04.27.12

Diocese of Fall River

The Anchor

F riday , April 27, 2012

Catholic Charities Appeal begins 71st campaign FALL RIVER — Since 1942, the Fall River Diocese has held its annual Catholic Charities Appeal to assist those in need throughout southeastern Massachusetts, Cape Cod and the Islands regardless of race, creed, nationality, gender or economic status. This yearly springtime appeal is the one and only time the diocese asks its parishioners to come to-

gether to share what they have with those in need by helping to fund the charitable works of its agencies and apostolates.

During the past month the Catholic Charities Appeal office has conducted “kick-offs” across the diocese to bring together pastors, parish committee members, and volunteers from 90 parishes along Turn to page 18

Author writes survival guide for single Catholic women

By Becky Aubut Anchor Staff

STEUBENVILLE, Ohio — Navigating the dating pool can be a struggle when you’re single, and while pickup lines do have the occasional Divine

Catholic author Emily Stimpson

reference — “Are you from Heaven? You look like an angel” — single Catholic women can find it even more difficult to stand by their innate Catholic moral standards while they look for a man who has the vocation to be her spouse. In Au-

gust 2009, Emily Stimpson was venting her frustration over her personal dating struggles and her outburst led to her writing a book “The Catholic Girl’s Survival Guide for the Single Years,” and thus a reference guide for Catholic single women was born.

“I was frustrated and wishing I had known so much of this 10 years ago; and I said out loud, someone needs to write a survival guide for single women,” she recalled. “I made the mistake of saying that in front of one my editors, and they’re like, ‘You’re right! Someone does need to write a survival guide.’”

It didn’t happen right away; Stimpson admits she was reluctant to spend a solid three months writing a book completely focused on being single and then spend more time promoting the book by talking about being single. Yet God clearly had other plans, she said, and when another project fell through, she agreed to do the book and began to compile Turn to page 13

Faithful urged to pray, fast, repent to ‘take back America’

By Dave Jolivet, Editor

CENTERVILLE — In her glorious past, America, when she was at her lowest, dropped to her knees in prayer for guidance and assistance.

Just days after this country was born on July 4, 1776, General George Washington told his armies, “The general hopes and trusts that every officer and man will endeavor to live and act as becomes a Christian soldier defending the dearest rights and liberties of his country.”

Upon finishing his term as the first President of the United States, he told the nation on Sept.

17, 1796, “Of all the dispositions and habits, which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports.”

Abraham Lincoln, the 16th

U.S. president led this nation through one of its most ugly periods, the Civil War, when brother fought against brother. In one of

his many pearls of wisdom to the country he said, “My concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.”

Before Franklin Delano Roosevelt helped raise America from the ashes of the Pearl Harbor massacre, he addressed the U.S. Congress in 1941 saying, “In the future days which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms. The first is freedom of speech and expression — everywhere in the world.” The second freedom he cited was the “freedom of every person to worship God in his own way — everywhere in the world.”

Turn to page 18

SOME THINGS HAVE NOT CHANGED — People displaced by the 2010 earthquake in Haiti still live in sub-standard housing with little of the basic necessities. (Photo by Jeannine Baris)

Haitians cling to hope, faith as rebuilding slowly progresses

By Kenneth J. Souza Anchor Staff

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — More than two years after the devastating earthquake that ravaged major portions of Haiti on Jan. 12, 2010, progress is slowly but surely being made to rebuild schools, clinics and churches in the poverty-stricken country.

“There is progress going on in Port-au-Prince,” said Father Bernard Baris, M.S., pastor of Our Lady of the Cape Parish in Brewster. “Much of the mess has been cleaned up from the earthquake and they are re-

building. There are some professional buildings going up; but of course 800,000 people are still living in tents and in abominable situations without heat, water and other facilities.”

“The government is trying to clean up major refugee camps, but hundreds of thousands of people are still living in tents and without proper shelter,” agreed Missionhurst Father Andrew Labatorio. “The living conditions in camps are becoming intolerable and inhumane.

Violence and undocumented rapes are becoming an everyday

occurrence.”

Father Labatorio said the people who have been relegated to living in tents cannot afford the yearly rental fee for a small, simple apartment priced at about $500 in U.S. currency.

“Government and international organizations should work hand in hand in addressing the fundamental issues of relocating and providing for families still living in tents,” he said.

Father Baris recently took several of his parishioners on one of his regular visits to their Turn to page 20

News From the Vatican

2

April 27, 2012

Citing doctrinal problems, Vatican announces reforms of U.S. nuns’ group

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Citing “serious doctrinal problems which affect many in consecrated life,” the Vatican announced a major reform of an association of women’s religious congregations in the U.S. to ensure their fidelity to Catholic teaching in areas including abortion, euthanasia, women’s ordination and homosexuality.

Archbishop J. Peter Sartain of Seattle will provide “review, guidance and approval, where necessary, of the work” of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, the Vatican announced. The archbishop will be assisted by Bishop Leonard P. Blair of Toledo, Ohio, and Bishop Thomas J. Paprocki of Springfield, Ill., and draw on the advice of fellow bishops, women religious and other experts.

The LCWR, a Maryland-based umbrella group that claims about 1,500 leaders of U.S. women’s communities as members, represents about 80 percent of the country’s 57,000 women religious.

The announcement from the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith came in an eight-page “doctrinal assessment,” based on an investigation that Bishop Blair began on behalf of the Vatican in April 2008. That investigation led the doctrinal congregation to conclude, in January 2011, that “the current doctrinal and pastoral situation of LCWR is grave and a matter of serious concern, also given the influence the LCWR exercises on religious congregation in other parts of the world.”

Among the areas of concern were some of the most controversial issues of medical and sexual ethics in America today.

“While there has been a great deal of work on the part of LCWR promoting issues of social justice in harmony with the Church’s social doctrine, it is silent on the right to life from conception to natural death, a question that is part of the lively public debate about abortion and euthanasia in the United States,” the doctrinal congregation said. “Further, issues of crucial im-

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portance in the life of the Church and society, such as the Church’s biblical view of family life and human sexuality, are not part of the LCWR agenda in a way that promotes Church teaching.”

The Vatican also found that “public statements by the LCWR that disagree with or challenge positions taken by the bishops, who are the Church’s authentic teachers of faith and morals, are not compatible with its purpose.”

According to the Vatican, such deviations from Catholic teaching have provoked a crisis “characterized by a diminution of the fundamental Christological center and focus of religious consecration.”

But the congregation’s document also praised the “great contributions of women religious to the Church in the United States as seen particularly in the many schools, hospitals, and institutions of support for the poor, which have been founded and staffed by religious over the years,” and insisted that the Vatican “does not intend to offer judgment on the faith and life of women religious” in the LCWR’s member congregations.

During his tenure as the Holy See’s delegate, which is to last “up to five years, as deemed necessary,” Archbishop Sartain’s tasks will include overseeing revision of the LCWR’s statutes, review of its liturgical practices, and the creation of formation programs for the conference’s member congregations. The archbishop will also investigate the LCWR’s links to two outside groups: Network, a Catholic social justice lobby; and the Resource Center for Religious Institutes, which offers legal and financial expertise to religious orders.

The doctrinal assessment grew out of the Vatican’s “Apostolic Visitation of Religious Communities of Women in the United States,” a study of the “quality of life” in some 400 congregations, which began in December 2008. The visitation’s final report was submitted in December 2011 but has not yet been published.

OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE DIOCESE OF FALL RIVER Vol. 56, No. 17

Member: Catholic Press Association, Catholic News Service

Published weekly except for two weeks in the summer and the week after Christmas by the Catholic Press of the Diocese of Fall River, 887 Highland Avenue, Fall River, MA 02720, Telephone 508-675-7151 — FAX 508-675-7048, email: theanchor@anchornews.org.

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PUBLISHER - Most Reverend George W. Coleman EXECUTIVE EDITOR Father Roger J. Landry fatherrogerlandry@anchornews.org EDITOR David B. Jolivet davejolivet@anchornews.org OFFICE MANAGER Mary Chase marychase@anchornews.org ADVERTISING Wayne R. Powers waynepowers@anchornews.org REPORTER Kenneth J. Souza k ensouza@anchornews.org REPORTER Rebecca Aubut beckyaubut@anchornews.org Send Letters to the Editor to: fatherrogerlandry@anchornews.org

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above the crowd — A baby reacts after being kissed by Pope Benedict XVI as the pope leaves his general audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican recently. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

Catholic communicators must obey Church teaching, cardinal says

ROME (CNS) — Church communicators have an important and serious duty to obey Church teaching and defend the Church’s mission of saving souls and safeguarding truth, said the head of the Vatican’s highest court.

Caution as well as control over content and where it’s distributed are needed because while the field of communications “has great potential for good,” it “also can be turned to the harm of the faithful,” said U.S. Cardinal Raymond L. Burke, prefect of the Supreme Court of the Apostolic Signature.

Communicators should be guided and directed by pastors to make sure their content is free from doctrinal and theological error, and Catholics should avoid outlets that openly attack Christian morality, he added.

The cardinal was one of dozens of speakers at a biennial seminar for people who work in the field of media and communications for dioceses, religious institutions and other Church organizations.

Sponsored by Rome’s Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, the April 16-18 seminar focused on ways the Church could better portray the essence and vitality of the Christian faith.

Cardinal Burke, who is a canon lawyer, focused his talk April 18 on the importance of canon law in protecting the integrity of the Church’s mission and its members. The Church’s discipline and canonical processes are “not only not a hindrance to the effective communication of the Catholic faith, but also an effective manifestation of the vitality of the faith.”

In order to carry out its mission of clearly teaching moral principles and judging human affairs with the aim of saving human souls, the Church “has a solemn obligation to use whatever instru-

ments of communication are most fitting and effective,” he said.

Church communicators, in fact, are taking part in the “priestly office of teaching” and, therefore, “it is key that they, like priests, ground themselves in an ever greater obedience to the truth of Christ” found in the Church’s official teaching, he said.

Canon 823 states pastors have the right and duty “to be watchful so that no harm is done to the faith or morals of the Christian faithful through writings or the use of instruments of social communication.”

Therefore, priests and bishops “should be close to those employing the instruments of social communication for the sake of evangelization,” not only encouraging them in their task, but “guiding and directing them, lest some form of communication actually lead the faithful into confusion and error regarding the truth,” the cardinal said.

Cardinal Burke questioned whether some forms of digital media were appropriate for evangelization, saying some instruments may “actually do harm to the mission through their inappropriate or misguided use.”

While not specifying which kinds of media were inappropriate, he cautioned against those that “foster the fragmentation of thought and language,” permit anonymity, lack any ethical standards and lead to “highly inappropriate or even offensive language,” he said.

He said it would be difficult effectively to discipline such media to serve the Church in promoting its teaching.

According to Canon 831, Catholics should not be writing for newspapers, magazines or periodicals that openly attack Catholicism or good morals “except for a just and reasonable cause,”

he said.

That same norm should be extended to include radio, television and digital forums or sites that regularly contain content that is offensive to the faith or morality, which makes such outlets “not fitting instruments for the Church’s essential and fundamental work of communication.”

The cardinal also touched on the importance of the Catholic media in properly explaining the reason and nature of secrecy in the Church.

A case in point was the difficulty Catholic communicators had in explaining the Church’s process for dealing with accusations of clerical sex abuse, he said. “There is a great need for communication between true experts in Church law and Church communicators so that ecclesiastical processes are not depicted in the media as subterfuges to avoid the revelation of the truth but rather careful processes designed precisely to arrive at the truth, while respecting the rights and dignity of all, including the supposed perpetrator of the crime.”

Secrecy respects certain forms of communication like that between a person and God — as in the Sacrament of Confession — between a person and a spiritual director, and other instances that call for the free and full unveiling of one’s conscience, he said.

He said such situations, including Church trials, investigations and many Church administrative tasks are built on the need for absolute trust in guaranteeing confidentiality so as to fully arrive at the truth or relay honest assessments and advice.

A Catholic marriage annulment is also greatly misunderstood and Catholic communicators need to explain it properly and how it differs substantially from civil divorce, he said.

3 The Church in the U.S. Author says women’s conference should return to authentic religious life April 27, 2012

Washington D.C. (CNA/ EWTN News) — An expert on religious women in America believes that renewal within the Leadership Conference of Women Religious will require “very strong self-evaluation” and cooperation with the Vatican’s recent call for reform.

“After having studied this for many years, I think it was 40 years in the making,” said Ann Carey, author of the 1997 book “Sisters in Crisis: The Tragic Unraveling of Women’s Religious Communities.”

Carey told CNA on April 20 that ever since the LCWR revised its statutes in 1971, it has had a rocky relationship with the Vatican.

“The Vatican was patient, trying to give the Sisters some guidelines to modify the direction they were taking, and they resisted that,” she said.

On April 18, the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith announced that it had appointed Archbishop J. Peter Sartain of Seattle to lead reform efforts within the conference.

The announcement came as the findings of a multi-year doctrinal assessment of the women’s conference were released, raising concerns of dissent from Church teaching on topics including homosexuality, the sacramental priesthood and the divinity of Christ.

Carey said that members of the LCWR have “definitely” exhibited doctrinal problems and have also “made it quite clear that they are intent on changing the nature of religious life.”

They have also spoken of “loyal dissent,” as if to suggest that “it is permissible for one to disagree with Church teaching as long as one professes loyalty to the Church,” she added.

Carey explained that many of the problems illuminated in the Vatican’s assessment are the result of a “misinterpretation of Vatican II documents.”

In the early 1960s, the Second Vatican Council called on religious orders to renew and update themselves, removing “outdated” rules and customs so as to engage the

modern world.

For example, many religious orders were continuing the custom of waking up at dawn and going to bed at twilight, she said. This rule was left over from a time before electricity was in use, and it is now unnecessary and outdated.

But while the council called for renewal by returning to the orders’ original founding ideas and adapting them to modern times, many people misinterpreted this call and instead proceeded to “totally throw off some of the essentials of religious life,” she said.

The result was an abandonment of central elements of religious life, such as living and praying in community, serving in a corporate apostolate and wearing some type of distinctive religious garb, she explained.

Carey said that after Vatican II, members of many religious orders began to live in apartments and find their own jobs, separate from a corporate apostolate such as teaching or care for the sick.

In addition, they threw off the

Rome, Italy (CNA/EWTN News) — Archbishop Peter J. Sartain of Seattle praised American religious women as a “great gift” days after being asked by Pope Benedict to help reform the U.S.’s Leadership Conference of Women Religious.

“What I hope and pray for every day is that I, first of all, do as the Lord asks and do as the Holy Father asks,” said the archbishop, describing the task of renewal ahead.

He said he hopes “to work in a positive way,” recognizing “the wonderful contribution of religious women in the United States, and to work in a way that shows our continued love and support for their extraordinary contribution.”

Archbishop Sartain made his remarks in Rome only days after Pope Benedict XVI also publicly praised the contribution religious women make to the U.S. Church and society.

“In coming months I will have the honor of canonizing two new saints from North America,” the pope said in an April 21 address to the Papal Foundation, a U.S.-based charitable institute.

The pontiff described Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha and Blessed Mother Marianne Cope — both who are set to be canonized on October 21 — as “striking examples of sanctity and heroic charity” who also “remind us of the historic role played by women in the building up of the Church in America.”

“Those are exactly my views,” Archbishop Sartain echoed, “which makes me very happy because ob-

viously in the United States the role of women has been important from the very beginning.”

The archbishop explained that it was the women religious of Archdiocese of Seattle who were the “pioneers” in the “evangelization of the Gospel, care for the poor and the sick and education,” as happened elsewhere across America.

Controversy ignited, however, when the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith ended a four-year audit of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious on April 18, concluding that the organization was in the midst of a “crisis” of belief.

Among its key findings, the assessment documented serious theological and doctrinal errors in presentations at the conference’s annual assemblies in recent years.

Several depicted a vision of religious life that is incompatible with the Catholic faith, the assessment said, with some attempting to justify dissent from Church teaching and showing “scant regard for the

role of the Magisterium.”

The document also cited one address which spoke of “moving beyond the Church” and even “beyond Jesus.”

Archbishop Sartain stressed that he firmly believed the vocation of women religious continues to be a “great, great gift” to the Church and the world.

He praised what he called the “total consecration of one’s life, of the life of these religious women to Christ, who in every way are giving themselves in sacrifice and love to be the embodiment of the Gospel itself and to be in relationship with Christ their entire lives.”

“I think it is such a wonderful witness to the world and something I have had the benefit of seeing throughout my whole life and the four dioceses that I have served,” he said.

The Leadership Conference of Women Religious has more than 1,500 members, whose congregations represent over 46,000 religious Sisters.

Archbishop Sartain praises ‘wonderful contribution’ of women religious

Diocese of Fall River

OFFICIAL

His Excellency, the Most Reverend George W. Coleman, Bishop of Fall River, has accepted the nomination of the Reverend Primo P. Piscitello, OFM, Minister Provincial, of the Franciscan Friars of Immaculate Conception Province, and has made the following appointment: Rev. Roger Hall, OFM, Pastor, St. Margaret Parish, Buzzards Bay. Effective May 1, 2012

“loyalty and faithfulness to the Church” as well as the “deference to the hierarchy” that had previously characterized religious life.

The changes were so drastic that they caused some women to leave the LCWR, Carey said. These women formed another group, which eventually became an alternative superiors’ conference known as the Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious.

This more traditional group, which requires its members to adhere to the essentials of religious life as understood by the Church, is attracting the bulk of young vocations today, she noted.

If the conference is to undergo a true renewal, Carey said, its members must re-examine the Church’s understanding of religious life and make a firm commitment to live as “representatives of the Church,” in union with the local bishop.

She emphasized that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is not trying to return to the pre-Vatican II days but is instead promoting an “accurate interpretation of those documents” and the life they portray.

Carey said it will be “very interesting to watch” as the situation progresses. While she does not know what will happen, she said there are ultimately only two possible outcomes.

It is possible that the LCWR will cooperate with the Vatican’s reform efforts and see that they have gotten away from Church teaching, she explained.

However, she is unsure whether that will happen, because some of

the group’s members are “very convicted that what they’re doing is the right thing.”

The other option is for the conference to relinquish its canonical status and simply continue as a professional group, which Carey believes will cause them to “lose a lot of their members.”

She said that some of the group’s members value their canonical standing and have simply continued their membership with the conference over the years because they had always done so.

No matter what the organization decides, “there will be dissenting voices,” predicted Carey.

She explained that the LCWR consists of the leaders of various religious orders, so it is actually only made up of about three percent of the religious women in America.

She said that she knows many individual Sisters with no say in decisions of the conference who are “very unhappy” with the organization and “welcome this move” by the Vatican.

Carey also commented on the possibility of the group asking the Vatican to establish a new category of consecrated life that would better fit them.

While other types of consecrated life — such as hermits and consecrated virgins — do exist, she said, there would still be a pressing need to address the theological problems exhibited by the conference.

“For vowed religious to be embracing teachings that are dramatically opposed to the official Church teaching is very scandalous and damaging,” she said.

The Church in the U.S.

4

April 27, 2012

Indiana bishop decries ‘attempted ordination’ of ex-nun as priest

INDIANAPOLIS (CNS) — The apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis spoke out against the “attempted ordination” of an ex-nun to the priesthood.

“I am saddened that the woman who attempted ordination and anyone who took part in this invalid ceremony have chosen to take such a public action to separate themselves from the Church,” said an April 17 statement by Auxiliary Bishop Christopher J. Coyne of Indianapolis, who is overseeing the archdiocese until a successor is named for recently retired Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein.

The Catholic Church frequently uses the term “attempted ordination” since it does not view the ordination of women as valid or licit.

The ceremony for Maria McClain took place April 15 in Indianapolis with a woman bishop from the group Roman Catholic Womenpriests presiding. Bishop Coyne called it “a schismatic group.”

“This group has no valid connection to the Roman Catholic Church or the Archdiocese of Indianapolis,” he added. “Any supposed ‘ordination’ this group performed has no relationship with the Sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church and is not valid.”

McClain, 71, was a Mercy Sister in Buffalo, N.Y., for 15 years before leaving religious life, according to the Indianapolis Star daily newspaper. Now married, she moved to Indianapolis in 1977 to become di-

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rector of Religious Education at St. Pius X Parish in Indianapolis.

At his Holy Thursday chrism Mass at the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI reaffirmed the Church’s ban on women priests, asking: “Is disobedience a path of renewal for the Church?”

“The ordination of men to the priesthood is not merely a matter of practice or discipline with the Catholic Church, but rather, it is part of the deposit of faith handed down

by Christ through His Apostles,” Bishop Coyne said. “The Catholic Church has always followed Jesus’ example and does not believe it has the authority to change what Jesus instituted.”

Greg Otolski, a spokesman for the archdiocese, echoed Bishop Coyne’s statement. He told Indianapolis television station WTHR: “He (Jesus) only chose 12 men, 12 Apostles, all men. He did not choose women, and that’s an unalterable part of the faith.”

“According to the Roman Catholic Church, we excommunicate ourselves through ordination,” McClain told the Indianapolis Star, saying she chose to disobey what she termed “an unjust law” in order “to change the Church.”

“I am sorry they have chosen this path. It is clear that they believe they are doing the right thing,” Bishop Coyne said. “I wish them all the best but hope they will decide to return to the Church’s communion.”

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coming again — New Orleans Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond and Father Malcolm Neyland, a priest of the Diocese of Lubbock, Texas, announce at a press conference in New Orleans that a major exhibit of Blessed Pope John Paul II’s memorabilia will open in the city next February. After New Orleans, the exhibit, titled “I Have Come to You Again,” will move to Seattle, then Washington, D.C. (CNS photo/Frank J. Methe, Clarion Herald)

USCCB appeals ruling that Constitution forbids religious accommodation

WASHINGTON (CNS) — The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has appealed a federal judge’s ruling that the Constitution forbids religious accommodation in the delivery of services under a federal contract.

The appeal challenges the decision of District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns, who said in a March 23 ruling that the Department of Health and Human Services violated the Establishment Clause of the Constitution in delegating to the bishops’ conference the decision on which services to offer or not offer to foreign-born victims of human trafficking under a federal contract.

The case, originally filed by the American Civil Liberties Union in Massachusetts in 2009, revolved around the legality of the government allowing the USCCB, through its Migration and Refugee Services Department, to decline to offer abortion and contraception services to trafficking victims under the contract.

The USCCB joined the lawsuit in mid-2010 as a defendantintervenor.

Attorneys for the bishops’ conference also requested a stay of Stearns’ decision pending the appeal’s outcome. The request for a stay cites the likelihood that other existing contracts between the USCCB and the government were at risk of being canceled, thus harming those being served under them.

Attorney Henry C. Dinger, representing the USCCB, told Catholic News Service April 18 that the appeal questioned whether the ACLU had standing to file the original case. He argued that the organization did not based on previous Supreme Court decisions that narrowly

defines which taxpayers have standing to file lawsuits in certain kinds of cases.

The second argument, Dinger explained, revolves around whether the Department of Health and Human Services’ decision to allow the USCCB to limit the services it offered was an endorsement of religion.

Dinger said it was not.

In its filing, the conference argued that neither did the contract for services to trafficking victims nor the law authorizing government funds for such services require that abortion and contraception be offered. No trafficking victim complained that such services were not being provided, the USCCB added.

The USCCB also maintained that it did not impose a restriction on access to abortion and contraception to its nationwide list of subcontractors under the program, but only that it would not reimburse any subcontractor for such services. The bishops’ conference maintained that subcontractors were free to provide such services and trafficking victims were free to obtain such services through other means.

Calling Stearns’ decision “poorly reasoned” and “dangerous,” two USCCB leaders said the conference had little choice but to file an appeal.

Archbishop William E. Lori, the bishop of Bridgeport, Conn., who was recently appointed to head the Baltimore Archdiocese, who is chairman of the bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee on Religious Liberty, and Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of Los Angeles, chairman of the bishops’ Committee on Migration, said Stearns’ decision stretches earlier Supreme Court precedents regarding re-

ligious accommodation “almost beyond recognition.”

They also cited comments from Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas in a 1952 ruling (Zorach v. Clauson) that a government act to accommodate religion “follows the best of our traditions.” In that case, the Supreme Court ruled that schoolchildren could be excused from public schools for religious observances and education without violating the Establishment Clause.

“This decision (by Stearns) says and does the opposite,” the archbishops said.

If Stearns’ decision is allowed to stand, the statement added, the ability of the bishops’ Migration and Refugee Services to provide services to human trafficking victims through government agencies in the future would be endangered. Other services offered by any faith-based organization also would be at risk, the archbishops said.

“If the rationale of this decision spreads, dozens of Catholic organizations across the country that cooperate on similar terms with government agencies at all levels — federal, state and local — will have their work similarly threatened,” they said.

The work of all faith-based service providers is threatened because the court’s “novel rule severely restricts the ability of government to accommodate any contractor’s religious commitments, Catholic or otherwise” the statement added. “The people most in need of human services — the poor, the sick, the marginalized — would suffer the most from such a broad exclusion of faith-based providers from cooperation with government.”

5 The Church in the U.S. Religious liberty issue takes center stage at Catholic prayer breakfast

April 27, 2012

WASHINGTON (CNS) — Religious liberty was topic A at the eighth annual National Catholic Prayer Breakfast, held April 19 at a Washington hotel.

“Never in the lifetime of anyone present here has the religious liberty of the American people been as threatened as it is today,” warned Carl Anderson, supreme knight of the Knights of Columbus, in remarks to the estimated 800 people in attendance.

“We must remind our fellow Americans, and especially those who exercise power, that religious liberty — the freedom guaranteed by the First Amendment — has been essential to the founding, development and improvement of the American republic.”

Anderson said, “Today we find a new hostility to the role of religious institutions in American life at a time when government is expanding its reach in extraordinary ways. And it is not only because of the Obama Administration’s HHS contraception mandate.”

Besides the mandate requiring that most health plans cover the cost of contraception, sterilization and some drugs that can induce abortion, Anderson pointed to the Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC case, a court challenge to a Lutheran school’s firing of a teacher.

The attempt to more narrowly define who is a religious employee was unanimously rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court.

He also noted the revocation of a refugee resettlement contract with the U.S. bishops’ Department of Migration and Refugee Services because MRS would not offer its clients the “full range of reproductive services,” including abortion.

“A government willing to affect the faith and mission of the Church is a government willing to change the identity of the Church,” Anderson declared.

“During his (2008) visit to Washington, Pope Benedict XVI reminded us that ‘Christians are easily tempted to conform themselves to the spirit of this age,’” he said. “The spirit of our age is profoundly secular. And secularism accepts religion — if it accepts it at all — only on its own terms. Under this view,

power of prayer — Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, apostolic nuncio to the United States, gives the invocation at the eighth annual National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Washington April 19. At right is emcee Rachel Campos-Duffy. (CNS photo/Nancy Phelan Wiechec)

religion is subordinated to the political interests of the secular state. And it is precisely this subordination of religion to the state that the First Amendment seeks to prevent.”

Anderson recalled when British Prime Minister Winston Churchill addressed Congress in December 1941, with England being subjected to Nazi bombing runs and the United States

U.S. bishops oppose budget cuts to poverty assistance

Washington D.C. (CNA) — The chairmen of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development voiced concerns that proposed budget cuts for the 2013 fiscal year could adversely impact the most vulnerable members of society.

In an April 16 letter, Bishop Stephen E. Blaire of Stocktonurged leaders of the House Agriculture Committee to resist “unacceptable cuts to hunger and nutrition programs.”

He said that reductions to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the modern federal food stamp program, “are unjustified and wrong.”

The bishop argued that the program “helps feed millions of households,” most of which include a child, senior or disabled individual.

In a time of “economic turmoil and growing poverty,” Congress should not cut an “effective and efficient anti-hunger program that helps people live in dignity,” he said.

“If savings need to be achieved, cuts to agricultural subsidies and direct payments should be considered before cutting anti-

having just suffered the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor.

“In that worst of times, he scorned the enemies of freedom and defiantly asked, ‘What kind of people do they think we are!’ Today, with the same defiance, we can declare, ‘What kind of Catholics do they think we are!’”

hunger programs that help feed poor and vulnerable people.”

The letter was sent several weeks after the U.S. House of Representatives passed a $3.5 trillion budget resolution crafted by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.).

Ryan has said that his budget is guided

by Catholic principles and that it allows for the common good to be advanced not only through government but through civic society. He also argued that the poor are hurt by extreme levels of debt more than they are by budget reductions.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) — who is also Catholic — said that in the broader picture, the cuts are necessary to prevent a financial crisis that would completely wipe out the critical aid programs.

However, Bishop Blaire said that the budget falls short of the moral criteria laid out by the bishops.

Leaders of the U.S. bishops have called for a “circle of protection” to be maintained around the poor and vulnerable during budget debates, preventing critical services from being slashed.

Anderson said to applause. “Do they really expect us to go gently into that dark night they are preparing for religious liberty in America?”

While Anderson stuck to domestic issues, threats to religious liberty around the world was the subject of the keynote address by Archbishop Francis A. Chullikatt, apostolic nuncio at the Holy See’s Permanent Observer Mis-

sion to the United Nations.

Archbishop Chullikatt noted repeatedly how Catholics and Christians are threatened on a regular basis for professing or exercising their faith. The former papal nuncio to Iraq, he expressed sadness over the Oct. 31, 2010, massacre at a church in Baghdad, where 52 people were murdered, including two priests he knew personally.

“Religious liberty is the first of human rights,” Archbishop Chullikatt said. He quoted Pope Benedict XVI, who in his 2011 World Day of Peace message, said, “A freedom that is hostile or indifferent to God is self-negating.”

“What is at stake here,” Archbishop Chullikatt said, “is the future of humanity itself.” He added freedom of religion is “not only a moral but also a civil right.”

Such freedom, the archbishop said, “still awaits effective implementation in many countries.” He cited statistics from a U.N. office that monitors discrimination and intolerance to human rights, which indicated that 70 percent of the world’s people live in countries with a high degree of restriction on human rights, with 51 percent of the population lives in nations where the government has used force to keep citizens from exercising those rights.

Archbishop Chullikatt cited laws that place an outright ban on worship

by Catholics in nations where they are a minority religion, as well as blasphemy laws, conversion laws and statutes that forbid the wearing of garments that express one’s faith.

The Arab Spring that took hold in many parts of the Muslim world last year has created situations for Christians that “may actually see things get worse rather than improve,” he said.

6

The Anchor Responding to the Lord’s gift of love

This weekend, on Good Shepherd Sunday, the Church will convene in parishes across the globe to carry out the Good Shepherd’s imperative to beg the Father for good shepherds to continue the work of tending and feeding the Lord’s flock. Jesus foresaw that there would always be a need for shepherds after His own heart and taught the Church ahead of time how to respond.

“The harvest is plentiful,” He said, “but the laborers are few. Therefore, ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers for His harvest” (Mt 9:38). That is what the Church will faithfully be doing on Sunday.

In order to concentrate the attention of the Church to the importance of praying for and promoting priestly vocations, for the last 49 years the pope has been writing a message to the faithful for this occasion, focusing each year on various aspects of vocational promotion. This year Pope Benedict XVI wrote a letter entitled, “Vocations, the Gift of the Love of God.” His essential point was that — in the midst of a secularist society pervaded by material concerns, pleasureseeking, and radical autonomy from God and others that considers the poor, chaste and obedient priesthood a waste of one’s life — the only way to comprehend and foster priestly vocations is to begin with the love of God. “The profound truth of our existence is contained in this surprising mystery, that every creature, and in particular every human person, is the fruit of God’s thought and an act of His life, a love that is boundless, faithful and everlasting,” Pope Benedict writes.

“The discovery of this reality is what truly and profoundly changes our lives.” That wondrous love of God, present in creation, was shown even more resplendently in the redemption, when God Himself became one of us to save us, and continues in the Church, which the God Who is love instituted in order to continue His work of service, sanctification and salvation until the end of time. That is the context of priestly vocations. “Every specific vocation is born of the initiative of God; it is a gift of the Love of God!,” the Holy Father exclaims. The first step in vocational awareness is to reawaken to the incredible reality of the love of God in general and how the priesthood is an expression of God’s loving us “to the extreme,” which is how St. John introduces the scene of the Last Supper in which Christ ordained His first shepherds. Pope Benedict writes these words, it’s safe to infer, because he believes in many places in our desacralized world, even among Christians, consciousness of the immensity of God’s love has been lost. That’s why he says that “the appealing beauty of this Divine love … needs to be proclaimed ever anew, especially to the younger generations.”

The experience of being loved never leaves us unmoved. When someone says, “I love you,” there is a natural inner impulse to reply with sincerity, “I love you, too.” When someone truly awakens to and experiences even a glimpse of the enormity of God’s love, one can begin to understand the concluding words of a famous English hymn, “Love so amazing, so Divine, demands my life, my soul, my all!” Jesus’ first disciples were able to leave their boats and taxcollecting tables behind when Jesus called them because they discovered that God’s love was far more valuable than a big catch and money. Likewise, when the young open their lives to God’s love, the Holy Father says, they begin to recognize that the “high standard of Christian life consists in loving ‘as’ God loves, with a love that is shown in the total, faithful and fruitful gift of self. … It is in this soil of self-offering and openness to the love of God, and as the fruit of that love, that all vocations are born and grow.” Boys raised in homes and in parishes that are inflamed with love of God and for God, that regularly sacrifice out of love for Him and for others, are the seed beds or seminaries in which a priestly vocation to total loving service of God and His people can be more easily discerned. There really is never a “vocations” or “calling” crisis in the Church, because God never ceases to call young men to the priesthood, but rather because of a scant awareness of God’s love and a meager response to it, there’s a crisis in “hearing” that vocation. The soil in which the seeds of priestly vocations develop has to be irrigated by consciousness of God’s love and fertilized by the practice of true Christian love for God and others in homes and parish communities.

There’s a tremendous example of this type of vocational soil in a superb prayer booklet published in 2007 by the Vatican’s Congregation for Clergy. Entitled “Adoration, Reparation and Spiritual Motherhood for Priests,” it lifted up as a model of the type of prayer to the Lord of the harvest that was done in the tiny village of Lu Monferrato in northern Italy. In 1881, when secularism and virulent anti-clericalism were becoming increasingly pronounced, the mothers of this tiny village of a few thousand inhabitants, conscious of the need for priestly vocations, began to gather each Tuesday afternoon for eucharistic adoration to ask the Harvest Master to send priestly laborers. They would together make the following prayer: “O God, grant that one of my sons may become a priest! I myself want to live as a good Christian and want to guide my children always to do what is right, so that I may receive the grace, O God, to be allowed to give You a holy priest!” That prayer, their fervent desire for vocations, and their home’s and parish’s great awareness of the love of God in the blessing of priestly vocations, bore more fruit than any of them could have ever imagined. In the span of a few decades, this one village parish — smaller than many parishes in the Diocese of Fall River — produced 152 priestly vocations and 171 religious women to 41 different congregations.

“The ability to foster vocations is a hallmark of the vitality of a local Church,” Pope Benedict wrote last year. To be spiritually alive, dioceses — and the parishes and families that comprise them — should be generating vocations just as good trees bear good fruit. Few places will be as vocationally prodigious as Lu Monferrato, but every parish and diocese ought to be as committed to prayer and encouraging young people to consider a priestly vocation as were the mothers there. There is a helpful rule-of-thumb promoted by vocations directors: there would never be a shortage of priests in any diocese if each parish were to have just one young man enter the seminary every eight years. With typical attrition rates in seminaries — some who enter the seminary eventually discern that their vocation is elsewhere — this would mean that every parish would have at least one native son ordained a priest every 12 years. Here in the Diocese of Fall River, if every parish were able to achieve this frequency, there would be, on average, eight priestly ordinations a year. Since most priests, if they remain healthy and faithful, will labor at least 30-40 years in the trenches, that would mean there would be about 240-320 priests at any given time divided among the parishes, hospitals, high schools and other ministries of the diocese.

This one-in-eight goal is achievable. In practical terms it means that in a Catholic elementary school with 200 students, approximately 100 of whom are boys, that at least one boy presently in the school would enter the seminary down the road. One out of a hundred. For a parish without a school but with a Faith Formation program of 400 kids, the goal would plant the seed of a priestly vocation in all of them in the hope that it would flower later in at least one of the roughly 200 boys. While there is obviously no way in most circumstances for parishioners to know for certain that a particular young boy has a priestly vocation, there is also no way to know that a young boy does not. It would be hard to imagine that the Harvest Master would not be calling any of the young boys in a particular parish to the priesthood. If each one is treated as one whom the Lord of love might be calling to be a priest in the future, then the odds will surely increase that those whom the Harvest Master is calling to follow Him in this way will hear that call and respond with his life, his soul, his all.

I

April 27, 2012

Called by name

n last week’s column I addressed the vessels can be the very experience that a importance of praying for vocations. young man needs to consider the sacred Praying for more priests is crucial to the calling. work of building a culture of vocations, but A young man who is involved in the life it doesn’t end with prayer because there is of the parish is also someone who should much more that we can do as well! be personally invited to consider the call.

With the exception of prayer, I Today’s modern and secular world doesn’t personally don’t think that there is any place a great value on service, especially greater way to promote priestly vocations service to one’s Church. When a young than with a personal invitation. In my own man freely chooses to be involved in the discernment I can think of the specific life of his parish, God is clearly working in people who said to me, “Have you ever his life and that might be a way of calling thought of becoming a priest?” or “I think him to some greater form of service. you could be a good priest.”

When a young man is teaching in a I think of the great people from my parish Religious Education program, home parish of SS. Peter and Paul in volunteering at a soup kitchen or food Fall River who were so encouraging to pantry, when he is a lector at Mass, me and throughout my formation for an extraordinary minister of Holy the priesthood, but especially to those Communion or an usher, he has already wonderful faith-filled Catholics who helped placed a value on service to God and His me discern the Lord’s call both by their Church and is someone who should be example of Christian living and also by asked to consider a priestly vocation. specially asking me to consider the call.

But I don’t think that we should limit I recall this special how beneficial invitation to it was to those who discovering my Putting Into spend their own vocation time at the the Deep when the parish parish church. priests would I think that make it a point there are also

By Father to mention some personal Jay Mello a priestly qualities in vocation to me young people and offer words of encouragement. From a that are compatible with priesthood and young age as an altar server throughout my priestly service. If you think about it, what high school years, I can attribute much of are some of the qualities that you see or my vocation to those personal invitations want to see in your priests? I presume that to get more involved in parish life. While compassion, dedication, service, discipline, I can’t speak for other priests, I would bet piety and commitment are among some of that many other priests would say the same them. about their own vocation.

When you see these qualities and So who are the ones that we should be virtues in the young men in your family, “calling by name” to consider a vocation to school or parish, invite them to consider a the priesthood? Well, generally speaking, priestly vocation. At the very least, invite I think we should ask all young men to them to ask the question, “What is God think about the question. Not that all men calling them to do?” When people ask this have this vocation, but it is however, the question, a seed is planted and God is able responsibility of every baptized man to ask to do so much in their lives. the question, “Is Jesus Christ calling me to Perhaps another place where we might be a Catholic priest?” For many the answer find priestly vocations is among those to this question will be no, and that’s OK young men who participate in team sports because that isn’t their vocation. What or in military service. Now, you might is sad is that many never even ask this ask what sports and military service and question. priesthood have in common, and that is a This is why it is so important for all natural question, because at first glance, the members of the Church to invite young answer is, not much. When you think about men to ask this question and to consider a it, however, they have a lot in common. vocation. By asking the question, the idea First of all, St. Paul makes more than is placed in their mind and a seed is planted one comparison of the Christian life to an and if God is calling them, we have done athletic completion, of “competing well” and our part to help bring about God’s will. “finishing the race.” He also calls us to be The particular qualities that we should “soldiers for Christ.” Paul was able to see the be looking for in young men who might comparison between these ways of life. have a vocation is above all a sense of An athlete and soldier are people who love for Christ and the Church. Especially obviously have a sense of commitment with the declining number of people and dedication. They understand that they attending Sunday Mass each Sunday, if are part of a team or unit that is working there are young men who are attending toward something that is greater and bigger Mass faithfully each week, there might be a than themselves. Their self-discipline, possibility that they are being called to the dedication, commitment and constant priesthood. training are qualities compatible with the Those young men who are altar priesthood, and perhaps God can use those servers have such close proximity to human virtues to help one find their true the celebration of the Mass that they are vocation in life. also prime candidates for the priesthood.

We can’t really truly understand the Their closeness to the sacred mysteries value of personally inviting a young man that are celebrated at the hands of the to consider the vocation to the priesthood. priests provide these young men a unique Sometimes all it takes is a simple gesture to perspective to the life and ministry of the plant the seed of a vocation, God will take priest. Preparing for Mass beforehand in care of the rest! the sacristy with the priest, their service at Father Mello is a parochial vicar at St. the altar and their handling of the sacred Patrick’s Parish in Falmouth.

April 27, 2012

O

The Decrees and Declarations: More fruits of the Council’s work

n Dec. 8, 1965, the feast of the Immaculate Conception, the council Fathers gathered in their regular council seats inside St. Peter’s Basilica, vested in copes and miters — many of them wearing the simple gold rings Pope Paul VI had given them to commemorate the closing of the council instead of their customary jeweled rings. Then they began the procession out the front door of the basilica, left across the portico, down the corridor of the Vatican’s formal entrance and out through the bronze doors into the square filled with thousands of clergy, religious Brothers and Sisters, laity, and special guests. Pope Paul celebrated Mass at an altar in the center of the assembled bishops. At the end of the Mass, he delivered a final discourse and then blessed the foundation stone for a church to be built in commemoration of the council and dedicated to Mary, Mother of the Church.

Archbishop Pericle Felici, the council’s secretary general, read the official document proclaiming the closing of the council. Five bishops from five continents then gathered before the Book of the Gospels that had been enthroned daily at the opening of each of the council’s 168 general meetings.

Together they chanted invocations used to close councils since that of Chalcedon in the year 451.

The last time they were heard was at the close of the Council of Trent in 1563. (The only council

T

7

The Anchor

hank God for the nuns!

Most of the canonized saints of this country have been women, and all of those were religious women, founders and pioneering leaders of their orders.

The first American citizen to be canonized was St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, right after World War II. The first native-born American to be canonized was St. Elizabeth Anne Seton, in 1975. (Indeed, the two Americans who will be canonized this year were both religious women, soon-to-be St. Marianne Cope and soon-to-be St. Kateri Tekakwitha.)

They instilled and preserved the Catholic faith, serving the various human and spiritual needs of millions in schools, hospitals, orphanages, and various social-service agencies throughout our history, oftentimes with little recognition and support, oftentimes heroically.

Sadly, sometimes even bishops and priests had misunderstandings and were not as solicitous of the welfare of their religious Sisters as they should have been. Pope John Paul II in 1987, though, recognized in a meeting with religious in San Francisco that “the spiritual vigor

since then, Vatican I, was never and declarations. Like the conformally closed.) To each invocastitutions on which they largely tion the bishops and attendants depend, they are easily accessible responded in Gregorian chant: in printed editions and on the “Christ conquers! Christ reigns!

Vatican’s website (www.vatican.

Christ, hear us!” Pope Paul gave va). What follows instead are some his apostolic blessing — and the of the more important teachings 21st ecumenical council passed in these “satellite” documents surinto history. According to Vatirounding the constitutions. can Radio, during the general meetings there were 2,212 speeches and Vatican II at 50: 4,361 written intervenFulfilling the tions; average daily attendance of bishops was Promise 2,200; Pope John XXIII

By Father and 242 council Fathers, including 12 cardinals, Thomas M. Kocik died during the period of the four annual sessions.

We have already studied the “Decree on Ecumenism” basic themes of the council’s (11/21/64): All baptized persons four constitutions: on the Liturgy, are in some sense part of the the nature of the Church, Divine Catholic Church, which regards Revelation, and the Church in the non-Catholic Christians as sepamodern world. In addition to these rated brethren in Christ. Certain “core” documents, the council endowments of the Church can issued nine decrees and three exist in other Christian commudeclarations. The decrees are those nions, bringing their members on social communications, ecuinto “imperfect communion” with menism, the Eastern-rite Catholic the Catholic Church. NevertheChurches, the pastoral duties of less, the Gospel calls Christians to bishops, renovation of religious full, visible unity by the profeslife, seminaries, the lay apostolate, sion of the same faith and by missions, and priestly formation eucharistic fellowship, under apand ministry. The declarations ostolic governance. Non-Catholic are on the Church’s relations with communities that possess the hisnon-Christian religions, Christian toric apostolic ministry exercised education, and religious freedom. by bishops and therefore a valid It would not comport with the Eucharist (not least the Orthodox) intended brevity of this series to are properly called “Churches,” examine all of the conciliar decrees but they should not be reckoned

as constituent parts of the Catholic Church.

“Decree on the Catholic Eastern Churches” (11/21/64): The Catholic Church is more than the Western Church, the Church of the Latin Rite. It includes also the various Eastern Churches in union with Rome (Ukrainian, Maronite, Chaldean, Coptic, etc.) — all governed by their own hierarchy and all following their own liturgical usages, spiritual and theological traditions, and ecclesiastical laws. The special heritage of these nonLatin “types” of Catholicism must be preserved in order to manifest the universality, or catholicity, of God’s Church.

“Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions” (10/28/65): The Church has a unique relationship with Judaism, her historical parent.

Anti-Semitism is a sin. The notion that Jews are collectively guilty of killing Christ is rejected.

“Decree on the Pastoral Office of Bishops” (10/28/65): The bishops, with and under the pope, are successors of the Apostles. A bishop’s first responsibility in his local Church is evangelization; he is a teacher and spiritual father before he is a manager.

“Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity” (11/18/65): The distinctive vocation of the lay faithful is

Service in leadership

of so many Catholic people testicern “in support of this essential fies to the efforts of generations of charism of religious which has religious in this land. The history been so obvious in the life and of the Church in this country is in growth of the Catholic Church in large measure your history of the the United States.” service of God’s people.”

“On the doctrinal level,” the Beginning in the 1960s, though, assessment explained, “this crisis because of the crisis in the Church is characterized by a diminution and in the larger culture (the sexual revolution was one manifestation), many religious women left the convent, as a number of men left the priesthood. The

By Dwight Duncan Leadership Conference of Women Religious in this country was established to make common cause with each other and of the fundamental Christologicoordinate efforts with the bishops cal center and focus of religious conference and individual bishops, consecration which leads, in turn, always, as canon number 708 to a loss of a ‘constant and lively specified, “without prejudice to the sense of the Church’ among some autonomy, character, and proper religious.” One speaker at the spirit” (of each individual religious LCWR annual assembly, for ininstitute). stance, talked about some religious Last week the Sacred Congre“moving beyond the Church” or gation for the Doctrine of the Faith even beyond Jesus. “Such unacissued a “Doctrinal Assessment ceptable positions routinely go of the Leadership Conference unchallenged by the LCWR.” of Women Religious” (LCWR), “Some might see in such talk a pointing out some areas of conphenomenological snapshot of

Judge For Yourself

religious life today. But pastors of the Church should also see in it a cry for help.” For the Church and, indeed, Christ Himself, are the way to salvation and sanctification. Moving beyond them is to miss the mark.

There have also been letters from LCWR officers protesting the teaching of the Church regarding the inadmissibility of women’s ordination, or the correct pastoral approach to ministry to homosexuals, suggesting “that these Sisters collectively take a position not in agreement with the Church’s teaching on human sexuality.” Furthermore, sometimes “radical feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith “ prevail in LCWR presentations and programs.

While the assessment notes that “while there has been a great deal of work on the part of LCWR promoting issues of social justice in harmony with the Church’s social doctrine, it is silent on the right to life from conception to natural death, a question that is part of the lively public debate about abor-

to evangelize and sanctify society beyond the walls of the parish church — in the family, in the workplace, in the culture, and in political life.

“Decree on the Church’s Missionary Activity” (12/7/65): The Church’s primary interest is the salvation of the human race. There are truths and values in other religions, but these are commingled with serious errors, and even the truths have redemptive value only to the extent that they are preparations for, or reflections of, the Gospel.

“Declaration on Religious Freedom” (12/7/65): The activity of God in all religions is recognized, notwithstanding the conviction that the one true religion subsists in the Catholic Church. All people should enjoy freedom from coercion in religious matters. At the same time, all have an obligation to seek the truth and to adhere to it.

The next and final installment will recap the ways in which the council’s carefully nuanced teaching presents, to recall E. I. Watkin’s phrase, “a deeper and wider understanding” of the Church’s unbroken yet developed tradition.

Father Kocik is a parochial vicar at Santo Christo Parish in Fall River, is editor of “Antiphon: A Journal for Liturgical Renewal,” author of two liturgy-related books, and contributor to “T&T Clark Companion to Liturgical Studies.”

tion and euthanasia in the United States.”

An archbishop delegate, Peter Sartain of Seattle, has been appointed to help the LCWR revise its statutes and programs to assure their adherence to Church teachings and discipline. “The Eucharist and the Liturgy of the Hours” should have a place of priority in LCWR events and programs.

Doubtless this is a challenging time for the women in the Leadership Conference for Women Religious in the United States.

Given the rich tradition of holiness and service that preceded them, however, they might want to think about imitating our Divine Master, Who came “not to be served but to serve,” and for Whom “to serve is to reign.” What would Mother Seton do? For that matter, what would our Blessed Mother say?

Perhaps she already said it: “Do whatever He tells you.” “Behold the handmaid of the Lord. Be it done unto me according to Your word.”

Dwight Duncan is a professor at UMass School of Law Dartmouth. He holds degrees in civil and canon law.

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April 27, 2012

The Anchor

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ne of the lines of prayer I have been enjoying most this Easter season is from the Prefaces for Easter found in the new Roman Missal. It is just one line but it is packed with so much; “Therefore, overcome with Paschal joy .…”

Think about that line for just a moment. How many of us have been “overcome with Paschal joy” since Easter Sunday? I would dare say there have been other emotions that have overcome us more quickly and more often, but what about joy? I know from my own life in these recent weeks I’ve been overcome with anger (perhaps once or twice).

I know that I was overcome with excitement and fasci-

Let us grow more joyful

nation while watching the cause us to be overcome 100th anniversary celebrawith joy. But like those tions at Fenway Park, only commercials tell us, “Wait! then to be overcome with There’s more!” The more sadness as they lost to the comes from the readings this Yankees! If we allow ourselves to be overcome with emoHomily of the Week tions about things Fourth Sunday that have really of Easter no bearing on our eternal life (but can

By Father still be fun nonetheJohn M. Murray less), why not allow ourselves to be overcome with joy at Easter?

Sunday which has come to What is there to be joyful be called “Good Shepherd about? Well, for starters, Sunday.” Our Lord Jesus is Christ has been raised from our Shepherd and He lays the dead. He is victorious down His life for us, His over sin and death and we, sheep. We know Him and He by our Baptism, share in that certainly knows us. We know victory. That alone should His voice as He calls to each

of us by name, gathering us into the sheepfold where we are safe from that which can cause us real harm. At times we don’t listen and we get lost but He comes to find us, risking Himself — giving Himself to us just as He did on that cross 2,000 years ago. For this reason too, we should be overcome with joy.

St. John also reminds us in the second reading this weekend that God’s love is so kind and so abundant that it causes us to be called sons and daughters of God. “Beloved, see what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the

children of God. Yet so we are.” Friends, as we hear yet another reason to be overcome with joy, the question must be asked again: Are we overcome? Are we full of joy? Are we ecstatic with Paschal joy? Let us ask our Lord through the power and gift of His Body and Blood given to us as our food and drink (yet another reason for Paschal joy) that we grow more joyful so that others through us will come to hear the voice of our Good Shepherd, reminding them that they too are called to be the sons and daughters of God; to live lives that are “overcome with Paschal joy.”

Father Murray is pastor of Holy Ghost and St. Joseph parishes in Attleboro.

Upcoming Daily Readings: Sat. April 28, Acts 9:31-42; Ps 116:12-17; Jn 6:60-69. Sun. April 29, Fourth Sunday of Easter, Acts 4:8-12; Ps 118:1,8-9,21-23,26,29; 1 Jn 3:1-2; Jn 10:11-18. Mon. April 30, Acts 11:1-18; Pss 42:2-3;43:3-4; Jn 10:1-10. Tues. May 1, Acts 11:19-26: Ps 87:1-7; Jn 10:22-30. Wed. May 2, Acts 12:24—13:5a; Ps 67:23,5-6,8; Jn 12:44-50. Thurs. May 3, 1 Cor 15:1-8; Ps 19:2-5; Jn 14:6-14. Fri. May 4, Acts 13:26-33; Ps 2:6-11; Jn 14:1-6.

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Rose DeLauro, CNS, and the disoriented Catholic left

ne does wonder, sometimes, just what goes on at Catholic News Service, an agency that wouldn’t exist were it not for the U.S. bishops and the bishops’ conference. This past April 16, CNS distributed a lengthy interview with Rep. Rosa DeLauro, DConn., giving her a platform to blast the 2013 federal budget proposed by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and to badger Cardinal Timothy Dolan to pay as much attention to “the poor, the hungry, the middle class, the people who are going to be eviscerated by the Ryan budget” as Dolan and the bishops he leads are paying to the defense of religious freedom.

The congresswoman’s apPADRE PIO and DIVINE MERCY

www.pamphletstoinspire.com

peal was specifically Catholic Columbia education authori— “my Church, the Catholic ties to provide “opportunity Church, needs to speak out scholarships” to Catholic loud on this issue” — which inner-city schools for poor involved an irony left wholly children; Rep. DeLauro supunexamined by CNS. For Rosa DeLauro’s voting record is in some tension, to put it gently, with Catholic understandings of justice.

By George Weigel The Catholic Church teaches the inalienable right to life of the unborn and insists that that obvious moral ported the Obama Administratruth be acknowledged in law; tion’s cruel refusal to fund that Rep. DeLauro is a consisprogram. The bishops have tent pro-abortion vote in the declared that religious freeHouse. The Catholic Church dom is under serious assault worked with the District of in the United States today; the gentlewoman from Connecticut has been notably AWOL in defending the first of American liberties.

How, then, does Congresswoman DeLauro imagine herself as someone who speaks for “my Church, the Catholic Church?” My hunch is that she imagines herself a spokesperson for authentic Catholicism because she, like many other Catholics on the port side of American politics and the Church, have long thought that they alone hold the high ground at the intersection of Catholic social teaching and public policy.

Memo to Congresswoman DeLauro and friends: Those days are over.

They’re over because four

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The Catholic Difference

decades of intellectual and political work, coupled with extensive care for women in crisis pregnancies, have made the Pro-Life cause the cultural marker of serious Catholicism in America.

They’re over because much of the Catholic left has obstinately refused to promote religious freedom in full and the inalienable right to life as priority social justice issues.

And they’re over because contemporary history has vindicated Catholicism’s antistatist social justice principle, subsidiarity.

The impending fiscal meltdown of European welfare states vindicates subsidiarity by making clear that providing necessary aid to those in genuine need means, among other measures, developing the associational and charitable instincts of civil society. The alternative is state bankruptcy and social chaos.

Then there is Obamacare, which flatly contradicts subsidiarity and its principled rejection of vast concentrations of state power — the dangers of which are amply demonstrated by the coercive HHS “contraceptive mandate.”

The universal health care the Church rightly seeks must be accomplished by means other than handing over one-sixth

of the economy (and critical medical decisions) to unregulated regulators.

These home truths are bad news for Rosa DeLauro and those of her persuasion. Now, to make matters worse, here is Paul Ryan, a congressman of uncommon intelligence who can ably argue the public policy implications of Catholic social doctrine and who understands that what the Church asks of a just society is the empowerment of the poor: breaking the cycle of welfare dependency and unleashing the creativity the Church believes God builds into every human soul.

Paul Ryan is the Catholic left’s worst nightmare and his demonization from that quarter has just begun. Ryan is a big boy, though, and he’ll fight his corner well. That argument might even lead to some consensus about empowerment-based anti-poverty strategies and fiscally responsible social welfare policies among serious Catholics of both political parties.

Rather than being a megaphone for dissenting Catholics posing as authentic representatives of the Church and hyperventilating about people being “eviscerated” by a budget, might CNS help provide a level playing field for the debate?

George Weigel is Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C.

April 27, 2012

From North Dighton to Carnegie Hall

Sunday 22 April 2012 — at directly from the church sanctuthe church on Three Mile River ary in North Dighton to the — Oklahoma Land Rush anniversary (1889) everal years ago, when Reflections of a the Catholics of the Parish Priest Town of Dighton were discussing the posBy Father Tim sibility of merging the Goldrick two parishes in town, representatives of both churches were asked to identify the strengths and weak- stage in New York City. nesses that the two faith comCharlie and I grew up across munities held in common. They the Acushnet River from each named liturgical music as one other but our paths never area that, in their opinion, was crossed, although they easily in need of improvement. I read could have. Early on, one of their report and I still have it on Charlie’s music teachers was a file someplace around here. It woman by the name of Edna seems to me that we’ve come a Goldrick. Edna Goldrick was long way since those days. To my aunt. prove my point, I’m happy to Aunt Edna, who was then announce, dear readers, that the the organist and choir director music director at St. Nicholas at Trinity Methodist Church in Parish recently performed at New Bedford, was always after Carnegie Hall. That’s right. me to learn to play the piano.

Charles Dillingham went There’s a photo someone (I

S

I

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The Ship’s Log

suspect my sister) posted on Facebook showing me at the tender age of about five years sitting there with my hands resting (incorrectly) on the keys of Aunt Edna’s baby grand piano.

This is hard evidence that my family tried to convince me of the joys of music from an early age. “You have such long fingers,” Aunt Edna would say. “Your hands are perfect for playing the piano. I will teach you.”

I never took the bait. Charlie did. Charlie now plays not only the piano, but the organ, the clarinet, and the saxophone. He is listed as a music teacher in “Who’s Who Among American Educators” and as a musician in “Who’s Who Among American Professionals.” I am not.

Charles Dillingham was one of those who interviewed and auditioned here a few years ago when the position of

It’s back to basics for me

I was a champion of the little think this year will be a man, because I was a little man. good year to get back to While many of the kids in basics. When I was a lad, my my neighborhood wore N.Y. passion for Boston sports was Yankee hats, I proudly donned as keen as it is today — with the red, white and blue “B” on one major exception. My fervor my cap — despite many a woewas more innocent, conseful season. quently, more enjoyable.

While most of the kids I My love affair with the Red Sox, Bruins and Patriots began in the mid1960s with the Celtics coming on board a few years later.

With the exception of the ’67 Sox and the Bruins of the early

By Dave Jolivet 70s, championship dreams were just that ... dreams.

Each season began played football with at Kennedy with high hopes that more (South) Park on Saturday mornoften than not, diminished as ings wore N.Y. Giants helmets, the campaign progressed. The I proudly slid on my white hopes faded, but not the fun. helmet with the red, white and Through some of the leanest blue stripes and Pat Patriot on years of the Red Sox and Patrieither side — despite many a ots, I still enjoyed the game. It’s woeful season. worth repeating ... I enjoyed the For some reason everyone game. wore Bruins’ gear.

I treasured baseball. I treaBut with the advent of the sured ice hockey. I treasured successes of the Boston teams football — win, lose or draw. beginning in early 2002 until For me, as a pup, it was the present, I feel some of the more about the uniform than it fun is missing. was the player. Rosters came It’s become more about and went, but the one constant winning it all than the love of was the uniform. the game. At least for me ... and I had my favorite players, I’m realizing that I don’t like based by and large, not on perthat. formance, but more on personLuckily the Red Sox are ality, character, and because of bringing me back to my more my height-challenged, Frenchinnocent days.

Canadian stature, size.

My View From the Stands

The expectations this year are far lower than recent years past. All I want is for them to play the best baseball of which they’re capable.

The same concept goes for the Bruins, Celtics and Patriots.

I can easily see how the rest of the country doesn’t like Boston sports fans. We’re spoiled, arrogant and obnoxious.

I’m embarrassed to see enemy sports arenas saturated with annoying Boston fans.

The Red Sox and the Patriots are being humbled, and the Bs and Cs may well come to that realization in this year’s playoffs ... and with that, hopefully, too, the Boston fan base.

For too many years now, I’ve enjoyed watching games on TV that don’t have a Boston element to them. I can watch for love of the games.

I think I’m getting back to basics. During the Red Sox’ historic implosion against the Yanks last weekend, when they blew a nine-run lead only to lose by six, there was no anger or frustration within. I actually found it kind of amusing ... and I marveled at the awesome display of the Yanks in the comeback. It was good baseball ... by them.

I’m tired of wanting championships. I want to enjoy the game and uniform again.

music director became available. The search committee was impressed by his skills and his credentials. Having earned a degree in Music Education and done graduate work at both Berklee College of Music in Boston and VanderCook College of Music in Chicago, he worked in the Braintree Public School System for more than three decades. Charlie has since retired from teaching school. He also understands the specialized field of sacred music. He is the Minister of Music and Worship at the Community Covenant Church in East Bridgewater. He directs the youth chorus at the Baptist Church in Quincy. He has performed vocally in sacred music ensembles and a cappella choirs. The search committee was impressed. Charles Dillingham got the job.

So, how in the world did the music director of St. Nicholas Parish in North Dighton end up at Carnegie Hall in New York City? I thought you’d never ask. Did I mention, dear readers, that Charlie is also the director of the Braintree Choral Society, now in its 88th season? Eighteen members of the Braintree Choral Society, under guest conductor Dr. Justin Smith of the Houston Cecilia Chamber Choir, joined with choirs from Texas, Kentucky, and New Jersey to perform Gabriel Faure’s “Requiem in D Minor, opus #48” at Carnegie Hall. They say Charlie did us proud.

To this day, I regret that I

know so little about music, including that sacred music which is so essential to worship. I can’t tell a punctum from a fly speck. It’s not that, as a child, I disliked music. I believe that all children have an innate appreciation of music.

In elementary school, we would have music class every so often. I enjoyed singing those classic folk tunes. My favorite was “Sweet Betsy from Pike.”

I recently reread the lyrics. Oh, my. How did that ever get by the censors back in the 1950s? It tells the story of a loose-living, hard-drinking pioneer woman from Pike County, Mo., who ran off with her boyfriend (a man by the name of Isaac — or Ike, for short). The pair headed west in the Gold Rush. After a series of trials and adventures, the exhausted couple eventually reached California. They married but later divorced (some lyrics say after seven years), on the grounds of infidelity. At any rate, the chorus was catchy, even if the lyrics were way over my head. In class, I sang at the top of my lungs. One day, the music teacher called me aside and asked me if I knew the meaning of the phrase “lip-sync.” I didn’t, so she informed me. I can take a hint. So long, sweet Betsy. There ended my career in music.

Based on the evidence, I suspect I will probably never go from North Dighton to Carnegie Hall. You go, Charlie!

Father Goldrick is pastor of St. Nicholas of Myra Parish in North Dighton.

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April 27, 2012

Founding member stands tall among the faithful

By Becky Aubut Anchor Staff

MARION — Even if Robert Demeo weren’t six-and-ahalf-feet tall, he would still be a giant among the parishioners at St. Rita of Cascia Parish in Marion. As one of the founding members of the parish, Demeo has been active in many facets of parish life, including being president of the St. Vincent de Paul Society. The Boston native went to public school but his earliest memories of playing basketball for the CYO had him face-to-face with more than just his fellow basketball players on a weekly basis.

“The priest would line us up and we would go to Confession,” he said. “If you wanted to keep playing, you had to go to Confession.”

Raised mainly by his grandmother after his mother and father divorced, he credits his grandmother’s daily devotions as instrumental to planting the seeds of his Catholic faith.

“She prayed every day. I have a great belief in prayer because of her. She had a brother-in-law who went to Mass everyday. He was very religious. My grandmother prayed every day that all of her children would die in the grace of God,” said Demeo, adding that if you had taken a snapshot of his family during his youth, dying in God’s grace would have been doubtful for a few family members.

It wasn’t until the years He moved out to Michigan taller clientele. passed that family members’ and lived with his mother, who “I met her there and she came circumstances began to change had since remarried and had flitting through. She looked and all those for at me; I looked at whom his grandher and she was mother prayed did very pretty. She find their way back. turned around and Seeing his grandasked me 20 quesmother’s piety all tions and I don’t those years solidiremember today if fied his belief: “I I told half-truths now have a signifior whole-truths; I cant depth of what don’t remember,” prayer is,” said he said, laughing.

Demeo. “It’s pow“We started dating erful and whatever and got married.”

He wants it to do, The couple it works in its own moved briefly to way.”

Peabody and then After declining a to Marion, “where basketball scholarwe have been ever ship, Demeo went since,” said Demeo, into the service “to adding that he and see the world.” his wife celebrated “I had a few adtheir 50th wedding ventures there, endanniversary this ed up on a destroypast October. er, which was nice,” He soon imhe said of his time mersed himself at in the Navy from St. Rita’s of Cascia 1949-1953.

Parish, not just as He returned to being a founding Boston and wanted member, but also as to attend Massaa participant of the chusetts Institute Anchor Person of the week — Robert first parish counof Technology, but, Demeo. (Photo by Becky Aubut) cil that took part “figured I had too in finding proper many friends in the more children. Six years later housing for the parish priest.

Boston area and I would spend he came back to take care of his Demeo recalls how poorly ina lot of times in bars because grandmother, who was living sulated the home initially was, I learned how to drink in the alone. He met his wife shortly but there was room on the land Navy,” said Demeo, chuckling, thereafter when he visited a to add an office and plenty of “so I said I can’t do that.”

“Tall Club” that catered to a space for picnics in the backyard.

He also became one of the parish’s first lectors, and later one of only two extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion.

“They said it was only going to be a year, but it ended up being more than that. We had to cover all the Masses. There were only two of us,” he said.

Demeo also recalls his time as president of the Catholic Men’s Club that was based out of St. Rita’s until the club was disbanded. He continues being a member of St. Vincent de Paul, active 30 years later in a group that hovers around 16

members.

“We’ve tried to get some youngsters in there. They’d come and go because they had lives to build. It’s a pretty good group now,” he said.

Along with numerous fundraisers, the group would give food at Thanksgiving until Demeo suggested giving food at Christmas, “and then I turned around and said, ‘Well, we give during Christmas but without Easter, Christmas wouldn’t be there.’ So now we give three times a year,” he said.

“Our biggest problem with SVDP is finding the poor people in Marion. Before we could use the talents of some of the teachers in the school, and they could tell us but now because of privacy issues, they can’t.

There are poor people in Marion that we’ve never touched.

We always know this. We look for them and some will come to us, but most don’t. That’s the sad part about it.”

The father of four grown children with families of their own, he recalls how his son set the record for most consecutive Sundays served as an altar boy.

Demeo celebrated his 80th birthday the same month he celebrated his wedding anniversary. Even as he related another story, his humor came through as he struggled to remember if the individual from the story was alive or dead.

“People seem to die around me and I don’t know why,” he said, with a smile emerging on his face. “Age, maybe?”

Demeo has continued to receive blessings through his faith; not only has he brought the Eucharist to the home bound, he was on the receiving end of that ministry when he hurt his back and had a minister come to visit him. Faith has helped him throughout his years and it is heartening, he said, to see that same faith passed on to his children, just like his grandmother passed on her devotion to him.

“Prayer doesn’t always get answered in the way you think it will be answered. My grandmother prayed two to three Rosaries a day; she wore them out,” said Demeo, who owns one of the Rosaries worn thin by his grandmother’s devotion.

“You have to rely on prayer and you should not question the response you get. You’ll get a response but neither the answer nor the timing may be what you think, but it will be answered.”

To submit a Person of the Week nominee, send information to fatherrogerlandry@anchornews. org.

April 27, 2012

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Sacrifice of Titanic’s Catholic priests recalled on 100th anniversary

Denver, Colo. (CNA/EWTN News) — Three Catholic priests, including one hailed by Pope Saint Pius X as a martyr for the faith, were among the victims of the Titanic disaster, remembered during its 100th anniversary on April 14-15.

All three of the European-born priests — Father Juozas Montvila of Lithuania, Father Josef Peruschitz, O.S.B. of Bavaria, and English rector Father Thomas Byles — are said to have declined lifeboats in order to offer spiritual aid to travelers who perished in the shipwreck, which claimed 1,503 lives.

An eyewitness account of the 1912 sinking, published in the Jesuit journal “America,” described how “all the Catholics on board desired the assistance of priests with the greatest fervor.”

The priests led passengers in recitation of the Rosary, and “aroused those condemned to die to say Acts of Contrition and prepare themselves to meet the face of God.” According to the eyewitness, they were “engaged continuously giving general absolution to those who were about to die.”

Father Byles and Father Peruschitz had offered Mass on the morning of Sunday, April 14, only hours before the supposedly “unsinkable” ship struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic.

Prior to the crash, both men had preached sermons on humanity’s need for the spiritual “lifeboat” offered by Jesus Christ amid the dangers of the world.

Born in Yorkshire, England during 1870, Father Byles converted to Catholicism from

fateful day — People holding candles sit on the steps of St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Halifax, Nova Scotia, April 14, as they watch performances commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Titanic sinking. Services for the victims of the 1912 disaster were held around the world. (CNS photo/Paul Darrow, Reuters)

Anglicanism in 1894. He ministered to Catholics on the Titanic while traveling to the U.S. for the wedding of his brother, who had also entered the Church.

After Father Byles’ death in the shipwreck, St. Pius X reportedly described him as a “martyr.” A plaque at his onetime parish recalls his “heroic death in the disaster,” after “earnestly devoting his last moments to the religious consolation of his fellow passengers.”

Father Peruschitz was also described by eyewitnesses as declining a place on the lifeboats. The Bavarian priest-monk, born in 1871, was traveling on the Titanic to take up his new position as principal of a Benedictine high school in Minnesota.

His body, like those of the other two priests, was not recovered. A memorial at his

onetime monastery in Bavaria reads: “May Joseph Peruschitz rest in peace, who on the ship Titanic piously sacrificed himself.”

The youngest of the three priests, Father Juozas Montvila, was born in 1885.

Ordained in 1908, he secretly ministered to Eastern Catholics in Lithuania, whose faith had been outlawed by authorities of the Russian Empire.

Under government pressure, Father Montvila was forced to leave the country in order to continue his priestly ministry. He boarded the Titanic in Southhampton, England, with the intention of emigrating to the U.S. Reports from the sinking ship recounted how the Byzantine-rite priest “served his calling to the very end.” Since then, there have been efforts toward his canonization.

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Vatican offers ‘widget’ containing content from Vatican website

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Marking the seventh anniversary of the election of Pope Benedict XVI, the Vatican is offering a “widget” — a software application — that will allow anyone with a website or blog to provide readers with automatically updated news and documents from the Vatican.

The Vatican’s Internet Office announced April 19 that the widget is available free from the Vatican’s website: www.vatican.va.

When installed, the widget opens a small rectangular window

April 27, 2012

The Anchor

with four tabs; clicking on one provides the latest news from the Vatican, the pope’s Sunday Angelus or “Regina Coeli” address, recent speeches and the Vatican press office’s daily news bulletin.

The Vatican said the widget should help make the content of its website more widely known and is another opportunity to use new technology “to spread the word of the Holy Father.”

A link to the widget can be found on the Anchor website at www.anchornews.org.

papal widget — A screen shot of the new Vatican widget located at www.vatican.va.

CNS Movie Capsules NEW YORK (CNS) — The following are capsule reviews of movies recently reviewed by Catholic News Service.

“Chimpanzee” (Disneynature) This endearing wildlife documentary, set in the Ivory Coast’s lush Tai Forest, follows the fortunes of a young chimp named Oscar as he, his devoted mother and the entire extended clan with whom they live become caught up in a turf war with a rival band of simians. Though co-directors Alastair Fothergill and Mark Linfield’s narrative — recorded, in mostly jaunty tones, by Tim Allen — veers at times into sentimentality and shameless anthropomorphizing, their expedition nonetheless provides enjoyable viewing for moviegoers of just about every age. Parents of the tiniest tots take note, however: A significant survival-of-the-fittest plot development may prove too emotionally taxing for the most sensitive youngsters. Scenes of animal combat. The Catholic News Service classification is A-I — general patronage. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is G — general audiences. All ages admitted.

“Lockout” (Open Road) Framed for the murder of a fellow operative, a late-21stcentury CIA agent (Guy Pearce) is offered a reprieve if he rescues the president’s (Peter Hudson) daughter (Maggie Grace) who’s been taken hostage by rioting prisoners during a goodwill tour of an orbiting penitentiary. Logical lapses are papered over with macho posturing and wisecracks in directors and co-writers James Mather and Stephen St. Leger’s dreary action exercise which features a protagonist who likes his women — the first filly included — to shut up and look pretty.

Constant action violence with occasional gore, a fleeting gruesome image, several instances of sexual humor, including a gag that’s also irreverent, about a half-dozen profanities, at least one use of rough language, numerous crude and crass terms.

The Catholic News Service classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

“The Lucky One” (Warner Bros.)

On returning home from the war in Iraq, a Marine (Zac Efron)

seeks out the attractive young stranger (Taylor Schilling) whose photograph he accidentally came across in the midst of battle.

Convinced the lucky image preserved his life for the remainder of his tour, he’s anxious to thank her. Despite some initial resistance on her part, and to the dismay of her scheming ex-husband (Jay R. Ferguson), the two inevitably fall for each other, cheered on by her wise grandmother (Blythe Danner) and clever-beyond-his-years young son (Riley Thomas Stewart). Director Scott Hicks confects a serviceable date movie from Catholic author Nicholas Sparks’ novel, with diversion from the jumbo improbabilities at work provided by

Hallmark card-perfect settings and some wry observations from granny and junior. But the generally amiable proceedings are marred by a couple of overheated scenes glamorizing the as-yet unwed leads’ serial bedroom encounters. Benign view and semigraphic portrayal of premarital sexual activity, a reference to out-of-wedlock pregnancy, at least one use of profanity, a handful of crude and crass terms. The Catholic News Service classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

monkey business — A male chimpanzee is seen in the documentary “Chimpanzee.” For a brief review of this film, see CNS Movie Capsules on this page. (CNS photo/Disney)

Diocese of Fall River TV Mass on WLNE Channel 6 Sunday, April 29, 11:00 a.m.

Celebrant is Father Karl C. Bissinger, Secretary to Bishop George W. Coleman and Director of the Diocesan Vocations Office

April 27, 2012

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Author writes survival guide for single Catholic women continued from page one

ideas in January 2011.

“When I first sat down to sketch out my vision for the book, I knew I wanted to talk about all the major things that ended up in there,” said Stimpson. “I knew I was going to talk about femininity, going to have to talk about vocations; I knew I would have to talk about dating and work.”

Starting with a brief outline, Stimpson continued to flesh out ideas that included each chapter ending with an “Ask the Single Girl” section that has a single Q&A format. A few weeks before she began writing the book, Stimpson sent out emails to various friends and women looking for feedback. Those who got back to her appeared to echo what she was thinking — that most Catholic single women seem to have “similar questions we all face,” said Stimpson, “and all the feedback I was getting from my friends was reinforcing my own ideas.

That was good in the sense that, OK, it’s not just me who is wrestling with this.”

Still, even with the feedback strengthening her sense that the book had an audience that would appreciate what she had to say, Stimpson said she found herself in tears during the initial few weeks of writing. As the tears began to dry, it was the words that began to flow.

“Once I started working on the book, I came to realize just how blessed I’d been in so many ways through my singleness,” she recalled. “I think I was just very focused on the moment. I was looking at the present struggles; I was looking at the present opportunities, the present blessings, and the more I did that, the less of a struggle the book became and the less of a struggle my singleness became at that point in time.”

Her first chapter “Vocations and the Single Life” was her biggest surprise because Stimpson not only tackled a lingering question for single women, she also expanded her knowledge on the Theology of the Body and applied that knowledge to create a more comprehensive chapter than what she had generated in her preliminary outline.

“I knew going in, that for me, it was a very personal issue,” she said.

“It’s when you’re Catholic and you’re in your mid-to-late 20s and you’re not married; people are trying to cheer you up. They’ll say maybe God is calling you to be single and that’s what God wants for you. They think that that’s going to help but all it does is make single women very upset. I have yet to meet a single woman that it doesn’t reduce them to tears.”

While working on a story featuring vocations, Stimpson had spent some time talking to nuns, priests and married couples. She listened to them say, “The vocation fills the desires of your heart.”

Well, she would counter, “God never drags you kicking and screaming into any vocation you don’t want to go into, so why would being single be called a vocation?”

“We don’t want to be single; this isn’t filling the desires of my heart,” said St-

impson.

Few ever cry about becoming a nun or priest or being married, she added. It wasn’t until she talked to a priest who was the vocations director for the Archdiocese of Denver that she got her answer.

“He said there is no single vocation,” said Stimpson, meaning there is no vocation that does not involve the consecration of one’s self as a gift to God and others. “That was helpful in that I’m not imagining things — that makes sense to me. There’s not a lot out there explaining why it’s not a vocation.”

“There are millions of single people around going, ‘Hey! What about us?’” continued Stimpson. “So even though it’s been made clear that there is no single vocation, no one had really developed why that was the case. That’s when I realized how there was so much imprecision in how people talked about vocation. Sometimes they’re talking about vocations to holiness, or how my job is a vocation — all are using these words but not in the same way. We need to sit down and take a step back and define our terms, so that’s what I try to do in the first chapter.”

Stimpson acknowledged the different vocations the Church teaches and how the Theology of the Body can illuminate the primary or spousal vocation. However, she added, the Church is in this new position where it has to figure out a way to talk about the single individuals in the Church without labeling it a “calling or vocation.”

“Most of the women that I’ve talked to really like that chapter,” she said. “A lot of them feel validated by it. So many of us have been told by well-meaning married people that we have a single vocation. Most single people want to stand up and say, ‘This isn’t a vocation.’ It’s not a consolation prize. I affirm them and I gave them a way to understand. I think when you understand what’s going on and it’s not just you, it makes you feel a lot better.”

Stimpson hears from single women of every age who are “beautiful and intelligent and vivacious and fabulous” who seem to have this “what’s wrong with me” mentality that is formed from contemporary culture.

“Women want a faithful spouse who won’t ask us to commit a mortal sin before or after marriage, and those guys are not easy to come by. We have to own the situation,” she said, “that we’ve made this choice and made the decision to shop from this very small pool of eligible men. So when you see it and own it, and there’s an explanation, that’s what helps. Being told to console ourselves for this made-up primary vocation doesn’t help women.”

In an article next week Stimpson will talk more about her encouragement to single Catholic women, with particular focus on how to be an “authentic woman” and to “recognize the opportunities that come out” of being single.

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Haitians cling to hope, faith continued from page 20

and schools; but I believe in a country where you have 85 percent unemployment, the best thing we could do is to provide the materials and provide the money for salaries. They can do the work and they love to do the work.”

Father Labatorio concurred that offering sustainable development through employment is a key to solving the problems in Haiti.

“I am against foreign nationals coming to Haiti as volunteers to build homes, schools, churches, clinics and other infrastructures,” he said. “Haitians are able workers. Given a chance, they are hard-working and efficient. Haitians need a daily source of income so they can feed their family. It’s also a matter of dignity.”

One of the major improvements made in the aftermath of the earthquake, according to Father Baris, has been the rebuilding of the central highway connecting the capital of Portau-Prince to the city of Gonaïves in the north.

“It has been rebuilt by a company from the Dominican Republic and has greatly improved travel,” he said. “The idea is that if there are better roads, there will be better commerce.”

While the area of Dessalines where St. Claire’s Parish is located wasn’t directly affected by the 2010 earthquake, it did experience an influx of people who left Port-au-Prince to stay with family members in the immediate aftermath.

“We’ve helped indirectly because the schools there took these kids in, gave them uniforms and books, and fed them,” Father Baris said. “Many have since returned to Port-au-Prince because their parents are there looking for work.”

In addition to providing sustainable employment for the people of Haiti, Father Baris said the other important tool to eradicate poverty there is education.

“You cannot get out of poverty with loans or grants from outside people,” he said. “People have to find solutions for their own problems and part of it is education; and you cannot educate kids on an empty stomach. So we’ve worked to educate them and feed them at least one hot meal a day because for some of them it’s the only meal they’ll have.”

In Dessalines, Father Baris said enrollment in the five parish schools is up to 3,200 students and money raised here on Cape Cod has funded the construc-

tion of 10 additional classrooms at the St. Maria Goretti School, along with five new classrooms currently being built at Immaculate Conception Chapel for preschool, first- and secondgraders.

“These younger students had to walk five miles to St. Maria Goretti to go to school,” Father Baris said. “In the wet season it was nearly impossible for them because there is a lot of flooding in the area.”

Despite their hardships and suffering, however, the people of Haiti remain remarkably resilient and cling to their faith.

“When I go down there sometimes it’s so depressing to see the situation there, but I always come back feeling very uplifted,” Father Baris said. “They always thank God for what they have. It’s incredible.”

During his latest trip, Father Baris said he and his parishioners brought along some 50 handmade dolls that were given out to the little girls who accepted them with tremendous gratitude.

“The smiles on the faces of these little girls were unbelievable,” he said. “For many, it was the first doll of their life. What a wonderful, warm experience.

Immediately they responded ‘mesi,’ which means ‘thank you.’ It was like you were giving them so much.”

“The only thing that refuses to die in Haiti is hope,” Father Labatorio agreed. “There is no doubt that the faith in Haiti remains a significant force that keeps this country going. In the parish, our Masses are well-attended and joyously celebrated.

Most Haitians have a very simple but powerful way of looking at life. They always say: ‘As long as we are alive, God is great!’ It is very humbling.”

Closely linked to that faith is the generosity of fellow Christians around the world — and especially here in the U.S. — who help keep that hope in Haiti alive.

“Without their generous contributions, most of us here working in Haiti would never be able to make a difference,” Father Labatorio said. “One reality remains, churches in Haiti can only be a true instrument of change in this fragile nation through the help of U.S. churches. Without that, the road to living would be very long and almost impossible.”

Donations to benefit the people of Haiti can be sent to Our Lady of the Cape Parish, 468 Stoney Brook Road, Brewster, Mass. 02631-3252.

April 27, 2012

Catholics urged to invite inactive members to practice faith once again

WASHINGTON (CNS) — A temporary society as contrib- hortation on evangelization, document on the new evange- uting factors for lack of Mass “Evangelii Nuntiandi,” “Pope lization from the U.S. bishops’ attendance by U.S. Catholics.

Paul VI recognized that the first Committee on Evangelization “The new evangelization is proclamation of the Good News and Catechesis exhorts Catho- a call to each person to deepen is directed ‘ad gentes’ (to all). lics to at all levels in the Church his or her own faith, have con- However, he also recognized to step up to invite Catholics fidence in the Gospel, and pos- the need for the evangelization who have stopped practicing sess a willingness to share the of the baptized who no longer their faith to do so once again.

Gospel,” the document said. practice their faith,” the docu“Bishops, eparchs, pastors, “The new evangelization ment said. “He called upon the catechists and indeed all Catho- provides the lens through Church to evangelize these two lics reaching out to our missing which people experience the groups, to invite them to a life brothers and sisters must touch Church and world around of conversion, and to add new the lives of others, interact with them,” it added. “The new meaning to their life through them, and show them how the evangelization invites people the Paschal Mystery of Christ,” faith answers the deepest ques- to experience God’s love and it said. tions and enriches modern cul- mercy through the Sacraments, “Evangelization must reture,” said the document, titled especially through the Eucha- main rooted in the parish. It is “Disciples Called to Witness: rist and Penance and Reconcili- in the parish that one becomes engaged with the Church comThe New Evangelization.” ation.”

The document examines The 31-page, 11,000-word munity, learns how to become a disciple of Christ, what the new evangehe new evangelization provides is nurtured by Scriplization is, its focus, its importance for the the lens through which people ture, is nourished by Catholic Church and experience the Church and world around the Sacraments, and ultimately becomes an how dioceses and parthem,” it added. “The new evangelization evangelizer,” the docishes can promote it.

Referring to a study invites people to experience God’s love ument said.

It also explored of inactive Catholics and mercy through the Sacraments, esprepared by the Center pecially through the Eucharist and Pen- such methodologies as discipleship, a comfor Applied Research mitment to the Chrisin the Apostolate at ance and Reconciliation.” tian life, parish life, Georgetown Univerthe liturgical life of sity, “Disciples Called to Witness” said: “It is estimat- document said it is likely inac- the Church, the Christian famed that only 23 percent of U.S. tive Catholics will have ques- ily, catechists and teachers of Catholics attend Mass each tions if they are invited to re- the faith, and human experiweek. Those 77 percent absent turn to the practice of their ence as ways to draw Catholics back to their faith. from the eucharistic feast each faith.

It also suggested the use of “They may wonder and worweek are not strangers: They are our parents, siblings, spous- ry about the following: Will the such teachable moments as Mass be the same? Will I be Christmas, Easter, Baptism, es, children and friends.”

“Most Catholics stop at- judged because I stayed away First Communion, and other tending Mass because they so long? Maybe I have sinned special Liturgies when Cathohave busy schedules or a lack so greatly that I cannot come lics come in contact with the of time, have family responsi- back. What if I cannot remem- Church. “These are important opportunities not only for catbilities, have health problems ber the words to Mass?”

By the same token, it added, echesis but also for evangelizaor disabilities, have conflicts with work, do not believe miss- those who must do the inviting tion,” it said.

“The new evangelization ing Mass is a sin or believe that are often afraid of asking family they are not very religious peo- members, friends or co-workers does not seek to invite people to experience only one moto come with them to Mass. ple,” the document said.

They may “have difficulty ment of conversion but rather “Some were never formed in the faith after their child- saying, ‘I saw the same news to experience the gradual and hood. Some have drifted away story, but this is what the lifelong process of conversion: because of one or another is- Church actually teaches,’” it to draw all people into a deepsue. Some feel alienated from continued. “We have trouble re- er relationship with God, to the Church because of the way vealing, ‘Yes, sometimes going participate in the sacramental they perceive the Church or its to Confession is hard, but once life of the Church, to develop teaching. Some have left be- I am there, I experience God’s a mature conscience, to suscause they were mistreated by peace and mercy. If you haven’t tain one’s faith through ongoChurch representatives,” it add- been in a while, consider giving ing catechesis, and to integrate one’s faith into all aspects of ed. “Cultural factors, including it another chance.’”

The first time Blessed John one’s life,” the document said. the lack of Masses and Sacra“Even though much has alments celebrated in languages Paul II used the term “new evanother than English, also con- gelization” as the theological ready been done to welcome our tribute to people slowly slip- concept of proclaiming the Gos- missing brothers and sisters back pel anew to those already evan- to the Lord’s table, there is still ping away from the Church.”

“Disciples Called to Wit- gelized was in a 1983 address in so much more that can be done.”

The document was issued April ness” noted: “There are also Haiti to Latin American bishops, Catholics who attend Mass on the document said, but noted he 16 in an online-only format. It is a regular basis but who feel was renewing a call to all of the available on an interactive website unconnected to the parish com- Christian faithful to evangelize — www.usccb.org/beliefs-andteachings/how-we-teach/newin the spirit of the Second Vatimunity.” evangelization/disciples-called-toIt cited secularism, material- can Council and Pope Paul VI. In his 1975 apostolic ex- witness. ism and individualism in con-

“T

April 27, 2012

15

The Anchor

Our readers respond Well worth the watch Without stepping on the toes of your newspaper’s movie critic, I should like to recommend a movie I saw recently. The title is “October Baby” (Every Life is Beautiful). The movie is interesting, well-acted and directed; and it has a Pro-Life message.

I would give it “two thumbs up.”

Unfortunately, the movie is being shown in only a few cities that I am aware of. It is a film well worth watching — and don’t forget to stay for the post-movie credits.

Richard A. Carey Needham, Mass.

Religious freedom push a charade Your lead article (“Area Catholic faithful can have a voice in attacks against religious freedoms in U.S.,” April 13) was misleading, hypocritical and divisive.

It was misleading because the bishops sought and continue to seek the complicated right to veto required coverage of contraception in policies offered by insurance companies that insure employees of church-affiliated non-profits (e.g., universities, hospitals, social service agencies, etc.) even though more than 90 percent of those employees want and would use that coverage. In other words, the bishops want the right to exercise other people’s rights in a manner contrary to their wishes. This is the opposite of religious freedom. The bills that are going to be the litmus test for political support (the so-called “Respect for Rights of Conscience” bills) are worse. They would give any person in a position to do so, the right to invade your privacy and restrict your liberty rights if their conscience is offended by your choice.

The article was hypocritical because the Catholic Church throughout its history has always opposed freedom of expression on religious matters in any country where it possesses sufficient political influence to do so. The article is doubly hypocritical because its beneficiary would be a political party, the Republicans, whose leaders have become increasingly unhinged.

Its presidential candidates, despite flaunting supposedly “Christian” religiosity, have promoted policies that are anything but Christian.

The Church hierarchy has primarily been a political organization since the fourth century. Historically, their gravest errors and sins — the slaughter of innocents in crusades and religious purges, the persecution of the Jews, the torture and cruel execution of prisoners of conscience and nurturing priests who sexually abused children — have all taken place to protect and extend its political power.

The Church is not and should not be the hierarchy.

It is and should be the entire people of the Church. Like most Catholics, my allegiance is based on the inspiration of that vast community, consisting of parents, relatives, priests, nuns, teachers, social workers, medical personnel and others in the laity, who by their example, adhered more, rather than less to Jesus’ great commandment, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” By seeking narrow political advantage through a false claim of principle, by aligning itself with a most unchristian political party, the hierarchy seeks to divide that great community, and to drive men and women of conscience to seek a less corrupt way of following the teachings of Jesus.

James M. Cronin Westport Executive Editor replies: The bishops are defending Catholics’ and all citizens’ rights of religious freedom and conscience not to have to pay for others’ sterilizations, contraception and abortion-causing pills.

They’re not violating others’ religious freedom at all, simply insisting that people who want these have no right to have others pay for them. Pretending that such a policy offends the religious freedom of those who want to use such things, however, does point out that for some people contraception and abortion and sexual activity without consequences — including the financial consequence of having to pay for your own contraception and abortions — have become a quasi-religion. The claim that the Church hierarchy has primarily been a political organization is about as ludicrous as saying that the Republican and Democratic parties are fundamentally religious organizations.

Imagining saints like Augus-

tine, Francis de Sales, John Bosco, and John XXIII — to mention only a few of the saintly members of the hierarchy since the fourth century — as primarily political hacks in a political machine would lead objective people to question not only that writer’s ecclesiology and history but grasp of reality.

What belonging to the Church entails In “Exit interviews and welcome mats” (Anchor, March 20), the executive editor points out that 30 million Americans now describe themselves as ex-Catholics and explores how we can get them back into the fold.

We have now around 74 million American Catholics which is nearly double the number (47 million) of 50 years ago. Back in 1962, however, we had 60,000 priests and 180,000 religious Sisters in the U.S.A. Today we have only 40,000 priests and 55,000 Sisters!

Why is it that a Church nearly half our size could produce so many more vocations?

The answer lies in fact that 50 years ago the overwhelming majority of Catholics started each week with Mass whereas today out of our 74 million members only 16 to 17 million can be found in the pews at weekend Mass.

So the 30 million who call themselves ex-Catholics are at least honest!

Instead of addressing the issues that separate people from the Church we should engage ourselves in a more positive and penetrating study of what being a member of the Church entails.

In his book “Faith and the Future,” the Holy Father predicts that our Church will become much smaller but membership in that Church will demand much more than is asked today. Such a Church, Benedict XVI assures us, will be a more spiritual Church and enjoy a fresh blossoming.

Father Edward J. Byington Taunton Father Fraga’s obituary I cannot believe that The Anchor, in its obituary on Father Ben Fraga, felt justified in mentioning the single allegation of sexual misconduct against him. The charge was isolated and never substantiated. How unfair and unnecessary for this honorable, dedi-

cated and humble priest to be degraded in death. Father Ben spent the last years of his life waiting for his good name to be restored. He was denied that grace here on earth, but lived with the certain knowledge of his own innocence and the unwavering love of so many of us who never doubted his goodness for a minute. May he rest in heavenly peace.

Margaret R. Aleixo Taunton I was appalled at what was put in the bottom of Father Fraga’s obituary. I have known Father Fraga and his family for many years and the accusation of abuse against him I believe to be untrue. Only God has the right to judge. By dying on Easter Sunday, Father Fraga has his rightful place in Heaven. There was no need to put that in The Anchor.

Edmund M. Perry Taunton On April 13, The Anchor surprisingly published a very insensitive obituary about Father Bento Fraga. His loving family and many faithful friends are still mourning the loss of this dedicated priest.

To bring up the unsubstantiated accusations again is adding

to our grief. Father Ben is no longer here to defend himself.

It is significant that Father died on Easter Sunday. The risen Lord Himself raised him up to eternal glory. He is in the presence of God, the Divine Judge, Who always has the last word.

Sister Adrienne de Champlain, SUSC Fall River Executive Editor replies: When I visited with him toward the end of his life, Father Fraga explicitly requested that his obituary note that he always insisted upon his innocence. The only way to honor that humble request was to make mention of the accusation he vigorously denied.

Letters are welcome but the editor reserves the right to condense or edit for clarity if deemed necessary. Letters should be typed, and include name, address, and telephone number. Letters do not necessarily reflect the editorial views of The Anchor.

Letters should be sent to: The Anchor, Letters to the Editor, P.O. Box 7, Fall River, MA 02722-0007, or emailed to fatherrogerlandry@anchornews. org.

Revised and updated ...

2011-2012 Diocese of Fall River Catholic Directory ... Now Shipping!

Published by The Anchor Publishing Company P.O. Box 7, Fall River, Massachusetts 02722 Please ship _____ directories x $18 each, including shipping and handling. Total Enclosed $_____ NAME ____________________________________________ ADDRESS _________________________________________ CITY _____________________ STATE _______ ZIP _____ Please make checks payable to “Anchor Publishing” For more information, email theanchor@anchonews.org, call 508-675-7151, or order online at www.anchornews.org

16

Youth Pages

April 27, 2012

culinary cuties — As a result of the St. John the Evangelist School Dinner Auction, the lucky parents of these students received a home-cooked meal in the school’s cafeteria. With the help of Sister Mary Jane and Diane Blaha, the students made their own meatballs and salad. They also made each parent his or her own place mat.

made in the shades — As part of a multidisciplinary project involving research, technology, writing, and art, the students in Mrs. Tamul’s fourthgrade classes at St. Mary’s School in Mansfield, designed and created models of many of the objects in the Solar System. Students from second and third grade enjoyed visiting and learning from the presentations about each object.

a fair sampling — The annual collaborative college fair was recently held at Coyle and Cassidy High School in Taunton. More than 70 colleges were in attendance. It was well-attended by families and staff of Taunton High School, Bristol-Plymouth, Bristol Aggie, Apponoquet and Coyle and Cassidy. The fair enables the various departments to collaborate with their colleagues from other schools and provides students with a great local option when investigating colleges. Pictured is Michael DaMotta-Santos and his father speaking with a college representative.

they are the champions — The St. Joseph Fairhaven Boys CYO Basketball team won the 2011-2012 New Bedford CYO league championship for the second year in a row. The Deacons also won the Fall River diocesan championship tournament for the second consecutive year. Front row, from left: Drew Diggins, Jared Methia, Jake Ashworth, Greg Fernando, Hunter Lees, Shawn Smithy, and Coach Dave Dos Santos. Back row: Isaiah Medina, Tyler Demanche, Ryan Mckenna, Brett Enos, and Coach Bob Demanche.

April 27, 2012

T

he bunny has come and gone, the baskets of Easter candy are most likely empty, the lilies are a bit faded.

We can buy more candy at discounted prices because the stores think that Easter is over.

How could Easter be over?

The season lasts for 50 days!

In a sense, even then, Easter is not over; it is a constant. Jesus Christ suffered death for our sins and He is risen. Alleluia!

Many of us think of the passion and death of Jesus when we approach Him in prayer.

Perhaps it is due to the crucifix having such a prominent place in our churches. But the story didn’t end there. If it did, there would be no Church today.

Without the Resurrection, those Apostles would not have had the courage to come out of hiding. Without the

Youth Pages

17

We are an Easter people

Resurrection, there would be no who asks you for a reason for outpouring of the Holy Spirit. your hope.” How can we not Without the Resurrection, there be people of hope? No matter would be no cause for the joy and hope that we have today. Jesus is risen. He is alive, still caring for us, still helping us, still interceding for us to

By Jean Revil the Father. Our God is actively involved in our lives.

God Himself has paid the price for His children’s what happens, we are loved by disobedience and obstinacy and God. No matter what hardship sinfulness. He has made a way may come, Christ has died for us to be reconciled with for our sins. No matter how Him, to find a home in Him, to difficult the journey, we have remain with Him forever. Our been promised Heaven, which celebration of this kind of love is described as being greater should never end. than anything we could imagine.

1 Peter 3:15 tells us that we Knowing that God keeps His should “always be ready to promises, our hope constantly give an explanation to anyone flows from our knowledge that

Be Not Afraid

relaxing at the cove — The St. Kilian’s Youth Group at the New Bedford parish recently visited Whaler’s Cove Assisted Living to spend time with the residents; saying the Rosary, providing family history and personal interests, and enjoying refreshments together. The residents and the children enjoyed themselves so much there are plans in the works coordinating bi-monthly visits there.

drive instructors — Seniors Nina Quinn and Emilie Reuther, officers of the National Honor Society and Student Council at Bishop Stang High School in North Dartmouth, under the guidance of advisers Donna McDougal and Manuel Medeiros, recently completed a Breakfast Cereal Drive.

Students in the school donated more than 786 boxes of breakfast food that were collected during homeroom period and distributed to needy families through St. Anthony’s Food Pantry in New Bedford’s north end.

we are the beloved children of God. Fear cannot control us, the world cannot defeat us. God is our strength and our salvation. We need to keep the celebration going!

In these 50 days of Easter, which this year will end on May 27, the feast of Pentecost, we should reflect on all of the ways that Christ remains present to us. Look for Him in the day to day of events of life. Seek His face in the faces of the

people He sends to you; slow down long enough to at least look at those faces. Sit with the Scriptures from Mass each day, pray with the Collect, if possible, attend the eucharistic celebration. Celebrate the reason for the hope we have, and spread that hope in part of the world that you inhabit. His work continues in us. Blessed Easter!!

Jean Revil teaches theology and is campus minister at Bishop Stang High School.

Comments welcome at: jrevil@ bishopStang.com.

18

The Anchor

Faithful urged to pray, fast, repent to ‘take America back’ continued from page one

And when the U.S. was reeling from its second great massacre on 9/11/2001, from the Oval Office, just hours after the four terrorist strikes, President George W. Bush implored a dazed nation, “Tonight, I ask for your prayers for all those who grieve, for the children whose worlds have been shattered, for all whose sense of safety and security has been threatened. And I pray they will be comforted by a Power greater than any of us, spoken through the ages in Psalm 23: ‘Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil for You are with me.’”

Today, America is under attack from an adversary within that seeks to rip away her citizens’ First Amendment right to freedom of religion. Public buildings, properties and publications are also being purged of references to God, Jesus, prayer, and Scripture.

The U.S. bishops have called to action Catholic faithful and all Americans who are in danger of losing their religious rights.

With a presidential election looming in November, a group of concerned Americans are rallying their countrymen to return to their knees and seek help from the Almighty.

Cape Cod resident Mike Valerio, the founder of the Papa Gino’s pizza chain and a parishioner of Our Lady of Victory Parish in Centerville, has teamed with Pastor Dr. Rick Scarborough, founder of Vision America, and Don Feder, a former columnist for the Boston Herald, to establish 40 Days to Save America.

“It’s time for people to wake up, especially the Christians,” Valerio told The Anchor. “We can’t bury our heads in the sand any longer. We must have the courage to get our county back.”

The goal of the 40 Days to Save America is to call as many Americans as possible to a “great religious awakening,” through prayer, fasting and repentance, beginning September 24 through November 2, just days before Americans go to the polls to elect a president.

“We want churches of all denominations to open their doors and let people in to pray during this time,” said Valerio. “That includes Catholics, who at times are the last to get on board. Our country has reached a new low and it’s constantly under attack.

We have to start teaching people how to pray again, and that can be done from the pulpit. The biggest podiums in this country are in our churches.”

“America needs to be healed,” wrote Pastor Scarborough. “We

are a divided nation and Abraham Lincoln reminded his generation that a nation divided will not long survive.

“I have been trying to get fellow pastors and churches to get involved in the culture, voting their values. I no longer believe that we can save our nation by just voting our values. We desperately need God to change hearts, and that will not happen until we, God’s people, humble ourselves and pray, and seek His face, and turn away from our wicked ways.”

In its flyer, the 40 Days to Save America effort asks for “pastors, priests and rabbis to open their churches and synagogues throughout America for 40 days for prayer and fasting ... as we corporately and individually seek God for His intervention in our beloved nation.”

It asks all Christian and Jewish voters to make informed choices on November 6, not blindly voting Republican or Democratic, but “as followers of the living God.” It also implores our nation’s leaders to “have the wisdom and discernment to act according to His will and not based on personal or partisan considerations.”

For several weeks Valerio and Pastor Scarborough have been appealing to religious leaders across the country, asking them to become involved in the 40 Days effort. “Almost everyone we speak with gets on board,” said Valerio.

“People are realizing we have no one else to look to but God to save America.”

Feder told The Anchor “America has reached a turning point in its national existence.” He said the country can either right the ship or continue on a downward spiral. “This is the most important national election of our lifetime,” he said referring to the November 2012 elections. “I’ve worked with Pastor Rick and Mike on several projects over the last eight years or so. We feel it’s vital to bring Americans together to repent, to pray, to fast and to ask God to forgive our national sins.

“Rick is an evangelical Southern Baptist, Mike is a Catholic, and I’m a Jew, and the threats to our freedoms are not just Catholic or Christian or Jewish issues.

Our country wasn’t founded on a particular denomination or church, but on the Bible and the Ten Commandments. All of our freedoms are grounded on freedom of religion, and the threat to freedom of religion is a threat to all our freedoms.”

Valerio mentioned that Catholics are used to the concept of fasting. “We are used to it,” he said, “especially older Catholics. We

know how to do it, and we have to get our kids to do it again also. By fasting we have to think about it, and we realize then that Someone upstairs is watching us.”

Pat Stebbins, vice president of the Cape Cod Family Alliance and a parishioner of Corpus Christi Parish in East Sandwich, told The Anchor, “This effort is incredibly important. This next election will truly be a battle of good vs. evil. The biggest weapon of the Church militant is prayer.

“God is being forced out of everything. We cannot go it alone. God must be restored to His rightful place of honor in our country. And this will be done by prayer. It’s so important for our kids.”

Stebbins mentioned that there are more and more efforts such as this popping up across the Internet. “There’s one that asks people to pray the Rosary daily, asking for Our Lady’s intercession, asking God to turn aside His anger and show mercy. We ask that we have the grace to elect Godly” men and women to office.

Bea Martins, a parishioner of Holy Trinity Parish in Fall River, and on the board of directors of Mass. Citizens for Life, told The Anchor, “The 40 Days to Save America is an outstanding idea.

The government is telling God to get out of our country. This country was founded on freedom and our founding fathers were

April 27, 2012 faithful. They realized there was a God. What’s going on in this country are sad signs to me.”

Martins also mentioned that some people struggle a great deal with fasting. “Sometimes circumstances make it difficult to fast and to do so privately as Scriptures asks,” she explained. “Also a strict fast like bread and water is also difficult for some. There’s a method of fasting, based on The Light Weigh, a Bible study program dealing with fasting (www. lightweigh.com) where you eat half of what you would normally eat, and that could work for some people who can’t maintain a strict fast for any number of reasons.

And God would smile on that sacrifice as well.”

The 40 Days to Save America flyer asks for fasting with “each person seeking their own level of unselfish sacrifice.”

Prior to the beginning of the 40 Days to Save America, citizens across the U.S. are encouraged to take part in the 61st annual National Day of Prayer on May 3.

The National Day of Prayer can be traced back to before that very first Independence Day when the Continental Congress set aside a day of prayer in 1775.

In 1952 the U.S. Congress began an annual day of prayer and in 1988 it designated the first Thursday in May to be a National Day of Prayer.

This year’s theme is “One Nation Under God,” based on Psalm 33:12, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.” Accord-

ing the National Day of Prayer website, “organized events will be held in thousands of public venues where intercession will be made for America and its leadership.”

It further explains the day is for “personal repentance and prayer, and mobilization of the Christian community to intercede for America and its leadership in the seven centers of power: government, military, media, business, education, church, and family.

Americans are becoming increasingly aware of the threats hurled at the basic freedoms the country was founded on. It is the hope of those involved with the National Day of Prayer and the 40 Days to Save America that people of all faiths turn their eyes, hearts and petitions to God. “It will be good to become a God fearing and Commandment fearing nation again,” said Valerio. “God endowed America with the constitutional rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We have to pray to maintain those rights.”

“Each of us will be praying in our own way at our own houses of worship,” added Feder. “We won’t be together physically, but we will be together in prayer for the salvation of this nation.”

For more information about the National Day of Prayer, visit www.nationaldayofprayer. org; and for information on the 40 Days to Save America, visit www.40daystosaveamerica.org.

Catholic Charities Appeal begins 71st campaign continued from page one

with others who have worked over the years — some for literally decades — to make the annual appeal a success.

“I am encouraged with the turnout of parishioners who have attended the Catholic Charities Appeal kick-offs so far this season,” said Bishop George W. Coleman, reflecting on his experiences. “All are aware of the continued needs that people in our area are experiencing, and they are willing to respond to those needs concretely once again with charity, prayers, and generosity. It is my hope that of the many good individuals, families, and organizations in the Diocese of Fall River, as many as possible will participate in this year’s Catholic Charities Appeal.”

Mike Donly, director of Development for the Fall River Diocese, said that the outlook for the 71st annual appeal is certainly one of hope and encouragement, even despite the current poor economic climate.

“Last year, as dire as the circumstances were for thousands here in the diocese, the appeal

received the highest total in parishioner contributions in its history,” Donly said. “It was nothing short of amazing.”

More than 31,000 parishioners contributed a total of $4.2 million last year.

“Like everyone else our parishioners are concerned that their hard-earned dollars when contributed are being spent properly, and that the diocese is exercising sound stewardship with their donation,” Donly added.

“The fact that 94 cents of every dollar donated goes directly to fund the work of the agencies and apostolates ministering to the needy who come to us for assistance is certainly proof that we have great respect not only for the dignity of those we are assisting, but also for the faith our parishioners place in us when they make their donations.”

The agencies and apostolates funded by the Catholic Charities Appeal minister to approximately 100,000 men, women and children throughout southeastern Massachusetts, Cape Cod and the Islands every year. The Cath-

olic Social Services office alone — the largest of the agencies funded by the appeal — assists nearly 50,000 people on a yearly basis.

The 2012 Catholic Charities Appeal begins May 1 and will continue until June 21. Bishop Coleman’s audio message to parishioners, a Catholic Charities Appeal video, as well as the latest issue of Sharing, the appeal newsletter, can all be accessed on the Catholic Charities website at www.frdioc-catholiccharities. org. Also on the website are the funded agencies with contact numbers, a statement of revenues and expenditures for the 2011 appeal, as well as an opportunity to donate.

Contributions to the appeal can be sent to the Catholic Charities Appeal office, P.O. Box 1470, Fall River, Mass.

02722; dropped off at any parish in the diocese; or made on the appeal website at www. frdioc-catholiccharities.org For more information visit the website or call 508-6751311.

April 27, 2012

Eucharistic Adoration in the Diocese

Acushnet — Eucharistic adoration takes place at St. Francis Xavier Parish on Monday and Tuesday from 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.; Wednesday from 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Thursday from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; and Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. Evening prayer and Benediction is held Monday through Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.

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

ATTLEBORO — St. Joseph Church holds eucharistic adoration in the Adoration Chapel located at the (south) side entrance at 208 South Main Street, Sunday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Brewster — Eucharistic adoration takes place in the La Salette Chapel in the lower level of Our Lady of the Cape Church, 468 Stony Brook Road, on First Fridays following the 11 a.m. Mass until 7:45 a.m. on the First Saturday, concluding with Benediction and Mass. buzzards Bay — Eucharistic adoration takes place at St. Margaret Church, 141 Main Street, every first Friday after the 8 a.m. Mass and ending the following day before the 8 a.m. Mass.

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

East Sandwich — Eucharistic adoration takes place at the Corpus Christi Parish Adoration Chapel, 324 Quaker Meeting House Road, Monday through Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday, 12 p.m. to 9 p.m. Also, 24-hour eucharistic adoration takes place on the First Friday of every month.

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

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

Fall River — SS. Peter and Paul Parish will have eucharistic adoration on March 30 in the parish chapel, 240 Dover Street, from 8:30 a.m. until noon.

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

FALL RIVER — Notre Dame Church, 529 Eastern Ave., has eucharistic adoration on Fridays from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. in the chapel.

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

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

FALL RIVER — Good Shepherd Parish has eucharistic adoration every Friday following the 8 a.m. Mass until 6 p.m. in the Daily Mass Chapel. There is a bilingual Holy Hour in English and Portuguese from 5-6 p.m. Park behind the church and enter the back door of the connector between the church and the rectory.

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

HYANNIS — A Holy Hour with eucharistic adoration will take place each First Friday at St. Francis Xavier Church, 347 South Street, beginning immediately after the 12:10 p.m. Mass and ending with adoration at 4 p.m.

MASHPEE — Christ the King Parish, Route 151 and Job’s Fishing Road has 8:30 a.m.

Mass every First Friday with special intentions for Respect Life, followed by 24 hours of eucharistic adoration in the Chapel, concluding with Benediction Saturday morning followed immediately by an 8:30 Mass.

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

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

NORTH DARTMOUTH — Eucharistic adoration takes place at St. Julie Billiart Church, 494 Slocum Road, every Tuesday from 7 to 8 p.m., ending with Benediction.

The Sacrament of Reconciliation is available at this time.

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

OSTERVILLE — Eucharistic adoration takes place at Our Lady of the Assumption Church, 76 Wianno Avenue on First Fridays from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and every Friday from noon to 5 p.m., with Benediction at 5 p.m.

SEEKONK ­— Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish has eucharistic adoration seven days a week, 24 hours a day in the chapel at 984 Taunton Avenue. For information call 508336-5549.

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

WAREHAM — Every First Friday, eucharistic adoration takes place from 8:30 a.m. through Benediction at 5:30 p.m. Morning prayer is prayed at 9; the Angelus at noon; the Divine Mercy Chaplet at 3 p.m.; and Evening Prayer at 5 p.m.

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

WOODS HOLE — Eucharistic adoration takes place at St. Joseph’s Church, 33 Millfield Street, year-round on weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. No adoration on Sundays, Wednesdays, and holidays. For information call 508-274-5435.

19

The Anchor

Pope urges careful preparation for First Communion

Vatican City (CNA/ EWTN News) — During his April 22 Regina Coeli address, Pope Benedict XVI said adults should bring reverence and love to the task of preparing children to receive their first Holy Communion “Dear friends, the Church at Easter time usually administers First Communion to children,” he noted in the midday address. “I therefore urge the pastors, parents and catechists to prepare this feast of faith well, with great fervor, but also with sobriety.”

Among the large crowd gathered in the sunshine of St. Peter’s Square were thousands of Italian children who will make their first Holy Communion in the coming weeks.

As Pope Benedict addressed them, the young pilgrims cheered and released hundreds of colored balloons into the Roman sky.

The pope told them their First Communion would mark “the moment when you too understand the importance of a personal encounter with Jesus.”

Christ promised the Church His continued presence in “the Word and the Eucharist,” the pope said.

“Therefore, just as the dis-

In Your Prayers Please pray for these priests during the coming weeks April 28 Rev. Stanislaus J. Goyette, Pastor, St. Louis de France, Swansea, 1959 April 29 Rev. James Leo Maguire, Pastor, Diocese of Monterey, Calif., 1987 Rev. Adolph Szelagowksi, OFM Conv., Parochial Vicar, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, New Bedford, 1989 Rev. Peter P. Mullen, M.M., Maryknoll Missioner, 1999 Rev. John M. Breen, M.M., Maryknoll Missioner, 2005 April 30 Rev. John A. Hurley, Pastor, St. Mary, North Attleboro, 1900 Rev. David F. Sheedy, Pastor, St. John Evangelist, Attleboro, 1930 Rev. John Moda, Pastor, St. Mary’s Ukrainian Catholic Church, Ford City, Pa., 1993 May 1 Rev. Francis J. Quinn, Founder, Immaculate Conception, North Easton; Founder, Sacred Heart, Fall River, 1882 Rev. Joseph F. D’Amico, Pastor, Sacred Heart, Oak Bluffs, 1996 Rev. Walter A. Sullivan, Pastor, St. Mary, South Dartmouth, 1997 May 2 Rt. Rev. Msgr. M.P. Leonidas Lariviere, Pastor, St. Jean Baptiste, Fall River, 1963

ciples of Emmaus recognized Jesus in the breaking of the bread, so we meet the Lord in the eucharistic celebration.”

Pope Benedict also spoke about the Scripture readings for the third Sunday of Easter. He noted that the disciples were “incredulous and frightened” when they first saw the risen Christ, initially mistaking Him for a ghost.

In response, Jesus showed His hands and feet which displayed the marks of the crucifixion. He also asked for food, and received a piece of baked fish.

Pope Benedict explained

that these “very realistic signs” helped the disciples “open up to the gift of faith” — which in turn helped them “understand the things written on Christ ‘in the law of Moses, the prophets and the Psalms.’”

The pope reserved his final words for the children in St Peter’s Square, before leading the recitation of the midday Marian prayer.

“May the Mother of God help us to listen attentively to the Word of the Lord and participate worthily in the Eucharistic Sacrifice, to become witnesses of the new humanity,” he declared.

Around the Diocese 4/27

The Ladies Guild of St. Mary’s Parish in South Dartmouth is having a Lobster Roll and Clam Chowder Supper today from 5 to 7 p.m. at the St. Mary’s Parish Center. For more information call 508-993-5716.

4/28

A “Fire of Love” Youth Rally featuring music minister Martin Doman will be held tomorrow from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (including Mass) at St. Margaret’s Church in Buzzards Bay. The rally is open to all youth in grades eight to 12 and is perfect for Confirmation classes. To sign up, call 508-7597777 or email stmargaretyouthministry@gmail.com. For more information visit www. martindoman.com.

4/28

The Fall River Diocesan Council of Catholic Nurses is hosting a presentation about “Meditations for those who serve others,” by Father Thomas Costa Jr., chaplain at Cape Cod Hospital. The event will take place at Saint Anne’s Hospital in Fall River in the Nannery Conference Room tomorrow from 9-11:30 a.m. and will provide the opportunity to learn how to meditate and why it should be incorporated into one’s prayer life. Mass and lunch will follow.

Registration deadline is April 20. For information contact Betty at 508-678-2373.

4/28

“Spring Into Health,” a fair presented by the parish nursing of St. Anthony Parish, East Falmouth; Our Lady of Victory Parish, Centerville; and Christ the King Parish, Mashpee, will be held tomorrow from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Christ the King Parish Hall in Mashpee. Come visit the health informational booths, health screenings and listen to talks on “Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,” “Congestive heart failure” and “Aromatherapy use in Hospice care.” Visit www.christthekingparish.com for directions or more information.

4/29

On Sunday visionary Ivan Dragicevic of Medjugorje will be at Corpus Christi Parish in East Sandwich for an evening of prayer and reflection with Our Lady, Queen of Peace. Reconciliation will be available from 5 p.m., followed by the Rosary at 6 p.m. and a time of silence at 6:40 p.m.

Father George Harrison will celebrate Mass at 7 p.m. and Ivan will speak from 8 to 9 p.m. All are welcome. For more information or directions, call Maureen at 508-8882740 or 508-326-8006.

5/3

The Lazarus Ministry of Our Lady of the Cape Parish in Brewster is offering a six-week bereavement support program on Thursdays, called, “Come Walk With Me,” beginning May 3 through June 7 from 6:30-8 p.m. in the parish center. The program is designed for people who have experienced the loss of a loved one within the past year. Pre-registration is required with a small fee for materials. For information contact Happy Whitman at 508-385-3252 or Eileen Birch at 508-394-0616.

5/5

A Day with Mary will take place May 5 from 7:50 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. at Holy Family Parish, East Taunton, including a video presentation, procession, crowning of the Blessed Mother, Mass, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and an opportunity for Reconciliation. Bookstore available during breaks. For more information call 508-996-8274.

5/6

619-6240.

The Knights of Columbus of St. Mary’s Parish in Mansfield will be hosting a pancake breakfast on May 6 to benefit and support diocesan seminarian Jack Schrader. For more information call 617-

5/19

Three-time Grammy nominee Mary Rotella will perform in the auditorium of St. Francis Xavier School in Acushnet on May 19 at 7 p.m. Sponsored by the Men of the Sacred Hearts, this unforgettable evening of contemporary Christian music is not to be missed. For more information call Donald St. Gelais at 508-995-5609.

20

The Anchor

much-appreciated gifts — Father Bernard Baris, M.S., pastor of Our Lady of the Cape in Brewster hands out hand-made dolls to young students in Haiti during a recent missionary visit there. (Photo by Jeannine Baris)

Haitians cling to hope, faith as rebuilding slowly progresses continued from page one

“twinned” parish of St. Claire in Dessalines, Haiti, to provide monetary, physical and spiritual support to the impoverished people there.

“As soon as they get a little money, they are working to rebuild, but they are rebuilding the buildings in the same way as before the earthquake — with very little reinforcement bars, pretty much just cement blocks on cement blocks, which will disappear if ever they have another earthquake,” Father Baris said.

“So that’s very unfortunate. But they can’t be blamed because they don’t have the money to rebuild any other way.”

According to Father Labatorio, a priest ministering to some of the poorest of the poor in the parish of St. Jude in the innercity slums of Port-au-Prince, the Haitian government has been overly concerned with politics of late, making much of the necessary reconstruction “frustratingly slow” in the process.

“Instead of focusing on long overdue community resettlements, employment, education and health care, they are more interested in long political debates for nothing,” Father Labatorio told The Anchor. “Today, the National Police is on strike, leaving the streets of Port-auPrince vulnerable to insecurities and sporadic violence is spreading across the city. Until government officials stop looking at their own personal interests, Haiti’s reconstruction will be very slow.”

A native of the Philippines, Father Labatorio was raised by a Baptist family, but attended Catholic school. He converted

to Catholicism after high school and traveled to Haiti in 2000 as a missionary student intern and was ordained a priest in 2003.

He and another priest began a new parish foundation in a part of the Haitian capital that the United Nations once declared a “red zone,” meaning a place of great danger.

Today, St. Jude’s Parish has approximately 5,000 registered members, and all of them lost much, if not everything, in the 7.2-magnitude tremor two years ago. Nearly 70 percent of the homes and buildings in the parish were greatly damaged or destroyed.

While he admits that significant progress has been made in the interim, Father Labatorio said this is mostly within the private sectors where the business community is trying to regain what was lost after the 2010 earthquake.

“Some parish communities with solid and generous benefactors are making real progress in their respective communities,” he said. “Parishes in Haiti that enjoy regular funding from abroad — such as twinning parishes — tend to be very successful in bringing progress and making life a little bit better.”

For more than 25 years now, parishioners at Our Lady of the Cape have adopted the people of St. Claire in Dessalines as their “twin” parish by providing ongoing donations and support to them. Father Baris said they have also been working closely with his own order, the Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette, along with the Missionaries of Charity based in Port-au-Prince,

to provide food and education for the children of Haiti.

“Because of our parish’s involvement with St. Claire’s Parish, the Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette have decided to open a mission in Haiti nearby in Bayonnais,” Father Baris said. “It had been a parish at one time, but there have been no priests available for the last 20 years.”

Although they initially planned to occupy the abandoned rectory, it was discovered that all the inner beams had been eaten away by termites and the building had to be taken down, Father Baris explained. Now a new rectory is being built along with a new school to accommodate about 200 students.

Father Baris added that such construction not only provides new facilities for the people of Haiti, but also helps stimulate the local economy.

“Construction in Haiti is relatively inexpensive and the people work for minimum wage and they do good work,” he said.

“All they need is money for a salary and to buy the materials.

There are other people who go down there to build churches Turn to page 14

April 27, 2012