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DIOCESAN NEWSPAPER FOR SOUTHEAST. MASS" CAPE & ISLANDS
Vol. 27, No. 26
Fall River, Mass., Friday, July 1, 1983
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$8 Per Year
WASHINGTON(NC) - The Vatican Congregation· for Reli gious and Secular Institutes June 24 issued what it called a "clari fication and restatement" of "es sential elements" applying to re ligous life. The directives underscore the church's emphasis on living in community (as opposed to are· ligious living alone to carry out his or her apostolate), strong prayer life, wearing of religious garb, and adherence to the vows of poverty, chastity and obedi ence - including obedience in a special way to the pope and dis approval of religious holding civil power. Compiled in the document "Es· sential Elements in the Church's Teaching on Religious Life As Applied to Institutes Dedicated to Works of the Apostolate," the directives are drawn from the new Code of Canon Law, state· ments from recent popes and Second Vatican Council docu· ments. The docuII!ent was re leased June 24, the same time as a papal letter to the American bishops on renewal of religious life. The pope, calling on the U.S. bishops to aid religious com munities in the renewal begun after Vatican II, set up a com mission for the task. It consists of Archbishop John R. Quinn of San Francisco, chairman, Ar;ch. bishop Thomas C. Kelly of Louis· ville, Ky., and Bishop Raymond W. Lessard of Savannah, Ga. Among the "fundamental
norms" of religious life cited in the Vatican document are: • Community: "Community life, which is one of the marks of a' religious institute (Can.607 -2) is proper to each religious family. It gathers all the members together in Christ. . . .. . "Religious should live in their own religious house, observing a common life. They should not live alone without serious rea· son ... " • Obedience (regarding au thority: "By their vow of obedi ence, religious undertake to sub mit their will to tegitimate su periors (Can. 601) according to the constitutions." , "Religious are subject to the supreme authority of the church in a particular manner (Can. 509·1). All religious are obliged to obey the Holy Father as their highest superior lri virtue of the Vow of obedience (can. 590·2) • Obedience (regarding hold· ing of civil power): "Religious may not accept duties and offices outside their own insti· tute without the permission of a lawful superior (Can. 671). Like clerics, they may 1110t accept public offices which involve the exercise of civil power. (Can. 285·3; ct. also Can. 672 with the additional canons to which it refers)." • Poverty: "The evangelical counsel of poverty in imitation of Christ calls for a life poor In fact and in spirit ... " . • Apostolate: "The essential Turn to Page Six
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THE FLAG
'It is the flag just as much 0 f the man who was naturalized yesterday as of the man whose people have been here many generations.' -Henry ~hot Lodge
By Father Kenneth J. Doylle NC News Service Pope John Paul 11 went into the lion's den in Poland and tried to pull the beast's teeth. The lion is Poland's military regime, and the pope's success will be discovered when it opens its mouth again. If it continues roaring and putting down worker demonstra· tions, perhaps little will have changed. But if it speaks in a voice of moderation, lifting mar· tial law or initiating genuine dia· logue with the people, then the pope will have succeeded on a mission some saw as hopeless. On his trip the pope did not speak as a rabble-rouser but in tones of reconciliation and love. The pope is first of all a priest. He wants people to live in the presence and freedom of God. But external freedom is a criti· cal issue too, and he told the nation's 85 bishops that to lobby toward that goal is part of the Gospel imperative.' Throughout the week, the pope referred continually to the right of the Polish citizen to be free of government restraint. At Ka· towice, in the mining region of Slesia he said, "The experi· ence of history teaches that or· ganizations of this type are an indispensable element of social
life, especially in modern indus· trialized societies." Two days before, at Czesto chowa', he had spoken about the Solidarity union, saying that the hearts and consciences of the world were touched in 1980 when "the Polish worker stood up for himself with the Gospel in his hand and a prayer on his lips." As they did throughout papal events, supporters of Solidarity roared approval. On June 17, the second day of his trip, before millions of Poles watching on national television, the pope stood 10 paces from military leader Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski at Warsaw's Belve dere Palace and challenged him to respect the 1980 accords which gave workers the right to organize independently of the Communist Party. His behavior did not surprise Poland's priests. One said, "The pope knows Poland,' he always speaks his mind. and he always acts the same. If this were an Italian pope coming here, he might never act this way. But this pope knows the g()vernment, he knows himself and he knows the Poles." Indeed the pope seemed con fident throughout ~he week. On Turn to Page Twelve