Majority Favors School Aid Poll S!h,ows
The ANffiOR
All Faiths For Help A majority of adults in the Diocese of Fall River-regardless of religious belieffavor some form of govern-
~~'
'A
1
.'~ >";!\~':~t
mental aid to parochial schools according to a Harris poll. C' Three out of every five adults, An Anew of the Soul, Sure and Firm - ST. PAUL the poll reveals; favor assistance to financially pressed parochial \ schools while less than one out of three are opposed. PRICE 10¢ The Harris survey indicates Š 1970 The Anchor $4.00 per Year that four out of five--80 per cent-of Catholics within the diocese are in favor of governmentt::::::z_ ~ al assistance -with 13 per cent in opposition. WEEK OF PRAYER IN SOMERSIET: Rev. Merrill Emery, pastor The non-Catholics within the of the First Congregotional Church of Somerset, welcomes the territorial limits of the Southeast- c.cng~egation to a service of prayer in his church on Sunday ern Massachusetts See also favor evenl~g, as the We:k of Prayer for Christian Unity opened in parochial school assistance 49 the diocese. Seated In the chancel is Rev. Richard R. Gendreau, ' to 42 per cent. The nationally -known poll was assist~nt at St. Michael's, Ocean Grove, who read the litany conducted in three Bay State di- of Unity. The Somerset-Swansea Ministerial Io.ssociation sponoceses-Boston, Springfield and sored the affair. Fall River-to gain answers to questions which have been bandied about during. the last few years. Opinions generally represented the thinking of a parI ticular individual who then gave One Fall River parish school will close its doors next his view as the majority opinion. Marking the Church Unity Oc- seph Church, New 'Bedford, with A conclusion of the poll indiJune, another is in the process of gaining the necessary cated that it is unlikely that gov- tave, ecumenical services are be- the sermon delivered by Rev. administrative approval to follow suit and the same de- ernment aid would have much ing held this week throughout Phillip Cleveland of the First cision appears hnminent in a third parish. All closings must effect on the decline in the num- the Diocese. A series of observ- Congregational Church and ber of Religious teach~rs, which ances is being held in the Attle- scripture readings, hymns and be approved by the Diocesan boro area, beginning last Sunday prayers led "by members of the Board of Education before future status of its parochial is described as one of the most with a ceremony at La Salette clergy and laity of participating serious of long-range problems any formal school closing ac- school. . . ., Shrine, and continuing through churches. . In each mstance, the fmanclal facing Catholic schools. the week with sermons and diaThe churches included Wesley "Government aid could be a ~lon can be taken by a par- squeeze is responsible. Costs logue programs between Chris- Methodist, St. Andrew EpiscoIsh board. have soared far in excess of in- serious trap for the Catholic tians of all faiths. pal, St. George Greek Orthodox, St. Louis' parish school board come making it impossible to schools in such a case," the auand St. Anthony, St. Casimir, St. Protestant, Greek Orthodox has already voted to close next continue the educational pro-' thors of the poll reported. "It Kilian, St. Mary, Immaculate (;ould obligate' the Church to and Catholic churches sponsored June. The parish a{!visory toun- grams. And, in all three cases, a program last night at St. Jo- Conception, Our Lady of Per- . Turn to Page Three Turn to Page Six cil, which has no jurisdiction, petual Help, Our Lady of Fatima has been informed. and St. Theresa Catholic, in adThe parish education board of dition to St. Joseph and First St. Joseph's school is considerCongregational. ing the future of its school after A coffee hour in St. Joseph's June of. this year. A report will school hall followed the service. be made tonight to the parish Held last Sunday was an. inadvisory council. ter faith service in Somerset. Before the week ends, authoriStonehill College in North Easton, the only Catholic college in the Fall River ties in St. Patrick's parish, Fall Diocese, will undertake a $15,000,000 capital development program for the 1970's, the River, will also consider the
Fall River, Mass., Thursday, -Jan. 22, 1970 Vol. 14, No.4
"~f',~"--
Consider Future Of Three Parish See City Schools
Ecumenical Services Mark Unity Octave in Diocese
Stonehill Announces $15-Million Drive To Improve North Easton College
Increase Rates For Student Tuition Rev. Patrick J. O'Neill, D.Ed,. diocesan superintendent of schools, has announced that the Diocesan School Board has authorized the increase of tuition in all elementary schools in the diocese. After studying reports from pastors with elementary schools under their jurisdiction, the diocesan education authorities voted to increase the annual tuition from $100 to $150. Parents of pupils will be required to pay $75 and the parish will meet the difference with a $75 per pupil subsidy. Parishes with no schools will be obliged to pay the $75 subsidy, while the parents of the pupils will pay the remaining $75. The increase will go into effect in September, 1970.
Very Rev. John T. Corr, C.S.c., president has announced. The first phase, for $5,000,000 within the next three years, will be initiated at a dinner in March for campaign leaders and friends of the college. Increased Library Resources tinued growth in academic Fo~nded in 1948, co-edu$200,000. ~trength and to meet immediate cational Stonehill has never needs generally as follows: Strengthened Faculty Endowhad a major campaign seekment $1,000,000. ing funds publicly, although limited efforts :1ave been made among close friends and associates of the college. Since its founding, Stonehill has grown from 127 students to its present enrollment of 1,350 with 100 faculty members - one of the highest faculty Istudent ratios of any Catholic college. Although increasing numbers now attend Stonehill from out of the area, more than threequarters of the enrollment is' from Massachusetts and more than one-third of its 2,400 graduates still reside in the Fall River Diocese. During the 1960's, Stonehill added more than $8,000,000 in capital improvements to its 500- . acre campus. , The funds for the first phase of the new development program 'are being sought to ensure con-
VE~Y
REV. JOHN T. CORR
Academic and Curricula Development $550,000. Scholarship Endowment and Student Aid $500,000. Refurbishing Existing Facilities $250,000. Construction of a Student Union $2,500.000. Total $5,000,000. Joseph E. Fernandes of Norton, chairman of the campaign steering committee, noted the college accomplishments, saying: "Stonehill College has had a remarkable growth, academically and physically. It has more than doubled its student enrollment and faculty and added more than $8,OOe,OOOof capital improvements during the last decade alone. Its campus structure, l'ducational achievements and community service programs have been steadily extended-all Turn to Page Six
Sisters Transfer -College Control
ST. LOUIS (NC)-Legal ownership and control of Fontbonne College, Catholic four-year liberal arts college for women; has been transferred from the Sisters of St.. Joseph of Carondelet to a board of 18 trustees, most of them laymen, it was announced here by Sister Roberta Schmidt, Fontbonne president. The college, founded and conducted by. the Sisters of St. Joseph since 1H23, will continue to be identified as a Catholic college, Sister Roberta said. "Now, as in the past, the college will be guided by the spiritual and intellectual ideals of the Sisters of St. Joseph who will continue to be its core group," she added . .r Fontbonne' becomes the third Catholic institution of higher . education in the St. Louis area to grant laymen a controlling interest h a school previously operated by a religious order. Webster College, conducted by the Sisters of Loretto, and St. Louis University (Jesuits) took the step in 1967.