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anc VOL. 49, NO.8· Friday, February 25, 2005
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DIOCESE OF
ID.'.:J,! ~
FAU.
RIVER
STATION CHURCHES
FEB. 25 - MARCH 4, 2005
-. Eucharistic exposition will take place following the morning Mass until 1/2 hour prior to the evening Mass unless otherwise noted.
Fri., Feb. 25 St. Mary, North Attleboro - 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Masses Sat., Feb. 26, St. Joseph, Attleboro - 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Masses
Mon., Feb. 28 Our Lady of Victory, centerville - 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. Masses Tues., Mar. 1 St. Anthony, Taunton - 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. Masses Wed., Mar. 2 Holy Family, Taunton - 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. Masses Thurs., Mar. 3 Holy Rosary, Fall River - 3 p.m. Exposition and 7 p.m. Mass Fri., Mar. 4 St. Mary, New Bedford - 8 a.m. Exposition and noon, 7 p.m. Masses
Reflection Day targets leaders. ofeucharistic liturgies in diocese ~
Father Richard N. Fragomeni, well-known liturgist and frequent visitor to the Fall River diocese, will be the presenter.
EAST FREEfOWN-A Lenten Day of Reflection that keys on the various leadership roles of clergy and laity in eucharistic celebrations will be held March 8, beginning at 10 a.m., at St. John Neumann Parish. Father Richard N. Fragomeni, a priest of the Diocese of Albany, N.Y., whoisassociate professor of liturgy and homiletics as well as chair of the Department of Word and Worship at Catholic Theological Union in Chi-
cago, will be the speaker. The theme will be, "Come to the Feast: An Invitation to Eucharistic Transformation." ''We will be focusing on the Eucharist, and there are many fonns of eucharistic celebrations that will be presented during this Year ofthe Eucharist called by Pope John Paul II, and this reflection day will be about those," saieJ Deacon Bruce Bonneau, director of the Diocesan Office of Religious Education, one of three diocesan agencies cosponsoring the event. Besides Mass, other eucharistic celebration include eucharistic adoration, Benediction, exposition of the Blessed Sacrament in the context of morning and evening
Turn to page 12 - Reflection
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State committee hears testimony on stem-cell bill BY CHRISTINE TOLFREE THEPtLOT
BOSTON - Lawmakers, scientists, citizens and Catholics gathered at a Statehouse committee hearing on February 16 to join in the heated debate over embryonic stem-cell research. Those in support of a new bill sponsored by Senate President Robert E. Travaglini, D-Boston, said they wanted to support the research in an ethically responsible manner, but those who opposed the bill maintained that the research was, by it's very nature, immoral. State Sen. Jack Hart, D-Boston, co-chairman of the joint Economic Development and Emerging Technology Committee, opened the hearing by admitting that embryonic stem-cell research is a "complicated" issue that needs to be examined from all sides - from the health care, economic development, legal and ethical dimensions. ''We owe it to the people of the Commonwealth and it is our responsibility to examine this issue all of those sides, even, as I said before, just as important the moral side," he said. ''We are faced with an unprecedented opportunity to save lives and help children recover from illness," he said. Travaglini introduced the bill and said he felt ethical standards should be based on scientific research. He stressed that his bill bans human reproductive cloning. The bill however promotes so-called "therapeutic cloning" often referred to by its technical name: somatic cell nuclear transfer. The procedure is a type of
cloning in which an embryo with the same genetic makeup of a patient is created and then destroyed for stem-cells. In her testimony before the committee, associate director for public policy at the Massachusetts Catho-
Turn to page 12 - Testimony
from
FATHER TADEUSZ Pacholczyk, of the Fall River diocese, provides testimony before a Statehouse committee debating embyonic stem-cell research. (Photo by Greg Tracy, The Pilo~
Mashpee parish reaches out to new parents Editor's note: This is the first ofa two-part feature on the PreJordan Ministry at Christ the King Parish in Mashpee. The second part will run in next week's Anchor.
BY HEIDI BRATTON
"You and your wife will be the first teachers ofyour child in the ways ofthe Faith. May you be the best of teachers, bearing witness
to the Faith by what you say and do."
Do you recognize that beautiful Catholic blessing? If not, don't be embarrassed. Many Catholics do not. It may be because you have not recently participated in the fIrst Rite of Initiation into the Catholic Church, namely baptism, or perhaps it is because the words got lost amid the orchestration of a formal Church event. Whatever the reason, Msgr. Ronald A. Tosti, pastor of Christ the King Parish in Mashpee, believes that the words are important enough not to be missed. More than that, he has placed the baptismal blessing at the core of an evangelization program he has instituted at his . parish called the Pre-Jordan Ministry. The program is much like the Pre-Cana program already in use in the broader Catholic Church. Like Pre-Cana which prepares NEW PARENTS, Wendy and Joseph Smith, center, are couples for both their wedding, flanked by team members Betsy Caldwell, left, and Carmel and more importantly, for their Catania, right, at a recent Pre-Jordan evening at Christ the life together after the big day, Pre-
King Parish, Mashpee. (Photo by Heidi Bratton)
Turn to page 16 - Pre-Jordan