t leanc 0 VOL. 37, NO. 36
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Friday, September 17, 1993
FALL RIVER, MASS.
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Pope welcomes f-LO-Israel accord
Photo by Frank Fennell/Dublin
TAOISEACH ALBERT REYNOLDS
First for both ~aoiseach, b i s h o p By Pat McGowan "For all Irish ~Jeople, the search for peace in our own island is our greatest challenge," declared Ireland's taoiseach (prime minister) at ceremonies Tuesday night at Sto.nehill College, North Easton. "I continue to believe the only way forward lies in a new accommodation between both traditions in Ireland and bel ween Britain and Ireland," continued Taoise~ch Albert Re)'nolds. " For that reason, the Irish government will do all in our power to restart the talks process that adjourned towards the end' of last year," he said. Reynolds was at Stonehill for the opening of the college's Archive of Irish Government Official Publications, the mm.t comprehensive such collection in the United States, beginning with documents dating from 1922, when the Irish Free State was establi ,hed as a British dominion, through 1937, when Ireland became a sovereign state, and to the present. Commenting 011 the international scene, Reynolds said"As a member of the European Community, Ireland is today wl)rking with our partners and with the wider international community in seeking new signposts and mapping a new way forward in the cO',duct of international relations. False certainties arising in recent decades from military capability or ideological rivalry or alliance politics have now given way to new challenges and fresh horizons. "Foreign policy today is truly
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CASTE L GANDOLFO, Italy "It is the beginning of a difficult (CNS) - Pope John Paul II of- path, along which there will cerfered a prayer of thanks for the tainly be problems: This is the price of peace between peoples historic accord between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organi- and also the price of peace among zation, saying it marked the begin- hearts," he said. The pope prayed that those rening of "a concrete and constructive" peace process in the region. sponsible for the negotiations be While recognizing that future protected and strengthened, and difficulties are likely between the added: "May God inspire trust two sides, the pope encouraged all among those who are still doubtful people - including those who are and who, having experienced so still "doubtful" about the agree- much disappointment and fear, ment - to give peace a chance to believe peace and justice are still develop. far away." The pope commented at a SunThe pope ended his remarks day blessing Sept. 12 at his summer with a brief ref'erence to Jerusaresidence in Castel Gandolfo. Israel lem, whose,status was not covered and the PLO announced Sept. 9 by the Israeli-PLO agreement but that they would end decades of will be left to later negotiations. "With these sentiments of hope, mutual hostility and recognize each other, paving the way toward lim- my thoughts cannot help turning to Jerusalem, city of the Lord and ited Palestinian self-rule. The pope described the latest ' the crossroads of peace and broth~ steps as "historic signals of the erhood for the Holy Land, for the desire for peace" in a land long whole region and for all those who torn by conflict. live there," he said. "We thank the Lord for having The pope has said he wants to inspired courageous leaders to visit the Holy City, but Vatican overcome mistrust, fear and serious officials have made clear that such objective problems, and to begin a trip could not take place before a - finally -, a concrete and con- peace agreement. On Sept. 13, structive process for the good of Vatican spokesman Joaquin Natheir peoples and the region," the varro-Valls saidthere was "nothing true" in a report that the Vatican pope said.
and Israel were trying to arrange a papal visit for Christmas Eve of this year. The spokesman said it was likely that the pope would eventually make the trip to the Holy Land, but said there was "no direct connection" between such a visit and the Israeli-IPLO accord. The Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, said the PLOIsraeli agreement was "a great step forward on a road that should lead toward peace." The commentary cautioned that a "long and difficult" process of negotiation still lies ahead, but said this first concrete achievement was an "exceptional" event. Other Vatican sources una'nimously described the PLO-Israeli mutual recognition agreement as a crucial and positive step. They said that by improving overall peace prospects, it could also favor the work of the Vatican-Israeli commission that is studying bilateral problems with a view toward diplomatic relations. Another Vatican source emphasized that the Holy See "wants the negotiations to continue in order to resolve all the existing problems. This is an important point."
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global. A century ago, for example, starvation and violence in Somalia would scarely have been noted in world capitals. The tragedies of Yugoslavia and Somalia bear powerful testimony to the continuing need for a cohesive international response to regional tensions and disputes and to strengthening the United Nation!; role in the areas of preventive diplomacy, peace-keeping and peace-building. Inevitably, international institutions, especially the United Nations, will be required to playa more active and important role in global management. "A central challenge facing the international community is to develop a new and coherent agenda for justice and development around the world. This will require new and broader strategies in relation to the environment and development and to the international financial and economic systems. It will require more rapid and substantial progress on disarmament and arms control. "The paramount and absolute importance of human rights must, in all circumstances, be vigorously asserted by the international community. The poet Archibald MacLeish has written that 'the cause of human liberty is now the one great revolutionary cause.' Man's inhumanity to man has, no doubt, been a constant in human history, but in recent decades we have, beginning with the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, come to accept that violations of human Turn to Page 13
Good Shepherd Sisters celebrate 150 years in 1U nited States The following account of the establishment of the Sisters of the Good Shephllrd in the United States is by Sister Mary Eileen Foley, RGS. In the Fall River diocese a Good Shepherd Sister is a pastoral minister at St. Luke's Hospital, New Bedford, and contemplative members of the community this year opened a convent in Harwichport. Editor
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It was the mid-19th century when five frightened young French girls were in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, retching with seasickness and terrified by the hurricane that threatened to overwhelm their small boat and plunge them into the crashing waves. One hundred and fifty years later, history describes them as five courageous missionaries sent to the New World by St. Mary Euphrasia, foundress of the Good Shepherd community, to offer help to exploited women, trapped by the shaky economy of the times and in danger of losing both virtue and life in the "land of opportunity." It was at the initiative of one of the first bishops in the United States, French missionary Benedict Joseph Flaget, that the sisters traveled to Louisville, KY, to serve poor immigrant women, many from Germany and Ireland, who were easy prey for the unscrupulous.
The wharf on the Ohio River at Louisville bustlt:d not only with commerce but. with vice of all kinds in an unsavory atmosphere of drunkenness, gambling, and immorality. "There are no less than 1,500 to 2,000 unfortunatt: females in Louisville, a city of nearly 30,000 inhabitants," Bishop Flaget had written
to his friend in France, then Mother M. Euphrasia Pelletier, who seven years before had obtained permission from Pope Gregory XVI to carry her zeal beyond Europe to victimized women in every country throughout the globe. Today the Sisters of the Good Shepherd serve in 64 countries Turn to Page 13
PARTICIIPATING IN first Mass at Harwichport convent of contemplative Sisters of Good Shepherd are from left, Sisters Rose Virginie Behrend, Cecilia Dooley, Jean Brown and Elizabeth Correia with Father James Stewart, OFM Cap., Mass celebrant.
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