CONCLUSION

Letters from Vatican City is not a truthful book. By no means can it be seriously taken as a work in theological, or indeed, any other kind of objective journalism. It is a potboiler, in which an unfortunate priest has chosen to mirror the point of view of the more venomous among the lay adversaries of Cardinal Ottaviani and of the Roman Curia in general. As such, that is, as the expression of what these people wanted others to believe, during the spring and summer of 1963, it has a certain historical interest.

M's book has so far brought about one result which M and his friends never expected. As a result of M's extravagant rantings against those whom he has chosen as his enemies, there was a new manifestation of affection for what might be called the Curia group and for the conservative and Roman-minded theologians at this second session of the Second Vatican Council. People who always had dreamed that Cardinal Ottaviani and those who followed his lead at least to some extent were "great fighters" have come to see that these men were not interested in polemics at all. The political infighting, the work to blacken the reputation and to destroy the influence of those whose position they oppose was and is being done by the group who have aided M in the composition and in the diffusion of Letters to Vatican City.

JOSEPH CLIFFORD FENTON

Rome, Italy

Answers to Questions

COMMENTS ON THE COUNCIL

Last year, while enjoying the privilege of assisting at the first session of the Second Vatican Council, I attempted to convey to our readers a few details that might be of interest. Now that I am back in the Eternal City, I shall try to point out a few more of those details, some constituting significant changes.

NOVUS ORDO

A new edition of the "rule book" was brought out before the opening of the second session and placed in the hands of the Council Fathers. It has the same format as last year's and opens with the same Motu Proprio “Appropinquante Concilio" of Pope John, of truly happy memory. Pope Paul's approval of the new edition is conveyed by a notation by Cardinal Cicognani, Secretary of State.

MEMBERSHIP

To the second session the Holy Father added to the membership by inviting Prefects Apostolic; these were not in attendance last year.

PRESIDENCY AND DIRECTION

A notable change, this year, has occurred in the direction of the General Congregations (morning meetings). The number of Presidents was increased to twelve (including the addition of Cardinal Meyer), but their role is different. Last year, each of the ten Cardinals constituting the Presidency took his turn in intoning the opening prayer "Adsumus," called the speakers in their turn, saw to it that the speakers adhered to the rules regarding subject matter and length of time, and closed the daily meeting with prayer. The new Ordo tells us that their office is now to see to it that the norms set down for the Council are duly observed and to settle doubts and difficulties that may arise. Their Dean, Cardinal Tisserant, still opens and closes the meetings with prayer, and the twelve still occupy the long table which is set immediately in front of the Con

fession before the papal altar, but they no longer direct the actual proceedings. A group of four Cardinal Delegates or Moderators, chosen by the Holy Father as were the members of the Presidency, now take turns in directing the work of the Council. These Moderators are Cardinals Agagianian, Lercaro, Doepfner, and Suenens.

PERITI

The periti are still divided into conciliar and private. The conciliar periti are permitted to attend the General Congregations and a number of them are assigned to work with the various Commissions. Although they have no vote in the Council itself or in the plenary sessions of the Commissions, they play an important part in the subcommissions where the schemata are composed, studied, and revised. Now that almost all the schemata which are to be treated by the Second Vatican Council are in the hands of the Fathers, the various Commissions with their subcommissions are already hard at work, for abundant observations are pouring in from the Council Fathers. Each of these comments is carefully considered and the schema is emended accordingly or perhaps even re-written. When the schema comes up for discussion on the floor of the Council, the Commission must take into consideration every intervention, as the conciliar discussions are called, and make further emendations. Incidentally, no further conciliar periti are being appointed.

The private periti, although they may be made privy to all that goes on in the Council or in the Commissions, are not permitted within the conciliar aula.

A new note has been introduced this year: lay periti may be admitted to Commission meetings, if the President of the Commission so wishes or upon the request of five members or of a quarter of those present.

AUDITORS

Prominent Catholic laymen may for the first time be permitted to assist at the General Congregations and Commission meetings. This permission must come from the Holy Father. These laymen may not, as a rule, speak in the Council or Commissions. However, provision is made in the new regulations for them to be called upon, in special circumstances, by the Moderator of the General Congre

gation or by the President of a Commission to express their opinions as experts.

COUNCIL DRESS

Although the impressive procession, seen by millions on television last year, was omitted before the opening Mass of the second session, the Council Fathers wore white copes and miters as they did on Oct. 11, 1962. This year, they went directly to their places in the Basilica. The "working dress" of Archbishops and Bishops, for the General Congregations, is set down, even in the new book of regulations, as purple cassock with rochet and mantelletta only, which was the dress used last year. However, just before the opening of the Council, an announcement was made that the Holy Father had granted the privilege to all those Bishops who enjoy the privilege at home to wear the mozeta over the mantelletta in Rome. This seems a trifling detail and yet, in view of Roman protocol, it was a highly significant grant. The mozeta, the short cape worn by a residential Archbishop or Bishop within his own Province or Diocese, is a special sign of jurisdiction and may not be worn outside the area of the prelate's jurisdiction. Only Cardinals and Patriarchs, besides the Pope, wear the mozeta in Rome and they must wear the mantelletta beneath it (when the Holy See is vacant, they discard the mantelletta and wear the mozeta over a plain linen rochet; cf. the cover of Newsweek for Oct. 16, 1963). This unusual grant was therefore interpreted as a gracious recognition on the part of the Holy Father of the collegiality of the Bishops in union with him, a subject that was to be discussed at great length in the Council.

THE PATRIARCHS

The centuries-old problem of the eminence of Patriarchs vis-à-vis the Cardinals is well known and has been touched upon in some of the current books on the Council. Two weeks after the Council's opening, a gesture of special recognition was made to the Patriarchs when they were placed apart in a newly prepared section directly opposite the Cardinals. This was no mere change in the seating arrangement but obviously an official acknowledgment of their ancient and eminent place as leaders in the Church.

JOHN P. McCORMICK

FORTY HOURS' DEVOTION WITHOUT WORSHIPERS

Question: According to the instructions of the Bishop, I have the Forty Hours' Devotion in my parish every year. I urge the parishioners to make visits to the Blessed Sacrament in the course of the days, yet it happens that sometimes the church is deserted. In those circumstances would it not be better for me to omit the Devotion, or at least to repose the Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacle during the hours when no worshipers are available?

Answer: I believe that the pastor should continue to obey the Bishop and conduct the Forty Hours' Devotion, even when he foresees the unfortunate situation that he describes. There is no positive disrespect to the Holy Eucharist when there are no adorers in the church, whether the Blessed Sacrament is solemnly exposed or reposed in the tabernacle. In either case Our Lord is waiting, ready to bestow His graces on those who visit Him. I would suggest, however, in the circumstances described by our correspondent that the priest or priests of the parish could profitably spend considerable time in the sacramental Presence.

THE RIGHT TO BEQUEATH ONE'S PROPERTY

Question: What is the basis of a person's right to bequeath his property by will? My difficulty is this: When a person makes a will he does not intend to give away his property while he is alive. On the other hand, after one has died he no longer retains the right to confer what he owned in life.

Answer: The best answer to this dilemma seems to be that the right to bequeath one's property by will is based on the jus gentium -that law which is between the natural law and the positive law, in that the natural law prescribes that something is supremely fitting, and the positive law complements this suitability by definite legislation. I believe that we cannot say that the natural law itself gives a person the strict right to bequeath his property, because of the difficulty adduced by our correspondent. But we can say that the natural law indicates that it is very congruous that a person who has acquired property in his lifetime should be allowed to leave it to whom he wills after his death. As a result, all civilized nations