Newspaper Page Text
The
Vol. 28 No. 43
Thursday, December 6, 1990
$15.00 Per Year
Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta
LAURA SISSINE considers her lofty task as the cross-bearer for a Mass
Dec. 1 for persons with disabilities at the Cathedral of Christ the King.
Ms. Sissine of St. Jude’s parish in Sandy Springs is an active part of the
special religious education program. Patients from the Shepherd Spinal
Center and people from many parishes took part in the Mass. More photos
on page 5.
ONE SHEPHERD
Mounting Gulf Crisis Pits
'Patience 7 Against Force
BY JERRY FILTEAU
WASHINGTON (CNS) - Warnings
against premature U.S. military action
against Iraq mounted in late November
and early December as the Persian Gulf
crisis moved a giant step closer to possible
war in January if Iraq refuses to leave
Kuwait.
"We have to be very careful -- the
stakes are too great, the potential loss of
life is so very tragic," Archbishop John R.
Roach of SL Paul-Minneapolis told
Catholic News Service Dec. 3.
From the Vatican, in one of his last acts
before retiring as papal secretary of state,
Cardinal Agostino Casaroli Nov. 30 asked
"all those of good will to promote a
patient dialogue."
Calls for patience and time to let
worldwide economic sanctions against Iraq
take effect came not only from religious
leaders, but also from diverse political and
military leaders, including two former U.S.
military joint chiefs of staff and several
former secretaries of defense.
Key to the new phase in the crisis was
the U.N. Security Council resolution Nov.
29 authorizing use of military force against
Iraq if it does not get out of Kuwait by
Jan. 15.
(Continued on page 12)
Priests Reflect On Images
Of Self, God In Assembly
BY PAULA DAY
In order to deepen his
spiritual life, a priest must
be able to say, “All I can
be is a little man, a poor
man.”
With these words, Fa
ther Richard Rohr, OFM,
challenged priests of the
Atlanta Province to empty
themselves of self so they
could, in the words of
Thomas Merton, be “va
cant for God.”
In a November 27-28
Second Annual Assembly
of Priests, Father Rohr ad
dressed the psychological
underpinnings of mascu
line spirituality and the
need for detachment and
integration in one’s jour
ney. He is a frequent di
rector of priest retreats, an
author, and director of the
Center for Action and
Contemplation in Albu
querque, N.M.
“If you need to be
loved, to be liked, in no
way can you preach the
Gospel,” the Franciscan
told his brother priests,
“because you will seek
domination and illusion
rather than truth.”
The first day’s session
concentrated on examining
one’s self illusions through
understanding the issue of
power and recognizing the
value of a good,'healthy
and necessary use of pow
er.
“If we don’t integrate
power, we will misuse and
abuse it,” Father Rohr
pointed out.
On the second day of
the sessions the Franciscan
asked his listeners to ex
amine their operative
images of God, noting that
a sign of spiritual growth
is moving from an image
of God as one who serves
and maintains, to the One
who is completely other,
unnameable, He Who Is.
The man growing in
spirituality, Father Rohr
said, must come to under
stand and finally to inte
grate four types of power,
(Continued on page 6)
Yugoslav Bishops Delay
Medjugorje Statement
ROME (CNS) - Yugoslavian bishops heard a report
from a commission investigating the alleged Marian
apparitions at Medjugorje, but decided not to issue an
immediate statement on the controversial events there.
The Yugoslavian bishops’ conference held the special
session Nov. 27-28 in Zagreb, Yugoslavia, for an in-depth
discussion of developments at Medjugorje. At the start of
the meeting, the bishops said they were going to hear
evidence and, if necessary, publish pastoral directives for
priests and faithful who wish to visit the site in western
Yugoslavia.
After the meeting ended, however, the bishops’
conference said it would not issue pastoral norms at this
time.
A source in Rome said the decision reflected the delicate
nature of the conflict at Medjugorje, which has pitted the
local bishop against the Franciscan pastors who guide the
young visionaries.
The reported apparitions began in 1981 when six children
(Continued on page 15)