The ANCHOR An Anchor 01 the Soul, Sure and Firm-St. Paul
Fall River, Mass., Thursday, Jan. 16, 1975 PRICE 15c Vol. 19, No.3 © 1975 The Anchor $5.00 per year
Schools To Stay Separate Units Bishop Connolly High School and Bishop Gerrard High School will continue to operate as separate schools for boys and for girls respectively, it was announced today by Rev. Msgr. Patrick J. O'Neill, Director of Education for the Fall River Diocese. "After considerable study and broad consultation with all interested parties, we have de· cided to retain for the present a separate school for boys and one for girls," Msgr. O'Neill stated. "A number of alternatives were suggested and will continue to be given serious consideration," he said, "but after weighing all the factors, the present arrangement seems best for now." In November, the Diocese an· nounced its intention to study the needs of Cathoilic secondary education in Fall River and "invited all who wished to offer suggestions to do so." During the intervening time questionnaires were circulated to parents
Priests' Senate Reviews Survey The January meeting of the Fall River Priests Senate was held Friday, January 10, at 11:00 A.M. at the Catholic Memorial Home, Fall River. Father Walter A. Sullivan, President of the Senate, reported on the Executive Board meeting with Most Rev. Daniel A. Cronin, Bishop of Fall River. At that time the report of the Committee for Priestly Life and Ministry was submitted to the Bishop who indicated his own encouragement' of the participation in liturgical functions of both laymen and laywomen. Co-liaisons for the National Federation of Priest Councils, Rev. Michel G. Methot and Rev. Marcel ,Bouchard, reported an increase in dues remitted for the new year. They also submitted the results of a national survey of member priests councils on a study of reconciliation. The five areas that surfaced as being most in need of reconciliation include the distribution of world resources; the alienation of youth; the tensions between libTum to Page Eight
and to students in the schools, as well as to eighth grade students in Catholic schools. In addition, the staffs of the schools involved have discussed the alternatives, and a number of meetings were held with principals, representatives of the 'l'eligious orders, and the staff of the Diocesan Office. The matter was also considered by the Board of Diocesan Consultors, an advisory hody to the Bishop. "Out of all this emerged the feeling 'that we should not hastily enter into a new arrangement which might disturb two presently sound schools," Msgr. O'Neill reported. "The possibility of merging both schools or of having one or both schools become co-educational was se· 'l'iously considered," he continued, "but these alternatives would require many complicated arrangements which could not be completed in the time available." -Bishop Connolly High School was opened by the Diocese as a Jesuit school for boys in 1966. Bishop Gerrard High School was established by the Diocese in 1972 as a merger of the former Dominican Academy, Jesus Mary Academy and Mount Saint Mary Academy. Both high schools will hold entrance examinations for new stud~nts on 'February 8th. Complete information on courses may be obtained at the schools.
Unity Week Theme Reflects Holy Year Reconciliation "Reconciled by Christ, Who Renews, Frees and Unites..." This is the theme and 'the title of the pamphlet which His Excellency, the Most Reverend Daniel A. Cronin, Bishop of Fall River, distributed to all members of the Diocesan clergy in anticipation of the Annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, to be observed next week. Prepared through the cooperation of the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement, the "Graymoor Fathers," and the Department of Faith and Order of the National Council of Churches, the booklet provides suggestions for local observances of the week, once popularly called the "Chair of Unity Octave." The obser· vances outlined have a distinct relationship to the Holy Year
1975 themes of renewal and reconciliation. During the year, as well,' there. will be the Fifth Assembly of the World Council of Churches which will have as its theme, "Jesus Christ frees and unites." The forthcoming Week of Prayer for Christian Unity may be considered, then, as an early step into a year that will see much input from many areas into the ideas of unity and reconciliation-between man and God, between man and man, and within man himself. Rev. Cornelius J. O'Neill, pastor of St. John the Baptist Church in Westport, is chairman of the Diocesan Ecumenical Commission and may be called upon to assist in planning and conducting ecumenical programs.
RECONCILED BY TI1E CI1RIST WI10RENEWS FREESAND UNITES {EPH \ 7-lOi
East Tauntonian Is Named Head Of Edmundites· ...Praise to the Clod of mern:l·~o·rounds who c.an turn c.irc.les into spirals.
1975
weel~ of prayer for c.hristian unity
Abortio'n Policy Causes Concern ·LOUISVILLE (NC)-Although they do not know for sure what lies around the corner, Catholic hospitals across the state have not encountered any problems so far-either from patients or physicians-over their policies of not allowing the performance of abortions. Officials at 14 Catholic hospitals in Kentucky-from Paducah to Ashland and from Louisville to London - reported recently that they have not had any requests for performing abortions since last year's Supreme Court decisions or since a federal· court in November declared unconsHtutinoal certain provisions of the state's new abortion law.
As the booklet points out, during the year the People of God must move ahead toward the overcoming of those things that divide the Churches and toward an obedience to the call of God in Jesus Christ: "God's plan, which he will complete when the time is right, is to bring all creation together, everything in heaven and on earth, with Christ as head." (Ephesians, 1:7-10) Impetus has been added to the Week of Prayer by the Vat· ican statement on the relations between Catholics and Jews in an atmosphere of respect for each other's views. This coming September, for example, Seton Hall University in -South Orange, New Jersey, will introduce a graduate degree program on Jewish-Christian relations. . The program has heen in the planning stage for several years and was announced just as the Vatican issued the paper that included a call for the establishment of academic centers devoted to that subject. According to the brochure prepared by the institute, the academic program will consist of two years of study and will lead to a master's degree. However, most of the 17 courses to be of'fered will be open to other students besides those in the degree program. The program is particularly designed for religion teachers and teachers seeking a specialized field; rabbis, ministers, priests and seminarians wishing to pursue advanced theological studies; and students seeking special courses.
One section of the state law that was voided said that no hospital could be required to perform an abortion "contrary to its stated ethical policy." Generally, officials at Catholic hospitals said they anticipate no problems, since their medical staffs and people in the communities are aware ofhospital policies. But some also expressed concern about the possibility of their policies being challenged. Catholic hospital officials singled out some situations ...in which a challenge could possibly be made to their abortion~ban policies: -'Places in which the Catholic hospital is the only hospital in the community; five Kentucky
Catholic hospitals fall into this category. -Reception of federal funds, as under the Hill-Burton Act; most Catholic hospitals in Kentucky have received federal money. No such problem has as yet ads'en in any of the five communities in which.a Catholic hospital is the only health facilityBardstown, London, Lebanon, Irvine and Morehead. And hospital officials in those localities said they do not anticipate any problems'. Most Catholic hospitals in the state have received federal funds, and this creates another possible area in which a Catholic hospital's anti-abortion policy could be challenged.
Rev. Henry E. Nadeau, ana· tive of East Taunton, has .been named superior of the Edmundite community at Fairholt, South Prospect St., Burlington, Vt. His term is for two years, with renewable possible for an aditional two years. In addition to his new assignment, Father Nadeau serves on the library staff of St. Michael's College, _Winooski Park, Vt., from which he graduated in 1936 and earned a master's degree in 19'18. Ordained at Burlington in 1940, he spent the 'next 10 years at the Edmundite Juniorate in Swanton, Vermont. He was superior and an instructor at Pontigny, France, birthplace of the Edmundites, from 1950 to 1954. The following year, he was assistant pastor at Whitton, England. He taught high school at Dunkirk, N. Y. and New Lon· don, Conn. From 1958 to 1965 he taught English at St. Michael's College. As well as in Vermont, the Edmundite community is represented in Alabama, Connecticut, Canada, England, France and Venezuela. Founded in 1843 in Pontigny, it takes its name from St. Edmund Rich, Archbishop of Canterbury, England from 1234 to 1240.