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. If tbere IS" anyone still worrymg aqout the st<;tte oJ . .' America~ Catho.lici~.m" a subject. to whicp the?, cou'd devote, their attentIOn m the next several months IS th~ ~ynod of. bishops coming-up in ·Rome in the FJll:Foolishly and ., I 'naively, many American , priests are permitting them- Holy SpIrIt IbvIOusly, too~ over , " ,', '," and worked ohanges that nobody , _'sely~s to haye, great ..e:c pec - could possib~y. have .expected, ", tatl~ns about what wIll, hap- But' the' Holyl Spirit had al major
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p~n at that synod, Those expec'.' 'tation:3 will. be dashed an~ the , moralll of 'm~I\Y of these. pnests, : 'al,ready Jaw; will' sink even , 'lower,.
By
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ANDREWM.
One of the reasons for the expectations is - the 'elaborate · process of consultation. curr,ently going on between priests and bishops throughout ·the United States. about the synod. The consultation is of course a'n excellent idea, but iCs a risky one. Fpr the process of ,consultation is bound to raise expectations, and unless there is some reasonable prospect of the expectations being somewhat satisfied, consultation can make a bad situation even worse. - One need only talk to priests to know that there . ,are two issues on their minds: the participation of priests in selection of ' t·'IS h ops, an d ce I'b ·t h elr lacy.. I n , j' II th bl"t . th e spite O' a e pu leI y over latter, despite persistently misinformed emphasis by organized priest groups on the latter, by far the more serious probll~rif is the former. No matter what: 'you read in the letter column of the National . ts Ca th.0 I"R Ie epor t er mos t - pnes do not want to marry, 'but most priests po object, and strongly, to the way their leadership is chosen. This objection has nothing to clo ,with the quality of the man; it is based, rather, on an increasing insistence on ,the prin· ciple that" as one priest put it · to me, .'''Even if we make a mistake in choosing a 'bishop, at · least it's our 'mistake,~not someone ' elsl'.'S....
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Ass:ist From Pope John
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assist froin Pope John. THe only· way structu+r, change, is i going to take place in the Roman Catholic ChJrch in its present· organizationa'l' format is lif the Pope. takes·thk leadership ih such change; othd1wise, it is jJst not going to occClr" I .I This may seem an unduly pessimistic position, but I ain' un'aware of anyl contrary cvi!dence, We will not have major reform of .ecclesiastital institutio~s un'til the Pope la Pope Icletermines that such reform is imper.. WISE AND CAREFUL USE was urged upon the drivers. of 257'snowmobiles from ative, . -.1 I . throughO,i.lt Minnesota arid from places in Wisconsin and North Dako~a, who gath~red I do .not hC/-ppen to be ?ne of those who believes that massive : with their machines at St. Rose of Lima Church, Freeport, ,Minn., for a blessing by Msgr.. resignations. ft-om the priesthood, Vincent Yzermqns, the pastor. Msg~. Yzermans' prayer included a petition that the snowor drying uJ of vocatio~~, or 'mobiles might be "a means of usefulness and recreation" foraH, and he reminded even apostas~ or schisrrl will have the slightest infiuente on the drivers· to use the. machines wisely an d carefully at all times, that they may bring, the situation,] It is obvio'us at enjoyment rather than tragedy. NC' Photo. this' . point that ecclesi~stical leadership' is bot afraid to Itouch a' torch- to a tinderbox...:...,itness . the Rotterdarh appointment:. , . _ " It therefore Iseeins to mej!to be a mistake to put hope into insti' tutional rpforln' but during the . ., " " :, and >AUSTIN (NC)I - ~eturnil1g to Pope Paul VI when he warned suspicIOn an d polemicism last d.ecade Caltholics have!1 been Texas for the first , time, ',. , h since his Catholics that "our dialogue antagonIsm, It as taug h t us to 'h" , obsessed withl fiddling with the installlltion as, ar:chbishop, of must not weaken our attachment believe In. t e Sincerity 0 f one ecclesl'astl'cal str·ucture, Howlever, Boston last Fall, Archbishop ·to our fai!h,' . Gu'r priiicij:llesariother's 'motives and' to'. trust ,. ,careful readl'ngl of the New!1 T Humberto es' . h ' d" S." Medeiros, praised which regulate and govern the one anot er s wor s, t ament oug h t Ito h ave perspa de d the work of the Texas Confer- profession of the Christian faith Common Involvement' '.J them that the success of the enceof Churches. ' But ' he made . it both in theory and in practice," .kingdom which Jesus procl~imed Citing ecumenical work that I In addr"ssl'ng the s'econd andoes not depelild on human I insti" unmistakably dear that Catholic ~ remains to be done, he singled I doctrine' would, not be watered nual assenlbly o'f the ecumenl'cal tutions or human organization, I 'I down in the name of ecumenism. body of which he was a found- out theological researeh, cooperh The most we can expect 'of inS' I' t d' I ative programs based' on funda. stitutional strJctures is that they Ingmg ou, la ogue as t e ing father, Archbishop Medeiros, mental, moral and ethical _priri, facilitate our Jroclamation 6f the very core of ecumenical engage- said: "I know you and I love you ciples for tfIe achievement of I ment, 'the Boston prelate quoted and I know that you want me kingdom; and the least we are freedom, justice and economic . probably going to get is a!n in- """,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,.....,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,".. ".. ",,,, ~~Sh~ep ;~~tsp~a:~~s aa g:~~~::~ development. stitution whic~ does not ndtably impede' the proclamation J- and the reproclamation of. the Good bishop," Then he added:· "I speak He described the single most I to you from that Catholic posi- important ecumenical task of this least is what we have1 had News of the' 'kl'ngdom .' to settle for d~ring most of the Easy to Proclaim hon which I hold with all- my the 1970s as "our common involvement in the struggle against history of ChrlIStian·ity . \. One often suspects that our heart:." . the insidious, invasive and defixation on structural reform Rocky Road structive forces that would secReformulation of Values and our ignoring .the implicaThe archbishop then 'quoted ularize or desacralize anything Mind you, ~ am not S1 Ying tions o.f the message provides a that we can do without ah or, marvelous pretext for not faCing Augustin Cardinal Bea, the late and everything, even our faith." ganization; I ~m simply s~ying the awesome challenge that the president of the Vatican's SecreReminding his audience that that the organi'zation is made up joy and hope of the message tariat for Promoting Christian Christians mtist seek' unity be" of h' uman beings,. I ! would bring to' our live's,' \ Far Un'it,Yi who stated that essential and human cause it is Christ's will, Archorganizations ~re never pettect, better to, agitate for the change unity already exists in the Cath- bishop Medeiros said: "It is God olic Church and that further . I I of structure than to make the rarely very effective, and usuI .. Ieap 0 f . comml't ment to unity would be brought about by who will answer the prayer of ally very imperfect and incom- deCISlve the free acceptance of union with His Divine Son for. unity. The petent. I which Jesus challenges us, Church is the work of God, God But the point is that no one the Catholic Church' by members founded it. God imprinted upon The Church is an organization unhappily separated frqm the made up of hLman beings I and can prevent us from making such it the mark of unity. The tears is subject to th'e same incompe- a leap of -commitment; no one the -Apostolic See," in the garment of the. ChurcHCalling the Texas Conference which have destroyed unity arc tence and imp~rfection thatl dis- can interfere with our proclaimturb other hUrlJan organizations ing the Good News. We can 'be of Churches a "brave and new man made. The ultimate resto-a fact that i~ so obvious \that prevented from participating, in attempt to advancee the cause ration of unity is in the hands of . the selection of our bishops, we ot' true ecumenism," Archbishop the Father, through Christ, in the \, it hardly need be asserted. . I can be prevented from changing Medeiros recalled that the road Holy Spirit." Nor am I contending that we the canonical regulation of the of ecumenism is a rocky roa'd, should, not be, conce~ned about life' of the clergy, but the nice But, the archbishop continued, ecclesiastical 'reform, for the thing about the Good News that ELECTRICAL more effective the 'Church, the Jesus brought is that it is very in underscoring the fact that the Contractors road of ecumenism is a rocky better able it is to play the role easy ·to .proclaim-if we want to road, I have no desire to overof the light on the ,mountain top. believe in it, look the beneficial results that It does seem to me that at this But the real \li ght is not Iperfection of the ecclesiastical or- point in. the history of the. have already acquired from the ~~ . ganization by the quality of lives Church after the Vatican Council ecumenical enterprise. 1
GRIEELEY
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W arn',. A.ga inst · W · D' - Doctr. - ·'I ne ateri'ngown s
Archbishop Me desros Gives, Views on Ecumenlsm .
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No' one in his right mind can possibly expect either of these changes to come out of the synod. The recent appointment in Rotterdam and the· exhortation of the Pope to the bishops of the 'world make it fairly clear; I think, how Rome stands on both - issues. It is very unlikely that a majority of the synod would. be willing to fight with the Pope ·on celibacy, and even more unlikely that·· they would vote to dismantle the method of episco· pal selection by which they themselves were selected' and led by Christiahs: It does sleem which gives them considerable to me that in o~r obsession ~ith -power ill the choice of their col· . institutional re~oi'm of the !Iast "leagues. .-' ' : .decade' we ha~e' neglected Ithe '_ One can, 'of course, point out far more impor,tant task of the the "miracle" of ,the'first session restatement or ~he-_ message, .the tho ,~~ th~:YiIV~qn;S9~9~.:r.bf:,~Jhe 1
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that all of us, priests and laity, organized and ,unorganized, should devote a lot more attention' to .preaching' the kingdom an<;l a lot less t6, agitating for structural reforin:s whiCh don't gho" of.
VO'U"lnd ..", I
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"This assembly," he observed, "is a splendid evidence of this fact. It has produced an atmosphere of genuine friendliness and human' understanding and. mutual respect, It has done much toward 'the elimination of
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