SERVING SOUTHEASTERN MASSACHUSETTS CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS
t eanc 0 VOL. 22, NO. 26
FALL RIVER, MASS., THURSDAY, JULY 6, 1978
20c, $6 Per Year
Church Groups Are Trying To Save Foreign Aid Bill
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THE SIGN FOR 'PROMISE' is made by Paul Josefek as he weds Dorothy Matthews in Sacred Heart Church, Fall River, at first sign language marriage ceremony in the area. Both bride and groom are deaf. They met at sign language class conducted by Father Joseph Viveiros of Sacred Heart, who officiated at their wedding.
Unemployment Insurance Poses Schools Problem By Nancy Frazier Catholic legal experts are studying possible responses to a .recent opinion by Secretary of Labor Ray Marshall that lay employees of church-related elementary and 'secondary schools must be enrolled in state unemployment insurance plans. The U.S. Catholic Conference Office of General Counsel, in collaboration with attorneys for v&ri4Jus dioceses around the countty, is expected to decide within a month on the response, which could include court action or attempts to change federal legislation.
SHE'LL BE 96 this month. For an unusual look at nuns, old and young, see page 11.
Marshall issued his 0pl'RlOn that "unemployment insurance coverage for employees of church-related schools is constitutionally permissible" in an April 18 letter to Bishop Thomas C. Kelly, general secretary of the usec and the National Conference of Catholic Bishops. Many CatholiC' educators fear that the new tax could lead to the closing of som,e already financially troubled schools. Although the federal government will pick up 80 percent of the unemployment insurance costs in the first year of participation (1978), Catholic elementary and secondary schools will be required to pay a certain percentage, set by the state, of the income of each lay employee during 1979, if they use the contribution method of payment. For example, a Catholic school in Illinois with 15 lay employees, all making over $6,000, would owe $2,700 to their state's unemployment insurance program next year. That state assesses three percent of the employee's first $6,000 of income. The new tax applies to all lay school employees, full - or part-time. Excluded from the insurance are priests and Religious, and all employees who work exclusively for the church, such as Tum to Page Seven
WASHINGTON (NC) - President Jimmy Carter urged support for his foreign aid bill at a weekly Bible class at the First Baptist Church of Washington and one church official concerned about the bill worries that "it may be that only prayer and faith can save the bill." Leaders of virtually every religious group in America are afraid that Congress will use the "tax revolt" as an excuse to gut - and, some say fearfully, even eliminate - U.S. foreign aid programs. But religious leaders and others backing the $7,352 million appropriations bill are not relying on faith and prayer alone. They are trying to speak in a language Congress is more familiar with, letters from constituents. The U.S. Catholic Conference, the Interreglious Task Force on U.S. Food Policy representing a number of Catholic, Protestant and Jewish organizations, and other groups have all begun asking their constituents to write their congressmen to support the bill due to be voted on the House either July 11 or July 18. Congress' mood "can probably be countered by a show of voter support for the U.S. development assistance program," the Task Force said. A House vote scheduled for the middle of June was pushed back 'by the House leadership which feared it did not have the votes to block substantial cuts in aid levels and restric-
'Slippery Slope' Argument Proved MILAN, Italy (NC) - The worst thing about the legalization of abortion is that when it is legal it becomes accepted, a French Catholic physician said. The physician, Michele Guy, said; "In France now, young women become pregnant to verify that they are fertile and then abort." Dr. Guy, a gynecologist, and her husband, Francois, an eyeear-nose-and-throat specialist, spoke in an interview duing a convention in Milan sPQnsored by the Pauline Fathers' publishing firm to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the encyclical "Humanae Vitae" ("On Human Life"). In that document Pope Paul VI reaffirmed the church's opposition to artificial birth control. Tum to Page Five
tions on aid for certain countries and programs. The most vulnerable part of the bill funds U.S. contributions to international financial institutions such as the World Bank and International Development Association which make loans for development projects in poor nations. The bill's supporters believe pending floor amendments, if passed, could cripple the banks. A broad spectrum of religious groups are trying to stimulate letters from their constituents to their congressmen because congressmen who want to cut the bill argue that California's vote for Proposition 13, a radical property tax reduction, means Americans want to see government spending cut across the board. "While the des;.re of many Americans for tax relief is clear," the Task Force said in a bulletin, "it would be unconscionable to accomplish this at the expense of the hundreds of
millions of persons with incomes of less than $200 annually." The church effort is part of a larger lobbying effort on behalf of the bill by the AFL-CIO, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the League of Women Voters and several human rights organizations. The bill's supporters say the bill approved by the House Appropriations Committee was better than they expected. But, they say, it faces a number of floor amendments which would hurt it badly. Some of these amendments would prohibit the use of U.S. contributions for loans going to Uganda, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Mozambique and Angola or for projects involving palm oil, sugar, citrus, tobacco, grains, oilseeds and steel that would weaken U.S. markets. The U.S. Catholic Conference and others opposing the restrictive amendments say that international development banks Turn to Page Seven
Thousands Attend Amherst Marriage Encounter Meet By Helen Plasse AMHERST, Mass. (NC) "We are not second class. We do not choose the lesser路 of two goods. We have been called by God to be great saints in our marriages and in our family lives," David M. Thomas told an audience of some 400 married couples. The admonition came during one of the 20 talks presented during the Fourth International Worldwide Marriage Encounter convention. The event drew some 18,000 to the sprawling campus of the University of Massachusetts. Thomas, a theologian and a consulting editor to the publication Marriage and Family Living, defined spirituality as "a recognition of the deep presence of God, which is here in our midst." His ideas on family spirituality were among the many tie-ins to the convention theme, "Focus on Family." In addition to the 20 invited speakers the convention featured the exchange of views on evangelization, parents as educators, family rights, the impact of change and family values. Among those who offered advice to couples was Archbishop
Raymond G. Huntharusen of Seattle, Wash., who urged the participants to "let go all the props, let go all the security; let yourself fall totally, heartily in the spirit of Jesus." The Seattle prelate was homilist at the concluding ceremony - a concelebrated Mass in the university football stadium. He told the international assembly that "Christian martiage stands at the center of the Christian mystery. It is not isolated, not closed in." Tum to Page Seven
HE LIVES in a 10 by 20 tarpaper shack in Appalachia. Read about his problems on page 12.