t eanc 0 VOL. 42, NO. 19 •
Friday, May 8, 1998
FALL RIVER DIOCESAN NEWSPAPER FOR SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS
FALL RIVER, MASS.
Southeastern Massachusetts' Largest Weekly
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$14 Per Year
Council of Catholic Women holds 45th convention •
Hartford Archbishop Daniel A. Cronin, former Fall River bishop, is main speaker. By JAMES N. DUNBAR
SOUTH DARTMOUTH-In a keynote address to the Diocesan Council of Catholic Women at its 45th convention May 2, Archbishop Daniel A. Cronin of Hartford, Conn., urged the, members to bear witness to Christ by the example of their lives. Held at St. Mary's Parish Center, the clay long agenda included business meetings and committee reports, a eoncelebrated Mass, lunch and a musicale in the afternoon. Recalling his 21 years as bishop THERESA LEWIS of Fall River that ended in 1991, the archbishop praised the work of the group and addressed the convention's theme, "Holy Spirit, Empower Us as Wl~ Journey to New Beginnings." "The topic is fitting since we are in the year that the Holy Father has designated for
us to reflect on the Holy Spirit. It is the second year of our th,ree-year preparation for the Jubilee Year 2000 and the new millennium," the archbishop said. "It is interesting that the topic of the Holy Spirit is not just a subject for Church. The recent Newsweek magazine in its April 13 edition has a seven-page article entitled 'Living in the Spirit.'" It is not a purely Catholic article, he noted, but said that the magazine's poll showed that 47 percent of Christians say they have personally experienced the Holy Spirit. "Among evangelical Protestants, the figure rises to 75 percent," he added. "It is appropriate that you ask the Holy Spirit's empowerment as you journey to new beginnings. Certainly there will be new beginnings. Chief among these is the fact that we will be beginning a new century and a new millennium." Archbishop Cronin told the 155 women attending that "May I suggest that the best way to accomplish this would be for the individual women of the Council to reflect in this year of the Jioly Spirit on the vocation that each Christian as a baptized and confirmed person has ... by fully appreciating our role as baptized and confirmed Christians and trying then to further the mission of the Church by the witness of our lives." Expressing h,is gratitude for all the dedicated work of the Council, Archbishop Cronin remembered members of the clergy as well as women who were so dedicated, especially the late Gertrude O'Brien. "There
Parish journal spreads good news to community By MIKE GORDON ANCHOR STAFF
MASHPEE-When Jacqueline Spinney converted to Catholicism and joined Christ the King Parish' in Mashpee she was amazed at the size of the parish and its community. After settling in, she began to wonder if all the people in the community, especially those homebound, were getting everything they could from the parish. A parish of such size would certainly contain a great creative spirit and she began to cultivate the idea of developing a parish newsletter. That newsletter idea soon blossomed into a parish journal and now The Crown, a publication to celebrate faith, is entering its sixth year of production. With her involvement and initiative in celebrating the kingdom of God through print and a little encouragement from her pastor, Spinney's spark of creativity was ignited and continues to burn in Mashpee. The Crown is a journal of experiences from parishioners, poetry, photographs of parish events and news that concerns the parish. It comes out every two months and is put together completely by volunteers from the parish. The parish stiII has its bulletin every week, but The Crown gives people news of their friends and happenings within the parish. It provides a forum for community news and, according to pastor of Christ the King Father Ronald A. Tosti, that's a great thing. "I'm very proud of this project. It helps build the community and people can read good things about their fellow parishiOl~ers," he said.
The free journal is given out after Masses and copies are left at the back of the church during the week. They print about 2000 copies of each issue, so~e of which are mailed to shutins. The parish has about 1,500 year round families who "really enjoy receiving it," said Father Tosti, "It's a nice presentation." When Jacqueline began talking about the idea of the newsletter a few years ago, Father Turn to page 2 - The Crown
have been so many women over the years now deceased whom I could mention with great gratitude for their contribution to the work of the Council. You know how grateful I was as bishop of Fall River to all of you for
what you did and I still am. That is one of the reasons I am glad to be here today, to say thanks once again." The archbishop said he remembers well Turn to page 9 - DCCW
KEYNOTE SPEAKER - Archbishop Daniel A. Cronin of Hartford, former bishop of Fall River (left), is greeted by Bishop Sean P. O'Malley at the gathering of the Diocesan Council of Catholic Women in convention at St. Mary Parish hall, South Dartmouth, on May 2.
Soup buffet raises funds for overseas project By MIKE GORDON ANCHOR STAFF
NEW BEDFORD-The saying goes that it takes a whole village to raise a child, but has anyone asked the question what does it take to raise a water tower? That's the question that parishioners of Sacred Heart Church were hel ping to answer when they held a soup buffet to raise money for an African missionary and his viIlage's project. When Father Hippolytus Omodoi visited the United States through a mission co-op, he explained to Father Clement E. Dufour, Sacred
Charities Appeal's parish phase opens FALL RIVER-The parish phase of the encourage participation of all parishioners. The 1998 Catholic Charities Appeal opened this pledge system has proven to be popular with week as the diocese marked the 57th fundraising many donors and several pastors reported parishyear to address the needs of the many A.~I!I!I!"- ioners increasing their level of giving. agencies, institutions and apostolates For the first time in Appeal history, serving the needs of thousands of resiprospective contributors may utilize Visa and Mastercard contributions. At dents in southeastern Massachusetts. Although early in the campaign, Msgr. the recent deanery meeting in the New Thomas J. Harrington, diocesan director Bedford area, several pastors reported of the Appeal, and Michael Donly, direccontributors using the credit cards to tor of the dioces~ Office ofDevelopment, agreed make their donations. Gifts to the Appeal may be transmitted thatthe outlook is favorable fora successful drive. Appeal staffers worked late into the night through local parishes in all areas of the dioApril 3 as the first day's returns were compiled. cese or may be sent directly to Diocesan HeadBishop Sean P. O'Malley was a visitor at cam- quarters, 344 Highland Ave., P.O. Box 1470, paign headquarters and viewed the parish re- Fall River, MA 02722. Telephone inquiries are welcome at (508) 676-8943. ports as they came in. Following is a listing of business and comFather Bruce M. Neylon of New Bedford, Father John A Perry of East Freetown, Father munity gifts donated thus far to the Appeal. Thomas L. Rita of Osterville and Father Manuel Attleboro Area P. Ferreira of this city prepared area reports. $2,000 The Appeal will continue throughout this V.H. Blackington Co., Inc., Attleboro Falls Turn to page 2 - CCA month and efforts are ongoing in the parishes to
Heart's pastor, the problems people encountered in his homeland with clean water and the need of a water tower. Those living in the village of Buteba in his homeland of Uganda, East Africa, are forced to travel great distances to obtain water, but it comes from polluted springs and many are victims of waterborne diseases. Father Omodoi, for example, has to boil the water he uses at Mass. A water tower would supply a constant source of clean water for the community and its schools by trapping runoff rainwater from houses and shelter roofs and storing it. Due to the large amount of rainfall, the collected supply should be more than enough for the village, since the project's six rainwater tanks would hold 264 gallons each. Although no formal collection was taken up for the project at that time, Father Dufour wished to do something to help and brought the idea to the St. Anne's Ladies' Guild of Sacred Heart. "At first it was just an idea of a simple soup meal, but it turned into a buffet of soups," said Father Dufour. The women's guild organized the buffet and asked parishioners who partook of the meal to make a freewill offering towards the water tower. A large number of parishioners turned out to sample six different types of soup, including kale and minestrone as well as clam chowder. Served with bread and beverages, the soup buffet raised $325 towards the water tower project and people had a good time. "I think people really enjoyed it. They came with their children and stuck around for a few hours talking and enjoying the food," said Father Dufour. Constance Menard, secretary for the guild. Turn to page /6 - Soup buffet