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Churches as Consumers In State ·Have Potential for Great Impact
The CHOR
An Anchor of the Soul, Sure and Firm -
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ST. PAUL PRICE 10¢ $4.00 per year
]4, No. 25 © 1970 The Anchor RiveI'D MQJ$Si. D Thursday, June ] 8 1910 0
Pred~ct
Religious TV Shift to Spiritual RADNOR (NC)-A major shift in television religious programming placing more emphasis Oil spiritual concern and less on social activism was forecast in the June 13 issue of TV Guide
radio officials of major religious groups who said they' were aware of increasing criticism of their emphasis on social activism in their network TV programming. magm~ine. Included among those agreeThe magazine surveyed TV- ing with the coming shift was Father David Connolly of the National Catholic Office for Radio and Television. "Some clergymen have become so involved in contemporary problems that they have, ended up thinking that to be a minister or a priest is to be a sociologist or a social worker. Rev. Anthony Rocha, chaplain Our TV programs have reflected at the Catholic Memorial Home this tendency. We must now in Fall River, has accepted an start going into the world with appointment as Professor of Ed- religious answers," he said. The Rev. Richard Gilbert, ucation, Institute of Gerontology, at the State University of New chairman of the Division of Mass Media of the Board of NaYork in Albany. Father Rocha became in Feb- tional Missions. of the United Church, said, ruary the first cleric in the na- Presbyterian tion to receive from Harvard "We've been trading in our University a Master's Degree in Christianity for mere humanism." Health Administration. Network religious programs He has long been active in the problems of the aging and in recent years, wrote Edith Efis internationally-recognized in ron in the TV Guide article, the field of gerontology, the have concentrated heavily on sostudy of the entire aging process cial activism, covering subjects ranging from hunger and povTurn to Page Two erty to housing, drug addiction, campus unrest and race relations. Tum to Page Six
Father Rocha University
BOSTON (NC) - A 20-page study of Massachusetts' 2,427 Christian churches-the nation's first attempt to pinpoint the economic impact of "The Church as Consumer"-indicates· that the state's churches spend more than $26.6 million annually on goods and services. Organized by Project Equality, a nationwide ecumenical organization aimed at marshaling the economic power of religious in-. stitutions to promote fair employment practices by church suppliers, the survey was limited to Catholic, Protestant, Unitarian . and Quaker houses of worship. The Diocese of Fall River is a partner in Project Equality. Inclusion of Jewish synagogues, Project Equality spokesmen said, would add another $1.5 to $2 million to the total. The study noted that houses of worship represent only a small fraction of religious spending for goods and services. Vast additional sums are spent by schools, hospitals, convents and other institutions. According to survey author Don Rose, total religious expenditures for goods and services in the state could exceed $500 million. The survey indicates that Catholic and Protestant spending is almost evenly divided, with Catholics spending $14,083.500, or 52.92 per cent of the total. Yet because 83.6 per cent of the state's churchgoers are Catholic, the Protestant per capita outlay
is more than four times the size of the Catholics' per capita' spending. The typical Catholic church spends $18,172 annually for an average of $5.30 per capita, " while the average Protestant church spends $7,584 per year for a $21.60 per capita outlay. Total spending breaks down as ·follows:
. PROJECT EQUALITY
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Maintenance and repair work, other than major construction, gets 8.47 per cent of the budget. Printers get 8.21 per cent, publishers get 7.93 per cent; trans· portation expenses take 6.2 per cent and food takes 5.76 per cent. Candles and other ecclesiastical supplies account for 4.43 per cent of church spending. 4.05 per cent goes to office supplies; 3.82 per cent to insurance and financial services; 3.42 per cent goes to general merchandise. Project Equality officials noted that all of the Catholic churches in Massachusetts, 988 of the Protestant, Unitarian and Quaker churches and 140 synagogues are affiliated with the program. This means that more than
two·thirds of the state's houses of worship, .representing about 93 per cent of the Bay State's church·going population, are committed to purchasing goods 'and services from equal opportunity employers. Project·affiliated institutions send suppliers a commitment form pledging companies to an equal employment policy. The form also commits the company to file an annual report outlining the racial composition of its work force. When the report is filed, the company becomes eligible to be placed in the Project Equality buyers' guide. Church representatives in turn bUy from suppliers listed in the guide. Religious groups participating in the program also submit reports on their own hiring policies. So far, Project Equality has dealt with the day·to·day expenditures of religious groups. But officials indicated at the conclusion of the survey that the organization. plans to establish a new operation to deal with church holdings in bonds, stocks and trusts. Fall River Diocesan Director of Project Equality is Rev. John F. Hogan, pastor of St. Julie's Church, North Dartmouth, and Director of the Catholic Welfare Bureau of New Bedford. Assistant Diocesan Director is John M. Clements, Case Work Supervisor of the New Bedford Catholic Welfare Bur.eau.
Professor
Council Asks School Board Mandate
. REV. ANTHONY ROCHA
At a meeting coiled by· the Most Reverend Bishop the Diocesan Pastoral Council strongly seconded the work of the Diocesan Superintendent of Schools and the Diocesan Board of Education. Reflecting upon what has become a crisis in diocesan communities, the Council agreed that further action in education on the parish level can no longer be a. simple response to crises but rather a careful plan to Tum to Page Six
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A FiRST: Rev. Leo PolseUi, CSC, leads the procession into the Holy Rosary Church and be.came the first priest to be ordained in the FaIn River church. Participating in the ceremonies were: Rev. Msgr. Reginald M. Barrette, Master of ceremonies; R~v. Gerald Cohen, CSC, and Rev._ Robert Kruse, CSC, members of the Stonehill College faculty and assistants to Most Rev. James J. Gerrard, ordaining prelate. -