2 THE ANCHOR -
Vocation survey gets mixed results
Diocese of Fall.River:....- Fri., June 20, 1986
Cardinal's Lebanon visit raises hope for hostages' Among five Americans held hosBEIRUT, Lebanon (NC) - Cardinal John O'Connor of New York tage, reportedly by the Moslem visited Beirut in his role as presi- group Islamic Jihad, is Servite dent of the Catholic Near East Father Lawrence Martin Jenco, Welfare Association amid reports director of Catholic Relief Servthat he was also there to promote ices in Beirut. efforts to free Americans taken The kidnapped priest's ~ister, hostage in Lebanon. Mae Mihelich, said June 16 that Cardinal O'Connor met with she hoped Cardinal O'Connor's President Amin Gemayel June 14 visit would be "the little key that's and later told reporters that he had going to open the door for Father offered to do whatever he could to Jenco." help free the U.S. hostages, includ- , Hostage family representatives ing visiting Syria or Moslem-conmet with Cardinal O'Connor in trolled west Beirut. But the cardinal said he would May. "He said that when the time not interfere in any negotiations was ripe, he would go," said Mrs. already under way to free the hos- Mihelich, of Joliet, Ill. "I think tages and called his JUile 14-16 Cardinal O'Connor's going there visit ",purely pastoral," sponsored is going to make it a little bit by the papal nuncio, the Lebanese smoother. Even if he can't be sucMaronite patriarchate and the cessful, the 'try' is there. Then we'l try something else." pontifical mission.
Catholic Observer editor dies in W. Springfield A Mass of Christ the High Priest will be offered at 7:30 tonight in the chapel of the Dominican Monastery of the Mother of God in West Springfield for Msgr. David P. Welch, 60, editor in chief of The Catholic Observer, newspaper of the Springfield diocese. Msgr. Welch died unexpectedly on Tuesday. '., . Tonight's liturgy will be followed at 10 tomorrow morning by the Mass of Christian Burial, also at
the monastery chapel. Interment will be in St. Thoqlas Cemetery, West Springfield. Editor in chief since 1959, Msgr. Welch was also chaplain at the Dominican monastery. A Springfield native, he was ordained in 1950. Before assuming his editorship, ,he· was associate pastor at several parishes and was director of a parochial school. He was named a monsignor in 1964.
Father Richard Wolf, SJ Some 100 Jesuit and diocesan priests and hundreds of Bishop Connolly High School students and parents crowded Holy Name Church, Fall River, on Tuesday for the Mass of Christian Burial offered for Father RichardJ. Wolf, SJ, 51, who died June II. Born in Rockville Center, Long Island, NY, he was the son of the late Charles A. Wolf Sr. and Marie (Rooney) Wolf. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1954 and was ordained in I967,joining the Bishop Connolly faculty in 1968. Father Wolf, who held master's degrees in philosophy, English" classics and divinity, taught English and religion at Bishop Connolly and from 1975 to 1979 was the school principal. At the time of his death he was director ofalumni and assistant director of development while remaining a teacher of religion. The 1986 graduating class dedicated its yearbook to him. He was active in academic organizations and in Fall River civic affairs, •serving on many boards and being among founding J'Ilembers of the city's Re-Creation program. He was a director of the' Greater Fall River Association for Retarded Citizens and was"also a supporter of the former Nazareth Hall School for exceptional children. ) The n()milist at TuesdaY'8-"rvIass .. was, Rev. James A.Benson, SJ" redo: ofthe Connolly Jesuit'com- . munity. Taking as his theme the
Gospel of Matthew read at the liturgy, he said that Father Wolf exemplified the Gospel directives to feed the hungry and. welcome the stranger. ' Principal celebrant for the Mass was Very Rev. Robert E. Manning, SJ, New England provincial· superior for the Society of Jesus. The condolences of Bishop Daniel A. Cronin, in Collegeville, Minn., for a meeting of the U.S. bishops, were brought to the congregation by Msgr. Daniel F. Shalloo, pastor of Holy Name Church and dean of the Fall River deanery of the diocese. Father Wolf is survived by a brother, Charles Wolf of RO,ckville Center, and a sister, Joan Reimer, of St. James, N.Y.
MARCIA MEDEIROS
The tops in teens By Joseph Motta Four Cape Cod Catholic teenagers have been named among Outstanding Young Church Women of 1986 by Church W.omen United in the USA, an ecumenical movement with a chapter on the Cape. Beth Arnold of St. John the Evangelist parish, Pocasset; Marcia Medeiros of St. Francis Xavier parish, Hyannis; Nancy Moran of Holy Trinity parish, West Harwich; and Sara Northup of Our Lady of Victory parish, Centerville, were the four Catholics among the 13 young women honored, according to Bonnie Goodwin of West Yarmouth, chapter president. . "They're Christian examples to other teenagers," Ms. Goodwin said. She added' that the girls had been nominated for the honor by women's groups in their respective churches. Marilyn Lariviere, an active Church Women United member, said a goal of recognizing the young women, "all quite visible in their own churches," was to bring them together in "an ecumenical sense." The Anchor had the opportunity to speak with Marcia Medeiros and Sara Northup in depth. The other two young women could not be reached for comment. . "I was looking at my involvements the other day and I realized they're all Church-related!" Marcia said. The Hyannis resident, a recent graduate of Barnstable High School, plans to major in elementary education at Bridgewater State College this fall. The 17-year-old has taught second grade CCD for two years and
Sr. Marie Bernard Funeral rites took place Monday at Blessed Sacrament Convent, Fall River, for Sister Marie Bernard Lemaire, SSJ, 73, who died June 13. '
Fall River Herald News
FATHER WOLF
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SARA NORTHUP
A Fall River native, the daughter of the late Anthime and Eugenie (Bastien) Lemaire, she entered the Sisters of St. Joseph in 1930. After 13 years in France, she returned to Fall River in 1·946, serving in Sf: Jean Baptiste and Blessed Sacrament parishes'in the city and in St. Michael's parish, Ocean Grove, until she retired in 1981. Her survivors include t'wo brothers, Henri Lemaire, Clearwater, Fla., and Joseph Lemaire, Newport, RI. .
has participated in St. Francis Xavier's CYO for three years. Marcia has definite opinions about attending church services. "Religion is something I've always been brought up with," the National Honor Society member said. "But now it's not just my parents' faith, it's my faith. It's something you need to keep your life on track. "It almost makes me angry that other young people aren't involved." At Mass, Marcia says, when the homilist applies the Gospel to everyday life, she can "take it home and use it." She and Sara Northup have made the ECHO youth retreat. Both. later ,served as ECJ-IQ t~l!m mem'bers,. ..Also 17 and a brand-new Barnstable High graduate, Sara will attend Regis College in Weston. The future social sciences major is interested in gerontology and holds a parttime job in ,an area nursing home. "You can use Church as a foundation for how you want to live your life," she said. "It's somewhere you can turn for answers." Sara thinks that most young people are religious, but that those who stray do so because of identity problems. "Many aren't sure of who they are," she said, "but a lot of them will return to church." Teenagers tend to be afraid of priests, she opined, because they mistakenly believe that clergy"only look for the negative" in young peopll{. She adds that she sees the priests in her home parish as "entireIyapproachable." "They can talk to you on your own level," she says. The young woman recently received the Vincent and Rose Curran Memorial scholarship of Our Lady of Victory Women's Guild. Like Marcia, she is active in her parish CCD program, having recently addressed high school students on the concerns of elderly persons and the ECHO program, which is flourishing in the Cape and Islands deanery.
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CH ICAGO (NC) - Priests and religious as role models do most to encourage as well as discourage vocations, accoroing to a survey by the National Conference of Diocesan Vocation Directors in Chicago. The survey found that the single most encouraging factor for priesthood and religious life, cited by 34 percent of vocation directors and others involved in vocation , ministry, is personal contact with priests and religious. The single most discouraging factor,listed by 35 percent ofthose surveyed, is that many priests and religious are poor role models and display inconsistencies. Twenty-one percent listed "celibacy, can't have a family" as the single most discouraging factor. The survey was sent to the 347 members of the national conference and distributed to 510 others involved in vocation work. 416 surveys, 46 percent, were returned. 52 percent of diocesan vocation personnel said they see the interest in priesthood and religious life among young people as greater today than five years ago; 48 percent of priests see the interest as being greater. .. 80 percent of diocesan vocation personnel see interest in lay ministry among young people as greater than five years ago. 90 percent of those surveyed suggested hiring more fulltime lay ministers in parishes, 89 percent called for more influential roles for women in parishes, 84 percent urged greater church involvement in social issues, 78 percent called for reducing ,the.size of parishes, 69 percent' urged, allowing priests to marry and 68 percent called for ordaining women. While 37 percent thought temporary commitment would help the church, 50 percent said it would hurt. Father Henry Mancuso, conference executive director, said the survey indicates that "the climate for promoting vocations today is better than just a few years ago." He added, howeyer, that "we have to recognize that there are issues of church and society that work against commitment to priesthood and vowed life as well as lay ministry." He also said he was concerned that only 45 percent of diocesan vocation personnel are working full time in vocation ministry. Pointing out that it is difficult to develop a comprehensive program while filling many other roles, he said that parttime personnel end up merely processing seminary applications.
Eleanor Kenney The Mass of Christian Burial was offered yesterday at St.Mary's Church, Foxboro, for the repose of the soul of Eleanor (Drew) Kenney, a Bishop Feehan High School, ,Attleboro, faculty member, who died Monday. Mrs. Kenney was the widow of John Torrey Kenney, and the mother of Father Paul C. Kenney, SJ, Dr. Richard Kenney, Robert Kenney, Mark F. Kenney and Mary Chris Higgins. She is also survived by a sister, Phyllis Drew Mahoney' of Wellesley, and fiye grandchildren. . D'o~~tio~s in her memo~~ to the Bishop' Feehan High School Humanities 8ch01ilTSl\ip Fund are welcome. ' .