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Priests and lay people of the Diocese of Fall River will participate in studies aimed at giving information .to American Bishops who will go to Rome in the Fall as delegates from the United States to the Synod' of Bishops meeting in the Eternal City on Septmber 30th. One of two topics to be discussed at the Synod will be the Priestly Ministry. The American Bishops wish their delegates to
have been asked to poll both priests and lay people on different aspects of the topic. The . priests a~"cl lay people of the Fall River Diocese will provide commc'nt and attitudes on PricstIy Spiritual Life and Development. Other dioceses will be re-·. sponsible for collecting data on additional aspects of the priesthood. On March 29 Archbishop Humberto S. Medeiros of Boston will
and lay persons from the two archdioceses and nine dioceses of the six New England States. At this meeting results of various diocesan polls and surveys and studies will be presented. This information, along with similar data from all dioceses of the country will guide those Bishop's who will be chosen by . the American bishops to, represent them at the Synod in Rome. The poll of lay persons of the
21. These forms will be given out to all adults and young adults at Mass, the forms will be immediately filled out and collected, and each parish "will tally the results and forward these to an area director by February 24. The results of the polls of all 'parishes will be gathered, collated and presented at the Boston meeting. Priests will receive a more extended form asking comment
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The ANCHOR An Anchor of Ihe Soul, Sure ami Firm-51. Paul
Fall River, Mass., lh ... rsday, Feb. 11, 1971 ..... $4.00 per year V o I. 1511 1""1110. 6 © 1971 The Anchor PRICE 10¢.
Catholic Schools Crisis Grows Within Diocese' Underscoring the continuing school in Swansea: It is expectcrisis in Catholic schools ,in the ed that these will continue in . Diocese was the. announcement operation. The Sisters have explained over last weekend t.hat three schools staffed by the Sisters of that a shortage of Sisters and St. Joseph will clOse in June of vocations to the religious life because of the shortage of Sis- compels them to close the ters to teach in them. Affected schools with lowest enrollments. will be 493 children currently The Sisters of St. Joseph have enrolled in Blessecl Sacrament . been in Blessed Sacrament and and St. Roch's schools in Fall St. Roch's since 1902 and in St. River and St. Louis de France Louis de France since 1930. The Fall River based religious School in Swansea. The Sisters also staff St. congregation has been handicapMathieu and St. Jean Baptiste ped with few new vocations and schools in Fall River, St. Ther- growing retirements. It has also esa and St. Joseph schools in been reported that nearly one Turn to Page Six New Bedford, and St.' Michael
Catholic Charities Appeal Area Dir'ectors to Meet with Bishop Rev. Msgr. Anthony M. Gomes, diocesan director of the Catholic Charities Appeal, has called a meeting of the diocesan area directors for Thursday morning, Feb. 18 in Catholic Charities Appeal Office, 410 Highland Ave., Fall River. The purpose of the session is to, 'discuss the mechanics, theme and procedures for launching the 1971 Appeal. This will be the 30th annual Appeal. The Special Gifts phase will start April 19 and end May 1. The house-to-house Parish Appeal will extend from May 2 to 12. This year's Appeal will highlight for the first time His Excellency Daniel A. Cronin, S.T.D.,
Bishop of Fall River, as honorary chairman. The, service and care rendered by the· Appeal over the last 30 years in the 31 agencies will stimulate this year's Appeal. Area directors to be present at the session will be Rev. Edward C. Duffy, St. John the Baptist Church, Central' Village, New Bedford .area; Rev. Bento R: Fraga, St. Joseph's Church, Taunton, Taunton area;. Rev. John J. Regan, St. Patrick's Church, !Falmouth, Cape Cod and Islands area; and Rev. Roger L. Gagne, St. Theresa's Church, South Attleboro, Attleboro' area. Msgr. Gomes is in charge of the Fall River area.
Bishop Urges Each Family Receive, Read The -Anchor S'unday is Anchor Sunday throughout the Diocese of Fall River and parishioners in all 114 parishes will be turning in renewal subscriptions for this diocesan newspaper or taking out new subscriptions for themselves or as gifts to others. Calling The Anchor "a most valuable source of continuing . religious education," Most Rev. Daniel A. Cronin, ST. D., Bishop of Fall River, has urged that The AnctlOf be received into every diocesan home and read by all members of the family. AIl:eaclY the largest weekly ne'Yspaper in Southeastern Massachusetts, The Anchor covers the counties of Bristol, Barnstable, Dukes· and Nantucket
Bishop to Ordain Rev. Mr. Methot To Priesthood Most Rev. Daniel A. Cronin, S.T.D., Bishop of the Diocese of Fall River, will ordain a deacon to the priesthood for the first time as Ordinary of the Diocese. Rev. Mr. Michel G. Methot, a. member of the Blessed Sacrament Parish, Fall River will be ordained to the priesthood at 2 o'clock on Saturday afternoon, Feb. 20 in St. Mary's Cathedral, Fall River. . Rev. Mr. Methot,- the son of Turn to Page' Eighteen
as well as part of Plym'outh county. It goes into homes in the cities of Fall River, New Bedford, Taunton, Attleboro and North Attleboro as well. as towns and villages from North Easton and Mansfield to Cape Cod. In asking that each diocesan family receive and read The Anchor every week, Bishop Cronin cites the ne,wspaper as a
means of education to meet the needs for more knowledge of God and religion and the relevance of religion to everyday life. . The Bishop writes: The Second Vatican Council, recognizing the importance of the Cathlic press, stressed that "the faithful should be advised of the necessity of reading and Turn to Page Two
Synodal Council Completes Priesthood Prospectus ROME (NC)-A document on priesthood for ,the 1971 Synod .of Bishops has been prepared by an ad hoc commission appointed by the Holy See last November. The commission, which includes theologians, .Vatican officials. pastors and one layman, drafted the document early in December availing itself of material put together the previous month by the Holy See's International Theological Commission. The ad hoc commission's December draft was in turn revised in January by the council of biShOPS of the synod's permanent secretariat in January. The priestly ministry, its problems and its function· in the Church today will be one of the principal themes of study for the
the
synod this Fall. Numerous study papers have been prepared by various bishops' various conferences on the sUb.iect as well as by the synod's council of bishops and various university faculties. Since the January meeting of t.he synodal council was to be its final nleeting before the opening of the synod itself, its document on the priestly ministry is regarded as the final dr:aft. That however does not rule out eventual alterations by the Pope or his principal aides. 'Among the members of the ael hoc commission were Archbishop Pietro Palazzini and U. S. Holy Cross Father Edward Heston, secretaries, respectively of the Congregation for the Clergy and the Congregation for ReliTurn to Page Eighteen
.No,me Sister Virginia O'Hare .Principal of Coyle-Cassidy Sister Virginia O'Hare, SUSC has been nam~d principal of Coyle-Cassidy High School in Taunton, it was announced by Rev. Patrick J. O'Neill. Sister Virginia has been principal of Bishop Cassidy High School for the past twb' years. Faculty members from Coyle and CaSSidy made the recom.mendations for the position of principal and Sister Virginia received an overwhelming majority of such recommendations.
Rev. Mr. Michel G. -Methot t,
Sister Virginia is a native of Fall River. She attended SS. Peter and Paul School, graduated from the Academy of the
Sacred Hearts and has received her' degree from Villanova College, majoring in History. Education courses have been pursued at Boston College and Bridge: water College. Sister Virginia is a member of the Provincial Council of the . Holy Union Sisters. She has' been principal of schools staffed by the Holy Union Sisters in New York and New Jersey. Since her coming to Taunton, Sister has introduced many innovatives into the curriculum at Cassidy with individualized programs, flexible scheduling and small group instruction heading the list.