FALL RIVER DIOCESAN NEWSPAPER FOR SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS CAPE COD &THE ISLANDS VOL. 39, NO. 12 •
Friday, March 24, 1995
FALL RIVER, MASS.
Southeastern Massachusetts' Largest Weekly
present at the meeting. Fluent in Spanish. when he served in the Washington archdiocese, he was director of the archdiocesan Hispanic apostolate, founder of a Spanish-language newspaper, EI Pregonero. and vicar for Spanishspeaking ministries. During an interview with the prelates at the end of the meeting. Archbishop Lipscomb told Catholic News Service it had been the first time CELAM and the NCCB had collaborated in a working session. In addition to Bishop Ramazzini. other participants included the Colombian priest who serves as executive secretary of CELAM's ecumenical section. a Costa Rican priest. and members of the NCCB staff. "We saw this as a landmark. historic meeting," said Bishop Ramirez. "not only of CELAM and the NCCB for a working meeting. but also for the topic of Hispanic ecumenism." Founded in 1955. CELA M is an administrative and coordinating agency of 22 national bishops' conferences of Latin America. Bishop Ramazzini said one lesson for both delegations was that the ecumenical experience of Hispanics in the United States is markedly different from that of Latin Americans. "There is an effective job of ecumenism in this country," Bishop Ramazzini said. which apparently is helped by cultural diversity in the United States that puts people of different religious denominations Turn to Page II
l
\
/
PERMANENT DEACON THOMAS J. SOUZA
1995 Catholic Charities Appeal chairman named
\
Permanent Deacon Thomas J. Souza, a native of Our Lady of Lourdes parish, Taunton, will be 1995 chairman of the annual Catholic Charities Appeal of the Fall River diocese, it was announced by Rev. Daniel L. Freitas, Appeal diocesan director. It will be the 54th annual Appeal for the diocese and the third to be led by Bishop Sean O'Malley. Deacon Souza is president of Mechanics Bank ofTaunton, where he began working parttime as a teller while: attending Stone hill College, North Easton, from which he earned a bachelor's degree in business ad ministration, grad uating in 1972. He had graduated from the former Msgr. Coyle High School in Taunton in 1968.
Ordained to the permanent diaconate in 1993, Deacon Souza was then assigned to parish ministry at St. Anthony's Church, Taunton. He is active in the Prince Henry Society, Elks Lodge #150, and the Portuguese-American Civic Club, all in the greater Taunton area. He is married to the former Carol A. Sienko, director of the choir of Holy Rosary parish, also in Taunton. They are the parents of Thomas and Kathryn. both students at Coyle & Cassidy High School in Taunton. Deacon Souza is the son of Thomas A. and Rita C. (Moran) Souza, both of Taunton.
Reforms must not target helpless, say bishops
'0
a
$11 Per Year
Clinic access ruling greeted by pro-lifers
Ecumenical goals, outlined by U.S., Latino bishops WASHINGTON (eNS) -In a first-time collaborativ,~ effort, bishops representing Latin America and the United States have issued a joint statement outlining goals for ecumenism in the Hispanic community, "We recognize the difficulties in the pilgrimage toward a Catholic vision of ecumenism and toward a mutual understanding among Christians," said the statement, issued at the end of a three-day meeting on "Christian Unity in the Hispanic Community." "However, we have rich resources in both Latin America and in the United States to improve relations among Christians. to form our own people in a vision of ecumenism and to open the way toward the unity of the church," The statement was signed by Archbishop Oscar H. Lipscomb of Mobile, Ala., chairman ofthe Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops; Bishop Alvaro Leonel Ramazzini of San Marcos, Guatemala, chairman of the ecumenical sectiollofthe Latin American bishops' council, known as CELAM; Bishop Placido Rodriguez of Lubbock, Texas. adviser to the NCCB's ecumenical affairs ,committee; and Bishop Ricardo Ramirez of Las Cruces. N.M., consultor to the NCCB Committee for Hispanic Affairs. In his capacities as a member of the Committee for Hispanic Affairs and a founding member of the Northeast Hispanic Catholic Center, Bishop Sean O'Malley was
•
JOHN MI~AVOY, grand marshal of Fall River's St. Patrick's Day parade (center, holding hat) sits on reviewing stand with Maureen Harrington and Bishop Sean O'Malley. (Studio D photo; other photos page 8)
WASHINGTON (CNS) - As welfare reform headed for a vote in the House of Representatives, the U.S. Catholic bishops have signaled that they would fight many elements of the plan, including proposals to end payments to legal immigrants and the children of unmarried women. In a statement released March 19. the Administrative Board of the U.S. Catholic Conference said it supports "genuine welfare reform which strengthens families, encourages productive work and protects vulnerable child ren." "We are not defenders of the
welfare status quo which sometimes relies on bureaucratic approaches,~discourages work and breaks 'up families," the bishops said. "However, we oppose abandonment of the federal government's necessary role in helping families overcome poverty and meet their children's basic needs." The statement was requested and adopted by the 50 bishops attending a March 14-16 Administrative Board meeting in Washington. The board acts in the name of the bishops' conference between general meetings. Turn to Page II
WASHINGTON (CNS)- Prolife activists applauded a federal judge's ruling March 16 that a law guaranteeing access to abortion clinics is unconstitutional. "The decision by a U.S. federal court represents a major victory for the pro-life movement in America," said the Rev. Patrick Mahoney. director of the Christian Defense Coalition, during a Washington press conference the next day. U.S. District Court Judge Rudolph Randa dismissed charges against six people who blocked entrances to a Milwaukee clinic in September, saying the Freedom of Access law was unconstitutional. Each had faced up to six months in prison and a $10,000 fine. The freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, or FACE, was passed last year to prevent protests in front of abortion clines. The law sets fines of up to $\00,000 and a jail term of up to one year for first offenders and fines up to $250,000 with three-year jail terms for subsequent convictions. So far the law has been upheld by seven federal judges and one appeals court. The six defendants in the Milwaukee case had parked two vehicles to block the entrance to Affiliated Medical Service, a clinic where abortions are performed. Some had chained or handcuffed themselves to the vehicles and some to a 55-gallon drum filled with cement. It took firefighters four hours to remove the protesters from the vehicles, whose doors had been welded shut. In United States v. Wilson, Randa ruled that Congress lacks authority under the commerce clause to pass a statute regulating private intrastate activity that does not affect interstate commerce. James Henderson, attorney for the American Center for Law and Justice said the decision should be seen as "reasonable" because it was not about abortion, but strictly about congressional authority. "We're hopeful now, because this decision builds connict, making it more likely to go to the Supreme Court." "The court [decision] affirmed what we've been saying for years," that it is unconstitutional to prevent demonstrations, added Mr. Mahoney. Bob Jewitt, media coordinator for Operation Rescue, called the defendants "heroes" because they "put themselves in a position for God to rescue them." "Making a federal felony out of peaceful demonstrations is unbelievable," he told Catholic News Service. He said the judge's ruling would be an "awakening of the [pro-lifel movement," saying many Turn to Page II