FALL RIVER DIOCESAN NEWSPAPER FOR SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS
t eanc 0 VOL. 29, NO.4
FALL RIVER, MASS., FRIDAY, JANUARY 25, 1985
Obstetrician late
Swansea couple • remaIn
Pro-lifers • C:OntIllue
•• • mISSIonarIes
protests
By Pat McGowan
";Wherever there is need 'and you bring Christ, there are the missions." That's the philosophy of Mark Shea, 38, and his wife Linda, 34. Growing up, Linda in Swan sea and Mark in Portsmouth, N.H., both dreamed of mission life in a far-off land; but it took a while for the dream to come true. They met at St. Francis Col· lege, Biddeford, Me., and mar· ried in 1969, when Linda was a freshman and Mark a junior. Linda left college at that time, earning her degree 'later, while Mark continued to graduation. ·Both had become secular Fran· ciscans while at college and the ideals of St.Fraricis guided them as they moved to Erie, Pa., where Mark taught moral theology at Villa Maria College. . In Erie the couple joined an inner-city community whose pur IN SUBFREEZING cold, Father Thomas L. Rita pose was to fill participants with rally. Story at right. (Rosa Photo) the Christian spirit so they might return to their home parishes as zea1ous, loving members. The Sheas w.ere powerfully moved by the group and when Issues as varied as geography pne Sunday the homily dealt with the need for lay ministry in :the foreign missions, "it took us only about four hours to de cide. to volunteer," said Mark. They accepted an assignment VATICAN CITY (NC) - Pope the 8.6 million popu'lation is to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, only John Paul II's Jan. 26-Feb. 6 Catholic, has an average of one to have it withdrawn when the trip to four South American and priest for every 6,000 church Ethiopian government decided Caribbean countris affords him members.' not to admit children of mis the chance to discuss issues as 1ihe result is "a lack of reli sioners to the nation. "We could varied as the geography in the gious and moral formation so have gone without ·the children," regions he plans to visit. that specific aspects of Christian said Mark, "but of course that His sixth trip to Latin Am life are lax," according to the was impossible." erica will take him to hot, apostolic nunciature in Peru. Their dream seemed to have steamy jungles, desert oases and This is especially true of fam receded but suddenly word reach mountain cities. He plans to visit ily life. ed the Sheas that Cardinal Pio Maraca'ibo, Venezuela, which is "Irregular activities such as Taofinu'u, archbishop of the dio 25 feet below sea level and Cuz concubinage and divorce and re cese of Samoa-Apia and Toke1a'u co, Peru, nestled 10,000 feet marriage are ample. The practices and apostolic administrator of high in the Andes Mountains. He of abortion and contraception the diocese of Samoa-Pago Pago, plans to talk to bishops, workers, are on the rise," according to 'was looking for a couple to teach Indians and politicall leaders and the nunciature. in his seminary in Western Sa visit shantytowns and presiden Birth control is part of the moa and to nurse. Children were tial palaces. U.S. government's foreign aid. welcome. On the pope's itinerary are The Reagan administration has Barely pausing to ask "Where Venezuela, Eouadar, Peru and said it will not fund programs is Western Samoa?". the coup1e Trinidad-Tobago. which perform or promote abor agreed to the new opportunity, tion as a method of birth control. Latin America is heavily Cath I Linda took a crash nures' aide olic in numbers of church mem~ However, the ad.ministration course and off they set with bers, history, tradtion and cul funds other forms of population their tots to the South Pacific. ture. But there is a shortage of control, including family coun· The children were Jeremy, native clergy and the church seling programs and contracep now 14, then 2Y2, and Jonathan, ' still relies strongly on mission tion. now 11, then 5 months. Benja aries. Two scheduled Ibeatifications Ecuador, where 91 percent of an da planned ordination will ofTurn to Page Nine
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$8 Per Year
Papal trip begins
Bedford pro-life
tomor~ow
fer the pope platforms for stress ing renewal of church life and Christian values.. The beatifications, th efirst in Latin America, are scheduled for Feb. I in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and Feb. 2 in Arequipa, Peru:The .ordination of priests is sched· uled for Feb. 3 in Lima, Peru. In Venezuela. the pope plans to lunch with iron and steel workers. In Ecuador and Peru he is scheduled to visit urban shantytowns, where many mi· grants find makeshift homes while seeking city jobs. In Peru and Eouador, the pope will visit Indian~, who form 30 percent of the Ecuadoran popula tion and 45 percent of the Peru vian. ,Ecuador's bishops paint a bleak picture of Indian life. "They live in huts, without electricity, without water and without sufficient means of com munication. The average life of an Indian is 45 years. Of every seven children only two to three Turn to Page Six
By NC News Service Thousands of pro-lifers across the United States - some brav ing sub-zero temperatures marcheel, prayed and rallied Jan· uary 22 to commemorate the 12th anniversary of the Su preme Court's decision legalizing abortion. The only hitch in a New Bed ford rally occurred when obstet rician Dr. Joseph Santos, a scheduled speaker, was delayed becaus'l he was delivering a baby. His reason was applauded by l~O pro-lifers wearing black armbands who awaited him in subfreezing temperatures. Some 35 pro-choice demonstratorS.were also present, sand Mary Ann Booth of New Bedford Citizens for Life, a rally organizer. 'lbere was some shouting but no con frontations, she said. The pro·life rally was preced ed by a march from the old New !Bedford High School building to the Free Public Library, where the speaking program took place. Among speakers were Father Thomas L. Rita, Fall River diO: cesan director of the Pro-Life Apostolate, ,Fall River Rabbi Norbert Weinberg and Or. Cyn thia Kruger, a N<ew Bedford city councilor and a Southeastern Massachusetts University faculty member. Ms. Booth said the rally was also highlighted by singing of a pro-life song composed fo'r the occasion. In Boston's Faneuil Hall Jan. 20, evangelical pro-life activist Franky Schaeffer spoke of the possibility that the 20th century will be remembered as the cen tury of genocide. The crowd was buoyed by the success of suburban Brockton pro-lifers, who succeeded recent-· ·Iy in pressuring the Goddard Medical Center to stop perform ing abortions. They applauded enthusiastic ally the mention of Archbishop Bernard F. Law of ·Boston, whose recent initiative to see that no ,human should have to undergo an abortion because of financial need ,has received support from the pro-life community.' Schaeffer said the 20th cen tury is the century of death used as the solution to social prob 'lems on a scale heretofore un imagined ·in the annals of human history. No tyrant, no leader Turn >to ~age Eleven