t eanc 0 VOL. 44, NO.14 • Friday, April?, 2000
FALL RIVER DIOCESAN NEWSPAPER . FOR SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSETIS CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS
FALL RIVER, MASS.
Southeastern Massachusetts' Largest Weekly • $14 Per Year
Youth to gather at Fenway ~
Manchester, N.H., and will include nation- Boston Common at 10 a.m. to take part in a' ally-known Catholic musicians and speak- variety of activities including Eucharistic ers. Among the speakers are Rev. Msgr. Ray Adoration, an opportunity for the sacrament East ofWashington D.C. and Helen Alvare, of penance, and to view displays featuring director of planning and information for Catholic organizations, schools and colleges. By MIKE GORDON The gathering in Boston is the culminatthe Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities' at the ANCHOR STAFF National Conference of Catholic Bishops. ing event of an eight-month-period of FALL RIVER - More than 30,000 The event comes as part of the Jubilee preparation the bishops have called for. young people are expected at Boston's Year celebration and has Young people have been involved in many Fenway Park on April 29 for a day of spiri- been in the works for different parish-level faith actual renewal entitled Pilgrimage 2000. This . quite some time tivities over that time to unique day of celebration for Catholic high according to Jill deepen their spiritual . school-aged youth, college students and Leavens of the lives. young adults will give them the opportu- R end 0 Q A parade will nity to celebrate and renew their faith. Bud Group of begin at 1 p.m. and particiMiller, director of youth and young adult B 0 s to n, pants will ministry for the Diocese of Fall River, said hired to . it should be a wonderful experience for all coo I' d i - m a r c h from nate the the Common participants. down Com"It will be an exciting day for our young pilgrimm 0 n we a It h people," said Miller who was enthusiastic age and set Avenue to that close to 3,000 people representing the up registrafive deaneries from the diocese will take tion. Leavens Fenway Park. part in the experience. "They will find a said it was a big The afternoon will good mixture of spirituality, music, reflec- project to organize, .~ be filled with sevtion and prayer in Boston. It will be a great but that "it will be -a· ~ ~'1r eral programs focuscelebration of our Catholic faith." good day for young \..~J' .~ ing on the Father, the The event is open to young people from people." '-:t'~ Son and the Holy Spirit. the archdiocese of Boston and the dioceses ~e a~l-da~ g~thering ",,:i11 ~U:r:ati· '-P It will include guest speak' ers, witness talks, musical enof Fall River, Worcester,· Springfield and begm WIth pllgnms me~tmg on
Spiritual renewal pilgrimage on April 29 will celebrate their Catholic faith.
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Poll shows strong supportfor .partial-birth abortion ban By CATMOUC NEWS SERVICE WASHINGTON - As the House of Representatives prepared to vote on banning partial-birth abortions, a new poll showed that 68 percent of Americans supported such a ban. Less than 20 percent of the respondents opposed a ban on the partial-birth abortion procedure, while 13.4 percent said they didn't know or declined to answer. The poll, done by MarketFacts for the U.S. bishops' Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities and the Knights of Columbus, involved 1,000 U.S. citizens questioned between March 31 and April 2. It had a, margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percent. The poll showed that women oppose partial-birth abortion more than men, and younger men and women oppose it more than older Americans. Helen Alvare, director of planning and information for. the ProLife secretariat, said the poll results were not surprising, given the brutal nature of partial-bilth abortions. The procedure is used in late-term abortions and involves the partial delivery of the unborn child, feet first, before surgical scissors are stabbed into the base of the infant's
head. The child's brain is then removed by suction, allowing for easier delivery ofthe collapsed head. "There is no mistaking how strongly Americans reject partialbirth abortion," said Alvare. "Year in and year out polls have shown enormous support (in the upper 60's percentiles) for a bill banning this procedure." The House, which was expected to vote on the ban this week, has twice approved similar legislation by wide enough margins to overturn a presidential veto. The Senate vote on the bill in late 1999 was two votes shy of a veto-proof majority. Opponents of the ban suffered a setback Monday when the Supreme Court refused to allow the Clinton administration to participate in the arguments on behalf of BelIevue, Neb., physician Leroy Carhart, who has challenged the partial-birth abortion ban in his state. In a friend-of-ihe-court brief filed with the court in late March, Solicitor General Seth Waxman argued that the Nebraska law is unconstitutionally vague, "fails to provide an exception to preserve the pregnant woman's health," and interferes in the relationship between doctors and patients.
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tertainment and a renewal of baptismal promises. Cardinal Bernard Law will be principal celebrant for an evening Mass and Bishop Sean P. O'Malley OFM, Cap.; will concelebrate with other bishops and priests in attendance. It will feature a large choir comprised of members from each diocese. For Miller and many dedicated people it has been a lot of work to get to the April event. But it has all been worth it because of the anticipated results and that the work brings people together he said. "It's an opportunity to celebrate our Catholic faith and I hope it will be a positive and uplifting experience." Miller went on to say the day will be an opportunity to help young people recommit themselves to Jesus Christ and he was thankful for all the hard work the coordinators have done to make it possible. Father Paul O'Brien, secretary for pastoralservicesoftheArchdioceseofBoston and executive director of the project, also was excited about the gathering. "It will be a unique renewal experience for younger Catholics and we hope it· will reach a lot of people," said Father O'Brien. "It's been a moving experience and it's nice to see people so willing to do God's work."
Diocesan native retires from
prolific academic career ~
Brother Robert Francoeur, FIC, will end 59 years of instructing next month.'
devoted member of the FIC community. At the end of next month, Brother Robert will retire, leaving his position as professor of business law and philosophy at Walsh University in North Canton, Ohio, an institute he's been associated By DAVE JOUVET with for the last 40 years. ANcHOR STAFF Since his sojourn began nearly 65 years ago, FALL RIVER - In 1935, eight months shy Brother Robert's life has been anything but unof his 13th birthday, Romeo Francoeur left the eventful, acquiring a number of academic degre~s, serving as a university safety and security of his parpresident for seven years and ents at their home on Bedard as an academic dean at two Street in Fall River. It was then colleges, becoming a lawyer, that the fledgling scholar beand traveling extensively in his ganajourney:that would take role as an instructor. him to Alfred, Maine, to beBut all that was a far cry come a Brother of Christian from the day he left home as Instruction· (FIC),'a journey a 12-year-old lad to trek north that would ultimately ta15.e him to Maine. In an interview with all over the globe. His mother, The Anchor, Brother Robert the late Leonie (Giasson) admitted that wasn't such an Francoeur realized early in her easy time. "I felt some lonelison's life that he was a gifted ness at first, a situateon that scholar. She fervently prayed prompted me to ask one of the a daily rosary that he would brothers whether a person was use his talent to serve God lonely all life long," he said. somehow. Those prayers' did "Even though I was 150 miles not go unanswered. away from home, I soon beBrother Robert Francoeur came adjusted to the situation has spent the past 59 years of as my loneliness faded." his life as a teacher, writer, Turn to page 13 - Brother speaker, student, lawyer and a BROTHER ROBERT FRANCOEUR, Fie