SERVING SOUTHEASTERN MASSACHUSETTS CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS
t eanc 0 VOL. 23, NO. 50
FALL RIVER, MASS., THURSDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1979
20c, $6 Per Year
Mother Teresa accepts prize • for unwanted poor of world OSLO, Norway (NC) - When Mother Teresa of Calcutta received the Nobel Peace Prize Dec. 10 in 9510, she spoke out against abortion and accepted the prize "in the name of the hungry, of the naked, of the homeless, of the blind, of the lepers, of all those who feel unwanted, unloved, uncared for throughout society." Norwegian Nobel Committee chairman, John Sanness, said she deserved the prize "because she promotes peace in the most fundamental manner - by her confirlnation of human dignity." In her' speech of acceptance Mother'Teresa condemned abortion 'as the greatest destroyer of man in the world. She called on the audience to pray for and to stand by the unborn child. "To me the nations who have legalized abortion are the poorest nations. 'they are afraid of the unborn child and the child must die." . Mother Teresa, founder of the Missionary Sisters of Charity, said, "In these years of work among the people, I have come more and more to realize that it is being unwanted that is the worst disease that any human being can experience.
"Our poor people are great people, a very lovable people. They don't need our pity and sympathy. They need our understanding love and they need our respect," she said. We need to tell the poor "that they are somebody to use, that they too have been created witn the same loving hand of God, to love and be loved." Mother Teresa has spent 33 years tending the poor and sick of the slums of Calcutta. Her order feeds and cares for millions around the. world, having spread from its base iri Cal-
cutta to the United States, Venezuela, Tanzania, Italy, Australia arid 'Britain. She was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, in Yugoslavia in 1910, the child of an Albanian grocer. She studied with the Irisp Sisters of Loreto in 1928 and later that year was sent to India. She left that order because of "a call within a call" in 1946 and founded the Missionary Sisters of Charity to work with the poorest of the poor. She once said, "I believe in person to person; every person Turn to Page Six
'We Care · We Share' offers ecumenical Yule programs Following up on home visitations termed "extremely satisfactory," Somerset and- Swansea parishes participating in the "We Care/We Share" outreach program will sponsor :Christmas events this Sunday and next, Residents in the two town area have been invited to attend "Carols and Candles," to ):>e presented at 7 p.m. Sunday at St. Michael's' Church, Swan-
AMONG HUNDREDS of "We Care/We Share" volunteers participating in Somerset-Swansea pilot outreach progra~ is Muriel Patenaude, being welcomed by Barbara Skober and little John Skober, all of St. Louis de France parish, Swansea. (Gilbert Photo)
sea, by the parish choir and folk gl'oup as well as by Unitarian choristers. Refreshments will follow. At 7:30 p.m., also this Sunday, parishioners of St. Thomas More Church, Somerset, will offer "Where in God's Name Have We Been," an audiovisual presentation ·on how God and the church can make a difference in people's ,liVes. At 7 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 23, an ecumenical Christams prayer service will be held at St. Patrick Church, Somerset, with participants including ministers and priests. Refreshments will follow. All Catholic churches in Somerset and Swansea will celebrate Mass on Christmas eve and Christmas day. "If you have been away from church recently, plan now to come home for Christmas," say We Care/We Share organizers. Other well-attended programs in the se~ies were held last Sunday at St. Louis de France and Our Lady of 'Fatima parishes, Swansea, and St. John of God parish, Somerset. They offered an "open church" session, an explanation of church community and an opportunity to explore Catholic teachings on separation, divorce and remarriage. Father Timothy Goldrick is diocesan coordinator for "We Care/We Share" and co-ordinators of the Somerset-Swansea pilot project are Rev. Daniel L. Freitas, pastor of St. John of God parish, Somerset, and Albert Couture of St. Louis de France parish, Swansea.
MRS. ALPHONSUS ST. AMAND, St. Francis Xavier parish, Acushnet, was one of 92 recipients of the Marian Medal at Cathedral ceremonies last Sunday. Bishop Daniel A. Cronin is assisted by Very Rev. John J. Smith. At left, Msgr. John J. Oliveira. (Sr. Gertrude Gaudette Photo)
Funeral services set today for Archbishop Sheen Cardinal Terence Cooke will be chief concelebrant of a funeral Mass at 2 this afternoon in St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York City, for Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, among the foremost Catholic preachers and most power- ful speakers of this century. He will be buried in St. Patrick'scrypt. The· prelate rose to national prominence in the 1950s as host of a weekly television program, "Life Is Worth Living," which reached 30 million viewers weekly. An indefatigable speaker, he was last in the Fall River diocese on Memorial nay, 1976, where he spoke at an outdoor liturgy at Bishop Stang High School, North Dartmouth. The Mass, attended by thousands, was the major diocesan observance for the Bicentennial year. At it Archbishop Sheen said: "When you walk towards the sun, the shadows fall behind you. When you walk away fro~ the sun, the shadows are ahead of you. "The sun is Christ. When we walk away from him, fears and anxieties rule oum' lives, when we walk towards him the shadows fall behind us, and when we walk directly beneath his light the shadows completely disappear." Although it was television that brought Archbishop ~Sheen to
general prominence, he had been for years a major figure in academic circles. He was a prolific writer and lecturer, but he was primarily a controversialist who sought to confront' error and subdue it wqerever it appeared. 'But it. was his skill as a speaker first on radio and then on tel~vision that brought him national fame. The life of the man who reached millions began in EI Paso, Ill., on May 8, 1895. He Turn to Page'Six
Advisors eye evaluations Father Marcel H. Bouchard, assistant director of religious education for the diocese, has announced completion of the program "Alive in Youth Ministry: Accepting the Challenge to Minister." The closing session for the Cape Cod area was held at Our ,Lady of Victory Church in Centerville earlier this month. Approximately 225 people from every area of the diocese have participated in the youth ministry training· program, offered in New 'Bedford, Fall River, Taunton, Attleboro, and Cape Cod. Participants included adults who work with youth, and Turn to Page Eight