eanc 0 VOL. 34, NO. 4S
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Friday, November 16, 1990
FALL RIVER, MASS.
FALL' RIVER DIOCESAN NEWSPAPER
FOR SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS Southeastern Massachusetts' Largest Weekly
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Now thank we all our God A Thanksgiving story' by Marcie Hickey
As Thanksgiving and Christmas approach, food and fund drives draw attention to the needy and brighten their holidays. But the needs of the poor continue year-round - as does the work of the three-location Fall River Community Soup Kitchen. Among its volunteers, who are mainly retirees, is Henry Urban, who began as a dishwasher some nine years ago when the kitchen in the Catholic Social Services building on Fall River's Slade Street opened. He now coordinates preparation of meals served there three times a week to between 100 and 200 people. "It's called a soup kitchen," Urban said, "but it's much morewe give them a beautiful meal." Urban and eight other volunteers, including his wife Veronica, prepare and serve the meals with as much love and care as for their own families. Deacon Manuel H. CamaraJr., of St. Anthony of Padua parish, Fall River, noted at a recent area Pax Christi meeting that the volunteers prepare a "nutritionally bal- /
anced meal which is not only filling but appealing to the eye." The deacon, treasurer of the Community Soup Kitchens, said that guests "appreciate the manner in which meals are served to them, always graciously, 'just like in a restaurant.' The people also appreciate the warm reception they receive, which is so important to these whom God loves so dearly." Combined, the three soup kitchen locations serve meals seven days a week, at the church of the Ascension on Rock Street on Mondays and Fridays, and the Salvation Army on Bedford Street on Wednesdays and Sundays. The Catholic Social Services site operates Tuesdays,Thursdays and Saturdays. It opened in 1981 with donated furniture, cooking utensils, silverware and restaurant equipment. The Fall River diocese provides heat, gas and light. The Saturday morning program was initiated by Father William Norton, who until recently was pastor of neighboring St. Patrick's .,Church. It is run during the school year by.Roger Salpietro and students from Bishop Connolly and Turn to Page 13
Bishops meet, :oppose Iraq war WASHINGTON (CNS) - The U.S. bishops got down to business Nov. 13 at their fall general meet-
The Renovated
OUR LADY of
MOUNT CARMEL CHURCH New Bedford Pages 7 -12
ing with votes on funeral liturgies without priests, a family ministry action plan and liturgical honors for three church heros. On the second day oftheir Nov. 12-15 meeting in Washington, the bishops also approved their 1991 budget and elected Bishop Anthony M. Pilla of Cleveland as treasurer of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops and U.S. Catholic Conference. Their first vote at the meeting, however, came on an item that had not been on their already packed agenda. By 249-15 Nov. 12, they made their own a letter to U.S. Secretary of State James A. Baker ~ III urgirig the U.S. government to avoid war with Iraq except as a last resort after all possibilities of a peaceful resolution are exhausted. . , About 300 bishops, including Fall River Bishop Daniel A. Cronin, were in Washington for the yearly fall meeting ofthe NCCB and USCe. The letter on Iraq had been sent to Baker by Archbishop Roger M. Mahony of Los Angeles, chairman of the bishops' Committee on International Policy, on Nov. 7, the day before President Bush announced a second major military
buildup in Saudi Arabia. In addition to adopting the letter as their own statement, the bish9PS discussed the issue further at an executive session, closed to the press, on Nov. 14. In the first major vote on an item on their original.agenda, the bishops soundly defeated a proposal that would have authorized them to permit lay people to preside at a funeral liturgy if no priest is available. The vote, after a lively debate, was 113 in favor and 136 against the proposal; a two-thirds majority of active Latin-rite bishops, or 199 votes in favor, was required for passage. Supporters of the proposal had argued that the measure was' needed, especially in large rural diocese, to adequately meet the needs of Catholics at a time ofloss in the family. Opponents countered that passage ofthe measure would erode the value of the priesthood. On a less controversial topic the bishops voted unanimously to reaffirm their 1978 "Plan of Pastoral Action for Family Ministry" and to commit themselves to new Turn to Page 14