t eanc 0 VOL. 35, NO.2.
Friday, January 11, 1991
FALL A:IVER DIOCESAN NEWSPAPER FOR SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS CAPE (:00 & THE ISLANDS
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Pope says Gulf war "venture with no return" -------_....._--Bishop Cronin asks prayer as Jan. 15 n.~ars WASHINGTON (CNS) - As the United Nations' Jan. 15 deadline neared for Iraq to pull out of Kuwait, Pope John Paul II was among religious leaders begging for peace and the U.S. bishops designated Sunday, Jan. 13, as a day of prayer "for peace with justice." Bishop Daniel A. Cronin asked priests of the Fall River diocese to lead special prayers on Sunday, either at Mass or in the context of another service, and, calling for prayer from all, reminded the faithful of the Gospel promise that peacemakers shall be called the children of God. Recalling his Christmas message, the bishop quoted the prophet Isaiah who wrote of the birth of the "Wonder-Counselor, the Prince of Peace... whose dominion is vast and forever peaceful." .. H ow imperfectly have we responded to the message of peace proclaimed by the angels," said the bishop in his message, adding, however, that "the fact of our imperfection should not fill us with despair but with new hope" in our reliance on the power of God "to make the crooked ways straight and the rough ways plain." The Washington Post reported the Bush administration has ruled out using nuclear weapons against Ira4' but Latin-rite Patriarch Michel Sabbah of Jerusalem said
armed conflict in the Gulf would be "a world, universal war, with atomic and chemical weapons." A papal message to foreign ministers of the 12-member European Economic Community asked that "peaceful means such as dialogue and negotiations prevail over recourse to devastating and terrifying instruments of death." The Vatican released the text of the message Jan. 5. On Jan. I, which the church marks as the World Day of Peace, the pope delivered an emotional plea. "With heartfelt sentiments my thoughts turn to the Middle East, in the hope that 1991 will be for all people a year of peace and not war," he said. On Christmas Day, the pontiff called for a peaceful solution to the crisis and warned that a Gulf war would be "a venture with no return." Vatican Radio reported that the. Catholic bishops of 12 European Economic C'ommunity nations issued ajoint statement Jan. 4 asking for a vast prayer movement in support of the pope's peace appeals. The radio station reported Jan. 6 that Mother Teresa of Calcutta sent a message to Bush and Hussein asking them to do everything to avert war. She said her message was sent in the name of the poor and "those
who would become poor" in case of war. i The notion of the Vatican stt:ering diplomatic efforts to solve the crisis was advanced by former Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Agostino Casaroli, inl a Dec. 30 interview in a Rome n~wspaper. Cardinal Casaroli said the world "urgently" needs an ihdependent mediator in the crisisl "I ,see no other way, no better w~y, to escape the blind alley in whi9h dialogue seems to have landed," he said. Although Vati~an s'ources ~,aid Cardinal Casaroli's remarks were made in a private capacity, an Iraqi official suggested the VatiFALL RIVER areaipeace hliti· atlves include a meeting at 3 p·.m. today at Fall River Government Center of representatives of local groups who will discuss possible actions to take witnessblg to pe:lce. Members ofPax Christi ofSoutheastern Massachusetts will attend a Mass for peace at I p'.m. Sunday at St. Vincent's Home 4:hapel in Fall River. A discussion of responses to the Gulf crisis will follow in the home's cafet~r~a. All are welc9me to attend th~ Mass and discussion. , A second Fall Riv1er, Gov,~rn ",ent Center gatherin" ~his Olle a demonstration for pe~cel will take p!aceat 7 p.m. Mond,y.
can would make a good mediator in the Persian Gulf crisis. "We respect the Vatican's point of view on this, and the f.act that they are ready to do something. We especially appreciate tle Vatican's position that there i:; a relationship between all the problems in the Mid'dle East, and that a solution must deal with all of them," Salih AI-Karkhi, spokesman for the Iraqi Embassy in Italy, said Jan. 4. . The Vatican said in late December it was not involved in any such diplomatic initiative, and U.S. officials have rejected linking other Middle East dispute-s to the Persian Gulf crisis. U.S. bishops repeated the calls for peace as the Iraqi pullo~t deadline neared. Speaking on behalf of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops and the U.S. Catholic Conference, Cincinnati Archbishop Daniel E. Pilarczyk, president of the twin conferences, issued the following statement: "Last August, after Iraq's brutal invasion of Kuwait, I twice called on the Catholic community in the name of our bishops' conference to pray for the victims of aggression, for effective international cooperation to protect both human rights and peace and for an effective nonviolent solution to this . .. senous cnsls.
"Since then, our bishops' conference has written our national leaders and testified before Congress sharing our condemnation of Iraq's aggression; our support for strong and peaceful pressures to halt and reverse it; oUl: deep concerns about the moral dangers and human cost of war in the Gulf; and our consistent call for the United States to continue the determined pursuit of diplomatic, political and economic pressures to secure justice and maintain peace in the Gulf region. "Now, as the world stands on the brink of war, as the United States and Iraq face fateful decisions on launching armed combat, I once again call on the Catholic community to come together in fervent prayer for peace with justice. We pray for our president, the Congress, those who make up our armed forces and diplomatic service and their families. We pray for the leaders of Iraq, their president, military forces and people; for the people of Kuwait so brutally and unjustly treated; and for the leaders, military forces and peoples of all nations involved in this crisis. "Especially on Sunday, Jan. 13, the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, it is my hope that Catholics will set aside any political or policy Turn to Page II
32 to be presented at tonight's Ball
AT LEFT, Bishop Daniel A. Cronin greets Bishop James J. Gerrard, 93, at the Ordinary's annual meeting with retired priests of the diocese, held at the Catholic Memorial Home, Fall River; at right, he and Msgr. John J. Oliveira (in rear) stand with diocesan seminarians gathered at St. :Vincent's Home, also Fall River. From left, they are Edw~rd Peck, Douglas Rodrigues, Michael Racine, Charles Jodqin, James Medeiros, Andre Faria, John Murray, William Rodrigues, Greg Mathias, David Pregana. (Studio D photos) i I
32 young ladies will ',e presented to Bishop Daniel A. Cronin at the 36th annual Bishop's Charity Ball, to -take place tonight at White's of Westport on Route Six. The ceremony will be a highlight of what has come to be the most widely known social and charitable affair in New England. Tonight's ball will be the 21 st at which Bishop Cronin will be the guest of honor. Last Dec. 16 was the 20th anniversary of his installation as bishop of the Fall River diocese. "The presentees represent parishes from the five areas of the diocese," said Rev. Daniel L. Freitas. diocesan director of t he ball.
"Every year one-third of our III parishes is given the honor of naming a ball presentee." The 1991 presentees are: Fall River area: Jennifer Ainsworth. Our Lady of Grace, North Westport; Stephanie Bergeron. St. Anne. Fall River: Melissa Cavao. St. Louis, Fall River: Kathleen E. Turn to Page II BEGINNING on page 9: a monthly cQlumn of health advice written by physicians associated with 51. Anne's Hospital, Fall River.
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Tonight! The BOshop's Ball