September 14, 2012

What was in the news on Sept. 14, 1962?

Pope John says the council will probe social issues and a bishop is concerned about sterlizations at a hospital

Criterion logo from the 1960sBy Brandon A. Evans

This 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 Sept. 14, 1962, issue of The Criterion:

  • Pope John outlines rules to govern coming council
  • Says council will probe social issues
    • “VATICAN CITY—His Holiness Pope John XXIII has appealed for worldwide recitation of a Mass prayer for the coming ecumenical council and indicated the assembly will dig deeply into social questions. … Pope John said preparations for the council indicate that Rome will be the center of a new era in the history of the world. He said the council’s attraction to those interested in reunion with the Church causes him ‘serene joy.’ … The council, he indicated, will explain the fundamental equality of all peoples ‘in the exercise of rights and duties within the entire family of nations.’ It will also make a ‘strenuous defense’ of the sacred character of matrimony, he said.”
  • Unique apostolate: Catholic laymen operate a home for alcoholics
  • Virginia sterilization practice draws condemnation of bishops
    • “RICHMOND, Va.—The Bishop of Richmond said here sterilizations performed at a Virginia hospital are a ‘terrible evil’ deserving of ‘utter protests and condemnation.’ … Hospital officials [at Fauquier Hospital in Warrenton, Va.] disclosed that 63 mothers … had been sterilized since January 1960. They were among 201 patients unable to pay medical bills who were treated in the hospital’s maternity clinic. The clinic, hospital doctors said, administers a ‘comprehensive contraceptive program.’ ”
  • Integration stand of Church lauded
  • Plan TV coverage of council opening
  • Evolutionary theories of Teilhard discussed
  • Don’t be like Pharisees, prelate warns Catholics
  • Science, religion ‘wall’ still exists, Jesuit says
  • Catholic farmers map world organization
  • Role of bishops religious exemption, lay apostolate are on council agenda
  • ‘Frisco’s cathedral is gutted by fire
  • ‘Trust’ called the key to youth development
  • Emphasize parent’s duty to give sex instruction
  • Skip bright pupils to higher grades
  • Convert work statistics called ‘very misleading’
  • Solution to prayer issue
  • ‘Peaceful’ integration in Atlanta is lauded
  • Sees chaotic condition without Church schools
  • Laity and priests differ on role of clergy
  • Indifference to unity hit
  • Strike-break charge made

(Read all of these stories from our Sept. 14, 1962, issue by logging on to our special archives.) †

Local site Links: