n VOL. 41, NO. 21
., Friday, May 23, 1997
~s&l}' ~U~~~ [Q)u@~~~~~ ~rn\fJ~~~[?rn~
~@G~ ~O~U[)=()~&~u M~~~£~rxJlW§~'[]lj'~
CAP~
FALL RIVER, MASS.
eo© ftb
ulME
~~lA~@~
Southeastern Massachusetts' Largest Weekly
•
$14 Per Ye~r
21 diocesan men to be ordained as Pennanent Deacons May 24 On Saturday, May 24, in St. Anthony. of Padua Church, New Bedfqrd, 21 men will be ordained as Permanent Deacons in the Diocese of Fall River. This will be the fifth time in the history of the diocese that married men will be ordained as permanent deacons and will feature the largest group ever Ito be ordained in one ceremony in the diocese. : All previous ordinations have taken place at St. Mary's Cathedral, Fall River, but because of the many candidates, St. Anthony's Church, with a larger seating capacity, was selected. Several other firsts will occur at Saturday's diaconal ordination. Joseph P. Medeiros of St. Ant~ony's parish, Taunton, and Eduardo Manual Pacheco and Abilios dos Anjos Pires of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel parish, New Bedforo, will be the first Portuguese immigrants ordained in the I
diocese. Additionally, this will be the first time that the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre and the Knights of Malta have been invited to be officially part of the ceremonies. The ceremony will take place in the context of the Mass. Ministers for the ceremony will be Bishop Sean O'Malley, OFM, Cap. - presiding celebrant and homilist; Rev. John F. Moore and Rev. Msgr. John J. Smith - priest chaplains; Lawrence A. St. Onge deacon; Paul K. Roma and Robert G.L. Normandin deacon chaplains; Rev. Stephen J. Avila - master of ceremonies; Rev. Mark R. Hession and Deacon Paul J. Macedo - assistant masters of ceremonies: Servers will be seminarians from the Fall River Diocese. Taking part in the offertory procession will be children ofsome ofthe newly ordained deacons: Danielle P. Akin and Matthew J. Barrett from the Cape Cod
Senate ~pproves of ban on partial-birth abortion WASHINGTON (CNS) - During the Senate's vote on the partialbirth abortion ban, Massachusetts Senators John Kerry and Edward Kennedy, both Catholic, voted against .the ban. The Senate's May 20 approval of a ban on partial-birt'il abortions "reflects our nation's moral consensus that this barbaric procedure has no place in a civilized society." said the U.S. bishops' pro-life spokeswoman. The vote to ban the procedure except to save the life of the mother was 64-36, not enough to override President Clinton's expected veto if all 100 senators vote: In that event, 67 votes would be needed for an override. The bishops' spokeswoman, Helen Alyare, said while tne vote reflects America's opposition to abortion, "we are dismayed at the number of senators who continue to support partial-birth abortion, relying on claims decisively rejected by the medical community." Alvare, director of planning and information for the bishops' Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities, said there is "no principled arg~ment" I t
or "medical pretense" for supporting the controversial procedure. She urged Clinton "to sign the ban into law." A day earlier, pro-life leaders hailed a decision by the American Medical Association to support an amended version of the bill giving more protection to physicians. The AMA endorsement came after the chief sponsors of the bill, Rep. Charles Canady, R-Fla., and Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., agreed to several changes. Santorum had said the changes were designed "to protect the doctor who's delivering the baby who runs into a problem" and must unexpectedly abort the fetus to save the mother's life. Among the changes, which also were approved by the Senate May 20, is a provision giving physicians accused of performing an illegal procedure the right to a review by a state medical board before trial. During the three-hour debate, SantoruJll - who also sponsored the ban that was vetoed by Clinton last year - said, "We worry so much about the right to choose. Turn to Page Seven
area; Eric M. Thomas and Amy J. Hill from the Taunton/ Attleboro area; Michelle M. Guy and Nancy S. Pires from the New Bedford area; and Eric J. Hussey and Jonathan M. Shea
from the Fall· River area. will also be heard with The Fall River Diocesan Tobias Monte and Philip Choir will sing with Made- Hague, trumpeters; William line Grace as conductor / Kingsland and Philip Sanorganist and Michele Bur- born, trombonists; and dick as leader of song. The Mark Pilkanis, timpanist. Concordia Brass Ensemble Turn to Page Eight
Charities Appeal results are encouraging The 1997 ·Catholic Charities Appeal in the Diocese of Fall River will soon be winding down. Presently returns stand at around $1. 75 million. "We feel that there' is a potential at this time for realizing perhaps as much as a million additional dollars," reported Monsignor Thomas J. Harrington, diocesan director of the Appeal. Pastors in some areas of the diocese have attributed increased returns to the more favorable economic climate which prevails this year. "Just a week ago," Monsignor Harrington noted, "Time magazine had a feature story on the general improvement in the economy throughout the nation." Perhaps this cir-
cumstance has prompted folks to be more generous in their support of this single most important diocesan fund raising initiative. The maintenance and expansion of many agencies, institutions and ministries providing pastoral and health care, education and social service to tens of thousands of residents of southeastern Massachusetts is contingent upon the Spring season diocesan Appeal, marking its 56th consecutive year in 1997. There has been some noticeable increase in the number of pledges coming in this year. Use of the "pledge system" by members of the extended diocesan family is envisioned as the most promising avenue
for expanded giving in future years. There has been an encouraging number of '.'matching gifts" received this year as well, instances where major national firms engaged in business or industry will provide a gift comparable to the contribution made to the Appeal by an employee. This, Monsignor Harrington speculated, is another area for potential future development. Parishioners from all of the parishes sprinkled across the diocese are urged to participate in the Appeal within this coming week, before the books are closed in the parochial ledgers. Friends of the diocese in business, industry and the Turn to Page 13
FATHER JOHN J. Oliveira, pastor of St. John the Baptist parish, New Bedford, holds a Trinitarian icon, part of a procession to install the icon in the church in preparation for the new millennium. The icons were presented to each parish by Bishop Sean O'Malley, OFM, Cap. at the Ascension Thursday Mass at St. Mary's Cathedral, Fall River. At left beside the pastor is Brother Thomas Washburn, OFM, of Boston, whose niece was in the procession; at right is diocesan seminarian William Rodrigues.