Newspaper Page Text
The
Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta
Vol. 23. No. 43
Thursday, December 5, 1985
$12.00 Per Year
OPENING MASS - At St. Peter’s
Basilica, Pope John Paul II
celebrates the opening Mass of
the extraordinary world Synod of
Bishops. At his side (below) are,
from left, Cardinals Johannes
Willebrands of Utrecht, Nether
lands, John Krol of Philadelphia
and Joseph Malula of Kinshasa,
Zaire, and Archbishop John
Schotte, general secretary of the
synod. (NC photos from UPI-
Reuter)
Authority Of Pope, Bishops
At Heart Of Synod Debate
BY AGOSTINO BONO
VATICAN CITY (NC) -
As the Nov. 24-Dec. 8 ex
traordinary Synod of
Bishops passed its midpoint
and moved toward its close,
collegiality had emerged as
a pivotal issue.
Many delegates from the
developed world focused at
tention on the relationship
of collegiality to the
authority of national
bishops’ conferences and
local bishops. One delegate
even suggested formation
of a permanent world Synod
of Bishops that would share
legislative powers with the
pope.
Asian and African dele
gates stressed the need for
local churches to have
more flexibility in finding
their own identity through
inculturation, the adapta
tion of Catholic teachings
and practices to local
cultures and customs.
Latin American dele
gates asked understanding
and cooperation from the
Vatican as local and na
tional hierarchies grapple
with the pastoral needs of
people living under unjust
socio-economic and politi
cal structures.
Collegiality refers to the
sharing of authority and
responsibility in the church
between the pope and the
world body of bishops.
(Continued on Page 11)
Advent 2: Confinement In Atlanta
BY MONSIGNOR NOEL
C. BURTENSHAW
She handed me the letter.
It was from her father. He is
in a federal prison serving a
sentence for fraud. He had
never been to prison before.
The letter was heartbreak
ing.
It described the condi
tions, the other inmates, the
hardened criminals, the
simple confinement.
“Depression is with me
every minute of the day,”
the letter said. “Although I
will be paroled in just over a
year, I don’t know if I can
bear to continue. Treasure
your liberty.”
The letter was from a con
victed felon. But suppose
you found yourself in a U.S.
penitentiary knowing you
were innocent of all crimes
and your date of release
was not set?
In the Atlanta Federal
Penitentiary there are 1,800
Cubans who are detained.
Most have no charge pend
ing, have been imprisoned
for the past five years and
have been given, until now,
no hope of obtaining their
freedom.
In truth, this Advent
season, they are waiting for
justice.
Strange as it may seem,
this contingent of Cubans
came to the U.S. on what
was called the Freedom
Flotilla in 1980. Then-
President Jimmy Carter in
vited them after about
10,000 of their fellow coun
trymen had already reach
ed these shores by boat.
“We will continue,” said
the President, “to have an
open heart to refugees from
Cuba...”
However, as this group
entered the U.S., some were
found to have criminal
records, others committed
minor crimes in the U.S.
and others allegedly
violated the terms of their
immigration status. All of
these were lumped together
and sent to Atlanta Federal
Penitentiary.
Some Atlanta Catholics
have been ministering to
them ever since. One who
has been involved in this
ministry is Father Joseph
Fahy, a Passionist priest
who is attached to the
Spanish Apostolate in the
archdiocese.
‘ ‘The group can be broken
down into the following
categories,” says the quiet
spoken priest. “About 400
are hardcore criminals
from Cuba, 200 may have
mental problems, but most
of the remainder are being
held without cause and
could easily be released.
The frustrations they suffer
are beyond belief.”
Father Fahy tells the
story of these men with
great sympathy. “Three
riots occurred in the prison
during 1983. Boredom and
frustration was the cause of
those riots. Nobody cares
about them. Politicians
look at the case, but find it
too complicated, most of
the prison staff speak no
Spanish, there is constant
friction and misunder
standing and on top of all
that, the majority of these
Cuban men don’t know why
they are there or when they
(Continued on Page 13)
Waiting For Justice
/ \
Praise, Criticism "Close”
Case On Seattle Archbishop
SEATTLE (NC) -
Archbishop Pio Laghi,
papal pronuncio to the
United States, praised
and criticized Archbishop
Raymond Hunthausen of
Seattle in a letter announ
cing that a two-year-old
Vatican investigation of
the Seattle prelate “is
considered closed.”
The letter, released in
Seattle Nov. 27, called for
“greater vigilance in
upholding the church’s
teaching, especially with
regard to contraceptive
sterilization and homo
sexuality.”
In September 1983 Arch
bishop Hunthausen let a
national convention of
Dignity, a group which
seeks to change the
church stand on homosex-
ual activity, use his
cathedral for a Mass. He
publicly spelled out
church teaching on
homosexual orientation
and activity, but critics
said that by letting the
group use the cathedral he
had conveyed a message
that an active homosexual
lifestyle is acceptable to
the church.
Shortly after the in
vestigation was opened,
the archbishop sent a let
ter to all religious orders
running hospitals in
western Washington,
restating church opposi
tion to contraceptive
sterilization. One Catholic
hospital which had been
performing that operation
in some circumstances
stopped the practice.
Archbishop Laghi’s let
ter also asked Archbishop
Hunthausen to “bring into
clear focus” Catholic doc
trines about Christ and
the church, church
teaching authority and
the role of conscience.
It warned against
liturgical abuses in the
archdiocese as well,
citing as specific prob
lems general absolution, !
the proper first confes- j
sion-first Communion se
quence and “routine
inter-Communion” at !
weddings and funerals.”
Archdiocesan marriage j
court practice, continuing
education of priests and
the selection and forma
tion of priesthood can
didates were also cited as I
problem areas.
At the same time the let
ter had strong praise for
many aspects of Arch
bishop Hunthausen’s
leadership. It cited his
“Gospel values,” “ap
ostolic zeal,” “concern
for peace and justice,”
“clear...loyalty to the |
church” and “devotion j
and obedience to your Ho- I
ly Father.” 1
It praised his efforts to ;
form and encourage an ;
active laity and to |
establish strong parish
(Continued on Page 6)
