FALL RIVER DIOCESAN NEWSPAPER FOR SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS CAPE COlO & THE ISLANDS
t eanc 0 VOL. 26, NO. 6
FALL RIVER, MASS., FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1982
20c, $6 Per Year
Father Hoye raps credits inaction
Budget offers little cheer
WASHINGTON (NC) - Presi dent Reagan's brief mention of tuition tax credits in his budget failed to meet "either the expec tations of tuition tax credit sup porters of the repeated commit ments of the administration," said Father Daniel F. Hoye, new ly appointed general secretary of the U.S. Catholic Conierence (USCe). It was Father Hoye's first pub lic statement on any issue since being named to replace Arch bishop Thomas C. Kelly, who was named to head the Louis ville, Ky., Archdiocese. The Feb. 8 presidential budget
gives no clues as to the size of the position that tax credit legis the program envisioned or when lation should wait until Congress such a program might go into acted on his first round of econ effect.. Instead, l)uried within omic legislation. That happened page-atter-page of budget mater in 1981. Yet the message of his ial is this' one sentence: "Later new budget is that, as far as the in the year, the administration administration is concerned, tui will transmit to the Congress a tion tax credits are an idea whose plan to implement a program of time must still be deferred," he said. tax credits for families of tuition paying students." In general, the $757.6 billion budget includes little cheer for that the Father Hoye said statement gives limited encour~ Catholic groups. It advocates agement to tax credit supporters, new cuts in social programs strongly favored by many Cath but "the failure to make provis olic organizations and proposes ion now for tax credits is troub , a further cut in postal subsidies, ling. "Last year the president took Turn to Page Eleven
Whirlwind pope hits Africa
A Samaritans volunteer at work
Suicide toll rises
Between 1969 and 1978, 13 people in Provincetown took their own lives. There were 14 sui cides in Wareham, 26 in Attle boro, 33 in Taunton, 69 in New Bedford and 73 in Fall River. In the past decade, according to statistics from the state de partment of public health, sui cide has been the fastest grow ing cause of death in Massachu setts, although the common wealth totals are low compared to those of'other states.
people from all kinds of back grounds commit suicide." Another misconception is that people who talk about suicide are not the ones who will do it and that suicide often happens without warning. "In fact, a sui cidal person gives mimy clues and warnings about his or her intentions," Karnovsky said. "Almost no one commits suicide without letting others know how he is feeling. Such indications should be taken seriously." A final misconception is that And the Samaritans, a state the risk is over once the person wide suicide prevention organ shows improvement after a sui ization, estimate that an addition al 10 people attempt suicide for cidal crisis. "Most suicides' oc each 'attempt which results in· cur within three months of the death. There were 508 reported beginning signs of improvement after a severe depression," Karn suicides in Massachusetts dur ovsky continue4. "This is when ing 1979. the person has the energy to put Samaritans Executive Director his feelings into effect." Shirley Karnovsky says that The Samaritans list the five many misconceptions impede common warning signs of sui "For exam suicide prevention. or severe de cide as prolonged ple, after almost every suicide pression, suicidal threats or you hear people say that the person wasn't the type. There statements of a desire to die, simply is no type - all kinds of Turn t~ Page Eight
By Father Kenneth J. Doyle .NC News Service Pope John Paul II's schedule for his trip to West' Africa that starts today has' Vatican-wat chers gaping. It says seven days, 8,000 miles, 30 talks. Such a campaign trail would exhaust most young, athletv,: politicians. When it is under taken by a 61-year-old' whose intestines were gouged nine months ago by a would-be ass assin's bullet, it is cause for wonder.
Many people familiar with this pilgrim pope's previous journeys were sure that this one would be different, cut back from his normally strenuous schedule. But when the African agenda was announced, the prophets blushed. The tour of Nigeria, Gabon,Benin and Equatorial Guinea is scheduled at the same breathtaking pace as Pope John Paul's earlier trips. The itinerary, too, wrinkled some brows, as analysts probed the pope's purposes. The four
nations seemingly vary greatly. Nigeria is 600 miles long and the same distance across, while Equatorial Guinea is one-forti eth the size. With 80 million peo ple, Nigeria is one of the world's 10 most populous na tions, while Benin, with 3.5 mil lion people, rises from a -thin coastal strip of civilization to· a sparsely inhabited interior largely covered by jungle. The walls of Nigeria's seminaries are bulging, while Gabon has or Turn to Page Eight
What's, a good sermon?
By Hilda Young What is a good sermon? A good sermon is one I hear even when my l-year-old is dropping a ball bearing on the pews. A good sermon is more in teresting than what my 3 year:-old is doing with the , songbooks. . A good sermon rasts about 10 minutes; a tremendous ser mon lasts about seven. A good sermon has some thing in it I can tell my neigh bor who quit going to church
A good sermon has some several years ago. . thing to do with the lives we A good sermon rarely begins live, not the lives we think with the words, "As we all know, the 'Latin root of the we wish we lived. . word ... " A good sermon lingers ov.er A good sermon makes my into Monday and Tuesday meditations over vacuuming, husband forget he's timing it laundry and even car pools. on his digital watch. A good sermon is more fas A good sermon does not cinating than counting the necessarily assume all of us Stations of the CrosR, study heard the readings. Sorry, but ing the row of tiles or bal I had to. pull Mikeyout from under the pew in front of us ancing the checkbook. A good sermon is one of and settle a debate between the most important gifts the Johnny and Marie about who was going to put the envelope church can offer its faithful. in the collection basket.