FALL RIVER DIOCESAN NEWSPAPIR FOR SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS VOL. 39, NO.4.
Friday, January 27, 1995
FALL RIVER, MASS.
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Bishop 0 'Malley, diocesan priests at funeral
Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy: a strong spiritual force HYANNIS PORT, Mass. (CNS) - Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, who died of pneumonia Jan. 22 at the age of 104, at the Kennedy family compound in Hyannis Port, was the spiritual force behind the Kennedy family that produced America's only Catholic president. In the tragedies that filled her life - among them a son killed in war, two sons assassinated, a daughter killed in a plane crash and a daughter who was mentally retarded - Mrs. Kennedy often referred to her Catholic faith as her source of strength. "I've learned to be brave and put my faith in the will of God," she said after President John F. Kennedy, her second son, was assassinated. On her 89th birthday in 1979 she wrote, "Every day, all my life, wherever I am, I have gone to Mass. I believe very deeply in the power of prayer and the grace of God." At a party for her 100th birthday in 1990, youngest son Sen. Edward M. Kennedy called her "the quiet at the center of the
storm, the anchor of our family, the safe harbor to which we always came." Kennedy, in a statement announcing her death Jan. 22, said: "She had a long and extraordinary life and we loved her deeply. To all of us in the Kennedy and Fitzgerald families, she was the most beautiful rose of aiL" Cardinal Bernard F. Law of Boston said Mrs. Kennedy "has exercised an influence on this whole nation" through her "deep and lasting influence on her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren." "Members of her fa~ily have served their country in many ways from the White House to the Congress to diplomatic posts to heroic dedication to the disadvantaged and to the unborn," Cardinal Law said. Mrs. Kennedy was waked at her home in Hyannis Port. Her funeral took place at St. Stephen's Church in Boston, where she was baptized July 24, 1890, when she was two days old. Turn to Page Two
MARCHING FOR LIFE: The group of diocesan pilgrims joins the March for Life in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 23. (Hickey photo)
Pro-lifers re-energize at annual March By Marcie Hickey with eNS reports March for Life participants have always had a strong sense of direction. Their annual route takes them past the buildings which house the nation's critical decision-making processes, down a street named for the principl1es America holds most dear: On Constitution Ave., the March moves through the heart of the nation's capital, as marchers seek to move the hearts of the nation. Any concerns that recent clinic violence would overshadow the March or detract from its message were allayed as it became an occasion for participants to display their commitment to peaceful dem-
onstration and for leaders to appeal for truth and healing in a nation wounded by violence of all kinds, abortion inclUded. The Washington Post put it succinctly with a headline that noted thousands marched "against abortion and violence." Crowd estimates quoted in various media ranged from 45,000 to 125,000. At the pre-March rally on the Ellipse, Nellie Gray, the annual event's unflappable organizer, said she had received phone calls and letters from abortion advocates requesting she cancel this year's March. Kate Michelman, president of the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League, implied that such gatherings pose a danger to well-meaning people
on both sides of the abortion debate. "You know I wasn't going to [cancel)," Miss Gray told the rally crowd. "We can't abandon the mothers and children." Nellie Gray was not concerned about how marchers would conduct themselves, because "she knows her people," said Marian Desrosiers, who organized the Fall River diocesan pilgrimage to the March ... After 22 years she knows the heart of the pro-life movement as a movement of peace. "We are at a crossroads in the whole pro-life movement," added Mrs. Desrosiers, assistant to Diocesan Pro-Life Apostolate director Father Stephen A. Fernandes. Turn to Page II
Pope to travel "as long as God permits" VATICAN CITY (CNS) - Pope John Paul 11 ended a Jan. 12 to 21 visit to Asia and Australia disappointed by a snub from Sri Lankan Buddhists, but proving he has the physical stamina to continue being an itinerant preacher. He told reporters he plans this year to mak(: up for canceled visits to Belgium and the United Nations, as well as visiting Africa to formally close last year's special African synod and the Czech Republic for a beatification. After World Youth Day in
Manila and a message of encouragement to Catholics in China, the rest of his trip centered on the first beatifications in Papua New Guinea, Austra.lia and Sri Lanka. He began the visit to Colombo, Sri Lanka, by reaching out to Buddhists offended by his bestselling book. Buddhist leaders boycotted his meeting with leaders of Sri Lanka's non-Christian faiths because of the pope's answers to a question about Buddhism in tne book, "Crossing the Threshold of Hope."
The book described Buddhist philosophy and practice as largely "negative" because of its emphasis on detachment from the world. It called the religion atheistic because the believer's goal is not union with God, but nirvana - the state of perfect detachment. In a later speech to Sri Lanka's Catholic bishops, the pope said interreligious dialogue and cooperation are needed "to promote respect for human life and concern for honesty and integrity in all Turn to Page 16