SERVING SOUTHEASl'ERN MASSACHUSETTS CAPE COD ~L THE ISLANDS
t eanc 0 VOL. 22, NO. 9
FALL RIVER, MASS., THURSDAY, MARCH 9, 1978
ConvocatiolA Stress On Respon!;ibility
National Office Will Make Permanent Deacon Survey SAN DIEGO, Cal. (NC) The Association of Permanent Diaconate Directors, meeting last week in San Diego, agreed that more needs to be known about the resored diaconate as it enters its 10th year. Father John F. Moore, director of the diaconate program for the Fall River diocese, was among delegates to the meeting and a following workshop. Workshop concerns included spirituality of the diaconate, selection and evaluation of can~i颅 dates, the theology of ministry and the relationship of marriage and ministry. The program concluded with an address on "Directions for Ministry in the Future" by Msgr. John Egan, assistant to the president of Notre Dame University. As a result of the directors' meeting a survey is to be made of the 200 permanent deacons now serving in the United States. They will be contacted by Father Eugene Hamrick, coordinator for policy for the National Catechetical Directory, at the United States Catholic Conference (USCC) in Washington, D.C. "We need to know the lived experience of deacons to help to define the service ministry of
F'aithfullgnor路e. Easter Duty VATICAN CITY (NC) - Pope Paul VI said at a general audience that the church precept to receive Communion during Eastertide is "unfortunately ignored and contested by many, very many." The obligation to "make one's Easter duty," said the pope, "means to rectify the course of our life in line with our highest religious goals." Church law requires Catholics to receive Communion at least once between the First Sunday of Lent and Trinity Sunday. Since those in mortal sin cannot receive Communion, Catholics guilty of mortal sin are required to confess before making their Easter duty. Pope Paul told thousands at the audience that the repection of the Easter duty precept' is linked with a wider rejection of religion. "The sacredness of human existence is being contested," he said. "Furthermore, even some of those who agree that there is an entological relationship between Turn to Page Three
the deacon," said Msgr. Ernest Fiedler, USCC national director for the permanent diaconate "We have been put in a leadership position in the universal church in the restored diaconate. We have to respect that responsibility." The 100 directors at the meeting - many of whom are permanent deacons themselves; were told by Msgr. Findler that of the 170 dioceses in the U.S., there are new deacon programs in 112. The total number of men ordained is 2,387 and there are '2,610 in formation programs. Of those ordained, 93 percent are married. By culture, 78 percent are Anglo, 5 percent are black and 16 percent are Hispanic. Msgr. Fiedler, in his main address, spoke of the need to establish the deacon in the parish community as the representative of the "servant rature of the church." Turn to Page Five
FATHER ILLIG
Fr. Illig To Give Cape Workshop Father Alvin Illig, CSP, the first executive director of the Ad Hoc Committee on Evangelization of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, will conduct a workshop on the subject from 1 to 9 p.m. Sunday at Turn to Page Seven
The need of restructuring parishes and of giving them a new vision of the "people. of God" was emphasized at the annual New England Spring Convocation of bishops, clergy and laity held last Friday through Sunday at Mont Marie, Holyoke. In a keynote address on Saturday night, Bishop Albert Ottenweller of Steubenville, O. spoke on the role of individual Catholics with respect to shared responsibility, which is viewed as one of the most significant issues facing the church today. In a no-holds-barred address, the bishop declared "I hear a lot of talk about 'building faith communities until I get sick of it." He said that "university theology is theoretical and not where people live" and suggested that theologians "get into the neighborhoods." As a remedy, the bishop said that smaller parish communi-
Fall River Birthright Members Told 'You Have Helped as He Helps' "You have helped as He helps; you have rescued as He rescues," Mrs. Susan Anderson, an international director of Birthright, told members of the Fall River chapter of the organization last Saturday night as they met to celebrate the fourth anniversary of the local unit. It offers, as do all units, a positive alterna-
20c, $6 P路er Year
tive to abortion. It was a happy occasion, with the Birthright family of volunteers looking back over a record of nearly 500 girls helped with pregnancy-related problems during the past four years. The program, held at St. Vincent's Home, Fall River, began with Mass, celebrated by Father
Thomas L. Rita, diocesan director of the pro-life apostolate, and continued with a dinner and an informal speaking and slide program. Awards were made to many who have helped Birthright, ranging from St. Anne's Hospital in Fall River to numerous volunTurn to Page Seven
AT BIRTHRIGHT anniversary celebration, from left, Susan Anderson, international Birthright director; James Lyons, executive director of St. Anne's Hospital; Patricia Sullivan, Fall River Birthright officer, presenting certificate of appreciation to hospital.
ties, run by trained lay mInISters, would give members the opportunity of experiencing and !iharing faith. He admitted, however, that such projects are difficult to carry out and unc:ertain of success. He advised that pastors interI~sted in true parish renewal !\hould find like-minded peers with whom they can form a wpport group. In a concluding address Cardinal Humberto Medeiros told the conferees that they must always remember that "there are four billion people out there. We need Him and they need Him."
Other convocation speakers were Father Robert Kennedy of Catholic University and Rev. Mr. J~evin Ranaghan, representing the American Charismatic Renewal. Delegates from the Fall River docese, led by Bishop Cronin, were Mrs. Michael McMahon, Msgr. Thomas J. Harrington, Father Ronald A. Tosti, Father Timothy J. Goldrick, Sister Theresa Trayers, SND. Miss Dorothy Curry, James H. Quirk, Jr., Mrs. Aristides A. ,J\ndrade, Rev. Mr. Mark A. Hession, Sister Muriel Balch, OLVM and Mrs. James Meloni.
I~onpublic
Pupils C:iet HEW Office WASHINGTON (NC) - President Jimmy Carter has directed the Department of Health, Education and Welfare to open an Office for Non-public Schools. The administration has also asked Congress for legislative changes which, when coupled with administrative changes within HEW, could more than double the amount of federal e:lucation aid going to students in non-public schools. Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare Joseph Califano said these measures would increase aid by insuring that private school students get their fair share 0 fsuch aid, which they have been denied in the past. Both Carter and Califano have opposed tuition tax credits for p uents of children in on-public sl:hools, but both said they were committed to helping such students through federal programs' for disadvantaged children in all sehools. The administration's overall education funding proposals call for the largest increase in fede:'al spending in more than a Turn to Page Three