Why Catholic Camping?... Youthful attitudes
Is there any specifically Cath
olic way of camping any more
than there is a Catholic way of
playing football? The answer de
pends on what you mean by
Catholic and what you mean by
camping.
Take camping, for example. All
camping ought to promote the
physical, mental, social, and spir
itual health of the camper. Now,
if a camp is organized under
Catholic auspices, and one of its
spiritual goals is to foster voca
tions to the religious life, or to
teach catechetics, then it would
properly be called “Catholic
camping.” Or, if by camping you
simply mean outdoor living and
the camp buildings and grounds
are used for liturgical workshops,
retreat movement, CFM gather
ings, etc., combined with some
outdoor activities, then again
“Catholic camping” would be a
proper description.
But let’s talk about the usual
recreational camp that is de
signed for children’s vacations.
To qualify as Catholic a bare es
sential would be an assurance to
the parents that the camp is an
ally to Catholic family life and
that opportunities for basic reli
gious practice are at least as
readily available there as they
are back home. In this case,
church auspices would not be an
essential point, as long as the
Catholic laymen running the
camp arrange to supply the reli
gious requirements.
Now let’s ask the question,
what is meant by Catholic? Does
Catholicity consist in external
practice or internal attitudes?
Ideally, both, of course. But our
positon is that internal attitude
is more important than external
practice. If camp is designed only
to impart to the camper new in
formation and new skills (like
bringing a gym teacher into a
rural setting) and to give varied
Our Lady of Hills Camp, our own Diocesan Summer Camp will begin Its 12th 8U"““«L “ "ff
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Rome Action Upheld
By Hood of Sisters
Institute LA. Case
Cincinnati — The national
chairman of the Conference of
Major Superiors of Religious
Women’s Institutes has com
mended the action of the Vati
can Congregation for Religious
in forbidding the Immaculate
Heart of Mary nuns of Los An
geles to continue experiments
approved by their general chap
ter last summer.
The chairman — Mother Mary
Omer, mother general of the Sis
ters of Charity of Cincinnati —
said here the congregation “is the
official body for guiding and di
recting all Religious communities
in the Church” and that she does
“not feel that the sacred congre
gation intends to hamper or dis
courage in anyway the good work
that is being accomplished” in
the renewal of Religious com
munities.
The Immaculate Heart of Mary
nuns already have announced
that they will petition Pope Paul
VI to overrule the congregation’s
order that they return from lay
clothes to a “uniform habit”; re
institute common religious exer
cises in their communities, and
keep educational work as their
principal occupation.
The experiments, as well as
chapter-approved changes in the
nuns’ educational programs, have
been the source of dispute be
tween the religious order and
James Francis Cardinal McIntyre
of Los Angeles.
opportunities for devotional
practices, then the child could
possibly return home not having
grown in any other way than
physically and intellectually.
Quality leadership
Ideally, a Catholic camp should
offer more than that. Camping
should aim at helping the camp
er to internalize a Catholic phil
osophy of life, an attitude sum
med up in the best cultural val
ues of the Judeo-Christian tradi
tion. Here the question of time
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210 W. Morehead 333-3171
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HERMAN KISSIAH
COCA-COLA
BOTTLING COMPANY
Phone 446-4117
442 South Church Street
Rocky Mount, North Carolina
enters the picture. How long will
the child need to stay before
such a program can make a sig
nificant impact on the child’s
life. Another key lies in the
quality of the leadership and the
staff who are in direct contact
with the camper and how they
go about their work.
The value of camping lies in a
child’s exposure to an environ
ment that stimulates toward
growth and development by new
experiences in an outdoor set
ting that affords him security
and friendliness — where every
child counts whether rich or
poor, Negro or white; where
counselors try to serve the hard
to-reach, the unmotivated, the
unloved; where the democratic
process is valued; where work
habits are esteemed; where fun
and play afford opportunities to
learn; where there is room for
self-confidence, creativity and
individuality; where spiritual op
portunities are promoted—these
are some of the things that any
camp ought to strive to offer
through its recreational program.
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1411 .Concord Ave. — Phone 283-3135
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1600 Roosevelt Blvd. — Phone 283-2157
MONROE, NORTH CAROLINA
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Tunnel Road Shopping Center
Asheville, North Carolina
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