04.23.93

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t eanc 0 VOL. 37, NO. 16

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Friday, April 23, 1993

F ALL RIVER, MASS.

FALL RIVER DIOCESAN NEWSPAPER

FOR SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS Southeastern Massachusetts' Largest Weekly

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$11 Per Year

Sadness, anger follow end of Waco standoff WASHINGTON (CNS) - The deadly and violent end to the cult standoff in Waco, Texas, "fills me with sadness and anger," said an Austin parishioner who organized a prayer vigil near the Branch Davidian compound. "What saddens me the most is that in the name of Christianity, and religion, people were killed," said Michael Guerra, a lay ministerat St. Austin's parish in Austin, Tex., in a telephone i,nterview with Catholic News Service. On April 19, cult leader David Koresh reportedly ordered a mass suicide that, took more than 80 lives in an inferno at his Texas compound after federal agents attacked with tanks and tear gas. "David Koresh, we believe, gave the order to commit suicide and they [his followers) all followed willingly," FBI agent Bob Ricks said at a press conference. Later reports said some cult members might have been shot by other cult members while trying to escape the fire. Federal authorities had tried for 51 days to avoid such an ending, repeatedly saying they were willing to wait out the standoff that started with a Feb. 28 raid on the cult's compound. -"The death of the members of the Branch Davidians is a very tragic event and of course we are saddened by it," said A ustin Bishop John E. McCarthy in a statement released April 20., The bishop said the "most painful part" of the tragedy was the loss of innocent lives - the children and adults in the compound and the federal agents who died earlier. "We offer our prayers to all the victims and their families as well as those who have spent nearly two months dealing with this situation," he said.

After weeks of various tactics, the FBI used tanks to poke holes in compound buildings and spray tear gas inside, hoping to force out their 95 occupants, including 17 children. The tactic turned into a nightmare when fires engulfed the buildings. Nine people survived, including a woman who left the compound in flames. Guerra, who prayed and fasted near the location of the cult's compound in mid-March, said that in the fourth day of his vigil, he received a phone call from Bishop McCarthy, suggesting that it would be better for Catholics to pray and fast in their homes. "I think he was afraid the media might interpret our efforts as part of a theatrical circus" instead of the prayer it was meant to be, Guerra said. He said it was painful to leave his location because he wanted to stand in contrast to the messages given by Koresh. Guerra said that the Branch Davidian group was formed as a nonviolent group to live an alternative lifestyle. "Waco citizens knew them to be pacifists," he said. "But the great irony is that they ultimately ended in this violence," Father Isidore Rozycki, pastor of St. Joseph's Church, two miles from the Branch Davidian compound, said many of his parishioners own property bordering the compound and that all parishioners had prayed daily for a peaceful conclusion to the 51-day standoff. He said special services will be held to pray for cult members and others killed in the standoff. During its deadly end, he walked to a nearby hill "gave general absolution" over the whole area, and "prayed for those people inside" as he watched the compound burn.

ON THE AIR: Behind the scenes at Vivendo a Nossa Fe. See page 8. (Hickey photo)

PRINCIPALS IN Wednesday night's Catholic Charities Appeal kickoff, left to right, top to bottom, Bishop Sean O'Malley; 1993 Lay Chairman Claire McMahon; Diocesan Appeal Director Father Daniel L. Freitas; Father David A. Costa, leader of a gathering song and Evening Prayer service; Father George C. Bellenoit, Diocesan Director of Ministry to the Sick; Msgr. Henry T. Munroe, Diocesan Vicar General, who offered the meeting's closing prayer.

52Jnd Appeal but first for bishop Wednesday night's kickoff meeting for the 52nd annual Catholic Charities Appeal was another first for Bishop Sean O'Malley as he addressed some 700 priests, religious, and lay campaign volunteers gathered at Bishop Connolly High School for a briefing on programs that benefit from the fundraising drive. Also explained by Appeal director Rev. Daniel L. Freitas were time-tried campaign techniques; other speakers were Rev, George C. Bellenoit, diocesan director of ministry to the sick. and Mrs. Michael J. McMahon, 1993 lay chairman for the Appeal. Living, Breathing Figures Listing-figures of those assisted by the many apostolates financed by the annual Appeal, Bishop O'Malley stressed that the numbers were "living. breathing figures who make the work ofchar-ity and the financial figures all worthwhile." The text of his address follows. My brothers and sisters in the Risen Lord. it is with a spirit filled with the joy of Easter that I greet you this t:vening at the annual kickoff meeting for our 1993 C;ith-

olic Charities Appeal. "Resurrexit sicut dixit! He has risen as He said!" Alleluia! The living Christ fills His holy people with the new life of grace, "Light has conquered, darkness vanishes." The Lord is here with us this evening. in our gathering and in our prayer of the Church which we have celebrated together. This evening I am happy to greet you and share with you some ofthejoy of this season. Most of you are experienced at the work of the Catholic Charities Appeal, so it

was most gracious of you to make me so welcome at my first opportunity to serve as honorary chairman of this fifty-second Charities Appeal. I take the occasion to single out the honored guests here on stage: Father Daniel L. Freitas, our Appeal director and the priest area directors, as well as Mrs. Claire McMahon, who will serve as our 1993 Charities Appeal chairwoman.' I offer my personal thanks to Claire and to Father George Bellenoit for their inspiring words about some of the works of charity which are supported through the proceeds of the Catholic Ch,arities . Appeal. The feast of the Resurrection reminds us that the power of Christ. the Light of the World. is always victorious over the shadows of death which seem to surround us on every side, Our annual observance of this feast also reminds us that this struggle continues in every generation, even to this very day. When wejoin our prayer to Christ's in the beautiful liturgical celebrations of Holy Week, we are joined Turn to Page Nine,


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04.23.93 by The Anchor - Issuu