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By Marie Mulvenna
Atlanta has been selected as the site for the
American Catholic Church's next unique public hearing on social justice, a
vital part of the Church's massive Bicentennial Observance program keyed to the
overall theme "Liberty and Justice For All."
The congressional-styled hearings before a panel
of U.S. Bishops will be held in Atlanta's Civic Center August 7 through 9 and
will zero in on the topic "The Family."
For three days, a panel of the National Conference
of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) will hear nationally known speakers as well as the
grassroots response of Americans from all walks of life, encouraged to sound
off on the Church's position on social justice issues.
The unprecedented open hearings will provide
significant input for a national convention in October 1976 during which the
Catholic Church's future efforts and aims in social action and justice will be
crystallized in a comprehensive five-year program.
The 1976 national policy-setting conference will
aim for an updated and in-depth response to the needs of the country as
expressed in the feedback of Americans taking part in six "Speak-Up" regional
sessions such as the Atlanta program.
Father Jacob A. Bollmer, archdiocesan coordinator
for the Bicentennial Observance program, said the local hearings would cover a
variety of topics related to the theme "The Family," and would be broken down
thusly: August 7th, the group will consider testimony related to
Spanish speaking and urban Blacks. On August 8th, the bishop's panel
will move to a rural area for an unusual open-tent session on Rural and
Appalachian concerns, returning to the Civic Center on August 9th
for the topic Middle Class Americans and Other Groups.
Father Bollmer said the hearing process of seeking
public opinion and input is a "really innovative step for the Church and one
which honestly encourages people to participate fully in the decision making
process of the 1976 conference on social justice. This is quite a remarkable
opportunity to hear it like it is and we're hopeful people will respond and
relate to the bishops their needs and desires on the 'Family' sphere."
The entire structure of the hearing process is
considered a "town meeting concept" and a determined effort by Catholic bishops
to hear the voice of the people in a totally open setting. It provides, Father
Bollmer noted, an opportunity for the average American to share and participate
in helping formulate decisions and take part in a concentrated campaign to
apply Catholic social doctrine to the specifics of contemporary America.
John Cardinal Dearden of Detroit, chairman of the
Bishops' Bicentennial Committee, has strongly supported the open consultation
process as a means of bringing about "a more just and more free society." The
nationwide effort to gauge the pulse of the public will result, the Cardinal
said, "in a collective commitment to a common course of action in the years
ahead."
Bishop James Rausch, general secretary of the
NCCB, termed the listening approach of the hearings a "good way to hear what
the people think is the way the Church should be responding." He said the
issues dealt with in the hearings are "issues which we have to come to grips
with in a very real way."
Anyone wishing to take part in the testimony
portion of the hearings may obtain applications from the Bicentennial Office,
756 W. Peachtree Street, NW, Atlanta, GA 30308 or may call 881-6571 for
additional information. Father Bollmer said applications to testify must be
received by July 18 so that the local hearing committee may study responses and
assign slots on the agenda of the hearings.
Members of the local Bicentennial Hearing
Committee are: Father Bollmer, Eleanor Murray, Father Robert Kinast, Dotsie
Holmes, David Kirksey, Kim Murray, Father Gerry Conroy, Sister Frances Ann
Cook, Carlos Sans and Marie Mulvenna.
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