Final Assignment In Pittsburgh: 1964-68: Analysis

Final Assignment in Pittsburgh: 1964–68 The new setting was entirely different from the previous two. It was a large parish with a majority of college-educated adults, many successful businesspersons, upper-level managers of large Pittsburgh companies, and an elderly pastor who was kind but still constrained by his rigid theological training from the 1930’s. He allowed me freedom to do much of what I wanted to do. I recall our first evening meal together. I had been to a civil-rights march in downtown Pittsburgh that day, and now realized that he, his dog, and I were to watch the evening local news as we ate dinner together. I had carried a poster with a powerful and emotional image in the march and knew the television station had filmed it. Since the pastor and I had just met, I really wanted a bit of space so we could get to know one another before he saw a rather vivid and alarming image with no other background introduction. When the part of the news footage came on the screen, where I knew I would be featured, I pointed to the wall behind the pastor and asked something about a nondescript picture that hung there. He looked puzzled, but turned to see what I was talking about, and I and my civil-rights
By the time it ended in 1965, the council had approved four major documents titled “Constitutions.” These addressed the Church’s understanding of itself, the Bible, the Liturgy, and the Church in the modern world, all important areas in Catholic identity and theology. An additional twelve policy papers included topics such as ecumenism and its relationship to other religious communities. This was breaking new ground for official Catholic thinking. Other than reports in the media, I saw little leadership and very few parishes taking steps to help parishioners understand what was emerging from the discussions and decisions taking place in the