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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

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The Association for the de­ velopment qf the Catholic Uni­ versity of Portugal (ADCUP) will sponsor a dinner and con­ cert Saturday, Oct. 12,at Bris­ tol Community College, Elsbree Street, Fall 'River. _ The event will honor the birth­ day of the late Cardinal Hum­ berto Medeiros, founder of ADCUP,and will benefit the uni­ versity library in Lisbon, now under construction. The main floor of the five-story building will be named for the cardinal, . while the entire building will named for Pope John Paul II, who laid its cornerstone in the course of a visit to POt-tugal. A concert by Coral Heranca Portuguesa, the Portuguese Heritage Choir of Rhode Island, will begin the evening. To take place at 5 p.m. in Bristol Com­ munity College Theatre; it will be open to' the public at no charge. Cocktails at6 p.m. and dinner . at 7 p.m. will follow. Among those in attendance will be Bos­

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ton Cardinal Bernard Law and Bishop Daniel A. Cronin. Discussing the Portuguese Heritage Choir, dinner general chairman Gerald H. Silvia said that it is sponsored by the Portu­ guese Continental Union of ithe U.S.A. and was founded in 1976 to take part in activities com­ memorating the U.S. bicenten­ nial. ' Since then it has parqcipated in many cultural programs spon­ sored by Portuguese-Americans in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Canada. . Choir directors, are Natalia, de Resendes of North Smithfield, a Beethoven Club member, and Antonio Dionisio Costa,also di­ rector of Placard, a four-member group of Portuguese folklorists who present original works. Tickets for the Oct. 12 dinner are available from Fernandes Real Estate, Norton, tel. 285­ 6353; Lillian Rodrigues, Taunton, 823-0143; Marjorie Castro, Attle­ boro; and Gerald and Lillian Silvia, Fall River, 675-6331.

39 parishes will name Bishop's Ball presentees

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Msgr. Anthony M. Gomes, ball 39 diocesan parishes will take part in the traditional presentee . director, has announced that per­ sons and organizations wishing program at the 31st annual Bish­ op's Charity Ball. Each parish to have their names in the will select a young lady to be Charity Ball Program Booklet presented to the Most Rev. may contact any member of the Daniel !\.. Cronin, Bishop of Fall ball committee, the Diocesan River, at the ball on Friday, Jan. Council of Catholic Women or 31st., at Lincoln Park Ballroom, the So~iety of St. Vincent de Paul or may write or call Bish; North Dartmouth. op's' Char.ity Ball Headquarters, By area, the parishes are: 410 Highland Avenue, P.O. Box Attleboro: Holy Ghost, Attle­ 1470, Fall River; 02722, faI. FATHER ROBERT Taft, boro; St. Mary, Mansfield; Sacred 676-8943 or 676-3200. Heart, No. Attleboro; St. Mary, a Byzantine-rite priest and Norton. Names may be submitted until Rhode Island native, has , Cape and Islands: Our Lady of December 27. There are seven been elected president of the Victory, Centerville; Holy Re-, categories: Memorial, Very Societas Liturgica, an inter­ deemer, Chatham; Christ the Special Friends, Guarantors, national professional asso­ King, Cotuit; St. Francis Xavier, Benefactors, Boosters, Sponsors ciation of liturgical scholars. Hyannis; St. Peter, Provincetown; and Patrons. Tickets are distri­ Corpus Christi; $andwich; St. buted to the donors in each Father Taft resides in Pius X, So. Yarmouth;, St. Jo­ category. Rome where he· is a pro­ seph, Woods Hole. Fall River: Our Lady of Angels, fessor of Eastern liturgy at Our Lady of Health, Immaculate the Pontifical Oriental Insti­ Conception, Sacred Heart, St. tute and a consultor for the Anthony of Padua, St. Jean the Oriental churches. . Baptist, St. 'Mathieu, st. Patrick~ October 6 Fall River; St. Patrick, Somerset; Rev. Stephen B. Magill, Assis­ St. Dominic, Swansea; St. Mi­ tant, 1916, Immaculate Concep­ chael, Swansea. tion, North Easton New Bedford: Holy Name, October 7 Father Mark Dittami, O.Carm., Mount Carmel, Sacred Heart, St. Rev. Caesar Phares, Pastor, will opeil the fall season for the Anthony of Padua, St. Casimir, Men's First Friday Club of Fall ' St. James, St. Lawrence, New 1951, St. Anthony of Desert, Fall R:iver River. Members will attend 6. Bedford; St. Mary, So. Dart­ Rev. Msgr. Arthur G. Dupuis, p.m. 'Mass today at the Lady mouth; St. Julie Billiart, No. Pastor Emeritus, 1975, St. Louis Chapel of St. Mary's Cathedral. Dartmouth;' St. George, West­ de France, Swansea port; St. Patrick Wareham. Supper and a talk by Father Dit­ October 10 tami 'on his life experiences will Taunton: Sa~red Heart, St. Rev. James C. J. Ryan, Assis­ follow. at St. Mary's School. All Jacques, St. Joseph, Taunton; welcome. St. Peter, Dighton; St. Joseph, tant, 1918, Immaculate Concep­ tion, North Easton North Dighton. Father -Dittami, formerly a October 11' The sponsors of the Ball, work­ diocesan resident, was a widow­ Rev. James A. Downey, Pastor, wIth the diocese baIl com­ ing ed grandfather when he entered Ghost, Attleboro 1952, Holy mittee, are 'affiliates of the dio­ .·the Carmelite order. He was or­ dained in 1965 'and subsequently cesan Council of Catholic Wo~ was a chaplain at shopping malls men and the Society of St. Vin­ cent de Paul. BaH proceeds bene­ THE ANCHOR (USPS·545·020). Second Class in Paramus, ,N.J., and Peabody. Postage Paid at Fall River, Mass. Published fit children in diocesan schools weekly except the week of July 4 and the week after Christmas at 410 Highland Aven. 'He now assists at 'a parish in for the exceptional 'and camps ue, Fall River, Mass. 02720 by the Cath­ Beverly Farms during the week for the underprivileged and ex­ olic Press of the Diocese of Fall River. Subscription price by mall, postpaid $8.00 and at Corpus Christi parish, ceptional ,in southeastern Massa­ per year. Postmasters send address Chan'l:l Sandwich, on weekends. ~h~~~ Anchor, P.O. Box 7, Fall River, chusetts.

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THE ANCHOR-Diocese of Fall River-Fri., October 4, 1985

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-A GIANT STEP towards a new church home for members. of Notre Dame par­ ish, Fall River, was taken last week when - a' 20-foot steel cross covered with gold leaf was blessed by Bishop Daniel A. Cronin and erect-­ ed atop the building, which replaces the historic edifice destroyed by fire in May, 1981. Top, Father Ernest E. Blais, pastor, the bishop and Msgr. Thomas J. Harring­ ton, chancellor, at speakers' stand; left, erection of the cross. (Torchia photos)

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THIS- SATURDAY IS TH'E FIRST SATURDAY OF THE MONTH Honor the Immaculate Heart of Mary Practice the devotion of the five First Saturdays This devotion was requested by Our Lady of Fatima on July 13, 1917, when she said: "God wishes to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. "I sholl come to ask for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart and the Communion of reparation on the first Saturdays. If people listen to my requests, Russia will be converted and -there wi!1 be peace." Then again, on December 10, 1925, Our Lady appeared to Sister Lucio, one of the children of Fatima, and told her the following: "Announce in my nome that I promise to assist at the hour of death with the graces necessary for solvation, all those who on the first Saturday of five con­ secutive months, sholl

'1. Go to confession and receive Holy Communion,

Music workshop at two sites

"Sing a New Song to the Lord: The Rhythnl' of Our Worship," a workshop for liturgies~musicians, catechists, educators and cele­ brants, will be offered at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 7 at St. Thomas More Church, Somerset, and at the same time Oct. 23 at Our Lady of Victory Church, Centerville. The program, opening with Evensong, will include an over­ view of the Hturgical documents General Instruction, Music in Catholic Worship and Liturgical Music.

2. Recite the Rosary, 3. And keep me company for a quarter of an hour while meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary,

Sponsored by the Fall River, diocesan chapter of the National Association of Pastoral Musi­ cians, it will be presented by Jerry Galipeau, a parish mux:-gy coordinator and chaitperson _of the Liturgical Commission of the diocese of Orlando, Fla., and Father David Costa, parochial vicar at St. Thomas More. Further information Is avail­ able from Glenn Gi-uttari, 252­ 4304; Joan Cuttle, 673-3662; or Dot Lorti, 771-1029.

4. With the intention of making reparation to me." To practice this devotion, you must fulfill the requests of Our Lady, doing so in repClration for the offenses committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Confession may be made during eight days before or after the Communion. .

'(Courtesy of the Third Order of St. Francis of Assisi, St. Hedwig parish, New Bedford, Mass.)

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"'THE ANCHOR-Di'o'cese of-Fall·River.!.....:Fri.;·<:>ct. '4', "1985'

themoorin~

All of Life This edition of The Anc'hor is in a special way celebrating all It does so as an expression of ~ommitment to Catholic. Church support of every aspect of this most precious God­ given gift. The anti-life forces, as they might be termed, are more than determined to expand their death offensive but to date most of the Catholic community has remained passive about this vital issue. Concerned about today's social mores rather than religious ideals, too manyin today's church place priority on the quality of their lifestyles. In search of the so-called good life" so many have placed essentials on the back burner, developing a mentality that separates rather than unites. Many have been falsely led by misbegotten souls for whom what really counts is what they can take from life. Giving life, supporting it and nurturing it in old age have no place in their egocentric worlds. When politicians of this ilk are questioned about the difference between their words and deeds, the usual stale statement is heard. They would have one believe that privately they are opposed to funding agencies that terminate life but publicly cannot bring themselves to impose their personal views on the public. This thinking is more than obvious when one scans the voting records of so many of our so-called Catholi'c politicians. How many are afraid to be honest with their own consciences, let alone their constituents? /' False encouragement is given to this mind by those who would lead others to believe that the Church has a diversity of opinions on fundamental life issues. The placing of pro-choice, ads in national newspapers by people who feel themselves to be vowed religious in the Church is a disaster, not a mere embarrassment. Such actions by those who have become their own gods have created a scandal which entrenches division, defiance and disregard of duly constituted authority. Another area of inconSIstency that frustrates Respect Life efforts flows from those whom we might call the "good' people." They strive with all their might to save birds, cats, marsh grass and the like, at the same time supporting abortion and planned parenthood. 'Very often such citizens enjoy social influence, affluence and commanding community status. They will pledge millions to conserve a swamp while at the same time funding anti-life proposals. In effect, they would kill a baby but save a bee. This conglomeration of forces has lately entered into a new but predictable area of anti-life legislation, namely that of euthanasia. The tide of mercy killing is rising, with organiza- . tions being formed to push for legalized euthanasia. It is noteworthy that the governor of Colorado has stated that the procedure would lessen the state cost of caring for the elderly. In short, in some quarters people are 'now considered dispos­ able, just like a throw-away bottle or plastic plate. ' However, none of this should come to us as a surprise. Once the murder of infants was legalized, the logical next step was to terminate the existence of the handicapped or, those who are burdensome in any way. It indeed remirids one of the state policy of Nazi Germany. To some this might seem an exaggeration. To the millions who lived amid the terrors of World War II, it is·not. As we remembe,r the dark days of Hitler, let us not be so rash as to think that such abominations ,could not happen here .. To uphold life now is to defend your own right to survival. You still have time to be for life. While you have this grace period, stand up and oe counted. . The Editor

'01 life.

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Hadley photo

'Can a woman forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb; and if she should forget, yet will not I forget thee.' Is. 49:15

Many join abortion debate

By Stephanie Overman

WASHIN,GTON (NC) -- Penn­ sylvania and Illinois abortion cases on the U.S. Supreme Court docket have sparked a flurry of legal attacks and counterattacks. In the spotlight in August was the outside­ of-court debate between Archbi­ ,shop Philip M. Hannan of New Orleans, and the U.S.' Catholic Conference General Counsel office about the phrasing of the USCC friend"of-the-court briefin the Penn­ sylvania case. But there have been many more parties to the debate. Members of Congress on both sides of the abortion issue, the Reagan administration, pro-life and abortion rights organizations have all filed briefs in the wake of the'court's decision last spring to hear the Pennsylvania and Illinois cases. The Supreme Court's 1985-86 term begins Oct. 7, with oral aqi;u­ merits on the two cases ,scheduled for Nov. 5.

The Pennsylvania Abortion Con­ trol act, struck down by the 3rd ·U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia, and the Illinois case, largely invalidated 'by the 7th U.S. OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE DIOCESE OF FALL RIVER· Circuit Court of Appeals in Chi­ Published weekly by The Catholic Press of the Diocese of Fall River cago, required doctors to warn patients ofthe potential harm from 410 Highland Avenue

abortion, advise them of alterna" Fall River Mass. 02722 675-7151

tives and take certain steps to save PUBLISHER

a viable fetus. Most Rev. Daniel A. Cronin, D.O., S.T.D.

FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATOR EOlrOR The Reagan administration, Rev. Msgr. John J. Regan Rev. John F, Moore prompted by the two cases, asked . . . . . Leary Press-Fall River the court July 15 to overturn its

landmark 1973 decision which struck down state restrictions on abortion. Other briefs deal nar­ rowly with the Pennsylvania case. Both approaches drew attacks ~ the first from abortion supporters, the second from other abortion opponents. Through its JusticeDepartment brief the Reagan administration argued that the constitution itself contains no language guarantee­ ing abortion rights and that the cour.t's 1973 decision, Roe vs., Wade, was flawed. The 82 members of Congress who filed a brief.July 15 supported the administration's call for the overturning of Roe vs. Wade. Their brief said that the justices who agreed with Roe vs..Wade used faulty reasoning in finding that because abortion has been avail­ able for hundreds of years, it has become a generally recognized form ofliberty protected by the Constitu­ tion. . In the 28-page brief, prepared by Catholic University law profes­ sor Robert J. Destro, it argued that medical techno,logy has changed since the 1973 decision. . A brief in support of Roe vs. Wade was filed by 81 members of Congress Aug. 30.ft was Prepared by Harvard Law School professor Laurence H. Tribe, who attacked the government's approach as "un­ principled, divisive and dangerous." Tribe said that his brief was not written out of concern that justices would reverse their ruling but to , express Congress' "outrage" over the action. The brief said that the govern­

ment, in urging that Roe vs. Wade be overturned, "has taken ap extra­ ordinary and unprecedented step." "For the first time in the history .ofthe Solicitor General's Office, in a case in which the issue was, not presented by the parties, the Depart­ ment of ,Justice has' urged the repudiation of a liberty long since declared fundamental..." The debate over the USCC brief resulted because, unlike Reagan and the pro-life lawmakers, it did not ask the court to overrule' Roe vii. Wade but focused on the Pen­ nsylvania case. That flamed the controversy on the pro-life side, causing some abortion opponents to accuse the USCC brief of accept­ ing a woman's right to abortion. Archbishop Hannan, in a column published Aug. 22, asked for a "clear and convincing explanation" of the brief which he said, "did not support the brief of the' adminis­ tration...... The USCC brief had actually been filed several days before the ones from the Reagan administration and Congress, al­ though it was not made public until later. USCC general counsel Wilfred R. Caron, in a memorandum released Aug. 30, said legal profes­ sionals do not always agree on the best strategy for dealing with the court on complicated issues su~h as abortion and called the various approa<;hes that have emerged "different but complementary." The attacks and counterattacks have volleyed back forth through­ out the summer, serving as a warm­ up for November, when the debate moves inside the Supreme Court.

Respect Life I'

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SOCIETY OF ST. VINCENT De PAUL DIOCESE OF FALL RIVER

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Respect Life: A Constant Ethic

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Abortion 1985

Are Small Victories a True Weather Vane?

By JOHN T. NOONAN, JR. We were surprised and defeated.

We have survived.

We shall overcome.

No one in 1973 anticipated the radi­ cal decision - the most radical in American judicial history - by which the U.S. Supreme Court established abortion as a fundamental constitu­ tional right in the United States. Ev­ ery state and several municipalities had laws regulating abortion. The regulation of abortion went back in Anglo-American legal history to the thirteenth century or earlier. Some of the statutes were as old as the 19th century, other were freshly minted in response to suggestions of the Ameri~ can Law Institute. Some of the stat­ utes have survived strenuous political efforts to amend them; others had been moderately altered in response to political pressures. Old or new, un­ changed or amended, all these stat­ utes became at one swoop unconstit­ utional by the decisions of the United States Supreme Co'urt in Roe v. Wade and the companion case Doe v. Bol-. ton. The Court established an absolute right of every woman to have an abor­ tion until viability (reckoned by the Court as usually occurring at seven months). The Court established a fur­ ther right to have an abortion for the sake of health in the last two months of pregnancy, and defined health so broadly in terms of psychological and emotional well-being that for all prac­ tical purposes any abortionist could justify a late-term abortion as fitting within the conditions set by the Court. No enforcement of an abortion law covering even the last two months of prenatal life was possible. Effective­ ly, the human being in the womb was stripped of the protection of the law at every stage of his or her existence. With the 1973 Supreme Court deci­ sion in Roe v. Wade, the United States was presented with the most radical abortion law in the world. Who was the "we" who were. sur­ prised and defeated? The "we" were most of us who believe in a govern­ ment of laws, not of men exercising raw power; who believe in the tradi­ tional values of our country, among which innocent human life ranks high; who indeed prize human life from its inception. . "We" could not reasonably have an­ ticipated that a disaster such as Roe v. Wade could occur. Hence we were surprised. We could not prevent the massive social damage caused by its occurrence. Hence we were defeated. Who is the "we" now? Not of course the more than 15 million unborn chil­ dren whose lives were taken in the womb. The "we" who. have survived are the rest of us. We have survived and with us our country and its insti­ tutions, mutilated though these are. We have won small successes and suffered large losses. The small successes have been largely in the area of funding abor­ tions. We have seen Congress, session after session, refuse to appropriate Medicaid money to pay for elective abortion. We have seen the Supreme Court, by the narrowest of margins, hold that Roe v. Wade did not estab­ lish a constitutional right to have an abortion paid for by the United States·

Treasury. We have seen the Court hold that the individual states had no constitutional obligation to pay for elective abortion. .These successes have reduced our complicity with the abortion machine. We do not have to see our federal taxes used to pay for killing the innocent, and in most states we do not have to se~ our state taxes employed for such a purpose. But the two most populous states, Cal­ ifornia and New York, impelled by skewed interpretations of their' own constitutions, continue to fund abor­ tion; and the withdrawal of taxpayer

·support in other states has not pro­

, duced any marked decline in the over­

all number of abortions. The killing

has continued. Meanwhile, the mutilation of our in­ stitutions has multiplied: Husbands have been denied the right to object to the destruction of the children they helped to procreate ­ the institution of marriage has been injured. Parents have been denied the right to object to an abortion performed on their minor child - the institution of parenthood has been subordinated to the unfettered freedom of choice in fa­ vor of abortion. The federal courts have arrogated to themselves the awful life-and-death power of deciding which human be­ ings are human beings within the pro­ tection of the Constitution - the institution of natural rights inherent in every human being has suffered a fearful blow. We who have survived shall over­ come. Why?' . • Those who defend the right of abortion cannot bear that what they defend should be considered the tak­ ing of human life. They will not be content until we - the "we" that is

the rest of the country - agree that their actions are beneficial, reasona­ ble, right. So conflict is inevitable. Each push against our vital values stimulates a vigor9us response. These vigorous responses will result ultima­ tely in the overcoming of Roe v. Wade. • The hardest ,barrier for the pro­ life movement to cross has been that erected by the media. The media treatment of the controversy between Geraldine Ferraro and Cardinal O'Connor, while slanted to present Ferraro as a feminist heroine, made

the media say more than had been their custom about abortion in Ameri­ ca. President Reagan, in the presi­ dential debates, kept the subject alive. Then came the abortion clinic . bombings, a frightening collision be­ tween the fruits of raw power and raw outrage, which ·shocked the media into due attention. Newsweek ran a cover story on abortion which, for the first time, attempted to be fair to the pro-life position. The Wall Street TournaI ran a column finding the leader of the Moral Majority more persuasive on abortion than the lead­ er of Planned Parenthood. The media barrier had cracked. • Political leadership - Ronald Reagan is the first president clearly to condemn the Roe v. Wade decision and to act by appointing a Supreme Court Justice critical of the decision. He has also banned from the receipt of federal funds private agencies pro­ moting abortion abroad. He has taken the extraordinary step for a sitting President of authoring a book,. Abor­ tion and the Conscience of the Nation. • Example - the President is set­ ting an example. A married couple spend their Saturday mornings exer­ cising t.heir First Amendment right of

peaceful protest to picket a Planned Parenthood clinic that performs abor­ tions. Another married couple with three children of their own, adopted a . fourth child because it was necessary to do so to convince that child's moth­ er not to abort him. With such exam­ ples of devotion and compassion, hearts are sure to be converted. • Conversions are occurring. Wom­ en Exploited by Abortion is a nation­ wide group of women who have suffered abortion and are able to testi­ fy to their abhorrence of what they have experienced. The most public of all converts is Bernard Nathanson who once presided over the largest abortion clinic in the world. Now pas­ sionately dedicated to the defense of life in the womb, he has made a mov­ ie, The Silent Scream, that depicts the course of an abortion. These converts testify to the evil of the experience they now regret and reject. • Human experience is in the end on the side of life. For centuries the law stood as a shield! protecting the defenseless unborn against the im­ pulse of the moment or the calculation of seekers of profit. The American aberration of the last12 years will be overcome as attention to human expe­ rience, ancient and recent, negative and positive, shows the shield to be still essential. • The greatest grass roots ecumeni­ cal movement in America has been the pro-life movement, bringing to­ gether a broad band of believers, in­ cluding Catholics, Evangelicals and Mormons and small but devoted con­ tingents of Episcopalians, Lutherans, Presbyterians and Orthodox Jews in the campaign to protect life. The most fundamental difference between ac­ tivists in the pro-life cause and activ­ ists in the cause of abortion, a study in Family Planning Perspectives has shown, is not in denominational affil­ iation, but in the degree of religious commitment. Pro-life activists are, for the most part, religious persons; those on the other side are not. The re­ ligious conviction that human life is sacred animates and! unites the de­ fenders of the unborn. More could still be done. Formal agreements between the leaders of the different churches could be per­ fected. It would be desirable to have an increase in overall coordination and direction. But nothing could be better than the present appreciation that persons of different faiths now have of each other's efforts as they work together towards the common end of eliminating abortion. APresident cannot enact a constitu­ tional amendment or pass legislation singlehandedly. But by his public ut­ terances he can create a climate and by his acts he can create a judiciary sensitive to the sacred character of human life. The current President is in the course of ~oing this.

This article is excerpted from "Abortion 1985" in Respect Life. Washington, D. C.: National Confer­ ence of Catholic Bishops, 1985. John Noonan is professor of law at the Uni­ versity of California Law School, Ber­ keley.

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Respect Life: A Constant Ethic

Sundax, Oct. 6

Respect Life Program Begins

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sented - both by its defenders and its critics" - ­ The annual Respect Life Program sponsored some wishing the bishops to give less emphasis by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops to the public debate on abortion; others afraid will begin this year on Sunday, Oct. 6. they might do so. The message of the Respect Life Program

"Nothing could be further from our fntention," remains unchanged since it began in 1972 -all

state the Committee members headed by Joseph human life, born and unborn, deserves re­

Cardinal Bernardin of Chicago. "When the spect and protection at every stage of its exis­

Church devotes resources to the abortion de­ tence and in every circumstance of human

bate," note the bishops, "it is not diverting atten­ living.

tion from its human rights agenda - but This year the program focuses on the story of advancing an integral part of that agenda." abortion in the United States from 1973 to the pre­ In addition to Cardinal Bernardin, members of sent, and on the continuing need for society to be the Bishops' Committee for Pro-Life Activities supportive of pregnant women and children. It include: John Cardinal O'Connor (New York, highlights the value of children and the impor­ N.Y.); Archbishops Thomas Donnellan (Atlanta, tance of family life, and focuses on human exper­ Ga,) and Edward O'Meara (Indianapolis, Ind.); imentation and society's efforts to deal with the Bishops Walter Curtis (Bridgeport, Conn.), El­ escalating incidence of suicide as some promote den Curtiss (Helena, Mont.), Francis Dunn (Du­ the idea of "rational" suicide. It reviews, too, the buque, Iowa), James Griffin (Columbus, Ohio), unsatisfied needs of nations struggling to provide Edward Head (BUffalo, N.Y.), William Levada for their people. (Los Angeles, Calif.), Andrew McDonald (Little The Respect Life Program addresses a di­ .Rock, Ark.) and Edward O'Donnell (St. Louis, versity of issues that, seen together, drama­ Mo.). . . tize the Church's commitment to a consistent To help parishes and others develop and ex­ ethic of life - an ethic linking the Church's pand efforts on behalf of human life, the Bishops' teaching. on issues concerning human life Office for Pro-Life Activities has developed all from conception until natural death. new program materials: program manual, post~ In the Introduction to this year's Respect Life ers, motivational flyers, clip art. For informa­ Program manual, the bishops on the Committee tion contact: Respect Life Program, 1312 for Pro-Life Activities note that this approach . Massachusetts Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. has often been "misinterpreted or misrepre- 20005.

Suicide: The Next Pro-Life Frontier

equivalent of self-murder, the individual's right to priva- of his or her civil rights. Such which under early English cy to protect other persons in- suits could result in the impo­ common law could result in volved in the decision to sition of actual damages, po~­ Suicide is the third leading dire punishment when the at­ terminate life-support sys- sible punitive damages and, cause of death among adoles­ tempt failed or loss of family tems. certainly, court costs and atcents, and the rate of suicide, wealth when it succeeded. Y~t the law ha~ alw8:Y~ rec- torney's fees. particularly among teen­ However, prohibition against ogmzed ~he state s. leglb.~ate By creating a constitutional agers, is increasing at an assisting suicide - either di­ int~re~t m preventmg SUICide. " right to suicide, the help po­ alarming rate. American atti­ rectly by statute, or by case ThiS mterest has long been tential suicides need so badly tudes towards suicide, howev­ law interpreting acts of assis- recognized and has been re- . - medical and other - would er, remain ambivalent. At the same time, there is increasing clamor for accep­ tance of suicide as a "ratio­ IIBy creating constitutional right suicide, nal" choice, particularly for terminally ill and hand­ the help potential suicides need so badly ­ icapped persons. "Self-deliv­ medical and other- would be effectively erance" societies have advocated this stance by pub­ prevented. " lishing manuals with detailed "recipes" for lethal poisons. "Suicide pacts" have been publicized, and there are orga­ tance as eqUivalent to homi­ examined and re-affirmed in be effectively prevented. At issue in any case at­ nizations striving to create so­ cide - still exist in most the recent spate of termi­ cial and moral acceptance for states. It is these laws which nation of treatment cases. tempting to create a constitu­ suicide and a legal right to as­ are likely to come under at­ This state interest is strong tional right to suicide will be tack by advocates of "ratio­ enough to allow temporary re­ the validity of society's tradi­ .sist at suicide. All of these factors are con­ straint, and even incarcera­ tional opposition to suicide, an nal" suicide. verging to shape public policy This could come about by di­ tion, of potential suicides in opposition premised upon re­ and attitudes in the United rect challenge. For example, order to protect them from spect for the sanctity of all hu­ man life. Those who support States and to challenge the an individual wishing to com­ themselves. However, if a right to sui­ the right to suicide and the traditional attitude of opposi­ mit suicide with the assistance tion to suicide. That attitude is of others could ask the court to cide or to assist at suicide right to assist at suicide gener­ currently reflected in laws strike down laws prohibiting were found by courts in the ally emphasize two basic which make assisting at sui­ that assistance, or a person Constitution or created by leg­ themes to counter this sancti­ cide a crime in most states in charged with assisted suicide islatures, then inteference by ty of life ethic. America as well as in most might raise the deceased vic­ either the state or an individu­ . First, they maintain that life itself. is not an absolute good, countries of the world. . tim's alleged constitutional al .would be wrongful ­ Suicide has been decrimina­ "right to suicide" as a defense amounting to a breach of pri­ but only one among a series of lized in most jurisdictions, not for his or her own actions. vacy and an assault and bat­ goods from which all human out of approval for the prac­ Such defense, they might ar­ tery on the would-be suicide. beings must make choices. The second theme is the tice, but because it is recog­ gue, is supported in law by Under these circumstances, nized that victims of failed Roe v. Wade which found the individuals and groups would principle of personal autono­ suicide attempts do not de­ constitutional right of privacy interfere with a potential sui­ my. The argument is that so­ ciety has no right to prohibit serve punishment, but rather, to be broad enough to encom­ cide only at their own peril ­ need assistance. This means pass a woman's right to abor­ having first reconciled them­ suicide because it is a matter that the act of suicide is no tion, and by the case of Karen selves to a potential suit by the which solely concerns the per­ longer considered the legal Ann Quinlan which expanded would-be suicide for a breach son choosing to take his or her By DENNIS J.'HORAN

and EDWARD R. GRANT

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own life. Between 1969 and 19.79, deaths from suicide in the United States increased ap­ proximately 22 percent. Most. of the increase was attributa­ ble to a drasUc rise in the sui­ cide rate for those aged 15 to 24. Suicides in this age group increased 74 percent among males and 33 percent among females. In 1981 alone, 5,600 young men and women under age 25 took their own lives. Much as the proponents of abortion did 20 years ago, pro­ ponents of suicide are at­ tempting to lead the legal system away from a position of respect for the intrinsic va­ lue of all human life. In 1973 we were told by the Supreme Court that the life of the un- . born was not "meaningful" because it could not exist with­ out the mother's support. In the 1980s, we increasingly hear that the lives of the hand­ icapped, the terminally ill, the victims of Alzheimer's disease and the chronically depressed are not meaningful because they are dependent on others for basic means of support.

- ThIS article is excerpted from "Suicide: The Next Pro­ Life Frontier," by Dennis J .. Horan and Edward R. Grant in Respect Life. Washington, D.C.: National Conference of Catholic Bishops, 1985. Dennis Horan is president of Ameri­ cans United For Life Legal Defense Fund, Chicago. Ed­ ward Grant is Executive Di­ rector and General Counsel of Americans United for Life Le­ gal Defense Fund.

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Respect Life: A Constant Ethic

Famine in Ethiopia: Opportunity to Act

By STEPHEN J. CALLAHAN Nearly a year has passed since the tragedy of drought and famine in Ethiopia and throughout most of Africa was widely revealed to the American public through the media. For Catholic Relief Ser­ vices, an official overseas development and emer­ gency relief agency of the United States Catholic Conference, it was a situation field staffers had warned about as early as autumn 1982. For many 'the media exposure served as a shock­ ing introduction·to the horrors of a starving conti­ nent. The famine in Ethiopia was also a lens through which the wider problem of world hunger could be more clearly viewed. Because of the Ethio­ pian famine more people realize that hunger and famine in the world are not inevitable realities, and that the tragic loss of life in Ethiopia need not have been. The right to eat is one of the most critical of hu­ man rights today because of the massive number of lives claimed daily by malnutrition. The great iro­ ny of the hunger problem is that while the world produces enough grain to provide each man, wom­ an and child on earth with a daily diet of 3,000 cal­ ories, more than one billion people are chronically undernourished. Most experts now agree that tragedies such as that in Africa could be avoided through the depolit­ icization of food assistance, the creation of an ad­ equate world grain reserve and a more just distribution of the world's food supply on an on­ going basis. Avoiding famine through reform of the world food system, however, will not solve the un­ derlying causes of hunger. Rather, increased com­ mitment to long-term development strategies on the part of all nations - especially the United States - is required, as well as restructuring eco­ nomic relations which profoundly influence possi­ bilities for economic and social progress for' developing nations. . Both the problem of hunger and its solution are complex. The problem poses fundamental moral questions requiring hard decisions in the religious, social, political and economic realms. Solutions are attainable, but will only be achieved through a sus­ tained and patient effort on the part of both the de­ veloping and developed nations. With advances in science, travel, management and communications technology, and the corresponding existence of suf­ ficient resources worldwide, came proof of the fea­ sibility of such solutions. All that is lacking is the political will. Many public figures have noted that true peace in the modern world will only be achieved by attend­ ing to the poor, especially the poor in the developing world. As Pope John Paul II said in his homily in Edmonton, Canada in 1984: "The new name for peace is development . . . And the poor people in the poor nations - poor in different ways, not only lacking food but also deprived of freedom in human rights - will judge those people who take these goods away from them, amassing to themselves the imperialistic monopoly of ~conomic and political supremacy at the expense of others." All Chris-. tians, especially Catholics in the prosperous United States, are called to playa leading role in shaping this peaceful world. At the height of the Ethiopian famine, more than 10 million live~ were unnecessarily threatened with extinction; more than 900,000 people perished. Long before public awareness of the problem, CRS and other private relief agencies were responding. Fi­ nally, the United' States and .other donor nations also recognized the severjty of the famine and be­ gan to channel more assistance to Ethiopia. Ethiopia is representative of the complex envi­ ronmental, social, cultural and political factors that are part of the "stage" on which the tragic hun­ ger drama is typically acted out. Once a prosper­ ous country, Ethiopia today is a nation beset by myriad problems reflected in such glaring statisti­ cal indicators as a 15 percent literacy rate, $117 an­ nual average per capita income, a life expectancy of 38 years and an infant mortality rate of over 150 per 1,000 live births (as compared to a rate of 12 per 1,000 in the U.S'>. On top of this, rainfall has been in­ adequate for over 10 years. The persistence of long­

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ternal factors, ineffective governments and lack of adequate economic incentives for small- to middle­ s~ze producers to work the land. To prevent future famines, we must understand the present crisis in Africa in the context of chronic economic and agricultural deficiencie&. This drama of hunger, poverty and dependence is not limited to Africa. Consider that: • More than half the world's population live on incomes of less than $500 per year. • 15 to 20 million people die each year - 20 ev­ ery minute - of hunger-related causes. Three out of ~very foar are children. .. In 83 countries of the world, three percent of the landowners control 80 percel1.t of the land. • The United States, Western Europe, Japan and .Australia consume 70 percent of the world's grains. Most of that is used to feed beef and dairy cattle. • 36 of the world's poorest countries export crops to North America. • One-half of one percent of one year's world military expenditures would pay for all the farm equipment needed to increase food production and approach self-sufficiency in food-deficit, low-income countries by 1990. These facts speak to the irony of widespread hun­ ger and malnutrition in a world of agricultural abundance. . Policy analysts say the hunger problem could be solved. In June of 1980 the Presidential Commission on World Hunger concluded: "Eliminating at least the very worst aspects of hunger by the year 2000 is possible - if the United States and others make it a major policy objective. We have the technical know-how and resources to'do so. What we lack is the political will to act upon this commitment with sufficient vigor." New farming technologies and vastly improved transportation and communica­ tions networks can help to eliminate starvation and malnutrition. The systemic causes of world hunger and poverty are the most controversial, yet most fundamental aspects of the problem. Through its involvement in world systems of trade and finance, the United States exercises a powerfUl, and at times devastating, role in deter­ mining social conditions in developing nations. In addition to the economic impact of U.S. aid, the principal areas of international concern are inter­ national trade, Third World debt, unemployment and foreign private investment. It is often believed that there is little relation between the economics of the developing world and that of the U.S. However, one-eighth of U.S. jobs depend on exports to the Third World and 40 percent of U.S. manufactured goods are consumed by developing nations.

standing prejudices further complicate relief ef­ forts and long-range solutions. Ethiopia's problems. transcend what any economic system, capitalist or marxist, can hope to resolve quickly. The drought and famine so publicized in Ethiopia have also affected 29 other Sub-Saharan nations. At The teaching of the Church is extensive on these the height of the drought, which continues today in many areas of Africa, 150 million of the continent's . matters. Drawing on that teaching, the bishops are total population of 450 million people were affected. writing their pastoral letter on the U.S. economy and how Christian teaching applies to economic Current estimates by the U.N. Food and Agricul­ ture Organization indicate that the continent will questions. In their present draft, the bishops stress continue to be dependent on food imports for the the importance of Jesus' "preferential option for rest of the century, and that this most recent the poor" and the belief that our economic relations drought has severely affected Africa's long-term must be gUided by Christian concern for the integri­ ability to feed itself. Africa is the only part of the ty of all people. More specifically, they note that the world that grows less food per capita today than it emphasis of U.S. international development assis­ did 20 years ago. The World Bank estimates that 200 tance should be shifted from the narrow East-West million people, or 45 percent of Africa's population strategic debate and consequent emphasis on mili­ tary aid, to an agenda centered on socio-economic eat fewer calories per day than are, by U.N. stan­ development which will be a constructive force for dards, necessary for a survival diet. Africa has experienced drought and consequent peace and stability in the world. famine many times throughout its history. But, Both the problem of hunger and its solution are while drought is the most visible cause of the recent complex. Solutions are attainable, but will only be crisis, other factors have disrupted the continent's achieved through a sustained and patient effort on food system and acutely aggravated'the impov-· ­ the part of both the developing and developed na­ erished conditions there. Inattention to environ­ tions. Starvation and malnutrition can be elimi­ mental factors, such as desertification due to nated. Personal commitment to action through prolonged overgrazing and deforestation, have con­ prayer, sacrifice, almsgiving and political involve­ tributed greatly to the severity of the crisis. Civil ment is the key. wars and ethnic conflicts, often arising out of the This article is excerpted from liThe Ethiopian disputes along borders set by Africa's European colonizers, have interfered with agricultural pro­ Famine: Tragedy & Opportunity" in Respect Life. duction from the Sub-Saharan Belt to Southern Afri­ Washington, D. C.: National Conference of Catholic ca, creating a refugee population currently Bishops, 1985. Stephen Callahan is coordinator of estimated to be four million people. Efforts to in­ global education for Catholic Relief Services, New crease food production have been frus!rated by ex­ York.

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Human Experimentation a~

By RICHARD DOERFLINGER In the debate about medical experiments on human .beings, 1984 was a landmark year. , • In England, a government commission concluded that experimentation should be allowed on newly-fertilized human embryos. , • A legislative debate gathered momentum in the United States over federal standards on fetal experimentation. • In the celebrated cases of "Baby Fae," Barney Clark and William Schroeder, Americans contemplated the use of animal and mechanical organs in Quman beings aQd discussed the fine line between 'exotic treatment for an individual and medical research to benefit future generations. These incidents,involved different specialties within medicine and different classes of human subjects, but they all raised the same basic questions about the morality of human experimentation. Those questions are perhaps best illustrated by a more detailed account of the controversy with the longest continuous history - the debate over federally funded research on the human fetus. Congress first, addressed this SUbject in 1974 when reports came to its attention of unethical experiments involving infants born alive during late-term abor'tions. The researchers claimed that since these children were dying from,a procedure that was perfectly legal, and in any case could survive outside the womb for only a short time, they did not deserve full protection as human subjects. Congress ~isagreed and imposed a moratorium on all federal support for fetal experimentation. The moratorium was lifted only af-

jects which the parental regulations referred to as "fetusesand ex utero." Again consent was required, again seemed meaningless if the child struggling for survival had left the womb as the result of an abortion: Moreover, such infants were to be divided into three different categories. If viable (Le., capable of sus­ tained survival outside the womb), they would auto­ matically fall under a separate set of fairly strict

regulations governing experiments on children. If

their viability was uncertain, they were not to be sub­ jected to any interventions except ,those intended to bring them to viability. But if they:\fItH under, the cat­ egory of "non-viable fetuses ex utero; ,,: they could be

.subjected to any form of non-therapeutic experimen-

tation so long as nothing was' done either to hasten death or to prolong the child's dying. Here there were no restrictions on the amount of injury or pain a researcher might inflict. Some Commissioners argued that a fetus probably could not feel pain before viabili­ ty in any case - an opinion which now seems almost willfully ignorant. 3. Finally, the regulations contained a clause allow­ ing the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare to waive the "minimal risk" standard when an experi­ ment was considered too important to leave undone. The only standard remaining in such a case was that "the risks to the fetus involved are. . . outweighed by the sum oJ the benefit to the fetus and the importance of the knowledge to be gained." In any such experi­ ment, 'of course, the "benefit to the fetus" would be :zero, because there would be no need for' a waiver clause if the exp~riment was intended' to benefit the subject. WQat this clause made possible was a straightforward utilitarian calculus in which the pain, injury or death of an unborn child or premature infant

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"A problem arose in the Commission's treatment of non-therape,!tic research, designed not to benefit :the research subject put to gaIn knowledge that,may benefit others. " tel' a'new National Commission for the Protection of Human,Subjects drafted regulations to establish per­ maI,lebtiederal safe guards for this area'of research. But ·tIffs interdisciplinary team of experts in law, medicine and ethics never reached a consensus on whether the unborn child deserves full protection as a fellow human being. Only one Commission member, .legal schol1!f Payid Louisell, took a clear stand in de­ fense of e<ilfat'p:r-9.t~ction for all human subjects before and after bitth7,'" ' " On the keyofssues, Louisell's was the sol~ dissent from the compromise produced by the Commission. Its final proposal, promulgated as federal regulations in 1975 and still in force without substantial change, departed from what Louisell called "established hu­ man experimentation norms" on three points: 1. There was little disagreement that "therapeutic" research, designed primarily to meet the health needs of a particular child, was permissible. But a problem arose in the Commission's treatment of non-thera­ peutic research, designed not to benefit the research subject but to gain knowledge that may benefit others. Such experiments would be allowed, with the in­ formed consent of the parents, if the experiments were of "minimal risk" - defined 'as the degree of risk the subject would experience in daily life or dur­ ing routine physical or psychological examinations. These protections seemed meaningless when applied to the unborn child intended for abortion" since the parents have already committed themselves to de­ stroying their child and the risks of "daily life" will soon include a violent death. The final regulations did not' specifically address this ambiguity, but it was clear that many researchers. saw - the child-to-be­ aborted as a prime subject for experiments that would be too dangerous for others. 2. A similar loophole involved regulations govern­ 'ing research on premature infants - a class of sub­

would be justified by projected benefits to socitey. What led the Commission's majority to withdraw protection from intended abortion victims, even when they allowed such protection for other unborn children of the same stage of development? Some were certain­ ly influenced by the Supreme Court's abortion deci­ sions. In 1974 the Society for Developmental Biology unanimously resolved to support "the continued use of human tissues at all stages of development, embryon­ ic and fetal, within the framework of the (abortion) ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court. But the assumption shared by those spokespersons - that the Court had authorized any and every· form of damage to the un­ born - proved invalid. Many states have enacted strong statutes against fetal experimentation since 1974. Some, like Massachusetts, have made it a felony to experiment on any unborn child intended for abor­ tion. All these laws have been upheld in the federal­ courts, which have found protection of the unborn to be valid when it does not conflict with the constitution­ ally guarded interests of the mother. Another argument, applied to both the intended vic­ tim of an abortion and the child born dying from .an abortion, couId be bluntly expressed as: "They are going to die anyway, so why not make use of them to advance medical progress?" . ' Louisell, in his 1975 dissent, gave this answer: "The argument that the fetus-to-be-aborted 'will die any­ way',proves too much. All of us 'will die anyway.' A woman's decision to have an abortion, however pro­ tected ... does not change the nature or quality of fetal life. We do not subject the aged dying to unconsented experimentation, nor should we the youthful dying." In Louisell's view it was one thing to say one cannot le­ gally prevent others from having abortions, and quite another to use this as a pretext for destructive actions of one's own. , On~' might add that the same. issue \Y~~ rai~ at the

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Nuremberg trials concerning Nazi physicians ultima· tely convicted of crimes against humanity. Accordin~ to Dr. Andrew Ivy, a medical consultant at the trials, these physicians said of their victims that "since the~ would die in the concentration camp one might as well obtain some ~ood for humanity out of them." Despite the absence of any cogent argument for their existence, these features of the 1975 regulations have survived into the present. In 1984, Congress ap­ proved new statutory standards that would repeal the "waiver clause" and specify that the child involved in abortion must not be ~ubjected to an experiment that would not be carried out on children intended for live birth. But these standards were approved as amend­ ments to a much larger bill authorizing several new programs at the National Institutes of Health, and the entire bill was vetoed by the President for fiscal rea­ sons. Consideration 'of this bill has resumed in the pre­ sent Congress. Two key distinctions run through this debate on fetal research that can be appl~ed to research at any stage of human life. These are the distinctions b~tween "th~

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A Constant Ethic

d the Sanctity of Life

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The most difficult problems in this area, however, involve subjects, such as children, who are incapable of informed consent. It is generally agreed that par­ ents or guardians can give informed consent on behalf of their child for beneficial medical treatment, even when the treatment may be experimental. But can parents consent to research that imposes risks on their child forthe benefit of others? . Until quite recently, that question would have been answered almost unanimously in the negative. West­ ern codes of medical ethics, expecially those formu­ lated in the wake of the Nuremberg trials, insist on the inviolability of the unconsenting human subject. In 1964, for example, Dr. Ross G. Mitchell spoke for many when he said that "an experiment is permissi­ ble provided that the risk does not exceed the ordinary risks of daily living . . . Experiments carrying a greater risk may, of course, be permissible if an ill child is expected to benefit directly. I believe it is dan­ gerous to suggest that an experiment which might otherwise be unjustifiable is justified because it is for . the common good.". This approach has been endorsed by ethicists rep­ resenting all three strands of the Judeo-Christian mor­ al tradition. Perhaps the point has been expressed most forcefUlly by Methodist theologian Paul Ramsey of Princeton University. Ramsey approaches the issue in terms of the special covenant between a child and a parent committed to the child's welfare: "Faithful­ ness to a child," he points out, "includes the require­ ment that we do not inflict pain or risk in addition to those of .ordinary daily living. But fidelity to a human child also includes never treating him as a means only, but also as an end." Speaking from a Roman Catholic perspective, Rev.

the child in the womb. First, the embryo is completely separate from the mother. Thus there is no possible conflict between the child's life and any alleged "right of privacy" of the mother. But it also seems to invite some researchers to treat the newly conceived embryo as just another lab specimen - one that can be frozen for later use or even discarded if imperfect. Second, this debate primarily concerns embryos less than two weeks old, who some ethicists see as not deserving full protection because of speculations about the absence of lhuman "individuation" at this stage. In August 1984, two Catholic theologians re­ sponded to this argument in Congressional testimony on embryo experimentation. Rev. Donald McCarthy of the Pope .John XXIII Medical-Moral Research and Education Center cited Dr. Robert Edwards, himself a leading proponent of experimentation, as saying that the embryo is "a microscopic human being - one in its very earliest stages of development." Father McCarthy urged full protection of the human embryo from fertilization because it is clearly a distinct mem­ ber of the human species whose development "culmi­ nates in an adult human being by a continuous dynamic growth if only nourishment and a favorable environment are provided." Finally, this form of experimentation poses risks of an entirely new order to the subject. In most human research one deals with risk of pain or injury. With ge­ netic modification of the early embryo we confront the risk of depriving children of membership in the hu­ man species. This may have been a factor in Pope .John Paul II's unusually forceful words in a speech to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences in October 1982. "I condemn, in the most eXP.licit and formal way, experi-

IIln most human research one deals with risk of pain or injury. With genetic modification of the early embryo we confront the risk of depriving membership in the human species!' II

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rapeutic" and "non-therapeutic" research, and be­ tween "consenting" and "unconsenting" subjects. Both distinctions are based on respect for the inviola­ bility of each individual human being. "Non-thera­ peutic" research is more difficult to justify than "therapeutic" interventions because in the former case one runs the risk 9f using the individual merely as a means to some larger social good. This risk turns into reality when the subject has not given informed consent or is incapable of giving such consent. Since the human subject has an. inherent right to life ·and bodily integrity, a researcher has no right to risk harm to this person for the benefit of mankind - un­ less that person freely volunteers to undergo such risk to serve others. Catholic morality recognizes that this kind of serv­ ice, like the willingness to become an organ donor, can be genuine expression of Christian charity. It also rec­ ognizes certain moral limits. Because life ultimately belongs to its Creator, we are called to careful and responsible stewardship over our own lives.

Richard McCormick of the Kennedy Institute of Bioe-' mental manipulations of the human embryo, since the thics agrees: "Where children are concerned, proxy human being, from conception to death, cannot be ex­ consent is legitimate when the experimentation in­ ploited for any purpose whatsoever." The transplants performed on "Baby Fae," Barney. volves no discernible risks, discomforts, or inconve­ nience - in human judgment." In 1975 Father Clark and William Schroeder pose a less fundamental problem insofar as their treatment was designed to M~Cormick urged the Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects (without success) to apply this benefit these patients as individuals. While some peo­ ple's sensitivities were offended by the thought of principle to the unborn child. . Rabbi Seymour Siegel: Professor of Theology and '" transplanting a baboon heart into a human child, or Ethics at Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, replacing the human heart with a mechanical pump, reached a similar conclusion in his 1975 testimony be­ Catholic theologians do not see this as a moral prob­ fore the Commission: "Experiments for the 'good of lem in and of itself. The ethical question is: Were these medicine' or for the sake of the 'progress of knowl­ treatments so experimental that they could be fore­ edge' are not automatically legitimated, if they cause seen as offering no reasonable hope of benefit to the harm to people now, because someone in the future particular patient involyed? This question has been raised most frequently re­ might benefit. What comes in the future is what the Talmudic literature calls 'the secrets of the Al­ garding the "Baby Fae" case. Some critics of this ulti­ mighty.' This does not mean that we have no responsi­ mately unsuccessful experiment believe either that bility toward the future. However, we have a greater the child's parents were essentially consenting to an experiment they knew had no real chance of saving responsibility to those who are now in our care." American law has reinforced this ethical consensus their child, or that their consent was not genuine be­ by decreeing that parents do not have the right-to ex- . cause they had been given false hope regarding the pose their children to significant risk to advance medi­ treatment's effectiveness. Regarding Barney Clark and William Schroeder, cal knowledge. In 1968, Justice Warren Burger (then serving on the D.C. Court of Appeals) reflected this le­ the first human recipients of the artificial heart, there gal tradition when he said that "no adult has the legal is less disagreement because it seems clear they ex­ power to consent to experiments on an infant unless. posed themselves to the risk of an experimental proce­ dure after giving informed consent and considerifng the treatment for the benefit of the infant." It is clear that this tradition is not being consistently the risks and benefits of other proposed therapies. These and other applications of the basic moral applied to the unborn child and premature infant, at least when abortion is involved. But the ethical prin­ principles regarding human experimentation will con­ cip.les recounted here also raise questions about other tinue to exercise the ingenuity and discernment of all of us, not only of professional ethicists. But there is no forms of experimentation. reason to think the principles themselves are any less With new advances in recombinant DNA research, pressure has grown in the scientific community to al­ useful or relevant today Ulan they were in times when low genetic experiments on embryos, fertilized in vi­ medical science seemed less complex. Richard Doerflinger is Assistant Director of the tro. Three considerations make this debate slightly NCCB Office for Pro-Life Activities. different from the debate about experimentation on

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THE ANCHOR-Diocese of Fall River-Fri., Oct. 4, 1985

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The work of His hands

SHATTER THE WORLD OF SILENCE

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243 FOREST STREET FALL RIVER, MA 02721 TEL. 674-5741 (EXT. 2485) 679-8373

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REV. JOSEPH VIVEIROS Diocesan Director .

SR. KATHLEEN MURPHY, O.P. . Coordinator

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Caring... OUR IlESPONSIBIUTY TO THE GIF/' OF LIFE

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FER ESPECT路 ERESPECLIFE RES ECT LFE RE~

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Services available to hearing and hearing Impaired, anyone with a disability benefiting from sign communication; OD"

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THE P ARISH FAMILY OF' . . ST. MARY - 路SEEKONK Rev. Francis 1. Mahoney Pastor

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Respect Life: A Constant Ethic

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Seizing a Turning

.Point in History

By SISTER PAULA VANDEGAER, S.S.S. Today we are living in a new "his­ toric moment" - a transition time from one pattern of living and think­ ing to a new, undefined pattern. Scientific and other advances affect not only our style of living but also our way of thinking about ourselves and others. Family life is under great stress; cultural and religious values are called into question; there is a new world order emerging; we are dependent economically from one country to another. Communication has changed pro­ foundly. Today, in the space of one hour on television, we see famine, war, acci­ dents and disasters all over the globe. We are in instant communication with mejor nations of the world. Surely, this brings us to a new world con­ sciousness. Politically, we are reorganizing on a more globally cooperative level. We know we possess the means to ravage the world. To turn away from this re­ quires a high level of moral conscious­ ness that many in our world seem not to possess. But never before has there been such an urgency for the conver­ sion of the hearts of so many. Our emerging economic order has resulted in families bein~ moved from city to city, depending on job availa­ bility. Consequently, most families no longer live in close-knit neighbor­ hoods or extended family groups. ' Divorce has become a common phe­ nomenon, and many young people have experienced repeated, broken relationships. One of the effects of our rapidly changing world is that many young people have been seriously damaged in their ability to form a permanent marriage bond. Much healing and reconciliation must occur before they are able to sustain the self-sacrifice required of marriage and childrear­ ing. Families already crippled by re­ peated broken relationships are further challenged by the lure of new advances in 'science. ,There is a great temptation today to expect new scientific discoveries to make our lives free from suffering, with a hitherto unheard of element of perfection and ease. Through scientif­ ic and technical advances children can be chosen for their sex or perfec­ tion. Parents can decide whether the time is right for them to have a child. If a woman becomes pregnant she can legally abort the child. Such decisions can be made on the basis of expedien­ cy or convenience, or seemingly on no basis. We can discover a handicapped child in utero and abort him or her at will. What kind of ethical and moral considerations will govern these deci­ sions? ' In building our new society and our new way of living, the predominant force must be the dictates of the Gos­ pel. What would Jesus do in this situa­ tion? We know that his concern was for the poor, the oppressed, the de­ fenseless. We also have the clear and constant teaching of the Church that each and every human being is made in the image and likeness of God him- , self.

What of the woman with an "un­ wanted" pregnancy? She is pregnant with a baby she thinks she doesn't . want or can't handle, and she lives in a society that tells her it is perf~ctly acceptable to get rid of it. Who will tell her otherwise? Who will stand for another value? The Christian commu­ nity mus\;> offer that value, based on the teaching of Our Lord. Our care must be advanced through preaching and teaching, but most especially, it must be adyanced through demon­ strated action. Today there are 1,500 pro-life ser­ vice groups in the United Stat~s. These groups consist of hotlines and centers providing emergency preg­ nancy care. About 500 of them are part of the Catholic Charities system. Approximately 100 are sponsored by Protestant evangelical churches. The remainder are community groups sponsored by individuals gathered to­ g~ther to provide services for preg­ nantwomen. I have always believed that God gives each of us a direct vocation to love and to express our love to some­ one. Usually God calls us to love our family and friends, and in that love to heal and reconcile those close to us. But today, perhaps because of the de­ mands of our time, many people who once would have been called only to express their love within the close­ knit circle of family and friends, are being' called to express their love within, a wider circle. Today people are called to care for and provide vol­ unteer service for pregnant women and children. There is so much to be done. In the first 15 years of the pro-life service movement emergency pregnancy ser­ vice centers were established. In the past five years more attention has been given to surrounding services ­ housing, shelter, education and care of young women and their babies af­ ter delivery. All across the country new services are springing up under volunteer leadership. God is .calling His people t9 come forth and create a Christian' commu­ nity - a place where new ideas and discoveries will take place, not as overwhelming forces threatening Christian values, but as supplemen­ tary help in furthering the, Christian message. ' While all of society has a responsib­ ility to care for women and children, the Christian community has a spe­ cial role to play. Throughout history God has called His people to meet the needs of the time. Often we are called in strange ways..Like, St. Paul, some of us are knocked off our horses. We are busy about many things and God finds a way to tell us He needs some­ thing different from us. Some of us are like Jeremiah. We complain the whole time! Although we anguish and worry, we do respond to God's call, often not liking it, and sometimes suffering greatly because of it. Others of us are like Isaiah. God

speaks to 'us and says, "Whom shall I

send?" and we say, "Here I am, send

me," not really knowing what. is in­

volved. We have little more to offer

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(Photo by Barbara Hadley)

LOOKING AHEAD - Modern society has the scientific means to carry out the Christian message in a new era of history. However, technology must first be guided away from destructive ends.

Him than a willingness to try and do His will. It is estimated that more than 12 million women in the United States have had abortions. Suiciders Anony­ mous reports that in a two-year peri­ od, out of 4,000 women who had attempted suicide and contacted their hotline, 1,800 of them had had a pre­ vious abortion. This is orily one indica­ tion of the pain' that is present in American society. Much of that pain is undetected and unknown. The woman who has had an abortion does not go around advertis­ ing the fact. Often she keeps her feel­ ings very deep within herself. She has been told that she need not feel guilt or remorse about her abortion. When

our love for one another be reflected in our words and actions? Will we wel­ come into our communities those who are hurting? Will we go forward from our Christian communities to affect less loving segments of society? Will we create a society in which women will not choose abortion because it makes no sense to them - because they know there is a clear alternative, and that caring people stand willing' and able to support that alternative? Will we influence society to offer lov­ ing support to women and children? Wecan do these things. And I be­ lieve we will do them. God will lead each individual to his or her place of service. We need only to respond to his call.

IIln building our new society and our new way of living, the predominant force must be the dictates of the Gospel. What would Jesus do in this situation?1I she does experience feelings of guilt or remorse, she may think there is something wrong with her, and sub­ merge or hide such feelings. They may re-emerge later in attempts to be a "super mother," or in over-anxious­ ness for her children years later. These feelings may also emerge as unexplained bouts of depression, or in a fear of marriage or any kind of per­ manent commitment. Tender person­ al feelings about her baby who was aborted may be submerged to such an extent that she denies her feelings completely and dedicates herself to becoming a liberated woman, free of sexual and social restraints, and con­ cerned with her personal well-being and satisfaction above all else. Healing and reconciliation can only occur in a loving setting, and it is within the Christian community that that setting can be best provided. Will

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We can do these things. And I be­ lieve we will do them. God will lead each individual to his or her place of service. We need only to respond to his call. . Such examples include many nurs­ es, doctors, social workers, counsel­ ors, judges and others. They have been faced with personal involvement in abortion and have had to reject that involvement. Because of this many have lost jobs, money, prestige, op­ portunity and other things. But their courage has caused many of their col­ leagues to pause for thought.

This article is excerpted from "Building A Christian Community" in Respect Life, Washington, D.C.: Na­ tional Conference of Catholic Bishops, 1985. Sister Paula Vandegaer is the editor of Living World, Los Angeles, CA.

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He came that lve

mi,ght have LIFE路 and hal,e' it more abundantlu

The'Diocesan Office of Family Ministry' Rev. Ronald A. Tosti, Director

A Life

Dedicated

to the

Service Of

God's People

THE

PERM'ANENT DIACONATE

FAMILY

Norma Peters Thomas, MS Sr. Ruth Curry, s.u.s.c.

D 10 C ESE 0 F F A~L L R I V ER

Jerry and $cottle Foley

500 SLOCUM ROAD

NORTH DARTMOUTH, MA 02747

TEL. 993路9935

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Today's Children: Do .We

Show Enough Care?

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By MSGR. JAMES T. McHUGH' What do we think of children? What value does American society place on the' child? Seemingly simple ques­ tions to which one might expect forth­ right answers. Yet clear answ~rs seem to elude us. • The American birthrate has fall­ en to its lowest recorded level - 1.7 children per family, and the child­ bearing attitudes of young couples in­ dicate that extremely few intend to have more than two children. At the same time, infertility clinics are crowded and the lists of childless cou­ ples awaiting in vitro fertilization and other new techniques continue to grow. . . • Courts have rendered conflicting judgments in regard to withdrawing life-sustaining care from hand­ icapped infants, and federal regula­ tions requiring at' 'least minimal safeguards have been criticized and reje~ted by various medical groups. At the same time, research goes on to find the causes and cures of genetic disease, and new techniques have been developed to save very tiny pre­ mature infants. • Immigration laws are quickly ad­ justed to allow entry of children from war- or disaster-torn countdes, and emergency relief supplies are rushed to nations suffering from drought and starvation. But prenatal care and in­ fant and child nutrition programs are either' cut for budgetary reasons or denied reasonable expansion. . • Massive efforts to improve public health and lengthen life - such as mandatory auto seatbelt require­ ments, campaigns against smoking, obesity, alcohol and drugs - are un­ derway. But the U.S. infant mortality rate remains disproportionately high, and much of it is attributable to igno­ rance or carelessness on the part of parents, before as well as after birth. Why is the evidence so confound­ ing? Why the absence of clear an~. swers? Perhaps because there are at least two contrasting beliefs abroad in the land. The first sees humanity in terms of common concerns and commit-' ments. The child is a' member of the most basic of all human communities, the family, and is the embodiment of the history of the past and the hope for the future. Parents see a child as an extension of themselves, and they look forward to a new baby with antic­ ipation and joy. The other school, more in vogue to­ day, focuses on the individual, isolat­ ed or estranged, responsible to and for nobody but him or herself. Such in, dividualism is an expression of self­ centeredness - it corrodes altruism, limits generosit~, and induces the most selfish attitudes toward child­ bearing and childrearing. But that residue of communitarian attitudes proper to the first viewpoint oUght' not to be overlooked, for it touches on the future of the human family. Jonathan Schell, in The Fate of the Earth, links preservation of the human species from nuclear annihila­ tion with the generative love of par­ ents. Schell argues that the will to save the human family includes a will

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to let others come into existence rath­ er than simply to save oneself, and this constitutes a form oflove. Schell touches 'on' some .profound and underlying truths of human cQm­ munity. He reminds us that we are bound to one another by our humanity· and that our future destiny is a com­ mon enterprise. We must be con­ vinced that life and the fu~ure of the species are values to be sustained and the responsibility of all. He reminds us, too, that a true appreciation of the preciousness of life necessarily leads to a generous acceptance of the chUd. While Schell's observations are in­ teresting a~d 'provocative, the pre­ ponderant evidence indicates that American. attitudes toward children are at ·bestambivalent and at worst antagonistic. In a study of the trends in public expenditures over the past 20 years, Samuel Preston has shown that money allocated for the benefit of children - education, nutrition, health and child care -. has either failed to keep pace with other items in the public budget or beep seriously cut back: Preston attributes the di­ minishing .c9ncern for children to the fact that self-interest is at-the base of political activity, and decisions are generally made on the basis of adver­ sarial relations and competing claims. In such an environment there is little organized commitment to car­ ing for other people's children. Fur­ thermore, as contraception,. steril­ ization and abortion have come to be regarded as private choices, the-sense' of social responsibility for parents and children has been eroded and public funding of family and child support programs has (liminished. As public funds are increasingl~ used to prevent or destroy life, and thus hold down public assistance costs, how does society provide for its long-range future? How do we' show . that w-e care about our collectiv~ fu- . ture if we fail to provide the resources necessary for future generations? While such questions are ijle con­ cern of society itself, they are perhaps especially pertinent - and answer­ able - within the Christian commu­ nity. Christianity has always preserved a high appreciation of the value of the child. Moreover, against a cultural tradition that did not always recog­ nize. the independent nature and rights of children, Jesus gave chil­ dren a new and high status. In his ,relationship with children, Jesus ac­ knowledged their openness, humility andtrust as the qualities that prepare one for the Kingdom. The child is not only the child of his or her parents. Every child is a child of God. At the same time, children are the most vulnerable members of the hu­ man family because they are depen­ dent upon adults for food; shelter, health care, education and opportuni­ ty. While in earlier times families struggled to meet the needs of chil­ dren, we know today that many such needs require a commitment on· the part of society and a corresponding allocation of societal resources. In re­ cent years the concern about chil­ dren's needs haS led to worldwide discussions of children's rights.. Accordingly, much attention has been given to protecting children

(Photo by Barbara Hadley)

FUTURE INVESTMENT - In an age when great emphasis is placed on S!JC~' cess and the individual, there is a greater need for society to ensure the care of its young. A declining birthrate is jlist one indicator that the human family no longer values children and their needs as· before.

from harm and assuring them a full enjoyment of benefits and opportuni­ ties. The U.N. Declaration of the Rights of the Child provides the most comprehensive listing of children's rights. Activities during the Interna­ tional Year of the Child (1979) called attention to new challenges and needs, and the Holy See's Charter of ·the Rights of the Family gives special attention to the rights of children. Let's look briefly at some of these rights. The right to life begins at concep­ tion and embraces the entire process of human growth and development. The constantly increasing incidence of abortion and the growing social and legal acceptance of terminating the ·lives of handicapped infants show that the cJtild needs special protection, be­ fore as well as after birth. Further­ more, recent experiments with frozen embryos and other interventions· in the genetic structure of' the unborn signal a need for greater recognition of the humanity of the unborn and ap­ propriate legal regulation of scientific experiments. Every child has a· right to a stable family environment in which he or she is accepted as a person and given the love, affection, human support and recognition necessary for human growth and development. Parental at­ tention, support and encouragement are necessary for the child's social de­ velopment, and nations should do all that is possible to enable parents to ·meet their responsibilities.

The child has a right to a secure en­ vironment even if parents will not or cannot provide it. Thus adoption, fos­ ter care, institutionalized care and programs of family assistance for children with special needs should be exp~nded. _ Every child has the right to the .means necessary for proper devel­ opment. Recognition of the special needs of children and non-discrimina­ tion in meeting these needs is a global responsibility. The chilld also has th~ right to edu-. cation. The world's fund of informa­ tion grows enormously day by day, and the opportunities for today's chil­ .dren to learn is basic to their devel­ opment as well as to future scientific discovery and human progress. It is also fundamental to an appreciation of the cultural heritage and intellec­ tual achievements of past ages which are the source of mutual understand­ ing and unity among peoples. The time has come for all of society to affirm its belief in the value and significance of children and the con­ tributions they make to the human family. This article is excerpted from "Children: Do We Care?" in Respect Life. Washington, D. C.: National Con­ ference of Catholic Bishops, 1985. . Msgr. McHugh is director of the Di­ ocesan Development Program for Natural Family Planping, Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ.

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TIlE ANOHOR"-.Diocese'of: Fall, River-,----,-.Fri:; '0ct';4~ 19.85'

Respect for Life

is the essence of health care

• Oncology/Radiation Therapy Center • Pediatrics • Pastoral Care • Lifeline/Drug Dependency Clinic • Social Services • Infectious Disease Clinic' , • Child Life Program '. Project H.E. L. P, (Hospital Emergenc.y Lifeline Program) , • S.H.A.P.E.' (Sc.reening, ·He~lth Awareness, Preventibn, Education) • Growth and Nutriti6n Clinic " . • Natural Family Planning .' Smoker's Liberation Program' • Canc~r Support Group • Speech and Language Center • Nutrition Counseling Clinic

St. AiIne~~ 'Hosp~t~l 795 MIDDLE STREET FAU RIVER, MA 02721

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AMONG COMMITTEE LEADERS planning for the 31st annual Bishop's Ball, to be held Jan. 10 at Lincoln Park Ballroom, North Dartmouth, are, seated from left, Mrs. Michael J. McMahon: hospitality; Mrs. Stanley Janick, decorations; Msgr. Anthony M. Gomes, diocesan director for the Ball; Mrs. James A. O'Brien Jr., presentees; standing, Mrs. Richard Paulson, assistant hospitality chairperson; Mrs. John McDonald, assistant decorations chair­ ; person. (Gaudette photo)

.Pope asks release of Ines Duarte· eldest daughter and other Sal· Mrs. Duran's -bodyguard was VATICAN CITY (NC) - Pope . vadorans, including several killed and "her driver critically John Paul "II appealed Sept. 29 mayors. wounded in the a'ttack. for release of the abducted He said he hoped his 'prayers In the same' Angelus talk to daughter of President Jose Nap· for the victims would "touch the 'an estimated 30,000 pilgrims and oleon Duarte of El SalvadQr and hearts of the kidnappers, and I tourists gathered in the square, other kidnap victims in the war· 'convince ,them to back off' from the pope said he would speak on torn Central American country. their intentions and promptly re- the Second Vatican Council. In an apparent reference to Speaking at his weekly An· turn those abducted to their gelus talk from his apartment loved ones."apprehensions that have been InesGuadalupe Duarte Duran, , voiced about the synod's aims, a.bove St. Peter's Square, the --' pope expressed his "profound 35, ,and her secretary were ab- :'the pope pledged that the coun­ condemnation" of ·the recent kid· ducted by unidentified armed 'cil would remain at the center nappings of President Duarte's men Sept. 10 in San Salvador, ofJ1is pontificate.

ABoUT LOVE AND LIFE TIlE ClIRJSTJiAN ApPROACH .~.

We' make ourselves the ·persons we are by the choices we make. Who,seeing this, would ch90se to be other than pro-life?'

OUR LADY OF THE ANGELS FALL RIVER, Rev. Msgr. Anthony M. Gomes· Pastor

Catholics may not dissent from abortion teaching WASHINGTON (NC) - Dis­ sent from the Catholic Church's teaching on abortion "can in no way be seen as legitimate teach­ ing," said a statement issued in Washington by the Committee for Pro-Life Activities of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops. The committee issued the' statement to coincide with Re­ spect Life Sunday to be observed Oct. 6 in dioceses across the country. "A Catholic who chooses to dissent from the church's teach­ ing on abortion, or to support dissent from it, is dissenting not only from church law but from a higher law which the church seeks to observe and teach," the statement said. "Much has been made lately of statements by persons who, emphasizing they are Catholics, assert that they are not bound by what the church says about abor­ tion. . "In reply we wish to make a very simple point: the church's teaching in this matter is bind­ ing not only because the church says so, but because this teach­ ing expresses the objective.de­ mands placed on all of us by the inherent dignity of human life:' Although the committee state­ ment did not mention it speci­ fically, -last year a controversial ad appeared in The New York Times in which the 97 Catholics who signed it said there was more than one "legitimate Cath­

olic position" on the morality of abortion. The ad, published in The Times Oct. 7, 1984, became the source, of a highly publicized, ongoing conflict in the U.S. church after a Vatican agency ordered the men imd women Religious who signed it to recant. The three priests and 24 nuns received Vatican orders to recant or face expulsion from their communi­ ties. At least two of the nuns say they have been cleared; but the cases of most are still pending.• The three male Religious - two brothers ~nd a priest - publicly affirmed their adherence to cr.urch teaching on abortion shortly after the Vatican order and apparently were cleared. In their statement for Respect Life Sunday, the bishops also said those who say the abortion controversy requires one to choose between the rights of women and the rights of the un­ born have "a misunderstanding of the Christian message." "Christian love extends to all God's children without limit or exception," the statement said. "It does not mean choosing one over the other, but loving all and treating all with respect. "We therefore stand with the child who has no voice of his or her own, and we also stand with the wom!!:n facing problems in pregnancy, doing all we can to provide her with effective mor­ ally acceptable assistance."

THE ANCHOR-Diocese Of Fall River':""--'Fri:, OcC4', 1"985

19

THE'

I{NIGHTS OF COJ~UMBUS

MASSACHUSETTS STATE COUNCIL

KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS

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THE ANCHOR-Diocese of Fall River-Fri., October 4;1985 I

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Continued from page one op William Keeler, chairman of the NCCB Committee on Ecu­ menical and Interreligious Af­ fairs. He said that Popes John XXIII, Paul VI and John Paul II had ex­ changed letters with leaders such as the Orthodox ecumenical pa­ triarchs of Constantinople (Istan­ bul) and archbishops of Cante'r­ bury, spiritual 'leaders of the worldwide Anglican Communion. But he said he knew of no previous occasion when a pope had engaged in a similar ex­ change with the head of a non­ Roman national church. Bishop Mag!lire said it was presumably Bishop Crumley's personal interest in ecumenism and his charismatic qualities that had impressed officials of the Vatican Secretariat for Christian Unity and the pope and had led

Remembered Continued from Page One Lady's Haven, he said that at St. Theresa's birth a poor man whom her parents had aided slipped a congratulatory poem under the • family's front door. "You'H be a rose one day," it promised. The chaplain also said that ,the distribution of roses signified that 'although the Carmelite Sis­ ters who formerly directed Our Lady's Haven "are gone, the spirit of Carmel Hves on, ,thanks to the dedicat~on of alit/he nuns who served here." Now supplying a religious pres­ ence at Our Lady's Haven are the Sisters of St. Joseph of Springfield, two of whom will visit :residents regularly by ar­ il'angement with their administra­ tor, Sister Joan Bellenoit, SSJ.

the time of the annual NCCB meeting, it will involve several Catholic bishops as' well as Lu­ theran 'leaders. Father Hotchkin said such a service was unprece­ dented. '

Archbishop 'sheds his mansion

9:00 A.M. - ~:30 P.M.

New president BOSTON (NC) ..,.. Jesuit Fath­ er Daniel Gatti, director of pas­ toral care at the Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, has been elected president of the National Asso­ ciation of Catholic Chaplains.

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to development of the spec·ial re­ lationship with this one nati9nal church.. Father John Hotchkin, secre­ tariat director for the NCCB Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, who was present for the press conference, said afterward that it was hoped the LCA would be a pacesetter for other Lutheran churches in­ volved with CathoHc dialogue. Bishop Malone will be homilist at a November Lutheran-Roman ,Catholic Service of the Word at Reformation Lutheran Church in Washington. To take place at

DUBUQUE" Iowa (NC) Archbishop Daniel W. Kucera of Dubuque has announced plans to sell his home, a mansion own­ ed by the archdiocese since 1911 and assessed at $181,000. The archbishop said the man­ sion is too large for two people. He shares it with Father Dennis Colter, director of vocations and continuing formation of pI1ests. Prior to his appointment to Dubuque, Archbishop Kucera made a similar move as bishop of Salina, Kan., selling the bish­ op's house there and moving to a smaller home.

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THE ANCHOR-Diocese of Fall River-Fri., Oct. 4, 1985

Beatification

for Jesuits

VATICAN CITY (NC) - A Spanish Jesuit who took Cath­ olicism to the' U.s. territory of Guam is scheduled to be beatified Oct. 6 with two other members of his order. Father Diego Luis de San Vi­ tores (1627-1672), who establish­ ed the first permanent Catholic mission on the western Pacific island of Guam, is to be beati­ fied by Pope John Paul II at the Vatican, said a U.S. priest, Father Robert Sarno of the Vatican Con­ gregation for Saints' Causes. Father San Vitores was Guam's first martyr, Father Sarno said. The Jesuit priest had heard that the child of a native chief was dying. He baptized the child • after receiving permission from the chief's wife but then was killed by the chief. Among those planning to at­ tend the beatification are Arch­ bishop Felixberto Flores of Ag­ ana, Guam; Archbishop John R. Quinn of San Francisco; Auxili­ ary Bishop Daniel F. Walsh of San Francisco; and U.S. Con­ gressional Delegate Ben Garrido Blaz of Guam. About 500 citizens of Guam also are also scheduled to attend. , Guam parishes plan to com­ memorate the beatification with Masses and prayers. Church bells will be rung at noon Oct. 6 to honor the missionary. The two other Jesuits to be beatified are Father Jose Maria Rubio y Peralta (18f34-1929) and Brother Francisco Garate (1857­ 1929). Father Rubio worked among the poor of Madrid, Spain, while Brother Garate spent most of his life as doorkeeper at the Univer­ sity of Deusto, in Bilbao, Spain, where he ministered to students.

Sr. Marie Dusahlon The Mass of Christian Burial was offered yesterday at St. Cece­ lia's Church, Pawtucket, for Sister Marie Consolata Dusablon, SUSC, 78, an Attleboro native who died Monday. The daughter of the late Arthur and Delia (Cournoyer) Dusablon, she entered the Religious of the Holy Union of the Sacred Hearts in 1924 and taught in Sacred Heart School, North Attleboro, and schools of the Providence diocese. At the time of her death she was on the faculty of St. Cecelia's School, Pawtucket. She has no immediate survivors.

Delay asked KAMPALA, Uganda (NC) ­ Cardinal Emm'anuel Nsubuga, primate of Uganda, has urged Pres­ ident Milton Obote to postpone elections for the National Assem­ bly scheduled for later this year until "peace and tranquillity" are restored in the East African nation. In a pastoral letter, the cardinal asked Obote to appoint a care­ taker government, representing all political groups, which would then prepare to hold elections next year, affecting more than 100 seats in the nation's assembly.

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IN GRIEFS1rRICKEN Mexico City a priest blesses ice­ packed bodies of earthquake victims. (NC/ Wide World photo)

Long-term Church aid, begins in Mexico By NC News Service'

$100,000 from Pope John Paul II; arid $400,000 from the Pontifical Catholic officials emphasized Council "Cor Unum," which pro­ long-term relief for thousands left motes Christian and human pro­ homeless and jobless as Mexico gress. began recovering from earthquakes "We already have designs for which killed more than 4,000 peo­ community health centers," said ple. Father Gonzalez. "In addition to Bishop Rene H. Gracida of Cor­ giving medical attention, they will pus Chri'sti, Texas, chairman .of also help in finding solutions to Catholic Relief Services' CommIt­ housing and work problems." tee for Latin America, noted that , Catholic Relief Services, the over­ "immediate needs" of the people seas a-id program of the U.S. have been "well taken care of." But bishops, "will cooperate with .. .lo­ rehabilitation and 'reconstruction cal organizations in rapidly devel­ must now begin. oping plans for the construction of In Washington, D.C., Catholic temporary housing," Bishop Grac­ University of America professor ida said. Fred Ahearn said it will take Mex­ Soon after the quakes, parishes icans years to recover from long­ in the American Southwest, where term emotional effects of the Sept. historical and ethnic ties to Mex­ 19 and 20 quakes. ico are strong, began taking collec­ At a press conference last week, tions for the earthquake victims. the directors of the Mexican Cath­ At the Catholic University of olic bishops' Episcopal Commis­ America, Ahearn, dean of the sion on Pastoral Work outlined a National Catholic School of Social church program, to be carried out Services, who has studied the hum­ with the help of a specially estab­ an aftermath of earthquakes since lished Catholic Assistance Fund. the 1970s, said ,that anxiety', fear, Father Enrique Gonzalez, execu­ depression and guilt are to be tive secretary of the bishops' com­ expected on the part of earthquake mission, said the first step was survivors. ' emergency aid, "giving immediate Relief workers also will face attention however we can." guilt if they think they might have The second stage, said Father done more, Ahearn said. Gonzalez, was that of continuing According to government fig­ to provide religious services and ures, the two quakes left 30,000 counseling. injured and thousands missing. . The third stage will be design of Unofficial sources, including the an "overall strategy for rehabilita­ U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, John tion and reconstruction in colla­ Gavin, have said the death toll boration with other groups." could go higher than 10,000. Among contributions received The first quake has been up­ by the Catholic Assistance FUI)d graded to 8.1 on the Richter scale, have been from the U.S. bishops, one of the worst ever recorded.

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