Catholics Permitted to Participate In Mem Church Prayer Services

Roman Catholic chaplains and faculty members will now be able to lead morning prayers in the University chapel for the first time in the history of Harvard.

Richard Cardinal Cushing approved the program in a move hailed yesterday by the Rev. Charles P. Price '41, Preacher to the University, as "very desirable from all aspects."

Cushing's permission, said Price, will allow Catholics to lead the prayers "on the same basis as members of other religions." Price, who invites chaplains and faculty members to lead prayers in Appleton Chapel, will now include Catholics among those invited.

Price had asked the Rev. Joseph I. Collins, chaplain to Catholic students at Harvard and Radcliffe, to request Cushing to approve Catholic participation in the University prayer series. Collins will conduct the morning service for the first time this Friday.

Previously, Catholics have led prayers in Appleton Chapel only on special occasions. In the past year, Catholic clergymen have conducted the service twice--at a service during Commencement Week last June and during a special Ecumenical Week last January.

Price said he asked for Catholic participation because "Harvard Chapel should represent as widely as possible the religions of students in the University." Cushing's approval, he said, "opens up a whole new sector of life for Appleton Chapel."