FALL RIVER DIOCESAN NEWSPAPER FOR SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS
t eanc 0 VOL. 28 NO. 35
FALL RIVER, MASS., FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 1984
$8 Per Year
N.E. bishops address voters
Eighteen bishops from Ma,lne, New Hampshire, Vermont, Mas sachusetts and the Melkite Greek Catholic Eparchy of New ton have Joined In issuing an election-eve statement on the responSibilities of citizenship. In the statement, released Wednesday, the bishops list 14 Issues "which should claim the attention of all serious-minded conscientious citizens." They are abortion, arms con troland disarmament, capital punishment, civll rights, the economy, education, energy, family me, food and agricultural policy, health, housing, human JIlghts, mass media and Tegional conflicts In the world. AU are treated in a booklet, "Political Responsibility: Choices
for the 1980~," which the bishops offer to send ,to anyone requesting it. A copy of the booklet, together with the statement of the bishops 0 fthe ecclesiastica,l province of Boston and a statement by Bishop James W. Malone, president of ,the Nationll Conference of Catho~ic Bishops and the U.S. Catholic Conference, was sent by Bishop Daniel A.", Cronin to clergy of the Fall River diocese. .yn a covering ;letter, Bishop Oronin expressed the hope that the material would be useful to priests "in the coming days as you exercise your pastoral responsibi1ity for the instruction' and formation of those entrusted to your care."
He said it was provided "with a v,iew to assisting pastors and people in reflecting upon the prtinciples which are Tooted in our faith in anticipation of the exercise of our privilege and re sponsibility in voting, not only in the elections to be held in the coming weeks th'is year, but in future campaigns as welt" "Wi~h you," said the bishop, I join in fervent prayer that Al mighty God wiH enlighten citi zens and those charged with the responsibilit! ~or. th~ gu~dance of o~r public"mstltutlons· 10 the commg days. The complete text of the New .England bishops' statement ap pears on page 2 of this Issue of The Anchor. Also relevant Is a SUIDJD~ of platform positions
and catholic stands, appearing on pages 8 and 9.
Bishop Malone's Statement In his statement ,Bishop Ma lone stressed ,that the U.S. Cath olic Conference, the public policy arm of the U.S. bishops, "speaks on public policy issues, but it does not take positions for or against political candidates. This point needs emphasizing lest, in the present political context, even what we say about issues be perceived as an expression of political partisanship." The bishop explained that, as teachers, bishops exercise that role in Tegard to public issues '~by defining the content of moral prinoiples and dndicatin3 how they' apply to specific prob·' ,lems."
Vincentians aid shelter, food program
War against porno urged Atlantic Ocean
By NC News Service
Christians have an urgent duty to take personal and public measures against the spread of the "insidious .epidemic" of pornography, said Cardinal Tim othy Manning of Los Angeles. In a pastoral letter to be pub lished today in The Tidings, Los Angeles archdiocesan newspaper. Cardinal Manning said pornogra phy is "the epidemic which now devastates the personal and the social well-being of contemporary man." l~ evil lies in the "graphic representation of degrading or viOlent sexua! behavior." accord ing to the cardinal. The effects of exposure to such material are devastating, he declared. "Pornographic fantasy has possessed our culture, and re creational sex is the normal ex pression of it," Cardinal Man ning said. "Aggressive erotic Ism expresses itself in revolting and public ways. It is a breeding ground for violence which fol lows so often." He expressed particular con cern for the "tragedies" which resu1t when children and youth imitate behavior they see in such maoorial. "There must be some conjec ture of the hardening of' consci ence, the deadening of the soul and the separation from Christ, from the sacraments of recon cmation and Eucharist and from Tum to Page Seven
•
....:i
• fI.
~ NEWFOUNDLAND '. '
i\,"
...., .. 1
vl • St. John's
ONTARIO'
l l lil li\l ~litli l il l l li [il l:'· ·
From Rome
The Fall River district of the Society of St. V:incent de Paul, headed by David J. Motta, re-, cently conal<uded participation in a government-sponsored pro gram providing food and shelter to needy individuals. Vd'ncentians disbursed $6,800 in government-allotted funds, aiding 603 persons with the equi va1f~nt of 10,579 individual meals, plus 60 days of shelter for a four-member family. \
tHIs MAP SHOWS Pope John Paul U's coast-to-coast route for his Canadian trip. Between his arrival in Quebec on Sunday and his departure from Ottawa Sept. 20,he will visit 14 major cities and speak to about 50 groups. (NC map)
Li'beration theology caution issued:
'Marxis·t influence se:en put liberation from material pov By Agostino Bono VATICAN CITY (NC) - A erty above diberation from sin. major Vatican statement ordered But :It also strongly reaffirms by Pope John Paul ,II said church teaching that catholics branches of 'liberation theology . have a moral obligation to work which use "concepts uncritically for a just social order. The currents of tiberation the borrowed from Marxist ideology" ology using Marxist concepts re 'are incompatible with Catholic duce theology to a political pro ism. The document, issued Sept. 3, g 'm, the document said. By ap criticized the theory of class p .ying the doctrine of class strug struggle and other theories which gle they often regard church
With regard to political re sponsibility, the bishops. urge Catholics and others to invo've themselves in the polimcal pro cess. In platform testimony, said 'Bishop Malone, they spelled out their positions ona wide range of issues. (These positions are treated in the summary on pag..~s 8 and 9 referred to above.) "The Catholic Conference':; policy positions express the Catholic mora;l tradition," said Bishop Malone. "'With regard to many issues, of course, there is room for sincere disagreement by Catholics and others who share our moral convictions over how moral principles shOUld be applied to the current fact5 in the public policy debate. But Tum to Page Two
authorities as part of the op pressor olass, it added. The liberation theology text was issued by the Vatican Con gregBition for the boctrine of the Faith, the church agency respon sible for monitoring theological orthodoxy. It also was released in Washington Sept. 3 by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops. Turn to Page Six
24 Vincentian ' conferences participated in the program, spending an average of $350 per conference, a totall of $8,400. The $1,600 spe.nt above the gov ernment aNotment came from spciety funds, noted a district spokesman. The spokesman also said that Vincentians reported many "pockets of poverty," not only in dnner-city areas but in subur ban sections of the FaB River district. The aid program, administered by the federal Emergency Food and Shelter Board, will be avail able again in 1985 and it is sug~ gested that other V:incentian dis tricts interested in participation make application on or after Jan. 1. Fl\lrther ,information is availaMe from the Fal.. River Council at 783 Slade St., Fall River 02724.