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VOL. 46, NO.9· Friday, March 1, 2002
FALL RIVER, MASS.
Southeastern Massachusetts' Largest Weekly • $14 Per Year
Church may be entering new phase in fighting .clergy sex abuse By JERRY FILTEAU CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE WASHINGTON - The U.S. Church may be entering a new phase in its struggle to eliminate sexual abuse of children by priests. As a result of recent events in Boston, bishops across the country may have to take a hard new look .at whether they should publicly name all priests who have been credibly accused, whether old case files. should be turned over to prosecutors,
and whether every priest who ever abused a minor should be automatically barred from ministry for life. At the same time, differences among dioceses of the Boston province - covering Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont - ' show that the evolution in Church policies will continue to vary from one diocese to the next. Some consider each diocese's ability to set its own policy to be part of the Church's Turn to page J3 - Church
THE DOMINICAN Sister's convent in Fall River, shown here from the rear courtyard, will be closing its doors soon. (Anchon'Gordon photo)
Dominicans to close convent in Fall River. Some will be going to The Landmark in Fall River, where one Dominican nun as well as members of the Holy Union Sisters are already lodged. Several have By DEACON JAMES N. DUNBAR chosen to go to Ossining, where there is a greater facility for extended care. OthOSSINING, N.Y. - The Dominican ers have opted to relocate to other conSisters of Hope have announced that they vents. The decision to close the Center was are planning to close their Center of recommended by the congregation's Hope on Park Street in Fall River. The Center, dedicated in 1895, ,has Properties and Facilities Committee and served for more than a century as the endorsed by more than 200 Dominican motherhouse of the Sisters of Hope meeting Dominican Sisters of in Ossining in late July In his column this 2001. A final decision Fall River and was the home of Dominican week, AnchQr editor was made in August. Academy which had Dave Jolivet reminisces The recommendaserved the young about growIng up with tion came after a year's women of the Fall study of the properties River diocese until it the Dominican Sisters as and facilities of the conclosed its doors in neighbors - Page Five. gregation, which in- . 1999. L--J cluded their centers in According to Dominican Sister of Ossining and Newburgh, N.Y., and propHope Donna Brunell of the erty in North Dartmouth, Mass. congregation's communications office in Dominican Sister of Hope Madeleine Ossining, the convent will close this Tacy, who resides in North Dartmouth, summer, probably in July. was a member of the committee. Although the property, owned by the "The recommendations of the comcongregation, has not yet been publicly mittee reflect the thinking of the conadvertised in the Fall River area, it is al- gregation as a whole," she said. "The ready on the market and some' bids have committee wanted to be sensitive to the already been received, Sister Brunell needs of the sisters in Fall River." reported. Dominican Sister of Hope Gertrude All of the 20 sisters currently resid- Gaudette, who resides at the Park Street ing in the convent have made arrange- Convent, also was a member of the comments for housing at other locations, said mittee. Turn to page 12 - Dominicans Sister Brunell.
• Landmark motherhouse adjacent to Sf. Anne's Church ending a rich history.
BEAUTIFUL CASEMENTS on both sides of the organ loft in St. Mary's Cathedral will house the thousands of pipes that will be returned as part of a restored pipe organ system funded by a capital campaign.
Cathedral plans to restore pipe organ By DEACON JAMES N. DUNBAR FALL RIVER - When St. Mary's Cathedral rector Father Edward J. Healey said he was going to return pipes to the organ loft, he wasn't talking about heat. Fresh from a major renewal of the interior of the Cathedral that included the heating system, Father Healey's focus this time is on returning a magnificent pipe organ to serve the mother church of the Fall River diocese. To raise the approximately $155,000 in the ambitious restoration endeavor, the rector has implemented an appeal that includes outright gifts, memorials or pledges over a one or two-year period. As part ofthe diocese-wide appeal, flyers will include a list of organ components
should a donor like to specify a particular gift. Donors who are able to make a substantial contribution will be acknowledged on a memorial plaque. This week, Father Healey and Madeline Grace, organist and choir director at the Cathedral, retraced the history of music in the cathedral church and what the planned refurbishing of the organ entails. In 1866, eight years after he assumed parochial responsibility for the new Cathedral Parish, Father Edward Murphy purchased an organ with three manuals and 41 ranks from the E.&G.G. Hook Company of Boston. Rebuilt twice over the subsequent years it was replaced during 1951 renovations by a 35-rank organ built Turn to page 13 - Cathedral