The Church here and there

Title

Language

English

Year

1969

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

THE CHURCH HERE AND THERE MSGR. OVERBEKE PROMOTED BISHOP Pope Paul VI has promoted the Rt. Rev. Msgr. Albert van Overbeke as first bishop of the prelature of Bayombong and titular bishop of Caliabria, it was announced recently by the Catholic bishops’ conference of the Philippines. Msgr. Overbeke was formerly parish priest in Tagudin, Ilocos Sur, the superintendent of Catholic schools in Mt. Province, and rector of St. Louis College — now a university in Baguio. Born in Oostrozebeke, Belgium on Nov. 18, 1915, Msgr. Overbeke was ordained priest on Aug. 4, 1940. He finished philosophy and theology at the study house of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Congregation in Scheut, and obtained his master of arts and education degree from the University of Santo Tomas. ANGLICAN AND CATHOLIC THEOLOGIANS CONFER ‘Surprising’ Agreement on Difficult Points Meetings between Anglican and Catholic theologians in southern England have produced “quite surprising” agreement on hitherto “insunnountable” doctrinal issues, according to Anglican Bishop George Reindorp of Guildford. The discussions were held between an Anglican team from tlie two diooeses Guildford and Chichester, and a Catholic team from the diocese of Arundel and Brighton, which covers much the same area. The teams, six or seven on each side, have been meeting twice a year for a one-day conference for the past two years. Bishop Reindorp in his diocesan newsletter for August said: "The following subjects have been discussed: the Bible as the basis for belief; what constitutes genuine tradition in the Church; the Eucharist in the light of tradition; die proposed Anglican-Methodist Ordinal; and the doctrine of the Eucharistic sacrifice in Scripture and the early Church. "The procedure has been for a Roman Catholic and an Anglican to read papers on the subject for the day with general discussion following. Owing to the fact that the membership has been relatively stable diere has developed a genuine and easy frankness in exchange of views. “The outcome has been a quite surprising agreement on doctrinal issues which in the past have been insurmountable barriers between the two Churches. 824 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS Even more remarkable has been the discovery that sometimes the differences that have appeared have cut across the Church divisions. “This, of course, is only a local experience and too much importance must not be attached to it, but it may not be a totally insignificant straw in the wind if the wind is truly the wind of the Spirit.” The meetings have taken place at the Anglican Theological College at Chichester and at St. John’s Catholic Seminary near Guildford. The theologians on the Catholic side include Benedictines as well as diocesan priests. The teams have been appointed by the bishops of both sides. THE POPE AGAIN STRESSES NEED FOR PRAYER The Pope returned to the theme of the need of prayer in the modern world in a general audience at his summer residence on August 20. Today, more than ever before, he said, man must sustain himself with personal prayer. The Pope lamented the fact that many people do pray but find little joy in their efforts. He touched upon the distrust that many seem to have of the new liturgical forms, and said that with “just a little effort, they can draw great consolation ’ from the new forms and rites and prayers.” The Pope lamented the fact that many people do pray but find little joy of prayer in favour of simply loving their neiglibor and regard any prayer to God as being superfluous. “We should not be among any of these groups,” he said. “Let our prayer be the watchman of our lives. This continual feeling of God’s presence can lead to the spiritual life of contemplation which is a beginning in us of the eternal happiness of heaven.” This was th third time in August that Pope Paul has used prayer as a theme for general audience talks. Vatican Radio, in noting this return to the theme of prayer, conjectured that Pope Paul was displaying a little of his own personality without in any way referring to himself. Having made the distinction between the spiritual life of a man who happens to be a pope and the natural faculties of the same man, Vatican Radio said: “We would dare to say that the particular sensitivity of Pope Paul towards tliis subject and the noble way in which he addresses himself to it does two things: it first gives away the fact that he is an intellectual, but much more importantly, that he is a man given to interior and profound medi

Media