SERVING SOUTHEASTERN MASSACHUSETTS CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS
VOL. 22, NO. 24
FALL RIVER, MASS., THURSDAY, JUNE 22, 1978
20c, $6 Per Year
Gallup Sees Tax Revolt Pressuring Volunteers ,
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,.,,,,"IIffIN#~ FATHER PETRIE WITH MOTHER TERESA AT THE CITY OF PEACE
Father Bill Petrie
Following Christ By Pat MeGowan Last month Father BiB Petrie of the Congregation of the Fathers of the Sacred Hearts spoke at St. Francis Xavier parish, Hyannis, St. Mary's, North Fairhaven, and Holy Trinity, West Harwich, on his work with Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Today the priest, described by Father Matthew SUllivan, pastor of St. Mary's, as "one who closely follows Christ," is back in India, continuing to fulfill his youthful dream of working with abandoned lepers. At his lecture in North Fairhaven, at the parish in which he was ordained in 1969, Father Petrie, 36, said that when he was 16 he read a book about Father Damien, famed leper priest of Molokai, also a Sacred Hearts Father. Then and there he decided to be a priest and work with lepers. But when he entered Father Damien's community he found that it no ,longer operated a leper hospital and that his superiors thought he should gain some· general experience before entering such a specialized ministry. He was patient, working at Regina Pacis Center in New
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Bedford, at Our Lady of the Assumption Church, also in New Bedford, and at his community's house in Boston. During this time he learned more and more of the work, becoming internationally known; of Mother Teresa of Calcutta. The destitute Indians for whom she cared, he found out, included hundreds of lepers, for whom she had built a colony 125 miles from Calcutta. He obtained permission to enter India; not as a missionary, which is not permitted, but as a consultant in occupational reTurn to Page Five
Are Our Schools Necessary?, By Father John Meyers ,Father Meyers is the president of the National Catholie Educational Association. Americans have lots of things in common. One is schools. And an important dialogue between schools is happening. Recently I overheard an interesting conversation. The Catholic school stood across the street from a public Turn to Page Five
By Jo-ann Price NEW YORK ~NC) - If the tax revolt becomes a national movement, the resultant "devastating'" revenue losses would put new pressures on neighborhood volunteer groups to sustain many urban services, according to George Gallup Jr., president of the Gallup Poll. Gallup was a major speaker at a national conference on neighborhood revitalization, held in New York for four days under the auspices of the Na7 tional Center for Urban Ethnic Affairs and Citibank. Releasing findings of a "state of the cities" survey completed in January, the public opinion analyst said of California voters' recent approval of Proposition 13, which severely cut the state's property taxes: "If the taxpayers' revolt becomes a reality on anything approaching a national . basis, the loss in tax revenues would be devastating. "Virtually the only way to sustain many urban services would be through volunteer efforts, most practically through the neighborhood," he added. Gallup said a survey done by his organization for Newsweek magazine showed the public to be heavily in favor of laws which would limit taxes in their own states, but less supportive of proportional cutbacks in public services. "Perhaps one can infer from these data that voluntarism has potential to bridge the gap between these magnitudes," he said.
Voluntarism and neighborhood revitalization "go handin-hand," he said, adding that more than six million voluntary associations in the United
States form a "vast reservoir of the human spirit" virtually bypassed by public policy. The GallUp findings about the Tum to Page Five
Abortion Is Major Issue In State, Nationwide Abortion contiues to be a major issue on the state and national level as politicians seek to get stalled legislation moving by hammering out compromise proposals on an appropriations bill in Washington and the state budget in Boston. In the nation's capital, the House, in a move likely to lead to a repea,t of last year's prolonged battle over federal funding of welfare abortions, has voted to retain a ban on funding of abortions not needed to save the life of a mother. The ban was part of the lang'lage in an appropriations bill for the Departments of Labor and of Health, Education and Welfare.
abortion funding language, has not yet voted on this year's appropriations bill. It is expected that Sen. Edward Brooke (R-Mass.) will lead Senate opposition to the abortion funding restriction, despite
The House rejected, by a 212198 vote, an amendment offered by House Majority Leader Jim Wright (D-Texas) to substitute compromise language adopted after five months of debate and 28roll call votes in late 1977.
"The end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started" - the upper room in Jerusalem at Pentecost - "and to see the place for the first time," the conference was told by Cardinal Joseph Suenens of Malines-Brussels, Belgium. Turn to Page Sixteen
The Senate, which has traditionally favored more permissive
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Dublin Host City For Cha rismatics DUBLIN, Ireland (NC) - The Second International Conference on the Charismatic Renewal in the Catholic Church, held in Dublig June 15-18, ended as it began with strong emphasis on the duty and mission of all Christians to preach the Gospel.
Deacon Hopefuls End First Year This past weekend, the Permanent Diaconate candidates for the 'Fall River diocese, together with their wives participated in a three day retreat at La Salette Center for Christian Living, Attleboro. Co-ordinated by the diocesan office of the Permanent Diaconate, the retreat was a fitting closing for the candidates' first year in the diaconal program. Turn to Page Sixteen
• what's inside • • fleet blessing
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• Taunton history ."". p. 7 • new church """"""".p.IO
UP IN SMOKE: The mortgage of Our Lady of the Cape Church, Brewster" gets the match at'traditional ceremony. From left, Msgr. John J. Oliveira, vice chancellor; Father Rene Gelinas, M.S., pastor; Bishop Daniel A. Cronin.