Religious
Seen in State
Of Confusion
Milwaukee — (NC) — A
ruling from the Vatican’s Congre
gation for Religious forbidding
chapter-approved changes in the
programs of the Immaculate
Heart of Mary nuns in Los An
geles “has thrown all of us into
. a state of question and con
fusion,” a Franciscan Sister de
clared here.
In a statement which she was
careful to point out was not an
official comment of the Confer
ence of Major Superiors — Mil
waukee, the conference’s chair
^man, Sister Francis Borgia,
added that her statement re
flected the group’s general con
sensus.
As a result of the congrega
tion’s ruling, Sister Borgia said,
Apostolic Religious are in a bind
which might slowly choke them
to death.
The congregation statement
that occasioned Sister Borgia’s
observations ordered the Im
maculate Heart of Mary nuns in
Los Angeles to return from lay
r clothes to a uniform habit, to re
institute daily prayer in com
mon, to keep education as their
primary work of the community,
and to obey local bishops.
The ruling came after a con
flict between the Sisters and Los
Angeles’ James Francis Cardinal
McIntyre escalated into a crisis
Ithat made front pages across the
nation.
Commenting on the Rome
ruling, Sister Borgia pointed out
a conflict between the Second
Vatican Council’s decree on re
ligious life and the ruling of the
Congregation for Religious. The
decree and the norms for its im
plementation say that the most
important role in the renewal of
religious life belongs to the com
» muni ties themselves.
Yet, Sister Borgia added, the
congregation continues to issue
rulings on “significant aspects,
like common prayer,’’ as well as
“less significant aspects, like the
garb. To further complicate
the issue, religious are bound in
all these matters by the laws, de
crees and ordinance of the local
bishop.”
Lying behind the Los Angeles
conflict are two very different
concepts about the manner of
life of Apostolic Religious, Sister
Borgia said. General chapters,
through prayer, study and dis
cussion, are finding that a whole
new life style is evolving.
FIRST MALE LEADER
Columbus, Ohio — (NC) —
r Thomas Smith of Westerville,
Ohio, has been elected 1968-69
Student Governor at St. Mary of
the Springs College. He is the
first male ever elected to head
the student body at the 57-year
old former women’s college,
which became coeducational in
1964.
CITIZENS
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Established 1907
Phone 442-6165
229 Sunset Ave. _
Rocky Mount, N.C.
PHAN THIET, Vietnam — Bishop Francis Xavier Thuan of
Nha Trang, Vietnam, and his pilot, Major Lynn S. Grove of
St. Augustine, Fla., arrive at the airport here, where the
Bishop supervised distribution of relief supplies from Cath
olic Relief Services-USCC. Major Grove is with the 5th Air
Commando Squadron at Nha Trang. (NC Photos)
Texas Bishops Laud
Report on Rioting
Austin, Tex. — (NC) — The
ten bishops who comprise the
board of directors of the Texas
Catholic Conference issued a
statement here praising the re
port of the commission appoint
ed by President Johnson which
studied causes of riots and dis
orders in American cities.
Released after a meeting of
the board, the statement assert
ed:
“The March 3 report of the
President’s national advisory
commission on civil disorders,
according to press accounts, con
tains one of the best reasons
and one of the most forceful and
intellectually honest statements
of the root cause of urban riots
and disorders yet to come to our
attention. The chief blame is
rightly placed on white racism.
“Members of the commission .
deserve the gratitude of all
Americans for facing the issues
squarely, and the President is to
be congratulated for naming as
members of the commission a
bipartisan group of citizens
courageous enough to say what
so urgently needed to be said,
painful and distasteful though it
might be for the white majority
of this country.
“We commend the report for
Catholics, Protestants Meet on Liturgy Texts
Chicago — (NC) — Represen
tatives of Protestant and Catho
lic groups working for liturgical
renewal met here (March 11-12)
to explore avenues leading to the
adoption of common texts for
the Our Father and other pray
ers used in worship services.
Described by participants as
the first of its kind, the meet
ing stemmed from an action by
the Inter-Lutheran Commission
on Worship last November which
suggested a joint meeting and
led to invitations to the other
groups to name representatives.
Delegates came from the Luth
eran group, from the Catholic In
ternational Committee on Eng
lish in the Liturgy, and the Com
mission on Worship of the Con
sultation on Church Union.
Pointed up in both the ad
vance material and the subse
quent discussions were scriptur
al, liturgical, pastoral, and lin
guistic problems associated with
the use of contemporary English
style.
The participants added that
the study also showed that “there
was far more similarity among
the texts examined for possible
common usage than some had
thought possible — even in the
Lord’s Prayer and Apostles’
Creed.”
Content of the discussions will
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be reported to each of the par
ent groups, they said, along with
plans to hold such sessions regu
larly. Although no dates were
set for the next meeting, it was
tentatively scheduled for the
spring.
During elections, the group
named the Rev. Herbert F. Lind
emann of Fort Wayne, Ind., head
of the Lutheran commission as
careful and serious study by all
citizens. If it is studied with an
open mind and heart it will
surely help turn the thoughts
and energies of this country
away from hate and violence
and toward doing the things that
are necessary to be done, at all
costs, to insure unity and peace
among Americans.
“The Church has repeatedly
condemned racism as a grave
sin against our brothers. The
President’s commission finds
that it is precisely this evil
which is the root cause of civil
disorder in our land. With this
we fully agree. Until racism in
its awful effects are eliminated
it will be in vain that Americans
call for law and order. They
must first call for equal eco
nomic, social and political jus
tice for all citizens. Injustice it
self is the worst form of dis
order. It inevitably brings every
sort of disorder in its wake. Let
us proceed now to purge our na
tion of racism and the injustice
which it breeds. This is the first
step toward insuring order and
respect for law.”
REQUIEM HELD
Scranton, Pa. — (NC) — Fa
ther Arthur Cunneen, M.M., 67,
a Maryknoll missionary once
known as “The Radio Priest of
the North Pole,” died here
(March 9). Father Cunneen was
ordained in 1932 and became a
China missionary. During World
War II he was a Navy chaplain
in the Pacific.
chairman, and Father Gerald J.
Sigler of Washington, D.C., head
of the Catholic committee as sec
retary. /
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