FALL RIVER DIOCESAN NEWSPAPER FOR SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS
t eanc 0 VOL. 30, NO. 32
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Friday, August 15, 1986
F ALL RIVER, MASS.
Southeastern Massachusetts' Largest Weekly
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58 Per Year
CRS continues N!~K(~!~a!,~gs~~es;ts
DEACON and Mrs. Eugene Orosz at the wedding of their daughter Lisa Ann.
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National magazine features Swansea coupt-=.
A deacon's wife speaks Permanent deacon and Mrs. Eugene L. Orosz of St. Dominic's parish, Swansea, were among diaconal couples featured in an article in the July issue of St. Anthony Messenger, a national magazine with a circufation of over 384,000. The article, "The Wife of a Deacon: Sharing in Ministry," is by their niece, Kathleen Paiva of the diocese of Orlando, Fla. "One of the ministries we feel God may be calling my husband and me to is the permanent diaconate,"shewrote. "I say'we'because, although Russell would be the one
to be ordained, I assume that ours would be a shared ministry. Still, I wonder, is that really the way it works?" To find out, Mrs. Paiva interviewed 12 deacons' wives, nine from her own diocese and three from other dioceses, including the Oroszes. Her conclusion was that deacons' wives tend to grow with their husbands and find much fulfillment in their role. The necessity of the wife's support of her husband's decision cannot be overstated, she wrote, noting that in many dioceses a
man cannot be ordained to the diaconate without express consent of his wife and family. Among the women Mrs. Paiva interviewed, there is now overwhelming support for their husbands' ministries. But initial responses were more tentative. For Joan Kinsey, a first-grade teacher, it was a matter of mixed emotions. "I was very apprehensive," she said. "I didn't know how Bob was going to handle it, and I didn't know if I was going to be able to handle [the role] or the Turn to Page Nine
DANCING the night away at "An Evening on Cape Cod with Bishop Daniel A. Cronin," held last Thursday in Hyannis, are Jack and Dorothy Stevenson of Our Lady of the Assumption parish, Osterville. At right, from
Relief Services has been able to continue its work in Nicaragua despite the conflicts of the Sandinista government with the Nicara· guan bishops and with the United States, a CRS official said. Peter Shiras, deputy director for the Latin America and Carib· bean region, said in a New York : interview that maintaining good working relationships with all parties was "a difficult feat." But he said CRS had accomplished it by addressing "the needs ofthe poor" and employing "as much professionalism as we can muster." "We've had no administrative I problems," he said of CRS relations with the Nicaraguan government. And the Nicaraguan hierarchy, which has protested the activity of some church groups from outside Nicaragua, has made · no complaints about CRS operations, he said. . . I ' S~lfas, who was most recent~y In Nlcaragu~ June 30-July.2, said CRS closed Its offi~e there In 198.4 f?r reasons of effiCiency, not pol~· tiCS. All C~ntral Amenca work .IS ; now coo~dInated fr~m an of~ce In Co~ta ~Ica, h~ said. A natIOI~al office IS req~lre~ f?r ~ountnes where CRS IS dlstnbut~n.g U.S. ~ood for Peace commodities, b?t It ~oes not have such a program In NI~~agua. " e 198~ CRS program In NIcaragua, Shlras s~ld, a~ounted to about $300,000 In project support and albout $2~0,OOO worth?~ goods, m?st y. cl?thIng and medl~Ine. He said slml.lar levels of aid were expected In 1986 and 1987.
activity in Nicaragua with the Nicaraguan bishops' conference and the local Caritas organization. Funds are contributed for agricultural and health projects, he said, and most of these are sponsored by pari~hes. . He said the U.S. embargo agamst Nicaragua did not affect CRS because, ~sid~ fro~ e~empt forms of humamtanan aid,. It does not send goods from the Umted States. Items needed .for development p~ojects not available lo.cally, he s~ud, are bought from third countnes such as Costa Rica or Panama. He said the U.S. government does not restrict CRS in sending dollars to Nicara~a: . . . In addition to fmancmg agncultu~al and health proj~ct.s, Shiras said, CR~ has been aiding s~me pers?ns displaced by the figh~mg, partIc~la~ly but. not e~clus1Vely the Mlsklto Indians. Aid for the latter, he said, has been channeled through an ecumenical organization which has Catholic, Episcopal ian, Moravian and Baptist participation. Although political tensions have not hampered CRS work in Nicaragua, Shiras said, some shifts of emphasis may become necessary. "We anticipate a worsening in the war situation, and this will probably lead to creation of more displaced persons in Nicaragua," he said. Increased fighting may make it impossible for some of the projects aided by CRS to continue functioning, he said. And escalation of violence, he said, may require some shift of funds from development to relief.
left, Mrs. James H. Quirk Sr., Bishop Cronin, Mrs. Aubrey Armstrong and Mr. and Mrs. James H. Quirk Jr. with their daughters Anastatia, Victoria and Christina. (Motta photos: more on page 8)