the
anc 0
DIOCESAN NEWSPAPER FOR SOUTHEAST MASSA, CAPE & ISLANDS
Vol. 27, No. 35
Fall River, Mass., Friday, September 9, 1983
$8 Per Year
Priest· must· say Mass
By Jerry Filteau new document was released
WASHINGTON (NC) The . Sept. 8 at the Vatican and sim
Vatican's Congregation for the ultaneously in Washington by Doctrine of the Faith has con the National Conference of Cath· demned as "absolutely incom olic Bishops. patible with the faith" any view Titled "Letter to the Bishops holding that the Eucharist can of the Catholic Church on Cer be celebrated without a sacra tain Questions Concerning the mentally ordained priest. Minister of the Eucharist," it is The condemnation, in the form dated Aug. 6 and signed by the of a letter to the world's bishops, doctrinal congregation's prefect, seemed to be directed chiefly at Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, and the views Belgian-born Domini· secretary, Archbishop Jerome ' can Father Edward Schillebeeckx Hamer. expressed in his recent book, The text of the letter states "Ministry: Leadership in the that Pope John Paul II approved Community of Jesus Christ." it and ordered its publication. In conjunction with distribu The letter did not, however, cite Father Schillebeeckx or any tion of the letter in the United other theologians by name as States, the NCCB's Committee proponents of the condemned on Doctrine sent the nation's bishops a 46-page commentary views. "Since it is of the very nature on Father Schillebeeckx' views of the church that the power to on ministry and the Eucharist, including published crtiques of consecrate the Eucharist is im parted only to the bishops and the Dominican's position by three priests who are constituted its theologians. ministers by the reception of Archbishop John R. Quinn of Holy Orders, the church holds San Francisco, who is chariman that the eucharistic mystery can of the NCeB Committee on Doc not be celebrated in any com trine, also issued a' pastoral let· munity except by an ordained ter on the question for his own priest, as expressly taught by the archdiocese, and copies of it Fourth Lateran Council" in the were sent by the NCCB to all the year 1215, the papally approved bishops in the country. In his letter Archbishop Quinn document said. The doctrinal congregation's said that the doctrinal congrega-
tion's statement is an occasion "to renew and deepen our con viction about the central im portance of the priesthood" in the life of the church. It is also a chalIenge "to pray for vocations to the priesthood so that all the other ministries and charisms in the church may be nourished and energized" by the priestly ministries of preach ing God's word and celebrating the Eucharist, he said. Msgr. Richard Malone, execu tive director of the NCCB Com mittee on Doctrine, in the ma terials sent to the U.S. bishops summarized the Schillebeeckx thesis on ordained ministry and the Eucharist this way: The election and recognition by the community is decisive. The lay ing on of hands (of sacramental ordination) is only secondary." Father Schillebeeckx, recently retired professor of theology at the Univ~rsity of Nijmegen. in the Netherlands, argued in his book that as far as the New Testament is concerned, a Chris tian community faced with no eucharistic president could have chosen one of its members to preside at the Eucharist without requiring the laying on of hands by a bishop. Tum to Page Six
Jesuits at historic parley-
By Nancy Frazier ROME (NC) - 'IJ1e coming election of a new Jesuit superior' general resembles in many ways a conclave to elect a pope. In the fall of 1978, the papal conclave gathered 111 cardinals behind locked doors and their election .of a pope was signaled by white smoke from a smail chimney. The new church leader took the name of Pope John Paul II. This September 220 Jesuits will gather behind locked doors in Rome, a few steps from the Vatican, to elect a new superior general. "And one of the only differ· ences, procedurally, is that there won't be any smoke," says a high Jesuit official. The primary purpose for the Jesuits' 33rd general congrega tion, scheduled to last through out September, is to elect a suc cessor to the ailing Father !'edro Arrupe, the Jesuits' 75-year-old superior general.
It will also mark the end of a evaluate the state of the society nearly two-year term of rule by and to report its findings to 81-year-old Father Paolo Dezza, electors. who was appointed by Pope Then begins the "quatriduum," John Paul in October 1981 to a four.day period of information lead the 26,000 Jesuits until a' gathering by the electors which general congregation took place. has gained the uncomplimentary . Jesuit rules try to prevent the Italian title of the "mormorazi· choice of a superior from being on," meaning whispering, grumb. subject to political maneuvering. ling, muttering or murmuring. During that time, the electors Participants in the general con gregation are specifically pro· will be able to ask one another hibited from conducting cam· about the background or per sonal characteristics of any Jes paigns for a certain candidate. The election of a superior gen· uit. But participants are not sup eral is not expected to take place posed to volunteer any informa. until a week to 10 .days after tion that lias not been requested. At th d f th f d the general congregation has be ~ e~ 0 e~ ~ . - the electors will be locked into After choosing a secretary and the voting room after a Mass of ~ssistant sec~etary for the meet· the Holy Spirit. Th 109, the Jesuits at the 1983 gen '11 . . th . eral congregation will have to t'l ey WI remalD. m h e rboom 'd un I a new superIOr as een consl er a matter never before I ted discussed at such a session: the e ec . resignation of the Jesuit su After a IS-minute spiritual ex perior general. hortation and a 45-minute period Father Arrupe formally re of meditation, the voting begins. signed Sept. 3 and the Jesuits No abstentions are allowed by then elected a commission tl) Tum to Page Eleven
BISHOP TIMOTHY HARRINGTON
Worcester bishop
WASHINGTON (NC) - Pope John Paul II Sept. 5 named Auxi liary ,Bishop Timothy J. Harring ton of Worcester, Mass., the new bishop of Worce,ster. Bishop Daniel A. Cronin was among the first to telephone Bishop Harrington with con gratulations. Archbishop Pio Laghi, apos tolic delegate in the Umted States, made the announcement. Bishop Harrington has been auxiliary bishop of Worcester since 1968. Born in Holyoke, Mass., on Dec. 19, 1918, Bishop Harrington attended the College of Holy Cross in Worcester and the Grand Seminary at the University of Montreal. He was ordained a
priest in 1946, and earned a master's degree at the Boston College of Social Work in 1952. Bishop Harrington did parish work and served in a variety of social service apostolates for the Worcester Diocese, becoming diocesan director of Catholic Charities in 1960. He was named auxiliary bish op of Worcester in 1968, and vicar for clergy Ilnd religious in 1969. At the ti~e he was named Worcester auxiliary, he was dubbed "bishop of the Bowery," in reference to the fact that he lived in a modest three-room apartment next to the chapel in the House of Our Lady of the Tum to Page Eleven
I{atholikentag trip focus
VATICAN CITY (NC) - Pope John Paul II's forthcoming trip to Austria is designed to high light the Katholikentag (Cath-· olic Day), the culmination of a year-long program of study and spiritual reflection by the na tion's more than 6 million Cath olics. The key event of the Sept. 10 13 trip will be a Sunday morn ing papal Mass in Vienna's Dan ube Park. The Mass will be celebrated at a 297-acre site overlooking the Danube River, the nation's capital and the Vienna Woods. It wiU mark the close of the year of intensive spiritual activity.
Catholicism is the majority re ligion among Ausria's 7.5 mil· lion people. The Katholikentag was pro gramed to coincide with the 300th anniversary of the defense of Vienna against Moslem Turk ish forces in 1683, a victory which preserved Christianity as . the dominant religion in Europe. But the military battIe receives the official little emphasis schedule. The program calls for the pope to deliver betwe2n Ilj and 20 talks to a variety of groups. These include migrant workers, many from Turkey, apd Polish Tum to Page Seven
in