Westporter takes . reins of NCCW Boston Province By DEACON JAMES
Study to look at Fall-River Catholic schools
N. DUNBAR
By JOHN E. KEARNS JR. DIOCESAN DIRECToR OF CoMMUNICATIONS
COLUMBUS, Ohio -When Bishop Michael Bransfield of Wheeling-Charleston closed the September 23-25 convention of the National Convention of Catholic Women saying, "You are doing so many good things for' the right reasons:' he could well have been talking about Lynette M. Ouellette. A member of St. George's Parish in Westport, Ouellette was installed as Boston Province director of the NCCW earlier during the convention, placing her in one of the top regional posts in the Catholic women's organization committed to serving the Church, family and community. It's a demanding job the former teacher and long-active member and leader in the Fall River Diocesan Council of Catholic Women said she relishes. "It will mean lots more travel- and I have done a great deal already - and thank. God my husband Normand is very understanding and very supportive:' said Ouellette, whose province includes the Fall River Diocese, all of New Hampshire and Maine as well. Residents of Westport, they are the parents of a son and grandparents of two. "It's been something of a journey since joined the diocese's Council ofCatholic Women in the late 1988s as a member of St. George's Tum to page 15 - Director
FALL RIVER - A comprehensive study of Catholic schools in Fall River will begin this fall to evaluate Catholic elementary education in the city and to determine ways to strengthen the schools, individually and as a citywide system. George A. Milot, diocesan superintendent of schools, has announced the formation of an ad hoc committee of veteran educators and planning and building consultants whose mission will be, he said, ''to collect and analyze significant data pertaining to all of the Catholic schools in the city of Fall River and, from the data, to offer recommendations to improve the delivery system of Catholic education in the city." Members of this ad hoc committee are Dominican Sister Ann Dominic Roach, former superintendent of schools in the Boston Archdiocese, who will chair the group; Martina Grover, former teacher and principal ofSt. Mary School, Taunton; Mercy Sister Elaine Heffen1an, former teacher, principal, and diocesan director ofReligious Education; Deacon Thomas Palanza, an independent design and construction consultant; and Douglas Rodrigues, planning consultant for the diocese. This work is being undertaken, Milot explained, in response to the decline in the school
TAKING IT TO THE STREETS - Diocesan faithful process on South Main Street in Fall River in the annual Peace March on October 8. (Photo by Brian Kennedy)
Peace March celebrates Our Lady of Fatima in many tongues By BRIAN KENNEDY ANCHOR STAFF
FALL RIVER - Hundreds of parishioners from around the Fa)J. River Diocese gathered for the annual Our Lady ofFatima Peace March. As the procession rolled down South Main Streettowards St. Anne's Church, songs in a multitude of languages could be heard. Upon entry, the statue of Our Lady of Fatima· was placed to the left of the ambo, and the service began with a rosary. The
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Joyful Mysteries were recited with each decade in a different language: Portuguese, English,-Spanish, French, and finally Polish. "Ave Maria's" were sung between each mystery, until the Mass began. The hymns were sung in many languages, performed by the choir and congregation in a beautiful service unlike. any other. The readings also spanped three languages, showcasing the true universality of Tum to page 18 - Peace
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Award-wining Pro-Life film set to reach mainstream audience By MATT McDONALD ANCHOR STAFF'
BUZZARDS BAY - The enthusiastic" applause at the end of a pre-release screening ·of the independent movie '~Bella"'last month showed it had won over the mostly .hand-picked crowd of Roman Catholics. Now . industry watchers are waiting to see how the movie does when it is released to a wider audience October 26. ·'·'Bella" is about a Latino restaurant chef in New York City who tries to persuade a coworker not to have an abortion.
LYNETTE OUELLETTE
It's about more than that, of course, b~t the clear anti-abortion and pro-family me~- . sages have helped attract religious groups. The Pro-Life Apostolate of the Diocese of Fall River hosted a showing of the movie September 30 at Massachusetts Maritime Academy in Bourne. "I think "Bella" can just carry a tremendous message. It's hitting the young people. That's what's so encouraging," said Mari~ Desrosiers, director of the diocese's Pro Lif'e office, while speaking to the audience after II
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Newly ordained permanent deacons • receIve· assignm~nts ~PageThree
World Mission Sunday reminds us to advance the Good News "But when the Son of Man comes, will he find any faith on the earth" (Lk 18:1-8). By DEACON JAMES
N.
DUNBAR
NEW BEDFORD - This Sunday, World Mission Sunday, the faithful in parishes across the Fall River Diocese will replicate what is taking place in churches all over the world - an active renewal of our baptismal commitment to share our faith, to spread the "Good News" to those waiting to know Christ - some of them
without a sign of hope. Our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, is calling every Catholic to celebrate at Mass Sunday our vocation to be missionaries and to forward the work of the missions. "All the churches for all the world" is the theme for this year's World Mission Sunday. "It invites the local Church - the parishes - of every continent to share awareness of the urgent need to relaunch missionary action in the face of the many serious challenges of our time," said Msgr. John J. Oliveira, director of the Society for the
Propagation of the Faith for the Fall River Diocese. "The whole idea of Mission Sunday is to realize that while we may not be able to travel to a distant land to be evangelists or catechists, we can fulfill our missionary responsibility through prayer and financial support of the missions and missionaries," he said. "By our prayers next weekend and by what we offer the Propagation of the Faith, we become spiritual partners with mission priests, Sister, Brothers, and catechists who Tum to page 18 - Missions