Crisis: Catholic Colleges· at· Crossroads .'
Catholic or Secular- Which, Why?
Almost every edition of the daily newspaper carries a story relating to changes and adjustments taking place in some Catholic col leges. Many Catholics are
, ,
wondering what is happen ing 'and why. It is true that Vatican Council IT called for the laity to play an ever more active role in every part of the Church's work. : Some people feel that one way in which this can be. done is to have laymen and laywomen take over one or ahother Catholic college com pletE~ly - with general policy decided by lay trustees, with the administration handled totally by lay ,people, with a faculty composed of laymen and laywomen. A priest or nun or br~ther would ei~her not be included on the fac ulty or would be there as simply another faculty mem ber with no special preroga tives or voice. in college matters. , . The reasoning ,behind this'
The ANCHOR fall River, Mass., Thursday, Jan. 26, 1967 Vol. 11,' No.4
© 1967 The Anchor
$4.00 per Year PRICE IOc
Divorce-Immunity Is Sign Of Superior Civilization VATICAN COUNCIL NC)-With a nation-wide cam paign for divorce laws gathering momentum in the Italian press and parliament, Pope Paul VI styled Italy's present immunity from divorce "!l moral and soci~l advantage and a sign of a superior civiliza tion." He expressed "sur cious moral decaden<:e, and as if divorce were a remedy for prise and sorrow" at a recent those ills which it on the con decision by the constitutional trary spreads abroad and aggra
committee of the Italian parlia vates, fostering selfishness, infi ment that a proposed divorce delity, discord, and sacrificing law would not be unconstitu with pitiless coldness the inter tional. J ests and rights of the children, "The subject brings, us by a Turn to Page Six compelling association of ideas to a recent episode in the Italian parliament, these past few days, of the declaration that would hold legislation for the introduc tion of divorce into Italian law
Bishop Connolly and Bish
to be constitutional. We do not at this point want to enter fur op Gerrard will join the Ser
ther discussion of this pro
rans and their guests from nouncement, even if it brought areas of the Diocese on five us surprise and sorrow, and de mands of us the reservations due Tuesday evening in White's Restaurant, State Road, North it. Westport, to welcome Jan Ber "But we do not want to be si lent on the sad impression we bers, International President of Serra. have always had of the eager Mr. Berbers of MontivicleOj ness of those who hope to intro duce divorce into the laws and Uruguay, is the first Internation customs of nations that have the al President of Serra to visit the good fortune to be immune to Diocese. them, WI if U were 8. disgrace The Serra Clubs are dedicated. today not to have such institu~ to the dj'!ve~opment of. v<>cations lions, wJW:l& !Ildicate a perni- 10 the priesthood
Serrans to Greet Worldwide Head
plan-already being ,put into action in Webster 'College in Missouri and talked about for others-is that most stu dents ina -Catholic college are going to live theil' lives as lay people. It is thought, then, that their preparation to live as Catholics in the lay state might be better 1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
Stories concerning Catholic college changes --.at'~-olt Pages 4, 16, and 20. 111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
and more effectively carried on by lay people. . The college thus produced would be either a Catholic ~ollege run by lay people, or It would bea secular college with a Catholic tradition. : There are, of course, other C~tholic colleges w her e changes will not be this com plete 'a:l'dwhere' lay people
will be invited to share now been invited by Vaticalll with priests and nuns and Council II to play an ever~ brothers - the planning for expanding role in Catholic the college, the administra tion of the college, and a education. greater role in faculty life. Turn to Page Six Those who plan these ,ad ju'stments feel that Catholic colleges should benefit by the wisdom and undeniable contributions to be made by lay people. At the same time, they do not feel that the also undeniable contribu tions made to Catholic educa tion by priests and nuns and brothers should be re moved from the Catholic educational scene. This is especially true when it is considered that the lives and sacrifices and poverty of priests and religious built the colleges with the degree of excellence that they have today and produced 'and ed ucated lay'people who have
Call' Me Miss,
Lay Answer
Your front-page caption 'Call Me Miss' 1'egarding the former Sis tel' Jacqueline Grennan makes me wonder
No one questions Miss right to withdraw from the Order of Loretto. nor her right to take Web-'
whether someone indeed has gone "A-Miss" quite soon after her remark: "As· far as I'm con cerned the nun's habit is an anachronism" (1/14/66). The i'experts" are at it agaili - in Community rooms, rec tories, classrooms and lectul'e halls,over telephones, back yard fences, cups of coffee, and anywhere people gather to talk over what they consider big news. There's a substantial amount of "What are we com ing to?"; '.'1 told you so"; "That's what publicity can do"; and an occasional soft-spoken, "Have you read the' fine print and weighed all the facts?" If "open ends" a'nd "open doors" somehow make for "ter rible variety," then 'tis better to have Sister J looked upon as "A-Miss'" rather than Nun-such! Apparently this is what she wanted as she made her decision to follow her conscience in what she believes is truly Christian endeavor to innovate and exper iment in this vast field of edu cation. Meanwhile, back at the "ghet to"-I've been accumulating a few more votes for our campaign to "keep the shirts on our back" since .the TV "nuns of the round table" sparked lively debates on the subject of nuns' habits. Last spring, I got "letters . . . letters ... lots and lots of letters"-all iIi. favor of keeping the religious habit with some' adaptation and renewal for the sake of simpli city, practicality, .and hygiene. Playing effective "short stop" (against defrocking) for our team was the powerful voice of none other than our own good Cardinal Cushing, who remarked at our Diamond Jubilee of St. Francis de Sales School, "Don't let anyone change your Domini can habit." With this, we (and thousands ofe other religious) do heartily agree. How nice of Miss Grennan to throw a vote indirectly our way even after- our ballots were irrevocabJy cast! For, in advo cating a modern suit for scaling "psycho1<~gical barriers," Sister Turn to Page Six
Grellll~n's
CICOP: Primate of Can ada, Maurice Cardinal Roy of Quebec, will address the 1967 Catholic Inter-Ameri can Cooperation Program (CI COP) conference opening to day in Boston. NC. Photo.
Latin America Victory Fund Collection The man who heads-up the Latin American Church ef fort for the North American hierarchy is Rev. John M. Considine, M.M., a New Bedford native and brother of two dioc esan priests. Poverty and the utter lack of education in Latin America prompted the Bishops of the United States and Canada to initiate a huge undertaking to send both personnel and material to bolster and strengthen the faith of hundreds of millions of Catholics in Latin America. The Catholic Inter-Coopera tion Program to aid Latin Amer ica opens its international meeting today in Boston with an address by Maurice Cardinal Roy, Primate of Canada. A collection to llid the Latin America Victory Fund will be taken-up at all Masses in all churches of the diocese on Sun day. . Bishop Conn911y has appealed Turn to Page· Silt' .
ster College with her. But heir' reasons arc shallow. Miss· Grennan seems to have forgotten that it was during her eighteen years as a "limited" nun, wearing an "anachronistic" costume, that she achieved her present eminence as an educator. She must have had the support, encouragement and opportunities from her Religious superiors anell her Church necessary to make all this possible for her. I fail to see the "limits" and "anachro nism" 'of her situation. Some of us in secular education, wearing Dior creations, have not achieved her position. The "anachronism" of her habit seems not to have prevented her from becomi ng an advisor to the President on edu~ cation, Doors Are Open What does she want, the world? I can see that she migM not be comfortable in her "anachronism" at a cocktaiU party, but nowadays women's styles are so freakish that she would never be noticed in a so ciety where anything in the way of dress or undress is acceptable. As an "old" Catholic college graduate, and proud of it, I must say that all intellectual "doors" were "open" to me. True, the corner drugstore was off limits *' * I) But when I got out into the secular world, and. the world of secular education I didn't feel limited, or like an anachronism, somehow. W hat limitations I felt were imposed by the economic depression; my classmates, without exception. have all been successful in sec ular careers, One for Another I am surfeited to nausea with these people in religious life who, having taken all the bene fits available, leave and then criticize the Ordli(r and the Church, which supported and ed ucated them, for the "limits" and "anachronisms" which they impose. Leave the Order, and the Church, if you must; but do it quietly, with a little humility, with charity for those who have chol!en to remain, and With graU.. Turn 'W p~ 1:_