FALL RIVER DIOCESAN .NEWSPAPER FOR SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS
t eanc 0 VOL. 31, NO. 19
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Friday, May 8, 1987
F ALL RIVER, MASS.
Southeastern Massachusetts' Largest Weekly
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S8 Per Year
4 at pre-Synod parley
CONSULTATION delegates, from left Frank and Dagny Miller and Claudette and Aubrey Armstrong, meet with Bishop Daniel A. Cronin prior to their departure for Holyoke. (Motta photo)
By Pat McGowan The consultation of East Coast laity held last weekend at Mont Marie Conference Center, Holyoke, was "a great learning experience" and an opportunity to meet concerned and knowledgeable Catholics from other dioceses, agreed Fall River's delegates, Claudette and Aubrey Armstrong of St. Louis de France parish, Swansea, and Dagny and Frank Miller of Corpus ChTisti, Sandwich. Mrs. Armstrong heads the Diocesan Council ofCathoIic Women and Miller is diocesan president of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. The Holyoke meeting was the last of four held throughout the nation in preparation for this fall's world Synod of Bishops. To take place in Rome, the synod will
address the role of laity in the church. Input from the"U.S. consultations, together With that from other nations, will provide material for discussion and eventual submission of conclusions to Pope John Paul II. Bishops at the Holyoke consultation were Baton Rouge Bishop Stanley J. Ott, chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on the Laity; Albany Bishop Howard J. Hubbard, a laity committee member; and host Bishop Joseph F. Maguire of the diocese of Springfield. 95 men and women representing 13 states and 31 dioceses were at Holyoke, said Mrs. Armstrong. After a welcome by Bishop Maguire and an initial session at which Dolores-Leckey, secretariat direc-
tor for the bishops' Committee on the Laity, explained the background of the consultations, they divided into 13 small groups. The groups were thoroughly mingled, said Mrs. Miller, with diocesan delegates separated. The bishops participated in all sessions, she noted. Each group chose a discussion topic, including spirituality, baptismal consciousness, adult education, decision-making in the church, evangelization, youth and layclergy collaboration. In general, discussion sought to clarify weak and strong points of the chosen area and to offer suggestions for improvement. For instance, a table discussing Turn to Page Six
CCA at $726,85.1.02; social services benefit First returns from parishes and Special Gift solicitors show a total of$726,85 1.02 already collected in the 1987 Catholic Charities Appeal. Special Gift solicitors are asked to make final returns by tomorrow. Parish volunt~ers will continue to call on parishioners not contacted last Sunday. The parish phase ofthe Appeal will close May 13 but Appeal books will remain open until I p.m. May 22 for final donations. Parish Honor Roll Parishes surpassing 1986 final Appeal totals will be enrolled on the 1987 parish honor roll. Last year 108 parishes were listed and Msgr. Anthony M. Gomes, diocesan Appeal director, said of this year's campaign: "We are antici-
pating that every parish - 114will he on this year's honor roll. We must have substantial increases in every parish to surpass last year's total of $1,779,775.78." The first two 1987 honor roll parishes are Sacred Heart, Oak Bluffs, with a total already collected of $4,289, and Our Lady of Angels, Fall River, with a total of $21,110. Leading parishes, parish totals and special gift listings appear on page 2 of this issue of The Anchor. Next week's issue will include an up-to-date report on all categories of donations. Social Services Among CCA beneficiaries is the Diocesan Department of Social
Services. The work done by the of your people the substantial allotdepartment as well as by national ment sent to Catholic Social ServCatholic agencies was pinpointed ices is truly bringing the caring by its executive director, Father Christ into many troubled and Peter N. Graziano, in a recent let- needy lives." On the national level, Father ter to diocesan priests. In it he wrote: "So often the Graziano said that Catholic social Church is viewed as being primar- service agencies aided over two ily wrapped up in sacramental and million families during the 1986 educational endeavors. These fig- fiscal year, spending over $48 milures, which do not include the vast lion in the process, in addition to hospital system and network of other moneys available through nursing homes, tell us that the various government programs. Diocesan services, largely funded Church is a caring Church not only from the pulpit and class- by the Catholic Charities Appeal room but also in the midst of the or where feasible by client or insurance-paid fees, include: social dimension of life. Counseling: 468 cases involving "Perhaps when you speak to your people at Catholic Charities 567 individuals were served during time, this report will be helpful. It fiscal I986. Over half the clientele tells us that through the generosity were between the ages of 25-40,
children under 10 years of age accounted for 25 case$ and persons over 60 accounted for 20 cases. In addition, the counseling program conducted 16 premarital and five Marriage Tribunal evaluations. Pregnancy Counseling: 123 pregnant women were counseled, including 57 between the ages of 15-20. Clients electing to keep their child were provided social services until they were settled, while those placing infants for adoption received up to six months counseling and other support from the agency. Adoptions: In fiscal 1986 this program placed 21 children for adoption, ofwhom 20 were referred Turn to Page Six
During papal visit to Germany
Unity, pro-life were themes NC News Service Pope John Paul II used themes from Germany's past - Nazism and Christian divisions - in urging modern West Germans to protect life and pursue Christian unity during his April 30-May 4 visit to West Germany. The pope beatified two victims of Nazi persecution and praised a late cardinal who spoke out against Nazi euthanasia policies. He told Protestant and Greek Orthodox church leaders to work to "increase our oneness" and called for the renewal of Catholic life. In a Munster town square May I, the pope praised the late Cardinal Clemens August Grafvon Galen for his strong opposition to Nazi euthanasia programs and said the
church "expects" politicians to help protect the unborn. "Euthanasia, mercy killing ostensibly on grounds of human sympathy, is again pronounced with alarming frequency and finds new, misled champions," he added. Earlier in the day, the pope beatified Edith Stein, a Jewish woman who converted to Catholicism and died in a Nazi concentration camp. Beatification is the last step before a person is canonized as a saint. The church says Edith Stein was martyred for her Catholic faith, but some Jewish writers and spokesmen questioned whether she was martyred for her Christian faith or her Jewish heritage. The pope, stressing that heritage, called her a "great daughter ofIsrael.
"Baptism as a Christian was by no means a break with her Jewish heritage," he told 75,000 people in an outdoor stadium in Cologne. He quoted her as writing, "My return to God made me feel Jewish again.", Edith Stein, brought up as a Jew, became an atheist, then converted to Catholicism. She became a Carmelite nun, Sister Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, and was arrested in Holland with other Catholics of Jewish descent after the Dutch bishops spoke against Nazi policies. She was executed in Auschwitz in 1942. On May 3 in Munich's Olympic Stadium, the pope beatified Jesuit Father Rupert Mayer, who was arrested several times and imprisTurn to Page Six
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SEEMINGLY CLOSE to tears, Pope John Paul II prays during beatification ceremony for Edith Stein. (NC/UPIReuter photo)