AN ANCHOR OF THE SOUL, SURE AND FIRM -HEB. 6:19
t eanc 0 VOL. 21, NO. 45
FALL RIVER, MASS., THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 1977
Diocese Will Study Confirmation Age Should confirmation of young Christians be. postponed until junior year in high school? Many pastors and some young people think it should, and the diocesan Priests' Council is conducting a study of the matter. The change would mean that most youth would be confirmed at age 16 or 17 instead of at 12 or 13, as is the present custom. They would be more mature, point out proponents of the change, and better able to understand the significance of the sacrament, by which they are "bound more intimately to the Church ... and are more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith both by word and by deed as true witnesses of Christ," as is explained in the Constitution on the Church of the Second Vatican Council. Such considerations are lost on most 12 and 13 year olds, agree parents and priests. Most young people, say mothers and fathers, no matter how carefully prepared, look on confirmation as primarily a gift-getting occasion. And some teenagers, after participating in an Echo or other retreat experience, have expressed their regret at being confirmed before they knew what they were doing. Some have participated in "re-commitment" cere-
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monies to indicate their true acceptance of their role as "soldiers of Christ." With such thoughts in mind, the Priests' Council is considering a revision of existing confirmation guidelines which, if approved, might take effect for the 1978-1979 academic year. IBishop Cronin has requested that, in reviewing present regulations, attention be paid to the present grade level of confirmation candidates, the mobility of families, catechetical preparation, the theological and historical development of the sacrament and the effectiveness of post-confirmation programs. The last point is of particular importance, since many parishes report that after confirmation most young people cease attending any type of religious instruction program. Further observations by Priests' Council members were: -Review of current guidelines should include consultation of catechists. -New guidelines should be sensitive to already existing programs and should take into account the doctrinal knowledge of children. • -The age of confirmation should be seen as part of the greater question of evangelization and conversion of youth.
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NEW ENGLAND Council of Catholic Nurses convention delegates attend Mass at St. Paul's Church, Cambridge. From left in front pew, Ruth E. Hurley, Fall River, council president; Mary McCarthy, Boston, first vice-president.
15c, $5 Per Year
Governor Grasso: IGet Organized l
RICHARD W. DAW
Catholic 'Press Meets on Cape The regional Catholic Press Association (CPA) convention hosted by The Anchor is in its second day at Dunfey's Hyannis Resort. Last night delegates attended an opening Mass at St. Francis Xavier Church, Hyannis, then were guests of the diocese at a reception where they were greeted by Bishop Daniel A. Cronin. This morning was devoted to a general session at which George K. Walker of the US Postal Service· discussed mailing regulations affecting the Catholic press and Brian L. Wallin, director of communications for the Providence diocese, considered the interrelationship of communications and the press. At an afternoon general session James A. Doyle, CPA executive secretary, and Robert L. Fenton, CPA president, will share reports and comments on recent activities. The speaker at tonight's convention banquet will be Richard W. Daw, director of the National Catholic News Service, which provides national and foreign news to the majority of US diocesan papers. Tomorrow's closing program will include a "quo vadis" morning session moderated by ThoTurn to Page Seven
SAN ANTONIO, Tex. (NC) Gov. Ella Grasso of Connecticut, voicing strong stands for the Equal Rights Amendment and against abortion, told Catholic women that they must become better organized if they want their views to be heard. The governor spoke at the biennial convention of the National Council of Catholic Women (NCCW), attended by 23 priests and NCCW members from the Fall River 'diocese, headed by Bishop Cronin. She urged tolerance ana respect for the freedom of women to choose whether to remain at home or follow a career. "Regrettably, such tolerance does not appear to be in the lexicon either of the total woman or her radical feminist counterpart," she said. Catholic women can learn a valuable lesson, she said, from their recent experience with the state International Women's Year (IWY) conventions. "From the evaluation of that experience can come the development of tactics to assure full equality of participation," "If we are going to be participants, we must stand up and be heard. We must not be intimidated, but must look to others in good will and with respect
and courtesy so that we will have the full opportunity to see that all sides are present and accounted for," the governor said. Restating her strong stand against abortion, Mrs. Grasso said, "I believe the life of the unborn should have the same protection given to all life. And I say further that it is the ulti· mate in cruelty to destroy. the children of the poor in the name of humanity," But she told the 2,000 delegates that her belief in the digni· ty of human life means she is just as strongly committed to concepts of equality and women's rights. In an interview before her Turn to Page Seven
Says Ombudsmen Are M·edia Need HOT SPRINGS, Ark. (NC) A new civil rights problem is arising from the fact that "the single most powerful force in the community - the media is not responsible to anybody," a Catholic editor told the Catholic Communications Society of Arkansas (CCSA). Dale Francis, executive editor of the national Catholic weekly, Turn to Page Seven
Education Issue Next week The Anchor will publish a special issue featuring an in-depth view of the threefold apostolate of the Diocesan Department of Education: in the schools, in religious education of youth and in continuing education of adults.
AL· DENTE! Franciscan Father Alan Caparella makes final taste-test of spaghetti prepared according to his family's traditional recipe. He's making it for highly critical gourmet clientele. Who are they and what was the occasion? See page 16.
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