t eanc 0 VOL. 34, NO. 15
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FALL RIVER DIOCESAN NEWSPAPER FOR SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS Southeastern Massachusetts' Largest Weekly
FALL RIVER, MASS.
Friday, April 13, 1990
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$11 Per Year
Prayer, persuasion, PR bishops' pro-life tools
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THE EASTER sun streams through the clouds, illuminating the EI Aksa dome and the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, the city that saw the final days of Jesus. (CNS photo)
A celebration of life, Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Today we celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. In this celebration of our Lord's Resurrection we celebrate our own rebirth to new life through baptism. .In baptism we died with Christ. We died to sin, in order to live for Christ. We received the gift of the Holy Spirit who transformed us from the children of Adam into the adopted children of God the Father. Under the guidance of the Spirit, this gift of supernatural grace springs forth within us unto life eternal. The celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is a celebration of life. It is the celebration of eternal life which Christ won for us and which He promises to all Christians. It is more than a promise of future glory, it is already a reality in our lives. Christ came that we might have life and have it in its fullness. This fullness of life is ours today. The reign of God is in our midst. It is here, even now. It reigns within our hearts and souls. St. John teaches us that eternal life is to know the
only true God and Him whom He has sent, Jesus Christ. We Christians celebrate today the Lord Jesus Christ - His life, Passion, death and Resurrection -and the fullness of life and joy which this Good News brings to us. Let the fullness of life which Christ shares with us through the power ofthe Holy Spirit be truly felt and manifested within each of us during these fifty days of Easter. Let it be a celebration of renewed joy and lively faith. Let it be a celebration of life! May the joy and new life of Easter renew and refresh our spiritual lives as each new spring renews and refreshes our spirits. May the grace and peace of the risen Lord be with you and all your loved ones. May you experience the fullness of His joy and the divine life which He shares with us. Faithfully yours in Christ,
.,.;r~t:..~ Bishop of Fall River
NEW YORK (CNS) - New York Cardinal John J. O'Connor, elected chairman of the bishops' Committee on Pro-Life Activities in November, said the bishops as a body planned to emphasize persuasion rather than excommunication in their efforts against abortion. Among the efforts. he sai<;l. is the hiring of public relations and polling firms to pursue a pro-life communications campaign. He said there were also plans for "major prayer campaigns." He declared that the threefold undertaking "requires a commitment no less intense than that which we have made over the years to the poor. the aged, the homeIt::ss. the handicapped, disadvantaged minorities, refugees and immigrants." Hired by the "bishops were the Hill and Knowlton public relations firm with headquarters in New York, and the Wirthlin Group. a polling firm based in McLean. Va., a Washington suburb. The cardinal estimated the campaign's length at three to five years and its cost at $3 million-$5 million. He said funds will be raised entirely from outside sources. Hill and Knowlton is the second largest U.S. public relations firm. with billings of $164 million. The Wirthlin Group has conducted polls primarily for Republican political candidates. John Berard of Hill and Knowlton's Washington office said an
initial "audit" of existing bishops' pro-life materials was under way. A public attitude survey would also be conducted before "we can begin to create and craft" a campaign. "The goal (of the campaign) is well-stated: to move the debate toward a public discussion (of) moral ends and achievable goals," Berard said. Cardinal O'Connor said that abortion rights proponents. "to realize their goals. have purchased the advice and assistance of professional communications counselors and public opinion experts. Given the stakes -life itself -·we can do no less." With regard to the excommunication issue, the cardinal noted that "At this point. we are not devoting ourselves to the possibility of ecclesiastical sanctions. We are focusing on persuasion. on prayer. on information and very much on dialogue." The cardinal noted, however. that individual bishops, in accordance with canon law. are autonomous within their dioceses. and that other instances such as that of San Diego Bishop Leo T. Maher denying Assemblywoman Lucy Killea the right to receive communion could not be ruled out. Cardinal O'Connor said he personally predicted a larger number of bishops would act against Catholic politicians with a pro-abortion Turn" to Page Six
Reliving the first Holy Week By Marcie Hickey .. We took turns carrying the cross as we made our way through the winding streets. The shops were all open and people were trying to sell us things. That 50 exactly how it must have been on the first Good Friday - people dodging donkeys and carts; for most it wasn't a holy day, it was a shopping day." - Father Robert S. Kaszynski This Holy Week, the events of jesus' Passion are especially vivid for 30 members of St. Stanislaus parish. Fall River. including the entire faculty of the parochial school. They are re'membering their February pilgrimage to the Holy Land. during which the group, including pastor Father Robert S. Kaszynski relived the events of Holy Week on the very sites where they occurred. Pilgrims attract attention on the streets of Jerusalem. Father Kaszynski continued in his account. "Some people stare at you; some are oblivious; some make fun of you."
Altogether, the real Way of the Cross is about a half mile, he said, winding through the alleys of Jerusalem, some of which are so narrow they can accommodate only three people abreas!. The pilgrims stopped at each station of the Way. most of them" chapels, for meditation. prayer and song. The final three stations are enclosed in the Church ofthe Holy Sepulchre on Mount Calvary, where the group touched the site where the cross stood and the
NOTICE Bishop Daniel A. Cronin will be principal celebrant
of the Mass of Easter, to be telecast on Sunday from 8 to 9 a.m. and repeated from 1l:30a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on WLNE Channel Six. The television Mass will resume its usual broadcast time of 8 a.m. on Sunday, April 22.
stone of anointing where Jesus' body was placed after it was taken from the cross. An added 15th station commemorates Christ's empty tomb. There Father Kaszynski and the group celebrated Mass. Reliving the Way of the Cross was but one of the experiences of the pilgrims. "We went from where Jesus was conceived in Nazareth to the scene of his public life in Capernaum on the shore of the Sea' of Galilee and then to Jerusalem. where he suffered. died and rose." Father Kaszynski summed up. " The group spent the first part of the trip in Jerusalem and Bethlehem. focusing only on Christian sites because of limited time. " "Israel is a very small country and the distances are not long, but the problem is there's something to see every three feet'" Father Kaszynski said. The pilgrims' reliving of Holy Week began with a descent from the Mount of Olives, where they Continued from Page Eight
PILGRIMS FROM St. Stanislaus parish follow Father Kaszynski along the Way of the Cross in Jerusalem.