teanc 0 FALL RIVER, MASS.
VOL. 43, NO. 15 • Friday, April 9, 1999
FALL RIVER DIOCESAN NEWSPAPER FOR SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSETIS CAPE COO ~ THE ISLANPS Southeastern lYIassachusetts' Largest Weekly • $14 Per Year
Vatican' official visits Kosovo refugees, urges increased aid
Dioce'san Pro-Life Convention set for April 24 ~ Helen M. Alvare,
a director in the Secretariat
for Pro-Life Activities at the NCCB, will be the keynote speaker at the meeting. FALL RIVER - The Fall River Diocese's Pro-Life Convention, sponsored by the Pro-Life Apostolate and with a theme: "To Reverence and Honor the Dignity of Human Life," is planned for Saturday, April 24, in Bishop Connolly High School here. Registration opens at 8:30 a.m. Bishop Sean P. O'Malley will be the celebrant of the 9 a.tn., Mass· which opens the convention, and give the homily. He will later confer awards for the '1999 Pro-Life Essay Contest. Other events include seminars by several speakers, lunch and Benediction which closes the day's activities at 2:15 p.m. Attendees will be able to view the extensive multimedia exhibit on prolife that has been put together by Alvare and her secretariat and which hundreds of thousands have seen in Washington, Helen M. Alvan~ D.C. It will be set up in Connolly High School's foyer. "There has been a good response from across the diocese for this year's convention," reported Father Stephen A. Fernandes, director of the diocese's Pro-Life Office. "It is important for people to hear from experienced speakers, people who can explain the issues that are so vital to Catholic teaching, for all to hear and understand." He added that:' "We invite everyone. One need not be a committee member of a parish pro-life committee to attend. It is open to everyone. They will find it very enriching and informative. It will be up-to-date, cutting edge information." Alvare has earned a respected reputation as the articulate, informed and intelligent spokesperson for the NCCB's stand on all matters related to the national debate swirling around the abortion-on-demand license and culture. She has appeared on leading news programs and in national publications. Time magazine named her one of the top 50 leaders in American under the age of 40. • ' A summa cum laude graduate of Villanova University in 1981, she received her law degree from Cornell University in
1984. In 1989 she received a master's degree in theology from the Catholic University of America and did postgraduate theological studies before Cardinal John 1'. O'Connor of New York offered her the NCCB post as director of planning and information services. With her husband, Brian, she has a son and a daughter and they are expecting their third child in June. Alvare is no stranger to Fall River. She was a presenter at the diocese's first Pro-Life Convention in 1995. Her theme at the 10:30 a.m., session will be: "Into the New Millennium: Unconditionally Pro-Life." "We're lucky to have her because she is so popular and sought after," said Father Fernan'des. "Mrs. Alvan~ received rave reviews after her initial visit and everyone asked that she come back. She will focus on the NCCB's statement on the pro-life papal encyclical "Gospel of Turn to page 13 - Life
"The Catholic Church views true human rights as universal and comes to the issue with a love for life:' - Helen M. Alvan!, Esq.
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Meanwhile, Catholic leaders call for a cease-fire in Yugoslavia. By CATHOUC NEWS SERVICE
VATICAN CITY - Church agencies are working hard to aid refugees from the crisis in Kosovo, but there is much more to be done, said a Vatican official who visited Kosovo refugee camps in Albania. This comes after Pope John Paul II in his Easter "urbi et orbi" ("to the city and to the world") address asked: "How can we speak of peace, when people are forced to flee, when they are hunted down and their homes are burnt to the ground? "Enough of this cruel shedding of human blood! When will there be an end to the diabolic spiral of revenge and senseless fratricidal conflicts?" the pope continued. He called on Yugoslav authorities to allow "a humanitarian corridor to be opened," in order for help to be brought to the mass of people gathered at the border of Kosovo. "The Church is doing very much, above all Caritas (the Catholic aid agency)," Archbishop Paul Cordes, head.of the Vati~an 's umbrella humanitarian organization "Cor Unum," told Vatican Radio this week. "They are doing a lot, but it is still too little. And thought must be given to aid in the future, because those (refugees) who are now arriving certainly cannot remain under these conditions." The archbishop spoke by telephone from a refu. gee camp in Kukes, Albania, for ethnic Albanians who had fled or had been deported from the Kosovo region of Yugoslavia. . As of Monday, more than 360,000 Kosovo refugees had crossed into neighboring countries where resources were strained and conditions were desperate,according to Western officials. To ease burden on Albania, Macedonia and other regions receiving refugees, NATO countries said they would accept 96,000 refugees. Germany said it would take 40,000, and the United States and Turkey 20,000 each, Norway, Canada and Greece also said they would accept refugees. Turn to page 13 - Kosovo
Pope John Paul II now enters 'Top 10' of longest pontificates By JOHN THAVIS CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
VATICAN CITY - Marking another milestone in a historic papacy, Pope John Paul II has entered the "Top 10" of longest pontificates. The list is compiled without St. Peter, the first pope, because there is no exact record of the length of his papacy. Tradition holds that St. Peter was pope for perhaps as long as 34 years. At 20 years and five months, Pope John Paul's papacy became the 10th longest in history on April 3, displacing that of Pope Leo III, who reigned from 795 to 816. By the end of 1999, Pope John Paul will have moved into the number 7 spot on the list, surpassing Popes Sylvester I, Urban VIII and Leo I the Great.
The Church has had 264 popes, and the longest certain pontificate was the 31-year reign of Pope Pius IX, who was elected in 1846 and died in 1878. His successor, Pope Leo XIII, had the second-longest papacy, which lasted 25 years. ' The shortest papacy in history was over before its formal inauguration. In 1590, Pope Urban VII died of malaria 12 days after his election. With the passage of centuries, pontificates have tended to be longer. Four of the longest five papacies have occurred over the last 250 years. Pope John Paul II was 58 years old when elected in October 1978 - the youngest pope since Pius IX, who became the longest-ruling pontiff. Pope John Paul would surpass him in the year 2010, two weeks after his 90th birthday.
Pope Joh n Paul II