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About The Georgia bulletin (Atlanta) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (April 23, 1987)
PAGE 4 — The Georgia Bulletin, April 23, 1987 STATEMENT "To The City And The World” This is the Vatican text of Pope John Paul II's Easter “Urbi et Orbi” message read in St. Peter’s Square April 19. “Victimae paschali laudes immolent Christiani.” Praise and glory to the paschal victim! Christians, let us join together in this hymn! Christians of Rome and of the world! Let us join together in adoration of the paschal victim, in adoration of the sacrificial lamb, in adoration of the risen Lord! “Agnus redemit oves”: "The sheep are ransomed by the lamb; and Christ, the undefiled, has sinners to his Father reconciled." Behold Christ! Behold our Redeemer! The redeemer of the world! He has given his life for the sheep. Let us join together in adoration of that death which brings us life, for love is more powerful than death: See how the death accepted out of love conquers death! See how the death ac cepted out of love reveals God, the lover of life, who wishes us to have life, and to have it abundantly (cf. Jn 10:10) — to have the same life that is in him. To the paschal victim all glory and highest praise! In his death there is reconciliation with the Father. This is the reconciliation of sinners with God, the reconciliation of man, who because of sin dies to God and no longer has in himself the life which is in God and only in God. In God alone. The death of Christ is a new begin ning. The beginning of life which has no end. It is without end, because it is of God and in God. Although the creature dies, God lives! When Christ dies, all of creation is reborn, blessed are you, life-giving death! Blessed is the day given us by the Lord. Blessed are you, O Christ, son of the living God! Blessed are you, Son of Man, son of Mary, blessed, because you entered the history of man and of the world, even to the boun daries of death: “Mors et vita duello conflixere mirando”: “Death with life contended: Combat strangely ended! Life’s own champion, slain, yet lives to reign.” Yes, the history of man and of the world is marked by the mystery of death, marked with the stamp of dying, from end to end. You have taken this stamp upon yourself, eternally begotten Son, Son consubstantial with the Father: life from life, and you have EASTER BLESSING — From the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope John Paul II gives his Easter blessing to the crowd in St. Peter’s Square after delivering the traditional “Urbi et Orbi” message. (NC photo from UPI-Reuter) The<lGeorgia<' <1 'D (USPS) 574880 C atliolK Atvlxliocoso of Atlanta Business Office 680 West Peachtree, N.W Atlanta, Georgia 30308 Phone. 888-7832 U S A. $12.00 Canada $12.50 Foreign $14 00 Most Rev. Thomas A. Donnellan Publisher Gretchen R. Reiser Editor Rita Mclnernev Associate Editor DEADLINE: All material for publication must be received by MONDAY NOON for Thursday s paper Postmaster: Send POD Form 3579 to THE GEORGIA BULLETIN 601 East Sixth Street, Waynesboro, Georgia 30830 Send all editorial correspondence to THE GEORGIA BULLETIN 680 West Peachtree Street N.W Atlanta, Georgia 30308 Second Class Posiage Paid at Waynesboro. Ga 30830 Published Weekly except the second and last weeks In June, July and August and the last week in December at 601 East Sixth St., Waynesboro, Ga. 30830 carried it through the boundaries of death, the death which oppresses creation, through the boundaries of our human death, in order to reveal in that death the Spirit who gives life. All of us who came into the world bearing death within us, we who are born of our earthly mothers marked by the in evitability of dying, live by the power of the Spirit. And in the power of this Spirit, who is given to us by the Father, by the power of your death, o Christ, we cross the boundaries of the death that is in us, and we rise from sin to the life revealed in your resurrection! You are the Lord of life, you who are con- substantial with the Father, who is life itself, together with you, in the Holy Spirit who is love itself — and truly love is life! In your death, O Christ, death appeared defenseless before love. And life triumphed. “Mors et vita duello conflix ere mirando dux vitae mortuus, regnat vivus.” You who are the risen one and “live to reign" forever, re main at the side of man, the man of today whom death, with its dark allure, in a thousand ways tempts and seeks to ensnare. Grant that man may rediscover life as the gift which in all its manifestations reveals the Father's love: when it is .poured into those who are reborn at the baptismal font, or courses through every fiber of the body that moves, breathes and rejoices; when it reveals itself in the vast variety of the animal world or clothes the land with trees, grass and flowers. Every form of life has in your Father its inexhaustible source. From him it flows without ceasing, and to him it in evitably returns: to him, the generous giver of every perfect gift (cf. Jas 1:17). In God the life of the human being has its eternal source in a unique way, the human being whom he himself fashions in his own image when he quickens in the mother's womb. May reverent wonder for the mystery of love that surrounds his coming into the world not die out in contemporary man! We beseech you, Lord of the living! Grant that the man of the technological age may not reduce himself to a mere object, but may respect, from its very beginning, the unrenounceable dignity that is proper to him. Grant that, in harmony with the divine plan, he may live according to the only way worthy of him, the way of giving, from person to person, in a context of love expressed through the flesh in an act which from the very beginning God willed as a seal of the giving. Grant, O Lord, that people may always respect the transcendent dignity of all their fellow human beings, whether they be poor or hungry, imprisoned, sick, dying, wounded in body or mind, beset by doubt or tempted to despair. They always remain children of God, for God’s gift knows no regrets. Everyone is offered forgiveness and resur rection. Each one deserves respect and support. Deserves love. “Die nobis Maria, quid vidisti in via”: “Tell us, Mary: Say what you have seen upon the way.” Visiting the tomb at dawn on the third day, the place where he was buried, fell us, Mary of Magdala, you who loved so much. Behold, you found the tomb empty: “Sepulcrum Christi viventis, et gloriam vidi resurgentis” the Lord lives! I have seen the Risen One. "Angelicos testes, sudarium et vestes.” Who could testify to this? What human tongue? Only the angels could explain the meaning of that empty tomb and discarded shroud. The Lord lives! I have seen his glory, full of grace and truth (cf. Jn 1:14). I have seen the glory “Surrexit Christus spes mea”: “Christ, my hope, has risen: He goes before you into Galilee." Yes, first of all there, in the land which gave him as Son of Man. In the land of his infancy and youth. In the land of the hidden life. First of all there, in Galilee to meet the apostles. And then ... and then, through the testimony of the apostles, in so many places, among so many nations, peoples and races! Today the voice of this Easter message, echoing in Jerusalem at the empty tomb, seeks to reach everyone: “Scimus Christum surrexisse a mortuis vere,” yes, we are certain of it: Christ is truly risen. “And you, victorious king, your salvation bring us.” Amen, alleluia! Archbishop s Notebook SUNDAY, APRIL 26 — Attend performance of GUYS AND DOLLS at Saint Pius X Catholic High School. MONDAY, APRIL 27 — Golf Tournament spon sored by Men’s Club of All Saints. TUESDAY, APRIL 28 — Workshop for Diocesan Directors of the Propagation of the Faith at the Holi day Inn, Airport South. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29 — Confirmation at Saint Thomas More, Decatur. THURSDAY, APRIL 30 — Christian Council Board of Trustees Meeting at the Christian Council Office; — Principal celebrant and Homilist at the Liturgy of Dedication at Saint Andrew’s, Roswell. The Week In Review NAMES AND PLACES — A priest from Czechoslovakia has been sentenced to eight months in prison for celebrating Mass in a private home, Vatican Radio reported April 15. Father Stefan Javorsky, a 62-year-old Salesian, was convicted April 6 in the northern city of Poprad, the radio said. A court there ruled the priest had not obtained state permission for the Mass. Father Javor sky has appealed the decision, Vatican Radio said. He was previously convicted and sentenced in 1975 and 1981, and Czechoslovakian authorities consider him suspended from normal priestly functions. ***** FATHER JAMES HICKEY, a U.S. priest, said he was ex : pelled from Liberia because of his outspoken criticism of the government. Father Hickey, a member of the Society of African Missions who had served as vicar general of the Archdiocese of Monrovia, Liberia, also said the Liberian government did not follow standard protocol when they ordered him to leave. The priest was taken to the Liberian immigration office April 7, he said, where “de facto I was in detention.” Initially he was ordered to leave the country April 8, but after the U.S. Embassy and State Department protested the lack of protocol, he was given a few days’ ex tension. Father Hickey said he was accused of “violating some section of some nationality law.” A spokesman for the Liberian Embassy in Washington said he did not have the formal charges against the priest. A press release from the Liberian Ministry of Justice said Father Hickey was declared an “undesirable alien” because of “his continuous advocacy of issues or matters that do not lead to the nation’s desire for peace and understanding among its peo ple. His teachings as well as his pronouncements, in and out of the classroom, promote disrespect for the established laws of our institution and thereby encourage civil disobe dience.” ***** AROUND THE NATION — The faculty council at Brooklyn College has “deferred” approval of a proposed honorary degree for Bishop Francis J. Mugavero of Brooklyn after some faculty members at the public school questioned the bishop’s stand on homosexuality and other issues. New York Mayor Ed Koch, saying he was “shocked” by the faculty council’s action, which was wide ly reported as an outright rejection, announced he would award Bishop Mugavero the LaGuardia medal, an honor Koch established in 1981 and named for former Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia. Timothy Gura, a speech professor who chairs the council, said in a telephone interview April 14 that the action was only a deferral and that those who had seen it as a negative decision were misinterpreting. He said the degree, proposed for presentation at the college commencement June 9, would come up for consideration at the next council meeting May 5. The council voted 36-29 at a meeting April 7 not to include Bishop Mugavero’s name on the list of recommended honorees. Gura said that although homosexuality was mentioned, council members voting to defer action on Bishop Mugavero wanted more information because “people who are not in the public sector" call for special attention. Bishop Mugavero, who has headed the Brooklyn Diocese since 1968, was the subject of some public criticism after he sent a letter Feb. 4 to all priests of the diocese ordering an end to use of churches or other diocesan facilities by Dignity, an organization of Catholic homosex uals who reject church teaching on homosexual behavior. ***** INTERNATIONALLY — The Vatican’s financial holdings, including real estate, total about $570 million, but less than half of that amount produces income, said Car dinal Giuseppe Caprio, a top Vatican financial official. It was the first time a Vatican official has publicly revealed the amount of the Holy See’s “patrimony'' of investments and land holdings. Cardinal Caprio said the disclosure should help put an end to the “rumors about the immense riches of the Vatican. As you can see, we have nothing to hide," he said in a rare interview published April 16 by the Italian financial newspaper II Sole 24 Ore. Over the years, some press estimates of the worth of the “patrimony” have exceeded $10 billion. "Let's say the total of the patrimony of the Holy See, including real estate and deeds, is 730 billion lire (about $572 million at the current exchange rate). But more than half of this patrimony does not produce income, and instead involves expenses,” said Cardinal Caprio. “The productive patrimony does not go beyond 350 billion lire (about $275 million),” the cardinal said. The rest is tied up in offices and other properties, including church-run schools and a hospital, all of which involve annual maintenance expense, he said. In a telephone interview with National Catholic News Service April 16, Cardinal Caprio confirmed the figures and said their publication was part of an effort to convince Catholics worldwide of the Vatican’s financial distress. In March, a council of car dinals appealed to the world’s bishops to increase contribu tions to Peter’s Pence, the fund that has helped cover Vatican spending shortfalls in recent years.
