Loretto Academy - Laurel Yearbook (Kansas City, MO)

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like another Pentecost... C ciimenica The Church ■ is experiencing growing pains—striving to meet the needs of a new age. Since we are the living Church, we are caught in this renewal of Christian life. It is our task to make genuine Catholic reform a reality. As living, feeling, participating members, we are constantly modernizing the Church. To keep up with the rapid pace of the space age, a bolder and more energetic revival is necessary. The Ecumenical Council is our Holy Father's attempt toward a more positive “bringing up to date. Officially called the Second Vatican Council, it seeks orderly and universal progress in the Church. Renewal, reform and reunion, explained Father Can- at the October 24th assembly, “are the rallying cries at the council. Because we are the Church’s doers on earth, we restore Christ’s image to the world. Aiming to be “Christ- like Women we bring Christ not only to our fellow students but to the multitude in the world. The Church is in the world and the world is in the Church. Mother Church’s universality enables the council not only to seek church reforms but tangle with mankind's problems— communism, materialism, amorality in society. The 2,600 prelates gathered by Pope John will not be on the defensive as were the past twenty councils. There is no urgent need to conquer heresy, schism, or corruption. Their goal is updating any obstacles hinder- ing the growth of the Church. Promotion of the faith by our flourishing laity must be achieved by offering our doctrines as stimulating and developing truths. The Church is visible in her individual members. We must be informed and active in our roles as living Christs. Since we live and expand the Church daily, it is impera- tive that the laity understand the liturgy and its appli- cation in our lives. Progressive African and American bishops will press toward the use of the vernacular in the liturgy as an urgent need. The restoration of the bishop’s three-fold role as priest, pastor, and teacher will probably be discussed for the instruction of the laity. No one knows what decisions the council will make, but any changes called by the council are changes for us, for we are the living Church. The Church being a church of men, our cooperation is essential for general revision. To be truly ecumenical, this council must be the concern of all Catholics. We need to work together in the Mystical Body to renew the Church. Without our cooperation any church reform would fail, for the Church grows organically out of the people. We do not belong to the Church but are the Church. We can make our renewal by making our theme “Christ- like Women Loving in an Ecumenical Spirit a living and growing part of our lives. If we reform, others cannot help changing too. No church lives in a world of its own. Within the church today there is a longing, striving, and praying for the reunion of Christendom. Our loving Holy Father broke all past traditions by inviting non-Catholic observers to the council. The council will try to cultivate a loving understanding of our separated brethren and is earnestly taking the first step toward the far distant goal of Chris- tian unity. It is not only the assembled bishops but the mem- bers of the Church who will have the task of the council’s great work. It is only if the council becomes the concern of the whole Church that it will succeed. The individual Catholic—yes, you and I—is fully responsible for the Church—for good or ill. We can only begin our renewal by reforming our- selves, vitalizing our truths and being convinced of our immense dignity as vibrant members of the Mystical Body. As students, we too are included in this renewal. Wc radiate by our work and example the living Christ to the world. To communicate this revival we can energetically and generously weave our theme into our lives. The simple ordinary Catholic” who thinks she is not needed in this grand project has an opportunity to help in this renovation of the Church. Before any re- forming action, prayer is needed, since everything depends on God’s grace. We must pray, suffer, and act so that our bishops can accomplish the anxious expectations of the Catholic world. The success of the council is our responsibility. The council will either be the fulfillment of our great hopes or a great disappointment. The Ecumenical Council will determine the image the Church mirrors to Christians and to the world. Renewal must be carried out by us, for we are the witnesses of Christ, we are the Church. 8 the laurelette

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newwords today is Friday the bestdayofthe -v WHOLE WEEK Wt) it is going home to dinneranddishes and NO homework it is feeling so tirc that you want to go to bed at seven-thirty In Fall In fall the yellow leaves the purple leaves and the violet leaves Fall from the big, tall, but ever growing barer tree». Then I have to rake all those yellow, purple and violet leaves that have fallen from the big, tall, but ever growing barer trees. Guest poet—Charles Fischer, eleven- year-old brother of Mary Ellen Fischer On days like this when hope is sun and heaven is in the oranging trees. Life is a dream to drag around from place to place and laugh at now and then until some shouting wind-swelled song awakens sleeping winter-thoughts and lets then be what once was day. Lynda Harrell, '64 But- a good movie is on so you stay up until one-thirty (likeyoudoeverynight) and sleep all daySat. friday is a pastel color because it is faded out after 5 whole days of WORK finis Rhonda Ray '64 Make believe is a little girl handing you a brown block and saying have a chocolate-chip cookie. Therese Ann Sheffield, 63 Hands folded in autumn are clasping between them leaves and keeping them from falling into footsteps. Sometimes autumn-folded hands are holding back the wants of walking through life. And looking up to love can make the folded hands clasp tighter to a prayer, or let it fall and be trampled upon by fears. Lynda Harrell, '64 Contrast is a shocking pink blanket hung to dry on a gray rainy day. Mary Ann Dewey, '63 November 1962 7

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council and movement Christ's work on earth was to unite all men with Himself. This ideal is recorded in the prayer He prayed at the Last Supper—“I do not pray for these only, but also for those who are to believe in men through their work, that they may all be one.” But what He's saying is that there will be some who do not believe and that it’s up to the members of His Mystical Body, who have the beliefs, to unite them Ever since the Reformation, forward-looking Protes- under these beliefs. tant leaders have made attempts at partial reunion. At the end of the nineteen century, missionaries and young student groups, anxious for unity, spread their desire to the leaders of nearly all the churches. The movement became widespread. The Ecumenical Movement is a grow- ing union of various non-Catholic churches. They have combined to secure a larger influence in everything concerning the moral and social con- dition of the people so as to promote the application of the law of Christ in every aspect of human life. Protestants first united so they could plan together before going out to the mission fields—avoid competi- tion by erasing the boundaries of ter- ritories to be evangelized and by preaching the essentials of Christianity” and forget non-essential denominational- ism. They have started a movement toward insistence on practical Christianity”—avoid dogmatic differences and emphasize Christ's teaching on human relations. Since 1948, the chief instrument of the Ecumenical Movement has been the World Council of Churches, a permanent body of 197 churches, which helps them in their efforts toward world-wide reunion. The general body of modern Protestantism is actively engaged in finding ways which will lead to greater organic and doctrinal unity. Pope John XXIII, working to promote unity, has cre- ated the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity—one of the ten advisory boards formed for the Ecumenical Council. The Secretariat states that it has a double pur- PJ se. Its immediate purpose is to enable non-Catholic Christians to follow the work of the Council. The Secre- tariat gives accurate information to non-Catholics about the work of the Council. But its larger and more general end is to aid non- Catholic Christians to find more easily the path to the oneness Christ prayed for. The Secretariat hears and weighs suggestions from the non-Catholic Christians and passes them on, if need be, to the appropriate commission or drafts them for consideration by the Council itself. Cardinal Bca, head of the Secretariat, has referred to the importance which Christian reunion may have on the agenda of the Second Vatican Council. It may pave the way to an eventual assembly of Christian bodies under Roman Catholic Church guidance to discuss unity. Ruling out compromise on dogma, he found room for much clearing up of misunderstandings that have arisen because of the historical circumstances in which declarations were made. He cited Pastor Marc Boegncr’s conviction that those things which unite Protestants and Catholics are greater than the differences. Besides attending meetings, mem- bers and staff have been constantly busy, privately and publicly, prepar- ing and promoting the Council's work for unity. It co-operated with leaders of the World Council of Churches, the Protestants' main body working on ecumenism, in setting up a conference of several days near Geneva in May 1961. Orthodox, Protestant, and Catholic theologians explored each other's minds, ex- changed views, and discovered how much they had in common and where and why they differed. The Secre- tariat seeks to give tolerance and freedom of conscience to Protestants so they may be more readily inclined to meet with Catholic leaders. Archbishop Fisher, former Archbishop of Canterbury, has said that his visit with Pope John XXIII would have been impossible if the Pope had not created the Secretariat. Protestants have begun a reunion of churches. But this is not enough; the need is for a unity of faith. Unity is not complete unless everyone is united within the Catholic Church—uncompromised. The ecumenical attempts on both sides leave hope for greater understanding. November 1962 9