t e8 VOL. 34, NO. 12
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Friday, March 23,1990
FALL RIYERDIOCESAN NEWSPAPER FOR SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSmS CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS FALL RIVER, MASS.
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ReactiQn to aid plan mixed WASHINGTON (CNS)-President Bush's new $800 million aid plan for Nicaragua and Panama has drawn tentative support from the V.S. bishops'conference and a social justice group but skepticism from a Christian peace organization. The president announced March 13 the immediate end of an economic embargo against Nicaragua and asked Congress to allocate by AprilS $300 million for Nicaragua and $500 million for Panama, with funds to be taken from the defense budget. Bush also called for immediate transmission of $21 ,million in previously approved food and humanitarian assistance to the' two Central American nations and pledged to seek an additional $200 million for Nicaragua as an addition to the fiscal 1991 budget, now under debate in Congress. "To the extent that this moves in concrete ways" to improve conditions in Nicaragua and, Panama, the V. S. bishops welcome the White House initiative, sajd John L. Carr, secretary fOI social development and world peace at the V.S. Catholic Conference. "We would stress the real urge'ncy, for both countries." ,
THE LATE San Salvador Archbishop Oscar Romero, although not officially canqnized, is painted in icon style by artist Robert Lentz "because people throughout the world say he is a saint." Tomorrow is the 10th anniversary of the archbishop's assassination. (CNS photo}
Protests, prayers mark anniversary WASHINGTON (CNS) -To- wing death squad were suspected morrow's 10th anniversary of the in the murder, many facts in the assassination of Archbishop Oscar case- have become muddled over A. Romero of San Salvador, El the last decade. An investigation Salvador, is scheduled to be com- has been closed and reopened sevmemorated by demonstrations eral times and has been at a virtual against V.S. aid to Central Amer- standstill for more than a year. ica and prayer services for peace in Many critics doubt a complete the region. investigation will ever be conIn Fall River, "Romero," a ducted, especially now under Salwidely-acclaimed film on the arch- vadoran president Alfredo Cristibishop's life, will be shown at ani, ofthe conservative Nationalist Dominican Academy, 37 Park St., Republican Alliance, known as at 7 p.m. Sunday, April 1, under AREN A. ARENA founder, former auspices of Pax Christi of South- . Army Maj. Roberto D'Aubuisson, eastern Massachusetts. Further in- is commonly believed to be the formation is on pages 8 and 9 of mastermind of the crime, but he has repeatedly denied any connecthis issue of the Anchor. Archbishop Romero was killed tion to it. Maria Julia Hernandez, direcMarch 24, 1980, while saying Mass in a hospital chapel in San Salva- tor of Tutela Legal, human rights dor. The outspoken champion of office of the Archdiocese of San human rights died of a single gun- Salvador, said that over the years shot wound to the chest, and no ARENA has been opposed to an one has ever gone to trial for the investigation into the murder, "so I don't think that with them in the murder. Although members of a rightTurn to Page Six
Va~ican
"We would basically be suppor- V.S. consideration of "a realistic tive of' the end to the embargo, program of assistance." said Immaculate Heart of Mary "Obviously this [Bush plan] is a Sister Nancy Sylvester, national step toward that," Carr told Cathocoordinator of Network, a Catholic lic News Service March 14'. social justice lobby. "The NicaniArchbishop Mahony, who chairs guan people have been hurt by' the VSCC Committee on Internathat." tional Policy, visited Panama and However, Jesuit Father William Nicaragua with Carr Feb. 10-17. R. Callahan, coordinator of Quest \ The V.S. military invaded Panfor Peace, March 14 claimed the ama in December, helping to oust White House initiative is question- Gen. Manuel Noriega and install able given the previous V .S. role in elected leaders.: Nicaragua. ' Carr emphaSIzed repeatedly that "Should we be grateful to a hus- "time is of the essence." band who stops beating his wife? I "In Panama, there was relief at find it hard to applaud President the end of Noriega but that could Bush for anything except moving _ turn to frustration and anger if the adroitly to capitalize on the pre- V.S. doesn't fulfill its promises," vious violence," he said. In a bloody he said. civil war during the 1980s, the V ni"The combination of Noriega ted States backed contra rebels in fighting troops of the Marxist and the V.S. sanctions has left Panama economically devastated. Sandinista government. So the bishops' conference strongly Hope for demobilization of the contras and a total end to fighting supports speedy and ge,nerous asfollowed the Feb. 25 election of , sistance to the Panamanian peoopposition leader Violeta ChaIl\or- ple," Carr said. "The president and Congress have to act with real 1'0, who defeated the Sandinista urgency to meet these needs." government of Daniel Ortega. Sister Sylvester said March 15 In a statement issued after the Nicaraguan election, Archbishop that after funding the contras and Roger M. Mahony of Los Angeles havihg invaded Panama, it would had urged an end to the Nicara- be wrong for Americans "to just guan trade embargo and prompt Turn to Page Six
lists formation guidelines
VATICAN CITY (CNS) Candidates for the religious life must be chaste or be expelled, the Vatican said in a 70-page document outlining principles for religious formation. Formation programs need a "pedagogy of consecrated chastity" to teach men and women candidates the meaning of sexuality and love in relation to their vocation, it added. The document also discouraged establishment of religious formation communities in poor areas, but did not exclude the possibility. It cautioned that religious can only live in poor areas if this does not interfere with their communal and prayer life. Religious orders, while encouraging a sensitivity to the needs of the poor, should stress the spiritual and evangelical nature of the vocation to religious life, it said. The document, written by the Vatican Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, was made public March 13 after approval by Pope John Paull!. The document is called "Directives on Formation in Religious Institutes" and offers a general outline of principles to be followed in formation programs, leaving specific application to religious orders based on their own rules. It is addressed to superiors of religious institut'es.
There is "nothing new" in the document, which was actually ready for publication in 1980, said Cardinal Jean Jerome Hamer, head of the congregation, at a news conference presenting the document. "It is a synthesis of church teachings on religious formation." He said publication was delayed at the request of the pope, who wanted the document to reflect changes in the then-draft Code of Canon Law. The code was promulgated in 1983. After that, added the cardinal, further consultations with religious superiors and congregation members were held, resulting in the current document. He said it reflects on religious formation as seen in the light of modern times and post-Vatican II experimentation. Its purpose is to orient rather than override the individual rules of the more than 2,000 organizations' of religious men and women. "The document does not cancel any dispositions'of law in force, but clarifies them, and, we hope, will help in applying them," said Cardinal Hamer, a Dominican. The document says that religious formation is an ongoing process that must not stop after a person has taken perpetual vows of pov- , erty, chastity and obedience. I~ encourages permanent programs of spiritual direction. But its emphasis is on the early stages of formation prior to the
taking of permanent vows. The aim of such early formation is to develop a sound interior spiritual life and to strengthen commitment to perpetual vows. When asked about sections on controlling sexual urges and on the presence of formation communities in poor areas, Cardinal Hamer and other congregation officials were firm in saying that the document is not a response to any specific recent problem or event. Asked to elaborate on the sections, officials refused, sayin'g the Vatican's position is clearly explained in the document. "Reasons must be given and understood to explain why those who do not seem to 'be able to overcome their homosexual tendencies, or who maintain that it is possible to live 'in an ambiguous state between celibacy and marriage,' must be dismissed from the religious life," said the document. Education programs on the importance "consecrated chas!ity" must include an understanding of sex, it added. This includes: - "Explaining the value of the ,body and its meaning, acquiring an elementary physical hygiene (sleep, exercise, relaxation, nourishment, etc.)." - "Helping in matters of selfcontrol, on the sexual and affective level, but also with respect to Turn to Page Six