t eanco VOL. 38, NO. 23
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Friday, June 10, 1994
FALL RIVER, MASS.
FALL RIVER DIOCESAN NEWSPAPER FOR SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS Southeastern Massachusetts' Largest Weekly
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His life entwined with Mt. Carmel
Msgr..:Mendonca is retiring By Marcie Hickey He was baptized, made his first communion, was confirmed and ordained there. On Sunday, Msgr. Luiz G. Mendonca retires after 20 years as pastor of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church, New
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Hickey photo
MSGR. MENDONCA
Bedford, where he was ordained 50 years ago today. UN ot many priests can make that claim," the soft-spoken pastor notes of his lifelong ties to the parish, which have given him a unique vantage point for observing the changing complexion of the Portuguese community of the diocese and for shep- : herding thousands of its people. Until his ordination, he notes, there had only been one vocation from the Portuguese ofthe diocese, the now retired Msgr.. Maurice Souza. When the young Luiz Mendonca expressed an interest in the priesthood, Mt. Carmel's then-pastor, the late Msgr. Antonio Vieira, sent him to study in Portugal in order to learn the language and culture of the immigrant population he would eventually serve. Himself the son of Portuguese immigrants, the late Luiz G. and Maria R. (Almeida) Mendonca, Msgr. Mendonca grew up speaking Portuguese, "but it wasn't polished," he says. Given the choice of studying in Lisbon or the Azores, he chose the latter, where he had a priest great-uncle and cousins in the setrtinllry. .Turn to Page Six
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Or(lination tomorrow At an II a.m. Mass tomorrow at St. Mary's Cathedral, Fall River, Bishop Sean O'Malley will ordain Rev. Mr. Pawel A. Swiercz to the priesthood for the Fall River diocese. All are welcome to attend and among very special guests will be the new priest's parents, Mieczyslaw and Bozena Swiercz and an II-year-old nephew, Maciej Hanski, who traveled from
REV. MJR. SWIERCZ
the ordinand's native Chelmrio, a small town in northern Poland, for this redletter day. Rev. Mr. Swiercl Born Jan. 18, 1967, Rev. Mr.Swierczis a native of St. Joseph's parish in Chelmno. He has one sister, Ewa (Swiercz) Pawlowicz. He attended grade and high school in Chelmno and prepared for the priesthood at Pallo~tine Seminary College in Warsaw, Poland, and at St. John's Seminary, Brightol"\. He holds a bachelor's degree in philosophy and a master's degree in divinity. Previously studying for the diocese of Ft. Wayne,:South Bend, Ind., he served there in summer ministries; and while at St. John's Seminary he ministered at the Pilgrim Center for Boys, operated by the !Boston archdiocese, and at Sacred Hearts parish in Haverhill. Beginning in February, 1993, Rev. Mr. Swiercz ministered at Corpus Christi parish, Sandwich, on weekends until June of that ye~r. Since that time he has served rulltime at the Cape Cod parish. He was ordained to the transitional diaconate on Jan. 8 of this year. A reception at St. Stanislaus parish cenTum to Page Six
A POT OF CORNMEAL MUSH is the target of all eyes as desperate Tutsi civilians await its distribution at a Catholic seminary in strife-torn Rwanda. An estimated 38,000 refugees had reached the seminary by early June and Archbishop Renato R. Martino, head of the Vatican's U.N. mission, appealed to the president of the Security Council and the secretarygeneral to declare the "religious center of Kabgayi a safe area" and send peacekeeping forces to protect it. (CNS/ Reuters photo)
_ - - - I n This I s s u e - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Clinical Coordinator Page 3
New Principal for Feehan Page 7
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RU-486:
"Human pesticide" Page 12