t eanc 0 VOL. 41, NO.39 •
Friday, October 10, 1997
FALL RIVER, MASS.
FALL RIVER DIOCESAN NEWSPAPER FOR SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSETIS CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS Southeastern Massachusetts' Largest Weekly
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$14 Per Year
Bishops offer message. on homosexuality
POPE JOHN PAUL II, flanked by Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso and his wife, Ruth, arrives in Rio de Janeiro, Oct. 2. Upon his arrival for a four-day visit, the pope challenged Brazilians to promote socia,l justice and prosperity. (CNS/Reuters photo)
In Brazil:
Pope llrges families to defend marriage, life By CINDY WOODEN RIO DE JANErRO, Brazil (CNS) - During a four-day trip to Brazil, Pope John Paul II said the family is a gi ft that must be defended, and attacks on the values that hold it together must be repelled. Waving the banm:r of Catholic teaching on the pemlanence of marriage and the evi I of abortion, the pope spent much of his Oct. 2-5 stay in Rio de Janeiro, rallying Catholic families to defend and strengthen their bonds. "In the design of God, matrimony - indissoluble matrimony - - is the foundation of a healthy and responsible family," he said Oct. 5 during a seaside Mass closing the Second World Meeting of Families. God wants all people to be happy, the pope told the crowd, which police said numbered between 1.5 million and 2 million people. But God
Mass for Peace Members of the Fall River diocese are invited to join Bishop Sean O'Malley, OFM Cap., in the annua.l procession and Mass for peace on Monday, October 13, at 5:45 p.m. at St. Mary's Cathedral, Fall River. The procession will travel about a mile to St. Anne's Church. Marchers are asked to bring their own candles. The Mass for Peace will be offered at about 7 p.m. Disabled or elderly persons should proceed directly to St. Anne's Church.
also wants people "tQ always join fidelity to happiness, because one cannot exist without the other." Pope John Paul told the couples gathered from around the world that they have a great task before them. "Be bearers of peace and joy at the heart of the family," he said. At an evening rally Oct. 4 with families in the Maracana Stadium, the pope told the crowd that "a false message of impossible and inconsistent happiness is being spread in the world today, and it carries with it only desolation and bitterness." "Happiness is not found by following the way of freedom without truth, because this is the way of irresponsible egoism, which divides and separates families and society," he said. After listening to the testimonies of families who explained how hardships and tensions were overcome by discovering or putting into practice church teaching, the pope told the crowd, "Defend your families as a precious and irreplaceable gift." He encouraged them to be faithful to their spouses and to welcome new children as sign,S of their love for each other and of their hope for the future of humanity. "Societies that are not interested in children are inhuman and irresponsible," he said. "Welcome your children with responsible love," the pope said. "Defend them as a gift of God from the moment they are conceived and from the time human life is born from its mother's womb." The pope prayed "that the abominable crime of abortion, the shame of Turn to page J3
WASHINGTON-Parents who learn that their teenage or adult children have a homosexual orientation are urged to accept their children, themselves, and Church teaching on human dignity, the U.S. Bishops stress in Always Our Children: A Pastoral Message to Parents of Homosexual Children and Suggestions for Pastoral Ministers. The message, which is described as an "outstretched hand," was made public October I, and approved by the Bishops' Administrative Board at its annual Fall meeting, September 9-11. It Was developed by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops' (NCCB) Committee on Marriage and Family, which represents the bishops on marriage and family issues. Bishop Thomas 1. O'Brien of Phoenix chairs the committee. The message speaks to parents directly and notes that if they learn that their child may have a homosexual orientation, they can face a challenging, confusing time marked by such emotions as anger, relief, guilt, and fear. Because of that, the bishops said, Always Our Children aims "to offer loving support, reliable guidance, and recommendations for ministries suited to your needs and those of your child." The message also addresses specific suggestions to priests and pastoral ministers about how to assist and counsel families and homosexual persons. The bishops underscored the teaching of the Catechism of the Catholic Church that states that homosexual persons "must be accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity." With the document, "the bishops translated that message into a useful form for parents and families," Bishop O'Brien said. Always Our Children develops the
same theme of acceptance in three parts. It notes that parents need to accept themselves and their own struggle; to accept and love their child; and to accept God's revelation about human dignity and sexuality as a prerequisite to understanding homosexuality in a person's life. The bishops urged parents not to break off contact with a child and warned that rejection can lead to substance abuse or suicide. "Your chi Id may need you and the family now more than ever," they said. "He or she is still the same person. This child, who has always been God's gift to you, may now be the cause of another gift: your family becoming more honest, respectful, and supportive." The bishops urge parents to seek "appropriate help" for themselves and fortheirchild, but note that a person's right to choose or refuse therapies must be respected. "Look for a therapist who has an appreciation of religious values and who understands the complex nature of sexuality," the bishops said. "Such a person should be experienced at helping people discern the meaning of early sexual behaviors, sexual attractions, and sexual fantasies in ways that lead to more clarity and self-identity. In the course of this, however, it is essential for you to remain open to the possibility that your son or daughter is struggling to understand and accept a basic homosexual orientation." The statement did not enter into the debate about the origin of homosexuality but simply stated that "multiple factors" seem to account for a homosexual orientation. "Generally, homosexual orientation is experienced as a given, not as something freely chosen. By itself, therefore, a homosexual orientation cannot be considered sinful, for mo-
rality presumes the freedom to choose," they said. In a section summarizing the Church teaching, the bishops emphasize the dignity of every person created in God's image and said that the virtue of chastity is a way of respecting personal dignity. The bishops urged heterosexual and homosexual persons to cooperate with God's grace in order to live a chaste life. This is the "higher standard of loving" taught by Christ, they said. They also noted that living and loving chastely means that sexual intercourse must occur only within marriage between a man and a woman and added that this teaching pertains not only to homosexual relationships, but to premarital, and extramarital relationships as well. The pastoral message highlights friendship, which, the bishops said, is "a way of loving" and one that is "essential to a healthy human development, as well as one of the richest possible human experiences." It also said that friendship "outside of genital sexual involvement" should be an integral part of a homosexual person's life. The bishops said the fundamental human rights of homosexual persons are to be respected and defended. "All of us must strive to eliminate any form of injustice, oppression, or violence against them," they said. They added that "all homosexual persons have a right to be welcomed into the community, to hear the Word ofGod, and to receive pastoral care." They also noted that persons in public roles of service and leadership in the Church, whether they be homosexual or heterosexual, should live lives consonant with Church teaching. Always Our Children concludes
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MARCHERS FROM the Fall River diocese; including Bishop O'Malley, joined those from all over the state at the annual Respect Life Walk held Oct. 5 on the Boston Common. The five-kilometer walk raised both awareness and funds for the pro-life apostolate.
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