t eanc 0 VOL. 31, NO. 40
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Friday, October 9, 1987
FALL RIVER, MASS.
FALL RIVER DIOCESAN NEWSPAPER FOR SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSEnS CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS
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Bishops grapple with spreading fundamentalism
POPE JOHN PA UL II celebrates an Oct. I Mass in St. Peter's Basilica to open the world Synod of Bishops. Helping to distribute holy communion at the Mass were Fall River diocesan priests Father George W. Coleman, Father Jon-Paul Gallant, Father John F. Moore and Very Rev. Barry W. Wall. (NC/ UPI-Reuter photo)
Laity synod opens in Rome VATICAN CITY (NC) - The role of women in the church emerged as one of the main topics in the opening days of the world Synod of Bishops on the laity. The discussion focused on issues of equality and mission, but did not include ordination. Cardinal Godfried Danneels of MalinesBrussels, Belgium, proposed a greater role for women in diocesan administration. Other topics coming out of the early sessions of the Oct. 1-30 meeting included: - Clarification oflay ministries within the church. - Primary responsibility of lay people to Christianize the secular world. - The church and politics.
- The relationship of churchapproved lay groups with one another and with the hierarchy. In a waiver of synod rules, lay people also addressed plenary sessions. Normally, only voting delegates are allowed to address the assemblies. Synod rules limit voting to bishops and a few priests who are heads of religious orders or who are specifically appointed by the reigning pope. Among the lay speakers were Vicente Espeche, Argentine ambassador to Algeria, and JeanLoup Dherse, a French citizen and one of the organizers of the Chunnel project, which is designed to unite France and England by a tunnel under the English Channel.
The day before the synod opened, Sept. 30, the synod's permanent general secretary, Archbishop Jan Schotte, said Catholics worldwide are accepting the Vatican's frequently repeated distinction between clerical and lay roles. "Little by little one has seen that they have discovered that the mission and the vocation of the laity is in the world," he said. On Oct. I, Pope John Paul II opened the synod with a Mass in which he praised the "important contribution" of lay people to preparations for the synod. He said lay observers at the synod would help the voting delegates in the "challenging task" of examining the laity's role. Turn to Page Six
WASHINGTON(NC)-A u.s. bishops' committee issued a pastoral statement Sept. 30 calling for a plan to counteract spreading biblical fundamentalism. Saying the Catholic Church has not done enough to encourage Bible study, the bishops' statement cites the need for: - Weekly Bible study groups and yearly Bible schools in every parish. - In parts of the country where "there is a special problem with fundamentalism," Masses to which people bring their own Bibles. - Better homilies that apply biblical texts to daily life. - Catechists, lectors and ministers who can quote the Bible with familiarity. The nine-page statement, titled "A Pastoral Stat~ment for Catholics on Biblical Fundamentalism," was written by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops' Ad Hoc Committee on Biblical Fundamentalism. Archbishop Johr. F. Whealon of Hartford, Conn., is chairman of the committee. The statement acknowledges Catholics may be attracted to the fundamentalist approach without realizing its "serious weaknesses," and says biblical fundamentalism, unlike Catholicism, finds all answers in the Bible and disregards the teaching authority of the church. "According to fundamentalism, the Bible alone is sufficient. There is no place for the universal teaching church - including its wisdom, its teachings, its liturgical and devotional traditions," says the statement, which was issued in English and Spanish.
damentalists see no need for "the church as the Lord Jesus founded it," it says. "This non-church characteristic of biblical fundamentalism, which sees the church as only spiritual, may not at first be clear to some Catholics," it says. It is possible that in talking to fundamentalists, Catholics will hear nothing offensive, the statement says. "The difference is often not in what is said, but in what is not said. There is no mention of the' historic, authoritative church in .continuity with Peter and the other apostles," it says. "There is no vision ofthe church Turn to Page Six
Columbus Day
Peace Mass: Marian event
On Monday, Oct. 12, the Columbus Day holiday, members of the Fall River diocese are invited to join in the 13th annual candlelight procession and Mass for peace in Fall River. During the Marian year, participants will have the opportunity of gaining a plenary indulgence, as explained in a letter from Bishop Daniel A. Cronin which appears on page 2 of this issue of The Anchor. As in previous years, marchers will meet at 5:30 p.m. at St. Mary's Cathedral, Fall River, to 'march about a mile to Kennedy Park. They will carry candles, recite the "There is simply no claim [in rosary and sing Marian hymns in fundamentalism] to a visible, audi- Portuguese, French, Spanish, Italble, living, teaching authority bind- ian, Polish and English. A statue ing the individual or congrega- of Our Lady will be carried in the procession, which will leave the tions," it adds. at 6 p.m. Cathedral Catholics, it says, should realize At 7 p.m. or a little I,ater, dependthe church produced the New Tesing on the time needed for marchers tament, "not vice-versa." The statement urges development to arrive, the Mass for peace will of a "pastoral plan for the word of take place in St. Anne's church, God" that would "place the sacred which faces the park at South Scriptures at the heart of the par- Main and Middle Streets. The principal concelebrant will ish and individual life." A plan is necessary because past be Bishop Daniel A. Cronin. Priests of the diocese wishing to "neglect of parents in catechetics and the weakness of our adult concelebrate the Eucharistic liturgy education efforts are now produc- are asked to bring an alb and stole. Disabled or elderly persons ing a grim harvest. "We need to educate - and to should proceed directly to St. re-educate - our people know- Anne's Church, where a special ingly in the Bible so as to counter- area will be reserved for their use. Parish groups marching to the act the simplicities of biblical fundamentalism," the statement says. church are encouraged to identify Unlike Catholics, biblical fun- themselves with banners or flags.