SERVING SOUTHEASTIERN MASSACHUSETTS CAPE COD 8t THE ISLANDS
t eanc 0
20c, $6 Per Year
FALL RIVER, MASS., THURSDAV, MARCH 16, 1978
VOL. 22, NO. 10
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~.piritual
Growth Is Emphasized IJy Directors
12,000 Expected At NCEA Parley
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WASHINGTON (NC) - The Rev. Jesse Jackson will tell Catholic educators his views on how to reach young people as he addresses the closing session of the National Catholic Educational Association convention in St. Louis March 30. Mr. Jackson, who worked in the civil rights movement with the late Martin Luther King Jr., is the founder and head of Operation PUSH (People United to Save Humanity), a Chicagobased anti-poverty organization. He also writes a syndicated column and is an associate minister at a Chicago Baptist church. About 12,000 Catholic educators are expected to be on hand for the March 27-30 convention at the Cervantes Convention Center. They will include Father George W. Coleman, director of education for the Fall River diocese, and Sister Marion Geddes, RSM, superintendent of schools. "Catholic Education: Heritage and Horizons," will be the theme of the gathering. About 200 sessions will be available for the educators to attend during the four-day convention. Others scheduled to address the convention include: - Norbertine Father Alfred McBride, executive director of the NCEA's National Forum of Religious Education, who will open the convention. Father McBride's latest books are "The Kingdom and the Glory," a commentary on St. Matthew's Gospel, and "Creative Teaching in Christian Education," a training book for religious educators. - Father Vincent Dwyer, director of the University of Notre Dame's Center for Human Development, and professor in the Turn to Page Seven
PALM SUNDAY PROCESSION ON VIA DOLOROSA, JERUSALEM
'When they heard that Jesus was com ing to Jerusalem, they took branches of palm trees and went forth to meet him and cried Hosanna!' John .12: 12-13
Euthanasia Will Come, Says Doctor Euthanasia is on its way to becoming an accepted practice, despite moral and religious objections. That is the prediction of Dr. Thomas Patrick Linehan of London, who was in Fall River last week as the guest of Bishop Daniel A. Cronin. Dr Linehan made his forecast last month at a world medical meeting in Bombay where more than 500 members of the International Federation of Catholic Medical Associations spent four days discussing euthanasia, health care and family planning under the meeting's theme, "Quality of life in a changing society."
Dr. Linehan called euthanasis " a distortion of the natural cycle of life and death." The period prior to death can be rewarding, he said, becaus~ one can rediscover himself and reassess his relationship with friends and family memb~s .. But the physician said he believes euthanasia will come "sooner or later and it is no use appealing against it on moral grounds alone." He cited Catholic opposition to euthan路 asia in the United Kingdom, where there has been pressure to legalize it for some time, but noted that only 15 percent of United Kingdom doctors are Catholic.
In Fall River, Dr. Linehan amplified his Bombay comments in an interview with The Anchor, saying that efforts should begin with schoolchildren to create a healthy attitude towards the dying, terminally ill and elderly. He suggested that social studies courses should include recognition of the fact that the elderly have rights and that their lifetime contribution to the community should be acknowledged and reflected in the care they receive. He also made the practical observation that, with falling Turn to Page Seven
One of the most interesting developments in the Permanent Diaconate program in this count ry is the trend towards reappraisal of the spiritual direction and growth of the potential deacon. This was the main thrust of the recent convention of the Nat ional Association of Permanent Deacon Directors, hosted by the diocese of San Diego. In a very direct and practical manner, the keynote speaker set be tone of this meeting by addressing himself to the principles underlying the spirituality of deacons. Father Dan Danielson of the diocese of Oakland, a well known West Coast and national f gure in spiritual development programs, addressed himself to be unique role of spiritual formation in diaconate programs. He emphasized that basic concepts of ministry must be a s:>Urce of spirituality and sanctfication in the deacon's life. Stress was also placed on the basic fact that it is not enough tl) prepare deacons for spiritualily of ministry. It must be kept in mind that the deacon's marr. age, job and secular life style also form part of his very speciEd type of spirituality. Father Danielson pointed out that the deacon must be tuned ill to the call of God in every aspect of his life, and that his spiritual development must inc:.ude his wife, children and so. c: al peers. Father John Moore, of the 'Permanent Deacon program of this diocese, attended this convention as well as a preceding meeting sponsored by the BishTurn to Page Five
the breastplate of saint patrick christ before me, christ behind, christ alone my heart to bind; christ beneath me, christ above, christ around with arms of love; christ on all who look on me, christ on every face i see; christ on all who on me think, christ their food and christ their drink; christ on all whom my thoughts seek, christ the lowly, christ the meek; christ in chariot, fort and ship, christ to hold when anchors slip; christ on all who list to me; may their ears hear naught but thee.