t eanc 0 VOL. 36, NO. 19
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Friday, May 8, 1992
F ALL RIVER, MASS.
State pastoral leaders in "total opposition" to Weld abortion bill The pastoral leaders of the four dioceses of Massachusetts have released a statement ex~ pressing "total opposition" to proposals by Governor Weld that if passed would "abolish virtually every restriction against abortion up to birth that exists in Massachusetts law." The statement follows: The Judiciary Committee ofthe Great and General Court has before it a package of proposals from Governor Weld. The purpose is to abolish virtually every restriction against abortion up to birth that exists in Massachusetts law. The pastoral leaders of the four Roman Catholic dioceses in Massachusetts wish to go on record in total opposition to these measures which are harmful to children, harmful to women and harmful to society. They would be fatally harmful to the unborn child who never has a voice, never can be listened to and becomes a discardable life.
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They are harmful to women. If all are passed, these mea-
sures would allow abortion on demand at any moment up to the time of birth. They would allow a 16-year-old to abort without reference to her parents. Abortions, no matter how medically risky, could be performed in any clinic that has a license. Safeguards for the physical and psychological health ofthe mother would now be set aside. They are harmful to society. Abortion would be included in all town, city and state administrative services, services paid for by the taxes of citizens, many of whom are in principle opposed to abortion. Even more, our society would be coarsened by demeaning the value of life, desensitizing the consciousness of the citizens and contributing to the disregard of life that is mirrored in the violence that has become so commonplace in our own day. In the name of all the responsible citizens of Massachusetts, in the name of the millions of innocent unborn, Turn to Page 13
COMMITTED TO CATHOLIC CHARITIES APPEAL: From left at Appeal kickoff meeting, Msgr. Henry T. Munroe, diocesan administrator, Annette Rozak, wife of Appeal lay chairman, Charles Rozak, Father Daniel L. Freitas, Appeal director. (Hickey photo)
Appeal returns at $202,694 •
Ethics symposium topic is dilemma of euthanasia To address mounting concern over euthanasia or assisted suicide, the ethics committee of St. Anne's Hospital, Fall River, will present "The Dilemma of Euthanasia: The Catholic Response" from 2 to 6 p.m. Wednesday, May 20, at Bishop Connolly High School, Fall River. "We have assembled an impressive group of experts who will speak to the subject of euthanasia from the medical, philosophical and religious points of view," said ethics committee member Father Mark Hession, parochial vicar at St. Mary's Church, New Bedford. "With this overview of recent collective wisdom, we hope to influence the broader culture in which we live." The symposium's keynote address, "The Dilemma of Euthanasia: Philosophical Considerations,"
FALL RIVER DIOCESAN NEWSPAPER FOR SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS
will be delivered by Francis Gendreau, Ph. D:, associate professor of philosophy at Stonehill College, North Easton. Also making presentations will be Father James O'Donohoe, STD, associate professor of theological ethics at Boston College, whose topic will be "The Official Catholic Position on Euthanasia: Its Interpretation within the Clinical Setting"; and John R. Delfs, M D, director of ElderCare and geriatric medicine programs at New England Deaconess Hospital and a specialist on ethical issues in cases of dementia. Dr. Delfs will speak on "The Right to Decline Medical Treatment: the Health Care Provider's Perspective." Concluding the program will be a one-hour case discussion with Father Hession as moderator and Turn to Page 12
The reports from the pa'fish, and Special Gifts phases bring the current total of the 1992 Catholic Charities Appeal to $202,694. Collectors for the Special Gifts and' Parish Phase of the Appeal are asked to complete all their calls as soon as possible and to bring their reports to their respective headquarters or parishes. The Charities Appeal Office will
be closed on Memorial Day, May 25. The Appeal books will be open until 10 a.m., Tuesday, May 26. All reports received by this time will be credited to the 1992 Appeal. To assure credit, reports from May 20 on should be brought in person to the Appeal Headquarters, 410 Highland Avenue, Fall River. Parish Honor Roll Parishes which have surpassed
their 1991 final Appeal totals in this year's Appeal will be enrolled on the honor roll. Last year 93 parishes achieved this status. Rev. Daniel L. Freitas, diocesan director of the Appeal, said, "We are anticipating that every parish III - will be on this year's honor roll. We must have substantial increases in every parish to surpass last year's total of $2,291,186.30."
L.A. ravaged, nation guiltridden With Catholic News Service reports LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A controversial verdict and resulting racial violence in Los Angeles have left the ethnically diverse city with the task of rebuilding and a stunned nation in an introspective and guiltridden mood. Violence flared in many cities far removed from Los Angeles, while in other places rumors of trouble led apprehensive merchants to shutter their businesses. In New Bedford, for example, warnings that a demonstration might take place occasioned a brief closing of the North Dartmouth Mall. There were no incidents, however. A spate of editorials and columns expressed the national feeling of guilt over the riots and their aftermath across the l;ountry. Pul-
itzer Prize-winning columnist Anna Quindlen, for one, said that her 8-year-old son watched the oftrepeated videotape of the beating of Rodney King, flinging his own arms over his head as if to ward off blows. Finally he asked if police were really allowed to beat people like that. His mother said the question broke her heart, but then she thought how much worse the question would be coming from a black son to a black mother, whose reply tragically would be "Yes." Catholic leaders across the nation expressed shock at the acquittals of four white police officers in the beating case of a black motorist and said they were stunned by the violence that followed announcement of the verdict.
Many said the acquittals only sparked deep-seated alienation and hopelessness already felt by the nation's poor. After four days of violence that resulted in at least 50 deaths and thousands of injuries and incidents of vandalism, Los Angeles Cardinal Roger M. Mahony urged the city's residents to begin recapturing a "sense of what is morally right and wrong." He said those who had looted stores during the disturbances could return stolen goods to Catholic churches, no questions asked. The cardinal said the church would turn over the goods to authorities who would return them to their rightful owners. Cardinal Mah'ony made the unTurn to Page 12