t eanc 0 VOL. 27, NO. 44
FALL RIVER DIOCESAN NEWSPAPER FOR SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS CAPE COD & THE ISlANDS
FALL RIVER, MASS., FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 1983
$8 Per YeM·
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2 Vatican
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Newcode
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the same
WASHIGTON~C) u.s. Catholics will live under the same fast and abstinence laws and virtually the same rules for. mixed marriage after the new Code of Canon Law goes into effect Nov. 27. In an informational report for the annual meeting of the Na tional Conference of Catholic Bishops Nov. 14-17, the NCCB Committee on Canonical Affairs said that these matters were be ing handled on the administrative level, without need for a new vote on them by the body of bishops. Several other issues in Cath olic practice posed by the new church law require a vote by the bishops. and were slated for ac tion on the agenda of the bisll ops' meeting in Washington. These include changes in the number of holy days of obliga tion in the United States, a de cision on the age for receiving confirnlation, and a decision on whether to allow dioceses to adopt or maintain fixed-term appointments of pastors. On fast and abstinence, cur rent ru1es require U.S. Catholics to fast ,between meals· only on Ash Wednesday and Good Fri day and to abstain from eating any meat on those two days plus the other Fridays of Lent. ,Earlier this year, however, in their peace pastoral, the bishops urged American Catholics to re turn voluntarily to Friday ab stinence from meat as part of a national Catholic commitment to prayer and penance for peace. On religiously mixed marri· ages - a major issue in the United States, where about two out of every five marriages in volving a Catholic are mixed the norms adopted by the U.S. bishops in 1970 will remain in effect with one minor exception. After Nov. 27, only the Catholic party's own local bishops can dispense from the form of mar riage - that is, permit the mar riage to take place without a Catholic ceremony. Under the 1970 norms the bishop of the place where the marriage was to take place could also grant this dispensation, but the new Code of Canon Law re stricts competence to the Cath olic p~rty's bishop. The report to the bishops also said the Administrative Com-· mittee pas announced the NCCB's Tum to Page Six
POPE JOHN PAUL II presents gifts to Bishop Daniel A. Cronin in the course of the diocesan leader's recent ad limina visit to the Vatican. More pictures are on Page 3. (Felici Photo)
Diocesan men serve· others
They lit· candles
By Pat McGowan "How far that little candle throws his beams! So shine,S a good deed in a naughty world," said Shakespeare. It's still true. In August 1982 Steven Pescosolido of St. John the Evangelist parish, Pocasset, read an Anchor story about Ted Pirozzi and Jim Perry, both of Taunton. They were embarking on a year of service to others, Piroz zi with the Young People Who Care Mission in the Pennsyl vania Appalachians, Perry with the Miami, Fla., Mercy Corps. Steven thought about what they were doing and decided that he too would like to give a year to God. Now he's with the Chris tian Appalachian Project in Eastern Kentucky, a nondenom inational self-help organization. Since joining CAP he's worked in a child development center and a summer camp, both gear ed to teaching mountain children "a better way of life while hav ing fun." Other CAP programs include elderly outreach, medica1
transportation, handicapped eager· to share his experiences workshops and foster homes and with others who may be inter· est~d in helping the Appal{lchian boys' group homes. Commitment to CAP is for people. He can be reached at a one year period, which is often 306 Estill St., Berea, KY 40403 renewed for two or three years, - or by calling 606-986-1791. And what about Ted and Jim? says Steven. Volunteers live in Christian community with CAP Each reports a year of learning and growth. In Frenchville, in providing for basic needs. The young Cape Codder is Pennsylvania's poorest rural . county, Ted did parish ministry, . worked with youth, the handi capped and· the elderly, helped organize retreats and aided in' the operation of a house of hos pitality. In Miami, Jim taught Haitian, Jamaican and Peruvian second graders at a school staffed by Sisters of Mercy, also coordina ting a parish first· communion program. For ,both, the year confirmed their desire to serve. Next Sep tember Ted expects to enter St. John's Seminary, - Brighton, to begin studies for the diocesan priesthood; while Jim is an affili ate with the Brothers of the Holy Cross in Bronx, N.Y. STEVEN PESCOSOLD)O
Those are pretty good candles.
VATICAN CITY (NC) - The Vatican will issue guidelines soon on sex education and on what it means to be a Catholic school. "Educational Guidance on Hu man Love" and "The Religious Dimsensions of Education in the .CathoUc School" are among documents being prepared for Catholic educators by the Vati can's Congregation for Catholic Education, said Cardinal WilHam Baum, prefect of that congrega tion, in a report to the world Sy nod of Bishops. Although he delivered the report in October, the full text was not made avail able until after the synod ended. "For a long time the congre gation hasobeen receiving re quests for advice, and also pro tests, Qon the delicate problem of sexual education in Catholic schools," the American-born car dinal said. He said his congregation was about to issue its guidelines on the topic "after long and well considered consultations." "The document 'will be of a pedagogical and pastoral char· acter. Pastors will be asked to make use of it as a means of re flection for those responsible for the education of youth," Cardinal Baum said. Sources at the Congregation for Catholic Education indicated that the sex education guide lines will be available at the end of December. The guidelines on Catholic schools will define "Catholic" in the full meaning of the term as it applies to Catholic schools, Cardinal Baum told the synod. "The aim is to contribute to improving the quality of. proper Christian education in institutes which honor themselves with the name 'Catholic: .. he said. "Account will be taken of the duty not to violafe the rights of the consciences of non-Catholic pupils, whom parents send to Catholic schools by reason of the prestige which they enjoy," he added. Cardinal ,Baum also reported on the concerns of his congre gation, including education in seminaries. Reflecting the contemporary world for .which se~inarians· are being trained, he said, the con gregation is prepai?ng an in struction on "training of future Turn to Page Six