(Publisher’s Note: As expected, many of the academic persons on the faculties of the universities had church-comments on their mind. This is the second part of a series “Voice of the Professors” which was published in last week’s Bulletin. The professors from Emory University, Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia were invited to comment on the archdiocese, its strength and weaknesses. The material has been turned over to the Synodal committees to add a new dimension to the formal recommendations from the Sisters’, Lay and Young Adult congresses held this year. In other issues of the Bulletin preceding the Synod [Nov. 20-22] comments from seminarians in the United States, Ireland, and Rome will be given. The Trappist monks at Conyers have also been invited to contribute to the Synod.)

Task Forces Urged

Since moving to Atlanta three years ago, I have been struck with the vitality of the archdiocese, particularly with the concern for ecumenism and the steadfast desire to involve the laity more directly and more responsibly in the life of the Church. Certainly your leadership and that of priests such as my pastor, Msgr. Regan, deserve much credit. And I have noticed the same vitality in my contacts with St. Pius High School.

As a joint appointment at Emory in English and teacher education, I have often wondered how we, Emory and the archdiocesan schools, might become more involved to our mutual benefit. I realize there are great problems, but I also am convinced that arrangements could be worked out and obstacles overcome. For instance, in both the undergraduate and graduate teacher training program there are superlative opportunities (especially with the advent of real federal money) to undertake curricular reforms, to experiment with teacher education in general and student teaching in particular, to provide occasions for in-service training, to do research of all kinds in an effort to improve education and teaching and learning.

By the same token perhaps the CCD classes could be strengthened by promoting the formation of task forces who might travel throughout the archdiocese, at the invitation of the parishes, to present panels and programs of interest and value on special topics. For example, the high school group could focus on a series dealing with sex education, possibly including a doctor, a priest and a teacher-parent. Or another task force might emphasize the implications of recent encyclicals and documents of Vatican II. Still another group, consisting of non-Catholics as well as Catholics, might promote dialogue in the spirit of the Lenten pastoral letters of 1965 and 1966. Of course, such programs need not be restricted to CCD classes.

I would like to see some official connection established with a non-Catholic school of theology, perhaps a chair of Catholic studies like Harvard’s. If an endowed chair is an impossibility, might a few course offerings in Catholic studies be possible? And, would it be possible to involve a Protestant theologian or layman in the training program of a Catholic seminary? Such an endeavor might well spark the continuation and expansion of the ecumenical dialogue between interested laymen of all faiths and non-faiths.

Emory University, Dept. of English

Is Religion Failing Us? There is a great need for God at the university. Somehow, students and teachers alike look at technical or academic achievements as an aim in themselves. Seldom is the scholar concerned with his own spiritual life, with the strength and health of his own soul.

There is materialism, a near sightedness for material solutions to the many problems of modern life.

Is religion failing us in our time?

The Church is not expected to furnish technical solutions to education or welfare.

Lay agencies, duly elected or working privately are quite capable of carrying the load.

The Church alone, however, is capable of helping man in the welfare of his soul. We need spiritual exercises, meditations or incarnation, redemption and resurrection.

As for university scholars representation in the general councils of the Middle Ages, I believe that these scholars had quite a lot of theology and metaphysics on the university programs of their time. Do you really believe that the modern university scholar is qualified?

Emory University, School of Medicine

Behavior Study Needed

The broad aims of the “Catholic way of life” -- or “Catholic education” (appreciation of the faith, ecumenical spirit, etc.) must be reduced to behavioral descriptions before they can be investigated and before psychological research can be used as a basis for planning. If we are going to take a good look at our Catholic education, e.g., we should define what it is in behavioral terminology. If the broad intention of Catholic education is to “develop a Christian mind and soul,” I would think we must reduce these aims to specific sub-goals such as “to teach the pupil to define significant terms precisely.” It is my opinion that we hardly ever take a measured look at Catholic education or ecclesiastical functioning because of fear of tampering with the “Divine,” or out of reverence for “private” or “spiritual” relationships to God.

I feel it is about time we took some of our Catholic functions, submit them to operational definitions, and measure their effects by reasonable criteria. Just as people are afraid of having personality behavior measuring and appraising our Catholic schools, our religious orders, e.g., sisterhood. I think we ought to have research committees established (with psychologists as part of the membership) to investigate how “good” or how “bad” some of our Catholic way of life really is. As far as I am concerned, the Church and secularism are not gaining anything in being disparate. If the Church and its various organizations are willing to throw aside the cloak of mystery and reverential awe and be examined, it will not be long before secular minds perceive the Catholic way of life as the “better way.” I suggest, therefore, that: (1) The meaning of words and functions be carefully examined and operationally defined.

(2) That research committees be established to assess such things as “Catholic education,” “religious-vocations,” “Catholic-action,” etc.

Thus, Bishop, I think the many things that can be brainstormed as worthy of study should be examined in proximity to behavioral terminology. So many conventions and meetings discuss so many topics without defining common meanings that they end up in mere titillation about a content area.

University of Georgia, College of Education

Volunteers Not Enough

Accordingly, it occurs to me that the Church may be making a grave error in judgement to think that the lay members of the community can contribute most effectively “in their spare time.” It would seem appropriate for the Church to consider very seriously the development of a paid administrative lay group. What I envision is something akin to the people who administer hospitals for busy doctors and for administrators in many government agencies who relieve the professional people of the programs and planning not directly related to their professional training and responsibilities.

The legal profession with which I am most familiar is gradually beginning to realize that not every lawyer can do every job effectively. Many of the administrative tasks can be better performed by non-professionals. Isn’t it fair to assume that not every priest can perform every administrative task in the diocese effectively and that perhaps many priests are taken away from their spiritual mission by having to raise funds, build buildings, administer school systems and perform a variety of other tasks not directly related to the spiritual mission for which they have been prepared?

In short I respectfully suggest that the archdiocese consider employment of professionally competent people who would supplement the religious staff and contribute in a full-time manner the type of guidance, assistance and direction that you are presently asking lay members of the community to contribute in a “spare time” manner.

University of Georgia, School of Law

Buy Art From Catalogs?

The contemporary church, in the reality of its practice, has done little in our culture to give God the best man has to offer in artistic talent, either in architecture, sculpture or painting. Its concern has been on prestige symbols of other cultures and times instead of a meaningful relationship where man pays homage to God by offering God himself through his art, which is a result of his own discovery, not a copy of someone else’s expression.

Also the practice of the Church has been to buy art from catalogs. It is faster, quicker, the price is right and it is best to do business with an established firm. The art today is suspect and the fear is there that it might be sacrilegious. All sorts of problems of communication seem unique to us in our complex culture and so rather than face the problems we have avoided them.

Our churches, void of art, have been filled with sugar saints and bric-a-brac. Instead of doing what they intended to do (put it in a religious state of mind) they have perverted our senses and warped our concepts. Granted every church will not be a work of art even under the best of situations in a fertile culture, but there will be an overall artistic honesty and concern for proper relationships which characterize that period.

Why are we so artistically barren in this culture of complexities? There is no simple answer, however, some of the obvious observations to be made, are these: the clergy, who has been responsible for the selection of churches and art, have had no training in the arts, except in the literary arts. When it comes to visual arts they have no criterion to make a judgement. So they resort to the safety of the past and put up a good Renaissance Church, feeling safe that they have done right by God, giving Him a certified, bona fide work of art.

2) If the priest or religious are artistically inclined they will probably try to make a judgement based on their understanding of literature. Though all art has areas that overlap, a certain knowledge of the differences in the visual and verbal media is necessary if one is making meaningful evaluations.

The long range answer to this problem is to educate the young religious in the creative arts while he is still in school in the creative process of art and by letting him take some studio courses and learn by doing.

For the immediate solution to the problem one manner of action would be to get qualified professionals in the field to select architects and artists. They would work with the priest in making selections, but they would have the major voice in this selection, provided it fits the budget.

University of Georgia, Dept. of Art

Concerned About Scriptures

Clergy: I have been impressed with the high quality of the priests of this diocese. Particularly I have this impression of the younger priests - possibly because there are more of them. I suppose seminaries are currently engaged, as the whole Church seems to be, in self-examinations. In academic circles we judge schools by the students they turn out. Using this same criterion, I believe the particular seminaries we get our priests from must be generally doing a good job.

Liturgy: I have personally liked most of the changes that have taken place. Many of them I appreciate because they brought a real consistency between Catholic teaching and practice; a consistency that had inadvertently been lost somewhere. Certainly the Church has always taught that the Catholic religion is centered on the person of Christ, and that the Mass is the principal act of worship of the Church, but much of our practice seemed to ignore these truths. In spite of reluctance by many, I believe that any of the detailed changes in Mass liturgy that increase the sense of participation will ultimately be accepted. Changes that are unrelated to this can be accomplished in fact, but may not be accepted whole-heartedly. I don’t believe many Catholics feel that receiving Communion while standing, rather than kneeling, increasing their participation in Mass. I believe most of them feel that they are left in an unnatural position; a position which is not consistent with their inner attitude.

Scriptures: I am not a scriptural scholar and would not presume to evaluate the work of such scholars. Like other Catholics I do hear of certain of their conclusions, I react to these conclusions, and I notice how other laymen react. This reaction, and how it is handled by priests and teachers of religion, is a matter of prime importance today. In maintaining a position of balance between the fundamentalists and the demithoelogizers we need to be especially alert. A strong fundamentalist influence still exists in the thinking of the older laity, and this should be corrected. On the other hand, all the influences of the secular world work for the semitheologizers, and this influence will probably increase. The influence of the latter will also be stronger because of the way ecumenical activities have gone. Contact with Fundamentalist groups hasn’t developed much, and they won’t be influencing Catholic thought to any extent. Under the circumstances I believe that we would be aware that we share one important belief with the fundamentalists. We do believe that some events that I would classify as “scientifically improbable” did occur in history. For example, we do believe in the Resurrection of Christ.

Part of the difficulty, I think is pedagogical. We now have this renewed activity of Biblical scholars, which is all to the good. Unfortunately, the more easily publicized results of their work are the cases where another scriptural “myth” is exposed and rejected. The teacher of religion cannot present the basis of the scholar’s conclusion, but only the conclusion itself. The student naturally draws his own conclusion as to the reason for the rejection, viz., the story recorded is “scientifically improbable.”

The BULLETIN has one fundamental difficulty arising from its dual nature. It is in one sense a newspaper which reports “news” and editorializes freely, and it is in another sense the medium through which you speak (in a variety of ways) to the people of the diocese. I suppose my method of reading the Bulletin follows from this recognition. I decide, generally without much thought, for a given article which nature of the Bulletin I am dealing with. This method has obvious advantages, and I imagine is quite common, as regards matter of controversy or opinion in the Church. I find that it has difficulties in what I would call matters of public relations, however, I don’t know if other people react as I do in this respect, but I will present a very personal view about one particular matter.

When changes of priests within the diocese are made, I don’t like to hear about them first as items of “news”. When they appear in the Bulletin I would prefer to see them in articles which are clearly “yours,” rather than in articles which are clearly “news.” I would, in fact, prefer to hear these first from my parish priests, when they are related to my parish. This seems to me to be the proper order, and leaves me with the feeling that I am being dealt with directly rather than indirectly.

Georgia Institute of Technology

Dept. of Chemistry