November 19, 2010

What was in the news on Nov. 18, 1960?

By Brandon A. Evans

50 Year LogoThis week, we continue to examine what was going on in the Church and the world 50 years ago as seen through the pages of The Criterion.

Here are some of the items found in the Nov. 18, 1960, issue of The Criterion:

  • New Vatican Council phase is opened by Pope John
    • “VATICAN CITY—His Holiness Pope John XXIII, in an official preface to the Second Vatican Council, received some 500 members of the council’s preparatory commissions. The [Nov. 14] assembly represented the core of the Church’s authority and learning, gathered in the presence of the Supreme Pontiff to hear his instructions before beginning the immediate preparation of the coming ecumenical council. … He specified that the goal of the coming council will be less to combat heresy then to re-establish ‘in value and splendor the substance of human and Christian thought and life’ against a growing materialism.”
  • Ceylon to take control of all private schools
  • Church unity exemplified in historic Vatican rite
    • “VATICAN CITY—The Church of East and West met in common worship when His Holiness Pope John XXIII presided at a celebration of the Byzantine Rite Liturgy [Mass] in St. Peter’s Basilica. It was believed to be the first time that a pope has used the Old Slavonic language in a liturgical ceremony in more than a thousand years. The last recorded instance was by Pope Adrian II in 867. … He then said: ‘Today’s rite marks the beginning of the preparatory—and more substantial—phase of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council.’ ”
  • Hecklers try to stop reading of pastoral
  • Latin America: Reds could win, Catholics are warned
  • Marian College graduate is city’s Peruvian consul
  • Serious chaplain shortage seen in armed services
  • Laity expect too much of parish, priest declares
  • Reader disputes paper’s editorial stance
    • From a letter to the editor: “I fail to comprehend The Criterion’s criticism against the Cardinal Mindszenty Foundation for representing itself as a Catholic group while fighting communism on what The Criterion regards as political issues. The Criterion is the representative Catholic newspaper in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, and yet it has expressed itself openly and decisively in opposing the right-to-work law, favoring the repeal of the Connally Reservation, opposing taking the loyalty oath and criticizing the manner in which Fidel Castro was treated while he was in the United States. … While you may not consider your viewpoints in your editorials as representing the Catholic viewpoint, many people regard them as such.”
  • Family Clinic: Are Catholics permitted to regulate family size?
  • Vatican editor says election boosted ‘esteem’ for U.S.
  • Turkey shoots, socials on Indianapolis agenda
  • Bible does not support segregation, prelate says

(Read all of these stories from our Nov. 18, 1960, issue by logging on to our special archives.) †

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