Inscape, Vol. XXXII, Issue 3

              Faculty, Students Meet,
Discuss 'Humanae Vitae’
By Joann Crnpi
For the second time in recent
weeks, the college community
grappled with the issue of birth
control and HUMANAE VITAE.
The setting was the same last
Thursday as the Committee on
Liturgy and Worship sponsored
its fir s t *discuss-in” intheCam-elot
Room. Any resemblance b e­tween
that dialogue and the one
sponsored by Student Senate in
September, however, ended right
there.
Beginning with chairman Rose­mary
O'Neill's description of the
«discuss-ln* as an attempt to get
faculty and students together *at
various times on various is sues ,”
the tone of the meeting was clear­ly
intellectual. Emotions were
low.
Father RcA)ert Willi, chairman
of t h e theology department,
attempted to define the actual
p r o b l em as something much
broader than the use of the pill.
Rather it is the re su lt of four
questions: the general meaning
of human sexuality as it fits into
the pr(A)lem of human relation­ships;
the function of the teaching
church as a whole—what does this
function m e a n ?—who a re the
teachers?; th e personal con­science—
what is it?—what does
it mean to form a conscience?—
what are the rights of consci­ence?;
and what about human
interference or control of other
aspects of reproduction—deter­mination
of sexuality, character
and intelligence.
In the practical a re a , Father
Willi maintained, *the major
problem concerns the conscience
versus the teaching church.* He
pointed out that according to a
survey conducted by Notre Dame
University in which a group of
p rie s ts were asked what they be­lieved
before and after the ency­clical
and what they told congre­gations
before and after, there
has been no great change of a tti­tude.
He also said that in general,
the lower the age, the harder it
is fbr people to accept the docu­ment.
A c c o r d i n g to Father Willi,
there is no doubt that God acts
within the institutional Church in
a special way. The Church, there­fore,
has a responsibility to make
God’s revelation known to every
age.
But who in the Church holds
the teaching authority? Histori­cally,
in the ancient Church, the
fathers—m e n like Augustine,
Ambrose, a n d Chrystom—held
this function. Not every single
question w a s re fe rred to the
Pope. In the Middle Ages, this
authority passed to the univer­s
itie s. Only with the coming of
the Council of Trent did the
papacy finally assume its present
role as teacher. People were
accustomed to this—they do not
put much weight on what their
bishops say. But today, where
does the educated l a i^ fit in?
Within the Church, there are
two trends of th o u ^ t concerning
a non-inlallible teaching. The
conservatives admit that a p a r­ticular
teaching might be wrong
but it is le ss likely to be wrong
than a re other views; it is the
responsibiUty of the Christian
to follow out in practice the teach­ing
of the church.
The progressives contend that
even though a papal teaching has
strength, there a re other voices,
clergy, educated laity, in the
church teaching. Fidelity to self
makes it difficult for intellectual
submission if one is honest with
himself.
The p a p a l teaching office is
significant but the conscience is
something very personal—it is
the inborn ability to "grasp truth
in the concrete decisions of life.”
One must search lor the truth
and then live it out.
Father Willi cited four sources
of truth for the conscience. The
f ir s t is personal experience, e s ­pecially
the oast, which ^ v e s
certain insight. The second is
personal understanding, depend­ent
on education, personality,
environment. Also important a re
the viewpoints held by others and
fin a l^ the teaching of the Church.
The rank of importance of these
factors varies from situation to
situation. The ideal is that all
converge. But what if they don't?
This, according to Father Willi,
"is the a re a we’re in now.”
Ito Father Willi, discussion of
the encyclical is a healthy, neces­sary
process. However, he urged
those p re s« it to re a ct intellec­tually
rather than emotionally.
The Pope, he said, is very sin­cere.
The encyclical respects
human sexuality and probes the
meaning of marriage.
•Can we,” Father Willi chal­lenged,
*live with the opposite.”
Can the laity live with the Iftct
that th e encyclical may be
wrong—o r that their judgments
a re incorrect?
The response of those present
to Father Willi's explanation was
limited. Father Lucas suggested
that perhaps tiie American a tti­tude
(within the hierarchy) in it­se
lf is different from other coun­tr
ie s . Father WilU pointed out
that the Dutch, German, and Bel­gian
bishops had reacted. The
United States has a long mis­sionary
tradition. Many Ameri­can
clergy have studied in Rome
and this, contends Father Willi,
re su lts in the inculcation of a
personal loyalty to the Pope.
Furthermore, American h ie ra r ­chy
has not been noted fbr its
scholarship. Bishops a re capable
administrators ra th e r than pro­fessional
s c h o l a r s . European
bishops a re drawn from the uni­versity
world and a re accustomed
to independent thinking.
Father Willi concluded by s ta t­ing
that the encyclical is not true
or false. Rather, it is a ques­tion
of how much truth it con­tains.
Seniors Dine, Dance At Ball Tonight,
Go To Top 0’ The World’ Tomorrow
In k e e p i n g with a recently
established tradition at St. Rose,
the second annual Senior Weekend
is being held October 18-19. The
c la ss of '69 will open the festivi­tie
s this evening a t Mario's Thea­t
r e Restaurant.
Attired in semi-formal wear,
senior women and their escorts
will be served dinner a t 6:45.
Following the dinner, which is
open only to seniors, a dance
will be held in Mario’s ballroom
a t 9. An invitation has been
extended to all classes. Those
who ordered favors will receive
champagne glasses at this time.
Saturday at 2 p.m. the Top O'
the World in Lake George pro­vides
the setting for the Senior
Outing. Facilities for horseback
riding, golf, tennis, touch foot­ball,
b a s ^ a l l and swimming will
be available. A pool table and
s im ila r game equipment will be
provided indoors. A buffet din­ner
will be served, followed by a
dance in the evening. The “Kelly
Avenue West” will supply the
entertainment.
It was hoped that the recording
group, “Spanky and Our Gang,”
could be engaged for a concert
to complete the weekend, but the
a r tis ts were unable to accept the
c o n tra c t
Committee chairmen for the
event a re : Donna Shannon and
Anne Gallo—General: B a r b a r a
WHO’s GOT THE ACTION?— It looks like Helen Penrose, Mary Jane
Wasserbach and Joan Mineau as they practice their baseball prowess
for tomorrow*s big game at the Senior Weekend Party.
Sullivan—Dinner; Sue Clark and
Marge Doran—Bids and Pro­grams;
Ka t hy Ryan—Favors;
Carol N a e r t s—Photography;
Mary Grogan—Band.
Sis te r Catharine Ryan, senior
cla ss moderator, and members
of the faculty have been invited
as chaperones.
Because the response of the
seniors has been poor. P resident
Shannon is making a proposal to
Senate that Junior and Senior
We e k e n d be abandoned and
replaced with a Fall and Spring
Weekend.
The Women’ Brings 'Sophisticted’ Drama to CSR
Frosh, Juniors Entertain Parents November 8-10
i l i i s year, Pa rents ’ Weekend
is again becoming a reality under
the leadership of co-chairmen
Barbara Sullivan and Diane Gard­ner.
The weekend, which will
be held November 8-10, is open
to the junior and freshman clas­s
e s , their parents and guests.
The weekend will open on F r i­day
with the drama group’s
production of “The Women.” Sat­urday’s
events include the ev er-popular
College Bowl, a lecture
by Mr. Hahn on his summer
travels and a quiz game between
fathers and daughters.
The President’s Reception will
be held late Saturday afternoon,
providing time for g irls and
their parents to meet and talk
with the administration and facul­ties.
The day’s activities will cul­minate
at the Golden Fox where
the traditional dinner-dance will
be held. Chairmen for the dinner
a re Gay Rindone and Gail Nizin-kirch.
Tickets for the dinner-dance
a re being sold at $6 each
and cover the cost for the dinner
of london broil.
The weekend's events will con­clude
Sunday with a mass followed
by a b reakfast in the dining hall.
Meetings for the chairmen
planning the weekend have been
held every Wednesday since the
beginning of this s em e s t e r .
Assisting general co-chairmen
Barb Sullivan and Diane Gardner
a re Anne Barry, Saturday events;
Kathy De Rosie, arrangements;
Kathleen Burns, P res ident's Re­ception;
E i l e e n Kennedy and
Kathy Sullivan, publicity; Mary
Connors and Deanna Holdin, Sun­day
breakfast; Diane Merz, pro­grams;
Ann Shaw and Sue Clark,
invitations; Na n c y Falkowski,
hostesses; Di a n e Myers and
Kathy Walsh, registration; Peggy
Hart, exhibits; and general sec-re
ta i^ , Alice Dyer.
According to Kathy Sullivan,
•All the chairmen a re really
looking forward to a successful
weekend this year and a re count­ing
on support from the freshman
and junior classes."
WOMEN OF EXPERIENCE—Fay Romano and Carol Nocito,
shown above, may be seen in the play, THE WOMEN,being
presented November 8-10.
Inadequate Response
Dampens Symposium
Dr. Frederick Patka, chairman
of the i*ilosophy department told
INSCAPE Wednesday t h a t r e ­sponse
from both faculty and stu­dents
to his proposed symposium
has been discouraging. Only four
students have signed up for the
symposium. Twenty-six faculty
members have responded affirm­atively
and four negatively. Sev­enty
did not answer at aU.
Dr. Patka expressed puzzle­ment
over the lack of reaction
either pro or con. He said he
thought ptd>licity had been ade­quate.
Both he and Mr. Williams
had distributed information in
their classes and he had given
Senate literature and application
forms to be distributed.
He mentioned the apathetic at­titude
of both faculty and students
—a topic he had hoped to tre a t in
the symposium and commented
that at another women's college
with approximately half the en­rollment
of Saint Rose, a similar
symposium brought out 50 to 60
girls.
Dr. Patka said he is willing
to waive the academic require­ment
of a B average for active
participation. His decision was
based on a suggestion made by
several students who said girls
were interested but could not
meet the grade requirement.
T h e symposium is not an
attempt of the philosophy depart­ment
to dominate other depart­ments.
Dr. Patka envisions the
symposium as an interdepart­mental
attempt to look at a com­mon
prc)blem.
If 25 students sign up, the sym­posium
will be conducted this
semes ter. Applications a r e
available in the philosophy de­partment
office.
"Absolutely beautiful, glossy,
and elegant” is what Mrs. Maria
Aronson expects the production
of Clare Boothe Luce’s play, “The
Women* to be. It Is being p re ­sented
November 8th, 9th, and
10th, as one of the major activi­tie
s of Parents’ Weekend.
Mrs. Aronson describes the
play a s, "the best comedy writ­ten
for an all-female cast,” an
important factor on the St. Rose
campus. The plot revolves around
a group of women who are trying
to play their respective roles In
an artificial society. Each rep­re
sen ts a certain type of char­a
cter, and each Is unique and
important in herself.
Mary Haines, played by Betsy
Cooke, is the character upon
whom the play focuses-her story
is central, a sprmgboard lor
other developments. Other lead­ing
characters a re Crystal Allen,
played by Maureen Miller; Sylvia
Fowler, Sue Ellen Mathers; and
Miriam Aarons, Chris Garrison.
The play itse lfis very “sophis­ticated*
and having been produced
in New York and by both profes­sional
a n d semi-professional
groups, has a reputation for qual­ity.
It is hoped that a production
of this calibre wiU a ttra c t in te r­e
s t from outside the confines
of the college community. It will
be “absolutely our own campus,”
an effort to present to the Albany
a re a a “functioning drama club”
a t St. Rose.
The c o s t um i n g for “The
Women” will be “modern without
being mod.” Some costumes were
available from the drama ward­robe
and others were “made
from scratch,” Efforts in this
a re a were facilitated by the con­solidation
of the drama depart­ment’s
props and costumes into
one location, the converted drama
house.