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THE ANCHOR -
Diocese of Fall River -
Fri., May 15, 1992
themoorin~ Listening to the Times Tens of thousands of middle-class' Americans are at risk of losing their pride and dignity. Out of work and in many cases with their 'jobs totally eliminated, their previously secure worlds have been torn apart. Many are beset by psychological depression, which of course affects their families as well. Comfortable nest eggs have been used for routine living expenses and with them have vanished hopes and dreams for the future. Losing everything is a horrendous experience and one' heretofore almost unimaginable to white-collar workers with graduate degrees who have never worried about job security. Those accustomed to the fast lane can scarcely believe they have come to a screeching halt. The resultant psychological pall makes many resemble the living dead. Even as politicians inflate false hopes in this election year, too many Americans who were the working backbone of this nation are waiting in unemployment lines seeking the humblest of jobs. The longer they are unsu~cessful; the greater the speed of their downward spiral as their mortgage, auto loan and credit card obligations mount. Those who'once gave generously to charity now seek assistance themselves ~s already over-extended welfare rosters lengthen and budget cuts deepen at all levels of local, state and federal programs. In such a situation, an individual easily loses self-respect, a loss fostered by the current welfare system, which reduces clients to subserv'i~nt statistics, faceless numbers waiting for Big Brother to give them ex~ctly what he wants to. When personal esteem is lost in this manner, fear, mistrust and tension dominate a person's life. In'deed, the psychological state of many on welfare is so shattered that anger, frustration and rage all too often explode in violent action. Encountering for themselves a system they had heard about but never expe, rienced, people are literally devastated. It is important, as we attempt to work out of this prolonged ,recession, for millions a real,depressio.n, that we not pin out hopes on Wall Street. It should be evident to all that corporate America has little heart or soul. Capitalism thinks in terms of profit, not people. But this nation must become more people conscious, more sensitive to the ~ffects of adversity on individuals. It is wrong and also very poor psychology to ignore this reality as we try to get America back to work. It is imperative that the cries of the poor and unemployed be heeded. We cannot mistake a congressional hearing for real action! It is easy to think of people as nothing more than political pawns, But the events that have swept America should tell 'us that when feelings are suppressed too long they can explode' in fire and death. The Editor
DIOCESAN STATEMENT In response to recent allegations concerning a former priest of the Fall River diocese, the following statement has been issued: The Diocese of Fall River of the diocese is'pastoral. The regrets the unfortunate manner community of the faithful can in which allegations against a, trust that this serious matter former priest have been made will be handled with compaspublic. James Porter has not sion and reverence for all. Since functioned in the diocese for this has become a legal matter, over 25 years. It is our policy to it is not appropriate to comrespect the privacy of the indi- ment further. viduals involved. The purpose
the
OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE DIOCESE OF FALL RIVER Published weekly by The Catholic Press of the Diocese of Fall River 887 Highland Avenue P.O. BOX 7 Fall River, MA 02720 Fall River, MA 02722-0007 Telephone 508-675-7151 FAX (508) 675-7048 Send address changes to P.O. Box 7 or call telephone number above
EDITOR Rev. John F. Moore
GENERAL MANAGER Rosemary Dussault ~ Leary Press-Fall River
eNs I Reoiers photo
A DAUGHTER COMFORTS HER MOTHER AS THEY FLEE FROM THEIR LOS ANGELES STORE AS IT IS BEING LOOTED
"God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes: and death shall be no more, nor mourning, nor crying,nor sorrow." Apoc. 21:4
Media blamed for campaign muckraking WASHINGTON (CNS) - Rumors about adultery, drug use and character hav,e plagued the presidential campaign, and some Catholic observers say it's the media's fault. Jesuit Father Robert Drinan,' who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1971 to 1981, for example, said the press needs to define a "zone of privacy" into which it won't tread. Writer and lecturer Abigail McCarthy said the press is "corrupt" and "irresponsible" when it covers drugs, adultery and character while "ignoring the real issues," such as poverty, the economy, racism, the growing division between rich and poor and the many women heading single-parent families and living in poverty. Timothy Russert, NBC-TV Washington bureau chief and moderator ofthe network's Sunday morning "Meet the Press,~' said tabloid TV shows and newspapers are taking to excess coverage on character issues. Sharon Murphy, dean of Jesuitrun Marquette University's College of Communication, Journalism and Performing Arts, said the press is avoiding "more important and more difficult issues." "People are letting slide the whole issue of arms sales via the Saudis to Iraq," she said, for example. "That's major; gossip is not." But "it's easier to sling mud than go into the archives and ask questions that tell us what's going on." Father Drinan questioned reporters' right to pursue whether a candidate has had extramarital affairs. If they're going to make it an issue, "do it across the board -let every politician take the truth test," said the priest, who is a Georgetown University law professor and adviser to the Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics.
He. criticized talk about mari- era when the press was much less juana use. interested in titillating its readers , "Why marijuana?" he asked. "Mil- than in informing them:" she said. 'lions did it, eveil'if technically it is She tracked the change in joura violation of law. People violate nalism back to Watergate, when, lots of laws, for example, when she said, "young journalists comthey park where they shouldn't," ing up felt it was their obligation to Questions of health are fair, uncover whatever they could poshowever, said Father Drinan, cit- sibly uncover and began to dr,aw ing former Democratic candidate new lines between what was imporPaul Tsongas and his battle with tant and unimportant." Current talk shows also have cancer. People have a right to know formed "a generation that's grown "whether he's healthy and will sur- up with the idea that there is no vive four or eight years and if such thing as privacy," she said. there's a possibility he'll be sick She also said newspapers are and the country would suffer," he lowering their standards to make money during tough times. said. He said coverage of politics has Russert, a senior vice president changed since he was in Congress at NBC, said he created a fourduring the Nixon administration point test to determine if character and the Vietnam War. issues will be aired when they sur"We had so much public cor- face. They include truthfulness, ruption," he said, that "the press whether they point to misuse of tended to stay more with the issues." public money, whether they point The media were right to publish to hypocrisy, and their relevance the Pentagon Papers and investi- to the. office the candidate seeks. "We're not going around asking gate Watergate, but reporters today "don't know where the zone of 'Have you?' questions," Russert said, but if character issues surface privacy begins," he said. Mrs. McCarthy said the media and "the candidate chooses to emphasize what are not "legiti- respond, we have an obligation to cover it." mate topics." "This campaign started off with . "I suppose there is some correshealth care and economy as cenpondence between infidelity and untrustworthiness in general, but tral issues" and then took a turn it's very ,hard to document," she with the allegation by Gennifer . Flowers that she had an affair with said. . As for marijuana, "it seems silly . Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton," Ruseven to bring it up," she said. sert said. "People in their 40s went through Clinton denied having the affair, that period" of experimentation. he said, "and then chose to go on Mrs. McCarthy was in public '60 Minutes' to talk about his perlife from the late '40s to the early sonallife." . '70s as wife of former U.S. Sen. "You can't ignore that," said Eugene McCarthy, D-Minn., who Russert. ran for president. In the last two Attack the Roots decades, she has discussed politi"When thou attacktes the roots cal subjects on the lecture circuit and written fiction and non-fiction, of sin, fix thy thought more upon including a column in the Catholic God whom thou desirest than upon sin which thou abhorrest."- Walter weekly magazine Commonweal. She was in the public eye "in an Hylton
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