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fALL RIVER, MASS., FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1983
AT PEACE PASTORAL study day, from left, Rev. George W. COle-' man, diocesan director of education; Bishop Daniel A. Cronin; Rev. J. Bryan Hehir, keynote speaker. At right, Sister Claudette Lapointe, RJM,
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directs one of many small groups that discussed means of promulgating the pastoral message on the parish leve't (Gaudette Photos)
Diocese called to peace work
By Pat McGowan The U.S. bishops are "agnos tics moving towards atheism on the controllability of nuclear weapons" ,Father J. Bryan Hehir told some 400 priests, :religious and parish representatives meet ing last Sunday at Bishop Con nolly High School, Fall River. The well-attended meeting was the kickoff for what dioce
san officials hope will be inten sive study at the parish and school 'level of the bishops' war and peace pastoral, "The Chal lenge of Peace: God's Promise and Our Response.". Most of those present had been deputed by their parishes to bring back materials and in formation for use in spreading
the pastoral's message. Sunday's program, comprising Father Hehir's address, small-group dis cussion of it and a wrap-up question and answer session, was 'intended as a model of how a parish presentation could be structured. . The seriousness of participants as evidenced by their presence at a four-hour program during the 'busy pre~Christmas season was praised by Bishop Daniel A. Cronin and Diocesan Direc tor of Education Father George W. Coleman, both of whom wel comed Father Hehir, head of the U.S. bishops' secretariat for justice and 'peace issues and a principal architect of the pas toral.
Twin points' were made by ,father Hehir to underline the importance and possibility of giving the pastoral the widest possible circulation: • As contrasted with the Viet nam war, discussed' for seven years, the Central America un rest, already debated four years, and the Lebanese situation, daily in the headlines, in nuclear war, pointed out Father Hehir, "if anything happens, the time for discussion is over;" • 'Emphasizing the importance of informed U.S. Catholics to the nuclear debate, he said, "there are more parishes than post offices in the United States. If Catholics are in on the debate at the citizen level,
it makes a difference." The priest's talk was, he said, an implementation of the first step to be taken with regard to the pastoral: making it known. He said the admittedly com plex 103-page document must be reduced to "manageable propor tions" and he offered his 45 minute talk as an example of how to do it. He divided his discussion into three parts: the context in which the pastoral should be read; its content; and the contribution it hopes to make to the life of the church and nation. Father Hehir said the pastoral must be linked to the total teachings of the Church as ex pressed in Vatican U's "Pastoral
Constitution on the Church in the Modern World." The U.S. bishops' pastoral flows from that document, a landmark ef fort to relate church doctrine ,to contemporary problems, he said. The pastoral must also be linked to the "new moment" in the nuclear debate, said Father Hehir. He noted that had the bishops issued "The Challenge
of Peace" 10 years ago it would not have had its present impact. He said the grassroots nuclear freeze movement which has given ordinary citizens the feel ing that they can influence the course of nuclear strategy and especially the work of physicians Turn to Page Nine
'Distant dawn' of reconciliation sought
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By John Thavis
ROME (NC) Pope John Paul II made the first visit by a pope to a Lutheran congrega tion Dec. 11 and said that Lu therans and Catholics could see the "distant dawn" of full recon ciliation. The historic hour-long even ing prayer service at the Evan gelical Lutheran Church in Rome came ~uring celebrations of the SOOth ~nniversary of the birth of Martin Luther the priest whose reform efforts led to the divid ing of Western Christianity into Catholic and Protestant churches.
Speaking in German to the
the Lutheran pastor, the Rev.
500 members of the congrega- . Christoph Meyer, talking and
tion the pope said it was Christ's life that reminds us of "our com mon origin, the gift of our re demption and the common aim of our earthly pilgrimage." "On this SOOth anniversary of the birth of Martin Luther, we seem to discern the distant dawn of the advent of a recomposition of our unity and community," "he said. The visit began when the pope, wearing red and white vestments, walked slowly up the aisle of the small church with
shaking hands with church mem bers. Mr. Meyer then read a prayer for Christian unity composed by Martin Luther. Pope John Paul had suggested the reading of the prayer. In his sermon, Mr. Meyer said the gulf that divided the two churches belonged to the past. "The vision of Isaiah points out one path traveled in com mon, not two parallel paths," he said. "The fact that you, your holi-
ness, are here with us today is another new sign of hope," he said regarding the pope." Pope John Paul told tlie most ly German congregation that "the gift of this meeting moves me deeply." "I especially wanted this meet ing to take place during the period of Advent. It is a particu larly valid opportunity to turn together toward the Lord as we wait for God our Savior," the pope said. "I have come because the spirit of the Lord calls us these days to seek the full unity of Chris-
tians through ecumenical dia logue," he said. The pope mentioned "obvious separations in doctrine and faith that still exist" but said that unity is the goal. At a news conference Dec. 6, five days before the visit, Mr. Meyer had stressed the local I)a ture of the event. He said that the visit was the r~sult of a "self-invitation" suggested by the pope to Mr. Mey~r in 1982. The idea was first mentioned casually by a member of the Lutheran congregation during a Turn to Page Ten