The ·ANCHOR An Anchor of the sour, Sure and Firm-St. Paul
Fall River, Mass.', Thursday, Nov. 7, 1974 PRICE 151: Vol. 18, No. 45' © 197.4 The Anchor $5.00 per year
Meyer Davis To Play At Ball January 10 The 20th annual Bishop's Charity 'BaH to be held Fr,iday, Jan. 10 at the Lincoln Park Ballroom, North Dartmouth, will feature music 'by the internationally famous Meyer Davis Orchestra. Davis, the seventy-five year old maestro, will appear in person. Among the orchestra's patrons are such illustrious names as Astor, Vanderbilt, Ford, RockefeHer, Dupont, Firestone and many others. This orchestra has been a White House habit. Presidents _Harding, Coolidge, Roose· velt, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson have danced to its music at their inaugural balls, Davis has made more than fifty appearances at the White House. The popularity of his music and the demand for it is such that it is not unusual for engagements to be made ten or more years in advance. Rev. Msgr. Anthony M. Gomes, diocesan director of the Ball, noted that popular demand requested .Davis' fourth appearance at the Ball. Meyer Davis, is contracted already to provide the music for
Bishops Consider Death Penalty WASHINGTON (NC) - The U. S. Catholic bishops will vote on a statement opposing. capital punishment when they hold their annual general meeting here Nov. 18-22. There is question, however, whether the statement will be passed. A statement was approved by the usec Committee on Social. Development and World Peace and it was sent to local bishops for their reaction. However, much of the reaction has asked for a clarification of the theology of the document; many suggested revisions have been made. Some bishops prefer no statement at all. If the bishops should paS3-the rewritten statement, it would be a first-ever for the U. S. Bishops. A number of individual bishops, theologians, state Catholic Conferences and Catholic organizations have publicly opposed the death penalty. The Catholic Church has traditionally supported the right of the state to impose the death Turn to Page Three
the Charity Ball in January 1978. Proceeds from this social event provide for the welfare of the exceptional and underprivileged children of every race, color and creed of the southeastern area of Massachusetts. Two Nazareth Hall schools in Fall River, one in Hyannis and one in Attleboro impart special training to many children and it reflects the progress that has been made in the mental, physical and emotional development of the exceptional child. Days of enjoyment, health and recreation are provided for Turn to Page Two
Set Agenda For Bishops WASHINGTON (NC)-A pro· posed statement on capital punish~ent and a plan for more effective use of the means of communication for evagelization are among the items on the agenda of the annual meeting here of the U. S. Catholic bishops. Also on the agenda are elections of a new president and vice president of the bishops' conference. About 250. bishops are expected to attend the Nov. 18 to 22 meeting of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCOB) and the United States Catholic Conference (USCC), the civIl corporation and secretariat through which the NCCB acts with other Catholics. Before the formal opening of the meeting, a bishops' day of prayer, study and reflection on the renewal of faith will be sponsored by the NCCB Committee on Pastoral Research and Practices. The bishops will also spend a morning during their meeting in regional groupings discussing the renewal of faith. ,A report is expected on the results- of the recent Synod of Bishops at the Vatican. The current president of the bishops' conference is Cardinal John Krol of Philadelphia, whose term of office ends at the November me~ting." The vice pr~sident, Archbishop Leo Byrne of St. Paul and Minneapolis, died Oct. 21. Ten candidates have been Turn to Page Two,
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~A Pontiff Receives Bishop Cronin, During Visit
As Rome Food Parley Opens Hope 01 Improvement Grows ROME (NC)-World food production could be doubled in a year if the world decided to do it, according to a founder of the National Catholic Rural Life Conference of the United States. Msgr. Luigi Ligutti, who wi!! turn 80 "on the first day of spring, 1975," also described the world food situation as "alarming but improving." In an interview before the opening of the United Nationssponsored World Food Conference here, Msgr. Ligutti insisted that the way to end hunger is "not through handouts but through helping little people help themselves." In his home off Rome.'s anciem Aurelian Way, Msgr. Ligutti declared, "There's a miracle ).lnder every rock and an infinite potential in every drop of water. World fooO production could be doubled in 12 months with available means, but that would take intellect, ability, will and concern for social justice:' ,"The Italian-born American priest, who helped found the National Catholic Rural Life Conference (NCRLC) during the depression, also said that the alarming world food picture is improving for several reasons. First, "Our diet' and nutrition is way better than it was during the time of the French or our own American Revolution." He recalled that even at the turn of the century when he was growing up in a small village in Northeast Italy, deaths from pro· tein deficiency were rather com-
mon in Italy. They are virtually unknown now. The situation is also brighter because consciousness and concern about world hunger is "get· ting to be universal-not just felt by a few dogooders. Fifty years ago we couldn't possi'bly have thought about holding a world food conference." Another hopeful sign, he said, is that Christians in the West as well as "ruling powers and big shots in developing countries," are "coming to realize that they
must share in the guilt" for food shortages. But, according to Msgr. Ligutti, perhaps the best change of all is that "all of us-Christians in the West, the developing wQrld itself - are conscious of the fact that suffering people are capable of self·help," The world's simple "little people," he' asserted, "have the ability of a Michelangelo, Da Vinci or an Edison." The goal of the food conference, should be to unlock their power, he said.
.People Must Dispel Myths About Aged "The aged, who formed three LOS ANGELES (NC)-Catholics must realize there is a vast per cent of the population in revolution af.fecting "the beloved 1900, now form 10 per cent of community" of the aged that is the population and the present turning the world of the aged revolution is making the aged upside down and the Church act as if they were 35 years old." must be a part 'of it; Dr. James He told the meeting that the A. Peterson recently told 150 first step to be taken by anyone persons at a meeting called by concerned with the aging is to the Los Angeles Archdiocese rid himsel.f of myths concerning Commission on Aging. them.. Dr. Peterson said that the "We must first make an introcommunity of the so-called aged spective examination and reflecis going to double imd triple in tion of our own attitude to 'our the next few years as early re- own aging. Too many pe()ple are . afraid of aging." tirement plans increase. Dr. Peterson explained sever..1 The revolution, he said, lies in a change in the treatment of the myths about aging to the conferaging. No longer, said Dr. Peter- ence participants: -"The rocking chair myth son, are the aged being "put on the shelf in a hinterland as dis- holds that old people get decards, useless in a youth cul- crepit. Fact: Ninety per cent of Turn to Page Three ture."