FALL RIVER DIOCESAN NEWSPAPER FOR SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS FALL RIVER, MASS.
VOL. 44, NO. 32 • Friday, August 25, 2000
Southeastern Massachusetts' Largest Weekly'; $14 Per,Year
Rome strengthens pilgrims' faith ~
The 84 from the Fall River diocese attending World Youth Day 2000 tearfully kiss Rome good-bye.
By
MIKE GORDON ANCHOR STAFF
ROME - Filled with prayer, grace, happiness and a renewed devotion to Christ, the 84-member diocesan delegation of young adults left nearly two million colleagues after a week in the Eternal City to enthusiastically bring their new spirituality home for honing. "It was a very successful pilgrimage," said Bud Miller, director of Youth and Young Adult Ministry as the group returned to the diocese late Monday night. "It was one of the most physically demanding weeks of our lives, but it's been one of the most important." Pope John Paul II encouraged young people to live their lives like saints through their words and deeds and accept the challenge of a new evangelization. That, said Miller is a responsibility that young people "cannot take for granted," and one he feels he and others will embrace having shared the experience of World Youth Day. The week began with an opening ceremony in St. Peter's Square by the pope and the crowds that spilled out into the streets of Vatican City swelled as the week progressed, ending with a Mass
celebrated by the pope at the University of Tor Vergatta on the outskirts of Rome. For those in attendance it was the chance of a lifetime to celebrate Mass with the Holy Father and share their faith. "The pilgrimage for World Youth Day makes me proud to be a: Catholic," said Michele Col6n from St. Francis Xavier Parish, Hyannis. "It was uplifting and I
felt a divine connection in the presence of the pope and when he said he was keeping us in his prayers and his blessings." Keith Long_of St. Joseph's Parish, North Dighton said the pilgrimage for him was "about tireless commitment to Christ. It was an inspiration to see the pope and awesome to see him smiling down on us at Tor Vergatta."
SUNNY ITALY - Young pilgrims from the Fall River diocese took a break from scorching heat soon after this photo was taken, to go inside Good Shepherd Church in Rome for two hours of catechetical instruction by Bishop O'Malley and a time to thinkabollt call to sainthood. (More photos on page 14.)
The week was not an easy one for the pilgrims who traveled more than five miles on foot per day. But because of the spirituality of the journey and the enjoyment found in walking through the history of their Catholic faith, smiles were constantly found on people's faces despite some blistered feet. Whether it was walking though the HolYI Door at St. Peter's Basilica as the pope did earlier this year in marking the Jubilee, or climbing the Holy Stairs, located near St. John Lateran Basilica, believed to be the steps Jesus climbed on the day he was sentenced to death, the pilgrimage was a spiritually moving experience. Father Hernando Herrera said it was "an incredible experience for myself and everyone in our group." He was enthusiastic about praying with the pope and declared it was "amazing to meet and share faith with so many Catholics from all over the world and experience the history of the Church firsthand. Father Herrera celebrated Mass for the pilgrims at 11 :30 p.m. on the August 15 feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary because many got held up in the foot traffic following the pope's welcome. He was excited about their desire for spirituality adding that "We will see reverberations of this pilgrimage through the young people." Mid-week, the pilgrims took trips to Turn to page J2 - Rome
St. Pius X Parish, S. Yarmouth .
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will host Jubilee Year Mass . Editor's Note: This is seventh in a 10part series on the pilgrimage churches in the Fall River diocese. The series runs once a month in The Anchor to assist diocesan Catholics in making their pilgrimages to these sites. According to guidelines published by the diocese, those who travel to St. Mary's Cathedral or any ~f the designated churches and fulfill the simple conditions of the indulgence, will receive for themselves, orfor a soul in Purgatory, the same indulgence as if they have traveled to Rome or the Holy Land for the Jubilee Year. ~
Jubilee Mass will be celebrated by Bishop .Bean P O'Malley, , OFM Cap.,;on Sunday, Sept 3 at 10:30 a'.m:- :
SOUTH YARMOUTH '-:- In' the World War II years 'there were rio Catholic churches on Cape Cod between Hyannis
and West Harwich and the faithful in the area had to travel to St. Francis Xavier Parish in Hyannis or to Holy Trinity Parish in West Harwich to attend Mass. The situation was alleviated somewhat when Father Thomas McLean, then pastor of the Hyannis parish, built Our Lady of the Highway Chapel in Bass River. , In May 1954, Bishop James L. Connolly announced the forming of a new parish here to be called St. Pius X, and named Father Christopher L. Broderick as the founding pastor. , At the beginning, St. Pius X consisted of a partially furnished rectory on Wood Road, the small Our Lady of the Highway Chapel on Route 28, and a church designed by architeCt Delbert Johnson under construction on Station Avenue. , The new parish's greatest assets were a dedicated pastor and a group of eager parishioners ready to help in any way they could. '
Masses were held in the chapel and on other sites until the church was ready to welcome parishioners. The original St. Pius X Church was dedicated on Aug. 18, 1954. The parish honors Pope St. Pius X, who referred to the Fall River diocese as his "first child" because it was the first diocese he created after assuming the papacy. But within only four years because of the growing influx of Catholics to the Cape Cod area, it was found that the summer chapel had to double in size. Then, in 1961 a new rectory had to be built near the church to house the pastor and the Jesuit priests from Boston College who assisted him. By 1967 it become very clear to Father Broderick that the church could not accommodate
the growing number of year-round parishioners. Plans were then set into motion for a -new church to be built adjacent to the Turn to page J3 - Jubilee
ST. PIUS
X CHURCH
SOUTH YARMOUTH