Foundation, an organization headed
by Dan Sweat and made up of community leaders to assist these special
projects.”
Mr. Riggall further stated that the Foundation has tax-exempt status and all
donations can be considered tax deductable. “The Congressman is asking for
one dollar from everyone,” said Riggall, “but, of course, we will take all
donations - big or small.”
Fowler outlined his plan on the Sunday News Conference, a Sunday
afternoon show on WSB Television. However, his plea is not just to Georgians;
he will also appeal to the nation.
“About a week from now,” said Chris Riggall, “Congressman Fowler will
appear on the Today Show on NBC Television and bring to the nation
notification that this effort is underway. We hope it will do some good.”
The one dollar, or the many one dollars, may be sent to Missing Children,
Box 150, Atlanta, Ga. 30301.
LENTEN ALTERNATIVES
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Dropping
Out Of The Easter Parade
BY THEA JARVIS
In order to properly celebrate
Lent and Easter, the contemporary
Christian should:
a. give up alcoholic beverages, ice
cream and purple jellybeans
b. buy new clothes and arrange
for a big Easter dinner
c. fill Easter baskets with enough
candy to last till Pentecost
d. watch a television special on
the year the Easter bunny forgot to
deliver his eggs
e. all of the above
If you picked letter “e,” you are a
prime candidate for Lenten/Easter
overkill. This holiday syndrome is
characterized by knock-down,
drag-out battles in the Sears girls’
department (“But Mom, I don’t like
that dress!”) and a mad dash for the
Russell Stover counter on Holy
Saturday afternoon.
If you chose any other letter, you
might consider the “Alternatives”
approach to the Christian season of
Lent and Easter.
Alternatives, a national,
non-profit resource center for
simpler lifestyles with headquarters
in Forest Park, views celebrations as
starting points for clearing away the
debris that can clutter up our
holiday/holyday feasting.
“As our manner of celebrating
both symbolizes and embodies our
lifestyles, changing the ways we
celebrate can be the beginning for
changing those lifestyles .. . the
development of personal, family and
institutional lifestyles is what
Alternatives is all about,” according
to the attractively concise brochure
that defines the eight-year-old
organization’s goals and purposes.
The Alternatives network views
Easter as a time to celebrate the fact
that “love is more powerful than evil
and violence” and that “in loving
God and serving humanity a person
overcomes the power of death.”
Alternatives remains wary of the
“second Christmas” approach to the
Easter season and realizes the
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difficulty in keeping the real purpose
of the celebration in perspective
when retailers vie for first place in
the spring marketplace.
For those willing to stem the
commercial tide, however,
Alternatives suggests that “dropping
out” of the Easter parade might be
the start for a simpler season.
“Wearing common work clothes
on Easter Sunday would be a truer
expression of a commitment to
follow the example of Jesus and His
ministry to the poor and oppressed”
says Milo Shannon-Thomberry, an
ordained Methodist minister and
executive director of Alternatives.
He and his small staff at the
Alternatives center in Forest Park
offer catalogues, calendars and books
that include a wide variety of ideas
for simplifying the Lenten/Easter
experience while enhancing a sense
of true celebration.
Some Alternatives approaches
might appeal to the contemporary
Christian this Lent and Easter
season:
NEW CLOTHES - Instead of
buying new clothes, divert this
money to a worthwhile charity or
social justice movement.
EASTER EGGS - Blow out Easter
eggs (scramble the innards) and insert
a slip of paper that describes a gift of
(Continued on page 6)