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VOL. 50, NO. 13 • Friday, March 31,2006
FALL RIVER, MASS.
Southeastern Massachusetts' Largest Weekly • $14 Per Year
When in Rome: Fall River pilgrims greet an old friend - the new cardinal By
FATHER MICHAEL J. Najim, from the Providence, R.I., diocese, greets some of the congregation attending a Lenten Mission Mass at Holy Rosary Church in Fall River recently. (Anchor/Gordon photo)
Hundredsflock to Lenten Missions in Fall River, Taunton By MIKE GORDON ANCHOR STAFF
FALL RIVER - As darkness feU outside, a bright light of faith was burning inside Holy Rosary Church as more than 150 Catholics prayed and prepared for Easter at the Fall River Lenten Mission. Principal celebrant for the 7 p.m. Mass on March 23 was Father Michael J. Najim, assistant vocation director for the Providence diocese and mission preacher. In his homily, he said, "As Catholics we should be challenged to spread our faith. We must spread our love for the Lord.
We should reveal Christ to all we encounter." Those words were important to Janice Teixeira of Notre Dame Parish, Fall River. She and her husband Bill attended each night of the mission and have been doing so for years. "It's something I feel I need to do as part of my Lenten journey," she said. "It gives one comfort and Father Najim has been a very good guest speaker. I've enjoyed his sermons and you learn something." The Catholic parishes in the Taunton area also held a fourTurn to page /3 - Missions
DEACON JAMES
N.
DUNBAR
ROME - They had not traveled to Rome together or at the same time. They came from parishes in all corners of the Fall River diocese that stretches from Easton down to Fall River and then out to Cape Cod and the Islands. No matter if they were clergy, religious or laity, they had traveled to the Eternal City for one reason, to witness as their beloved bishop in the 1990s was inducted into the College of Cardinals. The diocesan contingent of nearly 100 was seated together some 20 rows back from the steps of S1. Peter's Basilica along a middle aisle created by barriers in S1. Peter's Square. Behind in the square hundreds of thousands crowded into seats with more behind them standing in the extensions of the square. The March 24 ceremony, originally to be held in Pope Paul VI Audience Hall, was moved out-
side after it, was reported that nearly 20,000 Poles were heading to the consistory to hail their neW' cardinal, former Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz, former secretary to Pope John Paul II. When Cardinal-designate O'Malley processed down the aisle with his IS colleagues to be iftducted, the diocesan delegation mounted their chairs and whooped and hollered. He raised his arms to them and through a wide smi£e kept saying "Thank you, thank you," as he passed by. Itt wasn't the only reaction from the locals. When the new cardinal received his red hat from Pope Benedict XVI, they erupted in prolonged app~ause.
Through tears and laughter, the diocesan contingent grabbed and hugged one another as if they. were the only ones celebrating. As Cardinal O'Malley proceeded to his place Turn to page /6 - Friend
NEWLY ELEVATED Cardinal Sean Q'Malleygreetsdiocesan seminarian Jay Mello following the con~story at the Vatican on Marclt'l 24. (Anchor photo)
Laetare Sunday truly joyful at Mass with Cardinal O'Malley By
PAUL KOTCH of Holy Ghost Parish, Attleboro, and his mother Veronica Kotch, congratulate Father Bento R. Fraga at his recent celebration marking 50 years as a priest. An overflow crowd at St. Anthony's Parish, Taunton, included parishioners from all of the parishes Father Fraga has served. (Anchor/Gordon photo) .,
DEACON JAMES
N.
DUNBAR
ROME - Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley's first Sunday Mass as a cardinal was celebrated for hundreds of friends on Laetare Sunday at the Pontifical North American College, the US. seminary here. As the "break" Sunday midway through the penitential season of Lent, [aetare, which in English, is translated as "joyful," was indeed that for several hundred pilgrims from the Fall River diocese, the Boston Archdiocese, and the Diocese of the Virgin Islands, all of whom knew the cardinal as a bishop or archbishop. The Mass, concelebrated by more than a dozen bishops, including Bishop George W. Coleman, and approximately 125 priests from several dioceses, was a perfect conclusion to the three-day
consistory on March 23,24 and 25, witnessed by those who came to Rome. Prominent in the congregation were members of the equestrian order The Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. Among 'the knights and ladies who chatted with The Anchor, were Mr. and Mrs. Richard Lafrance and Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Feitelberg of Fall River. IDuring his homily, Cardinal O'Malley thanked all who had come to see him elevated to membership in the College of Cardinals. "The past few days sort of resembled an Irish wa~e, with lots of people coming to say nice things about you ... most of which aren't true," he said, prompting laughter from the congregation. Turn to page nine - Laetare