Wright, John J.

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The Linacre QuarterlyVolume 35 | Number 4 Article 1November 1968OfficialJohn J. WrightFollow this and additional works at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/lnqRecommended CitationWright, John J. (1968) "Official," The Linacre Quarterly: Vol. 35 : No. 4 , Article 1.Available at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/lnq/vol35/iss4/1THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF CATHOLIC PHYSICIANS' GUILDS · OFFICERS President ....................... BERNARD J. O'LOUC . iLIN, M.D. 101 Manchester Ave., Orange, California 92668 President-Elect ........................... JOHN M. MA. ONE, M.D. 1 7300 Schaefer Road, Detroit, Michigan 48235 Vice-President ........................... GINO G. P1 ' LA, M.D. 7 Englewood Road, Upper Darby, Pennsylvania 1908> Secretary ..................... ROSALIE REARDON A .. :sERS, M.D. 626 Lucas Drive, Lafayette, California 94549 Treasurer .......................... JAMES H. MAST} ZSON, M.D. 4317 Woodway Street, Alexandria, Virginia 2231 2 Episcopal Advisor ......... MOST REV. THOMAS J. McDOJ· .. .l UGH, D.D. 212 E. College St., Louisville, Kentucky 40203 Moderator ....................... REV. KENNETH 1000 East State Fair Ave., Detroit, Michigan 48203 Executive Secretary ......................... ROBER1 l. HERZOG 2825 N. Mayfair Road, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 5322:· HONORARY PRESIDENTS NARCISSE F. THIBERGE, M.D., New Orleans, La. DANIEL A. MULVIHILL, M.D., New York, N. Y. DIRECTORS Region I: FRANCIS W._ DRINAN, M.D., 8 Lakewood R~. , N:· wton Centr~, Mass. Connecticut, Mazne, Massachusetts, New Hampshzre, : "!ode !sian' Vermont. Region II: CHARLES A . . BAUDA, M.D., 728 Niagara St., Buffa i.; , N.Y., New York. Region III: JAMES H. MASTERSON, M.D., 4317 Woodway S L.' Alexandr~h Va. Delaware; District of Columbia, Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey, Nor Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia. Region IV: . RAYMOND B. BAUER, M.D., 8250 Sorre n t~, Detroit, Michigan 48228. Indiana,' Michigan, Ohio. Region V: JAMES T. NIX, M.D., 1407 S. Carrollton Ave., New. O!le_an~ , La. 70118. Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mzsszsszpp . · Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, Tennessee, Texas. N H 1 A Chicago, Region VI: CHARLES W. PFISTER, M.D., 5511 .-. are~_ :1- v~ ., aska. Illinois 60631. Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Manztoba, Mzssuurz. Neb" North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin. Region VIII: THOMAS A. KERNS, M.D:, 1162_ Wi~lame tte S_~·· E~;e;~: Oregon 97401. Alaska, British Columbza, Califorma, Hawall, 0 ~ Washington. 206. Region VIII: LOUIS A. HALL, M.D., 1690 ~ilwaukee_ St., Denver, Col._ 80 Arizo_na, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexzco, Utah, Wyomzng. 230 Linacre QuarterlY Most Rev. John J. Wright Bishop of Pittsburgh Official pressures on Pope Paul to speak on contraception other than he did have sustained_ ~d massive. They have been pressures of human respect, politics, opm10n, emotional torment, threats that Church unity might be . or ecumenical hopes dimmed, and, concentrating all these directly upon a VIrtually unanimous world press. are pressures before which lesser men would buckle in their eagerness to popular favor, to preserve an image of modernity and to seem to lead into future while in fact merely following the dictates of the moment. the face of such pressures, not all of them unworthy and some almost to the priestly, even the human spirit, the Holy Father's ~:mc:em_tent must be seen by the just and generous as truly magnanimous and himself takes on heroic stature as a courageous teacher to our times in the Old Testament sense, evangelical in the richest sense of the New~ sensitive among the devout may read his words with tears, tears of for the valiant Vicar of Christ who must bear fearless witness to the and tears of compassion for · all who must, with equal Christian valor, bear of the human condition made objectively holy, even when heartbreaking, by those demands of truth with which beauty and must always be reconciled. Americans will see the situation in lighter perspective if they remember t, charged with like passionate controversy, which occurred on a lesser 231 but important level of history not so many years ago. Given the acclai the experts opposing the Holy Father presently command and the un he well knew his authoritative decision would provoke, world reac, Pope's bold, historic action recalls the excitement all over the United night of President Truman's plucky firing of Douglas MacArthur. The parallel is iJllperfect, of course; the Church is not literally an ar , setting forth of religious truth is not the same as the development of military tactic. However, the parallel is, in its way, instructive. The p:· have been fully consulted and patiently heard; the leader has finall;. only he could and should do. It now remains to be seen whether lesser spokesmen among the p ·' have a sense of re~ponsibility and order proportionate to that of the chieftains of the wisdom of the world. General MacArthur acted witl · in response to his commander-in-chief and in accordance with the p which constituted him in his proper place and dignity. One wonders ·. in our various posts of competence and authority within the Churc' · good the assurances all- parties gave from the beginning, gave and meant, that our doctrinal opinions were speculative pending the pr ·· of the Pope; that our practical recommendations and disciplinary pro' . contingent upon the directives the Holy Father has now given win ambiguity. some of )pularity to the ,tates the _v and the !litical or ~.-e ssionals -. poken as ·le of God .bordinate reat grace i.ged word :ether we, will make resumably •uncement iures were . ut fear or Our conformity with this given word will be the measure not Jly of; our Catholic fidelity to the Pope but of our greatness, particularly , -Je it said pointedly, the greatness and the integrity of those specifically arri · ;1g us who teach or preach moral theology. In this connection, and in view of the position which certain jmi -: 1alistic and broadly theological circles have attempted to consign to the 1 ,pe in the controversy on contraception, it is well to note that the Holy Father i'" ·lOt and has not been a kind of referee between two schools of thought on the qu:'~ tion. Some lecturers and writers, including a few within the household of the faith, ~av~ inaccurat~ly. and unj_us~ly represen~ed the so-called "majority" an~ ,' ' rninonty f groups within commissions counseling . th~ Pope as mutually e.xclu!.> ~ · e ca~ps 0f opposition as between which the Pope IS maneuvered, by this cord ructiOn ° things, into acting as arbiter. The fact is that each member of any commission advis~ng the Pope on doct~ine acts in accordance with his own conscience, on the basis of his own q;_~alificatto~s and within his own competence; if he acts in a Catholic spirit his contribution 15 not analogous to that of the member of a political caucus or a parlia~ent~ debate. In such a process as that in the background of the Pope's doctnnal ant disciplinary pronouncement ther~ is . no winning ~loc or lo.sing bl~c; to su~~o otherwise is to misread the contnbutlon of those bishops, pnests ana laymen . h served on the commissions and to contradict the theological premises on whiC they loyally, competently and sometimes sacrificially served. 232 Linacre QuarterlY }>ope is not a theologicaJ referee in a crisis of this kind. Rather, mindful of responsibilities proper and special to him, aware of the requirements in of his unique teaching office in the Church (as a matter of faith) and in world (as a matter of history), Pope Paul has heard all sides and now speaks as a teacher among many teachers but as the supreme teacher~ under God, of flock committed to him in Peter by Christ. is difficult to see how the Pope · could have spoken on the central issue of artificial contraception other than he did. The pretense that he would or speak otherwise, especially any such pretense on the ·part of responsible IOIOgiatls, has frequently been cruel to Pope Paul as a person and callous, often so, to the conscientious, hard-pressed, decent Christians whom some have seemed intent on aligning into pressure groups for the embarrassment Father in Christ. attack on the Holy Father will be manifold. It will be said that he has to conform to the spirit and insig;hts of the world in which we are privileged ; Sacred Scripture, from Isaiah and Osee to St. Paul, will comfort him and his c~nscience on this po~t. It will be said that history will judge harshly to Witness to truth and to serve humanity; a good defense can already be . against that facile argument, but, in any case, it is not the judgment of that Paul must either fear or face. painful to him, and most shameful on the part of his critics, will be the that he has loftily branded millions of his own flock, Catholics trapped mentality and the practice of contraception, as mortally sinful. He has, of done no such thing. Only God judges who, among the weak, · the the confused, the desperate, are sinners and who, in varying degrees for a variety of reasons, may be diminished in their moral guilt. . Pope Paul has done, what he had to do, is recall to a generation that does 1ike th~ word the fact that sin exists; that artificial contraception is smful; that those who impose it, foster it, counsel it, whether they be lhlments, experts, or-God forgive them!-spiritual directors, impose, foster counsel objective sin-just as they would if they taught racism hatred fraud . or. impiety. The Holy Father has pointed out what is, in fact, sinful, not JS, alas, a ~inner. This is what Christianity always requires us to do, nothing and nothing less. The Church denounces errors, not persons; it exposes false rather than presumes to judge individuals or name names. The Pope has done bravely and clearly, with prophetic service of human civilization and fidelity to divine faith. He has .left to priests of truly pastoral spirit the but honest guidance of individual souls, enmeshed in the problem's which around the universal objective truth of the Church's moral teaching; this confessors must give with tender sympathy for human weakness (it is own) and loving zeal for ._souls, but without violation of God's Will and of His Church. . ' 1968 233 ,.,. . ~ : • I ' I ' I .,, .. .. . ' : ' ~· ' ' o t : ', ~ ~~ I I. ,' 1, .~. . ...... ·: : ~: .·:~. How could Pope Paul have done or said other than he did? He has re 1 ste~ ~he compulsions of the statistics, the economic determinism and the pohttcal absolutism of an age of computers and conformism destructive of the 1 r~on. He has defended · life and love against political controls and selfishness · it1mately destructive of both. With aspostolic integrity he has braved the sne{ · '.; of the cynical and the honest dissent of those who do not share his faith cont. ning the divine origins and eternal purposes of life and of lov~ . Pope P~u~, eve as every Catholic Christian, must do everything humanly possible and divmelY, ermitted to realize the hopes of humanity and to alleviate the woes of the worh1 egmmng with the material poverty that inhibits the transmission of life ~d t ' cultural poverty that hampers the enjoyment of love. But he c~nnot calll~ght !. - ~kne~s or darkness light, what is false true, what is evil good. This was for?Idde; tim; m so many words, when h,e was consecrated a bisho~, ~ authe~hc teal~ .er m t~e Church, long before he acquired the awesome obligations which are 1 , as Chief Shepherd of Christ's flock. God console, preserve, protect and strengthen him - and all the fait' ·!l ! July 30, 1968 234 Most Rev. John J. Wright Bishop of Pittsburgh Linacre QuarterlY ·dent's Page. . . . . DR. O'LOUGHLIN lity, Reverant Relevance and Reform has become more man-centered and interested in human basics of Honesty, integrity, perfectibility, death and immortality are encourant. education is concerned with these matters as well, and sometimes as , as with scientific and political concerns. Medical education should these matters also and it is an appropriate subject of concern for the Federation of Catholic Physicians' Guild and for the medical schools. elective courses in Religion, Humanities, and Social Science are offered medical schools. Theology which has again only recently become subject is having its hard knocks and Newman's idea of a university may SUrvive the current attacks on academic freedom. The reaction to an excess activism is itself excessive and can be dangerously restricted. the last ten years the younger members of the NFCPG have been trying to the organization's attention away from "Pelvic Morality" toward other of. the day, more in keeping with Christ's admonition to love our neighbors and enemies. The recent successes of the "Abortion Lobby' ' consternation. The encyclical Humanae Vitae severely tested their . It appears that even the Curia and the Pope cannot stay away from for long. Ma:ny are asking the Federation to assume a simple and definite on Humanae Vitae. Some guilds warn us that all guilds must be con~ulted We assume an official stance, espeCially one that might be contrary to Council II's Constitution of the Church in the Modem World. While all the strong hand of the Holy Spirit in that document, not all would make claim for Pope Paul's recent encyclical. It is obviously a closely reasoned intended to clarify and teach the truths of the natural moral law. These '1968 235 

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