FALL RIVER DIOCESAN NEWSPAPER FOR SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS
t eanc 0 FAll RIVER, MASS., FRIDAV, DECEMBER 9, 1983
VOL. 27, NO. 48
$8 Per YetM
76 changes
• In liturgy
By Jerry. FUteau
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BISHOP DANIEL A. CRONIN talks to some of the over 1000 youngsters from Notre Dame, Mt. St. Joseph and Espirito Santo schools in Fall River who attended a recent .Holy Year prayer service at St. Mary's Cathedral. (Gaudette Photo)
'Outlines for Sex Education'
Parents best teachers
VATICAN CITY (NC) The Sa cred Congregation for Cahtolic Education, headed by U.S. Car dnal William Bawn, has issued guidelines calling for positive sex education with parents as the primary educators and indi vidual instroction as the primary method. "Silence is not a valid norm of conduct in this matter, above all when one thinks of the 'hid den persuaders' " which ad versely influence young people, the congregation said in the a,SOO-word document, "Educa tional Guidance in Human Love - Outlines for Sex Education." Although the family is the preferential place for the educa tion of young people in chastity "the difficulties which sex edu cation often encounters within the bosom of the family solicit a major commitment on the part of the Christian community and, in particular, of priests to col laborate in the education of the baptized. In this field, the Cath olic s<;~ool, the parish and other ecclesial institut[ons are caUed to coll~borate with the family," the do¢ument said. The role of the school should be th~t of assisting and com pleting the work of the parents,
the individual and is a. moral disorder." The document cited problems such as premarital relations, masturbation, homosexuality and drog abuse and called for pre ventive action. It also noted it is the responsibility of the state to safeguard its citizens against abuse. of minors, sexual violence, permissiveness and pornography. It repeated Pope John. Paul II's call for responsible Chris Also, "it is the responsibility ians, parents and members of of bishops,' taking account. of the media not to hide behind a school legislation anll local cir pretext of neutrality in monitor cumstances, to establish guide ing what young people read, hear lines for sex education in groups, and see and it urged civil author above aU if they are mixed," it ity to regulate the media to pro stated. tect public morality. The Vatican congregation said Catechesis must "illustrate the that it is aware of cultural and positive values of sexuality, in tegrating them with those of social c;lifferences in various virginity and marriage in the countries and said its guidelines light of the mystery of Christ should be adapted to local pas and of the church," the docu-' toral needs. The sex education document ment continued. reiterates statements made in "Sexual intercourse, ordained the family rights charter re towards procreation, is the maxi mum expression on the physical leased by the Holy See Nov. 25.. The charter stated that sex level of the communion of love of the married," according to education is the basic right of the document. Divorted from parents and must always be carried out under their close this context "it loses its signifi Turn to Page Six cance, exposes the selfishness of
according to. t,he congregation. Individual sex education is al ways preferred and it cannot be entrosted "discriminately to just any member of the school com munity." Education in groups, especi ally groups of both boys and girls, requires special precau tions, the document said, ad vising teachers to reserve time for students to meet privately to seek advice or clarification.
WASHINGTON (NC) - Under certain circumstances, baptized non-Catholics may now be given Catholic funeral rites. That is one of 76 changes in the church's liturgical norms which went into effect along with the .new Code of Canon law on Nov. 27. While many changes were minor, others were more sub stantive. They were contained in a de. cree from the Vatican's Congre gation for the Sacraments and Divine Worship which was ap proved Sept. 12 and sent in Latin to Bishops' conferences around the world. "As Canon 2 in the new code says, the existing liturgical books remain in force, but any thing in them contrary to the canons of the new code is to be Emended," said the decree order ing the changes. The International Committee for English in the Liturgy was putting the fin~l .editorial touches on the English transla tion of the revisions at the be
ginning of December, and the U.S. Bishops' Committee on the Liturgy planned to distribute it shortly. Ironically, in the United States some rules governing one new
Iiturgieal rite - that of the an oiting of the sick were changed by the new code on the same day ·that use of the new site became mandatory Nov. 27. . There are 15 changes in the instroctions on the anointing of the sick and viaticum because of the new code. While most are technical, severa~ are significant. One is suppression of the for· mula, "If life is in you . • . .. that used to precede anointing when it was uncertain whether or nGtthe person was dead. In doubt, the priest is to proceed with the usual alllointing formula without the conditional clause. 11te revised instructions also say .that anointing "is to be con ferred" on those who are un· conscious and on children who have reached sufficient use of reason. The former instruction said "may be conferred." Reflecting Canon 1005 in the new code, the revised instruc tions add clauses saying that in cases of doubt whether a person is dead or whether a child has reached the age of reason, an· ointing is to be conferred. Another condition to the in
tructions explicitly exdudes "anyone who remains obdurately in open and serious sin" from receiving anointing. Whiie this Turn to Page Seven
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THE PASTORAL LETTER OF THE U.S. BISHOPS