White Paper 1a History

An eyewitness reminiscence of the "White Paper" Incident that occurred at St Charles. In response to recent Vatican II documents on Priestly Formation released in 1965 (Optatam totius and Presbytorum ordinis) the students were tasked with presenting Archbishop (later Cardinal) Krol information about St. Charles Borromeo Seminary and any suggestions regarding updating the program in light of the documents. The contents of this planned presentation were leaked by some seminarians (never identified) to the Philadelphia Bulletin and were published on Sunday, April 24, 1966. This coincided with Vocation Sunday ceremonies at the Cathedral. The newspaper presented it as a rebellious act and gave it the name of "White Paper". The "White Paper" was generated at the Archbishop's request. It was not an act of rebellion. One of the suggestions was that the Archbishop come to St. Charles Borromeo Seminary more frequently. So, on the following Sunday May 1 he arrived and spoke in St. Martin's Chapel after visitors for Vespers were asked to leave. We were told that all changes would come from proper authorities and not merely because of what the students wanted. If we accepted that, fine; if not, they we should depart. It became known as "the right to obey or the right to leave" talk. He concluded with the words "Non datur tertium" -- there is no third choice. In the intervening week between publication and visit Bishop Gerald McDevitt (the Auxiliary) praised the work of the students but stated that confidential documents were not meant for public consumption.