, anco VOL. 32, NO. 36
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Friday, September 9,1988
FALL RIVER DIOCESAN NEWSPAPER
FOR SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSmS CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS
F ALL RIVER, MASS.
Southeastern Massachusetts' Largest Weekfy
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$10 Per Year
,Respectjor life paramount
Bishops issue statement Respect for life of every person, born and unborn, must be paramount, the Massachusetts bishops said in their "1988 Political Responsibility Statement," issued in connection with the November elections. . . "Our vision springs from our faith and is founded on the objective truth about the human person," said the Ordinaries of the Commonwealth's four dioceses. "Each member of the human family is created in the image of God and each one of us enjoys an innate dignity with a reason for existence extending beyond the limits of this world. This vision demands that every human life be respected from the moment of conception to natural death." Cardinal Bernard Law of Bos-
BABY ON her back, a young Lesotho mother wields her pickax. The small kingdom surrounded by South Africa is one of five African nations the pope is visiting this month. (NC/UPI photo)
Excitement high in Swaziland
Africa awaits pope By Pat McGowan with NC News reports "We talk about it in the streets and whenever we meet" is how. Micah V. Zikalala of Swaziland sums up the excitement in his southern African home country about the coming visit of Pope John Paul II. "We have heard about him blessing other nations so we want him to come and bless us as well," said Zikalala, who was visiting friends in Fall River prior to beginning graduate studies at Bridgewater State College. He is a high school headmaster in Swaziland, a landlocked nation almost completely surrounded by South Africa. He noted that his government pays all teachers' salaries, including those in the country's 60 Catholic schools. Swaziland has 37,000 Catholics in a population of 650,000. They are served by one bishop, 115 sisters, 37 priests and eight brothers. Nine seminarians are preparing for ordination. "I am missing two events in Swaziland," said Zikalala regretfully, "the celebration on September 6 of the 20th anniversary of my country and the visit of the pope on September 16." Swaziland's ,King Mswati III is the same age as his country. His 1986 installation as the world's youngest monarch attracted worldwide television coverage. He and the pope will meet in the royal palace following a. Mass in
Somhlolo National Stadium in the city of Manzini, where the pope's plane will land at Matsapha airport at 10 a. m. Sept. 16. After meeting the king, the pope will speak at the Manzini cathedral. He will leave Swaziland at 6 p.m. Sept. 16. The nation will be the next to last stop on the papal tour of southern Africa, which begins tomorrow and ends Sept. 19 in Mozambique. The other countries the pope will. visit are Zimbabwe, Botswana and Lesotho. Throughout his visit, Pope John .Paul is expected to stress the evangelizing task that still faces the church in southern Africa. Most of the, countries he will visit have seen the missionary era give way to fledgling local churches. Besides the life-and-death issues of war and hunger, these churches are battling the attraction of old tribal beliefs and new religious cults. It will be the pontiffs first visit to the region, and it comes at a dramatic moment in its evolution. In Mozambique, a former Portuguese colony that won independ.ence in 1975, daily life is burdened by a guerrilla war waged by Turn to Page Six
ton, Bishop Daniel A. Cronin of Fall River, Bishop Joseph F. Ma.guire of Springfield and Bishop Timothy J. Harrington ofWorcester collaborated in writing the statement. The bishops asked all citizens "to vote with thoughtful convictions." "We call upon all citizens of good will, especially our Catholic sisters and brothers, to participate actively and thoughtfully in the election process, and to vote according to the vision of a society built on justice, freedom and peace," the statement said. It urged readers to "promote at every opportunity the dignity of each person, including physical, intellectual and spiritual well-being." The bishops asked that voters
also reflect on other concerns, including promotion of family life; formation of the moral and intellectual fiber of the nation's children; preservation of the environment and conservation of its resources; development of social and economic policy to benefit rather than exploit other peoples and nations, particularly the poor of Africa, Asia and South Amer- . ica; and protection offreedom and peace at home and abroad .. The Ordinaries also urged citizens to register and vote. "We appeal to all citizens to be active participants in the life of the nation for the good of society," they said. "Most important, we urge them to vote." . The full text of the bishops' statement appears on page 2.
"Funds, friends, freshmen" WASHINGTON (NC) - As Catholic schools begin another academic year, parents, teachers, and administrators gear up once more for the herculean task of finanCing their efforts to provide education with a spiritual dimension. Sophisticated development programs raising "funds, friends and freshmen" can help, according to National Catholic Educational Association officials. The Washington-based NCEA is surveying development efforts of dioceses, said Providence Sister Mary Leahy, NCEA vice president for development. The survey began in early August and by the end of the month the
NCEA had .62 responses. Twenty dioceses reported capital campaigns with a total goal of $28~ million and at least J,7 have annual funds. Twelve more dioceses are planning programs. Declining enrollment and mounting expenses have caused a dramatic decline in the number of' U.S. Catholic schools since the 1960s, but some schools are now being built in the Sunbelt. In 1987-88 there were 7,601 Catholic elementary schools and 1,391 secondary schools. The year before there were 7,709 elementary schools and IAll secondary schools. NCEA president Sister Catharine T. McNamee said that devel-
opment efforts can "turn around that trend" because the root problem has been financial. "The decline was not for lack of interest or because of the lack of quality ofthe schools," but lack of a stable financial base, said Sister McNamee, a member of the Sis-' ters of St. Joseph of Carondelet. She said the development programs show that bishops "recog..: nize the importance of Catholic schools and provide a financial base" for the future. The goal of a development program is to go beyond scraping together enough money for the next school year to long-range financial planning, fundraising, Turn to Page Six
IN A RITE offall, Bishop Stang High School head coach James Lanagan gives some tips to freshman football squad member Dave Fonseca. (Rosa photo) .