Ecumenically Speaking
Diocesan Press Service. March 11, 1963 [VIII-15]
The Roman Catholic Dominican Sisters of Bethany and the Episcopal Sisters of the Society of St. Margaret enjoyed a pre-Lenten social at the Brighton, Massachusetts, residence of Richard Cardinal Cushing, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Boston. A bond of friendship was formed between the nuns because members of both groups share the same work of visiting women prisoners confined in Massachusetts penal institutions. Cardinal Cushing extended the invitation to continue "the good relationship between these Sisters, which represents a unique phase of the ecumenical spirit." (RNS)
At the invitation of Harvard University, Augustin Cardinal Bea, S. J., president of the Vatican's Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity, will take part in a Catholic-Protestant colloquium in March. The colloquium will include a reception-assembly at the Harvard Divinity School and four closed seminars on religious topics with Catholic and Protestant leaders at the various sessions.
Each Wednesday morning, Senate Prayer Breakfast group meets for prayer and Scripture meditation. Sen. John C. Stennis, Democrat of Mississippi is newly elected chairman of the group. The House of Representatives and Congressional wives also have similar groups.
The Rt. Rev. Noble C. Powell, Bishop of Maryland, was host recently to Archbishop Shehan of Baltimore at a meeting of Episcopal clergy. The Roman Catholic prelate cited the unusual meeting as an example of "a marked change" in relations between the Churches since the beginning of the Second Vatican Council. During a spirited question and answer period, Archbishop Shehan predicted greater authority for Roman Catholic bishops as a result of the Council, as well as a greater role for the laity, and use of the vernacular in most parts of the Mass.