Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 4
The Georgia Bulletin
June 3,1982
“What Do You Think
The Pope Should Do?”
From the window of his temporary
residence in Britain, after the first day
of his historic visit, John Paul asked
the question of those standing vigil
below. “What do you think the Pope
should do?” Without waiting for their
good-humored answer, the smiling,
weary Holy Father gave the response
he wanted to hear. “The Pope should
get some sleep.”
It had been a long day. Perhaps, it
had been the longest and the most
meaningful in the short span of the
crowded years of his pontificate. The
Pope had done enough. He had
walked the ancient, unifying road
back to Canterbury.
Five hundred bitter years of
Christian division are sufficient. Many
of us will remember little of the initial
divisions. They were times of harsh
sayings, violent responses and
nurtured resentments. The wounds
were deep and, at times, went
deliberately untreated. Condemnation
stood side by side with emotional
attitudes of "no surrender.” The
conflict in Northern Ireland is a mild
relic of those horror-filled times.
Over a recent period of some years,
both Anglican and Roman experts
have gathered to search for
meaningful and realistic healing. The
Pope’s visit to Canterbury, his prayer
for forgiveness and unity, the example
of his complete comfort in the
presence of Archbishop Runcie,
blesses and encourages those efforts.
The Canterbury moment was not
window-dressing for a few hopefuls. It
was a well prepared, well thought out,
much prayed for meeting of two
churches - needing to be ONE. The
road leading to Canterbury and the
road leading back to Rome, because
of this momentous effort, will be
pathways that many millions will find
easier to travel.
With sentiments of complete
satisfaction we can honestly say “the
Pope had done enough.”
-NCB
Resound ... Resound ...
To the Editor:
What a truly great letter you wrote to
Senator Sam Nunn and published in the
Georgia Bulletin on May 20!
I wish I could have written it so well when
I wrote to Senator Nunn and also Senator
Mattingly on April 20. I wrote them as a
result of a full page ad in the
Journal-Constitution Weekend Magazine by
the Georgia Abortion Right to Action
Committee (G.A.R.A.C.). It urged readers to
write their senators to vote against the Hatch
Amendment.
I wrote but I urged our senators to vote
for the Hatch Amendment.
Attached are the copies of my letter and
the two senators’ answers. As usual with
politicians, they both are “against abortions,
but. .. ”
I wonder if our senators read the Hatch
Amendment. It will merely prohibit the
Supreme Court • from permitting abortions
under the present constitution.
Perhaps you should have included Senator
Mattingly in your letter. Note in his letter to
me he says he is “opposed to abortion
except in the case of rape or incest or when
the life of the mother is threatened.”
Note, however, the difference in Nunn’s
letter. He says he is “against abortion on
demand” but “recognized the need for
abortion where rape or incest have occurred
or where the life or health of the mother is
endangered by pregnancy.” The words,
“health of the mother,” negates Nunn’s
statements that he is “against abortion on
demand.”
I frequently receive letters from
pro-abortion groups, such as Planned
Parenthood, National Organization of
Women, National Aobrtion Rights Action
Committee and others, including, could you
believe it, the National Democratic Party. I
take great joy and glee in using the free
postage return of the letters to express my
views on the killing of unborn, innocent,
defenseless babies.
Even in cases of rape or incest, why do
these people who are against abortion want
to kill these babies, innocent and
defenseless, yet permit to go free on a
technicality or send them to prison for seven
years!
I hope our senators will listen to us.
George J. Gunning
Atlanta
Whither Altar Society?
Dolores Curran
I received a letter from a woman in a
small town parish recently about the
purpose and role of altar societies today. She
wrote:
“Would you consider an article on the
following problem? I know it is a problem
common to many parishes. We are a small
parish with basically one organization for
the women, that being Altar Society. I have
no idea the original goals of this program but
today it can best be described as the parish
fund raisers.
“Since this program is the only one
available to the ladies, we would like to see
it become a much more meaningful
organization. At year’s end, we would like
for our accomplishments to be spiritual as
well as dollars and cents.
“We are seeking ideas from other parishes
on programs or projects they have
undertaken and have proved successful.
Perhaps with sufficient ideas from other
parishes, we will be able to put together a
program that fills the material needs of the
parish and the spiritual needs of our
members.”
Many lay women find themselves in similar
situations. They want more from their parish
than fundraising and Sunday liturgy but
they are often limited to a woman’s
organization that grows older and smaller
each year. I perceive three reasons for stale
women’s groups: refusal to acknowledge the
needs of today’s women; an unwillingness to
risk; and a desire to get on with the past.
With the abundance of information
available today on what women really need
and want, it’s difficult to understand the
first problem. Catholic women are flocking
to Protestant Bible groups. Why isn’t the
altar society filling this void? Family
ministry is crying for lay groups to meet the
needs of inter-faith couples, mid-life
transition, working wives and mothers, day
care, single parenting, and theology for laity.
Yet most altar societies remain locked into
bazaars, altar care and Mariology. Why?
Because offering some of these topics
invites risk and controversy. Some of the
older members don’t want it. Or Father
doesn’t approve of working mothers or such.
Or some members want social activity over
reading and thinking. This insures a static
organization.
I remember being invited to help design a
DCCW convention and suggesting some of
the above. After several uncomfortable
meetings, the planning committee decided
these issues too controversial and opted for
workshops on the Pilgrim Statue, the Shroud
of Turin, and Pro-life, all admirable topics
but they don’t touch the daily experience of
women. Predictably they were disappointed
when their slim turnout attracted women
mainly over 45 years of age.
It seems to me that the time has come for
looking at the purpose of altar society. If it’s
to take us back to the church and family of
our childhood, it’s doing a pretty fair job
but numbers show us that young women
aren’t interested in this purpose. Studies
show that when an organization loses its
original purpose, it either has to 1) be
content with becoming an anachronism, like
the Flat Earth Society of England; 2) change
and find a new purpose; or 3) vote itself out
of existence.
With the plurality of women in our pews
today I wonder if we can ever again have a
single organization to meet the needs of all
the parish women. On a hopeful note, I do
find altar societies that have changed to
meet these needs and they are a lively part
of the parish. But they have lost the women
who want the old altar society. So it
ultimately comes down to the question:
what’s the purpose of your women’s group?
Trinity Sunday (B)
June 6, 1982
THE ORD
THIS EEKEND
Paul Karnowski
Dt. 4: 32-34, 3940
Rom. 8:14-17
Mat. 28: 16-20
One day, as the story goes, St. Augustine
was walking along the beach, prondering the
mystery of the Holy Trinity. As he walked
he came upon a boy who, apparently, was
trying to empty the ocean into a hole he had
dug in the sand. Augustine tried to explain
to the boy that he was attempting the
impossible. “It is easier for me to put the
entire ocean in this hole,” the boy
responded, “than it is for you to understand
the nature of the Trinity.”
Today is Trinity Sunday and, like
Augustine, our thoughts turn toward the
“impossible” mystery of a triune God. But
today’s scripture readings give us little
material on which to meditate. In the gospel
Jesus instructs His disciples to baptize in the
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of
the Holy Spirit; but the Lord makes no
comment about the inner workings of the
Three. St. Paul, in his letter to the Romans,
mentions the divine Persons: the Father, to
whom we call out; the Son, with whom we
are co-heirs; and the Spirit, who gives
witness that we are children of God. But St.
Paul elaborates no further.
We should not be surprised. The doctrine
of the Holy Trinity was only a theological
sapling in the days that Scripture was
written. It took many Church councils and
generations of theological debate before the
doctrine took its final form. Even so, it
remains a mystery; a mystery to be
pondered.
Perhaps we can best meditate on the
mystery of the Trinity by returning to the
beach on which Augustine once walked. In
front of us is the ocean, a symbol of the
unfathomable mystery of God. As we walk
along, we should ask ourselves a few
questions.
Do we only wade in the waters of the
mystery when we feel a need for spiritual
cleansing? Do we skim the surface of the
mystery, riding on flashy surfboards of
pretentious piety? Or are we content to sit
on the shore and cross ourselves in the name
of an unknown Father, a distant Son, and a
secretive Spirit?
Making History In Canterbury
Please, Please Think
About This Carefully
'
After reading pro-life editorials in The
Georgia Bulletin, especially the recent “Letter
To Senator Nunn, ” Lee J. Roach wrote the
following letter to the Georgia Senator and gave
permission for reproduction of this
correspondence.
Dear Sam:
It is not often that I feel the need to
communicate with you on a personal
level, but I feel so strongly about this
matter that I wanted you to be sure to
have my input.
I am concerned - very concerned about
the long range affects upon our nation
which a continuation of the almost
cavalier approach so many of our
people have on the issue of human rights
and abortion.
After much soul searching and thought
on this matter, I feel very strongly that it
is this type of materialistic and almost
pagan-like attitude which was
predominant among those peoples and
forces which ultimately resulted in the
collapse of such powerful governments as
the ancient Roman empire and more
recently, the Nazi regime.
I feel that the major acceptance of
what appears to be an almost free
abortion policy has made a dagger-like
thrust into the very heart and soul of our
country. Your support of any measures
which could turn this around, such as the
Hatch Amendment, could be very vital in
bringing us back towards a more
reasonable posture on this important
issue.
I know, Sam, that this may sound a lot
like preaching, and perhaps somewhat
strange coming from me, but I feel so
strongly, and history seems to support me
in this, that great nations have, in the past
and therefore, can in the future, fall
because of a weakening of their moral
foundation. PLEASE, PLEASE think
about this carefully when it comes time
to exercise your valuable vote in the
Senate.
Sincerely,
Lee J. Roach
Vice-Chairman
Fulton County Commissioners
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On May 29, Pope John Paul II and Anglican
Archbishop Robert Runcie of Canterbury issued
the following joint statement in Canterbury,
England.
In the Cathedral Church of Christ at
Canterbury the Pope and the Archbishop of
Canterbury have met on the eve of Pentecost
to offer thanks to God for the progress that
has been made in the work of reconciliation
between our communions. Together with
leaders of other Christian churches and
communities we have listened to the word of
God; together we have recalled our one
baptism and renewed the promises then
made; together we have acknowledged the
witness given by those whose faith has led
them to surrender the precious gift of life
itself in the service of others, both in the
past and in modern times.
The bond of our common baptism into
Christ led our predecessors to inaugurate a
serious dialogue between our churches, a
dialogue founded on the Gospels and the
ancient common traditions, a dialogue which
has as its goal the unity for which Christ
prayed to his Father “so that the world may
know that thou has sent me and hast loved
them even as thou has loved me” (Jn. 17:23).
In 1966, our predecessors Pope Paul VI and
Archbishop Michael Ramsey made a
common declaration announcing their
intention to inaugurate a serious dialogue
between the Roman Catholic Church and
the Anglican Communion which would
“include not only theological matters such
as Scripture, tradition and liturgy, but also
matters of practical-difficulty felt on either
side” (“Common Declaration,” par. 6).
After this dialogue had already produced
three statements on Eucharist, ministry and
ordination, and authority in the church,
Pope Paul VI and Archbishop Donald
Coggan, in their common declaration in
1977, took the occasion to encourage the
completion of the dialogue on these three
important questions so that the
commission’s conclusions might be evaluated
by the respective authorities through
procedures appropriate to each communion.
The Anglican-Roman Catholic International
Commission has now completed the task
assigned to it with the publication of its
Final Report, and as our two communions
proceed with the necessary evaluation, we
join in thanking the members of the
commission for their dedication, scholarship
and integrity in a long and demanding task
undertaken for love of Christ and for the
unity of Jlis church.
The completion of this commission’s
work bids us to look to the next stage of our
common pilgrimage in faith and hope
toward the unity for which we long. We are
agreed that it is now time to set up a new
international commission. Its task will be to
continue the work already begun: to
examine, especially in the light of our
respective judgments on the Final Report,
the outstanding doctrinal differences which
still separate us, with a view toward their
eventual resolution; to study all that hinders
the mutual recognition of the ministries of
our communions; and to recommend what
practical steps will be necessary when, on
the basis of our unity in faith, we are able to
proceed to the restoration of full
communion. We are well aware that this new
commission’s task will not be easy, but we
are encouraged by our reliance on the grace
of God and by all that we have seen of the
power of that grace in the ecumenical
movement of oUr time.
While this necessary work of theological
clarification continues, it must be
accompanied by the zealous work and
fervent prayer of Roman Catholics and
Anglicans throughout the world as they seek
to grow in mutual understanding, fraternal
love and common witness to the Gospel.
Once more, then, we call on the bishops,
clergy and faithful people of both our
communions in every country, diocese and
parish in which our faithful live side by side.
We urge them all to pray for this work and
to adopt every possible means of furthering
it through their collaboration in deepening
their allegiance to Christ and in witnessing to
Him before the world. Only by such
collaboration and prayer can the memory of
the past enmities be healed and our past
antagonisms overcome.
Our aim is not limited to the union of our
two communions alone, to the exclusion of
other Christians, but rather extends to the
fulfillment of God’s will for the visible unity
of all His people. Both in our present
dialogue, and in those engaged in by other
Christiams among themselves and with us,
we recognize in the agreements we are able
to reach, as well as in the difficulties which
we encounter, a renewed challenge to
abandon ourselves completely to the truth
of the Gospel. Hence we are happy to make
this declaration today in the welcome
presence of so many fellow Christians whose
churches and communities are already
partners with us in prayer and work for the
unity of all.
With them we wish to serve the cause of
peace, of human freedom and human
dignity, so that God may indeed be glorified
in all His creatures. With them we greet in
the name of God all men of good will, both
those who believe in Him and those who are
still searching for Him.
This holy place reminds us of the vision of
Pope Gregory in sending St. Augustine as an
apostle to England, full of zeal for the
preaching of the Gospel and the shepherding
of the flock. On this eve of Pentecost, we
turn again in prayer to Jesus, the Good
Shepherd, who promised to ask the Father
to give us another advocate to be with us
forever, the spirit of truth (cf. Jn. 14:16), to
lead us to the full unity to which He calls us.
Confident in the power of this same Holy
Spirit, we commit ourselves anew to the task
of working for unity with firm faith,
renewed hope and ever deeper love.
SCHOOL op
2*td TLooR
“Hope he doesn't hurt his pitching hand.”