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Faith Today • Page 3
A Hero
for
Our Times
By Katharine Bird
NC News Service
Keenly aware of the “human
factor” in history, Pope John
XXIII realized that people make
mistakes and cause disasters. But
the pope believed that if people
knew history they would try to
refrain from repeating blunders of
the past, said Msgr. John Tracy
Ellis.
Pope John, a church history
professor as a young priest, re
mained a history buff all his life,
said Msgr. Ellis. In his address
opening the Second Vatican Coun
cil, Pope John made it a point to
tell the council fathers that
“history is the teacher of life,” he
added.
Msgr. Ellis, a distinguished
church historian now 80 years
old, reminisced about Pope John
when I spoke with him recently at
The Catholic University of
America where he still teaches.
Pope John was a highly in
telligent and shrewd person with
a startling breadth of vision, Msgr.
Ellis said. During five brief years
as pope, John XXIII did “a
number of surprising things.”
On-the-Job Training
By Father Robert Sherry
NC News Service
When the Second Vatican Coun
cil’s “Decree on Priestly Forma
tion” was issued in October 1965
I had already been a seminarian
for 11 years and two months. The
document was implemented
June 29, 1966, one month after
my ordination to the priesthood.
I had resigned myself to the fact
that my priestly formation would
include only a peek at the renewal
brought by Vatican II. But the
people at St. Thomas Aquinas
Parish in Freeport, Ill. — my first
assignment — were not similarly
resigned. They expected a renew
ed ministry from me, even if they
had to put it into me first.
So together we began to grope
our way to renewal: there were
Catholic Family Movement groups
with a strong emphasis on social
action; there were living-room
dialogues for ecumenical
understanding; there were youth
groups wanting Masses in English,
with guitar music; there were
adults hungry for an understan
ding of the Bible. The inventory
seemed endless.
I soon realized that the pastor
of 12 years — now Bishop Arthur
O’Neill of Rockford, Ill. — must
have planted the seeds of renewal
long before I arrived. Many
themes of the council’s Pastoral
Constitution on the Church in the
Modern World were evident in
the parish agenda.
• I was out of the seminary. But I
realized I was in for a few more
years of priestly formation.
Prior to the Council of Trent in
the 16th century there were no
seminaries. Candidates for holy
orders learned to be priests by liv
ing and working in a rectory. The
Council of Trent established sore
ly needed norms and common
criteria for priestly formation.
The Second Vatican Council in
itiated similar reforms for our
times.
Vatican II’s Pastoral Constitution
tion on the Church in the Modern
^World viewed the church in its
historical setting in this world at
this time. And the formation of
priests today reflects that docu
ment’s spirit, erasing any un
necessary division between the
doctrine of the church and her
practical involvement in time and
space.
'* The council stated that “all the
dements of (priests’) training,
spiritual, intellectual, disciplinary,
should be coordinated with this
pastoral view” (Decree of Priestly
Formation).
Flas the Constitution on the
Church in the Modern World
touched the average seminarian?
a A priest recently told me he
became a Catholic because of the
church's involvement in pastoral
concerns and its teaching on
social justice.
A seminarian told me he had
chosen a particular college for this
reason: “I am on twofold journey
in my life at this time. The first
search is for a warm personal rela
tionship with God. Second is a
quest to be of service to others
through the ministry of the
church.”
Another seminarian said that his
decision to enter a seminary was
based on his observations of
priests who viewed themselves as
persons on pilgrimage together
with all God’s people.
The Pastoral Constitution on the
Church in the Modern World did
indeed draw such a picture of all
the people of God: pilgrims en
route toward God’s kingdom
together. That’s a reason why I
find that I’m Still involved in my
priestly formation — in dialogue
with others, on pilgrimage — just
as I was after leaving the seminary
in 1966 when the impact of
Vatican II was first being felt.
But then, as Bishop Thomas
Murphy of Great Falls-Billings,
Mont., says: “The seminary never
deals with the finished product.”
(Father Sherry is director of the
U.S. bishops’ committee on Priest
ly Formation.)
of the World
«5ig this reign and, in fact, there
were things he did not like about
his country as it was being run.
But the country, the people,
Jesus loved. If he was critical, it
was not because he despised them
but rather because he appreciated
their potential for good.
He fished in their lake,
associated with them on terms of
honest dialogue, went to their
wedding parties. Judging from the
number of invitations he received,
he must have been a very
welcome guest.
Jesus was carrying out a mission
for him who “so loved the world
that he gave his only son...God
did not send his son into the
world to condemn the world but
that the world might be saved
through him” (John 3:16-17).
The world God so loved was
pot some mythical, ideal, faultless
world, but the real world of weak
human beings, of the good, bad
and indifferent: “The Word
became flesh and made his dwell
ing among us” (John 1:14).
Jesus’ followers were very much
part of their world. They did not
attempt to Christianize it by stan
ding aloof from it. St. Paul urged
his converts to “shine like the
stars in the sky while holding
fast to the word of life” (Philip-
pians 2:14-16). Had they separated
themselves from society, no one
would have seen those shining
stars or heard the word of life.
In later years, Christians would
become quite conscious of their
place in society. Others were
whispering about them; there
were rumors about the Christians,
characterizing them as a kooky
cult, accusing them of cannibalism
for eating Christ’s body.
Aware that people held them
suspect, the Christians wanted to
be seen as solid citizens.
Thus, the Christians were advis
ed to pray for all people,
“especially for kings and those in
authority (I Timothy 2:2). Good
* citizens of the day made it a
priority to pray for leaders.
The Christians were anxious to
be “well thought of by those out
side the church” (I Timothy 3:7).
Acting as solid citizens helped
them deflect the suspicions of
others.
(Father Castelot teaches at St.
John’s Seminary, Plymouth, Mich.)
“John led the way for
Catholics to ‘move out into
the world,’ putting aside
the mentality that set Chris
tians over against the
world.”
He led the way for Catholics to
“move out into the world,” put
ting aside the mentality that set
Christians over against the world
which was viewed “as wicked.”
For Msgr. Ellis, this was a “revolu
tionary change” of approach —
one that reflected Pope John’s
desire to “carry out the words of
the Master to bring the Good
News to all the world.”
How was the pope’s attitude
toward the world around him
reflected in his actions? Msgr. Ellis
gave several examples:
In March 1963, Pope John had a
private meeting with Alexis and
Rada Adzhubei, son-in-law and
daughter of the Soviet premier,
Nikita Krushchev. A newspaper
editor, Adzhubei was in Rome for
the announcement that the pope
was to receive the Balzan Peace
Prize for his efforts to mediate
between President John Kennedy
and Krushchev during the Cuban
missile crisis.
The meeting shocked some
Vatican officials who complained
that the Soviets would use the
meeting for propaganda purposes.
But, for the pope, the Adzhubeis
were children of God, Msgr. Ellis
said. Pope John’s attitude was:
“Let us try to be a bridge between
them and the spiritual order.”
This kind of thinking was in
line with the pope’s desire to im
prove relations with communist
governments — to try to discover
a “modus operandi” for living in
a world where communism is a
reality.
In another initiative, the pope
held secret negotiations with the
Soviets to obtain the release in
1963 of Archbishop Josef Slipyi,
the Ukrainian church leader. Ar
chbishop Slipyi had been im
prisoned in a Soviet labor camp in
1948.
The pope was well-versed in the
art of diplomacy since he served
for 20 years as a Vatican diplomat
in the Balkans and Turkey, and
eight years in France.
At the heart of what motivated
Pope John to embrace all people
was his “love for humankind,
regardless of religion or color,”
Msgr. Ellis said. The pope’s desire
for union with all people meant
“he wasn’t put off by contrary
views.”
The historian recalled Pope
John’s overtures to other Christian
churches. For instance, two days
after Vatican II opened the pope
met with the Protestant observers.
This was the first council Protes
tant observers had been invited to
attend.
Instead of sitting above the Pro
testants on his throne, Msgr. Ellis
said, “the pope brought his chair
down to sit with them.” Then he
spoke of the joy he felt at seeing
so many “representatives of chur
ches from throughout the world.”
For Msgr. Ellis, Pope John can
be a fine model. “We all need
heroes,” he said, adding that John
was a person of “deep spirituality
and utter honesty with no
pretense or stage play. Everything
he did was in terms of how it
would bring people closer to
God.”
(Ms. Bird is associate editor of
Faith Today.)
Jesus View
By Father John Castelot
NC News Service
On the western slope of the
Mount of Olives overlooking
Jerusalem there is a quaint little
chapel called, in Latin, “Dominus
Flevit” (“The Lord Wept”). Built
in the shape of a teardrop, it com
memorates a moving incident in
the life of Jesus.
“Coming within sight of the ci
ty, he wept over it and said: ‘If
only you had known the path to
peace this day: but you have com
pletely lost it from view!” (Luke
19:41-42)
There is a parallel to this in his
heartbroken address in Matthew
23:37: “O Jerusalem,
Jerusalem....How often have I
yearned to gather your children,
as a mother bird gathers her
young under her wing, but you
refused me.”
These cries came from the heart
of a man who truly loved his peo
ple. Jesus was a Jew. He shared a
common cultural heritage with his
fellow Jews. In fact, Jesus shared
their aspirations for the future —
the coming of God’s reign, though
he differed on the means of realiz-
FOOD...
...for thought
“I am deeply convinced that
dialogue — true dialogue — is an
essential condition” for peace,
Pope John Paul II has written.
“Dialogue,” he said, “is a cen
tral and essential element of
ethical thinking among people.”
In his 1983 World Day of
Peace message, Pope John Paul II
outlined some characteristics of
true dialogue. Dialogue, a two-
way exchange with others,
“presupposes the search for
what is true, good and just for
every person, for every group
and every society,” he stated.
In his message the pope con
centrated on dialogue for peace.
But the characteristics of
dialogue he outlined can apply
to dialogue in the broadest sense
— echoing Vatican II’s Constitu
tion on the Church in the
Modern World.
For example, he said dialogue
means:
•Developing an attitude of
openness and welcome. “Each
party should explain its
thoughts, but should also listen
to the explanation of the situa
tion as the other party describes
it.”
•Accepting the difference and
specific nature of the other par
ty. “Each party should become
really aware of what separates it
from the other...without renoun
cing through cowardice or con
straint what it knows to be true
...for discussion
What do you think it means to
say that people of the church
should be in dialogue with the
world?
What do you think it means to
say that people of the church are
sometimes countercultural?
When are they countercultural?
Msgr. John Tracy Ellis speaks
with Katharine Bird about Pope
John XXIII. In the historian’s
view, what motivated John XXIII
to reach out to people even
when he didn’t agree with their
philosophy of life or religious
views?
Father Robert Sherry writes
that, partly as the result of
Vatican II, his formation as a
priest has never ended; it is
ongoing. Why is this the case?
and just.”
•Treating others with respect,
without reducing them to the
status of mere objects.
•Making the other a neighbor.
Dialogue is a “search for what is
and remains common to people
even in the midst of tensions,
opposition and conflict.”
•Recognizing the inalienable
dignity of human beings; acting
“in such a way that the factors
which bring people together will
be victorious over the factors of
division and hate.”
•Respecting human life. True
dialogue “is a wager on the
social nature of people, on their
calling to go forward together,
with continuity, by a meeting of
minds, wills, hearts.”
The goal of dialogue, the pope
observed, “is to make the world
a place for everybody to live in
and worthy of everybody.”
And the advantages of
dialogue? For the pope, everyone
has something to gain by being
willing to engage in dialogue.
Addressing himself to every
man and woman and to the
young, he said: “You have many
opportunities to break down the
barriers of selfishness, lack of
understanding and aggression by
your way of carrying on a
dialogue every day in your fami
ly, your village, your
neighborhood, in the associa
tions of your city, your region.”
SECOND HELPINGS
“Pope John XXIII: Shepherd
of the Modern World” by Peter
Hebblethwaite. This loving
biography of the pope who laun
ched Vatican II, carefully crafted
over a seven-year period, pro
vides some intriguing insights in
to the events and people who
influenced John XXIII throughout
his 82 years. Hebblethwaite
says he wrote the biography
because “the rich personality of
the pope has not yet been
discovered.” To mitigate the
worst effects of subjectivity, the
author adds, he prefers to let
“Pope John speak for himself."
Accordingly, the book quotes
copiously from John XXlll’s jour
nals, letters and official
documents to capture the flavor
of this unique individual. For in
stance, Pope John refers in a
letter to “walking on live coals”
to describe his delicate
diplomatic mission as papal nun
cio in France at the end of
World War II. (Doubleday and
Company, 245 Park Ave., New
York, N.Y. 10167. 1985.
$19.95.)