04.26.13

The Anchor Diocese of Fall River

F riday , April 26, 2013

Diocesan Catholic Charities Appeal to launch with new logo, new goals

B y K enneth J. S ouza A nchor S taff

campus lockdown — Local and state police, along with armed members of the National Guard, blocked the entrance to the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth on April 19 as the frantic search for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, one of the suspected Boston Marathon terrorists and a registered student there, was underway. With students’ emotions still raw, The Anchor will report what Father David Frederici is experiencing as a counselor on the campus in next week’s edition. (Photo by Kenneth J. Souza)

Vigils offer solidarity after Boston attack

BOSTON (CNA/EWTN News) — In the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings, people of diverse faith backgrounds were uniting in prayer for the victims and offering support to all those affected.

“Even when our heart aches, we summon the strength that maybe we didn’t even know we had, and we carry on; we finish the race,” said U.S. President Barack Obama at an interfaith Turn to page 10

FALL RIVER — As parishes throughout the Fall River Diocese prepare to embark on the 72nd annual Catholic Charities Appeal May 1, there are some new things on the horizon for the diocesan charitable campaign — not least of which is a brand new logo recently commissioned by development director James A. Campbell.

For Campbell, who took over the Catholic Charities Appeal last year when longtime director Mike Donly retired after more than 15 years in the role, it was important to retain something from the previous familiar logo.

“There was a great deal of loyalty and equity in that double-hearts logo,” Campbell told The Anchor. “I heard that from a number of priests.

They told me that their parishioners know it’s the Catholic

Charities Appeal when they see those double hearts. So we gave a directive to the graphic artist (to incorporate it).”

The revised logo, which incorporates elements of the longtime red, white and blue “double-heart” design that

adorned posters on churches from Attleboro to Cape Cod, features a subtle but pertinent new addition.

“If you notice, you can still determine the two hearts there — there’s sort of an outer red heart and an inner white heart,” he said. “We tried to (keep that) and not lose all the

equity that had been built up.

But it also includes the new image of what is popularly known as the ‘Jesus fish.’

Even that wasn’t immediately obvious. But once you see the fish, you can’t not see the fish.”

The blending of the two hearts with the symbol of Christ and His Church also works on another level for the Fall River Diocese.

“The other nuance we liked about the image is much of the Diocese of Fall River kind of owes its history and its industry to the sea — Fall River probably less so, but certainly New Bedford and Cape Cod,” Campbell said. “We felt there was a local connection in using the fish to represent not only the image of Jesus but also the nautical nature of this diocese. Not to mention that part of what we do (through Catholic ChariTurn to page 15

No break for some Bishop Stang students during school vacation

By Becky Aubut Anchor Staff

NORTH DARTMOUTH — Students at Bishop Stang High School in North Dartmouth traded in their school uniforms for T-shirts, thick work gloves and rakes as they spent a few days during spring break doing volunteer work as part of the Joseph’s Apprentices program.

“We tell them it’s all or nothing,” explained Kathleen Ruginis, assistant principal of Academics at Bishop Stang and the driving force behind Joseph’s Apprentices.

A total of 15 students were part of the program this year — a mixture of sophomores, juniors and seniors — with Ruginis leading one group of eight doing yard work while the other seven spent their first day at Allens Pond Wildlife Sanctuary in Westport.

At its peak, Joseph’s Apprentices had as many as 42 students, but started with 12 students in

2005; a year after Ruginis and a few others traveled to West Virginia to explore mission work on behalf of the students.

“We worked, and then on our way home we had a conversation and said, ‘You know what? We can do this in our own backyard.

We don’t need to take the kids to West Virginia,’” recalled Ruginis.

With the name suggested by a science teacher and the logo designed by an art teacher, Joseph’s Apprentices launched its first year of volunteer work by taking on a three-family tenement in New Bedford. Catholic Social Services was trying to help the owner get a loan, said Ruginis, but before the owner could be considered for the loan, work needed to be done on the home.

“We went in and did some of that work,” said Ruginis. “There was a blind woman who lived on second floor, her sister lived on the third floor — the first year we went, we redid the entire

stairway. We pulled down plaster with horsehair under it and put up sheetrock. Did we bite off more than we could chew?

Some of us had to go back and we didn’t finish until 11 o’clock at night, but we were not going to leave her there with it unfinished.

“The following year we went back, and all I can picture is walking into her living room and I could see the outside from where I was standing. The house was literally coming apart. We redid her bedroom, her kitchen where we re-laid her floor, painted her bedroom and we did a bedroom in her sister’s apartment.”

The one regret that Ruginis had after the project was completed was the sister needed a new bathroom and no one in the group had the know-how to pull off that type of a job.

“We were willing to replace the toilet but the floor was decaying,” she said. “I wish we had Turn to page 14

Bagged and ready — It was a group effort to clean up the yard at Catholic Charities in New Bedford by members of Joseph’s Apprentices, a volunteer missionary program run out of Bishop Stang High School in North Dartmouth. This year a total of 15 students participated in the program that has Stang students giving up part of his or her spring break to help out with various tasks ranging from yard work to helping fix up homes. Led

by Kathleen Ruginis, assistant principal of Academics at Bishop Stang, the students broke into two groups to cover more ground; pictured is Ruginis’ group of eight students who spent the day cleaning yards of elderly residents and local charities. (Photo by Becky Aubut)

News From the Vatican

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April 26, 2013

Failure to evangelize makes ‘Mother Church’ a ‘baby sitter,’ pope says

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — All of the baptized and not just the clergy are called to spread the Gospel, even in times of persecution, Pope Francis said in a recent morning homily.

The pope spoke at Mass in the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae, the Vatican guesthouse where he has been living since his election in March, and where he has been regularly celebrating morning Mass for different groups of Vatican employees.

Speaking to a congregation of employees of the Vatican bank, Pope Francis commented on the day’s reading from the Acts of Apostles (8:1-8), in which the early Christians scatter to escape a “severe persecution” and then go “about preaching the word.”

“They left home, perhaps they brought a few things with them; they had no security but went from place to place announcing the Word,” the pope said, according to Vatican Radio. “They are simple believers, baptized for only a year or maybe slightly longer. But they had the courage to go and an-

nounce. And they were believed.

And they performed miracles.”

Pope Francis also noted the history of Japanese Catholics, who survived without priests for two centuries after missionaries were expelled in the 17th century. When missionaries were finally permitted to return, the pope said, they found “all the communities in order, all baptized, all catechized, all married in the Church.”

The pope wondered aloud whether lay people today have equal faith in the “strength of Baptism.”

“Do we believe in this? That Baptism is enough — sufficient to evangelize?” he asked.

All of the baptized must “announce Jesus with our life, with our witness and with our words,” the pope said.

“When we do this, the Church becomes a Mother Church that bears children,” he said. “But when we don’t do it, the Church becomes not a mother but a babysitter Church, which takes care of the child to put him to sleep.”

Pope names U.S. Vatican diplomat, Mass. native to Pacific islands

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis named U.S. Archbishop-designate Michael W. Banach, a Vatican diplomat, to be apostolic nuncio to Papua New Guinea.

The appointment, which the Vatican announced April 16, came just two months after Pope Benedict XVI named him a Vatican ambassador with the rank of archbishop.

His episcopal ordination was scheduled to take place April 27 in St. Peter’s Basilica, according to the website of Our Lady of Czestochowa Parish in his hometown of Worcester.

His post in the Pacific islands will be his first placement as nuncio.

Archbishop-designate Banach had served as the Vatican’s representative to several international agencies based in Vienna.

The Anchor www.anchornews.org

The 50-year-old has served in the Vatican diplomatic corps since 1994.

Born in Worcester, Nov. 19, 1962, he was ordained to the priesthood July 2, 1988, for the Diocese of Worcester.

After earning his degree in canon law, he entered the Vatican diplomatic corps and served at Vatican embassies in Bolivia and Nigeria before moving to the Secretariat of State, where he served in the section for relations with states.

In Vienna, he served as the Vatican’s representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency; the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe; the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization; the U.N. Industrial Development Organization; and the local United Nations office.

OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE DIOCESE OF FALL RIVER Vol. 57, No. 16

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all smiles — Pope Francis greets the crowd as he arrives to lead his general audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican April 17. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

Best defense against sin, temptation is Jesus, pope says at audience

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Surrounded by the devil’s temptations and being susceptible to sin, people can always find help, support and forgiveness in Jesus Christ, Pope Francis said at his weekly general audience.

“My dearest brothers and sisters, we have this advocate; we’re not afraid to go to Him and ask Him for forgiveness, ask His blessings, request His mercy,” the pope said.

St. Peter’s Square was full to capacity for the audience April 17; large numbers of Italian pilgrims were among the crowd, including groups traveling with their bishops who making their “ad limina” visits to the Vatican to report on the status of their dioceses.

At the end of the audience, Pope Francis prayed for the victims of a magnitude 7.8 earthquake that struck the border area of Iran and Pakistan April 16, killing at least 40 people.

“I pray for the victims and all those who are hurting, and I wish to express my closeness to the Iranian and Pakistani people,” he said.

In his main audience talk, the pope continued a series of audience talks for the Year of Faith, reflecting on basic Christian beliefs.

He spoke about the meaning of Christ’s Ascension into Heaven and His being seated at the right hand of God, and what impact it has for Christians today.

When Jesus returned to the glory of His Father, the disciples

headed back to Jerusalem “with great joy,” the pope said.

He said it seems strange they would be so happy when losing someone normally brings sadness, knowing “we will never see their face, we won’t hear their voice, we won’t be able to enjoy their affection, their presence anymore.”

The disciples felt joy because they realized Jesus’ Ascension did not mean He was gone or that He had abandoned them, but that Jesus was still there, “supporting them, guiding them, interceding for them,” the pope said.

“The Ascension doesn’t indicate Jesus’ absence, but it tells us that He is alive, among us in a new way,” he said. Jesus is “close to every one of us. We are never alone in our life.”

Having Jesus at the right hand of the Father in Heaven is also like having an advocate or lawyer defending God’s children on earth, he said.

Speaking off-the-cuff, the pope said, “it’s beautiful” knowing Jesus is there on people’s behalf. The pope said it is as reassuring as knowing that when one goes on trial or is called to court, there are defense lawyers on hand to offer protection.

However, as Christians, “we have someone who always defends us. He defends us from the traps of the devil, He defends us from ourselves and our sins,” he said to applause.

“He always forgives us,” he said, “always defends us. Don’t forget that.”

The Ascension offers people great consolation knowing Jesus is close to them and leading the way He opened up for them to Heaven, he said.

“He is like the lead rope climber — when you climb a mountain — Who has reached the summit and He pulls us toward Him leading us to God.” “If we entrust our lives to Him, if we let ourselves be guided by Him, we are surely in safe hands, in the hands of our Savior, our Advocate,” Pope Francis said.

The pope entered St. Peter’s Square about 20 minutes earlier than usual so he could take a longer ride through the large crowds in the open-air popemobile.

He also spent a long time greeting, hugging and blessing a long line of disabled children and adults at the end of the audience. Many parents, relatives and the disabled themselves were visible moved, many joyful, others crying when they received the pope’s blessing and words of support.

At one point, a disabled woman slowly got off her wheelchair to kneel on the ground and kiss the pope’s feet. The pope gently helped her back up and into her wheelchair with the assistance of two undercover guards, then he blessed her.

At the end of the general audience, the pope met privately with Saleh Mohammed al Ghambi, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Italy, who was delivering a letter to the pope from King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz.

The International Church Margaret Thatcher a ‘staunch family champion,’ ambassador says April 26, 2013

ROME (CNA/EWTN News) — After Pope Francis praised the Christian ethics of the late Baroness Margaret Thatcher, the British ambassador to the Holy See emphasized her strong defense of family values.

“Lady Thatcher was a staunch champion of the family,” said Vatican ambassador Nigel Baker.

“She will be remembered by people of faith in Britain as a leader with conviction, passion, determination and decisiveness, qualities that continue to be those most needed in political and public leadership today,” he told CNA. Pope Francis sent a message to British Prime Minister David Cameron offering his condolences on the death of the “Iron Lady.”

The Holy Father said he was saddened to hear of her death and recalled with appreciation the Christian values that “underpinned her commitment to public service

and to the promotion of freedom among the family of nations.”

Baker said it is “worth recalling that she recited the Prayer of St. Francis when she arrived at Downing Street on her first day in office.”

“Lady Thatcher is recalled by many as a conviction politician, who was not afraid to do what was unpopular if she believed it was right,” he stated.

Baker also said he believes that Thatcher and Blessed John Paul II both contributed to the downfall of communism and that she “played a central role in the reopening of Central and Eastern Europe to freedom.”

“Pope John Paul II was a spiritual leader, Lady Thatcher a stateswoman, but both were adamant that totalitarian communism was an aberration in the history of Europe, and worked tirelessly for the same goal,” Baker said.

“Her personal impact at the time on people in countries like Czecho-

slovakia, Poland and Hungary was enormous and her personal engagement with Mikhail Gorbachev was a key step towards the end of the Cold War,” he remarked.

The British ambassador recalled the first years of his diplomatic career he spent in Eastern Europe in the early 1990s.

“Two personalities stood out, Pope John Paul II and Margaret Thatcher,” he said.

“Market traders in Budapest remembered vividly her visit there in the 1980s, when she delighted them by buying fruit and vegetables with her own money, negotiating over the price,” said Baker.

He explained that she garnered immense respect amongst ordinary people across the region.The ambassador also recalled that U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron said yesterday, “Margaret Thatcher didn’t just lead our country, she saved our country.”

Jesuit says U.S. war on drugs undermines Honduran democracy

SEATTLE (CNS) — A priest from Honduras says the United States is repeating the same errors in Central America as it did in the 1980s, and his country is suffering as a result.

Jesuit Father Ismael Moreno, who directs Radio Progreso, a feisty activist station on the Caribbean coast of Honduras, recently told several gatherings in Oregon and Washington that U.S. intervention in his country, supposedly focused on drug trafficking, has undermined democracy and fostered corruption.

“As part of its war on drugs, the U.S. government went looking for partners, and in Honduras it found the same allies it had used in the 1980s,” Father Moreno told a gathering in a Seattle church in mid-April.

“Rather than fighting communism, these days they’re fighting narcotraffickers, but these allies — the military and police, the prosecutors and judges — are all involved in organized crime.

They aren’t really loyal allies of the United States.”

Father Moreno said several factors combined to make Honduras what many consider to be the most violent country in the world today.

“When peace came to El Salvador and the contras ended their war in Nicaragua in the 1990s, a good part of the assault weapons they used immigrated to Honduras, and many are used by private security companies headed by former military chiefs. At

the same time, drug traffickers in Colombia started routing their shipments through Central America. Add to that the return of youth gangs from the United States, as well as the neoliberal economic changes imposed on the region. All that increased the concentration of land and worsened already chronic poverty, so it’s no wonder you today have an explosion of violence,” he said.

Many observers say Honduras verges on being a failed state, and since a disputed coup against President Manuel Zelaya, an ally of the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, in 2009, the situation has worsened. Dozens of human rights activists and peasant organizers have been assassinated.

“The government exists, but the police, military chiefs, prosecutors, judges and members of Congress are more interested in benefitting from criminal behavior, especially drugs, than they are in carrying out the functions of government,” Father Moreno told Catholic News Service.

Honduras has become particularly dangerous for journalists.

In a recent statement, the Parisbased Reporters Without Borders said it was “very concerned about an increase in harassment and violence against media personnel” in Honduras. It said Honduran authorities “must be constantly reminded of their duty to protect journalists and human rights defenders in a country where they are under great threat.”

Radio Progreso has had correspondents jailed and murdered, and the station’s studios have been temporarily seized by the military, most recently last August.

“It doesn’t matter if the journalist is politically from the left or right. If the news they produce bothers someone with power, that person will contract two or three killers. The powerful person knows that the government will protect them. Only if people make a lot of noise about the killing will the police capture the one who pulled the trigger, but the powerful person is never held responsible,” he said.

Radio Progreso is a Catholic station, but Father Moreno, popularly known as Padré Melo, admits its programming is not normal Church fare.

“We participate in the network of Catholic media in Honduras and, with a couple of exceptions, we are like foreigners there, because we don’t focus so much on doctrine as on finding Christian inspiration within the context of Honduran reality, and we do that from the perspective of an option for the poor,” he said.

“We belong to the Catholic Church, but we don’t limit our programing to confessional matters.

Father Moreno also directs the Center for Reflection and Scientific Investigation, a Jesuit think tank that, along with Radio Progreso, often gets blamed for stirring up trouble.

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Iron lady — The coffin of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher leaves St. Paul’s Cathedral after her funeral in London April 17. Baroness Thatcher, a major figure in world politics and the only woman to lead Britain’s government, died April 8 at the age of 87. (CNS photo/Gareth Fuller, pool via Reuters)

New Zealand bishops disappointed with passage of same-sex marriage law

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (CNS) — New Zealand’s Catholic bishops described as “bizarre” parliament’s vote that discards the understanding of traditional Marriage when it approved a same-sex marriage law.

The bishops also expressed sadness that the April 17 action was taken despite widespread opposition from New Zealanders.

“We find it bizarre that what has been discarded is an understanding of Marriage that has its origins in human nature and common to every culture, and that almost all references to husband and wife will be removed from legislation referencing Marriage. We know many New Zealanders stand with us in this,” said Archbishop John A. Dew of Wellington, president of the New Zealand Catholic Bishops’ Conference.

Legislators voted 77 to 44 to approve the measure, making New Zealand the 13th nation to recognize same-sex marriage.

While distancing himself from offensive remarks by opponents of the measure, Archbishop Dew said he had wanted a robust, vigorous and respectful debate prior to the vote.

“From our point of view, we do believe that there has been a respectful listening to each other,” he added.

Archbishop Dew also said he would like more time to discuss

the full implications of the move because “some people would think if it’s legal, it’s moral.”

After the vote, the archbishop, representing the bishops’ conference, said Marriage is founded on sexual difference and the traditional definition of Marriage reflects that understanding.

“Marriage is the essential human institution that predates religion and state. It is a committed union between a man and a woman, which has a natural orientation toward the procreation of human life,” he said.

The law will not require religious institutions to perform same-sex marriage ceremonies.

However, questions remain whether religious congregations will be required to rent facilities for receptions involving samesex couples or face the possibility of a lawsuit based on discrimination grounds.

Before the debate, Deputy Prime Minister Bill English, who is Catholic, called the change “harmless,” but that he would not support it because it did not represent a benchmark for equality.

The Pacific Conference of Churches, which represents 38 Catholic and Protestant churches in the Pacific region, said New Zealand’s action would not affect its members.

General Secretary Rev. Francois Pihaatae told Radio Australia that same-sex marriage remains against God’s will.

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The Anchor

April 26, 2013

Italian media report progress in Blessed John Paul’s sainthood cause

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — A Vatican-convoked commission of doctors concluded a healing attributed to Blessed John Paul II had no natural explanation, according to Italian news reports.

Eventual papal approval of the alleged miracle would clear the way for the canonization of the pope, who died Apr. 2, 2005, and was beatified May 1, 2011.

Once a panel of physicians convoked by the Congregation for Saints’ Causes determines a healing is authentic and lasting, and that there is no natural, medical explanation for it, the files are passed on to a panel of theologians.

The theologians study the events — especially the prayers — surrounding the alleged miracle and give their opinion on whether the healing can be attributed to the intercession of a particular sainthood candidate.

If the theologians give a positive opinion, the cardinals who are members of the congregation vote on whether to recommend the pope recognize the healing as a miracle and set a canonization date.

The newspaper Il Messaggero quoted Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, as saying, “There is a widespread desire for the canonization” of Blessed John Paul, “but no date has been set. First these

two formal acts (by the theologians and by the cardinals) are necessary, and then the decree of the pope about the miracle.”

In sainthood causes, the votes by the board of physicians usually are kept confidential. News about progress in causes generally is known only once a pope approves decrees related to them.

Msgr. Slawomir Oder, the postulator of Blessed John Paul’s cause, was not giving interviews in late April.

Several Italian newspapers quoted an unidentified source as saying the alleged miracle presented to the Vatican involved a woman who was healed just a few hours after the late pope was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI. When the details are made public “many people will be surprised,” the source said.

The web-based Vatican Insider spoke to Polish Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz of Krakow, Blessed John Paul’s longtime secretary, about the canonization.

“It would be marvelous if it took place during the Year of Faith,” which ends in November, the cardinal was quoted as saying.

He said he hoped the ceremony could be held in October, “35 years after his election” to the papacy in 1978.

Touching tribute — Local residents attend a candlelight vigil in the Dorchester section of Boston April 16, where Boston Marathon bombing victim Martin Richard lived. The eight-year-old boy, who attended St. Ann Parish in Dorchester with his family, was one of three people killed when two bombs exploded in the crowded streets near the finish line of the marathon April 15. More than 170 people were injured, including the boy’s mother and sister, who were seriously injured. (CNS photo/Brian Snyder, Reuters)

Father of boy killed in Boston bombings grateful for ‘thoughts and prayers’

BOSTON (CNS) — The first name released of someone killed in the April 15 explosions at the Boston Marathon was that of eightyear-old Martin Richard, whose picture in newspapers showed him grinning broadly, apparently at his First Communion.

Two bombs that exploded near the end of the marathon route, about four hours into the race, left at least three people dead and more than 170 injured. The Dorchester Reporter, the local newspaper in Martin’s hometown, said his sister, Jane, seven, suffered a “grievous injury” to her leg and their mother, Denise, was critically injured.

In a statement released April 16, Bill Richard thanked family, friends and strangers for their thoughts and prayers for his family.

“My dear son Martin has died from injuries sustained in the attack on Boston. My wife and daughter are both recovering from serious injuries,’’ said the statement, published by the Boston Globe. “We thank our family and friends, those we know and those we have never met, for their thoughts and prayers. I ask that you continue to pray for my family as we remember Martin.’’

The Richard family was described in the Dorchester paper and other publications as wellknown and very involved in their community, in children’s sports leagues, local redevelopment

and their church, St. Ann Parish Neponset, in the Dorchester section of Boston.

An employee who answered the phone at the parish April 16 declined to talk to Catholic News Service about the family or how parishioners were responding.

A widely circulated photo of Martin shows him in a white suit and tie, with a gap-tooth grin, holding what apparently is a banner made for his First Communion last year. It has his name, a chalice, a loaf of bread and other symbols of the Eucharist.

As investigators pieced together clues and asked the public to send them any photos or video that might help, faith leaders reached out to a grieving, stunned city.

A second person who died in the explosions was identified by various media outlets as Krystle Campbell, 29, of Medford. Lu Lingzi of China was listed as the third fatality.

The routine schedule of four daily Masses was to proceed as usual at St. Francis Chapel in the Prudential Center, a large office building close to the bombing scene. A recording on the center’s phone advised people wanting to come to pray in the chapel that, because of street closures for the investigation, access was limited to doors on Huntington Street only.

Around the region, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish and interfaith organizations scheduled prayer

services and vigils for the days after the bombings.

One website listing included more than two dozen Masses and prayer services in Boston and surrounding towns.

The public was invited to attend a Mass celebrated at 12:05 p.m. April 16 at the Boston archdiocesan Pastoral Center, followed by a Eucharistic prayer service and recitation of the Rosary. The prayer service included intercessions for those who died and those injured as well as the first responders and all mourning the tragedy.

The later afternoon broadcast of the archdiocesan radio program “The Good Catholic Life” was to address various aspects of how the Catholic community can help all those suffering and grieving.

Boston Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley, who was returning April 16 to Boston from a retreat in the Holy Land with several dozen priests, called St. Ann in Dorchester to share his concerns and prayers for the Richard family, according to a statement from the archdiocese. It also said he offered Mass that morning for the Richard family and all who were affected by the bombings.

In a statement the day before, Cardinal O’Malley expressed deep sorrow after the “senseless acts of violence.” He said the community was “blessed by the bravery and heroism of many” who responded to help the wounded.

The Church in the U.S.

April 26, 2013

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Texas responds to blast that casts wide destruction in small town

WEST, Texas (CNS) — Emergency personnel were carefully combing through blocks of wreckage in this town of 2,900 a day after a chemical fertilizer factory caught fire and exploded with the force of a small earthquake April 17, injuring perhaps hundreds and killing others.

Dozens of homes were destroyed in the explosion at West Fertilizer Co., a while after a fire of undetermined origin was reported. The shock wave was felt at least 50 miles away.

By the afternoon of the next day, authorities still had not given more than vague estimates of casualties — perhaps five to 15 people killed and at least 160 injured, at least 60 homes damaged or destroyed.

Hospitals in Waco, a mid-size city about 20 miles away, reported receiving as many as several dozen victims each.

In a town with a strong Czech and German immigrant history, the 120-year-old Church of the Assumption Catholic Parish is one of the largest communities in West, with about 1,300 registered families. Located about a mile from the blast site, the property and its adjacent school, St. Mary’s, were undamaged. The property was being used by emergency personnel as a command center.

Father Ed Karasek, the pastor of 24 years, posted brief notes on the parish website, noting that “we have lost several folks dear to us and many, many more have lost a portion of or all of their possessions.”

He also told Vatican Radio that in the close-knit town, everyone was coming together.

“Everybody is related to

each other, and they are all supporting each other,” he said.

At Providence Healthcare Center in Waco, the Catholic hospital reported long lines of people waiting to donate blood,

meet the pastoral needs of more than 60 injured people and their families.

Eckley, a nondenominational Protestant chaplain, said that as a non-trauma hospital, Prov-

“We did a lot of compassion care,” Eckley explained. “A lot of people, besides the physical injuries, lost their homes, their vehicles.”

“Today, we’re just letting

living a nightmare — People take part in a candlelight vigil April 18 at the Church of the Assumption in West, Texas, to remember those who lost their lives or were injured in a massive explosion at the area’s fertilizer plant April 17. The explosion near Waco, Texas, killed 14 people and injured more than 160 others. (CNS photo/Jaime R. Carrero, Reuters)

so many in fact, that immediate needs had been met.

Shannon Eckley, one of several chaplains on the hospital staff, said the entire staff rushed in to work April 17 and everyone kept busy as they tried to

idence treated people with less serious injuries. She said much of the chaplains’ time was spent trying to help people locate their family members and deal with the immediate shock of the disaster.

people talk,” she said. That includes hospital employees who live or have family members in West.

Staff at Hillcrest Hospital in Waco, which treated more than 100 victims from West, said

late April 18 that people with minor injuries were still trickling in for treatment. In a press conference, they said about 60 Hillcrest employees live in West.

Austin Bishop Joe S. Vasquez joined Pope Francis in asking prayers for the people of West.

Bishop Vasquez visited West and celebrated Mass there.

Masses at St. Mary Cathedral in Austin April 18 and at the diocesan pastoral center were celebrated for the people of West.

Bishop Vasquez also approved the use of a special weekday Mass for the people of West and sent a prayer around for parishes to use the coming weekend.

The diocesan statement said that after letting the American Red Cross provide immediate disaster relief, Catholic Charities of Central Texas and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul would take on cases referred to them by the Red Cross for long-term assistance, such as distribution of furniture and household goods.

Financial donations were being accepted by Catholic Charities of Central Texas, www. ccctx.org/disaster or St. Vincent de Paul, www.ssvdp.org.

Furniture and household goods, except clothes and mattresses were being accepted by St. Vincent de Paul in Austin.

Bishop Vasquez asked parishes to take up a special collection for assistance to West.

The diocese also was arranging for staff from its Office of Family Counseling and Family Life to evaluate the need for professional counselors.

Florist faces second lawsuit over gay wedding refusal

Seattle, Wash. (CNA/ EWTN News) — A florist in Washington is being sued for a second time after choosing not to provide flower arrangements for a gay customer’s upcoming wedding.

Barronelle Stutzman of Arlene’s Flowers in Richland now faces two lawsuits, one from the Washington state Attorney General and another from the American Civil Liberties Union, for turning away business for a same-sex couple’s wedding.

When frequent customer Curt Freed approached Barronelle Stutzman of Arlene’s Flowers last month to provide arrangements for his September wedding ceremony to Rob Ingersoll, the florist said she could not provide services due to her religious beliefs.

On the company’s Facebook

page, Stutzman described the incident after many receiving comments, saying she explained her position to the customer who said he respected her opinion.

She said that “because of my relationship with Jesus Christ,” she could not comply with his request to do floral arrangements for his wedding. It is her deeplyheld conviction that Marriage is between a man and a woman, she wrote in the post.

Stutzman recalled that the two hugged and Freed left the store.

It was not until after the couple relayed the story to their friends who were “livid” with the florist’s decision and posted about it on Facebook, according to a Seattle Times story, that they began to receive attention from the local media, and eventually the state Attorney General Bob Ferguson.

After he learned of the incident Ferguson sent a letter to Stutzman “requesting she reconsider her position and sign an agreement indicating her intention to comply with Washington laws.”

When Stutzman’s attorneys responded saying that she would challenge any action to enforce the state’s anti-discrimination law, the Attorney General filed a consumer protection lawsuit against the florist who has been serving the area for the past 37 years.

In it, the state seeks a fine of $2,000 and has issued a court-order requiring Stutzman to comply with state law.

“Under the Consumer Protection Act, it is unlawful to discriminate against customers on the basis of sexual orientation,” Ferguson said in a statement on

April 9.

“If a business provides a product or service to opposite-sex couples for their weddings, then it must provide same-sex couples the same product or service.”

Now Stutzman faces a second lawsuit as the American Civil Liberty Union filed one April 18 on behalf of Freed and Ingersoll.

“When a business serves the general public, the business owner’s religious beliefs may not be used to justify discrimination,” ACLU of Washington legal director Sarah Dunne said in a statement.

The ACLU lawsuit seeks a court order “barring the florist from discriminating against customers on the basis of sexual orientation” as well as damages “for the violation of the couple’s rights.”

Attorney Justin Bristol, who

is representing the florist, argues that these cases are violating his client’s constitutional rights to freedom of speech, expression and religion.

Although Stutzman holds religious beliefs that do not validate same-sex marriage, enforcement of this law would force her “to express assent” for the issue.

“Can the state require a painter to paint a portrait of a gay couple? Could the state require a musician to write a song?”

Bristol asked, according to the Associated Press. “Can the government compel them to say something they don’t want to say? It violates the First Amendment.”

“It’s not a public accommodation case,” he said. “She simply doesn’t believe in gay marriage.

She believes Marriage should be between a man and a woman.”

6

The Anchor When the curtain closes

Prior to the Patriots’ Day bombings, film critic Roger Ebert died on April 4, during the Easter Octave. As we can read on page 12 of this newspaper, he had a Catholic funeral, although he confessed to not being able to believe in God. The article makes reference to a blog posting he wrote which you may find at http://www.rogerebert.com/rogers-journal/ how-i-am-a-roman-catholic.

Ebert had told friends that he was not worried about being dead, equating it to the existence that he had before he was born. He said that he was content with his existence then and expected to be in the same circumstance after death. He did, however, write in a blog about the Clint Eastwood movie, “Hereafter,” in 2010, “We live, we die. That is not a tragedy. The tragedy would be never having been born. The number of possible lives that have never been lived is so large that actual lives represent a vanishingly small number after a decimal point and a great many zeros. We won a cosmic lottery by being not only alive but being self-aware and able to think rationally. That is cause for joy. We should collect our winnings and feel grateful when we die.”

In regard to the Right to Life for the unborn, Ebert wrote, “I support freedom of choice.

My choice is to not support abortion, except in cases of a clear-cut choice between the lives of the mother and child. A child conceived through incest or rape is innocent and deserves the right to be born.” In this we see that his opposition to abortion, save in the “life of the mother” cases, was not born of a belief in God, but in the value that Ebert attached to being born and allowed to walk this earth.

Ebert did describe how he had gone to Catholic schools, was trained by kind Sisters and admired the gentleness of his parish priest. He said that his loss of belief in God was not due to a sudden change in life, but was something which came gradually, as belief in God seemed more difficult to what he felt was empirically true. Some observers note that he also admitted that he did not want to have to tell priests in Confession about his “reading” of Playboy magazine. Here we are reminded of the threat which breaking of the Commandments can have to our faith. Even though the Sixth Commandment (or any of the other eight, besides the first one) might not seem to directly impact upon our belief in God, our choosing to do our own will contradicts what we say in the Our Father (“Thy will be done”). The more we travel down that path, the harder it seems to turn around.

Ebert seemed to recognize this. In his review of the Alfred Hitchcock classic “Vertigo,” he describes how the characters played by Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak “are both slaves of an image fabricated by a man who is not even in the room.” Our struggles with evil involve our rejection of our being created in the image and likeness of God, as we choose to do things that are not godly.

In another review, of the 1950 film “All About Eve,” Ebert wrote about the evil theatre critic (played by George Sanders) who has tricked the aptly named Eve into believing that he would always help promote her, as he helped her climb over other people who were in her way. “[He] calmly schemes to keep Eve as his own possession. Sanders … lashes her in one of the movie’s most savage speeches: ‘Is it possible, even conceivable, that you’ve confused me with that gang of backward children you play tricks on? That you have the same contempt for me as you have for them?’ And: ‘I am nobody’s fool. Least of all, yours.’” Again, the devil tricks us into thinking that he will make us happy, but there is no true satisfaction from what he offers us.

Ebert could not profess belief in God, but he was not contemptuous of the Church (or religion in general) as was Christopher Hitchens, the cultural critic and bon vivant who died in the past year. Ebert admired Hitchens, but he also wrote, “I’ve read his book “God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything.” I believe religion in its many forms has been the greatest single inspiration for man’s inhumanity to man, but I would not agree it poisons everything. Those rare people who practice in their lives the underlying principles of their religions are most often good for themselves and others. Those who use religion as a means toward thought control and rigid conformity are twisted and deranged. Anyone who would use religion as their reason to cause unhappiness to another is guilty of a great sin. These sins are committed first against their children. They have learned nothing from their faiths.

The extremists of both Christianity and Islam, for example, follow lives of violent repudiation of the beliefs of their own religions.”

Hitchens would say that the people Ebert criticized above did learn their Christian or Moslem faith correctly, while Ebert would say that they had embraced a false version of them.

Ebert commented on a CNN interview in which Hitchens described various people praying for him (some for his conversion; some sick folks for him to suffer). CNN’s Anderson Cooper asked Hitchens, “So you don’t pray at all?” “No, that’s all meaningless to me.

I don’t think souls or bodies can be changed by incantation,” [responded Hitchens]. There was a catch in his voice, and the slightest hint of tears. “That was the moment — not the cancer or the dying — that got to me. Prayer groups also prayed for me, and I was grateful and moved. It isn’t the sad people in movies who make me cry, it’s the good ones.”

Ebert could see a lot more good in the Church than Hitchens could in life (who did a whole documentary to attack Mother Teresa of Calcutta). “The great scandal in today’s Church is of course child abuse. I have no idea what such surveys mean or what they’re based on, but given how much I’ve read about it I was surprised to learn that only a little more than four percent of today’s clergy seems to have been involved in it.” In other words, Ebert pointed out that the pop culture perception that all priests are predators is wrong.

As Father Landry writes to the right of this editorial, these tragic days in Massachusetts made almost everyone turn to God, turn to people of faith, to look for answers or at least some type of solace. To paraphrase what Ebert wrote a few paragraphs above, it is the good people who make us cry, not out of sadness, but in appreciation that God has placed them in our lives, so that we might experience some glimpse of God’s love through them. After a time in our state which seemed like a horrible movie, we are thankful that God continues to be present, but we are also mindful of the continuing need for His consoling and healing power to be present to so many people who will be affected by the Marathon killers for years to come. We pray for their healing, while we entrust the souls of all the dead, famous or unknown, to the mercy of God.

I

April 26, 2013

The source of strength

n the 11 days since the Patriots’ Day mara- dent said, “they leave with a piece of this town thon bombings, the motto “Boston Strong” tucked firmly into their hearts. So Boston is has become more than words put on profession- your hometown, but we claim it a little bit, too.” al sports jerseys and blue and yellow ribbons but That was eloquent, because it, too, was true. an apt description of the tenacity, character and The governor began his remarks as boldly as courage of the people, police, physicians, press anyone ever could, by reminding us of St. Paul’s and even politicians of the greater Hub. imperative to the Thessalonians, “In everything, But even in the midst of so much inspiring give thanks.” I would encourage you not to valor, Boston was never stronger than on Thurs- use those words to greet a grieving widow or day morning when we showed the world that mother in the receiving line at a wake, because the source of our strength doesn’t come from they so easily risk being misunderstood. eating Boston-baked beans, drinking magic But with remarkable poise and confidence, water from the Quabbin Reservoir, breathing the leader of the Commonwealth reminded us the hard air of the Southeast Expressway, taking that we’re called even in times of disaster to specialized phonetics lessons in kindergarten or thank God because God always seeks to bring singing “Sweet Caroline.” good out of evil, as we saw in the various ways We gave a universal witness that our greatest the governor indicated: for the firefighters, state strength doesn’t come from within but comes and local police officers, EMTs, medical profesfrom God. That’s why Governor Patrick called sionals, hospital workers, FBI and ATF agents, Cardinal Sean O’Malley when he was still in blood donors, contributors to the charitable the Holy Land and asked the Catholic Church to organizations, and people praying, consoling host an interfaith prayer service at the South End and sending messages from across the world.

Cathedral dedicated to a cross we call holy, to an Cardinal O’Malley in his reflection focused instrument of torture we treat as sacred. Chrison one of those goods for which we need tians know that from that worst evil in human to thank God. He said that the tragedy had history, the murder of Innocence Incarnate on “brought us together as a community like a gibbet, God brought about the greatest good nothing else ever could,” shaking us out of our of all. “complacency And so there and indifference the President … to focus on of the United the task of buildStates, the ing a civilization Governor of the based on love, Commonwealth, justice, truth and the Mayor of service.”

By Father Boston, so many Either we Roger J. Landry police offibuild a civilizacers, marathon tion of love, runners and he stressed, or ordinary citizens convened to ask God to bring eventually there will be no civilization at good out of the terrorist atrocities. all.

It’s important to grasp what happened on That’s going to require all of us to overThursday and why. We’re living at a time when come the temptation to remain a “crowd … of many of our political, educational and cultural self-absorbed individuals, each one focused on leaders are trying to eliminate God from our his or her own interests in competition with the public life, such as removing prayer from conflicting projects of others,” because we canschools, statues of the Holy Family from public not “repair our broken world … as a collection greens at Christmas, “In God we Trust” from of individuals; we can only do it together, as a our currency and other such evictions. community, as a family.”

After the horror, pain and grief that began Just like the first patriots on Patriots’ Day last Monday at 2:50 p.m., however, we didn’t in 1775 were willing to lay down their lives book Dr. Phil and a thousand counselors for for the common good, so, he challenged, all of group therapy sessions at the TD North Garden. us are called to lay down our lives to promote We didn’t ask the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders a “culture of life, a profound respect for each to regale us with some sexy, upbeat chants on and every human being made in the image and Boston Common. We didn’t ask Jose Cuervo likeness of God.” and Jack Daniels to come to the rescue and This was far more than a reminder to a prodrown our sorrows. We didn’t bring in a bunch abortion president and governor about the root of clowns and comedians to make us howl and cause of so much of the violence in our world, distract us from the pain. that when we say certain human beings should We all knew that we needed something have the right to determine whether other innomore. We knew that we needed Someone more. cent human beings should live or die, eventuAnd so we turned as a nation to God. And we’re ally we can get some disturbed individuals like never stronger than when we do. the Tsarnaev brothers acting on that principle As St. Paul once said, it’s when we’re weak to murder and maim innocents at a marathon that we’re strongest, because when we recogfinish line. nize we need God and turn to Him in prayer for It was a reminder to everyone that our goal help, He strengthens us more than any human as a civilization cannot be simply to have more means could.

Homeland Security Agents checking every The prayer service was moving, emboldenbarrel and backpack in the country and security ing, and inspiring. cameras on every corner and at every event to The President of the United States strengthspot the bad guys before they do harm. ened us all by reminding us that God hasn’t The goal has got to be to have a culture that given us a spirit of fear and timidity but of can prevent young and old from becoming bad power, love and self-control, the Spirit will give guys in the first place. us the strength to run with endurance the race For that nearly impossible task, we need that is set before us, even in the midst of bombs God. We need not only God’s help, but we need and other struggles, to push on, to persevere, God in people’s lives. not to grow weary, not to get faint, even when it We need a God Who will help make us hurts, even when our heart aches. all — in the words of St. Francis of Assisi with He was incredibly eloquent, but his elowhich Cardinal O’Malley finished his reflection quence in the pulpit came not from rhetorical — instruments of His peace, strengthening us to dynamics but from the power of the Word of sow love instead of the hatred of terrorism and God. It was eloquent because it was true. vengeance, forgiveness instead of injury, hope The president also gave one of the most rather than despair, joy instead of sadness, and moving descriptions of the true greatness of faith instead of doubt.

Boston I had ever heard: “Boston opens its heart Boston was strongest last week when we to the world,” to immigrants, students, artists, came together to pray. scientists, marathon runners and more, which We will become stronger still, if we, with is one of the reasons why Boston isn’t claimed typical Boston hospitality, welcome God into only by those born in its boroughs, who cheer our lives, keep praying, and become those for its sports teams, or who declare it as their instruments of peace. native place when they travel abroad.

Father Landry is pastor of St. Bernadette “Whether folks come here to Boston for just Parish in Fall River. His email address is a day, or they stay here for years,” the presifatherlandry@catholicpreaching.com.

Putting Into the Deep

7

The Anchor

April 26, 2013

Diocesan Office of Child Protection works to keep parishes, schools in compliance

By Kenneth J. Souza Anchor Staff

FALL RIVER — As coordinator of the Office of Child Protection with Catholic Social Services of the Fall River Diocese, Debora Jones not only has to keep up with all the latest updates in state and federal laws, but she also has to stay abreast of any changes in the Church’s code of canon law.

It can sometimes be a daunting task, but as the diocesan go-to person charged with maintaining the safety and well-being of Catholic youth, it’s a crucial and important job.

“We work hand-in-hand with state government,” Jones told The Anchor. “Obviously if something serious happens in one of our parishes or schools, we’d have to make a report about it. But not everything rises to the level of requiring state involvement. It could be something that we just need to deal with here. You can think of times when someone might do something that’s not appropriate, but it’s not a case of abuse or neglect, either. In that case we can help educate that person before it becomes something that needs to be reported. There are some of those gray areas.”

Jones is also responsible for making sure the diocesan policies and procedures for dealing with any cases of potential child abuse or neglect are kept up-to-date and remain in compliance with state law and the U.S. Bishops’ “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.”

“It entails all of the prevention and policy procedures for the diocese that were promulgated by the bishop,” she said. “It starts with an introduction to the law, and it gives you definitions of different abusers and mandated reporters. It covers mandated reporting and changes that happened in the law on July 1, 2010. That’s one of the things that I go over in classes — that there are much steeper fines for people who abuse or fail to use the mandated reporter requirement under law.”

In an effort to ensure that all employees of the Fall River Diocese — be they paid workers or parish volunteers or priests, deacons and religious — are aware of the possible signs of child abuse or neglect, Jones personally oversees weekly workshops and education sessions that teach about the latest nuances and details of the law.

“All volunteers, employees and subcontractors in the diocese are required to go through the program even if they have only a remote possibility of having unsupervised or unmonitored access to children,” she said. “Even those who are in the gray area are

encouraged to comply with every possible protection — it’s just better for everybody that way. People who go through training are much more aware of all the different challenges and opportunities out there to put a foot wrong.”

Noting that society has become “hyper-vigilant” today, Jones said it’s important to make people aware of potential harassment or abuse concerns, even if their actions are purely innocent and well meaning.

“You don’t always realize some of the things that could be boundary issues or other types of things that could have people looking at you and wonder why you’re doing it,” she said. “We want people looking out for children and protecting them, but then it means that sometimes you can do something very innocently that could be misinterpreted.”

Jones’ office also helps to conduct state Criminal Offender Record Information background checks when people are first hired or contracted by the diocese in the Catholic schools and Faith Formation programs.

“CORI checks are done to make sure we’re not bringing in someone who has a history that we don’t know about and allowing them access to our children,” Jones said. “Anytime something goes wrong, it’s much better to say we did everything humanly possible to protect the child.”

Recalling an early job she had in the Midwest keeping scores and statistics for a high school basketball team, Jones said times have changed in terms of public perceptions of what is and isn’t acceptable.

“One of the classic examples I always point out to the trainees who come to our Tuesday night classes is something that always resonates with me,” she said. “I always share that whenever a kid scored a basket, the coach would smack him on the butt. I never saw anything inappropriate in that — I didn’t think there was anything sexual about it — it’s just what was done in those days. No one thought anything of it. Parents were sitting there and everyone saw it happen.

“But fast-forward to today and say you go volunteer at your parish or school and a kid scores a basket and you smack him on the butt, what’s likely to happen?

You’re looking at disciplinary action, termination of employment, a possible report filed with the Department of Children and Families, and maybe even a potential lawsuit.”

Jones said people who work with children on a regular basis need to be aware of such dos and don’ts that are part and parcel of

the diocesan policy and procedures.

“I always suggest that people go through the training so they have this awareness,” she said.

“With Catholic Social Services, we’ve done that with all our employees, whether they need it or not. We just wanted to raise the bar. We also CORI check our employees every year instead of (the required) every three years, just to be in compliance. We’re the agency that monitors it, so we do everything we can.”

Another part of Jones’ job is to regularly audit all of the parishes and Catholic schools within the diocese to make sure they remain in compliance with the law.

“We receive and process all of the CORI forms for them and I train all the employees who come through the diocese,” she said. “I train a lot of the volunteers as well, but they can also be trained at their schools or parishes, depending on when a class is available. There’s a lot that goes into it.”

Having a centralized office to take the lead in maintaining a diocesan-wide child protection policy is beneficial, Jones said, and it takes the pressure off the individual parishes and volunteer Faith Formation teachers.

“A lot of people have struggled with the fact that the Church is teaching child abuse prevention

to the kids … so we’ve integrated that into our Faith Formation and Catholic school classes,” she said.

“The Catholic schools use the Child Lures Prevention program.

But the parishes all use a self-generated curriculum that was written for our diocese about 10 years ago. In response to feedback that we’ve had, we’re about to launch a brand-new curriculum that’s based on videos that are age-appropriate for every grade — grade one through nine.”

Written by Jones, the new curriculum was tested with a pilot program in a parish last month and was very well received.

“We had about 80 kids and it seemed to go really well,” she said. “Parents were very much in approval of it and the kids had a great time. It’s a wonderful way of presenting the information — that’s our goal. We want to get the message across in a way that doesn’t scare the kids and isn’t sensationalized.”

The new Faith Formation program, which comes under the umbrella of the so-called “Safe Environment Program,” will provide an important tool for Religious Education coordinators and teachers throughout the diocese.

“I think the DREs are really going to like it,” Jones said. “They don’t have to do as much of the actual teaching — the video does

the teaching for you. It covers all the topics in a language that can be a little uncomfortable for people who aren’t used to doing this work. The video covers all that. Then the teachers or DREs can facilitate the discussion afterwards. The only thing the teacher or facilitator has to do is keep the kids on point, because they tend to drift a bit.”

A training session introducing the new program has already been scheduled in June for Faith Formation teachers and directors of Religious Education.

“We’ll be rolling out this new option in the fall — so parishes can use this new program or the old option,” Jones said. “It’s exciting to know we have something that’s new and updated, because we’ve heard people say that the kids are going through the same program year after year. So now they have a new option, some fun new videos and some good talking points to take home and discuss with their parents about identifying who’s a safe adult or someone they can trust. We’re pretty excited about that.”

Note: The Fall River Diocese’s policy and procedures to be followed when an accusation of sexual abuse of a minor is made against an employee or volunteer of the diocese can be found on page 18 in this issue.

EWTN celebrates Mother Angelica’s 90th birthday

Irondale, Ala. (CNA/ EWTN News) — The Eternal Word Television Network celebrated the 90th birthday of its foundress, Mother Angelica, on April 20 with 90 hours of programming featuring her wit and wisdom.

“I still marvel at what God accomplished through this great woman, and what continues to be accomplished with the ongoing prayers of Mother Angelica and the nuns,” said Michael Warsaw, president and CEO of EWTN. “That a cloistered nun with no experience was able to build a worldwide Catholic media network based in Irondale, Ala. reaffirms my faith every day. It is nothing short of miraculous.”

Mother Angelica was born in 1923 to an Italian-American family in Canton, Ohio. She led a difficult childhood marked by the divorce of her parents and her mother’s poverty. In her youth, she suffered ptosis of the stomach, which gave her severe pains, but was remarkably cured, after which she devoted herself to God. In 1944, Mother Angelica joined the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration, a contemplative Franciscan community. She made

her solemn profession of vows in 1953.

In 1961, she founded Our Lady of the Angels Monastery in Irondale, a suburb of Birmingham, Ala., which has become the home of EWTN. She later relocated the monastery to the grounds of the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, some 45 minutes north of Birmingham.

Mother Angelica began EWTN in a garage on the monastery property in 1981.

EWTN is now available in more than 150 million television households in more than 140 countries and territories. In its mission, it uses direct broadcast satellite television and radio services, AM and FM radio networks, worldwide short-wave radio, an Internet website and a publishing arm.

Mother Angelica turned control of EWTN over to a board in 2000, and in 2001 suffered a stroke.

In October 2009, Benedict XVI awarded the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice Medal to Mother Angelica.

The medal is the highest honor the pope can bestow on religious and is given for service to the Church.

“The one thing we keep hearing from our viewers around the world is that Mother’s shows are as relevant now as when they first

aired,” Warsaw said. “Even translated into other languages, her message resonates with people across all cultural and geographic boundaries.”

As Mother Angelica observes her 90th birthday, fans of her apostolate have sent numerous messages wishing her a blessed day on her Facebook page and at EWTN’s website.

“You have been a wonderful inspiration in my life!! You have taught me so much about our faith, and for this I am now closer to God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. I am truly grateful to you! Happy 90th Birthday Mother Angelica!

God bless you always,” wrote one fan.

Another said, “Happy Birthday to Mother Angelica. I have been watching your show for many years since the ’80s. I am very fortunate as a result and wish you peace and blessings on your birthday!”

Father John Trigilio, an EWTN personality, wrote that when he first met Mother Angelica, she was so humorous that “my sides were hurting.”

“She is so down to earth, genuine, and straight-shooting and very Italian. She says what she means and means what she says.”

8

April 26, 2013

The Anchor

A

few years ago there was a humorous television commercial advertising a certain spray-on stain remover for laundry. The commercial was set in a typical laundromat and it portrayed two guys in a sort of competition over whose stain remover was most effective. As you would expect, one guy uses the product being advertised, and the other guy has some other inferior product. Each man applies his product to stains on a white shirt and throws them into the washing machine. But, of course, when the shirts are displayed after washing, the man who used the advertised product gets to pack up and go home. The other fellow still has a terrible stain to contend with on his white shirt and has to remain. To make matters worse, he orders a pizza as he waits for his laundry to go through the cycle again and, upon taking his first bite, sauce falls from the corner of his mouth and onto the shirt that he is wearing. It

Salvation is a complete tranformation

looks as if this poor soul will be describes this new reality: “Evstuck in a “laundromat purgaery tear will be wiped from our tory.” eyes ... there shall be no more This week’s Scriptures, pardeath or mourning, or crying or ticularly the passage from the pain ... nothing accursed will be Book of Revelation, may be understood as leading us to reflect on Homily of the Week the process of purificaFifth Sunday tion and renewal which of Easter has been set in motion by the triumph of the

By Father Risen Lord Jesus. I Gregory A. Mathias suppose if we want to be silly we could speak in terms of “the Lord’s cosmic laundry.” found there anymore.”

The second reading is a narThere are seven stains which ration of a vision received by are targeted for elimination John the Apostle; He sees new in this vision: The sea (read Heavens and a new earth. The “chaos”), death, mourning former Heaven and the former or grieving, crying, pain, the earth had passed away and night-time (read “darkness”), the sea was no longer. A New and finally, one big category of Jerusalem comes down out of things, “every accursed or evil Heaven from God, [and] it is thing.” The symbolic number God’s dwelling among humanseven indicates “fullness” or ity. If we open our Bibles and “completeness,” suggesting that read beyond the limits of the the purification of creation will passage provided for Mass, it be thorough. Nothing that is

incompatible with God’s goodness and holiness can co-exist with the New Heavens and the New Earth. And, at the same time, there is a sense of affirmation about the original Creation. The new Creation will actually be a cleansing and a transformation of the old Creation; the old is not annihilated.

It is important to note that the process being described in Scripture involves our active participation as disciples of the Risen Lord.

We are all called to a constant and thorough examination of ourselves to ensure that we are not allowing the co-existence of evils alongside our professed faith in Jesus. Sometimes this is manifest in moral “blind spots” which we allow to persist in us. Moreover, our participation in the Sacramental life of the Church is a participation in the transformation St. John

describes in Revelation. The Seven Sacraments are means of cleansing, renewal and transformation. In Catholic Christianity the view of salvation is one of a complete transformation of the person and not merely a “whitewashing” of past sins or evil. In fact, all Seven Sacraments might be regarded as counterpoints to those seven evils which are banished from the new Creation.

Speaking in terms of a “rule of life,” the “Catechism” at number 2016, expresses this participation well: “Keeping the same rule of life, believers share the ‘blessed hope’ of those whom the Divine Mercy gathers into the Holy City ... the New Jerusalem, coming down out of Heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.”

Father Mathias was ordained in 1991 and is currently the pastor of St. John Neumann Parish in East Freetown.

Upcoming Daily Readings: Sat. April 27, Acts 13:44-52; Ps 98:1-4; Jn 14:7-14. Sun. April 28, Fifth Sunday of Easter, Acts 14:21b-27; Ps 145:8-13; Rv 21:1-5a; Jn 13:31-33a,34-35. Mon. Apr. 29, Acts 14:5-18; Ps 115:1-5,15-16; Jn 14:21-26. Tues. Apr. 30, Acts 14:19-28; Ps 145:10-13ab,21; Jn 14:27-31a.

Wed. May 1, Acts 15:1-6; Ps 122:1-5; Jn 15:1-8. Thurs. May 2, Acts 15:7-21; Ps 96:1-3,10; Jn 15:9-11. Fri. May 3, 1 Cor 15:1-8; Ps 19:2-5; Jn 14:6-14.

B

aseball and movies don’t often play well together. William Bendix as a marine who dies happy in “Guadalcanal Diary” because he’s just heard that the Dodgers have won is an icon of 1940s Americana; the same William Bendix as the Bambino in “The Babe Ruth Story” is a sad business, to be consigned to the (bad) memory bank. “The Natural” and “Bull Durham” have their moments, but when push comes to shove, they’re both, finally, about something other than baseball. “61*,” Billy Crystal’s made-for-HBO flick about Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, and the chase for Ruth’s single-season home-run is a terrific story of male friendship (and gave this lifelong Yan-

‘42’ and us

kees-deplorer a soft spot for Boseman captures some of the the 1961 Bronx Bombers); but fierce intensity, and a lot of computer-graphic reconstructhe raw courage, of the man tions of old ballparks being who broke baseball’s color what they were when it was line. It wasn’t easy to imagine made in 2001 — i.e., not that Han Solo, Indiana Jones, or persuasive — “61*” just misses being a great baseball movie.

Now comes “42,” the long-awaited cinematic telling of the Jackie Robinson story, which

By George Weigel I recently saw on a snowy April Sunday afternoon in the Twin Cities. I wouldn’t call it a great President James Marshall (“Air movie (like, for example, “The Force One”) as Branch Rickey, King’s Speech”); but it’s a the cigar-chomping, ultravery, very good movie, and an Methodist general manager of entirely plausible challenger the Brooklyn Dodgers whose to “61*” as the best baseball Christian decency and shrewd movie ever made. Chadwick business sense led him to take on the entire baseball establishment by signing Jackie Robinson; but Harrison Ford pulls off that role with aplomb. Kudos, too, to Nicole Beharie for capturing the steely grace, beauty and guts of Rachel Robinson, Jackie’s wife, who put up with all the racism that her husband endured and who, with him, embodied for millions of Americans the meaning of the civil rights anthem, “We Shall Overcome.”

Columnist George F. Will once wrote that Jackie Robinson was second — a “very

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The Catholic Difference

close second” — to Martin Luther King Jr. in the pantheon of African-Americans who reversed a nation’s racial attitudes and helped create what is, today, the most racially egalitarian society in history. “42” is a useful reminder of just how much those men, and others, had to overcome: Robinson’s teammates are, to put it gently, unenthusiastic about his presence among them; the Phillies’ race-baiting manager, Ben Chapman, mercilessly harasses number 42 when he comes up to the plate; the Cardinals’ Enos Slaughter deliberately spikes Robinson on a routine play at first base; Pirates’ pitcher Fritz Ostermueller throws a killer pitch that smashes into Robinson’s temple (in the days before batting helmets); potty-mouthed fans remind us just how foul American racial epithets could be — and how children were taught to imitate the sins of their parents.

And through it all, Jackie Robinson, in that first, crucial season, stuck to the promise he had made Branch Rickey: he would have the courage not to fight back, save in playing some of the most electrifying

baseball ever seen, especially on the basepaths.

Branch Rickey was dubbed “the Mahatma” by a Brooklyn sportswriter who thought the Dodger g.m.’s style akin to Mohandas K. Ghandi, whom John Gunther once described as “an incredible combination of Jesus Christ, Tammany Hall and your father.” And to the credit of screenwriter Brian Helgeland, “42” doesn’t gloss over Rickey’s Christian faith, or Jackie Robinson’s, and the role that Christian conviction played in forging their relationship and their ultimate victory.

Still, when the packed crowd in that Minneapolis theatre burst into applause at the end of the movie a few weeks ago, I didn’t read it as an endorsement of Methodist theology or piety.

Rather, it seemed to me welcome evidence that, amidst vast cultural and political confusions, Americans still believe in moral truths, moral absolutes, and moral courage — and yearn for opportunities to celebrate them. There’s an important lesson in that for the country’s religious and political leaders.

George Weigel is Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C.

April 26, 2013

O

ver the last two weeks, Boston and Massachusetts have experienced first-hand the mystery of evil, what with the bloody Marathon bombing and the ensuing manhunt. What is it that causes an apparently nice young man, a student at my university, to engage in terrorist activity that kills and maims innocent people?

Evil is a mystery, and so is human freedom. Fortunately, the manifestation of evil is always attended by manifestations of goodness — in the selflessness of first responders, in the courageous acts of police and law enforcement, in kind acts of mercy and compassion by the person on the street.

Days before the Boston Marathon, on April 11, Father Emil Kapaun, an Army chaplain from Kansas, who died in May, 1951, as a prisoner of war in North Korea, was awarded the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest military honor. Father Kapaun is also

M

any of us live life in a little comfort zone like a cocoon. Occasionally that safety net stretches, sometimes to the limit; with the illness of a loved one or ourselves; with the loss of a job; or the like.

But last week, at the tail end of the Boston Marathon, two senseless acts cracked our cocoons with a wide, gaping chasm.

But for me, my little cocoon was rattled with a medical situation that brought me to the ER at local Charlton Memorial Hospital last week.

I’m glad (and relieved) to say, the cocoon wasn’t shattered.

When Denise and I arrived at the ER we knew we were in for a day-long event, even before we found out my condition. The parking lots were full and we had to walk a block-and-a-half to get there.

Once inside, it was wall-towall people, and that was at one o’clock on a Thursday afternoon.

We checked in and sat waiting to be called. Not interested in the soap opera playing on the screens in the waiting area, I watched the people there waiting, those being brought to triage, and the others just coming in to go through the same process we had just experienced.

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The miracle of Father Kapaun

jured by a grenade, was about a “servant of God,” because to be executed by a Chinese his cause of beatification and canonization has been officially soldier when Father Kapaun opened by the Church. His self- stepped in to stop him. He then lessness, courage, and compas- carried the wounded Miller on the long march to a prison sion in the horrendous condicamp. “He carried that injured tions of war and imprisonment American, for miles, as their are nothing short of luminous. captors forced them on a death Clearly, with Father Kapaun, a march,” according to Obama. light shone in the darkness.

Ignatius Press has just published a book entitled “The Miracle of Father Kapaun,” by reporters Roy Wenzl and Travis Heying, which tells his inspiring story. Originally,

By Dwight Duncan the story appeared in serialized form in the Wichita Eagle.

“When Father Kapaun grew The newspaper also produced tired, he’d help the wounded a documentary of the same soldier hop on one leg. When name, “The Miracle of Father Kapaun,” 45 minutes in length, other prisoners stumbled, he picked them up. When they which is also available on wanted to quit — knowing that DVD from Ignatius Press. stragglers would be shot — he When President Obama posthumously awarded him the begged them to keep walking.”

The book tells the whole Medal of Honor, he recounted story: how Father Kapaun the story of how Herb Miller, would often lead raids of an Army sergeant in 1951, in-

Judge For Yourself

POWs to steal food from the enemy: “Kapaun explained to the men that the Commandment against stealing did not apply to them because they were being starved to death by their captors.”

Before these sorties, Kapaun lined up the men and asked them to pray for help from Dismas, patron saint of thieves, the Good Thief who was crucified beside Christ.

Kapaun said that St. Dismas would intercede with God for their success.”

In those days, even before the ecumenical spirit of Vatican II, Father Kapaun awed the nonCatholics, Christians, Jews, and Muslims that he served with. The Muslim Fezi Bey said, “He is not of my religion, but he is a man of God.” Major Jerry Fink, a Jew who showed up in the prison camp shortly after Kapaun died, was so impressed with what he heard about him that he carved a

Rebuilding my cocoon

My heart broke for all the hallways, yet the CMH staff poor souls there. There were remained calm and composed, young, old and every age in assuring those squeaky wheels between. You could see the they would be helped as soon pain in some of the faces and fear in others. I wished I was somewhere else at that point.

We finally were called into the triage area, only it was so

By Dave Jolivet busy, there were no rooms. My patient history had to be given as I sat in a chair in the as possible. hallway. I was not alone. The My heart still broke for all ER staff was in overdrive. It the people who were hurting was as though their feet never in so many different ways, but hit the floor as they raced to my heart swelled with pride help each “poor soul” despite and admiration for the nurses, the overwhelming numbers doctors, orderlies and others and the increasing lack of making some sense out of the equipment. total chaos.

Eventually, we made our Every nurse who worked way into a triage room, and with me was kind, compasstill had to wait for monitorsionate, professional, and ing equipment to help dieven comical. That goes a agnose my problem. Lying long way in treating a person there, with the curtain closed, who, at the time, has none of I could hear the staff, mostly those traits. nurses, calming patients, seekAfter what seemed an ing equipment, taking hiseternity, Denise and I made tories, and trying to find the our way to another treatment proper treatment areas for the room where another nurse whole lot of us. took responsibility for my Just because people are care. She was in the middle called patients, it doesn’t of a 12-hour shift, and I was mean they are patient! Comstunned to learn so. She was plaints of “I’ve been here for cheerful, friendly, very adept hours,” resonated through the at her nursing skills, and yes,

My View From the Stands

comical.

All the while, more and more people spilled into the ER that afternoon and evening. While the staff treated their patients, they had a calming countenance. But as I watched them rush to and fro in the interim, they were tired, haggled, frazzled, and wide-eyed. Yet, not one of them let their own fatigue get in the way of taking care of the endless stream of people in need.

The doctor who finally came to see me, brought relieving news, and I could have jumped up and hugged him, had I not been wired-up more than my home entertainment center. In fact I could have hugged every last one of those angels of mercy at the ER that frightening day.

It’s not every day I make it to the ER and witness the countless brothers and sisters of every race, color and creed,

sculpture of the crucified Christ in his memory that surprisingly resembled Kapaun. Fink told reporters in Wichita, “I am a Jew, but that man will always live in my heart.”

His fellow POWs pushed ever since for Father Kapaun’s heroism to be recognized by Congress and the president with the Medal of Honor, and also by the Catholic Church through canonization as a saint. The first has now been accomplished; the second is in the works. There have already been miracles of healing reported through his intercession.

And so, as we remember the horrendous evil of which people are capable, we need to consider the incredible good of which we are also capable, with God’s grace. As Solzhenitsyn observed, the line dividing good and evil cuts through the human heart.

Dwight Duncan is a professor at UMass School of Law Dartmouth. He holds degrees in civil and canon law.

young and old, who desperately need help. That day I saw them, and since then, I pray for each new batch each new day. But not only that, I pray for the nameless heroes who save lives, fix lives, and calm lives each and every day.

My hat is off to wonderful staff at the Charlton Memorial Hospital ER. I raise a toast to them, for the profession they have chosen, and for how they perform that profession as Christ would tend His sheep.

Some may not be Catholic, and some may not be religious, but whether they know it or not, God has them there for a reason. They are there to help rebuild that comfortable little cocoon in which we all snuggle to feel safe and secure.

Here’s hoping they, too, have a cocoon to return to after tending Christ’s hobbled sheep. And that’s at just one city hospital. My toast extends to all ER staffers everywhere.

Well done, good and faithful servants.

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Prayer vigils offer solidarity after Boston attack continued from page one

prayer service in Boston on April 18.

“Scripture tells us to run with endurance the race that is set before us,” the president observed. “As we do, may God hold close those who’ve been taken from us too soon, may He comfort their families and may He continue to watch over these United States of America.”

Obama joined numerous religious leaders in speaking at an interfaith prayer service at the Catholic Cathedral of the Holy Cross On April 15, two bombs exploded shortly before 3 p.m. near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. Three individuals were killed in the explosions, and more than 170 were injured.

Cardinal Séan P. O’Malley, OFM, Cap., of Boston also offered a reflection at the service, urging those gathered that they must “overcome the culture of death by promoting a culture of life.”

“Jesus gives us a new way

to deal with offenses, by reconciliation,” he said. “Jesus gives us a new way to deal with violence, by nonviolence.”

Stressing that the crowd’s “presence was an act of solidarity with those who lost their lives or were injured in the explosions,” the cardinal called on the faithful to see the tragedy as “a challenge and an opportunity for us to work together with a renewed spirit of determination and solidarity and with the firm conviction that love is stronger than death.”

Other leaders and members of various faith groups attended the service, including representatives of the Jewish Community Relations Council, the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center, First Church Cambridge, Old South Church and Trinity Church.

Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick and Boston mayor Thomas M. Menino also gave reflections at the service.

The Archdiocese of Boston continued to offer a variety

of opportunities for Mass and prayer for all those affected by the bombing.

On April 16, a Mass for the victims of the attack was celebrated at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross. Memorial and healing Masses, Eucharistic adoration and prayer services are scheduled throughout the archdiocese in the coming days.

In addition, several colleges in Boston are holding vigils and Masses. Harvard University held three vigils on April 16 in honor of the victims, including one at Harvard Divinity School. Northeastern University and Tufts University also held prayer services and vigils.

Boston College, a Catholic university located on the marathon route, celebrated a “Mass of Healing and Hope” on April 16 for victims of the bombing, “including two graduate students, M.B.A. student Liza Cherney and joint J.D./M.B.A. student Brittany Loring.” The Mass was celebrated by univer-

April 26, 2013 sity president, Father William P. Leahy, SJ. “We come with certain hurts and a sense of confusion: Why do these things happen? How can we carry on?” said Father Leahy in his homily, according to the Boston College Chronicle.

“Christ proclaimed that ‘I am the bread of life,’ and those words have extra significance to us,” he added. “We are seeking a level of consolation, food that will sustain us. The bread of life gives us energy, support and faith.

Christ’s words sustain us today, and in the future.”

“We are called upon to represent faith, hope and healing for those who it need most,” Fr. Leahy explained.

Others from around the coun-

try have joined in prayer to support victims of the attacks.

Notre Dame University offered a Mass on April 18 for all those affected, and the Catholic Chaplaincy at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., held a prayer vigil on the night of April 15.

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The Anchor

April 26, 2013

Vatican official says Archbishop Romero’s sainthood cause ‘unblocked’

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family and the official promoter of the sainthood cause of the late Archbishop Oscar Romero of San Salvador, said the process to beatify and eventually canonize the slain Salvadoran archbishop has been unblocked.

Archbishop Paglia, who has been the postulator of Archbishop Romero’s cause for years, made the announcement in a homily April 20, just a few

hours after meeting with Pope Francis.

The Italian archbishop, who was preaching at a Mass in the Italian city Molfetta to mark the 20th anniversary of the death of the diocese’s Bishop Antonio Bello — widely known by the diminutive Don Tonino — said, “Today, the anniversary of the death of Don Tonino, the cause for the beatification of Archbishop Romero was unblocked.”

The archbishop gave no more details, and his office said

April 22 that no more would be said until there is something “concrete” to report.

In his homily, Archbishop Paglia said, “Martyrs help us live, help us understand there is more joy in giving than in receiving. This is why we need to preserve their memories.”

He added that he hoped Archbishop Romero and Bishop Bello — known for his care of the poor and his commitment to peace — could be beatified together “because Jesus always sent the Apostles out two by

Archbishop Oscar Romero

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two.”

Bishop Bello died in 1993; the Vatican approved the opening of his sainthood cause in 2007.

Archbishop Romero was shot Mar. 24, 1980, as he celebrated Mass. The Congregation for Saints’ Causes authorized the opening of his cause in 1993. Often the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is asked to review the writings of sainthood candidates to ensure they are free of doctrinal error; many people working for Archbishop Romero’s cause described the review as “blocked” in the congregation from 2000 to 2005.

One of those supporters is Roberto Morozzo della Rocca, a professor of contemporary history in Rome, and author of “Primero Dios: Vita di Oscar A. Romero” (“God First: The Life of Oscar A. Romero).”

He said Archbishop Romero’s “enemies claimed there were theological errors” in his writings and sermons. “This took years of work to clear up,” della Rocca told Catholic News Service.

The next step in the process is a formal papal declaration that Archbishop Romero died a martyr — that he was killed because of his faith. Opponents of his cause have claimed his assassination was politically motivated. The papal decree would follow a recommendation from the cardinals who are members of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes; they vote on decrees after reviews by separate panels of theologians and historians.

A miracle is not needed for the beatification of a martyr.

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April 26, 2013

The Anchor

Wrestling with belief: Roger Ebert’s closing credits

NEW YORK (CNS) — In the end, Roger Ebert’s doubts about his Catholic faith may not have been what really mattered. Chicago’s Holy Name Cathedral was, after all, the chosen venue for his April 8 funeral Mass, and it was packed to the rafters.

Arguably the nation’s bestknown film critic, Ebert, 70 — who had written for the Chicago SunTimes since 1967 and had hosted TV programs for decades — died April 4 of the salivary gland and thyroid cancer that cost him his lower jaw and his ability to speak in 2006.

He continued to write until April 2, when he announced that he would take a “leave of presence” and write fewer movie reviews because the disease had recurred.

When he knew he was dying, Ebert wrote about his religious upbringing in the same unsparingly frank style that had endeared him to the many fans of his reviews. He made it clear that, all along, his readers had been encountering a specifically Catholic outlook. Yet he was just as straightforward in expressing his uncertainties.

“I consider myself Catholic, lock, stock and barrel, with this technical loophole: I cannot believe in God,” he wrote in a March 1 blog post entitled “How I Am Catholic.”

He added, “I refuse to call myself an atheist, however, because that indicates too great a certainty about the unknowable.”

In a 2009 blog post, “How I Believe in God,” he said he hated easy labels: “I am not a believer, not an atheist, not an agnostic. ... I am more content with the question than I would be with an answer.”

“All my life,” wrote Ebert, who won the Pulitzer Prize for his criticism in 1975, “I have deplored those who interpret something only on its most simplistic level.”

He received what he called his “core moral and political principles” from the Dominican nuns who taught at the now-closed St. Mary’s Grade School in Westville, Ill. “Many of them involved a social contract between God and man, which represented classical liberalism based on empathy and economic fairness. We heard much of (Pope) Leo XIII’s encyclical ‘Rerum Novarum’ (‘On Capital and Labor’).”

In March, he wrote of his early education during the era before the Second Vatican Council: “The morning hour in religion was my favorite class. As we advanced through the grades, it began simply, in memorizing chapters from the Baltimore ‘Catechism,’ and concluded in eighth grade with the four lives of Christ as told in the New Testament.”

A study of the Book of Genesis “led us toward the theory of evolution, which in its elegance and blinding obviousness became one of the pillars of my reasoning, explaining so many things in so many ways. It was an introduction not only to logic but to symbolism, thus opening a window into poetry, literature and the arts in general.”

In 2010, Ebert wrote about being an altar boy at St. Patrick Church in Urbana, Ill. “I believe I could serve Mass to this day. There was something satisfying about the sound of Latin.” He once observed, in response to a blog comment, “The words ‘Miserere nobis’ (‘Have mercy on us’) really strike a chord within me.”

Ebert’s father, Walter, was an inactive Lutheran until a deathbed conversion to Catholicism. His mother, Annabel, about whom he often wrote, nourished a profound Catholic faith. She “believed in the faith until the hour of her death. In her final days, she lapsed into a comatose state. ... Under her breath, barely audible, she repeated the ‘Hail, Mary’ over and over.”

Ebert began co-hosting “Sneak Previews” with Gene Siskel, film critic of the Chicago Tribune, in 1975 on public television. It was on this program that the pair introduced the simple, but highly effective, “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” for movies — assessments that became their copyrighted trademark. Retitled “Siskel and Ebert at the Movies,” the half-hour program went into national syndication in 1982, bringing the duo their widest audiences.After Siskel’s 1999 death, Ebert continued the show with other co-hosts. Following his jaw surgery, Ebert was replaced by Michael Phillips, film critic of the Chicago Tribune. The series stopped airing in 2008. A 2011 revival — in which Ebert’s reviews were spoken by others — was not successful.

Point of view — Film critic Roger Ebert is seen during the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah in 2006. The Pulitzer Prize-winning critic, who was raised Catholic, died April 4 at age 70 in Chicago. (CNS photo/Mario Anzuoni, Reuters)

Cruise control — Olga Kurylenko and Tom Cruise star in a scene from the movie “Oblivion.”

For a brief review of this film, see CNS Movie Capsules below. (CNS photo/Universal)

CNS Movie Capsules NEW YORK (CNS) — The following are capsule reviews of movies recently reviewed by Catholic News Service.

“Oblivion” (Universal) Convoluted science fiction epic begins with a technician (Tom Cruise) and his navigator (Andrea Riseborough) tending machinery on an abandoned, post-apocalyptic Earth so that the planet’s natural resources can continue to be harvested for the human refugees who now inhabit Saturn’s moon Titan. The unexpected arrival of a space traveler (Olga Kurylenko) from an earlier era, however, as well as an encounter with a group of guerilla freedom fighters (led by Morgan Freeman) prompt the inquisitive repairman to question whether things are really as they seem. Large-scale landscapes and shiny gadgets make for arresting visuals in director Joseph Kosinski’s adaptation of his own graphic novel. But his emotionally shallow story is further undermined by logical lapses and some dubious philosophizing.

Ethical complexities, moreover, make his film unsuitable for young or impressionable viewers. An objectively immoral living arrangement, a scene of sensuality with shadowy rear and partial nudity, a couple of uses of profanity, at least one rough term, a smattering of crude and crass language. The Catholic News Service classification is AIII — adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

“Scary Movie 5” (Weinstein) Shoddy genre satire replete with childish gross-out humor and demeaning sex gags. The sketchy plot, principally lifted from Andy Muschietti’s horror film “Mama,” finds a couple (Ashley Tisdale and Simon Rex) adopting his two young nieces and baby nephew after the orphaned — and now feral — kids spent months isolated in a cabin in the woods. The dopey jibes in director Malcolm Lee’s scattershot parody are as irksome as they are desperate. Perva-

sive sexual and scatological humor, frivolous treatment of homosexual activity, same-sex kissing, fleeting rear and partial nudity, some mild irreverence, drug imagery and references, at least one use each of profanity and of the F-word, much crude and crass language. The Catholic News Service classification is O — morally offensive. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

Diocese of Fall River TV Mass on WLNE Channel 6 Sunday, April 28, 11:00 a.m.

Celebrant is Father Rodney E. Thibault, pastor of St. Mary’s Parish in South Dartmouth

April 26, 2013

13

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One cannot follow Jesus, love Jesus without the Church, pope says

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Following Jesus means belonging to the Church, the community that gives Christians their identity, Pope Francis said.

“It is not possible to find Jesus outside the Church,” he said in his Mass homily April 23. “The great Paul VI said it is ‘an absurd dichotomy’ to want to live with Jesus without the Church, to follow Jesus outside the Church, to love Jesus without the Church.”

Dozens of cardinals living in Rome or visiting the Vatican joined the pope in the Pauline Chapel of the Apostolic Palace for the Mass on the feast of St. George, the martyr. The feast is the pope’s name day; he was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio.

Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals, told the pope the cardinals had wanted to join him for the Mass “to thank our Father in Heaven for the gifts He has given you thus far and to request abundant graces upon your Petrine ministry.”

The cardinal asked God to give them and the pope “the strength with which the Holy Spirit infused St. George and the martyrs of every age” to face difficulties, serve the poor and spread the Gospel.

Adding to the festivities, after the Mass, in the courtyard of

the Apostolic Palace, the Swiss Guard band played for the pope and the cardinals.

In his homily, Pope Francis spoke about the persecution of the first Christian communities and how opposition did not stop them from sharing their faith in Christ, but went hand in hand with even greater missionary activity.

“Precisely at the moment persecution erupted, the missionary activity of the Church erupted as well,” the pope said.

When the first Christians began sharing the Gospel with “the Greeks,” and not just other Jews, it was something completely new and made some of the Apostles “a bit nervous,” the pope said. They sent Barnabas to Antioch to check on the situation, a kind of “apostolic visitation,” he said. “With a bit of a sense of humor, we can say this was the theological beginning of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.”

Barnabas saw that the Church was growing, he said. The Church was becoming “the mother of more and more children,” a mother that not only generates sons and daughters, but gives them faith and an identity.

Christian identity is not a bureaucratic status, it is “belonging to the Church ... the Mother

Church, because it is not possible to find Jesus outside the Church,” Pope Francis said. “It is the Mother Church who gives us Jesus, gives us identity.”

Pope Francis said that when Barnabas witnessed the crowds of new believers he rejoiced with “the joy of an evangelizer.”

The growth of the Church, the pope said, “begins with persecution — a great sadness — and ends with joy. This is how the Church moves forward — as a saint, I don’t recall which right now, said — between the persecution of the world and the consolation of the Lord. The life of the Church is this way.”

“If we want to take the path of the mundane, negotiating with the world,” the pope said, “we will never have the consolation of the Lord. If we seek only consolation, it will be superficial.”

The life of the Church is a path that always alternates between “persecution and consolation, between the cross and the Resurrection,” he said.

Pope Francis asked the cardinals to join him in praying that they, too, would have the “fervor to move forward — as brothers, all of us — forward, forward, carrying the name of Jesus in the heart of Holy Mother Church, which is — as St. Ignatius said — hierarchical and Catholic.”

Tekakwitha Conference to gather for first time since canonization

Denver, Colo. (CNA/ EWTN News) — The 74th annual Tekakwitha Conference will mark an important event in Church history as it holds its first gathering since the canonization of the “Lily of the Mohawks” last October.

Though the conference this summer will follow a similar format to past ones, Sister Kateri Mitchell, executive director of the conference, said this year will “center around the excitement and celebration” of the canonization of St. Kateri Tekakwitha, the first Native American saint.

Each year, the Tekakwitha Conference gathers for its national meeting to further its mission of “evangelization and sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ” among Native American communities and the world.

The event, which is held in a different city each year, could see as many as 1,000 participants from all over the United States.

Despite the “economic situation” and “all kinds of hardships” people are facing, Sister Kateri said she expects a larger

turnout than usual given that this will be the first gathering since the saint’s canonization in Rome on Oct. 22, 2012.

There is “a great excitement similar to our spirit that many experienced in Rome for the canonization,” Sister Kateri said.

The conference aims to nurture the spirituality of St. Kateri, which is one of “deep prayer” and evangelization.

To that end, it will provide talks on Catholic theology and native spirituality in addition to wellness workshops.

The Tekakwitha Conference was originally founded in order to help Indigenous Catholics “reinforce Catholic identity” while at the same time affirming “pride in our cultures and spiritual traditions” which are “special gifts” to the Church.

This year’s theme is “Celebrating Faith, Culture and Tradition,” and will be held in El Paso, Texas from July 17-21.

The conference hopes to “strengthen” and “continue” the spirituality of St. Kateri, whom “we consider the first evangeliz-

er to her people,” Sr. Kateri said.

“If we are to be followers of Christ and try to follow or walk in our patroness’ footsteps,” she explained, “then we will not be exempt from suffering.”

Rather, she said they should aim to “have the strength and the ability to move beyond and continue the work of Christ to go out and share the Good News to all people, to the whole world.”

The event is all ages and family oriented, Sister Kateri emphasized, saying that age groups represented each year range from infants to “elders in their 90s.”

“We take people of all age groups,” she said, “we feel very strongly about that.”

On the final day of the conference, participants will travel to the nearby Ysleta del Sur Pueblo Reservation for a meal, closing Liturgy and procession of the traveling Kateri image, statue and relic that will be handed over to the 2014 planning committee.

Next year’s conference, which will be the 75th annual gathering, will be held in Fargo, N.D.

papal recognition — Girls cheer as they mark “Pope Day” at Everest Academy in Lemont, Ill., April 19. During the day, students at the Catholic academy learned about the pope and what he does as spiritual leader. They also chose a peer to represent the pontiff, basing their selection on character, spirituality and dedication to serving others. (CNS photo/Karen Callaway, Catholic New World)

Ask Jesus what He wants and be brave, pope tells youth

Vatican City (CNA/ EWTN News) — Just after ordaining 10 men to the priesthood, Pope Francis called on young Catholics to ask Jesus “what He wants from you and be brave!”

“There are many young people today, here in the square. Let me ask this: have you sometimes heard the voice of the Lord through a desire, restlessness, inviting you to follow Him more closely?

Have you had any desire to be Apostles of Jesus?” Pope Francis asked the crowd in St. Peter’s Square.

He urged the youth present in the square for the April 21 Regina Caeli prayers to strive for high ideals. “Ask Jesus what He wants from you and be brave!” he exclaimed.

Pope Francis also encouraged people to pray for those who are discerning their vocation and wondering what God’s will is for their lives.

“Behind and before every

vocation to the priesthood or consecrated life,” he said, “there is always strong and intense prayer from someone: a grandmother, a grandfather, a mother, a father, a community.”

“Vocations are born in prayer and prayer, and only in prayer can they persevere and bear fruit,” he remarked.

Pope Francis made his remarks after having ordained 10 men as priests for the Diocese of Rome in St. Peter’s Basilica, a celebration that coincided with the World Day of Prayer for Vocations, which was created by Pope Paul VI. In his remarks before reciting the Regina Caeli prayer, he emphasized the importance of the day and asked for prayers for the new priests.

He finished his words by invoking the intercession of Mary, that she would “help us to know better the voice of Jesus and to follow her to walk in the way of life.”

14

The Anchor

April 26, 2013

No break for some Bishop Stang students during vacation continued from page one

been able to do more.”

This past February, flyers were sent out to all the parishes in the Fall River Diocese alerting pastors about the program. As requests came in, Ruginis visited those who wanted help and scoped out what needed to be done. Everything is free because all money used for Joseph’s Apprentices is raised during the senior boys’ competition, “Mr. Stang.” This year the group was inundated with yard work requests, thanks in large part to the succession of storms that passed through the area.

“We had such an overwhelming call for yards that that’s pretty much what we decided to do,” explained Ruginis.

The students’ day began at 8 a.m. on Tuesday morning with prayer at Bishop Stang, and then the two groups divided to conquer their tasks. For Ruginis’ group, the day’s work began at Catholic Charities in New Bedford, cleaning up leaves, sticks and other debris — all were bagged and left on the curb to be picked up by other volunteers that included Ruginis’ husband.

The students then headed a few streets over to the Donovan House, a sober transitional housing program for women and their children, to clean up the home’s playground area and side yard.

Then it was off to Fairhaven, where the students tackled a resident’s yard. Originally not home when the students arrived, the Fairhaven resident — who asked that her name not be used — came home to a beehive of activity. Having been on the receiving end of the program before, the Fairhaven resident said she greatly appreciated all the work the students were doing.

“They’re nice kids. Being elderly and not having anyone clean the yard, it’s hard for me to do anything by myself. When I heard about this program, I thought it would be wonderful

for me,” she said, adding she was referred by a former coworker.

“She knew I lived alone and when I heard about the program I thought it would be such a blessing. For the elderly living alone who don’t have family who can come and clean the yard, and I have quite a good-sized yard here to clean up, this is wonderful. They bring their own equipment, don’t bother you and take everything when they leave.”

The kids took a break for lunch, setting up an impromptu picnic in the resident’s driveway while munching on Subway sandwiches and cookies donated

by Phyllis Pratt, owner of a local Subway. Then it was on to an Acushnet residence, where the students made quick work of the tremendous number of sticks and leaves, including trimming the two large hedges growing in the front of the home.

For Sofia Maietta and Charlene Huyler, the only two girls Ruginis’ group, their first year being part of Joseph’s Apprentices helped open their eyes to the plight of the elderly.

“I think it makes us aware of how much some people need our help, and that’s what God is calling us to do. Not a lot of people have the opportunity to help others, so I’m glad to have this opportunity,” said Maietta, a sophomore who appreciated meeting the Fairhaven resident while working on her yard. “She was so nice and grateful. It’s not that much to give and I know a lot of people don’t think about it.

I know I didn’t think much about it until I came to high school; volunteering didn’t even cross my mind, but I’m really glad that I came. I’ve been open to all these experiences and really grateful for what I have.”

“I’m used to volunteering a lot,” said Huyler, a junior who is an altar server and active volunteer at her parish. “You get to help other people, especially

with the elderly who are often overlooked, so it’s nice to be able to do it.”

As the students methodically worked through each task, conversation peppered with occasional laughter showed that while those getting their yards cleaned were benefitting from the hard work, the students were benefitting from getting to know fellow students they may not have met otherwise.

“It brings people together, working together and it’s good,” said Joe Barek III, a sophomore in his second year in the program.

“I wish more people would do it.

It’s not hard; it’s not like they’re doing anything else, so I feel that others should come and do good for other people.”

The final stop in Rochester proved to be the largest job of the day as Rochester resident Amelia Leconte came out to guide the group through her heavilywooded yard. Leconte explained how she had heard about the program through the bulletin at St. Francis Xavier Parish in Acushnet, but wondered if the program would agree to travel deep into Rochester.

“I thought they wouldn’t go that far, so I really appreciate it,” she said. “There’s so much work that needs to be done.”

Originally Leconte explored the option of hiring someone to do the yard work for her but the price was too high. The program at Bishop Stang “is a blessing,” said Leconte. “I come from another generation and can’t afford to pay someone. Most of the people are on a low income. The only way you can do it is to tell your family.”

She added, “This is such a wonderful lesson for the kids, that the elderly need help and to respect the elderly. On the TV, I see wonderful things about kids but their stories are buried down near the end [of the broadcast]. There’s a lot of consideration in our young

Girl Power — For Sofia Maietta and Charlene Huyler, being the only two girls in a group dominated by boys didn’t mean they got to take it easy. At the Donovan House, the second stop in a day-long schedule that saw the group lose count of the number of bags filled with leaves and other yard debris, the girls help clean up the gated yard area near the home’s swing set. (Photo

by Becky Aubut)

generation and it’s a shame that the ones who are shooting are getting all the attention. Every day there’s someone who had drugs and broke into an apartment. I see a lot of good in our young people, and I just hope that they keep on doing that good.”

The group wrapped up its workday back at Bishop Stang High School to shower, eat and reflect upon the day’s activities, and then the boys went to sleep in the old library while the girls slept in the new library.

The group that covered Allens Pond took on the more local tasks on Wednesday while Ruginis and her crew traveled to the sanctuary in Westport. Thursday found the groups working at

Market Ministries on Purchase Street and St. Anthony of Padua Parish’s soup kitchen, where the group was expected to provide food for more than 450 people.

Immersing yourself for 48 hours in volunteer work — sleeping away from family and working side-by-side with fellow students — teaches the students the true meaning of handson volunteer work, said Ruginis.

“We do a lot of service,” said Ruginis of the programs offered at Bishop Stang. “I think what they like about this is they’re seeing the people. I think kids long for some of those experiences. They’re not just handing over their money, but handing over themselves.”

To advertise in

The Anchor, contact Wayne Powers at

508-675-7151 or Email waynepowers@ anchornews.org

15

The Anchor

April 26, 2013

Catholic Charities Appeal launches with new logo, new goals continued from page one

ties) is feed the hungry. So there are layers of meanings or interpretations that one can bring to it.”

Taking over the helm of the annual Catholic Charities Appeal for the first time this year, Campbell said a lot of thought went into making these changes.

“Frankly, I didn’t want to fix what wasn’t broken or just change things for the sake of change, but I wanted to put a little thought into ways in which we could update, refresh and bring more attention to our logo,” he said.

Campbell added that this year’s campaign theme — “Whatever you can. For those who cannot.” — is something that struck a chord with many of the donors and beneficiaries he spoke with since coming to the diocese.

“It’s something that’s grown on me and immediately began to grow on others,” he said. “The appeal does extremely well, relatively speaking. We had 31,000 gifts last year and that suggests a fairly deep degree of generosity and understanding. But we’ve got close to 150,000 parishioners (in the diocese), so there’s certainly room for growth.”

With a new logo and theme this year comes a refreshed sense of optimism throughout the diocesan Development Office. Campbell said he hopes that renewed sense of charity will also trickle down into the 87 parishes that will be participating in the annual campaign.

“We don’t want people to think that we’re only interested in a $1,000 or a $5,000 check,” he said. “If you can give $50, great; give $50 and be part of this effort. If you can give $500, all the better.

And hopefully you’ll have a compelling enough reason to do that. The idea was to try

and invite as many people as possible to give.”

Even despite economic hardships that have certainly impacted large portions of the diocese in recent years, Campbell said people have remained consistently generous to the Catholic Charities Appeal year after year.

“Last year there was a slight dip in total dollars raised, and I think a lot of that was due to the economy and the fact that a presidential election was upon us,” he said. “But if you look at the appeal over a 10-year progression, there has been steady growth with a little bit of leveling off every once in a while … and I’ve got to make sure that continues.”

As a way to keep that momentum going, Campbell said this year’s campaign literature and promotional videos emphasized not only testimonies from those who benefit from the many ministries and apostolates funded through the Catholic Charities Appeal, but also the donor who happily gives every year.

“I wanted to emphasize the human faces that choose to give,” he said. “Our theme this year was taken from Corinthians: ‘God loves a cheerful giver’(2 Cor. 9:7). So we put a little more focus this year on the motivations of the donors. We had a number of donors speak on camera about why they give, what motivates them to support Catholic Charities, and how Catholic Charities has helped define what Church means to them.”

Campbell credits that last idea to Arlene McNamee, director of Catholic Social Services for the Fall River Diocese.

“Early on, I took a tour of various apostolates with her and as we went around she kept using that phrase off-

handedly: ‘This is Church.

This is what Church is.’ And it stuck in my head and I sort of remembered it and tried to incorporate it into some of the things we were sending out and I think it really resonated with people,” he said. “Even Bishop Coleman seemed to like it and used it in the video.

These are the men and women — the people we care for and those who do the caring — who make up the Church.

It’s not the edifice, it’s not the priest on the altar, it’s our collective actions on behalf of one another.”

Campbell said there are a number of key volunteers who speak to that notion in this year’s Catholic Charities Appeal video.

“There’s a young woman who just lights up when we asked her why she gives,” he said. “She says how much she gets back from giving. There’s another woman whose face exploded with joy as she spoke about being able to help her neighbor and seeing the work being done.

That whole theme of neighbor helping neighbor is another emphasis.”

Produced by the Fairhaven-based Media Image Productions, the promotional video for the annual Catholic Charities Appeal is a great tool in getting the campaign message out. Campbell was grateful for the work of Dave and Anne Fortin at the company in getting this year’s video produced.

“They have been such tutors to me this year,” he said.

“I know they have worked with Mike Donly for years and I know they kind of got a rhythm going, so I didn’t want to come in and upset that apple cart. I really wanted to take this year and learn how they do it and they do an unbelievable job.”

The 2013 video was pro-

duced with long and short versions in three languages — English, Portuguese and Spanish.

While coordinating the Catholic Charities Appeal might seem like a daunting task, Campbell said it’s largely a cooperative effort between the development office and the parishes throughout the diocese.

“In this office, we’re really facilitators,” he said. “The real heavy lifting gets done parish by parish by a broad range of volunteers, pastors and office secretaries. These are the people who do, if you will, the grunt work. Not to mention the advocacy: we can speak at so many Masses but we can’t cover 87 parishes ourselves.”

Without all the work done by pastors and parish volunteers, Campbell said the appeal couldn’t succeed.

“I really would like to impart the gratitude that I feel towards all the parish workers and volunteers,” he said. “We have to have their enthusiasm to make this appeal work. It’s extremely important that the parishes embrace this.”

Campbell also deeply appreciates the hard work and support he’s received from the small but diligent staff at the diocesan development office — Cindy Iacovelli, Doris Desrosiers and Patty Dooley — especially during this transition phase.

“They have been such a help to me in terms of my learning curve,” he said.

“They are really dedicated, hard-working and they know what they’re doing. It’s not easy to adapt. They’ve had one boss for 15 years; he’s got one style and I’ve got another. But they’ve been tremendous to work with. They made the transition easy.”

In the end, Campbell said all the hard work and effort

put into the Catholic Charities Appeal is worth it when he sees the fruits of those ministries and apostolates that benefit from the money raised. From the beneficiaries of Catholic Social Services to a variety of soup kitchens, food pantries, homeless shelters, and housing to youth programs and Faith Formation ministries, to pastoral care for the sick — it’s all funded in whole or part through the Catholic Charities Appeal.

“One of the questions we’re asking of the people that we serve and of the donors is to dream big and consider what we could do with an abundance of funds,” Campbell said. “We’re very proud of the fact that 31,000 people gave close to $4.2 million last year, but let’s engage in an exercise of ‘what if?’ What if we didn’t have $4.2 million to allocate?

What if we had $6 million to allocate? How would we be able to do even more? I think part of being a Catholic is being optimistic. We have to dream big and be confident.

We can do this together.”

The 2013 Catholic Charities Appeal for the Fall River Diocese begins May 1 and will continue until June 21. Bishop Coleman’s audio message to parishioners, the Catholic Charities Appeal video, as well as the latest issue of Sharing, the appeal newsletter, can all be accessed on the Catholic Charities website at: www.frdioc-catholiccharities.org.

Contributions to the appeal can be sent to the Catholic Charities Appeal office, P.O. Box 1470, Fall River, Mass. 02722; dropped off at any parish in the diocese; or made on the appeal website at: www.frdioc-catholiccharities.org.

For more information visit the website or call 508-6751311.

16

Youth Pages

whiz kids — Students at St. Mary’s Catholic School, Mansfield, who placed in the 52nd annual Regional Science and Engineering Fair include John Pignato, third place junior division; Payton Rappold, second place junior division; Thomas Underwood, third place junior division; Kerin Ingegneri, first place junior division and Genzyme Corporation Distinguished Award; Mark Thekkethala, United States Navy Innovation Award; Brianna Kelly, third place junior division and New England Section of the Optical Society of America Award; Theresa Riley, third place junior division; Rebecca Sarkisian, first place junior division and Tom Cahill Award. Also pictured, Eileen Shurtleff, SMCS Science Teacher.

Cross to bear — Grade-eight students from St. Joseph School recently presented Live Stations of the Cross at St. Joseph Church in Fairhaven.

Students eagerly await this special presentation every year as they feel it is the biggest honor to be a part of. They ended the service with a musical selection, “Were You There When They Crucified My Lord?”

April 26, 2013

life learners — Father Jay Maddock, pastor, stands with grade-seven students Angela Brillantes and Jillian McRoy and grade-six student Jeffrey Souza, whose essays were chosen from among 80 written at Holy Name School in Fall River for entrance into the Diocesan Pro-Life Essay Contest.

They attended the diocesan Pro-Life Mass and received certificates recognizing their participation.

scientific method — Sixth-grader Margaret McLaughlin, above, was among the students from St. John the Evangelist School in Attleboro who recently took part in the Region III Science Fair at Bristol Community College in Fall River. Others included seventhgraders Ronan Devlin, Eryk White, Shyama Ganatra, George ElHaoui, and Christine Schremp.

LIVE from THE MET — The Bishop Feehan High School Art department and 50 students from grades 1012 visited New York City for a day of art inspiration. The group from the Attleboro school visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art where they participated in an artwork scavenger hunt to find 17 specific artworks ranging from battle armor to impressionism and beyond. Each group used Twitter to “tweet” photos of the artwork they found. Some of these can be found on twitter using the hashtag: #bishopfeehanarttrip. Students visited Times Square, lunched at Planet Hollywood, then made their way to the Top of the Rock and enjoyed a bird’s eye view of the city. Their trip concluded with a Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Pictured (at left) at the Met are students as they strike a pose next to the golden archer entitled “Diana” by Augustus Saint-Gaudens. From left: Ryanne Doherty, Josephine Parra, Kathryn Chase, Sean Callahan, Grace Valley, Siri Devlin, William Holt, Victoria Anderson, Krissy Stevens, and Lauren Rossi.

Youth Pages

April 26, 2013

T

he events in Boston last week are still fresh in our minds if not our hearts. When the bombings first occurred, like many others, my eyes were glued to the television as reports flooded the airwaves and the story unfolded. But it did not take too long for people to begin placing blame.

Assumptions of who, or rather which group or culture was responsible, consumed the social network megabytes. I suppose for some, placing blame became a coping mechanism.

But I’d like to offer a different coping tool by sharing my Facebook post from Patriot’s Day. “I sit here in my living room, reflecting on the events in Boston. I cannot bring myself to feel anger for I don’t yet know who to be angry at.

What I can say is this … I am happy my friends are safe. I am proud of our first responders. I ache for those who are separated from their families and for the injured. I mourn for those who lost their lives.

“I cannot make sense of what was done or why — nor do I ever want to make sense of it because you (or at least I) can’t make sense of a senseless act of violence.

17

We. Are. Strong.

“I hope that those responsible are this article is not about who is to blame brought to justice. I also hope that our and who is not. In the midst of all the anger is directed at the individual(s) re- tragedy, amid bombs exploding and sponsible and not an entire population shrapnel flying near the finish line, we of fill-in-the-blanks. I don’t care what became privileged witnesses of what it race, color or creed these people are a truly means to be Christ to others. part of — the We witfact of the nessed the matter is that bravery, the they acted selflessness, individuthe love, the ally and to compassion, place blame the courBy Crystal Medeiros on an entire age and the community fortitude of of fill-in-thethe dozens of blanks makes first respondus no better than those who committed ers after these blasts. They did not run this act of hate. away in fear, instead they ran toward “I pray and I ask that you pray (no and into one of the most dangerous matter what your faith is) with me for situations. In the darkest, most tragic peace, for love, for an appreciation of of moments, we witnessed the beauty our humanness. Together we can make of our humanity. The volunteers, the world better. All we have to do is law enforcement, security and EMS try.” showed us what it means to truly love As I wrote this post, I did so bethy neighbor as thy self as they ripped tween the tears streaking my face. the barricades off the victims and Tears that people from around the tended their wounds. Strangers helped country and around the world shed strangers with no regard to personal with me. Of course, at this writing we safety. Runners ran to nearby hospitals know the individuals responsible. But to donate blood. When the Red Cross

Be Not Afraid

posted that due to the overwhelming the generosity of the community the blood banks were full, I could not remember a time where the Red Cross needed to turn donors away. It was an inspiration.

It is a shame that it takes tragic events like these to bring people together in solidarity, camaraderie and love — to place all other judgments and prejudices aside to come to the aid of our man — to be the Good Samaritan. In a utopian world, these things would be part of our every day lives and we would not find such acts strange. However, if it is not permanent then I am happy that we can dig deep and find it in ourselves to be the Good Samaritan — to be the hands and feet of Christ — to truly understand that we are all brothers and sisters.

We are Boston. We are New York.

We are London. We are Israel. We are Palestine. We are human. We. Are. Strong. #PrayforBoston #PrayfortheWorld Crystal is assistant director for Youth and Young Adult Ministry for the diocese.

She can be contacted at cmedeiros@ dfrcec.com.

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FOREIGN RELATIONS — Bishop Feehan Mandarin Chinese teacher Minli Lusher, left, with the first Chinese congresswoman in the U.S., Judy Chu.

Feehan Chinese teacher meets first Chinese-American congresswoman

ATTLEBORO — Bishop Feehan High School’s Mandarin Chinese teacher, Minli Lusher of Warwick, R.I., was recently sent by the World Journal Newspaper, a Chinese newspaper published in U.S., to participate in the International Leadership Foundation event in Pawtucket and to meet and report on Judy Chu, the first Chinese-American congresswoman in the U.S. The International Leadership Foundation helps to send talented Chinese youth to Washington D.C. during summer break to visit congress, the White House and for leadership training.

“It was a very memorable day for me. I was very honored and happy to meet our first Chinese congresswoman,” said Lusher. “When I asked her views about American students learning the Chinese language, she told me

that it is such an advantage to learning the language not only for getting a good job globally, but also for broadening their horizons.”

Lusher has been teaching Mandarin Chinese and moderating the student group, the Chinese Culture Club at Bishop Feehan since the fall of 2011. The primary goal of the Chinese Culture Club is to spark interest in students to learn Chinese through the introduction of Chinese culture, history and art projects.

Lusher leads students in hands-on lessons on various facets of Chinese culture from traditional Chinese brush painting to having guests from the University of Rhode Island Confucius Institute demonstrate traditional tea ceremonies and how to make Chinese knots, which are the most common traditional decoration craft in China. Students also enjoy an annual visit to Chinatown in Boston.

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18

The Anchor

Policies and Procedures of the Fall River Diocese As part of its ongoing abuse prevention efforts and in compliance with the U.S. Bishops’ “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People,” the Fall River Diocese periodically publishes its policies detailing procedures to be followed when an accusation of sexual abuse of a minor is made against an employee or volunteer of the diocese or a cleric or religious Brother or Sister in the diocese. Please note that the policies & procedures described below have been abridged for this publication. Complete policies and procedures are available for review by contacting Catholic Social Services at 508-674-4681 or www.cssdioc.org, or by accessing the Diocesan Website, www.fallriverdiocese.org.

1. INTRODUCTION In an ongoing commitment by the Diocese of Fall River to address the issue of sexual abuse or misconduct with a minor, the Review Board appointed by the Bishop of Fall River was given the task of developing policies and procedures to be followed when dealing with accusations of sexual abuse or misconduct with a minor by any employee or volunteer within diocesan departments, agencies, apostolates, programs or institutions.

SEXUAL ABUSE PREVENTION POLICIES & PROCEDURES FOR LAY EMPLOYEES/VOLUNTEERS/ SUBCONTRACTORS A. MANDATES 1. Prior to being hired, each prospective diocesan and parish employee shall complete an informational questionnaire, to be filed with the director of the local entity or the pastor, where applicable.

2. All volunteers shall complete the volunteer questionnaire. A copy shall be kept on file at the local parish or local diocesan agency, to be inspected by the deans at their annual visitation to the parish or by the directors of the individual agencies of the diocese.

3. The informational questionnaire for an employee and the volunteer questionnaire for a volunteer shall be updated as needed so that the information is current.

4. An employee/volunteer who may have unmonitored access to children shall be trained by the Office for Child Protection of Catholic Social Services. This training is mandatory and attendance shall be documented.

5. Each employee/volunteer shall be given a copy of the diocesan procedures regarding the sexual and physical abuse of children and shall, in writing, acknowledge receipt of same.

6. The Diocesan Education Office and the Office for Child Protection of Catholic Social Services are to provide mandated, regular education for students, concerning sexual abuse.

7. The Diocesan Education Office and the Office for Child Protection are to provide mandated, regular education for religious education students, concerning sexual abuse.

8. Background checks on Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) shall be conducted on every current Diocesan employee/volunteer/subcontractor having unmonitored access to children. A background check is also to be done on all new employees/volunteers/subcontractors prior to having unmonitored access to children.

Per Massachusetts Law, every diocesan employee shall complete a new CORI every three years, and every diocesan volunteer shall complete a new CORI every year as a condition of providing services to the children and/or youth of our diocese.

9. Each employee/volunteer/priest/deacon/religious will sign and strictly follow the Diocesan Code of Conduct as a condition of providing services to the children and/or youth of our parish/school/Diocese).

B. SPECIAL CONCERNS In the case of overnight retreats, ski trips, etc., great care is to be taken so that sexual abuse or misconduct with a minor does not occur. The following guidelines are to be followed: 1. A sufficient number of chaperones is to be used; at least one chaperone per every five students.

2. No chaperone is to sleep in a room with an individual student unless the student is a member of the chaperone’s immediate family.

3. In the case of dormitory-style sleeping quarters, at least two adults are to be in each dorm.

4. Buses are the preferred choice for use during trips. If individual cars are used, there must be at least three students/passengers with each driver unless the driver is a member of the student’s immediate family.

C. NOTE Semi-official Church organizations, such as ECHO and Emmaus, because they

use Church facilities, are to follow all of the above procedures.

D. SUBCONTRACTORS Background checks on Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) forms shall be conducted on every current Diocesan subcontractor who may have unmonitored access to children. A background check is also to be done on all new subcontractors who may have unmonitored access to children prior to having such access.

E. GENERAL PROCEDURES 1. When there is reasonable cause to believe a child under the age of 18 is suffering serious physical or emotional injury resulting from sexual abuse inflicted upon him or her by a lay employee or volunteer, the person in charge, or their designee, of such institution or facility, diocesan director or department, agency, apostolate, program and institution, as well as pastor, within the diocese where such alleged abuse has been reported shall immediately report such allegations to the Office for Child Protection of Catholic Social Services. He or she will then notify the Moderator of the Curia and the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families. If following an initial investigation by the Office for Child Protection of Catholic Social Services, it is determined that the allegation of abuse has substance, the volunteer or employee is to be suspended without pay (if applicable) pending the outcome of the final investigation.

If the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families finds the allegation to be supported and subsequently the alleged perpetrator is found not guilty by a court of law, a decision shall still then be made as to whether or not the employee/ volunteer shall be reinstated. Such a decision concerning reinstatement shall be made after a consultation by the Moderator of the Curia with the head of a diocesan department, agency, apostolate, program or institution or the pastor.

2. If the allegation of sexual abuse involves a cleric or an employee of Catholic Social Services, then the normal investigative procedures of the Bishop’s Review Board shall apply and in all such cases the bishop’s delegate shall be the designated agent to investigate/report the allegation both to the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families and to notify the Moderator of the Curia.

3. The alleged perpetrator employee or volunteer will be notified of the allegations made against him/her, and given an opportunity to respond during the initial investigation process. Anyone affiliated with Catholic Social Services will be notified by the bishop’s delegate.

4. The initial investigation involving non-clerics should include interviews with the accused employee or volunteer, the person making the complaint, and any witness(es). The interview will be extended to members of the alleged victim’s family and with the alleged victim if permission is given by a parent or guardian to interview the minor, and it is deemed appropriate. When a young child is interviewed, it should be done by a recognized expert in this field. Interviews should be performed in person, but telephone interviews might be necessary in exceptional circumstances.

5. If after these initial interviews the allegation has been found to be initially credible, an oral report of the suspected child abuse or misconduct must then be given immediately to the Moderator of the Curia as described above in number 1.

6. The personnel file of any employee or volunteer against whom an allegation has been finally substantiated by the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families, is to be properly noted.

7. If an allegation of child sexual abuse or misconduct involves a parish employee or volunteer, the pastor should contact the family of the alleged victim and offer spiritual care and support, as his function is strictly pastoral in nature. Catholic Social Services will be available to provide confidential counseling and/or identify other resources for assistance.

SEXUAL ABUSE PREVENTION POLICIES & PROCEDURES FOR PRIESTS/DEACONS/RELIGIOUS A. POLICY It is painful to address the issue of sexual abuse of children, especially when this abuse is inflicted by members of the clergy.

This pain is caused in part by the growing realization of the long term injury sexual abuse inflicts on a child and his/her family.

The distress is also due to the injury inflicted on the community that is the Church.

Despite the pain, or perhaps because of it, the situation should be addressed in a pastoral yet forthright manner.

Developments in the psychological sciences underscore the real and long term injury done to the children who are abused.

It is also known that certain types of abuse are of a compulsive and perhaps incurable nature.

It is appropriate, therefore, that a clear written policy be made public so that all will know how the Diocese of Fall River handles accusations of sexual misconduct by a priest/deacon/religious with a minor (under 18).

The procedures that follow are but a first step in a comprehensive approach to the issue of sexual abuse undertaken by the Diocese of Fall River.

By instituting these procedures in 1993, the Review Board has insured that proper personnel procedures govern accusations of sexual misconduct by all employees and volunteers of the Church. Such policies have addressed not only child abuse but also the issues of sexual harassment and sexual exploitation.

The Review Board, in consultation with the Vocation Team of the Diocese and the Office for the Permanent Diaconate, will continue to study the psychological screening currently undertaken to assess potential candidates for the priesthood and diaconate. The tests given at the various seminaries will be reviewed from the perspective of identifying, to the extent possible, potential problems in the area of sexuality. Problem candidates will be disqualified.

Another issue which has been addressed in a comprehensive fashion is the ongoing development of appropriate educational programs in the area of human sexuality incorporated into the various educational programs offered by the Church.

This study has been done in consultation with the Diocesan Education Office.

The first step taken by the bishop in addressing the overall issue of sexual misconduct was the establishment of the Review Board and the promulgation of procedures to be followed when a cleric or religious brother or Sister is accused of sexual misconduct with a minor.

The Diocese commits itself to the following action: — There will be an immediate response to all allegations of sexual misconduct by a cleric or religious brother or sister with a minor. For allegations of such conduct made by a person who is an adult at the time the allegation is received by the Diocese, the response shall be made within a reasonable period of time, not to exceed thirty (30) days.

— If an initial review reveals that the allegation is credible, the cleric or religious brother or Sister will be placed on administrative leave pending further investigation.

Administrative leave involves the transfer of the residence of a cleric to another residence, the private celebration of Mass, and restriction of his celebration of the Sacraments. The alleged offender will not be permitted to celebrate Mass publicly, to wear clerical garb, or to present himself or herself as a priest or religious brother or Sister. The Diocese will continue to pay the salary and benefits of a cleric while on administrative leave.

— Any suspected case of sexual misconduct with a minor will be reported to civil authorities.

— Confidential counseling will be offered to the alleged victim and his/her fam-

April 26, 2013 ily.

— No cleric against whom a credible allegation of abuse has been found will be given any assignments in or by the Diocese of Fall River or be authorized to seek pastoral work outside the Diocese.

It should be noted here that both the law of our land and the law of our Church calls for the presumption of innocence.

Every allegation will be investigated seriously and fairly, and a judgment can be made only after all parties are heard and the evidence is reviewed.

The procedures do not detail the processes that are found in the Canon Law of the Church. In order to appreciate the rights and obligations of the clergy in a more complete manner, reference needs to be made to the procedural and penal laws of the Church.

These procedures are to be reviewed and perhaps revised on at least an annual basis. Comments and suggestions for improvement are always welcome.

REVIEW BOARD 1. A Review Board shall be established by the bishop to serve as an advisory body in general matters concerning the issue of sexual misconduct and to serve as a monitoring and advisory board when a specific accusation of sexual misconduct by a cleric or religious brother or sister with a minor is made. The board will have no fewer than seven, but no more than 10 members, at the Bishop’s discretion. The members shall, at a minimum, include: — An appropriately credentialed mental health worker who has expertise in matters concerning child abuse; — A civil lawyer; — A canon lawyer; — A priest with a pastoral/parochial assignment; — An adult survivor of child sexual abuse; — A parent of a victim of sexual abuse; and — A lay person.

The members of the Review Board are appointed by the bishop, for a term of five years, which can be renewed. The Review Board is composed of men and women, lay and clergy, who have (or gain) expertise in the area of child abuse. It is anticipated that the members of the Review Board will have staggered terms in order to assure continuity. This body is to serve in an advisory capacity to the bishop with reference to policies for diocesan agencies and apostolates. Among other things, the Review Board shall assist these agencies in the development and/or refinement of personnel policies for all Diocesan employees regarding sexual abuse, the development of appropriate continuing education programs for clergy and laity, etc. Among the tasks the bishop shall give to the Review Board is to work with the Vocation Team of the Diocese and the Office for the Permanent Diaconate to establish a system to review the psychological screenings given to potential candidates for the diaconate or priesthood. Moreover, a protocol has been developed to screen clerical personnel from outside the Diocese before an assignment is given or confirmed by the bishop to minister within the Diocese of Fall River. Finally, the board will consult with the Bishop’s Representative for Religious to assure that appropriate procedures are in place to deal with accusations of women religious and non-ordained men religious concerning sexual misconduct with minors.

2. The bishop shall appoint a delegate from among the members of the Review Board to serve as his representative in cases involving an accusation of sexual misconduct by a cleric or religious brother or Sister with a minor. The delegate will chair the Review Board. The bishop is free to appoint a substitute delegate as circumstances warrant.

The Bishop’s Delegate represents him in these matters. This person may be any member of the Review Team. For various reasons a substitute or alternate delegate may be named to assume the role. It could be that the delegate is not available at the time or that a particular case may call for a certain type of person being named by the bishop, e.g. a woman rather than a man, someone who speaks a foreign language, etc.

B. PROCEDURES 1. Upon receipt of an allegation of sexual misconduct with a minor by a cleric or religious brother or Sister, the delegate

(or a substitute delegate) shall conduct a preliminary investigation and shall file a report with the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families, if required. This initial review is expected to be completed within twenty-four (24) to seventy-two (72) hours of receipt of an allegation involving a victim who is a minor. For allegations by adults who were minors at the time of the alleged act(s), the initial review is to be completed within two weeks of the allegation’s receipt. If the cleric or religious brother or Sister is a member of a religious order, his religious superior is to be notified and made part of the subsequent steps in the process, with due regard for the requirements of canon law.

The procedures call for immediate action when an allegation is received by the bishop. The intent of this point is that the investigation be done without delay. It is recognized, of course, that the accused is innocent until proven guilty. This does not preclude, however, swift action in response to any and all accusations of this nature.

Finally, this point calls attention to the fact that Church law requires the involvement of a religious superior when the accused is a member of a religious order.

2. The initial review will ordinarily include interviews with the accused cleric or religious brother or Sister, the person making the complaint, and any witnesses. The review may include interviews with members of the alleged victim’s family and the alleged victim himself/herself (with a parent or guardian’s consent if with a minor) and it is judged appropriate to do so.

The delegate, and in certain limited circumstances, another individual, at the delegate’s direction, is to talk to the key people involved and as many others as he/ she feels are warranted. The intent of the initial review is to clarify the nature of the claim. Ordinarily, the interviews should be done in person, but some circumstances may warrant a telephone interview with some individuals. When a small child is interviewed, this is to be done only by a person with recognized expertise in this specialized field.

3. The accused cleric or religious brother or Sister is to be advised of his/her right to retain independent legal and canonical counsel. He/she shall also be provided with a list of approved clerics or religious brothers or Sisters appointed by the bishop from whom to choose a “support advocate,” but not for the purposes of either actively participating in the proceedings or rendering civil or canonical law advice.

It is important that the cleric or religious brother or Sister be aware of his/her rights under the laws of Church and state from the beginning of the process.

The cleric or religious brother or Sister is to be advised of his/her legal right to seek the advice of his/her own counsel and that of a canon lawyer so that his/her rights may be protected.

4. Upon receipt of an allegation, the delegate shall notify the Review Board which shall meet within forty-eight (48) hours of the completion of the initial review, when the alleged victim is a minor, and within a reasonable period of time upon completion of the initial review, when the alleged victim is no longer a minor. If the alleged victim is presently a minor, the delegate shall immediately notify the proper civil authorities, as required under state law.

The board oversees all the steps of the procedure dealing with the accusation.

It is the intent of this point that the board is convened without delay. The board reviews the results of the initial investigation conducted by the delegate and advises the bishop regarding the need for additional action. The Review Board receives periodic reports from the delegate and offers its advice to the bishop until the case is concluded. Substitutes and additions to the team may be made by the bishop as needed. The alleged victim and his/her parent or guardian shall use their best efforts to convey all necessary information regarding the alleged incident to the delegate, in a timely manner. A recommendation by the board to the bishop should be made no later than six weeks from the date of the delegate’s initial receipt of the allegation, when the alleged victim is a minor, or three months when the alleged victim is no longer a minor.

These policies and procedures are regularly reviewed and revised as necessary as part of an ongoing effort by the diocese to improve and strengthen them.

April 26, 2013

Eucharistic Adoration in the Diocese

Acushnet — Eucharistic Adoration takes place at St. Francis Xavier Parish on Monday and Tuesday from 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.; Wednesday from 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Thursday from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; and Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. Evening prayer and Benediction is held Monday through Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.

ATTLEBORO — Eucharistic Adoration takes place in the St. Joseph Adoration Chapel at Holy Ghost Church, 71 Linden Street, from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.

ATTLEBORO — The National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette holds Eucharistic Adoration in the Shrine Church every Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m. through November 17.

Brewster — Eucharistic Adoration takes place in the La Salette Chapel in the lower level of Our Lady of the Cape Church, 468 Stony Brook Road, on First Fridays beginning at noon until 7:45 a.m. First Saturday, concluding with Benediction and concluding with Mass at 8 a.m. buzzards Bay — Eucharistic Adoration takes place at St. Margaret Church, 141 Main Street, every first Friday after the 8 a.m. Mass and ending the following day before the 8 a.m. Mass.

East Freetown — Eucharistic Adoration takes place at St. John Neumann Church every Monday (excluding legal holidays) 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the Our Lady, Mother of All Nations Chapel. (The base of the bell tower).

East Sandwich — The Corpus Christi Parish Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration Chapel is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week at 324 Quaker Meeting House Road, East Sandwich.

Use the Chapel entrance on the side of the church.

EAST TAUNTON — Eucharistic Adoration takes place in the chapel at Holy Family Parish Center, 438 Middleboro Avenue, Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. On First Fridays, Eucharistic Adoration takes place at Holy Family Church, 370 Middleboro Avenue, from 8:30 a.m. until 7:45 p.m.

FAIRHAVEN — St. Mary’s Church, Main St., has Eucharistic Adoration every Wednesday from 8:30 a.m. to noon in the Chapel of Reconciliation, with Benediction at noon. Also, there is a First Friday Mass each month at 7 p.m., followed by a Holy Hour with Eucharistic Adoration. Refreshments follow.

Fall River — Espirito Santo Parish, 311 Alden Street, Fall River. Eucharistic Adoration on Mondays following the 8 a.m. Mass until Rosary and Benediction at 6:30 p.m.

FALL RIVER — St. Bernadette’s Church, 529 Eastern Ave., has Eucharistic Adoration on Fridays from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the chapel.

FALL RIVER — St. Anthony of the Desert Church, 300 North Eastern Avenue, has Eucharistic Adoration Mondays and Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

FALL RIVER — Holy Name Church, 709 Hanover Street, has Eucharistic Adoration Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the Our Lady of Grace Chapel.

FALL RIVER — Good Shepherd Parish has Eucharistic Adoration every Friday following the 8 a.m. Mass and concluding with 3 p.m. Benediction in the Daily Mass Chapel. A bilingual holy hour takes place from 2 to 3 p.m. Park behind the church and enter the back door of the connector between the church and the rectory.

Falmouth — St. Patrick’s Church has Eucharistic Adoration each First Friday, following the 9 a.m. Mass until Benediction at 4:30 p.m. The Rosary is recited Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 9 a.m.

MASHPEE — Christ the King Parish, Route 151 and Job’s Fishing Road has 8:30 a.m. Mass every First Friday with special intentions for Respect Life, followed by 24 hours of Eucharistic Adoration in the Chapel, concluding with Benediction Saturday morning followed immediately by an 8:30 Mass.

NEW BEDFORD — Eucharistic Adoration takes place 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesdays at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, 233 County Street, with night prayer and Benediction at 8:45 p.m., and Confessions offered during the evening. Please use the side entrance.

NEW BEDFORD — There is a daily holy hour from 5:15-6:15 p.m. Monday through Thursday at St. Anthony of Padua Church, 1359 Acushnet Avenue. It includes Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, Liturgy of the Hours, recitation of the Rosary, and the opportunity for Confession.

NEW BEDFORD — St. Lawrence Martyr Parish, 565 County Street, holds Eucharistic Adoration in the side chapel every Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

NORTH DARTMOUTH — Eucharistic Adoration takes place at St. Julie Billiart Church, 494 Slocum Road, every Tuesday from 7 to 8 p.m., ending with Benediction. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is available at this time.

NORTH DIGHTON — Eucharistic Adoration takes place every First Friday at St. Nicholas of Myra Church, 499 Spring Street following the 8 a.m. Mass, ending with Benediction at 6 p.m. The Rosary is recited Monday through Friday from 7:30 to 8 a.m.

OSTERVILLE — Eucharistic Adoration takes place at Our Lady of the Assumption Church, 76 Wianno Avenue on First Fridays from 8:30 a.m. to noon.

SEEKONK ­— Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish has Eucharistic Adoration seven days a week, 24 hours a day in the chapel at 984 Taunton Avenue. For information call 508-336-5549.

Taunton — Eucharistic Adoration takes place every Tuesday at St. Anthony Church, 126 School Street, following the 8 a.m. Mass with prayers including the Chaplet of Divine Mercy for vocations, concluding at 6 p.m. with Chaplet of St. Anthony and Benediction.

Recitation of the Rosary for peace is prayed Monday through Saturday at 7:30 a.m. prior to the 8 a.m. Mass. taunton — Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament takes place every First Friday at Annunciation of the Lord, 31 First Street. Expostition begins following the 8 a.m. Mass.

The Blessed Sacrament will be exposed, and Adoration will continue throughout the day.

Confessions are heard from 5:15 to 6:15 p.m. Rosary and Benediction begin at 6:30 p.m.

WAREHAM — Every First Friday, Eucharistic Adoration takes place from 8:30 a.m. through Benediction at 5:30 p.m. Morning prayer is prayed at 9; the Angelus at noon; the Divine Mercy Chaplet at 3 p.m.; and Evening Prayer at 5 p.m.

WEST HARWICH — Our Lady of Life Perpetual Adoration Chapel at Holy Trinity Parish, 246 Main Street (Rte. 28), holds perpetual Eucharistic Adoration. We are a regional chapel serving all of the surrounding parishes. All from other parishes are invited to sign up to cover open hours. For open hours, or to sign up call 508-430-4716.

WOODS HOLE — Eucharistic Adoration takes place at St. Joseph’s Church, 33 Millfield Street, year-round on weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. No Adoration on Sundays, Wednesdays, and holidays. For information call 508-274-5435.

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The Anchor

Bishop says failure on gun measure shows ‘failure in moral leadership’

WASHINGTON (CNS) — Bishop Stephen E. Blaire of Stockton, Calif., said the U.S. Senate’s failure “to support even modest regulations on firearms” is “a failure in moral leadership to promote policies which protect and defend the common good.”

The head of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development expressed “deep disappointment” that the lawmakers failed to pass gun-control legislation.

Bishop Blaire made the comments in an April 18 letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

On April 17, the Senate failed to pass amendments to a firearms measure that would have expanded background checks for gun purchases, increased penalties for gun trafficking, reinstituted an assault weapons ban and imposed restrictions on civilian access to high-capacity ammunition magazines.

Bishop Blaire noted that many

In Your Prayers Please pray for these priests during the coming weeks April 27 Rev. Francis J. Bradley, D.D., Retired Rector, St. Mary’s Cathedral, Fall River, 1925 Rev. Romeo D. Archambault, St. Anne, New Bedford, 1949 Rev. Edward F. O’Keefe, S.J., Retired, St. Francis Xavier, Boston, 1973 April 28 Rev. Stanislaus J. Goyette, Pastor, St. Louis de France, Swansea, 1959 April 29 Rev. James Leo Maguire, Pastor, Diocese of Monterey, Calif., 1987 Rev. Adolph Szelagowksi, OFM Conv., Parochial Vicar, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, New Bedford, 1989 Rev. Peter P. Mullen, M.M., Maryknoll Missioner, 1999 April 30 Rev. John A. Hurley, Pastor, St. Mary, North Attleboro, 1900 Rev. David F. Sheedy, Pastor, St. John Evangelist, Attleboro, 1930 Rev. John Moda, Pastor, St. Mary’s Ukrainian Catholic Church, Ford City, Pa., 1993 May 1 Rev. Francis J. Quinn, Founder, Immaculate Conception, North Easton; Founder, Sacred Heart, Fall River, 1882 Rev. Joseph F. D’Amico, Pastor, Sacred Heart, Oak Bluffs, 1996 Rev. Walter A. Sullivan, Pastor, St. Mary, South Dartmouth, 1997 May 2 Rt. Rev. Msgr. M.P. Leonidas Lariviere, Pastor, St. Jean Baptiste, Fall River, 1963

of the provisions of the bill enjoyed bipartisan support.

On April 10, the day before debate began, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Sen. Patrick Toomey, R-Pa., announced a compromise deal on the backgroundchecks provision of the bill.

These checks would not have applied to unadvertised gun sales, according to the compromise. Further, gun owners who have passed background checks within the past five years for a concealed-carry permit can use that permit to buy guns in other states. The compromise would have relaxed some restrictions on hunters traveling with their guns through states that ban them. It also would have allowed active members of the

military to buy firearms in their home states; the practice is illegal when they are stationed outside their state.

The bishop said in his letter that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has been “working with other faith leaders and organizations urging Congress to support legislation that builds a culture of life by promoting policies that reduce gun violence and save people’s lives in homes and communities throughout our nation.”

“Though we are disappointed, we will continue our efforts to work with Congress and other people of good will to advocate for policies that create a safer and more peaceful society,” he added.

Around the Diocese 4/27

Good Shepherd Parish, 1598 South Main Street in Fall River will be holding its annual Penny Sale on April 27. The kitchen will open at 5 p.m. and drawings will begin at 6 p.m.

Admission is free with hundreds of prizes, along with a children’s table and a money rose table. Menu items include linguiça, meatball and chow mein sandwiches, stuffed cabbage, clam cakes, meat pie, stuffed quahogs and much more.

4/28

Massachusetts Citizens for Life is sponsoring the annual “Respect Life Walk to Aid Mothers and Children” which will be held on April 28 at La Salette Shrine in Attleboro beginning at 2:30 p.m., with registration at 1:30 p.m. Please note: the location has been changed from Boston. In addition to the new location, there is a website where you can register and set up a sponsor page so people can sponsor you online. The new site is located at http://respectlifewalk.org/. If you cannot walk, you can log onto the website to sponsor someone who is walking for your favorite beneficiary. For more information call 508-673-9757 or 508415-2599.

5/3

The Fall River Area Men’s First Friday Club will meet on May 3 at the Chapel of St. Mary’s Cathedral, 327 Second Street in Fall River, continuing its 65th year of activity. Following the 6 p.m. Mass celebrated by Father Karl Bissinger, secretary to Bishop Coleman, there will be a hot meal in the school hall across the street. The guest speaker is Father André (“Father Pat”) Patenaude. Attendance at the meal is open to any gentleman interested in this gathering. Guests or their member sponsors must notify Norman Valiquette at 508-672-8174 for guest seat reservations or with any questions.

5/4

A Day with Mary will be held May 4 at St. Margaret’s Church, 141 Main Street in Buzzards Bay from 7:50 a.m. to 2:45 p.m.

It will include a video presentation, procession and crowning of the Blessed Mother with Mass and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.

There will also be an opportunity for Reconciliation. A bookstore is available. Please bring a bag lunch. For more information call 508-996-8274.

5/8

St. Philomena School, 324 Cory’s Lane in Portsmouth, R.I., will host an open house for grades pre-k to eight, on May 8. An opening presentation begins promptly at 9:30 a.m. and another at 1 p.m. in the Student Activity Center followed by tours of the school. There are currently openings in grades one, two, four and pre-k day for the 20132014 school year. For more information, visit the school’s website at www. saintphilomena.org or call the admissions/development office at 401-6830268, extension 114.

5/20

Alumni, parishioners and friends of SS. Peter and Paul School are invited to a celebration of 90 years. Mass will be celebrated at Holy Cross Church, 47 Pulaski Street in Fall River at 6:30 p.m. on May 20. Immediately following Mass, a reception will take place at SS. Peter and Paul School (please use the Dover Street entrance). Call the school at 508-672-7258 to RSVP or for more information.

5/24

St. John Neumann Parish in East Freetown invites all to its 29th Annual Lakeside Family Festival on Memorial Day Weekend, May 24-27. Hours of operation are Friday from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m., Saturday and Sunday from noon to 11 p.m., and Monday from noon to 5 p.m. There will be a huge barn sale all weekend along with amusement rides, entertainment, a car show on Sunday (rain date is Monday) and a “Blessing of the Bikes” on Saturday. For more information visit www.sjnfreetown.org.

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April 26, 2013

The Anchor

Pope ordains new priests, talks about learning to hear Jesus’ voice

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Before ordaining 10 men to the priesthood, Pope Francis prayed privately with them in the sacristy and entrusted them to Mary’s care.

The private moment on April 21 was a repeat of a practice he began as bishop before celebrating an ordination Mass, according to Vatican Radio.

The 10 new priests — six Italians, two Indians, a Croatian and an Argentine — had prepared for the priesthood in one of three Rome diocesan seminaries.

Pope Francis’ homily, the Vatican said, was basically the text suggested for ordinations by the Italian bishops’ conference, although Pope Francis added personal remarks and observations as he delivered it.

He told the new priests they would have “the sacred duty of teaching in the name of Christ the Teacher. Impart to everyone the Word of God which you have received with joy.”

The pope, who frequently mentions the wisdom and lessons he

learned from his grandmother, told the men, “Remember your mothers, your grandmothers, your catechists, who gave you the Word of God, the faith — the gift of faith.”

“Meditating on the law of the Lord, see that you believe what you read, that you teach what you believe and that you practice what you teach,” he said. “Remember, too, that the Word of God is not your property; it is the Word of God. And the Church is the custodian of the Word of God.” In looking at the pastoral and

Sacramental ministry the men will be called to carry out, Pope Francis told them to “never tire of being merciful” in gathering people into the Church through Baptism and forgiving sins in the name of Christ and the Church.

“You will comfort the sick and the elderly with holy oil,” he said.

“Do not hesitate to show tenderness toward the elderly.”

Pope Francis told the new priests to remember they are chosen from among the faithful and “appointed on their behalf for those things that pertain to God. Therefore, carry out the ministry of Christ the priest with constant

joy and genuine love, attending not to your own concerns, but to those of Jesus Christ.”

“You are pastors, not functionaries,” he told them. “Be mediators, not intermediaries.”

The pope asked young people to listen carefully for Jesus’ voice and to ask for help in discerning His call, His plan for their lives, and then have the courage to follow Him. A group of young people in the square began chanting the pope’s name in Italian — “Francesco.”

“Thank you very much for the greeting,” he said. “But greet Jesus, too. Shout ‘Jesus, Jesus’ loudly.”