FALL RIVER DIOCESAN NEWSPAPER FOR SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS
t eanc 0 VOL, 29; NO. 43 II
FALL R,IVER; MASS., FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 1i 1985
$8 Pe'r Year
A special place" despite "inadequacies"
Cardinal Casaroli
speaks at U.N. Mass
NEW YORK (NC) - Cardinal Agostino Casaroli, Vatican sec retary of state, said at a Mass marking the 40th anniversary of the United Nations that despite the international ,organization's "inadequacies,", it remained "a' special place" for working to build a peaceful world. "There 'are two extTemes to be avoided - a blind optimism or an unenlightened, and certainly not Christian pessimism," he said in a homily Oct. 20 at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York. "I would dare to say that :the present situation of the world, with all its negative and frighteningly dangerous aspects,
can and must be transformed ·into a providential opportunity" for building peace, he said. "The enterprise is historically gigan tic, but .not beyond the capacity of humanity." The Mass was celebrated by Cardinal John J. O'Connor of New York. Numerous other members of the hierarchy as well as ecumenical representa tives also participated. Vernon WaIters, U.S. ambas sador to the United Nations, and Janviere' Baziyaka, first coun selor of the Rwanda mission to the United Nations, served as lectors. The general interces sions were read by six individ uals in the six official languages
of the United Nations - Eng lish, French, Spanish, Russian, Chinese and Arabic. Cardinal Casaroli noted that the U.N. Charter "adopted June 26, 1945, to become effective Oct. 24 of that year, doubtless caused skeptics to smile at the "utopian idealism." Forty years later, he said, an "examination of conscience" is needed to see what has happened to the earlier hopes and the commitment to peace.
As The Anchor was going to press, Cardinal Casaroli was ex pected to make a full recovery
NC photo
CARDINAL CASAROLI addressing the U.N. General Assembly. from a fall he sUffered~Oct. 23 and the consequent removal of his spleen, according to doctors at Cabrini Medical Center in New York. They said they fore saw "no impairment" of his ability to carry out the exten sive worldwide travels and other duties of his ()t'fice, and that he
was expected to leave the hos pital by tomorrow. He would then be expected to stay in New York about a week for follow-up treatment before returning to Rome, the doctors said. The doctors said Cardinal CasaroU, 70, had been in good Turn to Page Seven
NCCW convention
Diocesan wo'men elected
to national office
Two members of the Fall River Diocesan Council of Catholic Women were elected to national office at the National Council of Catholic Women convention, held Oct. 20 to 25 at the Shera ton Twin Towers Hotel, Or 'lando, FL. The gathering carried the theme "One Heart, One Mind in One Spirit."
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BISHOP CONNOLLY High School student Sarah Hurd· and Bishop Connolly enjoy their meeting. (Dodge-Murphy photo)
Students meet founder
Students at Bishop Con nolly High School, ~all River, recently had the opportunity :to meet their "founding father." TPe Toute of their annual walltathon .Jed them past the Catholic Memorial Home, a'l so in Fall River, where sparkling autumn weather lured retired Bishop Jam~s L.·
Connolly to the front to wave 'a greeting. Several. girls from the for merly all-boys' school couldn't resist adding a hug to' the encounter, prompting the bishop, who wiU be 91 Nov. 15, to chuckle that !he thought it "a grand idea" that the school he opened :in 1967 is now coeducational.
Mrs. James A. O'Brien Jr., a past president of the diocesan council and immediate past Boston province director, led a slate of 12 nominees' for the organization's national nomina ting committee. The St. Mary's . Cathedral, Fall River, parishioner will serve as national chairman of the committee. Mrs. Michael J. McMahon, also a cathedral parishioner and former diocesan council presi dent, as well -as a past national treasurer, was elected to serve as treasurer of the NCCW asso ciates. Msgr. Anthony M. Gomes, diocesan moderator, led a dele gation of 19 council members to the biannual convention. Father
James F. Lyons, New Bedford deanery moderator, and Father Joseph L. Powers, St. Elizabeth Seton parish, No. Falmouth, also attended.
women in the Palm Beach Dio cese she knew little about women's church organizations or even how to introduce a bishop.
The diocesan women were greatly responsible for the suc cess of a silent auction held at the convention. Mrs. O'Brien served as co-chairman of the fimdraiser, which netted over $11,000.
Nine years later, the keynote speaker said, she can look at the "success of· The Catholic Evan gelist" and her own accomplish ments as a doctoral degree can didate and convention speaker.
On Oct. 22, conventioneers were addressed by Susan Blum, founding editor of The Catholic Evangelist, a national magazine published in Boca Raton, FL, by the Catholic Evangelism Founda tion. She told participants .not to let a lack of experience or con fidence .keep them from lay ministry. . "There is not a person in this room who could have less ex perience, less confidence or 'less knowledge than I did nine years. ago," she told the 1700 dele gates. She said that when she joined the local council of Catholic
Archbishop Edward A. Mc Carthy of Miami, chief cele brant at the convention M~ss the same day, told delegates "to transform the world" by evan gelizing people outside and in- side the church. "We are evangelizers but we need to be evangelized," he said. "Evangelization calls for not only believing the revealed truth but 'living it. Everyone is responsible in his or her own way to spread the news of Jesus. No member plays a' passive role." Evangelization, he 'said, can take place everywhere men and women "meet, dream their Turn to page thirteen,