Bishop Ashby Back From Vatican

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30944, 28 December 1965, Page 8

Bishop Ashby Back From Vatican

One of the most impressive sights of the final session of the Vatican Council was the Mass on December 8 attended by more than 300,000 Roman Catholics in an outdoor ceremony, said the Most Rev. B. P. Ashby, Roman Catholic Bishop of Christchurch, yesterday. Bishop Ashby recently returned from the fourth and final session of the council. “All the business laid down on the agenda for the session was successfully dealt with,” Bishop Ashby said. "It was good to see the final threads drawn together. After the uncertainty and expectation of the first session, the keynote this last time was of quiet, routine efficiency. “The best of modern Catholic thought was put forward,” said Bishop Ashby. “The council was an indication of the thinking of our time—everyone had an opportunity to put forward fresh ideas, and even those who had only amendments to offer saw these honoured. The tremendous unity of thought achieved was wonderful to experience.” Role of Laity

Bishop Ashby said the implementation of the latest decrees would be his immediate concern. He hoped to develop a programme to fructify the council’s work. The role of the laity would have prime importance in the new programme, and the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine would play an important part in this work in Christchurch. The whole accent of the session was ecumenical, he said. The decree on religious liberty which acknowledged that every man had the right to choose his own religion was a major step forward, although it was no more than a progressive development of Roman Catholic thought. “Many of the decrees still need teasing out,” Bishop Ashby said. “The effect of many of the ideas advanced

may not even be felt until the next generation." The Roman Catholic attitude had up to now been remarkable for its characteristic defensiveness, said Bishop Ashby. Many Roman Catholics found it difficult to explain adequately their intense spiritual beliefs. The prevailing ecumenical spirit engendered by the council fathers had been accepted by the laity, who now performed the role of missionaries in their own community. Roman Catholics were becoming more willing to share the joy of their own faith with others.

As a result of the council decrees laymen would soon have a greater voice in the administration of the Church. The ultimate would be achieved when lay people shared the same spiritual objectives as the clergy. An intermingling of the material view of the laity with the spiritual view of the clergy would be a fruitful union. Pope Paul Bishop Ashby said that Pope Paul was firmly dedicated to the ideal of world peace. “Hi g humanity is not as easily recognised as Pope John’s was, but he showed his awareness of the compass of his office by retaining right to the end of the final session the stamp which Pope John had set on the very first session.

“He is a very simple and humble man,” Bishop Ashby said. “He is now obviously straightening his shoulders under the load of the Papal office. He appears to have a greater surety now.”

Bishop Ashby said he had a good deal of work to deal with which had accumulated in his absence. He was very happy to be back in Christchurch again, and was looking forward to meeting the challenge which the new decrees of the council had provided.