Magyar Egyház, 1963 (42. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1963-10-01 / 10. szám
8 MAGYAR EGYHÁZ IN THE SPIRIT OF JOHN XXIII POPE PAUL VI OPENED THE SECOND SESSION OF VATICAN COUNCIL II (Rome) — Pope Paul VI has opened the second session of the Second Vatican Council pledging it to pursue four main goals: “awareness of the Church, reform of the Church, bringing together all Christians in unity, and the dialogue of the Church in the contemporary world”. The Pope addressed some 2,100 Council Fathers in a three-hour ceremony in St. Peter’s Basilica. Discussing his hopes for Christian unity. Pope Paul expressed “the deep sadness we feel at their (non-Roman Catholic Christians) prolonged separation. “If we are in any way to blame for that separation we humbly beg God’s forgiveness and ask pardon too of our brethren who feel themselves to have been injured by us”, he declared. “For our part, we willingly forgive the injuries which the Catholic Church has suffered, and forget the grief endured during the long series of dissensions and separations. May the Heavenly Father deign to hear our prayers and grant us true brotherly peace.” Sources here said it was the first time a Pope had ever made official amends for whatever blame the Roman Catholic Church should shoulder for the scission of Protestants and Orthodox. “Aware of the enormous difficulties still in the way of desired union, we shall continue to pray,” he added. “We shall try to give proof of our intentions by leading genuine Christian lives and practising fraternal charity. And should historical reality tend to weaken our hopes of union we shall recall the comforting words of Christ: ‘What is impossible to man’s powers is possible to God’ ”. He said that “recent movements, at present in full development in bodies of Christians separated from us show clearly two things. “The first is that the Church of Christ is one alone, and therefore must be unique. The second is that this mystic and visible union cannot be attained save in identity of faith and by participation in the same sacraments and in the organic harmony of a single ecclesiastical control even though this allows for a great variety of verbal expressions, movements, lawful institutions and preference with regards to modes of acting.” Some 60 observers from Protestant, Anglican, and Orthodox churches are attending the sessions. Council sessions opened with the discussion of the nature of the Church. A number of “qualified representatives of the Catholic laity” are attending the sessions — the first time in the history of the Roman Catholic Church that laymen have been admitted to such a Council. They are attending as auditors and as consultants to the various commissions. Pope Paul Vi’s call for reform and modernization of the Roman Curia, the Roman Catholic Church’s central administrative body, has been widely hailed by the world. Major reforms asked by the pontiff included granting greater authority to diocesan bishops, collaboration of bishops with the Pope in the “study and responsibility” of church government, internationalization of Curia personnel, and education of Curia members along “more ecumenical” lines. The New York Times said the announcement dispels “any doubt that Pope Paul VI would follow faithfully the ecumenical mission of Pope John XXIII or that the Roman Catholic Church is now, in these years, going through one of the greatest reforms in its two millenia of history. “Every move that the present Pontiff has made, every word he has uttered, prove his determination to carry through the aggiornamento (the bringing up-todate) of the administration of the church . . The French daily, Le Monde, said the reform of the Curia is “one of the most important, most necessary, and most delicate tasks of the church today.” “The second session of Vatican Council II will be a period of realization”, Dr. Lukas Vischer told Ecumenical Press Service, before leaving Geneva for Rome as one of the four official observers of the World Council of Churches. The first session of the Council developed “an atmosphere of frankness”, he declared. “The second session must now draw the conclusions and establish theological bases for future dialogue between the churches. “The Council fathers will certainly have to deal with the question of ecumenism”, Dr. Vischer said. “We hope they will bear in mind that the ecumenical movement is not fixed in advance on certain lines, and that, therefore, no restrictions must be placed on its future development”. (EPS, Geneva) Roman Catholic Archbishop Urges Recognition of Non-Roman Churches (Rome) — The fact that God also makes use of those churches separated from Rome, in order to dispense the benefits of His salvation,should be publicly recognized by the Roman Catholic Church. This was stressed by Archbishop Baudoux of St. Boniface (Canada) in an interview in Rome. The contacts between the confessions, the Catholic dignitary went on to say, had been unsatisfactory up to the present, in that they were generally encouraged by Rome only with individual Christians from the separated church groups. The Catholic Church certainly upheld its claim to be the true church, but there were other Christian congregations besides itself which administered baptism and other sacraments. (EPS, Geneva) ROMAN CATHOLICS WHO SENT CHILDREN TO LUTHERAN SCHOOL ARE EXCOMMUNICATED (Cuenca, Ecuador) — All Roman Catholics who were sending their children to the Lutheran school here have been excommunicated by public order of the Archbishop of Cuenca. He charged that the school’s provision of instruction in both English and Spanish was a pretext for proselytism. The school, which was founded a few years ago, is recognized by the state and complies with government requirements. (EPS, Geneva)
