Supreme Court Decision Touches • Students In Parochial SC'hools
The ANCHOR An Anchor 01 the
sour,
Sure and Firm-St. Paul
Fall River, Mass., Thursday, June 13, 1974
Vol. 18, No. 24
@ 197" The Anchor
PRICE.15c $5.00 per year
Laity Group Sponsors Training Institute A Team Training Institute, questioned and constructive critsponsored by the National Coun- icism given. cil of Catholic Laity, was held in Mrs. Michael J. McMahon of Craigville this past weekend and Fall River Cathedral parish, dicentered on mutual sharing and rector of the Boston-Providence growing through teamwork in sector and liaison for the instithe organization. tute with the Washington office, Miss Helen Brewer and Thom- hosted officials: Mrs. Carmen A. Giroux of as Tewey of the NCCL Institutes Staff were the leaders of the Connecticut, 3rd Vice President of the NCCW; Richard F. Claffie institute. Thirty-two people attended the of Springfield, member qf the institute. Groups of six worked NCCLBoard; Mrs. Mary Mattogether for most of the sessions, thews of Ontario, Canada, 1st each of the six coming from dif· Vice President of the Caltholic ferent locations, where possible. Women's League of Canada; Mrs. Betty Aitken of Juebec, Canada, Each group selected agE:neral 2nd Vice President of the Cathgoal and the blocks against olic Women's League of Canada. achieving the goal; it selected The characteristics of a team one block and decided on the are, it was pointed out, leadervehicles that must be used to overcome the block and achieve ship, common goals and objectives, attitude, spirit, cooperative the refined goal. . method, commitment, utilization General sessions were then of people's skills, practice ·and held and ideas· were shared, rotation of leadership functions from vital team people fileveloping a sense of identity. It was also . noted that many times parish organizations are too materialistic and spirituality A wOllkshop for religious ed- is forgotten. ucation teachers will be held July Rev. Francis B. Connors, pas21-26 at Stonehill College. tor of Our Lady of Victory ParTum to Page Two The Stonehill Religious Education Institute affords teachers the opportunity to keep abreast of recent developments in the field of religious education. Among the workshop topics will be team ministry and adult WASHINGTON (NC) - Pope education, parish coordinators, Paul has responded affirmatively initiation of children into the to a request by the American Eucharist and Penance, and Hierarchy for an extension of Biblical virtues. the current procedural norms for Other topics include theater U.S. Roman Catholic marriage and the .Catholic Church, group courts. The procedural norms, which process in adult education and have been in effect in this counmusic for liturgies. Participants in this workshop try since 1970, speed up the procmay enroll on a credit or non- ess by which requests for annulcredit basis. Two graduate-level ments involving Catholics are credits may be earned for suc- granted or rejected. Cardinal Jean Villot, Vatican cessful completion of the workshop with an optional third cred- Secretary of State. wrote the afit for completion of an approved firmation to John Cardinal Krol Turn to Page Two project.
Plans Workshop For Teachers
Approve Tribunal Norms for U.5.
WASHINGTON (NC)-Bishop James Rausch, general secretary of the U. S. Catholic Conference has hailed a Supreme Court ruling affirming the right of disadvantaged parochia) school students to receive federal aid on a comparable basis with public school students as a "victory for responsible public policy." The decision, according to Bishop Rausch, "refutes the view -widely put forward following the court's anti-'aid' decisions a year ago-that the Constitution bars any and all forms of public assistance to children who exercise their right to attend nonpublic schools." The decision iii the Wheeler v. Barrera, said Bishop Rausch, joins "other 'Supreme Court rulings over the past several years which make it clear that, while some forms of aid to nonpublic education may not meet constitutional tests, nevertheless legislatures can devise student assistance programs which meet all constitutiona,1 tests." The court ruled 8 to 1 June 10 that parochial school students m\lst share in federal funds for educationaally deprived students
on a comparable basis with public school students under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). The court added, however, that "comparable"- aid does not necessarily mean "identical" aid. Suit ,was brought by parents of parochial school students in Kansas City, Mo., who contended that Missouri was in violation of the law since no state paid teachers were being assigned to work with disadvantaged children on the premises of parochial schools during regular school hours. The state argued that 'such services were in direct violation of Missouri's constitution. In a 24-page opinion for the court, Justice Harry Blackmun found that services provided eligible parochial school students in Missouri were "plainly inferior, both qualitatively and quantitatively to those given public school pupils. The court asserted that comparable but not necessarily identical programs would have to be offered parochial schoo) students, but left it to Missouri officials to determine whic:1. of "numerous"
forms of comparable aid should be chosen. In response to charges that no other type of aid is comparable to on-the-premlses instruction during regular school hours, Justice Blackmull responded that courts cannot take on the burden of judging the relative merits of educational programs. While ultimate responsibility and control over Title I funds for the educationally disadvantaged must rest with the public school agencies, according to the court, "a program which provides in· struction and equipment to the public school children and the same equipment but no instruction to the private school chilo dren cannot, on its face, be comparable." The court did not rule on the constitutionality of a plan under which public scnool teachers would be sent to teach in parochial schools since no such plan was at issue in the case. The court did say, however, that First Amendment implications may vary according to the "precise contours" of such a plan. According to Justice BlackTurn to Page Four
O.K. Mode·1 Pilgrim Week VATICAN OIT (NC) - The Vatican's Central Committee for the Holy Year has approved a "model week" that pilgrims to Rome in 1974 may follow to take full advantage of the spiritual devotions and privileges attached to Holy Year in the Eternal City. The model week plan also provides ,pilgrims with the choice of taking part in a five-day or seven-day organized round of visits to the major basilicas of Rome, various other liturgical ceremonies, an audience with the Pope and other jubilee year observances. Pilgrims in Rome for less than five days can join in the daily pilgrimage schedule as they wish. "We estimate that most pil· grims coming to Rome wil1 be here for five days to a week." explained the central committee's press chief, Father Carlo GasparrL "So we have tried to arrange an organized series of spiritual events -that will allow the group pilgrimages as well as the individual pilgrims to participate to the full jn the spiritual riches of the Holy Year and have the indulgences attached." ·Father Gasparrri, noting that the various estimates of the number of Holy Year pilgrims who will visit Rome have ranged from six million to 25 million, said they were all probably inaccurate "because, as of now, no one really knows exactly how many will come. There will be thousands and tens of thousands, that we know. ,But we can't provide statistics at this time." The model week for pilgrims, as it is now conceived, includes a community celebration of Mass in 51. Peter's each Sunday, with the possibility of Pope Paul VI
being present for the Mass, or for the sermon or at least for a final benediction. Throughout the week, community celebrations and Mass will be celebrated daily
in 'each of the four major basil· icas in Rome: 51. Peter's, St. Paul's Outside-the-Wall, 5t. John Lateran's and St. Mary Major's as well as at the catacombs.
HOI.Y YEAR POSTER: This is the Holy Year poster designed for the diocese of Lafayette, La., by Floyd Sonnier, art director of the diocesan newspaper, The MornIng Star. Printed in gold, yellow and black, the poster is being given to Catholic churches in the diocese and also to some Christian congregations in Louisiana. NC Photo.