Diocese of Fall River
The Anchor
F riday , August 22, 2008
Summer was time of preparation for five diocesan high schools
By Michael Pare Anchor Staff
FALL RIVER — For the five Catholic high schools in the Fall River Diocese, the summer represented not only the opportunity to paint walls and buff
Image of Our Lady to begin new tour across the diocese
and wax floors, but to take on more significant projects such as renovating athletic fields and expanding existing facilities. As soon as students headed off for summer break in late June, all of the diocesan schools saw
work crews roll in to start on a series of projects, all marked by tight timetables. It has also been a time for administrators and teachers to embark on professional development initiatives. The common theme among the
high schools centered on learning how to make better use of technological advances. Bishop Connolly High School, Fall River: It has been a hectic summer at Bishop Connolly, but Michael
Pauline Year: Renewed focus on Scripture By Kenneth J. Souza Anchor Staff
By Deacon James N. Dunbar
FALL RIVER — A replica of the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe will be on display for prayer and veneration in several churches and schools as well as outside an abortion clinic in the Fall River Diocese from August 27 to September 11. The miraculous image of the Virgin Mary, showing her as the pregnant Mother of God, is an exact replica of the painting that appeared inside the peasant cloak of Juan Diego, a Christian Aztec Indian in Mexico on Dec. 12, 1532. Through the intercession of Our Lady, the Aztec’s practice of human sacrifices was brought to and end, and millions of conversions to Christianity were witnessed in the ensuing years. The original colorful image can be seen in the Basilica to Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City — which Our Lady asked to be built — and where it has been on display for nearly 500 years, visited by locals and pilgrims from across the world. The local prayer-tour is being cosponsored by Catholic Citizenship of Fall River, in cooperation Turn to page 14
Scanlan, the school’s principal, would have it no other way. “We are experiencing a renaissance,” said Scanlan. Nothing has Scanlan more excited than the fact that the Turn to page 18
EAGER BEAVERS — Youngsters at Holy Family Parish recently enjoyed the first-ever Vacation Bible School at the East Taunton parish. Photo and story on Youth Pages, page 16.
Abortion advocates seek to erode rights of Pro-Life medical personnel By Gail Besse Anchor Correspondent
WASHINGTON — New federal guidelines to protect the conscience rights of Pro-Life health care professionals are urgently needed because of mounting pressure from abortion ad-
vocates, medical experts warn. Without better safeguards, the rights of doctors, nurses, pharmacists and their Pro-Life patients will be whittled away. A draft of proposed Health and Human Services guidelines that would strengthen such protection was leaked to the press in July. The bill states that HHS would refuse federal funding to health care providers who discriminate against employees who oppose abortion or abortifacient contraceptives. Planned Parenthood and other abortion advocates deluged the press and HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt with alarmist opposition. Leavitt responded August 11
in his blog: “Does the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association believe we can protect by Constitution, statute and practice rights of free speech, race, religion, and abortion — but not conscience?” He said if his department does issue the regulation, “it will aim at one thing, protecting the right of conscience of those who practice medicine. From what I’ve read the last few days, there’s a serious need for it.” “We support Secretary Leavitt completely,” said Catholic Medical Association Executive Director John Brehany in an interview. ”Our opponents want to create a Turn to page 18
FALL RIVER — Although he remains a towering and influential figure in the formation of Christian doctrine, most Catholics’ knowledge of St. Paul is restricted to his voluminous writings and teachings found in the New Testament. His radical conversion on the road to Damascus and his devotion and belief in the teachings of Jesus Christ continue to be a source of inspiration to this day. Being unable personally to go out and spread the Gospel to many of the outlying areas ready to embrace the faith in the early days of the Church, St. Paul instead let his words speak for themselves. These letters remain as relevant today as they were when Paul first addressed them to the Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, and others as they sought to learn and abide by Christ’s teachings. “When I meditate on Paul’s letters and wonder about their relevance in today’s culture, I notice that not much has changed in our behavior and in our need to hear Paul’s enthusiasm again about Christ’s and God’s justice and Turn to page 19
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News From the Vatican
August 22, 2008
No ‘Yahweh’ in songs, prayers at Catholic Masses, Vatican rules By Nancy Frazier O'Brien Catholic News Service
WASHINGTON — In the not-too-distant future, songs such as “You Are Near,“ “I Will Bless Yahweh“ and “Rise, O Yahweh“ will no longer be part of the Catholic worship experience in the United States. At the very least, the songs will be edited to remove the word “Yahweh“ — a name of God that the Vatican has ruled must not “be used or pronounced“ in songs and prayers during Catholic Masses. Bishop Arthur J. Serratelli of Paterson, N.J., chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Divine Worship, announced the new Vatican “directives on the use of ‘the name of God’ in the sacred liturgy“ in an August 8 letter to his fellow bishops. He said the directives would not “force any changes to official liturgical texts“ or to the bishops' current missal translation project but would likely have “some impact on the use of particular pieces of liturgical music in our country as well as in the composition of variable texts such as the general intercessions for the celebration of the Mass and the other sacraments.“ John Limb, publisher of OCP in Portland, Ore., said the most popular hymn in the OCP repertoire that would be affected was Dan Schutte’s “You Are Near,“ which begins, “Yahweh, I know you are near.“ He estimated that only “a handful“ of other OCP hymns use the word “Yahweh,“ although a search of the OCP Website turned up about a dozen examples of songs that included the word. OCP is a nonprofit publisher of liturgical music and worship resources. Bishop Serratelli said the Vatican decision also would provide “an opportunity to of-
fer catechesis for the faithful as an encouragement to show reverence for the name of God in daily life, emphasizing the power of language as an act of devotion and worship.” His letter to bishops came with a two-page letter from the Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, dated June 29 and addressed to episcopal conferences around the world. “By directive of the Holy Father, in accord with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, this congregation ... deems it convenient to communicate to the bishops' conferences ... as regards the translation and the pronunciation, in a liturgical setting, of the divine name signified in the sacred Tetragrammaton,” said the letter signed by Cardinal Francis Arinze and Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith, congregation prefect and secretary, respectively. The Tetragrammaton is YHWH, the four consonants of the ancient Hebrew name for God. “As an expression of the infinite greatness and majesty of God, it was held to be unpronounceable and hence was replaced during the reading of sacred Scripture by means of the use of an alternate name: ‘Adonai,’ which means ‘Lord,’” the Vatican letter said. Similarly, Greek translations of the Bible used the word “Kyrios” and Latin scholars translated it to “Dominus”; both also mean Lord. The two Vatican officials noted that “Liturgiam Authenticam,” the congregation's 2001 document on liturgical translations, stated that “the name of almighty God expressed by the Hebrew Tetragrammaton and rendered in Latin by the word ‘Dominus,’ is to be rendered into any given vernacular by a word equivalent in meaning.”
RELIGIOUS RENDEZVOUS — Pope Benedict XVI arrives for a closed-door meeting with about 400 priests and religious in the cathedral in Bressanone, Italy, earlier this month. (CNS photo/ L'Osservatore Romano via Reuters)
Pope says praying for Church, world, his most important task
By Catholic News Service
CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy — Pope Benedict XVI said praying for the Church and the world is his most important task as pope. “By praying I place in the hands of the Lord the ministry he himself has entrusted me with and the fate of the entire Church and civil community,” the pope said August 13 as he held an abbreviated general audience at his summer residence south of Rome. Several thousand people crowded into the courtyard of the papal villa at Castel Gandolfo for the 20-minute meeting with the pope. The audience was held two days after the pope returned from a vacation in the mountains of northern Italy. Throughout the two-week vacation, he said, he prayed for those who had asked for his prayers. “Truly, many people write asking me to pray for them. They share their joys, but also their worries; the plans for their lives, but also the problems of their families and their work; the expectations and hopes that they carry in their hearts together with the distress connected with the uncertainties which humanity is experiencing at this moment,” the pope said. Pope Benedict said that especially during his daily Mass and recitation of the rosary, he prays
for each person who writes to him. “I know well that the first service I can render to the Church and to humanity is precisely that of prayer,” he said. Pope Benedict said the Bible and the example of the saints demonstrate that “one who prays never loses hope, even when he finds himself in difficult or even humanly desperate situations.” As evidence, the pope pointed to two 20th-century martyrs whose feast days are celebrated in August: St. Edith Stein and St. Maximilian Kolbe. “Both ended their earthly lives with martyrdom in the Auschwitz camp” in Poland, killed by the Nazis, he said. At first glance, it may appear they were defeated, “but precisely in their martyrdom there shines forth the splen-
The Anchor
dor of the love that vanquishes the darkness of selfishness and hatred,” he said. Pope Benedict said, “prayer was the secret” of St. Edith Stein, who knew she was headed toward death, but radiated peace and concern for others. St. Maximilian Kolbe’s last words were reported to be the beginning of the Hail Mary, he said. “It is moving to note that the humble and trusting recourse to the Blessed Mother is always a source of courage and serenity,” he said. As the Church prepared to celebrate the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the pope told his visitors, “Let us renew our trust in the one who, from heaven, watches over us with maternal love at every moment.” OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE DIOCESE OF FALL RIVER Vol. 52, No. 31
Member: Catholic Press Association, Catholic News Service
Published weekly except for two weeks in the summer and the week after Christmas by the Catholic Press of the Diocese of Fall River, 887 Highland Avenue, Fall River, MA 02720, Telephone 508-675-7151 — FAX 508-675-7048, email: theanchor@anchornews.org. Subscription price by mail, postpaid $14.00 per year. Send address changes to P.O. Box 7, Fall River, MA, call or use email address
PUBLISHER - Most Reverend George W. Coleman EXECUTIVE EDITOR Father Roger J. Landry fatherrogerlandry@anchornews.org EDITOR David B. Jolivet davejolivet@anchornews.org NEWS EDITOR Deacon James N. Dunbar jimdunbar@anchornews.org OFFICE MANAGER Mary Chase marychase@anchornews.org ADVERTISING Wayne Powers waynepowers@anchornews.org REPORTER Michael Pare michaelpare@anchornews.org REPORTER Kenneth J. Souza kensouza@anchornews.org Send Letters to the Editor to: fatherrogerlandry@anchornews.org POSTMASTERS send address changes to The Anchor, P.O. Box 7, Fall River, MA 02722. THE ANCHOR (USPS-545-020) Periodical Postage Paid at Fall River, Mass.
August 22, 2008
The International Church
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Cape Cod-based Brazilian priest placed on leave
JUST AN IDEA — This architectural sketch shows how the future tomb of Cardinal John Henry Newman in the Birmingham Oratory Church in England might look. (CNS image/courtesy of Archdiocese of Birmingham)
British government permits Church to exhume Cardinal Newman’s body By Simon Caldwell Catholic News Service
LONDON — The British government has agreed to allow the exhumation of the body of a 19thcentury cardinal whose cause for sainthood widely is expected to progress soon to beatification. The Ministry of Justice granted a license to allow undertakers to dig up the body of Cardinal John Henry Newman from a grave in a small cemetery in the suburbs of Birmingham, England, and transfer it to a marble sarcophagus in a church in the city, where it can be venerated by pilgrims. The license arrive August 11, the 118th anniversary of the cardinal’s death in 1890. Approval had been delayed by several months because of a 19thcentury law that forbids the transfer of bodies from graves to church tombs. But Sir Suma Chakrabarti, permanent secretary to the Ministry of Justice, finally decided to make a special exception to allow the exhumation to go ahead. The license was confirmed in a letter sent to Peter Jennings, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Birmingham, by Robert Clifford, the head of the burials team of the coroners unit of the Ministry of Justice. Jennings told Catholic News Service in a telephone interview that he was “most grateful” to the government “for granting this license in exceptional circumstances.” Jennings said the Vatican Congregation for Saints’ Causes wanted Cardinal Newman’s body to be moved into a setting that befits his status as a potential saint. He said that undertakers will open the lead-lined coffin at the graveside and Cardinal Newman’s corpse, wearing the vestments of a priest, will be photographed. It will then be transferred to a morgue
where “major relics” — such as bones from the cardinal’s hands — will be retrieved. Cardinal Newman’s remains will be moved to a new coffin that will be displayed to the public before it is placed in a marble sarcophagus after a celebratory Mass in the Birmingham Oratory church. The tomb will be engraved with the cardinal’s motto: “Ex umbris et imaginibus in veritatem” (from shadows and images into the truth). The date of the exhumation will be kept secret but will take place before December, when Pope Benedict XVI is expected to announce Cardinal Newman’s beatification. Born in London in 1801, Cardinal Newman was an Anglican priest who led the Oxford movement in the 1830s to draw Anglicans to their Catholic roots. He converted to Catholicism at the age of 44 after a succession of clashes with Anglican bishops made him a virtual outcast from the Church of England. Cardinal Newman’s cause was opened in 1958. In April, Vatican medical consultants ruled that an inexplicable healing in August 2001 was a result of his intercession. Deacon Jack Sullivan of Marshfield, Mass., had been suffering from a serious spinal disorder but was cured after praying to the cardinal. The case is now being studied by a committee of theological consultors, who will meet again September 30. If they decide that the healing was a miracle and their finding is confirmed by the sainthood congregation and the pope, it will mean that Cardinal Newman can be beatified and declared “blessed.” A second miracle is needed for his cause to progress to canonization.
FALL RIVER — Bishop George W. Coleman last week placed on temporary leave from ministry Father José Afonso Lima, a Brazilian priest who has been ministering on Cape Cod, after learning that the State of Connecticut received an allegation against him of sexual abuse of a minor. Although Father Lima has denied the allegation, in cases like this both diocesan policy and the U.S. Bishops’ Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People require that the accused priest be removed from ministry until the matter is resolved. Father Lima, who is 46, has been in the diocese since 1998, ministering to Catholics from Brazil who live and work on Cape Cod. Bishop Coleman was saddened to learn of the allegation. A letter from the bishop explaining the placement-on-leave of Father Lima was distributed this past weekend at Masses offered for Brazilian Catholics on the Cape and in Fall River as well as at Masses celebrated at St. Pius the Tenth Parish, South Yarmouth, where he was in residence. Father Lima was notified of the allegation by the Connecticut Department of Children and Families and of the Department’s initial finding that it is “substantiated.” The alleged incident took
place in Connecticut and involves a minor of that state. Prior to receiving that notification by mail, he was unaware that any complaint had been brought against him. The Fall River Diocese was not informed by Connecticut officials of the allegation, their preliminary inquiry into it, or their finding on the matter. Nor has any allegation been brought directly to the diocese regarding Father Lima. Father Lima is a member of Missio, a community of priests organized and sponsored by the bishops of Brazil to provide pastoral care to Catholics from that country who have left to work in the United States. Father Lima remained a priest of his native Brazilian diocese but worked under the direction of the Fall River Diocese while here. Once placed on leave from ministry Father Lima was to have left his residence last Thursday to go to Danbury, Conn., where the U.S. director of the Missio community is based. He was to remain there under the supervision of his community until the Connecticut allegation issue was resolved. The Diocese learned late last week however that Father Lima may have returned to Brazil. Upon hearing this, the diocese
conveyed the information to the Bridgeport, Conn., police. The diocese has subsequently learned that Msgr. Pedro D. Diniz, the director of the Missio community here in the U.S., has been in contact with Father Lima in Brazil and is trying to convince him to return to this country. Though he resided in South Yarmouth, Father Lima’s ministry was based at St. Francis Xavier Church in Hyannis where he celebrated a weekly Sunday Mass in Portuguese for Brazilian Catholics. At times he has also offered Masses for members of that community in other churches. Bishop Coleman encourages anyone who might have information which could be of help in this investigation to contact the Connecticut Department of Children and Families at 800-842-2288 or, locally, to call Arlene McNamee of the Office of Child Protection of Catholic Social Services at 508-674-4681.
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August 22, 2008
Nashville Dominicans start new mission in Australia
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (CNS) — The 12 months spent by three U.S. Dominican Sisters in Sydney, Australia, to help plan and organize World Youth Day has led to a new mission in Australia for the congregation. The three — Sisters Mary Madeline Todd, Mary Rachel Capets and Anna Wray — are members of the St. Cecilia Congregation in Nashville. They have returned home but two of them will go back to Sydney to help establish their community’s first permanent mission outside the United States. Cardinal George Pell and Auxiliary Bishop Anthony Fisher of Sydney, a fellow Dominican, “were eager to have our Sisters working in Sydney,” said Sister Mary Madeline. "What we could offer and what they needed were complementary." What the Dominicans offer and what is needed in southern Australia, Sister Mary Madeline said, is a “witness of religious life.” Although Australian society has become increasingly secular, “there is a great interest in religious life in Australia,” Sister Mary Madeline told the Tennessee Register, newspaper of the Nashville Diocese. A vocations expo held as part of World Youth Day drew more visitors and interest than was expected, she said. “We met many, many Australian young women with an interest” in the St. Cecilia community. Australians had an experience of faith at World Youth Day, which took place July 15-20, said Sister Mary Rachel. “It puts a name to a hunger,” she said. “They finally see in the Church and Gospel something they were hungering for.”
Australia is “incredibly fertile ground for teaching the faith,” said Sister Mary Rachel. She and Sister Mary Madeline will return to Australia and will be joined by two other sisters. Two Sisters will teach at Trinity Catholic College, which has 1,300 students in grades seven through 12, and two will work with the chaplain’s office at the University of Sydney, the city’s oldest and largest university. Sister Anna will return to Knoxville to teach at Knoxville Catholic High School. Bishop Fisher, who was coordinator of World Youth Day and had invited the sisters to Sydney, “really hoped that our background working with young people would help,” said Sister Mary Madeline, who served as the bishop’s assistant for the event. “He wanted to bring Dominican joy to World Youth Day,” she added. “Our joy comes out by being together and proclaiming the Gospel,” said Sister Anna, who helped with the planning of the major liturgies of World Youth Day, which drew 223,000 pilgrims from 170 countries. As Bishop Fisher’s assistant, Sister Mary Madeline said she got a behind-the-scenes look at every aspect of World Youth Day. Understanding Bishop Fisher as a Dominican and knowing what was important to him helped her help him, said Sister Mary Madeline, even with tasks such as making sure his daily schedule included time for contemplation and prayer. Bishop Fisher didn't simply want to experience World Youth Day as an administrator, Sister Mary Madeline said. “He had pastoral priorities.”
HAPPIER TIMES — Lopez Lomong waves as he carries the U.S. flag at the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympic Games at National Stadium in Beijing August 8. Lomong, a Catholic and former Sudanese refugee, is to compete in the 1,500-meter run at the games. (CNS photo/Reuters)
Athlete’s success puts spotlight on Church's resettlement efforts
WASHINGTON (CNS) — The athletic success of a young man resettled in the United States as a Sudanese refugee in 2001 has shined a spotlight on the Catholic agency that helped him find a new home after years of life in a Kenyan refugee camp. Lopez Lomong was among the 3,800 “lost boys of Sudan” who were resettled in the United States in 2001 with the help of the U.S. bishops’ Migration and Refugee Services. He became a U.S. citizen in 2007, and today is an Olympian competing in the games in Beijing. Lomong, a Catholic, qualified for the 1,500-meter run by finishing third July 6 at Olym-
pic trials in Eugene, Ore. Lomong’s teammates on the U.S. Olympic team chose him to carry the U.S. flag during the August 8 opening ceremonies. Not only were his friends and his foster parents, Barb and Rob Rogers of Tully, N.Y., celebrating his success, but so were officials at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. MRS helped resettle Lomong in the Diocese of Syracuse, N.Y., where he is a member of St. Leo's Church in Tully. Catholic Charities also helped him get resettled and find a home with the Rogers family. “Lopez Lomong's selection to lead the U.S. Olympic team will remind the world that the United States remains a beacon of hope for refugees around the globe, and will remind all Americans of our history as a welcoming nation,” said Bishop John C. Wester of Salt Lake City, chairman of the bishops’ Committee on Migration. He called it “a proud moment, not only for Lopez and his fellow Olympians, but also for our nation.” Johnny Young, executive director of MRS, said “It is incredible to think that a young boy who fled violence in his home country is now the flag bearer for his new country at the Olympics,” said Young. “It is a testament to the U.S. refugee program and shows us that former refugees have much to contribute to our nation. It also demonstrates that a generous U.S. refugee policy can
save lives and that the Catholic Church can play a role in that,” he said. Each year the United States welcomes up to 60,000 refugees from around the world, with MRS and Catholic dioceses across the country assisting about one-quarter of them. Julianne Duncan, now associate director of children’s services for MRS, worked in 2000 at the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya, the camp where Lomong was living before he came to the U.S. She was deployed there by the International Catholic Migration Commission under contract with the United Nations. “The majority of the children who qualified under the ‘lost boys’ initiative left home in 1987 and traveled to Ethiopia under extreme conditions,” Duncan told Catholic News Service. The boys then made their way from Ethiopia to Kenya. “Those now 25 years old were four years old in 1987 and most unaccompanied children at that age did not survive. Caretakers report horror stories of their arrival in Ethiopia at that time before the International Committee of the Red Cross and UNHCR brought food and other necessities, while the smallest children continued to die in very large numbers,” she said. “These children would still be in this refugee camp if it had not been for the Catholic bishops,” said Duncan.
August 22, 2008
The Church in the U.S.
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Mass. banker’s little bond fund goes nationwide for immigrants Philanthropist’s checks freed many in wake of New Bedford, Mass. raid
By Patricia Zapor Catholic News Service
SILVER SPRING, Md. — Massachusetts investment banker and philanthropist Robert Hildreth’s success in business means Luis Delgado, a Mexican immigrant arrested in an immigration crackdown on a Maryland roofing company June 30, will get to be with his wife and children for the months it will take his legal case to be adjudicated. The two men didn't meet until August 11, Hildreth’s money helped pay the $2,500 bond that has enabled Delgado to stay out of detention pending the resolution of his immigration prosecution. Hildreth’s offer to help pay a few immigrants’ bonds after a raid in 2007 has now led to the creation of a national fund to help other people facing detention far from their homes and families. His concern for families separated after a major immigration raid in New Bedford, Mass., last year led Hildreth to start writing checks so some of those factory workers wouldn't have to wait in detention centers thousands of miles away while their cases were heard. Hundreds of workers arrested at the New Bedford textile factory were shipped to detention centers in Texas within two days of the raid. At an August 11 press conference at Casa de Maryland, an immigrant community services center in Silver Spring, Hildreth explained that the little project he started last year has cost him more than $200,000. Now Delgado and 100 or so people around the country can
thank Hildreth for starting what has become the National Immigrant Bond Fund. In announcing the bond fund, Don Kerwin, director of the Catholic Legal Immigration
IC will be the conduit for money from the bond fund, which is provided on a matching basis, with families required to put up half the cost. When money is repaid as cases are resolved,
could arrange for an attorney on his own. Casa de Maryland helped him apply to the bond fund. Family and friends kicked in the money to pay his half of the cost.
FRIEND IN NEED — Robert Hildreth, founder of the National Immigrant Bond Fund, speaks during a rally outside Casa de Maryland in Silver Spring, Md., August 11. Hildreth and immigrant advocates were making a push to raise matching funds for immigrants to pay bonds so they can be released from detention while pursuing their legal cases. (CNS photo/Rafael Crisostomo, El Pregonero)
Network, known as CLINIC, said three bishops so far have endorsed the effort and serve with him on the fund’s committee. They include Coadjutor Bishop Jaime Soto of Sacramento, Calif., CLINIC board chairman, Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio of Brooklyn, N.Y., and Bishop Thomas G. Wenski of Orlando, Fla. Community agencies such as the diocesan affiliates of CLIN-
the funds go back into the pool to help future applicants. Delgado said after he was arrested at his home early June 30, in front of his crying young children, he was first told he had no legal rights, though he
In an interview with Catholic News Service after the press conference, Hildreth said childhood lessons from his parents and his Catholic upbringing gave him a solid appreciation for immigrants’ role in creat-
ing and developing the United States. He said he developed a deep love for Latin America while working in Bolivia as an economist with the International Monetary Fund and then throughout a career based in part on buying and selling Latin American debt and property. “Latin America has been very good for me financially and professionally,” he said. Prior to the New Bedford raids, Hildreth said his main effort at helping immigrants in the United States had been to establish La Vida, a program at his church, St. Joseph’s Church in Lynn, Mass., which provides after-school tutoring, mentoring and similar assistance. His first contribution to the New Bedford group was to kick in the money to hire someone to coordinate the work of dozens of pro-bono attorneys who were helping the arrested immigrants and their families, he explained. When he realized those arrested weren’t even in the same part of the country as their attorneys, he offered to help a few of them pay their bonds. A few grew to 37, whose release from detention was made possible with Hildreth’s money. Since then his understanding has grown regarding the difficulties faced by immigrants caught up in workplace raids and the absurdities of how the system works.
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The Anchor The real issue
The recent disclosure of former senator and presidential candidate John Edwards’ marital infidelity has revealed much about him as a person, but much more about how far many in our culture will go to avoid confronting the real evil he did. This latter point is seen, first, in the terminology most used to describe what Sen. Edwards did. Those in the media as well as ordinary people on talk shows and internet commentaries described that he had an “extramarital affair,” a “forbidden liaison,” a “mistress scandal,” a “secret relationship.” It was stunning how few called what he did “adultery” or stated that he had “betrayed” his wife and family. These word choices are meaningful. They expose, it seems, that those in the media and many people in our society consider the terms “adultery” and “betrayal” too negatively value laden to be used in any objective description of what Sen. Edwards did, as if the evil were no longer inherent in the action but rather only perhaps in the eye of the commentator. This flight from admitting the real evil was seen to an even greater degree by the extent to which people tried to attribute their outrage to other, lesser evils. Various Democratic leaders expressed indignation that Sen. Edwards was so egocentric that, had he been their presidential nominee, this scandal would have totally compromised their chances in November. They’re probably right, but that would have been an effect of the evil, not the real evil itself. Others focused their attention on the other aspects of the scandal, like the corruption of the political process by using contributors’ funds to pay exorbitant funds to a totally unqualified woman to shoot a video that almost no one would have ever seen were it not for the scandal; a campaign aide’s seemingly lying to protect the candidate and say that he was the father of the woman’s child; and a rich benefactor’s paying for both the aide’s family and the woman to move to posh surroundings in southern California and receive substantial monthly allowances. All of these are unethical, too, but they flow from as ripples of the first and real evil. Several of his former staff members as well as many political reporters focused at length on how he had betrayed them by lying to them repeatedly about the original National Enquirer claims. These deceptions are clearly immoral, but people generally lie to cover up other evils, and they did not want to discuss the evil he was trying to hide. The vast majority of the wrath was saved for the fact that he had cheated on a wife who was heroically battling cancer. Sen. Edwards himself seemed to acknowledge how despicable such an action would be by repeatedly emphasizing that his wife was in remission at the time he was carrying on the adulterous union. But while his wife’s condition aggravates the offense, it’s not the offense. People who cheat on sick spouses are doing something just as wrong as those who cheat on healthy ones. The real evil on which few, it seems, want to focus is the adultery, because that discussion would bring many people into uncomfortable waters. To condemn adultery means to get into the whole subject about whether sex outside of marriage is wrong, and this questions one of the fundamental premises of the sexual revolution that seeks to rend asunder the bond between sex and marriage. To condemn adultery also means to confront the even deeper question of what marriage is, why it is legitimately considered sacred, and why its vows of fidelity, love and honor have no expiration date, even for sickness, or poverty, or worse. This is a subject, too, that our culture wants to avoid; if marriage means something, then it may not coincide with what judges and activists in Massachusetts and California want it to mean, or even what people who are afraid of making or keeping their marital commitments want it to mean. The larger implications of most people’s ducking the central issue of the evil Sen. Edwards committed was spelled out very effectively by syndicated columnist Kathryn Jean Lopez in an August 14 column. “If we think what John Edwards did with Rielle Hunter is wrong,” she wrote, “why do we think it’s wrong? Is it because marriage is at the foundation of our society and we should do what we can to protect every last one? Or is it simply because having fun while your wife is fighting a fatal disease is a lousy thing to do? I don’t know how we can condemn John Edwards when Americans have been known to cheer for cheaters in movies, watch celebs do it all the time as a form of perverse entertainment and even insist we’re not sure what exactly ‘marriage’ means. … In our daily lives and in our culture, we’re not all that much better than John Edwards. So why should he be better than us?” In other words, the public diversions from the real evil committed by Sen. Edwards are attempts, perhaps mostly unconscious, to get us to avoid looking in the mirror and making difficult personal applications. It’s easier to focus on his cheating on a wife with cancer, because our spouses are healthy; on the corruption of the political process, because we’re not politicians; on his repeated mendacious denials of the allegations in the Enquirer, because we’ll never have reporters waiting to photograph us at a hotel at 2:40 a.m. But our culture, and many of us as individuals, need to confront the real evil adultery head on. According to a recent Associated Press poll, 22 percent of married men and 14 percent of married women in America have committed adultery. Extrapolated, that means 19 million married men and 12 million married women — one out of every 10 Americans — are guilty of what Sen. Edwards did. Most of these cases never make the headlines, but the life-altering destruction wrought by their marital infidelity is enormous. Adultery, like the marriage it violates, is never merely a private act, but has huge public consequences in terms of the broken and wounded marriages that flow from it, not to mention all those who suffer as a result, from the spouses to their grown children, to children conceived through adultery outside of marriage, to mutual friends and colleagues, as well as to society as a whole, which must pick up so many of the emotional, social and financial pieces left by its calamitous path. Even if an adulterer is never caught, or even if his or her adultery remains “in the heart” as Jesus described in the Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5:27-28), it still damages one’s marriage and family. Intentional and physical adulterers both place their own “needs” and “lusts” over the good of their family and the consequences of this selfishness — what Edwards called “egotism” and “narcissism” — affect almost every bond. Because of the tremendous damage done by adultery, some societies still consider it a crime against the common good so serious that the adulterers can be executed. In the second-century Church, it was considered, alongside apostasy and murder, as one of the sins so evil that it could be forgiven only once in a lifetime, and only after years of penance. While it is clearly good that most societies and the Church more liberally offer a chance of redemption for those who engage in adultery, at the same time we need to recover a sense of just how evil and damaging marital infidelity is. This issue transcends political parties, candidates, and particular faith traditions. Adultery is an enormous social scourge that not only candidates and Churches but every American needs to work to eliminate.
August 22, 2008
Renewing all things in Christ Y
esterday we celebrated the 94th anni- ly vocation as a boy but his family did not have versary of the birth into eternal life of the resources to pay for his priestly education. the founder of the Diocese of Fall River, Pope His pastor came to the rescue. He tutored him St. Pius X. This saintly shepherd always had in Latin and arranged a scholarship for him to special affection for our diocese, because we go away to seminary where, despite a 10-mile were the first local Church he created, in Febru- journey on foot each day, Giuseppe excelled so ary 1904, six months after having been chosen much that he was ordained a priest by dispensaas St. Peter’s successor. “You are my very dear tion at the early age of 23, 150 years ago this child because you are my first born,” he said year. about our diocese to Bishop William Stang durStraight out of the script of “Going My ing his 1905 visit to Rome. Way,” he was assigned as the assistant to an When I became a seminarian for the dio- aging and crippled pastor in Tombolo for nine cese 15 years ago, having heard of St. Pius X’s years. In between pastoral calls, he continued to earthly predilection for Catholics on the south study St. Thomas Aquinas and canon law, estabcoast, I adopted him as a particular interces- lished a night school for adult catechesis, and sor whenever I would pray for the needs of the became a much sought-after preacher. In 1867, diocese, hoping that from heaven he would be he was named pastor in Salzano, where he reeven more solicitous for his “very dear child.” built the Church, provided for a parish hospital, During my time 4,100 miles away from the and heroically served the ill during a cholera diocese studying to be a priest in Rome, he epidemic. Recognizing his talents and zeal, his was a great help to keep me spiritually close to bishop then made him a canon of the cathedral, home. Whenever I was in St. Peter’s Basilica spiritual director and rector of the diocesan — which I’m happy to say was virtually every seminary, and finally vicar general. day — I would make a short visit to his tomb to At the age of 49, he was named Bishop of pray for Bishop O’Malley and the priests and Mantua, a diocese that was in rough shape due faithful of the diocese as well as for persever- to various scandals among the clergy. He imance and fidelity in my vocation. mediately set out to reform his priests, present After my and future, and priestly ordiwith and through nation, when I them to reform was sent back the people. He to Rome to contaught dogmatic tinue theologiand moral theolcal studies, my ogy at the semirelationship with nary. He gave By Father him intensified. weekly catecheRoger J. Landry Several times sis to adults. He a week, I would heard confesdescend the Jansions regularly. iculum Hill to St. Peter’s early in the morning, His charity knew no bounds. After eight years, pass by the Swiss Guard checkpoint and walk there was a such a change in Mantua that Pope to the back entrance of the sacristy to celebrate Leo XIII named this simple priest of humble Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica. The doors would origins Cardinal Patriarch of Venice. There, in open precisely at 7 a.m and then there would contrast to the pageantry with which such a be a dash of about 20 priests to vest and get out prelate was accustomed to be treated, his unpreof the sacristy as quickly as possible to secure tentiousness and zeal in trying to teach the faith one of the altars in the upstairs basilica built quickly won over the people, who regarded him over the remains of great saints. Even though as a saint. I was younger and in decent shape, I was rouAfter Leo died in 1903, the cardinals in continely dusted by priests almost three times my clave were set to elect the Vatican Secretary of age who had made rapid vesting an art form. State Mariano Rampolla as the new pope, but I would have to settle for one of the “lesser” his election, by an historical situation too comaltars. plicated to describe now, was vetoed by the Three-quarters through the year, however, Austrian emperor Franz Jozef. Providentially, the priest who was always the first to the altar Cardinal Sarto was elected as a compromise. of St. Pius X fell ill. He was a friend and former During his 11 years as pope, he brought to professor of mine, Father Goswin Habets, and the papacy his vast priestly experience ministeras I called him to encourage him in the midst ing to ordinary Catholics. He chose as his motof his sickness, he asked me if I would be able to, “To renew all things in Christ” (Eph 1:10), to keep the altar of St. Pius X “warm” for him. and he began that renewal with the “source and I replied that I would do my best. He came by summit of the Christian life,” Christ in the Euthe sacristy one morning to ask the sacristan charist. Most Catholics, influenced by Jansenist and some of the senior altar servers to be ready rigorism, received holy Communion only once for me with vestments and cruets as soon as I or twice a year. He encouraged them to receive entered — the trick that the more experienced holy Communion frequently, even daily. He priests in and around the Vatican had perfected lowered the age of first Communion from about — and I was amazed at how quickly I could 18 to the age of reason. He promoted Commuvest and be heading briskly toward St. Pius X’s nion to be brought to the sick. He encouraged altar! Out of 106 Masses I celebrated within St. all Catholics to read sacred Scripture each day, Peter’s Basilica that first year of priesthood, 24 preached publicly every Sunday on the Gospel, were over the mortal remains of the founder of and founded the Pontifical Biblical Institute to our diocese. help in the understanding of the Bible. He reWith each Mass, by a sort of holy osmosis, I formed Church music so that the people would could sense my bond with him growing. Since be able to sing simple Gregorian plainchants I was entrusting to him all the prayers I was during Mass. He fostered Marian devotion. He taking with me to the altar, I felt that the least I clearly denounced the various forms of “modcould do was to get to know him better, so that ernist” ideas that were undermining people’s his priestly life and virtues might rub off on me. faith and made sure that all priests and teachers I began by reading several biographies and then who had a responsibility to pass on the Cathoturned to his encyclicals, letters, motu proprios, lic faith took an oath to promise they would and other documents and decrees. The more I pass it on rather than modernist notions. He entered into the details of his life, the more I also began a thorough reform of canon law and realized how many lessons they had for me and resolved various complicated Church-state isfor all in the Church today. sues. He was the first parish priest in centuries to In just over a decade, he brought renewal to be elected pope. For centuries, most of the pon- almost all areas of Church life. tiffs had come from the Vatican curia and dipWe ask him from heaven to intercede for lomatic corps, both of which were comprised the faithful of his “first born” see, so that, by mainly of the sons of noble families. Pius X imitating his virtues and implementing his everwas the son of a mailman from a poor family relevant wisdom, we may experience in Christ a of 12. similar, on-going renewal. Born in 1835 in a small village called Riese Father Landry is pastor of St. Anthony’s near Venice, Giuseppe Sarto discerned a priest- Parish in New Bedford.
Putting Into the Deep
August 22, 2008
M
any people consider St. Paul the greatest missionary of the ancient Church. He seems to have done more than any other Apostle in the early history of Christianity to announce the Gospel. On his missionary journeys, he showed an unbridled passion for spreading the faith. He took the saving message of Jesus to the Gentiles even though it cost him personal sacrifice and suffering. After his famous conversion, his previous zeal for preserving the purity of Judaism became a quest for bringing the Gospel of Christ to all people. Syrian Antioch, where followers of Jesus were first called “Christians” (cf. Acts 11:26), acted as the home base for Paul’s mission. From there St. Paul went on a total of three missionary journeys. He covered practically the entire northeast quadrant of the Mediterranean. These lands consist mostly of what we know today as Turkey and Greece. He also made a voyage to Rome, which was then the capital of the world. On his way, he stopped on the islands of Crete, Malta,
I
’ve been thinking about Barack Obama, particularly since the Democratic National Convention meets next week in Denver. There he will become the first African-American nominee of a major party, and will accept the nomination on August 28 in a speech at Mile High Stadium. Fifteen years ago, I saw Pope John Paul II in its predecessor stadium inaugurate Denver’s World Youth Day. It will be the first time a candidate has given his acceptance speech at a huge stadium since John F. Kennedy, the first Catholic to become president, gave his 1960 acceptance speech at the Los Angeles Coliseum, site of the 1932 and 1984 summer Olympics. I know of a number of people, including some personal friends, people whom I consider good Catholics, who plan to vote for him, and I think I understand his attraction as a candidate. I have been hearing good things about him for about 20 years, ever since he was a student at Harvard Law and was chosen as the first AfricanAmerican editor of Harvard Law Review. I live just across the street from there, and there was already a certain buzz about him on campus. He certainly is eloquent, and his youth and seeming freshness are, well, refreshing — a nice change from
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St. Paul the missionary
invite him to say a few words, and Sicily. One tradition even attributes to Paul a final mission to share his commentary on the Word of God that day. Given the to the Iberian Peninsula, the opportunity to speak — “once western extreme of the Empire. he held the microphone,” we In the Letter to the Romans, might say today — he would he refers to his desire to go to Spain (cf. Rom 15:24). Because surprise everyone by revealing to them Jesus the messiah, the Scripture contains no record of Son of God, who was crucified this trip, however, we do not and had risen from the dead. His know whether he realized this goal or not. From the accounts in Living the the Acts of the Apostles, we get the idea that Pauline Year Paul must have gone from town to town in an By Father exhaustive and systemKarl C. Bissinger atic tour. We imagine that upon arrival he would proceed straight message usually provoked the to the village square and begin worshippers, who considered it announcing to everyone who blasphemous, to kick him out. would listen to him the Good Once ejected from the synaNews of salvation in Jesus gogue, and rejected by a majorChrist. This happened at least ity of the population in that once when Paul preached in the place, he would turn and deliver Areopagus in Athens (cf. Acts his teaching to the open-hearted. 17:16ff). Some scholars think that St. The other way that St. Paul Paul may have come to town operated, according to Acts, is as a traveling artisan. Paul that he would visit each city’s synagogue. During the course of would work with his hands as a tentmaker in order not to burden the service, the officials would
the community in which he was evangelizing (cf. Acts 18:3, 1Th 2:9). Thus, he could more convincingly claim that he had no intention of making a living by peddling salvation. As he formed relationships with people in business, he would also get the opportunity to introduce them to the person that gave his life meaning. We often think of Christianity’s growth in the first centuries occurring as great numbers of people or even whole populations converted and became followers of Christ in the wake of St. Paul’s efforts. On the other hand, it could very well be that the new religion spread from person to person, the way it still does today. A non-Christian man marries a Christian woman and eventually gets baptized. He then goes to work and converts his co-worker. That co-worker goes home and brings his neighbor to the faith, and so on. It just happened that Paul was the catalyst of many such chains of conversions. He was
Thinking about Barack
Even though I’m a Democrat, the Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton I’ve voted for Republicans for dynastic politics of the culture president since 1980. wars. John McCain seems, so, The basic reason is that the well, old. Democratic Party has, sadly, It would of course be wonbecome the party of abortion on derful for an African-American demand. Unfortunately, Bato become president and put rack Obama has distinguished this country, at long last, in a himself by his embrace of the post-racial context and, not abortion cause. I’m quite sure incidentally, make figures like that his Supreme Court apJesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, pointments will be required who make race into a racket, to pledge allegiance to Roe v. somewhat dated. I too am tired Wade as a condition of appointof the war in Iraq, and do not like the present state of the economy. Then again, I am a life-long registered Democrat, and I remember campaigning for Kennedy for president By Dwight Duncan as a nine-year-old in Maryland in 1960, and casting my first vote for president in 1972 for the Demo- ment. Just last Saturday, in answer to pastor Rick Warren’s crat George McGovern against question about when a baby Richard Nixon (“Don’t blame gets human rights, Obama said, me, I’m from Massachusetts,” “…whether you’re looking at we said); and indeed I voted it from a theological perspecfor Barack in the Democratic tive or scientific perspective, primary here in Massachusetts. answering that question with I voted for him then, partly bespecificity … is above my pay cause I genuinely preferred him grade.” By way of contrast, Mcto Hillary on a lesser-of-twoevils rationale, but also because, Cain said that a baby’s human rights began “at the moment of truth to tell, I thought he would conception.” be easier for the Republican When California did what the nominee to beat in the fall. So, Massachusetts Supreme Judicial if we all make it to November, Court did, and imposed gay I’m actually going to vote for marriage on the state by a oneMcCain, who I think will win.
Judge For Yourself
vote majority of the state supreme court, Obama announced that he would oppose the state constitutional amendment on the ballot there in November to define marriage as only between a man and a woman. So he’s also soft on the nature and meaning of marriage. Given his judicial philosophy of opposing the original intent of the Constitution (Justice Scalia’s originalist view) because it is “unrealistic to believe that a judge, 200 years later, can somehow discern the original intent of the founders or ratifiers,” he sides with Justice Breyer’s view of the Constitution: “that it is not a static but rather a living document, and must be read in the context of an ever-changing world.” The problem with that, of course, is that it makes the Constitution’s text, what it actually says, an effective dead letter, and allows judges to read into the Constitution whatever values they like — e.g., abortion and gay marriage. Most tellingly, Obama, when he was a state senator in Illinois, effectively opposed the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act, the same one that the U.S. Senate had passed unanimously by 98-0. He says that’s because he was unsure of its effect on
so successful that he was able to establish small communities wherever he went. Moreover, St. Paul never traveled alone. He carried out his mission with the help of a small band of co-workers: two or three companions, like Barnabas, Silas, and Timothy. His labors resulted in the establishment of small Christian enclaves all along the Mediterranean. In other words, the apostolate, missionary work, and evangelization happened then as they do now: in community with others. In turn, they inspired new communities of believers. Therefore, St. Paul the missionary can teach us two things: first, the spread of the Gospel is the work of the Church, of the entire people of God; second, as members of that Church, each of us bears a responsibility in sharing our faith in Christ with others. Now that’s a real way to live out the Pauline Year. Father Bissinger is vocation director of the Diocese of Fall River and secretary to Bishop George W. Coleman.
the abortion right, but as the National Right to Life Committee documented this past week, his own committee had inserted the identical saving language on that point that the U.S. Senate had, before killing it anyway. There’s also his opposition to the ban on partial-birth abortion, any parental notification law for minors let alone parental consent, any cut-off of funding for abortions, indeed his record of voting against any abortion restriction whatsoever. No wonder he has a 100 percent approval rating from Planned Parenthood and NARAL, gaining their endorsements even over Hillary Clinton, who is notoriously pro-abortion. He says that answering the question when a baby gets human rights is “above [his] pay grade.” But his opposition to the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act shows that he has, as a practical matter, staked out a position, which is that even being born is not enough to qualify for human rights. We pay presidents pretty well, and my judgment is that answering this question, and getting this matter right is more important than all his attractive rhetoric and photo-ops. Judge for yourself. Dwight Duncan is a professor at Southern New England School of Law in North Dartmouth. He holds degrees in civil and canon law.
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ome years ago, before the real explosion of “edutainment” programming on cable TV — programs both educational and entertaining — a scientific show aired on PBS concerning the exploration of some obscure, little pond in Florida to which locals flock for therapy in mineral-rich waters. This pond had no apparent bottom. Scientists discovered that this diminutive pond was fed, and sustained by a giant aquifer that was ultimately connected to the ocean in all of its immensity. It occurred to me that this geological wonder might serve as an apt image of the mystery of the Church. Perhaps it could be said that the little pond to which people flock for healing in that Floridian town is to the immense underground source as the Church is to the Lord who created her, and sustains her. Both make visible the presence of their origin and source. That little pond may not be much to look at when compared to the spectacular beaches and swimming pools
August 22, 2008
Bypassing the middle man
of “the Sunshine State,” but By way of a purely human it is primarily through it, in analysis, Peter is not the best a practical sense, people are choice for this job. We are all able to access the underground well familiar with his frequent riches. Likewise, the Church bouts of misunderstanding, perpetuates Christ’s visible smallness of faith and doubt. presence in time, and she is Is he not the one who desustained and supplied with the healing graces necessary for the salvaHomily of the Week tion of the world. In Twenty-first Sunday the words of the great of Ordinary Time theologian, Henri de Lubac, “She not only By Father carries on his work, but Gregory A. Mathias she is his very continuation.” I offer this as a backdrop for nied knowing the Lord in his the Scripture readings of this darkest hour? Nevertheless, Sunday: they are crucial to our another Peter is presented to us ability to accept the mediain today’s passage: this Peter is tion of Christ’s saving work blessed with deep insight into through his people and his the identity of Jesus, saying to Church. him, “You are the Messiah!” St. Paul provides for us the This bold “confession” of faith perspective with which we in Jesus leads to that dramatic ought to frame the mystery of declaration to the Apostle, Christ’s establishment of his “you are Rock, and on this Church on the “rock” of St. rock I will build my Church,” Peter. He expresses wonder at and from this the establishment how “inscrutable” God’s judgof the ministry of St. Peter. ments are and how “unsearchLike Shebna and Eliakim of able” his ways. old, the chief regents of King
Hezekiah, St. Peter is given the power of the “keys,” with the instructions “whatever you declare bound on earth shall be bound in heaven; whatever you declare loosed on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” This association between Peter and the ancient servants of Judah’s king could not be missed by anyone truly attentive to the Lord’s words. We can also discern from his pronouncement that this office can be passed from one person to another, such as from Shebna to Eliakim. From this recognition we can make a distinction between the person and the office he holds. Peter is a weak disciple who — like all of us — is called to an ever deepening faith in Jesus. The office which Jesus imparts on Peter is a visible guarantee of unity and of guidance for the Church of Christ. Beginning with Peter, Jesus establishes the ministry of the papacy, as we know it today. Weak and fragile men,
like Peter, are chosen to be earthly regents of Christ the King. This revelation challenges a powerful, cultural tendency we have to bypass the middle man and go straight to the “manufacturer.” In our culture, the middle man is often regarded an obstacle to a good price or a pure product. Today’s Gospel, however, does not allow us to transfer that logic to the Church, even though, in light of the scandals of poor leadership and occasional corruption, we would very much like to do so. There is a mystery here, for which we must come to terms: In words that complement the sentiments of St. Paul in today’s second reading, a liturgical prayer of the Church expresses it well: “God chooses the weak and he makes them strong in bearing witness to him, through Jesus Christ Our Lord.” Father Mathias is pastor of St. Julie Billiart Parish in North Dartmouth and director of the diocese’s Family Ministry Office
Upcoming Daily Readings: Sat. August 23, Ex 43:1-7ab; Ps 85: 9ab,10-14; Mt 23:1-12; Sun. August 24, Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time, Is 22:19-23; Ps 138:1-3.6-8; Rom 11:33-36; Mt 16:13-20; Mon. August 25, 2 Thes 1:1-5,11-12; Ps 96:1-5; Mt 23:13-22; Tues. August 26, 2 Thes 2:1-3a, 14-17; Ps 96:10-13; Mt 22:23-26; Wed. August 27, 2 Thes 3:6-10, 16-18; Ps 128:1-2, 4-5; Mt 23:27-32; Thu. August 28, 1 Cor 1:1-9; Ps 145:2-7; Mt 24:42-51; Fri. August 29, 1 Cor 1:17-25; Ps 33:1-2,4-5,10-11; Mk 6:17-29.
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Would President Obama be good for black America?
hen I was a teenager, my formative, if largely vicarious, political experience was the civil rights movement. It was a time of great issues bravely contested, a moment replete with heroes and villains. It was George Wallace vowing “Segregation forever!”, Bull Connor setting dogs on demonstrators, and Klansmen bombing black churches. It was the March on Washington, Mississippi Freedom Summer, the showdown at the Edmund Pettis bridge, and much more. Anyone who sang “We Shall Overcome” in those electric years will welcome a new fact of our public life: America — a country whose original sin was slavery — has become a place in which an African-American can be a major party’s candidate for
share his African heritage. president. There is, for example, The same honesty that led Obama’s lack of sympathy for Americans to confront racist vouchers, tuition tax credits, prejudices a half-century ago and other mechanisms for now compels another quesgiving the parents of innertion: Would a President Barack city children real educational Obama be good for black choice. There are many barAmerica? The answer may seem obvious. The inauguration of an African-American president on January 20, 2009, would be the final vindication of the By George Weigel civil rights crusade; it would give new depth of meaning to the blood riers to breaking the cycle of sacrifices of Medgar Evers, poverty in America’s blighted Martin Luther King Jr., Andrew Goodman, Mickey Schw- urban areas: drugs, crime, an epidemic of out-of-wedlock erner, James Chaney, Viola births and fatherless children. Liuzo, and the movement’s other martyrs. It would inspire Amidst all that sorrow, there is no greater sorrow than the young African-Americans of failure of public education the 21st century, even as it to deliver equal opportunity honored the memory of ancesfor all. That failure is not a tors once treated as chattels. It would put a president uniquely question of money; the government schools in Washington, attuned to the trials that conD.C. spend twice the national tinue to beset black America per-pupil average and produce into the White House. one educational disaster after But would it? another. Several facets of Senator There is change we can Obama’s public career raise believe in, here: the success of serious doubts about the easy inner-urban Catholic schools. assumption that his presidency Will President Obama conwould be a boon to those who
The Catholic Difference
vene an educational summit aimed at saving those schools financially? Or will he kowtow to teachers’ unions and other reactionary forces impeding the empowerment of the poor through educational choice? Then there is the matter of abortion. The black political leadership’s defense of the abortion license is shocking; it may be the first example in history of minority political leaders acquiescing in the decimation of their own people. There are many reasons why Hispanics are now America’s most populous minority; the slaughter of the unborn in black America since Roe vs. Wade is one of those reasons. Barack Obama is a genuine abortion radical, who has fought against both partial birth abortion bans and legal protection for infants who survive late-term abortions. An Obama administration would likely accelerate the abortion carnage in our inner cities. Is that good for black America? As for the Jeremiah Wright business: Will Senator Obama reject the narrative of victimization peddled by his former pastor and tell black
America that bunkering down inside that false story is selfdemeaning and self-defeating? Will Obama reject Wright’s faux-liberationist condemnation of “middle-classism”? Will Obama challenge black Americans, caught in the trap of conspiracy theories spun by Wright and others, to jettison the belief that AIDS was invented by a U.S. government bent on racist genocide? Change is his antiphon; Barack Obama has surely changed American politics. Will he acknowledge that his candidacy was possible because a lot of America had already changed? Will he confront the shake-down operations of black race-baiters and the prejudices within the black community? Will he listen to the pro-life voices — and they are many — among African-Americans? Will he adopt Bill Cosby’s message of African-American dignity and responsibility? Urgent questions, those: the answers to them will determine whether a President Obama would be good for black America. George Weigel is Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C.
Police raid Dighton rectory
Monday 11 August 2008 — remembering the advice of the At home on Three Mile River — spiritual writer Father Thomas a day in the life…. Merton, “When you are hunather ’round, readers, gry, eat. When you are tired, and I’ll tell you a tale sleep.” I took the leap of faith, strange but true. On any given night, we may have as many as five parish meetings Reflections of a being held simultaneParish Priest ously but this night there were none. My By Father Tim sister Mary, visiting Goldrick from Colorado, ate supper late and retired early to the guest suite. I sat in my library catching up ate my supper, walked the dogs, on reading. Then a thought ocand went to bed. Before long, I curred to me — why not retire, was dead to the world. turn in myself? But can God In the hour of deepest sleep, run these two parishes for a few a single beam of light shown hours without my help? My down upon me. I blinked open guilty feeling was quelled by my eyes and there in the dark-
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The Ship’s Log
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August 22, 2008
ness of my room stood a mysterious figure. Between sleep and wakefulness, my mind raced. A bright light? A hovering figure? I’ve read reports of people who have had near-death experiences. “Oh dear,” I thought to myself. “Perhaps I’ve been working too hard at this task of founding a parish. Perhaps I’ve had a stroke. Perhaps I’ve had a heart attack. Perhaps I’ve worked myself to d…” Then out of the darkness came a voice. “Are you OK?” asked the apparition. I answered, “You, sir, can say better than I,” quoting the Book of Revelation 8:14. Then I noticed the angel wasn’t dressed
Degrees of surrender
or her material possessions or ome years ago, I heard a lifestyle. For if there are two priest speak about how people with a similar lifestyle challenging it was to talk to or level of wealth, one may not his parishioners about Jesus’ let himself be defined by posteachings about money and sessions, may be very generpossessions. These were the ous and spend much time with people, many of whom had the Lord, while the other may become good friends, who had constantly be wanting for more invited him to their homes, and rarely find time for prayer who had been generous in or good works. many ways. How would he When I was a child, our speak to them about the strong family home was an old and direct teachings about farmhouse in the San Joaquin money and possessions that JeValley, in California. In the sus shared with his disciples? How to manage money and possessions as a person of faith is a challenge that we all face. And it’s not just the money and possessions, but the accompanying By Greta MacKoul desires, wants, hopes and dreams and also those of our children. upstairs bedrooms there were Many people may find no light switches, only “string themselves in a situation of lights.“ In the center of the partial surrender to these Gosceiling was a light fixture with pel teachings. We may undera string hanging down. As a stand the Gospels, we may try child I became completely to be generous to those less comfortable walking into a fortunate or to worthy causes, dark room and searching for but to live without any investment in material possessions or the string, knowing that the light was there. to a particular lifestyle seems The house did not have near impossible. plumbing for a newer washer Our orientation and outlook and dryer so for many years regarding money and material we used our grandmother’s possessions is something we “wringer” washing machine, may learn at a very young age, and a clothesline. Once I got my but it may also change with fingers stuck between the pins our life experience. Some of of the wringer. Thank God my the greatest saints were raised grandmother was there to shut in very wealthy families, but off the machine before my little then gave it all up to follow fingers suffered serious harm. their path with God. Others Although we often went were raised with very little, but to the town pool, my siblings never had the desire to acquire and I enjoyed countless hours more and only valued the richin our own “swimming pool” ness of the love of Christ. which was an irrigation canal It may be difficult to judge nearby. The water was light a person’s spirituality by his
Our Journey of Faith
brown in color, and God only knows what microorganisms were lurking in that H20, but my sister, brother and I never got sick and it seems our neighborhood friends fared equally well. Although our family had a modest income in those days, my siblings and I were able to attend the new Catholic school, that opened when I was in second grade. It was staffed by Dominican Sisters and because of their sacrifice, the tuition was very reasonable. It was here that I would realize that I could indeed grow up “rich” in the Catholic faith that was becoming very important in my life. In the Catholic school community and with the love of my family, I began to realize the power of the Catholic faith. In later years when our family acquired a higher standard of living, I would at least have the ability to scrutinize the importance of material things, for the soul is a far greater richness. It is an ongoing challenge that God has blessed us with a world rich in material possessions and earthly ambitions, but that he ultimately wants us to remember what is not of this world and embrace his Spirit and the path of love and humility. As we continue our journey of faith may we search our hearts, and continue on the path of surrender that can take us to a deeper understanding of the Gospel teachings. Greta and her husband George, with their children are members of Christ the King Parish in Mashpee.
in white, but in blue. As far as I know, real angels always wear white. And who ever heard of an angel wearing a shiny badge? This was no vision of loveliness. This was a counterfeit apparition. Now I am fully awake. That isn’t a heavenly light beam; it’s a flashlight. I recognize the voice. “Sergeant Eddie Dutra? Is that you?” “Yes. I’m conducting what we call in police lingo a wellness check. You’re not in distress?” “I’m sleeping.” “Oh, good. What kind of a host are you anyway, locking your poor sister out of the house?” he joked. I should have known my sister would have something to do with this. “See you tomorrow night, Father. I’m working the bingo detail.” Then the bogus apparition vanished. “AHHHH. What was that all about?” I asked myself — but not for long. Being a parish priest for so many years has taught me to always expect the unexpected. I rolled over and went back to sleep. The next morning, I heard the rest of the story. Seems my sister had not retired for the evening as I had presumed. She was actually sitting on the piazza enjoying the night air. How was I to know this? When I turned off the lights and locked up for the night, I locked my sister out. Mary wandered over to the Pastoral Life Center and found some parishioners preparing for the parish yard sale. They became immediately concerned. “Father never stops. He never sleeps. He must be terribly ill. He must be in a coma!” They all rushed over and hammered the front doorbell. There are two doorbells. The bell they were pushing had been disconnected when we put in the new phone system. It doesn’t ring.
They ran around to the back door and pounded hard. Between that door and my bedroom there are four more doors. All five doors were closed and secured for the night. I didn’t hear a thing. The dogs started barking in anticipation of arriving guests. Those greyhounds constantly work themselves into a tizzy. I pay them no heed. Frantic, someone dialed my cell phone six times. I didn’t answer. The battery was dead. Now, in near panic, they decided to phone 911. Consequently, two police cruisers arrived at the rectory for a “wellness check.” Satisfied that all was in order, the officers returned to the station and entered the incident in the police log or “blotter.” I caught up with Sergeant Dutra at the bingo that evening and we teased each other. Police Chief Bob MacDonald joined in. The chief said he was quite surprised to read the report of the incident: “St. Joseph Rectory. 10 p.m. and all is well. Father Tim is sleeping.” This is news. The local newspaper weekly publishes the police blotter. One morning soon I expected to be sitting on my piazza sipping coffee and reading the paper: “Monday 11 August, 2008, 10 p.m. — Dighton Police report pastor is sleeping.” It’s 10 p.m. Do you know where your pastor is? Still, it’s comforting to know that not only parishioners but also the Dighton Police are ready and willing to lend a helping hand should there be a real need. Thus passes another episode in the exciting life of a parish priest. Father Goldrick is pastor of St. Joseph’s Parish in North Dighton and St. Peter’s Parish in Dighton.
The Fragrance of Heliotrope: The Presence of Cecelia By Richard J. Ward
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If only she was an athlete
W
e sat there mesmerized by what we were seeing from China on the tele. Denise, Emilie and I could only leave the room when it was commercial time. It was an incredible story of courage, perseverance, disappointment, and hope. It wasn’t America’s Michael Phelps’ incredible run. It wasn’t China’s great sprinter, Liu Xiang coming up lame in the starting blocks. It wasn’t Jamaica’s Usain “Lightning” Bolt easily laying claim to being the world’s fastest human. And it wasn’t a diminutive, under-aged Chinese gymnast
My View From the Stands By Dave Jolivet striking gold. The story wasn’t on NBC Sports — it aired on the Science Channel. The story was about a Chinese woman, but she was far from diminutive. Yao Defen was born in 1972 in Liuan, China. Her parents were poor farmers. Like the previously mentioned athletes, Yao showed from an early age, that she was different from most. Unlike the previously mentioned athletes, the difference wasn’t a good thing. Yao was growing alarmingly large, alarmingly quickly. By the time she was 15, she was an enormous six-foot-eight-inches tall. It was about this time she was taken to a doctor. Yao had a tumor on her pituitary gland, causing what is
known as gigantism. Because her family was very poor, there wasn’t much that could be done. She went back home and continued to grow. Roughly eight years ago, Yao finally had an operation to remove the tumor, which ceased the growing process. But as time passed, she grew increasingly weaker, and the growth process returned. In 2007 she went to the hospital and there they discovered the tumor hadn’t been completely removed, and was growing. She needed an operation, but the family had no money. A Chinese neurosurgeon offered to get the procedure financed, but Yao had to regain her strength before that happened. She was sent home with a six-month supply of medicines with the intent of removing the tumor after that period. That’s when the Science Channel show ended. That was September 2007. No one knows what’s become of Yao. The Science Channel Website has no update, and a Google search only reveals other users trying to find learn of Yao’s fate. If only Yao was an athlete. She would have received all the best care. Her story would told worldwide. Everyone would care. It doesn’t just happen in China — it’s everywhere. Games go on in Beijing and all across the globe. Athletes continue to gain fame and fortune. Yet no one knows what’s become of Yao — and the millions of other poor things inhabiting this planet.
Please visit us at: www.CarmelTerrace.org or 508 788 8000 933 Central St. Framingham, MA 01701 On the campus of St. Patrick's Manor
August 22, 2008
‘Living treasure’ discovers ancient one By Michael Pare Anchor Staff
And so on an August day, some 60 years ago, he visited Dighton Rock. BRISTOL, R.I. — To understand why Dr. It wasn’t easy at first. It was high tide, explained Manuel Luciano da Silva believes so passionately a helpful local police officer. He didn’t see a rock. that there was a Catholic presence in this area as But the next day he did. early as 1511, you need to understand that it is all “I’ll never forget my first impression … seeing about science. And the scientific method is some- the Portuguese cross, the Portuguese coat of arms, thing in which da Silva fervently trusts. When you and the name of the navigator,” said da Silva. “I get to know the man, his fascination with Dighton said to myself, ‘Maybe someday I’ll be able to do Rock in Berkley, believed to have been discovered something to protect this monument.’” by Portuguese explorer Miguel Corte Real, makes Do something, he has. all the sense in the world. Thanks in large part to da Silva’s dedication, He was 18 when he arrived in New York City thousands of people have heard the story of Miguel from the tiny village of Caviao in continental Por- Corte Real and now have a better understanding of tugal in January of 1946. It was a 16-day journey. the Portuguese discoverers and the very presence He came reluctantly. of Catholics in this region. He has given more than “I didn’t want to come to America,” said da Sil- 400 free lectures all over the world. The message va. “I wanted to continue my studies in Portugal.” he delivers is that it is science that confirms his Because his father was born here, da Silva beliefs regarding Dighton Rock. was an American citizen. Five weeks after his “For me to become a medical doctor I had to arrival, he was drafted. become a scientist,” he He passed his physical, said. “Every day when but flunked the written I examined a patient, I exam. had to use the scientific “I didn’t know any method to make a diagEnglish,” he said. nosis. Everything has to He was classified as be scientific. Everything 4FMD, which meant has to be objective. This “mentally deficient.” is the method I have been Da Silva could have using to do my scientific used it as an excuse. Inresearch.” stead, it was motivation. With regard to DighIt meant he would have ton Rock, the objective to work hard to realize evidence is the engravan American Dream. ings and the existence of a He already knew hard Portuguese national symwork, having tirelessly bol. He points out that labored the family farm while there are more than as a boy. 300 types of symbols or He worked at Westcrosses in existence, only inghouse Electric as a the Portuguese symbol mail boy, then as a sec- ANCHOR PERSON OF THE WEEK — Dr. has the 45-degree angles retary at the Portuguese Manuel Luciano da Silva. found on Dighton Rock. General Consulate, What Miguel Corte while attending school at night. He ultimately at- Real found all those years ago was a 40-ton bolder. tended New York University, graduating in 1952 It is believed to have migrated from North America with a biology degree. That year he returned to during the melting of the ice cap, 10,000 years ago, Portugal because of his father’s death and entered rolling to the left margin of the Taunton River. Coimbra University Medical School where he Again, thanks largely to da Silva’s efforts, graduated with distinction in 1957. Dighton Rock and the surrounding 101 acres be“Ten years later I turned that ‘MD’ into medi- came a state park in 1954. In 1963, it was removed cal doctor,” said da Silva. from the water, raised 11 feet to a cofferdam and After practicing medicine for a year in Portu- protected by a fence. A glass enclosure and eightgal, he returned to America to do an internship sided pavilion was built around it in 1973. In 1974, at St. Luke’s Hospital in New Bedford and then the Massachusetts Legislature created the Dighton spent three years completing his specialization in Rock Museum, which is open to the public. internal medicine at the renowned Lahey Clinic Father Tim Goldrick, pastor at St. Joseph’s Paroutside Boston. ish in North Dighton and at St. Peter’s Parish in Da Silva was affiliated for many years with the Dighton, is a history buff himself. He has come to Bristol County Medical Center, as well as serving admirer da Silva. on the staff at Roger Williams Medical Center. He “He is a very faithful Catholic,” said Father was also, for 21 years, medical director at the R.I. Goldrick. “He is relentless in his research, as is his Veteran’s Home in Bristol. wife, Sylvia. Both of them are brilliant.” Da Silva is married to Silvia Tavares Jorge, an Father Goldrick calls da Silva a “living treaexpert on ancient documents who has been grant- sure.” ed access to the archives of the Vatican. Soon turning 82, this living treasure is not slowHe looks back on his medical career with great ing down. He is busy promoting his eighth book, pride. He loved medicine and loved his patients. which he wrote with Sylvia. It is titled, “ChristoDa Silva can also be heard and seen regularly on pher Colon (Columbus) was Portuguese!” local radio and cable television. When he is not His plan is to enjoy family, visit the library that talking medicine, he is likely to be talking about bears his name in his hometown of Portugal, and Dighton Rock. to continue delving into history. He carries with It, too, is his passion, born out of his love for him that same passion for the story of Dighton navigation and exploration. Rock he felt 60 years ago. “Anything that dealt with navigation, I read,” To nominate a Person of the Week, send an said da Silva. “When you read anything with love, email message to FatherRogerLandry@Anyou become an authority.” chorNews.org.
GOOD FOOD AND FRIENDS — Residents at the Cardinal Medeiros Residence in Fall River enjoy daily meals together. The complex is currently being expanded to include room for six more occupants. (Photos by Dave Jolivet)
The more the merrier at the Cardinal Medeiros Residence
B y Michael Pare A nchor Staff
FALL RIVER — Ask Msgr. Thomas J. Harrington what he likes best about living at the Cardinal Medeiros retirement center, adjacent to Bishop
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August 22, 2008
Connolly High School on Elsbree Street, and he does not hesitate. “The camaraderie,” he says. “It’s just wonderful. I haven’t had this much fun since the seminary.”
ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES? — Very early in the restoration process, this room on the grounds of the Cardinal Medeiros Residence in Fall River will one day transform into a comfortable living area for a retired priest.
While breakfast tends to be less formal, the 16 retired Fall River priests who call Cardinal Medeiros home are faithful to lunch at noon every day and dinner at 5 p.m. After dinner they enjoy taking in the sunset together, and often, the evening news. Those who don’t have evening plans, especially when the pennant race is heating up, also enjoy watching the Red Sox together at night (unless of course the Sox are playing out west). “When they play on the West Coast no one knows who won until the morning,” he says. But rest assured, everyone at the residence, as far as Msgr. Harrington knows, roots for the hometown team. “It’s exclusive,” he says with a laugh. Striking a slightly more serious tone, Msgr. Harrington explains that the Cardinal Medeiros center is a special place. The priests living there have
dedicated most of their lives to the Fall River Diocese. “A lot of us have no other place to go,” he says. And so in addition to discussing the Manny Ramirez trade, the resurgence of J.D. Drew, and the remarkable season being turned in by Jon Lester, the residents at Cardinal Medeiros reflect on their many years serving the parishes and communities of the Fall River Diocese. There are, after all, so many wonderful stories to be shared. They also keep active, helping out whenever and wherever they can. “We keep abreast of the activities of the diocese,” says Msgr. Harrington. “We never feel isolated.” In the coming months, the priests now living Cardinal Medeiros will welcome six new neighbors. Work is scheduled to begin next week to expand the capacity of the center. Taking over space on one side of the second floor of Bishop Connolly High School that has not been used in several years, construction crews will add six suites to the existing 16. Like the existing ones, they will each include a living room, bedroom, and bathroom. The center also features a full kitchen and housekeeping services, as well as amenities in each room that include cable television and individual heating and air conditioning controls. The project should be completed in approximately nine months. The architect on the expansion project, John M. Sheskey & Associates, is the same firm that designed the retirement center in 1996. The Cardinal Medeiros center was originally blessed and dedicated by Bishop Sean O’Malley in September of 1996. The property had served as the living quarters for the Jesuit community that at one time staffed Bishop Connolly High School. Bishop O’Malley selected the name for the residence, commemorating Fall River native Cardinal Humberto Medeiros, who was a beloved priest in the diocese for many
years before becoming the Bishop of Brownsville, Texas, in 1966 and the Cardinal Archbishop of Boston in 1970. He died in 1983 at age 67. Msgr. Edmund J. Fitzgerald, director of the Diocesan Health Facilities office, said there are retired priests looking forward to occupying the new suites. The diocese, he said, is pleased to be able to support those priests who have served it so well. “The bishop is providing living quarters for priests who have served in the Fall River Diocese for many years,” he said. Joanne Flanagan is the supervisor at the residence and has worked there since its inception. She welcomes the additional residents. “We have a nice, friendly atmosphere here,” she says. “Everyone is excited about this. It’s an awesome place to work.” The center’s closest neighbors, the faculty, staff, and students of Bishop Connolly High School have long become accustomed to having the retired priests next door. Msgr. Harrington, for example, is a favorite among students who enjoy the personable homilies he delivers at school Masses. He and other residents at the center attend many Bishop Connolly events, from ball games to productions put on by the school’s critically acclaimed theater program. “The retired priests are wonderful neighbors taking a keen interest in the future of Bishop Connolly High School,” says Michael Scanlan, the school’s principal. “Their presence is a reminder that the Catholic Church is a tremendously talented, rich, and diverse family.” Scanlan explains that Bishop Connolly, in conjunction with the expansion of the Cardinal Medeiros center, is also busy refurbishing its central offices and its computer infrastructure. For their part, the priests are anxious for their new neighbors to arrive. There will be more stories to share. And more fans for the hometown team.
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August 22, 2008
Vatican Library makeover to include fireproof bunker for manuscripts VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The Vatican Library’s makeover will include construction of a fireproof bunker for manuscripts and a climate-controlled room for precious papyrus fragments, the head of the library said. In addition, the library is reclaiming as a reading room the finely decorated Sistine Hall, which has been used in recent times for Vatican Museums’ exhibits. The work, which began in 2007, is expected to be completed by 2010, when the library will reopen to scholars. The project includes the restructuring of three floors of the 16thcentury library building, which houses laboratories dedicated to manuscript restoration and photo archiving. An external elevator will connect the floors. This summer employees finished the painstaking work of packaging the library’s 75,000 ancient manuscripts and transferring them to protected storage areas in-
side the Vatican, the cardinal said. The manuscript bunker will be reconstructed with fireproof walls, flooring and pavement, and an emergency exit will be added. New technology will monitor climate and humidity, and a security system also will be installed. A connected smaller room will house the Vatican’s collection of original papyrus manuscripts, with additional security and climate control. One of the most famous of these manuscripts, the Bodmer Papyrus XIV-XV, was donated to Pope Benedict XVI last year by Frank J. Hanna III, a U.S. Catholic businessman. Handwritten in Greek around the year 200, it contains about half of each of the Gospels of Luke and John. In addition to manuscripts, the library houses about 8,300 early printed works, more than 70,000 prints, engravings and maps, more than 300,000 coins and medals, and more than 1.6 million books, Cardinal Farina said.
Diocese of Fall River TV Mass on WLNE Channel 6 Sunday, August 24 at 11:00 a.m.
Scheduled celebrant is Father Richard D. Wilson, pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish at St. James Church, New Bedford
STAR STRUCK — Ahsoka Tano engages in battle in this scene from the animated movie “Star Wars: The Clone Wars.” For a brief review of this film, see CNS Movie Capsules below. (CNS photo/ Lucasfilm)
CNS Movie Capsules NEW YORK (CNS) — The following are capsule reviews of movies recently reviewed by the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. “Fly Me to the Moon” (Summit) Good-natured animated 3-D children's adventure in which a thrill-seeking young fly (voice of Trevor Gagnon), inspired by his grandfather’s (voice of Christopher Lloyd) oft-told exploits, convinces two friends to join him in stowing away on the 1969 Apollo 11 mission to the moon. Director Ben Stassen’s film provides a painless history lesson via some of those startling 3-D special effects, though the story line and central characters are less impressive. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting
classification is A-I — general patronage. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is G — general audiences. All ages admitted. “Henry Poole Is Here” (Overture) Moving little fable of a depressed loner (Luke Wilson) whose life is changed when a warmhearted Latina busybody (Adriana Barraza) discerns a miraculous image of Christ’s face on his stucco wall, after which he slowly opens up to her and the other neighbors: an empathetic widow (Radha Mitchell), her sad child (Morgan Lily), a nearsighted grocery clerk (Rachel Seiferth) and the local priest (George Lopez). Despite some formulaic turns and occasional platitudinous dialogue, director Mark Pellington sustains a suspenseful, sometimes poetic, generally unsentimental mood, not without humor, solidly anchored by Wilson whose transformation from spiritual emptiness to redemption is fully believable, with themes of faith and community strong pluses for the Catholic viewer. Two instances of profanity and a few crass
words. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-II — adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG — parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children. “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” (Warner Bros.) Animated action fantasy in which a courageous but arrogant warrior (voice of Matt Lanter) is saddled by his commander (voice of Tom Kane) with an unwanted apprentice (voice of Ashley Eckstein) while combating a kidnapping plot by an evil nobleman (voice of Christopher Lee) and his battle-hardened minion (voice of Nika Futterman). Storytelling takes a back seat to prolonged battle sequences in director Dave Filoni’s noisy addition to the franchise. Moderate fantasy violence and one mild oath. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-II — adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG — parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.
August 22, 2008
The Anchor
news briefs
Pope invites Lutheran theologians to discussion about Jesus ROME (CNS) — As Pope Benedict XVI continues work on the second volume of his book about Jesus of Nazareth, he has asked two Lutheran theologians and some of his former students to discuss with him issues he will be writing about. Martin Hengel and Peter Stuhlmacher, both retired professors of New Testament studies from the Protestant theology faculty at the University of Tubingen, Germany, said they have been invited to lecture August 30 at the meeting at the pope’s summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome. The August 29-31 meeting is the annual gathering of the pope’s former doctoral students, known as a “schulerkreis” (student circle). Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict, began the annual meetings with his former students in 1978. Hengel told Catholic News Service in Rome that although he was having health problems he hoped to attend the meeting in Castel Gandolfo. He already has sent participants an outline of his talk, which he titled “Questions About the Historical Jesus of Nazareth: Considerations After Writing a Book on Jesus.” Stuhlmacher told CNS his task will be to “try to demonstrate how Jesus himself understood his passion and death.”
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Today The Anchor prints the second in an eight-part series on marriage published by the Massachusetts Catholic Conference. The series is entitled “The Future Depends on Love” and examines from a fresh and contemporary perspective topics such as human love in the divine plan, the intrinsic and public goods of marriage, the gift of fertility, the sacrament of matrimony and more. For more information about the series and added resources, visit www.MassCatholicMarriage.org.
Church leaders, activists say Peru’s laws violate indigenous rights LIMA, Peru (CNS) — New laws issued by presidential decree violate international agreements on the rights of indigenous peoples, said a Church organization formed to support native peoples in the Peruvian Amazon. Some of the measures undermine territorial rights protected by the Peruvian Constitution, said Ada Chueca, director of the Amazonian Center for Anthropology and Practical Application, established in 1974 by the nine bishops of Peru’s Amazon region. Other measures violate International Labor Organization Convention 169, which calls for indigenous peoples to be consulted on matters affecting them, she said. The government said the laws were necessary to comply with the terms of a free-trade agreement signed with the United States in 2006 and ratified by the U.S. Congress late last year. But hundreds of people from various ethnic groups have been protesting since August 9, the International Day of Indigenous Peoples, in parts of the northern and southern Peruvian Amazon, cutting off water to a hydroelectric plant and occupying facilities operated by oil and gas companies. Bishop says Paraguayans enthused about president, who faces tough job LIMA, Peru (CNS) — One of the first things Fernando Lugo is expected to do after his inauguration as Paraguayan president is attend Mass in the Diocese of San Pedro, which he once led. This time, however, he will be part of the congregation rather than the celebrant. The recently laicized and newly elected president is scheduled to attend the service the day after his inauguration, in the town of San Pedro del Ycuamandyju, where his former flock will “pray for wisdom” for him and newly elected local officials, Bishop Adalberto Martinez Flores told Catholic News Service in a telephone interview. Paraguayans are enthusiastic about the country's new leader, Bishop Martinez said.
Nuns find priest’s mutilated body on deserted road in southern India
HYDERABAD, India (CNS) — The mutilated body of a Catholic priest was found on a deserted road in southern India’s Andhra Pradesh state. The body of Father Thomas Pandipally, 37, a Carmelite of Mary Immaculate priest, was found August 17 near Yellareddy, a town about 200 miles northwest of the state capital Hyderabad, reported the Asian church news agency UCA News.
Father Pandipally was the local pastor and vice principal of a Church-run high school in Yellareddy. His provincial superior, Father Alex Thannippara, told UCA News August 18 that Father Pandipally was returning home August 16 after celebrating Mass in Burgiga, a mission station about 15 miles from Yellareddy. He stopped at a Franciscan Clarist Congregation convent in
Lingampet for dinner and left around 9:45 p.m. His body was found the next morning less than 10 miles from Lingampet. The Franciscan sisters he had visited drove past the body while going to a Mass at the parish August 17. Father Thannippara said they did not stop because they did not recognize the body but, after learning the priest and his bike were missing, they went back and identified his body.
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August 22, 2008
Image of Our Lady to tour diocese continued from page one
with the diocese’s Pro-Life Apostolate. The Pro-Life Movement has a special interest in Our Lady of Guadalupe. Historians and theologians contend the belt worn by the Virgin as pictured in the image or icon, is a sign or declaration of her pregnancy as theotokos, meaning “God bearer” or “Mother of God,” as declared by the Council of Ephesus in 431. “She is also invoked by Catholics praying for an end to all abortions and for the protection and strengthening of families,” said Bea Martins, Catholic Citizenship associated field director for the Fall River Diocese. “Our Pro-Life Mission is seen as we gather to pray outside the Four Women Abortion Center on Emery Street in Attleboro on August 30 as well as September 6 from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m., both days, and we invite all interested to come and join us in our efforts to end abortions,” Martins added. She also noted that the presence of the image at St. Mary’s Cathedral on Spring Street in Fall River is on September 11, “A day we Americans remember as 9/11 and the terrorist attacks on our nation. We gather in the cathedral before Mary, the Queen of Peace, to ask for peace in the world. Father Paul Bernier, rector of the cathedral, invites everyone to join from noon to 3 p.m., or from 7 to 8 p.m., to venerate Our Lady of Guadalupe and ask her intercession.” The following are the dates and times the image will be present in various churches and locations: August 27, St. Mark the Apostle Church in Attleboro, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. August 28, St. George Church in Westport, 7-8 p.m. August 30, Four Women Abortion Center, Emery Street, Attleboro, 7:30-9:30 p.m. August 31, St. Dominic Church in Swansea, 3-4 p.m. September 2, St. Stanislaus Church and School in Fall River, 9-10:30 a.m. September 2, St. Anthony of Padua Church in New Bedford, 4-8 p.m. September 3, St. Francis of Assisi Church in Swansea, 9 a.m.-8 p.m. September 4, St. Julie Billiart Church in North Dartmouth, 4-5:30 p.m. September 4, St. Francis Xavier Church in Acushnet, 6:30-7:30 p.m. September 5, Holy Family Church in East Taunton, 9 a.m.8 p.m. September 6, Four Women Abortion Center in Attleboro, 7:30-9:30 a.m.
September 6, St. Jude’s Church in Taunton, 3-7 p.m. September 7, Our Lady of the Rosary Church in Taunton, 8:30 and 10:30 a.m. Masses. September 8, St. Peter the Apostle Church in Provincetown, 7-9:30 a.m. September 8, Our Lady of Lourdes at Visitation Church in Eastham, noon-2 p.m. September 9, Holy Redeemer Church in Chatham, 1-3 p.m. September 9, St. Pius X Church in South Yarmouth, 4:307 p.m. September 10, Holy Trinity Church in Harwich, 8-10 a.m. September 10, St. Francis Xavier Church in Hyannis, 11:30 a.m.- 4 p.m. September 10, Our Lady of the Assumption in Osterville, 5-7:30 p.m. September 11, St. Joseph’s Church in Woods Hole, 7:309:30 a.m. September 11, St. Mary’s Cathedral in Fall River, noon-3 p.m. and 7-8 p.m. The icon recalls apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Juan Diego, beginning at a hill called Tepeyac near Mexico City in Mexico, as he walked from his village of Cuautitlan to the city. Speaking in Nahuatl, the young Virgin encircled by light asked for a church to be built there in her honor and to inform the local bishop. When Juan Diego advised the Spanish Bishop-Elect Fray Juan de Zumarraga, he asked Diego for a sign. Later, the Virgin asked Juan Diego to gather flowers at the top of the hill, even though it was winter when no flowers bloomed. He found Castilian roses and brought them to the bishop. When Juan Diego opened his apron to show the roses, the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe miraculously appeared imprinted on the cloth inside. He was canonized a saint by Pope John Paul II on July 31, 2002. The Church celebrates the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12. The origin of the name “Guadalupe” is controversial. In its short version, “Lupe” it is a common name among Mexican people for those with Mexican heritage. It is also suggested it is a corruption of the Nahuatl name “coatlaxopeuh” which is translated as “one who crushes the serpent.” Since 1754, several pontiffs have named Our Lady of Guadalupe as a patron to many regions, including the Philippines, Mexico, Latin America, and as “Mother of the Americas” and most recently proclaimed by Pope John Paul II in 1999 as “Patron of the Americas.”
KATERI SHRINE — Bishop Edward J. Slattery of Tulsa, Okla., dedicates a new outdoor shrine to Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha at Immaculate Conception Church in Pawhuska, Okla., recently. The church, founded in 1890 in Indian territory, has had a longtime connection to the Osage tribe. Native American Catholics hope and pray that Blessed Kateri will one day be named a saint. The 17thcentury Mohawk maiden was the first indigenous North American to be beatified. (CNS photo/Dave Crenshaw, Eastern Oklahoma Catholic)
Episcopal priests begin talks with Catholic bishop
WASHINGTON (CNS) — Four priests from the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth, Texas, who said they are troubled by the “liberal” direction taken by the Episcopal Church, met with the Catholic bishop of Fort Worth. The meeting raised questions about whether they intend to seek a way to join the Catholic Church. The Episcopal clergy members met with Bishop Kevin W. Vann of Fort Worth June 16 to explore how the two faith communities can better collaborate spiritually, Pat Svacina, director of communications for the Catholic diocese, confirmed to Catholic News Service recently. “The bishop listened to them as part of an ongoing dialogue he has been having with them,” Svacina said. “The bishop has not taken a position on this topic at this time. Ultimately, full communion with the Catholic Church would be a decision made by the Vatican.” The priests who met with Bishop Vann were the Rev. Charles A. Hough III, a canon and an assistant to Fort Worth Episcopal Bishop Jack Leo Iker; the Rev. William A. Crary Jr., rector of St. Laurence
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Church in Southlake; the Rev. Christopher C. Stainbrook, vicar of St. Timothy Mission in Fort Worth, and the Rev. Louis L. Tobola Jr., vicar of St. Barnabas Mission in Fort Worth. Established in 1983 when it was created from the Episcopal Diocese of Dallas, the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth has resisted ordaining women as priests, which the Episcopal Church allows, and its members have voiced opposition to the church ordaining an openly gay bishop. In a prepared document delivered to Bishop Vann, the Episcopal priests said they have witnessed Episcopal dioceses throughout the U.S. “fall away from a traditional biblical and Catholic practice of the faith.” The document also states the four priests realize that England’s King Henry VIII — the monarch who broke with Rome but who wrote the “Defense of Seven Sacraments” and was granted the title “defender of the faith” — never intended to make any substantive or permanent changes in the Catholic faith. “The four priests did go to visit with the local Catholic bishop and did talk about a fuller communion,” said Suzanne Gill, director of communications for the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth. “It was not an attempt by the diocese to join the Catholic Church, but to reach a fuller unity on those things that we do hold in common.” However, the document presented to Bishop Vann does suggest the Episcopal priests are seeking guidance from Pope Benedict
XVI to effect “more quickly the healing of this portion of the broken body of Christ.” Though Bishop Iker knew the priests were meeting with Bishop Vann and was given a copy of the document they presented to him, they were not representing their diocese, bishop or congregations, Gill told CNS. “They represented only themselves.” The meeting with Bishop Vann follows a year when the Episcopal diocese studying various agreed statements that have come out of ecumenical dialogues between Anglicans and Roman Catholics on the national and international level, Bishop Iker said in a prepared statement. The priests’ “discussion with Bishop Vann has no bearing upon matters coming before our diocesan convention in November, where a second vote will be taken on constitutional changes concerning our relationship with the General Convention of the Episcopal Church,” he said. “There is no proposal under consideration, either publicly or privately, for the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth to become part of the Roman Catholic Church.” The Episcopal Church is the U.S. member of the Anglican Communion, which has its origins in Henry VIII’s 16th-century break with Rome after the pope's refusal to grant an annulment of his first marriage. This is often referred to as the English Reformation. The document also asserts the Reformation itself was intended to be for a limited time only, “a season,” a reference to the Book of Ecclesiastes.
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The Anchor
August 22, 2008
Heaven is God, not an imaginary place, pope says
DISCUSSING THE ISSUES — U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, and the Rev. Rick Warren shake hands at the end of a forum on the presidency at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., August 16. Rev. Warren, pastor of the evangelical mega-church, was the moderator. (CNS photo/Mark Avery, Reuters)
Presidential candidates talk about their faith at Saddleback Church
LAKE FOREST, Calif. (CNS) — The presumptive presidential nominees of the nation’s two major political parties August 16 tried to define themselves in religious terms on topics ranging from their personal moral failings to how to deal with climate change during a televised forum from Saddleback Church in Lake Forest. The Rev. Rick Warren, author of the best-selling “The PurposeDriven Life,” questioned Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., separately for an hour each in a nationally broadcast session held in the sanctuary of the 20,000-member evangelical church Warren founded. He posed nearly identical questions to each senator, starting with queries about whose advice they value and what some of their personal moral failings have been and how the nation has failed morally. With McCain offstage in a room where he couldn’t hear the interview, Obama spoke first, saying he thought “America’s greatest moral failure in my lifetime” has been not following Jesus’ call in Matthew of “whatever you do for the least of my brothers, you do for me.” “That basic principle applies to poverty,” Obama said. “It applies to racism and sexism ... and (to) not having, ... not thinking about providing ladders of opportunity for people to get into the middle class. There is a pervasive sense, I think, that this country is wealthy and powerful but we still don’t spend enough time thinking about ‘the least of these.’” McCain’s answer to the same question was similar, though not framed with the Scripture reference. “Perhaps we have not devoted ourselves to causes greater than our self-interest, although we’ve been the best at it (self-interest) of anybody in the world,” McCain said.
McCain said he thought after the terrorist attacks of 2001 the American people should not have been told to go shopping or to travel, but to join the Peace Corps, Americorps or the military and to expand the work the United States is doing to improve life for people in other parts of the world. McCain said the failure of his first marriage was his personal greatest moral failing. He did not elaborate. Obama attributed difficult times in his youth when he experimented with drugs and drinking as personal moral failings. He said he has traced his problems in those days to “a certain selfish necessity on my part.” “I was so obsessed with me and the reason I might be dissatisfied that I couldn’t focus on other people,” he said. “The process for me of growing up was to realize it’s not about me.” Even at this point in his life, he said, “when I find myself taking the wrong step I think a lot of the time it’s because I’m trying to protect myself instead of trying to do God’s work.” Warren asked Obama to explain his views about abortion, specifically “at what point does a baby get human rights, in your view.” Obama said the answer depends on “whether you are looking at it from a theological perspective or a scientific perspective,” and that the answer is “above my pay grade.” Obama has voted in the Senate and in the Illinois Legislature to oppose restrictions on abortion. He said he supports Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court ruling that made nearly all abortions legal nationwide. But he said anyone who “tries to deny the moral difficulties and gravity of the abortion issue I think is not paying attention.” “I don’t think women make these decisions casually,” he said, but after wrestling with the
questions with their pastors, husbands, doctors and family members. Obama acknowledged that opponents of abortion consider inadequate his objections to bills intended to prohibit the procedure known as partialbirth abortion unless they include provisions to permit such abortions if the mother’s health is at risk. He said his goal would be to find common ground with abortion opponents to reduce the number of abortions. “If you believe that life begins at conception ... and you are consistent in that belief, then I can’t argue with you on that, because that is a core issue of faith for you. What I can do is say there are ways that we can work together to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies.” McCain, who opposes legal abortion, was succinct in answering the question about when he believes a fetus deserves legal protection. “At the moment of conception,” he said. “I will be a ProLife president and this presidency will have Pro-Life policies. That’s my commitment.”
CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy (CNS) — Heaven is not an abstract idea or an imaginary place, but heaven is God, Pope Benedict XVI said. Celebrating an early morning Mass August 15, the pope said the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary “urges us to raise our gaze toward heaven, not a heaven of abstract ideas nor an imaginary heaven created in art, but the true reality of heaven which is God himself. God is heaven.” During the Mass in the small parish Church of St. Thomas, located on the main square in Castel Gandolfo, the pope said that while Mary's assumption is “totally unique and extraordinary,” it also assures believers that their destiny, like hers, is to be with God forever. God is “our goal, he is the dwelling place from which we came and toward which we are called,” the pope told about 200 people who had crowded into the church, while hundreds of others watched on a large screen erected in the square. “We are all children of God the father, brothers and sisters of Jesus, children of our mother Mary,” the pope said. “And all of us want happiness, and that happiness is found in God.” Pope Benedict said Mary, as the loving mother of her Son’s followers, “helps us, encourages us so that every moment of our existence would be a step in this journey toward God.” “Gazing at Mary, assumed into heaven, we understand better that our everyday lives — although marked by problems and difficulties — flow like a river toward the divine ocean, toward the fullness of joy and peace,” he said. The pope said that in a world marked by “the sad spectacle of
so much false joy and, at the same time, so much agonizing pain,” Christians must learn to be like Mary, “signs of hope and consolation.” At midday, Pope Benedict recited the Angelus with visitors gathered in the courtyard of the papal summer villa. He said that while the last mention of Mary in the Bible places her with the apostles awaiting the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, the Church teaches that she was taken, body and soul, “from the earth to heaven.” “This firm conviction of the Church found its coronation in the dogmatic definition of the Assumption pronounced by my venerable predecessor Pius XII in the year 1950,” he said. “From paradise, the Blessed Mother continues always, especially in difficult hours of trial, to watch over her children, whom Jesus himself entrusted to her before dying on the cross,” the pope said. Pope Benedict said the hundreds of Marian shrines around the world testify to the fact that millions of Christians have and continue to experience her maternal love. The pope specifically mentioned the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes, which he will visit during a September 12-15 trip to France. “Mary assumed into heaven indicates to us the ultimate aim of our earthly pilgrimage,” he said. “She reminds us that our whole being — spirit, soul and body — is destined for the fullness of life, that one who lives and dies in love for God and for one's neighbor will be transfigured into the image of the glorious body of the risen Lord, that the Lord casts down the mighty and raises up the humble,” the pope said.
Youth Pages
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August 22, 2008
More than 50 youngsters enjoy Holy Family Parish’s inaugural Vacation Bible School
WHAT'S COOKING? — Each year second-grade students at St. John the Evangelist School in Attleboro create their own cookbook to keep at home. The book includes a special recipe along with a photo of their parents, grandparents, aunts and/or uncles whose special dish has been passed down from generation to generation. The book may include ethnic recipes from their family or a favorite dessert they help cook at home. Shown are the secondgraders at the end of the school year with their cookbooks.
EAST TAUNTON — Father Jay T. Maddock, pastor of Holy Family Parish initiated the parish’s first Vacation Bible School this summer. Fifty-one children between the ages of three and 10 enrolled in the summer program entitled “Son World” which ran from August 4-8. The children were divided into three groups with each group participating in five different types of activities: Bible stories, Bible activities, music, crafts and recreation and snacks.
Deacon John Fitzpatrick led the opening prayer at each session. Each day revolved around a different Bible story with all the activities geared to increase the children’s knowledge of and love for God as well as helping them make right choices in daily life. The Vacation Bible School was directed and coordinated by Karen Coughlin, parish director of Religious Education. Volunteers with different areas of expertise assisted. Teen-age youth from the par-
ish provided important assistance in all the activities. They were especially effective in performing skits that dramatized the Bible stories and leading the singing and dancing. Parents reported back that their children came home from the school singing songs they learned and sharing with excitement Bible stories they heard and the crafts they created. And as always, the children also enjoyed making new friends while they munched on delicious snacks.
Pope says WYD contrasts with young people’s escapism
BRESSANONE, Italy (CNS) — Pope Benedict XVI highlighted the “authentic joy” experienced by World Youth Day participants and said it stood in stark contrast to the drug-fueled escapism affecting many young people today. The pope, speaking August 10 at the end of a two-week vacation in the northern Italian city of Bressanone, offered what he called a “spontaneous reflection” on his World Youth Day trip to Australia in late July. What particularly impressed him in Australia, he said, were the “joyous faces of so many boys and girls from all over the world.” “In the great cities of the young Australian nation, those young people were a sign of authentic joy, sometimes noisy but always peaceful and positive,” he said. Although an estimated 400,000 young people participated in the Australian events, the pope noted that they caused no disorder or damage. “To be happy, they didn't need to resort to vulgarity or violence,
or to alcohol and drugs,” he said. Instead, they drew happiness from meeting each other and discovering a new world, he said. The pope said it was only natural to compare World Youth Day participants to others their age who seek “false escape” through degrading experiences that often end in tragedy. Such escapism, he said, is a typical byproduct of today’s prosperous society that, in order to fill up inner emptiness and boredom, promotes new experiences that are increasingly emotional and extreme. The pope spoke from a small platform in the town square of Bressanone, where nearly 7,000 people had gathered to bid farewell to the 81-year-old pontiff. Before leaving, the pope offered a reflection on vacations, saying that unless they include a spiritual element they are destined to disappoint. People who look at vacation solely as an endeavor to find “the mirage of pleasure”" often end up more worn out than when they began, he said.
GOOD CROWD — Fifty-two children from Holy Family Parish in East Taunton enjoyed a week-long Vacation Bible School. It was the first-ever such event at the parish.
Correction The Vacation Bible School group photo in last week’s Anchor should have read from St. Pius X Parish in South Yarmouth, not St. Francis Xavier Parish in Hyannis. The Anchor regrets the error.
ORGANIST POSITION
Seeking qualified organist to play weekly beginning Sept. 1, 2008 Responsibilities Include: *8:00AM Sunday Liturgy accompanying a cantor *Accompany Youth Choir at 8:00AM Family Mass – the 1st Sunday of each month *Two Rehearsals a month with Youth Choir – Friday evenings at 4 p.m.
HE'D LIKE TO THANK THE ACADEMY — Bishop Feehan High School math teacher, Patrick Murphy, front row, center, poses with his summer academy class at the Attleboro school.
Qualifications Required: *Some experience playing at Liturgy and as accompanist.
ATTLEBORO — One hundred twenty-five eager in-coming freshmen “Shamrocks” attended this year’s Summer Academic Academy at Bishop Feehan High School. The two-week program, grown by 40 students in its second year, offers students a first taste of the high school experience. In addi-
For resumes, further information and questions please contact: Sheryl S. Walsh – Music Director St. John the Evangelist Church One St. John Place Attleboro, MA 02703 508-222-1206 Resumes should be submitted as soon as possible.
Bishop Feehan gives incoming frosh a taste of what's to come tion to learning the layout of the campus and reviewing math and English skills, participants were offered practice in many “survival tips” such as study skills, how to avoid discipline problems, how to use the library and how to open lockers. Principal Bill Runey commented, “It was a wonderful
opportunity for these students to alleviate any anxiety they may have as they begin this new chapter in their lives. In a relaxed atmosphere, they can learn about Feehan traditions and day-to-day activities, everything from morning prayer and bell schedules to how to take notes and how to set goals.”
August 22, 2008
O
Youth Pages Stay focused on Christ
ne of the highlights of this summer has been the Olympic Games in Beijing. Thousands of athletes from all over the world, after many years of hard work and practice, have displayed their talents for the world to see; indeed a great honor for themselves and for the country they represent. But the thing that fascinates me most about these athletes is their ability to focus on their task at hand. So much time and energy has been put into preparing for the games that complete focus is required to execute their sport. That alone is a challenge. Pain, sacrifice and endurance are what brought them to this stage. I’m sure many of you know that feeling — especially you who are athletes. To be good at any sport requires hard work, focus and conviction. The same holds true for your faith. The
hard work is prayer and sacrifice. The focus is on Jesus Christ. In Matthew’s Gospel, Chapter 14, we read about the disciples’ boat being tossed about by the waves, for the wind was against it. Then they saw Jesus walking on the water coming toward them. They were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid,” Jesus said to them. Peter said to him in reply, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” Jesus responded, “Come.” Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus. But when he saw how strong the wind was he became frightened; and, beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him, and said to him, “O
you of little faith, why did you doubt?” Why did Peter begin to sink? Was it because of his fear? Was it because of his doubt? It was because of both and the fact that he took his eyes off Christ. I can’t imagine an Olympic
By Carol Zimmermann Catholic News Service
second-biggest shopping season after Christmas, is expected this year to run about $594 per family (including electronics and clothing), up from last year's $563, according to the National Retail Federation, a trade group based in Washington. In its annual report released in July, the group noted that backto-school spending for students in kindergarten through 12th grade this year is expected to reach $20.1 billion. Spending is projected to increase for elementary and high school students, but it is expected to go down for college students, from last year’s $641 per student to $599 this year. It’s estimated that overall spending for students this year will be $31.2 billion. The overall school-supply spending estimate includes an expected 2.5 percent increase over last year, but it’s the lowest increase in at least five years, ac-
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diver executing a flawless triple somersault dive and not be completely focused on the dive. Neither can I imagine our lives to be complete without having Christ as our focal point. If we lose sight of him we will sink. As we grow older we become more learned. With this vast
array of accumulated knowledge our minds also become more inquisitive — the more we know, the more we want to know why. All too often, however, our well-intentioned learning becomes twisted. We ask the wrong questions and doubt finds a place in our heart. Once it settles in we lose our focus on Christ. Sometimes we make up excuses for the things we do because we are afraid to face the truth. You may have heard every excuse why some of your friends, and even family, rarely attend Mass or don’t at all anymore. My colleague, Frank Lucca, wrote in his previous article, “Bring a friend to Christ.” I ask you to bring a friend, a family member, back to Christ. Help them to focus on what’s important.
Richard is a 10-year-old acolyte in my parish. His focus on Christ is unwavering. Two years ago I learned of his wellintentioned vocation to the priesthood. Every time I see him he reminds me that his intention, his focus, is still on the priesthood. I pray for him daily that God will always keep him focused on what truly matters to him, and, one day, answer his prayer. “Whoever humbles himself like a child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:4). A child trusts because of his innocence. From there his faith grows. Pray for Richard, who at a very young age, wants to stay focused on Christ. And pray for those who doubt, that God will dispel their fear and bring them back to the truth. Ozzie Pacheco is Faith Formation director at Santo Christo Parish, Fall River.
cording to the trade group. Stores are trying to lure parents with markdowns on basic school items, free shipping and advertisements that compare the relatively inexpensive cost of school supplies to the high cost of gas and groceries. Several state legislatures also have stepped in to offset costs by approving sales-tax holidays specifically for school-related purchases. Currently 16 states and the District of Columbia offer taxfree shopping days specifically for school items. During these days, usually in August, customers can purchase clothes, shoes, supplies and computers without paying state sales taxes. New York held the first backto-school tax holiday in 1997. Massachusetts, Vermont and West Virginia joined in this year. Not all
legislators favor the measure since it means a loss of state revenue. And for many people, the markdowns, sales and tax-free shopping days don't help enough. Catholic Charities agencies sponsor back-to-school drives to collect items for those in need. These days such drives go beyond collecting crayons and notebooks to collecting money for clothes or shoe vouchers. Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Joliet, Ill., has been sponsoring back-to-school drives for nearly 20 years after a single mother asked for help with school supplies for her children. At the fairs, students from lowincome families are given backpacks full of supplies based on school districts’ lists of what they will need. They also can receive health services such as immuni-
zations, vision exams and dental cleanings while their parents can get information on voter registration, employment, child care, and for the first time credit counseling. Leonor Alvarado, director of the emergency food pantry at the St. Vincent de Paul Center in Porterville, Calif., says, “I see people coming who don't have money to buy food, so how will they have money for their kids’ school supplies, especially when they have five or six kids?” “With the economy and gas prices, it's either food or gas,” she told Catholic News Service. According to a Nielsen press release, U.S. consumers are expected to spend more than $87 million on peanut butter and nearly $13 million on jelly during the first four weeks of school.
Back-to-school price tags elicit Church response
WASHINGTON — The rising cost of back-to-school supplies is forcing parents across the country to do the math before they head to the store. Parents — already coping with the high cost of food and gas — are now getting hit hard with a school-supply price tag that increases each year as items on the list become more high tech than the traditional pens, pencils, glue and notebooks. In response, parents are doing their homework. They’re looking for sales or heading to discount stores. Others are relying on salestax holidays or seeking donated items from charity groups. According to a trade organization report, one-fifth of U.S. parents set aside a portion of this year’s federal stimulus check specifically for school purchases. Back-to-school shopping, the
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The Anchor
August 22, 2008
Summer was time of preparation for diocesan high schools
Pro-Life rights are in danger
school now has wireless Internet capability throughout. Students, he said, will be able to tap into the endless opportunities of the Internet from any classroom or the library, and all teachers will benefit by having the ability to demonstrate hands-on Internet research techniques. “That’s where the colleges are now and we’re preparing our students for college,” he said. “We are determined to provide our students with the ability to access state-of-the-art technology.” The school’s technological integration efforts are also allowing for the development of science labs for virtual demonstrations and an innovative laboratory for the world language program. The school’s central offices are also being shifted this summer to make them more efficient for staff, as well as more convenient for visitors. And in a move that was announced this past spring, Bishop Connolly athletic teams will join the Mayflower League beginning this fall. Scanlan said the change will allow the school’s student athletes to compete against schools of similar size. Justin Shay has been promoted to assistant principal for student life. Tony Ciampanelli has been hired to spearhead the school’s admissions, alumni, and development efforts. Coyle and Cassidy High School, Taunton: Dr. Mary Pat Tranter, president of Coyle and Cassidy, boasts of the school’s newly renovated gymnasium, which includes a new floor and new bleachers. “It’s been a long-time need,” she said. A new softball field also awaits students when they arrive next week, as well as upgraded lighting in the school’s theater. The school is also in the process of converting from oil heat to gas, a move that Tranter believes will not only make for a cleaner operation, but should save the school significant dollars. The Coyle and Cassidy community also welcomes Christopher Myron back to its corridors. Myron was a teacher at the school many years ago, as well as its director of admissions. Most recently, he was principal at Notre Dame School in Fall River, which was one of two closed by the diocese in the spring. Myron will serve as vice president of academics. Bishop Feehan High School, Attleboro:
smokescreen by alleging that access to abortion or contraception is under attack by the Bush administration. “The real issue is the increasing number of serious attacks on the consciences of physicians, nurses, and other health care professionals coming from professional (medical) societies, employers and health care peers, and even by politically motivated patients who seek out Pro-Life physicians and then sue them for refusing ‘medical services.’” Pressure on pro-life doctors increased recently when the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology issued rulings that would require physicians to refer patients to abortion providers if they would not provide one themselves. Leavitt said this policy could force doctors to violate their conscience or risk losing certification, and asked that stronger regulations be drafted. “The protections for conscience that exist in federal and state law are not comprehensive and are not always consistent,” Brehany explained. “Improved regulations with enforcement mechanisms are desperately needed.” Not only is protection right in principle, but also “vital to retaining excellent Catholic, Christian and Pro-Life physicians” and essential for patients to find doctors who will treat them in accordance with their beliefs, he said. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities agreed, and wrote all members of Congress in support of better regulation. The most controversial passage of the proposal concerns contraceptives, as it defines abortion as “any of the various procedures — including the prescription, dispensing and administration of any drug or the performance of any procedure or any other action — that results in the termination of the life of a human being in utero between conception and natural birth, whether before or after implantation.” What really set “reproductive freedom” activists howling is that this wording explained how the birth control pill and other forms of contraception can induce an early abortion, said Steve Mosher, president of the Population Research Institute. In an August 14 analysis posted at CatholicExchange.com, he explained that “the consistent position of the Catholic Church, and of the best science, is that pregnancy begins at concep-
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At Bishop Feehan, like so many of the area high schools, a high priority has been placed on making technological advances. Teachers used the summer to take part in the Feehan Laptop Integration Program (FLIP). The program is designed to provide laptops for up to 15 teachers per year for the purpose of technology integration and global learning. It was proposed in January by Brenda Loiselle, the school’s technology coordinator, and Vice Principal Fran Zilonis. FLIP teachers applied to be a part of the program and had to submit an essay detailing how they would utilize a laptop to enhance their teaching. Those teachers selected attended a workshop this summer that explored topics ranging from technical aspects of home and classroom setup to developing global learning lessons. “Our goal is to eventually become a one-to-one laptop school,” said Principal Bill Runey. “In order to move in that direction, we must take steps to see that our teachers are as prepared to use this technology as the students are.” Each FLIP laptop is loaded with school-specific software, DVD/CD burners, webcams, wireless Internet, and microphones. Runey said that this September, renovations will begin on the existing convent to convert it to a state-of-the-art library/ media and technology center. Construction will also begin to add office space and several new classrooms. Faculty, he said, will also be busy with a self-study initiative in advance of a NEASC visit in October of 2009. Bishop Stang High School, North Dartmouth: Bishop Stang gained some space this summer when it took over the top two floors of its former convent, a building that continues to serve as home to the diocese’s Family Life Center. In doing so, the school has been able to centralize its guidance offices, while also moving its Campus Ministry office to the former guidance suite, next door to the chapel. According to Mary Ann Miskel, academic principal, a priority throughout the summer was the continuation of technology integration efforts, as well as ongoing efforts to refine the school’s curriculum. The school also welcomed many students to its campus throughout the summer, for a variety of programs that included study skills courses and a summer music camp.
But nothing has Miskel more excited than the fact that the school has hired seven new teachers for the upcoming year — and all of them are Bishop Stang alumni. “We get incredible interest from our former students to come back to the place where they feel they were rooted in faith and challenged in academics and were well prepared for life after high school,” said Miskel. “They are so excited about the prospect of coming back here.” Miskel said she is especially proud of the fact that the new teachers bring a range of professional experiences. “When they were here, they were at the top of their class,” she said. “We’re just delighted.” John Paul II High School, Hyannis: After a successful inaugural year, John Paul II High School will welcome approximately 35 new students in its second year, effectively doubling its size. Principal Christopher Keavy said the school, which featured a new chapel and library when it first opened in the former Barnstable High School building last year, has even more changes awaiting students arriving in the coming days. The school will welcome six new teachers this fall, bringing the ranks to a total of 10 faculty members and four support staff. Keavy is especially excited about the addition of a stateof-the-art chemistry lab and expanded fine arts offerings. Year two at the school will also see its athletic programs take a “big step forward,” according to Keavy, with the addition of a new fitness center, including a weight room. “We’re brought in several experienced coaches and we’re adding several sports,” said Keavy. Among the sports in which the school will compete are cross country, golf, soccer, basketball, swimming, baseball, softball, tennis, and sailing. Keavy said that a year ago, getting the doors open seemed to be a major accomplishment. But this year, he said, already feels different. “This is going to be an important year,” he said. “It’s not just going to feel like a few hearty souls.” Next week The Anchor will report on updates in diocesan grammar schools and also tests being administered to students in diocesan Catholic elementary schools in grades one, four, and eight.
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tion.” But in 1965, ACOG arbitrarily redefined the terms “conception” and “pregnancy.” “The group first threw out the then-accepted definition of conception as occurring at fertilization, that is, when the sperm and egg cells unite” and “went on to decree that henceforth pregnancy would be defined as beginning only at implantation. This is the time, five to seven days after conception, when the newly formed person, only a few hundred cells in size, implants in the lining of the uterus,” he wrote. The birth control pill, IUDs, and so-called “emergency contraception” all work by thwarting implantation if conception does occur. “So by redefining pregnancy to begin after implantation, ACOG attempted to avoid the charge that its members, in prescribing hormonal contraceptives, were actually encouraging, if not performing, early-term abortions,” Mosher said. “HHS does not affirm either position, but simply contends that the views of those who still hold to the scientific position that life begins at conception must be respected. “This is what has the abortion movement and its feminist allies worried. They realize that many of their gains over the last 43 years rest on the ACOG’s ideologically charged redefinition of pregnancy, and are loath to give back any ground. This is why they label, intimidate, bully and browbeat those who hold the traditional — and scientifically valid-view of when pregnancy begins.” In fact, according to the American Life League, an estimated six million to 11 million unborn children in the United States die annually from the pill and other forms of birth control. “The authentic job description for health care providers cannot ever include killing or maiming their patients, nor disrupting their healthy reproductive systems by prescribing contraceptives.” Father Tadeusz Pacholczyk, director of Education at the National Catholic Bioethics Center, said in an interview. “The job description of doctors is being subtly twisted by the advocates of immorality,” he said, adding that the HHS regulation should be “strongly encouraged.” The Family Research Council and Concerned Women for America are also urging people to protect their right to choose Pro-Life doctors by sending comments to Secretary Leavitt’s blog: http://secretarysblog.hhs. gov/ or calling his office at 202690-7000.
August 22, 2008
Around the Diocese Eucharistic Masses Adoration: MASSES IN THE FALL RIVER DIOCESE — Vacationers and travelers can find Mass schedules on the diocese’s Website www.fallriverdiocese.org. For Masses across the nation visit www.masstimes.org.
Eucharistic Adoration EAST TAUNTON — Eucharistic adoration takes place every First Friday at Holy Family Church, 370 Middleboro Avenue, following the 8:30 a.m. Mass until Benediction at 8 p.m. All are invited. 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. It includes adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, Liturgy of the Hours and recitation of the rosary. TAUNTON — Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament takes place every First Friday at Annunciation of the Lord Church, 31 First Street, immediately following the 8 a.m., Mass and continues throughout the day. Confessions are heard from 5:15 to 6:15 p.m., and the day concludes with recitation of the rosary and Benediction at 6:30 p.m. WEST HARWICH — Our Lady of Life Perpetual Adoration Chapel at Holy Trinity Parish, 246 Main Street, holds perpetual eucharistic adoration. For open hours or to sign up for an hour call 508-432-4716.
Miscellaneous Miscellaneous: ASSONET — St. Bernard Church, 30 South Main Street, will hold its Harvest Festival September 27 from 11 a.m., to 10 p.m., and September 28 from 11 a.m., to 3 p.m. For more information call 508-644-2032. CHATHAM — A Tridentine Mass is celebrated 1 p.m. every Sunday at Our Lady of Grace Chapel on Route 137. LAKEVILLE — The first annual Diocesan Health Facilities Golf Classic, formerly the Madonna Manor Golf Classic, will be held September 22 at LeBaron Hills Country Club. It will benefit the five diocesan facilities and two communitybased programs. For information call Mary-Ellen Murphy at 508-699-2740. MASHPEE — MOMS, the Ministry of Mothers Sharing, at Christ the King Parish, at the Commons, is now accepting registrations for its fall sessions on Monday mornings, 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. For information call 508-477-2837; or email: momsctk@cape.com. NEW BEDFORD — A Day With Mary will take place at Our Lady’s Chapel, 600 Pleasant Street, September 6 from 9 a.m. through 4:30 p.m. The event is a day of instruction, devotion and intercession based on the message given at Fatima in 1917. Included will be a Fatima video presentation, procession of Our Lady, prayers, Mass, exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, meditations, an act of consecration, Benediction, and enrollment in the Brown Scapular and conferment of Miraculous Medal. For information call 508-996-8274. NEW BEDFORD — Two fund-raising events to benefit Holy Family-Holy Name School are planned. A concert featuring Dan Clark, “The Singing Trooper,” will be held September 14 at 3 p.m., in St. Lawrence Church, 565 County Street; and the annual Msgr. Thomas J. Harrington Golf Tournament is set for September 28 at the Acushnet Golf Course. For more information on the events call the school office at 508-993-3547. NORTH DARTMOUTH — Bible study takes place Tuesdays at 10 a.m. and Wednesdays at 7 p.m., in the parish conference room at St. Julie Billiart Church, 494 Slocum Road. Weekly attendance is welcome but not required. NORTH DARTMOUTH — St. Julie Billiart Parish’s annual fund-raiser “Septemberfest” opens with a seafood supper September 13 and the festival continues September 14, at the church at 494 Slocum Road. For more information call 508-993-2437. NORTH EASTON — A Day of Song, Adoration and Word for South Coast Hispanics will take place at the Father Peyton Center, 518 Washington Street, North Easton, tomorrow from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. This event is open to the public and is for adults and children. Music for the event will be provided by the group Restauracion, which will lead the participants in prayer, praise and song and will conclude with a procession and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Food will be available and a free-will offering will be taken up. For additional information call Holy Cross Family Ministries at 508-238-4095, ext. 2027. NORTH FALMOUTH — The 20th annual Christ the King Golf Classic benefit will be held September 21 at the Ballymeade Country Club. For information and to register call 508-539-9330. PROVINCETOWN — “Quiet Encounter,” a day of reflection for persons living with HIV/AIDS, as well as their caregivers, families and friends, will be held September 17, 10 a.m., to 3 p.m., in St. Peter the Apostle Church, 11 Prince Street. To register call 508-674-5600 ext. 2295. WEST HARWICH — A Holy Hour for Life will take place at Holy Trinity Church, Route 28, August 25 at 1 p.m. Recitation of the rosary will be followed by Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. All are invited.
Pro-Life ATTLEBORO — Concerned faithful are needed to pray the rosary outside Four Women, Inc., an abortion clinic at 150 Emory Street, Thursdays from 3-4 p.m., or 4-5 p.m. and Saturdays from 7:30-8:30 a.m. For information call 508238-5743.
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The Anchor Pauline Year: Renewed focus on Scripture continued from page one
love,” said Deacon Leo Racine, lives but Christ who lives in me’” if properly ordered as a way of who is currently co-teaching a (Gal 2:19-20), Deacon Racine uniting themselves to the sufferseries of Bible Study classes on said. ing Christ, bearing in their own St. Paul was also a firm believ- bodies ‘what is still lacking in St. Paul at St. Anthony’s Parish in New Bedford. “I suppose that er in teaching by example — “Be Christ’s afflictions’ (Col 1:24). if we felt and were as convinced imitators of me as I am of Christ” Very true, nothing could be lackas Paul was that ‘The Son of God (1 Cor 11:1), he famously wrote ing in the all-perfect, once-andloved me and gave Himself for — so his own sacrifice and suf- for-all sacrifice of the eternal Son me’ (Gal 2:20), I would at least fering can be seen as a comfort for the eternal Father. But there look around and notice is something missing. what needs attention uring this Pauline Year, Deacon Although the head of to reverse the calamiRacine said it is imperative that the body has suffered ties which insult God’s total satisfaction, Catholics unite to reexamine the writ- in original plan in crethe members of the ings of St. Paul together as a community body must participate ation.” Deacon Racine not- — much like those early settlements and individually and coled how St. Paul’s own tribes he sought to convert. lectively. And until that love of Christ was a happens, something is driving force in his life still lacking in the sufand it was also what inspired and a lesson to us even today. ferings of Christ.” “Personally, because of more him to embark on long journeys During this Pauline Year, Deato spread the good news he, him- than 40 years working with the con Racine said it is imperative grieving survivors and their dy- that Catholics unite to reexamine self, had just discovered. “St. Paul wrote letters to ing loved ones, the most solace the writings of St. Paul together friends to meet an immediate and mysterious statements from as a community — much like threatening situation such as in St. Paul concern suffering,” Dea- those early settlements and tribes Corinth, Galatia, Phillipi and con Racine said, adding that he he sought to convert. Thessalonica,” Deacon Racine carries the following quote from “Read his letters with a good said. “He understood the love John Paul II with him as a fre- commentary and the Catechism Christ had for his own friends … quently-used prayer and medita- at your side,” Deacon Racine that Jesus suffered, died and rose tion: said. “If you need support, join “Living for the Faith could be a group or inaugurate one from again to conquer sin and death and make us all heirs of his Fa- every bit as meritorious as dying your parish or neighborhood. for it. John, the beloved disciple, As Paul says: ‘We were ready ther’s kingdom.” Among the more pertinent did not die a martyr’s death, nor to share with you not only the messages to be found in St. Paul’s did Our Lady, even though both Gospel of God, but also our own writings, Deacon Racine cited stood fast at the foot of the Cross. selves’” (1 Thess 2:8). his selfless love for Christ, and The ascetical desert-dwellers For more information or how he helped change long-held and the consecrated virgins de- to pre-register for the classes, adherence to the Old Testament nied themselves basic human please e-mail fatherlandry@ ceremonial law and encouraged desires — goods in themselves saintanthonynewbedford.com. Christians to embrace Jesus’ new SERVICE ... By caring family and service family professionals teachings. “The way Paul communicates TRUST ... In the people you know his love for Christ is always most CHOICE ... Custom-designed, personalized tributes remarkable and makes me enviAFFORDABILITY ... Dignified services with a budget ous in these following verses: ‘I For over 135 years, families have turned to the Waring-Sullivan service family of died to the Law that I might live compassionate professionals to guide them through life’s most challenging times. for God. It is no longer I who 508-676-1933 508-999-5100
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In Your Prayers Please pray for these priests during the coming weeks
Aug. 25 Rev. Joseph F. Hanna, C.S.C, Founder, Holy Cross, South Easton, 1974 Rev. Thomas E. Lawton, C.S.C., 2002 Aug. 27 Rt. Rev. Francisco C. Bettencourt, Pastor, Santo Christo, Fall River, 1960 Rev. Msgr. Hugh A. Gallagher, P. A. Retired Pastor, St. James, New Bedford, 1978 Aug. 29 Rev. Joseph DeVillandre, D.D., Founder, Sacred Heart, North Attleboro, 1921 Msgr. William H. Harrington, Retired Pastor, Holy Name, Fall River, 1975 Aug. 31 Msgr. Armando A. Annunziato, Pastor, St. Mary, Mansfield, 1993 Rev. Thomas M. Landry, O.P., Former Pastor, St. Anne, Fall River, 1996
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The Anchor
DOING IT RIGHT — A couple is married during Mass celebrated by Pope John Paul II in St. Peter's Square. By having a “Church wedding,” Catholics have more than a beautiful wedding. They have God’s sacramental power for a beautiful marriage. (CNS file photo)
Priests’ role critical in establishing foundation of a strong marriage
Editor’s note: This is the second in a new Anchor series on marriage. By Michael Pare Anchor Staff
FALL RIVER — Grand Bahama Island; Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic; Cabo San Lucas, Mexico; Sydney, Australia; and Tuscany, Italy: these are just a few of the most popular locations for couples planning a “destination wedding.”
Yes, “destination weddings” are all the rage. If it isn’t the crystal clear waters of a Caribbean resort or the gentle sand of some hidden beach along the coast of South America, it could just as easily be Cinderella’s Castle at Walt Disney World or atop the highest peak of a New England mountain range. The possibilities are indeed, endless. There is also an increase in the number of weddings being held at the other end of the spec-
trum, far away from extravagant. With the economy having taken a full turn for the worse, couples getting married on the proverbial shoestring budget are opting more than ever before for the simple, civil ceremony. Often, the civil ceremony is a casual affair witnessed by just a few family members and selected friends. But what is typically missing from both the “destination wedding” and the civil ceremony? God. And while the Church
August 22, 2008 remains very much concerned about the fact that Catholic couples in large numbers are choosing to live together, rather than get married, another dilemma is found in those Catholics who are cutting out God, his Church, and his clergy. Father David Costa, pastor of Sacred Heart Parish on Church Street and St. Mary's Parish on Park Street in North Attleboro, is painfully aware of the choices available to young couples planning a wedding. Fortunately, he reports that the wedding business within his parishes remains busy. From this summer through the end of the calendar year, Father Costa will happily celebrate at least 20 weddings. When couples approach him and ask him to celebrate their wedding, Father Costa congratulates them on choosing “the destination” of all destinations. “The wedding is a wonderful opportunity,” said Father Costa. “In the sacrament, we believe Christ is the strength, the glue of the wedding and of the marriage. I focus on that.” Father Costa sees a trend in his parishes of engaged couples being a bit older than they have been in the past. He takes that as a positive sign, one that suggests a certain level of maturity. “They have thought about this,” he said. “They know that it is a lifelong commitment.” Once they have chosen to involve him in the marriage, he embraces the opportunity to bring the couple closer to God and help ensure that their marriage is being built on as solid a foundation as possible. As part of its ongoing campaign to promote Catholic marriage entitled, “The Future Depends on Love,” the Massachusetts Catholic Conference has produced a series of articles championing the benefits of a marriage formed in the tenets of the Catholic Church. One such article centers on the importance of getting married in the Church. It states the following: — The wedding isn’t the real reason to get married in the Church. The real reason is the marriage. A Christian marriage is a sacrament that makes God’s grace present; — think of all of the difficulties that marriages face these days. God wants to empower us to have a happy and holy marriage. He wants us to be delivered from the evils of divorce, to raise our children well, and to flourish as a family. God gives us his grace to do all these things in the sacrament of matrimony; — by having a “Church wedding,” Catholics have more than a beautiful wedding. They have God’s sacramental power for a
beautiful marriage. That same article introduces its reader to a couple (Joel and Marie) that took the occasion of their 10th anniversary to look back on their wedding, which was officiated by a priest and held in a Catholic church. They see it as a central event that has helped to positively shape their lives together. Their wedding was a simple affair. And they wouldn’t do it any other way. Said Joel: “We loved our wedding, and we have great memories from it. But we have more than memories. We have a great marriage that draws us closer to God, which is what the sacrament is all about. Christ was at the center of our wedding then, and he is at the center of our marriage today.” Father Richard M. Roy, pastor of St. John the Evangelist Parish in Attleboro, sees his involvement in weddings as an opportunity to bring couples closer to the Church, particularly those for whom attending Mass each week has not been a priority. “I try my best to be welcoming, not concentrate on the fact that perhaps they have not been coming to Mass, but to open the doors to them,” said Father Roy. The year-long marriage preparation process, he said, is such an opportunity. It allows the couple to get to know one another even better, while at the same time drawing closer to the teachings of the Church. Like most parishes, Father Roy has the couples getting married in his parish complete a FOCCUS questionnaire that is often an important learning experience. And during the preparation process, Father Roy tries to move the couple to focus on what is most important — to move them closer to God, as opposed to worrying too much about the florist, caterer, and photographer. “So many times, the couple treats us like another vendor,” he said. And so what does he tell them? “With all of their concern about having a perfect day and that everyone is happy … I tell them their focus should be how their love is going to nourish them as a couple and how their family and friends and certainly their Church family will be there for them,” he said. Sure, everyone wants somewhere, somehow to wow the guests at their wedding. And there is ample opportunity for that in a traditional Church wedding. “What we would like to wow them with is their love for one another,” said Father Roy.