CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL MONTHLY VOL. XXXI Melallchthon as Educator and Humanist CARL S. MEYER Melanchthon the Confessor ARTHUR CARL PIEPKORN The International StudentTest of a Living Church WILLIAM J. DANKER Brief Studies Homiletics Theological Observer Book Review September 1960 ARCHIVES No.9 ~ ~ H E O L O G I C A L OBSERVER THE BEGINNINGS OF THE RilFORMATION IN FRANCE Under this heading, Les Origines de la R8/orme Franyaise, the French periodical Positions Lutheriennes (January 1960) offers a brief overview of the founding and also oppression of the Lutheran Church in France. On April 15, 1521, the same time when Luther confessed the Gospel at Worms, the Sorbonne at Paris condemned Luther's writings to be burned and their readers to be severely punished. Earlier, on Nov. 1, 1520, a Swiss srudent at Paris wrote home that I,llthf'r'. writings were h()lle-ht with great eagerness. Soon there was organized in Paris a zealous group of Lutherans who, to escape persecution, later fled to Meaux:, wh - ~ c the-y (oncil1cted Lllt:bet'an s e r v i c e s ~ On CeCIo 7, 154o, the LutLcran pastor and 13 of his prominent members were burned alive while the rest of the congregation fled to save their lives. That was the end of the Lutheran Church in France with the exception of the Lutheran worship that was conducted by the Scandinavian ambassadors in their chapel at Paris. Since 1742 the pastors of their chapel were Frenchmen, for also some French Lutherans attended these services. This siruation of the Lutheran Church in France continued until Nov. 19, 1809, when Napoleon I permitted the Lutherans to worship in their own church. The first Lutheran worship occurred on Sunday, Nov. 26, 1 S()9, when the French Lutherans held their first sanctioned service in the Eglise des Billettes. Thus last year the Lutheran Church in France out the poverty of France as a punishment for despising God and His Word. According to Napoleon, Francis I was "one of the great pygmy persons." JOHN THEODORE MUELLER FIGURA PROTHYSTERON AND THE EXEGETICAL BASIS OF THE LORD'S SUPPER DURING THE REFORMATION The Lutheran Quarterly (May 1900), under this title, discusses one of the major identifying characteristics of Carlstadt's theology, namely, his exegesis of the words of institution. According to Carlstadt, a new SenkilC(; begins with d".: huc or touto and ends 1'lith datur. Thus :::::.uist pointed La Himself whe1'. '-'0 "'lid, "This is lvfy body, which will be ed to you OD. the cross." Separate from the sentence folk ., c liturgical act, the institution of the memorial supper to commemorate the events of Calvary. As the writer shows, it was Erasmus who became indirectly responsible for the exegetical portion of Carlstadt's theology of the Holy Supper. He writes: "Melanchthon was not too wrong when he blamed Erasmus for originating the struggle between Luther and Zwingli." The great humanist provided Carlstadt with the necessary exegetical material for his symbolism. Erasmus, however, never denied the real presence of Christ in the Lord's Supper, which Carlstadt negated. For him the Lord's Supper was a lJ7)'stel'Y which could not be explained. Christ was always mysteriously present in the Eucharist. But his conception of "spirit and flesh" ac· could celebrate its 150th anniversary as a free complished a devaluation of all external church in France. The writer concludes his things with a resultant spiritualization. Here interesting article with two quotations: one he agreed with Augustine, and both share made by Napoleoil when he was a prisoner the same c tradition 1e w r ~ t e r at St. Helena, in which he severely criticizes closes his interesting investigation with two Francis I for suppressing the Reformation, striking questions: "Did the study of Augus-and one by Luther, who in 1542 pointed tine cause Carlstadt's spiritualism, which 566 OBSERVER 567 was only supported by Erasmus and which through Tauler's influence developed into Schwaermerei? Or was Augustine only a catalyst, accelerating Carlstadt's affirmation of an Erasmuslike spiritualistic tendency, which in later years became an all-consuming passion?" Erasmus referred the words "This is My body" to the already consecrated bread, thus applying the figura prothysteron to the word of the bread. JOHN THEODORE MUELLER ISLAMIC RELIGIOUS EDUCATION FERMENTS Under this special heading, in its section "Report from Palestine," the Catholic Biblical Quarterly (July 1960) reports that a Franciscan Mid-East I v f i $ s ~ r \ l A ~ i r ' J l Tnstitute has been founded at Cairo-Muski to give specialized training in problems concerning the Oriental chi -'u<_ of the professors will jaduate of ij-Azhar mosque and another will be a priest of Oriental rite. Study of Arabic will be stressed, but also other languages spoken within the area of the Holy Land Custody. . . . Meanwhile Proche-Orient Chretien 10 (1960) 73 announces that tension between Christian educational institutions and exacting Muslim government officials has been exacerbated by the United Arab Republic Education Ministry's fervent dissemination of the book of an excommunicated Christian on Muhammad. The volume, maintaining that Christ is merely a prophet and the Trinity and Incarnation mere ecclesiastical inventions, was made an obligatory text for all Christians and Muslims in primary and secondary schools. After copies were burned publicly in violent demonstrations in Damascus, the requirement was withdrawn for Christians but remains in force for Muslims. -Another news item in this section states that Israel and Jewish communities in 56 countries will join Iran in the 1961 celebration of the 2500th anniversary of the founding of the Persian Empire by Cyrus the Great, 53 S B. C, whereby the Jews were permitted to return from their Babylonian Exile. }OHN THEODORE IV[UELLER REPRINT AND REVISION OF THE WEIMAR EDITION OF LUTHER'S WORKS In behalf of the Commission for the Publication of Martin Luther's Works (Kommission zur Herausgabe der Werke Martin Luthers), which continues to labor toward completion of the Weimar edition, the centers of research listed below have begun work preparatory to revision of those volumes out of print or somewhat out of date. Each year two or three parts are to be reprinted photomechanically without alteration, beginning with th05 .... v v ~ l i c h fe-quiEe least amendment. The results of the research will be made available to crv!ners of the first printing and to purchase. _______ --r-------orr ;ndixes asterisks in the margins of the reproductions to signal passages at which the appendix is to be compared, and as supplementary fascicles of the still unpublished Band 55. The supplements are to include emendations and additions to the historical introductions, text, and bibliographies; further definition of terms and philological findings; and more thorough citation of quotations and allusions. All who are able to furnish addenda or call attention to errata and corrigenda are kindly requested to forward the information to one or the other of the offices named below. Offprints or reprints of published essays pertinent to the editorial work will also be greatly appreciated. Like the fathers who planned and labored for decades to build the monumental Weimar edition of Blessed Dr. Martin Luther's works, so the present commission will be most grateful for all assistance which may be offered for the furtherance of the work, that the definitive edition of his writings may be brought abreast of current scholarship :l become available in its entirety. 568 OBSERVER Arbeitsstelle Weimarer Lutherausgabe in Got-tingen Dr. Hans Volz Bovenden iiber Gottingen Fe1dtorweg 2 Arbeitsstelle Weimarer Lutherausgabe in Berlin Prof. Dr. Johannes Erben Deutsche Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin Institut fiir Deutsche Sprache und Literatur Berlin W 8 Otto-Nuschke-Strasze 22/23 For a detailed account of progress on the text and indexes in the first printing of D. Martin Luthers Werke: Kritische Gesamtausgabe (Weimar: Hermann Bohlau Verlag and Herman Boblaus Nachfolger, 1883 ff.) and for an outline of the plans for reprint see, e. g., Prof. Dr. Hanns Ruckert's report "Die Weimarer Lutherausgabe: Stand, Aufgaben und Probleme," Lutherforschttng heute: Referate und Berichte des 1. Internationale-n Lutherfot'schungsk01lgreSSej', Aarhus, 18.-23. August 1956, ed. Vilmos Vajta (Berlin: Lutherisches Verlagshaus, 1958), pp.111-120. Die tJbersetzung des Prophetenteils des Alten Testaments (Die Propheten Jesaja bis Hesekiel), Die Deutsche Bibel, 11' (1960), has appeared since the publication of Prof. Dr. Ruckert's essay. Librarians and private individuals interested in subscription may request Prospectus No. 147 from Verlag Hermann Bohlaus NachfolgeriWeimar, Weimar/Thur., Meyerstrasze 50a, Postfach 48, Deutsche Demokratische Republik. WILLIAM ARTHUR OLSEN BRIEF ITEMS FROM THE NATIONAL LUTHERAN COUNCIL Chicago. -Dr. Paul C. Empie, 51, executive director of the National Lutheran Council, suffered a heart seizure here on July 8. Physicians who diagnosed the attack as a coronary thrombosis described the church leader's condition as "serious," but said he was "resting comfortably." They indicated that he will require a long period of care and convalescence before resuming normal activity. Dr. Empie was stricken as he participated with the NLCs executive committee and representatives of The Lutheran ChurchMissouri Synod in a three-day meeting to explore the theological basis of inter-Lutheran co-operative relations. The NLCs executive committee named the Rev. J. Robert Busche, assistant to Dr. Empie, as acting executive director of the council until Dr. Empie's health permits return to his post. Dr. Empie has been associated with the National Lutheran Council since 1944, the first four years as assistant director and the past 12 years as executive director. During his service with the NLC, he has earned a worldwide reputation as an outstanding church leader. N ofthfield, Minn. -An auxiliary of more than 700,000 members was formally organized here as The American Lutheran Church Women. The ALCW will replace four existing women's auxiliaries of the three church bodies which united last April to form The American Lutheran Church of 2,258,000 members. Participating in the merger were the Evangelical, American, and United Evangelical Lutheran churches. The constituting convention of the ALCW, held on the campus of St. Olaf College here, July 9-10, was attended by 500 delegates from throughout the country. A constitution adopted by the assembly will act as an "umbrella" under which the existing women's groups in The ALCs 5,000 congregationssuch as altar guilds, ladies' aIds, mIssIOnary or charitable organizations -will be integrated in the ALCW. "All women of the congregation will be considered members of the ALCW," said Miss Dorothy Haas, executive director of the auxiliary. "They will do auxiliary work for OBSERVER 569 the congregations through circles .---small groups, usually with special interests." (The pattern is similar to that adopted in recent years for women's work in the United Lutheran Church in America and the Au-gustana Lutheran Church.) Dr. Haas moved to Minneapolis recently from Columbus, Ohio, where she served as full-time president of the ALC's Women's Missionary Federation. A ceremony symbolizing the merger of the women's groups marked the opening of the two-day convention when Dr. Haas joined hands with Mrs. Peter Fossum of Northfield, president of the Women's Missionary Federation of the ELC; Arlette Pederson, formerly of Sour] cd now of New York City, president of the l.uthe··--')augh-churches and p :royed, according to word received here by the National Lutheran Council's Department of Lutheran Co-operation in Latin America. Losses suffered by the Lutheran Church when the tremors struck southern Chile late in May were reported by Dr. Friedrich Karle, its president, in an urgent appeal for food, clothing, blankets, medicine, and funds to help the victims of one of the worst disasters in the nation's history. Lutheran Wodd Relief rushed 64,000 pounds of clothing and a gift of $1,500 to the stricken area. Further aid will be sent as soon as needs are ascertained by the Rev. Theodore A. Tschuy, representative of LWR and Church ~ l C h ; L ~ The series I " . by 21 ters of the Reformation of the ELC; and and lasted a We ... ,.,. 1e£( ~ i l o r e t] an ),000 petMargaret Millel lis.,. :sident sons dead or million of ;:hL ~ 7 0 i l l C i l ' S iVllssiunary 3u(;ic1:Y of tbe DELe. The meeting was convened by Dr. O. G. Malmin of Minneapolis, editor of the ELC's Lutheran Herald, and vice chairman of the Joint Union Committee, which negotiated the three-way church merger. Dr. Fredrik A. Schiotz of Minneapolis, newly elected president of The ALC, who was also president of the ELC, installed the first officers of the women's auxiliary at a worship service Sunday morning, July 10. Heading the ALCW as president is Mrs. Peter Fossum of Northfield, Minn., who also is president of the Women's Missionary Federation of the ELC. Other officers elected are: Mrs. Theodore Stellhorn of Sandusky, Ohio, first vice-president; Miss Margaret Mil· ler of Waupaca, Wis., second vice-president; and Miss Viola Bohn of Bismarck, N. Dak., secretary. All are officers of the present women's auxiliaries of the uniting churches. New York.-Ncarly nine tenths of the 25,000-member Evangelical Lutheran Church in Chile is located in the area devastated by earthquake and tidal wave and several hOfllelcss, add aamage esnmared In tnt hUildreds of millions of dollars. Whole villages were swept away by tidal waves as high as 24 feet. Dr. Karle, making an official visit to Concepcion over the weekend of May 21 to 22, personally experienced the first earthquake but was unharmed. Due to smrdy construction of houses damage was comparatively slight in that city. Dr. Karle informed Dr. Ste,'art W. Herman, executive secretary of the NLCs Division of Lutheran World Federation Affairs and head of the L WF s Committee on Latin America, that the Rev. Helmut Schuenemann had been assigned to visit congregations in the southern provinces of Chile to obtain a firsthand report on the simation. Dr. Herman stressed here that it must be ascertained whether additional material relief can usefully be provided by the churches, in view of the vast amount of aid being provided by various governments. Then he said, "Attention must be turned as soon as possible to assisti- ~ . , :hilean Lutheran Church in rehabilitation of normal 570 OBSERVER parish life and reconstruction of destroyed or damaged church buildings." Dr. Herman reported that the L WF's Committee on Latin America plans to make the facts of the situation in Chile known in the hope that member church bodies of the federation will respond with special gifts for this purpose. Three years ago the L WF committee established a revolving loan fund to assist the Lutheran Church in Chile to erect churches and parsonages, and it is expected that this fund will now be used in this emergency. Oslo. -A plan for development of £ulltime lay parish vocations for women theological graduates has been approved by the Council of Bishops of the (Lutheran) Church of Norway. Under the plan women would be employed in a wide range of modern congregational activities not requiring the services of ordained ministers, such as visitation, Sunday school and youth work, and conduct of Bible study groups. An organization known as the Christian Enterprise for Unfulfilled Tasks (Kristen innsats for ul6ste oppgaver) has granted 27,000 crowns ($3,780) to underwrite the establishment of the new positions. The fortnightly church paper Luthers.k Kirketidende said that if the plan succeeded, Norway would be saved from the controversial agitation which the neighboring Church of Sweden is experiencing as a result of the decision to admit women theological graduates to the ordained ministry. Women have been legally eligible for ordination in this country for a number of years, but since they have not had employment offers from parishes or recognized church organizations, they have not been able to apply for admission to the ministry. In Finland, meanwhile, the Christian newspaper Kotimaa, commenting on the dissension among Swedish Lutherans over the issue of women pastors, said that "the question is too precious to be made the cause for disunion and bitterness." The paper added: "The Finnish nation has accepted as something natural that women, too, should act as servants of God's Word in congregations, as teachers and preachers. Hardly anybody would want this successful and blessed service to be discontinued. The only question is in what ways and how far this service should be developed in order best to serve the GospeL Opinions vary on this, but all are agreed on one thing: the Gospel message and the Christian life should go forward in a Christian spirit." Although women are still legally barred from the Finnish Lutheran ministry, many of them who are theologically trained are employed in church work not involving administration of the sacraments. The Swedish Crown Lands Judiciary Board recently turned down a proposai from that country's Lutheran church assembly of 1957 for the establishment in the church of a new lay service especially intended for women. The Swedish church assembly of 1958 had suggested that 100,000 Swedish crowns ( $19,200) should be made available from the Central Church Fund to train women for such service. Berlin. -The tenth German Evangelical Kirchentag will be held on July 19-23, 1961, in this city, it was announced in an official call issued here by the presidium of the Kirchentag organization. The proclamation was published following a Berlin meeting at which the presidium decided to advance the dates, which had previously been set at Aug. 2-6. In the call, stress was given to the choice of location. Berlin, because of its unique political situation, is the most frequent meeting place of East and West Germans, for all of whom the Kirchentag is a major Evangelical event. In 1951 the city was host to such a mass laymen's congress -then an annual occur-OBSERVER 571 rence but now held every second year. In selecting Berlin again for the 1961 gathering, the presidium accepted one of three invitations that had been extended at the closing rally of the ninth congress in August 1959 at Munich, Chicago. -Nearly 2,100 new congregations were organized by Lutheran church bodies in America during the decade 1950 through 1959, the Division of American Missions of the National Lutheran Council reported here on the basis of data supplied by the various home mission boards. The eight bodies participating in the NLC, according to the survey, established 1,202 new missions, including 1)01 in 48 states and eight in r,;.la§ka and Hawall, recently granted statehood; 88 in Canada. four in lished at least c- ~ but six states in province in Can Hawaii. The American new congregation in all o United States, in every and io Puerto Rico and Lutheran Church ranked second in number of congregations "Vvith 215, the Evangelical Lutheran Church organized 205, Augustana Lutheran Church 152, Lutheran Free Church 18, United Evangelical Lutheran Church 9, American Evangelical Lutheran Church 6, and Suomi Synod 4. The su£vey revealed that California received by far the greatest mission attention, with 140 congregations organized there in the past 10 years. Minnesota ranked second with 68, and 50 or more missions were begun in six 0 :ly, Florida, Michigan, Ohi'), PeEflsylvania, Texas, and Puerto Rico, ane another 952 "m . -:ition, Washington. Jened Vermont wa ;ch no 1\1ost of these were new congregations, but also included college mission stations, institutional chaplaincy programs, some "preaching stations," and ":fields entered but not organized." More than two thirds of the new congregations in the United States, the report disclosed, were organized in metropolitan areas. However, it added, the closing of churches balanced the opening of new churches in all the bodies, especially those serving in rural areas, and those associated with the NLC showed a net increase of only 452 congregations during the decade. The new missions established over the decade represent slightly more than 10 per cent of the congregations currently reported as member congregations of the NLC bodies. Thus one out of every ten of their c o n ~ gregations is less than ten years old. The United Lutheran Church in Ar£lerica organized 593 new congregations, or nearly half the total reported, and had the widest geographical coverage. The ULC}' estab-bodies, and only one new congregation was organized in each of three states -Maine, Mississippi, and Rhode Island. The Missouri Synod also concentrated its missions activity in California, opening exactly the same number of missions there, 140, as the NLC bodies. Other active mission states for both groups wer,:: Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Kansas, and Texas. The report showed an overwhelming NLC emphasis in Minnesota, Pennsylvania, North Dakota, South Carolina, and Virginia, while the Missouri Synod undertook twice as much mission work as NLC bodies in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Nevada, Utah, and \'·lyoming. The Synod's one mission in Vermont meant at least one new Lutheran mission in every state during the decade. Rock Island, Ill. -The Augustana Lutheran Church gave overwhelming approval here to plans for merger with three other church bodies into a new denomination of more than three million members to be known as the LUthers.n Church in .i':lmerica. 572 OBSERVER In a VOlCe vote marked by an affirmative roar and a negative whisper nearly 2,000 delegates to Augustana's lOist annual synod approved a resolution to unite with the American Evangelical Lutheran Church, the Suomi Synod or Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, and the United Lutheran Church in America. Endorsement of the resolution on merger carried with it approval of a constitution and bylaws of the proposed new church for adoption at its constituting convention, the target date of which has been tentatively set for June 1962. Other union documents approved by the delegates included articles of incorporation of the new church and suggested constitutions for its 30 territorial synods and its over 6,000 congregations. The Augustana Church was the first of the four bodies to act upon the merger, negotiations for which were begun in December 1956. Its 13 geographical conferences must concur in the favorable decision at their conventions next spring, and a final vote on merger must be taken at next year's synod in Seattle, Wash. Somewhat similar procedures will be followed by the other three bodies involved. Winnipeg. -Canadian congregations of The Lutheran Church -Missouri Synod reaffirmed their intention here to become a self-governing church in Canada by 1962. Meeting May 26 and 27, the 30 delegates to the Lutheran Church -Canada resolved "to continue plans to organize administratively as a Canadian Church (in the status of a sister church of The Lutheran ChurchMissouri Synod)." For two days, May 24 and 25, a large group of 60, including President John W. Behnken and six other executives from the Missouri Synod, explored the many problems of autonomy. Far from hanging on to the 80,000 baptized Canadians, who remit annually nearly $300,000 to the Synod, Dr. Behnken was "practically pushing us out of the boat," as one spokesman put it. Dr. Behnken likened the Lutheran Church -Canada to a daughter getting married. "She is going out on her own, but she still wants her parents' blessing," he said. "These folks in Canada feel that we (the American body) are foreigners, and they naturally want to establish their own administrative household." This conference was held to discuss "how and when" the ultimate separation of the two churches will be carded out, he said. A self-governing Canadian Church could not hope to be self-supporting if the present rate of expansion is to continue, a committee had reported. Both Dr. Behnken and Pastor C. T. Spitz, the Synod's Mission Board chairman, supported the view that independence should not wait until the Canadian Church could support itself. The most important consideration should be what is best for the kingdom of God in Canada. Accordingly, the Lutheran Church -Canada resolved "to request The Lutheran Church -Missouri Synod for such aid as may be required, in higher education, foreign missions, etc." According to other resolutions, approval of the Canadian Districts and of the Synod will be sought at their 1961 and 1962 conventions respectively. For the next year, 1961, the LC-C adopted a budget of $12,500, twice that of 1960. Dr. Albert Schwermann, president of the church sillc," its founding two years ago, will devote full time to the post during his sabbatical leave, beginning Aug. 1, 1961. For many years Dr. Schwermann has been a teacher at Concordia College, Edmonton. A special committee will formulate plans for training pastors in Canada after autonomy. At present pastors of the Le -C receive their training in the U. S. A. Consideration will no doubt be given, said the Rev. Arne Kristo of Port Credit, Ont., to the OBSERVER 573 invitation received a year ago to participate with the six other Lutheran bodies in Luther Seminary, Saskatoon, Sask. Mr. Kristo is public relations chairman for the LC -C. The LC -C contains about one third of Canada's 250,000 baptized Lutheran church members. The other two thirds are mainly in the six bodies participating in the Canadian Lutheran Council. About 1 per cent are affiliated with neither. Three CLC bodies (the American, Evangelical, and United Evangelical Lutheran churches) merged recently to form The American Lutheran Church. Two others (the Augustana and United Lutheran churches) are planning to merge in 1962 to form the Lutheran Church in America. Merger into one Lutheran Church in Canada has been discussed at meetings held annually for six years, by representatives of all Canauian Lutherans. Similar meetings, designed to show doctrinal agreement, are planned for Sept. 6 and 7 in Winnipeg. BRIEF ITEMS FROM RELIGIOUS NEWS SERVICE Rome. -An agency of the Federal Council of the Evangelical Churches in Italy said here that the recent assertion by Osservatore Romano, Vatican City newspaper, that the Roman Catholic hierarchy has "the duty and right" to guide Roman Catholics in the political field would "produce enslavement of civil life to the will of ecclesiastical society." "Such demands," declared the Council's COIllInission on Intt:tilational Affairs, Hac· tually deny to the state its fundamental function of a common home for all citizens having equal rights and dignity according to the principles of modern democracies." Furthermore, the declaration said, the church would deny to Roman Catholics holding public offices "the right of political representation on behalf of their own fellow citizens independent! y from their political opinions and their religious faith." "Italian Evangelicals, according to the Gospel as taught by their churches, conceive civil, social and political life in terms of freedom and responsibility toward God's word," the agency continued. "They believe the Church was not created to exert its dominion on individuals and nations by taking as a pretext the sources of its spiritual mandate in order to dominate over temporal affairs." The front-page article in Osservatore Romano declared that "it is absurd to split the conscience into one part which is that of the believer and one which is that of the citizen, as if the Catholic religion were just one part of the life of the spirit and not a central idea which orients a man's whole existence." The commission said the implications in the article would "deform the Christian conscience of nations and inevitably provoke spiritual perturbances on anticlerical attitudes of revolt against the Church." "History has repeatedly demonstrated," the Italian Protestant group said, "that these reactions often lead to political upheavals which can submerge Christian faith and pave the way toward materialism and atheism." The Osservatore editorial, which was not signed, was published in a special make-up usually reserved for semiofficial statements from the Holy See. This was to distinguish the article from the newspaper's own editorial opinions. Authoritative sources said the article was aimed at the political situation in Italy and against Roman Catholics who lean to"W"'ard pro-Communism. Rome. -Osservatore Romano, Vatican City newspaper, said in an editorial that its recent article on the jurisdiction of the church over Catholics in public office did not "hinder or contradict the autonomy of political action," as long as it was undertaken in keeping with the Church's teaching and with the "refusal to allow any split in conscience between the believer and the citizen." Asserting that the earlier article had 574 OBSERVER. created confusion as well as unwarranted sensation," OsservatOfe said church pronouncements on political matters, such as the ban on collaboration with Communists, did not "offend any of the prerogatives of the State." "The Church's teaching is directed towards the free conscience of the citizen," the editorial continued, "so that with well-inspired will power he can make a choice which is not contradictory to faith." "Such a personal choice is taken with full respect to the constitutional and juridical institutions of the state which itself guarantees and safeguards that liberty." Referring to the article's specific injunction that Roman (,atholics ~ ' l s t not collaborate with "atheistic and anti-Christian Marxisr rial said the Church's judgme ty circumstances" could oot be fPpL8Ced by those of individual P>.-oman Catholics. The editorial was written by Osservatore Romano's new editor, Raimondo Manzini, and had less of an official character than the newspaper's first article on the same subject. Miami Beach, Fla. -Southern Baptist convention delegates adopted by overwhelming voice vote a resolution expressing strong fears over the election of any Roman Catholic Presidential candidate. No negative vote was heard. v/hile the resolution did not mention Sen. Kennedy or the Roman Catholic Church, it was intended to warn Baptist voters against any Catholic candidate and Sen. Kennedy in particular, said the Rev. vi endell G. Davis of Charlotte, N. c., who introduced it. In the resolution, whose wording was debated 42 minutes, delegates reaffirmed "our conviction that a man must be free to choose his own Church and thn his personal religious faith shall not be a test of his qualification for public office. Yet, when a public official is inescapably bound by the dogma and demands of his Church, he cannot consistently separate hiIl1Self from these." "This is especially true," the resolution said, "when that Church maintains a position in open conflict with our established and constituted American pattern of life as specifically related to religious liberty, separation of Church and State, the freedom of conscience in matters related to marriage and the family, the perpetuation of free public schools, and the prohibition against use of public moneys for sectarian purposes. Therefore, the implications of a candidate's affiliations, including his Church, are of concern to the voter in every election. In all cases, a public official should be free from sectarian pressures that he may make independent decisions consistent with the rights and priv-ileges of ," ,S Eight E _ lte cr had taken official stan! ions previously Linst a Roman Catholic Presidential candidacy. In another action the convention went on record as "commending the program of the national Protestants and Other Americans United for Separation of Church and State and its local chapters throughout the nation which supplement in the field of legal action our own Committee on Public Affairs." Delegates also adopted a resolution opposing pending federal legislation which would provide aid to schools of nursing, including sectarian institutions. The legislation was termed "contrary to Baptist principles" and "a possible threat to our Baptist schools of nursing." Grand Forks, N. Dak. -Ground for a new Lutheran college at Kenosha, Wis., will be broken Sept. 24, it was announced at the annual convention of the Northwest Synod of the United Lutheran Church in America here. Dr. f :arold Lentz, president of Carthage (IlL), College, said $ 3 million had been raised for the new college, which will be associated with Carthage. A 6S-acre site on OBSERVER 575 the shore of Lake Michigan was donated by the city of Kenosha, which also is raising $750,000 toward the school, he reported. Albany, N. Y. -Simpler church funerals were urged by the Capital District Lutheran Pastors Association to counter "increasing secularization" of funeral practices. In a statement sent to 60 Lutheran churches in the area, the association said: "Increasingly there is no consistency in our funeral practices. The control of the funeral has been more and more !c,assing out of the hands of the church. There has been increasing secularization of funerals and, as a result, an unchristian understanding of death." Tbe pastors sc1jd the coffin should be closed during tbe service, elaborate floral displays and "unnecessary financiai outlays" should be Church, the United Lutheran Church, and The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. New York. -A period of intensive growth for the Roman Catbolic Church in Nigeria in view of that country's forthcoming independence was seen by an expert on international relations who returned recently from a visit to the West African nation. Dr. Thomas Patrick Melady, president of Consultants for Overseas Relations, Inc., said tbat the church is boosting efforts to bring Chr.-istia.nity to the nlillions of Nigerians \vho still are not members of any formal religious group. The Catholic Church in Nigeria has a membership of some 1,250,000 out of a total population of more than 35 million people, Dr. Melady said. This compares 'C';,ith 8 total Protestant population of 275,000 in the pre-avo__ ___ _ __ ~ only c h u r c ~ : , - a n t h o r ; z e d music .J.Dminantly Moslem Territory. shou..LU u ..... l : - ' J ! . o . y e d ~ 'W'henevei possible, the paSWrs said, funerals should be held in church. "It is not necessary for the family to sit with the body or to receive visitors at the undertakers' parlors," the statement said. The ministers added: "Christians do not show any disrespect for the departed by keeping funeral expenses at a minimum. Unnecessary financial outlays are unbecoming to Christian humility and charity. "Any emphasis on display of the bodily remains should be discouraged, The Christian funeral service emphasizes God's comforting word of hope and resurrection, not the physical remains. "The Order for Burial shall in no case be interrupted by the exercises of secular organizations. "The casket should be covered with a pall. In this way, no occasion is given for distinguishing between a costly casket and an inexpensive one." The statement was prepared by a committee representing the American Lutheran Cle'lleiand) Ohio. '0-"'_ i -tes to the nual General Assembly of the United Presbyterian Church in the U. S. A. approved a report which called on the denomination to give "top priority" to metropolitan areas as "great mission fields." Pointing out that "much of what the Church is today" was given by urban centers, it said that it is "particularly important" for younger suburban churches to "turn their efforts toward the inner city." The report deplored the "meager" financial support given to inner city work and challenged the denomination to "meet this obligarion." Among its recommendations was one that "premium salaries" be paid to those who serve in the inner city, in view of the "more obvious sacrifices" demanded of them. Delegates also asked for "immediate consideration" of ways and means of providing funds and that, in the event of a capital funds drive by the denomination, the need for the inner city be included. In hopes of additional funds for "expansion" of inner city mlll1stries, the assembly asked that the "urgent needs" of the inner 576 OBSERVER city be "kept before the denomination," to provide the inner city ministries with their share of the denominational increase. Also synods and presbyteries were urged to "constantly re-evaluate" their programs toward the end of "freeing funds" for inner city work. In conclusion the report recommended that unless "substantially greater funds" are made available for its work, the inner city "no longer" can be presented as a "major part of our mission." Albany, N. Y. -School district budget votes are not affected by the number of children in the district attending private and parochial schools, a State Education Department study indicated. The department analyzed the 34 districts that defeated their budgets last year. It compared them to 34 matching districts nearby with no defeats on bond issues or budgets for three years. One purpose of the comparison was to determine whether budgets were more likely to lose in districts with a high percentage of nonpublic school pupils. The department's report indicated this had no bearing on budget votes, since the two sets of districts were practically the same in that respect. New Yark. -Roman Catholic churches, schools, seminaries, and clinics in the southern part of Chile have suffered destruction or damages to the extent of "tens of millions of dollars" as a result of earthquakes and tidal waves, it was reported to Catholic Relief Services-National Catholic Welfare Conference here. The preliminary report was made by Nathaniel Hicks, CRS director in Chile, who left his headquarters in Santiago to visit the 1,000-mile stretch of the affected Chilean coastline to survey the disaster. He said cathedrals and churches in the major southern cities were damaged beyond repair and must be demolished and rebuilt. These include cathedrals in the cities of Puerto Montt, Valdivia, Ancud, and Duran. The cathedral in Santiago, however, escaped severe damage, as did the Jesuit college in Taka, which served as an emergency first-aid station and temporary home for many Chileans. Vienna. -Vienna's famous Karlsplatz Lutheran High School, completely demolished during a bombing raid on April 9, 1945, will reopen its doors in September. Pastor George Traar, Lutheran superintendent of schools in Vienna, said that international and interreligious co-operation helped in the rebuilding project. He said young Americans were among many groups who volunteered their services as carpenters' helpers, masons, and cabinet workers. Pastor Traar said many overseas subscribers contributed to the eight million schilling ($320,000) building fund. However, he said, an additional 1,800,000 schillings ($72,000) is needed to completely equip the school. The school was first built in 1862. Classes were held uninterruptedly for nearly threequarters of a century until 1938, when the Nazis confiscated the building.