t eanc 0 VOL. 31, NO. 27
•
Friday, July 10, 1987
F ALL RIVER, MASS.
FALL RIVER DIOCESAN NEWSPAPER FOR SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS
Southeastern Massachusetts' Largest Weekly
•
58 Per Year
High court OKs church hire of members only WASHINGTON (NC) - The Supreme Court has upheld a federal provision allowing church institutions to employ only church members even for non-religious jobs. In a case involving the Mormon Church, the ,court ruled unanimously in a late-June decision that a 1972 anti-bias law which exempts such employment discrimination by church groups is constitutional. The decision reversed the ruling of a federal district court that declared the exemption for churches from some civil rights laws unconstitutional. The U.S. Catholic Conference, public policy arm of the U.S. bishops, had urged the high court to uphold the discrimination exemption and reverse the lower court. Justice Byron R. White, writing for the court, said that "a law is not
unconstitutional simply because it allows churches to advance religion, which is their very purpose." For a law to be struck down, he said, "it must be fair to say that the government itself has advanced religion through its own activities." Four justices, in concurring opinions, emphasized that the ruling involved an exemption only for nonprofit activities, which usually involve operations central to a church's religious mission. The case, Corporation of the Presiding Bishop of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints vs. Amos, arose when a Mormonowned· nonprofit company fired Arthur Mayson, a Mormon employee who failed to attain a demanded level of church perfection. Others fired for the same reason joined in a suit brought against the church. Mayson was a janitor responsi-
ble for maintaining a church-owned gymnasium. In his ruling U.S. District Judge David K. Winder in Utah said that religious employers may refuse to hire people outside their faith for "religious" activities only, not for "secular" or nonreligious jobs. He said that a 1972 exemption to the 1964 Civil Rights Act ban on discrimination based on religion, race, color, sex and national origin could "advance religious tenets and practices" and thus violated the First Amendment's ban against establishment of religion. The First Amendment's two clauses dealing with religion guarantee that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. " The 1964 law generally bans discrimination in employment based on religion, but it made an
exception to allow religious employers to restrict employment to "individuals of a particular religion to perform work connected with [their] religious activities." In the 1972 amendment Congress deleted the word "religious" from the exception, thus allowing religious employers to hire only members of their faith whether or not the work is religious in nature. Last January the USCC filed a friend-of-the-court briefurging the Supreme Court to overturn Winder's ruling. The USCC said the lower court misinterpreted the ban against established religion and said that unless this "flawed analysis" were corrected it would "lead to increased governmental involvement in the affairs of religious organizations. " In its brief the USCC did not discuss the merits of the Mormon
Church's position and stated that its concern was "in rectifying the erroneous construction of the Establishment Clause adopted by the district court. " The USCC said when the Mormon Church favored its own members and discharged employees who did not meet church standards, "its actions did not implicate any constitutional provision." It said the civil rights exemption "does not impermissibly prefer or advance religion in violation of the Establishment Clause," but rather "it insulates religion from certain governmental regulation." Because of the constitutional question involving a U.S. law, the Supreme Court pro;vjded expedited review of the distri'ct court ruling and there was no appeals court dec.ision in the case.
The bishop's privilege: 40th Blessing of Fleet By Joseph Motta Saying that all Catholics, like Peter the Apostle, have the responsibility to be "fishers of souls" and "attract people to the faith by our own good examples," Bishop Daniel A. Cronin offered Mass preceding the annual Blessing of the Fleet ceremony June 28 at St. Peter the Apostle parish, Provincetown. The bishop was principal celebrant and homilist of the Mass. Concelebrants included Father Edward J. Burns, St. Peter's pastor; Dom Gavin Barnes, OSB, a summer assistant from St. Meinrad Archabbey, St. Meinrad, Ind.; and Father Francis Aresta, SCJ, a Provincetown native home from mission work in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
Msgr. JohnJ. Oliveira was master of ceremonies at the Mass and at the 40th annual blessing of fishing and pleasure craft which followed off MacMillan Wharf in Cape Cod Harbor. "I've always considered it a privilege to be able to offer Holy Mass for the fishermen of the Provincetown fleet and their families," the bishop said in his homily, "and to pray in happy memory for the fishermen who have gone before us, partic'ularly those who have died at sea." The bishop noted that he was celebrating the feast of Saints Peter and Paul a day early with his visit to the Cape-tip town. The blessing, traditionally held the last Sunday in June, always falls on or about the saints' feast day.
Bishop Cronin emphasized the "deeply spiritual meaning" of the family celebration and urged Massgoers to focus on the religious side of the many festivities of the day. "Our lives forever are destined to be with the Lord," he'said, "and our lives on earth are purely in preparation for that." He also said that Pope John Paul II has much in common with Peter, the first pope, and, like his predecessor, "sees to it that the pastoral care of souls is enhanced." He asked prayers for the pope "to carry out his ministry with the courage and convictions of the first Peter." Lectors at the Mass in the nautically decorated church were Christopher ~now, a local attorney, and Kevin Ferreira, a fishing industry
worker. Music was by the parish choir and a chamber group from the Cape Cod Conservatory of West Barnstable. Children of fishermen were included in the offertory procession, and fishermen Kenneth Macara and John Vasques accompanied the bishop onto the altar, sitting beside him during the liturgy. Vasques captains the "Gale," the vessel that carried the bishop into the harbor for the blessing. Macara is top man on the "Ruthy L," last year's host boat. Bishop Cronin prayed for the fishermen before ending the Mass. His prayer, delivered in former years on MacMillan Wharf, the original site of the blessing, was offered in church so that the fishermen could hear it.
"Lord ... by your holy hand bless these boats and the fishermen ... send your holy angel from on high to watch over them and all on board to ward off any threat of disaster and to guide their course through calm waters to the destined port. "Then, after a time, when they have had success in their labors, may you in your loving providence bring them back with glad hearts to their homes." Todd Motta, a 28-year-old parishioner who captains the fishing vessel "Liberty Belle," said he has participated in the blessing all his life. "It's nice to see the bishop come down and bless the boats," he said.
lOl-YEAR-OLD Nellie Tarvers greets Bishop Cronin; merrymakers aboard the "Ruthy L." (Motta photos)
Turn to Page Eight