All about ecumenism

Title

All about ecumenism

Language

English

Source

The Cabletow Volume XLIII (Issue No.12) December 1967

Year

1967

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

NBM TARLAC CONTEST REMOVES BARRIERS (Special to The Manila Tinies > TARLAC. Tarlac, Nov. 23—Sen. Jovito R. Salunga will be the guest speaker here during the Ecumenical Oratorical Contest to he held at the Bon Bosco Father Wilson Hall on Thursday, Nov. 30. Salonga will be introduced by Rev. Pedro Lusung, superintendent of Tarlac district of the Methodist Church. The program will open with the National Anthem, Rev. Danilo C. Sanchez, leading, and assisted by the First Military Band. Rev. Fr. Elpidio Caliboso, assistant parish of the Tarlac Catholic Church, will lead in the opening prayer. The theme The organizers of the First Ecu menical Oratorical Contest, led by Rev. Lusung, chose “Ecumenicity in the Heart” as the general theme. The contest is being supported by the Knights of Columbus, Tarlac chapter, Knights of Rizal, Tarlac Rotary Club, Tarlac Jaycees, Tarlac Methodist Men, Isagani Lodge No. 96, Tarlac Historical Society, and Serra Club International, Tarlac chapter. Participating orators are the fol lowing. Segundo Romero Jr., UP College, Tarlac; Greg P. Quirino, Serra Club International; Silvia Littawa, UP College, Tarlac; Isidro Ramos, Tarlac College of Technology; Avelino Flores Jr., San Beda College; Rodolfo Llorente, UP, Diliman; Nenita Sarmiento, Osias Colleges; and Remy P. Panlaqui, Philippine Wesle yan College. Other parts Other numbers on the program in clude opening remarks of Councilor Pedro tie Jesus, musical numbers by Fernando Francisco and Tessie Lagman, folk dances by Bayanihan Dance Troupe and by teachers of East Tarlac District. CHURCH UNITY A common Bible for the official use of both Catholics and Protestants? Why not? Ecumenism may not be as remote an idea as the conserva tives think. In two to six years time, a com mon Bible may just be the vital fac tor in promoting unity among the churches. Jesuit Father Walter M. Abbott, a noted ecumenist, however said that ecumenism alone is not the main ob jective of a common Gospel. The ilea, he said, is to spread the Word of God to all parts of the world, espe cially to the non-Christian sector. This sector counts of two-thirds of the world’s population. Speaking before a mixed crowd of Catholics and Protestants at the UST Commerce hall last weekend, the Jesuit editor of the Catholic prestige magazine “America” also said that even more important than being com mon is that the Bible should be able to communicate to the man in the street. Tum to page 18 DECEMBER, 1967 IS ECUMENISM. . From pig* 15 Translation necessary Translation in as many language; and dialects as possible is therefore necessary. In the case of a Tagalog translation, it could be something of the Taliba style. Father Abbott, who is also the gen eral editor of the book, “The Docucuments of Vatican II’’ and one of the closest men to the Pope, said that the idea for a common Bible it self was approved by the Second Vatican Council two years ago. The Vatican Bible committee is ready to agree to a new order of the books of tlie Bible should the need arise. Among other things, the common Bilile will also include annotations recommended by both the Catholic and Protestant churches as a guide in interpretation of the scriptures. It will also devote a section ,(pr explanation of proper names (such as Jesus, Israel, Isaac, etc.), a back grounder on the different cultures of the world and identification of histo rical characters. Diplomacy and objective scholarship An agreement must also be reach ed for any joint translation to be undertaken. An ideal set-up, he said, would be to have four to seven trans lators for each language, supervised by a committee of 11 or 12 experts composed of church leaders. To guard against possible sub standard work a committee composed of a much larger group of theological leaders will see to it that the work meets the standard of “diplomacy and objective scholarship.” With regards to portions whose authenticity Catholics and Protestants do not quite see eye to eye, Father Abbott said that they would be put down as footnotes. The classic example of course is that part of the Our Father where the Pro testant version exceeds the Catholic by the phrase, "For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, Amen. The following account is not exact ly about ecumenism. It has to do with one of the stray Dead Sea scrolls which were first uncovered in 1947. This one, the longest (28 ft. 3 inches) so far examined, was found in the possession of a Jordanian anti que dealer in Bethlehem when that city was overran by Israeli soldiers in June 1967, is now in Tel Aviv under the care of Yigael Yadin, Is raeli archaeologist. Not only is it the longest; it may as well be the most important. In literary style, it was written as if God was addressing himself to the Qumran community of Esserics. The message is largely prophetic and the author must have intended it to be a part of the Bible. It may even be used by the present ecumenical council of Biblical scholars who are putting out a standard Bible for all Christians. Yadin has tentatively named the scroll “The Temple Scroll,” a large portion of it containing detailed instructions as to the building and care of the temple. It is presumed to have been written between 50 BC and the beginning of the first cen tury, AD, probably during the time the second temple was being built. In one place it gives instructions for the celebration of the festival of wine and oil after gathering in the harvest of grapes and olives. For the first time in Christian his tory, the Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople set foot in Rome the Turn to pago 31 18 The Cabletow ECUMENISM. .. From page 18 last week of October. Accompanied by four of his bishops, Athenagoras I, the spiritual primate of the Greek Orthodox church spent three days in Rome to visit with Pope Paul VI. This was a return engagement after the Pope visited him in Istanbul last July. Both primates exchanged notes on their common problems and they made it clear that they are uncom monly eager for unity. Paul-Emile Cardinal Leger, Ro man Catholic Archbishop of Mon treal, Canada, announced that he will leave his see this month to become a “simple missionary in a leper colony in Africa.” While he person ally retains the title of cardinal, he will be working under the direction of an African bishop. Cardinal Leger is one of the church’s most consistently reformminded prelates. At the second Va tican Council this year, he spoke openly for religious freedom and for a change in church doctrine to al low the possibility of artificial birth Now it is black power in the pul pit, or, as some of the ministers con cerned call it, "black ecumenism." We have heard of black power in ]>olitics and government; this time Negro ministers in the United States have organized the National Com mittee of Negro Churchmen (NCNCt which aims to wangle positionin the denominational councils for Negro pastors. Led by the Rev. Benjamin F. l’ayton. President of Benedict College (Baptist) in South Carolina, the association demands equal justice for Negroes m the churches. They publicize disparities between church preaching and practice on race. The association was organized in Dallas, Texas and now counts with a mem bership of over 300 ministers from 12 denominations. They are aware that prelominantly white denominations use comparative ly little of their tax-exempt finan cial resources to aid the Negro. They are organizing a non-profit cor poration which will solicit contribu tions from Negros churches and other sources to finance housing and small businesses in urban ghettos. Here in the Philippines, Mt. Kaladias Lodge No. 91 in Dumaguete City is doing mighty well with their project of maintaining constant dia log with the local Knights of Colum bus council. As previously reported, they had a social gathering with members of their families. Recently, a few of the members of the Lodge attended the installation of officers <>f the Knights. The Masons reported that the ar rangement of the furniture in the hall is similar to ours in the lodge. The Masonic altar in the center has a counterpart in a KC council room: only they call it the table of obligaGOING PLACES? Allied Travel Experienced Person nel — Personalized Service — At Your Doorsteps. Contact Bro. Ernesto Z. Gonzales ALLIED TRAVEL-SAN MARCELINO Room 2, Plaridel Temple 1440 San Marcelino, Manila Tel. 5-35-36 DECEMBER, 1967 31

Media