09.09.11

Diocese of Fall River

The Anchor

F riday , September 9, 2011

9/11 — Another date that lives in infamy

A decade of change, pain, remembrance

Diocese marks 10th anniversary

NEW YORK — President Franklin D. Roosevelt called the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941 “A date which will live in infamy.”

A whole new generation experienced another heinous attack against America 10 years ago on Sept. 11, 2001, when four jet airliners, filled with fuel and innocent passengers, were hijacked by radical militants, ultimately crashing in New York City, Arlington, Va., and Shanksville, Pa., killing thousands and shaking the psyche of millions. Another date that will surely live in infamy.

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FALL RIVER — “Today has been a day of almost unimaginable acts of violence in the United States,” said then-Bishop Sean P. O’Malley, OFM, Cap. in a statement read within hours of the attacks that happened on that dark day of Sept. 11, 2001.

“I ask the faithful of the Fall River Diocese to join with me in prayer for our country and in particular for the victims of these acts, their families and loved ones left behind.”

During the Mass celebrated that evening at St. Mary’s CatheTurn to page 15

By Dave Jolivet, Editor

By Becky Aubut Anchor Staff

ten years ago — A trail of smoke pours from the World Trade Center towers after being struck by hijacked commercial airplanes in New York Sept. 11, 2001. At least 2,819 people perished in the attack. In the years since, the nation witnessed an outpouring of patriotism and spiritual awakenings and launched itself into a war and other efforts to combat terrorism. (CNS photo from Reuters)

Program on protecting parental rights slated for Cape Cod parish

By Kenneth J. Souza Anchor Staff

EAST SANDWICH — It would seem obvious that parents’ choices and decisions on how to raise and educate their young school-aged child would be paramount, but based on recent court rulings and interpretations of the controversial “United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child,” that may not always be the case.

“Some courts have been chipping away at this for years,” said Barbara Bowers, the newly-elected president of the Cape Cod Family Life Alliance. “I remember a 13-year-old boy went to court because he objected to his parents’ requiring him to attend church three times a week for various reasons.

The judge ruled that it was perfectly reasonable that a 13-year-old boy should only have to go to church

once a week. Cases like that are cropping up and it’s very troubling to me.”

Although first signed and approved by the U.N. in 1989 and having taken effect the following year, two countries have yet to ratify and adopt the measure to this day — Somalia and the United States.

While the overall intent of this so-called “human rights treaty” was to establish that children under the age of 18 should not be mistreated or subjected to harsh labor conditions, U.S. courts have used the international law to undermine parental rights, even though it has yet to be adopted in this country.

“We’re one of the few holdouts,” Bowers said. “The odd thing is, there are many good ideas in this measure — why not protect children from slavery, or exploitaTurn to page 14

Miracles on Main Street — Mary Cardoza and Steven Guillotte study panels at St. Francis Xavier Parish in Acushnet displaying eucharistic miracles through the centuries and from all over the world. The exhibit is on display at the parish until September 14.

The miracle of the Eucharist on display at Acushnet parish

By Becky Aubut Anchor Staff

ACUSHNET — Gregorian chants provide the backdrop to the “Eucharistic Miracles of the World,” a Vatican International Exhibition that features 126 miracles from 17 countries that is currently on display in the education center at St. Francis Xavier Parish in Acushnet.

It was a recent article in the New Bedford

newspaper, The Standard-Times, which sparked Paul Boudreau, a parishioner of St. Lucy Parish in Middletown, R.I., to contact St. Francis. Boudreau is a regional presenter of the exhibit.

“The article focused on how adoration had revitalized our parish,” said Msgr. Gerard P. O’Connor, “and he thought this would be a perfect spot to place the exhibit for a while.”

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September 9, 2011 News From the Vatican Vatican says charges it meddled in Irish abuse cases are ‘unfounded’

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papal blessing — Pope Benedict XVI delivers his blessing after leading the Angelus prayer recently. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

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OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE DIOCESE OF FALL RIVER Vol. 55, No. 34

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Vatican City (CNA/ EWTN News) — The Vatican has issued a detailed response to a report charging that Irish Church officials in the Cloyne Diocese mishandled allegations of abuse by priests.

But it denied accusations that it deliberately disrupted the Irish government’s efforts to bring priests to justice in Ireland.

“The Holy See does not accept that it was somehow indifferent to the plight of those who suffered abuse in Ireland,” the Vatican said in a 25-page formal response delivered to the Irish government.

In the wake of the July 13 “Report of the Commission of Investigation into the Catholic Diocese of Cloyne,” Prime Minister Enda Kenny attacked the Vatican in a highly-charged speech in the Irish parliament.

Kenny said the report “exposes an attempt by the Holy See to frustrate an inquiry in a sovereign, democratic republic

and excavates the dysfunction, disconnection, elitism … the narcissism that dominates the culture of the Vatican.”

The parliament on July 27 passed a motion accusing the Vatican of “the undermining of the child protection framework and guidelines of the Irish State and the Irish Bishop.”

Ireland’s government then requested an official response from the Vatican.

The Vatican response called the charges “unfounded.”

“The Cloyne Report itself contains no statement that would lend support to Kenny’s accusations,” the Vatican said.

“In fact, accusations of interference are belied by the many reports cited” in the Cloyne Report, the Vatican said. These reports “contain no evidence to suggest that the Holy See meddled in the internal affairs of the Irish state or, for that matter was involved in the day-to-day management of Irish dioceses

or religious congregations with respect to sexual abuse issues.”

The Vatican suggested that the Cloyne report — and the Irish government’s response — reflect misunderstanding of how the Church’s canon law works and the extent of the Vatican’s day-to-day authority over local bishops in the Church.

“The Holy See wishes to make it quite clear that it in no way hampered or interfered in the inquiry into child sexual abuse cases in the Diocese of Cloyne. Furthermore, at no stage did it seek to interfere with Irish civil law or impede the civil authority in the exercise of its duties. The Holy See expected the diocesan authorities to act in conformity with Irish civil law. It should also be noted that the (Cloyne Report) acknowledges ‘the full co-operation it received from all parties involved in the investigation and their legal advisers.’”

The International Church Cautious optimism offered for future of Catholics in Libya

September 9, 2011

Tripoli, Libya (CNA/ EWTN News) — Early evidence suggests that the Catholic Church in Libya may fare no worse under a new rebel-led regime than it did under the dictatorship of Colonel Moammar Gadhafi.

“The future is very uncertain but the signs from the parts of the country that have been under rebel control since March is that Catholic priests and nuns are still being allowed to go about their business as usual.

So we hope that’s a good sign for the future,” a senior local

Economic woes threaten to stunt Ugandan seminaries

Kampala, Uganda (CNA) — Rampant inflation and other severe economic troubles are threatening to close seminaries in Uganda, despite the growing number of priestly vocations in the country.

Msgr. Cosmas Alule, rector of Alokolum Major Seminary, said that increasing fuel prices have driven up the cost of food with staple commodities quadrupling in price over the last year.

Since August of 2010, the rate of inflation has risen from 1.7 percent to approximately 19 percent.

“We can hardly meet the costs of our basic needs, despite the fact that we grow rice, beans, maize and vegetables in our gardens in order to reduce our food costs,” he told the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need.

Msgr. Alule said that the causes of the economic crisis in Uganda can be traced not only to widespread drought, but the costly parliamentary election campaign last February.

“The government has spent money irresponsibly for political purposes, instead of looking after the well being of the people,” he charged.

Alokolum Seminary is based in an area that has endured over 20 years of civil war between the Ugandan government and the Lord’s Resistance Army.

Although the seminary is suffering from a severe shortage of space, it has had to stop all building because materials have become increasingly expensive.

However, with 209 students expected this new academic year — 26 more than the previous year — building has become necessary.

Msgr. Alule said that despite over 1,000 young men preparing for the priesthood in the country’s five seminaries last year alone, there is still a shortage of priests in many parts of the country.

Forty-five percent of the population of 33 million is Catholic.

Church source, who wished to remain anonymous for security reasons, told CNA August 25.

The comments come as NATO-backed Libyan rebels tighten their hold over the capital city of Tripoli and are pushing on toward Colonel Gadhafi’s hometown of Sirte which is still under loyalist control. The present whereabouts of Colonel Gadhafi are still unknown.

Although he is a Muslim, Gadhafi’s 42-year dictatorship saw the Catholic Church largely unhindered in its work in parishes and hospitals. In contrast, fears have recently been voiced that significant elements in the rebel forces may have an Islamist agenda.

In recent days, there has also been concern for the safety of a Franciscan community based in Tripoli’s sole Catholic Church.

“I’ve actually just spoken

to the Franciscan priests who are in Tripoli,” said the CNA source.

“They say their situation is not easy but that they are well.

It’s difficult for them to go out into the streets because of the fighting. There are still many people in the streets with guns and much bombing.”

The Church source added that there are only three Franciscans in Tripoli at present because another three members of the community are currently unable to enter the country. The three Franciscans are trying to enter Libya from Tunisia, but the broken transportation system and blocked roads have made it impossible. One of the clergymen is a priest who had traveled to World Youth Day in Madrid.

The estimated Catholic population of Libya is approximately

100,000 — most of whom are immigrants — but that number may have declined since the outbreak of trouble in February.

In total, there are around 25 Catholic priests working in the country. They are mainly based in Tripoli in the west and the city of Benghazi in the east.

There are also around 60 nuns

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who work in the country’s hospital system.

The CNA source says that although Catholics only make up a small percentage of Libya’s six million population, the work of the Church’s priests and nuns is greatly appreciated by ordinary Libyans who are overwhelmingly Muslim.

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The Church in the U.S.

September 9, 2011

Introduction of new Missal going smoothly in English-speaking nations

WASHINGTON (CNS) — Bit by bit, the third edition of the Roman Missal is being introduced in parishes throughout the Englishspeaking world.

From Canada to southern Africa to New Zealand, Catholics have seen parts of the new Missal introduced at various times — most since January, but some earlier — so that by the first Sunday of Advent November 27, the transition to a new set of prayers and liturgical music will be as seamless as possible for the faithful.

As the implementation moves forward, the liturgists charged with overseeing the Missal’s introduction in seven of the 10 Englishspeaking countries and regions outside of the U.S. making the transition told Catholic News Service that their efforts have eased concerns that the translation was a step back from the Second Vatican Council’s vision for Liturgy.

“The bishops here took the view that there should be an incremental approach to implementation,” explained Father Peter Wiliams, executive secretary of the bishops’ Commission for Liturgy in Australia.

The process began with the introduction of new musical settings in January, followed by the spoken parts of the Mass at Pentecost in June, Father Williams said. The eucharistic prayers and other parts of the Missal will be introduced

November 1 so that by Advent the transition will be completed.

The pace of each phase was left to local pastors, with some parishes moving more quickly and others more slowly depending on how well congregations welcomed them, Father Williams said.

The introduction of the English translation of the Missal — under development since 2002 — is occurring in countries represented by the 11 bishops’ conference members of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy.

Member conferences include the United States, Canada, Ireland, England and Wales, Scotland, southern Africa (South Africa, Swaziland and Botswana), India, Pakistan, Philippines, New Zealand and Australia.

The most recent translation of the Roman Missal is the third since Vatican II’s call for the “full, conscious and active participation” of all Catholics in the Liturgy. In introducing the third Latin translation in 2002, Pope John Paul II said it more closely matched the vivid language used throughout Church history.

The English translation took nearly seven years as representatives to ICEL debated the proper words that reflected the sacred language found in the latest Latin edition of the Missal. The Vatican approved the English translation in 2009.

Disagreements emerged among U.S. bishops as the final translation was reviewed before it was sent to Rome for approval. Some bishops deemed it as elitist or remote from everyday speech. Despite the concerns, the American bishops overwhelmingly approved the translation.

In Ireland, the Association of Catholic Priests, which represents about 10 percent of the country’s clergy, continued to object to the translation into 2011. In a March 28 statement, the association charged that the translation was “too complex and too cumbersome” and included sexist language. It also questioned its “theological veracity” and described the translation process as flawed.

Such challenges have not delayed implementation, however.

In New Zealand, where the introduction of the Missal began last Advent and was to take one year, the attitude among the country’s 560,000 Catholics largely has been to “just go on with the business,” said Father Trevor Murray, director of the National Liturgy Office for the country’s bishops.

“There are some people who are really happy about it and others not so happy,” Father Murray said.

“That’s true of the priests as well as the people. But the majority of people are pragmatic about it.”

Around the world the implementation has been boosted through workshops and meetings with key Church leaders aimed at explaining what the changes entail and their significance. Each bishops’ conference has developed its own resources, including laminated cards in pews for worshippers, seminars and websites.

Perhaps the most widely-used resource has been “Become One Body, One Spirit in Christ,” an interactive DVD developed by ICEL. It explores the richness of the Liturgy, explains the changes and examines why the changes are being made.

In Canada, Father William Burke, director of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops’ National Liturgy Office, has found people accepting of the changes — once the reasoning behind them is explained.

Father Burke has visited 27 Canadian dioceses to explain the changes and said he has found some anxiety and animosity over the new text at each stop. As he reviews the translation and offers the reasoning behind them, he said he has seen the uncertainty wither.

“By and large,” he said, I hear people saying, ‘What’s all the fuss about?’ People realize this is not the devastation (of the Liturgy) we heard.”

prayer for peace — Dominican Sister Mary Paul McCaughey, left, superintendent of Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Chicago, reads an anti-violence pledge during a recent prayer service on a beach in Chicago. The Black Catholic Deacons of Chicago hosted five back-to-school sunrise prayer services to pray for nonviolence during the 2011-2012 school year.

(CNS photo/Karen Callaway, Catholic New World)

N.Y. Times editor slammed for ‘bigoted’ column on presidential candidates’ religions

Washington D.C. (CNA) — The New York Times is being strongly criticized for a column by its executive editor Bill Keller that scrutinized the religions of the GOP presidential candidates and likened the Catholic belief in the Eucharist to belief in aliens.

“Keller could have made his point about politics and religion without insulting Catholics,” Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, told CNA on August 30.

“But true to form, he did what comes naturally to him — he trashed Catholicism.”

In his August 25 editorial, “Asking Candidates Tougher Questions About Faith,” outgoing executive editor Keller urged greater scrutiny of Republican candidates’ religious beliefs, touching on Mormonism, Evangelical Christianity and his own past adherence to Catholicism.

“If a candidate for president said he believed that space aliens dwell among us, would that affect your willingness to vote for him?” he asked.

“Personally, I might not disqualify him out of hand; one out of three Americans believe we have had Visitors and, hey, who knows? But I would certainly want to ask a few questions. Like, where does he get his information? Does he talk to the aliens? Do they have an economic plan?”

Keller later writes: “Every faith has its baggage, and every faith holds beliefs that will seem bizarre to outsiders. I grew

up believing that a priest could turn a bread wafer into the actual Flesh of Christ.”

In response to the piece, Donohue criticized Keller for allowing a personal vendetta against the Catholic Church to seep through his article.

“It does not speak well about the New York Times that only embittered ex-Catholics are allowed to climb to the top,” he said.

“It is one thing to promote to senior positions those who were raised Catholic and have grown indifferent,” Donohue added. “It is quite another to put bigots in such spots.”

In his column, Keller also incorrectly described Republican hopeful Rick Santorum as a belonging to “fervid subsets of evangelical Christianity,” along with GOP candidates Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann.

This, he wrote, “has raised concerns about their respect for the separation of church and state, not to mention the separation of fact and fiction.”

The Times has since corrected the article and now lists Santorum as a Catholic.

Keller has also faced criticism for the paper allegedly giving minimal and uncritical coverage of President Obama’s religious beliefs during his presidential campaign in 2008.

The president encountered controversy over his affiliation with Rev. Jeremiah Wright — a prominent Chicago pastor known for making extremist and racially-charged statements.

September 9, 2011

The Church in the U.S.

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Gardasil bill an assault on parental rights, Catholic official says

traffic flow — Residents use a boat to examine flooding in the town of Totowa, N.J. New Jersey and Vermont continue to struggle with their worst flooding in decades, days after Hurricane Irene slammed the U.S. Northeast with torrential rain, dragging away homes and submerging neighborhoods. (CNS photo/Lucas Jackson, Reuters)

U.S. bishops say contraception mandate coerces religious groups

Washington D.C. (CNA/EWTN News) — The HHS contraception mandate for insurance plans is “more radical” than any other in the United States and entails “nationwide coercion of religious people and groups,” the U.S. bishops’ general counsel said as he called for the mandate to be rescinded.

“Only rescission will eliminate all of the serious moral problems the mandate creates,” said Anthony Picarello, general counsel for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Picarello and bishops’ conference associate general counsel Michael Moses submitted an August 31 comment to the Department of Health and Human Services criticizing its requirement that insurers provide sterilization and contraception, including some drugs like ella which can cause abortions.

It is “an unprecedented attack on religious liberty” to require that religious people and groups sell, broker or purchase services to which they have religious or moral objections, the attorneys said.

Under the new mandate, religiously-affiliated employers will be “affirmatively barred” from offering a plan to the public, or even to fellow believers, that excludes objectionable items.

“Until now, no federal law has prevented private insur-

ers from accommodating purchasers and plan sponsors with moral or religious objections to certain services,” they said.

“Likewise, federal law did not forbid any insurer, such as a religiously-affiliated insurer, to exclude from its plans any services to which the insurer itself had a moral or religious objection. Indeed, the freedom to exclude morally objectionable services has sometimes been stated affirmatively in federal law.”

Picarello and Moses said the mandate violates the Weldon amendment, the 2010 health care legislation and the Obama administration’s stated policy to exclude from the mandate any drug that can cause an abortion.

They criticized a proposed religious exemption as “narrower than any conscience clause ever enacted in federal law” and narrower than the “vast majority” of exemptions from state contraception mandates.

The exemptions cover a non-profit religious employer whose purpose is “the inculcation of religious values,” which primarily employs persons who share its religious tenets, and which primarily serves those who share its religious beliefs. The exemptions would not apply to many Catholic colleges and universities, charities, social service agencies and health care providers.

Secular organizations with objections to coverage of contraceptives or sterilization will also be ineligible, they noted.

The HHS released the mandates as part of the preventive care requirements of the 2010 health care legislation. A 60day comment period on the regulations began on August 1.

Other prominent Catholics have opposed the regulations, including Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston.

“Pregnancy is not a disease, and fertility is not a pathological condition to be suppressed by any means technically possible,” he said July 19, while the rules were under consideration.

Sister Carol Keehan, president and CEO of the Catholic Health Association, has criticized the religious exemption as “not broad enough to protect our Catholic health care providers.” She helped pass the health care legislation last year.

A group of Obama-friendly Catholic leaders and professors also issued an August 26 open letter to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius seeking an expansion of religious protections.

The requirements are also being opposed by the San Diego-based St. Gianna Physician’s Guild, which has launched an online petition against them.

Unless the regulations are rescinded, they will take effect on Aug. 1, 2012.

SAN FRANCISCO (CNS) — The California Catholic Conference is urging Californians to call Governor Jerry Brown Jr. and urge him to veto AB 499, which would allow children 12 and older to be vaccinated against sexually-transmitted disease without parental consent or knowledge.

“It’s just one more assault on parental rights,” said Carol Hogan, spokeswoman for the California bishops’ policy arm. The bill, sponsored by Assemblywoman Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, was passed by the state Senate August 31 by a 22-17 vote.

The lower house approved the legislation, 50-25, in May. Already children 12 and older may obtain an abortion or procure contraception without parental knowledge or consent in California, Hogan noted. They may also be treated for sexuallytransmitted disease without parental consent. The new legislation, if signed by the governor, would add another item to the list, Hogan said.

The bill would allow children to consent to treatment with the controversial Gardasil vaccine intended to prevent human papillomavirus, a sexually-transmitted disease linked to cervical cancer.

The cost of the legislation to the taxpayer is hard to quantify.

The three-dose series costs approximately $300 to $500 per

patient and the bill specifically relieves parents of financial responsibility.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends girls 12 and older be vaccinated against HPV. Bill sponsors say the danger of sexually-transmitted diseases, particularly HPV, justifies the bill. One in four California teens who are sexually active contracts a sexually-transmitted disease each year, according to the California Department of Public Health. However, a legislative analysis of the bill also noted that most cases of HPV dissipate without any treatment.

Supporters of the STD minor-consent legislation include NARAL Pro-Choice California, California Organization for Women, California Nurses Association, American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and others.

In a news release when she introduced the legislation, Atkins said, “America was able to eliminate polio in the 1950s through vaccination, saving thousands of lives.

AB 499 will help us do the same for sexually-transmitted diseases.”

Opponents say the bill not only undermines parental rights, it also exposes children to the unnecessary risks of side effects as well as sending a message that sexual activity outside of marriage is permissible.

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The Anchor Acting on the lessons of 9/11

The events of Sept. 11, 2001 reawakened most Americans — and with us, so many others in the world — to some of the fundamental realities of human existence that in day-to-day life can’t be marginalized or ignored: the reality of evil, of death, of heroism, and of God. The most fitting way to mark the 10th anniversary of this day that changed us and in fact the whole world is prayerfully to ponder these lessons and recommit ourselves to acting on them anew.

The most searing lesson we learned on 9/11 is that evil exists and that we’re not isolated from it. Together as a nation, we witnessed evil up close and personal in all its moral ugliness, human destruction and physical wreckage. There’s no other adequate way to describe the long-plotted murder of thousands of innocent people in order to instill dread in millions of others. And, as subsequent events in Madrid, Moscow, Mumbai, London, Netanya, Bali, Casablanca, Riyadh, Istanbul, Beslan, Baghdad and literally thousands of other less publicized attacks have taught us, this evil still exists. There are real villains in the world who continue to scheme how most effectively to massacre innocent multitudes to advance their agenda — and who deem it an honor to give their lives hijacking airplanes, strapping themselves with explosives, planting bombs or using automatic weapons in order to annihilate innocent fellow human beings.

Allied with this evil, and fomenting it, is a culture and educational system that trains people to believe that such terrorist actions are valiant and good. This culture is based on a false and perverted set of religious ideas, a particular understanding of Islam, that needs to be condemned and confronted by all those who believe in God — and in a particular way by religious and civil leaders and citizens in the Muslim world. Every religion with any seed of God’s influence over the course of history has acknowledged certain principles that God has written into the heart of all His human creatures. One of these is that the killing of innocents is always wrong. Another is that we cannot do evil so that good may come of it. The terrorists, on “religious” principle, violate each of these universally-recognized moral truths, and have formed madrassas across Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Somalia and elsewhere to inculcate this religious darnel among new generations of morally-blind warriors.

Against this evil, both the evil of terrorist acts and the evil of educating and inciting people to commit them, there has been a need for consistent vigilance and action. Much has been done in the area of trying to prevent terrorist actions, from lengthy and costly (humanly and financially) military interventions overseas, to the restructuring of government intelligence and police agencies, to intrusions on privacy and freedom everywhere from airports to home computers to phones. The transition hasn’t been easy or unproblematic, but the changes have all flowed from a consciousness that there are truly bad guys seeking to harm the innocent and that consequently we’re no longer living with the Cleavers in Mayfield. The counter-terrorism agencies and the members of the military deserve a lot of credit for their hard and dangerous work systematically in breaking up terrorist networks. Against the larger issues of cultural and economic situations that make people vulnerable to being recruited toward terrorism, there has also been a great deal of thought and work, much of it unseen, but this is a much harder and enduring task even than catching the terrorists.

The second major lesson of 9/11 is about death, including the possibility of a sudden death.

Little did the 2,976 people who went to work at the Pentagon or the World Trade Center, or who showed up to fire stations in New York City, or who hopped on planes early in the morning on American Airlines 11 and 77 or United 93 and 175, know that that would be the last day of their life on earth. Little did their family members and loved ones know that they would never see them again in this world. Many since look not just at flying but at life in a different way. Whereas everyone recognizes that there’s always the possibility of a tragic accident occurring, 9/11 and the ongoing threat of terrorism has made us much more aware of our mortality and the preciousness of life. The “Imitation of Christ” has a perennial counsel that has guided countless saints and others throughout the centuries: “In every deed and every thought, act as though you were to die this very day.” Once we start to do that, we begin to live in a different way. Some of the victims of 9/11 showed us how to live in this way, prioritizing the most important things that so often we put off until a “tomorrow” that may never come. Without worrying about the money, people picked up the expensive airplane phones to call family members and tell them once more that they love them or to ask for forgiveness. When some couldn’t connect with their family members, without shame they asked anonymous operators to pray with them the Lord’s Prayer or Psalm 23. And Todd Beamer and many others on United 93 heroically risked and gave their lives in order to save others on the ground. If we live our days each day in this way, interacting lovingly with family members, praying without shame, sacrificing ourselves for others, then death will not catch us as a thief in the night.

The third lesson is about heroism, about overcoming evil with good (Rom 12:21). If the bad guys are willing to risk it all, the good guys need to be willing to sacrifice everything as well. We saw so much of this good and sacrifice 10 years ago. Not only did we see it on United 93, but we beheld it in the valor that induced hundreds of firemen and policemen to run into the Twin Towers when tens of thousands were running out. We have seen it in the gallantry of young soldiers and intelligence officers who have traveled far from their families to enter foreign caves, tunnels, booby-trapped streets and other perils to try to catch the terrorists. We saw it in the first instinct of millions who asked, “How can I help?,” as, within hours of the attack, ordinary people in New York and elsewhere stood in line for hours to give blood, and doctors, nurses and priests sprinted for miles to get to trauma units in case they might be needed. We saw it in our political leaders, who did what they were elected to do — lead — and did so under immense pressure with grit, courage, magnanimity and grace. In the midst of the dusty darkness of one of the worst days in American history, the rays of light from the best of Americans began to radiate. This type of heroism, of unity, of sacrifice shown by ordinary and extraordinary people, needs to persevere in order to outlast and triumph over the terrorists’ obdurate maleficence. This is something to which we should all recommit ourselves on this 10th anniversary.

The final lesson of 9/11 is about God. Some, succumbing to the perennial temptation about why God doesn’t stop all evil, asked where God was on 9/11. Father James Martin, SJ, responded that on 9/11 God was offering us a parable. As he was ministering to the wounded at a Manhattan hospital, Father Martin looked around at the rescue workers and realized, “God is like the firefighter who rushes into a burning building to save someone. That’s how much God loves us. And I saw this love expressed in the great charity of all the rescue workers who gathered at the American Golgotha.”

That’s one of the reasons why the “Ground Zero Cross,” the perpendicular steel beams that rose out of the wreckage and has been moved into the 9/11 Memorial at the World Trade Center, is rightly such a powerful symbol (see photo on page 20). Just as the Cross on Calvary isn’t merely a symbol of pain and death but of the love that bore that pain and the life that triumphed over death, so the Ground Zero Cross is a clear reminder that evil doesn’t have the last word. The last word goes to God, a word of justice against those who do evil and on behalf of those who suffer it, a word of mercy that brings light even out of darkness, a word of life in response to death.

The most fitting way to mark the 10th anniversary of 9/11, therefore, is by prayer: prayer for our country, that we may be strong, courageous and persevering in our opposition to terrorism and other evils; for all our civil leaders and those who are on the front lines in protecting us in the military, police departments, intelligence services and homeland security; for all those who lost loved ones 10 years ago; for the salvation of all those who had died; and for the conversion of the terrorists and the cultures that spawn them. And we should make this prayer silently as individuals, as we will at 1 p.m. on Sunday with church bells tolling throughout the land. We should make it with our families at home, in living rooms and perhaps exceptionally before television sets. And we should make it in our churches where we enter into the mystery of the Cross and of the Resurrection for which the Cross is the prelude.

T

September 9, 2011

Dictatorship of relativism

he days following the death of ing a clear faith based on the Creed of the Pope John Paul II were filled with Church is often labeled as fundamentalism. emotion and sadness, but the funeral Mass Whereas relativism, that is, letting oneself brought a sense of closure and hope to the be ‘tossed here and there, carried about by Catholic faithful who were now reflecting every wind of doctrine,’ seems the only aton the legacy that he had left to the Church titude that can cope with modern times. We and also thinking about the future and who are building a dictatorship of relativism that would succeed him. does not recognize anything as definitive There was much speculation about who and whose ultimate goal consists solely of would follow John Paul II as the 264th one’s own ego and desires.” successor to St. Peter. As the cardinals of He proposed a different response to the Church prepared to exercise one of their modern times. “We, however, have a difprimary responsibilities, the Church prayed ferent goal: the Son of God, the true man. that they would be guided by the Holy He is the measure of true humanism. An Spirit in the election process. While many ‘adult’ faith is not a faith that follows the in the secular realm wanted to compare this trends of fashion and the latest novelty; a to a presidential election, the rest of us knew mature adult faith is deeply rooted in friendthat this wasn’t a political decision, but one ship with Christ. It is this friendship that in which we believe was governed by the opens us up to all that is good and gives us will of God. a criterion by which to distinguish the true On April 18 2005, the conclave was from the false.” opened with a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica This effort to respond to and even to celebrated by the dean of the College of rebel against the dictatorship of relativism Cardinals, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. Just has become one of Pope Benedict’s central days earlier, priorities. The Ratzinger’s role “New Evanas dean made gelization” Putting Into him responsible begun by Pope for celebratJohn Paul II, the Deep ing the funeral which seeks Liturgy for his to ground

By Father dear friend.

Catholics in Now he was Jay Mello the principles responsible of our Catholic for spiritually faith, is a clear preparing his brother cardinals for the task response to this defect in our culture. at hand, the election of a pope.

In his one-on-one interview with Pope In the moments leading up to that Mass, Benedict, published in the must-read book, I sat in the basilica among the students of “Light of the World: the Pope, the Church the Pontifical North American College and and the Signs of the Times,” Peter Seewald watched as the cardinals arrived and made asked the pope to elaborate on the concept their way to the sacristy to vest for Mass. and reality of the “dictatorship of relativMany of them stopped to say hello to those ism” that he spoke about back before his who gathered for this historic moment. election: Cardinal Ratzinger, pensive and prayerful, “We must have the courage to dare to made his way to the sacristy without stopsay: Yes, man must seek the truth; he is caping along the way, undoubtedly aware of pable of truth,” the pope responded. “It goes what the coming days could bring. without saying that truth requires criteria In his homily, Cardinal Ratzinger fofor verification and falsification. It must cused the members of the Church on what always be accompanied by tolerance, also. he called a “great moment of responsibilBut then truth also points out to us those ity.” He also put forth and explained one of constant values that have made mankind the great challenges that faced the Church great. That is why the humility to recognize in this moment in time: the “dictatorship of the truth and to accept it as a standard has to relativism.” be relearned and practiced again.”

Moral relativism, first of all, is the idea During an open-air Mass in Glasgow, that moral principles have no objective stan- Scotland a year ago, Pope Benedict became dard. In its extreme, it is the view that there even more explicit. “The evangelization are no hard and fast objective rules on what of culture is all the more important in our is right and wrong. “Beauty lies in the eye times, when a ‘dictatorship of relativism’ of the beholder” is one of the most common threatens to obscure the unchanging truth slogans for relativism. When applied to our about man’s nature, his destiny and his moral life, this relativism allows goodness, ultimate good.” virtue and responsibility also to lie in the What is the point the pope is making? eye of the beholder. That’s when we begin As a true pastor, Pope Benedict is very to head down a very dangerous path as a much aware of what is going on in the society. world and is trying to remedy it. This dicI think it best here to allow Cardinal tatorship of relativism, as Pope Benedict Ratzinger’s own words to explain what he has called it, seeks to influence the way we means by the dictatorship of relativism: think and act by getting us to believe that “How many winds of doctrine have we nothing is objectively wrong or immoral, known in recent decades, how many ideothat it’s OK to trample upon the dignity of logical currents, how many ways of thinkthe human person, that it’s OK to express ing? The small boat of the thought of many our sexuality in any way that we want Christians has often been tossed about by since there is nothing objective about these waves — flung from one extreme to human dignity, human sexuality, human another: from Marxism to liberalism; from rights and duties. collectivism to radical individualism; from The dictatorship of relativism is a poison atheism to a vague religious mysticism; in our society and must be stopped. Let us from agnosticism to syncretism and so embrace the words of our Holy Father Pope forth. Every day new sects spring up, and Benedict XVI and recommit ourselves what St. Paul says about human deception to Jesus Christ, to His Gospel and to His and the trickery that strives to entice people Church and Her teachings! into error comes true.”

Father Mello is a parochial vicar at St. The future pope continued, “Today, hav- Patrick’s Parish in Falmouth.

September 9, 2011

T

Welcoming the new versions of the Prayers of the Mass

he day will be Sunday, Nov. 27, 2011. This day will likely seem as any other Sunday. Faithful Catholics will rise from sleep at his or her chosen time; each will carry out the normal Sunday morning preparations for Mass, arriving at the parish church at a fitting time. Some will enter a familiar pew, while others sit in a place that is new to them.

Some will open the missalette or hymnal to preview the readings of this First Sunday of Advent; others may simply pray in silence before Mass. All will be as normal.

Mass will begin with a typical music selection, fitting for this Advent morn. The priest and the other ministers will process into church, going to their proper places. Finally, the priest will lead the people in the Sign of the Cross and greeting. All of a sudden, an entire parish congregation, on hearing the priest greet them with the words “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all,” will respond “And with your spirit.” No longer will the Sunday routine be merely a routine; we will be praying the Mass anew. The people’s response, perhaps seeming

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The Anchor

recent news report chronicled a Chinese woman named Huang Yijun. Sixty years ago, her unborn child died, but the pregnancy was never expelled from her body. Instead, her baby’s body slowly began to calcify inside her, becoming a crystallized, stone-like mass. Such stone babies (known as lithopedions) are extremely rare. When Huang was 92 years old, the baby was discovered in her abdomen and surgically removed.

This rare medical event prompts us to consider a thought experiment. Imagine a drug that could be injected into a child to crystallize him or her, but without killing him or her. The process would turn the child into a static mass for as many years as the parents wanted; another injection would reverse the process, and allow the child to wake up and continue growing. Parents who decided they needed a break from parenting could bring their kids to the clinic and pay to store them as crystals for a limited period of time. Some children might end up never being decrystallized, with their stony bodies piling up in warehouses.

Such a bizarre warehousing of children is not as outlandish as it might seem. In fact, fertil-

prayers for Mass other than the unfamiliar or odd at first, will English versions that have been begin the praying of the Mass prayed over the last 40 years. with words that will likely Some may be hesitant to accept include new musical settings what appears on the surface as for newly-worded hymns like nothing more than change “for “Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God change’s sake.” Yet, all deserve of hosts,” and new responses to know why such a change is to such phrases as “Behold happening, and why it is hapthe Lamb of God, behold him pening now. who takes away the sins of the world. Blessed are those called to the supper of the Lamb.”

Everyone, aware of the change, will be ready to respond

By Father “Lord, I am not worJoel Hastings thy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word These new prayer settings, and my soul shall be healed.” the fruits of new English Many will receive the Euchatranslations of the venerable rist, aware that it is the same gift of Christ’s Body and Blood and time-honored Latin prayers for Mass, are given as a further as on the previous Sunday, but implementing of the use of with renewed understanding, the common or “vernacular” as given through the words languages in the Liturgy of themselves, of Who it is that the Church. In the 1960s, they receive and how we are the Second Vatican Council nourished in the offering of sought to reform the Liturgy every Mass. of the Church so that all of The given scene, while it the faithful would more easily may not be a replica of every and fruitfully be able to enter experience to be had, serves into liturgical prayer, actually as a means to begin answering the question “why?” Some may participating in the saving mysteries of Christ with a greater recall the first time that they sense of prayer and deeper prayed the Mass in English. awareness of God’s presence Others may have never known

in the rituals of the Church. An expression of this fruitful participation envisioned at Vatican II was through the fitting use of the common languages of people throughout the world.

In addition to using Latin, such opportunity for the use of vernacular was set forth by the Council to aid the people in praying the Mass with more complete understanding. For the last 40 years, English-speaking countries have already prayed most, if not all of the Mass parts in their own language, using English versions translated from original Latin prayer texts. However, the work of translating necessarily continues from generation to generation, as language continues to evolve and change, and new words with more definite meaning come to be.

Currently, we have received a renewed and revised English translation of these Latin prayers. Within this new translation, specific goals and guidelines for translating prayers, as set forth by the Church, have been more fully accomplished.

This new translation portrays in English the more literal meaning of the Latin prayers, restoring words that convey the truths of

faith more properly, and reconnecting these texts more clearly to their biblical sources and roots. While the learning of the new versions will take time and practice, this learning process invites us to open our minds and hearts to being renewed in the Catholic faith that we have received and truly love, encouraging us to grow in knowledge of the faith itself, deepening our love for God. In the weeks ahead, we will be looking at the new translations of the prayers of this Missal. Each article will seek to invite all of us to go beyond simply knowing the new words to a deeper and more complete understanding of the great gift of the Holy Mass. As we begin this journey toward praying the Mass anew, may we commend ourselves to the care of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Word Incarnate, who responded “Let it be done according to Thy word,” that Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh, may lead us to love and understand the renewed words through which we will approach the Father in heaven at every Mass.

Father Hastings is Director of the Office of Liturgy and Worship of the Diocese of Duluth and pastor of St. Rose Parish in Proctor, Minn.

ity clinics in the United States ignores their inherent dignity. already warehouse more than But not every country has been 500,000 children in high-tech so blind. Germany, which has a freezers filled with liquid nitrostrong historical memory of the gen, children who are crystalconsequences of ignoring human lized by-products of the in-vitro dignity, declines to participate in fertilization process. Parents can these charades. Strikingly, human choose to “re-animate” their emembryos are not being frozen anybryonic children by thawing them, where in the country, and virtually implanting them, and gestating none are held in cryogenic storage. them, but in other instances, they Meanwhile, countless American end up being abandoned because parents find themselves caught in their parents are now too old to carry a pregnancy, or are content with the number of their alreadyborn children.

The multi-billion dolBy Father Tad lar business of infertility Pacholczyk in the U.S. has been aptly described as a kind of “Wild West,” a lawless frontier where nearly anything agonizing dilemmas about what goes, including the daily freezto do with their offspring held in ing and stockpiling of scores suspended animation. of humans who are still in their The reason for this remarkembryonic stages. This practice able difference lies in the fact that stands out as one of the great huthe Germans enacted an Embryo manitarian tragedies of our age.

Protection Law in the 1990s that Few commentators, however, included provisions outlawing dare to raise their voice against the freezing of human embryos. this injustice, which is proficiently Italy passed similar legislation. marketed as a matter of personal Both countries closely regulate inreproductive choice and freedom. vitro fertilization treatments, and Because our frozen children have allow the production of no more no voice to speak in their own de- than three embryos at a time, fense, we slip into a mindset that all of whom must be implanted

into their mother. Both countries forbid the production of extra embryos, experimentation on embryos, cloning of embryos, and genetic testing of embryos.

Not much reflection is needed to realize the serious injustice involved in forcefully “crystallizing” another human being.

The freezing and thawing process itself subjects embryonic humans to significant risk, and up to 50 percent of embryos do not survive the process.

Stored embryos often end up being condemned to a kind of perpetual stasis, locked in time in the harsh wasteland of their liquid-nitrogen orphanages. This injustice, once it has been foisted upon human embryos, is then used by others to argue on behalf of an even more egregious offense against their dignity: the destructive strip-mining of embryos to acquire their stem cells.

The radical stockpiling of embryonic humans threatens to become nearly routine in our society, as such humans are reduced to little more than “stony objects” to be warehoused and manipulated — valuable primarily for how they can serve the com-

mercial interests or the personal desires of others. The temptation to dehumanize our own brothers and sisters is a perennial one, hearkening back to that time in our country, not so long ago, when slaves could be considered only three-fifths of a person for purposes of congressional representation. Treating embryos as zero-fifths of a person constitutes an even more deplorable violation of human rights.

The United States urgently needs embryo protection laws.

Men and women of conscience must pressure lawmakers to act.

The putative and widely-touted “self-regulation” of fertility clinics remains a dismal failure. Laws like those in Germany and Italy, while they would not stop every injustice done to the least powerful among us, could go a long way towards assuring that further forms of scientific barbarism and human exploitation do not become commonplace.

Father Pacholczyk earned his doctorate in neuroscience from Yale and did post-doctoral work at Harvard. He is a priest of the Diocese of Fall River, and serves as the director of education at The National Catholic Bioethics Center in Philadelphia. See www.ncbcenter.org.

Praying the Mass Anew

Human stockpiling

Making Sense Out of Bioethics

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ithin the last few years we have heard quite often about our national debt, the government debt we have with other countries and the corporate and individual debt.

A debt is a very easy thing to acquire in this age of loans and credit cards and in this consumer society of ours. How do we get out of any debt? We pay it off or we declare bankruptcy. If we don’t have the means to pay off our debt or even in the case of bankruptcy, all our possessions might be confiscated. Of course the institution of the debt is as old as the world itself. In the time of Jesus, under the Roman Empire, slavery was not usually associated with race as we tend to think of it. Most of the time one became a slave either by an act of war or by a debt. In the parable we heard in today’s Gospel, a king is settling accounts with his servants. One of them has no way of paying back what he owed so the king decides to sell him and his entire family into slavery in payment of the debt.

There is yet another way of getting out of a debt but it rarely happens in the financial world.

The debt could be generously forgotten and forgiven. And

September 9, 2011

The Anchor

God’s infinite mercy

behold, it happened to all of us. ing it because it is so uncomfortYes, we have acquired a debt, a able, so cruel we might think. great debt, one that no human The author of the first reading being would ever be able to proclaims that “the vengeful will pay back. We have sold oursuffer the Lord’s vengeance.” selves into the slavery of sin. It Then Jesus says in the Gospel happened through the original that our loving and merciful God sin and it happens any time we will hand us over to the torturallow ourselves to be ruled by sin. Our generous king is God Himself Homily of the Week who offered His only Son as the payment for Twenty-fourth Sunday our debt. This happened in Ordinary Time so Christ, and not sin

By Father and hate, might rule Dariusz Kalinowski our lives as St. Paul reminds us in the second reading. Through His suffering, death, and resurrection ers until we pay the entire debt.

Christ has paid our debt and we But how can this be? Jesus has need to remember this any time already paid our debt on the we look upon the cross. We need cross. Still, even this amazing to meditate on it and be grategift of love and mercy will not ful for it especially any time we be forced upon us. We have to celebrate the Eucharist. As the receive it freely and open our psalmist says, God does not deal hearts to it. How do we do it? with us according to our sins and The condition for forgiveness crimes; He does not keep His is forgiveness itself. To receive wrath forever; and His kindness God’s forgiveness we have to is as sure as the heavens are forgive others, everyone, no above the earth. What a loving matter how badly they have hurt and merciful God our God is! us and no matter how much we Here comes the part of hurt. We cannot be like the sintoday’s Scriptures that we often ner in our first reading from the tend to hear without really hearBook of Sirach. We cannot em-

brace wrath and anger because they are instruments of hate. We need to let go of our pride and simply forgive. “I forgave you your entire debt,” says the king in today’s Gospel. “Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?”

We hear these words again and again: “How often must I forgive?”

Take a moment right now to think of the people you need to forgive. Let that forgiveness flow out of your heart and as it does, your heart will be filled with an amazing, undescribable awareness of God’s total forgiveness, of His wonderful peace. The gift of God’s mercy has the power to throw us on our knees and with the sense of total abandonment making us able to pray with today’s psalmist: “Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all my being, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.”

But if your heart is not yet ready to forgive and receive forgiveness, or if you want to experience it anew, perhaps you should refer to the writings of the Apostle of Divine Mercy, to the diary of

Saint Faustina, which is entitled “The Divine Mercy in My Soul.”

Yes, God can fill our soul, our entire being with His love and mercy no matter how low we have fallen. God treats us not according to the law, not according to what we deserve but according to His infinite mercy.

Yet, we have to receive it.

The Church provides us with a very special way of opening ourselves to God’s mercy, a way of receiving His forgiveness and of learning how to extend it to others, the Sacrament of Confession. Father Lawrence Donohoo reflects: “Forgiveness loosens the past, steadies the present, and opens the future....

When I forgive you, I not only find you in the present, I help you to shape a future built on the present. For your present, like everyone else’s, is still in the process of redemption. And when my forgiveness frees you for an ampler future, I receive more of the divine forgiveness I’ve just given away.”

Father Kalinowski was ordained in 1999 and is currently finishing studies for a degree in Canon Law at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

Upcoming Daily Readings: Sat. Sept. 10, 1 Tm 1:15-17; Ps 113:1-7; Lk 6:43-49. Sun. Sept. 11, Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Sir 27:30-28:9; Ps 103:14,9-12; Rom 14:7-9; Mt 18:21-35. Mon. Sept. 12, 1 Tm 2:1-8; Ps 28:2,7-9; Lk 7:1-10. Tues. Sept. 13, 1 Tm 3:1-13; Ps 101:1-3,5-6; Lk 7:11-17. Wed. Sept. 14, Nm 21:4b9; Ps 78:1-2,34-38; Phil 2:6-11; Jn 3:13-17. Thu. Sept. 15, 1 Tm 4:12-16; Ps 111:7-10; Jn 19:25-27 or Lk 2:33-35. Fri. Sept. 16, 1 Tm 6:2c-12; Ps 49:6-10,17-20; Lk 8:1-3.

O

ne of the (many) signs of our cultural decline is that verbal insults, these days, are almost invariably scatological or sexual, provoking a blizzard of asterisks whenever A wants to put the smackdown on B. Once upon a time, it was not so. Once, the ability to come up with a clever insult that could be repeated in polite society was thought an important, if not necessarily essential, component of being a gentleman.

Take, for example, two masters of English repartee and wit, George Bernard Shaw and Winston Churchill. Shaw, prior to the opening of one of his plays, sent Churchill a telegram: “I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend, if you have one.” Churchill, nonplussed (and likely amused), sent a telegram in reply: “Cannot possibly attend first night; will attend second, if there is one.”

Oscar Wilde, who may have returned to the faith before his death, was another

The gentlemanly art of the insult

saying that I approved of it.” man of English letters who The aforementioned Mr. knew how to insult with class Bernard Shaw appreciand wit: Thus, “Some cause ated Twain’s wit, noting that happiness wherever they go; “Mark Twain and I are in others, whenever they go.”

Or the immortal, “He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends.” (Wilde could turn his wit on himself, too, which is always a sign of an insulter-with-class:

By George Weigel “I am so clever that sometimes I don’t understand a single the same position. We have word of what I am saying.” put things in such a way as Or, inventing a trope that to make people, who would others frequently used of Churchill, “I have the simplest otherwise hang us, believe that we are joking.” For his tastes. I am always satisfied part, Ernest Hemingway, in with the best.”). an unaccustomed moment of As writer and editor, Mark modesty, once said that “All Twain accumulated the litermodern American literature ary man’s usual collection of comes from one book by Mark enemies, whom he enjoyed Twain called ‘Huckleberry twitting. Thus, to one especially dull critic: “Why do you Finn.’” Twain, in whatever sit there looking like an enve- post-mortem circumstances he found himself when told that lope without any address on one, may have winced, knowit?” Or about a more intolering as he must of William able one: “I didn’t attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter Faulkner’s immortal put-down

The Catholic Difference

of his fellow-Nobel laureate, Hemingway: “He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to a dictionary.”

Today’s political badinage is lame, lamer, lamest compared with the wits of yore. Churchill, of course, figures prominently here. Told over dinner by Lady Astor, the Americanborn female member of the House of Commons, that, “If you were my husband, Winston, I’d poison your soup,” Churchill immediately replied, “And if you were my wife, Nancy, I’d drink it.” And then there was the great man’s take-down of the austere Labor minister, Sir Stafford Cripps: “He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire.” Another Labor stalwart, Aneurin Bevan, a great supporter of nationalized medicine, was a frequent target of Churchill’s raillery: “I can think of no better step to signal the

inauguration of the National Health Service than that a man who so obviously needs psychiatric attention should be among the first of its patients.”

But Bevan finally got the best of Churchill. During the coronation festivities for Queen Elizabeth II, there was a state ball at Buckingham Palace at which the old, pre-war uniforms were to be worn. Sir Winston, exiting the palace men’s room dressed in the bottle-green uniform of the Lord Warden of the Cinq Ports and wearing the ribbon of the Order of the Garter, spotted Bevan wearing a blue serge suit. “I think that at least on this occasion you might have taken the trouble to dress properly,” Churchill harrumphed scornfully. “Prime Minister, your fly buttons are undone,” replied a cherubic Bevan.

Those were the days.

George Weigel is Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C.

Wednesday 7 September 2011 — Three Mile River — “The Flying Nun” TV premier (1967) ere in The Dightons, we fared better than many others. During the brouhaha surrounding the approach of Hurricane Irene, the National Weather Service up the street in Taunton’s industrial park steadfastly maintained that the category three hurricane would be a tropical storm by the time it reached us. They never issued as much as a hurricane watch

H

Old news

for Bristol County. They were correct.

I did keep the television tuned

to the Weather Channel until I grew weary of dripping-wet reporters on some shoreline somewhere, trying to stand

upright in the howling wind. I felt sorry for them. I wonder if weather forecasters get hazardous duty pay.

Like everyone else, pastors have to be prepared for what the insurance industry glibly calls “Acts of God.” Among other things, we are responsible for parish properties, which in most cases involve more than one building. I’ve been through storms before. I always assume there will be flooding.

The lower levels of our church and rectory flood routinely, so

Reliving the raw emotions of 9/11

was jolted into a new thought Editor’s note: The following process. Priorities were rear“My View From the Stands” ranged. Life was different. I was written in September of was different.

2001, days after the 9/11 tragSports have always been an edies when four airliners were “out” for me — something to hijacked and used as human help take the edge off the daily missiles. Some of the referaggravations and frustrations of ences may be obsolete, but the life. Yet, following the events emotions certainly are not. This of September 11, there was no week, it is my wish to share “out.” those feelings by reprinting At the time, I didn’t care that column, entitled, “In Four there was no baseball or footBlinks of an Eye.” ball to watch on television. In awoke this morning and the sun was shining. I lay there in that semi-conscious state.

You know the one, when your brain is drained of all thoughts after a good night’s

By Dave Jolivet sleep. It felt good.

Then, like every other day in my life, a flood of thoughts began to fact, I applauded the decisions saturate my dried-sponge-like of the National Football League cerebrum, and that easy feeling and Major League Baseball to slipped away. suspend play.

Images of airliners plunging I don’t care that Terry Glenn, into skyscrapers, a young boy the perpetual crybaby, will be draped over his mother’s coffin, able to play football again this dazed men, women and chilseason; I don’t care that Carl dren searching for a loved one Everett, the perpetual hothead, once again sated my brain. was fined for arriving late for As I lay there I heard a flock practice; I don’t care that the of geese flapping and honking Red Sox are not going to win their way to wherever they go the World Series this year; I as they migrate south for the don’t care that the New York season. I wished I were one of Yankees probably will; I don’t them — but only for a moment. care that the baseball singleI pondered the perils they’ll season home run record is in face on their sojourn: the fierce jeopardy of falling to a player, autumn and winter storms that Barry Bonds, who’s not even could blow them from the sky; liked by his own teammates, the countless shotguns pointed instead of falling to a classy their way during hunting seaguy like Sammy Sosa; I don’t son; and the predators always care that the new Patriots look on the lookout for a fresh goose like the old Patriots. dinner.

In four blinks of an eye all This morning I realized there that changed. I don’t know for are no creatures on this good how long ... and I don’t care. earth immune from physical What I do care about is that dangers. we Americans remain united Last week, in four blinks of and strong, even as the horan eye, the American psyche

I

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The Anchor

September 9, 2011

My View From the Stands

rific images of September 11 fade. I care that Hollywood has hopefully filmed its last “Die Hard”-type movie, and that we pay more attention to the needy of the world than to well-off actors and athletes.

Thousands of innocent lives were lost in New York City, Arlington, Va., and Shanksville, Pa. Thousands of innocent lives are lost everyday in the Middle East, Africa, the Orient and everywhere in between. There are good people in those places, and I care that we remember that.

There are evil people as well, and I care that we remember that.

I care that my sixyear-old is “spooked out” by all that she sees on TV or hears people talking about.

In fact, in retrospect, I’d give anything to watch “Rugrats” and “Hey Arnold” 24 hours a day if it meant that the images of September 11 never occurred.

I know there will come a day when I do care about sports again. But when I do, I’ll refuse to consider myself a sports “fan.” In four blinks of an eye, the meaning of that word changed forever. We’ve seen what a fanatic really is, and I want no part of it. I’ll be a sports enthusiast, rooter or addict, but not a fanatic.

Things have changed. Some will return to normal, others won’t. As a native of New England, there’s something I never thought I would be able to say, and mean it. Instead, I’ll put it in print — “I love New York.”

God bless America, God bless Americans. God bless everyone.

And all this rushed into my mind before I had the chance to even get out of bed this morning.

as a matter of habit I keep items off the floor. The buildings have sump-pumps. I checked to see that they were functioning.

I also try to keep roof gutters and drains clear year-round.

There were a lot of moveable objects outside, so I lugged them in. I had already pruned tree limbs that could damage buildings. Without fail, church documents and other valuables are kept in a water-tight safe. I went around securing all doors and windows. I never did find out how to shut off gas and water lines, so I said a generic prayer to whatever saint is in charge of such things.

Now I could turn to my personal safety and well-being during the storm (not to mention that of my dogs) but I had somehow run out of energy — and I’m only 65. Let’s not go there, dear readers.

Irene took longer to hit The Dightons than initially prophesized by the weather wizards.

There was no reason not to hold the 4 p.m. Mass on Saturday. I expected the Saturday evening Mass would be more crowded than usual. It wasn’t. I checked around and learned that my priest-friends had the same unrealized expectations.

I hoped that during the state of emergency people would have the common sense to stay off the roads. They did. The Archbishops of Boston and New York, among others, reminded Catholics that, while there is a serious responsibility to worship on the Lord’s Day, the Church has never expected parishioners to risk life and limb to get to church. I read a news report that a bishop somewhere dispensed with the obligation to attend Mass during the storm. I didn’t know a bishop could do that.

Nevertheless, it has been my experience that there are a handful of parishioners who seldom show up at Sunday Mass, but come a blizzard or hurricane, there they are in the first pew.

I went to bed Saturday night expected to be awakened by howling winds and driving

rains. Instead, I slept soundly. I got up at up at about 4 a.m. and threw open the shades. Everything looked normal. Seems the storm was running late. Winds began to pick up before I left for church.

I drove over to celebrate the 8 a.m. Mass as the storm blew in. A handful of parishioners showed up. The electrical lines were down. We have no emergency generator. Ours is an older church building (1936). I think all newly-built churches should have an emergency generator. I dug out a few extra candles to give light for the prayer book on the altar. The wind soon blew the candles out (it was much too humid to close the doors). I found little clip-on flashlights left over from the Easter Vigil which the musician and lector were able to use.

Then I waited for the Baptism scheduled at noon. I hoped the family would call to cancel.

They didn’t call, but neither did they show up. I drove back to the rectory, trying to avoid road hazards.

I heard what I thought was one of my dogs scratching the carpet. It wasn’t the dog. It was the cracking of ancient limbs.

In a very short time, the rectory yard was a tangled mass of fallen trees.

We were without power for only nine hours. There were several teasers when the lights would come on and off in rapid succession. For some reason, every time this happens, my doorbell rings. When the greyhounds hear the doorbell, they become excited. Greyhounds always welcome arriving guests (including burglars) with enthusiasm.

I tried to explain to them that it was only the wind. They refused to take my word for it. The silly things just ran around in circles until, exhausted, they fell asleep.

I lit a candle, sat down, read a book on living simply by a Franciscan friar, and then retired.

Good night, Irene.

Father Goldrick is pastor of St. Nicholas of Myra Parish in North Dighton.

10

The Anchor

September 9, 2011

Cohabitation, not divorce, biggest threat to family, study says

By Christine M. Williams Anchor Correspondent

BOSTON — Rather than children of divorce, youth from the latest generation are children of cohabitation. Divorce rates have decreased to 23 percent — the same rate that was present after World War II. However, many parents never get married in the first place.

According to a new study by the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia, almost half of all children will live with cohabiting parents before they

leave home. About 24 percent are born to cohabiting couples, which now surpasses the number of children born into single-mother households. Another 20 percent will live with cohabiting parents at some point — either because their single parent moves in with a significant other or their parents divorce and live with someone new without the benefit of marriage.

“Today, the rise of cohabiting households with children is the largest unrecognized threat to the quality and stability of children’s family lives. In fact, because of the growing prevalence of cohabitation, which has risen fourteen-fold since 1970, today’s children are much more likely to spend time in a cohabiting household than they are to see their parents divorce,” says the study, “Why Marriage Matters: Thirty Conclusions from the Social Sciences.”

Skip Burzumato, assistant director of the NMP, told The Anchor that other studies have shown that children who live with a cohabiting couple are subject to the instability and turbulence of the adults’ relationship. They are much more likely to suffer from all types of abuse and are four times more likely to have emotional problems than their peers who live with their married, biological or adoptive parents.

He also pointed out that the poor and working class are cohabiting at much higher rates. The break seems to be at the fouryear degree mark: those who have one are more likely to marry and have stability in the home.

“Someone in the middle class who is a high school graduate with even some college, family-wise, acts much more like a low-income or working class family,” he said.

According to the study, American family life is becoming increasingly unstable for children. As sociologist Andrew Cherlin has observed, Americans are stepping “on and off the carousel of intimate relationships” with increasing rapidity.

“Cohabiting couples who have a child together are more than twice as likely to break up before their child turns 12, compared to couples who are married to one another,”

the study says.

The result is that many adults and children live in what scholars call “complex households.” Children live with their step-parents, stepsiblings, half-siblings, and others who are unrelated to them by birth or marriage.

“Research on these complex households is still embryonic, but the initial findings are not encouraging,” the study says. “For both adults and children, life typically becomes not only more complex, but also more difficult, when parents fail to get or stay married.”

Children who grow up with half-siblings are “more likely to report poor relationships with their parents, to have behavioral and health problems, and to fail in school, even after controlling for factors such as education, income and race.”

Most of the data, taken from 250 peer-reviewed journal articles, cited in the study is “based on large, nationally representative samples that control for race, education, income and other confounding factors.” The results have served to increase the authors’ confidence that “marriage itself matters.” They called the intact, biological, married family the “gold standard for family life.”

“Children are most likely to thrive — economically, socially and psychologically — in this family forum,” they said. “The benefits of marriage extend to poor, working-class and minority communities, despite the fact that marriage has weakened in these communities in the last four decades.”

Though marriage is a social good, not all marriages come with the same benefits.

“Research does not generally support the idea that remarriage is better for children than living with a single mother. Marriages that are unhappy do not have the same benefits as the average marriage. Divorce or separation provides an important escape hatch for children and adults in violent or high-conflict marriages. Families, communities and policy makers interested in distributing the benefits of marriage more equally must do more than merely discourage legal divorce,” the study says.

The authors were also very careful to point out that while outcomes were more likely to be negative for children in cohabiting households, not every child who is exposed to cohabitation is damaged.

As have national trends, the number of cohabitating couples has increased in the Diocese of Fall River.

When the diocese began collecting data in 1984, only 7.2 percent of engaged couples who sought marriage in the Catholic Church were living together. By 1994 the rate rose to 19.4 percent, and in 2004 it was 40.7 percent. In 2009, it was 47.6 percent — the highest rate ever, by just a fraction.

Claire McManus, director of Faith Formation for the Fall River Diocese, told The Anchor that the reasons couples cohabitate are as varied as the individuals who decide to live together before marriage. Many cite economic reasons for moving in together, like saving up for their wedding. The more distressing trend is that many young people move in together in order to discern whether they should marry at all.

Couples who live together before engagement may feel additional pressure to stay together. They may have children and fear breaking up the household. Marriage, rather than a free gift of themselves, may become what they view as the least harmful option available to them.

That creates a pastoral problem in how to approach those who are attempting to rectify a sinful living situation but may be approaching the Sacrament for the wrong reasons, she said.

“They might make the decision that they may as well get married,” McManus said. “The key element here is, ‘Are they free to consent to marriage?’”

September 9, 2011

11

The Anchor

The Vatican and 9/11: Commitment to dialogue, cooperation set the tone VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States horrified the pope and Vatican officials, who unequivocally condemned terrorism and offered prayers for the dead, the survivors and the rescue workers. The attacks shook the world but did not destroy the commitment to dialogue and cooperation of Catholic and Muslim leaders in interreligious relations.

While too many people, and too many media outlets, grabbed onto cliches about Islam, Catholic and Muslim dialogue partners poured new energy into their efforts to educate their faith-

ful about the true beliefs of each other’s religion and about the fact that it is blasphemy to invoke God’s name in the commission of violence. After the attacks, Pope John Paul II immediately sent a telegram to President George W. Bush, and the pope spoke about the tragedy at his general audience the next day, saying: “Yesterday was a dark day in the history of humanity, a terrible affront to human dignity. Even if the forces of darkness appear to prevail,” he said at the audience, “those who believe in God know that evil and death do not have the final say. Christian hope is based on this truth; at this time our prayerful trust

draws strength from it.”

Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald, the nuncio to Egypt who was secretary of the Pontifical Council for Interreli-

gious Dialogue in 2001, said, “the only reference to religion in these messages was a statement of belief in the love of God, which is greater than all evil.”

12

The Anchor

September 9, 2011

Catholic Charities organizes help for Irene’s victims

Burlington, Vt. (CNA/ EWTN News) — As Catholic Charities agencies respond in the aftermath of the hurricane and tropical storm Irene, Bishop Salvatore R. Matano of Burlington has expressed his “prayerful support” for Vermonters suffering the storm’s effects.

With the guidance of Vermont Catholic Charities, the Church in the state is assessing the extent of the storm’s devastation to determine the particular needs of the people, the Diocese of Burlington said on August 30.

Irene dropped up to 11 inches of

rain on Vermont over the weekend and caused normally small mountain streams to flood. The floodwaters smashed buildings and ripped homes from their foundations, surprising many.

As of August 30, the death toll for Hurricane Irene stood at 42 people, and of that number, at least three were from Vermont.

The flooding caused by Irene has also isolated people, closing 260 roads and 30 highway bridges.

Vermont Catholic Charities has previously established a disaster relief fund and has asked for contributions to help Irene’s victims.

“Every dollar received will be distributed to those who have been adversely impacted by the storm,” the Diocese of Burlington said.

The East Coast agencies of Catholic Charities USA are assessing the damage of Hurricane Irene and are prepared to meet the food, shelter and other immediate and long-term needs of affected families and individuals.

“In many ways, we were blessed — Irene came with less intensity and impact than what we expected, but there are still thousands of people dealing with power outages, property damage, and personal

loss,” Kim Burgo, vice president of the national agency’s disaster operations, said in an August 30 statement.

Roger Conner, senior director of communications for Catholic Charities USA, told CNA the organization has been “very busy” in response to the storm.

He pointed out that Catholic Charities in the Virgin Islands and in Puerto Rico have already helped respond to those affected there.

The organization’s various agencies are “assessing the need and helping where we can, as we always do, in tandem with other

agencies on the ground.”

Frank Morock, communications director with the Diocese of Raleigh, said the storm’s damage there was much less serious than it could have been.

However, there was “widespread flooding” in coastal areas and in some communities up to 100 miles inland. At least 18,000 homes and businesses were affected, hundreds of thousands of people have lost power, and roads have been washed out.

North Carolina Catholic Charities offices are surveying parishes that experienced heavy wind and rain to determine the needs of local communities. The agencies are providing food vouchers for parishes to distribute to those in need.

National officials emphasized the organization’s longstanding commitment to those in need of assistance.

“As the nation moves on from this hurricane, and the headlines cover the next story, we cannot forget about the people that have been affected. Catholic Charities will be there to help,” Burgo said.

While Catholic Charities and organizations like the Red Cross are involved in immediate response, Conner said, Catholic Charities is “particularly well known” for providing long-term aid.

Catholic Charities USA said that its resources have been “strained” by numerous spring and summer disasters and asked people to donate to help those in need.

St. Mary’s Cathedral now on the Web

FALL RIVER — The Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption, the spiritual center of the Fall River Diocese, now has a home on the Web: www. cathedralfallriver.com.

The website includes a detailed history of the 1855 church, an extensive photo gallery, audio clips from the Cathedral’s music program, Mass schedule and driving directions, as well as the weekly bulletin and other information for the Cathedral parish.

Launched in August, the website is the creation of Elizabeth Grace of Swansea, a parishioner of St. Mary’s, and a member of its choir and a frequent cantor at the cathedral for parish and diocesan liturgies. The photos featured on the site were taken by her brother, Benjamin Grace, who is also a cathedral parishioner.

She said she recently proposed the idea of a website to St. Mary’s Cathedral Rector Father Paul Bernier, explaining that, “The world is quickly turning digital and it seems crucial that the cathedral keeps up with the times.”

September 9, 2011

13

The Anchor

on the rocks — Sam Riley and Andrea Riseborough star in a scene from the movie “Brighton Rock.” For a brief review of this film, see CNS Movie Capsules below. ((CNS/Alex Bailey, IFC Films)

CNS Movie Capsules NEW YORK (CNS) — The following are capsule reviews of movies recently reviewed by Catholic News Service.

“Brighton Rock” (IFC) This powerful adaptation of Graham Greene’s 1939 novel — first brought to the screen in a 1947 noir thriller — revolves around a depraved young hoodlum (Sam Riley) who manipulates a naive waitress (Andrea Riseborough) to avoid being arrested for two brutal murders he commits in the coastal resort of Brighton, England. By setting the story in 1964, writerdirector Rowan Joffe puts the violence and the two lead characters’ Catholic faith in a more relatable social context than in the original. Yet the picture poses timeless and tough questions about good and evil while evoking visceral menace and moral dread; its potentially objectionable elements can be judged acceptable for adults willing to grapple with Greene’s richly complex view of Catholicism

and of faith in general. Considerable violence, primarily involving knives, brief nongraphic marital lovemaking, some profanity and sexual innuendo, and much rough and crude language. The Catholic News Service classification is L — limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. Not rated by the Motion Picture Association of America.

“Colombiana” (TriStar/Stage 6) Over-the-top action flick in which a highly trained assassin (Zoe Saldana) carries out contracts for her uncle (Cliff Curtis) while awaiting the opportunity to turn her skills against the Colombian gangsters (led

by Beto Benites and Jordi Molla) who murdered her parents when she was a child (Amandla Stenberg). But the dogged pursuit of an FBI agent (Lennie James) and her romance with an increasingly nosy artist (Michael Vartan) threaten to thwart her revenge. Pure pulp, director Olivier Megaton’s shoot-em-up expends ammo at a “Scarface” pace, yet generally demurs from showing the gory consequences of its gun battles, or of its heroine’s more creative hits, such as that involving a shark

Diocese of Fall River TV Mass on WLNE Channel 6 Sunday, September 11, 11:00 a.m.

Celebrant is Father Rodney E. Thibault, chaplain of St. Luke’s Hospital in New Bedford.

tank. Constant, largely bloodless, action violence, vengeance theme, brief nongraphic premarital sexual activity, a few uses of profanity, at least one instance of rough language, frequent crude or crass terms. The Catholic News Service classification is L — limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

“The Debt” (Focus) This stylish — though frequently violent — remake of the 2007 Israeli spy thriller of the same name is a game of cat-and-mouse across two time periods as three Mossad agents (Helen Mirren, Tom Wilkinson and Ciaran Hinds) track down and capture a Josef Mengelelike Nazi war criminal (Jesper Christensen). Their feat — told in flashback by their younger selves (Jessica Chastain, Marton Csokas and Sam Worthington) — has made them national heroes. But it seems there’s more to their exploit than the official story recounts. While suitable only for mature viewers open to challenging material, as directed with flair by John Madden, this gritty drama will certainly keep them guessing right up to the end. Considerable bloody violence, a disturbing portrayal of anti-Semitism, brief nongraphic premarital sexual activity, some rough language. The Catholic News Service classification is L — limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R — restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

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14

The Anchor

September 9, 2011

Program on protecting parents rights slated for Cape parish

Eucharistic miracles exhibit on display

tion, or mutilation, or unfair working conditions? But the great fear is this could further be used to undermine parental rights unless we have a constitutional amendment that spells out specifically that parents can direct the upbringing and education of their children. That’s a fundamental right.”

To further explore this controversial law and educate parents on what it would mean if ratified, the Cape Cod Family Life Alliance has invited Dr. William Wagner of the Parental Rights Organization and David Parker, the father who was jailed for objecting to material being taught to his son in Lexington, Mass., to speak in the parish hall of Corpus Christi Parish in East Sandwich tomorrow night beginning at 7 p.m.

“I remember when David Parker was in the news a few years ago and I understand he’s a very good speaker,” Bowers said. “I’m looking forward to hear what he has to say and I understand he’s a big supporter of the Parental Rights Organization.”

On Apr. 27, 2005, Parker was arrested by the Lexington Police and charged with “trespassing” at his son’s elementary school during a scheduled meeting with the principal and the town’s director of education over his objections to homosexual curriculum materials.

Parker had previously asked for notification and a possible opt-out for his son for homosexual curriculum

The origin of the exhibit was a compilation of numerous photographs, images and historical descriptions developed by a European woman, Antonia Salzano Acutis of the Pontifical Academy For the Cult of Martyrs, in cooperation with the Institute of St. Clement I, Pope and Martyr. The Real Presence Association was asked to translate this exhibit into English from the original Italian and format it into panels. The 140 panels explain the 126 principal eucharistic miracles that have taken place throughout the ages in various countries throughout the world.

“I was so excited when Paul contacted me,” said Mary Cardoza, who has been running the adoration program at St. Francis since 2006. “He said that the Vatican itself — and this exhibit is Vatican approved — mandated that this exhibit be shown at every church. No one can do every house but [Paul and his wife] took it on because they were on their own search.

They are willing to travel wherever. Their whole mission to tell people about the real presence in the Eucharist because a lot of Catholics still think it’s a symbol. They don’t get that there is a miracle every day on the altar.”

With Thursdays now being added to the parish’s adoration schedule to bring it up to six days a week, including through the night during the week, Msgr. O’Connor and Cardoza felt that displaying the exhibit at this time was kismet.

“We thought it was perfect timing,” said Cardoza. “The people that I’ve talked to were so excited.”

The parish has set up a kids’ corner, where children can come and interact with the display by matching up pictures on a handout with miracles in the display.

“One parent thought that was neat because when they had to find the pictures, they were reading,” said Cardoza.

The parish also plans to use the exhibit as a teaching tool for the St. Francis Xavier School. Children from all grade levels and classes will be working on a project to research one or two miracles, and then visit the display.

“I’m very excited about that,” said Msgr. O’Connor. “I think it will give them a chance to study them. There were many miracles. People never think about India, for instance.

Those are interesting.”

“That’s another thing that Paul said to me, that’s one of their goals is to get schools in-

continued from page one

or ad-hoc discussions by adults in his son’s kindergarten class. After several months of communication, he was repeatedly told that his requests were “not possible.” He finally said he would not leave the meeting until this was resolved.

After being arrested and spending the night in jail, Parker was arraigned the following day in Concord District Court. When he informed Judge Robert McKenna that he had not been allowed to call his lawyer, the judge scolded him for not being respectful.

Parker was released on a $1,000 surety bond and was officially informed that he may not set foot on any school property in Lexington, or he would be arrested again for trespassing.

The case made immediate headlines, prompting then-Governor Mitt Romney to issue a statement in Parker’s defense: “We have in Massachusetts a parental notification statute specifically in matters related to human sexuality.

If a parent wants to be informed of what is being taught in a classroom and wants to have their child withdrawn from the classroom for that portion of the class dealing with human sexuality, that parent has the right.”

Dr. William Wagner is a former federal judge and a former American diplomat, having served the U.S. Department of Justice at a U.S. embassy in Africa. He also served as a U.S.

Revised and updated ...

2011-2012 Diocese of Fall River Catholic Directory ... Now Shipping!

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Prosecutor, litigating hundreds of federal cases and serving as chief of appellate litigation for the office of the U.S. Attorney; and he has served as legal counsel in the U.S. Senate and in the Michigan legislature.

Professor Wagner has served on the adjunct faculty at the University of Florida, Michigan State University, the University of Liberia, and elsewhere. Wagner, both a husband and father, currently serves as a tenured professor of constitutional law at Cooley Law School in Lansing, Mich.

“I’m also looking forward to hearing Dr. Wagner because he was a federal judge and he served in the Justice Department and is a former law school professor who teaches constitutional law, so I want to get his take on what it might mean if this convention is approved,” Bowers said.

Although support in the Senate to ratify the U.N. treaty seems to be waning, Bowers said President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have endorsed the measure and the PRO is looking to pass a constitutional amendment specifically to protect parental rights.

According to the PRO website, the proposed amendment was drafted “to protect families from undue government intrusion while continuing protections of children from abuse and neglect” and reads as follows: “Section One: The liberty of parents to direct the upbringing and education of their children is a fundamental right; “Section Two: Neither the United States nor any state shall infringe upon this right without demonstrating that its governmental interest as applied to the person is of the highest order and not otherwise served; and “Section Three: No treaty may be adopted, nor shall any source of international law be employed to supersede, modify, interpret, or apply to the rights guaranteed by this article.”

“That,” Bowers said, “is going to be the thrust of the program, the emphasis on the proposed constitutional amendment and the opposition to the ‘Convention on the Rights of the Child’ that goes right along with that.”

The program is open to everyone, regardless of religious affiliation, and Bowers said the speakers will each make a brief presentation, followed by a break with refreshments, and closing with a questionand-answer session.

The event is co-sponsored by the Cape Cod Family Alliance, Catholic Citizenship, and Mass.

Citizens for Life. For more information, call 508-385-7867 or visit www.parentalrights.org.

continued from page one

volved so that they learn about the True Presence,” said Cardoza.

“I’ve been around Catholics and they’ll say to me it’s just a symbol and it blows my mind,” she added, motioning to the long line of boards on display. “I never realized there were this many and all over the place. Look at the different countries.”

One of Cardoza’s favorite miracle stories is the miracle in Lanciano, Italy during the eighth century. A priest, doubting the Real Presence in the Eucharist, saw the Sacred Species transformed into visible flesh and blood after the consecration. The miracle has undergone extensive scientific examination and the flesh has been shown to be actual heart tissue containing arterioles, veins and nerve fibers. The same AB blood type seems to be consistently showing up in many of the miracles as well, a fact that fascinates Cardoza.

“They really haven’t connected all the dots yet,” said Cardoza.

The display offers additional photographs taken by Boudreau and his wife from trips to see the actual sites of the miracles.

The couple has been promoting the exhibition in the local area for the past two years and has had 10 parishes participate.

Their goal, explained Cardoza, is to get the word out and see all the parishes host the exhibit.

“Even though you already believe, I think it will enhance your faith,” said Cardoza. “I think that it makes it so that what you already know becomes more real. We need affirmation, these little ‘winks’ from God; these little messages that say, ‘yes, it’s real, and I’m going to show you every once in a while.’ Not that He had to prove Himself to me or anyone else — I think you already know it in your heart — but when you see it, you get all excited. I think that that’s what it’s going to do. If you were on the fence, it might bring you over, and if you’re already over the fence, it just means you’re going to settle in.”

The exhibit at St. Francis Xavier Parish, located at 125 Main Street in Acushnet, will run until September 14. Visiting hours are Wednesday-Friday from 9:00 — 4:00 p.m., Saturday, 9:00 a.m. — 6:00 p.m. and Sunday, 9:00 a.m. — 12:30 p.m.

Parishes interested in hosting the display may contact Paul Boudreau by phone at 401-848-7074 or email him at boudreau_ps@juno.com.

September 9, 2011

The Anchor

recognizable songs will be sung, along with “God of Our Fathers,” a hymn, said Grubiak, that many people may not be aware of is one of the national hymns of our country.

“It’s a hymn to God and it’s rarely recognized as a national hymn,” said Grubiak. “I’m hoping that it will give people an appreciation of how thankful we are to be here, our patriotism and to honor and remember those people.”

A native of New York, Grubiak had been living in Massachusetts only a few years when 9/11 happened. He said that he decided to hold the prayer service to counter those that discourage patriotic public worship.

“We can’t forget them,” he said. “Just pray for them, not to perpetuate the tragedy but just to make it something. These were tragic site — Pope Benedict XVI prays at ground zero in New York April 20, 2008. The pope people that were family people spoke with family members of some of the victims of the 2001 terrorist attacks and with those who — men, women and children.” were first responders to the disaster. (CNS file photo) As a member of the local Critical Incident Stress Management Diocese marks 10-year anniversary of 9/11 team, Deacon David Akin of St. continued from page one Pius X Parish in South Yarmouth dral in Fall River, he added these signment.”

Father Racine will touch on traveled to Ground Zero twice words: “Hatred is at the root “It just struck us as unbeliev- the legacy of Father Grogan in within weeks of the event. Orof these tragic events. It is my able because we thought of Fa- his homily during the service. dained three years after retiring prayer today that we not become ther Grogan as such a gentle, “We are the peace-makers,” as fire chief of Yarmouth, Akin consumed with hatred ourselves peaceful person that he’d never he said. “The Gospel that week- was already an active chaplain in the wake of them.” be in that scene,” said Holy end talks about how many times for the police and fire departThis year will mark the 10th Cross priest, Father John Pha- we need to forgive; what does Je- ments of Yarmouth and the fire anniversary of one of the most len. “We couldn’t get our minds sus tell us? Sometimes it’s hard department of the neighbortragic days in American history around that he was in the second to do that, but it’s important.” ing town of Dennis. Even after and parishes across the diocese plane. He was a great listener, a Martin McGovern, the direc- having ministered to individuare preparing to honor those who very peaceful person and I can tor of communications and me- als through the tragedy of the were lost. only think that the Lord had him dia relations, said that Stonehill Worcester cold storage fire that “Ten years feels like yester- there on that plane to give every- College in Easton would be hold- claimed the lives of six Worcesday, you remember what hap- body Absolution or to somehow ing a candlelight vigil on campus ter firefighters in 1999, Akin said pened,” said Father Michael put people at ease in such a hor- that Sunday at 7:30 p.m. to honor he was taken aback at the totalRacine of St. Bernard Parish in rible situation.” the three alumni lost, as well as ity of the destruction at Ground Assonet. “I remember how the Historically, Father Grogan for former professor of English Zero. churches were packed that fol- helped Father Patrick Peyton, the and theology, Father Grogan.

“People think it was two lowing Sunday.”

Rosary priest, during his travels “For such a close-knit com- buildings,” he said. “It was 40Father Racine will celebrate in Latin America. Both Father munity as ours, the loss of the plus acres and what affects you an ecumenical prayer service at Fallon and Father Phalen say that members of our community was is virtually unimaginable. his parish on Sunday starting at Father Grogan was a very active huge. It caused deep grief and “The force of the collapse it7 p.m. Holy Cross Father Marc priest within the Fall River Dio- sorrow and we were very keen to self and what it did to adjacent Fallon will offer his own reflec- cese and beyond, often traveling remember those people who lost structures, I haven’t got the tion during the service in mem- out of state to help other parishes. their lives,” said McGovern. smell out of my gear yet and it’s ory of Holy Cross Father Francis “In a congregation such as The Holy Trinity Choir of been washed. The odor — and it Grogan of Easton, who was on ours, we don’t realize the impact Holy Trinity Parish in West Har- wasn’t the odor of death because United Airlines Flight 175, the on the local community until wich, under the direction of Ste- I’ve smelled that — this was second hijacked plane to strike the memorial Mass held out the ven Grubiak, will be holding an a conglomeration of 110-story the World Trade Center.

Holy Cross Parish in Easton,” observance of the tragedy with a building wherein you didn’t find Having taken part in a fare- recalled Father Fallon. “Not only special musical prayer service at a pencil or a desk or telephone; well Mass for Father Grogan on was the church filled, they had 3 p.m. everything was pulverized by the that Monday, September 10, it a large screen television on the “America the Beautiful,” largest piston in the history of was the act of taking a vacation lawn for the many parishioners “God Bless America” and other man. The destruction of man and to see his sister before taking on who wanted to remember him a new assignment that put him and thank him.” on that plane during that fateful Father Grogan lived one of flight, said Father Fallon. the praises that Father Peyton “It was simply a sign of his offered up, said Father Phalen; generosity that he was ready to “A world of prayer is a world of consider a new position,” said peace.”

Father Fallon. “The shock of “Father Grogan was certainly hearing that news and the sad- a man of prayer,” said Father ness of losing a brother was in Phalen. “Prayer gave him that the context of his generosity. He peace that he brought to people was 76 when he died and when and I think people were attracted many people are 76 they might to him for that reason. He was have said they are perfectly con- a very pastoral person, a very tent, and might not have been peaceful person, and that was beinterested in taking on a new as- cause of his prayerfulness.”

15 material goods was so total that there was this fine dust; mixed in with the sheetrock and plaster and everything else. It covered everything to a depth of two inches. The leaves on the trees, it was bizarre. The whole world was painted a gray dust.”

Akin stayed on-site along with other chaplains working out of a military tent. When remains were brought out of the rubble, no matter how small they were, everyone would stop and pray.

“Sometimes we were looking at virtually bone chips but it would be found in the proximity of a shoe or ripped piece of identification and very often that was enough. We would pray with the rescuers who brought the remains in, and with great dignity those remains would be brought to a waiting vehicle,” said Akin.

“The quest was to put families, who were waiting, together with the remains of people who were found, however small it might be and that gives them some closure.”

Akin met with many of the families who had lost someone, helping escort group after group to a viewing platform that had been setup to overlook the cleanup efforts.

“The priest from the FDNY — and these were very, very powerful moments — he would first ask for a moment of silence to tell their loved ones that they’re going to be OK,” recalled Akin. “It was a meditative moment and it was eerie because the background noise was so full of jackhammers and big trucks, all of the noise you can imagine on a construction site. Yet in the totality of that, there were moments of meditation that were very powerful.

“Then [the priest] would say, ‘Now listen to your loved ones tell you that they are where they should be, that they were doing what they were supposed to do, that they will be supporting you for eternity.’ These were very, very emotional times.”

When Akin visited New York City fire stations, he found himself dealing with “some horribly injured and angry people, who nonetheless came to work every day.”

Turn to page 19

16

Youth Pages

listen closely — Sister Marianna Sylvester and parishioner Dorothy Lopes from Our Lady of the Assumption Church in New Bedford organized a Summer Vacation Bible Week. The theme was the “Parable of the Unforgiving Servant.”

Here, students do a listening exercise, paying attention to directions and learning how to give directions.

September 9, 2011

THEY’RE OFF AND RUNNING — Students arrive for the first day of the 2011-12 school year at St. James-St.John School in New Bedford.

beginning a second century — Coyle and Cassidy High School opened its doors for the beginning of the 101st year of Catholic education in the city of Taunton. Pictured with Principal Bob Gay are Lauren DeSousa, John Monahan, Sean Bernard, and Gillian Dermody.

smiling irish eyes — Bishop Feehan High School in Attleboro recently unveiled its new mascot, “Lucky the Leprechaun,” at a Back-to-School Night event for freshmen. “Of the many things for which Feehan is renowned, school spirit is near the top of the list,” said Principal Bill Runey. “‘Lucky personifies that spirit, and we look forward to him being the face of the Shamrocks.” From left: Feehan cheerleaders, Melanie Brondyk, Colleen Barthe, Lucky, and Taylor Belham.

The Anchor is always pleased to run news and photos about our diocesan youth.

If schools or parish Religious Education programs, have newsworthy stories and photos they would like to share with our readers, send them to: schools@anchornews.org

17 Youth Pages Faith draws many students toward Catholic colleges and universities

September 9, 2011

PORTLAND, Ore. (CNS) — As a high school senior, Zack Imfeld thought he wanted to go to film school. He was involved in his Los Angeles school’s television studio, he enjoyed working with film in his free time, and his dad worked for Warner Brothers.

“Plus, it sounded good when I told girls I wanted to make movies,” he said.

At the start of his senior year, when Imfeld composed a list of universities he wanted to attend, the University of Southern California and New York University stood at the top because of their programs in film. His list shifted, however, as his senior year wore on.

“My dad told me to find a job that would make me happy,” he said. “Film was something I enjoyed and was good at, but I grew so much from my high school youth group and I wanted to continue that growth at the next level. I knew that being involved in campus ministry was going to make me happy and become a better person.”

Once he shifted his priorities and began looking for a college that would support his

I

growth as a Catholic, the University of Portland in Oregon climbed from eighth on his list to the top three. It is a Catholic school founded by priests of the Congregation of Holy Cross, the same order that was present at his high school, so he had some confidence that his faith life would be supported on campus. “The more I dug into UP, the more it felt right,” he said.

On his campus visit, he got the feeling that “I’d be treated as a person here, like I’d become part of a family. I knew this place was going to be more than a place I went to school.

It would be a place that would form me into the person I want to be.”

Four years later, Imfeld is starting his senior year at UP as student body president and as a lead coordinator for the campus ministry’s flagship retreat program.

This fall, high school juniors and seniors across the nation will begin to prioritize their own college lists and set out on fall road-trips for campus visits. Catholic campus ministers are encouraging families to let faith play a role in those deci-

It is what it is

does not mean that things can’t t’s an expression that change or that we can’t move seems to have swept the forward from here. We have the country: “It is what it is.” It’s not, however, an expression that ability to transform the current state of affairs and create a more offers much hope or optimism. promising outlook. It is too easy I find it somewhat fatalistic; there’s nothing you can do about to settle for less than we are cait so just live with it. Maybe that pable of. Mediocrity will never is not how it is always intended, lead to greatness for a country, but that’s the basic message that or a church, or an individual.

I hear.

Whatever happened to “It’s all good?” Can we go back to that one?

“It’s all good” created an optimism even in the face of a negative situation. It provided us

By Jean Revil with an invitation to say, “Thank you, God,” no matter what happened.

The new school year has After all, Romans 8:28 tells us that God makes all things work begun. Students (and teachers) have their new schedules, new for good for those who love classes, and in some cases, new Him. So, even Scripture agrees schools. With everything fresh that “it’s all good.”

“It is what it is” implies a res- before us, please let’s not start ignation that simply rubs me the out with an attitude of “School: it is what it is.” Instead, let’s go wrong way. It doesn’t elicit an attitude of gratitude at all. When with the resolution of “It will be I hear the phrase, I have taken to what we make it!”

As I write this, I’m aware that adding mentally, “and it will be these words might come back what we make it.” I’m not sure to haunt me. I can be as guilty where I first heard or read that as the next person of settling for addendum, but it definitely left things the way they are and givan impression on me. It is true that things are as they are — and ing up without a fight. But I am yes we need to accept the reality hoping and praying for the grace to adopt a more optimistic view of any given situation. But that

Be Not Afraid

sions as it did for Imfeld.

“Parents could talk to students about how their own faith deepened in college and the importance of grounding their academics in a holy lifestyle based on the practice of their faith,” according to Father Marty Moran, executive director of the Catholic Campus Ministry Association.

“When they make a visit to campus, families should locate the Catholic campus ministry center serving that college or university.”

A Catholic institution will likely have a campus ministry office as part of its student service offerings, such as a health center or office for students with disabilities. At a non-Catholic institution, the Catholic community will most likely be gathered at a Newman center.

Newman centers were inspired by Blessed John Henry Newman, who encouraged societies for Catholic students attending secular universities.

The first Newman center was founded in 1893 at the University of Pennsylvania, and there are now about 1,500 of the diocesan-sponsored campus ministry centers.

that inspires me to work with the situations I’m given and do my best to make them better. Yes, there will be disappointments during the year and perhaps hardships that we didn’t expect or aren’t prepared for. But there is always hope, and God’s grace flows without reserve every moment of our lives. Some things will make us stronger.

Some things may change us forever and our lives will be what we make them.

As we commemorate the 10th anniversary of September 11, I am inspired by the resilience of this country. As Americans, we are not known for giving up and just sitting in our misery and grief. We push forward, we rebuild, we live by the attitude of “It will be what we make it,” although we may never have worded it that way. When we are attacked, or beaten, or disappointed in our individual lives, we need to take up that same resilient spirit. Yes, it is what it is, but it will be what we make it!

Jean Revil teaches theology and is campus minister at Bishop Stang High School.

Comments welcome at: jrevil@ bishopStang.com.

“Many people don’t know what a Newman center is,” said Father Moran. “It isn’t the same as a ‘Smith Hall’ or some other typical campus building. A Newman center is the Church’s outreach on that campus.”

When visiting a non-Catholic institution, students should be direct about wanting to see the Newman center, perhaps even calling ahead to make an appointment, according to Marcel LeJeune, a campus minister at Texas A&M. An admissions tour at a state university could easily neglect to mention campus ministry resources. Admissions counselors at public schools cannot inquire about a student’s faith background, so students should be proactive about identifying themselves to campus ministers.

“Before getting to campus, come up with a game plan for how to get involved,” LeJeune said. “If you want to keep your faith, you have to put work into

it. You have to make good decisions, even before you arrive on campus.”

LeJeune said a good campus ministry challenges the prevailing culture on campus instead of accommodating it.

“Campus ministry should give students what they need, not just what they want,” he said.

“A campus ministry should call its students to live for something greater.”

Making this call clear to students is a crucial task for campus ministers because students face the task of making their faith their own during their college years, said Mary Deeley, pastoral associate at the Sheil Center, which serves Northwestern University in Chicago.

This faith is “not the faith of their parents nor is it their faith when they were confirmed at (age) 13,” she said. “They must be able to respond to the mature, adult call to holiness.

Campus ministry should be a bridge to that.”

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18

The Anchor Brother Rene Demers, FIC

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. — Brother of Christian Instruction Rene Demers died September 1, at the Champlain Valley Medical Center, Plattsburgh, N.Y. at the age of 80.

He was born in New Bedford, on Aug. 31, 1931. His parents were Charles and Dora (Dubois) Demers. He entered the Brothers of Christian Instructions in 1949 in Alfred, Maine. He made his novitiate in 1950. He was a Brother for 61 years. Brother Rene manifested a great devotion to the founder of the brothers, venerable John-Mary De La Mennais.

He completed his bachelor’s degree at St. Francis College, Biddeford, Maine. In 1952 he started his teaching career with a brief stint at St. Peter’s in Plattsburgh. He taught at St. Joseph’s School, Waterville, Maine, 10 years in St. Louis H.S, Biddeford, Maine, Denis Hall Jr. High, in Alfred, Maine and three years in Msgr. Prevost High School in Fall River. He was known as a very devoted teacher, who was close to his students.

He is survived by one sister Jeanne Sukwa of Fairhaven; and several nephews and nieces. He was predeceased by his brothers,

Raymond, Richard and Robert and one sister Theresa.

A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated in Notre Dame Chapel in Alfred, Maine September 7. Interment followed at the Brothers of Christian Instruction Cemetery.

St. Mark’s Parish, 105 Stanley Street, Attleboro Falls, will host its annual fair tomorrow from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event will include a variety of activities, music and food, along with arts and crafts and a raffle with prizes totaling $1,750. For more information call 508-699-7566.

9/10

The Our Lady of Grace Council of Catholic Women will be sponsoring a Yard Sale at the parish center, 569 Sanford Road in Westport, tomorrow and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. both days, rain or shine.

The kitchen will be open serving food and refreshments. For more information call 508672-6900.

9/11

A special Service of Prayer and Remembrance will be held Sunday at 2 p.m. at St. Anne’s Church, 818 Middle Street, Fall River. All are invited and welcome to participate in this special service dedicated to remembering those who lost their lives in the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001. On this 10th anniversary, let us join together to continue to pray for peace, and to praise almighty God, who gives us the peace of Christ.

9/11

“For God and Country,” a special 10th anniversary commemorative observance of the Sept. 11, 2001 tragedy will be presented by the Holy Trinity Choir under the direction of Steven Grubiak on Sunday at 3 p.m. at Holy Trinity Parish, Route 28, West Harwich. Come join with the choir to sing traditional patriotic and sacred songs, Music will include “God Of Our Fathers,” “America the Beautiful,” “Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory,” “America,” “God Bless America” and other selections familiar and easy to sing along for all. Prayers will be offered for our country, our government, our men and women in the service of our country and for the victims of 9/11. The service is free and open to all.

9/13

The next meeting of the Catholic Cancer Support Group will be held on September 13 at Our Lady of Victory Parish, Centerville. Mass including Anointing of the Sick will start at 7 p.m. in the church. After Mass, the group will move over to the parish center for a meeting and social gathering. Dr. John Bertera of Hyannis will give a presentation on “Maintaining Quality of Life During the Cancer Experience.” The support group is faith-based and all are welcome: cancer patients, survivors, family and friends. For more information call Mary Lees at 508-7711106 or email maryplees@comcast.net.

9/15

On September 15, in celebration of the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, public adoration of the Blessed Sacrament will take place at the Father Peyton Center, 518 Washington Street, Easton. The day will begin with the Rosary at 9 a.m., followed by eucharistic adoration until 11:45 a.m. with Mass following at noon. Our Lady of Sorrows is the patroness of the Congregation of the Holy Cross. For more information call Holy Cross Family Ministries at 508-238-4095.

9/24

The Women’s Guild at Immaculate Conception Parish in Fall River will be sponsoring a Flea Market on September 24 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

They will be accepting clean items in good condition September 14 through September 23, which can be dropped off at the church hall on County Street.

For more information call 508-674-8695 or email dotnic566@verizon.net.

9/24

The Fall River Diocesan Council of Catholic Women has been reorganized and district levels have been eliminated. Members of the diocesan board, members of parish affiliates, and individual members are invited to three meetings held each year. The first meeting will be September 24 at Annunciation of the Lord Parish, 31 First Street, Taunton. A short meeting will start at 9:30 a.m. followed by a presentation from Msgr. Stephen J. Avila, director of the diocesan Worship Office, entitled, “New Words. Same Mass. Examining the New English Translation of the Roman Missal. All are invited and refreshments will be served. The meeting will end at noon.

Eucharistic Adoration in the Diocese

Acushnet — Eucharistic adoration takes place at St. Francis Xavier Parish on Monday and Tuesday from 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.; Wednesday from 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Thursday from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; and Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. Evening prayer and Benediction is held Monday through Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.

ATTLEBORO — St. Joseph Church holds eucharistic adoration in the Adoration Chapel located at the (south) side entrance at 208 South Main Street, Sunday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Brewster — Eucharistic adoration takes place in the La Salette Chapel in the lower level of Our Lady of the Cape Church, 468 Stony Brook Road, on First Fridays following the 11 a.m. Mass until 7:45 a.m. on the First Saturday, concluding with Benediction and Mass. buzzards Bay — Eucharistic adoration takes place at St. Margaret Church, 141 Main Street, every first Friday after the 8 a.m. Mass and ending the following day before the 8 a.m. Mass.

East Freetown — Eucharistic adoration takes place at St. John Neumann Church every Monday (excluding legal holidays) 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the Our Lady, Mother of All Nations Chapel. (The base of the bell tower).

East Sandwich — Eucharistic adoration takes place at the Corpus Christi Parish Adoration Chapel, 324 Quaker Meeting House Road, Monday through Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday, 12 p.m. to 9 p.m. Also, 24-hour eucharistic adoration takes place on the First Friday of every month.

EAST TAUNTON — Eucharistic adoration takes place in the chapel at Holy Family Parish Center, 438 Middleboro Avenue, Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. On First Fridays, eucharistic adoration takes place at Holy Family Church, 370 Middleboro Avenue, following the 8 a.m. Mass until Benediction at 8 p.m.

Around the Diocese 9/10

September 9, 2011

Brother Rene Demers, FIC

In Your Prayers Please pray for these priests during the coming weeks Sept. 10 Rev. Hugo Dylla, Pastor, St. Stanislaus, Fall River, 1966 Rt. Rev. Felix S. Childs, Retired Pastor, Sacred Heart, Fall River, 1969

Sept. 11 Rev. Joachim Shults, SS.CC., Our Lady of Assumption, New Bedford, 1987 Rev. Cyril Augustyn, OFM Conv., Pastor, Holy Rosary, Taunton, 1997 Rev. Francis E. Grogan, CSC, Superior, Holy Cross Residence, North Dartmouth, 2001 Rev. Terence F. Keenan, Former Pastor, St. Mary, South Dartmouth, Former Pastor, Immaculate Conception, Fall River, 2010 Sept. 12 Rev. John J. Galvin, STD, Assistant, SS. Peter and Paul, Fall River, 1962 Most Rev. James L. Connolly, Sc.H D, Fourth Bishop of Fall River, 1951-70, 1986 Rev. John R. Folster, Pastor, St. Louis de France, Swansea, 1995 Sept. 13 Rev. Charles A.J. Donovan, Pastor, Immaculate Conception, North Easton, 1949 Rev. Isadore Kowalski, OFM Conv., Our Lady’s Haven, Fairhaven, 2003 Sept. 14 Rev. Stanislaus J. Ryczek, USA Retired Chaplain, Former Pastor, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, New Bedford, 1982 Sept. 15 Rev. Henry J. Mussely, Pastor, St. Jean Baptiste, Fall River, 1934 Rev. Brendan McNally, S.J., Holy Cross College, Worcester, 1958 Rev. John J. Casey, Pastor, Immaculate Conception, North Easton, 1969 Sept. 16 Rt. Rev. Msgr. Jean A. Prevost, P.A., P.R., Pastor, Notre Dame de Lourdes, Fall River, 1925

FAIRHAVEN — St. Mary’s Church, Main St., has eucharistic adoration every Wednesday from 8:30 a.m. to noon in the Chapel of Reconciliation, with Benediction at noon. Also, there is a First Friday Mass each month at 7 p.m., followed by a Holy Hour with eucharistic adoration. Refreshments follow.

Fall River — Espirito Santo Parish, 311 Alden Street, Fall River. Eucharistic adoration on Mondays following the 8:00 a.m. Mass until Rosary and Benediction at 6:30 p.m.

FALL RIVER — Notre Dame Church, 529 Eastern Ave., has eucharistic adoration on Fridays from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. in the chapel.

FALL RIVER — St. Anthony of the Desert Church, 300 North Eastern Avenue, has eucharistic adoration Mondays and Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

FALL RIVER — Holy Name Church, 709 Hanover Street, has eucharistic adoration Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the Our Lady of Grace Chapel.

FALL RIVER — Good Shepherd Parish has eucharistic adoration every Friday following the 8 a.m. Mass until 6 p.m. in the Daily Mass Chapel. There is a bilingual Holy Hour in English and Portuguese from 5-6 p.m. Park behind the church and enter the back door of the connector between the church and the rectory.

Falmouth — St. Patrick’s Church has eucharistic adoration each First Friday, following the 9 a.m. Mass until Benediction at 4:30 p.m. The Rosary is recited Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 9 a.m.

HYANNIS — A Holy Hour with eucharistic adoration will take place each First Friday at St. Francis Xavier Church, 347 South Street, beginning immediately after the 12:10 p.m. Mass and ending with adoration at 4 p.m.

MASHPEE — Christ the King Parish, Route 151 and Job’s Fishing Road has 8:30 a.m. Mass every First Friday with special intentions for Respect Life, followed by 24 hours of eucharistic adoration in the Chapel, concluding with Benediction Saturday morning followed immediately by an 8:30 Mass.

NEW BEDFORD — Eucharistic adoration takes place 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesdays at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, 233 County Street, with night prayer and Benediction at 8:45 p.m., and Confessions offered during the evening.

NEW BEDFORD — There is a daily holy hour from 5:15-6:15 p.m. Monday through Thursday at St. Anthony of Padua Church, 1359 Acushnet Avenue. It includes adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, Liturgy of the Hours, recitation of the Rosary, and the opportunity for Confession.

NORTH DARTMOUTH — Eucharistic adoration takes place at St. Julie Billiart Church, 494 Slocum Road, every Tuesday from 7 to 8 p.m., ending with Benediction. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is available at this time.

NORTH DIGHTON — Eucharistic adoration takes place every First Friday at St. Nicholas of Myra Church, 499 Spring Street following the 8 a.m. Mass, ending with Benediction at 6 p.m. The Rosary is recited Monday through Friday from 7:30 to 8 a.m.

OSTERVILLE — Eucharistic adoration takes place at Our Lady of the Assumption Church, 76 Wianno Avenue on First Fridays from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and every Friday from noon to 5 p.m., with Benediction at 5 p.m.

SEEKONK ­— Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish has eucharistic adoration seven days a week, 24 hours a day in the chapel at 984 Taunton Avenue. For information call 508-336-5549.

Taunton — Eucharistic adoration takes place every Tuesday at St. Anthony Church, 126 School Street, following the 8 a.m. Mass with prayers including the Chaplet of Divine Mercy for vocations, concluding at 6 p.m. with Chaplet of St. Anthony and Benediction. Recitation of the Rosary for peace is prayed Monday through Saturday at 7:30 a.m. prior to the 8 a.m. Mass.

WAREHAM — Adoration with opportunities for private and formal prayer is offered on the First Friday of each month from 8:30 a.m. until 8 p.m. at St. Patrick’s Church, High Street. The Prayer Schedule is as follows: 7:30 a.m. the Rosary; 8 a.m.

Mass; 8:30 a.m. exposition and Morning Prayer; 12 p.m. the Angelus; 3 p.m. Divine Mercy Chaplet; 5:30 p.m. Evening Prayer; 7 p.m. Sacrament of Confession; 8 p.m.

Benediction.

WEST HARWICH — Our Lady of Life Perpetual Adoration Chapel at Holy Trinity Parish, 246 Main Street (Rte. 28), holds perpetual eucharistic adoration. We are a regional chapel serving all of the surrounding parishes. All from other parishes are invited to sign up to cover open hours. For open hours, or to sign up call 508-430-4716.

WOODS HOLE — Eucharistic adoration takes place at St. Joseph’s Church, 33 Millfield Street, year-round on weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. No adoration on Sundays, Wednesdays, and holidays. For information call 508-274-5435.

The Anchor

September 9, 2011

Diocese marks 10th anniversary of 9/11 continued from page 15

Some humorous stories emerged, like one that kept in the tradition of picking on the junior members of fire departments, said Akin. A young man left his boots in the wrong place, and when he went to put them on during a response to a fire, discovered they were full of water “because someone had tried to teach him a lesson,” chuckled Akin. “Stupid, sophomoric stuff like that, in spite of the horror.”

Then Akin grew somber, adding, “We saw some very damaged people. One gentleman, who had been on the job for over 25 years and loved it, was the pump operator when all of his men charged down the street to the fire. He was told by his lieutenant to stay by the pump, and when the building collapsed he dove under the truck but virtually everyone he had ridden there with died. He felt as if some people looked at him as if he didn’t do what he was supposed to do.

It’s all what our minds do in traumatic situations.”

Up until a couple of years ago, Akin would meet with New York firefighters to play golf in local tournaments for various charities. Those reunions often saw the men exchanging T-shirts and other memorabilia.

Even though those meetings have tapered off, a special piece of memorabilia given to Akin is, quite literally, a heavy reminder of a moment that “has changed my life forever.”

“I recently got a chunk from Ground Zero; one of my brother

Be sure to visit the Diocese of Fall River website at fallriverdiocese.org The site includes links to other diocesan and national sites, including The Anchor.

chaplains took it upon himself so that we something physical to remember what we did down there,” said Akin. “We each have an eight-by-eight-inch piece of Ground Zero and stamped on the front of it is September 11, 2001 and on the back is the World Trade Center. These were cut up for the families who wanted something and there were more cut up than those that were asked for, so we got some for all the chaplains in Massachusetts who served.

“I’m very honored to have it.

It’s ugly, it’s cut with a torch and if you pick it up you’d undoubtedly bleed and it weights about seven pounds; but it speaks to me about a time in my life that I wish never happened but I’m terribly proud to have had that opportunity to serve.”

Akin said that 9/11 is r emin is cen t of Pearl Harbor; these are dates that will never be forgotten and are tragedies that shaped who we are today.

“These dates are a part of our heritage,” said Akin.

“It’s a part of

who we are; and we march on because that’s a part of who we are. We don’t hang our heads; we keep trucking.”

Father Racine will echo Akin’s sentiments during his homily; touching on the tragedy, he said, but focusing more on the future.

“I think the one key word is ‘faith.’ If we keep our faith strong and look ahead,” he said. “If we think about all the times that Jesus continued to bring that faith 2,000 years ago and how we need to be the positive influences in people’s lives. If we lose our faith, we’ve lost it all.”

19

20

The Anchor

9/11 victim — New York firefighters and rescue workers are seen Sept. 11, 2001, carrying Franciscan Father Mychal Judge, a chaplain with the New York Fire Department, who died while giving last rites to a firefighter in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks that brought down the twin towers of the World Trade Center. (CNS file photo)

A decade of change, pain, remembrance continued from page one

As the World War II generation got back to its collective feet and kept the dream of democracy alive, so too has the 9/11 generation, but not without encountering lasting effects.

Over the last 10 years, many Americans have dealt with the pain, and in some ways have changed inwardly since witnessing the horrific images of that fateful day. But they have never forgotten.

One heart-wrenching scene from the World Trade Center in New York City that day was a group of first responders carrying the lifeless body of Father Mychal Judge, OFM, from the collapsed rubble of the twin towers. Father Judge was the NYC Fire Department chaplain, and was among the first responders who arrived to rescue survivors.

He died when the south tower collapsed on him and hundreds of others.

The Franciscan Friar who took Father Judge’s place as NYFD chaplain was Father Christopher Keenan, who lived and worked closely with his mentor at St. Francis of Assisi Church on West

31st Street in Manhattan. In an interview with The Anchor, Father Keenan said that in his experiences since 9/11, “New York firefighters have become more in touch with the spirit of life.

For some it has become a deeper sense of spirituality, which expresses itself in religious worship, and an expression of Jesus’ Gospel message in how they express compassion for others in need.”

Father Keenan, who was appointed by then-New York City Mayor Rudolph Guiliani shortly after the 2001 attacks, is part of an ecumenical chaplain group consisting of the Jewish, Muslim, Christian and Catholic faiths.

“Even those who are not religious clearly see what is meaningful and of value in life,” he added. “There’s a passion for life, knowing life can be taken at any moment.”

Father Keenan has also seen another major change, one affecting not just civil servants, but all Americans. “September 11 changed our life and the world,” he said. “No longer was war fought on land and sea overseen

One of NY’s finest — Franciscan Father Christopher Keenan took the place of Father Mychal Judge as a chaplain for the NYFD. Father Judge died while ministering at the scene of the World Trade Center. (CNS photo courtesy Franciscan Communications)

by generals and admirals in territories other than our own. Now the wars are being fought among the civilian population often at the hands of a single suicide terrorist.”

Father Keenan said that when a priest becomes a chaplain for the fire or police department, they’re expected to “offer our life to protect the life and property of the people of New York City.”

It’s clear that the New York Police and Fire departments have a deep affection and appreciation for the men who accept that calling.

“Shortly after I was sworn in as chaplain of the NYFD, I was called to a station near St. Francis Church,” Father Keenan told The Anchor. “They said, ‘Chris, we know you are giving your life for ours. You are ours. But know that 11,000 of us are yours too. Whatever you need we’ll do it or get it.’ I was overwhelmed by that.”

Franciscan Father Tim Shreenan, the communications director for St. Francis Church on 31st Street in Manhattan also lived with Father Judge. He told The Anchor, “I avoided looking at pictures, videos, and reading about Sept. 11, 2001 all these years. I didn’t want to keep reliving it.” Until recently, when he watched a National Geographic special on TV. “That day changed the world for us. We as New Yorkers have always learned to adapt to changes in the world.

But then I asked, ‘Why is it always New York.’

“When I learned Father Mychal was killed, it didn’t surprise me. He was where he had to be, he was doing what he had to with his brothers.”

Father Shreenan, who planned the funeral for Father Judge, add-

September 9, 2011 ed, “That week was so busy.” He didn’t go to the cemetery after the funeral, rather he went down to the dining room, then back to his room and became ill, symbolic of a release of all the tension, stress and grief of that week.

“Myself and the other friars here have always had a memorial at this time of year, and we took part in the walks in Father Mychal’s name, but after 10 years, many of us feel this is a closing point,” he shared. “We want to move on, bring this to an end. But I don’t know if that’s possible.”

Father Shreenan said there was an increase in Mass and Confession attendance after the attacks, but that has waned a bit since then. “The world did change, but I think in 10 years, instead of getting better, the world is worse off,” he told The Anchor. “The Church, too, has changed. We experienced the 9/11 of the sexual abuse scandals. There are more challenges put before us as ministers today.”

At his general audience the day following the massacres in New York, at the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., and in a field in Shanksville, Pa., Pope John Paul II said, “Yesterday was a dark day in the history of humanity, a terrible affront to human dignity.

After receiving the news, I followed with intense concern the developing situation, with heartfelt prayers to the Lord. How is it possible to commit acts of such savage cruelty?

“The human heart has depths from which schemes of unheardof ferocity sometimes emerge, capable of destroying in a moment the normal daily life of a people. But faith comes to our aid at these times when words seem to fail. Christ’s word is the only one that can give a response to the questions which trouble our spirit. Even if the forces of darkness appear to prevail, those who believe in God know that evil and death do not have the final say.

Christian hope is based on this truth; at this time our prayerful trust draws strength from it.”

On April 20, 2008, Pope Benedict XVI visited Ground Zero in New York, meeting with family members of first responders who perished there, offering prayers and consolation, bringing many to tears. In a ceremony at the site of the World Trade Center, the pope didn’t read from a prepared speech, but rather, looked skyward and prayed in part, “O God of love, compassion, and healing, look on us, people of many different faiths and traditions, who gather today at this site, the scene of incredible violence and pain.

“We ask You in Your goodness to give eternal light and peace to all who died here — the heroic first-responders: our firefighters, police officers, emergency service workers, and Port Authority personnel, along with all the innocent men and women who were victims of this tragedy simply because their work or service brought them here on Sept. 11, 2001.

“God of peace, bring Your peace to our violent world: peace in the hearts of all men and women and peace among the nations of the earth.

“Turn to Your way of love those whose hearts and minds are consumed with hatred.

“God of understanding, overwhelmed by the magnitude of this tragedy, we seek Your light and guidance as we confront such terrible events.”

Father Keenan said that in the wake of 9/11, temporal changes occurred as well. “Since then, civil authorities have a new preparedness and expectation of what can happen. With the recent approach of Hurricane Irene, the response in the city was tremendous: evacuations and shutting down the transportation system.

That never occurred before. Everything is considered: tunnels, bridges, buildings and transportation.”

past and present — Steel beams, left, in the form of a cross pulled from the rubble of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, are shown shortly before they were moved to the WTC memorial at Ground Zero in July. At right is construction of part of the memorial. (Photos by Dave Jolivet)