03.22.79

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diocese

of fall river VOL. 23, NO. 12

Dignity of 'Redeemed Man Major Encyclical Theme By Jerfy Filteau

JULIA RILEY and BISHOP CRONIN

She Opened the Door When Bishop Daniel A Cronin visited North Attleboro's Madonna Manor recently, Miss Julia Riley, 98, was the unanimous choice to make him a presentation in behalf of the residence facility's guests. "She's our sunshine," said Sister Thomas More, O.P., ad, ministrator. "She's so interested in other people, always out to help, to visit the sick. She is just selfless and beautiful." Irish-born Miss Riley, a retired teacher and a member of St. Mary's parish, North Attleboro, has been at the Manor since 1976. She's a tireless volunteer chauffeur of the wheelchairs of fellow residents and is always ready for a good

game of cards. And almost路 daily she pens a bit of verse that reflects her cheery philosophy of life. "From a Schoolteacher" is one of her most recent: I didn't have wealth But I did have health. I didn't have beauty of form or face But I learned to smile, ' however hard the race. I didn't have marriage or children dear But I did have friends, my heart to cheer. As for children - a thousand or more To learn how to work and think, I opened the door.

Jubilee ,Pilgrimage Plans Progress, Says路 Fr. Tosti "All is in readiness for a Jubilee Trip to Italy on June 10, 1979," stated Rev. Ronald fl.. Tosti, coordinator of Jubilee Year activities, at a recent press conference. "Reservations are corning in at an ever-increasing pace and it is expected that all 150 spaces will be filled before long." Father Tosti noted that Bishop Cronin will join the diocesan pilgrims during the Rome portion of their trip and will lead all participants at an audience with the Holy Father, Pope John Paul II. Also ~lanned is a special Mass in St. Peter's Basilica at the altar of Pope Pius X, who found-

ed the Diocese of Fall River, 75 years ago this month. As a grand finale to the journey, a. reception and banquet will be held in Rome on the last evening of the two-week Jubilee trip. Father Tosti said that airport transportation will be arranged from various areas of the diocese depending on the numbers of people going from each area. The"\rip cost includes all transportation and lodging at deluxe accommodations. Asked about pilgrimage highlights, Father Tosti noted that certainly Rome would be the chief attraction but that he felt Tum to Page Seven

VATICAN CITY (NC) - A "Christian anthropology" might be the best way to summarize the first encycli~al of Pope John Paul II. The title - "Redemptor Hominis" ("Redeemer Df Man") suggests the two points of reference around which the encyclical is built: Christ, the Redeemer, and man, the redeemed. The central theme of the 24,000word document is the supreme dignity of man proclaimed by the church through its message of the redemption. ' It is the first papal encyclical, at least in modern times, to h'ave the Christian doctrine of man as its main theme. It touches on world social issues such as the arms race, the rich-poor gap, human rights violations, consumerism, materialism, environmental pollution, technology and international relat,ions, but it is not a social encyclical. At the heart it is a general statement of Christian philosophy, putting into focus the church's teachings about man, about his religious striving, about the church's mission in the light of the Gospel message concerning man, and what all this' tells each individual concernim~ his duties and vocation as a Christian.

Bishops Oppose 'Living Will' BOSTON (NC) - The Catholic bishops of Massachusetts have criticized proposed "living will" legislation as unnecessary and a "quick fix" that would cause more prOblems than it would solve. The church supports the right of a patient to retuse extraordinary means of treatment, but believes the issue is too complicated to be handled in legislation, Auxiliary, Bishop Timothy Harrington of Worcester, episcopal moderator of the Massachusetts Catholic Conference, said in a statement to the state legislature's Joint Committee on the Judiciary. The 'proposed law would allow a person to draw up a written statement instructing his physician to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining equipment in the event of a terminal illness.

The encyclical is .also, and perhaps above all, the stagesetter for Pope John Paul's pontificate. It opens with a kind of "state of the church" message, noting that the era of Christian.ty "is already very close to the year 2000." After a short introduction ct global view of the meaning of the incarnation and redemption In human history the pope discusses the beginning of his. own pontificate and develop-

ments in the church during the papacy of Paul VI. He explicitly links his own first encyclical to the first encyclical written by Pope Paul VI, "Ecclesiam Suam," in which Pope Paul outlined what he saw as the state of the church at that time, and some of the main needs the church was then facing. Using the same method, Pope John Paul lists the numerous Turn to Page Seven

Sister Mary Noel To Head Mercy Sisters Community By Pat McGowan A six-foot Sister who admits that her nose is in the air, "but it grows up there," has been chosen by the 600 members of her community as their provincial superior. Sister Mary Noel Blute, 56, a Fall River native and for a total of 10 years a faculty member at Bishop Feehan High School, At-, tleboro, will serve the Sisters of Mercy for the next three years as administrator of the Province of Providence, taking office in June. She will be responsible for works of the community in Rhode Island and. southeastern Massachusetts. Born in Fall River, where she was baptized in St. Mary's Cathedral parish and afterwards

lived in St. Patrick's parish, Sister Mary Noel entered the Merc:;y community in 1941. She has taught at Rhode Island ele路 mentary schools and at Salve Regina College, Newport, as well as at Feehan, where she teaches Latin, heads the English department, and is director of publicity and curriculum committee chairman. She holds. degrees from Salve Regina and the University of Notre Dame and has also studied at -Emmanuel College, Boston; Catholic University; the University of Illinois; and Rhode Island College. In a wide-ranging interview she discussed her hopes for her community, her thoughts on re-

BISHOP JAMES J. GERRARD -

Turn to Page Fifteen

20 YEARS A BISHOP


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03.22.79 by The Anchor - Issuu