FALL RIVER DIOCESAN NEWSPAPER FOR SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS
t eanc 0 VOL. 29, NO. 25
FALL RIVER, MASS., FRIDAY; JUNE 21, 1985
$8 Per Year
Campus ministry I'etter rewrite asked
Bishops OK economy pastoral thrust
By Jerry FUteau COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. (NC) - The U.S. bishops, meeting in Collegeville June 14-18, strongly supported the direction their economy pastoral is taking, but asked for a major rewriting of a pastoral letter on campus min istry. They spent half a day listening to men and women religious and discussing issues -involved in dialogue with religious in their own dioceses. In closed-door sessions during the second half of the five-day meeting, this fall's world Synod of Bishops to review the work of the Second Vatican Council was discussed.
The pastoral letter on Cath olic social teaching and the U.S. economy, considered one of the most significant and controver sial of the current undertakings of the American hierarchy, was the major topic of sessions open to the press June 14 and IS. "It's clear that there's still much work to be done (on the economy pastoral), but it was clear to me that the bishops as a group are strongly supportive of the project," Bishop James Malone of Youngstown, Ohio, president of the National Con ference of Catholic Bishops, said to reporters afterwards. Archbishop Rembert Weak land of Milwaukee, head of the
economy pastoral's drafting committee, opened' a series of structured sm!lill-group discus sions on the pastoral with a re port updating the bishops. One major chang~ he an nounced was a decision to cut the pastoral froma-bout 60,000 to 40,000 words. Another, sub ject to the approval of the bish ops, was to try writing a shorter, less technical separate pastoral message to Catholics. Comments from the bishops indicated near-unanimous sup port for both moves. The pastoral is expected to be approved by the bishops sOme time in 1986. While some bishops criticized
if for taking what they thought was too negative an attitude to ward capitalism and the Ameri can economic system, others said that the major failing of the first draft was the absence of any real critique of capitalism itself. Many bishops strongly sup ported use of the "preferential option for the poor" concept as a basic framework for the docu ment. Others argued 'that the phrase lends itself to divisive ness and is less applicable in the United States, where most peo ple are middle-class, than in many basically two-class coun· tries, the rich and the poor. Comments on middle-class
America showed similar mixed feHlings, Bishops praised the hard work and generositY' of the mid dle class on the one hand, and on the other suggested that. everyoM must eXllmine his or her conscience about consumer ism and materialism. While the specific criticisms of the pastoral on the economy came within a framework of strong overall support, the draft pastoral on campu~ ministry did not enjc1y the Sam(l reception. The drafting committee for the campus miniHtry pastoral, headed by Bishop William Friend of Ale,candria-Shreveport, La., had engaged in ext,~nsive consul Tum to Page Nine
Church prays, agonizes with hiJack victims
By NC News As The Anchor went to press, two Illinois priests, a permanent deacon and several other Cath olic pilgrims from Ulinois con tinued to :be held hostage in the Middle East hijack drama in: volving a TWA jetliner com mandeered by Shiite Moslem ex tremists. Their whereabou..ts were un known amid reports that the 40 Americans . still believed to be held hostage had been removed from the plane at the airport in Beirut, Lebanon, and held in scattered Shiite neighborhoods in the city. A third HI'inois priest, who had been leading the group on a Holy Land pilgrimage, and about two dozen parishioners were among those released by the hijackers in the initial days of the crisis. The two priests still being held were Father Thomas Dempsey, pastor at St. Patrick Church in St. Charles, Ill., and Father James McLoughlin, pastor at St. Peter Church in Geneva, Ill. The dea con was Raymond Johnson, of A:nnunciation Church, Aurora,
Back home, members of Father McDonnell's parish as well as members of St. Peter Church in Geneva, IlL, St. Patrick Church in St. Charles, IlL, and Annun ciation Church in Aurora, III., held round-the-clock vigils for
pastors, family and friends. 'Bishop Arthur J. O'Neill of Rockford, back in his diocese after attending the U.S. bishops' general meeting in Collegeville, Minn., visited the parishes af fectedby the hijacking.
"The tragedy has brought the parishes much closer together in the spirit of united prayer," the bishop said June 18. "It is an in spiration to see people of all ages coming to their parish churches to pray for all the hostages and
Ill.
Father William McDonnell, 45, pastor at St. Margaret Mary Church in Algonquin, III., who had led the two-week pilgrim age, was among passengers re leased June 15 in Algiers, Al geria. A few hours later, in an Al gerian hotel, he led, the group 'n prayer for those stHl held cap ive.
FATHER WILUAM McDONNELL, left, shakes the hand of U.S. Ambassador to Al geria Michael Newlin, after being released from TWA Flight 847 in Algiers. Jose Delgado, center, was also among freed hostages. (NC/UPI-Reuter Photo)
their families." He said one parishioner told him "we always knew that we cared for one another but this has brought it 'into sharper focus." About 200 people attended a special Mass June 15 at the Al gonquin parish, where Father Robert GarritY,associate pastor, said, "Let's try to .put ourselves in the situation of the hostages. What would we be thinking? What would we be feeling? I am sure they are very frightened. Maybe by this point they are numb with 'fear, but there is no doubt they know weare pray ing for them. "This was the trip of a life time for some of our parish ioners," Father Garrity said of the two-week pilgrimage to the Holy Land that ,the hostages had been returning from. "It's sad this had to happen." Parishioner Regina Schultz said; "These are just such 'loving, .kind people. They don't belong in BeinIt with guerrillas." In Geneva, m.embers of St. Peter Church prayed for Father McLoughlin and four of his par ishioners originally held hostage. "He's a wonderful man," said Elaine Hurley, a par·ishioner. "This is .a horrible shock. It's hard to believe it's happening. This is something you read about in the newspapers but it doesn't happen to you." Lois ·Bushman, who works at the parish, said she had talked Tum to Page Seven