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"Even World Itself"
His Holiness Pope John XXIII declared in convoking the Second Vatican Council for 1962 that this meeting of the Church's entire hierorchy would benefit not only the Church but all seeking unity, and even the world itself. The Pope's bull announcing the council's convocation for 1962 left the actual opening date unspecified. The 2,500 -word document in Latin was read Christmas Day on the wintry porch of St. Peter's basilica by Archbishop Pericle Felice, general secretary of the council's Central Preparatory Commission, who received it from the hands of the Pope. Pope John's bull said the ecumenical council will benefit the Church by promoting "the sanctification of its members, the diffusion of revealed truth, the consolidation of its agencies." The council will benefit separated Christians seeking unity by providing "premises of doctrinal clarity and mutual charity" that will smooth the way to unity, he said. "Finally, to a world lost, confused and anxious under the constant threat of new frightful conflicts, the forthcoming council is called upon to offer an opportunity for all men of good will to turn their thoughts and their intentions toward peace."
He characterised today's world as one "which exalts itself with its conquests in the technical and scientific fields but which brings also the consequences of a temporal order which some have wished to reorganise to the exclusion of God." "This is why modern society is earmarked by great material progress to which there is no corresponding advance in the moral field," he said.
Who Is To Come To The Council He then reviewed the preparations for the council to date. "We' finally have the joy of announcing that thi' intense work of study to which the cardinals, bishops, prelates, theologians, canonists and experts from all over the world have given their valuable contribution now is nearing its encl.". It was at this point that Pope John formally convoked the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council. After Archbishop Felici read the words, crowds of onlookers in the porch burst out in applause, while television cameras recorded the historic moment. The bull then specified that cardinals, patriarchs. primates. archbishops. bishops (both residential and titular) and other designated persons were invited and ordered to attend the council. Pope John invited all the clergy and faithful to pray for the council's success. "But in a very special way We entrust its success to the prayers of children, knowing well how powerful with God is the voice of innocence, and to the sick and !offering," the Pontiiff said.
"We Institute, Announce Anci Convoke" The bull was entitled Humanae Salutis. While Archbishop Felice read it, cold wind swept across the oorch of the great basilica. Huge muslin curtains had been hung over the porch's portals in an effort to keep out drizzle and protect the Vatican canons who sat near the basilica's bronze doors throughout the ceremony. Archbishop Felice read in a loud voice from a rostrum covered with red velvet and trimmed with gold. He intoned the traditional Latin beginning of papal bulls: "John, Bishop, Servant of the Servants of God, for Perpetual Memory." Applause greeted the formal announcement of the council's convocation, which came late in the text. The Archbishop read the section slowly: "After hearing therefore the opinion of Our brothers the cardinals of the Holy Roman Church, with the authority of Our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and with Our own, We institute, announce and convoke for the forthcoming year 1962 the ecumenical and universal council which will be held in the Vatican basilica on days that will be established according to the opportunity which Good Providence may deign to give Us."
A Crisis Under Way Within Society Then the Pope specifically asked both Catholics
end non-Catholics to pray for the council's success.
The bull first made the point that Christ's divine presence in His Church is mcst noticeable "in the most graVe periods of humanity." Then it began a consideration of "the crisis underway within society." Popc John chose to contrast the confusion 'and anxiety besetting today's world with the vitality of the Catholic Church. He said the Church's role today is to bring "the modern world in contact with the vivifying and perennial energies of the Gospel."
Private Devotion Has Extended As the result of a devotion begun 50 years ago by a medical student, an estimated million families in the free world will receive Holy Communion on January 7, feast of the Holy Family, in an oppeal for world peace. The practice of monthly family Communion was started within his family by Dr. Richard Rendich of Brooklyn, N.Y. It spread to relatives and friends. In 1950, Dr. Rendich was granted permission by the ldte Archbishop Thomas E. Molloy. Bishop of Brooklyn, to found a lay organisation dedicated to monthly family Commuion. It was called the Family Communion Crusade. Dr. Rendich died in 1956. Shortly before his death he persuaded the Blessed Sacrament Fathers to assist in the work of the crusade. The Fathers at their novitiate here have carried on much of the work, since that time. In preparation for the coming feast of the Holy Family, the Blessed Sacrament Fathers sent out two million leaflets printed in more than 40 languages, 100,000 posters in four languages and other materials in connection with the crusade.
Catholics and the "lively interest or at least respectful attention on the part of non-Catholics and even nonChristians." He said this demonstrated "in the most eloquent manner that the historical importance of the event had not escaped anyone." Pope John indicated that the council will consider problems relating to Holy Scripture, to tradition. the sacraments, prayer, ecclesiastical discipline, charitable and relief activities, the lay apostolate and the missions. He said the council must also consider problems of the temporal order as well, such as those dealt with in his social encyclical Mater et Magistra.
All Invited To Pray For Success
'John, Bishop, Servant of the Servants of God.' The opening words of the Papal Bull. This tendency has led to a weakened interest in spiritual values, he said. to an almost exclusive seeking after pleasure, and has given rise to a "completely new and disconcerting fact: the existence of a militant atheism which is active on a world level." But the Pope found reason for hope despite these causes of distress. "Distrustful souls see only darkness burdening the face of the earth. "We instead like to reaffirm all Our confidence in Our Saviour who has not left the world He redeemed." Pope John drew comfort from the fact that "useful lessons" have been drawn from the bloody wars of our time and from the spiritual ruins left by many ideologies. "Scientific progress itself, which gave men the power to create catastrophic instruments for his destruction, has given rise to questionings," the Pontiff declared. "It has obliged human beings to become thoughtful, more conscious of their limitations, desirous of peace and attentive to the importance of spiritual values."
The World In Spiritual Poverty On the other hand the Pope's bull singled out the Church's vitality today. It pointed to the immense energies of the clergy and ever more active laity. It further emphasised the su erings of entire Christian
communities whose bishops, priests and people have performed acts of heroism "certainly equal to those of the most glorious periods of the Church." "Thus, although the Church may appear profoundly changed, the Christian community is also in great part transformed and renewed," he added. "It has therefore strengthened -itself socially in unity, it has been reinvigorated intellectually, it has been purified interiorly and is thus ready for trials." Pope John said it is because of this "spiritual poverty of the world." and this vigorous vitality of the Church that he decided to call an ecumenical council. "We considered that now the times were right to offer to the Catholic Church and to the world the gift of an ecumenical council, as an addition to and continuation of the series of 20 great councils." He joyfully noted the welcome given his project by
Moreover he invited all Christians separated from Rome to join in prayers for the council. "We know that many of these sons are anxious for the return of unity and of peace . . . and. We know also that the announcement of the council has not only been accepted by them with joy but also that not a few have already promised to offer their prayers for its happy success, and that they hope to send representatives of -their communities to follow its work at close quarters." The bull closed with the text of the prayer for the success of the council that has been recited by all preparatory meetings. Applause greeted the conclusion of the bull. It followed the Vatican canons and Archbishop Felici as they entered the basilica to attend a Mass of thanksgiving. Later, in accordance with tradition, the bull was read at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, the Basilica of St. Mary Major and the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran.
PRIEST KILLED IN LINE OF DUTY Rome:
A'-
Italian
priest was killed in the Congo while trying to protect the Blessed Sacrament from bombing or possible desecration, it is learned here.
Father Michelin° Gagna, S.S.P. was killed December 10 during a bombardment in the Katangan capital of
Elizabethville while trying to remove the Blessed Eucharist from a convent of Pauline Sisters. This is reported by
Father Giacomo AlberS.S.P., Superior General of the Pious Society of St. Paul. Father Gagna, superior of the Pauline Fathers in Elizabethville, left his house to cross into one,
UN -held territory where the Sisters' convent was situated. The Sisters had been evacuated and Fr. Gagna was fearful that the Sacred Host, which had been left in their chapel, might be destroyed in the bombardments or desecrated. But shortly after he left his house he was killed by a shell. The Vatican City daily newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, eulogized: "Fr. Gagna has entered the select list of those who have sacrificed iheir lives for the peaceful expansion of the reign of God. May his sacrifice serve to bring peace and serenity to the battered land of the Congo."