SERVING . . . SOUTHEASTERN MASSACHUSETTS CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS
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VOL. 24, NO. 13
FALL RIVER, MASS., THURSDAY, MARCH 27, 1980
Federal cuts concern
Abp. Romero slain at Mass
usee
WASIDNGTON (NC) - u.s. Catholic Conference officals, including Bishop Thomas Kelly, usce general secretary, have expressed "deep concern" over the impact federal speriding cuts aimed at fighting inflation could have on programs that benefit the poor. Bishop Kelly said it would be "unacceptable" en moral grounds "to deprive the poor of basic necessities to which they have a fundamental right." And Msgr. Francis J. Lally, usec secretary for social development and world peace, said balancing the federal budget would be nothing more than a symbol "purchased at the expense of the dignity of unemployed workers, obtained at the expense of the economic security of our nation's elderly, (and) paid for by reductions in food and nutrition programs for the poor." Bishop Kelly made his comments in a statement issued after President Carter announced his new anti-inflation program and his plans to balance the federal budget. Msgr. Lally testified March 20 before the task force on spending limitations of the House Rules Committee. Bishop Kelly also objected to ly concerned that too much reliance might be placed on federal spending reductions to fight inflation. Such an approach ."would force the poor and the most vulnerable members of' soci~ty, those who. already suffer most severely from inflation, to endure still greater burdens," he said. iBshop Kelly also objected to proposals to limit federal spending to a percentage of the gross national product. Such proposals, he said, would be "unworkable" and would prevent~ Congress from using fiscal policy "in a constructive way to meet human needs." "In human terms, spending limitation proposals could be catastrophic, potentially requiring spending cuts as high as $50 Office have sai dthat cutting the tional reductions in future years. "Reductions on this scale would mean a retreat from the basic commitments made by this nation over the past three decades to meet fundamental needs of its citizens," said Bishop Kelly. Msgr. Lally noted that several economists as well as the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has said that cutting the federal budget would have little impact on inflation.
20c, $6 Per Year
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'Jesus rode along on a young donkey, fulfilling the prophecy that said: Don't be afraid of your King, people of Israel for he will come to you meekly, sitting on a donkey's colt.' John 12:14
Papal letter on路 Eucharist not seen as revolutionary WASHINGTON (NC) - Pope John Paul II's letter to the bishops on the Eucharist neither introduces new changes in the Mass nor does away with the reforms approved by the Second Vatican Council, liturgists commEmting on the hitter said. The liturgists noted that the letter cannot be interpreted as restoring the Latin Mass celebrated according to the rite approved by the Council of Trent in the 16th cent\lry, the Tridentine Mass.
"At the same time," Father Krosnicki noted, "the letter is urging sensitivity toward those who by background have a fondness for Latin." Both Father Krosnicki and Father G. Thomas Ryan, director of the Center for Pastoral Liturgy at the Catholic University of America in Washington, noted that the letter was a pastoral reflection on the Eucharist addressed primarily to the bishops, and through them to priests, deacons and the laity.
"In no way can it be interpre- _ The letter is "restating what ted as a re-introduction of the has already been said," Father Tridentine Mass," said Divine Ryan said. Calling it a "reWord Father Thomas Krosnicki, minder," he added, "There's executive director of the secre- nothing really new." tariat of the u.S. bishops' ComDescribing the papal letter as mittee on the Liturgy. The letter an "attitudinal statement," is "repeating the present direct- Father Ryan said it stresses the ives with regard to the use of need to "safeguard the sacred Latin, what the liturgical books dignity" of the Eucharist. state and the present practice of The pope apparently is "a the church," he said. little concerned that people have
gone overboard on change," he said. Father Ryan also noted that the pope points out that there are procedures and norms for saying a Latin Mass according to the reformed rite. Father Frederick McManus, vice provost of the Catholic University of America and former executive director of the secretariat of the U.S. Bishops' Committee on the Liturgy, said there is "no implication whatever" in the letter that the Tridentine Latin Mass is being restored. The pope is merely saying, he explained, that "those educated or brought up in Latin should have the opportunity to have Mass in Latin." Father McManus said the letter is a reminder that "if Latin is used, the provisions of the (Second Vatican) council with regard to the participation of the Turn to Page Six
Archbishop Oscar A'. Romero, 63, of EI Salvador, the "poor man's bishop" and a 1979 nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize, was assassinated Monday in a San Salvador chapel as he celebrated an anniversary Mass. He was hit by a single magnum bullet which exploded in his heart, said San Salvador archdiocesan sources. Contrary to reports that four gunmen entered the chapel, the sources said that the death shot and following shots, which forced the congregation.1o fall to the floor; were fired from a side window. Nor was the prelate elevating the host at the moment of his death, said the sources. He was finishing his homily, during which he had alluded to his own dangerous position. "He who avoids danger loses his life, but he who for the love of Christ gives himself to service to neighbor, will live," he said. The killing was termed a "sacrilegious assassination" and a "detestable crime" by Pope John Paul II who dispatched an immediate cable of condolence to Bishop Jose Eduardo Amirez, president of the EI Salvador Bishops' Conference. The cable was signed by the pope. Normally such cables are signed by the papal secretary of state. The pontiff had receive~ Archbishop Romero in private audience last month at the Vatican. Church authorities declared a week of mourning, during which the archbishop's body lay in Sacred Heart Basilica, the scene of his often impassioned Sunday homilies. The ax:chbishop had accepted the possibility of his own death. saying recently, "the current we are in cannot be stopped even if one dies." He said he, was a target of both rightists and leftists in strife-torn El Salvador and that elements of both groups wanted to kill him to create chaos that could benefit their own ends. Hours before his death he had received word from Archbishop John R. QUinn, president of the U.S. Catholic Conference, that the USCC endorsed the Salvadorean prelate's stand that the U.S. should give no military aid to El Salvador. Archbishop Romero had appealed Feb. 17 to President Jimmy Carter to guarahtee that the U.S. would not "intervene, directly or indirectly, with military, economic, diplomatic or other pressures to determine the destiny of the Salvadorean people."