04.16.93

t eanc 0 VOL. 37, NO. 15

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Friday, April 16, 1993

F ALL RIVER, MASS.

FALL RIVER DIOCESAN NEWSPAPER FOR SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS Southeastern Massachusetts' Largest Weekly

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13 from diocese in New Orleans for 90th NCEA convention With Catholic News Service reports

OUTGOING PRESIDENT Mary Mikita of the Dio'cesan Council of Catholic Women and Joanne Quirk and Betty Mazzucchelli, left to right, cochairmen of the council's April 24 convention, have chosen the theme "Protect God's Gift Our Earth."

Care of Earth is topic of DCCW convention Care of Earth will be the conson, research specialist with the cerns of members of the Diocesan biology department of the Woods Council of Catholic Women as Hole Oceanographic Institute and they gather Saturday, April 24, at also representing the Institute will St. Francis Xavier parish center, be Jack Gallagher, director of its Hyannis, for their annual conven- Center for Worldwide Marine Envition, themed "Protect God's ronmental Protection and Safety.

Gift-Our Earth."

Concluding the program will be Keynote speaker Whitney Tilt, panelist Gilbert Newton, a teacher project director for the Wash- at Sandwich High School and presington-based National Fish and ident of the Association for the Wildlife Foundation, will have as Preservation of Cape Cod. his topic "A Responsibility for The diocesan convention will Stewardship." He also spoke at a open at 8 a.m. with registration recent general assembly of the and a coffee hour, followed a"t 9 National Council of Catholic a.m. by prayer and a business Women. meeting, after which Tilt will speak.

Tilt over~ees the not-for-profit Conference cochairman and foundation's grants program, which NCCW Boston Province director aided over600 projects in the years Mrs. James H. Quirk will deliver from 1986 to 1992. Prior to joining greetings from the national organthe foundation, he was a wildlife, ization at 10: I5 a.m. and outgoing specialist for the National Audubon DCCW president Mrs. Andrew Society; executive director of the W. Mikita will give the traditional Long Island Sound Task Force of president's message. the Oceanic Society; and a bald , DCCW moderator Very Rev. eagle specialist and refuge assistJames F. Lyons will speak and ant for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Bishop Sean P. O'Malley will be Service. He holds degrees from the introduced. The bishop will be Yale School of Forestry and Enviprincipal celebrant and homilist at ronmental Studies and Hampton the II: 15 a.m. convention Mass.

College.

Also on the schedule are instalAn afternoon panel moderated lation of new diocesan officers for by convention '.cochairman Mrs. a two-year term and presentation Joseph MazZllcchelli will continue of the annual Margaret M. Lahey/ concentration on the ecology. Our Lady of God Counsel Award Albert Lees Jr., president of Lees to a woman from each council disSupermarket, Westport, will dis- trict. The award recognizes service cuss recycling and William Rog- to the recipient's parish council ers, manager of Summertime and to her parish in general as well Laundry, South Yarmouth, will as her participation in district and discuss filtration. diocesan activities.

Mrs. Michael J. McMahon, Soloist for the convention will representing the National Council be Mrs. Thomas Truelson and of Catholic Women, will speak on subcommittee chairman will be ecology initiatives undertaken by Mrs. Ethel Zink, raffle; Mrs. Arthur the national group. "Oil Spills" Maddison, liturgy; and Mrs. Toni will be the topic ofGeorge Hamp- Nagel, coffee hour.

Led by Rev. Richard W. Beaulieu, director of the Diocesan Department of Educatiori, and J,ames McNamee, an associate superintendent of schools, 13 diocesan educators attended the 90th annual I'/ational Catholic Educational Association convention, which concluded yesterday in New Orleans.

The theme of the April 12-15 convention, "Catholic Educators: Telling the Good News Story," is "particularly significant at a time when so many tragic stories appear, on the front pages of our newspapers and leap out of our TV screens each day," said Sister Catherine McNamee, NCEA president.

"Today's world needs the good news which Ca'tholic educators have to offer," the Sister of St. Joseph added.

The four-day meeting for about 12,000 Catholic school principals and teachers, board members and religious education teachers featured general sessions, liturgies and workshops.

In the kickoff session, Howard Jenkins, school superintendent for the archdiocese of New Orleans, welcomed the delegates to the city, noting that this is the archdiocese's bicentennial year.

He said Ursuline nuns opened the city's first Catholic school in 1727.

Keynote speaker Father John Shea, author, lecturer and professor at Mundelein Seminary in Mundelein, IL, told the delegates they were continuing the Catholic school tradition - "a mission to manifest" the good news of the Gospel. ' "When we teach, we must see and love in our students what Jesus sees and loves in us," he said.

He told the convention participants they had a "responsibility to teach the good news" and that it had to be taught right along with lessons about "frogs, biology and black holes."

NCEA presented several awards during the general session.

The Archbishop John Carroll

GOOD FRIDAY in

Attleboro

and Fall River

Seepage 2

Award, presented to bishops who have made outstanding contributions to Catholic education, was given posthumously to Archbishop James P. Lyke of Atlanta, who died last year of cancer. It was accepted by his longtime ,friend, Bishop Joseph L. Howze of Biloxi, Miss.

"Archbishop Lyke was a man of. courage and conviction who spoke eloquently in support of Catholic education," said Sister McNamee.

"He used the pulpit as a platform to convince Catholics and . non-Catholics alike that Catholic schools are a great gift to the nation," she added.

Franciscan Sister Francesca Thompson received NCEA's C. Albert Koob award for providing leadership in Catholic education.

Sister Thompson, associate professor of Afro-American studies at Fordham University in Bronx, N.Y., was described by Sister McNamee as a "dedicated educator" who promoted the importance of cultural awareness.

Twelve teachers and 12 principals were also presented with distinguished teacher and principal awards during the convention.

After hearing talks and receiving awards, the educators kicked up their heels in typical New Orleans fashion for an evening parade after the convention's opening day Sister McNamee, bedecked in a mask with feathers, tossed beads to a clapping and waving crowd from her parade float, which followed Catholic high school marching bands and cheerleaders.

Workshop Speakers Speakers at convention workshops included Sister Kieran Sawyer, whose topic was moral issues that should be discussed with teens; and William Fisher, who maintained that a multicultural program is the "right thing to do" for Catholic schools.

Sister Sawyer, a School Sister of Notre Dame who gives retreats and talks to groups of teenagers as the director of Tyme Out Youth Center in Pewaukee, Wis., not only urged the delegates to talk about what she termed "tough topics," but she told them to be consistent in their message.

"What you say about abortion should agree with what you say about war," and "what you say to boys should be consistent with what you say to girls," she said.

She also warned against teaching these topics 'out of context.

"You can't talk about contraception out of the blue," she said, referring to one diocese where officials mandated teaching AIDS awareness without teaching sex education.

"You come to kids through the wrong door that way," she added.

Sister Sawyer told the standingroom-only crowd of principals and teachers that she stresses abstinence to teens, but she also tells them about contraception.

She said she deals with straight numbers, such as statistics that say four out of 10 sexually active teenagers who use contraception will get pregnant.

She warns teens not only of the failure rate of contraceptives, but of the emotional toll of premarital sex.

When she talks about abortion, Sister Sawyer said, she tells teens that no matter how legal it becomes, "it will always be a moral issue."

She did not give the delegates any easy method for discussing the topic with teens, but stressed the need to distinguish between 98 percent of abortions "that are used as a secondary form of birth control" and the 2 percent of abortions that are "hard cases of rape or incest."

Sister Sawyer also stressed the need to help teens who have had abortions.

"We need to continue to honor them, even though they've made a terrible decision," she said. "They are carrying guilt and they need to know reconciliation'."

Teachers also must be aware, she said, that in a class of 40, one or two teens may be homosexual.

"You have to make the distinction between orientation and activity," she said. "But you should also try to speak to them in some way because they have a great cross to bear."

Successful Multiculturalism A multicultural pr,ogram is the, "right thing to do" for Catholic schools to be true to their mission, said William Fisher, school board president for Catholic secondary schools in the diocese of Grand Rapids. Mich. . At his workshop, he explained how Catholic high schools in Grand Rapids successfully integrated 'a multicultural approach.

In his words, it started when the schools received a "wake-up call" in 1989. Because of increased tuition, "students of color were not lining up for our schools," he said.

"We were pricing them out of the market." .

The student decrease isolated the dwindling number of minority students. "We were in a downward spiral picking up steam," said Fisher.

As a result, school board committees decided first to build a multicultural approach in secondary schools and then to recruit ethnically diverse students.

So far, it's worked. The number of m'inority students attending Grand Rapids Catholic secondary Turn to Page 13

Good

F~iday

remembered As they have for years, Hispanic and Portuguese Catholics in the Fall River, Taunton and Attleboro areas of the diocese marked Good Friday with solemn rituals.

At LaSalette Shrine in Attleboro, Hispanics from Taunton, Fall River and Attleboro enacted the Way of the Cross for the ninth year, said Father Paul E. Canuel, coordinator of the Diocesan Apostolate to Hispanics. Photographs at top left of the page show, in' order, top to bottom, left to right, Father Peter N. Graziano, executive director of Catholic Social Services; Sister Teresa Aguinaga of the Guadalupana Missionaries, who directs preparations for the Attleboro Way of the Cross; and Father Canuel in vestments he acquired while serving as a missioner in Peru. Other pictures depict Christ, portrayed by Alfredo Martinez, a former Attleboro resident now living in New Jersey who returned for the Good Friday observance. He is shown before Pilate, taking up the cross, falling the first time, meeting his Mother, being assisted by Veronica, awaiting crucifixion and being nailed to. the cross. At the conclusion of the stations, children bearing letters spelling Esperanza, the Spanish word for hope, prepare to lead the faithful to Christ's tomb. Commentary during the stations related them to 20th-century evils and sins, said Father Canuel.

Pictures at the bottom of the page show Portuguese residents of Fall River continuing the Azorean tradition of the pilgrimage of the Romeiros or runners, which began some 400 years ago on the island of Sao Miguel, where villagers undertook a week long pilgrimage to island churches, begging for an end to devastating earthquakes.

The tradition was brought to Fall River 10 years ago by Antonio Medeiros and Jao Simons.

Each Good Friday since that time Portuguese men and boys, together with a few women, have marched to each of the seven Portuguese parishes in the city, as well as to St. Mary's Cathedral, singing and praying. This year the Romeiros were greeted at the cathedral by Bishop Sean O'Malley, who told them in Portuguese that all Christians are on a journey of faith, going as do the Romeiros, joined with one another. "You symbolize that we are' all one family in Christ," he said.

The pictures depict the Romeiros, holding their traditional staffs, walking up Spring Street to the cathedral, and listening there to Bishop O'Malley. (Romeiro pictures by Studio D)

.Common good topic of symposium

THE ANCHOR -

Church teaching on the principle of the common good as it applies to the practice and delivery of health care will be analyzed at the fourth annual ethics symposium sponsored by the Ethics and Physicians' Education committee of St. Anne's Hospital, Fall River.

To be held Friday, April 23, at Catholic Memorial Home, Fall River, the symposium will have as speakers Rev. J. Bryan Hehir, Th.D., David H. Mulligaq, Atty.

Gerald D. D'Avolio and Dr. John R. Delfs.

Father Hehir, pastorofSt. Paul's Church, Cambridge, is a professor at Harvard Divinity School and a faculty associate at Harvard Center for International Affairs. His topic will be Health Care and Human Dignity.

Mulligan is commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and D' Avolio is executive director of the Massachusetts Catholic Conference, which unites the state's bishops on matters of common interest. They will discuss the state's role in health care.

Dr. Delfs, director of geriatric medicine at New England Deaconess Hospital, will speak on medical aspects of health care delivery.

The presentations will be followed by a panel discussion by Mulligan, Father Hehir and Atty.

D'Avolio, moderate.d by Rev. James O'Donohoe, STD, associate professor of theological ethics at Boston College.

Rev. Mark Hession, parochial vicar at St. Mary's Church, New Bedford, and ajudge on the diocesan marriage tribunal, is chairman ofthe symposium planning committee.

Further information on the event is available at St. Anne's Hospital, telephone 674-5741, ext. 2480.

At a recent day of recollection at Sacred Heart Home, New Bedford, members of the Diocesan Council of Catholic Nurses heard Holy Week reflections from Father Matthew Sullivan, SS.CC., and Marylee Meehan, RN, MA, and participated in a Mass offered by Father Sullivan.

At a business meeting Sister Rachel LaFrance, SCQ, of Sacred Heart Home, New Bedford, was named new DCCN president. Serving with her will be Sister Theresa Bergeron, New Bedford, vice president; Alice LeBlanc, New Bedford, secretary; Elizabeth Novacek, treasurer, Fall River; and Joan

D. of I. to hold state meeting The Daughters of Isabella Massachusetts State Circle will hold its biennial meeting. themed "Lord.

Show Me the Path of Life," April 23 to 25 at the Sheraton Tara in Danvers.

Members from all Massachusetts dioceses will be in attendance. State regent Virginia Corey of Shrewsbury will preside. as,isted by officers including state secretary Theresa Lewis. regent of Hyacinth Circle. New Bedford. and past state n:gent Lillian Reilly of Plainville. a member of Benedict Circle. North Attkboro. for more than 50 years.

Among guests will be Father Stephen Salvador of New Bedford.

The program will include meetings. a banquet and "fun night." a memorial service and Mass celebrated by state chaplain Father James I.anergan. and installation of officers by international past regent Mary Whitney of Exeter.

NH. Also included will be a pro-life babv shower with gifts to be don~ted to St. Richard's Church.

Danwrs. for distribution.

In the Fall River diocese there are fi\'e D. of I. circles Hyacinth. Benedict. Easton. Alcazaha.

AlIlcboro. and St. Patrick·s.

Somerset. with a total mcmhership of more than 400.

Alteration "People can alter their lives by altering their attitudes."- William James

Diocese of Fall River -

Fri., Apr. 16, 1993

3

Nurses name new officers

IN CHARGE of the Catholic Charities Appeal in the Cape and Islands area of the diocese are Rev. Freddie Babiczuk, left, and Rev. Stephen J. Fernandes, standing beside Bishop Sean O'Malley, Appeal honorary chairman. (Gaudette photo)

CCA Spe~ial Gifts phase will begin April 19 The Special Gifts phase of the annual Catholic Charities Appeal of the Fall River diocese, now in its 52nd year of service to the community, begins Monday, April 19, when over 250 volunteer solicitors will make over 3000 visits to professional, fraternal, business and industrial organizations throughout Southeastern Massachusetts. All are serving at the invitation of Bishop Sean P. O'Malley.

Mrs. Michael J. McMahon, lay chairman of this year's Appeal, said "I thank the solicitors on behalf of Bishop O'Malley for their willingness to participate in the Special Gifts phase of the Appeal.

'I ask that contacts start April 19

and that returns be made promptly to area directors. The final date of this phase is May I." Rev. Daniel L. Freitas, diocesan director of the Appeal, has urged those contacted to increase their generosity this year because needs are greater than ever. He noted that services provided by the apostolates and ministries of the diocese benefit all who live in the area.

The 1993 Appeal theme, "Your Sacrifice Will Assure Our Success," indicates that this year's contributors will build on what has been done in the previous 51 appeals, recalling that the Appeal is often - the only hope of many needy diocesan residents.

Pastor's study is martyr's shrine SANTIAGO ATITLAN, Guatemala (CNS) - But for the candie flickering in front of a small tabernacle in the corner of the room, it could be the typical pastor's study in any Catholic rectory.

But two bullet holes in the floor before the tabernacle and the dark stains on the wooden cabinet in the corner make it a shrine.

The bullet holes were from automatic weapons fired in the early morning hours of July 28,1981.

The dark stains are the blood of Father Stanley Rother, assassinated by a death squad in his study in the Guatemalan village of Santiago Atitian. His death was believed the first confirmed murder of an American missionary.

Father Stanley Rother, 46 when he was killed, was a priest of the archdiocese of Oklahoma City, one of many priests who came to the missions of Guatemala a quarter-century ago in response to a call from the Second Vatican Council.

"He was not political, nor a rabble rouser," said Father John Goggin, a contemporary and friend who also served in Guatemala.

"He preached the Gospel down the line," he said. " And that made him a threat.

"Every catechist was considered

Portuguese channel to interview bishop Bishop Sean O'Malley will be interviewed on various topics of Portuguese interest on the Portuguese channel at 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 23. The channel is carried by several cable systems in the Fall River ·diocese.

a guerrilla, even if one had no political standing:' said Father Goggin.

"Many catechists had disappeared or been killed in Santiago Atitian.

"He had moved into this room from his bedroom because it was safer - the walls were stone, there were grilles over the window.

"He said he never would be taken alive. He didn't want to be among the disappeared," said Father Goggin.

"It happened about I a.m. We think the death squad knocked on the door and Stan opened it."

His body was returned to Oklahoma but the heart of Father Stanley Rother remains in Guatemala, enshrined within the church of the people he loved and served.

Formation program is offered religious Men and women religious are invited to attend a workshop titled Conversion toward New Life: Our Call to Global Transformation, Saturday, May 15, at Peterson Hall, SI. John's Seminary, Brighton.

There will be no charge for the program, to be presented by Sister Barbara Fiand, SND. Sponsored

by Region I of the Religious Formation Conference, it will open at 9:30 a.m. with coffee and the presentation will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Participants are asked to bring a bag lunch.

Registration is requested by April 23 and further information is available from Sister Mary Noel Blute, RS M, Episcopal Representative for Religious, tel. 992-9921.

Morin, Cape and Islands, past president and director. They will be formally installed by moderator Father.Edmund Fitzgerald Oct. 23 at the council's fall meeting at St. John the Baptist parish hall, Westport. ' Also at the fall meeting, scholarships will be awarded to Lisa Fernandes, a nursing student at New England Baptist Hospital, and to Philip Hubert, a student of physical therapy at Northeastern University.

Applications for future scholarships may be submitted to Sister LaFrance at Sacred Heart Home, telephone 996-6751.

Pro-Life Masses Rev. Stephen A. Fernandes, diocesan director of the Pro-Life Apostolate, has announced Masses to be held in each of the five diocesan deaneries for the purpose of gathering parish pro-life representatives to pray together and enjoy a following social gathering. All Masses will be at 7:30 p.m.

The Mass schedule follows: New Bedford Deanery: St. James Church, Tuesday, April 27 (use chapel entrance).

Fall River Deanery: St. Mary's Cathedral, Wednesday, May 5 (use chapel entrance) Taunton Deanery: St. Jacques ChurcH, Tuesday, May II.

Cape Cod Deanery.: Christ the King Church, Monday, April 17 (use chapel entrance).

Attleboro Deanery: St. Mark Church, Tuesday, May 25.

Father Fernandes also announced a Rosary Rally for ProLife, to be held at I:30 p.m. Saturday, May 8, at LaSalette Shrine, Attleboro, and to be followed by Mass at 4:30 p.m.

Sponsored by the Knights of Columbus, the program will include a talk by Father Fernandes and the Mass will be celebrated by Rev. Kenneth B. Murphy, State Chaplain for the Knights. All are welcome to attend.

Christology series set in Centerville Father Robert A. Oliveira, diocesan director of ongoing for,mation of clergy and laity, will present an adult education series' on Christology 7 to 9 p.m. April 19, 20 and 21 at Our Lady of Victory parish center, Centerville.

The series will focus on the person and message of Jesus Christ, with topics: "From What Horizon Do We See Jesus? The activities . and message of Jesus;" "As Jesus Lived So He Died: For Our Sake.

A contemporary understanding of

the death of Jesus;" "The Reality of the Resurrection-Freedom from the Fear of Death, Freedom from the Fear of Life."

To register contact Our Lady of Victory parish office. 775-5744.

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4

THE ANCHOR -

Diocese of Fall River -.Fri., Apr. 16, 1993

themoorin~

the living word

World War III? As American, French and Dutch warplanes prepare to fly over the former Yugoslavia, many feel that this is yet another step of intervention that may well do nothing more than escalate the Balkan peril. If there is one lesson that history should teach politicians, it is that the so-called Bosnian massacre is a Catch-22 affair.

The national hatreds that have smoldered in the Balkans for centuries have brought down mighty nations and empires. It was Sarajevo where the fatal shot was fired that ignited World War I. During World War II, Serbian soldiers simply annihilated division after division of German troops . Marshal Tito eventually put together a fragile multinational state, but only by suppressing, not eliminating, smoldering enmities.

Europeans know this history only too well and want no part of the present struggle. Collectively, the continent has simply turned its back on the situation, hoping that it would self destruct. This has not happened, nor will it. Balkan ties to Europe are too strong. Who can forget the Nazi-supported Croatian state that aggressively persecuted both Serbs and Muslims?

But the matter is not one-sided. The centuries-old persecution of Christians by the Ottoman empire has bred deep resentments. The Serbs, being fellow Orthodox Christians, were freed by their Russian counterparts, who have sufficient . trouble of their own on the home front.

Before the United States again attempts to be big brother, it would be well to look at the conflict apart from the standpoint of American' prestige. During his campaign, President Clinton criticized the Bush administration for inaction in the Balkan conflict. Now he concedes that it constitutes today's most difficult military situation. American intervention will do little more than bring more body bags to our shores.

Even the Holy See is not beyond criticism in this affair.

Many feel that Vatican recognition of Croatia, a Catholic state, increased religious tensions. True, the action gave Croatia access to many other nations, thus increasing the possibility of diplomatic maneuvering; but even such initiatives can become muddled as evidenced by the disintegration of the tenuous relationship between Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians in Eastern Europe.

As for us, we have yet to face our domestic problems. Not that isolation is the answer for us, yet it seems ridiculous for us to become involved in past hatreds and current violence across the world when we can't even get our own house in order.

Crimes and hatreds rule our streets; blacks and whites are ever more polarized; media violence has translated into reality; and we are broke.

It would be worse than hypocritical to hold out the promise of democracy to the Balkans while all that we have traditionally stood for is dissolving before our eyes. This nation should do a great deal of soul searching before it seeks to become the moral conscience of Eastern Europe. We have as many seething problems as they.

Nevertheless, there is no doubt that we can care for and offer hope to the shelterless refugees now pouring out of their besieged homelands. And we must beware of discussing the Balkan crisis as a mere news story. It could become, God forbid, the catalyst for World War III. The Editor

OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE DIOCESE OF FALL RIVER Published weekly by The Catholic Press of the Diocese of Fall River 887 Highland Avenue P.O. BOX 7 Fall River, MA 02720 Fall River, MA 02722 Telephone 508-675-7151 FAX (508) 675-7048 Send address changes to P.O. Box 7 or call telephone number above

PUBLISHER Most Rev. Sean P. O'Malley, OFM Cap., PhD.

EDITOR

GENERAL MANAGER

Rev. John F. Moore

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Home pounds. Fan River

EARTH DA Y IS APRIL 22

"0 earth, earth, earth..." Jer. 22:29

The uncomfortable challenge of AIDS "AIDS cures fags."

It has been some time since I've seen someone wear his bigotry on a bumper sticker, so the antihomosexual slogan I saw on a pickup truck caught my attention.

AIDS is the mother of all hot buttons. It combines the horror of cancer and death with discomfiting subjects such as homosexuality, promiscuity and drug abuse.

The anger of AIDS activists and the fears of the general community combine in a festering stew of taboos, prejudices and mutual hostility.

In addition, AIDS activists who disrupted a Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York have crystallized in many Catholics' minds an image of homosexuals as violently opposed to the church and its beliefs. The anti-Catholic message of ACT-UP and similar groups must be denounced, and strongly.

But Catholics should be careful not to allow a love for their church to become a guise for hating all who are homosexual or who suffer from AIDS. AIDS is a terrible disease, one from which we instinctively recoil, as the Hebrews must have recoiled from the shrouded figures who called out "unclean, unclean" as they passed by. . The leprosy image came to mind recently when I read about the Rev. Scott Allen. A Baptist minister in Texas, his life was slowly and horribly transformed when his pregnant wife was diagnosed with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, contracted duringa blood transfusion. The couple's two children were subsequently infected. The .mother and one son have died.

The other infected son is now 10.

After the situation become known, Mr. Allen and his family were discouraged from attending Baptist churches: They were unclean. Their fellow Christians did not want the family at their services, or attending their Sunday schools.

It hardly takes a deep reading of

the New Testament to see that brought not peace but the sword such behavior is anything but also healed lepers, wept for the Christlike. It also calls to mind the dead and offered up his own life story of St. Francis kissing the for all of us. His example of love is leper. Its lesson - that the leper a challenge to us all, especially became Christ - challenges any- during these plague years. one who has ever met an AIDS Guest commentary by Greg victim such as Mr. Allen.

Erlandson, editor in chief of Yet more than a few of us will Our Sunday Visitor express sympathy for a family like the Aliens because they are "innocent victims," while still condemning the homosexual or the drug user, refusing to help them, refusing even to pity them.

WASHINGTON(CNS)- HavThe church has a long tradition ing an abortion is practically and of helping those who suffer from taboo diseases and conditions. The legally easier than it was 20 years ago, but the psychological effects Father Damiens of the church on the 1.6 million women who have dealt with every disease from the Black Death to syphilis. How have them each year may be harder the disease was contracted was less to handle than ever.

Since the Supreme Court ruling important to them than the gracefilled opportunity to extend God's in Roe vs. Wade and Doe vs. Bolton on Jan. 22, 1973, effectively healing love to the sufferers.

Today, hundreds of laity and threw out most state restrictions religious are extending this heal- on abortion, the public attitude ing love to AIDS patients. They toward abortion has been radido not ask for a certificate of inno- cally altered, according to women cent victimhood. These Catholics who work with pregnant teens and see the suffering face of Christ and those who have had abortions.

"The first thing most women they respond. and girls think of abortion is 'if it's I have recently thought of that suffering face as I recall a child- legal it must be OK,'" said Denise hood playmate. His large Catholic Cacciolone, president of Birthright family was a twin to ours: together USA, an international organizawe could muster 14 children for tion that helps young women bring beach parties and picnics. My sis- pregnancies to term and cope with ters had a crush on him and would raising a child.

Because abortion has become follow him around at every family event. He bore their childish admi- more socially acceptable, women ration with the good humor that today are more poorly prepared for the emotional upheaval that characterized his personality.

I have not seen him since those follows, agreed Kathy Walker, long-ago days of hide-and-seek president of Women Exploited by and baseball, but I recently heard Abortion, a national support th!lt he was dying of AIDS. His . group. Until afterward, many suffering puts a face on the disease women "don't even think twice" for me, and it was his memory that about the lingering effects of havcame to mind when I read that ing an abortion, she said.

Since 1973, the percentage of bumper sticker's cruel message.

Catholics must be clear about pregnancies that end in abortion what the church teaches and that IOcreased from 19.3 in 1973 to 28.6 teaching will inevitably mean con- percent in 1988, according to the National Center for Health Staflict with those who disagree.

But the same Savior who said he tistics.

Abortion: easier, harder

We must die, then • we rise

Nun works to keep Gregorian chant alive

Acts 2:42-47 I Peter 1:3-9 John 20:19-31 Hearing today's readings, we long to return to "the good old days." We search for com'munities in which "those who believe share all things in common." We seek that "inexpressible joy touched with glory." And we yearn to take our finger and examine Jesus' hands, and put our hand into his side. Yet no matter how hard we try, we never seem to find those communities or experience such feelings or get that close to the Lord.

Perhaps the reason we can't reclaim the good things of the early church is because those are the only parts we're interested in reclaiming. We forget that our faith is a matter of dying, then rising, not just rising. If we omit the first, we can never attain the second.

So, especially today, we should listen to and remember all the readings, not hear and recall only the attractive sections.

The author of the baptismal homily which is the basis for I Peter sets the theme: "You may for a time have to suffer the distress of many trials; but this is so your faith ... may by its genuineness lead to praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ appears." It would be great if we coul.d achieve.genuineness without trials, but not eve'n Jesus could accomplish that.

John, differing from Luke, has the Holy Spirit come on Easter instead of Pentecost, and also adds the unique Thomas narrative to the occasion. We'd love to join the disciples that night in hearing the empowering words, "Receive the Holy Spirit," then, a week later, stand alongside the astonished Thomas and proclaim, "My Lord and my God." Yet notice that in both instances the disciples must come into contact with Jesus' suffering before "good things" happen. " ... He showed them his hands and his side... Take your finger and examine my hands. Put your hand into my side."

John, leaving nothing to chance, even tells us how to die with the Lord. "If you forgive anyone's sins," Jesus proclaims, ~'they are forgiven them; if you hold them. bound, they are held bound."

True followers of the Lord always try to imitate his knack of

DAilY READINGS April 19: Acts 4:23-31;' Ps 2:1-9; In 3:1-8 April 20: Acts 4:32-37; p's 93:1-2,5; In 3:7-15 April21: Acts 5:i7-26" Ps 34:2-9; In 3:16-21 ' April 22: Acts 5:27-33; Ps 34:2,9,17-20;' In 3:31-36 April 23: Acts 5:34-42; Ps 27:1,4,13-14; In 6:1-15.

April 24: Acts 6:1-7; pi;' 33:1-2,4-5,18-19; In 6:16-21 April 25: Acts 2:14,22-28; Ps 16:1~2,5,7,11; 1 Pt 1:1721; lk 24:13-35 .

By FATHER ROGER KARBAN forgiving people. (Really can't think of an instance in which he - tells us to hold anyone bound.

John simply seems to use this particular formula because of its parallelism.) Forgiveness is the Chris.tian's thing, and it's also the dying thing. There's no other way to reach eternal life.

The same. giving is behind the idyllic scene in our Acts pericope.

Such communities don't just happen by accident or come down from heaven as an answer to prayer. They're only created (and recreated) by hard work and sacrifice. What deep love and constant forgiveness must be present before the members could share .....all things in common." What else would give them the strength to " ...sell their property and goods, dividing everything on the basis of each one's need."

Most scholars doubt the early Jerusalem church actually lived such an ideal existence. Luke seems to be more describing the goal of his own community than remembering the past glories of another community. But even so he knows what it takes to realize the drea~ .. We cilll never separate Jesus; dying and rising from our everyday lives. That's why the author of I Peter reminds the newly baptized, "Although you have never seen him, you love him, and without seeing you believe in him .....

Christians do not follow a set of principles or a list of rules and regulations. We follow a person. As Father Richard McBrien states in his book Catholicism, "The Christian is a.person who has moved to a different level of human consciousness, i.e., is one who believes in Jesus Christ and whose whole life is shaped by that belief."

No wonder it's so impossible to return to "the good' old days."

There's nothing to return to.

They're here right now. But only those willing to imitate the Lord's death will be able to achieve them.

Reform discussed WASHINGTON (CNS) Health care 'reform must control costs and improve the health care delivery system if it is to succeed, a Catholic Health Association representative told President Clinton's Health Care Task Force. Sister Bernice Coreil, a Daughter of Charity who chairs the CHA's Leadership Task Force on National Health Policy Reform, was among more than five dozen speakers during the panel's 13-hour session at George Washington University in Wash·ington. "We can force the $5 aspirin down to a nickel, but if all we do is to achieve cost control, without delivery reform, I fear we will have failed our fellow citizens," said Sister Coreil senior vice president for syste~ integration Of the Daughters of Charity 'National 'Health System in St. Louis. '

ST. CLOUD, Minn. (CNS) Were he alive, Pope Gregory I, the late sixth-century father of Gregorian chant, would probably sing a hymn to praise Benedictine Sister Cecile Gertken.

Sister Gertken, 91, has dedicated herself to perpetuating the use of the centuries-old church chant and renewing its status in modern Christianity.

"Gregorian chant is our Christian heritage and the greatest body of melody in the history of music," she said in an interview with the Saint Cloud Visitor, the diocesan newspaper.

Gregorian chant is a plainchant set aside by most church musicians after the Second Vatican Co~ncil and the introduction of the vernacular into the liturgy. Sister Gertken has translated into English many early Latin hymns of praise that make up the official prayer of the church known as "Opus Dei," orthe"Work of God." She has published several of these translations, as well as "Chant Melodies Simplified," which contains her own principles of modal chant accompaniment.

Sister Gertken recently returned from Holy Trinity Abbey, a community of Trappist monks in Utah, where she is helping translate their "Liber Hymnarius" into English.

The monks' text includes two pictures, Pope Pius X and a French Benedictine monk, Father JeanHebert Desroquettes, who taught Sister Gertken and encouraged her to translate and thus preserve the sacred chants. "Those are my two patrons," she added.

Trappist, Benedictine and Dominican monasteries have traditionally been keepers of such texts' over the centuries. Sister Gertken plans to return to Utah soon to continue the work.

"Those texts are gorgeous they go right to the bottom of your soul," she said. "I told them, 'You

have treasure in your antiphons.' I . also the musical scale embedded in the text. made the translations direct. The "There are not many people monks can sing them at prayer doing what Sister Gertken is doing services." nowadays," said Benedictine Father The word "prayer" is paramount Bartholomew Sayles, a friend and to Sister Gertken's musical philadvocate with whom Sister Gertosophy.

"If they're not sung as prayers, ken translates texts. "She is very skilled at languages." even these beautiful hymns can be Sister Gertken brushes aside such stiff and dead as the dickens," she praises, calling her work "drudgery, said. "But when sung as prayers not genius." they're delightful and a great source "I give credit to the Spirit, not of peace' because prayer is a source me," she said, "because I'm just a of peace."

The difficulty in Sister Gcrtken's plain old Midwestern nun. The Holy Spirit doesn't need me -he's translation lies in retaining not only the sense of the original but running the church very well."

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6

The Anchor Friday, Apr. 16, 1993

By FATHER JOHN J. DIETZEN Q. I read your column in our ar(:hdiocesan newspaper some weeks ago in answer to a gay alcoholic who was confused and wanted help.

I am gay also and was also once very confused. About 10 years ago I joined a Catholic group called Courage. It has helped me a great deal. If others write to you who are

"Courage" offers help to homosexuals gay and are trying to live a chaste life, you could tell them about this group.

I know how the person who wrote to you feels. Members of Courage have the same goals and have been a great example to me.

(New York) A. Coincidentally, in the same mail with your letter I received a note and good information from Father John Harvey, the founder and director of Courage.

I am grateful to both of you, and others who expressed the same sentiments.

Courage was founded 13 years ago in New York and now has a number of chapters in the United States. Its purposes, as outlined by Father Harvey, are for members I)

To live chaste lives in accord with the Catholic Church's teachings; 2) To dedicate their lives to Christ through prayer and other spiritual works; 3) To foster a spirit of fellowship so no one needs to face the problems of sexuality alone; 4) To encourage chaste friendships which are not only possible but necessary; 5) To live lives that may serve as good examples to other homosexuals. , New York's CardinalJohn O'Connor is a strong supporter and sponsor of Courage. As he pointed out in one of his columns, there is no room in Catholic teaching for contempt for any human person.

"The church rejects homosexual activity as immoral." he said, but

"the church embraces the homosexual person as sacred, made in the image and likeness of God, as is every other person."

According to the cardinal, "Courage exists for one purpose: to help.

It is not interested in criticizing, indicting, condemning or giving anyone a hard time in any way.

"It offers a sympathetic ear and understanding advice to those who want to talk or listen. No obligations, no hassling, no charge."

I should also note that many dioceses in the country have established offices or personnel to be available to homosexual men and women for the same kinds of assistance that Courage offers. . To find out what is available in

your area, call the chancery office of your diocese.

Further information on Courage and its chapters is available by writing to Father Harvey at the New York headquarters, 424 West 34th St., New York, N. Y., 1000 /.

Or one may phone (212) 421-0426.

Inquiries are welcome from parents, spouses and others and can be made anonymously if desired.

A free brochure answering questions Catholics ask about receiving 'Holy Eucharist is available by sending a stamped self-addressed envelope to Father John Dietzen, Holy Trinity Church, 704 N. Main St., Bloomington, Ill. 61701.

Quesfions for this column should be sent to the same address.

They forgive those who trespass against them By DOLORES CURRAN

This column is for two kinds of people: those who insist that the world is no darn good and those who hold that churchgoers are hypocrites.

Every so often. in the midst of our mayhem-focused media. a gem ofa story emerges that proves that God is alive and well in some of.his people. One such story caug.ht my attention and I'll share it here with you.

Back in 1990. Asbury Methodist Church in Springfield. Missouri. was burglarized. A thief

broke in and stole some sound equipment and an electrical keyboard. The pastor. Dustin Cooper. confesses that he was angry and so was the congregation.

A year later. the 18-year-old thief was arrested. his first arrest.

He prepared to go to jail. His wife and stepson resigned themselves to going on food stamps and AFDC. However. a funny thing happened on the way to jail. The pastor, acting in the name of the church. asked for probation and clemency. Thejudge honored their request. The burglar now has a job. which he didn't have when he committed his crime. and he and his family have since attended several services at Asbury Methodist.

What happened? Reverend Cooper explained. As he prayed and worked through his initial anger over the burglary. he learned that the thief had been caught and that

under the county's victim-advocate program. church members had a voice in the sentencing.

Cooper says. "Once he was arrested, my hope and prayer was that this was an opportunity for the church to make an impact on his life - that he and the church would meet and reconcile."

The pastor preached on the topic, inviting the congregation to consider the burglar's fate, and then prepared cards listing four choices which he distributed to parishioners, asking them to select one.

Only (, percent wanted jail, 6 percent wanted the judge to make the decision. and 82 percent wanted probation with community service.

The judge concurred with the wishes of the 82 percent and the thief was spared imprisonment.

He said. "I waS in shock. I couldn't understand why they were doing this. I'd grown up in a fun-

damentalist church, and I'd seen bad stuff happen between church members. I'd never seen anything like these guys."

He asked the pastor, "Why are you doing this?"

"We just wanted you to know' we forgave you," Rev. Cooper replied.

I suspect cynics will snicker about the naivete of the do-gooders in Asbury Methodist's pews. It's our initial response to incidents that point up our own dark sides and hypocrisies. As much as we tout our Christian values. most of us don't like to be reminded of the need to be forgivers and lovers of others. not when there are laws to punish them for trespassing against us.

But here is a community offaith that takes the Gospel seriously.

The pastorsays the incidenfsj>Urred a lot of discussion and searching

among church members. He believes that Christians are called to balance issues of justice and grace and to encourage reconciliation between victims and criminals. To that end, he courageously exercised leadership, risking the censure of some.

Will the thief steal again? Perhaps. There are no guarantees that forgiveness insures repentance and right living. Our relationship with our endlessly forgiving God proves that.

But the real winners in this story are the Asbury Methodists who, when given an opportunity to forgive and reconcile with the trespasser. did so in a spirit of prayer. discernment. and community. They no longer had to discuss forgiveness in the abstract. in mere sermo.ns aQd Sunday.School. God sent' them' a tc'st' case and they passed. .

Call it coincidence, or call it grace By ANTOINETTE BOSCO

More and more I find myself in a state of wonder over events one would call coincidence. Yet, when you consider how profoundly they affect some people, you have to believe there is a more powerful force at work.

My sister Loretta, a physical therapist, recently told me such a

By Dr. JAMES & MARY KENNY

story. She works with young, middle-aged and elderly people anyone' who has a physical disability and not much money.

One of her patients is a 30-yearold unwed mother confined to a wheelchair. Her preschool child's father, "George," has a severe drug problem and doesn't work enough to support himself, let alone the family.

My sister has had a hard time dealing with George. She describes him as an utterly charming man who can deceive people with his sincerity and lovableness.

But Loretta is not taken in by George's charm. She tells him outright that she thinks he needs to

search his soul, ask God's forgive- . the school he attended for religion God ar.ranged that our mother would pick up this book and keep ness and straighten out his life. classes.

Well, as it happened, one of the The next day, Loretta visited it until the right time came to aged women Loretta cares for George. She handed him the Bible return it to its owner.

I think that another word for recently asked Loretta to find a and asked if he had ever seen that such "coincidences" is "grace."

Bible for her. The woman wanted book before.

We've heard the' word often, as in to read the 23rd Psalm again. perHe began to cry as memories "There but for the grace of God go haps in preparation for what she from an innocent age flowed back.

I." But do we ever reflect enough perceived to be the nearing end of Loretta told him to keep the Bible, on what grace really means? her life. not as a closed book but as a living Loretta and I believe that somemessage.

My mother had an extra, slightly how God used her as his instru-' worn Bible which she gave to When Loretta told me this incred- ment in dispensing a moment of Loretta. ible story, we speculated on how it grace to George. It is now up to happened. Our mother can't recall George to accept or reject the gift.

That night, Loretta said, she how she got the Bible, but thinks it opened the Bible and noticed some But no matter how the next might have been at a used book- chapter turns out, this story reveals writing on the inside cover. There store somewhere. . once again that the Lord truly in a boy's handwriting was George's name, his address and the name of Loretta believes that somehow works in mysterious ways.

Empty nest? Consider foster parentin'g younger and more energetic parents? - New York The worldly wisdom of the '80s suggested that you "take care of No. /." You have a right to your own time and your own pleasures.

Dear Dr. Kenny: My wife and I are considering becoming foster parents. We have raised three children. Our youngest graduates from high school this year.

But the truest joys come from loving and giving and serving others. We are happiest and most fulfilled when we are doing someone a favor, helping someone with studies, giving someone a ride, watching them open our gift.

Our family and some friends are trying to discourage us. They say we've done our duty; that now it's time to sit back and relax.

We feel we still have something to offer children. Do you think we are too old? Is this a job for

Loving is a selfish activity because it's fun. As one loving p~rson said to her friend: "I like myself loving you." It feels good to do well for another.

You are right, and your friends are wrong. If you want to care for

children by providing them a home and foster parenting, do it.

I don't wish to sugarcoat it.

Foster parenting is hard. Often, children in need of a home are older (5-15) and perhaps in some trouble. They may need heIp with their studies or in controlling their behavior.

You may take some abuse from the children. Many are "street savvy" and know how to cause problems. Foster parents have been falsely accused of abuse and even molestation. Foster children are angry at a world that has to this point treated them shabbily.

Because of the problems, foster parents should be experienced.

Your friends say that you have already "done your duty." I say

that your parenting experience is a valuable asset.

While foster parenting is difficult, I know of no more beautiful calling.

These children need stability and consistency. They need shelter and nutrition. They need someone to make sure their homework is done.

They need male and female role models.

Providing a home and shelter is one ofthe corporal works of mercy.

You should see this not as a chore, but as an opportunity to make a difference in a life as yet unshaped, a soul still awaiting direction.

If you are really interested in being a foster parent, contact your local welfare department. Today there are also some private agencies that license foster homes.

Congratulations on your good will. Foster parenting is definitely a challenge, one that costs effort, but the return is deep, and it defines who and what you are as a person.

Reader questions on family living and child care to be answered in print are invited by The Kennys; 219 W. Harrison St.; Rensselaer, Ind. 47978

Wisdom "Never mistake knowledge for wisdom. One helps you make a

living; the other helps you make a life." - Sandra Carey

The Anchor Standing by the lion, facing west, Friday, April 16, 1993 one sees the lip of a concrete stadium and the Olympic torch that Pastor Emeritus, Mt. Carmel, flamed so brightly in 1984 when Seekonk the Winter Games were held in Sarajevo.

April 22 April 18 Next to the stadium is a hulk of 1910, Rev. James L. Smith, Pas1935, Rev. Hugh B. Harrold, twisted concrete and steel. the tor, Sacred Heart, Taunton Pastor, St. Mary, Mansfield indoor arena where Olympic skat1954, Rev. Thomas F. Fitzgerald, 1956, Rt. Rev. John F. McKeon, ers once competed. The rQof is colP. R., Pastor; St. Lawrence, New Pastor, St. Mary, Nantucket lapsing after countless mortar Bedford barrages.

1984, Rev. Joao Vieira Resendes, Off to the left lies a football field Retired Pastor, Espirito Santo, studded with diagonal rows of Fall River graves - the surplus from Lion's 1985, Rev. Wilfred C. Boulanger, Cemetery.

M.S., LaSalette Shrine, Attleboro The last stop for many Saraje1992, Rev. George A. Amaral, vans before they reach Lion's Retired Pastor, St. Anth0ny, cemetery is Kosevo hospital, whose Taunton trauma clinic and morgue are just down the street.

April 19 The clinic, one of four major 1975, Rev. Msgr. Leo J. Duart, trauma centers in Sarajevo, has Pastor, St. Peter the Apostle, treated neaTly 11,000 war-wound.ed Provincetown since the siege began. More than 1990, Rev. Daniel E. Carey, 500 people arrived at the hospital Chaplain, Catholic Memorial EXECUTIVE PLAZA dead, killed by bullets or shells.

Home, Fall River 101 President Ave.· Fall River Seventy percent of all the war cas- ' (Comer of Davol 51. & President Ave.) April 20 ualties have been civilians.

Route 6, East & West 1954, Rev. Edward F. Coyle, On a busy day, Kosevo's driveS.S., St. Mary Seminary, Baltiway is a scene of such horror that more, MD even hardned war photographers 1970, Rev. James E. O'Reilly, turn away.

Honking horns announce the arrival of the wounded. People with gaping chest wounds and CHRISTIAN PRO LIFER missing limbs are dragged from cars and trucks, placed on bloodHELPER ApOSTOLIC encrusted stretchers and wheeled ADVISOR inside.

TRUE When shelling is heavy, a dozen RESTORER casualties may arrive in quick sucHOLY , MEDICATOR cession. Teams of doctors and nurses, sometimes numbering 10 A NHABORTIONIST or 15, fight to stabilize a single ONE patient.

CAREGIVER THOMAS PASTERNAK "This was a good trauma clinic LOVING Pharmacist INSTRUCTOR before the war, but nothing prepared us for these wounds," says INFALLIBLE SPECIAliST Kosevo's Qr. Faris Gavrankap202 Rock St. etanovic.

CHARITABLl T HERAPI(JTIST Fall River Across from the clinic is a twoThe National Catholic Pharmacists Guild of the United States 679·1300 story morgue. A blue log records 4,662 bodies over the past 12 months, 90 percent of them war dead.

"It has been a terrible time," says morgue director Alija Hodzic, who in the past year has seen his son, nephew, niece and several cousins carried into the morgue.

"We expected a war, but who could have imagined this?" he asked.

7

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THE HUMAN TOLL of Bosnia's civil war is graphically shown in these pictures: at top, the feet of a IO-year-old boy, killed when a Serb shell hit his school, protrude from the morgue blanket covering his body; bottom, Lion's Cemetery in Sarajevo, where all but two trees have been cut down both to make room for more graves and to provide heat for freezing residents. (CNS/ Reuters photo)

A year of civil war gorges Sarajevo cemetery with dead SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (CNS) - Lion's Cemetery is gorged with dead.

Thousands of graves spill down the Sarajevo hillside, snow-covered earthen mounds packed so tightly that mourners are unable to step between them.

This is the harvest of war, a dreadful crop sown over centuries of ethnic conflict and reaped during a brutal 12-month siege.

Muslims lie under weathered wooden tablets impressed with stars and half-moons. Simple crosses, mark the Serb and Croat dead.

Latin letters spell the names of Muslims and Catholic Croats.

Cyrillic characters identify Orthodox Serbs.

Communist and atheists have red stars on their markers; Jews, the star of David.

The rows of graves delineate history and religion more neatly , than life in this city ever did.

Once reserved for World War II partisans and senior government officials, the cemetery has been filled to overflowing by Bosnia's civil war, which began in April 1992.

The shell-blasted statue of a somber, brooding lion presides over the fallen, its masonry hindquarters blown a,way to expose metal reinforcing rods and red brick.

Two lone pines flank the statue,

their lower branches lopped away.

The dead had lain here in treeshaded languor for decades, but now the slope is stark. Stranded without electricity, heating oil or gas for most of the winter, Sarajevo's residents have cut down all the trees for firewood.

Near the bottom of the cemetery lies the simple grave of Vedrana Glavas, a 3-year-old girl shot dead by a sniper last August as she was being evacuated from Sarajevo on a bus loaded with other children.

The day Vedrana was buried, the cemetery came under mortar fire, and her grandmother was critically wounded.

Farther up the hill, the grave of Denis Bosankic lies next to a muddy footpath.

When this l5-year-old was carried to the cemetery in an open plywood coffin last summer, a huge wad of cotton covered his lower face like a Santa Claus beard.

The boy's jaw had been blown away by a shell fragment, and the cotton disguised his wound.

Denis's mother collapsed as the earth thudded on his coffin and dull echoes of shells exploded in the hills above Sarajevo.

"Why? Why? Why?" she screamed, beating her chest.

Soldiers, rough men from the trenches with raw hands and stubble on their chins, wept beside her.

11:

Thank you Dear Editor: We would like to thank you for your assistance with publicity for the Fall River Diocesan Council of Catholic Nurses. You have helped us spread the word of our organization to others and we are very grateful.

Joan Morin Past President, FR DCCN

Corrections In an April 2 Anchor article on Birthright of Greater Fall River, it was incorrectly stated that Birthright supplies baby furniture. This is no longer the case.

Also, the STAND youth group of Somerset is an independent organization, not a Birthright support group, although it has assisted Birthright with baby food donations.

Half the Evil "Half the evil in the world is gossip started by good people." Edgar Howe

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8

THE ANCHOR -

Diocese of Fall River -

Fri., Apr. 16, 1993

EARTH-A WORK OF ART: Natural beauty is embodied in Minnehaha Falls, near Minneapolis, where waters cascade more than 50 feet before continuing their journey to the Mississippi River. (eNS photo)

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Environmentalists aren't the culprit

By Dr. James and Mary Kenny Dear Dr. Kenny: I am now laid off because the greenies closed my plant. Our company may even have to go through bankruptcy. I have three children and my family is suffering. Neither my wife nor I can find other work.

This environmental group.found , some technicality that showed our plant was polluting the air. They filed suit and now our company must make a lot of expensive changes, maybe more than they can afford in the present state or' the economy. ' Please write in your column that environmental groups should show more compassion for jobs and families. (New Jersey) Being without work causes great suffering, both to individuals and to families. I am certainly in sympathy with you in your unemployment and in your pain.

I cannot, however, ask anyone concerned about the environment to ease up on their efforts because times are difficult. I don't know of any moral issue that is more important than the fact that we are slowly destroying our world.

Recently, I heard a news commentator remark that a major purpose of the Challenger space-flight missions was to determine if our atmosphere would still be breathable in a hundred years.

If circumstances are that serious, then jobs won't matter.

Noone argues that the loss of a job is not a critical life event.

However, life on this planet and the survival of us all, especially our grandchildren, takes a much higher priority.

Already, toxic wastes in landfills have been known to cause increased rates of cancer. A depleted ozone layer makes us vulnerable to increased warmth and other more deadly sun rays.

We are polluting the land, the seas and the air with unwarranted extravagance and in ways that may quickly become irreversible.

Some say that the environmentalists have overstated the seriousness of the situation. Looked at objectively, considering that the life of our very Earth is the issue, I think the concern is understated.

Nevertheless, businesses object to environmental concerns when they are forced to bear the cost of clean-up. Unions object whenjobs are at stake.

Fortunately, our country is a democracy where all sides of an issue can be urged in our legislatures in our courts. When a law is passed, and then holds up in a court hearing, that is some indication that the law makes sense.

In blaming the environmentalists for your loss of a job, I think you

have the wrong culprit. There are plenty of potential jobs available in the business of cleaning up our environment.

European industry is well ahead of us in the technology and the manufacture ofequipment to detect danger signs, to clean up the air and water, and to detoxify the land.

Potential jobs are there. Of course, there will be displacement of jobs and persons into other industries.

I Unfortunately, to date, American capital has been afraid to take the risk ofdeveloping this new industry.

State and national legislatures have been remiss in providing the incentives for recycling and constructive use of wastes.

If I were a worker or an investor today, I would not try to fight changes that attempted to clean and improve the environment.

Rather, I would invest my money or seek a job in the ,industries'of the future, those industries focused on recycling, detoxifying and the constructive use of waste.

This is our hope. Clearly, where there is hope, there is also risk, the risk of losing money or job. But I believe that the greater risk is to remain as is, in jobs that spew great quantities of waste into our landfills, our waters and our atmosphere.

Religions slow in protecting environment WASHINGTON (CNS) - Although the theologies ofthe Western world's major religions define mankind's relationship with the earth as that of caretaker, the faiths' modern traditions have been less conscientious about protecting the planet, said panelists at a theological discussion on the environment.

The lively forum, hosted by Georgetown University's' Woodstock Theological Center, brought together Catholic, Protestant and Jewish officials: Panelists offered several explanations for why the mainstream . religions have been slow to act to protect the environment.

One problem is that the Protestant tradition in particular is based on a "pyramid of power" philosophy in which men are ranked highest, with lesser importance ascribed in descending order to women, children, animals and the earth itself, said Elizabeth Dodson Gray, coordinator of the Theological Opportunities Program at Harvard Divinity SchooL "Nature has been seen as merely a stage for the drama being played out between God and man;" said Ms. Gray, author of "Green Paradise Lost," an environmental book.

In approving a statement on the environment in 1991, the U.S. Catholic bishops were "very conscious they were entering into a dialogue that has long been under way," said Jesuit Father Drew Christiansen, director of the Office for International Justice and Peace of the U.S. Catholic Conference.

He said the document is more of a theological and ethical contribution to protecting the environment than a policy statement. "That would have taken another five years."

The document explains Catholic teachings that are applicable to environmental concerns and outlines theological and pastoral concerns.

Jewish theology applicable to

the environment is rooted in biblical concepts of stewardship, explained Rabbi David Saperstein, ' codirector and counsel of th~ Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism.

Story after story in Jewish tradition relates God's expectation that man should care for all of creation, he said. "We enjoy only a borrowed authority over the earth."

Rabbi Saperstein agreed with Ms. Gray's contention that the slow response of organized religion to environmental problems' stems from ingrained attitudes.

Also, "the religious community

didn't know how to do it, how to grasp hold of the problem,'" he said.

A respondent to the principal speakers said the world's economic community needs the sort of guidance religious groups can provide.

"We need ethical guidance and we need it now," said Jane Pratt of World Bank.

"The World Bank deals with practices, not theology," she said.

In the process of investing $24 billion annually in developing nations, "we become acutely aware of what economic change can and cannot d o ."

Earth: A work of art

By Father Eugene Hemrick If you want to generate respect for the Earth in children, it ,is essential to tell them the basic story of the Earth and the universe it inhabits. .

At least that is what Brian Swimme, of the video series "The Story of Our Times," thinks.

Swimme, the teacher in the series, is an educator par excellence for an ecologically minded age.

Telling the Earth's story, he follows the planet's path around the sun, introducing at the same time the other planets makingtheir way around our same sun, then leading our eyes outward into the universe toward the Milky Way and the Virgo cluster.

Aided by visual presentations, he builds in viewers a sense of the vastness of it all - its awesomeness. Within us, he explains, is a natural drive to discover how all this came about.

Why learn about our origins?

So that we may live. When we no longer desire to know our origins, we begin to find it all too easy to forget the reverence and awe the Earth is due and to bring down ' destruction u~on it.

The great German thinker

Goethe said that when he was writing well it was not he who wrote, it was the universe writing. Swimme uses that idea to explain that children must get so swept up in the universe that it becomes one with them. For once a child experiences a sense of awe at the universe, his or her imagination no longer will find rest.

The energy within the universe, the .life-sustaining forces in the solar system, the astounding results of the compression of hydrogen atoms: Such realities suggest to us that all is a work of art, a mystery that ultimately leads to God. The universe is a story - an unfolding story that must be told the children, Swimme emphasizes.

Children must be taught that they have entered into a journey with the universe, which itself is on a journey.

Sit down with children. Get their imaginations going. Perhaps some of us who are older need to concede that we have grown less imaginative over time, with the result that our own sense of awe at the universe has diminished.

But it is clear, lively youthful imaginations must be kept alive if we are to keep our universe alive.

Federal budget

THE ANCHOR -

If the u.s. budget is rep-resented by S15, iust 15 cents is spent on forengn aid. Of that, only 4 cents is targetea to reduce hunger and poverty in environmentally sound w.ays.

Of the $14.7 trillion federal budget for 1993, $14.7 billion - one percent - will be spent on foreign aid. Of that amount, only an estimated $3.7 billion will be spent on programs targeted at reducing hunger and poverty in environmentally sound ways; $4.8 billion will be spent on lower-priority economic and food aid programs; and $6.2 billion on military and security aid. Bread for the World's "Many' Neighbors, One Earth" campaign seeks to reprioritize the foreign aid budget to better help hungry people.

Bread for World hopes to refocus foreign aid

Concurrently the Christian citizens' movement will mount its annual Offering of Letters, this year asking participants to urge their representatives in Congress to vote for increased funding for developmental programs which reduce hunger and poverty in environmentally sound ways.

Fri., Apr. 16, 1993

Foreign aid budget

4 cents are targeted to poor and hungry people

WASHINGTON (CNS) - The president of Bread for the World, a Christian citizens' movement, has called on the U.S. government to "revamp" foreign aid programs by replacing a Cold- W~r focus ~n military relief with developmental aid efforts.

"We need to shift aid from Cold War purposes which had driven it for so many years, and seize this opportunity to reallocate resour-. ces to sustainable development," said David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World, at a news conference last week.

He said recent relief efforts in Somalia showed that by withholding aid from dictators, paying attention to hunger on a constant basis, and thoroughly revamping U.S. foreign aid, similar situations could be averted.

Between 1981 and 1990, the United States gave Somalia $748 million in aid. Eighty percent, or $622 million, of the money was for military aid, and only $126 million went to development, said Beck. mann. He called for a change in the formula and said Bread for the World is working on a legislative campaign called "Many Neighbors, One Earth," which joins public interest groups that share concernsabout U.S. foreign aid policy.

Diocese of Fall River -

A SOMALIAN child with sticklike arms waits hopefully for food. (CNS/ Reuters photo) U.S. foreign aid policies, say Bread for the World officials.

After walking 30 miles from' their village, Kuresh and her husband arrived with their infant at a UNICEF feeding center in Baidoa, Somalia. Their journey began after militia, fighting in the Somali civil war, stole their sheep, cattle and grain. With no way to feed their son, they went to the feeding center but it was too late for Mahoumoud. As The New York Times reported. they had only the sad task of burying him.

Mahoumoud's family had been self-sufficient. Their animals and grain had provided them with ample resources for food and shelter. But as innocent victims in a lawless civil war, they could not provide enough food to keep their newborn alive.

Their personal tragedy did not need to happen. Had the industrialized countries of the world promoted democracy and respect for human rights, and provided Somalia with seeds and tools, rather than guns and "security aid," hundreds of thousands of lives might have been spared.

In many churches, such letters For more than three decades, are taken up in a collection basket Communism has been the fighting for later mailing, combining the project with prayer for action on . driving force behind U.S. aid programs. As a result, nearly half of the part of lawmakers. all foreign aid dollars provide milThe Need for Change itary and security assistance to The story of four-month-old strategic allies. Yet well-targeted Mahoumoud Abdul, the only child foreign aid programs can help of 22-year-old Kuresh Mohamed, transform a region, meeting basic points up the need for change in human needs, protecting fragile

ecosystems and promoting peace and democracy.

A successful example is the African Development Foundation, which awards grants to self-help development projects. One such project brought safe drinking water to the people of two villages in Tanzania, where previously children and adults suffered from preventable illnesses such as intestinal w'orms and diarrhea and women and children walked miles daily to fetch water.

Other African programs teach environmentally sound farming practices, provide inexpensive immunizations against childhood diseases and promote breastfeeding, child nutrition, sanitation and maternal health.

Self-help development projects are vital in responding to poor and hungry people around the worl~.

The U.S. foreign aid program can be a unique means of alleviating hunger and poverty overseas; and Bread for the World wants to see the finding and applying of environmentally sound ways of accomplishing this made its central purpose.

The "Many Neighbors, One Earth" campaign requires no new funds. It simply seeks to redirect foreign aid dollars toward poverty reduction programs with proven track records.

Further illlformation on the Offering of Letters campaign is available from David Fouse at Br'ead for the World, 802 Rhode Island Ave., NE Washington DC 20018.

9

GRANT A WARDED: Stonehill College president Father Bartley MacPhaidin and director of intercultu~al affairs Jean Hamler receive the first installment of the Balfour Endowment for Community Enhancement from Fleet Bank executives Leon Wilson, senior vice president of the Fleet Endowment and Foundation Management Division (far left) and Dennis Murphy, executive vice president and a Stonehill alumnus.

(Bauman photo)

Stonehill gets grant to support minority students Stonehill College. North Easton. to provide incoming minority has received a $300.000 grant from freshmen with academic and social the Balfour Foundation for reorientation; The Minority Graduate Initicruitment. education and financial support of minority students. The ative: an effort to increase the first installment of the grant was number of minority faculty candirecently presented to college presdates at Stonehill and other inident Father Bartley MacPhaidin. stitutions; CSc. by Leon Wilson. senior vice - Balfour Scholars: scholarships president of the Endowment and a warded yearly to needy minority Foundation ManagementDivision undergraduates. of Fleet Bank. the 'Balfour FounThe program will help the coldation's sole trustee. lege "continue to move forward in The foundation was established' our efforts to establish programs by the late 1.I0yd G. Balfour. and support services to promote . f~under of the Balfour Company. diversitv in our student populato fund programs which encourt~O;l and to make quality educaage urban minority youth in purtion available to aiL" said Father suing education.

MacPhaidin.

The Balfour Endowment for Founded in 194X. Stonehill ColCommunity Enhancement will have lege is an indepcndent undergradthe following components: uate institution affiliatep with Talent Search: a minoritv priests and brothers of the Conrecruitment program to work i~ gregation of Holy Cross. It enrolls conjunction with existing programs 1.920 full-time students in its day of that type: divisi()n and 1.000 evening division students. _. Explore: a summer program

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10

THE ANCHOR-Diocese of Fall River-Fri., Apr. 16, 1993

A t diocesan health facilities ANNE MARIE KELLY, RN, staff development coordinator at Catholic Memorial Home, Fall River, recently earned certification in staff development and education from the American Association of Nurses. The certification program recognizes achievement in specific areas of nursing.

recently requested a unique birthday gifL She asked family members to give money towards a gift for the Manor, rather than herself.

Their response resulted in the purchase of a year's worth of videotapes of the Lawrence Welk Show-a big hit with residents who can now experience the nostalgia on the home's large format TV.

* * * * THOMAS F. HEALY, administrator, and Kay LeBrun, RNC, director of nursing at Marian Manor, Taunton, were judges for the recent Taunton High School science fair.

* * * *

* * * *

AMONG EVENTS planned for May, Older Americans Month, are a resident lunch May 14' at Catholic Memorial Home, to which guests from other homes will be invited; an Over Nineties Tea May 13 at Madonna Manor; and a M other's Day Mass and refreshments May 10 at Our Lady's Haven.

A Mother's Day luncheon will be held May 9 at Marian Manor, with opening ceremonies for National Nursing Home Week the fOllowing day.

JUNE MANN, a dietary aide at Madonna Manor, North Attleboro,

From Care Giver, newsletter of the diocesan health facilities

* * * * THE LIGHTEN UP' Group at Our Lady's Haven, Fairhaven, meets weekly at lunchtime to provide support for maintaining healthy diets. After four weeks, the 15 members had collectively lost over 100 pounds!

Old

By Dolores Curran Last year marked my 25th year as a columnist so I am into a second generation of readers. Some readers have asked if I will repeat some of myoid columns because they didn't understand or appreciate them 25 years ago. So, I will accede to this request occasionally, always indicating that a particular column isa rerun. The following is one.

Old is...

Old is reading that the high schoo leI's are holding a Fabulous Fifties dance and wearing oldfashioned clothes.

Old is mentioning that your hall closet is a Fibber McGee closet and being the only one in the room who knows what that is.

Old is saying, "the War" and everyone asks, "Which warT' Old is remembering when you bought the family groceries for $23 a week.

Old is how you feel when somebody tells you nostalgia is dangerous. .

Old is being able to recall the hue and cry against the crew cut when it first came in.

Old is remembering a time when you didn't know a divorced person.

Old is how you feel when your grandchildren ask you if they had hospitals when you were born.

Old is knowing people who lost children to strep throat a generation or two ago.

Old is a reality every time you say, "When I was your age ...."

Old is telling your wide-eyed granddaughter about filling up your dance card with potential dates at the prom. .

Old is remembering when.peopie gossiped about women who dyed their hair.

Old is explaining to your grandkids what Lent used to be like.

Old is recalling a time that four children were considered a small family.

Old is trying on your wedding dress and crying at how it has shrunk.

Old is feeling peppy and ready

•

IS ••• to attack the world each morning until about 9 A. M. Old is not having to impress people anymore and not having all the answers anymore.

Old is comfoltable.

Sacred Heart Home With an increasing number of residents who speak Portuguese, Sacred Heart Home, New Bedford, has formed a Portuguese Club so that residents may speak their native language and socialize with others who share similar backgrounds. The group's monthly meetings include enjoyment of Portuguese cuisine and viewing of videos about the different islands of their ancestral land ..

Upcoming events include a coffee social with karaoke lfIusic 1:30 p.m. April 22; a fashion show 1:30 p.m. April27; and the April Birthday recognition party 1:30 p.m.

April29 with music by Andy Rivet.

Pet therapy is held every Tuesday afternoon at I :30 with visitors Ed Dupont and pet therapy dog Ozzie.

praye~BOX To the Holy Spirit Come,O Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful, and kindle in them the fire of your love. 0 God, who did instruct the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant us by the same Spirit to be truly wise and eYer to rejoice in his consolation, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

SALUTING SENIORS

PRE-SCHOOLERS at Ursuline Child Development Center, Louisville, Ky., present handmade cards to Ursuline Sister Mary DeChantal Mulligan as she celebrates her 105th birthday. She says being around children has kept her young. (CNS photo)

Calix helps alcoholics He's ~n years old now and "OK from the hips up." but the longtime spiritual director of Calix, an international group of Catholic alcoholics. declares he is now living in the "vestibule of heaven."

The Rev. Arnold E. Luger, a recovering alcoholic himself, has spent most of his almost 62 years as a priest counseling people with addiction problems. "It's very priestly work," he said.

Father's vestibule of heaven is apartment No. 102 in Holy Family Residence, St. Paul, MN, a retirement home operated by the Little Sisters of the Poor. "We have the total services of the Church here," he said, plus care, love and companionship.

Although he moved into the residence some 12 years ago, Father Luger continued to work asa speaker, counselor, retreatmaster and spiritual advisor on alcoholism until a few years ago "when my health gave out," and he could not walk unaided.

Seated in his comfortable apartment with the Mississippi River in plain view. he was wearing his Roman collar. black suit and a tan cardigan. With his walker close b~·. Father Luger toyed with his cane as he recalled a long career in which his' illness turned into an avocation and then a career.

He saw the start of Alcoholics Anonymous in Minnesota in 1941, used its services himself and was then assigned by his archbishop to work full time in what had become his personal ministry to alcoholics.

Calix (Latin for chalice) began in 1949. Fathcr Luger said, when the Rev. Rudy Nolan. a Minneapolis pastor. suggested the idea to the late Archbishop.lohnGregory Murray of St. Paul. It should be like AA. the priest said. but more spiritual ..· invol\'ing active participa~ tion in the sacramental life of the Church.

With the archbishop's blessing, Calix spread swiftly in Minnesota, gradually across the country, and eventually abroad. Membership has fluctuated, but some 1,000 members now belong to 50 units around the world. Foreign chapters operate in Canada, England and Scotland. and an inquiry has just arrived from Poland.

Father Luger became Calix spiritual director in 1966 and kept the job for a quarter century,. He

writes now and then for the ''Chalice," the society newsletter, and sends out copies of his handbook, "Calix and the Twelve Steps," available at 7601 Wayzata Blvd., Minneapolis, MN 55426.

Calix is not a substitute for AA. he explained. "We insist members have a background in AA." he said. and they arc asked to maintain the sobriety called for in AA. Like many Catholic societies, Calix has a majority of older members. That's not surprising, Father Luger said, because awareness of the need [Qr greater spirituality'in dealing with the disease of alcoholism is a mature decision.

"Alcoholism is a physical, mental and spiritual illness," he said in a 1976 interview. "It usually starts with spiritual problems, and these are most often the last to be cured.

The alcoholic drinks because he's not comfortable with life."

"High-rises are full of alcoholics," he said. "When people retire, they have time on their hands without any outside activity. They play cards together, spend time together, then drink together."

He sees Calix as a logical outgrowth of the AA emphasis on the importance of a higher power. "In Calix meetings," Father Luger

By

BERNARD

CASSERLY

writes in the society handbook. "we can help our weak and, many times, poorly instructed yet searching fellow Catholics to a mature appreciation of their faith. and guide them to a return to a union with God through the sacraments."

Father Luger recalls with specialjoy the day in 1974 when Pope Paul VI gave his personal blessing to the work of Calix in an audience with 85 Calix members celebrating the 25th anniversary of the society.

His alcoholic counseling is limited now to his pen, tel,ephone and visitors, but Father Luger thanks God for his long and happy life as a priest. He offers Mass daily, concelebrating with a blind and much younger priest. Each helps the other at the altar of God in the Little Sisters of the Poor vestibule of heaven.

There is a Calix chapter in St. Joseph parish, Taunton. Editor.

News from Councils on Aging Provincetown Jean Carbonell of Age Span Psychologists, West Barnstable, will lead three workshops of interest to seniors and their families.

Programs are: April 30: "Understanding Our Aging Parents;" May 7: "Recycling Ourselves," about planning and dealing with life changes; and May 14: "Still Changing After All These Years," about change and personal losses associated with aging and maintaining independence. All workshops are I:30 to 3 p. m. Registration required; call COA, 487-7080.

Chatham Volunteers needed to transfer data base of old computer system to new computer. No prior computer experience necessary. Information: Judi Wilson. COA. 9455190. Chatham Walkers have resumed walking on Tuesdays. Thursdays and Saturdays. meeting 8 a.m. at Oyster Pond parking lot. A special walk will be held April 20

at Nickerson State Park; partiCIpants meet 8 a.m. at main entrance parking lot off Rt. 6A. Dighton Father John Cronin will celebrate Mass at COA 10 a.m. April 20.

Dennis I Singles Club potluck luncheon noon April21; to sign up, call 3855569 or 385-8446. Meeting to set spring schedule for Spanish lessons 2 p.m. April 22.

Edgartown Women's breakfast for island women of a II ages 8 a.m. April 22, COA; reservations: 627-4368.

Cheryl Pelletier, a speech/ language pathologist from Life Service Rehabilitation Clinic on the Cape. will present a seminar on strokes 2 p.m. April 23, W.T. Church; to register call 693-2896.

Mansfield I ntergenerational program 10 a.m. April 29. COA.

Strict sister Mother Teresa's successor? religious discipline, he recalled.

CALCUTT A, India (CNS) The Missionaries of Charity may Tertians faced similar strictures have an answer for supporters when she was made their superior.

Sister Lewis is "too strict even who are worried the order will lack leadership and drive when Mother now" and "this seems to contrast Teresa ends her term as superior with Mother's approach of love and charity toward her sisters," he general.

But stricter discipline and aus- added.

But in an election for Mother terity a wait them if the nun who many think is being groomed as Teresa's successor, Sister Lewis Mother Teresa's successor takes would have a good chance because she knows the intricacies of the over.

Sources have told UCA News, order's governance, said Jesuit an Asian church news agency, that Father Celeste Van Exem, who the choice of the next Missionaries helped draft the order's statutes at of Charity leader is almost made. its foundation.

Father Van Exem, Mother Reportedly the search has zeroed in on Sister Fedrick Lewis, Mother Teresa's longtime spiritual guide, Teresa's assistant and first coun- told UCA News that the first councilor. cilor must convoke a general chapThe search for a successor began ter within three months if the post in 1989 when Mother Teresa opted .of superior general falls vacant.

On Sister Lewis' chances of beGUATEMALAN WORKERS at Juananna Farm pick to resign on health grounds, but it ended temporarily when she bowed coming Mother Teresa's successeeds from a native tree. The seeds will be planted to replace to her nuns' wishes and a papal trees lost to deforestation. The project is one of several directive to continue as superior initiated by Minnesota priest Father Gregory T. Schaffer who general.

Recently, when asked about her has worked in Guatemala for 30 years. (eNS photo) successor, Mother Tetesa told UCA FUNERAL HOME News: "I cannot name anyone. All my sisters are equally good. Anyone 550 Locust Street Fall Ri vel', Mass. can carry out Jesus' work. God will decide."

"It seemed we had a perfect spot SAN LUCAS, Guatemala(CNS) Rose E. Sullivan William J. Sullivan At present Sister Lewis, a frail, - A Minnesota couple's $6,000 for coffee and we had the hand Margaret M. Sullivan legacy to their priest son just may labor to properly select and pro- elderly nun with a reputation for lead to the production of the best cess it ourselves," Father Schaffer Spartan habits, would take over as 672-2391 cup of coffee in the world. interim general if something were said.

When Father Gregory T. to happen to Mother Teresa.

Now members of San Lucas Schaffer, a priest of the diocese of Toliman parish in Guatemala's high "We are now taking orders from OUR LADY'S New Ulm, Minn., arrived in Gua- country have decided to go into Sister Fedrick," a nun at the order's temala some 30 years ago, he dis- the coffee business themselves and motherhouse in Calcutta told UCA ·RELIGIOUS STORE covered that people in his parish market an exclusive blend that News. Sisters at the motherhouse Mon.· Sat. 10:00 ' 5:30 P.M, knewa lot about coffee but had no could well outshine much of the said the Anglo-Maltese nun is being cash to buy land. trained as she travels with Mother gourmet coffee at present on the GIFTS "I came out here as a diocesan market.

Teresa on visits to order members priest from Minnesota and I knew throughout the world.

CARDS Coffee isn't the only farm proI didn't know a thing," he said. "I The foundress's waning health BOOKS was depend~nt o.n. the pt;ople and duct the priest is developing. Juahas led to a shift in authority, nanna Farm includes native trees they taught me a lot." motherhouse 'reside~ts' said, and '673-4262 When Father Schaffer's parents to hold down the soil, sheep, goats, the order relies more on its four native Muscovy ducks, a native died, they left him $6,000, with council members. However, as as936 So. Main St., Fall River which he bought land where the strain of corn and a variety of sistant general, only Sister' Lewis people told him that coffee would vegetables that are being measured, can replace Mother Teresa, while grow. There he developed Juanan- weighed and recorded so that the the other councilors, according to na Farm, named for his parents, strongest and best strains will pro- the ord'er's co"nstitution, have adseeds for people throughout vide John and Anne, and encouraged visory roles. the fa'rmers to grow only the best the parish.

"Sister Fedrick replaces Mother "It's something we really needed coffee. during illness and travels abroad," Sales And Service Soon buyers were coming to the to do," Father Schaffer said mod- a nun said. "All major decisions go farm to purchase the hand-picked estly. "I don't know if it all will over her desk."

Fall River's Largest beans, which they used to improve work but it seems to be coming Observers and associates conalong pretty well." their own blends. firm Sister Lewis is strict and Display of TVs businesslike.

RCA ··ZENITH· SYLVANIA "I have nothing to tell you," said Sister Lewis, a 73-year-old nun 1196 BEDFORD STREET with an angular face and high 673-9721 cheekbones as she showed the MILAN, Italy (CNS) - Presiresearch; restrictions on access to door to the UCA News repor.ter. dent Clinton and Vice President abortion in U.S. military hospi- As an afterthought she explained: Al Gore's current position on abortals; and a ban on import of the "Mother [Teresa] does not like MONEY ALWAYS AVAILABLE tion is an example of "political French abortion pil]" R.U-4E6,-for publicity."

FOR HOME PURCHASE OR personal use. '. opportunism," said Cardinal Roger Sister Lucy, who had directed IMPROVEMENT M. Mahony of Los Angeles.

"He also said in his acceptance the reporter to Sister Lewis' office, speech that while he is pro-choice, apologized: "I knew it would be "President Clinton, when he was he is not pro-abortion," Cardinal like this, that's our first councilor governor, was pro-life. Even Vice Mahony said. "How can he say - very strict."

President Gore was pro-life. They this when the legal action he is takStrictness probably cost the nun changed their position a few years ing is that which makes abortion the first councilor's post in 1985 ago only for political opportuas accessible as possible?" general chapter elections. Even nism," the cardinal told the Italian Avvenire asked the cardinal how Mother Teresa ad mits Sister Lewis' Catholic newspaper Avvenire. pro-abortion forces in the United strictness, according to Jesuit BankiDII SiDceI825 In the interview Cardinal MaStates have come to be so strong. Father Edward Ie Joly, who has hony said it is "very sad" when a MEMBER FDiC/DlFM The cardinal answered that much written the biography of the order's EQUAL HOUSING tit LENDER person changes his or her moral principles to get ahead politi~ally. of it results from the power of the founder media, "which are incredibly pro"Mother was looking for a "When the president signed his abortion. The media are such ex- novice mistress and she asked me executive orders on abortion, he tremists on abortion that they lose to suggest someone from the noviSHAWOMET said that abortion inust be 'legal, their objectivity." ces I counseled," he recounted. "I safe and rare.' How can he say rare GARDENS Cardinal Mahony told Avvenire mentioned Sister Fedrick but when he'signed provisions which that despite Clinton's election and Mother said, 'No, Father, she won't 102 Shawomet Avenue encourage abortion on demand?" his recent executive orders dealing do, she's too strict. '" Somerset, Mass. asked the cardinal, who is chairwith abortion, polls show that Sister Lewis was eventually made man of the U.S. bishops' CommitTel. 674-4881 Americans want some limits placed novice mistress, Father Ie Joly tee for Pro-Life Activities. on abortion. said, but "more out of necessity 3112 room Apartment Clinton on Jan. 22 signed exe"The majority of Americans are than choice, because Mother didn't 4112 room Apartment cutive orders reversing regulations not for ab'ortion on request [or] have many sisters to choose from prohibiting.abortion counseling in for abortion as a choice of methods and Sister Fedrick was a very Includes heat, hot water, stove, refrigerator and maintenance service. federally funded family planning for regulating births and contra- mature religious." clinics; the ban on fetal tissue ception," he said.

Sister Fedrick drilled novices in

sor, he explained: "The delegates ,could vote for her because as Mother's closest aide she knows most about governing the society.

But then, the sisters may not like a superior more strict than understanding.

"In a religious election God decides through spiritual discernment," Father Van Exem said.

"Anything can happen."

The Missionaries of Charity have been serving in the Fall River diocese since last December. Editor

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12

The Anchor Friday, April 16, 1993

Mother Teresa is contributor

Vatican issues book of essays in praise of celibacy

U.S., Vatic'an biggest boys on block, he says STEUBENVILLE,Ohio(CNS) - A former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican says. diplomatic relations between the United States and the Vatican are crucial because, in their respective spheres, each is the "biggest boy on the block.," The United States is the "greatest temporal power on earth at tpis point," while the Vatican is "the greatest spiritual force on earth," said Frank Shakespeare, ambassador to the Vatican from 1987 to 1989. Previously he was U.S. ambassador to Portugal.

But the relationship between the two is sensitive because both are "skittish about being contaminated" with the other, said Shakespeare in a recent interview with Msgr. James A. Boehm, editor of the Steubenville Register, newspaper of the diocese of Steubenville. He was in the city to speak at its Franciscan (; niversity.

"The Vatican is very skittish about being contaminat.ed with a superpower. And the United States is very skittish about being contaminated with the church," he said.

He noted that objections to a U.S. embassy to the VaticaI1 come. from "a handful of leaders of certain Protestant religious groups who feel that it is a violation of church and state." He said "the average citizen" has no view one way or the other.

Shakespeare said that during the fall of communism in heavily Catholic countries of Eastern Europe, his post was a "catalyst of the discussions" between the United States and the Vatican.

Given that Pope John Paul 1\ was a "Slavic, Polish pope" with a "deep sense of the culture in that part of the world," he had an extraordinary chance to address the' changes in Eastern Europe. said Shakespeare.

He said scores of nations have official diplomatic representation at the Vatican because they perceive it is in their national interest to have s.omeone at "t/le greatest listening post" in the world. .Accordil1g to the 1993 Annuatio. the Vatican yearbook, 147 nations .and international organizations have Vati,can diplomatic representatives. '" ' The United States and the Vati:can are "universal," said Shakespeare. "If anything happens in North Korea, the world will immediatelyasktwo questions: What 'is the in9igenous situation in North Korea? Ahd what is the United 'Statesgbihg to do about it?';' The Vatican: he said, is aiso omnipresent. "~ow that is not to say that either one ,o( us runs the world, or what we do makes everything happen, or makes it right or .:wr-ong,:' he sa'id. It does mean'that "if we move with wisdom and with judgment, it tends to help." By the same token', "if we goof it up and ~make a mistake. it can affect not 6nly the' 'people'of the lJ ni'red States but people in other places."

Sha){espeare said being ambassador. .to the Vatican is differellt from .being amba,ssador, to any . other .colintr~.'· . .

FRANK SHAKESPEARE

The Vatican has "no people, in the sense of a great population.

They have no military force. They have no economy. They have no products. All the Vatican has going for it is the voluntary respect paid to its ideas by the people of the world." he said. calling the Vatican a "center of ideas" unlike any other.

Often the ideas studied are philosophical, he said. "What is man?

What is God? What is a state? And what is an appropriate relationship among the three? How does one account for the condition of man? What societal structures are most cond·ucive to man's material and spiritual development?"

Shakespeare called Pope JOQn Paul "very clearly a man of faith."

While there are people in the world who don't understand or who reject Catholic or Christian faith, "they do not 'doubt for one moment that he is a total believer in what he is saying about faith."

The fact that when Eastern Europe was undergoing major structural changes a Polish Slav was pope for the first time in history was either"fortuitous coincidence" or the work of the Holy Spirit, he declared.

Shakespeare said during his tenure as' ambassador it became clear to' him that the abortion issue was "a clashing ferment" in ·the United States. Yet. since his return home, he has been astonished to hear few homilies that mention abortion. "The pastors of this GOljntry for some d-readful reason .!:Iave chosen to be silent on the question of ed ucating on abortion," he said.

Children are .focus VATlCAN cITy (CNS) ,.

Hea'lth problems among the world's young people. including the plight of abused children and street kids. ar~"the focus of a major Vatican'.spons'orcd· confer~nc~ scheduled for November. The conference theme. "Th~ Child and the Futur~ ;()f SociCiy." will also cover basic health-related issues such as 'prenatal care. birth facilities and medicala:ssistance during the first IX ,years of life. said Cardinal Fiorenzo Angelini. He heads the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Assistance to Health Care Workers. which annualiy sponsors the conferc'nce on a nicdical topic ofinter:es.t to the churel1 and lay e.\perts.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) - The Vatican Congregation for Clergy has unveiled a book of 18 essays in praise of celibacy, written by such diverse authors as a Vatican cardinal, a medical doctor and a Buddhist monk.

To launch the book earlier this month, the Vatican brought Mother Teresa of Calcutta to Rome for a press conference with four high-profile prelates. The much-admired nun contributed the final essay to the volume, titled, "For Love Alone: Reflections on Priestly Celibacy."

The book's release came a week after Pope John Paul 1\ sent his annual Lenten letter to priests, which included an appendix that reiterated the value of celibacy and urged priests not to doubt its future in the Latin-rite church.

Vatican efforts to support celibacy will continue, promised Vatican officials.

"I n fact, the best is yet to come," said Archbishop Crescenzio Sepe, secretary of the clergy congregation. In late May, an international gathering of scholars and theologians is planned in Rome to "deepen the understanding" of the relationship between celibacy and the priesthood, he said.

Celibacy is seen as a gift of God to the priest and to the whole church, having a supernatural· value and pastoral advantages over a married clergy. The archbishop said the current renewed emphasis on the virtue has come because the, church wants to reaffirm its fidelity to it and give a "clear and convinced response to those who, in good or bad faith, raise questions that end up sowing doubts and uncertainty among the people of God." The book pre~entation was an unprecedented event. The Vatican had never before launched a publication of this' type, written primarily by non-curial authors. The 220-page volume constitutes a spirited defense of priestly celibacy from pastoral, spiritual and even medical viewpoints.

A sampling from the essays: Anglican Bishop Davis M. Hope of London. a celibate. praiscs priestly celibacy and expresses frustration'that his own church does not retogni!e its va'lue more .

- Indian Archbishop Benedict Thangalathil of Trivandrum explains why his Syro-Malankar church opted for a celibate clergy, unlike many Eastern-rite Catholic churches in which priests can marry.

- Dr. Wanda Poltawska, a longtime friend ofthe pope and an adviser from Poland, says humans have no real sexual instinct, only "certain sexual reactions that the person canfollow, or can also control and dominate," She likened 'attacks on priestly celibacy to attacks on matrimony and questioned whether all this may be "an attempt to sanction fornication in general, including that of priests." , - Jerome Lejuene, a French biologist, says that while the sexual appetite remains for the celibate, it becomes more generalized and pure. Others declare there are no negative medical, physical or psychiatric side effects from a celibate life.

- Celibacy is appreciated, even by the most unlikely persons, says Chinese Archbishop Dominic Tang Yee:ming of Canton, After being restricted for 22 years by the communist regime, he was freed. His celibate life, he was told by the authorities, had helped convince them that he was a good man.

- Italian philosophy professor Maria Raschini says accusations that church policy reflects a hatred of women are unfounded and merely demonstrate the strong social prejudices against the celibate life.

Other testimonials to freely chosen celibacy come fr.om Orthodox Metropolitan Damaskinos of Switzerland and U.S. Jewish professor Jacob Neusner.

Brazilian Cardinal Lucas Moreira Neves of Sao Salvador da Bahia, speaking at the press conference, said the book should help balance the distorted view of celibacy held by the general public: that of a. tormented priest who, deprived of the possibility of marriage, often fails to observe the discipline of celibacy. .'

The cardinaJ said when' such failure does occur, it receives wide-

spread media coverage. While he did not name names, Vatican officials, including the pope, have recently expressed concern over the case of Archbishop Robert F. Sanchez of Santa Fe, N. M., whose resignation was accepted by the pope after three women said he had sexually abused them.

Such cases "are serious and cause immense pastoral damage, but certainly do not constitute a valid argument'" against celibacy, Cardinal Neves said. There are similar ,failures in marriage, but the answer is not to abolish either celibacy or matrimony, he said.

German Bishop Karl Lehmann acknowledged that celibacy is not inherent to the priesthood but a longstanding policy of the Western church. He quoted the late theologian Karl Rahner, who said that if the church reaches the point where it cannot supply adequate pastoral care, it would have to allow ordination of married men.

But Rahner had no illusions that this would solve the problem, Bishop Lehman'n' said. And the cl,1urch and its bi~hops are comiTIitted to protecting. the gift of celibacy, he said.

Sudan food crisis called worst in world by UN agency ROME (CNS) - The United Nation's World Food Program has appealed for international food aid for southern Sudan,. saying malnutritiori and starvation there are the world's worst.

"While there is competition for emergency relief funds in many parts of the world, we believe that the needs for emergency assistance in southern Sudan should have the highest priority because nowhere else in the world are people in such dire straits," said Catherine Bertini, program executive director.

The emergency food situation in the region is due partly to a se"ere drought, but even rains and a decent harvest this year have not overcome the consequences of the Sudanese civil war.

The fighting has pitted the government,dominated by an ethnic Arab Muslim faction from the .N orth, against the mainly black Christian and animist populatipns of the South.

The number of people requiring .emergency food assistance because of drought in Sudan is about 1.1 million, Sflid Paul Mitchell. spokesman for the Rome-based World Fqod Program. The agency is trying to assist another 1.7 million people with severe food needs because they have been displaced or otherwise affected by the war. .

"The situation in Somalia has been stabilized." he said. with emergency feeding programs largely giving way to rehabilitation and development efforts.

The lJ N body's effort in Sudan needs $130 million for food and

related transportation, he said, but so far has received only about $14.9 million.

"We have the ability to reach millions of people who are at risk and urgently appeal to the international community to provide us with the resources we need to stop starvation on a massive scale," said Ms. Bertini.

When Pope John Paul II visited Sudan in early February, he demanded that food not be used as a weapon by either the government or the rebels.

Camerlengo named VA TIC AN CITY (CNS) Spanish Cardinal Eduardo Martinez Somalo. 66, a veteran of the Vatican Curia. has been named chamberlain of the Holy Roman Church by Pope John Paul II. The chambe'rlain, or "camerlengo," takes temporary charge of church affairs in the absence of the pope. He is bestknown publicly as the church official who, upon a pope's death. becomes head of the College of Cardinals and organizes the papal conclave.

Cardinal Martine! Somalo succeeds the'I!lte Cardinal Sebastiano Baggio. Since 1992 he has headed the Congregation for InstitiJtes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. which deals with the wbrld~s religious orders.

His career at the Vatiean began in 1956,and has continued"under five popes. He worked in the Secretariat of State until 1970. when he joined the Vatican's delegation t~ Great Britain. Later that year he returned as assesse"r". one ofthe top positions in the Secretariat of State..

In 1979. Cardinal Martine!s Somalo was named assisl;lnt secretaI'\' of sta.te. or "sostituto:: a joh tlia't to.ok .h.im on many inte,:national ~rips with Pope John Paul 'II during the 19XOs.

THE

ANCHOR-Di~~'~~eof Fall River-Fri., Apr. 16, 1993

13

90th NCEA convention

AT RECENT PRO-LIFE Mass at St. Mary's Cathedral, Knights of Columbus present portrait, "The Agony of Abortion," to Bishop Sean P. O'Malley as part of their pro.;.life campaign. From left, Msgr. John J. Oliveira; State K of C Deputy Kenneth Ryan; the bishop; State Advocate James Sawyer; Rev. Stephen A. Fernandes, diocesan director of Pro-Life Apostolate. (Maclone photo)

Franciscans engage in "dialogue of life" ROME (CNS) - Engaging in the "dialogue of life" often means watching one's tongue in religiously sensitive spots of ,the world for 19,000 members of the Order of Friars Minor.

Present-day followers of St. Francis of Assisi are trying to stay alive in communist-ruled China, establish a foothold in Russia at a time of Catholic-Orthodox tensions and adapt to a church whose population is becoming less Western and developed and more Third World and poor.

The "dialogue of life" refers to the Franciscan belief that evangelization is done through nonviolent interaction with peoples of different cultures, nationalities and religions.

It means meeting. people as brothers and learning from them rather than trying to overwhelm them with massive projects, said Father Hermann Schaluck, 53.year-old head of the order.

"This is not only a question of theoretical discussion, but of a peaceful behavior, a peaceful encounter," said Father Schaluck.

This must be done while maintaining a "clear profile" as Catholics, he said. "We are not just mixing with people."

Father Schaluck, a German, was elected June 13, 1991, to a six-year term as minister general of the order, founded by St. Francis in 1209 as a band of beggars in shabby tunics who evangelized through the humility of their preaching and lifestyle.

Maintaining St. Francis' humble manner is sometimes difficult in modern times. Father Schaluck often jets from his order's Rome headquarters to world capitals for meetings with religious leaders.

Yet, he has also entered a poor Egyptian town mounted on a donkey to visit a Franciscan parish.

In an interview with Catholic News Service and in a series of public statements, he outlined the challenges facing today's dwindling number of Franciscans and the missionary approaches taken >in different circumstances.

In China, there are 50 Francis- arch Alexei II of Moscow, head of cans of allages,-all Chinese. Some the Russian Orthodox Church. belong to the government-apIt was a "frank dialogue" in proved Chinese Catholic Patriotic which "well-known difficulties were Association, which does not accept put before me," said Father SchaVatican authority, and some do luck. not. The choice is left to them.

The Orthodox cannot'move too "We have to take the situation rapidly to overcome problems with as they find it. We do not say some Catholics because of their own belong to us, while the others do internal divisions and "their own difficulty in accepting whatever not," said Father Schaluck.

The Chinese govern~ent knows comes from the West," he added.

"The big challenge for us is to of all these Franciscans, he said.

Contact is maintained through oc- accept them as a real sister church" casionallow-profile visits by Fran- and not as a rival, said Father ciscans from the outside world, he Schaluck.

Worldwide, the church is expeadded. ,He is deliberately vague for fear of saying anything that could riencing a "historical process" with jeopardize the Franciscans in the majority of its membership shifting from the developed to the China.

"We can't go back to China at underdeveloped world, he said.

The result is the moving away this point" with missionaries, but the order is training members in from a "more westernized, North Chinese language and culture in Atlantic" church focus, he said.

This is not happening without the hope of entering the country in , pain and raises "serious problems the future, he said.

In the former Soviet Union, the for the existence and continuity" order has about 60 members, with of some forms of church activity, most entering since the collapse of he added.

"I don't think we should comcommunist rule. Twenty are in plain about that," he said. "Every Lithuania and 30 are in Ukraine.

Only 10 are in Russia, where the period in history has its lights and Russian Orthodox Church is the shadows."

With regard to vocations, Father historically dominant religion. Relations with the Catholic Church avoids pessimism, although the have become tense since the end of Franciscans are trying to meet religious restrictions has allowed their new challenges with decreasinternationally supported Catho- ing members, part of the overall lics to operate freely. Orthodox decline in religious life.

Currently, there are 15,000 officials consider such activity an unecumenical effort to convert priests and 4,000 brothers, but the order is losing 100-200 members a their members. year.

In Russia, "we must be very On the positive side, the Franunpretentious" and go "in small ciscans have been averaging 600groups," said Father Schaluck. "It 900 novices annually. rriust be understood that we are "That's not bad. But too many not coming with big multitudes of leave," said Father Schaluck. people to overrun the [Orthodox] "Some say that St. Francis rechurch." Terminology such as mains an attraction, but the order "mission," which implies proselytdoes not," he said. ism to the Orthodox, must be avoided, he said.

Equally Dear The Franciscans work in par"When we go tell Jesus how ishes serving the handful of Catho- cruelly and wickedly some other lics. They do not found "heavy Christian has treated us, we imstructures" such as universities and mediately begin to feel as a child schools, he said. who is telling his mother about his To pave the way, Father Scha- brother-both equally dear.~ - Harluck met in January with Patri- riet Beecher Stowe

Continued from Page One schools increased by 30 percent in the 1992-93 school year from the previous year.

Bush Fisher and his fellow workshop presenters said that numbers could not always be a measure of success. They emphasized that the schools' main strategy was to change attitudes.

The boards developed five-year plans to train staff members, mod·· ify the curriculum and recruit ethnically diverse staff and students.

"This is not easy. It is fun to be the lead dog, but it is also diffi·· cult," said Nannette Swanson, diocesan director of admissions and public relations for Grand Rapids Catholic secondary schools.

"You have to keep saying, 'this will work someday,''' she added.

According to Ms. Swanson, the most important task in maintaining an ethnically diverse school is "sensitizing students."

"That's the most difficult nut to crack because of the prejudices many of them start with at home," she said.

She encouraged teachers and principals at the workshop' to expose students to aspects of other cultures. "It's too expensive to renew textbooks, you'll have to supplement and implement wherever you can," she said, suggesting a focus on cultural heroes and holidays as a starting point.

Leslie Allen, Grand Rapids diocesan director of multicultural development, agreed.

To illustrate how teachers could use almost anything, he asked those attending the workshop to pull out a dollar bill.

"Can anyone read the Latin on the back?" he asked. "Or could you explain the meaning of the pyramid?"

As a case in point, he said the teachers had two lessons in front of them: one in Latin, another in Egyptian history.

Saying that teaching multicul-. turalism could also take place outside the classroom, he suggested having ethnically diverse guest speakers, or taking advantage of local colleges to develop mentor

Hope to stay free ROME (CNS) - Hong Kong Catholics hope the British territory's 1997 return to China will not destroy the church's independence, said Msgr. John Tong Hon, diocesan vicar general. But the church must sink deep roots so that it can survive possible communist-imposed restrictions, he added. The Basic Law, legislation worked out

by Hong Kong and Chinese officials for the future governing of Hong Kong, states religious organizations will not be subordinated to those in China, he said. The law is aimed at establishing Hong Kong as a Special Administrative Region where the current, cultural and economic conditions are supposed to remain untouched for 50 years.

Norris H. Tripp SHEET METAL J. TESER, Prop. ' RESIDENTIAL INDUSTRIAL COMMERCIAL 253 Cedar St., New Bedford ,993-3222

programs for students of various races.

"There are short-term immediate things a school can do to erase stereotypes," he said.

Vatican workers get raises VATICAN CITY (CNS) - The Vatican's 3,400 lay employees will receive pay increases averaging nearly 5 percent, Vatican officials announced. ' 'Pope John Paull I approved the increase to cover loss of purchasing power over recent years in the hope that world contributions to the Vatican will cover the added expens'e, said Archbishop Jan Schotte. ' Archbishop Schotte, president of the Vatican's Central Labor Office, outlined the increases at a press conference April2. The raises, ' to take effect in July, will be in the form of higher payments for seniority, overtime and pensions.

Overall, the move will raise average paychecks by 4.8 percent, Archbishop Schotte said. The increases will cost the Vatican about $4.5 million a year, he said.

The pope "trusts that the generous contribution of the faithful" will help make up the difference, even though worldwide economic problems are affecting such contributions, the archbishop said.

Monthly take-home salaries at the Vatican range from $960 to $1,520 at current exchange rates.

This does not include seniority payments, which can add several hundred dollars to the monthly check.

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14

THE ANCHOR-Diocese of Fall River-Fri., Apr. 16, 1993

By Charlie Martin

THESE ARE DAYS

By Linda L. Rome Getting il personal letter in the mail, hidden among the bills and the "spend your money with us". advertisements, is a rare treat.

And when what I call "real mail" pops up in my mailbox, I can hardly wait to open it. But I've. learned that a letter from a friend or a faraway relative is too special to hurry.

So I slit the envelope neatly with my pewter-handled knife and settle in with a cup of tea, savoring the pleasure of spending time with someone who cared enough to send an honest-to-goodness letter.

Writing a letter is an ultimate form of communication, and in this day of the telephone it may seem like an outdated way to stay in touch. But a letter has a number' of advantages over the phone call. . First and foremost, a letter can be read again and again. A phone call is finished when you hang up the receiver. But if you save a letter, it can bridge a lifetime.

Long after you've forgotten what you were doing when you were 12 or 15 or 17 years old, a letter from that time in your life can bring back just how you felt, what you were worrying about, what you did.

Often you can share your deepest feelings with someone else through a letter - simply because you wQn'~ be embarrassed by having to say the words face to face.

Another advantage is to pick and choose your words carefully.

If you're the kind of person who is easily tongue-tied, letters can open the'door to marvelous friendships.

Of course it takes two for a correspondence, just as it takes two for a conversation.

My daughter writes to two friends who moved to a far suburb. And since long-distance calls aren't part of her allowance budget, the postal service zips her letters back and forth every week.

My son writes a pen pal in Korea whom he acquired from an international pen pal organization.

My daughter and son also write to their grandparents and cousins who live in distant states.

I started writing a pen pal in Germany when I was 13. When I was 20 we had the chance to meet when I visited her city. A friendship built through the mails can bring unexpected adventures.

What do you write about? That's easy, I tell my daughter. Write what you did in school today, how you rearranged your room, about the latest movie you saw.

Write as you would if you talked with them on the phone - and more. Draw a picture and a joke.

Start a- chess game through the mail. Then if you ever get the chance to visit in person, you'll know each other better than you can imagine.

Writing letters is too often considered an onerous duty, such as the obligatory thank-you notes and sympa~hy cards. But a correspondence can add zest, not only to your mailbox but to your life.

To borrow shamelessly from a telephone company's popular slogan, let me recommend simply that you can reach out and touch a friend. Write a letter.

These are days you'l remember Never before and never since I promise Will the whole world Be warm as this And as you feel it You'l know it's true that you are blessed and lucky It's true that you Are touched by something That will glow and bloom in you.

These are days you'l remember When May is rushing Over you with desire To be part of the miracles You see in every hour You'l know it's true That you are blessed and lucky It's true that you Are touched by something That will grow and bloom in you.

These are the days You might fill with laughter Until you break These are the days You might feel A shaft of light make its way Across your face And when you do you'l know How it was meant to be .

See the signs and know their meaning It's true, you'l know How it was meant to be Hear the signs and know They're speaking to you, to you Written by Buck and Merchant. Sung by 10,000 Maniacs (c) 1992 by Elecktra Entertainment, a division of Warner Communications Inc. for the United States and WEA International Inc. for outside the United States THINK OF a day everything . since this group was on the charts. The song is off their went right. Remember the great recent disc"~ur Time in E~en." feeling of living through that day and just.how good it felt to The song IS an upbeat tribute be alive. to the potential for good in life.

The reference to May reminds Listening to "These Are Days" by 10,000 Maniacs raises such us of the springtime beauty memories. It has been a while around us ..

May is the month that" "is rushing over you with desire to be part of the miracles you see in every hour."

However, spring flowers are not alone in reflecting life's beauty. Even more important is the power and goodness of the life in each of us.

In the song's words, "It's true that you are touched by something that will grow and bloom in you." Indeed. we are "blessed and lucky" to be so loved by our God as to experience life's wonder and mystery.

Of course, we know that some days don't leave us feeling warm and good inside. Yet, how we approach life determines how much joy we find.

The most important step toward nurturing the goodness within us is to recognize what is positive about our life. Each day, affirm what is good about you. Likewise, acknowledge the good in your life circumstances.

Recognizing goodness naturally leads us to express thanks.

All the good in life is a gift. Use each day as an opportunity to practice gratitude, remembering that God is the source of life's blessings and goodness.

Next, dare todream big. Show your trust in life by imagining how your life can even be better. God wants us to experience as much happiness as possible.

However, our Creator invites us to make choices. about life's specifics.

Follow your instincts when it comes to what you genuinely enjoy and the goodness. you want to discover in life. Visualize the ways you want to reach out to others in order to increase their chances to know life's joy.

It's spring in the year 1993!

These are the days to feel life's .potential and promise for goodness.

These also are the days to challenge yourself to enhance the goodness within you. Open your life and your heart to receive God's goodness and blessing.

Your comments are welcomed

by Charlie Martin, RR 3, Box 182, Rockport, IN 47635. --

CATHOLIC SCHOOLS: THE GOOD NEWS IN EDUCATION

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PREPARING for first communion: Parish school and CCD children at St. Joseph's parish, Fairhaven, with pastor Father Patrick Killilea, SS.Ce., at closing offirst communion preparation retreat coordinated by Sister Muriel Ann Lebeau, SS.Ce., St. Joseph's School principal.

SEDER MEAL: Students at SS. Peter and P~ul School, Fall River, experienced a Jewish Passover meal to enhance their understanding of the Easter Triduum. Fourth grade teacher Douglas Medeiros and fifth grade teacher Sister Mary Lea Malley were leaders, while first grader Gregory LaGarde was the young child who asked the "four questions:" Medeiros r~ad from the Haggadah, the book that tells the story of Passover. Debra Swardhck, repr~sentlllg the Jewish community, provided a seder plate and a cloth to wrap the matzoh and explailled the Passover celebration. Ms. Swardlick is director of the school's Music on the Move program.

"This is where Christianity began," principal Kathleen Burt said of the Passover meal. "My students were enthralled by the story being told. It said in the holy books, 'Y ou shall tell your children the story of Passover.' We felt that to experience an actual part of Passover would be more meaningful than just telling them about it." . .

Pictured, from left, are Debra Swardlick, Kathleen Burt, Douglas Medeiros, Sister Malley; Brother Edwin Morales FFI, from Our Lady's Chapel, New Bedford, students Geneva Szulewski and Jesse Mello.

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WINNERS of a Bishop Connolly High School, Fall River, science fair for Catholic school junior high students are pictured with Connolly admissions director Jim L'Heureux. Awards were given in seventh and eighth grade divisions. Top prize-winner Mary Elizabeth Noone, an eighth-grader at Dominican Academy, received half a year's tuition at Connolly for her project, "Get Wise to Lying Eyes.'-' Pictured (standing, from left): Miss Noone. Daniel Mitchell, grade 7, St. James-St. John School, New Bedford-first place for "Fond of Life in the Pond." Jim L'Heureux. John Mariotti, grade 7, St. Anne's School-second place, "The Circulatory System." Tanya Dias, . grade 8, Holy Name School- fifth place, "Static Electricity."

Front row, from left: Christina Barreira, grade 8, Dominican Academy-- "Lyme Disease: How Much Do You Know About It?" Katherine Manning, grade 7, St. Anne's School-third place, "Eating Disorders." Nicole Gaspar, grade 8, Holy Name School-third place, "Surface Tension." Mike Affonso, grade 8, SS. Peter and Paul School-second place, "AIDS: What Is' It?" .

All schools are in Fall River except where indicated.

Coyle-Cassidy High School, Coyle-Cassidy High School, Hebrew Scriptures and God's reveTaunton, has introduced the two- lation in Christian Scriptures. year National Catholic Educational Topics to come include "Jesus the' Association program "Sharing the Teacher and Our Vocation to the Faith," 'designed to strengthen, Ministry of Teaching," "Sharing a faculty members' spirituality and Holy Meal," and "Call to Justice." sense of community. The process "Spirituality isn't just something includes prayer, reflection, discus- taught in religion class. It is somesion and discernment on theology thing that each member of our and Scripture topics., . staff tries to personify to each of So far this year, Coyle-Cassidy .., our studeqts, their families and faculty have met for three half-day our benefactors," said Coyleand one full day session, and the Cassidy headmaster Michael J. program was used on Holy Thurs- Donly., "Ai the end of this twoday to set the tone for the Easter year journey in Sharing the Faith, Triduum. Another half-day session we hope to have a better appreciaand a.day-Iong' retreat will be held tion of the Catholic identity of our before the end ,of the school.year. school and [the ability) to foster Already explored' in, "Sharing that identity better." the Faith" sessions have been the Senior Colleen Murphy was the

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,' ..THE ANCHOR-Dio~e~eofF~n River~·Fri., Apr. 16,199'3

winner of an essay contest sponsored by the Diocesan Department of Education and Stonehill College in conjunction with the recent seminar "Health Care: Rights and Responsibilities" held on the college's North Easton campus. She received a $50 savings bond and video material for the school.

Miss Murphy's essay focused on three health care concerns of the elderly and how society can respond ,to those needs.

The contest was coordinated at Coyle-Cassidy by English department chair Donna Fournier and at the diocesan level by secondary sch'ools superintendent ·James, McNamee and Father Robert A~ Oliveira.

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Lessons in mission math CINCINNATI, Ohio (CNS)- income of $21,800 in the United Math students in Catholic schools States.

Students are asked to study the in the archdiocese'of Cincinnati are learning about the world's mis- incomes and discuss the correlation, if any, between what people sions along with their equations.

As mission education coordina- in other countries are paid and tor for the archdiocese, Bernie what prices Americans pay for O'Connell's job is to educate stu- goods made in those countries.

Ms, O'Connell also integrated dents in kindergarten through 12th grade about missions, peace and India, Mexico, Egypt and Appalachia into the curriculum. She justice.

The idea to use that information hopes her efforts will educate chilin the math curriculum resulted dren about their role in the global from "a challenge that was leveled family.

"From my own perspective as a at me by teachers who said, 'I don't have use for mission materials in mother with four children, they my math class,'" Ms. O'Connell . really do not get involved nor contold the Catholic Telegraph, arch- cerned about children overseas unless it's a situation like Somalia diocesan newspaper.

"My vision with this is that kids in which they are being deluged by would begin to recognize we are all the media," she said.

The teachers don't have to interrelated," she said. "Children have to recognize that diversity is research countries or develop their own ,lesson plans because Ms. not threatening, it's enriching."

In a letter to teachers introduc- O'Connell's curriculum puts the ing the "Let's Put a Face on the lessons, illustrated with drawings World" math curriculum, Mission and photos, directly into their Office Director Archie Brunn wrote hands.

Ms. O'Connell said she hopes that educators must prepare students to be global citizens through her project will be used beyond increased awareness about global math class and has suggested math interdependency. They should, he teachers work with social studies writes, recognize that all people teachers in using the les'sons. have the same needs and rights to food, clothing and shelter and that other nations have something to teach Americans.

For example, first-graders can The Bishop Stang High School learn about addition and subtrac- Class of 1973 will meet for its 20tion through a problem set in year reunion the weekend of July Japan: "Father Kelso is a Colum- 23 to 25. An informal gathering ban missionary priest. He takes will be held Friday evening at The care of the people of his parish and Jukebox in New Bedford, followed is the principal of the Catholic by an event at the Hawthorne kindergarten. The Japanese peoCountry Club, North Dartmouth, ple feel that a teacher or principal on Saturday. On Sunday the Class is a very important person. Father will hold a family picnic on the Kelso has 10 teachers in his schools. ,Stang' grounds in North DartTwo teachers moved. How many mouth. Information is available teachers are left?" from the 'school's devel~pment A third-grade lesson on multi- ' office, 993-8959. plication and division centers on Kenya. One problem asks: "Mother is teaching my sister Njeri how to Kathryn Marino of Warren, RI, carry water on her head for the a junior at Bishop Connolly High family to use for cooking and School, Fall River, has been named , washing. We get the water from a to the Fall River Herald News Allwell near the village, Njeri can Scholastic Basketball Team. She carry two gallons of water each averaged a league-best 12 points time she goes to the well. How and also 10 rebounds per game. many trips must she make to fill 190 students achieved honor roll our six-gallon jug.?" status for the third marking period.

A lesson fQf. eighth 7 graders All received certificates of merit. incorporates the subject of interdependence and justice by includBishop Feehan ing a shopping list with prices of products in different countries and For th'e third quarter marking average yearly incomes for people period at Bishop Feehan ' High who live there. Incomes listed range School, Attleboro, 23 students from $370 a year in China, where earned first honors, 114 earned. workers make silk blouses sold in second honors, and 89 earned third . the United States for $52, to an honors.

Bishop Stang 1973 reunion set

Bishop Connolly

St. Mary - Sacred Heart Scho,ol

"SHARING THE FAITH" ~ommittee members at Coyk-Cassidy High School are, from left, Mary Williams,'Steve McGonigle; Marie Angeley, Michael Donly, Sister St. Paul Collard and Chris Myron. At right, essay contest winner Colleen Murphy.

Seventh~graders at St.' Marywhile Kristin David and Jason Sacred Heart School, North Aftle- O'Connell took roles as defense boro, recently had their day' in attorneys. Other'students'provided testimony as witnesses' such as court.

S~venth grade teacher Dav!~ doctor, store clerks, parents' 'and Latessa turned his classroom into friends. , a courtroom for the "trial" of two . Latessa's [jither, Umberto La-' fictional characters from Paul Zin-, tessa, volunteered as "guest,' del's novel The Pigman, which : judge.',' , ' ' students had read in their literaThe six-student jury deliberated", ture course. ) for 20, minutes and arrived at a Ke.viri Donley and Danielle unanimous "n~t guilty" ve~dict. ' Latessa called the trial a ,valuaBazinet played the roles ofde'fend ants John Conlan and Lor- bklearning exercise that combined rairie Jensen, the fictional chanic- literary analysis with a social studters charged with manslaughter in ies lesson. The class prepared for the death of, fictional character the case by learning about crimiAngelo Pignati. , nallaw and the justice system. .The Peggy Taylor and Christopher project also marked the celebraTosti argued the prosecution's case, tion of Reading Week.

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THE ANCHOR-Diocese of Fall River-Fri., Apr. 16, 1993

PUBLICITY CHAIRMEN are·asked to submit news items for this column to The Anchor, P.O. Box 7, Fall River, 02.722. Name of city or town should be Included, as well as full dates of all activIties. Please send news of luture rather than past events.

Due to limited space and also because notices 01 strictly parish allalrs normally appear In a parish's own bUlletin, we are lorced to limit Items to events 01 general Interest. Also, we do not normally carry notices ollundralslng activities, which may be advertised at our regular rates, obtainable from The Anchor business ofllce, telephone (508) 675-7151.

On Steering Points Items, FRlndlcates 'Fall River; NB Indicates New Bedlord.

ST,MARY,N.ATTLEBORO Nine-week Divine Mercy novena will begin 7 p.m. April 19, parish center.

CATHOLIC HOME SCHOOL CONFERENCE Catholic Home School Conference of Seton Home Study School April 24, St. Mary's parish center, Powers St., Norton, beginning with 7:30 a.m. Mass and 8: 15 a.m. registration. Will include National Home School guest speakers. Information: Jon Howey, 339-4730.

PAX CHRISTI Pax Christi of Southeastern MasST. PATRI(:K, SOMERSET sachusetts will sponsor the environThe Clover Club will sing at 10:30 mental awareness program "Keepa.m. Mass Sunday; all welcome. A ers of the Earth: Completing the special 7 p.m. Mass Monday, April Circles of Life" by Michael Caduto 7 26, will be offered fordeceased.memp.m. April 18, St. Vincent's Home bers ofthe New Bedford'Serra Club. cafeteria, 2425 Highland Ave., FR. Caduto, fpunder of PEACE (Pro. grams for Environmental Awareness and Cultural Exchange), is a writer of environmental and cultural nonfiction, fiction, poetry and music.

He has written more than 100 articles for such magazines as Rodale's Organic Gardening and Ranger Rick's Nature Sc.ope. The program will include songs,.dance and.. stories. which will share Native North American traditions for wise stewardship of the earth. Information: Father Joe Costa, 679-8511.

LaSALETTE SHRINE, ATTLEBORO "Healing Negative Attitudes" workshop.lO a.m; t04 p.m. April 24, Shrine Theater. Sister Philomena Agudo, FMM, PhD, will lead the program, which will explore negative attitudes that affect jobs and relationships and how they can be replaced by positive attitudes. Preregistration requested by April 19; information: 222"5410.

ST. MARY, SEEKONK Blood drive 5 to 8:30 p. m., parish center.

BOSTON COLLEGE CLUB OF CAPE COD Annual Mass 10 a.m. April 18, Christ the King Church, Mashpee, followed by brunch. Reservations: Bernard Kelley, 428-8993, John Sullivan, 428-4317.

ST. JAMES, NB Vincentian food drive this weekend.

ST. DOMINIC, SWANSEA A 7 p.m. Mass will be held each Wednesday, followed by Mary, Queen of Peace Prayer Group meetings with Jesus Rosary on first Wednesdays; Marian Rosary, second; Scripture search, third and healing service, fourth Wednesdays.

KIDNEY FOUNDATION The Kidney Foundation of Massachusetts is asking owners of unwanted seaworthy boats to donate the"m as a tax write-off. Donated vessels will be auctioned May 29 in Gloucester to benefit research in urology and nephrology. Information: 1-800-542-400 I. BONE MARROW DRIVE A bone marrow donor drive will . be held 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 18 at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church, NB. for 24-year-old leukemia patient Joseph Rodriquez, who is in need of a bone marrow transplant. Donors will be asked to donate two tablespoons of blood to be tested for compatibility with Rodriguez or one of another 9,000 patients searching for a lifesaving donor. Persons of Hispanic backgrounds are particularly sought as potential matches for Rodriguez. Information: (617) 2689277.

ST. ELIZABETH SETON, N. FALMOUTH Bereavement support group meeting I to 2:30 p.m. April 18, church. hall; "Refocusing Your Life" videotape by author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia will. be shown. Information: 563-6807, 548-8665. Barnstable County drug czar Michael Levine will speak at youth group meeting on how he has fought drugs in schools, community and his own family 5 p.m. April 18, church hall; all welcome.

ST. JOSEPH, TAUNTON Vincentian troubadours will entertain at Longmeadow Nursing Home 1:45 p. m. April 18; all welcome to sing or serve refreshments.

ST. ANTHONY, MATTAPOISETT A novena of prayer preparatory to the feast of St. Anthony will begin April 20 with special intercessions at 8 a.m. Mass and will continue each Tuesday through June 15.

SS. PETER AND PAUL, FR Food drive this weekend to replenish Vincentians food bank.

ST. FRANCIS XAVIER, ACUSHNET Vincentians are collecting nonperishable canned goods. which may be left in church vestibule.

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RIVER GROVE, III. (CNS)The Catholic parish has a role' in "transforming the American culture," Cardinal Roger M. Mahony of Los Angeles told an audience of 1,300 in River Grove.

Parishes should be "a reflection of the image of Christ in the world today," he said at the Chicago archdiocese's eighth annual Parish Leadership Day. "The intervention of the parish is essential if we want to offer hope to those who live in need."

Cardinal Mahony suggested ways parishes can make a difference, beginning with being places of welcome to all. He added that ethnic diversity offers many opportunities for parishes to mirror Christ's hospitality: "We in leadership need to reach out not only to those who have been in the parish for many years but also to all who share our faith," Cardinal Mahony said. "Our name' Catholic' means 'universal'; we need to reflect that in the way we reach out to newcomers."

The prelate also encouraged

SEPARATED/DIVORCED CATHOL1CS, CAPE Support group meeting 7 p.m.

April 18, St. Pius X parish center, S. Yarmouth. Father John Culloty will speak on "Letting Go." New participants welcomed 6: 15 to 7 p.m. Information: 362-9873 or Father Richard Roy, 255-0170.

ST. JOAN of ARC, ORLEANS Prayer group meetings will be held 7:30 p.m. second Tuesdays beginning April 20; Deacon Don Biron will preside at Liturgy of the Hours.

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parishes to combine efforts and share resources rather than compete or duplicate efforts.

Par:ishes should be catalysts for social change and' reform. especially concerning the issue of respect for life from the moment of conception to the moment of death. said the cardinal. 'who is chairman of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops' pro-life committee.

"If all the Catholic parishes were well-organized and determined to pass a public proposal. we know that the change would go in our favor," he said: Cardinal Mahony said that parish leaders should work to improve parish prayer life, especially through meaningful eucharistic celcbrations.

"The Sunday Eucharist and its preparation should be given a central place in each parish," he said.

He also emphasized the importance of ongoing spiritual renewal in parishes in order to ensure that God's spirit maintains a vital role in the parish.

FIFTY-TWO YEARS OF SERVICE TO THE COMMUNITY YOUR GENEROUS GIFT HELPS MEET THE NEEDS OF MANY PEOPLE

Appeal funds aid women with unplanned pregnancies, youth, handicapped persons, engaged couples, those with marriage problems and the sick, poor and elderly. They also provide family life enrichmentprograms, continuing formation for clergy and laity and serve a variety of other needs.

Most Rev. Sean P. O'Malley, OFM, Cap~ • Honorary Chairman Rev. Daniel J.Freitas • Diocesan Director Mrs. Michael J. McMahon, Fall River • Diocesan Chairman This Message Sponsored by the FollOWing Business Concerns in the Diocese of Fall River FALL RIVER TRAVEL BUREAU GILBERT C. OUVEIRA INS. AGENCY

DURO FINISHING CORP. GLOBE MANUFACTURING CO.

HOLY THURSDAY is re-enacted by children at' St. Joseph's Church, North Dighton (top), and Good Friday by (from left) Christopher Lague, Matthew Trahan and Paul Somers at St. Joseph's Church, Fairhaven.