SERVING . . . SOUTHEASTERN MASSACHUSETTS CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS
VOL. 24, NO. 7
FALL RIVER, MASS., THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 1980
20c, $6 Per Year
Press vital church tool
Census stand is clarified
CAMDEN, N.J. (NC) - In a column commemorating February as Catholic Press Month, Bishop George H. Guilfoyle of Camden said, "a strong Catholic press is most important for carrying out the church's mission today." The bishop's column, titled "In the service of Truth," app'eared in the Catholic Star Herald, newspaper of the Camden Diocese. Bishop Guilfoyle said the Catholic press "has as its primary purpose the church's mission of evangelization, the :;>roclamation of the Gospel through ongoing information and instruction, encouraging personal faith commitment and helping to mold a viable, active Catholic public opinion." He added that "it is of particular interest to recall here the words of Pope John Paul II in his recent message for the 1980 World Day of Peace - I refer to his emphasis on the great importance of communicating truth and the insiduous threat to peace which is the result of Turn to Page Three
WASHINGTON (NC) - Bishop Thomas Kelly, general secretary of the U.S. Catholic Conference, has denied that the U.S. bishops took their neutral position on a request by the Census Bureau for church help in counting illegal immigrants because they were not guaranteed anything in return. Charles Keely of the Population Council, author of two books on U.S. immigration policy, had said one of the reasons the bishops took the neutral stand on the Census Bureau request was that there was no offer by the Carter administration of amnesty or consistent enforcement policies for the illegal aliens. "I know it on good authority. I was among the advisers," Keely said at a seminar on U.~. immigration policies sponsored by the American Friends Service Committee. The bishops took their neutral position at their meeting last November after being asked for help by the Census Bureau as part of efforts to insure an accurate count. The bishops were reluctant to offer aid to the bureau out of concern that information about illegal aliens might lead to the aliens' arrest and deportation. Some individual dioceses are lending limited cooperation. "The bishops for some time have been after . . . some form of amnesty and more consistent guidelines and enforcement policies for the illegal immigrants," Keely said. "It is not that the bishops had any doubt about the integrity of the census officials when promising that they will not pass the information to immigration authorities," said another seminar speaker, Loy Bilderbock, a historian and migration researcher from Fresno, Calif. Bishop Kelly, USCC general secretary, while saying that the bishops long have wanted amnesty for the illegal immigrants, said the decision of neutrality on the Census Bureau request was not related. "It is true that the USCC strongly favors such a program (of amnesty), but while the possibility of a so-called trade-off with the Census Bureau on this Turn to Page Six
Kung cancels his lectures TUBINGEN, West Germ.any (NC) - Father Hans Kung has announced cancellation of his lectures at the University of Tubingen for the rest of the current school term. Until his announcement last week he had continued teaching in defiance of a Vatican decree in mid-December declaring that he could "no longer be considered a Catholic theologian" or teach as one. Father Kung said he quit teaching because of "deep disappointment" with a six-page public statement by his fellow theology professors in which they withdrew their support for him. Their statement said Father Kung had caused "a crisis in the German church" and the controversy has "hurt the theological faculty" at Tubingen. The December decree, issued with papal approval by the VatiTurn to Page Six
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~.~--.. VALENTINE BILLBOARD in Appleton, Wise. offers an appropriate thought for the day. (NC Photo)
,Electronic Church' studied By Tracy Early NEW YORK (NC)-A different type of spotlight shone on Pat Robertson, Oral Roberts, Rex Humbard, Robert Schuller and other stars of religious television broadcasting when they came under critical focus during a two-day conference on the growing phenomenon of the "electronic church," Some 200 Protestants and Catholics from across the United States and some foreign countries gathered for a concentrated look at the t.rend in religious broadcasting which those famous television evangelists represent. But not everyone agreed on exactly what "electronic church" meant. 路For some, it was simply all religious broadcasting on radio and television. But conference sponsors like the Rev. William Fore, director of the National Council of Church's Communication Commission, defined it as "those programs that present a preacher and a religious service . . . aimed at creating a strong, loyal group of followers to that preacher and service." The NeC commission organized the event, jointly sponsored by the Department of Communication of the U.S. Catholic Conference, the North American Region of the World Association of
Christian Communication, Unda USA (the Catholic broadcasting association) and New York University. The conference occurred shortly after President Carter had visited the annual meeting of the National Religious Broadcasters in Washington, and later invited several of its key personalities to breakfast at the White House. "Carter knows where the power is," commented Bishop Norbert F. Gaughan, auxiliary of Greensburg, Pa., at one conference session. Bishop Gaughan, chairman of the USCC Department of Communication, moderated the session addressed by the Rev. Pat Robertson, founder of Christian Broadcasting Network (OBN) in
ASH WEDNESDAY February 20
Virginia Beach, Va., and host of its daily talk show, The 700 Club. In response to one question, Mr. Robertson said he had no "political agenda" for 1980, ex路 cept to ask people to pray for the nation as it might face a possible economic depression and a war in the Middle East. Many conference participants said they felt uneasy about the growing audiences - and financial support - of television personalities like the Rev. Jerry Falwell of Lynchburg, Va., who heads the Old Time Gospel Hour radio broadcast and is an outspoken political conservative. Perhaps a deeper and more pervasive concern, sometimes seen as a threat, was the effect of the electronic church as a competitor with Catholic and mainline 路Protestant churches. Though all the more prominent figures of the electronic church are Protestant, Catholics said they were learning that members of their parishes tuned in to the electronic church - and also sent in contributions. The Rev. Robert Schuller, television host of "The Hour of Power" broadcast from his Garden City, Calif. church, and the Rev. Ben Armstrong, NRB director, denied that the electronic church weakened local churches. Turn to Page Six