.
Timel.
N HIS WITTY, provocative play,
Major Barbara, George Bernard
Shaw astutely predicted the
growth of the materialistic suburbs
in which the suburbanites no long-
er have to devote their every
thought and activity to the sole
job of simply keeping body and
soul together. Thanks to social
reform, the material aspects of
living would be put into good con-
dition; instead it would be the+
spiritual that would suffer from1
malnutrition. So Shaw had his
heroine, Barbara, leave her mis-
sion in a London slum and trans-i
fer her religious activities to her
father's industrial suburb because
in that neat, tidy, spaciQus de-1
velopment, the need for the base1
that religion can furnish in thef
-individual's life is the greatest.a
It is to our national shame that
we still have so many underfed1
and underprivileged citizens; butl
on the other side of the coin, never
have so many had so much as theyt
do now. Our parents' luxuries have
become our necessities. Just for .
one example take opera which was t
once for the chosen few of the
~ss Doctrines
Social Context C nes
Catholic Beliefs Remain
$y PATRICK CHESTER
carriage trade; but now it is loved cals of the Popes in the early part
by millions of "just plain folks" of this century.
via radio and recordings.
In contrast to these secular THE TREMENDOUS expansion
changes the dogmas of the Catho- of the suburbs since the end
lic Church have never and will of World War II and the mobility
never change, but the social con- of today's families have mostly
text in which they are lived and spelled the doom of the old na-
believed does change. The beliefs tionality parish system. Outside
are timeless but the believers are the city, Irish, Italian and Ger-
not. man Catholics live next door to
The Catholic Church has risen each other and work together to
to the challenge of changing times put up a church and school in
before-the abbeys in the period the newly formed parish of which
after the fall of Rome, the mendi- they are now members because-
cant orders when the faithful out- each Catholic joins the parish
grew the - cloistered monastaries, where he lives. So if a Catholic
the 'Council of Trent to reform moves into a housing develop-
Church discipline after the Pro- ment near a newly-formed parish,
testant. revolt, the social encycli- he is obliged to help to form this
new parish.
With an ever expanding parish
Population and high building
costs, the pastor has an extremely
difficult time in just supplying a
roof for his flock of worshippers.
In order that every parishioner
will fulfill his obligation to at-
tend Mass each Sunday, it be-
" -comes, in many cases, almost
mandatory that something closely
i resembling a timetable of Sunday
masses be set up. Then, all can
be parked, Massed and unparked
as effectively and quickly as pos-
sible. Sunday morning can be-
come an adventure in crowd man-
agement, instead of ta time for
worshipping God.
CATHOLICS SET UP their own
parish schools, not because
they think their children won't
learn at the public school; but
rather because they believe the
essentially non-religious atmos-
phere of the public school is not
the right environment for prepar-
ing theiroffspring to be citizens
of this world and the next. They
feel that religion as the fourth R
must be added to the other three
so that education can have mean-.
ing. Thus, when the new parish,
is formed, the school must be built
as soon as possible. -
To finance the new church and
school building, various fund rais-'
ing methods must be contrived-
percentage - of - income pledging,
out-right donations, raffles, ba-
zaars-until it may seem that the
of Catholic worship parish has been established for
A-
An Incredible Number of
n n' e ' il- ubr0fProtestantism ' s d ivision
Into Many Churches
Obscures the Faith
Ofa aMeaningfulReligion
Dy PHILIP MUNCH K '
MOST phenomenal aspect
of modern day Protestantism
is the incredible number of sects
which are in existence today and
will come into being the day after
tomorrow.
This invention of new forms to
replace a~ deep faith- is precisely
the danger which may ultimately
destroy Protestantism as a mean-
ingful religion.
Protestantism is based, primar-
fly, on the two "facts" that Jesus
Christ was the son of God and that
every man can find his own way to
salvation. Acceptance of these
facts is necessary for the purpose
of this discussion. Roman Catho-
licism denies the latter and Judism
the former. All other religions fall
outside the Judeo-Christian tradi-
tion.
The study and criticism of Pro-
testantism is essentially hung up-
on the horns of niulticiplicity - a
sort of "quis custodes ipsos cus-
todiet." How do you argue with
someone who knows he's right?
This essentially is what all sects
have in common - they know,
beyond a doubt, that they have
the keys to Heaven.
N OBJECTIVE observer - he
. will have to be hypothesized
for he could not possibly exist -
might define the crux of the prob-
lem as: "If the protestant sects all
think the rest of their fellows are
wrong, is it possible that none of
them are right?"
We shall see, however, that the
question, let alone the answer,
cannot be phrased in such black
and white terms.
Protestants have a number of
things in common. Among these,
the most important are: a > com-
mon Bible (the King James), a
faith in the individual ability of
man to comprehend the mysteries
of religion and a historically nega-
tive reaction to some or all of the
Roman Catholic Church structure
and belief.
From. this point on, anything is
possible. The Anglo-Catholic arm
of the Episcopal Church needs
only accept the apostolic succes-
sion of the Pope to become Roman
Catholic while the Evangelical
branch of the same church is
nearer Methodism than any other
sect. And nominally they are both
members of the same church!
TH E EXPLICIT differences of
Protestant churches are not
nicely defined. In many cases they
differ in interpretations of single
words in the Bible, The distin-
guishing difference may also be in
the philosophy of church organi-
zation. Often both are important.
For example, the Congregational
Church resembles any number of
conservative Protestant churches
of many faiths except that the will
of the individual congregation is
final in any particular church.
The Baptists ,differ, from other
churches, among other things, in
insisting that since John the Bap-
tist totally submerged Christ dur-
ing his baptism everyone must be
baptized in the same way: This is
also practiced by other sects.
In part, the Bible can be blamed
for some of the currently increas-
ing number of schisms in Protes-
tantism. The King- James transla-
tion is the standard work used by
the non-Catholic churches and the
language of that book has become
more and more set off from com-
mon English usage. It is obvious
that the more ambiguious a pas-
sage is, the more interpretations
of it are possible. -
But essentially Protestants dif-
fer by asserting the individual --
their most extreme difference with
the Roman Catholic Church. The
key'to Protestantism remains the
individual person's ability to save
himself. To him, a church. is
merely a means of efficiently
channeling his efforts towards
salvation-it always has been and
probably always will be.
Clearly then, we can see the
rational for any Protestant sect.
A church arises whenever a group
of people who have defined a com-
mon path to salvation gather 'so
that group action will intensify,
their efforts.
We have the How, but we need
the Why. Why is it that people
don't get together and find the
one best way to the One God?
RELIGION, whether it really
exists or not, is essential to
man. Primitive man has to have
something to which he can appeal
St. Patrick's Cathedral - New York
Mass - the central act
the sole purpose of separating the
parishioner from his cash. It is
such an easy step for the Church.
to become enmeshed by the market
place, subordinating its spiritual
aims.
An additional challenge' lies in
the. acute shortage within the
priest-, sister-, and brotherhoods
in America today. The U.S.A. cer-
tainly cannot be likened to Ire-
land, which has been called, "one,
big outdoor monastery'' because
of its abundant- calls to the re-.
ligious life.
All those who are curious about
the religious life should see "The
Nun's Story." It tells in a rever-
eOt manner the life that is expect-
ed of those who join the orders.
Of course, it must be mentioned
that all orders are not as severe as
the one depicted in the film, but
the picture does show the price
a person' must pay in.order to live
up to the religious vows of pover-
ty, .chastity, and obedience.
AMERICA'S blatant materialism
and parental interference are
two of the most common reasons
offered for the American vocation
shortage. Taking the hint from
Madison Avenue, most religious
orders have begun a program of
acquainting Catholic youth with
the work of the different orders.
It is hoped that knowledge will
breed interest resulting in more,
vocations. It can quite aptly be
said that only God can tell wheth-
er this program will be successful.
One of the most important de-
velopments in contemporary Cath-
olicism has been the emphasis up-
on greater lay participation in the
Mass-Mass is the central act of
Catholic worship in which Christ
becomes physically present upon
the altar and is offered up as an
infinite sacrifice to God, the Fath-
er, as reparation for man's sins
and offenses against Him.
The regulations for fasting be-
fore receiving Holy Communion
have been relaxed. It is no longer
necessary to abstain from food
and drink from midnight on be-
fore receiving Communion. The
new regulation states that it is
necessary to abstain from solid
food for three hours before receiv-
ing Communion, liquids for one
hour and water does not break
the fast at all.
THE MI
ANOTHER new regulation is the
one permitting the offering of
evening masses. This change was
due to the many shifts in the work
day - something unknown fifty,
years ago -- and as a means of
making the Mass more available
to the faithful. Both changes have
been highly appreciated and suc-
cessful.
Another new practice is to have
the entire congregation recite the
altar boy's responses to the priest's
prayers in the. Mass. In some
parishes all the faithful at a High
Mass sing instead of a choir.
There has been a trend toward
increased use of the vernacular in
-the services and sacraments. Now
Catholics are baptized, united in
matrimony and buried with the.
use of English instead of the age
old Latin. This. change adds im-
measurabiy" to the understanding
of and participation in these most
sacred ceremonies.
There are even indications that
parts of the Mass may be said in
the vernacular, but if this hap-
pens, a great deal of opposition
must be overcome.
Perhaps the most important
event coming up for Catholicism
in the near future is the Ecu-
menical Council on Christian unity
to be held most likely in 1961. The
calling of a world-wide council by
Pope John is an infrequent event,
probably prompted by some very
important reasons.
Perhaps the most important new
force in the Catholic Church is
that jovial man who was elected
Pope John XXIII just a little over
a year ago. Although he is seventy-
eight, he has the liveliness and
zest of a man many years his
junior.
If John XXIII remains true to
the indications of having a vigor-
ous and eventful reign, it is most
certain that the Catholic Church
will be entering upon a new era of
growth and development.
.Patrick Chester, Daily re-
viewer, is a senior majoring in
speech and currently practice
teaching at Ann Arbor High
School. He transferred here
from The Catholic University
of Amerca in his junior year.
CHIGAN DAILY MAGAZINE
when nature frightens him. So-
phisticated man has to have some-
thing to calm him when through
his sophistication he discovers his
weaknesses compared to the mi-
crocosm.
The freedom of interpretation
allowed by the Protestant tradi-
tion makes it possible for a man
to meditate and choose his own
true path to salvation.
In the highest, most devout form
of Protestantism, man not only
believes and believes intensely, but
he knows what and why he be-
lieves. Its greatest drawback is
that it affords any number of
painless forms a man may follow
which others-will, assure him will
save his soul.
In other words one can find a
once - a - week formula which is
satisfying to inner man without
necessarily impressing on him'the.
belief or the sacrifices of a Chris-
tian life.
Thus people run and do gravi-
tate into the sect that supplies the
sort of path to salvation that is
least unconvenient to them. In
extreme cases they will create
their religion if there is none.
One only has to look at the con-
gregations of various churches to
see how pronounced is the homo-
geneity of any given congrega-
tions.
PROTESTANT religious belief
seems to be almost directly
linked to status in life and educa-
The conservative,i
tion. Being Protestant .is usually
a matter of having had Protestant
parents, but the particular sect
is very largely determined socially.
Sitting in the pews of an Epis-
copal, Congregational or Presby-
terian church will be white-collar
workers and their wives. Nearly
all of. them will be college edu-
cated and will be successful or al-
most so in their vocations.
. These three churches are also
conservative. Their ministers
speak about relatively abstract
topics and, never come out with
an evangelical statement such as
"You're all sinners and you're go-
ing to fry in Hell unless you get
down on your knees and pray."
This is not to say that every
one of these three always is like
this or that they are the only
churches which do so. Formalistic
tendencies exist in many church
congregations.
But the higher the "socio-eco-
nomic" type, the more formal and
placid the service is in their
church, and the less inclined the
service is to "offend" the intellect
of the parishoner.
SIMILARLY the less well-edu-
cated, the lower "socio-eco-
nomic" type does not want to be
told in abstract terms what life,
death, salvation and damnation
are. He wants a straighter more
rigidly defined path to Glory.
He is willing to listen to the
goriest descriptions of Hell and
The ever-increasing parishes carse changes
in Masses schedule
A group defines a common pa*th. *