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Diocese of Fall River, Mass.

F riday , June 12, 2015

Faithful servant of several Fall River bishops celebrates 60 years of religious life

By Becky Aubut Anchor Staff

FALL RIVER — During this Year of Consecrated Life declared by Pope Francis, many of those who have found their calling through living a religious life do so without much fanfare.

This includes one humble Sister living at the Landmark Senior Living Communities in Fall River; but when it came to celebrating her 60

Sister of St. Joan of Arc Rita Teasdale greets one of many friends who attended her recent renewal of vows at the chapel at the Landmark in Fall River. (Photo by Becky Aubut)

years as a Sister of St. Joan of Arc with a renewal of her vows, instead of a simple vow renewal during a Mass held in the chapel at the Landmark, Sister Rita Teasdale found herself surrounded by residents and friends from her native city of Fall River.

“I just celebrated in Quebec,” said Sister Rita of her vow renewal held at the St. Joan of Arc motherhouse in Canada, “and being the only one here I thank Sister Bernadette and Father Correia; this was a complete surprise. It’s a great joy for me and it’s like my family here being a Fall River native.”

Sister Bernadette Sullivan, a Holy Union Sister and coordinator at the Landmark, said it was a delight to see Sister Rita celebrate her vow renewal: “She’s a very loving and quiet person; everybody likes her. She moved [to the Landmark] in August, and she’s part of our community. She comes and prays with us daily. It’s just a joyous celebration and in the Year of the Consecrated Life.”

Father Edward Correia celebrated the Mass, and noted the specialness of having Sister Rita renew her vows in French, which was a “wonderful tribute to our Canadian brothers and sisters who came from Canada to be part of our community in the United States, who along with all the other immigrant groups came from all the other parts of the world. This is a wonderful chance to be able to honor that tradition and heritage.

“This is a wonderful time for all of us. This is the year that Pope Francis has asked that the Church celebrate the consecrated life. This whole year has been a year concentrating on those who have dedicated their lives to the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.”

Father Correia added that those who live a religious life have so much to say and offer to the community, and “it’s on this day, Sister Rita, that we thank you for your witness of 60 years of being able to show to all of us in union with all the Turn to page 15

A collection of metal pipes that were recently cleaned and refurbished by the Peragallo Organ Company of Paterson, N.J. sit wrapped in protective paper atop the pews inside St. Mary’s Cathedral in Fall River, waiting to be installed inside the two chambers in the church’s choir loft. (Photo by Kenneth J. Souza)

Newly-refurbished pipe organ installed at St. Mary’s Cathedral

By Kenneth J. Souza Anchor Staff

FALL RIVER — There’s a sense of pride in Frank Peragallo’s voice as he talks about the meticulous effort that’s gone into repurposing the vintage Hook & Hastings pipe organ from the former Sacred Heart Church for use in the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption.

“We took it down and we brought some pieces directly back here to the cathedral and we brought some pieces back

to our factory (in New Jersey) to get washed, cleaned and updated,” Peragallo recently told The Anchor. “Today we’re back here with everything and we’re installing (all the parts) in these gorgeous chambers.”

The “chambers” Peragallo mentioned are ornate, handcarved oak cabinets flanking either side of the cathedral’s elevated choir loft where all of the organ pipes will be reinstalled. The chambers originally housed pipes from the Turn to page 18

Catholic Citizenship movie screening seeks to inspire youth

By Christine M. Williams Anchor Correspondent

WESTON — In facing the challenge of raising faith-filled children, it may seem like Catholic parents have few friends.

Catholic Citizenship is making a renewed push to be an ally in bringing young people closer to Christ.

For their kickoff event, they will screen “God’s Not Dead,” a film about a Christian college student challenged by his atheist professor. The film’s screenwriters, two outspoken Catholics, will

lead a round-table discussion, which will also feature prominent local Catholics, including Mass. attorney Erika Bachiochi.

Speakers will take questions, and participants will have the opportunity to address them individually in breakout sessions.

The event will take place at Regis College’s Eleanor Welch Casey Theatre, 235 Wellesley Street in Weston on June 18 from 3-9 p.m. All are welcome to attend. Event organizers hope to attract many high-schoolers, college students and young adults

and offer them encouragement.

Catholic Citizenship’s new executive director, Agatha Bodwell of Sandwich, said she knows first-hand the challenge of graduating college with a degree and an intact faith.

“I went to college Pro-Life, I came out pro-choice and it took me 10 years to turn myself around again,” she said. “Once you get to school, no matter how strong your faith is, you’re going to be surrounded by people who are going to challenge it every day.”

She added that young people’s minds are moldable and that some professors actively discourage faith, pitting it against science as if the two are incompatible. They may make it seem like people who believe in the Bible and Christian values are stupid.

They do not recognize God as a valid intellectual pursuit.

These challenges are addressed directly in the film. The screenwriters know precisely how challenging it can be to integrate faith into all areas of life Turn to page 14

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News From the Vatican

June 12, 2015

Cardinal Parolin calls for overhaul in education to focus on the person

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The current “culture of conflict” is an indication that schools and universities need to create conditions that will develop “a new humanism” and “rebuild a spirit of fraternity among people and nations,” said Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

“The current context of hatred and contempt among people is constituted by a radical rejection of humanity in the other,” said Cardinal Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state.

“The acceptance of diversity is therefore fundamental for mutual respect and for the freedom to express one’s own ideas and religious convictions.”

The cardinal was speaking at a recent event in Paris marking the 70th anniversary of UNESCO, the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council’s declaration on Catholic education and the 25th anniversary of “Ex Corde Ecclesiae,” a document issued by Pope John Paul II for Catholic universities.

The Church has never considered culture and education to be “mere instruments” for evangelization, the cardinal said, but rather as a means for full human development with “great intrinsic value.” Citing Blessed Paul VI, he said education is necessary for the development of peoples, for an end to their hunger, poverty and sickness.

Education has been and continues to be at the center of the Church’s mission, he said. But education is in a time of “global emergency,” brought about by major societal change and a “reductionist approach” that tends to limit the value of education to “purely economic aspects,” he said.

The fragmentation of knowledge, the emphasis on technical know-how and skills, and the lack of community involvement are all symptoms of the crisis, Cardinal Parolin said.

At at time when education can view people as “machines”

and emphasize “efficiency, competition, incentive and competence” in the absence of “values and moral judgment,” he said, education must recover the “centrality of the human person.”

“Emotional and affective intelligence, the capacity for empathy and team work” are “essential and fundamental” in education, he said.

“Standardized, codified and quantitative technical knowledge,” he said, tends to promote relationships based on “approval and partiality” at the cost of “personality differences and individual creativity” among teachers and students.

An educational model based on the economic principles of production and consumption leads to a society in which people are “cast aside and forgotten without any regard to their dignity,” he said.

The humanities, which help to develop the capacity for logic, judgment and complex thought, “cannot be eliminated or considered superfluous,” he said.

Education in art, music and poetry are “irreplaceable,” because an education that is sensitive to beauty leads to concern and care for others and for the environment, and a commitment to ideals.

There is also a need to recover the sense of “community responsibility” for education, he said.

Schools and universities must create conditions for teachers to collaborate with each other and with parents.

Cardinal Parolin also urged educational institutions to offer continuing education classes online as a way to promote lifelong learning. The objective “is not the ‘degree’ but knowledge, learning and a deepening, especially in a society that is always more complex and stratified,” he said.

The event in Paris was organized by the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to UNESCO.

Pope Francis greets people during a recent weekly audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. (CNS photo/Alessandro Di Meo, EPA)

War, greed, consumerism, ‘cult of appearance’ harm families, pope says

VATICAN CITY (CNS) difference, but, if anything, The conditions found in — Families are weakened and increase our shame that there poor neighborhoods and “the destroyed by war, “the moth- is so much poverty,” he said. reduction of social services — er of all forms of poverty,” “What are we left with, in health care and schooling — as well as by economies and fact, if we give in to the ex- cause further difficulties” for policies that worship money tortion of Caesar and Mam- families, he said. and power, Pope Francis said. mon, of violence and money, Spread by the mass media, “It’s almost a miracle” that, and we also reject familial at- “fake models” of the fameven in poverty and crisis, tachments?” he asked. ily based on “consumerism the family can keep on going, Healthy families are the and the cult of appearance” safeguarding its bonds and “mainstay” of healthy indi- also harm families, he said, staying intact, he said at a viduals and communities, he and have a greater impact on recent weekly general poorer families and iny becoming “poor” and practic- crease the breakdown of audience in St. Peter’s Square. ing simplicity, the pope said, family ties.

Leaders who con- the Church can break down “every The Church and its sider family ties and members are called to affection as some- wall of separation, especially from heal families and fight thing peripheral to the poor” and become more effective poverty, he said. the quality of life in responding to poverty.

By becoming “poor” “don’t understand a and practicing simthing,” he said. “Inplicity, the pope said, stead, we should kneel before said, so if that cornerstone the Church can break down these families, who are a true is removed, “everything col- “every wall of separation, esschool of humanity, who are lapses.” pecially from the poor” and saving society from barbar“Today’s economy often become more effective in reity.” specializes in the enjoyment sponding to poverty.

Continuing a series of talks of individual well-being, but Pope Francis called on about the family, the pope be- widely practices the exploita- Christian families to pray gan a new chapter addressing tion of family relationships. and act on behalf of those the various social conditions This is a serious contradic- in need, and join “this revoand problems that put today’s tion,” he said, criticizing eco- lution” of drawing near to families to the test. nomic and political experts families, “which is so needed The pope began by focus- as being “stingy” in not rec- now.” ing on the hardship of pov- ognizing or including the He asked those gathered erty, which is further aggra- “enormous work of the fam- in the square to listen carevated by war. ily” in their analyses and bal- fully and think of a disad“War is always something ance sheets. vantaged family they knew as terrible,” he said, as it is “a “A new civil ethics will he reread a passage from the great predator of lives, of come about only when those Book of Sirach (4:1-6) that souls and the most Sacred responsible for public life re- had been read at the start of and dearest of attachments.” organize social bonds start- the audience.

But despite such difficul- ing with the fight against the The verses tell people not ties, there still are many poor perverse spiral” of poverty, he to mock, anger or reject the families who are able to live said. poor, but to relieve them of “with dignity, seeking to live Fighting poverty is not their burdens. their daily life” and placing just a matter of families getThe poor will be the first their trust in God, the pope ting “bread” on the table, the to judge those who ignore said. pope said; it is about having their cries, he said, followed The ability of some poor jobs, stable employment, ed- by God’s judgment and curse families to persevere, “how- ucation, health care, housing “if we don’t do these things” ever, must not justify our in- and transportation. commanded in the Gospel.

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The International Church Quakes strengthen doctor’s resolve to continue mission work in Nepal

June 12, 2015

INDIANAPOLIS (CNS) — All the deaths and all the devastation that happened within seconds could have rocked the foundation of faith and resolve that Dr. Christine Groves had built in her 34 years of life.

In fact, the April 25 earthquake in Nepal that killed more than 8,400 people and injured nearly 18,000 knocked Groves to the ground as she worshipped in a small church in Kathmandu.

“Everybody was afraid. The church was shaking so violently,” recalls Groves, who grew up in Christ the King Parish and graduated in 1998 from Bishop Chatard High School, both in Indianapolis.

“The recommendation in Nepal is to get out of buildings, but you’d take one step, and you’d fall to the ground. So we all stayed on the ground until it was calm enough to get out. During that time when we couldn’t get out, everyone was praying out loud.

When everyone did get out, we waited in a field near the church.

We were talking about where to go and what to do — how to connect with family and friends.

It was scary, but we were incredibly grateful to be together.”

Groves has formed a close connection with people in Nepal during her first year of serving in that impoverished Asian country as part of a medical team for an international humanitarian organization.

And her faith in God and her resolve to make a difference hasn’t been shaken by the horror and tragedy from the earthquakes April 25 and May 12 that, according to an AP report, killed 8,700 people, injured 22,221 others and added to the hundreds of thousands of people who suddenly have become homeless in Nepal.

“Certainly, it’s really sad, and everyone is concerned, but it’s still what I want to do, “she told The Criterion, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis. “I knew I wanted to go to some place that had a huge need for doctors, as well as a place where I could use my Christian ministry to help people learn more about Jesus. I also wanted to use my specialty — physical medicine and rehabilitation.

“In Nepal I’m committed long-term, which means three or more years. I feel like this is God’s calling for me.”

In the days following the April 25 earthquake, Groves did what she could to help.

“We slowly made our way to our team-leader’s house,” she said.

“We called family, gathered water and food, and coordinated how we could help with relief efforts.

Those first few days, we were able to help at a nearby hospital and several tent cities (where people who were homeless came).

“We just saw what medical needs people had. We were treating anything from small cuts and bruises. I saw a mom who had just given birth, and was able to check on her.”

Her contributions changed when the major international relief organizations arrived.

“There was a smaller role for us at that point,” she said. “We did a lot in terms of getting clean water to those tent cities. And we helped serve food at one of the nearby hospitals. I probably cut more vegetables during that time than medical work. Whatever was needed, we were there to help.”

She came home in early May to visit family; her parents, Bob and Beth Groves, live in Indianapolis. She traveled to North Carolina to meet with a colleague who wants to partner with her to

provide rehab services in Nepal.

The need in Nepal — and her planned return there — was never from her thoughts.

Also ever-present is the way her faith guides her approach to medicine.

“The more I’ve grown in my faith and the longer I’ve done medicine, I believe that if we heal people physically without addressing their Spiritual needs, we really miss out on a lot of what people need,” she said. “Physical health gives us function. Faith gives us hope and purpose.”

Groves credits the foundation of her faith to “growing up in my incredible family” and their Catholic community — plus her Catholic education.

The faith-medicine connection strengthened during shortterm overseas trips to Honduras, Uganda, Niger in West Africa and the Republic of Congo, where she spent a month during her residency.

“That’s when I really felt God was confirming a long-term commitment for me overseas. I learned that it takes a lifetime to understand a language and a culture to make a difference.”

She spent much of her first year in Nepal trying to master the language so her communication skills can match her commitment level.

Plus, there have been a fair share of adventures.

“In March, I visited a remote clinic that my team has been building in the Himalayas. You can either take a helicopter there or hike four days in the mountains. I helicoptered in and hiked out. I was there with a physical therapist, and we visited disabled patients in their homes. It was amazing to see how we could help them. That was a real gift.”

The devastating injuries that

Crafted by one of the many Catholic Palestinian carvers who work with Blest Art, a religious goods company in Beloit, Wis., this replica of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem carved out of olive wood is among artwork available for sale through Blest Art’s founder Jeryes Qumseya. (CNS photo/Joseph O’Brien, The Catholic Times)

people have suffered in the earthquakes present a large challenge — on her return she would be working in a hospital dedicated to treating spinal-cord injuries.

“The last year hasn’t been easy, but it’s been wonderful. In Nepal, I’ve been able to walk with people through hard times. And I’ve been able to mentor young Ne-

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pali doctors who are Christian, which is a great gift,” she said.

“Being in a place that puts me out of my comfort zone has deepened my faith in God. I really believe God is totally in control of the details of our lives, and personally involved in those details. He’s put me where I’m supposed to be.”

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The Church in the U.S.

June 12, 2015

‘Victory’ app aimed at helping young people suffering addiction to porn

WASHINGTON (CNS) — Matt Fradd, a popular Catholic speaker who said he has dedicated his life to fighting pornography, teamed up with longtime youth minister Mark Hart, known as the “Bible Geek,” and LifeTeen to develop an app designed to assist young people find victory in their battle against porn.

“I worked as an apologist at Catholic Answers for three years and I would travel the country and give many talks, and I couldn’t help but feel that while I was up there proclaiming the basic Gospel message to thousands of teen-agers, a good number of these young men and women were looking at hardcore pornography,” Fradd explained in a phone interview with Catholic News Service.

The app, Victory, is based on a calendar system where the user can mark the days they were victorious over porn, or had a setback, using colors. White represents the days they were victorious, and gray represents the days with a setback.

A date with a green square around it signifies a day the user went to Confession.

“One of the reasons this app is so helpful is that it enables people to view freedom from porn, not as a destination, but as a daily choice. This app enables us to daily track our progress and reflect upon our victories. ‘Look at that, I had five days in a row that I was victorious,’” Fradd said.

After the setback is logged on the calendar, the app assists you in pinpointing what the trigger was so you are more prepared to log a white day the next time that trigger occurs. Users can choose from various “trigger” options — boredom, loneliness, anger, stress or tiredness. According to Fradd, this helps a person to gain selfknowledge.

The app includes a section for journaling, and there’s a prayer request button that will notify up to three “accountability part-

ners,” as the program calls them, to pray for you. The app is private and requires a four-digit passcode to log in.

Rachel Penate, the assistant to the executive vice president of LifeTeen, said: “Not everyone struggles with pornography, or even the sin of lust, but everyone struggles with sin. It may require a bit of adaptation, but Victory can suffice as a tracking tool for any struggling with a particular sin.”

Being that Victory is geared toward Catholics, many have asked Fradd why it seems he is preaching to the choir, and his response is: “Because the choir is looking at porn.”

Victory was launched May 28, and since then it has been downloaded more than 4,500 times, which is a testament to its popularity. The app is free, and the accompanying book included in the app costs $1.99. The price of the book goes straight back to the app, though, not only to update the current version, but to launch an android version later this summer.

There also is a donation page set up to increase funding for the app and it is donate.lifeteen. com/thevictoryapp. A donor matches every donation through that link.

“We just want to create the best resource possible,” Fradd explained about the donation page.

Fradd said he and his partners, Hart and LifeTeen, have high hopes for Victory — to bring the addictive and destructive nature of pornography to light and to provide supportive and private assistance to liberate young people who have a porn addiction.

“The hope of this app,” said Penate, “is that it will spark real and honest conversations about porn — why it needs to happen to heal from addiction; why it’s destructive; and to encourage teens that they are not alone in this fight: That it is OK to struggle.” The developers hope it will be fruitful for the young Church.

Parents line up in 2014 with their children so the youngsters can receive a free lunch provided by Catholic Charities in Chicago. A new report shows that more low-income children ate federally subsidized meals last summer. (CNS photo/Karen Callaway, Catholic New World)

Summer recess: Kids could go hungry if agencies don’t fill gaps

WASHINGTON (CNS) — A new report that more lowincome children ate free breakfasts and lunches last summer than the previous summer is good news and bad.

Of course, food program advocates emphasize that more children are getting fed, but they also point out the sheer numbers of those who need these meals and the sobering reality that so many children go hungry when their school cafeterias close for the summer months.

A positive note is that the word seems to be getting out more about subsidized food programs around the country and programs are also getting more creative in how to deliver these meals — by trucks or buses — to children who can’t reach the food sites.

But there is still a lot to do to make sure children who eat free and reduced-price meals during the school year have access to food in the summer, said a report released in early June by the Washington-based Food Research and Advocacy Center.

The report notes that last July, the federally-run Summer Nutrition Programs served nearly 3.2 million children — an increase of 215,000, or about 7.3 percent, from the previous year.

It points out that participation in the summer meals program, which started in 1968, began dropping in July 2009 when states and communities cut back their child care and summer program funding. In 2012, this trend began to reverse with a slight increase that continued the next two years.

But even with these increases, only one in six of the children who rely on subsidized school lunches during the year partici-

pate in the summer food programs, the report said.

This fall, Congress is set to reauthorize the Child Nutrition Act, which creates rules for school and summer meal programs. The Food Research and Advocacy Center said there are steps the law could take to make sure these summer food programs reach more children.

For starters, legislation could allow areas with 40 percent or more of students (instead of the current 50 percent) receiving free or reduced-price lunches to be eligible for the program.

The group also says the program should consider providing free dinners along with lunches and breakfasts and it should provide support for organizations to transport children to meal sites or to serve meals remotely through mobile units.

Anne Ayella, assistant director of Nutritional Development Services, an agency of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia that connects schools, parishes and groups with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Summer Nutrition Programs, agreed that more should be done to get meals to children in need.

She said the archdiocesan program has been coordinating summer meal programs since 1977 and currently delivers breakfasts, lunches and snacks to 450 sites which include camps and summer programs run by a number of different religious denominations. “We traditionally serve one million meals a summer” she said, noting that last year this number dipped to 909,000, “which is still an awful number,” but she said it went down because there are so many more local sponsors of the summer food pro-

gram.

The biggest change she has seen in doing this work for 36 years is that it’s become harder to get the children to come to the food sites.

Ayella told Catholic News Service that she thinks parents are afraid to let their children go out and often tell them not to leave home during the day.

She has also seen meal sites struggle for the funds to stay open all summer or to run other programs where they’d need to pay counselors or buy games and crafts.

The archdiocesan program has a central warehouse where food is shipped daily and assembled by workers, often college students, into boxes.

Lunches include a sandwich, fruit, vegetable and skim milk and breakfasts primarily contain a muffin, fruits and juice.

Ayella said this work has been rewarding, particularly since her job doesn’t involve “worrying about food getting from point A to point B.” She said she makes sure the overall plan is in motion, does taste tests, visits sites and organizes a yearly summer blessing at one of the sites.

She said she is always looking for more groups to offer meal sites, from trying to partner with libraries that have summer reading programs or offices that provide vouchers for the Women, Infants and Children nutrition program, or WIC. Patricia Cole, communications director for Catholic Charities USA, said there has been a significant increase in the agencies running summer nutrition programs in recent years and several more agencies are opening sites for the first time this summer.

The Church in the U.S. Detroit synod in fall 2016 will help Catholics ‘encounter Christ anew’

June 12, 2015

DETROIT (CNS) — Saying it’s time for the Catholic Church “to be young again,” Detroit Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron said he will convoke an archdiocese-wide synod in the fall of 2016 to refocus on the critical mission of evangelization and “to encounter Christ anew” as a missionary Church.

The archbishop made the announcement May 23 during his homily at the ordination Mass of five new priests for the Archdiocese of Detroit at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament.

Archbishop Vigneron also brought to a close a Year of Prayer for a New Pentecost, during which he said “we have prayed that our whole culture as an archdiocese can be changed.”

“We have been asking God to awaken in us the hearts of disciples of Jesus in order first of all to encounter Christ anew, secondly to grow daily in fidelity as His disciples, and thirdly to witness the power of His mercy to all who need it,” the archbishop said.

“This day, this vigil of Pentecost, I testify to you that God is

Diocese of Fall River

OFFICIAL

His Excellency, the Most Reverend Edgar M. da Cunha, S.D.V., D.D., Bishop of Fall River, has announced the following appointments: Sister Paulina Hurtado, O.P., Episcopal Representative for Religious and Associate Director of Vocations.

Effective: May 18, 2015 Reverend Kevin A. Cook, Director of Vocations and Seminarians while remaining Pastor of Holy Family Parish in East Taunton.

Reverend Christopher M. Peschel, Associate Director of Vocations and Seminarians while remaining Parochial Vicar at Saint Pius Tenth Parish in South Yarmouth.

Effective: May 28, 2015 Reverend Messias Albuquerque, Parochial Vicar of Saint John the Evangelist Parish and Saint Vincent de Paul Parish in Attleboro.

Reverend Jason Brilhante, Chaplain of Charlton Memorial Hospital, Fall River with residence at Santo Christo Parish in Fall River.

Reverend Raymond Cambra, Parochial Vicar of Saint Patrick’s Parish in Falmouth.

Reverend David C. Deston, Parochial Vicar of Saint Joseph Parish and Saint Michael Parish in Fall River.

Reverend Peter J. Fournier, Parochial Vicar of Saint Mary’s Parish in Mansfield.

Reverend Riley J. Williams, Parochial Vicar of Corpus Christi Parish in East Sandwich.

Effective: June 24, 2015 His Excellency, the Most Reverend Edgar M. da Cunha, S.D.V., D.D., Bishop of Fall River, has accepted the request to retire of: er.

Rev. Herbert T. Nichols, Saint Bernadette Parish, Fall RivEffective: June 30, 2015

answering this prayer,” he said.

“I confirm that this day is the start of our archdiocese-wide initiative to evangelize.”

Rumblings and preparations for an archdiocesan synod have been unofficially under way since 2012, when Archbishop Vigneron made known his intentions in a pastoral letter, “Forward in Hope to Share Christ.”

After years of practical preparations and institutional reorganization, the time is ripe to shift focus from maintenance to mission, the archbishop said.

The synod will be “an important part” of an ongoing conversation about how best to reach out to a world that “looks to be bored with the Lord Jesus and His Good News,” he said.

With recent polls showing the number of those claiming membership in the Catholic Church and other Christian communities plummeting at an alarming rate, an archdiocesan synod will bring together hundreds of clergy and laity from across metro Detroit to engage in a discussion about how to reverse that trend, he said.

“St. John Paul II said it well: ‘We have to launch out into the deep. We have to start over, start fresh with new energy and new courage,’” Archbishop Vigneron said. “Synods are by God’s grace something powerful in the life of the Church, a way to grow together.

“Our community will come together in the midst of the Holy Spirit to discern where He seems to take us in order to re-evangelize ourselves and our culture. By listening to what the members say in the synod, I will be able to discern and ratify the work of the Holy Spirit, and it will be a time of great grace.”

While synods on a larger scale, such as the Synod of Bishops on the family that will meet for a second time in Rome this fall, have grown more common in the life of the Church since the Second Vatican Council, the last local synod in the Archdiocese of Detroit was convoked by Cardinal John Dearden in 1969.

That synod, like the one that will be held in 2016, also was about responding to the call of the Second Vatican Council, Archbishop Vigneron said.

Based on “Lumen Gentium” teachings about the Church and the people of God, “we were able to make consultative bodies that became part of our DNA and who we are” after

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Detroit Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron gives the homily during a vigil Mass for Pentecost at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Detroit. The archbishop announced he will convoke a synod of the entire archdiocese to focus on evangelization in the fall of 2016.

(CNS photo/Mike Stechschulte, The Michigan Catholic)

the 1969 synod, the archbishop said, referring to parish pastoral councils and bodies such as the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council and the priests’ council, which advise the archbishop on pastoral matters.

Those bodies came about as a direct result of the Second Vatican Council’s call for a more engaged lay leadership, he said, but the second part of that call — lay involvement in the work of evangelization — has yet to be fully realized.

“I am confident that in response to our prayers through the synod in 2016, God will make being missionaries part of the DNA of our archdiocese,” the archbishop said.

“The first response to the Second Vatican Council was quite obviously about ourselves as a Church. Now, we are ready and have the resources we need to respond fresh to the council in order to be missionaries as a

Church to offer Christ to the world,” he said.

Though specific details about the 2016 synod — dates, delegates, committees, membership, etc. — have yet to be worked out, more information will be forthcoming over the coming months, Archbishop Vigneron said.

Committees and teams are expected to be formed to focus on prayer and intercession, clergy formation and involvement, and family and lay engagement.

“This will be a time of formation for all of us. Formation especially in hearing the Gospel anew — perhaps not so much about catechesis,” Archbishop Vigneron said, “but a time to be in love again with Jesus Christ so that then we can support the members of the synod as we discern how the Spirit leads us forward in this new millennium, making us joyful missionary disciples.”

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June 12, 2015

Anchor Editorial

A message about complimentarity

Pope Francis met with the bishops of Puerto Rico this past Monday. The pope spoke to them about their need to collaborate, not compete, with each other; their need to have a fatherly solicitude for their priests and to promote vocations; their need to carry out a collaborative ministry (“pastoral de conjunto”) with all the Catholics on the island, so as to make Christ’s message present to every corner of it. He reminded them of the example of Blessed Carlos Manuel Rodríguez Santiago (commonly known as “el Beato Charley”) and other lay evangelists.

Then, from a mainland perspective, he entered into controversial waters. The pope said to the bishops, “Among the initiatives which must be more and more consolidated is family ministry, before the serious social problems that afflict it: the difficult economic situation, migration, domestic violence, unemployment, drug trafficking, corruption. These are realities that generate concern. Let me draw your attention to the value and beauty of Marriage. The complementarity of man and woman, the crown of God’s creation, is being questioned by the so-called gender ideology, in the name of a freer and fairer society. The differences between men and women are not for opposition or subordination, but for communion and generation, always in the ‘image and likeness’ of God. Without mutual surrender, neither of the two can even be understood in depth (cf.

General Audience, April 15, 2015). The Sacrament of Matrimony is a sign of God’s love for humanity and the gift of Christ for His bride, the Church. Take care of this treasure, one of the ‘most important of the Latin American and Caribbean peoples’’”(Document of the Latin American bishops in Aparecida, paragraph 433).

What the pope said about gender ideology was not said out of hatred but out of love, respecting the reality of the human being. He also put it in context — many of the ills which the pope listed beforehand often contribute to the confusion that people have about their identities, since they have not seen Marriage and being male and female modeled before them as being similar to the sacrificial love that Christ demonstrated for His bride on Good Friday, but as some sinful form of oppression.

Back on April 15, during the general audience speech to which the pope alluded in his discourse to the Puerto Rican bishops, the Holy Father said, “Experience teaches us: in order to know oneself well and develop harmoniously, a human being needs the reciprocity of man and woman. When that is lacking, one can see the consequences. We are made to listen to one another and help one another. We can say that without the mutual enrichment of this relationship — in thought and in action, in affection and in work, as well as in faith — the two cannot even understand the depth of what it means to be man and woman.”

What the pontiff said here is not just a message for husbands and wives. All of us live in a world in which there are men and women. We have relatives, co-workers, friends, neighbors, fellow parishioners, etc., with whom we interact. As the pope said, we are called to “listen to one another.” Without doing this, how can we hear what God is trying to say to us in each situation of our lives?

Continuing his speech on the IRS’ favorite day, the pope continued, “Modern contemporary culture has opened new spaces, new forms of freedom and new depths in

order to enrich the understanding of this difference. But it has also introduced many doubts and much skepticism. For example, I ask myself, if the so-called gender theory is not, at the same time, an expression of frustration and resignation, which seeks to cancel out sexual difference because it no longer knows how to confront it. Yes, we risk taking a step backwards. The removal of difference in fact creates a problem, not a solution. In order to resolve the problems in their relationships, men and women need to speak to one another more, listen to each other more, get to know one another better, love one another more. They must treat each other with respect and cooperate in friendship. On this human basis, sustained by the grace of God, it is possible to plan a lifelong marital and familial union. The marital and familial bond is a serious matter, and it is so for everyone not just for believers. I would urge intellectuals not to leave this theme aside, as if it had to become secondary in order to foster a more free and just society.”

The pope was speaking to people in Marriage but also to people in general, to truly look at this situation in a loving way and see what God has planned for us. The pope then sounded a warning tone: “God entrusted the earth to the alliance between man and woman: its failure deprives the earth of warmth and darkens the sky of hope. The signs are already worrisome, and we see them. I would like to indicate, among many others, two points that I believe call for urgent attention.

“The first: There is no doubt that we must do far more to advance women, if we want to give more strength to the reciprocity between man and woman. In fact, it is necessary that woman not only be listened to more, but that her voice carry real weight, a recognized authority in society and in the Church. The very way Jesus considered women in a context less favorable than ours, because women in those times were relegated to second place. Jesus considered her in a way which gives off a powerful light, which enlightens a path that leads afar, of which we have only covered a small stretch. We have not yet understood in depth what the feminine genius can give us, what woman can give to society and also to us. Maybe women see things in a way that complements the thoughts of men. It is a path to follow with greater creativity and courage.”

That first sign is one which is challenging to the right (but the failure to deal with it actually strengthens situations which the right abhors), while the second is one which challenges the left.

“A second reflection concerns the topic of man and woman created in the image of God. I wonder if the crisis of collective trust in God, which does us so much harm, and makes us pale with resignation, incredulity and cynicism, is not also connected to the crisis of the alliance between man and woman. In fact the Biblical account, with the great symbolic fresco depicting the earthly paradise and original sin, tells us in fact that the communion with God is reflected in the communion of the human couple and the loss of trust in the Heavenly Father generates division and conflict between man and woman.”

The pope closed by reminding us that “Jesus encourages us explicitly to bear witness to this beauty [that of the harmony that should exist between man and woman], which is the image of God.”

Pope Francis’ Angelus message of June 7 Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!

Today we are celebrating in many countries, among them Italy, the solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, or, according to the best-known Latin expression, the solemnity of Corpus Christi.

The Gospel presents the account of the institution of the Eucharist, carried out by Jesus at the Last Supper, in the upper room in Jerusalem. On the eve of His redemptive death on the cross, He

achieved what He had predicted: “I am the Living Bread come down from Heaven. If anyone eats of this Bread, he will live forever; and the Bread that I will give is My Flesh for the life of the world. Whoever eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood remains in Me and I in him” ( Jn 6:51, 56). Jesus took the bread in His hands and says, “Take; this is My Body” (Mk 14,22). With this gesture, and with these words, He gives to bread a function, that it is no longer one of simple physiOFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE DIOCESE OF FALL RIVER

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cal nourishment, but it makes His Person present in the midst of the community of believers.

The Last Supper represents the culmination of the whole life of Christ. It is not only an anticipation of His sacrifice that will be accomplished on the cross, but is also the synthesis of a life offered up for the Salvation of all humanity.

Therefore, it is not enough to say that in the Eucharist Jesus is Jesus, but we must see it in the presence of a life given and take part (ourselves in giving our lives). When we take and eat the Bread, we are being associated with the life of Jesus, we enter into communion with Him, we are committed to bringing about communion among ourselves, to transform our life into a gift, especially to the poorest.

Today’s feast evokes this message of solidarity and encourages us to embrace the intimate invitation to conversion and to service, to love and forgiveness. It encourages us to become, with life, imitators of what we celebrate in the Liturgy.

Christ, Who nourishes us under the consecrated species of bread and wine, is the same One Who we meet in [our] daily events; He is in the poor person who extends

His hand, He is in the sufferer who implores help, He is in the brother who questions our availability and awaits our welcome. He is in the child who does not know anything about Jesus, about Salvation, that does not have faith. He is in every human being, even the smallest and most defenseless.

The Eucharist, source of love for the life of the Church, is a school of charity and solidarity.

Those who eat the Bread of Christ cannot remain indifferent before those who do not have daily bread.

And today, we know, this is an ever more grave problem.

The feast of Corpus Christi inspires and nourishes in each of us more and more the desire and the commitment to a society which is welcoming and supportive. Let us place these wishes into the heart of the Virgin Mary, Eucharistic woman. She awakens in everyone the joy of participating in the Mass, especially on the day on Sunday, and the joyful courage to witness to the infinite love of Christ.

(Angelus is prayed.)

I read there [in the crowd]: Welcome back! Thank you, because yesterday I went to Sarajevo, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as a

pilgrim of peace and hope. Sarajevo is a city-symbol. For centuries it has been a place of coexistence between peoples and religions, so much so as to be called the “Jerusalem of the West.” In the recent past it has become a symbol of the destruction of war.

Now it’s in a beautiful reconciliation process, and that is especially why I went: to encourage this path of peaceful coexistence between different peoples; a strenuous walk, difficult, but possible!

And they are doing well. I renew my gratitude to the authorities and all the citizens for the warm welcome. I thank the dear Catholic community, to which I wanted to bring the love of the Universal Church and in particular I thank also all the faithful: Orthodox, Muslims, Jews and those of other religious minorities.

I appreciate the commitment to collaboration and solidarity between these people who belong to different religions, urging all to continue the work of the Spiritual and moral reconstruction of society. They work together as true brothers. May the Lord bless Sarajevo and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Anchor Columnist Going away with the Lord to pray awhile

June 12, 2015

T

o live a plan of life effectively, we must be willing to make God and the things of God a priority.

We must, for example, make time to pray, even and especially in the midst of a busy life. We must recognize that, since the most important thing happening in the world that day is what happens on the altar, we need the hunger and courage to reorder our schedule concretely to make the Mass the source and summit of our life. We must grasp that Jesus’ new Commandment to love others as sacrificially as He has loved us requires that our charity can’t remain just a spontaneous series of “random acts of kindness” but ought to be planned and prioritized just like any other really important activity.

Where this prioritization is perhaps most important, and difficult, for many Catholics today is with regard to taking extended time away with the Lord for Him to refresh us.

In the Gospel, we see how Jesus, after the Apostles returned from many days of preaching the Gospel, told them, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest awhile” (Mk 6:31).

He saw that they were obviously tired. He also wanted to review with them all that they had experienced on their journey. So He took them in a boat apart from the crowds to

spend time alone with them.

Many priests, whose nights In a similar way, Jesus seeks and weekends are the fullest to draw us away on occasion parts of their pastoral schedfrom the daily hustle and ules, make time on a set afbustle, television and gadget ternoon. There are organized screens, so that He might days of recollection at retreat similarly refresh us, helping centers or by various ecclesius to review with the grace of astical movements in parishes His light what we have been and shrines but someone with experiencing in the various self-discipline can also fruitaspects of our life. It’s an opportunity for Him to help us press Putting Into the reset button on our life, to strengthen the Deep us in struggle, to move us to thank God for

By Father blessings, to help us Roger J. Landry to see things more clearly, to go more deeply in prayer, and to renew us in the sense of fully do one on one’s own.

Spiritual prioritization that is One of the most rewarding essential for making and livexperiences of my priesthood ing a plan of life. was offering a monthly day of Many saints and Spiritual recollection on first Saturdays writers have taught by word at Sacred Heart Chapel in and witness the importance Yarmouthport to which many of two activities by which the parishioners from St. FranLord regularly seeks to have cis Xavier in Hyannis and us come away with Him for a surrounding parishes would while in this way: a monthly come for Mass, quiet prayer day of recollection and an an- and Eucharistic Adoration, a nual retreat. couple of talks on the SpiriA day of recollection is at tual life and a good monthly least a period of a few hours examination of conscience — but depending upon our and Confession. circumstances and availability An annual retreat is a more can extend to a half or full extended time of prayer in day — of consecutive prayer. which we are able, in God’s It can be done at any time of presence and ordinarily with the week. Some are able to the help of a retreat director dedicate one night a month. offering various meditations Others will carve out time on or one-on-one guidance, to a given Saturday or Sunday. give God our full attention

for an extended period of time, so that, in addition to all the fruits of a day of recollection, we can review with Him the previous year and receive His light and encouragement to make resolutions for the upcoming one.

Traditionally most retreats last a week, which, depending upon the format, can be five to eight days. But for those for whom that would be too difficult, it’s possible to do one from Friday night through Sunday. Retreats are normally done in retreat centers away from daily distractions. To facilitate more people making them, however, there are various movements that have begun effectively to host weekend retreats in parish centers and churches.

The key is to make the time each month for a day of recollection and each year for a retreat. Many people are phobic of that much silent time alone with the Lord. We make excuses as to how our lives are too complicated and busy. Somehow, however, we nevertheless find time each month for dinner engagements, our favorite television shows, and going to a child’s or a grandchild’s baseball games or plays. Somehow most of us also find time each year to spend various weekends, whole weeks or even

7 more for various forms of vacation.

It’s a question, frankly, of genuinely prioritizing God, the things of God, and the good of our soul. Even the busiest of us have the time, but we often spend it on less important things than God. We may have to arrange a baby-sitter for our kids or a caregiver for elderly parents, but if we’re able to do it for other activities, we can do it for God. It’s worth it.

We should note that the devil will also throw everything, including the kitchen sink, in our way to talk us out of accepting Jesus’ call to spend that extended time with Him, because the devil knows how important it is for our continual conversion and pursuit of holiness. And so we should be ready, immediately before retreats and recollections, for “other things” to come up, trying to tempt us to deprioritize the time with Jesus — not to “cancel” but just to “postpone” it, indefinitely.

Each month and every year, Jesus is waiting in Peter’s boat beckoning us to come away for a while with Him in prayer. Those who take Him up on His offer never regret it.

It’s an open secret to setting and sustaining a plan of life.

Anchor columnist Father Landry can be contacted at fatherlandry@ catholicpreaching.com.

Pope Francis on Medjugorje: It’s almost decision time

Vatican City (CNA/ EWTN News) — When asked by a Bosnian journalist about the status of his decision on the Marian apparitions in Medjugorje on his flight from Sarajevo to Rome, Pope Francis said that after a lengthy study, a decision could be coming soon.

“We’re at this point of making decisions and then they will be announced,” the pope told journalists on board his recent flight from Sarajevo, BosniaHerzegovina to Rome.

Bosnian Croat journalist Silva Tomasevic brought the topic up to the pope during his brief in-flight news conference in route to Rome following his apostolic visit to Bosnia-Herzegovina.

When Tomasevic noted that there is a great interest in Bosnia regarding his judgement on the authenticity of the apparitions, the pope responded by

recalling how Pope Benedict XVI created a commission to study the reports surrounding the alleged apparitions.

Presided over by Cardinal Camillo Ruini, emeritus vicar general of the Diocese of Rome, the commission was created by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 2010, and was composed of an international panel of bishops, cardinals, theologians and various experts.

It was established to further investigate “certain doctrinal and disciplinary aspects of the phenomenon of Medjugorje.”

Pope Francis said that commission “made a study and Cardinal Ruini came to me and consigned the study to me after many years. I don’t know, three or four years, more or less.”

He said the commission “did good work,” and revealed that Cardinal Gerhard Mueller, the

current prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, told him that “he would do a ‘feria quarta,’ in these times.”

A “feria quarta” is a oncea-month meeting in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith during which current cases are examined.

“I believe that (the feria quarta) has been done the last Wednesday of last month, but I’m not sure,” the pope said, explaining that a decision could be made soon and that “some guidelines will be given to bishops on the lines they will take.”

The alleged apparitions originally began June 24, 1981, when six children in the town of Medjugorje, located in what is now Bosnia, began to experience phenomena which they have claimed to be apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

According to these six “seers,” the apparitions contained a

message of peace for the world, a call to conversion, prayer and fasting, as well as certain secrets surrounding events to be fulfilled in the future.

These apparitions are said to have continued almost daily since their first occurrence, with three of the original six children — who are now young adults — continuing to receive apparitions every afternoon because not all of the “secrets” intended for them have been revealed.

Originally said to have occurred on a hilltop in the town where a cross commemorating the Redemption rests, the apparitions are also said to have taken place in various other locations, including the local parish church and wherever the visionaries happen to be located during the time of Mary’s appearance.

Since their beginning, the alleged apparitions have been

a source of controversy and conversion, with many flocking to the city for pilgrimage and prayer, and some claiming to have experienced miracles at the site, while many others claim the visions are non-credible.

In April 1991, the bishops of the former Yugoslavia determined that “on the basis of the research that has been done, it is not possible to state that there were apparitions or supernatural revelations.”

On the basis of those findings, and because the commission was still in the process of its investigation, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith directed last October that clerics and the faithful “are not permitted to participate in meetings, conferences or public celebrations during which the credibility of such ‘apparitions’ would be taken for granted.”

8

J

esus this week expresses a truth which we all recognize, at least upon reflection.

After seed is planted in the ground, it develops into a full-grown crop. With only some water, warm sunshine, and a little patience the marvelous growth takes place.

How that can happen we do not know.

Even more mysterious is the fact that when a shrub is pruned, when some of its limbs are cut away, it actually becomes more vigorous and productive.

There are mysteries in nature which can be described but not explained.

We glibly state that what goes up must come down, but we don’t know why gravity works, only that it indeed does.

Why should all bodies be drawn to the center of the earth and not move away from it?

No one completely under-

June 12, 2015

The mystery which is the Church

stands this. about which we can know Jesus’ intention was not to nothing. A mystery is a truth teach a lesson about agriculabout which we can know ture or physics, but to move everything. Something we us to ponder a deeper myscan know about the mystery tery, the mystery of the reign which is the Church is that of God in the Church. the Holy Spirit is at work.

Jesus said that the reign of God is like a mustard seed which Homily of the Week can grow into the Eleventh Sunday largest of shrubs. We in Ordinary Time can readily perceive the truth of His

By Deacon comparison.

Richard G. Lemay The Church began as a small group of disciples in Jerusalem. From there it spread Vegetable life needs light north to Antioch in Syria, and water to grow. and then across the MediterThe Church needs the ranean to Rome, throughout Holy Spirit.

Europe, and eventually to the After the day of Pentecost whole world. when the Holy Spirit was How all this happened is sent upon the Church, it even more of a mystery than began to grow and spread. the growth of a seed into the This work of the Holy largest of shrubs. A mystery Spirit in the Church should should not, however, put us not surprise us. off.

Jesus Himself was conA mystery is not a truth ceived in Mary’s womb

by the power of the Holy Spirit. During the Eucharistic Prayer we ask God, the Father: “Let Your Spirit come upon these gifts to make them holy so that they may become for us the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Then we ask, “May all of us who share in the Body and the Blood of Christ be brought together in unity by the Holy Spirit.”

That unity is the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ.

The Holy Spirit formed Christ in the womb of Mary.

He continues to form Christ in the Eucharist as well as in the Church, this Church which is universal and which we call Catholic because it reaches out to embrace every human person.

The Holy Spirit is like the

force of gravity, drawing all people to the center Who is Christ.

To be a Catholic is to think big, to realize that we are part of a Church which reaches back through the centuries to Christ Himself and which now circles the globe and is found in every place.

The Church, though universal, is not perfect, we must admit.

Weaknesses and mistakes, whether our own or those of others in the Church, should never discourage us.

Just as a shrub occasionally needs pruning for health and growth, so the Church needs repentance and renewal which are also the work of the Holy Spirit.

We are privileged indeed to be part of this great Catholic Church.

Deacon Lemay currently ministers at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish in Seekonk.

Upcoming Daily Readings: Sat. June 13, 2 Cor 5:14-21; Ps 103:1-4,9-12; Mt 5:33-37. Sun. June 14, Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Ez 17:22-24; Ps 92:2-3,13-16; 2 Cor 5:6-10; Mk 4:26-34. Mon. June 15, 2 Cor 6:1-10; Ps 98:1,2b,3-4; Mt 5:38-42. Tues. June 16, 2 Cor 8:1-9; Ps 146:2,5-9a; Mt 5:43-48.

Wed. June 17, 2 Cor 9:6-11; Ps 112:1bc-4,9; Mt 6:1-6,16-18. Thurs. June 18, 2 Cor 11:1-11; Ps 111:1b-4,7-8; Mt 6:7-15. Fri. June 19, 2 Cor 11:18,21-30; Ps 34:2-7; Mt 6:19-23.

“G

ridlock” along the Potomac — the difficulties the Congress has in getting things done, the difficulties that Congress and the White House have in cooperating to get things done, or both — is regularly deplored by pols, pundits, and citizens alike. My contrarian view is that this kind of “gridlock” can serve useful public purposes, acting as a brake on passions and a gauge of the nation’s moral health.

As George Will has long insisted, “gridlock” — in the sense of making it difficult to get legislation passed — is built into the American system. The framers of the Constitution saw fit to establish three branches of government and a Congress with two houses; they also required congressional supermajorities for certain grave matters, like ratifying treaties, convicting impeached officials, or sending constitutional amendments to the states. And that is a prescription for something resembling “gridlock.”

Thus my friend Will’s theory of gridlock-as-ac-

The myth of Washington gridlock public consequence. complishment in the arts of The harbinger of this, as of governance parallels manso many other distempers in ager Jimmy Dugan’s lecture American public life, was the on baseball in “A League of Supreme Court’s 1973 doubleTheir Own”: “It’s supposed header, Roe v. Wade and Doe to be hard. If it weren’t hard, v. Bolton, which obliterated the everyone would do it. The ‘hard’ is what makes it great.” abortion laws of all 50 states and invented a constitutional The framers made legislating hard because they didn’t trust transient passions in politics or bullying majorities.

Good for them.

Today’s gridlock on the Potomac has a

By George Weigel further cause, however, and it’s cultural rather than structural.

As recently as the early 1960s, policy arguments “right” to abortion on demand throughout a pregnancy. Proin America unfolded in the abortion advocates declared context of an intact public victory; Pro-Life advocates reculture, itself a by-product fused to truckle; and the issue of what were thought (in the Supreme Court thought those innocent days) to be settled (and so declared in obvious moral truths. Today, another decision in 1992) conAmerican public culture is tinues to be, today, the most plastic, liquid, susceptible to sharply-contested issue in our change — and those oncethought-obvious moral truths public life.

Why? Because the debate are regarded by a significant over the right-to-life of the number of Americans as unborn, like the debate over fictions that can be denied who-can-marry-whom and without serious personal or

The Catholic Difference

the debate over the breadth of religious freedom, are contestations rooted in dramatically different conceptions of the nature of the human person — and thus of the obligations of the state. In that critical sense, American political gridlock today is anthropological as well as structural.

On one side of the gridlock are those who believe there are deep truths inscribed in the human person, truths that no just state can ignore or deny. On the other side of the gridlock are those who believe there is no such thing as “human nature”; that the very idea of “human nature” has been constructed by powerful forces as a means of control and subordination; that “tolerance” requires the given-human-nature people to welcome whatever the nohuman-nature people decide is “their truth”; and that, if the given-human-nature people decline to offer that welcome, they must be legally coerced into doing so by the

state.

Thus arguments for opting out of what is sometimes called the American “culture war” are like whistling down the wind. The culture war — these clashing visions of human nature, which involves competing concepts of human happiness — has split the United States, and that division is not likely to be bridged anytime soon.

Still, those upholding the Biblical view of the human person ought to borrow a note from the first Catholic candidate for president of the United States, Al Smith, and be happy culture warriors, reflecting the joy of the Gospel and remembering everyone’s need for the medicine of the Divine mercy.

For the resolution of the American culture war over the nature of the human person will not, in the final analysis, be a matter of politics. It will be a matter of conversion.

George Weigel is a senior fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C.

June 12, 2015

Wednesday 10 June 2015 — Falmouth Dog Park — Birthday of Toto’s human companion, Judy Garland t will come as no surprise to you, dear readers, that I converse with canines.

I understand dog language.

I speak dog. I’ve learned the subtleties of canine language in the dialect “greyhound.” Yes, dear readers, dogs have not only language but also dialects, depending on the breed.

Dogs speak with an accent. Of course, dogs can’t use words.

They use body language. Greyhound body language, as that of all other dog breeds, varies slightly with the individual animal. Greyhound body language is actually very similar to cat-speak. Greyhounds stretch like cats and they curl up into little balls like cats.

I was taught greyhound body language by a succession of articulate animals that have chosen to adopt me over the years: Aran, Molly Malone, Cleopatra, Napoleon, Annie, Lolo, Miss Piggy, Gabriel, and, currently, Transit. I will now briefly explain the fundamentals of dog talk to you.

There’s the “nose nudge.”

This means, “Excuse me, but I’m hungry and you must

I

I

t had been a long, exhausting day. Teachers and students had spent the morning and early afternoon at a park near the school. My students had invited me to join their world of games. I had enjoyed running and playing, but now not only was I tired, but I also had to face returning to my adult work. As we sat and watched the afternoon talent show, I divided my time between guiding my seventhgrade boys in the life-skills lesson of how to express approval in a non-football stadium manner and silently running through my to-do list. I put down my anxieties for a moment so that I could enjoy the film that one of my eighthgraders had made.

The film opened with a picture of his family together.

It continued with essentially a slide show of still shots set to the song “Stand by Me.” From his family, he branched to other happy families and then to families standing together facing dire circumstances. His message, written above one of the photos, was that we all want

Anchor Columnists The talking dog

9

true. Dogs cannot only speak, feed me immediately. Drop dogs can speak lies. whatever it is you’re doing.” If Greyhound Transit uses a I happen to be eating lunch, communication tool known my dog gets my alpha dog as the “stone cold stare.” He warning, “Naughty, naughty. sneaks silently into my bedNo table scraps for you.” This room in the middle of the command, I’ve noticed, is for night and just stands there some reason not all that efstaring at me with his beady fective. Otherwise, I just feed my dog. Nose nudges usually come at the same time every day, The Ship’s Log within approximately Reflections of a 15 minutes of feeding Parish Priest time. Dogs are timesensitive when it comes

By Father Tim to food.

Goldrick Greyhound Justin has his own distinctive little eyes until I awaken. The body language. He will search stone cold stare means, “Get me out in the rectory and up. I need to go. Now.” begin making rooing sounds, Then there is the “turbine his ears straight and his eyes tail twirl.” This means, “Am I alert. Translation: “Woe is ever glad to see you! Where me. I am a poor, starving dog, abandoned by my cruel master have you been all this time, anyway?” The turbine tail to forage for food in a barren twirl can lead to complicaland. I haven’t eaten in days. tions when the tail in question Could you please spare a bite to eat, kind sir?” Dog language is smacking against the wall.

Poor greyhound Cleopatra had tends to be overly dramatic. her tail bandaged more than This pleading, I have noticed, once as a result of overzealous comes moments after Justin tail twirls. Dogs, by the way, has scoffed down the bowl deem the turbine tail twirl of kibble Father Peter John, appropriate whether you’ve his owner, has just fed him.

Simply because a dog tells you been away for five minutes or five days. Dogs have no sense something, doesn’t mean it’s

of time whatsoever (except for feeding time. See above).

The “play bow” is universal dog language. It consists of a deep bend, two front legs extended, while simultaneously projecting the hind quarters into the air. The play bow is accompanied by strenuous tail-wagging and wiggling. It means, “There is no competition here.

I readily acknowledge you as top dog. Now let’s have a little doggie rough-housing shall we, just for the fun of it?” By the way, no dog appreciates a human hug. It can be intimidating and easily misunderstood as aggression.

A variation is the “roll over.” It says basically the same thing but in a different way. Yes, dear readers, dogtalk, like human language, has more than one way to convey the message.

I notice that dogs sometimes speak with their eyes, while otherwise remaining perfectly still. In such a situation, I find myself humming Roy Orbison’s “The Eyes of Texas are Upon Me.” My dog Transit will follow me across the room with his eyes every

time I move. It means, “Oh, now what? What is this one up to?” If a dog deflects the eyes from you, it means, “Go away. I have more important things to do — like finishing my 18-hour nap.”

On the other hand, dog eyes can also signal ominous messages. Never stare into a dog’s eyes. If the animal is staring hard at you, with pupils dilated, that’s not a good sign. Greyhound Annie used to squint her eyes as a sign of warning. Check to see the rest of the body language.

Tail stiff and wagging slowly?

Ears back? Teeth showing?

Hair on the back of the neck standing up? Nose wrinkled?

Body rigid? The meaning is, “Beware! I am about to attack you.” This may or may not be accompanied by growling.

Take appropriate action. Four and a half million Americans are annually bitten by dogs simply because so many humans are illiterate in dog language.

Now that you’re fluent in greyhound, shall we move on to some other dog dialect — Great Dane, perhaps?

Anchor columnist Father Tim Goldrick is pastor of St. Patrick’s Parish in Falmouth.

and need the same things. Then, of the trial I shared with him that, when younger, I too had the images went to peoples and been nervous in public speakcultures wrought by the devasing. Symbolically I gave him tation of war. The dignity and my keys. Only after the trial honor of the individuals in the did I speak privately with him. photos, as well as the visionI asked him how he felt during ary’s hope for change filled the the trial and then told him to screen. His final message: “If this is what we want, then why don’t we work to make it happen?”

Wrestling with God accompanied his photo Holding on for of two smiling adolesHis blessing cent boys shoulder to shoulder in a gesture of friendship. One boy was

By Dr. Helen J. Flavin Jewish and the other Muslim. remember that feeling. I let him To fully appreciate how this know that the real power and young man had personally reinspiration wasn’t the keys, but sponded to the call of the Holy had been the Holy Spirit acting Spirit, one must know some in his life. That was what it felt background information. There like to experience the Holy was absolute freedom in the Spirit. His answer that day was choice of film topics. In addition, this was a young man who, “Oh.” In his film, the student rein science class, always preferred vealed he had reached the stage a very detailed list of what to in his life where he not only reknow for each and every exam. alized God’s love and blessings For Mock Trial team he served in his life, but now idealistically as a lawyer. Although writing the statements was easy for him, wished them for all of God’s children. That balance of love having to improvise went beof God with love of neighbor yond his comfort zone. The day

is the essence of the greatest Commandment. Jesus’ words, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

Love your neighbor as yourself ” (Mt 22:36-40).

Any earthly change requires two factors: a strong desire for change and hard work to effectively bring about change. Age brings wisdom, experience, and perspective. Sometimes this combination aids in developing new ways of thinking and a greater capacity for creation.

However, so many times the experiences that bring us adults that precise knowledge can leave deep scars upon our hearts. Scars mean limitations in function.

Thus, we can become trapped in the “Nice idea, but that will never work” response. We end up wishing to promote change, but not sure we can accomplish anything worthwhile. If we are not careful, lethargy soon has us in its icy grip.

As I watched this young man’s film, it was so insightful and moving that it was my turn

to say “Oh.” I felt that ice melt and God’s love healing some of those scars on my heart. I smiled and thought of some of the dreams of my youth. Next, I wondered if perhaps it were time for me to work on making some new dreams a reality. Catherine Doherty, in her book “Poustinia” says, “The first act of a poustinik is to fold the wings of his intellect and open the doors of his heart — the mind is purified, the heart is at peace, and out of the depths of both come forth the gifts or the fruits of the Holy Spirit.” The Advocate will always guide us to do God’s work.

Students always give farewell gifts to their teachers. This year one of mine was a reminder to fold my own wings of intellect so as to keep a proper balance between dreaming and doing while at the same time continuing to foster such intellectual wing development and growth in my young, idealistic students.

Anchor columnist Helen Flavin is a Catholic scientist, educator and writer and a member of St. Bernadette’s Parish in Fall River. biochemwz@ hotmail.com.

‘Why don’t we work to make it happen?’

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June 12, 2015

Peace demands passion, patience, hard work, pope tells Balkan nation

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (CNS) — To overcome fear, discrimination and conflict, people must have a deep desire to open themselves up to God and His mercy, and work actively for peace every day, Pope Francis said.

God’s plan for creation is peace, “which always meets opposition from humanity and the devil,” he said during his recent one-day visit to Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The cold reality today is that the world is facing “a kind of Third World War being fought in piecemeal” amidst “an atmosphere of war” worldwide, he said on the 71st anniversary of “D-Day,” the World War II anniversary of Allied forces landing in Normandy marking the liberation of Europe.

But the “ray of sunshine piercing the clouds” is Christ’s appeal to work for peace, the pope said during an outdoor Mass in the capital’s Kosevo sports stadium, where more than 60,000 people gathered from different parts of the Balkan region under a hot, hazy sky.

Signs of peace emerging from a war-torn nation stood out throughout the city, whose residents are mostly Muslim.

Small groups of wellwishers and cheering families lined the main avenues from the airport as armed military helicopters circled the sky.

Sleek modern glass and steel commercial buildings were scattered among rows of towering communist-era

hind are marked with large dark grey splotches where the newer cement was troweled on and left unpainted. Flowers adorned some gravestones in a makeshift cemetery on a grassy plot between a snarl of highway bypasses. During the years of urban warfare, it

streets and factories; it means above all, countless shattered lives,” the pope said in his homily.

While there are those who foment war and profit from it by selling weapons, he said, there are those who hear Jesus’ words, “Blessed are the peace-

the world can change without a change in the human heart — one that makes room for God, His love and mercy.

Only with such change can a person see that former enemies “really have the same face as I have, the same heart, the same soul,” he said.

Signs of unity were seen throughout the Mass. An ecumenical choir of 1,600 people from Catholic and Serbian Orthodox churches and the country’s national choir were accompanied by the nation’s military band. Behind the altar was an intricately detailed chair for the pope, hand carved from dark walnut wood by a Muslim father and son. A large cross placed near the altar still bore the punctures of ammunition from the three-year long conflict.

In just the first hours of his visit, the pope said he saw signs of hope in the joy and smiles of the Muslim, Jewish, Orthodox and Catholic chilPeople cheer before Pope Francis celebrates Mass at Kosevo stadium in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, dren who greeted him at the recently. The pope was making a one-day visit to Bosnia-Herzegovina to encourage a minority Catholic airport. community in the faith, and to foster dialogue and peace in a nation still largely divided along ethnic He told government and relines. (CNS photo/Paul Haring) ligious leaders during a morning meeting at the presidential apartment buildings whose was difficult to bury the dead makers.” palace, that “I saw hope today gray cement walls were riddled in established cemeteries on “He does not say, ‘Blessed in those children. That is hope. with bullet holes and gouged the outskirts of town, so parks are the preachers of peace,’ Let’s bet on that.” by shrapnel. The holes left be- and roadsides became burial since everyone is capable of “In order to successfully grounds. proclaiming peace, even in a oppose the barbarity of those More than 100,000 people hypocritical or indeed, duplic- who would make of every difdied and millions more were itous manner,” the pope said. ference the occasion and predisplaced during the 1992- “No. He says, ‘Blessed are the text for further unspeakable 1995 conflict, which saw peacemakers,’ that is, those violence, we need to recognize a Serb campaign of ethnic who make peace.” the fundamental values of cleansing of Bosnian Muslims Peacemaking requires put- human communities,” values after the mostly Muslim na- ting justice into practice, and that help people communition declared independence it takes patience, passion, ex- cate, forgive, build and grow, from Yugoslavia in 1992. perience and the tenacity to Pope Francis said.

“War means children, never give up, every day, “step “This will allow different women and the elderly in ref- by step,” he said. voices to unite in creating a ugee camps; it means forced A vital step, one that cannot melody of sublime nobility displacement of peoples; be skipped, he said, is personal and beauty, instead of fanatiit means destroyed homes, conversion since nothing in cal cries of hatred,” he said.

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June 12, 2015

C

The banking of sperm and eggs before cancer treatments

hemotherapy and radiation can affect sexual organs and how they work. The American Cancer Society addresses the potential effects on male fertility this way: “Chemo may lower the number of sperm cells, reduce their ability to move, or cause other changes. Because permanent sterility (infertility) may occur, it’s important to discuss this issue with your doctor before you start chemo. You might want to think about banking your sperm for future use.”

Various moral concerns arise in the wake of the proposal to freeze reproductive cells like eggs or sperm. Catholic teaching has always stressed the importance of the marital act in bringing about new human life. Even if sperm were procured in a morally-acceptable way — i.e. not through withdrawal or masturbation — the subsequent use of the sperm sample would involve techniques that were either directly immoral (such as in vitro fertilization or intracytoplasmic sperm injection), or at least of a dubious moral character (such as Gamete Intrafallopian Transfer [GIFT] or intrauterine insemination [IUI]).

These latter two techniques, GIFT and IUI, have never been directly mentioned in official Church documents, so the question of whether they might be morally allowable continues to be discussed among Catholic moral theologians. GIFT involves collecting sperm after the marital act, placing it near an egg — but separated by an air bubble — within a thin, flexible tube called a catheter. After insertion into a woman’s reproductive tract, the sex cells are injected into her fallopian tube so fertilization can occur inside her body, rather than in a petri dish. Meanwhile, IUI (also known as artificial insemination or AI) involves the placement of sperm into a woman’s uterus by a catheter or a means other than a natural act of intercourse.

An important Vatican document

known as Donum Vitae (On the Gift of rarely, and it can be challenging to find a reproductive specialist who routinely Life) emphasizes that morally acceptdoes the technique. able interventions used in procreation There are, moreover, safety concerns cannot be a substitute for the marital about the process of egg retrieval from act but should serve to facilitate that a woman’s body, about the high-dose act to attain its natural purpose. Even hormones used, and about cryopreserwhen sperm is collected in an acceptvation of the able manner, eggs. Strong by using a Making Sense chemicals silastic sheath are used in during mariOut of the freezing tal relations Bioethics process, and no (i.e. a perfoone knows how rated condom

By Father Tad much the eggs without any Pacholczyk might absorb. spermicide), Moreover, it still appears that the subsequent steps of GIFT and there has been little systematic followup of children born from frozen eggs, IUI involve a substitution/replacement so it remains unclear whether they face of the conjugal act by injecting the increased health risks when they arise sex cells into the woman’s body via a cannula. In other words, the marital act from an egg that has been frozen and thawed. does not itself cause a future pregIn principle, nevertheless, if the egg nancy but only enables the collection of harvesting step could be carried out sperm, which is then used for another with low risk to women, if the egg procedure that brings about the pregfreezing process would not cause any nancy. deleterious effects on children who For these reasons, GIFT and IUI do not appear to be morally acceptable, and I generally discourage married men undergoing cancer treatments from banking their sperm, since there do not appear to be any legitimate procreative uses once the sample has been stored.

The situation is more nuanced when it comes to the question of banking a woman’s eggs or ova. We can identify at least one technique for assisting procreation called LTOT, or Low Tubal Ovum Transfer, that would be morally acceptable and could be carried out using previously-frozen eggs. Originally designed for women with blocked, damaged, or diseased fallopian tubes, LTOT re-locates her egg, placing it into the fallopian tube below the point of damage so that her husband’s sperm, introduced into her body by the marital act, can reach the egg and bring about fertilization.

LTOT, however, is performed only

An overflow crowd waits outside the diocesan John Paul II Youth Center as Pope Francis recently led a meeting with youth in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina. The pope made a one-day visit to Bosnia-Herzegovina to encourage the minority Catholic community in the faith and to foster dialogue and peace in a nation still largely divided along ethnic lines. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

might later come into being, and if the eggs were only used for morally legitimate purposes like LTOT, freezing a woman’s eggs would appear to be morally allowable.

Another emerging method of preserving fertility for cancer patients relies on the removal and freezing of sections of the ovary (rather than individual eggs). This ovarian tissue can later be grafted back into a woman’s body following chemotherapy allowing her to again ovulate naturally and, in some cases, conceive naturally. A number of babies have been born as a result of this technique, and insofar as a woman were enabled to conceive a child through marital acts with her husband, this approach also would not seem to raise any fundamental moral concerns.

Anchor columnist Father Pacholczyk, earned his doctorate in neuroscience from Yale and did post-doctoral work at Harvard.

He is a priest of the Diocese of Fall River, and serves as the director of Education at The National Catholic Bioethics Center in Philadelphia. See www.ncbcenter.org.

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June 12, 2015

These monks are convinced: Gregorian chant will make your life better Rome, Italy (CNA/ EWTN News) — The Benedictine Monks of Norcia spend their lives in prayer and labor — “ora et labora” — chanting the psalms and producing crafts to support themselves.

This week, they also released an album meant to share their prayer with the world — music, they say, that has what your soul needs.

“The monks spend hours every day chanting the Mass and the Divine Office. It’s part of the air we breathe. There’s a lot of pollution in our world, and so the pure oxygen of Gregorian chant is like a breath of fresh air,” Father Cassian Folsom, prior of Norcia’s Benedictine monastery, told CNA. The monastery recently released its first major label album, “Benedicta: Marian Chant from Norcia,” through De Montfort Music together with Decca Classics and Universal Music Classics. The album, available at Amazon, includes 33 tracks, drawn largely from the Liturgical chants which have characterized the life of Benedictine monks for more than 1,000 years.

“The chant is beautiful, and our souls need beauty in order to grow and thrive. The chant is the Church’s love song to her Lord; it expresses the lovelonging of the monk’s heart,” reflected Father Cassian.

“Now monks are ordinary men, and what we experience is, in a real way, the experience of every man. I’m convinced that this beautiful chant will give Spiritual nourishment to those who listen to it.”

The chants include hymns, antiphons, and responses from the Liturgy, ranging from wellknown pieces such as the Salve Regina and the Ave Maria, to hidden gems such as the Virgo Parens Christi.

“The particular selection we made is unique because it includes not only chants from the Mass (sequences that are no longer used, for example) and the Divine Office (including solemn responsories that are rarely heard any more) but also chants from the repertoire of popular devotion. Some pieces are from the common of the Blessed Virgin, but many are proper to specific feasts,” said Father Cassian.

The album also includes several capitula — Biblical readings of only a few verses,

chanted very simply — which are read in the Divine Office.

Father Cassian noted that the capitula were included because “the short Scripture reading is an important part of all the Day Hours, and we wanted to involve our listeners in an experience of prayer.”

The CD even includes a new chant, Nos Qui Christi Iugum (We who have received Christ’s yoke), which was composed specifically for “Benedicta.”

“Father Basil Nixen, our choirmaster, is very talented; he has musical and poetic skills. It was he who wrote the text and composed the music for this piece,” Father Cassian explained.

“The image used in the title, ‘Christi Iugum,’ is from the Rule of St. Benedict, which describes the monk as one who bears the yoke of Christ — like a good ox who puts his whole weight into the work at hand.

In this piece, Mary is called ‘Regina Monachorum,’ queen of monks, obviously a very fitting title coming from the monastic tradition. Father Basil weaves together images from the Rule with a rich Marian piety. In the melody there are hints of the solemn tone used for one of the readings of Christmas Matins.”

In addition to their desire to share their own prayer with listeners, the monks also hope that “Benedicta” could contribute to the provision of better music at Catholic parishes.

“It would be wonderful if our album could inspire a re-discovery of Gregorian chant in parish Liturgies,” Father Cassian reflected. You know, Sacrosanctum Concilium [Vatican II’s constitution on the Liturgy] strongly promoted the chant. There is a terrible misconception that Vatican II did away with Latin and Gregorian chant. Quite the contrary. We really need to rediscover what the council said about Liturgical music.”

He added that “in addition to the classical repertoire in Latin, lots of good work has been done in the U.S. in the area of English chant,” and that “these resources are readily available.”

De Montfort Music has had tremendous success sharing the Sacred music of similar communities, including the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist. It has released several albums with the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, and in 2014 its releases accounted for three of Billboard’s Top Five Classical Traditional Album Imprints.

The monastery at Norcia — the birthplace of St. Benedict — was founded in 1998, and is now comprised of 18 men, half of whom are American, and whose average age is only 33.

Sales of “Benedicta” will help support the monastery, where Father Cassian said “there are always projects in the works!”

The community is working on its grange, a property it holds outside the walls of Norcia. “There are the ruins of an old Capuchin monastery on the property, and we’re renovating the church and adjacent spaces so that the monks can go there for their monthly ‘hermit day’ or for longer periods of retreat.

We’ve also started a vegetable garden and planted fruit trees.”

Outside monastic circles, the community is known for its craft brewery, Birra Nursia.

“The beer, if I say so myself, is very good!” exclaimed Father Cassian. “We learned the art from the Trappist monks in Belgium. Our master brewer, Brother Francis, and his capable team work with real dedication and skill.”

However, “At the moment our beer is not available in the U.S., but we’re working on that.

In the meantime, you have to come to Norcia!”

CNS Movie Capsules NEW YORK (CNS) — The following are capsule reviews of movies recently reviewed by CNS. “Entourage” (Warner Bros.)

In this big-screen version of the HBO series which premiered in 2004, a Hollywood star (Adrian Grenier) convinces the studio executive ( Jeremy Piven) who discovered him to let him direct as well as act in a high-concept adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s novella “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.” But as the production runs over budget, the demands of the movie’s Texas-based financial backer (Billy Bob Thornton) and his egotistical son (Haley Joel Osment) put a strain on the leading man’s relationship with his feckless halfbrother (Kevin Dillon) and the duo of old pals (Kevin Connolly and Jerry Ferrara) who make up the remainder of his devoted retinue. Writer-director Doug Ellin, who created the TV series, helms an occasionally funny send-up of Tinseltown’s eccentricities. But glimmers of morality involving loyalty to family and friends as well as artistic integrity are vastly outshone by the glare of glamorized materialism, an outlook that includes a blatantly debased attitude toward sexuality. Misguided values, including a benign view of drug use and of homosexual acts, graphic scenes of aberrant behavior and casual encounters with upper female and rear nudity, fleeting gore, frequent uses of profanity, pervasive rough and crude language. The Catholic News Service classification is O — morally offensive.

“Insidious: Chapter 3” (Gramercy) Run-of-the-mill horror pre-

quel in which the unassuming but spunky psychic (Lin Shaye) featured in the previous outings reluctantly emerges from selfimposed retirement to aid a high school senior (Stefanie Scott) whose do-it-yourself attempt to contact her recently deceased mom has instead summoned up a malignant spirit. Writer-director Leigh Whannell’s script takes an incidental stance against suicide.

But the film’s Spiritual battle between good and evil is viewed exclusively from a paranormal perspective, with no reference to faith, while elements of language and subject matter put it beyond the appropriate reach of a youthful audience. Potentially disturbing scenes of a car accident and its aftermath, occult themes, fleeting references to homosexuality, a couple of uses of profanity, at least one instance of the F-word, about a half-dozen crass terms. The Catholic News Service classification is A-III — adults.

“Spy” (Fox) When a James Bond-like CIA field operative ( Jude Law) becomes a casualty in the agency’s effort to bring down the ruthless heir (Rose Byrne) of an international crime dynasty, his devoted but previously desk-bound partner (Melissa McCarthy) goes undercover to avenge him by nabbing the evildoer. She’s aided, albeit ineptly, by the goodhearted officemate (Miranda Hart) who doubles as her best friend. But the relentless, disdain-driven interference of another colleague ( Jason Statham) threatens to derail her improvised project at every turn. An excess of crude material and vulgar dialogue overburdens writer-director Paul Feig’s sharply observed, cleverly executed comedy, squelching the potential fun to be derived from its array of eccentric characters. Intermittent harsh violence with gore, brief obscene images, much sexual and some scatological humor, over a dozen uses of profanity, pervasive rough and crude language. The Catholic News Service classification is O — morally offensive.

Diocese of Fall River TV Mass on WLNE Channel 6 Sunday, June 14, 11:00 a.m.

Celebrant is retired priest, Father Thomas McElroy, SS.CC.

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June 12, 2015

Canadian commission: Reconciliation with aboriginals to take ‘hard work’

OTTAWA, Ontario (CNS) — Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which used the term “cultural genocide” to describe what happened to aboriginal Canadians in residential schools, said reconciliation within the country “is going to take hard work.”

In a 382-page report with 94 recommendations, the commission called for changes at all levels of society and government and said “Canadians must make a firm and lasting commitment to reconciliation to ensure that Canada is a country where our children and grandchildren can thrive.”

The commission was established under the 2007 Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement. The schools were established and paid for by the Canadian government in the late 1800s, but were administered by church organizations of several religions, including the Catholic Church, which ran about 60 percent of them.

The recently-issued report ended a five-year mandate to create a public record of the tragedy of Indian residential schools and to examine the ongoing fallout of a 130-year policy that separated 150,000 native children from their families. By witnessing the stories of many of the 80,000 survivors and documenting the cultural and societal devastation to families torn apart, the commission said it hoped to cultivate reconciliation between aboriginal people and the rest of Canada.

“Cultural genocide is the destruction of those structures and practices that allow the group to continue as a group,” said the commission’s final report. “States that engage in cultural genocide set out to destroy the political and social institutions of the targeted group. Land is seized, and populations are forcibly transferred and their movement is restricted. Languages are banned. Spiritual leaders are persecuted, Spiritual practices are forbidden, and objects of Spiritual value are confiscated and destroyed. And, most significantly to the issue at hand, families are disrupted to prevent the transmission of cultural values and identity from one generation to the next.

“In its dealing with aboriginal people, Canada did all these things,” it said.

The report documented in-

cidents of abuse and neglect in the schools and published testimony from nationwide hearings it held. In some cases, it said, pubic officials and even parents refused to return children to the schools.

Citing statistics from the chairman of the commission, Justice Murray Sinclair, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported that the odds of students dying in residential schools — one in 25 — were about the same as Canadians

for changes to the Criminal Code of Canada were that trial judges, upon giving reasons, should be allowed to depart from mandatory minimum sentences for aboriginals.

The Catholic Church and other religious groups were parties to the 2007 settlement agreement, and the commission called upon those religious groups who had not already done so to “formally adopt and comply with the principles, norms, and stan-

residential school system.

“During the commission’s hearings, many survivors told us that they knew that the pope had apologized to survivors of Catholic-run schools in Ireland. They wondered why no similar apology had been extended to them,” it said.

The commission called on Pope Francis “to issue an apology to survivors, their families, and communities for the Roman Catholic Church’s role in the Spiritual, cultural, emo-

In this 1960 photo, Sacred Heart of Ottawa Sisters pose with students at the Pukatawagan Residential School in Manitoba. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission ended a five-year mandate to create a public record of the tragedy of Indian residential schools. (CNS photo/Library and Archives Canada, Reuters)

dying in World War II — one in 26.

The commission’s report called for changes in Canadian law and said: “In their mission to ‘civilize’ and Christianize, the school staff relied on corporal punishment to discipline their students. That punishment often crossed the line into physical abuse. Although it is employed much less frequently now, corporal punishment is still legally permissible in schools and elsewhere under Canadian law.”

Its 94 recommendations covered a spectrum of aboriginal rights, including those concerning health, education, languages, equity in the legal system, and reconciliation.

It called for increased funding and support for substance abuse treatment.

Governments on all levels must ensure that aboriginal families stay together as much as possible, the report said, and it and listed recommendations on foster care, culturally appropriate parenting programs for aboriginal families and spending by child-welfare agencies.

Among its recommendations

dards of the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as a framework for reconciliation.”

In a section on the 15thcentury Church-based Doctrine of Discovery, it discussed the complex role of religions in colonization and the idea that the lands being claimed were “terra nullius” — no man’s land — and therefore open to claim.

The report noted that in 2010, the Vatican’s representative to the United Nations indicated that “circumstances have changed so much that to attribute any juridical value to such a document seems completely out of place,” although some felt that the comments were insufficient repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery.

The commission said that, for more than a century, thousands of children “were subjected to Spiritual, emotional, physical and sexual abuse in Catholic-run residential schools. Other than a small private audience with Pope Benedict XVI in 2009, the Vatican has remained silent on the Roman Catholic Church’s involvement in the Canadian

tional, physical, and sexual abuse of First Nations, Inuit, and Metis children in Catholic-run residential schools.

We call for that apology to be similar to the 2010 apology issued to Irish victims of abuse and to occur within one year of the issuing of this report and to be delivered by the pope in Canada.”

Archbishop Gerard Pettipas of Grouard-McLennan in Alberta, who chairs the committee of Catholic entities that ran residential schools, told Canadian Catholic News he

had no idea how to make that apology happen. Invoking a deadline and insisting an apology happen in Canada makes it even more difficult, he said.

“It’s for the Church in Canada to be involved in further gestures, not for the Holy Father,” he told CCN. He said it had been difficult for the commission to understand the Catholic Church’s decentralized structure, in which every bishop “is solely responsible for his diocese” and is independent. Not even the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops can speak for all the bishops, he said.

In Australia, where Aboriginals were separated from their families, the children were raised at Church-run missions and sent into the work force as farm laborers and domestic help. Many did not know their original identity or where they came from. Their stories of generational dislocation and loss were collected in “Bringing Them Home,” a government-mandated human rights report published in 1997.

At the Synod of Bishops for Oceania in 1998, Australia’s bishops expressed their sorrow at the plight of the aboriginal people and the Church’s past involvement in the destruction of their familial ties, languages and culture.

In 2008, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd apologized to aboriginals in a speech before Parliament. Rudd spoke of the “profound grief, suffering and loss” experienced by an estimated 50,000 indigenous people over 70 years of government assimilation policies predicated on separating aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families and homes. The indigenous peoples of those decades are now referred to as the Stolen Generations.

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June 12, 2015

Six Sisters who serve Native American village in Arizona feel blessed

BAPCHULE, Ariz. (CNS) high teacher. “Our mission of rise above that, being examples His love, and to let everyone I “When you work here at St. — Sister Pamela Catherine Pea- St. Peter’s is blessed with more of joyous service to God and interact with know how much Peter’s, you wear a lot of hats. sel is a rarity in modern Catholic Sisters than any other school in others.

God loves them.”

I’m not only a teacher’s aide, religious life.

“A religious Sister for myself our community.”

Serving with Sister Martha I’m also a driver for our westShe’s in her 30s — only one St. Peter’s School opened in is giving my life over, completely and Sister Pam are Sisters Bar- end kids,” Ortiz told CNS. “I percent of women religious are. 1923 with a dozen students. It over, to God and to Christ and bara Jean Butler, Carol Mathe, also help in the dining room.

And she’s an elementary school now has 213 children in pre- serving others in the name of Maria Goretti Scandaliato and We help clean up wherever we teacher. Fewer than 2,000 wom- school through eighth grade. Jesus, spreading that joy,” said Thereselle Arruda. need to.” en religious — two percent of all The Franciscan Sisters of Chris- Sister Pam. Virginia Ortiz calls them “reThe Sisters are no exception.

Sisters — teach in U.S. Catholic “They do get their hands just grade schools. as dirty as we do. Sisters do a lot Yet she said she’s joyfully here, more than anybody. More where she needs to be and is not than anyone can expect.” discouraged by the few number The work of the Sisters has women choosing religious life. attracted some high-profile “I wouldn’t necessarily say benefactors. Baseball legend there’s a drop in vocations as Joe Garagiola Sr. and J.F. Shea much as there is a drop in the Co., a large privately held home ‘yes’ — you know, the response builder, have been generous to to the call,” she told Catholic the school.

News Service during a recent St. Peter offered preschool interview at St. Peter Indian for the first time this school year Mission School in Bapchule. “I thanks to Shea Homes, which think God is calling and calling built a preschool classroom and and calling.” playground and added several Life’s many choices can be other improvements to the camoverwhelming to young people. pus.

Considering religious life is a As for their public profile, the challenge for most, she said.

Bapchule Sisters recently began “It’s having to center your a Facebook page and Sister Pam heart in prayer, listening for that has produced some videos about call and then responding to it. the school. And, from time to The more we live that joyful attime, they get out of Bapchule titude, I think that’s a big attracstill dressed in their everyday tion to our life.” black and white garb.

Sister Pam first stumbled The Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity have served St. Peter Indian Mission School in Bapchule, “When we go someplace toAriz., since 1935. From left are Sisters Martha Mary Carpenter, Pamela Catherine Peasel, Barbara Jean upon the Franciscan Sisters of Butler, Carol Mathe, Maria Goretti Scandaliato and Thereselle Arruda. (CNS photo/Nancy Wiechec) gether people stop us and say to Christian Charity online, taking us, ‘Thank you for being Sisters. an interest in the order’s website.

Thank you for being so happy.

She attended a retreat at the tian Charity have run the school Sister Martha rarely leaves markable.”

Thank you for serving. Thank Sisters’ Holy Family Convent since 1935. a conversation with someone Ortiz, a teacher’s aide and you for wearing the habit,’” said in Wisconsin in 2007 to learn In addition to the standard without a “God bless you!” mother, has three children en- Sister Martha. more, to hopefully find a com- studies and religion class, the “Being a religious Sister rolled at St. Peter. She appreci“We’re very recognizable munity where she would be Sisters added an extra hour to means that I am an instrument ates the environment that the wherever we go,” she added, and “most at home.” the school day for students to in (God’s) hands,” she said. “To Sisters have established there. then with a chuckle said, “We’re Seven years later, she took learn native language, customs love His children, to create com- It’s faith-filled and encourages very recognizable, so we have to her final profession with these and traditions from community munity, to include everyone in respect for others, she said. behave.” words: elders.

“In complete devotion and “Our aim is to raise up our Catholic Citizenship movie screening seeks to inspire youths in a response to love, I, Sister kids and nurture our kids so continued from page one Pamela Catherine Peasel, vow that they will give loving service.

He added that God made His has financially supported about to God to live for the whole That they will be peacemakers. even in a hostile environment.

Cary Solomon and Chuck Konmessage to them crystal clear. half a dozen faith-based movtime of my life the counsels of That they take all the skills they zelman, spoke with The Anchor “We’re guys from Jersey and ies. chastity, poverty and obedience have to make this community, over the phone from Hollywood, New York.

The Lord can’t be very “My wife came to accept Jesus according to the rule and life the Gila River Indian Commuwhere neither Catholics nor God subtle and have it take any effect Christ because of a film. That beof the Brothers and Sisters of nity, a better place,” Sister Marare well regarded. Solomon said, on us. He’s hit us with a cinder- came very personal to me. I saw the Third Order Regular of St. tha said. that impact, and we went and got Francis and the constitutions of Bapchule has a population of “If you can survive there, you can block a few times.”

The writers said that the next involved in films that proclaim the Franciscan Sisters of Chris- just more than 2,300, almost en- pretty much do it anywhere.”

Both men said that for years generation will also face hard Christ,” he said. tian Charity.” tirely Native American. It is one they compartmentalized their choices in their professional and Bodwell said her then-11Now she ministers at St. of the most impoverished areas faith lives and professional lives. personal lives.

They will need to year-old daughter saw “God’s Peter School in the Gila River in Arizona with more than half “We got broken,” Solomon discern between what they can Not Dead” last year and Bodwell Indian Community with five of its people living below the said. “We just couldn’t do it any- tolerate and what they need to noticed that the movie inspired other members of the order. Lo- federal poverty line. stand against. Media can be an her daughter to be more devout. cated in the Sonoran Desert 35 Besides teaching and admin- more.”

Konzelman said that at first, ally in this pursuit.

Bodwell called the film “inspiramiles south of Phoenix, the res- istrating the school and parish, Solomon said, “This is the tional” and a “great tool for evanervation is home to the Akimel the Sisters assist the larger vil- they decided to leave the movie O’otham and Pee Posh people lage too. They house a food pan- business behind, but God had business where one movie can gelization.”

“It made a huge impact on my whose roots go back to the an- try in the school cafeteria, ready other plans. “We made a decision change people’s views on almost to leave the industry, and the Lord everything.” daughter’s life,” she said. “It just cient Hohokam. to hand out groceries to anyone said to us, ‘No, that’ s not what I The power of media is welldraws you into a closer relationIt’s “very unusual” to have in need. six Sisters from one commuIf the bustle of modern soci- want from you. You’re having an known to Bodwell and her ship with the Lord.”

To RSVP, call 781-368nity serving in a single primary ety drowns out religious callings, exceedingly tough time here, but partner in planning this event, school, said Sister Martha Mary Sister Pam and her Franciscans there’s a reason for that too, and I Carl Nelson from Wellesley. 7889 or visit www.catholicOver the past decade, Nelson citizenship.org.

Carpenter, principal and junior contemporaries say they want to want you working for Me.’”

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June 12, 2015

Sister celebrates 60 years of religious life continued from page one

other Sisters and all those who live a religious life, the wonderful gift of living your life in such a way that we all understand a little bit more what it means to be a person dedicated to the Lord in our own way, as you have dedicated your life to the Lord.”

The Sisters of St. Joan of Arc live according to the example set by Mary, who remained close to Jesus; the Sisters of St. Joan of Arc want to be close collaborators of priests. They do this by praying for the ministry of priests, and they also help priests in day-to-day activities by offering domestic services in rectories, thereby freeing priests for ministry and prayer. The Sisters work to better serve Christ, the Church and the priesthood, and make efforts to live in harmony and in peace, according to the Rule of St. Augustine of “having but one heart and one soul in God.” Stationed with Bishop George W. Coleman and then-Bishop Sean P. O’Malley, OFM, Cap., Sister Rita said her religious life started back with Cardinal Richard J. Cushing, with whom she stayed with for 12 years. Sixty years later, Sister Rita has no regrets.

“I must say,” said Sister Rita, “I have loved every bit of it. I have never regretted my life as a religious. I have been with all of these bishops and they’ve been wonderful. It’s not just that the women of St. Joan of Arc do house cleaning, there is much more to it than that. We are there to support priests and bishops in their ministry, to liberate them so that they can be more available to the people.”

And while she may have

helped make the priests more available to the people, it was clear that many of the people who have crossed Sister Rita’s path appreciate her role as a Sister and friend.

“Sister Rita truly loves the Church,” said Father David Pignato, “and she has faithfully served the bishops and the Diocese of Fall River for so many years. When I lived in the bishop’s residence, during the years of my assignment as the bishop’s secretary, I was inspired by Sister’s example of dedication and her impressive work-ethic; she worked each day, from before sun-up until long past sun-down, with the greatest attention to every detail of her work. And she never neglected her prayer life, either.

In fact, she was always so supportive of my pastoral endeavors by offering to remember my work in her prayers. She is a great inspiration for me, and her example inspires me as a priest to work hard and long for Christ and the Church, while never forgetting the importance of Spiritual discipline.

God bless Sister Rita!”

“I had the pleasure to know Sister Rita and work with her while I was secretary for Bishop (now Cardinal ) Sean O’Malley from 1994 until 2000,” said Msgr. Stephen Avila, pastor of St. Anthony’s Parish in East Falmouth. “As secretary, I lived in the bishop’s residence with Bishop Sean and it was there that I got to know her and the other Sisters who were responsible for the domestic duties of the residence. From last-minute guests for lunch, to the perfectly-packed suitcase when the bishop was going to celebrate

Mass for one of the parishes in the diocese, Sister Rita would meticulously make sure everything was in place. To this day, I can’t figure out how she could pack a suitcase so perfectly.

While she resembled, in many ways the person of ‘Martha’ in the Gospel in her care for the details of hospitality, I see Sister Rita more like ‘Mary’ who sat at the feet of Jesus, contemplating His presence. I would often go upstairs to the bishop’s chapel and there would be Sister Rita, sometimes alone, sometimes with the other Sisters, kneeling in prayer. I know many of those times that Sister Rita was there, she was praying for our bishop, or for my brother priests or me.

I know those prayers are still said for all of us, and for that, I am very grateful.”

“She’s a wonderful person and lives the witness of her faith by her kindness, availability, and just the love and joy she brings to her ministry,” said Sister Barbara Kirkman, a Holy Union Sister who had known Sister Rita for 10 years. “When she was there with Bishop Coleman, she was so gracious and loved every bit of what she was doing. When she’d come to Holy Name Church for Mass, she was always so gracious to the parishioners. She shows a love and dedication, appealing to others, and in her sense of religious life and what it’s really about — her openness to God, the changing times and the needs of the Church and the world.”

Seeing Sister Rita having the renewal during the Year of Consecrated Life is a reminder “that we are honored and privileged to be living a

This week in

Diocesan history

50 years ago — The president of the New England area Catholic Youth Organization and the president of the Catholic Young Adult Organization were both residents of and parishioners within the Fall River Diocese.

10 years ago — The New Bedford Serra Club ended its 47-year existence with a final meeting at White’s Restaurant in Westport. The club disbanded because of low attendance and health issues with a number of its members.

25 years ago — Bishop Daniel A. Cronin was principal celebrant at a 75th anniversary Mass held at Our Lady of Angels Parish in Fall River.

One year ago — Father James H. Morse, a retired priest of the Fall River Diocese, facilitated the first-ever joint meeting of the Diocesan Presbyteral Council and the Diocesan Pastoral Council.

religious life,” said Sister Barbara, “and knowing that it’s a calling among the vocations of the Church. We’re all called to a vocation as baptized men and women, and for Sister Rita it was a religious life. She loves it and she just radiates that.”

“As a Sister of St. Joan of Arc, she lived out her commitment to the Lord in many capacities,” said Msgr. John Oliveira, pastor of St. Mary’s Parish in New Bedford. “It was my privilege to know this religious community as they served at the cathedral rectory and at the bishop’s residence. For more than 23 years

I

of my priesthood they were present not only to carry out domestic chores, but to intercede in prayer for the priests they served and the clergy of the diocese. They were examples of the Lord’s love and caring. In many ways they made the rectory a home.

“Sister Rita continues in our diocese as a reminder of the Sisters of St. Joan of Arc and as an example of faithful, prayerful ministry. May the Lord continue to grant much good health and happiness in the years ahead, which I pray are many.”

Good horse sense

t was a fete that hadn’t been There was no talk of deflated footballs; no talk of PEDs; no accomplished in 37 years. talk of cheating; no talk of any of The reason it took so long is because it’s very difficult to pull off. the competitors facing charges of murder, spousal abuse or drug Last Saturday American use.

Pharoah, a three-year-old thorIt was athleticism pure and oughbred colt won the Belmont Stakes completing horse-racing’s simple. The fastest horse won, and won, and won. first Triple Crown since 1978.

American Pharoah was foaled The magnificent beast earlier won the Kentucky Derby and the (born) on Groundhog Day in 2012. I don’t know if PunxsutawPreakness Stakes on his way to ney Phil saw his shadow that day, the crown.

The beauty of AP’s fete is that but he unwittingly ushered in a hero in the making. he didn’t pump his chest following the race.

He didn’t gloat in front of a national TV audience shouting, “I am the greatest.” He didn’t ask for a new

By Dave Jolivet contract. He didn’t ask his American Pharoah started his owner to set him up with sponsor racing career as a two-year-old, contracts for commercials. He losing badly in his first try. He’s didn’t taunt the other horses. raced seven times since and each All American Pharoah wanted after pulling off the incredible time his nose was the first to cross the finish line. achievement was to be doused He came back from a deep with some water and maybe bruise on his left front foot that nibble at a few sugar cubes. he sustained last year. That’s like The colt won’t benefit finanan elephant having a sinus probcially from being one of the best lem or a giraffe with a sore throat. to ever set hoof on a race track.

A race horse’s legs and feet are No, that’s for the humans. his lifelines.

There’s plenty of moolah to be But come back he did. To made off of AP’s athleticism, but become one of the greatest race to me it was a real joy to watch horses ever. But you’ll never hear him cross the finish line in Elmont, N.Y. Doing it just because that from the horse’s mouth.

He’s got a few more races he loves to race. under his belt before he retires at In all, since 1919, there have the end of this year. been only 12 Triple Crown He’ll just prepare quietly for winners counting American those as he has for any other race.

Pharoah. I’ve lived through four Something I wish his human of them, and each fete was as counterparts could emulate. exciting as an overtime goal in It makes good horse sense to game seven of a Stanley Cup use our God-given talents to the final hockey game. best of our ability and know that There were three crown winwe’ve done the best we could — ners in the 70s, four in the 40s, three in the 30s, and one in 1919. without letting the rest of the world know about it.

American Pharoah became davejolivet@anchornews.org.

America’s darling last Saturday.

My View From the Stands

16

Youth Pages

Twenty-three students from Holy Family-Holy Name School in New Bedford were inducted into the National Junior Honor Society during an impressive candlelight ceremony. Father Robert Powell, pastor of St. Lawrence Martyr Church, did the invocation and Meighread Dandeneau, Ms. New Bedford Teen, an alumna of the school, addressed the students about setting goals for high school and having the determination to reach them.

Prekindergarten students at Our Lady of Lourdes School in Taunton recently gathered for a photo with their classroom volunteer Miss Victoria from Coyle and Cassidy High School.

St. Francis Xavier School in Acushnet recently gathered for the induction ceremony of 10 sixth-graders into its chapter of the National Junior Honor Society. Students apply and are accepted into the society based on demonstrated achievement in the pillars of the society: scholarship, leadership, service, citizenship and character. All of the NJHS members were encouraged to uphold these pillars and are pictured above with the current year’s officers standing on stage behind.

Benjamin Schnurr of Holy Name School in Fall River holds the award he received for his first-place essay in recent the Holocaust Education and Memorial Committee contest. Schnurr was honored during the observance of Yom HaShoah at the Holocaust Monument and the Tifereth Israel Synagogue in New Bedford. With him are principal Dr. Patricia Wardell and pastor Father Jay Maddock.

The middle school students at St. Mary-Sacred Heart School in North Attleboro recently hosted a career day. The sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students at the school were treated to talks given by people in many different careers, from teachers, to dentists, to professional football players, physical therapists and chefs, all who came to speak to the students about their career callings. Career day was created to give these older students the chance to understand some of the options that might be available to them and what steps they need to take to succeed in the career of their choice. Here David Cox, executive chef of Capital Grill, is pictured with the eighth-graders.

June 12, 2015

St. John the Evangelist School in Attleboro is proud of eighth-graders Victoria Rego and Sam Choiniere for receiving the Attleboro Elk’s Club Good Citizen Award which honors local students who give back to their schools and greater community. Rego and Choiniere received a certificate of recognition from the Elks, Mayor Kevin Dumas, the Massachusetts House of Representatives and Senate, and the U.S. House of Representatives for their effort and achievements in school, sports, and community. Shown here with them is Bridget Baudinet, language arts and eighth-grade teacher.

Student members of the Sacred Hearts Chapter of the National Junior Honor Society at St. Joseph School in Fairhaven recently completed another year of community service projects, which included a used cell phone and eyeglass collection.

Both of these collections are donated to charities that recycle and reuse them.

June 12, 2015

I

look forward to this time of year when I see many of you feeling the excitement of graduation and taking the next step on your journey of life. Congratulations to you all! It’s been a long road, you have worked hard, studied well, learned much and you have done your best. Now it’s time for you to share with the world the good you do through the gift you are.

Some of you will begin careers in your field of study (yes, time to go to work), and some of you will continue your education (it never ends).

Whatever next steps you choose continue your good work and keep learning. The important thing here is that you do the good you know.

Reflect on the lyrics of this song, “Do The Good You Know,” by Mike Wilson: “Do the good you know. Let compassion show.

You can’t save the world alone, but you can do the good you know.

We all have sorrow. We all have pain.

Sometimes our sunshine turns into rain.

When someone falls right next to you, Then you must do what you can do.

It makes a difference. This much we know.

One act of kindness can save one soul.

So do the thing you know is right.

Then you will see and be the light.

Yes, you can do the good you

Youth Pages The good you do through the gift you are

17

know.” just for others to do! steps, whether looking for a more. Every blessing comes Know that you are good Doing the good we do job or continuing your educafrom God. Have you ever because God is good. God through the gift we are lets us tried counting how many tion, keep these two rules in is just not good one day and also not forget to be thankful mind: First, don’t spend very good things God has filled then not so good the next. He people. God is always teachmuch time thinking about the your life with? I would imagis always good. He will future. It only brings worry ine they are countless. always do what is good God is already blessing and anxiety. Second, always and best for you beinclude God in your thoughts, you for the next chalcause He is completely words and actions. Don’t just lenges in your life. good. That is perfection imagine what you will do — We worry about and God is asking us imagine what God can do. what the future holds to seek this same perWhat you are is God’s gift for us.

Why do we do

By Ozzie Pacheco fection. “So be perfect, to you, what you become is that? Worry is the rejust as your Heavenly your gift to God. Be pleased sult of imagining a fuFather is perfect” (Mt ture without God in it. with your accomplishments.

5:48). ing us to be thankful for the God is!

Your best defense against this Many of us try to fill this so many blessings we have: Anchor columnist Ozzie worry is to stay in touch with longing for perfection with home, family, friends, food, Pacheco is Faith Formation God by talking to Him, and, things from this world. Havclothes, education, health, director at Santo Christo just as important, listening to ing the coolest stuff and the talents, abilities and so much Him. So, as you plan your next Parish, Fall River. latest fashions are not going to cut it. Remember, detaching yourself from stuff yields the great gift of humility. Trying to be the most popular in class or the star of the sports field or the stage won’t do it either.

Turning to drugs or alcohol?

Never! Only God can fill your longing for perfection.

The world around us is filled with so much bad news.

Sometimes finding good in others is difficult. It seems that the world only wants to hear the bad that happens to others. Thankfully, there is much good around us. We only need to open our eyes to see it, beginning with ourselves. Social media has allowed many of us to witness Several Bishop Feehan High School (Attleboro) students attained national and regional recognition for and share the good that others excellent performance on the 2015 Grand Concours, the National French Contest and the National Spando. Some of it goes viral — I ish Examinations. Bishop Feehan students were awarded two of only four $500 scholarships offered believe that’s a good thing. by the Massachusetts Foreign Language Association. Katherine Franklin was awarded one for Spanish and Emily Golden received one for French. Olivia Phillips was awarded special recognition for her 99th But, what should we learn from this? Simply, do our own percentile on the Spanish exam, scoring third in the Commonwealth. Emma Clerx won a $2,000 scholarships based on an application including an essay, interview in Spanish and recommendations. From left, good for others. Don’t leave it

The Anchor is always pleased to run news and photos about our diocesan youth. If schools or parish Religious Education programs or home-schoolers have stories and photos they would like to share with our readers, send them to: schools@anchornews.org.

Be Not Afraid

Franklin, Phillips, Golden, and Clerx.

At its recent 2015-2016 Scholarship Awards ceremony Bishop Connolly High School in Fall River recognized 24 eighth-grade students across greater Fall River and Rhode Island who will receive freshman scholarships for the upcoming academic year through seven Connolly scholarship programs. In attendance for the distribution of Connolly’s six Jesuit Scholarship awards were (left to right): Principal Christopher Myron; Holy Name School Principal Dr. Patricia Wardell; Liana Audette; Noah Benevides; Cecilia Chan; Holy Trinity School Principal Brenda Gagnon; Holy Trinity School teacher Michael Lawlor; Matthew Dias; Holy Trinity School teacher Amanda deOliveira; Holy Trinity School teacher Kimberly Flynn; Benjamin Medeiros; Father Bruce Neylon, pastor of Holy Trinity School; Amber Ferreira; and Father Donald MacMillan, S.J., a former Jesuit teacher and administrator at Bishop Connolly.

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June 12, 2015

Newly-refurbished pipe organ installed at St. Mary’s Cathedral continued from page one

cathedral’s now-defunct Kilgen pipe organ, including a series of outer “façade” pipes.

“Façade pipes are dummies — they don’t speak, there’s no sound coming from them, they are strictly for show,” Peragallo said. “So all the pipes you see on the outside are non-speaking pipes; all the pipes that make sound are located behind them.”

In recent years, Peragallo said the cathedral had been using an electronic organ and there were speakers located behind the pipes to produce the sound that emanated from it.

“I don’t know if anyone realized that or not,” he said.

Standing amidst a sea of newly-cleaned pipes — all lined up along the top of the pews and wrapped in protective paper — that will soon be filling the nave with music, Peragallo explained how the renovation project began six months ago with the removal of the organ from Sacred Heart Church in January.

“We spent a couple of months working in the shop with the pipes — cleaning them and fabricating the console,” he said. “We also had to redo some of the bellows which have leather hinges on them to hold the air (inside).”

This is the realization of a years-long dream project for the parishioners of St. Mary’s Cathedral, according to music director Madeleine Grace.

“In recent years the cathedral parish has become home to four former parishes, two of which — the former St. Louis and Sacred Heart churches — had recently-rebuilt pipe organs,” Grace wrote on the ca-

thedral website. “The St. Louis instrument, built by Charles Chadwick and rebuilt by Paul DeLisle, was placed in storage with the hope of using it as the basis for a larger instrument if enough funds were raised.”

When the decision was made to close Sacred Heart Parish at the end of last year, Grace said they knew its 1883 Hook & Hastings pipe organ would fit the bill.

Since the Peragallo Organ Company had refurbished and maintained that organ for years, they were asked to submit a proposal to relocate the instrument — cobbling it together with parts from the cathedral’s previous organ and the former St. Louis model to construct a new, Frankenstein-like creation.

“They’ve been working on this project for years and I know Madeleine has been looking to buy parts and old organs and they were always trying to move forward to get a pipe organ back in here, but it never came together for financial reasons,” Peragallo said. “So when Sacred Heart closed we thought we could use it. It’s not brand new, per se, but it was a tremendous opportunity.”

While a new pipe organ could cost upwards of $1 million, this project is estimated to cost just under $180,000 — and the parish has already raised more than $93,000 towards that expense as of May 1, according to Grace.

For Peragallo, the real challenge began when it was time to reassemble and install the organ inside St. Mary’s Cathedral last week.

“At Sacred Heart Church all

of the (pipework) was in the middle of the church and it was wide open in the balcony,” Peragallo said. “At this location, we had to shuffle everything around. We have two chambers (on either side) of the choir loft, and another chamber on the swell, which is on the left. The swell chamber is the upper keyboard on the console, and that used to be located in the back at Sacred Heart. Now we’ve moved it to the side.”

In addition to the battery of metal pipes that range in length and girth according to the sounds they produce, there is also an array of box-like enclosures connected to the organ pedals that Peragallo explained will produce the “deep sounds that are going to shake this place.”

“They used to be located on opposite sides, now they’re all on the left chamber and the middle keyboard is on the right: that’s where the great pipes are located,” he said. “Those are the most important pipes for congregational singing. So we basically had to redesign the entire instrument to fit into this space.

It was a little bit tricky getting everything back in here, but that’s the fun part of this job.”

Peragallo noted that his company also had to build an entirely new three-keyboard console for the hybrid organ made of oak wood to match the interior of St. Mary’s Cathedral.

“The console at Sacred Heart was just two manual keyboards and was cherry wood, so this is oak and it matches the woodwork in here better,” he said.

“Especially with the console being at the front of the cathedral, we wanted to make sure it made a nice presentation.”

The new solid state, digital console will also be mounted atop a moveable platform on wheels so it can be easily relocated anywhere on the main floor of the nave — such as front and center for concerts — as needed.

“It’s funny, because the old Hook & Hastings Organ from Sacred Heart was what they called mechanical action — the keys were actually connected to pipe valves, so you had a wooden stick that went across and when you pressed the key, it would connect over and open a valve,” Peragallo said. “Back in the early 1990s, I think, the organist wanted to direct the choir so we made an elec-

Frank Peragallo of the New Jersey-based Peragallo Organ Company demonstrates the new three-manual-keyboard console for the refurbished Hook and Hastings pipe organ that his company recently installed inside the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption in Fall River. (Photo by Kenneth J. Souza)

tric console (for Sacred Heart Church). Now this one is even further away — it’s all the way downstairs at the front of the cathedral.

“Basically, there’s a computer inside the console and a computer upstairs in the (choir loft) and it just sends the signals back and forth. So there are only eight wires running from here to upstairs. Once the signal gets upstairs, it gets decoded and sent out to the pipes and opens the valves accordingly.”

While some purists may balk at the use of computerized “digital” means to reproduce a classic pipe organ sound, Peragallo said it’s the combination of new and old technology that provides greater versatility in the instrument.

“Different aspects of the console can provide pistons with memory levels, which is great for the organist,” he said.

“Especially here in the cathedral, where you have visiting organists and they can have their own pistons set up without disturbing the settings of the regular organist. There are a lot of big programs here, so you really need that versatility.”

Peragallo said his eight-man crew will continue doing “all the physical work this week,” including installation of all the pipes and running wires to the console. Then they’ll have to do what is known as “tonal finishing,” where the instrument is fine-tuned over a two-week period.

“That’s just a couple of guys,” he said. “One sits at the console and the other stays upstairs to make adjustments to the pipes.

That process is a little more painstaking, but it’s also fun to

hear the instrument inside this space for the first time.”

“Each organ is designed to work with the acoustical properties of its environment,” Grace agreed. “Once the pipes are installed, they are voiced to be balanced with each other and to work as an ensemble.

This is painstaking work and requires time and the trained ear of an experienced organ builder who is an artist in his own right. When one has an understanding of the complexity of the instrument with its many components, it becomes clear why the pipe organ is a costly instrument.”

With work expected to be completed within the month, Grace said a Dedication Recital for the new pipe organ has already been scheduled for July 26 at 4 p.m. Bishop Edgar M. da Cunha, S.D.V., will bless the organ at that time and lead everyone in prayer assisted by Father John C. Ozug, cathedral rector.

Former cathedral organist David Carrier, a native of Tiverton, R.I., will then present a recital that will illustrate the tonal qualities of the newlyinstalled instrument in a variety of musical styles. The cathedral and diocesan choir will also sing a brief choral work under the direction of Grace, accompanied by the organ.

“There may be some people who have never heard a pipe organ inside the cathedral,” Peragallo said. “But the Sacred Heart organ is going to be alive and well again over here.”

For more information, visit the parish website at www. cathedralfallriver.com.

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June 12, 2015

Eucharistic Adoration in the Diocese Acushnet — Eucharistic Adoration takes place at St. Francis Xavier Parish on Monday from 9:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.; Tuesday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.; and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Evening prayer and Benediction is held Monday through Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.

ATTLEBORO — Eucharistic Adoration takes place in the Adoration Chapel at St. Vincent de Paul Parish, 71 Linden Street, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.

ATTLEBORO — The National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette holds Eucharistic Adoration in the Shrine Church every Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m. through November 17.

ATTLEBORO — There is a weekly Holy Hour of Eucharistic Adoration Thursdays from 5:30 to 6:30 pm at St. John the Evangelist Church on N. Main St. Brewster — Eucharistic Adoration takes place in the La Salette Chapel in the lower level of Our Lady of the Cape Church, 468 Stony Brook Road, on First Fridays beginning at noon until 7:45 a.m. First Saturday, concluding with Benediction and concluding with Mass at 8 a.m. buzzards Bay — Eucharistic Adoration takes place at St. Margaret Church, 141 Main Street, Monday through Saturday, from 6:30 to 8 a.m.; and every first Friday from noon to 8 a.m. on Saturday.

East Freetown — Eucharistic Adoration takes place at St. John Neumann Church every Monday (excluding legal holidays) 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the Our Lady, Mother of All Nations Chapel. (The base of the bell tower).

EAST TAUNTON — Eucharistic Adoration takes place in the chapel at Holy Family Parish Center, 438 Middleboro Avenue, Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. On First Fridays, Eucharistic Adoration takes place at Holy Family Church, 370 Middleboro Avenue, from 8:30 a.m. until 7:45 p.m.

FAIRHAVEN — St. Mary’s Church, Main St., has Eucharistic Adoration every Wednesday from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. in the Chapel of Reconciliation, with Benediction at 11:30 a.m. Also, there is a First Friday Mass each month at 7 p.m., followed by a Holy Hour with Eucharistic Adoration. Refreshments follow.

Fall River — Espirito Santo Parish, 311 Alden Street, Fall River. Eucharistic Adoration on Mondays following the 8 a.m. Mass until Rosary and Benediction at 6:30 p.m.

FALL RIVER — St. Bernadette’s Church, 529 Eastern Ave., has continuous Eucharistic Adoration from 8 a.m. on Thursday until 8 a.m. on Saturday.

FALL RIVER — St. Anthony of the Desert Church, 300 North Eastern Avenue, has Eucharistic Adoration Mondays and Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

FALL RIVER — Holy Name Church, 709 Hanover Street, has Eucharistic Adoration Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the Our Lady of Grace Chapel.

FALL RIVER — Good Shepherd Parish has Eucharistic Adoration every Friday following the 8 a.m. Mass and concluding with 3 p.m. Benediction in the Daily Mass Chapel. A bilingual holy hour takes place from 2 to 3 p.m. Park behind the church and enter the back door of the connector between the church and the rectory.

Falmouth — St. Patrick’s Church has Eucharistic Adoration each First Friday, following the 9 a.m. Mass until Benediction at 4:30 p.m. The Rosary is recited Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 9 a.m.

MANSFIELD — St. Mary’s Parish, 330 Pratt Street, has Eucharistic Adoration every First Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., with Benediction at 5:45 p.m.

MASHPEE — Christ the King Parish, Route 151 and Job’s Fishing Road has 8:30 a.m. Mass every First Friday with special intentions for Respect Life, followed by 24 hours of Eucharistic Adoration in the Chapel, concluding with Benediction Saturday morning followed immediately by an 8:30 Mass.

NEW BEDFORD — Eucharistic Adoration takes place 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesdays at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, 233 County Street, with night prayer and Benediction at 8:45 p.m., and Confessions offered during the evening. Please use the side entrance.

NEW BEDFORD — There is a daily holy hour from 5:15-6:15 p.m. Monday through Thursday at St. Anthony of Padua Church, 1359 Acushnet Avenue. It includes Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, Liturgy of the Hours, recitation of the Rosary, and the opportunity for Confession.

NEW BEDFORD — St. Lawrence Martyr Parish, 565 County Street, holds Eucharistic Adoration in the side chapel Fridays from 7:30-11:45 a.m. ending with a simple Benediction NORTH DARTMOUTH — Eucharistic Adoration takes place at St. Julie Billiart Church, 494 Slocum Road, every Tuesday from 7 to 8 p.m., ending with Benediction.

The Sacrament of Reconciliation is available at this time.

NORTH DIGHTON — Eucharistic Adoration takes place every Wednesday following 8:00 a.m. Mass and concludes with Benediction at 5 p.m. Eucharistic Adoration also takes place every First Friday at St. Nicholas of Myra Church, 499 Spring Street following the 8 a.m. Mass, ending with Benediction at 6 p.m. The Rosary is recited Monday through Friday from 7:30 to 8 a.m.

NORTH EASTON — A Holy Hour for Families including Eucharistic Adoration is held every Friday from 3-4 p.m. at The Father Peyton Center, 518 Washington Street.

ORLEANS — St. Joan of Arc Parish, 61 Canal Road, has Eucharistic Adoration every First Friday starting after the 8 a.m. Mass and ending with Benediction at 11:45 a.m. The Sacrament of the Sick is also available immediately after the 8 a.m. Mass.

OSTERVILLE — Eucharistic Adoration takes place at Our Lady of the Assumption Church, 76 Wianno Avenue on First Fridays from 8:30 a.m. to noon.

SEEKONK ­— Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish has perpetual Eucharistic Adoration seven days a week, 24 hours a day in the chapel at 984 Taunton Avenue. For information call 508-336-5549.

Taunton — Eucharistic Adoration takes place every Tuesday at St. Anthony Church, 126 School Street, following the 8 a.m. Mass with prayers including the Chaplet of Divine Mercy for vocations, concluding at 6 p.m. with Chaplet of St. Anthony and Benediction. Recitation of the Rosary for peace is prayed Monday through Saturday at 7:30 a.m. prior to the 8 a.m. Mass.

Taunton — Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament takes place every First Friday at Annunciation of the Lord, 31 First Street. Exposition begins following the 8 a.m. Mass. The Blessed Sacrament will be exposed, and Adoration will continue throughout the day. Confessions are heard from 5:15 to 6:15 p.m. Rosary and Benediction begin at 6:30 p.m.

WAREHAM — Eucharistic Adoration at St. Patrick’s Church begins each Wednesday evening at 6 p.m. and ends on Friday night at midnight. Adoration is held in our Adoration Chapel in the lower Parish Hall. ~ PERPETUAL EUCHARISTIC ADORATION ~ East Sandwich — The Corpus Christi Parish Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration Chapel is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week at 324 Quaker Meeting House Road, East Sandwich. Use the Chapel entrance on the side of the church.

NEW BEDFORD — Our Lady’s Chapel, 600 Pleasant Street, offers Eucharistic Adoration seven days a week, 24 hours a day. For information call 508-996-8274.

SEEKONK ­— Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish has perpetual Eucharistic Adoration seven days a week, 24 hours a day in the chapel at 984 Taunton Avenue. For information call 508-336-5549.

WEST HARWICH — Our Lady of Life Perpetual Adoration Chapel at Holy Trinity Parish, 246 Main Street (Rte. 28), holds perpetual Eucharistic Adoration. We are a regional chapel serving all of the surrounding parishes. All are invited to sign up to cover open hours. For open hours, or to sign up call 508-430-4716.

Pope Francis warns mission societies against becoming NGOs

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The mission-oriented agencies of the Church must guard against operating like nongovernmental organizations, empty of Christ’s presence, Pope Francis said.

“Please, guard against falling into the temptation of becoming an NGO, a distribution office for subsidies, small or large.

Money can help, but it can also be the ruin of the mission,” said Pope Francis in a recent audience with members of the pontifical mission societies.

The societies, who were holding their annual meeting in Rome, are the four missionary awareness and mission-funding agencies coordinated under the jurisdiction of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. The agencies support the Church in developing countries, as well as the formation of seminarians, priests and religious in pontifical colleges, the pope noted. However, he warned the groups’ members

In Your Prayers Please pray for these priests during the coming weeks June 13 Rev. Edward F. Donahue, S.J., Boston College High School, Dorchester, 1974 Rev. Henry F. Bourgeois, Stonehill College, Easton, C.S.C., 2004 Rev. Roland Bousquet, Pastor, St. Theresa, New Bedford, 2010 June 14 Rev. Msgr. George E. Sullivan, Retired Pastor, St. Joseph, Fall River, 1980 Rev. Msgr. Joseph A. Cournoyer, Retired Pastor, St. Michael, Swansea, 1982 Rev. James H. Coughlin, S.J., Fairfield University, Fairfield, Conn., 1992 Rev. Justin J. Quinn, Chaplain, Madonna Manor, North Attleboro, Former Pastor, Immaculate Conception, Fall River, 1996 Rev. Ambrose Forgit, SS.CC., Pastor, Our Lady of the Assumption, New Bedford, St. Joseph, Fairhaven, 2010 June 16 Rev. James McDermott, Pastor, St. Patrick, Somerset, 1975 June 17 Rev. Claude A. LeBlanc, 2011 June 18 Most Rev. William B. Tyler, First Bishop of Hartford, Founder of the Sandwich Mission, 1849 Rev. James M. Coffey, P.R., Pastor, St. Mary, Taunton, 1935 Rev. Declan Daly, SS.CC., Associate Pastor, St. Joseph, Fairhaven, 1984 Rev. Henri Laporte, O.P., Former Pastor, St. Anne, Fall River, 1992 June 19 Rev. Hormisdas Deslauriers, Founder, St. Anthony, New Bedford, 1916

that “when functionalism becomes central or takes up a lot of space, as if it were the most important thing, it will lead to ruin; because the first way to die is to take for granted the ‘sources,’ that is he who moves

the mission.”

The work of the pontifical mission societies belongs to Jesus, he continued, urging members not to “remove Jesus Christ” from their “many plans and programs.”

Around the Diocese

St. Vincent Home’s seventh annual Kick-Off to Summer Celebration will be held June 26 from 6 to 11 p.m. on the deck of the Battleship Massachusetts. The evening celebration overlooking Fall River’s waterfront is expected to draw more than 400 guests and will feature complimentary beer and wine, cash bar, gourmet dinner and dessert, dancing to the sounds of The Pulse of Boston, and silent and live auctions emceed by volunteer auctioneer, Ryan Nadeau. The evening will also feature gourmet food with specialty dishes prepared by local restaurants.

Proceeds will directly benefit youth participating in St. Vincent’s Life Skills Program. For tickets or more information contact Melissa Dick at 508-2353228.

Our Lady of the Cape Parish, Stony Brook Road in Brewster, will host its 37th annual Summer Fair on June 27 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Admission is free. This “Whale of a Fair” is a fund-raiser with proceeds earmarked for local charities, college scholarships and the church’s sister parish in Dessalines, Haiti. New this year: the Brewster Fire Department will give children tours of a fire engine with lessons on fire safety. Specialty-themed baskets will be on sale as well as antiques and collectibles, handmade crafts, jewelry, books, tools, children’s toys, and more. Make it a family day with the silent auction, face painting for kids, a barbecue, ice cream treats, homebaked goods, a variety of raffles, and hourly door prizes.

Massachusetts Citizens for Life is sponsoring the annual Massachusetts March For Life. The march is scheduled for June 28 at 2 p.m. from the Parkman Bandstand, Boston Common. The Greater Fall River MCFL Chapter is sponsoring a bus to bring local walkers to the Boston Common. No need to worry about parking or the Boston traffic. Round trip fare is only $5 for adults $2 for 18 and under. Children five and under are free. The central pick-up location is at Holy Name School at the corner of Stetson Street and President Avenue in Fall River. Departure time will be at 11:45 a.m. There will be a second pickup at the Taunton Galleria Park and Ride at approximately noon. To reserve seats or for more information call Paulette Martinville at 508-673-9757 by June 24.

A support group to help people cope with the loss of a loved one will meet on Tuesdays from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Catholic Education Center, 423 Highland Avenue in Fall River from July 14 through August 25. For more information about these sessions, call 508-678-2828, extension 27, or email rsaraiva@dfrcs.org. The group will also meet from September 23 through November 4 beginning at 6:30 p.m. every Wednesday at St. Mary’s Parish, 783 Dartmouth Street in Dartmouth. For more information, call 508-9927505 or email beni@stmarysdartmouth.org.

The Diocesan Marriage Preparation Program is looking for married couples who would like to enrich their Marriage while helping engaged couples prepare for their lifetime together. There is also a Re-Marriage Prep Program for couples entering their second Marriages. If you are interested in sharing the joys and challenges of married life, please contact your pastor or the Diocesan Office of Faith Formation at 508-678-2828 or email cmcmanus@dfrcs.org.

Retrouvaille is a Christian Peer Ministry sponsored by the Catholic Church for married couples who are experiencing difficulties in their Marriage. If you are considering separation or divorce, Retrouvaille can help! The next Retrouvaille Marriage renewal weekend will be held September 11-13. To register for the weekend or for more information, call 1-800-470-2230 or visit www.helpourmarriage.com.

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June 12, 2015

Pope to Peruvian Pro-Lifers: ‘Keep shaking things up’

First Communion children from St. Kilian’s Parish in New Bedford kneel and bow in reverence as the Blessed Sacrament is raised in Benediction at the church during one of two Corpus Christi processions through the streets of the Whaling City on Corpus Christi Sunday.

The Blessed Sacrament is carried in a procession in Hyannis on the feast of Corpus Christi. At right, Father Ronald P. Floyd leads prayers during the celebration of the feast. (Photos by Josefa Linnell)

Lima, Peru (CNA/ EWTN News) — Upon seeing pictures from the 2015 March for Life in Lima, Peru, Pope Francis had a message for the faithful of the South American country: “Keep shaking things up.”

The Holy Father offered these words of encouragement to Peruvian Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani, after a recent general audience at the Vatican, according to a statement by the Archdiocese of Lima.

The cardinal was in Rome to participate in meetings of the Holy See’s Council for the Economy.

During their meeting in St. Peter’s Square, Cardinal Cipriani showed Pope Francis photographs of the huge crowds in attendance at the 2015 March for Life in the Peruvian capital on March 12.

The event brought together more than half a million people in defense of life from the moment of conception to natural death.

Cardinal Cipriani also showed the Holy Father pictures of the recent Pentecost

Encounter, which brought together more than 4,000 faithful in Exposition Park as part of the 20th Synod of the Archdiocese of Lima.

After looking at the pictures, the archdiocese said, Pope Francis expressed his great joy to the cardinal and asked the Peruvian faithful to “Keep shaking things up.”

The historic 2015 March for Life doubled the number of participants over the previous year and became one of the largest Pro-Life demonstrations in the world.

The march this year included residents not only from Lima, but from other cities throughout Peru.

On that occasion, Pope Francis sent a message of cordial greeting “to the participants in the March for Life taking place in Lima, and to those who join in prayer and in the commitment to defend life and promote the fundamental good of human life, from conception to its natural end.”

“Long live life!” (Viva la vida!), the pope declared, in his message read by Cardinal Cipriani.

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