FALL RIVER DIOCESAN ,NEWSPAPER
FOR SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSmS CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS
VOL. 30, NO. 40
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Friday, October 10, 1986
F ALL RIVER, MASS.
Southeastern Massachusetts' Largest Weekly
Seminary report released WASHINGTON (NC) - A Vatican study of 38 post-college seminaries in the United States says that some of them show confusion about authoritative church teachings in moral theology but that the majority offer balanced and faithful programs. A report on the study was released in Washington Oct. 5. Dissent from church teaching was uncovered in "a few instances" but "is not a major characteristic" of the seminaries, according to the 23-page report. Confusion about church teachings is a "more common phenomenon," it said. The report, issued by the Vatican Congregation for Catholic Education, was based on in-depth studies in 1983-84 ofthe 38 free-standing Catholic post-college seminaries in the United States. The studies were done by teams of bishops, religious superiors and seminary leaders under the direction of Bishop John Marshall of Burlington, Vt., Pope John Paul II's appointed delegate. Studies are still in process on college-level seminaries and on collaborative or union models of priestly training, in which two or more institutions are involved in training seminarians. American-born Cardinal William Baum, head of the Vatican congregation, wrote the report in the form of a letter to the bishops of the United States. Regarding the quality of U.S priesthood candidates it said, "Although mistakes have been made, in our judgment there is more anxiety about the quality of seminarians in the public forum than is warranted by the evidence." It said weaknesses include inadequate training in philosophy before theology and inadequate numbers of black and Hispanic seminarians. In a cover letter sent with the report, Bishop James W. Malone of Youngstown, Ohio, president ofthe National Conference ofCatholic Bishops, expressed "considerable satisfaction" at the conclusions of the report. He said Cardinal Baum had taken note of "the deficiencies where they exist," but in general had found U.S. seminaries "strong and vibrant." The report focused only on the nation's free-standing theologates, which are post-college seminaries Turn to Page Eight
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Peace Mass set for Columbus Day
PRESIDENT Francois Mitterand welcomes Pope John Paul II at the start of a four-day visit to France marked by tight security. (NC/ UPI-Reuter photo)
Pope visits France, pleads for peace LYONS, France (NC) - Pope John Paul II used a whirlwind four-day trip to southeastern France to reassert his strong commitment to world peace and to urge the nominally Catholic French to end their "massive indifference" to institutional church life. The pope started the Oct. 4-7 trip to six cities with a surprise call for a one-day worldwide truce from armed conflict as a symbolic gesture which could lead to permanent peace. Amid tight security, which included requiring people attending papal events to pass through metal detectors, Pope John Paul also recommitted the church to ecumen ism and urged greater ecumencial activity on the parish level. The pope began the trip with an appeal to political, governmental, guerrilla and terrorist leaders to observe a one-day truce Oct. 27
-the day he has called for a "prayer summit" with other world religious leaders. The truce would be a significant gesture showing that "violence does not have the last word in the relationships be-
Month's Mind Bishop Daniel A. Cronin will be principal celebrant for a Month's Mind Mass for the late Bishop James L. Connolly at 12:05 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 16, at St. Mary's Cathedral. All are invited to attend. tween people and nations," the pope said. As a follow-up to the truce call, papal diplomats will contact political and government leaders involved in wars while local bishops
will seek out guerrilla leaders, announced Joaquin Navarro-Valls, papal press spokesman. "This is the first time the pope has followed up a call for world peace with an intense diplomatic and episcopal offensive," said Navarro-Valls. During the trip, the pope also urged an intensification of the church's ecumenical commitment. "We must neither draw back, nor remain static," he said Oct. 4. Church leaders must "remove the obstacles to this movement toward unity" while "respecting the legitimate diversity of customs, cul-' tures and spiritual sensitivities," he said. Christian leaders should have "the boldness" to implement "in the daily life of our parishes and all our communities the progress already made," he added. Turn to Page Six
On Monday, Oct. 13, the Columbus Day holiday, members of the Fall River diocese are invited to join in the 12th 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 the rosary and sing Marian hymns in Portuguese, French, Spanish, Italian, Polish and English. A statue of Our Lady will be carried in the procession, which will leave the Cathedral at 6 p.m. At 7 p.m. or a little later, depending 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 identify themselves with banners or flags.
Parley raps feminization of poverty NASHVILLE, Tenn. (NC) Urging an end to "pauperization" of U.S. women, Catholic Charities USA has called for pay equity, a higher minimum wage, Social Security for women who are holnemakers and other public policy changes. The call came during the organization's annual convention in Nashville when 500 delegates approved a statement on the "Feminization of Poverty." The delegates were among more than I,500 participants at the nnd annual Catholic Charities convention Sept. 26-30. The statement on women and poverty was proposed by Catholic Charities USA last April. It developed from a poll of and discussions by Catholic Charities members during 1984 and 1985. It includes 17 recommendations Turn to Page Thirteen
Vote your conscience on November 4
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