WORLD WATCHING COUNCIL MOVES Bishop Connolly Participates in Work of Ecumenical Session in Rome Gigantic Tasle Confronting Successors -to Apostles By James M. Johnson N ow that the ceremonial opening of i1he Second Vatican Council is over, the American hierarchy, along with their fel~w bif~hops throughout tlte world, are settling down to a job of considering· the vast edi. face of the world - wide church .• Most of the American bishops are 0 p tim i s ti c about the Council, believing that it will examine carefully and in great detail virtually every phase of the church. They are prepared to spend some time at their One archbishop commented shortly Turn to Page Sixteen
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The ANCHOR Fall River, Mass., Thursdayo Oct. 18, 1962
Vol. 6, No. 43 ©
1962 The Anchor
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By Rev. Edward J. Mitchell The Pan American Clipper carrying Bishop Connolly and forty other AmericaR bishops to the Second Vatican Council touched down at the Rome airpOrt shortl)" before noon on Tuesday, October 8. The Bishop of Fall River and his multilingual chancellor, Msgr. Humberto S. M e d e i r 0 s, were guided through the customs formalities by the Council Reception Committee and then taken to their hotel in downtown Rome. The 242 bishops from the United States are quartered in dozens of different hotels through,.. Turn to Page Ten
Council Fathers Aim To Broaden Working' Commissions, Plan To Begin Discussions on Liturgy Next Week. - All indications are that discllssion of the first subject matter on the Vatican Council's extensive agenda will open next week. The first item to be discussed will be the liiturgy, the Church's worship of God. While there cannot be any c:Jsential changes in the Mass and the Sacraments, discussion will open on how to make these more significant to modern Christians and how these can evoke a more responsive reac-" Mon on the part of the worchippers. Suggestions will range from a .complete recasting of the lliturgy to such matters as the we of the vernacular-,-the llanguage of the country - in place of Latin in certain parts ox the Mass. Balloting began Tuesday to· cl:hoose the members of the ten cl:ommissions that will do the <clIetailed work concerning all oubjects on the agenda in working session. Each of these ~en commissions, presided over by Q Cardinal chosen by the l?ope, will contain 24 membersllS chosen by ballot by the Fathers of the Council and eight appointed by Pope John. The election of the 16 mem~ers had been schequled for last
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Saturday but Council Fathers, led by Achille Cardinal Lienart, Bishop of Lille, and Joseph Cardinal Frings, Archbishop of Cologne, proposed a delay to give more time for study of the complete list of Council Fathers and their qualifications before choices were made. This was seen as a move to· place men on the commissions who would be representative of all areas and nationalities in the Cburch. The members of the preparatory commissions, who did preliminary wQrk for the Council commissions, were most-
ROME (NC) As the. bishops of the world asse.mble for the Second Vatican Ecumenical C 0 u n c i 1, the favorite I tal ian expression, "Pazienza," meaning patien·ce, becomes the key watchword for all those "sitting on the fence." The magnitude of the task this council faces appears more impressive the closer we come to the point of actt.lal deliberations. At the same time, an approach to their possible outcome
G\'Iation's Highest Legal Tribunal to Review Issues Raised in Three Jurisdictions
'l'he appeal 19 on17 the first
Working sessions of these Council commissions will be in many languages with immediate translations into Latin. Language of the general sessions of the whole Council, at which the commissions will make reports, will be in Latin. The solemn sessions of ;he whole Council, at which t.he Pope will preside, will also use Latin. MeanWhile, detailed accounts of the proceeding'" of the Council are being given the 38 nonCatholic observers and official guests of the Council. Held at a hotel near St. Peter's, the brief-
Pati.ence I.s Watchword at Couneil
Ruling Due on School Prayers
WASHINGTON (NC) -'ir'he U.S. Supreme Court is 0xpected to review another ehallenge to religious pracQ;ices in public schools, this one from Florida. The nation's top cl:ourt has also agreed to consider tile constitutionality of Bible ll'eading and recitation of the Lord's Prayer in the public cchools of Maryland and Pennoylvania. The appeal in the Florida case fia sponsored ·by the American Civil Liberties Union and the American Jewish Congress. The appeal papers were filed with ·the Supreme Court by Leo Pfeffer, general counsel of the lewish Congress, who is acting as chief attorney for four Miami parents· who ·have challenged! religious practices in Dade eounty pubUc' schools.
1y.members of the Vatican Curia and Italian. It is felt that Council Fathers wished to internationalize the commissions and so postponed the balloting from last Saturday to Tuesday to make the choices, after delibera- . tion and consultation with one another on qualifications. . With over 2,700 Council Fathers to choose from, the cho·ices may be far-ranging with many names proposed. It is presumed that a plurality rather than a majority would be accepted for election to the commissions.
step toward obtailling.a Suprema Court. ruling on the issue. In the Florida case, the state Supreme Court last June upheld the Bible reading and recitation of the LOJ;'d's Prayer. Justice Millard F. Caldwell wrote in a 30-page decision that "the concept of God has been and is so interwoven into every aspect of American institutions that to attack this concept Is to threaten the very fiber of our existence as a nation." He held that public education should ~ive due recognition to the place of religion, so long as the principle of· Church-State separation is safeguarded. Caldweli said there was no serious contention that any of the children of the. 9bj~cting parents had suffered measurable psychological harm from the Bible reading and prayer. reel.. Turn ilo Page Sixteen .
more realistic than the one so far apparent in public opinion imposes itself inescapably as observers become aware of the scope of the agenda-one more comprehensive and complete than ever before tackled in the history of the Church. It will take a fortnight at least before the council Fathers can settle down to the examination of specific problems. The following weeks, up to the time of the Christmas recess, in ail likelihood will produce but pre-
limfnary u·nderstandings which must be debated in the course of the council's second phase, after Epiphany. No one knows how long this second phase will last or whether at its. conclusion, perhaps this coming Summer, other phases will follow. Only slowly will a consensus' emerge" \on which of the numerous issues proposed for consideration will lend themselves to being voted on in the general meetings. Even Turn to Page Ten
Ing was conducted Tuesday by the Council's Secretariate for Promoting Christian Unity, It ia expected that at least one such briefing a week will be given. Since there have been only two general sessions of the Council, there has not bee~ ve~ much to report on and most at the explanation and questioning has been concerned with prOo cedure. Rev. Thomas Stransky, a Paula ist Father from Milwaukee, and a member of the Secretariate, will handle most of the briefings. It is likely that as the Council progresses various other experts in specific fields will be called upon to talk to the observers. .The next general rr.eeting will take plact: on Saturday, Oct. 20, and will be open~d with a Mass celebrated b~- Bishop Martin ~ Jansen of Rotterdam. At the last session, the Fathers were informed that the order of each day's business will be published at least five days before any session. The will enable those who wish to speak on a particular matter on a given day to make the require' request to the secretary general of the council' three days before the general meeting he wants t@ address.
Hanify Asks Federal Aid for Schools Nationally Prominent Boston Attorney Hits Academic Torturing of u.s. Constitution :Declaring that "learned Justices and academic pundits ••• have tortured the American constitution into building not a wall of separation but a spite-fence between Church and State," Atty. Edward B. Hanify, nationally prominent Boston lawyer and a native of Fall River, paid tribute to Catholic education at the 75th anniversary banquet of the arrival of the Sisters of the Holy Union of the Sacred Hearts in the United Sta.tes. OLD EST FAT HER: Speaking in the new auditoOldest pre,late taking part in rium of Sacred Hearts Academy, Fall River, ·the attorney said he the Second Vatican Council wished such men "could have is Archbishop Alfonso Car- been with me in the Sacred inci of Italy who will cele- Heart School in Fall River in h t h ' · 100th b' thd the magical years that ran their ira e IS 11' ay course between 1918 and 1925. next Nov.'.9. He is Secretary,.. "WQuld they really begrudge Emeritus of the Sacred Con:- ·text b06ks or bus transportation gregation of Rites.' to the youngsters who were later
to seal with their own blood their parochial-school nurtured devotion to the Flag on a dozen battle fields of World War II? '''Could they be so blind as to ignore the fact that the education we received in the old Sacred Heart Parochial School was as solid an education in secular subjects as any given in any school in America, and that with respect to its duly-accredited secular function such education is as much entitled to public support as similar educ cation in a·ny public school?" Referring to "recent event9 Iril Oxford, Mississippi;" Mr. Harl~ continued, "It is·safe to say tk4 no youngster who was CO"'lW. taught by the Sisters of the Iis'V Union of the Sacred Hearts would become a snarling hoodc lum in an angry mob obstructin~ the law of the land, the edicts of the coUrt, and denying justice ~ a fellow human being. ~