08.24.90

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t eanc 0 VOL. 34, NO. 33

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Friday, August 24, 1990

FALL

RIVER, MASS.

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Diocesan pro-life directors meet in San Francisco With Catholic News Service reports Father Stephen A. Fernandes of St. James parish, New Bedford,

~~~:~tt~~r:r~~~~:~I-~~::~~~~~~~~~ was among some 150 diocesan pro-life coordinators gathered in San Francisco last week for their annual meeting.

The conference included presentations on the public relations effort of the U.S. bishops to promote the Catholic position on abortion and on nutrition and hydration to the permanently unconscious.

"While the agenda was broad and wide-ranging," said Father Fernandes, "the principal focus of the meeting was on abortion and the plan of action to be undertaken by the polling and public relations firms" hired by the bishops.

Although at least $3 million is to be spent on the effort, Vincentian Father John Gouldrick, executive eNS photo director of the bishops' CommitMAIREAD CORRIGAN MAGUIRE tee on Pro-Life Activities, said "campaign" was the wrong word to use.'

Father Gouldrick spoke to Catholic News Service in a phone interview Aug. 14 just before an impromptu press conference to dispel erroneous reports that200 bishops were meeting secretly to get their BUFFALO, N.Y. (CNS) - A awarded for her efforts to bring first look at the public relations recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize peace the war-torn country.ear-I effort.

Mrs.toMaguire commented said peacemakers need to work on the root causes of violence to bring lier this month at the national changes in the world. assembly of Pax Christi USA, the "If the root of the problem is a U.S. branch of the Catholic peace dulled or dead conscience, the organization, which met in Buffalo. peacemaker must begin the hard It is in the individual's conscience work of peace in his or her own where "we allow God to strip away conscience," said Mairead Corri- all illusions and prejudices so we gan Maguire of Northern Ireland, can begin to know ourselves as we WASHINGTON (CNS) - The whose 1976 Nobel Peace Prize was truly are," Mrs. Maguire said. of a congressional task. chairman "We begin to know it is an illuforce on EI Salvador has charged sion to think that we are a separate that the high command of the Salexistence. We quickly realize we vadoran armed forces is "engaged are one with other people and one in a conspiracy to obstruct justice" with our universe." in the case of six murdered Jesuit Mrs. Maguire cautioned against priests, their housekeeper and her working on important issues withteenage daughter. out taking time to pray.

Rep. Joe Moakley, D-Mass., "As Christian peacemakers," Mrs. Corrigan said, "we can pray chairman of the task force and of and fast to allow God to restore us the House Rules Committee, said, to wholeness. God's desire, with however, that he was encouraged our consent, is to uproot the vio- to learn that members of the Sallence from our conscience and vadoran armed forces not involved in the crimes have been angered at root us in nonviolence."

Mrs. Maguire said the way to the possibility thtrt U.S. military find the meaning of nonviolence is aid could be reduced because of "KEEP MOVING in the to return to Scripture and read the the actions of the high command. right direction" was one of As a result the Salvadoran armed life of Jesus. It is there where nonviolent love in action is found, she forces, he said, are "increasingly the lessons learned by kin.. divided, and pressure is growing .said. dergarten through seven for an end to the conspiracy of "Choosing to live Jesus' nonviograde students at an ·e<A lence today is for us Christians not silence and lies." menicalWestport Bi only being faithful to the Gospel," Rep. Moakley's district includes schoolthissummer. To find she said. "It is also meeting a grow- Dighton, Easton, Raynham and out what else they learned, ing need amongst humanity to Taunton in the Fall River diocese. find an alternative to violence. The see pages 8 and 9.

He made the comments in a Turn to Page II statement following a recent trip

Nobel laureate urges "hard ~ork of peace"

No bishops were attending the meeting, he said, other than Cardinal John J. O'Connor of New York, chairman of the bishops' pro-life committee, who celebrated an opening Mass and gave the keynote address.

Diocesan directors have been holding closed meetings for about 15 years, Father Gouldrick said, and the news media had "never taken interest before."

"No major announcement will come out ofthis" meeting, he said.

No text of Cardinal O'Connor's remarks was available, Father Gouldrick said. But he said the purpose of the cardinal's talk was "to support people working in the field and to encourage them to continue education on the issue" of respect for human life at all stages.

Cardinal O'Connor, he said, encouraged the diocesan directors "to unity" and told them that "prayer was fundamental to the church's pro-life mission." . Father Fernandes said that the cardinal gave "a moving address" in which he "mentioned seven key areas" bearing close scrutiny with regard to abortion.

One of the cardinal's important points, said Father Fernandes, was that "we have been hypnotized and duped by the le'xicon of 'choice.' " Cardinal O'Connor cited the dis-

maying statistic that "55 percent of women who believe abortion is murder still think a woman should have the right to choose it as an option," said Father Fernandes. " 'Choice' seems to have become the overriding value, over life itself."

Father Gouldrick said the directors met privately so that they could raise questions and deliberate without having to think what they said might be "broadcast all over the country by the media."

He said proposals were being developed by the public relations firm of Hill and Knowlton using survey data developed by the Wirthlin Group, a politically connected polling firm.

"Anything that's done will have to be in conjunction with the Committee on Pro-Life Activities. The bishops have to review it and that hasn't been done," he said.

"We're seeking consultation from professionals on how we can better communicate our message" of respect for life, he said.

Work being done by the two firms, Father Gouldrick said, would be "part of our public information . program outlined in the Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities of 1985. This is a ·way of strengthening our public information program."

Turn.to Page II _

Rep. Moakley cites cover-up in EI Salvador murders to EI Salvador by the staff of House Speaker Thomas Foley's special task force on EI Salvador.

Early Nov. 16, the Jesuits and the two women were gunned down on the campus of San Salvador's Central American University. Nine military men, including a colonel, were charged in connection with the murders, but a formal trial has not begun.

A bill passed by the House would provide $85 million in aid for the Salvadoran government in fiscal 1991, but would withhold half of it to be awarded only if leftist rebels decline to participate in a ceasefire or peace negotiations. All the aid would be blocked if the Salvadoran government ends talks or fails to conduct a "serious and professional" investigation ofthe Jesuit murders.

The Senate is expected to consider the House proposal on Salvadoran aid in September.

In a telephone interview from Cape Cod, Moakley told Catholic News Service there was "no doubt" in his mind that top Salvadoran

military leaders were "playing games" with the investigation.

"Salvadoran military officers have withheld evidence, destroyed evidence, falsified evidence and repeatedly perjured themselves in testimony before the judge. I do not believe this could be done without at least the tacit consent of the high command," said Moakley in his statement.

He added that some individuals who may have direct' knowledge of the murders have been shielded from serious investigation.

While the issues raised by the Jesuits' killings are "extremely important," said Moakley, they must not detract from the need for progress in Salvadoran peace .negotiations set to resume in San Jose, Costa Rica.

In the interview, Moakley told eNS he thought Salvadoran President Alfredo Cristiani was "wellmeaning," but faCing a tough task because of the Salvadoran military's strength.

Abp. Keeler recalls first U.S. bishop on anniversary LULWORTH, England (CNS) - John Carroll, the first U.S. bishop, would be happy with the church in the United States today, said Archbishop William H. Keeler of Baltimore.

- Giving the homily at a Mass Aug. 15 at Lulworth Castle, where Bishop Carroll was consecrated bishop of Baltimore exactly 200 years earlier, Archbishop Keeler spoke of the changes in the U.S. church in the last two centuries.

Bishop Carroll would "applaud the church's efforts to pray and dialogue and collaborate with others in the Christian family for more visible unity," Archbishop Keeler said.

The church since Bishop Carroll's time has grown in numbers and complexity, the archbishop said. It exhibits a spiritual health shown in renewed parish life, efforts on behalf of Catholic education, and concern for' human rights, evangelization, charity, justice and peace.

"How John Carroll would rejoice to see now in Baltimore the world headquarters of Catholic Relief Services," Archbishop Keeler added.

The archbishop was homilist at the Mass in Lulworth Castle on the south coast of England. The, castle's chapel- the first Catholic '" McMAHON, at left, starts his bungee jump from a New Zealand MSGR. JOHNt R. Church built in England after the Reformation - was the place where bripge; at right, rebounds from the dive. (eNS photos) Bishop Charles Walmsley, apostolic vicar of England's western district, presided at John Carroll's consecration on Aug. 15, 1790. At BOCA RATON, Fla. (CNS)- he covered or the many miles he priest did a full somersault as he that time, the Diocese of BaltiMsgr. John R. McMahon, 49, drove through the New Zealand was whipped three-quarters of the more included all of the United recently crawled between the steel countryside. way back to the bridge.

States: girders of a bridge looming some For him the experience was more "I felt the rope jerk, but it didn't Bishop - later Archbishop 150 feet above a remote canyon of a leap of faith. hurt," he said. "Going back up my Carroll was elected by his fellow near Queensland, New Zealand.

"The real issue is not the danger main concern was 'How high am I Several witnesses saw him stand, of physical harm but overcoming going?' I didn't want to hit the U.S. priests in May 1789 as first bishop of Baltimore. The Vatican pause and dive from the edge. the irrational fear," Msgr. Mc- bridge." confirmed the appointment in The pastor of St. Joan of Arc Mahon said. "It has been my expeAfter another snap that took November 1789, but it was not parish in Boca Raton made what rience that wherever and whenever him about a third of the distance until the following summer that he he called a leap of faith because "I people are trying to offer their life back to the bridge, the monsignor was ordained bishop. have an uneasiness with heights to God and go through the process found himself hanging upside clown Bishop Hugh Christopher Budd and this, right or wrong, seemed to of overcoming irrational fear, they about eight feet above the river, of Plymouth, England, Bishop be a way of dealing with it," he told are freer to experience God at a where rubber raft was tethered in ' Walmsley's successor, presided at the Florida Catholic, newspaper deeper level." the swift-moving current. the ~ass commemorating the con- of the diocese of Palm Beach.

On the day of the jump, he paid' "Then my concern was getting secration. Amongtheconcelebrants A bungee jumper leaps from a a $40 fee, was led through the steel into the boat," he recalled, adding were Archbishop Keeler; Archbi- bridge or other structure headfirst bracing on the' bridge and onto a that prior to the jump he was so shopOscarH. LipscombofMobile~ toward the water. A thick rubber small platform where he gazed at a scared his only concern was the Ala.; and Bishop Raymond J. cord, called a bungee, attached to stream of water flowing swiftly jump itself.

Boland of Birmingham, Ala. his or her ankles slows momentum some 14 stories below him.

"I grabbed an oar they held up Still living at the castle are after about a 45-foot free fall. The The bungee can take 5,000 for me and it pulled the boat my members ofthe Weld family, which momentum is all but stopped by the time the jumper reaches the' pounds of pressure, attendants told way," he said. "I then did a downhad the chapel built. Sir Joseph the priest. The :monsignor was ward somersault into an inner tube Weld, current head ofthe family, water - but then comes the weighed and his ankles were wrap- in the boat." welcomed the three America'n rebound. , ped with plastic foam and fastened Basking In his achievement, the bishops and' 20 accompanying The bungee pulls' the jumper with Velcro, then the bungee was priest. went on a four-day hike, Americans as well as other 'guest,s ' back skyward at almost the same secured with a line and latch de- assured that photos of his jump for the celebration. speed as descent. signed for rock c1inibing. would' await him on his return.

Archbishop Keeler quoted from Msgr. McMahon took his leap "They aim you [lI.waY from the Bishop Carroll's friend and the during a three-week vacation in "I came back to pick up the picrocks] and you do a swan dive out Weld family's chaplain, Father ,New Zealand: " tures and they said they had been and down," he said, adding that he ' Given all the safety provisions, Charles Plowden, who, said 200 ruined in the developing process, yearsago that the chapel would be Msgr. McMahon said bungee 'mentally prepared'himself by "not so they said I could make another looking down" and pretending he "revered through succeeding ages, jumping was no more dangerous jump free of charge.'~ , was just taking "an·ordinary dive even by churches yet unnamed, as ' , than traveling the 25,000 air miles This time he took no chances, from swimmers' starting blocks." the privileged, the happy spot from' Ilnilllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllil • with several cameras, including a The attendants counted down video camera, recording, his leap whence their episcopacy and their 'to the parish of which' Lulworth from five to one, and Msgr. Mc- of faith. . , hierarchy took their· immediate forms a part. The candle was lit Mahon ,took off on cue. rise." ,"After the jump, I told the attenthat evening at the" parish Mass ,in' ,' "It w~s a freeing feeling," he dants that I was a Catholic priest," "With you in Great Britain and Wool, the village four miles to the said. "It happened very quickly. I he said. "They almost fell off the all the Western world, Catholics in north of the castle. the United States bear witness to Preaching at that Mass; Bishop 'was reaching out, saw the bridge, bridge." saw the rocks next to me." the Gospel of Jesus in a culture, Boland remarked that historians 11III11111I1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 where consumerism, materialism did not often agree in their assessThen, just eight feet above the TH E ANCHOR (USPS-545-020). Second 'and personalism create new ver- ment of leadership and character. ' stream at the canyon floor, the Class, Postage Paid at Fall River. Mass.

"But in the person of John Carsions of ancient pressures," ArchPublished weekly except the week of July 4 bungee cable snapped and the bishop Keeler said. roll, there is almost universal conand the week after Christmas at 887 High----- - -land Avenue. Fall River. Mass, 02720 by In keeping with the tradition of sensus that he had the vision and the Catholic Press of the Diocese of Fall -an offspring church presenting a the faith to lead the Catholic River, Subscription price by mail. postpaid candle to the parent church, Arch- Church at a time of great challenge GOD'S ANCHOR HOLDS $11,00 per year. Postmasters send address bishop Keeler presented a candle and opportunity," Bishop Boland changes to The Anchor. P,O, Box 7. Fall to Bishop Budd, who presented it said.

River. MA 02722.

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Bungee jumping's a leap of faith

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Peyote ruling seen to open can of worms WASHINGTON (CNS) Government would have to prove a "compelling state interest" before curbing religious practices under legislation introduced in Congress.

The legislation, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, would limit the reach of the Supreme Court's controversial church-state decision in the so-called "peyote case" last April.

Ruling 6-3, the Supreme Court upheld the right of a state to ban use of the outlawed drug peyote even in a sacramental practice of Native Americans. The high court rejected the argument that laws interfering with religion must be justified by a compelling state or government interest.

The religious' freedom bill was introduced last month by a bipartisan coalition of Christian and Jewish members of the House of Representatives.

Congress must act because otherwise the court's ruling "will have a devastating effect on the free exercise of religion in our nation," sponsors of the bill said in a letter to House colleagues.

Without such a law, even established religious practices could be jeopardized, the bill's supporters said.

Critics have said, for example, that a law forbidding alcohol consumption by those under age 21 might be applied to wine in Catholic, Episcopal, and Orthodox liturgies or that governments could make churches' follow historic preservation laws barring changes to church interiors.

In comments after the Supreme Court's action, Mark E. Chopko, general counsel of the U.S. Catholic Conference, cited the decision's "serious implications for religion."

"The bottom line is that it'll be much more difficult for religious groups to prevail over government actions that prove detrimental to religious practice," he said.

Professors at Catholic law schools also criticized the ruling, and a coalition of Christian and Jewish groups unsuccessfully asked the court to review its decision.

The bill's sponsors said it "simply will require the government to demonstrate that any law restricting the free exercise of religion is essential to furthering a compelling governmental interest and is the least restrictive means" of doing so.

Writing for the majority in the court opinion, Justice' Antonin Scalia said that although "the 'compelling government interest' requirement seems benign ... what it would produce here~. a private right to ignore generally applicable laws - is a constitutional anomaly."

"To make an individual's obligation to obey such a law contingent upon the law's coinci<ience with his religious beliefs except where the state's interest is compelling - permitting him by virtue of his beliefs to become a law unto himself - contradicts both constitutional tradition and common sense," he declared.

It's preferable "Age in a virtuous person of either sex carries in it an authority which makes it preferable to all the pleasures of youth." - Sir Richard Steele

Fetal burial law confirmation seen 路as pro-life victory

Helen Miller

Kathleen Barboza

Sister Paulette Gregoire

Diocese welcomes four new principals with her community members at Sister Michaelinda Plante, RSM, superintendent for the Catholic Thevenet Mission Center, the Fall River convent for the Religious elementary schools in the diocese Sisters of Jesus and Mary. of Fall River, recently announced Mrs. Miller is a graduate of that four new principals have been appointed for the 1990-91 school Molloy College in Rockville Cenyear. . ter, N.Y., and has earned two masIn Fall River, Sister Paulette M. ters degrees, one in English from Gregoire, RJM, has assumed the . Hofstra University and another in principalship of Notre Dame administration from St. John's' School, Helen Miller has been University in Queens, N.Y. She named principal of Dominican has served more than 20 years as Academy, and Kathleen Barboza an administrator of Catholic has become principal of St. Jean schools and indicated in her interview that she was anxious to conthe Baptiste School.

In Taunton, William Ruggiero tinue to "educate yoilng people as was selected to the leadership post Jesus did, helping them to learn how to love God and neighbor, to at St. Mary Primary School. . All four candidates indicated become productive citizens oftheir that they were looking forward to country and help them develop working with the various school into good Christian men and communities and cooperating in women." The new principal is the the Church's ministry "to teach as mother of seven and the grandmother of 17. She brings a lot of Jesus did."

Sister Gregoire is a graduate of love and enthusiasm to her new the University of Maryland and position.

Ruggiero is a graduate of the was awarded a masters degree from Rhode Island College. Her most University of Massachusetts, Bosrecent assignment was assistant ton, and later earned his masters principal at St. John's School in degree in school administration the Bronx. A native of Woon- from Boston State College. After socket, R.I., she will be residing teaching and serving in various

Don't worry about secrets, Medjugorje conferees told IRVINE, Calif. (CNS) - More Medjugorje, disputes the authenticity of the visions. The Yugoslathan 4,000 participants at a recent Medjugorje Peace Conference at . vian bishops' conference is studying them.

Irvine were told that secrets Mary is said to have revealed "are not "There is a 'holy tension' between that important," but rather the ourselves and our bishop," said Marian apparitions should be conFather Kraljevic, whose Francissidered a call to deeper Christian can community has championed faith. the cause.

"Be curious about the secrets "This is positive and fruitful," but don't pay too much attention. the priest said. "Someday he might The secrets are not that imporbe called the martyr of Medjugorje tant," said Bishop Nicholas D'Anbecause he suffers. tonio, vicar general for the New "If one day the church would Orleans archdiocese. say the apparitions were not auAgreeing with that sentiment thentic," he said, "I would still be was Franciscan Father Svetozar very happy because I always serve Kraljevic, who has met with the six the church." reported visionaries in his home The church declared the 1917 province of Hercegovina, Yugoapparitions at Fatima, Portugal, slavia. . "Don't pay that much attention worthy of belief in October 1930 after a seven-year investigation. to" the secrets, he said. "Some are Jesuit Father Robert Faricy, who . led to believe that days to come will be traumatic or difficult. Once teaches spirituality at the Pontifiyou are Christian it is all the same cal Gregorian University in Rome, said "there are a lot of other appabecause you are ready." ritions that as a private person According to the six visionaries, who at the time were ages 10 to 16, seem authentic to me."

But he cautioned that hundreds the Blessed Mother appeared to of apparitions were reported to the them on June 24, 1981. Five conVatican and the "vast majority are tinue to report daily appearances either clearly or probably false, the to them, and one reports appariresult of a hoax or disturbed peotions only on special occasions. ple who have delusions."

The six said they were given 10 Yet, h.e said, "never has there secrets by Mary, and reported she called for prayer and fasting to been a time in history when Mary stop war. appeared so many times to so many people and said so many Bishop Pavao Zanic of Mostarwords."

Duvno, whose diocese includes

administrative positions in the Boston area, Ruggiero moved to Taunton, where he has become very active in parish and church activities at Immaculate Conception parish. His decision to return to active involvement in education at St. Mary's Primary School in Taunton will certainly benefit all who attend St. Mary's.

Mrs. Barboza is a graduate of Providence College and is currently taking additional courses in school administration. Most recently she has served as a full-time religious education coordinator for St. John of God Parish in Somerset and has also taught at Holy Name School, Fall River, and Bishop Stang High School, North Dartmouth. She promises to bring a great deal of enthusiasm to her work with the students and parishioners at St. Jean the Baptiste School.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (CNS) - An appeals court decision upholding Minnesota's requirement for burial of aborted fetuses pleased prolifers, who called it an acknowledgment ofthe humanity of unborn babies.

A three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in St. Louis, ruled unanimously Aug. 2 that Minnesota's 1987 fetal remains law does not violate the Constitution. It reversed a federal district court ruling that had declared the law unconstitutionally vague and burdensome.

"This is such a big deal!" said Dorothy Fleming, a' prodifer involved in getting the law passed.

"What this says is that these 'little globs of tissue' warrant burial."

She is a former head of an Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women committee that had lobbied for the law in 1987.

Never enforced because of court challenges, the law stipulated that remains of abortions or natural miscarriages must be cremated, buried or otherwise disposed of in a dignified fashion.

For example, they cannot be burned in hospital incinerators with "hospital waste such as bandages and used needles," the appeals court noted.

The opinion of the three-judge panel held that "rather than regulating abortion, this statute acknowledges the existence of abortion and regulates an issue related

The Anchor Friday, August 24, 1990 to abortion." The law admittedly deals with abortion, he wrote, but "we cannot say it interferes with or burdens a woman's right to choose to have an abortion."

Around the time the 1987 bill was being debated at the state capitol, a pro-life group announced it had found bodies of aborted babies in a dumpster at an area abortion clinic.

"Today, we restate that all human children deserve a dignified burial," Brian Gibson, executive director for Pro-Life' Action Ministries. "Babies should not be thrown into the garbage like coffee grounds or cigarette butts." ~ 234 Second Street

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4 THE ANCHOR.~ Diocese of Fall River -

Fri .. Aug. 24. 1990

the moorill9--,

the living word

A Massive Challenge One of the important tasks of Vatican II was to redefine the basic right of all to a suitable education and to outline the responsibility of the church in this regard. In the Declaration on Christian Education, the Council Fathers spelled out official teaching on this subject. .

In the area of education, the Church has no desire to isolate herself from the world. Christian education must be in the world since that is where each person must work out his or her salvation.

This consideration is most important in these days of concern for moral and ethical values iri education. Indeed, one of the most serious vacuums in today's education is the purposeful void created by secularism.

In an effort to keep everyone happy, many programs have simply glided over the matters of responsibility and accountability, putting across the view that it's up to the child to distinguish right from wrong. In the process, basic parental rights have been usurped.

The Church has always taught that when parents confer life on their children, they become their first and foremost educators, a role so important that-1!othing can compensate for failure in it. In short, the family is the first school of those social values which every society needs.

Yet, while belonging primarily to the family, the task of education requires the help of society as a whole. And no matter how tumultuous the social order may be, the common good must be addressed in the learning process.

The fathers of Vatican II addressed that' very problem, declaring that "the state should oversee the duties and rights of parents, providing them with assistance whenever their efforts are insufficient in themselves."

That situation occurs in many families in which parents "Behold, I will send many fishers, saith the cannot or will not assume their teaching responsibility, especially in the areas of moral and ethical standards. The resulting gaps have been filled by characters ranging from limousine liberals to junkies. The kids are suffering and the parents need graphical location, are more likely help.

by Father Kevin J. Harrington to experience poverty than youngWhat we must foster in our classrooms is an atmosphere in With all the turmoil in the Midwhich the challenges of morality will be met. If we attempt to dle East, it is easy to let other sters in two-parent families. The figures show that mothers of legislate morals, we will end up in confrontations, as evidenced newsworthy stories fall between children with absent fathers are the cracks, and two stories deservby the states' handling of the abortion issue. more successful in getting child ing some attention have slipped However, if we make determined efforts to support parental relatively unnoticed through this support than in the past, but the sums are still pitifully small. Statrights and responsibilities, we just might bring some semblance summer's news. isticians find the growth of povThe first story concerns a statisof integrity into the lives of our young people. The state has erty in the 1980s parallels the tic released by the United States abundantly proved that even if it had all the money in the Census Bureau indicating that the increase in single-parent families. world at its disposal, it could not be a surrogate parent. number of unmarried women rearUnfortunately, many politicians But developing and supporting programs for parents is ing children without fathers in the would like us to think that the another matter. Adult literacy programs, instruction in parent- home jumped from 2 million in solution to poverty is more federal ing and home education for preschoolers are a few examples of 1985 to 2.6 million in 1987. The programs and higher taxes. They story was a joint statement argue that the only way to improve needs that should be met. The task of implementing such second by the Synagogue ~ouncil of student achievement is to spend parenting aids should be viewed as a positive step towards America and the National Confermore money on teacher's wages solving not only the here and now problems of today's living ence' of Catholic Bishops urging and school buildings. but also towards supplying a moral and ethical dimension to public schools to teach basic moral Ironically, however, the best .values. family life. .

The two subjects are not alto- education is often found in The chun;h should support civil authorities and civil socieparochial schools, where teacher's gether unrelated. ties that both reflect the pluralistic chara.cter of modern society Our public schools have often and take into account the right to religious liberty by providing been unfairly criticized for graschools in which children will be educated according to the duating students unable to perform well on standardized acamoral and religious convictions of each family. demic achievement tests. Any . A massive challenge indeed! public school teacher can testify

eNS photo

LorÂŤl." Jer. 16:16

Educating for moral values

praye~BOX

The Editor

the

OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE DIOCESE OF FALL RIVER Published weekly by The Catholic Press of the Diocese of Fall River 887 Highland Avenue P.O. BOX 7 Fall River, MA 02720 Fall River, MA 02722-0007 Telephone (508) 675-7151 FAX (508) 675-7048 PUBLISHER Most Rev. Daniel A. Cronin, D.o., STD. EDITOR GENERAL MANAGER Rev. John F. Moore Rosemary Dussault ~JL Leary Press-Fall River

that academic mediocrity reflects lack of effort on the part of the student more than any other factor. It is difficult to motivate youngsters in a so-called "value neutral" environment. Jewish and Catholic leaders agree that our students are being cheated by the exclusion from public education of such moral values as honesty, compassion, integrity,. tolerance, ioyalty and belief in human worth . and dignity.

In actual fact, a child spends most of his or her time in an extremely value-laden environment: the home. And in many cases it is a single-parent home.

Children living in this circumstance, whatever their race or geo-

P or the Missions o God, enlighten those who do not know you, that tl'!ey may hear the Gospel . message through the faith, courage and labor of your missionaries. Give to all the grace to enjoy the fruits and merits or' redemption won for them by Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with the Father in the unity ofthe Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen.

wages are lower and facilities are often less attractive than these of neighboring public schools. Many educators now acknowledge that what is needed is not educational reform but "parent reform."

The Joint Jewish-Catholic state o ment notes that because of parental failure to provide a moral education for our youngsters, schools must playa crucial role in filling the vacuum.

Unfortunately, there are always people with less. than scrupulous motives ready to misguide our youngsters.

Advertisers use sexuality to induce impulse buying. Sporting events herald the joy of consuming beer while over-the-counter drug merchants promise users of their products freedom from every ache, pain or irregularity. Television, hardly "value neutral," is a guiding force for many youngsters whose parents cannot find time to spend with them.

Our youngsters need to be taught the importance of establishing families the old-fashioned way: marriage first, babies later. Religous education classes are meant to reinforce the moral values that should be part of home and public school training but too often they are the sole place where such values are taught. Public and private schools alike need to teach youngsters that the anything-goes approach to domestic arrangements cannot replace the two-parent family and its vow of commitment.

Moral values are not the exclusive domain of religion, and life in a pluralistic society does not mean that our educational institutions are exempt from the responsibility of helping to build a more civilized society.

"

Poverty, chastity,' ob'edien'ce focus' of men superiors' meeting

Concerns over teen poster Dear Mary: I'd like to think of mvself as a non-interfering grandpop to my 14-year-old grandson, but recently, listening to his progress on the guitar in his room, I noticed on the wall a 2-feet-bv-3feet picture of a beautifuI14-yearold female dancer in a scanty lace costume.

He is very popular with both his male and female friends, star on his soccer team, etc.

I wanted to speak to my daughter regarding this, my displeasure, but decided to hear your opinion first. - Pennsylvania Your Instinct to defer speaking to your daughter was probably wIse. Sexual interest is a normal development in 14-year-olds.

Your grandson seems to be displaying an interest in and appreciation' of pretty 14-year-old girls.

He appears to have a normal heterosexual attraction.

Moreover, the poster in his room suggests that sexual interest is accepted in this family as a normal part of life. Such tolerance on the part of his parents suggests that both parents and child are comfortable about sex.

The child may well feel more comfortable discussing sexual matters with his parents than children in a household where all sexual material is taboo.

A further concern might be, Does material such as pinups en-

Bv Dr. JAMES & MARY KENNY courage sexual activity or sexual experimentation? Sexual curiosity in the 14-year-old is not triggered by pin-ups. The curiosity is there in abundance, with or without posters.

The poster probably represents a dream, an attractive but unattainable ideal woman. Thus, rather than encouraging sexual behavior, the poster might serve as a substitute.

Sexual curiosity is normal and active in 14-year-olds. Your daughter and son-in-law have chosen to tolerate this curiosity openly rather than to suppress it and drive it into hiding. Theirs is a realistic and responsible choice.

Your grandson seems to be an all-around OK young man. In permitting him to display a pinup, his parents are acting reasonably.

For your own peace of mind you might ask your daughter how she feels about the pinup, but do not tell her what to do about it.

She and her husband seem to be doing well as parents.

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

Church, Cuban government agree on AIDS policies NEW YOR K (CNS) - Msgr.

James P. Cassidy. an architecl of the AIDS program of the New York archdiocese. reports that communist authorities in Cuba agree with archdiocesan officials that the solution to AIDS lies not in condoms but in changed behavior.

"Their educational program for children in school and for adults is designed to make people more aware of their responsibility in sexuality," he said after returning from his first visit to the island. "I was surprised at their approach."

Cuban authorities, he said, also reject the "clean needles" approach to curbing spread of AIDS among drug abusers, though drug addiction seemed less of a problem there than in the 'U nited States.

Msgr. Cassidy recently led a delegation of AIDS specialists to Cuba to meet with the Cuban vice minister for public health, Hector Terry M olinert, and other health workers.

Msgr. Cassidy, whose delegation was hosted by the Cuban church, said he encouraged the officials to let the church become more involved in providing pastoral counseling for AIDS patients.

He added that Cuba approaches AIDS as a public health issue and has not let it become politicized as in the United States.

The country quarantines AIDS patients and those who are H IV positive; but Msgr. Cassidy noted that approach would not be possible in the United States, both because of human rights consider-

,

ations and because of the much higher number of cases here.

Cuba. whose population exceeds 10 million, has only 28-30 reported cases of AIDS and about 370 others testing positive for H IV. the virus that causes AIDS, the priest said. New York City, with under 8 million people, has 2,000 AIDS patients in acute care.

Cubans with AIDS are given care comparable to that of New York archdiocesan hospitals, he said, and those with the virus live on the grounds of a sanitarium.

"They are living better than most of the people on the island," he commented.

He said most of the infection of Cubans is thought to have originated from heterosexual contacts of military personnel in Angola and other parts' of Africa.

Foreigners coming to Cuba for any extended period are tested, Msgr. Cassidy said, and denied entrance if they test positive.

Cubans who have been away for extended periods are also tested upon their return, he said.

He praised Cuban primary health care for concentrating on basic health needs of the population, resulting in increased longevity and reduction of infant mortality to figures below U.S. rates.

The U.S., he said, spends most of its health funds on "high tech" procedures needed for the 5 percent of more "exotic" cases. The 95 percent of ordinary needs do not get a proportionate share of funds. he said.

NEWPORT, R.I. (CNS) Superiors of men religious met Aug. 8 through 12 at Salve Regina College in Newport to examine the dimensions of their vows 0'[ poverty, chastity and obedience in the V.S. culture.

More than 200 attended the 33rd annual meeting of the Conference of Major Superiors of men, which represents some 30,000 priests, brothers and candidates of 260 religious communities of men in the Vnited States.

Focusing on vows took the superiors "to the heart of religious life." said Archbishop Thomas C. Kelly of Louisville, Ky., a Dominican, who represented the V,.S. bishops as chairman of their Committee for Religious Life and Ministry.

Marist Brother Sean Sammon, president of the organization, said the "richness of the vows" need rediscovery and should not be "something that's kept on the shelf."

Sister LUlse Ahrens, president and general superior of the Maryknoll Sisters. who addressed the conference on poverty, said that Catholics are "middle class, mainstream and upwardly mobile" and "we religious have followed our people up the socioeconomic ladder."

Noting that religious communities live well and have adapted to a "professional milieu," she said they should recall "that our profession is not to be a teacher, a minister. a social worker or administrator: it is to be religious and that calls us to another way of looking at life, from the stance of the poor."

Religious leadership, Sister Ahrens said, "must engage our mem bers in talking about expectations and implementing long-range decisions about health care and retirement.

"We do not retire from religious life or our vow of poverty," she said. "So we must be prepared to live it out in hard choices.... Let us not be afraid to lead our members to fidelity."

Benedictine Father Kevin Seasoltz, rector of St. John's Seminary, Collegeville, Minn., said there was little doubt the vow of obedience "collides with many of the values most highly prized by many Americans, including many religious."

He said that "Christian obedience is basically a response to Christ's paschal call to die to self-preoccupation and self-centeredness, to lay down one's life for God and others."

The profession of religious obedience today, said Father Seasoltz, "calls us to grow in Christian freedom understood not as the ability to do simply what we want to do but rather to' be and become what we ought to be."

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can Sister of Perpetual Adoration Fran Ferder and Father John L. Heagle, a LaCrosse, Wis., diocesan priest. The two emphasized that the chastity vow is a challenge to men and women to grow in loving relationships in nongenital ways.

"We are not here to defend celibate chastity," Father Heagle said, "although we do believe it will always have a place in the life of church and society.

"What we wish to affirm is the need for celibate chastity to be credible," he said. "We must be able to claim our sexual energy, recognize it and integrate it so as to become generative, loving people. In other words, we cannot be compassionate without being passionllte with others."

"What we need in the '90s and beyond," he said, "is an attitude of self-transcendence, one that will move beyond earlier attitudes of both repression and selfishness to a Gospel generativity.

"Can we and do we become more life-giving through our choice of celibate chastity?" Father Heagle asked.

"If our vow (of chastity) means anything to society," said Sister Ferder, "it will be in terms of our

The

ability to show the world there's all kinds of ways to make love - in words we speak, the tone of our voices, the moments we stop to talk to others, the decisions we make in the voting booth or in regard to recycling and saving the earth."

"We would like to think that celibate chastity can be sweet and gentle but at times also confronting and challenging to a society that has trivialized sexuality and interpersonal relationships," she said.

Father Heagle added that "one of the great missing components in our so"ciety" is educating about friendship.

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6

The Anchor Friday, August 24, 1990

By DOLORES CURRAN

Last April, I was invited to address the Los Angeles Young Adult Conference which drew 1800 eighteen to thirty-five year-olds, mostly single, with the majority between 25 and 32.

I was impressed by the staffs pre-conference orientation of invited speakers. They sent us a memo, "U nderstanding the Young Adult Audience" which I feel might be of interest to all parents, pastors, and others who have young adults in their midst.

I requested and received per-

By FATHER JOHN J. DIETZEN

Q. Are indulgences still recognized by the Catholic Church?

Someone told me that we no longer speak of them. What does the Catholic Church say about indulgences? (Louisiana) A. It's true that indulgences are not spoken of with the same spiritual implications as they used to be.

One major reason is that Catholic doctrine concerning indulgen-

By FATHER EUGENE HEMRICK Does your parish have an AIDSministry program?

My bet is that a fair number of people are horrified by this questions. Why? Because thereis an AIDS hysteria in society, fanned by horror stories of infants born with the disease, children barred from schools, wives contracting the disease from husbands and afflicted individuals driven from their jobs and ostracized.

Ministering to the young adults among us mission from the Dept. of Young Adult Ministry, Archdiocese of Los Angeles, Office of Religious Education, to reprint portions of this document in this column. Here it is.

Common Characteristics and Tendencies of Young Adult Catholics: All young adults are faced with many significant life choices, especially regarding relationships, vocation, lifestyle, and religious affiliation. The increasing amount of 'options in these areas has re, suited in a tendency to delay such decisions or to experiment.

Young adults are dealing with intimacy and generativity issues as their primary psycho-social tasks.

They tend toward a searching style of faith, questioning religious doctrine and institutions, and exploring other ideologies and faith expressions.

Most young adults are part'of the baby boom generation (born 1946-1964), making up about 30

percent of the total American population. They tend to be very peer-oriented and are a primary 'target of marketing and advertising.

More members of this generation have had the opportunity to attend college than previous generations, resulting in a tendency toward sophistication and broadmindedness. They are very mediaoriented, being the first generation to grow up with TV in the home.

Wounded by the experience of the Kennedy assassinl.ltion, Vietnam War, Watergate, etc. many young adults, especially those age 26 and up, show a lack of trust in' traditional institutions.

Approximately 25 percent attending this event will have little contact or interest with the institutional church. They may have been personally invited to this event by a friend, are attracted to the program because of a personal need, or are simply curious and "check-

ing things out." This event has been designed to reach out to these young adults in particular. They represent the majority ofthe young adult population.

About 50 percent will be moderately involved in Church life, ranging from somewhat-regular attendance at Sunday Mass to participation in a parish, campus, or retreat sponsored program that focuses on the catechetical and/ or social needs of this age group.

About 25 percent of those paftici pating will be in Church leadership / ministry roles in such areas as young adult ministry, youth ministry, music ministry, religious education, detention ministry, Catholic schools, etc.

Most members of this generation are inadequately "informed" about their Catholic faith, in part because their primary and secondary religious education occurred during the confusing and experimental Vatican II transition period.

Some young adults, however, have experienced good formation through youth ministry, campus ministry and retreat movement programs of the 70's and 80's.

Religiously and politically they will cover the entire spectrum from conservative to liberal. (Churchsponsored events tend to draw a higher percentage of conservative participants than their actual percentage of the overall young adult population.)

• • • •

I found the above to be right on target. I discovered an intense desire among these young people to retain a close relationship with their parents but also that their distrust of institutions, their broadminded ness, and their life styles often occasioned clashes with their parents. Perhaps the above will give parents and church leaders some helpful insights on living with and ministering to the young adults among us.

Clarifying teachings on indulgences ces has been badly misunderstood and abused in the past by nonCatholics and Catholics alike.

The truths which underlie Catholic practices concerning indulgences are still valid, however, and very much a part of authentic Catholic life.

When Pope Paul VI, in "Doctrine of Indulgences" (1967), called for reform ofthe whole indulgence structure, he recalled that the early church community "was fully convinced that it was pursuing the work of salvation in community."

The doctrine of the communion of saints, so alive in the early church, means that all children' of God in Christ, whether in this life or in eternity, are linked in the mystical'body of Christ.

In light of this fact, said Pope Paul, the church "undertook var-

ious ways of applying the fruits of our Lord's redemption to the individual faithful, leading them to cooperate in the salvation of their brothers, so the entire body of the church might be prepared" for the fullness of God's kingdom (6).

In accord with directions given by the Holy Father, some significant differences are evident in the new "Enchiridion (compendium) of Indulgences," published the fol' lowing year.

Perhaps the difference most older Catholics will notice first is that the number offormally indulgenced prayers and "works" is'now drastically reduced, placing primary emphasis on the holiness of our daily responsibilities and activities.

The main concern, says the official compendium, "has been to

attach greater importance to a Christian way of life and lead souls to cultivate a spirit of prayer and penance and,to practice the theological virtues (faith, hope and charity) rather than merely repeat certain formulas and acts."

"Partial indulgences" are granted using only those words; there is no determination of days or years as was common in the past.

Among other things, this is to avoid some of the confusion mentioned above. Contrary to what many Catholics believed, an indulgence of one year, for example, did not mean one year "off purgatory."

Plenary (full) indulgences can now be gained only once a day with proper conditions fulfilled.

As in all other areas of its life today, the church is taking great

pains to keep its understanding and practice of indulgences in harmony with the teachings of the Gospel and with the vision of the bishops at Vatican Council II. Again, the main point to keep in mind is that through proper understanding and use of indulgences, "the faithful will be more effectively moved to live holier and more useful lives, thus healing the split between the faith many profess and their daily lives" ("Enchiridion," observations n. 4).

A free brochure, "Infant Baptism: Catholic Practice Today," is available by sending a stamped self-addressed envelope to Father John Dietzen, Holy Trinity Parish, 704 N. Main Street, Bloomington, Ill. 61701. Questions for this column should be sent to him at the same address.

A down-to-earth approach to AIDS Worse than this, some have been prompted to view acquired immune deficiency syndrome as God's curse.

AIDS has spawned the kind of fear that creates a disease worse than itself. This disease can shrink hearts and minds to the point that people are afraid to reach out and help.

In their national pastoral letters on the economy, and on war and peace, the U.S. bishops dealt courageously with major issues. But I believe they were even more courageous in their 1989 statement on , AIDS. Furthermore, they called for courage on the part of the whole church, urging us to get close to a disease we know to be deadly.

Their statement exhorts us to cut through fear, to overcome ignor-

ance and to be governed by a sense of compassion.

Discrimination and injustice against any person "with AIDS and with HIV infection" are termed immoral and unjust; we are urged to condemn violence against homosexuals, while it is stressed that Al DS "is by no means exclusively a homosexual problem."

We are urged to support education on AIDS as well as scientific and medical research aimed at finding a cure. And the Catholic community is encouraged to create networks of people to assist and counsel the families of AIDS victims.

During a 1988 workshop on Al DS afthe College of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn., Archbishop John Roach of St. Paul and

Minneapolis called special atten,tion to the families of AIDS victims. He urged that parishes develop support groups "for nourishing those with AIDS and their families" because the parish is "a logical place for that type of effort."

Archbishop Roach reminded those at the workshop that "we have the power of prayer and the commitment to use it in praying with and for sufferers."

The archbishop then announced plaQs for a series of sacramental celebrations of the anointing of the sick for those with AIDS, as well as the establishment of a support group for gay and lesbian Catholics.

On the very day I am writing this column, a news program reported that health officials believe

the number of AIDS victims will escalate far beyond earlier predictions. "Astronomical" was one word the report used to describe the escalation.

When we hear such adjectives in the discussion of AIDS, the "let's get out of here and go to another planet" syndrome is all too easily reinforced. But our faith says otherwise.

At a critical moment in history, faith tells us to hold firm to our sense of compassion and to remain right here on planet Earth where we have been called to serve as Christians.

I believe that a down-to-earth approach to AIDS will require that our parishes stand for what they really are - havens of love and care.

How'much do today's young people care?

By ANTOINETTE BOSCO

A recent story in The New York Times was headlined "Profiles of Today's Youth: They Couldn't Care Less." The piece reported on two new studies, both of which "paint a portrait of a generation of young

adults, from 18 to 29 years of age, who are indifferent toward public affairs."

The two studies were done by the Times Mirror Center for the People and the Press, and the public interest group People for the American Way. According to the Times Mirror Center, a public opinion research center, today's youth "knows less, cares less, votes less and is less critical of its leaders and institutions than young people in the past."

The story noted that in the Peo-

pie for the American Way report it was said that "young people seemed to have a half-formed understanding 'of citizenship, stressing rights but ignoring responsibilities."

If this is the case, it is a sad commentary on how poorly adults - from parents and teachers to political leaders and television producers _ have been passing on important values to the young.

Let's not criticize youth. Let's weep for what a greedy, powerand pleasure-seeking milieu does

to them. The Bible said it all- the sins of the parents are visited upon the children.

For all of this darkness, however, I think it would be unforgivable to categorize all youth as uncaring and crass. I know so many who demonstrate just the opposite, volunteering their talents in literacy teaching, feeding the hungry, working to eliminate drunk driving, drug addiction and so much more.

The reality of American youth is

that, despite what the surveys say, many are and will be working to make the world a better place.

Our challenge is to get to the children now who will be the youth of tomorrow, and try to stir in them the virtues of sensitivity and empathy so that they will not grow up lost in their own self-centeredness, unable to see or care about anything but themselves.

However, as adults we cannot do this unless we heal ourselves first.

THE ANCHOR -

Diocese of Fall'River -

Fri., Aug. 24, 1990

7

Root cause ·Worthwhile event Dear Editor: I was pleased to see your article on AIDS (Anchor, July 27). I was fortunate to attend one of the AIDS workshops given by Father Cwiekowski which was held at

Christ the King Church in Mashpee. I found this workshop and all who participated in it to be very worthwhile.

.

As the number of AIDS cases c6ntinues to increase, we will need the support of others in dealing with this tTagle illness.

Sincerely yours, Paul R. Bouche, MD Falmouth

JACQUES MONTOUROY, right, of Catholic Relief Services, stands handcuffed to a Liberian man shot by rebel leader Prince Yormie Johnson, left, outside Monrovia. Seconds later the man was shot again and killed. (CNS/Wide World photo) .

Dear Editor:

APPLAUSE! APPLAUSE! ~ "", .... "",&. ~ T : .... --.:. ~ _. .-'fh1ortk-v<=forthe1rrticlrurrMf)S-_1;.R~~ Thank) au fOi the aI tiele OIl AIDS MINISTR Yin the July 27 issue of THE ANCHOR. I attended Fr. Cwiekowski's three initial workshops on Cape Cod. Since branching out with eduea· tion of the diocese at large, ] have' heard positive response.

As a hospital chaplain I have ministered to patients with the deadly disease. Perhaps I should say they ministered to me. Their spirituality, however recently brought to the surface, has pulled me up short on more than one occasion.

We began, as a diocese. studying the issue of AIDS and the Christian response to it. Hopefully, we will not form another committee to study that committee! Wouldn't it be great if we became one of the frontrunners to actually find a home for these sisters and brothers among us?

Thanks again for keeping the issue before us. The people are definitely among us!

God's blessings on you and your work.

Dympna Smith RSM Chaplain, Cape Cod Hospital Hyannis

Equal rights?

Dear Editor: I appreciate your paper having the courage to bring your readers the story about the resignation of Archbishop Marino of Atlanta who had an intimate relationship with a woman. The story also mentioned the resignation of Fr. Woods of Atlanta who also was intimately involved with the same woman.

I noted that Bishop Lyke of Atlanta told reporters that Archbishop Marino's resignation does not necessarily mean an end to his priestly ministry, while the article states that Ms. Long will no longer function as a eucharistic minister.

Bishop Lyke says, "Instances such as this misdemeanor are quite infinitesimal compared with ... the previous 25 years of the archbishop's life."

Can the good works of Ms. Long's life convert her sin so that she is able to stand on the altar beside Archbishop Marino and distribute the Eucharist he consecrates?

There is so much more to this tragedy than was revealed in your story, and I hope that its causes will be explored. I trust that, in dealing with this matter and others like it, my Church will apply equal insight and compassion to all parties involved.

Deirdre Greelish Mashpee

BALTIMORE (CNS) - Catholic Relief Services pulled out of Liberia after its acting representative was detained and a man handcuffed to him was shot dead.

"CRS left after what happened to me," Jacques Montouroy told The Catholic Review, archdiocesan newspaper of Baltimore. where CRS is headquartered. "It's become too dangerous to work."

Archbishop Romeo Panciroli, Vatican pro-nuncio to Liberia, was among 57 foreign nationals evacuated by U.S. Marines Aug. 13.

Montouroy. whose normal assignment is Haiti, had been in Liberia three months.

A few days before being evacuated on Aug. 4 Montouroy was seized by Prince Yormie Johnson, leader of oneof Liberia's two rebel factions. He was handcuffed to a Liberian man he later identified as a Johnson political ad.viser. Johnson accused the mar.. of profiting from rice sales.

Calling the man a traitor, Johnson shot him several times white the man was still handcuffed to Montouroy.

There is "no respect for life" among either rebel fighters or gov~ eroment soldiers, Montouroy said.

Shooting a human being, to them. is the same as "shooting a pig," he said.

The CRS representative said that after the killing, Johnson told him to go teU the Western ambassadors about it.

Johnson later was reported killed in an ambush set up by a rival rebel group, but he turned up alive and well at a press conference after the supposed attack.

Montouroy said that the Red Cross and a group of young physicians working in Liberia, in addi-

tion to Catholic Relief Services. have left the country.

In the meantime, he-said, liberian residents were dying by the thousands.

"Food production has stopped, and there are no imports." said Montouroy. "The second greatest need is medical care."

Earlier this month doctors evacuated St. Joseph" Catholic Hospital in the capital, Monrovia, after rebel fighters threatened to seize patients linked with beleaguered President Samuel Doe. The hospi-" tal had been one of only two left open in the city.

Montouroy said the situation in Liberia had produced many refugees. and relief agencies would make them their top priority when they returned to the country.. However, -he said there was no time set for Catholic Relief Services' return.

"When safety permits, we'll go in," he said. "There is no neutrality. Everyone thinks, 'lfyou're not one of us, you're against us.' " Foreign nationals evacuated by the Marines expressed similar feelings.

"We were frightened of being accused of being rebel sympathizers by the government." said JeaneUe Carter. an anthropology lecturer at the University of Liberia in Monrovia.

A pool report from journalists aboard the USS Saipan, an amphibious assault ship in a U.S. naval flotilla off the Liberian coast, said Archbishop Panciroli and Manuel de Luna, the Spanish ambassador, were among those evacuated. Reporters said the group waited on the beach in a tropical storm before being taken to the ship by helicopter.

Archbishop Panciroli later met with Pope John Paul II at the pope's summer villa at Castel Gandolfo. The Vatican gave no details of the Aug. 20 private audience.

MIAMI (CNS) - Archbishop Edward A. McCarthy of Miami has called for revealing and reducing the "root cause" of most abortions, "namely, the current acceptance in our society of adultery and fornication." In a recent state~ ment on abortion, the archbishop blamed "distortions by the media and manipulation by public relations agencies" for covering up "the reality, the wickedness. the abhorrence. the betrayal of our American respect for human life."

"Biased reporting should no 10nger be tolerated by readers,listeners or advertisers," Archbishop McCarthy wrote. "Used well," he said, the news media and public relations "provide an invaluable service to the people of our nation.

Misused, failing in objectively and impartiality, they become a new dangerous form of censorship, of mat.tipulating public opinion."

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"Warts and all" SA v ANNAH, Ga. (eNS) - In a pastoral letter on the sex scandal involving the Catholic Church in Georgia, Savannah Bishop Raymond W. LessaJ:d said the revelations challenge believers to continue loving the church "warts and all." News that now-resigned Arch~ bishop Eugene A. Marino of Ailanta had been involved in an intimate relationship with Vicki R. Long has caused "pain and confusion" for many, Bishop Lessard wrote in The Southern Cross, his diocesan newspaper.

REV. ANDRE PATENAUDE, M.S.

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........... ~--------------------~~-

Westport churches host ecumenical Bible school Children in kindergarten through seventh grade from St. John the Baptist Church, Westport, and Westport Point United Methodist Church had the unique opportunity this summer to share a weeklong Vacation Bible School.

Themed ··Journeys with Jesus," the program-invited its 52 partici~ pants to become disciples,through Bible stories, art activities, music, recreation and special worship sessions.

The one-way, rotary and arrow signs depicted in last week's Anchor became familiar 0 bjects to the chil~

dren during the course of the week as they were "used every day to indicate we were on a journey," said Jean Prior, religious educa tion coordinator at St. John the B,aptist. who directed the program with Kathy Grundy.

The arrow signs were there to "remind us to keep going in the right direction, not to go off the path:' said Mrs. Prior, and the rotary sign lIlustrated that "'sometimes it's hard to make decisions, but that's what God is there for."

Also in the signpost repertoire were a green light, ""meaning we were ready to go on the journey with Jesus" and a construction sign, a reminder to ""build up our knowledge of faith," she said.

Highlights of the week included lively music sessions with various rhythm instruments and lots of finger-snapping and hand-elapping, especially to the theme song "Walk like Jesus."

Bible stories came to life during daily worship sessions, when the Junior High Worship Team portrayed Jesus and his disciples.

The Pollywogs, the youngest group, realized firsthand the dress of Jesus' time by creating worship headpieces and laced sandals. p

JOURNEYS WITH JESUS: photos on pages 8 and 9 were provided by the Westport Vacation Bible School.

The Starfish group, composed of first and second graders, constructed multicolored fish windsocks. The Dinghys, grades three and fonr, molded clay lchthys fish necklaces and learned a unique "Twelve Apostles' Rap:' Fifth and sixth-graders, dubbed the Navigators, undertook the week-long project ofdesigning and hand-stitching a banner for each church representing the Vacation Bible School theme.

Snack-time was ever-popular with theme-appropriate food served by a refreshment team. Recrea· tion, planned and supervised by high school helpers, provided an informal social outlet with many happy rounds of summer games.

The week's activities concluded with a family celebration at which the children presented a version of their journeys with Jesus to par· cots, grandparents and friends.

Lunch and a specially decorated cake were shared with approximately 100 guests.

Father Edmund J. Fitzgerald of St. John's and Rev. Oscar Guinn of Westport Point United Methodist noted the sense of community that had developed during the week and applauded the participation and efforts of all involved in the program's success.

The children, eager to return to the program next year, summed up the experience with a verse fro~ the theme song: We need to walk hand in hand _Helping those in need.

Many come but He makes us all one We are God's family. (c) 1986 Big Steps 4 U

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ISister Mary Joseph Age: 32 Naliye of: Warner Robbins, GA Gradaale: Wesleyan College.

Macon. Georgia. Majored in History.

Vocatioa: Service to God. Work: Nursinl incurable cancer patients.

Avocadoa: Researching history of the conpegar:ion.

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'Of had never thought aOOUI being Q nun unliloneday, while I Wm"al college . .. and here I am. And I know I am where J belong. ..

DOMINICAN SISTERS OF HAWTHORNE A religious community of Carholic women with seven modern nursing

f~ilities in six states. Our one apos.olate is 10 nurse incurable cancer patients. This work is a practical fulfillment of our faith.

The most important talent, highly prized by us, is the talent for sharing of yourself - your compassion, your cheerfulness. your faith - wifh those who have been made so vulnerable and dependent by this dread disease.

Not aU of our sisters are nurses, bUI as part of our aposrol:ate. all directly help in the care or the patienls.

If you Ihink you have a religious vocalion and would like to know more about our work and community life, why nol plan to visit wirh us. We would be happy 10 share wilh you a day from OUT lives.

Writr: Sister Marie Edward DOMINICAN SISTERS m' HAWTHORNE Rosary Hill Homr 600 Linda A"enlle Hawlhorn". New York 105)2 or can: (914) 169-4194

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THE ANCHOR-Diocese of Fall River-Fri., Aug. 24, 1990

Fun with words

By

Do you use words that betray your age? 1 do. Most of the time I catch myself when I start to say uicebox" for refrigerator or "streetcar" for bus. But not always. l avoid terms like "by cracky,'" which seems to label the speaker as a senior citizen, but generally I like to use perfectly good words which seem to be going out of style.

Take s~maphore, for example.

What's wrong with it1 Nothing, except younger people, reporters ev~n, don't know it's an electric trafIiIC signal. Why should age be a ractor h e r e ' ? ' H ow about a four-in~hand tie? ] prerer bows, b ut when I explain that a four-in-hand seemed more appropriate, I get blank stares.

A two-in-one anniversary for jack-of-all-trades nun Story and photo

by Marcie Hirkey

Sister Pauline Freza!, 5S.Ce., known as a jack-of-all-trades by her fellow sisters at the Sacred

Hearts House of Prayer in Fall River, celebrated two milestones this month: her 70th anniversa'ry in religious life on Aug. 3 and her 89th birthday on Aug. 5. The House of Prayer Sisters are hold·

ing a dual celebration today.

Born in Lozere. France, the third

of eight children, "I spent my youth on a country farm," said Sister Frezal.

She had three aunts and an uncle in religious life and although she never met any of them because all left for missionary work when she was very young, the nearby Sacred Hearts convent was a main·

stay of her early life.

"The convent was not far from

home, so we could walk. We had to - there were no cars. especially in the country!"

The most difficult part of her decision to enter religous life at age 19 was leaving her family, she said.

•• After we entered, we were not supposed to go home. Your family could come and visit, but you could not go to visit them:' Sister Frezalcame to the United States in 1921, returning to France

to make her perpetual vows before embarking on a tcaching career that spanned 53 years, 48 of them

at Sl. Joseph's School, Fairhaven, and the rest at the former Sacred Hearts Academy there.

Since the changes wrought by Vatican II, she has been back to France four times, and is hoping that her sister will come to the U nited States for a visit next summer. ] n retirement, she wears many bats at the Sacred Hearts House of

Prayer: "She's the cook, the book-

sion. -.the Academie Francaise, which tries to keep foreign words BERNARJ> like TV or pizza from violating the purity of GaBic prose.

The United States has no caro- CASSERLY parable agency to preserve, protect and defend the purity of English. Perhaps it's just as well. One of the strengths of English is its advice on Lhe need for precise and flexibiJity. It grows with the addi- grammatieal language. tion of new words, both foreign With each child launched on a and domestic. different (3.reer, each brings new There should be limits to this words to family affairs. When a nurse, lavyer. teacher, editor, flexibilitY,however. Wordsshould human re~ource worker and p!,>lihave precise meanings, and they tician COR\erse, it seems, old words should be used with precision. The won't alwl.Ys do.

French academy publishes a die· They scmetimes challenge the tionary ~ith the official word on old man OD. grammar or word use, what is and what is not correct. and we hall out the family word --lT~It;a~t'~'~thhe~k~Il",o~I~ID~o~srtl~II~le~J~J~u~serr.LO~t;;i;e--~La_.:I<k'"iRlljg~s" ....e"hHa"'fto-AA"mne",rriieaea1ll<laauuttll"I--lbbilible. They call me on "icebox" ority, I have taken to using and "streetcar:' and I challenge their ties.

Language often divides genera. Houghton Mifflin's American Her- their lapsel too. tions. When Professor Harold Hill itage Dictionary as my personal Take "fl1o," for example. All told the citizens of River City to guide in these matters, _chiefly tov often tlley turn it from'a noun beware when their children start because it has a "usage parier' of into an a<ljective. They don't go using words Jike"SweU" and "So's experts. out for sone fun; they go to a fun your old man," the Music Man Some dictionaries relax their place. Yucd meant that trouble was coming: standards on word use, but AmerWhen \\t check our latest dicAs a dealerin words. I am aware ican Heritage seems to hold the tionary( 1982), we find "fun" is not that ourlanguage is changing and line. Take "ain't."Jt is described as an adject he. to my great relief. that popular use can switch (he "non-standard" and "strongly con- When I decked my office copy meaning of words despite all the demned by the usage panel is when (1969), hovever, "fun" was listed it occurs in writing and speech that as an adjective, but "informaL" rules in grammar-books. Still and Popular ,se canchangc the mcanall, 1 think such changes should be is not deliberately colloquial. - ... limited.

As each of our children reached ing of words, as I said. I did not French, which used to dominate milestones in their lives, I pres- show the earHer definition of""fun'" international communication, is eoted them with American Herit- to my kids. Souse confusing them, preserved by a national com mis- age dictionaries inscribed with my right?

Praise for caretakers, unsung heroes

keeper, the treasurer, she takes out

By Antoinette B....o .the trash-she's ajack-of-aU-trades .

If a tally is ever made of the and a master at all of them," said unsung' heroes of thit world, my Sister Claire Dumont, regional vote would go to the caretakers superior, adding, As if she -the women and men who find weren't busy enough, she learned themselves in the position of bavhow to use the computer at age 88" ing to care for a sick or disabled and-helps out in the parish office at Our Lady ofthe Assumpiion, New spouse or relative.

I have met many of these people Bedford. and their 'dedication amazes me.

Asked to describe her favorite Every decision they make, every role, Sister Frezal gives them equal task they take on, every break they weight. Ul've been happy all my try to get for themselves revolves life," she said. arol,lnd the needs of the person for Her friends, however, insist that whom they care. she is partial to her role as cook, in My older sister Rosemary is one particular, baker of apple pies. such caretaker. Her husband has "Once the dessert's planned, then had Parkinson's disease for J 5 she plans the rest of the meal," years. ]n the past several years he Sister Dumont asserted. has been severely incapacitated The secret is out. between the disease itself and the "] guess I have a sweet tooth'" effects of the medication he must Sister FrezaJ admits. lake. At times he has hallucinations, imagining that strangers are in the house, sometimes stealing fr,om him. He is often incontinent.

Two years ago Rosemary had to retire from her job, reducing her much-needed income, to take on fulltime care of her husband. Her caring is tedious, nonstop work.

About all she does for herself is go to an occasional concert and now and then play the piano a bit.

What sustains her is her faith and. fortunately~ her church - where she is an extraordinary minister -is only two block~ away.

She broke down a bit recently, and anyone would understand why.

While massaging her husband's feet with an ointment she llghtheartedly said, "Boy, aren't you lucky you married- me. Who else U

would do this?" Clearly, as if the Parkinson's had disappeared for a

CELEBRATING their anniversaries in religious life on the feast ofthe Assumption at their motherhouse in Fall River are Dominicans of St. Catherine of Siena Sister Emmanuel Thibeault, seated, 70 years, and Sisters Mary Leger, Irene Putney and Mary of the Cross Landry, from left, 60 years.

(Gaudette photo)

SALUTING SENIORS

moment, he responded, uWho

asked you anyway?" ] talked with her by phone about it, and she was crying. "'Is it too much to a~k for a little appreciation?'" she asked. "'No,") told her.

And ] wondered, why are caretakers taken so much for granted, why are olbers so insensitive to

what they 80 through?

And then she showed her marvelous chamcter. "I didn't ask for this kind 01 life, but he didn't ask for his Parkinson's. either.... She could understand that in his lucid moments he must feel the pain, the dismay, the embarrassment, the loss of pride, all the elements that

sustain healthy people. And I felt the terrible trap she is in, for they

are both plisoners of undeserved pain.

I think w: should give a word of praise to lhe caregivers, and a

handclasp ci empathy to the dependent. disabk:d one.

My sister and her husband like all the caretakers and the dependent (IDeS for whom they put their daily lives on the line - carry a very heavy burden. Those of us not in that d'tfficult position should let them klOW how we admire them. It talles courageous people

to face day by day a life of quiet despera-::.t::i::o::n::. _ Procrastination UToday's put-off objectives reduce tomorrow's achievements."

MA[)ONNA MANOR, Attleboro, residents Bessy Hargraves, George Ross and Helen Gallant (from left) enjoy summer fare at the nursing home's second annual cookout In the front veranda. The horne's administrator and director of nursing served as official grill chefs and residents were treated to hot dogs and burgers, pickles, potato chips, watermelon and homemade chocolate chip cookies.

Truth not told about post-abortion trauma, says psychotherapist MILWAUKEE (CNS) the prevailing attitude in this Shoddy research has led the public country that abortion provides emotional relief." into believing that women who , have abortions experience little or Rue charged that 95 percent of no impact on their einotionallife, all post-abortion studies are based said a psychotherapist at a .Milon inadequate sample sizes, with the result being an understating of waukee conference on postabortion healing. the problem. , "We have all been misled by He cited a 1985 study which shoddy research that purports to found that 84 percent of women tell the truth, but in fact the truth who had abortion's and \yere queshas not been told," said Dr. Vintioned three weeks afterward felt cent Rue, codirector of the Instirelief. tute for Abortion Recovery and "Generally, when you take stress Research in Portsmouth, N.H. off the shoulders of people, they Rue spoke on the sociopolitical feel relief," Rue said. "We are here aspects of post-abortion research to say abortion is a relief expeat a conference on post-abortion rience on one plane but it similarly healing held at Marquette Uni- is astressor, a psychological-social versity. stressor."

He said abortion research has Rue said that from what he has become hostage to a hostile politidetermined psychologically, aborcal environment. tion is "a negative experience fqr "It's what I call the politicizamost women." tion of abortion research which The conference was sponsored has even designated some new by the National Office of Postways of describing professionals," Abortion Reconciliation and Heal. Rue said. He added he has been ing, headed by Vicki Thorn, foundlabeled an "antichoice researcher." er of Project Rachel. The project is Rue is coauthor of "Psychologi- a post-abortion counseling out- , cal Aftermath of Abortion," among reach organization with chapters source materials used by former in 60 U.S. dioceses.

Surgeon General C. Everett Koop It takes its name from the bibliin preparing his findings on the cal character Rachel in the Old' health risks of abortion, which Testament Book of Jeremiah who was released in 1989.

Commenting on the findings, mourns for the loss of her children.

One Project Rachel chapter, in Rue said Koop "found the data the diocese of Bridgeport, Conn., available do not support the premise that abortion does or does is an ecumenical group providing not contribute to psychological spiritual direction, professional problems.... He did conclude cor- counseling and peer support.

In recent interviews, chapter rectly that the research is very members discussed their postflawed.

"Dr. Koop's point was buyer . abortion trauma with the Catholic beware - no longer can we accept Transc.ript, newspaper ofthe arch-

,Pro-life directors meet Continued from Page One Representatives of Wirthlin and Hill and Knowlton were making a presentation to the diocesan directors, he said, just as they had for state Catholic conference directors who met recently in Sun River, Ore. Father Gouldrick said the presentation included some of the firms' research findings, including those showing that most persons who label themselves "pro-choice" on abortion "really move into prolife" when questioned.

Such people say "no" to using abortion for sex selection, career reasons or avoiding single parenthood, he said. ' The researchers also found misperceptions about abortion, he said.

One finding was that some 30 percent of people believe abortions number fewer than 100,000 a year when in reality some 4,000 are performed daily or more than 1.5 million annually.

Most people believe, too, that rape accounts for many abortions when actually the figure is less than I percent.

Father Fernandes said he found the most challenging presentation of the San Francisco meeting to be a discussion of the ethical and public policy considerations of providing nutrition and hydration to the permanently unconscious.

In the presentation, Father Gouldrick and Richard Doerflinger, associate director for policy in the Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities, told pro-life coordinators that a new U.S. bishops' task force has been set up to study the problem.

Father Gouldrick said that three mem bers of the pro-life committee

diocese of Hartford and the dioceses of Bridgeport and Norwich.

The women's names were changed to protect their privacy.

Liza, who had an abortion in 1986, said she felt bad about it the next day. She said she could not shake feelings of guilt and pain even after talking with several priests, and finally could not even function in day-to-day tasks.

After joining Project Rachel to , talk with women in similar situations and getting counseling from a specially trained priest, "I was finally able to get out of my depression and go on with my life," she said.

Karen, who has had two abortions, said she was still unable to forgive herself. "I get so far and I hit a hump and I feel I should have known better not to do this," she said.

She has two children in school, but said she finds that when she attends an event like her daughter's dance recital, she thinks ofthe children she aborted who will never have a chance to dance.

Michelle, who had two abortions, said, "I hid it from my family and friends. I was very depressed. I felt guilty and anxious and I wished I was dead."

Carol said she had an abortion in 1973, right after the U.S. Supreme Court's Roe vs. Wade decision legalizing abortion on demand. ' "I buried it," Carol said of her feelings. Sh.e later had another abortion and suppressed that one as well.

She then became an excessive drinker ancj married an alcoh9Jic. "After I had my son in 1980, it finally surfaced," Carol said. "I was in a great state of depression," which continued off and on until she came to Project Rachel in 1986.

When asked what advice they have for a woman considering abortion, Karen said emphatically, "Don't do it."

and three from the Committee on Doctrine would develop a position and present it to the Administrative Committee of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Also addressing the diocesan directors were Mary Cunningham Agee and Frances H.ogan.

Mrs. Agee, once a prominent Continued from Page One businesswoman, told of the network she formed to help college need to teach nonviolence at every and professional women retain their level of society' was never more anonymity after becoming pregurgent." nant by finding them ways of havMrs. Maguire cofounded the ing their babies and keeping their Community of Peace People after careers. three of her nieces and nephews Ms. Hogan, a Boston attorney, were run down by the car of a founded Women Affirming Life, a gunman fleeing soldiers. More than small group of professional women 100,000 people soon participated who will speak out for life and in rallies and marches in Ireland against abortion. and England calling for an end to Also giving a presentation was Northern Ireland violence. the National Committee for a HuShe said mainline churches need man Life Amendment, Father Fer- to be faithful to their mission and nandes noted. The committee teach the message of nonviolent focused on Project Life, a cam- love of enemies. She said churches paign which involves individuals have not taught or lived the simple communicating with elected repre- message of "no killing." sentatives by telephone, in person "We need to also develop more and in writing. fully our thinking on nonviolent "I would like to see the diocese self-defense," she said. "It will of Fall River become involved rightly be said as believers that we with Project Life," said Father, have no need for security and Fernandes. defense as for this we have God. He plans a meeting of diocesan God's love casts out all fear of parish pro-life directors Sept. II at death.

St. James Church. At that time "We are challenged to seek out possible parish pro-life committee new institutions and structures of undertakings and regional and society built not on, violence but diocesan activities will be discussed. , on respect for life and creation," Among regional activities will Mrs. Maguire continued. be the fourth annual Respect Life "This will enable humanity to Walk, to be held Oct. 7 in Boston. move forward creatively together "We hope to have many members and we will also be fulfilling our of the diocese join the walk and social and political responsibilities show a pro-life presence in Bos- by playing our part in the develton," said Father Fernandes. opment in a better world for all."

THE ANCHOR-Diocese of Fall River-Fri., Aug. 24, 1990

Dial-a-pope goes global VATICAN CITY (CNS) - A London-based company has reached an agreement with the Vatican to provide recorded papal messages via telephone anywhere in the world. In the United States, the daily messages can be reached by dialing a 900 telephone number.

Vatican Radio and ITALCable, an Italian phone company, have been offering a similar service outside Europe with overseas phone charges for more than a year.

The two-minute English, Spanish and Italian recordings compiled by Global Telecom Ltd. in London are taken from Pope John Paul II's weekly general audience and other talks broadcast by Vati-

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can Radio, said Stan Markland, a partner in Global Telecom.

Sharon Lundeen, spokeswoman for U.S. Sprint, which is handling the U.S. papal message, said the call will cost $2 for the first minute and 95 cents for each additional minute. Calls to the 900 number, she added, will appear on callers' local telephone bills.

Still on the Cross "There is a very strong tendency in the world today to want Christianity to be smooth, attractive, respected by everyone, powerful in the world's sense; but now, as long ago, Christ remains on the Cross."

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,p'ope names U.8. priest nuncio to Romania

THE SECLUDED Vatican gardens offer a peaceful escape from the crowds for those lucky enough to get reservations for a two-hour tour. (eNS photo)

When in Rome, try escaping the crowds

-,...

The underground maze also occasions a lesson on the history of buildings on the site before the present basilica, consecrated in 1626.

Visitors see pieces of a wall which early Christians erected to mark the spot as special, parts of an early Constantinian monument to St. Peter and walls and pillars from Constantine's church.

In addition to being a break fr9m the crowds, the garden tour offers an escape from the traffic of Rome and a behind-the-scenes look at one of the smallest nation-states in the world.

The tour begins with a half-hour bus ride past the Swiss Guards at the Arch of the Bells. past the Palace of Justice and the central Vatican police station.

The garden tour begins in front of the "Governatorato," which houses local Vatican government offices. Pope John Paulill's coat of arms is duplicated in a bush sculpture on the sloping lawn.

The bus stops at the Vatican ,train station - now used only for deliveries - then drives by the pope's vegetable garden, the St. John Tower with three apartments for visiting dignitaries, and the pope's heliport.

Guides point out plants not usually found in Italy, like banana have to be normalized, bishops trees and Lebanese cedars, as well recognized and established in their as sculptures donated by Catholics dioceses and churches closed by in various countries. former Soviet leaders reopened.

The final bus stop is at a reGorbachev faces difficult politi- creation of the grotto at the famous cal problems in several areas ofthe Marian shrine of Lourdes.

Soviet Union - including some of The rest of the tour is a stroll the most Catholic spots. through the gardens and past the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, the House of Pius IV (which was never used as a house by Pius IV or anyone else, the guide says), and VATICAN CITY (CNS) Seminary training and continuing other buildings.

If the sun glares intensely, the education programs for priests should include working directly guide may let visitors stand on the with the poor, says a statement for lawn in the shade - but only if this fall's world Synod of Bishops. everyone promises not to tell any "Direct involvement with the un- of the Vatican's 36 gardeners. derprivileged and marginalized leads to a deeper appreciation of the gift of life and to personal maturity, to deep joy and constant hope," said the statement from Caritas Internationalis, a Vaticanbased umbrella organization for Catholic development and relief agencies throughout the world. '

The tour is offered in two of six

By Cindy Wooden languages each day based on the VATICAN CITY (CNS) - With a little advance planning, visitors availability of guides.

Tours of the excavation site are to the Vatican can escape the crowds in St. Peter's Basilica and offered in English, French, Gerthe Sistine Chapel and make down- man, Italian, Dutch and Spanish. under or behind-the-scenes explor- Using the written requests, the ations. excavations office organizes the Guided visits to the excavations groups and notifies participants a under the basilica - a necropolis day or two in advance. that includes what is thought to be Visitors faxing or mailing their St. Peter's burial place - gener- requests in advance should proally are limited to 15 people. vide phone numbers where they Reservations must be made i'n can be reached in Rome. writing in advance either by letter It is cool and quiet in the necroor in person at the excavations polis, which was buried by the office. Modern technology can be Emperor Constantine in the early a help in arranging a visit to the fourth century to make a firm I.900-year-old necropolis: the for the first basilica on excavations office accepts faxed , foundation Vatican Hill. tour requests.

When Constantine became the The other Vatican-offered escape from the milling multitudes is a Roman emperor. the tradition of two-hour tour of the Vatican venerating the site as St. Peter's gardens, limited to 33 people once grave was already more than 200 years old. a day, five days a week.

As pilgrims wander through the Neither tour is offered on Sunday, and there is no garden tour on imdergound corridors and streets Wednesday because of the pop~'s of the old necropolis, the guides tell tales of the lives of pagans, weekly general audience.

Reservations for the garden tour Roman slaves and early Christians must be made in person at the by interpreting inscriptions on the information office in St. Peter's mausoleums and artifacts found in them.

Square.

Gorbachev lauds pope VATICAN CITY (CNS) Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev said Pope John Paul II has played "an enormously positive role" in recent political developments in Europe.

Gorbachev commented during a recent press conference in Moscow with Italian journalists.

When the journalists asked Gorbachev about chances for a pastoral visit by the pope to the Soviet Union, the president responded, "all is possible."

Gorbachev said he had received . encouragement from the pope and "our contacts continue."

At the end of his last December visit to the Vatican, Gorbachev said he and the pope discussed the possibility of a papal trip to the Soviet Union.

Vatican officials said later that an improvement in religious freedom in the Soviet Union would be a prerequisite to a papal visit. The Ukrainian Catholic Church would

Working with poor

VA TICAN CITY (CNS) - A leading Vatican expert on Eastern Europe, Divine Word Father John Bukovsky, was named by Pope John Paul II as the first apostolic nuncio to Romania in 44 years, the Vatican announced.

The new nuncio. a native of Czechoslovakia and a naturalized U.S. citizen. will help the Romanian church reorganize in the wake of communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu's fall from power last December.

Father Bukovsky's appointment was made public Aug. 18, and he was expected to take up his post in November after being ordained an archbishop. Romania will name an ambassador to the Vatican sometime soon, Vatican sources said. Diplomatic relations were formally restored in May. Archbishop-designate Bukovsky, 66, has ).Vorked 17 years at the East European desk of the Vatican Secretariat of State, dealing with church affairs in Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Romania.

He frequently traveled with the Vatican's special East European envoy for talks with government officials, visiting Romania more than 20 times since 1975.

Acting with unusual speed after Ceausescu's fall. the pope ap-

pomted 12 new bishops for Romania's Latin- and Eastern-rite dioceses in March. The bishops are now trying to form a nationlll conference.

The Catholic Church is relatively small in Romania - about 6 percent of the population - and it faces financial problems in building new churches and starting up Catholic publications. Its seminarIes are functioning, however, anq there are reportedly abundant vocations to the priesthood.

One area where diplomacy might be reqUired is in a budding dispute between Orthodox Christians and Eastern-rite Catholics in Romania over church buildings. In the late I940s, Eastern-rite churches in Romania were forcibly merged with the Orthodox, with properties seized or given to the Orthodox.

The Romanian government recently repealed the forced merger, but it said church buildings belong to parishioners.

Shroud of Turin: more tests?

VATICAN CITY (CNS) - A Vatican spokesman said the church was open to additional scientific testing of the Shroud of Turin, venerated for centuries as Christ's burial cloth but dated by experts in 1988 to the Middle Ages.

The spokesman, Joaquin NavimoValls, said recently that the Vati'can "would consider every serious VATICAN CITY (CNS) and competent proposal" as long Polish-born Pope John Paul II as it did not mean damaging the plans to meet Lech Walesa Sun14-foot-long strip of linen. day: their first meeting since a Navarro-Valls noted that the major split earlier this year in 1988 carbon-14 dating was a "sinPoland's ruling Solidarity movegular" result that contrasted with a ment.

Joaquin Navarro-Valls, Vatican series of preceding examinations.

Carbon-14 testing has limits, he press spokesman, announced the said. and its results should be seen meeting but said that it was not in a "multidisciplinary" perspecarranged primarily to discuss the tive that includes previous testing.

Solidarity situation.

None of the earlier tests ruled out The private meeting will take its possible dating to the time of place at the pope's summer resiChrist, he said. dence in Castel Gandolfo. 15 miles south of Rome. said Navarro-Valls.

The cloth contains what appears The meeting was arranged after to be the image of a badly beaten, Walesa, Solidarity founder, crucified man. Scientists have not accepted an invitation to attend a be~n able to explain how the image meeting in Italy sponsored by was made.

Communion and Liberation, an Navarro-Valls said there was a international Catholic lay organpractical reason for further testing ization. of the shroud. Because "the way in The pope and Walesa have met which the image was formed other times at the Vatican and dur- remains a complete mystery," he ing papal trips to Poland. said, churCh experts do not know The split in Solidarity resulted how to best preserve the cloth, from infighting between Walesa now kept in an airtight container and Prime Minister Tadeusz Maz- in Turin's cathedral. owiecki.

The spokesman made the reThe pope has urged unity among marks in announcing that Pope Poland's rulers, but has not taken John Paul II was entrusting offia public stand on the split, which a ' cial custody ofthe shroud to Archmonth earlier led to the formation bishop Giovanni Saldarini of Turin. of a breakaway political party led The carbon-14 'test results disby Mazowiecki, with Walesa still appointed some Catholics because in control of the labor wing of they appeared to rule out the posSolidarity.

Previously, Walesa fpught a sibility that the cloth had actually bruising battle with Mazowiecki's been used to -wrap Christ's body supporters after they refused to after his crucifixion.

Since then, a number of scientback his bid to become president ists have voiced objections to the of Poland.

Walesa and Mazowiecki also way in which the carbon-14 dating was performed or to the validity of disagreed on economic policies.

The pope has been a constant the small samples removed for the supporter of Solidarity since its examination.

Geologists from Columbia Unifounding in 1980 as the first indeversity in New York announced pendent labor movement in the this summer that the carbon-14 Soviet bloc. While maintaining a dating method appears to have labor base, Solidarity quickly grew significantly underestimated the age into a widespread dissident moveof many prehistoric objects, 9,000 ment challenging the communist years old or older. government.

Pope, Walesa to meet

THE ANCHOR-Diocese of Fall River-Fri., Aug. 24, 1990

13

Do leave home without it, say boycotting pro-lifers

St. Jacques' historic organ

Fall River organ now heard in Taunton In a day of electronically-produced music. St. Jacques parish, Taunton, has deliberately moved toward the past. Father Thomas E. Morrissey, pastor, has restored a nearly century-old Hook and Hastings 1200-pipe organ for his newly-renovated church.

The inaugural concert for the reincarnated engineering marvel was held on Pentecost Sunday, complete with a vintage program embellished with illustrations and type ornaments from a pre-Vatican II Latin altar missal.

In a preface to the program, Paul DeLisle, founder of DeLisle Pipe Organ Company in Fall River, noted that "In this day of planned obsolescence, a mechanical entity, not only marvelous from an engineering standpoint, but capable also of touching our very souls as a musical instrument, has been dusted off, and with few repairs, been relocated here, expected to give another century of service.

"Though the organ was built in 1894 for St. Mathieu's church in Fall River, Mass., we will hear this evening music of masters long since past. as well as masters not yet conceivable in that era.

'The wonder of it all is not only that the musical intent of the composers spanning four centuries has been successfully conveyed to us through a 19th century me.dium. but also that a brand new instrument would not need to differ greatly from this older one. The pipe organ building art form continues to be totally appropriate as we enter the 21 st century and has not been replaced by our elt;:ctronic age."

The "dusting off' referred to by Delisle actually took eight months: one month to disassemble the organ at now-closed St. Mathieu's; six months to check and reassemble the parts, making repairs as necessary; and another month to put the whole thing back together at St. Jacques. .

DeLisle noted, however, that in general the huge instrument was in good condition. "It had been cleaned in 1979 and at that time needed only to have the leather of its bellows replaced," he said.

Originally those bellows, which supply the air necessary to play the organ, were hand-pumped, said Delisle. Later, it seems from the evidence. a water motor was installed, succeeded in the 1920s by an electric blower, now replaced by a newer model.

The DeLisle organ enterprise is

Chosen for the honor of prethree years old, said its founder, but his int~rest in the St. Mathieu senting the organ's inaugural concert at St. Jacques was Barry Turorgan dates much further back.

Brought up in St. Mathieu par- ley, artist in residence at King's ish, he early developed interest in Chapel, Boston. His program ranged from 17th to 20th century its organ and in organs in general, works and'1hcluded compositions and began working with them in

by J.S. Bach, Brahms, Mozart, his high school days. His predilecWilliams and Ives. tion was fostered by Father WilA graduate of the New England liam G. Campbell, pastor of St. Conservatory of Music and ConDominic's Church, Swansea, and cordia University, Turley is music also an organ aficionado.

Father Morrissey became ac- director at Temple Emanu-EI, Marblehead, in addition to servquainted with the St. Mathieu organ during two stints as paroch- ing at· King's Chapel. He will have two compact discs released this ial vicar at the church, from 1961 to 1964 and again from 1967 to 'season, one featuring works by J.S, Bach, Max Reger and Daniel 1972, thus when the church furPinkham, the other a centenary nishings were offered to diocesan tribute to Cesar Franck. His conparishes after St. Mathieu closed cert at St. Jacques was also profesin June of 1989, he knew of the musical treasure. sionally recorded.

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WASHINGTON (CNS) Abortion foes want Americans to "leave home without it" and boycott American Express credit cards because of the firm's contributions to Planned Parenthood.

A coalition of pro-life groups kicked off the boycott at a' recent Washington news conference, urging cardholders to cut up their credit cards and send the pieces to American Express, whose longtime advertising slogan has been ':don't leave home without it."

Boycott backers said that AmerIcan Express is being highlighted but is only on'e of 43 businesses targeted for donating. to Planned Parenthood, which advocates !egal abortion.

Dr. John C. Willke, president of the National Right to Life Committee, said the boycott is necessary until American Express offi, cials "discontinue their financial support to the various proabortion, anti-life and anti-family organizations they now support."

Willke called Planned Parenthood the "largest baby-killing conglomerate in America."

Toni Maloney, vice president for corporate communications at American Express, said that in 1989 the company contributed $7,500 out of a total philanthropic budget of $16 million to two Planned Parenthood programs.

Ms. Maloney said a project receiving $2,500 was Positive Force Players, a teen theater troupe in Phoenix, presenting skits on such topics as preventing AIDS, date rape and drug abuse. She said the other was The Hub, aNew York City after-school center for disadvantaged teens, who work with mentors and receive help with homework, job training and computers. ' , "Neither of those has anything to do with abortion," she told Catholic News Service, also noting that American Express gave $60,000 to Catholic-related programs over a two-year period ending in 1989.

"American Express takes no stand on abortion," Ms. Malone) said. "We have never funded proabortion activities."

Thomas A. Glessner. executive director of the Christian Action Council which is coordinating the boycott. said "we're not targeting just American Express." but by pressuring companies to cut donations to Planned Parenthood, "you're going to decrease the amount of assets they have to kill babies," ~'N ow the pressure is on American Express," Willke said, adding that other companies contributing to Planned Parenthood could be targeted in the future.

Fahrvergniigen WURZBURG, West Germanv (CNS) - West German diocese's will face a bit of a financial strain in the reunification with East Germany, but an official of the Diocese of Wurzburg said he was optimistic that reunification will go smoothly. "Certainly, some of our projects will have to be put on hold, but there are no problems that can't be resolved," said Adolph Bauer, finance director for the diocese of 900,000 Catholics. "Perhaps a building that was scheduled to be built in West Germany in five years will not be built for another 10 years, but the pastoral challenge for the church in East Germany is more important than the financial questions."

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ship easy. However, the person in the song has reached a resolve.

She has many times "tried to turn this love around." Now "it's time I had two feet on the ground." She sees the relationship as "a waste oftime for me."

She tells the other person, "I'm trying to make you see that baby you've just got to release me."

By Charlie Martin

RELEASE ME

- ...,

How many times have I tried to turn this love around I don't want to give up But baby, it's time I had two feet on the ground Can you release me Can you release me Now that you're gone I can't help myself from wondering Oh, if you'd have come down from your high Would we have been all right Release me W{II you release me Come on baby, come on baby You knew it was time to just let go' 'Cause we want to be free But somehow it's just not that easy Come on darling, hear me darling 'Cause you're a waste of time for me I'm trying to make you see .

That baby you've just got to release me Release me, release me I'm .not going back to you anymore Finally my weakened heart is healing, though very slow So stop coming 'round my door 'Cause you're not gonna find What you're looking for What is this power you've got on me What is this power you've got on me Release me Will you release me Release me Can you release me Release me Written and sung by Wilson Phillips (c) 1990 by SBK Records, Capitol Records, EMI Music IN MY WORK at the parish, Wilson Phillips":Release Me" I often talk with people who are was suggested by one of these not happy with their relationpeople. The song is the group's second chart hit off their debut ships. Through counseling they hope to improve these relationalbum. In my opinion, these three young women may be the ships, or if this cannot occur, musical discovery of the year. . they seek to find the courage to Seldom is ending a relationleave what is not working.

While we might be understanding and compassionate about how the other person feels, once we know in our hearts that we need to leave a romance, our healing starts by . following through on our decision.

One must also have a plan for communicating this decision.

Three choices are possible over the phone, in a letter or in person. If any fear of emotional or physical abuse exists, do not deliver your message in person.

We are never obligated to undergo direct emotional or physical hurt because of the decision.

If the choice is to deliver the decision personally, it is still a good idea to write out what you want to say. Such a conversation is likely to be very emotional. Writing out what needs to be said ahead of time enables a person to be clearer and more focused on the message.

A third suggestion that I would offer is to tell a couple of your closest friends when this communication will be attempted. Ask them if they could be available to be with you, if you so desire, after the encounter.

Finally, ask God to be with you. Pray for yourself and for the person that you are leaving.

Release yourselffrom what you know will not work and open your life to live in a new and healed way.

Your comments are welcomed

by Charlie Martin, RR 3, Box 182, Rockport, Ind. 47635.

C路ovenant House said. stronger than ever NEW YORK (CNS) - Ralph A. Pfeiffer Jr., board chairman of Covenant House, said recently that the agency went through a "harrowing" experience in the loss of its founder, Franciscan Father Bruce Ritter, but was now "stronger than ever before." . Interviewed at the agency's New York headquarters the day a boardcommissioned investigative report was released, Pf~iffer said the board had embarked on all the report's recommendations for reform and was moving into a new phase as a "revitalized organization."

The task of Covenant House now, he said, is to get renewed donor support so that it can serve the growing number of homeless. youngsters. . Pfeiffer said the agency received, about $88 million in the fiscal year ending June 30, better than the $85 million projected and about equal' to the previous year.

But income had' been growing rapidly until publication began in December of allegations of sl;xual. and financial misconduct by Fa- . ther Ritter.

In July, Pfeiffer said, Covenant House raised. only. $4.2 million toward a $5 million target, and over the past four months only 81 percent of its goal. The budget for the current fiscal year is $75 million.

The chairman expressed confi-

dence that release of the report on the investigation headed by former New York Police Commissioner RobertJ. McGuire would bring the period of controversy to a close.

Although some news reports said McGuire found Father Ritter guilty ofthe sexual allegations, the report only presented extensive evidence of a consistent pattern of sexual misconduct over 20 years and did not draw the conclusion 0(- guilt explicitly.

It said, however, that Father Ritter!.s practice of repeatedly putting himsdf in compromising situations was so irresponsible that his termination would have been necessary if he. had not resigned.

In an intervie.w, McGuire said Father Ritter's refusal to cooperate in the investigation was not a major handicap. He viewed it, he said, more as a tragedy that Father Ritter apparently felt he "could .not explain or defend" his behavior.

Pfeiffer acknowledged that final' settlement was yet to be made on the Franciscan Charitable Trust that Father Ritter set up without knowledge of the board or his order. It is to be dissolved and . assets turned over to Covenant House, he said.

McGuire concluded that in other issues Covenant House was notat fault or the board had taken corrective steps.

In the latter category were measures to prevent loans such as those Father Ritter made to board members and secured for himself, loans he arranged for staff without board approval, and contracts hegave relatives without competitive bidding.

Reviewing questions about the amount of money.spent on fund raising, McGuire said guidelines for charities allowed up to 35 percent, so the 20 percent at Covenant House was. acceptable.

Securing false baptismal and birth certificates, as was done for one former resident, was "inappropriate" and "should not be repeated," McGuire said.

Printed with the report was the finding of Richard Shinn, executive vice chairman of the New York Stock Exchange, that the top salaries of Covenant House were not out of line. There had been questions about the six-figure salaries Father Ritter paid .his communications director and vice president for operations.

Pfeiffer disclosed that the salary of the new president to take over Sept. I, Daughters of Charity Sister Mary Rose McGeady, would be $120,000, but the money would go to her order and she would get the normal stipend of other members.

.By Mick Conway A young lady I know who is a recovering alcoholic likes to tell the story of how she escaped arrest for drunk driving over a period of several years. We'll call her Deb. When Deb was in high school and clearly in trouble with alcohol, she frequently drove while intoxicated. She managed to avoid being arrested for drunken driving, mostly by luck, but also 'by taking seldom-traveled roads on her way home from parties. Her friends covered up for her, driving - her car when she was too drunk to drive on her own.

Privately, Deb's brother scolded and threatened her in a futile attempt to bring a halt to her outof-control drinking. He thought he could protect Deb from the consequences of her behavior, a tactic often used but always futile.

He was, in fact, enabling her to continue on a dangerous path, even though he was acting out of love and concern.

The tragedy of this situation, as related by the young woman several years later when she was in recovery, is that several things happened because of these good intentions.

First of all, Deb learned how to manipulate everyone in her life by "working the system." She knew how to elude law enforcement by staying out of the main stream of traveled roads. If she had been arrested for drunk driving, Deb would have been confronted with the reality of her mistakes.

Second, her friends rescued her

time and again from destructive behavior.

Third, her brother allowed the madness to continue by trying to bring a halt to the problem on his own.

After many years of drinking, Deb experienced the progressive nature of the disease of alcoholism. When she was in college, failing grades were the result of an ongoing relationship with alcohol.

Her spiritual life became nonexistent, causing an overwhelming loneliness.

Ultimately, she was unable to continue her education because of significant health problems associated with drinking. In utter defeat she returned home. Deb's family, although shocked and disappointed, recognized the nature of her problem and, much to their credit, placed her in an in-patient program for chemical dependency.

Following that treatment, Deb returned to college. Determined to get her life back on track, she became active in an Alcoholics Anonymous group sponsored by campus ministry. The support she received through her association with other recovering young people gave Deb the strength to live her lifejoyfully, without the use of mood-altering chemicals.

If someone you know is in trouble with alcohol or other drugs, confront them with the truth as you see it. Encourage them to seek treatment for this disease. They will thank you for your loving concern when they are restored to health through the recovery process.

Surf city fun for toddlers

By Hilda Young How to enjoy a trip to the beach if you are 2 and one-half: As soon as you reach the beach; head for the surf as fast as your chubby legs will take you; somewhere between 40 and 50 m.p.h.

Look back to make sure that Daddy has dropped the cooler, tripped over a rock, begun yelling your name and is now setting up an impressive rooster tail of sand sprinting toward you.

Stop when your toes meet the inch-deep water swirling up the sand from the waves. It's very cold. .

DeCide laying higher on the beach might be abetteroption. Communicate ~his to YOlJr father by sucking your breath until your eyes slightly protrude, the~ exhale a' screech that is noted by ajetliner overhead.

Do a 180-degree spin. Put your arms straight out and beat the air with them like wings. Maintain this until you have achieved flight - or until a 12-inch breaker whacks you in the seat of the sunsuit and knocks your face forward into Daddy's hands.

To avoid making the rest of the day anticlimactic, begin exploring under rocks higher on the beach as

soon as you can. Keep turning them until you find some tiny purple rock crabs under them.

Notice how the crabs scurry.

See if you can grab one. Grab one.

Notice how it grabs back. Decide the fun of crab grabbing has waned quickly. Point this out to Mommy and Daddy in a manner similar to expressing your initial disappointment with surfing.

Join Mommy and Daddy for -lunch. Eating is a fun thing to do while you are incarcerated on the blanket until further notice. Be sure your hands are sandy. If Mommy manages to wipe the sand off your hands before you have a chance to snatch' your sandwich, remember there is always the sand left between your toes. It is a SANDwich, right?

Chew. Maybe twice. Make a face like your cousin Jason does when Aunt Shirley makes him eat cottage cheese. Spit the sandwich onto the blanket, not on the beach where someone might step on it.

Take a nap. At least pretend to until Mommy's voice returns to normal. There's still lots oftime to play "Choking on the Watermelon Seed," sing "Beach Sand in My Eyes" and see how much sand you can pack to the car in your sunsuit.

..,J,

ADALID ESTHER Chapa of Chicago poses with her mother in the gown she will wear at her "fiesta de quinceanos," a celebration marking a Hispanic girl's 15th birthday. (CNS photo) .

Quinceanos: Hispanic rite offers "teachable moment" WASHINGTON (CNS) - Adalid Esther Chapa wore a white, . flowing gown fashioned by her mother last year at her "fiesta de quinceanos," a celebration used to mark a Hispanic teenager's passage to adulthood.

The 15-year-old Mexican-American girl, a member of Chicago's St. Anthony Parish, chose to celebrate her "quinceanos" rather than take a trip to Mexico offered to her by her parents, her mother, Adalid Chapa, told Catholic News Service.

"She was born in this barrio and chose to celebrate with her friends," said Mrs. Chapa, who noted that religion played an important role in her daughter's quinceanos celebration. Teen~gers celebrate their "quinceanos" - a term that in English means 15 years - near the time of their·15th birthday.

"At the quinceanos· Mass the young girl gives thanks to God she has arrived at this age ahd affirms her faith and commitment to the church," said Mrs. Chapa: .

Sister Angela Erevia, a' Mis-' sionary·Catechist Sister of Divine Providence who is' author ofa book titled".'Quinceanos: Celebrating a Tradition,'.' said in an interview from Victoria, Texas, that such rites of passage are celebrated. not only among the indigenous of Latin America -·where .the quin-' ceanos tradition originated - but, throughout the, world.. ' The quinceanos celebration may be a communal. Mass ofthanksgiving for aIl15-year-oId parishioners. followed by a simple. reception.

More common, hO'wever, is'a celebration for one teenager accompanied by numerous attendants.'-T the girls in formal dresses. and the boys in tuxedos.'..

Limousines may be rented and floral arrangements purchased. In' many cases, the reception is held in a rented hall where dinner is catered and a band plays for the dance that follows.

The quinceanos celebration signifies the "separation of childlrom

mother" and introduces the child to "responsibilities of adulthood," said Sister Erevia, recently named assistant to Bishop Charles V. Grahmann of Dallas.

While critics claim the quinceanos celebration has become nothing more than, in Mrs. Chapa's words, "a competition to see which family spends more," Sister Erevia sees the quinceanos as "a teachable moment" when the church can reach out to teenagers, even those who have not been involved in the church before that point in their lives.

At a time when teenagers face so many negative societal pressures, she said, it is a "unique opportunity" to educate'them, their friends and their families in the Catholic faith. ' At St. Anthony Parish in Chi. cago, Scalabrinian Father Raniero Alessandrini, pastor, said quinceanos preparatipn' involves discussion of "the commitment on the 'part of the young lady to her baptismal calling." Without preparation, he said, the celebration ~an become, "a farce," with teenagers fo~using only on ':their app(;arance and the drnner that follows the Mass." . , Although origimllly.it w~s only girls who celebrated their quinc:eanos, said Sister Erev.ia; in more and more dioceses natipnwide boys as welJ are, celebrating their passage to adulthood.

Jesuit. Father Anastacio Rivera, directo'r of Hispanic ministry in the Archdiocesl:; of Los:Angeles, while noting the church setti,ng for tJ:tl? celebration can ~ecome notl1ing more than "a perfunctory formality," agrees with Sister Erevia that the church shoUld "capitalize on this particular stage" in a young person's life. tn Los Angeles, 'on any given Saturday, he noted, there are quinceanos celebrations being held throughout the city.

In February the Archdiocese of Los Angeles issued guidelines for celebrating the tradition.

An advantage to having dioce- . san guidelines', FatherRivera said in an interview, is that it stops individuals from "shopping around" for parishes where the priests aren't as strict concerning quinceanos preparation.

Sister Erevia acknowledged some look .askance at the quinceanos tradition. "They say: 'This girl is 15 years old today; tomorrow she'll be pregnant out of. wedlock. Or they say (the ceremony) looks too much like a wedding, or too much money is spent."

In addition, there are priests who object when teenagers who don't regularly attend Mass or participate in parish activities expect permission to use the church.

"That's part of reality," she said.

But the church, she said, must act in a pastoral manner. "How are the young people going to know (about their church) if we don't teach them?" Sister Erevia asked.

Quinceanos celebrations aren't unique in that they are subject to abuse, she said. "People spend thousands of dollars on weddings, yet one of two end in divorce.

Thousands are spent on ordinations and celebrations of religious vows, yet some leave within the year," said Sister Erevia.

Many priests "see families, who are struggling to make ends meet, going into debt for years", to pay for their daughters' quinceanos celebrations and say it shows their "immaturity and irresponsibility," , said Father Rivera.

He said, however, that often it's "the very poor who really go all out spending money" who also are pleased to take advantage of the celebration's religious aspects, while upper middle class families "don't want to take the time."

He and Sister Erevia argue it's not the church's job to legislate how much money families should spend, "even though personally I don't like to see the party show up in a limo with the boys in tuxes," said Father Rivera.

Sister Erevia said she urges teenagers to "get something they can wear on more than one occasion.... Most of them are practical and know what their families' can afford."

In a letter to priests of the archdiocese accompanying the guidelines, Archbishop Roger M. Mahony of Los Angeles urged priests to look upon the quinceanos celebration as an opportunity to evangelize and teach the faith to young persons and their families, ' , Quinceanos candidates inust be instructed in the ritual's meaning and its attendant responsibilities, the guidelines say.

Th~y call for a period of"torrriatio,n," which emphasizes the eSSl:;ptially religious s'ignifica.nce of tqe quinceanos ana underscores the sacredness of life and the important role of youth' in the Christian comm'unity. ' " , ' The guidelines stress the importance of haviilg the' candidate's parents involved in ;the formati'on or preparation process. They are told' to arrange an interview with their parish' priest three' to' six months before their child's 15th birthday 'to schedule the quinceanos.

The'guidelindsay the quinceanos should be celebrated at a special Mass with appropriate music and symbols, such as the Bible, religious medals and flowers.

The "fiesta" which frequently follows the quinceanos Mass should be simple and appropriate and "not overtax the family's economic res'ources," the guidelines say.

15

THE ANCHOR-Diocese of Fall River-Fri., Aug. 24, 1990

Recent box office hits 1. Ghost, A·III (PG-13) 2. Presumed Innocent, A-IV (R) 3. Young Guns II, A-III (PG-13) 4. Problem Child, A-II (PG) 5. Arachnophobia, A·II (PG-13) 6. Die Hard 2, 0 (R) 7. Mo' Better Blues, A-IV (R) 8. DuckTales: The Movie, A-I (G) 9. The Freshman, A-II (PG) 10. The Jungle Book, A·I (G)

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HAI@OR ' Waterfront Molor Lodge 134 Acapesket Road East 'Falmouth, MA 02536 (508) 548-4747 Open All Year .

Inq",re about our Spenal Seniur Cifi:.en & Family Pacwgt' Plans

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16

THE ANCHOR-Diocese'of Fall River----:Fri., Aug. 24,

PUBLICITY CHAIRMEN are alkad to lubmlt nawl Iteml for thll column to The Anchor, P.O. Box 7, Fall River, 02722. Name of city or town Ihould be Included, al well allull dat.. 01 allaetlvItlel. Pleale lend newl 01 luture rather than palt eventl. Note: We do not normally carry newl ollundrailing aetlvltl... We are happy to carry notle.. 01 Iplrltual programl, club meetlngl, youth proJectl and Ilmllar nonprollt aetlvltl... Fundra'I'ng proJeetl may be advertised at our regular rates, obtainable Irom The Anchor bUIIne.. olllee, telephone 675-7151. .

On Steering Polntl Iteml FR Indleat..

Fall River, NB Indlcatel New Bedlord.

ST. MARY, FAIRHAVEN A clothing drive will continue through August with lightweight garments, especially for infants and children, especially needed. CCD registration following all Masses this and next weekend. Our Lady of Angels feast Sept. I through 3 will include a Portuguese Mass at 10 a.m. Labor Day with a procession following at I p.m. Youth group meeting 7:30 p.m. Sept. 23.

ST. FRANCIS XAVIER, ACUSHNET Registrations open for pre-school through grade 8. Information: 9954313 8:30 a.m. through 3 p.m. weekdays.

SACRED HEART, FR CCD registration the weekends of ' Sept. 8 and 9; 15 and 16.

CHRIST THE KING, MASHPEE Baptismal preparation class for parents and godparents tomorrow night; baptism 10 a.m~ Sunday; next session Sept. 15 and 16.

ST. THOMAS MORE, SOMERSET CCD registration following weekend Masses.

1990

CATHEDRAL, FR A missioner from the Society of St. Peter the Apostle will speak at wee/{end Masses. Msgr. Francis Gilligan, 91, a Fall River native who has served most of his priestly life in the archdiocese of St. Paul and Min~ neapolis and remains active as director of the archdiocesan Society of the Propagation of the Faith, is visiting the rectory for several weeks.

CCD registration 2:30 to 3:30 p.m., Sept. 4 and 5, school building. Mrs. Tony Almeida is the newly appointed CCD coordinator.

ST. PATRICK, SOMERSET Maryknoll Missioner Father Larry Burns will speak at weekend Masses.

Through parishioner and town selectman Laurent Guay, the parish has received a Somerset bicentennial flag which will fly beneath the U.S. flag in the churchyard. Altar boy outing to Rocky Point Park 10:30 a.m. t06 p.m. Aug. 27. CCDteachers' meeting 7 p.m. Sept. 12, parish center.

ST. PATRICK, FR Thanks i!re expressed to the Women's Guild for its recent gift to the parish representing proceeds of various activities.

D of I, ATTLEBORO Daughters of Isabella potluck supper and meeting 6 p.m. Sept. 6, K of C Hall, Hodges Street.

EMMAUS/GALILEE New officers for retreat weekends and monthly reunions are Paul Neto and Ken Paiva. Galilee reunions 1 p.m. Sept. 9, Oct. 14, Neumann Hall, Cathedral Camp, East Freetown. Prayer evening 7 to 10 p.m.

Sept. 21, Cathedral Camp chapel.

CORPUS CHRISTI, SANDWICH , SS. PETER & PAUL, FR As he prepares to enter ProviLectors' training program planned.

Information at rectory. Catholic, dence Col1ege, the parish salutes Jason Buchanan for eight years of Daughters of America organizational m~eting 9:30 a.m. Monday, Father service as an altar boy "second to none," notes the bul1etin. Women's Clinton Hall. Information: Mary Club meeting 7 p.m. Sept. 10. Mem~heehan, 888-2867. Inquirers' meetIng for those interested in Catholibers' asked to bring their favorite cism 7:30 p.m. Sept. II, Fr. Clinton teacup and share the reason why.

Hall.

LaSALETTE SHRINE, ST. ANTHONY OF DESERT, FR ATTLEBORO Exposition of Blessed Sacrament The shrine outdoor summer concert series will close at 7:30 tomor. noon to 6 p.m. Sept. 2 with holy . hour at 5 p.m. . row night with a program by Father Andre Patenaude, MS, known as O.L. CAPE, BREWSTER Father Pat. Chairs may be brought.

Ladies' Guild members are offerIn case of rain the concert wil1 be ing respite care for those in need of indoors. such service in Brewster and Dennis.

Information: Mary Woodhouse: ST. JULIE, N. DARTMOUTH 760-1528. Scripture study class reWomen's Guild meeting Sept. 12 beginning with 6:30 p.m. Mass and sumes Sept. 10. Information: Joan Carney, 385-675 I; Deacon Frank fol1owed by chicken dinner.

Camacho, 394-5023 after 6 p.m.

HOSPICE CARE, DIOCESAN OFFICE OF GREATER TAUNTON YOUTH MINISTRY Volunteer training program 7 to 9 Open house for youth ministers p.m. each Monday and Wednesday 9:30 a.m. to noon; 7 to 9 p.m. Sept. from Sept. 19 to Oct. 31.lnforma12, Neumann Hall, Cathedral Camp, tion: 823-5528.

E. Freetown. Olive S. Greene of the Office of Youth Services for the dio- ST. FRANCIS XAVIER, cese of Bridgeport, Conn., will pre- HYANNIS CCD registration fol1owing weeksent "Total Youth Ministry...What's end Masses. Holy Name Society It All About?" Information on dimeeting fol1owing 9 a.m. Mass Sept. ocesan resources will be available.

To register contact Office of Youth '9. Ms. Mary McCarthy wil1 speak Ministry, P.O. Box 428, Cathedral on work of Cape Cod Hospice.

Camp, E. Freetown 02717, tel.

ST. ANTHONY, 763-3137.

MATTAPOISETT CCD registration fol1owing weekST. STANISLAUS, FR end Masses. Altar boys will visit New altar boys will meet II :30 Boston Museum of Science Aug. 29. a.m. tomorrow, upper sacristy. Adoration of Blessed Sacrament 11:30 O.L. GRACE, WESTPORT a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Sunday, solemnity Basketbal1 sign-up for girls in of Our Lady of Czestochowa. grades 4 to 8 at 4 p.m. tomorrow, church basement. Parents must acST. ANNE, FR GIFT (Growth In Faith Together) company girls. Information: Bob weekends are offered for youth ages Maltais, 636-255 I. Flowers for altar 15 to 19 and adults in October, Feb- use can be brought to the rectory ruary and April. Information Cris before noon any Saturday.

Leary, 675-8915; Eileen Miles, 679- HOLY NAME, FR School advisory council meeting 0713. Portuguese celebration of Holy' Spirit with Mass I:30 p.m. Sunday, ?: 15 I:!.m. Aug. 3.0, rectory. CCD regupper church. St. Anne novena serv- 'lstratlOn fol1oWIng morning Masses Sept. 16, rectory. ice 3 p;m. Sunday.

ST: JOSEPH, NB Consolata Missionaries will be aided at Masses this Sunday.

ST. DOMINIC, SWANSEA Folk choir rehearsal 7:30 p.m.

Aug. 30.

Gall bladder

surgery eased St. Anne's Hospital, Fall River, the only Catholic hospital in the Fall River diocese, is the first area institution to acquire equipment permitting gall bladder removal through video laparoscopy. . The technique permits a oneday ;lOspital stay, return to normal activities within a few days and complete recovery in about a week.

Post-operative pain and the possibility of complications are also significantly reduced.

Previous methods required a large incision as opposed to four small incisions with the new technique. Also in the past, a patient might be hospitalized up to six days and face ,a four ·to six week recovery period at home.

• Although the new technique cannot be used in all cases, it is expected that it wil1 benefit some 85 percent of gal1 bladder patients.

Some 600,000 gal1 bladder operations are performed annual1y in the United States.

Real Prayer "How easily we slide into thinking of our prayers as the 'real' prayer. What is the 'real' prayer, the grace we say at the table or the meal that fol1ows it? What could be more 'real' than eating or drinking? And if we pray at al1 times, as we should, our eating and drinking will be real prayer."-David S teindl- Rast

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'Spiritual life sought, says centerin'gprayer founder OMAHA, Neb. (CNS) - A growing interest in contemplative prayer among the laity comes from a deep hunger for the spiritual dimension in life, according to a Trappist monk who founded the centering prayer movement.

"People are feeling a deeper desire for prayer and the structure to support it," Trappist Father Thomas Keating told The Catholic Voice, Omaha archdiocesan newspaper.

"Human 'nature has a dimension that requires silence," he said.

Father Keating spoke to Nebraska: Contemplative Outreach, a program which began about two years ago in one parish and is scheduled to expand to other parishes this fall.

The group, Hall said, provides instruction in centering prayer and support through small groups.

While contemplative prayer is as old as the church, there is a new-fol;lnd interest by laypersons.

"Vatican II released a lot of desire and willingness to engage in contemplative prayer and it both deserves and needs to be ministered to," said Father Keating.

Centering prayer is based on the concept that God is not "out there" but present within each person.

The method stresses external and internal silence in order to meet God within oneself.

Expressed most simply, Fathe~ Keating said, it' is "an interview with Christ."

While centering prayer can yield peace, "its primary purpose is to create a deeper relationship with

Christ. If one develops a deep trust in God, a good deal of relief from agitation wil1 come about." said the, priest.

"It is an invitation to rest from the consequences of original sin," he added, noting that among examples of.today's'effects of original sin are dysfunctional families and codependency.

"There is an 'enormous hunger for the spiritual dimension which is not always met through typical parish structure," Father Keating said.

The practice of contemplative prayer was widespread in the church until the Reformation, when church attention turned to emphasis of doctrine to counter various heresies, Father Keating said, and the contemplative approach to Scripture was largely lost for several centuries.

Renewed interest was sparked not only by Vatican II but by the number of young' persons abandoning Christianity to seek a contemplative life in Eastern meditative religions. '

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'Cooperation "God cannot leave me alone.

This is surely a source of wonder. I cannot raise my arm, cannot speak or walk or breathe without God's cooperation. God and I walk hand in hand. And what is true of me is true of all the world, even those who turn their backs on God. Even with them God cooperates with their freedom."-Maurice Nassan, SJ

ON DUTY: Sister Therese Kurley takes her turn as lifeguard during vacation Bible school at St. Joseph Church in Trinity, Ala. (CNS photo)