November 16, 2012

What was in the news on Nov. 16, 1962?

A date is set to begin next session of the Second Vatican Council, and Bishop Sheen sees world headed for a showdown

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 Nov. 16, 1962, issue of The Criterion:

  • Second session of council will not begin until May 12; name of St. Joseph put in Mass canon
    • “VATICAN CITY—The Second Vatican Council shifted into a higher gear at the beginning of its 14th general meeting, largely because of the green light given [to] council Fathers by Pope John to close debate with a vote. It took the council two weeks and a half to cover the first two chapters and the introduction of the project on the liturgy. But after the approval given for a cloture vote, they sped through the final six chapters of the project within a week. The current session of the council will conclude on December 8 after eight weeks of meetings. The council will then recess until four weeks after Easter. Its second session will begin on May 12 and last until June 29.
  • Catholic-Protestant joint hymnal proposed
  • Campaign for clothing set to open
  • Law deans hit prayer amendment
  • Urges ‘rocking chair seminars’
  • Asks ‘civic ecumenism’
  • Bayh raps direct church school aid
  • Holy See reiterates supports of UNESCO
  • Vatican Radio denounces baby-murder acquittals
  • Clergy and laymen: A new ‘mission’ to French workers
  • Bishop Sheen sees world headed for showdown
    • “ROME—The world is very remotely preparing for apocalyptic times or the final struggle between good and evil,” Auxiliary Bishop Fulton J. Sheen of New York said here. … The bishop said the day of heresies is over. ‘There will no longer be a splintering of Christian truth,’ he declared, but added, ‘We are living in a time when the world is beginning to divide into two societies.’ One of these societies, he said, is anti-God, anti-personal and anti-moral.”
  • International board of bishops suggested
  • Pope John pays a visit to teenaged delinquents
  • Reports on survey: Sociologist discounts
  • anti-clericalism in U.S.
  • Editor comments from Rome: Council observers reported impressed with freedom of debate
  • Vatican coffee shop is ‘oasis’
  • Vatican official: Tells why the Church will not close down nunciature in Cuba
  • 23 percent of U.S. is Catholic
  • Cites two-fold answer to population problem
  • Advocates paid lay help in operation of parish
  • Unique church service conducted by the laity
  • Council facilities cost $5 million
  • Prelate marks 100th birthday

(Read all of these stories from our Nov. 16, 1962, issue by logging on to our special archives.) †

Local site Links: