SERVING ••• SOUTHEASTERN MASSACHUSETTS CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS
t eanc 0 VOL. 25, No. 7
f?ALL RIVER, MASS., THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1981
20c, $6 Per Year
Bishops study morality DALLAS (NC}-Bishop Daniel A. Cronin Was among :WO U.S. and Canadian bishops participating in a workshop in Dallas to study the complex dimensions of human sexuality nnd personhood. The workshop, sponsored by the Pope John ~III MedicalMoral Research Education Genter in St. Louis and funded by the Knights of Columbus, provided the North American chUJ,ch leaders with an informal, private forum to discuss moral aspects of such issues as homoslexuality, contraception, transslexuality and moral norms for married, single, celibate and divor<:ed individuals. Explanations and basic information on the physiological aspects of sex and human behavior were outlined for the bishops by medical experts. Theologi~ms and ethicists discussed popular methodologies and the development of contemporary theology on sexuality and marriage. In a taped message to the bishops, Pope John Paul II laud.ed the participants for examining human sexuality and personhood. "This simultaneous treatment is not only praiseworthy, it is necessary," the pope remarked. He also urged the prelates to "recall that the words of our Savior are not words of accusation or condemnation, rather they are words of invitation,
words of truth spoken in love and compassion." Archbishop Pio Laghi, apostoliC delegate in the United States, joined the bishops for two days of the workshop. In a homily at a workshop Mass, Archbishop Laghi asked his fellow bishops to respond to the needs of their people in areas· of human sexuality with "pastoral charity, human compassion and fraternal support." "People come to us with problems that seem to be too much for them. People who find it difficult if not impossible to observe moral teaching. People whose lives are settings for problems you are discussing in these workshops," the delegate said. "We cannot offer· miracles, but we can offer what Jesus offered, doctrine and actions, teaching and deeds," he added. One day was devoted to pastoral considerations of selected questions on human sexuality. These included chastity education, contraception and the contraceptive mentality, homosexuality, masturbation, transsexual surgery and sexual therapy. "The exceptional cases of human sexuality make us realize our need to sharpen our concept of what sex really is," said Dominican Father Albert Moraczewski, who discussed transsexual surgery. Such rare cases as that of a transsexual, usualLy an individual with a male anatomy who
sees himself from an early age as a woman, or the hermaphrodite, a person with both male and female sexual organs, illustrate the complexity of making moral decisions in certain areas of human sexuality, he said. Father Moraczewski added that medical studies have not yet shown how sex is determined. Certain cases, he continued, have shown that it is not simply determined through chromosomal or obvious anatomical factors. The priest, who is al~o a staff member at the John XXIII center, said that the large turnout of bishops for the two educational workshops seems to indicate "that the leadership is not closing ·its eyes to new developments and concerns. It doesn't say 'I've got my mind made up, don't bother me with facts,' but on the contrary says, 'Let me hear some more facts,'" he stated. Bishop Bernard Law of Springfield-Cape Girardeau, Mo., chairman of the Pope John Center's board, spoke of the workshop as a means of dlluminating church teachings on human sexuality "for ourselves, not just for others." . "One can be totally convinced that the thing is right, but that doesn't mean that you don't see the practical difficulties that people are facing," he added. Related story and picture, page 6.
Catholic press plays vital .role ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. (NC) - The Catholic press is invalua~le in bringing the full story of what is happening in the church to the Catholic people, the president of the Catho:tic Press Association said in a Catholic press month statement. "It is difficult to envision a ohurch without the CathoHc press," said the CPA president, Ethel Gintoft. "Our informatil)n would be limited in scope and amount. Our perspective would be merely parochial." Mrs. Gintoft, associate editor of the Catholic Herald Citizen, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, continued: "Our links with the larger church and churches of other denominatio::ls would be weak. And our voices
as a faith community would be only whispers barely heard beyond the confines of our own buildings." February is celebrated annually as Catholic press month. This year's theme is "The Catholic Press: Blueprint for a Better Society." In the Fall River diocese, where Anchor Subscription Month is concurrent with Catholic Press Month, the Polish parish of St. Stanislaus, Fall River, has made a unique offer. "In honor of the Holy Jubilee Year of Our Lady of Czestochowa," announced Father Robert S. Kaszynski, pastor, "every person who either renews hisl her subscription to The Anchor
or becomes a new subscriber
this year, will have their subscription automatically renewed and paid for by the parish in 1982."
Mrs. Gintoft said an American archbishop recently commented that 90 percent of the letters he receives expressing confusion or concern over something that has happened in the church are froni people Who obtained their information from only the secular press. She said the secular press does not have the background and the space "to present all the details, clarifications, nuances and contexts in which the events of the church occur." Only the Catholic press can present full reports that help readers understand the Turn to Page Six
All systems go for pilgrim pope VATICAN CITY (NC) - Pope John Paul II will. address the people of Asia by radio and deliver a world peace message during his ·Feb. 16-27 tour of the Far East. The. two events were among highlights of the papal schedule, which includes 12 Masses in as many days. The message to Asia is scheduled for Feb. 21 from the head-
quarters of Radio Veritas, a Catholic broadcasting system, in Manila, Philippines. The talk on peace is scheduled for Feb. 25 in Hiroshima, Japan, site of the world's first atomic bomb attack in 1946. The schedule makes no men· tion of a planned stop in Karachi, Pakistan, Feb. 16 primarily for refueling the papal plane. Turn to Page Six .