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FALL RIVER DIOCESAN NEWSPAPER 'FOR SOUTHEASTMASSAOHtJSET1'S CAPECOO& ntE1SLANDS
,. '.,'. ", f;j;'\~-"~ .... FALL RIVER, MASS.
VOL. 45, NO.7¡ Friday, February 16, 2001
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Southeastern Massachusetts' Largest Weekly • $14 Per Year
Diocese's cathedral church in major overhaul ~
St. Mary's Cathedral in Fall River is expected to welcome back parishioners for Ash Wednesday ceremonies. By JAMES N. DUNBAR
FALL RIVER - Like every owner of an old house, Father Edward J. Healey has discovered that what starts out as simple fixit can turn into a complicated reconstruction project. The task gets incredibly complicated when the house is the vintaged 1852-era St. Mary's Cathedral, the Fall River diocese's mother church, and Father Healey, rector for two years, faCing a myriad of unexpected and dovetailing decisions. "It all began on Oct. 23, 2000 when the decision was made to replace the old metal heating pipes embedded in the concrete slab under the wooden floor of the cathedral and put in new ones," Father Healey said in an interview last week. The initial task was to replace the pipes with composite tubing that is more resilient and will give off more heat. That meant having to remove all the pews and then remove the flooring to get at the slab. It also meant a change from a boiler that
was fed by oil to a system more efficiently heated by gas. "And now I have to laugh
as gas prices go up," he quipped. it is never chilled is in the floor," Father "The basic heat for the Cathedral so that . Healey explained. "However, the supplemental heat needed to keep the congregation warm meant installing massive vents in the walls and to do that we had to remove all the dark oak wainscoting along the walls of the church." That's when the workers discovered that much of the wood had been eaten away by termites. "The damage had been longstanding, the wood was spongy and looked like cork. We even found pills that had been put down at some time past to try to kill the termites," the rector reported. So extensive was the damage that only the wood trim could b~ salvaged and new oak panels are being fabricated. They will be stained to match the oak that dominates the wood in the Cathedral. At the same time this was being done, it was decided that with only one small restroom in the whole building, the time was right to add another. "We created that out of three quarters of the shrine room in the rear of the church under the choir loft that not many people even knew was there," he said. In room on the east side that balances STAGING DOMINATES the interior of St. Mary's Cathedral in Fall River Tum to page 16 - Cathedral . during a major reconstruction project now underway. (Anchor photo)
Jerusalem-bound, local priests travel to retreat ~
The pilgrimage will find 15 diocesan priests and Bishop Sean P. O'Malley, OFM Cap., walking the same paths Jesus did. By JAMES N.
DUNBAR
FALL RIVER - The city of Jerusalem was the starting point this week for a retreat-pilgrimage in the Holy Land currently underway for a group of diocesan priests. The spiritual retreat to many sites well-known and held sacred to Christians because of Holy Scripture was planned by Father Edward J. Healey, rector of St. Mary's Cathedral. He is a seasoned traveler in that area, having thrice visited Jerusalem and its regions, in February 1995, November 1996 and in the fall of 1999. "I have a fine and experienced guide there who I know very well and an agency I have dealt with before and we are all looking forward to a wonderful experience" said Father Healey who talked to The Anchor last week. The group left Sunday night on a Swiss Air flight Tum to page 13 - Retreat
Faith-based cancer outreach pilot program begins on Cape ~
A cancer survivor recognizes what was given and what needs be returned. By JAMES N.
DUNBAR
NORTH FALMOUTH - A faithbased cancer-support program for Catholics will begin at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish here in coming weeks and it is expected that many Catholic parishes in the Cape Cod area will soon be taking part. "Although there are other cancer support groups in the region we found in our upper Cape area that there are very few places that people can actually tum to in a faith-based community for help," Msgr. John F. Moore, pastor of St. Elizabeth's, announced' this week. "We will serve not only those who have cancer - the survivors, but their families and friends and caregivers as Tum to page 13 - Outreach
BUSY EDITOR - The Anchor's Msgr. John F. Moore makes time to establish a regional cancer support group for Catholics in his St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in North Falmouth. (Anchor photo)