The ANCHOR An Anchor of the Soul, Sure and Frrm-St. Paul
Fall River, Mass., Thursday, Nov. 29, 1973 $4.00 per year V oI. 17, No. 48 漏 1973 The Anchor PRICE lot
Pope Asks Sacrifice To Conserve Fuel VATICAN CITY (NC)-Christians should not only cooperate fully with energy-saving measures during the fuel crisis, but should do so with patriotism and seek to help their neighbors in need, Pope Paul VI told thousands gathered in St. Peter's Square for his Sunday blessing. The Pope spoke on the last Sunday on which ltaJ.ians could drive their cars or motorcycles; the Italian government's stern ban on Sunday driving gpes into effect Dec. 2. "Austerity," the Pope said, "is with us ... But let us not lament the sacrifices which now befall us, if they do away with our squanderings and excesses." The Pope said that from this "bitter experience" ,of deprivation we should "seek new and
better principles as a guide of living together." . Because of the energy crisis, he added, everyone has a "growing obligation of social solidarity and the awareness of being brothers in a nation that is happy, healthy and strong." Not all Italians, however, were happy at the announced restrictions-said to be the severest in Europe - which increases the cost of gasoline, ban motordriven vehicles on Sundays,. and close down theaters, bars and of~ices at路 earlier hours throughout the week. Political factions threatened a c,lebate in parliament over the restrictions, the unions spoke of still another national strike to protest the increase of gasoline Turn to Page Two
Diocese Inaugurates Holy Year Renewal His Excellency, the Most Reverend Daniel A. Cronin, Bishop of Fall River, will be the principal celebrant of a special Mass at the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption in Fall River on Saturday afternoon, December 1 at four o'clock. The Mass will mark the first significant step in the Diocesan-wide program of special preparation for the coming Holy Year, proclaimed by Pope Paul VI for 1975. In conjundion with the program recommended by the Holy Father, a year-long period of anticipation of the special season of grace in the Universal Church will find local expression in the Diocese of Fall River. As the Holy Year Mass is celebrated at the Cathedral in Fall River, the initial phase of the Diocesan observance will commence in all parishes, miSSions and chapels. A special message from the Bishop will be read at all Masses on the tirst Sunday of Advent, and the Holy Year - prayer will be recited after the Creed.
Planning the Diocesan program for the Holy Year is a special commission, directed by Very Rev. Luiz G. Mendonca, Pastor of Saint John of God Parish, Somerset, and Vicar General of the Diocese. Father Mendonca will be homilist at the special Holy Year Mass at Saint Mary's Cathedral on Saturday afternoon. Concelebrating with Bishop Cronin will be a retlresentative group of clergy from the Diocese, including Rev. Monsignor Alfred J. Gendreau, Vicar of the Fall River and New Bedford Vical'iate, Rev. Monsignor Robert L. Stanton, Vicar of the Cape Cod and Island Vicariate, and Very Rev. Henry T. Munroe, Vicar of the Taunton and Attleboro Vicariate. Also joining with Bishop Cronin as concelebrants will be Rev. Peter N. Graziano, of Saint Thomas More Parish, Somerset, President of the Senate of Priests, and Rev. John F. Hogan, Director of the New Bedford Catholic Welfare Bureau and Pastor of St. Julie's Parish in North Dartmouth, Vice President of the Priests' Senate.
Rev. Monsignor John E. Boyd, Director of the Catholic Welfare Bureau of Fall River and Pastor of Saint Patrick's Parish in Fall River, and Rev. Felician Plichta, O.F.M., Conv., Pastor of Holy Cross Parish, Fall River, representative of religious clergy in the Diocese, will also concelebra'!.e the Mass as members of the Senate. Very Rev. John J. Regan, Rector of the Cathedral, and Rev. Barry W. Wall, assistant at Saint Mary's Cathedral and special liaison with the Holy Year Commission from the Ca'thedral staff, will concelebrate as well. All the faithful of the Diocese are cordially invited to participate in the Holy Year Mass. A special program of music will be directed by Rev. William G. Campbell of Holy Name Parish, Fall River. The impending Holy Year, proclaimed by Pope Paul VI for 1975, will differ in one significant manner from holy years observed in Church, history. Like all such celebrations, the coming Holy Turn to Page Two
What Are They Teaching Our Kids? Father Thomas Crannell, SS.CC. Associate Pastor St. Joseph, Fairhaven No. 1 Is Today's CCD essentially different from the Baltimore Catechism? It is difficult to give a simple yes or no answer to this question. If one' compares today's child's
FAMILY THANKSGIVING MASS: Pupils of St. Anne's Alternate School, New Bedford together with their parents attended a special Mass of Thanksgiving offered by Rev. William Petrie, SS.CC in St. Anne's Church, New Bedford. Children and adults exemplified their gratitude to God by donating articles of food for the needy. Father Petrie and Rev. J. Adrien Bernier, assistant at the New Bedford Parish, receive the donations at the offertory of the Mass. Food gifts were distributed to the Spanish-speaking people of the area.
religion book with the Baltimore Catechism, there are obvious and vast differences. But this can be misleading. The comparison should not be made with the book ,for one grade, but ;with all eight grades combined. The Baltimore Catechism is a summary, in question and answer 'form, of the major truths of our faith. Its language is esssentially adult, and sometimes even theologically technical. Because it says so much in so few words, it is necessarily abstract in presenting many concepts. As a precise objective presentation of the Catholic faith, it remains a monument to the faith and wisdom of the Church in America. The major difference between it and the new CCD texts lies in the area of objectivity. While their content and doctrine is objectively true, objectivity is only one concern of the newer texts. They are more immediately concerned with the ability of the reader to. understand, than with saying all that can be said or should be said about a given subject. Question For example: to the question "Who is God?", the Baltimore Catechism gives the perfectly objective answer: "God is the Supreme Being, infinitely perfect, who made all things, and keeps them in existence." But to a grade-school child, that answer contains several words and concepts' that either cannot be understood, or are even contradicted by the child's experience. "Supreme" - member of a singing group?? "Being"-bean?? "Infinitely" - simply not understandable to a child. "Perfect"-an abstract concept totally beyond a child's grasp. "Perfect" is a Barbie Doll, or a snowman or a new dress. "Made all things"-the most
important "things" in a child's life are obviously made by builders, and Ford, and Admiral, and Libbys and General Foods and MatteI. "Keeps them inexistence"either not understood at all or even resented: 'Why didn't He keep my dog in existence?-Why did He let Grandma die?' So in drawing up textbooks for children, the authors start not only with a body of doctrine, but also with a sharp awareness of the child's limitations, growing prqblems, and changing attitudes toward life, and people, toward the world and the world of ideas. Program Thus an eight-year program was devised, with the following principles. . 1) Teach only what the child is capable of learning. 2) Christianity is not merely a set of rules to be learned and observed, but at its most basic and simple, a Person (Jesus) to Turn to Page Twelve
FATHER GRANNELL