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FALL RIVER DIOCESAN NEWSPAPER FOR SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS
t eanc 0 FALL RIVER, MASS., FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1985
VOL. 29, NO. 48
$8 Per Year
1985 style
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Slaugllter' of innocents By Antoinette Bosco When I heard that Congress had designated Dec. 15-21 as National Drunk and Drugged Driving Aware ness Week, I had a negative reaction. Why should such a chilling note be injected into our Christmas season? This should be a time of hope and peace, joy and beauty. Why focus on this d~vasta ting national tragedy instead of on th~ tranquility of the manger scene? But then I looked at the statistics: 44,000 people died in traffic accidents in 1984 - 23,500 in crashes where alcohol was a factor. That means that last year more than 60 persons per_ day lost their lives because a drunken person behind the wheel of a car had become a killer. I also remembered one of the worst wrecks I ever saw, with twisted metal so distorted one could hardly tell it had been a car. The driver had been a teenager who had shot heroin at a party. When she got into her car, an eyewitness reported that it took off like a rocket. It went out of control and the young woman went out of this world. I thought too of the family of a 15-year-old who drank vodka with a friend on a lark, then got behind the wheel of his friend's car. It crossed a divider and killed two people in another car. Drunk drivers leave victims on all sides. Today, with drug usage reaching ,such tremendous propor tions, drugged drivers have become almost an equal menace. Fortunately we are witnessing a groundswelling of support for halting the killing. Church groups, b~r tenders, high school students, senior citizens and par ents are getting involved and results are beginning to come through. - In 1980, 50 percent of drivers killed in auto mobile crashes were legally drunk. - In 1984 this figure dropped to 43 percent. Ironically, it is when people _are partying and having fun that the tendency to drink. or take drugs is most evident. In designating Dec. 15-21 as a time to fOClllS on drunk and drugged driving, Congress stated: "The Christmas and New Year holiday period, with more drivers on the roads and 'an increased number of social functions, is a particularly appropriate time to focus national attention on this critical problem." It was after reading that clause and mumng over the horrendous statistics on, -victims of drunk and drugged drivers that I changed my mind- about the timing of the week. There couldn't be a better week to do something on this problem, not only from the practical point of view but also from the spiritual. For Christmas is about the gift of birth and life. It reminds us that as Christians we are called to chal lenge whatever' diminishes or destroys life. In this season, I would urge that we do all we can to stop the tragedy of drunk driving. We should care enough to make the good cheer w.e offer at holiday parties include if necessary a "no" to alcohol.
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FATHER ROBERTKASZYNSKI, keynote ~peaker, addresses participants in last Sat urday's forum for separated and divorced Catholics. (Rosa photo) -
SRO ,at divorce forum
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By Pat McGowan Islands separated, and divorced , . support group. Fe~hngs. of pam and cama-.~ Formally it offered a keynote_ r~derIe, bltter~ess and relaxa address by Father Robert S. Kas tlOn counter~omted -last Satur zynski on "A Ree<l Bruised but day at the flrst-e~erforum for not Broken" and workshops on se?arated a.nd dIvorced Gath such topics as feelings after ohcs. Drawmg 123 attend'ants, divorce annulment and single more. than expected, it had parenti~g. stan~mg room 6nly at chapel 'Informally, it was as if a sessIons. tightly-packed box had been Held at the Family Life Center opened, releasing a medley of in North Dartmouth, the forum emotions. Between sessions, was coordinated by Father participants from every corner Richard G. Andrade, parochi'al of the diocese shared experi vicar at St. Anthony parish, East ences and memories, sure of Falmouth, and Janet Farrell of finding understanding in each St. Francis Xavier parish, Hy other. The general feeling seem p.nnis, both of the Gape Cod and ed one of gratitude that the op
portunity for fellowship had been made available and of hope that such meetings would con tinue. Discussing feelings commonly experienced during the first five years after ,a couple separates. Frederick Chapman, assistant director of the Attleboro office of Catholic Social Services, liken ed the process to that often gone through by a terminally ill per son. First, he said, one may experi ence shock, varying depending on whether one was "the rejec ter or the rejectee" -in the sep aration. Then comes deni'al, a Turn to Page Seven
At World Synod of Bishops
Collegiality pivotal VATICAN CITY (NC) - As the Nov. 24-Dec. 8 extraordin ary Synod of Bishops moves to ward its close, collegiality, the sharing of authority and respon sibility in the church between the pope and the world body of bishops, emerged - as a pivotal issue. Many delegates from the de veloped world focused attention on the relationship of col1egial- .
ity to the authority of national bishops' conferences and local bishops. One delegate even sug gested formation of a permanent world Synod of Bishops to share legislative powers with the pope. Asian and African delegates stressed the need for local churches to find their own iden tity through inculturation, the adaptation of Catholic teachings and practices to local cultures
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and customs. Latin American delegates ask ed understanding fro!Jl the Vati can as they grapple with the pastoral needs of people living under unjust socioeconomic and political structures. The synod, however, was also a forum for many other issues as it analyzed the teachings of the 1962-65 Second Vatican Turn to Page Six