FALL RIVER DIOCESAN NEWSPAPER FOR SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSEnS CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS
t eanc 0 VOL. 25, NO. 39
FALL RIVER, MASS., THURSDAY; SEPTEMBER 24; 1981
Pope salutes handicapped CASTELGANDOLFO, I t fl 1 Y (NC) - "How can I tell yOll of the joy your visit brings rne?" said the smiling man in the white cassock, looking down at the crowd. Below, in the courtyard, de:tight danced also from the faces of his 573 special visitors, notwithstanding the fact that most were in wheelchairs, many others with braces. Each carried on olive twi.g, a symbol that they wanted to offer their suffering "to the world, to the church and to the POpEl for peace among men." The scene was Castelgandolfo the pope's summer home, to which last Thursday a pilgrimage of the handicapped came from the diocese of Verona in northern Italy. They were accompanied by their families and by VElrona Bishop Giuseppe Amari. The Verona Diocese, in conjunction with the International Year of the Handicapped, has embarked on an ambitious program involving its 159 parishes. The program is consistent with their bishop's belief, which he explained to the pope, that the handicapped "occupy thE: first place in the church because they are near to Christ in his poverty and his suffering." The program consists of a well-planned effort to include as many of the handicapped as possible in parish committees, activities and events. The culmination of the dioceses's program was the trip to Rome by the 573 handicapped and their families. Bishop Amari told the pope that "many, many others wanted to come but logTurn to Page Seven
----------Family topic for deacons
The Fall River diocesE~ will host the fourth annual New England Regional Assembly of the Diaconate from 10 a.m. ti() 5:30 p.m. Saturday at Bishop Feehan High School, Attleboro. Opening the day, Msgr. Ernest Fiedler, executive director of the u.S. bishops' committee on the permanent diaconatE:, will discuss a recent survey 'of the state of the diaconate program. Nine workshops will be presented by deacons, canciidates and their wives. The place of wives and children in the diaconal program and the relationTurn to Page Six
Letters
FATHER TOSTI AT CENTER ENTRANCE
Center to open By Pat McGowan What price family life? It's highly pr,ized by the diocese of Fall River, if one can judge by the sparkling new Family Life Center due to open Sunday in the former Bishop Stang convent buHding at 500 S10cum Road, North Dartmouth. It will be路 blessed at 3 p.m. by Bishop Daniel A. Cronin as the central event of an open house to take place from 2 to 5 p.m. FiI'om its attractive lawn sign to its sun-<:atching garden room, the center gives the message that family life is important, attractive and here to stay. Since very mtle in the church fails to concern families in one way or another, the center offers a wide range of programs and services, said Father Ronald A. Tosti, its director and directoc of the enUre diocesan family ministry outreach. Comfortable overnight retreat or workshop facilities are avai'lable for up to 57 persons, while 160 can be accommodated for day programs ,in two [arge conference rooms, one sea blue, the other in harvest tones, predominantly burnt orange. The center's garden room, a bower of plants, white and yellow ,lounge furniture and deep
green rugs, is a place for casual meetings, while smaI1 conversation areas are scattered throughout the four-story bui'lding, said Father Tosti. A dining room seats 60 and the catering services of Norman Portelance are available to groups using the facBity. Father Tosti displayed the center's 'inviting double bedrooms, each with coordinated drapes, bedspreads and even clotheshangers. Desks are conveniently avaLlable in the haHs and thoce is even a kitchenette to supply late-night snacks for retreatants. Other building resources include a large library, a gift shop open dai'ly from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and a reconciliation room that can double as a small meeting place. Decorations include original ship paintings by Davis Balestracci, buLlding custodian, and 40 fabr.ic prints, framed by Sister Gertrude Gaudette, O.P., of the facUlty of neighboring Bishop Stang High School. Center offices include those of Father Tosti, his secretary, Anne E. Carney, and center coordinator Natalie Arsenault. They aliso include an auxiliary office for the diocesan Permanent Diaconate which has Jts main quarters Turn to Page Seven
Parents of diocesan students will shortly be asked to participate in a nationwide letter-writing campaign urging congressional action on tuition tax credits. Father George W. Coleman, diocesan director of education, said that parents would receive official notification of the campaign through school principals. However, a Reagan administration official expressed concern that tuition tax credits for parents of children in parochial and other non-publCc schools could violate the First Amendment's separation of church and state. R. Tim McNamara, deputy secretary of the Treasury, said in an A'ssociated Press interview that "we don't want to do anything disingenuous like pushing a bill and then seeing it declared unconstitutional. That's silly." Administration officials also have expressed concern as to the economic feasibility of tax credits. Nevertheless, USCC Office for Educational Assistance director Edward Anthony said private school parents and teachers should write to senators urging support for S.550, the legislation sponsored by Sen. Robert Packwood (R-Qre.) and Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-N.Y.), and to representatives for support for any of several House versions of tax credit legislation. Bishop Thomas C. Kelly, USCC general secretary has written to all U.S. bishops to alert them "this important and highly visible phase" of the tax credit campaign was about to begin. . Bishop Kelly pointed out that although President Reagan has pledged support for tax credit
20c, $6 Per Year
asked legislation, it was not included in his first tax bill. Now that the first bill has passed Congress, the bishop said it is time for tax credit legislation to come from Congress. Anthony said one signal that would indicate the administration's continued support for tax credits would be the inclusion of provisions for the anticipated revenue loss in the 1982 budget. "When you write that into the budget, it's a fairly clear indication of support," he said. Although some tax credit supporters have said they hope to see passage of the legislation next spring, Anthony warned that unless legislation is drafted for consideration soon it will not be in time for consideration then. "It's the concern of this office, and of the Catholic community, that legislation begin. ~o.. ~ove as soon as possible" if it is to pass the 97th Congress. Concern about the constitutionality of tuition tax credits is not well founded, said Ursuline Sister Renee' Oliver, associate director of Citizens for Freedom. "They are basing their argument on the establishment clause (of the First Amendment) and ignoring the exercise clause which we think is far more weighty," she said. The clause gives individuals the right to the free exercise of religion. "No way is tuition tax credit the establishment of one religion in this country, especially when so many religions have schools," Sister Oliver said. Moynihan has repeatedly asked that Congress deal with tax credits as a legislative issue and then allow the courts to deal with the constitutional questions.
No easy answers By Father Kenneth J. Doyle ROME (NC) - People who want easy answers to complex questions may feel some disappointment with Pope John Paul II's new encyclical, "Laborem Exercens" (On Human Work). At Vatican press conference announcing the encyclical, an American journalist asked about the relationship of the document to Poland's Solidarity labor union. Was the document written to boost Solidarity in its struggle with the communist government? The answer to that was easy, said one of the Vatican spokesmen, Beligian Father Jan Schot-
te, secretary of the Vatican Commission for Justice and Peace. The encyclical was in planning long before Solidarity's rise to prominence, he said. What the journalist really wanted to know was whether the encyclical can be seen as backing the ideals and techniques of Solidarity, a topical question. But for that question there is no quick response. The encyclical clearly advances the right of workers to organize for their protection and this is what Solidarity has done. But the document also says Turn to Page Ten