This entry will be brief, because I have so many things to say, I expect to be home this Friday, and will save my summaries of the second session until I reach the Georgia border.

The mood in September was expectancy. The achievement? It was mixed. There were solid gains like the completion of the Constitution on the Liturgy, the growing unity of opinion on several vital issues, the overwhelming votes for the “open door” program of Popes John and Paul. The setbacks? Some frustrations in the commission, the delay on religious liberty and of course, the repetition of the speeches.

But, lest we forget, these are the human elements. This is not an ordinary legislative body. This is the Church in action. The Council is an instrument of the Holy Spirit, and we must all be Catholic enough to rise above human frustrations by our trust.

We do trust. And the Council Fathers return, not to political constituents who measure our progress by personal or local gain. We return to our own, the men, women and children who are God’s holy people. We are in the middle stage. Isn’t that the place where in school or work of life itself, the virtue of hope is most needed? Our faith brought us to the Council, hope sustains us, and we pray that out of it all, at God’s bidding, will become that charity which are put in the world to manifest.

FREEDOM TO CRITICIZE

One of the great results of the Council thus far has been a better climate of communication. Between Catholic and Protestant. Between Catholic and Jew. Between liberal and conservative. Among Catholics themselves.

The freedom of the Catholic press is a good example. As it matures in the United States, there will be those who prefer quiet to questions. Some can see only scandal if the human parts of the Church are put to a proper criticism. Yet journalists have a commitment to truth as well as charity. The “holy liberty” urged by Pope John carries responsibilities. If criticism is needed, it must be factual, proportionate and charitable. It must not be petty, partisan nor vicious. Above all, it should not be criticism for the sake of criticism, but criticism for the sake of truth.

When a Catholic situation needs airing, should not the Catholic press do it first, rather than wait for others to do it? Restraint and courtesy are in order, but so are the facts, and the ultimate social good.

An increasing number of Catholic people today are asking their Catholic papers to courageous enough to tell the truth. And an increasing number of Catholic editors are mature enough to do this with charity.

This has had its effect upon the Council. Each day the press is invited, Catholic and secular, to a press panel that was organized last year by the American bishops. Experienced specialists in different fields are ready to answer questions. Their replies are frank and honest. Is the impact on the Church good or bad? Generally, it is excellent.

Dr. Albert Outler, Methodist observer, has said that one of the most impressive things about the Council was this freedom, this openness, the Church willing to be seen by the world, not only in triumph but in travail. Certainly there will be mistakes and moments of anxiety. But the search for truth can hardly be scandalous. It was inspired in us by God.

SUNDAY MORNING IN A CONVENT

It was like being back in Georgia. I offered Mass November 24 at the motherhouse, of the Missionary Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, on the Via Trionfale. The eight sisters there, two of whom are Americans, welcomed Jerry Hardy and me heartily, joined in prayers of the Mass, and smiled with appreciation when I told them what great things had been achieved by their sisters at St. Mary’s Hospital and St. Joseph’s school in Athens.

Like every convent, it was spotless; not a large place, but in beautiful taste, on a hill outside Rome. Over a fine breakfast, we talked much of Georgia, of their mission all over the world, and the growing role of the nun in contemporary society.

Pope Paul told us last month that in his opinion our sisters are the “strength of the Church in the United States”. Catholics looking at our schools, hospitals and other institutions, ask, “Where would we be without them?”

SUNDAY MORNING AT AN ORDINATION

At San Marcello Church I attended the ordination administrated by Cardinal Traglia. There were two priests and two deacons ordained, and 75 young American men who received the “second minors.” Among them was our Atlanta seminarian Jerry Hardy. In addition to receiving the orders of exorcist and acolyte, he then ran around to where the choir was ready to sing, and did his part there.

There are four minor orders; porter, lector, exorcist and acolyte. Then will follow over the next year and a half, the major orders of sub-deacon, deacon and priest. The minor orders in the early Church were accompanied by real duties, e.g. the porter opened the doors of the church, the lector read the Scriptures, and so on. Now their symbolism has been retained, although practically, each is now but a step to the priesthood. For breakfast after the Mass, we invited three others in Jerry’s class; and had a stimulating two-hour session.

THE NIGHT OF THE ASSASSINATION

So many have written of it that it is not necessary to say much about it. When the word came, I was the guest of the Mays of Roswell at dinner. We said a prayer, talked quietly, but over us all the cloud persisted. Out on the Via Veneto, on my ways home to the Via Archimded, it was the same. Romans, tourists, cabdrivers struggled to tell me, an American, what the death of this great and good man meant to them.

We are relearning the lesson of sacrifice. It was a terrible lesson. But we had almost forgotten that the death of a man devoted to the cause of justice can say more to closed minds than his most eloquent words could ever do. Will America take the lesson to heart?

We can face the sorry spectacle of Dallas, the scrambling for power in Washington, the cunning in Russia, the contempt in China, if we pull ourselves together. It all seems now in a bitter contrast to the magnificent courage of the president’s widow. Jacqueline Kennedy faces a bleak world, but for one terrible week, she gave the whole human family a picture of dignity, a profile of courage, a model of prayer. What she had done to guide us in this awful week is as important to mankind as what President Kennedy tried to achieve in his brief lifetime.

Paul J. Hallinan

Archbishop Of Atlanta