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News & Herald Serving Catholics in Western North Carolina in the Diocese of Charlotte
New
Volume 4 Number 30 • March
Encyclical
Plans For Assisted-living
Designed To Counter 'Culture Of
Residence Blossom By JOANN
KEANE
Death'
man
II
(CNS)
was designed
life
— Pope
said his encyclical
an
put down roots for the first Catholic
Adams and business partner Sharon Mayfield have plans in place to establish a long-overdue
30, the church wants to proclaim
—
that all human life is sacred whether born or unborn, healthy or sick, young or old, he said at a Sunday blessing March
gation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
signs regarding international peace, human rights and the war on hunger, there
have also been serious defeats, he said. "There is an expansion of a worri-
some
'culture of death,'
which emerges
not only in the fratricidal wars that still leave international regions bloody, and in the forms of violence against the weakest ones, but above all in the attacks on
unborn nally
and on the elderly or termihe said.
life
ill,"
"The legitimization of abortion and the growing demands concerning euthanasia mark other defeats of the 'culture of
he said. The pope said the message of his
life,'"
encyclical
is
basic: that
"human
life is
Welcome
Spring. The weather is warming, and visible reminders of the change in seasons are springing to life. Photo by JOANN KEANE sacred,
God
and
alone
is
the
Lord of
Weekend, April
1
-2, is expected to place
the Diocesan Support Appeal over the Lay presenters in each of the 89
top.
parishes and missions in the diocese will make presentations at all weekend
Masses about the DSA and the 30 agencies
it
supports.
The
DSA
began Feb. 5 and ends For people who have yet to make contributions, pledge cards will available in all the pews. As of March 24, $ 1 .6 million or 84 percent of the goal of $2 million had been pledged. April
2.
Forty-eight parishes surpassed their goals last year because of Appeal Sun-
day, said Pat Signs, associate director of the Development Office.
"Appeal Sunday is important in putting parishes over their goals and wrapping things up," she said.
The
DSA
supports agencies and
Adams and Mayfield bank on
the
of an aging population, yet call the opportunity to serve this growing populace, "a privilege as well as a means of respecting life." Moreover, both have reality
substantial financial investments riding
the quarter of a million of
completed, the Little Flower named in honor of St. Terese of Lisieux will provide a safe,
Mayfields' monies make a small dent in the projected $ 1 ,300,000 needed for the
Adams and
Flower to blossom. This, they say, a financial investment opportunity.
Little
and comfortable residential setting for about 45 senior adults. Our residents will be individuals who either cannot or
"We hope to minimize bank financing by borrowing funds from investors look-
should not live alone, but don't require the skilled medical care provided in a nursing home, said
Little
Adams.
is
ing for a fair return on their money, while playing a vital role in making the
Flower a reality." Although the Diocese of Charlotte will play neither a financial nor a mana-
For the past eight months, Adams and Mayfield have collaborated plans to build from the ground up an as-
highly supportive of
sisted-living residential facility for the
See
—
—
gerial role at
Little
The
Flower,
Little
it
is
Adams and
Flower, page 16
life."
n Encyclical,
This is true regardless of a person's physical, racial, social or economic standing, he said. "It is valid for every stage life:
of human
for the person already born
the one
still
the person
who
in the
who
is
mother's
and for
womb,
for
disabled or sick, for the young and for the old," he said. is
He said every weakening in the principle of respect for life eventually threatens the foundations of social harmony, democracy and
services, counseling, marriage prepa-
ration
programs and campus ministry.
Some parishes use dozens of the ministries, while others are involved in only a handful. All, however, are en-
riched by the
DSA.
DSA
"The is a way of working together more efficiently and building a larger Church," Signs said. "It is important to be involved in the DSA because it gives us the opportunity to live out
God's word," said
Erlene Wilkins, who will make the appeal presentation at Our Lady of
Consolation Church, Charlotte. "The DSA enables us to exercise our faith and make an investment to the diocese," said Wilkins. "An investment that will surely be profitable."
By JERRY FILTEAU WASHINGTON (CNS) — In
death."
He
also offers praise and en-
couragement for witnesses of human
to the value
life.
The "culture of death" described by the pope could be
summarized as a set of philosophical assumptions, political positions and social norms, attitudes and practices which devalue the sacredness of each
The value of human
Life
belief.
his
new encyclical on life Pope John Paul II does not just condemn the "culture of
true peace.
ministries that individual parishes could not provide, such as adoption
Pope Lauds
Signs Of Witness To
healthy and the one
Appeal Weekend Expected To Place DSA Over Top CHARLOTTE — Appeal Sunday
2010.
service; affordable assisted liv-
clean,
Vatican officials, including Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Congre-
statistics indicate the
ing in the Catholic tradition. Once
—
"Evangelium
Vitae" ("The Gospel of Life"), was to be unveiled at a press conference by top
Resources,
on the success of this project. It's a major financial undertaking;
—
26.
The pope said he wrote the document because he is worried the church and others were losing ground in the prolife struggle. While there are positive
assisted-living residence in
the diocese of Charlotte.
In the encyclical, to be published
encyclical, titled
number of North Carolinians over the age of 75 will more than double before
to find just the right location to
advancing "culture of death" that seeks such as abortion and euthanasia.
The
man
a plot of land for the Little Rower. rod, Keith
to legitimize practices
March
Some-
where in south Charlotte, there's
on hu-
to counter
— those 65 and
tion
Like a dowser with a divining Adams is determined
JOHN THAVIS
VATICAN CITY John Paul
—
growing segment of the populaolder. According to the North Carolina Department of Hufastest
Associate Editor
CHARLOTTE By
31, 1995
life is inesti-
that life
human
life
—
to the point
becomes completely expend-
mable "because it consists in sharing the very life of God," he said.
able in the case of the unborn, the disabled and the terminally ill.
He said he would be giving "a onesided picture, which could lead to ster-
countercultural witness to life,
ile
discouragement,
if
condemnawere not ac-
the
tion of the threats to life
Among Paul
his
examples
of a Pope John
cites:
—
companied by the presentation of the positive signs at work in humanity's
"Many married couples who, with a generous sense of responsibility, are ready to accept children as 'the su-
present situation."
preme
"Unfortunately," he added, "it is often hard to see and recognize these positive signs, perhaps also because
they do not receive sufficient attention in the communications media."
So he devotes six pages at the end of the encyclical's first chapter to singling out examples of men and women working
human
to foster, protect
and improve
life.
The encyclical, dated March 25 and released March 30, is titled "Evangelium Vitae," "The Gospel of Life." Its
main thrust is a warning that the which seems to pre-
vail increasingly in the
world today is diametrically opposed to the Gospel of life that is fundamental to Christian
of marriage.'"
their everyday service to life, are willing
abandoned children, boys and and teen-agers in difficulty, handicapped persons, elderly men and women who have been left alone." to accept
girls
—
"Centers in support of life ... which, with admirable dedication and sacrifice, offer moral and material support to mothers who are in difficulty and are tempted to have recourse to abortion."
— Medical
researchers and practi-
who
devote their lives to improving and saving the lives of others. tioners
"culture of death"
gift
— "Families which, over and above
—
International aid and develop-
ment agencies which "bring quick relief
See Encyclical, page 16