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VOL. 35, NO.7.
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Friday, February 15, 1991
THEFACEOFWAR
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o FALL RIVER, MASS.
FALL RIVER DIOCESAN NEWSPAPER' FOR SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS . Southeastern Massachusetts' Largest Weekly.
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At Dallas meeting:
Conscience, morality in media discussed by bishops DALLAS (CNS) - Misunderstandings of papal authority today rest on mistaken views of conscience, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger said Feb. 4 at'a U.S. bishops' symposium held annually in Dallas under sponsorship of the Pope John XXIII Medical-Moral Research and Education Center in Braintree. Among those in att$:ndance was Bishop Daniel A. Cronin. Cardinal Ratzinger, prefect of the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. said in his keynote address that the legitimate supremacy of conscience, even of an' erroneous conscience, cannot be understood properly without
looking at the relationship that must exist between conscience and truth. If the idea of conscience is reduced to "firm, subjective conviction" with no relation to objective norms of good or evil, he said, then "Hitler and his accomplices" would be in heaven "since they carried out all their atrocities with fanatic conviction and complete certainty of conscience." He said the Psalmist's prayer, "Clear thou me from my unknown faults," contains "profoundest human wisdom" about the nature of conscience as a call to truth. "N 0 longer seeing one's guilt, the falling silent of conscience in
so many areas, is an even more dangerous sickness, of the soul than the guilt which one 'still .recognizes as such," he said. "He who no longer notices that killing is a sin has fallen further than the one who still recognizes the shamefulness of his actions, because the former is further removed from the truth and conversion." That is why Jesus considered the tax collector who recognized his sins "more justified before God than the Pharisee" who thought he was sinless and saw no need for conversion, Cardinal Ratzinger said. A basic element of conscience, Turn to Page 10
Bishop urges Lenten prayer for -.-all sid:es in Persian. Gulf_conflict
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FROM TOP, a U.S. Marine fires during land battle with Iraqi forces near IKhafji, Saudi Arabia; an Israeli boy clutches his gas mask as ht: sits in front of the rubble that was his home in Tel Aviv; Sudanese refugees carry thin foam mattresses to their tent shelters in Jordan. (eNS/ UPI-Reuters photo)
"Let us pray for all on all sides inthe Middle East conflict," Bishop Daniel A. Cronin urged worshipers who crowded St. Mary's Cathedral at noon on Ash, Wednesday for Mass and the traditional imposition of ashes.
children and grandchildren to enter into the spirit of Lent. "It is sad that children today don't see the value of Lent," he declared. "They are consumers-but Lent is the opposite of consumerism."
"Let us pray for the Lenten gift of cessation of hostilities throughout the world," continued the bishop. He suggested that the intention "that all may be brothers and sisters" be part ofevery prayer and act of self-denial offered during Lent; The season calls "for us to examine ourselves and, if necessary, to be reconciled with the Lord," the bishop said. He listed the practices of prayer, fasting and almsgiving as integral parts of Lent. At the Mass, a collection was taken for the first time in support of the churches of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. Authorized by the U.S. bishops last November. the Ash Wednesday collection will be continued through 1993. Ashes, said the bishop; "remind us of the brevity of life and of the· necessity of preparing for eternal life. They are put on our foreheads in the sign of the cr<)ss and thus call our attention to the fact that the crucifix should \le a special object of our devotion during Lent." As in the past, the bishop asked the parents and grandparents in the congregation to encourage their
MCFL opposes.AFDC cuts Massachusetts Citizens for Life has joined human service advocates in expressing outrage at Governor William Weld's proposed denial of Aid to Families with Dependent Children benefits to women in the first and second trimesters of pregnancy. "We urge the House Ways and Means Committee to reinstate the Weld administration's proposed cuts, which would place pregnant women and their children at serious risk," said Ruth Pakaluk, MCFL president. "The s'tate is leaving women with no alternatives. Massachusetts taxpayers are under court order to pay for abortions on demand under Medicaid. The sta'te's Supreme Judicial Court said the state must fund childbirth and abortion equally: if it funds one, it must fund the other. It appears Governor Weld is saying he's happy to provide free abortions, but he's not willing to provide the support .h.:cJ.:J LV :.dp these children be born," she continued. 'To deny pregnant women and children the support they so desperately need in the early stages of pregnancy, will undoubtedly pressure more \'iomen to consider abortion," she said. "I he propose"dbUdget cuts mean that pregnant women, who have been relying on assistance with finances, shelter and fuel, will be literally left out in the cold until
Lent, he said, is a time to grow holier, to intensify one's spiritual life. Pointing out that "fasting is healthy for both body and soul," he also spoke of the importance of the sacrament of reconciliation.
the third trimester of pregnancy." added Anne Kelleher, MCFL Public Affairs Coordinator. "The first six months of development are the most critical to ensure a healthy start and cannot be compensated for in the third trimester: "By cutting AFDC eligibility, more poor women will delay seeking prenatal care, which will aggravate the already overwhelming problems of infant mortality and children exposed in utero to harmful substances such as crack," added Ms. Kelleher.
IN THE Valentine month of February, love's labyrinthine ways are explored on page 8.