SERVING SOUTHEASTERN MASSACHUSETTS CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS
t eanco VOL. 23, NO. 49
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FALL RIVER, MASS., THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1979
20c, $6 Per Year
Laity bring Iapsedhome
Not option but demand
Last weekend's "We Care/We Share" program in Somerset and Swansea coincidentally followed by one day publication of study findings showing that faith decisions are affected most strongly by interpersonal relationships among lay persons. The study, funded by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, showed that fallenaway Catholics do not blame priests for their decision 10 leave the church, nor do they credit them, if they return to practice of their faith. Overwhelmingly, respondents said they were most influenced by their relationships with other lay persons, including family members and co-workers. Turn ,to Page Six
IZMIR, Turkey (NC) - The leaders of world Catholicism and Orthodoxy made a major stride toward reunion last week, highlighting the three-day visit to Turkey of Pope John Paul II. Terming reunion "not an option but a demand placed on the churches," the pope and Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios I of Constantinople established a high-powered ecumenical commission to resolve theological and doctrinal issues dividing their sister churches. An eventual reunion would rejoin 750 million Roman Catholics and some 200 million Orthodo~ after more than nine Turn to Page Six '\
Good start for program
Babies I{ept By Teenagers Thirteen to 17-year-old unwed mothers tend to keep their babies, due to "the unspoken societal belief that only a 'bad person' gives up her baby for adoption." Older mothers "seem able to face reality with a more mature, unselfish decision and tend to place their babies for adoption more often." Those findings were presented by Joan Jackson of New Bedford Catholic Social Services at a Massachusetts state convention of Birthright held recently in Hingham. Among other speakers presented by Susan Anderson of Hyannis, regional Birthright director and founder of its Cape Cod chapter,. was Carol Dinklage, also of Hyannis, a clinical psychologist who warned that abused children are subject to depressions and psychoses and are often suicidal. She stressed, however, that abortion is not a solution for an abusing mother, and that it brings more problems than it solves, for both the mother and existing children. "Listening with love, serving with a smile, modeling with good example and reaching out _to others are very important factors in helping children reach and maintain a happy outlook on life," she said. William Tietjen,' director of a child abuse team at St. Anne's Hospital, Fall River, told delegates from the 14 Massachusetts Birthright chapter that I0,000 abuse cases were reported last year in the state.
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Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas
-December is a Mary month As much or more than ,May of the miraculous painting es-' and October, December is a pecially blessed by Pope John . month of Mary. Crowned by the Paul U. feast of the Nativity, the month The reproductions are the fo-. opens with the lovely feast of . cus of Marian devotions sponthe immaculate Conception, this sored .by the Knights throughyear falling this Saturday. out tpe nation. Already held in Less noticed by many in this Hyannis, Provincetown, Nantuckpart of the nation but of major et, Falmouth and Bourne, among significance to Hispanic Cath- other diocesan locations, they 'olics is the feast of Our Lady of will continue in Massachusetts Guadalupe, patroness, of the through May. As with the Shroud of Turin, Americas, which falls next Wedscientific interest in the Guadanesday, Dec. 12. A center of veneration in con- . lupe painting has been high and nection with the feast is a 16th Dr. Philip Callahan, a University century painting of Mary, said . of Florida !>iophysicist, recently to have appeared miraculously released results of his study of on the cloak of Juan Diego,.a the Indian cloak. poor Mexican Indian to whom "As far as I am concerned, the Virgin appeared in 1531. To the original painting is miracuthis day the cloak has been pre- lous," he declared. He has preserved in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City. , This year is the 225th anniversary of the establishment 'of the Guadalupe feast by Pope Saturday, Dec. 8, the Feast of Benedict XIV and to mark the the Immaculate Conception, Paoccasion the Knights of Colum- troness of the United States, is bus are circulating reproductions a holy day of obligation.
HOLY DAY
pared a 60-page report of his findings for submission to Mexican authorities. From infrared radiation photographs, he found that the painting has no preIlminary sketch underneath, a highly unusual artistic procedure. The original pigments have not faded,' although later touch-up work in the Spanish Gothic style shows signs of age. Callahan said the basic' blue and pink pigment of the painting should ,have faded and cracked away' centuries ago. Pol~ lution from votive candles alone should have darkened and damaged the painting in the years before it was placed behind bullet-proof glass. Also, he said, the fibers supporting the painting have not been sized. Without sizing, which prevents rot, the cloak, made from cactus fibers, would normally have rotted 20 years after it was painted. Callahan said he was especi. ally impressed by the use of the Turn to Page Six
Somerset and Swansea volunteers were aided !last weekend by flawless weather as they began visiting some 10,000 homes. They were workers in "We Carel We Share," a pastoral outreach program that is a pilot for the remainder of the diocese. They requested census information from Catholics and invited others to specially planned parish programs, including an "Open Hands, Open Heart, Open House" program to be presented from 4:30 to 6 p.m. this Sunday at St. John of God Church, Somerset. . Father Daniel L. Freitas, pastor of St. John of God and with Albert Couture of Swansea, an area coordinator for We Carel We Share, said that early returns from home visits were encouraging, and that workers will continue call-backs to homes not reached on the weekend. The volunteers were commissioned for their outreach task at a eucharistic prayer service held 1ast Thursday at St. John of God. In a homily, .Bishop Daniel A. Cronin said, "It is our hope that thr.ough this program personal contacts will be established between inactive Catholics and a loving parish community. With the help of God's grace, such contacts will lead those who have wandered from the faith to rediscover the Good News of Jesus Christ as it is preserved in his Holy Catholic church. "To those with, no religious affiliation whatever, We Carel We Share is a simple invitation to sample our faith community, Turn to Page Six