t eanc 0 VOL. 43, NO. 17 • Friday, April 23, 1999
FALL RIVER, MA~S.
FALL RIVER DIOCESAN NEWSPAPER FOR SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS Southeastern Massachusetts' Largest Weekly • $14 Per Year
Mergers involving four New Bedford parishes planned ~
Sacred Heart and Holy Name will merge as will St. Theresa's and Sf. Joseph s.
NEW BEDFORD -1\vo mergers involving four parishes in this city are planned and it is expected that the process will be finalized and approved by -~ , the first Sunday ofAdvent in November. The proposal will merge the community of fai th at Sacred Heart Church, 341 Summers St. where Father Clement E. Dufour is the pastor, with· Holy Name Church at 121 Mt.· Pleasant St., where Msgr. Thomas J. Harrington is pastor. The resulting new community will be under Msgr. Harrington as pastor. The other merger involves St. Theresa Parish at 2693 Acushnet Ave., where Father Roland Bousquet is pastor, with St. Joseph Church at 51 Duncan St., where Father Roger J. Levesque is pastor. The new parish will have Father Levesque as pastor. . Key to the mergers reportedly are the requests for retirement by Father Dufour, who will be 70 in
June, and Father Bousquet, who is 71; a shortage of priests in the diocese; the dwindling number of parishioners at the old inner-city churches and trends showing this will continue. According to the definition of a church merger ·in a document "Frequently Asked Questions about Parish Mergers" (FAQs), issued by the Diocesan .
Pastoral Planning Committee: "A merger of parishes is a canonical (Church law) action in which two or more existing parishes come together into one to form a completely new parish." The answer sheet goes on to say that ''The formerly existing parishes are not suppressed, but in the act of merging lose their distinct identities and form a new entity." Msgr. Thomas J. Harrington said that the merger, "while still in the works, is for sure. It will happen and it will probably be in the calendar year - probably on the first Sunday of Advent next November." "Bishop O'Malley and Vicar General Msgr. George W. Coleman have met with Merger Task Force committees in the four parishes at work planning the two mergers," the monsignor reported. "But it doesn't all happen until a decree from Bishop Sean P. O'Malley is announced. Asked what prompted the mergers, Msgr. Harrington said that: "It comes for two key reasons really: the request for retirement by two pastors and the drop
HOLY NAME CHURCH, NEW BEDFORD
Tum to page 13 Parishes
Catholic Charities Appeal for 1999 gets underway ~
The 58th annual campaign is to raise funds for diocesan programs, services and institutions.
FALL RIVER - The Fall River Diocese has officially begun its 58th annual Catholic Charities Appeal and Bishop Sean P. O'Malley, OFM Cap., urges Catholics and other community members to heed its theme of "Sharing ... Our Response to the Needs of Others." The Catholic Charities Appeal provides the financial support for the numerous programs, services and institutions sponsor,ed by the diocese throughout southeastern Massachusetts, Cape Cod and the Islands. The parish phase of the Appeal will begin on Sunday, May 2, while early solicitations in the business and community phase, formally referred to as Special Gifts; started last week. In speaking of the Appeal, Bishop O'Malley noted it is far more than just a collection. It is "an opportunity for us to express our faith, to translate the exhortations of the Gospel into practical action," he said. He went onto say that through the response to last year's Appeal, the diocese was able to provide some form of assis-
tance to approximately 200,000 people. Help was offered through a variety of programs and services, among them food kitchens and meal vouchers, transitional and long-term housing, AIDS ministry, campus ministry at area colleges, chaplaincy and pastoral care at all hospitals in the diocese, summer camp activities for handicapped children, adoption services, pregnancy support, marriage prep and enrichment, "Rainbows" program for children dealing with death and loss and outreach to immigrant communities, to name a few. These programs and ministries are open to all. The only criterion is need. "The amount of good being done in southeastern Massachusetts by Catholic Charities-funded programs is the greatest story never told," according to Diocesan Development Director Michael 1. Donly. But he and Msgr. Thomas 1. Harrington, who heads the Charities Appeal, are working to change that with increased efforts in the area of publicity. Committees of business and community leaders have been at work in each of the five'regions of the diocese, writing Tum to page 13 - Appeal
SEMINARIANS - David Pignato and Rodney Thibault received the Ministry of Acolyte from Bishop Sean P. O'Malley as they advanced in their studies towards the priesthood at the North American College in Rome. Recent statistics show that more young men are entering seminary colleges for formation as they discern a vocation to the priesthood.
World Day for Prayerfor Vocations is Sunday ~
"Do not be afraid. Do not be satisfied with mediocrity. Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch." - Pope John Paul II By JAMES N. DUNBAR
FALL RIVER - The Holy Father has asked the Church throughout the world to pray for vocations this weekend to mark World Day of Prayer for Vocations and Father Craig A. Pregana, vocations director for the diocese, says prayer is at the heart of every call to religious life. "Our responsibility, as a local Church is to encourage those in our parishes who should consider a vocation," said Father Pregana. "We must pray for them, witness to them and invite them." Even as parishioners across the diocese are asked to join in prayer at Masses for an increase of men and women willing to give their lives in service to the Church, ~ special event is planned for Sunday, May 2, from 6:30-8 p.m. Called a Vocation Gathering, it will be an evening of prayer and discussion for young men who are interested in learning more about vocations. "Join us to meet others who share a desire for service in the Church and to learn of the many ways of responding to God's call," said Father Pregana. He invites those wanting information on the gathering to call him at the Vocation Office at 990-0371. In a recent study done by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, young people indicated that factors most important in their decision to consider a vocation to Church ministry include: a desire to help others, love of the Eucharist, attraction to prayer and spirituality and experience of God's call. "The study confirms that one of the single and consistent factors in the decision of young men to enter the priesthood is a personal invitation by a Turn to page 13 - Vocations