South Texas Catholic (Corpus Christi, Tex.), Vol. [18], No. [17], Ed. 1 Friday, September 17, 1982 Page: 4 of 12
twelve pages : ill. ; page 19 x 14 in.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Opinion
P«gt 4
ft’
r . e4 “*»r
«• *«•*■
, *4»» y**# , ." !*v
- tii-f ' ’ kfr
The law
of Christ
By Father Michael Howell
During the months of July and August, the Canon Law
Society of America sponsored over a dozen workshops for
church leaders throughout the United States, From the Diocese
of Corpus Christi, Cancery and Tribunal staff members attend-
ed meetings in New Orleans and San Antonio. Most of us felt
like college students once more as we sat in conferences and
discussion groups from early in the morning to as late as ten in
the evetiing, from Monday to Friday. These hours of intensive
academic bombardment were an opportunity for participants
from around America to study some of the final results of the
Vatican Council, namely the revision of the Church’s law in
light of the teachings of the Council and the Church’s desire to
once more re-state the rights and duties of all God’s people,
with various efforts to promote and protect these values.
Since the conclusion of the Council, several commissions, in
consultation with Church leaders throughout the world, have
sought to revise the last edition of the Church’s laws (pro-
mulgated in 1917). They have tried to formulate in concrete
terms the deliberations of the Council, to accommodate the
Law to the new way of thinking and viewing the Church and its
Guest Column
role in the world, to express more clearly the doctrinal and
disc iplinary thrust oi the Council, and to bring the legislation of
the Church more inn* harmony with the more broadened ec-
elesiological perspective of the Council. Our Holy Father, Pope
John Paul 11, has said that the revised law is to be an “instru-
ment for implementing the directives of the Council and for
realizing the fruits desired by it.”
Many of the canons — the individual laws — speak of the
teaching and values of the Council and reflect some of the prac-
tical changes that have already been in the making here in our
own country and around the world. For example, the format of
the proposed revision divides the main sets of laws around the
triple function of the Church to teach, sanctify, and govern in
harmony — reflecting the teaching of the Church Fathers at the
Council who saw the work of each Christian and the Church as
modeled on the roles of Christ as prophet, priest, and king
(teaching, sanctifying, and governing).
Manifesting the practical changes already introduced in
many areas ot the world arc such canons as those dealing with
the need for financial accountability and consultation with
qualified professionals. Reflecting some of the needs that stem
from our present social situation, many of the canons have been
revised to address practical problems. For example, in the pre-
sent code a priest is given faculties by his bishop to hear confes-
sions, but he only has such faculties within his own diocese. In
the case of traveling outside his diocese, such a priest was only
permitted to celebrate the sacrament of penance for his own
parishioners if they were traveling with him (or in danger of
death anyone could ask him to assist them). However, the pro-
posed revision of the code, recognizing the high mobility of our
society, while seeking to protect the Church from any renegade
clergymen, states that any priest who has faculties to hear con-
fessions in his proper diocese also has faculties throughout the
world.
Some of the canons of the new code are practical attempts to
protect rights and remind us of duties and responsibilities. As
such many of the canons are very specific and detailed in their
content. Other canons, however, are beautiful statements of
theological teachings based on scriptures, tradition, and the
Vatican documents. Initial canons on the Church, the
sacraments, the pastor, and religious life — for example — read
more like what a person would expect to see in a profession of
faith than find in a law But all of the canons are meant to pro-
tect and promote some right or duty of each of us as followers of
Christ and as such they spell out in concrete terms what it
means to love God and neighbor (the Law of Christ and His
Church) as individual Christians and as the Church.
As we approach the 20th anniversary of the convocation of
Vatican Council II, it is hoped (hat these many institutional
changes may also be a vehicle to help continue to reform and
renew us spiritually as the People of God and the Church as a
sacrament of salvation for the world.
Father Michael Howell ii assistant chancellor of the
diocese and associate pastor of the Cathedral parish.
Capital Comments
Wave of executions
possible in Texas
fly RicharJ ISial'y"'....... "
On August 17 the State of Texas came very
close to executing its first condemned person
since 1973. At the very last minute Associate
Justice of the United States Supreme Court
Byron White, stayed the execution. Had tin: ex-
ecution taken place, it would have been done by
lethal injection.
Unfortunately, there seems to have been some
political machinations surrounding the proposed
August 17 execution. It would be very unfor-
tunate if political figures used the issue of capital
punishment to advance their careers. The issue
of the taking of a human life should not be used
by politicians to prove that they are more “law
and order” oriented than their opponents.
Two other early execution dates have been set
in Texas, one in mid-September and the other in
early October. As of this writing it is not dear
whether or not the two individuals will receive a
stay of execution through the normal procedures.
At latest count there are 168 condemned in-
mates on death row in Texas. This number in-
cludes two women.
No doubt capital punishment, especially when
assessed for the most heinous of crimes, is a dif-
ficult issue to deal with. Nevertheless, a concern
for the sanctity of human life at all stages of its
development, should lead to the rejection of the
practice of capital punishment in our time. This
is especially true when one studies the statistics
on crime and punishment and sees how directly
the correlation is between the ability of the defen-
dant to pay for adequate or superior defense
counsel and when a defendant is so poor that he
or she is not able to do that.
After carefully studying the issue of capital
punishment, the Catholic bishops of Texas in
1979 issued a statement on the criminal justice
system in Texas in which they opposed the use of
capital punishment in our time. This opposition
to capital punishment is entirely consistent with
the Church’s position on the sanctity of life at all
stages of development. The Catholic Church is
against abortion, against euthanasia, and against
capita] punishment.
Those who carefully monitor the situation
regarding executions in Texas estimate that
within two or three years, because of the large
number of condemned inmates in Texas (only
Florida has more people on death row than
Texas), we will probably have a rash of execu-
tions in a very short space of time. Indeed, those
observers say that Texas may very well be facing
the prospect of an execution a week for 50, 100,
or even 200 weeks.
Although it is highly unlikely given the
political climate of the state, a law against capital
punishment is necessary. As stated above, this is
a very difficult issue and it is highly unlikely that
a political body such as the Texas Legislature will
want to even consider it.
Brother Richard Daly is Executive Director
of the Texas Catholic Conference.
Reader urges name change for
South Texas Catholic
Editor:
Thanks to all who provide
leadership toward continued
improvement of the com-
munication media for we Chris-
tians baptized in the
“Catholic” — universal —
Church instituted by Jesus
Christ.
Please continue to accept the
growing challenge of competing
with the materialistic and
atheistic advocates of jour-
nalism. I realize the South
Texas Catholic is a weekly.. .but
remember the challenge of
David and his God-blessed suc-
cess with the giant Goliath! It
takes trust and support. (To
honor) those Non-Catholic
Christians and other non-
readers who recognize the
challenge and support us, con-
sider this suggestion: Change
the name to South Texas Chris-
tian — a name representative
of a wider ecumenical reader-
ship. I’m neither ashamed nor
proud of being “Catholic.”
Rather, I’m overwhelmed with
humble gratitude for the
unrelenting mercy and love of
God the Father, Son and Spirit!
I’ve come to be ministered
by many other Non-Catholic
Christians — Christians not
baptized in the Catholic institu-
tion but who are more ap-
To the Editor
preciative of the essential
elements of the spiritual
Catholic institution than many
baptized Catholics. These Non-
Catholic Christian brothers and
sisters who don’t have the
financial resources of our
human Catholic institution
need an encouragement, un-
compromising in our essential
belief, to join forces in our
mutual journalistic interests.
In my thinking, South Texas
Christian in lieu of South Terns
Catholic is both scripturally and
ecumenically sound, not a com-
promise of faith principle.
A final request? Please make
an effort to send your reporter
to the “Jesus ’83” Spiritual
Conference in San Antonio.
The conference was not
covered in 1981 or 1982.
May you be inspired by
Psalms 65 and 66 as expressed
in these lyrics of a song: ‘.‘Glory
and Praise to Our God who
alone gives light to our days.
Many are the blessings He
bears to those who trust in His
ways.”
Herb Janecek
Portland, Texas
Tampering with the mind
Editor,
I read the article about the
Charismatics in the South
Texas Catholic of September 3,
1982. I have heard about such
Charismatics here in Laredo. I
cannot understand how such
Charismatics can proclaim that
they are so close to Jesus
Christ, yet totally ignore the
basics of the teachings of Jesus
Christ which are justice,
human charity and compas-
sion. They say that they are
able to communicate with the
Holy Spirit, but I believe what
they are doing is dangerously
tampering with the deep levels
of the mind. The Holy Spirit is
not floating in the air for
everyone to grab. The closeness
and understanding to Jesus
Christ does not come in a few
meetings or retreats or prayers
and songs of a few gatherings.
The circle of the Charismatics
is to think only of themselves
and to speak of themselves —
and [ doubt it whether they
would recognize Jesus Christ if
they would bump into him.
Sincerely,
Maria G. Ramirez
Laredo, Texas
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Feist, Joe Michael. South Texas Catholic (Corpus Christi, Tex.), Vol. [18], No. [17], Ed. 1 Friday, September 17, 1982, newspaper, September 17, 1982; Corpus Christi, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth840476/m1/4/: accessed July 5, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; .