VOL. 34, NO. 37
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Friday, September 21, 1990
FALL RIVER, MASS.
Southeastern Massachusetts' Largest Weekly
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511 Per Year
Bishops want US government to pay United Nations dues WASHINGTON (CNS) - The U.S. bishops have called on the U.S. government to make room in the federal budget for paying 1990 dues and outstanding payments of $661 million owed to the United Nations. Emphasizing the UN role in the current Persian Gulf crisis, Archbishop Roger M. Mahony of Los Angeles, in a letter to a senate appropriations subcommittee on behalf of the U.S. bishops, urged "appropriation of funds needed to meet all U.S. obligations to the United Nations." Archbishop Mahony is chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on International Policy. "In our view, the recent changes in international relations have made the U.N. even more relevant to the universal aspirations for democracy and peace which we all
share," said Archbishop Mahony in his letter, released in Washington. He said the $661 million that the United States owes to the United Nations is 10 times more than what is owed by any other nation. Archbishop Mahony said the global organization has played a key role in recent years in "achieving specific security goals." He cited U.N.-monitored elections in Nicaragua and Namibia, adding that the organization has facilitated withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and Angola and mediated peace talks in EI Salvador. The United Nations in August approved a series of resolutions condemning the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. It also initiated a trade embargo against Iraq. In addition, U.N. Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar met in late August
with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in attempts to reach a diplomatic solution to the Persian Gulf Crisis. Archbishop Mahony said that both the U.S. bishops and the Vat" ican "have strongly supported the United Nations from its very beginning." He noted that Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul II had addressed the organization's general assembly. "We have not been uncritical s'upporters," he said. Rather the church has "welcomed efforts to bring about more effective programs, administrative reform and review of U.N. policies and priorities," he said. " Now that these concerns have been addressed and "with the new developments in Eastern and CenTurn to Page II
NCCB gets bomb threats WASH INGTON (CNS) Three early September bomb threats disrupted normal routines at the Washington, D.C., headquarters of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops/ U.S. Catholic Conference. On Sept. 13 the start of the business day was delayed as police and bomb-sniffing dogs searched the building. According to Msgr. Robert Lynch, general secretary for the bishops' twin conferences, a caller whose voice closely resembled that of a person who had called twice Sept. 12 with bomb threats, said, "The bomb is still in the building." Although police believed the call to be a hoax as had been the previous calls, they recommended
evacuation of the building and brought back the dogs who had aided the Sept. 12 search. Francis X. Doyle, NCCB-USCC associate general secretary, said it could not be determined whether the Sept. 12 bomb threats were linked to an NCCB Administrative committee meeting taking place Sept. 11-13 in the headquarters building. "I don't know how widely known" the bishops' meeting was, Doyle said. It was the first bomb threat called into the U.S. bishops' headquarters in his 19 years with the bishops' twin conferences, Doyle said. Cora Hunter, a receptionist at
the building who received the Sept. 12 calls, said she got the first call shortly after noon. "I really couldn't hear too clearly. It was just inaudible," Ms. Hunter said. "I cut them off." The second call came immediately afterward. The muffled male voice that had called the first time said, "There's a bomb in the building. There's a bomb in the building," Ms. Hunter said. He repeated the statement upon her request, she said. When Ms. Hunter asked where, the caller replied, "I can't tell you. There's a bomb in the building," and hung up. Police were called, and police made the decision to evacuate and conduct a search for the bomb.
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Respect Life Walk participation urged Father StephenA. Fernandes, diocesan director of pro-life activities, met last week with parish prolife coordinators in order to initiate parish-focused respect-life activities and to discuss projects for October, national Respect Life Month. More than 100 coordinators attended the meeting at St. . James parish, New Bedford, where Father Fernandes is parochial vicar. In the 59 parishes where they have been appointed, the coordinators will speak at all Masses this weekend to explain how parishioners may join this year's Respect Life Walk, to be held Oct. 7 in Boston, rain or shine.
The Walk is an annual project which raises funds for and awareness of more than 40 pro-life agencies in the state. These include crisis pregnancy counseling centers and shelters, pro-life education offices, and organizations that work with exceptional children. Participants are encouraged, but not required, to obtain sponsors, .and may designate the organization to which they wish to donate pledges. Growing by leaps and bounds since its inception in 1987, when the crowd numbered 2,500, the Walk last year drew 20,000 particTurn to Page II
Women's pastoral vote delayed WASHINGTON (CNS) - The planned vote this November by the U.S. bishops on a pastoral letter on women has been deferred, partly because the Vatican suggested consultation be held first with other bishops' conferences, Cincinnati Archbishop Daniel E. Pilarczyk announced Sept. 13.
A POLICEMAN and bomb-sniffing dog walk in front of NCCBj USCC headquarters in Washington following evacuati~n ofthe building after telephoned bomb threats. (CNS photo)
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FATHER STEPHEN A. Fernandes discusses Respect Life Walk with parish pro-life coordinators. At right, James P. Wasel, pro-life contact and walk coordinator for the Fall River j Swansea area.
The archbishop, president of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, said that when the bishops meet they will discuss the current draft "as an information item," but no vote will be taken until the broader consultation is carried out. The decision to delay a vote was made by the NCCB Administrative Committee, which met in Washington last week to set the agenda for the November bishops' meeting. In his statement Archbishop Pilarczyk stressed that the Vatican
did not order the oelay on the pastoral. "In recent weeks, the Holy See - while leaving a decision on the matter to our own conference has suggested that consultation with bishops' conferences of other countries on this pastoral letter would be appropriate, because of the international significance both of our conference and of the topics we are discussing," he said. He said the Administrative Committee "deems such a recommendation a wise one and recalls how such international consultation strengthened our pastoral letters on war and peace in 1983 and on the American economy in 1986." The project of a pastoral letter on women's concerns began in 1983. The letter's writing commitTurn to Page II
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