SERVING SOUTHEASTERN MASSACHUSEnS CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS
t eanc 0 VOl. . 22, NO. 32
FALL RIVER, MASS., THURSDAY, AUGUST 17, 1978
20c, $6 Per Year
BISHOP AND PRIESTS OF DIOCESE CELEBRATE MEMORIAL MASS FOR PONTIFF
People of God Pray for In the light of the Resurrection Candle, priests and people of the Fall River diocese gathered last Friday night at their mother church to mourn the passing of Paul VI but also to rejoice in the accomplishments of his pontificate. Led by Bishop Daniel A. Cronin, 105 priests concelebrated the Mass, attended by State Senators Mary Fonseca, and John Parker, many other representatives of the General Court of Massachusetts, Fall River Mayor Carlton Viveiros and representatives from the offices of the mayors of New Bedford and Taunton. Also in attendance were delegations from candidates for the Permanent Diaconate and diocesan societies, including the Diocesan Council of Catholic Women, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and the Serra Club. Parish delegations represented all areas of the diocese. Music for the solemn ceremony was by the Cathedral Choir and guest instrumentalists, directed by Glenn Giuttari, Cathedral music director. Reflections on Pope Paul's pontificate, including personal recollections of the pontiff, were given by Bishop Cronin. His homily follows: From a most sincere heart, I would like to thank the reverend Fathers who are here in such great number to concelebrate this Mass with me for the
repose of the soul of Pope Paul VI. I would like to thank the very distinguished ministers of other churches who are here with us this evening. I am grateful, indeed, for their solidarity with us on this occasion. Would the good sisters who are here in such good number please accept my thanks. And all who have come from various parts of the Diocese in such wonderful numbers, participating actually as a Diocesan family on this occasion, sad in one sense but joyful in another sense, please accept my thanks and know that such a participation would be a cause of great joy to the late Pontiff who always saw his role as father of the family and who would certainly on such an occasion desire that this be a participated commemoration of his life and at the same time a family prayer for the repose of his soul. "And Peter, who do you say that I am?" You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Blessed are Simon Peter, the son of John. Flesh and blood have not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father has revealed it to you. You are Peter, and upon this rock iI will build my Church, and the powers of death will be to no avail. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will bound in heaven; whatever you loose on
Paul VI and Church
earth will be loosed in heaven." in the college of the apostles. These are words from reveal- It was he who would be the ed Scripture. Head. It was he upon whom the Further words from revealed Church would be built. It was Scripture. From the Last Supper, he who would be the rock that Christ turned to Peter and said, would never fail. It was he who "I pray for you, Peter, that was to give strength to his your faith may not fail. When brothers. And it was for him you have turned around, streng- that Jesus prayed, in particular, that his faith would never fail. then your brothers." And on a third occasion, And above all, he was given the Christ addresses words to Peter: ministry of shepherding the "Feed my sheep." flock: "Feed my sheep." These three episodes from If we understand, as I am sure scripture tell us about Peter and we do, the extraordinary posi. the Primacy he had, the extra- tion that Peter had in the ordinary position that he had Church, then I am sure also
we can understand why it is that in unity of faith, spiritually motivated, we transport ourselves to the Basilica of Saint Peter in Rome, and note the frail remains of Peter's successor. It is not the corpse of Giovanni Battista Montini that brings us all here tonight or that has the Universal Church praying for the repose of his soul. It is because Peter's successor has died. What is the position of the Pope in the Church? The First Vatican Council taught with very strong and Turn to Page Seven
Election of Paulls Successor Unofficially Begins in Rome VATICAN CITY (NC) - As hundreds of the curious stream past Pope Paul's simple tomb below St. Peter's, the College of Cardinals has already unofficially begun elect'ing his successor. The commandant of the Swiss Guards and a small group of Vatican officials will not seal the oak conclave doors officially until 5 p.m. Aug. 25. But the cardinals during their daily meetings in baroque, frescoed halls near the basilica have already begun the key process of getting to know one another and sizing up the leading candi路 dates. The cardinals purposely made
the period between the pope's death and the conclave as long as possible to cut down on the time they will have to spend sealed off from the outside world in electing .Pope Paul's successor. The lengthy pre-conclave period also allows input from the cardinals over age 80, whom Pope 'Paul excluded from the approaching election. Actually none of the eight conclaves held in the last 132 years lasted more than four days. And the upcoming election should not be overly long either, despite the huge problems of the post-conciliar church and the size of the College of Cardinals.
(Of 115 cardinals eligible to en-
ter the secret conclave, only a handful are not expected to come.) One reason for anticipating a short conclave is that many of the foreign cardinals seem determined to try to elect another Italian. The last foreigner to wear the tiara was Dutchman Pope Adrian VI iin 1522. And many cardinals seem to think that among current candidates only the Italians have the proper background for governing the church. Another reason for a quick election is that most cardinals Turn to Page Ten