07.01.11

Diocese of Fall River

The Anchor

F riday , July 1, 2011

Devotion to Christ’s Sacred Heart remains crucial

By Dave Jolivet, Editor

WAREHAM — For Catholics across the world, it’s one of the most beloved and inspiring images. The Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ is a beautiful reminder of the love God has for His children, and the sacrifice His only begotten Son made for everyone.

Today is the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, a Catholic observance since 1856, when Pope Pius IX extended the feast to the universal Church, nearly 200 years after Jesus visited Margaret Mary Alacoque, a Visi-

tandine of the monastery at Parayle-Monial, France in 1675.

Untold numbers of Catholic faithful have one of the many images of Jesus’ Sacred Heart displayed prominently in their homes as a sign of this great devotion.

Hundreds of groups devote many hours to spreading this devotion, including the Men of the Sacred Hearts in the Fall River Diocese.

The Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary has several of its priests located in the diocese, as well as runs the Sacred Hearts ReTurn to page 18

States begin stripping Medicaid funding from abortion providers

By Christine M. Williams Anchor Correspondent

BOSTON — On June 21, Planned Parenthood of Indiana locations began their day by turning Medicaid patients away. The day prior, the organization announced that this is just one of a series of consequences that follow from Indiana Indiana’s stripping Medicaid funding from groups that provide abortion.

The bill that accomplished that feat, HEA 1210, became law when Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels signed it on May 11. In a statement issued in support of the bill in April, Daniels said that all the services — save abortion — that Planned Parenthood provides are available at other facilities in every one of the state’s 92 counties.

“Any organization affected by this provision can resume receiving taxpayer dollars immediately

by ceasing or separating its operations that perform abortions,” he added.

Supporters say the law closes public funding loopholes that undermine the spirit of Hyde Amendment, which restricts federal monies from paying for abortion.

The bill represents an annual $1.3 million loss for Planned Parenthood of Indiana — 10 percent of its budget — and will affect its 9,300 Medicaid patients. Planned Parenthood performed 5,580 abortions in Indiana last year.

PPIN has challenged the law in court and filed a request for an injunction until the case is decided.

The ruling on the injunction is expected by July 1.

What is more, Planned Parenthood has the support of President Barack Obama in this fight. The United States Health and Human Turn to page 11

TOWER OF POWER — Participants in the diocesan-sponsored Christian Leadership Institute held annually at Cathedral Camp attempt to build a tower using nothing but marshmallows and uncooked strands of spaghetti. The workshop is intended to teach the young Catholics about the importance of building consensus and teamwork. (Photo by Kenneth J. Souza)

Diocesan youth participate in weeklong leadership ‘process’

By Kenneth J. Souza Anchor Staff

EAST FREETOWN — Four days into the annual weeklong Christian Leadership Institute at Cathedral Camp, CLI director Frank Lucca beamed when one of the young participants said the purpose of their most recent exercise wasn’t to win, but to understand the process of getting to that point.

“Almost nothing done at CLI is without purpose or meaning,”

Lucca informed the attentive group of 22 participants from parishes across the diocese. “The purpose of this exercise was to see if you could collaborate.”

Indeed, everyone involved with the yearly CLI gathering understands that although it has all the earmarks of a retreat, it’s actually more of a “boot camp” to bring out the potential leadership qualities in young Catholics and teach them about that key “process” of working together.

For the past 23 years, the diocesan Office of Youth Ministry has sponsored the CLI training experience — a concentrated one-week getaway for high school-aged men and women designed to heighten their own awareness of leadership, ministerial roles and responsibilities in their parish and high school settings.

Every year each parish and Catholic school in the diocese Turn to page 20

Prayer in times of suffering

B y Becky Aubut A nchor Staff

MASHPEE — Three Cape Cod parishes — St. Anthony’s Parish in East Falmouth, Our Lady of Victory in Centerville, and Christ the King Parish in Mashpee — launched a summer speaker series June 19 with Father Robin Ryan, who spoke on “Prayer in Times of Suffering.”

Father Ryan is currently vice-provincial of the Passionate Congregation in the eastern United States. He taught systematic theology at St. John’s Seminary in Brighton and at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. He is the founding director of “Catholics on Call,” a national vocation discovery program for young adult Catholics. His most recent book is “God and the Mystery of Human Suffering: A Theological Conversation across the Ages.”

Father Ryan eased into his presentation by Turn to page 15

message of hope — Father Robin Ryan speaks at Christ the King Parish in Mashpee.

(Photo by Becky Aubut)

U.S. bishops’ message on euthanasia — Page 13

News From the Vatican

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July 1, 2011

Vatican official: Sexual abuse of minors requires strong response

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The phenomenon of the sexual abuse of minors within the Church requires a strong response that is “not inertia, a culture of silence or repression,” said the Vatican’s top investigator of clerical sex abuse said.

Msgr. Charles Scicluna, promoter of justice for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, said that the Church must do all it can to respond to the problem and emphasize that protection of children is integral to the good of the universal Church.

Msgr. Scicluna spoke at a news conference to present an upcoming symposium on sexual abuse that organizers hope will contribute to a “global culture” of transparency and commitment to keeping children and young people safe within the Catholic Church.

The symposium, to be held in Rome in February, will give bishops and other Church leaders a chance to learn from experts the best practices learned over the last several years about sexual abuse of minors from psychological, juridical, sociologic and child-protection standpoints.

At the news conference June 18 at the Pontifical Gregorian University, where the symposium will be held, promoters explained that it was part of a long process to make reparations and undergo deep change in the wake of the scandal that has shaken the Church.

Titled “Toward Healing and Renewal,” the symposium will help bishops and religious orders comply with a recent circular letter from the doctrinal congregation. The letter requires each bishops’ conference to submit a set of guidelines on how it deals with accusations of abuse and ministering to victims by May 2012.

The organizers also announced that an electronic database will include the most up-to-date information about the problem, including best practices from various bishops’ congregations and the latest research regarding several aspects of the problem.

Msgr. Scicluna, the top investi-

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gator in matters of clerical abuse, said that while bishops and major superiors will not be obligated to follow the advice offered during the symposium, they would be “lacking in prudence” if they did not.

He said the letter from Cardinal William Levada, prefect of the congregation, had placed the responsibility for determining guidelines squarely with the bishops.

The procedures put in place “must be adequate to give a credible, transparent and accountable response to the very sad phenomenon of sexual abuse of minors,” he said.

Msgr. Scicluna said increased awareness within the whole Church community about the problem was the key to prevention among bishops, families and even children, to the extent their age allows them to understand. There should be “an atmosphere where it is easy to recognize the abuse of power of an erotic nature,” and “not only heal wounds, but prevent abuse,” he said.

The problem of sexual abuse of minors requires a strong response, he said.

“Inertia is not a response, nor is a culture of silence or repression a response,” he said.

Father Francois-Xavier Dumortier, rector of the Gregorian, said the symposium was planned because “everyone must commit themselves so that these things don’t happen again.” The Jesuit university wants to help the Church act in a “timely, effective manner using all the means possible” to deal with sexual abuse, he said.

Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican press office, said the symposium had been months in planning and that it was one of many steps “in a long process of renewal, healing and reconciliation.” He said it was not just an event to counter accusations that the Church has not done enough to root out the problem and pointed to the creation of the electronic database that will be available to all those who are trying to help on a long-term basis.

OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE DIOCESE OF FALL RIVER Vol. 55, No. 26

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eucharistic adoration — Pope Benedict XVI kneels as he leads the Corpus Christi procession from the Basilica of St. John Lateran to the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome recently. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

Personal conversion is like transubstantiation pope says

ROME (CNS) — The transformation of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ is like the transformation people undergo when they give themselves up to the love of God, Pope Benedict XVI said.

By partaking in the Eucharist, Christians become like Christ, he said. They are “part of His Body, one with Him,” and so are open to God and united with others near and far, Pope Benedict said.

In a Mass at Basilica of St. John Lateran June 23 celebrating the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, the pope said that the transformative power of the Eucharist made it “the food of eternal life.”

At the Last Supper, he said,

Jesus overturned the meaning of death. The changing of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ “is the fruit of the gift Christ made of Himself, the gift of love that is stronger than death.”

Its purpose is to transform lives and therefore transform the world, the pope said.

The Sacrament of Communion underscores the social commitment inherent in the Church, Pope Benedict said, because whoever recognizes Christ in the host “also sees Him in his brother who suffers, who is hungry or thirsty, or who is alone, naked, sick or imprisoned.”

The recognition and commitment to help others is even more important in a world where glo-

balization makes everyone more dependent upon each other, the pope said.

The commitment to Christ is not easy, he said. “There is nothing magic about Christianity.

There are no shortcuts.”

After the Mass, the pope led the traditional Corpus Christi procession from St. John Lateran to the Basilica of St. Mary Major for eucharistic adoration and Benediction.

He rode in a canopied flatbed truck to St. Mary’s, kneeling in front of a monstrance with the Eucharist. He was accompanied by priests, seminarians, religious, altar servers and thousands of faithful who walked through the streets of Rome in the traditional procession.

Pope says Psalms continue to show Christians how to speak with God

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Benedict XVI said that the Book of Psalms from the Old Testament is a timeless and powerful “prayer book” that teaches Christians how to communicate with God. The 150 “inspired songs” were originally gathered by the Jewish people, but were prophetic of the coming of Jesus Christ, the pope said at a recent weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square.

Indeed, he said, the prayers from the Book of Psalms were used by Jesus Himself, “thus revealing their full and profound meaning.”

The pope recently has been discussing the importance of prayer in his weekly catechism talks, concentrating on Old Testament figures and the relevance of their stories to contemporary Christians.

Pope Benedict said the Psalms, or songs, manifest all the

shades of human nature, emotions and faith, making them particularly relevant today for their ability to “teach us how to pray.”

Everyone can relate to the complex and often contradictory expressions of the human condition found in the Psalms, the pope said, citing “joy and suffering, desire for God and feelings of unworthiness, happiness and sense of abandonment, faith in God and painful solitude, fullness of life and fear of death.”

The pope said that the prayers in the Book of Psalms showed the inseparable intertwining of supplication, laments and praise.

Believers pray to God lamenting a condition but asking for intercession, knowing they will be heard by a good and merciful God, the pope said. Prayers of praise are offered when supplications have been answered or confessions received with forgiveness, he said.

Many of the Psalms are at-

tributed to David, the king of Israel who, the pope said, “was a complex figure, an indefatigable seeker of God” and was someone who foreshadowed the coming and mystery of Christ.

King David, he said, “knew the value of supplication and of praise” in expressing his prayers.

Vatican Radio said that Pope Benedict would elaborate on some of the better-known Psalms during future weekly audiences.

At the end of the audience, the pope looked pleased when a young boy in a white cap gave him three goldfish in a bowl. The boy was a member of a Don Orione youth group that gave 60 goldfish to Pope Benedict to mark the 60th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood. The goldfish will find a home in the fountains of the Vatican gardens, according to the website of the group, Piccoli Orioni.

3 The International Church Nuns stay in Libya because of commitment to people, says Tanzanian July 1, 2011

BENGHAZI, Libya (CNS) — A Catholic nun working in rebelheld eastern Libya says she and other Sisters have remained because of their commitment to the people they serve.

“This is our first experience of being in a war, and we’re sad to see the people dying, especially the youth who are offering themselves for freedom and for the future of this country. But it’s our duty to be here, no matter how much life has changed,” said Sister Priscilla Isidore, a member of the Sisters of Charity of the Immaculate Conception of Ivrea.

Sister Isidore, a Tanzanian, has lived in Libya for 16 years and works as a nurse in the city’s Seventh October Hospital.

When the uprising against Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi broke out in February, Benghazi was the scene of violent clashes. Press accounts claim more than 200 people were killed in the city in the first few

days as security forces cracked down on anti-Gadhafi demonstrations. Yet after a week, the city was largely in the hands of the opposition, and since then has been the headquarters of the National Transitional Council, the de facto government of Gadhafi’s opponents. Sporadic episodes of violence still occur, however.

Sister Isidore, 56, said 24 nuns remain in eastern Libya, working in Benghazi, al-Marj, al-Bayda, Derna and Tobruk. Three other Sisters left the country in response to the fighting, she said.

“The situation here isn’t easy, and we Sisters are free to remain or leave. Most of us remain here because of God, because of our people, because of the Church.

We choose to continue to offer our life for the people. Whether the situation is good or not good, we choose God, we choose the cross of our Lord, to continue as He did. He couldn’t put His cross

aside,” she told Catholic News Service.

“Because the Lord is our hope, we will continue with our work among the sick and injured people here and, if necessary, to die with them. That’s our mission. That’s why Christ sent us here,” she said.

Libya is a Muslim country, with Christianity restricted mostly to enclaves of foreign workers, many of whom have been evacuated from the country.

Sister Isidore said she has had no problem with the country’s Muslims.

“People love us so much. This year, our congregation has been here for 100 years. We have a strong history of love, unity and communion with the people. So the people love us, because they see that the Sisters are here for God and love everybody. They call us mothers, and we call them our children, brothers and sisters. They respect us. They see

Expert supports Israeli ambassador’s praise for Pius XII

ROME (CNA) — An expert on Pope Pius XII expressed support for an Israeli ambassador who faces controversy after publicly praising the World War II pontiff for helping save Jews during the Holocaust.

Israeli ambassador to the Vatican Mordechai Lewy said that his positive comments about late pope were historically “premature,” after he was criticized by Jewish groups.

However, author William Doino commended the ambassador for “opening up healthy and productive discussion” and supports his stance in favor of Pope Pius XII — who is often accused of turning a blind eye to the Holocaust.

Ambassador Lewy sparked the debate at a ceremony honoring the Italian pope recently, when he recalled how convents and monasteries opened their doors to save Jews after the Nazis persecuted Rome’s Ghetto in 1943.

“There is reason to believe that this happened under the supervision of the highest Vatican officials, who were informed about what was going on,” Lewy said during his address. “So it would be a mistake to say that the Catholic Church, the Vatican and the pope himself opposed actions to save the Jews.”

“To the contrary, the opposite is true,” he said.

Days later, Jewish leaders claimed his remarks were historically inaccurate and insensitive to Holocaust survivors, Lewy

explained that his comments “were embedded in a larger historical context” which is “still under the subject of ongoing and future research.”

Passing “my personal historical judgment on it,” he added, “was premature.”

While Lewy faces criticism over his remarks, he’s also gained support from those like Doino, an expert on the late pope who contributed extensively to a biography called “The Pius War: Responses to the Critics of Pius XII” (Lexington Books).

“Having read his original statements, the responses to them, and his clarification, I believe it is all for the good, because it demonstrates how prominent officials in Israel are beginning to express greater openness toward Pius XII,” Doino said to CNA. Despite media reports claiming that Lewy has now backtracked on his original comments, Doino said, “The ambassador did not deny what he said may well be true.” Rather, he only said it’s too early “to make definitive, allencompasing statements.”

Doino also noted that research is showing how the popular cultural perception that Pius XII ignored the plight of the Jews during World War II is false.

“I believe there is an increasing amount of evidence, independent of the Vatican archives, and impossible to ignore by anyone interested in this subject — through first-hand testimonies, diaries, and other primary docu-

ments — demonstrating that Pius XII did indeed ‘speak out,’ in ways clearly understood by Catholic rescuers, and that he did indeed help rescue persecuted Jews.”

Doino recalled how the Nazis were “furious” about Pius XII’s public addresses and conduct and denounced him as a “mouthpiece of the Jewish war criminals.”

He added that early in his pontificate, Pius XII approved a plot to overthrow Hitler and was commended by many leaders of the anti-Nazi Resistance.

we didn’t come here for other interests, only to work for God and the people. So they love us and we have no problems staying amidst them,” she said.

Sister Isidore said she is inspired by the devotion of those around her.

“We have seen the people pray a lot during this period, pray together, putting their life in God’s hands, struggling together

with God. We have seen the people suffering. In the hospital we have seen increased problems of high blood pressure and diabetes, symptoms of the difficult situation the people are facing,” she said.

“We hope this situation won’t be for nothing, but will be for good, that it will be better in the country. We pray that God will again give us peace,” she said.

CASUALTY OF WAR — A boy injured in fighting in Misrata, Libya, is pictured near a burned-out vehicle recently. The city has been torn by months of war between rebels and troops loyal to strongman Moammar Gadhafi. (CNS photo/Paul Jeffrey)

DIOCESAN TRIBUNAL FALL RIVER, MASSACHUSETTS Decree of Citation Since his present domicile is unknown, in accord with the provision of Canon 1509.1, we hereby cite John J. Julian Jr. to appear in person before the Tribunal of the Diocese of Fall River (887 Highland Avenue in Fall River, Bristol County, Massachusetts) on July 13, 2011 at 2:30 PM to give his testimony regarding the question: IS THE MELLO-JULIAN MARRIAGE NULL ACCORDING TO CHURCH LAW? Anyone who has knowledge of the domicile of John J. Julian Jr. is hereby required to inform him of this citation.

Given at the offices of the Diocesan Tribunal in Fall River, Bristol County, Massachusetts on June 22, 2011.

(Rev.) Paul F. Robinson, O. Carm., J.C.D. Judicial Vicar (Mrs.) Helene P. Beaudoin Ecclesiastical Notary

Rev. Msgr. John J. Oliveira, V.E. • 106 Illinois St. New Bedford, MA 02745 ANCH. 07/01/10

July 1, 2011 The Church in the U.S. Seminarians want to be ‘part of the solution’ in addressing abuse issue

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WASHINGTON (CNS) — Most of them weren’t born yet when the events occurred that came to define the U.S. crisis of sexual abuse by priests. But for men who entered the seminary in the past decade, a point of commonality seems to be that they want to prove that priests are good people.

A decade after the U.S. Catholic Church scandal about clergy sex abuse exploded in the news, several seminaries contacted by Catholic News Service reported the same motivation among the men who have entered the schools in the past decade: “They all said they want to be part of the solution,” as Father Thomas Baima, vice president and provost at Mundelein Seminary in Illinois put it.

Seminaries have adapted their admissions process and their curriculum somewhat to reflect an increased emphasis on understanding the role and demands of celibacy and on what is called “human development” in academia. But the common theme voiced by seminary administrators asked about what has changed was that applicants say they want to counteract the negative image of the priesthood that the abuse scandal created.

“More often than not they say they come because they want to prove that there are good priests,” said R. Scott Woodward, dean at the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio. “They want people to know that religious life, the priesthood, are still valuable.

They feel that’s a part of their mission.”

Father Peter Drilling, rector of Christ the King Seminary in East Aurora, N.Y., said he also has noticed a marked change in attitudes in the 25 years he has been associated with the seminary. More recent applicants are

much more aware of and willing It noted substantial changes in Human development instructo discuss the problems behind the 1992 fourth edition, but still tion also focuses on the role of the abuse scandal. described the depth in terms self-respect.

“Just yesterday,” he said, one of paragraphs, 33 in this case.

“Self-respect translates into of the five men interviewed as Though it also described “a clear respect for others,” she said. part of the admission process delineation of behavioral expecLike the seminary adminissaid “one reason he wanted to tations appropriate to a life of trators, Sister Katarina said the pursue the priesthood is that he celibacy.” subjects of celibacy and approhas had good experiences with By the fifth edition in 2005, priate behavior have long been priests and he wants to show that the publication noted, the pro- addressed in seminaries but perpriests are good and that priests gram greatly expanded the topic haps without the understanding are part of the solution.” of the psychology of ust yesterday,” he said, one of those topics and apAll three administrators said their seminarthe five men interviewed as part propriate education ies didn’t add material of the admission process said “one rea- about how they affect to the curriculum related one. to celibacy and appropri- son he wanted to pursue the priesthood “You won’t avoid ate behavior so much as is that he has had good experiences with problems with huthey began emphasiz- priests and he wants to show that priests manity simply by ing it more, and in more are good and that priests are part of the prayer,” she said. parts of the course of “There’s nothing solution.” studies. wrong with pious In a “causes and conpractices, but pious text” report on sexual abuse re- of celibacy and the integration of practices can’t make up for not leased by the U.S. Conference “human formation” into all other understanding how to behave.” of Catholic Bishops in May, the aspects of formation. It was deBy the time an applicant gets to section on seminaries described scribed as discussing “in clear a seminary these days, he’s already a slow evolution in the emphasis terms sexuality and the expecta- been thoroughly vetted by the dioon chaste celibacy in the curricu- tions for education and behav- cese or religious order which he lum at seminaries. ior relative to the concerns sur- hopes to join. All three administraThe report: “The Causes and rounding children.” tors said recent seminary students Context of Sexual Abuse of “High standards and vigilance have had background checks and Minors by Catholic Priests in are urged pertaining to sexuality, more psychological screening the United States, 1950-2010,” affective maturity and capacity than previous generations ever rewas conducted by a team of re- to live celibate chastity,” the re- ceived. The students are also more searchers at the John Jay Col- port found. It also commented on open to discuss topics such as lege of Criminal Justice of the expanded norms for admission, sexuality, celibacy and appropriate City University of New York and with reference to “psychosexual relationships, they said. commissioned by the National development, capacity to live a Review Board, a lay consultative celibate life and a minimum of body created in 2002 under the two years of continent living bebishops’ “Charter for the Pro- fore entry.” tection of Children and Young Franciscan Sister Katarina People.”

Schuth, a professor of religion It said that in the five editions at the University of St. Thomas of the “Program of Priestly For- in St. Paul, Minn., and an expert mation” published between 1971 on seminary education who conand 2005, the section devoted sulted on the John Jay study, told to formation for chaste celibacy Catholic News Service that the grew from “four relatively brief early and mid-1990s was when paragraphs on celibacy,” in the seminaries first started putting first edition to a few more para- more emphasis on healthy develgraphs in 1976 and up to 11 opment of relationships and on paragraphs in the third edition. the role of celibacy.

“J

Underwood said that 20 years ago, “you would mention the word ‘celibacy’ and everyone froze. It was like you took all the air out of the room.” Even 15 years ago, said Underwood, “it was as if they had never heard the word, as if it had not been mentioned as a part of the job description, even though we know it had been.”

Father Drilling said at Christ the King, which is now the seminary of the Diocese of Buffalo, N.Y. (it was administered by the Franciscans’ Holy Name Province until 1990), all seminarians receive the Virtus training about sex abuse. That includes receiving and responding to monthly updates, just as do all the priests of the Buffalo Diocese.

Father Baima, who has been at Mundelein for 11 years, said that as the abuse scandal exploded a decade ago, “the worry was that it would destroy vocations.

We’ve found the opposite.”

Not only do the men who come emphasize that they want to be a part of the solution, “it’s a theme that cuts across all types of students,” no matter whether they’re young or older.

“They say, ‘We want to serve the Church and we want the Church to be proud of us,’” he said.

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where hope can grow — Chicago Cardinal Francis E. George blesses a new Healing Garden recently that has opened on the grounds of Holy Family Church in Chicago. The garden was created as a place of prayer and healing for victims of clergy sexual abuse, their families and the Catholic community at large.

(CNS photo/Karen Callaway, Catholic New World)

July 1, 2011

The Church in the U.S.

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John Jay investigator criticizes bad reporting about abuse report

moving out — U.S. soldiers remove an American flag as they prepare to hand over their base to Iraqi forces in Iraq’s southern province of Basra June 22. U.S. forces in Iraq halted combat operations last year and the remaining 47,000 American troops are expected to pull out by December 31 under a 2008 bilateral security accord. (CNS photo/Atef Hassan, Reuters)

Michigan bishop says at heart of deacon’s ministry is call ‘to charity’

MARQUETTE, Mich. (CNS) — In a new pastoral letter, Bishop Alexander K. Sample of Marquette looks at the future of the diaconate in the diocese, explains the ministry of deacons in Church history and reflects on the theology concerning the diaconate.

Calling the restoration of the diaconate in 1967 as a permanent ministry a “source of tremendous grace and blessings for the Church,” Bishop Sample said there have been, nonetheless, some “misunderstandings and misinterpretations of the essential identity of the permanent deacon.”

To address these issues, a study committee was formed in 2009.

According to The U.P. Catholic, Marquette’s diocesan newspaper, the findings of the study informed the bishop’s pastoral letter, titled “The Deacon: Icon of Jesus Christ the Servant.”

A deacon’s ministry is threefold — the word of God, the liturgy and charity — but his distinctive call is to charity, Bishop Sample said in the pastoral. “The heart of diaconal ministry is the inseparable link between the deacon’s liturgical service at the altar and his service to the poor in the community.

“Because he stands with a foot in two worlds,” the deacon’s “ministry and witness is distinctly in the world of work and society,” Bishop Sample wrote.

With regard to preaching, he said all deacons of the Diocese of Marquette will have faculties to preach everywhere in the diocese — with the permission of the rector of the Church. However, the ability to preach is a faculty, not a right, Bishop Sample said, and priests should normally deliver the homily at Mass. Lay people may not give the homily.

But preaching is not necessarily limited to homilies at Mass, the bishop said.

“Preaching on the part of the permanent deacon, taken in the broadest sense, encompasses many

things,” Bishop Sample wrote.

In the liturgical and ecclesial contexts, preaching opportunities occur at wake services, funeral liturgies outside of Mass, Sunday celebrations in absence of a priest, during the Liturgy of the Hours, and other prayer and liturgical services.

“A permanent deacon ‘preaches’ first of all by the witness of his life, especially in the marketplace through his teaching and witness to those he encounters in the daily regimen of his life and work,” the bishop said. “Finally he exercises his role as teacher in the various catechetical roles that he fulfills within the Church.”

The ministry of today’s deacons includes “service to the poor, the imprisoned, to the sick and to those who are abandoned and lonely, the modern-day ‘widows and orphans’” Bishop Sample wrote, referring to Chapter 6 of the Acts of the Apostles.

Looking at the history of the diaconate, Bishop Sample noted that as the work of the apostles became too demanding, men of “good repute” who met certain qualifications were allowed to share in the daily ministry of the apostles, including serving at table. However, Bishop Sample explained that Scripture shows that deacons also preached, baptized, served the Church community and “began to have a liturgical function.”

By the second century, deacons were firmly established in carrying out key functions in the Church, but societal and power issues began to diminish their role, the pastoral said.

Bishop Sample wrote that the diaconate declined as a permanent order around A.D. 400 and by A.D. 800 it had become a transitional step to the priesthood in the Latin Church. The diaconate remained a permanent ministry and order in the Eastern Church.

It was formally restored after the Second Vatican Council by Pope

Paul VI in 1967 “in response to a concrete reality in the life of the Church,” said the bishop.

With remote communities lacking regular priestly ministry, and the need for ministers to celebrate certain Sacraments such as Baptisms and Weddings, as well as to preside over funerals and serve as ordinary ministers of Holy Communion, the restoration of the order offered the “sacramental grace of diaconal ordination resulting in a more fruitful ministry.”

A man who is contemplating a calling to the diaconate should first consider whether he has “set as his life’s goal a steady growth in the Holy Spirit toward oneness with God in Christ Jesus and His Church.” Bishop Sample wrote that the potential diaconate candidate should also discern, “If married, does his wife share with him this heart’s desire?”

“The permanent deacon’s family in the heart of the parish will model what a Christian family is,” wrote Bishop Sample.

A man must meet a number of requirements to be even be considered as a candidate for the diaconate and there also “must be a clearly identified specific need in the community” or he “will not be admitted into the aspirancy program,” Bishop Sample said.

To make sure those who are ordained deacons are able to balance family and work obligations with those undertaken through their ordained ministry, agreements will be drawn up. Annual reviews will address areas of accountability and allow adjustments as ministries change.

“Permanent deacons are not ordained for any particular parish, even their own,” Bishop Sample also noted. “They are ordained for service to the Church ... under the authority of the bishop. Deacons must therefore be prepared for the fact that their assignment could change as the needs of another parish or the diocese arises.”

NEW YORK (CNS) — Many from the dioceses, the bishops news stories about the recently influenced the study findings.”

But she said the data in the released report on “The Causes report came from “seven unique and Context of Sexual Abuse sources — a fact overlooked in of Minors by Catholic Priests most media reports. The data in the United States, 1950were derived from bishops and 2010” tried — and failed — to priests, victim assistance cocapture its complex findings in ordinators, victim advocates, a sound bite, according to the survivors, cliprincipal innicians, semivestigator for oting that the study the study. was commissioned naries, historiKaren Terry by the lay-led National Re- cal and court documents.” of the John view Board and not by the Noting that Jay College bishops, Terry said “the the study was of Criminal bishops did not influence commissioned Justice in New York said re- our findings in any way.” by the lay-led searchers who She added that she is not National Reprepared the Catholic and has never view Board and not by the report have rehad any personal ties to bishops, Terry ceived “malithe Catholic Church. said “the bishcious and even ops did not threatening influence our findings in any calls and letters” from some way.”

She added that she is not people who criticized the findCatholic and has never had any ings based on overly simplistic personal ties to the Catholic and sometimes factually inacChurch. curate news reports.

The John Jay investigator Writing in The Crime Reexpressed concern that “the port, an online publication of one-dimensional headlines the Center on Media, Crime have obscured some of the and Justice at John Jay and healthy responses” to the rethe Criminal Justice Journalport’s findings. ists organization, Terry said Among these Terry cited sesome media wrongly said the rious discussions among acareport attributed the clergy sex demics about the response to abuse crisis to social attitudes sex abuse, actions by the Vatiattributed to Woodstock or the can and the National Review “swinging ’60s.”

Board to improve current poliInstead the report concludcies to prevent child sex abuse ed that “the factors associated and a “strong and broadly with the sexual abuse crisis based commitment to address in the Catholic Church were the gaps in current policies of complex,” she said. prevention and oversight that “Another fallacy contained in the early media reports in- allowed these unhealthy patcluded the ‘fact’ that we did terns of abuse to continue for not address the problematic so long in the U.S. and elseactions of the bishops,” Terry where.”

“These should not be overwrote. “Critics suggested that looked,” she said. since we relied only on data

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Our Lady’s Monthly Message From Medjugorje June 25, 2011

Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina “Dear children! Give thanks with me to the Most High for my presence with you. My heart is joyful watching the love and joy in the living of my messages. Many of you have responded, but I wait for, and seek, all the hearts that have fallen asleep to awaken from the sleep of unbelief. Little children, draw even closer to my Immaculate Heart so that I can lead all of you toward eternity.

“Thank you for having responded to my call.”

Spiritual Life Center of Marian Community One Marian Way Medway, MA 02053 • Tel. 508-533-5377 Paid advertisement

6

The Anchor

Toward the true pastoral care of those with same-sex attractions

The ongoing controversy at St. Cecilia’s Church in Boston over the scheduling, postponing and re-theming of a Mass originally planned to celebrate Boston’s gay “pride month” has brought to the surface issues that extend far beyond the boundaries of one parish or archdiocese. The controversy touches not only on the subject of the pastoral care of the Church toward those with same-sex attractions, but on the much larger matter of the purpose of the Church’s pastoral care to anyone and everyone: Whether the Church, her priests and parishes will faithfully, lovingly and courageously care for people with the fullness of the Gospel; or whether her ministers and ministries — perhaps out of too much fear to give offense, a lack of faith in the teachings of the Church, or a faint-hearted notion of what true love demands — will dilute the Gospel of its saving power by stripping it of the uncomfortable and countercultural teachings that some listeners most need.

The controversy in Boston — which has been covered extensively by both local and national media outlets — began with the “Rainbow Ministry” at St. Cecilia’s advertising a June 19 Mass “in celebration of Boston’s Pride Month.” After Cardinal Sean O’Malley became aware of the Mass, he had it postponed until July 10, in the attempt to strip it from any connection to “gay pride.” Gay pride is an expression that embraces something far different than respect for all those with same-sex attractions.

Rather it connotes: treating same-activity as a quasi-Sacrament to be celebrated instead of a sin to be confessed; approval and advocacy of same-sex relationships, lifestyle, unions, and “marriages;” rejection and ridicule of biblical and magisterial teaching on human sexuality; and acceptance of a deeplyflawed anthropology that totally marginalizes the meaning of God’s having made the human person in His image and likeness “male and female” (Gen 1:27). “The philosophical and political agenda of Gay Pride in relation to marriage and sexual morality,” Cardinal O’Malley wrote in a June 22 statement, “is incompatible with the Church’s teachings.” To have a Catholic Mass celebrating “gay pride” would be as objectively contradictory as offering the sacred Liturgy for the members and benefactors of “Catholics for Free Choice” or in support of adultery advocacy or contraception crusades.

Cardinal O’Malley’s intentions to dissociate the Mass from the “gay pride,” however, sadly haven’t succeeded, as many members of the parish and of the media have continued popularly to refer to the Mass as a gay pride Mass. Those who have ceased to draw explicit attention to the connection with gay pride have continued, however, to use coded language — “a welcoming Mass” — to communicate that supporters of the gay agenda do not have to worry about being made uncomfortable at the Mass over the incompatibility of the gay agenda with Church teaching. The expression “welcoming Mass” now being employed to refer to the July 10 Liturgy does not mean merely that people will be received with genuine Christian hospitality. Like the expression “welcoming parish” used in various places like the 200 “gay friendly” parishes promoted by New Ways Ministry, it’s a euphemism that communicates to those who may be living in objective discordance with the teaching of Jesus and the Church —like those engaging in the gay lifestyle, living in irregular marriages, cohabitating, undergoing in-vitro fertilization, or actively supporting the practice of abortion, gay marriage or other practices contrary to the faith — that not only will they never have to hear a peep about any of these unpleasant topics, but very likely neither will they hear anything suggesting the necessity of concrete conversion, confession, and of being in doctrinal, sacramental and moral communion with Christ and His mystical Body the Church in order to receive Jesus worthily in Holy Communion.

Cardinal O’Malley is surely right to resist pressure from some to cancel the Mass. A Mass, for example, is not a speech, which however eloquent no one really needs for salvation. The Mass is supposed to be the source and the summit of Christian life and therefore no pastor worth his sacred oils is trigger-happy to eliminate the possibility for people to come into Christ’s presence. As the cardinal wrote in his June 22 statement, “We want all baptized Catholics to come to Mass and be part of our community” and find there in the love of Christ “the courage and strength to embrace the cross that is part of the life of discipleship.”

The issue of discernment that remains for the whole Church, however, is whether “welcoming Masses” like the July 10 liturgy at St. Cecilia’s truly foster embracing Christ, the cross and authentic Christian discipleship in the way the cardinal describes or whether they encourage implicit or defiant rejection of Christ, the Church and the cross to the extent that they are deemed incompatible with a fundamentalist adhesion to the gay agenda’s pseudo-gospel.

Those with same-sex attractions deserve the full proclamation of the Catholic faith, the truth entrusted by Christ to the Church to make us truly free and lead us to salvation. It’s not enough merely to “welcome” them, if by welcome we mean simply to make them feel at ease. The Church seeks to welcome everyone with the warmth of a brother and sister but also to call everyone to conversion with the humility of a fellow prodigal. Jesus upbraided Simon the Pharisee for not offering Him the hospitality of washing His feet upon entering his home (Lk 7:36 ff). Likewise for the Church genuinely to welcome anyone, we need humbly to seek to cleanse them of all their impurity so that they can enter into authentic communion with Christ and us. To do any less is a superficial welcome unworthy of the Church Christ founded.

It’s been said that the Church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints. “Those who are well do not need a doctor,” Jesus declared, “but the sick do” (Mk 2:17). The Church exists as a hospital for the spiritually sick to bring them the Divine Physician’s healing, to help them become well, and ultimately to minister them the medicine of Christ in such a way that they may live forever.

The Church that fails to do this fails in its mission. If doctors and nurses at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute were aware that a patient was chain-smoking cigars and out of a desire not to displease him said nothing, even though they know cigars cause cancer and death, they would be guilty of unconscionable neglect. If the patient was flaunting his cigar-smoking and attempting to persuade others that, rather than harmful, cigar-smoking was a great thing deserving of celebration instead of censure, the destructive consequences of their reticence would be magnified. Similarly, pastors and parishes who are aware that parishioners are unabashedly engaging in practices contrary to the practice of the faith and who do not strive, with patient, tender and firm preaching and accompaniment, to help them eliminate whatever in them is leading them to sin, are culpable of the worst type of pastoral malpractice. Their behavior, no matter how they spin it, is certainly not consistent with genuine Christian love. St. Paul was emphatic that those who engage in same-sex activities were among those who will not inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor 6:9) and God promised through Ezekiel that if a “watchman” failed to warn someone that he would surely die through persistence in sinful conduct, then He would hold that derelict sentinel responsible for the sinner’s death (Ez 3:18-20). There’s no way to blunt the unambiguous force and eschatologically-consequential significance of these words, short of exposing one’s lack of faith by attempting to deconstruct Sacred Scripture and dismissing its inspiration, even if “out of season,” they constitute part of the Good News, just as much as stern warnings from a doctor, surgery, radiation and chemotherapy can all constitute part of a cure.

Because the gay agenda, abetted by cultural elites and many in the secular media, has been somewhat successful in getting popular culture to anathamatize the Church’s teachings with regard to same-sex activity, it behooves all Catholics to ponder the Church’s teachings anew and more carefully and take them to prayer. Next week, we will continue our analysis by investigating what the “acceptance” of those with same-sex attractions should mean for those with the attractions as well as for all the faithful. We will examine the ubiquitous calumny — the blatant lie determined to damage another’s reputation — of “homophobia” or “anti-gay hatred” predicated of anyone who opposes any aspects of the gay agenda. We will also address the full pastoral care of those with same-sex attractions and whether a parish that specializes in this ministry can be carrying out true Catholic pastoral care without fostering groups like Courage that explicitly help those with same-sex attractions strive to live chastely according to the teaching of the faith.

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July 1, 2011

Judgment day

s Americans, there are historical knows it well. events so etched into our minds Let us never forget that we are that we will never forget them, even soldiers in the war between good and if they occurred before we were alive. evil, and while we know that Christ has Events such as the attack on Pearl Hardefinitively conquered the devil on the bor on Dec. 7, 1941 or the attack on the cross, each one of us must also conquer World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001 the deceptions of the evil one in our own are days that will truly live in infamy. lives, unless we become casualties of These two events in particular serve war. as examples of our nation’s being caught All of this talk about the devil and off guard and when thousands of people hell becomes clear when we begin thinklost their lives. We were unaware that ing of it in terms of judgment day — the people were plotting against us, attempt- moment we will stand before the throne ing to destroy us, and precisely because of God and make an account of our we were unaware, we were vulnerable to earthly lives. Judgment is the second of their attacks. the “Last Things.”

It is no different in our life of faith.

Immediately after our passage We must be remain vigilant. As St. Peter through the portal of death we will stand says, “Stay alert, for our opponent the face to face with our Creator. Standing devil is prowling like a roaring lion look- before God, who knows all the good we ing for someone to devour. Resist him, have done, as well as those things that solid in your faith” (1 Pt 5, 8-9). The we aren’t so proud of, we will be judged. devil, like terrorists, is always looking As we stand before the Lord of mercy for ways to deceive us. Terrorists and and justice, we will know how well we demons both patiently wait and look did in this battle between good in evil. for moments Judgment when we are day is the not expecting final exam.

Putting Into them and then Our entire the Deep they attack life is lived us when we in preparaare weak and tion for this

By Father vulnerable. moment. We Jay Mello The greatneed to ask est deception ourselves: do of the devil, we want to be his greatest lie, is that he does not exist. like the student cramming the night beThe “prince of this world,” the “father fore exams worried about failing, or do of lies,” the “accuser of our brothers,” we want to be like the one that studies would prefer us not to talk about him, the entire semester and has no anxiety to believe that he does not exist, and or fear when the time for the final test to pretend that he is not present in this has arrived? world seeking to lead us away from God Christ teaches us over and over and his Church. again that the one who loves Him, who The reality is, however, that Satan and embraces His teachings and remains hell do exist. The evil one has been quite faithful to Him, will inherit eternal life. successful in slowly getting us to forget But for those who do not put Christ this reality. Like terrorists, he wants us first, who do not embrace His Gospel or to forget about him, about sin and its remain faithful to Him and His Church, consequences, so that we will be more there will be serious and eternal conseeasily conquered. quences.

Do not be deceived! Do not make the The “Catechism” explains, “Death mistake to think that there is not a war puts an end to human life as the time going on. We are at war! And I am not open to either accepting or rejecting the referring to battles in the Middle East or divine grace manifested in Christ. Each the “war on terror.” There are actually man receives his eternal retribution in his two wars going on, the first is the war immortal soul at the very moment of his between good and evil in the world. We death, in a particular judgment that refers know how this war turns out in the end. his life to Christ: either entrance into Christ has won the victory over sin and the blessedness of Heaven — through a death and that “when the Son of Man purification or immediately — or immecomes in His glory, and all the angels diate and everlasting damnation” (CCC with Him, He will sit upon His glorious 1021-22). throne, and all the nations will be asChrist, the most perfect of all teachsembled before Him” (Mt 25:31). ers, has given us everything that we need But there is another war going on, the to prepare for judgment day. He has war going on in each of our souls and the given us the Church to teach and guide souls of our friends and family members. us. He has given us the Sacraments to The devil and his army of evil are seeksanctify us. He has given us one another ing to destroy us. They are seeking to to provide us support and encouragement convince us that the Psalmist is wrong, along the way. that the “words of the Lord are not true We have everything we need to finish and perfect and that they do not bring joy the race, to pass the test, to win the war. to the soul” (cf. Psalm 19).

It is completely up to us how we respond Satan does not have the power to cre- to all that has been given to us. Will we ate anything, but he does have the power be counted among those who remained to twist the truth, to deceive us and to faithful to Christ or those who were separate us from God, from one another caught off guard and conquered by the and ultimately from ourselves. Divide enemy? and conquer has always been a successFather Mello is a parochial vicar at ful military plan and our greatest enemy St. Patrick’s Parish in Falmouth.

July 1, 2011

Q: I have recently become the music director of an Episcopalian church. As a Catholic I feel strange not reverencing (at least bowing) as I walk by the tabernacle in the sanctuary of the church. What if one day the Catholics and the Episcopalians come to an agreement about the validity of the Episcopalian Eucharist? What should I do? — R.H., Cincinnati, Ohio Q: My cousin will be ordained this summer as a priest in the Episcopal church (High Church). At her first Mass, may I receive Communion from her? — J.L., Silver Spring, Md. A: I believe there are two underlying questions involved: One is Episcopal eucharistic doctrine, and the other is the validity of Anglican orders.

It is not easy to nail down official Episcopalian eucharistic doctrine and as a consequence there is a wide range of both theology and practice. Most Anglicans will say they believe in the “real presence” but understand this in such a way as to deny His bodily presence, or else they believe that this presence is physically localized in the bread and wine. Some hold a theory that is similar to Martin Luther’s sacramental union, or consubstantiation, in which Christ’s real presence in the bread and wine is limited to the time of the celebration.

I

f I were to describe G.K. Chesterton in a medieval fantasy I would make him a spell-breaker; if ideas can be spells (and I think they are), then some ides are like a dark enchantment designed to keep us in a perpetual state of spiritual and intellectual amnesia.

The spell “The Everlasting Man” breaks is the spell called “Progress.” As Marshall McLuhan wrote, it is quite possible to progress but not to proceed. For what is progress with no known end point? What seems like progress could after all be simply a form of chaotic entropy.

Perhaps, in some cases, one has to go back in order to move forward.

One of the biggest accusations against Chesterton is that he was a backward-looking medievalist. His criticism of progress was automatically assumed to mean he favored regress, but this is not the case. Were it true, he would be quite easy to dismiss. Rather, what Chesterton suggests is that we retrace our steps, return to the root of things, and rediscover things forgotten. This is why, in “The

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The Anchor

Episcopalian Eucharist

cannot be said of all EpiscopaOn the other hand, some solians, and there are often differcalled High Church Anglicans ent shades of belief even within hold doctrines quite close to the High Church congregations.

Catholic teaching of transubNo matter what the doctrine, stantiation. These Episcopalians however, Christ’s real presence often have impressive liturgies, depends on the existence of a reserve communion bread, and valid priesthood. Pope Leo XIII have Catholic-like devotions (1878-1903) named a comsuch as Benediction. In doing so, they do not feel themselves bound by Article 28 of the Anglican 39 Articles of Belief which clearly states that “The Sacrament of the

By Father Lord’s Supper was not Edward McNamara

by Christ’s ordinance reserved, carried about, lifted up, or wormission to study the question shipped.” of Anglican orders and finally In 1971 the Anglican-Roman declared them invalid with the Catholic International Combull Apostolicae Curae in 1896. mission, a semiofficial group of The complex doctrinal and Catholic and Anglican bishops and scholars, published a “com- historical reasons for the papal mon agreement” on their mutual decision are beyond the scope of this article but were considered understanding of the Eucharist. definitive.

While not representing official Some Anglicans reacted with doctrine for either Catholics or indifference to the papal decAnglicans, the members of the laration. Others took his points commission believed they had reached a formulation that could into account and attempted to re-establish apostolic sucbe acceptable to all. cession by inviting validly Therefore it could be said ordained bishops from several that at least some Episcopalians small splinter groups to parshare the Catholic notion of the ticipate in Anglican Episcopal Eucharist. This is certainly true of those Episcopalians who have ordination. It is therefore quite possible that some Anglican accepted the “Catechism of the clergy are validly ordained Catholic Church” and are seekpriests, but it is extremely difing corporate unity with her. It

Liturgical Q&A

ficult to determine who.

For this reason the Catholic Church insists that any Anglican clergyman who becomes Catholic and desires to continue in ministry must receive ordination. The Church is fully aware that this demand is often quite painful for the incoming Anglican who has considered himself a priest for many years.

This is done because the Church requires absolute certainty with regard to the validity of the Sacraments and cannot accept even the slightest risk.

This certainty of being a priest should also comfort the Anglican clergyman.

We hope that with this our reader can make a correct judgment. In spite of the closeness of theological views on the part of some Episcopalians, there are many reasons that make it practically impossible for the Catholic Church to recognize the validity of the Anglican Eucharist.

Insofar as how to behave, I believe that our correspondent should show courtesy and respect in deferring to Anglican customs of reverence, just as a courteous Protestant might kneel at a Catholic Mass even if he did not believe in the Real Presence.

Specifically Catholic gestures of personal adoration, such as

The spell-breaker

Everlasting Man,” he returns to plained away; but it was never polytheism in order to see that evolved.” The very magnitude monotheism was behind it all, of God is the reason He was not as something yet to be, but easily forgotten. “We can as something we once knew but neglect the sky; and precisely forgot. When looking at images because it bears down upon us we understand that there is the with an annihilating force, it figure and the ground.

The reality of one God behind all of our pagan fancy is the blue sky A Twitch that recedes as we stare Upon a Thread at the cloud.

In attacking “progBy Jennifer Pierce ress,” he implicitly criticizes not Darwin but Darwinism, which posits evolution as the sky is felt as nothing.” against which every thing we Still, today, we consider rethink we know stands. It may ligion an ancient relic and that very well be that the printhose who cling to it (and, perciples of natural selection and haps, their guns) are clinging adaptation were at play in our to a past that deserves to be redevelopment, but it doesn’t linquished, endemic to the spell stand-in for a deity. Strange that makes us believe progress things happen when we begin is a series of brutal parricides to project evolution everyinstead of a branching and where, as if it were not just a growing family tree. However, description but an explanation if skepticism is a forgetting for everything: “God” did not spell, wonder is Chesterton’s evolve, He simply is, was, magic word, and it will awake and will be. “The idea was our amnesiac culture. St. Paul concealed, was avoided, was reminded us that maturing realmost forgotten, was even ex- quires us to put away “childish”

things, but there is a great deal of difference between being a child and being childlike, in a state of perpetual wonderment.

There is a fashion still at play today that asserts that the pagan myths are the same as Christian ones. There is one very glaring problem with this formula; it isn’t simply that we believe, as a matter of naïve faith, that one is true and the other is not.

One was never meant to be literally true and the other was. The pagan myths were meant as stories; the Christian “myth” was the story that was also history.

Chesterton points out it is a mistake that is like saying that hunger and food are the same things.

The history of philosophy is similar; all the philosophers could not help but reduce the totality of things to some insane — however useful — simplifications, so that it starts to appear as if the job of the philosopher is to trace a line, to make it distinct, and true to his particular, narrow viewpoint; but all

genuflection when passing the place of reservation, should not be done.

With regard to receiving Communion at an Anglican celebration, Pope John Paul II answered this question in his encyclical “Ecclesia de Eucharistia,” No. 30: “The Catholic faithful, therefore, while respecting the religious convictions of these separated brethren, must refrain from receiving the Communion distributed in their celebrations, so as not to condone an ambiguity about the nature of the Eucharist and, consequently, to fail in their duty to bear clear witness to the truth. This would result in slowing the progress being made towards full visible unity.”

From this it is clear that while one may attend a relative’s ordination as an Episcopal minister, a Catholic should refrain from receiving Communion. If this ceremony were to take place on a Sunday, it would not substitute for Sunday Mass.

Father Edward McNamara is a Legionary of Christ and professor of Liturgy at Regina Apostolorum University in Rome. His column appears weekly at zenit.org. Send questions to liturgy@zenit.org. Put the word “Liturgy” in the subject field. Text should include initials, city and state.

those lines start to appear in a shape eventually, and taking a step back, that shape looks very much like the face of not just a man but the Son of Man. From the vantage point of Chesterton’s eagle eye, the history of war is the history of mankind rejecting itself, finding itself in this rough community called “humanity” with the distinctive feature of having difficulty dealing with humans.

Tyrants rise and fall, religions and cultures clash and we find no peace, no humanity that is home to the human being.

There is in the midst of all this cacophony one man who threatens to allow humanity to find peace within itself, though around this figure of love is a “halo of hatred.” It is the God for whom all the pagan myths cried, and he was the God born as a little child, in the place where we first met our ancient ancestor painting reindeer. In a cave.

Jennifer is a parishioner of Corpus Christi in East Sandwich, where she lives with her husband Jim and three children.

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recent article revealed some startling statistics: Americans take the least amount of time for vacations worldwide. Part of the issue is that most jobs don’t actually offer a specific amount of “time off” for vacation.

The article also revealed that Europeans have the most time when it comes to time off allotted for vacations and more importantly, people take the time.

Speaking with parishioners recently, they admitted that they actually do get paid vacation as part of their salary but find it too difficult to take the time off. Among the reasons they are hesitant to take the vacation time is because, first, their place of employment makes it challenging to take the time and, second, they are fearful of what will await them upon their return: piles and piles of work that have accumulated and now need to be completed in a timely fashion.

Another parishioner admitted to me that he’ll take his

July 1, 2011

The Anchor

Resting with and in Jesus

vacation but his smart phone chapter of St. Matthew’s Gosis always there so that he can pel, is something that should answer important emails and hopefully put the startling take phone calls that demand statistics into perspective and his direct intervention. help us all realize and recogTime off is essential for renize our need for true rest: charging one’s batteries. Time “Come to Me, all you who to refresh oneself is essential labor and are burdened, and for healthy living. Just as a proper diet and exercise are essenHomily of the Week tial for maintaining proper health, time Fourteenth Sunday away from the hustle in Ordinary Time and bustle of work is

By Father essential.

Rodney E. Thibault If anyone knows this best, it is Jesus.

He knows that we are overworked and sometimes I will give you rest. Take My underappreciated. He knows yoke upon you and learn from this because of the fact that He Me, for I am meek and humble suffered with humanity. His of heart; and you will find rest humanity makes Him underfor yourselves. For My yoke is standing and He reaches out to easy, and My burden light.” us to help us to temporarily set Jesus knows that our aside our burdens and rest in burdens are real. Jesus knows Him, so that we can continue that we are in need of rest. So to work in His vineyard as He invites us to rest in Him. disciples.

OK, that’s easier said than Jesus’ invitation this Sundone! How exactly do we day, as recalled in the 11th accomplish that in the midst

of work, keeping house and home together and shuffling our children from one activity to another?

Well, in this high-paced world in which we live, it takes our resolve to re-commit ourselves, on a daily basis, to be disciples. Disciples not only follow Jesus; they realize utter dependence on Him and seek to have Him be a part of life at all times.

Perhaps one of the best ways that we can rest in the Lord is to find some time each and every day to turn off the hectic rush of life. Resting in the Lord requires us first to recognize that we don’t always set aside enough time for prayer and contemplation.

Find time to rid yourself of the phone, the pager, the computer and endless emails and find a quiet place to ask Jesus to give you rest.

Perhaps the rest that is needed demands that the entire

family spend some quality time being with one another.

Enjoy the beauty of God’s creation by walking on a beach as a family after Sunday Mass.

Resting in the Lord means that He is a part of what brings you rest. That rest, of course, can be found anywhere we encounter our Risen Savior. He knows that we are in need of it and wants to satisfy our every longing, especially our longing for true rest which brings lasting refreshment.

The summer months should afford us all the opportunity to rest in the Lord, something that is so needed for His tired disciples. If you are fortunate enough to take some welldeserved time off this summer, whether is a stay-cation or a vacation to some destination, remember to invite the Lord of rest into your heart. If you do, you will be refreshed and renewed beyond your wildest imagination.

Father Thibault is chaplain at St. Luke’s Hospital in New Bedford.

Upcoming Daily Readings: July 2, Gn 27:1-5,15-29; Ps 135:1-6; Lk 2:41-51. Sun. July 3, Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Zec 9:9-10; Ps 145:1-2,8-11, 13-14; Rom 8:9,11-13; Mt 11:25-30. Mon. July 4, Gn 28:10-22a; Ps 91:1-4,14-15; Mt 9:18-26. Tues. July 5, Gn 32:23-33; Ps 17:1-3,6-8,15; Mt 9:32-38. Wed. July 6, Gn 41:55-57;42:5-7a,1724a; Ps 33:2-3,10-11,18-19; Mt 10:1-7. Thur. July 7, Gn 44:18-21,23b-29;45:1-5; Ps 105:16-21; Mt 10:7-15. Fri. July 8, Gn 46:1-7,28-30; Ps 37:3-4,18-19,27-28,39-40; Mt 10:16-23.

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oho, in the West End of the British capital, has had a rather dodgy history.

Wikipedia notes that, by the mid-19th century, “all respectable families had moved away, and prostitutes, music halls and small theaters had moved in.” So had Father Arthur O’Leary who, in 1792, established in Soho the first Catholic church since the Reformation that had not been located on some foreign embassy’s territory. The parish first worshipped in a ballroom rented from the creditors of a bankrupt Regency theatrical impresario, Teresa Cornelys, one of Casanova’s many lovers.

The parish built a church in

Miracle in Soho

… a playground of the middle 1893 and St. Patrick’s became a and upper classes, a trendy night Catholic home for many in the spot that sells just about anything London émigré community. In a man could want. It’s not so the 1930s, St. Patrick’s was surrounded by bars where inebriated intellectuals and writers argued long into the night. Their drunken revelry, like much of London’s life, was interrupted by the

By George Weigel German Blitz, during which a Luftwaffe bomb came crashing through the ceiling of much a poor neighborhood as it St. Patrick’s and buried itself in is a wicked neighborhood. It’s a the floor without exploding. place dedicated to the appetites As my colleague Stephen and built on prodigality.” And in White puts it, Soho today is a the midst of that prodigality is “world-class spiritual wasteland St. Patrick’s — a model Catholic parish and one of the flagships of the New Evangelization.

Led for the past decade by Father Alexander Sherbrooke, a man of no small dreams, St. Patrick’s has just completed a magnificent restoration that has turned a once-drab church into a golden gem of architecture and decoration: for Father Sherbrooke believes, with Benedict XVI, that beauty is a privileged pathway to God in a secular age. While the church was being restored, its dank basement was dug out and a state-of-the-art community center built for the

The Catholic Difference

parish’s extensive work with the homeless and the destitute. Up in the church’s bell tower is a chapel for eucharistic adoration, where volunteers pray from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. every night, and where two telephones bring requests from all over the world to an “SOS Prayer Line.”

The Eucharist is at the heart of St. Patrick’s life for, as Steve White put it after his eight months of work there, “The demands of discipleship in that environment leave no room for lukewarmness. Anyone who was going to leave left long ago. The Eucharist quite simply drives the life and work of the parish. This is not a theological truism but an actual fact learned from experience. And that experience is transformative.” The Eucharist, in a daily rhythm of Mass and eucharistic adoration, is the dynamic force behind the church’s street evangelization programs and its work with the homeless.

Eucharistic piety is also at the center of the St. Patrick’s Evangelization School, the acronym for which (SPES) is, not coincidentally, the Latin word for “hope.” Each year, 10 or so young people come to

St. Patrick’s for an academic year’s worth of intense catechesis, spiritual formation, street evangelization, and work with Soho’s down-and-outs, while they take turns manning the SOS Prayer Line during adoration.

It’s an experience straight out of the Acts of the Apostles, with 21st-century technology providing new opportunities for these young men and women to give witness to the hope that is within the followers of the way.

After more than a year of renovation (during which the parish’s many ministries continued), the church was re-opened in early June with three days of festivities, including Masses celebrated by Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster and Cardinal George Pell of Sydney.

I was invited to give a lecture on the middle day of the three and spoke on the emergence of Evangelical Catholicism —sacramental, biblical, robustly missionary, service-oriented — as the fruit of Vatican II. It seemed an appropriate theme, for St. Patrick’s today embodies exactly what the Council imagined for the world church: a new Pentecost.

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

July 1, 2011

Advice to some future seminarian from this crusty old pastor

Sunday 26 June 2011 — He was correct. Since there Three Mile River — Solemwas no way I could afford nity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. think back to the advice given me Reflections of a during my seminarian Parish Priest training. Some of it was sound; some of it

By Father Tim was off-the-wall.

Goldrick The advice started pouring in during my senior year of high school. My pastor advised me this, he generously offered to that I would need a cassock. pay for it himself and even

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The Ship’s Log

drove me to a religious goods store in Providence, R.I. They had one on sale, but sized for a 300-pound man. I was (at the time) as skinny as a rail. I could wrap the cassock around me twice and still have room left over. “We’ll take this one,” the pastor announced.

“You will grow into it.” I never did. I spent my seminary years swimming around in that

The woman’s touch

A woman makes places hat kind of genhomey. We can say that when eral could get away she is what God created her with bidding the soldiers to to be, she is a home. She confess their sins to a priest, has the potential of carrying to go to daily Mass, to stop life within. But even after cussing, to keep lewd women childbirth, she is or can be a out of the camp and to stay resting place for humanity. sober?

Pope Benedict XVI spoke These were St. Joan of of the woman’s gift of huArc’s rules for the soldiers manizing during a meeting who wished to serve in her with Catholic movements for army. And they loved her.

This young saint epitomizes the feminine gift of humanizing mankind. Not only did she set a high standard of Christian living for her men; she showed

By Joan Kingsland compassionate mercy to all.

In his book, “Joan of Arc,” Mark Twain the promotion of women in describes how she rushed to Angola, March 2009: the side of a dying English “Who today can fail to soldier and took him in her recognize the need to make arms as if she were his sister. more room for the ‘reasons She wept at seeing retreating of the heart?’ In a world like enemy knights carried down ours, dominated by technolto the bottom of the moat ogy, we feel the need for this given their heavy armor, feminine complementarity, when the burning bridge so that the human race can gave way. live in the world without Many qualities in the completely losing its humanwoman combine together to ity. Think of all the places make her value, protect and afflicted by great poverty or uphold humanity, including devastated by war, and of all those mentioned in previthe tragic situations resultous articles: her focus on the ing from migrations, forced person, emotivity, communior otherwise. It is almost cativeness, spiritual strength. always women who manage She also has a particular to preserve human dignity, aesthetic sensitivity to beauty to defend the family and to and goodness. While men protect cultural and religious can compartmentalize, tunvalues.” ing out disagreeable or plain If contemporary society surroundings, women exert has the tendency to lose its a decided effort to transform sense of humanity, than all the places where they live the more is the woman needand work into something ed to maintain and defend “habitable.” When a woman humanity. Blessed Pope John is at her best, she strives to Paul II made a similar obserbring about physical and vation in his encyclical On moral beauty and harmony to the Dignity of the Woman: her environment.

Feminine Gifts

“In our own time, the successes of science and technology make it possible to attain material well-being to a degree hitherto unknown.

While this favors some, it pushes others to the edges of society. In this way, unilateral progress can also lead to a gradual loss of sensitivity for man, that is, for what is essentially human. In this sense, our time in particular awaits the manifestation of that ‘genius’ that belongs to women, and that can ensure sensitivity for human beings in every circumstance: because they are human and because ‘the greatest of these is love’” (cf.

1 Cor 13:13).

A woman needs a certain knack to humanize a man. St. Joan had it. She elicited from her soldiers what was highest in them by expecting it of them, by letting them know she believed in them. Mark Twain says she blew “the breath of life and valor into the dead corpses of cowed armies and turned them into heroes.” Men respond so much better to a woman’s confidence in them.

We women do not always grasp how to transmit a confidence in our men. Sometimes, quite unintentionally, we do just the opposite through our words and tones.

Can a “real man” have a humanizing effect on a woman? Only if she lets him.

Joan Kingsland, a consecrated woman of Regnum Christi, teaches theology at Mater Ecclesiae College in Greenville, R.I. She received a doctorate from the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family in Rome.

thing. I also needed a cincture belt to wear over the cassock.

In my seminary college, they dressed in the European clerical style. The cincture, too, was way too big, but it was easily modified.

One hot summer’s day, a couple of months before I was to begin my seminary training, I met my first Fall River diocesan seminarian. I was in the backyard playing badminton with a neighbor girl when up pulled a shiny black car.

Out stepped the seminarian, dressed in a black suit and tie, complete with black felt fedora. He was also carrying a black leather briefcase. We chatted. We would both be attending the same seminary.

He offered to accompany me on the journey. I was most thankful. The seminary was in a foreign country (Canada) and the furthest I had ever traveled was a bus trip to the 1964 New York World’s Fair.

He gave me some advice: “You must procure a black felt fedora and a black leather briefcase.” I did.

When the time came, off we went together to the seminary. On the plane, the seminarian rattled on about how long it would take before he was honored with the title of monsignor. I paid little attention, due, no doubt, to the motion sickness I was experiencing.

Arriving at the seminary, I soon noticed that he and I were the only two students wearing black felt fedoras and carrying briefcases. “Oh, you must be from the Diocese of Fall River,” observed one new classmate, trying to be social.

That was the last time I wore the fedora, but I still have the briefcase around here somewhere.

“You are like a gem in the rough,” observed a priest.

“The seminary will shape and polish you until you are properly cut and faceted,” he advised. It was just an analogy, but I had a mental image of having parts of me lopped off. I was less than enthused with the prospect.

Now that I am a “seasoned pastor,” what advice would I give to a young man about to enter the seminary? Some of my advice will be sound and some of it, of course, will be off-the-wall.

— First, be who you are.

Do not try to be something or someone you are not. Never compromise your personal integrity. Be real; people can spot a phony a mile away.

You can only fake it for so long before your own spiritual, physical and emotional

health will begin to decline.

If God is calling you to be a priest, you will be a priest, “come hell or high water.” If you have discerned a vocation through prayer and spiritual direction, surround yourself with people who will foster it. Avoid those who denigrate you or your calling. Let no one intimidate you. No one.

— Hold high your ideals. Grow in your humanity.

This means listening to other points of view, expanding your horizons, studying new things, keeping your thumb on the culture in which we live, engaging in dialogue, and personally encountering others (women and men) on the journey of faith. Listen. Identify your human weaknesses and work on them constantly.

— Celebrate the vocation of all the baptized. The baptized have the dignity of servants and handmaids of the Lord. Baptism, after all, is your own first vocation.

Priesthood is a distinctive vocation within a vocation.

Avoid clericalism in all its forms.

— Prepare to be sent to serve, not to be served. This is the mission of any priest.

Lead by example. Delegate when you can, but expect to work hard, even at menial tasks. Be humble and selfeffacing. There is no place in the priesthood for careerism.

Laugh often, especially at yourself.

— Dream dreams and see visions. Let no one ever hinder your God-given intellect, talents and creativity. Take chances. If you fail, get over it.

— Lastly, go right out now and buy yourself a black felt fedora. Ha, ha, ha. Just kidding.

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

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ASSONET — “My story is quite different than others,” said Judith Norman of a journey that had her coming full circle in the Catholic faith.

Though baptized and confirmed in the Catholic faith, her parents’ divorce saw her mother lean away from the Church and as children, “we followed our mother,” explained Norman. “But I always felt that there was something missing, that the pieces weren’t fitting.”

Coming back into the Catholic fold was a progressive journey, said Norman, who found herself wanting to pray the Rosary but wasn’t sure exactly how to do it.

“I was asking people how to pray the Rosary, and it was amazing to me that none of them really knew. I decided to do all ‘Our Fathers,’” said Norman. “I remember saying to Our Lady that I’m sorry, and I remember feeling that she understood.”

Norman and her mother-inlaw spoke of making a visit to Medjugorje and after a year of going back and forth, they de-

Late vocation as a Rosary apostle

cided to take the trip in 1990. trying but I couldn’t get up. I After offering to help a “She wasn’t a traveler and remember seeing these spar- woman who was behind her I wasn’t either. I kept on the path, the women feeling the Blessed rested together. When Mother; I kept feeling the woman offered her her tugging at me. It’s some water, Norman hard to explain,” said knew it was a sign.

Norman, who reached Finding herself overout to the Blessed whelmed by the height Mother during the long of the mountain, Norplane ride. “I rememman said the woman ber feeling like I was helped reassure her sitting on her lap. I and they made it to the just felt her presence summit together. Norso strongly and I felt at man remembers sitting peace.” down to pray and read Still on the fence from a little Bible she about what she was had brought, and then feeling, Norman kept she looked up into the the experience to hersky. self. During the first “I saw the Nativity day of their trip, Norscene of the Blessed man was told by a priest Mother, Joseph and to pray for the souls in baby Jesus. All of a Purgatory. After hearsudden the sun got ing about a Charissmall and began to go matic priest from the in and out of the clouds United States doing a and I’m starting to laying-on-of-hands in laugh, saying ‘Lord, the graveyard behind you’re playing peek a the church, Norman boo with me,’” laughed went to see him.

Anchor Person of the Week — Norman at the memory.

“I had never experi- Judith Norman. (Photo by Becky Aubut) “I had such a joy.” enced this and I went Norman commemoright down,” said Norrated her conversion man of the experience. “I was kles all over the place. I could by purchasing a painting from hear people in the background a local vender; a painting of but I’m not seeing the sun, just the Blessed Mother that now the sparkles all over the place. hangs in her living room.

I was finally able to get up Shortly after she returned from and I felt the Lord was calling her trip, she moved to Assonet and walked into St. Bernard’s me.”

Still reeling from the expe- Parish, connecting right away rience, Norman said she began with the parishioners.

Norman has taught Faith to walk and pray, asking for the Holy Spirit to guide her. Formation classes, became Norman said she was “told” to an extraordinary minister of look for a woman who would Holy Communion and washes share water with her. Instead, and presses the linens used she came to a crossroads and during service. She used her was guided to take a left, land- lunch breaks while working ing herself at the foot of Mount in Taunton to start a Cenacle Krizevac, also known as Cross Prayer Group at St. Mary’s Mountain because of the 30- Parish in Taunton and when ton cross that was erected on she came to St. Bernard’s, she its summit during the 1930s. began a group there as well.

“I always tell people in the Pilgrims often walk up, taking a moment to pray at each Sta- Cenacle, it’s Our Lady,” said tion of the Cross that lines the Norman. “It’s not mine, it’s our Blessed Mother’s; this rocky path to the summit.

“I was doing the Stations all Cenacle doesn’t belong to us. the way up,” recalled Norman, She brings in whom she wants “and I was doing the Rosary and sends whom she wants to and offering it up to the souls us. I started it but we are all in Purgatory like the priest had really one.”

Norman is in her third year told me to do.”

July 1, 2011

being part of a prayer group that prays the Rosary before weekend vigil Mass from October to May, and she had added an extra layer by using it as a teaching tool for others. People need to learn more about this devotion, said Norman; during Advent she will focus on the Joyful Mysteries or during Lent the Sorrowful Mysteries will be included.

“I do that to teach so that people will learn the Rosary because I felt that when I was starting my journey, I couldn’t believe how many Catholics didn’t know. Of course my mother-in-law knew,” laughed Norman. “I should have gone to her first. I feel that I want to teach, that’s why I do that.”

A few years ago, after a surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome sidelined her employment, a different position within her employer opened up. Reluctant and sad about taking a new position, Norman said she prayed to God asking for help and guidance.

“Sometimes you know it in your head, but you’ve got to know it in your heart,” said Norman, who not only took the position but now appreciates God placing her where she was needed more. “I realized how the Lord had moved me, how He wanted me there to bring sunshine to these people and to treat them as my brothers and sisters. It’s been phenomenal and I have been doing this for a few years; I don’t want to do anything else.”

Now firmly rooted in her life and her faith, Norman offered this advice to those like her who hearken back to their childhood hoping to find their faith as an adult.

“I would say to them to come into the Church and speak to their priest,” she said.

“And pray, just sit there and do your prayers. Ask God and our Blessed Mother to guide you. You don’t realize how many gifts the Lord has given to our faith.”

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

The Anchor

July 1, 2011

States begin stripping Medicaid funding continued from page one

Services Department issued a letter June 1 that rejected Indiana’s changes to its Medicaid plan and said the state had 60 days to appeal the decision.

Donald M. Berwick, administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, said that the Social Security Act “provides that beneficiaries may obtain covered services from any qualified provider that undertakes to provide such services.”

The same reasoning could be used to prevent any other state seeking to defund Planned Parenthood.

Supporters of the new law argue that Indiana has the right to structure its own Medicaid program and that Planned Parenthood is not entitled to public funding. Legislators also point out that PPIN’s financial statements for the previous fiscal year “provide no record that PPIN makes any effort to either segregate Medicaid reimbursements from other unrestricted revenue sources or to allocating the costs of its various lines of business.”

PPIN’s president Betty Cockrum has maintained through multiple statements that “all of the federal funding Planned Parenthood receives is used for basic, preventive health services, from Pap tests to birth control to screenings and treatment for STDs. Not a penny is used for abortions.”

She called the bill an “abomination,” promoted by “anti-choice zealots,” that makes Indiana “one of the most anti-women states in the country.”

With a stockpile of private donations — totaling more than $100,000 — the organization continued to see Medicaid patients from the bill’s passage through June 20. They began refusing patients on June 21, forced all employees to take one unpaid day that week and laid off two employees.

If the federal judge does not restore PPIN’s Medicaid provider status, the organization announced that it “will begin to close health centers and reduce staffing in short order.” It estimated that seven of its 28 locations would close.

Rita Diller, director of the American Life League’s Stop Planned Parenthood project, told The Anchor, “Planned Parenthood kills an innocent human being by abortion every 95 seconds. It does not deserve one penny of taxpayer money.”

Planned Parenthood collected $349.6 million in government grants and contracts in 2008, and at the end of the year had $85 million in profits, according to STOPP’s website.

Last year, the Government Accountability Office released a report that said the Planned Parenthood Federation of America could not account for more than 30 percent of the funds it received from the government from 2002-2009. The report did not include income in the

form of Medicaid waivers and Medicaid income.

Anne Fox, president of Massachusetts Citizens for Life told The Anchor, “As far as I can tell, they don’t need the federal money. ” Fox criticized Planned Parenthood’s model, which establishes large clinics that offer abortions and surrounds them with satellite clinics that refer women seeking abortions back to their hub. That is more efficient and allows Planned Parenthood to say that abortions are not performed at many

11 of their clinics— one of PPIN’s many arguments for reestablishing government funding.

“They are using stimulus funds to set up these local ‘clinics’ where they claim that they are not doing abortions and therefore they’re no different than the dentist,” she added.

“But they’re shoveling the girls into the big one.”

Fox said that in Massachusetts Planned Parenthood accounts for two-thirds of all abortions, and abortion is covered by the state through the Medicaid program. In the Commonwealth, which has the eighth highest abortion rate in the country, abortion facilities are “too accessible,” she said.

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July 1, 2011

Indianapolis archbishop, founders of MP3 project for military, honored

PITTSBURGH (CNS) — Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein, publisher of The Criterion, newspaper of the Indianapolis Archdiocese, has received the Bishop John England Award from the Catholic Press Association.

The archbishop, a Benedictine, has headed the archdiocese since 1992.

The England award is named for the Irish-born bishop of Charleston, S.C., who founded The Catholic Miscellany, the oldest Catholic newspaper in the U.S. in terms of continuous publication. Presented annually, the award recognizes publishers in the Catholic press for the defense of First Amendment rights, such as freedom of the press and freedom of religion.

It is the CPA’s highest award for publishers.

This year’s Clarion Award from the Catholic Academy for Communications Arts Professionals has been presented to Cheri Lomonte and Jeff Gardner of the Frontline Faith Project, which delivers compact MP3 players to members of the military that are preloaded with Catholic spiritual content, especially as it pertains to military service.

Both awards were announced at a June 23 luncheon during the two organization’s joint Catholic Media Convention in Pittsburgh.

The Clarion Award recognizes “a timely contribution to Catholic communicators through organizational service; through creativity in a communications

effort or product; through service to a diocese, institution or religious order; at a personal or career milestone; through excellence in communications leadership, ecumenical cooperation or industry collaboration.”

Lomonte, of Lakeway Texas, is an author and co-host of the award-winning radio program “Mary’s Touch.” Gardner, of Columbia, Mo., co-founded and became CEO of Catholic Radio International.com — an Internetbased Catholic radio network.

He currently is the executive producer of “Mary’s Touch,” Frontline Faith and other projects.

Their project was a year in the making and was launched in July 2010. The MP3s are distributed through families and chaplains.

So far more than 16,000 players have reached members of the military and their families, “with a special emphasis on injured troops and troops stationed in Iraq or Afghanistan,” according to a press release about the project.

“Our troops do not get to see a priest for sometimes seven to eight months,” Lomonte said told Catholic News Service in a July 2010 interview. “That would be like you and me not being able to receive the Eucharist until Valentine’s Day, or sometime in the spring.”

“We have 330,000 Catholics in our military, and our longterm goal is to have an MP3 player called ‘Frontline Faith’ to every member in our military who wants it,” she added.

high performance vehicle — Lightning McQueen, voice by Owen Wilson, is seen in the animated movie “Cars 2.” For a brief review of this film see CNS Movie Capsules below. (CNS photo/ Disney)

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

“Bad Teacher” (Columbia) Coarse comedy celebrates a morally impaired middle-school teacher (Cameron Diaz) bent on landing a rich husband. Foulmouthed, slatternly, racist, and conniving, she sets her sights on a new substitute teacher (Justin Timberlake) while feuding with one full-time colleague (Lucy Punch) and rejecting the attentions of another (Jason Segel). Working from a script by Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg, director Jake Kasdan has fashioned a monotone picture in which every stab at humor derives from humiliation. All in all, the tawdry exhibition fails to shock, subvert, or entertain.

Several scenes depicting nonmarital sexual activity, much drug use and alcohol consumption, at least one instance of upper female nudity, frequent explicit sexual humor, some uses of profanity, pervasive rough, crude, and crass language, some scatological humor. 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.

“Cars 2” (Disney/Pixar) In director John Lasseter’s winsome — and equally family-friendly — sequel to 2006’s

“Cars,” some of the anthropomorphic vehicles of the first feature depart Route 66 for an around-the-world adventure as a veteran racecar (voice of Owen Wilson) accepts a challenge to compete in the first-ever World Grand Prix across three countries. With his best friend, a hapless tow truck (voice of Larry the Cable Guy), in tow, he takes on his main rival, a cocky Italian Formula One speedster (voice of John Tuturro). A case of mistaken identity, meanwhile, sees the amigos mixed up in James-Bond-style intrigue involving an Aston Martin

(voice of Michael Caine) who is the superspy of British Intelligence. Amid the sight gags and belly laughs are good lessons about family, friendship, selfesteem, environmental stewardship and acceptance of others.

Some of the action, however — mainly the spy scenes showcasing explosions, gunfights, and car “torture” — may be too intense for the littlest viewers. The Catholic News Service classification is A-I — general patronage. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is G — general audiences, all ages admitted.

Diocese of Fall River TV Mass on WLNE Channel 6 Sunday, July 3, 11:00 a.m.

Celebrant is Father David C. Frederici, parochial vicar at St. Elizabeth Seton Parish in North Falmouth and St. John the Evangelist Parish in Pocasset

July 1, 2011

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To Live Each Day with Dignity: A statement on physician-assisted suicide

Editor’s note: The following statement on the immorality of euthanasia was passed and promulgated by the United States bishops at their June meeting held recently outside of Seattle.

To live in a manner worthy of our human dignity, and to spend our final days on this earth in peace and comfort, surrounded by loved ones — that is the hope of each of us. In particular, Christian hope sees these final days as a time to prepare for our eternal destiny.

Today, however, many people fear the dying process. They are afraid of being kept alive past life’s natural limits by burdensome medical technology. They fear experiencing intolerable pain and suffering, losing control over bodily functions, or lingering with severe dementia.

They worry about being abandoned or becoming a burden on others.

Our society can be judged by how we respond to these fears. A caring community devotes more attention, not less, to members facing the most vulnerable times in their lives.

When people are tempted to see their own lives as diminished in value or meaning, they most need the love and assistance of others to assure them of their inherent worth.

The healing art of medicine is an important part of this assistance. Even when a cure is not possible, medicine plays a critical role in providing “palliative care” — alleviating pain and other symptoms and meeting basic needs. Such care should combine medical skill with attention to the emotional as well as spiritual needs of those facing the end of life.

A Renewed Threat to Human Dignity Today there is a campaign to respond to these fears and needs in a radically different way. It uses terms like “death with dignity” to describe a self-inflicted death, generally using a drug overdose prescribed by a doctor for the purpose of suicide.

This campaign to legalize doctor-prescribed suicide has been rejected by most policymakers in our society. Although Oregon passed a law in 1994 allowing physicians to prescribe deadly drugs for some patients, similar proposals were rejected by legislatures and voters in all other states for many years. The claim of a constitutional right to assisted suicide was firmly rejected in 1997 by the U.S. Supreme Court, which upheld state laws against the practice as legitimate safeguards for innocent human life and the ethical integ-

rity of medicine.

But after 14 years of defeats, the assisted suicide campaign advanced its agenda when Washington state passed a law like Oregon’s in 2008. The following year, Montana’s highest court suggested that physicianassisted suicide for terminally ill patients is not always against public policy. With expanded funding from wealthy donors, assisted suicide proponents have renewed their aggressive nationwide campaign through legislation, litigation, and public advertising, targeting states they see as most susceptible to their message.

is a corruption of the healing art.

It even violates the Hippocratic Oath that has guided physicians for millennia: “I will not give a lethal drug to anyone if I am asked, nor will I advise such a plan.”

Proponents know these facts, so they avoid terms such as “assisting suicide” and instead use euphemisms such as “aid in dying.” The organization leading this campaign has even concealed its agenda by changing its name. The Hemlock Society, whose very name reminded people of the harsh reality of death by poison, has become “Compassion and Choices.”

a kind of tunnel vision that sees relief only in death. They need help to be freed from their suicidal thoughts through counseling and support and, when necessary and helpful, medication.

Because the illnesses that cause or aggravate suicidal desires are often overlooked or misdiagnosed, many civil laws provide for psychological evaluation and treatment for those who have attempted suicide. The Catholic Church, as well, recognizes that “grave psychological disturbances, anguish, or grave fear of hardship, suffering, or torture” can diminish the responsibility of people committing suicide;

If they succeed, society will undergo a radical change. Jewish and Christian moral traditions have long rejected the idea of assisting in another’s suicide.

Catholic teaching views suicide as a grave offense against love of self, one that also breaks the bonds of love and solidarity with family, friends, and God (“Catechism of the Catholic Church” [CCC], no. 2281). To assist another’s suicide is to take part in “an injustice which can never be excused, even if it is requested” (John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae, no. 66). Most people, regardless of religious affiliation, know that suicide is a terrible tragedy, one that a compassionate society should work to prevent.

They realize that allowing doctors to prescribe the means for their patients to kill themselves

Plain speaking is needed to strip away this veneer and uncover what is at stake, for this agenda promotes neither free choice nor compassion.

The Illusion of Freedom Does the drive to legalize physician-assisted suicide really enhance choices or freedom for people with serious health conditions? No, it does not, for several reasons.

First, medical professionals recognize that people who take their own lives commonly suffer from a mental illness, such as clinical depression. Suicidal desires may be triggered by very real setbacks and serious disappointments in life. However, suicidal persons become increasingly incapable of appreciating options for dealing with these problems, suffering from

the Church encourages Catholics to pray for them, trusting in God’s mercy (CCC, no. 2282-3).

These statements about psychological disturbance and diminished responsibility are also true of people who attempt suicide during serious illness. Yet this is often ignored in proposals authorizing assistance in these individuals’ suicides. Many such proposals permit — but do not require — an evaluation for mental illness or depression before lethal drugs are prescribed.

In practice such evaluations are rare, and even a finding of mental illness or depression does not necessarily prevent prescribing the drugs. No evaluation is done at the time the drugs are actually taken.

In fact, such laws have generally taken great care to avoid

real scrutiny of the process for doctor-prescribed death — or any inquiry into whose choice is served. In Oregon and Washington, for example, all reporting is done solely by the physician who prescribes lethal drugs.

Once they are prescribed, the law requires no assessment of whether patients are acting freely, whether they are influenced by those who have financial or other motives for ensuring their death, or even whether others actually administer the drugs.

Here the line between assisted suicide and homicide becomes blurred.

People who request death are vulnerable. They need care and protection. To offer them lethal drugs is a victory not for freedom but for the worst form of neglect. Such abandonment is especially irresponsible when society is increasingly aware of elder abuse and other forms of mistreatment and exploitation of vulnerable persons.

Second, even apparently free choices may be unduly influenced by the biases and wishes of others. Legalization proposals generally leave in place the laws against assisting most people to commit suicide, but they define a class of people whose suicides may be facilitated rather than prevented. That class typically includes people expected to live less than six months. Such predictions of a short life are notoriously unreliable. They also carry a built-in ambiguity, as some legal definitions of terminal illness include individuals who have a short time to live only if they do not receive life-supporting treatment. Thus many people with chronic illnesses or disabilities — who could live a long time if they receive basic care — may be swept up in such a definition. However wide or narrow the category may be, it defines a group of people whose death by lethal overdose is wrongly treated by the law as objectively good or acceptable, unlike the suicide of anyone else.

By rescinding legal protection for the lives of one group of people, the government implicitly communicates the message — before anyone signs a form to accept this alleged benefit — that they may be better off dead.

Thus the bias of too many ablebodied people against the value of life for someone with an illness or disability is embodied in official policy.

This biased judgment is fueled by the excessively high premium our culture places on productivity and autonomy, which tends to discount the lives Continued on page 14

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The Anchor

July 1, 2011

To Live Each Day with Dignity: A statement on physician-assisted suicide Continued from page 13 of those who have a disability or are dependent on others. If these persons say they want to die, others may be tempted to regard this not as a call for help but as the reasonable response to what they agree is a meaningless life.

Those who choose to live may then be seen as selfish or irrational, as a needless burden on others, and even be encouraged to view themselves that way.

In short, the assisted suicide agenda promotes a narrow and distorted notion of freedom, by creating an expectation that certain people, unlike others, will be served by being helped to choose death. Many people with illnesses and disabilities who struggle against great odds for their genuine rights — the right to adequate health care and housing, opportunities for work and mobility, and so on — are deservedly suspicious when the freedom society most eagerly offers them is the “freedom” to take their lives.

Third, there is a more profound reason why the campaign for assisted suicide is a threat, not an aid, to authentic human freedom.

The founders of our country declared that each human being has certain inalienable rights that government must protect. It is no accident that they named life before liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Life itself is a basic human good, the condition for enjoying all other goods on this earth. Therefore the right to life is the most basic human right.

Other valued rights — the right to vote, to freedom of speech, or to equal protection under law — lose their foundation if life itself can be destroyed with impunity.

As Christians we go even further: Life is our first gift from an infinitely loving Creator. It is the most fundamental element of our God-given human dignity. Moreover, by assuming and sharing our human nature, the Son of God has more fully revealed and enhanced the sacred character of each human life.

Therefore one cannot uphold human freedom and dignity by devaluing human life. A choice to take one’s life is a supreme contradiction of freedom, a choice to eliminate all choices.

And a society that devalues some people’s lives, by hastening and facilitating their deaths, will ultimately lose respect for their other rights and freedoms.

Thus in countries that have used the idea of personal autonomy to justify voluntary assisted suicide and euthanasia, physicians have moved on to take the lives of adults who never asked

to die, and newborn children who have no choice in the matter. They have developed their own concept of a “life not worth living” that has little to do with the choice of the patient.

Leaders of the “aid in dying” movement in our country have also voiced support for ending the lives of people who never asked for death, whose lives they see as meaningless or as a costly burden on the community.

A False Compassion The idea that assisting a suicide shows compassion and

to terminally ill patients, now provide lethal drugs to people with chronic illnesses and disabilities, mental illness, and even melancholy. Once they convinced themselves that ending a short life can be an act of compassion, it was morbidly logical to conclude that ending a longer life may show even more compassion. Psychologically, as well, the physician who has begun to offer death as a solution for some illnesses is tempted to view it as the answer for an ever-broader range of problems.

understand. Why would medical professionals spend a lifetime developing the empathy and skills needed for the difficult but important task of providing optimum care, once society has authorized a “solution” for suffering patients that requires no skill at all? Once some people have become candidates for the inexpensive treatment of assisted suicide, public and private payers for health coverage also find it easy to direct life-affirming resources elsewhere.

A Better Way

life is precious — Taking on the issue of physician-assisted suicide in the state of Washington, where voters most recently approved it, the U.S. bishops declared suicide “a terrible tragedy, one that a compassionate society should work to prevent.” Approved 191-1 June 16 at the bishops’ spring general assembly near Seattle, the policy statement is called “To Live Each Day With Dignity.”

(CNS file photo)

eliminates suffering is equally misguided. It eliminates the person, and results in suffering for those left behind — grieving families and friends, and other vulnerable people who may be influenced by this event to see death as an escape.

The sufferings caused by chronic or terminal illness are often severe. They cry out for our compassion, a word whose root meaning is to “suffer with” another person. True compassion alleviates suffering while maintaining solidarity with those who suffer. It does not put lethal drugs in their hands and abandon them to their suicidal impulses, or to the self-serving motives of others who may want them dead. It helps vulnerable people with their problems instead of treating them as the problem.

Taking life in the name of compassion also invites a slippery slope toward ending the lives of people with non-terminal conditions. Dutch doctors, who once limited euthanasia

This agenda actually risks adding to the suffering of seriously ill people. Their worst suffering is often not physical pain, which can be alleviated with competent medical care, but feelings of isolation and hopelessness. The realization that others — or society as a whole — may see their death as an acceptable or even desirable solution to their problems can only magnify this kind of suffering.

Even health care providers’ ability and willingness to provide palliative care such as effective pain management can be undermined by authorizing assisted suicide. Studies indicate that untreated pain among terminally ill patients may increase and development of hospice care can stagnate after assisted suicide is legalized. Government programs and private insurers may even limit support for care that could extend life, while emphasizing the “cost-effective” solution of a doctor-prescribed death. The reason for such trends is easy to

There is an infinitely better way to address the needs of people with serious illnesses.

Our society should embrace what Pope John Paul II called “the way of love and true mercy” — a readiness to surround patients with love, support, and companionship, providing the assistance needed to ease their physical, emotional, and spiritual suffering. This approach must be anchored in unconditional respect for their human dignity, beginning with respect for the inherent value of their lives.

Respect for life does not demand that we attempt to prolong life by using medical treatments that are ineffective or unduly burdensome. Nor does it mean we should deprive suffering patients of needed pain medications out of a misplaced or exaggerated fear that they might have the side effect of shortening life.

The risk of such an effect is extremely low when pain medication is adjusted to a patient’s level of pain, with the laudable purpose of simply addressing

that pain (CCC, no. 2279). In fact, severe pain can shorten life, while effective palliative care can enhance the length as well as the quality of a person’s life. It can even alleviate the fears and problems that lead some patients to the desperation of considering suicide.

Effective palliative care also allows patients to devote their attention to the unfinished business of their lives, to arrive at a sense of peace with God, with loved ones, and with themselves.

No one should dismiss this time as useless or meaningless.

Learning how to face this last stage of our earthly lives is one of the most important and meaningful things each of us will do, and caregivers who help people through this process are also doing enormously important work.

As Christians we believe that even suffering itself need not be meaningless — for as Pope John Paul II showed during his final illness, suffering accepted in love can bring us closer to the mystery of Christ’s sacrifice for the salvation of others.

Conclusion Catholics should be leaders in the effort to defend and uphold the principle that each of us has a right to live with dignity through every day of our lives. As disciples of one who is Lord of the living, we need to be messengers of the Gospel of Life. We should join with other concerned Americans, including disability rights advocates, charitable organizations, and members of the healing professions, to stand for the dignity of people with serious illnesses and disabilities and promote life-affirming solutions for their problems and hardships. We should ensure that the families of people with chronic or terminal illness will advocate for the rights of their loved ones, and will never feel they have been left alone in caring for their needs.

The claim that the “quick fix” of an overdose of drugs can substitute for these efforts is an affront to patients, caregivers and the ideals of medicine.

When we grow old or sick and we are tempted to lose heart, we should be surrounded by people who ask “How can we help?” We deserve to grow old in a society that views our cares and needs with a compassion grounded in respect, offering genuine support in our final days.

The choices we make together now will decide whether this is the kind of caring society we will leave to future generations. We can help build a world in which love is stronger than death.

July 1, 2011

Prayer in times of suffering continued from page one

sharing two stories; one of a woman whose husband survived a horrific car crash but only a few weeks later found themselves comforting a couple who lost their own daughter in a car crash, and of Father Ryan’s family coming together when his oldest brother was diagnosed with, and eventually passed away from, brain cancer.

“Two painful, real life moments,” said Father Ryan, and then he posed a few questions to the audience. “How should we perceive and talk about God in the face of tragic, inexplicable suffering? What kind of discourse is appropriate?

What constitutes good and effective prayer?”

Father Ryan went on to explain that he is often asked these questions as many seem to perceive him as the expert on the topic due to his credentials, and he said he often draws on his studies and past theologians for help in finding the answers.

“I think when it comes down to the mystery of suffering and prayers in the times of suffering, I’m not sure if there are any experts,” said Father Ryan. “No one has the magic formula.”

Everyone is an amateur or apprentice that needs inspirational insight, said Father Ryan, who broke his presentation into four areas that addressed the subject; though none would provide the perfect solution, he said, adding, “I do think they speak about our relationship with God in times of suffering and about God’s relationship with us.”

“The Cry of Lament” had Father Ryan opening with the classic lament found in Psalm 22, where Jesus cries out dur-

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The Anchor ing His crucifixion, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, from the words of My groaning? Oh My God, I cry by day but You do not answer; and by night, but find no rest … I am poured out like water, and all My bones are out of joint; My heart is like wax; it is melted within My breast; My mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and My tongue sticks to My jaws; You lay Me in the dust of death.”

There are 150 Psalms classified by different genres with the most numerous being laments, thus showing that the Hebrew ideal was not to suffer alone and in silence, explained Father Ryan.

“I think that tells us something about prayer in times of suffering,” he said. “God’s people did speak out when they were in pain. The cry of lament was so natural to them that it could become a substantial part of their official prayer book. The Hebrew ideal was not one of suffering alone or suffering in silence, rather they expressed their feelings to God in very honest and direct fashion, even with a boldness that might strike us as presumptuous.”

He added, “Speaking to God in times of pain is a sign of vital faith, a faith that is looking not just to hold on but to grow and mature. It’s actually a sign of robust faith in God and that trust in God is transformative.”

“Jesus’ Proclamation of the Reign of God” was Father Ryan’s second layer to his presentation. Jesus made the reign of God present in everything He said and did, a moment highlighted by His meeting the leper, “a scene filled with

divine power and raw human emotion,” said Father Ryan.

These moments focus the ideal felt by people, the yearning of the people of Israel for God to come in power and to rule the world in the way that He had intended creation to be.

“Through Jesus’ power and deed,” said Father Ryan, “creation was being restored to the condition intended by God.” Jesus was engaging in a type of “mortal combat,” said Father Ryan, “ultimately revealing the God, who is ultimately the God of light.”

While addressing the third part of his presentation, “The Resurrection of the Crucified Jesus,” Father Ryan reminded those in the audience of the historical significance of a crucifixion; a scandal in Jesus’ times that became the symbolic cross that His disciples had to bear.

“We’re so accustomed to see the symbol of the cross and the crucifix in front of us, that we can easily forget the horrific and shameful character of death by crucifixion,” said Father Ryan. “It was a form of execution reserved for slaves, or those considered dangerous to the civil order. It meant to teach the victim a lesson and serve as a public deterrent to anyone who saw it.”

Such a traumatic form of suffering felt by those who identified their lives with Jesus was healed only by His Resurrection at Easter, said Father Ryan, adding in a quotation by Father Gerald O’Collins: “In short, the resurrection fully and finally revealed the meaning and truth of Christ’s life, person, work and death. It set a divine seal on Jesus and His ministry” (Christology, 98).

The raising of Jesus was to bring life out of death, said Father Ryan. “That is God’s signature activity.”

During the fourth and final part of his presentation, Father Ryan focused on “The Church as the Body of Christ” by talking about how the Church as the Body of Christ “is more than merely an image or a metaphor, we believe it as a reality. The Church really is the Body of Christ in the world, and it reflects the vital organic connection between Christ and the Church.”

He added, “When we try to

pray in our own moments of struggle and suffering, sometimes when we don’t know what to say or how to pray. We can be sure that it is Christ, who is not only prayed to by us, but is praying in us and for us. He knows human suffering from the inside and thus He knows the suffering of every person.”

The second part of the threepart summer series will have Dr. Thomas Groome speaking at Christ the King Parish in Mashpee by presenting “What Keeps Us Catholic” on July 14 at 7 p.m.

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This week in

Diocesan history

50 years ago — Bishop James L. Connolly, D.D., Bishop of the Fall River Diocese, celebrated Mass in Minneapolis to open the annual convention of Serra International, an organization of laymen who work to promote vocations to the priesthood.

10 years ago — The Fall River Diocese gained two more priests when Father David A. Pignato of Foxboro and Father Rodney E. Thibault of Fall River were ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Sean P. O’Malley, OFM Cap., in St. Mary’s Cathedral.

25 years ago — The final graduating class from Nazareth Hall, Fall River, gathered to celebrate Mass at Holy Name Parish in Fall River. The school was closed due to declining enrollment as public school special needs programs increased. Msgr. Daniel F. Shalloo, pastor, was principal celebrant for the Mass.

One year ago — The Diocesan Leadership Development program was held at the Holiday Inn in Taunton. A crowd of approximately 200 parochial leaders and clergy members listened to keynote speaker Father Anthony Ciorra, director of the Fordham University Lay Ecclesial Ministry program.

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Youth Pages

16

diggin’ the dunes — The fourth- and fifth-grade classes at Holy Name School in Fall River recently visited Barney’s Joy in Dartmouth as part of the program offered by the Lloyd Center. The students explored four habitats. At the salt marsh and sand dunes, the students identified the flora and fauna and talked about the adaptations organisms needed to survive in their environment. They also dug for fresh water in the dunes. At the beach, they collected various univalve and bivalve shells and dug for mole crabs. Their favorite habitat was the estuary where the students used nets to catch fish, shrimp, crabs, worms, and even a flounder and pipe fish. Here students dig for fresh water.

remembering a hero — Students from the Wee Deliver Postal Program at SS. Peter and Paul School in Fall River, recently handed out American flags on behalf of the Barrett Family at the renaming ceremony of the Fall River Post Office in honor of Sgt. Robert Barrett, who died serving our country in Afghanistan last year.

July 1, 2011

worth their medal — St. John the Evangelist School in Attleboro annually recognizes student athletes for Most Improved and Team Spirit. Students in grades three-eight may participate in basketball; grades four-eight in volleyball; and five-eight in cross country and track and field.

St. John’s has more than 180 student athletes. This year, the Bill Jost Award was given to John Gautieri, right. This award is presented to a volunteer who has given time, passion, and talent in special ways to the school. Here Gautieri, the assistant eighth-grade basketball coach, presents Kyle Lameiras the award for team spirit. Tim Gautieri, left, received the most improved award.

WAXING HISTORIC — The fifth-grade students at Our Lady of Lourdes School in Taunton recently presented a “Living Wax Museum,” of several historical figures from their social studies text. The students researched, reported and dressed as their characters. Here are Jacques Cartier and Pocahontas.

rock on — With more than 100 years of combined experience in education at Bishop Feehan High School in Attleboro, math department chairman Virginia Jolin, math teacher Judith McLaughlin, and director of guidance Neil Loew, recently said goodbye to fellow faculty at a reception at Highland Country Club in Attleboro in honor of their retirement. Faculty members with close relationships to the retirees paid tribute by sharing memories and poignant goodbyes.

Each was presented with flowers and university-styled rocking chairs featuring the Bishop Feehan seal. Here, Jolin is presented with a rocking chair by President Chris Servant.

Youth Pages

July 1, 2011

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Take it from the Doctor (Seuss)

’m sure most of you have read books by the author known as Dr. Seuss. I was a big fan of his books when I was a child. His first book, “The Cat in the Hat,” was a favorite of mine. Not only were his books fun to read, but if you took the time, you could always find the little lessons of life embedded in the story line.

I think a lot of what Dr. Seuss wrote was “deep” although, Sister Mary Anthony, my fourth-grade teacher most likely wouldn’t agree. I recall quite vividly my attempt to convince her that “The Cat in the Hat Comes Back” was a fourth-grade level book and that she should accept my book report on that book. I was quite proud that my book report was longer than the book itself and yet she hardly agreed with me and rejected the book report with a wave of the hand.

That was the last time I read a Dr. Seuss book until a few years ago. In the early days of the Christian Leadership Institute, Father David Costa, the then-director of CLI, would read a Dr. Seuss book at the CLI graduation ceremony. I understand it was the final book that Dr. Seuss wrote entitled, “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” Soon after that CLI, I went out and purchased that book and now have several copies lying around the house. I gave a copy to each of our daughters at graduation

and have read that same book know what you know. to the graduates of CLI at their And YOU are the guy who’ll first reunion. Now some 50 years decide where to go.” later, I’m once again reading and Of course, we hope you know writing about Dr. Seuss. Hopethat you are the one that will fully this time our editor, Dave choose the direction of your Jolivet, won’t return this article life. Life is choice. You can with the wave of a hand as Sister let it happen to you or you can Mary Anthony did! experience it on your own terms.

This has been the month for We parents only hope that we’ve graduations and many of you instilled the values that will act will be heading to high school, as signposts along the way. But or college or the work place in the months ahead. You’ll all be making that important transition to the next phase of life and perhaps reflecting on some of the words of Dr.

By Frank Lucca Seuss may make that transition easier.

While typical of Dr. Seuss’ writing style, this book ultimately, you make each deciwas written for an older audision. ence. In the typical sing-songy Sometimes you’ll choose rhyme, the good doctor points the right way and sometimes out many of the important lesthe wrong way. Through it all, sons of what will follow as many however, I hope the adults and of you venture on in life. In this friends in your life will be there simple, short parable on life, I for you. You will, of course, believe much can be learned. It’s head down a wrong path or two all about going out and finding (we all do) and you’ll occayour way in life, weathering dif- sionally find some not so good ficulties, being in charge of and streets. taking responsibility for your life “With your head full of brains and how it turns out. It begins: and your shoes full of feet, “… You have brains in your you’re too smart to go down head. any not-so-good street.”

You have feet in your shoes As you transition on to the You can steer yourself next phase of your life, you will any direction you choose. attempt to do your best but it You’re on your own. And you won’t always be easy.

“Except when you don’ t Because, sometimes, you won’t.”

Try hard as you may to avoid those bumps you’ll hit some along the road. You’ll be tested and tempted as you move through these years toward adulthood.

You will come to a place where the streets are not marked.

“Some windows are lighted.

But mostly they’re darked.”

You may even lose your way and end up “in a useless place.”

“And IF you go in, should you turn left or right ... or right-and-threequarters? Or, maybe, not quite?”

The road may be frightening and long and you may not want to go on. You may yearn for the “old” days when everything seemed to be much more simple.

Ultimately, however, you will learn to cope with life’s ups and downs, and that “slumps, lurches, and waiting places happen” to every Tom, Dick, and Mary.

Sometimes, because of the road you choose, you may feel that you are going it alone. Take those times of aloneness to really learn about yourself.

“All Alone!

Whether you like it or not, Alone will be something you’ll be quite a lot.

On and on you will hike

and I know you’ll hike far and face up to your problems whatever they are.”

Remember, that with prayer and with Jesus by your side, even though that thought may now seem the least cool thing to think about, you will be able to get through. Remember, there is nothing, absolutely nothing, that you and God together cannot get through. Just keep that one thought in your mind.

“And will you succeed?

Yes! You will, indeed!

Kid, you will move mountains!”

The last words we will speak to the graduates of CLI this week will be: “So as you move on, remember that ‘a million miles begins with a step or two.’” Take one step at a time. Keep your eyes on the finish line but don’t be in a rush to get to the finish line. Enjoy the scenes along the way. Stay faithful, be caring and loving and enjoy these days of your youth.

“A happy transition to all who are moving on. You’ll get through it OK! Today is your day!

Your mountain is waiting.

So ... get on your way!”

Frank Lucca is a youth minister at St. Dominic’s Parish in Swansea. He is chairman and director of the YES! Retreat and director of the Christian Leadership Institute (CLI). He is a husband and a father of two daughters.

WASHINGTON (CNS) — Hearts on Fire, a Catholic young adult retreat program, is storming cities across the Northwest this summer.

No, “this is not the world’s most perfectly cut diamond,” joked Jesuit Father Phil Hurley, referring to a popular line of engagement rings. The priest is the national youth and young adult director of the Apostleship of Prayer, a Jesuit association leading the Hearts on Fire retreats.

The retreats are for young adults ages 18-39, married or single, based on the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius and the spirituality of the Apostleship of Prayer.

“It’s a crucial time for people in their lives,” Father Hurley told Catholic News Service, “they are at a place in their life that they can make decisions soon and take action on it right away and make a big difference.”

Father Hurley explained that the retreat is focused on trying

to connect faith to everyday hoped to gain “a better sense of to be drawn deeper into God’s life. Participants learn about how young people like myself love for you.” the Apostleship of Prayer’s could better incorporate prayer “Hopefully this retreat leads idea of making a morning of- and spirituality into my every- us to make choices through fering, living the Eucharist day life, not just that once a Christ, with Christ, in Christ,” throughout the day and ending week, on Sunday at Mass.” said presenter Sean Powers, the day with an evealso a Jesuit scholasning review. don’t like this whole separa- tic. Powers engaged The retreat also tion into this weird category of the audience through leaves time for young young adult,” he said. “I feel like, as a anecdotes and comiadults to socialize cal references. with one another dur- young adult, no one asks very much of Sarah Yaklic, cooring meal times and a me, and I find that a little bit frustrating. dinator of young adult coffeehouse social.

You know, I have talents, I have skills, ministry for the ArchAt a June 17 Hearts and I don’t find people asking to use diocese of Washingon Fire retreat in ton told CNS, “One Washington, Father those skills.” of the goals of young Hurley spoke to a adult ministry, espegroup of young adults cially in the Archdioabout competing loves in life, Phillip Kronstein, another cese of Washington, is to consuch as hobbies, family, God retreat participant, said he was nect them (young adults) to and work. happy to attend because it’s their parish communities.”

“How do we get those dif- often hard to find fellowship Nathan Castellanos agreed ferent things ordered in our and people who share his val- with Yaklic, saying he feels life so that our hearts really ues outside of specific parish- young adults should be treatare on fire?” he asked the au- based young adult groups. ed like “normal members of a dience.

“We hope we leave you parish.”

“When I read about this I wanting more,” Sam Sawyer, a “I don’t like this whole sepathought, ‘That’s exactly what Jesuit scholastic and one of the ration into this weird category I’m looking for,’” said college presenters, told the group in of young adult,” he said. “I feel student Amanda Ussak, who Washington. “We hope for you like, as a young adult, no one

asks very much of me, and I find that a little bit frustrating.

You know, I have talents, I have skills, and I don’t find people asking to use those skills.”

Father Hurley told CNS he believes it is important for parishes to have a young adult ministry group, but also to incorporate young adults into the larger parish community by providing leadership roles.

“Young adults have particular needs but also have a unique perspective to offer,” he said.

In the end, Castellanos told CNS that he found “not necessarily big answers to life questions, but simple peace with where I’m at, and that’s a blessing.”

Hearts on Fire will be holding retreats this summer in Philadelphia, Charlotte, N.C., Baltimore, Richmond, Va., and more locations are expected.

Information about Hearts on Fire program can be found at http://apostleshipofprayer. org/heartsonfire.html.

Be Not Afraid

Apostleship of Prayer members setting ‘Hearts on Fire’ with retreats

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Devotion to the Sacred Heart remains crucial continued from page one

treat Center located in Wareham.

It was to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque that Christ appeared several times to express His desire that mankind should honor His Sacred Heart, a symbol of God’s desire that all should share eternal life with Him. In “Revelations of Our Lord to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque,” she says of Our Lord, “And He showed me that it was His great desire of being loved by men and of withdrawing them from the path of ruin into which Satan hurls such crowds of them, that made Him form the design of manifesting His Heart to men, with all the treasures of love, of mercy, of grace, of sanctification and salvation which it contains, in order that those who desire to render Him and procure for Him all the honor and love possible, might themselves be abundantly enriched with those divine treasures of which this Heart is the source.

“He should be honored under the figure of this Heart of flesh, and its image should be exposed ... . He promised me that wherever this image should be exposed with a view to showing it special honor, He would pour forth His blessings and graces. This devotion was the last effort of His love that He would grant to men in these latter ages, in order to withdraw them from the empire of Satan which He desired to de-

stroy, and thus to introduce them into the sweet liberty of the rule of His love, which He wished to restore in the hearts of all those who should embrace this devotion.

“The devotion is so pleasing to Him that He can refuse nothing to those who practice it.”

Listed throughout her writings are 12 promises of Our Lord to those who hold His Sacred Heart dear to them.

“I will give them all the graces necessary in their state of life.

“I will give peace in their families and will unite families that are divided.

“I will console them in all their troubles.

“I will be their refuge during life and above all in death.

“I will bestow the blessings of Heaven on all their enterprises.

“Sinners shall find in My Heart the source and infinite ocean of mercy.

“Tepid souls shall become fervent.

“Fervent souls shall rise quickly to great perfection.

“I will bless those places wherein the image of My Heart shall be exposed and honored and will imprint My love on the hearts of those who would wear this image on their person. I will also destroy in them all disordered movements.

“I will give to priests who are animated by a tender devo-

tion to My Divine Heart the gift of touching the most hardened hearts.

“Those who promote this devotion shall have their names written in My Heart, never to be effaced.

“I promise you in the excessive mercy of My Heart that My all-powerful love will grant to all those who communicate on the First Friday in nine consecutive months, the grace of final penitence: they will not die in My disgrace, nor without receiving their Sacraments. My Divine Heart shall be their safe refuge in this last moment.”

The Nine Fridays must be made in honor of His Sacred Heart, meaning, practicing the devotion and having a great love of His Sacred Heart. They must be on the first Friday of the month for nine consecutive months, and Communion must be received worthily.

The road to Jesus’ Sacred Heart can take many avenues other than in apparitions.

Sometimes it can occur to a young sailor in the U.S. Navy, halfway through his four-year hitch, while stationed in Spain.

Sacred Hearts Father David Lupo, the former vocations director for the Congregation of

July 1, 2011 the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary’s Eastern U.S. Province, and now part of the retreat staff at Sacred Hearts Retreat Center, was called to a strong devotion to the Sacred Heart after something as simple as picking up a copy of Catholic Digest at a chapel.

“I read the articles in the magazine, and then noticed in the back that there were advertisements for religious communities,” Father Lupo told The Anchor. “These ads became more interesting as the days went on, and out of interest I wrote to a few communities, asking basic questions. In time I wrote to more communities, and this process of correspondence continued after I left Spain in 1978, to spend 15 months on a Navy oiler. Before I left the Navy in December 1979, I visited a few of these communities to inform my discernment.

But I was most moved when a vocation director visited my humble family and me.

“I guess I was looking for the personal touch. I was also looking for community. My experience with charismatic Catholicism taught me the value of community living for Christ. The Sacred Heart of Jesus has become more meaningful to me as well, since joining the community.

Around the Diocese 7/2

A Day with Mary will take place tomorrow at St. Lawrence Martyr Church, 565 County Street, New Bedford. There will be a video presentation, procession and crowning of the Blessed Virgin. Confessions will be heard and a bookstore will be available. For more information call 774-328-8394.

7/5

Our Lady of the Cape Parish will be hosting a six-week series, “Reading the Land — Digging the Bible — Jesus and His Geographical and Historical Jewish Context,” presented by Father Flavio Gillio, S.J. at the parish center 468 Stony Brook Road, Brewster. Father Flavio is a biblical scholar residing in Jerusalem. He holds degrees in Bible languages and archeology and he speaks six languages, including Hebrew. The next session on July 5 is “Who do you say that I am? (Lk 4:3144).” On Thursday evenings, Father Flavio will present a series of five award-winning films dealing with contemporary life in Israel. Discussions will follow. All are invited. For information on either series, email ourladyofthecape@yahoo.com or call 508-385-3252.

7/5

The Diocese of Fall River is sponsoring the opportunity for young men, ages 14-18, to deepen their faith, learn how to discern a vocation, learn more about the priesthood, and grow in greater fraternity with other young men from the diocese. Quo Vadis Days 2011 will be held July 5-8 at the Sacred Heart Retreat Center in Wareham. For more information contact Father Kevin Cook at 508-824-5705, email frcook@holyfamilytaunton.org, or visit www.qvdays.org.

7/9

Our Lady of the Cape Parish, 468 Stony Brook Road, Brewster, will host its annual Summer Fair on July 9 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The fair will offer jewelry, attic treasures, collectibles, crafts, books, toys, art work, baked goods, vintage linens and tools for sale, along with a cash raffle and snacks at the cafe or lunch at an outdoor barbecue.

7/13

An all-you-can-eat Chowder Fest will be held at St. Elizabeth’s Parish, 481 Quaker Road, North Falmouth, on July 13 from 5 to 7:30 p.m.

Clam cakes, clam chowder (white and red) along with corn bread will be served with lemonade and watermelon. Kids meals will available. The event is sponsored by the parish Men’s Club and members will be selling tickets after Masses beginning June 25 to support its scholarship program and activities. Tickets are also available at the rectory, Monday-Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

7/14

The second talk in the three-speaker Summer Catholic Reflections series at Christ the King Parish in Mashpee will take place on July 14 beginning at 7 p.m. Dr. Thomas Groome will discuss “What Keeps Us Catholic.” Dr. Groome is chairman of the Institute for Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry and is a professor of theology and Religious Education at Boston College. The series is co-sponsored by St. Anthony’s Parish, East Falmouth; Our Lady of Victory Parish, Centerville and Christ The King Parish, Mashpee.

7/16

Internationally acclaimed Irish Tenor Mark Forrest will return to Corpus Christi Parish, East Sandwich, on July 16 at 7:30 p.m. for a Eucharistic Night of Prayer. This unique hour-and-a-half program includes eucharistic adoration, music, meditations, and quiet time in prayer. Don’t miss this extraordinary opportunity to reflect and draw closer to Our Lord. For more information contact Maureen O’Brien at 508-888-2740.

7/17

Mark Forrest, acclaimed Irish tenor whose melodic voice has filled concert halls and cathedrals from Carnegie Hall to the Vatican, will perform a concert at St. Elizabeth Seton Parish, North Falmouth, on July 17 at 7 p.m. Forrest has sung inspirational hymns for luminaries such as Blessed Pope John Paul II and Blessed Mother Teresa. His soothing Broadway melodies have entertained award-winning performers. For tickets or more information call Pat Stone at 508-5637770.

“I have recently been asked to work with the Men of the Sacred Heart, who are involved with the Enthronement of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the Home. I also work the Sacred Heart Communities in Collaboration, which is composed of religious communities that have the Sacred Heart in their community name, or in their charism. We try to assemble a conference every few years to educate and inform ourselves and others about Sacred Heart spirituality.”

Father Lupo raised a concern about a waning devotion to Jesus’ Sacred Heart. “Many educated Catholics — ordained, religious and lay — are turned off by their experience of Sacred Heart spirituality,” he said. “Many others are turned on, but this group is fading. The challenge is to make Sacred Heart spirituality understandable (maybe even formative) to Catholics today, here, there and everywhere.

“Some Catholics, for example, are dissatisfied with the 18thcentury French understanding of adoration, consecration and reparation. Sacred Heart spirituality, which has biblical roots, did not end in 18th-century France.

Reparation, for example, is a problem to define in this Sacred Heart spirituality. Basically it involves coming to adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, to please Jesus, who despises the sin of the world, and/or the sinners of the world who refuse to love Him.” Father Lupo explained that for him and other members of the congregation, the Sacred Heart is the Risen Christ. “The Apostle Thomas, in doubt, touched this heart, and believed,” said Father Lupo. “And he was not condemned by the Risen Christ, but told about the value of believing without seeing. Thus, reparation must be seen anew, more connected with the instructions of the Risen Christ, less connected with the angry, scary Jesus of the Middle Ages. Reparation is more about the ministry of reconciliation and of evangelization.”

While Jesus’ visits to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque illuminated the profound love God has for His children, it is also a call for faithful to return that love and grow. “The Sacred Heart of Jesus is the visible image of the invisible love of God,” added Father Lupo. “God is love. This is not to say that God is a push-over, who always must love us no matter what we do. God’s astounding love makes us aware of our sinfulness. As we seek forgiveness, we are called to be disciples.

Whom God loves, from that one God seeks maturity, and growth in grace. If we are not growing in this relationship with the Risen Christ, we are slipping away, for a relationship is a living thing.”

July 1, 2011

Eucharistic Adoration in the Diocese

Acushnet — Eucharistic adoration takes place at St. Francis Xavier Parish on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays and Fridays 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.; Thursdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Saturdays 8 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays end with Evening Prayer and Benediction at 6:30 p.m.; Saturdays end with Benediction at 2:45 p.m.

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

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

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

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

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, following the 8 a.m. Mass until Benediction at 8 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 8:00 a.m. Mass until Rosary and Benediction at 6:30 p.m.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

NORTH DARTMOUTH — Eucharistic adoration takes place at St. Julie Billiart Church, 494 Slocum Road, every Tuesday from 7 to 8 p.m., ending with Benediction. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is available at this time.

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

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

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

WAREHAM — Adoration with opportunities for private and formal prayer is offered on the First Friday of each month from 8:30 a.m. until 8 p.m. at St. Patrick’s Church, High Street. The Prayer Schedule is as follows: 7:30 a.m. the Rosary; 8 a.m.

Mass; 8:30 a.m. exposition and Morning Prayer; 12 p.m. the Angelus; 3 p.m. Divine Mercy Chaplet; 5:30 p.m. Evening Prayer; 7 p.m. Sacrament of Confession; 8 p.m.

Benediction.

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

Order ‘saddened’ by Father Corapi’s decision to leave priesthood

WASHINGTON (CNS) — The Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity said it was “saddened” that Father John Corapi, one of the most visible members of its order, has decided to leave the order and the priesthood.

Father Corapi, 64, declared in a YouTube video and a blog posting on one of his websites, that he was leaving because he could not get a “fair hearing” on misconduct allegations that were lodged against him in March and which included what the priest said were sexual abuse charges.

The order, commonly referred to as SOLT, was in the midst of investigating the allegations when Father Corapi made his announcement. “Although the investigation was in progress, the SOLT had not arrived at any conclusion as to the credibility of the allegations under investigation,” said the statement, issued June 20 by Father Gerry Sheehan, the order’s regional priest-servant and Father Corapi’s superior.

Father Sheehan said the or-

In Your Prayers Please pray for these priests during the coming weeks July 2 Rev. Gerard A. Boisvert, Assistant, St. Anthony, New Bedford, 1967 Rev. Maurice H. Lamontagne, Retired Pastor, Our Lady of Grace, Westport, 1996 Rev. James T. Donohue, CSC, 2006 July 3 Rev. Thomas P. Doherty, Pastor, St. Kilian, New Bedford, 1942 July 4 Rev. James A. Coyle, S.T.L., Pastor, Holy Name, Fall River, 1955 Rev. Pierre E. Lachance, OP, Rector, St. Anne’s Shrine, Fall River, 2006 July 5 Rev. J.F. LaBonte, Retired Assistant, Sacred Heart, New Bedford, 1943 Rev. Edward P. Versailles, M.S., La Salette Shrine, North Attleboro, 1985 July 6 Rev. Edmond Francis, SS.CC., Pastor, St. Mary, Fairhaven, 1963 Rev. Paul J. Price, SS.CC., 2006` July 7 Rev. James E. Lynch, Founder, St. Joan of Arc, Orleans, 1965 July 8 Rev. Edward Murphy, Pastor, St. Mary, Fall River, 1887 Msgr. Patrick J. O’Neill, Retired Pastor, St. Julie Billiart, North Dartmouth, 1995

der’s last communication with Father Corapi took the form of a June 3 letter from him “indicating that, because of the physical, emotional and spiritual distress he has endured over the past few years, he could no longer continue to function as a priest or a member of the SOLT.” When Father Corapi made his public announcement he was definitely leaving the priesthood, “we heard it just like everyone else did, from YouTube,” Father Sheehan told Catholic News Service before the order released his statement. “We’re as surprised as everyone else is.”

The allegations first surfaced March 16, according to Father Sheehan’s statement, when the order and Bishop William M. Mulvey of Corpus Christi, Texas, the diocese where the society is based, received a letter from a woman alleging “conduct not in concert with the priestly state or his promises as a member of a society of apostolic life.” Father Corapi was suspended until an investigation into the charges could be completed.

Father Corapi had been highly visible for several years as a speaker and preacher, including a program on the Eternal Word Television Network. EWTN had taken his show off its schedule shortly after his suspension, saying it would not knowingly put on the air a priest whose faculties had been suspended.

The National Catholic Register, which is published by EWTN, reported that a complicating factor in the investigation was a breach-of-contract lawsuit filed by Father Corapi against his presumed accuser, forbidding her to reveal details of her tenure at Santa Cruz Ministries, the company owned by the priest that sells his CDs, DVDs and books.

“The SOLT is deeply saddened that Father Corapi is suffering distress. The SOLT is further saddened by Father Corapi’s response to these allegations. The SOLT will do all within its power to assist Father Corapi if he desires to seek a dispensation from his rights and obligations as a priest and as a professed member of the SOLT,” Father Sheehan’s statement said. “We request your prayers and the intercession of the Blessed Mother for the healing of Father Corapi and for any who have been negatively affected by Father Corapi’s decision to end his ministry as a priest and a member of the SOLT.”

In his blog posting, Father Corapi said, “For 20 years I did my best to guard and feed the sheep. Now, based on a totally unsubstantiated, undocumented allegation from a demonstrably troubled person I was thrown out like yesterday’s garbage. I accept that. Perhaps I deserve that.”

Father Corapi had complained from the outset, and he reiterated June 17, that the process used to investigate the allegations means “you are for all practical purposes assumed guilty until you can prove you are innocent.”

He said he would continue his radio work, but his website indicated his last radiocasts were only online, and the most recent of those were in midApril, before Easter.

“Father Corapi had not been determined guilty of any canonical or civil crimes. If the allegations had been found to be credible, the proper canonical due process would have been offered to Father Corapi, including his right to defense, to know his accuser and the complaint lodged, and a fair canonical trial with the right of recourse to the Holy See,” Father Sheehan said.

It was not immediately clear whether the investigation would continue.

“They can’t prove I’m guilty of the things alleged because I’m not, and they can’t prove I’m innocent because that is simply illogical and impossible,” Father Corapi said in his statement.

“I accept moving on, but I am not ready to be altogether extinguished just yet.”

Father Corapi’s Facebook page, which has nearly 53,000 followers, was filled with posts reacting to his announcement, with many people supporting him and denouncing the allegations and the Church, although some lamented his decision to leave the priesthood and others suggested caution in interpreting the events that led to his decision to leave the priesthood.

Santa Cruz Ministries was still offering a half-off discount on his CDs, DVDs and books in recognition of the 20th anniversary of his ordination. One of Father Corapi’s attorneys said in March the business — which was not under Church control — would continue, with proceeds helping pay attorney fees. The business has its headquarters in Kalispell, Mont., where Father Corapi has a residence, although he did not have priestly faculties in the Diocese of Helena, Mont.

20

H

The Anchor

July 1, 2011

There’s something in the air

e’s a breath of fresh air in a world grown stale and predictable. He’s tough, he’s a teammate, he’s a father, a husband, a proud American, and a devout Christian. Not your prototypical professional athlete.

Boston Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas has become a Beantown hero, ranking up there with the likes of Bobby Orr, Larry Bird, and Tom Brady.

Thomas recently completed a dream season for a National Hockey League goaltender. He led the Bruins to their first Stanley Cup championship in 29 years; he was named the NHL playoff MVP, and he won his second Vezina Trophy as the league’s top netminder. Yet he remains as humble and level-

headed as he always was. species as are left-handed pitchers He’s a perfect fit for the Bruin baseball and field-goal kickins, known more for a blue-collar ers in football), take a look at his work ethic than for a flashy, fimask. nessed style. He grew up in Flint, Tim Thomas is not a poster boy Mich., where hard work and family are staples in life.

There are many ways to get a glimpse of what a person is like. Take a look at the bumper stickBy Dave Jolivet ers on their cars, the Tshirts they wear, or even the tattoos they have.

These small billboards provide a hint to the inner workfor the American Civil Liberties ings of the owner.

Union (and that alone makes him If you want to get to know a hero to me). There, front and what’s in a goaltender’s head (and center on his mask for all to see, hockey goaltenders are as odd a is an American eagle with the

phrase “In God we trust.” How un-politically correct. On the sides, partially camouflaged with subtle tones of gray, is a snarly Bruin, and on the back is a Union Jack with a coiled snake and the phrase, “Don’t tread on me.” A proud American in a game dominated by Canadian-born players.

Tim Thomas paid his dues before making a name for himself in the NHL. After playing college hockey at the University of Vermont, Thomas bounced around, playing for minor league teams in the U.S. and Canada, three different teams in Finland and one in Sweden.

Tim Thomas is resilient, determined, confident, and humble.

These qualities on their own make him a winner. Add to that his success over the past few years, and that makes him a champion ... and much more than that, it makes him a role model. Any parent would be proud to have a child-athlete like Tim Thomas.

Sports Illustrated recently published a delightful article on the man Tim Thomas is. It makes great reading if you can get your hands on it.

The nomadic goaltender from Flint, Mich. has never forgotten where he came from, where he is now and how he got there, and he keeps an eye on where he’s going.

Ah, fresh air.

continued from page one is asked to recommend two candidates to attend the CLI session — preferably one boy and one girl to keep things balanced.

Since its inception in the diocese more than two decades ago, it is estimated that about 1,000 youth have graduated through the CLI program, with many taking on important leadership roles in their parishes and schools, while others have earned prestigious

honors such as the Pope St. Pius X Youth Award.

Typically held during the last week of June within the retreat house facilities at the scenic lakeside Cathedral Camp, the temptation to call this summer getaway a “retreat” is quickly corrected by teens and team members alike.

“I have them all trained from day one to say ‘CLI is not a re-

mallows and uncooked strands of spaghetti. Despite a 20-minute time limit in which to complete the task, all of the groups took a few minutes to first brainstorm a plan of attack before attempting to construct the precarious towers.

“I was glad to see that no group immediately began building their tower,” Lucca said. “That shows you put some thought into it and worked together as a group.”

Although they often embark on the CLI experience without knowing what to expect, quite often those who graduate from CLI want to return to pass on what they’ve learned to their successors.

“My older sister attended CLI, and after hearing about her experience, I wanted to go, too,” said Dors, a parishioner at St. John Neumann Parish in East Freetown. “I enjoyed it so much that I wanted to come back this year.”

“It’s so funny watching the

kids on the first day — everyone is sitting there so quiet,” added Souza, who is also a parishioner at St. John Neumann. “Now everyone knows each other and they’re having fun.”

Based on the reactions from this year’s crop of CLI attendees, it would seem that the effort is continuing to bear much fruit.

“My campus minister at Bishop Stang High School invited me to participate in CLI,” said Lauren Ketschke, a parishioner at St. John the Baptist Parish in Westport. “I’ve been on a lot of retreats, but CLI is definitely a different experience. It’s more about planning and teamwork.

I love my group and I love the people I’m working with.”

“I can honestly say this is one of the best things I’ve ever decided to do,” said Carolyn Wojciechowicz, a parishioner at Christ the King Parish in Mashpee. “I know I won’t want to leave when it’s over.”

My View From the Stands

Diocesan youth participate in weeklong leadership process

treat, it’s a process,’” said Lucca, who also serves as youth minister director at St. Dominic’s Parish, Swansea. “The reason we stress that is because although it has spiritual components to it, it’s also about communicating and connecting with others.”

In fact, CLI could probably best be described as a cross between a youth retreat and a week-long crash-course in leadership training.

Introduced and led by two former CLI graduates — Audrey Dors and Kerry Souza — the Monday morning workshop focused on getting a group of four or five to construct the highest tower possible using nothing but a bag of marsh-