SERVING . .. SOUTHEASTERN MASSACHUSmS CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS
t eanco VOL. 24, NO. 27
FALL RIVER, MASS.; THURSDAY, JULY 3, 1980
20c, $6 Per Year
Keeper of' the flame By Matthew Monahan
NEW YORK (NC) - At 7:30 a.m. Capt. Gabe Madison sounded a blast on the hom and eased the 60-foot Liberty II into New York Harbor for the daily voyage which transports National Park Servic~ employees to their jobs on Ellis and Liberty islands. As the vessel chugged through the green water and morning haze to Liberty Island, Charles DeLeo gazed at the massive Statue of Liberty, pointed to the tip of the torch and said, "That's where I pray." At 8 a.m. DeLeo raised Old Glory on the 100-foot pole and went to work with the maintenance crew in the monument that has been the symbol of freedom since its dedication on Oct. 28,~1886. After a 154-foot elevator ride through the pedestal, the muscular, brown-haired DeLeo walked up a spiral staircase with the sound of footsteps echoing through the statue. When he reached Miss Liberty's right shoulder, DeLeo unlocked a metal gate and branched off into a narrow stairwell that has been closed to the public since 1916. He maneuvered his compact frame up the narrow ladder for the final 63-step climb. At the top, past four sodium vapor bulbs, the equivalent of 10,000 candles, DeLeo opened the door and was met by a gust of fresh air. Stepping into a small catwalk around the flame of the torch, he had a spectacular view of lower Manhattan. "This is my chapel," he said. For the past eight years the 32-year-old DeLeo has been "Keeper of the Flame." He keeps the torch free from dust and dirt, cleans the 200 windowpanes in the crown and torch and does general maintenance on the statue. He said that after he ended a four-year hitch in the Marines in 1969 he had a variety of jobs but couldn't land a steady one. Then his fortunes took a dramatic tum. "On March 22,1972, I was out of work and decided to visit the Statue of Liberty," he said. "About halfway over on the ferry the Holy Spirit inspired me to ask for a job as soon as I got here." DeLeo did just that. "Through God's intercession I was immediately hired as a laborer on the maintenance staff," he said. "Soon after I dedicated the torch as a chapel to the Lord Jesus Christ." DeLeo goes there to pray and meditate during breaks. The third of fOUf children of a Greek-American mother and an ItalianAmerican father, DeLeo is a member of Blessed Sacrament Parish in Brooklyn, N.Y. He quit high school to enlist in the Marines. In Vietnam he survived six mortar attacks. "I became more aware of my Catholic faith over there," he said. "I knew God saved me for a purpose. I felt God was calling me in a big way to spread his word." Turn to Page Six
Euthanasia violates human dignity, says Vatican By Nancy Frazier VATICAN CITY (NC) - The Vatican has confronted the issue of euthanasia and firmly rejected any action leading to "killing of an innocent human being." In a "Declaration on Euthanasia," the Vatican"'s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith also commented on the use of and expensive experimental medical treatments to prolong life. When death is inevitable and imminent, "it is permitted in conscience to take the decision to refuse forms of treatment that would only secure a precarious or burdensome prolongation of
life so long as the normal care due to the sick person in similar cases is not interrupted," ~aid the declaration. The 3,OOO-word document was approved by Pope John Paul II on May 5 and issued by the Vatican on June 26. Other issues discussed by the document include suicide, use of painkillers and "living wills." "It is necessary to state firmly once more that nothing and no one can in any way permit the killing of an innocent human being, whether a fetus or an embryo, an infant or an adult, an old person, or one suffering from an incurable disease, or a
person who is dying," the declaration said. "No one is permitted to ask for this act of killing . . . nor can he or she consent to it . . . nor can any authority legitimately recommend or permit such an action," the document added. "For it is a question of the violation of the divine law, an offense against the dignity of the human person, a crime against life, and an attack on humanity," the Vatican said. The doctrinal congregation defined euthanasia as "an action or an omission which of itself or by intention causes death in
order that all suffering may in this way be eliminated." Decisions or appropriate medical treatment in individual cases must be made according to the conscience of the sick person, his physician or others responsible to speak for the patient, the document said. But it is noted that each decision must take into account "moral obligations and the various aspects of the case. The doctrinal congregation then posed the question: "Is it necessary in all circumstances to have recourse to all possible remedies?" and provided a few guidelines for the answer.
Experimental medical techniques, even if they are "not without a certain risk," may be used with the patient's consent, but such treatment may be terminated if "the investment of instruments and personnel is disproportionate to the results forseen" or "the te'chniques applied impose on the patient strain or suffering out of proportion with the benefits which he or she may gain," the document said. A refusal to make use of such measures is also permitted by th,e church when based on "an acceptance of the human condition, or a wish to avoid the appliTurn to Page Six