By Monsignor Noel C. Burtenshaw

Cardinal Joseph L. Bernardin called Martin Luther King, Jr. “a prophet” who spent his life “caring for the soul of the nation.”

The Chicago archbishop was the principal speaker at the ecumenical service held at Ebenezer Baptist Church on Saturday, Jan. 14. The service takes place each year as a culmination of the King Week celebration. The 16^th annual King Week celebration this year honored the slain civil rights leader who would have been 55 years old.

Cardinal Bernardin said that Dr. King is now “rightfully recognized as a national hero by the United States Congress.” He was referring to the bill recently passed by the Congress and signed by President Reagan which proclaims the birthday of Dr. King to be a national holiday.

The Cardinal stated, addressing a full church which included luminaries from all walks of life, that Dr. King linked “the pursuit of justice to the pursuit of peace.” “His intention,” said the Cardinal, “was to build a peace which makes war unnecessary.”

Addressing the controversial subject of the arms race, Cardinal Bernardin stated, “Dr. King did not live to see the frightening upward spiral of the nuclear arms race in recent years, but his vision and message are relevant to our efforts to address the new realities."

Dr. King’s vision today might be directed against the “distorted priorities” of military security, and there is a “direct link” between his vision and the U.S. bishops’ war and peace pastoral, the cardinal said.

“What view of security moves us as a nation to believe that hungry and homeless people in the world’s wealthiest democracy is a basis for a stable domestic peace?” he asked. “What kind of political vision is at work when we have intricate national debates about whether hunger is a national crisis or only a human catastrophe?”

Focusing on one “direct link between the preaching of Dr. King and the pastoral letter (on war and peace) of the Catholic bishops,” Cardinal Bernardin said that both “recognized that resources used for war are taken from resources needed for building a just peace.”

Cardinal Bernardin said the term “prophet” has been cheapened by overuse, but Dr. King was a prophet in the full sense of the word.

“A prophet’s purpose is not primarily to describe the future, but to illuminate the moral issues of his own time. Prophets serve the word of God by their vision, not their power of prediction…The prophets always called the people they served to the crucible of decision; the prophets defined problems in clear moral terms, challenged the people and forced a social decision,” said Cardinal Bernardin.

Recalling Pope John Paul II’s condemnation of the arms race at the expense of human needs in his Christmas message to the world, Cardinal Bernardin said he was “convinced” that that statement “has direct meaning for our national decisions.”

“The pope’s words of last month and Dr. King’s vision of the relationship of peace and justice force us to examine what we mean by security,” he said. “We cannot be secure in a world in which, according to reputable studies, 450 million people go hungry and 30 children die every minute for want of food and vaccines while global military expenditures are $1.3 million per minute.”

The Cardinal challenged the recent U.S. decision to reduce its rate of contributions to the International Development Association. “We must ask what view of stable peace and what conception of security support such a policy. We must not only ask, we must demand something different,” he said.

He challenged U.S. policies of increased arms spending which he said were directly linked to “severe cuts in social programs.”

Joining the Cardinal on the podium at Ebenezer, which was Dr. King’s church, were Mrs. Coretta Scott King, Dr. Martin Luther King, Sr., Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young and Dr. Nelson Price, president of the Georgia Baptist Convention.

Mayor Young wept with great emotion as he told a hushed audience that he had not believed that he would see the day that the U.S. Congress would proclaim a national holiday to honor a black leader.

Mrs. Coretta Scott King made the surprising announcement, before introducing Cardinal Bernardin, that no nonviolent Peace Prize would be awarded “at the time.” Mrs. King went on to say that perhaps later in the year that Prize – usually awarded at this ceremony – would be given to someone.

Famous names from all walks of life attended the service. Activist Tom Hayden and his actress wife, Jane Fonda, attended. So did Dick Gregory and former mayor of Atlanta, Maynard Jackson. A standing ovation was given to U.S. Rep. Katie Hall who led the fight in Washington to have the “birthday bill” passed.

As the service ended, Cardinal Bernardin stood holding hands with Mrs. King and Mayor Young while they joined the choir and congregation in singing the civil rights anthem “We Shall Overcome.”