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FALL RIVER DIOCESAN NEWSPAPER
t eanc 0 VOL. 29, NO. 39
FOR SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS
FALL RIVER, MASS., FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4, 1985
$8 Per Year
Lutherans., Catholics cannot VATICAN .CI1Y (NC) - De spite progress in ecumenical dia logue, Catholics and Lutherans cannot share the Eucharist be cause they lack a common pro fession of faith, Pope John Paul II said Sept. 27. "There is joy and hope, be cause the Lutheran-Catholic dia logue over the last 20 years has made us increasingly aware of how close we are to each other in many things that are basic,"
he told nine U.S. Lutheran bish ops visiting the Vatican. "We experience sorrow, too, because there Me important is sues which still divide us ,in the profession of faith, preventing us from celebrating the Euchar·ist together," the pope :added, speak ing in English. The pope spoke the same day Lutheran and Catholic officials in the United States released Iet tel's exchanged between the pope
and Bishop James R. Crumley Jr., head of the Lutheran Church in America. The letters encourage continuing ecumenical talks. In a May 22 letter to the pope, Bishop Crumley noted "outstand.jng issues" between the churches, but said he was "encouraged. at the theological convergence that is developing between Lutherans" and Roman Catholics." In his reply to the bishop July 22, Pope John Paul said that re-
storation of Christian unity "is a primary concern of mine, es pecially since being called to the 'See of Peter, which by its very nature exists to serve the unity of Christ's church." At a New York press confer ence, Bishop James Malone, president of the National Confer ence of Catholic Bishops, called the extraordinary exchang.e of letters an expression of a "con tinuous and often repeated com-
mitment" of :both sides to Chris tian unity. With 2.9 million members, the LCA is the largest of three major Lutheran bodies in the United States. The second largest is the Lutheran Church-Missouri Sy nod (2.6 million), and third is the American Lutheran Church (2.3 million). Also participating in the press . conference was Harrisburg Bish Turn to page twenty-one
P eae,e· Mass set
for Columbus Day
On Monday, Oct. 14, the Col umbus Day holiday, members of the Fall River diocese are in vited to join in the lIth annual candlelight procession and Mass for peace in Fall River. As in previous years, marchers will meet at '5:30 p.m. at St. Mary's Cathedral to march about a mile to Kennedy Park. They will carry candles, recite tke ~osary >and sing Marian hymns in Portuguese, French, Spanish, Italian, Polish and English. A statue of Our Lady will be car ried in the procession. At 7 p.m. or a mtle later, de pending on the time needed for marchers to arrive, the Mass for
peace will take place in St. Anne's Church, which faces the park at South Main and Middle Streets. The principal concelebrant will be Bishop Daniel A. Cronin. Priests of the diocese wishing to concelebrate the Eucharistic liturgy are 'asked to bring an alb and stole. Disabled or' elderly persons should proceed directly to St. Anne's Church, where a special . area will be reserved for their use. Parish groups marching to the church are encouraged to identi fy themselves with banners or flags.
Gloria kind to churches
Although Hurricane Gloria dished out. heaping helpings of power outages and downed trees to diocesan institutions and pa'1" ishes, church properties were spared serious damage, reported Msgr. Thomas J. Harrington, diocesan chancellor and episco pal vicar for finance and admin istration. He noted breakage of stained glass at St. Mary's Church, Taunton, and window and Il'oof damage at Espirito Santo School, Fall Rive'1", as among hurricane related problems. "But the 20-foot metal cross placed atop the new Notre Dame Church .in Fall River just the day before the storm came
through in fine shape," he said. Msgr. Harrington said that in general inland and urban par ishes suffered more damage than those on Cape Cod. However, the Cape had, its share of power outages. Father John C. Ozug, parochial vicar at St. Francis Xavier Church, Hy annis, said that Saturday vigil Masses were celebrated with the aid of candles and a kerosene lamp. "The ushers seated people by flashlight," he recounted, "but the body of the church was otherwise dark. It was strange -looking out from the altar and seeing only people's eyes, shin ing in the candlelight."
ADJUSTING AN ARCH of roses she made for the chapel of Our Lady's Haven, ;Fair haven, in honor of the feast of St. Theresa of the Child Jesus is Sister Emma Guenette, SSJ, aided by Mrs. Evelyn Oliveira, a resident. (Rosa photo)
Little Flo,wer'is rememb'e'red
at Our Lady's Haven
The Carmelite ;tradition of dis tributingblessed roses in honor of St. Theresa of Lisieux, the Little Flower, was observed thIs week at Our L"ady's Haven, Fair haven. The custom, explained Father ,Lucien Jusseaume, nursing home chaplain and Episcopal Repre sentative for Religious for the Fall River diocese, is a reminder of the young Carmelite saint's promise that after her death she
would "let fall a shower of roses" from heaven. Father Jusseaume conducted a triduumat Our Lady's Haven prior to Jast Tuesday's' feast of St. Theresa. A highlight was dis trihution of roses to 'residents 'and visitors and enshrinement of a statue of Theresa within an arch of :roses. Father Jusseaume noted that his devotion to :the ~ittle Flowe'!" stems from winning her biog-
raphy, "The Story of a Soul," as a religion prize when he was a 12-year-old schoolboy at Blessed Sacrament School, Fall River. She summed up her mission, he said, by the words: "In the heart of the Church I will be -love." "lowe my vocation and my dedication to the Eucharist and, Our Lady to that book," he said. Discussing another lI'eason for the distribution of roses at Our Turn to page twenty-one
Inside: special Respect Life section