VOL. 45, NO. 18 • Friday, May 4, 2001
FALL RIVER, MASS. .
Southeastern Massachusetts' Largest Weekly
·0 $14 Per Year
Our mission in Guaimaca ~
Bishop O'Malley visits the diocese's mission team working among Honduras' poor and urges continued support.
River diocese, saying Mass, hearing confessions, baptizing, confinning and bringing the Gospel message to the poorest of the poor. Traveling on unpaved, dusty roads in an ungainly vehicle that was half-Jeep, half-truck. Bishop O'Malley and the priests lived on a By JAMES N. DUNBAR meager diet consisting mainly of GUAIMACA, Honduras rice, potatoes and salad, washed More a symbol of humble faith than ' down by water that had to be boiled a formal greeting, the crude wel- before they could drink it. come sign read: "We welcome you, This week, Bishop O'Malley Bishop Sean ... in the name ofJesus talked to The Anchor about his pasChrist." tora! visit and the mission's goal and On Easter Monday, April 16, survival. On that first day Bishop Bishop Sean P. O'Malley, OFM Cap., stepped into the village of O'Malley met with Cardinal Oscar Guaimaca to be greeted by a faith- Rodriguez, in whose archdiocese is filled people and the dedicated, fiye- the mission actually two member missionary team he sent in churches because of lack of priests September 2000 to one of the poor- - "and for which our Fall River est sections of the Archdiocese of diocese's commitment, made during Honduras in Central America for a the Jubilee Year is for five years," five-year commitment of love and Bishop O'Malley said. "And there service. may be an extension of that." For the next severa! days, Bishop He mad~ it clear that "we are O'Malley, accompanied by hiS-sec- there tcishate out hilrriiin, spiritual retary, Father Richard D. Wilson, and financial resources with the and Father Craig A. Pregana, would Church in another part of the world travel hundreds of miles across an that has great needs. And at the same area roughly the size of the Fall time it can enrich us by their faith
and our solidarity with them." The bishop noted that Father Pregana, director of vocations for the Fall River diocese and chaplain to the University of MassachusettsDartmouth, "was there wearing two hats." "You see we have interest in sending our seminarians to work in Guaimaca to leam Spanish and to experience the Church in a Latin American country," the bishop said. "We also are interested in sending Catholic college students down to help out and to see how life is lived in the missions." Father Wilson's presence was important because he is also the director of the Hispanic Ministry in the Fall River diocese, the bishop said. The initial mission team in Guaimaca is led by Father Paul E. Canuel, diocesan director of the Spanish Apostolate, and includes Institute of the Incamate Word Father Gustavo Dominguez from St. Killian's Parish, New Bedford; Deacon James Marzilli Jr. and his wife, JoAn, from St. John the Evangelist Tum to page 13 - Mission
FATHER PAUL Canuel makes a Communion call to a 100year-old parishioner of San Francisco Parish in Orica, Honduras. (Photo courtesy of Father Craig A. Pregana)
Catholic Charities opens parish phase on Sunday
May devotions center on Mary
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FALL RIVER - Devotion to Mary, the Mother of God, originated in early Christianity when altars to the Blessed Virgin were obvious fixtures in every church. Mary is given a veneration above that of all saints because of her unique relationship to Jesus and her important role as a woman in relation to the mystery of the Church and salvation, a veneration called hyperdulia. From the early days of the Church, the springtime month of May has been popularly devoted to Mary. Tum to page 16 - Mary
NEW BEDFORD - Once upon a time armies of volunteer solicitors held away on the first Sunday afternoon in Mayas they went from door-to-door across . the Fall River diocese to garner funds for the Catholic Charities Appeal. "While that is still the way in perhaps 20 perc~nt of our'l 00 {iii". ...;~~ parishes, with the complexities .,• fl:.;;i~~~' of the contemporary l~ving ciril! IS LYir~ cumstances the greater major- \~ ity of our parish outreach is ..~~ done through the mail," com- 0" men ted Msgr. Thomas J. . Harriqgton, director of the Appeal. On Sunday, the Appeal will hold its formal opening of this year's parish phase of the 2001 campaign, and also mark the 60th year for the campaign that was begun in the 1940s Wor~d War II years by Bishop James E. Cassidy. Msgr. Harrington said that currently many parishes have established committees to assist the pastors and parish secretaries conduct the Appeal. "Mike (Michael J.) Donly, head of our Diocesan Department of Development, has worked tirelessly to engage committed, working groups of volunteers in many parts of the diocese," Msgr. Harrington explained. "We hope to see the results ofthis organizational effort trans-
lated into a record result." During a series of kickoff meetings in recent weeks, Bishop Sean P. O'Malley, OFM Cap., has met with hundreds of volunteers in the towns and cities of the diocese. Each session featured the presentation of a video portraying the outreach of the Appeal. . "A definite consensus emerged from these gatherings tbat the message, the 'story' of the Catholic Charities Appeal and its impact upon needy families and individuals was wonderfully told in that film, produced by videographer David Fortin of New Bedford." Msgr. Harrington added that, "We hope that some parishes, at least, will play this video a~ Church or at meetings of the various organizations." On Sunday, April 29, an audio tape message prepared by Bishop O'Malley was played at all Masses throughout the diocese, blending homiletic commentary on the Scriptures of the day with encouragement to respond generously to this year's Appeal. "All is in readiness," Msgr~ Harrington commented. "Now we are saying a little extra prayer that God will bless our efforts with a great result."