SERVING SOUTHEASTERN MASSACHUSETTS CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS
t eanc 0 VOL. 22, NO. 49
FALL RIVER, MASS., THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1978
Carter Stance Challenged By Frs. Blum, Berrigan WASHINGTON (NC) - President Jimmy Carter told some 250 human rights activists that human rights is "the soul of our foreign policy" and said that the effectiveness of that policy "is now an established fact." "As long as I am president," he said, "the government of the United States will struggle for the enhancement of human rights. No force on earth can separate us from that commitment." Carter said the "victims" of
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human rights' violations have welcomed his policy. He also reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to aid refugees and newly released political prisoners. Carter made his remarks to a White House meeting marking the 30th anniversary of the United Nations Universal Declaration on Human Rights. He said the administration's human rights policy "has contributed to an atmosphere of Turn to Page Seven
Hark, the Herald Angels Sing We're Dang·erous as Anything SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (NC)Both sides have promised to appeal any adverse ruling by a federal· judge in a suit filed in Sioux Falls to end Christmas carols and pageants in the public schools. The suit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Stephen Pevar of Denver on behalf of avowed atheist Roger R. 'Florey, who said his son Justin, a first grader, was irreparably harmed by. participation in Christmas observances while he was in kindergarten last year. Four other Sioux Falls parents, David Groethe, Marilyn Day, Evelyn Griesse and Marilyn Fusfield joined in the suit, filed in U.S. District Court of South Dakota, southern divi-
20c, $6 Per Year
sion. Should the court ruling call for an end to Christmas observances, officials of the city school board said they will appeal the ruling. The ACLU has also promised to appeal sJtould Judge Bogue give the green light to such observances. The suit says children "are suffering irreparable harm and will continue to suffer irreparable harm until such time as sectarian Christmas assemblies are prohibited in the public schools of Sioux Falls." Young Florey, the suit alleges, already suffered such harm by his exposure to Christmas carols and pageants last year.
Song for Justin Florey o underprivileged Justin Florey, Who cannot hear the Christmas story, I sorrow for you, little boy No tidings of exceeding joy May come your way, you hapless tot, For they might damage you a lot. For you, no carols, crib or star Your parents most .protective are. They would not wish to cause you fright By rumor of a Holy Night, And as for shepherds, lambs and Kings, It's widely known they're dreadful things And must be banned without delay, For they might spoil your Christmas day. You'll get your toys, your sled, your ball, But not the reason for it all. A Child is born, but not for you o Justin, may you find Him too. -Pat McGowan
~ AT ST. FRANCIS XAVIER parish, Acushnet, CCO students give instead of receive, presenting baby gifts to St. Nicholas in honor of the Infant Jesus. The good bishop, otherwise known as Antone OaLuz, will see that they get to needy families. For another St. Nicholas visit, see page 2. (Rosa Photo)
Anti-Bias Comments Studied By Internal Revenue Service WASHINGTON (NC) - The non-discrimination policies of church-operated private schools should be judged by the minority membership in the church itself, not by the minority population in the school's community, several religious groups told an Internal Revenue Service public hearing. The hearing involved proposed IRS regulation to enforce fed~ral law denying tax-exempt status to private schools which discriminate on the basis of race and to require private schools founded or greatly expanded at the time of a public school desegragation program to prove the basis of race. Under the proposed regulations, a school with a percentage of minority enrollment equal to 20 percent of the percentage of minority enrollment in the community it serves would be .assumed to have a non-discriminatory policy. Schools with lower minority enrollments would have to show they took special efforts to recruit and aid minority students and staff. Msgr. Edward Spiers, executive director of Citizens for Educational Freedom, said that in the case of church-related schools, "it would be more realistic to compare the number of minority students in the school to the percentage of minority families in the area belonging to
that religion, rather than to the community at large." Nathan Dershowitz, an attorney for the American Jewish Congress, made a similar point
concerning Jewish religious schools but noted that a 1975 IRS regulation on the subject solves the problem. Turn to Page Five
Communication Collection Communion Proposal OK'd WASHINGTON (NC) - A national communications collection has been approved in a mail poll of bishops who did not attend the mid-November meeting of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops in Washington. The bishops also voted by mail to allow Catholics to receive Communion under the species of both bread and wine on Sundays and holy days. The final tallies on the two proposals, including mail and inperson voting, was released Dec. 11 by the NCCB general secretariat. The communications collection vote was 115-50; it had needed approval of two-thirds of all heads of dioceses, or 113 Ordinaries. The liturgy proposal received 187 affirmative votes, one more than the required twothirds of all active U.S. bishops, and 82 bishops opposed it. Commenting on the communications collection approval, Auxiliary Bishop Joseph R. Crowley of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Ind., chairman of the U.S. Catholic Conference Communication Com-
mittee, said: "This is a step in the right direction .which we hope will mark the beginning of important new developments in the church's work in the media. "Approval of the collection is welcome news for all those who have labored so long in this apostolate, but more importantly it is a challenge to all of us," Bishop Turn to Page Sixteen
Advent RituaI Sunday Nic~t !An Advent Celebration of Lessons and Carols will take place at 8 p.m. Sunday at St. 'Patrick's Church, 1598 So. Main St., Fall River. It will narrate in scripture and music the history of salvation. Lessons will be drawn from the Book of Genesis and from the prophets Isaiah and Micah, as well as from the Gospels of Luke, Matthew and John. They will be proclaimed by lectors representing various diocesan apostolates. Tum to Page Three