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Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta
Vol. 27 No. 15
Thursday, April 13, 1989
$15.00 Per Year
Cardinal's Criticism "Devastating"
Bishop Defends Catechesis In U.S
BY JULIE SLY
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (NC) - Cardinal Joseph Ratz-
inger’s recent criticisms of the state of catechesis in the
United States are “devastating,” Bishop Raymond A.
Lucker of New Ulm, Minn., told religious educators April 3.
“I believed that we were in the midst of catechetical
renewal,” Bishop Lucker told about 400 members of the Na
tional Conference of Diocesan Directors of Religious
Education at their convention April 2-6 in Sacramento. Also
among the speakers was Archbishop Patrick F. Flores of
San Antonio, Texas.
Bishop Lucker, who is episcopal moderator for the
organization, referred to remarks by Cardinal Ratzinger,
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FRIEND — Christina Davis is concerned
with making people aware of the needs of the
Mexican farm workers who come to Rabun
County each year.
head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and
by Cardinal John J. O’Connor of New York during the
March 8-11 meeting between U.S. bishops and Vatican of
ficials.
Cardinal Ratzinger was addressing the teaching role of
bishops and said that since the Second Vatican Council
religious education “has been turned over to the so-called
professional,” resulting in “a confusion of voices, making it
all the more difficult to recognize that of the Gospel.”
Cardinal O’Connor said that some “years of confusion
and diversity” in catechetical instruction materials used in
Catholic schools and religious education programs “have
left an entire generation in a state of ambiguity.”
Bishop Lucker said that if what the two cardinals said
were true, then there has not been a catechetical renewal
and that the church would have to go back in time.
In the 1950s, a catechetical renewal which began in the
United States and was spurred on by Vatican II emphasized
teaching accurate doctrine “to call forth a response to
faith,” as well as adult catechesis and formation, Bishop
Lucker said.
“If it is not true, then we have an enormous communica
tions problem with our own bishops and with many other
people who would probably agree with their assessments,”
Bishop Lucker said. “Or if the renewal as we understand it
is misunderstood, then we have a great deal of explaining to
do.”
One of the major problems facing the U.S. Catholic
Church is the need for an ongoing conversion of adults such <
as “cultural Catholics” who are alienated or may be °
registered at parishes, but “their faith doesn’t affect their
daily lives.”
Bishop Lucker praised the many adult volunteer
catechists who serve in parish catechetical programs and
said their work is “the most effective adult education pro
gram that’s taking place in parishes ... because their lives
are being changed.”
The bishop also expressed concern about the new profes
sion of faith and oath of fidelity issued recently by the
Vatican.
Northeast Georgia’s Rabun County is known for its moun
tain laurel and rhododendron in the spring and its apple
harvest and flaming hardwoods in the fall. However, many
may not know that the cabbage in the slaw on their evening
dinner table could have come from Rabun County.
0 Even fewer know that the acreage under cultivation in
the county has more than doubled in the last seven years
because of the availability of a specific labor force, a force
made up of Mexican migrants.
Making people aware of the Mexican migrants and their
needs, and helping meet those needs, has become the cause
of Christina Davis.
Mrs. Davis, a 35-year-old wife and mother, is the
daughter of Mexican migrants, a Catholic father and
Methodist mother. For the past two years she has been im
mersed in her Loaves and Fishes Ministry in Clayton.
RAINY RUN — Weather proved the biggest
obstacle for the first Archbishop Marino
Walk/Run at St. Pius X High School on April 8,
but the archbishop was among 106 who braved
the downpour. In photo he is shown warming up
for the 3.1 mile event. (See page 8 for more on
the run.)
Presently she is planning to be the main runner in a 20-mile
run across Rabun County organized to draw attention to
and benefit the ministry. Money donated to runners,
walkers and cyclers will help provide transportation, food.
See Related Story Page 7
recreational equipment, tutoring materials and funds for
medical emergencies for migrant workers.
Christina Davis cites the Scripture passage, “Whatever
you do to the least of my brothers, you do to me” as her
slogan. “I’m here to work with the Mexican people,” she
says simply.
At the peak of the growing season, between 200 and 300
Mexican migrants work in the fields of Rabun County and
in neighboring Macon County, N.C.; and the areas from
(Continued on page 6)
(Continued on page 13)
Migrants' Daughter Developing
Rabun County Ministry To Mexicans
BY PAULA DAY