FALL RIVER DIOCESAN NEWSPAPER FOR SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS
FALL RIVER, MASS., FRIDAY i SEPTEMBER 13, 1985
VOL. 29, NO. 36
$8 Per Year
At World Synod of Bishof,!
Bish,opJa~es Malone
to represent NCCB
MARRIOTTSVI·LLE, MD (NC) - The 60 members of the U.S. bishops National Advisory Coun cil have advised Bishop James Malone of concerns they want him, as president of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops and the U.S. Catholic Confer ence, to bring to the World'Sy nod of Bishops. The synod, called by Pope John Paul 'II, will be held in Rome Nov. 25 to Dec. 8 to re view the state of the Church 20 years after the Se~ond Vatican Council. The priests, religious and lay people on the council met with Bishop Malone Sept. 8, at the conclusion of their regular three day fa'll meeting in Marriotts ville. Church treatment of women, sharp losses rin the number of priests, priestly celibacy, ten sions between the U.S. Church and Rome, declines rin Mass at tendance and failure of religious education to reach many Catholic youths were among problems that the advisory councH 'asked Bish op Malone to consider for the synod, discussions.
They told him that major strengths they found in the U.S. church since Vatican II included liturgical reform and people's participation in the liturgy, strong lay leadership and ex pansion of ·lay ministries, a deep ened sense of the, sacraments .of baptism 'and matrimony, growth in biblical spirituality, growing ae<:eptance of pluralism and di versity within the one church, and revitalization of religious life. Picking up on several remarks "bout Vatican-U.S. church ten sions, Bishop Malone said that one of the key issues he thought the world synod should work on ,is "a clarification of the theo logical character of bishops' con ferences." This, he said, would involve questions ranging from the moral ,authority of bishops' conferences when ·they teach as a body and the role they have dn dealing with dissent, to their role in re lations with other bishops' con ferences 'and the Holy See. ' Several I8dvisory council mem bers expressed concern that Rome does not understand the
U.S. church and gets a skewed view of it from a small coterie on the right that wl'ites directly to Rome. Father Charles Irvin of Hamburg. Mich., referred to the, letter-writers as "self-ap pointed vigilantes who are doing end-runs 'around the National Conference of Catholic Bishops." ,Donna Hanson of Spokane, Wash., incoming chairwoman of the council, expressed concern about Catholics not being able to attend Mass or receive the sacraments as often ,as they would like "because th~re is not a priest available." She linked the problem of a lack of priests with the question of celibacy and ' with a concern over Vatican un willingness to give 'dispensations to priests who leave active min istry. She asked how new voca tions can be attracted when peo ple see how priests are treated when they 'resign. Bishop Malone said that "a number of people I8re urging a return" from Pope John Paul's strict norms for dispensation of priests to the earlier norms Turn to Page Two
Moral, is,sue:s LCWR concern
NEW ORLEANS (NC) - Two invited archbishops did not show up 'as nearly 700 participants in the 'annual national assembly of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious Sept. 1-5 dis cussed new moral issues con fronting them at a New Orleans meeting earlier :this month. With "Women at the WeB" as rits theme, the meeting was aim ed at helping superiors of wom en's orders draw on "wellsprings of common experience" lin facing "complex, difficult questions," said the outgoing LCWR presi dent, Presentation Sister Mar garet Cafferty. Workshops at ,the meeting dealt with ethics rin health care, in power and corporate decision making, -in financia'l stewardship, in personnel relations and in question's of pubHc policy. "tCWR mem1:>ership has to' deal rin life-and-death issues," Sister Cafferty said in an inter view. "And they have to do it
with ,increasingly scarcer re sources and personnel. They have to make judgments and choices as individuals and as members of a corporate com munity." Sister Anne E. Patrick, a Holy Names of Jesus and MaT)r sister who teaches Christian ethics I8t Carleton College in Northfield,
NOTICE
We are preparing to publish a new and enlarged Diocesan Directory and request par ishes 'and diocesan agencies listed in the current edition (dated Aug. 9, 1984) to check their entries and notify us of any corrections by mail or telephone BY FRIDAY, SEPT. 20. If we do not hear from you, we will presume your listing is correct as it stands.
Minn., challenged her hearers to become women of vision, cour age, imagination and creativity. One of two main speakers, she spoke on "The Moral Decision Maker: F,rom Good Sisters to Prophetic Women." Mercy Sister Margaret Farley, a ChristIan ethics professor ,at Yale Divinity School and the sec ond main speaker, examined the process of making moral deci sions and of del8ling with prob lems arising in the face of con-, flicting values. It was the presence of Sister Farley that :precipitated cancel lations from two archbishops scheduled to participate in the meeting. She is one of more than 25 U.S. women religious ordered by the Vatican to recant a state ment on abortion or face expul sion from theiT religious com muniti~s.
The statement, which appeared as a full-page ad in The New 'Turn to Page Fifteen
LI* $ ,Iff I
'HIIIJ
I
/
I
j
MSGR. PANNONI
60 years a priest
Next Thursday win mark the 60th ,anniversary of pl'iestly or dination for Msgr. Joseph R. Pannoni, a Fall River native who retired 14 years ago as pastor of that city's Holy Rosary parish. As pastor emeritus, he Hves next door' to Holy Rosary rec tory and joins Father V'incent F. Diaferio, his successor, for meals. "He's been like a father t.o me," said Father Diaferio. With Bishop Daniel A. Cronin presiding, he and Msgr. Pannoni will concelebrate 10:30 a.m. Mass this Sunday, as they always do. A buffet luncheon in the church hall will follow, giving parish ioners the opportunity to con gratulate the 84-year-old pdest who was their shepherd for 23 years. Msgr. P.annoni remains active in parish me, said Father Dia ferio, concelebrating the 4 p.m. Mass each Saturday as well as the Sunday morning Hturgy. He also hears confessions preceding the Saturday Mass. A sister, Mrs. Edwin A. Wil liams of Denver, Colo., and a brother, Peter Pannoni of Somer set, aTe expected to be among guests at Sunday's celebration. The son of the late Louis Pan noni and the late Beatrice Zaren
ga Pannoni, Msgr. Pannoni was born in Fall River on Feb. 4, 1901. After attending St. Mary's parochial school and BMC Dur fee Hign School in Fan River, he studied for two years at St. Charles Seminary in CatonsviHe, Md. He prepared for the priest "hood at the North American Col lege in Rome, Italy, attending clal!sesat the Propaganda Fidei University. After six years at the Vatican seminary, he was ordained to the priesthood by the Most Rev. Daniel F. Feehan at St. Mary's Cathedral on Sept. 19, 1925. On April 21, 1964" Most Rev. James L. Connolly anvested the Fall River pastor 'with the robes of a domestic prelate. Msgr. Pannoni was parochial vicaT at Sacred Heart parish, Taunton; Corpus Christi par-ish, Sandwich; and St. William par ish, Fall River. Appointed pastor of St. Fran cis of' A'ssisi parish, New Bed ord' in 1929, he was named to the Holy Rosary pastorate in 1948, retiring' from that post 'in 1971.