Roman Catholic priest to get sober in AA, and
was one of the four most published AA authors.
See http://www.nccatoday.org/
Each year the council has a national conference,
and publishes the texts of all the speeches in
a volume called the Blue Book.
The 58th Edition of the Blue Book (from the
NCCA's 2008 Conference in New Orleans) is now
available for distribution.
These volumes are a gold mine of material from
well known figures. There are talks not only by
Bill Wilson, but also Marty Mann, Father Ed
Dowling, and many other people.
The best place to find copies of this series
would be in the library at a Catholic university
or seminary. The Indianapolis Archdiocesan
Archives has a partial set, but there are also
some volumes missing.
- - - -
From Glenn C:
Fr. Ralph was ... the founder in 1949 of the National Clergy Council on
Alcoholism, today called the National Catholic Council on Alcoholism and
Related
Drug Problems, one of the most vital and important American Catholic
organizations dealing with the problem of alcoholism. The NCCA's annual
publication, the Blue Book (whose 58th volume came out at the end of 2008),
also
provides, through a host of articles by leading figures, a detailed
historical
record of Catholic thought about alcoholism and recovery through the course
of
the past six decades. There is no body of literature even remotely
equivalent
coming from Protestant or Jewish sources during that period.
National Catholic Council on Alcoholism: The NCCA honors Fr. Ralph Pfau as
its
great founder. The NCCA leader Monsignor William J. Clausen quoted from a
talk
which Ralph gave in 1957 in an account he gave of how the group was created:
'In talking to Father Dowling in St. Louis in 1948, Father Pfau said: "You
know
. . . it would be a nice thing if we could find out who else among the
clergy
are in AA, because I think that priests in AA feel the need to know if there
are
other priests in AA," Father Dowling suggested, "Why don't you have a
retreat of
some kind?"'
Mary Darrah says that more detailed planning began as part of “an informal
discussion among four priests eating hot fudge sundaes at an Indiana soda
shop
in 1949,” Ralph Pfau, John Dillon, Raymond Atkins, and John C. Ford. Ralph
gave special credit to Fr. Dillon in particular in the foreword to the first
Blue Book (the volume published by the NCCA every year, containing the text
of
the talks given at that year’s conference). We should also note the
reference
to four important bishops and archbishops, about which we will comment
further
along:
"Early in 1949 plans for a seminar for the Clergy who are active members of
Alcoholics Anonymous were made by Fr. Ralph Pfau of the Archdiocese of
Indianapolis and Fr. John Dillon of the Diocese of Lafayette, Indiana ....
From
Aug. 23 to 25, 1949, more than 100 priests gathered at St. Joseph’s
college,
Rensselaer, Indiana. Their Excellencies, Archbishop Schulte, Bishop Bennett,
and Bishop Cody (representing Archbishop Ritter) were in attendance."
The conference has continued meeting annually since that date. Originally
called the National Clergy Council (and/or Conference) on Alcoholism, it is
now
referred to as the “National Catholic Council on Alcoholism and Related
Drug
Problems, Inc.” In 2008 it became a service arm of Guest House (the
treatment
center for Catholic clergy and religious), using Guest House’s Lake Orion,
Michigan, address.
Gaining acceptance of A.A. among the Catholic hierarchy: At the time the Big
Book was being written, the A.A. group had only one Catholic member whom we
know
of — at least in Akron or the New York area — an Irishman named Morgan
Ryan from
Glen Ridge, New Jersey, who had just gotten out of the asylum and had not
participated in the actual writing of the book. Morgan gave one of the
multilithed manuscript copies to the Catholic Committee on Publications of
the
Archdiocese of New York, which gave it a positive review. But this small
committee certainly did not speak for the Catholic Church as a whole. Later
on,
Bill Wilson became friends with Monsignor Fulton Sheen. But Sheen, even
though
a popular radio (and later television) figure, could not have spoken for (or
influenced the opinions of) the Catholic hierarchy vis-à-vis the young A.A.
movement.
Opposition from Cardinal McIntyre: Although the official conference-approved
A.A. literature tries to give the impression of warm and widespread Catholic
support for Alcoholics Anonymous from the beginning, in fact there were some
members of the Catholic hierarchy who were strongly opposed to A.A. Cardinal
McIntyre in Los Angeles, for example, told Fr. John Ford that he would not
allow
him to speak at the 3rd A.A. International which was to be held in Long
Beach,
California, in 1960. Fr. Ed Dowling said that when he wrote the Cardinal
asking
whether he would be permitted to speak, McIntyre wrote back saying that he
would
allow him to do so since he was not an alcoholic, but only provided that he
follow the ideas set out in the pamphlet “Help Your Alcoholic Friend” by
Rev.
William Kenneally. In his letter to Fr. Dowling, Cardinal McIntyre said that
he
did not want an alcoholic priest talking; and that he objected to the
disease
theory of A.A.
James Cardinal McIntyre, who was Archbishop of Los Angeles from 1948 until
1978,
was an arch-traditionalist, as we know, who later deeply opposed many of the
changes made by the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965), especially the
changes
in the liturgy (after he retired as archbishop and took on the duties of a
parish priest at St. Basil's Church in downtown Los Angeles, he celebrated
the
old Tridentine Mass on its side altars as a rebellion against the new
liturgy).
Fr. Ralph brought in Archbishops Ritter and Schulte to support A.A.: But Fr.
Ralph was a superb ecclesiastical politician, who managed to get some other
very
powerful members of the hierarchy on the A.A. side. He served under three
bishops in Indianapolis: Bishop Joseph Chartrand, who had died in 1933, but
more importantly, Bishop/Archbishop Joseph Ritter (1934-1946) and Archbishop
Paul Schulte (1946-1970).
It was Schulte who on Christmas Day of 1947 had released Ralph from his
parish
duties at Holy Cross parish in Indianapolis, and had given him a special
mission
where he was allowed to spend his full time as a priest working with A.A.
The
archbishop also inscribed his official Imprimatur on the inside front page
of
Fr. Ralph’s first three Golden Books: The Spiritual Side (1947), Tolerance
(orig. titled Charity, 1948), and Attitudes (1949).
By appearing at the first meeting of the NCCA, Archbishop Schulte helped
give
the participants confidence that important members of the hierarchy would
give
them backing in their mission.
Archbishop Ritter had been transferred to St. Louis in 1946, three years
after
Ralph got sober, but had been impressed so favorably by the young priest,
and
how his life had been turned around by A.A., that he sent his then Auxiliary
Bishop, John Cody, to represent him and convey his blessings also upon the
NCCA.
Ritter was later one of the leading reformist bishops at the Second Vatican
Council in 1962–1965, and a very powerful and respected figure in the
American
Catholic hierarchy.
(Cody was not a negligible figure himself. He later became Archbishop of
Chicago and a Cardinal, of course, and although he eventually became
involved in
a good deal of controversy and strife, he was nevertheless an important
figure
within the hierarchy to have on one’s side.)
We should give adequate recognition to what Fr. Pfau accomplished in
starting
the NCCA (and keeping it going), and in bringing in extremely high-powered
ecclesiastical supporters, by the power of his charm and hard work, to
support
the organization. A.A. was certainly not going to be automatically accepted
by
the Catholic Church, once theologians and bishops began looking carefully at
its
principles, and could easily have ended up being officially condemned by a
combination of moralistic and authoritarian forces within the church. But
Ralph
got a number of powerful figures supporting the A.A. cause.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
++++Message 5884. . . . . . . . . . . . Development of the Twelve Concepts
Window Shade
From: wrdjock . . . . . . . . . . . . 7/25/2009 7:51:00 AM
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Is anyone familiar with the events leading up to the development of the
Twelve
Concepts Window shade?
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
++++Message 5885. . . . . . . . . . . . Information about Bernard B. Smith
From: wrdjock . . . . . . . . . . . . 7/25/2009 7:05:00 AM
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
I'm looking for information about Bernard B.
Smith for a research project on the History
of the Concepts. Bill refers to him as an
architect of the "service structure" and I'm
interested in finding out more about what
specific contributions he made. Does anyone
know if a biography on him was ever done?
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
++++Message 5886. . . . . . . . . . . . Re: The Irishman in the chapter on
Tradition Five in the 12 and 12
From: Tom V . . . . . . . . . . . . 7/24/2009 2:57:00 PM
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
If the story goes back to the very early AA
period, Morgan Ryan, who was the only Roman
Catholic AA member at the time the Big Book
was published, had an obviously Irish last
name.
- - - -
From: kodom2545
Do we know who the Irishman is in the chapter
on Tradition Five in the Twelve Steps and
Twelve Traditions, pp. 151-154?
It was a man in Towns Hospital whom Dr.
Silkworth indicated as someone who might be
a possible candidate for the A.A. program.
God Bless,
Kyle
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
++++Message 5887. . . . . . . . . . . . RE: Group start date: how it is
defined
From: J. Lobdell . . . . . . . . . . . . 7/21/2009 5:20:00 PM
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Hi! Arthur
As you point out, the Conference-approved pamphlet "The Group" says that
"The
main difference between meetings and groups is that A.A. groups generally
continue to exist outside the prescribed meeting hours, ready to provide
Twelfth
Step help when needed. A.A. groups are encouraged to register with G.S.O.,
as
well as with their local offices: area, district, intergroup or central
office."
As I understand it, the means for existing outside of "meeting hours" --
that
is, to be more than simply a meeting -- is to have the service structure
suggested in that pamphlet, and to link with Intergroup (by means of an
Intergroup Representative) and with the General Service Structure (by means
of a
GSR). Hence my statement that the creation of the service structure leads to
a
quick test of what's a group and what's a meeting. I did not say that was
AA's
view -- as you well know, neither I (having studied AA) nor you (having
studied
AA and being an active member of the General Service Structure, as you say)
can
speak for AA. The "Twelve Concepts" may not be ambiguous, but the "Twelve
Concepts" plus "The Group" pamphlet seem to present a certain degree of
ambiguity (see also Jack Norris's attempt to distinguish between
special-purpose
groups, which may suffer from the "other affiliations" problem, and
special-purpose meetings). I remained convinced that, if there is to be a
distinction between a group and a meeting, it must lie in participation in
the
service structure, and the quickest test is whether there is a GSR or could
be
if requirements ("suggestions") for selection as GSR can be met. Of course,
if
a group which has two meetings says each one is a separate group, and claims
the
right therefore to two GSRs, presumably General Service must go along with
it (I
know an example in Area 59, District 36). Yes, a group is a group if it says
it's a group, if you like -- that's the historical precedent, with which we
as
historians are concerned -- but the proof (another historical precedent for
much
of AA) is in the action. If it acts like a group, it's a group. If it
doesn't,
what's the point of saying it is one? And btw, if there are no home-group
members, what is it that's a group? [P.S. -- I think NA refers to a GR, tho'
here I speak under correction.]--
Jared
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
++++Message 5888. . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Information about Bernard B.
Smith
From: firsthings1st . . . . . . . . . . . . 7/25/2009 3:24:00 PM
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
--- In AAHistoryLovers@yahoogroups.com, "wrdjock" wrote:
>
> I'm looking for information about Bernard B.
> Smith for a research project on the History
> of the Concepts. Bill refers to him as an
> architect of the "service structure" and I'm
> interested in finding out more about what
> specific contributions he made. Does anyone
> know if a biography on him was ever done?
>
Bernard B. Smith (1901 - 1970) The AA General Service Board was still called
the
Alcoholic Foundation when he joined it, in June 1944. His advice influenced
the
decision to hold the first General Service Conference, in 1951. Chairman of
the
Board and the Conference from January 1951 to April 1956, he was serving as
first vice-chairman of the Board at the time of his death. He was an
attorney,
an author, and an advocate of Anglo-American understanding; for his efforts
in
that cause, Queen Elizabeth II awarded him a decoration. Honorary Commander
of
the Order of the British Empire, in October 1957.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
++++Message 5889. . . . . . . . . . . . First Group in Vermont and Hawaii
From: jax760 . . . . . . . . . . . . 7/22/2009 6:44:00 PM
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Vermont and Hawaii, from John B. ("jax760")
and E.G. ("spaberlejr")
- - - -
From: "jax760"
(jax760 at yahoo.com)
January 1945 Grapevine Article - Granite Vermont
Opens it Heart to AA
"Joe" moved up to Vermont from New Jersey and
started a group in Montpelier in October of 1944.
God Bless
John B
- - - -
From: "spaberlejr"
(saberle at comcast.net)
I just came across the 1st meeting in Hawaii
while perusing the digital archives of the
Grapevine:
From the June 1944 issue (Vol. 1 No. 1)
"Central Office Notes"
- - - -
Dec. 14, 1943 Shop----, Pearl Harbor
Dear ----:
You may definitely stick a pin in Honolulu on your map. Tonight we had a
meeting
of the entire group for the first time. There were supposed to be 7--but
only 5
came. All have been sober with the help of the A.A. program for a time
varying
from over a month to 1 week before their first meeting. The meeting was so
interesting to everyone we had trouble leaving in time to get home before
curfew. And not bragging (much) I don't think there are any more intelligent
5
people in Honolulu who meet as a group than we had there tonight. . .One
reason
that I am so optimistic about our little group is that every one of them
sought
the help. There has been no evangelism, no compulsion. All of us really want
to
quit. . .Please don't think you're presuming to give me advice. We have not
been
able to contact any old members here. If ever there was a place where the
blind
are leading the blind, that place is Honolulu right now. We not only will
accept
any advice you care to give, we're begging for it. . .I have had several
bitter
disappointments. . .I have discovered that a desire to stop and mere
knowledge
of the program of A.A. are not enough. It is those of us who are really
trying
to put into practise the 12 steps who are succeeding. Now that we are
holding
meetings I feel sure that more of us will be able to put them into practise.
About my own case. I have for years considered myself an agnostic. After
reading
the A.A. literature, especially the part about an alcoholic who wanted to
get
well not being able to afford the luxury of a closed mind, I began asking
myself
what I really believed. The more I thought and worked with others the nearer
to
faith I came. . .The psychiatric social worker at--Hospital, who has been
trying
to help me since July to quit drinking has remarked at the great change in
me
since I became acquainted with A.A. When I told her of my new source of
strength
she suggested that maybe that strength had been lying latent in me all
along. I
told her I didn't really know what the source of strength was, but that I
did
know the formula I had used to tap it, and that was humble, sincere,
unselfish
prayer. . .
Yours in A.A.,
E.G.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
++++Message 5891. . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Information about Bernard B.
Smith
From: wrdjock . . . . . . . . . . . . 7/25/2009 5:04:00 PM
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Thanks for the info. I have the capsule
version of his life. I'm looking for more
in-depth information.
How specifically did he advocate for the first
General Service Conference?
What were his thoughts?
Did he have any writings which could be
examined?
He was also present and chairman during the
period when Bill W was writing the concepts.
Did he review the essays and provide advice
to Bill?
I also understand that Michael Alexander was
a young lawyer in his law firm and that Mr.
Smith had him help Bill with some of the legal
aspects of the Concepts. Does anyone know if
that is correct?
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
++++Message 5892. . . . . . . . . . . . RE: First Group in Vermont
From: J. Lobdell . . . . . . . . . . . . 7/26/2009 9:36:00 AM
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
"Joe" is Joe F, of F------- Insurance. I have
a copy of a letter he wrote to the guys out in
Minnesota about getting Bill to one of the Camp
Karephree Founders' Week celebrations, I think
1944 or 1945 (it's stuck in a book somewhere),
including hiring a private plane. I think the
original is in the Nicollet collections. I'd
be glad to hear from anyone who has anything
else on Joe F.
- - - -
From GC the moderator:
Photographs taken at the 1946 Founders Day gathering at Kare Phree Pines,
Minnesota, provided by Archivist Jim D. (Holt, Michigan) and the Lansing
Archives. The four Founders Day Camping Trips held in Minnesota and
organized by
the Nicollet Group during the summers of 1944, 45, 46, and 47 brought
together a
number of well known early A.A. figures, including not only Dr. Bob but also
many other early A.A. leaders from various midwestern cities.
http://hindsfoot.org/mnfound1.html
http://hindsfoot.org/mnfound2.html
- - - -
> From: "jax760"
> (jax760 at yahoo.com)
>
> January 1945 Grapevine Article - Granite Vermont
> Opens it Heart to AA
>
> "Joe" moved up to Vermont from New Jersey and
> started a group in Montpelier in October of 1944.
>
> God Bless
>
> John B
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
++++Message 5893. . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Development of the Twelve
Concepts Window Shade
From: Jocelyn . . . . . . . . . . . . 7/25/2009 8:03:00 PM
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Window shade?
You mean ..... the blind leading the blind ?
( sorry I could not resist )
Jocelyn
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
++++Message 5894. . . . . . . . . . . . Re: First AA group in the U.K.
From: John Pine . . . . . . . . . . . . 7/25/2009 4:43:00 PM
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
The UK A.A. site
http://www.alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk/geninfo/13history.htm
tells this story:
The Start of AA in Great Britain
The venue for AA's first meeting in Great Britain was pretty classy --
London's
Dorchester Hotel. Grace O, an American AA, visiting London had been asked by
GSO in New York to contact several people in Britain who wanted information
about AA. Amongst them were Chris B, probably the first person in England to
use AA to attain sobriety, 'Canadian' Bob B, an American serviceman Sergeant
Vernon W, and Norman R-W, who was still drinking. The meeting was held in
Room 202 of the hotel at 8 p.m. on Monday 31st March 1947. Others attending
the meeting were Tony F, an Irish airman, Flash W, an American and Pat G, a
female member from California whom Grace had met on the voyage.
In the same way that early American meetings had been held in members' homes
meetings were held in Canadian Bob's house in Mortlake Road, Kew Gardens as
Dostları ilə paylaş: |