t eanc 0 VOL. 32, NO. 31
•
Friday, August 5,1988
F ALL RIVER, MASS.
FALL RIVER DIOCESAN NEWSPAPER FOR SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS Southeastern Massachusetts' Largest Weekly
Card. Dearden dies; led U.8. church after Vatican II DETROIT(NC) - Retired Cardinal John F. Dearden of r>etroit, 80, one ofthe key U.S. churchmen at the Second Vatican Council and first leader of the U.S. bishops in the turbulent postconciliar years, died of cancer Aug. I. He was particularly noted in Detroit for his efforts to promote social justice and to improve race relations and ecumenical and interreligious understanding. His funeral was scheduled today at Blessed-Sacrament Cathedral in Detroit, his episcopal church for nearly 22 years. His successor, Cardinal Edmund C. Szoka of Detroit, was to be principal concelebrant, with Cardinal Joseph L. Bernardin of Chicago preaching the homily. Ten days before his death Cardinal Dearden was admitted to Providence Hospital in Southfield, a Detroit suburb. Doctors discovered cancer of the pancreas which had spread to other organs and was inoperable because of his age and physical condition. The archbishop of Detroit from 1958 until his retirement for health reasons in 1980, Cardinal Dearden emerged during the Second Vatican Council, 1962-65, as one of the central figures of that worldwide assembly of bishops. He enjoyed the nickname "the unobtrusive liberal" which he gained at the council by his efforts to promote the council's agenda of church reform and renewal without alienating the minority that opposed many conciliar decisions. As a doctrinal commission member, he helped draft and revise two of the central documents of Vatican II: the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church and the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World. He was also a member ofthe Secretariat for NonBelievers, a Vatican agency started during the council which continued after it. When the National Conference of Catholic Bishops and U.S. Catholic Conference were formed in 1966, Cardinal Dearden was elected first president. He repeatedly stressed communication and reconciliation as the path to follow during those years of tension over the meaning and implementation of conciliar decrees. In his final presidential address to the NCCB in 1971 Cardinal Dearden called reorganization of national structures to promote collaborative efforts among the bishops one of the most important achievements of the NCCB's first five years.
He also cited the development of closer relations between the U.S. bishops and other national hierarchies, establishment of the Campaign for Human Development, a nationwide Catholic antipoverty program, and formation of what is now called the National Advisory Council - a body of bishops, priests, religious and laity which advises the NCCB-USCC on current concerns. St. Louis Archbishop John L. May, present NCCB-USCC president, called Cardinal Dearden "in many ways the key figure in helping the chuf/;h in this country to implement the reforms of the Second Vatican Council and in guiding the bishops' conferences to the role they currently play in the life of the church." As the United States approached its 200th birthday Cardinal Dearden chaired the bishops' Committee for the Bicentennial, which organized the "Liberty and Justice for All" project, a two-year nationwide consultation on the church and social justice which culminated in a 1976 "Call to Action" conference hosted by the cardinal in Detroit. The conference, a first-ever national assembly of representatives from Catholic organizations and dioceses throughout the country, urged a wide-ranging program of reform and renewal in church and society, including a number of controversial proposals to change church positions on such issues as married priests, the ordination of women and artificial contraception. In a report to the bishops that fall, Cardinal Dearden said they could not accept all conference proposals, but that despite flaws the meeting represented "a tremendous investment of time, energy and intelligence on the part of a Turn to Page Six
Cape '88 Plans are complete for Cape '88, the annual Evening on Cape Cod with Bishop Cronin. Sponsored by the Diocesan Council of Catholic Women as an opportunity for year-round and summer residents of the Cape to meet the bishop in a relaxed social setting, the event will take place at 7 p.m. Aug. 11 at the Sheraton Regal Inn, Hyannis. It will include hors d'oeuvres and dancing and proceeds will benefit diocesan charities. Tickets are available at rectories and from DCCW members.
•
510 Per Year
, CATHOLICS AROUND THE WORLD Un millions)
Catholics comprise one out of every
six people in the world. NC graphic
Legal dos and don'ts for election year listed WASHINGTON(NC) - Political endorsements are out but nonpartisan voter education by church organizations is acceptable during a political campaign, according to the chief legal adviser for the U.S. bishops. The official, Mark E. Chopko, general counsel for the U.S. Catholic Conference, told diocesan officials in a 12-page momorandum what tax-exempt church organizations can and cannot do in election-year activities. Penalties for violations can include special taxes or even a loss of tax-exempt status. Church organizations cannot engage in political campaigning, endorse candidates, provide financial or similar support or disseminate partisan materials, Chopko warned. In a special admonition to the Catholic press, he also noted that diocesan newspapers may not endorse candidates although they may on an equal basis accept political advertisements and can objectively report news of campaigns. Chopko's memo, released July 26, focused on the church's status under section 501 (c) 3 of the Internal Revenue Code, which prohibits tax-exempt organizations from participating or otherwise intervening in political campaigns on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate.
He said he wrote the memo because of the 1988 election year and because Congress in 1987 increased the penalities for violations of political campaign restrictions by tax-exempt groups. "During an election campaign, exempt organizations remain free to address issues of concern to them and to their membership, even when such issues are relevant to the campaign," he said. "However, such discourse must focus on issues and not personalities." The USCC holds a group tax exemption covering some 28,000 parishes and other church entities. Chopko said that means that one church organization running afoul of the rules could create problems for all the others as well. According to Chopko, prohibited activities include endorsements; financial and other support; formation of political action committees; and distribution of partisan campaign literature. But church organizations are not banned from all public activity in an election year, he added. Permissible activities include: - Voter ed ucation projects, including neutral candidate questionnaires. - Non-partisan voter registration drives. - Non-partisan public forums, debates and lectures.
-- Unbiased reporting of campaigp news by the Catholic press. - Ads in the Catholic press. - Political activity by individuals. - Political activity by college students engaged in an educational experience. "Exempt organizations may not make statements - oral or written - supporting or opposing any candidate for public office," Chopko said. "Thus, such organizations may not encourage votes for or against any candidate for public office via a sermon or parish bulletin, through an editorial position in a Catholic newspaper, or through distribution offilled-in sample ballots." "In addition," church organizations "should avoid statements that indirectly support or oppose a particular candidate -labeling a candidate as pro-abortion or antipeace," for example, he said. Furthermore, he said, "an exempt organization may not provide financial support to any candidate, political action committee or political party. In addition, it may not provide other forms of campaign support - free volunteers, facilities or mailing lists to any candidate, PAC (political action committee) or political party." Chopko said an exempt organiTum to Page Six