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130 Priests Attend Y.C.W. Conference
Role of Clergy
and Laity in
Catholic Action
Discussed
Archbishops
Mannix, Simonds,
Tweedy at
Sessions
44 HE Y.C.W. is a movement
with vision —
T the vision of an enthusiastic
Catholic youth leading
the youth of Australia to
the cause, of Christ the King,"
said 4iis Grace the Coadjutor-
Archbishop of Melbourne, Most
Rev. J. D. Simonds, D.D., Ph.D.,
in an important address on
the Young Christian Workers
to members of the Hierarchy
and clergy at a Y.C.W. conference
last week. Archbishop
Simonds is the Episcopal chairman
of the movement. .
Represented at the conference,
besides the four Victorian dioceses,
were the dioceses of Maitland,
Wilcannia-Forbes, Wagga
Wagga (N.S.W.), Toowoomba,
Townsville (Queensland), Adelaide,
Port Augusta (South Australia),
Hobart (Tasmania) and
Perth (WA).
HOLY SPIRIT BROODING ANEW
"The rising tide of paganism,"
continued his Grace, "is not
destined to engulf the Church
of God, for we can see that
the Holy Spirit is already
brooding anew over the modern
chaos to produce a new human
world. The most significant
inspiration of the Divine Spirit
in our days is that by which
He has reawakened in the
Church the consciousness that
the apostolate of Christ's Kingdom
is not a reserved occupation
of the clergy, but is the
normal radiation of Christian
life by every member of the
Body of Christ. The Y.C.W.
is youth's response to that
awakening.
"It • is an authentic movement
of Catholic Action. It has
merited many striking eulogies
from Pope Pius XI., ivho,
among other things, did not
hesitate to say: 'We have given
the definition of Catholic
Action and that definition has
been perfectly interpreted by
the Young Christian Workers.'
"To organise a similar apostolate
amongst Australian
youth is our high purpose and
privilege. I am sure you feel
with me that your presence
here to-day is destined to become
historic, for you are helping
to enkindle an apostolic
flame in the minds and hearts
of young Australians, that will
undoubtedly be glowing with
its brightest intensity in future
years that we shall not live
to see.
PRIEST IK CATHOLIC ACTION
" "The part which the priest
has to play in Catholic Action
is a very important one, but,
at the same time, it is a delicately
adjusted role. . Pope
Pius XI. applied to the chaplains,
or ecclesiastical assistants
of Catholic Action, the words
of the Psalmist: "in manibus
tuis sortes meae." That is the.
reason why this conference has
been convoked, for I realise
that the fate of the Y.C.W. in
Australia in its initial gtages
will be largely in the hands of
the clergy. In outlining the
role of the priests, the Pope
said: 'The ecclesiastical assistants
should be the soul of the
associations, the sources of
energy, the inspirers of the
apostolate, the representatives
of episcopal authority.' These
are, of course, normal priestly
activities. But the Holy Father
was careful to add that the
direction of the responsibility
of the associations must be left
to the" laity. As ministers of
Christ and dispensers of the
mysteries of God your function
will be to form the leaders and
members of the Y.C.W. in a
thoroughly Catholic spirit, and
to give general guidance to the
technique of the apostolate
according to the directions of
the Hierarchy. But the work
of the apotolate and the management
of their groups are the
responsibility
of
the
youth
themselves.
LAYMAN'S RIGHT.
"The spiritual formation of
the leaders and members is by
far your most important work.
It is therefore fundamentally
important that every ecclesiastical
assistant should have clear
ideas upon the nature of the
lay apostolate, and its relation
to the Mystical Body of Christ.
The call to Catholic Action is
not just a new technique to
meet present difficulties by adding
lay curates to the clergy
because of deficiencies in their
ranks. Catholic Action is essential
to the very life of the
Church. The laity's right to
participate in the apostolate
has existed from the beginning,
but its importance and its responsibilities
are being revealed
in a fresh light in modern
times. It is a direct consequence
of their membership in
the Mystical Body of Christ;
and the authentic sign of this
right is the indelible sacramental
character impressed on their
souls in the Sacraments of
Baptism and Confirmation.
Though all the sacraments confer
sanctifying grace by which,
in St. Peter's thrilling words,
we become partakers of the
Divine Nature, three of the
sacraments imprint on the soul
an indelible character. According
to St. Thomas' beautiful
teaching, this character received
in the sacraments is
actually the character of Christ,
or as the word implies, an
express image of the beautiful
soul of Christ our High Priest,
indelibly impressed on the soul.
Its triple form indicates the
member's rank in the Mystical
Body, and the degree in which
he has been admitted to share
in the priesthood of the Divine
High Priest.
"While, therefore, sanctifying
grace incorporates us into the
Divine Life of Christ, the sacramental
character is the seal
of our incorporation into the
powers of Christ, in particular
his priestly powers. This participation
in Christ's priesthood
by sacramental character is
not a mere passive one. It
enables the baptised member
to become a co-offerer of the
Eucharistic Sacrifice, directly
and personally. It confers on
the confirmed member the right
and the duty of teaching, admonishing
and strengthening
others in their duty to God.
Whilst through the character
of Holy Orders the ordained
priest becomes so closely identified
with Christ that he is
able to offer the Eucharistic
Sacrifice and confer the sacraments
in the person of the
Divine Redeemer. Confirmation
is therefore the sacrament
of Catholic Action; indeed, St.
Thomas does not hesitate to
call it a quasi ordination. It
does not, of course, incorporate
the recipient into the administrative
and teaching authority
of the Hierarchy, but it entitles
him to be formally invited to
assist in the apostolate. So
when he receives this commis-
(Continued on page 15.)

Y.C.W. CONFERENCE

(Continuod from page 7.
sion he acquires no new rights
beyond those already given by
the character of Baptism and
Confirmation.
KNOWLEDGE AND LOVE OF
CHRIST
"It will be your chief function
to inspire your leaders
with' a profound realisation of
their dignity as members of
the Mystical Body, and to fire
them with an enthusiasm for
Christ their Leader, and for
His holy cause in which they
have a personally responsible
interest. They must know
their Leader intimately, for to
know Him is to love Him.
Therefore, the prayerful study
of the Gospel, which puts before
them the fascinating personality
of Christ, and which
teaches them His spirit and
His standards of judgment and
action, is an integral part of
the formation of Y.C.W. leaders.
But since the Christian priesthood
has two great functions,
the apostolate for souls and
the liturgical worship of God,
it follows that those who are
called to share in the apostolate
must also actively share in the
liturgical worship and prayers
of the Church. Both Pius X.
and Pius XI. insisted that the
formation of the leaders will
not be complete until they have
acquired an intense supernatural
spirit, that must be
drawn from its 'foremost and
indispensable fount, which is
liturgical - worship.' It is also
important, of course, that as
they are being made more
vividly conscious of their incorporation
into the Church's
apostolate and worship, they
should also grow in loving appreciation
of the unique relation
which the Blessed Mother
bears to the Head and the
members of the Mystical Body,
and the providential part that
she exercises -in the apostolate
as the Mother of Divine Grace.
TRAINING CENTRE
"This whole formation will
require long and-patient effort,
but I am happy to be able to
announce that his Grace the
Archbishop has already taken
a step which is of. prime importance
in the task of training.
A property with extensive
grounds has recently been
purchased at Cheltenham, where
selected . groups of leaders will
be able to spend each weekend
in a course of training
and direction uncler one of the
chaplains. This action of the
Archbishop in setting up for
the Y.C.W. leaders a novitiate,
that will be the powerhouse
f spiritual and intellectual
energy of the movement, is
destined to have a profound
nfluence on the future of its
apostolate. -
PECIAL FIELD OF APOSTOLATE
"Side by side with the
spiritual formation of the militants
goes your responsibility
f general guidance in the
echnique of the apostolate acording
to the directions of the
ierarchy. The special field
f the apostolate of the Y.C.W.

is that -vast mass of Australian
youth whose lives are, for the
most part, cast in an environment
that is either coldly indifferent
or actively hostile to
the Christian spirit. The
Y.C.W. is not just another defensive
club that aims at
segregating its members and
sheltering them from the corrosive
influence of their environment.
It is a militant and
apostolic movement that is determined
to take the offensive
by penetrating into the environment
of the workers, and
impregnating its movements
and activities with the spirit
of Christ.
"Its organisation is first of
all developed on parochial lines,
for the parish is the canonical
unit of spiritual life. But when
its spirit has been captured by
leaders and groups, it will then
grow by division, in order to
regroup itself into specialised
movements. These will bring
the apostolate into the special
environments peculiar to groups
of workers in factories, workshops
or professions. Particular
groupings according to
common interests or environments
form an essential part
of Catholic Action and this is
the next big development of
th6 Y.C.W. which must be organised.
But the Holy See has
strongly insisted that the specialised
movements must always
retain a unity, for this is indispensable
to Catholic Action.
The Y.C.W. will fulfil this
function of unity for all the
future specialised movements
of youth that will develop according
to the different industrial
or professional environments.
TO WHOM OUR LAND WAS
FIRST DEDICATED
"We have opened this conference
with the celebration of
the Holy Sacrifice in honour of
the Holy Spirit, to Whom this
fair land of ours was first dedicated
as the Southern Land of
the Holy Ghost. Only the
irresistible power of the Divine
Spirit can rechristianise the
mass of Australian youth, and
we wish to offer the Y.C.W.
to the Holy Spirit as a willing
instrument in that gigantic
task. You who generously
offer to co-operate in that work
of the Holy Ghost must bring
to it an enthusiastic optimism
that springs from profound
confidence in the power of the
Holy Spirit and the efficacy of
prayer and work in His Name.
"Each morning we ascend the
altar in those conditions of
tranquillity and spiritual security
that belong to the priesthood.
It is especially in those
moments of grace that we must
have compassionate thought for
that vast mass ""of Australian
youth which the voracious industrial
machine drags each
morning into its inhuman vortex,
and after a day of soulless
service to the machine is cast
out again each evening into
homes or places of amusement
from which the spirit of
Christ has been mostly excluded.
More than once the
great Heart of our Divine
Master was so moved to. compassion
at the sight of a crowd

fainting with physical hunger,
that He gave them miraculous
bread. He is surely more
deeply moved at the sight of
the spiritually starving youth
of to-day, and even more
anxious to multiply through,
the hands of His modern
apostles the spiritual bread
that 'endureth unto life everlasting.'
"During the present year the
Episcopal Committee for Catholic
Action requested me to
undertake the direction of the
Young Christian Workers'
Movement, which promises to
develop into one of the most
fruitful activities of the lay
apostolate. It was thought fitting
that the first conference
called to organise the movement
on national lines should
be a conference of members
of the Hierarchy and clergy,
whose duty it will be to guide
the beginnings of this important
movement. I have therefore
profound pleasure in bidding
you a cordial welcome to
the conference, and I express
my sincere gratitude for your
presence."

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