, diocese
of
t eanco VOL. 23, NO. 35
fall tiver
FALL RIVER, MASS., Tt-lURSDAY, AUGUST 30, 1979
20c, $6 Per Year
RIGHT TO ORGANIZE BELONGS TO CHURCH EMPLOYEES TOO
Changes His Excellency, the Most Reverend oDaniel A. Cronin has announced the retirement for reasons of health of Father Joseph F. D'Amico, administrator of Sacred Heart Church, Oak Bluffs. Father James F. Greene, associate pastor of St. Dominic's Church, Swansea, will become administrat~r of the Oak Bluffs parish. The changes will be effective Wednesday, Sept. 12. Father D'Amico, a Whitinsville native, perpared for the priesthood at St. Philip Neri Seminary, Boston, and St. John's Seminary, Brighton. He was ordained Feb. 2, 1963 in S,t. Mary's Cathedral. Before his assignment to Oak Bluffs in February, 1977, he was for 14 years associate pastor at St. Thomas More parish, Somerset, where he was also moderator of the Somerset. Catholic Women's.Club and chaplain fbt the Daughters of Isabella. 路Father Greene was born in Fall River, where he attended St. Joseph's parochial school. He undertook his seminary studies at St. Philip Neri, Cardinal 0' Connell and St. John's Seminaries and was ordained Feb. 2, 1961. After serving three years as associate pastor at St. Joseph Church, Taunton, Father Greene entered the U.S. Air Force as a Turn to Page Seven
Church Workers' Rights 'Backed WASHINGTON (NC) - Msgr. George G. Higgins has used his annual Labor Day statement this year' to remind church leaders that they must "unequivocally recognize" the right of their employees to organize for the purpose of collective bargaining. Msgr. Higgins, U.S. Catholic Conference secretary for special concerns, also called for establishment of a "voluntary substitute for the National Labor Relations Board" to oversee labor disputes between teachers' church-operated~ unions and schools. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that the NLRB had no jurisdiction in such cases, leaving "no agency, as Msgr. Higgins put it, to defend teachers' unions against arbitrary decisions affecting' their collective bargaining rights. The long-time activist, who -has been issuing Labor Day statements for a number of years, started out his 1979 statement by noting that when the church speaks of justice, it must be sure that it practices' justice itself. Noting the right to organize, 路Msgr. Higgins said that "recent events in the United States 'have led some observers to question
whether or not church-related institutions are prepared to honor this right in practice as well as in theory." While those observations may not be accurate, "they reflect a growing sense of uneasiness" about the church's commitment
Tauntonians Set Jubilee Banquet Greater Taunton area Catholics have set aside Sunday, Sept. 30 as their special day' to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the creation of the Fall River diocese by Pope St. Pius
X. An afternoon Mass will be celebrated at St. Mary's Church, Taunton. It will be preceded by Turn to Page Seven
:nJBILEE75
Trip
At press time, The Anchor to justice for workers that can- contacted sources in Boston and Washington, seeking information not be ignored, he said. "Any direct or indirect at- on Pope John 路Paul II's projecttempt to circumvent or to inter- ed visit to the United States fere with the free exercise of next month. His itinerary remained tentathis right will predictably lead to serious trouble - the kind tive at that time and some obof trouble that could divide the servers speculated that this Catholic community for many *eek's terrorist bombings in years to come and neutralize Ireland which took the lives of the effectiveness of on-going Lord Louis Mountbatten, his church-related programs for so- grandson and many British solcial justice both at home and diers were partially responsible for the delay in release of definite abroad," Msgr.. Higgins said. Msgr. Higgins remarked that information. It is expected that the March 21 Supreme Court de- security for the pope will be cision on the NLRB was wide- greatly increased, both in Irely misinterpreted to mean that land and in the United States. Sources indicate that the pope teachers in church-operated schools had no right to organize. ,will begin his American visit The court merely ruled that the Oct. 1 in Boston. A problem, National Labor Relations Act however, is that there is nd space did not cover lay teachers em- in ilie city large enough to acployed by church-operated commodate the throngs that would be expected to attend an schools. "The immediate challenge outdoor papal Mass. Hotel facing school administrators in rooms are also at a premium. Definitely planned is the ponthe wake of the Supreme Court's decision is to establish, in co- tiff's visit to the United Nations operation with Catholic teachers' on Oct. 2 and a stop in Philaunions and with the profession- delphia the following day. There al ~ssistance of outside experts, he will be welcomed by Cara voluntary substitute for the dinal John Krol, a longtime National Labor Relations Board," friend who accompanied him on his recent trip to Poland. he said. Also on the papal schedule is He said without such a board, Catholic school teachers would a trip to Des Moines, la., headbe deprived of a right which quarters of the National CathTurn to Page Seven Turn to Page Ten