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The Anchor Diocese of Fall River

F riday , June 21, 2013

Two Hyannis Catholic schools to merge

By Kenneth J. Souza Anchor Staff

Expanded programs envisioned for both

continue throughout the forthcoming school year. Both school buildHYANNIS — Pope John Paul ings will remain in use.

“The idea of these two schools II High School and St. Francis Xavier Preparatory School, located coming together as one school was next to each other in Hyannis, will suggested by many back in 2004 join together to become one school, and through the years,” Griffin told The Anchor.

“Over the last two years we’ve been looking at the demographics on Cape Cod … and we have discussed with the school heads some of the issues affecting enrollSt. Francis Xavier Preparatory School, Hyannis ments.”

Griffin said serving grades five through 12 on the reorganization of many public schools throughout the region — Cape Cod. Fall River Diocesan Superinten- with students now transitioning dent of Schools Dr. Michael Grif- from middle school in grade seven fin last week announced the plan, as opposed to grade eight — also which was approved by Bishop factored into the consolidation.

“We’re not matched that way,” George W. Coleman. Its implementation will begin immediately and he said. “Students graduate from

eighth grade and then go into (high school).”

Noting that the two Hyannisbased schools were very compatible and comparable in terms of academic achievement and test scores, Griffin said it made sense to combine them to stave off the declining enrollment numbers at St. Francis Xavier Prep.

“We decided to do it now because it made sense in light of what the principals were saying in terms of the competition out there,” he said. “Over the past four years, St. Francis Xavier Prep has seen a decline of 43 students.”

The plan calls for a new governance model with one administration overseeing the operation of the combined school as a diocesan school under the supervision of the Diocesan Catholic Schools Office.

The current principal of the high school, Christopher Keavy, will be appointed as the Head of School.

According to Father Daniel W. Lacroix, pastor of St. Francis Xavier Parish in Hyannis, he was told of

Vocations office prepares for fourth annual Quo Vadis Days

By Kenneth J. Souza Anchor Staff

WAREHAM — While many families throughout the Fall River Diocese will be preparing to embark for various vacation hot spots next month, a group of teen-age boys hailing from Attleboro to Cape Cod will instead be heading to the scenic Sacred Hearts Retreat Center in Wareham to participate in the fourth annual Quo Vadis Days retreat.

The five-day program, to be held July 8-12, was initiated by the diocesan Vocations Office four years ago to help young men discern their vocation in life and perhaps answer a special calling to serve God as priests.

“There has been a steady increase of guys attending each year, which is a great sign,” said Father Jay Mello, assistant director and recruiter for the diocesan vocations office. “Because the men are coming from all over the diocese, it is certainly bringing greater awareness to the diocese for the need to promote and foster priestly vocations. It has

the decision to remove the middle he was not privy to the meetings school from his parish and merge it that led to the merger decision, but with the diocesan-run high school he does see the benefit of joining in a meeting with Bishop Coleman forces. last week, and then had a joint meet“As a united school, students ing with diocesan school officials will have academic, athletic, arts, and Robert H. Deburro, headmas- and other opportunities that simter of St. Francis Xavier Prep, advising him of the changes about to be implemented.

“The reasons were to strengthen the Catholic school by creating a 500-plusstudent school, Pope John Paul II High School, Hyannis which could offer more opportunities to students,” ply would not be possible for either Father Lacroix explained. “Lan- school separately,” Keavy told The guages and other advanced stud- Anchor. “The synergy that can be ies would benefit, while avoiding created from the collaboration of the obvious duplication in services each school’s excellent teachers, such as an advancement office (for staff members, boards, families and both).” students holds tremendous promise.

Like Father Lacroix, Keavy said Turn to page 18

Presentation to be held focusing on Latinos in Massachusetts

By Becky Aubut Anchor Staff

LEADING THE WAY — Father Kevin Cook, assistant vocations director for the Fall River Diocese, leads a hiking expedition during last year’s Quo Vadis Days retreat in Wareham.

certainly helped the vocation office to get the message out.”

“I think the success of Quo Vadis has to do with offering an experience for the young men of our diocese to strengthen their relationship with Christ, whether or not they eventually discern a priestly vocation,” agreed Father Karl Bissinger, diocesan vocations director and secretary to

Bishop George W. Coleman.

Father Bissinger noted that last year’s retreat drew a record number of attendees — 28 boys representing 13 different parishes from across the diocese — and he hopes this year will continue the trend.

Quo Vadis Days — which takes its name from the Latin Turn to page 18

NEW BEDFORD — The Mauricio Gastón Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy at the University of Massachusetts Boston will present a briefing entitled, “Latinos in Massachusetts: Focus on the Southeast Region” on June 26 at the United Fisherman’s Club in New Bedford from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Though anyone can attend, the presentation is mainly for community leaders like those working in government, nonprofits, hospitals or schools; those professionals and policymakers who can create an impact on a larger level for the Latino community, said Pablo Goldbarg, research communication and dissemination coordinator at the institute.

“Our main target are the community leaders because they are the ones who represent the com-

munity,” said Goldbarg. “They have more knowledge of what is going on and how they are fighting for their rights.”

According to their press release, the Mauricio Gastón Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy was established in 1989 at the University of Massachusetts Boston by the Massachusetts Legislature at the behest of Latino community leaders and scholars in response to a need for improved understanding of the Latino experience in the Commonwealth.

The mission of the Gastón Institute is to inform policy makers about issues vital to the state’s growing Latino community, and to provide this community with the information and analysis necessary for effective participation in public policy development.

Trying to reach communities outside of Boston, the Institute’s first briefing was held Turn to page 15

News From the Vatican

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June 21, 2013

Catholics must grow in love of God, neighbor, pope says at audience

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Christians have “far to go” if they seek to be known primarily for their love of God and neighbor, Pope Francis said.

The first law governing the Church as the “People of God” is love, he said, which means “recognizing God as the only Lord of life and, at the same time, welcoming others as true brothers and sisters, overcoming divisions, rivalries, misunderstandings and selfishness.”

At his recent weekly general audience, Pope Francis continued his series of audience talks about the creed, looking at what Catholics believe about the Church.

With more than 50,000 people gathered for the audience in St. Peter’s Square on a hot spring day, the pope lamented that brotherly love does not reign in the world, and often not even in Catholics’ communities, neighborhoods, workplaces or even their homes, “because of jealousy and envy.”

“We must ask the Lord to help us understand His law of love,” he said. “How good, how beautiful it would be if we loved one another as real brothers and sisters.”

“Let’s try something today,” Pope Francis said: “We all have those we like and those we don’t like so much. Perhaps many of us are angry with someone. Let’s say to the Lord, ‘I am angry with this person and that one. I pray for him and for her.’”

“Let’s pray for those with whom we are angry. It’s a good step forward in this law of love,” he said. “Let’s do it. Let’s do it today.”

Pope Francis said that when the Second Vatican Council defined the Church as “the People of God,” it recognized that the Church belongs to God and the Christian community was formed by Him.

The Anchor www.anchornews.org

“It means that God does not belong to any one people,” the pope said, and His invitation is addressed “to all, without distinction, because God’s mercy wants the salvation of all people.”

“Jesus didn’t tell the Apostles or us to form an exclusive group, a group of the elite,” but said to go out to the whole world making disciples of all peoples.

“I want to say to those who feel far from God and from the Church, to those who are afraid or indifferent, to those who think they cannot change: The Lord calls you, too, to be part of His people and He does so with great respect and love,” the pope said.

“He invites you to be part of this people, the people of God.” Pope Francis told those at his audience that it is the obligation of every Christian to be a sign of hope and love in the world and to share with others the joy of being forgiven and saved by God. “It’s enough to open a newspaper to know that evil exists, that the devil acts,” he said. “But I want to say loudly that God is stronger.”

“Do you believe this? That God is stronger?” the pope asked the crowd. “Then let us say it together, ‘God is stronger,’” he said, as many joined him in repeating the phrase.

When things are “dark, marked by evil, they can change if we bring the light of the Gospel, especially with our lives,” he said.

The world needs the Gospel and the witness of Christian love, he said. And it’s up to Catholics to make sure that the Church is a place “where each person feels welcomed, loved, forgiven and encouraged to live according to the Gospel.”

For that to happen, he said, “the Church must have its doors open, so that anyone can come in, and so that we go out and proclaim the Gospel.”

OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE DIOCESE OF FALL RIVER Vol. 57, No. 24

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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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EASY RIDER — Pope Francis is presented with a leather Harley Davidson jacket during his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican June 12. (CNS photo/L’Osservatore Romano via Reuters)

Wealth obscures power of God’s Word, free gift of salvation, pope says

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — A Church that is rich and lacking in praise for the Lord is an old, lifeless Church that neglects the true treasure of God’s free gift of grace and salvation, Pope Francis said in a morning homily.

“Proclaiming the Gospel must take the road of poverty,” the pope said at a recnet Mass in the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae.

Those who preach and share the Gospel need to give witness to poverty, where the only abundant riches in their lives are the free and joyful gifts received from the Lord, he said.

The pope, who concelebrated Mass with Archbishop Gerhard Muller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, highlighted a line from the day’s reading from the Gospel of Matthew: “Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.”

When Jesus told His Apostles, “Do not take gold or silver or copper for your belts; no sack for the journey, or a second tunic, or sandals, or walking stick,” he was urging them to proclaim the Gospel “with simplicity,” Pope Francis said.

Simplicity allows the power of the Word of God and God’s grace to grab the spotlight, he said.

It also shows “the confidence” the Apostles had in God’s Word because without it,

“they would probably have done something else.”

“Evangelical preaching flows from gratuitousness, from the wonder of the salvation that comes and that which I have received freely and must give freely,” he said.

This was the experience of the early Church as “St. Peter didn’t have a bank account, and when he had to pay taxes, the Lord sent him to the sea to fish and find inside the fish the money for paying,” the pope said.

Also, he said, when Philip met the treasurer of an Ethiopian queen on the road from Jerusalem, Philip didn’t see the moment as an occasion for business, to “set up an organization with him to support the Gospel.”

“No! He did not strike a deal with him: he preached, baptized and left,” the pope said.

However, since the beginning, the temptation has always been there to seek strength elsewhere, beyond the freeness of salvation, he said.

This creates “a little confusion” and proclamation — which the Lord invites people to engage in — can become proselytism.

Pope Francis cited a phrase from Pope Benedict XVI’s homily in Brazil in 2007, when the now retired pope said, “The Church does not engage in proselytism. Instead, she grows by attraction.”

This attraction, Pope Francis said, comes from the witness of people who freely proclaim the free gift of salvation.

They also must walk the path of poverty, he said, where “I have no riches, my only wealth is the gift I received, God,” and His free gifts of grace and of salvation.

“This gratuitousness, this is our wealth,” he said.

The Church must carry out its charitable work — where money is necessary — but it can be done with “a heart of poverty, not with the heart of an investor or an entrepreneur,” he said.

It’s this kind of poverty that “saves us from becoming managers, businessmen,” he added.

“The Church is not an NGO.” Poverty and praising the Lord — where “we are not asking, we are only praising” — are two signs that an Apostle of Jesus is living out the gift of God’s grace, he said.

“When we find Apostles that want to make the Church rich and make a Church without the gratuitousness of praise, the Church becomes old, it becomes an NGO; the Church becomes lifeless,” the pope said.

June 21, 2013

DUBLIN (CNS) — Women can play an important role in bringing peace and stability to violencewracked northern Nigeria if some of the country’s discriminatory social rituals ended, an Irish missionary Sister working in the West African nation said.

Sister Kathleen McGarvey, 45, a member of the Sisters of Our Lady of Apostles and a lecturer at Good Shepherd Seminary in Kaduna, Nigeria, told Catholic News Service that women can bring new perspectives based on their experience and knowledge to the peace effort.

She likened the untapped potential of Nigerian women to their sidelining in the long-practiced Igbo tribal ritual of the breaking of the kola nut, a fruit of the tropical rainforest in much of Africa. The nut is broken at weddings, Church gatherings and major social events as a symbol of acceptance and welcoming of visitors.

“At any Church gathering, after the opening prayer, the kola nut is blessed by the priest and if there is no priest, one of the men will pray over it; then it is broken. It is like a sacred ritual and has its basis in the Igbo culture but has become Christianized,” Sister Kathleen explained.

The International Church

Irish missionary says women can foster peace in Nigeria’s conflict “For the ritual to become more inclusive and allow women to break the nut would be a very significant step forward,” she said.

Much the same, Sister Kathleen added, long-held traditions can be amended so that women can offer their perspectives based on experience to bring peace to northern states where the shadowy Islamist Boko Haram has led a violent insurrection since 2009.

Sister Kathleen also is deeply involved in the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria’s Commission for Interreligious Dialogue. She was the only non-Nigerian and one of just six women selected to participate in the Northern States Governors’ Forum on Reconciliation, Security and Healing, which was convened to find possible solutions to the crisis in the region.

She praised Holy Rosary Sister Rose Uchem, a Nigerian whose work on the development of women became the subject of a video examining the subordination of women in the kola nut ritual.

Sister Kathleen also cited the prohibition of women owning property, which must be held in the name of a father, brother or husband, and the subordination of a widowed woman who must engage in rites that demonstrate fidel-

ity to her deceased husband.

“If a woman is widowed, particularly among the Igbo, but in some of the other cultures as well, there are many rituals that she must go through. Her head is shaved. Her husband’s body is washed and she must drink that same water. She may not be allowed to wash during a certain period of mourning. Part of it is to show that she did not kill her husband but it also shows her love for her husband — her fidelity,” Sister Kathleen said.

Patricia Danmaida, former minister of education in Kaduna state, is one of the Nigerian women Sister Kathleen holds up for challenging society’s treatment of widows.

Danmaida, a Catholic, was widowed at a young age and left with three daughters. Because she had no sons, she had no protection under the law and her husband’s family claimed virtually all of her possessions, leaving her nearly destitute.

“Even though we have all these laws about equality, if a husband dies, it is common to hear of a woman being disinherited of all her property,” Sister Kathleen explained.

But Danmaida managed to overcome her disadvantaged situation by taking advantage of her col-

lege education to gain a foothold in the Nigerian education ministry.

Sister Kathleen also has worked on ending the forced Marriage of teen-age girls. She said the practice contributes to the marginalization of women because they are forced to drop out of school, minimizing any opportunity to participate effectively in social and political decision making.

Some progress is being made, according to Sister Kathleen, who said that even the young seminarians she teaches grapple with women’s issues as they cope with the

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injustices placed on their widowed mothers or observe the subordination faced by their aunts or sisters.

“I think there is a growing awareness in Church circles of the different injustices women endure within the different cultures,” Sister Kathleen said. “Every year, our fourth-year students write a project and there will be three or four of them looking at polygamy or widowhood. They are aware and awareness is certainly growing.

But there is still a long way to go and there will certainly be lots of obstacles.”

Diocese of Fall River

OFFICIAL

His Excellency, the Most Reverend George W. Coleman, Bishop of Fall River, has announced the following appointment: Rev. John J. Perry, Pastor of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Parish, Taunton, while remaining Pastor of St. Jude the Apostle Parish, Taunton, and Diocesan Director of Cemeteries.

Effective July 1, 2013

Theologian thinks papal trip to Brazil critical for younger generations

MIAMI (CNS) — Look for strong turnout, robust media interest and unscripted moments when Jorge Mario Bergoglio makes his first trip abroad as Pope Francis when he arrives in Brazil in late July, according to a Brazilian writer and academic.

In the Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro, final preparations are underway for the 2013 World Youth Day with Pope Francis July 23-28 around the sprawling Brazilian city.

“He has a lot of charisma and it will be good to see that with the youngsters,” said Maria Clara Luchetti Bingemer, an associate professor of theology at Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro who is regarded as an expert on lay spirituality and leadership in the Catholic Church in Brazil.

“We are expecting more than two million people, houses are being prepared, families are welcoming the pilgrims, the university will be closed so that the youngsters can sleep there,” said Bingemer, who was in Florida to speak to the Catholic Theological Society of America during its annual convention June 6-9 at the Hyatt Regency Miami Hotel.

She is a leader in the Jesuitfounded lay movement, Christian

Life Communities and also was regional coordinator of the Latin American Ecumenical Association of Third World Theologians from 1986 to 1992.

Pope Francis will arrive in Rio and first visit the National Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida July 24, followed by a visit to a new drug rehabilitation facility and a visit to a slum in Rio’s North Zone before the festive opening of World Youth Day on Copacabana beach July 25.

“It was hard to find a place to have the closing Mass,” Bingemer said. “They fear it will be more than two million people.”

A native of Rio, Bingemer, who wrote a chapter for the new book “Pope Francis: Hope Reborn,” describes Pope Francis’ style as simple and direct, with a “de-centered and collegial” style of pastoral leadership, a renewed emphasis on the Second Vatican Council and of the centrality of the poor.

“I think it is very comforting for us from Latin America,” Bingemer said of having a pope from neighboring Argentina.

Based on Pope Francis’ lively interactions with audiences at the Vatican since being elected in March, she expects he will likely

have a significant impact during his visit to Brazil.

“This pope is very used to moving around, to being everywhere. I think the best word to describe the feelings is ‘hope.’

We have a lot of hope in this new way of being pope and for what will be his first international trip and to speak to the youth, the new generations.”

“There will be many surprises, and I think it will be very good,” Bingemer added.

In Brazil, the various lay movements such as Focolare and others are popular among Catholic laity in Brazil as well as a locally popular method for reading and understanding the Bible developed by a Carmelite monk from Belo Horizonte.

In Rio, Pope Francis can expect to find what Bingemer calls a post-modern youth shaped by the same materialism and cultural forces that contemporary youth anywhere might experience.

“The charismatic movement is the one that catches the most young people because of the music. The youngsters are captured by the music, the possibility of expressing themselves through singing songs, sacred rock, the mixture of gospel and rock and

the charismatic movement knows well how to do that,” Bingemer said.

“Consumerism is the postmodern ideology and I hope the pope can say some strong words about the need to look to the poor, to be interested in them,” she said, adding that visitors to Rio should prepare to experience a very beautiful city but also one

marked by contrasts with very rich and poor living in close proximity.

Brazil, she said, had been known as the country with the largest number of Christian base communities and small faithsharing groups popular in Latin America especially, “and I am confident it will come back,” Bingemer said.

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The Church in the U.S. Hope for those ‘living in shadows’ seen in immigration reform debate

AUSTIN, Texas (CNS) — With the debate on immigration underway in the U.S. Senate, the nation may finally be making some headway on long-overdue comprehensive reform of its immigration policies, said Austin Bishop Joe S. Vasquez.

“Our country has needed this legislation for years,” he said. “With the help of all in the Catholic community, we finally have an opportunity to see some progress for our sisters and brothers who have lived in the shadows far too long.”

He made the comments in a June 8 letter of greeting to participants in the “Nuns on the Bus” campaign who arrived in the Texas capital.

They are on a cross-country tour to push for reform.

Bishop Vasquez was unable to greet the bus in person when it arrived the evening of June 8, but in his letter he told Sister Simone Campbell, head of the Catholic social justice lobby called Network, that he joined her and the other women religious “in praying for the success of our common efforts to pass immigration reform, and know that I am praying for you and for this tour.”

While in Texas, the bus made stops at a parish in San Antonio, a clinic and an education center in Laredo, and a shelter serving homeless immigrants in El Paso, then it headed to Las Cruces, N.M., June 11. The group ended

the day in Tucson and June 12 planned to be in Nogales, Ariz., then Phoenix. The last leg of the journey was to include several stops in California, beginning June 13.

“We are so grateful for Bishop Vasquez’s kind statement,” said Sister Campbell, a Sister of Social Service.

“As members of the Church, we are all called to share this journey together and follow the Gospel mandate to welcome the immigrant.”

She added that Network, which is leading the bus trip, stands with the bishops “in calling on Congress to take immediate action to create a roadmap to citizenship and pass comprehensive immigration reform. The time is now.”

Called the “Network Nuns on the Bus: A Drive for Faith, Family and Citizenship,” organizers kicked off the tour May 29 in New Jersey and it was scheduled to end June 18 in San Francisco.

A total of 29 women religious planned to go along for at least part of the trek through 40 cities in 15 states.

The tour was launched early in the morning at Liberty State Park in Jersey City, N.J. It was the maiden leg of the trip with seven Sisters on board the vehicle, its “Nuns on the Bus” logo displayed in colorful, wrap-around graphics.

That morning the bus headed quickly to Scranton, Penn., then wheeled around and by that evening was back in New

Jersey where some 500 people, including Trenton Bishop David M. O’Connell, came to support their cause at a rally in St. Ann Parish in Lawrenceville.

In his welcoming remarks, Bishop O’Connell noted a statement issued May 21 by New Jersey’s bishops urging support of fair and just immigration reform and praised the Sisters’ efforts in reminding one and all of America’s heritage as a nation of immigrants.

“The Catholic Church in our country has always been a Church of immigrants, welcoming and ministering to them as Jesus encouraged,” he said.

“I am not political. I am a person of faith who shepherds a local Church. Our Church is Pro-Life, pro-family and pro-poor,” Bishop O’Connell said. “I lend my prayer and encouragement to the cause of comprehensive immigration reform in which all three of those causes are united. Now is the time to take action, now is the time to welcome brothers and sisters as strangers no more.”

During their visit, the Sisters — as they planned do all along their 6,500-mile road trip — asked everyone to sign postcards and contact their senators, showing their support for common sense immigration reform which would set up workable pathways to citizenship and help enable families to stay together and work and live here without fear.

Describing herself as the granddaughter of Czech and Irish grandparents, Sister Marti McCarthy, who is a Sister of Social Service, told the crowd: “I am here because they believed in the American promise that if you worked hard, you could make a decent living.”

She said she lives in a rural county where immigrant workers who pick crops contribute much to the economy.

“We want a bill that will make it possible for them not to live in the shadows,” she said.

“We want a bill that will keep families together. We are on the bus to make sure that the family dreams are upheld.”

June 21, 2013

fire alarm — Large plumes of smoke from a wildfire burning in the Black Forest stretch across the horizon threatening homes northeast of Colorado Springs, Colo., June 11. As of the morning of June 12, it was estimated that 100 homes were destroyed in the blaze, forcing the evacuation of nearly 3,000 people and the fire had consumed nearly 8,000 acres. (CNS photo/Louis Batides, Reuters)

Colorado wildfire destroys homes, land, forces thousands to flee

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (CNS) — For the second year in a row, a wildfire got out of hand on a hot and windy afternoon in Colorado Springs June 12, leaving thousands of people fleeing for safety and thousands of others reliving a nightmare.

The Black Forest Fire, as it is being called, started in a forested area in the far northeast corner of El Paso County, just outside the Colorado Springs city limits, that goes under the name Black Forest.

The Associated Press reported June 13 that at least 360 homes had been destroyed in the blaze and that the fire had consumed nearly 8,000 acres.

No injuries had been reported, and it was not known yet how the fire started.

The Sisters of Benet Hill Monastery, located in the heart of the Black Forest area, voluntarily evacuated late afternoon.

“We’ve got everybody ready in case the fire changes direction,” said Benedictine Sister Jan Ginzkey said in an interview before they left.

“We did take nine Sisters who are in more fragile health to Mount St. Francis (where the Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration run a nursing home),” Sister Jan told The Colorado Catholic Herald, the newspaper of the Colorado Springs Diocese.

“Sister Nadine (Heimann, provincial) called and offered us sanctuary.”

Meanwhile, a group of parish social outreach ministers and Stephen ministers set up camp at St. Gabriel the Archangel Parish in the northeast part of the city to serve those whose homes had burned or were forced to evacuate.

“I started getting calls last night from parishioners whose homes were destroyed,” said Deacon Ed DeMattee, head of the ministry team. Most were members of Our Lady of the Pines Parish in Black Forest, he said.

Our Lady of the Pines Church in Black Forest was near the mandatory evacuation zone.

The church was closed and without power, offering no daily Mass until further notice. At press time (June 13) the parish website said that the parish buildings were undamaged, but “for safety reasons” Masses would not be held there this weekend.

Dan Spadaro, a member of Corpus Christi Parish in Colorado Springs and columnist for The Colorado Catholic Herald, received a visit at his ranch from police just before 9 p.m. June 11 that he and his family, including his pregnant wife and five children, would have to leave their five-acre property in Black Forest.

With the help of friends, Spadaro was able to relocate his 10 goats that night to the designated animal safe haven at the Elbert County Fairgrounds.

June 21, 2013

The Church in the U.S.

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Obama Administration drops fight to limit age restrictions on Plan B

WASHINGTON (CNS) — U.S. Catholic officials expressed disappointment with the June 10 announcement that the federal government will comply with a judge’s ruling to allow girls of any age to buy the morning-after pill without a prescription.

The decision reversed recent course of action by the federal government. On May 1, the Justice Department announced that it would appeal a ruling by a federal judge in early April that said the Food and Drug Administration must make emergency contraceptives available to all ages by May 6.

In a June 10 letter to U.S. District Judge Edward Korman in Brooklyn, N.Y., department officials said they will submit a plan for compliance with his ruling and will drop their appeal. The letter also said the FDA has advised the drug’s manufacturer to submit an application to make Plan B OneStep available over the counter without restrictions.

News reports June 11 said the Justice Department also told the judge it will not make available over the counter the two-pill Plan B product, which it described as being significantly different from the onepill version. Two-pill generic versions of Plan B would remain behind store counters and require a prescription and ID for those under the age of 17.

Plan B, known generically as levonorgestrel, uses large doses of birth-control pills to prevent conception up to 72 hours after unprotected sex. According to the FDA, it will “not stop a pregnancy when a woman is already pregnant, and there is no medical evidence that the product will harm a developing fetus.”

Catholic officials faulted the federal government’s decision

and some groups advocating women’s rights called it a step forward and a public health benefit.

Deirdre McQuade, spokeswoman for the USCCB’s Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities, said in a June 11 email to Catholic News Service: “Many studies have shown that wider access to ‘emergency contraception’ among young people does not reduce pregnancy or abortion rates, but can contribute to higher rates of sexually transmitted disease. No public health consideration justifies the unregulated distribution of such drugs to children.”

Jeanne Monahan, president of the March for Life Education & Defense Fund, called the decision “hugely disappointing and not in the best interest of young women’s physical and emotional health.”

John DiCamillo, an ethicist with the National Catholic Bioethics Center in Philadelphia called the government’s decision “a great disservice” that “brings profound moral harm to our society.”

In a June 11 email to CNS, he said the wider availability of levonorgestrel in its pill form “continues to promote and entrench the contraception and abortion mentality that undermines the culture of life.”

He noted that the National Catholic Bioethics Center is “not a scientific research body and does not itself determine whether Plan B or other levonorgestrel-based ‘emergency contraceptives’ are abortifacients.” But he said a close analysis of the scientific and pharmacological literature indicates that this drug “can and very likely does act as an abortifacient when taken after ovulation has already occurred.”

A June 11 Washington Post article said a senior administra-

tion official who spoke to the newspaper on the condition of anonymity insisted President Barack Obama did not change his position about the drug and still opposes over-the-counter access to emergency contraceptives for young girls. The official said the reason the Justice Department dropped its appeal was reportedly because of multiple setbacks the department experienced in federal courts.

In early June, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit said it would immediately permit unrestricted sales of the two-pill version of the emergency contraception until the appeal was decided.

That ruling, the senior administration official said, indicated that the court did not expect the legal challenge of the appeal to succeed.

In a June 11 press briefing, White House spokesman Jay Carney said the Obama Administration decided it would prefer to allow the simpler Plan B One-Step to be available without a prescription than the twopill product.

“We have been through a legal process and the court has ruled against the administration.

“It was the decision, given the court ruling, to proceed with making the simpler version of Plan B available,” he said.

In 2006, the FDA approved over-the-counter sales of Plan B to women 18 and older; three years later, a court ruling made it available to women 17 and older without a prescription.

The FDA was ready to lift all age limits on emergency contraceptives and let them be sold over the counter in late 2011, but Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, changed the FDA’s course, saying that even though some girls as young as 11 are physically capable of bearing children, they shouldn’t be able to buy the pregnancy-preventing pill on their own.

A February 21 statement by the German bishops said the “morning-after pills,” or Plan B, can be dispensed at Churchrun hospitals to prevent rape

victims from becoming pregnant.

“Women who have been victims of rape will, of course, receive human, medical, psychological and pastoral help in Catholic hospitals — this can include administration of the ‘morning-after pill’ as long as it has a preventive rather than abortive effect,” the bishops’ conference said.

They added that “medical and pharmaceutical methods that result in the death of an embryo may still not be used.”

Referring to the German bishops’ statement, DiCamillo said: “The only instance in which it could be licit to administer levonorgestrel as emergency contraception is in the care of sexual assault victims in which appropriate testing has been done which affords moral certitude that the sole immediate effect is not abortifacient. In other words, there must be adequate medical evidence that the woman is not pregnant and that ovulation has not yet occurred and is not imminent.”

Church has led way in addressing abuse of minors, says board chairman

WORCESTER (CNS) — The Catholic Church has led the way in addressing the sexual abuse of minors, said the new chairman of the National Review Board.

Francesco C. Cesareo, president of Assumption College in Worcester and a member of the review board for one year, succeeded Al Notzon III as board chairman June 9 at the conclusion of the board’s June meeting. Since the board meets four times a year, the first meeting Cesareo will oversee as chairman will be in September.

His appointment by Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, raises the visibility of the college and the Worcester Diocese, he said, and he expressed hope that it would be a positive reflection on both.

His three-year term as chairman is a contribution the college is making to the life of the Catholic Church, he said.

His plans are to do what the review board was set up to do.

It advises the bishops’ Secretariat for Child and Youth Protection and was established by the “Charter for Protection of Children and Young People,” which the bishops adopted in 2002.

The board does this by making sure that the bishops’ “Char-

ter for the Protection of Children and Young People” is being implemented, he said.

Cesareo said he was very active in his year on the board, contributing ideas and suggestions and engaging in debates.

He said he has an understanding of how Church institutions work, and a sensitivity to the delicate balance between what the National Review Board can recommend and the way the hierarchy and the Church operate.

He said many skills a college president needs can be used in the chairman’s job: working with people with different perspectives, seeing the big picture, being able to think through situations, and making and communicating decisions.

The husband and father of three teenagers said that as a father, he can understand how parents whose children were abused may feel.

“You want to create an environment where you would feel your own children are safe,” he said in an interview with The Catholic Free Press, Worcester’s diocesan newspaper.

Any violation or non-implementation of the bishops’ abuse prevention charter undermines trust and leads people to be skeptical that children are being

protected and bishops are taking this seriously, he said.

So, in addition to protecting children, he said, a positive result of implementing the charter is restoring trust, helping the bishops regain their moral authority and credibility, which can give them the opportunity to address other issues.

“If society takes an honest look at what the Church has done in the last 10 years and the seriousness with which the bishops have taken this issue, they have to acknowledge the Catholic Church is the only institution that has such a clear mechanism to protect children and to deal with the whole sexual abuse issue,” Cesareo said.

What the bishops and the National Review Board have done “sets a model for other institutions and organizations.”

He said the charter established a response mechanism: an allegation is to be reported immediately to civil authorities and the accused person is to be removed from duties until it has been determined whether the allegation is credible. If it is, the charter sets in motion a process of working with civil authorities. The charter also makes sure the victim is taken care of, he said.

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The Anchor Putting the news into perspective

Some anger has been expressed lately regarding some of what we have covered here in The Anchor, be it in columns or in news stories. Oftentimes this anger is due to hurt feelings, either due to what was perceived to be insensitivity on the part of some representatives of the Church, to certain individuals, or to groups of people.

We cannot control the news, although we do try to put it into perspective, reminding ourselves and our readers what ultimately is our goal in this life, which is to do the will of God, by loving God with our whole being and loving our neighbors as ourselves.

Sometimes people might not “feel the love,” as the popular expression goes.

That could be because there was a lack of love on part of the Church’s representative (after the scandal year, we all know quite well that we are hardly perfect) or it could be because the person affected (be it a reader or someone else somehow affected by the Church) cannot accept what is being said (or not said), even if it is offered in good faith and with charity.

In other words, their “filter” has already been set to process anything not sharing their “worldview” as being something inherently wrong or hateful.

A Catholic newspaper has to enunciate the teachings of the Church, whether or not they are popular. That being said, we do what we can to make the teachings understandable and help the reader to see the reasons behind what the Church teaches. Sometimes this will take a long time — and ultimately, it rests with the Holy Spirit and the openness of the individual person to be guided by the Spirit.

April 16 Pope Francis spoke about our resistance to the Holy Spirit, using as his jumping off point St. Stephen’s criticism of his listeners (and future murderers) being closed to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Father preached, “To get to the point, the Holy Spirit annoys us, because He moves us. He makes us travel, He pushes the Church forward. And we are like Peter at the Transfiguration: ‘Oh, how wonderful it is for us to be here, all together!’ as long as it does not inconvenience us. We would like the Holy Spirit to doze off. We want to subdue the Holy Spirit. And that just will not work. For He is God and He is that wind that comes and goes, and you do not know from where. He is the strength of God; it is He who gives us consolation and strength to continue forward. To go forward! And this is bothersome. Convenience is nicer. You all could say: ‘But Father, that happened in those times. Now we are all content with the Holy Spirit.’ No, that is not true! This is still today’s temptation. ... In our personal life, in our private lives, the same thing happens: the Spirit pushes us to take a more evangelical path, and we [say]: ‘But no, it goes like this, Lord’ ... Do not put up resistance to the Holy Spirit: this is the grace for which I wish we would all ask the Lord; docility to the Holy Spirit, to that Spirit who comes to us and makes us go forward on the path of holiness, that holiness of the Church which is so beautiful.”

What Pope Francis had to say is a challenge to all of us, no matter what our political or ecclesial perspective is. He is reminding us that the Holy Spirit continues to surprise us, continues to push us into paths which we would prefer not to follow, but they are the “narrow path” which leads to everlasting life in the Love of God. The Anchor does what it can to help to be a “GPS” on that journey. Sometimes folks who have a GPS get annoyed with that voice in their cars (as folks who still use roadmaps get frustrated that they have to pull the car over to actually read them safely). So it is with our paper. We try the best we can. Sometimes we make mistakes (be they accidental errors of facts, which we correct, or in choices of articles), but one would hope that we are doing the best that we can.

Please continue to pray for us to be guided by the Holy Spirit as we pray the same for you.

This week in 50 years ago — Bishop James L. Connolly officiated at the 16th annual Blessing of the Fishing Fleet in Provincetown.

The celebration was a three-day affair, with social activities and athletic contests.

25 years ago — Internationally known healing priest Father Edward McDonough, C.SS.R., of Mission Church, Boston, led a healing service at Our Lady of the Cape Church in Brewster.

Diocesan history 10 years ago — For the first time in its 50-year history, St. Joseph of Cluny Sister Eugenia Brady was named spiritual moderator for the Fall River Diocesan Council of Catholic Women, a position which had previously been filled exclusively by diocesan priests.

One year ago — Father Richard D. Wilson was named new executive editor of The Anchor, taking over from Father Roger J. Landry, who had served in that capacity for seven years.

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June 21, 2013

Freedom, faith and responsibility

wanted to write on the Fortnight for Freewho disagree with them on abortion should not dom that begins today and lasts through the even have a seat at the table or the bench. Markey Fourth of July. This is a two-week period in which proves that you don’t have to be a member of an the U.S. bishops are asking all Catholics to pray, anti-Catholic denomination to be anti-Catholic. study and take action with regard to the various Markey didn’t always see things this way. He recent threats to religious freedom in our country. was elected to Congress 37 years ago with the I hope that Anchor readers throughout our diocese support of Pro-Lifers and voted Pro-Life until he will get involved. ran for Senate in 1983. Then he adopted the trite Recent commercials, however, have led me copout — one shared by Gomez now — that he to shift focus to something that is at the root of was personally opposed to abortion but would why we need to defend religious freedom at all. support it politically. His position continued to It’s the reality that certain politicians that we have worsen until he has become one of the most arelected — and the judges, cabinet secretaries and dent supporters of abortion on Capitol Hill, voting bureaucrats they’ve appointed — have brought an against bills banning partial birth abortion, against aggressive secularist philosophy to their offices, holding murderers of pregnant women liable for which they have been using to infringe on the both deaths, against laws prohibiting the transreligious freedoms the founding fathers enshrined portation of minors across state lines for abortion, clearly in the Bill of Rights. against preventing discrimination against agencies In a democratic system, we ultimately get (like Catholic social service institutions) that the leaders we deserve. That places a particular receive government contracts who do not want responsibility on us as citizens to ensure we elect to provide coverage for abortions, regardless of those who truly represent our values. For Cathothe rights of religious freedom or freedom of lics, called by Jesus to be salt, light and leaven conscience. for our society, we have an added responsibility He has tragically changed from someone to seek to elect the values that flow from our who recognized the tragedy of abortion to faith. As good shepherds, we’re likewise called someone who not only has a 100 percent voting to protect those lambs too small or vulnerable to score sheet for national pro-abortion groups but make their voice someone who heard. now would never On Tuesday countenance a we have in the Pro-Life judge.

Commonwealth His positions and of Massachusetts conscience are a special election evidently much for U.S. Senate. more attuned to Both of the major Planned ParentBy Father candidates are hood lobbyists Roger J. Landry Catholic, which than his Catholic should make it a faith. cause of rejoicDoes this ing. When Catholics run for office, we should matter to Catholic citizens? Are our positions have an expectation that the adjective Catholic formed more by our faith, by party loyalties, or means something, that their faith influences their by the secular media? If someone is campaignworldview, their notion of public service, and ing in a way in which no faithful Catholic would several of their public policy positions on which ever be considered for the Supreme Court, will the Catholic faith has a clear public stand. this type of anti-Catholic discrimination matter to But that’s not what we have in this elecCatholics? If a candidate proudly declares that he tion. Both major candidates — Ed Markey and would oppose any restrictions at all on the choice Gabriel Gomez — readily identify themselves as of abortion, will this morally evil stance influence Catholic, but both seem to be willing to sacrifice whether Catholics will support him? their Catholic faith in order to get elected. Jesus I had a disconcerting experience on June 9. once told us that we shouldn’t sell our soul even I had gone to bless the new ultrasound machine to obtain the whole world. It’s tragic that both at the beautiful A Woman’s Concern pregnancy candidates seem to be so cavalier about their soul help center on 25 North Main Street in Fall River. that they’re willing to risk everything just to gain a Approaching the building for the first time, I saw six-year seat in the Senate. a bunch of people with Markey signs and stickers Markey and Gomez both say that they believe — a clear sign that the same building was hosting women should be able to make the choice to kill a simultaneous Markey campaign event. their own children in the womb. This despite When I entered the building lobby, I didn’t Jesus’ clear reiteration of the Fifth Commandment quite know where to go, but I heard several voices and His declaration that whatever we do to the from the right calling, “Hey, Father Landry!” So littlest of His brothers and sisters, we do to Him. I followed the energetic calls and entered ... the But while Gomez seems to have real qualms Markey event. I was somewhat shocked to see in conscience about his position, Markey’s six practicing Catholics I knew — from three difconscience seems to have been so eclipsed that ferent Catholic parishes I’ve served in Fall River he has made his support for abortion one of the — working for his campaign. I didn’t quite know centerpieces of his campaign. what to say to their enthusiastic greeting, short of Have you seen his recent campaign ads? asking directions to A Woman’s Concern.

Markey has made a major fulcrum of his camI thought about asking them whether they paign trying to distinguish himself from Gomez shared AWC’s authentic Catholic concern for on abortion, as if Gomez’ regrettable positions women, or just the faux-solicitude of those like that Roe v. Wade is settled law and that he doesn’t Markey who pretend that what is best for women intend to change any laws on abortion are not pro- is to have the ability to make the choice to kill abortion enough. their children, who celebrate abortion, who attack Markey has attacked Gomez for saying that those who still retain some qualms about it, and he’s personally opposed to abortion. He has who want to use their office to blacklist those, pilloried him for saying that a 24-hour waiting including faithful Catholics, who disagree. But I period before a woman could have an abortion concluded it wasn’t the right place or time. would not be asking too much. He has lambasted One of the fundamental reasons why we need him for saying that he wouldn’t have a litmus test a Fortnight for Freedom is because those who prejudice prohibiting him from ever confirming say that there should be a “freedom to choose” a Pro-Life judges. He made these differences the are trying to use the organs of government to subject of his debate aggression on June 5. He’s eliminate the freedom of others to choose othermade at least two advertisements featuring these wise according to their conscience and religious differences. beliefs — and are seeking to compel them even I want to focus on the litmus test question. to pay for it.

Markey has emphasized that as senator he would The Fortnight transcends individual elections have a strict litmus test for Supreme Court because the threats to religious freedom surpass confirmation hearings, vowing he would never to the issues at play in any given contest. But one support anyone who might overturn Roe v. Wade. of the consequences of the prayer, education and That means, among things, that he would never action involved in the Fortnight is that it should vote for someone who was a faithful Catholic and influence how Catholics analyze whether those personally holds a Pro-Life position, regardless of campaigning for our vote will represent or repress how they might influence cases that would come our values and advance or attack our constitutionbefore them. ally-protected freedoms.

Such an outrageous bias is where the most Father Landry is Pastor of St. Bernadette odious attacks against religious freedom come Parish in Fall River. His email address is from, from those in office who believe people fatherlandry@catholicpreaching.com.

Putting Into the Deep

T

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The Anchor

June 21, 2013

Seeking out a woman friend

his week we celebrate the birth of John the Baptist. There are many reasons why this is an important feast in the life of the Church, not least of which is the interesting dynamic between Mary and her cousin Elizabeth. Mary, when faced with the most difficult and fantastic moment in her life, went first to a woman friend.

Women are life sharers, and the lives of these women were icons of marginalization.

They represent generations of women who live on the edge of society and who have opened their hearts to one another at water holes, over back fences, among the clotheslines, and on Little League sidelines. Women advise, teach, nurture and support one another, and have been bearers of Good News to their own throughout the ages.

There are many women in the world today who are trying to piece together their broken lives, but unlike previous generations, they share their lives openly in the blogosphere. Their candid posts reveal struggles with addiction, relationship problems, and other broken parts of their lives. Their

stories may be too shocking for I’ve had,” she wrote. A gifted a Church that prefers a “plastic writer, whose musings on life on the furniture” approach to are filled with sentiment and messy lives. We prefer to assign self-deprecating humor, Melton people to categories and hope offers no advice on spirituality that they find a support group but her unabashed admission that will shield their stories from the rest of us. Yet these blogs reveal lives that are filled to the brim with the love and mercy of God, shared in a venue

By Claire McManus that does not judge.

Glennon Doyle Melton is a Christian blogger who reaches out from that without God she would not the depths of her broken past have survived. She courageousthrough the hope of her everly posts about the rough spot recovering present. Her blogs in her Marriage, her decision are controversially truthful. She to separate, and the struggle to is honest about the mess of her mend what was broken. life, the drugs, the alcohol, the “Just as I refused to be the abortion, but through all of this poster child for leaving, I also she found her way back to God. refuse to be the poster child for She is a wife and mother staying. Life and relationships now, but her blogs about the ups are complicated and messy and and downs of raising a famwhen we try to tidy them up ily reveal some of the wounds with advice or generalizationsthat lie beneath the surface of we offend, alienate and leave her scarred life. “My life is folks feeling misunderstood and a tragedy, comedy, romance, alone,” she wrote. adventure, or redemption story Melton is telling us to listen depending on the decade, time to her story and do not subject of day, and how much sleep it to sociological or cultural cat-

egorization. Listen to her story and do not judge, but accept that she has already experienced God’s love and forgiveness.

Pope Francis reminds us that we must see people, not categories. In his homily about the Sadducees who questioned Jesus about the Resurrection from the dead he observed that “the Sadducees present to Jesus the difficult case of a woman, who is the widow of seven men.

Their question, however, was not posed with sincerity: The Sadducees were talking about this woman as if she were a laboratory, all aseptic — hers was an abstract moral problem.

“When we think of the people who suffer so much, do we think of them as though they were an abstract moral conundrum, pure ideas, ‘but in this case ... this case,’ or do we think about them with our hearts, with our flesh, too? I do not like it when people speak about tough situations in an academic and not a human manner, sometimes with statistics ... and that’s it.”

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis and retired Pope Benedict XVI have a special devotion to St. Joseph and have assured that devotion regularly will be shared at Mass by Catholics around the world.

The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments said Pope Francis confirmed a decision originally made by Pope Benedict to include St. Joseph permanently in the eucharistic prayers used at most Masses in the Latin rite.

A decree signed May 1 by Cardinal Antonio Canizares Llovera, congregation prefect, and Archbishop Arthur Roche, congregation secretary, said Pope Benedict had received petitions from Catholics around the world and approved adding after the name of the Virgin Mary, the words “with blessed Joseph, her spouse.”

Blessed John XXIII had added the name of St. Joseph to the first eucharistic prayer, known as the Roman Canon, in the 1960s.

The new decree inserts his name into eucharistic prayers II, III and IV. A congregation official told Catholic News Service June 18 that national bishops’ confer-

ences could set a date for the changes to begin if they believe that is necessary, “but because it is a matter of only adding five words, priests can begin immediately.”

The decree described St. Joseph as “an exemplary model of the kindness and humility that the Christian faith raises to a great destiny, and demonstrates the ordinary and simple virtues necessary for men to be good and genuine followers of Christ.”

St. Joseph, “caring most lovingly for the Mother of God and happily dedicating himself to the upbringing of Jesus,” has been the subject of deep Catholic devotion around the world for centuries, the decree said.

The congregation provided bishops around the world with the exact wording to use for Masses in Latin, English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, French, German and Polish.

Pope Francis, who has a flower used as a symbol of St. Joseph on his coat-of-arms, also chose the March 19 feast of St. Joseph as the date for his inaugural Mass.

In his homily at the Mass, Pope Francis said that in the Gospels, “St. Joseph appears as

FATHER FIGURE — A statue of St. Joseph overlooks the lobby at the Academy of St. Joseph in Brentwood, N.Y. The Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments has decided to permanently include St. Joseph in the eucharistic prayers used at most Masses in the Latin rite. (CNS photo/Gregory A. Shemitz)

The Great Commission

The pope acknowledges that there are many people in the Church that suffer, but are met with the aseptic response of the Sadducees. Our only response to them must be to pray as if their stories really matter to us. “They must come into my heart; they must be a cause of restlessness for me: my brother is suffering, my sister suffers.

Here is the mystery of the communion of saints: pray to the Lord, ‘But, Lord, look at that person: he cries, he is suffering.

Pray, not with ideas; pray with the heart.”

The relationship among women can teach us an important lesson about how God wishes us to be with one another. Women are companions, whether around the water hole or on a blog. They listen to one another’s stories and share in the trials and triumphs of simple acts of living. They seek validation in each other, and just as Mary and Elizabeth did so many years ago, they see the grace of God at work in their lives.

Claire McManus is the director of the Diocesan Office of Faith Formation.

Adding St. Joseph’s name to Mass texts, popes share their devotion a strong and courageous man, a working man, yet in his heart we see great tenderness, which is not the virtue of the weak, but rather a sign of strength of spirit and a capacity for concern, for compassion, for genuine openness to others, for love.”

The new pope said exercising the role of protector as St. Joseph means doing so “discreetly, humbly and silently, but with an unfailing presence and utter fidelity, even when he finds it hard to understand.”

St. Joseph responded to his call to be a protector “by being constantly attentive to God, open to the signs of God’s presence and receptive to God’s plans, and not simply his own,” the new pope said.

Pope Benedict, who was born Joseph Ratzinger and celebrated the March 19 feast of St. Joseph as his name day, told a crowd in Cameroon in 2009 that he had “received the grace of bearing this beautiful name.”

“Throughout all of history, Joseph is the man who gives God the greatest display of trust,” even in the face of the astonishing news that Mary was to bear a child, Pope Benedict told the crowd.

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June 21, 2013

The Anchor

I

n today’s Gospel, Jesus asks His disciples two questions: “Who do the people say that I am?” and “Who do you say that I am?”

He asked these questions because He felt the answers were very important in knowing how and if His message was getting through to the people.

He knew it would reveal what the disciples were hearing about Him and also reveal what kind of an image of Him they were forming in their minds.

Today, we need to ask ourselves how we see Jesus and how we see ourselves as His followers. The answers we give are related to one another and very important to our self-image as Christians. And so we ask ourselves the questions “Who am I?” and “How am I perceived by the people that know me?”

One way that I could choose to answer these questions would be for me to give you my name, tell you that I am a deacon at

Beloved of the Father

St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Church, as well as from our own Attleboro. I could state that personal experience of Jesus I’ve been married for 44 years in our lives. When we think of and have four children and five Jesus, we form an image in our grandchildren. mind and hearts based on what How we identify ourselves and how others identify us is imporHomily of the Week tant for our self-image Twelfth Sunday in and our social image.

Our names, our jobs, Ordinary Time our vocations, and what

By Deacon our beliefs are on social Paul Fournier justice issues, help us answer the questions of “Who am I?” and “Who do the people say that I am.” A person’s vocation to marwe have been taught and what ried life, to the priesthood, the our relationship has been with diaconate, the religious life or to Him. the single life, all help to identify One of the most important who we are in our response to truths we have been taught about Christ’s love. In a sense, we Jesus is that He is the Beloved become an image to others, Son of God the Father. How we reflecting our beliefs in Christ, to experience this truth, depends other people. on how we see ourselves as His Our own personal image of followers. If we have a poor selfJesus comes from the images image as a Christian, then we are we have drawn upon from our apt to miss the important mesparents, our schools, and our sage given to us by St. Paul. In

today’s reading from Galatians, St. Paul tells us that we too are sons of God. St. Paul is saying to us that we, male and female, are heirs of God’s name and estate, because we share in Jesus’ Sonship.

We are heirs just like we are heirs of our earthly parents’ estates.

Through our Baptism, we are coheirs with Jesus for all that our Heavenly Father has promised. Paul tells us, all of you who have been Baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Him. In other words, we are identified with Him; we are brothers and sisters in what He is — Beloved of the Father.

Seeing Jesus as the Beloved of the Father, tells us as much about who we are and about Who Jesus is. What our Catholic community and the Scriptures tell us about Jesus is not, then, just nice historical facts or theo-

logical goodies. The Scriptures and the truths of our faith help us appreciate who we are in the sight of God, how much He loves us.

As Catholic Christians, we sign ourselves with the cross of Jesus. This cross is a sign of suffering; a sign of compassion; and a sign of Reconciliation; Jesus tells us in the Gospel today that “if anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me.” This is our mission, to follow in His footsteps.

On the cross, Jesus opened His arms to embrace the whole human race with Divine love.

Let us pray for one another that we are all blessed with grace to give us the strength to shoulder our cross and walk in Jesus’ footsteps.

Deacon Paul M. Fournier is a permanent deacon assigned to St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Attleboro. He also serves as a chaplain at Sturdy Memorial Hospital.

Upcoming Daily Readings: Sat. June 22, 2 Cor 12:1-10; Ps 34:8-13; Mt 6:24-34. Sun. June 23, Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Zac 12:10-11, 13:1; Ps 63:2-6, 8-9; Gal 3:26-29; Lk 9:18-24. Mon. June 24, Nativity of St. John the Baptist, Is 49:1-6; Ps 139:1-3, 13-15; Acts 13:22-26; Lk 1:57-66, 80. Tues. June 25, Gn 13:2, 5-18; Ps 15:2-5; Mt 7:6, 12-14. Wed. June 26, Gn 15:1-12, 17-18; Ps 105:1-4, 6-9; Mt 7:15-20. Thurs. June 27, Gn 16:1-12, 15-16 or 16:6b-12, 15-16; Ps 106:1-5; Mt 7:21-29. Fri. June 28, Gn 17:1, 9-10, 15-22; Ps 128:1-5; Mt 8:1-4.

A

few weeks ago I came upon the odd fact that, before and during World War II, the Royal Navy built battleships with 14-inch main battery guns, whereas Britain’s principal naval rivals, Germany and Japan, were building ships with 15- and 18-inch main batteries; moreover, the RN’s chief ally, the United States, had been building battleships mounting 16-inch guns for decades. When I queried a friend with long military and government experience about this curiosity, he sent a suggestive answer: “Given the cultures and the times, I’d guess that after the bureaucracy-committee-administration reached a decision, change would have been virtually impossible, and they would

Pastors are not interchangeable parts

cal ambition and careerism, and keep cranking out anything in its clergy personnel policy in too original configuration because you could never get agreement many dioceses.

Priests’ councils and clergy on change, absent a crisis. [It] took a lot of losses in bombing personnel boards were set up after Vatican II to give operaraids to spur the U.S. Army Air Corps to improve bomber protection and work on increasing fighter escort range — “the bomber will always get through” was the bumper sticker that sold airpower ... and

By George Weigel bumper sticker Gospel is very hard to displace.”

And so, by way of tional meaning to the council’s Robin Hood’s barn and a cautionary tale about self-serving teaching that priests form a kind of presbyteral college around the bureaucracies, we come to Pope local bishop and share with him Francis’s repeated criticism of a “self-referential” Church, the in the governance of the diocese; pope’s strictures against clerisuch bodies were also intended to provide some protection for priests against the whims and crotchets of arbitrary or authoritarian bishops.

Both were laudable goals. Yet when you try to fit those goals into the mind-set of institutionalmaintenance Catholicism (Pope Francis’s “self-referential” Church), the result, too often, is to intensify, not diminish, clerical careerism and ambition.

That is surely what’s happening when priests’ councils or clergy personnel boards, composed of priests working under the

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

The Catholic Difference

bishop, treat parishes as square holes into which pastors are fitted like interchangeable pegs.

There are “good parishes” and “tough parishes;” good parishes are given out as rewards; tough parishes are assigned as a matter of sharing burdens within a presbyterate (or worse, as warnings or punishments); and all of this happens according to a fixed time-table in which pastors have specific terms of office.

It may seem like diocesan collegiality in action. In fact, it’s hard to imagine anything farther removed from the New Evangelization.

As I wrote in “Evangelical Catholicism: Deep Reform in the 21st-Century Church,” building the Church of the New Evangelization takes time and patience in a parish setting. The time involved will vary from situation to situation, and it certainly can’t be measured in unrenewable terms of office for pastors. Moreover, once Evangelical Catholicism has taken hold in a parish — the Gospel is being preached with conviction, the Liturgy is being celebrated with dignity, the parish is attracting many new Catholics, religious and priestly vocations and solid Catholic Marriages

are being nurtured, the works of charity and service are flourishing, and the parish finances are in order — moving a pastor out because “his term is up” is about as old Church, as institutionalmaintenance Church, as you can get.

Aside from the vanities of a clericalism that Pope Francis is urging the Church to shed, there is no reason to let clergy personnel policy be shaped by anything other than the demands of the New Evangelization in a challenging cultural moment.

Thus a priority task for the local bishop as agent of the New Evangelization is the re-evangelization of his priests, especially in long-established dioceses where the mindset of institutionalmaintenance Catholicism and the habits of clerical careerism and ambition are most likely to be deeply entrenched.

For priests, too, can be tempted to think of each other as interchangeable parts, some of those parts more popular than others. As long as they do, clergy personnel policy will be an obstacle, not an asset, to the New Evangelization.

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

June 21, 2013

“P

ansies are my favorite flowers,” Kitty would say. “My teacher says they’re for remembrance.”

Sometimes, in remembering, we learn important life lessons that we cannot see at the time of the events.

Her Christian name was Kathleen. I had known her since she was eight. She was one of my 10 dormitory roommates in a rehabilitation center for disabled children, administered by nuns.

We had lived together in that dorm for several years.

Kitty had light brown hair and hazel eyes. “I’m Irish on my mother’s side and Lebanese on my father’s,” she would tell us. “My father says that the Lebanese are the Irishmen of the east.”

She loved her family, which included four siblings, and delighted in going home on weekends to be with them.

Smiling and laughing came naturally to her. She would laugh at her own jokes, and clap as she gave the punchline! When the weather was warm we would sit in the sun to tan. She would always tease, “See, my tan is darker than yours!”

The day never went by without her singing and clapping along to her song! Her favorite singing song was one that she had been taught for a presentation in the auditorium: “My Grandfather’s Clock.”

She had a crush on Michael Landon who was her favorite actor. Food was one of the great joys of her life, except for liver!

And there was no baseball team on earth like the Red Sox! Her faith in God was simple, devout and profound.

Always kind and gentle, she would remind us if we were not. “That’s not very nice,” she would remind us.

One day I asked her, “Are you afraid to die?”

“A little,” she answered, then, “no, not really.”

“Mavis says that when she dies, she’s donating her eyes so that a blind person will be able to see,” I added.

Kitty had been having a health problem. Eventually it was determined that she would require surgery. Because there were no surgical facilities in the rehabilitation center where we resided, whenever surgery was necessary we were sent to the general hospital across the street and up the hill.

9

The Anchor

Lessons from Kitty

Kitty had been there about child, the third patient in our three to four weeks when I three bed hospital room. This was also sent for orthopedic little five-year-old girl had surgery on my arm. We were also come from the rehab delighted to be roommates hospital, and, like Kitty, was again! We spent some time struggling, and learning to getting “caught up” on what live with spina bifida. So were had been going on for the her parents. past month, then Kitty said “They told us Kitty I absolutely had to read this wouldn’t survive when she article about Michael Landon was born,” Kitty’s father asthat somebody had cut out of a sured the other parents. “And magazine for her, and, of course, I read it.

Before bed a nurse came in, placed a pan of hot water before me to wash my face and hands, stuck a thermometer in my

By Mary Joyce Phillips mouth, and left the room. (This was in the days of glass thermometers.) now look at her! She’ll be 12 “Maybe I won’t have to in a few weeks!” Something have that operation tomorrow,” inside of me would not be reI told Kitty, removing the assured. “If she lives,” said the thermometer from my mouth unwanted voice within me. and sticking it in the pan of On Friday, when I left the hot water! We laughed long hospital, Kitty cheerfully said and hard, with tears running goodbye, “I’ll see you when I down our cheeks, as the nurse get back,” she said. “Yes, I’ll ran down the hall, exclaimsee you when you get back,” ing, “There’s something wrong I replied, with a cheery voice with this thermometer! This while the uneasiness rose thermometer must be broken!” again. The inner voice would Perhaps I did it to take my not be silent. Against my will mind off of what was hapit echoed, “If you live.” pening the next day. Laughter I was back in the rehab eases tension. I was nervous speaking with one of my dorm as I fell asleep thinking about mates two weeks later, when that surgery to come in the she said something about morning. The time was drawKitty which I can’t even reing closer. member. The look on my face I awoke in the middle of made her stop. “Oh,” she said. the night. A dim light shone “Didn’t they tell you? They from behind the curtain that don’t expect Kitty to make it!” was pulled around Kitty’s bed.

My father picked me up Shadows moved on the wall on Friday for the weekend. and the ceiling. Kitty was The ride home brought us by crying quietly, and calling my a cemetery entrance, which name. I was just about to anI had always admired. The swer, when the nurse told her driveway swept into a wooded that I was asleep. area flanked by grass and Suddenly, I couldn’t speak. flowerbeds on either side, Something was wrong. I could which disappeared around a feel it. I was scared. Kitty had bend. been sick for so long! We had Further up the road, the nurses and doctors back at the cemetery became visible. rehab center. Why was she Beautiful to look at, the sight still here? Nobody ever stayed of it was now painful. “Why here for very long, three days does Kitty have to die? She’s at the least. I started to cry, too young to die!” I screamed quietly, to myself. “Kitty’s within myself. “We’re all going to die,” I thought. I praying that she’ll get better.” struggled with the thought, Then, “Maybe she won’t die,” trying to convince myself that I hoped.

I was being foolish, finally I imagined Kitty grown pushing it out of my mind, and and working as a switchboard falling back to sleep. operator. Then, a new thought, It was two days later. My “Kitty’s going to die and surgery had been successfully they’re going to bury her in a completed. I was lying in bed cemetery, far away from here, listening to Kitty’s father talk- and I won’t even know where ing to the parents of another she is!” I hated the faraway

Guest Columnist

cemetery that would receive her body into its ground!

One Friday as we drove by, a new thought invaded my mind. “What’s the meaning of Kitty’s life? Such a short little life, lived in a wheelchair? For that matter, what’s the meaning of mine in this wheelchair?”

Every day I prayed; I hoped and lost hope, then prayed and hoped again, and waited.

And every Friday and Sunday, we rode by the cemetery.

Then one Friday morning, as we were gathering in the dining room for breakfast, one of the Sisters announced, “Kitty went to Heaven last night.” Sometime between 11 p.m. and midnight, Kitty had died on June 16, her 12th birthday, a few hours after celebrating it with her family.

There was no monologue playing in my head that Friday night as we rode past the cemetery. There were just tears.

On Sunday, we all returned to the rehab center in early afternoon for a special Father’s Day celebration. It was a beautiful day, with perfect weather and a bright blue sky.

Against the end of the building, a row of crabapple trees were in pink bloom.

Kitty’s father came to mind.

She had been his firstborn.

“What an awful Father’s Day for him,” I thought. I was only half aware of the people or the other children in wheelchairs milling around me. “Can Kitty see us down here? Does she know that I’m thinking about her?” I wondered.

Just then, Mother Superior walked up to me. “I have a message for you from Kitty,” she said. I stared at her, confused, speechless. “We went to visit her before she died. She said to tell you that you were only in one room, but that she was in three! She was thinking of you,” she reassured me.

We weren’t allowed to go to the wake or the funeral, but one of the nurses told me about it. She smiled as she related the events of the wake.

“Kitty looked beautiful. They fixed her hair so nice. She was wearing a pink dress that she got for her birthday. She had a beautiful smile on her face!

Her mother said the hospital allowed them to stay late for her birthday. After the party she had left, but then returned for something she had forgotten. Kitty’s eyes were closed, but she opened them as her mother entered. She was smiling her mother said. Her eyes were shining and she was excited as she spoke!

“Mummy! Mummy! God is talking to me! Don’t you hear Him? Don’t you hear Him?” “Blessed are the pure of heart for they shall see God.” The nurse also told me that Kitty had donated her corneas.

A blind man in his 30s was now able to see. It was then that I remembered our brief conversation and realized that Kitty must have been aware that she was dying. I asked the nurse the name of the cemetery where she was buried.

It was Friday again. I braced myself emotionally as we drove along and the approach to the cemetery loomed ahead. My head was resting on the back of the seat.

There was the entrance; the driveway, flanked by tall spruce trees, grass and flowerbeds, winding out of sight. I raised my head and turned it quickly as we drove past, noticing something that I never had paid attention to before, a small sign, the name of the cemetery. This driveway, which disappeared around the bend, led into the cemetery where Kitty was buried! I had found her!

Her body was here; her soul with the God Who had called her home. I could began to heal.

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted” (Mt 5:4).

Mary Joyce Phillips is a parishioner of Holy Family Parish in East Taunton. She offers this guest column in union with Pope Francis’ observance of “Evangelium Vitae” day last Sunday in Rome.

Visit The Anchor online at http://www.anchornews.org

10

The Anchor

June 21, 2013

Permanent deacons advance toward fall ordination

NEW BEDFORD — On June 4, during evening prayer and in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, the candidates of the Fall River Diocese permanent diaconate program took one of the final steps before approaching Holy Orders this coming fall.

These men, preparing for ordination to the diaconate, made the Profession of Faith and took the Oath of Fidelity in preparation for ordination as deacons.

Msgr. John J. Oliveira, director of the Permanent Diaconate Program for the diocese, explained to the candidates the meaning and importance of the oaths. Each candidate was then asked to place his hand on the Bible while standing in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament to take the oaths.

Canonical law of the Church requires that all candidates take such oaths prior to reception of Holy Orders. The taking of these oaths is the most profound witness that one can make to one’s belief and dedication to the state of life to which the candidate is being called.

These candidates are the eighth class for the permanent diaconate of the diocese.

The 15 candidates began formation for the permanent diaconate nearly five years ago.

After a year of discernment and aspirancy, the admitted candidates began a four-year formal program of spiritual, theological and pastoral formation, which was completed in May. Candidates successfully completed a course of study which encompassed the following topics: prayer and spirituality, dogmatic theology, apologetics, sacramental theology, moral theology, New Testament, Old Testament, Church history, fathers and councils of the Church, Marriage and family life, homiletics, canon law and Liturgy.

In mid-August, the candidates will take the final step before ordination, participating in a weeklong retreat at Sacred Hearts Retreat Center in Wareham.

Committed to the work begun by Jesus, the permanent deacon is ordained to represent the Catholic Church in its calling “as servant of the world.” He is a sign of Christ’s love and concern for all with the myriad of needs of societies and persons.

According to the “Directory for the Pastoral Ministry of Bishops — Congregation of Bishops 2004”: “The permanent deacon proclaims and expounds the Word of God, he administers Baptism, Communion and the Sacramentals, and he animates the Christian community mainly in those areas relating to the exercise of charity and the administration of goods.”

The 15 candidates expected to be ordained at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Fall River on October 12 are: Bruce J. Baxter, Corpus Christi Parish, East Sandwich; Eduardo M. Borges, St. Anthony of Padua Parish, New Bedford; Brendan W. Brides, Christ the King Parish, Mashpee; Robert M. Craig, Holy Family Parish, East Taunton; Timothy E. Flaherty, St. Stanislaus Parish, Fall River; Ralph J. Guerra, St. Margaret’s Parish, Buzzards Bay; Paul J. Harney, Christ the King Parish, Mashpee; Gary M. John, Holy Trinity Parish, Fall River; Paul R. Levesque, St. Bernard’s Parish, Assonet; Frank R. Lucca, St. Dominic’s Parish, Swansea; Thomas J. McMahon, Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Parish, Seekonk; David C. Murphy, St. Patrick’s Parish, Wareham; Gary A. Porter, St. John the Evangelist Parish, Attleboro; Lawrence D. St. Pierre, St. Vincent de Paul Parish, Attleboro; and Wilfred R. Varieur, St. Theresa’s Parish, South Attleboro.

HOLY ORDERS — The 15 candidates of the eighth class of permanent deacons for the Fall River Diocese pose with Bishop George W. Coleman, center, and Msgr. John J. Oliveira during a recent service at St. Mary’s Church in New Bedford.

11

The Anchor

June 21, 2013

For Mother Dolores Hart, it’s time for her close-up — again

WASHINGTON (CNS) — Don’t look now, but Dolores Hart is about to become a star again, 50 years after her last movie.

Hart — that’s Mother Dolores, the prioress of a Benedictine women’s monastery in Bethlehem, Conn. — has just had her memoir published a year after a documentary featuring her life in as a cloistered nun picked up an Oscar nomination for best documentary short subject.

She is crisscrossing the country this summer to promote the book, “The Ear of the Heart: An Actress’ Journey From Hollywood to Holy Vows.”

The latest rush of celebrity is “amazing,” Mother Dolores told Catholic News Service June 6 in Washington, where she was scheduled for a raft of interviews and a personal appearance.

“It makes me realize that time is the illusion. We do things in our life, and we constantly do them. It’s only separated by time,” said the 74-year-old nun.

Mother Dolores, in her Hollywood days, made only 10 movies, but she made them count.

She was cast twice opposite Elvis Presley, in 1957’s “Loving You” and 1958’s “King Creole.” She starred in the first film celebrating the annual ritual of spring break in 1960’s “Where the Boys Are.” She even did a star turn as St. Clare in the 1961 religious biopic “Francis of Assisi.”

But she’s most proud of play-

ing the title charinto the booth with acter in the 1962 him and spend days as drama “Lisa,” as a youngster watching a Jewish girl who movies. She told CNS survived the Nazis’ she had always wantAuschwitz death ed to be an actress but camp only to be purafter her successes on sued by traitors after screen, she began to World War II intendthink life “had a biging to force her into ger meaning,” that prostitution. “every human being “(Actor) Stehas a mission,” and phen Boyd was the maybe making movman who rescued ies was not the “endLisa and told her he all and be-all.” would take her back When she knew to Palestine. And of Elvis, she said, “he course she had a very wanted to do somehard time hearing thing with his career. him and to believe He wanted to get rich in him and actually and interesting parts. get there. And that They never gave him relationship with that. They just kept Lisa was for me a putting him in one relationship with the girlie film after the Jewish women who other.” had undergone that Mother Dolores experience,” Mother was never nominated Dolores said. for her film roles, but After hearing she was the focus of firsthand the death the Oscar-nominated camp experience A sister’s story — This is the cover of the auto- HBO documentary from one Auschwitz biography “The Ear of the Heart: An Actress’ Journey “God Is the Bigger survivor, “I wanted From Hollywood to Holy Vows,” by Benedictine Moth- Elvis.” to do that picture. er Dolores Hart and co-written with Richard DeNeut.

She said ArchI wanted somehow (CNS photo/courtesy of Ignatius Press) bishop Pietro Sambi, to be identified with the late papal nuncio he’d ask me to marry him.” the best possible resto the United States, “Maybe someday,” Mother summoned her to his office one cue of these people,” she added.

“And I loved working with Ste- Dolores mused, “we’ll work it day and told her, “You are to phen. I fell in love with Stephen out. We’ll meet and say, ‘What a make a movie about consecrated in the middle of it. I was hoping good thing we did.’” life.” Mother Dolores protested, Born in Chicago, she said her saying all her Hollywood congrandfather had a motion picture tacts were dead. “And he said, Fully revised and updated ... operator’s license and she’d go ‘No, no, no, no. God will help

2013-2014 Diocese of Fall River Catholic Directory ... shipping in August!

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

you do this, because this has to be done,’” she recalled. Four days later, representatives of HBO — none of whom had ever heard of Archbishop Sambi — called to ask permission to film at her convent, Regina Laudis Monastery, for a documentary.

The film was originally set to be two hours long, but an HBO executive, smelling an Oscar, decided to chop the documentary in half. “And that’s when my heart began to sink and I began to think, ‘Oh, no, it’s going to be about me,’ because what (else) are they going to do to cut a twohour film down to one hour?” she told CNS. “God Is the Bigger Elvis” was nominated, although it did not win. “I thought to myself, I hope this film will be of value. That’s all I hope,” Mother Dolores said.

One might think “The Ear of the Heart” was written to capitalize on the documentary’s high profile. Not so.

“Dick DeNeut, who wrote the book with me, asked me 10 years ago if I should do a story of my life,” Mother Dolores said. She added she resisted the idea initially, but eventually consented.

She said that originally, she wasn’t thrilled with the title, either: “I thought it would be a medical journal. But he (DeNeut) said, ‘That’s the first line in the Rule of St. Benedict: ‘Listen, my son with the ear of the heart to the voice of the master.’”

Mother Dolores is the only nun to be accredited as a voting member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences — colloquially, the folks who choose the Oscar winners. And it comes in handy for the occasional movie night at the monastery.

Sisters “will put up (notes) on the board saying, ‘Can we see this?’ ‘Can we see that?’ ‘Could anybody bring this?’ We’re in the monastery, but they know,” Mother Dolores said, laughing.

“We do have our special movie nights. I think the last was ‘Les Miserables.’ Everybody wanted to see that.”

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12

By explaining Church building, authors help form better Catholics

“The Church: Unlocking the Secrets to the Places Catholics Call Home” by Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl and Mike Aquilina.

Image Books (New York, 2013). 224 pp., $21.99.

Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl of Washington and Mike Aquilina have discovered a simple but effective way to teach Catholics about Catholicism. Replicating the formula used in their 2011 book, “The Mass: The Glory, the Mystery, the Tradition,” the co-authors explain what is inside the Church building and why it is there.

That formula is a combination of material culled from Scripture, Church history, the documents of the Second Vatican Council and the “Catechism of the Catholic Church.”

Blending it with their narrative of what comprises a Church building, and they provide readers a quick course in Church architecture and furnishings.

They start by making a connection between, and explaining the difference between, “a” church, i.e., building, and “the” Church, i.e., people of God, and then walk readers through the edifice, explaining — sometimes in a couple of pages, sometimes in as many as seven — what they’ll find.

Things Churchgoers see but to which they might not have given much thought, e.g., doors, sacristy, stained glass, tabernacle, Confessional, are

featured.

As an aside, in the chapter featuring the “Confessional,” the phrase “Sacrament of Reconciliation” is used once, but the Confessional is not referred to as a “Reconciliation room.”

Those who have never seen the booth-type confessional prevalent in older churches, or who have been catechized with the term “Reconciliation room,” may be confused.

Each chapter will provide the nonscholarly Catholic with material that might evoke an “I didn’t know that” response.

However, one chapter that might be considered “fun” is the one devoted to symbols and abbreviations. Ankh? IC XC? Just two of the symbols and words the authors explain.

(The former is an Egyptian “looped cross” that represents the crucified Christ; the latter is an abbreviation for the name of Jesus.)

What is useful for those wishing to do more study is the “for further reading” list that includes other books by the authors, but, relevant to the subject of this book, documents that pertain directly to the structure of a Church building.

“The Church” lends itself to individual education and group study/discussion. As “the” Church, especially at the parish level, focuses upon New Evangelization — an evangelization that includes those already in the pews — it would do well to use this book as part of its Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults program and as a text for an adult Faith Formation program.

Whether used alone or in tandem with the aforementioned “The Mass,” it is possible that as participants read about holy water fonts, shapes, bells, candles and other parts of the building, they will become a more knowledgeable, and maybe even faith-filled, Church — “the” Church.

June 21, 2013

The Anchor

superman returns — Amy Adams and Henry Cavill star in a scene from the movie “Man of Steel.” For a brief review of this film, see CNS Movie Capsules below. (CNS photo/Warner Bros.)

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

“Man of Steel” (Warner Bros.)

Action adventure recounting the life of iconic comic book hero Superman (Henry Cavill). Born on distant Krypton, as an infant his parents (Russell Crowe and Ayelet Zurer) send him to Earth so that he can escape his doomed home planet’s imminent destruction. His adoptive human parents (Kevin Costner and Diane Lane) instill positive values and try to protect his secret. But, once grown, an investigative reporter (Amy Adams) is on the verge of disclosing his true identity when an old enemy (Michael Shannon) of his father’s arrives from space and threatens humanity with annihilation unless Superman surrenders. Director Zack Snyder’s take on the familiar narrative has the makings of an engaging drama and includes Christian themes and an anti-eugenics message that viewers of faith in particular can appreciate. But this positive potential is squandered in favor of endless scenes of high-powered brawling and the pyrotechnics of innumerable explosions. Much intense but bloodless violence, a fleeting sexual advance, occasional crude and crass language. The

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

“This Is the End” (Columbia) Tedious comedy in which an ensemble of actors playing themselves (most prominently James Franco, Jonah Hill, Seth Rogen — who directed, with Evan Goldberg — and Jay Baruchel) are holed up in a Los Angeles mansion during the Apocalypse. Rogen and Goldberg, who also wrote the script, celebrate altruism and loyal friendship. But no other virtue dividing those caught up in the rapture from those left behind

seems comprehensible to them, certainly not moderation in the pursuit of worldly pleasures.

As for their treatment of matters religious, it might best be described as frivolous affirmation. Comic treatment of sacred subjects, scenes of gruesome bloody violence, strong sexual content including a graphic glimpse of aberrant sexual activity with rear nudity, a benign view of drug use, much sexual and some scatological humor, occasional instances of profanity, pervasive rough and crude language. The Catholic News Service classification is O — morally offensive. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R — restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

Diocese of Fall River TV Mass on WLNE Channel 6 Sunday, June 23, 11:00 a.m.

Celebrant is Bishop Louis E. Gelineau, Retired Bishop of the Diocese of Providence, R.I.

13

The Anchor

June 21, 2013

Theologians say Pope Francis gives ‘new traction’ to Catholic teachings

MIAMI (CNS) — The new papacy of Francis has thus far been inspiring, challenging and accessible and is giving “new traction” to Catholic social teachings, according to a cross section of distinguished scholars on hand for a convention of theologians.

Members and guest presenters of the Catholic Theological Society of America met June 6-9 in Miami for their 68th annual convention, where they explored the conference theme of “conversion” during workshops and keynote speeches.

Several members of the organization and presenters gave their personal opinions about the early papacy of Jorge Mario Bergoglio and his impact on the Church just a month or so before his first trip abroad as Pope Francis for the 2013 World Youth Day in Brazil.

The idea of a Latin American who entered into the office of the papacy by saying essentially, “I am a bishop, you are a people and we are on a journey together,” set a welcoming and necessary tone given all the challenges facing the Church,” said Peter Casarella.

A professor of Catholic studies

at DePaul Unibut this pope versity in Chiis not a profescago, Casarella sional theolois also director gian. Very few of the universibishops write ty’s Center for theology — World Catholitheir efforts are cism and Interpastoral and cultural Theolthey have a ogy. different kind “It is now beof theological coming clearer commitment that Pope Franthat is practices was educal,” Thiel said. cated by many “We don’t sources (in know what the South America) pope’s theolwho introduced SEAL OF APPROVAL — Pope Francis gives two thumbs up as ogy is and cerhim to a ‘the- he leaves his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square at the tain he doesn’t ology of the Vatican recently. (CNS photo/Paul Haring) have a written, people,’ which express theolthe global Church.” he already arogy that we John E. Thiel, professor of re- can turn to and read,” Thiel ticulated before becoming pope and which he seems to be articu- ligious studies at Fairfield Univer- said, “So we have to see how lating now as a bridge between sity in Connecticut and CTSA’s he has acted, and he has chosen the preferential option for the president 2011-2012, noted the some interesting, symbolic gespoor and popular religion, Marian Church is at an interesting mo- tures to begin his papacy which devotions, the faith of the people,” ment in history given that Popes I think are inspiring.”

John Paul II and Benedict XVI Casarella said.

The pope’s choice of name “This may have some reper- were arguably the most accom- and his attention to issues of cussions in terms of where he is plished theologians in the papal poverty show “good pastoral going to bring the Church in the tradition in recent centuries. directions that raise a certain “The previous pope was prob- kind of conscientiousness imfuture, certainly in terms of the visit to Rio de Janeiro and also for ably the greatest pope-theologian, portant for all of us Catholics.

Any time there is a new pope people are excited about that and it is an opportunity for energy and new leadership,” Thiel said.

Linda Hogan, a vice provost and professor of ecumenics at Trinity College Dublin in Ireland, said she finds Pope Francis’ tone, practices of poverty and mode of engagement exciting, along with the way in which he presents himself and his concerns for the Church.

“It is challenging and gentle, a tone really embodying a leadership that comes from witnessing and it is more about showing the way than talking about the way — that will have a resonance with people around the world,” Hogan said, adding that even the scandal-weary Irish public have warmed up to the new papacy.

The previous two papacies, she added, already embedded a commitment to social justice, equality and fairness, “But what this pope is doing is saying, ‘This is the way I have lived throughout my life and this is the way in which this papacy acts and speaks in the world.’”

NEW YORK (CNS) — People long for a spiritual home and Catholics expect to find it at their parish, with a pastor who provides a rich diet of spiritual food and “meets people where they are,” Franciscan Sister Katarina Schuth told a New York audience recently.

Catholics want their parish to be an inviting place, she said.

Priests can preach about sin, but they don’t have to focus on it.

Sister Schuth, a professor of social scientific study of religion at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn., delivered the 15th annual Philip J. Murnion Lecture, “Shaping Parish Life: Ongoing Influences of Vatican II and the Catholic Common Ground Initiative.”

The event was held at the headquarters of the American Bible Society.

Msgr. Murnion, who was ordained in 1963 and died in 2003, was the founding director of the National Pastoral Life Center in New York. The center pioneered programs to help diocesan and parish workers implement the vision of the Second Vatican Council in their ministries and became the home of the Catholic Common Ground Initiative.

Using the outline of Msgr.

Murnion’s priestly career, Sister Schuth traced the develop-

ment of parish life from 1963 to the present. One of the biggest changes is in personnel, she said.

In 1963, there were more than 56,000 priests serving 44 million Catholics in 17,000 parishes. Counting religious men and women, there were 179 Catholics per priest and religious in 1963.

With a drop in vocations to the priesthood and religious life, and an increase in the number of Catholics and parishes, there are now 687 Catholics per priest and religious.

There are now approximately 68 million Catholics in 18,000 parishes.

Nationwide, there are fewer than 40,000 diocesan and religious order priests.

The lower numbers of men and women religious have had the greatest impact in education, she said, where lay employees have stepped in to fill the gap.

In addition, the growth in the number of international priests “has changed the face of the Catholic Church in dramatic ways,” Sister Schuth said. Foreign-born priests now comprise one-quarter of active priests and one-third of seminarians. It is difficult for some parishes to adjust to this, she said.

The Church has survived because of the ascendancy of paid and volunteer lay ministers and ordained deacons, she said. Paid lay ministers were uncounted until the 1970s, but now number more than 40,000, Sister Schuth said.

There are nearly 18,000 permanent deacons.

Msgr. Murnion’s efforts to envision and support vibrant parishes relied on a deep understanding of the Incarnation and a commitment to dialogue, partnership and collaboration among all levels of the Church, Sister Schuth said.

“He was always conscious of the wide variety of parish structures and practices with their prevailing ecclesiologies. He described those with centralized authority and devotional piety on one side and egalitarian style with a social dimension and broad participation on the other.

Yet he was attentive to the needs of all and looked for that which united, rather than that which divided,” she said.

The parish is a pastoral entity at the center of the continuum, “accountable to official teaching and norms but accommodating to local cultures and individual

needs,” she said.

Excellent parishes consult and engage the people, develop mission statements, use pastoral planning, analyze the needs of parishioners, organize activities and “communicate, interact, relate and dialogue across many parish entities and the Universal Church,” she said.

People no longer feel an obligation to attend a territorial church and will travel outside their neighborhood to find a parish that meets their needs, she said.

Kevin Ahern, a doctoral candidate in theological ethics at Boston College, responded to Sister Schuth’s lecture.

He said the global reality of the local Church is a blessing and a challenge. Newcomers bring richness and vitality, and challenge racism and prejudice, he said.

Parishes must find strategies to make the transition to multiculturalism, he said.

Ahern said the de-territorialization of the parish will either bring people together or create ecclesial enclaves some call “boutique parishes.” Parish leaders are challenged to bring parishioners together intentionally, while respecting their needs for different styles of worship and service, he said.

People long for spiritual home, an inviting parish, says Franciscan nun Fifty years ago, parishes were led by well-seasoned pastors who likely served 25 years as an assistant before being named a pastor. There was no actual mentoring program and newly ordained priests learned by

W

ith clustering and merging of parishes, “about a third of all pastors are serving several parishes.” watching and doing. “Deacon” referred to a young man awaiting priestly ordination.

Now, many priests become pastors before they reach the fifth anniversary of ordination.

And they serve beyond the traditional retirement age of 65 years.

Two-thirds of dioceses in the United States have fewer active priests than parishes and associate pastors are increasingly rare, “except for the largest parishes in the most ‘priest-rich dioceses,’” Sister Schuth said.

With clustering and merging of parishes, she said, “about a third of all pastors are serving several parishes.”

14 Loss of the Sacred I offer the following as a personal reflection on where we are as Catholics in 2013. It is a call for dialogue and for correction of any errors in my thinking.

It seems we are in the midst of a collapse in the Catholic Church in Europe and North America. Numbers, vocations, parishes, the moral and Sacramental life are shrinking ever more rapidly.

We are, of course, under attack from secularism. But we haven’t helped ourselves, I feel, and I will explain why I say that.

The Second Vatican Council was a moment of great hope for us who remember it. To read its documents fills me with awe to this day.

The documents on the Church, on the Sacred Liturgy, on the Word Of God (inspiration for all our Bible study groups, I would say) and on Freedom of Conscience, among all the others, still inspire me. They were written, and were meant to be read, in continuity with our Catholic tradition. When they were not, when the texts of Vatican II were neglected in favor of the “spirit” of Vatican II, things went wrong, and most of all in the Liturgy.

The Church was about to suffer a full frontal assault from secularism, and yet we began to pull back and lose confidence in who we were. Instead of defending the sacred in our Masses, we began subtly to undermine it. I know it wasn’t actually the case, but it almost seemed as if we were trying our best to lessen the sacred in our Liturgy.

Unfortunately, our younger people now have no memory of a Mass that, with its flaws, was beautiful and reverent.

Here is what I mean: Want to change the focus (at least spatially) from God to us? Have the priest face the people and form a closed circle of worship. Want to remove the idea of sacred space and sacred action set apart from the world?

Take down the altar rails. Want to lessen the sacredness of Holy Communion?

Receive it standing in the hand. Want to lower the tone at Mass in general? Introduce a more popular, folksy type of music. Want to make Confession more mundane and almost chatty? Introduce Reconciliation rooms. Want to do away with one of the great seedbeds of priestly vocation? Introduce altar girls.

(NB: This is in no way meant to insult the girls and women who have taken on service at the altar and done it so well since 1994. I was asked by two of my pastors to prepare both altar boys and girls, and I did so in good conscience, since the Vatican allowed it. But I was filled with misgivings at what I feared would be the result and has in fact been the result in many parishes: all altar girls, no altar boys). Want to undermine respect for priests (as if the clergy abuse scandal were not enough)? Stop calling them “Father.”

Enough. Here is my point. None of these things were introduced by the Second Vatican Council. None. They all followed in the years after. One or two would not have undermined the sacred in our Mass, but all of them together have been disastrous.

What to do? Unfortunately, no program we could ever dream up could stop the collapse we are seeing, and reverse it. Only a slow, constant, careful, charitable return to the sacred in our Mass will do this, in my humble opinion.

Sincerely, Father Andrew Johnson, pastor, Good Shepherd and St. Stanislaus parishes, Fall River EXECUTIVE EDITOR RESPONDS: Thank you again for bringing challenging topics for our readership to ponder. As you mention in the first paragraph, you are looking for dialogue and for possible “correction of any errors” in your thinking. I would strongly remind our readers who would like to respond to you to remember charity when doing so and to argue the specific points, not lobbing “ad hominem” attacks upon your person. Given other writings which I

The Anchor

June 21, 2013

Our readers respond

cannot publish in this space because they criticize by name priests or the bishop or because the writer wanted to let me know how angry they were, but did not want me to publish their thoughts (for whatever reason), I know that some people disagree with the Anchor’s position of not taking sides in an argument in which there is no clear Church teaching. This is a very unfortunate situation, one which I think Pope Francis is at least implicitly criticizing in the article on page two (where he calls for more love amongst Catholics). I am not saying that this letter is unloving, but I do fear that some of the reactions to it may not be filled with love for Father Johnson or for the paper for publishing it. George Weigel on page eight also criticizes us for being a “self-referential” Church, busy with internecine battles while the world thirsts for us to witness to Christ.

In regards to the substance of your letter (as opposed to the context of division in which we live): (1) in terms of the “turning around the altar” — In Rome, one can see many ancient churches with altars which, because they were above the tomb of a saint, happened to be placed so that the priest could only celebrate Mass versus populum, “facing the people.”

While this was not a common until after Vatican II, this does show that there is a long tradition of Mass being celebrated with this orientation in the Roman Rite. It is true that part of the “self-referential” problem in the Church is when we get closed in on our small community, forgetting both the great community of the parish, diocese, universal Church and world and our need to be open to the Transcendent.

Responding to your comment about the “flaws” of the Extraordinary Form Mass, it should be noted that any defects in the celebration of Mass are more to be attributed to the shortcomings of the particular celebration of that Mass, rather than to some inherent fault within the text or rubrics themselves. In Vatican II’s Constitution on the Liturgy, #7, the bishops wrote, “To accomplish so great a work, Christ is always present in His Church, especially in her liturgical celebrations. He is present in the sacrifice of the Mass, not only in the person of His minister, ‘the same now offering, through the ministry of priests, who formerly offered Himself on the cross,’ but especially under the Eucharistic species. By His power He is present in the sacraments, so that when a man baptizes it is really Christ Himself who baptizes. He is present in His word, since it is He Himself who speaks when the holy scriptures are read in the Church. He is present, lastly, when the Church prays and sings, for He promised: ‘Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them’ (Mt 18:20).” In other words, although the Body and Blood of Christ on the altar are His presence par excellance, Jesus is also present in the priest and in the community.

(2) Regarding the removal of altar rails, the Church still teaches that the sanctuary (the place in the church reserved for the sacramental action) is to be set off from the nave. The U.S. bishops, in their document, “Built of Living Stones,” taught at #57, “The special character of the sanctuary is emphasized and enhanced by the distinctiveness of its design and furnishings, or by its elevation. The challenge to those responsible for its design is to convey the unique quality of the actions that take place in this area while at the same time expressing the organic relationship between those actions and the prayer and actions of the entire liturgical assembly.”

(3) I will not comment on the discussion about how to receive Holy Communion, since I have written extensively on the topic over the last few months.

(4) In terms of the matter of Liturgical music, it is true that the norms

established by the Holy See and the Bishops’ Conference are often not followed. That being said, in an article on page three, there is a discussion about how certain popular music forms have been effective in Brazil in bringing young people back to the faith. I myself have visited the Shalom Catholic Community there and witnessed this.

Shalom uses modern forms of music to preach the message of Christ, as does the Focolare Movement and many other organs of the Church (although they may not use the instrument by that name very often) so as to connect people to Christ (and these groups are orthodox).

(5) Regarding Reconciliation Rooms — Blessed John Paul II decreed in 2002 in his Apostolic Letter Misericordia Dei, “the proper place to hear Sacramental confessions is a church or an oratory, though it remains clear that pastoral reasons can justify celebrating the Sacrament in other places ... Confessionals are regulated by the norms issued by the respective Episcopal Conferences, who shall ensure that confessionals are located ‘in an open area’ and have ‘a fixed grille,’ so as to permit the faithful and confessors themselves who may wish to make use of them to do so freely.”

The U.S. bishops, in the above cited document, #103-105, decreed, “The bishops of the United States have directed that the place for sacramental confession be visible and accessible, that it contain a fixed grille, and that it allow for confession face-to-face for those who wish to do so. By its design, furnishings, and location within the church building, the place for reconciliation can assist penitents on the path to contrition and sorrow for sin and to proclaim their reconciliation with God and the community of faith.

In planning the Reconciliation area, parishes will want to provide for a sound-proof place with a chair for the priest and a kneeler and chair for the penitent. Since the rite includes the reading of Scripture, the space should also include a bible. Appropriate artwork, a crucifix symbolic of Christ’s victory over sin and death, icons or images reflective of Baptism and the Eucharist, or Scriptural images of God’s reconciling love help to enhance the atmosphere of prayer. Warm, inviting lighting welcomes penitents who seek God’s help and some form of amplification as well as braille signs can aid those with hearing or visual disabilities. Additional rooms or spaces will be needed as confessional areas for communal celebrations of penance, especially in Advent and Lent.”

Although you and the bishops have the same goal, it appears that they think that a Reconciliation Room setup, as opposed to the older form of a confessional, was one better constituted to elicit the repentance necessary for absolution. Again, we’re free to disagree about this.

(6) Regarding altar girls, I have served in a variety of parishes, in Anglo, Hispanic and Portuguese contexts, and I have not found (where I served) that the girls outnumbered the boys or that this was necessarily pulling the boys away from considering the priesthood. With all of the servers, I worked to instill a love for God in the Eucharist, a love which would help them discern to what life God was calling them.

Since the majority of Catholics are lay people, I believe I was also helping them to grow up to be devoted practicing Catholic married or single people.

Also, had we not allowed altar girls, we would have fed into complaints about the Church being “sexist” (I know that the rejoinder is that this is just a “slippery slope,” causing people to hope for something which can never happen — women priests).

(7) I agree with you regarding how people should call priests “Father,” not so as to put the priest on a pedestal, but so as to both remind the lay person of the special nature of this relationship and to remind the priest of his

duty to be a spiritual father (both to Catholics and to all he meets).

(8) In regards to your remedy, I agree with what you say, although I would argue that many priests do celebrate the Mass in a reverent manner and many lay people (numerically vastly outnumbering us priests) truly do understand the Sacred nature of the Sacrifice which they are approaching. That being said, you note that this has to be done in a charitable way. I hope that everyone remembers this important point.

Parent concerned about school merger I am writing because I am deeply concerned about the future of the Catholic Church in the Diocese of Fall River.

As a parent of two students at the St. Francis Xavier Preparatory School in Hyannis, I, along with the other parents and staff, shared feelings of shock and disbelief by the last week’s unannounced takeover of our parish school by the diocese and the effective ouster of our beloved headmaster, Mr. Robert Deburro.

Under Mr. Deburro’s leadership, SFXP was a school that was functioning at an exceptional level to educate young people. Mr. Deburro set high standards for students, and my boys were proud to wear the SFXP uniform.

There was a strong emphasis on moral development and Faith Formation. In addition, I cannot overstate how strong the sense of community is at SFXP, and how important that has been to me personally.

Although we have always attended Mass at our local parish, I had never really felt connected to other like-minded Catholic parents until my children started at SFXP. We were working together toward a common goal of developing moral and intelligent children in a world that is increasingly dark, and Mr.

Deburro was the one who was leading the way.

The school was self-sustaining through tuition and fundraising campaigns and was fully enrolled for the Fall of 2013. Mr. Deburro was providing excellent leadership and parents were very satisfied with the results. As far as I can see, there was absolutely no reason for the diocese to do what it did in such an abrupt and heavy-handed way.

As Catholics, we know that this isn’t the first time that someone who brought light and goodness into the world has been betrayed in a very public way. It is a travesty now because it involves our children, the future of the Church. The Diocese of Fall River has some explaining to do.

Sincerely, Mary E. Sullivan, Marstons Mills EXECUTIVE EDITOR RESPONDS: Thank you for your letter. I am sorry that you are upset, but I hope that the article we have in this edition helps to further explain this issue. As one can read in the article, Mr. Deburro chose to resign of his own will. It was not the plan of the diocese that he leave, so although you may interpret this as an “effective ouster,” the diocese had assumed that he would continue in his role as head of the middle school.

As anyone familiar with the histories of these schools can attest, countless people have given of themselves and their resources to found and support these two schools, both of which now enjoy excellent reputations. Although not everyone may agree or applaud the decision to join these two schools as one institution, might I suggest that the most important thing to do now is to try and realize whatever benefits can come from this arrangement, to continue these schools’ tradition of providing a quality and faithfilled education to Cape Codders?

CORRECTION In a letter to the editor that ran on page 13 of the June 7, 2013 edition of The Anchor, the name of Joseph R. Asiaf, M.D. was mistakenly added to a submission authored by Sheila Matthews of Somerset. Dr. Asiaf had nothing to do with the letter and The Anchor regrets the error.

Money is flying out the window In 2012, The Anchor spent nearly $2,000 in postage change fees!

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The Anchor

June 21, 2013

Presentation to be held focusing on Latinos continued from page one

in Springfield, the second was in Lawrence and this briefing is being held in New Bedford, said Goldbarg, adding that those in Fall River, Brockton, Taunton and other surrounding areas are encouraged to attend.

Researchers will do their presentations, then after a break for lunch, community panels will be focusing on topics like health, education and transportation issues.

Goldbarg said, “Health care and transportation is key, getting them to the hospitals, especially getting them [from New Bedford] to Boston to see a doctor.”

Presenters will engage the audience in a discussion of the data’s implications. The community dialogue is intended to highlight strategies for how to change policies and practices

that no longer meet the needs of Latinos in the region.

“Our data suggest that the future of the Southeast region is inherently tied to the new generation of Latino residents, and this projection needs to be seriously considered by policy makers and practitioners of all fields,” said María Idalí Torres, director of the Gastón Institute.

“To engage the community we have to be aware of their real needs, and acknowledge the disparities. There is injustice in the health care system and we have to ensure there is access to everybody,” added Father Marc Fallon of Catholic Social Services, a cosponsor of the briefing.

To register for the event, go to latinosnewbedford.eventbrite. com, email gastoninstitute@ umb.edu or call 617-287-5790.

Third annual ‘Called by Name’ retreat continued from page 20

God found someone for her, said Wilk, after she met her future husband in church and her honeymoon to Rome included having her Marriage blessed by the pope. Wilk said she feels blessed in her life, and wants young girls to truly listen to what God is calling them to do, instead of following the “pitterpatter” of their heart.

“I give this whole talk to the girls. I ask them what’s the first thing you do when you get engaged? You buy a bride magazine,” said Wilk. “And you flip through the pages and it talks about hair and invitations, but it doesn’t say anything about God. Society has geared us to a viewpoint of Marriage, which is not the Catholic viewpoint on Marriage.”

There is plenty of downtime during the retreat, with the girls watching movies, doing crafts, journaling and additional activities. The first retreat had only three girls attend, an “extremely disheartening” experience for Wilk. “Then Sister Mary Kay said to me, ‘It’s not the numbers we have to think about, it’s the souls, so don’t even concern yourself with that.’”

Word-of-mouth helped boost the numbers the following year, but Wilk is hoping for a larger turnout this year. This year the retreat is ending with guest speaker Mother Olga Yaqob of the Sacred Heart, who founded the Daughters of Mary of Nazareth in the Archdiocese of Boston.

“The goal of this is to have young women understand they are called to something to life, to understand God’s calling and to bring them joy,” said Wilk.

“We believe it is critical for young woman to meet and hear from religious Sisters because they generally have very little contact with religious Sisters,” said Sister Olivia. “The reality is there are fewer and fewer Sisters and nuns in schools, hospitals, centers — places where they once were highly visible.

We find in talking to people who have never met a Sister before there can be a great deal of curiosity and fascination. Most young people wonder how a Sister can ‘give up’ family, friends, sex, independence, money … there is surprise when they are presented with the broader picture of our lives.

“Many young people become afraid that they will not choose their vocation correctly.

Through fully living out this vocation to which they have been called, they will experience great joy and the ‘life to the full’ (Jn 10:10) that Jesus has promised us. The Church and the world need good, faithful religious and priests. The Church and the world also need deeply-committed married couples and single people.”

Cost is $32 for the entire weekend and includes lodging and food. For more information, please contact Paula Wilk at 774-283-0441 or email her at stpatricksre@yahoo.com.

vatican ambassadorS — Ken Hackett, left, retired president of Catholic Relief Services, is pictured with Miguel Diaz, former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, attending the 2012 consistory at the Vatican. President Barack Obama has nominated Hackett as the next U.S. ambassador to the Holy See. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

Obama nominates retired CRS president as U.S. ambassador to Vatican

WASHINGTON (CNS) — President Barack Obama June 14 nominated Ken Hackett, retired president of Catholic Relief Services, to be U.S. ambassador to the Holy See. Obama’s announcement about Hackett came late in the day, along with his nominees for ambassador posts in Brazil, Spain, Germany, Denmark and Ethiopia.

“It gives me great confidence that such dedicated and capable individuals have agreed to join this administration to serve the American people. I look forward to working with them in the months and years to come,” the president said.

Hackett retired in December 2011 after 18 years as president of CRS, the U.S. bishops’ overseas relief and development agency.

As U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, he succeeds Miguel Diaz, who left the post in late 2012. Diaz now is a professor of faith and culture at the University of Dayton, Ohio.

Hackett was appointed president of CRS in 1993. During his tenure, he established a division focusing on outreach to dioceses, parishes, Catholic organizations, and colleges and universities, and laypeople were first appointed to the CRS board of directors.

Catholic Relief Services now operates in more than 100 countries, with a global staff of nearly 5,000.

“Ken’s dedication to the poorest and most vulnerable on behalf of the Church, and through programs

often sponsored by the U.S. government, reflects his ability to engage both sectors in serving those in need in highly complicated environments,” said Carolyn Y. Woo, CRS’ current president and CEO, said in a statement.

Strengthening ties with the Catholic Church, both in the United States and at the Vatican, was one of the themes of Hackett’s tenure at the helm of CRS. “Under his leadership, the agency renewed its spiritual core even as it grew into one of the largest nongovernmental aid agencies in the United States with a budget that exceeded $800 million,” the agency said in a press release.

Diaz said Hackett “brings a wealth of experience and perspective on issues related to global health and humanitarian assistance, as well as service to the poor, an important focus for Pope Francis. I wish him much success as he builds bridges between the United States and the Holy See.” Born in West Roxbury, Mass., Hackett joined the Peace Corps shortly after his 1968 graduation from Boston College. Assigned to a Catholic mission in rural Ghana, he worked in an agricultural cooperative and saw “the actual impact of American food aid on the health and well-being of very poor kids in a very isolated part of a West African country,” he said recently.

After completing his Peace Corps assignment, Hackett joined CRS, the U.S. Catholic relief and development agency, in 1972. He started his career in Sierra Leone,

where he managed a nationwide leprosy program and a maternal and child health program.

Subsequent positions took him to various posts in Africa and Asia, as well as in CRS’ Baltimore headquarters. As regional director for Africa, he managed the agency’s response to the Ethiopian famine of 1984-85. He also supervised CRS operations in East Africa during the crisis in Somalia in the 1990s.

In February 2012, Hackett and Diaz represented the U.S. government at the consistory led by Pope Benedict XVI in St. Peter’s Basilica. At the Vatican ceremony Pope Benedict XVI created 22 new cardinals from 13 countries — including two from the United States and one from Canada.

In May of that year, he received the University of Notre Dame’s Laetare Medal during commencement ceremonies. The medal has been given annually since 1883 to a Catholic “whose genius has ennobled the arts and sciences, illustrated the ideals of the Church and enriched the heritage of humanity.”

In announcing that honor, Holy Cross Father John I. Jenkins, Notre Dame’s university president, said in a statement: “Ken Hackett has responded to a Gospel imperative with his entire career. His direction of the Catholic Church’s outreach to the hungry, thirsty, naked, sick and unsheltered of the world has blended administrative acumen with genuine compassion in a unique and exemplary way.”

16

Youth Pages

SCHOLARLY SUCCESS — The Class of 2013 at St. Mary-Sacred Heart School in North Attleboro graduated on June 7 at Immaculate Conception Church in the city. Despite inclement weather, the graduates and family and friends wished the class much success on their next adventure in high school. Principal Denise Peixoto congratulated the group, calling them a “welcoming and caring, cohesive class,” who will be greatly missed.

June 21, 2013

RUNNING DOWN A DREAM — The girls 4 x 400 relay team from St. Francis Xavier Preparatory School in Hyannis recently won the relay in a time of 4:55.42. They were the only team under five minutes and they won the race by more than 16 seconds faster than the second-place finisher. The girls are pictured, from left, Kylin Willis, Madison Brennan, Martine Jamiel and Maya Patterson. There were nine schools competing in the recent All School Meet.

Martine finished fourth of 22 runners in the 100, Maya was third of 17 in the 400, Kylin was second of 14 in the 800 and Madison was second of 17 in the 55-meter hurdles. The team is coached by Anna Hayes, a teacher at St. Francis Xavier Prep.

BOSTON BOUND — Grade eight students from SS. Peter and Paul School in Fall River recently took a class trip to Boston and the Museum of Science.

The day included a Duck Boat tour, a visit to Faneuil Hall, and dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe.

academic achievement — Twenty-six students graduated from St. John the Evangelist School in Attleboro on June 5 in St. John’s Church.

Fathers Richard Wilson and Riley Williams celebrated Mass with musicians Phil and Sue Fortin. All of the graduating students took part in the Mass by reading, bringing up the gifts, and singing. Students from the St. John’s graduating class will be attending various high schools in the area including Bishop Feehan, Attleboro, Dighton-Rehoboth and Tri-County Regional.

BUTTERFLY FEELING — First grade students at St. James-St. John School in New Bedford recently released butterflies into the garden as part of a school project.

June 21, 2013

A

s I write this article, it is a bittersweet moment as this marks the last one I will submit to The Anchor.

Life, or shall I say God, has other plans for me and I will be leaving my position as assistant director for Youth and Young Adult Ministry effective the end of this month.

When I said “yes” to this position nearly seven years ago, I could not imagine myself leaving it for any reason. However, what most adults and probably by now many young people realize is that life can throw you an unexpected curve ball.

But it is how you deal with those curve balls that establish who you are as a player in this game called life!

Most of us are experiencing some sort of change in our lives right now. So we must ask ourselves, are we standing at home plate blindly swinging our bats at a ball we are not truly paying attention to, and therefore strike out and return the dugout bereft at the chance we just wasted?

Or are we standing at the plate, eyes totally focused on the ball observing

Youth Pages

17

And the bases are loaded ...

every nuance and curve of the pitch, is nothing short of an understatement. realizing we cannot anticipate the Words cannot accurately express the swing but knowing when the time is joy you have all brought to my life. right because we allow ourselves to As so many of our young people hear the still small voice in our heads prepare to enter college in the fall and hearts that says, “Swing now!” or have recently celebrated college It is in those moments where we can graduations and prepare to enter score a grand slam. the daunting real world, it is time to Yet, if “batter up!” we shut We have ourselves off experienced from new spring directions training that our lives through can take us participation

By Crystal Medeiros and dig in our in the faith heels because life of our we “have a parishes and plan for our life,” we may strike out our weekly attendance at Mass. These and return to the dugout deflated and are the tools that we all, young and defeated. old, bring with us when we are faced I thank God every day for the with a bases loaded and two outs in opportunities He has afforded me the bottom of the ninth scenario. In while I served the diocese. To say that those moments, we cannot doubt our I will miss the leaders with whom I had gifts and abilities but instead have the pleasure of working, and of course faith in them. We need to call upon the the many young people from across God Who loves us, Who suffered and the diocese who show such promise died for us, Who gave us a new and as leaders in their own communities, everlasting life to carry us through.

Be Not Afraid

Will we occasionally lift our eyes away from the ball and miss the pitch?

Of course we will ... it is the law of averages. Do we then throw our bat away, return the dugout, cross our arms and vow never to play again?

Of course not! We dust ourselves off, we seek His guidance, we learn from our errors and most of all we pray.

We pray knowing full well that we may not (actually probably will not) receive the answers to our prayers but have faith enough to know and understand that we will receive the answers He knows we need.

For me, it was the bottom of the ninth. There were two outs and I had three balls and two strikes on the board. Life threw me a curve ball.

And I gave it up to God. “Swing now!”

And I did.

It was a grand slam.

But the game is not over.

This is just the beginning.

Crystal is assistant director for Youth and Young Adult Ministry for the diocese. She can be contacted at cmedeiros@dfrcec.com.

Feehan student-athlete joins Dominican baseball program ATTLEBORO — Bishop Feehan High School’s Christopher Hart of Mansfield, class of 2014, was selected as one of only 10 American teens to participate in the Lindos Sueños program sponsored by the Boston Red Sox. The team of 10 will travel to the Dominican Republic where, for two weeks, they will perform community service and play baseball alongside 10 teammates from across the Dominican Republic.

The 20 teen-agers will serve a community in need each morning and spend each afternoon playing baseball at the Red Sox complex in the Dominican with professionals.

Hart was nominated for this award by Hart’s Spanish teacher Joan Drobnis at the Attleboro Catholic high school.

“Lindos Sueños” translates into English as “Beautiful Dreams.” The Lindos Sueños program brings people of different backgrounds together through the common appeal of baseball and community service.

Created in 2004, with an incredibly generous donation from a baseball-loving mom and philanthropist, Lindos Sueños has sent American teens to the Dominican Republic every year since the program’s inception.

Program sponsor JetBlue Airways donates round trip flights for all 10 teens and members of the Lindos BATTING A THOUSAND — Christopher Hart, a student at BishSueños staff. op Feehan High School, is heading to the Dominican Republic.

FLOWERS FOR OUR LADY — Fifth grade and pre-kindergarten students at Our Lady of Lourdes School in Taunton recently planted flowers together at the sign in front of the school in honor of Earth Day.

The Anchor is always pleased to run news and photos about our diocesan youth. If schools or parish Religious Education programs, have newsworthy stories and photos they would like to share with our readers, send them to: schools@anchornews. org

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The Anchor

June 21, 2013

Two Hyannis Catholic schools to merge continued from page one

“However, we will approach this collaboration in a patient and even-handed manner to ensure that no aspect of either school is compromised as we pursue the advantages.”

While Deburro was expected to lead the middle school division within the newly-merged school and report to Keavy, he suddenly announced his intention to resign during a school awards ceremony held on the last day of school.

In a letter dated June 14, 2013 addressed to “parents, students and staff” and later posted on the school’s Facebook page, Deburro wrote: “I am convinced it is time for me to move on, to find the next chapter in my life’s journal, and to fill in those pages anew in another setting. The timing seems perfect.

If we learned nothing else this past year, we learned from Pope Benedict XVI it is OK to say ‘when,’ recognizing the signs to move on.”

A statement released by the Fall River Diocese that same day expressed regret over Deburro’s decision.

“It is unfortunate that (he) did not wish to continue his leadership of middle school students in the combined school and be present to contribute his input to its development over the next year,” the statement read.

At press time an informational meeting was scheduled to take place on June 19 for parents of existing and prospective students enrolled at both schools while the diocese said it would immediately begin the process to select Deburro’s replacement.

Deburro’s departure, along with the surprise that the parish and schools involved had, has only served to fan the flames of discontent among students, parents and staff members at St. Francis Xavier Prep — many of whom felt Deburro should have been tapped to head both schools since he first championed the idea back in 2004, according to Father Lacroix.

“No one from St. Francis Xavier sees this as a positive move,” Father Lacroix said. “While the merger in itself seems to have merit for parents, the process of the decision and announcement are suspect. Many are unhappy with the choice of Keavy — they feel it should have been Deburro.”

Father Lacroix said upon learning of the merger, many parents complained to him that none of the administrators at the two schools — including their respective school boards — were contacted or consulted about the consolidation. It seemed to them to be a unilateral decision made solely by the diocesan superintendent of schools, Dr. Griffin.

It also didn’t help that the announcement was made at the end of the school year and without any forewarning.

“All we’ve done really is we’ve made it a single diocesan school rather than one that is parishbased,” Griffin said. “And we’re entering a year-long planning

stage to look at the potential for this model. That’s where people can have their say and input on what lies ahead.”

Once over the initial shock, however, Keavy said “people are beginning to see the exciting possibilities in front of us.”

“The unification of schools makes all the sense in the world,” he added. “With careful planning this upcoming year we will be able to increase opportunities and advantages for all students.”

The joining of middle and high schools is nothing new and, in fact, is a growing trend in Catholic education, Griffin noted. The model is already in place in some 50 private schools — Catholic and otherwise-sponsored — in Massachusetts.

Griffin believes it will be a positive step for the growth of Catholic education on Cape Cod. “The primary advantages are in terms of program opportunities,” Griffin explained. “High school level programs, courses and activities could be offered to middle school students that are not currently available to them.

This could range from advanced mathematics and language classes to participation in sports like lacrosse. Advanced students in these subject areas or programs would now be allowed to participate at the high school level if they are qualified to do so, and with the approval of their parents and the administration.”

“Later, in their high school years, these students will be qualified to take additional college level courses because of the advanced opportunities they received in middle school,” Griffin said.

“Communication within the high and middle school sections will improve as well as the coordination of use of (the two) facilities,” Father Lacroix agreed. “The curriculum can be coordinated with interdependent studies in grades five through 12.”

The old adage “there’s strength in numbers” also comes to mind when viewing the overall success of the two neighboring schools.

Clearly bucking the trend that has led to the closure of other Catholic schools, enrollment at St. Francis Xavier Prep and Pope John Paul II High School has remained steady and, in some cases, increased in recent years.

Father Lacroix noted that although there has been a decrease in total enrollment at St. Francis Xavier Prep, they experienced a dramatic increase in grade five students for the upcoming 20132014 academic year.

“Pope John Paul II High School enrollment continues to increase and double in the freshman classes,” he added.

“St. Francis Xavier Prep has set a consistent standard of excellence since its founding in 1996,” Keavy agreed. “The steady enrollment and strong identity are due chiefly to the incredible dedication of Deburro as the school’s headmaster.”

Keavy also confirmed that a record number of incoming freshmen — nearly 300 students — were expected to enter the high school in the fall.

“Each school has set a standard that families respond to — that of opportunity and challenge in an environment of care and concern,” Keavy said.

Opened in 1996, St. Francis Xavier Prep currently has 223 students enrolled; Pope John Paul High School, opened in 2007, has 268 students.

Implementation of the new governance structure will take place immediately. This summer, diocesan school administration will begin a year-long process of planning with administrators, faculty, advisory board members, parents and students of both Pope John Paul II and St. Francis schools, identifying areas of opportunity and growth for the school as a whole and for all grade levels. The services of an educational consultant will also be used as needed.

Middle- and high-school students will remain in their respective buildings, and staff and tuition — $6,895 at St. Francis Xavier and $8,975 at Pope John Paul II — will remain unchanged.

Through the 2013-2014 school year the one school — encompassing grades five to 12 — will be called “Pope John Paul II High School and St. Francis Xavier Preparatory School.” Any revisions in the school’s name will be considered within the one-year planning process.

For the forthcoming academic year, tuition and fundraising structures in place will be implemented as currently planned. For the following year and subsequent years, one budget will be developed for the total operation. Tuition levels appropriate to the grade levels will be determined annually in the budget process.

Looking forward, Griffin sees that the joining of the two Hyannis Catholic schools will also yield benefits in the areas of expanded marketing and advancement efforts, coordinated financial and strategic planning and further collaboration with other Catholic schools in the region — notably St. Pius X in South Yarmouth and St. Margaret’s Regional School in Buzzards Bay. Given the initial reaction of some parents to the news, Father Lacroix admitted things are likely to remain tense for a while.

“This summer we will see strained relations but over time, hopefully, they’ll see success in this merger,” he said.

“But the strengths certainly outweigh the negatives,” he added.

“We will progress one step at a time with full participation from the board members, staff, and families of each school,” Keavy said.

“For the upcoming year much will be status quo and the benefits will be carefully explored and planned.

But over time I think we will see the benefits unfold.”

FOLLOW ME — Father Kevin Cook, assistant vocations director for the diocese, leads a hiking expedition during last year’s Quo Vadis Days retreat in Wareham.

Vocations office prepares for Quo Vadis Days continued from page one

phrase meaning “Where are you going?” — consists of a team of priests, seminarians and adult advisors who provide guidance and advice to help high school-aged young men deepen their faith and better discern what God is calling them to do.

Aimed at young men ages 14 to 18 from the Fall River Diocese, the original Quo Vadis Days were cofounded by Father John Cihak of Portland, Ore. and Father William Dillard of San Diego, Calif., in the summer of 2000. Twentytwo young men attended that first camp and the idea has since spread to dioceses throughout the United States.

“Each year our seminarians, those already in formal discernment and priestly formation, assist with the week-long camp,” Father Mello said. “In addition to sharing their own vocation stories, they spend time with the guys at meals, activities and sports. It is a great benefit to the men at the camp in that they get to know guys just like themselves who are trying to discern God’s will in their lives.

“By virtue of the fact that the seminarians are usually younger guys, there is that natural connection that develops. For the seminarians it is also beneficial in that they get to share their experiences of seminary and discernment. It allows them the opportunity to articulate what the Lord has been doing in their own lives.”

To that end, the Quo Vadis Days experience isn’t just about prayer and meditation interspersed with long talks about the priesthood — it also provides opportunities for social interaction and outdoor activities with fellow attendees, priests and seminarians, which is a crucial component of getting to know what a vocation to the priesthood entails.

In addition to providing conferences, spiritual guidance and fraternity through prayer, celebrating the Liturgy and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, activities will also include hiking, swimming

and sports such as flag football and ultimate Frisbee. There will also be plenty of great food and discussions.

“I remember that in 2011 one of the young men specifically stated that the seminarians’ participation during the Quo Vadis Days was his favorite part of the program,” said Father Bissinger. “From the seminarians’ perspective, I’m sure that being able to work with the next generation and to influence their lives in a positive way makes the time and effort they put into Quo Vadis Days ultimately meaningful and very satisfying.”

In addition to the three priests who staff the diocesan vocations office — Father Mello, Father Bissinger and Father Kevin Cook — and the participating seminarians, there will also be a number of diocesan priests offering talks during the week and celebrating Masses and holy hours during Quo Vadis Days.

“Bishop Coleman will also come out one morning for Mass, a talk and then have lunch with the men as he did last year,” said Father Mello. “One of our other speakers is Father Dave Pignato who is working at St. John’s Seminary and is very much involved with priestly formation and discernment. This year, Father Arnold Medeiros, pastor of St. Elizabeth’s Parish in North Falmouth, will also be coming out to talk about the ‘Joy of the Priesthood’ and to share some stories of his own priesthood.”

The Quo Vadis Days retreat runs the first full week after the Fourth of July and will begin this year on Monday, July 8 starting at 1 p.m. and conclude on Friday, July 12 at noon at the Sacred Hearts Retreat Center, 226 Great Neck Road in Wareham.

Those interested in learning more about Quo Vadis Days should visit the diocesan vocations website at www.fallrivervocations.org or email Father Jay Mello at fatherjaymello@ gmail.com or Father Kevin Cook at frcook@holyfamilytaunton.org.

June 21, 2013

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 — Eucharistic Adoration takes place in the St. Joseph Adoration Chapel at Holy Ghost Church, 71 Linden Street, from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.

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

Brewster — Eucharistic Adoration takes place in the La Salette Chapel in the lower level of Our Lady of the Cape Church, 468 Stony Brook Road, on First Fridays beginning at noon until 7:45 a.m. First Saturday, concluding with Benediction and concluding with Mass at 8 a.m. buzzards Bay — Eucharistic Adoration takes place at St. Margaret Church, 141 Main Street, 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 — The Corpus Christi Parish Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration Chapel is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week at 324 Quaker Meeting House Road, East Sandwich.

Use the Chapel entrance on the side of the church.

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

FALL RIVER — St. Bernadette’s Church, 529 Eastern Ave., has Eucharistic Adoration on Fridays from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 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 and concluding with 3 p.m. Benediction in the Daily Mass Chapel. A bilingual holy hour takes place from 2 to 3 p.m. Park behind the church and enter the back door of the connector between the church and the rectory.

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

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

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

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

NEW BEDFORD — St. Lawrence Martyr Parish, 565 County Street, holds Eucharistic Adoration in the side chapel every Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

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 noon.

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 508-336-5549.

Taunton — Eucharistic Adoration takes place every Tuesday at St. Anthony Church, 126 School Street, following the 8 a.m. Mass with prayers including the Chaplet of Divine Mercy for vocations, concluding at 6 p.m. with Chaplet of St. Anthony and Benediction.

Recitation of the Rosary for peace is prayed Monday through Saturday at 7:30 a.m. prior to the 8 a.m. Mass. taunton — Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament takes place every First Friday at Annunciation of the Lord, 31 First Street. Expostition begins following the 8 a.m. Mass.

The Blessed Sacrament will be exposed, and Adoration will continue throughout the day.

Confessions are heard from 5:15 to 6:15 p.m. Rosary and Benediction begin at 6:30 p.m.

WAREHAM — 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

Vatican urges U.N. to focus on job creation to boost global economy

GENEVA (CNS) — Job creation must become a key component of any United Nations plan to lift people out of poverty around the world, the Vatican’s observer to the United Nations told the International Labor Conference.

Speaking during a conference session June 12, Archbishop Silvano M. Tomasi said that 45 million to 50 million jobs will be needed annually over the next decade to keep up with the growth in the world’s working-age population.

“Experience shows that work is the way out of poverty for

In Your Prayers Please pray for these priests during the coming weeks June 22 Rev. Alexander Zichello, Pastor, St. Francis of Assisi, New Bedford, 1977 June 23 Rev. Finbarr B. McAloon, SS.CC.,Retired Pastor, Holy Trinity, West Harwich, 1980 Rev. George Wichland, CSSR, St. Wenceslaus Church, Baltimore, Md., 1992 June 24 Rev. Bernard F. McCahill, Pastor, SS. Peter and Paul, Fall River, 1907 June 25 Rev. Msgr. Louis A. Marchand, Retired Pastor, St. Anthony, New Bedford, 1941 Rev. Raymond J. Hamel, Chaplain, St. Joseph Orphanage, Fall River, 1960 June 26 Rev. William Moran, Former Pastor, St. Peter, Sandwich, 1891 Rev. Charles P. Gaboury, Former Pastor, Sacred Heart, New Bedford, 1931 Rev. Msgr. Albert Berube, Retried Pastor, St. Anthony, New Bedford, 1973 June 27 Rev. John Corry, Founder, St. Mary, Taunton; Founder, St. Mary, Fall River, 1863 Rev. Dario Raposo, Pastor, Our Lady of Lourdes, Taunton, 1933 Rev. Msgr. Thomas F. Walsh, Retired Pastor, St. John the Evangelist, Attleboro, 1980 Rev. Msgr. Bernard J. Fenton, USA Retired Chaplain, Retired Pastor, St. Joseph, North Dighton, 1984 Rev. George F. Almeida, Retired Pastor, Our Lady of Fatima, Swansea, 2012 June 28 Rev. Thomas C. Gunning, Assistant, St. Lawrence, New Bedford, 1947

poor households and that the expansion of productive and decent employment is the way economies grow and diversify,” the archbishop said. “For countries at all levels of development, an adequate supply of jobs is the foundation of sustained and growing prosperity, inclusion and social cohesion.”

Citing the creation of jobs that has led to the lessening of poverty in numerous Latin American and Asian nations, Archbishop Tomasi urged conference participants to take steps to encourage diversification of economies, inclusive access to finance and employment-friendly macroeconomic policies to foster investment and consumption.

Archbishop Tomasi called for the development of employment policies that benefit both worker and business.

Archbishop Tomasi also stressed the people must be seen as more than consumer, but as integral members of society whose dignity can be upheld through employment.

“The worldwide financial and economic crisis has highlighted a grave deficiency in the human perspective, thus reducing man to only one of his needs, namely that of consumption. Worse yet, nowadays, human beings themselves are considered as

consumer goods which can be thrown away,” the archbishop told conference delegates.

“All too often policies are aimed at addressing the needs of businesses without considering the needs of workers, and vice versa. We must promote the conditions for a recovery built on substantial job creation in order to establish a new social pact that puts the person and work at the center of the economy.”

At the end of 2012, five years since the beginning of the global financial crisis, nearly 200 million people remained jobless, he said. Even with modest job growth forecast for 2013 and 2014, he said, large numbers of people will remain unemployed.

The archbishop pointed to the high level of youth unemployment, which stood as high as 50 percent in some nations, as cause for the U.N. to act. He suggested the policies be put in place to address conflict across generations as older workers hold onto jobs longer even as young people are unable to find work.

Rebuilding links between education and work also must be addressed so that schools provide young people with the skills necessary to obtain work, he added.

Around the Diocese 6/21 6/22

St. Bernadette’s Parish in Fall River will hold a holy hour tonight at 6 p.m. to begin the Fortnight for Freedom. There will be Eucharistic Adoration, vocal prayers and a homily. All are welcome.

6/23 6/26

The Italian Mass celebrated by Father Tad at St. Thomas the Apostle Chapel in Falmouth is scheduled for June 23 at 2 p.m.

All are welcome.

A Day with Mary will be held tomorrow at St. Brendan’s Parish, 384 Hartford Avenue in Bellingham from 8 a.m. to 3:35 p.m. It will include a video presentation, procession and crowning of the Blessed Mother with Mass and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. There is an opportunity for Reconciliation and a bookstore is available. Please bring a bag lunch. For more information call 508-996-8274.

The Pro-Life Ministry of St. John the Evangelist Parish in Pocasset and St. Elizabeth Seton Parish in North Falmouth will sponsor a “Coffee and Conversation” meeting on June 26 at St. Elizabeth Seton Church in North Falmouth, with Mass celebration at 9 a.m. followed by coffee and refreshments served in the parish center. Guest speaker will be Marian Desrosiers, director of the Pro-Life apostolate and Project Rachel for the diocese. All are welcome. To plan for refreshments, please call 508-5633561 or 508-457-7699.

7/4

At noon on July 4, St. Bernadette’s Parish in Fall River will ring its bells for 10 minutes as part of the U.S. Bishops’ “Let Freedom Ring” campaign, followed by a Mass at 12:10 p.m. to conclude the Fortnight for Freedom. All are welcome.

7/6

A Day with Mary will be held on July 6 at Immaculate Conception Church, 136 Earle Street in New Bedford from 7:50 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. It will include a video presentation, procession and crowning of the Blessed Mother with Mass and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. There is an opportunity for Reconliation. A bookstore is also available. Please bring a bag lunch. For more information call 508-996-8274.

7/19

The Pro-Life Apostolate of the diocese is pleased to announce the third annual Pro-Life Boot Camp for young adults entering high school through senior year will be held on the campus of Stonehill College in Easton on the weekend of July 19-21. For more information contact the Pro-Life Apostolate, P.O. Box 2577, 450 Highland Avenue, Fall River, Mass. 02722; call 508-675-1311; or email pla@plrachel.com.

20

The Anchor

By Becky Aubut Anchor Staff WAREHAM — Paula Wilk, director of Faith Formation and youth ministry at St. Patrick’s Parish in Wareham, along with Sister Catherine Lamb of the Missionary Servants of the Most Blessed Trinity, will be presenting the third annual, three-day “Called by Name Retreat for Young Women” on August 9-11 at the Sacred Hearts Retreat Center in Wareham.

Wilk was inspired to create the retreat after realizing there was a need to help guide the young women in the diocese.

“It started with the Quo Vadis retreats for boys,” explained Wilk, “and Sister Catherine Lamb is heavily involved in vocation work, so we got talking and said why don’t we do something like this for girls?”

Using Sister Catherine’s connections through MSBT, the women asked Sister Olivia Montejano and Sister Mary Kay McDonald of MSBT to help run and present during the retreat.

June 21, 2013

Third annual ‘Called by Name’ retreat to help young women discern vocations

“We focus on vocations and the universal call to holiness because we’re all called as Baptized Catholics to some vocation in life.

We talk about discernment and how to discover what God is calling you to,” said Wilk. “We talk about the different vocational lifestyles, whether it’s Marriage or the single life or religious life.”

Any authentic vocation response, regardless of what God chooses for you, is from a desire to respond to God’s love for His people, said Sister Olivia, who is currently doing mission work in Mexico.

“Discernment is about be-

mind, memory, will and soul, yet we are so different,” continued Sister Olivia. “There are so many different configurations of how these attributes, gifts and talents can be used. All discernment is based on knowing who I am and recognizing the gifts I have.”

Wilk offers the talk about Marriage based on her own experiences. Married to her second husband in 2007, Wilk opens up about her first Mar-

coming more of myself and answering the questions, ‘Who did God make me to be? What fits in the plan of God’s intentions for me? How can I respond to God’s invitation?’” wrote Sister Olivia via email.

“All of us have intellect,

riage and how she was married for 20 years, and “it was not a good Marriage,” she said. “I got a divorce and an annulment.

I have three children, whom I would never regret, but this was not a Sacramental Marriage. So the next time around, I asked God, ‘what do You want from me? I’ll do whatever You want.’”

Her second marriage was formed in and around Church; Turn to page 15