The ANCHOR An Anchor 01 the Sou'~ Sure and Firm-St. Paul
Fall River, Mass., Thursday, July 20,' 1972 Vol • 16,No 29 © 1972 The Anchor PRICE 10¢ . $4.00 p., yeti,
Tax Credits Gain Court Approval ST. PAUL (NC)-Minnesota's landmark program of income tax credits for the parents of nonpublic school children was ruled constitutional in a sta,te court here. The law was called the first of its kind when it was praised last year, and the ruling July 6 was believed to be the first court ruling on the tax credit form of nonpublic school aid. In a 37-page opinion Ramsey County District Judge J. Jerome Plunkett ruled that the law violates ,neither the United States nor the Minnesota constitution. Opponents of the law had argued that it was unconstitutional because it provides state aid to Church-related schools. In rejecting that argument .Judge Plunkett said, "it appears that the schools received nothing . ... the only real gainers were the parents." The law, he said, "did not directly help the schools
but did help parents with tuition costs, which was the purpose of the law." Under the law, the parents of nonpublic school pupils may deduct tuition costs-up to $140 per high school student and $100 per elementary. school child from their final state income tax bills. . Similar measures have been passed or are pending in other states and more than 50 tax credits bills have been introduced in Congress this year. The Nixon administration has also endorsed the concept of tax credits. The new form of school aid gained popularity after the U. S. Supreme Court ruled last year that most direct forms of aid to Turn to Page Two !,
Vatican InstructionPenance, Eucharist rwo documents have been recently issued by the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith with the approval of Pope Paul VI. One. reaffirms that "individual and integral confession and absolution remain the only ordinary way for the faithful to be reconciled to God and the Church." This is apparently aimed at curbing the practice under which some priests have been granting absolution for grave sins in a community rite instead of in individual confession.. The other document concerns the reception of Holy Communion and says that ordinarily Communion may be received only by Catholics. The exceptions are two: that Orthodox may receive Holy Communion and the unusual case of the nonCatholic whose belief in the Eucharist conforms to Catholic teaching, who has serious need of "eucharistic sustenance," is unable to join with members of his own religious community and spontaneously asks for the' sacrament.
The document on sacramental absolution expressed "reprobatiop" at a growing tendency to take the sacrament of penance out of the secrecy of the confessional and transform it into a collective experience. It recognizes the value of a community rite of preparation for penance but advises that this, must not be confused with sacramental confession and a,?solution. . The instruction recalls that Catholics are obliged to confess serious sins at least once a year and it reminds priests of the "noble ministry" of dispensing the sacrament of penance to individuals and urges them to make themselves available "whenever a reasonable request is made," even if absolution from only minor sins is sought. The guidelines caution against reserving individual confession for serious sins only since this "would deprive the faithful of the great benefit of confession and would injure those who approach the sacrament singly." This general absolution must be administered outside of Mass
Bishop Cronin Bishop Cronin has completed the first portion of his meetings with the Portuguese Episcopal Migration Commission in Angra do Heroismo, Terceira and is now completing the discussions on pastoral care of Portuguese migrating to the United States at sessions in San Miguel; Azores.
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In addition. to the formal discussions concerning the pastoral care of the immigrants, the Ordinary of the Diocese of Fall Other Photos on Pages 2' and 5 River is visiting the towns and villages of the area and meeting many people with connections
Assembly Favors California Tax Credit Bill SACRAMENTO (NC) - The California state assembly has approved by a wide margin a tax credit bill benefiting parents of nonpublic school children. Several states have enacted tax credit legislation-considered by many constitutional experts the most viable aid form remaining since the U. S. Supreme Court banned direct aid to nonpublic schools in a landmark decision last year. The aid form passed its first court test July 6, when a Minnesota district court ruled that state's tax credit program constitutional. More than 50 federal tax credit proposals are currently under consideration in the U. S. Congress. The California plan-approved , by a 41-17 vote-would allow parents to subtract from their final state income tax liability up to $125 per child, depending on the family in.come. To qualify for the credit, parents must have paid an equivalent amount in tuition at a nonpublic school.
so that the two sacraments are kept separate. The .document extends, primarily to priests in missionary lands, a wartime privilege of giving absolution to a large group of persons when it would be impossible to hear individual confessions. This privilege of giving what is known as general absolution is an extension of a permission granted to priests by Pope Pius XII in 1944 empowering them to forgive groups of soldiers going into battle or groups of civilians in danger of being killed. The' new norms, issued by the Doctrinal Congregation and presented at a news conference July 13, make clear that the "ordinary way" penitents are forgiven their sins is still by confessing them to a priest and receiving absolution from him. The new norms continue the conditions laid down by Pope Pius XII before general absolution is to be granted: Circumstances do not allow for individual confessions. Penitents are contrite and Turn to Page Two
with the Fall River Diocese and places closely associated with Portuguese who now reside within the boundaries of the diocese. As Bishop Cronin landed at Lages Air Base, Terceira, Azores on last Wednesday morning, he and his traveling companions, Very Rev. Luiz G. Mendonca,VG, pastor of St. John of God Parish, Somerset and Rev. John J. Oliveira, chaplain at' Coyle-Cassidy H.igh School and assistant pastor, at St. Anthony of Padua Parish, Taunton, were welcomed by an official greeting party headed by Tum to Page Five
Praises Church's Social Work
HAPPY LANDING: Carlos Nunes, second right, vice-consul at the Portuguese. Consulate in Boston, wishes Bishop Cronin CIa smooth flight" as the Ordinary of the diocese leaves Logan Airport, Boston to attend meetings of the Portuguese Episcopal Migration Commission in Angra and San Miguel and visit continental Portugal. The Bishop's traveling companions are, Very Rev. Luiz G. Mendonca, V.G., left, pastor of St. John of, God, Somerset and Rev. John J. Oliveira, right, chaplain at Coyle-Cassidy High and assistant at 51. Anthony's, Taunton.
SAN SALVADOR (NC)-Col. Arturo Armando Molina, newly elected president of this small Central American nation, has praised the Church's social work. "I want to express my profound admiration for the Catholic Church," the 44-year-old president told an estimate4 20,000 people at his inauguration. President Molina singled out for special praise "the Church's work in the social field, on behalf of those most in need." He said the Church's social aims are the same as those of his administration - "the development of . the individual person as a human being." He noted that serious problems confront the nation. "It would be a mistake to' try to hide this fact," he said. In overcoming them, he appealed to the Salvadoran people to have faith in democracy as "a viable instrument for transformation, and a means of achieving the improvement of the majority of the people, without sacrificing the diginity of man."