FALL RIVER DIOCESAN NEWSPAPER
t eanc 0 VOl. 29, NO.8 ~s
FOR SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS
CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS
FALL RIVER, MASS., FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1985
GaUu!
Bishops to visit wartorn' nations'
America
s,uffer,s,
spiritual
hunger
GAINESVILLE, ,Fla. (NC) results of a recent survey, ;eorge Gallup Jr, of the Gallup ublic opinion polling organiza ion said many Americans are spiritually hungry," and that vangelica'i efforts today are es" ential. Gallup spoke at a symposium n "Renewal in Catholic Evan elization" held in Gainesvil!e, arlier this month. Results of the Gallup Poll, ponsored by the Paulist Nation I Catholic Evangelization Asso iation, showed that one-third of II Americans can be describej s "unchurched."
Nicaragua, EI Salvador listed
~iting
"Millions of Americans today re spiritually homeless. We're rlking about human being3 go· tg spiritually hungry. Your ef ,rts of evangelization are vital," lid Gallup. "While most 'unchurched' say eligion is not very, or o'1ly tirly important in their lives, as lanyas 16 percent of this group ly religion is very 'important," e added. According to the poll, of the IX in 10 of those "unchurched 'ho said ,they belonged to the atholic Church 'and 'left (13 per· ent of the 'total sample of un hurched), 40 percent said they ave thought of rejoining ihe hurch, while 60 percent SE.id ley have not thought of rejo~n 19. The top three reasons tht::y Ited for not rejoining the chur-=h 'ere inability to accept some hurch teachings, negative fac·, Irs relating to priests, 'and find 19 the Catholic way of life teo emanding. IBishop Joseph A. Fiorenza 'ho was instaHed as bishop of alveston-Houston Feb. 18, ointed out that, by the end of tis century Caucasians wi.ll >mpose .Jess than 40 perrent of hristians worldwide. "WitJtin our own lifetime, the "is of Christendom will shift 'om Geneva (Switzerland), ome 'and New York to Kins Isa (Zaire), Buenos Aires (Ar entina) and Manila (Philip mes)," he said.
$8 Per Year
SUICIDE IS the second leading cause of death in the U.S. among young persons aged 15 to 25. According to the "sad children" indicator recently explained at a Fall River sem inar, youngsters involved with drugs or alcohol are at high risk. (NC Photo)
Clergy get advice
Ways of preventing suicide
I
By Pat McGowan Suicide is the second leading cause of death in the U.S. among young persons aged 15 to 25 and the lIth 'leading cause overall in the nation, claiming some 20,000 deaths ·annually. Those statistics were given participants in a mental health seminar primarily for members of the clergy offered recently at the Corrigan Mental Health Cen ter in Fall River under joint sponsorship of the center and the pastoral care department of nearby Charlton Memorial Hos pital. The four-session series wa!; designed to acquaint clergy with mental health resources available to them 'and to assist them, as the frequent first responders to stressful situations, in coping with the demands made on them. Topics discussed, 'in addition to suicide, were methods of de termining needs of clients an~ matching them to .available re sources; the dynamics of family systems; and problems met by former mental hospital patients in rejoining their home co~· munity.
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Suicide Intervention At the session earlier this month devoted to suicide inter vention,Gail iMarhewka, an emergency services intake work er at the Corrigan Center, used the "sad crildren" a<:ronymas a means of encapsulating the characteristics that may be seen in an individual at risk of com mitting suicide. Contributing to her presenta" tion was Father John R. Foister, pastor of St. Anne's parish, Fall River, and Fall River fire depart ment chaplain, who has had ex tensive experience in suicide pre vention. . Ms. Marhewka 'listed "sad children" characteristics as fol lows: S - Support system A - Alcohol or other drugs D - Depression C - Communication H - Hostility I - Impulsiveness L - Lethal means D - Demography R - Reaction of evaluator E-Events N-No hope Explaining them, she said that the support system _refers to family relationships; alcohol or other drugs to the role they of
ten play in suicide attempts; and. depression to its value in evalua ting .the possibility tllat a pa tient will actually commit sui cide. She said that communication or the lack of it is a significant factor and that patients unwill ing to talk to an evaluator may have to be hospitalized as a safety measure. Hostility, she said, is often involved in murder and suicide cases, while impulsiveness also plays a part in many such epi. sodes and is especially charac teristic of adolescents and alco holics. Other factors to be consider ed she said, are whether a sui cide method chosen is truly lethal or intended more as a gesture to alarm family (\r friends; the demography of ..l case, meaning such -attributes as the age, health and marital sta tus of the person involved; and, very importantly, how the pa tient makes his or her evaluator feel. "If the patient depresses you, take it as a sign that he or she is depressed too. If the patient makes you angry, don't let that keep you from evaluating him Turn to Page Six
WASHINGTON (NC) - Five U.S. ·bishops will visit EI Salva dorand Nicaragua Feb. 24 March 2, the National Confer enc, of Catholic bishops has an nounced!. In January, three U.S. bishops visited Cuba and met with tu ban officials ·and Cuban Presi dent Fidel Castro. The NCCB delegation for the current visit will be headed by Archbishop John J. O'Connor of New York, chairman of tKe U.S. Catholie' Conference Committee for Social Development and World Peace. Other delegation members will be Cardinal Joseph L. Ber nardin of Chicago, Archbishop James A. Hickey of Washington, Bishop Rene Gracida of Corpus Christi, Texas, and Coadjutor ;Bishop Sean O'Malley of St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. !During the pastoral visit, the U.S. bishops will meet with members of the Council of the Presidency of the bishops' con ference of Central America and Panama. The council includes the presidents of the national bishops' conferences from EI Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Pana ma. The U.S. bishops' schedules are being coordinated by Bishop Marco Rene Revelo Contreras of Santa Ana, EI Salvador, presi dent of the Salvadoran bishops, and 'Bishop Pablo ·Antonio Vega of the Prelature of Juigalpa, Nic aragua, president of the Nicara guan bishops. NCCB staff members accom· panying the bishops will be Father J. Bryan Hehir, secretary for social development and world peace; Father William Lewers, associate secretary for ,international justice and peace; -and .Father David Gallivan, di rector of' the Secretariat for Latin America. The delegation will officially represent the U.S. bishops' con ference when meeting with members of the bishops' confer ences of EI Salvador and Nica- . ragua.