SERVING SOUTHEASTE:RN MASSACHUSETTS CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS
t eanc 0 VOL. 22, NO. 14
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FALL RIVER, MASS., THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 1978
Specu lotion Grows As to Next Pope By John Muthig VATICAN CITY (NC)-As the pontificate of Pope Paul VI enters its final phase, the work of sizing up "papabili" - leading candidates for the papacy - is going on in the minds of the 11 5 cardinals now eligible to elect the next pope. Whom will they choose? Although a non-cardinal would be eligible for the job, no one outside the College of Cardinals is currently considered a likely candidate to become路 spiritual leader of 700 million Catholics and one of the most visible signs of the spiritual realm to many hundreds of millions of other religious believers.
DIOCESAN COUNCIL OF CHURCHES officials discuss appointment of Father .Horace J. Travassos as observer to the Council Assembly. From left, Father Travassos; Frederick Hutchinson, Council president and member of the First Baptist Church, Fall River; Bishop Daniel A. Cronin; Rev. Robert E. Bell, Council executive director and pastor of the United Presbyterian Church, Fall River.
Council, Diocese Take Ecumenical Step At the invitation of the Greater Fall River Council of Churches, Bishop Daniel A. Cronin has an路 nounced appointment of Father Horace J. Travassos as official Roman Catholic observer to the Assembly of the council. Father Travassos is assistant chancellor of the diocese and co-chairman of the Diocesan Ecumenical Commission. This appointment reflects the increasing cooperation between the diocese and the council, which represents most major Protestant denominations and 16 area churches. It was suggested at a conference co-sponsored by the council and the diocese at Case House, Swansea, during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. The step also implements an appeal for Christian unity made in January by Protestant, Anglican, Catholic and Orthodox leaders of Massachusetts. The churchmen noted that "a primary role of church leaders is to be advocates for Christian unity and that a fundamental need in our time is eduucation for ecumenism." It is felt that Father Travassos' participation with the council Assembly will foster better communication and understanding b~tween the churches, leading to greater ecumenical cooperation. and involvement. In pursu!lnce of the goal of ecumenism, Father Travassos is attending the 15th national
Workshop on Ohristian Unity, which began Monday and closes today in Tulsa, Okla. Among recent local ecumenical undertakings was co-sponsorship by the council and diocese
of a religious arts festival, held last November at the Central Congregational Church in Fall River. It proved so successful, a similar project is planned for the coming fall.
Within the college, three names stand out - Italian Cardinals Sergio Pignedoli and Sebastiano Baggio and Argentinian Cardinal Eduardo Pironio - but two other Italians and four more non-Italians are among those whose names often come up. It is impossible to give just one name, for none of the cardinals who could now walk into the sealed-off conclave rooms of the Renaissance Apostolic Palace has the election sewn up. It is equally difficult to draw
a profile of the type of pope the c~lrdinals will want. For the next conclave will not fi,; into the mold of other concb.ves. Never before has a conclave promised to be so large, so international. The former balance, weighted Turn to Page Ten
E~ishop
Deplores $candalous Acts PROVIDENCE, R.I. (NC) B:.shop Louis Gelineau of Providence, calling the reception of Communion by Catholic nuns and others at" a service conducted by a female Episcopal priest "II scandal," said all who took part made a "serious error" against church teaching and cllnon law. The Communion service was oonducted by the Rev. Elizabeth Habecker April 1 following her lecture to 50 people at Me. Auley House, a soup kitchen operated .by the Sisters of Mercy. Rev. Habecker, who has a five-year-old daughter and whose husband is studying for the priesthood, is rector of St. Turn '0 Page Seven
Proxmire: 'We Sell Death' DE KALB, Ill. (NC) - Calling the sale of weapons and military equipment by the United States to other nations "our national shame," Sen. William Proxmire (D-Wis.) told students at Northern Illinois University, "We sell death - and we sell it everywhere." The senator's appearance at the De Kalb, Ill.. campus was sponsored by the university's Newman Center as part of its "Quest for Peace," a monthlong series of workshops, films and prayer services designed to promote world peace. Echoing the U.S. Catholic Conference's call to encourage "reasonable risks for peace," Proxmire said the U.S. is the world's leading arms merchant and currently has back-orders for weapons totalling $56 billion. "We sell twice as much as Russia," he said. "We sell to both sides in a conflict. It's now proposed that we sell arms to Saudi and Egypt as well as the Israelis." Ending the sale of arms to other countries involves "some
risks," including less U.S. influence on the policies of other countries and fewer jobs here until manufacturing is redirected, Proxmire said. But, he added, "I think it's worth the risks." In another talk at the university, Proxmire told students that the time has come to take a tough look at military spending and the U.S. defense posture. He dismissed the theory that Russia could somehow evaeuate Turn to Page Three
Head Brother On Visitation The Superior General of the Brothers of Christian Instruction, Brother Albert Tremblay,路 will visit Fall River from April 25 through 30 as part of a worldwide" visitation of houses of his community. In this diocese the Brothers are faculty members at Bishop Connolly High School, Fall. River, and previously staffed the former Turn to Page Three
WHAT BETTER PLACE to learn about the Resurrection than in the warmth of the April sun, with one's hands full of spring flowers? So say Sister Denisita, RSM, religious education coordinator at Our Lady of FatimCj. parish, Swansea, and her young friend Margaret Smith. (Anchor Photo by Jeanne Gilbert)