Kishops Protest
udity in Movies
(N.C.W.C. News Service)
NEW YORK — The National
Legion of Decency will continue
its “policy of resisting every ef
fort to employ nudity in film pro
duction.”
The policy and reasons support
ing it were outlined in a state
ment issued here (June 9) by the
Episcopal Committee for Motion
Pictures, Radio and Television.
The statement was signed by
Archbishop John J. Krol of Phila
delphia, committee chairman;
Bishop Walter W. Curtis of Brige
port, Conn., Bishop Loras T. Lane
of Rockford, 111., Auxiliary Bishop
John A. Donovan of Detroit, and
Auxiliary Bishop Timothy Man
ning of Los Angeles, committee
members.
THE STATEMENT acknowl
edged that while “some may re
gard this policy as rigid and per
haps arbitrary,” the committee
feels it is acting “in the best in
terest of the national community
and of the motion picture industy
itself.”
On May 13 the legion announced
it had classified “The Pawn
broker” movie in its condemned
(Class C) category “for the sole
reason that nudity has been used
in its treatment.” At that time the
legion stated: “The good of the
motion picture industry as well as
of the national community re
quires that a marked effort on
the part of some producers to in
troduce nudity into film treat
ment be discouraged, for such
treatment is open to the gravest
of abuses.”
The text of the statement by
|>e bishops’ committee follows:
For several years there has
been definite evidence of an at
tempt, till now unsuccessful, on
the part of some producers to in
troduce nudity into major Ameri
can films.
In itself nudity is not immoral
and has long been recognized as a
legitimate subject in painting and
cculpture. However, in the very
different medium of the motion
picture it is never an artistic
necessity. The long history of film
production proves that dramatic
tod artistic effect has been achiev
ed without recourse to nudity in
motion picture treatment.
THE TEMPTATION for film
makers to exploit the prurient ap
peal of nudity in this mass med
ium is so great that any occasion
to its use, even for otherwise valid
reasons of art, Would lead to wide
abuse.
For this reason, the National
Legion of Decency will continue to
apply the policy of resisting every
effort to employ nudity in film
production. Though some may re
gard this policy as rigid and per
haps arbitrary, it is a policy which
is in the best interests of the na
tional community and of the mo
tion picture industry itself.
Pope's Pentecost Sermon
Catholics Asked to Pray
For Church on Birthday
Vatican City — (NC) — Pente
cost Sunday crowds were asked
by Pope Paul VI to pray on the
Church’s birthday that it be holy
“as the needs of the times demand
in its ministers and in all the
faithful.”
Holiness, said the Pope, is espe
cially needed regarding the fourth
session of the ecumenical council
ARCHBISHOP MARTIN J.
O’CONNOR, the American
president of the Vatican’s
Commission for the Communi
cations Media, will head the
Holy See’s delegation to a
“Convocation of Religion for
World Peace,” to be held in
San Francisco in late June to
observe the 20th anniversary of
the founding of the United Na
tions. (NC Photos)
“when the Church must clearly
define its position in the midst of
the world in which it lives, and
draw from itself the light and
gifts so as to offer the world ex
ample, wisdom and the salvation
which Christ has placed in its
hands.”
“For this the Church must be
holy,” he said, “guided by the
Holy Spirit and filled with wisdom
and love for all men.”
POPE PAUL invited 24 rectors
of Rome seminaries to concele
brate Pentecost Mass with him.
Several thousand young men
studying for the priesthood attend
ed the Mass.
A visual high point of the Mass
in St. Peter’s Basilica came dur
ing the Gloria when red rose
petals representing the tongues of
fire that descended on the dis
ciples came fluttering down from
the basilica’s dome. Another re
minder that Pentecost is the feast
of tongues came at the Epistle and
Gospel, which were read in Latin
and Greek.
, , - -
IN A HOMILY directed chiefly to
the seminarians, Pope Paul spoke
‘of the implication of Pentecost in
the. life of a priest.
“This feast must be celebrated
in the inner sanctity of our souls,”
he said. “And if the Christian re
ligion possesses the secret of
drawing God close to man, our
vocation must make us, more
than any other Christian, under
stand and savor the mystery of the
nearness, indwelling, friendship,
spiritual intimacy, inner inspira
Three National Study Weeks on
Workshop Reform Are Scheduled
by Rev. Robert W. Hovda, Editor, The Liturgical Conference
More North American Catholics
than ever before will have an op
portunity this summer to partici
pate in a Liturgical Week, a four
day lecture-study-practice session
on the Council’s reform of public
worship, in three locations span
ning the continent. Liturgical
Weeks will be held in Baltimore’s
Civic Center, June 21-24; in Port
land’s (Ore.) Memorial Coliseum,
Aug. 16-19; and in Chicago’s Con
rad Hilton Hotel, Aug. 30-Sept. 2.
CONDUCTED by the Liturgical
Conference, a Catholic association
which for 25 years has been a pub
lications and meeting forum in
which Christians could discuss and
promote the renewal of public
worship, this year’s three national
Weeks are a first. In previous
years, the Conference has con
ducted one national Week each
year. For many years these were
small, though influential, meet
ings. Since Pius XII’s liturgical
reforms, however, and especially
since Pope John called a council
which made public worship its
first business, the Liturgical Week
DIOCESE DONATES $5,201.90 FOR
THE PROPAGATION OF THE FAITH
His Eminence, Gregory Cardinal Agagianian, Prefect of the
Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, has written
* to His Excellency, Bishop Vincent S. Waters, to express his grati
tude for the sum of $5,201.90, which was collected in the Diocese
of Raleigh last year for the work of the Foreign Missions.
In accepting the contribution, which was forwarded through
the Office of Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, Cardinal Agagianian wrote:
“This continued generosity of the good Catholics of Raleigh
towards the Church in other lands makes it a pleasant duty for
we to express my warmest personal thanks to Your Excellency
^*od to the Rev. Robert E. McMahon, your Diocesan Director, for
*11 that you have done and are doing to aid the missions through
the Society for the Propagation of the Faith.”
has become one of the largest an
nual gatherings of Catholics in this
country.
The theme of this summer’s
Weeks, “Jesus Christ Reforms His
Church,” was chosen in the light
of the council’s teaching in its
constitutions on the sacred liturgy
and on the Church. General ses
sions each morning and evening
will develop this theme, with two
major addresses in each session.
Introductory sessions for newcom
ers to the problems of public wor
ship will be held each afternoon,
at the same time as ten study
group meetings for specialized in
terests. The program and sched
ule are the same in Baltimore,
Portland and Chicago.
HIGHLIGHT of each of the four
days is the celebration of Mass in
the main assembly hall, providing
both a demonstration and an ex
perience of what the talk and dis
cussion during the rest of the day
See Study Weeks, page 5A
tion, sweetness and strength,
peace and joy which the Holy
Spirit grants to souls through
grace.”
After treating briefly of the
mystery of grace, the Pope said:
“Not only does the priest receive
grace, but he spreads it. Not only
is he sanctified by grace, but he
is made a worthy instrument of
sanctification by grace.
THE POPE referred to the fact
that his listeners have been study
ing for the priesthood in Rome.
“Let us not miss the fulness of
this moment,” he said. “Immense
significance stems from living in
Rome, and from becoming aware
in Rome of one’s own ministry re
ceived or to be received, because
here the communion and indeed
the unity of our priesthood is vast
er and more profound.
“Here the sense of the powers
conferred by Christ on the con
tinuers of His work of salvation is
more manifest and tremendous.
Here the relationship between the
spirit and the hierarchy appears
in all its wonderful balance.”
Reports that Pope Paul would
spell out his promised reforms of
the curia on Pentecost Sunday had
been printed in many newspapers
but did not materialize.
Among the concelebrants at the
Mass was Bishop Francis F. Reh,
rector of the North American Col
lege.
Pope Paul
Blesses U.5.
Astronauts
Vatican City — (NC) — Pope
Paul VI gave a blessing for the
American astronauts, James McDiv
itt and Edward White of the Gem
ini 4, during their four-day, 62-or
bit journey in outer space.
At his regular Sunday noon ap
pearance (June 6) at his window
overlooking St. Peter’s Square, the
Pope said: “May our blessing
reach throughout the world and
leap even to the sky for those
who are exploring the paths of
the stars.”
OFFERS FIRST MASS
Santo Domingo, Dominican Re
public — (NC) — A Brazilian par
atrooper chaplain with 201 jumps
to his credit, Father (Capt.) Dar
on celebrated the first Mass here
for peace forces of the organiza
tion of American States.
ASHEVILLE CATHOLIC HIGH installs new
council officers for 1965-1966 as follows: An
ton Felthaus, President; Mary Harris, Vice
President; Michael Reusing, Treasurer; and
Kate Hudgens, Secretary.