FALL RIVER DIOCESAN NEWSPAPER FOR SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS
t eanc 0 VOL. 25, NO. 37
FALL RIVER, MASS., THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 1981
Bishop calls MX missile plan 'total WASHINGTON (NC) .,... Development of the MX missile system would be "total madness" because it would increase the probability of nuclear holoCBlust, Bishop Walter S'ullivan of Richmond, Va., told a Washinl~ton news conference last week. "The MX is a false security. It is not a weapon of deterrence. It is a first strike nuclear well,pon which in the past was unthink-
able," said Bishop Sullivan, who appeared as part of a panel urging that production of the MX system be cancelled. With a decision on the MX expected from President Reagan shortly, the news conference was called by the National Campaign to Stop the MX in a last-ditch effort to stir a public outcry against the weapon. In addition to Bishop Sullivan,
other panelists included leaders of environmental, labor and farm groups. Bishop Sullivan called the use of nuclear weapons "totally immoral since it would involve the indiscriminate killing of countless millions of innocent people." He added, "If the use of such weapons is immoral, then their very existence can and must be condemned."
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Development of the MX is also morally repulsive because it "squanders" limited resources that might otherwise be used to meet human needs, Bishop Sullivan said. "Cancellation of the MX might be the first step toward serious negotiation in making the world safe for ourselves and our children," he said. "Cancellation of the MX could be the first step
in a bilateral nuclear freeze." He conCluded that "to stop the MX will help make our world a place of life, freedom and laughter, . rather than a huge arsenal of death, bondage and fear." Other speakers at the news conference opposed the MX on the grounds that it would not correct the alleged vulnerability of the present Minuteman sysTurn to Page Six
Charismatics grow路 MILWA:UKEE (NC) -A priest who recently surveyed the extent of the charismatic renewal movement in U.S. dioceses estimated has that there are 6,,364 Catholic charismatic prnyer groups in the country with :Z52, 014 Catholics participating in them. The priest, Father Kenneth Metz of the Milwaukee Archdiocese, chairman of the steering committee of diocesan liaisons for the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, surveyed the 145 Latin-Rite dioceses in the country which have an assigned liaison with charismatics. The 83 liaisons who respcmded to the survey indicated that there are 116,718 Catholics lparticipating in 2,947 prayer groups. Another 300 prayer groups were reported without participation estimates.
Father Metz then made a statistical projection of total .numbers on the assumption that figures were comparable in unreporting dioceses. Other estimates have placed the total number of charismatics considerably higher. A Gallup Poll published in Fe.bruaryl980 reported that 18 percent of adult Catholics in the United States consider themselves to be charismatics or Pentecostals. That percentage amounts to 6 million or 7 million Catholic charismatics. Most groups - 96 percent are prayer groups, he said. But covenant groups of charismatics living in community are much larger in average size. Forty-six dioceses listed 555 Spanish-speaking groups. Of these, 27.8 percent were considered bilingual. These groups Turn to Page Six
Independent Poland needed CASTELGANDOLFO, I tal y (NC) - In strong words seen as an admonition to the Soviet Union Pope John Paul II llaid that a free and independent Poland is necessary for world peace. Speaking Sept. 6 to 15,000 visitors to his summer residence at Castelgandolfo, the pope recalled the September invasion by Germany of Poland 42 yE!arS ago which started World War II. He said that, by losing 6 miI:lion lives in that war, his native land had earned the right to indepe-ndence. "This great spilling of blood was and is our contribution, a contribution which confirms our desire to live, and our right to live, witJi our own life as a nation, a pation with its own c:ulture, it!! own individuality, its own way of looking at social issues an4 at the dignity of human work," said the pope.
"It is necessary to add, always to add, that respect for this right of our nation, as of every other nation, is a condition for international harmony and for peace in the world," he said. Focusing directly on Solidarity, the pope recalled the social upheavals, including strikes, a year ago which brought Solidarity into prominence. "I cannot forget the important events that took place a year ago at Gdansk, Szczecin and other cities in Poland," he said. Then he referred to the Solidarity congress which opened Sept. 5 in Gdansk: "Nor can I forget the congress of Solidarity which has begun in these days on the anniversary of the events of last year." The pope noted that he had been moved upon learning that the union movement had recently succeeded in erecting a cross Tum to Page Three
BOTH FALLING LEAVES and the start of school are greeted with enthusiasm by six-year-old Jodi LaCoppola. (NC Photo)
Future is bright for diocesan schools With approximately 60 new teachers and five new principals coming into diocesan schools and with an enrollment of some 11,000 students, the future of area Catholic education looks bright, opines Sister M. Laurita Hand, PBVM, diocesan superintendent of schools. From kindergarten through grade 12, she said, "parents are again entrusting their children to the dedicated teachers who staff our parochial and diocesan schools. The challenge for parents 'is -to develop attitudes within their children consistent 'with the Christian philosophy of the school system."
Twenty-four of the 34 diocesan schools opened their doors Sept. 2, while elementary and middle schools in Taunton and Attleboro and all high schools opened yesterday, due to busing accommodations. Overall entrollment has increased by some 300 students, said Sister Laurita, with several schools, notably the high schools, reporting waiting lists. Orientation for new teachers was held recently under direction of the diocesan department of education, headed by Father George W. Coleman. Many schools have also scheduled orientation sessions for parents
and new students. Many teachers, noted Sister Laurita, have spent much of their summer in university classrooms, keeping current with their fields. For the coming year, a multipronged in-service program is offered by the diocesan offke. It includes an Interserv Program of professional enrichment, begun last year and attended voluntarily by nearly 200 teachers and administrators; regular professional days; and a Potential Administrator Program with an enrollment of 15 teachers who will participate in full-day workshops and will this year as part of their Turn to Page Six