t eanco VOL. 32, NO.2.
Friday, January 8, 1988
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Social problems encyclical topic VATICAN CITY (NC) - POpt: say when it would be issued. VatiJohn Paul II has said he will soon . can sources said a draft of the docpublish .an encyclical on social ument was circulated among some problems that have arisen since Vatican departments weeks ago. Pope Paul VI's landmark encycli"On the Development of Peocal, "On the Development of Peo- ples" included an appeal for wealthy ples" ("Populorum Progressio"). nations to take '''concrete action" to promote development and corThe pope said the new docurect imbalances between rich and ment would commemorate the 20th poor peoples. Pope John Paul has anniversary of Pope Paul's pasmade similar appeals throughout toralletter and would be a continhis pontificate. ' uation of its teachings on social and economicjustice. He made the Pope Paul's encyclical was also announcement during a talk to critical o( liberal capitalism and Roman Curia officials. collectivist economic systems. In a An encyclical is a pastoral letter talk that marked the 20th anniveraddressed by the pope to the whole sary of its publication last March, Pope John Paul said the church's church. This will be Pope John Paul's seventh such letter. social teachings require such a The pope described Pope Paul's "penetrating critique" of both systems when "economic value is seen encyclical, published in 1967, as a "fundamental step" toward a great- as supreme." er church presence in the "draAt that time, the pope also noted matic situations of world peace that the two decades since publicaand development." tion of the encyclical had seen the "I n recalling the continuing releworsening of the international debt. vance of that great document, the Pope Paul's encyclical had warned [new] encyclical will also seek to about the dangers of excessive survey new themes and respond to borrowing by poor countries under new problems which have pres- terms which were to their longented themselves. on the same topic. term disadvantage. to the human conscience of today," Another probable topic of the the pope said. new encyclical, noted by the pope The pope did not say which specific new problems would be dealt with in the encyclical, nor did he
in his talk in March, was the effect of new technologies, including their uses against humanity.
Pro-lifers plan January events Local members of Massachusetts Citizens for Life, a pro-life organization, will travel to Washington, D.C. to participate in the annual Jan. 22 demonstration marking the anniversary of Roe Vs: Wade, the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion. Pro-life organizer Mary Ann Booth said an MCFL bus will leave New Bedford at about 10 a.m. Jan. 21. Sleeping accommodations will be provided at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in the capital city, she said, noting that travelers will ha ve an opportunity to partici pate in a national prayer vigil to be held there that evening. On the 22nd, diocesan participants will meet with other prolifers on the lawn in front of the Ellipse to hear speakers. Mrs. Booth said the round-trip bus ride will cost $35 per person.
She can be reached at 636-4903 for information and registration. Information on Washington buses from Attleboro is available from Alice McAndrews, 226-0292; for Cape Cod the contact person is Doreen Marinelli, 428-5402. All, especially those unable to travcl to the national demonstration, are invited to a local pro-life event sponsored by M CFL in conjunction with Lifeline Action Committee. A film, "Eclipse of Reason," will be shown at 4 p.m. Jan. 23 in New Bedford's Buttonwood Library. A brief candlelight ceremony will follow in Buttonwood Park. Mrs. Booth said she will give private screenings of the film by arrangement. She is also organizing carpooling for MCFL's annual Assembly (or Life, to be held at I p.m. Jan. 17 at Faneuil Hall, Boston, with pro-life writer Julie Loesch as the main speaker.
BISHOP DANIEL A. CRONIN holds his traditional holiday meetings with retired priests and with seminarians of the diocese. Retirees with the bishop are, from left front, Bishop James J. Gerrard and Father Thomas Landry, OP; rear, Father Maurice H. Lamontagne, Father William H. O'Reilly, Msgr. Daniel F. Shalloo, Father Daniel E. Carey, Father James F. Kenney. Msgr. Arthur G. Considine, Msgr. Maurice Souza, Father John G. Carroll. (Gaudette photos)
Is cable network way to go? NEWYORK(NC)- Thesecretary for communications of the U.S. Catholic Conference is recommending thanhe USCC join the new National Interfaith Cable Coalition developed by mainline church groups with encouragement from the cable television industry. The coalition plans later this year to launch the Vision Interfaith Satellite Network, which would carry programming developed by each faith group into the homes of cable TV subscribers. The USCC official, Richard H. Hirsch, said that the proposal that the USCC join the coalition will be considered at the Jan. 19-21 meeting of the USCC Committee on Communication in New York. Any recommendation of the committee would then go to the March meeting of the USCC Administrative Board, a 50-bishop panel which oversees USCC activities between general meetings of the U.S. bishops. Hirsch said the project began
with a call last spring from Robert Thompson. vice president of Telecommunications Inc. of Denver. owner of the largest multiple cable system - 8.1 million subscribers -- in mainline faith groups in a 24-hour ecumenical cable channel. The cable firm's interest, Hirsch said, arose from concern over the "electronic church" programming it had carried and the scandals that were claiming national attention. He said the firm felt that mainline faiths better renected the affiliations of cable subscribers. Hirsch said the Denver firm and other cable system owners are offering free access on one of their channels and also discussing contributing to the interfaith network's initial operating costs. "Once it reaches 14 million to 16 million subscribers, the network will be attractive as an advertising medium:' he said, "and then it can be supported by advertising." The proposal for joining, he said, will include a recommenda-
tion that the new network become the distribution vehicle for the Catholic Telecommunications Network of America, which was created by the U.S. bishops in 1981. At present, he said, CTN A programs go to dioceses, each of which must arrange their use on local cable systems. In places ~here Cathollcs are a small minority, their claims for time on cable systems do not carry much weight, he said. But under the new network system, he said, owners of multiple cable systems in different localities will distrib~ ute the programming on all their systems. Hirsch said he had emphasized to industry officials, however, that the proposal for a new ecumenical channel would not be acceptable if it were used as a justification for taking diocesan programs off other channels where they had previously secured time. Turn to Page Six