Mission- Work Confronts Basic Concerns of Life
The ANCHOR
Father Donald J. Bowen, 36, has been a priest of the Fall River Diocese since May 30, 1964. He has served in St. Patrick Parish, Somerset; St. Mary Parish, Norton and St. John the Evangelist Parish, Attleboro. He joined the St. James the Apostle Missionary Society on Oct. 9, 1973, in a lend-lease program of sharing priests for missionary activity in South America..
An Anchor of the Soul, Sure and Firm-St. Paul
Fall River, Mass., Tl;ursday, Sept. 19, 1974 PRICE 15c Vol. 18, No. 38 © 1974 The Anchor $5.00 per year
Moving from Attleboro to Paria, bigh up in the Bolivian Andes of South America, becomes more than a journey of 6,000 miles. 'It is a passage into another world: from high fashions and techilology to quaint living and ancient traditions; from inex· haustible consumer choices to a simple choice of day to day sustenance; from a society constantly in flux to one of more enduring familial ties in its sociopolftical structures; from a people who live by the ticking of the clock to a land where time is hardly reckoned; from a lifestyle. with' primary emphasis on coolness and efficiency to the warm Spanish accent of intima. cy and affection. This journey into the life of another country' is sometimes confus'ing, sometimes frustrating, but always fascinating. About 55 miles from La Paz near the shores of Lake Titicaca stand the ancient stone ruins of Tiwanaku, the last remnants of a civiliza-
Church Difficulties Respond to Faith CASTELGANOOLFO (NC) Faith is the first requirement for overcoming the difficulties besetting the Church today, Pope Paul VI told his weekly general audience Sept. 11. lt would seem superfidallly that the Churoh "is destined to burn itself out and let itself be substituted by a more facile and experimental rational and scientific concept of the world," he observed. Such a substitute for the Church would be "without dogmas, without hierarchies, without limits to the possible enjoyment of existence and without the Cross of Christ," he said. 'Pope Paul asked: "Has there not pe~haps been created an abyss, seemingly bottomless, between modern thought and the old religious and churchly mentality?" Many today wonder "if it is still necessary for the Church to teach us to love the poor, to recognize the rights of slaves. and of men, to care for and help the suffering, or to invent alphabets for illiterate people."
Moving from the general difficulties which the Church finds itself faced with today to particular internal troubles, Pope Paul observed: "And now there are some sons who have sworn love and fidelity who are leaving. There are not a few almost-deserted seminaries and Religious families wh.o find new candidates only with difficulty. And there are the faithful who do not fear to be unfaithful. "The list of these evils which afflict the Church of God today, despite the (Second Vatican) Council, could be continued up to the point at which the great part of them do not assail the Church from without, but afflict, weaken and enfeeble it from within." Despite these difficulties, the Church will stand because it has the promise of Christ to be with it for a'll time, ,the Pope declared. "Faith is the first requirement to overcome the present difficulties," he said. . The Pope defined faith as "the adherence to the word of God," Turn to Page Two
Cardinal Medeiros Sets Guidelines For First Communion, Penance BOSTON (NC) Can:linal Humberto S. Medeiros of Boston issued guidelines here for parents, children and priests regard·
Set· Charity Ball Date The annual meeting to plan the Bishop's Charity Ball of the diocese of Fall River is set for !Jwo on Sunday aft.ernoon at White's Restaurant, North West· port. Rev. Msgr. Anthony M. Gomes, diocesan director of the Charity Ball, said: "The 20th annual Ball will be in honor of the Most Rev. Daniel A. Cronin, S.T.D., Bishop of the diocese, now in his fifth year as Bishop of the diocese. The Bishop is very much interested in this charitable and social event. The proceeds help to maintain the facilities of fOUf schools for the exceptional children and four summer camps for Turn to Page Two
tion that began hl::rl:: nearly 1,600 years ago. It eventually yielded to the rising of the great Inca Empire of the 14th century. These two are the ancestral forebears of the Aymara and Quecha Indians who now live throughout the mountain and pampa of the Bolivian altiplano.· The archeological remains of Tiwanaku present a sharp contrast to the growing, crowded city of La Paz with all its claims on the 20th century in the form of modest skyscrapers, hotels, neon billboards and the usual urban mixture of elegance along with the blight of poverty. ALmost as if to conceal its roots
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ing the reception of first Communion and first Penance. The guidelines summarize in briefer form more detailed guidelines issued by the archdiocese last year. They'stress the primary role of parents in l..'<!ucating children for the reception of the two sacraments, and they stress' . the freedom of the child to receive either sacrament first. According to the guidelines, preparation for the r.eception of first Communion should norma.)ly take place in the second grade. Preparation for Penance should begin in the first grade and continue through the fourth grade, with instruction geared to the child's ability to understand the concepts of sin, redemption, healing, love and penance. The primary .responsibiJi.ty for judging when' the child is ready for sacramental Penance belongs to the parent, in consultation wi~h the priest confessor and teachers, the guidelines say. They add: "Not every child must receivl:: Tum to Page Two
FATHER THOMAS, S.J.
It is only when you begin the winding ascent to the heights beyond that you become more and more aware that there exists yet another Bolivia: a Bolivia of rural peasants trying to survive off the yield of the land; a people whose garb and looks clearly link them with a history stretching deep into the past; a people who today are sHII living on the fringes of social and economic development in Bolivia.
These are the campesinos (peasants) who make up the majority of Bolivia's population while inhabiting the vast 75 per cent of its territory that is nonurban. lt is into this Bolivia that one emerges upon leaving the city below and moving out into the great stretches of altiplano that exist at an altitude of nearly 13,000 feet above sea level. Quickly you sense that you have arrived in what might be called a middle-distance land between Tiwanaku and the 20th century.
FATHER BOWEN
Expert on Mar~iage, Family At Priests' Study Days Healing Ministry to Marriage and the Family is the theme for the Fall Study Days for priests working :in the Diocese of' Fall River. Two identical days are scheduled for Monday, September 30, at St. Mary's Parish Education Center, South Dartmouth, and for Tuesday, October 1, at St. Mary's Parish Education Center, Seekonk. Fat-her John L. Thomas, S.J. research professor at the Jesuit
with the past, La Paz 'is nestled apart from the rest of the country in a deep crescent carved out of the mountainous plateau wh.Jch surrounds it.
Center for Social Studies, Georgetown University, will conduct the program. Father Thomas, a former Guggenheim Fellow and former President of the American Catholic Sociological Society, is a highly respected priest-sociologist whose. long· standing interest in the American Catholic family places him among the experts in his field. ,.Father Thomas has' authored 10 books on marl'iage and the family, the most recent being "The American Catholic Family, A Sociological Perspective" published in 1974 by the F'amily Life Division of the U. S. Catholic Conference. He has contributed chapters in 25 other books, four articles in the Catholic Encyclopedia, and numerous· articles in various European and Amerkan journals.
It is agricultural and past!?r"I, and in every respect still quite primitive. Little adobe pueblos that dot the plains and hillsides along the. highway seem even now to breathe the secrets of their ancestry. Typically designed Franciscan or Augustini· an bell towers stand proudly by little chapels in each pueblo as lingering clues to the presence of the first Spanish missionaries
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Bishop Cronin Gives Support To Birthright In recognition of the accomplishments of the Birthright program throughout the Fall River diocese, Most Rev. Daniel' A. Cronin has made a grant to the organization through the Campaign for Human Development. Birthright is a positive antiabortion program that offers pregnant girls and women aid in hringing their babies to term. 'Centers are active in New Bedford, Fall River, Hyannis and Attleboro. Mr. John Clements, a member of the advisory committee of the diocesan Campaign for Human Development, will present the grant to Mrs. A. Roger Loranger, director of Birthright of New Bedford, at a public meeting set for 8 P.M. Tuesday, Sept. 24 at St. Mary's Church Hall, North Main St., Fairhaven.
Along with the conferences presented .by Father Thomas, four workshops have been planned for the afternoon dealing with Marriage preparation; Marriage Encounter; ministry to the family of the alcoholic; and FamFollowing the presentation ily Liturgies. Arranged through the auspices of the Department ,there will be a slide showing of of Adult Education of the Di- Birthright's activities and a preocese of Fall River under Rev. view of the organization's reMichel G. Methot, and the Chan- vised educational program, precery Office, the Fall Study Days ' sented by Mr. arnd Mrs. Gordon are an annual program of the L. Baker, who are available as Continuing Education of Clergy speakers for area schools, clubs and other groups. of the Diocese of Fall River.