Must Social Justice be a Church Affair? sidering the foundations of the Church's social ministry from three points of view: 1) the ecclesiological, or how the faun路 dation of ministry for justice is rooted ill our idea of the Church; 2) the moral framework, or what has the Church taught about the &oaia~ system; 3) the pastoral dmpl1ioavrons of !taking social jusVol: 19, No. 41, Oct. 9, 1975 tice seriously. Under the first of these areas, Price 15c $5.00 per year he pointed out .that beyond any specific issue of justice is the more basic question, "Is social (such ,as l!life, .food, hea'1'tih care). justice the business of the Finally, the Church understands Church?" The answer he said, is that persons need an atmosphere yes, and takes its origin in the in which they can exercise reBiblical insight about the sacred- sponsibility for their own lives and those of others. ness of the human person.. Not only does the Church see '- 'IIf the person is sacred," he the person as sacred, Father said, "if the person is social, if Hehir said, but as "radically so- the person grows into a fully cial," achieving full development human person by the exercise of only in a soci'aI oonte~t. FUl1ther- rights and responsihlities - if more, he said, the Church holds all that seems at least minimally tJhat: human beings have certain clear, then the move to the social rights whicb must be protected ministry is rather easy hecause it becomes clear to the Church ,that tif ,She 'beHeves 18'11 of this then she has to have some way of looking at the social system in which she operates, because it's very clear that the way we organize our life, politically, economically, socially, and cultural-
Is social iustice the business of the Church? That is the question dealt with by Fr. J. Bryan Hehir at a clergy conference in Fall River on October 7. Father Hehir, who is Director of the Division of Justice and Peace of the United States Catholic Conference, conducted a workshop on the theme of "Justice and Peace" for some 150 priests from throughout the Diocese. Sponsored by rtlhe Diocesan Department of Education, the workshop was held at Bishop Connolly High School under the direction of Rev. Michael G. Methot. Father Hehir's talk dealt with foundations of Social Ministry as found in Catholic social teaching and on ihe church's opening BicentennIal observance and its relationship .to the Churoh's social teaching. Father began ihJis talk by com-
dlThe8
ANCHOR
Everything Ready For Monday Night
Iy, -the way we do that, either tional) element in the itie of works to the benefit of full hu- the Church." Noting that formerly the "conman development or it retards stitutional elements" of the full human developm~nt." F,ather noted that these have Church were considered to be always been the social implica- the celebration of the Sacra路 tions of the Gospel but in the ments and the preaching of the past 90 years there/has been in- GospeL Father Hehir said, "What creasing concern about the ,the Bishops did in 1971 is to Church's ability to evaluate so- take one strand of the preaching cial systems. It is during this of the Gospel, the strand that time, he said, that the Church's talks about the Gospel of Justice . . . they take that strand and sociaJ teaching ha's devel'QPed. they raise it up for the Church; As to the question as to they give it visibility and they whether specific social issues are say what makes the Church the the work of the Church, he said Church is the preaching of the that the Church has attempted Gospel, the celebration of the to answer that question during Sacramen,ts, and the ministry of the last 10 years. The first re- justice, which is constitutional sponse, he said, grew out of to the life of the Church." Vatican II and is summed up in Reganlin,g 1:ihe second area, the the document The Church in the moral framework of the Modern World. That document Church's social teaching, Father he pointed out, said that a com- traced that teaching through ,plete .....iew of what 'the Ohurclh three periods; the early, period, is, "has to judge the Church in from 1891 to the 1940s; the sec'part by whtll't ~t does for human ond period, from the 1940s to life." the 1960s; and the third, from A second response to the ques- 1971 on. In the first period, he said, tion, he said, is contained in the Bishops' 1971 Synod document heginning with Pope Leo XIII Justice in the Modern World, in and Pope Pius }G, he said there which the Bishops stated that was an internationalization of the ministry for justice "appears Oatihol~c 'SOcia:l teaOhing, with Turn to Page Sixteen to us a constitutive (or constitu-
.
Police Prepar'e For 10,000 pieces which will be performed by the choir. The entire congregation will conclude' the evening by joining in Berlin's "God Bless America." Msgr. Louis Mendonca, VicarGeneral of the Fall River Diocese and director of the procession and Mass emphasized ilJha't the sick and Iin~irm are especially invited to attend the Mass and receive the special blessing of Our Lady of Fatima. Provisions will be made at Kennedy Park for the sick and specifidally it!hose in wheel chairs and stretchers.
Final preparations are being made this week for the procession on Monday to commemorate the fifty-eighth anniversary of the final apparition of Our Blessed Mother at Fatima. The procession, which is being held to pray for peace in Portugal and for all oppressed peoples, is scheduled to begin at six o'clock in the evening at St. Mary's Cathedral. Led by cross-bearers from Santo Christo Parish, Fall River, and the American and Papal flags, tile procession WiHI travel up South Main Street to Kennedy Park where the outdoor concelebrated Mass will be offered in the -softballl meld opposite St. Louis' Ohuroh. Representatlives are eXlpected from all parishese of the diocese with very large numbers from the Portuguese parishes. Santo Christo Parish in Fall River is prepa'l'ling :a delegatlion of two thousand marchers alone. The Fall River Police Department has assigned Capt. Raymond Conroy and Sgt. James Dean to direct the evening and they are making plans to handle crowds in the number of at least ten thousand. Plans for the Mass call for Bishop Cronin Ito detHver 'the homily as well as being chief concelebrant. The musical selections will'include popular hymns in English, Latin, and Portuguese as well as more intricate
Parishes will march as units in the candlelight procession along with their priests. Many parishes are bringing their own candles but candles wiH be avaJiqable at the assembly area in St. Mary's Schoolyard.
J
The or&g:inator of the procession idea is Mrs. Beatrice Angelo a member of Espirito Santo Parish and a teacher at the Fall River Adullt Leming Center, Mrs. Angelo mentioned the idea last July to her husband John who thought she was suffering from the summer heat. Not to be easily dissuaded she meritioned the idea to Msgr. John J. Regan and then to her parish priests and Espiritu Sancto. "From there" she exclaimed" the idea oaught on like wildfire. J.t's obvtious the Blessed Motlher wants it."
POPE PAUL VI AND BISHOP CRONIN meet during audience for the American Bishops who attended the recent canonization of St. Elizabeth Seton in Rome.
_---'In This Issue'-----------------------------------. Rose Hawthome Patients Work For St. Pats Page 2
Fifty Years At ( St. Theresa's So. Attleboro Page 3
A New Irish Saint Picture & Story Page 4
Ethnic Groups Are Discussed At Bicentennial Meeting Page 9
Are Professional Sports a Substitute For War? Read Msgr. Higgins . Page 10