Funding for the digitization of this title was provided by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta.
About The Georgia bulletin (Atlanta) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 14, 1989)
PAGE 5 — The Georgia Bulletin, December 14, 1989 Monks From Conyers Adapt To Rugged Life In Andes Bishops, Officeholders In Abortion Confrontations BY BROTHER TOMAS This report describes the new life of the Conyers monk founders in Venezuela. Brother Tomas was known as Brother Ed win in his 38 years in Georgia. Our group of founders reached La Azulita on Mother Mary’s birthday, Sept. 8, 1987. Quickly we settled into our rented eight-room house in midtown La Azulita, our home for the next 15 months. The people are warm and generous. They dropped in frequently with gifts of vegetables and fruit. Though we missed the extensive building and grounds of our three founding houses, our mini monastery did provide us space for a chapel, library, kitchen, dining room, and sleeping quarters. Nevertheless, urban monasticism was definitely a challenge for each of us accustomed to the tranquility of rural life. We were agreed that this stage of our Venezuelan adventure should be as short as possible. After our superior, Father Manuel, contacted several contractors, we decided to go with an industrious, in telligent young man, Mr. Tomas Silva, who was quite sure he would have us living on our 110-acre farm in six months. However, owing to the fact that there is a great scarcity of earthmoving equipment in the Andes and that the Venezuelan Christmas extends from mid-December to early January, construction didn’t begin until mid-January, 1988. On work days we monks would drive the four-and-a-half miles from town to the farm to “do our own thing” — clearing pasture and pruning hundreds of guava trees. The contractor had his own crew so we didn’t get involved except as sidewalk superintendents. Since Tomas maintained a work force of usually 10 men and used very little machinery, our temporary monastery (it will be our guesthouse later on) was longer a building that we had anticipated. Short ages of vital materials also retarded pro gress. Though we impatient Yankees were champing at the bit, we were aware that Andino construction though slow, is sure. Our house is truly well built to withstand the elements, especially the rains. In the fall of 1988, Tomas promised us that we’d certainly “be home for Christmas.” He was ready for us by mid- November. We had been moving some of our non-essentials to the farm on our daily trips. For the essentials we decided to make the definite move Nov. 23. To our surprise we had everything moved (with a little help from our friends) and in place by 6 p.m. that day. There are adjustments which will take time. They are a new language, a different culture, a climate pleasant for the most part but made challenging by a rainfall of 70 inches per year, breathtaking mountain scenery. All this is balanced off by the fact of farming this rugged terrain and the change from a machine-dominated culture to one in which hand work (machete, ax, hoe, etc.,) predominates. Then there are the inevitable changes of diet, most of which in our case promote good health. While living in La Azulita we received no candidates because of our lack of space and also due to the fact that we would not have been presenting our candidate the typical Cistercian life. Now that we are once more in our regular monastic milieu, we are beginning to accept observers and postulants. Hector, an enthusiastic, prayerful young man from Caracas, brings our community up to six. A number of other young Venezuelans, having made retreats with us, have expressed interest in joining. Like the mahogany shoots which the department of forestry planted in our uplands, we plan to grow slowly at Our Lady of the Andes. These have been two difficult years for us but two beautiful years as well. In our efforts to implant the male Cistercian life among the wonderful folk of Venezuela, we have been constantly aware of the prayer ful support of our founding religious com munities, New Melleray, Gethsemani and Holy Spirit; of our extended lay com munities, and of our families and friends. Though we founders have changed our domicile from the South to the deeper south, we remain one with y’all in the building up of the Body of Christ, His Church. Please continue to pray for us and our Venezuelan brothers and sisters, as we assuredly do for you. IN VENEZUELA — Founders of the La Azulita monastery pose with visiting Dom Armand, abbot at the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Con yers. Shown from left are Father Manuel, Brother Tomas, Father Ig nacio, Brother Emilio, Dom Armand, Brother Juan Bautista and Brother Hector. The recently completed monastery is shown in photo below. WASHINGTON (CNS) — Several bishops around the - country and Catholic public officeholders who claim their personal opposition to abortion need not guide their public actions have begun to confront one another, sometimes one on one. A candidate in a special election in California who was denied the right to Communion in November by Bishop Leo T Maher of San Diego won a state Senate seat Dec. 5. The candidate, Lucy Killea, was denied Communion after run ning, as part of her campaign, two television commercials supporting a woman’s right to abortion. In Montana, an elected Catholic state official Dec. 5 told Bishop Elden F. Curtiss of Helena that despite his wishes she was free to speak publicly for abortion rights. She made the comments in a one-page letter sent in reply to Bishop Curtiss’ request, made during a meeting in her of fice, that she answer six written questions concerning her views on abortion. Bishop Joseph A. Ferrario of Honolulu also wrote to Catholic state legislators inviting them to meet with him to discuss the Catholic position on abortion and how it affects their public life. In Ohio and Minnesota, Catholic officeholders tried to take the middle ground on what they said were the ex tremes in the debate. Following Ms. Killea’s election in San Diego, Bishop Maher in a statement said that “no popular vote or public opinion can change in any way the divine law that directs and guides humankind.” Saying the “time for choice is before conception, not after,” the bishop added that a Catholic’s duty to be pro-life “extends to all Catholics, including those holding offices of public trust.” Before the election Bishop Maher had written to Ms. Killea, 67, saying “that by your media advertisements and statements advocating the ‘pro-choice’ abortion position ... you are placing yourself in complete contradiction to the moral teaching of the Catholic Church.” She said she would obey Bishop Maher’s denial of Com munion to her, but she said she believed a public official could not impose religious beliefs on others. The Jesuit magazine America in a Dec. 9 editorial criticized Bishop Maher for damaging “the pro-life move ment” and rendering “the abortion rights lobby an enor mous service.” Montana school superintendent Nancy Keenan, a Democrat, told Bishop Curtiss that to keep women from following their consciences was the same as “imposing religious beliefs.” Ms. Keenan’s remarks were the latest action in a debate that began Nov. 20, when Bishop Curtiss and Bishop An thony M. Milone of Great Falls-Billings called on Catholic public officials to remain silent if they could not back the church on abortion. They spoke out the day after Ms. Keenan and state auditor Andrea Bennett, a Republican, addressed an abor tion rights rally in the state capitol. Two other Catholic of ficeholders who attended the rally but did not speak made clear their support for abortion rights in remarks to reporters. Bishop Curtiss then met both women in their offices, and addressed six questions to Ms. Keenan. Within days, he wrote to the two other elected state of ficials, Secretary of State Mike Cooney and state Supreme Court clerk Ed Smith. “As a public official, there is no question in my mind that depriving women of the right to follow their conscience is the same as imposing religious beliefs,” Ms. Keenan wrote Bishop Curtiss Dec. 5, saying she would answer his six questions with a single statement. She said she accepted “the teaching of my church on abortion,” but added that she suspected she and the bishop “will forever disagree on my responsibility as an elected public official.” Bishop Ferrario, meanwhile, with his letter to Catholic lawmakers included a copy of the U.S. bishops’ Nov. 7 resolution against abortion. The bishops during their general meeting in Baltimore adopted a resolution saying that Catholics, including politi cians, should reject “pro-choice” positions on abortion. “It is not that we as bishops are involved in politics and are going about politicizing,” the Honolulu bishop wrote. “We are continuing our mission to preach the good news.” He also said bishops would work to move toward a time “when unborn children will again enjoy the protection of the law.” Columbus Bishop James A. Griffin said he may asx to meet with Ohio Attorney General Anthony J. Celebrezze Jr., who announced Dec. 2 that he had changed his position against abortion. Celebrezze, who may seek the Democratic nomination for governor, said he now supports public funding for abortions for poor women and that, as governor, he would veto legislation to ban abortions. A Catholic state senator in Minnesota, John E. Brandi, said he was telling constituents that he rejects “both ex tremes” on abortion -- that it is murder and that it is a woman’s choice. His comments were published in Commonweal magazine in its Dec. 1 issue. The magazine printed an edited version of a letter Brandi has been sending voters in his South Min neapolis Senate district. Brandi, a member of the Democratic-Farmer Labor Par ty and a professor of public affairs, said his “moderate position” was not taken to “curry political favor” or calculated “to increase my prospects” for re-election. Rejecting the extremes, Brandi said, "will not satisfy people who hold their polar positions, but it respects the wishes of the majority and I think it is a reasonable stance to take in a debate that frequently has not been characteriz ed by reasoned dialogue.”
