tea.o VOL. 37, NO. 20
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Friday, May 21,1993
F ALL RIVER, MASS.
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Southeastern Massachusetts' Largest Weekly
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$11 Per Year
10 new' deacons
Should we inter'vene in Bosnia? WASHINGTON (CNS) - The chairman of the U.S. bishops' International Policy Committee said May 13 that he did not issue "a general endorsement of U.S. military intervention in Bosnia" but instead urged the United States "to apply strict moral criteria to any use of military force." Archbishop John R. Roach of St. Paul-Minneapolis made the clarification the day after he released to the media copies of a four-page letter he wrote to U.S. Secretary of Staff: Warren Christopher spelling out moral principles that should guide U.S. policy in former Yugoslavia. A number of news reports interpreted the letter ai: giving Catholic moral approval to U.S. military action as a way to end the aggression and violations of human rights in the war-battered region. "This misreads the letter and its message," Archbishop Roach said. He said his lettl~r clearly distinguished between "limited military measures which we support" and other military actions that are at least highly quest:.onable. Measures involving possible use of military force that the bishops support, he said, are "safe havens, protecting civilians and refugees, enforcing economic sanctions and . implementing a c,~asefire in Croatia and a possible overall political settlement." He cited the widely discussed proposals for air ~,trikes or a lifting of the arms embargo as military measures "which we believe must still meet stringent moral criteria before they can be used." Archbishop Roach noted that his letter reiteratt~d the guidelines adopted in a public statement about Bosnia in March by the Administrative Board of the U.S. Catholic Conference, an elected SO-bishop body that meets twice a year between general ml~etings of all the bishops. The board said that "a strictly limited use of force" is one possible solution to the Balkan crisis, as are continued negotiations and economic sanctions. "As pastors and teachers, our role is to help raise the continuing human and moral consequences of the horror in Bosnia and suggest ethical criteria that ought to guide our nation's response," he said. His letter opposes two extremes, he said: "It rejects the arguments Turn to Page Nine
. ER DIOCESAN N,.E'.jVSPAP FOR··., UTHEASTMASSACI1IUSETTS·. CAPE~OD .~ THE ISLANDS,··
NEW BEDFORD AREA Catholic Charities Appeal workers are Helena Tavares, Immaculate Conception parish; Father Daniel W. Lacroix of 51. Patrick's parish, Wareham, area assistant director; Claire McMahon, Appeal lay chairman; Bishop O'Malley, honorary chairman; Father Maurice O. Gauvin, Immaculate Conception parish, area Appeal director; and Charles Jodoin, 51. Theresa's parish. (Kearns photo)
CCA stands at $1,871,686 Reports from parishes and Spe- . cial Gifts bring the total of the 1993 Appeal to $1 ,871 ,686.71, Rev. Daniel L. Freitas, Diocesan Appeal Director, has announced. Special Gifts and parish collectors for the Appeal are asked to complete all calls this weekend and make reports to their respective headquarters or parishes. Appeal books will remain open until 10 a.m. Tuesday, May 25. All reports received by then will be credited to the 1993 Appeal. To assure credit, reports should be brought in person to Appeal Headquarters, 410 Highland Avenue, Fall River. Parish Honor Roll Since the last report, the following parishes have surpassed their 1992 total: St. Joan of Are, Orleans; St. Augustine, Vineyard Haven; St. Joseph, Woods Hole;
Blessed Sacrament, Holy Cross, Holy Rosary, St. Anthony of Padua, and Santo Christo, Fall River. St. Patrick, St. Thomas More, Somerset;' St. Louis de France, Swansea; Our Lady of Perpetual Help, St. Anne, St. Anthony of Padua, St. Kilian, New Bedford; Holy Rosary, St. Anthony and St. Jacques, Taunton. The following parishes have also surpassed their 1991 totals, the best year of the Appeal: St. Joseph, Woods Hole; Blessed Sacrament, Santo Christo, Fall River; St. Thomas More, Somerset; Holy Rosary, St. Anthony and St. Jacques, Taunton. Father Freitas said that substantial increases are needed in every parish if the Appeal is to surpass 1991, its best year, when a total of$2,29I ,186.30 was achieved.
1.---------------------------.1 Cardinal sees new peace challenges 10 years later
UNCASVILLE, Conn. (CNS) - Cardinal Joseph L. Bernardin of Chicago warned America against "the immorality of isolationism" in a speech marking the 10th anniversary of the U.S. bishops' peace pastoral. "After the Cold War, there is an understandable but dangerous temptation to turn inward.... But this is not an option for believers in the universal church nor citizens in the world's last superpower," the cardinal said at a symposium in Uncasville in the diocese of Norwich, CT. "In a world where 40,000 chil-
dren die every day from hunger and its consequences, in a world with ethnic cleansing and systematic rape in Bosnia, in a world where people are still denied life, dignity and fundamental rights because of their race, ethnicity, religion or economic status - we cannot turn away," he said. "There is need for new thinking about the status of peace, the nature of war and effective responses to conflict," he said. As one example he cited Bosnia, where he said there is "no real milTurn to Page Nine
At II a.m. tomorrow in St. Mary's Cathedral, Fall River, Bishop Sean O'Malley will ordain 10 permanent deacons for service in the Fall River diocese. This is the fourth such ordination ceremony in the history of the diocese, the last one being in 1987, and it will be the first such ceremony at which Bishop Sean O'Malley will be the ordaining prelate. The deacon candidates have concluded four years of preparation under direction of Rev. John F. Moore, diaconal program director. The ordination will be in the context of a Mass, following the Gospel. It will include rites of calling and presentation of candidates. The presentation will be made by Father Moore. After ordination, accomplished by the laying of the bishop's hands on the head of each candidate and a prayer of consecration, the deacons' wives will bring the ordinands' vestments of office to the altar, handing them to assisting priests or deacons, who will then vest the new deacons. Music for the Mass and ordination will be by the diocesan choir
and instrumentalists. Because of seating limitations in the cathedral, admission will be by ticket only. Deacons serve the diocese in various ways. Liturgically, they can preach, officiate at baptisms, weddings, wake sl~rvices and funerals, and distribute holy communion. Deacons may be assigned by the bishop to either a parish ministry .or a particular field of service. In this diocese, they are active in a variety of ministries including those to prison inmates, the sick in hospitals and nursing homes, immigrant communities and youth. The Second Vatican Council recommended that the diaconate be restored as a permanent order in the modern Church. Shortly thereafter, Pope Paul VI declared he would restore the diaconate in countries that wished it. In August of 1968, answering the request of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, he approved the permanent diaconate in the United States.. See page 16 Jor photos of the new deacons.
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