01.18.73

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Bishops List· Elements To Stress In Religion Training of Faithful WASHINGTON (NC) - The bishops of the United States have approved a document listing the fundamental elements of faith which must be stressed in the religious formation <)f Catholics of all ages. The document-"Basic Teach-

ings for Catholic Religious Education"-is addressed to parents, Catholic schools, Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD) programs, and to those who give courses in adult religious education. Spokesmen for the· National

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Fall River, Mass., Thurs., January 18, 1973 "'· 3 © 1973 The Anchor $4.00 per year' VoI. 17,."1110. PRICE 10¢

Christian Unity Services Put Stress on Prayer With a world-wide stress on prayer in common this year, Christians throughout the Fall River Dioc.:lse hare planned ecumenical services that will bring Catholics and Protestants together in prayer. In Fall River, the Greater Fall River Clergy Association will meet at Venus (H Milo Restaurant at 12 Noon <)n Monday, Jan. 22 for a dinner-Worship service. To be announced at the dinnerworship w;1I be plans for a greater ecumenical gathering sometime in March.

Jan. 18-25

will be led by Rev. Joseph Trawinski, O.r.M. Conv., pastor of the parish,and Rev. Henry Arruda, assistant pastor of Immaculate Conception Parish, New Bedford. . The preacher for the occcasion will be Rev. Percy Lambert, Turn to Page Three

Conf~rence of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) said that they expected to print and distribute the document as quickly as possible. The basic teachings document, they said, should not be confused with either the General Catechetical Directory issued by the Vatican in 1971, or the National Catechetical Directory - the American adaptation of the general directory-which is now in progress. Those documents are intended to offer practical guidelines for religious instruction. The basic teachings document, on the other hand, Ifsts the basic doctrines that are to be taught in religious instruction. It does not try to rank the doctrines in order of importance, nor does it give instructions for methods of teaching.

Leading worship in the Fall River gathering wiII be Very Rev. Gabriel Blain, q.P., Prior of the Dominican Community; and, Rev. Donald Jailtes, Pastor of the Church of the Ascension. New Bedford Our Lady of Perpetual Help; North Front Street, New Bedford, will be the scene of an ecumenical service: planned by the Churches of the North End of New Bedford. The service, scheduled to begin at 7 P.M., Sunday, Jan. 21,

policy and review committee for the National Catechetical Directory. The other members of the ad hoc committee were Bishop Clarence E. Elwell of Columbus, Ohio; Auxiliary Bishop John J. Graham of Philadelphia; Auxiliary Bishop John B. McDowell of Pittsburgh, and Auxiliary Bishop William Eo McManus of Chicago. The final text had been approved by the Vatican's Congregation for the Clergy before it was sent out to the bishops for their vote. "All religious education is formation in Christ," the document said. "Religious education is proclaiming to others the Gospel of the risen Lord, while showing that this 'Good News' alone gives meaning to life. So the faith, Turn to Page Two

NEW BEDFORD:

Four Schools Merge, One Closes Four parochial schools in New ently attending both schools will Bedford will be merged and a . be accommodated, but only one fifth faces closing in an effort First Grade will be admitted to strengthen and maintain next year. Depending on the Catholic schools in spite of 'the number who register, some loss of Sisters. The decision was dasses may be held at St. John's made by the Diocesan Board of and Holy Name for a year or Education last Thursday after two. St. Mary's School, also staffed weeks of study and consultation with local pastors and with the by the Sisters of Mercy, will remain open provided a sufficient Sisters involved. Under the new plan St. John's number of Sisters agree to teach School will merge with St. at the school. The Sisters of St. Joseph who James' School, using the St. James' building. Holy Name staff St. Theresa's School have School will merge with Holy announced that they will be unFami'ly Elementary School, using able to staff the school next the Holy Family facilities. In year. The Sisters of St. Joseph both cases all the children pres- will continue to staff St. Joseph's

Fall R'iver Maryknoller To Direct , Rebuilding Project in Nicaragua .

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Rev. John M. Breen, M.M., Nicaragua will act as coordiMaryknoll's Regional Superior nator between Maryknoll and offor Central America and a nat- ficials of the Nicaraguan governive of Fall River will leave short- ment and the Church, Father ly' for Managua, Nicaragua to Hill said. Father d'Escoto's fathstart planning a project to build er is the Nicaraguan Ambassaa permanent model community dor to Japan. in the earthquake-torn capital "The generosity of the people city of Nicaragua. of Nicaragua and other Father Breen will be joined by other Maryknollers from the area who are specialists in various phases of community development. Father i3reen entered Maryknoll in 1944 from Holy Name Parish in Fall River. He 's the son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Michael J. Breen. Ordained in 1951, Father Breen, 52, was assigned ·to the Maryknoll missions of Guatemala, where, in 1957, he was named Regiona~ Superior. Rev. Raymond A. Hill, M.M., the mission society's newly-elected Superior General, made the announcement concerning Father Breen's role in building this permanent model community. Rev. Miguel d'Escoto, M.M., Maryknoll's Director of Social Communications and a citizen of REV. JOHN M. BREEN, M.M. ~.

PRAYERS FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY

"The most effective methodology is expected in teaching these basic beliefs," said the document. "Due consideration should be shown for the listener's level of maturity and understanding." The approval of the document required a two-thirds affirmative vote by the bishops. The bishops voted by mail-in ballots which they received shortly after their annual meeting here in November. The approval marked the culmination of two years of writing, consultation and revision by'the bishops' ad hoc committee responsible for the document. The committee was headed by Archbishop John F. Whealon of Hartford, Conn., who is also chairman of the U. S. bishops' committee on doctrine and their

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countries, especially the United States, indicates that the immediate needs of the people of Managua are being taken care of and will be taken care of for some time," said Father d'Escoto, who flew to Managua immediately after the December 23 earthquake which destroyed much of the city of 325,000 people. "I spoke with Church and government officials in Managua and they indicated to me that what is most drastically needed is permanent housing for the people who lost everything in the quake," he said. According to plans outlined by Fathers Hill, d'Escoto and Breen, Maryknoll will create a permanent autonomous community of about 1,000 families, all of whom will contribute to its planning and construction. ."What is most important is that the people participate in every stage of planning and building," said Father d'Escoto, who was involved in similar projects, but on a larger scale, during six years as a missioner in Santiago, Chile. Turn to Page Fifteen

SChool which can accommodate some of the students from St. Theresa's. In commenting on the mergers, Rev. Pat.rick J. O'Neill, Superintendent of Diocesan Schools, explained that the Sisters of Mercy who staff five elementary scho01s in New Bedford had notified the diocese in midDecember that there would be one-third fewer Sisters available for New Bedford schools next year. ,In actual numbers this would be f'pproximately 14 Sisters in place of the current 23. Several meetings were held with area pastors and principals to determine how the five schools staffed by the Sisters of Mercy {;ould best adjust to this shortage. Rather than simply closing two or three schools, the merger approach was adopted. The new arrangement wi1l provide three strong schools staffed by the Sisters of Mercy in the north, central and southern sections of the city. Father O'Neill stressed that a number of details remain to be worked out, but that diocesan authorities feel that this was the only practical solution in the face of the Sister shortage. He Tum to Page Two

Fall River Area High Schools Make Plans The principals of Bishop Connolly High School, Bishop Gerrard High School and Sacred Hearts Academy of Fall River met recently to discuss procedures in recruitment for the coming academic year. Taking the initiative from the recent National Bishops' Letter on Catholic Education entitled, "To Teach as Jesus Did," Fr. Thomas Gibbons, S.J., Sr. Sylvia, and Sr. Virginia plan on presenting to all Catholic parents in the Fall River area the value and importance of Catholic High Turn to Page Six


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01.18.73 by The Anchor - Issuu