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About The Georgia bulletin (Atlanta) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (March 12, 1987)
PAGE 8 — The Georgia Bulletin, March 12, 1987 Rite Of Election Held For 459 At Cathedral A period of enlighten ment and purification has begun for men and women on the final steps of their journey to becoming Catholics at the Easter Vigil. This stage on the pathway began on Sun days, March 1 and 8, when 459 candidates and catechumens took part in the Rite of Election at the Cathedra) of Christ the King in Atlanta. Arch bishop Thomas A. Don- nellan presided at the celebrations. On the first Sunday of March, 149 persons enroll ed in the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults in 10 parishes of the archdiocese acknowledged their will ingness and readiness to receive the Easter sacra ments and the archbishop spoke on the responsibility of the faithful to witness to the elect by the example of their lives. CELEBRATION — Candidates and cateichumens from Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Decatur are surrounded by sponsors, godparents and families during the Rite of Election in the Cathedral of Christ the King. On Sunday, March 8, 310 persons from 20 parishes began their final journey. At both celebrations, spon sors, catechists, pastors, deacons and family members attended to signify their support of the aspirants. During the ceremony in the cathedral, catechu mens and previously-bap tized candidates stood, as one by one, their names were called. After this their god-parents and sponsors stood with them and an swered as the archbishop questioned them concern ing the readiness of the RCIA group for election. Next the catechumens and candidates were ques tioned by the archbishop on their wish to enter fully into the life of the Church Bishop through a solemn profes sion of faith and through the sacraments of Bap tism, Confirmation and the Eucharist. Then the Book of the Elect was offered to the archbishop by a parish re presentative, after which the archbishop and the community prayed for those just elected. At the Rite of Election the Liturgy of the Word takes place, but not the celebration of the Eucharist. The Easter Catholics will be invited back to the Cathedral on Pentecost Sunday, June 7, to participate in the Mass with the archbishop. This ritual, known as Mystagog- ia, brings the celebrations of Lent and Easter to a joy ful conclusion. In Chile Cites Harassment LINARES, Chile (NC) — Bishop Carlos Camus Larenas of Linares called recent police raids on his sisters' homes a campaign against him and "harassment of the Catholic Church” Bishop Camus said that on Feb. 27 agents of the Chilean government security force simultaneously raided the homes of his sisters in Linares, 185 miles south of Santiago, and Vina del Mar, about 75 miles north of Santiago. The authorities arrested his 18-year-old niece and reported they had found “subversive material" and in structions for making bombs during the raids. Bishop Camus denied that police had found such materials. During a March 3 meeting of the permanent council of the Chilean bishops' conference, he said he thought police were harassing him because he has denounced human rights abuses by Chile’s military government. Police said they were looking for one of his nieces in con nection with “terrorist activities," the bishop said, but the niece who was arrested was not the one for which police were looking. After the raids, Bishop Camus said there were “a whole series of suspicious coincidences” surrounding the events. “All this could be a warning as to what kind of treatment the church can expect after the visit of the pope,” he said. Pope John Paul II is scheduled to visit Chile April 1-6. Bishop Camus told the bishops' permanent council he hoped the visit would help Chile because “when the patient is most ill, that’s when he needs a doctor.” ENROLLMENT — Mrs. Lathangie Robinson reads from the Book of the Elect names of elected from St. Paul of the Cross parish in Atlanta. photos by don tortorella Spanish Course Is Scheduled “Practice Your Spanish,” a three-week course for laity, Religious and priests who have an interest in learning how to communicate with Hispanic people, is being offered by the Hispanic Apostolate. Emphasis will be on developing conversational skills through active methodologies which encourage participants to use the language. The course will be offered June 8 to 26, Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Catholic Center, 680 W. Peachtree St., N.W. Coordinator is Sister Pilar Dalmau, A.C.J. The cost is $130 and includes materials. Interested persons are asked to call the Hispanic Apostolate office at 888-7839 by April 1. Archbishop Thomas A. Donnellan gives the homily. Work To Continue On Sistine Frescos BY AGOSTINO BOND VATICAN CITY (NC) — The Vatican will continue restoration of Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel frescos, despite an appeal from U.S. artists to halt and evaluate the project, said an official directing the work. The appeal was contained in a letter to Pope John Paul II expressing concern that the restoration may be harming the 16th century frescos which attract millions of tourists a year. “There is no reason now to pause. What we are finding is that the frescos are in good shape,” Fabrizio Mancinelli, scientific director of the restoration work, told National Catholic News Service March 9. Mancinelli said there will be “no answer on our part” to the letter. “We already have made pauses for reflection when need ed,” he added. Most experts who have examined the restoration “favor our work,” he said. “We have received many letters of sup port.” Mancinelli said Vatican Museums officials have allowed at least 3,000 art experts to examine the restoration and that the policy is to allow access to the work to qualified ar tists and experts. He said most of the signers of the U.S. let ter had not seen the project. The letter asked for a halt in the work to “provide an op portunity to review all the options available for the con tinued preservation of this master work.” The U.S. artists wrote Pope John Paul March 5 proposing “a pause in the restoration...to allow an analysis of the results obtained so far.” The signers included Robert Motherwell, Christo, Jacob Lawrence, Robert Rauschenberg, James Rosenquist, George Segal, Susan Rothenberg and Eric Fischel. The letter was sent through the office of New York Car dinal John O’Connor. Restoration of the 10,345 square feet of Sistine Chapel wall and ceiling frescos began in 1980 and is scheduled for completion in 1992. The main restoration work consists of removing 500 years of soot, dust, candle smoke, grease, and salt deposits from rain seepage that have formed on top of the frescos. The art works depict biblical scenes from the Creation to the Last Judgment.
