Mingled Views on latin ,
Faith in Action in Japan
Official. Prayers of Church,
Continued From Page One
Impressive in Vernacular
By ponald McDonald
Davenport, Catholic Messenger
By coincidence, the same week that Archbishop Am Ieto Giovanni Cicognani, Apostolic Delegate to the United' States, was delivering an address on, behalf of maintain ing Latin as the officiai language in the Western Church, Father George W. Casey, a veteran priest of the Bosto.n bered that He did not deliver It Archdiocese, was devoting to us in Latin but In the tongue his weekly "Driftwood" col that was common to. Him and His umn in The Pilot to a consider ation of Latin as "the language barrier." I do not think this difference of opinion was either annoying to Archbishop 0 l' Clcognanl embarrassing to Father Casey. Expression 0 f different opin Ions within the Church. as the present Holy Father said'" a few years ago, "can surprise only those who do not know the ChUl'ch 01' know her only poorly. Because the Church is a living body, something would be want ing in hel' life If public opinion were lacking ... Enshrines Treasures In sum, the archbishop's argu ment In favor of Latin-and we must keep In mind that his ad dress was directly pointed to priests and the preisthood-Is ,that "great treasures" of the C,hurch. rubrlcll, dogmatic defi nitions, breviary, etc., are "en shrined in the Latin language," that the laity can "readily follow IIlnd understand the Mass and the administration of the Sacra ments" by using translations at these services; that seminarians can develop a "familiarity and love" for .Latin; that Latin has demonstrated Its h a l' din e S B through centuries of usage; and that "use of Latin unites priests all over the world In prayer, in culture, in friendship ... (and) forms a' universal ecclesiastical communion, a most pleasant and advantageous brotherhood." Father casey, on the other 'hand, asks some questions. "By the use of Latin for all, the handful that understand and the enormous majority of those who do not," he writes, "we get uniformity-as the mechanical recitation of prayers in our own' tongue gets unanimity-but do we reach God with them? "Do we have that meeting of minds which Is the very essence of prayer? That speaking of heart to heart of which the Scriptures speak, that inter communication between God and ourselves that Is so pien;ing, and such an experience of revela tion?" Father Casey adds that he is Gpeaking for no one but himself and says: "I feel, that I have lost incal culable Information, inspiration and communication that I might have gotten out of the hour that I have given to the sa~ing my breviary every day for nearly foUl' decades, because I must,say It in a lanp;uage that Is· lal'gely foreign to me." • Must Be Intelligible He quotes from St. Paul n. Cor. 14/b) the passage that In cludes this query: "Unless with the tOnque you utter intelligible speech how shall It be known what is said ... ? If then I do not know the meanig of the .lan guage, I shall be tp the one to whom I speak a foreigner; and he who speaks a foreigner to me -if I pray in a tongue, my spirit speaks but my understanding is unfruitful." "Uniformity in prayer," con cludes Father Casey, "is a mighty force Gnd it is dear to the heart of the Church. Our LOrd blessed the practice by giving us our llreatest common prayer, the Our Father. But it is to be remem
listeners. If the full meaning of that great prayer oon come down to us unchanged through many translations, so can the full meaning' of all our prayer be communicated to us. In other lan guages than Latin, as It was through the long centuries be NIGERIA DELEGATE: fore, Latin came Into use." Miss Marian McReynolds, a I must say that my own views . Junior at Rosary, College, are mingled. While It Is true, as Arshbishop River Forest, IlL, is the only Clcognanl says, that onlY' the college girl among five rep priest;. celebrates the Mass. while resentatives of the National the laity merely "particlpate.and . . . accompany" and can do so Student Association attend with prayer-translations In hand. ing the Seventh Interna it is also true that such participa 'tional Student Congress at tion is hindered, not helped, by University of Ibadan, Lagos, the use of Ii strange tonque, and Nigeria. NC Photo. that one of the surest tests of the efficiency of a language Is its in telligibility. And while it is true, as Father Casey remarks, that the Our Father has come down intact to· Youth and education at a turn us through the centuries and ,numerous translations, does it Ing point In history Is the theme necessarily follow that the 'thou,. for the year's program of the 'sands of other prayers, docu~ Diocesan Council of Catholic ments, rites and codes, many of them fantastically complex, can Women, President Mrs. Emmett also be transmited with the same P. Almond of North Dartmouth degree of accuracy? told 60 representatives of the 123 Use of Vernacular affiliates within the Diocese at a Speaking as a layman, whose meeting Sunday night at Cathe last meaningful contact with dral Camp. Latin occurred 19 years ago, I To emphasize the theme, mem would welcome a continuation bel's, were requested to support and a broadening use of the the CYO directors and their vep.nacular In the official pray ers of the Church, a develop chairmen In their effort to ex ment that has been given decid pand the program for youth dur ed Impetus by recent decrees ing the week of the Feast of from the Vatican. I recently at tended a funeral Mass (attended Christ the King, Oct. 27-Nov. 3., also by a great many people who Rev. Thomas F. Walsh, ,Dioce were not Catholics). During the san moderator, opened the meet Mass, the celebrant used all the English allowable, and there was Ing in the hall with prayer to no doubt that the Church's rites Our Lady of Good Counsel fol were Immensely more meaningful lowing Ro~ary and Benediction and hence more impressive, and in the chapel with Rev. William even Instructive, than they would McMahon as celebrant. All present were urged to be . have been had they been carried come interested in the Retreats out entirely in Latin. for Women Sept. 20-22 and Oct. I wonder whether or, not a dis tinction can be made within the . 4-6. The Anchor was singled out Church between the use of Latin not only as an important vehicle for expanding the works of the on the one hand for such· techni cal, complex mattel:s as the code Mystical Body of Christ but also as';.. means of unifying the wom of canon law, dogmatic defini tions, the official decisions, or en of the Diocese. Representa Acta, of the. Holy Father, bulls" tives were encouraged to obtain more subscriptions among their rescripts, etc., and the cautious ly Increased use of the vernacular affiliates. On the other hand for the wor Besides Father Walsh, speak ship-life of the Church, particu ers included Very Rev. Leonard larly worship which involves the Daley, District V moderator; laity. Rev. Francis A. McCarthy. mo On one thing we may be cer derator of Discussion Clubs;. tain: Latin was adopted by'the Rev. Joseph Powers, Confraterni Church simply because It was ty of, Christian Doctrine modera considered vital for the common tor; Rev. Raymond McCarthy. good of the Church. Latin will be director of the Family"Life Bu . retained, or abandoned-in whole reau; Rev. Leo Sullivan, New or In part-for the same reason. Bedford CYO director, and Fa ther McMahon. If the day comes when the dis advantages of Latin bulk larger Fathe, Walsh closed the board than its advante,ges, I don't mee.ting with the Memm'are for think the Church will allow sen the speedy recovery of health for timent or nostaJgia to Influence Mrs. W. Harry Manning, first her decision. president of the Council.
Diocesan Women ?Prepare Program
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Emily C. Perry, Prop..
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New Bedford, Mass.
~D.DIIES
1
Church, Martha's Vineyard, is
the son of Mrs. Elizabeth A. De
nehy of 697 Second Street, Fall
River. .
The diocesan priest, who holds the rank of captain In the Air Force, has the responsibility of caring for the spiritual needs at lhree submarine bases in addi tion to his Air Base work In Ja pan. Father Denehy expects to , be In Japan for another year. Visit by ~ishop . The Fall River Chaplain, who served in the States and Ger many, before his assignment to Japan, said the Tachikawe. All' Base, where he makes his h~ad quarters, is the largest supply and maintenance depot in that area. It comprises approximately 8,000 military personnel, 3,000 mem bers of military families and }'ATHER JOH\'i F. DENEHY 2,500 American civilians togeth tional catholic Welfare Confer
er with 6,000 Japanese workers. Father Denehy reoolled when ence, with headquarters in Wash
he was in Germany he was Ington, and the National Calho
thrilled when Bishop Connolly lic Committee of Japan, with visited with him. Bishop Connol ly, who was on Ad Limina visit headquarters In Tokyo. Th!! in to Rome, .was accompanied ~y stitutions which benefit from the Most Rev. William O. Brady. the project' receive food, clothing a Fall River native who is now and other supplies and funds. Archbishop of St. Paul, Minn. Asks. Prayers The Catholic chaplain, said Father Denehy, tries to provide Many airmen participate In the spiritual and moral leader the program by working at the ship necessary to defeat the oc Institutions in their Off-duty casions of sin In the pagan so time. 'rhe intense interest man ciety of Japan. "We accent the ifested by the airmen has had a training which has been theirs in telling effect upon the Japanese the home, schools and churches." ' who have had only a pagan atti It is physically impossible to tude for centul'ies. Tokyo has maintain the desired contact had a tremendous increase in with each individual because of population to rank among the the numbers involved. most densely populated cities In the world, yet the entire country Communion Program of Japan has a Catholic popuFather De~~hY is rightfully o lation of roughly 200.000. This proud of the Family Communion . Catholic population is smaller Sunday program he has inaugu than the total Catholic popula
rated for those in his charge. tion In the Fall River Diocese.
Married servicemen r e c e i v e Father Denehy observed. Because monthly with their families. The of the small number of Catholics, large turnouts at Holy Commun Japan presents a. tremendous ion have been most encouraging challenge to the missioners. to him In his work. Single per- Father Denehy asked for the . sonnel have not been neglected. prayers of all, not only to aid They have their own program. him in his own work. but also to They receive monthly and send aid the missioners who labor for home cards to their parents and the conversion of souls. friends, advising them of the The Fall River priest was or communion day. Those at home dained by" the late Bishop Cas 'receive on the same day. The sidy. He is a graduate of Holy influence of the home has been Cross College, St. Mary'S Semin a great inspiration to those par ary in Baltimore and Catholic ticipating In the program. University in Washington. The diocesan priest is working zealously, too, trying 'to coordi u nate the activittes of those under 1I I U his supervision in a great work II U of ch$\rity. This project is to pro I ~ 6 vide aid and assistance for homes II I for the aged, hospitals, orphan' I 0 n ages and day nurseries within a I: 10-mile area surrounding the Air Base. This activity is being conduct
ed in conjunction with the Na
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