07.24.92

VOL. 36, NO. 29 •

Friday, July 24, 1992

. FALL RIVER, MASS.

Southeastern Massachusetts' Largest Weekly

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Democrats' platform mixed bag for Catholics NEW YORK (CNS) - The 1992 Democratic Party platform presents a mixed bag package for various Catholic interests.

The party's "New Covenant" theme emphasizes increased cooperation among individuals, business, communities and government. It advocates tax breaks for families and the middle class, . stresses workers' rights - including prohibiting employers from hiring permanent replacements for strikers - and family and medical leave. , The platform also proposes full funding for Head Start, expanding apprenticeship programs, and providing funds for college for all willing to eventually pay it back.

But it also calls for government funding of contraceptives and abortion and supports a national law guaranteeing the right to abortion.

Iii addition, the platform explicitly opposes the Bush administration's education proposal, which would make funds available to parents who may choose to spend

the money on public or private. sch~ols.

Sister Catherine McNamee, a Sister of St. Joseph who is president of the National Catholic Educational Association, said the Democratic Party "has distorted the issue of full and fair school choice, with a platform that says more about political opportunism than educational opportunity."

By suggesting the proposal would bankrupt the public school system by turning money over to private educators, the platform "dismisses a promising legislative initiative," she said in a statement.

Michael Guerra, executive director for the Catholic educators' group's secondary schools department, said the platform dismissal of the Bush proposal comes from the influence of the two largest public school teachers' unions, the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers.

While disagreeing with the plan the administration has dubbed a "GI Bill for Children" the Demo, crats proposed their own "domes-

tic GI bill," which would provide college loans for students of any income class who agree to repay them from future earnings or with national service. The platform suggested such national service in severaI fields, including as part of a police corps to boost manpower available for law enforcement.

The education plank also recommended expanding child health and nutrition programs and establishing "world-class standards" in math, science and other core subjects.

In several other respects, the Democratic platform is closely aligned with the U.S. Catholic bishops' 1992 political responsibilitystatement, released last October.

Among the principles and issues cited by the bishops as important to the national debate this election year were health care, education, human rights, immigration, family life, capital punishment, arms control and abortion.

The Democratic platform support of the right to have.abortion freely available contrasts with the bishops' insistence that neither

public funding nor public policy should accommodate abortion.

But in other areas, the Democratic platform adopts ideas the bishops have backed.

Legislation supporting collective bargaining and making it illegal to permanently replace strikers has been backed by the U.S. Catholic Conference. The Democratic platform includes both in its call for workers' rights.

The platform also includes: - Universal access to affordable health care, emphasizing reform of the medical system to control costs and improve primary and preventive care.

- Civil and equal rights proposals such as protection of voting rights for racial and ethnic minorities; access to voting in various languages; resistance to English-. only discrimination; aggressive prosecution for hate crimes; civil rights protection for homosexuals; and an end to discrimination within the Department of Defense.

that would allow people time off work to care for infants· or ailing relatives; "fair and affordable child care opportunities for working parents;" and prenatal and wellbaby care.

- Immigration policies "that support fairness, non-discrimination and family reunification.

- A refugee policy that would "promote the principle of sanctuary for politic~~ly opp~essed pe~pie everywhere speCifically Haltlan~, who have been returned to th~l~ ho~eland . und.~r B~sh ad-. minIstratIOn pohcy.. Forclb~e.return o~ a~yone fleemg pohtJc~1 repressIOn ~,s.a b~trayal of Amencan val~es, . It said. ..

A mll~onty effort ~Ithm the party to mclude oppositIOn to the e a death p J.1 lty o~ the platform wound up m courtJust hours before the Democrat~ wer~ to convene fO~Platform dl~cusstons July 14. ~pporte~s 0 a p ank opposi~g capital pUnIshment led by Ohio del~gate Robert Fitra~is filed suit agamstthe party, allegmgthe plat- A national crackdown on form committee failed to follow its I f 'd . f parents who faif to provide child n . and medical leave .mmonty 0'Y ~u esplanks. or consl eratlOn 0 support; f.amlly

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Terry Anderson finds God

A poem about Father Lawrence Martin Jenco written by Terry Anderson while held hostage in Lebanon ive men liutftff.t.tfdose aoainst .

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6ut liis 'CIoice is calm, liisface serene.

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"It was great fun as well as useNEW YORK (CNS) - Even when he was chained to the wall as ful as an exercise," he said.

The 44-year-old Anderson said a hostage in Lebanon, Terry Anderson wasn) immobilized. He was he spent most of his adult life as an walking back to God and to his agnostic, "which means 1 was too lazy to try and figure it out."

Catholic faith.

In an exclusive interview with About six months before his capCatholic News Service at his New ture in March 1985, he began to York office, Anderson discussed "accept the fact that I was Catholic his nearly seven years in captivity and that it required certain things and the journey back to an active of me. I was in the .process of workpractice of his Catholic faith that ing out just what that was when I was kidnapped." • began shortly before his capture.

But it was his contacts with A key figure in the journey was Servite Father Lawrence Martin Father Jenco - whom he had not Jenco. head of Catholic Relief met b.efore his kidnapping - that Services' Beirut office at the time pushed the process along.

"The first' thing he did was give of his own capture in January 1985. Anderson, FatherJenco and me a picture ofthe Catholic Church two other U.S. hostages were held that I didn't really know," Anderin the same room from September son said. "He was an excellent 1985 to July 1986, "and he showed witness to what being Catholic is fully then how good a man he is," about. The church he showed me was a lot different from the one I Anderson said.

Father Jenco and the Rev. Ben- lefi 30 years ago.

"One thing about Father Marjamin Weir, a Presbyterian minister, also led Anderson through a tin is that when you listen to him minicourse in biblical studies over give a blessing or say grace, he several weeks during their captivity. always refers to a kind and gentle God, because that's what he is, a "They had me layout the paral- kind and gentle man," he added. lel Gospels on a sheet of paper that When Anderson first heard that 1found, and make notes on which a Catholic priest was being held in verses were different from which, a cell next door, he asked his Lebwhich verses were left out of which anese guards if they would allow Gospels, where they were in a dif- Father Jenco to hear his confesferent order and why, and what all :§ion. Affh"o'uglfthey did not really that meant in terms of who was understand what he' was asking, writing and for whom, and what they granted Anderson's request point were they trying to make and brought the priest to him. with each different Gospel.

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The Anchor Friday, July 24, 1992

Celibacy repeal asked by 62,000 VATICAN CITY (CNS) Vatican officials have received a petition signed by 62,000 European Catholics asking for the repeal of the priestly celibacy rule in the Western church.

In a letter addressed to Pope John Paul II and the world's bishops, the group said the church was in a "pastoral state of emergency" because of a shrinking number of priests in many parts of the world.

"Many young people feel called to become priests, but do not have the charism of celibacy," the letter said. It added that the pastoral crisis might be a divine sign that the times are "ripe for a change."

The letter was delivered to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger June 30 as he exited his Rome apartment on his way to work. He accepted the document from a group of three laymen from Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands.

Later, the group left stacks of petitions in the Vatican entryway of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Although 62,000 signatures were collected in all, Austria's 12,000 signatures were not forwarded to the Vatican because of "fear of possible reprisal," a spokesman said.

Vatican officials have maintained that priestly celibacy is necessary and valuable so that priests may dedicate themselves completely to their ministry. It is a provision of church discipline rather than dogma, and some exceptions have been made in recent years.

In most places - though not in the United States - Eastern-rite churches allow married candidates to become priests, but marriage after ordination is not allowed.

Pope John Paul II strongly defends the rule of priestly celibacy in the Latin-rite church.

The petition drive was started

by Peter Oberholzer, a Swiss lay minister in the St. Gallen diocese.

It later picked up the support of the International Federation of Married Priests, which is based in Europe. Signatures came from Germany, Switzerland, Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. .

Oberholzer said he began his effort beca.use about one-third of his diocese's parishes are now without priests.

The petition drive was held among Catholic youth organizations, in Catholic schools and universities, and in parishes, he said.

In Germany, the petition was signed by many students and members of theological faculties at Tubingeil, Paderborn and Munich, despite criticism of the effort

by Bishop Karl Lehmann, president of the German bishops' conference, said a German organizer, Josef Mettler.

A German woman who helped deliver the petitions said her own experience was typical of "p.ain-. ful" personal situations caused by the celibacy rule. She said she had had a relationship with a priest for three years, but finally asked him to choose. .

"He couldn't leave the priesthood, so he left me. Now, he has another girlfriend. There are many cases like this," she said.

BISHOPS' ESCALATOR: At the National Black Catholic Congress held earlier this month in New Orleans, Bishop Edward D. Head leads a line of bishops crowding a convention hall escalator as they make an entrance for the congress' opening Mass; at right, nine of the 11 active U.S. black bishops gather around a cast iron pot during the Mass, reenacting a custom of ,slaves who, forbidden to gather for worship, believed the pot would absorb the sound of their prayers and keep them from being discovered. The participating clergymen are clad in vestments made of African kente cloth. (CNS Photos)

No quick fix seen for ailing health system ANAHEIM, Calif. (CNS) There is no quick fix to solve America's health care ills, sociologist and author Robert N. Bellah told Catholic health care leaders gathered in Anaheim.

"Everyone recognizes that the present system is not viable," said Bellah in the keynote address opening the 77th national assembly ofthe Catholic Health Association.

The assembly theme was "Heal U.S.A.," and its main focus was health care reform. "' "We spend more on health care than any other society.... Yet health care is more unequally available than in any other advanced industrial nation," Bellah said.

The sociologist, noted for his major studies in American religious sociology, called "skyrocketing health costs" one of the two primary causes, along with military expenditures, of the "enormous federal deficit accumulated during the 1980s."

"The Catholic Health Association's working proposal for systematic health care reform, 'Setting Relationships Right,' is an enormous achievement in providing a comprehensive response to our present predicaments," he said.

The proposal, a 44-page docu-

ment adopted earlier this year by the CHA Board of Trustees after 15 months of study and consultation, was distributed this spring to the association's 1,200 member health care facilities, to members of Congress and to others involved in health care reform issues.

It calls for putting private health insurers out of business and establishing local "integrated delivery networks" for all aspects of health care, chartered and monitored by the state, in which all Americans would participate. The plan would be funded primarily by a payroll tax, and the level of funding for health care would be set by public . policy.

Bellah argued that market economy principles have invaded the health care world in America and undermined the "intrinsic purposes" of medicine.

"I would argue that ,under the, pressure toward technical efficiency, and cost-benefit calculation, the' very meaning ofthe words 'health' and 'care' become obscured," he said.

He cited two experimental medical programs in the San Francisco area as examples of how health care can actually be improved by defying the "wisdom" ofthe market economy.

In one, doctors reinstated house calls as part of their care of chronically ill patients, he said, although the popular market economy wisdom is that "house calls are incredibly inefficient."

In fact, by visiting patients at home doctors "were able to pick up early warnings of impending problems that they would never have observed in the brief, efficient interviews in the out-patient clinic," he said. Early intervention "saved potentially long and enormously expensive hospitalization."

The second program he cited was an expc::rimental ward in a San Francisco hospital which had a part-time nutritionist to cook foods individual patients wanted, encouraged friends and relatives ,to visit whenever it was convenient, and had doctors and nurses spend more time just visiting with their patients.

"Though patient care was more

expensive, patient recovery was so much swifter than with patients with the same medical problems in regular wards, that the overall cost per patient was no higher," he said. "And we can imagine that the non-economic rewards were higher still."

American health care, he said, needs to get away from the "mindset" that "views individuals as automatons, almost as robots, that may need to be repaired to resume normal functioning, but are otherwise expected 'to behave as programmed."

He said it is "ironic" that even health maintenance organizations, which began with the idea of dealing with the patient as a whole person by providing an overall health program, "undertoday's economic pressures are abandoning that vision, whether to increase profits in the for-profits HMOs or just to survive in the nonprofit HMOs."

Fall River athlete is headed for Olympics

By Marcie Hickey Judi St. Hilaire, 32, of Holy Name parish, Fall River, is among the 59 members ofthe U.S. women's Olympic track and field team. She will compete in the 10,000 meter (6.2 mile) trial on Aug. I. The top 10 finishers in the trial will compete in the 10,000 meter race on Aug. 7. .

Originally from Lydonville, VT, Ms. St. Hilaire moved to Fall River and was married at Holy Name Church three years ago to Paul Coogan. ' She began running in high schOOl and earned a scholarship to attend the University of Vermont.

"That's when I started getting serious" about running, she said.. ' Since 1981 she has had a r~n-

ning contract with Nike, and last summer she competed in the 3,000 meter race at the World Championships in Tokyo, placing seventh.

She qualified for the Barcelona games by placing among the top three competitors in the Olympic trials for her sport, held last month in New Orleans. She will leave for Spain tomorrow.

1111111111111111111111111,11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 THE ANCHOR (USPS-545-Q20). Second Class Postage Paid at Fall River. Mass.

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OLYMPIC ATHLETE Judi St. Hilaire will compete in Barceiona on Aug. 1.

High c-our{:~on't'

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THE ANCHOR -

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overturn ban on

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Fri., July 24, 1992

, Mediation. urged

R'U-486 pills WASHINGTON (CNS) -'- The U.S. Supreme Court has turned, down an emergency appeal of the Food and Drug Administration's limits on import of the French-,' made abortion pill, RU-486, Justice Clarence Thomas, who had referred the question to 'the full court, voted with the majority in the case involving Leona Benten: a California social'wprker whose pills were confiscated July I on her arrival from England.

Only Justices John Paul Stevens and Harry A. Blackmun voted to lift the FDA ban on importation of RU-486 for personal use.

"We are pleased that the Supreme Court recognized tha:t the FDA exercised sound scientific judgment in barring importation of the dangerous and illegal abortion drug RU-486 for personal use," said Richard D. Glasow, education director for the National Right to Life Committee.

"Under this ruling, drug use in this country will continue to be governed by the FDA's reasoned medical judgment and not by the ideological agenda of abortion advocates," he added.

The Supreme Court's brief unsigned July 17 opinion indicated that Ms. Benton's lawyers had not convinced the court that they would have, ultimately been successful in arguing that the FDA ban violated federal drug laws or the government's own regulations.

"We 'conclude that petitioners have failed to de'monstrate a substantial likelihood of success on the merits of these claims," the three-paragraph opinion said.

But Stevens said in his minority opinion that the FDA had an obligation to prove it ,was protecting Ms. Benten from any "significant health risk associated with the use of this medicine when prescribed by a competant physician."

"There is no evidence in this record that this applicant faces any such risk," Stevens added. "I am persuaded that the relevant legitimate federal interest is not sufficient to justify the burdensome consequence of this seizure."

RU-486, made by the French drug company Roussel-Uclaf, is the popular name for the drug mifepristone, which induces abortion in the'earliest stages of pregnancy when used with a synthetic prostaglandin.

FDA spokesman Don McLaren said the agency was happy with the Supreme Court decision "because it says this is a medical issue to be decided by the doctors and scientists at the agency."

Under French guidelines, it can only be used in the first 42 days of pregnancy. For Ms. Benton, that period ended Juiy 18; she was expected to undergo a surgical abortion.

The California Pro-Life Council appealed to the woman in a July 16 open letter to reconsider her decision to have an abortion.

"Please, Leona, return home and allow the carin'g hands of the prolife movement to assist you and your baby through your pregnancy and delivery," the letter said. "You and your baby can survive this difficult time, and when your baby is born, if you are still not ready for parenting, numerous loving families would happily take your child into their homes and lives."

Diocese of Fall River -

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DURBAN, South Africa (CNS) - Archbishop Denis Hurley; retired head of the Durban see and well-known rights activist, has. urged church and business leaders 'to help, mediate an end to the vio-' lence which has stalled, negotia-' tions for a new multiracial govern~, ment in South Africa. His call was echoed by the incoming archbishop of Dur~an~ Wilfrid Napier, head of the 'soiJthern African bishops" conference.

AddreSSing a' peace rally in Durban, Archbishop Hurleyques-

NEEDED MSGR. JOSEPH PANNONI celebrated his 90th birthday in 1991 at Holy Rosary Church, Fall River, with longtime friend and Holy Rosary pastor Father Vincent Diaferio, left.

(Hickey photo)

Organist/Choir Director Call Holy Ghost Church Attleboro

Msgr. Joseph R. Pannoni

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222-3266

tioned the commitment of leaders of the African National Congress, ,the, Inkatha Freedom Party and the South African security forces "really to promote peace through their ranks down to the lowest levels of the community:"

Sin's Handle "Sin has many tools, but a lie is the' handle that. fits them all."Oliver Wendell Holmes

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Plumbing & Healing Services said Father Vincent F. Diaferio, Fall River. pastor of Holy Rosary Church, Appointed the first resident pas- 1:=:;;:;;;;;;;;;:;;:;;:;;:;;:;;:;;::;::;;:;;=:;;:;;:;;:;;:;;:;;:.1 L~~~R_~~N~~_~~~.J Fall River. tor of St. Francis of Assisi parish, He spoke of Msgr. Joseph R. New Bedford, in 1929, he was Pannoni, 91, pastor emeritus of named to the Holy Rosary pastoHoly Rosary, who died July 19 at rate in 1948. the Catholic Memorial Home in He was a Fourth Degree member Fall River. of Bishop Stang Assembly of the Knights of Columbus.

Msgr. Pannoni, who retired in Automatic Metered Delivery He is survived by a brother, 1971 from his post at Holy Rosary, Peter Pannoni of Somerset, and a had remained a beloved presence 24 Hour Customer Burner Service in the parish. For 18 years after his , sister, Theresa Williams, of Denver, Colo. official retirement he concelebrated Complete Heating Systems Installed weekend Masses with Father Diaferio and until health dictated his Free Estimates Budget Plans moving to the Memorial Home, he resided in an annex to Holy Rosary Msgr. John J. Regan, pastor of You Never Had Service Until You Tried CHARLIE'S rectory. Pari~hioners joined annu- St. Patrick parish, Falmouth, was ally in celebrating his birthday, principal celebrant yesterday at 674-0709 675·7426 most recently last February, the Mass of Christian Burial for 46 Oak Grove Ave~ • Fall River, MA. 02723 Since Msgr. Pannoni took up his sister, Nancy C. Martin, 61, residence at the Memorial Home who died July 19 at her summer three years ago, Father Diaferio home in North Falmouth. The was a daily visitor, always with his Mass was offered at her parish, St. ' dog Buttons, a great favorite ofthe Joseph's in North Dighton. retired pastor.

Mrs. Martin, a native of Taun"Until last September, he was ton, was the daughter of the late able to have dinner with me every Raymond J. and Gertrude C. Sunday," related Father Diaferio. (O'Neill) Regan and the widow of Msg~. Pannoni's Mass of ChrisAtty. Richard K. Martin. tian Burial was offered yesterday She spent most of her life in 347 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02115 at Holy Rosary with Msgr. Henry North Dighton, retiring in 1991 T. Munroe, diocesan administraafter 13 years on the faculty of tor, as principal celebrant and many Coyle and Cassidy High School, priests of the diocese as concele- Taunton. brants. ' She was a graduate ofthe former First Italian Priest St. Mary's High School, Taunton, The nonagenarian was the first and Regis College, Weston. She priest of Italian descent to serve in was a member of St. Joseph's the Fall River diocese. He was the Women's Guild and ofthe Morton son of the late Louis·Pannoni and Hospital Women's Auxiliary in Founded in 1879, the Catholic Association ofForesters the late Beatrice (Zarenga) PanTaunton. is a fraternal insurance organization of Catholic faminoni and was born in Fall River, Mrs. Martinis survived by three Feb. 4,1901. lies offering social and spiritual benefits, charitable sons, Atty. Craig J. Martin of After attending St. Mary's programs,·scholarship awards and insurance plans for Taunton; Neil H. Martin of Hull; parochial school and B.M.C. Durits members. and Bruce R. Martin of Ipswich; fee High School in Fall River, he

by Msgr. Regan and by a sister, studied for two years at St. Char- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - '-_.=--Mrs. Robert (Jean) Ohnesorge of FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE RETURN COUPON les Seminary in Catonsville, Md., Florida; and by one grandson. then completed preparation for THE CATHOLIC ASSOCIATION OF FORESTERS the priesthood at the North American College in Rome, attending 347 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, Massachus~tts 02115 classes at Propaganda Fidei UniTel.1-800-282-CAOF versity.

After six years at the Vatican Est. 1962 Date of Birth _ seminary, he was ordained to the' Religious priesthood by the Most Rev. Daniel Name _ F. Feehan at St. Mary's Cathedral ArtiCles on Sept. 19, 1925.

Address _ On April 21, 1964, Most Rev. Books. Gifts James L. Connolly invested the Church Supplies, Fall River pastor with the robes of a domestic prelate.

Telephon~ # _ Msgr. Pannoni was parochial 428 Main St. • Hyannis, MA 02601 vicar at Sacred Heart· parish, 508-775-4180 Mon.-Sat. 9-5 Taunton; Corpus Christi parish, o

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THE ANCHOR -'- Diocese of Fall River -_Fri., July 24, 1992

themoorin~

the living word

Don't Quit!

The nagging question remains: Why did Perot quit the presidential campaign? There is no doubt that his sudden reversal of determination raised more questions than solutions concerning the man and his motivations.

He left millions of Americans bereft of hope. There was and is in this land a desire for real change. Both the Clinton/ Gore ticket and the Bush/ Quayle team leave too much to be desired.

The Democrats are the party of legal squabbles; the Republicans are the party of ecological destruction. Between them, they are eroding our quality of life and poorly serving these United States.

The unemployed, the dependent, the homeless, the disenfranchised and millions of other citizens were losing hope because too many in government were doing too little. Along came Perot and people began to surface their concerns and needs. They found what they thought to be a sympathetic ear and a source of pragmatic solutions to their problems.

By quitting the race, Perot spotlighted realities that had been overlooked in the euphoria of his candidacy. No one makes billions of dollars in a capitalistic society without leaving a lot of bodies on the highway of ambition. Indeed, the history of American industry and management is filled with tales of so-called tycoons who used and abused their way to fortunes. Ultimately, all served one person, themselves.

Perot's departure from the presidential race is a case in point. Without warning to his supporters, he did what was best for himself, not for them. For one who quoted Churchill's battle cry, "Never give in, never give in, never, never!", he certainly did an about-face from reality. When he could not get his way and when he could not control, he simply quit.

Yet, despite his failure to uphold the integrity of his motivations, he did bring issues to the fore, he did renew grassroots politics and he did back the Democrats and Republicans against the wall. In a way, he jumped ship too soon. It would have been more than interesting to see how many more concerns and worries he would have caused the Capitol Hill gang.

As we attempt to reach a national consensus concerning the policies and laws that will help heal America's hurts, let us all learn the lesson that one person, one vote, can make a difference.

It would be well if every registered voter took the system seriously and realized that he or she can truly work to change America's rush towards self-destruction. We have one of the worst voter turnout records in the world.

Perot was making a difference. Each of us can make a difference in our own way by not quitting; not giving up. If we have a true personal interest in America and in the wider world in which we live, we can work for change by means of our vote.

If Clinton and Bush knew for certain that 90 percent of eligible voters would be casting their ballots in November, you can be sure each man would run a more truthful campaign.

We do not need a Perot to get us to vote. We need to recognize our own importance in the process. Right now, one person, one vote, means something in these United States. If we do not recognize and appreciate this, we cannot be sure it wilI remain a certainty in our tomorrows.

Come election day, let's fool the political patsys and pollsters. Don't quit on America!

The Editor

OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE DIOCESE OF FALL RIVER Published weekly by The Catholic Press of the Diocese of Fall River 887 Highland Avenue P.O. BOX 7 Fall River, MA 02720 Fall River, MA 02722-0007 Telephone 508-675-7151 FAX (508) 675-7048 Send address changes to P.O. Box 7 or call telephone number above

EDITOR Rev. John F. Moore

GENERAL MANAGER Rosemary Dussault

~ Leary Press-Fall ~,ver

eNS photo

YOUNG PEOPLE RAISE THEIR ARMS IN A SONG OF PRAISE DURING A HISPANIC RETREAT

"Young men and maidens, praise the name of the Lord!" Ps. 148:12

"It's like looking at God!" Dy Father Kevin J. Harrington Everything you have made is beautiful, .Augustine said to his God, but you are more beautiful than anything you have made.

The recent findings of physicists lend further credence to the "Big Bang" theory of some scientists that a major explosion marked the beginning of space and time.

This theory should not be perceived as contradicting the description of creation found in the Book of Genesis. The conviction of faith is that God has caused us to live in an autonomous universe.

The great beauty of science's description ofthe world is that everything can be accounted for by the working of natural law.

The image of God to emerge in man was potentially present in the first microseconds of the Big Bang.

Through the 10 to 20 billion years of our universe's existence the creating Spirit has been like a caring midwife preparing for and attending the birth of a new creature able to reflect and comprehend eternity.

Raised from dust, the human spirit shares the life of its Creator.

Themselves as awe-inspiring as science's description of the origins of our universe, human beings alone in the created order have the free will to view this world as pur~ poseful or as simply a surrealistic bloom in the void. Scientists may seem to have all the answers but

are at a loss when asked what happened before the Big Bang or why there was a Big Bang .in the first place. .

The biblical sages and psalmists describe a universe not very different from that posited by mathematicians and physicists. Ancient biblical scholars did not have the aid of radioastronomy or spectroscopy.

So how did they have the insight, thousands of years ago, to give an account of the Big Bang so strik-' ingly similar to our modern theories? How could these early teachers have known of our origin within a speck of space, of the expansion of space that has led to our universe, of the transition from an ethereal nonsubstance to tangible matter and, even more precisely, that this transition from formlessness to matter with form accompanied the expansion of the universe?

Revelation provides everything but the details, but physics is now amplifying a theory that is being verified sooner than was considered possible less than half a centuryago!

Equipment available only during the last 50 years has given cosmic researchers tools such as sophisticated radio and optical telescopes and high energy particle accelerators to assist in verification of the Big Bang theory.

I think that if the'se scientists compared the biblical creation account with their new findings, they would be humbled by the

in.sights of the biblical scholars who trusted the hidden wisdom of revelation! Knowledge of our cosmic origin is now accessible to the learned through science but it was never far from those who looked at the created order through the eyes of faith.

Last April the world of physics was electrified by a discovery made possible by a set of iAstruments ca,lIed differential microwave radiometers that were placed aboard COBE (Cosmic Background Explorer) satellite launched on Nov. 18,1989.

Flying 550 miles above Earth and orbiting around both poles, CO BE surveys the entire sky every six months. A team of scientists headed by Dr. George F. Smoot studied some 70 million radiometer readings transmitted by CODE and detected faint density fluctuations in the aftetglow of radiation from the birth of the cosmos.

These ripples in space were presumably the seeds that gave birth to the stars and planets as well as to a creature so wondrous that he ~ould probe the mystery of his humble origins.

Dr. Smoot may be on his way to a well-deserved Nobel Prize. It is good to hear someone who has invested two decades of painstaking research in his quest to verify the Big Bang say: "If you're religious, it's like looking at God!"

Before' the Lord returns

Genesis 18:20-32 Colossians 2:12-14 Luke 11:1-13 The Lor~'s Prayer is actually a prayer for the end of the world!

So perhaps we should not use it at the beginning and end of every parish meeting... unless our parish is in deep trouble. Yet if we look at the petition about forgiveness, we see why we pray it so often.

A large part of the Christian Scriptures come from "liturgical settings." Many passages were used in the Eucharist and other prayer situations long before our Sacred Authors incorporated them into gospels and episties. This is certainly true both of Luke's Lord's Prayer and today's Colossians pericope. Their prehistory shows us what was going on in the minds of early Christians as they gathered for prayer.

The Colossians reading, part of an ancient hymn, speaks about Jesus' followers becoming one with him by joining in his death and resurrection. "In baptism," it teaches, "you were not only buried with him but also raised to life with him because you believed in the power of God who raised him from the dead:' The song reaches its climax when it reminds the singers, "He canceled the bond that stood against us with all its claims, snatching it up and nailing it to the cross."

The Lord's disciples enter prayer knowing they are already one with the person to whom, and through whom, they pray. Prayer only happens if there is a relationship between us and God before the words start coming from our mouth.

Even our Genesis narrative presumes Yahweh and Abraham have known one another for a long time prior to the Sodom and Gomorrah question. Abraham is able to negotiate with the Lord only because they are friends. How else could he have experienced his justice or his concern for the innocent? Abraham does not force Yahweh to change his mind by using some magic formula of words or actions. He simply persuades a friend to do something which he knows God wants to do anyway.

That's why Jesus always insists that we know how much God wishes to grant whatever is for our good. More than any earthly parent, more than any put-upon friend.

DAILY READING July 27: Jer 13:1-11; Ot 32:18-21; Mt 13:31-35 July 28: Jer 14:17-22; Ps 79:8-9,11,13; Mt 13:35-43 July 29: Jer 15:10,16-21; Ps 59:2-4,10-11,17-18 July 30: Jer 18:1-6; Ps 146:1-6; Mt 13:47-53 July 31: Jer 26:1-9; Ps 69:5,8-10,14; Mt 13:54-58 Aug. 1: Jer 26:11-16,24; Ps 69:15-16,30-31,33-34; Mt 14:1-12 Aug, 2: Eeel 1:2,2:21-23; Ps 95:1-2,6~9; Col 3:1-5,911; lk 12:13-21

Vietnam authorities forbid six ordinations

By FATHER ROGER KARBAN the Lord not only knows what we need, he also strives to see that we get it. Yet we must remember that his concern revolves around his love-based relationship with each of us.

This brings us back to the Lord's Prayer petition on forgiveness. Notice a very significant word change between Luke and Matthew. Matthew's account says, ..... Forgive us our debts as we forgive ..... Luke's pericope reads, ..... Forgive us our sins for we too forgive ..... The former makes God's forgiveness of us depend on our forgiveness of others. The latter presumes we forgive others simply because God has already forgiven us.

Both versions have been formed by liturgical practices of each community. Praying for the Parousia (Jesus' Second Coming), the churches know "things have to be right" before the Lord returns.

They know Jesus will not come pulling rabbits out of his hat.

What they want accomplished in the Parousia, they are already trying to accomplish before the Parousia. If forgiveness is necessary for salvation, then forgiveness is also necessary now. But it can only come through our relations with others.

Luke stresses God's deep, forgiving oneness with us; an experience which immediately unites us in a forgiving way with everyone around us. Matthew emphasizes our deep, forgiving oneness with everyone around us; an experience which unites us in a forgiven way with God. If we truly are one with God, then we are one with our neighbor. If we truly are one with our neighbor, then we are one with God. Teilhard de Chardin, the famous 20th century theologian, believed that when this happens we will have arrived at the Omega Point of the universe: the end of the world as we know it.

Whenever we pray the Lord's Prayer we are stepping out of this world into the next. Every time we join close enough with God and our neighbor to forgive or be forgiven, we move up the date of the Parousia. No wonder we pray this special prayer so often ...especially at parish meetings. .

Hope in Lebanon BROOKLYN, N.Y. (CNS) The Maronite rite's top U.S. official said after a visit to Lebanon that he found people hopeful a special synod on the nation called

by Pope John Paul II would bring greater unity to the country. But Archbishop Francis M. Zayek, head of the diocese of St. Maron of Brooklyn, said the immediate concern of Maronite leaders was to delay elections Syria wants the Lebanese to hold in August. Last year the pope announced plans for a synod of bishops for Lebanon to involve all Catholic rites of the country: Maronite, Melkite, Syrian, Armenian, Chaldean and Latin. No date has been set.

Training is also hampered by HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam (CNS) - Five Catholic dio- the facts that candidates' previous education does not prepare them ceses in southern Vietnam say 43 men were ready for priestly ordi- for studying philosophy and theology and that most faculty memnation, but the government only bers have no formal training as let 37 become priests. professors.

But the ceremony, held at St. Church leaders have asked VietJoseph Major Seminary in HoChi路 namese Catholics to study the Minh City, was still the largest seminary question and offer sugordination in communist Vietnam gestions, the source said. in 17 years.

Several thousand people, including many of the city's 300 priests and members of religious orders, LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Two attended the outdoor service. episodes ofthe NBC series "I'll Fly A Vietnam source said that Away" have taken top 1992 Humangovernment authorities in the areas itas Prizes. In all, six television of the rejected candidates' dioceses shows won a total of$95,OOO at the vetoed their ordination to demon18th annual Humanitas Prize lunstrate they have the power to do cheon. The awards, giv~n since so.

1974, are sponsored by the Human Church officials have argued Family Educational and Cultural unsuccessfully that once a student Institute. Founded and headed by receives government approval to Paulist Father Ellwood Kieser, the enter a seminary, the church has institute encourages television prothe responsibility to ordain him. gramming that affirms human values.

All public religious activity is monitored by state-sponsored bodies. The Committee for the SolidConscience arity of Vietnamese Catholics reg"Conscience is the inner voice ulates Catholic activity and Prothat warns us somebody may be testants and Buddhists are similarly looking."-H.L. Mencken controlled.

A Vietnamese source also said that the present six-year training program for seminarians is seen as inadequate by some church personnel.

"Ill Fly Away" wins

Besides traditional subjects, seminarians must attend lectures on the history of the Vietnamese people delivered by government teachers and must attend conferences sponsored by Communist Party cadres.

They spend one afternoon a week in a service program, but it lacks up-to-date pastoral formation guidance. the source said.

~

How to help pro-life cause

Responding to requests of readers for the addresses of pro-life organizations in need of donations to further their work, the following are listed: Birthright of Greater Fall River 1100 County Street Somerset, MA 02726 Birthright of Cape Cod 10 East Main Steet Hyannis, MA 02601 Birthright of Falmouth 161 Spring Bars Road Falmouth, MA 02540 Birthright of Attleboro 48 Bank Street Attleboro, MA 02703 Birthright of Taunton 78 Broadway Taunton, MA 02780 Birthright ofMartha's Vineyard 53 Tashmoo Avenue Tisbury, MA 02568 Birthright of New Bedford 398 County Street New Bedford, MA 02740 Massachusetts Citizens for Life 529 Main Street Boston, MA 02129-1101 Diocesan Pro-Life Apostolate c/o Rev. Stephen A. Fernandes PO Box 1800 Mashpee, MA 02649

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The Anchor Friday, July 24, 1992

By

1\;' Dr. JAMES & MARY KENNY Dear Dr. Kenny: My husband and I are getting a divorce. We have three small children. We both want custody, and it looks like a bitter battle is ahead. My lawyer has recommended a custody evaluation by a psychologist. What do you think? - Iowa A custody evaluation is a good idea. Ideally, it will inform the judge of the positive facts and

'Mediation a good start in post-divor.,ce parenting avoid the all-too-common mudslinging. ' A good evaluation covers both potential homes and includes a thorough social history, psychological testing of the parents, physical exams, financial reports, let: ters of reference and a home visit.

Courts today are more and more requesting that a custody evaluation be completed before a decision on child custody is made..

However, mediation should precede evaluation. Courts can also order mediation.

Too often, lawyers assume that mediation is not possible because of the strong negative feelings. Yet this is precisely. why me~iation must be attempted.

If left to fester or if further inflamed by the court battle, such

feeling can 'make a disaster of postdivorce child rearing.

Child rearing is a process, not a once-for-all resolution decided in court. It goes on; long after the -court hearing is over.

Unlike property, which can be settled, children grow and change, and new decisions need to be made.

Paren~s ,need ~~ know how to make JOint deCISIOns and resolve conflicts, even when they don't get along. , ' Labor and management have learned to resolve hard issues even when there is no affection between the contesting parties. So have disputing nations when war is the only alternative.

Successful mediation does not depend 'upon good will or affection between the parties, but on their self-interest. Successful media-

tion saves time and money; it The purpose of custodymediaavoids bitter battles; and it is far tion is to get the parents thembetter for children, who hate to see selves to agree on the best plan for their parents fighting. ongoing child care. The agreement Post-divorce parenting will be is open to continuing development considerably complicated if your and renegotiation as the children first experience at it invqlves a bit- grow older and the circumstances ter battle, with a winner and a of the parents change.

I?ser. This initial experience. is Hopefully, the parents will have h~ely to color all later par~ntIng 'initiated a new style for handling dIsputes. No matter how wIse the disputes between themselves. If c~stody 'recom~endation or decinot, they may return to renogoSlon, my expenence has been that tiate the agreement at any time. the loser is back in court within six . , , Better to do thl~ In the atmosto 12 months.

Good mediation teaches conflict 'pher.e?f cooperatIOn offe~ed by resolution. The techniques, while medIatIOn tha,n to Pght It out simple, are. different from those through the chIldren In court. used by persons who start by carReader questions on family Iiving for each other. In mediation, ing and child care to be answered one starts small, starts with rela- in print are invited by The Kennys; tively easy issues and builds on 219 West Harrison St.; Renssesuccess. laer, Ind. 47978.

"Going to the chapel" is a revived tradition By ANTOINETTE BOSCO

"Going to the chapel and we're gonna get married"; That's how the old song goes. It also seems to be the sentiment of more and more young couples. When it comes to tying the knot, a significant number of engaged couples turn to a church.

I became curious about this when I noticed that number of couples I

By DOLORES CURRAN

One of the most refreshing ministries in the church today is that of the parish nurse. I admit I was unaware of the growth or the extent of this ministry until I encountered a group of parish nurses at a family workshop I was conducting.

"What exactly do parish nurses do?" I asked.

"Everything," they laughed. They went on to tell me they visit homebound and elderly, serve as mediators between parishioners and various health care agencies, teach

By

had met in the past few years all The Rev. James Scovil, a Conhad sought out a church for their gregational minister, explained: weddings.

"We're not a marrying chapel here. 路 . 'th I' We represent a tradition." He said I n d Iscusslons WI severa mIn, h" l' f ,t d 't I I d he vIews tense In popu anty 0 ~~ e;s:n : pr~~., soo~ ;.a~~~ religious marriage ceremonies as tha c u.rc '(e Ings a.re e 1m ~ y part of "an overall trend to return e c h OIce or a growing num er to some tradl'tl'onal values" f l ' o coup es.

He added that some young peo"They wa\lt a church marriage pies have been "kind of disconbecause they know there is some- nected" from the church and "are thing here even though it's not regrouping, claiming some kind of tangible," said Father Ronald faith. And they want God to be Genua, a Catholic priest from a involved in the commitment they small Connecticut town. "They are making."

Another Congregational minireally believe in the spirit within.

For the big moments in life - and ster, the Rev. Betsy Audette, says a wedding is one of them - you she urges couples to ask what it is have to give witness in a bigger about the church that brought way," Father Genua said. them there. She said she discovers

a marriage is. "And people sense this is not just a ceremony ... but invoking God's presence through a religious worship experience."

I was impressed to see how the basic Christian message about the performance ofthe marriage bond was somethl'ng the ml'nl'sters of these different denominations held in common.

They all believe that marriage is a lifelong commitment, that the exchange of vows is a serious promise made before God. It is noteworthy, I feel, that all those I spoke with gave a cordial welcome to the couples, making them feel like they had come home.

It's comforting to know that the church door is always open.

Parish nurses are a healing element preventative health care and parenting skills, and link physical and spiritual wellness. They work hard and they love it.

"I was always drawn to nursing and to ministry," one of them told me, "but work in the hospital wasn't filling both those needs. I was meeting the physical needs of people but not their emotional and spiritual needs. Now, as a parish nurse, I'm more like a chaplain with nursing skills."

Shortly after meeting these nurse~, I read an article in Salt magazine, "Parish Nurses Heal in Good Faith" by Marla K. Kale (April 1992), which outlined the history and ministry of parish nursing.

According to the National Parish Nurse Resource Center in Park . Ridge, IL, there are at least 1,000 parish nurses currently active in 50

states."Since 1983, when Chicago's Holistic Health Cente,rs and the Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge began their pioneering work in this field, the number of nurses who have been drawn to this form of ministry has steadily increased," states Kale.

Many of these nurses are paid a salary by the parish, others are volunteers who have a background in nursing butare not working fulltime. Some work parttime in other health care facilities and volunteer a day or two weekly.

And they are making a difference in people's lives by making the church present to them, They don't provide in-home, hands-on nursing care for the ill or perform other health care services already available through other health care agencies. What they do provide is

time, spiritual guidance, information, hope, and gospel values.

A nurse quoted in the K,ale arti~ cle told of one elderly woman who was severly depressed and didn't want to live. "Why bother, I'm so old," she'd say, but the nurse visited and succeeded in getting her out of her home and back to church, "She felt that people were too busy for her," the nurse reported.

"That's all some people need, Someone to listen, to validate what they're saying. Then they work it out for themselves," The parish nurses are nondenominational and ecumenical.

Many get together weekly to share spiritual and emotional support.

Marcus, lA, a town of 1,200, has a volunteer nurse in each of its five churches, all because one woman attended a workshop on the topic.

She found it appealing because of

"the religious aspect of putting our faith into our healing, thinking of people as body, mind and spirit."

She approached her pastor who called the other pastors together and as it result of this interfaith meeting, Marcus has become a stronger faith community, with the churches meeting needs the community is unable to meet.

Immunizations for children, blood pressure and prescription checkups, nutrition education all of these preventive measures can be picked up by churchesifwe have the skilled volunteers. "The wonderful thing about churches," says one parish nurse, "is the pivotal role they can play in changing the look of health care. Churches have access to people throughout their lives and cut across all levels of society." , Let's hear it for the parish nurses.

Did Jesus have brothers and sisters?

Mary had no natural children of their own, FATHER The Gospels and other parts of the New Testament speak of the JOHN J. "brothers" of Jesus. In Galatians, for example, Paul calls James (it is not certain which of several possiDIETZEN ble persons by this name he refers to) the brother of the Lord.

Paul uses the Greek word "adelQ. Did Jesus have any earthly brothers and sisters? If he did, as phos," which nearly always means the Gospels say, does this mean blood brother. that Mary and Joseph had other, Without getting too involved, it children as husband and. wife? seems clear that the word "brother" (Massachusetts) of the Lord in the Gospels and in the other parts of the New TestaA. It is our Christian and ment certainly means more than Catholic belief that Jesus was the simply a kinsman, a more distant only son of Mary (part of our faith relative. in the perpetual virginity of Mary), Assuming the title implies some and that, therefore, Joseph and blood relationship, it is possible "

"they are looking for God's blessings." This minister meets several times with each couple, discussing issues with them that might come . , up In marnage.

"I help couples look at howthey resolve conflict," Ms. Audette said.

"I help them I'dentl'fy behavl'or that constitutes fair and unfair fighting.... One question I explore with them is, 'You came to church, but what will you build in your relationship after the wedding to keep the sense of God's presence in your marriage?' Most never thought of that."

A Lutheran minister, the Rev. Dwaine Moon, said that the coupIe and the minister need to talk about what a wedding is and what

that at least those closest to Jesus who are called his "brothers" or relatives were (as people would have supposed) his half-brothers and half-sisters, In other words, they could have been children of Joseph by a previous marriage.

As unfamiliar as this may sound to us, there is nothing at all in the Gospels or other New Testament books to contradict or object to this possibility. It appears to be a most logical explanation.

Interestingly, Christian tradition seems to have a long assumption that Joseph was somewhat older than Mary. If that is true, this could be one of the reasons.

It may even help to explain some passages in the Gospels in

which the family of Jesus, apparently including his mother, object strenuously to his words and behavior.

At one point, they thought he was quite "out of his mind," and were sufficiently embarrassed by him to attempt to remove him from the public eye. (See, for example, Mark 3:20-35.)

Without probing further into the question, the answer to your concern is that Jesus did have close relatives who were referred to as his brothers and sisters.

This provides no basis, however, for questioning the church's traditional belief in the virginity of Mary before and after the birth of our Lord.

A free brochure answering questions Catholics ask about the Eucharist is available by sending a stamped self-addressed envelope to Father John Dietzen, Holy Trinity Parish, 704 N. Main St, Bloomington, Ill. 61701.

Church aids Asians WASHINGTON (CNS) - The U.S. church is working with Asian churches to try to prepare Catholics who emigrate to the United States, says Father Peter Zendzian, director of the U.S. bishops' office (or pastoral care of migrants and refugees. The churches want emigrants to know what to expect in the United States - that "the streets are not paved with gold," the priest said.

Who do we think we are?

Dear Editor: We're creatures on a planet floating through space and the universe.

We know we are men and women with the ability to procreate. That alone should be enough to dissuade the theory of mindless evolution, without a divine intelligence to guide it.

When a woman takes the life of her unborn child and a doctor helps her, who do we think we are?

If a woman knows she came to be on this earth and was allowed to live by God and her mother, she can't help but know that by taking an innocent life she goes against all the natural laws ofexistence created

by God. Through the ages, these laws were observed by mankind, simply by using reason and common sense to attest to their validity and merit.

An act that would go against the universal law of life is not an act of love.

Remember, we're creatures on a planet floating through space and the universe; so who do we think we are? Your answer might surprise you and be followed by "Thank you, God!" Jeanne M. Gagne Fall River

Greater Witness Dear Editor: Father Harrington's column, "About praying at graduations" (Anchor, July 10), blames the government and "the people who..... for the Supreme Court's decision to exclude prayer at graduations. I disagree. The Court took the "designated cleric" away from us, not the power to pray.

Father Harrington may remember a prophecy that came out of the charismatic movement some 15 years ago. Entitled "Son of Man," it foretold times when we would lose the external structures of faith and morals if they became hypocritical.

We lost the right to be led in prayer at graduations because the praying had become an empty ritual. God got sick and tired of our wandering thoughts and disregard, and took the prayer leader from us. God is no longer subjected to the humiliation of our duplicity.

I have heard that, in the two years of banned prayer, families have spontaneously gathered to pray prior to the ceremony. They give greater witness than any ritual ever did.

Deirdre Greelish Mashpee

Vive la difference!

Dear Editor: I write to express my opinion of the issue of changing words in the prayers and liturgy, according to the article in the May 29 Anchor entitled "Men may vanish from Creed."

It is one thing to want to avoid the masculine gender and to replace "for us men" with "for us," but when they want to eliminate the masculine pronouns for Father

and Holy Spirit, that is going too far!

Is not our Blessed Mother the daughter of God the Father? And is itot Mary the Holy Mother of God the Son? And is not the Holy Spirit the Spouse of Mary?

If this is an attempt to appease the feminists, then it has failed because it did not appease me, and, may I add, there may be a thousand others like me!

Even if Scripture says there "is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus," we have to be realistic. Although we are all created in the image and likeness of God, there is no reason for wanting to feminize God! If we tell a person (man) that he resembles his mother, does this make him a woman? Or, if we see a girl who looks exactly like her father, does this make her a man?

Let us pray for guidance from the Holy Spirit so that those in authority in the church will be faithful to the grace of God and lead our church in peace!

Alice Beaulieu New Bedford

haps would have little healing effect. However, isn't it in keeping with the healing message of Christ that a representative of the hierarchy of the church offer a public apology to these victims for what they have suffered through a former member of the clergy?

No, the pain and suffering of the victims will not be erased, but a simple "we're sorry for what you've experienced" may begin a life-long healing process for many of them.

Sandra D'Ambrosio Hamden, CT

Home-schooling Dear Editor: I read with interest the article "Home-schooling said most important apostolate today" (Anchor, June 26). In that article Father John Hardon, an internationally known theologian and author, told parents, "You must become the principal teachers of your children." He assured parents that Catholic home-schooling is approved and blessed by the pope.

As a home-schooling parent for the past four years, I would be happy to speak with any parents who might be interested in learning more about Catholic homeschooling. Please call 636-4903 or write to me at 1133 Russell Mills Rd., South Dartmouth 02748.

Mary Ann Booth South Dartmouth

Thanks to priests Bishop Stang class Dear Editor: I agree with your editorial (Anchor, July 10) that priests need us to let them know they're appreciated and loved for their selfless giving of themselves.

In view of all the media attention on ex-Father Porter and on all the bad things he did: he is human and was subject to human frailties; this doesn't make him a bad person. I'm sure he also did a lot of good.

This Icase) has deeply wounded priests who have remained faithful and I don't think it was necessary to question some of IFather Porter's) classmates. There's enough stress as it is in their work.

My point is: why doesn't someone write about all the good that has been done by the clergy. No one is perfect on this Earth. The only perfect person was Jesus and they crucified him.

I just want to thank all the priests who have done good to myself and others by their exampl.e and giving of self. We all have faults and failures, so I pray that someone will turn the coin around and focus on the good side and give praise to our priests and thank them for everything they have done and, yes, pray for a healing. I've seen some who are hurting and I want to say I'm praying for all our priests.

Eleanor Pavao Fall River

Apology suggested Dear Editor: I am a devout Catholic with great respect for the Church and its ministers.

Over the past couple of months, I have followed the traumatic experiences of the Father James Porter victims. My heart goes out to each of them. It would be my wish to meet each of them personally, and in the name of the church, apologize for the agony they have carried these past 30 years. For me this would be impossible and per-

reunions planned Four alumni classes of Bishop Stang High School. North Dartmouth. have scheduled reunions in coming months.

The class of 1982 will hold a IO-year reunion on Labor Day weekend. Chaired by Maureen Sylvia Armstrong, it will include a dinner dance Sept. 5 at the Wamsutta Club in New Bedford and a Mass at the Bishop Stang chapel, followed by a picnic at a class member's home Sept. 6.

The 20-year re~nio·n of the Class of 1972 will be held Nov. 13, chaired by Janet (Richard) Fredette. The main event will be a dinner-dance at the Century House in Acushnet.

The class of 1966 will join in the 25-year reunion of the Class of 1967 on Nov. 28 at the Hawthorne Country Club in North Dartmouth.

Dinner and dancing to the sounds of a DJ are planned. Chairmen are Bill Muldoon for the class of '67 and Al Catelli for the class of '66.

For information on any of the reunions, contact the Bishop Stang Alumni Office at 993-8959.

THE ANCHOR -

Diocese of Fall River -

Fri., July 24, 1992

7

Medjugorje visionaries say prayer, fasting could end war MEDJUGORJE, Bosnia-Herzegovina (CNS) - Two ofthe youths claiming to receive regular messages from the Blessed Virgin in Medjugorje said the best way to end the war in their country was foretold when the reported apparitions began 11 years ago.

In separate meetings with 17 American pilgrims, Vicka Ivankovic and Ivan Dragicevic said "prayer and fasting," conversion of individuals and families - not military intervention - could end the year-old conflict between Serbia and allied Croatian and Muslim forces: "The first message was to pray for peace," Ms. Ivankovic said as automatic weapon fire crackled in the distance outside her home. She said· the second vision, also in 1981, included a call to prayer and fasting to preyent war.

At the time, all was peaceful.in the region, and the young visionaries thought the war would be elsewhere, she said.

"Our Lady has never mentioned (military) intervention by anyone," she added. "Pray for peace in your heart, in your families. When you get that peace, we'll have peace in the world."

Dragicevic echoed the message, telling the group, "It's very important in all the world that first you have peace in your families."

Pilgrims asked him how he felt

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about the somber mood in Medjugorje, where thousands of people have come for years despite lack of a Vatican ruling on the authenticity of the alleged Marian apparitions.

"Everything, we have to accept - even this," Dragicevic said. "But Medjugorje is not only here. Medjugorje is in all the world, the messages are in all the world. Our task is to pray."

By mid-July, there were no dead or wounded in Medjugorje from the Serbian shelling that has pounded neighboring villages. In early May, seven rocket-propelled bombs landed harmlessly on the outskirts of town, a Croatian spokesman said.

The American pilgrims took four tons of medical aid to Medjugorje.

They came from several states and were organized by a Clearwater, Fla., travel ~gent and several medical professionals, who said they planned ongoing private relieftrips.

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July 25 1913, Rev. Michael J. Cooke, Pastor, St. Patrick, Fall River 1984. Rev. Raymond R. Mahoney, SS.Cc.. Retired, Our Lady Assumption. New Bedford July 26 1974, Rev. Msgr. Alfred J.E. Bonneau, Pastor Emeritus, Notre Dame. Fall River July 27 1981. Rev. Damien Yeary.

SS.Cc.. Former Pastor. St. Anthony, Mattapoisett July 29 1913, Rev. Mathias McCabe, Pastor, Sacred Heart, Fall River July 31 1865, Rev. Daniel Hearne, Pastor, St. Mary, Taunton

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A SIGN POINTS THE WAY for clients lining ~p outside St. Joseph's fodd cellar in Attleboro, where inside organizers Drew Ward and Marian

St. Joseph's 'food cellar: a service with love

By Marcie Hickey They gather on the lawn at St. Joseph's rectory in Attleboro in the first hint of lengthening shadows on a pleasant summer Friday.

Acquaintances chat, newcomers are welcomed, children dart from beside their mothers to run on the . grass and circle the poles ofan old clothesline.

It might have been a summer picnic that brought them all together this suppertime.

But for the people lining up at the rectory basement door, there is no picnic. Instead. their meals in coming days will come in large part from the donated food provided here in grocery bags. rhese are the clients of St. Joseph s Food Cellar; the needy of the Attleboro area: the unemployed, single parents. the firsttime poor. recent immigrants, girls who seem too young to have children oftheir own, working people who can't make ends meet.

They are Hispanic, African-American, Caucasian, Cambodian - a cross section of America.

And each Friday evening they seek help at the food cellar. which since October has distributed more than 5,000 grocery bags. no questions asked. to whomever has arrived at the door. .. We don't refuse anybody. "says Irene Hanley. a volunteer since day one. who records names and addresses of clients to keep track of how often and by whom the food cellar is used.

For her and some 80 other volunteers on a rotating schedule.

"This is the place to be on a Friday night!"

Following the usual procedure. tonight's line of clients descends the staircase to the yellow brickwalled basement. where they check .in and receive a ticket for a bag of groceries.

In the next room. rows of grocery-filled brown paper bags. occupya large section off/oor space. where they are picked up by volunteers to be supplemented with last minute items like bread and eggs, then passed along to the clients coming through the door.

Friendly greetings and thanks are expressed in the exchange of ticket and bag; a woman accepting groceries asks if any more volun-

teers are needed and is promptly signed up. A teenage volunteer carries a bag up the stairs for an older woman who can't manage it.

A shy little boy cracks a grin when Ms. Hanley gives him a candy bar. as she does each passing child.

Then a pregnant woman inquires路 if she might have one too. An amused Ms. Hanley says "Why not?" and amiably complies.

As the line dwindles, so do the grocery bags and the foodstuffs from the cellar's sturdy shelves.

Then the volunteers will rely on more donations tofeed the 200 or so clients who will be back thefollowing Friday.

Something Different The food cellar operation, a brainchild of St. Joseph's parishioners Drew Ward and Marian Demers, arose when the parish sought a means to help the hungry without duplicating the services of the area's several established soup kitchens.

"We purposely opened on Friday nights, when social service agencies close, to get people through the weekend," said Ward, who works for the Attleboro Homeless coalition.

Also active in the parish St. Vincent de Paul Society and Catholic Charities, he suggested to pastor Father Paul Canuel the idea of

distributing groceries rather than prepared meals, and "soon we had more volunteers than we needed," said the priest.

Backed with parish Vincentian funds and food donated by parishioners, the food cellar opened without fanfare on Oct. 4, giving away just four grocery bags that first night.

"But it wasn't long before the word got out and the project became too much for one parish to manage.

Thus in just to months the food cellar has become a complex oper~ ation involving shifts of volunteers, assistance from other parishes and financial and material aid from such charitable organizations as Boston-based Project Bread and the Rhode Island Community Food Bank in West Warwick.

The volunteers who assist Ward and Mrs. Demers in handing out bags from 6 to 7:30 each Friday evening are only part of an overall crew working largely behind the scenes to keep the shelves stocked and the grocery bags flowing.

One group transfers food donated at Masses to the cellar shelves; others go shopping for bargains at a nearby super market, which gives notice of sale items and donates day-old bread and pastries to the cellar. Another group travels to

Rhode Island to obtain items at "Sometimes you feel guilty about the West Warwick food bank, being fortunate." which offers discounted food for Familiar faces in the food cellar shelters and social service organ- are Mrs. Demers' sons, Jay, 16, izations. and Robert, 12, who help out About 150 bags are prepared every Friday night - though not out of obligation, their mother ahead of the Friday distribution by volunteers who come on Wed- pointed out. "They're here because nesday evenings and follow the list they want to be. I don't make them of what items are to be packed in come."

"The volunteers are the best," the bags: staples like tuna, soup, macaroni, cereal, carined fruit,juice Ward summarized. "They don't and peanut butter, along with a have to be here. It just goes to show you, if everybody did one few toiletries.

"We have an elderly couple that good thing.. ," comes and brings a radio - they'll Generous Benefactors spend half the day preparing bags," St. Joseph's collects food for the said Father Canuel. cellar at all Masses each weekend, Most of the volunteer workers and "people have generously supare parishioners or friends of pari-. ported us with food and monetary shioners, "but we also depend on donations," said Father Canuel. many volunteers outside the par- Food collections weekly at St. ish who get us food," said the John the Evangelist Church and monthly at Holy Ghost and St. pastor.

In her first time handing out . Stephen's churches, all in Attlebags on a Friday night, Susan boro, benefit the food cellar.

Donations also come from St. Forrester said she had been "wantMary's churches in Norton and ing to do something for a while.

I'm one of the fortunate ones -my Seekonk and Sacred Heart parish, North Attleboro. husband and I have jobs."

Food lists are published in the She added, "You have to do parishes' bulletins, telling donors something. I'll keep doing it as what to bring to assure variety and long as they need me. There's not guarantee that needed items will much I can do because I work so be supplied, Father Canuel exmany hours, but this I can do." plained.

After a pause she acknowledged, St. Joseph's has also staged fund raising efforts, including a "Pennies from Heaven" Lenten drive and a June auction that featured donated goods from antiques to pies to Red Sox tickets.

It netted $2,700 for the food cellar as well as TV coverage that brought in contributions from Boston area churches and "an accountant who just sat down and wrote a check," said Ward. "When people find out about us they go out of their way to help."

Indeed; benefactors have come in all shapes and sizes: Brennan Middle School students wheeled over shopping carts filled with more than 600 grocery items from the supermarket down the street, and Attleboro Brownie Troop 946 delivered a huge box, the inside filled with foodstuffs and the outside decorated with snapshots of the donors, looking cute but efficient in their brown uniforms.

"It was a precious gift - they wanted to give a part of themselves FATHER CANUEL checks the food cellar's supply. (Hickey photo)

.' as well as the food, and they did," said Father Canuel, who had not parted with the empty box.

And then there are the benefactors for whom St. Joseph's food cellar is a very personal cause.

"Sometimes, the people who have been coming, when their situation changes, become generous benefactors," said Father Canuel. "One of the ladies who had been coming every week [arrived at Christmas time), wished Drew a happy holiday and slipped him a bill. It was a $\00 bill! Whoever had given her a Christmas gift, she turned it over to the food cellar."

And yet, even as the support has been pouring in from all over, the needy have arrived in proportion to glean the shelves each week.

Ward and Mrs. Demers admitted they often survive week to week on donations. "We're getting pretty low again," said Ward.

"We haven't run out yet, but, there was one week where the last \0 or so in line didn't get much," added Mrs. Demers.

They are firmly committed, however, to opening every Friday, Ward continued, recounting how they had planned to close the day after Thanksgiving, figuring that their clients would be adequately served by the food baskets which abound at. that time of year.

"But people started showing up," said Ward, who had happened by the rectory to see someone' at the door. "We ended up distributing 84 bags - when we were supposed to be closed!" He shrugged. "We won't close again!"

There has been no sign that need is ebbing during the summer season, he continued. "I thought it would slow down - but it just keeps growing. We have IS to' 25 new people each week. But you see them coming in, and you know they need it."

The food cellar offers extras when possible - diapers, cold medicine, powdered milk for those who ask. On occasion there is clothing, sometimes donated by a local shop, which the volunteers , hand to those who seem neediest.

It was easier to tell in the winter, said Mrs. Demers, when children would come in without a coat and wearing thin clothing.

"We kept coats and sweaters on hand," said Father Canuel, but "since St. Vincent de Paul has a clothing center, we don't need to become [another clothing distributor]."

A Drop in the Bucket?

In the face of such overwhelming need, doesn't St. Joseph's operation seem to be just a drop in the bucket?

Father Canuel considers the question.

"When a person is hungry and seeking employment, it's only a bag of groceries," he admits. "One bag - though a' good size bag - is not addressing the issues of poverty and unemployment."

But even if it does not solve all of the clients' problems, "at least they'll be able to feed themselves and feed their kids for this weekend," he said.

Some of the clients "feel better about taking a bag if they volunteer," added Ward. Others will bring in clothing or return food ~hey did not use.

"It's everybody helping everybody else out," he summed up.

The benefits go beyond provid, ing food, Father Canuel asserted.

When the needy come to St. Joseph's they are treated with dignity, and that's as worthy as any long-term goal, he said.

The food cellar "is a means of reaching out to people," he explained. "Drew goes up and down that line to talk to people, talk to them as real brothers and sisters. ..And that's why they come early" - at 4 or 5 o'clock when the cellar doesn't open until 6 - "not only for that bag of groceries but also for human contact. It's like a club - they'll trade stories of what

THE ANCHOR -

Diocese of Fall River -

Fri., July 24,1992

9

FOOD CELLAR volunteers Jane Uronis of East Bridgewater and Robert Demers, a St. Joseph's parishioner, stock grocery bags with last minute items. (Hickey photo) happened during the week. There is a hunger for companionship" as well as food.

The bottom line is "to do the service with love," Father Canuel affirmed, then paraphrasing St. Vincent de Paul: "Only the love that you have will enable the poor to forgive you your charity."

Returning to the question of the food cellar's effectiveness in fight-

ing hunger, Father Canuel said soberly, "For people to have to stand in line and come to a cellar for a bag of food, that situation should not be happening. I hope that one day we could be put out of business!"

Until that day, though, the food cellar "may be only a drop in the bucket - 'but sometimes it's the drop that quenches the thirst."

Hispanic ministry close to home for St. ,Joseph's pastor

By Marcie Hickey In addition to being home-base for the community-wide food cellar effort, St. Joseph's is the center for the Attleboro area Apostolate to Hispanics, which Father Canuel directs. , The Spanish-speaking population "comes here not only for [the weekly Spanish-language] Mass on Saturday evenings, but for other services," said Father Canuel, noting that the parish has a community life committee and offers monthly social activities for the Hispanic population, which is composed largely of persons of Puerto Rican, Guatemalan, Colombian and El Salvadoran background.

The community was brought together recently for devotions surrounding a traveling cross commemorating the SOOth anniversary of the evangelization of the Americas. Designed for use by Hispanic communities, the cross travels independently of the Quincentennial Cross introduced to the diocese last December and was hosted

by St. Joseph's from Holy Week until June 21.

While in Attleboro, it was carried in procession from one home

to another, where neighbors would gather for teachings, readings and prayer, said Father Canuel.

"It came back to the parish every Satur~ay night to lead the procession at Mass, then it would leave the church to begin a new week of prayer in a different neighborhood."

The cross, which came to Attleboro from the Taunton area, was then transferred to the Cape Cod Hispanic community, based at St. Pius X parish, South Yarmouth.

Father Canuel says'the cross "is of value to us as Hispanics from all different countries for the purpose of evangelization, renewing our faith and reaching out to our neighbors. It was a tremendous unifying and community-building experience."

Rather than focus on controversial aspects of the Columbus quincentennial regarding treatment of native American peoples, the cross is intended to convey the positive aspects of "Jesus Christ becoming known to a whole new continent," said Father Canuel.

As the "driving force" behind these devotions-and Hispanic ministry in general-Father Canuel

FATHERS ARCHILA and Canuel in Guatemala.

credits the Misioneras Guadalupanas del Espiritu Santo, the Guadalupanas Sisters. Headquartered in New Bedford, the diocesan sisters are currently hosting a convocation of all their U.S. members at the Family Life Center in North Dartmouth.

These sisters "have been the ones who are in every area of the diocese instrumental-the backbone of the Spanish Apostolate," said Father Canuel.

Sister Hermana Teresa Aguinaga, who ministers at St. Joseph's, conducts family visitations, trains lectors and is involved with religious education and the Spanish folk group.

"These sisters are amazing. They are real missionaries," said Father Canuel. "They are split between two worlds-working in a culture strange to them to serve people from their own culture."

Close to Home Hispanic ministry is a mission that has always been close to home for Father Canuel. After a sevenyear assignment in Peru with the St. James Society ending in 1982, he had added two new family members: an adopted niece, and a young man whose education he sponsored in Peru and the United States. Both are Quechua Indians.

'More recently, Father Canuel served as a witness and sponsor for the ordination of his housekeeper's son in Guatemala.

In his ministry to fishermen and mountain indians in Peru, Father Canuel came across little Noelle, a nearly-starved tot whose mother could not afford to care for her.

Learning she was available for adoption, the priest moved mountains of paperwork to enable his sister and brother-in-law, Claudette and Richard Durette, to adopt her. Soon restored to health, Noelle is now IS. Even as he was arranging his niece's adoption, Father Canuel took on a young charge of his own: Sixto Cespedes, a teen determined Turn to Page 14

FATHER ARCHILA celebrates his first Mass (top); Father Canuel at the cathedral in Quetzalmango, Guatemala.

,

The priesthood: Together we stand, divided we fall In response to requests from many readers who enjoyed Father William W. Norton's summer 1991 series of articles, the pastor of St. Joseph's Church, Woods Hole, has agreed to write another series.

In the planning since the beginning of 1992, it considers the roles of priest and laity in the contemporary church.

The Editor "In order to fulfill his office in earnest," says Canon 529 of the 1983 revised code of Canon Law, "the pastor should strive to come to know the faithful who have been entrusted to his care; therefore, he is to visit families, sharing the cares, worries, and especially the griefs of the faithful, strengthening them in the Lord, and correcting them prudently if they are wanting in certain areas; with a generous love he is to help the sick, particularly those close to death, refreshing them solicitously with the sacraments and commending their souls to God; he is to make a special effort to seek out the poor, the afflicted, the lonely, those exiled from their own land, and similarly those weighed down with special

difficulties; he is also to labor diligently so that spouses and parents are supported in the.ir fulfilling their proper duties, and he is to foster growth in the Christian life within the family. The pastor is to acknowledge and promote the proper role which the lay members of the Christian faithful have in the Church's mission..."

Recently, I attended the change of command at the U.S. Coast Guard Station in Woods Hole, a lovely short ceremony. In the booklet given to guests it said "The change of command ceremony is a timehonored tradition which formally restates to the unit officer and enlisted personnel the continuity ofthe authority of command.

It is a formal ritual conducted before the assembled company of the command.

"The change of command of a military unit is unique in the world today. It is a transfer of total responsibility, authority and accountability from one individual to another in the presence of all personnel."

What is authority and what is the need for authority?

Simply put, it is the power of someone to make decisions for the common good of a social body. He or she cannot do it alone; in other words, the leader cannot simply be on the top, the rest of us on the bottom. A man can lead others only when they allow him to lead, to decide, to work for their common good. Bishop, pastor, commander - it matters not; those who have authority must be centered in the fact that they work for the good of those for whom they are responsible. I have always affirmed that a pastor is as strong as his people allow him to be. He cannot assume that he stands alone or worse, above the community.

Rather, he stands for and with the community of faith in his parish.

Sometimes priests feel their parish is too large to allow them to know their people. Few parishes today have priests going door to door to take the census, but priests should not run away from greeting their people at the door each Sunday, at wedding receptions, at parish socials or wherever priest and people gather together.

On the other hand, people are

not always sensitive to a priest's need to be left alone at times.

Sometimes I ask a parishioner who seems upset about this, "do you always get the doctor on the phone each time you ca1l?" Priests are expected to be available, but not necessarily at 2 a.m. when a drunk calls just to talk to Father.

However, Catholics in general are realizing that priests are fewer and demands are greater so the priests should be encouraged to schedule their efforts for maximum benefit to the parish.

Many already do, but it is time for all parishes to have office hours, . answering services and secretarial staff who can provide baptismal, confirmation and marriage records.

When there is a real emergency, of course, it is the priest's job to be there - and most usually are.

As a Catholic community, do we support one another? Do we stand up for our church and its mission to our town, city or other area where we live? Can your pastor rely on you to help him teach religion or to serve as a choir member, lector, or eucharistic minister? Are you there to collect

FATHER NORTON for Catholic Charities, serve on social committees or the parish council? Can he count on you or must he look to someone else? Do you expect a lot from him and give nothing of yourself in return?

In closing, a person in authority has as much power as people give him. Together, priests and people stand with and for each other. Or sadly, if divided both fall by the wayside.

Exploring who we are as U.8. church The following are abridged excerpts from a much-discussed speech given by Benedictine Archbishop Rembert G. Weakland of Milwaukee at last May's Catholic Press Association convention. The prelate considered the effects both of the change of the Catholic population from immigrants to "insiders" in U.S. culture and of changes in the church itselffollowing Vatican Council II. The church in the United States that I knew as a boy in the 1930s was still an immigrant people who felt they were outsiders in the U.S. culture.

Because ofthat outsider mentality, we built a large school system of our own. We had our own hospital system, too, because it was important that we provide the last rites for our people and look after the'ir spiritual needs. We created our own newspapers because they were absolutely necessary for cohesion among us outsiders. We had a Catholic parallel for everything that was found among the insiders.

The most significant change in the U. S. church in the last decades has been that the Catholic population has now joined the U.S. insiders. Immediately after World War II, Catholics began to attend colleges and universiti~s in large numbers. Taking advantage of the GI bills, they rapidly moved into top positions in government, education, business and the like. In a period of about three decades, Catholics became the largest U.S. religious body.

In moving up the ladder, so to speak, Catholics from typical labor families that were Democratic and union members, moved into managerial positions and tended to become Republicans. The church lost its favored connection with labor.

Most priests, too, were coming from this new middle-class Catholic population.

At the same time, the U. S. church became caught up in the excitement of Vatican Council II. One really cannot exaggerate the council's liberating influence on a church

that had tended to be ultracau- grown up in, but colored by much tious since the scare of Ameri- new patriotism and historical percanism and modernism at the be- ceptions. ginning of this century.

Which church was the true When the windows were opened church in the United States? Both it looked for a time as if the whole were and are. house would blow away. There I will try to pull some of these was headiness in the U.S. church thoughts together. experience in the '60s, which came Church Institutions just as Catholics were taking their First of all, one would have to place in U.S. society. say that the church's institutions Pluralism have not for the most part changed For the picture of our faithful to focus and are suffering an identity be complete, we must say that the crisis. This is true of schools, of Catholic move upward has not hospitals and of the Catholic press. been uniform. More recent immiShould these institutions serve grants, such as Hispanics, do not the new insiders and if so, how? belong to the same economic or Should they try to serve all the cultural class. Theyalso cannot be aspects of the church and be a compared to former immigrants point of unity? If so, how? since they tend to return frequently As insiders, most Catholics get to their homes of origin and main- their news, even about religion, tain contact with their roots, main- from the daily papers and teletaining much of their cultural vision. What does that mean to heritage.

Catholic newspapers? I would The same pluralism can be seen guess that they do not need so among black Catholics, Hmongs, much to present church news that Vietnamese, Laotians, Koreans has already been in the secular and others. They are moving up press as an interpretation of how fast in the society but still retain that news is to be seen in the light many of their cultural traits; they of Catholic tradition. do not yet see themselves totally as Liturgy, Responsibility insiders.

The American culture has afAll of these differences present a fected liturgy.

Much new church pastoral problem: How does a church adjust to so much plural- music is from the contemporary ism and keep its unity? They are a American idiom. Most of it appeals sign of richness but can lead to to the popular taste and is not very periodic clashes and misunder- good.

But I am convinced that Sunday standings.

Mass has become very important If cultural pluralism presents pastoral problems, one can imagine to those who take their religion seriously and are seeking to intewhat internal pluralism causes.

Most of these points of pluralism , grate it with their d'aily lives. In affect the whole question of Catho- fact, the Eucharist has become a lic identity and are thus very sensi- new form of self-identity among Catholics. tive areas.

I was not surprised when DougLet me begin with two examlas Roche recently wrote that the ples: In the mid-'70s two very difEucharist has replaced the papacy ferent events took place: the Call as the center of Christian unity. I 'to Action meeting in Detroit and the eucharistic congress in Phila- would rather have said "the center of Catholic identity." Attendance delphia. is no longer a question of obligaFrom the description ofthe Call tion, but of an inner need of supto Action meeting it seemed that port to face the world as insiders. the church had already made a Americans have enthusiastically transition into the 21st century.

But the eucharistic congress in accepted the Vatican II concept of Philadelphia was definitely the shared responsibility. It is not a well-loved and revered outsider question of trying to decide dogma by popular vote, but rather one of manifestation of the church I had

using gifts and talents路for the betterment of the parish and church life. The expectation level after Vatican Council It was high in this regard, and there has been disappointment on the part of many.

We have not yet struck the proper balance here and there will be a tension between the democratic processes we are used to in the general society and the contrast if the church keeps to a more authoritarian model.

Teaching Role There is no doubt that this is a difficult area for us in the United States. I believe that Andrew eNS photo Greeley is absolutely right in sayARCHBISHOP WEAKLAND ing that we have not recovered from "Humanae Vitae." The teachand its future. Women are divided ing mission of the ch.urch is not among themselves on the issues easy for insiders in the American that touch their lives. culture to accept. This is especially This division is evidenced in the true in 'all the sexuality questions. responses to the drafts of the pasOur people are less impressed by toralletter on women's concerns. I who says something than by how have no answer. The ordination of they understand the arguments for women to the priesthood is the key it. issue. We know that among the Could I broach here a very deli- Episcopalians it has led to even cate and important subject that no greater divisions; but not to face it one writes about? As I travel and all issues surrounding femiaround the country, I find a grow- nism could lead to the loss of many ing disaffection from Rome. I can- wonderful women who have connot say that it is a denial of papal tributed much to our church. authority nor a lack of admiration To sum up where we as church for the Holy Father. At times it is are these days, I would say that we an expression of indifference to are now an intimate part of the what Rome says. I find this atti- whole web of U.S. culture because tude very pronounced in academic , we have become insiders in that circles, but find it elsewhere and at culture. Much of it rubs off on our all cultural levels. people, sometimes for good, someThere is also a second group times in ways that shake Catholic that shows much anger toward identity.

My hope is that the vitality of Rome. Such negativism toward the church will not be smothered authority in any organization, if prolonged, is not healthy and as it seeks to adjust to this new situation. My fear is that our peoshould be worrisome. ple will become impatient and deThe Protestant Reformation cide that the struggle to reconcile would never have been possible if the world in which they must live there had not been a separation of and act as insiders with their faith affection from Rome on the part as they learned it in the past is not of clergy and laity long before the worth the effort. ' event that broke the ties.

I pray foi the courage for the Feminism church to continue to confront The question of the role of wothese issues. I can say from expemen seems to dominate U.S. society rience that those who do stay with and thus the church as well. I do the dialogue find life frustrating at not have to say how important this times, but always full of meaning question is for our U.S. church and always enriching.

.'

Vatican appointee says church must stay in health care VALHALLA, N.Y. (eNS) Msgr. James P. Cassidy, just appointed to the newly established Vatican post of coordinator of Catholic hospital work, feels that des'pite obstacles the church cim and should remain in the health field.

"The church has to stay in healthcare," he said in an interview at the New York Medical 'College in Valhalla; N.Y. "Many of today's most important moral issues are coming up in this area."

Even where governments assume full responsibility for national health, he said, Catholics need to operate hospitals as models of . how to keep developing technology from dehumanizing health care.

Msgr. Cassidy~ 67, formerly health and hospitals director for the New York archdiocese, has served since 1987 as chancellor of New York Medical College, an institution related to the archdiocese.

He also has played a key role in forming the International Association of Catholic Health Institutions, and was named president last year.

Now that post is being made a fulltime staff position under the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Assistance to Health Care Workers.

Msgr. Ca'ssidy said he does not know what budget or staffing he will have in Rome. He will work under Cardinal Fiorenzo Andlini, president of the Council for Health Care Workers.

The priest said the new office will give special attention to gathering more information about the estimated 20,000 Catholic hospitals and other health care institutions throughout the world.

Msgr. Cassidy acknowledged rising costs hamper continued Catholic hospital ministry. Catholic institutions need government funds, but with that can come government pressure to violate church principles, he noted. But he feels such pressures can be resisted.

In cases where governments resist missionary work, he added, "health care is the easiest way to go into a country." He expressed regret that some religious orders, in part because of fewer vocations, are doing less in health care; but he said that other Catholic groups were supplementing some of that work.

Himself a Knight of Malta, he noted that the Knights are heavily engaged in supporting hospitals and other kinds of health care, particularly in the Third World.

"The best hospital in Saigon is run by the German Knights of Malta," he said.

Help from. the Knights has also gone to Eastern Europe, he added.

Msgr. Cassidy has developed international programs that brought New York Medical College and other institutions of the New York archdiocese together with hospitals in countries such as the Dominican Republic. In Rome, he said, he ' will try to further such collaborative efforts.

Medical specialists from Catholic hospitals in developed countries can provide valuable services as consultants to health care workers in poor areas, he said, adding that equipment considered obsolete in North America and Europe is often welcomed by institutions operating at a simpler level.

The Anchor FridaY,July 24, .1992

11 . ,

Anglicans, Catholics pledge to work for unity

AT THEIR June convention, the Catholic-Association of Foresters awarded 15 scholarship grants to high school graduates entering college this fall. Fi~e oft~e students are pictu~ed: front row, from left, Erin K. Tweedie, New Bedford, scholarship chairperson Janet A. Kmg, and Elizabeth A. Schneider, Arlington. Rear, from left, High Chief Ranger Richard J. Davis, Daniel J. Sweeney Jr., Lancaster, Michael Oliveira, New Bedford, Kyle P. Wills, Fall River and Rev. Leonard M. Mullaney, Foresters chaplain and pastor of St. Anthony's parish, East Falmouth.

Terry Anderson finds God Continued from Page One "They brought him in and then they stood there," he said. "I said, "You can't do this, because confession is a private thing in our faith.' They said, 'But we can't leave you.' 'But you have to.' And they did. And I had a very satisfying session with Father Martin.

"He made it easy for me to come back, a process that I thought in my own personal circumstances and history would be difficult," added Anderson.

Those circumstances included a failed marriage to a Japanese woman from whom he was not yet divorced and his engagement to Madeleine Bassil, a Maronite Catholic who gave birth to their daughter. Sulome, several months after his kidnapping.

While Father Jenco was among the hostages, "we had services every

day, many times twice a day," Anderson said. "That year or so of basically going to church every day - the 'church of the locked door' - helped very much to make me comfortable with being a practicing Catholic.

"That's not to say it made me a good Catholic," he added. ''I'm not a good Catholic. I've got a long way to go yet. But I'm working on it."

These days he, Ms. Bassil and Sulome attend weekly Mass at New York's Corpus Christi Parish, where he said there is such an "absolutely tremendous choir" that "you don't even have to pray you just feel the music of the choir and that is like praying."

During his captivity, Anderson sometimes discussed religion with his Muslim guards but said he "never will understand how people

TERRY ANDERSON carries his seven-year-old daughter Sulome during a June visit to his hometown of Batavia, NY. (CNS photo) ,

who are so religious ... can use that religion to justify and condone the acts they commit."

"I've read the Koran - I'm no expert, but I've read it - and I don't see how any believer in Islam can really believe that God will accept him into heaven after committing such acts, but they do," he added.

"What kind of God do they think they have?" he asked. "My God is not a God of violence and blood and vengeance. He is Father Martin's God, a kind and gentle God." Much of Anderson's growth in faith during his captivity surfaced in the form of poetry. He wrote 32 poems, many with religious themes, while he was held in Lebanon.

"When you don't have much to do but sleep you tend not to sleep very well," he said. During one of those "long, grey nights," he wrote a poem and in the morning he recited it to fellow hostage Thomas Sutherland. "By the timeTom and Terry Waite left there were 17.

By the time I was released some time later, there were 32.""

One 10-part poem, called "Stigmata," is the framework around which he is writing a book about his experiences. Another is about Father J enco celebrating the Eucharist for the hostages (see page I). A third describes his feelings about being a Catholic. That poem follows: "I'm not Catholic by conviction, or through belief that this one road is better than the rest.

I cannot even say that I've accepted all the teachings, and certainly I've failed to keep this narrow path.

If I could choose, I think I'd be a Quaker, or a Buddhist, even Hindu reincarnation's such an elegant and reassuring thought.

But I can't - my parents chose before me.'

And though I've spent a large part of my life trying to choose otherwise, one still half-hour in an empty church defies all logic.

I all) what both my fathers made me, and I'm content to find myself at home again."

BALTIMORE (CNS) - Participants in a national Anglican and Roman 'Catholic dialogue group pledged to continue working for unity between the two churches, despite "the ,discouragment with which many view the slow progress of Christian re- , conciliation." .

In a statement issued after their recent meeting in Baltimore,members of the Anglican-Rom~n Catholic Consultation in the United States vowed to "continue to explore the problems that divide us and the opportunities that lie before us."

"We intend to offer to our churches pastoral, liturgical and theological initiatives through which we all may move to new levels of common life," they said.

Such cooperation is especially important "because the united witness of Christians makes an important contribution to the deve10pment of peace and justice at , this time of heightened tension and conflict in our society," the st;ltement said.

The ecumenical panel had both positive and negative comments about the Vatican's December 1991 response to the final report of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission, known as ARCIC I. "We here acknowledge that there has been widespread disappointment with the official Roman Catholic response," the statement said.

"And yet we also note and under~ line that in its response the Vatican acknoWledges that 'notable progress' has been achieved in the final report in respect to eucharistic doctrine and that 'significant consensus' has been achieved on the understanding of ordained ministry," , The dialogue group includes two bishops from each church - CathcHic Bishops John J. Snyder of St. Augustine, Fla., and F. Joseph Gossman of Raleigh, N.C., and Episcopal Bishops A. Theodore Eastman of Maryland and Frank Griswold III of Chicago. Other participants were priests from each church, two Catholic nuns and lay experts in ecumenism.

The group also passed a resolution in honor of Archbishop John F. Whealon of Hartford, Conn., who was Catholic co-chairman of the Anglican-Catholic dialogue at the time of his death on Aug. 2, 1991.

Expressing "deep regret" at his ,death. the group praised Archbishop Whealon "for the leadership and determination that he gave toward the restoration of visible unity and full ecclesial communion between the two churches."

Blacks feel outside WASHINGTON (CNS) - Brazil's black Catholics feel excluded from histories and celebrations of 500 years of evangelizing the Americas. Franciscan Father David Raimundo Santos of the coordinating team of the Association of Black Priests and Bishops of Brazil said they are especially concerned about representation in the Fourth General Conference of the Latin American Episcopate, to be held Oct. 12-28 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

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THE ANCHOR-Diocese of Fall River-Fri., July 24, 1992

POPE JOHN PAUL II, accompanied by surgeon Francesco Crucitti(right) and other doctors, as he arrived at Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome on July 12. (CNS/ Reuters photo)

Doctors say pope's tumor was non-cancerous VATICAN CITY (CNS) Doctors who removed a colon tumor from Pope John Paul II, 72, said they caught the growth before it could become cancerous.

The pope publicly thanked doctors for their work and well-wishers for their prayers as his recovery proceeded well, a Vatican spokesman said.

A medical bulletin said a final biopsy had confirmed the benign nature of the tumor, but had also found a small core of proliferating cells that showed characteristics of "malign degeneration.'"

Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said that meant there had been a "situation of risk." But he said no actual cancer cells were found in the tumor, and no' cells showed "invasive behavior."

The doctors found no significant alterations in the pope's lymph nodes - another good sign - and said there was healthy tissue on all sides of the affected area of the colon.

The doctors therefore confirmed that the operation could be considered "curative" and said the pope should recover completely.

The pope made his remarks thanking doctors and well-wishers in an Angelus talk, pre-recorded in, his hospital room and broadcast on Vatican Radio July 19.

"Thank you! Thanks to the doctors and other personnel at the Gemelli Polyclinic and the Vatican, who have been so attentive and careful regarding my wellbeing," he said.

The pope spoke for about five minutes, pausing frequent,ly between words. He ended with a recital of the Angelus, offered with the intention of alleviating "the physical and spiritual suffering of all the sick in the world."

After the pope's surgery, some Italian experts questioned why the tumor had not been diagnosed earlier, saying it probably took years to develop.

But the pope's surgeon, Dr. Franceco Crucitti, said the tumor had produced no symptoms until a few days before the pope was admitted to the hospital.

"There was no fever, no pain, no

Vatican discusses homosexual rights VATICAN CITY (CNS) - The Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said in a new document that "it is not unjust discrimination to take sexual orientation into account" in the areas of "adoption or foster care, in employment of teachers or coaches, and in military recruitment."

The document, circulated to bishops, said, "Homosexual persons, as human persons, have the same rights as all persons including that of not being treated in a manner which offends their personal dignity.

"Among other rights, all persons have the right to work, to housing, etc. Nevertheless, these rights are not absolute .... Thus it is accepted that the state may restrict the exercise of rights, for example, in the case of contagious or mentally ill persons, in order to protect the common good."

The congregation cited situations in Italy and the United States in which laws regarding homosexual rights "seem more directed to support of basic civil rights than con-

.donement of homosexual activity or homosexual lifestyle," but "may in fact have a negative impact on the family and society."

The document said of such'legislation, "It is inappropriate for church authorities to endorse or remain neutral." It was released by the Vatican July 17.

The Vatican congregation said, "There is no right to homosexuality" and such a sexuaLorientation "should not form the juridical basis" for anti-discrimination laws.

Sexual orientation is not comparable to "race, ethnic background, etc. in respect to nondiscrimination," said the docurrient.

"Unlike these, homosexual orientation is an objective disorder."

Passing equal rights laws based on sexual orientation could lead "to the legislative protection of homosexuality," it said.

The document said its aim was "to identify some principles and distinctions" which should be "taken into consideration by the conscientious Catholic legislator,

voter or church authority who is confronted with such issues."

Church authorities must oppose such legislation "even if it grants exceptions to church organizations and institutions," it said.

The document deplored violence against homosexuals, saying "such treatment deserves condemnation from the church's pastors wherever it occurs," but it adds "when homosexual activity is condoned ... neither the church nor society at large should be surprised when other distorted notions and practices gain ground, and irrational and violent reactions increase."

At the same time, the document praised people who control their homosexual tendencies.

"The majority of homosexually oriented persons who seek to lead chaste lives do not want or see no reason for their sexual orientation to become public knowledge. Hence the problem of discrimination in terms of employment, housing, etc. does not arise," it said.

Related story page 13.

Guam takes abortion case to ,high court

WASHINGTON (CNS) - At- this case forward." Linton argued of state regulations are acceptable torneys representing Gov. Joseph on behalf of the governor before in light of thel989 Webster ruling that allowed states to regulate bleeding," he said. The pope's Ada of Guam have filed a petition the federal court of appeals.

The governor's petition contends with the U.S. Supreme Court abortion. medical test results over the last "The Supreme Court chose 'viaseveral years were completely nor- appealing a federal court decision that the high court should hear the that declared Guam's abortion law Guam case to clarify a number of bility' as the line of protection for mal, he added. issues left unanswered by the Casey unborn children," said Linton, "but "To prevent this was impossi- unconstitutional. .decision.

Guam's abortion law, passed it is a line drawn in the sand that ble," he said.

"For years, Roe vs. Wade has shifts as the winds of medical Doctors said that after a month- unanimously in March 1990 by long recovery period, the pope Guam's legislature and signed by for all intents and purposes estab- technology advance." should be able to resume his nor- Gov. Ada, bans abortions except lished an arbitrary distinction The governor's petition argues mal work pace and his heavy trip in cases where two doctors deter- 路between fetuses at various points that the court needs more inforin time during the pregnancy, bas' mine there in "substantial risk" to schedule. Vatican spokesman Namation in order to set a workable ically calling a fetus late in the guideline forstates wishing to prothe life or health of the mother. varro-Valls said the pope would The law was in effect only four pregnancy a human being while a tect unborn children. "Reviewing skip a planned September trip to Sicily, but was expected to travel days before court challenges put it fetus early in the pregnancy is the Guam case would permit the not," said Ada. to four Latin American c.ountries on hold.

Supreme Court to adequately In the Casey decision June 29, explore the issue through legal The ruling from the 9th U.S. in October.

Circuit Court of Appeals, handed the U.S. Supreme Court in a com- briefs and oral argument," Linton The spokesman added, however, down in April, cited Roe vs. Wade plex ruling approved new limits on said. . that top papal aides had for some . as the "law of the land" and upheld abortion by upholding most protime been trying to Iight,en his It is not expected that the a woman's constitutional right to visions of a Pennsylvania law annual trip schedule.

Supreme Court will determine making it more difficult to obtain an abortion.

"Now it will be up to [the pope] whether to hear Guam's appeal The governor said in a state- abortions. to decide," he said.

But the court struck down the before October. ment that he is convinced he will The day after his surgery, the "The votes of only four of the have a "reasonable prospect of requirement that married women pope began meeting regularly with success" with the Supreme Court, notify their husbands before hav- nine justices are needed in order to top Vatican officials, including the take the case,;' said Linton, adding, des pite the recent decision in ing abortions. secretary of state, Cardinal Angelo Pennsylvania's statute permits "that is the number who now believe Planned Parenthood vs. Casey, Sodano, and on July 20, he took all abortions up to the point at Roe should be overturned." which he called "disheartening." his first meal - all liquid - since which the fetus could survive outAlthough citizens of Guam, a ,Paul Linton, associate general .the operation and was moving counsel for the Chicago-based side the womb. By questioning U.S. possession nearly 4,000 miles around his suite of rooms on the Americans United for Life, said in ,only parts of the state's laws, west of Hawaii, cannot vote for hospital's 10th floor. He celebrated a statement that Ada demonstrated Planned Parenthood's case merely president, their courts are part of Mass daily with his personal secreleadership and courage in "taking left the court to answer what types the federal system. tary and read while sitting in a chair, his spokesman said.

"He is weak in the sense that since last Sunday, he hasn't taken WASHINGTON (CNS) thing in a world where people are are the primary educators and the any food through the mouth. Now that he's starting with a light diet, When Viatorian Father Charles state has no business to tell them afraid of everything." He attributed this philosophy to his belief in which is also physically stimulat- Bolser walks, he hopes people where their children should go to the Resurrection. "That means you school," he said. ing, we are entering into a com- listen.

The 54-year-old high school pletely normal phase," NavarroHe also warned listeners that if can't be afraid. You have to be principal recently donned hiking they did not "get angry and upset alive," he said.

Valls said.

Exhausted but not undaunted, boots and a backpack and walked enough to do something, Catholic The pope was expected to remain the priest now wants to organize a in the hospital until July 25, then 300 miles along the Illinois River, schools could disappear without a rally. "Catholics need to put their spend a month conva:Iescing, prob- he said in a telephone interview whimper." ably at his summer residence in with Catholic News Service, beFather Bolser spent half of his demands to the government," he Castel Gandolfo. Vatican officials cause he was "angry and frustrated walking time alone and the other said. "We are not asking for favors; we're asking for our rights." have not ruled out a belated papal enough" to attract attention to the half accompanied by well-wishers He is frustrated with the lack of and family members. vacation in the northern Itaiian plight of Catholic schools.

Although his walk from ChanAlps, possibly in late August. The Parishioners from Catholic government support for private education, and he is also disheartnanhon, Ill., to St. Louis raised churches along the route carried , pope was to have spent two weeks ened by lack of support from the nearly $20,000 in pledges for his dinner to him. Rectories put him there in July.

Catholic community. high school and additional pledge up for the night. His brother walked money for other schools, just rais- with him for seven days.

Father Bolser blames this on Catholic educators. "We forget to ing money was not his intention.

Father Bolser did not train for tell people what our mission is, so He is seeking state aid for private the hike; he just made sure he had they don't appreciate what we're schools. the right socks and shoes and then doing," he said.

During sermons and in inter- started walking. But adventure is views during his 18-day trek, Fa- not new to the high school princiLie Leads to Jungle ther Bolser pleaded for the sup- pal, who has parachuted and toured "A lie leads a man from a grove port of Catholic education.

Ireland by bicycle. into ajungle."-Marcelene Cox "I reminded people that parents He said he is willing to "try any-

Priest walks for Catholic schools

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THE ANCHOR-Diocese of FallRiver-Fri.,'July··24, i992

Gay gr-o-ups react angrily to Vatican document WASHINGTON (CNS) - U.S. groups working with Catholic homosexuals reacted angrily to a Vatican document sent to U.S. bishops urging them to oppose laws intended to protect homosexuals if the laws also promote acceptance of homosexual conduct.

A statement by New Ways Ministry, the group working with gay Catholics that leaked the document to the media, blasted the . document, saying its reasoning was based on "myths and stereotypes" and lacked"a sound foundation in theology." New Ways has no offi. cial standing in the churCh. But a spokesman for the Arch.: diocese of San Francisco, which last year unsuccessfully pushed for repeal of a citywide domestic partners right ordinance, told Catholic News Service that the document had positive elements.

Father Robert McElroy, the archdiocesan spokesman, praised the document's stance that "protecting the dignity of the human person does not extend to endorsing affirmative action for gays and lesbians or setting up public benefits for homosexual couples."

San Francisco's domestic partners rights ordinance permits registration of homosexual or unmarried couples. San Francisco Archbishop John R. Quinn has maintained that the ordinance endangers family stability. . U.S. bishops around the nation have had varied responses to homosexual rights legislation proposed in recent years.

Last year, the Connecticut Legislature approved a gay rights bill after the state's Catholic bishops dropped their longstanding opposition to the measure.

The bill mandated equal treatment of heterosexuals, homosexuals and bisexuals in matters of employment, housing, credit availability and job training, but after pressure from the state's bishops - exempted religious institutions and permitted sexual orientation to be considered in adoption matters.

The Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith says in the document that "it is not unjust discrimination to take sexual orientation into account" in areas of adoption or foster care, when employing teachers or coaches, or in military recruitment.

Archbishop Rembert G. Weak-

land of Milwaukee told CNS the document will not be helpful in the United States, a pluralistic nation where "Catholics are going to have to learn to live" with imperfect legislation not wholly in accord with church teaching.

The Vatican document argues that laws protecting homosexual rights may have a "negative impact on the family and society" and the common good.

Father McElroy said San Francisco archdiocese was "wholly in accord" with that stance.

"Giving the same benefits to persons living together but not married" as the government gives to married couples undermines; marriage, said the priest.

The archdiocese maintains that "unjust discrimination against gays and lesbians is wrong and to be condemned," he said.

The Chicago-based Catholic Advocates for Lesbian and Gay Rights, in a recent statement, said the document's writers "completely ignored contemporary medical, psy- . chological and sociological understandings of gay and lesbian persons."

The group said the document "seriously erodes the credibility of the Vatican to speak on justice issues."

New Ways Ministry, based in Mount Rainier, Md., in its statement said the document will have little impact on the views of U.S .

Catholics because they "are simply unconvinced that any serious harm will result to a society from the recognition of civil rights for homsexual citizens."

In Italy, gay leaders said the document had effectively closed off dialogue with the Catholic Church.

"From now on we will hold the Catholic Church as those with primary moral responsibility for violence and discrimination against gays and lesbians," said Franco Grillini, president of Arci-gay, a gay rights group which invited gay Catholics to "choose another Christian religion that is more tolerant."

The Vatican document deplored violence against homosexuals, but added that when homosexual activity is condoned, "neither the church nor society at large should be surprised when other distorted notions and practices gain ground, and irrational and violent reactions increase."

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Bishop McHugh finds Earth Summit a positive event

eNs photo

ARCHBISHOP MAY

Abp. May has surgery for brain tumor ST. LOUIS (CNS) - Archbishop John L. May of St. Louis was recovering at DePaul Health Center after surgery July 17 to remove a walnut-sized tumorfrom the left side of his brain.

Tests to determine whether the tumor was cancerous had not been completed.

Archbishop May began undergoing tests about three weeks earlier after experiencing a weakness of his right arm, particularly in his right hand. He described the "definite impairment" in a memorandum mailed to archdiocesan priests the day of the surgery.

Archbishop May wrote that the problem worsened when he was in New Orleans to attend the seventh National Black Catholic Congress July 9-12. He experienced a seizure while at the congress and in St. Louis on July 15.

About an ho'uf after the surgery, which lasted slightly more than three hours, neurosurgeon Daniel Scodary told reporters that the archbishop "tolerated the operation very well."

He de$cribed the surgery as "a bit more difficult" because of the tumor's location in the motor strip, which explained the archbishop's difficulty and paralysis in his right hand.

Scodary said the archbishop would leave the hospital within a week or so.

Auxiliary Bishop Edward J. O'Donnell said the archbishop spoke to him by name and was able to move his right hand about an hour after the surgery.

"For him to be back that lively, that conscious, was a surprise to me," the bishop noted.

Bishop O'Donnell said the archbishop had cancelled a two-week trip to East Africa in early August, which he had planned in connection with his responsibilities as a board member of Catholic Relief Services. Following that trip, he had 'planned to take several days of vacation.

Bishop O'Donnell said the business of the archdiocese would proceed as already planned for the archbishop's absence, He said he expected the archbishop to return to his office about the time that he would have completed the trip and vacation.

l:onscience Troublesome

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A CHILD, one of more than a million estimated refugees f~om the former Yugoslavian republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina, hnes up for lunch at a refugee camp in Austria. (eNS photo)

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"My conscience is more trouble and bother to me than anything else I started with."-Mark Twain

CAMDEN, N.J. (CNS) - Bishop James T. McHugh of Camden was upbeat after returning from the recent Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, despite complaints by some that the U.N.-sponsored meeting did not go far enough to protect the environment.

Bishop McHugh was part of a lO-member team representing the Vatican at the June meeting.

"A great deal really was achieved, in a sense of bridging North and South," despite tensions between developed nations and still-developing nations that left many problems unresolved, Bishop McHugh said.

"The conference was pervaded by a spirit of good will and recognition that it takes a lot more time and a lot more agreement to achieve the goals set out in the declarations and in Agenda 21, the major document," Bishop McHugh said.

can secretary of state, and Archbishop Renato Martino, head of the Vatican's delegation to the summit and Vatican observer to the United Nations, presented that position to conference participants.

Instead of promoting ready access to contraceptives in the Third World, as many observers would recommend, the Vatican says that economic development and education in responsible parenthood are the best long-term strategies in combatting overpopulation.

"The whole concept of responsible parenthood means people understand they can space out the births and, with better health care, better food and clean water, children will survive," Bishop McHugh said.

"Responsible parenthood dovetails with development, and it's a far more humane and dignified way than to just throw contraceptives"· at the problem, he added.

The tension between North and The Vatican delegation attended South was real, as developing nations sought financial commit- the meeting, Bishop McHugh said, ments from wealthier nations to to "emphasize that safeguarding help both improve their way- of the environment is a moral relife and preserve the environment. sponsibility that takes into account Third World countries are will- the dignity of the human person ing to agree to environmental safe- and well being of society, now and guards, "with the stipulation that into the future."

Other nations understood and someone else will have to pay for it because they can't possibly," Bish- accepted the Vatican's insistence . that ethical and cultural values be op McHugh said.

"Nonetheless, the developed na- integrated into conference docutions also face problems of debt ments. Bishop McHugh noted that and unstable economic times, and Vatican suggestions were largely I think that was the underlying accepted and carried in the final factor in the refusal of the United documents.

States to agree to economic commitments," he said.

Montie Plumbing Bishop McHugh said there was Heating Co. "tremendous anxiety" at the conference on the part of many about Over 35 Years "explosive population growth." of Satisfied Service Bishop McHugh reiterated the Reg. Master Plumber 7023 position that such explosive growth JOSEPH RAPOSA, JR. is occurring only in a few areas of 432 JEFFERSON STREET the world, that many nations are Fall River 675-7496 prepared for a growing population. and that many others, especially in the northern hemisphere, face declining populations.

OUR LADY'S Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Vati-

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By Charlie Martin'

JUST ANOTHER DAY

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THE ANCHOR-Diocese of Fall River-'-Fri., July 24, 1992

By Christopher ~arstens This is not some tragic story I read in the newspaper. Tameka is someone we knew well. She and our daughter were classmates through elementary schooL Tameka's mom is a respected and beloved high school teacher, someone we see frequently, and her dad is the pastor of a Protestant church here in town, This spring our daughter and Tameka were both seniors, although at different schools. As high school's final semester approached its end, my wife and Tameka's mom drove several hours together to a conference.

The two moms spent the entire drive talking about their daughters' plans for the prom and what the girls would be doing after graduation.

Tamaka was graduating with honors and had been accepted in a fine college in New Orleans. The two ·moms shared their dreams about their daughters' lives and future for the young graduates filled with learning and excitement.

Several weeks earlier, Tameka had broken up with a boy she had' dated a number of months. He was , a c<;>lIege, student, working parttime to pay his bills. Tameka felt the relationship had gone as far as it could - but apparently he· wouldn't give up.

Again and again he called, as I. understand it; she refused his invitations; his calls became threatening; he told her that if she didn't go to the prom with him, she wouldn't go with anybody. But Tameka was tough. She went on with her life.

Two days before prom, Tameka was leaving the photo studio where she worked. As she got into her car in the parking lot and fastened her seat belt, someone walked up to the car window with a pistol and fired at her twice. Tameka died instantly.

It is an entirely senseless tragedy.'

Tameka's life was destroyed' in a' moment. Her former boyfriend has been charged. As I write this, he is in jail awaiting trial for murder, with his bright hopes for a future apparently dashed.

So the community has been deprived oftwo young people with much promise. Nobody wins, everybody loses. ' What can we learn from this wreckage?

First, the threats of jealous former romantic partners cannot be taken lightly. In an ever more violent society the anger and resentment felt by rejected partners is taking on an uglier face.

I don't know if this is a national trend. I do know that in the last three years, three people I knew -two adults and now Tameka were shot dead by enraged former partners.

If your former boyfriend or girlfriend threatens you, take it seriously. Tell your parents and call the police. It is illegal to threaten people, and the perpetrator must know that the threats are on record with the authorities.

But there is a bigger lesson to be learned. This madness with guns has got to stop. When everyone has a handgun, nobody is safe. It is true that if Tameka had had a gun in her care, she could not have used it to protect herself. But ifher killer had not had easy access to a gun, perhaps she would be alive today.

After the recent riots in Los Angeles, tens of thousands of people went out and bought guns.

Each of those guns may hold a tragedy - the murder of a lover in anger, a suicide of a family member, the accidental death ,of a curious child.

Don't invite the whirlwind into your home. Never buy a gun.

EN ROUTE: Nuns watch from the roadside as the Tour de France bicycle race leaders pass near Pau, France. (eNS/Reuters photo)

MQrnings alone , When you c~me home I breathe,a little faster . Every time we're together It'd never be the same If you are not here How can you stay away,.away so long, ,Why can't we'stay together Give me a reason Give me a reason I, I didn't want to say it I don't want to find another way To make it through the day without you I, I can't resist Trying to find exactly what I miss It's just another day without you.

It's another day Making the time Find the right lines To make you stay forever What do I h'ave to tell you I'm just trying to hold on to something (Tryjng to hold on to something good) Give us a chance to make it oiln't want to hold on to never I'm not,that strong I'm not that strong Why can't you stay forever Just give me a reason Give me a reason Written by Jon Secada and Miguel Morejon. Sung by Jon Secads (c) 1992 by SBK Records WHAT HAPPENS when you trade places with Gloria Estefan? Well, if you are Jon Sec~ ada, you get your first chart hit.

Secada has sung backup for Ms. Estefan..Now she has returned the favor by helping Secada with background vocals for his debut disc~ I think Secada has a terrific sound. However, the song's

message leaves something to be desired.

The' person in the song is depressed because his girl comes and goes in his life. He clings to the relationship, hoping that her incorisistency will change.

He tells her how he feels, that ~ithout her "it's just another day."

This man needs to look at his

life more clearly. His hurt and depression are his own doing.

He is trying to ,love someone who doesn't understand the need for commitment if love is, to endure,.

Apparently the guy believes that he must have the woman's love, if he is to be happy. Since she is so fickle, naturally he becomes depressed. Rather,than' ,invent more reasQns to wait, hope and live "another day without you." 'he needs to get on with his own life.

When we.makeour happiness dependent on another's choices and behaviors. we sell out our power to live in satisfying ways.

Certainly. others affect out mood.' Yet, each day gives us the opportunity to make our lives happy.

Perhaps you don't have all that you desire in your life, including a solid romantic relationship. However, you will never get this day back. To remain depressed because of someone's fickle behavior or .because there is no romance in your life is to lose today's potential for joy.

Acknowledge how you feel, but pass no judgment on your emotions. Feelings are not right or wrong; they simply are. You don't have to let your feelings determine 'how you live this day.

Ask yourself what you can do for yourself to put some enjoyment in this day. even if you are feeling down. Not every day can be one of the best days of your life. but you can make the choice to find some happiness within it. ' Ask God to help you live this once-in-a-lifetime chance to be happy today.

Your comments are welcomed

by Charlie Martin, RR 3, Box 182, Rockport, IN 47635.

Hispanic ministry close to home Continued from Page Nine to exceed the sixth-grade education that was the norm among his people. To do so he was forced to leave his family, move to town and work to support himself. . When he arrived at Father Canuel's parish in Andahuaylas seeking help, "I didn't adopt him, he adopted me," laughed the priest.

Sixto was the youngest of four children of farming parents whose livelihood "depended on the soil and seasons," said Father Canuel.

His parents "were unable to help. him-they gave him their blessing, . but little else. I promised him sinc,~: ' he had the initiative I would help him in every way possible."

Living with Father Canuel at , two parishes in Peru, Sixto completed high school in 1978. Because', of' the 'complexities 'of, gaining entrance'to a Peruvian,university, Father Canuel then sent him to the: United States:' , To prepare' for college,'· Sixtq studi~d for a year at Bishop Con~' nellyHigh School in Fall' River, living with the Durettes, then went on to graduate from Rhode Island College.

Father Canuel had by then· returned to the diocese, and St. Joseph's rectory was :home for Sixto until his marriage in 1986 to a Guatemalan parishioner.

"He met Irma over the booths at the summer festival," Father Canuel recounted.

The couple now live in North bers in Guatemala. Besides her Attleboro with two young daugh- newly-ordained son, her husband ters, and Sixto stays in contact and a married daughter remain with family. members in Peru, there.

"She didn't know a word of whom he has not seen since a visit English when she arrived" in home nine years ago.

Father Canuel's delight in Six- Attleboro, Father Canuel recalled . to's achievements is matched in "She came to the Hispanic Mass that for Father Jose Toribio Archi- one night and happened to hear la, the son of his housekeeper, the announcement about needing Gloria Archila, who, came to the a housekeeper. She hadjust arrived United States five years ago'from that week and had such a pleasant Guatemala. Father Canuel accom- manner and winning smile that I panied her to her son's ordinati'on' im'mediately hired her."

Father Canuel hopes that FaMay I in Quetzalmango, Guatemther Archila will be able to visit the ala's second largest city.

The trip also afforded Father United States, but noted, "he will Canuel the opportunity to visit have more than enough work to Irma's mother and grandmother, do in Guatemala," where' his diobearing videos of the Cespedes cese only !las 40 priests. grandchildren. . ' "We really have a luxury of Mrs. Archila, whose younger, priests here," Fathe.r Canuel son lives in North Attleboro, 'is refl.ected. Still, there is always also separated from family mem- plenty to do at St. Joseph's! '

Visit controversial DUNDEE, Scotland (CNS) A CatholiC justice and peace group in Dundee has urged Pope John Paul II to call off his plans to visit the Dominican Republic this fall because of the' reported mistreatment of hundreds of thousands of Dominican poor.

The group said the Dominican government is evicting upwards of" 300,000 poor from the capital, Santo Domingo, to present a better image to the Latin American

bishops scheduled to hold a major meeting in the country beginning Oct. 12. Pope John paul is scheduled to open the meeting as part of his trip to the region fQr celebrations of the 500th anniversary of the introduction of Christianity to the Americas. '

No Lie "A truth thai's told with bad intent beats all the lies you can invent."-William Blake

.Two prep school graduates overcame adversity

\

I) FROM ALTAR BOY to quarterback: Mark Rypien of the Washington Redskins signs autographs at St. Raphael parish in Rockville, MD. (CNS photo)

Quarterback is "Christian first and foremost" ROCKVILLE, Md. (CNS) Washington Redskins quarterback Mark Rypien was a veteran altar boy long before he picked up a football. ''I'm a Christian first and foremost," Rypien said recently to an audience of 300 youngsters at a Legionaries of Christ Youth Club meeting at St. Raphael Church in Rockville, a Washington suburb.

The youth meeting began with the Lord's Prayer, which the Redskins pray before charging out onto the' field.

"How many years do you think I was an altar boy?" Rypien asked them.

When he responded "18 years," the young crowd responded with, "Whoa!" "I was an altar boy when I was 6 years old and did my last Easter Vigil when I was 24," said the 29-year-old Rypien. , The most valuable player of this year's Super Bowl said he attended a lot of religious education classes as a youth but wondered why he was there. When his mother told him it was time to go to church, he often said, "Do I have to go?"

But he said he developed a mature appreciation for his faith after serving as a confirmation sponsor while in college.

St. Anthony School Materials have begun arriving at St. Anthony's School, New Bedford, for preschool classes to begin in September. A gym set, numerous games and stuffed animals await arrival of youngsters eager for fun and learning.

Classes will be directed by Nicole Berche, with assistance provided by aides and parents. 19 children are registered for the program thus far.

Pastor Father Edmund Levesque is overseeing renovation, cleaning and painting of the school. Begun last year, the project is expected to be completed before opening day in the fall.

Being a Catholic "is not just going to church on Sunday. It's trying to believe and become the person Jesus Christ our savior has led us toward. It's an everyday deal," Rypien said.

He told the students he was notgoing to talk about drugs and alcohol. "We don't need to preach about the negative things that are happening in the world. We need to start learning more about the positive."

Rypien said Pope John Paul II was among his heroes growing up.

"The pope's Polish, and that's what I am," he said.

He admires retired quarterback Roger Staubach of the Redskins' archrival, the Dallas Cowboys.

"Not because he played for Dallas, but because of the kind of person he is," Rypien said.

He urged the youths to set their goals high. "Dream as high as you can. Set a lot of goals and try to attain those goals, but have something to fall back on," he said.

Rypien said he went to college to get an education, not to become a professional athlete. His first love was baseball and he got his first mitt at age 5. He didn't take up football until age II. Rypien said he had to persevere through tough times, but the Super Bowl win mal:ie it all worthwhile.

The toughest part of his job, he said, -is being separated from his wife and two young daughters for five weeks during the Redskins' training camp.

The young people e'njoyed Rypien's visit.

Sixth-grader Kara Miller proudly pointed to his autograph on the Redskins sweatshirt she wore. "I'm never washing it. I thought he-was really cool. Really cool," she told the Catholic Standard, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Washington.

Ninth-grader Alicia Tan said she was impressed by Rypien's message. "N ormally, you think athletes that are that famous, they wouldn't care about religion," she said. "He's a good role model."

FRESH MEADOWS, N.Y. (CNS) - Tom Corrado and Gary Caliendo passed all their tests to graduate this year from St. Francis Prep School in Fresh Meadows. They also passed some rigorous tests outside school.

In June 1991 Caliendo suffered a cerebral hemorrhage while running on a track. His left side was paralyzed before an ambulnce could reach a hospital. Not long after, a craniotomy was performed to drain excess blood, caused by' the cerebral hemorrhage, from his head.

Last October, Corrado was playing a pickup football game when ~e was tackled by two players. The tackle dislocated his right knee, severing the popliteal artery and vein.

In his third surgery to repair the knee, doctors discovered his leg was septic and was starting to poison his kidneys. In two more surgeries, the leg was amputated at the knee to save Corrado's life.

After reality sunk in, Corrado and his parents met the challenge head-on.

"We decided that this is what was going to happen. You can live with it and accept it or wallow in self-pity," Corrado told The Tablet, newspaper ofthe Diocese of Brooklyn, N.Y. "We chose to 'accept it and whenever possible use it to my advantage."

Corrado was outfitted with a prosthesis. He played intramural softball in the spring, and earned his driver's license in May. Through the whole experience, Corrado stayed positive, never doubting himself or those around him. His faith in God also served him well.

"You had to take it as something that God willed. God won't give you anything you can't handle," Corrado said. "Use whatever you have to your advantage instead of letting it be a detriment."

The Eagle scout added, "The reason why God did this is that he knows I can handle it. ... I say if it had to be someone, I'm glad it was me because I know I can handle this."

Caliendo also gave credit to God for pulling him through.

"Without God behind me;, none of this [recovery) is possible." he said.

During rehabilitation, Caliendo did physical and occupational therapy, worked on ambulatory skills, did his daily sc~oolwork, took tutoring and devised his own nightly ambulatory workouts.

Caliendo regained his speech last September. Not long afterward he began taking "baby steps."

Now he is able to walk freely, though curbs and steps give him problems. He still has little movement in his left hand, but believes that will heal with more time and therapy.

"There was nothing I could do but work at it and do the best I could. It's still basically like that," Caliendo said. "My goal was to come back as close as I could to living my normal life as soon as possible."

Caliendo's family and girlfriend provided substantial support for. his rehabilitation. "It's not your injuries that bring you up or down, it's the people around you," he said. ' "They've been right beside me through the entire thing," Caliendo added. "It's been as hard on ,them as it has been to me."

Caliendo and Corrado will continue their education at St. John's University in nearby Jamaica, N.Y. Corrado plans a career as an anesthesiologist while Caliendo hopes to become a lawyer.

Both earned a special spirit award from the school's National Honor Society chapter, of which both are members.

Friends before their accidents, Corrado and Caliendo now lean on each other for support not many others can give.

"Knowing that" Tom's there makes me get inspired by him," Caliendo said.

"In my hospital bed, Gary was an inspiration to me," Corrado said. "Doing what he's been able to do gave me an incentive to do what I've had to do."

The Anchor Friday, July 24, 1992

15

Recent box oftlce hits

i. Batman Returns, A-III (PG·13) 2. A league of their Own, A-II (PG) 3. Boomerang, A-III (R) 4. Sister Ad, A-III (PG) 5. Unlawful Entry, 0 (R) 6. Housesltter, A-III (PG) 7. Patriot Games, A-IV (R) 8. Plnocchlo, A-I (G) 9. lethal Weapon 3, 0 (R) 10. Far and Away, A-III (PG-13)

I

list COU'tesy 01 Variety

Vide()§--Recent top rentals

1. The Addams Family, A-II (PG-13)

2. Cape Fear, 0 (R) 3. Bugsy, A-III (R) 4. Star Trek VI: The Undis-

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

covered Country, A-II (PG) Father of the Bride.

A-II (PG) , Grand Canyon, A-III (R) Shining Through, A-III (R) My Girl, A-II (PG) Kuffs, 0 (PG-13) JFK, A-III (R)

[,,1 cO'Jtesy of vallety

© 1992 eNS Graphcs

Symbols following reviews indicate both general and Catholic Films Office ratings, which do not always coincide.

General ratings: G-suitable for general viewing; PG-13parental guidance strongly suggested for children under 13; PG-parental guidance suggested; R-restricted, unsuitable for children or young teens.

Catholic ratings: A-l-approved for children and adults; A2-approved for adults and adolescents; A3-approved for adults only; A4-separate classification (given films not morally offensive which, however, require some analysis and explanat~on);O-morally offensive.

Embarg~ is deadly

, GARY CALIENDO, left, and Tom Corrado overcame physical adversity to graduate from St. Francis Prep School in Fresh Meadows, NY. (CNS photo)

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (CNS) - Fifty to 100 children are dying daily in Iraq, the unintended victims of the Gulf War and an ongoing U.S.-supported embargo against the Middle East nation, according to Patriarch Raphael Bidawid of Baghdad.

"We want the American people to understand the situation of Iraqi people," the 70-year-old Chaldean patriarch said in an interview with The Michigan Catholic, Detroit archdiocesan newspaper. The patriarch was visiting the United States to take part in the first ordination of a Chaldean-rite priest in this country. .

,

• 16

Holy Family-Holy Name School

THE'ANCHOR-Diocese of Fall River-Fri., July 24, 1992

Iteering pOintl CATHOLIC SOCIAL SERVICES, ST. ANTHONY ofthe CAPE COD DESERT,FR Hidden Mourning, a 12-week proExposition of Blessed Sacrament noon to 6 p. m. Aug. 2 with holy hour gram for persons who have expe5 to 6 p.m. St. 'Sharbel Chapel, ~OO rienced abortion, will meet 5 to 6:30 . p.m. beginning Sept. 16. ConfidenNorth Eastern Ave. HOSPICE OUTREACH, INC., FR tiality assured and in-person regisHospice Outreach seeks volunteers tration required. For information or in the Greater Fall River area to appointment to register, call CSS, Hyannis, 771-6771. drive cancer patients to and from In Memory Still suicide bereavechemotherapy and radiation treatments and/or deliver medical sup- ment program will offer eight-meetplies and equipment one day a week. ing After Suicide group for persons who have lost someone through suiInformation: 673-1589. cide and who have previously attended a support group. Meetings will be held 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesdays _ _ _ 234 Second Street beginning Sept. 23 and will include ~ Fall River, MA 02721 emotional support, opportunity for ~WebOffset personal sharing and educational _ _ Newspapers literature. For information contact RIIII!I!I!I Printing & Mailing CSS at above number.

IIiIIiiIIIiI (508) 679-5262 SEPARATED/DIVORCED CATHOLICS, ATTLEBORO No~ J Support group meeting 7:30 to 9 New Computerized Mailing . p.m. Sunday, St. Mary's rectory, N. Attleboro; information: 695-6161.

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Holy Family-Holy Name School, students, preschool to grade 8, New Bedford, recently held a surbetween I and 3 p.m. tomorrow at prise celebration for Sister Virgithe school. nia Sweeney, RSM, who is retiring from her post as first grade teacher after 24 years.

The celebration began during the 10 a.m. Mass July 14 at St. The 33rd CYO Diocesan Golf Lawrence Church, New Bedford. Tourney for young men ofthe dioFather Thomas O'Dea was cele- cese will be held at I p.m. Aug. 17 brant, with the school Glee Cl\lb .' a·t the Pocasset Golf Course. leading the congregation·in song.

Entrants will be assigned in four The entire first grade class was divisions: seniors, born on or after present and each member individ- Jan. I, 1966; intermediates, born ually presented Sister Sweeney with on or after Jan. I, 1973; juniors, flowers. Father O'Dea thanked born on or after Jan. I, 1976; and Sister Sweeney for her many years cadets, born on or after Jan. 1, of dedication and service and the 1978. homily ended with a standing ovaTrophies will be awarded to the tion for the sister. champion and runner-up in each A reception followed with a division, and the Bill Doyle Trophy brunch buffet prepared by par- wiJI go to the outstanding golfer in ents. Sister Sweeney had the oppor- the tournament.

Two entrants in each division tunity to renew old acquaintances and receive words of thanks from will be allowed for each area of the the many adults and children pres- diocese. Area chairmen are: Jack ent whose lives she has touched Clements, New Bedford; .Father Jay Maddock, Fall River; Larry over the years.

Sister Sweeney will return to the Masterson, Taunton; and Arthur school in the fall to tutor primar.y Anderson, Attleboro. Entrants are students and work in the school's also expected from Cape Cod. Those interested in the tourney extended care program. should contact their local CYO Alumni director.

The school is compiling a list of , Fall River area alumni. All former students are The FaH River area CYO golf encouraged to call or send to the tournament, a preliminary to the school their current addresses. diocesan tourney, was postponed Volunteers are needed to help make by rain and has been rescheduled up the list. for July 27at the Fall River CounFor information, contact John try Club. Registration will take Fletcher, 992-6035; Mary Lou placefrom 7 to 7:30 a.m.; no regisFrancis, 998-2214; or the school at trations will be allowed after that 993-3547. time. All participants must wear shirts with collars.

School Year Packets Competition will be in the same Opening school year packets are divisions as for the diocesan tourto be picked up by parents of all nament.

Diocesan .CY0 golf tourney planned

THE LASALETTE Shrine, Attleboro, outdoor summer concert series continues with a performance by Jon Polce at6:30 p.m. tomorrow. Polce has recorded four albums of Christian music, and his annual shrine concert draws many young people to hear the Gospel message of his songs.

The performance will take place rain or shine. Concertgoers are invited to attend 4:30 p.m. Mass before the concert and to bring lawn chairs and blankets to supplement shrine garden seating. Information: 222-5410.

ST. LOUIS de FRANCE, SWANSEA St. Anne's Sodality. will attend 9:30 a.m. Mass Sunday for feast of St, Anne and serve refreshments afterward.

ST. ANNE, FR Feast of St. Anne celebration Sunday with performance by Les Petits Chanteurs de Douai, France, at noon Mass and procession and veneration of St. Anne relic after 6:30 p.m.

Mass Sunday.

WIDOWED SUPPORT, FR Support. group meeting 7 p.m.

July 27, St. Mary's School hall.

LaSALETTE SHRINE, ATTLEBOJ,W Healing service with Father Andre Patenaude, MS, 2 p.m. Sunday; will include Mass, teaching, songs of praise and· opportunity for individual anointing.

Diocesans attend Scouting conference Father Stephen B. ~alvador, diocesan Catholic Scouting chaplain, and Paul Parente, diocesan Scouting chairman, were among 250 Catholic Scouters from 140 dioceses attending the recent .biennial conference of the National Catholic Committee on Scouting. ' Father Salvador, a member of the group's chaplain's committee, was presider and homilist at the conference's opening liturgy. He also chairs clergy hospitality at all National Catholic Committee conferences.

This year's parley, themed' "Scouting - A Bridge to Faith!",

offered 20 workshops, including "Youth· Protection" and "Strengthening the Partnership," which provided insights· into successful youth ministry through Scouting.

Also, the religious emblems committee proposed a "My Shepherd" emblem to be earned by Tiger and Wolf Cub Scouts, ages 7 and 8.

The first religious emblem for Boy Scouts, Ad .Altare Dei, will be updated in 1993.

During the conference, the St. George emblem was presented to Bishop George Fitzsimmons of Salina, KS.

ST. ANNE, NB Parish mission observing the Feast of St. Anne· with Father Brendan Breen, CP, will be held 7 to 8 tonight, at 4 p.m. Mass tomorrow and at 9 and II a.m. and 5 p.m.

Masses Sunday; all welcome.

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NEW YORK (CNS) - A new county-by-county church membership survey produced by an ecumenical research team shows that the South, with its bordering areas, remains the one U.S. region where Catholics are numerically weak.

Catholics are identified as the predominant religious group in 959 of the nation's 3, I05 counties, a slight decrease from the 963 reported in a similar 1982 survey.

The new study shows Catholic still widely distributed and .especially strong in the Northeast, southern Louisiana and sections of the S'outhwest that have experienced heavy Hispanic immigration.

SCOUTING CONFERENCE participants from the Fall River diocese were Mr. and Mrs. Paul Parente and Father Stephen B. Salvador.