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FALL RIVER DIOCES~'N NEWSPAPER FOR SOUTHEAST Mj~SSACHUSETTS CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS
t ean FALL RIVER, MASS., FRIDAY; SEPTEMBER 6, 1985
VOL. 29, NO. 35
.$8 Per Year
Msgr. Hoye, Bishop Unterkoefler deplore government actions
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opeN heArt ISAIAH 50:4-9/ MARK 8:27-35
Cbtechetical Sunday
September 15, 1985
CCD Day Sept. 21
at Bishop Stang
Directors and teachers in reli gious education programs Ithroughout the diocese are pre Iparing for the new school yea~. Spiritually, many will be ,strengthened by paTish commis •sioning services traditionally held on Catechetical Sunday, this year Sept. 15. The national theme for Cate chetical Sunday, meant to be re flected upon by catechists throughout ,the year, is "Listen and follow with an open heart," and many commissioning ser ices wi'll be based on those ooos, taken from the Old Testa ent prophet Isaiah and the postle Mark. Also based on the national eme will be 'a Religious Educa ion Day to be held from 9 a.m. o 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 21, at ishop Stang High 'School, North artmouth. Coordinated by Sister Doreen onegan, SUSC, and Sister Pa icia Hallid'ay, SND, respective the diocesan director and as
sistant director of religious 'edu cation, the day wiH open with prayer and an address by Bishop Daniel A. Cronin. Keynote speaker Father James F. Hawker, director of religious education for the Boston arch diocese, will take .as his topic "The Catechist: Called To Be and Become a Faith-Filled Disciple of Christ." His presentation will be fol ~owed fly a workshop period and ~unch. Two workshop periods will be held in the afternoon and a 4 p.m. Mass will conclude the day. 22 workshops will be offered, many twice. The presenters and titles of their workshops follow: ANNE ABOODY: Teacher and Catechist, Our Lady of the Cape, Brewster, Celebrate Yourself: NourishIng the Life Force. KAREN AGUIAR: CCD teach er, Holy Ghost Parish, Attleboro, Turn to Page Three
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Africa criticized ~ on
By NC News Service Msgr. Daniel F. Hoye, general secretary of the U.S. Catholic Conference, and Bishop Ernest 1. Unterkoefler of Charlestown, S.C., in separate comments last week, criticized the South Afri can government for actions against churches and suppress ing the rights of the nation's black majority. Msgr. Hoye 1?lamed 'the gov ernment for instigating violence. He described as "particuarly dis heartening" the government's 'actions in deta,ining church leaders, including the Rev. Allan Boesak, president of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, and Paddy Kearney, a layman who di'rects a Catholic-support ed ecumenical human rights office in Durban, South Africa. Furthermore, he noted, "word has been received that the home of Father Smangaliso Mkhat shwa, secretary general of the Southern African Catholic Bish ops' Conference, has been enter ed and searched by police." He also cited the arrest by.the white-minority South African government of "thousands of men, women and children who have peacefully demonstrated against the apartheid system or participated ,in boycotts of schools purposefully designed to impart inferior education." Bishop Unterkoefler called Mr.
Boesak's incarceration "clear evidence of the insensitiv,ity of the government of South Africa to religious principles" and con demned "this action against an individual religious leader (the)' attack on moral principles." "A government which attacks its religious leaders is not a government that commands the respect of its people," he added. Detaining the leader of the 70 million member worldwide Re formed Church denomination, the bishop said, is "an. insult" to those "who respect· and support Allan Boesak in his fight against injustice in South Africa." The Charleston bishop has had more than 20 yea~s of associa tion with Reformed Churches through the U.S. ecumenical movement. Msgr. Hoye, in the statement issued by the U.S. Catholic Con ference in Washington, said that "the violence that has accom panied some of these demon strations (by blacks) has often been stimulated by intemperate actions by the police and military forces," "The churches in South Afr-ica have explicitly and unequivocally repudiated violence as a means of achieving a just society," he added. "It is therefore particular ly disheartening that the govern ment has included church leaders in its efforts to suppress even
peaceful dissent demonstra tions." He said that Mr. Boesak and Kearney, "denied access to legal counsel and without resort to the courts," must, like other detainees, "await an arbitrary administrative decision to obtain release." Both Msgr. Hoye and Bishop Unterkoefler also urged the U.S. government to repudiate the ac 1ions of the South African gov ernment. Bishop Unterkoefler offered "words of prayerful concern" and expressed a "hope that our government's policy will be strong a.gainst the recent activi ties of the government of South Africa, particularly in its action against Allan Boesak." He de scribed the Reformed minister as a man of intelligence and forti tude as well as a "leader of his people against apartheid." Recognizing that the U.S. government "has protested such actions by the South African gov ernment," Msgr. Hoye expressed hope that "these efforts by our government will be continued and strlmgthened." "I also suggest that all Ameri cans join in prayer for the peo ple of South Africa. asking that God, who identifies himself with peace and justice, will care for those who are oppressed," Msgr. Hoye said.
p'ope to visit Liechtenstein
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rency of its own, using the Swiss By NC News Service Liechtenstein plans to receive franc. Switzerland is also re Pope John Paul II "with joy and. sponsible for Liechtenstei~'s gratitude, in a manner which is telecommunications system. worthy . of and commensurate Although 82 percent of the with the circumstances of our population is Catholic and Cath small country," said the nation's olicism is the state religion, Padiament in approving the Liechtenstein has no diocese of Sept. 8 papal visit. its own. The entire coun~ . The statement reflects the tiny forms a corner of the Diocese of Alpine country's' attitude to Chur, Switzerland. waros its size. Nestled along the Rhine River Liechtenstein is the size of the between Switzer.land and Aus District of Columbia, but its tria, about 60 percent of Liech 26,000 residents would about half tenstein is in .the Alps and the fill Robert F. Kennedy Memorial ~est by the Rhine valley, where Stadium, where the Washington most of the population ·lives in Redskins play their home foot scattered villages. The largest, ball games. the capital of Vaduz, has a popu lation of 5,000. The Parliament has 15 mem The pope is going to Liechten bers. The country has no cur-
ready stein as part of his pastoral pro gram of visiting Catholics around the world, said Joaquin Navarro Valls, Vatican press spokesman. Sept. 8 was chosen because it ,is the feast of the birth of Mary, he said. The pope "always looks to build a trip around a Marian feast or a visit to a Marian shrine," said Navarro-V~lls. During the pope's nine-and-a half-hour stay, he will celebrate an outdoor Mass commemorating Mary's birth and will dedicate a chapel to her. The papal visit coincides with a yearlong spiritual ~enewal pro gram in Liechtenstein. Such pro grams, called follt missions, are Turn to Page Seven