08.28.75

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COURT CASE

The ANCHOR' An Anchor 01 the Soul, Sure and Firm-Sf. Paul

Fall River, Mass., Thursday, August 28, 1975 Vol. 19, No. 35 © 1975 The Anc~or $5.0:~~~Ey~~

Mexican Farm Hands Would Destroy UFW WASHINGTON (NC)-A proposal to revive the Bracero program, which would legalize the mass importation of braceros (farm hands) under a bilateral agreement between the United States and Mexico, was called "completely unaoceptable" by a U.S. Catholic Conference (USCC) . official. In a Labor Day statement, Msgr. George G. Higgins, USCC secretary for research, warned that revival of the program "would inevitably have a disastrous effect on the wages and working conditions of the American labor force and might well destroy the only viable union ever to be established in the history of American agriculture," the United Farm Workers of America. Msgr. Higgins said that· a top U.S. government official had reo cently suggested revival of the Bracero program as a solution to the problem of illegal aliens be· cause the illegal aliens "are doing work which the American labor market somehow does not seem to be otherwise supplying." The USCC official recalled that there had been Br.acero programs in the 1940sand from 1954 to to 1964. "Under the latter program at its peak," he said, "more than 500,000 contract workers were brought into this country in one year alone. They were recruited by the Secretary of Labor at the expense of the U.S. government." . Msgr. Higgins pointed out that a government commission estab· lished in 1959 to investigate the Bracero program "found that the program-which guaranteed the growers, at no administrative expense to themselves, an unlimited supply of cheap and docile

SCHOOLS OPEN WEDNESDAY Figures released today by the Diocesan Education Office reveal that some 8200 elementary and 3100 high school students are expected when Catholic schools throughout the diocese open their doors Wed· nesday morning, Sept. 3.

labor - was having a disastrous effect on the American labor force." The commission recommended that the program be phased out as rapidly as possible. "For example.," Msgr. Higgins Turn to Page Four

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Position The Most Reverend Daniel A. Cronin, Bishop of Fall River, has been sued in civil court by the Saint John's Child Care and Development Cepter, Inc., of Fall River. The corporation, through its President, Sister Arlene Violet, R.S.M., brought suit against the Bishop. The action was precipitated when the independent corporation was denied access to a Diocesan property in Saint Patrick's Parish in Fall River in which it had been operating. The case has generated some publicity in the Fall River area and has been reported in the media. The Bishop is advised that it is inappropriate for any party to civil litigation to engage in comments about the merits of a legal proceeding before the

Court has an opportunity to hear the parties. This kind of extrajudicial statement can be prejudicial. The Bishop has, through counsel, re- . moved the case from the District Court to the Superior Court, the proper forum for a decision of the legal issues involved. The Bishop awaits a speedy hearing on the merits of the case in which his position will be made entirely clear. Some speculation has arisen on the subject of ecclesiastical penalties. Bishop Cronin wishes to make it clear that he has not authorized any such speculation, and is entirely content to have this legal question decided by the civil courts of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Polish Catholics Impress Cardinal ROME (NC)-The Church in Poland is the great hope for the Church and for the world, Cardinal Humberto Medeiros of Boston said after 'an eight-day visit in that East European nation. After celebrating Mass at

Rome's Polish Church of St. Stanislaus, Cardinal Medeiros told NC News: "The Church in Poland in the face of persecution ds the Church Militant, Triumphant and heroic. It is the greatest hope

for the Church and for the world. Cardinal Medeiros, in Rome with about 75 Holy Year pilgrims from his archdiocese, visited many Polish cities and 'shrines along with some of the Boston pilgrims from Aug. 11-19. The Boston cardinal said that the persecution against the Church .takes the form of "a thousand types of harassment." He called the Poles a "grave, brave people," and said he was "overwhelmed" by their faith. "I never thanked God so much for having seen what I saw-the . faith lived in persecution," Cardinal Medeiros said. "I hope that I can live up to what I saw there." The Cardinal's trip took him to major PoUsh cities where he was the guest of Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski of Warsaw, Cardinal Karol Wojtyla (If Cracow, and other bishops. The Boston cardinal spoke publicly about four or five times a day. "My message is basically that Poland is a holy land since Catholics there are fighting for the rights of God. I mid them that unlesS' men defend the rights of God, there is no point in defending the rights of man since man's rights come from God."

BISHOP CONFIRMS AT DEVER STATE SCHOOL: Most Rev. Daniel A. Cronin, Bishop of Fall River, administered the Sacrament of Confirmation to 134 residents of the Paul A. Dever School for the Retarded, Taunton. Assisting the Bishop in the ceremony were Rev. William Beston, CSC, chaplain at the school and Rev. James F. Lyons, back to camera, pastor of St. Mary's, Taunton. Mr. Charles Colton, extreme left~ recently-retired steward at the school, served as sponsor for the residents. Also in attendance were Dr. Anne H. Lewis, Dever School Superintendent; Mr. and Mrs. Frank Tapella of Quincy, representing the Parent's Association; and family members and rela.tives.

Cardinal Medeiros recalled that at the famous shr.ine of Our L'ady of Czestochowa (In the Feast of the Assumption Aug. 15, he "could see the people's faith jumping out at me, shouting out to me." Of his visit to the former Nazi concentration camp at Ausch· witz, the cardinal recounted: "It was the most impressive and depressing thing I've ever seen. Your instinct upon visiting the camp is just to fall down on the floor."

g-o---/n This Issuel

~

LaSalette Holds Bicentennial Celebration

Do women have any power in the Church?

Starts tonite

Read Fr. Greeley

Page 2

Page 11

Fr. Joseph Champlin describes a real living parish

A French Sister brings education to the American frontier

Page 13

Page 15


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