t eanc 0 VOL. 38, NO. 40
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Friday, October 14, 1994
F ALL RIVER, MASS.
FALL RIVER DIOCESAN NEWSPAPER FOR SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS Southeastern Massachusetts' Largest Weekly
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$11 Per Year
Bishop reorganizes diocesan structure
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AT ANNUAL Columbus Day Candlelight March and Mass for Peace which took thousands of participants from St. Mary's Cathedral to St. Anne's Church in Fall River, Bishop O'Malley, reflecting on the International Year of the Child, underscored the role of the family as a "school of peace where children must be taught to love, to forgive and to reject violence, racism and individualism." Parents must "learn patience and be instruments of peace," added the bishop. Top., he participates in March, as does a little girl (bottom). (Kearns photos)
Bishop Sean O'Malley has an- Father Coleman are heads of . nounced an organizational restruc- diocesan secretariats. Their names turing of the responsibilities of and appointments follow and phodiocesan officials in order to bring tos are on page 9. the Fall River diocese into comRev. Joseph M. Costa, Secrepliance with directives ofthe Code tary for Community Service. of Canon Law in this regard. Rev. Edmund J. Fitzgerald, In a letter to priests, the bishop Secretary for Health Care. said he had approved a diagram Rev. Msgr. Thomas J. Harringrepresenting the administrative ton, V.F., Secretary for Spiritual structure of the diocese that was Development/ Apostolates. developed by a committee chaired Rev. George E. Harrison, Secreby Msgr. Henry T. Munroe. tary for Youth. The diagram, rep rod uced on Rev. Michael K. McManus, Secpage 9, lists diocesan officers and retary for Temporalities. bodies reporting directly to the Rev. John F. Moore, Secretary bishop and those reporting to Very for Communications. Rev. George W. Coleman, vicar Rev. Msgr. John J. Oliveira, general and moderator .of the V.E., Secretary for Education/ diocesan curia. Evangelization. The Code of Canon Law defines Very Rev. John A. Perry, V.F., the curia as "those institutions and Secretary for Ministerial Personpersons which furnish assistance nel. to the bishop in the governance of The intent of the restructuring, the entire diocese, especially in said the bishop in his letter to directing pastoral activity, in pro- . priests, is to facilitate diocesan viding for the administration of administration, "thus enabling all the diocese and in exercisingjudi- of us to devote greater attention to ciaI power." the pastoral mission of the Church. Reporting to Bishop "We not only need Christ, but Reporting to the bishop are the also one another, to carryon His judicial vicar of the Diocesan work ..... [all priests] contribute to Tribunal; the diocesan chancellor, the same purpose, namely the who also supervises the Diocesan building up of the Body of Christ, Archives; and Rev. Michael K. and this, especially in our times, demands many kinds of duties and McManus, finance officer. Also Father Coleman, the epis- fresh applications,'" explained the bishop, quoting the Second Vaticopal vicars for the five diocesan can Council decree Presbyterorum deaneries, the deans of those Ordinis. deaneries and all members of the Prayer Asked clergy. Consultative bodies reporting In conclusion, Bishop O'Malley to the bishop are the college of wrote, "let us pray for and support consultors, the presbyteral, finance one another, particularly as we and pastoral councils and the approach our Emmaus convocadiocesan review board. tion, that we will recommit ourReporting to Moderator selves injoy and peace to the Lord Working in conjunction with who has called us to service."
Synod speakers call for dialog, understanding of consecrated life VATICANCITY(CNS)- Respectful dialogue and a clear understanding of consecrated life are the keys to dealing with modern tensions in religious life, said members of the world Synod of Bishops. Declining numbers of religious in North America and Europe, new ways of living in community and changing mini!.tries have raised such tensions within religious orders and between the orders and church authority.. speakers said during the first week of the Oct. 2-29 synod. Synod members and observers and experts from women's and men's religious communities and secular institutes are discussing the role in the church and world of the 1.1 million Catholic men and women who havl: taken vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. With more than 100 synod participants making speeches the first week, topics ranged from the mean-
ing of the vows to the wearing of religious habits. Midway through the synod, members were to gather in small groups to formulate proposals for Pope John Paul II, who has been present for most of the speeches and is expected to write a document based on the proposals. BishopJames C. Timlin of SCI'anton, Pa., told the synod the church must leave room for diversity in consecrated life, but also be clear in what it expect$ of religious. "Some people think their actions are clothed in Gospel values or Gospel freedom when they withdraw from eucharistic life or are absorbed in extreme feminism or when they publicly question magisterial teaching," the bishop said. "How can one claim to be a loyal son or daughter ofthe church and not participate in the Mass?" Bishop Timlin asked. "How can one be a Catholic in good standing
and take positions in opposition to the teachings of the church?" Commenting on Bishop Timlin's speech, Sister Andree Fries, president of the leadership Conference of Women Religious, said it was "unfortunate that the synod has become a forum for unsubstantiated rumors." She noted that the bishop had not claimed any personal experiences with the pr~b lems he cited. "It's hard to refute something for which there is no documenta: tion," she added. "The only solid data we have -and maybe it's not that solid is the L.A. Times survey of women religious, which showed a high level of satisfaction among them and a high level of loyalty to the church," said Sister Fries. She said her personal experience was that V.S. women religious support church teachings, even when they might "try to dialogue
with the church" about how those teachings are implemented. Cardinal James A. Hickey of Washington asked religious to strengthen their commitment to respect for human life. "While we rejoice that individual religious and others in consecrated life have become active in pro-life work," he said, many congregations have not committed themselves collectively to the effort. "For example, in some congregations which actively advocate 'justice and peace' issues, it is not always clear whether 'justice' begins at conception or only at birth," said the Vatican-released summary of his talk. "There are also some in consecrated life who advocate 'prochoice' positions, thus denying church teachings in the moral order and causing scandal to the people of God," Cardinal Hickey said. But Sulpician Father Gerald L.
Brown, president of the V .S. Conference of Major Superiors of Men, told Catholic News Service that disloyalty to church teaching and practice "is not my experience of women religious in the V nited States." "You do hear rumors" about such attitudes, but women religious overall "are carrying the burden of much of the church's ministry," Father Brown said. Chicago Cardinal Joseph Bernardin said that while bishops have the authority and responsibility for watching over consecrated people, religious are called to a particular way of life and of ministry, the cardinal said. "Respectful dialogue and prayerful discernment" are needed to sort out what is authentic amid the diversity in consecrated life, he said. Turn to Page II