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Diocese of Fall River, Mass.

F riday , January 9, 2015

Faith Formation Office to offer workshops on basics of RCIA

By Becky Aubut Anchor Staff

FALL RIVER — The Diocese of Fall River Office of Faith Formation will be holding a Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults Formation Day on February 7 at Holy Cross Parish Hall in South Easton, and is inviting deacons, priests, RCIA coordinators and teams, catechists, directors of Religious Education, and baptismal prep teams to learn more about the process through workshops led by Father Richard Degagne, pastor of Immaculate Conception Parish in North Easton.

“This will be a day where people can come and at least get the basics and understanding of what [RCIA] is all about, and how important it is,” explained Deacon Bruce Bonneau, assistant director for Adult Evangelization and Spiri-

tuality of the Faith Formation Office.

The creation of the RCIA Formation Day stems from the new influx of deacons, who were recently ordained and who are in need of “formation on RCIA, [since] when they go to serve in the parishes, it’s pretty likely they’re going to be put in charge of RCIA, so as a service to them, we wanted to give them this formation,” said Claire McManus, Faith Formation director. “But it’s also for other parishes because [RCIA] is not always done by deacons but by laypeople.”

The workshops are broken down into three parts: to help understand the overview of the RCIA process and offer a brief history of the restoration of the catechumenate since Vatican II and the promulgation of the process by the Turn to page 14

Attorney Schuyler Pisha of the diocesan Catholic Social Service’s Immigration Legal Education Advocacy and Education Project, recently addressed workshop attendees at St. Francis Xavier Parish in Hyannis, explaining how President Obama’s recent immigration program will impact area immigrants.

CSS takes proactive role in informing area immigrants on recent reforms

By Dave Jolivet Anchor Editor

Children from St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Attleboro recently visited La Salette Shrine to participate in a celebration of the “Posadas” (Spanish for “inns”), a reenactment of Mary and Joseph’s journey through Bethlehem, looking for lodgings.

FALL RIVER — On November 20, President Barack Obama decreed a presidential executive order granting “deferred action” to a pair of illegal immigrant groups: the parents of citizens of the U.S., or legal permanent residents who have been in the country for five years and young people who were illegally brought into this country since 2010.

The order evoked a range of emotions and opinions, but also left many area immigrants confused and concerned about their status in the wake of the reform.

The Fall River Diocese’s Catholic Social Services Office has taken

a proactive response to the executive order, and is currently presenting workshops throughout the diocese to help quell some of the concerns and confusion, as well as to prepare qualified immigrants for the steps they need to take in the near future.

CSS’s Immigration Legal Advocacy and Education Project is coordinating the information sessions. Managing attorney for ILEAP, Schuyler Pisha, told The Anchor, “We’ve done this in the past with other government announcements. This executive order will affect thousands of area people, and it’s impossible to handle the questions one-by-one on the telephone when individuals call. There is Turn to page 15

New Bedford pastor hopes to start new chapter for homeless

By Kenneth J. Souza Anchor Staff

NEW BEDFORD — While most people welcomed the dawn of 2015 with a litany of lofty New Year’s resolutions, Father Kevin Harrington is hoping to see a simple idea come to fruition.

“Some people learn by reading, others learn through different avenues,” Father Harrington said. “What I’ve found is those who have been able to improve their lot are usually those who are readers. I think they have a built-in system of curiosity and a desire to learn.”

That’s why this self-professed bookworm and pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Parish in New Bedford recently set out to help some of the city’s downtrodden population better themselves in ways that aren’t already being met.

While there are many church and civic organizations working to assist those without a home to call their own, Father Harrington feels there is one need that isn’t being addressed, pardon the pun.

“It really bothers me that a city like New Bedford can provide food, clothing and shelter — and that’s ab-

solutely laudable — but then you’ve got a library system and you’re failing the group that needs it most,” Father Harrington recently told The Anchor.

“And it’s failing for a common-sense reason, which is: some of these people don’t have a permanent address.”

As a sitting trustee with the New Bedford Free Public Library, Father Harrington found a bit of inspiration in a well-established program for those with criminal convictions that’s been running at UMass Dartmouth since 1993.

“One of my parishioners told me to look into a program called Chang-

ing Lives Through Literature,” Father Harrington said. “What happens is the judges and courts select certain people who are savvy and might benefit from having a period of time during which they come every other week for six weeks to discuss classic literature. If they do that, they get time off from their probation. It’s a very successful program and it has reduced the recidivism rate.”

After attending a handful of sessions himself, Father Harrington struck upon the notion to do something similar for the city’s displaced Turn to page 18

News From the Vatican

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January 9, 2015

Large families are schools of solidarity and sharing, Pope Francis affirms Vatican City (CNA/ EWTN News) — In an address recently to Italy’s National Numerous Family Association, Pope Francis thanked the members of large families for their cultivation of virtues that benefit society at large, as well as themselves.

“The fact of having brothers and sisters is good for you,” he said December 28 to the children among the some 7,000 members of large families from across Italy at the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall.

“The sons and daughters of large families are more inclined to fraternal communion from early childhood. In a world that is frequently marred by selfishness, a large family is a school of solidarity and sharing; and these attitudes are of benefit to all society.”

The audience was on the occasion of the association’s 10th anniversary, and marked the feast of the Holy Family.

“You have come here with the most beautiful fruits of your love,” he said to the parents of the families. “Maternity and paternity are gifts from God, but your task is to receive this gift, to be amazed by its beauty and to let it shine in society. Each of your children is a unique creation that will never be repeated in the history of humanity. When we understand this, that each person is willed by God, we are astonished by the great miracle that is a child! A child changes your life!”

We have all seen, he reminded them, men and women who have profoundly changed “when a child arrives,” adding that a child is “the unique fruit of love,” coming from and growing in love.

“You, children and young people, are the fruit of the tree that is the family: you are good fruit when the tree has good roots — grandparents — and a good trunk — the parents,” Pope Francis said. “The great human family is like a forest, in which the trees bear solidar-

ity, communion, fidelity, support, security, happy moderation, friendship. The presence of large families is a hope for society.”

This, he said, “is why the presence of grandparents is very important: a valuable presence in terms of practical assistance, but above all for their contribution to education. Grandparents conserve the values of a people, of a family, and they help parents transmit them to their children. Throughout the last century, in many countries in Europe, it was the grandparents who transmitted the faith.”

“Dear parents, thank you for your example of love for life that you protect from conception to its natural end, in spite of all the difficulties and burdens of life, that unfortunately public institutions do not always help you to bear.”

He lamented that while the Italian constitution calls for particular regard for large families, this is only “words” and is “not adequately reflected in the facts.”

Considering Italy’s low birth rate, he voiced hope that it’s politicians and public administrators would give large families “all due support.”

“Every family is a cell of society, but the large family is a richer, more vital cell, and the state has much to gain by investing in it.”

In light of this, he affirmed the National Numerous Family Association, and groups like it, for advocating for large families in the European nations, and for being “present and visible in society and in politics.”

He concluded by praying in particular “for those families most affected by the economic crisis, those in which the mother or father have lost their jobs and in which the young are unable to find work, and those families in which the closest relationships are marked by suffering and who are tempted to give in to loneliness and separation.”

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Pope Francis kisses a statue of Baby Jesus as he celebrates Mass on the feast of the Epiphany in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican January 6. (CNS photo/Andrew Medichini pool via Reuters)

Pope: This new year, embrace gratitude, reject slavery of sin

Vatican City (CNA/ EWTN News) — At the year’s end, Pope Francis reflected on Christ’s saving presence within time, cautioning against nostalgia for the slavery of sin, and encouraging gratitude that leads to repentance.

The theme of time was central to Pope Francis’ off-the-cuff homily, delivered during evening Vespers in St. Peter’s Basilica December 31.

“The significance of time, temporality,” he said, “is the atmosphere of God’s epiphany, that is, of the manifestation of God and His concrete love.”

The evening celebrations were also marked by the chanting of the Te Deum, an ancient prayer of praise which grants the one who recites it publicly on New Year’s Eve a plenary indulgence under the usual conditions. The pope also presided over exposition and benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.

Pope Francis turned his reflection to the words of Paul to the Galatians, taken from the evening’s Vespers: “But when the time had fully come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.”

“Time was — in a manner of speaking — ‘touched’ by Christ, the Son of God and of Mary,” he said, thereby becoming the “‘Salvific time’… defined by Salvation and grace.”

This theme of time, in turn, “inspires us to think about the end of life’s journey, the end of our journey,” the Holy Father said. By examining our conscience, he ex-

plained, we revisit what we have done, giving thanks for the good we have received and have been able to accomplish, all the while recalling “our weaknesses and our sins.”

Pope Francis then reflected on the Te Deum, recited shortly after the homily, during which “we praise the Lord” and at the same time ask His forgiveness.

“The attitude of thanks disposes us to humility, to recognize and welcome the gifts of the Lord,” he said.

While we are filled with gratitude, however, we recall that “we are far from [God] because of original sin,” causing our “filial relationship” to be “profoundly wounded.”

“Because of this, God sent His Son to redeem us with His Blood,” the Holy Father added, thereby freeing us “from the slavery of sin” and restoring our filial status.

It is with this gift of redemption in mind that we make our examination of conscience, Pope Francis said: “Do we live as children or as slaves? Do we live as persons Baptized in Christ, united by the Spirit, redeemed, free?

Or do we live according to earthly logic, corrupt, doing that which the devil makes us believe is in our best interest?”

This “slavery” of sin, the pope continued, reduces time to the mere “moment,” preventing “us from fully and truly living in the present, for it empties the past and closes the door to the future, to eternity.”

Yet we long for this slavery, he said, because it makes us feel safe.

He compared this longing to the desire for fireworks: “They seem to be beautiful but in fact they

only last a few moments!”

This examination of conscience, the Holy Father continued, also depends on the “quality of our work, of our lives, of our presence in the city, of our service toward the common good, of our participation in public and ecclesial institutions.”

As Bishop of Rome, Pope Francis expressed his desire to take on the experiences of those living in the “eternal city,” recalling the witness of the martyrs SS. Peter and Paul.

Reflecting on the recently-revealed corruption cases in Rome, he called for a conversion of hearts, as well as for a “renewed commitment to create a more just and stable city, where the poor the weak, and the marginalized are at the center of our concern and our daily activities.”

The poor and weak, when cared for, “reveal the treasure of the Church” and of society, he said. On the other hand, when the poor are ignored, “persecuted, criminalized,” and forced into a life of crime, the society is revealed to be “impoverished to the point of misery.”This society “loses freedom and prefers the ‘garlic and onions’” of slavery. Such a society ceases to be Christian, he said.

Pope Francis concluded his homily by inviting the faithful to not long for slavery, but rather to reflect on the “final hour” and remember that this is the “fullness of time.”

The Virgin Mary, he said, as the temple in which the Word was made Flesh in time, “gave to the world the Savior, helping us to welcome Him with open hearts, to be and truly live freely as God’s children.”

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The International Church

January 9, 2015

In refugee limbo, Iraqi Christians keep the faith

Amman, Jordan (CNA/EWTN News) — Threatened by forced conversion or death at the hands of the Islamic State, many Iraqi Christians have had to flee their homes — but one refugee family sheltered at a Jordanian church has declared their continued faith.

“We are nearly every day going to the Church here. We are praying. Still we have the faith,” Dr. Imad Ibraheem Daood, a 47-year-old surgeon and father of four, told CNA. “We lost many things, but still we have the faith. Still there is hope.”

“We trust in God,” added Yusif, his 13-year-old son.

Daood and his family used to live in the Christian town of Bartella, a little more than 10 miles from Mosul in Iraq.

“We lived in very big houses,” he said; Valentin, his energetic teen daughter, described their homes as “palaces.”

Now they live in a refugee shelter: the church hall across from Our Lady of the Assumption Armenian Catholic Church in Amman.

Families of five or six sleep in areas not much larger than an office cubicle.

Colorful sheets mounted on bland wooden partitions about four feet tall provide some privacy. A few festive decorations, hung along the walls, try to lighten the mood.

The refugees maintain an organized dignity. Their beds are simple, but neatly made. Purses and other items hang on hooks. But the 80 people who now live here share one only bath in common.

“It’s not enough to wash my children,” lamented Sajida, Daood’s wife.

They can bathe only once or twice a week.

“We are living in a very bad situation,” Daood said. “We are afraid of diseases, getting sick. There is some difficulty in our food supply.”

“Every day becomes less and less,” he said of the food. “Especially the dinners.

Most of the time we don’t have one.”

Outside the church hall, old men played backgammon to pass the time.

One of them strikes a playful grin, takes out his dentures and displays them to entertain visitors and children.

Some of the young men helped paint the church.

Among them was Mareo. Daood’s 20-year-old son Ibad introduces him: “He lose his father in church in Baghdad. By explosion.”

Mareo, who speaks in uncertain English, said his father was killed in 2006. He was a policeman at Our Lady of Salvation Syriac Catholic Cathedral in the Karrada neighborhood of Baghdad. The cathedral has been the site of many deadly attacks since 2004.

Mareo believes his father died for the faith, and prays to him.

“We pray to make the situation more calm,” he said.

The young man and his mother left Iraq September 10 thanks to funding

from Caritas Jordan, a Catholic humanitarian agency.

“Caritas will help us buy food, buy water. Thank God!” Mareo exclaimed.

As of late October, Caritas Jordan helped about 2,000 Iraqi Christians fly to Jordan from Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan.

The agency is assisting them and another 2,000 who came from Iraq by other means. Caritas has helped the refugees find shelter at churches or at rented houses, when available.

The U.S.-based Catholic Relief Services has provided about $350,000 to prepare several Jordanian church facilities to receive the Iraqis. The agency also supplied blankets, mattresses, and modest furniture.

Local Jordanians, both Christian and Muslim, have reached out to help the Iraqis. Prince Hasan has visited some of the Church shelters.

Daood voiced gratitude for the help, but still worried: “It is not enough.”

Even so, the shelters are less dangerous than home.

“We didn’t feel safe there. We were afraid to be killed. Our houses, our things have been stolen. They threatened us (either) to be killed, or to become Muslim.”

He was speaking of “Daesh” as it is known in Arabic. English-speakers call it the Islamic State, whose violent expansion across Iraq and Syria has killed thousands and driven millions from their homes. Those who do not convert to its vision of Sunni Islam must pay a tax or flee for their lives.

“The situation is becoming worse and worse, especially for Christian people,” Daood said.

Many Christians had already fled to his home town due to the instability following the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and the later withdrawal of U.S. troops.

Daood and his family had already left their home several times for fear of violence. But the last time, in early August, was different.

“The invasion was sudden. No one even fought against them,” Daood said, questioning the inaction of the Iraqi government and its allied defense forces that had promised to defend Bartella.

“They just wanted to leave us, I think, to be killed,” he said, snapping his fingers: “Just like that.”

“They should have prepared for withdrawal, to protect the people. They should have announced it. Actually, they announced, ‘we will not leave.’”

Some people in Bartella had asked whether they should carry weapons to defend themselves. According to Daood, the armed forces had replied: “No, we are ready to defend you. We will never leave you.”

“But what happened was exactly the opposite. They left us.”

“If we didn’t leave within hours something terrible would have happened to us.”

Daood and his children had a har-

rowing flight from home. The Islamic State had cut off supplies and utilities to the town two months before invading in August.

They had no more than a few hours’ notice that Islamic State forces were on their way. Some people left behind the ill, the handicapped, and the elderly.

They left at night with hundreds of other people, whose cars clogged the roads.

“We spent about five hours to go less than 60 kilometers,” Daood said. “We were afraid that a bomb might reach us, or Daesh might reach us. We were fighting with time, just to be away from them.”

“You have to stay, obey, and never say anything. Otherwise they will not accept you,” he said. “These people will not accept the other. This is the problem.

In any country, there are many different kinds of people who live there, different religions. They are living together.”

“But these people, they want only themselves.”

He said Iraq was different before the 2003 U.S.-led invasion: “We had many Muslim friends. We were talking with them. There was no problem.”

“After the war, and this situation, probably they are starting to change,” Daood explained, adding that some Iraqi Muslims are adopting “these bad ideas about the Christians.”

He said some Muslims began to accuse Christians of not believing in God and said they needed to change their religion.

“You cannot defend (yourself ), because there is no one to protect you.

Anyone can kill you, hurt you, no one will care.”

Daood has given up on returning home, even if peace is reestablished.

“After a few months, everything will change again, and the crisis continues, and again and again. This is not a good situation, especially for my children.”

His two eldest children hope to be doctors like their father.

Daood asked Americans to help him and his family.

“If they can help us to start a new life, in our new country.”

Valentin interjected: “A new future!”

“There is no future here,” her father continued sadly. “In Iraq there is no future. We want to go to some safe country, start a new life.”

“A new beginning,” Valentin said.

The future may be delayed.

Jordan hosts not only thousands of Iraqi refugees, but 1.4 million refugee Syrians. Millions more refugees are spread across the Middle East, and Western countries are reluctant to take in asylum seekers.

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The Church in the U.S.

January 9, 2015

Maryland governor commutes sentences of last four men on death row

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (CNS) — Maryland’s outgoing Gov. Martin O’Malley announced December 31 he would commute the death sentences of the last four inmates on the state’s death row to life imprisonment without possibility of parole.

In 2013, Maryland’s General Assembly repealed capital punishment, but that did not affect the sentences of what at the time were five inmates on death row. One of those inmates, John Booth-El, died of natural causes earlier in 2014.

The state’s last execution was in 2005.

The action was lauded by the Maryland Catholic Conference, which has long advocated for the end of capital punishment.

O’Malley, a Catholic whose second term as governor ends January 21, said in a statement that recent appeals and an opinion by outgoing Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler have called into question the legality of carrying out those earlier death sentences.

“I have now met or spoken with many of the survivors of the victims of these brutal murders,” said O’Malley’s statement. “They are all good and decent people who have generously granted me the courtesy of discussing the cases of their individual family members.”

He said they “have borne their grief bravely along with the additional torment of an unending legal process. If endless death penalty appeals were to continue, these family members would, no doubt, persevere through that process with continued courage and fortitude.”

O’Malley added that the question at hand is “whether any public good is served by allowing these essentially unexecutable sentences to stand.

In my judgment, leaving these death sentences in place does not serve the public good of the people of Maryland — present or future.”

Leaving the sentences in place would, he added, “needlessly and callously subject survivors, and the people of Maryland, to the ordeal of an endless appeals process, with unpredictable twists and turns, and without any hope of finality or closure.”

He said, “There is one truth that stands between and before all of us: few of us would ever wish for our children or grandchildren to kill another human being or to take part in the killing of another human being.”

O’Malley added that he hopes the commutations “might bring about a greater degree of closure for all of the survivors and their families.”

Mary Ellen Russell of the Maryland Catholic Conference told Catholic News Service that O’Malley’s announcement was not unexpected after Gansler’s November opinion said that, under current law, there was no way to issue regulations for how to execute the remaining inmates.

“It’s a wonderful way to start the new year,” she said, adding that it brings an end to “a lengthy and heart-rending” process of reviewing and ending capital punishment in the state.

Instead, Russell said, the Catholic Conference and others interested in the workings of the criminal justice system can now focus on other issues, specifically restorative justice.

Russell said it seems unlikely that incoming Gov. Larry Hogan, who also is Catholic, would press to reinstate the death penalty, and “there’s clearly no appetite for it in the General Assembly.” O’Malley is a Democrat and Hogan a Republican.

O’Malley’s two immediate predecessors each authorized two executions. In 2002, Gov. Parris Glendening ordered a moratorium while a study of capital punishment was conducted. It found racial and geographic disparities in how the state applied capital punishment.

His successor, Gov. Robert Ehrlich, reinstated capital punishment and resumed executions, authorizing one in 2004 and one in 2005. In 2006 a state Appeals Court ordered the suspension of executions because of legal problems with the protocol for lethal injection.

Navy Reserve Petty Officer Jesus Benitez talks with his son, Maddox, after surprising him and his sister, Mia, at St. Joan of Arc School in Aberdeen, Md., recently. His children did not know he was able to come home for the holidays. Benitez is in the middle of a year-long deployment in Djibouti, on the Horn of Africa, where he expected to be celebrating Christmas this year. (CNS photo/Tom McCarthy Jr.)

‘Biggest human rights rally’ returns for March for Life

WASHINGTON (CNS) — “The biggest human rights rally in the world,” as one regular participant described it, will return to the nation’s capital for the annual March for Life January 22.

The 42nd rally on the National Mall and march to Capitol Hill marks the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s 1973 ruling in the case of Roe v.

Wade that invalidated state and federal restrictions on abortions, legalizing abortion virtually on demand.

Micaiah Bilger, education director of the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation, said she sees the march as an opportunity to move forward from Roe v. Wade.

“The March for Life is, I think, the biggest human rights rally in the world and it’s wonderful to go and be with other people and unite under that cause,” Bilger said in an interview with Catholic News Service. “It’s important for us to stand up in our nation’s capital and say, ‘Abortion is a human rights injustice and we want to see all life protected.’”

The Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation usually brings a few hundred participants from around the state, Bilger said.

The range of people who attend — from high school students to older men and women who have been going for many years — offers an opportunity for participants to meet others of diverse backgrounds who share the same beliefs about abortion.

“We have a really good, really diverse group of people that go down every year,” she said. “There are so many young people who are going to the March for Life nowadays, so

many (Pro-Life) clubs that are popping up in high schools and college campuses, and there are just so many people who are stepping up and seeing that (abortion) is an injustice.”

The March for Life also consistently draws many ProLife groups from college campuses each year. Katie Daniels, a sophomore at Boston College and president of the school’s Pro-Life club, called the march “the highlight of our year,” and said she expected about 30 students when their bus leaves campus the night before the march.

“It’s a great way to (be) a witness to life outside our campus on a national scale and it’s something we look forward to very much as a club, to kind of participate in this broader national dialogue about what it means to be Pro-Life,” Daniels said.

Harvard University will also be sending 20 students to the rally. Jim McGlone, a senior at Harvard who has attended six times, said young people are a significant part of the movement.

“I think it shows that this is really the future of our country and our culture,” he said. “The Pro-Life movement is alive and vibrant and young and joyous and is really a force in our society that can make a really positive change,” he said.

Maggie Bick, a board member of Missouri Right to Life, said she expects about 250 people to join the 72-hour round trip to Washington. Bick said she feels it is important to attend because abortion is not only an injustice, but a mortal sin. “(Since) our taxpayer dollars are being used to fund the abor-

tion of other people who decide to make that fatal decision, I think we are being complicit in their sin,” she said. “That is why it is worth the fight to me to do everything we can to change the laws, diminish the number of abortions and in particular make the drive for not using our tax dollars for abortion.”

The federal Hyde Amendment prohibits the use of federal tax funds to pay for abortion, with exceptions for cases of rape, incest and danger to the life of the woman. However, many states cover at least some abortions in their health plans for poor women.

Though the March for Life focuses on abortion, the group representatives explained that their support extends to all human lives, regardless of age.

“Part of our mission is also legislative work, so we work in legislation here in Pennsylvania to make sure that there are resources available for pregnant and parenting moms so they don’t feel like they’re being pressured to have an abortion or feel like abortion is their only option,” Bilger said.

Bick agreed it is important for Pro-Life groups to assist pregnant women in need. She said many members of Missouri Right to Life participate in Pro-Life causes beyond the march.

“There are some people focused on post-abortive women and there are many people who do counseling at (the) one abortion clinic in Missouri,” she said. “Yes, we want to see Roe v.

Wade overturned, but we also want to address our concerns for these women who are faced with a decision of whether or not to have an abortion.”

January 9, 2015

The Church in the U.S.

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Hundreds attend Mass celebrating Archbishop Cupich’s new role

The sanctuary of St. Joseph Mission in Laguna Pueblo, N.M., is adorned with Laguna artwork and colonial Spanish paintings. The church was built in 1699, making it one of the longest-standing missions in the United States. (CNS photo/Nancy Wiechec)

Members of Congress: Abortion funding breaks health care law promise

Washington D.C. (CNA/EWTN News) — More than 75 members of Congress have written the Obama Administration emphasizing that abortion coverage must be billed separately under the health care law, as it was promised.

“The abortion surcharge must be a separate payment.

However, the proposed rule brazenly ignores the separate payment requirement in the law and instead specifies that the abortion surcharge may be collected in a single payment and the surcharge does not even have to be listed on the consumer’s bill,” the members of Congress wrote in a December letter to HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell.

When the law was passed, the separate billing for abortion coverage was meant to assuage concerns of those objecting to paying for abortion coverage for reasons of conscience. At least one health plan not offering abortion coverage was to be featured on each state insurance exchange set up under the law.

Back in September, however, an independent government watchdog found that five state exchanges offered only plans including abortion coverage.

In addition, the Government Accountability Office reported that many insurance issuers were not separately billing enrollees for abortion coverage as was promised.

In the Affordable Care Act, Section 1303 directs health plan issuers on the insurance exchanges to “segregate” the estimated abortion coverage costs for all enrollees choosing such coverage.

However, the members of Congress charged in the letter, the proposed HHS rules allow insurers another way aside from separately billing abortion coverage: simply itemize the estimated cost of abortion coverage and send it as part of one single bill.

The text states, “Section 1303 of the Affordable Care Act permits, but does not require a QHP [qualified health plan] issuer to separately identify the premium for non-excepted abortion services on the monthly premium bill in order to comply with the separate payment requirement. A consumer may pay the premium for non-excepted abortion services and for all other services in a single transaction, with the issuer depositing the funds into the issuer’s separate allocation accounts.”

The members of Congress argued that the proposed rules go against the health care law.

“In contrast to the law, the proposed rule permits issuers to collect the premium in a single transaction. Additionally, issuers are permitted but not required ‘to separately identify the premium for non-excepted abortion services for the monthly premium bill in order to comply with the separate payment requirement,’” they wrote Secretary Burwell.

“Therefore under the proposed rule, the surcharge is not billed separately and will likely be all but invisible to the consumer,” they continued. “[I]t is essential that the administration at least follow the minimal statutory requirements related to the accounting gimmick often referred to as

the Nelson amendment,” they continued.

Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), co-chairman of the Bipartisan Congressional Pro-Life Caucus, argued the lack of enforcement by the HHS is part of more broken promises from the Obama Administration.

“President Obama’s solemn promise not fund abortion on demand continues to be broken with impunity,” the congressman said in a recent statement.

Commenting on the health plan enrollees and the billing for abortion coverage on the insurance exchanges, he stressed, “Consumers have a right to know.”

OMAHA, Neb. (CNS) — More than 600 people, including three bishops, an abbot, priests, seminarians, friends and family attended a December 27 Mass at St. Margaret Mary Church in Omaha to celebrate native son Archbishop Blase J. Cupich’s new appointment to lead the archdiocese of Chicago.

“It was a blessed, holy and happy Mass,” said Katie Pelletier, a member of St. Wenceslaus Parish in Omaha and a friend of the Cupich family, which includes nine children, four of whom still live in the Omaha area.

Archbishop Cupich, who grew up in SS. Peter and Paul Parish in Omaha and was in town for five days at Christmas, presided and gave the homily at the Mass on the feast of the Holy Family.

He said one way the faithful can know God’s presence is through family and friends.

“It’s important for us, once in a while, to think back and share what life has meant to us and to each other,” the archbishop said, thanking everyone who gathered at the Mass. He also recalled some of what he learned about maneuvering through personalities and needs in his first assignment from 1975 to 1978 as an associate pastor of St. Margaret Mary.

One parishioner suggested: “Padre, just one easy lesson — don’t mess with the guild,” Archbishop Cupich said, as people in the congregation laughed.

Omaha Archbishop George J. Lucas, who concelebrated the Mass, thanked Archbishop Cupich for coming and assured him that people in Omaha will pray for him in his new assignment, which officially began November 18 at his Installation Mass.

“We know it’s a big job, it’s a complicated job,” Archbishop Lucas said. “Every day, we want you to know we are praying for you.”

After the Mass, Archbishop Cupich spent more than an hour at a reception, greeting and having his picture taken with people who waited in a line that extended the length of a large hall.

His brother, Rich Cupich, a Latin teacher at Creighton Preparatory School in Omaha and member of St. Margaret Mary Parish, said it was a beautiful Mass, and the family was grateful to all those who came.

“They are all friends he has touched and who have touched him, and have kept up with him,” he said. “This is what Christianity is all about — remembering where you’ve come from.”

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January 9, 2015

Anchor Editorial

Church without frontiers, Mother to all

January 4 to 10 has been designated by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops as the annual National Migration Week. They do this in collaboration with bishops around the world, led by Pope Francis, who has continued the tradition of his predecessors in issuing a message for the 101st World Day of Migrants and Refugees. St. Pius X instituted this annual observance in 1914. Little did he know of the flood of refugees which would be unleashed by the “great” war which was going to be unleashed on the world that year.

Pope Francis reminds us that Jesus’ “solicitude, particularly for the most vulnerable and marginalized, invites all of us to care for the frailest and to recognize His suffering countenance, especially in the victims of new forms of poverty and slavery. The Lord says: ‘I was hungry and you gave Me food, I was thirsty and you gave Me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed Me, I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you visited Me, I was in prison and you came to Me’ (Mt 25:35-36). The mission of the Church, herself a pilgrim in the world and the Mother of all, is thus to love Jesus Christ, to adore and love Him, particularly in the poorest and most abandoned; among these are certainly migrants and refugees, who are trying to escape difficult living conditions and dangers of every kind. For this reason, the theme for this year’s World Day of Migrants and Refugees is: Church without frontiers, Mother to all.”

What Jesus said causes us to make an examination of conscience, asking ourselves whether we are ready to present ourselves before God (we know not when, but we do know that it will be someday) and say that we did welcome Him in the various guises He took, including as a refugee or migrant.

The Holy Father continued, offering a statement which also calls for personal and corporate reflection on our part: “The Church opens her arms to welcome all people, without distinction or limits, in order to proclaim that ‘God is love’ (1 Jn 4:8,16). From the beginning, the Church has been a mother with a heart open to the whole world, and has been without borders. [E]ven in the first centuries, the missionary proclamation spoke of the universal motherhood of the Church, which was then developed in the writings of the Fathers and taken up by the Second Vatican Council. The Council Fathers spoke of Ecclesia Mater to explain the Church’s nature. She begets sons and daughters and ‘takes them in and embraces them with her love and in her heart’” (Lumen Gentium, 14).

“Holy Mother Church” is a term which has often been mocked in recent decades, in part because of the stuffiness of some Church members, who would seem as welcoming as the fictional character Hyacinth Bucket from the old British show, “Keeping Up Appearances.” However, Pope Francis has used the term a lot in his writings and talks, trying to get people to realize that they are part of Holy Mother Church and calling them to have a loving, motherly attitude, an attitude which bears Spiritual fruit.

On the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows (September 15), the Holy Father spoke of the Church, who is Mother “when she follows the same path of Jesus and Mary: the path of obedience, the path of suffering, and when her approach is to constantly learn the way of the Lord. These two women — Mary and the Church — carry on the hope which is Christ, they give us Christ, they generate Christ in us.”

December 9 the pope prayed that God would “grant us the grace to work, to be

Dear brothers and sisters: A few days ago we began the new year in the name of the Mother of God, celebrating World Peace Day on the theme: “No longer slaves, but brothers.” My hope is that the exploitation of man by man

Pope Francis’ Angelus message of January 4 would be overcome. This exploitation is a social plague that mortifies interpersonal relations and impedes a life of communion imprinted with respect, justice and charity.

Each person, and every people hungers and thirsts for peace; OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE DIOCESE OF FALL RIVER

www.anchornews.org

Christians” who are “joyful in the fruitfulness of Mother Church,” and that He save us from the danger of “falling into the attitude of these sad, impatient, mistrustful, anxious Christians” who, in the Church, have all that is perfect, yet bear no fruit.

The pontiff asked God to console us with “the comfort of a Mother Church who goes out of herself ” and with “the comfort of Jesus’ tenderness, His mercy in the forgiveness of our sins.”

December 23 the pope posed this question: “Are our souls open, as the soul of Holy Mother Church is open, and as Mary’s soul was open? Or have we closed our souls and put a highly erudite note on the door saying: Please do not disturb?”

In that context, we should continue our reflections on the pope’s message about migrants. “The Church without frontiers, Mother to all, spreads throughout the world a culture of acceptance and solidarity, in which no one is seen as useless, out of place or disposable. When living out this motherhood effectively, the Christian community nourishes, guides and indicates the way, accompanying all with patience, and drawing close to them through prayer and works of mercy.”

We need to ask ourselves how patient and welcoming we are to our fellow Catholics and to all people who darken the doors of our parishes (or who do not darken those doors due to our negative attitudes).

The Holy Father described the current world situation as “an age [in which] large numbers of people are leaving their homelands, with a suitcase full of fears and desires, to undertake a hopeful and dangerous trip in search of more humane living conditions. Often, however, such migration gives rise to suspicion and hostility, even in ecclesial communities, prior to any knowledge of the migrants’ lives or their stories of persecution and destitution. In such cases, suspicion and prejudice conflict with the Biblical Commandment of welcoming with respect and solidarity the stranger in need.”

The pope then reminded us that we need “to put into practice the Commandment of love that Jesus left us when He identified Himself with the stranger, with the one who suffers, with all the innocent victims of violence and exploitation. Because of the weakness of our nature, however, ‘we are tempted to be that kind of Christian who keeps the Lord’s wounds at arm’s length’ (Evangelii Gaudium, 270).

Jesus Christ is always waiting to be recognized in migrants and refugees, in displaced persons and in exiles, and through them He calls us to share our resources, and occasionally to give up something of our acquired riches.”

The pope challenged the Church: “The multicultural character of society today, for that matter, encourages the Church to take on new commitments of solidarity, communion and evangelization. Migration movements, in fact, call us to deepen and strengthen the values needed to guarantee peaceful coexistence between persons and cultures. Achieving mere tolerance that respects diversity and ways of sharing between different backgrounds and cultures is not sufficient.”

Addressing migrants and refugees directly, Pope Francis wrote, “You have a special place in the heart of the Church, and you help her to enlarge her heart and to manifest her motherhood towards the entire human family.”

May we remember that we are the Church and are called, by Christ, to always bear the good fruit of loving Him in our neighbor, including those from other lands.

Vol. 59, No. 1

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therefore, it is necessary and urgent to build peace!

Certainly, peace is not only the absence of war, but a general condition in which the human person is in harmony with himself, with nature, and with others. First of all, to silence arms and to extinguish the outbreaks of war remain the unavoidable conditions to begin a journey that leads to the achievement of peace in its different aspects. I think of conflicts still shedding blood in too many regions of the planet, of tensions in families and in communities, as well as the sharp conflicts in our cities and towns between groups of different culture, ethnic and religious backgrounds. We must convince ourselves, despite any appearances to the contrary, that concord is always possible,

at every level and in every situation. There is no future without proposals and projects for peace!

From the Old Testament, peace has been attached to the promise of God: “They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; One nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again” (Is 2:4).

Peace is proclaimed, as a special gift of God, in the birth of the Redeemer: “Peace on earth to those on whom His favor rests” (Lk 2:14). Such a gift requires that we seek it incessantly in prayer and welcome it every day with commitment, in the situations in which we find ourselves. At the dawn of a new year, we are all called to rekindle in our hearts an im-

pulse of hope, that should result in concrete works of peace, reconciliation, and fraternity.

Each one, in his own role and responsibility, can accomplish gestures of fraternity in dealing with one’s neighbor, especially with those who are tried by family tensions or by disagreements of different kinds. These small gestures have great value: they can be the seeds that give hope, they can open paths and prospects of peace.

Let us invoke Mary, the Queen of Peace. She, during her earthly life, knew no small difficulties, joined to the daily fatigue of existence. But she never lost peace of heart, the fruit of trustful abandonment to the mercy of God. Let us ask Mary, our tender mother, to show to the whole world the sure path of love and of peace.

January 9, 2015

P

ope Francis has stressed that the 14-month Year for Consecrated Life that he inaugurated on the first Sunday of Advent is not meant to be solely for religious Brothers, Sisters and priests, for consecrated virgins, widows and hermits, and for members of secular institutes and societies of apostolic life. It’s meant to be lived as a “grace” by the entire Church, including the vast majority of the Church that is comprised of the laity.

There’s much that all Catholics can learn from those in consecrated life to live out the Christian life better. Consecrated men and women teach all of us about the meaning of baptismal consecration, the nature of vocation, the precedence of God’s Kingdom, the priority and practice of prayer, the importance of community life, the continuance of Christ’s mission of charity, and the true wealth, love and freedom that comes through closer assimilation of Christ’s poverty, chastity and obedience.

But I think perhaps the most important thing of all that consecrated men and women teach the entire Church is about the pursuit of Christian perfection and the paths that lead to it.

It’s been now 50 years since the Second Vatican Council stressed the “universal call to ho-

O

Anchor Columnists A plan of life

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liness,” that “all Christians in any Council, there was the comstate or walk of life are called to monly accepted caricature of the fullness of Christian life and Christian faith that if one wished the perfection of charity” (LG to become a saint, one needed 40). But we have to admit that, at to become a priest or religious. a practical level, even though the Priests and religious were the Church in most places has done ones who sought the A’s in the a good job in teaching that all are gift of Christian life, the idea called to be saints, the Church went, whereas everyone else was has generally been doing a very on the pass/fail track with an poor job in training people to be almost guaranteed enrollment in saints.

Over the last half century the faith life of the Putting Into average Catholic in the United States has gotten the Deep worse, not better. Mass attendance has gone way

By Father down, not up. Catholic Roger J. Landry Biblical and catechetical illiteracy has worsened.

More Catholic parishes and post mortem purgatorial reform schools are closing than being school. built and thriving. Catholics are One of the reasons why this still sinning, but most aren’t reidea was popular was because of penting and confessing their sins. the discipline found in conseRather than pursuing perfection, crated life. Novitiates, seminaries Catholics can sometimes think and religious communities were that on the bell curve of Catholic Spiritual boot camps where no practice, if they’re just doing the defect was left uncorrected. High minimum they’re already in the expectations were given along upper echelons of fidelity. with a thorough formation in the That’s one of the reasons why Spiritual life to help meet those the Year for Consecrated Life is expectations. so important. Consecrated men One of the most important and women are palpable remind- fruits the Church as a whole ers that God calls us to holiness, could take from this Year for not mediocrity.

Consecrated Life is the imporPrior to the Second Vatican tance of this thorough Spiritual

training if people are to come to the fullness of Christian life and the perfection of love. Without adequate formation, Catholics have about the same chance to become holy as kids without schooling have to get into medical school, or athletes without coaching have to make the NFL. Once upon a time this formation in the Christian life was somewhat provided in Catholic schools by religious teachers who adapted their own formation to the situation of the students. It was buttressed by pious parents and grandparents who considered that their greatest task in life was not to get kids into college but into Heaven.

But now, in most places, that formation is no longer being given. Parishes cannot provide adequate training in holiness solely through Sunday Mass homilies and 24 to 30 hours of catechetical instruction a year.

Many families struggle to pray together at all, and few impart the Spiritual discipline required for their children to become great disciples. It’s one of the reasons why the Holy Spirit, I believe, has raised up so many new institutions and movements in recent times to offer concrete Spiritual training and fill the gap.

That program of Spiritual formation is generally called a plan of life, which is a game plan of Spiritual exercises to help people learn how to fight the good fight, to run the race of life so as to win, and to keep the faith by growing in faith and sharing it (2 Tim 4:7; 1 Cor 9:14). It’s a series of practices given to us by the saints and Spiritual directors that will help people to translate, for example, a New Year’s resolution to make 2015 a true “year of the Lord” from vague aspiration into reality.

To mark this Year for Consecrated Life, I would like to begin a series of columns on the practices in a typical plan of life that can help us live out our baptismal consecration. They’re all things I seek to live by and to train those who come to see me for Spiritual direction to live well.

Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen once said that there are no plateaus in the Spiritual life. We’re either climbing uphill or sliding downhill; if we’re where we were a year ago, we’re not the same, but worse. I hope by these columns to pass on some of the tips for all of us to be Alpine climbers following Christ up Tabor and Calvary to the Heavenly Jerusalem.

Anchor columnist Father Landry can be contacted at fatherlandry@catholicpreaching. com.

that the abuse suffered by their worth, has been the injunction mother had been ongoing for enshrined in the Decalogue: some time. One of the young Honor your father and mother. women charged in the case told A decision to abide by this investigators she was working Commandment invariably serves on another floor the night the to strengthen the concern of clock/camera captured the scene children for their parents and in the elderly woman’s room. A elders, and helps forge a bond family member later told news reporters, “They Making Sense called the third girl down Out of from another floor and said, ‘Come down, we’re Bioethics going to start.’”

By Father Tad As a consequence of Pacholczyk the abuse, the Department of Public Welfare eventually revoked the license for the facility, and the between the generations. The family filed a civil lawsuit against Book of Sirach offers similarly the parent company. sage advice: “My son, take care of A tragic event like this leads your father when he is old; grieve to intense questioning about him not as long as he lives. Even how these young people, charged if his mind fail, be considerate of with the special care of the him; revile him not all the days older generation, could end up of his life; kindness to a father becoming so callous, inhuman, will not be forgotten, firmly and brutal. What can be done to planted against the debt of your prevent this kind of “inter-gener- sins.” ational disconnect” from occurIn a sense, it is precisely the ring in the future? And what can weakness and vulnerability be done to build up unity and of the elderly that beckons us respect between generations? to manifest a greater respect A nearly universal point towards them, and never to of reference over the years, mistreat them in the strength and a counsel of incalculable of youth. As Pope John Paul

II beautifully summed it up in his 1999 Letter to the Elderly: “The signs of human frailty which are clearly connected with advanced age become a summons to the mutual dependence and indispensable solidarity which link the different generations.” Compassionately attending to the needs of the elderly draws the generations together and builds solidarity.

When the unique gifts of the elderly are invested and shared with the younger generation, this, too, builds up solidarity. Elderly people help us see human affairs with a sense of perspective tempered by experience, reflection and wisdom.

Whenever grandparents contribute to the raising and formation of the grandchildren, even by doing something as simple as teaching them how to pray and think about God, they strengthen inter-generational ties, and build family unity.

We can foster intergenerational care and support within our families and communities in other simple ways as well, for example, through conscientious parenting, including small but

important steps such as insisting on meal time together as a family (which builds up mutual respect and concern for others in the family); teaching compassion by visiting sick or elderly neighbors together; teaching children to welcome all human life, even when weak or handicapped; praying together as a family; decreasing media time and guarding against violent computer/ video games, pornography and other practices that dehumanize people and make them seem like objects to be manipulated.

As we seek to build relational bridges across generations, and work to construct a society that esteems its elders, we simultaneously build up homes and communities that are liberated of the threat of abuse or neglect — places of safety, mutual support and love, even as the hairs on our head turn gray and our strength wanes.

Anchor columnist Father Pacholczyk earned his doctorate in neuroscience from Yale and did post-doctoral work at Harvard.

He is a priest of the Diocese of Fall River, and serves as the director of Education at the National Catholic Bioethics Center in Philadelphia. See www.ncbcenter.org.

Esteeming our elders and fostering solidarity across generations

ccasionally we hear disturbing stories in the media about young people who perpetrate abuse against the elderly. In a widely-reported 2009 story, for example, caretakers at the Quadrangle Assisted Living facility outside Philadelphia were charged in connection with the abuse of an elderly patient named Lois McCallister. Three employees, aged 19, 21 and 22 were caught on a surveillance camera as they taunted, mocked and assaulted the partially-naked 78-year-old woman.

She had begun complaining to visiting family members several months prior that someone was hurting her and hitting her.

There were also initial signs of bruising on her hand and wrist.

After bringing the bruises to the attention of the nursing home’s administrators, the family was informed that the allegations were unfounded, and were told the accusations were simply the result of the patient’s advancing dementia. Family members suspected there was more to it, and clandestinely installed the video camera, hidden in a clock in the victim’s room.

After capturing the assailants on tape, they concluded

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oday’s feast, the Baptism of the Lord, is not just “one other event” in the Christmas season. In fact, Our Lord’s Baptism was not an event that even took place in His childhood. This event, that took place decades after Jesus’ birth affords all of us, His followers, to look at just why this event took place. Jesus did not need to be baptized; He was sinless. On the other hand, we who are not the Messiah, have great need of Baptism.

Why do you think John the Baptist expressed in the Gospel that he was unworthy even to stoop and loosen the thongs of Jesus’ sandals? We are the

January 9, 2015

A feast of unity

sinners here; Jesus is the a universally understood sinless. He didn’t need cleanser and life-giver.

Baptism and we couldn’t Our senses feel water in live without it. a real and tangible way, Baptism is the gateway there is no way you get to all of Sacramental life; hit with water and not it’s the prerequisite to receiving any other Sacrament.

Homily of the Week Like all SacraThe Baptism ments, Baptism of the Lord indeed does something to us and for

By Father Christopher us.

M. Peschel Firstly, Baptism cleanses us, interiorly and exteriorly. Interiknow that it’s there! As orly we receive complete clear, clean water runs forgiveness and remission down our foreheads, that of original sin, inherited part of us becomes physias fallen human beings, as cally cleaned. In Baptism, well as any personal sins we were clothed with a we have committed before white garment; we put being baptized. Exterion Christ, as a reminder orly, we encounter water, that everything we do

— or fail to do — from that moment on, is in the name of Jesus Christ.

Christ acts through us.

Towards the end of the Rite of Baptism, the priest or deacon exclaims, “this child is called a son or daughter of God!” and then the “Our Father” is prayed. We become adopted sons and daughters of God through Baptism.

Logically, we can only call God “Our Father” if we are indeed His sons and daughters.

But why go about it in this way? Why Baptism? Why Sacraments?

Remember, this is the way that God chose; He

loves us so much that He became one of us in the Person of Jesus Christ. Jesus chose the Sacraments, Baptism undergirding the rest of them, as His means of converting and saving us, and nothing gives such pleasure to God as the conversion and Salvation of all people.

The long and the short of it is that God uses the Sacraments to save us and draw us closer to Himself.

If that Salvation is something we desire, then it only makes sense that we would frequent the Sacraments.

Father Peschel is a parochial vicar at St. Pius X Parish in South Yarmouth, and chaplain at Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis.

Upcoming Daily Readings: Sat. Jan. 10, 1 Jn 5:14-21; Ps 149:1-6a,9b; Jn 3:22-30. Sun. Jan. 11, The Baptism of the Lord, Is 42:1-4,6-7; Ps 29:1-2,3-4,9-10; Acts 10:34-38; Mk 1:7-11. Mon. Jan. 12, Heb 1:1-6; Ps 97:1,2b,6,7c,9; Mk 1:14-20. Tues. Jan. 13, Heb 2:5-12; Ps 8:2ab,5-9; Mk 1:21-28. Wed. Jan. 14, Heb 2:14-18; Ps 105:1-4,6-9; Mk 1:29-39. Thurs. Jan. 15, Heb 3:7-14: Ps 95:6-7c,8-11; Mk 1:40-45. Fri. Jan. 16, Heb 4:1-5,11; Ps 78:3,4bc,6c-8; Mk 2:1-12.

A

ccording to an old Vatican aphorism, “We think in centuries here.” Viewed through that long-distance lens, the most important Catholic event of 2014 was the dramatic moment when Africa’s bishops emerged as effective, powerful proponents of dynamic orthodoxy in the world Church.

The scene was the Extraordinary Synod of 2014, called by Pope Francis to prepare the Synod of 2015 on the theme, “Pastoral Challenges to the Family in the Context of Evangelization.” The dramatic tension was provided by northern European bishops (principally German) and the synod secretariat, who worked hard to reframe Synod 2014 as an inquest on a question longthought settled by the rest of the Church: the question of admitting the divorced and civilly remarried to Holy Communion. The subplot in the drama came from the fact that the Church in Africa — rich in evangelical energy, firmly committed to orthodoxy, but very poor — is funded in large part by Ger-

Africa’s Catholic moment man Catholic development Catholic understanding of agencies (themselves the Marriage as the permanent beneficiaries of the “Church union of a man and a woman tax” collected by the German — which Catholicism takes federal government). from both revelation and So it took considerable reason — had come to certain courage for African bishops traditional African cultures as at Synod 2014 to challenge a great liberator. the Germans and their allies. It’s not a big secret that there’s a lot of racism left in Europe, where the best and the brightest often imagine

By George Weigel themselves beyond the “taboos” that beset Africans (as one German cardinal inelegantly put it). Nor is it Here, the African bisha secret that African prelops insisted, was a powerful ates are too often regarded by demonstration of the Gossome first world Catholics as pel’s power to free men and second-class citizens: charm- women from their attachment ing, you know, but not-quite to culturally entrenched but the A-team. Thus it doubtless dehumanizing ways of life. came as a surprise to those Here was real “liberation thepressing to change-whatology”: the liberation of men cannot-be-changed in the and women for the solidarity, Church’s ancient Sacramental joy, and fruitfulness in Mardiscipline when the African riage that God had intended bishops declined to defer to from the beginning, and that their former European masthe grace of God now makes ters and determinedly made possible through the saving two points. power of Christ, His cross The first was that the and His Resurrection.

The Catholic Difference

Or, more simply (and I paraphrase): you Europeans, whose faith has grown anemic, may experience the Catholic idea of Marriage as a burden; we Africans have lived it, in our ecclesial experience, as a great liberation.

European Catholics might consider that, as you ponder Pope Francis’s summons to learn from the Church of the poor.

The second point the African bishops made was more subtle but no less unmistakable: Don’t impose Euro-decadence on us, in terms of Marriage or in the pastoral care of those experiencing same-sex attraction.

When African bishops today look at Europe through the prism of a Gospelcentered, almost pentecostal experience that has seen African Catholicism grow exponentially in recent decades, they don’t see the center of world civilizational initiative, as their grandparents might have done in colonial days.

Rather, they see a continent dying from the first self-

induced population collapse in human history. And they ask some obvious, if challenging, questions: Does this willful infertility have something to do with selfishness?

With Spiritual boredom?

With a loss of soul? With a loss of faith in the Lord Jesus and His life-transforming, culture-forming, power?

How could the African bishops summon up the courage to make this challenge?

Because they trusted their own ecclesial experience: the New Testament-like experience of the power of evangelical Catholicism. Because they trusted what they had “seen and heard” (1 Jn 1:3), they could challenge those who thought of them as the untutored kids on the block (at best), or as culturally backward welfare clients who ought to defer to their betters (at worst).

U.S. Catholics who have embraced evangelical Catholicism and find themselves shaken these days might take a lesson from this.

George Weigel is a senior fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C.

January 9, 2015

Friday 9 January 2015 — Homeport: Falmouth Harbor — the Christmas season draws to a close his weekend, with the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, the Christmas cycle in the Church’s calendar officially comes to an end. The wheel of the year turns again.

We will soon find ourselves in that in-between period called Ordinal Time. It’s not a season at all. It falls between seasons. Some call it Ordinary Time. We can look back at our Christmas season or we can look forward to Easter, but we must live in the meantime.

The ancients called this month “January” after their god Janus. Janus had the ability to look at the past and at the future simultaneously. This ability had its good points.

The bad thing about it was that Janus was forced to ignore the present. He was too busy looking elsewhere. We cannot live in the past nor can we live in the future, but only in the present. Each day has its gifts, even in the month of January on Cape Cod. It’s time once again, dear readers, for the “January blahs.” Call it the “same old, same old,” if you so please.

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any blessings for the start of a new year, everyone! With January started and underway, I decided to flip through the devotional that my brother gave me for some inspiration and the January 9 passage spoke to me. The Bible passage reads, “When you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown! When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you” (Is 43:2).

Why do I bring this up when, with the start of the year, we’re focused on starting fresh and anew, no troubles to be seen in our paths? Because the first of the year is like a retreat high. It’s like when we go on retreat and experience time away and come home feeling renewed and refreshed.

We’re ready to take on the world and set goals and resolutions to do better, be better, accomplish more.

However, at some point, we

Anchor Columnists What to do in the meantime door of the rectory due to the Nobody I know (with one drifting snow. The problem exception) dreams of the upis that greyhounds, like all coming grand celebration of other dogs, need to go outside Groundhog Day. I’m pretty several times a day. I would sure there’ll be no dancing in sneak them through the labythe streets of Falmouth on Groundhog Day; no parades.

The first full moon The Ship’s Log of the year occurred Reflections of a five days ago. It hung Parish Priest ice-white and brittle over our chapel on the

By Father Tim harbor. It’s called the Goldrick “Wolf Moon.” Coyotes I have seen on Cape Cod — wolves, rinthine parish complex and not so much. We still call it out through the main lobby. the Full Wolf Moon. Folklore You’ve got to do what you’ve maintains that a bright first got to do. moon of the year promises Winter weather on Cape summer rains and a bountiful Cod is controversial. Opinions autumn harvest. We shall see. will vary. This is due to the Perhaps those most susfact that the weather can be ceptible to the malaise known different from town to town. as the “January blahs” live on It can be snowing over the Cape Cod. There’s nothing canal, but sunny on this side more forlorn, some say, than a of the bridge. It can be rainbarren wind-swept sand dune in winter. Cape Codders, how- ing in Eastham, sleeting in Falmouth, and dry as a bone ever, look more closely each day at the world around them. in Pocasset. This is the reason The worst winter in people’s Cape Codders think it best never to discuss the weather. memories tends to be the Opposing opinions can both one immediately preceding. I remember last winter well. In a be correct. Anyway, why argue word — snow. There were days your point? Sooner or later spring will arrive and then I couldn’t get out the front

everyone will be happy for it means that summer can’t be far behind.

A winter’s day on Cape Cod is for the birds. I mean that literally. There are resident mourning doves, chickadees, nuthatches, and cardinals, among others. For some reason, I’ve seen few blue jays recently.

And, for one reason or another, there are fewer gulls drifting overhead. Wherever they’ve gone, I’m sure they’ll be back.

Of course, there are the ever-present murders of crows.

I mean that, too, literally.

A flock of crows is called a “murder” for some reason now lost in the convoluted development of the English language. I like crows. A jet black crow against the background of sparklingly white snow is a sight to behold. I keep this opinion to myself for obvious reasons.

Bird feeders hang by the hundreds from the stunted scrub pines and oaks on the Cape. Every backyard has at least one or two. Cape Codders are so very fond of garden birds in winter that there are

9 entire stores dedicated to selling nothing but birdseed and related products.

Every so often, while out with the greyhounds, I see the hawk. He sits majestically on the steeple cross, surveying his kingdom. As long as he stays there “just looking,” I’m fine with that.

This fall, while trimming some overgrown shrubs in front of the rectory, I discovered a long-forgotten birdfeeder attached to the wall outside the office window. It had been there a long time.

I don’t know who placed it there, but one of my predecessors must have enjoyed spending a few quiet moments on a Cape Cod winter’s day peering through the window in the church office. It was a platform feeder, which is especially favored by cardinals.

A wise and prudent pastor always keeps a sharp eye out for any passing cardinal, if you know what I mean.

Christmas is over. Lent will come, and then Easter, as it always does. Those who have eyes to see will savor the meantime.

Anchor columnist Father Goldrick is pastor of St. Patrick’s Parish in Falmouth.

New year, new trials, new heart come down off of that high.

We are faced with new trials, new tribulations. Challenges arise and we’re suddenly knocked off of our game. We fall into familiar patterns of procrastination, our even more familiar feelings of dissatisfaction and unrest, and suddenly life becomes rote and automatic again. We’ve lost the ability to see each day in a new and dynamic way, as we do when we start the year off.

We’ve lost sight of how we can conquer the greater challenges and achieve the more substantial goals we’ve set for ourselves because our burdens seem too much to bear on a daily basis.

When at first our thoughts were so positive — “I’m so ready to tackle my counseling courses” or “I’m going to get my exercise each day and I’m going to feel better about myself,” suddenly become, “How will I make it through this semester? How will I lose those final five pounds?” Like

I’ve been saying, we get stuck in our old patterns.

The purpose of me writing this way is not to bring you down at the start of this new year. It’s to share the remedy for when we find ourselves in this situation.

Radiate Your Faith

By Renee Bernier The devotional I referenced earlier told a beautiful story of a woman who used to watch her grandfather carve violins, and as he did so, she was always afraid that he would break them because of the pressure exerted on the wood as it was being crafted. What a beautiful metaphor for our lives. How often do we feel pressure, feel as if we’re going to break? In fact, doesn’t it sometimes feel as if we could snap right in half ? The pres-

sure to find love or work on nurturing a relationship that is challenging, the pressure to graduate from college and ultimately be successful in our careers. The pressure to buy that house, to settle down, to raise a family. The pressure just to simply do the right thing in the face of adversity.

The truth is, we’re not going to snap.

We’re not even going to break. We might splinter, sure. We might feel as if we can’t handle even one more load upon us because our wood is too weak, too thin that it won’t be able to hold.

But when it comes down to faith, we must put our trust in the idea that God won’t confront us with anything we cannot endure. He won’t allow us to be irreparable. No, the trials are what allow our hearts to grow and evolve. Yes, they may ache first. They may feel broken, battered, bruised, torn. But through these growing pains, we only come out

stronger. For our path is not the path we’re on. And in the moment, it’s easy to be angry and to give up, not understanding why this other path for us is just so difficult or is causing us pain.

But in truth, if I don’t believe that there is some greater purpose to the difficult parts of life, to the questions and doubts I will face, then I would have a hard time waking up in the morning. If I don’t recognize that my life is a work in progress, hard times included, then I won’t ever be able to value the new trials as a contributing factor to my new heart. This new heart that I am provided the opportunity to nurture every day is a gift you, too, are given.

I encourage you to do the same this new year, and to know that you’re made of stronger stuff than you think!

Anchor columnist Renee Bernier graduated from Stonehill College and is a graduate student in the College Student Personnel Program at James Madison University in Harrison, Va.

10

January 9, 2015

Pasternak honored for community service by Fall River Police Department and MCFL

By Aimé Lachance Special to The Anchor

FALL RIVER — Two awards for community service have been presented to Thomas Pasternak, well-known and highly-respected ownerpharmacist of Walsh Pharmacy on Rock Street in Fall River (whose ad routinely appears in The Anchor).

The Fall River Police Department recently paid tribute to Pasternak for his many years of leadership to improve the quality of life across the region.

He received a special “Humanitarian Award” named after Rev. Dr. Robert Lawrence, retired pastor of First Congregational Church, who made the presentation.

Earlier, Massachusetts Citizens For Life honored Pasternak with a “Pro-Life Community Award.”

Both events drew hundreds of people at the annual gatherings of the two organizations.

Then-Mayor William Flanagan and Police Chief Daniel Racine praised Pasternak at the recent brunch of the police department. He was recognized for “exceptional service to the

community and police support.”

Rev. Dr. Lawrence added his own congratulations.

Chief Racine’s letter extolled Pasternak: “As a true humanitarian, you make yourself available to anyone and never hesitate to lend a hand to those unfortunate people in need. You have given of yourself unstintingly in the war against illegal prescription abuse and have spearheaded the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program, recruiting physicians and pharmacists in our area.”

The citation pointed out that Pasternak has committed much time attending conferences, and seminars on prescription drug abuse.

“Immeasurable” efforts such as these have resulted in grants and other funds to combat the drug problem,” said Racine. He called Pasternak “a role model to this community.”

Offering their congratulations by way of resolutions were state and city government organizations and other law enforcement agencies.

The brunch included numerous service awards earned by police officers and civilian em-

ployees of the department.

It was the Greater Fall River Chapter of Massachusetts Citizens For Life that recommended Pasternak for a MCFL “Pro-Life Community Award.”

The banquet took place in Norwood, and featured a number of awards.

Chapter president Beatrice Martins — a member of the state board of directors — championed Pasternak’s nomination.

In its presentation, the chapter reviewed his many contributions over four decades. He is “a man whose vocation places him on the front lines of the battle for life, under assault from all directions, but he had held his ground with devotion, courage and honor.”

MCFL and the local chapter have benefitted from Pasternak’s dedication. “Tom generously shares his treasure and has supported the MCFL fund-raising banquet, and the Greater Fall River Chapter’s work.”

“Tom brings his Pro-Life values to all the organizations he supports.”

He “is known for his dedication to the people he serves. He knows them individually and cares for them personally by listening closely to their concerns.

A large part of his practice is to geriatric patients.” In 2012, Bristol Elder Services com-

Thomas Pasternak, well-known and highly-respected owner-pharmacist of Walsh Pharmacy in Fall River, displays the recent awards he received from the Fall River Police Department and Mass. Citizens for Life.

mended him for his life’s work.

MCFL president Anne Fox said, “We have a Sacred responsibility to do our very best to restore respect and legal protection for all people from conception until natural death.”

Pasternak is a strong advocate against physician-assisted suicide, and seeks to help people understand the dignity of life in its final stages.

Even back at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy in 1968, Pasternak was acknowledged for his “outstanding contributions.”

He began his career in neighborhood pharmacies, then took ownership of the independent

Walsh Pharmacy. In the years since then, and because of his community involvement, he has received numerous awards.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Fall River awarded him the Marian Medal in 1998 for service to St. Stanislaus Parish (finance committee, youth ministry and others); and directly to the diocese itself as a member of the Stewardship Committee, the St. Mary’s Educational Fund for scholarship assistance, and as director of the In Support of Life: End-of-Life Issues.

Last year, Pasternak received the Cardinal Health Generation Rx Champion Award as the pharmacist who has done the most to help prevent substance abuse.

At 69, he continues as president of Building Our Lives Drug-Free. He is a past president of the Fall River Pharmaceutical Association and the Southeastern Massachusetts Pharmaceutical Association.

Also a former member of the board of directors of the Massachusetts Pharmacists Association which in 2005 bestowed on him the Bowl of Hygeia Award, a nationally-recognized award for community service.

He was one of the founders of the Fall River Diabetes Association, and served as a member of the former Fall River Welfare Advisory Board, now the state’s Medicaid Program.

Since 2004, Pasternak has co-hosted a WSAR weekly radio talk program — Fridays at 1 p.m. — “Ask Your Pharmacist,” a program he created.

Tom and Patricia Pasternak reside in Somerset. They are the parents of two adult children: Lara Donovan and Michael (Andrea Plowman) Pasternak; and grandparents of Max Pasternak and Ava Pasternak.

11

January 9, 2015

I

Joy to the World; Christmas In Kalaupapa

t was some minutes after 8 p.m. visited our Sacred Hearts Sisters in Kaion Christmas Eve. We had just muki and while there, risked my life in celebrated our first Christmas Mass in the dentist’s chair. I also purchased some company with our sisters and brothers cat food for Maka our neighborhood from our neighboring Congregational cat. He lives the life of Riley.

Church. Led by members of the St. John In December we celebrated the Vianney Choir from Kailua, we sang the birthdays of Winnie Harada and Edwin “Hawaiian Doxology” after the blessing, Lalepali and welcomed John Arruda then ended our for the holiMass with a days. I think he rousing chorus actually came of “Go Tell It to supervise the On The Moundecoration of St. tain That Jesus Francis Church

By Father Christ Is Born.” for the ChristPatrick Killilea, SS.CC. Now it was time mas celebration. to gather in Being 90 going our parish hall, on 19, he has which is said to be part of St. Damien’s earned that distinction. In December original Kalaupapa town church. There also, we bade a fond farewell to two of we shared in a magnificent meal prepared our National Park personnel. Kellie left by these same members of the St. John us to join her husband David in ColoVianney Choir. I wish they would visit rado and Tim departed for California us more often! The next morning, being to place a ring on his bride’s finger. We Christmas Day, we again assembled for wish both aloha and say mahalo for all the celebration of Mass at 9 a.m. their contributions to Kalaupapa.

December had been a month of many In three days we ushered in a new notable happenings for us. I myself had year. We didn’t anticipate any wild spent a few days on Topside Molokai celebration here but wasn’t at all survisiting my Sacred Hearts Brothers, my prised when Mr. Heineken and Miss classmate, Father Bill Petrie who is pas- Corona made the rounds. Even Sean tor of St. Damien as well as ambassador Bailey showed up! In any case (no pun to the world, his venerable assistant and intended) we rejoice in the spirit of this honorary mayor of Nassau in the BaChristmas season and say Hau.’oli maka. hamas, Father Mike Kelly, and Brother hiki hou to all of you. Aloha.

Charlie Kahaaanui, world famous landAnchor columnist Father Killilea scaper. They serve good food on Topside. ss.cc., is pastor of St. Francis Parish in I should visit there more often. I also Kalaupapa, Hawaii.

Moon Over Molokai

The staff and residents of St. Dominic’s Apartments, top photo, (the result of a cooperation of the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, which funded most of the project through the city of Fall River, Community Action for Better Housing and Catholic Social Services), recently held a Christmas party. The bottom photo shows residents Evelyn Moreira, Lucille Curry and Lucille Gauthier enjoying the festivities. (Photos courtesy of property manager, Elaine Abdow)

12

January 9, 2015

Pastor remains Seahawks fan after long ministry to team’s Catholics SEATTLE (CNS) — When the Seattle Seahawks step onto CenturyLink Field, the fervor of the “12th Man” may cause small earthquakes. But for 12 years, Father Tom Belleque made sure the team’s Catholic members also had the force of their faith with them on the field.

That’s because Father Belleque celebrated Mass for Catholic Seahawks players and coaches the night before every home game. “When I first went in I thought, ‘Oh, I can work that into my schedule, a Mass,’” he recalled of juggling being pastor of St. Louise Parish in Bellevue, Wash., with the Seahawks commitment.

He found that the role had an impact far beyond that.

“There’s a real strong fraternal bond between the guys who pray together each week,” Father Belleque said. “In that sense it’s like a small Christian community.”

Father Belleque’s celebration of Mass for the team ended in July when he became pastor of St. John the Evangelist Parish in Vancouver, Wash. He since has handed over his Seahawks role to two priests who live closer to Seattle. But he keeps in touch with the players and coaches with whom he prayed, counseled and befriended.

And he will be rooting for the Seahawks as the team enters the playoffs in January.

Among the Catholic Seahawks at the Masses were tight end Luke Willson, general manager John Schneider, defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, assistant strength and conditioning coach Jamie Yanchar and tight ends coach Pat McPherson.

The priest, who was ordained for the Seattle Archdiocese in 1985, described the group as “a Spiritually mature group of men” who “love their faith and deeply appreciate the fact that there’s priests who come” to say Mass for the team.

On home game weekends, the team gathers at their hotel for a pep talk, dinner and, for those who choose, the chance to go to Mass or a Protestant service. In a hotel meeting room, the small group of Catholics gather chairs around a table used as an altar for a simple Mass. Team members who attend say it makes a big impact.

“In playing and coaching there’s a lot of routine that goes into the game in terms of getting ready to prepare and perform,” Quinn said. “And for us,

going and celebrating Mass, that’s a big part of that preparation, where it really gives you a chance to stay connected Spiritually.”

“The relaxing factor for us to get in there and spend some time to unwind and think about something else outside of football is a huge thing,” Yanchar said.

Father Belleque built a lot of silent prayer time into the Masses, allowing team members to “bring in whatever they need to prepare themselves for the next day.”

Home game homilies were not “like Knute Rockne and ‘Win one for the Gipper,’” the priest said. But he often wove in a theme of “what it means to be a man of God and practical ways we live that out.”

The team members said they especially appreciated that Father Belleque’s homilies did not become motivational game speeches. “In that 30 minutes that we have, we’re just Catholics at that time,” McPherson said. “We’re not coaches or Seahawks or anything like that.”

Father Belleque’s services to the team included helping Seahawks with Baptism preparation for their children, godparent preparation and counseling. He took prayer requests, presided at McPherson’s parents’ renewal of Marriage vows, and recommended parishes to team members new in town. Father Belleque also often got calls from visiting teams looking to have Mass while they were in Seattle, and he would find a priest.

“It’s not just about celebrating Mass,” he said. “It’s really about forming community and being available for the Spiritual needs of that group. And it changes every year.”

Willson also said that Mass time on game weekends was a way to calm his nerves and gave him perspective on his larger life, faith and family. “(Mass) was something I felt really affected my mentality of how I approached games and really helped me play a lot better as well,” he said.

Although Father Belleque is no longer as close to the team, he left on a high note: getting to see the Seahawks win the Super Bowl last February.

“I just think the world of the guys,” he said. “I really do appreciate them, their deep faith and their desire to celebrate their faith together.”

Phoebe Fox stars in a scene from the movie “The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death.” For a brief review of this film, see CNS Movie Capsules below. (CNS photo/Angelfish Films)

CNS Movie Capsules NEW YORK (CNS) — The following are capsule reviews of movies recently reviewed by CNS. “The Imitation Game” (Weinstein) Director Morten Tyldum’s fact-based profile of famed mathematician Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch) who led Britain’s successful effort to break the German military’s Enigma code during World War II jumps between Turing’s boarding-school days, his behind-the-scenes service and his 1952 prosecution for “gross indecency.” Though much historical nuance is simply pared away to keep this drama afloat, screenwriter Graham Moore’s script treats its subject’s sexual orientation obliquely. Thus, grown viewers need not buy into a contemporary agenda contrary to Judeo-Christian morality in order to recognize the tragedy that resulted from the application of an unwise law. Mature themes, including homosexuality, brief coarse language. The Catholic News Service classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned.

Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

“The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death” (Relativity) Dull haunted house tale

in which one of the caretakers (Phoebe Fox) of a group of children (most prominently Oaklee Pendergast) evacuated from World War II London during the Blitz is troubled by strange events in the lonely, decrepit country mansion that serves as the refugees’ temporary dwelling. With the help of her newfound sweetheart ( Jeremy Irvine), an RAF pilot based nearby, she researches the estate’s past for clues about the supernatural persona currently threatening her charges. Director Tom Harper’s follow-up to the 2012 original tones down

the earlier film’s theme of children lured to suicide, and Jon Croker’s screenplay excludes all objectionable language. Yet, while their mostly decorous follow-up provides the occasional start, it fails to excite much interest. Fleeting gore, imperiled children, some potentially disturbing images, references to out-of-wedlock pregnancy. The Catholic News Service classification is A-II — adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

Diocese of Fall River TV Mass on WLNE Channel 6 Sunday, January 11, 11:00 a.m.

Celebrant is Father David M. Andrade, pastor of St. Louis de France Parish in Swansea

13

January 9, 2015

Pope names 15 new cardinal electors, most from global south

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Underscoring the geographical diversity of his selections, Pope Francis named 15 cardinal electors “from 14 nations of every continent, showing the inseparable link between the Church of Rome and the particular churches present in the world.”

The pope announced the names January 4, after praying the Angelus with a crowd in St. Peter’s Square, and said he would formally induct the men into the College of Cardinals February 14.

With the list, the pope continues a movement he started with his first batch of appointments a year ago, giving gradually more representation at the highest levels of the Church to poorer countries in the global south. According to the Vatican spokesman, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, the new cardinals will include the first in history from Cape Verde, Tonga and Myanmar.

The February 14 consistory will bring the total number of cardinals under the age of 80 to 125. Until they reach their 80th birthdays, cardinals are eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope. Blessed Paul VI limited the number of electors to 120, but later popes have occasionally exceeded that limit.

Three of the new cardinal electors hail from Asia, three

from Latin America, two from Africa and two from Oceania.

Of the five Europeans on the list, three lead dioceses in Italy and Spain that have not traditionally had cardinals as bishops — another sign of Pope Francis’ willingness to break precedent. While giving red hats to the archbishops of Ancona-Osimo and Agrigento, Italy, the pope will once again pass over the leaders of Venice and Turin, both historically more prestigious dioceses.

None of the new cardinals hails from the U.S. or Canada. Father Lombardi noted that the numbers of cardinals from those countries have remained stable since February 2014, when Pope Francis elevated the archbishop of Quebec. The U.S. currently has 11 cardinal electors and Canada three.

The continuing geographic shift is incremental in nature. With the new appointments, cardinals from Europe and North America will make up 56.8 percent of those eligible to elect the next pope, down from 60 percent on January 4.

The shift reflects the pope’s emphasis on Africa and Asia, where the Church is growing fastest, and on his native region of Latin America, home to about 40 percent of the world’s Catholics.

A number of the selections also reflect Pope Francis’ emphasis on social justice. The new Mexican cardinal leads a diocese that has been hard hit by the current wave of drugrelated violence in his country.

And one of the Italian cardinals designate, the archbishop of Agrigento in Sicily, leads the Italian bishops’ commission on migration, an issue on which Pope Francis has placed particular importance. In July 2013, the pope visited the southern Mediterranean island of Lampedusa, a major entry point for undocumented immigrants to Europe, and mourned the many who had died attempting to cross the sea.

Only one of the new cardinals, the head of the Vatican’s highest court, is a member of the Church’s central administration, the Roman Curia, which currently accounts for about a quarter of all cardinal electors.

Announcing the appointments, Pope Francis noted that the ceremony to induct the new cardinals will follow a two-day meeting of the entire college, February 12 and 13, “to reflect on guidelines and proposals for reform of the Roman Curia.”

The pope’s nine-member Council of Cardinals is currently working on a major

Israeli president cites Pope Francis in address to Christian leaders

JERUSALEM (CNS) — In his first public address to Christian religious leaders, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin said he was particularly encouraged “by the strong and clear voice of Pope Francis that the corruption of the Spiritual position is a desecration of God’s name.”

During the traditional presidential holiday reception December 30, Rivlin expressed concern over religious persecution in the region and restrictions on freedom of worship for minorities in the Middle East, where he said many have been forcibly converted, exiled or killed.

The military effort in the region — led by a coalition of forces, including the United States — is a “war against extremism,” he said. They are fighting against “those who carry the flag of destruction and hatred.”

“We will continue to live together and build bridges of peace with God’s help here in

the land of our fathers,” Rivlin said.

The president, a former member of parliament of the Likud party who was elected to the largely symbolic office in July, has surprised many by his strong condemnation of numerous acts of vandalism against Christian and Muslim sites and other acts of racism. In October, he became the first Israeli president to participate in an annual memorial ceremony in the Arab village of Kfar Qasim, Israel, commemorating a 1956 massacre that left 47 residents dead.

In his response, Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III said the Christian leaders of the Holy Land acknowledge the importance of coexistence and strongly condemned all acts of violence against people and holy sites and attempts to persecute people and religious communities.

“The peace that we seek for our region can never be built on

the foundations of such acts,” he said.

In a season where the world has been particularly darkened by violence, persecution and war, people are looking toward the Holy Land, which shines with a divine light for renewed hope and inspiration, he said. “(In) the work of building a society based on peace, justice and reconciliation, we (Christian churches) have learned the power of dialogue. To be engaged in constructive dialogue does not mean we have to settle every question or reach political consensus on every matter. The power of dialogue is the fruit that is beared,” he said. “The chief fruit of genuine dialogue is the spirit of deeper understanding. Dialogue reduces tensions, eradicates prejudice and promotes compassion. We understand the harmonious coexistence of the Abrahamic faiths is essential to the integrity of the Holy Land.”

reform of the Vatican bureaucracy, including a new apostolic constitution for the curia.

In addition to 15 new electors, Pope Francis named five new cardinals who are over the age of 80 and, therefore, ineligible to vote in a conclave.

Popes have used such nominations to honor Churchmen for their scholarship or other contributions.

Pope Francis said he had chosen to honor five retired bishops “distinguished for their pastoral charity in service to the Holy See and the Church,” representing “so many bishops who, with the same pastoral solicitude, have given testimony of love for Christ and the people of God, whether in particular churches, the Roman Curia or the diplomatic service of the Holy See.” The five new honorary cardinals hail from Argentina, Colombia, Germany, Italy and Mozambique.

Here is the list of the new cardinals: — French Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, Prefect of the Apostolic Signature, 62.

— Portuguese Patriarch Manuel Jose Macario do Nascimento Clemente of Lisbon, 66.

— Ethiopian Archbishop Berhaneyesus Demerew Souraphiel of Addis Ababa, 66.

— New Zealand Archbishop John Atcherley Dew of Wellington, 66.

— Italian Archbishop

Edoardo Menichelli of Ancona-Osimo, 75.

— Vietnamese Archbishop Pierre Nguyen Van Nhon of Hanoi, 76.

— Mexican Archbishop Alberto Suarez Inda of Morelia, 75.

— Myanmar Archbishop Charles Maung Bo of Yangon, 66.

— Thai Archbishop Francis Xavier Kriengsak Kovithavanij of Bangkok, 65.

— Italian Archbishop Francesco Montenegro of Agrigento, 68.

— Uruguayan Archbishop Daniel Fernando Sturla Berhouet of Montevideo, 55.

— Spanish Archbishop Ricardo Blazquez Perez of Valladolid, 72.

— Spanish-born Panamanian Bishop Jose Luis Lacunza Maestrojuan of David, 70.

— Cape Verdean Bishop Arlindo Gomes Furtado of Santiago de Cabo Verde, 65.

— Tongan Bishop Soane Patita Paini Mafi, 53.

— Colombian Archbishop Jose de Jesus Pimiento Rodriguez, retired, of Manizales, 95.

— Italian Archbishop Luigi De Magistris, 88.

— German Archbishop Karl-Joseph Rauber, 80.

— Argentine Archbishop Luis Hector Villalba, retired, of Tucuman, 80.

— Mozambican Bishop Julio Duarte Langa, retired, of Xai-Xai, 87.

14

January 9, 2015 “Beginnings,” a three-day presentation that provided an intensive hands-on approach to RCIA. More than 50 people it is really wonderful.”

Sometimes someone may ex- attended Beginnings, and were press a desire to become Catho- given an overview of the origin lic in the spring, but the parish’s of the RCIA and then showed RCIA class doesn’t start until what the Beginnings initiathe fall, said McManus, “and tive can look like in a parish now you have a person waiting and how it engages the entire six months and you’d hope they parish community. During the [the parish] have something to three days, team leaders walked participants through different begin the process.”

That first stage is impor- RCIA rites.

“We went through a big eftant and should not be put on a shelf until the parish can fit fort to get people there; we had that person in its schedule, said a couple of priests come, but McManus: “Something moved we haven’t done a follow-up. that person to come forward We had people come who were and announce themselves. At already very involved in RCIA, that stage, it’s a pre-evange- so it was continuing formalization stage — this person tion for them,” said McManus, is curious. We give plenty of adding that at the time, many time of inquiry to get to know of the current deacons who atwhat’s going on. A lot of time tended Beginnings were only family members may be sitting deacon-candidates at the time. through Mass, but have never “With the change in leadership become Catholic. They don’t in the Vatican, and with Pope take part in the Sacraments but Francis saying to invite people they see what’s going on, and in, we looked at this whole then they’re ready to formally process and [said] let’s do this again. We knew that the deastart the process.”

Having a well-informed cons needed the training; they RCIA team available at each asked for it.”

Individuals should underparish is crucial to get the RCIA process going, and is stand “that this is a process” and part of spreading Pope Francis’ that each person will experience message of being a welcoming a “journey of transformation,” said Deacon Bonneau.

Catholic Church.

However, added Deacon In the Fall River Diocese, Bonneau, one of the areas that said McManus, some parishes parishes often pare back are the seem open and receptive and when teams are sent to forma- rights and rituals and that those tion workshops, the ministry should be “part of the discernwill find roots and flourish at ment; the inquiry, the catechetics, the team’s parish; “Then there the purification — all of those are are other parishes, maybe be- to be integrated into the process cause of a change in personnel because that’s where the commuor leadership, people will go nity, the parish, touches with the and get the formation, come candidates and catechumens. It back very well-informed, but it allows it to be a formation process for the entire parish.” doesn’t take root.”

And that formation process That’s what happened in 2012, when the office held starts with the leader of each

Faith Formation Office to offer workshops on basics of RCIA continued from page one

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, along with an explanation and description of the RCIA process; the various stages, their significance and relationship to each individual as it pertains to his or her readiness, and how each “readiness” is not limited to a strict schedule but rather the Spiritual development of the candidate; and the celebration of the rites, and how each celebration marks a significant moment in the final journey of each person.

Those significant moments are not “add-ons,” said Deacon Bonneau. “They are to be celebrated with the faith com-

munity” and to have the parish witness and appreciate their own faith journey, thus making the candidate’s journey “a part of the formation of the parish as well.”

“What we would really encourage is to have a parish send a team of people,” said McManus. This way the parish “can always have a team in place.”

McManus cited St. John the Evangelist Parish in Attleboro, which has an RCIA team that meets on a regular basis, regardless if candidates are going through the process; “That’s the ideal that we use, that if you could achieve this as a ministry,

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This week in

parish: “I think that pastors should look at this and [if they] don’t feel comfortable with RCIA, then they should attend,” said McManus. “It’s going to be facilitated by a pastor in the diocese who knows how to adapt it — that’s really important. It’s been brought to my attention that sometimes a parish doesn’t want to go through the big rituals but wants to do some of the rites because it may have one person. Father Degagne knows how to adapt.

“When you’re sitting in the pew and watching somebody go through the rites, it is one of the more powerful evangelization tools that we have because it makes people ask, ‘How is it this person is choosing to become Catholic now at this time, in this century, in these circumstances, and this person is an adult and not a child being brought into the program?’”

Additional resources include www.TeamRCIA.com and Notre Dame has a good course, “Getting the Rites, right,” another tool that RCIA teams can use, said McManus.

Some parishes feel that even after putting a team together, they may get only one person a year looking to become a Catholic, “and that if they got four or five people a year, they could see the value — but that’s putting the horse before the cart,” said McManus. “You can’t wait until you get a person, you should have started this ministry in the parish.”

The cost for the RCIA Formation Day is $20 per person and is being held at the Holy Cross Parish Hall, 225 Purchase Street in South Easton. For those interested in attending, please register by February 2 through the Office of Faith Formation: 508-678-2828.

Diocesan history

50 years ago — Initial work prior to the construction of Bishop Connolly High School in Fall River began with test borings at the site of the contemplated 1,000-student school to be operated by the Society of Jesus and opened the following fall.

10 years ago — Catholic Social Services announced the new name of its adoption, pregnancy counseling, and foster care program: Adoption By Choice, a name that was submitted by CSS employee Debbie Scholes in a contest.

25 years ago — Holy Cross Father Patrick Peyton, the famed “Rosary priest” and founder of the Family Rosary Crusade, received the first St. Maximilian Kolbe Award from an organization that the saint founded.

One year ago — Bishop Stang High School in North Dartmouth announced its first-ever girls’ varsity ice hockey game in the school’s more than 50-year history.

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January 9, 2015

Study suggests faith influences opinion about space exploration WASHINGTON (CNS) — How people value space exploration may just depend on someone’s particular faith.

An analysis of the results of several national surveys by a University of Dayton political science professor found that Catholics are more supportive of the U.S. maintaining a leading role in probing the depths of space and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence than people of other faiths.

Political scientist Joshua Ambrosius told Catholic News Service evangelical Protestants, on the other hand, are significantly less likely than people of other faiths to see the value of the nation’s space endeavors. Evangelicals also tended to have less knowledge about space, he said.

Why evangelicals are less supportive of the various facets of space exploration is uncertain, but having grown up in an evangelical family, Ambrosius said he can understand some possible reasons.

“In my family, there wasn’t a lot of discussion about science and its relevance. I had influences that would question the findings and contributions of modern science, particularly the view of evolutionary origins (of humans). I grew up in a church and a tradition very oriented around creation science.

It wasn’t until I was an older teenager and in college (that) I turned to accept the scientific explanation of evolution,” he said.

Ambrosius studied various factors outlined in four surveys, including knowledge of space, interest in space, support for funding of space exploration, views on the benefits of space exploration, space optimism and space nationalism — whether the U.S. should be a leader in space exploration.

He analyzed data from the 2010 General Social Survey of the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago; the June 2011 Political Survey of the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press; the April 2010 Political Future Survey and the spring 2009 General Public Science Survey. He broke down responses from Catholics, evangelicals, mainline Protestants, Jews, Eastern religions and people with no religion.

“Evangelicals express significantly higher expectations that an asteroid will hit earth, but significantly lower expectations of the discovery of life off the earth,” he said in his report, “Separation of Church and Space: Religious Influences on Support for Space Exploration Policy.”

Ambrosius presented his report in November at the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion conference in Indianapolis.

He found that evangelicals are the least knowledgeable, interested and supportive of space exploration. He also learned that Jews and members of Eastern religions were most knowledgeable and supportive.

Evangelicals also are more certain that Jesus will return in the next 40 years than they are that humans will make significant progress in space exploration during that time, Ambrosius wrote.

For Catholics, the depth of the practice of their faith does not seem to matter when it comes to supporting the country’s space program. Ambrosius’ analysis found that there was no difference in the support of space exploration between Catholics who attend Mass weekly and those who attend less often.

CSS workshops provide information on immigration reforms continued from page one

a lot of interest out there, and a lot of information to give, and we feel this is the most effective way of getting the word out.”

Pisha also said that the president’s immigration announcement will require some to pay back taxes. “It appears that someone, or more likely a group of people, are using this as an opportunity for a phone scam,” he said. “A client called us from an ATM, after a man, claiming to be an IRS agent, called and threatened to deport him if he didn’t make a money transfer to cover his back taxes.

“When we reported this to the Barnstable Police, they said that they had received many similar reports. The IRS website also offers advice for those exposed to this scam which appears to be widespread: ‘The IRS will never: 1) call to demand immediate payment, nor will the agency call about taxes owed without first having mailed you a bill; 2) demand that you pay taxes without giving you the opportunity to question or appeal the amount they say you owe; 3) require you to use a specific payment method for your taxes, such as a prepaid debit card; 4) ask for credit or debit card numbers over the phone; or 5) threaten to bring in local police or other lawenforcement groups to have you arrested for not paying.’”

Pisha advised those who experience such a scam attempt to contact their local police department.

ILEAP has hosted a num-

ber information sessions within the last month: at Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish and the Community Economic Development Center in New Bedford; at the CSS office in Fall River; at St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Attleboro; and at St. Francis Xavier Parish in Hyannis.

“All of the sessions have been well-attended,” added Pisha. “The Hyannis workshop drew nearly 200 people and the Our Lady of Guadalupe workshop drew 150 people.”

The sessions, led by Pisha, Rita Resende of the UMass Dartmouth Immigration Law Clinic, and CSS attorney Timmothy Paicopolos, address five major concerns: who qualifies for the program; how will the program help qualified individuals; how can people apply; when can people apply; and is it safe to apply.

“People should know that they can’t apply yet; that will most likely happen in February or May,” said Pisha. “And there are many documents they will need to collect to be part of the application process. All this information is provided at the sessions. This will be a long process for some people.”

Pisha also told The Anchor that ILEAP will be prioritizing who they will assist once the application process begins. “There are some who can’t afford legal help, and

we never turn anyone away because of an inability to pay,” he said. “Depending on the income of the individual, there are various nominal fees, and some are not eligible at all if they can afford it.”

Pisha said that upcoming sessions will take place at various diocesan locations, including Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard, New Bedford, Fall River, and Hyannis.

Two sessions scheduled for the coming weeks are this Sunday at St. Mary’s-Our Lady of the Isle Parish, 3 Federal Street on Nantucket at 7:45 p.m.; and January 21 at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish, 230 Bonney Street in New Bedford at 6 p.m.

The mission of the ILEAP staff has taken to heart the plea of Pope Francis and Fall River Bishop Edgar M. da Cunha to assist the immigrants. In a recent Anchor interview, Bishop da Cunha reminded local faithful: “We must remember that these are human beings, our brothers and sisters, and they deserve dignity. It’s the mission of a Christian to help those who are in this country, but also to work to help those in other countries improve their quality of life so they have no need to leave their homelands.”

For more information about the ILEAP workshops, send an email to spisha@cssdioc.org, or call 508-674-4681.

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Youth Pages

January 9, 2015

Before leaving for their winter break, middle school students from St. Pius X School in South Yarmouth delivered Christmas gifts to needy children in the community last month.

Students at St. Mary’s School in Mansfield celebrated the Reason for the season with their annual Christmas Pageant featuring fourth-graders in “The Journey to Bethlehem.” Students from the Class of 2015 also entertained the crowd by reading “Frosty the Snowman” to pre-school students followed by a Frosty the Snowman Flash Mob.

Members of the student choir at Bishop Stang High School in North Dartmouth helped celebrate a Christmas Liturgy before leaving for their annual winter break.

Third-grade students at St. Mary-Sacred Heart School in North Attleboro performed in the annual Christmas pageant last month.

Students in grades six through eight at St. John the Evangelist School in Attleboro recently held a science fair. Parents were invited to tour the fair that had experiments from DNA in plant and animal cells to electricity conductors to growing bread mold. Shown here is sixth-grader Michele Schremp, explaining her project on which insulation is the best to use to Julia Listro.

January 9, 2015

W

hile most people returned to a full week of work and school this week, the majority of our college students are still on vacation. For those of us who work with college students, we are able to be a little more relaxed as well. While I have parish and other responsibilities to attend to, I am able to take advantage of the college break by taking three days off this week and next, a chance to relax before travelling with a group of UMD students for a week in Washington D.C. for the March for Life. Classes will then resume the following week.

The trip to Washington and the start of the new semester will be exciting and

Youth Pages Reclaiming the Sabbath

nice to see people returning Domini) is making sure that from the winter break, but the day of rest isn’t filled up another reality will set in: with everything that needs a crazy schedule. As I was to get done. In that case, we watching the free spaces on are just doing different work, my calendar quickly melt but work none-the-less. away, I am challenged by my own preaching: I need to be sure there is time for God. This challenge by the way is more

By Father than just taking David C. Frederici time to pray. In the Book of Genesis, God rested on the seventh As I am writing this, I day. The challenge that has am aware that all of you are been gnawing at me is mak- more aware of this challenge ing sure I take time to live, than I am. The demands of to enjoy life, to rest, to pray family, work and career, and and to be human. The other other responsibilities seem challenge that St. John Paul to swallow us. Despite that II mentioned in his letter on the truth remains: to flourkeeping the Sabbath (Dies ish, to be happy and ful-

Be Not Afraid

Sixth-grade students at Holy Name School in Fall River recently worked on the visual components for one of their Social Studies Mini-Project Assessments. Six mini-project assessments are required to be completed by students in grades three through eight in all of the diocesan Catholic schools.

Children from St. Patrick’s Parish in Somerset were very excited last month after receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation for the first time. Here they are seen releasing “forgiveness balloons” after the service.

filled, we need time to grow, to pray, enjoy life, etc.

To a certain respect this involves rethinking “quality” time. Friends of mine once said that date night has turned into 10 minutes of walking the dog together. Not what they had envisioned when they got married, but 10 minutes that they treasure and that provides them with a much-needed boost throughout the week.

Certainly in a busy schedule it is difficult to block out an entire evening or afternoon or morning. We learn that it is the quality of the experiences that are life-giving, not the length of time.

However, we are still faced with challenge. God rested. God Who is all-powerful, all-knowing, Perfect Being. He rested. For a day.

How do we (who are finite and imperfect beings) think we can possibly maintain this pace without taking a day? Answer: we can’t.

Eventually it catches up to us.

A few years ago I was in Kentucky for some meetings with the National Catholic Committee on Scouting.

I had added a couple days afterwards for a minivacation. While the meetings were productive, they were long and tiring. They ended on Saturday and off I went to do the tourist thing.

Here’s the thing about Kentucky (at least a few years ago), everything shuts down on Sunday. At first I was

17 annoyed, but then grateful.

After joining the Trappist Monks at Gethsemane for Mass, I spent the day watching football and relaxing, which I hadn’t been able to do for a long time.

My friends, we have to reclaim the Sabbath. It needs to be different, not just by going to Mass, but by slowing down, being with family and/or good friends, and relaxing. It is the day that we celebrate the Resurrection, an event that is meant to give us pause and reflect on the big picture and realize that all of this running around is not what life is about. We ought to take some time (in addition to Mass) to learn more about this God Who loves us so much.

This is not an easy thing to do. We need to make a paradigm shift, one that isn’t shared by our culture. Just because Walmart is open and has a great sale doesn’t mean we need to be there.

It will involve saying no and meeting with resistance, within ourselves and from others.

Let us commit ourselves to keeping Sunday holy.

Let us make it a day that refreshes and rejuvenates, a day that we grow closer to God and to one another.

Anchor columnist Father Frederici is pastor of St. John the Evangelist Parish in Pocasset and diocesan director of Campus Ministry and Chaplain at UMass Dartmouth and Bristol Community College.

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January 9, 2015

God created all people, desires to New Bedford pastor hopes to start new chapter for homeless save them, pope says on Epiphany continued from page one VATICAN CITY (CNS) — In every age and in every culture, people seek God just as the Three Kings did and, in every age, with the help of the Holy Spirit, they find Him in the surprising humility of a Baby born in a manger, Pope Francis said.

“Led by the Spirit, they come to realize that God’s criteria are quite different from those of men, that God does not manifest Himself in the power of this world, but speaks to us in the humbleness of His love,” the pope said January 6, the feast of the Epiphany.

Before beginning the Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Francis and two families — each with two small children — paid homage to the Newborn Lord by kissing a statue of Baby Jesus that had been placed in front of the main altar on Christmas Eve. The journey of the Magi from the East and their discovery of the Babe, the pope said in his homily, is a sign that Jesus came to save all peoples, not just His fellow Jews.

“According to tradition, the Wise Men were sages, watchers of the constellations, observers of the heavens in a cultural and religious context which saw the stars as having significance and power over human affairs,” the pope told the congregation. “The Wise Men represent men and woman who seek God in the world’s religions and philosophies: an unending quest.”

The Holy Spirit prompted them to follow the star, kept them strong when their quest proved difficult and filled them with the grace they needed “to have a personal encounter with the true God,” he said.

While it would have been understandable to not believe that the Baby was the Messiah, the Holy Spirit helped them “enter into the mystery,” the pope said. “The Wise Men are thus models of conversion to the true faith, since they believed more in the goodness of God than in the apparent splendor of power.”

The feast of the Epiphany, he said, is a time for all Christians to ask themselves

where God can be found in their lives and whether they resist the temptation to put their faith in people or things that demonstrate worldly power.

“The crib points us to a different path from the one cherished by the thinking of this world,” Pope Francis said. “It is the path of God’s self-abasement, His glory concealed in the manger of Bethlehem, on the cross upon Calvary, in each of our suffering brothers and sisters.”

While Pope Francis and thousands of people were at Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, thousands more lined the main boulevard leading to St. Peter’s Square for the traditional, folkloric Epiphany celebration. Marching bands, baton-twirlers and more than 1,500 people in Renaissance costumes paraded up the street ahead of the Three Kings on horseback.

Vatican police said there were 50,000 people were in the square to recite the Angelus at midday with the pope.

The revelation of Jesus to the Three Kings, the pope said at the Angelus, was the “manifestation of God’s love and universal Salvation. He does not reserve His love to a privileged few, but offers it to all.”

Just as all human beings have one Creator, the pope said, God willed that they would have one Savior, Jesus Christ.

“For this reason, we are called always to nourish great trust and hope for every person and his or her Salvation,” he said. “Even those who seem far from the Lord are followed — or better, pursued — by His passionate and faithful love.”

Like the Wise Men, he said, Christians must continue to journey closer and closer to the Lord, attentive to the signs of God’s presence, untiring and courageous.

“Attentive, untiring and courageous — but one thing is missing,” he said. “Walk in the light! And what is the light? The Gospel of Jesus. Always have a Gospel in your purse or pocket to read.”

workers.

“When you’re a trustee, you’re obviously not rolling up your sleeves and working onsite,” he said. “So you have to make choices. One of the choices I made was I looked at what some people saw as a blight — those who were gathering on the steps of the library and around the city.

Some people make a mistake and all they see is the exterior and I often think they’re judging a book by its cover.

That’s when it came to me that some people were reading there.”

Father Harrington is working to establish the Cobblestone Reading Program for the city’s downtrodden and he looks forward to seeing the first class of what he dubbed “Cobblestone Scholars” graduate from the program this year.

“It comes from the idea of them being street people in New Bedford, which is made up of cobblestone streets,” Father Harrington said of the name.

“I do not see the homeless as a threat,” he said. “I see them as an opportunity. Every person has a story to tell and I think everyone’s story is different. I do not believe that this is like group therapy, either — this is not something that involves psychology or anything like that.”

Father Harrington envisions the program as being inclusive and open to everyone.

“Any downtrodden person who wants to go there and turn the pages, that’s fine,” he said. “And this is not something that we’re going to say is just for the homeless.”

Father Harrington thinks that this accomplishment will go a long way towards restoring participants’ sense of selfworth and dignity.

“This is what I like to call bibliotherapy, because I believe in the power of books,” he said. “I refer to it as redemptive reading and it’s very important. If you ever want to transform someone, just think about redemption.”

A native of New Bedford who didn’t return until he was reassigned in 1999, Father Harrington also sees this as an opportunity to give something back to the city that nurtured him.

“I used to say that I had a

cathedral for the soul in St. Lawrence Martyr Church and a cathedral for the mind in the New Bedford Free Public Library,” Father Harrington said. “Those were the two places where I could always be myself and feel I could have my own space and be close to God.” An avid reader himself who won the Pope Pius X Reading Contest in fourth grade, Father Harrington credits this lifelong passion with allowing him to obtain scholarships and excel in school.

“Every once in a while when I go to the library, I see me — the kid who is probably considered nerdish, but he’s enjoying the library the way I did,” Father Harrington said.

“That’s the reason I decided to become a library trustee.

I felt it was one of the ways that I could give back something civically. I left New Bedford at the age of 17, but when I returned the experience of growing up in New Bedford came rushing back and back then the library was my world.”

Stressing that the Cobblestone Reading Program is not a “parish service project,” Father Harrington has been busy assembling a group of diverse people — parishioners and non-parishioners alike — to serve as moderators and facilitators.

“It’s not just about me or the Catholic Church,” he said.

“It’s amazing the response we’ve had to this program.

We’re getting more and more people involved. We have a much more diverse group of people and they all have different levels of education, but they’re not necessarily people who have been involved with the public.”

Even though one of his parishioners is an attorney

who graciously offered the use of his New Bedford office space for the initial meetings, they still need to find a regular venue to host the reading sessions.

“I like to say we have the people, but not the steeple,” Father Harrington said.

Noting that the New Bedford Free Public Library would be an “ideal” meeting location, he said the recent negative publicity surrounding the homeless people loitering on the steps of the Pleasant Street facility has complicated that option.

But the lack of a meeting space hasn’t deterred them from forging ahead. He remains confident that the Cobblestone Reading Program will launch in 2015.

“The thing is when you believe in an idea and you know somehow that God will provide, what you do is you put all the things in place and you put it in God’s hands as to where that place will be,” he said.

Just as he vowed to serve Christ and His Church 40 years ago this May, Father Harrington has set a personal goal to “do what I feel I’m called to do the best.”

“All I’m trying to do in my life is something that does not revolve around myself,” he said. “To me, sadness is self-preoccupation and this has helped me to get outside of myself.”

“I want to seize this moment because there might be something that comes out of this that can endure,” Father Harrington added.

“One day, they’ll be able to ask: who started the Cobblestone Reading Program? And they’ll say: it was that priest who was that nerdy kid. I could be part of a trivia contest!”

Be sure to visit the Diocese of Fall River website at fallriverdiocese.org The site includes links to parishes, diocesan offices and national sites.

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January 9, 2015

Eucharistic Adoration in the Diocese Acushnet — Eucharistic Adoration takes place at St. Francis Xavier Parish on Monday from 9:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.; Tuesday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.; and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Evening prayer and Benediction is held Monday through Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.

ATTLEBORO — Eucharistic Adoration takes place in the Adoration Chapel at St. Vincent de Paul Parish, 71 Linden Street, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.

ATTLEBORO — The National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette holds Eucharistic Adoration in the Shrine Church every Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m. through November 17.

ATTLEBORO — There is a weekly Holy Hour of Eucharistic Adoration Thursdays from 5:30 to 6:30 pm at St. John the Evangelist Church on N. Main St. Brewster — Eucharistic Adoration takes place in the La Salette Chapel in the lower level of Our Lady of the Cape Church, 468 Stony Brook Road, on First Fridays beginning at noon until 7:45 a.m. First Saturday, concluding with Benediction and concluding with Mass at 8 a.m. buzzards Bay — Eucharistic Adoration takes place at St. Margaret Church, 141 Main Street, Monday through Saturday, from 6:30 to 8 a.m.; and every first Friday from noon to 8 a.m. on Saturday.

East Freetown — Eucharistic Adoration takes place at St. John Neumann Church every Monday (excluding legal holidays) 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the Our Lady, Mother of All Nations Chapel. (The base of the bell tower).

EAST TAUNTON — Eucharistic Adoration takes place in the chapel at Holy Family Parish Center, 438 Middleboro Avenue, Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. On First Fridays, Eucharistic Adoration takes place at Holy Family Church, 370 Middleboro Avenue, from 8:30 a.m. until 7:45 p.m.

FAIRHAVEN — St. Mary’s Church, Main St., has Eucharistic Adoration every Wednesday from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. in the Chapel of Reconciliation, with Benediction at 11:30 a.m. Also, there is a First Friday Mass each month at 7 p.m., followed by a Holy Hour with Eucharistic Adoration. Refreshments follow.

Fall River — Espirito Santo Parish, 311 Alden Street, Fall River. Eucharistic Adoration on Mondays following the 8 a.m. Mass until Rosary and Benediction at 6:30 p.m.

FALL RIVER — St. Bernadette’s Church, 529 Eastern Ave., has continuous Eucharistic Adoration from 8 a.m. on Thursday until 8 a.m. on Saturday.

FALL RIVER — St. Anthony of the Desert Church, 300 North Eastern Avenue, has Eucharistic Adoration Mondays and Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

FALL RIVER — Holy Name Church, 709 Hanover Street, has Eucharistic Adoration Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the Our Lady of Grace Chapel.

FALL RIVER — Good Shepherd Parish has Eucharistic Adoration every Friday following the 8 a.m. Mass and concluding with 3 p.m. Benediction in the Daily Mass Chapel. A bilingual holy hour takes place from 2 to 3 p.m. Park behind the church and enter the back door of the connector between the church and the rectory.

Falmouth — St. Patrick’s Church has Eucharistic Adoration each First Friday, following the 9 a.m. Mass until Benediction at 4:30 p.m. The Rosary is recited Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 9 a.m.

MANSFIELD — St. Mary’s Parish, 330 Pratt Street, has Eucharistic Adoration every First Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., with Benediction at 5:45 p.m.

MASHPEE — Christ the King Parish, Route 151 and Job’s Fishing Road has 8:30 a.m. Mass every First Friday with special intentions for Respect Life, followed by 24 hours of Eucharistic Adoration in the Chapel, concluding with Benediction Saturday morning followed immediately by an 8:30 Mass.

NEW BEDFORD — Eucharistic Adoration takes place 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesdays at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, 233 County Street, with night prayer and Benediction at 8:45 p.m., and Confessions offered during the evening. Please use the side entrance.

NEW BEDFORD — There is a daily holy hour from 5:15-6:15 p.m. Monday through Thursday at St. Anthony of Padua Church, 1359 Acushnet Avenue. It includes Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, Liturgy of the Hours, recitation of the Rosary, and the opportunity for Confession.

NEW BEDFORD — St. Lawrence Martyr Parish, 565 County Street, holds Eucharistic Adoration in the side chapel from 7:30-11:45 a.m. ending with a simple Benediction NORTH DARTMOUTH — Eucharistic Adoration takes place at St. Julie Billiart Church, 494 Slocum Road, every Tuesday from 7 to 8 p.m., ending with Benediction. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is available at this time.

NORTH DIGHTON — Eucharistic Adoration takes place every Wednesday following 8:00 a.m. Mass and concludes with Benediction at 5 p.m. Eucharistic Adoration also takes place every First Friday at St. Nicholas of Myra Church, 499 Spring Street following the 8 a.m. Mass, ending with Benediction at 6 p.m. The Rosary is recited Monday through Friday from 7:30 to 8 a.m.

NORTH EASTON — A Holy Hour for Families including Eucharistic Adoration is held every Friday from 3-4 p.m. at The Father Peyton Center, 518 Washington Street.

OSTERVILLE — Eucharistic Adoration takes place at Our Lady of the Assumption Church, 76 Wianno Avenue on First Fridays from 8:30 a.m. to noon.

SEEKONK ­— Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish has perpetual Eucharistic Adoration seven days a week, 24 hours a day in the chapel at 984 Taunton Avenue. For information call 508-336-5549.

Taunton — Eucharistic Adoration takes place every Tuesday at St. Anthony Church, 126 School Street, following the 8 a.m. Mass with prayers including the Chaplet of Divine Mercy for vocations, concluding at 6 p.m. with Chaplet of St. Anthony and Benediction. Recitation of the Rosary for peace is prayed Monday through Saturday at 7:30 a.m. prior to the 8 a.m. Mass.

Taunton — Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament takes place every First Friday at Annunciation of the Lord, 31 First Street. Exposition begins following the 8 a.m. Mass. The Blessed Sacrament will be exposed, and Adoration will continue throughout the day. Confessions are heard from 5:15 to 6:15 p.m. Rosary and Benediction begin at 6:30 p.m.

WAREHAM — Eucharistic Adoration at St. Patrick’s Church begins each Wednesday evening at 6 p.m. and ends on Friday night at midnight. Adoration is held in our Adoration Chapel in the lower Parish Hall. ~ PERPETUAL EUCHARISTIC ADORATION ~ East Sandwich — The Corpus Christi Parish Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration Chapel is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week at 324 Quaker Meeting House Road, East Sandwich. Use the Chapel entrance on the side of the church.

NEW BEDFORD — Our Lady’s Chapel, 600 Pleasant Street, offers Eucharistic Adoration seven days a week, 24 hours a day. For information call 508-996-8274.

SEEKONK ­— Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish has perpetual Eucharistic Adoration seven days a week, 24 hours a day in the chapel at 984 Taunton Avenue. For information call 508-336-5549.

WEST HARWICH — Our Lady of Life Perpetual Adoration Chapel at Holy Trinity Parish, 246 Main Street (Rte. 28), holds perpetual Eucharistic Adoration. We are a regional chapel serving all of the surrounding parishes. All are invited to sign up to cover open hours. For open hours, or to sign up call 508-430-4716.

Grace Taylor, longtime secretary at diocesan Education Office

FALL RIVER — Grace A. Taylor, 83, the daughter of the late Charles and Irene (Delaney) Taylor died December 24.

She was an avid New England sports fan, especially a devotee of the Pawtucket Red Sox. Taylor was also an accomplished writer having short stories published in Readers Digest and other such periodicals.

After 45 years of dedicated service to the Fall River Diocese’s Education Department, Grace volunteered her time in local food pantries and at the Catholic Memorial Home. Taylor was also a 2001 recipient of the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice Medal from Pope John Paul II. She leaves cousins, Mary F. Murphy of Somerset; Dr. Patrick Delaney of Leominster; and a nephew, Gerald Taylor of Woodbury, N.J. Her Funeral Mass was celebrated December 31 in St. Margaret Mary’s Chapel at the Catholic Memorial Home in Fall River. Burial was at St. Patrick’s Cemetery, Fall River.

Contributions in her honor may be made to the Catholic Memorial Home.

In Your Prayers

Please pray for these priests during the coming weeks Jan. 10 Rev. Jourdain Charron, O.P., Dominican Priory, Fall River, 1919 Rev. George H. Flanagan, Pastor, Immaculate Conception, Fall River, 1938 Rev. Msgr. Emmanuel Sousa de Mello, Retired Pastor, Our Lady of Lourdes, Taunton, 1977 Jan. 12 Rev. Thomas P. Grace , Pastor, St. Patrick, Fall River, 1918 Rev. Manuel C. Terra, Retired Pastor, St. Peter, Provincetown, 1930 Jan. 13 Rev. Emile Plante, M.S., La Salette Seminary, Attleboro, 1954 Rev. Ralph D. Tetrault, Retired, Catholic Memorial Home, Former Pastor, St. Patrick, Wareham, 2007 Jan. 14 Rev. John J. Lawler, M.M., Maryknoll Missioner, 1977 Jan. 15 Rev. Thomas F. Kennedy, Retired Pastor, St. Joseph, Woods Hole, 1948 Rev. Vincent Marchildon, O.P., Director, St. Anne Shrine, Fall River, 1972 Rev. Msgr. John E. Boyd, Retired Pastor, St. Patrick, Wareham, 1977 Rev. Harold A. Whelan Jr., SS.CC., Ph.D., 1997

Around the Diocese

All are invited to join in prayer for “Building a New Culture of Life” on January 15 at 1 p.m. in St. Jude’s Chapel of Christ the King Parish in Mashpee. Prayers will consist of the four mysteries of the Rosary with brief meditations on each.

ECHO, a Catholic retreat program for teen-agers living on Cape Cod and the Islands, will have a retreat weekend for girls in Craigville on January 16-18. For applications or more information go to www.echoofcapecod.org or visit your parish office.

Deadline for applications is January 11.

St. John Neumann Parish, 157 Middleboro Road in East Freetown, will host an Ecumenical Taizé candlelight service on January 18 at 6 p.m. for Christian unity. Taizé is a prayer form that originated in France after World War II to encourage meditation, reconciliation and Christian unity.

All are welcome.

All are invited to prayer and Eucharistic Adoration in the St. Jude Chapel of Christ the King Parish in Mashpee on January 22 immediately following the 8:30 a.m. Mass and Novena. The Divine Mercy Chaplet will open the hours of adoration and Benediction will be at noon.

A Lenten Retreat will be held March 20-22 at St. Benedict Abbey, 252 Still River Road in Harvard, Mass., conducted by Franciscan priests.

This retreat weekend would make a great Lenten gift for one of your friends. People may attend the full weekend, Friday evening through Sunday morning, or just all day Saturday and early Saturday evening.

It will provide opportunities for Spiritually uplifting presentations, interspersed with hearty meals prepared by the monks, time to walk the peaceful grounds or time to participate in Abbey Spiritual monastic chapel activity. Enjoy the extensive library in the Retreat Guest House while enjoying the ever-ready coffee, tea, or fresh water. For more information or to make reservations, contact Marge and Ed Shivvers at vze4zppz@verizon.net, or call 508-295-6279. Fall River area people interested in going for the full weekend can carpool with Daryl Gonyon by calling 508-672-4822. The distance one-way from Fall River to the Abbey is exactly 80 miles.

The Diocesan Marriage Preparation Program is looking for married couples who would like to enrich their Marriage while helping engaged couples prepare for their lifetime together. There is also a Re-Marriage Prep Program for couples entering their second Marriages. If you are interested in sharing the joys and challenges of married life, please contact your pastor or the Diocesan Office of Faith Formation at 508-678-2828 or email cmcmanus@dfrcs.org.

Bishop Connolly High School in Fall River is searching for missing alumni as the school plans for its 50th anniversary to take place during the 20152016 school year. If you or someone you know is an alumnus of Bishop Connolly High School and is not receiving communications from the school, please send your contact information by email to Anthony Ciampanelli in the Alumni Office at aciampanelli@bishopconnolly.com; via the school’s website at www.bishopconnolly.com; by phone at 508-676-1071 extension 333; or mail the school at 373 Elsbree Street, Fall River, Mass.

02720. Please provide the graduate’s name (including maiden name if appropriate), complete mailing address, telephone number, email address, and the year of graduation.

20

I

’m tired of the proverbial race card. I’m not saying it doesn’t exist; what I am tired of is the fact that it does exist.

I’m tired of human beings who think they’re better than others because of the color of their skin, their religion, their ethnicity, their intelligence, or their wealth.

I’m tired of the fact that there are those out there who do profile racially, and who react based on race, often with violence and hatred.

January 9, 2015

It’s not in the cards

I don’t understand prejudice.

I don’t understand how a human being, a child of God, can be so petty as to think the outside of a person supersedes what’s inside.

In Shakespeare’s “Merchant of Venice,” Shylock, the victim of anti-Semitism, asks a Christian, “If you prick us, do we not bleed?

If you tickle us, do we not laugh?

If you poison us, do we not die?”

Yes, yes, and yes. We are all brothers and sisters in God’s family. But not everyone is a racist.

Today, police, much like Catholic

priests, are being lumped into the same category because of the actions, evil actions, of a small percentage of their peers. Just as African-Americans or Hispanics are categorized by those few who make the headlines doing evil deeds.

We are all very fortunate that mankind will not be the judge at the final Judgment. Otherwise, only the same arrogant, ignorant few will make it to Heaven.

But all is not lost, good people.

Take a look at the photo to the

New England Patriots player Devin McCourty, second from right, and his twin brother Jason McCourty of the Tennessee Titans, right, both nominees for this year’s NFL Walter Payton Man of the Year Award for community service, recently visited the residents of Madonna Manor in North Attleboro. Those there got an idea of why their peers in football think so highly of the McCourty Brothers. The defensive backs visited the nursing home and spent time posing for photos, shaking hands and signing autographs for the residents, employees and their children and grandchildren. The event was arranged by the Dyer-Lake Funeral Home in North Attleboro. Also pictured are Susan Wanamaker, activities director; Mary-Ellen Murphy, administrator; and Resident Council president, Audrey Manson.

broadcast industry. ESPN’s Stuleft. Look at the McCourty art Scott died at age 49 of cancer, Brothers — a pair of talented professional athletes who recently leaving behind two daughters whom he adored. took the time to brighten the Scott, a black man, entered day of the residents and staff the world of stuffy white men at Madonna Manor in North broadcasting sports news, and Attleboro.

Obviously, the brothers are not white, and I’m willing to wager that they brought smiles to faces of very few AfricanBy Dave Jolivet Americans that day. Also obvious is that it didn’t brightened the day of countless matter to them. sports fans with his upbeat, hipBoth are nominees for the hop, love of sports. He was an 2015 NFL Walter Payton Man inspiration to many young black of the Year Award, given to an boys and girls.

NFL player who exemplifies an His catch-phrases, “Booo-yah” off-the-field lifestyle of volunand “Cooler than the other side teerism and charity. Payton, an of the pillow,” will be missed by African-American player with blacks and whites alike. Scott had the Chicago Bears from 1975no race card to play.

87, was known as “Sweetness,” I long for the day when none because of the fluidity in his of us do. running style, and his giving Men like the McCourty heart. Payton befriended a white Brothers, Scott, Payton, and other teammate and roommate, Brian Christ-like brothers and sisters Piccolo, who was diagnosed, only have one card to play: the and shortly later died, of cancer, cutting short a young career with Ace of Hearts.

As I posted on ESPN’s Twitthe Bears. The friendship was not ter account this weekend: “There unprecedented, but also not the are tears on the cool side of the norm — a black-white friendpillow today.” RIP Stuart, and ship. No race card there. carry on McCourty Brothers.

And last weekend, the sports davejolivet@anchornews.org. world lost a young giant in the

My View From the Stands

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