t eanc 0 YOLo 33, NO. 43
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Friday, November 3,1989
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Cardinal says patient dialog will resolve tensions
Bishop wants more papal confidence in conferences
MILAN, Italy (CNS) - Patient dialog rather than discipline is needed to resolve the "deep tensions" inside the church today, says Austrian Cardinal Franz Konig. , Cardinal Konig said one source of the tensions was that the church has not yet struck a balance between central and decentralized authority, or between unity and legitimate diversity. Another reason, he s"aid, was that the church's application of collegiality is still "immature" compared to what was foreseen by the Second Vatican Council. Cardinal Konig, who played a major role in the council, commented in an article .in the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. He strongly defended the council as the framework for solution of the church's problems - and denied that it had caused the ten~ sions that form the current "cri. sis." Some of the council's basic Turn to Page Two
HUNTINGTON, N.Y. (CNS) - Speaking prior to the U.S. bishops' fall general meeting Nov. 6t09, Bishop James W. Malone of Youngstown, Ohio, former president ofthe National Conference of Catholic Bishops, said he had both "dreams and nightmares" of the future of episcopal conferences worldwide. "My first nightmare is that through a series of actions," he said, "the Holy See may seriously weaken the role of episcopal conferences. " His dream, on the other hand, is that the Vatican "will place more confidence" in the conferences. Bishop Malone, who in 1983-,86 was president of the NCCB arid its twin body, the U.S. Catholic Conference, spoke recently as one of a series of lecturers commemorating the bicentennial of the U.S. hier'archy at Immaculate Conception FOLLOWING MASS last Sunday at Our Lady of the Cape Church, Brewster, procession Seminary in Huntington in the moves to new parish center for dedication c1;:remony. Additional pictures, story on pages 7 to 9. Diocese of Rockville Centre. (Rosa photo) Turn to Page Six
U .8. hierarchy
arks 200th year I
BALTIMORE (CNS) - The U.S. bishops meet in Baltimore on Monda:r, 200 years to the day from establishment of the first Catholic diocese in the United States. The annual fall meeting was moved to Baltimore from its regular Washington site to celebrate the bicentennial. Planning for the bicenten- bicentennial in Baltimore will inThe First Diocese nial started in 1986, said clude: Bishop John Carroll, the first An art exhibit, "Splendor of bishop of the first U.S. diocese, Father William Au, director the- Popes: Treasures from the Sis-
of public relations for the Baltimore archdiocese and the man in charge of preparations for bicentennial events. "Intense" work on the project has taken place for two years, ,Father Au told Catholic News Service. "In a sense, what we're celebrating is the Catholic Church as part of the new nation," Father Au said, drawing parallels to bicentennial milestones in U.S. history. "It was a new branch of the Catholic Church being established at the same time the [U .S.] Constitution was established," he said. "It marks the formai beginnings of Catholicism, which started, the same year we had our first president." The bicentennial, Father Au said, gives Catholics "a chance to celebrate our history and tradition in the new nation, to participate in its ,growth .. , from a small minority in Maryland and Pennsylvania to over 50 million in numbers," the largest religious denomination in the United States. Events to celebrate the Catholic
tine Chapel and the Vatican Museums and Library," opening Sunday and running through Jan. 7, 1990. The exhibit, at the Walters Art Gallery, includes about 30 works commissioned by popes, most offhem for'use in the Sistine Chapel, with items dating back to the ninth century. - A prayer service based on African-American cultural experiences'Nov. 7 at the Basilica of the Assumption, sponsored by the U.S. bishops' Committee for Black Catholics. . Before the prayer service, bishops will attend a private symposium, "The Effect of Bishop Healy on the Hierarchy." Bishop James Healy, bishop of Portland, Maine, from 1875 to 1900, was the first black bishop in the United States. - A Nov. 8 benefit concert by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, expected to raise $100,000 for two umbrella agencies specializing in homeless and hunger issues for distribution to Baltimore-area programs.
had another distinction. He was elected by his fellow priests who, aware of the need for a leader capable of guiding the infant church, in 1788 petitioned Rome for the right, "at least in this first instance" to pick their own bishop. Thus, at Whitemarsh Plantation, Md., on May 18, 1789, the priests voted 24-2 to make then-Father Carroll the first U.S. bishop. Later during his m:arly 30-year tenure, he became Archbishop Carroll. His appointment as bishop of the diocese of Baltimore was confirmed by the Holy See and announced Nov, 6, 1789, alt hough he was not officially consecrated until Aug. 15, 1790. Electing a bishop probably was unusual, said Mercy Sister Dolores Liptak, a historian now studying old Catholic archives in Maryland, But in those days, "everything was considered the exception here," she said. Bishop Carroll, who had earlier become "superior of the mission" Turn to Page Six
ARCHBISHOP JOHN CARROLL OF BALTIMORE