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VOL. 37, NO. 30
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Friday, August 6,1993
RIVZf{ DiOCESAN NE\YSPAPER FOR EAST MASSACl-IUSE ·".:'CAP'E ~~ THEJSLAND~ "
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Southeastern Massachusetts' Largest Weekly
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St. Vj][)cent's Home plans expansion to Westport camp By Marcie Hickey St. Vincent's Home in Fall River has scheduled an Aug. 10 meeting to discuss plans for the home to utilize St. Vincent's Camp in Westport as a residential facility for up to 32 boys ages 13 to 18. Currently the camp offers summer day programs for underprivileged children. The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. in the camp chapel and is open to the public; those wishing to speak at it are asked to register by calling St. Vincent's Home, 679-8511 ext. 325, between 9 a.m. and 4 p.lJl. today or Monday. At previous meeti~gs, Westport and Adamsville, RI, residents who are neighbors of the camp have expressed concern that a yearround residence for adolescent boys could have deleterious effects on the security, environment and property values of the neighborhood. Father Joseph Costa, executive director of St. Vincent's' Home, said such fears are unwarranted, and the Aug. 10 meeting is intended to reassure those concerned that
St. Vincent's Home can provide "a secure and safe program for kids that will not jeopardize the neighbors." "We want to help the neighbors understand that we are not cause for alarm," said Father Costa, noting that St. Vincent's Home has an amicable relationship with its Fall River neighborhood. Plans call for the 57-acre camp to be a center for St. Vincent's DePaul program, a short-term diagnostic assessment program for youths referred by the state Department of Social Services. After short-term stays of 45 days to six months, "the majority of these youngsters will eventually be able' to return home," Father Costa explained in a statement prepared for a Westport Selectmen's meeting Aug. 2. The program will not involve youths with criminal records, he said, but "needy kids who have not been attended to appropriately and now need a lot of attention." The program will be self-contained, with its own education and recreational programs, and resi-
$11 Per Year
Pope to meet with poor before he greets y.luth
rORlD YOUTH DA Iii ,'<
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dents will be supervised at all times. The staff-to-resident ratio will be one to four during the day and one to six at night, said Father Costa. "This high ratio of staff to resident, along with security systems that will be incorporated into the buildings, will mitigate considerably any concerns about residents getting into the neighborhood." To accommodate the youths, current structures at the camp will be renovated and additions built onto its two dormitories and education building. The only new construction will be a gymnasium. "All renovation will respect the current style and character of the buildings," said Father Costa. "There are no plans to develop the site for more than 32 residents." He noted that a considerable investment will be made in improvements at the site and that all environmental regulations will be observed. "It is our intention to keep the neighbors informed of the activities' of the camp and to let them Turn to Page II
VATICAN CITY (CNS) P,ope John Paul II's August trip will begin with attention to the lives of the poor and indigenous before it turns to the joys and trials of young people. The pope's 60th trip outside of Italy Aug. 9-16 will begin with stops in Jamaica and the Mexican state of Yucatan before reaching its finale: World Youth Day in Denver. The first two stops, and even a few papal events in Denver, arc time-honored staples of pastoral visits by the 73-year-old pontiff. Pope John Paul will meet the prime minister of Jamaica and the presidents of M~xico and the Uni oo ted States. He will celebrate Mass for the faithful· and give special attention to the poor in Jamaica, the indigenous in Mexico and Viet.. namese residents of the' United States. The relationship between theCatholic Church and the poor, who make up two-thirds of Jamaica's population, has not always been easy, but is changing dramatically, said Jesuit Father Brian Massie, pastor of St. Peter Claver parish in a poor area of western Kingston, the capital. Only about 8 percent of Jamaicans belong to the Catholic Church, considered a "society church," one to which the upper classes belong, he said. That view is changing with a growing number of churches opening in the ghetto and an increasing number of priests and religious living in the ghetto and sharing the life of the poor, the Canadian priest said. "Although we are a minority
church, because, of our work in social justice, hospitals and education, we have a very high profile," he said. "Influencewise, you'd think Jamaica was half Catholic." Especially through its schools, the Catholic Church is seen as a leader in providing the increasing number of services the government has cut in its economic reform programs, he said. Poverty is a main factor in the exceptionally high number of children - perhaps 80 percent born outside of wedlock in Jamaica. "Marriages cost money, and if they can't afford to do it up, they don't do it," Father Massie said. "We might have one wedding here a year, but there are 8 million baptisms." Father Massie said five altar boys at his parish are brothers, although each has a different father. "It's part of the cycle of poverty," he said. The young women are looking for someone to marry and build a home with; the young men want a child first, but things just do not seem to work out." There is also cultural pressure on young women to have at least one child. "Here in West Kingston, a young girl who has not had a child by the time she's 16 is called a mule," he said. The pope's two-day visit to Jamaica was to have been part of his 1992 trip to the Americas marking the 500th anniversary of the arrival of Catholic: missionaries with Christopher Columbus. The delay, caused by the pope's Turn to Page II
StlD Luke-St. Anne launch "joint comrrlunity effort" St. Luke's Hospital, New Bedford, broke ground Tuesday for a new regional comprehensive cancer center to be located at Hawthorn Place, between Allen and Hawthorn Streets and east of Homer Street in North Dartmouth. Scheduled for completion in Fall, 1994, the 15,000 square foot facility will permit expansion of the existing St. Luke's Medical Oncology Center, now located in New Bedford's North End, and will also house a radiation oncology component, the latter to be staffed and operated by St. Anne's Hospital, Fall River, and members of the internationally famous Joint Center for Radiation Therapy at Harvard Medical School, with which St. Anne's is affiliated. Currently radiation oncology is unavailable in the Greater New Bedford area and patients must travel to Fall River for treatment.
John Day, president and chief executive officer at St. Luke's, said the radiation oncology unit will guarantee local access to this vital service by the 170,000 residents of Greater New Bedford. "Patients who need service typically undergo up to 30 or 35 treatments within a sixooweek period. Now this important care will be available to them right here in the New Bedford area," he said. Together the medical oncology and radiation oncology services will offer complete, centralized, multidisciplinary care for cancer patients. In addition to radiation therapy, the new center will provide chemotherapy, as well as onsite patient pharmacy, laboratory and x-ray services. Staff will include <:ancer liaison physicians, representatives from surgery, medical onl~ology, diagTurn to Page II