11.12.93

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t teanc 0 VOL. 37, NO. 44

Friday, November 12, 1993

FALL RIVER, MASS.

FALL RIVER DIOCESAN NEWSPAPER FOR SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS Southeastern

Massachu~etts' Largest

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$11 Per Year

Diocese welcomes Poli:sh seminarians By Marcie Hickey For their families in Poland, Marek Chmurski and Krzysztof Stanibula's vocations to the priesthood did not come as a surprise. But their de(.isions to pursue those vocations :.n America did. Their names Americanized as Mark and Christopher, the two are among many seminarians from poland who have left their native country to study at SS. Cyril and Methodius Seminary in Orchard Uike, MI, for ordination in U.S. dioceses. Mark and Christopher are serving pastoral years in the Fall River diocese, as is Pawel Swiercz, also fom Poland, who' completed semi:1ary studies this year at St. John's in Brighton. They and other Polish seminarians come to the United States because of the shortage of vocations to the priesthood and the challenge of evangelization in this country, said Mark. With 95 percent of Poles professing Catholicism, Poland has a very homogeneous culture, with most people "very religious. They come to church no matter what," said Christopher. Poland's Catholic tradition dates back a thousand years, Mark noted, but the United States, with its multiple religions and lesser concentration of Catholics (only 24 percent of the population), is a different story. Here, "the prie:;t has to approach people to bring them to church. He has to make it attractive" and

extend outreach to all kinds of people, said Christopher. SS. Cyril and Methodius specializes in recruiting seminarians from Poland and offering them language and cultural training for service in America as "a form of evangelization," said Father Robert S. Kaszynski, the PolishAmerican pastor of S1. Stanislaus parish, Fall River. Having himself studied at SS. Cyril and Methodius as a seminarian, he is now a liaison for Polish seminarians seeking affiliation with the Fall River diocese. He and vocations director Msgr. John J. Smith have visited SS. Cyril and Methodius, where two other Fall River seminarians are currently studying. Seven potential candidates for the diocese will visit Fall River sometime during the holiday season, and Bishop O'Malley plans to offer a retreat at the Michigan seminary later this month. Mark is serving at S1. Thomas More parish, Somerset; Christopher at Our Lady of the Angels, Fall River; and Pawel at Corpus Christi, Sandwich. The pastoral year gives them the opportunity to experience parish life and take on some ofthe responsibilities they will have as future priests: for example, visiting and bringing communion to the sick, teaching CCD and working with parish youth groups, training altar boys and leading RCIA programs. Christopher, even as he is masterTurn to Page II

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BISHOP SEAN O'MALLEY celebrates multicultural Mass with Father Paul E. Canuel, left, diocesan coordinator of Apostolate to HispanicS, and Father John J. Oliveira, diocesan coordinator of Apostolate to Portuguese. At the back, Msgr. JohnJ. Oliveira. (Kearns photo)

"From Many, One"

Multicultural·1VIass celebrates diversity of .dio~ese By Pat McGowan The multicultural, multilingual Mass celebrated last Saturday at Fall River's Bishop Connolly High School was billed as the first annual such Mass. That will be a self-fulfilling prophecy, to jUdge from the enthusiasm of the hundreds who filled' Connolly's auditorium for the Mass and following folkloric dances and its cafeteria for samples of ethnic breads and pastries from the many lands that have contributed to the

rich racial mix in the Fall River diocese. The opening song for the Mass, "We Are One Body," was made famous by Dan~dts composer, at this summer's World Youth Day in Denver. . It and Bishop Sean O"Malley's Mass homily in English lind Portuguese set the tone for the event. In a request reminiscent of Jesus asking to be shown the coin of the tribute, the bishop asked congregation member:~ to take a coin

from their pockets and look at tiie Latin inscription, "E Pluribus Unum," "From Many, One." "That applies to our church as well," he said. "Out of many people we form one family of God." He cited the parable of the Good Samaritan as giving the message that love of neighbor knows no . frontiers, as exemplified by the Samaritan who cared for a man left half dead by robbers. The neighbor, he said is !'eveTurn to Page 14

SEMINARIANS Krzysztof Stanibula (left) and Marek Chmurski. (Hi~key photo)

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