FALL RIVER DIOCESAN NEWSPAPER FOR· SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS' CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS VOL. 37, NIO. 43
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Friday, November 5,1993
F ALL RIVER, MASS.
Southeastern Massachusetts' Largest Weekly
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$11 Per Year
Bishfop 0 'Malley writes to pa:rents'of students in palrish rc~ligion classes My dear pa:ents, Religious education and spiritual formation of our young people is of vita: importance. It is one ofthe ways by which we hand on our faith to the next generation; it is ()ne of the ways that y<Hh as parents, car-y out your re$;ponsibilityofservingas~'firstteach~rs" in the ways of faith for your childnm. .' More thaJl35 ,000 boys and girls are enrolled in our parish-based religious education programs throughout the Diocese. I give thanks to tte Lord that y,ou have Illade that effort to shoW your love for yourcbildren. . ';:,: : " . - . ) : ;:" ,~:>:}:::<" Our cate(:hists and religious education personnel give gener~ ously of thC'ir time and energy each week. As these faith-filled individuals .nstruct'their students, they join me in asking you to make a truly consciouscffort tolive the less()?s taughtinJhe classrooms in your own home throughout the week. The Cat~Q1ic values and attitudes that you live ate the ones the children will imitate and make their own. I have designated Novernberto be RELIGIOUS EDUCAnON MONTH throughout the I)iocese ofF!Jll River.~~ny parishe~are preparing special events and activities to highlight the work already beir g done. I take this moment to thank you and all who are "generons beyond mellsure." (Mt. 20: 15) May God's choicest blessings be upon you and your families and may His peE.ce live in you:r hearts and in yourhollles. 'C'",'
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Devotedly yours in Christ,
Bishop reorganizes )'outh ministry In a reorgan:,zation of ministry to youth in the Fall River diocese, Bishop "Sean O'Malley has appointed Rev. George E. Harrison vicar for youth and Rev. David A. Costa director of the Office of Youth Ministry Services. !Both appointments were effective Oct. 28. Additionally, the bishop announced that he has invited the Youth AposLes Institute, an Association of Christian Faithful based in Arling':on Va., to assist in diocesan ministry to youth. The Office (If Youth Ministry Services, form~rly at Cathedral Camp, East Freetown, has been relocated to Bishop Connolly !High School, Fall River. Father Harrison Father Harri.on, pastor of Our Lady of Mt. Cumel parish, Seekonk, has bee n associated with youth ministry for many years. Holding a master's degree in guidance counselin,~ from Bridgewater State College, he has been Taun-
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ton area CYO director, chaplain of Coyle-Cassidy High School, Taunton, and Bishop Stang High School, North Dartmouth, and director of campus ministry at then Southeastern Massachusetts University, now UMass Dartmouth. In 1983, Father Harrison was named director of Cathedral Camp and in 1985 director of a youth ministry program based at the camp. In 1986 he hosted a planning conference at the camp that brought together 21 persons involved in diocesan youth ministry to formulate a diocesan plan for parish-based services to youth. In 1989 he was appointed diocesan director of Youth Ministry, a position he held until last February, when he was named to his Seekonk pastorate. As vicar for youth, Father Harrison will be directly responsible to Bishop O'Malley and will oversee all aspects of diocesan youth minTurn to Page II
Peace, family Ijife, diaconate on bishops' agendil for D.C. parley' WASHINGTON (CNS) - Liturgy decisions, a message to families, and statements on peace, the diaconate and the social mission of the parish will be on the agenda when the U.S. Catholic bishops meet in Washington Nov. 15-18. Anticipating a 1994 papal encyclical on threats to human life, the bishops' Committee for ProLife Activities plans to ask for a go-ahead to draft a special message on abortion for next year. Several conference and committee elections, a 1994 budget of $41.7 million and a one-year extension of aid to the churches of Eastern Europe are also on the agenda. This year's fall assembly of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops and U.S. Catholic Conference is expected to draw about 275 cardinals, archbishops and bishops to the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Northwest Washington. The proposed peace statement - a 60-page reflection on the new challenges of building a just and peaceful world in the post-Cold War era - is a lO-yearfoliowup to the bishops' landmark 1983 pastoral letter, "The Challenge of Peace." It was written by a committee headed by Bishop Daniel P. Reii!y. of Norwich, Com). The 28-page message to families, titled "Follow the Way of Love," was drafted by the Com-
mittee on MaJrriage and Family, headed by Cardinal Joseph L. Bernardin of Chicago. Written to mark the 1994 United Nations International Year of the Family, it encourages spouses and families to develop sound, loving family life alnd values as a solid mooring amid :the stresses of modern living. "The parish is where the church lives.... One of the most encouraging signs of thf: Gospel at work in our midst is the vitality and quality of social justice ministries in our parishes," says the 24-page proposed statement, "Communities of Salt and Light: Reflections on the Social Mission of the Parish." The statemf:nt was developed jointly by the bishops' Domestic Policy Commiuee, chaired by Auxiliary Bishop John H. Ricard of Baltimore, and International Policy Committee, chaired by Archbishop John R. Roach of St. PaulMinneapolis. It is part of an effort to encourage and promote parishbased social ministry. More than 300 pages of liturgy material forml:d the bulk of the two-inch pack of reading materials sent to the bishops a month before the meeting. Liturgical Iproposals up for approval include: - The first Hegment of the new Sacramentary, a massive translation updating project for all the
prayers of the Mass, to be dealt with in seven segments over the next two years. - A vote on procedures for approving the Sacramentary over the next two years. - A revised inclusive-language version of the Grail Psalter for liturgical use. - The "Ritual de Exequias Cristianas," the Spanish text for the Order of Christian Funerals. The proposed statement on the permanent diaconate marks the 25th anniversary of the re-establishment of the permanent diaconate by Pope Paul VI following the Second Vatican Council. It notes that in the United States, which has led the world in restoring the permanent diaconate, there are now more than 10,000 permanent deacons and 2,000 candidates in formation programs. The bishops' ad hoc committee on Eastern and Central Europe is proposing to add one final year -1995 - to a short-term campaign of annual parish collections for the church in those regions. When the collapse of communism opened up an array of new needs and opportunities for Eastern Europe's long-stifled Catholic churches, the American bishops agreed to a minimum three-year national collection to assist them, Turn to Page II