04.13.12

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Diocese of Fall River

The Anchor

F riday , April 13, 2012

Area Catholic faithful can have a voice in attacks against religious freedoms in U.S. By Dave Jolivet, Editor

FALL RIVER — The attacks come more frequently and are less subtle than in years past. The U.S. government under the Obama Administration is attempting to erode First Amendment rights to citizens of a country founded on those very liberties. While the attacks are not solely targeting the Catholic Church, it is the U.S. bishops who have taken the lead in the fight against threats to morals and conscience issues. In March, the administrative committee of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops met to discuss what Catholics can do to stand up for the Church. The committee said it “is strongly unified and intensely focused in its opposition to the various threats to religious freedom in our day. In our role as bishops, we approach this question prayerfully and as pastors — concerned not only with the protection of the Church’s own institutions, but with the care of the souls of the individual faithful, and with the common

good.” In the forefront is the recent rule of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that would force virtually all private health insurance plans to provide coverage of sterilization and contraception, including abortifacient drugs, which is clearly against Church teachings. The bold attack on Catholic conscience and morals prompted N.Y. Cardinal Timothy A. Dolan to say, “We did not ask for this fight, but we will not run from it.” “The U.S. bishops have been great leaders in the fight against attacks on religious freedoms in this country right from the start,” said Matt Smith, president of Catholic Advocate, a national non-partisan community for faithful Catholics working on having a greater influence on policy in the nation’s capital. He told The Anchor, “The bishops are providing guidance and support, but the Catholic laity has the responsiTurn to page 18

He is risen — The Resurrection of Christ as portrayed in a stained-glass window in Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in New Bedford.

Divine Mercy Sunday should be tool for evangelization By Kenneth J. Souza Anchor Staff

FALL RIVER — Now in its 12th year since being formally established by Pope John Paul II, the solemnity of Divine Mercy Sunday is observed on the Sunday immediately following Easter and has become a popular devotion in many parishes over the last dozen years. The devotion to the Divine Mercy Chaplet — which blossomed from meditations written in the diary of a young Polish nun, Sister Faustina Kowalska — had been prayed regularly in parishes and in the privacy

of people’s homes for years until the formal observance of Divine Mercy Sunday was declared by Pope John Paul II during St. Faustina’s canonization on Apr. 30, 2000. Not coincidentally, Blessed Pope John Paul II was beatified last year on Divine Mercy Sunday, May 1. As the Church prepares to celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday this weekend, Robert R. Allard, director of the Apostles of Divine Mercy, hopes the celebration will be used as a great tool for evangelization and a way to bring Turn to page 13

Answering the call – There was hope that 20 would attend, but instead 51 women from all walks of life showed up for the general meeting interest held at St. Francis Xavier Parish in Acushnet for “Women of Grace,” a Catholic apostolate program designed to transform and affirm women in their dignity and vocation as daughters of God.

‘Women of Grace’ called to go forth and spread the Word

By Becky Aubut Anchor Staff

ACUSHNET — There is a new program of biblical proportions taking root at St. Francis Xavier Parish in Acushnet. “Women of Grace” is a Catholic apostolate that is looking to transform and affirm women in their dignity and vocation as daughters of God, one woman at a time. In correspondence with that woman-to-woman mission, it only took one woman — and a serendipitous trip to Rome and an argument with a priest over a dinner bill — to bring the program to the St. Francis Xavier Parish. Parish member Sue Charbonneau went to Rome with a group of family members. During their last night, the group had dinner with Msgr.

John Cihak, an official of the Congregation for Bishops and annual visitor to St. Francis Xavier Parish in Acushnet. “When dinner was over, I’m thinking, he’s a priest and I’m not going to have him pay, but the bill comes and we’re sort of arguing over the bill,” she recalled, as Msgr. Cihak insisted on paying for the meal. Msgr. Cihak quickly came up with a solution. “He said, ‘You know what you can do for me? Start Women of Grace at your parish when you get home.’” Caught off guard and knowing nothing about the program, Charbonneau said that Msgr. Cihak explained how the Women of Grace had been done at his mother’s parish in Oregon, transformTurn to page 15


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