FALL RIVER DIOCESAN .NEWSPAPER 'OR SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS
VOL. 30, NO. 45
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Friday, November 14, 1986
F ALL RIVER, MASS.
Pope warns of genetic experiments VATICAN CITY (NC) - Pope John Paul II warned several times recently against genetic experimentation and procedures which he said can threaten human life and rights. He attacked what he called the "temptation to radically manipulate man" genetically and warl"\ed of a "mechanistic" attitude toward human life. His comments came as the Vatican was said to be putting the final touches on a major bioethics statement which may be released by early January. The pope also spoke following reports of the birth of a girl to a French couple who had been subjects of an in vitro fertilization by the medical staff of a French pontifical university. In an Oct. 24 speech to Catholic health workers, he linked in vitro fertilization, embryo experimentation and genetic manipulation to a "utilitarian and machanistic mentality" which devalues a human to a "manipulable instrument of production and consumption." In vitro fertilization is the joining of a human egg and sperm in a laboratory. Pope John Paul called for "severe" restrictions on "clinical experimentation" involving humans. He also said the assumption that humanity is its own ruler "renders fragile and precarious any foundation of human rights." The attitude is "seriously threatening" to humankind's future, he said. "Unfortunately, signals of such a future are already visible in legalized abortion, in euthanasia, in genetic manipulation, in experimentation on embryos, in in vitro fertilization," the pope said. But the pope also said technology offers ':enormous possibilities" in the proper context. "It is urgent and necessary to propose again the values of the Christian culture" to affirm God as the source of all good and the creator of life, he told the health workers. On the same day, the pope told pharmacists at a Vatican-organized meeting that scientific advances would reduce "the risks and unknown factors in medical experiments." Also on Oct. 24, the president of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences spoke to reporters about the academy's role in preparing the bioethics document. The official, Brazilian biophysicist Carlos Chagas, said the advisory group had submitted papers on genetic manipulation and in vitro fertilization to the CongreTurn to Page Six
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As bishops meet
Abp. Hunthausen meeting focus WASHINGTON (NC) - The case of Archbishop Raymond Hunthausen of Seattle, whose authority was curtailed by the Vatican, was in the spotlight for U.S. bishops at their general meeting Nov. 10-13 in Washington. The bishops spent more than five hours in executive session discussing the situation. Afterward Bishop James W. Malone, president of the bishops' conference, said that church rules and procedures had been followed in the Vatican's dealings with the archbishop and the bishops had no authority to intervene.
CORD MEMBERS Kathleen Kelleher and Michael Early with Catholic Social Services executive director Father Peter N. Graziano. (Motta photo)
Two area groups get CHD grants By Joseph Motta The Cape Organization for Rights of the Disabled (CORD) and the Bristol County Senior Action Council (BCSAC), both self-help projects benefiting persons residing in the Fall River diocese, are among 220 organizations nationwide awarded a total of$6.34 million by the Campaign for Human Development, according to Father Peter N. Graziano, Fall River diocesan Catholic Social Services executive director. CHD, the U.S. bishops' antipoverty program, is an expression of the Church's social teaching with an emphasis on human dignity and self-determination. From its 1970 inception, the campaign has supported projects that strike at the root causes of poverty striving to change hardened attitudes and unjust structures in order to break what Pope Paul VI called "the hellish cycle of poverty." It funds programs enabling people of all races, creeds, geographical regions and backgrounds to work together for long-range solutions to problems in the areas of social and economic development, housing, health, legal aid, education and communications. To obtain CHD support, projects must benefit the poor, be selfhelp projects of poor and oppressed persons, and intend to institute social change by attacking unjust
institutions, laws and policies contributing to poverty. The campaign's annual national collection will be held at diocesan parishes the weekend of Nov. 22 and 23. BCSAC grant The BCSAC, a coalition of 20 low-income seniors' groups with 800 dues-paying members, received $25,000 from the campaign for a second consecutive year. Led by senior citizen Anne Mendoza, members have successfully fought against efforts to increase Medicare Supplemental Insurance premiums. They are currently focusing on protecting seniors from admission discrimination and premature discharge from hospitals due to the newly implemented Medicare hospital reimbursement or DRG system. The BCSAC, profiled in The Anchor at the time of its first award, is working with other senior groups nationwide to address problems with Medicare and Social Security cost of living allowances. CORD grant "We're overjoyed," Father Graziano said of CORD's grant. "For the very first time a Cape Cod agency has received campaign funding." CORD representatives Michael Early, a member of St. Patrick's Turn to Page Six
Bishop Daniel A. Cronin, who participated. in the executive session, said through Father John F. Moore that he was "happy and satisfied"with the statement of Bishop Malone. Father Moore, Anchor editor and diocesan director of communications, was in Washington for the bishops' meeting. Archbishop Hunthausen, in statements released Nov. 12, said he had urged the Vatican not to rele'ase a chronology of events issued before the meeting because it would "reflect unfavorably on the Holy See." He said it contained errors and misleading statements. Last September, Archbishop H unthausen had been ordered by the Vatican to cede authority in some areas to his auxiliary, Bishop Donald Wuerl. Included were authority in the archdiocese over liturgy, the church court, seminarians, clergy education, laicized priests, and moral issues involving homosexuality and contraceptive sterilization. Bishop Malone, of Youngstown, Ohio, had opened the meeting Nov. 10 warning about a "dangerous disaffection" between some U.S. Catholics and the Vatican.
ABP. MAY
Bishop Malone's term as president of the National Conference of Catholic Bishopsand U.S. Catholic Conference expired at the end of the meeting. In an election Nov. II, Archbishop John May of St. Louis was elected president for the next three years and Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk of Cincinnati, vice president. Archbi-shop May had been vice president. He easily won election to the NCCB presidency, falling just 10 votes short of getting a simple majority on the first ballot. The runner-up for president was Cardinal Law with 90 votes to Archbishop May's 164. In the voting for vice president, Cardinal Law was the first-ballot leader with 97 votes to Archbishop Pilarczyk's 75 and Archbishop Rembert G. Weakland's 74. On the second ballot Cardinal Law had 106, Archbishop Pilarczyk 92, and Archbishop Weakland 70. Under NCCB rules, only the two leading vote-getters are listed on the third ballot, forcing the runoff between Archbishop Pilarczyk and Cardinal Law. Other notable events during the meeting of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops-U.S. Catholic Conference included: - Reading of a letter from Pope John Paul II stressing cooperation between the Holy See and the bishops' conference. - Announcement of plans to send a delegation of U.S. bishops to meet with the pope this winter or spring to discuss the pope's 1987 visit to the United States. - A summation of the state of the church in the United States by Bishop Malone. - Preliminary presentation of a major pastoral letter on the economy, "Economic Justice for All," and an accompanying pastoral Turn to Page Seven
ABP. PILARCZYK